#THIS WAS IN THE FIRST HANDFUL OF EPISODES HOW WERE PEOPLE CALLING HER /NAIVE/

[musical-chick-13]

Oh my GOOODDDDDD, imagine living your life like this, could NOT be me.

[untangling-my-headphones]

A lot of people aren't vibing with Charles and Crystal's romance and honestly i think it's because it's not necessarily supposed to be a full-fledged, endgame romance.

I think it's written to be a fling.

Charles is a flirt; one of the first things he thinks about when Edwin tells him ghosts can't feel is that he would miss kissing, he says himself it's nice to be seen by someone his own age, he calls Crystal fit, etc. Assumably between cases he has a very small social circle of literally just Edwin so it makes sense that this girl who he gets on with and finds attractive immediately becomes a bit of a crush for him.

Then Crystal picks up on his flirting almost immediately, again they get on, etc. She says if he wasn't dead and she wasn't dealing with the aftermath of her toxic relationship with David he would be a good addition to her body count, i.e. just a fling. She doesn't say they'd date or she could fall for him just that they'd probably hook up.

Their first kiss happens when they're both dealing with some heavy stuff, Charles is angry, continuing to push down his trauma with his father and his past, Crystal is annoyed about not being any closer to getting her memories back whilst trying to deal with the trauma her last relationship caused her. They find comfort in each other in that moment. Crystal says she wants something real and the care they have for each other is real, there's no manipulation, no secrets. It's honest and it's innocent.

The song that plays in that scene is called Young Blood (White Sea Remix) by The Naked and Famous and has lyrics such as 'we're only young and naive still' and 'can't help myself but count the flaws, claw my way out of these walls, one temporary escape' and 'we lie beneath the stars at night, our hands gripping each other tight, you keep my secrets hope to die' - It does align with the idea that they're what each other wants in the moment, a distraction, to be able to pretend everything is normal and ok (keep each others secrets)

Crystal in the next episode, the next morning after their kiss, literally calls Charles a 'cute distraction' and says they should be friends. This time both of their issues and trauma are the reason for them not continuing the relationship. Blatantly, Crystal isn't ready for another relationship so soon after David, she wakes up with a nightmare about him and Charles. They bring up Charles fighting the Night Nurse and Charles says that he thought they were on the same page about it and 'at least that's how it seemed last night' which again leans into the fact they were both looking for comfort. Charles and Crystal kissing had nothing explicitly to do with her supporting his actions fighting the Night Nurse and yet that's how he took it because that's what he was searching for comfort from and acceptance on. Which is most likely why he seems to take the rejection harder than Crystal, seemingly agreeing to be friends more out of respect for her choice than the want to call it quits himself.

Charles tells Edwin later on about the kiss (right after Edwin is complaining about having to cancel plans with Monty) and says though he didn't physically feel it, he did feel it 'up here' and points to his head. The mind is generally not the place you feel love, I feel that's a given. (reminds me of the starfish on the beach that Niko says are in love, Edwin points out starfish have no brain and Niko says love doesn't require logic, meaning: love is not stored in the mind.) Charles and Edwin's conversation veers off to being about there own relationship, with Charles saying he wouldn't want to be dead with anyone else - not even the girl you just kissed? No? Ok.

The way that episode goes (The case of the two dead dragons) Crystal and Charles end up arguing about the very reasons they decided to not continue their relationship. Crystal likens Hunter and Brad to David, and Charles defends them saying not everyone is her demon ex-boyfriend which seems like he's projecting and really defending himself. Then Crystal calls him out on his 'rage problem' and what happened with the Night Nurse. So though they comforted each other the night before, their real feelings for each others issues are surfacing and they're not so on the same page. Of course they get over this and apologise soon enough. Though in the end, it's Edwin Charles opens up to and actually talks to about how he's feeling rather than pushing it aside and looking for a distraction. And after that, Charles gives Crystal genuine comfort not just a distraction by listening to her talk about her nightmares/visions about David. (immediately followed by the scene of Edwin and Monty on the swings in which Edwin suggests they don't see each other anymore, then back tracks, they kiss followed by rejection which definitely has... parallels)

After that, Crystal and Charles are still an obvious source of comfort for one another, they talk to each other about their stresses, they stick close together a lot of the time but there's nothing inherently romantic to their actions aside from the fact we know they have kissed which gives their actions a depth that, for example Edwin and Niko's don't, despite them also being affectionate and spending time together alone.

Then in the last episode as Crystal is attempting to leave for London, her and Charles share another kiss. When she tries to say bye to Charles, he says it feels like a 'good-bye good-bye' rather than a 'see you back in London good-bye' and Crystal doesn't correct him, essentially confirming it was supposed to be a forever goodbye. She instead kisses him. It's a good-bye kiss. A (supposed to be) final kiss. A 'we had a good run' type of kiss. Crystal kisses him because she thinks she'll never see him again. It's similar to the first in which the kiss itself is the beginning and end, and it doesn't mean much past that. It's a kiss as a secret again, like their first kiss. A kiss to fill the space left by things they don't want to talk about. She doesn't want to admit she's planning on leaving for good so she kisses him instead, it's a comfort and it's a distraction. (and its consistent)

When Crystal decides to stay in the end, Charles says it'll be great, then specifies that 'solving cases together' will be great, not anything else that could of implied. Which could either be them just being awkward, or a flip in their dynamic that now Crystal is the one more involved in their relationship and Charles is the one setting boundaries.

Overall I think they have a really interesting dynamic. They are exactly what each other needs in moments and then the opposite in the next, they care about each other so much yet are possibly the people that unearth each others insecurities and traumas the most. They're both looking for a new, different kind of relationship and find it within the other but inherently once the novelty fades they fall more into being friends than anything more. I think like most of the relationships in this show, they're supposed to be complicated, they're supposed to be more of a journey than a destination. They learn and grow from their interactions together and I think that's something really beautiful.

[delicatetigerobject]

hey hey hey wait. mike wheeler thought.

So, I know that people don't like episode 7 of season 2 in Stranger Things, I know that a lot of people find it dumb. However, this is my favorite episode. And I was just rewatching it for the first time when I thought of something, and I don't know if anyone else has said this, but in that scene with Kali and El on the rooftop, could Kali be like, a metaphor of sorts for Mike's queerness? (TLDR is at the end in case you don't want to read all this, as it might be a bit long since it's a sort of little analysis of this scene.) And now this may be the shittiest theory ever, because I'm running on caffeine and a hyperfixation on stranger things, so just be warned lol.

So anyway. What got me thinking it was when I saw these blue and yellow light specks (or whatever you wanna call them) behind El. And of course my immediate thought was "haha byler OMG WAIT BYLER", and at first I thought this scene might be important to Mike AND Will, both of them. But I kept watching it, and I think it's actually about Mike and how everyone sees him and his sexuality.

So, here, El is saying that Hopper says that she'd be able to leave soon, and Kali is calling him naive for thinking that. You can see the blue lights behind El when she says that he says she can be out of the house soon, and then the camera view switches over to Kali as she responds.

She tells El that "We'll always be monsters to them", which can also be said about queerness at the time, and might be a view that Mike has throughout the series. I think that it is, actually, especially with how homophobic people were around that time.

You can see El nod, with the same blue lights behind her. So, she understands that she is viewed as a monster for having powers, and this could also symbolize/represent Mike understanding that if he isn't normal, then he won't be accepted, and that as long as people know he's queer, he will be seen as a monster as well.

Kali says that she can make people "see, or not see" whatever she wants them to. This can also be said about Mike in regards to his sexuality. He can hide it. He can make people not see his queerness, just like by dating El he can make people see his supposed 'straightness'. If Kali is representing Mike and his sexuality here, it would actually make quite a bit of sense, because the view that others have of this part of Mike is controllable, and whether he lets people see it or doesn't is completely up to him, much like what Kali is talking about here with her powers.

Kali then proceeds to say that it doesn't have to be scary, which is also true for being gay. While some people may see it as something scary or disgusting (like the spiders that she makes Axel see), it doesn't have to be seen like that.

She says that it can be beautiful too, and then makes El see a butterfly. The butterfly starts off as blue in her hand (I couldn't get a very good photo of it), which as we know, is very commonly known as Mike's color. This detail is important in my opinion, because then the butterfly starts glowing rainbow, which is the color of the pride flag. So, where the spiders that she can make Axel see are scary to him, as he likely has arachnophobia, the butterfly that she shows El is explicitly stated to be beautiful. And so, this could also have the (sort of) hidden meaning of how while some people see being queer as something gross and scary (homophobia), others might see it as something beautiful.

She also tells El to "think of it as a kind of magic". A lot of people call love magical, so this might mean that queer love should be viewed as love just like any straight love is, but that people who have that are still seen as monsters (as she said earlier). You can also still see the blue light behind El as this is being said, which points out that this is still about Mike. And when she says this, she is talking about her powers, a part of her, which are currently being shown with a butterfly.

But then when El tries to grab at the butterfly, which could (possibly?) represent Mike's love, (which is queer/gay love), she can't actually touch it. Interesting, isn't it?

She then asks Kali if SHE is real, because if she can't touch the butterfly, then she can't be sure that Kali isn't fake too, can she? The same applies to Mike's sexuality, which is not heterosexual like everyone thinks it is. To people who don't know what his sexuality is, they might ask if this part of him, the queer part, is real or not real.

Kali then says that she is real, and El touches her face, just to be sure. So, if Kali is Mike's queerness in this scene, then her saying that she is real means that Mike being queer would also be real.

TLDR: I think the scene with El and Kali on the rooftop is actually about Mike being queer.

This right here is how I feel right now about this

sigh. I guess this is just what happens.

[lovelywooz]

Knife’s Edge

Heyy :D I've been writing this for over a year so I hope it's good! People always find my shameful posts right away in the jungwoo tag. I don’t think he knows how to use tumblr though so I’m safe! ;) Sorry that it’s a multi-part btw, but I wanted to get some of it out already, nearly done with the rest!

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 (Coming Soon)

Word Count: 7,305

Warnings: Smut, kissing, biting, fingering, kitty eater jungwoo agenda that I’m pushing, knife mentioned but it’s in the title too, themes of violence

Mr. Kim Jungwoo, your best friend, is anything but killer. His bright smile, eccentric personality, and playful touchiness certainly make you swoon but... a psychopath? Lesson learned: Beware the man under the mask.

“CUT!”

Camera directors and makeup artists alike sigh with relief at the end of another long filming day. Your co-star gleefully makes his way toward you in a way that could only be described as ‘bouncing’. He takes the, very dull, prop knife he’s been holding and playfully pokes your side with it. Playing along, you wail exaggeratedly in pain and slowly sink to the floor. The laugh that worms it way out of your dear friend is your reward.

Over the years your careers have grown together. You were two zombie extras in the background, then two office workers with one line each, then you played two siblings at a snack stand, and so on. While your career took off after landing a role as the ‘supportive but delusional best friend’ in a weekly sitcom, Jungwoo simultaneously grew to stardom off a Netflix series where he plays a ‘naive soccer player’… who gets murdered in the third episode. He was a hit nonetheless, no doubt due to his pretty face and personality. Despite colorful careers, the current project “Demon in Disguise” is the first time you’ve both been awarded lead roles. 

But, let’s start at the beginning.

You can recall the night casting was finalized. You were so nervous and excited at the prospect of a lead role that you didn’t tell anyone, except your agent Minju of course, that you had auditioned.

The two of you held hands and put the casting director on speaker phone when he called.

“Hello, this is Kim Mingyu of Seventeen Entertainment. I understand you’ve been waiting to hear from us regarding your audition?”

“Yes that’s correct”! Your palms have begun to sweat.

“Excellence. I’m pleased to inform you our esteemed director is a fan of your work and wants to offer you the part”.

Minju muted the phone to squeal and run around the room in glee.

“Um. Hello?” Mingyu chirps from the other end of the line.

Hushing Minju, you unclick the mute button. “Apologies my service must have cut out for a second. Yes, I would be happy to take the role! If I may ask, have you decided any other cast members yet?”. 

“Fantastic. I’ll inform the director, he’ll be thrilled” he shuffles with some papers in the background, “Yes we’ve actually picked the Psychopath you’ll be working with. Called him earlier this morning. We know that you’ve worked with him on screen before; Kim Jungwoo?” 

A mix of confusion and happiness washed over you in that moment. “Y-yes! I’m very comfortable with him so that’s great”. 

“Perfect. I’ll give your agent a call with the filming schedule in due time”. 

You hand the phone back to your agent so she can wrap up the conversation. You should be excited about this. On the big screen with your closest friend? That’s once in a lifetime. The realization sets in as soon as Minju hangs up the phone. 

“So… romance drama with your ‘best friend’ huh?” She slinks back over to the chair next to you with a smug look on her face. 

“The sample script said Crime. Thriller. How could I have known it would develop into something like that?” You bury your face in your hands, “and my other concern is that, well…”

“You think Jungwoo isn’t exactly ‘killer’ material?” Minju always reads your mind. “I know the boy is a bit of a space cadet, but he is an actor for a reason. Maybe he’ll surprise you”. She winks and leaves to fill out some paperwork on her laptop. 

After the initial shock rolls over, you send a text to your dear friend. 

Me - (9:52 PM) Did you, by chance, get casted today hmm? 

ZEUS :) - (9:57 PM) … how did you know that (,,>_<,,) 

Me - (9:57 PM) Guess who’s playing the detective 

You’re answered not by a text but by a video call invitation, which you accept. 

“Are you for real?!” Jungwoo’s entire face is taking up the screen so you can only see his raised eyebrows and sparkling eyes. 

“I’m being so serious. Minju and I just got off the phone with the director!”

Jungwoo makes some excited sounds and puts the phone to his chest to tell whomever he’s with that, “She got the other part. I was just talking about that! That’s so crazy”.

In the background you can hear Hyungwon’s distinctive snickering laugh, but you can’t make out what he’s saying over your friend’s loud and aggressive shushing. He lifts the phone once more and you can see he’s at the gym based on his signature beanie, white T-shirt, and you’re assuming he’s wearing his lucky grey sweatpants.

The lack of TV makeup gives him this perfectly-imperfect glow that can’t be replicated by any foundation or BB cream. Almost like he’s lit from within. He copies your skincare routine yet somehow he’s never had so much as a zit.

“Hyungwon is here by the way. I can’t believe our first leads are in the same drama, how touching”he fake cries for a second, which makes you chuckle and roll your eyes. “Anyways I’ll talk to you later, gotta start beefing up if I’m gonna look scary. Bye bye~”.

“See ya!” Beep. 

As soon as the script finished printing Minju dropped you off at your luxury apartment. Your nightly routine went by quickly due to your excitement. All those years of hard work are finally paying off for you and your best friend. In the entertainment world chances like this are few and far between. Which means you have to be absolutely captivating if you want to keep your spot amongst the superstars.

You recall your college acting coach’s advice while you wash up, “nobody wants to watch two strangers fish kiss on screen, real chemistry is critical when it comes to romance”. Your cheeks heat up underneath the foamy soap, “if you’re having trouble ‘warming up’ to your co-star: picture them on top of you. Or you on top of them if you prefer! Damn if that doesn’t spark something or other”. You can hear his hearty laugh clear as day still taunting you.

Flopping down on your bed you toss and turn under the covers, attempting to get comfortable. What a ridiculous piece of advice. You don’t dare close your eyes. If you have to see Jungwoo… like that…

“God this is so embarrassing!” Huffing, you flip into your side and stare holes into the pillow beside you. “This is stupid. This is your job for crying out loud”. Surely it’s harmless right? Just an exercise of your imagination? Not as if you’ve never hugged him or touched him before- he’s your best friend for Pete’s sake. The overthinking drains you enough to close your eyes and drift into a peaceful sleep, a welcome respite from your thoughts. 

