#I hope I properly showed how awesome and badass of a woman she is for dealing with this shit on a daily basis

[embraceyourdestiny]

Watching ep 2 of Ashes of love and… [Ashes of Love]

…Ashes of love is the first time I’ve personally seen “misunderstandings” as a trope be utilized well where I’ve actually enjoyed the execution.

I don’t usually like when the basis behind tension in a plot is simply “misunderstandings,” usually in the form of information often intentionally being kept by a character for no logical reason other than to cause plot (excluding ‘character reasoning’. What I mean is in the context of it as a narrative choice the author made, because when you are writing everything is intentional and has a purpose, or at least should.)

To me, this choice often feels lazy and frustrating for the writer to make, because a lot of the time it would’ve been so easy for a character to properly explain what’s going on and not have much impact on the plot but be more satisfying to the audience, or for another character in the story to even figure out what’s happening if they stopped for a moment to think about it, but it’s simply more convenient for the writer to move the plot along this way than by coming up with a good dilemma, and that bothers me almost every time I see it because I can usually imagine a better way for the story to move along than that.

But with Ashes of Love. everyone is moving based off ignorance, assumption, and panic, and that’s an interesting approach to this narrative dilemma and an affective way to cause realistic tension for and between the characters and give them motivation, because no one is really at fault since it’s pure coincidence, and yet since they all feel so strongly there is inevitably clashes, which is satisfying as an audience member to see.

The Fragrance Chief and Eldest Sister are assuming the worst because, with their lack of information that wasn’t kept from them but simply not gained because of circumstance, they see their spirit as kidnapped because they have previous tension with the bird tribe, and the chief especially is scared because Jinmi is important. The bird tribe is being attacked, so they react in kind and don’t need much more info than that to do so. The other flower sprites are scared because jinmi left without a trace, so does this mean they’re under attack?

And for Jinmi, her actions weren’t malicious at all. She’s just a little careless and impulsive and hoping for the best because of her dream. She isn’t thinking about how bad this looks because she has the context, so all is good in her eyes and home is not even a concern because there is no worry to her.

It’s cool and interesting to see a single, unintentional action cause such a ripple effect in this very delicate balance of realms and politics, and have down the line likely devastating repercussions.

This approach also shows / reiterates the message of how secrets pile up and will always cause more problems in the long run, which was seemingly teased by Jinmi’s mother deciding to hide her in the first place. Because, Sure, Jinmi might’ve been in more danger all this time if everyone knew she was the Flower Diety’s daughter, but now she’s in danger with no urgency for help beyond getting back a fellow sprite because no one knows her importance as their heir, and the Fragrance Chief can’t stress the importance of finding her without giving away her secret, so it puts her in an interesting, tough spot in the narrative. And if anyone else finds out who she is, the flower realm is pretty fucked.

Side note, not narrative or analysis, I freaking love the noble ladies fighting. It’s awesome and made me realize how little western media I’ve seen that has female fight scenes, especially against each other. Most of the time it’s men, and if it is a woman she’s usually fighting other men as a “girl boss,” not as a respectable and fearsome warrior like her male counterparts. It’s cool to see women be badass just because they are cool characters and not because someone’s failing to make a statement of some kind by having women fight, because that’s ~so edgy and astounding to see in the west~.

So far, [episode 2], this show is very good and I’m excited to see it through. 2 episodes has far surpassed the quality of many American shows I’ve watched a lot of.

[spidypool]

Sexism at Bed Bath & Beyond

I want to take a moment to talk with you guys about sexism.  I know a lot of people view it as a dying problem or not as bad as it once was.  And come on sexism at a retail store?  Really?  No exactly an important area.  Well strap in I’m about to tell you a long slightly rambling story about the most badass woman of color I know.

So if you don’t mind taking a moment out of your busy days to read this post.  Because I’m writing this about one fucking amazing woman and the shit she has to deal with.  I know this won’t get reblogs or comments or whatever but I’d like some people out there to know about what’s happening because she deserves some sort of recognition.

Now first let me tell you a little background so you understand the settings and such.  My store is called store 42.  It is the largest Bed Bath and Beyond in the world and it is located in the busiest area Chelsea in New York City.  On sixth avenue if you wanna get specific.  It is also known as the flagship store.  On a daily bases we get more foot traffic than quite a few stores have in a week.  And I’m talking about our slow days here.  We also get a lot of celebrities in here because of the location.  So check out is a very busy area.

I work in what we call the Frontend.  The Frontend is where you pay.  It is also the broader term that refers to three departments; customer service, home delivery, and checkout.  Though when we say Frontend we usually means checkout.  I’m officially called a cashier though I haven’t been just a cashier in years.  I am also trained in customer service, home delivery, and the office.  Yes our store is so big we have a floor for all the offices and receptionists answer phones.

Now every store has a hierarchy and recently the titles of this hierarchy changed.  But most of the time it is generally the same in.  BBB it goes like this:

Store Manager – the boss

Seniors – these are like the top dogs of the store.  They each supervise a section of the store such as Frontend, Hardside, Home Accents, Bedding, and Bath

LOD aka Leader on Deck – they are the person in charge of the whole store only during set periods of time really this person is who we call when a final decision needs to be made.  These people are typically higher ranking Department Supervisors.

Department Supervisor (Previously called manager)

LEAD (Previously called supervisor why the name change? No clue! Also they are pretty much a department supervisor just without the pay)

Associate or Cashier

Now in the Frontend/Customer Service there must always be a LEAD or Department Supervisor (DS).  During the day there are four people schedules to cover these departments.  Two for each department, one in the morning and one in the evening.  There is a little crossover to cover breaks and such. That is the minimum required to run the Frontend properly.  The Frontend LEADs/DS are extremely busy.  And there are a lot of jobs that need to be done.  But the thing is none of the LEADs/DS do shit.  Like seriously it’s ridiculous.  They do the basics that’s it.  Only Shelina does anything.  She in fact does everything.  And frankly that’s not fair to her.

She does:

The cashiers schedules

Writes the breakdowns (breakdowns tell the cashiers which register they are on and when their break is)

Orders products

Orders candy

Orders drinks

Orders change

Changes products (the Frontend unlike other departments changes what products are featured there based off the season for example we just had the summer season and then we changed it to back to college and now we’re changing it to the holidays/cooking)

Deals with incoming shipments

Product refills

There isn’t anything she doesn’t do.  And no one helps her.  She does it by herself.  She works so hard she rarely takes breaks.  She doesn’t have the time.  She never complains when all the cashiers call out in the morning and not only does she have to do everything listed above but also be the cashier.  She never complains when she is the only one closing or only has one person to help.  She still gets everything done. Unlike very other LEADs/DS who bitch about it constantly.

This woman is a fucking superhero.  She is the only Supervisor who is respectful and has your back.  She won’t yell at you and in fact has never raised her voice.  Mind you when she’s pissed you know it but she uses her words and makes it clear how she feels.

This woman spent the last two years teaching me everything she knows in order to have someone around to help her because she’s getting older.  She a mother of 3 and a grandmother of 3 who helps out her daughter with her grandson by watching him every weekend.  This woman is amazing.

Not a single Department Supervisor or LEAD helps her.  When she orders drinks or candy and they come in instead of putting them where they belong everyone else puts signs on them saying for Shelina.  Like seriously it is not hard to sort the candy by what department it is stored in.  This job is not rocket science.

Every single cashier loves her because she is the only person we can rely on.  In fact when she goes on vacation we all have to bare ourselves for the chaos that comes.  Even callouts are higher because no one wants to deal.  The other LEADs/DS can’t even write the breakdown themselves.  They literally cannot survive without her.  She inspires such loyalty in us when BBB fired 90% of the Managers all of us swore if she was one of them we’d walk out because no way where we going to deal with the shit storm of this job without her.

And BTW BBB fired most of their managers and when I mean most I mean about 90%.  They fired so many that there was literally no one in charge and there still really isn’t in a lot of the departments.  Plus they had no plan for what to do after they were gone. These people where with the company for at least 10 years a piece.  It is disgusting they fired these long time employees with no warning just to save a few dollars.  They made up the best of the company.

Now recently our Store Manager Christin left and we got a new store manager Anthony.  Now like I said everyone knows Shelina is the one to run the Frontend which means she takes care of the most important department with little to no help.  Frankly I don’t count.  Only Anthony refuses to go talk to her rather going to Demascus I guess the next higher up after Shelina.  Now Demascus does shit.  He talks down to people and treats women like objects.  If he can’t flirt/hit on/charm you well he doesn’t like you.  He needs to have his little fan club.  He’s been there the longest after Shelina and you’d think he’d know how to do the basics like order products, figure out what product should go up on the pillar, how to put the product on the pillar so it looks “filled and full” (Shelina taught me that the product wall must always look “filled and full” and there should never be an empty peg or be able to see the white of the wall).  I recently watched him try to redo a pillar with the new season’s products and the results looked like a giant mess.

I gave Anthony the benefit of the doubt that he was new and didn’t know how this store worked. Though I felt like Christin wouldn’t have left without teaching him the ropes.  But time goes by and Demascus still fails and Anthony still won’t talk to Shelina.  He also gets confused when he sees me doing the physical aspect of my job.  Now people like to joke that I’m Shelina’s assistant and in a way that’s true.  She can’t do a lot of the physical aspects of the job anymore so I climb ladders, take down products, run back and forth getting stuff, ect.  Did I mention I’m a girl?  No yeah well I am.  And I do more of the physical aspects of the job then most of the guys.  I’m willing to do this for her.  In exchange she teaches me.

Then Shelina said something to me.  She said oh it’s because he’s sexist and thinks that Demascus (the man) should be in charge of all that.  Great the guy who likes to do nothing is now in charge of everything.  That’s going to work out great.  So Shelina being Shelina saves him, again and again, because as I said before he knows shit.  She does everything Anthony tells Demascus to do.  Now she does this because she takes pride in her work and pride in how her department looks.  It doesn’t matter who gets the credit to her.

But see she’s getting tired because no one is helping her.  There is only so long someone can go without any help.  Everyone they promote or higher none of them want to do shit or learn. She spent two years training me in the hopes that I would become a LEAD and she would finally get help.  But I recently learned I will never be promoted. Not because I’m not good at my job but because I’m not liked this having to do with an incident where they scheduled no managers to work so the LODs had to cover the department.  Now the LOD in question was Fei.  Now everyone knows that Shelina trained me and I can literally run the department by myself at this point so guess what he did?  He left me alone in the Frontend and never came back. So I did what I had to do and I ran the department.  I made sure things didn’t fall apart.  Because of the Fei helped to spread rumors about me and how I talked about the other LEADs/DS behind their backs in order to cover up the fact he left me alone.  This cost me any chance at a future with the company.  Shelina is still bitter about this fact while I have sadly accepted my fate.  The only regret I have is I will never be able to help take off some of the pressure she has to deal with.

Back to the main point. There was an incident today.  We keep the Dyson (expensive vacuum cleaners) up on high shelving in the Frontend.  Not that this is in anyway remotely safe.  These vacuums are heavy and located extremely high up and they over fill the shelves to the point the weight is literally bending the metal.  Now usually if there isn’t any of a model on the shelf usually we don’t have it.  Last week we learned that while we didn’t have any of a particular model on the shelf there was some located on what we call the Mez (a storage area located above the loading dock).  But did anyone get them and bring them to the Frontend?  Nope.  And Shelina and I had no idea about them cause guess what?  No one tells anyone anything.  There is zero communication in this store.

We have a “Dyson lady” who is there for a few hours a day from the Dyson Company to talk about their product.  We used to have a lovely woman there only recently this new lady (a fucking disrespectful and rude bitch) came to the store.

Now we have cards that the models on them and the customer brings them to the checkout gives them to us and we get the Dyson down.  Only the customers kept bringing cards to vacuums we didn’t have.  So she told me to go get the cards to the ones we didn’t have to prevent the mix up.  And when I tried to do this the Dyson Lady yelled at me how we have the vacuums in the store like seriously how the fuck was I supposed to know.  It was on the Mez no one fucking goes up there.  I then tell her that unfortunately no one brought them down and I wasn’t able to get to them.  Why you might ask?  Because they are fucking large ass vacuum cleaners and the only way to bring them down was to lug them down the fucking stairs all the way from the back of the largest BBB in the world to the front of the store. I am not that strong.

So I go back to the front and go to tell Shelina but I don’t get the chance cause here comes Dyson Lady with Anthony.  I don’t know what is said between them but it probably wasn’t good.  What I do catch is what Anthony asks about “well which Dyson’s so we have up here?” and I answer because I’ve been the one going up and down the ladder all morning getting them for customers.

Shelina has me take him over to the Dyson’s only he then curses Shelina out like WTF you don’t say shit about your employees especially to those directly under them.  He’s literally saying the nastiest shit about my superior to me and I’m at the bottom of the food chain.  He is the goddamn store manager you’d think he’d have some respect. He then tells me “I don’t a fucking damn what Shelina tells you I’m your boss not her” and excuse fucking you.  She’s never told me any sort of shit like that. She’s never told me to obey her over others.  You know why I listen/chose her over the others?  Because she treats me with respect and kindness something 98% of BBB Supervisors don’t do.  In fact she’s never said a bad word about any of them other than that she’s disappointed in how they do their jobs because she knows they could do better.  They just choose not to.   Not only that Shelina is in fact my boss and you are her boss.  He is so disgusting in what he says I am in literally shock and can’t manage to say a word in retort which I truly regret now though maybe it’s better I didn’t say what I wanted to because frankly he is fucking misogynistic sexist asshole and I would have said it right to his face. I have loyalty to those around me whether I like them or not we’re all here to do a job.  Unlike him who apparently will say the nastiest fucking shit about his employees.

Now then he tells me he wants me to do the count (the count is when we count up the valuable products in the store to know how many we have this is done every morning) from now on and be in charge of the Dyson’s.  I point out that I’m not a LEADs/DS and I don’t do the count.  He then asks “why the fuck is he talking to me?” which frankly why is he? I tell him it’s because he wanted to know what Dyson we have.  He then tells me to go get the missing Dyson’s from the Mez with “my buddy” Anthony (AJ is what he goes by thanks for remembering what name he uses).  He tells me this with a wink and a nudge like we’re fucking high school girls talking about the guy I’m secretly dating.  Now AJ is my best friend.  My friend. We aren’t dating and I have no intention of ever dating him.  It also isn’t a secret we’re close but everyone knows this and knows we aren’t together.  People have assumed we’re dating before cause apparently a guy and girl can’t just be friends but what throws me is the fact my fucking boss my fucking elder boss like in his sixties made a insinuated sexual reference between me and a friend/coworker.  That tell you what he thinks about men and women.

I shouldn’t be blown away by the sexism shown by my store manager.  I’ve heard a lot of things.  Two of my male LEADs/DS spoke horribly about a female LEADs/DS right in front of me.  It was so disgusting in fact I avoided them for the rest of the day.  People have the tendency to forget I’m there because I’m quiet and all over the place.  They just say whatever in front of me.  But still my store manager being a sexist pig to my DS caught me off guard.  He’s only been with the company for a year Shelina has been with the company for over twenty.  She knows more about BBB than anyone.  And yet because she is a woman all her years of experience, all her hard work mean nothing.

If you’ve gotten this far thank you for reading.  I know I went a little all over the place here but I hope you got my point.  This amazing badass woman is treated like shit on a daily basis.  I just wish there was something I could do other than writing this stupid blog post about it.  Because she deserves the world.

[soul-wanderer]

First Kill - a (very subjective) review:

Let me preface this by saying that I am probably not quite the target audience age wise, but even if I acknlowledge that some of the teen angst is meant to be, there’s still plenty plots and writing that was done pretty cheaply imo, even for a show that was mainly produced for teens/young adults.

- Was it the writing? Was it the acting? I am not sure, but for some reason the chemistry between Jul and Cal was just...lacking, a lot of the time. But I will give the actresses the benefit of the doubt and say it was mostly due to the writing or maybe they just made a mistake when they cast two actresses who were well above the age they were gonna portray on the show (will Hollywood ever learn not to do this? The short answer is No. The slightly longer answer is that they did this on purpose because of the unexpectedly sexual scenes throughout the season)

- The amount of plot holes, man. I can’t even list them here, because...dude. This is what happens when you take a short story and don’t properly develop it for a whole show. Then again, it’s teen angst and the plot probably wasn’t the focus, but still. If there ever is a second season, this is gonna be a wild ride

- There’s vampires. Fine. Let’s just bring in every other mythical character we can think of, okay? Not okay. For real. You lost me at zombies, sorry not sorry.

- I will not hold it against the producers or writers but this Romeo and Juliet trope needs to be done with. Please.

- Both sides keep blaming the other side for stuff they started and just?!? It gets pretty darn tiring by the final episode of season one

- A snake? Inside daddy dearest’s chest? Seriously? No explanation? Sure, fine, let’s roll with that...I guess.

- Bro just unhinged his jaw to eat grandma? Okay, that was freaking funny, as long as you don’t overthink what’s happening

- Not ONCE do we learn how exactly people get turned into vampires. Which- fine, okay. But from what we have seen it’s the same act as them feeding and killing people, so - what’s the difference here? How do they control that power? Anyone?

- Jul clearly doesn’t know how this shit works. How would she, if not even the writers know? And Cal still blames her for turning her brother? Your vampire girlfriend clearly did not expect this to happen, because no one ever taught her the different between feeding and turning someone into a freaking vampire

- Cal being upset is fine, truly, but calling Jul a monster and shit? After all the “maybe not all monsters are the same” talk the whole season? That seems like a bit of a stretch, even if she’s upset and angry. I truly hope they resolve that if there’s ever a second season

- the visual effects were crap at a lot of points, sometimes it’s as plain as that

But also:

- Aubin Wise single-handedly carried that show on her shoulders. Seriously, give that woman an award for that level of acting skills

- Also, Talia and Oliver are the only two people with common sense on that show? They’re awesome and deserve more spotlight

- Seriously though, I’m here for Oliver fucking shit up and he’s the kind of villain we deserve

- Talia and Margot - need I say more? Let’s be real, this story should have been about them to begin with

- The vampire origin story was actually good? Like? I can get on board with this and in general I support the snake being part of the plot - unless she’s in someone’s freaking chest

- Solid soundtrack choices were made - thanks for that

Long story short: it’s probably enjoyable for younger audiences and entertaining for “older” audiences if you can overlook the clichés and plot holes, but mostly worth it for a) badass and hot mums and b) the openly insane but sane brother who is ready to fight the matriarchy, hey ya!

[dickspeightjrs]

Dean still thanked Bobby every day for giving him a job at his store. Bobby would only respond with ‘shut up and stop thanking me ya idjit!’

But still, Dean was grateful. With Sam in his first year of college (Stanford Smart-Ass), even with a hefty scholarship, affording to live is still a bitch – especially in one of the most expensive states in the country.

So, on top of his job during the week as a TA at the local university, Dean picks up a couple shifts over the weekend at his Uncle Bobby’s vintage antique store.

Now, while Dean was extremely grateful, the gratefulness didn’t stop the fact that the job was boring as hell.

If you asked Dean, half the stuff in the store looked like it should be donated to Goodwill not be in a vintage store on sale for hundreds of dollars.

(It’s not that Dean didn’t understand the appeal of vintage items. He could appreciate a vintage beauty. His car was a prime example of that. However, despite what the price tags may say, none of this junk held a candle to his beautiful 67 Chevy Impala.)

