#I spent so much time making the plan for the frame job... Then rewatching the season as I re-went over it... And editing it...

[candied-cae]

And Who Are We At The End Of The World? - He's Innocent

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

Chapter 6/? - - - Read it on AO3

Word Count : 7,257

Summary: Now it's go time. Time to stand in front of the Hawkins Police and convince them Eddie's innocent. Without having any physical evidence to use, only the personal accounts of a bunch of children... But it's fine. It can't be too hard to exonerate an innocent man. Right?

More ST Fics

-----------------------------------------------------

Once all the parents were satisfied with checking in on their children, they were all escorted to the conference room that was set up for them. Steve was in a wheelchair, which he told them he didn’t need, but the doctors insisted. They said he had to ride in it if he went anywhere further than his room for the rest of the day. So there he was, being pushed by Nancy through the creepily, sterile white halls, only slightly stressing about how they were supposed to play off the days since Spring Break started. When everyone arrived in the room, they saw Chief Powell and Officer Callahan sitting on the other side of the table.

Once they all settled, Callahan was the first to speak,“ You kids are in a lot of trouble.”

“We didn’t do anything wrong.” “Eddie didn’t do it." "We were trying to help.” “In trouble for what?!”

“Alright” Powell silenced them with a firm tone,” If we’re going to make this easy, we have to agree that we’re not going to talk over each other. I want clear answers on everything that has been happening since the night of Chrissy’s death. I don’t want anyone stalling for time, coming up with lies, or covering asses. We are going to sit in this room until we figure everything out.”

“And you want to know ‘in trouble for what?’…” Callahan spoke in a mocking tone with a finger pointed at Steve, who was indeed the one who asked.

Powell clasped his hands together and leaned back,“ Well, the most straightforward of the charges would be that stolen RV that’s currently sitting in the hospital parking lot-”

Ted Wheeler interrupted, loudly expressing,“ You kids stole an RV?!”

Powell didn’t look pleased,“ Thank you, Mr. Wheeler. But let us take it from here." he cast his eyes back to the youth," There’s also the fact that Officer Callahan witnessed Ms. Sinclair pop a tire on a police cruiser.”

Callahan narrowed his eyes at the girl, like he really saw the eleven-year-old child as some hardened perp,“ Saw her do it right from the Wheeler’s window.”

The Chief sighed, almost more exhausted by his officer's character than the children were,“ Now, obviously, this sort of stuff can be forgiven and forgotten if you kids answer our questions. Because the most important reason we’re here... is for the obstruction of justice as you aided and abetted Eddie Munson’s evasion of the law. Evasion of charges in a serial murder case. So, I want to know what happened.”

Nancy shook her head at them,“ You don’t want to believe us. You just want to believe he did it because that’s the easy answer. Just like everyone else around here.”

Callahan butted in, again pointing his finger at who he was talking to like it made him any more intimidating,“ Hey! We are talking to you about crimes. Actual crimes, that have happened in Hawkins. No more of this-" he waved his hand over her," this teen angst and drama, Little Miss Sass-”

“Callahan.” Powell snapped at him.

The room settled into a tense silence as the Chief sighed, again, before he looked back at the children,“ The police are here to listen and find out the truth of what’s happened. We are here now, with pencils and paper, to listen. So tell us why you were running from us and hiding him?”

Dustin huffed,“ Because he didn't do it, and there was a psychotic jock hunting us.”

“Alright, we can stop there for a bit if you want. A nurse…” Powell checked his notes,” Gladwell, tells us when you came in last night, you said this was Jason? So explain that to me. Because I’m looking at a lot of hospital records that spell a whole lot of hurt, and I don’t know how to make much sense of it. Officer?”

The other man pulls from the table a manila folder and begins reading off the summary they were given by the hospital,“ In the case of the seven patients received by Hawkins Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Room on the night of Thursday, March 27th, checked in at 11:48 pm, notable injuries include:

“Stephen Joseph Harrington - signs of ligature strangulation, severe animal bites to the abdomen, open wounds on the back, multiple cuts and bruises. Nancy Olivia Ann Wheeler - signs of ligature strangulation, multiple bruises, and displaying other signs of a struggle. Robin Mary Buckley - signs of ligature strangulation, multiple bruises, and displaying other signs of a struggle. Dustin Leroy Henderson - tenderness in the right leg, multiple cuts, and bruises. Erica Michelle Sinclair - hand-shaped bruising on the left forearm, tenderness in the left shoulder, minor scraps on the face. Lucas Charles Sinclair - multiple facial lacerations and contusions, including a black eye and broken nose, two broken ribs, bruised and bloodied knuckles, and multiple bruises the size of fists indicative of an altercation. Edward Alexander Munson - signs of ligature strangulation, severe animal bites to the abdomen and neck, multiple cuts and bruises, remains unconscious. And finally, Maxine Beatrice Mayfield - complete blindness in both eyes and multiple fractures from hyperextension of major joints, currently in medically assisted comatose.”

Callahan closes the file and finishes,“ And Maxine's-"

"Max." her mother cut in. She couldn't look at anyone. She just started at the table like she was barely there. But she spoke to insist. Insist that they call her Max, like how she preferred.

Callahan paused for a second before he continued," Max... uh, her condition is identical to the cause of deaths of three victims: Chrissy Cunningham, Fred Benson, and Patrick McKinney. With the exception, that Ms. Mayfield has survived to this point with her eyes still in her head.”

Susan Mayfield shuttered at the last line. “Survived to this point” Like they were waiting for her to die. To become a fourth victim to tack to his sentence, like she wasn’t her little girl. Her little girl… who she hasn’t been watching out for enough. She's been missing from Max's life so much recently. Around all the work and the drinks she drowns herself in at night, she hasn't been around. Not like she should've been. And the other half? "Eyes still in her head" It made everything in her writhe at the idea that her child could have lost her eyes. That someone could have just- taken them- just-

Powell continued,“ And you say all of that….”

Lucas finished,“ Was Jason.”

The rest of them agreed in one way or another. With nods or comments, they confirmed. It was him, Jason Carver, who did all this damage.

More or less.

“Alright. Callahan, write that down.” he instructed,” We will come back to that. You say this was Jason, so walk me through it. From the beginning. Because I need to understand why he would do this. So, let’s start with the night of the 21st, the night Chrissy was killed.”

Robin started,“ When we talked to Eddie about it, he said that earlier on Friday, Chrissy came to him looking to get some drugs.”

Powell supplied,“ A theory Jason himself completely refuted when we questioned him the next morning. Said that she didn’t mess with drugs. Why would she have suddenly changed her tune and not mentioned it to her boyfriend?”

“She wasn’t well,” Dustin answered solemnly.

“Meaning?” Powell waved his hand for Dustin to elaborate while he wrote his notes.

Dustin’s mother rubbed his shoulder to bid him to continue,“ She was freaking out. Told Eddie she was having nightmares and seeing things, it was so bad she couldn’t sleep. I don’t know what was wrong with her, but Eddie said she seemed super messed up and like she was scared of something, or someone.”

“Can anyone outside of this room corroborate that?” Powell asked.

“I don’t think this was the kind of thing she’d have told any of her friends, but Eddie said she had already tried talking to the counselor and it wasn’t helping. That’s why she was so desperate to score. She didn’t want to have to survive Spring Break in the state she was in.”

“And this counselor, that’d be Ms. Kelley at the high school?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, we’ll talk to her after this.”

“Anyway," Dustin continued," Eddie and Chrissy met up in his usual spot during school, he was just going to give her some marijuana so she could relax. But she was acting really scared and wanted anything stronger. He told her he had something like that, but he doesn’t carry that stuff around with him. If she wanted it, she’d need to let him get it from his stash.”

Lucas jumped in,“ They agreed to go to his trailer together after the game before she came to the afterparty at Benny’s.”

“That's where she told her boyfriend she was just going to run home and change clothes, but never showed up? Correct?” Powell asked to confirm.

“Yes,” Lucas answered.

“And?”

Dustin resumed,“ And they went to his place. He was looking around for what she asked for while she waited in the living room. Eddie said he was barely gone a minute, but when he came back out Chrissy was on the floor.”

“And afterward, Eddie said he thought that Jason saw them going off together before the afterparty and followed them,” Steve added.

“Followed them?”

“It’s what he thought.”

“Now, Lucas, you said on the 22nd that you didn’t see Jason go off at all,” Callahan mentioned.

“Well, not after the party started.” He clarified,” But once the game let out, we all split up and took different rides to the abandoned diner. We were all arriving at different times for the first half hour or so. I didn’t see Jason at the very beginning.”

“And no one rode with Jason?” he pressed.

“I don’t think so. A few of us were going to, but he said he wanted to drive Chrissy over. That was before she said she was going to run home and get changed. So I went with Chance, Andy, and Patrick. A little while later, we saw him show up saying Chrissy was going to be on her way.”

“So, Jason was unaccounted for before the party, Chrissy went to Eddie’s Trailer, he claims to have left her alone for a minute, only to come back to find her on the floor.”

“Yeah,” Robin took over,” Said she was unconscious, or maybe she was already dead. But he was just worried that she’d just found some pill in the trailer and took it while he was in the other room. So he tried to shake her awake-”

Callahan remembered their investigation of the body and muttered to himself,“ Fingerprints on her shoulders, but nowhere else…”

“And that’s when he noticed her legs were broken. Then Jason tried to get him.”

“Tried to get him?” Powell asked.

Steve stepped in,“ Yeah, said he tackled him from behind. Was talking like he was crazy and just looked really wrong. He tussled with him a little, and when it was clear it was a fight he wasn’t going to win, he got out from under him and bolted for the door.”

“And why didn’t he call anyone?”

“He was scared and in shock.” Dustin argued,” Max heard him scream and saw him nearly fall out of his own front door, terrified. If you want to arrest him for getting scared, then go for it. But he didn’t kill Chrissy Cunningham.”

“Did you see any of this Ms. Mayfield?” Powell asked Susan.

“I wasn’t- I was asleep by that time of the night,” she answered, but a few of them figured it meant she had drunk herself into a blackout by then.

“And did Max say anything the next morning?”

She shook her head,“ Nothing specific. We just saw the cop cars arrive, and I said something about the boy getting into trouble. She ran off a little later, said she needed to see a friend.”

“Alright. So Jason killed his girlfriend because she snuck off with Munson, according to him, and then he just went to this party? Like it was no big deal?” Powell asked, pointing the question at Lucas.

“I don’t know. When I saw him, he seemed fine, he got more pissed as he drank, but he kept saying he was just mad Chrissy hadn’t shown up yet. We didn’t push it.”

“And by this point, where’s Eddie run off to?”

Robin answered,“ Rick Lipton’s house on Lover’s Lake. He’s stayed over there before, so it was the first place he thought of while he was trying to figure everything out. By the next day, everyone saw the news and heard on the radio that some kid was killed in the trailer park. He knew if there wasn’t already an arrest made on Jason, then he was probably the first suspect.”

“And why didn’t he come in and explain that to us? Why not report what happened if he wanted to claim he was innocent?"

Wayne felt like he’d bitten his tongue enough, hearing so many times what Eddie should’ve done when he witnessed something so horrible,“ Please…”

He shook his head before he continued,“ His mother’s gone, his father was in prison damn near his whole life, he lives in the trailer park, and sells pot while he does his damnedest to graduate high school on his third time through his senior year. He has tattoos, likes loud music, doesn’t dress how all the good kids in town dress, and he plays a game that people, who don’t know any better, say comes from the devil. He knows what he looks like to the police and to the whole town. You might not think it, but he’s smart enough to know how much he wouldn’t have been listened to. Especially, if it was his word against a kid like Jason Carver’s.”

“Mr. Munson, we are not judging your nephew-” Callahan tried to say.

“But you are! That’s what this whole thing is. You want to pick apart every detail about him, take every trait of his that you think makes him a bad seed, and tally it against everything these kids are going to tell you actually happened. To decide if your assumptions about him and his character can be outweighed by their testimony. And he can’t even defend himself...”

Wayne’s hot, angry tears had built up again, and he turned his face away while he reined them back in.

The words barely cracked through his breaking voice," It's not right."

There was a moment of silence like they didn’t know what to say before Powell decided to simply voice,“ Let’s continue. So, the morning after, what happened at Benny’s?”

“I woke up late feeling like I was going to die-” Lucas cast his parents a wary eye.

“Keep going.”

”It was the first time I’d ever drank before, so I was over the toilet while most of the people who woke up were clearing out. The only thing I remember before you came by was coming out of the bathroom to catch Andy making some joke about Chrissy being the dead kid on the news.”

“He did? And what did Jason have to say?” Powell asked.

Lucas recounted,“ Nothing. It was Patrick who told Andy that the joke wasn’t cool. Jason didn’t say a word. Just went towards the windows when we heard the sirens.”

There was something in Powell that carefully processed that answer. He scribbled into his notes. Clearly, something piqued with the fact that Jason wouldn't have said anything to a joke about his girlfriend being dead.

“And what happened after we finished talking to you boys?”

“Well, you saw him storm out. He just walked off into the woods alone. When he came back, he jumped in his car and left. He didn’t talk to anyone until later that night when he showed up with some Hellfire Club poster that he must’ve snagged from the school and got everyone all riled up.”

“Riled up?”

“He started going on about Eddie killing Chrissy for his cult. I tried to explain to them that it was just a club for a nerdy game, not some satanic cult, but none of them listened. Then he told us we were going to go ‘hunt the freak’ because the cops just wanted to call Chrissy a druggie, and he wasn’t going to let that happen. Every single one of them were cheering for it. Like Eddie wasn’t even a person to them. But I knew Eddie, I liked Eddie, and I didn’t want to believe he’d do something like Jason was saying he did. But I didn’t know for sure. What I did know, was that I cared about a lot of people in Hellfire, including my sister. And the best thing I could do for them was to keep an eye on Jason and make sure he didn’t go too far.”

“When was this happening?”

“Probably around 8:30 or so, the sun was setting, so he said we’d strategize at Denny’s and get started fresh in the morning.”

Powell and Callahan shared a look before the former asked,“ So nobody had eyes on Jason from about 3 pm and 8 pm on the 22nd?”

“No, none of us saw him between then.”

They didn’t say anything, but the way the two of them nodded, the Party knew they were putting together that Freddie disappeared and was killed somewhere within that timeline. Leaving Jason without an alibi for the first or second murder

“Alright, and where was everyone else, the day we found Chrissy’s body?”

They run through the rest of the stories about their day. Most of it was the truth anyway, just a bit of twisting to make it believable. Of course, Max wasn’t marked with a curse from a dark wizard in another dimension. She was triggered, after seeing Chrissy in such an awful state.

Dustin was remembering the morning Max came to his house,“ She saw the body in the trailer. She’s the one who told me it was Chrissy. She was terrified, said she didn’t feel safe anymore after she lived next door to someone who could’ve… But I knew he didn’t do it. Not Eddie. There was no way.”

Callahan tried to argue,“ But, son, you can’t have actually known that-”

“No” Dustin affirmed,” I did know that. Eddie Munson was the guy who saw Mike and me alone in the cafeteria. While Lucas was getting to know the basketball team, Will and Jane had moved, and Max just wanted her space… We were alone. We’re the kinds of guys that have gotten bullied every day since elementary school. Until he saw us. He gave us a place to belong…"

Dustin looked at Wayne before he continued. The older man had looked so beat down. Over and over again he has had to listen to people say terrible things about his boy, the closest thing he'd heard in his favor was Nancy even bothering to listen to him... But this kid believed in Eddie from the very beginning. Never stopped being sure that Eddie was a good kid. Wayne looked so relieved to hear someone hold out faith for his boy.

Dustin pushed," So I knew Eddie didn’t do it. Not Eddie, who didn’t like us biking home when it was dark even though we did it all the time. Not Eddie, who loaned Mike cassettes of his favorite music to try out. Not Eddie, who insisted ‘Metal was the only real music’ and still sang along to the radio with us when I switched the station on the ride home-”

“Alright. You’ve made your point.” Powell wanted him to move on.

But Dustin didn’t budge,“ I don’t think I have. Because unless you listen, unless you agree that Eddie is a person - a good person - who’s just a little unconventional by your standards and does things his own way. Until you decide that he deserves a fair chance, just like anyone else, then you won’t get it. You won’t listen to what happened.”

“Alright. We’re listening. Callahan?” Powell gave in.

“Yeah, yeah,” Callahan said it like an afterthought. Like he got swept away in Dustin’s passionate defense for a moment,” We’re listening.”

“So, please, continue. What happened when you told Max that Eddie didn’t do it?”

“Well, she and I went over what she did see. She said she saw them show up at the trailer the night before, and only a few minutes after, she heard yelling, saw him run out, and speed off. And, at first, she wasn’t sure if he was just scared of what he did, but when she thought back… she said he might’ve just been regular scared of something else.”