_

The warmth of lips on your neck wakes you. When you open your eyes your view is blocked by a cloud of familiar brown hair. Not that you could make out much in the darkness of your bedroom anyways.

“Woo? Mmm, what are you doing?” The scrape of his teeth across your neck gives you goosebumps as he hums lowly in response. Any pain is quickly soothed by his plush lips again.

While you are certainly confused, the situation is not unpleasant. His mouth is leaving abstract shapes all over the exposed skin above your chest. Your legs are tangled together and his warm body makes it seem as if the whole room is filled with him. His gourmand perfume with the subtle tinge of sandalwood bewitches your senses. You detect a bit of salty musk, likely from the gym earlier. Not that you minded.

Post-workout man smell is practically a pheromone.

A warm hand sliding slowly up your shirt catches your attention, his thumb gently caressing your stomach. Your breath hitches. Your lover raises his head to look into your eyes and you whimper at the lust within them. It’s as if all his attention is focused on nothing else but your pleasure. Your foreheads connect as he presses his thigh up against your throbbing heat. You barely stifle your gasp, “Jungwoo… please-“.

His lips touch your temple sweetly as he whispers “When I took the job as your agent, I didn’t sign up to be your mother too.”

… What did he say? This time the man sits up completely before chastising you, “Get up already!”

_

Your lids fly open and register Minju’s stern glare. “I thought you said you were going to set an alarm? This is why I arrive early to pick you up.” She makes her way to the bedroom door with a huff, car keys gripped in her hand. “You’ve got 20 minutes to get ready for the script reading today. Get. Up!”.

Scrambling out of bed you rush to the sink to brush your teeth, wash your face, and make the best of your bed-head. Thank goodness you showered last night and just need a little zhuzhing. Stepping into your sweatpants you root around for a t-shirt to wear. “You have 30 seconds!” Minju yells down the hallway.

“Alright! Okay- hang on a sec!” Finally you find a random oversized black tee to throw on. Grabbing your bag and slipping into your shoes you race out the door, turning and locking it behind you. 

The drive to the entertainment building was quite uneventful. It’s Minju’s turn to set the playlist and you hummed and sang along to her tunes. What a relief to have an agent you get along so well with. You could ask Minju for just about anything and she’d be there for you. She coolly flashes her badge to security and parks the car.

On the way up to the reading room, you stop to use the restroom. Passing by the large mirror into a stall, you finally have a moment to process your dream before work begins. “What the hell was that?”, you shake your head and rub your face. Moreover, how are you supposed to look him in the eye today?

You’d never deny that your dear friend was attractive. He’s got a face Aphrodite would be jealous of; this entrancing aura surrounding him. He’s had no shortage of women and men alike vying for his attention, unbeknownst to him ironically.

So why now? Why before the single most important roles of your careers? Why before you have a dozen cameras filming every moment in multiple angles? Why did your heart pick now to start… feeling things.

Finishing up your business, you exit the privacy of your stall and wash your hands at the sink by the large mirror. You check your appearance and freeze. Oh my god. The automatic faucet shuts off leaving you in tense silence. I’m wearing his shirt.

Sure enough, the black shirt you mindlessly swiped from your dresser in haste indeed belongs to Jungwoo. Not only that, but your nose picks up on a faint but familiar scent. Vanilla and sandalwood… in your mind’s eye you recall his piercing gaze-

“Stop.” Smacking your flushed cheeks seems to bring you back to reality. Quickly, you exit the restroom leaving your depraved visions behind in favor of the task at hand. 

You take your seat next to Minju and scan the room. There are at least a dozen writers and five other actors and actresses, some of whom you recognize and some you’ve never seen before. No major stars though. This is to be expected, it’s your first lead role after all. Clearly this production is confident enough in their story to give some underrated performers a chance. 

“Wow. I thought I was supposed to be the criminal” even with a bucket hat and a face mask, his tall proportions betray his identity. Jungwoo stands behind your chair and tugs at your clothes, “you stole my shirt”.

You brush away his hand as nonchalantly as you can muster, “Finders keepers. Next time you drunkenly Uber to my apartment: sleep with your shirt on.” You poke his arm back as he giggles.

“Okay fine! You can have it I’ve got a million t-shirts anyways” his touch lingers on your shoulders for a moment, and he laughs before heading over to his seat next to his manager Mr. Suh. No matter how many times he asks you to just call him ‘Johnny’ his stern resting expression lends itself better to formality. Jungwoo of course has no problem messing around with him whatsoever.

The production meeting ends and the script packets are distributed for each actor to study. Arriving back at your apartment in the late afternoon, you decide to take the rest of the evening to knock out reading the script. Typically you liked to get ahead of it.

Flipping page after page, you pause multiple times during your reading to take a deep breath.

This drama was almost certainly based on some dirty fan fiction the writers worked up. No wonder there’s no blockbuster names involved. While not totally explicit- this is South Korea after all- it’s not difficult to read between the lines.

The story involves a young detective desperately searching for answers as to why her ex-boyfriend went missing. She’s worked countless cases, but this one was personal. She’ll do anything and face any danger to bring the perpetrator to justice.

Meanwhile her plucky assistant has been ‘keeping the bed warm’. What she doesn’t realize is he’s merely trying to throw her off his trail. For you see, the assistant was the killer all along. He’s responsible for a string of unsolved murders, all of whom he became involved with before they were found dead. But this time is different. He seeks not merely to kill the detective, but to own her very being. The rest of those women were nothing but toys to him, but her? She’s special. He wants her to follow him, willingly. And if he can’t have her? Well. Then nobody can. 

It’s a classic trope but to be honest, you can’t tell how it’s going to end. Will she find out the assistant is the killer before it’s too late? If she does, will he kill her before he gets locked up? The writers put their hearts, souls, and dirty fantasies into this one.

You flop the slab of papers onto your nightstand, turning the bedside lamp off and plunging into darkness. Your thoughts roll back to Jungwoo just before your mind shuts off for the day. You can’t believe filming starts tomorrow already. 

_

A call interrupts your research. You recognize the extension and debate whether to force him to leave a message. You’re so close to a breakthrough in this case; you can feel it. You can’t afford any distractions, even the fun ones. But you just can’t help yourself. Maybe he really does need an account code or something this time.

Snatching the receiver off the hook, you tuck it between your shoulder and your ear “this had better be good.”

“Chief, I heard you need my help… down there?” The implication behind the question makes you blush. That’s always his code for when there’s more than a ‘work favor’ on the table. Obviously he can’t spell out what he’s suggesting over a monitored phone line.

To everybody else, it sounds like your overachieving personal assistant is being summoned to make copies or something in the lower floor of the investigative department. You’re already a little hot under the collar, the stress of the investigation begging to be snuffed out if only for a little while.

But, you must stay focused. “I’m kinda in the middle of something.”

“Chief, don’t work so hard” his tone dips into something sugary sweet and sultry, “I’ll be down there quickly. I promise”. 

“Cut. Great work you two” your director turns to talk to the lighting crew leaving you to your thoughts. Director Jihoon may be small, but he commands a set like no other. For such a little guy, he sure has a confident stride.

You’d read this scene last night so you know what’s coming next. Already your face feels like it’s melting off. And it must be because the makeup team flocks over to you in a whirlwind of powder, lip tints, and blushes. 

Once the makeup fairys are satisfied with your look, they swarm Jungwoo as he makes his way towards you. He clears his throat while they clean his fake glasses and roll up the sleeves of his crisp white button down shirt. “You ready?” You nod mutely and giggle a bit at the way he is scolded for moving during his lip makeup. He’s blushing a bit too, nothing a little powder won’t fix. 

You’re glad that if you’re doing this, it’s with him. You’ve known each other all this time, yet you’ve never so much as gossiped about any sexual escapades. Neither of you have ever done anything this… racey in front of each other. Much less in front of a camera. Still, it’s nice to be paired with someone you know and trust, rather than a total stranger or some veteran actor who’s secretly a creep. 

“Clear the set please. Places!”

You gulp down the lump in your throat as you step back into the desk behind you. Jungwoo shuffles over and invades your personal space. It’s so painfully awkward but neither of you are brave enough to admit it. You rest your hands on his arms in the proper placement for the scene. Of course you notice how firm his biceps are. The gym is really paying off… okay not helping.

“Hold! Lighting problem. Sit tight love birds.” The director shimmies off his chair and walks to some unknown location. Honestly you’re grateful for the extra time to compose yourself. 

“Hey, don’t worry” you peek your head up at your partner, “Just play pretend and have fun with it. I won’t judge you.” Jungwoo mutters to you.

“You’re not nervous?” You whisper back. The production team is preoccupied with the light fixtures and you doubt they would be able to hear your conversation, but keeping the volume low seems fitting. It feels suitably… intimate considering your situation.

“Me?” He huffs a laugh, “Of course I am. But if it looks real, we only have to do this once”. Some additional lights flicker on as the director shouts once again for places. Jungwoo quickly adds, “Sorry if I hurt you by accident okay?” You only have time to nod in response. 

“Action!” 

Your body is slammed onto your desk. Photos and documents flying in the air. The force of the tall boy knocks the wind and the courage out of you.

It’s tempting to break character but you steel yourself and look up at him with as desperate a look as you can muster. Not in the script but he’s right, I gotta make it look real. You meet his gaze through half lidded eyes and by God you wish you hadn’t. 

Jungwoo loosens his tie with an expression you’re sure will end up in your dreams tonight. A veil of playful lust thinly concealing the twisted desires beneath. His glasses are nearly falling off his face, his hair is properly tousled thanks to the costume department, and his muscles are straining through the button down that’s one size too small. The smug look on his face nothing short of patronizingly sexy.

You don’t even notice the camera coming closer when he flattens his chest against yours.

“Chief, you’re still looking at that old case? Didn’t you hear it’s a dead end?” His long and nimble fingers trace their way to the top button of your shirt and pop it open.

“Y-you know what? I don’t recall asking for your input.” You reach down and tug at his belt buckle, attempting to knock it loose.

You make a show of throwing your head back a bit to try and hide some of your expression from Jungwoo. You’re barely even acting when you shudder at the fingers he cards through your hair.

“Don’t misunderstand Chief, I only want to help you. You’re so on edge lately” His tone is sinfully lovely. He cups your cheek, bringing you down to meet his eyes. “Let me help you relax. Okay?”. 

“Cut! I think we got it. Great work guys. Just some dialog left and we’ll call it a day.” 

Jungwoo scrambles off of you as if he’d touched a hot burner. You’d hit him for insulting you if not for the delirium you’re experiencing right now. You brush yourself off and straighten your clothes, attempting to recenter yourself. Your partner clears his throat.

“See,” he says “Only one take”. He winks and you gag exaggeratedly. His laugh makes you smile and eases the tension. Now that that scene is over your relief is immense. Your dialogue goes smoothly and you start to mingle with more of your costars. The filming day goes by in a breeze.

You lay down in bed freshly showered and excited to get back to the studio tomorrow. In due time, you drift off reflecting on your day. 

_

“You’re so pretty baby” Jungwoo mumbles into your thighs, dragging his tongue painstakingly slowly down towards your throbbing core. Occasionally dropping a kiss along the way. You try not to make any more embarrassing sounds. His crawling pace is torturous, he knows it too judging by that devilish smirk on his face.

“So pretty but such a tease. Wearing my clothes. Showing everyone you wanna be mine huh?” Shaking your head vehemently, you try to sit up but you’re quickly thwarted by a strong arm forcing your chest back down. “No? You weren’t? Don’t deny it sweetie. I actually like it”. He kisses your clit with each word, “I really,” Kiss. “Really.” Kiss. “Like it”. Finally, blessedly, his tongue swipes through your folds.

The moan that escapes you is nothing short of pornograpic. It fuels him more. His tongue draws circles around your clit before latching his lips around it. “Woo, oh my god please”. You’re not sure what you’re even pleading him for but he reassures you with a patronizing coo, “I’ll take care of you, just wanna make you feel good. My pretty girl, all mine.” His words would be so sweet if not for the subtle twist of possessiveness lacing them.

It’s so wrong. But it makes you squirm even harder under him. Practically grinding against his face, making his perfectly angled nose bump your sensitive spot. He pulls his mouth away and a string of spit connects him to your core. Fuck that’s… so hot. He looks drunk as he leans up to rest his head against yours, panting onto your face. You close your eyes, unable to take being so close to him in right now. His long gentle fingers circle your entrance, slowly but methodically working you up again. “Look at me sweetie.” You can’t. You really can’t this time. “I wanna see your eyes. Pretty please?” You know he can feel your core twitch. Why does he have to sound like that when he begs you?

“Come on honey no use being shy now, you’re already soaking me. Let me see you” You open your eyes timidly and stare into his chocolate colored ones. So many emotions swirl inside his irises: pleasure, devotion, pride. They’re staring into the depths of your mind and exposing desires you didn’t know existed. “There you go. Not so hard huh?” His digits sink their way into your heat. Your corrupted soul almost leaves your body.

Your eyes roll back and squeeze shut once again. His laugh would sound so innocent if not for the deeply depraved context. His mouth falls next to your ear again as his hand pumps faster and faster. “You gonna cum?” Breathlessly you nod. His knuckles brush against your insides with each thrust. Squelching noises could likely be heard in the next room over. “Orrr… Should I stop?” He giggles.

You death grip onto his arm, “No! Don’t, please just don’t stop” the noises you’re making could get a sex worker to blush.

“I’m only teasing honey don’t worry. I don’t intend to stop, you’ve been so good an all.” Darkness creeps into his voice. “Then again… I do like hearing you beg” He rubs your clit in circles with the pad of his thumb and you’re so so close. Can practically see the light.

“Woo please! Need it” you whine and thrash uncontrollably searching for some kind of extra contact. Anything to get you over that hill. 

Your alarm shocks your system. You feel like a bomb about to explode when you realize it’s time to get up. What the fuck. You were so close. Groaning in frustration, you reach over and turn off the evil device. You take your robe with you to the bathroom. Time to shock your system with an ice cold shower. 

_

Day two went by fast as well. You’ve established your character’s friendships and filmed a few action sequences. At the end of day, the writing team comes shuffling in like a pack of vultures. Mid-conversation with the second female lead you watch them hand over a freshly printed stack of papers to the director. The team of youngsters keenly watch as he reads the pages. Once he’s flipped the packet one last time, he nods in approval. Much to the visible satisfaction of the team. The director wobbles off his chair and slowly makes his way over to you and the other actors. He never looks up from his watch and nearly runs down several costume artists. When he does lift his head, he glances back and forth between you and Jungwoo several times. Eventually he settles on Jungwoo, walking over to where he’s seated across the set on some couch prop. You can’t hear what they’re saying from over here but you watch their interaction curiously. The director hands Jungwoo his mysterious packet of papers while he talks his ear off. Jungwoo’s back stiffens a bit and he clears his throat as the director explains what must be in that leaflet.

With each enthusiastic word from Jihoon his eyebrows raise higher. Eventually Jungwoo scratches the back of his neck sheepishly and, to your surprise, meets your eyes. You avert your gaze immediately but you still try to use your peripheral vision. All you catch is a nod from Jungwoo and a shoulder pat from the director. 

Now the short man is stalking towards you with determination. He starts speaking before he’s even entered your personal space, “Would you be open to an additional scene? We can spare the extra time but you’d have to do it in only a few takes”. He flits the stack of papers outward, “The writing team approached me” You take the papers from his outstretched hand and begin flipping through them. Nothing appears to have changed in the script except for one hand written paragraph scribbled in hastily:

Assistant and detective lie in bed, getting up to intimate activity *at discretion of cast* killer narrowly reveals themselves but plays it off. 

It’s hard to keep your cool with your face heating up like crazy. “At discretion of cast… so they want us to come up with something?” You shoot a deer in headlights look at your director.

