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crusherthedoctor · 5 years ago

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Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite? - Part 15: DR. EGGMAN

There are some villains I like. And there are some villains I don’t like. But why do I feel about them the way I do? That’s where this comes in.

This is a mini-series of mine, in which I go into slightly more detail about my thoughts on the villains in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and why I think they either work well, or fall flat (or somewhere in-between). I’ll be giving my stance on their designs, their personalities, and what they had to show for themselves in the game(s) they featured in. Keep in mind that these are just my own personal thoughts. Whether you agree or disagree, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions! I don’t bite. :>

Anyhow, for today’s installment, it’s finally time for him. The bad doctor himself. Gather round ladies and gentleman, for the spotlight is on the arch-villain that shines above them all... Dr. Eggman.

The Gist: It's the dawn of the 90's. A little company called SEGA had an ephiphany. They wanted to make a video game juggernaut that could rival the quality and iconic appeal of the then-unmatched Super Mario Bros, and their current star, Alex Kidd, just wasn't doing it in the way that they hoped. They promptly set about starting anew, as a worldwide phenomenon wasn't going to make itself.

So a gentleman named Naoto Ohshima created a selection of design concepts for this brand new mascot. One of these concepts was President Roosevelt in his pajamas.

Seen here with his catgirl body pillow.

The response to this character was “This is good, but we think kids would prefer kicking the shit out of him”, and so he was given an antagonistic role instead. In the meantime, after juggling the rest of their ideas, they eventually settled on a rabbit hedgehog named Sonic for their main protagonist, knowing his Mickey Mouse-like aesthetic would help endear him to the audience, and the franchise as a whole would have an easier time gaining a DeviantART fanbase later on down the line.

Initially, the character of today's review was but a mere lackey among many, seemingly little more than one of numerous minions working for Sonic's originally intended main villain, the Nonspecific Goblin. He was also dressed as a bee for some reason.

Which is the least weirdest thing in this image.

At some point however, they all got together and decided that actually, the guy with the moustache was the only one worth shit, and so he was upgraded to the role of main villain himself. With a spiffy new attire of red and black, he was given the bold title of Dr. Eggman, because with a shape like that, what else are you gonna call him?

“Funny you should say that”, laughed SEGA of America, as they rebelled like an angsty teen and named him Dr. Ivo Robotnik instead. While this name does make equal sense for the character, as he is indeed a hard worker who also happens to like robots, the reason for this name's existence seems to have been mainly because they thought Eggman was too out there of a name for an egg-like man. Whatever the case, this would confuse a lot of fans for years, and remains a point of divisiveness to this day... Unless you're like me and your first game in the series was Advance 2, in which the manual clears it up right away, and you accept the idea of a character having two names and immediately carry on with your life.

He would have aimed it perfectly if it weren't for the Sonic Heroes Parrot distracting him.

And that was that, really. It didn't take long for them to come up with his characterization, which was that of a cackling fiend with an ego to end all egos. This guy was the Narcissist Alpha, more king than actual kings, no strings attached. Other villains would build statues of themselves, but only Robotnik would deface Ancient Egyptian monuments to improve them with his face. Other villains would think “Nah, refacing all four in Rushmore would look silly”, but only the Eggman, the Eggmyth, the Egglegend, would go “Well fuck you, I'm doing it anyway.” Then he'd do it anyway, and proceed to address to the entire world that he did in fact do it anyway.

It also didn't take long for them to develop his primary schtick. With the dynamic of Sonic VS Eggman, you had a classic rivalry between nature and technology. Interestingly enough however, this turned out to be executed more tactfully than your typical Amish-abiding examples in similar media. Never was technology itself regarded as a corruptive influence that you should never utilise no matter what. Rather, it was only as good or as evil as the person using it, with it just so happening that the villain loved machinery only slightly less than he loved himself, and it was countered by Sonic’s best friend being a techno wiz in his own right anyway. Anyhow, with his machinery, the doctor would make a name for himself among video game baddies by confronting his enemy as the boss of nearly every zone in each game, rather than hide away until the endgame.

And all without a driver's licence.

In his soon-to-be-30 years of activity, he has largely remained the same since his inception. Other characters have been introduced, other villains have came and went, but Eggman has remained THE villain of the franchise, and he's remained a vital part of the Sonic the Hedgehog universe... with a slight redesign along the way.

The only ad I don't want to skip.

The Design: Eggman's design may be more simplistic than the likes of Bowser and Ganondorf, and he may not look as openly threatening at first glance, but it's still a very iconic look no matter what look it is. His original appearance was devised so that kids could have an easy time drawing him, which only makes me feel worse about not being able to do it as a grown adult without it looking like a Sexy Legs Kirby.

Still, it's a classic for a reason. With his to-the-point colour scheme, contrasting heavily with Sonic's blue, and his capelet collar resembling walrus tusks, it was an instant winner and made everyone goo goo for g'joob.

The Emeralds he’s juggling are a metaphor for the divided fan community.

And when it was time to give the cast an update for Sonic's first real 3D adventure (or at least the first one that didn't get axed for being a magic eye seizure), Eggman got a respectable change of his own. He was taller, his getup was militaristic, and his body was more legitimately egg-shaped rather than basketball-shaped. He also gained a pair of goggles that he never uses, except in scenes where he puts them on and then never uses them.

“How do my chicken legs not collapse under the might of my gluttonous mass? Find out in an unrelated tie-in novel that you have to pay additional money for.”

There was also that one redesign from 2006, but...

Be it Classic or Modern, I've always loved his design. Before he even says a word or does anything, you know from his appearance that he's a bit of a clownish sort. But he also has a subtle creepy vibe going on, with the way his glasses often obscure his eyes, and how this only makes the pearly-white, unnecessarily wide grin on his face that much more empty and unsettling. This little bit of eeriness hiding among his cartoonish physique reflects the full extent of his character pretty accurately, as we’ll delve into soon enough.

If nothing else, it's more effective than him having no eyes at all.

GRRRRRRRR FUCK YOU BUNNIES THAT I CAN'T SEE

The Personality: If you've seen my villain reviews, then you'll have gathered that Sonic's rogues aren't known for having much in the way of personality. There are exceptions, but they are indeed the exceptions. More often than not though, whether it's an alien conquerer, an ancient monster, or Dan Green the Recolour, they can be summed up thusly: They're evil, they want to destroy the world, and the heroes stop them because they're evil and want to destroy the world. If they're feeling particularly daring, they might go for a second colour.

Luckily, as if to counter all these cardboard drawings, the central adversary of the franchise makes up for these voids of personality by actually having one. And what a personality it is.

The writers of SatAM looked at this and thought ��No, this won't do, there's no character to work with here.”

He really is brimming with comedic charm. Every moment that he's present...

Every moment that he shows off...

Every moment that he basks in his own glory...

Every moment that he unveils a new wicked scheme...

Every moment that he puts his enemies to the test...

Every moment that he challenges the world...

Every moment that he laughs at the world...

Every moment that he lives, nay, every moment that he breathes...

Yes, the man has plenty of humor, and it's part of what makes him so enjoyable and memorable. However, if you think being a clown is all there is to him, then prepare to have your expectations subverted initial assumptions taken in a unexpected direction, because although he puts the goof in goofy, he ALSO puts the “oh...?” in “oh shit”.

For you see, Eggman is by all means the epitome of Laughably Evil, but do not, under any circumstance, take him at face value and write him off as a joke. He is anything but.

For starters, he can swing a planet.

There is a rule of thumb that I personally go by with Eggman’s characterization, one that I believe is an immediate make or break factor in regards to whether or not you understand what makes this villain work. Eggman - when you put all his secondary traits aside - is made up of two prominent halves. There’s the egocentric meme machine that bounces up and down like a kid with his N64 and laughs like Santa... and there’s the monster buried within that remains completely and utterly unrepentant for everything he’s responsible for. This is very important. Despite the character’s simplicity at his core, many writers have failed to grasp this, official writers included, and I for the life of me cannot understand why this is such a recurring problem. Eggman is funny, AND Eggman is evil. Both are equal. When you take away one or the other, you may have a funny character, or you may have an evil character, but you don’t have Eggman. Simple as.

Armchair intellectuals may argue that Eggman’s deeds aren’t that evil, since he tends to be merely callous rather than actively trying to hurt or kill people. Those people are probably the types on TV Tropes who weigh a villain’s evilness and effectiveness purely through the surface-level scale of their goals rather than what they actually do to achieve them. While it is true that Eggman tends to be more apathetic about the aftermath of his actions, that doesn’t - and shouldn’t - negate how dangerous he is. It shouldn’t negate what he’s capable of. It shouldn’t negate how far he’s willing to go. And it shouldn’t negate the consequences and casualties that can and do result from his many schemes.

Seriously, think about this for a second. If you confronted Eggman about his current plan to... I dunno, make a water park in Africa or some shit, and you informed him that there has been unexpected mass suffering as a result of this, how do you think he would truly feel about that? What do you think he would actually say to that?

Spoiler: No fucks.

If anything, that he “merely” doesn’t care either way as long as he gets what he wants is more uniquely horrific and deplorable than if he were a generic baddie who committed his evulz specifically for evulz’s own sake and nothing more. At least you’re inadvertently acknowledging that other people’s lives have value when you act one-dimensionally gleeful over ending them, but when your immediate response to the side-effect of a million potential deaths and environmental disasters is “Oh well, fuck ‘em, Eggmanland time baybeeee”, that’s a new level of cruelty.

Besides, even in the Genesis era, he was carpet bombing Angel Island...

“Good thing I have this shield. Sucks to be this forest!”

And he’s only gotten worse since then, indulging in such acts as going full suicide bomber with a missile, after his initial plot to destroy and rebuild Station Square through the means of Chaos and the Egg Carrier didn’t work out...

But don’t worry, he kept it lighthearted by making it look like a penis.

Making one of Sonic’s friends go insane with power against their will, forcing the Blue Blur to put them down personally...

It’s ironic, cause he’s metal. Or do I have to awkwardly explain the joke two more times before I’m a proper YouTuber?

Capturing thousands of innocent aliens, and forcefully converting them into mindless beasts...

I’m pretty sure I saw Alfred Molina conduct this experiment one time.

He even removed the heroes’ collective IQs so that he could shoehorn a cliffhanger on an already terrible game.

Thanks, cunt.

And honestly? When it comes to Sonic and chums at least, Eggman does let out a more openly sadistic side now and then. Need I mention that time when the doctor forced Sonic and two random buddies to make their way through a trap-infested island of his own creation? Not for the sake of nabbing Chaos Emeralds or anything of the sort mind you, he just wanted the blue motor mouth to suffer.

Images you can hear.

To make matters even worse, as befitting of his manchild tendencies, he’s ridiculously petty. How petty? Petty enough to abduct a little girl’s mother for no other reason than because Cheese completely trivialized his forces the girl was friends with Sonic and helped participate in the latest kicking of his own ass.

He only picked Vanilla because there was no Strawberry.

But at least his captives can admire the sheer variety that their captor has to offer. One of the greatest things about the doctor's style is that anything goes. With all due respect to Bowser, he tends to stick with his fiery castles (although he has been branching out recently), and plenty of other villains in gaming tend to be similarly stuck in their ways when it comes to tastes. Eggman, on the other hand, will create all sorts of fortresses and reside anywhere on the planet and beyond. It can be in the sky, in space, somewhere hot, somewhere cold, under the sea, in a circus... and every now and then, he might combine some of them together and thensome. So long as it's even vaguely mechanical in some way, his ground rules have already been ticked off.

Hang on a minute...

You know what else Eggman is? Relentless.

Persistence is a quality that most villains by their very nature share, lest they cease to be an effective antagonist. But once again, Rrrrrrrobotnik maxes out more than any other, and will often go to insane lengths to keep the current plan going, or if not that, then to spite Sonic.

Exhibit A: Sonic 3 & Knuckles, in which the grand finale consists of the madman throwing a gravity-shifting contraption your way, busting out a Kaiju-sized robo, escaping with the Master Emerald after his defeat, continuing to escape even after the Death Egg has been thoroughly destroyed, getting chased through the asteroid fields in space by Super Sonic, and only finally going down when the escape craft and the piloted mech controlling the escape craft are down. And all of this came after a grand adventure where, among other things, he destroyed an entire level just to kill you.

There are immortal omnipotents that put up less of a challenge.

“Looks like it’s time for Plan... *checks paper*... F.”

His relentlessness also reveals another side of the doctor that is simultaneously admirable and terrifying: He bows to no one. No one. Doesn’t matter who it is. Doesn’t matter how powerful they are. Doesn’t matter how much the odds are stacked against him. If another villain were to demand that he cower before them, the scientist would laugh and show through physical demonstration that this is not the way the egg rolls. Unless he’s absolutely unable to do so, he will give it his all every time, and even if he can’t, he’ll use his crafty mind to find some other way to get around the issue. You can beat him in battle, you can foil his plans, but you absolutely cannot break his resolve.

“Dad said it’s my turn to play with the Ruby. I know this, because I’m your dad.”

What about his relationship with those who actually serve him? Specifically, his own robots? Well for the most part, he treats them like absolute crap, what with verbally abusing them at every corner and being all too willing to go full Vader on them the moment they mess up. He IS capable of expressing fondness and giving praise to his more successful creations, like with Metal Sonic and Gamma, but even then, it’s a roundabout way of praising himself, since he’s the one who made them what they are. So basically, you’re only valuable to him if you make him look good.

Gaming in the Clinton Years in a nutshell.

And as for Sonic? Yeah, like with any legendary and long-lasting hero/villain dynamic, it’s obvious that Eggman has some degree of begrudging respect for his opponent. But if you think this respect would dissuade him from actually going through with his ambitions of rulership...

As the hedgehog’s apparent demise in Sonic Adventure 2 proves, as well as his defeat at the hands of Infinite and the subsequent six months of brutal conquest in Sonic Forces, Eggman is dead serious about his goals. If you think he’d get bored after conquering the world, he would simply expand his resources and have a crack at conquering the rest of the universe. When he says he hates that hedgehog, I’m inclined to believe that he means it, and although he may enjoy his “games” with Sonic to an extent, I also can’t see him wanting to remain stuck on square one forever.

If this were Sonic X, he’d just grieve.

By the way, the scene above? Undeniable proof that for all the doctor’s boasting, he’s not actually lying or exaggerating when he prides himself on his brilliance. Because when you get past his goofy exterior, when you look beyond the occasional, relatively minor mistake (*glares at IDW*), you’ll see that... yes. He IS brilliant. And not just in the science department either, although his countless robots and strongholds over the years are no doubt a testament to his credentials there. While he may prefer to go in big and bold, he can also be shrewd with his strategies when he wants to be.

Sonic’s aforementioned near-death experience, for example, was the result of Eggman turning the heroes’ own cunning plan on its head by being one step ahead of them. And in Sonic Unleashed, he lured his enemy into a trap, culminating with him cancelling out Super Sonic.

“...and pay the price for your Werehog gameplay...”

And after all those years of struggling, he finally got a giant monster under his complete control. “But he had help!”, you say? Yeah, from himself.

Did Flynn sleep through all this...?

Much like his inner nature as an evil bastard, Eggman's effectiveness is likewise commonly underestimated by writers. Yes, he occasionally makes mistakes. Yes, he occasionally overlooks details. Yes, he occasionally lacks foresight. But he is NOT stupid. A hero is only as good as their villain after all, and if Eggman is portrayed as a bumbling fool, then how can Sonic be a truly great hero? Eggman is humorous, sinister, and when the chips are down, competent.

...Did I mention that he's also a master Olympian?

The Execution: There's no surprises here. You knew from the moment you saw this review that my stance wasn't going to be anything less than 100% fanboy adoration. In that respect, this section almost feels redundant, because there's only so many ways I can say “Dr. Eggman is the fucking shit and I'm eternally grateful to Mr. Ohshima for bringing this absolute masterpiece into our world” without it getting repetitive. So to cap this review off, I'm going to very briefly compare his portrayals in other media, and explain why they tend to not be as good as the original SEGA Eggman.

“Cause they’re not balanced, right?” you ask. “Cause they veer too far in a particular direction? You're so predictable,” you add. To that I say:

1. Yeah, basically.

2. ...S-Shut up...

3. While the conclusion may be obvious, it's nonetheless important because as I mentioned previously, despite how straightforward this villain is, writers seem absolutely intent on not getting the point. There are loads of villains out there who share Eggman's talent of mixing hilarity and evil together with a bow of competence on top. Two of those villains are among the most famous supervillains of all time, in fact. You might have heard of them.

Joker can do it just fine. Green Goblin can do it just fine. And plenty of others can do it just fine. So why is it such an issue with Eggman? What is it about a round body and a long moustache that gets people to think “No, this guy is absolutely incapable of being comedic and threatening at the same time, no question, end of.” Is it because he’s a more cartoony franchise? Well, that can't be the case, because even Mario has a couple of beloved examples. Fawful, anyone? How about Dimentio? Cackletta? King Boo? K. Rool? Hell, you could even count Bowser himself depending on the portrayal.

Anyway, the point is, writers tend to miss the mark for one reason or another. With Sonic X for example, he wasn't too bad in the beginning, but as the show went on, he became exactly the toothless non-villain that many people misjudge him as. We all know that scene where he berates Black Narcissus for harming their captives (not for pragmatic reasons mind you, he genuinely took issue with the act on moral grounds, even though his own hands weren’t exactly clean either), but even before that point, he was doing such things as healing an injured Sonic without an ulterior motive, not taking any opportunity whatsoever to start conquering Sonic's world because he was pining for Sonic's attention, and being the Jiminy Cricket to Chris Thorndyke's Pinocchio. Why they thought the goddamn villain should be the moral conscience of this show remains an unanswered question, but at least it no longer influences how he's portrayed in the games.

Then you have the IDW comic, which is a similar tale of starting off decent and then careening wildly into the abyss, but for different reasons. Initially, he was built up to be in-line with his competent, foresight-packed self from Forces, with his inevitable return being met with dread, and a delightfully devilish scheme to match when he finally did so. But somewhere along the way, Ian Flynn thought that Eggman coming back from his amnesiac period and returning stronger than ever with a new minion and a deadly virus wasn't enough to up the stakes... so they decided to “up the stakes” by turning both the doctor and his new minion into massive imbeciles so as to justify their plot getting hijacked by the Deadly Six, a move so predictable yet infuriating that it got even me to turn against the Six. And the reason the Six got invited in-universe is because Starline decided he didn’t like being unique and devolved into Snively 2.0 behind Eggman’s back. All this from the alleged “best writer” for the series...

Yeah, same.

And then you have the Boom version, which shares basically the same issues as Sonic X but in a more mundane fashion. It's easier to dismiss because it's a comedy-centric show and his redesign makes it easier to separate him from mainline Eggman, and I'll gladly admit that he does have a lot of genuinely funny lines that redeem him a little bit. But yeah, too much of not being a true villain for my tastes.

Now this isn't to say that there haven't been portrayals in other media that are up there with the original. The versions that I consider better off than the ones above include...

- The OVA Eggman is pretty faithful all things considered, aside from his romantic feelings for Sara, which feels slightly off since the idea of Eggman loving anyone other than himself is incredibly unrealistic at best. But it doesn't actually soften or undermine his deviousness, so I'm willing to let it slide for an alternate take. Especially since he gave us the best Metal Sonic out there.

- AoStH is far from a perfect show, but there's a reason why even its detractors tend to treat its version of Robotnik like a national treasure. Admittedly most of that is because of the legendary Long John Baldry and the endless memes associated with this incarnation, but despite hailing from a comedy-focused show like Boom Eggman, this Robotnik still had a lot of legitimately dangerous moments, more than you'd think.

- And of course, Jim Carrey's Robotnik in the Sonic movie is just... *chef's kiss*

So obvious aesop though it may be, but you see what the more effective portrayals have in common, I assume?

Granted, this also isn't to say that SEGA Eggman himself has had a perfect track record. The decade's worth of upstagings and backstabbings by other villains should be enough of a counterpoint to that claim, and I've also made it clear now and then that I take issue with certain games regarding what they do with the doc, no matter how revered they may be by other fans. Sonic Adventure 2, for instance. I praised the fake emerald scene, and I do sincerely believe that he has a number of other badass moments in that game, but because Shadow was playing him like a fool the whole time, I can't help but have a bitter taste in my mouth when I look at the bigger picture.

So close to greatness, yet so far...

So in that case, which game do I think has Eggman's best showing overall? That's not in any way an easy question, but lack of dialogue aside, I'm gonna go with Sonic 3 & Knuckles again, as the classic journey through the sights of Angel Island plays out in a way that highlights just how determined, ruthless, and underhanded he is with carrying out his mission to revive the Death Egg by any means necessary. Other games do win out in other areas - SA1 for how bastardly he is, Forces for how cunning he is, Colours for his hilarious announcements, CD for using the scenery to show the effects of his actions, Mania for not letting the other villain walk all over him - but for the purest essence of the doctor at his cartoony yet competent best, I'd say S3&K is a reasonable bet.

And when it comes to all his many traits, which one do I find the most special one of all? Well again, far from easy to answer, but I think the coolest aspect about him is also one of the most overlooked. Robotnik, despite whatever superhuman qualities he may occasionally unveil, is for all intents and purposes a regular guy with a big brain. This might make him appear unimpressive when compared to your average Final Fantasy villain and the like, but if anything, it paints him in a more flattering light than expected, because he doesn't even need to be on their level to still be on the radar. It's easy to be a big bad threat when you're an ancient demon or an almighty god-like being, and you only have to wave a hand to cause armageddon. But when you're just Some Guy™ going up against superpowered opponents, meaning you have to earn your threat level the hard way, and you prove to be a challenge every step of the way regardless, because you're just THAT much of a genius... that's fucking awesome, no other way to put it.