The place was hardly heaving, even on weekends. And when customers did come in each interaction went one of two ways:

People brought in their old junk in an attempt to pass it off as some rare artefact. Trying to convince those people that what they thought was a valuable medal, passed down through generations may as well have come out of a Happy Meal was not Dean’s favourite way to spend his Saturday.

The second, and perhaps the worst, type of customer would be the rich, entitled people who come into the shop wanting to expand their collection of antiques (which Dean knew without having to visit their homes that they only purchase to show off their wealth and don’t particularly care where they come from). They could be buying a Victorian butt plug to display on their mantelpiece but wouldn’t care as long as it’s as old and expensive as possible.

Dean had a customer just last week who took hours trying to haggle on the price of an antique brooch, despite clearly being about to afford it at full price. If Dean didn’t need the job to support Sam he would have told the woman exactly what he thought of her. (Even Bobby had rules when it came to professionalism). Regardless, she was a total –

“I need a ring!”

Dean was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of a man entering the store looking pretty flustered – emphasis on the pretty.

The man made quick strides of the distance between the door and the counter where Dean was still stood – transfixed by the frankly beautiful man coming towards him.

The man stopped and let out a deep and calming sigh.

“I need a ring.” He repeated more smoothly.

Regardless of how he feels about the customers, no one could say Dean wasn’t awesome at his job. So he put on his best customer service smile, tried to ignore the things this man was making his body feel and silently thanked Bobby once again for this.

“Of course, Sir. Was there anything in particular you had in mind?”

The man frowned.

“Please. There’s no need to call me ‘Sir’. Just call me Castiel.”

Castiel. Angelic

Go figure.

“Okay, Castiel. Are you looking for any kind of ring in particular?”

As he spoke, Dean started to move towards the key box that held the key to unlock the glass cabinet, which housed all of their rings.

“Your most expensive if possible, please.”

Dean stopped in his tracks and looked momentarily at Castiel with wide eyes.

Not only is this dude hot as fuck, he’s rich as fuck too?

Dean was used to asshole rich people throwing their money around but even they had a limit. Coming in and asking for the most expensive ring before even seeing it? Dean didn’t care how gorgeous this guy was, or how blue his eyes were, or how rough his voice sounded, or how sharp his jawbone looked, or –

Anyway! This dude was clearly a douchebag so Dean wasn’t interested.

He opened the glass case and lifted out the most expensive ring, placing it delicately on a black cloth for Castiel to look at.

Castiel picked it up between his finger and thumb – inspecting carefully.

He seemed so quiet and unassuming – nothing like the normal wealthy douchebags Dean encountered. Maybe he got him wrong. Maybe he wasn’t so bad.

“Yes, I think she’ll like that one.”

Ah. So not a douchebag but definitely not single.

Dean sighed internally. That put an end to that before it even began.

Castiel dropped the ring back onto the surface and reached into his pocket for his wallet. Dean picked up the ring and carefully placed it inside the matching box. He was painfully aware that ring was worth more than he could earn in almost a year. Even if Castiel was single, Dean would never keep up with that amount of wealth.

He tried not to let the disappointment of Castiel’s impending engagement affect him – he was still just a stranger after all (a beautiful one at that his brain unhelpfully supplied). Dean plastered on his customer service smile.

“Would you like our complimentary cleaning cloth to help maintain its colour? We recommend cleaning it properly every week or so with this cloth as it is one of the older items in our collection.”

Castiel thought for barely a moment, “Sure.”

Gee, for a guy about to spend the rest of his life with the love of his life, he sure seemed uninterested in a pretty essential part of the process. This was just getting more and more depressing – and confusing.

Dean rushed to finish the transaction so he could get back to the normal status quo of the regular two types of customers and not a third who comes barreling in and turns his system upside down.

He finished the payment – Castiel barely flinched when Dean told him the price – and packed the ring carefully with the cleaning cloth into a gift bag.

“Thank you and I hope you and your soon-to-be fiancée have a wonderful life together.”

It pained Dean to say as he looked into Castiel’s eyes. Bobby should give him a raise just for the smile he was fighting to keep on his face.

As if Dean couldn’t take anymore, Castiel tilted his head and squinted his eyes making himself look adorable as hell.

“I’m not getting engaged.”

What?!

“What?”

“I’m not getting engaged.”

“B-but you just bought a really fucking expensive engagement ring!”

The confused part of Dean’s brain was overpowering the other part screaming ‘He’s not getting engaged – he might be single!’

“It’s for my mother.”

“Okay dude, you’re gonna have to walk me through this one. I mean, I love my mom but who drops that much on a ring for their mom?”

“My mother loves material things and good reputations – perhaps more than her own children. She has been rather angry with me for a few days so in order to ‘get back in her good books’ I needed to get the most expensive and oldest piece of jewellery I could. I see her tonight, hence why I was so flustered when I came in.”

Dean chose to ignore how adorable Castiel looked doing air quotes – his bran was about to explode.

“Ouch. What did you do to make her angry enough to need something as pricey as this?” Dean indicated to the bag he realised he was still holding out.

“My brother accidentally told her I’m gay.”

At this point, the other side of Dean’s brain finally took over.

DUDE HE’S NOT GETTING ENGAGED. HE’S PROBABLY SINGLE. AND HE’S INTO DUDES! ASK! HIM! OUT!

After a few prolonged seconds of Dean having an internal breakdown, Castiel started to look uneasy. Dean immediately recognised that uneasiness and managed to spit out a sentence that actually made sense.

“She’s angry at you for being gay? Sounds like a complete bitch to me.”

Dean realised what he’d said and instantly went to take it back but was stopped by the smirk on Castiel’s face.

“Oh don’t worry. She is. But as I said, she puts good reputations before her children and that means she’s paying for my law school. Well, what she thinks is law school.” There was that smirk again. Dean might just die. “I’m actually getting a degree in Education and Psychology. But I’ve got a year left so I need her to keep paying for my tuition. The day I graduate is the day I walk away from that family for good.”

Castiel held his head a little higher at that and Dean couldn’t help but admire the guy. Sucking up to a homophobic mom while tricking her into paying for the degree he wants? Frickin’ badass!

“Dude, I don’t know you from Adam, but, going on that ring alone, are you sure you could give up all that money?”

Castiel shrugged. “I’ve never been interested in it. I suppose that made me a bit of a black sheep. Add in the fact I’m gay, it pushed my mother over the edge. Hence the much too expensive ring.”

Wow. Was this guy for real?

Dean stood up from where he’d been leaning on the counter, listening with rapt attention. He put his hands in his pockets, looked down at a scratch in the counter top and looked up again slowly meeting Castiel’s eyes.

“So you’re not getting engaged?”

“Nope. Far from it, in fact.”

“You’re giving up the family money to live your own independent life?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re definitely into guys?”

Castiel smirked. “Yes. Very much so.”

“So… would you wanna go out some time? I promise it’ll probably be the cheapest date you’ve ever been on – I’m not exactly loaded myself.”

Dean avoided Castiel’s gaze, picking at the scratch on the counter.

A finger came out and lifted his chin, forcing him to meet Castiel’s eyes again.

“That sounds perfect. I’d love to go out with you but I do have one condition.”

Dean’s heart soared. He was starting to wonder where this guy had been all his life.

“Yeah?”

“Tell me your name.”

Dean threw his head back as a sharp, loud laugh burst through him.

The one day he forgot to wear his name tag. (He could hear Bobby’s ‘idjit’ ringing in his head.)

“It’s Dean.”

“Okay Dean, I’ll be out of town for a few days – to deliver the ring and reassure my mother that my brother was wrong, that her law school son is just looking for the right woman to settle down with.” Castiel rolled his eyes. “But when I get back I’d love to get burgers and see a movie or something?”

Dean’s smile could outshine the sun.

“Sounds awesome.”

*   *   *

A year later, they were all gathered in Dean’s garden celebrating Castiel’s graduation.

Since they met, Dean’s family had slowly started becoming Castiel’s too.

Now, Castiel was free from his biological family and was surrounded by his found family.

Dean was telling his Aunt Ellen the story of how they’d met but Castiel had zoned it out, focused only on looking at the beautiful man he got to call his.

“What a bitch!”

Castiel was drawn back into the conversation by Dean’s ‘cousin’ Jo’s outburst. Ah. They’re up to that point in the story.

Everyone in the group was looking at Castiel with sympathy and anger in their eyes.

Castiel shrugged.

“It’s fine. I used the family credit card to pay for the ring anyway. Plus I left with the most priceless item in that store anyway.”

The small crowd aww’d as Dean rolled his eyes and pulled Castiel in for a kiss.

This was my first fic since 2016 so please forgive if it’s a bit naff! I’m still re-finding my feet. 

If you’d like to be tagged any of my future stuff just drop me a message and let me know. :) 

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans Are Space Orcs, “The Press.”

I have been wanting to do this for a while. Commander Vir deals with fame, and the good and bad parts of it. I hope you like, sorry I am so late today :) 

“Why exactly am I back on earth? My tour doesn’t end for another six months, and we were just getting ready for our first exploratory mission since before the burg war.”

“Look, commander, I understand this isn’t what you thought you were signing up for, but since the movie dropped recruitment has Gone up 45% and another 20% after merchandising, we need to get on this quick,”

He sighed 

“Besides, you will only be touring one or two weeks. That’s one or two weeks paid vacation while you talk to celebrities, pose for pictures, and maybe do a press conference or two. Bring along a couple of friends to keep you company and it won’t be that bad.”

“Alright, alright, I get it, but I’m not a dancing monkey. I didn’t sign up for this, and it’s not going to becoming a thin.”

“Yes commander, now The UNSC is taking you first. You are their poster child after all, and they want your face on the recruiting posters .”

“Very well, ma’am.”

***

Wednesday, June 3

“This is good work commander, but we are going to bring in an expert to make it just right.”

Commander Vir stood in an empty hanger bay surrounded by reflective panels, directional lights and a multitude of camera equipment. Sunny and Krill were playing a guessing game he had taught them earlier in the day to keep them occupied, and Waffles -- his dog -- was curled up by one of the set technicians taking a nap.

“An expert?”

“Yes, we’re bringing in one of the guys who used to be a guard in Arlington. The uniform looks good, but is it perfect?”

The answer to that question was answered simply few minutes later

He was a slob, a big fat slob who didn’t know how to properly wear his socks. The guy even whipped out a tape measure to determine the exact distance that a pin should be placed from the crease in his collar.

Commander Vir didn’t see the difference on the small scale, but in aggregate, he found that the difference was actually quite startling. He blinked, “Wow.”

“Excellent, now, we’re going to have you stand over here while we adjust the lights, and then when we give you the cue we want you to follow the order to a T. We will have parade rest attention, present at attention and then contemplatively looking off into the distance. We will have someone with a marker to tell you where to look.”

“Stare contemplatively off into the distance. I don’t remember learning that one.”

“Ahh we got a smartass.” 

He stepped into place doing as the cameraman ordered, trying to look serious and imposing as directed, though Sunny and Krill had decided to make faces in the background. He actually did loose it at some point as Sunny started doing some weird improvised dancing in the background while krill stood there like it offended his sensibilities.

Eventually they got what he wanted, and they showed him some of the prototypes.

There were a few that he liked but only because they looked like vintage  movie posters from some badass naval war movie.

Thursday, June 4 

The three of them walked into the studio watching as bodies flowed past them hurrying off in all directions. Obviously their presence caused quite a stir, and Adam thought he recognized a few faces peering from the crowd, other movies stars and celebrities, but he couldn't be sure what he was seeing. And then there were the women, and men who hurried about, tall, statuesque like greek gods given life, with jaws so sharp they could cut paper, and pouty lips under wide dark eyes. 

Looking at them and then at himself, well, he felt like a dump truck next to a sports car.

Sunny on the other hand didn’t seem impressed, “I could snap them in half…. Like twigs.”

“Fighting isn’t the point Sunny, they’re just supposed to be hot.”

Krill eyed them, “Their single job is to profess the perfect mating standard?”

“Ur yeah, I guess.”

Krill snorted, Sunny shook her head ,’ What is the point of being hot if you’re also useless besides you don’t look all that different.”

He rolled his eyes. Leave it to an alien not to be able to tell what super hot humans looked like.

“I’m serious,” Sunny insisted, “You’re as tall as most of them, and more muscular than some of them, and you have a cool eye patch, so that means you win.”

He couldn’t help but smile shaking his head, “Alright, Alright, I’ll shut up.”

At that moment a woman appeared from nowhere and held out a hand, “Commander! So glad you could come, so glad.” She looked him up and down with a frown.”

“That bad huh?”

“Nothing a little wardrobe and makeup can’t fix.” She announced clapping her hands together and motioning others over as he frowned.

He frowned.

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing “

“Do I tell you how to do your job commander, no, now over to wardrobe .”

He blinked in surprise, “Ok, yes ma’am.”

He found himself sidling over to where racks and racks of clothing was hanging suddenly surrounded by the tall, statuesque people with their big eyes and pouty lips. While they were busy looking hot, he got nervous and nearly knocked over an entire rack of clothing, blushed till he was beat red, and then decided after this was all over he was going to bury himself under a rock and die.

He was mostly ignored for like twenty minutes until someone walked over, “Commander,” He was a portly little man with hair dyed frost white though his roots were growing in black. The man grabbed him by the hand and dragged him across the room, “Alright, alright, what do we have.”

He looked him over prodding t his shoulders and arms, making him turn in a circle, “Not bad, not bad at all. I can work with this. Tell me commander formal, or casual.”

“Uh casual?”

“Exactly what I was thinking! The provincial small town man feel. I like it.”

“Well I mean ok…” the little man grabbed him aggressively by the arm and pulled him around to a rack of clothing. In the end he had a pair of jeans black boots a black T-shirt and a brown leather jacket.

He frowned, “I hate to point this out, but this is literally what I am wearing.”

“No it isn’t. Yours is frumpy and sloppy and ours will make you look acceptably rugged.”

He frowned not sure if he was supposed to be offended or not, “And where am I supposed to change.”

“Right here.”

“Right here!’

“Commander, these are models, they show their bodies off for a living, none of them need a changing room, so take a leaf out of their book and stop worrying.”

This was worse than a high school locker room. Humans had never reached light speed, but he was pretty sure he at least broke the sound barrier while pulling on the new pants.

When he walked back over pulling on his jacket sunny and Krill had made themselves comfortable in a couple of the stage crew chairs, “What are you so nervous about, you looked fine.” Sonny said looking down at her implants to change music.

“You were watching me>”

“Was I not supposed to do that.” 

He felt himself turn a nice shade of cherry red, “No!.”

She shrugged, “Whatever.” 

Krill just shook his head, “You forget that neither of us wear clothes, so we do not understand your issues.”

He sighed, “Nudists.” He muttered walking towards the set, though he was immediately diverted by another person who led him over to a set of chairs and mirrors. He was pushed down into a seat and spun around and an aggressive group of stylists moved in on him. This is honestly not what he had expected when he joined the army.

He was even less impressed when they started to stick brushes in his face causing him to blink and his eyes to itch. Someone wetted down his hair and put product in it that smelled like strawberries, which, honestly he wasn’t entirely annoyed about.

From there he was finally let go and walked onto another photo set, though this one had way more lightning, way more cameras and way more props.

And of course like the awesome badass commander that he was, he stood there like a complete idiot as stiff as a board, caught like a deer in the headlights. The photographer seemed more than a little annoyed at his inability to look like anything other than sasquatch caught on a hunting camera.

“Relax.”

“This is kind of out of my element.”

“Being capture by aliens and going on space walks where you might suffocate, and you cant relax enough to take a picture.”

“To be fair, no one sees me when I am doing badass stuff, so I don’t have the social pressure of preforming well.”

They tried some more.

They told him he was smiling awkwardly, or like he was being threatened at gunpoint.

It wasn’t until Sunny started doing stupid dances behind the camera-man, again that the photographer finally started to like what he was seeing. Every time he turned to look at what Vir was smiling at, Sunny would stop dancing trying to look all innocent.

That just made him laugh.

At some point one of the people had a great idea to involve waffles, and -- like the good girl that she was -- she promptly stole the spotlight, which he was totally cool with.

Photoshoots were definitely not his thing.

He was about 100 percent sure when the photos came out they would look like his last middle school yearbook picture.

Even thinking about it made him grimace.

Friday, June 5

“And please help me to welcome our next special guest, Commander Adam Vir of the UNSC.”

His legs felt like jelly, and it took sunny nudging him to finally get him moving onto the stage. He wondered if people could tell just how bad his legs were shaking.

And there was a twitching going on in his right cheek that he just couldn't stop.

He wanted to go back to the hotel and watch dumb TV With Sunny while krill complained about the medical inaccuracies.

But here he was listening to clapping and cheering from an assembled studio crowd. He was sure he was going to do something massively stupid, like trip off the stage, or rip his pants or forget his own name, or something.

The host stood up, he was blanking on their name right now though he knew they were ridiculously famous.

He shook hands with them.

“So glad you could come commander.”

“A pleasure to be here.” He responded robotically hoping that his smile was at least somewhat convincing.”

He took a seat on the couch, resting a hand against his shaking right leg.

He was going to puke.

“So, i Heard you have been on tour  for the past two days, how are you enjoying the celebrity circuit.”

He rubbed his hands against his legs, “Do you want the real answer or the fake one?”

“Lets hear the real one.”

“Er, well it turns out I am really bad at…. Pretty much everything that’s not captaining a ship. Yesterday I did a photoshooot where I am ninety percent sure I looked like an awkward cryptid most of the time. People are going to be looking at those photos and wondering in what swamp they found me.” 

There was laughter from the crowd.

He wasn’t entirely sure if that was funny or not.

“I am sure they aren’t as bad as all that.”

He shook his head, “Pretty sure my face was like this…” He raised his hands making a wide-eyed shocked expression that had the crowd laughing again.”

The host smiled, “Commander, Forgive me for asking, but how old are you.”

He smiled sheepishly, “Um, lets just say too young and leave it at that.”

“I was sort of under the impression that commanders and admirals were….”

“Old wrinkly dudes?”

“Yeah.” 

He rubbed the back of his head, “That’s mostly true, the reason I got this position has to do with my experience with extra terrestrials.”

“I’ve heard rumors that you have aliens on board your ship. Is that true.”

“Those shouldn’t be rumors, that is entirely true. We have a twenty….three person Drev clan, a Vrul medical officer, a starborn, and some miscellaneous others.”

A muttering from the crowd, “But you were part of the Drev war, and Operation Steel eye. How did an entire Drev clan end up on your ship?”

He shrugged, “The story is complicated, but the long and short of it is, I made friends with some Drev after the war, and they adopted me into the clan.”

“Can we…. See, the prosthetic I mean” He held up his hands, “Not to be disrespectful.”

He shrugged, “sure.” Reaching down and tugging up his pant leg so the bright blue carapace glittered in the bright studio lights.

The man leaned closer, “Wow…. What…. What is that?”

“Drev carapace.” He dropped the pant leg.

“Why?”

“That is actually the reason I am adopted. A drev has to give you a gift that contains a piece of their own armor, so my best friend made this for me some time ago.” 

They talked about that for a little while. They talked about the war, they talked about his first moment on an alien planet.

“I was actually on the original mission to land on  Proxima b. I was the shuttle pilot behind Captain Kelly, though I don’t know how many people knew that.

There was a murmuring around the room.

“I know it was broadcasted live, but luckily the cameras were pointed away because when I was getting out of the shuttle, my foot slipped on the stairs.” The crowd gasped and giggled, “And I face planted right onto the surface.” 

More laughing.

“That is my legacy, the first man to take a nose dive on an alien planet.”

“I would say that your legacy contains a lot of strange instances. There are reports that you recently escaped from kidnapping by a prodigum by… Singing? How did that work?”