“Ms. Henderson?”

“Well, I didn’t speak to her. But she did drop by early that morning. And she did look real shaken up. I asked if she was okay, and she just said she had something she needed to ask Dusty about. They went into his room and, not fifteen minutes later, they were out the door saying they needed to check on someone.”

“We figured that Eddie saw something and was hiding because of it,” Dustin said.

They go over the biking to Family Video and calling everyone they could think of who knew Eddie, using the account system to find phone numbers. They mention someone telling Max about how he stayed at his supplier, Reefer Rick’s, place sometimes. Then they sorted through the Ricks in the computer and used the rental history to figure out the right address. They closed the store early and went out to find him and give him a chance to explain himself.

Powell asked,“ I have to ask. Eddie might've been scared of coming forward, but why you didn’t call us in? Before confronting a possible murderer on your own, why didn’t you reach out for backup?”

Steve shrugged,“ I said we should.”

“Steve-” Robin smacked his arm.

“What? I did. I didn’t know the guy. At the time, I didn’t know how innocent he was. I figured we should catch everyone up with what we knew.”

Dustin took over,“ And I told you the same thing I’ve been saying: Eddie didn’t do it. But, if we went to police before we found him and with no proof, we’d just doom him to pay the price for a crime he didn’t commit.”

“If he would’ve told us-”

“No." Steve argued," Okay, I was wrong about trying to bring more people into it too soon. When we found him, he was still scared out of his mind nearly a whole day after. Barely even recognized Henderson, even though he’s known him for months! Didn’t want to believe us when we told him we wanted to help and would listen to his side of the story. Even when we were able to get him to calm down enough to tell us what happened, he was still shaking just remembering it.”

Dustin nodded along,“ He wanted to run. Wanted to find some way to a different state and change his name, because was so sure no one else would believe him. He was terrified to go down for this. He said he didn’t want to end up in prison like his father. That he wanted to be better than that… We barely convinced him to trust us and wait.”

Robin explained,“ The only reason he stayed in Hawkins, is because we promised Eddie that we wouldn’t turn him in until we had a plan to prove he didn’t do it. We just wanted to give him a chance so someone would actually listen to him.”

The pair of police officers seemed to finally register that the kids were truly desperate to help Eddie Munson. Not to cover for him and get him off the hook, to help him because they honestly believed, with everything they had, that he didn’t do it. That he never killed anyone, and he’s just been petrified since the night of the 21st, trying to find some way out of it…

Then it was Lucas’s turn to talk about what he saw while riding around with Jason. He emphasized having a really bad feeling about Jason’s plans when they tracked down members of Eddie's band to Gareth's garage.

“They started asking questions about where Eddie was. Gareth made some comment, like, 'Look around, he's obviously not here'… and it was like Jason just snapped. One second, he nodded like he understood and was going to be reasonable. The next, he was punching Gareth, screaming in his face, throwing him against the drum set, standing on his fingers, and threatening to break his hand, all while Andy and Patrick held the other two back from helping him… And I was frozen…”

Lucas’s mother squeezed his hand, to silently assure him. He took a breath and continued,“ I wanted to run away, I wanted to pull them off of him, I wanted to start crying, I wanted to call for help. I just wanted to make them stop. But I didn’t know how. Then Gareth told them Dustin called looking for Eddie. Said he might’ve found him. And I knew Dustin would’ve.”

“He’s just that smart?”, Callahan sarcastically asked with a glance at the other boy.

“He is, sir.” Lucas insisted,” So I told them how to get to Dustin’s place, hoping he wouldn’t be home. While they were busy trying to figure out if it was empty, I climbed into Dustin’s room through his window and used his radio set to warn them. Told them I had a really bad feeling and that they should stay away from his house. They told me if I could get away to go to Steve’s and meet up with them. And then, when Jason caught me in there, I told them I found a clue to where Eddie was hiding. I lied and said that he was in this busted cabin in the woods I knew about. Once I got them out there and had them distracted looking for nothing, I just split and ran for Steve’s.”

The group substituted their investigation for Venca with trying to find proof of Eddie’s innocence. Instead of turning the whole world over in a search for how they could get to the Upside Down and kill a being that was less man than monster at this point… they were simply trying to find proof. Trying to find some way to connect Jason to the murders beyond circumstance and witness testimony.

Then they got to Patrick’s death on Lover’s Lake. They tell them that Eddie got on a boat and was rowing himself out just to put some distance between him and Jason. He honestly expected one of the boys to call the cops, and at the very least, they would all get brought in together. And he would just have to explain himself and hope it would be enough. But then Jason started swimming after him. Andy was still riffling through the house, and Patrick was hesitant to jump in after him, but he did.

Jason was yelling that he was going to kill Eddie. Then Patrick started getting cold feet. Saying that Jason needed to cool down, reminding him that the plan was just about scaring him into confessing, that sort of stuff. Eddie realized Jason must not have told them what really happened. Eddie started pleading with Patrick. Told him what he saw Jason do. Patrick started to believe him. He started asking Jason what Eddie was talking about. Asked if he was telling the truth. It must’ve started to add up because Patrick tried to stop Jason from getting into the boat with Eddie. And just like with Gareth, he switched. Turned on him in an instant and started hurting Patrick.

Eddie fell out of the boat and swam off while he was busy.

“Now kids, I want to you know I am listening. I am.” Powell clarified,” But this- to say Jason Carver did all of this? I just can’t understand why he would want to kill three people. He’s a good kid, an upstanding member of the community, comes from a good family, has decent grades, athletic talent... He's got a bright future ahead of him. Why do all of this just because he might’ve seen his girl go get some drugs from Eddie Munson?”

“It was because it was Eddie Munson,” Dustin asserted.

Lucas added,“ Jason hated Eddie.”

“He did?”

“Oh yeah. Jason was the top dog this year. Everyone respected him or feared the basketball clique enough to stay out of his way. Everyone except for Eddie.” Dustin paused,“ Eddie didn’t care. He didn’t care that he was an outcast, didn’t care that he was at the bottom of the food chain, didn’t care that Jason was ‘better than him’. And he wasn’t quiet about it.”

Lucas continued,“ Jason couldn’t rule over Eddie. He was openly mocked by him, just on Friday at lunch. That’s just how Eddie was. He didn’t care about the stuff other people cared about. And he thought they were ridiculous for caring about it at all.”

Steve pointed out,“ And Jason’s always been a little explosive. It usually just looked like he was competitive at games… but he can really go off on the refs when things don’t go his way.”

“And you’re right.” Dustin nodded to the Chief,” He had a good future ahead of him. But then he snapped and killed Chrissy. Then he had witnesses and people poking around. Then he had people turning against him, instead of falling in line behind him…”

Nancy wondered,“ Had Fred and I found out it was him?”

“Had Patrick or I turned him in?” Lucas asked.

“Had more people found Eddie and believed him?” Robin leaned in.

“All that bright future would’ve gone away,” Dustin concluded.

“So, why would Andy put himself in that position? Doing violent stuff for a crazy guy?” Callahan asked.

“You were at the town hall.” Erica spoke up, arms crossed,” You saw how he talked to everyone. Ranting and raving, obviously out of his mind. And yet, you saw how they all ignored you in favor of him. Some high schooler. He made a student club public enemy number one in minutes, and you two couldn’t do anything about it.”

“Erica…” Her father said, not liking her usual tone when it was directed at officers.

“Just the facts!” she argued before turning back to Callahan, her manner of speaking like she was spelling it out to a child,“ He’s charismatic, like Bundy. People listen to him, even if he's crazy.”

“Alright, so what happened after that? When we had four of you kids together under one roof, we tried to ask you what was going on, and you all lied before running off on your own again?”

Nancy started,” We were trying to come up with a new game plan on where to store Eddie since Rick's wasn't an option anymore when we heard you coming through the woods. Before we even had a chance to try to come up with a solution, Max stood up and pulled her ‘I saw the killer, this way!’ scene. Then Lucas and Dustin ran after her while we were still in the brush. They weren’t supposed to run off and-”

“And,” Dustin took over,” we didn’t have a plan about getting brought in with the cops. We didn’t really know where we were going from there. So, we sat on that couch and made it all up as we went. Couldn’t even get our story straight and didn’t know how we could get you to calm down about Eddie and stay away from him while the four of them tried to find something.”

“We camped out in the woods after the kids ran off with you guys,” Steve answered, looking at Nancy and Robin,” We didn’t have anything with us, and we left my car too close to Rick’s house to try and go back for it since with the police team still there. And we were so exhausted. We were completely out when we fell asleep out there, especially Munson and me. We didn’t even come to until the girls woke up and chased off the critters that swarmed us. Hence all the bites.”

Robin pitched in,“ After that, we knew we needed to get them in to see a doctor. When the kids called us on the radio, we met at Max’s trailer and tried to figure ourselves out. But we had no car, and Eddie couldn’t be seen just walking around. So we stole an RV. We felt really bad about it, we swear, but we needed a ride, and everything felt so critical. So, life and death. We just drove out to the abandoned Creel house Nancy and I read about, to do a little bit of damage control on the way to the hospital.”

“I got wrapped up, and we did our best with Eddie. And I think it had to have been because of all the blood, Max started having, like, a panic attack.” Steve continued.

“We didn’t want to leave the younger kids behind, but she couldn’t even look at the two of them.” Robin added,” She was shaking and crying and just- we couldn’t put her on that RV where she would have to keep looking at it. Where she’d be trapped with it…”

Nancy continued,“ We left the kids at the Creel house with her, except for Dustin because he messed up his leg while we were running. We planned to get everyone checked in and call parents from the hospital once we knew we had Eddie somewhere he could be watched and kept safe from the crazies. Then everyone would get picked up, and we’d just have to figure it out from there.”

Lucas spoke next,“ I was just going to sit with her while she listened to her favorite music to get her mind off of it. She just sat there, eyes closed trying to breathe while Kate Bush helped her settle a bit.”

Steve got quiet,” But somehow Jason found them…”

“Erica was outside to keep a look out for when parents, or police, would show up. But it was Jason and Andy.”

“Jason went straight for the house while Andy chased after me." She recounted," He was raging about Lucas, and I wanted to warn him… but Andy jumped me, pinned me to the ground, and pulled my arm behind my back. He told me he’d break both my arms if I wasn’t quiet. I only got away because he got startled when we heard gunshots from the house-”

“Gunshots?”

“From Jason. From them, I was able to get out from under Andy and kick him between the legs before I gave him a hit with my flashlight. He should be wearing a nice shiner on his left eye the next time you see him. Courtesy of Erica Sinclair.“

“Jason came into the attic. Started attacking me. Said it was because I switched teams. Then he saw Max in the corner, just trying to hold herself together. And his face just went… sinister. It was just like Gareth, but I saw it from a new angle. Then he was just on her, so fast. I saw him break her arm… I tried to stop him, but he knocked me out. When I came to… he had…" Lucas shuttered, remembering the way Max's limbs broke as she dangled in the air," And he was kneeling over her and pressing into her eyes. I slammed into him and got him away. He was unconscious when the earthquake started.”

“I made it up the stairs and saw Max was all messed up. I was running to get the walkie I dropped outside when the earthquake started. And the house-"

Lucas took over," I don’t know if it was old - or just a bad foundation - but it just cracked open.”

"Cracked open?" Powell asked.

"Right down the middle. I'd never seen anything like it."

“So, now Jason is?”

“I don’t know. Not really. He was passed out right where it came apart, and when I looked up… It was like it just swallowed him. I don’t know how far he fell, I just pulled Max and me out of the way.”

“Erica called us after the earthquake. Eddie got thrown around the RV and was bleeding worse again, but when they said how bad Max was... we turned right around, got the kids loaded in, and came here. And on the way, when Lucas told us what happened… told us what he said to him on top of everything else…” Steve let his voice seethe.

“What he said?”

Lucas remembers the words Jason had said. The real parts that hurt with such familiarity within the othered look in his eyes...“ When Jason was hitting me… he said he thought I was ‘one of the good ones’. That he was wrong about me. He ‘never should’ve let me in the door’. Like Patrick.”

Lucas's mother's hand tightened on his shoulder, and his father clenched his jaw.

And Chief Powell stiffened, his eyes going hallow. He kept his composure, but he knew. He knew what those words meant from boys like Jason. He knew about all the things that happened to Lucas that his parents had to fight for the school to report. He knew how it felt to be that kid in this town, one way or another.

“I’ve heard enough…” he muttered

The other officer looked at him like he wanted to dispute,“ Calvin-”

“I said, I’ve heard enough. All that’s left is you kids came to the hospital, right?”

“Yes sir.” they all answered, practically in unison.

“We have the hospital records for everything after that. I have heard everything I need to. We’ll still need to speak to Eddie and Max when they wake up, but we will start verifying the information you’ve given us in the meantime. Now, all of you, just stay out of trouble. I want those of you that the hospital signs off on to go home and stay there while you rest up. No one is to go running off or doing anything stupid. Am I understood?”

“Yes sir.” once more.

Powell nodded them along, and each kid and adult emptied out of the room so the two policemen could discuss.

Robin volunteered to push Steve back to his room while everyone started on their paperwork to get checked out. Once she put a little distance between her and her parents, she started having fun with her best friend after the tense morning. She was weaving him side-to-side in the hallway like she was providing him a ride on an exclusive Robin Buckley Wheelchair Rollercoaster. Then she brought up that now they all have ultimate power over one another from the questioning... they all found out each other’s middle names. It was like childish weapons of mutually assured destruction had just been handed over to them.

“Edward Alexander? He has to hate that so much. And Beatrice? For crazy, badass Mad Max? Beatrice? Oh my god- I need them to wake up and get in trouble asap, just so I can whip those out when they least expect it!” Robin giggled along, imagining the situation.

“And you? Mary? I mean, once I saw those parents, Mary made sense. But I would’ve never pegged you for a Mary if I was guessing!” Steve laughed too.

And then suddenly Robin stopped in her tracks,“ Oh my god…"

"What?" Steve asked, a little worried.

"We’re Mary and Joseph!” She loudly exclaimed.

Steve leaned his head back to look at her and let another laugh break through his chest,” We are! Seems pretty fucking fitting, right?”

Robin nodded along as she continued rolling him down the hallway,“ Never had sex, and yet we’ve got mouthy kids who end up in a lot of bloody, end of days shit? Yup, sounds just like us.”

“But I remember the originals only had the one who was getting caught up in trouble..." Steve ran over the list in his head: Dustin, Lucas, Erica, Max, El, Will, and Mike.

"So how’d we end up with a litter of seven?”

“We’re overachievers?” Robin suggested with a shrug.

“I’m not,” Steve counters,” I for one would happily return a couple of them at this point.”

“Sure, buddy. I’m sure that wouldn’t make you the saddest little boy in all the land.” she teased as she took a hand to ruffle his hair, knowing this was one of the few chances she’d have a good angle on him to do so,“ Come on, you love those little shits.”

Steve fought away her hand with difficulty since she was behind and above him“ And what makes you say that?”

She hummed the answer at him as they crossed back into the room,“ Just about everything you do.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let me get back to my nap.”

“Fine. They going to let you outta here tomorrow?” she asked as she went to help him get back into the bed.

He swatted her hands away again,“ That’s the plan.”

She got a touch more serious as she formed the next question,“ Are your parents…?”

Of course. That would’ve been the obvious thing to ask, given how well she knew him. Robin and Steve spent arguably too much time together after Starcourt. She noticed no one showed up for him when the other parents started to filter into the parking lot after the fire. At the end of the day, they always seemed to be somewhere else. So they shared lots of movie nights in his empty house, filled with their lamentations of love and loss, sometimes fears. But, whenever she tried to worry about him, he’d remind her that he'd been semi-independent for a while. And now that he was out of school, his folks didn’t need to be around so much. He assured her of it all the time over snacks. But she worried anyway.

“Nah” he answered simply as he started to pull the covers around him.

“Do you need a ride?”

Steve’s face deadpanned at her,“ You can’t drive.”

“I know that-” she smacked his arm,” It just, you know, seemed like the moment when a person’s supposed to offer?”

“Don’t worry about it, revered chauffeur. Mrs. Henderson’s going to come collect me.”

“Alright. You'll call me when you’re feeling up to do something? The high school’s running as the relief center right now, so we decided this morning before you woke up that we’d all come together and donate some stuff.”

“You want me to give away my own things after I just bled for this town?”

She shoved his shoulder again,“ You’re gonna be there.”

He smiled,“ Alright. With bells on. Just for you though, Rob.” and threw her a wink.

“Then it’s a plan. You’re going to call me?” she asked one more time to make him promise.