And you know what else is awesome? You may not like Eggman, and you don’t have to like him, but like it or not, he is directly and indirectly responsible for a vast majority of the coolest and most loved moments and aspects of this franchise.

The opening to Unleashed? Eggman set up the scene.

Shadow running around and continuing to be part of the franchise? Eggman released him.

Blaze getting involved with Sonic’s world and continuing to be part of the franchise? Eggman’s half-responsible for that.

Metal Sonic? Eggman made him.

Egg Dragoon? Eggman.

Big Arm? Eggman.

Monkey Dude? Eggman.

That text is missing a blue checkmark.

This review is probably longer than the echidna family tree in Archie at this point, so I better finish it off. If it wasn't obvious from all the paragraphs I've belted out in this post, I'm very passionate about Eggman and the way he’s portrayed. Ever since I got into the Sonic franchise in 2003, I immediately took a liking to the doctor, and to this day, he remains not only my favourite Sonic villain, my favourite Sonic character, but also my favourite character period. Some may find it a weird or lame choice compared to other, “better” characters, but that's the way it is, and I ain't about to change it. I am very unlikely to ever stop enjoying the hell out of this villain, and even if he got irreversibly ruined in some way, I'd still continue to love what he was before that point.

Because yeah, he's not the deepest character ever, but... who cares? Is it not enough that we find something that appeals to us? When I got into Sonic, I was introduced to fantastic games, a likable cast, high quality soundtracks, beautiful worlds, numerous friends on this very site, and of course, the lovely treasure that is my partner. I may not have been with this franchise during the 90's, but it's given me just as much fun, nostalgia, and happiness as those who were. Despite the flawed titles, despite the fandom conundrums, I still love this series.

And I still love this absolute prick.

Crusher Gives Dr. Eggman a: TWO Thumbs Up!

#Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite?#Opinion #Sonic the Hedgehog #Dr. Ivo Robotnik

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elliewan · 4 years ago

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Boom Boom - Behind the Scenes

Hi everyone! As hinted in Chapter 14th notes, here is a (long?) tumblr post for some behind-the-scenes trivia about Boom Boom! I’m sorry it took me some time, but I’ll probably develop my HC for Thermite and Ace in another post :]

So. Here’s a small table of contents for this post. And of course, massive spoilers incoming! haha

Origin of the Title

Chapter and Rhythm building

Thermite’s friendships

Interviews with Harry

IQ/Kali’s background relationship

HC Timeline

In a nutshell

1. Origin of the title

The initial placeholder title was “Norwegian Dynamite”, then “From Texas with Norway”, then… “Boom Boom”. I’m still not happy with the title, but I think it’s good enough. And funfact, it’s kind of a mistake, but not so much. In French, my native language, heartbeat’s onomatopoeia is “Boum Boum”, while I read that in American English (the English I tended to use for my fanfic), it’s supposed to be “Thump Thump” or something like that. But I also read than in most of Norwegian dialects, “Boom Boom” could be understood as a heartbeat too. So anyway, Boom Boom refers both to the beating of their heart and to the explosions of their hard-breaching gadgets. It’s also dual, meaning that each of them is a “Boom” haha And it’s also a cute Mika song about two people being totally in love despite what their families think, and making love everywhere haha (cause in French “Faire crac crac boum boum” [“doing crac crac boom boom”] means “having sex” haha)

2. Chapter and Rhythm building

Unlike most of my fanfics, Boom Boom wasn’t written “as it goes”, I didn’t “discover” the fic while writing it. In fact, I hadn’t contemplated writing a multi-chapter for them until some comments on my Siegetober Ace/Thermite one-shots where people showed interest in the ship and a potential multi-chapter or longer story for them.

So after the Siegetober rush, while I had several wips ongoing, I started working on it. The first blank page was basically: Ace/Thermite – how do they get together for real and a series of bullet points for potential scenes. Then, I opened a PowerPoint file and started filling the following diagram:

Though this is now a bit obsolete, this was the first foundation. Thanks to this diagram, and the several bullet points for potential scenes I had brainstormed, I started building the story in a (ugly) board. Once again, several things are obsolete and I never really updated it – it was more of a working document for the “pre-writing” of the fic, to see if the story really made sense:

And one thing that really didn’t help was Ubisoft releasing the cutscene about Aruni out of nowhere haha. At the beginning, I panicked a bit because I thought it changed several things in my Thermite HC, but it happened to eventually fit quite well and even help adding more drama haha

And once I was ok enough with the board, despite it having several plot holes, I tried to measure the intensity of “love” and “dramatics” to see what kind of rhythm the fic was going to follow and check if I found it entertaining enough:

3. Thermite’s friendships

In the initial draft, Castle had a MAJOR part as Thermite’s best friend. He would help him sort his feelings, see the evolution of his relationship with Ace, and even go to Texas with him to help him face his family. But when re-reading for the umpteenth time Thermite’s file, I realized there was not a single mention of Castle, contrary to Hibana, Twitch and Thatcher. Not to mention Harry’s board where it’s written Thermite has a “sibling” relationship with Ash.

And that’s when everything ticked: Thermite is surrounded by great women. Sisterhood is part of who he is, how he was raised, how he lives. And this is why those women should have a stronger place in the story. So Hibana, Twitch, Aruni and Ash became real sisters to him. Hibana and Aruni being more like the big sisters – they’re reliable, sturdy and coolheaded, they provide him with advice and comfort; Aruni especially is quite similar in temper to his biological sister in my HC. Twitch is more like his same-age sister (though she’s younger), they see eye-to-eye but there’s no authority nor “big sister” feels between them; she’s the confident. As for Ash, she’s more like that distant sibling that has evolved a lot in life to the point where they don’t talk as mush as they used to… but who could move mountains just to get to him if she hears he’s in trouble. This is what I tried to convey :’)

4. Interviews with Harry

Honestly, interviews with Harry were my ultimate cheat code to give more information regarding Ace and Thermite’s psychological statuses, and various hints regarding their mental health. Though I sometimes prefer to bring this sort of nakedness and vulnerability throughout conversations with close friends, it wasn’t very possible here because: 1. Ace had no close friends with whom he could be this vulnerable, and he’s still new at Rainbow. (and he’s not even aware of his coping mechanisms and insecurities) 2. I kind of wanted Thermite to be incredibly good at clouding his issues, changing subjects and rejecting any kind of help, meaning that only Harry could get him to openly talk (or so he thought haha) about his mental health.

As for Harry’s behavior, I tried to render him as this kind of smooth, yet not evasive, therapist. One that wouldn’t be in the judgement, and who could wait whole minutes for the person to take their time to open up, and slowly but gently poking at the aching spots, and providing various resources to help them :)

Also, since in most of his psychological reports he seems to be very aware of friendships at the base, and to push some operators to meet some others, I tried to convey this vibe too. Just like when he says that he finds similarities with Ace, Dokkaebi and Sledge. Or when he offers Thermite to ask Lion and Meghan about their tattoos etc.

Also, here’s a bit of HC on how each of them deals with Harry haha

5. IQ/Kali’s background relationship

I have to admit I may have accidentally mirrored a lot Ace/Thermite’s relationship with IQ/Kali’s. Thing is that I wanted Kali to change too! I wanted her to be this impartial and authoritative bossy businesswoman that would slowly change into someone, though still sharp and arrogant, more human. I wanted Jaimini to show up a bit more. I have given veeery small hints to offer some glimpses at her true self, at what’s behind that mask. For instance, there is that moment in the fic where Ace and Kali argue, and he tells her:

“Jai, you and I both know very well that you didn't take this contract just for the money.”

Which makes Kali pale a lot, because he’s hitting a good nerve. In fact, I kind of headcanon Kali having softened enough around him, throughout their collaboration, to have confided a tiny bit about why she created Nighthaven, and all the frustrations she had grown up with. And thing is, Kali created Nighthaven because she wanted to be a hero too, just like him. She wanted to be at the heart of the battle, to protect people, to save lives, and she dreamed of a soldier life, of self-sacrifice and heroism. She just slid the wrong way, and her childhood dream turned into a private corporation of which she became a ruthless tycoon. Just like Ace, I think things went out of control at some point for her, and she just lose connection to reality and morals.

And the thing with IQ happened quite naturally. At the beginning, once I was okay with the three main squads (especially Alpha and Bravo), the relationship just happened on itself. While Montagne and Twitch were just those lovely and patient sweethearts, IQ was the one that had the hardest time with the Nighthaven folks, whether it were Ace or Kali. Both because she didn’t trust them and their secrecy, and because she has very little patience for people with difficult tempers in general haha

So, Kali being that bossy and defiant puzzle, refusing to let her see Nighthaven’s gadgets’ blueprints, things were just meant to sparkle between them. And Kali just couldn’t resist teasing IQ and reminding her she was untouchable. And through the teasing, the premises of a relationship were born. But unlike Ace/Thermite, I don’t think it followed a Colleagues to Friends to Lovers progression, but more an Enemies straight to Lovers progression haha

So anyway. I wanted to give a little boost to Kali, so that she opens up a bit more with Rainbow, and to bring a truce between Rainbow and Nighthaven’s disputes. And love just happened, once again, to be the perfect last push <3

Another thing that could have helped her would perhaps have been some true challenging from an authority she does respect, but I found it difficult to stage and Kali wasn’t the focus of the fic anyway – perhaps another time ;)

6. HC Timeline

And here is the ugly timeline I worked with haha It’s still probable that there are some inconsistencies, but I tried to avoid them as much as possible and I’m sorry if you find some! I’m horribly bad with figures, years and stuff haha

I used most of the canonical dates, except for Jordan’s mother and sister deceases, which weren’t accurately dated in his biography and which I reinterpreted a bit to fit my story.

Also, isn’t it absolutely lovely that their birthday is only 1 day apart? u_u #ProudPisces!

7. In a nutshell

So, those were my major documents that helped me build the foundations of the fic. What happened next was some drafting and pure writing, following the publishing tempo. I think the gist of what I wanted to convey through the story is still there, even if I reworked some chapters entirely. The journey (and the destination <3) is still the same.

+ I want to once again give a proper shout out to all the wonderful readers of the fanfic, whether they’re anonymous or not! I had never received so much feedback, and so many sweet words on any work before, even back in my time on fanfic.net. I feel so grateful for that, and though I already answered to everyone who commented, and wrote many notes, I still can’t find the way to properly translate just how much it means to me. So once again THANK YOU :’D

And thank you for reading this post too, if you did haha <3

#long post #ace/thermite #iq/kali #writing fanfiction #r6s fanfiction #my hcs #my work

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perseusjackson-jasongrace · 5 years ago

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Hi C!!! It's meeee

Anyway I don't know why but I just kinda want to put this out in the world. You got me on Jercy (I'm not kidding I hated Jercy before you) but Percabeth is my OG ship like they started me ok fanfics and they're like my first real ship period. And I hate all the hate Annabeth gets because I really love her so I just wanted to ask you if you could go more in depth with why you aren't big on her/Percabeth please

Love you!! ❤❤

Hi my Gretch seeing your username (on any of the platforms) makes me forever and eternally happy. Okay onto this beautiful, intense ask:

First things first: I love Annabeth. Like Annabeth as a character? wonderful, incredible, unreal. She is so versatile and full of so many things that make us human and I see her character and character arc as a complex web full of intricacies and weaknesses (yes i said web on purpose).

My favourite things about her:

1. She always has a goal, whether it be long term or, I'm just trying to stay alive in this second. For people like me who kind of go through life on vibes and a vague sense of what they want it is awing to read about and meet people who have solid, planned goals that they live, breathe, and perform by.

2. She is proud of her friends. Since her fatal flaw is pride it is very easy to see the downfall but there is also an upside in that she uses that well of pride as an extension of her and it reflects on others. We know she is proud of Percy, and grover, and Thalia, and why Luke’s betrayal hit so hard for her

3. She continues to break stereotypes. Not just as the dumb blonde (which was admittedly a big thing at the time of the book’s release) but also in her being a girl who saves herself, who goes on the dangerous quests, who isn’t helpless. I never had a lack of female role models in my life but adding Annabeth to the mix only did me more good.

4. She thinks things through: I am kind of impulsive when it comes to certain aspects in my life and I have some thought process for other parts but Annabeth is not impulsive. As much as she has ADHD, in which impulsivity is fairly common, she doesn’t present with it. And it’s refreshing and exciting to see this character that thinks through plans and decisions and tries to predict the outcome, not only so she can change it if need be but also to prepare herself for what is to come. Narratives (especially at the time of those books) were full of impulse and quick decisions and always being on the spot. Hell Percy was exactly this kind of narrtator. And while I love dit because I mean what ten year old doesn't love fast-paced intense excitement? it was so truly wonderful to read about someone who thought further. It allowed you to connect to the next page, chapter, book.

5. She is a complete badass. And I love it. I love badass women. I could never get enough of them and I think they should rule the world. And I love smart people. I love them. Smartness, intelligence, is so attractive to me. Because it means you have passion, and the ability to think beyond your surroundings. Annabeth Chase is hella smart.

What I've been having a crisis over for the last few years is Percabeth. It is summed up most accurately here but just to continue my thought:

Rick changed the percabeth dynamic so much in HOO that it became almost unrecognisable. I think in the bid to have this whole, everyone is a couple and everyone deserves someone (which boosted Leo’s narrative but was also the cause of great conflict in everyone else’s narrative expect percabeth) he forgot to make them friends. And that was the basis of percabeth. It was the reason percabeth were so godsdamn cute in PJO. Because they were friends who ended up becoming a couple. In HOO they were just a couple. And it sucked out the life of their friendship so that we could only focus on their relationship.

And unfortunately it is Annabeth’s narrative that really brings this home for multiple reasons (all of which we can blame Rick for):

1. This is the first time we got other points of view beside Percy which means everyone’s flaws were much more obvious. Annabeth’s fatal flaw specifically was really played (the entire reason she went on that Mark of Athena quest; why they landed up in Tartarus). it made focusing on her harder especially because Percy’s Fatal flaw is loyalty so he spent a lot of his narrative focusing on others. this one is mostly my bias as I prefer to have a character’s narrative that also focuses on the happenings of others with the characters personal thoughts. Annabeth was the kind of narrator who focused on herself first.

2. The entirety of HOO was about relationships. Rick didn’t bother to form any actual friendships with any of the characters (something he was undoubtedly great at in PJO) so when we got to percabeth scenes it was things like: Piper being jealous of them; Percy being worried about them; Annabeth being worried about Percy as a person or herself in her quest; Leo being sad that he was alone; etc. It made liking any of the couples extremely hard.

3. As you (and my other Tumblr babies) may know I don't believe Percy and Annabeth’s fatal flaws work well together. I think Percy is often the one to sacrifice himself and Annabeth sacrifices her wants (material things) and it is not the same. Percy is loyal to Annabeth. But Annabeth’s pride continues to rule her life. For example, if Percy had gotten in the way of Annabeth rebuilding Olympus I fully believe she would have attempted (at the very least) to get rid of him. I don't necessarily mean kill him I just mean he wouldn’t have been in her life. Don’t get me wrong this does not mean she did it or there was even a possibility that she could have. but the reason for that is because Percy is loyal to her. So he wouldn’t have gotten in the way of her dreams. And I think there’s something fundamentally dangerous about sacrificing yourself for someone else’s dreams. If Percy became loyal-to-a-fault towards Annabeth and she then decided to join Luke’s army he would not have stopper her. In fact it’s quite possible he would have joined her. And Annabeth has so much pride for Percy, but her pride-to-a-fault does not lie in people it lies in material things. So she would have gone after her own goals if Percy did not follow. It just seems like it’s luck that they continue to work well together. Percy sacrifices himself. Annabeth sacrifices herself. But only cause their goals align. What happens when they don't?

Please do not make the mistake of thinking I hate percabeth because I don’t. I cannot hate them when those books were the heart and soul of my life for so many years. Percabeth was such a big part of them, to hate the ship, would mean to hate the books and that is absolutely not the case. Annabeth and Percy’s friendships is so important to me.

TL:DR I love Annabeth she is an absolute badass; I am not a fan of the percabeth dynamic especially in HOO; my bias is present in everything I do. I acknowledge it and try to work to bring all the facts together.

I hope this answered your question Gretch! And do not hesitate to ask if you want me to elaborate on a anything further.

I, of course, also welcome dispute from anyone but remember we do things nicely on this blog.

#PJJG asks #Ciara's convos #gretchen things

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fencesandfrogs · 5 years ago

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“i love you”: ambiguity in media

spoilers for she-ra. the entire show. especially the last season. but if you don’t care i’ve also added context. so it’s not mandatory watching.

spacer gif for spoilers. also cause its cute.

okay so i’m still thinking about the scene where glimmer says, “i love you,” and bow kisses her on the temple, and it’s just the cutest thing and my heart says “squee”.

i wrote something about gay media & the necessary differences in gay tales and ATM it has not been posted bc i routinely shuffle my queue but the basic thesis of it is: gay romance stories are inherently different from straight ones, because it is impossible to separate them from homophobia. and i kind of ran into a wall writing it because homophobia is really hard to ignore on earth because its omnipresent and it dramatically affects gay youth growing up.

and then i watched she-ra, which has lesbians*, in case you didn’t know, and also basically zero homophobia.

*also gays, but the titular character is a lesbian, so.

which damn, was very refreshing. like. yeah. sign me up for that.

so. adora and catra are adorable lesbians w/ shared traumatic experiences and their character arcs are interesting and wonderful and there’s a lot of great analysis of that already and here’s one that sums it up better than i ever could:

youtube

love that. they’re adorable. i love them.

bow & glimmer are also best friends who get together at the end of the show & have a lot of parallels to catra and adora minus the trauma and also including crushing weights of responsibility.

uhh so catra & glimmer both make a mistake at one point during the show that basically irreparably wrecks the world and requires sacrifice of life to solve. adora is the intended sacrifice each time but this isn’t about adora, i just want to give context for this.

so catra has the explanation of trauma and the scared behaviors of a traumatized teen. like. she makes mistakes for an understandable reason. again. not about her. just giving context.

glimmer on the other hand basically throws a fit that her friends have other friends. i mean. glimmer has problems but her mistakes are not like, “you know if you were raised in a loving home this prob wouldn’t have happened” because she was raised in a loving home. it’s more like “you know if you didn’t become queen at age, like, 17, this probably wouldn’t have happened.”

(side note, i don’t know how old the characters in she-ra are. i read them as 15-17 in the beginning of the series and 18-20 by the end, and i’m just not really sure. because you know, cartoons & child soldiers do not accurate age placing make. catra and adora’s arc speaks to me ages 15-18ish because that is when i had a similar arc.

according to the wiki adora starts around 17 and ends around 20. which is w/in my own estimations i’m just commenting.)

right so glimmer apologizes to bow and is all “look you don’t have to forgive me, i don’t have a right to that, but i’m not going to stop trying to earn your forgiveness,” and bow, well, he says “okay”

and. you know. i feel that.

(more side notes: i, age 17ish, broke up w my boyfriend. for reasons. we got back together. for other reasons. repairing the bond of trust is hard. because i was not secure that he loved me, and he was not secure that i wouldn’t leave if something went wrong. so you know. i feel glimmer, here.

yes, she made a mistake and no, she does not have a right to forgiveness. but she’s also a kid, who has had one friend for her entire life, and is only just beginning to learn how to share friends, and she thinks she lost him, and that desperation and rejection is painful. she was lashing out, and she never intended this to happen.)

so glimmer & bow throughout the show have romantic tension, but in a soft way. in a, bow goes to a ball with someone else and glimmer gets jealous but it’s also directly stated she’s jealous because she’s sharing her friend way.

plus there’s a scene that definitely has some strong glimmer x adora vibes is what i’m saying

it’s not this specific scene but idk what to search for to find it & i’m not fighting w tumblr to include external images again i’ve been hurt before.

anyway.

so when glimmer says, “i love you,” my heart pounds in a new way, because what does she mean by that? does she love him?

and at some point in this adora has a fantasy future where bow and glimmer are together & it’s adorable but i’m mentioning to explicitly say that it’s not relevant because bow and glimmer r def not together before this moment.

anyway bow kisses glimmer on the forehead and my heart go “thumpthumpthumpthumpthump” real real fast and it’s cute and i text my boyfriend a bunch of hearts because that’s what i do when i see cute couples i’m a soft gay nerd.

and the thing is? i’m also thinking, “wow there is so much ambiguity” there.

and then. i realized. this is why gay romance is fundamentally different. because american culture is not very touch-y, especially across gendered lines.

& i have a very physically affectionate family. i will cuddle the homies. i will kiss them on the temple. (ok i won’t do that bc my boyfriend would not like that n i respect that it’s legit i kiss him on the temple instead. mb i’ll write about boundaries in relationships where people have different understandings of physical affection.) so like? did not occur to me before to discuss this.

but there’s a huge ambiguity in gay romance. it’s hard to write gay romance that’s explicitly gay (especially wlw since men r less affectionate & more stereotyped in media imo and that’s another discussion but there’s a reason i’m focusing on catra and adora in she-ra’s gay relationships) without slapping a huge “THEY’RE LESBIANS, HAROLD” on it, so like.

yeah. it does get a label.

& i mean. she-ra is the big gay. it could have gone hard queer baiting, but even if that was a possibility, adora and catra are too hard-coded to Love Love each other. they have a best friends to rivals (to enemies) to lovers thing going on, it’s hard to miss. there is no doubt in my mind what catra means when she tells adora she loves her.

this is from before the confession and just. look at them. they are gay.