“Listen it doesn’t have to be crazy explicit- this drama will air on national television after all.” He pushes up his glasses, “Your friend gave me his consent only on the condition that you’re alright with it.” This time it’s your turn to catch Jungwoo staring. When you glance his way he’s suddenly very, very intrigued by his shoes. “So how about it? Like I said I won’t force you”. Jihoon scratches his head. “But if I can be frank: adding this scene will make the chemistry between your characters make a lot more sense. Just comin’ from experience.” 

Maybe it’s the promise of making the drama a hit. Maybe it’s the chance of getting close to Jungwoo again. Somehow he gets you to agree. Before you know it, you’re squished next to each other on a tiny bed, storyboarding a sex scene, surrounded by cameras. It feels as absurd as it sounds.

Jihoon takes the reins, “We just need a raunchy, passionate shot to help fill in the blank for the audience.” He says this like it’s no big deal. The man scratches his chin lost in thought, then gestures to both of you. “How would you feel about kissing?” 

Coughing and choking erupts from the man next to you. His face was bright red. You hand him his water bottle from the table next to you without making eye contact.

Frankly you’re just as flustered at the suggestion as he is. Jihoon continues, “Okay maybe not a kiss yet then. Here’s a better idea: you lay on top of her, we’ll throw a blanket on you, get real friendly and that’s a wrap” Beeping from his trusty watch ends the conversation. “We don’t have much time” The director is already barking orders into his headset as he’s walks away. 

Jungwoo sighs next to you. Then he starts unbuttoning his shirt. What is he doing??

“Jungwoo! What on earth are you doing?” You cover your eyes in a scandalized manner. Not that you’d never seen his body at the beach or after a night of drinking. But it feels different- even looks different, now. His lean but muscular build seems more defined than before. And the way he unbuttons with one hand makes your thighs clench. He slides his sleeves off and drapes the crisp white shirt over a prop chair in the ‘bedroom’. Always so neat and tidy. 

“You saying you leave all your clothes on during the act?” Clearly he’s been working on his confidence as well as his body, seeing as he’s half naked in front of a dozen cameras and staff.

Unfortunately he does have a point. What kind of sex scene would everyone’s clothes be on? “Fine.” You sigh and grasp the hem of your shirt. You lift it just to your belly button before Jungwoo grabs your arm to stop you. 

“Wait- I was just kidding you don’t have to… do that” his forehead is creased with concern for you. His hand then covers yours unconsciously, “I can show enough skin for the both of us. Don’t do anything you’re uncomfortable with”. Jungwoo has always been a little protective of you. He pays for meals when you go out together, fixes your electronics with his technical knowledge, he even helps you put furniture together although you insist you can do it by yourself.

Nevertheless, you shrug off his concern this time. “I don’t mind, it’s just like being in a swimsuit right?” Before he can protest (or you lose your nerve) you’ve lifted your shirt over your head and flung it into the chair haphazardly. The set is a little cold and you can feel goosebumps start to rise on your exposed skin. “I’m not taking my bra off though. Not unless they pay me a pornstar salary!” you giggle sheepishly at your own joke.

Your bra in question is rather adorable today, you mentally thank yourself for wearing it to get that extra boost of confidence. It’s pale pink with red heart-shaped polkadots. Red lace wraps around the cups to hug the swell of your breasts flatteringly. Gotta love post-Valentine’s Day clearance sales. 

It’s funny. You’ve gone to the beach with Jungwoo before, many times actually, so he’s definitely seen you topless. But something about the atmosphere feels… different this time. It could be the fact that you’re sitting so close that your thighs are touching. Or that you both know loosely what you’re about to do. Either way the tension is palpable. A small familiar spark ignites in your lower body and you’re reminded of your titillating scene from yesterday. 

Against your better judgment, you try to cut the mood by tussling his hair some, leaning closer and quietly remarking that ‘it’s a little too perfect for supposedly being in the fit of passion’. His eyes don’t meet your face, he’s staring much lower. For some reason you feel a little swell of pride. 

Director Jihoon’s voice is heard over the loudspeaker, “Okay kids you’re up. Get under the covers and let’s get this done quick so we can all go home”. The tall man beside you shuffles towards the pillows and folds back the comforter on the bed. He gestures silently for you to get in under the covers and you nod a ‘thank you’ back.

Once your back hits the smooth and soft sheets he slips in next to you, then tosses the heavy blanket back over you both. It feels slightly domestic for a moment, crawling into bed together. Feeling the warmth of skin on skin when your bodies brush. He positions himself on top of you. Any and all bravado evaporates and you oblige your first instinct to close your eyes.

There’s no way you can look at him without giving away exactly what’s on your mind in this position. The dreams and thoughts you’ve been having. It’d be all too obvious. He hasn’t uttered a word since your shirt came off. Your curiosity at his silence makes you peek one eye open and once again you wish you hadn’t.

Jungwoo is a much better actor than you give him credit for. That confusing mix of love and evil from earlier has returned to his eyes. The cameras aren’t even rolling yet. Finally, he speaks. “I have an idea, but you’re going to have to trust me”.

You nod, “I do. Trust you, I mean”. You could’ve sworn his gaze fell on your lips for a split second. Not like you’re not stealing glances at his too. The position you find yourselves in is reminding you far too much of your dream last night. You’re certain if he brushed over your heat he could feel how wet you are at the thought. 

But. He’s your best friend. Right? This is all just an act. You’re just too immersed in your roles. It’s filtering into your dreams. That must be it. 

The director must’ve called action while you’re lost in thought. Long fingers lace in yours and your hands are pinned above you. Warm lips are pressed down your neck to your exposed collarbone. Your breath has picked up but you’re a little stiff from the shock.

Jungwoo kisses a path back up to whisper in your ear, “is this okay?”. You know his question is just for you, not the cameras, not the audience. His words turn the heat in your gut up to ten. He has no idea how much more than ‘okay’ this is.

All you have the courage to do is nod. He hums lowly and your toes curl up. “Tell me and I’ll stop alright?” He doesn’t wait for an answer this time and sinks his teeth gently into the base of your neck.

Forgetting time and place and person, you moan in pleasure. Suddenly it feels like you aren’t acting anymore.

His left arm slips under the small of your back to hold you as close as possible while his right hand traces down the side of your torso. With your wrists now free, you wrap your arms around his back and scratch gently at his shoulders. It appears to only egg him on harder and his hums turn to lust-laden groans. You’re not sure how you’ll ever go back to listening to his voice normally after you’ve heard what he supposedly sounds like going hard in bed.

Speaking of hard, you’re for sure feeling something poking your stomach. He has to know how crazy he’s making you. The dreams you’ve been having, and now this little stunt? His lips and tongue dragging along the exposed parts of your chest intensify this need. You need to kiss him so badly.

Your lustful mind starts imagining his mouth elsewhere and you squirm a bit at this thought, accidentally pushing your thigh up against his hard-on. His breath hitches.

Just brushing against your best friend’s boner he got from marking you up, perfectly platonic behavior. 

“Kihyun never made you feel this way did he?”

It took you a moment to remember what in the fuck he’s talking about. He’s breathing so hard you could hardly understand his line; playing it up for the camera. Very cute. And kinda hot. You stiffen up to deliver your next line, as the script dictates. 

“Never say his name. Ever.” You spit at him, enraged, and sit back on your elbows.

“Sorry, Chief. It was just- spur of the moment… I wasn’t thinking” there’s a suspicious lack of sincerity to his apology. He smiles at you, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. 

Something isn’t adding up.

“Come on. I said I was sorry. I’ll make it up to you?” His hand cups your face in an attempt to change the subject and reel you back in. He leaves a warm, pleading kiss on your cheek.

Your assistant joined the team after Kihyun left the force and consequently, left you. It was sudden. Detective Yoo vanished without a trace. He left a note saying he was sorry but that he “had to go in order to keep you safe”. Whatever that meant. He walked out the door leaving you wondering what could’ve been all those years ago. And now your assistant seems to know him? 

“How do you know his name?” Silence. His once gentle hand twitches and lowers from your cheek. 

“The pictures on your desk of course. Also you and detective Yoo had a lot of joint paperwork in your file.” His voice is smooth, calm, rehearsed; but his fists clench tightly in the sheets. “I made an assumption that’s all”. 

You suppose that could make sense. The intimate life between you and Kihyun was technically a secret at the time, but you never could bring yourself to put the photos away after the breakup. And especially not now that he’s gone. It’s possible he could’ve put two and two together. 

“You’re shaking Chief. Let me take care of you” he wraps his arms around you in a hug. His hands tracing shapes up and down your back smoothly. His lips dragging kisses down the side of your neck. “Don’t think about those bad people any more. Just think about me, okay?”. Using the full weight of his body he pins you back down into the mattress to continue his onslaught. Another nip to your tender flesh pulls a pleasured sigh from your lungs. Your assistant has got you right where he wants you yet again. 

You’re enjoying yourself but deep down you can’t shake the nagging thought that Jungwoo is merely acting right now. That to him this could be inconsequential. A performance and nothing more. Then again: is it really possible to fake how rock solid he is against your lower body? 

“Cut! That’s a wrap for today” 

Back to reality. Right. 

This time, rather than recoil from you immediately, he takes his time detaching himself from you. Jungwoo sighs and lingers with his body wrapped around yours, if only for a moment. Then releases you from his embrace and rolls off of you, but he doesn’t come out from the covers just yet. 

Oh right, he can’t. Lest his little (big) Jungwoo be visible to the entire staff.

A smirk pulls at your lips before you can hide it. The taller man reaches over to the chair where your clothes had been thrown moments before and tosses your T-shirt in your general direction. 

Usually you’re the first person he finds after a long day of filming. You’ll talk about your lunch that day, your favorite scene, anything. But for the first time since you met, you fall into silence. It’s not uncomfortable necessarily. Rather, it feels as if both of you realize your paradigms have shifted. And how could they not? You always thought showbiz intimacy would be so awkward and forced, absolutely dreaded it your whole career. Something felt strangely natural about being chest to chest with your best friend… you’re not sure how to feel about that. 

Mr. Suh comes onto the set holding an oversized hoodie. He swipes the men’s button down off the chair and hands it to a costume designer, then throws the hoodie at Jungwoo’s face. “Let’s go, your mother is in town this week and I told her we’d be home by nine”. 

Jungwoo scoffs at his agent, “you’re talking to my mom without me?” He pulls the hoodie on over his head. Finally he gets out of bed, the hem of the garment being oversized enough to cover anything embarrassing. Mr. Suh is a real one.

“Well: She’s a very nice woman”.

“Yes she is my mother is an angel. But we both know you and your wife just want your grubby little paws on her cookie recipe”. Jungwoo points accusingly at the tall man’s bulky chest.

Mr. Suh shrugs in response. Then, waves kindly to you, “Have a good evening”. He throws Jungwoo his own bag to carry and leaves to go start the car. 

Your friend offers you a hand getting out of bed, which you accept. He’s back in usual form. With his signature heartwarming smile gracing his lips. “I’ve gotta go, my mom doesn’t like it when I come home late and her food gets cold”. He gives your hand a quick squeeze before letting it fall to your side. “I’ll see you next week”! 

“Bye! Text me” you smile back at your friend and watch his lanky form rush out the door.

There’s a week long break between filming periods to make final script edits. His mom doesn’t come to town often and when she does he likes to treat her to family trips. It seems he’s going to be busy the whole break long.

Your heart aches in a different place than usual but when Minju arrives to pick you up you manage to shake it off. 

[valenteal]

The Clovis Arcs in Star Wars the Clone Wars: a Breakdown of What Went Wrong and What Had Potential

Part 1: Introduction and Senate Spy

Okay, so I’ve been meaning to talk about this for a while but I keep forgetting or putting it off but here I go. I am going to tackle the Clovis arcs from The Clone Wars. This post will include in depth analysis, including my inferences into the implications and consequences which are not necessarily canon but in my opinion are the obvious conclusions to draw if the story were more fleshed out. If it bothers you that I am stating things that were never explicitly said but were definitely implied, this essay is not for you.

Full disclosure: I loved them when I was a naive little kid who didn’t understand the difference between fear and jealousy. I was a possessive kid who feared having people or things taken away, not because I saw them as purely mine but because that was my experience. Someone else swoops in and “steals” my friends or toys or projects. So for me, it was very easy to love these episodes seeing Anakin as similar to me, fearing that Clovis would take Padmé from him, without Padmé’s consent or permission because Clovis was obviously the bad guy. I didn’t understand the attempted nuance of the jealousy and the supposedly “toxic” relationship between Anakin and Padmé. And honestly the first Clovis arc still works with some minor tone adjustments or added dialogue between Anakin and Padmé. The second arc, not so much.

Let’s start with the first arc, which is just one episode, Senate Spy. The opening quote is, ironically “A True Heart Shoud Never Be Doubted.” It begins with an adorable and in character scene where Anakin returns to Coruscant and Padmé bearing food from a kind stranger who he’d hitched a ride with after he blew up his own ships. There’s a couple adorably sad moments when it’s made clear how committed they are to one another but also how new the relationship truly is when Padmé is surprised but incredibly happy when Anakin calls her apartment home, and when Anakin learns that apparently his wife is a good cook as well as a badass politician. The first few minutes of this episode are perfect. The trouble starts, as it is won’t to do, with the Jedi Council.

Actually it starts with Anakin getting their summons to meet, since nothing to bad happened in the scene where they’re trying to get him to pick up, but that’s the trigger for the downward spiral as this is where they begin deliberately butchering Padmé’s character, though it does bring up an important point in my personal view of Anakin. When Padmé gets angry that he has to leave, which is understandable but ends up getting blown way out of proportion, Anakin is able to sense that anger, but not, I assume, who it’s directed at. Padmé isn’t mad at him, she’s mad at the situation and his presumption that he can “read [her] mind.” Which tells us that Anakin’s passive awareness of other people’s feelings is much stronger than most Jedi’s. This is the kind of power that unnerves people, but also explains a lot about Anakin’s character, particularly why he was so quick to trust Qui-Gon and Padmé. But it’s also something he doesn’t talk about to openly, presumably because it scares people and the Jedi really didn’t need anymore reasons to fear him. Therefore he hasn’t been able to hone or practice this particular skill, leading to fumbles like this where he assumes he knows what someone is feeling but he misunderstands and reacts incorrectly. What would’ve been the right words if Padmé had been angry with him became condescending and aggravating. If Padmé were truly in character she would understand Anakin’s struggles and tried to help him understand, maybe promise to have a conversation about this passive ability once he was done reporting to the council. Instead she’s made oblivious and insensitive for the sake of drama *jazz hands.*

When Anakin finally joins the “council” (it’s just Mace, Yoda, and Obi-Wan! That is not the full Council it’s a tiny group of Councilors at best!) they are obviously teasing Anakin about his affection for Padmé (Obi-Wan) or subtly interrogating him about his relationship with her (Yoda and Windu). Once they’re satisfied that yes, Anakin is too attached to her and yes, meddling is necessary, they demand he convince Padmé to spy on Clovis. Let’s be clear here: this was not a request. Yoda’s exact words were “convince her, you must,” to which Anakin bowed and gave a subdued “yes, Master.” That rubbing anyone else the wrong way? The entire conversation is just really creepy and shady and manipulative. It is set up to be literally shady, there is an obviously sinister vibe to the whole thing. They’re plotting in the middle of the night, with all the lights out, illuminated only by a holo table displaying a candid shot of Clovis and a Nemoidian, with eerie music playing in the background. The three councilors practically gang up on Anakin, presenting shocking information that he doesn’t get time to process and then steamrolling him into doing what they want.

Anakin of course doesn’t just roll over and do as they asked, instead approaching Padmé to basically confirm that no, she won’t be spying on Clovis. But Yoda’s crafty, he planned this whole thing out. He didn’t tell Padmé Clovis was a spy, leaving Anakin the unknowing messenger of the particular bit of intel, which is all it takes for Padmé to be on board with the plan. I’m glossing over this scene because it’s full of OOC drama that needs no further explanation, it’s just stupid and petty and neither Anakin nor Padmé would actually act like that, case closed, goodbye.