“I’m going to call you. Now go away, you’re too loud.” he shooed her out the door and shuffled around in the bed to get comfortable.

“Alright. Get your much-needed beauty sleep,” she called before heading out to go home herself.

[preciouspeterbparker]

i wish i were

inspired by conan gray’s “heather”

warnings: stepsibling incest (not yet but that’s the whole premise), underage masturbation, underage sex, angst. peter’s like 16 and a half, Tony’s almost 18

word count: 2.2k

summary: peter’s in love with his big brother. no biggie. (spoiler alert: it’s a big deal)

(A/N: okay this has been living in my head rent free for over a month. i've written more, but it's not fully fleshed out yet. 

i figured i would post this and see if anyone is interested in reading it before i put a bunch more effort in lmao. this is filth. most of the angst comes later lololol (and more filth).

i hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think / if you'd like to read more!

- bloo)

PART ONE

Peter stands at his locker, desperately trying to blend in and remain unseen as he switches out his English textbook for Physics. The school year is basically over, given that it’s the last week of May but he’s still not comfortable in the junior-senior hallway. He’s always been the youngest (and therefore smallest) kid in most of his classes, given that he’s been in the ‘gifted & talented’ track since middle school. (He’s on track to graduate next year, taking his last few mandatory classes and completing an internship for additional credit.) This year, Peter feels even smaller than usual; maybe because most of the seniors are already eighteen, while as a sophomore, he isn’t even seventeen. He doesn’t have many friends this year, because of it. Ned moved away last summer because his dad got a new job, and, well, he’d never really needed more than Ned before. 

“Hey Pete-squeak,” comes a voice from behind, making him jump. Rolling his eyes, Peter pivots slightly to face the newcomer. The infestation of butterflies that he's been harboring for the past few months begins to flutter immediately, tickling the walls of his stomach as his cheeks flush lightly.

The voice belongs to a tall (or, well, taller than Peter, anyway), ridiculously handsome boy with dark hair and dark eyes, walking towards Peter with his hands in his pockets. The cheeky smirk on his face is all but permanent, but the small, genuine smile it slips into is something that Peter holds close to his chest, something that is typically reserved for him.  

Tony, his older brother, is pretty much Peter's favorite person in the world. Technically, he’s Peter’s step brother. Maria, his mom, and Peter’s dad Richard got married when Peter was a year old and Tony was almost three. They’d essentially spent their whole lives together; neither of them could really remember anything before. They’ve always been close, but that’s changed a little bit this year.

“Hey Tony,” Peter chirps, reaching back into his locker to grab his physics binder. He tries to act natural, even though he feels anything but. His heart’s going a mile a minute inside his rib cage. He feels a little ridiculous, he has for the past few months. Swallowing, he manages to sound relatively calm. “You read the last 2 chapters of Beowulf, right? Mrs. Herrera gave us a pop quiz last period.” 

The older teen groans. Closing his eyes, he throws his head back, a metallic thunk sounding as it collides with the locker he’s leaning back on. “Fucking hell. The final paper is due in like four fucking days! Is that not enough?” It’s quiet for a moment as Tony pauses before he opens one eye, cutting it to look at Peter. “What were the answers?” 

Peter snorts in response, shutting his locker. “Not happening, T.”  He pulls his phone out of his pocket to check the time and lets the left side of his body rest against the cool metal. Three minutes til the bell rings, and Mr. Riley’s class is right across the hall. So he’s essentially got three minutes to indulge himself and the fuzzy warmth that’s running through his veins. He loves any time he gets to spend with Tony. “You’re lucky I told you at all, be grateful.” 

Tony wrinkles his nose at him. “Rude,” he scoffs in mock offense. “I know you can remember them,” comes his teasing accusation. (And he’s right. Peter can recall the entirety of the quiz, but he’s still not going to enable Tony.) Then he pauses and raises an eyebrow at his younger brother. “Is that my sweatshirt?” The garment in question is a worn and slightly faded black Led Zeppelin USA 1977 crewneck sweatshirt. Peter’s wearing it over a charcoal and white check button-up. The sweatshirt is one of Tony’s favorite pieces of clothing, he wears it all the time (hence why Peter...borrowed it...without asking).

Having mentally prepared himself to be questioned at some point, Peter’s reply is already on the tip of his tongue. “Yeah, it ended up in my laundry and once I put it on it was too cozy to take off. And it looks good with these jeans and the button-up. And my boots. Trying out a new look,” he finishes, smiling as he pushes his glasses further up his nose. Tony often teased him about the thick, clear-but-slightly-pink frames, but Peter hadn’t wanted glasses at all (he doesn’t need any more reasons to be teased, thank you), but he likes these. They make him look cute, more feminine. More like someone Tony could want. 

“You’re right,” Tony smiles. One of his hands comes up to playfully ruffle at Peter’s russet hair. “Looks great on you, kid.” There’s warm affection in his voice. 

Peter feels his cheeks go hot again, and he wills the flush to go away. He can’t take compliments from Tony, now- they make him ache and preen simultaneously. He knows that Tony doesn’t mean it the way he wants. Peter knows that Tony would never speak to him again if he knew what was really going on inside his little brother’s head. The thought makes him sick to his stomach. 

Speaking of stomachs. “Hey,” he starts as he fingers through the papers in his physics binder, attempting to find the problem set that’s due today. “Did you ever catch up on Hell’s Kitchen? I’ve been rewatching episodes trying to wait for you, but you’re taking too long. You saw the episode where Gordon-” Peter’s heart falls to his stomach and he abruptly stops speaking when he looks up to notice that Tony isn’t looking at him anymore, barely seems to be listening. 

It falls completely out of his ass when he sees just what, just who, has stolen his attention. 

“Sorry, Pete, gotta go,” Tony mutters once he realizes that Peter’s stopped talking, shooting him a hasty smile and shoving off the navy metal. He skirts past Peter, a slight skip in his step as he makes his way down the hallway. 

Peter's swallows and clenches his jaw as he watches his brother walk straight to her, the bane of his existence. The reason he and Tony don’t spend as much time together anymore. The object of Tony’s affections. Pepper. She's...everything Peter wishes he could be, honestly. Tall, somehow a perfect mix of skinny & curvy, bright blue eyes, long strawberry-blonde hair. She's perfect. And not only in looks; she's also ridiculously smart. If Tony wasn’t valedictorian, she surely would be. She even volunteers at the local soup kitchen every weekend, and Peter’s pretty sure she reads to dogs at the animal shelter once a month. He hates that Pepper is so nice; he hates that he can't hate her without hating himself for it. 

As if he didn't have enough self-loathing already.

***

Peter exits the bathroom that connects his bedroom with Tony’s after gently flicking the lock on his brother’s door to disengage it, the soft ‘snick’ ridiculously loud in the quiet of the house. He’s the only one home; Mom and Dad are at some sort of event for Dad’s law firm, and Tony went to a party at Rhodey’s house. (Tony had insisted that Peter was invited, but he had to know that the younger would never go- why would he want to be surrounded by drunk, horny, belligerent teenagers? The last thing he wanted to see was Tony and- )

There’s a dark gray towel loosely wrapped around his waist, so loose he has to clutch it in his hand to keep it from falling. He closes his own bathroom door behind him and drops the towel, digging through his underwear drawer to pull out a random pair of plaid boxers. 

After sliding them on, the brunette takes a deep breath and lays back against the pillows, arms behind his head. He tries to consciously relax his muscles, the tension of the day not having melted away during his shower like he had hoped. Time for Plan B. It’s never let him down before. Peter reaches for his phone and unlocks it before swiping through his apps to open Spotify. The sound of “Dazed and Confused” fills the air through his speakers, and he sets it to repeat on a loop. It’s a little fucked up, the way he’s conditioned himself to respond to this song, but- Peter knows the whole thing is fucked up; he’s fucked up. 

Closing his eyes, he does the only thing he’s been capable of for months: he thinks of his older brother. 

He’s growing fond of the new facial hair Tony’s trying out; he wonders how it would feel against his skin. Which areas would be the most sensitive to its touch? His thighs? His neck? Peter’s head tilts back and to the side as he imagines wet, warm lips and the scratch of stubble. Just the thought, the phantom sensation, makes a soft mewl leave his mouth. It’s a little ridiculous how easy he can get himself going, when he thinks of Tony’s touch, of his body. Of his love. In his boxers, his cock shifts against his thigh as it begins to fill out. 

The sensual, plucky bassline and wailing guitars of the song drag along, and so does Peter’s breathing as he brings a hand up to pinch at one of his nipples. He imagines the way Tony would tease him until he was whining, begging for release. He supposes it wouldn’t be dissimilar to his older brother’s typical manner of playfully taunting him. Maybe Tony would pin him down like he did when they were younger, climb on top of him and hold him there with the muscles he’s gained from boxing in the garage. The opportunities he’s had to see the older teen breathing heavy, shirtless and glistening with sweat, would be forever ingrained in his mind. The mental image sends more blood rushing south and his dick throbs as it quickly reaches full hardness, drawing a gasp from his mouth. 

Peter takes himself in hand, studying the details of his cock. He knows he’s not huge, but he’s at least on the larger side of average. It’s flushed a deep, mauve-y pink, and he traces the line of a vein on the side with the tip of his pinkie. A shiver shoots down his spine. He wonders how similar it is to Tony’s. Is he circumcised like Peter is? Is he bigger? Longer, thicker even? Sure, he’s seen him naked before, when they were younger changing or in the bath, but that stopped around the time Tony was seven or eight. 

(Tony and Peter had come home from school one day, and Peter’s head had been reeling over what he heard some older girls saying on the bus. He’d decided to ask Tony about it. His big brother knew everything. ...Mom & Dad caught them kissing in their bedroom. That was the end of bathing together, and Tony got his own room, too. Peter never forgot about the way his big brother’s lips felt against his own.) 

A bead of precum oozes out of his tip and Peter rubs his thumb over it, smearing the liquid over his cockhead. Robert Plant’s voice moans over the speaker and Peter echoes the sound as he slowly strokes himself with a loose grip, his hole tightening around nothing. Biting his lip, he hesitates before slipping his left pointer finger into his mouth, rolling his tongue around it sloppily. Once it’s wet, he reaches down and gently presses the pad of his finger against the tightly furled muscle between his cheeks. His breath hitches as the sensation; he’s only touched himself down here a couple of times before. 

The tip of his finger begins to breach his opening and a whine leaves Peter’s mouth. It stings a bit so he tries to relax, muscles fluttering, making a mental note to grab some lube next time he goes to the drugstore. He wants to be able to stretch himself out more, to imagine Tony’s fingers, Tony’s cock, splitting him open and stuffing him full. Fuck-

Tightening his grip on the base of his cock, Peter grits his teeth and grunts softly as he pulls his finger from his ass. He can’t cum yet- he’s not done. He reaches under his pillow, pulling out the balled-up t-shirt that’s taken up residence there. The black fabric has faded in some spots, and the Black Sabbath logo is cracked and worn; it’s one of Tony’s favorite shirts. Peter brings the soft cloth up to his nose, fumbling with it to find the area with the strongest smell. There are hints of Tony’s Old Spice deodorant mixed with a scent that’s distinctly Tony, a warm, masculine musk that has saliva pooling in Peter’s mouth. Delirious, fucking his hand to the beat, he wishes he had dug a little further in the hamper, pulled out a pair of Tony’s briefs. 

That’s the thought that does him in. Peter cums into his fist, gasping his brother’s name, the sound getting muddled in the maelstrom of guitar and drums. Thick ropes of jizz splatter on his stomach and chest, entire abdomen heaving with his breaths. 

He wipes the mess up with Tony’s t-shirt before tucking the fabric back under his pillow for safe keeping.

to be continued???

[findapennyloseapenny]

James Ironwood is going to turn up again, and he’s going to be working for Salem. Hear me out.

So this is a possibility I toyed with in one of my first posts on this blog, and as I’ve been thinking about it more and more and rewatching the Atlas arc, it’s something that I’m becoming more and more convinced of. Let’s start with the basics. Ironwood was in Atlas when it fell, and that was, shall we say catastrophic. Enormous crash, followed by flooding. Definitely shouldn’t be survivors, right?

Except that that isn’t really how this show, or most shows, work. People survive a lot of intense injury in RWBY. Cinder got fucking flash-frozen and dropped several stories after her Aura broke. RWBY goes out of its way to signpost when someone is dead. It wants that emotional beat to hit hard. It doesn’t want ambiguity. Take Pyrrha, disintegrated before our eyes. Take Penny, first dismembered, then with that heartbreaking framing of her blood falling of Crocea Mors. Take Clover, gorily impaled. Even with Adam, who fell offscreen before his death, was obviously and bloodily stabbed all the way through his chest (twice) and hit a rock very hard on his way down. The most ambiguous they’ve ever gotten was Watts, but they made a point to show that Cinder had taken extra action to make sure he burned alive before Atlas finished falling. The show took time out of a very packed episode to show us his shadow, lit by flames as he screamed.

Notice that they did not take time to give us a similar shot for Ironwood. It’s the contrast between Ironwood and Watts that makes me most certain that he’s alive. They could’ve spared a few seconds to give us something similar for Ironwood, and they didn’t. So I’ll be astonished if he doesn’t make it out alive.

Watts actually contributes another piece of evidence to this theory. Between his death, Emerald’s defection, Hazel’s death and defection, and Cinder betraying Neo, Salem lost a lot of known, well-developed characters from her inner circle in a very short time. The only people she has going into Volume 9 are Mercury, Tyrian, and Cinder, and they aren’t exactly a well-rounded team. Tyrian and Mercury are bruisers, from a plot-perspective. They take orders and carry them out. They don’t make plans, they don’t have resource networks, they aren’t particularly good infiltrators or ambassadors. Cinder’s only slightly better - she makes plans, sure, but she’s impulsive, self-serving, and bad at seeing the bigger picture. She only brings a slightly wider range of resources to the table. This is not a team that provides a varied enough rogue’s gallery for very long, especially if Mercury or Cinder defect as well (which is extremely possible). This only stays her inner circle if the show is about to wind down or Salem is about to get blown out of the water for a bigger bad guy.

So, is the show about to wind down? Realistically, if they want to wrap up their plot threads and themes in a tidy, satisfying fashion, which I’m confident they do, the minimum number of volumes I think they could do that in is four. Volume 9 deals with Wonderland and sets the stage for RWBY in Vacuo, Volume 10 deals with Vacuo, Volume 11 sees a return to Beacon (and possibly a late game switch big bad switch from Salem to someone else, probably the gods), and Volume 12 sees the defeat of the big bad and the resolution of the show. That’s assuming an absolutely breakneck pace from a show that has consistently been content to take its time - relatively speaking at least, given how short each episode is. They spent a whole Volume dealing with the trauma of the Fall of Beacon, advancing the characters and barely touching the overall plot. I don’t think they’re going to speed run this.

All this to say, at minimum, we’re three-quarters of the way through the show, and I think two-thirds to halfway is more realistic. Salem can’t take point in any plot that involves societal conflicts, and I don’t think they can hang three more volumes of those on Mercury, Tyrian, and Cinder. Salem needs to expand her inner circle. Now, most likely, that will include at least one new character from Vacuo. Maybe people who’ve read the CFVY books already have a likely candidate in mind, I don’t know. But one person isn’t going to be enough to fill all the roles now left empty on Salem’s team, especially one person that we don’t already know, who has to be built up for us and fleshed out and sold to us as someone competent and scary and worth giving a damn about.

So why not sidestep some of those problems and dust off the perfectly good dictator they’ve still got lying around?

Let’s go beyond the fact that Ironwood is alive and without an obvious role in the plot while Salem has a job opening. What does Ironwood get out of teaming up with Salem? What does Salem get out of taking him on? What do we, the audience, get out of seeing this on our screens?

Let’s start with the first one. Ironwood has had a very taxing forty-eight hours. He has seen his precious Atlas destroyed and reduced to rubble. He has seen every one he ever counted on betray him (and with good reason, but I doubt he sees it that way). He has gone from being one of, if not the most powerful mortal man in all of Remnant, to having absolutely nothing. Who does he blame for this? Salem? Maybe, but if he puts the sole blame on her, that means he has to keep fighting her, something he has already decided is impossible. He made a desperate, terrible, appalling plan to avoid that outcome, and it failed utterly. He doesn’t believe she can be beaten. He will certainly blame her some, but there is a much more convenient target for the bulk of it - one that is easy to plaster it on, one that thwarted him directly, and one which he believes he can have revenge on.