& meanwhile glimmer and bow have the soft affection, the feelings which could be read either way.

objectively the same hold, but he’s saving her life. catra leaps into adora’s arms, bow catches her. (after he just caught her before:

& it does not escape my attention that bow was the one who caught her from the void of space, not the stronger & arguably better adora/she-ra.

okay so bow & glimmer = adorable, and i’m v happy they got together. but it was an interesting application of tropes in that i don’t think you could tell this romance in a very different context. it just. it doesn’t work right.

i think glimmer & bow end up a will they/won’t they couple in a different context. and that works, yeah, but that’s the point. gay tropes r just...different.

and it’s really hard to switch them because you kind of need a fantasy world where physical affection is much more common and we don’t have the baggage of gender in friendships.

just for fun, here’s one last couple. mermista and seahawk. i’m not gonna spend a long time on them i just wanted to say maybe i’m gay but it took me until season five to realize they’re together and i think they’ve been together the whole show.

& i think that’s because she-ra does a really good job at depicting the post-homophobia, post-sexism universe. (sexism plays a big part in all this ik i didn’t talk about it but some other time)

so you get the opportunity to have these fantastic stories of relationships through new lenses. & i appreciate that. i appreciate getting to have a “he’s my friend” (i love him) “he’s mine” character moment with a new kind of angst. (glimmer: the gay, who loves her best friend but also loves her best friend, vs glimmer: the hypothetical straight, who loves her best friend, and her best friend loves her. the difference is subtle but it’s there.)

anyway yeah a lot of words. forehead kisses kill me because i have a weak, gay, heart. uhhhh media & tropes & telling explicitly gay romances requires us to be able to shake around what role friendship plays in the relationship arc, and something we’re not entirely up for yet, as a culture.

i leave u with this bc no one has made a gif of their actual kiss

#glimbow #she ra #she-ra #media analysis #romance #q #mine #txt #13th #December #2020 #December 13th 2020 #rant #essay

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takadasaiko · 5 years ago

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Movie Night (a Veronica Mars one-shot)

Part of the Spanning Years. Continents. series of one-shots set between the VM movie and S4.

FFN II AO3

Warning: While my guess is that most people have seen Top Gun, I didn't see it until just a few years ago for the first time, so I feel like I should mention there are some spoilers in here for the movie.

Summary: In attempt to try quell some of the awkward tension between her two best friends and her boyfriend since his return from deployment, Veronica declares a movie night.

Movie Night

It had been a long time coming and a much needed event, even if not easily planned. It should have been. Movie nights weren't complicated. At least not for normal people, but Veronica Mars had tossed normal back out the window when she'd returned to Neptune.

The first step had been getting all parties involved to admit that the awkward tension needed to stop. Both Mac and Wallace had voiced their concerns when she had first come back to help Logan pick a lawyer and then stayed to help in the investigation, but when he had shipped out the subject was dropped. Out of sight, out of mind. That only worked as long as he was out of town, but since he'd been back there was a strange vibe in Mars Investigation every time he dropped by, and the crazy thing was it wasn't coming from her dad.

Mac would stumble around the conversation, managing to make even the most mundane of topics painful as if she were keeping a lid so tight over her own thoughts that nothing coherent was making it through when she was speaking to him. She had even called him Not-Piz at one point when she thought he was out of earshot. Spoiler alert: he hadn't been, and Veronica had to hear about it way more than she preferred.

Wallace was marginally better, but he always seemed to be waiting for the relationship to implode in some firestorm of chaos kicked off by one or maybe even both of them. Not that that was entirely unfair. He'd had a ringside seat to their on-again-off-again relationship during high school and college, but still not something you'd like hanging between one of your best friends and your boyfriend.

And it didn't help that Logan had always met tense situations with an offhanded quip and a sharp remark, especially if he felt even remotely attacked.

Getting all of them into a space where they could take a breath was the goal, and that led to the second step: figuring out what to do about it. The consensus was a movie night. They'd pick something everyone liked, have a pizza and some drinks, and give Mac and Wallace a chance to get better acquainted with Logan and vice versa. A lot had changed in nine years and - even if she'd never admit it out loud - Veronica wanted two of the most important people in her life to see what she saw in the man she loved.

Finally, the third step had been finding a time that worked for all four of them and that had been where the real hang up had happened. After nearly two weeks of missed nights - not just on Veronica's end, thank you very much. Logan has gotten stuck on base one night and Wallace on campus for some kind of planning committee another - they finally landed on a Friday night in which none of them had plans or last minute mishaps. And people say miracles don't happen.

The pizza had just been delivered and Veronica was dancing around Logan in the kitchen when the knock came and she heard Mac call out, "We come bearing booze!"

"Just the four words I was waiting to hear," Veronica cheered as she pulled the door open to reveal her two best friends with bags of what were likely filled with beer and snacks of choice to go with the pizza.

"We realized after we got there that neither of us knows what kind of beer Logan drinks, and someone doesn't answer her texts," Wallace said pointedly.

"I like the kind with alcohol in it," Logan deadpanned from the kitchen where he was pulling down plates and a bowl for chips.

Wallace feigned shock. "Oh, so the ginger beer wasn't what we were going for?"

"Only if we're adding Vodka. Good to see you, man. Mac."

"Hey, Logan."

Logan cracked a smile and Veronica pointed at him before the quip could dance off his tongue. "Behave."

He shrugged at that and dropped it, receiving a quirked eyebrow from Mac. "It's like you've got him trained."

"He just knows what happens if he brings up the Not-Piz thing one more time."

She grimaced at that. "I swear I didn't mean it to come out that way."

"Which way is that?" Logan asked, his tone still light as he grabbed a bowl of chips in one hand and the oversized pizza in the other and set both on the kitchen counter for them to dig into. He leaned over to peck a quick kiss against Veronica's forehead. "You said it, not me."

"Yeah yeah," she grumbled, swatting at home as he bobbed quickly out of reach.

Mac made a face and dug into the bag she'd brought in. "On any other note, I found this amazingly tasty cider down at the corner market last week for anyone who's a fan."

"Oh, love a good apple cider," Veronica said, reaching for them.

"They're pear, actually."

She risked a glance at Logan who was loading up his plate and managing to do an excellent impersonation of someone who had not been listening. "Yeah, let's pass on those."

Mac's excitement turned to instant confusion. "You love pears."

"Logan's… allergic." Well she was usually a better liar than that, but how do you explain away how someone couldn't even smell a specific fruit after a childhood trauma without referencing said trauma?

"Well he doesn't have to have one," Mac pointed out.

"It's the smell," Logan volunteered from where he was taking a seat on the floor to leave the couch open, plate of pizza balanced on one bent knee and his beer set on a coaster on the coffee table. "Every time I smell it I puke. Not so fun for movie night."

Wallace shot him a skeptical look from where he was circling around the couch to take a seat on the opposite side. "Okay, there's gotta be a story there."

"There is."

"And in the spirit of getting to know each other a little better….?"

Veronica opened her mouth to tell Wallace to drop it, but she saw Logan tilt his head curiously. She and Mac took their seats on the small couch and Veronica waited to see how he'd handle it. He was a big boy and this was about breaking down some walls. While she didn't think that would likely include stories about Aaron's abusive nature that Logan didn't like sharing with even her if he could help it, it would only keep things awkward if it looked like she was fielding questions all night.

Logan pulled in a deep breath and popped the top off of his beer. "My dad tried to force feed me twelve pears when I was a kid."

"All at once?" Mac asked, her nose screwed up and her tone suggesting she was looking for the piece of the puzzle she was missing.

"Yeah, one right after another."

"Wouldn't you choke?"

"Yep. Hence the reaction to them. What'd we decide on?" Logan grabbed the remote like he'd just made an offhand comment about it being sunny outside.

There was a beat of shocked silence as both Wallace and Mac seemed to catch onto what wasn't being said and Wallace cleared his throat. "You gonna hate me if I say Top Gun?"

Logan flashed a wide grin. "Love that movie."

And just like that, the weight lifted as they flipped it on. Veronica watched and listened as both of her friends asked questions about Logan's job. What was his call sign, what kind of planes did he fly, if anything in the movie was actually accurate, and the list went on. In turn he seemed genuinely interested to hear how Wallace had ended up back at Neptune High as a teacher and a few fun stories Mac had since she'd come to work at Mars Investigations. All in all, the evening was going a lot smoother than Veronica would have banked on and all three seemed to be really trying. Not just trying. Actually enjoying it. Who knew?

"You know we have someone come in from the Naval Station every year for the career fair," Wallace said as he returned with fresh beer bottles carefully balanced. "If you're here, we should have you in this year."

"Oh yeah. Clemmons would love that," Logan chuckled and leaned back against the couch so that he could tilt his head against Veronica's leg. She refocused on the movie that she hadn't really been watching and felt her chest tighten a little at the scene. Everybody knew it, no matter how long it had been. The difference was that the last time she'd watched it the man she loved hadn't been flying fighter jets for a living.

Logan seemed to sense the shift and reached back his hand finding hers.

"You said you're testing the jets to make sure things aren't broken, right?" Mac prompted.

"Yeah. The mechanics need a certain level of field testing to run diagnostics."

"To make sure that doesn't happen?" Her question was perfectly timed with the sickening crunch of Goose's neck as the seat tried to eject him faster than the canopy opened.

"Among other things." Veronica felt Logan adjust his hold on her hand before pulling her knuckles to his lips for a kiss.

The two pilots on the television parachuted down towards the water, one limp, and Veronica squeezed his hand before standing. "Let me grab that," she mumbled as she snapped up their plates.

"I wasn't…. okay cool. Guess I'm done now," Wallace grumbled.

She barely slowed down as she dropped the plates on the counter and shot off towards the bathroom. Door closed, she leaned against it and closed her eyes, struggling to get the image out of her head. She hated the possibility that something like that could happen to Logan and she hated even more that there was absolutely nothing she could do to protect him from it.

From the other side she could hear their muffled voices.

"Okay, what just happened?" Wallace sounded even more confused now.

"It's, uh…." There was a short clip of silence and Veronica imagined Logan flicking those long fingers of his at the TV. "I didn't think about that part when we started it."

"Yeah, me either," Mac said. "She doesn't talk about it, so I just…. I guess that kind of stuff could happen to you, couldn't it?"

"Could. It's not like either of us have particularly safe jobs. Give me a sec?"

Veronica sucked in a breath, moved to the toilet and flushed it. She then flipped the water on to further sell the charade and was grabbing the towel by the time the soft knock came at the door. She opened it to find Logan shooting her an apologetic look. "What's up?" she asked, hating the small shake in her voice.

"You okay?"

"Just had to pee," she lied, and while her tone was flippant she hoped he caught the unspoken request. This didn't need to be a big deal. She didn't want to make this a big deal.

"Ah," he breathed out and leaned in, pressing a quick kiss to her forehead as if he were telling her he'd gotten the message loud and clear. "You're gonna miss the good part at the end."

"I wasn't in there that long," she huffed, but could see where one of them had fast forwarded over the rest of Goose's death scene and the movie was paused at the glory moment towards the end.

"Sure you were. Hence the checking," he answered with a tilted smile and a quick wink. He slipped his hand into hers and no one said a word as they rejoined to watch the end of the movie.

Despite pear cider and a moment that could easily be Veronica's worst fear played out in a movie, the rest of the evening could be counted a success. As the credits rolled and music played they laughed and teased and chatted until it was finally time to call it a night. Veronica was a little surprised to see Mac offer Logan the most awkward hug of all time and he gave her hell over it even as she pointedly said his name. Wallace lingered back and gave Veronica's arm a light nudge. "When'd your boy grow up?"

She snorted. "Sometime in the nine years between our freshman year at college and our ten year high school reunion. Sadly I can't take credit for that." She shot him a look. "You gonna finally stop giving me shit for dating him again?"

"Only because it might actually last this time."

"That's the plan."

His lips quirked up at the corners. "I'm happy for you, V."

The quip died in her throat and she found herself smiling instead.

They said their good nights and closed the door, locking it behind them. Logan turned towards her and she saw amusement in those brown eyes. "So, what's the verdict?"

"I'm afraid we're going to have to break up. Just no getting around it." She made it most of the way through the tease before her mouth betrayed her and she found herself fighting the smile.

"Uh-huh," Logan chuckled and leaned in, his lips hovering dangerously close to hers.

"I think this could become a thing."

"I'd be okay with that."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Wallace is fun and Mac gives as good as she gets when she lets herself."

"Oh no. Am I going to be replaced as your verbal sparring partner?"

"Never," he promised and closed the gap between them.

Veronica wrapped her fingers up in his t-shirt, pulling him deeper into the kiss and felt his arms around her just before he hauled her up off her feet, pulling a surprised laugh from her as he carried her back to the bedroom. Yeah, she thought she could count this one as a success.

#Veronica Mars #VMfanfic #VeronicaMarsFanfic #Logan Echolls #Mac Mckenzie #Wallace Fennel

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artificialqueens · 5 years ago

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Girls Interrupted, Chapter 2: She Wants To Dance Like Uma Thurman, But She Can’t (Vatya) 2/2 - Maeve

A/N: Hi, it’s Maeve here, and holy fuck this is long! Sorry for the wait, everyone, it’s been a real time. I’ll admit that I spent a lot of time collecting firsthand accounts of real teen parties because homegirl has never been to one of the cool kid ones. I feel no personal shame! I hope you all enjoy it. I’m a one woman show over here, but I’ve tried to be as accurate as possible with the characterization of the queens. There are some parts of this chapter that might be a little confusing, but that’s because the story is told through Katya’s eyes and she doesn’t always have all of the information. She will soon, though! As always, constructive criticism (really feedback of any kind) is welcome. If there’s interest, I’ll drop my sideblog one of these days. Here’s some petty teenage bullshit to take your mind off of the outside world.

What do normal people wear? What’s ��in’ with the youths? Katya furrowed her brow. She grew out of following trends in middle school. The clothes weren’t her, and they didn’t magically assimilate her into a friend group either. So Katya was no manic pixie dream girl, more of a manic sexy carny And that was okay…most of the time. There would be a wide variety of teens at the party—Alaska ran in many different circles—but all of them had eyes, and Katya wasn’t about to make Alaska question her judgement over unironically worn Hawaiian print. She’d have to pass for artistically different. Dresses were risky, so Katya opted for a pair of skintight black denim shorts and a well-worn Warner Brothers Studios shirt. A good french tuck and a statement jacket were just enough to polish off her shabby-chic ensemble. It would have to be good enough.

Katya’s freshly washed hair had dried in loose waves that framed her face beautifully. Two things she refused to guilt herself into were shaving her legs and putting on makeup, and she wore her bangs down to hide the hairline she was so self-conscious about. It wasn’t like she was trying to impress anyone. Katya had given up on that a long, long time ago. She glanced at the clock. It was only a few minutes past 6:00. Living in a constant state of perpetual anxiety was a real bitch.

Katya sighed, Wheel of Fortune and Diet Coke it is. Her parents were at the neighborhood’s annual Back to School Barbecue, so she had the entire house to herself. She hoped there would be a familiar face or two—or at the very least caffeine—at Alaska’s house.

Katya could hear the music coming from the inside of Alaska’s house through her massive front door. It was a hot and humid evening, yet Katya chose to linger in the yard. She wasn’t the first one there, and she wouldn’t be the last one, either; there was just something about crossing the solid oak barrier that made her presence…pressing. Awkward, even.

Alaska wouldn’t have invited you if she didn’t want you to be here, Katya reminded herself. She knew this was true—Alaska Honard was an absolute sweetheart—but her paranoia got the best of her. She pulled out her phone and sent a message to ‘Bianca del Realest’:

I’m outside. Walk me in? I don’t wanna know if pigs’ blood comes out of denim.

Her phone vibrated seconds later with a response from Bianca:

Pussy.

Soon, the door opened, revealing a smug Bianca del Rio. Katya grinned, “Yes, I do have a pussy, mama, and I’m serving fish all night.”

Bianca howled, “I don’t put things in me if I don’t know where they’ve been, and you’re a filthy whore.”

“You rotted cunt! That was a rash, not a herpes sore!” Katya protested.

“Just get your ass in here, Zamo, before the neighbors call the police to report a solicitor on the premises,” Bianca stepped aside so Katya could enter.

The first thing she saw was an ornately framed oil painting of Alaska and her family. It had to be at least her height. “Holy mother of pearl…” Katya gaped.

“Mother of Alaska, actually. Father and sister, too,” Bianca corrected. Katya gave her a shove. “What? I do this out of love, honey.” The blonde rolled her eyes. “Come on, there’s someone I want you to meet,” Bianca grabbed hold of Katya’s arm and steered her towards the kitchen.

Alaska’s kitchen—which was a literal gourmet kitchen—was relatively empty save for an entire island of snacks and several coolers with drinks. She could still feel the thrum of the bass in her teeth, but the walls muffled the music’s full volume. What Katya found most shocking was actually who was in the kitchen. Trixie Mattel was leaning against the sink in a pair of light wash jeans and a flowing pink top.

Wow, Katya’s eyes went wide. She was in the same room as Trixie Mattel, about to be introduced by their apparently mutual friend, and she desperately needed to be able to pull herself together.

“Oh, honey, send in the clowns!” Trixie exclaimed, noticing Bianca’s return.

“I prefer to be called an erotic clown,” Bianca shot back. Katya snorted. “This is the creature I was telling you about.” Bianca gave Katya a small shove forward.

“Hi, I’m the chemical burn from the spiral perm, Trixie Mattel,” Trixie introduced herself extending a well-manicured hand. “I sit across from you in English, but we’ve never really talked.”

“Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova. But your dad just calls me Katya,” Katya winked and took Trixie’s hand, gently kissing her knuckles. Inside her head, Katya was screaming, Fuuuuuuuck. However, Trixie’s smile only grew. The life-sized Barbie doubled over with laughter.

Trixie turned to Bianca, “I’ll keep her!” Katya scrunched up her nose. She didn’t realize she was for sale.

“Just make sure to walk her often. She’s not house trained,” Bianca warned.

Katya wasn’t given the chance to retort because the door that connected the main room to the backyard flew open, and all three girls reached to cover their ears as Travis Scott’s voice grew three times as loud. An out-of-breath Jinkx Monsoon stood in the doorway, and her mouth began to move.

“What?” Bianca shouted over Sicko Mode.

Jinkx came further into the kitchen and screamed, “I said the hotshots just pulled up! If you don’t wanna get trampled, we should probab—”

“Bottoms up, bitches!” Willam shouted from somewhere in the hall. A cacophony of voices seemed to flood the space all at once, and then the kitchen was swarmed with all of the juniors on the cheer squad and football team. Hands and bodies were everywhere. Katya, standing at 5’1”, was swept away in the sea of future frat boys. Thankfully, the kitchen was only a stop on their route, and once the kitchen had been successfully raided, the four girls could get their bearings.

Jinkx straightened her dress. “Leave. I was going to say leave,” she finished her earlier thought and slumped against the kitchen island. “The real party’s out back. Now with added kegs.”

“Now, this I gotta see,” Bianca chuckled, “You in?” Katya shrugged and followed Bianca and Trixie past the horndogs sucking face in the living room and into Alaska’s massive backyard. She didn’t know what she’d gotten herself into, and she didn’t see it getting any better.

The glass doors let out onto a patio with a cabana and firepit. Stone steps led down to yet another seating area and a resort-style pool filled with floats, fountaints, and colored lights. There must’ve been at least a hundred people outside. She’d never seen so much illicit activity in one place. What was the word? Collusion? Collusion. Collusion vibes but not in a good way, Mama. We’re all going to hell, Katya swallowed thickly. The blonde was overwhelmed by the sweaty bodies, loud music, and flashing lights. Was this what a rave was like? The kegs by the pool were a happening place, and she planned to avoid them as much as possible.

When she looked to her right, she noticed Bianca had slipped away unnoticed, leaving her completely and utterly alone with one Trixie Mattel. Fuck. Again.

“Come get a drink with me!” Trixie insisted. She might not have been entirely comfortable alone with her crush, but tagging along was a significantly better option than hiding in a corner. The two pushed their way towards the booze. Trixie filled a red solo cup for Katya before grabbing one for herself and maneuvering them over to the poolside loveseat.

Katya’s drink felt awkward clutched in her hands. She knew that most highschoolers had experience with alcohol, but it was different watching her peers getting trashed. What’s the point? Katya wondered.

“That’s gonna get warm, you know?” Trixie snapped Katya out of her thoughts.

Katya gave her a sheepish smile, “I don’t really drink. Like at all. I just took it so you didn’t think I was lame.”

“Oh, honey,” Trixie began softly, “I would never judge you for something like that. Here, let me take that.” She made a grab for Katya’s cup, but Katya pulled it away.

“One sec!” Katya stuck two fingers of her free hand right into her beer and pulled them out. She saw the confusion on Trixie’s face and gave her a mischievous look. Katya took her beer fingers and wiped the alcohol across the pulse points on her neck. Playing it safe, she repeated the action until all the places she’d usual spray with perfume were sticky with beer. She was sure she smelled like a distillery. Perfect. Once again, Trixie made a grab for the cub, but another hand beat her to it. Alaska Honard in all her glory snatched it from Katya and drained its contents.

“Thanksss, Kati,” Alaska slurred. “Jus’ needed a lil’ liquid courage before I go on.” She swooped down to give Katya a sloppy kiss on the cheek. Alaska was sloshed. Her makeup was smudged she was swaying on her feet, and she smelled worse than Katya, who had just taken a bath in her beer.

“Go on what, Alaska?” Needless to say, Katya was a bit concerned. Because the two had done most of the work for their partner scene the previous class, Alaska and Katya were able to spend the day’s 3rd period chatting away. The demure girl from earlier was nowhere to be found. She was beginning to wonder if her friend had even processed her question when Alaska finally responded.