He rubbed the back of his head, “Well that is… that is.” he laughed nervously, “Yes that is a thing that happened. I and my friend Sunny were captured by a criminal overlord for entertainment in his little criminal syndicate. They had cages lined all along the ceiling and inside them were other humans. Turns out the Prodigum react to human singing like a drug, so I was asked to sing, luckily for me one of the woman in the other cage was a voice coach, so a few days of starving and being miserable, she taught me how to sing properly, or a little more properly, and then I sang a super sad song, distracted everyone long enough for y friend to escape and call for help.”

Gasping and more laughter around the room.

“Wow…. Your life….”

“Reads like a strange cartoon doesn’t it.”

From the crowd, “Sing for us!.”

The call was taken up a few more times.

He shook his head, “No no no, no I am not going to sing on international television. I have embarrassed myself enough this week.” 

“You now commander, you wouldn’t want to disappoint the public.”

He could feel the heat rising into his face as the rest of the crowd took up the chant.

He tried to protest, but that didn’t seem to be working.

Eventually he held up his hands “Ok, ok, but if my voice cracks…. Just don’t laugh.”

“And you were without accompaniment.”

He sighed, “Yeah it was a Capella. They didn’t exactly give me a soundtrack.” he stood taking a few deep breaths and humming to himself. His legs were shaking even worse than before.

He rubbed his hands nervously together.

The studio went very quiet.

He felt sweat trickling down his back between his shoulder blades.

He took a deep breath and….

His voice came out loud and clear, though it quivered slightly. He tried to shore it up as he continued, taking deeper breaths trying to get more control. He tried to find that place where he had been back in the cage. The sort of hopeless anguish he had tried to convey. His voice did quake a few times, but he was ok with that.

At least he didn’t do something super stupid like fall off the stage.

He cut it off hallway because his legs were shaking so bad, he thought that any worse might cause him to fall over.

The crowd began to clap as he collapsed back into his seat taking a deep breath.

“Wow, that is pretty impressive for someone who says they don’t sing. Bet the person who wrote that didn’t think it would be used to escape alien kidnappers.”

“Whatever it was, it worked. But” he lifted his hand, “I’m shaking so bad right now.”

The man shook his head, “That form someone who doesn’t shake when he flies jets at thousands of miles per hour.”

He smiled, “The jet isn’t going to judge me if my voice cracks. I think you will find aliens and airplanes are a lot less scary than humans. Don’t get me wrong humans are great , you guys just scare me half to death.” 

Saturday, June 6

A flight demonstration over the beach, which was pretty good 

Sunday, June 7

Dinner with a few important famous people

Monday, June 8 

Dinner with some politicians.

Tuesday, June 9 

He visited some UNSC bases up and down  the western coastline talking to servicemen and visiting some other people

Wednesday June, 10

The magazines came out, and they actually managed to make him look pretty good to his surprise,  though he was pretty sure the picture had been taking while Sunny was doing something with her hips that Drev hips had not been designed for, which eventually made him laugh so hard he had choked.

Thursday, June 11

This was his last day, and he had one more press conference to attend, than he could go home. He was wearing his formal uniform, captain’s cap, cords, gloves and everything else. There were at least ten microphones on the lectern in front of him, and a crowd of reporters below. Lights blinded his eyes.

Behind his back, the UNSC flag outlined him in bright blue. 

He was getting ready for more questions about the Burg war or wearing the steel eye armor.

He nodded to one of the reporters in the front.

“Commander, do you want to explain to us why, on UNSC time you were  reported as supporting an LFIL protest when you were supposed to be acting as neutral crowd control.”

He felt the blood drain right out of his face.

He was not ready for this.

Inside his brain went blank. He stammered for a second, suddenly feeling like a little kid giving a class presentation while all eyes stared at him. More cameras flashed, “I…. I was doing what I thought…. Needed to be done to keep the protest civil.”

“That was not your job!”

More yelling until the crowd was shushed, “Look, the GA wasn’t seeing any of their representative. I simply explained their side of the story to the GA, and they decided to lift the ban on their own.”

“Directly going against the policies of the UNSC was a gross breach of your contract commander, and we are all having a hard time understanding why you have not been disciplined for it.” 

“You have no idea what is on y contract. My job is to foster peace throughout the galaxy, and THAT is what I did.”

“Some people see it as a direct attack on our way of life. You are helping spread disease poor moral values throughout the galaxy.”

He felt his face burning, “What makes you think their relationships have anything to do with you NONE of them live on earth or on Mars. They do not interact with you, they do not bother you, they do not THINK about you. And no they are not spreading disease because every person who leaves earth receives a full disease panel. You are more likely to have communicable diseases than they are.” 

Uproar.

He shouldn't have said that.

“You are spreading extrial propaganda, and now that you are the face of the UNSC you are having an impact on our children, so t is your duty to uphold the values of the Human public.”

His hands were gripping white onto the lectern, “It is my job to uphold MY values and if the UNSC doesn’t like what I am doing they will fire me, so that is none of your concern.”

“Commander Vir, are you an extrail.”

The room went very silent suddenly. His heart was hammering in his chest.

“You are out of line. My personal life whatever it may entail has no bearing on my work, so you will either ask me professional questions or we are done here.”

“But you haven't denied it!” Someone else shouted.

“That question doesn't deserve an answer either way. If i tell you, that means I am justifying myself to you, which I have no desire to do, and if I were to confirm the other way, I would be bringing a personal issue into a political light, which would also be inappropriate. Either way I will not answer you. Unless there are any more questions that involve my work and not my personal life…”

He wouldn’t budge forcing them to change the subject.

His hands were shaking again, but this time it was out of anger. He had to breathe very slowly to keep himself calm enough.

***

Headlines 

Commander Vir Extrail or Normal 

SCANDAL: UNSC’s Golden boy involved with aliens?

Press conference turns to barbed comments.

LFIL Propaganda

[zabreti]

the time has finally come for me to start expressing what i have been overwhelmingly feeling for the past week, since i started to properly listen to this sunshine of a woman named joanna newsom. i want to- actually, i need to vent a little about the album ys, since it’s the one i first listened to. plus my initial contact with joanna’s work and thoughts that came with it

even though i only found out about her a few months ago, i guess everyone knows her(?); if you don’t, you should. there’s not one single moment in which i’m not mad at myself for not finding her sooner. so fyi, she’s a harpist, pianist, singer and songwriter from nevada. according to some sources, she may be the most famous harpist alive today; i really don’t know about you, but it really sounds quite badass for me.

i started searching for her stuff after watching her husband’s - andy samberg - multiple interviews, where he would be sometimes asked about their marriage. i’ve been binge watching random interviews with people i like for the last weeks, and i found myself actually watching some interviews of hers before i even got to listen to her music.

btw, look at this fucking adorable couple. just look at them for a second.

first of all, what a lovely woman! each answer, each laughter, each little thing she did on camera caused an admiration for the idea of andy and her together to grow strongly; i wasn’t even sure if it was ok for me to feel so strongly about someone else’s relationship. my curiosity grew when i started to read the comments on these videos on youtube, pretty much 100% of them being about her intelligence, her talent and how her music sounds angelical, mystical and perfectly constructed. (let it be said that it only grew more and more as i watched every single interviewer asking both andy and joanna about how different their works are, and how different they appear to be as individuals; not only was suggested that andy would probably not rise up to such an intelligent, serious taste as to fall in love with her (he doesn’t even need to say a word for anyone to realize how passionately in love he is with joanna and her entire work), but also said that no one could believe she was actually able to be a goofy, easy-going, good-humored person because of the lyrics she writes. ok, i could spend hours listing the unnecessary questions i identified in these interviews, and how i get easily annoyed by these famous hosts assuming stuff or trying to create an uncomfortable environment; and don’t even get me started on the fact that most of the interviews she was invited to would revolve around her relationship with andy. i’m choosing to let this feeling pass for now, since it’s not my focus today.)

i couldn’t help but start by saying all this since i truly adore andy’s works, and nothing feels warmer than realizing two amazing people are in love and have a family together by choice.

i mean..... ??????? c’mon. greatest couple alive. try and fight me on this.

another interesting thing i found out was that she dislikes streaming platforms similar to spotify, which probably (?) justifies the fact that i never came across her songs, since i use spotify on a daily basis and have been using it to find new artists for the last years. call me ignorant, it’s fine, truly; but i haven’t heard of similar opinions coming from artists, and it made me even more curious to know what this woman was expressing, creating, thinking. she actually told larry king: 

“spotify is a business model. it’s not good. it’s based on the idea of circumventing the payment of artists. (...) i’m not opposed to streaming. i understand that the world is shifting and that the way music is valued and monetized is shifting, and i’m ok with that. and i’m even ok with people not paying for music (...), i just wish that there was a better way to do it that didn’t only pay a company. (...) i haven’t heard of one [alternative to spotify] that seems built the way that i would prefer it to be built.”

one of spotify owners (owners or directors, idek and idec) even replied to her many critics, but she never changed her mind or retreated from defending even her honest, harsh comments about how spotify is “like a villainous cabal of major labels”. for me, that’s a badass woman. not only for expressing herself without giving a damn about anyone who might be offended in this process, but also for choosing the path that felt ethical and worthy, and being recognized all over the world for her talent while following her own ways. i know, right? simply awesome.

there i was, reading the endless comments on her interviews’ videos and wondering what the fuss was all about. there was nothing left for me to do other than to actually start listening to her songs. i could have done it by looking up her discography and starting from her first project, but somehow i stomped into the ys album, which was released in 2006, in youtube itself.

first of all, would you look at this freaking cover?

i found it absolutely gorgeous in each detail; in fact, i really wish to know if there are meanings in the little specific parts of the painting. maybe there aren’t any and i’m just trying to create a more complex joanna in my mind? sure, sounds like me. or maybe there are lots of ‘em and she already said it on camera and i simply missed this video? sure, sounds possible. i won’t lie, i spent so much time thinking about this cover... maybe way too much time. alright, on we go.

there are 5 tracks on the album: emily, monkey & bear, sawdust and diamonds, only skin and cosmia.

at first, i didn’t quite understand what i was listening to. and i’m not talking about the lyrics, i’m talking about the whole idea of the album, the artist, the genre. the conjunction formed by her high pitches and soft, delicious vocal variations, surrounded lovingly by the harp and the violins was very mysterious to me. at first, i wouldn’t be encouraged to keep listening to her. but something kept me there, seated, staring at the screen and paying attention to each second of it. it was an experience. a real transportation. i searched for the lyrics on genius, and anyone that would pass by my bedroom’s open door would see me completely enamored by what i was listening to, like a concentrated kid being told an epic, adventurous, huge, beautiful and complex story. that is exactly how i felt: in the middle of a field, picturing each image she described in the song; each figure, each feeling. she described it all in a way that made me wonder how can someone describe a dream so vividly, how can someone describe anything so perfectly, so fully, and not sound redundant, not sound at all boring. the way the melody and the lyrics fit together, as a gift perfectly wrapped and tightly involved in the most beautiful way. i repeat: it was an experience. it is an experience. this is not something you can listen to at any given time, at any given place; i would not dare to not pay attention each time i would plan to listen to it. this is how seriously submerged i felt by joanna in that moment; in that entire day.

all of this, all of this immersion, all of this dream-like state in which i found myself in, kept growing its roots in me throughout the entire album, in a way i needed to show someone - anyone - joanna before i even got to finish the five songs; and the first one that came near me happened to be my mother. while listening, she actually found it quite pleasing, “like some old movie’s soundtrack” when listening to emily, “like an 1960′s melody” when listening to sawdust and sand, and on she went about the entire album. and this got me thinking about how i would describe her genre; of course, after following her on bandcamp i found out i was actually listening to some folk/pop/avant-garde/baroque pop/chamber folk/indie stuff. sounds about right, but at the same time not right at all, for some reason. i believe it’s fair to say that joanna has a magical, rare quality to her music that makes it different to each one listening to it. i’ve said it too much and i’ll say it again: it’s an experience, a complete, true one. it ressonates with deep, personal places. and, strangely, it makes many people describe the feeling that urges to grow inside their hearts as “home”; and i share this exact same sensation.

i really don’t know if it makes any sense, but see: i cherish my alone time probably more than anything in the world. i have learned to be my own best friend in many ways, and being by myself in some quiet days, at my house, reading, listening, watching and creating is when i can truly be myself. with that said, listening to this album, i felt at home. it made me feel even more alone, and i mean it in the most loving, warm, hypnotizing way. 

the ys album is a relatively quick production to be heard, even though it feels like you’ve been gone for hours, days, weeks on end while listening to it. the amount of literary, historic and philosofical references in the lyrics is magically overwhelming; i simply wasn’t able to snap out of it for a long time, and i have, to this day, re-listened to the album about 5 times. still reading the lyrics again and again, still grasping at some expressions faintly but amazed, still finding out about hidden and not so hidden meanings behind each track. still defining it, every single day.

i hope for the great discoveries i feel like pursuing from her work, and the diverse new singers, song-writers, harpists, pianists, violinists, chellists and musicists in general i’ll try to find, understand and support from now on. i’m thankful for finding out how much i love the mix between an orchestra-like atmosphere and a sweet, honest voice ringing in my ears; and how the words assembled together feels like a psychography.

i thank the universe every single day for the opportunity to discover people like joanna newsom.

[harksness]

Olivia Octavius x Reader

A/N: I got a lot of people telling me they’d read my Doc Ock fic so here it is! I hope you guys like it, I'm so sorry I made you guys wait so long. I got nervous about uploading it so I kept rereading and editing it, but here it is now! I didn't have any prompts for this fic so I came up with something on the spot, I hope its okay! If you want me to write more let me know!!! xxx

Ring...

Ring...

Ring...

“Hello there-! Just kidding. Olivia Octavius here and this is my voicemail. I’m probably super busy doing science-y stuff, or making out with my girlfriend, so leave a message and maybe I’ll call you back. Maybe I won’t.”

You groaned in frustration, hitting the end call button. Olivia promised she would be home in time for your date of Netflix and popcorn, there's a movie she's wanted to watch for awhile now and you suggested to watch it together. She excitedly agreed, but now she was going on three hours late. She hasn’t responded to any of your texts and calls and you’re getting really worried, but still you made a mental note to bring up the “making out with my girlfriend” part of her voicemail with her later.

Chewing your bottom lip nervously, you stood from the couch, leaving behind some unwatched Netflix movie and an empty bowl of popcorn you ate up over the course of the last three hours of waiting, deciding to go out and look for her. Maybe she fell asleep working again, or she stopped by the book store on her way home. She’s done it before, and spent hours picking out books and reading through them. 

She’s going to be the death of you.

Just as you slipped on your shoes, you heard the door fling open, slamming against the wall with a loud BANG! and knocking down some photos in the process. You turned your head so fast it’s surprising you didn’t break your neck, and there you see your girlfriend. She’s a mess, dirt smudged all over her suit and on her cheeks, hair tangled, and her clothes torn. She’s somehow even missing a boot.

Standing up straight, you were preparing yourself to scold her, but she hurriedly ran past you and flung herself over and onto the couch, grabbing the remote and turning it to the news.

“Babe! Look! I’m on the evening news!”

Liv pointed at the TV excitedly, the biggest grin on her face. You glanced up noticing the headline: “Who is the Octopus Woman?” the poor quality cell phone video showed your girlfriend and Spider-man fighting it out in a crowded street. “Hah! That fight was a doozy. And, that kid.. Is fascinating. His powers are fascinating, he has some sort of spider-senses, so he could sense my moves. It was really hard to fight against him. I’m gonna be sore for weeks, babe.”

She finally looked up at you, wiggling her eyebrows. You sighed, and after a moment decided to laugh at the silly gesture instead of stay mad at her. You sat down next to your dorky girlfriend as she started to ramble on about her opponent and her fight against him. She slung her arm around your shoulders, and you couldn’t help but admire how adorable she is when she gets excited. Her eyes are so bright with excitement, her lopsided grin wide as she goes on. You’d ask her questions when you could, and she would respond eagerly. When the clip ended, they started discussing who they thought this “Octopus Woman” is, and Olivia would laugh loudly and correct their theories as if they could hear her. You just smiled and laughed along with her, snuggling into her chest as she leaned back onto the couch. She started to absentmindedly draw circles on your skin as she debated with the news hosts. Olivia froze in the middle of a sentence, turning to look at you.

“Um.. Why did you make popcorn?”

You raised an eyebrow at her. For a genius, she says some silly things sometimes.

“Well, my love, popcorn is a kind of snack food that people typically enjoy eating when they watch movies, or just because it’s delicious.”

She laughed nervously before responding.

“I mean.. I missed our date, didn’t I?”

She said quietly, and you nodded. She sighed, slipping her arm from around your shoulders as she sat up, pulling the tie from her hair, shaking it out as it fell down her back like a curtain. 

“I’m sorry.”

Olivia said, looking back at you. You sat up, wrapping your arms around her waist and leaning your head against her shoulder.

“It’s okay, Liv. I know you’ll make it up to me, you always do. Plus you missed it for a pretty awesome reason.”

She turned in your grasp so she could properly look at you, her intense gaze would have put you off if you weren’t used to it by now.

“It’s not okay. Yeah, fighting Spider-man was pretty badass but I would have rather been here with you. I’m so sorry, you put up with so much. Me being late all the time, missing dates, staying up late working which results in me falling asleep at work. I do that a lot! I’m never there to-”

You shushed her guilty rambling. She’s right, she does fall asleep working a lot, but she is being dramatic. She hasn’t missed many dates, or stayed late at work for months.

“This is the first date you’ve missed in months.”

She looked at you for a moment, thinking about what to say. 

“That doesn’t make it okay.”

She settled for grumbling that under her breath, pouting slightly. You don’t think you’ve ever seen someone try so hard to make themselves look guilty. You laughed.

“Liv, I accepted that you’d miss a few dates since the first night you fell asleep at work. When you became Spider-man’s most feared nemesis, ‘Octopus Woman’, I just accepted it even more. Accidents happen sometimes, sometimes we forget. It’s okay.”

You tried to keep the conversation lighthearted by teasing her with the name the media gave her. She smiled warmly at you, sighing. You could tell she gave up on trying to convince you she was guilty.

“You’re too forgiving.”

“What, do you want me to punish you?”

Now it was your turn to wiggle your eyebrows suggestively. Her jaw dropped slightly, shocked at your dirty comment, but after a moment she just laughed softly.

“I think I might love that actually. Switch things up a bit.”

She leaned in towards you as she spoke those words, placing her lips on your own in a soft, sweet kiss. After all the time you’ve been dating, every time she kisses you, or does something mushy and romantic, she still manages to turn you into a lovestruck teenager all over again. Every time, she manages to make your heart jump out of your chest and your stomach turn to jelly. You chuckled at her words before your eyes fluttered close, bringing up your hands to cup her cheeks as you returned the kiss. She hummed softly at your touch, your fingers caressing over the smudges of dirt from her fight. 

You pulled back reluctantly and she pouted again. You scoffed at her dorkiness before tucking a stray lock of her frizzy brown hair behind her ear.

“My darling, I would absolutely love to take you up on that offer, but you’re a mess. What happened? Why are you so dirty?”

Her eyes lit up in realization as she felt the dirt on her cheeks.

“I forgot about that.. We fought a lot, eventually I got thrown into some mud.”

“Well next time you see Spider-man, tell him he’s gonna have to deal with me for dirtying up my girlfriend.”

She laughed manically, watching you as you stood from your stop on the couch.

“Now THAT would be terrifying, even for Spider-man.”

