#I had a lot more comics planned to cover act 4 but none of them where really good or interesting or funny kfjgjfjf

[shapelytimber]

Wdym it's been 5 months ? Anyway, here is the end of my little comic serie about this niche Skyrim mod

*Insert me 100%ing the 4th arc of the hit mod 'vigilant' for the elder scrolls V Skyrim with little difficulty having a grand ol' time*

I messed up my files so Teldryn divorced me while I was away ckgkckkc And you know what good for him, he got a cottage and a kid out of it

[PART 1] - [PART 2] - [PART 3]

[COMMISSIONS]

If you're interested in my thoughts about this mod, you can read that below (it's fucking long so I'm sparing you all just here for the art to have to scroll through all that) vvv

A fantastic mod for sure ! I had so much fun, the voice acting was (for the most part) quite impressive, the music !!!!!!!!! Excuse me who gave this mod permission to have this fucking banger of an ost ???? Loved the new environnements, and there was so much of them !! Especially in act 4, I felt that all the locations had a unique and gorgeous aesthetic (frankly it was the most fun I had doing dungeons in skyrim... the bar is on the floor tho- if I ever see another nordic tomb or draugr I'll not be responsible for my actions), and fucking impressive mise en scene.

And the fights were so fun ??? In skyrim ?? Incredible.

But I still have some problems with it- first let's get the elephant out of the room : act 1 and 2... Boy oh boy were they not so great- I get that the begining is a slow burn to 1) get to know the vigilants of stendar, and 2) drive home the fact that the vigilants are quite incompetent and stendar hates them. Ok this is cool ! And they definetly were some highlights, like with the story of the three kajiits (I'm not good with remembering names (forshadowing for later-)), the ending of act 1, and uuuuuuuhhhh underground windhelm looked sick in act 2 !

But the quests in general were not very fun, at least not fun enough to distract me from the parts of the scenario I understood- which were kind of sexist and not that interesting (the sexism doesn't get better with act 3 and 4 but at least I'm having fun)- like I don't expect great women characters, this is still a tes mod, and it definitly doesn't get to "the man writting this is a fucking creep and I'm not playing this any longer" territory... But all the women we interact with are either : prostitutes, mothers/wives, or abuse(it's nearly always rape) victims- like I don't really mind that the first quest is to track down a vampire prostitute who propose to show me her sweetrolls, but it gets pretty tiresome after a while (and kinda ridiculous, like do all the big musley men I'm fighting in act 4 have to angst about their wives ? Can't a big musley woman angst about her partner too...). The worst one is Lamae Bal. From the charadesign, to the dialogues with her, to her story- hated that.

And also we don't have much dialogue choices and ways to influence the story in these 2 (3) first acts. Which I understand like this is a lot of work for fan content, but it's such a stark contrast to act 4 it's a bit jaring.

But speaking of the story... I get this is a very thoughtful and well researched story. A lot of work reading the tes wiki as been done by the author... But I, on the other hand, did not read the entire extended lore wiki- and I admit I was not understanding any of it during Act 4. Like I got a general idea, and the epic, dramatic and emotional moments were still impactful ! But I really don't think the author did a great job getting the story accross, and the more the mod progress, the more this problem becomes relevant. The recuring problem of tes games is that they have really deep interesting lore that we rarely get to see in the games ; the problem of this mod is that we get presented with this lore as if we already knew it.

And after watching an explaination of the story, it's such a shame because it's really good !! And well written ! But I don't think I should need a youtube video to understand it...

Also omfg I am not good with names mod please- everything has like 2-3 different weird fantasy names (but it's never explained it's the same thing, and what the thing is is never explained-), there is a billion men characters with weird ass long names, and the mod expects me to remember them all 5-6 hours after they got killed ??? I don't remember them 5 seconds after I'm done talking to them-

But I had fun playing it, and that's what matters <3 and I'll never get other twink molag bal <3

Also, my mage dragonborn is even more op now omg I can summon an army of 8ft musle men + molag bal + Jyggalag ??? The only fight I had a bit of trouble with was Pelinal's, the rest got obliterated easily (by Pelinal) kgkgkfjfifb

I'll probably need to nerf Elaris at some point in the future-

[shazos]

Rouxls is Hiding Something Big: A Deltarune Theory

FORENOTE- For some needed context, it may help reading my previous Deltarune theory here for important details that I will cover in this post. (My previous theory provides notable evidence on why Gaster is indeed the “Knight” figure talked about by multiple characters in Deltarune.)

Now, this is going to sound crazy. But after much time of poring over and analyzing Deltarune, I have come to a conclusion. One that I’ve been convinced of for awhile now. Something that’s been lying right under all of our noses without many of us even realizing it. We have all been bamboozled. Hoodwinked. Tricked. Why, you may ask?

Because the comically stupid and inept Duke of Puzzles is actually... not an idiot. No, he’s the complete opposite. He is a downright mastermind.

As collective players, we are all falling into the same trap once again. Putting faith into a character’s preconceived personality !

When their true personality turns out the complete opposite of what we expected...

It is here, my evidence for this claim begins—and we delve into the true identity of Rouxls Kaard. Buckle up everyone, cause this one’s gonna be a fun ride. 👀

So, to spill the beans up front, and get it over with. I believe Rouxls Kaards identity... is none other than W.D. Gaster in disguise.

Now. I didn’t immediately become invested in this theory—I was skeptical at first like everyone else. But, once I began examining Deltarune and all of its characters a bit closer...things weren’t exactly adding up about the Duke of Puzzles.

Point #1: Anagrams

I initially began to become suspicious of Rouxls Kaard because of his odd name. Sure, it is a play on the words of the term, “Rules card”. But it is spelt in such a peculiar way. If it were just simply a play on words, I think that there would be a much better way of going about spelling it rather than just jumbling a bunch of random letters together. There is a very intriguing reddit post found here that goes more into depth about his name that ties well into my theory. The thing that stood out to me in particular, is that Rouxls’s name is actually also an anagram for “A Dark Soul RX”, (with the left over RX typically being used in terms relating to doctors/medicine.) Not only is Gaster a Doctor, but he’s also always associated with darkness and the research of souls. Toby loves his anagrams—so I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if this was intentional. But it doesn’t end there.

I’ve noticed that Toby Fox has a tendency to tease certain things about his games through merch. And wouldn’t you know it—he has in fact, a particular item on fangamer of a “dark heart.” One which description describes the Angel’s Prophecy. Hm...

But let’s back on track onto my second observation, shall we?

Point #2: The Physical Resemblance to Gaster

Now, there seems to be some interesting foreshadowing related to inverted colors in Deltarune. Before Ralsei takes his hat off, he appears black. But once he takes his hat off, voila, his colors are inverted, and he is revealed to actually be a white goat highly resembling Asriel.

In addition, the entire Dark World is literally just. An inverted version of a normal world.

The Dark World could have hypothetically been the created world/experiment that Gaster had fallen into in the first place. After all, his experiment had to do with “darkness”, and “negative” photons--AKA the Dark Fountains, and the negatively/inverted landscapes of the Dark World.

And how does Rouxls Kaard appear inverted anyways? Well, he looks like THIS.

He even has the strange dangling lip thing—which another character said to directly resemble Gaster, Seam, has as well:

In addition, if you look at Rouxls’ text-box profile very closely, his eye colors are actually mismatched which is a rather interesting detail!

Point # 3: His Accent is Extremely put on.

I think anybody that has read any sort of Shakespearean/Old English writing, can instantly realize that Rouxls is as bad as imitating an Old English accent as a high-schooler reading Hamlet for the first time. Rouxls absolutely butchers it. He practically adds eth, and est at the end of any word he chooses, and calls the job done. What is even more interesting though, is when he gets nervous or panicked, he drops the act all together and talks normally.

Point #4: He is Pretending to be Dumb; His Puzzles are Actually Impressive!

I found it intriguing how there are countless puzzle traps in all the forest areas and in the Card Castle prison that were actually very well done. You have to flip the spades, diamonds, hearts, etc to unlock doors, and open secret chests. They require a decent amount of thinking skills, and are actually competent. But who made them?? Oddly enough if you observe one of them in the forest areas, it appears that Rouxls Kaard vandalized one of the puzzles to make it harder for the player to beat it—which further implies that he actually indeed made those puzzles himself. This shows that Rouxls is much more competent than only being able to make a single box shove puzzle that is comically easy. Where else do we see a place full of plenty of rather well made puzzles + traps seen? All throughout the Core in Undertale—a place which Gaster himself created!

Point #5: Rouxls IS Aware the World is a Game--AKA DON’T FORGET TO READ NPC DIALOGUE FOLKS!

I think it is well aware by now that Rouxls likely wants us as the players to underestimate him--and deem him a fool so we wouldn’t bat an eye at what he’s actually up to. But the most biggest give away to this is something that I have surprisingly seen no one mention at all. And oh boy, it is the most damning evidence that Rouxls is no idiot to be trifled with.

To the left of Seam’s shop, there can be found a little group of former puzzle-makers that used to live at Card Castle, until they were fired and replaced with Rouxls Kaard. They are now all out of a job, and are just barely scraping by since the Spade King didn’t give them any severance pay. However, Rouxls Kaard offered them a way to get money--by selling the tutorials he made.

These tutorials go over TP, stats, information about Susie, Ralsei,  and Kris. Rouxls Kaard has never once met any of the players yet--and he knows everything about them. He knows about stats. He knows the world is a game.

HOW??

In addition, when you talk to Rouxls in his shop, he calls you three the Heroes of Legend. He is well aware of the Angel’s Prophecy. He knows.

Whenever any character in the world of Undertale & Deltarune knows that the world is a game, it is an instant red-flag. It goes to show that they know much more than they let on. Flowey and Sans are big examples of this in Undertale. Pure hearted, dorky idiots that we trust earlier in the game--but wind up seeing the real side of them later on.

...So why should we treat Rouxls any differently?

Point #6: The “Control Crown”

Something that I immediately thought was kind of weird, was the fact that Rouxls Kaard was able to control the K. Round with a “Control Crown” device. If he is so stupid, how was he able to create a full on mechanical device that can brainwash a life-form into being violent/cause it to triple in size?! That is genius material right there!

But things start to take on a much darker side when you begin to look at the subtext of this realization, which I will get to in a moment...

First of all, Seam claimed these exact words.

The remaining king was the Spade King-- as the King of Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs are seen to be locked up in the Dungeon. Therefore, the Spade King put the Knight, and his strange son into power. IF it were the Spade King in power, the dialogue box WOULD have said “himself”. Therefore, the Knight, and his strange son were put in place to control the kingdom. And who are they?

Gaster/Rouxls Kaard, and Lancer.

Evidence to back this up:

Lancer calls Rouxls his “Lesser Dad”. And Rouxls calls Lancer, his Strange little darling/son.

The Spade King is not in charge. During his boss-fight, he states that he obeys the word of the Knight.

If you observe more of Lancer’s dialogue in the scene right before the gang enters Card Castle, he states that his dad, (Spade King), recently forced his troops to listen to Lancer instead. Therefore, Lancer is by all respects actually second in command to the Knight.

One of Rouxls main interests is...Lawmaking. Even though he is just supposedly an innocent Duke of Puzzles.

Another one of Rouxls main interests is...Cages, and long strolls in the dungeon... 

There are innocent puzzle-makers locked up in the Prison who are terrified--they were arrested for the simple act of making a puzzle without a license. HM, I wonder who could have possibly locked them up? *Wink wink nudge nudge*

And what ties this all together, is perhaps the most obscure, tiniest detail that no one would have likely observed on a first play-through. If you go to the first floor of Card Castle and click the description tablet next to the elevator to the Prison, it claims that the Prison used to just be a Basement Which Just Happened to Have a Lot of Cages. This is backed up by the caged animals in the basement, who say that they miss the “good old days” when they used to be the only ones there in cages, and not a bunch of people behind bars.

In summary, Rouxls is locking up a bunch of innocent people, and playing nice to our faces. He IS the knight. And he is not to be underestimated.

Point #7: Rouxls’ Plan is Already Set in Place

The part where this theory gets a little dark, ties back to my mentioning of the control crown earlier.

If you observe the throne room, it looks like it was recently torn apart in a sort of...conflict.

Why was the Spade King the only king left un-caged to begin with? Why wasn’t he locked up too?

Well...Rouxls Kaard needed someone to put him in charge. But not only that—he needed a scapegoat. Someone to blame. Someone to be “The Bad Guy” for the Heroes to fight.

The Spade King...is actually innocent. He is obeying the Knight, because he is being controlled by a Control Crown. The throne room is in ruins because the Spade King likely fought against this at first, but Rouxls won and successfully put the Spade King under his command. I thought it was strange how the King was so...violent. So irredeemably evil, and even murderous toward his own son Lancer. Yes, it could be argued that this is indeed his true personality, that he is a complete, abusive jerk. But, the whole ending battle of Deltarune chapter 1 feels so...set up in a way? It feels so starkly good vs evil, black and white. Almost like a play.

And oh boy. I think I was onto something.

If you pay close attention to the fight with the Spade King, there is a brief moment at the beginning where he is completely shrouded in shadow. Except. For. His. Crown. It glows stark white in comparison to himself. Like a Chekov’s Gun if you will.

And even more interesting, in the supposed good/pacifist ending, the Spade King is locked up in Prison, the other three kings are still locked up in cages, everyone else is freed, and Rouxls and Lancer now have full control of the kingdom...

Guys. We just played right into Gaster’s hands.

Point #8: Seam Knows that Rouxls is the Knight...

The final observation that genuinely makes me convinced in this theory, is a small detail I noticed at the end of the Pacifist run of Deltarune. Once you have beaten the game, and all of the prisoners are freed, everyone comes to celebrate at Card Castle for your victory. Everyone, except for Seam. That is because Seam knows what the “Strange Knight” did to Jevil. He knows who the Strange Knight is. And he knows what the Knight’s true intentions are.

Point #9: Extra Tidbits I noticed:

When compared to the other denizens of card castle, Rouxls seems out of place. He is the one vaguely humanoid character among a bunch of card and chess themed Darkners. 

His puzzle is... too easy.

Rouxls is oddly excited about overthrowing the king/taking his place. 

Rouxls is well versed in calligraphy of all things. (Relation to fonts + letters.)

Rouxls “sparkles” have an odd resemblance to the shining save states...?

He makes pop culture references, such as ones seen here and here. Could just be random throwaway jokes, but often times more “aware” characters such as Sans and Papyrus are keen on breaking the fourth wall at times/making references to relate with the audience.

His hair looks strangely out of place. Especially the hairline which is really receded to an unnatural degree on the left side. It’s a wig guys...

He gets a suspiciously new position for no reason at all. In any normal situation, he would be extremely unqualified for it if he were as stupid as he makes himself out to be.

Rouxls is literally wearing armor, akin to a medieval knights.

If you pay close attention, Rouxls has a few very subtle similar speech patterns to Gaster. They both occasionally repeat words twice. They both use the words wonderful and truly a lot, etc.

When Kris and the gang beat the K. Round, Rouxls said it was just to test their abilities.

Rouxls theme has leitmotifs from Gaster’s theme.

End of discussion. Deltarune’s finale is legit going to be Gaster getting his wig snatched.

[greatqueenanna]

Delving deeper into Agnarr and Iduna's story.

Ever since I wrote the first part of this analysis, I’ve gotten a pretty positive response for it - most fans recognize that, while reckless, the choice of separating and isolating the girls was the only choice Agnarr and Iduna had with this unique situation. Tragic in every way, but necessary.

However, one of the things that are still being discussed to this day is whether or not Frozen 2 addressed the separation and isolation properly - that is, if the more subtle approach and scattering it across multiple installments was enough to really delve into the complexity of the separation and the trauma the girls faced.

The main content that addresses this element was Frozen 2 (obviously), Forest of Shadows, Dangerous Secrets, and True Treasure. Given that not everyone has access to or is not aware of a lot of the side books, it makes it difficult for everyone to get the full story. Because of this, I want to explore the full story of Agnarr and Iduna and go over how each of these installments, including the film itself, addressed the separation.

Part 1: Frozen 2

While Frozen 2 left out a lot of complexities when it came to the separation, there were indeed two scenes in particular that really delved into this element - particularly for Elsa.

When the sisters find the ship is the first of these scenes. Here is where Anna and Elsa witness what their parents were willing to do in order to give Elsa a better life.

"Ahtohallan is the source of the magic - We keep going. For Elsa..."

Here, we clearly see that while it wasn't directly stated, Iduna and Agnarr realized that the separation wasn't working and that they were willing to fight the storm if it meant that they could fix their mistakes.

Elsa: This is my fault, they were looking for answers about me.

Anna: You are not responsible for their choices -

Elsa: No, just their deaths.

Anna: Stop. No. Yelana asks why would the spirit reward Arendelle with a magical queen? Because our mother saved our father. She saved her enemy. Her good deed was rewarded - With you - You are a gift.

In this conversation, we see Elsa recognizing that her parents wanted to find answers for her in order to give her a better life. Thank goodness Anna is there to redirect the conversation and explain that they made this choice on their own and that Elsa is not to blame for it. She then helps explain to Elsa that she is a gift, not a bad omen that caused misery to others.

It is through this scene that Elsa (and Anna) see that their parents wanted to try and find answers, to give them a better life. This is the sisters witnessing the parents agree that their situation needed to change and that their choices were not working.

The second scene that explores this is Show Yourself. This entire scene is Elsa finally realizing that she is allowed to be herself.

Throughout Elsa's childhood, the parents thought that Elsa should hide her emotions with her gloves in order to conceal the magic (due to their own traumas that we will explore more in part 2). Elsa felt that she wasn't allowed to be herself as it would lead to someone being hurt.

In this scene, Iduna confirms to Elsa that she is indeed allowed to be herself, directly contradicting and going against whatever fears they themselves gave her or what Elsa may have instilled into herself during the separation.

"Show Yourself. Step into your power. Grow yourself into something new. You are the one you've been waiting for all of your life."

Here we see Iduna letting Elsa know that she can be herself, and no longer needs to apologize for her powers. This leads to Elsa's full self-fulfillment because not only does she have the love of her sister and the respect from her people, but also the approval from her parents that she is ok.

Part 2: Dangerous Secrets

In this novel, we get more explanation as to why Iduna and Agnarr thought that giving Elsa the gloves to conceal her emotions was an acceptable plan. In my original post, I argued that Agnarr never intended for Elsa to hide her emotions. However, this was proven to be false in Dangerous Secrets, as we are given the origin of this mantra.

Agnarr was taught this from Lord Peterssen, his father's advisor. Because the young boy was scared to be King at such a young age and thought that his emotions would be a weakness, Petersen told him that he needs to "Conceal, don't feel" in order to appear stronger. Given that this was the only way he was taught to deal with emotions, both from this man that acted as a guardian to him and his own father, Aganrr thought that it was appropriate to teach Elsa as well.

Iduna was taught the same thing from Peterssen, but for a different reason. As Iduna was Northuldra, she had to hide her true self from the Arendellians in order to stay safe - something that was further pushed by Petersen when she wanted to tell Aganrr the truth of her origins before their marriage.

Later on, we see Iduna especially, given how she relates to hiding her true heritage to Elsa's struggles, realizes how wrong this thought process was.

"Since then (the accident), Agnarr had tried to help her (Elsa) do just that - control her emotions, control her magic(....)It hadn't worked, In fact, things had only gotten worse. "

I cringed at the idea of the coming explosion, which at this point seemed unavoidable. It could be devastating not only to her, but perhaps to the entire kingdom. That was why we had her here, tucked away, I tried to remind myself. But all the rationality in the world couldn't quash the guilt. The kind of thing villains did in the storybooks - not heroes."

"My whole life I was told to hide," I said after a pause. "I don't want Elsa to have to grow up doing the same."

We also see Iduna telling Elsa directly that hiding her emotions was not a good way to control her magic, and would only make her feel worse.

"I know that's what your father has told you," I said, slowly. "And maybe it does help, for a time. But squashing down your emotions can only work for so long. Before you feel like a powder keg. Ready to explode."