“‘M gonna be a star, Kati,” Alaska giggled. “Britney, bitch!” She then proceeded to fist up the fabric at the bottom of her dress and try to pull her black bodycon sequin gown up and over her body. Katya could only watch as she writhed around and made pitiful whining noises in her attempt to undress. “Off!” Alaska pouted, giving Katya her best puppy dog eyes.

Katya shared a look with Trixie before standing up and carefully spinning the blonde around. Her small hands were perfect for pulling down tiny zippers, and the dress slid down Alaska’s lithe body and pooled at her feet. Katya’s throat went dry.

Underneath her dress, Alaska wore a lacy, black strapless bra and a matching set of panties. Katya could not handle it. She didn’t mean to stare, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away. Soft, pale, flawless, Katya took in the beauty in front of her. Talk about body-ody-ody. Alaska was toned with the supple legs of a dancer—unfortunately, she lacked a dancer’s poise. Katya’s aneurism was cut short when the cheerleader stumbled trying to get out of the offending garment.

“Geez, Alaska,” Katya exclaimed, “Would you be more careful?”

“I may not be graceful…” Alaska trailed off, beginning to sway on her feet.

“I need my Lasky!” Detox shouted from the edge of the pool. Alaska visibly perked at her nickname and gave Katya a sloppy goodbye kiss on the cheek before teetering off towards Detox and Roy.

What the fuck? Katya raised her eyebrows. She turned to Trixie in search of an answer as to what just happened, but all the blonde had to offer was a shrug. Katya looked back to Rolaskatox and noticed a few pertinent details she’d missed in her first glance: Roxy and Detox were also in their skivvies, three chairs were now in a row on the bridge that separated the two halves of the pool, and the music had stopped.

Katya tried to do the math in her head: liquid courage + 3 scantily clad girls x 1 chair - Kendrick Lamar = ???? She had to be missing something. “‘I’m gonna be a star,’” Alaska had said…Fame = liquid courage + 3 scantily clad girls x 1 chair - Kendrick Lamar. Katya’s brows knit together. Some kind of performance? And then it hit her. “‘Britney, bitch,’”…They’re performing a Britney Spears number practically naked. Obviously the ideal way to spend a Friday night. Katya could think of no other explanation for the weird happenings of the last few minutes, but the answer she’d arrived at wasn’t any less of an acid trip.

The three girls took their places behind the chairs, and Roxy, who had at some point manifested a microphone, gave pearl a thumbs up.

“Where my party people at?” Roxy shouted into the microphone. Praise Putin for Pearl because the feedback on the mic might have made their ears bleed. The crowd around the pool hooted and hollered. Yuck, Katya gagged on the high school movie realness. “We’ve got a special treat for you tonight! Our little Lasky here,” Roxy pushed Alaska forward, “Didn’t think that she was going to make the varsity cheer team.” Alaska flushed at her friends divulgence and squirmed in her grip. Naturally, Roxy paid no attention to her friend’s discomfort, “So Toxy and I, we made a bet: if Lasky didn’t make varsity we’d have a Golden Girls marathon, but if she did…she’d have to show off her sweet moves at the Back-to-School Bash!”

“Hit it, Pearl!” Detox shouted. Roxy tossed the microphone to someone near the end of the walk, and the three girls took their places by their chairs. Alaska was clearly less thrilled about the performance than she was when she had been talking to Katya minutes ago. Liquid courage? No dice. The instrumental intro into Britney Spears’ “Toxic” began to play from the outdoor speakers, and Alaska’s gyrated her hips mechanically to the beat.

Baby, can’t you see

I’m calling

A guy like you should wear a warning

It’s dangerous, I’m falling

Katya was dumbfounded. Mouth agape, she wondered, Does this shit happen at all high school parties? Mother, I swear I’m sober. She hadn’t had anything to drink, so she couldn’t have been drugged or anything crazy like that. This was, in fact, happening. And Katya had thought she was fucking mental. A glance to her side told her that she wasn’t the only one questioning her sanity; Trixie’s eyes were bulging out of their sockets.

There’s no escape

I can’t wait

I need a hit, Baby, give me it

You’re dangerous, I’m lovin’ it

Dangerous. There was something sinister about the atmospheric red that bathed the trio and spilled into the audience. Her hands began to tremble. Brenda, not now, she willed herself to calm down.

Too high

Can’t come down

Losin’ my head, spinnin’ ‘round and 'round

Do you feel me now?

It wasn’t just her shaking, though. Alaska’s body was vibrating with tension—not ‘loving it’. Her sisters in scandal moved a lot smoother than she did, and she was concentrating hard on keeping herself from falling off of her chair. How much “‘liquid courage’” did this bitch have? The trio had gotten up on their chairs at the beginning of the chorus and were doing what looked like Christina Aguilera choreography circa Genie in a Bottle. Katya wouldn’t be surprised if Rotox had actually gotten the wrong blonde when choreographing. Katya frowned, Alaska, please don’t crack your head open.

With a taste of your lips I’m on a ride

You’re toxic I’m slippin’ under

With a taste of a poison paradise

I’m addicted to you

Don’t you know that you’re toxic?

And I love what you do

Don’t you know that you’re toxic?

She regained her breath when the chair acrobatics were finally over. The dance routine had evolved into what could probably qualify as softcore porn. Roxy, Alaska, and Detox were writhing on the platform in an obscene manner. Katya thought they looked like cats in heat. Alcoholic cats in heat. Which was actually quite a shame because real alcoholic cats in heat were something that Katya would totally like to see.

It’s getting late to give you up

I took a sip from my devil’s cup

Slowly, it’s taking over me

Too high, can’t come down

It’s in the air and it’s all around

Can you feel me now?

Britney Spears you are a cruel bitch, Katya chewed her lower lip. She was trying her hardest not to feel anything.

With a taste of your lips, I’m on a ride

You’re toxic, I’m slippin’ under

With a taste of a poison paradise

I’m addicted to you

Don’t you know that you’re toxic?

And I love what you do

Don’t you know that you’re toxic?

If she weren’t so put off by the course the night had taken and concerned for her friend, she might have been more than a little turned on. There was no denying that Alaska was attractive—even as she flopped about like a fish on a marble platter—but her mother raised her right. We do not objectify women, and we definitely do not allow others to take advantage of inebriated ones.

Taste of your lips, I’m on a ride

You’re toxic, I’m slippin’ under

With a taste of a poison paradise

I’m addicted to you

Don’t you know that you’re toxic?

With a taste of your lips, I’m on a ride

You’re toxic, I’m slippin’ under

With a taste of a poison paradise

I’m addicted to you

Don’t you know that you’re toxic?

Katya had to admit she was impressed. There really was no better way to draw attention to yourself than repeatedly slamming your pussy into the makeshift stage. It certainly seemed to be working now; she might just have to try it sometime.

Intoxicate me now

With your lovin’ now

I think I’m ready now

Intoxicate me now

With your lovin’ now

I think I’m ready now

Roxy, Alaska, and Detox all struck their final poses. Katya could see their chests heaving wildly as they held for the raucous applause of the party guests standing poolside. It was certainly strange, but she couldn’t knock their performance. Kids would be kids, right? She was about to chalk it all up to a bit of harmless fun, after all, when tweedle dumb and tweedle dumber broke formation and pushed Alaska straight off of the platform. Suddenly, the tall blonde was in the water, limbs thrashing about in response to the sudden change in environment.

“Pool party!” Willam shouted, stripping off her own dress. Leave it to Willam to make a splash. Literally. For some reason the most inebriated of the guests decided that it was a fantastic idea to accidentally drown themselves instead of their sorrows. Soon, the pool was full of bodies and she could no longer keep track of her friend.

Alaska finally scampered to the steps with the stability of a newborn fawn. She all but fell out of the pool and took half of the water with her. Alaska’s mascara streaked down her cheeks, and her hair hung limp and matted. Roxy and Detox were nowhere to be found—either to help her clean up or to read her for filth. Coco Montrese and her longtime frenemy Miss Alyssa Edwards, however, were more than happy to fill in.

They sound like those brain dead hyenas from The Lion King, Katya snickered to herself. Maybe not that lady one, though. That bitch was fierce.

Alaska coughed up a mouthful of water right at their feet. “Hey, Coco,” She began, “Your makeup is terrible.” Coco wasn’t laughing anymore. Point Alaska.

“Have you seen yourself, mama?” Coco fired back, The blonde rolled her eyes and snatched the drink in Coco’s hand. Alaska tossed it back all in one go.

“Thanks,” Alaska drawled, tossing the empty cup back and wrapping herself in the first available towel.

Katya turned to Trixie with a question on her lips. “Does this happen often?” She asked. Trixie gave a low whistle.

“Pearl has dragged me to a lot of weird shit, but I think this might just be a first,” Trixie answered with gusto. She checked her watch, “And it’s not even 10:00! The night is still young, honey!”

Right, Katya thought, the night is still young. Just great.

Trixie soon ditched Katya for Pearl—something about the stupid pumpkin carriage coming to steal her friend after midnight—and Katya hadn’t known Trixie long enough to reasonably protest the abandonment. She hoped Bianca was somewhere inside the house.

There were still people in the living room, but it looked like the horny gremlins from earlier had finally gotten a room. Literally. Unfortunately, the cheerleaders that had taken their place were not much better. Head bitch Violet Chachki had her legs draped over one of the arms of a stately armchair in a carefree yet superior manner. Why anyone would want to be queen of the hot messes? Katya couldn’t tell you. But apparently power—or at least the perception of power—gave one Violet Chachki a raging hard on. Gag.

Bianca wasn’t in the room, but the blonde was determined to see her valiant quest through. Hopefully, she’d stumble upon a nunnery with some sexy ladies along the way. Sneaking past the wicked bitch of the west and her flying monkeys, she regrouped in the kitchen. Katya went down her mental checklist: Keys? Check. Assorted limbs? Check. Clothes? Check. Inhibitions? Check. Virtue? Debauched. Sanity? Remaining hopefully optimistic. Bianca? Still M.I.A. The kitchen was empty due to the commotion happening poolside. Chips crunched under the soles of Katya’s sneakers. That was another reason she didn’t enjoy being out in the general public for extended periods of time: bitches be nasty.

The second floor was significantly cleaner than the first. An entire floor of the Honards’ house was dedicated to entertainment. Katya knew that Alaska had an older sister, Nebraska, but she couldn’t fathom why any child—or two children for that matter—needed an entire floor to play. How could the rooms not feel so…empty? Katya wondered, shuddering involuntarily. The blonde couldn’t picture Alaska spending much time up here now. She felt as though she was looking at an abandoned playground and couldn’t help but think it made Alaska sad, too.

After a few moments, it became clear to Katya that Bianca wasn’t there, but she continued to linger on the landing. Her blue eyes were drawn to the set of stairs that would take her to the third floor. It was an idea for the pantheon of bad ideas; she was tempted nonetheless. Katya could hear her grandfather’s words in her head: ‘Curiosity killed the kitty, лисичка,’ What her Deda didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. Besides, I’m not that kind of pussy, am I? She justified.

Katya crept up to the dark third story of the house with the innocence of an intruder—she’d plead the fifth if necessary. The second door down from the landing was ominously open. Honestly, there may as well have been a big red arrow pointing towards the room because Katya’s feet were already carrying her towards it. Darkness engulfed the room, itself, save for a rectangle of warm light.

“Jinkxy, is that you?” Alaska groaned, presumably from the same direction as the light. “Jus’ leave the dress on the bed. Save the lecture for the morning.”

Katya cleared her throat, “Alaska? It’s Katya. Can I come in?” She received a grunt in response. The blonde followed the sound into what turned out to be Alaska’s master bathroom. Her friend was curled up against her marble tub with a beach towel wrapped around her.

“How was I, Kati?“ Alaska drawled.

Katya took a seat in front of her and pulled her legs to her chest. She thought for a moment before speaking, “80% sexy, 20% disgusting…like me.” Alaska whined. “Why are you still in your wet clothes?” She asked. Her friend shrugged. Right, Katya sighed. Alaska was half asleep; this wasn’t going to be a one woman job. Thankfully, Jinkx appeared moments later with her heels in one hand and Alaska’s little black dress in the other. Katya raised her hands in surrender. “I swear she was like this when I found her,” she blurted.

“This isn’t even the worst of it,” Jinx spoke candidly. She tossed her shoes onto the floor and pulled up her long, red hair. “I’ll wrangle the monkey if you go and find her some dry underwear and something to wear to bed.” Jinkx’s tone left no room for questioning.

Mother, I never thought I’d be a panty snatcher, much less an invited one, Katya made a face. Alaska’s dressers were easy to find, and she felt undeniably dirty as she began her game of panty roulette. Pulling open the first drawer, Katya sprang back, ready to strike. Assorted pajamas were hardly a foe, and she vanquished them swiftly. Rebel athleticwear laid in wait behind drawer number two. They, too, were no match for her feet of fury, Katya kicked the drawer shut with a battle cry.

“Katya, what the hell are you doing out there?” Jinkx called.

Katya had the dignity to look sheepish. “Nothing!” She shouted back. “Be there in a second!” The underwear turned out to be in the next drawer down. She thrust a hand inside without looking and tightened her grip on the first piece of fabric her hand found. Her feeling of triumph only lasted the few seconds it took for her to realize what she’d managed to retrieve: a lacy black teddy. Katya dropped the offending garment as if she’d been burned. I am going to hell, she shook her head, Straight to hell. I will not pass go, nor will I collect $100…Deuces never loses, right? The scarlet thong she fished out next begged to differ. Her face was almost as red as the fabric, itself, when she flung it across the room. Fortunately, the third time was the charm. The pastel pink boyshorts seemed like a more appropriate item to put on a drunk girl, so Katya returned to the bathroom to present her nightwear bounty to Jinkx.

The motherly redhead, unsurprisingly, was not impressed. Jinkx arched a brow expectantly.

“You see,” Katya began, “I wasn’t comfortable—I didn’t um feel right digging through her things without, you know, her permission?” She swallowed thickly. “So I thought maybe it would be less creepy if I just reached in and grabbed the first thing I touched. Well, you see, Alaska’s got such a wide range of tastes, and it-uh…It took a hot second to find something appropriate…for the…occasion?” She was expecting to find disgust when she raised her eyes to meet Jinkx’s, but the redhead cackled loudly instead.

“Lemme guess, you saw something you didn’t want to see?” Jinkx chortled. Katya managed a weak nod. “I’m sorry, doll, I forget that not everyone is as acquainted with Miss Honard’s unmentionables as little ol’ me.”

Not everyone is as acquain—Oh! Blue eyes threatened to burst from their sockets as Katya processed her words.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, not like that,” Jinkx exclaimed, reading the thoughts reflected on Katya’s face. “Lasky and I did community theater together. I’ve known her since the first grade. Drunk proof her nightstand for me? I’ll dress blondie over here.”

“Does this happen often?” Katya asked Jinkx after Alaska’s door was closed. The incapacitated cheerleader was finally sound asleep in her bed, and the two girls didn’t think she’d be up anytime soon.

Jinkx sighed sadly, “It didn’t use to. Roxy and Detox are more toxic than Drano, and there’s no one to stop her from going out with them. Look, Lasky’s a sweet girl. A good, smart girl. But she makes bad choices sometimes, and there’s nothing that I—that we—can do about it. She’s gotta be the one to say enough is enough.”

Katya understood. Katya understood more than she wanted to. She’d been a shell of a girl drowning in the voices in her head not too long ago. It didn’t matter how many hands reached out to her if she refused to take them. Alaska—happy and hopeful Alaska—might just be drowning, too. Katya wondered if she drank to impress, to keep up, or to forget.

Jinkx promised that she’d look over Alaska until the next morning, so Katya reluctantly chose to rejoin the land of the living downstairs. The first floor was significantly louder than it was when she left it. Games of flip cup and beer pong had picked up in the dining room, and Violet’s flock had not only grown, but had grown to include both Trixie and Bianca, who were trying their hardest not to laugh at the spectacle in the middle of the living area. Willam and Courtney were having a major bitchfest for all to see. Normally, Katya would run for the hills, but if Bianca and Trixie weren’t afraid of getting caught in the crossfire, she figured it was safe enough to stick around and tuned into the conversation.

“Your tone seems really pointed right now,” Willam pursed her lips. She was clearly the calmer of the two, as Courtney was beet red and positively radiating tension. Katya could tell Willam’s nonchalance was only winding the Australian up more.

Courtney folded her arms defensively. “Well, I’m sorry you think that, Willam,” she took a deep breath. “I feel like everything I say kinda comes from the heart, and I’m truly hurt that you threw yourself at Daniel when you knew how I felt about him.”

“Sorry ‘bout it,” Willam scoffed, picking at her nails. Her words reflected everything but the sentiment they were meant to.

Katya knew that Willam was a bitch, but this was a little much even for her. Willam and Courtney had been best friends since Courtney moved from Australia the summer of their freshman year; it was hard to believe that Willam would throw their relationship away. Katya held her breath. Everyone in the wings was uncomfortable during the pregnant pause. The scene before her was straight out of a 90s teen movie, and she didn’t have the popcorn to go with it.

All movement stilled when Willam finally looked up. “I tend to think emotions are for ugly people,” she deadpanned. The room let out a collective gasp. Courtney was across the room in a flash, and her palm made contact with Willam’s cheek. It would be logical to assume that Willam, who was just slapped across the face by her best friend, would be the most in shock at the sudden turn of events; it would also be the wrong conclusion. Courtney’s features were frozen in fear. The offending hand still hovered in the air, trembling like a leaf.

Willam was the first to react—and in a very uncharacteristic way. She engulfed the smaller girl in a tender hug. Courtney began to sob muffled apologies into her neck, and despite her obvious desire to recoil, Willam continued to hold her close.

Maybe Willam actually does have feelings, Katya’s eyebrows raised. The sight of Willam whispering words of reassurance into Courtney’s ear was enough to make even the coldest heart melt. Well, the coldest heart with the exception of Violet Chachki’s. Katya was pretty sure the stick up her ass was a permanent installment.

When the two pulled apart minutes later with smiles on their faces, they were met with a round of applause. Courtney wiped at her eyes, careful not to smudge her makeup. If she noticed Willam’s arm around her waist, she didn’t give any indication as she addressed the spectators that had gathered, “Well, I’m gonna need to be less sober before I spill any more about myself. Truth or drink, anyone?”

Truth or drink? No thanks, Katya turned to sneak out. Unfortunately, Bianca had also chosen that exact moment to glance in her direction, and Katya was caught in the act.

“Bitch, you can’t leave yet. It’s not even midnight!” Bianca half whispered, half hissed.

And Bianca doesn’t associate with losers, Katya reminded herself. Don’t be a loser. “If my locker gets filled with worms next week, I will personally marinate you like a chicken,” she promised her friend.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it all before. Blame it on Bianca Del Rio. Take a number, sweetheart, you’re holding up the line,” Bianca patted the space next to her on the floor.

Laganja had batted her eyelashes—and used her mouth—to coerce one of the mindless jocks to bring in one of the kegs from outside for their “slumber party secret sesh”. There were fifteen girls, including Katya, who stuck around for the potentially risky game, and Katya wasn’t thrilled to be playing with most of them. Adore finished off her beer and placed the empty bottle in the center of the circle.

“Party!” Adore shouted before giving the bottle a good spin. Around, and around, and around it went before coming to a stop at Coco’s feet. “Miss Coco Montrese, truth or dare?” She asked.

“I’ll pick truth, mama,” Coco answered.

Adore thought for a moment before speaking, “Are you afraid that you’ll always be the runner up?” There was a chorus of oohs. Everyone knew that the race for junior varsity squad captain their sophomore year was a sore spot for both girls. It was no secret that Alyssa was originally chosen to be captain by her teammates. However, when she became implicated in a cheating scandal, Coach Calhoun was forced to denounce her and give Coco, Alyssa’s best friend and the candidate to receive the second most votes, the position. To make matters worse, it was rumored that Coco was the one who suggested that Alyssa had committed academic dishonesty in the first place. Alyssa and Coco had patched up their friendship over the course of the last year, but there was no telling whether or not the structure would hold if tested.

“Out of respect for me and Miss Alyssa, I am going to drink,” Coco responded without hesitance. Adore poured her a shot, and Alyssa gave her hand a grateful squeeze as she tossed it back. “Ain’t no use bringing up what’s past.”

Coco spun the bottle next, and it chose Trixie as its victim. “Truth or dare?” Coco asked.

“I think I’ll pick dare?” Trixie responded with hesitance. Katya didn’t know much about Coco Montrese, but for Trixie’s sake she hoped Coco was one of the nice ones.

Said cheerleader gave Trixie a small and genuine smile, “Okay, mama, I dare you to let Miss Pearl over here do your makeup. Something has got to be done because you aren’t doing a pretty girl like yourself any favors.” The reactions to Coco’s dare for Trixie were mixed. Some of the she-demons tried and failed to hide their amused laughs, Pearl’s eyes opened fully, Violet’s grip on her chair tightened, and Trixie seemed to be not entirely opposed to the idea.

“Pearlie girl,” Trixie began, standing up and crossing to her best friend on the opposite side of the circle, “Treat my face like a princess and then fuck it like a slut.” The life-sized Barbie batted her eyelashes animatedly, earning her a laugh from pearl and a glare from Violet. The ice queen’s elevated irritability prompted Katya to reconsider her previous assessments—maybe it was an entire branch up her ass.

When Pearl and Trixie left, there was a void that seemed to swallow Violet whole. The physical space around her remained largely unchanged, but Katya could feel the emptiness that moved to fill the space Pearl left. And for the first time it occurred to her that Violet Chachki might be alone. I guess there might be some truth to the saying, she mused. After all, if you’re at the top, how can anyone else be? When you stripped away the glitter, the makeup, the clothes, you were left with a girl—albeit an arrogant, entitled, straight up cunt—plain and simple.