You returned her laugh, and held your hand out to her. 

“C’mon, Doc Ock. You need a bath. A long, hot bath.”

Your girlfriend held your hand as she stood. 

“Yeah. You’d be surprised over how much mud is actually on me right now.”

[marsmoonqueen]

There’s Nothing to Fix

Professor!Negan x Reader

Warning: Long as fuck. Nothing else I can really think about.

Prompt / Summary: Reader is Negan’s favorite student. How is he going to fix the things between both of them?

Note:  Well, this is the second part of “ Sleeping Test” Hope you like it! 

A week passed after the “incident” with Professor Negan. A week in which Y/n did not go to any of her Mythology classes, with the excuse that she was sick. In those 5 days, she had enough time to think properly and heal a little. A part of her wanted to go back to Negan and apologize, to ask him to forgive her and take all what he said back, to beg him to keep thinking of her as his favorite student. But the other part, the prideful, spiteful and choleric part of herself was wrathful, and wanted him to regret telling her that, to regret making her cry. Because it wasn’t her fault. Yeah, she partied all night long, the night before her test, but everyone has done that at least once. And everyone has done that because it feels good. Because we are humans and we deserve to be carefree and wild for a night. And even after all, she didn’t regret going to that party to support her best friends.

“When are you going back to your classes?” Tyler asked her. They were in her room. Y/n was lying in her stomach doing the Mythology’s homework to catch up, and he was in her couch reading some Biology stuff.

“What do you mean? I haven’t missed a class since Wednesday, and I caught up with the subjects already.”

“You haven’t missed a single class since then? You sure?” He insisted.

“Shut up.”

“You know you will have to go back one day, right?” Tyler tried to sound comprehensive.

Y/n didn’t respond.

“And that day will come sooner than later.”

She stopped writing and looked at him for the first time since he started talking.

“I’ll go next week.”

“Well, that’s awesome, and so convenient because in two days is Monday again and-”

“No, I mean, next week, after this one.” The girl interrupted him.

“Oh hell no.” Tyler got up from his spot in the couch, walked to his friend and took her wrists, making her get out of bed gently but firmly.

“Tyler what the-”

“You, my friend, are going in two days to that stupid class, no next week, no next month, two days.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Oh, you don’t want to, but you do want to fail de class, eh?  Stop being a cry baby. Yes, he made fun of you in front of, what? 50 people.”

“52, thanks for remind me.” She answered with a bitter tone as she got off his hands and sited down in her bed.

“Oh shut up. What’s the big deal with that? Do you think you are the only one that has passed through that?  Don’t you remember Glenn?  The boy is always getting detention for talking too much with Maggie!”

“It’s… It’s just not the same.”

“Then enlighten me! What’s the difference?”

“He… he had never talked to me like that before. That was the first time that he raised his voice at me.”

Tyler’s eyes softened and he took sit next to her to hug her.

“I know, but… you can’t let him get away with this.  Would you rather avoid him for a month and then have to see him in the summer because you failed the class for non-attendance?”

“No, I would rather not to.”

“Then woman up! Go to his class, show him how intelligent and badass you can be at the same time and end this. For you are just hurting yourself.  Do you really think that he is sad?  Or that he regrets yelling at you?  I’ll answer that for you, no, he doesn’t.  So, go get some pants, or a skirt if you prefer, and do your god damn job.”

  But, truth to be told, Negan was sad. He regretted yelling at his girl, and more than that, he hated that he was the reason why she spilled tears. All he said, all he screamed, he really didn’t mean it. How could he be serious about her being a wanna be Barbie?

It’s just that… he was so mad and… and disappointed. Disappointed because she went to that party with that boy who couldn’t treat her half as good as he could. Disappointed because she chose that son of a bitch instead of him… but again, she really didn’t choose anyone, she just went to a party. Her only mistake was not studying, and even then, she had an acceptable score.

Why?

Why did he have to be so rude to her? Why did he have to make fun of her score in front of the class? Why did it affect him that much?

“You know, you could apologize.” Professor Rick Grimes said as he entered the room and left some papers in Negan’s desk.

“What are you talking about Ricky Dicky?”

“I’m talking about the student to whom you yelled like she had murdered a puppy just because she went to a party a day before.” He answered taking sit in the desk, facing the chairs and giving his back to Negan, who raised his brow but said nothing about the action.

“Shut the fuck up.”

“I mean it-”

“Well, how the god damn hell am I supposed to apologize if she keeps skipping classes? Eh? You have any ideas mate?”

“She can’t skip classes forever.” Was his only answer.

Negan growled and rested his head on his hands, frustrated. “That’s not what I asked.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not really sure what you are asking for.”

“Help.” Rick turned his head to see Negan, who was already looking at him. “I’m not sure of what to do.”

Grimes noticed the difference between the Negan of last week and this one. The one in front of him looked like a living corpse, with bags under his irritated and red eyes and everything. He noticed everything since the beginning, but blamed the stress. Just now he realized that the stress had nothing to do with it.

“Why did you yell at her?” He asked curiously, after some minutes of silence, turning his gaze to the front again. “It’s not like any of your other students haven’t done that.  Or worse.”

“It’s different with her.”

“Why?”

“She has a lot of fucking potential, and I don’t want her to-”

“Waste it. Yeah, that’s what I was told you told her.” Rick interrupted, standing up and facing Negan with his arms supporting his weight on the desk. “Now, tell me the real reason why you lost your shit.”

Negan froze. “Wha- What are you talking about Dicky? I didn’t lose my shit.” He got up and gave his back to Grimes.

“Yeah, of course.” Rick rolled his eyes. “And it has nothing to do with her boyfriend using her and her being a… how did you called her?”

The man swallowed hard. “A fake-doll” He whispered feeling guilty.

“Oh, yeah that.” His friend pushed, trying to make Negan cooperate with him. But he only managed to make him sight and look at his shoes. “Negan, look at me man.” He did. “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong. C’mon, talk to me.”

“You want me to fucking talk? Okay, then lets fucking talk.”

  “Hey, Y/n, it’s good to see you here again.” Said Beth smiling, when she arrived to her Monday Mythology class. She just smiled back.

Other classmates also greeted her, telling her about what she missed and all commenting about Negan’s bad humor the anterior week. Once more, she just smiled, made smooth comments and avoided the topics about the teacher, feeling safer every minute about the fact that nobody was bringing the elephant of the room to the conversations.

All the laughs and smiled faded when a loud blow sounded. It was the door from which a frustrated Negan entered, as he passed by, he gave them all a quick look, and went straight to his desk, demanding silence.

“Hope you have read today’s topic, because it can be easy as hell if you did, if not… you’ll be fucked.”  Then he turned around and froze. He saw her.

Y/n held his gaze when his eyes met her, she didn’t make any expression, nor got flushed or flinched, just raised a brow, and that was enough to punch Negan out of his state.

She was mad and wasn’t going to let that anger go away easily. She had finally understood that it wasn’t her mistake, and was going to pay him back with her indifference.

The two hours’ class passed slow for both of them. Negan hadn’t lied when he said they all would be fucked if they hadn’t read the topic, for it was a complex one. Y/n did not participate willingly in any question he asked or in any activity he dictated. But Negan asked her the majority of the questions and asked for her point of view in the activities. She responded to all with a correct answer, but with a monotone tone and expression.

When the second bell finally ringed, she got up and without rush she leaved with her friends around her asking about her last week. She didn’t give Negan time to ask her to stay, but he doubted she would have.

 The week passed with similarity. In the beginning Negan though she was acting that way just to make him feel guilty. But she laughed with her friends and lived her life normally. She didn’t even try to avoid him, and when she saw him outside class, she just ignored him. Of course she greeted him in front of other teachers, but her face never changed. All of her was screaming at him that she didn’t care. At least not anymore.

  Friday’s class arrived with rain, a relaxed Y/n and an equally stressed Negan; and also a test. The instructions were the same, except for a little variation. Nobody was going home until everybody got their test was graded, and the tests were going to be grated after everyone had finished. Everybody thought the same “Bullshit”

Usually Negan would let the go after they finished a test, but this was the second time he changed his strategy, the fist being the night of the “incident”.

Y/n gave it back a little before the second hour started, and spend the rest of it in her laptop making a book report, with Negan’s eyes glued to her.

After everyone gave them back, Negan finished grading them and started to distribute them. One in one her classmates were exiting the room after taking their tests. Y/n had already packed everything except for a book, and was currently listening music and reading in her chair in a careless position. She seemed bored and wanting to go out, not because his presence made her nervous or something, but because she was disgusted, or tired. Or that’s what Negan thought.

But Y/n was an excellent actress. She was sweating and her heart was going to an abnormal rate. She couldn’t concentrate in her book and had to listen to her favorite band and hum her significant songs to avoid panicking. And being the last one in the room with her professor didn’t help at all.

“This is yours, very well sweetheart.” Negan said out loud, looking at her eyes.

Y/n froze; she couldn’t move from her place. Her eyes traveled from her book to Negan’s eyes to her phone, and changed the song with her shaking hands. Of course Negan didn’t see this, he just saw how she ignored him.

The girl was having difficulties finding a song that could calm her down enough and give her the strength she needed to go and take her test. Finally, she decided to take it from his desk after he had gone.

“Your test pretty girl.” Negan said putting the paper above her book. He was in front of her with a nervous smile. One she had never seen in him. “Well-fucking-done honey.”

“I heard you the first time sir.  I just thought that I was fake-doll now, no sweetheart, no pretty girl, nor honey.” She said, with a cynical smile. She herself, got surprised by her outburst, but regretted nothing as she got up from her sit and took her bag in one hand with her book, test and phone in the other.

Negan who was shocked, took her by the elbow. “Wait a motherfucking second, and stop acting like that!” He whisper-yelled at her.

“Acting like what?” Y/n said, tuning to face him fully, and taking off her headphones in one go. “I’m not acting in any specific way, sir.”

“Stop it! See, you are fucking doing it fucking again!”

“Fucking doing what? Eh?” She got closer to him. Her face red, his jaw clenched, her eyes teary, his eyes darker than usual, her body slightly shaking, his tense as hell.

“Stop fucking acting like-”

“Like fucking what?” She interrupted him. At this point their noses were centimeters away from each other.

“Like you don’t fucking care! Like I didn’t hurt the hell out of you!” Negan growled, with the same tone he used that day.

The girl in front of him gasped “That’s what you want? To know that you hurt me? That you made me cry?” She broke, her expression changed, and her eyes were at the verge of shedding tears.

“No- no, sweetheart that’s not what I meant.” He said softly, regretting had yelled –again- at her. “Hey, hey, no, come here.” He gently pulled her from her elbow, that he hadn’t let go, until she was between her arms. When she realized what had happened it was already too late. His arms imprisoned her.

“Let me go!” She whispered as she withed in his arms.

“No, no, you and I are going to stay like this until we fix this.” He told her as he moved carefully to his desk. Once there he leaned in his desk to have some support and continued hugging her. Y/n had already forgotten the idea of fighting and was just crying her heart out in Negan’s chest.

“There’s- There’s nothing to fi-fix” She managed to say between hiccups.

“Yes there it is… you know that, sweetie.” He whispered to her ear.

“You haven’t even apologized.”

“I know-”

“You were so rude, you made me feel bad with myself.” The girl said raising her head to see his, her red puffy eyes connecting with his, making him feel guiltier.

“I know baby, I’m- I’m-”

“Why would you do that?!” Y/n pushed herself away from him, but it was pointless, he didn’t let her get away.

“Hey, hey, okay let me explain… I, well, I had a-”

“A bad day? That’s why you treated me like that?! Like I was the worse trash.”

“You are no trash-”

“I know that!” She yelled again.

Negan was losing her, she was panicking and getting angrier. The peace and willingness to hear his version was fading fast because he couldn’t get his shit together. Y/n was looking at him and trying harder to get out of his embrace. Even though it felt like heaven, he wasn’t going to apologize, or explain. Being there was pointless.

Just when she was going to finally scape his arms, his lips connected with hers. She tried to resist. But the devil won in the end, and she deepened the kiss, dropping her bag and book pass her arms behind his neck. A melody came to her brain and made her smile in the kiss. Damn his lips were addictive, but air was necessary.

“I’m sorry, baby. I wish I hadn’t yelled at you, it was a bad fucking day, and… and I was mad at you.” He said when they got their breath back.

“At me?  Why?” She looked at his eyes with a curious and innocent expression, all anger gone.

“Why? I dunno, maybe because you didn’t fucking study for the test I god damn told you to study for, just because you wanted to go to a party with your idiot of a boyfriend.” Even though that was the reason that made him blow a week prior, he couldn’t find in himself anger to lecture her, instead, he kissed her nose as he spoke softly.

“My boyfriend? That’s all? You- you were jealous?” Y/n asked with a goofy smile. Negan’s lips were making her incoherent.

“Yeah, that damn idiot. And no, I was not.” The man stopped petting her so she could focus, and maybe, tell him what he was dying to hear.

“Ty is not my boyfriend, just a very good friend, I don’t like him that way.” She said all serious. Negan studied her for a moment, then broke in a smile.

“Oh, really? Then who do you like that way? Mmh?” He continued placing his lips in her cheeks and neck, checking from time to time the door, to be sure no one was coming.

“Well- I- mhh.”

“I don’t know that fella.” He tickled her sides.

“You! Agh, stop it.” She laughed.

“Fan-fucking-tastic sweetheart. That’s what I wanted to hear.” He kissed her again. “Now, why don’t you let me repay you with a date and more kisses? Mhh, what do you say beautiful?”

Y/n giggled. “I would love that.”

<3

@nijiru @neganscherryblue

Thanks for all!

[theskyexists]

she-ra season 3

i LOVE scorpia

this show has a bit of tonal issue in my opinion. they keep going back to a very teen-parent relationship between the trio and mum - when there’s a terrible war on.

people get killed but generally it really does just feel presented like a game or a fight about curfew and sometimes thats a bit jarring. (or is it strange to expect the graveness of situations to bring out a quality of sincerity even during puberty?)

i don’t really understand why Adora would jump to the conclusion that Shadoweaver showing up means she’s changed

but Adora, you ARE stupid. lol

but the rest is too. ‘don’t listen to her Adora’ why not? is it so terrible to be from another world? the stakes are quite murky

Entrapta’s comments really go to show how shit of a leader Hordak really is. HOw the hell did he manage to create this empire when he’s so damn incompetent? OOOHHHHHH CATRA SAID IT!!! just after i wrote that sentence she SAID IT

Hordak is an idiotic beserker

so why didn’t they take their unicorn flying steed?

‘well yeah - but you said that while saving us - so - you can’t be all bad. what do ya say’

i love the voice actor for Adora lolololol. she is clearly having SO much fun.

and Adora has a small crush on Huntara and absolutely ruins her chances with the barmaid by popping up. totally did not expect that voice for Huntara tho

entraptak is.....real. wtf. it’s.....cute. Hordak is just trying to be Prime. Failing at it miserably, lashing out. jfc it’s an endless cycle  isn’t it.

‘know about she-ra? ahahahaha! I AM she-ra!’ THAT WAS BADASS. i love it when Adora is being rowdy and cocky

oh wow reversed chin-tilt with sword, and then lifting her head and soulful look? She-Ra really has chemistry with ALL the Princesses.

I LOVE scorpia. i loved that moment when Catra pushed her away nobly - i love how Catra has plausible deniability to herself. Love how the narrative reinforces that Catra is literally the most competent person around etc. (if they could get her for the Rebellion it would be over and out but hey)

surely Mara cut Aetheria off to save it from Hord-Prime’s war? Light-Hope wanted She-Ra to join the other She-Ra’s (’this world’s she-ra’) in the battle but she decided to hide the world and people she loved, breaking most of the magic-tech system. What I don’t understand is - the First Ones lived on Aetheria, but the people that populate it now are a different quality of organics, they can only survive in a specific atmosphere. The princesses are living components in the balancing of the tech-magic system...what are the people of the world? We don’t realise this most of the time, but all of them except for princesses, are animal-humanoids (and...kyle.....). What does this mean? Did the animal life unintentionally evolve? Were they an underclass - simply part of the system? (seems too edgy for this show).

‘why was i taken from my family? why was i forced to become a soldier?’ this line was GOOD

yesss!!! Mara! i love her already.

Scorpia is blushing lol. I am also liking Catra being completely off her shits careless and powerful.

Catra and Scorpia bonding yesssss!!!

ohhhhhHHH the magic of the planet is something of Aetheria itself! the tech is just latched on??? First Ones were colonisers (’settlers’)! but AETHERIA is what’s dangerous to the rest of the universe!!! (because it can be used as a weapon??) probably Aetheria would die as a result?

‘maybe it’s been a week, maybe it’s been thousands of years’ that is so fuckin sad

Catra being so hung up on acknowledgement is her greatest tragedy.

wow Scorpia really proposed a super cool thing and it could rearrange Catra’s WORLD

I want this show to stop repeating the same cycle after this last one time of Catra going: WAAAAHHH Adora made my life so hard now im going to do something inadvisable that might destroy us all as payback

Adora’s greatest tragedy is that she’s so self-centred that she doesn’t understand Catra at all.

if they have Angella and Glimmer fight and then have her mum die before they’ve made up i’ll be very upset (i’m not really loving Glimmer and Bow in this so far - they’re toeing the edge of annoying). and the fights about having to have plans and fighting or not fighting due to the fear of losing people - that’s always been uhhhh - well they always got away safe with shit plans and i just really don’t think that they’re meshing the commander-queen and daughter-mother stuff well. because there’s literally NO ONE ELSE in charge. there’s some magical queen and some villagers and a barely present guard. where’s the court, the advisors, anybody??

it would be silly to trust Shadoweaver (she did mercilessly torture you - no psychological effects from that stupidly enough), but i am hard-pressed to think of a reason she’d betray them.

still don’t understand how Frosta went from icy, frosty queen to idk a kid. i mean she can be both, but it was weird to see no uhhhh connection at all

I think this show is about how every single character is held back by their inability to grow and grow closer to others. Glimmer has disobeyed Angella SO often, why is she surprised at all? Why can’t she be honest and say: I am afraid! I am afraid I will lose you! I am afraid of that pain and I want you to take the risks seriously, to plan for them. I want to protect you!

That Glimmer would work with her torturer is of course a ridiculous notion. that is to say - if that kind of thing was properly given weight.

why fight Catra??? Why not just teleport to Hordak’s inner sanctum?? it’s stupid. why waste all the damn power

glad entrapta finally heard from Adora that she didn’t mean to leave her behind though.

‘you can’t fight them they’re too strong!’ ?? Glimmer just got sucked dry tho? like what. the way this show always postpones its fights on shitty pretexts is ....acceptable but pretty roll-eye-y

Catra burning all her bridges.