Iduna later confronts Aganrr about this, convincing him that they needed to find a better solution. Agnarr agrees, setting the expedition himself to Ahtohallan.

Part 3: Forest of Shadows

Many people put forward that Anna's trauma from the separation was not addressed. Frozen 2 focused more on Anna's dependency on her loved ones for validation. She had to lose everything in order to depend on herself. It was written very well, but there was still an element that seemed missing from Anna's development - Anna's feelings of low self-worth that stemmed from the separation. This is where Forest of Shadows comes in.

While I feel that Anna did not need the validation from her parents as much as Elsa did, given that her relationship with her parents was not as strained, it would still be nice if the story acknowledged where these feelings came from in the first place.

This book covers Anna's feelings about herself, and whether or not she can be trusted with important information and tasks. The book has Anna directly relate this fear to her parents hiding Elsa's powers from her.

"Something scraped in Anna, like a rough crumb caught in her throat. Because...well, her family's burdens and secrets hadn't been for everyone. Or at least, they hadn't been for Anna. Her father had let a mountain troll bundle away Anna's memories of Elsa's ice magic, and he, her mother, and Elsa had all worked together to keep it a secret from Anna."

This is important because it shows that Anna realizes the root of her feelings of inadequacy comes from - not from anything she herself has done but from how her family chose to approach the situation.

Throughout the story, Anna struggles with the idea if she is capable of handling important and serious situations. Anna finally gets her answer when she sees that Elsa was planning on leaving Anna in Arendelle while she went on a grand tour. Anna wanted to go with Elsa but felt that she didn't want her to go because she didn't feel Anna was capable enough. However, we come to find out that this is not true.

"I, Elsa, Queen of Arendelle, do hereby proclaim my sister, Anna of Arendelle, Keeper of the Kingdom while I sail on the grand tour. She is kind, thoughtful, and loves Arendelle with the whole of her heart. There is none better than her to watch over the kingdom while I am away."

Anna realizes that the only person that felt she was incapable was herself, not Elsa or anyone.

Of course, this is nice but wouldn't it have been wonderful for Anna to hear it from her parents as well? I agree, and this is one of the many reasons why Anna fans were upset that this deleted scene was removed. While the feelings of the parents in this scene were made canon by Dangerous Secrets, Anna still never got to hear it directly from them.

We can have some comfort, however, in the next part.

Part 4: True Treasure

Psst, you all can read the full story here. After you read, please support the writer and artist by purchasing the comic when you are able to.

True Treasure is unique in that it is a comic book that explores the sister's relationship with Iduna during the separation years. The sisters later find out that Iduna had set up a treasure hunt for them, and the girls use their memories of different events to discover the prize.

However, what is especially amazing about this book, is that it has Iduna (and Agnarr) directly apologizing to the sisters for separating them.

Later, Elsa and Anna say that they are ready to move forward and make their own futures together.

Conclusion

Thus, from all these sources, we see that the separation and the trauma it caused to the sisters were indeed addressed. Given that it was done in multiple installments, it might be difficult for everyone to see the full story. So, I wanted to provide it all for you here, so we all can know the parent's full story.

Iduna and Agnarr were taught their whole lives that they needed to conceal their emotions and true selves in order to stay safe or appear stronger. Wanting to keep both their daughters safe, and Arendelle, they thought that separating the girls and isolating Elsa would be the best choice. This was never meant to be permanent, as they both wanted their daughters to be together again. While Agnarr worked directly with Elsa to help with her magic, Iduna worked behind the scenes doing expensive research.

As the years went by, Iduna started to feel incredibly guilty about the separation and confronted Agnarr about it, who had actually come to feel the same way. They both realized that what they were taught and teaching Elsa was wrong, and the only thing it did was make Elsa's fear that she already had even worse. After creating the Treasure Hunt in hopes that the girls would be together again, the parents went to Ahtohallan to find answers for Elsa's magic, and finally, end the curse of fear that was plaguing their family.

Unfortunately, they were never able to see their daughters together again. Agnarr and Iduna are very tragic figures and knowing everything that happened only gives their story more meaning.

[ranma-rewatch]

Episode 20: You Really Do Hate Cats!

(CONTENT WARNING: This blog post contains discussion of phobias, child abuse, and people doing the worst thing to intensify those problems. Those things are in the show, I didn’t just bring them up out of nowhere.)

Well, it’s that time again. Time to grab a balloon and tell my friends what I think of an episode of Ranma 1/2. We’re starting the first arc of season two with this episode, though oddly enough I feel like I mostly remember what stuff is going to happen in it. But maybe I don’t remember right? I’d love it if that is the case. Though...speaking of that...there is a certain character I have dreaded appearing in this series, and I’d hoped he wouldn’t appear for a while, but I checked and he appears this season. I...I thought I had more time. Oh well, let’s do this episode and I’ll worry about him when he gets here.

Okay, well, for the most part, this episode is actually a lot better than I remember it being. As it turns out, some of the details mutated in my head in the decade since I last saw it, and I actually thought things were worse than they were.

The episode starts in the Kuno manor, where our favorite swordsman is practicing to once again fight Ranma Saotome. But he’s not alone, because for the first time we meet Kuno’s henchman, Sasuke. He’s a ninja, and he’ll do whatever Kuno tells him to do, but he probably won’t do it very well.

From there, we see Ranma’s dad is training him in stupid ways again, and they get back to the house to find Shampoo has mailed Ranma something from China: a pink cat. That’s a problem, because Ranma has a severe cat phobia. It’s not random, either, Genma directly created it. See, when Ranma was 6, Genma thought he should teach his son Cat Fu, which he heard about from an ancient martial arts manuscript. The way to teach it is to cover the disciple in fish sausage and through them into a room with starving cats.

Obviously, that just ended up traumatizing Ranma, and the very next page of the book would have told Genma that training someone that way is very stupid. Kasumi, drawing on the common misunderstandings people have about exposure therapy, thinks that just inviting a ton of cats to be around will help, but of course it doesn’t, it makes Ranma even more distressed. Sasuke is hiding under the floorboards though, and he runs off to tell Kuno about Ranma’s weakness.

At first, Kuno says something about how he could never cowardly use an opponent’s weakness to unfairly win, but then he still makes Sasuke tell him about it, because he can still use it to win in an honorable way. The plan they go for is pretty ridiculous: they leave a note in Ranma’s locker that Akane’s been kidnapped, and he has to go to the gym to save her. But Akane is standing next to Ranma as he reads the note, so he knows that’s not true.

He goes anyway out of curiosity, only to find Sasuke there dressed up as Akane. With the wrong color wig. Even though the trap keeps failing, Ranma walks into it anyway because he has nothing better to do, until he realizes what is going on: cats. But Ranma manages to fight the fear and pretend he’s okay, hoping to just take Akane out of there, but then it becomes clear Sasuke took the extra step of also bringing an enormous tiger.

That’s when we cut back to Genma and Kasumi, and the old man explains that he tried curing Ranma of his phobia, but his way of doing so was to just keep throwing him at hungry cats, only changing the type of food attached to his body. All of it just made the problem worse, but it also actually led to Ranma developing Cat Fu. When Ranma gets scared enough, his mind just let’s go and he mentally becomes a cat.

That happens in the basement of the school, making it easy for him to beat the tiger and escape, just in time to kick Kuno’s butt without even trying. But he doesn’t stop there, and starts running around the school still acting like a cat. Akane follows him just as the dads show up. Genma says the only way to break Ranma out of it when he was a kid was with the help of a kindly old lady, but she’s dead. So, Genma tries dressing up and doing it himself. That fails, so they try catnip, forgetting that Ranma just thinks he’s a cat, so the stuff doesn’t really affect him.

The situation does kind of solve itself, as Ranma doesn’t attack Akane, as she’s afraid of, but instead curls up in her lap to purr. The whole school is watching, so that’s embarrassing for her, but then he kisses her and she freezes for a second before throwing Ranma into the school pool. Oh, and the pink cat is watching and didn’t like that. The curse activating returns his brain to normal, and Ranma has no clue why he was thrown in a pool. Akane walks home, cursing Ranma for doing that, but sounding conflicted.

So, the big thing I misremembered about this episode was I thought Genma did all the cat stuff with 0 thoughts about how it would affect Ranma and not giving a crap how it affected his son. That is actually not the case, he’s clearly really torn up about the phobia, though he still says some bad stuff about Ranma being ‘unmanly’ for having a phobia. He even tried to cure Ranma, a few times. It’s just that, well, his actions still traumatized Ranma. Sufficient ignorance is indistinguishable from malice, as they say. Genma is still, on the whole, abusive to Ranma in my opinion, but he’s not as bad as he could have been, I have to admit.

This was also just a funny episode. The comedy largely worked, even if some of the jokes didn’t quite land. Kuno and Sasuke were especially good, and I found Ranma fighting his fear both humorous and kind of inspiring. The man has a hell of a willpower. Not going to lie, the Cat-Ranma just immediately going for Akane’s lap and then kissing her was cute, I really liked that. Of course, I’m a sucker for anything with them, so I’m an easy mark there.

It’s also interesting how this works as the first part of a large arc, because if you didn’t know that was the case I can imagine thinking this was just a standalone episode. The pink cat was the impetus for the plot, but it’s what will drive the coming episodes forward.

One thing I found annoying was how different the dub and sub were this time around, in terms of script. The dub had a lot more bashing of Ranma for being scared of cats, including from Akane. That isn’t in the subtitled version at all, and I thought the episode worked a lot better there. I’m always a fan of taking liberties with a localization in order to make the story work better in the new country, but I don’t think we needed Akane insulting Ranma for his trauma.

Hey, a Character Spotlight again! Haven’t had one of these in a bit, and this one is for Sasuke Sarugakure. Let’s start with his voice actors. In the English dub, he’s voiced by Robert O. Smith. Does that name sound familiar? It should, I talked about him recently, since he’s the one who voiced Genma Saotome in the dub as well. His voice for Sasuke is extremely comedic, going for an over-the-top pathetic voice. He makes Sasuke just sound like comic relief, which he is. What’s interesting is what the other actor does with him.

In Japanese, he’s played by Shigeru Chiba, another voice actor from this show in Japan who is just known for a billion things. Standouts include Buggy the Clown in One Piece, Emperor Pilaf and Raditz in the Dragon Ball franchise, and dubbing over John de Lancie as Discord in the Japanese dub of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I was completely shocked to hear him play Sasuke with more gravitas, using a very serious voice that one would expect from a ninja, which clashed perfectly with the situations and his character design to make the comedy far better than in the dub. One of those rare times I’m actually preferring the Japanese version!

As a character, Sasuke is interesting because he’s not in the manga at all. For reasons none seem to know, the creative team for the anime decided to delay introducing minor character Hikaru Gosenkugi, and replaced him with Sasuke. We’ll get to Hikaru when he appears, but I don’t really mind Sasuke’s addition to the show. Giving Kuno a henchman just makes his dynamic even better, and there’s something I just really like to Sasuke’s almost naive way of trying to plot and scheme. I don’t actually have any deep analysis, at least not as of yet, just wanted to give him a moment in the Spotlight for being something interesting.

I didn’t expect to like this episode so much! It wasn’t great, there were parts I didn’t care for, but on the whole I’m happy to see my expectations overcome. I’m putting this episode in the middle of the pack, at the #10 slot. It was fun, but it has a lot of better episodes when it comes to making me smile. (Or cry.)

Episode 7: Enter Ryoga, the Eternal ‘Lost Boy’  

Episode 12: A Woman's Love is War! The Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Episode 15: Enter Shampoo, the Gung-Ho Girl! I Put My Life in Your Hands

Episode 9: True Confessions! A Girl's Hair is Her Life!

Episode 2: School is No Place for Horsing Around

Episode 19: Clash of the Delivery Girls! The Martial Arts Takeout Race

Episode 6: Akane's Lost Love... These Things Happen, You Know

Episode 13: A Tear in a Girl-Delinquent's Eye? The End of the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Episode 17: I Love You, Ranma! Please Don’t Say Goodbye

Episode 20: You Really Do Hate Cats!

Episode 16: Shampoo's Revenge! The Shiatsu Technique That Steals Heart and Soul

Episode 8: School is a Battlefield! Ranma vs. Ryoga

Episode 11: Ranma Meets Love Head-On! Enter the Delinquent Juvenile Gymnast!

Episode 4: Ranma and...Ranma? If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another

Episode 5: Love Me to the Bone! The Compound Fracture of Akane's Heart

Episode 1: Here’s Ranma

Episode 3: A Sudden Storm of Love

Episode 10: P-P-P-Chan! He's Good For Nothin'

Episode 14: Pelvic Fortune-Telling? Ranma is the No. One Bride in Japan

Episode 18: I Am a Man! Ranma's Going Back to China!?

Next time we’ll continue this tale with "This Ol' Gal's the Leader of the Amazon Tribe!" which, as you might guess from the title, will introduce a new character. This one’s actually from the manga! See you then, y’all.

[harostar]

Hi! :) What are your thoughts on the latest snk chap?

I HAVE A LOT OF THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS.

First and foremost, I agree with many other people that things seemed rushed. I suspect that we will have numerous flashbacks to fill in the gaps, in upcoming chapters.

We know how our cast got from their lowest moment to now, where they are finally starting to move. Finally deciding what they want and what they can live with.

Levi’s full condition remains obscured for now, but I think it’s obvious he won’t be joining the battle on the front lines for a long time. That his lower body remains covered makes me wonder whether he has serious injuries that are going to leave him crippled, beyond the injuries to his face and the missing fingers. 

I already enjoy the dynamic between Hanji and Pieck, both strange intellectuals. I enjoyed the acknowledgement of Hanji as a Titan Researcher, as a scientist on par with the Titan Researchers back in Marley. I’ve been waiting for these parties to sit down at the proverbial table and start talking, because......like damn. They might have fought each other in the past, but their goals ultimately align. None of them trust the Old Marley, and they want to rebuild the world without destroying it. These are all smart, experienced, level-headed folks for the most point. 

Connie’s internal turmoil was painful to watch, but it’s been a long time coming. I ultimately think the confrontation and conclusion were suitable. Maybe not drawn out as it could have been, but Connie needed to explode with emotion and re-examine his priorities. He needed the reminder that the Nine Titans are not a good thing, that they come with a terrible burden and what he was going to do would have disappointed his mother. He’s been on a dark path since Sasha died, and he needed that wake-up call in realizing that he didn’t want to be that person.

Armin, as per usual, defaults to a plan that is basically:

Connie reminds him that constantly trying to get himself killed is stupid. 

Gabi and Falco have a breakdown in the background, which isn’t entirely satisfying but I think worked. We already knew that his reaction would essentially be horror and grief over the deaths that took place. But the bigger focus was on resolving Connie’s downward spiral, and him reaching a point of figuring out what he really wanted. 

The scene with Mikasa and Louise was incredibly tragic. Other people have talked at length about how Louise was ultimately a girl chasing a distant figure, worshiping her idolized vision of a person. She met Mikasa ONCE as a child, and created this entire fictionalized person in her mind to follow. She saw Mikasa’s devotion to Eren, and mimicked it blindly without understanding a single thing about them. She kept telling Mikasa how she was doing things BECAUSE of her, but they were always the wrong things. Chasing after an ideal seems to be a common issue in the series, with people coming to realize what they imagined is not the truth. Louise refused to understand the REAL Mikasa, continuing to insist that she was doing things for her.....while never bothering to listen to Mikasa, or ask how she felt about those things. 

Louise was, ultimately, kind of an obsessed stalker. She didn’t see Mikasa as a person, just an ideal to chase after. And that obsession led her into dark places, and now will end her life. She’s unrepentant, no matter how much Mikasa showed her disapproval or distress. It’s.....disturbing, honestly. And its little surprise that Mikasa ultimately has to walk away from this girl, taking back her scarf as she prepares to confront Eren. She can’t save Louise from her own self-destructive obsession, and she might not be able to save Eren. But Mikasa, at least, is asking questions and realizing what she needs to do.

Floch just.....really needs to be punched in the face until he stops moving. He’s become more and more of a monster, as the story progresses and he finds himself with more power. He gleefully wields it to stir up the masses, justifying Genocide and spinning it as a glorious thing worthy of a festival. It was chilling to watch, honestly. Floch is an evil that needs to be stopped. 

On the other hand, it was refreshing to see those old bonds renewed. Their serious discussion about Annie gets derailed because she’s right there, shoving her face full of pie. I loved that nod to Lost Girls, and Annie freaking out over the donuts. Even when confronted by the people she betrayed, Annie still awkwardly prioritizes finishing what she’s eating. 

Her face is so comical, I don’t blame Connie for losing it. After everything that has happened, I think that moment of levity was exactly what everyone needed. They’ve been through so much, and just.....reconnecting to their Trainee years, and laughing over the Ever-Serious Annie shoving food into her face was what was needed to break the tension.

Connie and Sasha always were good at breaking the ice. Good to see some things haven’t changed.

I’m sure that we’ll see more of that conversation later, how they got from that awkward meeting to being on the same page. I’m also curious as to how much the Warrior Kidlets know her and know OF her. 

And again, we go back to FUCKING FLOCH. Preparing to execute people who don’t fall into line and welcome their new Eldian Masters. He’s eager to start the genocide and purging within Paradis, because he’s drunk on the power leading the Yeagerists gives him. He’s enjoying wielding it to abuse others, and he’s eager to see anyone that doesn’t obey him die. It would start with Volunteers and Marleyan prisoners, but it would end the same way it did before with a Secret Police murdering anyone that steps out of line. In the old days, Floch would have been eagerly torturing Erwin’s father or shooting Armin’s parents. 

Onyankopon knocks it out of the park, calling the Yeagerists out on their hypocrisy. The world they are going to build is no different from the one Marley was trying to make. They have become the oppressors, eager to slaughter innocent people just trying to survive. I’ve always liked him and I love him this chapter, standing up to the mindless hatred and cruelty he is witnessing. He refuses to be a part of that. 

I’m wondering how long before we see how their plan ultimately came about? Either way, I’m forever dying at the conversation with Hanji asking Pieck whether she brushed her teeth as a Titan and Pieck insisting that’s a rude thing to ask a lady. I just......I want to see more of them interacting, their dynamic is already great.

Jean lays out the ultimate reason for everyone acting this chapter, referencing waaaaaaaaaay back to the beginning of the series. So much has changed since Trost, but Jean continues to weigh decisions based on whether he’s honoring Marco’s memory or not. The young man that wanted an easy life of comfort and safety was destroyed when his hometown became a battlefield and he had to burn the mangled corpse of his best friend. Floch tries to recruit him by referencing the selfish kid Jean used to be, and ultimately reminds Jean of who he wants to be. It was a great moment.

And okay, I just.....I just really love that after 4 years, Annie greets Reiner by kicking him in the face. It’s just their dynamic down to the most basic elements. She has no patience for him, and just kicks him out of a coma. The kids provide the buffer between old enemies, while Reiner has another moment of terror revisiting his past and everyone looks at him with such cold eyes. It seems they’ve cleared the air with Annie, as much as possible. 

It’s fitting that Connie is the one to greet Reiner and explain things, because they had such a close friendship. I’ve long wondered whether Connie’s promise would ever be revisited, and how these two would handle a reunion. We saw Reiner completely break down when confronted by Eren. Now, it’s time to see he handles meeting his former comrades. He’s been on such an ugly spiral of despair for so long, so desperate for an end to his pain and only able to continue moving forward because of the kids. He’s got a motivation to keep going in finally, TRULY helping to save the world. But there’s so much unfinished business and so much pain and trauma for the 104th to hash out. 

It’s going to be a wild ride.

[bossuary]

Having just finished Tevinter Nights, I have un fucktonne of questions and theories. But, below are a few of the subjects/problems that I can’t stop thinking about.  I’m curious how other people interpret them, or if I’ve missed some critical details, because it seems like there’s some retconning going on.

so, spoiler warnings apply, since i’m about to discuss the Big Doings below the cut.