“Heavy is the head that wears the crown, huh?” Bianca nudged Katya’s arm, snapping her out of her thoughts.

“What?” Katya asked. Had she missed something while she was contemplating the character of Violet Chachki?

Bianca chuckled, “You’ve been staring at Chachki since Trixie and Pearl left.” The blonde feigned innocence. “You know how I feel about that 48 Hours show, Zamo. Share with the class before your peanut brain short circuits.”

“What’s her problem?” Katya whispered. “I mean, aside from her general disdain for anything that has a pulse and moves.”

“With Trixie?” Bianca confirmed. Katya nodded. “Oh, this is old news. Her Royal Hardass doesn’t share, but Sleeping Beauty’s got a soft spot for one Trixie Mattel.”

The dots aligned in Katya’s head once again. “Violet’s the pumpkin carriage!” She whisper-shouted.

“Bitch, that was not English,” Bianca snarked, “You been hanging around with Jose Cuervo?”

Katya rolled her eyes at her friend’s question, “I have ninety-nine problems, and substance abuse won’t be one of them if I have anything to say about it.” She turned back to the circle just in time to see the neck of the bottle stop on Bianca, who didn’t even flinch. Katya was secretly proud; her friend had bigger balls than most of the ‘macho men’ at the party—this was going to be interesting. Since Trixie had gone upstairs to get her face redone, Detox decided that she would be the brave volunteer to issue the next truth or dare.

“Bianca, truth or dare?” Detox asked smugly. Katya couldn’t guess which one would be worse. Unsurprisingly, Bianca chose dare. “I dare you to ask Max for his number.” There was, again, a chorus of oohs, and it was Bianca’s turn to roll her eyes.

“Really, bitch?” Bianca asked. She stood up and righted her denim shorts before striding over to the meatheads playing beer pong with a clear purpose and her head held high.

Because Bianca could run with the boys, no one batted an eye—unless she wanted them to. She hoisted herself up onto the pool table in front of Max and held out an upturned palm. They were too far away to make out their conversation, and Katya was a terrible lip reader at best, but she could picture how the exchange would go down:

“Gimme ya’ numbah, beefstick,” She imitated Bianca in her head. The 1920s gangster voice was a bold choice, but she wasn’t going to mock it just yet.

“D’uhh…okay,” Fake Max droned.

The blonde chuckled to herself as the real Max stuck a fist in the pockets of his jeans and fished around. Finally, he produced what looked like a wadded up gum wrapper and snagged a pen from his pal, presumably jotting down his number. Bianca hastily took the offering and sashayed back to the group of girls. She dropped the wrapper in Detox’s lap before taking her seat by Katya.

While the hens squawked over her success, Bianca leaned over to Katya and whispered, “Never let a bitch see you sweat.” Katya had so many questions, but she wouldn’t be able to ask them until later. It was Bianca’s turn to spin the bottle, and Adore, unsurprisingly, chose truth when landed on.

“Adore, which girl on the squad is the skunkiest?” Bianca waggled her thick, black brows. Because she was the mascot and didn’t change in the locker room, she genuinely had no idea how rank the girls smelled after practice or a game. Sue her; she was curious. What Bianca also didn’t know was that the question had a definitive answer, and that answer would do damage far beyond her intent to poke a little harmless and innocent fun at one of the girls.

Even completely sloshed, Adore recognized the gravity of the question. “Fuck! If I drink any more, I’m gonna be sick,” Adore groaned. Her teammates looked at her with pity in their eyes.

“Yeah but it’s not like anyone’s ever died from drinking too much!” Laganja came to her rescue, topping off her cup, “What’s one more?” Adore could only offer her a weak smile.

“Uh, I think I’m just gonna spin the thing now…For everyone’s sake,” Adore informed the group. The bottle landed on Gia, and she picked dare.

The turns only seemed to bleed together as time went on. After Gia drank from the toilet, Roxy refused to reveal her weight. Laganja told her dad she was eloping in Vegas, and when she spun the bottle it landed on Violet. Because ladies don’t kiss and tell, the brunette tossed one back instead of revealing the number of sexual partners she’s had. Alyssa confessed that she was afraid she would never achieve her dream of owning her own dance studio. Courtney shared that she’d never been in love, and Willam exposed her entire browser history, telling Katya a lot more than she wanted to know about the girl. For obvious reasons, Joslyn refused to eat a raw egg. Detox followed by removing Adore’s socks with her teeth. Katya played it safe and suggested that Bianca would be a bad date because she’s insulting people all the time before daring Gia to reveal any childhood nickname she had. Things didn’t start going downhill until the bottle landed on Violet a second time.

“Violet,” Gia cooed, “Truth or dare?”.

“Truth,” Violet answered with an unreadable expression.

Gia thought for a moment before asking the first truly problematic question of the night, “Who in this room do you like the least?”

Ruh-roh, Katya winced.

Violet didn’t waste a moment before answering, “Willam.” There was a collective gasp across the room. Willam, on her part, didn’t seem to be phased in the slightest. Then again, you could never really read Willam Belli.

Pearl and Trixie returned, arm in arm, before Violet could spin the bottle. Katya’s jaw—along with all the other girls’—dropped. Trixie looked gorgeous. Pearl reclaimed her seat next to Violet, much to the cheerleader’s delight, but brought Trixie with her. At the group’s insistence, Trixie was allowed to take the turn that she missed, and Detox was dared to call a random number in her phone and deliver the worst pickup line she could think of. Katya was glad for the change in the room’s atmosphere after Violet’s confession until Detox took her turn. After the call, Detox dared Violet to spend the next hour trapped in a bathroom with another girl from the circle chosen at random. Anyone who didn’t know Detox might think she was trying to create a seven minutes in heaven type deal, but even Katya could pick up on her intent to stir up trouble. She pitied the poor soul who ended up stuck in there.

Of course that poor soul ended up being her, and she wasn’t about to pussy out in front of the most popular girls in school. Peer pressure was a bitch. Judge, jury, and executioner had all decided it was her time, and she accepted that; she just wished her death march had a better soundtrack. Katya would be cooped up in one of the Honards’ bathrooms with a less than pleasant—soon to be considerably more less than pleasant—Violet Chachki. She was going to punch Detox in her stupid mouth.

Katya entered the bathroom the same way she’d rip off a band-aid: quickly and without much thought for the immediate consequences. Violet, who was perched on the bathroom counter, had been engrossed in her phone when the door swung open to reveal the one girl that she just couldn’t seem to get away from. Unsurprisingly, the cheerleader wasn’t thrilled.

“Really, bitch?” Violet griped, giving Katya a once over. It wasn’t like the situation was ideal for either of them.

Katya put her hands on her hips, “You know what you can suck? My whole dick.” She unenthusiastically plunked herself down against the wall opposite of the door. “We’ve got two options, Chachki, we can either suck it up and spend the next hour in here in silence, or we can French a little.” Violet was aghast at her words. If Katya were a proper woman, she might have been able to hold in the cackling fit prompted by the girl’s scandalized reaction. Violet wasn’t impressed with her wheezing, either. Katya finally calmed down and attempted to explain herself, “Sorry, I could have been more clear, but your reaction was priceless.” She wiped at her eyes. “Thanks. I needed that. Detox said she was “‘feeling generous,’” and if we so choose, we can suck face and then get the hell out of Dodge.” Violet sneered, and Katya wondered if it was with anger or disgust; she didn’t know which one was better.

“As fucking if,” Violet scoffed, clearly feeling as though Detox’s so-called coup de grâce was more of a personal attack.

“Well, I don’t see anyone lining up to get the kiss of the spider woman, either,” Katya observed. “I told you that you weren’t going to like it.” The cheerleader exhaled sharply, and she was surprised not to see steam come out of her flared nostrils.

Violet pursed her lips, “Just shut up and stay on your side of the room.” With that, Violet returned her attention to her phone, but Katya didn’t fail to notice that her expression didn’t soften. If Katya weren’t trapped in the room with her, she’d probably find Violet’s situation hilarious.

Katya had made the mistake of leaving her jacket—and consequentially, her phone—on the coat rack in the hall. Call her old fashioned, but it was a force of habit. Besides, she didn’t need her phone because Bianca was supposed to be there to pull her out of trouble if it arose. But are we really surprised to find ourselves here? Katya asked herself. No. Not at all. At least she found herself entertaining. Hoping to bring forth inspiration, she laid back on the floor, let her gaze unfocus, and tried to lose herself in the plain ceiling. Katya didn’t know how long she’d been drifting for when Violet’s voice shattered the silence.

“Fuck!” Violet cursed, and the sound of hard plastic hitting the floor made Katya’s whole body go rigid. She squeezed her eyes shut. I am not going to be equipped to handle this, Katya bristled. Maybe if I just keep my eyes closed, I can fall asleep. It seemed like a feasible plan until she heard the first sniffle. Of course I find out she has feelings when I’m stuck in a room with her, the blonde facepalmed inwardly. Why today, of all days, to be railed in the ass by life? Her left eye opened first, searching for any signs of danger before being followed by her right eye.

“I knew you didn’t like me Chachki, but I didn’t think you found me this repulsive,” Katya spoke. “Quite frankly, it’s offensive.”

“Fuck you,” Violet spat, but the usual venom in her voice was gone. Katya propped herself back up against the wall to get a better look at the girl on the counter. Her attention was unwanted, and Violet turned towards the door with a huff.

Clearly comedic relief wasn’t the answer. “Do you wanna talk about it?” Katya tried again. No response. The girl’s side profile was growing red and blotchy, and Katya had sent her mom enough photos of her crying to know that Violet was trying and failing to stifle an emotional response. Go figure. “I won’t tell anyone if you cry, you know?” She said softly. “Bottling it up is just gonna make you feel shittier than you do now.”

“Do you think I’m a goddamn idiot?” Violet barked. She wiped furiously at her eyes before whirling around in an attempt to intimidate the blonde. “Better make your fifteen minutes last.”

Katya was genuinely taken aback. Does this bitch really think I’m in on this? She shook her head incredulously. Her airhead friends would literally eat me alive, and I’m pretty sure I haven’t given her any reason to think that I’m faker than Malibu Barbie. If I were made of plastic, why in the hell would I keep my hands this small? “Are we really back on this bullshit, Violet?” Katya snapped. “I’m sorry you think that the universe revolves around you. I hate to burst your bubble, but I have better things to do than conspire against you with your teammates over scones. Get over yourself, Princess.” In her head, Katya blew the smoke from the pistols in her hands. Call me perestroika, Mother, for I am reforming problematic practices, she hooted.

“Whatever,” Violet grumbled. Katya, on the other hand, wasn’t willing to let this go; some conversation was better than nothing.

“How’s the back?” The blonde inquired and was pleasantly surprised when Violet outright snorted at the shift in conversation. Katya took her in as she threw her head back in laughter. There was something about this Violet—the unguarded and natural Violet—that captivated her. Violet’s eyes crinkled, and she clasped a hand over her mouth in a flimsy attempt to stifle the noises she was making. It was frustratingly endearing.

Violet cleared her throat before answering, “Fucked. I’m considering outlawing acrylics on the squad. That shit’s not even practical for a cheerleader, and it’s hurting like a bitch to corset.”

“You’re wearing a corset?” Katya gasped. For the first time that night, she took all of Violet in. She wore a nude illusion dress with a loose black lattice pattern. It covered just a little more than her ass and was cinched at the waist with a rocker belt, squeezing her in a way that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. How in the world do you hide a corset under that? Katya wondered. In addition to the dress, she donned thigh high, slick black boots and a thick, black leather choker that looked more like a collar. Hot damn, Katya could n e v e r, and she knew it. She finally composed herself, “First of all, you’re literally a cheerleader with a body to die for. Second of all, why wear something that hurts you?”

The cheerleader didn’t even seem phased by the inquiries, almost like she’d dealt with them hundreds of times before, “Pain is beauty, and I’m the prettiest.” Katya couldn’t argue there. Violet was beautiful, but she still thought her ideology was questionable.

“So what actually happened at the pep rally? We all saw you fall, but I’ll believe it was your fault when the garden is full of ducks holding pastry in their hands. You’re too much of a hardass.”

Violet raised her eyebrows, as if daring Katya to say it again, “I will let that slide only because it’s technically a compliment. And you’d be correct; I am a professional, unlike others. You’d do well to take note: one of my biggest pet peeves is when people don’t take the things I love as seriously as I do. I accept nothing less than perfection.”

“That must be lonely,” Katya couldn’t stop the words from spilling from her mouth. “You know, having such high standards? Does anyone ever make the cut?” Opening her mouth was clearly a mistake because Violet seemed to shut down all at once.

“What do you know about how I feel?” Violet fired back, crossing her arms over her chest.

Keep digging yourself deeper, why don’t ya? Katya shook her head. She needed to tread carefully. It was a miracle that she had even been having a civil conversation with Violet in the first place, and she didn’t want to ruin the progress they had made. “I know that you work harder than anyone else on that squad, and nobody gives you credit or appreciates you for it,” Katya began. “I know that people are fast to discredit your talent because of how young you are. I know that you’re waiting for the day those bitches stop hoping that you’ll screw up or get hurt, the day you can finally stop looking over your shoulder, the day that you no longer have to prove yourself. I know that you’re tired of fighting tooth and nail for the respect that you’ll probably never earn, and I know it’s fucking hard for you to pretend that your peers aren’t harboring resentment towards you. I know that at night you try to wash it all away because you’re still holding out hope that it will all be worth it in the end. Cheer and theatre aren’t that different. It was obvious in the gym, and it’s obvious now.” Katya took a deep breath. Maybe she’d been thinking a little more about Violet that afternoon than she’d like to admit. She hadn’t meant to go off on a tangent like that, but she certainly didn’t regret what she said. Based on Violet’s reaction, however, maybe she should have. The brunette’s hands were clenched into tight fists at her sides, and tears began to roll down her cheeks. Katya tried to backtrack, “Violet I—”

Katya was cut off by the bathroom door swinging open. Pearl, who stood oblivious on the other side, immediately noticed the state of her friend. “Vi?” Pearl approached her hesitantly. Violet’s gaze didn’t move from the floor. “Hey, what’s going on? Talk to me.” She moved to lift Violet’s chin up, but Violet recoiled from her touch.

“Don’t touch me!” Violet shouted, her voice almost frantic. Katya’s eyes darted from one girl to the other. Pearl, who was visibly shocked by her reaction, looked hurt, which was very uncharacteristic for the mellow girl. Katya, herself, had never seen anything but characteristic nonchalance reflected on Pearl’s face, and the change made her uneasy.

Pearl took a reluctant step forward and spoke in a whisper, “Violet, did something happen? You know you can tell me anything.”

“Is that the truth, Pearl?” The brunette questioned. “Because clearly I don’t know you as well as I thought I did.”

Pearl shook her head in frustration. “Cut the crap, Vi,” She demanded, “You’re literally my best friend, and—”

“Bullshit!” Violet interrupted. “I call motherfucking bullshit!” Both girls were standing now with less than a foot between them, the situation escalating by the second, and Katya was stuck in the middle of it. She tried to push her back further into the solid wall behind her, but there was nowhere for her to go. Fuck me! Katya grimaced. Why is Toxic so damn appropriate right now?

“What the hell, Violet?” Pearl shouted back. “God, you’re fucking impossible.”

“Fuck you, Pearl!” Violet pushed Pearl, and the blonde hit the wall with a dull thud. “Fuck you! You and I are done! You hear me? Done! Save your goddamn lies for that pathetic dress up doll. I never want to see you again.” With a huff, Violet stormed out of the bathroom, leaving an uncomfortable Katya and a drained Pearl alone. What the fuck just happened? Katya tried and failed to process the encounter.

She was caught off guard when Pearl finally acknowledged her presence. “Forecast predicts drinking to forget,” Pearl deadpanned, nodding her head towards the door Violet had just stormed through. “Want in?” Katya shook her head furiously. Getting piss drunk with those two would be like making smalltalk with a Molotov cocktail. She’d pass. She’d pass hard. Pearl seemed to understand. “It’s flazéda or whatever,” The corners of her mouth turned up slightly. “Just do me a solid and remind me to fuck with Willam’s weed on Monday.”

Katya didn’t know what “‘flazéda’” meant, or the why and how of Pearl tampering with Willam’s weed, but the questions weren’t enough to persuade her to stick around the party longer. When Pearl left, Katya made a run for the Honards’ front door. She grabbed her jacket before taking off down the street. The blonde didn’t stop until she could no longer hear the music pulsing from the house. Her phone buzzed in her pocket with a text from ‘Bianca del Realest’:

Bitch, where are you?

What the fuck happened in there?

Earth to Yekaterina?

Katya sighed and pocketed the phone again. She’d call her when she got home. That would buy her some more time to put the experience into words…and to decide just how much information she should share.

The drive home from the Honards’ was quiet—too quiet. Music normally made being in the car enjoyable, but there was something about the night that didn’t allow Björk to keep her out of her own head. It didn’t feel real, and that terrified the shit out of her. Life was monotonous, life was mundane, life was one of those stupid time loop movies where you had to learn from your mistakes over time and find out what was important in the stupid haystack of chaos. Violet Chachki and her ex best friend potentially ex best friend were not supposed to have the Chernobyl of all relationship meltdowns in Alaska Honard’s guest bathroom right in front of her. Katya didn’t know who opened this tragic can of worms, but when she found them, she was going to slap a bitch silly.

#rpdr fanfiction #katya zamolodchikova #violet chachki #alaska thunderfuck #bianca del rio #trixie mattel #roxxxy andrews #detox icunt #high school au #lesbian au #slow burn #fluff #angst #enemies to friends #enemies to lovers #girls interrupted #maeve #tw anxiety and depression #tw drinking

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commentaryvorg · 5 years ago

Note

entirely fair and accurate takes on kaitos love suite event, honestly one of main reasons kaitos event is my favourite is because it doesn't get uncomfortably nsfw vibes like some of the others' (especially considering they're all teenagers AND it's pretty non-consensual... big yikes). but also, as his "ideal", the best outcome would be the object of affection returning his feelings, but in the fantasy, again, his "ideal", he didn't believe it would happen. that seems pretty bad.

Yeeaah, I’ve very deliberately never read a lot of other characters’ Love Suite events and am even more sure about never ever doing so, based on what I’ve gathered about them. Compared to those, I’m sure Kaito’s really is pretty tame and reasonable and one of the better ones, not that there’s a very high bar here.

I get what you’re saying now about how he theoretically should expect his feelings to be reciprocated at least in this “ideal fantasy” where he gets everything he wants - I didn’t quite pick up on that specific point before. That’s an interesting thought, but after considering it… I’m not entirely sure that’s how the fantasies work?

If it really was 100% perfectly “ideal”, then every single thought and action should be something that makes the character happy. But if that was the case, then it might just come across as too perfectly ideal for them to even be able to feel like it’s realistic at all. I went and reread some of the other tamer scenes that I’d read before to check how this is generally handled (Rantaro’s, Ryoma’s and Gonta’s are all nicely platonic), and, yeah, they’re all like this. Rantaro’s sisters are still missing and he’s having to abandon his surrogate younger-sibling-figure to search for them; most of Ryoma’s loved ones are still dead and he outwardly insists that his former manager wouldn’t want to stay with him; Gonta messes up in his attempts to be the perfect gentleman because he knows he still has a lot to learn. The events are still bound by that person’s reality and by how they expect things to work for them. They’re getting a nice reprieve from their troubles, but things aren’t completely perfect and happy. (The one partial exception to this is that Maki never became an assassin in her fantasy and seems to genuinely not remember that part of her life during the dream. That’s interesting, but I’m not sure if there’s actually a significant reason for why she’s the only one, given that Ryoma’s problems are just about as bad as hers. She’s still an orphan, though, so things still aren’t perfect for her.)

So I don’t think that the fact that love-suite-Kaito doesn’t expect his feelings to be reciprocated is any more meaningful than him hypothetically not expecting that in real life. The hotel’s magical dream powers (usually) don’t actually warp a person’s outlook to make them see the world any differently to how they normally do, nor to expect things they wouldn’t reasonably expect in reality, no matter how much they might want them.

(anon also added some tag commentary in their reblog of the initial post that I want to respond to a bit as well)

#i never really thought that the love suite events were *really* that character heavy so mostly the ask was a sudden realisation p late

I agree with you that evidently most of them really aren’t that much about the characters at all (well, presumably, though of course I’ve only seen some of the tamer ones). But here’s the thing - at least some of them could be, in theory, and a couple of them are. Rantaro’s and Ryoma’s are really pretty good - they’re relevant to their issues and give some more insight into their backstories and how they deal with their difficulties in ways that we don’t get to see much of in canon, considering that they both die so early on. (Rantaro’s in particular I might even go so far as to call my favourite piece of Rantaro content - when I reread it earlier I found myself having some Thoughts that may turn into a post of their own.) The “ideal fantasy” concept has potential to be more than just a lazy excuse for romantic and sexual stuff and to actually be used as a tool for some interesting character exploration. It’s just that, unfortunately, most of the time that either didn’t occur to the writers, or they just didn’t care.

It’s kind of like how most characters’ Harmonious Heart events are about something reasonably superficial or at most the character worrying about something they’d already told Shuichi about in their FTEs. Nearly all of them just range from almost no character insight at all, to maybe some but not much more than what we got from their FTEs. …Then there’s Kaito’s, which makes absolute maximum use of the potential of the “Shuichi gains inexplicable mindreading powers” premise to explore the core of Kaito’s issues and allow Shuichi to help him with them to an extent that is simply not possible in any of Kaito’s more regular content, and it’s the best. And, sure, I don’t think anyone else quite has such stubbornly-hidden issues that practically require mindreading to fix them to the point that their Harmonious Heart events could ever be quite as good as Kaito’s. But there’s definitely some characters who I feel could have had one that’s more relevant to their most interesting issues than what they actually got, if the writers had really thought about using this concept to its fullest potential for them.