He is going to fixate on Team RWBY and their allies. If they’d just listened to him, if they’d just fallen in line and done what he said, then Atlas would be safe and the relics would be well out of Salem’s reach. Their opposition led directly to his plan’s failure. He doesn’t even need to bend the truth for that, only ignore the parts that he has already been content to ignore - that his plan was fundamentally flawed from the start, both in its means and its ends, and that if he had instead listened to RWBY, much of this tragedy could have been avoided. But Ironwood isn’t going to blame himself. It is a very, very hard thing for someone as proud and self-assured as Ironwood to do, to look at himself honestly and acknowledge that he fucked up, really badly, and that the consequences of that fuck up will haunt him until he dies. It is a very hard thing for such a proud man to humble himself and try to make whatever amends are within his means, to apologize to those he wronged and strive to help them, even knowing that they may hate him forever no matter what he does, and be justified in doing so.

He will take the easier choice, the same kind of easier choice he has been taking the whole show, and shift his guilt onto someone else. He will blame RWBY. He was more than willing to sacrifice uncounted multitudes of people under his care to protect Atlas, and maybe the world too, for awhile. Now Atlas is gone, and as far as he is concerned, the world is doomed. What does it matter if he helps Salem hasten that along a bit, as long as he can avenge his city?

Salem, for her part, will find an exceptionally canny tactician, a deeply charismatic leader, and a man of nearly unshakeable determination, all wrapped up in a nice, emotionally unstable, easily manipulated package. Maybe he doesn’t have the tech-savvy that Watts did, but he has everything else, and so much more. She could find all sorts of uses for him.

And we, the audience, will get to see it all unfold. We will get to see the fall of James Ironwood from a principled, well-meaning, staunch defender of Remnant, a bit over confident in himself, a bit flawed, a bit narrow in his focus, but unquestionably heroic, to a dictatorial, desperate tyrant, willing to sacrifice anything and anyone on the altar of his own ego, a man who hits rock bottom through his own arrogance and cruelty and, when offered a shovel, starts digging even deeper. You thought the Tin Man lost his heart this volume? You haven’t seen anything yet. By the end of this show, there will be no one more tragically, brutally, painfully hollow then James Ironwood.

I wonder if, near the end, he’ll think about Lionheart. I wonder if he’ll still have enough of the man he used to be left to shed a single, bitter tear at the irony.

[7team7]

I like-like you

AU: Zuko becomes the Fire Lord at an even younger age and when he finally meets Chief Hakoda’s daughter, he is struck by her beauty, power, and poise.

Or, Zuko has his first crush and he doesn’t know how to deal with it. 4.8k words

A/N: hi HAHA I’m still very dedicated to the sasusaku fandom, but I wanted to post zutara fics too now that I’ve been rewatching avatar hope no one minds T-T so obviously this is my first zutara fic hope it turned out ok!

.

.

Zuko sighed as he dropped to sit on the foot of his bed, taking down his hair and removing some of his outer layers of clothing. He was in trouble.

Fire Lord Zuko, the young and pure Zuko who had been thrust into power after his father and sister met their mutual demise in an explosive Agni Kai. Zuko had sustained injury, resulting in his prominent scar, when he tried to put a stop to their duel. But the battle raged on, both family members too incensed by uncut ambition to listen to reason. Uncle had to drag him away from the scene to protect him further. It made sense that two of the strongest fire benders would be the ones to extinguish the other’s light.

Fire Lord Zuko, who wasn’t ready to take power and still heavily leaned on his uncle’s wisdom and support. Fire Lord Zuko, who was hardly an adult and still had plenty of growing up to do. Fire Lord Zuko, who was panicking at the strange feelings bubbling up inside of him — his first crush.

He had been notified that Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe was a formidable, but modest man and would be traveling with his two children as his main companions. The two leaders had yet to have the pleasure of meeting, so Zuko could not have predicted this, could not have prepared himself to be faced with the most beautiful girl in all the nations.

If someone had just told him, “By the way, Katara is stunning and will rip your insides apart both literally and figuratively, so watch out,” then maybe Zuko could have practiced his introductions more carefully and avoided stuttering like a bumbling fool.

But he was born unlucky, cursed to be...like this.

“Chief Hakoda,” he had greeted easily upon the family’s arrival, “I’m pleased to meet you and welcome you to the Fire Nation. I hope your travels were smooth.” But as the party drew closer, close enough where Zuko noticed the particular shade of blue in the girl’s eyes, he stumbled. “I see you’ve brought your...your, um...your family. They are also most, uh, honored. Honored guests. Your two children. Both of them.”  

Hakoda must have chalked his bumbling speech up to nerves — Zuko was so very young — and he chose to greet him warmly.

Oh spirits, he knew how to greet other leaders, but how was he supposed to greet...a girl?

Luckily, her brother gave a rather informal introduction and promptly asked where he could locate a snack or, if Zuko was feeling generous, a seven course meal. “Oh yeah, and this is my sister, Katara.”

“You’ll have to excuse my brother. If you’re wondering, yes, he’s always like this.”

Zuko was wary of sisters, he had been royally screwed over by his own. He was even wary of girls in general after seeing how crazy his sister and her friends were.

But he could tell immediately that Sokka and Katara were dramatically different from Azula and himself. His heart squeezed a bit at the thought of what could have been, but he pushed it aside and transitioned into the welcoming host that he had been training to be. He really was glad to have them there — it was a true benchmark of the peace and cooperation spreading across all four nations.

Thankfully Uncle, always there to save the day, came around the corner and offered tea like it was the most natural thing in the world. (And to him, it probably was.)

“How was your trip?” he asked warmly while guiding them in the right direction. “Not too bad, I hope. It must be nice not getting seasickness!”

Hakoda chuckled, “Yes, it wasn’t anything that we’re not used to. The Fire Nation is a bit far, but the journey was worth it.” Crossing the open ocean with his two children was really only missing one thing.

Pulling a piece of jerky from seemingly out of nowhere, Sokka joked, “Yeah, sometimes the water got a little jerky,” and then remembering where he was he became serious, “but nothing the Water Tribe can’t handle.” He took a bite of his snack and Katara rolled her eyes.

“Even when the sea isn’t feeling kind, Sokka and I are able to steer easily thanks to Katara’s help.”

Zuko spoke up, “Oh, are you a ship captain?”

Katara smiled at him, “No, I’m a waterbender.”

Duh. Of course she was a waterbender. But also, why didn’t anyone tell him that not only was she pretty but she was a waterbender too? Those lengthy council meetings couldn’t have included just a little debrief on this girl?

“Oh. That’s cool. I’m a firebender.”

“Makes sense.”

He needed to get it together before someone would be able to waterbend the sweat off his palms.

Thankfully the conversation was cut short by their arrival to the tea room. Surrounded by red, black, gold, and the smell of herbs, Zuko felt instantly comforted. As they settled around a low table, he found himself wondering what Katara would look like in Fire Nation red. Probably cute.

He was shaken from his daydream by his uncle asking the room if they preferred jasmine or chamomile. “Even though this is supposed to be an official trip, I hope you can still enjoy some more leisurely activities during your stay. All work without play makes your day become gray,” he said wisely.

“Tonight, we have a banquet planned in your honor,” Zuko chimed in, “but the meetings tomorrow should only take up part of the day.”

“I’d hope so,” said Hakoda good-naturedly, “this tea is fantastic and I’ll need some more in the coming days.”

“It’s Uncle’s specialty, I’m glad you enjoy it. We’ll have to give you a tour of the grounds.”

“Speaking of a tour, wouldn’t you say the garden is very nice? Rather romantic don’t you think? Why don’t you take Katara there, she’d certainly enjoy the, uh, water in the pond!” Iroh wore many hats: loving uncle, wise advisor, fierce warrior, and now, insightful matchmaker.

But Katara didn’t sense the awkwardness, her face lit up at the mention of water, as if they hadn’t spent ages at sea. “A pond! I’d love to see it! Oh, and I’m sure the garden is lovely.”

“Excellent! Zuko, why don’t you guide her there? I can show our other guests the weaponry.” This time, it was Sokka’s turn to light up like a firecracker.

While normally Zuko would find it very sensible of his uncle to delegate tasks like this, he was feeling a little resentful that he was forced into a situation that made him so unbelievably nervous.

Alas, he had a duty to perform. He stood up and gestured, “Let’s go.”

Katara made small talk the whole way, asking questions about the palace and its history and the weather. Zuko was relieved that he knew all the answers. He should show her the library too.

“Do you come to this pond often?” She cringed, feeling like she was dropping a pick up line, but she really did want to know why Iroh suggested it out of all places.

“Not so much lately, but I used to sit in the gardens all the time with my mother.”

She didn’t respond except to smile at him with a genuine, meaningful warmth in her eyes.

The garden was even more breathtaking than she expected it to be, and the glittering pond was just begging her to come closer. It was so lush and just different from what she was used to (snow, snow, and more snow) that she couldn’t help but let her mouth hang open in awe.

Zuko led her to the usual spot without thinking much of it. She gasped in delight when she saw the little creatures gliding through the pond, “And just what do we have here?”

“They’re turtleducks. They’re cute, but don’t mess with them too much. The mother turtleduck can be feisty.”

But Katara was only half listening, having fun making little waves to gently lift the babies. They kept swimming up to the edge of the pond, quacking as if they were saying, more, more, more! Their mother watched safely from the other side of the pond, but she never swam over to intervene. “They are really cute!”

“Oh,” he said, sounding clearly surprised, “they like you.”

.

The dinner that night was festive and bright, but left Katara feeling pretty tired. While foreign, the Fire Nation palace was rather comfortable. After such a long trip to get there, the riot of new sights, sounds, and smells, and perhaps a little too much food all at once, gave Katara the sense that she’d sleep easily that night.

She had a certain amount of trepidation visiting the Fire Nation, but it really was nothing but pleasant so far. It didn’t hurt that the Fire Lord, rather than being old and stuffy and weird, was very cute. He was probably also, uh, really good at his job and at firebending. Or something.

As she settled into the fluffy pillows and drew the deep red comforter closer, she thought that if she saw him in her dreams, she certainly would not mind. She counted turtleducks in her head before drifting off.

.

While Uncle’s company was normally more than enough (and on a bad day, too much), but the morning after meeting the lively Water Tribe family felt distinctly empty when they had yet to arrive at the table.

Zuko sipped his tea, not yet cold, but it felt like so much time had passed since he sat down that it might as well have been. “Where are they? It’s been...many minutes! Do you think they just decided to jump ship and head back to the Southern Water Tribe?”

“Patience, patience. I’m sure once the scent of breakfast and the greatest tea in all four nations wafts over to their rooms, they will come running.”

“Maybe we should wake them up.”

“Why the rush?”

“Shouldn’t we at least check? What if they died?”

“I would hope not.”

“What if a faction is conspiring against us and killed all of them — and will frame us for the murder?! This will launch another war that we are responsible for.”

“That would be very bad!” He could see the gears turning in his nephew’s mind, so he decided to play along to help placate him.

Zuko stood up abruptly, shaking the table, “We can’t just sit around and wait. I’ll check on Katara. You go look for the others.” He stormed out of the room before Iroh could even object.

Not that he would, though. Seeing his nephew take action was very pleasing.

.

He marched all the way across the palace to the guest bedrooms, but before he knocked on Katara’s door, he stopped in his tracks like an invisible wall was in his way. Initially so confident in his decision, he was now filled with uncertainty. What would he do if he really found Katara’s limp, poisoned body laying on the bed?

Or worse: what if he barged in and she was naked because she was in the middle of changing?

He took a deep breath to center himself. There was no use in panicking. He could do this. He had faced more intimidating enemies, more foreign situations.

But the longer he thought about it, he realized he had never had to deal with a girl.

Best case scenario, she was in there with a great explanation as to why her family was late to breakfast and his nerves would be soothed like putting aloe on a sunburn. Yeah, he would go with the most ideal situation for now.

Maybe he should still practice, just in case.

“Hello, Zuko here!”

The looming wooden door didn’t respond.

“Good morning! Um, no, that’s not right. What if she’s having a bad morning? Uh, how do you do there? How is the Fire Nation treating you? Too formal, she’s not a dusty old diplomat.” His shoulders drooped. He needed to get this done before Uncle (or her own family members) came and interrupted him. This was his chance. His chance at what exactly, he wasn’t sure, but he was just going to go for it.

He knocked sharply, loud enough to wake any long-slumbering air bison. Just for good measure, he called out, “It’s Zuko!” And all his hemming and hawing and practicing was really for nothing because not long after, Katara flung the door open.

Without her hair tied back, it ran wild and curled around her face. Her eyes, normally so wide and crystal clear, were half shut and bleary with sleep. “Yes?”

“Yes! Hello. Uh, good morning. I just wanted to see if you would be joining us for breakfast this morning.” He added a little more quietly, but also a little more like himself, “I was getting worried.”

“Good morning,” she nodded. “What time is it?”

Zuko glanced around, “I’m not exactly sure, but the sun is up.”

Katara gave him a small smile, “I see. Well, have you ever considered that not everyone rises with the sun?” Or code for, firebender, can’t you see I’m tired?

He immediately started apologizing, feeling a blush creep up his neck. He had interrupted her hopefully peaceful sleep because he was missing her at breakfast. Nice one.

Katara held up a hand to stop him, then scrubbed it over her face to wake herself up more, “It’s really fine. We’re guests here and should be running on your schedule. I can be ready in a minute.”

“We’re hosts and should be more accommodating. I’ll leave you to it, breakfast won’t go anywhere without you.” He turned away, feeling a little silly for freaking out, but Katara’s voice stopped him.

“Actually, Zuko?”

“Yes?”

“Can you maybe wait here for me? I don’t want to get lost on my way to breakfast. You know, that would just waste more time,” she laughed awkwardly, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“I’ll be here.” He was still smiling widely when she shut the door in his face.

.

“Your first full day here, is there anything else you’d like to do?” Iroh asked when everyone was finally gathered for breakfast. The meetings were purposely scheduled for after lunch when the sun was high in the sky and all the grumpy old advisors were in their best moods.

Sokka attempted to be casual, “Well I don’t know about everyone else but I’m feeling like I could stretch my legs some more. Like, sure, we got to see the armory and it was super cool. But! It would be infinitely cooler if we could actually, you know, play.”

Zuko lit up like a match, “We should spar!”

Sokka backpedaled, waving his arms around, “Woah, woah, woah! Nonbender versus Fire Lord? Do you see the problem here?”

Iroh spoke with pride, “My nephew here is not only a talented firebender, but he is also trained in the art of the sword, the dao sword.”

“So he can make fire and he has two swords? Kind of unfair, but not scary enough for me to decline. But no bending!” A true warrior never backed down from a challenge.

.

While a club and a boomerang might not seem like much, Zuko quickly realized he’d have to keep his guard up if he wanted to put up a decent fight. And it had absolutely nothing to do with looking cool in front of one out of the three members in the audience. Wouldn’t any sister want to see her brother get it handed to him anyway?

By the time they threw the towel in, Zuko could feel the sweat dripping down his back. So much for being invigorated by the sun. It was reassuring to see Sokka crawl back to sit next to his father.

As he put away his swords and took a refreshing drink of water, Katara stood up, “Don’t think we’re done here.”

He raised his eyebrow, “Your waterbending versus my firebending? You’re on.” He was tired but definitely still had some fight in him. It would be dishonorable to refuse.

As soon as they started, Zuko’s eyes widened. Okay, so by now he knew she was a waterbender, but seriously, why didn’t anyone tell him that she’s a master waterbender? Honestly, you’d think this girl would have built up a reputation across the nations. Based on the wide-eyed palace staff watching from the corners, she was definitely going to earn one in the Fire Nation.

Giving as much as he got, they danced around in circles for what felt like ages. Katara was a resilient, dynamic fighter and Zuko hadn’t felt so challenged in ages. He didn’t want to end the match because he wanted to keep studying her. It was rare for him to be able to battle a waterbender, let alone one so capable.

But Zuko’s fire had caused most of Katara’s water supply to evaporate and she was running out of places to draw from. In a last ditch effort to come out on top, she quickly made a razor thin water whip and managed to land a hit on the side of his face. His fire faded away into shimmering heat almost immediately.

He didn’t see it coming — really, the whip was so thin and came on his scarred side, so he was mostly stunned when it cut into his cheek. Katara gasped as she saw rich red blood start to drip out of the wound.

Gathering what was left of her water, she rushed up to him and immediately got to work healing, “I am so, so sorry. I wasn’t seriously trying to hurt you, I thought you’d block it like you blocked everything else. I’m really sorry, Zuko, I feel terrible.”

But he harbored no resentment. It was an exciting match and he was still too shocked to feel real pain besides the soreness in his muscles.

And the cut had landed just beneath his scar, so Katara’s hand covered the bottom part of it too. No one had bothered to touch him there in a long, long time, let alone heal him.

“Katara,” he said softly. She was so focused on apologizing that she hadn’t realized the cut was long gone. Healing water was useless on his scar at this point. But he didn’t mind anymore. The burnt skin was less sensitive than the rest of his face, but he could still feel the cool relief seeping into him.