Now, I’m not saying that asking Padmé to spy on Clovis wasn’t a good idea, it very much was, she has all the skills and Clovis trusted (read: underestimated) her. No, the issue was how the Jedi Council presented the mission, both to Anakin and to Padmé, in a way that was meant to drive a wedge between them, and especially the wording used when briefing Padmé on the mission.

The briefing scene is absolutely disgusting to me, the second even more than the first, because rather that simply being callous and manipulative in a shady room, this one happens in the middle of the day, in the council chambers, bathed in sunlight. Windu and Yoda continue making inappropriate and inaccurate insinuations that they know will get under Anakin’s skin, and Padmé, continuing to be either oblivious or petty and callous towards her husband’s feelings of insecurity, doesn’t make it clear that she and Clovis were not lovers, Clovis just wanted to be. So Anakin is uncomfortable, he feels vulnerable, no one in the room is on his side, he’s isolated in his discomfort and ignorance, and his superiors are actively trying to make it worse but he can’t see that, or at least he can’t admit it to himself.

Padmé reveals that Clovis “didn’t take it well” she returned their relationship to a professional level, which is definitely a red flag for someone who only knows Clovis as a Separatist conspirator from the Banking Clan. And then the fear mongering begins. Windu asks if Padmé might be able to “rekindle their… friendship,” and Obi-Wan tells her that the closer she can get to Clovis, the better, prompting Padmé to respond that she “will do anything to succeed in [her] mission.” Do you hear how icky that sounds?! They’re deliberately trying to make Anakin not only insecure about his relationship with Padmé, but also afraid for her safety! They don’t tell her to be mindful of her own safety, they don’t tell her she doesn’t have to do anything she’s uncomfortable with, in fact they encourage her to do so! They offer no aid or protection, Anakin assigns himself to be her bodyguard once again, but reminder, her just got back from “a lengthy tour of duty” and is probably supposed to be on some kind of leave and no one ordered him to go with her. He was just supposed to convince her. He is giving up much needed time off, ostensibly of his own accord, to participate in a stressful mission, which is followed almost immediately by what might be the most brutal conflict in the non-Disney portion of the Clone Wars.

Honestly my issues with this episode are pretty much covered, before we even get into the meat of the episode. All the problematic stuff is kinda covered in the first 7 minutes and 40 seconds of the episode. Of course the tone of everything remains for the actual mission but nothing new happens to screw things up from a writing perspective. Padmé slips into character for pretty much the rest of the episode so of course she’s OOC, it’s deliberately done to appeal to Clovis and make him underestimate her. Anakin is still unstable and anxious and terrified but that’s less because of butchered character and more because of the Council’s manipulations. The mission is basic, made ridiculously easy by Clovis’s obsession with Padmé and his severe underestimation of her intelligence but it’s entertaining enough, I love watching Padmé being a boss and manipulating Clovis expertly. The Nemoidians were well thought out for villains in this series since they’re usually pretty basic, but Lot Dod (or however you spell it) is both shallow and complex in his motivations, because he’s simultaneously a businessman and a senator and a conspirator and a person with grudges. While his actions are simple, poisoning Padmé but giving up the antidote went held at gun point, his motivations are layered. Padmé is a long time opponent of the Trade Federation, a Republic spy, a personal thorn in his side, and someone Clovis (who he hates) cares about. Like I said, the episode has its redeeming qualities, and honestly the overarching plot is one of them. It’s a set up for the Second Battle of Geonosis, it’s a view into Padmé past and current relationships outside of Anakin and the Jedi, and it’s got a good villain who has wasted potential as a reoccurring major antagonist.

The biggest issue I have with it is that despite being a Padmé episode she got pushed to the side. The whole thing is full of sexist undertones, and indeed overtones. I really wish they hadn’t damsel in distressed her at the end, if it were me I would’ve kept the poisoning scheme but add in that Padmé realizes she’s been poisoned and actually tells Anakin that something’s wrong and then deliberately uses it to escape questioning about her movements and to distract from the data disk she stole, just like in canon. Just make all the convenient stuff that happened as a result deliberate on her part and erase the “Anakin saves the day because he got super anxious” thing. Not that I don’t think Anakin has anxiety, but just… Padmé balances him perfectly because she’s got a cool head and incredible awareness of her own body and skills. De-damselify the Queen, have Anakin actually be her partner instead of her restless bodyguard.

All you have to do is get rid of the sexist ink it’s written in and it’s a good episode. The argument between Anakin and Padmé in the senate is basically just sexist writers projecting onto Anakin. He’s not that overprotective of Padmé, he knows she can handle herself and if she says “let’s go rescue Obi-Wan” then they’re going to go to a hostile world alone to rescue Obi-Wan together. He is way too smart to tray and tell her what to do. So take that out of the equation, get rid of Padmé’s OOC childish attitude, and we’re good. I don’t like what the Council did and the way they plotted to break up Anidala, but it’s not completely out of character. I would give it a little more nuance or motivation, maybe explicitly link it to Anakin’s behavior during the Blue Shadow Virus arc, but it’s something I would keep because it’s one of the best times where we get a real glimpse into how the Jedi have treated Anakin, not just how he thinks they’ve treated him based on Palps manipulations.

In conclusion: I will probably be writing a fic that completely retells this episode because this is very long and rambling and I don’t think anyone is going to read it!

For real this time, in conclusion, the Clone Wars episode Senate Spy committed atrocities against Padmé Amidala but by fixing that we could make a more than decent episode with many important plot points and insights into characters. It’s a tragedy that this plot was executed so poorly because it had SO MUCH potential. I know all Anidala fans hate the Clovis arcs with a burning passion, and believe me I do too, but mine is a hate borne from love turned sour. I have tried before, when I was a lesser writer, to ease the pain with a fix-it fic, but the wound still festers. I will try again. And this time I will succeed in not just attempting to patch up the ending but rewriting the episode better and deeper and more nuanced than before!

[princess-charlie-of-hell]

People who call Charlie a "basic female character with no depth" clearly didn't understand her at all

Agree

Like we see depth from her in the first episode of the show. We see that she admires her mother that she even after 7 years of no contact still think that Lilith is doing something important, we see that the exterminations are obviously something she dislikes, hell even in the way she tells the story we hear so much emotion and character in her voice kudos to her VA

She has definitely depth, she is not just a naive and nice person how many believe. Like in episode 4 we see that she dislikes using her authority as princess of hell but despite that she tried to use if it means that she can help Angel dust because in the first place the Well-being of her friends is more important to her than her own. I still believe that if Angel dust didn't interrupt her that Charlie would at least have tried fight with Valentino to protect her

Or her relationship with Lucifer, we had a whole episode showing how it affects her that her own father doesn't believe in her dreams.

Even scene in episode 7 shows that she is far from stupid and naive, she knows how dangerous Alastor is and that he isn't helping the hotel because he is so nice. Again we see her making a deal with Alastor despite knowing of the danger because she wants to protect her friends

We see multiple times in the pilot and show that even she draws a line when people disrespect her, the fight between her and Katie killjoy shows that she has no problem with throwing hands or as she was feed up with Adam and her more demonic side came out shortly before he kicked her out

People who claim that Charlie has no depth watched the show with closed eyes or either focused on the other characters. Just because she doesn't have a traumatic background story like other characters doesn't mean she has no depth

If Charlie were a male character then there would be thousands of essays how the relationship with Charlie's parents affects him/her. Like people are able to write a in depth analysis of male characters who don't have that many screen time but not with the protagonist?

I also saw how people who claimed that Charlie has no depth and is boring as a character or insult for things like being whiny or a Mary sue while they simp for Lucifer who practically is a male version of her. Charlie at least in my eyes is more interesting

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s7 episode 5 "rush" thoughts

i’m still under the weather, but i’m intrigued to see what today will bring us. another case where the poor agents have to deal with children?! someone save them!!

this time they are dealing with teenagers who are the flash, i guess? this sounds like it will be a handful. and also not super conducive to talking about what happened last time. i am sure they would be stubborn and refuse to discuss it even if there weren't teenagers zipping around.

i wonder if they will be mean to our agents… i wonder how this case ended up on their desks…

(post-episode thoughts: not a ton of agent time today, but boy, they sure were giggly when they were the center of attention. which healed something deep in my soul. i demand MORE giggly agents. and also, don't be mean to them!! they are not old! maybe they don't know what the youth are up to, but who has time to keep up with that?!

this prompted me to ponder what the agents were like in high school for a decent bit of time at the end of the post. come on, i WANT to know!!! pls tell me your theories!)

but back to past me!!!

let’s find out what is in store!

we open with a virginia license plated vehicle pulling out into the dark. and this car belongs to the proud parent of an honors student! so what are they doing in the dark woods??

the answer to that question is trespassing. and looking for someone named max. who is lighting a cigarette. rebelliously. are these older two going to initiate him into a gang?!?? tony promises he won’t tell anyone about whatever is out here!! well, why’d did max have to bring up people dying? 

and then the other kids dip. probably using their super speed skills. a cop is telling tony to put his hands on the car.

WHAT! there is some big movement and then the officer is dead? tony is covered in blood!! why are these older kids getting him involved in this?? 

AUGH, they slammed the cop’s head in the car door??? or something??

bro. tony needs to flee town and escape these bad influences!!! this is peer pressure in action!! he’s trying not to throw up as he looks at the body- he’s not cut out for this! let him go back to AP calculus!

intro tiiiiiime!!! get groovy with it. ah. it makes me nostalgic... for last year. when i first started watching this show. oh, it'll be a year since i started in may! and we get the full intro!!! woohoo!!

hospital time. AWWW, was mulder trying to call her and she snuck up on him?? and she smacks him with the file. OH! HE GIGGLES “there you are” <- AHHHH. STOP. okay. i just replayed that. it was very cute. 

(still thinking about this, btw. if someone has the gifset, please tag me. i will hold onto it. and draw strength from it in the coming days)

tony was accused of the cop's murder- they say the cop was beat to death. and mulder does not think he did it. he is a good kid that only moved here a few months ago. scully begins to investigate the body.

oh, even she is at a loss for words. and you know she has seen shit!! 

LMAOOOOO, she cannot believe this. so rarely do we see her flabbergasted. allegedly, he was hit with a flashlight one time and it did all this.

AUGH, his glasses went through his SKULL! and poor tony wasn’t on drugs. maybe, scully proposes, he was on a crazy adrenaline rush.

this guy, the sheriff, does NOT want mulder down here, even if he introduces him to scully and she gives him a little smile. “i’d like ron left in peace” <- oh, you have something to hide, sheriff? 

he says he has the murder weapon and bloody fingerprints, and they just have to match them up to tony, it’s all done. hmm. my guess is this guy is the father of one of the bad kids and is trying to cover it up. because no normal kid could so this and he can’t possibly be naive enough to think he could.

they go to talk to tony, and encounter a teenage girl who is clearly checking out mulder... it is dark and hard to tell even though i replayed the scene, but it LOOKS like scully smiles a little (or maybe she gets annoyed and it's more of a grimace? i can't tell!) and he laughs and asks "what?" <- LMAO... GROWN MAN GIGGLING!!!

god, i love territorial scully. leave her man alone.

so they go to talk to tony and he proclaims “i’m not talking anymore, okay?” “well, that might make things worse” <- LMAO. scully meant that so genuinely and it didn't even sound mean, but lord, it came out funny

mulder tries to play it chill, ask if he was cruising (hmm. i thought that word meant a very specific type of gendered flirting. but maybe mulder and i come from different scenes) and tony calls him old... #RUDE!!!

mulder doesn’t play along. “okay, but bear with us, because we’re old and stupid” <- LMAOOOOO, he can be difficult back!

they’re trying to grill him- are you SURE there was no one else there? 

OHHH. the poor kid is crying. i feel bad for him. mulder takes tony's tears in. and tony asks to go back to his cell.

AWWW, scully says his life is over if he doesn’t tell the truth :( mulder thinks this mean she's implying he did it, but she adamantly doesn’t: she thinks he’s covering for whoever did do it. 

OHHH, now it’s her turn to pull the “please? for me?” line, HAHA, aww. this technique avoids fighting about the logistics of science vs ghouls- and it only took them 7 seasons to try it! i guess now that they're solidly in a stage of mutual non-antagonistic attraction, this is a valid technique.

she would like to talk to his friends rather than assume this is the work of any poltergeists. even if mulder says they are drawn to the turmoil of adolescence. which is a crazy sentence, btw. need to know what went down in his teen years to prompt that sort of assessment.

the girl who left tony's cell a few minutes earlier is taking a test- and max, who was also at the murder- rolls up with one minute left in the midterm, saying he can take it that quick. is he seriously going to display his powers in front of the class…? he is NOT SMART FOR THIS.

“i don’t care who your father is. you fail my test, it sticks” <- AHA! so his dad has to be the sheriff… or someone of equal importance.

he takes the pencil and paper, and before he can even sit down, he turns back around, handing in the completed test. max tells the teacher to check it, and he got a 100. weird kid. i would probably just assume he snuck in his office and memorized the answer key, tbh.

the agents are waiting for the girl- who is named chastity- outside the classroom. she declares that tony does not have it in him to kill a cop. but max comes in and says she doesn’t have to talk to them. 

AHA! he IS the sheriff’s kid. AND HE SAYS SCULLY WAS “A BETTY” BACK IN THE DAY... OHHHH MY GOD. this kid is EVIL.

("back in the day" is so vile, i can't stop thinking about it. jail to the writers for that line)

scully gets a call. the murder weapon is gone. hmm! the sheriff seems to have no idea where it went. mulder found something on the floor at the scene.

he wants to know if it was there before. obviously no one knows, because it seems to be some random floor junk.

the sheriff shows them the tape and asks for their help- hmm, okay. don't act like you don’t know what is going on. he has to know it's his son doing this shit!

and mulder takes the remote. he’s flicking through the scenes. and he sees a big flash! like something running in.

tony comes home. his mom wants to know what happened and he swears he didn’t do it. and that there is nothing more to his story. she asks if max is involved. ohhh, so she must know something… are they like, his new friends in town or something?

BAHAHA, okay the MINUTE i typed that, he yells “mom, they’re the only friends i HAVE” so yes. yeah. safe to say that is the case. she says he is DONE seeing them. ohhh, she says he’s doing so well, but he asks how she would know- she's never there- OH! he got her ass. 

i cannot place her accent. the kid just wants to go to sleep! but something is tapping at his window. it’s max! he leaves with him. whyyyyy does he do this? 

tony is mad as fuck. max stole this guy’s car and a cop is dead. and he floors it. then he vanishes!!!!!!!! and the car crashes into a pole!!!!! so tony was behind the wheel when it crashes!!! noooo!! tony!!!

but he’s okay!!! max pulled him out before the crash!!! “i’m gonna make you one of us… but i call the shots. always remember that” <- LEAVE HIM ALONE. this power dynamic is weird af

chuck is here in the basement office to look at the weird frame on the tape. and i remember chuck this time! scully sits on the desk with her back to the camera. it is very charming.

chuck says it is NOT spiritual activity- no light streaks or auras are visible. LMAO, the closest thing he could find for the shape of the silhouette “was a soviet akula-class submarine” BAHAHA “i think we can rule that out” <- and that's coming from a navy brat so you can ESPECIALLY trust her judgement!

chuck is gonna check some colors.. and it looks like…. a heat signature, maybe?

poor tony, back at school. going to talk to chastity. “everyone’s looking at me like i’m a criminal!” “i’m not” oh... is there some subtext here?

but she says he is too late for second thoughts. 

tony takes a seat, and everyone stares at him. max says that if they wanna look at anyone, they can look at him. hmm. is he trying to be a friend but just supremely bad at it?

ohhh, despite getting all of the questions right on the midterm, the teacher failed max. he says he knows he cheated, even if he doesn’t know how, and he won’t tolerate it. max gets up and walks away. 

tony asks chastity how he can get out of this- but she says she doesn’t know. “i can’t even help myself” oh... this poor girl…..

in the lunchroom, the teacher trips on something invisible!! max stands and watches as he picks all his stuff up. and then he beats him up in a split second. and throws a table at him through the wall???????? and then a chair!!!

scully is here to investigate. oh gosh. the teacher got smashed like a tomato. mulder thinks max did it- he had the motive. and his grades and behavior have been changing- the grades going up, the behavior getting worse.