So, well, I do think it would have been possible for Kaito’s Love Suite event to genuinely be really character-driven (and if that were the case I would personally have also preferred it to not be romantic at all). There are things you could do with the “ideal fantasy” concept that could absolutely be very deliberately about his issues.

What if it drew off Kaito’s deeply-buried subconscious need to have someone he could safely talk to about his weaknesses and worries, without having to be afraid of letting them down by telling them all this? And then, as Kaito vents to him about his worries in the dream, Shuichi realises with dawning horror that he’s the person Kaito’s terrified of admitting any of this to in reality, and that Kaito has no idea that Shuichi’s actually hearing every bit of it right now. And to keep up the “ideal fantasy”, because Kaito reacts very negatively if he tries to do otherwise, Shuichi has to just play along and agree with Kaito’s unhealthy outlook and be all, “Yeah, don’t worry, I won’t tell any of this to your sidekicks, your secret’s safe with me,” even though he wants to do the exact opposite because he knows that’s the best way to help. (That’d be a neat deconstruction of the dodgy non-consensual aspect of the place in a way that didn’t even have to get all nsfw about it.) …Admittedly this would be along rather similar lines to the Harmonious Heart event Kaito already has and probably not quite necessary next to it, but, you know, just as a proof-of-concept example.

Or, instead of that, to make it something different, they could have still made it about the rival thing, but not have the romance be the main point (or not even there at all). Instead, we’d actually spend the scene properly exploring the concept like you talked about: that in some ways Kaito feels more at ease around a rival than a sidekick because there’s no expectation to be completely invincible, that if they’re evenly matched then he’s supposed to lose sometimes as well as win, to be weak as well as strong, and that’s okay. We could even sort of combine this with my previous idea and have Kaito end up kind of accidentally venting a little to his rival about his worries, and then saying, “Y’know, it’s weird. I could never tell any of this to my sidekicks. But it doesn’t matter if you know all this, ‘cuz that doesn’t change the fact that I’m gonna beat you!” Or something like that. Your asks made me realise that I’d actually really enjoy some proper exploration of how Kaito feels about the concept of rivals, and it makes me so frustrated that the only time the game does touch on this topic to any extent is unnecessarily focused on obligatory romance and not really about his issues at all.

#anyway thanks for answering my ask i really loved your commentary it really made me think about why i liked kaitos arc so much

You’re welcome; I’m glad you enjoyed the commentary! Again, I am so happy I could help people who already liked Kaito realise even more of how great he is. :3

#danganronpa v3 #reply #your ask didn't come across as passive-aggressive at all so no worries!#i was a little worried i'd somewhat overdone the grumpy-aro-ness in the last post but it seems like you didn't mind #so we're all good #Anonymous #danganronpa v3 spoilers #(oh right i forgot; readmores on asks don't /work/ on this blog theme for some stupid reason)#(goddammit)

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creativity-is-rebellion · 5 years ago

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Top 10 Favourite TV Shows I Have Seen (So Far)

I’ve done a few of these lists for film and music now, so I thought I would turn my attention to the small screen. The funny thing about these lists is that they may not represent an entirely accurate picture of what they intend to illuminate upon, but rather what comes to one’s mind when they are being compiled. In saying that, all of the below TV series definitely stand somewhere on my lengthy favourites list. So, here we go:

True Detective, Season One (2014)

It’s been said by others before me, but Season One of True Detective is without a doubt a near-perfect blend of narrative, dialogue, and cinematography, arguably the best in the last 20 years or so of crime shows. The Southern Gothic and Cosmic horror elements are present in the decay of the surroundings, the extravagantly decorated victims, and the sinister antagonists. This is juxtaposed with the world-weary detective trope, which switches between present-day interviews with the show’s two protagonists and flashbacks to where the narrative of the season began back in 1995, with the discovery of a body that has been placed in some kind of ritual tableau. Both Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey do a fine job playing the protagonist detectives on the case, but the complexity of McConaughey’s Rustin Cohle definitely steals the show, so much so that his performance re-launched his career (known at the time as the McConaissance). It’s a lot more terrifying than your typical detective series, borrowing a lot of concepts from philosophers, such as Nietzsche, and has an overall depressing and nihilistic vibe. But these elements, in my opinion, just add to its ingenuity and watchability. 10/10.

Dead Like Me (2003-2004)

Ok, so this show is now a cult classic, but at the time it didn’t get enough viewers, so there were only two seasons. I was one of the people who didn’t watch it until many years after its initial run. The renewed interest in the series even spawned a movie version in 2009, six years after the series came out. The premise is simple enough; a young, sardonic girl dies in an accident, and now she, along with a few other wrongfully-dead individuals, need to help a certain amount of people cross-over before being allowed to finally go through the pearly gates themselves. But the series approaches the plot in a unique manner, adding heart to the characters, and being appropriately funny, deep, and interesting when it needs to be. There is a reason it is now a cult classic. 10/10.

Mindhunter (2017-2019)

Ah, the show that tells the story of how profiling at the FBI began, without naming any real-life FBI agents, but portraying hauntingly accurate versions of the serial killers that helped shape the system. I preferred the first season, even if Holden Ford, the main character, at times, appeared just as creepy as the monsters he was interviewing. The freaky-deaky sex scenes in the first season were kinda unnecessary, in my opinion, and took away from the main plot. It was enough to hear about the sexually-deviant acts of the sadistic killers being retold during interviews, and, even though it was meant to show the effects these stories were having on Holden, it still wasn’t needed. I also hated his bitch of a girlfriend. But other than that, the plot moves along at an interesting pace, with an adequate amount of foreboding that should be there when you fill up your days interviewing homicidal psychopaths. The second season took to long to appear in the world of Netflix, where audiences have the attention span of goldfishes, and was over-ambitious in its introduction of more serial killers than its predecessor, and jumping ahead too much in the timeline. I think that, since the first season, it has been interesting the way they start some of their episodes with the exploits of then-uncaught Dennis Rader, or the BTK (Bind, Torture, Kill) Killer, but, because there will be no more seasons, we will not see the ending of this plot. Also, in the second season, the plot about Bill Tench’s boy, and Dr. Wendy Carr’s love-life also took away from the plot. It seems that every time they delve into any of the main characters’ personal lives, they veer wildly off-track. They also could have found a more interesting serial killer to track than the Atlanta Child Murderer Wayne Williams, or could have done it differently. The audience agrees with this, obviously, because there will be no third season. Boy, it sounds like I was super-negative in this review, but I swear, I am a fan, if only for the interesting premise, excellent character portrayals, and creepy atmosphere. 8/10.

Dexter (2006-2013)

Fellow Dexter fans, repeat after me: We choose to ignore the ending. We choose to ignore the ending. We choose to ignore the ending. Sigh. Feel better? Good. Moving on. Dexter, the premise of a serial killer who only kills bad guys, as sketched out originally in Jeff Lindsay’s books (the novels for which the TV series was based upon), was, in 2006, a delightfully refreshing addition to Showtime’s prime-time slot set. In spite of what others thought, my favourite character besides Dexter was his sister Deb, played marvellously by Jennifer Carpenter. After Rita’s sadly horrific death at the end of Season 5 at the hands of the Trinity Killer (the best antagonist of the entire series), the quality of the show tumbled steeply downhill, but not enough for me to stop watching. 8/10.

American Horror Story (2011-Current)

I’ve enjoyed all nine seasons of American Horror Story, for its scares, and even for, at times, the sheer ludicrousness and campy acting. The best seasons, of course, include Jessica Lange, and no season to date has eclipsed the first two, but I like how there is a connected universe with each addition to the anthology. I am a person that enjoys a side-helping of Easter eggs and foreshadowing in my TV series, and AHS provides just that. Season 1 will always be the best for being the one that started it all, and Season 2 is a masterpiece. After that, my rankings are 5, 3, 4, 8, 6, 9 and 7. The latter seasons tend to follow a trend of peaking midway through, before skulking toward lukewarm endings. But the sheer existence of this show pleases the horror buff in me, so I will never tire of it. I can’t wait until October to see what they have in store for Season 10. 8/10.

Freaks and Geeks (1999)

Judd Apatow’s foray into the politics of high school in the early-1980s only lasted one season, but what a season it was. Freaks and Geeks introduced 16-year-old Lindsay Weir, who, after her grandmother’s death, is sick of being the brainy kid and wants to hang out with the freaks and finally be cool, sometimes with hilarious or heartwarming results. There is also her geeky freshman brother, Sam, and his equally awkward friends who run along as side-plots and occasionally provide the moral foil to the overarching plot of an episode. With a stellar cast, most of whom went on to even greater things, such as Linda Cardellini, Seth Rogen, and James Franco, Freaks and Geeks is more real than most teen dramas, and has rightfully developed a cult following in the years since the show’s cancellation. 9/10.

Twin Peaks (1990-1991, then again in 2017)

Ahead of its time, a pioneer

American Gothic (1995-1996)

This is a forgotten horror gem of the mid-90s that kick-started Sarah Paulson’s career long before AHS, and Gary Cole was electric as crooked cop Sheriff Buck exerting evil supernatural influence over a small god-fearing town in the South. I first saw this show when I was 10, and it scared the crap out of me. The senseless murder of Merlyn Temple at the hands of Cole’s aforementioned sheriff haunted me years afterward.

Community (2009-2015)

In the first few seasons, Dan Harmon’s hilarious comedy, Community, starts off normally enough, centring around a lawyer (Joel McHale’s Jeff Winger) who is exposed as having a fake degree, and is required to attend community college to obtain the proper credentials to be re-admitted into the bar. When he forms a study group, initially with the goal to convince the girl he has a crush on (Britta Perry, played by Gillian Jacobs), to go out with him, they all become fast friends and partake in many crazy exploits while studying at Greendale, including a dark parallel universe, which has evil versions of each character. With a stellar ensemble cast, including Donald Glover of Childish Gambino fame, and Chevy Chase, who is still hilarious in his seventies, this show is must-see television. Stream it today. 10/10.

The Good Place (2016-2019)

The ending made me sad.

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sayaratyriea · 5 years ago

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really though, i’m feeling... a LOT of feelings about the she-ra finale. this is everything i’ve ever wanted?

i feel like a lot of representation, especially in other netflix shows, is going through the queer version of the “Strong Female Character” phase. kipo and season 2 of the hollow come to mind specifically... they have queer main characters! this is great! (neither one is white either, which is cool.) but there’s this Thing they both do to confirm it that leaves me feeling unsatisfied. like... there has to be A Scene. they want to say unambiguously, this character is gay, they want to say the word (and that’s great! good for them!), but they don’t want to bloat the cast with a love interest (or, the more cynical part of me says, make TWO gay male leads... looking at you, hollow, Let Adam And Reeve Be Gay). so in order to do that they squeeze in these really weird coming out scenes? and it’s never just the off handed mention, they both very specifically set it up by teasing romance with their main female character, and then pushing the gay guy into a corner where he has to awkwardly go “actually i’m gay” and there has to be a Moment(tm) and i don’t like those scenes that much. they feel ham-fisted and uncomfortable, like the characters are backed into a corner, it doesn’t feel like it’s happening on their terms. to me it’s the gay equivalent of that one female action hero who has to be like, “look at me i’m a GIRL and i’m TOUGH”.... or more accurately, those worlds in fiction where maybe we get nuanced ladies but their setting has to constantly remind us that it’s so SPECIAL because they’re WOMEN and LOOK HOW FEMALE THEY ARE while saving the day! the awkward “actually i’m gay” scenes have the same kind of vibe for me. and that’s an important phase of evolution for acceptance and representation, i think. it’s a breath of fresh air for a lot of people. but at the same time it feels like it’s... subtly still putting a line between these characters and “normal.”

but she-ra doesn’t do that. they just exist. nobody gives a shit and they just exist. it’s not “wait netossa and spinnerella are MARRIED??” they just go “aw look some cute background characters” and move on. it’s not “omg bow you have gay dads??” it’s “omg bow your dads don’t know you’re a rebel??” and nobody gives a shit that they’re gay. they introduce double trouble, a canonically non-binary character, and nobody gives a shit! there’s no “so you’re NOT a boy or a girl???” and no forcing DT to explain their entire gender, it’s just “double trouble is a problem, we hate them,” moving on. adora’s in love with catra. nobody gives a fuck that it’s queer, it’s just there.... it feels normal. the universe doesn’t question it, the universe doesn’t challenge it, they’re allowed to just be. and maybe that skips some of the requisite conversations back in reality (can’t 100% pin someone as NB without asking unless they’re wearing their pronouns on their body, and i’m sure moments like the awkward coming out scenes absolutely happen!) but in the realm of fiction it’s just... it feels so much better. she-ra is gay as fuck and nobody in-universe gives a shit. and it doesn’t feel so alienating, it doesn’t feel unexpected or shoehorned in, it doesn’t feel like it’s added for brownie points or tacked on after the fact. it doesn’t remind me that reality still won’t see me as normal... and that’s ultimately all i’ve ever wanted out of my queer fiction, and the ONLY other story i’ve consumed that did this was fucking homestuck. (and still not ENTIRELY, because like... it’s homestuck... and it actually went downhill with this in act 6. but nobody gave a shit that rose and kanaya were gay and that was nice.)

and there’s a place for The Coming Out Scene, always, but i personally find it so much more validating when things just... exist without having to be questioned.

#taz talks #of course i also have a lot of friends in writeblr who write stories where no one gives a shit!!#i just don’t count them here bc they aren’t mainstream and i think they’re reacting to this same kind of thing #spop

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thepringlesofblood · 6 years ago

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thoughts on stranger things three (spoilers. so many.)

this is just me yellin into the void as usual, but I like recording my opinions on things even if no one will read them

good:

- every single scene w/ the robin, steve, erica, dustin gang, especially!!! the coming out scene. scoops?? iconic. steve and dustin’s secret handshake? transcendent. the drugged out back to the future scene? perfect.

- eleven and max say fuck the patriarchy. love el’s new look

- more competent women is always a win

- funhouse fight!!! carnival fight!!!FIREWORKS??!??!

- the destruction of the mall (sadly the only anticapitalist symbolism I could find)

- the scene after jonathan and nancy get fired where they’re angry about their separate marginalized identities making this loss worse. I really liked how it went into the ways it will impact both of them, and I especially liked when nancy got home and talked to her mom.

- joyce going buckwild and getting shit done.

- the portrayal of hypervigilance as a symptom of PTSD. All of these characters have seen some shit, and all of them pick up on the littlest things the second they present themselves because subconsciously, they’re always on edge, always aware of bad it could break.

- most of will’s character arc. not all, but most of it. the queer experience of watching all your friends get dates and feeling like you’re missing out on something? trying to regain their interest because you feel lost and left behind? worrying that you’re not “growing up” because you don’t recognize romantic interest in yourself? not realizing you’re falling for your best friend until they get a romantic partner and suddenly you hate the partner even though they haven’t done anything wrong? a poignant, beautiful, very painful portrayal of queer teenhood. I really, really wish there was a moment that the audience realized will was in love with mike though. Like, it’s been building for a very long time. Also, a more thorough confirmation of will’s queerness would’ve been nice. I think they meant mike saying “you don’t understand bc you don’t like girls” to be that confirmation, but I want to hear it from will. Robin’s moment is so so so good though.

- domestic fuckery

- getting someone on the inside to help them/alexei as a character. not the symbolism or larger ramifications of his character arc, but how his knowledge and personality interacted.

- mr clarke!!!!

- el going into someone’s memories again

- how prepared everyone is to fight because they’ve seen this shit before and robin and erica are just like ‘this might as well happen’

- keeping with the stranger things pattern of having a bunch of different groups of people all in different genres and then together they all meet up and go ?????

- I know every says billy didn’t get enough of a redemption arc but tbh I did not see his character development as redeeming in any way and I liked that. It didn’t excuse his abusive actions, it just explained them. There was no “oh he was secretly good all along”, no dramatic total character reversal on his death bed, just him deciding that he had enough of being controlled. Max didn’t get full closure with him, he didn’t say some big speech about being wrong or realizing the ramifications of his actions bc he hadn’t reached that point yet. he just said “I’m sorry” and died. that could mean “i’m sorry for how I’ve treated you”, “I’m sorry for how many people I’ve killed”, “I’m sorry for not being able to stop the monster”, anything. we don’t know what it means. we don’t get an explanation. It speaks to how survivors of abuse often don’t get to know why, don’t get closure, don’t get all the answers.

- steve finally won a fight before getting the shit kicked out of him

- the whole no one knowing anything about each other bc no cell phones and/or wasnt there when It Happened.

- Erica getting the DND set was poetic cinema

- when joyce sees will on the firetruck and they run towards each other because finally, for once, will is completely unscathed, will isn’t the one who got hurt/possessed. I was already crying but this is the part where i had to get tissues bc I was sobbing.

Bad:

- the red scare bullshit and glorification of capitalism. this show started out as “the US govt is doing shady shit” and now the big climatic “everything’s alright” is the army getting there?? what the fuck. There’s being accurate to the time period and then there’s sending a message. they could’ve subverted that trope in so many ways, but they just went for straight up “capitalism is great! fuck russia!” and I hated that. also, talk about one-note villainry. there weren’t even any dramatic monologues to make up for it, it just kinda sucked.

- Hopper’s character in the beginning of the season. the scene where he gets wasted after getting stood up? shitty. not talking to el about his vaguely sexist overprotective actions? shitty. blowing up at joyce for no reason? shitty. he pulls it together in the end but it was OOC for a bit there. Plus I would kill for more “hopper and el work through their trauma together”, rather than “friend group splinters bc hopper did a yell”

- I don’t know what to think about hopper’s death. It just hurts, and not in a satisfying, last harry potter book way.

- why the fuck are the byers and el moving?????? did they ever give a reason???? WHY?????? WILL AND EL’S ENTIRE SUPPORT NETWORK, THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO KNOW WHAT THEY’VE BEEN THROUGH AND CAN HELP THEM, IS IN HAWKINS!!!!!

- the ads. omg the ads. lucas idc about your fucking coke. there’s so much goddamn product placement. christ on a goddamn bicycle.

- previous seasons have had body horror, but it was all black goo so it was removed from reality and conveyed a psychological, otherworldly horror. and I liked that. WHY WAS THERE SO MUCH FUCJING MEAT IN THIS ONE??? THE MIND FLAYER LOOKED LIKE IT WAS MADE OF BBQ SAUCE AND I HATED IT!!! STOP!!!THE MEATS!!!!!

- can el not be injured......for oNCE?????

- also can people stop standing around staring at shit so much? theyve seen it before. it’s not like it’s a huge shock. people stand around for like 5 minutes before Doing Things and it annoys me. with the New Kids like erica and robin it makes sense but like....whenever theres a monster mike just sits there like :o cOME ON DUDE YOU’VE DONE THIS SO MANY TIMES GET A KNIFE OR SOMETHIN!!!

- WHAT. WAS. THE GREEN STUFF?????????????????? IS IT FUCKING PLUTONIUM OR SOMETHING???? WHAT THE FUCK!!! IF YOU NEED A MACGUFFIN BE LESS OBVIOUS ABOUT IT!!!

- idk about you but murray yelling at them about sex kinda rubbed me the wrong way.

- speaking of, you caNNOT convince me that murray, 4 locks on the front door lives in a bunker murray, would take a goddamn enemy of the state to a carnival and leave him alone for any period of time. seriously????????

- look.....it was adorable.....i’ll give you that.....but.....the song dustin and suzy sang slapped me with secondhand embarrassment and genre disconnect so hard I found it impossible to enjoy. also...planck’s constant??? you could/......idk........call mr clarke????????? you’ve interrupted the man’s life for less!!!! I was also half expecting it to be joyce who remembered it from all the studying she did on the magnets. I did enjoy the whole “i met a girl at camp” story being unbelievable until it was but like I was expecting the thing she wanted him to say to be like a famous star wars love quote or something not an entire song jesus christ

- if hopper turns out to be alive I will face god and walk backwards into hell. I suffered through supernatural, I will not be caught in a cycle of fake deaths again.

- i get the whole “we’re growing up now” thing but aren’t they like 13? theyre still so young??? also like i dont rly care for the vague soap-opera-y vibes the core squad gave off.

- the only people who got flayed were either a. already pretty shitty or b. completely unknown. like. it just made it less scary????

- hopper just fucking standing by the machine looking at joyce instead of running the 5 seconds up the steps into the room. seriously? was that supposed to be slow motion or was that real time???

- the whole thing with cerebro not working at the beginning sucked ass.

- hey does mrs wheeler have eyes??? like??? there were exactly two (2) scenes she had with mike and nancy and both were Big Conversations like they live there right/????tbh i forgot she was their mom until those scenes bc of the whole billy thing, which i decidedly do not have an opinion on but like....do they eat breakfast there???

#spoilers #stranger things spoilers #stranger things #stranger things 3 #stranger things 3 spoilers

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dcarevu · 6 years ago

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Batman TAS: The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy

“How dare you manhandle me!”

Episode: 31 Robin: No Writer: Elliot S Maggin Director: Frank Paur Animator: Dong Yang Airdate: October 14, 1992 Grade: B

At the time of writing this, I have already watched the first episode featuring the Riddler as a villain. And y’know what? This is a much better Riddler episode! At least, it would be if that’s who the villain was. Elliot S Maggin, the writer of this one, originally wrote this story (or at least a similar one) for Detective Comics #450. I don’t think that too-too many scripts were reused from comic stories, but so far the ones I know about are this one and The Laughing Fish. These have been really good choices, but they could have gone further with this one by making the villain Ed Nygma instead of Wormwood. I think that would have been a justifiable change because this guy bleeds Riddler’s personality traits all over the place. I’m including his elaborate plots combined with riddles to confuse, trick, and lure people to their doom, a humungous ego, and a need to display it by humiliating you. Truly these death traps that he comes up with cannot be worth the money, and he could come up with much easier ways to get what he needs. But no. To get something valuable from the man at the beginning, he coaxes him into standing in quicksand. According to Commissioner Gordon, this is a pretty typical thing of him to do, which tells us that the stuff about his ego and true, and overall there is a fun factor for him. Just listen to the way he talks to his first victim or the way he commands Batman to leave his cape and cowl in the light so that he can see his face. This makes it so much better when he is made to look like a complete idiot at the end.