She jumped back, letting the water splash to the ground between them. “Right, sorry. Again.”

He chuckled, “It’s okay. I didn’t know you could heal. What can’t you do?”

“Uh, firebend. I’m no avatar! So that means I can’t earthbend or airbend either. Would be awfully convenient if I could.”

“Right, me neither. I mean, I can’t waterbend, that is. I can firebend. But you already knew that.”

“Yes! I did, I did. You can also fight with swords, though, and that’s another thing I can’t do. So I think a better question would be what can I do, you know?”  

Sokka, growing tired of their lame jokes, interrupted from the side, “So who’s hungry?”

Zuko, though worn out, wasn’t feeling particularly hungry because it seemed that a colony of butterflies had decided to occupy his stomach.

.

After cleaning up and taking a quick lunch, they sat through a series of meetings that left Zuko a bit weary, but hopeful. The nations working together peacefully was truly a dream come true. He had watched wistfully as Hakoda encouraged and listened intently to the suggestions of his two children. At least Uncle always valued his opinion.  

Before dinner, the young man was finally allowed to have a moment alone with his thoughts, and they turned to Katara. He wandered aimlessly through the palace halls. Maybe he should seek her out? But for what reason, didn’t they just spend hours together?

The decision was made for him, though, when he nearly bumped into her as he rounded a corner. He reached out to grab her arm to steady her. For a waterbender, her skin was awfully warm.

“Oh, Zuko! I was actually just looking for you.”

“You were?” He couldn’t keep the surprise out of his voice even though he was too, kind of.

“I had a question for you. The Southern Water Tribe is expanding at a pretty fast rate, but I still feel like we’re missing something. And I think it would help if we had some sort of library, you know, for future generations to look at and learn from. I’ve been gathering things, but most of our history has been told through oral histories. Would the Fire Nation happen to have…?”

It was a valid question, given the way the Fire Nation had plundered the other nations. Zuko nodded in understanding, “I can show you the library. If you see something you think would be helpful, it’s yours.” It was the least he could do to start making up for years of mistreatment. Ozai had done so much damage.

The royal library was truly worthy of marvel and Katara probably could have spent ages inside, but she had a mission. Without her needing to ask, Zuko led her to the relevant section. The fact that the library had a section at all was pretty hard to wrap her mind around.

“Wow, if I were you I’d just spend all day in here.”

“Yeah, I wish. But I’ve got a job to do and I don’t know how much a book can teach me about it,” he said with a hint of bitterness. He knew there were plenty who opposed his rule, criticized his every move, but he couldn’t hide from them.

“Well I think you’re doing a great job,” she said with an easy smile before pulling out a title. She gave out compliments like water, but it still felt nice to be on the receiving end of one. Despite it being a passing comment, Zuko couldn’t help but dwell on it as she scanned the pages. The sincerity of it struck him most acutely.

As they went up and down the rows, Zuko toyed with the idea of offering to carry her growing stack of books. Would that come across as polite or suggest that she wasn’t strong enough? Is it hot in here? Would his hands singe the pages? Do they have to be quiet since it was a library? Should he say something?

Luckily, Katara swung around to look at him sheepishly, “If you don’t mind, can I take these home with me?”

“It would be my honor if you took them back to their rightful place.” It was a good thing his father never decided to burn down the library.

.

Zuko’s eye sockets hurt. He had experienced a lot of kinds of pain during his young life, but this was a new one. He kept trying to look at Katara during dinner without actually looking. He couldn’t put his finger on why he was so interested in looking at her rather than something like his plate of food, but it was hard to balance normal conversation with the desires of his eyes, traitorous things.

It had been a long time since so many people he actually liked were at the dinner table. Of course Hakoda, Sokka, and Katara would have to go back eventually, but he would miss them. If anything, he definitely made some friends.

.

Uncle tried to get everyone to play pai sho that night, but it only stuck with Hakoda and Sokka. While their strategizing was admittedly impressive, Zuko just didn’t have the patience to keep watching. He noticed that Katara had stepped outside for some air, so he decided to join her.

She sat on the ground looking up at the sky — brilliantly clear with bright stars and an even brighter moon.

“Can I join you?”

“Of course.”

Zuko nodded and settled himself in a similar position to Katara: cross legged, face turned towards the inky night sky. While not the familiar warmth of the sun, the moon really was beautiful. He turned to look at Katara and was struck by the way her profile looked illuminated by moonlight. He noticed that her hand was up by her neck, playing with the necklace she never seemed to be without. She wore a thoughtful expression and Zuko had to take a deep breath before speaking again. Despite the success and geniality of the trip, he could imagine that her family had mixed feelings about coming to visit.

“Katara?”

“Yeah?” She turned to look at him. Another breath.

“How are you?”

She smiled faintly. “I’m alright.” She let her hand drop to her side.

.

Zuko shuffled into his room, feeling very ready for a nice night of sleep after such a long day.

He removed his crown, his hair falling loosely around his face like a waterfall. When he took off his headpiece, he was really just a teenager, not even an adult yet. He changed into pajamas and laid back on his bed, allowing himself to think teenage thoughts, ponder teenage problems. What was he to do about Katara? Or, how would he confront his feelings for Katara?

Zuko was, in a word, confused. He wasn’t sure what these feelings even were, let alone how to deal with them.

There was no one he could turn to; his options were severely limited. Ask Uncle? Yuck, never. Besides, he’d say something that Zuko wouldn’t be able to puzzle out until after Katara had left, like reading the tea leaves. Sokka was near his age, but he was Katara’s brother. When he asked Zuko for tips on landing “the Fire Nation’s hottest babes,” it was cemented that Zuko could not ask him for anything, really.

And then there was his greatest challenge, Katara herself. He couldn’t force her to return his feelings, and she very well could want nothing to do with him beyond a friendly political alliance. Even if his mother, father, or sister were here, he wouldn’t be able to consult them. No, this was something he had to figure out on his own. This time there was no war to be won, no battle to be planned. This situation was like a fire lily: if it wanted to bloom, he would be pleased. But he couldn’t do much besides water it and hope for it to respond.

But the more he thought about it, the more he was certain that he liked Katara. Like more than a friend. He had a crush on her. He had feelings for her. He like-liked her. Whatever you wanted to call it.

Oh boy.

.

He woke up from a restful night’s sleep thinking about her. He groaned.

Oh yeah, he was in trouble.

He stretched and got dressed. Might as well go to breakfast with a smile on his face, even if he probably looked like an idiot. While still pleasant, the morning meal was quieter than their other ones. It felt strange to have to say goodbye already. And, oh-so-conveniently, right when Zuko had a better grip on these feelings of his…

But just like that, the visitors’ time in the Fire Nation had come to an end. For now.

Zuko was confident that their visit created a strong foundation to build a better relationship on. They would probably be seeing each other some time soon. And they could send letters, friendly ones that lacked the normal formality of political correspondence. This was far from the last they’d be seeing of each other, something he found great comfort in.

“Thank you, Lord Zuko, it’s truly been a pleasure. It brings me peace of mind to know the Fire Nation is in good hands. We’ll see you again.” Hakoda’s words were brief but Zuko couldn’t deny the wave of validation he felt after hearing them. Maybe he was doing a half decent job after all.

“Now that we’ve been here, don’t be surprised if we pop in every so often. Oops, lost control of the ship and ended up on Zuko’s door step! Don’t blame me, blame the ocean spirit! Thanks, buddy.” That morning’s breakfast spread alone was enough to keep him coming back. And Katara didn’t seem to mind, so all was well, right?  

“I’ll keep the rooms ready for you,” Zuko promised while shaking Sokka’s hand. The boy followed his father onto their ship, leaving Zuko to face Katara. As much as she looked forward to returning home, she was glad she was the last one to get on board.

“So…”

“You got everything?”

“Seems like it.”

“That’s good. Even the books?”

“Yup, even the books.”

“Good, good. Well...I’ll see you...later?”

“Definitely. You’ll have to come visit the Southern Water Tribe soon,” Katara said sweetly, playfully.

The promise dancing in her eyes made Zuko feel something undeniable: hope.  

.

.

A/N: Yes I conveniently had Ozai and Azula take each other out HAHA now I don’t have to deal with them. I don’t know if I’ll post another chapter because I /could/ write about them visiting each other but idk. I’ll mark this complete for now, thanks for reading!! Idk if it’s too long but at this point I’m just like :] Also, if you have a zutara twitter pls lmk/give me account recs!! I want to see more on my tl but it’s hard to find people esp when the zutara search is mostly people arguing lol and hopefully you either have a neutral or positive opinion of sasusaku <3

[ayankun]

Agents of SHIELD Season 1 Rewatch Update

Ok so I’m having a difficult time remembering what it was that made me hate this show so much (aside from the unforgivable Minecraft reference) and stop watching in Season 1.

Just got through ep 14 and holy cow, I’m honestly not sure whether the storylines for seasons 2, 3, and 4 were planned this far in advance, but if they were then these folks did such an overwhelmingly good job of keeping their eye on the ball.

Best I can figure, I’m having a good time on this attempt thanks to prequel-goggles.  I already know where this story is going, who these people will become and what’s going to make them into what they will be, and I can appreciate this older storyline in light of the circumstances it precedes -- rather than for what it is without that context. 

(It certainly helps that some of the dumber stuff is already starting to be replaced by the better stuff, like it’s ep 15 and the “night-night gun” was just replaced by the much more palatable “icer,” and they haven’t tried to call the individual dwarves by name for ages now)

Also there’s some pretty good cinematography, the graphics are really respectable, watching this found family slowly realize how much they love each other is sooo charming, and the affectations required of a MCU-spin-off-sci-fi-spy-show are really well balanced with the character drama which is its true heart.

I know ep 1x08 (”The Well”) is six and a half years old so maybe spoiler warnings are not necessarily required but here we go

Remember when Thor 2 came out and then this show had to earn its stripes as co-existing in the MCU so they had to address the fact that aliens ripped up London and the whole world knows about it?

Not being able to afford the likes of Chris Hemsworth was something they obviously had to work around, and plopping in that rando dweeby Asgardian as a twist was definitely one way to do it. 

But the real showstopper is that the through-line of the episode is the examination of the similarities and differences of Ward and May, especially once they both come in contact with the Asgardian rage-stick.

Seeing Ward nearly incapacitated by his traumatic childhood memories serves two important purposes.  First, it makes some good strides towards humanizing the man, who until now has been that hot-and-cocky kind of character that just expects to appeal to an audience but hasn’t yet earned any appeal whatsoever.  By now, we’ve had a reference to his toxic dynamic with his older/younger brothers, and seeing him reliving his experience with the well suddenly opens him up and gives some dimension to that tall-dark-handsome cardboard cutout.

Second, those experiences are a really good twist!!  When it’s revealed that he’s not remembering being tortured in a well by his brother, he’s remembering allowing his brother to torture his other brother down a well and not having the guts to do anything about it.  It’s a good one-two punch because you weren’t expecting to pity the guy, and now that you’ve spent twenty minutes pitying him for being victimized, you get to grapple with the much more complex emotion of the kid!Ward not knowing how to get out of this lose-lose situation and understanding that his current character must be in some way informed by this regret and guilt.

THIRD, after seeing Ward go through all this and barely hold it together, we get to see how May handles this level of relive-your-worst-trauma-and-incinerate-yourself-with-unbridled-rage when she has to pick up the rage-stick and .... instead of it leaving her on the ground like it’s just done to Ward, she somehow experiences 0.00000% change in personality or capability WhatSoEver.

She not only isn’t affected, she summons all the broken pieces of rage-stick and effortlessly wields the fully formed berzerker staff to defeat the rest of the baddies single-handed.  It says so much about her character, about the depths of the trauma that sent her to the place we met her in in the pilot.  We still don’t know what happened, but this her “my secret is I’m always angry” moment, and it’s a  level of anger has been repeatedly and thoroughly cataloged throughout the episode so far.

It also gives these fools something to bond over.  And while I’m seriously disinterested in their weird little Thing that didn’t go anywhere and didn’t really impact much, it was a nice way to avoid progress in the “Skye’s falling for her SO” storyline that I don’t care for either.

But Skye makes her move in this episode!  She and Ward dance around the possibility that maybe they’re into each other and they could possibly move from antagonistic strangers to folks who are a little into each other.  But he does the gentle thing and turns her down! (without closing the door entirely, I must add)  And then he wanders off on his own and ... May’s wandering off on her own ... and they share some micro expressions and then, seriously you guys this sequence is so tasteful and understated, just look:

Ward leaves Skye at the bar with a parting “I’m beat, another time, maybe,” and off her wistful look we cut directly to this chiaroscuro hallway.

Ward enters the frame, starts unlocking his hotel room. He's just another monochrome shape in this monochrome place.

But then there’s May entering the shot at the far end of the hallway, and her motion and his turning to look at her frames her monochrome shape in this nice little white triangle between him and her door.

And there’s a tasty little rack focus that pulls the instant she passes in front of the door, making sure our attention is on her and the little white label of her bottle that really pops in the sea of black.

By this point in time, we’ve been shown, graphically, intimately, a dark shadow in his past, and we’ve been shown the physical and emotional toll its taken on him (an insight provided by the magic alien macguffin, btw).  We haven’t been told anything, we experienced his experiences with him via the power of cinema.  Her specific trauma is still a mystery at this point, but we’ve been given enough information to understand and appreciate its effects on her character.  So not only can we sympathize with Ward now, we can sympathize with his empathy for May in this moment.  

She catches him looking.

I mentioned micro expressions and screenshots do not do these performances justice.  How does one catch in a single frame the millisecond that an eyebrow ticks in asking a silent question?

Typical for her, May’s answer is also communicated through body language.

From that canted, inviting look, we pan down as she unlocks her door and enters.  She passes through the frame and disappears inside, after giving us a reminder that her plans are to apply alcohol to her issues.  (Remember that Ward turned down Skye’s invitation at a bar of all places)

Oh, and what has our framing left us to contemplate?  Is that a bed I see in there?  (Remember that Ward turned down Skye’s invitation)  Let me point out that this shot of just the bed after May walks by is on screen by itself for maybe a fraction of a second.  Just a suggestion of a thing, really.

Ward contemplates.

I love returning to this shot because it’s literally the same set up, and my instant reaction is that it’s another insert, a POV shot, and I fully expect to return to the single shot on Ward to discover his decision the second he makes it.

INSTEAD.  Ward walks immediately into THIS FRAME, too, black-shape-on-white-shape in the same way May was introduced to this scene.  And we stay here as he closes the door behind him ...

Letting us know everything we need to know without a single word needing to be spoken.

Another fraction of a frame dwelling on that shot and then immediately fade to black.  Credits.  Show’s over, folks.

And not that there’s any particular meaning in it, but they were super careful to minimize what colors were allowed to appear in this sequence?  Like there’s a particular sort of green in that weird armchair, which sort of matches the green-glass of her bottle.  And there’s the red of the fire alarm fixtures which more or less matches the red of his, y’know, fresh facial wounds.  EVERYTHING else (other than, I guess, their skin tones) falls somewhere along the white-black spectrum.  NICE.  BEAUTIFUL.  I LIKE IT A LOT.

And the Netflix synopsis for this episode is “In the aftermath of the events chronicled in the feature film Thor: the Dark World, Coulson and the S.H.I.E.L.D. team try to pick up the pieces.”  1) I’m realizing that they literally go around picking up pieces of the rage-stick and that’s hilarious but mostly I mean to say 2) this MCU-tie-in episode could have met the brief being as vapid and non-impactful as that blurb makes it sound.  But it took the opportunity to open up its characters for us to see their gooey insides, and hell they picked two of the best characters to dig into for this one, considering Ward’s tragic backstory plays as both a misdirect and actual inciting incident for his betrayal of SHIELD, and May’s tragic backstory feeds a couple of B-plots this season as well as being the major catalyst for a lot what happens in season FOUR.  SEASON FOUR, PEOPLE.  THE SEEDS ARE WAY BACK HERE IN SEASON ONE.

REMEMBER HOW THESE CHARACTERS WERE INTRODUCED THOUGH??  I DO, I JUST WATCHED THE PILOT LIKE YESTERDAY.  WE MEET WARD FULLY ENSCONCED IN HIS GUISE OF SHIELD BADASS SUPERSTAR; HE IS LITERALLY ASKED TO EXPLAIN WHAT SHIELD MEANS TO HIM, AND WE GET TO HEAR THE FIRST OF HIS MANY LIES.  WE MEET MAY IN HER OWN PERSONALLY-DESIGNED WHITE-COLLAR HELL, TURNING COULSON’S OFFER DOWN THE SECOND SHE HEARS HIS VOICE BECAUSE SHE’D RATHER STAPLE DOCUMENTS FOR ETERNITY THAN BE OUT IN THE FIELD WHERE SHE CAN MAKE ANOTHER MISTAKE LIKE THE ONE SHE CAN’T FORGIVE HERSELF FOR.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  This show knows how to weave a character-driven story, and it’s done it for six seasons straight, juggling constantly evolving -- grounded, nuanced, impactful -- character arcs with the external factors (Thor: The Dark World, for one) that force certain narrative decisions.