“there’s no choice” fucking bullshit, just teleport lol.

lol Catra feeds the anti-princess propaganda right back to Hordak. that’s poetic but jfc i really hope next season is going to be a little less *shuffles deck, cards end up in a million different hands, literally all cards feel betrayed*

so catra is willing to pull the annihilation switch on the universe just to one-up Adora just this once LOLLLL. if only somebody hadn’t ingrained a deeply seated inferiority complex in this cat

anyway i want her to feel the consequences of all that for a change

that animation on everything going VWWWWWWOOOOOOMM darkness was awesome

OHHHH the next episode has an awesome premise.

can i just say that i LOVE this episode. it’s so damn creepy and cool and kind of nostalgic. and i LOVE that it’s Scorpia and Adora who are remembering things - the ones closest to Catra. AND THEN THEY BOND!!!! and hold hands!!!!

reliving the betrayals. love the way the memories hit people, the way Catra goes from her old self, their playfulness, their casual violence ratcheting up at each other because that’s how they’ve been trained - to defend themselves, and then - the true Catra, the hysteria, gone so far off the deep-end. “i’d rather let the whole world be destroyed than let you win.” geeze that’s rooted deep.

angella and mica are so cuteeee. but angella really hasn’t changed has she? no tolerance for difficulty. she honestly is a bit of a shit queen. thought that was bc of grief and trauma but eh

he puts a truth spell on her but then he doesn’t believe her? does he think she’s crazy?

don’t think i’ve ever shipped something as hard in this show as Mica/Angella. i just LOVE royal woman x good man apparently. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. god why didn’t she kiss him on the lips>????

oh SHIT, MARA IS STILL TRAPPED INSIDE THE PORTAL LIKE ENTRAPTA SAID - THAT’S WHY SHE SAID: HAS IT BEEN A DAY OR THOUSANDS OF YEARS?

so...is there a reason that Angella is not faded?

wow that speech about bravery and cowardice. she truly. TRULY, ok they made something of her. I HATE losing Angella because the voice acting is INCREDIBLE. but that was actually an amazing end. (and she got to see Mica for the last time, at least)

ok so if i lost my mum forever i would be SCREAMING in pain but i guess these itsy bitsy tears from Glimmer will do?

that look of pure determination and anger and mercilessness in Adora’s eyes at Catra? nice. wish Catra didn’t go into a sulk at it but kept her goddamn FEAR (Adora was totally right, she vanquished another demon from her past - everything Catra did, she CHOSE to do. and her keeping on blaming others is simply - cowardice)

[mymoonjin1]

My thoughts on Crimes of Grindelwald

I know there are loads of comments on this already but I too need to rant for a while. I’ll try to finish this off with some constructive criticism, though. (I’d like to add that it’s perfectly fine if you did enjoy this film, this is just MY opinion.)

I don’t even know where to start. Listen, I am a huge Harry Potter fan, always have been, even considering a tattoo. And I actually really liked the first Fantastic Beasts movie. It had its flaws, but overall it was a good story. But most importantly: the movie can stand on itself. It has its own plot. Newt arrives in New York and accidentally lets loose a few magical creatures. The goal: finding the creatures whilst figuring out who is causing the muggle attacks. Simple, fun. They mention Hogwarts and Dumbledore, stuff we’re familiar with, but not overly so. It’s done cleverly. Now. Cut to Crimes of Grindelwald. Oh, boy. From uncomfortable close-ups to just plain weird editing this film is a goddam mess, not to mention the nonsensical storylines. No matter how effing cute nifflers are. Let’s break it into themes. 

Grindelwald

The movie ended and I still had no idea what Grindelwald’s crimes were. He “escapes” (He had already switched places with Abernathy, so why was that whole scene even there? A dark, evil wizard like him surely would just call Abernathy's sacrifice necessary for the cause or whatever), his French sidekick kills a family in order to keep their house and then he gives a speech. That’s it. What were his crimes?! He’s already a “notorious" dark wizard, what has he done besides spreading the word? Also, what is his actual ideology here? I’m sorry but that speech was a bit lame and again, confusing. Is he opposed to World War II or is he gonna take advantage of it? Kill all muggles or only those responsible for the war? But most importantly, we see Grindelwald for like ten minutes during the whole movie, why is his name even on the freaking title? I liked when he held his wand like he was directing an orchestra whilst killing everyone with the blue fire. That’s pretty much it.  Also, I’m not getting into Johnny Depp’s controversy cause that’s a whole other issue, but I think it reflected on his performance, like he was being too cautious, or something, at least that was my perception. I mean, whatever the circumstances, you’re already playing the role, then play the goddam role. 

Queenie

*Sigh* I honestly do not understand how they managed to turn a sweet and caring character into this whiny and annoying person, doing things so out of character. The love potion crap. Are you freaking kidding me?! Why was this necessary? Never mind about Jacob’s consent when I can just roofie him, kidnap him and force him to marry me! I’m the victim here, I just want to marry the one I love! Just… whyyyy? Also, she’s a freaking mind reader. How could a mind reader get brainwashed into joining a dark wizard? Because he preaches... free love? Ummm, does he?! Also, why did she freak out on the street? It was never mentioned before that her mind could get overwhelmed in crowds. It would make sense, but it was so out of nowhere it came out weird, and that scene just takes too damn long. Then the movie forgets about her for like twenty minutes to suddenly show her at the French witch’s house, like sure, I’ll go for a cup of tea with a total stranger, why not? Ugh. 

Dumbledore 

Ok, I actually liked Jude Law’s performance. The issue is that he, just like Grindelwald, is barely in the movie. We already knew that their relationship wasn’t going to be explored in this film, but it was still disappointing. We only got a “we were closer than brothers” and some hand-holding seen through the Mirror of Erised, WHICH APPARENTLY CAN NOW SHOW MEMORIES TOO, BUT OKAY. And please explain to me how is a blood pact different from an Unbreakable Vow? I get the aesthetic but surely an Unbreakable Vow is more convenient since it can’t be undone. Dumbledore suggested at the end of the movie that he might be able to destroy the blood pact. Wouldn’t have Grindelwald made sure to not leave anything to chance? Also, when did they make this blood pact, before the duel that killed Ariana? Why were they able to duel then? It can’t have been after, they wouldn’t have been exactly on speaking terms after that. That blood pact storyline took away the complexity of Dumbledore’s motives about not wanting to go after Grindelwald. Why wasn’t it enough that he once loved him and couldn’t bear to confront him after all that happened between them? That was a perfectly good explanation. This whole thing completely downplayed their relationship, like “yeah, now I just need to figure out how to destroy this necklace and I’ll be free to duel and possibly kill him, yay!” *Sighs*

Leta and Yusuf

What was the real purpose for these characters? We were lead to believe that the Lestrange family history was going to have this awesome revelation/plot twist and it ended up going nowhere. Also, the (insufferably long) scene where they finally explain the whole thing was so overcomplicated and confusing AF. For some reason, Leta’s dad (a rapist) sent her and her half-brother to the US, but since the baby wouldn’t shut up Leta switched him with another baby who happened to look exactly like him, and that baby was Creedence. Uh…okay? But then Leta returned to the UK and studied at Hogwarts? Sooo was that meant to be only a cool summer abroad? And how did she know about her half-brother Yusuf? How did they meet? Who made that freaking prophecy? Yusuf made that unbreakable vow with… whom, exactly? Himself? Arrgggg. Yusuf seemed to be an important character, I mean he locks Tina and Newt in a dungeon (they escape immediately but ok), but no. He spends almost the entirety of the movie unconscious only to appear conveniently at the cemetery to reveal he’s Leta’s half-brother. Just. Why ANY OF IT if later on we’d find out Creedence isn't even a Lestrange? GOD. 

So, back to Leta. She switched the babies (in the Titanic?) and also befriended Newt at Hogwarts. What was her relevance in the present? Why wasn’t the whole "ending up marrying his brother" explained? That’s a flashback that would’ve been useful, unlike the other ones. It could’ve added so much more to the relationship between the three of them, specially Theseus and Newt. But it was never mentioned. Also, why was she hated by everyone at school? Were all the Lestrange hated or was it only her? And THEN, FFS what was she even trying to attempt when she approached Grindelwald? Was she like tempted into joining him but regretted her decision last minute and tried to kill him instead? WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ALL ABOUT? I liked the part when she said “I love you” and you’re not quite sure if she meant Newt or his brother. That was interesting. Would’ve been even more interesting had it been developed properly. But the rest of it? What a mess.

Newt, Tina, and Jacob

I actually adore Newt as a character. He’s a refreshing male lead who’s unapologetically himself throughout the story. I read a Vox article that called him amazingly neurodivergent, and in an interview, Redmayne also said he thought of him as having Asperger's. What an extraordinary thing to see in a male lead in a multimillion-dollar franchise! He’s awesome and doesn’t need to change the way he is in order to be cool. And yet in this film, he’s sooo relegated. He could’ve done SO much more, instead, he’s just lost in the sea of subplots with no real purpose. As for Tina, she has absolutely no character development whatsoever and Jacob is just there for comic relief. Also, how did he get his memories back? I’m sorry, but “the potion only took away the bad memories” is lazy writing. They are great characters but did absolutely nothing in this movie. Totally underappreciated. 

Nagini and Creedence

I don’t get why they made such a fuss over this since she has like THREE lines in the entire movie?! Seriously, why was she even there? She brought absolutely NOTHING to the plot. She just stands there next to Creedence when she could’ve been a super badass character. I’m not getting into the whole controversy, but I mean, if it was already happening, she should’ve at least had a kickass introduction. A backstory. ANYTHING. Why is a woman turning into a snake a circus attraction when anyone in this universe can become an animagus with enough practice? She was sooo mistreated here as a character. I get that there’s gonna be three more movies but COME ON, you can’t just make a huge ass preamble to another film without ANY sort of character development. It needs to have a plot of its own too. Like each of the Harry Potter books/movies. GEEZ. Now, Creedence. How did he survive? We saw a little remnant of the obscurus at the end of the first film, but hey, a little more context would’ve been nice. I thought the host and the obscurus were different things. Care to explain?! Also, how did he end up in Europe working at a magic circus? That circus thing could’ve been a very interesting plot but it goes nowhere. Again. And then... the ending. I hope the theory going around that it’s actually Ariana’s obscurus that somehow got attached to him and not actually him that’s a Dumbledore (and that’s what the phoenix was attracted to) is real because otherwise IT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE. Kendra Dumbledore died in 1899. Crimes takes place in 1927. That’s 28 years. I HIGHLY doubt Creedence is 28. Why would he still be living at an orphanage at 28 then? Or did Dumbledore’s dad knock someone up in Azkaban? Just. So. Many. Plot. Holes.

Nonsensical stuff

-The lady guarding Leta’s chamber. What. The. Fork?! She lets them through even though she clearly knew Tina wasn’t Leta, and only after they’re already inside she unleashes those weird cat things with Leta being there, the actual owner of the chamber who clearly doesn’t have a problem with the “intruders”. Just… WHY? 

-Jacob being able to go through the statue. Ummmm?! 

-McGonagall. SHE WAS BORN IN 1935! WHAT?!

-Also, I get the whole 1920’s vibe and I mean no disrespect towards Colleen Atwood, because the costumes are actually gorgeous, but like… no robes? NONE? You can’t tell muggles and wizards apart. That was a key aspect of Harry Potter, at least with the older generations, so you’d think in the 1920’s they’d be even more traditional with their wizard clothing. I mean, Lupin wore both suits AND robes. Just saying. 

-Out of hundreds of people at the cemetery, the niffler somehow knew precisely what item to steal and from whom. Ok???? 

-Nicholas Flamel. What was the point of him? All he did was talk with a random woman through a book and then conveniently appear at the end to tell everyone what to do to control the fire. I mean, cool, but care to elaborate?

-And that blue fire eagle thing. It’s a very, very long sequence that could have been way quicker. It was time wasted on CGI, time they could’ve spent more wisely elsewhere. 

-Another thing that has been rubbing me the wrong way is the mention of Creedence’s nanny being half-elf. I know it’s probably stupid for me to be weird about it but listen. This is a universe with house elves and goblins, and that’s totally fine, I like the part they play in the story. But then we also have Professor Flitwick, who’s never mentioned to be either of those things; he’s just little. That’s it. And he’s a total badass. So why did the nanny had to be half-elf? I remember an interview with Peter Dinklage in which he said he didn’t like playing roles that cast little people as magical beings, which is why he loved Tyrion in Game of Thrones. Then why couldn’t the nanny just be a regular witch? Why half-elf? How did that come about? Think about it: a human witch/wizard… with a house elf? Which are, essentially… slaves?! I don’t even want to know. And I’m probably overthinking it, but seriously. It wasn’t a necessary detail to mention. 

The Fanservice 

Ok, I get that they’d include certain Potter related stuff. Nostalgia is fun, right? AS LONG AS IT MAKES SENSE. McGonagall being there makes no sense. RESPECT. CANON. PLEASE. I get retconning stuff like classes taking place on different floors at Hogwarts but dude. This was kind of an important detail. The Philosopher’s Stone casually being shown at Flamel’s house. I mean, fine. But we get it, we know who he is, it’s not like we are idiots who need reminding of this. Also, the music. I adore Hedwig’s Theme, but this is a different story. I get like a few notes here and there, but the WHOLE damn theme during that Hogwarts shot? It actually kind of threw me off a little. I couldn’t pay attention to what was actually happening. 

Conclusion 

Ok. I honestly don’t understand what went wrong. I don’t know if Rowling should just stick to writing novels or if it was the editing, the directing or-or… I just can’t even. JK Rowling is amazing at writing mystery. In all of the Harry Potter books, there were mysteries to be solved: who’s after the Philosopher’s Stone? Who opened the Chamber of Secrets? Why is Sirius Black after Harry? Who put his name in the Goblet of Fire? And so on. And in the first FB movie, the mystery was who was responsible for the attacks, and it made you believe it was Creedence’s little sister. That was still a good plot twist. Please, do tell, what was solved in Crimes? What did they actually accomplish? They spent the whole movie going in circles. Like I said, you can’t just have a huge ass preamble to a different movie. It needs to stand on its own, have its own arc. Otherwise, what’s the point? I genuinely wanted to like this film, but its narrativity makes it impossible to enjoy the actual plot, even with likable characters and appealing visuals.

Listen, I will forever be grateful to JK Rowling for the impact Harry Potter has had in my life. They are to this day my favorite books. I loved the original book for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, as well as Quidditch Through the Ages and Tales of Beedle the Bard. They added fun details to the main story, a little peek into the Wizarding World. But then the whole expansion happened. And I used to get mildly excited whenever a new story was published on Pottermore. But eventually, I lost interest. And whenever someone said “I wish there was another book” I immediately cringed at the thought. Why ruin something that had ended in such a perfect way? The Harry Potter world ended with the seventh book. And that was ok. You need to let things go. That’s life. But then for money some reason, Cursed Child (aka That Which Must Not Be Named) was allowed to happen. And then, Fantastic Beasts happened, but it was a whole different story with brand new characters within the same universe, actually written by JK Rowling. Well, that actually sounded promising. Because it was a separate thing. A few references here and there. What could go wrong? Right. 

There are millions of reasons why the expansion hasn’t been working, but I think part of the problem came from social media. When we were kids we’d send letters to our favorite authors, but now they are just a tweet away. Which can obviously be wonderful. But you have to know where to stop. And I don’t think JK understands that. And I don’t mean it like she’s not allowed to have her own opinions and versions of certain things that didn’t come up in the books; she created the universe. But altering canon isn’t right. Forcing narratives that don’t make sense with what’s already established is weird. That’s why it’s important to leave things to the imagination/each reader’s interpretation. You want to write a different story within the same universe, that’s amazing, go ahead! As long as it’s properly developed and has its own merits. I genuinely want to like FB. And I did. But I don’t know what went wrong with this one. You’re capable of SO much more, Jo, I know you are. Sorry if I’m being too harsh. 

[calliecat93]

ST: TNG Watchthrough Episodes 21-25. Final episodes of Season One.

Symbiosis: Remember kids, drugs are bad! Okay tbf this WAS back in the 80’s where crack and stuff were a growing issue and drug addiction episodes were not at all uncommon. Heaven knows that I saw PLENTY in cartoons from the time, such as Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue or a VERY infamous episode of Captain Planet that I’m shocked got by the censors. As with many of those cartoons though, this episode is... well, pretty preachy. Not as badly, they save it for just one scene for the most part, but still. I don’t think that tackling addiction in ST is a bad idea, but... well, 80’s. I guess if it educated people then that’s good. Frankly I was on Crusher’s side that they should do something, but they stick with the Prime Directive which I guess they’ve gotten a LOT stricter about since the TOS days. The ending is pretty depressing with the addiction continuing, the assholes continuing to sell it, and our heroes can only allow it to happen aside from depriving them of ships to stop shipments, leaving them to figure it out themselves. Hopefully one day things can get better for them. Otherwise, it was just okay. Not the worst drug PSA I’ve ever seen by a long-shot. Oh and apparently there was a Reading Rainbow episode where Levar showed the making of this episode, so if you can find it you should check it out~! 3/5.

Skin of Evil: So... I already knew going into the show that Yar died and Worf would take her place as Security Chief. It’s a shame tbh cause while underdeveloped, I really liked Yar and had she held out, she could have gotten some REALLY good development. But I understand why the actress was unsatisfied with being on the show and left, and I read that she does get to come back for an episode later on so that’s nice. I’ll go into how her death was handled in a bit. As far as the episode itself goes, we have a VERY creepy black liquid monster holding Troi hostage in a crashed shuttle and considering it just managed to kill a person, the danger is VERY real. And it did it essentially because it wanted to cause suffering which Troi senses, which makes it all the more horrifying. The tension and fear is very strong and them themes of a being that serves evil just because... yeah that was something. Picard causing it to break down was freakin’ awesome, Kirk would be proud! Now Yar’s death. The reactions of everyone were appropriate and the event was properly shocking. I went wide-eyed when it happened since I did NOT expect it to happen that fast in that kind of manner. The funeral was also properly sad and showed that Yar was a valued member of the crew and very much respected by her crewmen, and that she respected them in turn. The final scene where Data is confused if he missed the point by feeling lost and Picard telling him that he got it exactly right? That was a perfect note to end on, and by God is that the truth regarding grief/loss. That being said... while I understand why it was done as it was and can’t complain about the execution and tone, the abrupt end just feels unsatisfying. I hate character deaths like this because it makes the character feel wasted and robs them of a proper sendoff, even with Yar’s message. They just feel like fodder. So while it had the proper weight, I’m still unhappy with how it’s done and I hope that Yar’s later reappearance will allow more closure or her. Because even if underutilized, she deserved a better ending. Still, even taking that into account, the episode is dark, tense, and Yar’s death does leave a shocking impact that TOS never quite gave me (Spock got brought back so that doesn’t count, plus he got a proper sendoff that would have been satisfactory fi he hadn’t come back). 4.5/5.

We’ll Always Have Paris: So after major character death and evil tar monsters, we get an episode on Picard’s love life! I guess a pre-requisite for being a Starfleet Captain is to have a crappy one of those. Then again maybe Sisko will break the curse when I get to DS9, we’ll see. Anyways! As the title hints, this is essentially the ST version of Casablanca. Picard has an old flame who left him, got married, and now the couple are in need of help while that old flame between Picard and the woman Jenice (is Janice and variaiton fo Janice just... a REALLY common name in the future? There was Janice Rand, Kirk’s ex in Turnabout Intruder was named Janice, now in TNG we have Jenice, how is this a pattern?!). Isn’t love fun folks?! So the episode was... okay. The time distortion or whatever broke my brain so that didn’t help. Picard and Jenice... didn’t work for me? Like... I felt no chemistry. It felt like two people in denial about a flame that fizzled out ages ago than one that burned for many years but was lost. IDK fit hat’s on the actors, the script, and/or the directing but I felt nothing, plus Jenice flirting wih Picard while her husband was in sickbay possibly dying... felt pretty shitty. Oh and the Picard/Crusher ship tease also made me feel nothing. I like Picard. I LOVE Crusher. I don’t have any feelings for them as a pair especially considering that Crusher’s husband was friends with Picard and died on duty with him... which just makes it feel WRONG to me. And poor Troi has to deal with everyone being emotionally repressed idiots, the poor woman deserves a niiiice Shore Leave. So it was average, but the lack of romantic chemistry and me just being confued by the time distortions cause... time distortions just left me confused and uninvested. So yeah... that’s all I can say. 2/5.