So yes, we have the beginning segment where a man gets stuck in quicksand and gets something stolen. Hearing about the incident, Commissioner Gordon lets Batman in on an associate of Wormwood named Josek. Batman goes to a fancy dinner with Josek is giving a speech, swings in, and drags the guy out, smashing him through a cake and sliding him across a table. Josek is rightfully furious, and he lets out the quote seen at the beginning of the post. The delivery is absolutely hysterical, partially because of how right he is to be angry. Batman was kinda being a bit of a jerk by humiliating him in front of the entire crowd like that, even if he’s not the best human being in the world.

Do a kickflip!

Batman interrogates him, getting all the info that he can, and then he gives a word of advice to Josek, telling him to take a vacation. Batman leaves, and we hear Josek grumbling about the encounter. This grumbling is incredibly important to the twist of the episode. We shift scenes to Josek calling in Wormwood and requesting that he get Batman’s cape and cowl for him, humbling the dark knight. We, the audience, think that this is a way of getting even with Batman for the prior embarrassment, but (hopefully you’ve seen the episode, because spoilers) the Josek featured here is actually Batman in disguise. The grumbling at the end of the interrogation scene makes us believe that this Josek guy is really pissed off, and that flows into the moment where “Josek” asks for the cape and cowl, causing us to not think anything of it. It’s a pretty brilliant way to fool us, buuuut… I really have a problem with this type of thing. You’re telling me that Batman was able to get a costume so accurately modeled after Josek? And that Batman is able to talk exactly like him? It’s such a preposterous idea that we don’t even have a chance at seeing the twist coming. Part of the fun of a twist ending is that it should seem more obvious in hindsight. Like we had a chance of cracking the code earlier. But if we are to take this show seriously like so many episodes would have us believe, I feel like this type of twist doesn’t fair all that well. Even though I don’t agree with it on principle, though, it does provide some oh so sweet satisfaction when Wormwood realizes what is going on. The guy is so smug and confident for the entire show, and then it all ends so quickly.

Wormwood sets up the trap for Batman involving a train that looks like it’s about to hit a bound woman. I’m not so sure that I like the woman being a hologram, I would think that someone like Wormwood would have no problem with threatening an innocent life. Maybe I’m reading his character wrong, though. Or maybe it was a case of the Fox Network not allowing such distress for an innocent character. Batman propping open one of the windows with a batarang was a really cool moment, and the quick animation of him throwing it coupled with the sound effect made it feel like he unlocked a cheat code. I don’t even think that Wormwood noticed that he blocked open the window, and this was the only way that Batman were to have any hope of saving the “woman” without giving up his cape and cowl. Batman seemed a little too quick to risk her life, though, especially since he knew the cape and cowl would be going right back to him anyway, but he does have a secret identity and everything to worry about.

The next death trap is the one with the giant lightbulb that gets hot enough to at least melt wax (and eventually Batman). I got Clock King vibes at this part, but this time Batman’s ingenuity was not enough to get him out of trouble. When batman smashes the bulb, and the gas comes out, I couldn’t help but think, “Doesn’t Batman have a gas mask on him most of the time?” Y’know, I bet he even had it on him during this scene, but because of his plan to capture Wormwood while disguised as Josek, I think that he pretended to give up here. He probably could have gotten out of this situation if he really wanted to. This is the type of thing that you don’t think about until a second watch. Another one of these things is the way that Batman seems to decode all of Wormwood’s riddles so quickly, leaving Gordon flabbergasted. Batman totally already knows the answers, he, as Josek, probably helped Wormwood come up with them. It’s so funny that he would not only use this knowledge against the villain of the episode, but also to tease Gordon a little bit, further adding on to the legend that his Batman, and his apparent super-mind.

So yes, at the end of the episode, when Wormwood finally brings the cape and cowl, it is revealed that Josek is Batman. After this, we get a fight between Batman and Wormwood where they each try to get a key that is important to the plot. This scene I thought went on a little bit long, and wasn’t particularly exciting, but we did get a pretty good scream out of Wormwood as he smashes through the window with one of those weights. There’s also the moment where Batman puts his hand on Wormwood’s head, as if to say, “Gimme” and Wormwood just hands it over, knowing that he can’t take any more of Batman. Some of Batman’s most badass moments are the moments where he uses the least amount of effort, simply because he knows that he doesn’t have to.

Char’s grade: B

Next time: Robin’s Reckoning (Part 1) Full episode list here!

#dcau #dc animated universe #the cape and cowl conspiracy #riddler #btas #batman tas #batman the animated series #batman #wormwood

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cleverbroadwayurl · 7 years ago

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Oh What a Day (Jeremy Heere x Reader Pt 14)

Song: Oh What a Day by Ingrid Michaelson

Word Count: 3496

Need to Catch Up? PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 PART 5 PART 6 PART 7 PART 8 PART 9 PART 10 PART 11 PART 12 PART 13

Want More? PART 15 PART 16 PART 17 PART 18 PART 19

A/N: What even is a posting schedule at this point??? I have a Connor Murphy fic coming up soon so that anon can expect to see that by the 21st! I also have do some critique on it really fast and like, make things historically accurate. But anyways! I was asked to write fluff,,, so happy birthday @catatonic-kuragin!!! Yay!!

Trigger Warnings: mentions of an abusive boyfriend...I think that’s it but IF I MISSED ANYTHING PLEASE LET ME KNOW

Taglist: @retrogarden @be-more-heidi-hansen @scarsonthecuffsofyourjeans @catatonic-kuragin @bluhimaweirdo if you want to be added, just ask or PM me!

Jeremy: Hope you have a great night! Let me know if you need anything 😊

The moment Jeremy’s phone went off, both boys immediately paused Apocalypse of the Damned. The ringer had been turned up just in case something happened, and both boys were glad that Jeremy was so precautious about this particular situation. Michael jumped up and started for his linen closet that sat at the back of his closet, grabbing sheets just in case you had to stay the night on his couch.

As soon as Michael’s hands grabbed the sheets he was looking for, his best friend stopped him, holding up a single hand as he read over the text over and over again. It wasn’t that Jeremy wanted to bring you over to his house instead of the Mells, actually it would be smart to change the location just in case your boyfriend had caught on, but the text was something that Jeremy never expected from you, especially given the interaction you’d had earlier that night at Red Robin.

You: Thank you! I hope your night is going well!

There was a beat as dust seemed to settle around the room. A blue glow came from the TV screen, almost making everything around them look like some scene out of Stranger Things. Weed had been left out of the night’s activities, just in case one of them would need to drive or just in case you needed help, so the air didn’t smell of the usual stuffy smoke, but rather the tropical air freshener that Mrs. and Mrs. Mell insisted on putting downstairs in the basement. Michael put the sheet set back into the closet before closing the door and walking back to his best friend.

“They just hoped our night went well,” Jeremy said, unsure of how exactly how to read that text. With anybody else, the text was one dimensional, easy to understand and read. But with you, this could be a cover up, you could be trying to see if he was home yet so you could make your getaway again. He had subtly hint that you could hand out with him and Michael, fuck he wanted you to hang out with him and Michael, but not make it so incredibly obvious that he was trying to pull you away. Because being too obvious might result in sacrificing your safety, which was never going to be a goal of Jeremy’s.

“Good. I’m glad they’re safe,” Michael responded, relief clearing his features.

Unfortunately, Jeremy wasn’t as convinced as his best friend. He continued to stare at the small grey message as he spoke up again, “But what if it’s like…code? What if they’re actually in danger?”

“Tell them you’re over here and they’re welcome to come over if they want.”

“That isn’t discreet enough.”

The two thought about it for a little bit longer before both of them crafted a part of a text that seemed acceptable to send to you. Sure, it took an army just to send a single text, but in this case there was no such thing as too careful.

Jeremy: It is! Michael and I decided to go back to his house and play some video games in his basement

Three little dots appeared almost immediately after the text was sent, and the lanky boy wiped his hands on his jeans. Michael’s hand met his shoulder, the soft touch giving reassurance that everything was going to be okay, no matter what. It was also a way to help Jeremy calm down, breathing already evening out.

You: That sounds like fun! I’m glad you guys had a nice night!

That seemed like the end of the conversation, nothing more to it.

Then again, this didn’t seem like you. It was too short, too minimal, too…something. Jeremy thought that maybe there was something going on behind the scenes that he just couldn’t place no matter how hard he tried. So, he decided to type out another message, even though his thoughts were screaming at him to not do so.

Jeremy: Did you make it home safely?

It was a risk, but he decided that if you weren’t you’d let him know and he could help. Yeah, this was for the best. Plus, Michael was still with him, and he was sure that his moms would love to help in any way they could.

You: I did! You: Thanks for asking btw, I thought maybe you’d want to hear from me or something You: Just because I know you texted before and I didn’t want you to worry so uhh I just got back and yeah, everything this fine.

Okay, Jeremy had to smile at that. With all the time you’d spent with him, it was like you knew him like back of your hand. You’d texted him to ease his mind, which was something he wasn’t expecting, and it meant that you’d taken notice that sometimes Jeremy is nervous about his actions and, well, you. While in the back of his mind, he knew that some of this was your conditioned habits showing, he knew that you messaging him like this, checking in with him and picking up on his mannerisms, was something that hadn’t been ingrained into your head. This was genuine, and your triple texts reassured him of that as he read over each one again and again. The glow of the TV had now becoming comforting and Michael had completely switched vibes, from concerned best friend to scrolling through his phone and completely at ease with himself. He was almost waiting for the conversation with Jeremy and you to end.

But maybe Jeremy didn’t want it to end just yet.

“Michael?”

“Yeah dude, what’s up?” he locked his phone before making eye contact with the boy who sat beside him.

“Can we save this level for another time? I…I just uhh—”

“I get it, dude. You ‘just uhh’ want to text (Y/N) for a little bit because ‘they have to be the cutest thing in the entire universe’. It’s all good, no worries, man.” Jeremy rolled his eyes at his best friend’s mocking before Michael spoke up again, “Hey, I’m just using your words, Heere. It’s not like I pulled those out of thin air.”

He saved the game before turning off the console and switching over to Netflix. It was silent as Michael went through category after category before finally settling on That 70s Show. He settled further into his beanbag as the intro played, a deep breath exiting as he did so. Relaxation radiated off of Michael’s presence, slowly seeping into the room.

Jeremy couldn’t relax, though. Now that you were safe, he realized that there was a lot more he was worried about, like figuring out how to talk to you. Which was dumb; it was dumb, right? He’d talked to you so many times that Jeremy believed this small conversation should be easy. He kind of knew what to say, at least more than he did that first night that you’d shown up on his door step, and he had a general idea of what you like, but somehow this was more nerve-racking than ever before.

“Need help?” Michael asked, leaning towards his best friend.

Jeremy nodded, “I just don’t know what to say.”

The other boy let out a chuckle at Jeremy’s usual antics. He scooched closer to him, reading over the texts you’d sent again. “Say ‘Yeah’ and then ask them about what they’re up to. Easy as that.”

The lovesick boy shoved Michael playfully as a blush appeared on his face. “Easy for you to say dude.”

But maybe it was as easy as that. Jeremy didn’t have to try and get you to like him, at least not in a romantic sense. Plus, based off of the interactions you’d already had with one another, it seemed like you already liked him in a platonic way. So yeah, maybe this was as easy as Michael made it out to be. Maybe this time he could get away with gaining confidence by his best friend’s quips of encouragement. Maybe he didn’t need a battalion to win you over.

Jeremy: Yeah! Jeremy: What are you up to now that you have a night free to yourself?

It didn’t talk very long to respond to his texts, almost implying how excited you were to talk to someone that you knew was on your side.

You: Ooooo big night tonight. I’m just getting some ice cream and then going to play Life is Strange. You: What about you?

Your comment made Jeremy light up in excitement. Not only were you responding to him in a way that made it seem like you wanted to talk to him more often than you did, but you were also joking around with him and engaging in questions that were about simple mundane things like how his night was going. He never even imagined that you’d text him in better circumstances this summer, even if they were stemmed from something that could’ve gone horribly wrong. Something told him in his heart that this conversation was done with free will, nothing coercing you. It was genuine. It was perfect.

Jeremy smiled to himself as he typed out another message.

Jeremy: Oh man speak of the devil, Michael’s sitting next to me giving me those pacific northwest vibes.

Michael gave his best friend a weird look. Jeremy hadn’t even realized that he’d just definitely laughed out loud at his own text before Michael had given him such a weird look. Mock hurt flashed across his face “Are you teasing me?”

“We’re just talk about Life is Strange.”

“Oh haha, very funny. ‘Michael is Chloe Price’.”

“Well…”

“Those two only had each other and you know it!”

Jeremy leaned forward and giggled as his best friend cried out. After a second, the mock hurt disappeared and both best friends were laughing with one another, just like they had so many years ago, before the mocking, before Rich’s SQUIPped antics. The laughing ceased after a good minute, only short chuckles entering the room along with Michael’s sitcom choice playing in the background. Jeremy’s phone vibrated again, and he glanced at it before smiling widely to himself.

You: Oh my god 😂😂😂

The lanky boy was over the moon at this point, stars in his eyes as he read over your response probably more times than could be counted. It was so nice to talk to you…the real you. Not the broken down version of you that came into his life over a month ago, but you who liked to joke and laugh, you who liked to make blushy and flirtatious eye contact, and you who was just so perfectly conventional in the right ways.

“What do I say next?” Jeremy consulted Michael, his brain only coming up with words that had romantic connotations.

“Hmmm” he began, the sitcom now long forgotten, “ask them if they like the game so far. I think they’d enjoy it.”

“Me too,” Jeremy smiled.

Jeremy: How do you like the game so far?

He only had to wait half a second before you replied.

You: I’ve actually played it a few times…but it’s my favorite so like I love it still. 😊 You: Like I don’t think that I could ever say I don’t like it, you know?

The boy blushed at his incorrectness before straight up almost apologizing for his mistake. He began to type out a message, but Michael stopped him. “I noticed you get nervous again, but dude, that’s an honest mistake. It’s fine, trust me.”

So that’s what Jeremy typed back (as Michael yelled to the boy who only sat beside him “Use an exclamation point! You like that game too!”)

Jeremy: I didn’t know that!

He decided to joke around again, keeping the mood light and happy instead of dragging you into a lengthy apology. Michael was right, it was an honest mistake and Jeremy knew you weren’t going to judge him for it.

Jeremy: No wonder you support “Michael Price” 😂

He giggled again as he sent that, blush becoming as deep as it was when you’d called him cute weeks ago. Jeremy couldn’t believe how well this was going; talking to you was better than he could’ve ever even imagined. And it wasn’t only that, but he could talk to you for hours, not saying a word himself, but just listening to you. Jeremey swore that he could listen to you for hours at a time, getting lost in you and your cute mannerisms hour after hour. He wanted to know everything; from your favorite socks to why you like to go to that diner than the one that was closer to your house. He wanted to talk about the world with you, and everything in it.

You: I totally do omg!!!

Text didn’t seem like the right place to do that, though. He debated what he was going to say next, words of wisdom that his friends had said before coming to him: Ask them out! Even if it’s just platonic! What’s the worst that could happen? With that, and Michael’s wordless support around him, Jeremy took a breath, took a step, and took a chance.

Jeremy: Can I ask you something?

You: Sure! What’s up?

Nerves set in as Jeremy began to sweat, swallowing hard as he wiped his hands on his jeans again. Michael took note of the change in demeanor and paused That 70s Show so Jeremy could have some quiet to focus on getting the bearing to talk to you. His hands shook a little bit, but his vision remained steady as he typed out a message. Before he could delete it all and ask you something dumb instead, Michael took the phone, read over the text, and then told Jeremy to hit send. He did, thinking that Michael had altered the text in some way, but was unfortunately met with the original text, already sent to you.

Jeremy: There’s this park by my house, and I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go there one night later this week and just talk and hang out? I thought you’d just want to enjoy a friend’s company for a little bit. And you can totally say no btw.

“Michael, what the fuck?!” Jeremy hissed, taking his phone back and throwing it onto his beanbag. He stood up and started circling the room, hands running through his hair a million miles a minute.

“You wouldn’t have sent it yourself!”

“That was the point!”

His phone vibrated, but Jeremy was too caught up in himself to even care. What the fuck was he even thinking? He couldn’t even explain to you at this point that he didn’t mean it like a date, it was just meant to be friends, and now you were going to reject him and never talk to him again, and it was Michael who was supposed to change it so it read something better than what had actually sent and now he’d have to answer to the mistakes that he’d made, which included his own trusting of Michael’s judgement, which was stupid to do because he was impulsive as fuck sometimes, and now the consequences were falling on him, and damn it he blew it, he really blew it, and now, now, it was going to be impossible to—

“They said yes!”

“Wha--?!”

“They said yes Jer!”

“You’re lying,” he noted bitterly.

Michael held up your response in all of its glory, smiling goofily the whole time.

You: That sounds great! I’d love to! You: I’ve always wanted to go stargazing, and you’re totally right, I do need a friend to just talk and hang out with.

A brief moment of silence took over before Jeremy and Michael started cheering and screaming into the other’s face. Jeremy swore he could run up the basement stairs and run around the block 50 million times, just screeching “THANK YOU MICHAEL!” into the night. Because now not only was he going to see you, he was going to see you in happy circumstances, ones that he himself were setting up! The real you, the happy you, was making a comeback steadily, and Jeremy was practically over the moon with his joy.

Jeremy: Sounds great! When are you free?

You: Hmm can we do Thursday?

Jeremy: That works for me!

You: Perfect!

Jeremy could feel his heart begin to pound against his chest, even though he knew that this emeting was to be platonic and strictly platonic. And maybe that’s why he didn’t feel as much pressure or nervousness in thinking about this new event you’d both set up with one another. Normally, with Christine, he’d get super nervous after planning a date—even though this wasn’t a date—getting more nervous with each minute ticking down. This uneasiness lasted from the moment she’d said yes until he got home after the date, his hands used to be so sweaty and almost always, he held his breath like no tomorrow.

But this felt different. It was different. While you were in the worst of it, Jeremy was more than happy to offer you comfort and a place of safety when the world felt like it was crashing down. This was just something a little extra that he had been wanting to do. You’d be out in public, but after almost everyone went home for the night, as it didn’t get dark until late. And with this time in the park with you, there was a safe bet that your boyfriend wouldn’t find the two of you. Thinking it over again, though, if both of you did get caught, you’d have an alibi and Jeremy would be there to protect you if things got bad. It would be easy; you two would go to Jeremy’s car and go over to Michael’s house to wait out your boyfriend’s anger for the night, laughing and talking while simply being what you were supposed to be: teenagers that were excited to start a new life away from home.

Just to be sure, though, Jeremy had to double check with you. It was the only way to ensure your safety in a public space for something that, to a single passerby, would look like you two were on a date.

Jeremy: I just want to make sure because I don’t want you to get hurt Jeremy: uhh is your boyfriend okay with us hanging out?

It took you a few seconds to respond, happiness still coming with each and every letter you’d typed out.

You: I don’t know why he wouldn’t be okay with it!

A sigh flushed through Jeremy, relief allowing him to breathe deeply as he typed a small message back.

Jeremy: Great! So I’ll see you on Thursday! Jeremy: We can meet there too, if you’d like. At maybe around 9:30ish? It gets dark pretty late right now

You: Sounds perfect! I’ll see you then!

He smiled to himself before locking his phone and refocusing on the sitcom that had been started back up. Jeremy didn’t even notice his best friend watching it again, his whole focus on you, the person of his dreams, agreeing to even just hang out with him for an extended amount of time. Then again, you’d done that many times before. But this wasn’t like those times, and he knew that.

Jeremy joined Michael, sitting on the bean bag next to him before the slushie-enthusiast spoke up. “Jer’s got a date.”

“It’s not a date, Michael.”

“Sure…uh huh…okay,” Michael said, unconvinced of what his best friend said.

“It’s not though. Seriously. I don’t want to intrude on that relationship, even if it’s—”

“Horrible, awful, the absolute worst, literal hell—”

“I get it, dude,” he paused for a second. “but still, cheating would be bad. I mean, look what it did to Brooke. Plus, with the SQUIP…I just don’t feel comfortable with it, you know?”

“Yeah, dude. I was just teasing.”

Jeremy’s phone went off again, another text from you making an appearance. He smiled at your text, reading the preview. Before he swore that you couldn’t get any cuter, but once again, he was completely wrong.

You: Hey I’m going to bed because I’m literally falling asleep on my couch. You: But thank you so much for inviting me to do something, it’s nice to be able to have some times to relax with a friend.

He could just imagine you, half tired, falling asleep as Life is Strange played in the background. Jeremy could see your head resting, controller just out of your grip, mouth hung slightly open in the most delicate way, as heavy breaths sent you off to sleep. Yeah, he definitely wanted to see that one night.

Jeremy: No problem. Jeremy: Get some rest, okay? You deserve it. I’ll see you on Thursday.