The most immediately relevant items come from the final story, right? BUT, because of the nature of the characters, I sort of assumed that much of “The Dread Wolf Take You” is a study in unreliable narrators. Can any of the tales be believed after Charter exposes the Bard? Do we move forward assuming the puzzle pieces we’re trying to fit together are the correct ones, or tread carefully on the word of a known liar?

Nothing about the Assassin’s Tale fits the facts we know: 

Meredith’s corpse didn’t actually stay in the middle of the square in uptown Kirkwall. Her remains were taken away to The Black Emporium. (iirc, Varric mentions this in one of the recent comics)

Pieces of her sword (Certainty) were re-forged for Samson to use in service of Corypheus, a sword which eventually passes to the Inquisition.

A shard of the idol continues to exist outside of Meredith’s remains, or her re-forged blade. Depending on worldstates, the shard is either a weapon rune--forged by Sandal and given to Hawke--or it was given to Varric (who then gave it to Bianca to study, I think). 

In the comics, and in a few of the short stories, the fiasco of Fen’Harel’s agent losing the red lyrium “item” is cleverly handled from a lore-continuity perspective. It’s only ever referred to as a “weapon,” which could mean a lot of things, and allows for greater freedom in describing it in later media. Until the Assassin’s Tale, I firmly believed they were talking about Certainty. Now we’re supposed to believe it’s been the magically re-formed Primeval Idol this whole time, freshly revealed (by the equally untrustworthy Mortalitasi) as a go-go-Gadget ritual blade.

So, are the Tales a cheeky narrative lie, or is it all lore retcon? If it’s a retcon... -What ritual could the blade have originally served? -Might it actually be a key, as lots of people have theorized? -Is there really a potion that can melt lyrium? -Does Solas actually have the idol now, or was his entire story a lie to cover the truth that he still hasn’t found it?

Also, uh. . .Can Solas just. . .kill people while they sleep/dream, even dwarves? I mean, he has demonstrated the ability to create a “dreamlike” state for a dwarf Inquisitor. But, this power seems OP, even for him, and narrative reach. Possibly it’s further evidence that nothing in “The Dread Wolf Take You” can be trusted. 1. If the plans for the Fade are already underway, what does this mean for people like Evangeline, Anders, Grandin, and Sigrid, who’re possessed by spirits/demons? It’s possible they’ll be forcibly separated. Those (like Evangeline) who’re only alive because of their spirit, will likely die. Without Justice, Anders might finally succumb to the taint. 

There are probably thousands of people across Rivain and Seheron, and among the Avvar and the Dalish, who’re contentedly hosting spirits. Would these spirits allow their mortal hosts to be harmed by Solas? Or could there be resistance to his plan from the Fade side of things?

Lots of the stories in Tevinter Nights include the theme of outliers breaking ranks from within a seemingly monolithic society: the Ben Hassrath don’t support the Antaam in their campaign, the Venatori and their supporters operate in defiance of Tevinter, the Crows had one of their Talons disrupt a centuries-old pact.

Going forward in the next game, we might see a spirit faction that, for any number of reasons, acts against The Dread Wolf’s plan to sunder the Veil.

2. Why does everyone in this book describe the red lyrium idol as having only two figures, when every depiction of it that we’ve seen clearly shows three? The crowned figure is (if Solas is to be believed) comforting one person, but no mention of the other poor soul, an even more skeletal figure who seems to be missing their left forearm, and is stuck on the other side of the large ring. No love for that dingus, I guess. Very curious.

And no mention of the serpentine shape that surrounds all three of them.

3. The sea is going to be a big part of the next stage of this story. 

-Mythal’s origin has her emerging from the sea. -In “Luck in the Gardens, the 8 Venatori who were tasked with keeping the “formless” monster in its sealed prison each wore a clay amulet depicting a thin four-winged dragon rising above a sea. -“The Horror of Hormak” describes the viscous gray transformation fluid (and the monsters it creates) as stinking of brine. -The Mortalitasi’s Tale includes a reference to The Dread Wolf screaming about the Sea of Dreams. -The Executors appear to be stepping into the action, finally. They are known as ‘those across the sea.’ -Among the murals discovered during Trespasser, there are some that include imagery of flowing water: The Death of a Titan, and  Lifting the Vallaslin -Before ascending to godhood, Ghilain’nain killed all of her creations. . .except the giant monsters in the deepest waters. Lore says “Pride stopped her hand,” which could mean that she spared them because she was too proud of how perfectly-made they were. Or, that an aspect of Pride (as a demon or spirit), convinced her to let them live.

4. I’ve always thought that the painted murals of Trespasser and those completed at Skyhold are actually of a different sort, in a very specific way. Much of the ornamentation, symbology, and iconography that’s used in the various frescoes in Trespasser. . .isn’t found in Skyhold’s frescoes.   My feeling, based on these differences in style, and the uneven quality of the paintings in the Vir’Dirthara, is that the murals in Trespasser have been painted-over. 

-Thanks to Gatsi, we know that the mosaics we worked so hard to complete for the Inquisition were all re-carved by several hands over the ages, making it difficult to get an accurate interpretation from them.

-During “The Horror of Hormak,” Ramesh and Lesha encounter mosaics depicting elven kings and queens, and their subjects. But the mosaics shift and change the longer they stare at them. The scenes transform from a glittering parade of nobility offering succor to their subjects. . .to a death-march of tyrants forcing magical torments on their slaves. 

-In “Genitivi Dies in the End,” our industrious well-traveled Brother is humbled when he discovers an elven tome that depicts the continent of Thedas in superior and, crushingly, more correct detail to anything he’s ever seen. Which means that either the continent has changed dramatically, or all the maps that exist in modernity are based upon a flawed (altered) source.

There’s an established trope of people from all parts of Thedas altering relics in order to change history’s interpretation of them. So, why would the frescoes/murals be any different? I believe that either Solas, or someone loyal to Solas, altered the murals in order to obscure the truth behind them. 

If we believe Philliam, a Bard! (though, again, an unreliable narrator), the Qunari Rasaan disbelieves all of the names attributed to Solas, either by his enemies or himself. As Philliam posits, to know Solas’ true name would be know the best and worst of him, his flaws and weaknesses, and what he’d “failed to be.”

Essentially, I think we’re being misled at every turn. And this leads me to. . .

5. None of the stories in Tevinter Nights expands on the role of dwarves in past and future conflicts. We get lots of new and juicy stuff on Tevinter, Nevarra, mages, elves, the Crows, the Lords of Fortune, even the Qunari. Noticeably and glaringly absent is any mention of dwarves, titans, and how they fit into the unfolding lore.

One of the largest and most influential groups of dwarves in all of Thedas (The Ambassadoria) lives right in the heart of Minrathous. Above ground. Vulnerable to the invading Qunari and Fen’Harel’s agents.

Dwarves are as tellingly absent in this set of stories as dragons were in all the Evanuris revelations.

The one place where those two things intersect. . .is out in the Hissing Wastes, near the Sunstop mountains (which has always sounded to me like the same naming convention as Skyhold).  

Out there, we come across a dwarven thaig, the only thaig to have been built above ground, that pre-dates the first Blight. It’s called Kal Repartha, which means ‘a place where we may meet in peace.’ Paragon Fairel and his sons appear to have built the thaig as a way to escape some huge conflict in the Deep Roads. 

Statues of Mythal’s dragon form are arranged in places of honor outside Fairel’s tomb. As if in protection. 

Fairel was a rune-smith, one of the greatest who ever lived. Mythal might have worked with Fairel toward some common goal, relying on his skills to make devastating weapons, runic keys for hidden places, or repositories of knowledge best kept secret. She might have protected Fairel as a respected friend and ally.

Reaching a little deeper, Mythal may have helped separate the ancient dwarves from the hivemind control of the titans, freeing them to create their own vibrant society, far from the “witless, soulless” existence they lived as drone-like workers. 

(As an interesting aside, Fairel wrote about dragons, proving that dragons, dwarves, and the Evanuris existed at the same time)

It just seems like the root of this unfolding elven lore is the Titans themselves, the life they created in the dwarves and the tangible world, the innate power of their blood, and the knowledge that was stolen from them. Why don’t dwarves feature more heavily in the anthology?

That’s it. That’s my tinfoil haberdashery at the moment. Thoughts? Corrections?

[manggojooz]

Take My Hands Now (Part 11)

pairing: Jungkook x reader

word count: 2,342 

genre: drama, angst, romance, fluff(!!!)

summary: You were born with a condition that allowed you to feel the pain someone else was going through when you touched them. Jungkook, on the other hand, looked like he could not be any less bothered with other people’s feelings and was a well known playboy of the school. One night, at a party, while he attempted to turn you into his toy for the night, he grabbed your hand and pain crashed through you, making you wonder whether behind the facade of this pleasure seeker, he could also be hiding something.

warnings: none

Song rec: Only One - by UNB

Previous Parts: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6| Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10

He reminded himself over and over again that he is not allowed to get used to this, he cannot possibly have anyone, he should not start getting attached. To accept you now is to have someone to lose again.

But here you were... holding him again and again, even after he pushes you away, again and again. Why did you believe that he was not the part he played? The character that he portrayed just so that he can lie to himself that even if everyone leaves him, they were right anyway?

“Even if it hurts, I’m not leaving”, was all you said.  

He recalls all the instances you offered up yourself to share his pain... Even in this moment, you held him steadfast in your arms as though you were not afraid of that awful feeling resonating from within him. He should at least let you in, no, he wants to let you in.  

He starts to cower a little inside your arms, and he raises his hands to return your embrace. You felt his hands on your back, jolts of pain spread across where he held onto you. Then he snuggles his face into the curve of your neck, you felt a tiny droplet of something. Now your heart hurt way more than your body ever could.  

“It’s ok”, you whispered, to assure him that you were ok, and that he was going to be ok too.  

He only pulls you in closer.  

---

The moon shone bright as you walked with Jungkook back to the university. He wanted to send you back to your dorms but you insisted that he was the one who needed to be dropped off instead, so you both ended up heading to his practice room lair. On the way, he filled you in on what had happened.  

“Do you hate them? Is that why you ran away?”, you asked.  

He didn’t answer. Did he hate them?  

---

“You’ve been sleeping here these few days?”, you were appalled as you walked into the messy room.  

“Yeah, I've been spending the past few nights here, although there is hardly any sleeping involved...”, he moves to sit down on the couch, resting both elbows on his thighs, his hands soothing over his eyebrows.  

You see a pillow strewn on the floor and you picked it and dropped it nearer to the head of the couch before plopping yourself onto it.  

“Are you tired? You can sit here”, he flicked his head, gesturing the empty space next to him on the sofa.  

Shaking your head, you replied as you sat cross-legged on the floor, “I’m not leaving tonight till I see you fall asleep.”  

“But I can’t...”, he quipped.  

“Then I’m not leaving this pillow”, you shrugged, “... let’s see... oh right I have a morning class tomorrow and then I gotta go to work after that. Guess I'll just be really tired out since you wouldn’t sleep.”  

He doesn’t say anything, only just stares at you, knowing how relentlessly stubborn you can be. Almost begrudgingly, he lies down on the couch, resting his head on the side facing you.  

His eyes lock with yours, just long enough for him to read all your features like a bedtime story. Then he closes his eyes in contentment, trying to lull himself to sleep so that you can get some rest too.  

You mentally commended yourself for having formulated the tactic of dealing with this boy. He doesn’t care about himself, but he cares about you. You smiled to yourself.

---

Jungkook’s eyes flutter open, it was too bright at first and he resorted to squinting. When his vision finally came into focus, he thought he must still be in his dreams. Your face rested so close to him, leaning against the armrest of the sofa, having fallen asleep from watching over him last night.  

A minute must have passed but he felt like time stopped as he continued to observe you. The room seemed to be filled with all of the world’s softest things – the morning sunlight, your sleeping face and the trembling feeling in his chest.  

But the sharp ticking of the clock in the room reminded him. “Y/N”, he calls out quietly.  

You slowly wake up. “Heol, it’s morning already...?”, you slurred.  

“Aren’t you going to be late for class?”, he whispers.  

You glance at the time on the clock. “Shit!”, you scrambled up, grabbing your bag and running off to class. He tosses himself over to face the ceiling. He inhales, and his heart swells. He exhales, and his lips curl up a little. This is new. 

---

“Bye Mr Hwang, see you tomorrow”, you waved to your store manager as you left work.  

You fumbled inside your bag for your phone while walking out of the bookstore and narrowly miss bumping into the human that jumped into your path.  

“Were you late for class this morning?”, you looked up and to meet Jungkook’s eyes.  

Was he waiting for you to get off work? No no, you reminded yourself not to be presumptuous like you were last time. He might be here for other reasons, his family owns this mall after all.  

“What are you doing here?”  

He shrinks back one inch in shock. “To pick you up of course, why else? Isn’t that a given, now that we are, you know, dating?”  

“We are what?”, you gasped, without missing a beat, shocked by the suddenness of the assertion.  

“You were the one who hugged me last night, are you just gonna pretend like it didn’t happen?”, he was in disbelief over your feign oblivious attitude.  

“Wow for someone like you, I'd expect a hug to just be like shaking hands with a stranger”, you replied.  

“Well between the two of us, the benchmark should probably be you. Unless you just go around hugging everybody?”, he gasps this time, raising his hands to cover his mouth dramatically.  

You chuckle at his acting and he smiles too.  

“Aren’t you hungry... I got so hungry waiting for you”, he grouses.

---

Over dinner, Jungkook realised how fascinated he was with the notion that he is just sitting across from you. He held his food in mid-air, eyes fixed on you. That same trembling feeling in his chest appears again. He feels like he’s about to get a heart attack from just doing the most mundane things with you, things like walking, waking up or eating.  

“Why are you staring at me like this?”, it was making you uncomfortable.  

Your question snaps him out of his trance. “I wasn’t staring...”, he rebuked while choking a little.  

You gave him a ‘yeah-sure’ face until he resigned, “fine... maybe I was staring... a bit.” His confession making you smirk subtly. “But you were the one who hugged me first...”, and he just had to throw it in teasingly.  

It was your turn to choke on the food and you could only side-eye the petty boy sitting across you.  

“Did it hurt a lot?”, his tone suddenly flipped entirely, taking a downturn.  

‘You always hurt a lot...’, you thought but did not say out loud. Avoiding the question, you asked him whether he was going to sleep in the practice room again that night. “You can’t keep staying in the practice room...”, you griped.  

He nods, “I’m planning to stay in the hotel for a while and I need to go back and pack some stuff...”, he mutters uncertainly. “But...”, he continued, stuttering, “... can you maybe...”.  

“I’ll go with you. Let's go together after we finish eating”, you answered him casually.  

He was starting to believe that you really had superpowers.  

---

This was the first time you entered Jungkook’s house, it was what you imagined a chaebol’s house would look like and a little more. You realised that what the dramas have taught you were indeed true, the house was grand, but it felt lifeless, it felt cold.  

He walked up a flight of stairs, stopping midway to wait for you as you were still examining the magnificent structure around you. You quietly followed him up to his room and your heart was beating crazy fast because, well just because, you were in his room.  

“I don’t have much to pack, it won’t take long, you can just sit over here and wait for me”, he pulls out the chair in front of his computer desk and rolled it over to you.  

“It’s ok, I can help you.”  

He smiled shyly, the first time you sensed bashfulness from him, “Alright, if you really want to, why not you help me put those textbooks into my backpack.”  

You complied and turned to look at his table, a stack of textbooks piled up at one corner. While you were at it, you noticed his extensive collection of comic books on the bookshelf. There were also a few pieces of drawings on his table, most of them of comic book characters.  

You were done with packing all his textbooks and you secretly threw in a few comics for him. He told you to take the backpack downstairs and wait for him in the living room, “I’ll be down in a minute”, he assured you as you left his room.  

The grandness of the living room seemed to amplify the emptiness of the house. You stood alone, not feeling comfortable enough to sit down and wait.  

“Hi... You must be Jungkook’s friend...”, a female voice made your head jolt in her direction.  

“Hi Mrs Jeon...”

She was pleasantly surprised that you knew she was his mother, and she reaches out her hand in a welcoming gesture. You were about to reciprocate by shaking her hand, when Jungkook appears and grabs a corner of your sleeve, yanking you away from her.  

Her face falls almost immediately, more concerned than anything else. “Jungkook-ah... where have you been the past few days, you didn’t come home and I was worried, are you alright? Can we talk...”, she stammers, her lips were raised in a cautious smile but her eyes were full of sorrow.  

“I told Grandfather that I will be staying in the hotel for a while”, he said emotionlessly to her. “Let’s go”, and his voice takes a gentle turn as he gestures for you to leave with him.  

She didn’t try to stop him or say another word, but the look on her face somehow reminded you of him.  

---

“Do you really hate her that much?”, you asked as the two of you sat in the taxi heading towards the hotel.  

“Why do you say that?”, he knew immediately what you were alluding to.  

“I mean I have seen you run away from her at the hotel, and just now you didn’t even let me shake her hand”, you chose your words rather carefully.  

“I’m indifferent. And it’s not that I didn’t want you to shake her hand... I just didn’t want her to hurt you, like how I do.”

You peered at him silently. Since when has he realised this? That perhaps she felt the same way he did. He was still lying though, to himself. He wasn’t indifferent, he wasn’t entirely emotionless when it came to his family. But it wasn’t your place to push him to recognise it, you knew he needed time. Just like how it must have taken a long time for him to become like this.  

---

The hotel suite was stunningly furnished. He didn’t bring over many things, so you busied yourself making some tea while he unpacked his stuff. He steals a glance at you and stealthily takes something out from one of his bags before walking over to where you were.  

“I got this for you”, his eyes were flickering in the light, like a nervous little boy gifting a present to his first crush in school. You stared at the thing he was holding out towards you – a furry porcupine toy, around the size of a rugby ball.

“What for?”, you asked.  

You could swear he was blushing, “Uhh... just to commemorate... you know... us? Take it”, he was waving the toy into your face out of his embarrassment. Never did he think he would be doing such a cheesy thing for anyone. Truth be told he actually got the present for you some time ago, he just never had the opportunity, or maybe the courage, to give it to you.  

“It’s cute, but why a porcupine? Do I look like a porcupine to you?”, you asked as you accepted the plushie.

“Somewhat, you gotta admit you were quite prickly to me at the start”, he replied with a visible pout. It astonishes you how things have changed, you actually thought he looked innocent and cute.  

“Hey, that’s not fair! You had a reputation and I just...”, you were prepared to defend yourself.  

“Yeah that I admit”, he extended a finger in a thoughtful way, “anyway... it's me. This porcupine is supposed to remind you of me...”, he tapped his fingers on the fluffy-looking porcupine in your hands, poking its soft belly a few times, “... because I always hurt you a lot... and you can’t even touch me because I’m prickly like him.”  

“So... what are you going to do about it?”, you demanded after a slight pause, raising your eyebrows.  

“About what?”, he was stunned.  

“About these,”, you pointed at the pricks made of fluff on the porcupine’s back, “Like I said, I’m not going anywhere. If you don’t want to hurt me, you have to do something about these.”

His laughter lingers only in his throat, “Must be fun for you to use all my lines against me now.” You also let out a muffled giggle as you start to realise how much you like it when he smiles.  

“I'll think about it... about what I should do about these...”, he murmurs as he looked at you fondly but not without dejection, “... so that I can finally hold your hand.”

[jbuffyangel]

Entertainment Weekly Arrow Article

We never get any big articles of Arrow, so yeah I am posting the whole damn thing. There were some interesting little tidbits and of course discussion around Emily Bett Rickards’ exit. Is it wrong that I am low key pissed that of course Arrow gets the cover of EW after she leaves? Is it also wrong that while I’m happy Arrow is getting some attention, I’m annoyed it wasn’t an Olicity cover? Cuz that’s where I am at. (X)

How Arrow saved the TV superhero — and why it had to end

As 'Arrow' prepares for the end, Stephen Amell and the producers reflect on its origin story and preview the 'Crisis'-bound eighth and final season. 