Conspiracy: Well a title like that can only mean good things, right? RIGHT?! So... remember the brain slugs from The Wrath of Khan? Well they decided to bring that concept back! They’ve taken over the admirals of Starfleet and are taking over with our heroes having to try and figure out what’s happening and stop it. It’s an interesting one for sure. We have Picard on Earth with the admirals while Quinn from a previous episode is on the Enterprise and causing chaos on there. It’s pretty scary to think about, the higher ups being brainwashed and could have easily destroyed the Federation from the inside out if Picard hadn’t been warned ahead of time. When Picard is utterly surrounded and they were eating the worm things... God it was scary. Although Riker really DID fool me into thinking he was possessed, so I outright cheered when he pulled out his phaser. Badass! Oh and Crusher blasting Quinn until he was down was also badass. It was also shockingly graphic with the bugs and the one guy’s body that hosted the alien... how THAT got by the censors I will never, EVER know. In the end, we never find out about who unleashed the parasites (apparently it was going to be The Borg but it didn’t work out) or what they wanted, but it certainly left an impact. Plus I think the ambiguity makes it all the more horrifying. Someone or something almost took over... and they’ll never know who or what. Overall, really good episode. 4/5.

The Neutral Zone: Well they’ve mentioned then and hinted at it a few times, but at last in the season final, the Romulans have made their return. IDT thy’ve been major villains since The Enterprise Incident back in TOS S3. Speaking of TOS... I thought we were done reusing plots, but this is more or less Space Seed except the frozen people aren’t evil, bio enhanced lunatics. So not a direct reuse but it’s pretty hard to ignore the major similarity. Anyways, we have a bit of an interesting premise with people from the 20th Century being thawed into the 24th Century and letting them interact. There would be major culture shock and values dissonance because even compared to the 80’s and the 2020’s so many values and views have changed. So imagine how much changed in between four centuries with concepts like phones and banks no longer a thing. It was... eh? I like the idea but I just didn’t care for these people much? Well the one guy who is a walking Southern redneck stereotype didn’t especially when he... was alone with Crusher. I HATED that guy, and I’ve seen rednecks my entire life! The other two I at least felt some sympathy for especially the one woman, but not enough to get me invested in this particular plot. Though I WAS amused by some things like TV not surviving past 2040... yeah THAT I find difficult to believe. Ah, the irony of making TV shows set int he future when you have no way of predicting what will and won’t happen. But yeah I get the parallel they were going for by the end with the civilians and Romulans being out of touch with the Federation, but I just didn’t care enough. The Romulan half of the plot? The build-up to it was good with everyone on edge since this will be the first time dealing with them in over 50 years and who knows what they’re like now compared to the TOS era. And when we finally see them? Well they’re very much still intimidating and a sense of danger is very much still existent, though they do agree to share information on this one issue so they aren’t foolish. It very much brought back whatever investment I had in them back in TOS, Went hey said that they’re back, that was a promise and I am all for it~! As far as being a season finale goes... well TOS weren’t exactly great in that area so it being just fine is par for the course, but it is just fine. Really the Romulan bit was what helped this episode, otherwise it’s just okay, but at least the ending scene promises more to come. Not a bad note to end on. 3/5.

Well it took much longer than I had hoped, but we have finished TNG Season One! It was... rough, but I knew going it that it would be. There were some bright spots and it did well enough to get renewed, but clearly a lot was going to need to be done to fine tune the show and let it reach it’s full potential. Will Season 2 be an improvement? What changes will they make? Will they be good or bad for the show? Will Riker ever get his glorious beard anytime soon? We’ll find out in due time. So tomorrow I’ll do the Top 5 Best/Worst list for S1, then by Friday I hope to get S2 underway. For now one season down, six to go. The adventure continues.

[elfrightsactivist]

Hey. Im a beginning writer and I saw your post about trans characters. Im cis but i want to do it properly. What would you like to see? How do I make them come out? Sorry i just want this to be good yknow? Thanks

Hi there! Thank you for asking, and never apologise for wanting to be respectful about including people. I wish more people did that. 

I tried to make this short at first but it’s just impossible for me, so buckle up because I’m passionate about this. 

Same as with writing any minority, including trans people in your story doesn’t mean you get to talk about the experience of belonging in said minority. While you might have some empathy, unless you’re basing your trans character’s story on a specific experience of a real person, you have an enormous chance of being misguided by pop culture and its obsession with turning us into tragic, suffering figures only there to be pitied or as a way to shock the audience or as a way for the writers to get diversity cookies. We’re just people, and even if we do have traumatic backstories, let us talk about them in our own terms. Make a character that just happens to be trans, but don’t focus on that part of their identity because that bit is not yours to tell.Example: Madeline is an actress. She likes sci-fi and is currently studying French literature while she follows her passion for theatre. She also sings and plays the ukulele and piano, she has a YouTube channel where she does operatic covers of video game themes and makes nerdy songs about popular fictional characters, and wants to play the main part in a West End musical one day. She knows it’s hard because she’s trans, but she trusts her abilities, and she’s grateful for the few fans she’s gotten from YouTube who are super supportive.

Don’t be misguided by stereotypes. 99% of trans women don’t dress like drag queens, trans men are not butch lesbians who just desperately want a dick, and not every trans person has a tragic past with their family because of their identity. Also, no need for your trans char to be 100% feminine or masculine to PROVE they really are trans, and there’s no need to be a short-haired, flannel-wearing, very non-gendered white thin model in order to be non-binary. Example: Madeline has a girlfriend and two dogs. She lives in a small flat and struggles to pay rent, but she’s happy. Every Sunday she visits her dad. She’s an only child, and he absolutely adores his daughter and her girlfriend and likes to cook for them. She’s got her differences with her mother because she wanted Madeline to be a doctor, not a starving artist, and thinks she’s irresponsible, but Madeline was tired of trying to live out her mother’s dream and has chosen to take some distance. 

How to make them come out? The same way you’d say anything about anyone’s past: respectfully. Don’t make someone find out against their will. Don’t have someone from their past misgender / deadname them and then put them in the awkward situation of having to explain themselves to both the people they once knew and the people they’ve chosen to surround themselves with in their current life. Everyone in my life knows I’m trans, and if they don’t yet, it’s because of circumstance, not a cunning plot of shame on my part.If you do want to have them be stealth, don’t treat the moment of coming out into a huge betrayal. No more hiding genitalia because they’re ashamed to tell their partner, no more telling their date and their date storming off because they trusted you, how could you not tell me, [deadname], if that’s even really your real name, WHAT ELSE ARE YOU HIDING, ARE YOU A MURDERER, and so on and so forth. Example: Madeline is accepted in a new acting group, and makes a new friend. They hang out, compliment each other’s Star Trek t-shirts, and have rehearsals together. They talk about parts they’d played in the past, and Madeline mentions that in high school she was given all the male parts even though she tried to get the female ones, but they wouldn’t give them to her because well, we all still thought I was a boy back then, but one teacher ever gave her the one she wanted, and she was her favourite, and hopes to invite her in the premiere of the play. “Aw, that’s so sweet,” her new friend says, who has met trans people before and realises that Madeline wants to focus on the affection for her teacher and not her own past at the moment, “I’m so glad you showed them who’s the boss, I hope your teacher makes it. If you ever wanna talk more about that time i’d be glad to listen.” They keep eating their ice cream. Here you can easily pull a Raymond Holt and make her openly trans but the people around her just don’t seem to get it because she’s way too casual about it. I know I’d love to do that at some point but I tend to write in fantasy universes where it’s not a big deal in the first place. If you can do that, even better. In sci-fi and fantasy, it’s always so refreshing to see people who actually imagined worlds without transphobia. 

Now, what I’d like to see. I kept this one for last, because I’m picky.I guess, no more transphobic violence. No more showing who the bad guy is by verbally / emotionally / physically attacking the trans character for shock value.No more trans character being there just to be trans. Make a Krem, who’s there to tell weird stories of past jobs and be the second in command; make a Rhett Hennesey, who’s there to be the protagonist and kill paranormal creatures and find his destiny; make a Nomi Marks, genius and very queer and an incredible hacker, kind, badass, there to be part of something bigger and share the love; make a Cheri Littlebottom, forensics expert extraordinaire, who makes friends and reinvents herself and claims her identity tooth and claw and earns people’s respect and will not get rid of her amazing dwarven beard or her lipstick and high heels; don’t make a Sophia Burset, who is forgotten after a few episodes and she’s only there to waste a talented actress’ abilities and remind people that hey, look, there’s a trans woman in here, look how tragic her life is, look how her identity is tearing her family apart and literally put her in prison. And in the end, because I’m picky, no, don’t make a Krem or a Rhett either, because they’re treated as cross-dressing women from their narratives, and they’re both awesome and deserve better than that.In the end, I’d like to see trans protagonists. Trans teachers, and lovers, and criminals, and superheroes, and space captains. Feminine and fat and black and Native and Mediterranean and alien and elven and muscled and disabled and ugly and hot and creative and famous and feared trans people. Two or even three trans people per story. Non-tragic trans people. Well-rounded, loved characters, whose motives are something else besides being trans, whose families value them, or if they don’t, it’s not because of their gender.

Write people. And if they talk to you and tell you that they’re transgender, hear them out, and make it happen. But make them people first. 

[runtosleepdreamer]

Supernatural Survey 😊

Got tagged by @cas-watches-over-you - dude thanks so much for tagging me this was pretty darn fun and awesome!! 😘 1. What season did you start watching Supernatural? 
I actually have no idea… I don’t even remember the proper story anymore cuz despite it not being several years it was still quite a few years ago when I was still in.. middle school perhaps? That my school mates were talking about it and I asked my elder sibling who showed me random episodes, going by the least violent ones so I wouldn’t get nightmares.. so yeah I have no idea what season I first saw or what season was out exactly when I began watching random episodes. I only stared watching properly since last year 2. Who was the first character you fell in love with? 
Sam… he’s such a goddamn puppy that it’s hard not to like him!!! 3. Who was a character that you hated at first but grew to love?: 
Omg so many. I remember making a post about how the writers kill iff characters that were initially annoying but right as they started growing on us - bam. Dead
But ok maybe the first example was Bela… she actually was of course starting to grow o me by the time she died.. but the character that comes most immediately to mind because of how strongly I hated them… was Rowena. God she had been simply infuriating - I hated her so much for manipulating Crowley and threatening whatever good relationship he had with the Winchesters, that I wished she would die… but then come season 11 I fell absolutely I love with the woman 4. Which character would you most want to be in a long-term relationship with? 
Eep I have no fucking idea… fuck idk.. mm I never during my daydreams imagine myself with my fictional characters but if I had to choose… ugh maybe. Ok Dean is loyal and Sam is a puppy but idk it feels weird coming in between them… Cass is pretty amazing but… ugh fuck it maybe oh ok why not.. Charlie? Yeah. Charlie for sure, she’s amazing, pretty damn amazing with technology, I sure as hell wouldn’t mind her teaching me how to hack or everything about Star Trek or whatnot, seeing as I’ve never watched them (le gasp, the outrage! I know I know) Or hell maybe even Sam cuz he’s pretty soft and everything (but also great in bed obviously) idk I can’t imagine myself with Dean cuz he would be more awesome with someone who can actually take care of themselves for real you know? Whereas Sam has always paired nicely with women in a domestic life - though they did end up dying… gah idk 🤷‍♀️ 5. If you could go on a date with just one character, which one would you choose?:
Dean. Easily Dean there, cuz even if it’s one date, I’m sure he’ll make it worth it, sexy or not because he’s a damn attentive guy.. 6. What would you do on that date? 
A first date or like after a few? Cuz if it’s after a few I wouldn’t mind a nature hike cuz goddamn do I love those… but for a first Idk I’d feel too self conscious. Maybe a good movie… maybe the beach… some cuddles and some good food and talking quietly to each other in the night under the moon and stars with a soft breeze 😊 7. Which character would you most want to be like?: 
Hm. Any strong female roles out there? Yeah that seriously narrows it down but real talk.. I’m torn between Charlie and Rowena.. ugh maybe Charlie. She’s pretty amazing and nice and fun… though I honest to god can’t imagine myself ever LARPing… 8. Which character would you most want to see brought back from the dead?: 
Right now, Castiel. But since (SPOILERS duh) we already know he’s coming back… Crowley!!!! 9. Which character would you most like to punch?: 
Oh that’s a long list there buddy. Uh. Lucifer? Yeah. As of the season 12 finale.. definitely Lucifer. 10. Who is your absolute favorite character?: 
Dean 😁😍😘 11. Which “Big Bad” do you think was the worst?: 
uh torn between Amara and Metatron. God I kinda hated season 11 because of her, it was a bit of a drag to get through but god Metatron was so. Damn. Annoying. 12. Which character are you most like?: 
Oh god I have no idea, they’re all way too amazing people for me to compare with them. Uhhh maybe… eep Idk Lisa? 😕 idk I’m not even sure if I’m brave much tbh but if not her then.. idk maybe Chuck before the end of season 5? 😐 idk 13. What death hit you the hardest? 
Honestly because I kinda already knew about everyone who was going to die until season 12, because like I had to catch up with the show and that meant big watching 11 seasons before the 12th came out. So that means 11 seasons f knowing who already dies for the most part… but I guess.. ok Charlie, idr if I knew she died but it hurt me a lot because I hated the fact that she died, and even more so what it did to the boys. And then every time Dean died, mainly seasons 3 and 9’s finale, and goddamn how broken up Sam got about it at those times… fuck those killed me but I guess they were more of the heart wrenching scenes then death specifically that hurt me. 
But of course. Cass. Cuz I had obviously. So. Not. Seen. It. Coming. I barely managed I avoid screaming and after… it took me a couple of hours to even remotely get to mouth shut 14. What season finale hit you the hardest?: 
Season 9 and 12, reasons stated above^^^ especially 12 cuz hiatus!!!!! 15. What are your ten all-time favorite episodes?: 
well fuck me cuz now I gotta most likely look up the names of the episodes
Mm. 
First one easily is season 9 episode 13 the purge (thanks google) because of how it ended. Ok Ima stop there cause season 9 was an emotional turmoil that I’d rank as love cuz of the angst. But the case itself was pretty neat. 
Uh god I can only remember specific scenes. Ok uh
“A very supernatural Christmas”(?) “Plucky Pennywhistle’s Magical Menagerie” “Hell House” “Ghost Facers” “Fanfiction” “Jus in Bello” “Bad day at Black Rock” is that ten yet.. “Alex Annie Alexis Ann” idek I just really love some scenes specially “Free to be you and me” and of course “Changing Channels” god this was so damn hard 16. What’s been your favorite season?: 
9!!! Aaaangst! 17. Who is your favorite angel? 
Cass easily 18. Who is your favorite demon? Crowley :) 19. Who’s your favorite evil character? 
Favorite? Then Ima go with Crowley again 20. Do you have any Supernatural ships?: 
Mm this blog I try to keep ship free but if you wanna check out my side blog for the answers, I’ll be happy to message you on this one ;) 21. Who’s your favorite supporting actor?: 
Can’t remember any right now but they’re all amazing… oh how about Garth!!! God he’s such a sweetheart - and still alive! But oh Jody is amazing too…! 22. What’s your favorite quote from the show?:
“I’m proud of us” it’s the main one at the top of my head but there are so many other brilliant ones. I have a tendency to lean towards the emotional ones made to each other (Dean, Sam, Cass) such as above from Dean to Sam, his ending speech in season 8’s finale “There ain’t no me if there ain’t no you!” 😭�� and Cass’s - what he thought was his - dying speech to Sam and Dean mostly as well as Mary to an extent in 12x12 23. If you could cast one famous actor in an episode of SPN, who would you choose? 
Katie McGrath? She was - and is - my woman crush 😉 lol she’d be an awesome witch or hell even huntress or screw it even another Bela 🤷‍♀️ 24. If you could write your own episode, what kind of creatures would you like to see included?: 
Unicorns. Interacting with Dean. Idk.. uh honestly what have we not seen? Cuz I wouldn’t mind just another case that stumps the boys because it’s an almost unheard f monster, those are fun and new 🤷‍♀️ but maybe… omg some version of the Loch Ness monster. Idk it’d be interesting to see to have to deal with that.. or maybe what was it.. tree nymph and… what are the creatures who reside in the water called? 25. Who’s your favorite girl that Dean’s hooked up with?: 
Omg um… ok that girl that he sorta shacked up with when he was a demon in season 10..? …Yeah probably her So I checked and her name is Anne Marie!… 26. Who’s your favorite girl that Sam’s hooked up with?: 
Eileen - she was a huntress, so could take of herself, and Dean as just an absolutely amazingly (supportive) teasing elder bro about it 27. What are some of your favorite convention moments?: 
Omg I don’t think I’ve seen enough to decide but… I think whenever J2M comfort each other. Those are just so soft and sweet and give us an insight to their friendship that just 🤤😍 28. If you were going to guest star (or be a recurring guest star) on SPN, how would you want your character to be described?: 
Well fuck me I’d love to be a badass huntress cuz it’s something I’m obviously not IRL… or maybe someone who isn’t aware of the Supernatural world until the boys come along and then I prove really useful for heir research because of something and then somehow I get dragged into the world and I’m actually pretty good? Yeah, there’s a pattern there isn’t it 29. What do you hope to see in the next season?: 
Apart from Castiel and Rowena and Crowley alive? Idk Jack not being the next big bad, hopefully a break from big bads for the boys and after they get Cass and Mary back and hopefully just leave Lucifer to rot in the alternate universe, just go on some cases and take some time to cool down you know? 30. - 40. If you had to choose… Bobby or John?: 
Bobby!!!!! I mean hell yeah I would seriously love to see how the boys would react if John came back, but that would probably ensure that a lot of drama and fights would be quick to ensue as well, so yeah. Bobby Bela or Ruby? 
Well ok I liked the first Ruby because as Katie Cassidy went, we didn’t know for sure Ruby was not to be trusted. But overall Ruby was pure evil.. and I actually felt bad when Bela died while I didn’t for Ruby - felt relieved when Ruby died actually -so yeah. Bela Jess or Madison?: 
erm… Madison, maybe? Jo or Lisa?: 
Jo… I actually shipped her with Dean more than I ever will with Lisa, truth be told Charlie or Kevin? 
Ergh both but.. Charlie first? Balthazar or Ash?: 
oooh they were both good.. but.. maybe Ash? Cas or Crowley? 
Ooh Cass but ugh Crowley is definitely a close second! Ben or Claire? 
Claire Jody or Donna? 
Jody :) Sam or Dean?: 
Mm Dean first, but of course Sam next immediately I'ma tag: @deanwinbean @thewincestfeels @atmaandauraofdean @doctor–idiot @deanandcastrash @all-i-need-is-destiel And y'all don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, it’s totally cool 🙂

[phoenixfire-thewizardgoddess]

TF2 Headcanon Fic - “The Strength in Tears”

@camiluna27 & I started going down the pairing list, with Pauling/Zhanna(/Soldier) at the top for various reasons. So, have this. It’s 6:30am what is sleep?

-Title: The Strength in Tears-

There had always been animosity between them; rather one-sided, if truth be told, and for no reason either could properly name. Zhanna had simply... taken a dislike to Miss Pauling when she laid eyes on her; there was some strange thought in her mind, when she saw the smaller assassin that told her to be wary.

And yet, even though she accidentally killed the Pauling woman once, it had not been held against her. Zhanna had begun to like the woman's attitude of practicality, even if she had felt it rather shameless that Pauling would dare ogle soldier's honey-coated nudity during battle. Had said so, in fact.