(until they decide to ignore those factors altogether, lol, I’m looking at you, season 5, you wacky maverick you)

[mewtwowarrior]

Today’s prompt is “Depression”. It put a very specific image in my head, so I worked from there.

This little story is me trying to figure out how Ark survived the events of Tron: Evolution. The details might change a little, but I think it makes sense how she made it out alive.

The particular time frame this part takes place is pre-Uprising. There’s specific things I plan on this leading to, but I haven’t completely nailed down the details just yet and I need to rewatch Uprising to make sure my ideas work enough with it.

-

Rough drafts: Part 1 (you are here) | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Second drafts: Part 1 | Part 2 version 1 | Part 2 version 2

Final draft: Combined Parts

-

Ark rested her elbows on the table and placed her head in her hands. She didn't know how long she had been on the run, the cycles all blended together.

Had she done the right thing? Had she made the right decisions? She was still alive, but so many Programs were dead, including ones that she had been close to. Her job had been to protect everyone, but she felt like she had failed them all.

In some ways, she had been lucky. On the day of the ceremony, she had been on the outskirts of all the action. Keeping an eye on everyone walking past had been a boring job, right up until the running and screaming started.

It was hard to piece together what had happened, but somehow a virus was on the loose. But, by the time she had been able to go in and investigate, the virus was long gone, though the evidence it had been there remained.

She had spent some time investigating, and by the time she left the area, the city, and the Grid, was in complete chaos.

There were reports of the User and Tron having been killed and a corrupted System Monitor on the loose. All of these sounded impossible, and all of them were heartbreaking.

Things got worse from there, with tanks on the loose, repeated sightings of the virus, and a massive warship destroying entire ISO cities.

Ark couldn't keep up with everything going on, and had done her best to help and reassure the terrified Programs, but there wasn't much she could do against the chaos. Everyone had been passing around conflicting information, so it was hard to tell the truth from the rumors.

When she heard that they were rounding up Programs to be sent to the Arena, she went into hiding. The games had started turning deadly, and she knew that her friendliness with the ISOs had made her some powerful enemies.

From there, she had been on the run. She helped Programs where she could, but most of the time, she tried to avoid catching attention.

She didn't stay any one place long at all, hiding in abandoned rooms and buildings.

But, was that what she should be doing?

She was a System Monitor, or at least, she used to be. She was programmed to protect the Grid and everyone on it, but she had failed. Cities were leveled, all the ISOs had been killed, and there were rumors of Programs disappearing left and right.

Not only that, but, she had heard that most, if not all, of the other System Monitors were either dead or had joined Clu's army. There was a chance that she was the very last one standing.

If that was the case, then it was up to her to make things right and protect the system.

But, could she do it alone?

It didn't matter, she had to try.

[nate-the-content-creator]

I hear you like building Gundams. So ... what if Team RWBY built custom Gundam models?

//Okay, I spent a while on this. Well if this is going to be a thing (I hope this’ll be a thing), Blake and Weiss would be the ones to get their team mates in on it. Blake due to her being an otaku who got really into mech anime’s. Weiss being the first to actually discover how much fun it is building gunpla.//

“So you’re telling me there’s an anime about these?” Weiss asked, her eyes wide while she pointed to the 1/144th scale RG 00 Raiser she was holding in her arms.

Blake nodded while grabbing Weiss’ arm, leading her to their teams dorm room. The cat Faunus was sure that her white haired team mate was going to love this. 

And love it Weiss did. The two had gone through All  of the build series in one weekend. Blake, loving the fact that in the Build series all the Gundam series were popular anime’s. Weiss on the other hand, upon finishing Build Divers had grabbed her scroll, and ordered as many of the kits as she possibly could. 

Upon returning to Beacon, after having spend the weekend in Patch with their father, Ruby and Yang were in for a big surprise.

“Uh,Weiss...?” Yang asked, cautiously eyeing all the boxes lining Team RWBY’s dorm room. Only Weiss had the funds to purchase all of ... whatever these were. 

Weiss at least had the decency to look embarrassed. “Okay, I went really overboard. But I thought it could be a good team bonding exercise...?”

Ruby, who might not have been as big of an otaku as Blake, was going crazy over all of the models. Like Weiss, she too loved building gunpla, and experimenting with putting together different kits and seeing how well they worked together. 

“See, Ruby’s taking to it~” Weiss smiled, while gesturing to her team leader ... who was pulling different boxes down into her arms.

“I’ve got SO many ideas!” The reaper practically squealed. Using her semblance, Ruby zipped about the room, taking down different boxes, and placing them not only in Yang’s arms, but in Blake’s as well. 

“Here Yang!” Ruby had placed an HG God Gundam, and an HG Nobel Gundam box in her elder sisters hands.

“Blake here! You’ll love this!” Ruby squealed, zipping past Blake with her semblance, and depositing an HG 00 Shia Quan[T].

Blake’s cat ears perked up. She was both excited and upset with herself. Exited that this particular kit had cat ears, and upset that she had somehow not noticed that little detail during her countless rewatches of Build Fighters Island Wars.

“Alright!” Ruby declared, after placing an HG Knight Gundam and an HG Rose Gundam into Weiss’ arms. “Weiss is right! This is gonna be a team building exercise!”

Weiss gasped in surprise. She knew just what Ruby had planned for the team. “Y-yeah! We’re making our own Gundams!”

Throughout the next week, during any down time that Team RWBY had, the four were working on making their own custom kitbash gundams. Weiss and Ruby who had the most experience in building with the models, and were more than happy to help Blake and Yang. Detailing how to properly remove the needed parts from the runners, sanding down the nub marks, how to properly place in the stickers and decals from the sheets. 

By the end of that week. each of Team RWBYs models were fully complete.

Ruby had used HG the Astraea F-Type for a base, using the skirt from the Nobel Gundam, the cloak from the Crossbone Gundam Full Cloth, and the Scythe from the Death Scythe Hell. 

Ruby had decided to call her own kit the Red Reaper. Yes, she had modeled the kit after herself, though it appeared she wasn’t the only one. 

Weiss’ gundam also resembled her appearance. She too had used the Skirt from the Nobel Gundam. Actually, she had used the entire lower half of the Nobel, except for the feet. Those had been swapped for those of the Amazing Exia Dark Matter. For the upper half she had used the Rose Gundam minus the shoulder cloak it came with. For the head unit, Weiss had opted to go with the head of the Amazing Exia. Weapon-wise, it had taken a bit of extra work, but Weiss had finally gotten the rapier of the Rose to look like her own rapier. 

But Weiss wasn’t done there. Using the Knight Gundam, she had also built herself a replica of her Gigas summon. Both kits had been panel lined, and of course, it had all been painted to match her outfit. And gotten a topcoat spray for that added touch. Once finally completed, Weiss stood back to admire her Heiress Gundam.

Yang being a relative novice, had only gone with the two kits that her little sister had given her. Like Weiss, she had used the entirety of the Nobel, but had used the upper half of the God Gundam, except for the head, as she liked the blonde hair piece that the Nobel came with. 

With Weiss’ help, Blake had the whole thing painted to match her normal outfit. The gauntlets had gotten a nice gold paint job, whereas the rest of Yang’s model kit resembled her biker-like attire. though Yang had some more upgrades planned in the future, she was going to wait until she was more confident in her building. But all in all, she was rather proud of her creation, she had decided to call the Gold striker. 

Blake had done a strait buildup of her Shia Quan[T]. She had made sure it was painted to match her color scheme, but had made some addition weapon wise. she had taking the katana of the Astray Red frame, a GN pistol from the Cherrudinum Gundam, and the beam whip from the Nobel. That took more work than Blake wanted to admit, but she had created a perfect replica of Gambol Shroud. 

Yes it was a relatively simple build, but Blake was rather proud of her Black Cat Gundam.

[eternaleve]

Watching A Broken Frame music videos for the first time!

Carrying on with my Depeche Mode video rewatch project with the vids for A Broken Frame (first post is found here https://eternaleve.tumblr.com/post/624649762286780416/ive-spent-the-course-of-covid-lockdown-cycling)

I looked through my vinyl and found I did not steal my mother’s Depeche Mode singles from this album (I only stole all her Elvis Costello and Joy Division and a bunch of Japan singles which I suspect she snuck to me in hopes of making me like them) but they are all mysteriously gone. My abusive stepdad recently moved out and I have thoughts about what property he took, but this just seems petty. 

Anyway, let’s talk about A Broken Frame! Vince Clarke left the band to go and be the Paul McCartney of 80s electronic music, forming Yazoo and Erasure. Apparently he did not like success and touring and stuff, which is far because it’s a lot of pressure, so he’s out and Alan Wilder is in after responding to an ad in Melody Maker. Remember music journalism? He joined as a tour keyboardist and appears in the videos for the album, but didn’t contribute to the album.

 A Broken Frame was released eleven months after Speak & Spell, which doesn’t seem to be enough time to me for a band to create another whole album's worth of material. It just seems that a band spends a few years perfecting their sound and a selection of songs, and then a record label says, ‘Great! Now do the same thing, but in a much shorter timeframe, under much more stress, and in snatched moments between being shuttled from gig venue to gig venue!’. I understand there’s a ~hype train~ that music acts have to follow, because bands can slip out of notice so fricking quickly, but the pressure does not seem set up to maintain the mental and emotional well-being of people. I’m sure nothing like that will happen in the history of this bad though!

This album cover is considered one of the world’s greatest photographs for a reason. It’s stark and beautiful and has echoes of socialist realism and is just a really striking image. I don’t know who has final say over art direction in the band but whoever does has a great eye for images. The picture is taken over by Duxford and as I’m from the Midlands I have been to Duxford on a hundred school trips (it has a big air centre with WW2 planes and things and bits of the Berlin Wall), so I’ve probably been past this field an uncountable number of times without even realising it.

See You (Jan 1982, No 6 UK charts)

I like how it looks like fuzzy felt. It feels very, very different from the singles art from the last album, I guess to indicate a clear difference in direction? Maybe? This is the first single for the band written by Martin Gore and starting his reign as songwriter.

All the music videos for this album were directed by Julien Temple and are Not Liked by the band. I generally quite like Julien Temple’s work and watched a lot of it as a teen (stepdad being hugely into the Pistols), so I am intrigued to say the least how these will turn out to be.

This does give me a bit of a nostalgia kick for an old-fashioned style train station. It’s pretty much what my home station used to look like before everything was privatised, bought out by Virgin, turned bright red and full of commuters. I like how the station sparks to the beat of the music and that someone okayed an actual spending budget for this time around.

YOU HAVE TO LEAVE THE STATION THE PHOTOBOOTH IS HAUNTED

Not going to lie, this looks 100% like my Dad’s first ever passport photo. I like the addition of the bowtie. It adds a real ‘First Communion’ vibe to the whole look. The nose stud… well, I had a nose stud at the exact same period of my life. Same age too, I think, only mine stayed around a lot longer when it definitely should not have done.

It was at that moment he knew he had made a grave mistake in confronting the ‘Telephone Box Killer’ on his own.

Insert a standard ‘Original Selfie’ joke here. The use of the photobooth gives a cute little through line in the video, as well as giving other band members a chance to be present. I remember using photobooths to take fun photos, before they started costing so much goddamned money and put them only in the most inconvenient places. I still have a bunch that I keep in my purse.

… And now everyone’s working an office job? To show the passage of time? Or because it’s now a bit with music, so we’re showing the use of keyboards through office equipment that sort of requires you to make similar hand movements?

Something, something, statement about technology? The photobooth theme was fine! It was cute! It said something about the regret and passage of time from teen to young adult romance! Why are there now a lot of calculators?

Just in case you forgot - the single’s out now. Wink, wink.

But let’s go back and check in with our corporate overlords. Bob, how are you doing on the spyware floor?

… is this Julien Temple? Is it a music video within a music video? Did he put himself in the video? Could this part not have been done by a member of the band? Like, y’know, that new one who was clearly added in partly through this video?

I like the main core storyline of the video - thinking about a past relationship and then happening to run into them again unexpectedly - but I can see why this is perhaps not well thought of. Next one!

The Meaning of Love (April 82, No 12 UK charts)

This reminds me a lot of the cover for the first Adrian Mole book which was published the same year. It does not match the first single at all or the album, but I guess the album art was yet to be done? Or maybe two different departments handled them, because I would have gone with a different single cover if I knew that one of the greatest photographs of all time was in the wings for the album.

Reader, my heart dropped. I knew we were in for some deeply 80s bullshit. And, like, not good 80s bullshit.

This is the lounge act in the cruiseship of my nightmares

Martin Gore there looking like 99% of the lesbians on the DIY punk scene.

What the fuck is going on?

What, and I must reiterate, the fuck is going on? Are those pies? Pie eyes? Pie eye glasses? What does it mean?

Now’s not the time for your science homework, it’s time to film a music video.

Great, I know what image will be repeating in my night terrors tonight. Martin Gore’s face earnestly singing at me from the depths of a paramecium.

THIS JUST GETS WORSE AND WORSE. THERE IS NO SITUATION ON THE FACE OF THE PLANET MADE BETTER WITH PUPPETS.

No, my night paralysis nightmare will be Dave Gahan’s face turning into a fucking pie over and over and over again.

Oh, I see, the Meaning of Love is that your wife will turn into a bitter harpy that won’t let you live your dream and also your life is ruined because she keeps letting the puppets sleep in the bed.

I guess the video has a sort of XTC vibe? It does remind me of the video of ‘Making Plans for Nigel’, which I do like, but also this video is fucking awful should be seen to be believed. I liked the band’s awkward choreography which was four men showing how much they did not want to be doing any of this.

Leave In Silence (August 82, No 18)

The font is nice. That’s about all there is to say for this. It doesn’t match the other two singles. I’m not saying everything has to be matchy-matchy, but it is nice to have visual similarity and consistency. This looks like the record label gave up on trying.

Okay, so we’ve got the album art sorted and starting out with a - I guess you could call it ‘low rural farming vocalisation’, and neither of these two things match the other singles or music videos, which have had a very poppy, teen girl, Smash Hits vibe. 

This week on The Generation Game, you could win a stainless steel bowl, a cuddly toy, and the lead singer of Depeche Mode!

This video started with a group of people vocalising while pouring out grain and looking very plaguecore, now we’re all playing around on a conveyor belt because I think Julien Temple has run out of ideas and is being artsy and surreal and weird to cover that up.

Ladies and gentleman, I’m sad to say that ‘The Fanciest Little Cowboy’ competition will not be running this year due to a lack of other contestants. This is a very fancy Little Cowboy though.

…. I…. what? 

I have seen many bad, bad, bad cursed images in my time, but this is going straight up to the top. What the fuck does this say about the song? The band? The image the record label is trying to project? This pointless weird imagery for the sake of being pointless and weird.

It’s okay, Jess. Bright Red Martin Gore can’t really hurt you. Only haunt you.

And now spacehoppers. Because of course spacehoppers!

The players from Pathologic show up to make a cameo appearance, matching nothing in the video, and seeming wildly out of place with everything else. Pick a theme or story, Julien! It is EITHER the Generation Game OR a terrifying children’s show OR guttural Soviet inspired plaguecore. You can pick one! Not all of them!

The Blue Man Group really had a rough start. The wheat is… just there. Because I guess Julien Temple couldn’t think of how to organically weave it an advertisement for the album. So there’s just a bundle of wheat for no good reason.

By this point, same, mate. That is the only reaction I am having.

These videos were… not great. I think ‘See You’ is the best and most cohesive - it tells a cute little story that ties in with the themes of the song and provides an emotional resonance. And then things just go off the bloody chain a bit. They get weird and experimental in a way that does not work in selling the band or the song. They seem pretty disconnected from what a music video should be and Julien Temple seemed to just run out of ideas by ‘Leave In Silence’. C- Mr Temple, must try harder.

And then onto Construction Time Again! ... well, when I get round to it. In a few days maybe.