Stephen Amell is dreading the eighth and final season of Arrow, though you wouldn’t know it on this hot, sunny July day in Los Angeles. Wearing Green Arrow’s new suit, the CW star seems perfectly at ease as he strikes heroic pose after heroic pose on a dimly lit stage. But once he’s traded heavy verdant leather for a T-shirt, jeans, and baseball cap, his guard drops and the vulnerability starts to creep in as he contemplates Arrow’s last 10 episodes, which was set to begin production in Vancouver a week after the EW photoshoot took place and premieres Oct. 15.

“I’m very emotional and melancholy, but it’s time,” Amell — who is featured on the new cover of Entertainment Weekly — says as he takes a sip from a pint of Guinness. “I’m 38 years old, and I got this job when I was 30. I’d never had a job for more than a year. The fact that I’ve done this for the better part of a decade, and I’m not going to do it anymore, is a little frightening.”

Developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg, Arrow debuted in the fall of 2012. The DC Comics series follows billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Amell), who, after years away, returned to now–Star City with one goal: to save his home-town as the hooded bow-and-arrow vigilante who would become known as Green Arrow (it would take him four seasons to assume the moniker). What began as a solo crusade eventually grew to include former soldier John Diggle (David Ramsey), quirky computer genius Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards), lawyer-turned-hero Laurel Lance/Black Canary (Katie Cassidy Rodgers), and the rest of Team Arrow. Together they’ve defended their city from a host of threats — dark archers, megalomaniacal magicians, and the occasional metahuman — while Lost-like flashbacks revealed what Oliver endured in the five years he was away, first shipwrecked and then honing his skills around the world to become someone else, something else.

The premiere gave The CW its most-watched series debut since 2009’s The Vampire Diaries. But before they launched Arrow, Berlanti and Guggenheim had to suffer through a failure: 2011’s Green Lantern, starring Ryan Reynolds. The duo co-wrote the script but lost creative control of the film, which flopped. So when Warner Bros. Television president Peter Roth approached them in late 2011 about developing a Green Arrow show, they were wary. After much deliberation, Berlanti and Guggenheim agreed, on the condition that they maintain control. Says Guggenheim, “As long as we succeed or fail on our own work, and not someone else’s work then maybe this is worth a shot.”

Their take on the Emerald Archer — who made his DC Comics debut in 1941 — was noteworthy from the beginning. Taking cues from films like The Dark Knight and The Bourne Identity and series like Homeland, the writers imagined a dark, gritty, and grounded show centered on a traumatized protagonist. “As we were breaking the story, we made very specific commitments to certain tonal things, such as ‘At the end of act 1, he has his hands around his mother’s throat.’ And, ‘At the end of act 2, he kills a man in cold blood to protect his secret,’ ” says Guggenheim.

A hero committing murder? That was practically unheard of then. Having Oliver suit up in a veritable superhero costume by the pilot’s climax was radical too. Sure, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was deep into Phase One when the producers were developing Arrow, but TV was traditionally more apprehensive about comic books. Smallvillefamously had a “no tights, no flights” rule and only introduced superhero costumes in the last years of its 10-season run, and there weren’t any masked avengers running around NBC’s Heroes or ABC’s No Ordinary Family, the latter produced by Berlanti (Let’s not even mention NBC’s The Cape, which was essentially dead on arrival and never did get its six seasons and a movie). But Arrow not only fully committed to the idea of someone dressing up like Robin Hood to fight crime with a bow and arrow, it introduced a second costumed rogue, the Huntress (Jessica De Gouw), in episode 7.

“It’s just comic book to the extreme and the fans seem to really love it,” says Batwomanshowrunner Caroline Dries, a former writer on Smallville. “They still maintain it very grounded, but it’s very different with everyone in costumes. The appetite for superheroes has changed in my mind in terms of like they just want the literal superhero [now].”

Not that the team wasn’t meticulous about creating Green Arrow’s cowl. “We had to have so many conversations to get it approved, but that’s why we got [Oscar winner] Colleen Atwood [Memoirs of a Geisha] at the time to [design] the suit,” says Berlanti. “We were determined to show we could do on TV what they were doing in the movies every six months.”

“It’s really easy to make a guy with a bow and arrow look silly. We sweated every detail,” says Guggenheim, who also recalls how much effort it took to perfect Oliver’s signature growl. “I actually flew up to Vancouver. On a rooftop during reshoots on [episode 4], Stephen and I went through a variety of different versions of, basically, ‘You have failed this city,’ with different amounts of how much growl he’s putting into his performance. [We] recorded all that, [I went] back to Los Angeles, and then sat with the post guys playing around with all the different amounts of modulation.”

That process took eons compared to the unbelievably easy time the team had casting Arrow’s title role. In fact, Amell was the first person to audition for the role. “It was Stephen’s intensity. He just made you believe he was that character,” says Guggenheim, recalling Amell’s audition. “We had crafted Oliver to be this mystery box character, and Stephen somehow managed to find this balance between being totally accessible in a way you would need a TV star to be, but he’s still an enigma.” After his first reading, Amell remembers being sent outside for a short time before being brought back into the room to read for a larger group: “I called [my manager], and I go, ‘I know this is not how it’s supposed to work, but I just got that job.’”

In the first season, the show’s chief concerns were maintaining both the “grounded and real” tone and the high quality of the stunts, and investing the audience in Oliver’s crusade. Beyond that, though, there wasn’t much of an over-arching plan, which allowed the show to naturally evolve — from introducing more DC characters, such as Deathstroke (Manu Bennett) and Roy Harper (Colton Haynes), sooner than they initially intended (the shot of Deathstroke’s mask in the pilot was meant as a harmless Easter egg), to promoting Emily Bett Rickards’ Felicity from a one-off character in the show’s third episode to a series regular in season 2 and eventually Oliver’s wife. Even the whole idea of a Team Arrow — which, over time, added Oliver’s sister Thea (Willa Holland), Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog (Rick Gonzalez) and Dinah Drake/Black Canary (Juliana Harkavy) — was the result of the writers allowing the best ideas to guide the story. “Greg used to say all the time, ‘You have a hit TV show until you don’t, so don’t save s—,’ ” says Amell.

Also not planned: Arrow spawning an entire shared universe. “We went on record a lot of times during the premiere of the pilot saying, ‘No superpowers, no time travel.’ But midway through season 1, Greg started to harbor a notion of doing the Flash,” says Guggenheim. “I’m a very big believer that it’s great to have a plan, but I think when it comes to creating a universe, the pitfall is that people try to run before they can walk. The key is, you build it show by show.” And so they did. First, they introduced The Flash star Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen in the two-part midseason finale of Arrow’s second season. From there, Supergirl took flight in 2015, then DC’s Legends of Tomorrow in 2016, and Batwoman is due this fall. “It’s like the hacking of the machete in the woods and then you look back and you’re like, ‘Oh, there’s a path,” says executive producer and Berlanti Productions president Sarah Schechter. But even though Arrowis the universe’s namesake, Amell doesn’t concern himself with the sibling series outside of the now-annual crossovers. “I never think about any of the other shows,” he says. “I want all of them to do great, but they’re not my responsibility. My responsibility is Arrow, and to make sure everyone from the cast to the crew are good.” His sentiments are seconded by Flash’s Gustin: “I don’t understand how he does it — his schedule that he maintains with working out, the conventions he goes to, the passion he has for it, and the love he shows towards fans. He’s always prepared. He cares more about that show being high quality than anybody else on the set.”

That said, the universe’s expansion precipitated what is widely considered to be Arrow’s best season, the fifth one. After focusing on magic in season 4, the show returned to its street-crime roots as part of “a concerted effort to play not just to our strengths but what made the shows unique,” Guggenheim says of balancing their four super-series in 2016. “Because Arrow was the longest-running Arrowverse show, we were able to do something that none of the other shows could do, which is have a villain who was basically born out of the events of season 1,” he explains of introducing Adrian Chase/Prometheus (Josh Segarra), whose criminal father was killed by Oliver. “That gave the season a resonance.”

It was midway through season 6 when Amell realized he was ready to hang up Oliver Queen’s hood. “It was just time to move on,” the actor says of pitching that Oliver leave the series at the end of season 7. “My daughter is turning six in October, and she goes to school in L.A., and my wife and I want to raise her [there].” Berlanti persuaded him to return for one final season, which the producers collectively decided would be the end. “We all felt in our gut it was the right time,” says Berlanti. Adds Schechter, “It’s such a privilege to be able to say when something’s ending as opposed to having something just ripped away.”

But there’s one integral cast member who won’t be around to see Arrow through its final season. This spring, fans were devastated to learn Rickards had filmed her final episode—bringing an end to Olicity. “They’re such opposites. I think that’s what draws everyone in a little bit,” showrunner Beth Schwartz says of Oliver and Felicity’s relationship. “You don’t see the [love story of] super intelligent woman and the sort of hunky, athletic man very often. She’s obviously a gorgeous woman but what he really loves is her brain.” For his part, Amell believes the success of both Felicity and Olicity lies completely with Rickards’ performance. “She’s supremely talented and awesome and carved out a space that no one anticipated. I don’t know that show works if we don’t randomly find her,” says Amell, adding that continuing the series without Team Arrow’s heart is “not great. Arrow, as you know it, has effectively ended. It’s a different show in season 8.” And he’s not exaggerating.

The final season finds Oliver working for the all-seeing extra-terrestrial the Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) and trying to save the entire multiverse from a cataclysmic event. “[We’re] taking the show on the road, really getting away from Star City. Oliver is going to be traveling the world, and we’re going to go to a lot of different places,” says Guggenheim. “Every time I see Oliver and the Monitor, it’s like, ‘Okay, we are very far from where we started.’ But again, that means the show has grown and evolved.” Adds Schwartz, “This is sort of his final test because it’s greater than Star City.” Along the way, he will head down memory lane, with actor Colin Donnell, who played Oliver’s best friend Tommy Merlyn in season 1, and Segarra’s Adrian Chase making appearances. “Episode 1 is an ode to season 1, and episode 2 is an ode to season 3,” teases Amell. “We’re playing our greatest hits.”

But season 8 is not just about building toward a satisfying series finale. “Everything relates to what’s going to happen in our crossover episode, which we’ve never done before,” says Schwartz. Spanning five hours and airing this winter, “Crisis on Infinite Earths” will be the biggest crossover yet and may see Oliver perish trying to save the multiverse from destruction, if the Monitor’s prophecy is to be believed. “Oliver [is told] he’s going to die, so each episode in the run-up to ‘Crisis’ has Oliver dealing with the various stages of grief that come with that discovery,” says Guggenheim. “So the theme really is coming to terms, acceptance.”

If there’s one person who has made his peace with Oliver’s fate, it’s Amell. “Because he’s a superhero with no superpowers, I always felt he should die — but he may also not die,” says Amell, who actually found out what the show’s final scene would be at EW’s cover shoot. “I cried as [Marc Guggenheim] was telling me. There are a lot of hurdles to get over to make that final scene.” Get this man some more Guinness!

[tardistimes]

Change: Chapter Two

Summary:  In the aftermath of X-Men: First Class, Moira MacTaggert struggles to regain her memories but perhaps with the help of Nick Fury she may come closer to discovering the truth.

Fandoms: X-Men (Prequels), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel (Comics), Agent Carter

Word Count: 3,976

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | TBC

Sitting ramrod straight with her fingers tightly interwoven in her lap, Moira waited to be called into Agent Fury’s office.

The walk back into the building she had so unceremoniously left only three days before was nerve-racking enough. Waiting for an interview, which should have started several minutes ago, with one of the highest-ranking officials in the CIA was enough to make her heart attempt to escape the confines of her rib cage.

The man who had approached her in the parking lot – Nick Fury, as she now knew – wanted to recruit her for an organisation she had never heard of, worked in a part of the building she had never known existed, and was permanently tailed by a small team of staff who seemed capable of glaring the fur off a monkey. Today was no exception, as he approached his office with several people in tow, two of whom looked ready to march into battle rather than walk the halls at Langley.

“MacTaggert.” He said calmly, his staff dissipating as he spoke her name. “With me.”

Following him into his sparsely decorated office, Moira dropped into the seat he waved her towards while he shrugged off his coat. Glancing out the window, Fury seemed interested in something happening downstairs and looked there thoughtfully for a moment before giving her his attention.

“Why did you resign from the agency?” Fury asked bluntly, although Moira had a sense he already knew everything that had happened.

“I think resign is a very nice way to put it.” Moira experimented, and when Fury’s lip twitched infinitesimally she was confident he at least knew she had called McCone an ass. “I didn’t feel that I could make any more progress within the organisation, sir.”

“You don’t work here anymore, MacTaggert. You don’t have to call me sir.” He said, leaning against the windowsill. “And I agree with you. The CIA is meant to deal with all external threats to the country. But if anything, these recent events seem to have proven that the CIA is perhaps not the organisation best equipped to deal with these... shall we call them unexplainable events?”

“I don’t think I’m the right person to comment on that.”

“On the contrary. At this moment in time, I think you are one of the few people who can. Given your recent history and your interactions with Mr Xavier. I’m quite interested to hear your judgement on the situation – about how the CIA handled it.”

“You know what happened to me?”

“I dare say at this point I know more than you do.”

“That’s not exactly an accomplishment.” Moira scoffed, shifting in her seat uncomfortably. “Look, I don’t understand why I’m here. I know you said you work with a group called S.H.I.E.L.D, yet no one I know seems to have heard of it.”

“You’re not friends with anyone who has that level of clearance.” Fury said, finally moving to sit at his desk after he gave up looking for... whatever he had been looking for outside. “I work for S.H.I.E.L.D and act as a liaison with this agency. And others. I’m not usually based here but I have eyes in this building. And I’ve worked in this capacity long enough to recognise you as a potential asset.”

Moira slowly shook her head and glanced around the room. There was none of the usual CIA insignia that was in her supervisor’s offices. Then again there was no other symbol, nothing to give her any indication of what S.H.I.E.L.D was and certainly not what it did.

“S.H.I.E.L.D was established after the Second World War and is a subsidiary of the United Nations.” Fury said, watching her carefully. “The name stands for Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division.”

“That’s quite the mouthful.”

“Hence the acronym.” Fury deadpanned. Moira bit back a smile. “S.H.I.E.L.D came about in the wake of what was called the Super Soldiers Initiative, which was run during the war. An experimental programme launched to create an army of advanced humans who could fight the war for us. You ever heard of Captain America?”

“The comic book character?” She asked, frowning as she struggled to recall the covers of the comics her Dad had collected and the one story he had told her about the stage show he had seen while stationed in Europe. There was a vague memory of a radio show about him too. “He’s fictional.”

“Aren’t we all.” He said coolly. “I know a lot of people who doubt your story MacTaggert. After your experiences, after what you’ve seen, are you still so quick to dismiss something as fantastical just because you haven’t seen it with your own eyes?”

Fury paused, watching as his words sunk in before continuing. “S.H.I.E.L.D is the world’s answer to dealing with the unexplainable. The types of events and people that organisations such as the CIA have proven themselves incapable of dealing with in an appropriate manner.”

“Like mutants?”

“Exactly.”

“If you think the CIA is so incapable, why do you want me?” She asked, still confused about why she had been approached. “I was part of the Mutants Division. Apparently. And from what I’ve been told, we nearly started World War Three.”

“Regardless of how things ended, your work impressed us. Your ability to keep a level head, even when seeing something no one else would think possible. Being able to differentiate between those who wanted to use their abilities for good instead of presuming that anything different is something to be feared. How you were able to gain the trust of individuals who had lived their entire lives working to keep their abilities secret...”

Moira cut him off. “I don’t even remember doing any of that. I don’t even know if I did that.”

Fury leaned back in his chair and for the first time since they’d started talking, Moira felt like his full concentration was on her. The power of his stare almost made her want to squirm in her seat but she met his gaze head on. “You’re referring to Xavier’s powers. Mind control?”

“Yes.”

She felt like elaborating. Trying to explain how it feels to wonder if you have control of your mind, your body. To wonder what actions were your own and what was someone else’s. Without the memory of who Xavier was, Moira had no idea what he was like. Of what kind of person he was. It seemed like he had worked against Lehnsherr in Cuba, that he had tried to stop whatever plan had been underway. But was that because he was a good person or because he was working to keep the mutant’s existence a secret? Or because he had some other plan, another ulterior motive? Levene seemed certain that he wanted to help them, that he was kind. But Levene had never had his mind irrevocably tampered with.

In the end, she bit down on the words. She had barely been able to explain it to Levene and he knew he better than most.

“You sought out Xavier after going to the Hellfire Club, correct?”

“Yes.”

“You witnessed mutants demonstrating their powers for the first time. Tell me. What was your initial reaction when you saw them? To threaten them? To call for back up or maybe even kill them? Or, to go to the top-most expert you could find and attempt to learn more about them?”

“Sir...”

“You’re exactly what S.H.I.E.L.D needs.” He stated. “We want you to join us.”

“As an agent?”

Fury nodded in the affirmative.

Moira hesitated. She needed a job but still, “If you’ll forgive me for saying so, sir, I think I’ve had enough of working for nefarious organisations to last me a lifetime.”

“S.H.I.E.L.D is very different from the CIA MacTaggert. Trust me on that.” He assured.

“Why should I?”

His attention fell away from her again as he glanced at his watch. Standing, he headed back over to his coat and pulled it on while Moira remained seated, unsure how to proceed.

“Some people are waiting for us that I would like you to meet.”

Frowning, Moira stubbornly stayed in her chair and repeated her question. “Why should I work for you?

“Because I can help you.” Fury replied, nonplussed by her attitude.

“Help me? Help me how?” She asked, a wave of annoyance threatening to break through her professionalism.

“Help you to get your memories back.”

Fury opened the door for her.

“You can do that?” She was eventually able to say, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment as she processed the idea that she could finally get some answers. That she could finally trust her own mind again.

“Let’s just say we have access to a lot of unusual resources that the CIA doesn’t.” Fury replied, motioning for her to go through the door. “So, MacTaggert. Do we have a deal?”

*          *          *

Glancing back at Fury as he closed the door behind her, Moira was ushered into the dark panelled, windowless conference room where several people were talking amongst themselves. A woman, British if her accent was genuine, was the first to greet her as she moved into the room.

Fury moved to sit at the head of the table and wasted no time in making introductions while everyone moved to organise themselves, depositing and sorting through the folders and files before them, a few of them finishing hushed conversations before they turned to new business.

“Moira MacTaggert, formerly of the CIA. This is Agent Carter, Mr Stark, Colonel Phillips, Dr Samberly and Dr Wilkes.” Fury said, gesturing towards each of them in turn. “Where’s Stoner?” He asked Carter.

Moira briefly felt as though she were on trial as all heads turned to face her as she took a seat, quickly assessing her before turning back to their work.  

“Mr Stark? Of Stark Industries?” Moira asked over the shuffling of papers, the name well known to her. Howard Stark was one of the most famous inventors and businessmen in the country.

“Urgent business,” Carter told Fury, explaining Director Stoner’s absence.

Stark gave Moira a roguish grin and shook her hand before taking the seat opposite her. “The one and only.”

What kind of organisation was this, Moira wondered as she took in the faces of those surrounding her. A highly decorated WWII officer, one of the world’s renowned entrepreneurs, two scientists, a female agent – something which particularly intrigued Moira after all her struggles at the CIA – and Agent Fury, one of the youngest people in the room and yet, from what she had seen so far, one who commanded huge respect.  

“Agent Carter, Colonel Phillips and Mr Stark founded S.H.I.E.L.D in the late 40s,” Fury started to explain, motioning at the unlikely trio. “S.H.I.E.L.D absorbed their previous organisation.”

“The Strategic Scientific Reserve. S.S.R. for short.” Carter clarified. “We, along with Drs Samberly and Wilkes, worked in the organisation both during and after the war. The organisation was highly classified,” she added, “as is S.H.I.E.L.D. So I expect you understand that anything we discuss with you in this meeting is also classified.”

“Of course.” Moira murmured.

Carter flipped open her CIA personnel file. “Agent Fury has recommended you as a field operative, a position I see you more than qualify for. I don’t know how much he has told you about S.H.I.E.L.D, but you ought to know that working for this organisation will involve a great deal of personal sacrifice. It’s not an easy job and the demands will often be high.”