It had been a surprise to have the little loud one, the Scout who followed Miss Pauling like pet bear, be the one to mention the truth to her. He had come, for no reason other than to offer her a bottle of water; maybe sent by another mercenary, perhaps of his own will, who could tell his motivations?

Still, the boy saw her gaze harden as Miss Pauling spoke with Soldier... and his own expression grew annoyed. Like he wished to say something unkind, but could not do so...

How interesting. Before, when offered sex, he could not be silent for more than a second... and yet now when he clearly held something bitter to say, the Scout was quiet. They simply stared at one another for a moment, before his hands unclenched; and he eventually sighed.

"Look, I dunno why ya hate Miss P, 'cause she's super sweet and awesome and all kinds'a badass... but she... well, let's say she wasn't staring at Soldier. And yeah, I heard all about that crap when we got back, in weirdly vivid detail so don't tell me I couldn't know 'cause I wasn't there the whole time."

She raises an eyebrow.

So he adds, "She uh... y'know, can never like someone like me... even if I had a heck of a crush on her. Still do, sorta. But ya should have seen her face when she saw, uh..." he makes a gesture encompassing all of Zhanna, and impressing the concept he'd seen her naked and honey-coated but wasn't willing to say so out-loud for some reason.

It was... a different perspective.

"She... was not looking at Soldier?" she questions, to clarify.

"Heh, not in this universe, I promise. So just... maybe ease up on her, or something? The Administrator's real fucking tough on her most of the time, she barely gets to sleep or eat and only gets one day off a year... I dunno how she hasn't dropped dead of stress..." he pauses, "Though we do have respawn, and she's probably hooked into it, so it doesn't matter if she does... the Admin doesn't like to waste good employees or whatever..."

This was definitely new information, Zhanna would have to consider this further. She puts a hand on his shoulder, the only one she still has, and miles. "You have my thanks, tiny loud one. May your efforts at gaining the attention of your teammate be  successful."

She walks determinedly towards Soldier, leaving the runner spluttering denials behind her. Perhaps she was not the only one who had needed to hear the truth this day.

Indeed, the trials they had faced already seemed so paltry in comparison to what had occurred next. The loss of her hand, their deaths and the sudden return to life... none of it mattered. What the Administrator woman had unleashed on them all had been utterly... indescribable.

The only good point of the whole situation was Zhanna being able to see, for herself, the way Miss Pauling reacted when accosted by a beautiful woman. It was somehow humorous to note that a woman who could calmly lecture and degrade dying enemies... was unable to hide her shock and delight at encountering someone she was attracted to.

Zhanna had been briefly concerned the other was liable to pass out in shock, when the Engineer and Administrator entered their temporary shelter. The surprise of all the mercenaries, her dear Soldier included, was tangible; but Miss Pauling was clearly most affected.

She also seemed quite distressed by this turn of events; the reality of why had not become apparent to Zhanna until after all had come to its natural,m hardwon, conclusion. When all debts had been settled, their enemies lay lifeless around them... and the Administrator took her final breath in a life that had lasted far, far longer than any mortal's should.

It was then she knew, and understood why... the fear and loss etched into the young face of Miss Pauling upon first sighting the Administrator. Though Zhanna had not seen her before, it was understood she had been elderly, ancient, and her appearance suitably similar to match. This new, youthful, beautiful face... it was as much a warning as the pretty colourings of poisonous frogs or sea creatures.

It was then, that Zhanna understood her own self, more fully. That is to say, her heart ached oddly to see the tear-stained expression Miss Pauling wore on that day... the strong desire to comfort her surged through her veins.

Miss Pauling excused herself, leaving the solemn mercenaries to riefly glance after her, before returning to their odd little groupings. The Scout looked like he would go after her, but the masked father restrained such an action with a hand; shaking his head to advise the action would be unwelcome.

He did not chase after, at least; though he looked directly across the room to Zhanna. Their eyes met, and she felt him plead with her... because they both knew that Zhanna would be far more welcome than he, at such an emotionally delicate time. Though, in truth, Zhanna hesitated.

Emotions, comforting... these were things Misha did; even now 'Heavy' was checking with the other smaller men, ascertaining all was well. She had envied that, when they were younger; but also mocked him in the way siblings did, for being so sensitive about everyone's needs and thoughts.

The value of such a personality is lost on children, but everything to the more mature. Only now did Zhanna wish to be more like Misha in that area; though they were closely matched in all else, from strength and size to brutality and loyalty.

She glanced to Soldier, beside her. He was half-listening to Demo and Engineer speaking; but turned his head her way at her movement. Many would not credit her Jane as a smart man, for he yelled and showed such reckless enthusiasm about many things; but Zhanna knew different.

Soldier said many things, and some were odd but many tended to be meaningful. He simply communicated differently, as one would expect after the life he had led; she never tired of his stories, and always matched them with her own. Jane liked the one about her first bear hunt, at age five, the most; said it was 'adorable'.

He was clever, exciting and passionate in the bedroom, too; she had never regretted her choice. Sometimes she did wonder how things would have changed if the loud Scout had managed to keep quiet long enough... but, that was a problem for an alternate version of herself, in another universe.

The Zhanna in this one, here and now, tilted her head at Soldier; expressing to him, without words, her intentions. And he, in response, nodded curtly; with a pat on her arm to signify that he understood.

She flashed a brief smile, and turned away. Striding past the other gathered men and after Miss Pauling; whose trail was not the most difficult to follow, despite the many twisting corridors and staircases of this metallic base.

Eventually, they all converged on a cavernous room half-filled with consoles and monitors. all blinking various scenes in black-and-white, some reading 'Error' in stark lettering. None showed any signs of life, save one in the far right-hand corner, which recorded the room they were just in...

In the centre of the room stood a large black chair, with a large oak desk to the side by some filing cabinets. A small microphone sprung up from the wooden surface... Zhanna only noticed because a slender, pale arm half-clad in purple was beside it.

She moved forwards to find Miss Pauling curled into the large leather throne, half-slumped on the desk before it. Sobbing quietly, desolately; like the heart-broken... or the grief-stricken.

Zhanna felt her heart... ache? The pit of her stomach felt hollow, yet roiling; as if she wanted to fight whoever had caused this woman's pain, remove her anguish with her fists. It worked with most problems Zhanna and her family had faced. 'Many fists make short work of a foe'  her mamushka always said with a smile.

She takes a step towards the other, and the sound of her footfall registers with Miss Pauling; the purple-clad woman jerks upright, sniffing and hastily scrubbing at the tears trailing furrows down her far-too-pale face.

"I'm-... I'm alright Scout, thanks for coming after me but I don't want to... talk..." she trails off, realising her quiet grieving had not been interrupted by the concerned runner, but rather... by an unexpected person altogether.

"I am not the loud little one, Pauling... but I share his concerns for you." Zhanna bridges the silence, moving closer. She crouches by the chair, placing them at eye-height, with what she hoped was a comforting smile...

"Wh-what are you...?" Miss Pauling questions, not having realised the animosity between them had cooled, been replaced with something far more positive.

Zhanna placed her hand on the other's arm, feeling pleased when the other didn't jerk away. "You have lost someone dear to you, and do not need to hide your tears. Even if I did not feel the way I do for you, I would still come..."

Miss Pauling didn't seem to know how to respond to that statement. She just stared, occasionally sniffling, clearly trying to regulate her breathing and stem the tears that she couldn't seem to stop.

Zhanna continued, trying her best to be soothing. "When someone you care for is gone, it hurts us inside where no one can see... if you do not let it out in the right way, you will stay hurt and I do not wish this for you Little Pauling. You do too much alone, and I want to... help you, listen to the things that make you cry..."

She's fumbling slightly, her words could be so eloquent in Russian, and yet in English they came out so bland. "I mean to say, that I have feelings for you... they make me want to tell you everything will be alright, and kill anyone who dares to infringe on that promise. Your smile... makes my heart glow, like when Soldier shouts sweet things at me, or when he uses his tongue to-..."

Miss Pauling cuts her off with a quick, "Thank you for y-your concerns Zhanna, but I'm f-f-fine..."

Zhanna laughs, not unkindly, but clearly in contest of the statement. "You are crying, alone and away from comfort. That is not fine by any standard, Miss Pauling... so I have come to you, to listen and take the pain from your heart. I am strong, I can help you carry this burden until this has passed, da?"

Miss Pauling looked exhausted, but oddly grateful if not a little bit confused. "You... you want to hear me cry over the Administrator's death? Wh-why? I mean, I kn-know she wasn't the nicest, especially not to m-me but she was all I knew f-for so long..." the purple-clad assassin stutters out, around wheezy sobs, looking all the more frustrated by this uncontrollable display of emotion.

"I was the assistant f-for so long... n-now what am I? And h-how pathetic is it that she's dead, b-but all I can th-think about is mys-self? And I can't st-stop crying, this is so stupid..." she slams her hands on the table, frustrated. "I'm so-... s-so stupid, I've killed and buried s-so many people... and yet, this one d-death has brought me to th-this?"

She laughed in such a hollow, self-deprecating way, that it almost physically pained Zhanna to hear it. She wanted to smack the sound right out of Miss Pauling's mouth, stamp it into the ground and carry the woman away from such incorrect ideologies. But still, she stayed firmly in her place; letting the other speak her mind for the moment. This was necessary, catharsis.

"The Administrator... was the closest thing I h-had to family... even if it got a little weird a-at the end because she used the aust-Australium to become... young and b-beautiful again..." Miss Pauling's fervour is starting to drain, and she's slumping back in the chair, leaning more weight onto the comforting grip of Zhanna's hand. "A-and now she's gone... and wh-what am I but some crying w-weakling? J-just sitting here s-sobbing like a child, in th-the only place that feels s-safe? F-familiar?"

Then Miss Pauling fell silent, with only the few strangled sobs she couldn't prevent from escaping, echoing in the room between them. After a moment, realising all had been said and done, that Miss Pauling's dark thoughts had finally been freed, Zhanna stood up.

She did not ask, but instead picked up the other; holding her carefully, in a grip both gentle and firm, but close. The other was either too stunned, or too worn out to protest; but Zhanna took it as a hopeful sign when the small, delicate death-dealing hands tentatively clutched onto the fabric of her top.

Like a... the Australian bear babies, yes? She could not think of the word just now...

It felt right, to have the smaller so close; where Zhanna knew she was safe, in her arms. With a slight hesitation, the Russian stroked Miss Pauling's dark hair; it was slightly tangled from their trials, but still soft enough.

"Hush now, little (Fioletovyy/Violet), things will be alright in the days to come... but you must let the hurt go, now, in whatever way works for you. Tears, words, sparring, anything that helps you move through them; to know pain, understand and move past it... that is true strength."

Zhanna gently places a kiss on the top of Miss Pauling's head. "You are not weak, little Pauling... you are very strong, always have been. But you have been brave for such a long time, it can be hard to realise it is okay to let someone else in, to let them carry burden with you until you feel better, da?"

Miss Pauling had looked up at her in surprise the minute the other woman's gentle kiss had registered. Eyes wide, a little shocked; and a faint flush on her face that was unlikely to be based in her grief over the loss of the Administrator and, to an extent, her identity.

"R-really?" she asked, then scrunched up her face, wrinkling her nose cutely, as if horrified to have asked something so childish. "I mean, Zhanna I-... I just feel so... I don't know... lost or empty or... like nothing is real?"

"Do you feel me holding you, little Fioletovyy? My arms are real, the warmth between us is real... and my concern that you have lost your smile, is real. The affection I feel, is real, even though I know it does not cancel out the loss you are experiencing..." Zhanna soothes, rubbing the other upon the back as the last of her stuttered sobs peter out.

Miss Pauling's expression is hard to describe; the trail of tears upon her face shimmered in the dim light, and yet, underneath that, something had changed. The grief was there... but something approaching a shy, tentative hope, a longing was beneath that, plain in her eyes.

"You... really mean that, don't you?" she sniffs, the beginnings of a smile gracing her wan features. "I thought you... d-didn't like me because you assumed I liked Soldier..."

"Indeed, I did not. But, I have been wrong before... I misunderstood, until someone pointed it out; though it pained them to do so." Zhanna admits. "No matter, the past is completed and we cannot return there... the here and now is most important. I am hopeful that both my present and future will have you in them, Miss Pauling... though I will understand if you feel otherwise about this as I have been curt."

"But... what about Soldier, aren't you t-two...?" queries Miss Pauling, expression closing off as reality begins to seep back in.

"Da, I love soldier and will not leave him... but it does not mean I cannot love you too, little Pauling. Jane does not mind, and will not ask anything of you..." Zhanna reassures, knowing Soldier well enough to promise this. "I have enough love for two people, and you are welcome to be part of such if you wish it... my actions in the past were due to confusion over my feelings, my... fear of losing Soldier to you. As you are pretty and merciless, which are traits he finds endearing... as do I."

She laughs, "I see now I have been foolish... but no matter. Let me be your strength for now, and you can make a decision when you are settled... when your thoughts are not clouded by grief."

"No." Miss Pauling interjects, and Zhanna felt her heart drop. It must have shown on her face because Miss Pauling immediately follows it with, "I-I mean, no... I don't need time... I've wanted-... that is to say, I've liked-... yes, please. Just don't... let go of me yet, please..."

She pauses, and laughs before saying, "I know it sounds so corny b-but the world doesn't feel so big, so empty, when you're holding me... and I-... thank you. For coming after me, and knowing what to... say or do or whatever this it... I needed it."

Zhanna smiles, "I will always be there, when you need it... little Fioletovyy..." Zhanna reassures.

"What does that mean?" Miss Pauling queries, suddenly aware of how close they were, how easy it would be to just move closer a fraction and... press their lips against the other's.

"Hmmm, it is Russian for... I believe the word is Violet in English? It is what I think of when I see you... and so, I could not help it. If it bothers you, I can choose another-..." Zhanna pauses because Miss Pauling is laughing.

"Oh, oh no, I like it.... it's just, you-..." she pauses to giggle, "you wouldn't believe this but my... my name is actually... Violet Pauling."

Zhanna beams, "Then it must be fate, then..."

"Y...Yes, I suppose it must be." Miss Pauling smiles back. She looks tired, exhausted by the trials and tribulations of the day, the last week, the entire years since Team Fortress disbanded... but somehow, radiant as well.

Without another word, Miss Pauling closes the gap between them, and it is even more delightful a moment than Zhanna could have ever anticipated. Different to Jane, and yet, just as right.

Perfect.

Miss Pauling moves away first, resting her head on the broad Russian shoulders before her. She didn't seem in a hurry to do anything, much less leave the careful embrace Zhanna held her in.

"Thank you." whispers Miss Pauling, but then lifts her head to look at Zhanna more clearly. A thought worrying at her. "And... you're sure Soldier is fine with... us? I don't like... I mean, he's lovely but I'm not attracted to-..."

"Miss Pauling, you are not required to find my person physically attractive nor do anything involving it, should you choose not to." Soldier says, as he moves inside the room. Clearly having been worried about the extended absence of the pair, and followed them; waiting outside the door until it was appropriate to interject. "You are a superior officer, and I will follow your directions to the letter. As long as you are fine with sharing this glorious creature with me, have had all your shots, and don't mind sharing household duties amongst us... or the occasional visit from Merasmus, then we will be a highly successful tactical unit!"

Miss Pauling was staring at him, questioning how he'd appeared so suddenly, as if saying his name three times had summoned him.

Then her formidable mind caught up with the flurry of words she'd just weathered. "As long as you're okay with it too, Soldier, I'm fine with i-... wait, why do I need all my vaccinations?"

"Raccoons." Zhanna deadpans into her ear, the warm breath making her shiver. Soldier flushed under his helmet as Miss Pauling shuddered, and he averted his gaze.

"Ah, if you two have completed your emotional mission debrief, the others wish me to inform you that we are planning to go back to basecamp at teufort, to formulate our next move forward." Soldier adds, standing there stock still until Zhanna gestures with an arm for him to come closer.

With an arm supporting Miss Pauling's entire weight, she wraps the other around Soldier; Jane clearly hesitates, until he sees Miss Pauling isn't trying to get away, before reciprocating and accidentally partially-squishing her in the middle. Zhanna kisses him, then Miss Pauling once more, and laughs.

"Today has been a good day of many victories," she says, smiling down at Miss Pauling, as Soldier releases the pair. The purple-clad woman slips down from her previous position, and stands, wobbling slightly, on the floor between the pair.

Each place an arm on her back to steady her, not wanting to remove her autonomy, but rather support it. A lot of their trials had hit the woman pretty hard, and even the love Zhanna felt for her, and the admiration Soldier had always shown towards Miss Pauling would not heal it automatically.

They followed Miss Pauling as she walked out of the room, maintaining contact even a she paused to look back; to let her eyes wander over the familiar, metallic room, for the last time. She took a deep breath, placed a hand on each of the supporting arms, and continued forwards. Ready for the unknown, to find out what the future held.

- - - -

The End

- - - -

Bonus:

Zhanna felt, as the days grew long at the new base and all 'planning' tended to end up in circuitous arguments over who had to do what chore that week, that she was quite content.

Miss Pauling was excellent in many ways, and Soldier was also magnificent in his own way. They coexisted well, for her.

Yet she felt... a burden, a debt unpaid, so to speak. She could feel it on the one who had helped them become this unit, who still sometimes looked upon her little Fioletovyy with distant longing. Though, Zhanna felt it was more for what the woman had, than the lingering remnants of a past crush.

She decided, as was fair, to even things out.

One night, without warning, she seized the tiny loud one; he squirmed but she held fast, hushing him. Zhanna carried him outside, wrenched open the door of the van, and tossed the Scout in...

"What the bloody hell?" yelled the occupant.

"Zhanna, what-...? Snipes, I-..." Scout shouted back.

Zhanna briefly placed herself in the doorway, looking at the pile of limbs on the floor and simply stated, "Little loud one has strong feelings for you, and would very much like to do the sex with you... please discuss this and be happy."

She looked directly at Scout, "My debt to you has been repaid. I wish you joy."

And so saying, she slammed the door shut, pushing a nearby boulder over the entrance, as chaos erupted inside. Let them take the time to work it out...

When she smugly removed the boulder in the morning, both appeared rather dishevelled and wouldn't meet her eyes. Her debt had been repaid, indeed.

[whimsical-writer]

Okay Rooster Teeth

“Spoilers for Red vs Blue season 15 up to episode 7 beneath the cut. It’s a long post.

From Lopez’s “Tumblr’s going to hate this” joke in Episode 15.6 I get that you’re all used to getting irrational flame and hate over the smallest things from Tumblr users. As someone who enjoys being on the website, even I can admit Tumblr has some seriously ugly parts to it, such as call out culture. Some people where will scream and rage and hate on anything they deem to be “problematic”.

This post will not be like that.

I have no idea if you guys will read this, or if you’ll take away what I hope you will from it. Even if you don’t, this doesn’t just apply to you. This applies to all content creators. This is something I both need from the content I consume and that I must be aware of when I create my own works.

In episode 15.2, Kaikaina Grif makes two “bi-phase” jokes. In episode 15.7, there’s a long gag about Tucker having fathered many child and is raising a fuss about paying child support, and is generally playing the part of the absent black father.

Both these jokes made me incredibly uncomfortable. 