LMAO, scully is (very gently) explaining that yeah, mulder, that’s what teenagers do: change. their chemistry is wack and there's drugs and bullying all about. but what if it made him able to smash stuff?

mulder is convinced his theory will soon be proven, which is kind of amusing- he just needs to talk to max- but max collapsed in the parking lot. hmm. maybe going super speed takes it out of him?? 

tony goes to find chastity, but she says that the less he knows, the better. and she drives off into the woods. but tony followed her!!!! where is she going……?

i just noticed she has a panthers jacket on for her school, but added tape so it reads "panthers suck". queen.

she’s running into some sort of a clearing in the woods. he finds a cave with billowing smoke. there’s a beam of light coming in through the top. he steps inside… and his body starts twitching. moving super fast. okay then!

the sheriff is mad as fuck that the agents came to visit max in the hospital with “no candy” and “no flowers” and want to question him, LMAO. mulder lets him have it right away. scully looks at his charts. exertion and withdrawal!!! CLOCK HIS TEA!!!

this gets the sheriff’s attention. mulder thinks it’s withdrawal from the rush of using the powers. scully says he’s getting worse and they can’t help him unless he tells them what the fuck is going on. 

sheriff leans in and asks if any of this is true……. they ask to talk to him outside.

he will not let them search his house, though. scully says they should track down the missing test results…. and in walks chastity. 

LMAOOO, scully is such a fucking nerd. “hot off the presses”, she says as she pins up some brain scans from max. he has cerebral lesions, arthritis, stress fractures, muscle and ligament micro-tears.

“what would cause this?” “in a teenager? i can’t even imagine. this is the kind of thing that you’d see in someone who’s crashed race cars or played pro football for ten years” oooooo….

i like when she identifies medical problems. it makes my heart skip beats. she says that whatever he is doing, it is killing him.

chastity breaks into his hospital room… and then disappears before the nurse can see her. but she’s back! what is afoot?

the agents find muck on max's shoes. mulder thinks that his speed is tearing him apart! the nurse comes in to ask for help…. bro is gone. 

chastity asks him to stop hurting people. but he doesn’t want to go back to things standing still- and he says that she can’t either.

tony stumbles out of the cave, saying it was a rush to move fast. he confesses to following her. he wants to go to the cops. but she tells him max is out. 

the sheriff comes home….. climbs up the stairs. enters his son’s room. finds a ton of shoes. AND THE MURDER WEAPON!!!

he hears someone come in the house, but can’t see anything. and the door slams shut. and max comes out of thin air! holding the flashlight! and then he attacks his dad!!!!

BUT IN BURSTS TONY!!! with a gun to max’s head!!!! my boy tony saves the day!!!

the sheriff is being brought into the hospital. “yo, scully”, mulder calls out, which is amusing to me. someone must be standing up to max. and scully says it has to be tony. 

chastity is driving tony to the cave, saying max was slowing down, and let tony stop him.  if he beats them to the cave, it’s over. he trips and falls as they run in. but chastity is laying on the ground when he gets in there!! 

max is here!!! he killed her!!! and then he attacks tony next!! steals the gun!!!

but chastity isn’t dead!!!! she picks up the gun and shoots max!!! and then steps in front of the bullet! 

this happens just as the agents arrive!! and they find chastity dying in tony’s arms. he’s crying. 

poor tony……. he’s in a hospital bed with his mother. scully is looking in. mulder says they didn’t find anything in the cave. it's a somber moment.

LMAO, mulder thinks that maybe they’re too old for the powers to work on them. LOOK AT HER FACEEEEE, BAHAHA “well, that’s doubtful. but no more so than any other theory. i mean, it’s worth checking out” <- BAHAHAAAAA 

she said well, probably not. BUT! who knows? so funny to watch her though process there.

alas, they cannot check it out. the town filled up the cave with concrete. 

poor tony is not enjoying everything being slow again. and thus concludes the episode.

aww. i feel bad for tony.

god. i’m in my MSR feels. the GIGGLING this episode! “maybe we’re too old” :( and scully defending tony…… i’m emo.

i'll say it: i need to see them with a teenager of their own. 

this episode wanted to emphasize that they aren't young anymore. which i disagree with, but also understand where they're coming from. 7 years or so of dancing around their feelings for each other. at some point, it has to get tiring. personally, i could have lasted 2 years, tops, before i have the "what are we" talk. for them, the whole "settling down" thing must look more and more tempting... especially after mulder's weird alternate life...

(even if, of course, there would be great issues with this in execution. can you imagine? "byers, so sorry to call, but could you please watch the kid? there's an abduction victim autopsy that need to get done stat, and i'm currently in canada collecting ectoplasm" and byers is like "i'm quite literally breaking into a top secret defense committee meeting right now. but okay. i will come over and teach your child basic hacking skills")

ah, they’re not old. how old are they in s7? i can’t do math. scully’s what, like 35? you know, i never calculated how much older he is than her. because math is not my strong suit. 

(wipes away tears in my eyes) my sweethearts 🥲

it is possible for grown adult fictional characters to be my special sweethearts. don't question it.

ah. put the big fancy FBI agents in the high school for a case, and let them reminisce on youth. i do wonder what they were like in high school and university quite a bit. i don't think we'll ever get answers, but i wonder very often.

did they play sports? or take music lessons? did they have friend groups? were they in clubs?

i assume that they both took all AP classes and that scully graduated at least one year early. possibly 2. but i like to think that she had at least 2 or 3 years of high school. even if the timeline is wack and makes no sense. let her have prom. "marcus was the love of my 12th grade life", she said.

mulder mentioned playing baseball, so i imagine he did that in high school and wasn't just referring to vaguely playing baseball as a child (although i am sure that also happened). but come on. that man also has theatre kid energy. look at him. i wonder if he was deeply alone and alienated in high school and already had his spooky reputation, or if he got along well with his teammates. or possibly both.

you might not think that these things are consequential, but all of this information would be fascinating to know! feel free to share any headcanons if you have 'em. and also just any thoughts on the episode in general. as always!

other thoughts... max was not a nice guy at all. 

i don’t really have much else to add, tbh. there wasn’t a ton of super heavy agent time here. they just seemed really comfy with each other and relaxed. and it was enjoyable. scully trying to point out that teenagers do, in fact, change, was very amusing to me. 

my king tony is gonna be having super speed withdrawals forever which is NOT fun for him.

not a bad episode at all! it was more focused on the new characters it introduced us to than our own agents, but that happens sometimes. it’s not always a bad thing- sometimes it can be nice to go down a little side quest with a guy we will never see again. of course, i prefer agent time. but i understand that we cannot have it all of the time. it left me with much to ponder about their childhoods, which is also fun. 

[fukutomichi]

It's RAMBLE TIIIME!!! Okay, I think I can talk about it now, probably most have seen the episodes. It's a bit longish! Here we go!

That first episode is so far my favorite, because above all else, I'm a GIGANTIC fan of visual storytelling and show-don'tell, and that first episode had me FEASTING. You can probably tell by my gifsets that I love when actors emote and act without dialog using only emotions and facial expressions to get the message out. Episode 1 gave us so much of it. And dare I say bordering a bit on horror/gore a bit, those first few minutes with Sauron in his "desk job era" had me surprised by how brutal it got quickly.

If people are wondering if they're gonna do the Celebrimbor thing, and if THAT is gonna be too brutal to show, this might confirm that they may not shy away from it at all.

I love the fact that they took the criticism that was mentioned for the first two-three episodes in Season 1, when I was actually kinda worried that the pace was going a bit TOO slow and it took three weeks, when the story moves to Númenor , for the series to fully kick in gear. This time they were like, lets get the set-up out of the way, all at once, and then release week after week. Lets see if this decision pays of in the next weeks ahead.

So lets get this out of the way. I had a hunch with Nazanin Boniadi missing from promos and interviews that they are gonna off her character right away. Turns out that there was even an announcement before that I've completely missed and I was gutted when I found out, but in the end of the day, a job is still a job, and if it affects you in anyway, it's probably best to leave it. I have had a first hand experience in this and no matter how high the pay was, my health was much more important than anything and had to quit. I'm gonna miss her and wish her the best!

Arondir and Theo's relationship gets back to square one, so I'm interested to see in what way or IF it gets mended cause man, I dunno how they can pull it off this time. BUT I do LOVE that they've paired Theo alongside Isildur which is a character he can empathize with so I wanna see where that leads. My friends immidiatelly groaned when they heard "Gawddd the ARROW really?? =___="...and then remembered about a tiny movie called The Hobbit and what happened to Kili. We had to go to Hobbit logic to explain it away and move on lol.

The new character Estrid, was IMMEDIATELY suss as HELL to me. Even after she burned her sigil on her back so she can hide it. I've been listening to her soundtrack theme, and almost like as if its made from two layers, feels almost TOO magical for her even. But this is just my hunch. Isildur is still too wide-eyed and naive so maybe she will serve some purpose in him getting a bit jaded later on.

ORC BABIES!! HELLO!! I love that we're getting deeper into the orcish origins and probably everyone's favorite topic, are they redeemable?? Can they be??? I also love that we got to have two Adars. Season 1 we had Joseph Mawle with an almost vulnerable portrayal and what seemed like a suicide mission for him. Now for Season 2 we get Sam Hazledine, with his goal complete AND him still alive, a more driven and focused character...but is he gonna survive THIS season?? 😭

We know Adar also mentions how he meets Sauron for the first time...but that doesn't stop me from AGAIN, thinking that he IS MAGLOR. Come one maaaan, the hand!!! "In the eldest of the Elder days" you don't just drop a line like that causally. DROP THAT REVEAL!!!

WE NEED MORE OF THE HARFOOTS!!! WE NEED MORE WIZARDS!!! These 3 eps were not enough for me lol. I'm just beyond excited for Tom Bombadil!! Please have Goldberry, please have Goldberry!!

Disa and Durin are still relationship goals. UGHHH!! They will have me stressed!

I ain't gonna lie. When that giant eagle landed before Pharazôn, there were a few seconds where I was buttclenching thinking he was gonna pull his sword and swing it on the bird...but then Manwë would probably descend and obliterate Númenor in seconds and the series would be over lol. Númenor will have me stresseeeed. The Petty Lord and his Queen WILL RUIN MEEEH!! 😭 😭 😭

Ben Daniels as Cirdan is an A+++ casting choice. Kinda bummed that he hasn't talked properly with Gil-Galad tho. Make different characters interact more with each other damn iiiiit!!! Let us see them establish connections!!

That being said, my favorite part so far, and are probably gonna be the central focus of this season, are the elves. Their strive for perfection, thinking themselves SO infallible, beyond prideful, are gonna be the very things that bite them in the ass...again lol.

And it's important for us to see that, cause THAT is the extent of Sauron's evil, we need to witness just how much he can mess you up and how much he enjoys playing the game, in the same time thinking himself savior and deserving of love. How much PURE good you have to be to resist him. Elrond so far has proven able to resist, given his past.

Galadriel is on the brink. If listening to "The Last Temptation" tells me something...Galadriel so far hasn't learned her lesson and thinking herself able to resist.

I believe there's a gut-punch coming up in the finale and I'm not gonna be ready for it. And yet, as much as I don't like it, WE NEED TO SEE IT! We need to see how evil can be tempting and irresistible, that even an infallible being can fail.

After all, it's all downhill from here.

[seramilla]

Well I'll try again. I will probably miss something

This idea has been bouncing around my head for a few months and here seems like as good a place as any to put it. (Sorry) So Vaggie is a winner in heaven and joins the exorcists probably called something like the powers because that's the name of the warrior angels in the bible apparently. While training she meets Emily and they hit it off they start dating and Emily brings Vaggie home and mets Sera who is protective of Emily and suspicious of Vaggie at first but is eventually won over and accepts Vaggie as part of her family which to Vaggie who in life never had a proper family means the world to her. Also for this fic Adam is lying to Sera her understanding of what happens is that once a year adam leads the powers down to help Lucifer take down the overlords it takes away a challenge to his rule of hell and makes sure that hell doesn't get strong enough to rebel while getting rid of the sinners who often make life worse in hell or at least that is what she and the rest of heaven think is happening including Vaggie who is a new recruit. The first extermination happens Vaggie goes down is shocked overwhelmed and things happen like they do in canon. Adam tells Sera that they lost and Angel this time and when Sera learns it's Vaggie breaks down in tears they tell her it was a freak accident. Sera tells Emily who is like Sera is devasted they are angels the people around them aren't supposed to die so they don't now how to handle it. Meanwhile in hell things go along as normal it takes longer for Vaggie to start dating Charlie because she feels guilty about Emily but eventually concludes there is no way for her to get to heaven so decides she should move on after all Emily probably has. Things go like normal till episode 5 when Lucifer agrees to go over adam and contact heaven ie Sera. Sera had the ability to talk to Lucifer but they hadn't talked in years but she agrees to hear Charlie out and now Vaggie is panicking because she is going back to heaven. Meanwhile in heaven Sera is talking to Emily who is still depressed and even seems hostile of going to meet their guests from hell the place that killed her girlfriend. Sera convinces her that her hostility and cynicism isn't her and Vaggie wouldn't want her to be so hostile to the people of hell. Emily agrees and they go to meet them and are shocked and overjoyed to find Vaggie there. There is a moment like Vaggie's react to emily taking Charlie's hand only Vaggie and Charlie are swapped. Vaggie asks Sera to teleport them somewhere private which she does and tells everyone everything including that she has feelings for both Emily and Charlie. Sera the adult in the room has them put that aside for later while they deal with how to end the exterminations. I don't have a end but I am thinking it ends with a poly Charlie Emily and Vaggie.

The angst! The drama! The sapphic yearning and panicking! I love these what-if scenarios because I could honestly see Vaggie falling for someone like Emily, if she were given the chance to know her outside the Exterminators in Heaven. Emily seems pretty closed off with Sera, and seems pretty naive of the goings-on in her own realm. She's practically a carbon copy of Charlie in terms of her personality, morals, and values.

I'm certain she and Vaggie would be on the same page about protecting Heaven but minimizing damage just to the overlords who are causing problems. If Vaggie actually knew Emily and spent less time around Adam and Lute, I wonder if she wouldn't have been as drawn into the Exterminations as they're characterized in the show. Obviously she has qualms about it, because she protected that child, but with Adam yelling in her face for years that Sinners aren't worth saving, a part of her probably started believing it. If she and Emily were dating, he wouldn't have been able to influence her that way.

Then, when she's forced to fall for protecting a Sinner's life, and basically finds her previous girlfriend's twin is living there, and oh! She's also the princess of Hell, well that's like the ultimate mindfuck for Vaggie. She fell out of the frying pan, and into the fire. This person reminds her so much of the one she left behind, her brain has to be spinning off in a million different directions. And over time, when it's solidified in her mind that she can never go back, of course she falls in love all over again. She probably wants to claim any happiness she can get, right?

Then fuck! Charlie gets called to Heaven and her girlfriends meet, and fuck again! She has to choose between them! How can she possibly make this choice???

Unless...? 👀 She doesn't have to...? 👀

But to be a true sapphic love triangle there might have to be dramatic breakups, lots of angst, and crying in the shower to stretch out the plot. Charlie and Emily would have to catching feeling and it might take 20 chapters before anyone even says the "L" word. Sounds perfect!!