You: See you on Thursday, Jeremy 😊 You: Have a wonderful rest of your night

#Jeremy Heere x reader #jeremy heere imagine #bmc imagine #bmc x reader #be more chill imagine #be more chill x reader

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reel-em-in · 3 years ago

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[26/04/2022 - 05/05/2022] Post Production Sound - For Crimes Forgotten

After setting up my project and making sure that I had all the audio that I recorded on set, I began my sound design process by going through all the dialogue within the film. Finding the cleanest microphone for each line of dialogue and making sure everything was correctly synced up (which it was because Dori is great!) Some of the dialogue occurs with characters not on screen, so in these sections of dialogue I had even more freedom as I was able to look trough all the takes we had that included those lines and choose the best option. In some cases the delivery of the lines were slightly different and so gave different connotations to what was being said. In cases like this I would keep the original audio from the take that was used in the visual edit, but added the take I preferred to a different track so I could run the options past Maddy. Some of which she liked, and others she didn’t but by having the options on different tracks it was easy enough to audition the different options and remove the ones that Maddy wasn’t a fan of. Some of the dialogue needed to be taken from other takes, but I made sure to go for ones in which the delivery was fairly accurate to the take used for visuals. Plus my experience with ADR from The Toll meant that if there were any issues with syncing, I was able to fix them through cutting the audio up and matching obvious waveform sounds with the facial movements associated with them. Something that I feel was successful.

Whilst I was doing the dialogue pass, Maddy re-watched the edit and wrote some notes that included the type of thing she was looking for within the sound design. This was mainly to make sure that we were both on the same page with how the final film should sound.

I then began working on the atmos for the different sections. This is my usual process when it comes to sound design as this is often the quickest part of the process, and provides a good base layer to add the rest of the sound to. The base layer atmos for the three different locations was audio that I recorded on set, though I then went through and sweetened it further with audio I sourced elsewhere. Within scene one Maddy wanted the location to ‘sound hot’. This was something I was struggling to make happen originally, though I eventually decided to use sounds of water fizzing, an electric heater, and audio recorded in Yellowstone national park of a wild fire (the last two being very literal interpretations of sounding ‘hot’). All of these sounds were very low in the mix and barely noticeable, though they seemed to give the vibe I was looking for.

For the second location (where The Informant begins his time-loop), I sourced audio of a frozen lake ‘singing’ (also recorded in Yellowstone National Park). I made this choice because I wanted this location to sound windy, yet there is a very fine line between making wind sound purposeful and not just like you have recorded your location sound badly. The more tuneful sound of the frozen lake was much nicer on the ears yet still believably tundra wind.

The Prisoner’s forest was the final atmos I did, and this one is entirely comprised of audio I recorded on set, including the creaking tree that I managed to record on our first day filming.

I then listened through to the atmos on its own and removed the more obvious sounds of birds.

The next thing I added was the ticking clock within the first location. Automating the volume to link with the distance the camera is placed from The Informant, as well as to change when the watch is opened and closed. I chose to use a fast paced ticking to add to the tension of this scene, especially as at this point in the narrative time is very quickly running out for The Informants long vigil. At this point I also intended to add a slower ticking to the scene in Glenshee, once The Warden arrives to give The Informant the watch. Though I then got distracted by adding spot effects and did not get a chance to add it in time for the crit.

I then added the bulk of the spot effects to the film - a lot of syncing footsteps, crawling, and chains rattling. I also realised at this point that I didn't get any wild tracks of the watch opening and closing. But that was fine as I have the watch and was able to record it while I was doing the sound design.

When adding spot effects I worked in 2 different ways - doing a pass of the whole film focusing on a specific type of sound, and going through a scene and adding things as I noticed it needed them. This is mainly because I have big ADHD energy and often impulsively switch methodologies. There were positives and negatives to both these ways of working. For example when doing passes of the whole film focusing on specific sounds, it meant that I could set up a series of ‘test’ tracks and have all the audio I had collected that related to the sound I was doing a pass of open in those tracks. This meant that I did not have to keep hunting down my audio and could listen to all of the sounds I had to work with in one go by listening to my solo’d test track. Though the negative of this method was that if I noticed something that didn’t relate to the sound I was doing a pass of, I would leave myself a speedily written note or memory location and then promptly forget what that note meant when I got back to it after finishing a pass. I then switched up my method and began going through the whole film and adding effects as I noticed they were needed. The positives of this method is that it was probably quicker as I wasnt watching and re-watching the whole film every time, I found it more mentally stimulating (variety is the spice of life), and it meant that whole sections of the film were watchable to people other than me for feedback that i could then action on my next pass. The negatives were that my ‘test’ track method wasn’t as useful as they became a mess very quickly, and so i spent more time trying to hunt down specific audio within my recordings.

The conclusion I have come to is that the best method seems to be a mixture of the two. Where I do some quick passes of the full film focusing on specific sounds that appear a lot, and then go slowly through the full film adding anything that I feel I missed. This is something I will definitely be taking forward into future projects. It’s all a process about finding the right methodology I suppose.

My next big focus was on creating the sound of time rewinding. I left this until later in my process for two reasons. The first was that I was still trying to work out what time rewinding would sound like. And the second was that I knew that this would be creative and fun, and I like to give myself something to look forward to. For this sound I wanted something that sounded mechanical and as though it was turning, so I found some audio of one of those spinning ‘wheel of fortune’ wheels, and reversed it so that it spun from slow to fast. I also wanted the sound to build in intensity before being ‘sucked out’, and I also wanted to show that this was a big event that would have an impact on the world around it: so I had a play with the sound of an explosion, once again reversed and with some EQ. Some more mechanical whirring, and voila. Time is being reversed. I felt that something was missing once we arrive in the next scene, and that since the time reversal is directly correlated with our arrival in the next location there should be something to link the two together. So after some brain racking and thinking about the religious tones of the film I decided to add the tolling of a church bell, playing on the idea of ‘for who the bell tolls’ linking to death and the thus calling an end to the loop. Though since it is loop, the end is also the beginning.

I then did another ‘anti-bird’ pass, to try and get rid of any of the bird noises that had somehow escaped my ire up until this point.

By this point I was running very low on time before the crit, so I attempted a very rough mix, and sent the bounced mix off to be put back together with the colour graded film.

I definitely need to work on it more between the crit and the final deadline. Especially since there are a couple of sounds that I did not get round to adding. Such as the slow ticking in the Glenshee section, and some smaller details such as the sound of the pocket watch being dropped in the first section of the film (before The Warden picks it up to re-set the loop). And I also need to give the film a proper mix.

#reel-em-in #film project module #study blog #studyblr #film studyblr #film student #third year #post production sound #sound design #For Crimes Forgotten #HoD #primary role

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writing-yj · 8 years ago

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Robin x Reader: The Bird Tattoo~Part Four (Soulmate AU)

A/n: I thought I lost the entire first half of it, it scared me half to death. I also rewrote it like, twelve times. Henze is pronounced as Hen-zee, by the way. Cheesy and angsty vibes coming your way. A little gore? Also, it’s not as long as usual because every time I take my hands off the keyboard, they start to shake and it’s hard to type when that happens.

You looked down at your watch, and you weren't surprised that it was 8:26 AM. It was the weekend and most teenagers slept in, but not you. You switched back and forth between investigating and teaching yourself more Romanian. You didn't get a single moment of sleep, but you couldn't even if you tried.

You took off your mask and used the camera on your phone to look at your face. Your eyes were bloodshot and there were slight bags under your eyes. The lack of sleep on a regular basis was taking a toll on you, but there were things to be done. Procrastinating important things? Not your cup of tea. But today you felt... different. And not in a good way. You chalked it up to being tired and stressed, as usual.

So you put the domino mask back on, and went back to work. You pushed your Romanian text book aside; you were a little over half way fluent in the language. On your laptop, you pulled up the file that the Justice League had for about the twentieth time since you started.

You kept digging and digging in that file, repeating steps you’d done dozens of times. An idea struck you, and you felt stupid for not thinking of it earlier. Who was The Doctor, before he went insane? What life did he live, what was his son like? You knew his son’s name was Benjamin, since he rambled and muttered about him when you were being one of his ‘experiments’.

You didn’t feel sorry. You lost your family to that mentally corrupt man and at this point, you were hell-bent on revenge. For taking your family from you, extinguishing your hopes for a happy normal life, and turning you into a monster to be used as a weapon to avenge Benjamin. Even though you did escape and blow his lab sky-high, you knew deep down that he was alive and you were going to get rid of him, once and for all.

Finally, you found a name. Cassius Henze. The last name was one you heard before, but not under any significant events.

You jotted the name down at lightning speed, and you searched the name up once your pencil left the paper. One by one, several results came up, all about either ‘Animal Scientist Dr. Cassius Henze’ or the ‘Death of Benjamin Henze’. They were about either his success as a scientist, or how his son was killed.

You chose the first link that described Benjamin’s death. Ever since the first day after you and your family were kidnapped, you heard the words ‘Benjamin’, ‘killed’, ‘dead’, or the sentence ‘They will pay’ every day.

The various articles describing the death of the successful scientist’s son were not what you expected. It was more of an accident, from what you could tell. Cassius and his son were at a military base so radiology and biology research could be exchanged, experiments could take place, and awards could be given.

It turns out that five-year-old Benjamin Henze was under the supervision of a fellow scientist in training, or intern, while an experiment was taking place. From what you gathered, the intern was a little butt-hurt about being forced to watch a child instead of participating in the experimentation. So he took it upon himself to start his own experiment, in a more secluded lab. Benjamin tottered behind his ‘babysitter’ with a smile and some giggles.

If the intern really knew what he was doing, he wouldn’t have been an intern. There was a glass chamber, designed to test on animals (legally, at the time), weapons, or any sort of life involved. This experiment was going to use a simple cactus from the plant supply brought for this very purpose. After the intern slid the cactus inside, he gathered his materials and combined them with careful precision, in incorrect and dangerous amounts. The little toddler wandered into the chamber before it was sealed shut; his small height and the obliviousness of the intern left him unseen.

The screams and cries of Benjamin Henze were heard all around the base, and the intern was yelling and frantically trying to open the door. By the time Cassius Henze sprinted the lab in question, his son was burned and dead, with his baby blue eyes still open.

The story brought real tears to the surface, but you wiped them away. It didn’t make you forgive The Doctor, but you felt horrible for Benjamin. Killed by an ignorant and arrogant intern, without any idea of what was going on. An innocent life snuffed out in the blink of an un-watchful eye.

With a shudder, you moved to one of the more positive results. A video of Cassius Henze receiving an award. You didn’t expect Benjamin to be in it, but when you watched it, you learned his voice. It was soft and bubbly, with enthusiasm and energy. Now, you had something to use against The Doctor if all else fails. But your heart still ached for Benjamin. Not for Cassius, hell no, but Benjamin’s life didn’t deserve to end so soon and in such a horrid way.

You sifted through the internet a few more times, to make sure the information you found was accurate, before moving on to more recent discoveries. You started to compare current cases with the ones when you were an experiment, and you downloaded or wrote down all of it.

The clock read 10:48 AM. A normal teenager would still be sleeping, but you were sure Artemis would be here by now to either do some training or look for you. And your body yearned for some good coffee. You prayed that Wally didn’t make it this time; you nearly threw up after the first sip.

You closed the laptop and organized your stacks of notes. The Romanian worksheets you printed were almost filled out, so you folded them and put them inside your textbook. The notes took their place in a small drawer in the desk, and you stood up and shuffled to the exit.

On your way there, you knocked into some book shelves and had to quickly catch a couple books to prevent them from falling. And you had to put them back in their right places. The library was one of your favorite places in Mount Justice. It was literally two stories of books, and a quiet place to relax and work. You were usually busy with a variety of things, but you took the time to read a good novel on occasion.

You heard the team talking in the kitchen, and although you didn't feel up to social interaction, you went there anyway. The food was in there, anyway. You put restocking your room’s stash on your agenda for the day. There were some foods you hid from Wally, and he wouldn’t dare go in your room without asking.

All conversation stopped when you tiredly trudged into the kitchen. They were all staring at you, and it was eventually uncomfortable. “Can I help you?” You hoped you didn't sound too grumpy.

“Did you even leave the library?” Robin asked.

“No,” You stated as you poured a hot cup of coffee. “I had several things to catch up on. I got a lot done.” You glanced at the coffee pot. “By the way, who made this coffee?”

“Robin.”

“Thank God, I would die if Wally made it again.” You didn’t care who else made the coffee, just as long as Wally wasn’t the one who did.

Wally looked offended as you took his attention away from his large plate of pancakes and bacon. “What were you guys doing in the library?” He wiggled his eyebrows, but Artemis whacked the back of his head. “Ow!”

“Robin couldn’t sleep and he ended up finding me, and I was up late to make up for all the research I lost.” you pointed a glare at Robin, who busied himself with finishing a glass of orange juice.

“You didn't sleep, either.” M’gann added. “You're pretty much radiating exhaustion.” She barely had to read your mind; she easily sensed it.

“Like I said, I had to catch up on some things.” The ceramic mug of coffee warmed your hands and you took a sip. You pulled it away from your lips and sighed. “There we go, that tastes so much better... This is definitely what I need in the mornings.”

Artemis was worried about your health. You didn’t sleep much in the first place, and now you pulled another all-nighter. She smiled when you were quietly muttering about your coffee; it was rather cute.

You leaned against the counter and watched all your friends talk and banter at the table. The scene made you smile a little; they were like a family, and this is what you pictured. You only got to experience moments like these for a short amount of time when you were younger.

Robin slid on over next to you, drinking his own coffee. You didn’t take Robin for a coffee drinker, but he did make it, so he had a right. “So, you like my coffee?” He asked, and he took an obnoxious sip. “I think I did pretty good.”

You saw an opportunity, and you took it. “Aren’t you like, twelve?” The corners of your mouth turned up a little, and Artemis barely heard it but she giggled. “I didn’t think a twelve-year-old body could handle coffee.”

“I am not twelve,” Robin hissed. He started to get worked up, but he didn’t want to set you off.

“That’s exactly what a twelve-year-old would say.” You reached for the almost empty coffee pot, but Robin grabbed it at the same time. His hand was over yours, and you had a solid grip on the handle. He was essentially holding your hand. You just wanted the coffee. More for it’s taste, rather than the caffeine. Caffeine had very little effect on you, unless consumed in horrendously large amounts.

Robin narrowed his eyes behind his sunglasses. He wanted the coffee almost as much as you did. “Care to let go?” He didn’t even register that he was grabbing your hand, not the handle.

“You’re the one holding my hand.” You stated, raising an eyebrow. The words caused most of the team to stop talking and stare. Mockingbird? Robin? Hand-holding? What kind of tomfoolery is this?

Robin looked down at your hand in his and he yanked it back. His face turned a light pink and he became very flustered. ‘Did that just happen?’ Of all the things he was going to do today, holding Mockingbird’s hand was not on the list. He was unhappy.

The moment his hand left yours, you quite literally sprinted out of the kitchen with the coffee pot in hand. Your own cheeks were dusted with pink, but you shut that down as soon as it started. “No time for that.” You grumbled. You quite literally slid into your room and slammed the door. The noise echoed throughout the cave, and you had the rest of the coffee to yourself.

“You held her hand!” Wally taunted. It was like elementary school all over again; a boy holds a girl’s hand and everyone flips their shit. “And you didn’t try to fight each other, that’s a great improvement. I’m so proud!”

Artemis rolled her eyes. “And how old are you?” Wally acted so childish sometimes, but it wasn’t something she would want to change about him. She didn’t want him to change at all.

The smirk he had was contagious. “I’ve been told sixteen, but I can be as old as you want me be, babe.” Wally winked and he leaned back in his chair so the two front legs were off the ground.

He didn’t see her place a hand on the back of his chair because he was paying more attention to her face getting closer. Wally was entranced by her sparkling dark grey eyes, so much so that he had the shock of his life when he ended up on the floor in an odd position with his chair. “You’ve got to be kidding me...” And to think that he was so close.

The group shared a good laugh as Wally pulled himself up from the floor. He put his chair upright, sat in it, and proceeded to pout like a child. “Okay, okay, for once, take the attention away from me, and put it back on Robin.” Wally held his hands up, then gestured to Robin.”Have you guys not noticed how their behavior has changed recently? Aside from that whole ‘sorry I wiped your tablet’ thing, of course.”

Robin opened his mouth to aggressively deny it, but it was no use.

“Yes, I have, now that I think about it.” Kaldur pondered. “That is normal for those who will soon find their soulmate, yes?”

“So I’ve heard.” Artemis said, and a slow smile came across her face.

Conner didn’t know much about the whole soulmate system, but he was catching on. “Are you saying that they could be soulmates?”

Robin was mortified. The last thing he thought he wanted was to be your soulmate. His mind never willingly touched the idea of being your soulmate. But oh how he yearned for one. That probably was the reason he was acting out of character, but he didn’t want it to be you. At least, his brain didn’t. His heart had something else in mind.

“No! They are not!” Robin snapped out of it and added his input on the situation. “Not going to happen! I am not to be soulmates with Mockingbird!”

“I’m going to laugh when you are.”

“No!”

Kaldur shrugged. “I guess we will find out in five days.”

Robin never thought that he would anticipate and dread his tattoo date at the same time.

You were still feeling odd by the time you looked down upon Gotham City from a tall building. It was the end of a long but relatively enjoyable day. Although you usually patrolled Star City, you took a little detour on your way back to Mount Justice. You took full advantage of the zeta tubes; Star City and Gotham City were legitimately on opposite sides of the country. If someone said you could get there and back with your motorcycle in one night, you’d laugh in their face.

You crawled and jumped until you sat next to a gargoyle. You let your legs hang over the edge as you studied the life that pulsed through the city. So many people, so many places to be. Cities like Gotham were like complex clockwork; interesting but difficult.

A mother and a father with their two children walking through the park caught your eye. They looked so... happy. Smiling and laughing with each other in a cruel world. The park was lit with streetlamps, so they could see their way through the night and get home safely. Hopefully.

You remembered those days. Being happy with your mother, father, and older sister. At the time, you hardly knew what crime was. It never came close to touching you, you never saw it, and it never crossed your mind. You didn’t know what it was like until it was ripped away in a matter of minutes. One moment, you were with your family on your way back from eating out. The next moment, you were chained to a wall and gagged in a dimly lit basement of a warehouse turned into a lab.

You often wondered about what life would be like if that didn’t happen. How different would things be if you and your family weren’t kidnapped? What if you didn’t end up being the only one to survive the experiments? Maybe instead of running through the night, taking out criminals or sitting next to gargoyles, you’d be sitting at a dinner table, eating with your family while talking about your day.

The family you had now, the team, you wouldn’t trade for the world. But you sometimes still begged and cried for the family you once had years ago. You had the memories of them, but you couldn’t remember how they felt. You remembered the sounds, but not the love in them.

Just as a tear started to fall, you heard the loud woosh of a cape, but you weren’t alarmed. You adjusted to the sound of Batman’s cape; he wasn’t amused when you made the noise back. “Mockingbird.” His deep baritone voice was a favorite of yours to mimic.

“Batman.” You said just as solemnly.

“Why is she in Gotham?” Robin asked through Batman’s comm. The Dynamic Duo were making their nightly patrol, and they separated to cover more ground. “Doesn’t she know that this is our territory?” Robin instinctively morphed back into his irritated self when you were mentioned. You weren’t expecting anything different.

“What are you doing in Gotham?” Batman inquired. He also noticed something was off about your behavior lately, but anyone could tell that you were sad.

You didn’t even turn to look at him. “Honestly?” You didn’t try to hide your emotion. “I’m thinking about what my family could have been. If I didn’t become a stupid Mockingbird.” It was one of those moments when you would trade anything, even your powers, to have them back again.

Batman knew that you blamed yourself, even if you didn’t realize it. He knew he did when his parents were shot. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“I never said it was.” You voice started to have an edge to it. The dark corner of your mind sometimes said it was your fault, but it was never something you voiced. “We finished things up in Star City, so I decided to drop by on my way home.”

“Does Black Canary know you’re out here?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t. But then again, it’s not like she dropped me off in a mountain and told me ‘this is your home now, learn to work with others, have fun’.” You didn’t know what made your mood plummet that night, but it was noticeable.

Dinah knew your parents, and vaguely you and your sister, before things changed. It made even more sense to become her protege when you came back with the sound manipulation powers of a mockingbird. You thought of her as a mother figure overtime, and she saw you as a daughter in return. When you moved to Mount Justice, you felt like you were kicked out of the home you grew used to. You enjoyed living in the cave now, but it still stung.

“Isn’t it a school night?”

“Yes,” you weren’t used to having this long of a conversation with the Batman. Normally, you were getting scolded. “Remind Robin that school pictures are on Tuesday. I know I’m not looking forward to it.” You went to the same school Robin did, but he only heard about you going there once or twice.

You and Batman stood in a comfortable silence while Robin started to impatiently chatter through the comm system. When he stated that he was on his way to Batman’s position, the tall and brooding vigilante looked down at you. “Robin is on his way.” He understood how you and Robin interacted (he ranted about you often enough), so he warned you ahead of time. Even though you weren’t his protege or particularly close to him, he sympathized with you. He knew what it felt like to be in your position.

“I’ll take my leave then. Thanks for not kicking me out.”

You heard the woosh of a smaller cape, and you briefly saw his black, red, and yellow colors before you gracefully jumped off the building.

Robin nearly choked on air and he ran over to the side of the building, hoping you weren’t a human pancake. But he saw nothing. Only a busy street that was bustling with people and taxis and cars.

“Black Canary hates when she does that.” Batman stated after a short pause.

“I can see why.”

#dick grayson x reader #dick grayson imagine #dick grayson #robin #robin imagine #robin x reader #young justice #young justice imagine #young justice season 1 #young justice x reader #artemis #miss martian #superboy #kaldur #kid flash #soulmate AU #the bird tattoo

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