I wasn’t upset, not in the sense of being hurt by these jokes, nor was I angry. I watch more Rooster Teeth content than just Red vs Blue. I know from watching these other shows that you guys are good people who try to do good. I know that many of your employees are some form of queer, or PoC, or both. I’m aware that you try to be accepting of different faiths, sexulaities, and cultures. The atmosphere that you produce on your podcasts, behind the scenes, live shows, and at cons is one that is fun, easy going, accepting, and funny. It’s because I am aware of these things that I know that these jokes you make are just that. Jokes. You don’t mean harm by them. But both these jokes play on stereotypes that are legitimately harmful to those they are about.

I’ll start with Kai’s bi-phase joke first, as I am someone who is attracted to multiple genders. People who are bisexual, pansexual, polysexual, however they identify, and are attracted to multiple genders and sexs are treated with suspicion, looked down upon, and harassed by both heterosexual and homosexual people. Both groups tell them that they are “faking for attention”, “just going through a phase”, and / or “you’ll have to pick a side”. Many people say that they don’t want to date people who are attracted to multiple genders because they are more likely to cheat or carry STIs. People who are attracted to multiple genders often have their gender erased, “You’re dating this person, so right now you’re straight / gay”, and in media, characters who are confirmed attracted to multiple genders will not use terms like bisexual or pansexual, instead using phrasing such as “I like people”, or “I don’t like labels”, and these media characters often fulfil the stereotype of the cheating bisexual, or show a distaste for “being tied down”. For those who are heterosexual, this may not seem like a big deal but for those of us who are queer, we have a very important part of our identity denied on a near daily basis, so when many characters instead refusing to name their identity it can be upsetting.  Having characters who represent us is hugely important because it shows we are not alone. It gives us someone to look up to. And, in a way that’s just really hard to explain properly, it just makes us feel good to see a character who’s like us. It makes us smile, it can make us cry. 

Kaikaina Grif is a character who is very beloved by the community. Since we didn’t have too much canon facts about Kai to build our stories and art off, we had to do a lot of inventing on our own, but the core of Kai came from her actions in the Blood Gulch Chronicles. It was well accepted that Kaikaina Grif was bisexual, from her comment that Tex is badass and hot, and that that thought did not change upon realizing Tex was a woman. 

When Kai showed up in the season 15 trailer, no one expected her to be exactly like we had written. We understood, in general, that there was going to be a difference between “fanon” and canon. But Kaikaina’s bi-phrase joke took a lot of us by surprised and took away one of the core things about Kai’s character. I understand that Kai is supposed to be a sexual, no filter character whose lines are often written to invoke the “wait, what?” gag, but the fact she was bisexual was important to many of us because of the above reasons. The bi-phase joke not only perpetuated the stereotype that bisexual people are “undecided”, it took away a character who represented us, and turned a character we love into just a joke. We knew Kai would not get the same level of characterization the main characters would. We understand what a side character is. But even minor characters, even in a mostly humorous show, shouldn’t have their sexuality reduced to a joke. Kai’s even more special than other side characters, because she’s related to one of the main characters!

This is why the bi-phase joke made me and many others uncomfortable. It showed yet again that people consider attraction to multiple genders to be something that no one takes seriously or understands.

The next joke is the long gag about Tucker having sired who knows how many children and is going to be the absent father for all of them while whining about paying child support. I want to preface this explanation by stating I am not a person of colour, I am white, so many of my feelings and thoughts on this come from my PoC friends and acquaintances. If anything I say is wrong or offensive, please let me know and I will do my best to correct it and myself.

Lavernius Tucker is another beloved character of the community. Many of us believe Tucker has had some of the most character growth of all the Blood Gulch Crew, even when you include Wash and Carolina. We watched him grow from a young, inexperienced soldier to perhaps the best soldier of the Blood Gulch Crew. In many ways, the Chorus trilogy is Tucker’s trilogy, because of how much he learns and grows over the course of it. 

Tucker is a black character. Taking the only canon black character and painting him the sex driven absent father is a huge problem. Again, this is from my understanding of it, but black men have the stereotype as being sexual deviants who don’t care for their children. This is wrong and untrue, but people who believe this look down upon or distrust or outright hate black men because of it. Black men are seen as terrible fathers, despite any and all evidence to the contrary.  This is hugely harmful to black men, especially black fathers, who are distrusted around children, even their own. Black men are also seen as sexual predators because of these stereotypes. Reproducing this stereotype in media only makes the matter worse.

We are aware that a huge part of Tucker’s personality is his sexual nature, but at many points in the show it’s implied or outright stated that Tucker doesn’t actually and has never done much sleeping around. In season 11, Tucker implies to Wash that he slept with an entire bachelorette party. Wash questions him about it and Tucker admits that it didn’t really happen. The joke with Tucker was never that he sleeps around, it was that he was trying to look cool by saying that he did. By season 11, he had largely moved past that. He still made jokes of a sexual nature, that will always be Tucker, but the writing showed that he was not the “sexual deviant” type.

The absent father type is also not the kind of person Tucker is. Shortly after Junior is born, Tucker describes the “ideal father-son relationship” as, “you know, where I only see him every other weekend and on holidays.”. The writing and his actions after that quickly show another story. Tucker is upset by the idea of Wyoming and Omega kidnapping his child so they can use him in their plot to dominate the galaxy. When the ship explodes at the end of season 5 and Junior presumably dies, he tells Church that he is leaving Blood Gulch, as in deserting his post, fleeing the army, and stripping himself of a paycheque, in order to find a way to get Junior back. Once he does, he spends months with Junior as ambassadors between the Humans and the races of the Covenant. In season 11, when Wash asks “didn’t you give birth to an alien baby?”, Tucker is immediately defensive and snaps “don’t bring family into this”. When the subject comes up with Doyle in season 13, Tucker goes from being sullen about describing his experience with Crunchbite, to being bright, happy, and enthused when talking about Junior. He proclaims, “FUCK YEAH, Junior is awesome! Here he is on his fifth grade basketball team,” and pulls out a picture of Junior he has been carrying on his person! Tucker is shown, time and time again, to feel protective of his son, to clearly care about his son, and to love his son with his whole heart. 

So to have Tucker brush off child support with “Uh, no dude, Junior’s got a basketball scholarship” is not incharacter given his actions with Junior before. Even if Junior is of an age where he’s in college and receiving scholarships, Tucker’s actions before show that, upon hearing and assuming it’s Junior who needs money or support of any kind, he probably would have been concerned about Junior. Continuing on from that, while no one expects Tucker to be able to a present father involved with every possible child he had (it’s implied there are many), he is shown to be responsible. All of the Chorus trilogy is about Tucker being responsible! 

Like with Kaikaina, this joke not only supports negative stereotypes but is removing a core part of the character. For Tucker especially, it feels like years of character development were sacrificed to make a gag. 

While I did talk about the consequences these jokes had to the characters and narrative, this is also about the negative impact this sort of humor can have over all.

Again, people who work at Rooster Teeth, I watch a lot of your content. I am well aware that, at the very least, the vast majority of you are good people. You’re not people who hate people for the colour of their skin, or their sexuality or what have you. You write this jokes out of a good nature. You’re ribbing, prodding. You’re not seriously believing that bisexuals are going through phases or that black men make terrible fathers. 

The problem is, not everyone watches all of your content. Maybe they don’t realize there’s more to Rooster Teeth than the one or two shows they’re watching, or maybe they’re not interested in the behind the scenes footage or podcasts. So when a joke, such as the bi-phase joke, comes along, it can tell people “oh, the creators of this thing don’t like people like me”. It hurts so much to find out that someone you admire and look up to despises who you are, or, in extreme cases, would be happy to see you and anyone like you dead. People who don’t watch all of your content, or who feel the gap between your words and actions too large, are going to feel pushed away. The parts of the show they do love are going to start leaving a bitter taste in their mouth. As a hopeful one day content creator myself, I know I’d never want to make anyone who enjoys my work to feel like that, and I know no one at Rooster Teeth would ever want to make anyone feel like they were hated for who they are.

Another problem is that, even if someone does watch a lot of your content, they themselves might be a terrible person.

I love the Rooster Teeth community. I’ve found myself a nice little corner where we encourage each other in writing fanfics and original stories, in drawing, in animation, anything. We’re an accepting group from all walks of life who have in common a love for Red vs Blue and other Rooster Teeth shows. It’s the first time I’ve ever felt so welcome among an internet community. We help each other out through difficult times and make people feel loved and welcome.

But not everyone is like this. Any time people gather together, there’s going to be people who are not good. I’m not just talking internet trolls, I mean legitimately racists, sexist, homophobic, what-have-you, or some combination of these things. These people, when they hear jokes that rely on negative stereotypes to be funny, on some level they are thinking “ah yes, it’s okay for me to think these things. I’m not wrong.”. It’s not on a conscious level, but when it comes to some offensive jokes, this is what making them does. It encourages people to continue to think that way.

Rooster Teeth, you write amazing, humorous shows. And I’m aware that dark humor can exist, I’m aware that it’s sometimes totally in character for a character to make a tasteless joke! It’s just really important to make these jokes the right way, and that’s by showing in the writing that the joke was wrong to say.

You guys have actually done this before in Red vs Blue! In season 11, Tucker makes a joke about the hundreds of others on the ship flying the Reds and Blues home about having died horribly in the crash, only weeks after it happened. This is met with silence from Caboose and a flat “proud of yourself” from Wash. It’s clear that Tucker was in the wrong for making that joke.

That is how you can write offensive jokes into a show. Whether it be an antagonist or flawed protagonist, if the writing shows “this behaviour that is occurring shouldn’t be accepted or encouraged. Not only do we as content creators do not believe it, we’re making it clear,” then that’s great! I’m not saying stop the pacing of the scene to have a five minute lecture about why bisexuality isn’t a phase. It just has to be a line or a visual cue to show it. Not every bad joke can be fixed this way. No one is perfect. I don’t expect you guys to churn out perfect, flawless stories where no one is offended. That’s not possible. I understand that there’s going to be times when something sneaks by the radar or, because of your personal experiences, you may not realize why something isn’t cool to say. That’s just part of being human.

Again, everyone at Rooster Teeth, this isn’t meant to be read as an angry, hurt letter. This isn’t a “you guys suck” post. I love Rooster Teeth, I love Red vs Blue, I love your writing! You guys all work together to produce some of my favourite shows, animated or live action. It’s my dream to work for Rooster Teeth animation one day, to see some of the stories I’ve been working as shows on the Rooster Teeth website. I don’t wish failure upon the company, any individual, or any of your shows. I’m writing this because I want to see you guys keep improving your storytelling. And you’ve all massively improved over the years! If I watch content from 3,4,5 years ago and compare it with today’s latest episodes, it’s amazing to see just how much you’ve all grown as a company. 

I want to make it clear that so far, that little community I mentioned?

So far we’ve love this season. Some parts have sat better with some of us than others, but overall we’re excited! We’re enjoying ourselves! We’re shrieking in a chatroom together, coming up with wild theory after wild theory, crying when the emotions get high, bouncing excitedly when plot gets revealed! Any complaints or criticism we have comes from the fact we love this show! We love it and we watch it to enjoy it, to analyze it, to get our creative juices going. 

I hope you’ve read this all the way to the end. I know this is just my thoughts and perspective, but I hope you give thought to what I, and many others, think about the show and the writing. 

[geektified]

New Post has been published on http://www.geektified.com/2017/06/13/the-raw-expose-the-beast-vs-the-black-sheep-of-the-samoan-dynasty-edition-6-12-2017/

The Raw Exposé: The Beast vs. The Black Sheep of the Samoan Dynasty Edition (6-12-2017)

By: Keila Cash

Hello everyone and welcome to another installment of The Raw Exposé. Tonight’s episode of Monday Night Raw emanated from the Lafayette Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisiana. After Samoa Joe choked out Paul Heyman on last week’s show, Heyman vowed that The Beast would be unleashed and Joe will cower in fear. Did Lesnar deliver the goods or did he stand in the ring like a statue per his usual cameo appearances? The answer to that question can be found throughout this blog. Without further ado, let’s dissect tonight’s episode of Raw in no particular order.

  Samoa Joe proved that he was man enough to take on Brock Lesnar when he attacked The Beast head on to kick off the opening segment of Raw.

  The Lesnar-Joe brawl was pretty good as both men got some licks in before Kurt Angle called for security. Both men quickly got rid of the extra muscle and resumed their fight until the rest of the locker room came out to break things up for good.

  Joe got the last shot when he kicked Lesnar in the face as the opening segment came to an end.

  Paul Heyman set things up beautifully as he cut a fiery promo about how he took Joe too lightly by heaping him with praise only to get choked out for his efforts.

  Because of Joe’s actions, The Beast was unleashed and there would be hell to pay. Heyman blasted Joe for being a punk and mutt who gave his Samoan brethren a bad name because he was considered the black sheep of the family. Heyman claimed that Joe wasn’t man enough to put Brock Lesnar in the Coquina Clutch which caused Joe test that theory by going toe-to-toe with The Beast.

  He didn’t lock in his submission hold, but the Samoan Badass proved that he wasn’t afraid to knock Lesnar on his ass and live to tell the tale.

  Overall, this was a hot way to start the show. The Joe-Lesnar brawl was similar to the epic fight between Lesnar and The Undertaker from a couple of years ago. This didn’t pack the same punch, but it was a solid pull-apart scuffle that built anticipation for their Universal Championship match at the July PPV That Shall Remain Nameless Unless Absolutely Necessary.

  Elias Samson defeated Dean Ambrose with a Swinging Neckbreaker after The Miz and Maryse came out to provide the distraction down the stretch. The Drifter continues to get heat by sucking as a singer, but his in-ring work is very basic which caused some fans to shower him with “You Can’t Wrestle” chants midway through the match. I hope he can work out the kinks because his gimmick has the potential to get over if it’s handled properly.

  This was a nice way to forward the never ending Intercontinental Championship feud between Miz and Ambrose. Let’s hope both stars part ways at next month’s PPV because it’s time for them to move on to bigger and better things.

  Cedric Alexander made quick work of Noam Dar when he pinned him with the Lumbar Check. Alicia Fox facetiming Dar before and during his match was very annoying.

  “Why be a king when you can be a God?” – Eminem.

  That quote from the song “Rap God” sums up the promo exchange between Bray Wyatt and Seth Rollins. Anyone who used Wyatt’s name in vain would be judged accordingly. Rollins was amused that Wyatt took offense to his false prophet and wannabe martyr comment from last week. He challenged Wyatt to prove him wrong, but Wyatt pulled a Houdini by disappearing into thin air and cutting the rest of his promo from the big screen. He told Rollins that it was easy to slay a king while killing a God is an impossible feat to pull off. Wyatt told Rollins to run as the segment came to an end.

  It’s hard to take Wyatt seriously after he lost to Roman Reigns last week. He takes a good game, but he can’t back up in the ring on a consistent basis. Wyatt feuding with Rollins is more nay than yay when it comes to history repeating itself. We shall see if I’m proven wrong in the weeks to come.

  Apollo Crews defeated Kalisto with a Spinout Powerbomb in a decent match. It wasn’t as good as their kickoff bout at Extreme Rules last Sunday, but the action was solid for the most part.

  Mickie James, Dana Brooke, & Sasha Bank defeated Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax, & Emma when Banks made Emma tap out to the Bank Statement. The match was decent as Alexa Bliss continued to look out for herself after she left her team high and dry down the stretch.

  The promo exchange leading up to the six-woman tag team match was fine, but it was nothing to write home about. At least Banks was over with the crowd which added heat to the segment.

  Corey Graves’s interview with Bayley covered a lot of ground as Bayley was honest about why she didn’t get extreme during her Kendo Stick on a Pole match against Alexa Bliss at Extreme Rules. Bayley vowed to stay true to herself in order to walk into next year’s WrestleMania as the Raw Women’s Champion.

  The Hugger Extraordinaire spoke with humility and confidence which helped repair some of the damage done to her character over the past few weeks. Hopefully is this the start of Bayley’s redemption arc because she has a lot to offer as a performer if she isn’t booked like shit.

  Corey Graves saying that he needed a cigarette after hugging Bayley was awesome. I’m surprised they didn’t break character because Graves’ deadpan delivery had me rolling.

  Heath Slater and Rhyno defeated The Miz and The Mysterious Dancing Bear when Dean Ambrose did a switcheroo with the bear after Miz’s paranoia got the best of him once again. The distraction caused Miz to knock Maryse off the ring apron which allowed Ambrose to nail him with Dirty Deeds. Ambrose dragged Slater on top of Miz to pick up the win for his team.

  The match as pure comedy as the announcers traded bear jokes that were so corny that I couldn’t even crack a smile at how dumb they were. Ambrose continues to make Miz look like chump which is entertaining, but it’s not making me long for their feud to continue.

  Neville vs. Rich Swann never got underway as Neville attacked Swann from behind. He slammed Swann into the barricade before putting him in the Rings of Saturn. Neville took pleasure in destroying Austin Aries, TJP, and Swann and blew off Akira Tozawa as a viable challenger for his Cruiserweight Championship. It appears that Titus O’Neil is trying to push his new client on Twitter, but he might be doing more harm than good by kicking the hornet’s nest. At least there’s a storyline reason as to why O’Neil is stirring up trouble on 205 Live.

  Big Cass was attacked backstage by a mystery assailant, but he still tagged with Enzo Amore as they took on Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows. Cass tried to compete, but Enzo had to do the heavy lifting for his team. It wasn’t enough as Anderson and Gallows laid him out with The Magic Killer for the win.

  Anderson and Gallows continued to attack Enzo until The Big Show made the save. Cass didn’t look happy as Enzo embraced Big Show in the ring. Cass remains my top suspect in the backstage attacks.

  Big Show calling Big Cass S-A-W-F-T pretty much says it all.

  The 2-out-of-3 falls match featuring The Hardy Boyz vs. Sheamus and Cesaro for the Raw Tag Team Championship ended in a tie when both teams didn’t make it back in the ring before the count of ten during the deciding fall. This was a smart way to prolong the feud while keeping both teams strong heading into the July PPV That Shall Remain Nameless Unless Absolutely Necessary.

  This was a very good main event match that featured hard-hitting action throughout. Both teams work well together which makes their feud still feel fresh despite the multiple rematches. I can’t knock the monotony if the wrestling is up to par. Let’s hope they can keep the momentum going heading into The Fire with Great Balls.

  Overall, I thought this was a serviceable episode of Monday Night Raw. It was clear from the start that WWE wanted to get their best stuff out of the way before Game 5 of the NBA Finals featuring the Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers tipped off at 9:00 p.m. Brock Lesnar and Samoa Joe took care of business with their pull-apart brawl while the show was bookended by The Hardy Boyz vs. Cesaro and Sheamus in a 2-out-3 falls match for the Raw Tag Team Titles.

  The rest of the show was filled with a lot of fluff, but there was an interesting development in the form of a Roman Reigns video package. Michael Cole announced that Reigns would reveal his plans for SummerSlam on next week’s show. It appears that Reigns won’t be a part of the Raw exclusive PPV next month and will focus on the biggest party of the summer instead. His promo will be newsworthy, to say the least.

  Finn Bálor was also kept tonight’s show, but he was given the video package treatment as well. Bálor not having a viable feud at the moment sucks, but I don’t want him on television unless he has a clear purpose. The creative team better live up to their name because Bálor is too talented to be sitting on the sidelines without anything meaningful to do.

  Raw should be locked in for the rest of the summer because they no longer face competition from the NBA Playoffs. The television real estate is light on content and it’s important that WWE strikes while the iron is hot. If not, let the summertime sadness commence.

    On that note, this wraps up another edition of The Raw Exposé. I hope you enjoyed it and I will be tomorrow night with a brand new installment of The SmackDown Files. See you later, boys and girls!