(I am always so torn regarding ships with Emily. There are a lot of cute ones. I just love Em so much and want her to be safe, at the end of the day, and she'd absolutely be safe with Chaggie)

[xecutivecucumber]

Executive Cucumber's Thoughts on the Bad Batch 03x09!

Spoilers under the cut

Apologies for this being late, I worked overtime and then immediately went to rescue my sister and her kids from a car breakdown. I got overwhelmed pretty quick.

I really liked this episode, but as I was in a not great mood when I watched it, I didn't absorb as much as I normally do. (My mood really affects how much I enjoy something, regardless of quality. I was in a foul mood when I first watched Faster and was fairly critical of it. I was wrong.)

This is really the first time we've seen not beautiful weather on Pabu and that's terrifying.

CROSSHAIR IS PART OF A COMMUNITY!!! Have yall considered that he's never been a part of a community before? Like yes, he's has his family, but a community?

'Does it matter? We're not giving her up.' This man. I love this man. If Tech did not already reign Supreme in my heart, I think Crosshair would be my favorite character in Star Wars.

ASAJJ VENTRESS MY QUEEEEEEEEEN

Oh Omega, that story fell apart faster than Hunter's resistance to adopting you.

They leave a space for Tech 💔

Apparently those blood tester things that Qui Gon had were Jedi issue only.

YOU CAN DO IT OMEGA!!! Wrecker, honey, if Omega CAN do it, that means her life gets WAY harder.

They one hundred percent sent Crosshair to look at Tech's data because Hunter and Wrecker can barely do it.

'Go get a flower kid, I gotta beat up your dads'

Okay, I honestly think Hunter doesn't have the time for romance and could honestly see him as asexual, but-

HIS WAIST IS SO SLUTTY. HOW IS IT SO SLUTTY.

I don't think we've seen such well choreographed hand to hand fighting in animated Star Wars. Except maybe that time that Rex absolutely destroyed those Zygerrians. But I might be biased about that.

'SHE'S A WAR CRIMINAL OMEGA' Okay now I need to know what defines war crimes in this universe. Did they have space Geneva?

You know, good thing Echo's not here. He'd probably be WAY more pissed than these three.

'You're naive' says the man who was changed by the child saying people can change.

I love Crosshair's 'oh shoot she's right' face.

Wrecker's little gasp when Ventress looks at them is AMAZING.

I love it when Star Wars is using the Force to connect with animals.

I'm sorry, Hunter girlies, I guess we getting wet hair everyone except Hunter. (Though Ventress looks SO GOOD)

VENTRESS YOU QUEEN I LOVE YOU YOU'VE COME SO FAR (I haven't read dark disciple but my sister has, and she informed me that Vos' Dark Side training by Ventress culminated in him summoning a water monster and killing it. This is such a beautiful parallel that she calms it.)

Crosshair helping Omega on is my everything.

I really love that Crosshair has decided to give Ventress a chance, because he was given a chance. (And also I lowkey ship them in a one night stand kinda way. Crossajj is such a good ship name too)

DAD DUO.

I don't think Ventress is lying when she says Omega isn't Force sensitive. Omega doesn't show ANYTHING in this episode that implies that she's sensitive. Yes, she uses Batcher, but she'd trained Batcher with normal friend methods. I think that Ventress stops the testing prematurely before she can be more sure, because she sees the possibly unhealthy attachment the Batch have. It might also be to protect Omega to not know for sure. My personal theory is that Omega is slightly more sensitive than the average clone, but not to any natural talent degree.

Oh gosh, I'm so scared for the next few episodes. Ventress gives them such a clear warning. This episode did such a good job of getting the tension tight again.

I know some people call this episode redundant, but the characters NEED this in order to catch up. We as an audience knew that M Counts meant midichlorians. But the Batch had no idea. Sometimes, we need to let the main characters catch up with us.

(This is also why Tech as CX-2 works on a reveal level because the mystery isn't for us, it's for the characters)

But yeah, a great episode! I'm terrified for everything and everyone!

A quick note- I've seen people say that it's too late in the season for Tech to return. I'd like to remind you that it took exactly two episodes in season 2 to get us behind Crosshair's redemption. They can do a lot in a few episodes.

[thefauxsport]

Ok, so, here is the long awaited breakdown of the Danny Amendola story. I'm going to call this....

Friends Don't Let Friends Date... Danny Amendola

Maybe we turn this into a series about other athletes?

Anyways, here we go (this is long because I'm legit transcribing what's going on in this podcast and I probably shouldn't, but this is how I take notes!)

First off, I am relistening to the Barely Filtered Podcast with Aurora Culpo and Kristen Louelle Gaffney. Olivia was on their show that came out 5/24/2023 where she spoke at length about a previous "abusive" relationship. She never specifically names Danny Amendola as the culprit, but Kristen gives it away very early on in the episode.

For the uninitiated, Kristen is married to a guy named Tyler Gaffney, who at one time, was a bench warmer on the Pats. That's how Olivia and Kristen know each other. Tyler went to Stanford, that's how he knows CMC. They set the two up after she ended things with Amendola for the last time.

Now, the first question she gets about the topic is Kristen saying that she knows Olivia spoke on her show about being in an abusive relationship and how she has grown so much since they met. Kristen asked how she got out of that part of her life.

Olivia said it was challenging, and said that in hindsight she was addicted. She was in a cycle, and she couldn't break it. She said as it went on her self esteem plummeted and she became a shell of herself. "When someone beats you down so much, mentally, and then you become susceptible to that treatment and it doesn't stop. You get addicted to the highs because the highs are so good and the lows are so low and you know you're not supposed to be in it. But you hold out hope for those small positive moments."

She said she had to work at it a lot, to love herself enough to get out. "Very, very, very, very bad situation". She recalled being in a hotel room, praying on her hands and knees for clarity, and that was the moment she knew she was done. She said is was praying to her family that passed on for help in figuring out what to do, and something clicked and she was done. She said she blocked this person and never saw him again.

Then Aurora tells a crazy story. This was the part of the podcast that really stuck out to me. She was telling the story about how she had just given birth to her kid, I think the second one, and Olivia was with Christian, but they were still pretty new. They were going to go visit her, so she asked them to pick up some diapers on their way. They had just started dating. She bumped into Danny while at the store. Olivia interjects at this part and goes, "we think he was following me".

Apparently, Danny bumped into a diaper laden Christian. She said it must have been nuts because her ex also played football, but arguably not as well as Christian. So to imagine this guy bumping into his ex girlfriend's new boyfriend who is better than you and he just goes "hey. uh, you had a good season" and CMC just said "yea" and that he was going to go check out.

The next part of the podcast goes into how CMC helped get her out of rock bottom. Aurora said part of it is not manifesting the same relationship. She then asked how she could find happiness with a normal guy after the drama train that was Danny. Olivia admits to having some PTSD, and said she's afraid to talk about this person because he's scary. She said she struggled at the beginning and would cry because she didn't like who she was coming out of that relationship. She said she was scared Christian could be capable of that, but that was because she wasn't whole after escaping that relationship. She also admits to not being super confident in her relationship, but she can acknowledge that. He has his read receipts on and his location on.

Apparently, she'd wait up at night because Danny would be out there cheating on her "with tons of people" and she'd just be sitting there waiting for him to get home. "It's hard to be naive and think that everybody is going to have your back when you go through something like that because you really do figure out that wow, people are really capable of horrible things".

Aurora said that some guys would view the location on and read receipts on as being a red flag in girls. She said that people shouldn't apologize for needing some things and that Christian realized she was asking this of him not because of him but because of the trauma she had. Not sure I agree totally, but to each their own.

Apparently, Christian researched the cycle of abuse (which he probably already knew because if you listen to his mom's podcast, his grandfather was an abusive drunk).

This is when she mentions Danny being abusive. She said it's easy for people to question why you didn't leave when he broke her things, or when he was scary and threatening and "horrible things that I am not going to get into".

Never ask a surviver of DV this question, ya'll.

Also don't like that she takes blame for staying there, but I digress.

Aurora said part of her problem was Olivia would send her some of the things Danny would say about her to ask her if it was true. Belittling her and her career. "These are the guys, they want the hot bikini model on the internet, but they don't want you posting hot bikini pictures on the internet."

Olivia talks about the cycle again and reminds Aurora to not get into it too deeply again.

They (Aurora and their friends) started to try and gather evidence of all the times he was cheating by looking at photos and spotting his hand or his bracelet in girls photos and figure out when he was with other girls. They didn't want to go to Olivia with half evidence, and Olivia admits she saw some of it on her own. And apparently, people started to get annoyed because they would tell her what he was doing and she'd ask for advice and then ignore it all. Said that sometimes you might be done but the person in the relationship needs to get there on their own.

I think I'm getting a sty, which is annoying me at this point. So is the reference to Marianne Williamson. Quack.

Now they move onto social media and stuff and a lot more surface level stuff.

I'm gonna end this here, because I'm pretty sure this was all they talked about on him. BUT, I feel like she also touched on it on the Not Skinny pod, so I may relisten to that this week and if there's more to add I'll add to it!

Drop the next name you want me to delve into.

[davidchiemcore]

transcript for DRDT Prologue Episode Two

Teruko: Alright, let’s start with the closest person. That would be…

Eden: Oh! Are you introducing yourselves to me first?

Eden: Alright! Once you learn it, you won’t forget it! I’m Eden Tobisa, the Ultimate Clockmaker!

Ultimate Clockmaker - Eden Tobisa

Eden: Ehehe, how was that for an introduction?

Teruko: I’m Teruko Tawaki, the Ultimate Lucky Student.

Xander: And I’m Xander Matthews, the Ultimate Rebel. It’s nice to meet you.

Eden: You too! I hope we can become good friends.

Xander: Say, Ms. Eden, do you know anything about the situation we’re in?

Eden: Not really. I think it’s just some sort of special entrance ceremony put on by the Academy! Like, maybe they’re trying to surprise us, or something?

Xander: I wouldn’t be that naive. 

Eden: Ehhh?! Everyone else is saying that we were kidnapped or something, but would that really be true? I mean, why would anyone want to kidnap us and move us here?

Teruko: There’s plenty of reasons. Ultimates are very famous, and Hope’s Peak Academy has a lot of money. Maybe we’re being held for ransom.

Eden: W–what?? That can’t be true, right? I don’t want to believe that, it’s too scary!

Xander: A–alright, please calm down, Ms. Eden. We don’t know anything for sure.

Teruko: Maybe we should talk about something lighter…

Teruko: Er, clockmaking, was it? What do you do?

Eden: I make clocks, silly! Do you think I walk dogs or something?

Eden: Well, I mean, I do love animals! But that’s not my profession. I mostly repair clocks, but I love to hand-make antique clocks too.

Eden: There’s just something so relaxing about working with fine machinery. I usually have a good sense of time, but I lose track of it when I work! Sometimes I can work up to a total of 15 hours without breaks!

Xander: Fifteen hours?! That’s insane! Are you joking?

Eden: Ki~dding~ It’s only fourteen!

Xander: You’re still joking, right?

Eden: Maybe I am, maybe I’m not!

Teruko: Ah, well, she seemed nice enough. 

Xander: She’s a little naive and seems to get upset easily. At least she’s cheerful, I suppose. But we didn’t get any useful information about our situation from her.

Teruko: Right. Perhaps the next person will have more information.

Hu: Hello there.

Teruko: Hi. I’m Teruko Tawaki. Ultimate Lucky Student.

Xander: And I’m Xander Matthews, the Ultimate Rebel.

Hu: I am Hu Jing, the Ultimate Zither Player. It’s very nice to meet you.

Ultimate Zither Player - Hu Jing

Teruko: Ah… hm.

Hu: Is something the matter?

Teruko: No, your name just made me think of some silly joke. It’s nothing.

Hu: I am… well aware of the confusion my first name might cause. You can call me by my full name, I don’t mind.

Hu: At least you kept your jokes to yourself, unlike some other people here.

Whit: Hehehe. “Hu” are you guys talking about?

Hu: *sigh* Whit, please refrain from interrupting in other’s conversations. We talked about this.

Whit: Fine, I’ll go bother Charles. See ya~

Hu: Please don’t do that either–

Hu: He’s gone.

Hu: Teruko, Xander, a word of advice, since you two are the last to get introduced to your classmates.

Hu: I don’t know what kinds of schools you went to previously, but your classmates here are Ultimates, not normal students. As thus, they may be a little odd, or… immature.

Hu: Unfortunately, some people here are quite the handful.

Xander: It can’t be that bad, right? In my old school, everyone was so uptight all the time, so a little character might be a good reprieve.

Hu: Trust me, you will lose your patience talking to some of these people. You’ll see soon enough.

Hu: Ah, enough talk about that. Why don’t we learn about each other? After all, that is the point of making introductions. 

Hu: I know about the lottery for the Lucky Student, but just what sort of talent is Rebel?

Xander: The title “Rebel” doesn’t really suit me, to be honest. I can tell that you’re worried, so I’ll let you know that I’m not just some brazen delinquent.

Hu: Well, that is a relief. The last thing we need is more disorder in this group. I would very much prefer if our relations ran smoothly.

Teruko: As for you, you said you were the “Ultimate Zither Player?” Um, what exactly is a Zither? Sorry if it’s a stupid question.

Hu: No worries, dear. Zithers are a family of stringed instruments. The strings are strung on a thin and flat body, so maybe it would be helpful to think of something similar to a guitar without a neck.

Hu: There are many varieties of zithers, such as the Japanese Koto, the Vietnamese Dan tranh, the Korean Gayageum, the Mongolian Yatga, and my speciality, the Chinese Guzheng.

Hu: Of course, there are also European varieties of the zither as well, but those kinds are a different style than what I normally play, so I’m not well acquainted with those.

Teruko: Wait, can you repeat that? The koto, the dan… something, uh… I think I need to write this down somewhere.

Hu: Ahahaha! I’m not asking you to memorize them; I’m just listing a few examples. I’m glad you’re that serious, though!

Hu: There is such a rich history behind every one of these instruments, and I haven’t even started on playing the instruments themselves.

Hu: I won’t bore you with the details, but there is a lot of technique and training required to effectively play a zither. I have practiced for many years to earn my Ultimate title.

Hu: Music truly is my passion. If you can inspire emotions in those who listen to your work, then you have become a true musician. That’s my philosophy.

Xander: Wow, that’s incredible! I’d love to hear you play one day!

Hu: Of course. I’m always willing to perform for anyone who loves music just as I do.

Xander: Amazing! You can hear it in her voice when she talks, just how much she knows and cares about music. That sort of devotion is truly inspiring!

Teruko: She was quite nice, too. Do you think everyone else here will be as friendly as Hu and Eden?

Xander: Probably? Didn’t Ms. Hu Jing say something bad about everyone else, though?

Teruko: Well, we’ll just have to find out ourselves. Who should we talk to next?

J: …

Teruko: Hello there. My name is Teruko Tawaki, and I’m the Ultimate Lucky Student. It’s nice to meet you.

Xander: And I’m–

J: Xander Matthews, right? Ultimate Rebel.

Xander: You know who I am? Am I famous already?

J: Fuckin’ no, dumbass. I can hear you shouting all the way across the room. It’s kind of hard not to hear you talking about yourself.

Xander: Oh. Sorry, I’ve got a bit of a tendency to get carried away when I talk.

J: Tch. The name’s J Moreno. I’m the Ultimate Effects Artist. Ultimate Effects Artist - J Moreno

Xander: Jay? As in, short for blue jay?

J: No, it’s a nickname–ugh, nevermind.

J: Teruko, was it? Can I just talk to you for a bit?

Teruko: Eh? Sure thing, I suppose.

Xander: You don’t want to talk with me? Do you not like me or something?

J: No.