[anneboleyns]

I saw the downton abbey movie so now here’s kind of a rambling personal essay, under a cut for spoilers for the downton abbey movie. downton abbey movie spoilers ahead.

once again SPOILERS AHEAD also tw for death, grief, suicide attempts/etc mention.

so, i know probably no one cares but considering how active i was in this fandom and how incredibly important this show and the character of thomas was to me personally, i’m just gonna sit here and write my thoughts about thomas barrow, the show, the movie, what it meant to me, and my critique overall

so basically i always loved the show and thomas but it really took off 2 yrs ago during 2017.

i had just moved out of my mother’s house and i had just finished a rewatch of the show, i remember this so clearly lol it was september 2017 the rewatch had started like june 2017. and i remember when i got to my new apartment one of the “comfort shows” i would put on on my very own tv in my very own apartment was “downton abbey”. i believe the other that was regularly tossed on in the background was “the tudors”, obviously lol

anyways, i was so hyper obsessed. i had also JUST discovered that thomas and jimmy were legitimately shipped in this fandom. i had no idea that was a real thing when i watched it live. and i had never cared about jimmy or thought of them as an actual viable relationship. but with this rewatch they just hit different i guess. i spent hours and hours and hours at my mother’s house before the move (which was an EXTREMELY tense living situation, the month or so right before i left. i’m not getting into all of it now. if you followed me back then you know) watching this show like properly sitting and watching an episode with my sister, and then capping for gifs, which if you make gifs you know is basically spending possibly 3 or 4 hours with the same episode. like it can take that long for me personally to go through it and cap everything i want, then, sorting the caps into folders, especially if i’d capped more than one episode. completely mesmerized with the smallest details, hand and facial movements i specifically wanted to gif or be in a set, clothing movements, emotional moments, like i was just so into all aspects of the show and wanted to gif everything. my fav 4 are thomas, sybil, mary, and tom. i also adore edith and it may be a “fav 5″ now as i think i just love all of those characters equally. so i pretty much giffed every single fucking scene they were in lol. unless they were “ugly scenes” that i knew i could never make work in photoshop. sometimes i would cap it anyway and sort it anyway and open it up anyway and try but would end up deleting all the caps for that set. so all the gifs i have posted, is not even all the ones i capped. anyway

okay and then, there’s the fanfic. reading it, rereading, and writing it. it took me 2 years but i actually read close to every single thomas/jimmy fanfic on a03. at some point i only started opening complete fanfics because i got burned too many times on abandoned slow burns, and if a fic wasn’t my thing i would obviously not finish it. but definitely hundreds of works i read, saved to my phone and reread in google books. works i would think about all day.

so, june 2017 i start the rewatch. i also start planning to move out of my mother’s. a toxic tense living situation. in the past i have used harsher words like “abusive”. i can’t really use that word and apply it to my mother right now even though it is accurate. it hurts to think about. i can’t think about it. september 2017 i actually move.

the hyperfixation is in full swing. hours every night reading. reading 50k word fanfics in a single night. hours every day (or, week, i have a fulltime job) capping and coloring frames in photoshop. eventually i started writing fanfic for them as well.

so, in november 2017 my mother is hospitalized. this was not an unusal occurence. in february 2018 they tell us she’s going to die. 12 days later she died.

i’m not gonna really get into what happened to my mental state. it’s uh. bad. guilt. self hatred. like hatred isn’t even a strong enough word. i wanted to annihilate myself. i believed i deserved to be annihilated. that’s the only word violent enough i can think of to describe the depth of it. suicidal. etc. whatever.

but! i had this piece of fiction, this series, and assorted fan works. it really intensified after this. i can look back at this time last year and i remember how obsessed i was lol.

when i try to articulate what this character and show means to me, i always feel really embarrassed. at some point when i’m talking about thomas it becomes obvious i am talking about myself as well. but i’m gonna really try and objectively talk about my opinion on thomas and why i adore him and why i want what i want for him. it’s probably gonna be obvious i am also talking about myself but. anyway. 

here’s the “meta” “opinion on the fictional characters” section.

thomas barrow starts the show as an antagonist. he’s rude, could even be called cruel. a bully, snide, dishonest when it suits him and honest when it hurts him. like, he’s an asshole. what he said about william’s mom. how he treated baxter. his ambition and the underhanded things he does to serve it. overall proud demeanor designed to make those around him feel lesser. feel less able to hurt him. he wants the people around him to feel like they should not hurt him. i think he might be unaware that that is his motivation. because even as he’s afraid of everyone, he craves everyone as well. he’s alone, outside, and he’s been shoved there, constantly, he’s been shoved there politely and he’s been shoved there violently and if they’re gonna shove him here outside, away from them, unfixably different from them, unworthy of them, then he will stay there. like, the meanness and the comments and the attitude. he’s already Not Like The Others. if they already don’t like him, he will make it even harder for them to like him. unless, he can get somewhere safer, which is where his motivation comes in.

i just really view thomas as a character that craves safety.

he wants others to not hurt him. he wants to get from where he is to somewhere safer, somewhere up there, where it’s even less likely for people to be able to hurt him.

so, his motivations: safety, and then, there’s love.

he constantly has this world and these people implicitly and explicitly telling him he cannot love or be loved. it’s not right, it’s not natural, best case scenario is it doesn’t even exist- he’s confused, he’s sick, he’s broken, maybe they can fix it. he’s on the outside, remember, and he just gets to watch thru the window as the others dance and fall in love and have friends and family and be cherished. he can have none of it. this is a really old story that could be told by better people and in a better way.

the loves we get to see him have all have teeth. he’s betrayed by one lover and then abandoned, someone he obviously had feelings for but also betrayed first. then we get a probably one-sided attraction, but still a friend, still someone he can actually be vulnerable with since they’re helplessly vulnerable with him as well due to the circumstances. who kills himself. and then there’s the shameless, stupid hope that almost costs him everything, but he does get a friend in the balance.

he finds a friend in baxter, another character i just adore, because she gives to thomas what he needs even though he objectively does not deserve it, at least not from her, who he has terrorized. baxter’s trauma from her abusive relationship with coyle that thomas knows and uses, the impossible situation thomas places her in, the manipulation, the bullying, some would even term his behavior abusive. baxter would have had every right to ignore thomas, to get him fired, to hurt him back. but she loves him instead. she loves him in spite of. she loves him because. she helps him, she speaks to him softly and kindly. she tells him he’s brave. she remembers him as a child. this especially touches me. the idea of thomas as a child, someone who must have been different from who he is now, and she knows them both and loves him. she looks at the grown, hurt, cruel man in front of her and she speaks to the boy she once knew, and thomas listens. slowly. but he listens. AND she tries to give him advice for finding a lover, supporting and encouraging something the rest of the entire fucking series despises or ignores.

i don’t have enough energy to really go off but, baxter is supreme. i need a baxter.

thomas clearly cannot form self esteem in the environment he lives in. the ground is dead. he can’t grow it himself. he has this ironclad sense that he deserves what the others have, the ones on the inside. it’s immovable. he deserves it, they have no right to keep it from him. maybe he’ll never, ever get it, but in his mind, in his heart, he will never stop believing he deserves it. they tell him he’s nothing, he’s dirt, he’s wrong, and he just nods and keeps walking. they can think that. they can say that. he can’t stop them. but he will not stop working for the future he wants. he will not stop until they have no choice but to let him inside.

but he wants, i think, for them to invite him inside. but he’ll never admit it, and he’ll never ask for it, and he’ll never get it anyway.

so, he tries to change himself. maybe they’ll invite him in then? no.

then, his attempts to form friendships get twisted, and aborted, and he gets tired stereotypical accusations thrown on him.

then, he tries to kill himself in a bathtub with a razor.

then, he leaves his home and spends his days bored and unchallenged and away from all of the friends and half-friends he had.

then, he’s invited back. he’s invited inside!!!! you might say. and yeah i guess. as close as they’ll ever let him. but part of him always ignored and not commented on. part of him always raised eyebrows at i’m sure. and yes, his bad behavior is also to blame for this. but see, the 2 are linked. and you can’t unlink them.

by the end of the show the others still largely tiptoe around him. but due to his now somewhat subdued behavior he’s “likable” now.

i think it’s quite a choice to have this character who is completely sharp edges have them worn away by heartbreak, torture, injury, suicide attempt, ostracisation, abandonment, and present that as a victory, as a happy ending. but guess what? it is. and i’ll take it. he was back among his friends, back home, accepted, celebrating with everyone else, and i adored it, even as the jarring notes i heard in it won’t ever fade from my opinion of it.

anyway, in the aftermath of my grief i fell heavily into this story and the many stories of thomas finding love and safety. and healing, and friends, and peace. lots different from each other and lots the same. again, i relate very strongly to this character. i was not in a mindset where i was able to be kind to myself. or think sympathetically about myself. i think i fixated so much on this character, became obsessed with finding stories where he gets told and he experiences all the things i think i wanted to be told and i wanted to experience. i couldn’t accept it, even the concept, directly. but i devoured and absorbed a billion pixels of a character very similar to me accepting it. it’s the closest the concept could have gotten to me and i’m embarrassed i only recently realized this link and that that was what i was doing considering it is obvious, and common, and normal. maybe not “healthy” but like. let’s not get into healthy and unhealthy coping mechanisms rn bec i promise you the fanfic and the fiction fixation is not even at the top of the list lol

FAST FORWARD it’s september 2019. the movie is in theaters.

my mom is still dead. but. a lot has happened to me. i have happened to some people. i’ve been thru some more things now. dipped my toes and eventually completely submerged and perhaps am drowning in the entire Romance/Love/Sex section of human experience. again, let’s not get into it. but it’s a LOT. 

i don’t quite have the same relationship with fiction and fanfiction as i used to. it’s been only 2 years since leaving my mother’s house, but i feel as though galaxies could fit in between the girl back there and the one here. but they’re the same! i’m working on understanding that. 

i love this character and this show so much. i loved the film. there are problems- the writing and plotting is not nearly as neat and crisp and sharp. it’s more smooth, almost to a loss of definition, and instead of quick-wit it feels just... fast. there’s no time to really dive in in a film, so i’ll forgive all that, but it’s a flaw that should be mentioned. but it’s not a flaw that prevents joy in the film. i was overjoyed watching it. the things i wanted for thomas all happened. all the characters and relationships were... smoothed, i can’t describe it any other way. i feel like the bumps and corners and quirks and hidden pockets of them were just smoothed away. we know they’re there because we watched the show, but the film doesn’t- can’t- show them all. 

it was frustrating for me to see thomas smoothed in this way, but also satisfying, because while he absolutely one of a kind, unique, damaged, and layered, and contradictory, really a marvelous character and well-built... he is just like everyone else. and i think he would love and hate that and i love and hate that about myself.

for this reason, i really enjoyed a scene where he refuses to help carson. carson is flustered and overworked, in a crisis, and asks barrow for help, and thomas refuses, with a smile. i adored it. carson is one of thomas’ worst ... opponents, i could say. carson hurls homophobic abuse at and about thomas several times during the series, casts aspersions on him in the film as well, and he can choke. i love that even though towards the end of the show and yes during the rest of the film thomas’ sharp edges got smoothed away, but they put this one in and it catches you right on the bone how it should- an older woman in my theater actually gasped, offended, when thomas refused to help and carson was left to flounder. i, on the other hand, thought, “that’s my boy,” and leaned back in my seat satisfied. it might be my fav moment in the film. surprising considering the AMAZING joy and tenderness thomas gets to experience in the movie (but, i think that’s just my taste right now due to a personal heartbreak i won’t get into). like, they shoved him outside, carson shoved him outside, outside the realm of normal, and this is a moment of carson needing his help and thomas going, “no, remember how you used to treat me? remember how you secretly think of me? i do. i won’t forget. good luck! bye!” and then goes on to have a terrible wonderful adventure, while someone funny and kind finally falls in love with him, he gets to stand up for himself to the crawleys in the beginning of the film as well and i just felt elated watching that scene.

i could probably write essays about the love and romance portion of his storyline in the movie. but i’m just not in the headspace to do that right now super in depth but.

i’m also annoyed he had to experience yet ANOTHER homophobic plotline. he goes out to a gay club for literally The First Time and gets arrested and called a dirty pervert. i remember this being my exact fear for the movie. like “imagine if thomas goes to a gay club and gets arrested? that would suck!!!” and that is exactly what happens. but at least it’s so quick, i genuinely think that entire plot is like 6 short scenes max. why is julian fellowes obsessed with having this character, the ONE main queer character, suffer solely because he is gay? experience so many gay-specific agonies, the depths of which i just really doubt he, fellowes, can understand. it’s really, really, disappointing. but consistent as the show did this as well. smh. at least he gets out, and his lover, richard, goes to bat for him in this movie TWICE!!!!! and stares at him with stars in his eyes, soft and enamoured? while thomas is oblivious?? I’VE READ THIS FIC BEFORE!!!! so yes that was VERY cute and all i ever fucking wanted

it’s just funny how fiction touches us differently depending on what we’re going through, especially for those of us that were lonely, neglected, children, ones who grew up with favorite characters instead of friends. i might be more “normal” i might be more “sociable” i might have more “life experience” than i used to but this fangirl inside is just not going anywhere.

this was just a ramble, i wrote it with no point in mind and i’m not rereading or editing it lol. enjoy this vague update into my life/movie review/character meta lol

[fizzingwizard]

Fanfic Authors Tag Game

I was tagged by @ahiddenpath and her answers were really good x’D As for me, it's been quiiiite a while since I wrote fanfic... but I might as well x'D Thanks!!

AO3 name(s): FizzingWizard, but I have more stuff as Fizzing Wizard on FF, also have some ficlets here on Tumblr under the tag fizz-writes


Fandoms:  Mainly Digimon, a few others here and there (X-men, Tsubasa Chronicle)


Number of fics:  Some... sorry I don't care to count them.

1. Fic I spent the most time on: All Seems Beautiful. It was a monster fic for me. I had multiple muti-page outlines (one that was short with bullet points, another that went into each point in detail, plus character profiles with notes about absolutely everything, like favorite foods or what kind of sneakers they wear). I loved planning it, but towards the point where I stopped writing I was getting headaches trying to remember everything. I felt like it's not a good sign when even the author doesn't want to reread her own story. And I knew for a fact that there were some readers who'd disappeared over the years specifically because of how long it was. That didn't really bother me, but I know I set myself up for failure by making the chapters so very long. Some fic writers do churn out monster fics much better than mine, but it was still a fun ride.

I don't know how things with ASB are gonna go in the future after such a long hiatus, but if I continue, I'll probably be setting a hard word limit for chapters like I should have in the first place. In my defense, I was a teenager when I started it and I just thought of it as my "big farewell fic" to Digimon Adventure, where I was going to encompass all of my personal theories and my visions of each character. It didn't feel like such a tall order at the time. Then it became by far my most popular fic and I started to stress, and it wasn't so much fun anymore. If I can get the fun back, I'll totally continue it.

2. Fic I spent the least time on: There are a couple fics on my FF page that are from when I was really young. Those would be the most legit answer, but I'm not gonna count them, because that was another era. A totally different world. Of fics I've written more recently, it would be From an Admirer. That's also the reason why I cringe at it a bit... I was just answer a prompt, but after I wrote it I wanted to delete the prompt from the fic altogether because I didn't like the way it framed things.

3. Longest fic: All Seems Beautiful, 246,914 words as of the last update. The majority of that was "part one" and the thought of writing that amount for the second half is part of why I ended up stalling. But there are so many fics out there that make my WIP look short...

4. Shortest fic: Difficult to properly answer since I have some sort of curse on me where I can never finish anything. Ficlets. The shortest on FF (excluding my childhood fics) is Mad-Libs, but From an Admirer is shorter still.

5. Most hits: Well, on FF it's ASB easily lol.

On AO3, it's Izumi Koushirou and the Splendiferous Valentine's Day Shindig Whose Splendor Was So Diferous It Ought To Be Immortalized In Song (alternate title: "Why Everyone Hates February")

I just like putting the whole title in bahaha

Actually I was surprised to find that one has the most hits on AO3, though ASB isn't updated there so that's probably part of why. But also I appreciate that Taishiro fandom love <3

I should really finish that one. Problem is it needs massive editing first. Too bad I don't have any oolong tea around...

6. Most kudos: From An Admirer. It's a ship fic :P

7. Most comment threads: What is a comment thread? For reviews, this one also goes to ASB, easy win. I think it's the same on both sites, but I'm not completely sure because I think my own replies to comments are included in the count... the FF one can be trusted though.

8. Favorite fic I wrote: I think mainly because I never finish anything, it's hard to give a meaningful answer. ASB was the most work and also the most personal, so I care about it a lot. But there are other fics where I was was trying to do something specific, either with the plot or the writing style. I'm loath to pick a fav.

9. Fic you want to re-write: Hahaha... They all need lots of edits, but rather than rewrite any, I just want to finish one. :8

But the answer would be ASB. I wanna change so many things. The original plan that I had, I don't want it exactly that way anymore, but I set it up too much to just abandon it without a lot of work and probably confusion. The way I see some of the characters shifted as well. I am NOT going to rewrite this fic though.