“Miss MacTaggert.” Dr Samberly nervously asked. “We’ve reviewed files from the Mutants Division...”

“You have those files?” Moira sharply interrupted, watching as his hand unconsciously crept to rest on the papers in front of him.

The mysterious man who had apparently headed the Mutants Division, the man whose facility they had stayed in, was unknown to Moira – though she suspected McCone knew him. Still, the CIA had either been unable or unwilling to request the files which could explain what the division had done during her missing months. Files which Moira was sure would give her more details about her time with Xavier and his team of mutants. Files that could give her some answers.

“They’ll be shared with you should you agree to work with us. You’ll need clearance first, however.” Fury explained.

Thankfully working with the CIA had prepared her well for this level of bureaucratic bullshit, and her face remained impassive despite mentally raving at the idea that she needed clearance to read about her own life.

Samberly continued.

“Yes, well. The files detail your involvement in the Division and the work you contributed to its successes. And needless to say, we are... intrigued,” his eyes jumped around as if looking for confirmation that that was the correct term to use, “by Mr Xavier’s abilities. And those of the other mutants detailed in these files. There are reports of a shapeshifter – which is substantiated by footage – someone capable of manipulating and generating electromagnetic fields, and teleportation. While we have seen...” again his eyes jumped, this time to Dr Wilkes who nodded in encouragement, “people with, frankly unbelievable abilities, they were often unsustainable. Barring the odd case. To see people who have had powers since birth and have relative control over them is something we haven’t seen in large numbers before.”

“And from what we’ve learned they’re not only a growing community but now they’re coming together and forming their own sides.” The Colonel concluded. “Charles Xavier and,” he consulted the papers before him, “Erik Lehnsherr, appear to have opposing views on how mutants should engage with humans. According to these files, Lehnsherr seems to believe in mutant superiority and is opposed to any form of coexistence.”

“At one time he apparently referred to mutants as homo superior. That’s according to the division heads personal notes,” Wilkes interjected.

“Which causes us some concern, although we’ve seen no activity from him since the beach in Cuba. Xavier, on the other hand, seems to believe coexistence is possible.” Colonel Phillips went on. “And that’s certainly an outcome we would like to see as well.”

“So, you want to reach out to them. To Xavier and his... friends.” Moira asked slowly.

She knew that her role in the Mutants Division was the main reason she was being recruited, however, it had failed to occur to her that S.H.I.E.L.D could want her to resume her previous work. To establish communication with the mutants.

If they would let her in without wiping her mind again.

“And of course we want to monitor Lehnsherr, to see if he will develop into a greater threat.”

Moira resisted the urge to touch her neck at Phillips remark, and the faded mark from where Lehnsherr had tried to kill her with her own dog tags. “So you help me get my memories back and in return, I tell you everything I know about Xavier and Lehnsherr?”

“We want more than intelligence,” Carter answered. “You have a unique experience. Not only are you the only, potential, member of our organisation to meet mutants, you were also present to see them come together. You worked alongside Xavier and Lehnsherr as they recruited for the Mutants Division. We don’t know how much information your memories will even reveal. But we do know that you have a prior relationship with many of the people we will be reaching out to. That will go a long way in earning their trust and establishing a relationship between Xavier’s side of this faction and S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Thinking carefully for a moment, Moira looked at the three founders who sat beside each other.

“What do you want from the mutants? Once you make contact.” She asked, unable to explain her sudden wave of... protectiveness? “I don’t even know what S.H.I.E.L.D does – except what you told me before, that you deal with the unexplainable. What does ‘deal with’ even mean, that you want to study them? Use them as agents to fight your battles? Like the Mutant Division did?”

The way Phillips’ eyebrow quirked suggested he wanted exactly that, though apparently he was outvoted on the matter.

“The S.S.R only ever had a handful of operatives in its ranks who possessed inhuman abilities,” Carter said evenly. “S.H.I.E.L.D is the same. Our main purpose – our founding principle – is to protect. Whether that is to protect one man from another or to protect the entire planet against a hostile force. S.H.I.E.L.D maintains global security but that doesn’t mean we just protect humans. We also protect enhanced individuals. We don’t want to experiment on mutants or harm them if they pose no threat to us. And, from what we have learned about Xavier, he seems to pose little threat to the general populace.”

“Barring wiping the occasional person’s memory.” Moira rebutted.

“Without your knowledge, we have no reason to know why he did this,” Carter said. “But we do know he faces potential hostility from Lehnsherr and from hostile members of our species; people who don’t understand what mutants are and who may fear them because of that ignorance. It certainly gives mutants a reason to try and stay hidden. S.H.I.E.L.D can provide support if required and if not, we will leave them in peace.”

“So long as they don’t threaten anyone else’s safety,” Phillips added darkly.

Moira nodded, glancing at the six faces that were watching her intently. They seemed eager to establish a connection with the mutants: they had to be to assemble such a committee to talk to one potential recruit. But she still wasn’t confident that was their only motive.

“How do you plan to get my memories back?” She asked curiously.

Stark leaned forward slightly, taking the lead. “We need to run some tests first. Scans, blood samples,” he waved his hand, “those will determine whether there was any damage to the brain tissue, which has caused your memories to be permanently lost. We’ll also do some psychological assessments to see if there is a natural key to restoring your memories. They could have been blocked or his powers could have removed them completely.”

“So there is a chance it’s permanent?” Moira asked, her stomach dropping with dread. That was what she had feared. That her mind was damaged, perhaps beyond repair.

“Nothing is gone forever. If his powers are purely mental, I doubt he could permanently destroy the synapses. It’s more likely that he’s blocked them somehow.” Stark replied. “And even if the tests do reveal the worst, I think you’ll find we possess some unique technology that could be of use.”

Wilkes spoke up. “We have our labs set up if you would be willing to sit some tests today? I understand it’s getting late and you will want to get home...”

“Tonight will be fine,” Moira said, straightening in her chair. “What do you need?”

The three scientists opened their mouths, looking eager to start, but Phillips hastily interrupted. “Dr Wilkes, why don’t you go with Stark and Samberly to the lab and get everything you need set up. Carter will show MacTaggert the way in just a moment.”

“Of course,” Wilkes said, the three of them hastily collecting their files before half marching out the door. At least someone was looking forward to these tests.

Wilkes cast Carter a look at before shutting the door, although she didn’t appear to notice.

Phillips flipped open one of his files and slid some papers across the desk to Moira.

“What are these, release forms?”

“No. Though I’m sure the eggheads will have plenty of those for you to sign when you go downstairs.” He said, his voice rumbling good-naturedly.

Pulling the files toward her, Moira started flipping through the contracts – unbelievably they were more complicated than the ones the CIA had made her sign when she first became an agent.

“The labs contain some highly classified materials, which you need clearance to see.”

“And to get clearance I need to be an agent.” Moira concluded, scanning the documents before her. At the same time, her mind raced. Did she really want to join S.H.I.E.L.D?

There was a knock at the door and they all fell silent as a tall woman walked in to deliver a message to Phillips.

“We need to get to the next meeting.” He told Agent Fury, standing up. “Carter, would you finish up with MacTaggert?”

“Of course.”

“Ma’am,” Phillips said as he took his leave, Fury barely nodding as he passed her by.

Carter moved into the seat that had been occupied by Mr Stark, so they were opposite from one another.

“Read through the files carefully. I suspect you will be familiar with some of them from your time in the CIA, and I imagine when you joined the Mutants Division you would have signed most of these.”

“I’m not going to have them suing me if I tell you anything about the Division, am I?” Moira grouched as she finished reading the first sheet.

“No, they won’t.”

With a sigh, Moira leant back in her chair. She felt a little more comfortable airing her doubts now there weren’t so many people around. And she had plenty she wanted to discuss before she signed anything. “Did the Mutants Division fall under S.H.I.E.L.D’s remit?”

“No. We had no part in the Mutants Division’s creation or operations. We do have a strong global network however, and, barring the Soviets, most intelligence agencies work in cooperation with us in such circumstances. If they’d followed protocol, this agency should have been made known to us.” Carter studied Moira’s face before giving her a small smile. “You know, when I was first recruited into the intelligence agencies I was very reluctant to join. But I was eventually persuaded that it was the best place for me to be.”

“Why is that?” Moira asked cautiously.

“It was somewhere I could be myself,” Carter replied. “Like me, you possess a specific skill set. However, even having the intelligence, the strength and the determination, it is difficult for us to progress in the world, let alone in organisations like the CIA. The S.S.R was much the same. I was a highly distinguished intelligence operative during the war, only to spend the next few years taking lunch orders for my co-workers. I still fought, and when I got the opportunity to run S.H.I.E.L.D, to reshape the S.S.R. I couldn’t pass it up. I wanted to create an organisation that had no prejudices, that worked to serve the greater good.”

Moira repressed a snort. “Intelligence agencies protect citizens, but I would hardly say they do it for the greater good.”

Carter’s smile widened. “I know. I was very cynical too until I met a man who was so unbelievably idealistic about the world. He was a good man. Someone who would work beside me. I worked to create an organisation he could believe in. And where agents like you could thrive. If you join S.H.I.E.L.D we will work to get your memories back. You can leave afterwards, we wouldn’t stop you. But if you work for it I think you could carve out a real place for yourself here. It won’t be easy, but you’re used to that.” Carter finished, pushing a pen across the desk. “So. Do you just want your past back, or do you want to make yourself a new future?”

Pulling the papers forward, Moira began to reread them again. “And I can leave whenever I want?”

“Yes.”

Moira kept her face impassive as she started to sign the contract. She didn’t trust S.H.I.E.L.D not to lie to her, but then again she didn’t think she was capable of trusting anyone anymore. What she was sure of was that once she had her memories back, they would help her to decide her next move.

Besides, she needed a job.

[fieldfullofbangtan]

INTRO - mafia series

↳ Summary: A group of newbie gang members try to take over your home of 3 years. Little do they know you’re a veteran compared to them and not easy to mess with. 

     🔪  Word Count: 1.5k

     🔪  AU: Mafia!au

     🔪  Content Warning: A little violence, adult language, shitty writing, sue me.

↳ A/N: Nobody asked for this but it has been sitting in my drafts for a while now. I’ve rewritten it like a million times and honestly I just want to know if this is something people would like a continuation of. Also if you have any plot suggestions please let me know!

✎ masterlist

»»————----------------------------------　♔　——--------------------------------——-««

You walked into the container you called home, opened the backpack and mentally high-fived yourself. Snickers. AND BEER. AND COMIC BOOKS!?

- Suckers.

You snickered and stretched your arms, kicking your feet up on the metal barrel in front of you. Stealing from little tweens might seem unfair but hey they were in your territory, plus you only do it if they seem to be carrying a lot, in this case a well packed backpack. While living on the streets, even simple things like beer can make a day better. Sure it was more exciting when you were underage, now at 19 it feels a little sad being excited about beer...

You’ve spent almost three years in this abandoned container yard, and more than 5 total years on the street after running from foster care. You know the ins and outs of surviving out here and thankfully the yard is pretty unknown, so when people do come, its usually druggies or teens trying to find a place to drink unseen.

Banging the bottle cap against the top edge of the barrel it flew off and the sweet smell of Heineken filled your nose. It’s been almost 4 months since you last had beer with the lack of people coming around. You were just about to take the first sip when suddenly you heard footsteps.

You sighed, saddened that somebody had to disturb you during such a calm and happy moment. Its probably some addict who’s looking for a good place to get high or sleep through the night. Slowly you got off your chair and hid behind the barrel, after a few seconds you could hear the person turn the corner and into the container. You quickly stood up and threw the bottle in their direction.

- FUCK.

You saw a tall slim man with weird turquoise hair duck down. Not really the opponent you were expecting, but he doesn’t seem too dangerous. Half his face was covered by a skull bandana.... real original. You bent down and quickly reached for your emergency paint-ball gun. You didn’t get far before a deep husky voice stopped you.

- Don’t move!

As you looked at him you noticed a gun, a real gun, pointing right at your face. You silently damned yourself for going the semi non-violent way with a fucking paint-ball gun. You stopped and lifted your arms up but kept your foot steady right beside it.

He seemed unsure of himself, hands shaking, eyebrow twitching. By the way his eyes were darting back and forth from your exposed midriff to your face you realized he was distracted. Maybe distracted enough to get overthrown. You weren’t the strongest girl but you were fast. Over the years you’d learnt that most of the time precision and speed were a lot more useful than brute force.

You lifted your arms higher to expose a little more skin, on queue his expression turned puppy-like, gazing at your skin like he was hungry. Dumbass. Praying a quick prayer you bent down as fast as your body allowed, grabbed the paint-ball gun and shot. Within half a second the man folded and grabbed his junk, while doing this his gun went off, thankfully not hitting you but unluckily enough shattering your remaining 5 beers... He was left on the ground groaning and cursing that he’d kill you when he got the chance. You couldn’t help pitying him as his strong words were accompanied with the tears in his eyes.

- Right back at you smurfie.

You swapped your gun for his and without thinking twice stepped out of the container. The pride you’d felt for defeating the blue haired man went away as quickly as it appeared because you were met with six more people, all pointing their guns at you.

- Well fuck.

You put your hands up and dropped the gun. While two men tied your hands behind your back and forced you onto your knees another one wearing a gray hoodie went to check on the smurf. You suddenly heard loud laughter coming from the container.

- Oh my god you got shot in the dick!

- Shut up and help me up you little shit.

- Quit being a baby it was just a paintball gun.

You heard the paintball gun go off again followed by a high pitch squeal.

- “qUiT bEiNg a bAbY”!!

Smurf walked out and threw the paintball gun aside, you couldn’t help laughing at the large pink stain on his pants, indicating the pretty perfect shot you made.

- What the fuck are you laughing at?!

He was furious but clearly also very embarrassed since he immediately covered his crotch with his hands.

You tried to hold it in but it wasn't easy, you weren’t scared of these men whatsoever, you weren’t sure why but they didn’t seem like bad people. As soon as the boy in the gray hoodie walked back out now sporting a stain much like smurfie , they started acting like a dysfunctional family. Hoodie, Smurfie and and pink haired boy who you guessed were the youngest ran around punching each other and yelling empty threats. Two others stood near you, rubbing their temples and groaning, sick and tired of the younger’s shit. A tall man ran around trying to calm the situation down but it only seemed to make the three rowdier.

When your knees started to hurt you shifted onto your butt and stretched your legs out in front. By doing so you accidentally leaned on someones legs. Looking back a guy you’d yet noticed smiled down at you.

- Umm... sorry.

- It’s ok.

He answered kindly. What’s with him...?

- CAN WE PLEASE BE PROFESSIONAL FOR ONCE?!

The man to your right yelled. No response.

- PLEASE?

He pleaded but the boys didn’t listen.

The one on your left sighed and pinched his nose bridge.

- If you peasants don’t pipe the fuck down and mosey your asses over here bones will be broken.

He spoke just loud enough for everyone to hear but as soon as the first word left his mouth the others stopped in their tracks and went silent. They quickly hurried over with heads held low like children who’d just been scolded.

- Thanks Yoongi.

The one on your right said defeated. He crouched in front of you and tilted his head a little.

- We don’t feel like getting our hands dirty tonight so we are going to let you leave.

You raised an eyebrow at him.

- Come again?

- We’ve been wanting this container yard for weeks now. Sooo we are taking it.

You knew it wasn’t the smartest move but you couldn’t hold it in, you burst out laughing.

- What’s so funny?

- It’s- It’s just that I can’t picture you guys being threatening.

You couldn’t stop laughing. His ego was instantly hurt and he stared wide-eyed at you as you tried to catch your breath. You couldn’t  imagine these boys doing anything bad especially with the cute dumb looks on their faces at that moment.

- Why is she laughing?

A man you’ve recently learned is named Yoongi is staring at you like you’ve completely lost it. Suddenly before anyone can say anything else the lights in the entire yard goes out. The boys look around terrified in the darkness and you just keep on laughing your ass off, now because 5 of them are grabbing onto each other for dear life.

- WHAT’S GOING ON? IS THIS PART OF SOME SICK PLAN YOU HAVE?!

The blue haired boy yelled hysterically and you couldn’t help but tease him a little.

- I haven’t done anything. Every night a woman in a white dress haunts these grounds. It has been said that she was murdered by her husband and now she comes back to find him every night. She especially likes young guys... much like you smurfie.

- Shut up!

He yelled but by the way his voice shook you knew he was about to pee himself. You chuckled but explained at last.

- It’s a blown fuse. Calm down.

They all visibly relaxed but it didn’t take long until a new problem arised, who’s gonna fix it.

- You guys want to “take over” this place but none of you know how to fix a blown fuse?

They shared a few embarrassed glances before mumbling something inaudible.

- Look this is a big place, I wouldn’t mind some people having my back and helping me out. You won’t survive here without me, so you choose, I let you stay here with me, or you get the fuck out.

The last bit was a hail mary, you knew that they probably were people who got it their way or no way. They all huddled around and after a few minutes they reached a verdict. Namjoon took a few steps toward you and you did the same. He reached his hand out to you stone-faced and you shook it a little hesitantly, worried that this was just some trick.

But it wasn’t. After you shook his hand he finally showed a little smile.

- Welcome to BTS.

[arrowdaily]

Stephen Amell is dreading the eighth and final season of Arrow, though you wouldn’t know it on this hot, sunny July day in Los Angeles. Wearing Green Arrow’s new suit, the CW star seems perfectly at ease as he strikes heroic pose after heroic pose on a dimly lit stage. But once he’s traded heavy verdant leather for a T-shirt, jeans, and baseball cap, his guard drops and the vulnerability starts to creep in as he contemplates Arrow’s last ten episodes, which was set to begin production in Vancouver a week after the EW photoshoot took place and premieres October 15.

“I’m very emotional and melancholy, but it’s time,” Amell—who is featured on the new cover of Entertainment Weekly—says as he takes a sip from a pint of Guinness. “I’m thirty-eight years old, and I got this job when I was thirty. I’d never had a job for more than a year. The fact that I’ve done this for the better part of a decade, and I’m not going to do it anymore, is a little frightening.”

Developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg, Arrow debuted in the fall of 2012. The DC Comics series follows billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), who, after years away, returned to now–Star City with one goal: to save his hometown as the hooded bow-and-arrow vigilante who would become known as Green Arrow (it would take him four seasons to assume the moniker). What began as a solo crusade eventually grew to include former soldier John Diggle (David Ramsey), quirky computer genius Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards), lawyer-turned-hero Laurel Lance/Black Canary (Katie Cassidy-Rodgers), and the rest of Team Arrow. Together they’ve defended their city from a host of threats—dark archers, megalomaniacal magicians, and the occasional metahuman—while Lost-like flashbacks revealed what Oliver endured in the five years he was away, first shipwrecked and then honing his skills around the world to become someone else, something else.

The premiere gave the CW its most-watched series debut since 2009’s The Vampire Diaries. But before they launched Arrow, Berlanti and Guggenheim had to suffer through a failure: 2011’s Green Lantern, starring Ryan Reynolds. The duo co-wrote the script but lost creative control of the film, which flopped. So when Warner Bros. TV president Peter Roth approached them in late 2011 about developing a Green Arrow show, they were wary. After much deliberation, Berlanti and Guggenheim agreed, on the condition that they maintain control. Says Guggenheim, “As long as we succeed or fail on our own work, and not someone else’s work then maybe this is worth a shot.”

Their take on the Emerald Archer—who made his DC Comics debut in 1941—was noteworthy from the beginning. Taking cues from films like The Dark Knight and The Bourne Identity and series like Homeland, the writers imagined a dark, gritty, and grounded show centered on a traumatized protagonist. “As we were breaking the story, we made very specific commitments to certain tonal things, such as ‘At the end of act one, he has his hands around his mother’s throat.’ And, ‘At the end of act two, he kills a man in cold blood to protect his secret,’” says Guggenheim.