Xander: Oh, that was… a rhetorical question…

Xander: Well! I guess I’ll just stand to the side until you ladies are done. Have fun, Ms. Teruko!

Teruko: So, why do you want to talk to just me? Is there something important you need to tell me?

J: Oh, not at all. I just can’t stand that other guy. I hate talking to people who are too loud and self–centered.

Teruko: Are you talking about Xander? He’s quite energetic and overbearing, that’s true. Surely he can’t be that unbearable, though. You can’t be so confident that you’ll hate someone you just met, right?

J: Maybe you’re right. It’s just that, I deal with people like that all the time, and I hate it.

Teruko: You deal with people like Xander all the time?

J: In a way. Effects Artists like me can work on special effects for things like movies, TV shows, or live productions, but I specialize in theater.

J: I do all sorts of backstage work for various plays, musicals, and such.

J: I can’t deny that I love the work, but the worst part of working in theater is dealing with all those annoying actors!

J: They all think they’re hot shit because they’re the ones out in the spotlight in front of the audience. Just because you’re the center of attention doesn’t make you a likeable person or anything!

Teruko: That’s quite a prejudice you have. I doubt all actors are like that.

J: I guess you’re right. I… I just…

J: I know I’m sort of a judgemental person, alright? I can’t help it. So, I’m sorry for insulting your friend, or, whatever…

Teruko: It’s alright. Xander isn’t my friend, anyway, so I’m not offended. I’ve only known him for a few minutes.

Xander: We aren’t friends? Yeowch.

J: Wha–Have you been listening in on this conversation, you creep?!

Xander: Ahaha, my bad. I haven’t really got anything else to do, so…

Xander: I know you don’t like me, although I’m not sure why, so I’ll just keep it quick. Do you know anything about the situation we’re in?

Teruko: Ah, right. I forgot to ask, sorry. It would be helpful if you could share anything you knew with us.

J: Hmm… Sorry, I don’t know anything either. I just woke up in a weird bedroom like the rest of you guys and found my way here.

J: Although I’ve been looking around at the decor, and I think that wherever we are, it’s been newly constructed. Everything’s brand new. It’s almost like some sort of movie set.

J: We might even be the first people here. Add that to the fact that those doors all had our names on them, and that just makes this whole situation even more strange.

J: Who would build an entirely new building just for us?

Teruko: Maybe it’s a new school building? Although, I feel that if this is associated with Hope’s Peak, we’d be given an idea of what’s going on, so maybe not.

Xander: “Don’t know anything,” huh?

J: Hey, shut it!

Xander: I–I wasn’t making fun of you…

Xander: W–well! Thanks for the information! You’ve been a big help, really.

J: …Whatever.

Xander: She was a little rude, to be honest. Don’t you agree?

Teruko: I think it’s just you. She doesn’t like people who are annoying, shout a lot, are self–centered…

Xander: Wait, are you describing me?! You’re so blunt!

Veronika: Ah, hello! I am Veronika Grebenschikova, and I am the Ultimate Horror Fanatic.

Ultimate Horror Fanatic - Veronika Grebenschikova

Teruko: I’m Teruko Tawaki, and this is Xander Matthews.

Teruko: Excuse me for asking, but what exactly is a Horror Fanatic?

Veronika: Very good question! It means that I’m a big fan of the horror genre!

Veronika: I love horror movies, horror games, horror books, you name it! It just fascinates me!

Teruko: So you got your Ultimate title from being a big fan of something?

Veronika: It’s not just that! I also happen to be a scholar on the cultural influences of the horror genre, as well as the psychology behind fear and other related emotions.

Xander: I see! Doing deeper research into topics that you’re passionate about– it’s very admirable, Ms. Veronika! I like that sort of spirit!

Veronika: Ehehe! I’m glad.

Teruko: So, Veronika–

Veronika: Oh oh oh! Speaking of horror, let me tell you about the horror book I’m currently reading! It’s called Forever Dead!

Teruko: Oh, is that–

Veronika: You see, it’s about a boy stuck in a time loop and forced to watch his friends die for eternity. While he is horrified at first, he eventually becomes more concerned over his growing boredom in the face of terrible tragedies because he sees them over and over again. The book is written like a normal autobiography at first, but as the protagonist descends into insanity over time, the writing style starts to fall apart and take on a more sinister tone. Format twists like that are so fascinating, don’t you think? Honestly, I would really love to know just how it feels to be in his shoes and experience something so horrible over and over and over again. And then, my favorite scene in the book, is one time he’s impaled by many metal metal spikes and left to slowly bleed to death while he’s left alone with his thoughts. He’s forced to apologize for everything he did… while… he… um……. ahh……….. Teruko: …

Xander: …

Teruko: Nice… story?

Veronika: …

Veronika: Oh no, oh no, I did it again!

Veronika: I’m super sorry for rambling, I just get so carried away when I talk about things I think are interesting… I even forgot you two were here!

Veronika: Eeek, this is so embarrassing! I’m so sorry!! You two must think I’m super weird for being obsessed with this kind of thing.

Xander: Absolutely not! There’s no need to be ashamed of being so interested in something! I think it’s admirable that you’ve got so much passion, so don’t ever apologize for it!

Teruko: I agree, there’s no need to be ashamed. Besides, the premise of that book seems very interesting.

Veronika: A-ah, truly? You think it’s interesting?

Veronika: In that case…

Veronika: Let me tell you all about it!

Teruko: Veronika proceeded to ramble on about Forever Dead for several minutes.

Teruko: Actually, it felt like an hour.

Teruko: I won’t lie, it seems like an interesting book, and I would like to read it–

Veronika: I know, right?

Teruko: –But you sort of spoiled the entire book to us just now.

Veronika: Oh.

Teruko: Anyway, I think we should move on from this topic.

Teruko: What do you think about the situation we are in?

Veronika: Hmm, there’s a lot to say about it! 16 People waking up in a mysterious location where unknown horrors await them could be the plot of a movie or something similar.

Veronika: Most chillingly of all, we still have yet to find out how we all got here. The aspect of not knowing what will happen next, more than anything else, is what makes us apprehensive of this particular situation.

Veronika: Maybe we’ll find out that we’re all forced to kill each other in cold blood! Wouldn’t that be exciting!

Teruko: Eeh… Exciting is not exactly the word I would use for that.

Veronika: O–oh, I meant, hypothetically speaking, of course…

Teruko: Hm. She’s a bit strange, to say the least.

Xander: Well, she’s definitely very passionate about this horror stuff. That’s not an issue, right?

Teruko: It’s probably no concern.

Teruko: I mean, it’s not like any of that stuff she said about us being forced to kill each other is foreshadowing for whatever atrocities are going to happen to us or anything like that.

Teruko: That would just be silly.

Xander: …You’ve got quite the morbid sense of humor, you know.

Teruko: Let’s talk to the next person.

David: Hello. My name is David Chiem, and I’m the Ultimate Inspirational Speaker. It’s a pleasure to meet you.

Ultimate Inspirational Speaker - David Chiem

Teruko: Same here. I’m Teruko Tawaki, and I’m the Ultimate Lucky Student.

Xander: …

Teruko: …Xander, are you going to introduce yourself too–

Xander: AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Teruko: W–augh!!

David: Whoa!

David: Sir, is everything alright? You gave me quite a scare–

Xander: I know you! Mr. David Chiem, right?

David: Yes, that’s me, although I don’t believe we’ve met before.

Xander: No, we haven’t, but I’m a massive fan of your speeches!!

Teruko: Oh, is this person famous?

Xander: Famous? Famous?? Mr. David is known worldwide for his incredibly popular and charismatic speeches!

Xander: He’s extremely renowned because of how he encourages and uplifts those who listen to him speak!

Xander: Supposedly he gets tons of letters every day from fans telling him just how much he’s turned their lives around!

David: Ahaha, you flatter me.

David: But yes, it is my goal to inspire others. I wish to make everyone realize that their aspirations are within grasp; all they have to do is find the motivation within their hearts to inspire them.

Xander: You’re just as incredible in real like as you are in your T*****k videos! Mr David, I never thought I’d get the change to tell you just how much you inspire me!

Xander: Watching your speeches gives me the willpower to achieve my goals. You’re a massive role model to me!

David: O–oh, wow. I’m incredibly honored, I suppose? Sorry, I don’t really know how to respond.

Teruko: Xander, you might be making him a little nervous–

Xander: Can I get your autograph? Wait, I’ll be back in a sec, I need to find something for you to sign!

David: …

David: Ugh, am I done with these dumb introductions already? This really sucks.

David: Damn, why’d I even come to this ridiculous school? I hate talking to people anyway… I wish I were in bed…

Teruko: Um…

David: Ah–! You, you’re still here?

David: I–I mean, I thought you went with Xander…

Teruko: No, I’m still here.

David: Ah, ahahaha… I… I see…

David: Please–Forget what you heard–!

Xander: *huff* *puff* I’m back. Can you sign this, please?

David: Of course, anything for a fan~.

Teruko: So did you not want to come to Hope’s Peak?

Xander: Hm? What are you talking about, Ms. Teruko?

David: Ah, don’t mind her. Teruko and I were just… having a little chat while you were gone?

David: Please keep it a secret between us two, alright?

Xander: …What was that about?

Teruko: Is this guy really your role model? He doesn’t seem as positive as he makes himself out to be.

Xander: Oh, I see. You’ve fallen victim to those rumors.

Xander: People just want to smear Mr. David’s image because they want to tear down good people. I’m telling you; he is not a faker or a liar!

Xander: I thought you were better than this, Ms. Teruko! Slander is wrong!

Teruko: …Alright, I understand. He did ask me to keep it a secret, so, I guess I’ll drop the topic.

Teruko: Why don’t we talk to that person next?

[boondocktalks]

Honestly, how do you feel about the fanfics and fan interpretations of The Boondocks, as well as stuff like AO3 and fanfic.net? there's a lot of them from what I've found out especially between Huey and Jaz which some of them actually well are not exactly pg but still do you think it clouds peoples view of what the boondocks is or aids it in terms of head cannon character development like shippers lol. also there's one with a million words called A story of Huey and Jazzy By: Bulmas Ego which while it really does give Jazmine a Absolutly Huge character Plot and development its kinda concerning with the fact that while aged up (14 or 16 I don't remember) there's literal CP in it or descriptive. While I love all the character development of it, it just feels sick to have to put Smut into the story between them

I am going to be 100% honest with you.

Most of the fanfics that I’ve read pertaining to “The Boondocks” have been pretty accurate with how I can envision Huey and Jazmine’s dynamic as they grow up.

I will agree that some of the ones I’ve read or heard about have been very raunchy. But, even with the ones that don’t solely focus on the explicit content as much, I would say their personalities are spot on with how they were written in the show.

As far as your question, I do think it clouds some people’s views a little bit. Those very few don’t care for the message that the show is trying to push out there. They just want to find two characters to ship, and call it a day. This is something that I have noticed in many fandoms, including the ones that I’ve been apart of. I want to emphasize that not all fans are like that.

“The Boondocks” isn’t a series based off romance. It focuses more on social commentary, race, politics, identity, etc. It also talks about every day issues, and the flaws within society as a whole.

On the other hand, even with the show not having romance as the main theme, there’s nothing wrong with shipping some of the characters, let alone writing stories about them. With the way Aaron McGruder wrote out the interactions between Huey and Jazmine in both the show and in the comics, it’s not surprising why so many fans ship them, myself included. Plus, if you read between the lines, he was subtly confirming that there were romantic feelings from both sides, and that they would end up together as they transform into adulthood.

For example, towards the end of the episode “The Block Is Hot,” Huey gives Jazmine his scarf when she was starting to shiver from being cold while it was snowing. Even in the “Fried Chicken Flu” episode, Jazmine was seen wearing his shirt. Most boys don’t share their belongings with just anybody. It’s often seen as a friendly gesture, or in their own way, showing others that a girl is off limits. From how Huey complimented her hair in the comics to how he acted in regards to Jazmine and her well being in both the lost pilot episode and in the finalized version of this show, these are just little details that makes me believe that Aaron shipped them too.

Going back to the topic of fanfiction, I do think some writers misunderstand both of these characters. There has been quite a few stories that had Jazmine play the damsel in distress or be seen as unintelligent when that’s not the case. She’s very smart, and was the only one that listened to Huey. She also had a bit of a backbone to her, and wasn’t really a pushover like her father was. Just because she was seen as a sweet yet naive girl doesn’t mean she was weak or that she didn’t have a brain. In the third season, Jazmine was written as less immature. Of course, she still had her moments, but compare to how she was in the earlier seasons, she wasn’t so bad.

Even with how some of them have written Huey, they either wrote him as someone with limited feelings or just down right unlikable. Granted, he was characterized as being stoic, but there were moments that he did showcase human emotions, especially in the first season. While he still didn’t express his emotions outwardly, Huey had a lot of attitude and was outspoken on so many things that he wanted to change. I think this is why so many people loved that version of Huey so much. Although, I can kind of see why Aaron made him be more impassive in the later seasons. Other than Jazmine, no one took him seriously. With that, as well as only being a literal child that couldn’t do much, I think it made him a little depressed.

Now with the story that you mentioned, that is problematic. To write the characters being under age engaging in inappropriate activities with each other is not okay. I’m not going to act like a prude and pretend that high schoolers don’t have sex. But, I do wish the writer would have aged them up. I would hope that they didn’t mean any harm, but I can see why you would feel uncomfortable with Huey and Jazmine being those ages.

Here’s a piece of advice: If you’re not comfortable with reading smut, I do know that on AO3, you can filter what you want and don’t want to read. Including stories with mature material. Especially if there’s other triggering factors that you don’t want to explore on there. This is also a friendly reminder that fanfiction, as well as shipping and headcannons, are for the fans to enjoy. While the originality of the show’s origin shouldn’t be replaced with those aspects, they are apart of what makes the fandom stay alive.

I’m not trying to say that you have to enjoy these things to be apart of “The Boondocks” fandom. What I will say is to not judge too harshly on those who do like creating headcannons, writing fanfics, drawing fanart, among other things.

It is called a fandom after all. Am I right?

[etherellez]

* ─ 🎬 have you heard of SOFIA DE LA VEGA yet?     i believe they’ve been living in LA for FOUR YEARS.     they’re currently cast as an ACTRESS in the movie.     somethings that remind me of them are: OLD PAGEANT CROWNS DISPLAYED LIKE DECOR, FRESHLY PRINTED SCRIPTS WITH NOTES SCRIBBLED IN THE MARGINS, A PLAYLIST OF SOOTHING JAZZ AND INDIE POP IN THE BACKGROUND, PERFECTLY POISED POSTURE FROM YEARS OF BEING ON STAGE, PRACTICING LINES WHILE DOING MUNDANE TASKS.     before joining this project, i’ve heard they were known for being CAPTIVATING, METICULOUS, AND OPTIMISTIC. however, on the down side, they’re also known to be NAÏVE, PERFECTIONIST AND SELF-CRITICAL.     because of this, they’re often labeled as THE PRISTINE.  i just hope they come to set prepared. especially since I’ve heard those call times are going to be pretty early !