A hero committing murder? That was practically unheard of then. Having Oliver suit up in a veritable superhero costume by the pilot’s climax was radical too. Sure, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was deep into Phase One when the producers were developing Arrow, but TV was traditionally more apprehensive about comic books. Smallville famously had a “no tights, no flights” rule and only introduced superhero costumes in the last years of its ten-season run, and there weren’t any masked avengers running around NBC’s Heroes or ABC’s No Ordinary Family, the latter produced by Berlanti (let’s not even mention NBC’s The Cape, which was essentially dead on arrival and never did get its six seasons and a movie). But Arrow not only fully committed to the idea of someone dressing up like Robin Hood to fight crime with a bow and arrow, it introduced a second costumed rogue, the Huntress (Jessica De Gouw), in episode 7.

“It’s just comic book to the extreme and the fans seem to really love it,” says Batwoman showrunner Caroline Dries, a former writer on Smallville. “They still maintain it very grounded, but it’s very different with everyone in costumes. The appetite for superheroes has changed in my mind in terms of like they just want the literal superhero [now].”

Not that the team wasn’t meticulous about creating Green Arrow’s cowl. “We had to have so many conversations to get it approved, but that’s why we got [Oscar winner] Colleen Atwood [Memoirs of a Geisha] at the time to [design] the suit,” says Berlanti. “We were determined to show we could do on TV what they were doing in the movies every six months.”

“It’s really easy to make a guy with a bow and arrow look silly. We sweated every detail,” says Guggenheim, who also recalls how much effort it took to perfect Oliver’s signature growl. “I actually flew up to Vancouver. On a rooftop during reshoots on [episode 4], Stephen and I went through a variety of different versions of, basically, ‘You have failed this city,’ with different amounts of how much growl he’s putting into his performance. [We] recorded all that, [I went] back to Los Angeles, and then sat with the post guys playing around with all the different amounts of modulation.”

That process took eons compared to the unbelievably easy time the team had casting Arrow’s title role. In fact, Amell was the first person to audition for the role. “It was Stephen’s intensity. He just made you believe he was that character,” says Guggenheim, recalling Amell’s audition. “We had crafted Oliver to be this mystery box character, and Stephen somehow managed to find this balance between being totally accessible in a way you would need a TV star to be, but he’s still an enigma.” After his first reading, Amell remembers being sent outside for a short time before being brought back into the room to read for a larger group: “I called [my manager], and I go, ‘I know this is not how it’s supposed to work, but I just got that job.’”

In the first season, the show’s chief concerns were maintaining both the “grounded and real” tone and the high quality of the stunts, and investing the audience in Oliver’s crusade. Beyond that, though, there wasn’t much of an over-arching plan, which allowed the show to naturally evolve—from introducing more DC characters, such as Deathstroke (Manu Bennett) and Roy Harper (Colton Haynes), sooner than they initially intended (the shot of Deathstroke’s mask in the pilot was meant as a harmless Easter egg), to promoting Emily Bett Rickards’ Felicity from a one-off character in the show’s third episode to a series regular in season 2 and eventually Oliver’s wife. Even the whole idea of a Team Arrow—which, over time, added Oliver’s sister Thea (Willa Holland), Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog (Rick Gonzalez) and Dinah Drake/Black Canary (Juliana Harkavy)—was the result of the writers allowing the best ideas to guide the story. “Greg used to say all the time, ‘You have a hit TV show until you don’t, so don’t save s—,’” says Amell.

Also not planned: Arrow spawning an entire shared universe. “We went on record a lot of times during the premiere of the pilot saying, ‘No superpowers, no time travel.’ But midway through season 1, Greg started to harbor a notion of doing the Flash,” says Guggenheim. “I’m a very big believer that it’s great to have a plan, but I think when it comes to creating a universe, the pitfall is that people try to run before they can walk. The key is, you build it show by show.” And so they did. First, they introduced The Flash star Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen in the two-part midseason finale of Arrow’s second season. From there, Supergirl took flight in 2015, then DC’s Legends of Tomorrow in 2016, and Batwoman is due this fall. “It’s like the hacking of the machete in the woods and then you look back and you’re like, ‘Oh, there’s a path,” says executive producer and Berlanti Productions president Sarah Schechter. But even though Arrow is the universe’s namesake, Amell doesn’t concern himself with the sibling series outside of the now-annual crossovers. “I never think about any of the other shows,” he says. “I want all of them to do great, but they’re not my responsibility. My responsibility is Arrow, and to make sure everyone from the cast to the crew are good.” His sentiments are seconded by The Flash’s Gustin: “I don’t understand how he does it—his schedule that he maintains with working out, the conventions he goes to, the passion he has for it, and the love he shows towards fans. He’s always prepared. He cares more about that show being high quality than anybody else on the set.”

That said, the universe’s expansion precipitated what is widely considered to be Arrow’s best season, the fifth one. After focusing on magic in season 4, the show returned to its street-crime roots as part of “a concerted effort to play not just to our strengths but what made the shows unique,” Guggenheim says of balancing their four super-series in 2016. “Because Arrow was the longest-running Arrowverse show, we were able to do something that none of the other shows could do, which is have a villain who was basically born out of the events of season 1,” he explains of introducing Adrian Chase/Prometheus (Josh Segarra), whose criminal father was killed by Oliver. “That gave the season a resonance.”

It was midway through season 6 when Amell realized he was ready to hang up Oliver Queen’s hood. “It was just time to move on,” the actor says of pitching that Oliver leave the series at the end of season 7. “My daughter is turning six in October, and she goes to school in LA, and my wife and I want to raise her [there].” Berlanti persuaded him to return for one final season, which the producers collectively decided would be the end. “We all felt in our gut it was the right time,” says Berlanti. Adds Schechter, “It’s such a privilege to be able to say when something’s ending as opposed to having something just ripped away.”

But there’s one integral cast member who won’t be around to see Arrow through its final season. This spring, fans were devastated to learn Rickards had filmed her final episode—bringing an end to Olicity. “They’re such opposites. I think that’s what draws everyone in a little bit,” showrunner Beth Schwartz says of Oliver and Felicity’s relationship. “You don’t see the [love story of] super intelligent woman and the sort of hunky, athletic man very often. She’s obviously a gorgeous woman but what he really loves is her brain.” For his part, Amell believes the success of both Felicity and Olicity lies completely with Rickards’ performance. “She’s supremely talented and awesome and carved out a space that no one anticipated. I don’t know that show works if we don’t randomly find her,” says Amell, adding that continuing the series without Team Arrow’s heart is “not great. Arrow, as you know it, has effectively ended. It’s a different show in season 8.” And he’s not exaggerating.

The final season finds Oliver working for the all-seeing extra-terrestrial the Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) and trying to save the entire multiverse from a cataclysmic event. “[We’re] taking the show on the road, really getting away from Star City. Oliver is going to be traveling the world, and we’re going to go to a lot of different places,” says Guggenheim. “Every time I see Oliver and the Monitor, it’s like, ‘Okay, we are very far from where we started.’ But again, that means the show has grown and evolved.” Adds Schwartz, “This is sort of his final test because it’s greater than Star City.” Along the way, he will head down memory lane, with actor Colin Donnell, who played Oliver’s best friend Tommy Merlyn in season 1, and Segarra’s Adrian Chase making appearances. “Episode 1 is an ode to season 1, and episode 2 is an ode to season 3,” teases Amell. “We’re playing our greatest hits.”

But season 8 is not just about building toward a satisfying series finale. “Everything relates to what’s going to happen in our crossover episode, which we’ve never done before,” says Schwartz. Spanning five hours and airing this winter, “Crisis on Infinite Earths” will be the biggest crossover yet and may see Oliver perish trying to save the multiverse from destruction, if the Monitor’s prophecy is to be believed. “Oliver [is told] he’s going to die, so each episode in the run-up to ‘Crisis’ has Oliver dealing with the various stages of grief that come with that discovery,” says Guggenheim. “So the theme really is coming to terms, acceptance.”

If there’s one person who has made his peace with Oliver’s fate, it’s Amell. “Because he’s a superhero with no superpowers, I always felt he should die—but he may also not die,” says Amell, who actually found out what the show’s final scene would be at EW’s cover shoot. “I cried as [Marc Guggenheim] was telling me. There are a lot of hurdles to get over to make that final scene.” Get this man some more Guinness!

[parachutingkitten]

Season 4 Analysis

STANDARD DISCLAIMER: I am going to be applying the concept of criticism to a TV show you presumably love and adore as much as I do. If you do not want your idea that the show is immaculate to be challenged, I would not advise reading past this point.

Mood for the season: It's a SuPeR fUn HaPpY pLaCe!!!!!

You don’t need to, but if you are interested, and haven’t seen my analysis of past seasons, you can find those here:

Pilot

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Hey guys! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Season 4! We are here! I am SO biased with this season. It has problems man. It has ALL the problems! ALL the plot holes! ALL the stupid, stupid stuff, but I LOVE ALL OF IT! okay, let's back up. I'm about to drop some context on you. 

So, when you're a military brat you tend to make friends with whoever you can, and when I lived in Germany I had a friend who was fandom OBSESSED. She, at the time, was super into Homestuck, something I managed to avoid being sucked into, though I do know more about it than I would like. Anyway, this was the point at which I started getting sucked into Ninjago. So, I figured that if I could trust anyone with a strange obsession, it was her. I showed her the last episode of season 3, and she decided she was just going to dive head first into it with me. We watched season 4 together as it came out, we talked about it, had a bunch of inside jokes about it, I wrote some very short fanfiction about it, she made some OCs, one in particular that I remember was Stormy, a ditzy cloud master who wore pink, we shipped him with... one of my OCs, I don't remember. She hadn't watched the first two seasons, so I had to fill her in on a lot, but she was the first person I ever fandomed with, and it was over season 4. So I guess you could say season 3 was the grand beginning of my love for this show, and season 4 was the peak of my fangirl experience (at least for that phase of my life).

Plot

This season is a real mixed bag. Coming off the heels of the first season, nothing makes sense. Suddenly there are more elements, completely discrediting Lloyd's supposed power of four powers. And now it's genetic, which brings up the problem of Jay, who... if either Ed or Edna were masters, they would have slipped by now (but also like, how cool would it be if Edna just busted out with lightning powers) and then Zane who... doesn't have genes. It makes the world bigger, yes, but it also discredits the lore of the last two seasons, and brings up the question "Where the hell were the rest of the EMs when the Great Devour attacked? Or the stone warriors? Or the final battle?!" Anyway, it's a bit jarring and sudden to say the least. It definitely was not planned beforehand. There aren't even any hints in season 3. Like wouldn't it be cool if in season 3 we saw them go to the noodle shop, or Wu was really vague about elemental questions. It would make a lot more sense then. Idk. It opens the universe up to the plotlines of most of the future seasons, but it does sort of discredit the first two. This season is also kinda choppy feeling wise. You go from the mood the past season have had in the first episode to this sort of native tribal feel on the island, and then the factory and then back to Ninjago. It's kinda a mess. Overall it was just an excuse to put these characters in cool situations (which I have done before, I understand). Which I get, and it makes for some cool stuff, but I don't think any of it ends up meshing together super well in the end. When I think of this season I think of the tournament. I forget about the whole snake stuff at the end most of the time. I forget about the while Garmadon conflict. The fact that I forget that's there has to be a bad sign, right?

Characters

Character work this season is really pretty good for the most part! There are a lot of new characters. And they all are very distinct and fun, and even when two people you don't know especially well battle, you're still really invested. All of the Cole and Jay stuff is pretty good this season! Major upgrade from season 3. The whole fight scene is absolutely fantastic. Garmadon is freaking awesome this season. He keeps on trying to kill himself, and it's stupid, and the show sort of acknowledges that it's stupid, cuz Lloyd is just like 'dude, what the heck'. Kai's arch this season is pretty good, exploring his darker side and putting that intense conflict in front of him was good. I can tell you one thing, I like it a heck of a lot better than season 7, but we'll get to that when we get to that. So, yeah. Overall improvement in character! It doesn't dive super deep or anything, but it all works and is all interesting.

Skylor

So... she is one of the reasons I call this season the fanfiction season. We have a whole bunch of other elemental masters we've never heard of, and one of them their power is... all the powers. I can not tell you how much this ticked me off! And she hardly ever uses them! She has pretty much infinite power, and she doesn't think to use it, pretty much ever! There are no restrictions on her! This is what I hate Skylor for. And I do mean hate. BUT aside from that, strictly character wise she is done pretty well. She feels pretty fake and overly sassy at the beginning of the season, but there's a reason for that. It's an act. But it's not like she changed her personality to fool him, she intensified her personality to cover her intentions. Her arch feels pretty natural. That one scene where she does the evil laugh... that was weird. But aside from that, it feels okay. She was raised to think that lying and cheating is the norm, so when someone presents her with another option she begins to change. It makes sense. I love the scene where Kai and her look at each other through the prison bars and (even though their freaking legos) you can feel her realization that she's ashamed of what she's doing now. And after she makes the transition, she's just really chill. Like, I would like to hang out with her. I guess it is kinda sweet that even though she had all of the powers of... ever, at the end she's happy to just run her noodle shop. It's kinda poetic. Anyway, she may be a bit overpowered, and she feels like a bit of a Mary Sue, but overall her personality and interactions are enjoyable enough for me to mostly ignore that. I do agree that she is best used in moderation. She doesn't need to be part of the team. I wish we had a quick cameo each season, but whatever. What we have now in season 9 is nice, but she definitely needs to step back out of the spotlight in future seasons (knock on wood) in order to remain as likable as she's been.

Karlof

Love him. Freaking love him. Honestly, I probably relate to him the most. He's the first loser of the tournament, he avoids trouble, he sticks to what he knows, and he says it like it is. I love his interactions with everyone down in the noodle factory. He's like this perfect blend of optimism and pessimism. His interactions with Cole are beautiful. Their chemistry is really great. One of, I think everyone's favorite masters, and there's a reason why.

Shade

So... typical darkness character. Obviously selfish. But once the climax hits, I actually like him a lot. He kinda serves as an antagonist at first and then flips. It's kinda cool seeing a character with moral boundaries that far out. He's purposely suspicious to take attention away from Skylor, which I get. I think he has a lot of missed potential, but nonetheless, a decent character.

Neuro

I absolutely love his power! I love his manor, I love his voice. He may well be my favorite EM. I don't even know what else to say about this guy. If Karlof is who I am, Neuro is who I'd like to think I am. Calculated, calm, reasonable, and much like Karlof again, not too risky. I like him a lot. Cool guy. I like seeing how far he's willing to go for the ninja, and where certain lines are for him. It's kinda cool to watch. He could use a friend though. I HC he and Paleman hang out. Both quiet. Both reserved. Neuro could probably locate him in a room even if he's not visible. Idk. Anyway, I like him a lot! Great character.

Griffin Turner

Classic speedster. Good enough. Not much to say. He's fun. He's cool. He's what you'd expect. Decent screen time. None of it particularly character developing. For what he is, he's good at it.

Jacob

So, let's ignore the part where they made us think he was dead. He's a lot of fun. Good for them getting a blind character in there. Still confused on what his powers can... do? But I like his spunk. I think we all have a little soft spot for him.

Chamille

One of the only girls and she's pretty much evil. Why do girls have to be evil at one point to be interesting? Idk. Don't really care for her, don't really think much about her. Whatever. She's there. She serves her purpose. Fine. Okay. Moving on.

Paleman

Friggin love him. For the master of light to be invisible is a great move, and pretty creative. His voice is kinda obvious, but very distinct. It's a creative background character to have. I like him a lot. Again, I feel he could use some more love. See above Neuro HC. Like him a lot and... yay.

Bolobo

Kinda missed the "mother nature" pun... could have had at least one more female master... that's okay. He's cool enough. Kinda disappointing though. I mean, vines? Is that it?

Gravis

Gravity is a dang cool power. Idk what else to say. He doesn't get a ton of screen time, so it's hard to praise him too much, but yeah. I really like that. Actually had an FC (she was a villain but you know whateves) with the power, so seeing that be a real element they used is really cool.

Ash

I don't like him. He's very strange. He's just got that one laugh. He seems comically over the top a jerk. I like the way his mouth looks though. Unique and kinda cool. I was looking on his Wiki page, and it said he and Chamille kissed in the background at one point? Is that true? I am way curious now

Tox

Okay. She's nonexistent here, no personality. I guess she's kinda tough. Yeah, this gets confirmed later in season 9, when she speaks. But even there she's pretty nonexistent. Here's my idea. Instead of having all your females being 'tough' why not flip expectation on its head? I think it would be way funny and clever if the master of poison was super friendly, and bubbly, and genuinely a nice person. I'm thinking almost like Jay's (lightning... or I guess adopted) mom, levels of talkative and nice. Wouldn't that be kinda fun? Idk. Whatever. It is what it is.

Kapau and Chope

Best villains ever 10/10. 'Nuff said.

Romance

KAILOR

Okay, I freaking love them! They're not my favorite couple or anything, but they work really, really well… under certain conditions. There are a few bumps I can't ignore. Can we have a protagonist in the show who doesn't send googly eyes at their future love interest the first moment they see her? And remember when they made us think Kai and Skylor were related... yeah... why did we need to do that? That was... kinda uncomfortable. BUT other than that, Skylor is exactly what Kai needed. First, he needed a redhead. Duh. Second, he needed someone who would see right through his Kai shmoltz and be real with him. Third, she had to be fun. And finally, she needed to wear the pants in the relationship. And Skylor fills ALL of those requirements! I like that Kai falls for her right away, and I love that she doesn't think she likes him until... she totally does and it's like 'Oh SNAP!'. I love that weird scene where Chen walks around with Kai like he's already his son in law, that cracks me up! I guess I like them more in theory than in practice. It feels a touch forced, and it needed a bit more time. Point being, the beginnings of the relationship are extremely awkward and strange, but towards the end of the season, it gets good! I just wish we could see more :)

The... love... triangle

Alright, by now, you guys should know how I feel about these things. They suck. They're stupid. I hate them. They're pointless. And this season is... quite possibly the stupidest. So... the whole Garma-Wu-Sako... thing this season is that Wu wrote a letter to Misako a long time ago, and Garmadon stole it, and then... Misako *groan* used it to determine which of them she was going to marry... okay. Yeah, Garmadon, that was a crap thing to do. But you know what, he was evil. Wu should have just signed the thing when he wrote it. But also, Misako... WHAT ARE YOU DOIN' GIRL?! Why... would you let a letter... be the final deciding point? I don't get that. And my main problem is that she basically chose her husband based on his writing ability. The thoughts Wu had in the letter obviously directly express what Garmadon wanted to say. In the end, his feelings for her were still the same. The only thing different is that he didn't write it. He's not good with words the way Wu is. But the show treats it like he lied about his feelings, and didn't even like her. Like he was using her for personal gain or manipulation or something. Idk. The whole thing makes no sense. Now, maybe if he did something to make Wu directly look bad or disingenuous THAT would be understandable. But... idk. I don't get it. Misako sucks. Let's move on.

Villians

Chen

Chen is my favorite villain. Hands down. No competition. Any way you slice it. I friggin love the heck out of this dude. And here's why. First off, he's a very comedic villain that still remains extremely threatening, which is an extremely thin line to walk. I mean, think about it. With all the other villains, they were intimidating, and the henchmen provided the humor. Here, I guess you could say they flipped it cuz Clouse is pretty intimidating, but Chen is still crazy scary on his own. And here's how they do it: He's insane. Straight up, he has lost his mind. Nothing he does makes sense, but that's fine, cuz it probably makes total sense to him. You can laugh at the quirky things he does, but also live in fear knowing that he has trap doors installed EVERYWHERE. Why? Cuz he likes them! Is there a better reason than that when you're crazy! That was my problem with people with Pythor. He is so smart, why didn't he ever think that the devourer might eat him too?! There is no explanation. But with Chen, that doesn't matter! He wants to be a snake! Why? Why not?! No flaws in that thinking, right? This is also why I like Ultra Violet so much. She's the only one to rival his position, but because she's more of a side villain, I don't feel that's enough to dethrone him. With insane villains, you never have any idea what they're playing at, if it's smart, or how to counteract, cuz they're just insane. I mean, seriously,

"Chen, the ninja have figured out our plan, what should we do?"

"COOL! Let's tell EVERYONE our plan!"

And it works! I love his voice. Just the way he says things makes me so happy! He's having so much fun, and I have fun with him! 10/10 villain. Great work.

Clouse

I can't get past the voice. It sounds so over the top evil and... it's kinda annoying for me? He has a decent backstory and such, but whenever he's on screen I always find myself wishing it was Chen. He just sucks the fun out of everything and leaves nothing there, so most of his interactions aren't particularly interesting. I don't know. Never really thought much of him.

Humor

Needless to say everything with Chen works! Everything with the EMs works. Jay's whole Positive Thinking streak is amazing! There's not a lot that falls flat on its face. It's really pretty fantastic.

Favorite joke: too many to count. If I had to pick one...

Chen's: the reds, the purples, the super dark purples!

Drama

This season has some damn good drama. It has my personal most sad moment in all of Ninjago. I'm of course talking about Garmadon's death...  JK! XD I WAS LAUGHING ALL THE WAY THROUGH THAT SEQUENCE! But we’ll get to that later. Okay. But for real, my personal most heartbreaking moment is when we find out Pixal is scrapped (of course it's Pixal related) but seriously, watching this for the first time, it broke my heart hardcore. I audibly gasped. They have these conversations, and she realizes he doesn't remember her, and it hurts her because they were comPATABLE GOSH DANG IT! And then he starts remembering, and she knows she can't go with him, so she lies to him to give him the motivation to make it out, and then the reveal, and Zane's heart breaks, and your heart breaks. This whole scenario reminds me of my own writing, it has all these things I enjoy using. Distinctions between fantasy and reality, characters lying to each other to protect them, and an ending realization of total and complete emptiness. Of course, Pixal is added into his head, and all is fine and dandy. It works for this season but serves her worse in future seasons. Regardless, that moment when Pixal says 'scrapped' is the most depressing thing I've ever seen. All of the Zane drama this season works really well. Zane having an identity crisis is something I didn't think the show would handle. When Zane says he's just a clone if himself I was like 'oh, dang! They went there!'. It's almost like he's comparing himself to Cryptor, and it's some heavy stuff. Everything this season is shrouded in mystery. I love that. For the first half of the season or so, I really like the tournament stuff. But as we get Cole, and especially Jay in the noodle factory, that plotline gets much more interesting. I don't get into the Nya and Lloyd and Garmadon stuff that much. The stuff with Kai is okay. But overall, there's some good stuff.

Climax

Okay, so... I... I mean I like the build up. The thing with all the trucks is really good. Most of it was really pretty good with all the EMs doing stuff the ninja would usually do. But the whole ending thing, with getting mini Pythor involved, and you know. The whole Garmadon death thing. He died an honorable death and all that, but... idk, I can't get past Lloyd's voice. As he reads him off I just couldn't stop giggling! It's so overdramatic, they feel like they need to make Lloyd mad at his dad for whatever reason so he can come back at the last second, and it all feels so forced. And then the ending is super overly cheesy for how serious the show wants to take itself at that moment. Idk. I don't like it. One of my least favorite finales.

Spotlight episode

There are some good ones to choose from this season. Some real good ones. But the one I find myself watching the most is Ninja Roll. This episode doesn't have too high stakes, it doesn't make much sense, it's kind of pointless, but it perfectly encapsulates the reason I watch Ninjago. I don't know exactly why I watch Ninjago. I'm not into the action most of the time. The romance is cute, but not potent enough to warrant watching the show. The humor isn't revolutionary, the characters aren't especially deep. No, the reason I watch Ninjago is cuz it's fun. Ninjago is just a good time. It has just enough of all of those aspects to make for something I love. It makes me smile. With seasons 8, and especially 9, Ninjago has shifted into this darker action based, lore-driven thing, which I thought I would like, and I do, but I think it's lost a bit of that fun factor. In my opinion, Ninjago is it's best when it's self-aware, and doesn't take itself overly seriously. When you don't have to end the season on an ominous dark cliffhanger. I mean really. What is this? Chima? No. I just want to go hang out with the ninja and the gang, whatever it is their doing. This episode takes advantage of every situation a roller derby with the ninja provides. Of course Jay roller skates with his mom. Of course, Kai is incompetent at it. Of course, Chen cheats, of course, it all comes down to Lloyd. Of course, there's freaking buggies that Chen releases! This whole episode makes me smile and laugh and it has a good message. This is what I miss about Ninjago, and that's why it's my spotlight.

Misc

I know everyone always teases Jay about his TV show, but what about Kai and his wrestling career? I just feel like that would come up more often

I completely subscribe to the theory that Pixal was scrapped to fix Zane cuz they beat him up so badly when capturing. I'd kinda like to think Pixal even volunteered herself for it... ONE SHOT IDEA

I have to scratch... my face.

I need a number on the trap door to button ratio on the island

This season has my favorite intro of any season. Mainly cuz the remix is FIRE and I hate the fact that they don't have an extended version that sounds more like the opening itself. 

So all together, the word to sum up season 4 is fun. Definitely not technically the best, or the smartest, or the most well done, but it's my favorite because of nostalgia, my inner child, and because it makes me smile. I love this season.

- Maya (Parachutingkitten)

[salixj]

For those who don’t understand. Here are a few problems I have with the comics. Note they are not (save the last two points) connected to an Azula redemption arc. Note most aren’t even about Azula, except tangentially.  1. How Zuko attempts to get Azula’s help in finding Ursa. Does the scene where he speaks to her in the hospital come before or after his “how to be a ruler class” when he talks to Aang about his father being in prison, his mother lost, and his sister in a hospital.    a. If before, it is illogical that he wouldn’t say anything to Aang about attempting to get help from her.    b. If after he should, if he had understood the lesson even a little bit, not have approached her as he did. Okay, he shouldn’t have approached her that way period, but especially after a class such as he was given. So which is it? Does he illogically keep information from Aang that he has a solution to the above situation?  Or does he not understand the word dignity? I think it is the later because he also speaks disparagingly about her in front of her, to others, when explaining how he will treat her with dignity. Go figure.  Also, it terms of father in prison, sister in hospital, both of these are easily remedied. He could put his father in some form of house arrest. As far as his sister goes, has he thought of, oh I don’t know, visiting her? Telling her he loves her? Yeah okay.  See, that’s all really about Zuko. Azula is on the side, it is about how Zuko acts and behaves.  2. I can think of reasons why Jun couldn’t find Ursa. That should have been disclosed. The fact that she got a new face doesn’t necessarily mean she would have a new scent So explain it. Her pet died. Her scent ends here in the woods. It is too old. SOMETHING.

3. I can think of a lot of reasons why Zuko, once he learned of the town, could have told Azula, no... you already violated your promise. Back to the hospital. For her sake that would probably have been better. 3. The letter.    a. By simply calling Ozai “love”, Ursa manages to prevent Ikem from becoming shish kabob after he threatens the Firelord, which I imagine under the pen of any author of quality, would have been considered, treason. However, she can’t think of a better way to get Ozai to allow her to write to her parents other than by a letter which throws Zuko under a bus. Yeah, tell the abusive man his wife was either an adulteress, or already pregnant when brought in. Being a cuckold generally does bring a man’s temper down.     b. Even if she wanted to write a letter and trick him via a letter, there were better by a 1000 times letters to write.     c. But wait! He wasn’t a cuckold Ozai twirls his mustache (figuratively) and declares “I knew that! I had you watched!”  So nu, why was he so angry? And if he wanted to keep his letter thieving to himself and the maid, why did he even respond? Why wasn’t his reaction a hearty laugh at his wife’s expense and then toss the letter “in with the others”, and instruct the maid to let her know “letter has been sent.”     d. Why keep the letters? Was Ozai that short of good reading material?    e. Zuko was so close behind her that the door felt hot, yet Azula manages to open up and read all the letters so she find the right one just as he enters.     f.  Azula, really, hiding that letter in your sash and then in your shin guard and no one is going to notice? How stupid is Zuko? Nevermind. 4. Seriously, no one knew Ursa was from H’iria? Seriously? Because he told Ursa say goodbye you will never talk to them again and this caused nationwide forgetting? The parents didn’t mention their hometown to others sitting at the table? The people in H’iria didn’t know why she went? Why her parents went to court for a wedding? What, it was common in that town for the court to take a daughter and then the parents to leave and come back and never speak of where she went or why? SERIOUSLY? Iroh didn’t know? The servants who fetched them didn’t know? So that when Zuko went looking for mommy dearest none of them would have thought to say “Well maybe she returned home?” 5. a.Ikem finds the Mother of all Faces within a few months. So does Ursa. So do Aang and the gaang. The water siblings? decades. It never occurred to them I guess to pick a watering hole and WAIT. That would have been a year at most.     b. Also, why would Ikem return to the village? Imagine walking about trying to pretend to know no one. It is also quite probable that someone at some point would have made some comment about poor Ikem.  There was a much simpler solution to being the recipient of pity. Move somewhere else.   c. Also, really mom of all faces? You can’t imagine that someone who looks beautiful would want to trade in her face? Now I can imagine someone who was deformed, or who had become scarred would want a prettier face, but if someone with a pretty face came to you and wanted a change I’d figure it was because they wanted to hide. And how quickly you believe Ursa’s story. Also how quickly you believe the water siblings.  6. Ursa dear, if you don’t look like yourself you could have found your way into the palace and knocked off Ozai.  Did you really think the servants would kill the new Firelord or the new Firelords nephew? Ozai would be dead. He’d sort of lack in power there. At the very least you could have tried to get in touch with Iroh and gotten his help.

8. Oh btw that tried and true trophish undetectable poison,  you make a poison and give that poison to the man who had threatened to kill your so and tell him “do with it what you want.” Doesn’t sound smart. I’m kind of seeing a pattern here. What was to keep your dear ex from offing daddy then offing son?     And it still wouldn’t make him Firelord.      Also, being an herbalist means you know how to knock off people with an untraceable poison? Did mommy teach you that in between teaching you had to make a salve for rashes and a tincture for toothache? I really want to know how those lessons went down.  9. Ah yes. Ozai. Being in jail must have soften your head. Why would Ursa, who is standing outside your cell, have to grovel?

10. Why wasn’t Zuko killed with that blast? 11. How come Ty Lee can’t chi-block Azula? 12. How did Suki “secure” the palace. (not well) Does it really take a genius to figure out that she needed to look in Kiyi’s room for clues? 13. How did Kiyi hear Zuko through a thick door? How does Zuko hear Kiyi and neither Ursa nor Ikem wake up? And how did Zuko’s presence loosen Ursa’s grip? Was another room all made up and readied for Kiyi? How did Azula know which of those rooms Kiyi was in? (And no, knowing the palace like the back of her hand means she could negotiate it in the dark, not that she would know where Kiyi was sleeping. Same for all the other children. After all their costumes weren’t exactly low profile, and throwing smoke everything is also not very low profile.) 14. Ursa’s talk with Iroh over how he got over the death of his son. Her kids not even gone 24 hours, and there is no sign Kiyi’s death and she’s already planning on how to get over her mourning.  These final two are Azula centered, however they aren’t about how Azula got ripped of her redemption, or how her redemption was too slow. The opposite.

15. Ah yes, here’s a girl who has several psychotic episodes over the course of what? 24 hours? 48 hours? Yet a sojourn alone in the woods cures her. Medical breakthrough! 16. Speaking of that sojourn. She has no money, change of clothes, or even her purse. She’s hallucinating wildly. I’ll forget the lack of blankets and food. She’s smart enough to forage.  And in one or two months time she is able to:    a. get out of the woods.    b. get back to wherever the hospital was.    c. free six women from the hospital.    d. get back to the capital.    e. freak Ukando into helping her.    f. create a hideout complete with 7 or 8 bunk beds (at least), rugs, linens, a table, chairs, I’m guessing places for her friends and herself to sleep as well.    g. develop smoke bending.    h. obtain gas and some method of using that gas to knock kids out but not permanently.    i. figure out a way that that she and her fellow kidnappers don’t knock themselves out.    j. get costumes.  k. and there is a huge difference between the eye patches and the masks. They don’t have peripheral vision in those masks. Try it out yourself with a patch and a made up hard mask that covers the whole face save for a small hole for one eye. Yet they all negotiate just fine thank you. Without even turning their heads. Maybe the stone like masks were actually like one way mirrors, in which case, she scores again!   l. teleportation! via smoke. My fave. She invented teleportation.  m. kidnap 14 or so kids, and get them all to the cemetery. Did they all grown through the secret passageway or did they have to roll the dice? Either way, no one seems to have noticed three strangely dressed people rushing through the streets with a kid in their arms or at least have noticed and connected it to the kidnappings. There is actually so much more but I can’t think of them all right now. Why do I think the comics were poorly written? There you have it. It is not about how slow Azula’s redemption is taking, not at all. It is about poor writing.

[jobethdalloway]

Sapphic September Challenge! Day 4: ““Look, I might be evil but even I have standards.”

Pairing: Hevelyn (The Incredibles 2)

Someone disposable. Something harmless. Nothing that would call too much attention to her or her plans.

The paper boy looked like he might’ve been walking around wearing kooky glasses he’d sent away for, courtesy of a comic book ad. It took him less than ten minutes to walk to the drugstore, steal a box of Good & Plenty, and return to Evelyn’s new apartment. When he knocked on the door to give them to her, she took the glasses along with the candy and sent him on his way.

This was her tenth successful venture with hypnosis. She hadn’t wanted to get her hopes up the first few times, sure that a mistake had to be coming, but it was all going like clockwork now. Vengeance was finally within her grasp, if not in the immediate future. Evelyn chuckled at her own genius, throwing herself onto her bed. Now it was time to formulate. She should’ve had more faith in her own abilities; it hadn’t occurred to her to start planning this far ahead because she hadn’t been sure the mind control would really work. But it did. And now she could make those damn skippy Supers pay. 

At times during her experimenting, a doubtful voice would prick its way into her mind to tell her she was crazy for thinking her plans could work. Now the voice was going at her a different way, attacking a far more sensitive spot:

You know what you could do with this, don’t you? 

Yes, obviously. End Supers for good.

Or...you could take back the worst mistake you ever made. You could bring her back, and make sure she never left you again. Make her yours, forever, and you could make her give up the superhero act, too...

Evelyn sat up. Goosebumps were prickling her skin as she thought back to her first encounter with Helen Parr--well, Helen Truax back then...

New Year’s Eve, 1955. 

It had been Winston’s idea to host a party while their parents were out of town. Not that the Deavors’ would’ve minded some kind of soiree, but Evelyn was sure he felt freer to be more loud and obnoxious in their absence. As far as Evelyn was concerned, there was far too much pressure to enjoy oneself on that holiday, and if she had her way she’d have just stayed in her bedroom all night long. She just wanted to be alone, but the sounds of the raucous party downstairs made that difficult. Going out was another option, but she doubted she’d be able to find a place where she could be left alone. 

It was around 11:00 when she thought it might be quieter outside, at least. She made her way to the second story balcony, a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the other. She took a drag on the cigarette; it was much more peaceful out here. Music was still wafting her way but at least she couldn’t hear the partygoers. 

At least, not until--

“Phew! Mind if I join you out here for a sec?”

Evelyn turned to say she minded very much, but then she saw who the drawl belonged to and fell suddenly mute. The girl sauntered towards her in red slacks and a silver top, wearing a dazzling yet unassuming smile. She sat herself down next to Evelyn, mimicking her posture: legs dangling between the bars of the rail, leaning back and resting her weight on her palms. Evelyn was aware that she was staring and felt her heartbeat starting to race, but she couldn’t will herself to look away. 

“You’re Win’s sister, aren’t you?”

Lord have mercy, at least she could still speak: “How’d you know that?”

“Oh, he’s very fond of you, y’know,” the girl said. “Also, your picture’s up all over the house. Your folks must be fond of you, too.”

“How do you know Winston?”

“Let’s call him a fan. I mean, a friend. I’m Helen.”

Evelyn raised an eyebrow but decided not to push it. “Helen...hello. I’m Evelyn. Um, happy New Year’s.”

“Same to you! So, what’s got you out here instead of dancing the night away with all the other cool cats at this party, huh?”

At this, Evelyn scoffed and could finally look away. “Did Winston send you up here to get me?”

Helen sounded genuinely surprised. “What? No! Truth be told, I needed some space myself. It was gettin’ too crowded down there for my taste and I needed a breath of fresh air. This is quite a place your folks have got! I didn’t see this balcony was occupied until I opened the doors. And now I’m sitting here and I’m thinking, what’s a pretty girl like you doin’ all on your lonesome up here?”

For the life of her, Evelyn could not remember the last time she had blushed- or, for that matter, the last time someone had called her pretty. She’d been told her hair wasn’t short or cute enough for a pixie cut, and that it made her look mannish. Her mother severely disapproved not only of the hair but of her taste in clothes, which was none too feminine, and which Mrs. Deavor strongly suspected was one of the reasons Evelyn had graduated with an MRS degree. 

“Mom, I know your heart is in the right place but Smith is a women’s college!”

“I know that, I know, but there are some courses open to students from other schools nearby, some of which do in fact allow men to register! Please, dear, just keep an open mind.” 

“Oh, trust me, my mind’s plenty open already.”

Helen’s voice drew her out of her reverie. “Evelyn? Hey, anyone home?”

“Yeah, sorry, um... yeah. Winston’s much more of the social type than me. Throwing the party was his idea, and I’m not enough of a killjoy to have stopped him. Although trust me, it was tempting.” She nodded at Helen. “What’s your deal, square? You a party girl?”

Helen laughed, and Evelyn hated that she had been cursed with the propensity to fall in love and fall hard at the drop of a hat. “Square? You think I’m square? Check out that hog down there.”

The lights from mansion’s windows shone bright on a line of partygoers’ cars, and Evelyn followed Helen’s gaze to a motorcycle sandwiched between two Buicks. “The Indian?”

“Fire Arrow, newest model.” 

“Is it your boyfriend’s?”

“Ha! Now I’m starting to think that you’re trying to insult me!” Helen chuckled, and Evelyn grinned. “The bike is mine, and incidentally, I’m flying solo these days.”

Evelyn gasped for dramatic effect, but her surprise was genuine. “Well! What’s a pretty girl like you doing single?” 

The response was another airy laugh, but Evelyn was watching closely for the smallest signs of betrayal - hollowness, tenseness, a brief widening of the eyes that would indicate Helen had been asked this a lot and was tired of hearing about it. Maybe Evelyn was projecting, but she could swear she saw her own tiredness reflected in Helen’s lovely face. 

“Listen, you find a guy who wouldn’t mind taking the backseat on my bike and maybe then we’ll talk.” 

Evelyn scoffed and mashed the cigarette on the balcony. She wasn’t drunk, but she’d had enough of the whiskey to get brave - reckless, in someone else’s words - and she had talked her way out of enough scrapes barking up the wrong tree that she felt it was time to throw caution to the winds again. 

“I leave finding guys to other women. It’s not something I care to take up my time with.” She took a sip of the whiskey, emboldened by the way Helen was looking at her. “If you’re interested in finding someone to ride behind you, though, I could maybe think of someone.”

Helen drummed her fingers for a moment before inching them closer to Evelyn’s hand. “Ever ridden a motorcycle before?” 

“Mm-mm. Always thought it looked neat, but learning to ride a car seemed easier.” She sighed and took another sip for bravery. “That’s human nature, I guess. Bet you get a more satisfying ride on that bike than you would a car, huh?”

“Oh, top quality,” Helen said fervently. 

“Now see, that’s the trouble with most people. We choose ease over quality. I did that for years before I...” Evelyn paused when Helen’s hand covered her own. “Before I had a particularly persuasive roommate who made me realize life is supposed to be the other way around. The good stuff is sometimes the hardest to get. You know what I mean?”

Helen nodded. “I’ve never been a girl for taking the easy way out. Whaddya say, Evelyn? Wanna ditch this party and go for a ride?” 