˛ ⠀ * ⠀ ଓ ⠀basic .

full name : sofia leonor de la vega

nicknames : sof, sofi feel free to create more

age : twenty - three

birth date : july 8th

zodiac : cancer ☼, pisces ☾, virgo ⤿

occupation : former pageant queen & actress

˛ ⠀ * ⠀ ଓ ⠀biography .

sofia de la vega had spent most of her life in a sequined gown, under the glow of stage lights, with her mother’s voice in her ear. “smile bigger. stand taller. be perfect.” pageants were her whole world, and for years, she didn’t question it. why would she? winning came naturally. it was easy to believe she was destined for the crown when she had a shelf full of trophies and a mother who reminded her, every day, that she was born to be admired.

then, at eighteen, everything changed.

a talent scout spotted her mid-pageant, somewhere between the evening gown round and the final q&a. within weeks, she had an agent, a contract, and a one-way ticket to los angeles. alone.

for the first time, sofia had to figure things out without her mother’s instructions. she was sweet and eager to please, but painfully naive, having spent her whole life in a controlled environment where her mother managed everything. that first year in LA was overwhelming—auditioning for commercials, landing bit parts as “flirty girl #2,” and constantly wondering if she was doing enough. but she worked hard, harder than anyone expected.

and then, she booked a dramedy show.

it was supposed to be a small arc—six episodes playing the estranged daughter of the lead—but something clicked. sofia fell in love with acting in a way she hadn’t expected. she wasn’t just reciting lines; she was feeling them, understanding them, bringing a character to life. the audience noticed. critics noticed. for the first time, she wasn’t just another pretty face in hollywood.

four years later, sofia’s career was on the rise. she had a few bigger roles under her belt now, enough that people recognized her at coffee shops, enough that she was invited to events with actors she had idolized growing up. but she was still “new” compared to most of her co-stars—still figuring out the industry, still learning how to hold her own in a world that wasn’t always kind.

and then there was her mother.

the moment sofia’s name started appearing in entertainment blogs, valeria resurfaced, calling more often, hinting at ways she could “help” manage sofia’s career. sofia loved her mother—she really did. but she had fought too hard for her independence to hand it back now.

˛ ⠀ * ⠀ ଓ ⠀extras .

first of all; yes, that 'sofia' in the graphic is in her handwriting

she has major mom friend vibes. she's the one who calls an uber for your drunken ass, or lets you crash on her couch because she's too scared to let you in an uber by yourself. has advil ready in the following morning and doesn't give you too much crap as she retells you all the embarrassing things you did

^ which is funny and rhetorical since she honestly hates letting people take care of her

(parental death tw) has never had a pet because her mom is allergic to cats while her dad was allergic to dogs. after his passing, she never even considered adopting one. it might change bc my muses always end up with pets.

she's fluent in english, spanish, french. would love to learn Italian just because she thinks it sounds really pretty.

sofia was put into piano lessons when she was only 5 and has been playing ever since. though now she usually finds herself seated in front of one when she's too stressed or anxious and needs to not think for a good thirty minutes.

˛ ⠀ * ⠀ ଓ ⠀connections .

pr boyfriend : holden brown

ride or die : sofia and muse have been in the la scene for about the same time (around 4-5 years) and they've been to a bunch of open casting auditions together and spent far too much time sitting on shitty chairs until their asses were sore. they've grown together; celebrating yes's and drinking away the pain of no's. muse is truly one of sofia's best friends and they're often spotted around the city of angels whenever their schedules align

best friends

frenemies

straight up enemies

old flames, hook ups, 'we drunkenly made out at some random party but never talked about it and it's weird, so we try not to act weird and make everything worse'

neighbors ( she lives on her own in a pretty fancy apartment )

[man-down-in-hatchet-town]

Jumper

Spoilers for Episode 6 of The Case of the Greater Gatsby below the cut!

So, the footnotes in Barnaby's letter are super interesting. The writer was obviously responding to Fig's, Willie's, and Cliff's criticisms, confirming once and for all that whoever writes the letters is either the person who was listening at the door, or else the person to whom our shadowy skulker reports. It's very funny to think of them frantically and with no small amount of embarrassment cutting out more little letters at the last minute. If anything, I think they over-explained this time.

But what's the game here? There's definitely the implication from Vivian that Ford got played--but by who, exactly? Did the letter writer earnestly want to silence Barnaby, or were they intentionally trying to drum up some high-profile chatter? Sending a threatening letter to a man like Barnaby and expecting him to actually stay mum would be a little daft or naive. But on the other hand, trying to get him to shutter the entertainment section falls much more in line with goals of the other letters--getting rid of Willie and Cliff (trying to keep something about The Greater Gatsby hushed up?). It would be extremely strange to go to such lengths to keep them down and out of the public eye, only to then broadcast those efforts to the entirety of Tinsel Town. Unless this is all just a long-game to drum up paranoia, or, heaven forbid, publicity. After all, sending a letter to Willie would definitely be a way to ensure that people hear about it.

And Barnaby... just how conniving is he? Was he actively searching for further information in addition to getting help? When did it occur to him that he could publish Willie's and Cliff's problems instead of his own, therefore getting the sensational headline without putting himself in further harm's way? The headline certainly belies the "simply good man" persona he's been rocking ever since we first met him. Perhaps Vivian's dislike of him really does come from something more than boredom. We are starting to see the ambition that brought him to the top in the first place.

As for the rest of the episode, I do genuinely feel bad for Darby, but she did sign up to write a tap-dance adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath, so she should have known this was coming and handled it with more grace. Our girl's got a lot to learn about working with collaborators. And we still have her meetings at Bixby's to account for. I don't think we have any evidence that Mel's involved in their bookclub/rehearsal group/whatever Bixby calls it, so I suppose that a rewrite of Greater Gatsby is still on the table... (Also, the idea of can't-catch-a-ball-Farnsworth Farnsworth being completely silent the entire time he was on the set of American Whoopie is just very amusing).

Do we think the missing Punchwhistle will indeed never be mentioned again, or is the whole "just some flavor" thing a fake-out? Maybe it's a set-up for a potential sequel???

God these thought-vomits are getting long! We got a break this week but excited to see what comes next and how Ford handles Barnaby's betrayal! (And don't think I've forgotten about the secret being held over Ford's head, Shipwrecked, because I haven't.)

[beevean]

There are multiple issues with show Hector's naiveté:

It's told to us. In the very first episodes of S2, Hector still comes off as an intelligent, just socially awkward man. He can easily sass back to Godbrand, the only odd thing is his choice to vent his and Dracula's issues to Carmilla (which I can also see as rushed writing). Then at one point there's a scene of Dracula and Isaac sitting together and calling Hector any variation of retarded they can think of, because the show loves to rely on characters telling us informations about other characters, and that's what we're meant to think, because they are never proven wrong. Fucking hell Lenore is not proven wrong when she taunts Hector that being her pet is what he really needs!

We never really feel the weight of his backstory. The fact that Hector burned his own parents then lived in almost total isolation is stuff that is told to us en passe. (in MF alone, you can see during his whole recovery with Rosaly how much his trauma weighs him down, and that's before his big breakdown where he calls himself an abomination)

We're not privy to Hector's thought process. I can imagine that he trusted Carmilla because she promised to protect him from Dracula, who was showing growing signs of insanity. I have no idea how he went from mildly distrusting Lenore to falling dick first into her when she was by all means Carmilla 2.0. I have no idea why he decided to bring Dracula back. I have no idea how exactly he feels about Lenore in S4, for which reasons he insists on clinging to her.

Because Hector doesn't feel like the protagonist of his own story, due to the lack of character insight and complete lack of agency, the story has this... mocking tone to it. Like we're meant to laugh at him and find him an idiot when he makes such obvious mistakes. You can feel the difference when you compare him to Alucard in a similar situation: he did the same thing, trusting strangers in a fit of emotional vulnerability, but he's treated with dignity and compassion by the narrative (and fans).

He doesn't grow. S4 Hector is the same as S2 Hector: a recluse with no love for humanity and no love for himself, with no direction in life, clinging to people who hurt him and gave him nothing in return. He regresses to the point where he cooperates to bring back Dracula, a plan he drops at the drop of a hat the moment Isaac tells him "no" like he's a naughty dog. He never redeems himself - "but what about his epic chessmaster machinations--" they were rendered null and void the moment he cut his finger only to help Isaac, and even more so when he kept following Lenore like a lost puppy, the very behavior that got him tortured and enslaved in the first place. It's an absolute spit in the face, even more so if you like game Hector, how he's not even afforded the dignity to break free: it's his abuser who ditches him for completely selfish reasons, and that's how his story ends. What is the worth of his journey?

I wrote this post precisely to emphasize, although not explicitly, how the mangas treat this trait in a much more nuanced way, to prove that naive Hector not inherently a bad thing. Admittedly "gigachad with the social skills of a sardine" is not a new concept (look at Guts lol), but Hector is more unique about it, because I find fascinating how he's called "a child" not because he's adorkable, but because he was effectively robbed of life experiences due to living in what we could almost consider a cult. "You can't hear people's screams inside stone walls", after all. It's depressingly relatable, and it only highlights his strength in wanting to grow and become better.

Hector is not Hector if he isn't noticeably flawed and if he doesn't put his whole effort in overcoming those.

Also yeah, I wouldn't call his eagerness to throw hands in CoD naiveté lol, but it's definitely a sign of how volatile he can be. In his defense, he's grieving and marinating in the Curse. I do, however, have to say something about how CoD's plot is precisely about two villains taking advantage of Hector's emotional vulnerability to move him around like a puppet, knowing very well what he wants and what he's willing to do to achieve it. Yet he's never presented as dumb. It's the villains who are intelligent enough to pull such a feat. They don't even have to resort to lies, just feeding Hector what in that moment he wants! While Julia gives him what he needs, support, compassion, advice and vulnerability that makes his better nature shine through.

It's so good, man <3

Having Thought again about Hector (game Hector, goes without saying) being called a child, or implicitly called naive - and how this is an important trait of his character.

Under cut because it's image heavy. Because I cannot and will not shut up :P

The laundry hanging scene is mostly there for fluff after the harrowing Hector vs. Isaac fight, but you can infer a lot from it.

Hector? Oh, you're in the shade again. It's not healthy. Come on! I need your help with something. The clothesline has broken, and I need a man's help. Ahh, you're pulling too hard, Hector! The branch will break!

Rosaly asks for a "man's help", but discovers that Hector can't do so much as hang laundry. He pulls too hard: Hector is a former fighter, so his first instinct is to use a lot of his strength (and he may even be superhumanly strong due to his powers). He probably never had to calibrate it in his life.

Then he takes Rosaly's clothes without permission: he really wants to help after that first embarrassment, but he doesn't seem to think that maybe it's a bit rude to rummage through a woman's underwear :P

Rosaly: You’ve never done laundry before, have you? Well, this should be fine, thank you.

Hector: Let me help you…

Rosaly: No! Stop! That’s my…!

It's all played for laughs, but it's also sad. Hector didn't have the chance to live a normal life. No one taught him how to live in human society, and then he wasted half of his life under Dracula's service. It's all new to him.

Haha, you’re so funny, Hector. With such pretty silver hair and such a pretty face…

But Rosaly doesn't judge him, doesn't think he's weird: she's honestly endeared by his clumsiness. (get yourself a so that doesn't make you feel bad for being different in common things 🥺) As I said in an older post:

He's not naive in the "easily trusting" sense: he hasn't lived in the human world enough to learn about it, except for hatred and rejection, and even simple things like hanging laundry don't come easy to him. But he wants to learn and he wants to help, much like a child would. And well. Rosaly knows how to take care of children without a home :) Where Hector sees nothing but a curse and sin, Rosaly sees innocence. She's idealistic, perhaps to a fault, but perhaps believing in the inherent goodness of others can pay off.

Yet, interesting that this is when Hector asks for his sword and armor. He explains that he's afraid of attracting monsters again like the werewolf, but I also read shame in his expression. Rosaly means well, but I can imagine Hector doesn't like being compared to a child (especially if he associated childhood with being weak and hated). Maybe part of him even resents that she is right, and his instinct is to wanting to go back, to hide, to fight.

Rosaly: You’re just like a child…

Hector: Where are my armor and sword?

Rosaly: No. You've been bedridden for a week and only woke up yesterday.

Hector: But I can't stay here.

(or maybe he's just hella embarrassed that he was called "pretty" out of nowhere lol rosaly has excellent tastes)

It's also worth mentioning that, while Rosaly is never explicitly called a "womanchild" or naive, she seems to be considered as such by the others. She is called "too nice", because she overworks herself for little, and most importantly because she is allowing a complete stranger inside her home without knowing anything about him, ignoring the danger.

(in fact, Ted here calls Rosaly お人好し, which means "good-natured person" but with connotations of being a fool. This is after she brushed off Ted's concerns about Hector because "he has pretty eyes and birds seem to like him" :P)

Even Hector is unnerved by her attitude.

Rosaly's lack of curiosity and tendency to always assume the best of Hector is terrifying for him. He's waiting for the other shoe to drop, so that she'll know him and then hate him like everyone else. Who does this? Who just allows anyone to help with chores, and then finds cute when they can't do it? Who just welcomes someone in their home without caring about where they came from? It's weird. Rosaly is weird. Just as weird as Hector, a grown man who can't stay with other people and hasn't learned basic matters.

Rosaly: You were worried about us. Thank you, you are such a kind person.

Hector: You take everything as a good thing... No, I'm sorry. Why don't you ask me? Haven't you heard anything from that kid? What did I do, what did I escape from? How did I kill that werewolf? …Who am I and where did I come from?

Being in touch with the blessings of the earth, feeling the seasons in the cold water... Seeing everyone’s smiles, having a meal with someone, going to bed grateful that the day has ended safely... All of these are wonderful things that are hard to come by. I have received everything I want from everyone.

Of course, the difference is that Rosaly is not naive due to lack of experience. She chooses to be stubbornly optimistic. She will love everyone to death. You have no choice.

And her relentless optimism is what allows her to see past Hector's barriers and mistery. He's just a good person to her, nothing more and nothing less.

Your name is Hector, you have beautiful silver hair, you were injured, you never did laundry, and you helped me and Ted. That's enough for me.

Another thing is that, Rosaly doesn't need Hector for household chores. She seems to be living alone just fine, and in fact she is the one who always helps others. So this is not really for her benefit: it's for Hector's. It's to give him something to do instead of drowning in his own thoughts. It's to make him feel less alone. There is symbolism in how Hector is still standing in the shadow, not hiding but still not ready to face the human world, and Rosaly says it's not healthy and drags him out to enjoy the sunlight, which he eventually accepts.

Hector is a proud, competent, intelligent man and warrior, but he's also a stunted child who has cowered from the world for years. Rosaly, without knowing anything about him and his upbringing, but sensing that something is different about him, is happy to show him the world and let him grow. Not because Hector is needed, but because he is wanted and welcomed.

My adoptive parents died a long time ago, so now I'm the only one here. So yeah, I would really love it if you stayed here.

Rosaly is used to live alone... but what if two lonely people lived together and helped each other?

In case it wasn't clear, the parallels between the beloveds fill me with warmth and joy :)

PtR gives us a similar concept, but with different characterizations:

"The unspent ferry fare for the Nether Rivers... to make up for it…"

"Worn-out and shiny? Thank you for the thought, but they'll think I stole it... I wonder if you don't know the world..."

Interestingly, here Hector's naiveté is painted in a more traditional manner. Sure, there's the heartbreaking part of him paying Rosaly for her basic kindness, because he is that foreign to the idea that he can be cared for without giving anything in return; and there's the symbolic part where he refers to the belt as pretty much the Charon's obol he had failed to pay, because he had planned to die but Rosaly saved his life so she is the one who gets to be paid. But Rosaly can't accept the gift for sensible reasons: it's too ostentatious, and she can't go around with it without drawing unwanted attention. Remember that this is also a time of witch hunts, and people are growing angrier and more suspicious, secretly due to the Curse.

Hector wouldn't know it. He lived isolated in the castle for years, so isolated that he couldn't hear the scream inside the stone walls. So for him it's a very straightforward reasoning: this woman is showing kindness to me, so I'll pay her with the most precious thing I own. (and even then I have my own ideas about that belt and why he has it)

Btw, this naiveté is not completely gone by CoD. He's surprisingly earnest with Julia when he meets her, revealing his background to a stranger. Thankfully nothing bad comes from it, but she seems to be much more guarded than him. I like to see this as a sign that he mellowed out after Rosaly :) or maybe he's just a gentleman lol.

Anyway I love Hector so much and I find it a more complex, vulnerable and relatable character than most assume 💖