She moved to stand up at once, her legs weak. “God, yes.” 

They made their way back downstairs, where Evelyn’s main goal was to avoid being seen by her brother. Fortunately the party had gotten crowded and rowdy enough that it was very easy to avoid being detected. Evelyn ducked outside while Helen went to track down her jacket. 

But it seemed Evelyn hadn’t gone quite as unnoticed as she’d hoped. She was zipping up her own jacket when she heard a young man from the party call out to her. He’d followed her down the front steps, probably intoxicated, and not at all deterred by the look of disgust on her face. He stumbled over to her, putting a heavy hand on her shoulder. 

“Hey, baby, you gonna ditch the Deavors’ already?”

“Buddy, I’m giving you to the count of three to take your hands off me. One, two...”

“Aw, c’mon, be a good sport, honey!”

He’d been warned. Evelyn whipped a lighter from her pocket- but instead of igniting a flame, it sent an electrical zap through the man as soon as it made contact with his arm. The mild electrocution sent him flailing to the ground, and Evelyn tried not to laugh. The device still needed work, though, if it was to be as thoroughly effective as she wanted: he was still able to get to his feet, shaking his head but ready to go for her again. 

All of a sudden a fist came flying out of nowhere, punching the guy square in the jaw. He swung on the spot, trying to grab his bearings, and an arm with stunning elasticity wrapped itself several times around his neck and pulled hard, spinning him like a top back up the steps to the open front door. And there was Helen, kicking him over the porch railing where he lay sprawled out in a small pool of his own vomit. 

“Are you okay?” Helen asked, hurrying over.

Evelyn felt winded. “Christ! Y-you’re--but--”

“I know! Doesn’t it look cute in these slacks?” Helen asked, twisting around, but that did little to change Evelyn’s stunned expression. The jig was up. “Yeah,” she whispered. “I”m a Super. Your brother invited a few of us to the party; I hope that’s all right. You looked like you were ready to handle that guy all right yourself, maybe I should’ve left you to it! What’s that gizmo, anyhow?”

It took a moment for Evelyn to regain her powers of speech. “Oh, well, it still has a few kinks to work out, I guess. I call it the Zippo Zapper. Made it myself.”

“You made that?”

“Wow, did I really impress Elastigirl?” 

“Don’t get too cocky. I’m still amazed by the concept of an electric mixer.” 

It felt good to laugh. “Well, I’m amazed that there’s a superhero here who didn’t show up in costume.” 

“Eh.” Helen shrugged. “Making a scene just for the sake of it isn’t, well, my scene. Truth be told, I think your brother and your folks are a little too bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when it comes to Supers, but I suppose ...well, never mind. I’m flattered by the attention but I don’t do superhero work to get fans.”

“Why do you do it, then?”

Helen slipped into her leather jacket and started walking towards her motorcycle. “Because I want to help people! I want to do good with the powers that I have. Y’know, my mother just about wanted to disown me when I said I was gonna get the mask and the gear and all that to fight crime. Can you beat that?”

“What? Why? Isn’t she a Super, too?”

“Nope, but my old man was. Mother figures superhero work is a man’s job. Thought I should just find the right guy and settle down.” Helen scoffed, straddling the bike. “Settle down, are you kidding? I’m at the top of my game! I’m right up there with the big dogs! Leave the saving of the world to the men? I don’t think so!”  

Evelyn’s form of teenage rebellion had been to distance herself from her parents’ worship of superheroes, but by her twenties she’d grown nothing stronger than indifference towards them. But Helen, wow, she was really something else... 

She took the few remaining steps to the bike, but didn’t climb on just yet. “I may not have superpowers of my own, but I still like to take jobs now and then that are typically prescribed to men.”

“Oh? How’s that?” 

Helen’s heart seemed to skip several beats when Evelyn leaned down and kissed her. Evelyn was daring; she took Helen’s face in her hands and deepened the kiss. She liked the idea of catching a Super off guard, almost as much as she liked how clearly Helen was into this kiss. Helen’s instinct was to break it off so she could stand up and properly take Evelyn in her arms, but the tiny part of her mind that was still cognizant of the world beyond Evelyn’s surprisingly soft lips knew that making out in full view of the mansion’s windows wasn’t the best idea.

“Did you have any... particular idea of where you might like to go?” Helen asked between heavier-than-normal breaths. 

Evelyn smirked. “It was your idea to bust out of here. Not mine. Where does Elastigirl like to spend her nights out on the town?”

Helen patted the bike. “We’re staying in and going to my place.”

That relationship had lasted almost two glorious years. Well, glorious in retrospect, maybe; it was easy to glamorize the past. Evelyn sat up, scowling. That kind of romanticization was Winston’s thing, not hers. She and Helen had had their fair share of arguments, which had ultimately led to Evelyn breaking things off because she couldn’t take the stress of dating a Super. They’d had a shaky reconciliation as friends that had weakened enormously when the Deavors died, and Evelyn had become a recluse. 

And now here she was, primed to tell Winston they could get going on their plan to get Supers out in the open again... all so she could ensure they stayed buried forever. But part of her wanted so badly, so desperately, to use her newfound gadgetry for something that might’ve been even worse.

You know the last time you were happy? With her. You can have that again. Put some goggles on Helen and she’ll be and do anything you say. None of the superhero drama, just the two of you, all the time... it’d be so easy.

Easy.

The word reached out and hit her like a slap to the face. Scary easy, but no quality. Nothing that really mattered.

Taking Supers down forever was going to be hard enough, and dodgy enough, too, but at least it served the greater good. At least she could tell herself she was ultimately helping others to become self-reliant by ridding them of these costumed crusaders. Yes, this was a noble goal. Someday history would look back and smile on her for restoring America’s can-do spirit and rejecting so-called saviors. Some people might look at her as wicked, but she chose to see it as a necessary evil.

Contrarily, using her device as essentially a high-tech love potion for purely selfish reasons was depraved. She may have hated Helen for what she became, but romantic agency was not something she would ever take from her.

Sure, I might be evil...but even I have standards.

[timmyisjasons-blog]

A Very Crappy Semi-Analysis

1. Title: Suicide Squad (2016) Screenwriter: David Ayer Adapted from: This film is an adaptation in its parts and ideas of the comic of the same name, which debuted 1995 and created was by DC (Detective Comics) Comics. Director: David Ayer 2.  What are the best elements of this movie?                    One of the few things I am willing to say was “the best” about this movie would be character. Even though most of their development was rushed in the film, there were some things exceptionally on point. The character continuity from the DC Universe of the comics was taken seriously and it shows in the film. The actors portrayed each if their roles believably and each had their own introductory scene where we learned a lot about them in only a few seconds. They all had an opening song and a couple scenes had contained much information that was easy to process. In my opinion, all the character development took place in these few little scenes, but it was just enough to satisfy me. These scenes are also what brings me to the next topic: music. The soundtrack to this movie was exceptional and showed a lot about who the characters were and what they are like. It also helped at to the atmosphere.             The soundtrack included songs like Great Spirit by Norman Greenbaum, Panic! At The Disco’s cover of Bohemian Rhapsody, and Eminem's Without Me. Some sounds were played in moments that you would not expect them to be, adding irony and humor to scenes that would otherwise be drab and too serious for their own good. I found myself singing many of these as I watched the movie.                I feel that the symbolism in this movie is some of the best I have ever seen. It really had me thinking and wanting to reread my psychology textbooks. There is far too much symbolism to write about in this movie, so I will be focusing on three examples from the film that go hand in hand between the two characters, Joker and Harley Quinn. Most of the symbolism, or what I noticed, was done with color. For example: blue is the color of trust; purple is seen as the color of sublimation; The color psychology of pink is unconditional love, sensuality and emotions; red is the color of  passion. There is a scene with Harley Quinn and Joker kissing in a vat of chemicals. The chemicals melted their clothes and caused the colors to be disconnected and flowing all around them. The colors are red, blue, and purple. Because the colors are all falling away from them, circling them in the vat, I see this as the two of them being surrounded by Harley’s passion, trust, and sublimation. But, because they none of them are mixing I feel like this shows she keeps her emotions on the surface, like an “open book,” if you will.

         The Joker's hair is a bright green which can be seen as a strong correspondence with safety.This may seem ironic because he is a lunatic and is always flirting with danger, but one of the main iconic things about him is his relationship with Harley. In the movie she says “My heart scares you and a gun doesn't?” Harley has proved time and time again that she loves him, but the Joker does not know love. He is afraid of it and hides in his deranged mind, that happens to be covered in a green safety net of hair.

        My last example of symbolism in Harley Quinn’s costume itself. After losing her sanity, she becomes the Joker’s accomplice in crime. In this movie her costume is blue, red, pink, and black. She is wearing her love, her trust and and her passion for the Joker. She no longer has any sense of sublimation so the red and the blue on her costume are clearly divided on both sides. She will not allow them to mix into purple, or to form herself a sense of sublimation. Sublimation can be defined as: a mature type of defense mechanism, in which socially unacceptable impulses or idealizations are transformed into socially acceptable actions or behavior, possibly resulting in a long-term conversion of the initial. I feel this lack of purple, or sublimation, is a way of “showing and not telling” why Harley acts the socially unacceptable way she does. She is no longer bound by the norms and rules of society now that she is with her love, the Joker. The black on her tattoo can represent the sorrow she feels for losing who she was before she met the Joker as well as him not returning her love. But, the black diamonds are interlocked with the red, showing she still has lots of love and desire for him even though she knows she cannot have him.

 3.  Describe the structure of the movie/film.

     This movie is told in order with a few flashbacks. It takes place after the events of Superman’s death in Batman vs Superman, but before the creation of the Justice League, this answers a lot of “Why is the plot so weird? Why are villains fighting villains?” questions that this film will cause to arise. These flashbacks all occur in the minds of two of the main protagonists, Harley Quinn and Amanda Walker. There are several time-skips through the movie, switching back and forth between what the protagonists are doing and what the antagonists are doing.

     There are a few introductory scenes used to get you into the film and introduce opening credits but the actual movie starts with a woman, Amanda Walker, telling some government officials about a plan she has come up with. She wants to use “Meta-humans” to fight against other metas in WWIII. These scenes are told as almost flashbacks, but are what I like to think of as her telling the story so the audience can see it. Instead of just having the lady talk, they give you a visual.  You get to see what had happened in the past in order to get you where you are at. But, the scenes in this movie are extremely choppy and range from too-short to too-long. Often times, you found yourself having too much or not enough information.

 4.  What might you suggest to improve this movie/film?

      I feel the action shots in this movie could have been handled better. Many of them were rushed and overly simplistic. When I think of an action shot, I picture movement and something more dynamic than the results in this movie. For example, there was a scene where Harley Quinn is taking out one of the villain’s soldiers, she goes under his legs, over his, shoulders and around his neck ect. Instead of doing what I have seen most cameramen do in a shot like this, the director had them film this movement from one angle only. You could only see these moves from a front shot. There are many scenes filmed like this, giving them a flat and uninteresting quality.

          The length was an issue for me. This was a two hour and something minute film. The length, in my opinion, was something that could have been done without or at least used better. Some scenes were short and rushed through and others were long and drug out, this often left me confused and lacking information as well as bored. Some characters had little to no screen time while others had too much. I felt this film was choppy and needs to be filed down. A way you could us the length more efficiently would be to combine the unnecessary time-skips into one large scene. This way, we can still see what is going on with the antagonists while still keeping the rhythm and audience’s attention.  

         I think the film could have spent more time developing the characters throughout the film. These were incredible characters in the comics and barely had enough screen time, even in flashbacks, to grow and change in the film. Although, we can see people who don’t like each other grow closer, it feels rushed and inauthentic. For example: Deadshot, a hitman who claims he does not feel love at all and would kill anyone for the right price. He never misses and has not done so once in his entire life. Deadshot was told to kill Quinn in exchange for his freedom and a life with his daughter. He takes the gun and for a moment we think he is going to do it, but “misses”. We know he does this on purpose, but the movie gave us no explanation and nothing to go off of. It was never mentioned again, leaving the audience to wonder why in the heck he did it in the first place.

5.  Other comments and/or questions?

        I never realized the flaws in this movie, until I was actually picking it apart myself while I watched it, but to be fair I always did wonder why I kept falling asleep the first few times I watched it. Although, several of these flaws could be fixed easily, I wonder how, or even if, the director missed them. I enjoyed looking into all the symbolism and it made me like the movie even more.

      Some things I learned for my own screenwriting is that location and setting are important and that “show, don’t tell” is very important for something that is going on screen. The audience needs to know where people are in the film. I also learned that camera angles need to be described as well. I feel that the screenplay of this movie might not have touched to deeply on the angles and that is why some scenes were flat.

[missrkl]

Descendants Acts 2 -

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Rachel was having a very stressful day. Her parents were giving her a hard time about not being married yet whilst all their friend’s children were married and had babies. Rachel knew she could not explain to them her reason for being single still. Not only did she find it hard to let people in and trust them, she also had issues with being physically intimate with anyone. The whole thought of how it goes it down really creeped her out. Rachel sighed as she made her way out from the house. The last thing she wanted to do was hang out at home and pretend that everything was fine. The last thing she wanted was to be around her mother who kept nagging her about not having a husband and how bible school won’t exactly be reeling in profits. Her dad had suggested she become one of those mega church pastors and reel in the money through tithes and offering, he was snickering as he told her so. Her dad thought her whole faith was a joke. He had given up on God a long time ago and no longer believed he existed. Yet even after his heart attack and Rachel and her church praying for him and God healing him, he still chose to not believe in God. Rachel sighed again as she walked up the steps to her church, despite it being a weekday she always visited the place, not because it held the presence of God, but it was a place where Christians roamed the halls and by chance she might bump into one. Rachel sat in the foyer for a while, the silence of the church was quite welcoming. Rachel surveyed the entire main hall and imagined the different church services she experienced within its walls. Nothing like home to remind her of home.

Rachel decided to go back out, maybe she should go for a walk in the park. Before she could leave her phone pinged. She opened up the notifications screen and saw she had a message on The Holy Bible Game. The game was also available on the iPhone, but it did have limited features compared to the computer. She had a message from someone named David_Samuel738. She opened the message and read:

Dear Rachel,

You have the highest points ranked in this game and I was wondering if you would like to team up in saving more citizens to the kingdom of God? It would be an honour to work with someone with such a high ranking such as yourself.

David

Rachel thought about it a moment. The levels would begin to get harder and she still did not have The Blood Stained Sword for ultimate victory (overcome by the blood of the lamb). Rachel checked first David’s profile. He was quite high ranking himself, second to hers. She smiled, good, that means he could keep up. She accepted his offer and accepted his friend request. As Rachel was going to put her phone away she saw Matt Kane walking into the building. Lovely, just what she needed, a friendly happy face. Matt smiled widely when he saw Rachel and said hello, she did too. He asked her how she was doing and that they had a worship rehearsal now and the main room will be closing soon. Rachel left him and walked out to the park. She was always happy when seeing other children of God knowing full well they had a mutual understanding of the Lord of Most High. Rachel’s phone pinged again and she opened it, another message from David:

Hi there Rachel,

Thank you so much for accepting my friendship request. Looking forward to working with you. Maybe one day we could meet in person. It would be nice to meet the girl behind the screen.

David

Rachel sighed again and rolled her eyes. This was why she didn’t accept a lot of people online, especially the men. They always ‘wanted to know the girl behind the screen’ which always sounded super creepy to her. Still, the fact he was second highest ranking was something she could not ignore. So as Rachel walked into the park she sat down on the bench and logged into her programme. She changed her clothes and went to the market, as per usual, to see if anything was there to help her on today’s mission. She found Discernment Dove. This was a power that would give her greater wisdom and insight into frauds and deceivers, including wolves in sheep’s clothing. Definitely she needed that. Rachel bought the item, it was very expensive and took half of her virtual savings. It was worth the investment. You don’t get great things for free.

Suddenly David was online and standing beside her. His character was very handsome. Looking more like a warrior hero in a secular comic book than a Holy Bible hero’s of the heart. Rachel wondered if he looked like that in real life? One could only dream. Still, Rachel found herself blushing. She had to remind herself that this wasn’t real. Although there was a real person behind it. As the sun lay its heavy heat on Rachel in the park, the wind blew slightly caressing her skin and cooling her down. Here she sat under the big massive tree, with its branches and leaves giving her the shade and the breeze. The wind blew her hair around her face and David said ‘so, what’s the plan now?’ Rachel smiled, despite this being virtual, there was a real person behind that handsome virtual character and she quite liked him. He reminded her of Pastor Gabriel In her church. Handsome looking and she was glad about that. Rachel explained that she wanted to go down the south side of town to see if there was any citizens down there. She also explained that she was using her phone not her computer so her movements would be limited and would he be willing to cover her if necessary? She explained how she had not lost a life yet during this game, hence she was number one on the charts. David agreed to cover as he was at home using his computer. Where he was it was raining so he wasn’t out. Rachel realised then maybe that he lived far away. Oh well..their two characters on screen walked together in amiable silence. When they arrived at the south side of town there was many many citizens. Too many to choose from and a few specials. Rachel explained that she wasn’t equipped right now to handle any specials. David agreed and said that was a wise decision, no wonder she was number one. Rachel smiled, was he flirting or just complimenting her? Rachel had never put up her photo on this account and in no way was it connected to any of her social media accounts. Her virtual character looked nothing like her, slim and stealthy. Whilst in real life she was round and plump. This man can’t possibly believe she looked anything like her character could she?

Rachel motioned in the game to a group of citizens. None were specials. You could save an entire group of citizens, if you had backup, which she didn’t have. Rachel was usually a Lone Ranger, but maybe God in real life was trying to show her something?

Ecclesiastes 4:9 Two are better than one,

    because they have a good return for their labor:

10 

If either of them falls down,

    one can help the other up.

But pity anyone who falls

    and has no one to help them up.

David agreed and they both approached the group of citizens, about 10 in total. They were having some sort of picnic. So that meant 10 demons to fight, 5 each. As the demons manifested themselves as they began sharing the gospel story of the kingdom of heaven, Rachel got out her sword of the spirit and began wielding it against them. David too. For some reason their weapons were not working. Rachel remembered then her newly bought product she had bought today, Discernment Dove. Rachel motioned to David to cover her and as he did so, quite epically in fact, Rachel took out the Dove of Discernment and it began to shine and spoke into her characters mind, her spirit presumably in the game:

What they need is deliverance. Prayer is required. Forgiveness needed.

Rachel shouted at David what Discernment Dove had spoken and he understood. So instead of fighting at the demons floating about Rachel and David got on their knees and began to pray. They asked for (special words in the game) Deliverance and Forgiveness in Mashiac Yeshua Name. Discernment Dove spoke again and informed Rachel that the citizens had some forgiving to do, as some of them were backsliders. Rachel repeated what the Dove had told her and the citizens cried and soon was released from their bondage by forgiving. Then David and Rachel took them to the Temple of the Lord to train them. 10 citizens, each on their list. Making them almost unbeatable in the game.

Soon the sun was hiding behind some clouds and Rachel realised that some time had passed. Maybe it was time she went home. She couldn’t stay out forever. Rachel told David ‘good game’ and ‘I have to go now’ and logged out. Her character left David’s standing in the temple of Lord. David had waved. Virtually. Rachel put her phone back in her bag and decided to stop by the church again. She could use the bathroom, much cleaner than McDonald’s. They knew her face, she wasn’t a stranger, they would allow her. Rachel entered the church foyer and saw the worship team taking a break. So she went to the bathroom and one of the worship members was there, Juliet. She had her big curly hair out and Rachel loved that about her. They chatted a little and then Juliet invited Rachel to have tea and biscuits during their worship break. So Rachel joined in and had a good time, talking about the Lord, worship and their upcoming album. Rachel soon made her way home and as boarded the bus she prayed and asked God that her mum would have calmed down by now as she couldn’t handle the stress or the pressure. Rachel breathed in heavily and exhaled heavily. At least she had some fellowship today. Plus she had made a new friend, David.