10. Share bit of a WIP or a story idea you’re planning on: I wanted to write a post-Tri fic about Taichi and Meiko. Not a romance exactly, but that one phone call at the end wasn't enough closure for me after the monumental decision Taichi made in the last movie.

I should rewatch all of Tri first though and that's pretty much what's holding me back >.< I love Tri, but it's long and I have a job and a life... I never watch movies or TV unless someone tells me to. Only found Mandalorian and Witcher because of my BF and it's probably to my benefit that they're both TBC for now.

OK! I think that @wanderingsofal will love doing this, so tagging you dear! Anyone else who sees this and wants to do it too, consider yourselves tagged as well.

[intothewickedwood]

Once Upon A Time Rewatch: 1x20 The Stranger

I’m liking this brot3 with Emma, MM and August

MM looks so proud of Emma.

I forget why August added the Pinocchio story.

The Pinocchio movie used to freak me out when I was younger. To tell the truth it still does. It was that freaking donkey scene!

Here comes the shady lady.  

Hmmm. Interesting conditions you got there Blue. You know, I wouldn’t be shocked to learn that she made those conditions part of the spell herself. That way she’d have someone to do her bidding as she pleased. Maybe for something to do with the curse. Reminds me of her needlessly turning Jiminy into a cricket. Yes, he asked for that to happen, but a decent person would have seen that he was in a moment of despair and would have helped him by other means. Seems like she turned Pinocchio into a real boy just when it seemed convenient. She probably knew the curse would be cast soon and she probably knew they would need Geppetto to build the wardrobe and she would’ve known he’d make sure his son would take a spot. You know, I wonder if there was room for more than 2 people to go through. She just wanted Emma separated from her parents as part of her evil plan!!

How can Regina think that MM would think it wasn’t Regina who framed her after that conversation they had in the sheriff’s office?

MM is so much stronger than I am. I’m not sure I could forgive what Regina did to her.

“Your life must be filled with such incredible loneliness if your only joy comes from destroying everyone else’s happiness. It’s so sad Mayor Mills, because despite what you think it won’t make you happy. It’s only going to leave a giant hole in your heart.” MM be preaching the truth to Regina! This is another reason I love her so much; she’s so full of compassion and empathy. She understands why Regina did what she did (with the context she’s given) more than even Regina does.

Henry: “Go ahead and try. It won’t work. No matter what you do, Snow White will have her happy ending. She and Prince Charming will be together. The curse will end. Good will win. And I’m not transferring classes.” Look at Henry go!

That’s a pretty clock.

Poor Jiminy!

Poor Pinocchio’s living in fear that the Blue Fairy might change him back! I think the Blue Fairy meant for him to be afraid of her. So she could have power over him for her future evil plans!!

Geppetto: “So we must stop her (the Evil Queen).” Blue: “It’s too late for that.” Mmmhm, sure it is Blue.

Funny how you didn’t tell Rumple about enchanted wardrobes when he was looking for a way to the LWOM! You just intentionally lead him to finding out about the dark curse!

So Regina, your car just happened to break down right in front of the pet shelter where David works?

Regina leaving a blank note on the table, pretending Henry wrote that he couldn’t be home for dinner xD!

Blue, we all know this is exactly what you wanted Geppetto to do. That’s why you turned Pinocchio into a real boy in the first place, isn’t it?

Although, it’s a terrible situation, I do understand Geppetto’s decision. He’s doing what he thinks is right for his son. Most parents would’ve done the same.

Wooden Swan is cute as hell!

Regina has made a lot of Lasagne for 2 people! If it was vegetarian I’d totally have some. Dammit, now I’m hungry!

Wow, she’s got the romantic candles and everything.

Why does it look so delicious! Help!

Regina is so obviously flirting. David is so oblivious, bless him.

That distorted image in the mirror! I need to understand the symbolism here!

I know August is harmless but Emma, haven’t we talked about meeting handsome men in the woods? Haven’t you learnt from Jefferson??

Wait! That tree they came from was in Storybrooke? But how, if Storybrooke wasn’t created yet? I guess Storybrooke could have been built to include that LWM forest.

August confessing he believes the book is real and Emma’s just like “Here we go again.” But at this point the evidence is glaring right at her.

“We both came into this world through this tree.” Hehe xD! Emma, say hello to your mamma!  

When Emma says “not gonna happen” it seems like she almost believes but she won’t allow herself to fully embrace her destiny.

“One of us is losing it here, and it’s not me.”

“I don’t want them to need me.”

“You’re saying that I am responsible for everyone’s happiness? That is crap! I didn’t ask for that. I don’t want it.”

“Right now. A little while ago, you didn’t want Henry, either. But then, he came to you, and now, you are fighting like hell for him.”

“For him! Because that is all I can handle right now. And I’m not even doing a good job at that! Now, you’re telling me I have to save everyone? That is beyond ridiculous. I don’t want any of it.” I do feel for both of them here.

“That doesn’t change the truth. You are our only hope.”

“Then you’re all screwed.” That is the statement of someone who’s starting to believe! Poor Emma though, having spent most of her life alone only to learn that a whole town is depending on her to save them.

Aww. This scene with August and Marco is so heartwarming.

He just wants to bond with his Papa!!

Emma, no! You can’t run off with Henry! You’ll make everything worse!

I think August just really scared her.

[purplesurveys]

559

Have you today?

Looked in a mirror? Yeah, I was looking at myself while brushing my teeth earlier.

Watered a plant? I don’t think I’ve done that in the last few years.

Worn denim? Nope, I’m staying in today. And I kinda have to anyway, because it’s a holiday. Washed your hair? Yep, I took a long shower a few minutes ago. Been in pain? Yes, woke up to the same toothache that’s been bothering me for a few weeks now. The pain is on the down low at the moment, but yeah it was there when I woke up.

Had a nap? Not sure if it counts as a nap, but I decided to sleep in today and kept waking up a few times the whole morning until I finally woke up for real at around 11:30. Brushed your teeth? I already mentioned that I did this, yes. Kissed someone? I gave my dog some kisses today, but not a person. Used a cheese grater? I’ve eaten one meal today and it didn’t need any cheese. Eaten something sweet? Nope. Spoken to a stranger? Also no. Like I said, I’m staying in today. My introverted ass is tired from the last few weeks of working and socializing. Dropped something? I don’t remember doing so...I’ve only been in bed all day. Felt upset in some way? I’m feeling a little down, but I wouldn’t call myself upset. Drank coffee? I took two painkillers in one day yesterday, which is bad in itself; I wouldn’t want to mix coffee into my system.

Walked for more than thirty minutes? Nah, the furthest I’ve walked today is to the bathroom to take a shower. Signed up for something? That’s a no. I really should have picked a different day to fill this up, hahaha. Travelled in a car? I didn’t drive today and don’t plan to until like Tuesday, because that’s when I have to go back to school. Opened a can? Here’s a tiny secret: I don’t know how to open cans :c Thought about doing something crazy? Nah, I’m not feeling too crazy today. Listened to a new song? As a matter of fact I am. Spotify will sometimes play you a bunch of new songs it thinks you’d like based on the music you do listen to, and that’s the playlist I have on right now.  Written in a notebook? I have not. Fed an animal? I gave my dog the rest of my lunch when I didn’t feel like eating anymore. Checked your emails? I had to answer a couple of them, yes. Told someone you love them? No, not yet. Made a phone call? Nope.

Have you in the last week?

Travelled on a bus? I haven’t been on a bus since my high school class went on a retreat to Baguio four years ago. Washed your face? Yep, yesterday. My face was feeling oily for some reason so I used some facial wash we had in the bathroom. Used a blender? I don’t think I’ve ever needed to use a blender before. Received a phone call? Yeah, Gab calls me most nights. Talked to someone you dislike? I had to talk to this girl who has a known attitude problem because we’re working on something together in a subject that we’re classmates in. She hasn’t shown me her rotten side just yet but I’ll be more than ready if she does. Consumed alcohol? Yeah, I went to two Halloween parties in the last week :/ Eaten pasta? I don’t think I have this week. Planned for an event? We don’t have any upcoming events so there’s nothing to plan for to begin with. Asked someone for a favour? Yep, I asked my classmate Gia to bring her VGA adapter because I needed one to do my report for history class and I don’t have an adapter of my own. She’s super nice and helped me out. Watched something funny? Yeah I mean I make it a point to watch at least one funny video a day so that my days aren’t completely shitty. Trimmed your nails? I have not, which explains why they’ve grown out so much lately. Browsed Reddit? I haven’t been browsing Reddit as much lately because I’ve been busy, but I did open the app at least once within the last week. Talked to yourself? I often talk to myself while driving alone. Purchased tickets for something? I did not this week. Felt like you were annoying someone? Always. Cleaned a toilet? Nope. Reminisced about the past? I mean, my friends and I always do in one way or another. Used headphones? No, my old headphones have been busted for yeeeeears now. Laughed with a friend? I spent time with several groups of friends this week, yeah. Which is why I’m completely socially exhausted now. I’m using the undas weekend to recharge. Cooked dinner and then didn't feel hungry? I don’t cook, so this is an automatic no. Written a list? It was a to-do list of stuff I had to accomplish before the undas break, if that counts. Played an instrument? Technically I did? I was sleeping over at Rita’s place last weekend and their guest room had a ukulele lying around, so before I fell asleep I do remember strumming the strings for a few minutes, even though I had completely no idea what I was doing. Felt jealous or envious? Always do. It’s my worst deadly sin. Ignored a text message on purpose? Always. Congratulated someone? I always make it a point to congratulate my friends for their leaps, whether big or small.

Have you in the last month?

Made a piece of art? Art is my weakest suit and it’s something I never even try to dabble in, because I know I would be horrible.

Rewatched one of your favourite tv shows or movies? I always rewatch Friends, and I did attempt to do a rewatch of Breaking Bad before El Camino was out on Netflix, but I didn’t get to finish it because uni had kept me very busy.

Called a plumber? There wasn’t any need to.

Been to a see a doctor? No. I definitely should go to the dentist, though. Finished a book? I haven’t been reading. Had a crush on someone? Of course.

Travelled on a train? Nooooooo I hate the public transport system in this country. Worn heels? I haven’t had to in the last month. I wish I owned more pairs to just wear casually to school though; it wouldn’t hurt looking like a bad bitch around the college hahahaha. Been to a friend's house? I’ve been to Gabie’s and Rita’s houses.

Shared a bed with someone? Yes, Gab has slept over a couple of times. Been to see a movie at the cinema? I think it’s been more than a month since my sister and I saw Hello, Love, Goodbye at the movie theater. Paid attention to celebrity drama? Meh, loosely. I know of the issues, but the drama lately hasn’t been too juicy. Felt anxious? AL. WAYS. Taken an elevator? On the days we were too lazy to take escalators. Given someone the cold shoulder? I don’t think I’ve done this recently. Purchased a new book/game/movie? I didn’t purchase it but I downloaded Mario Kart on my phone. Applied for a job? Nope. Used a printer? Yes, I’ve had to print papers and handouts for several classes. Had lunch in a park? We don’t have any parks, and anyway it’s usually too hot to eat outside. Gotten a manicure or pedicure? Not a fan of either, so no. Made an appointment? No. I did ask my mom to schedule a dentist appointment because my 21 year old kiddie ass is still too anxious to do it myself sjdklsdfdfhdkhskdjfsjffskfhkjsfh Had a blood test done? NO. Is this the one where they prick your finger? NO THANKS BYEEEEEE Suffered from a major bruise? It wasn’t major but I did briefly get a nasty bruise on my knee a few weeks ago. It was probably from PE but I never was sure where it came from. Researched a topic in-depth? I kinda have to; I’m working on my thesis for the next year or so.

Have you in the last year?

Been to the beach? Yes, several times. The most recent time was last August in Nasugbu, which was kinda bad timing on our end because we usually get bad typhoons in August haha. But it was the last week of summer and we wanted to do something fun before we had to go back to school, so off we went. Visited someone in the hospital? Thank goodness I haven’t had to. Played pinball? No, but I have played races on Waluigi Pinball courses on Mario Kart if that counts HAHAHAHA Travelled on a plane? Yes, several times. Worn a costume? I have. I went as Dora for Halloween this year. Been thrift shopping? Yesssssss. I got into it a few months ago when I saw a few stalls at a local mall selling really trendy tops for much cheaper. Thought about getting pregnant or got pregnant? Neither. Made a big life decision? I decided on my thesis topic, which is personally a pretty huge decision to make. Changed a lightbulb? Nope. I don’t know how to. Framed something and put it on your wall? I haven’t. My wall has stayed the same for like three years now. Been stargazing? Nah. Haven’t really had the time to. Made a new friend? New people who come into the org. Added to a collection? Obviously I’ve gathered more receipts from my dates with Gab within the year, but I haven’t gotten around to organizing any of them. They’re all just piled up in my wallet. Been to the dentist? No, but I have to UGH this toothache is out to kill me I swear. Broken up with someone? Nope. Held a baby? I don’t think so but I wish I’ve gotten to do it D: Created a budget? I mean I always carefully plan out my weekly allowance, so yeah. Confessed feelings for someone? I already did that three years ago. Had surgery of any kind? Nope. Quit a job? I have not. Been in a car accident? No, thank jeebus. Purchased something worth over a grand? Not yettttt, but I’m planning to for Christmas. Been on vacation at least 500km/300mi from home? Yes, when we went to Batanes and Albay. Applied for an academic course? Does enrolling for a semester count? Had your photo taken by a professional? No not yet, but very soon when I get my graduation photos taken.

[obsessively-obsessed-fangirl]

How I’d rewrite the original Spider-Man trilogy.

Okay, so I have just finished rewatching all three Tobey Maguire Spider-Man films, and I have spent a lot of time over thinking about how such an promising film franchise had such a bad ending, and I think I have come up with a pretty brilliant fix-it solution to make me slightly less angry...so here goes.

First of all, the first movie (way back in good old 2002) was pretty damn amazing(...haha). It is 100% the best out of the whole franchise because it had a solid plot, decent characters, and a good villian. There are only a few changes I’d make, like getting rid of the incredibly awkward dialogue and cutting out a few pointless scenes (BECAUSE DAMN THAT MOVIE WAS LONG). 

I’d also give MJ a little bit more of a backstory. Honestly, her whole abusive father storyline could have really given her a lot more depth but they decided to literally ignored it so freaking much throughout the whole franchise. 

Finally, I would wholeheartedly replace James Franco with Hayden Christensen. He’d play the part of a whiny rich kid so well and it would effectively save his career before it had any chance to go to hell...so you’re welcome.

Now we move on to the second movie. It was just okay TBH. It is most def. a disappointment compared to the first movie and really showcases the beginning of the end for the franchise because of its weak characters and plot. Here’s how Imma gonna fix it: 

I’d start out with Harry still royally being pissed at Spider-Man and blaming him for his father’s death. I’d also still have MJ and Harry dating. This would effectively cause a rift between the group because Harry would still be upset at Peter because he “knows” Spider-Man and also Harry would be angry at Peter because deep down he knows that MJ is in love with Peter and not him. Harry still takes over at his father’s company and works with the future Doc Ock. BAD STUFF HAPPENS and Doc Ock is born and Harry begins his fall from grace. With nothing left other than MJ, Harry becomes obsessed with finding out who Spidey is and dedicates all his time to the search. 

On the other side, we have Peter who is still struggling to maintain his two different selves and essentially still disappoints everyone around him. He still gives up being Spidey for a time being and in my version, this is where they bring in Gwen Stacy. Gwen tutors Peter because he has fallen behind in class and needs help. Since MJ is with Harry, and Pete is trying to “be normal” he starts dating Gwen, even though he is still in love with MJ (keep in mind I’m going off of MJ being the main love interest...not the comic books). MJ gets super pissed because she doesn’t understand why Peter can be with Gwen and not her, which further creates a rift between Peter, MJ, and Harry. 

At some point during this, Peter has been watching Doc Ock being an ass and running rampant around town...he talks to his Aunt May and decides that he can’t give up being Spider-Man forever, so he goes and has an epic battle with Doc Ock...and thinks that everything will be peachy keen.

Harry, desperate to save his relationship with MJ decides to propose. This does not go well for him, and MJ says no. There is no creepy dad ghost guiding Harry into finding The Green Goblin in my version and instead he finds it all out after he proposes to MJ and she rejects him. He throws the ring box at a mirror and shatters it, and that is how he finds his father’s Green Goblin stuff. (OH NO)

At this point, Harry has kind of been smart in his obsession with Spider-Man and has looked at the signs that Peter has been carelessly leaving, and begins to suspect that Peter is THE SPIDER-MAN (DUN DUN DUUUUUN). In a fit of rage, he decides to draw Spider-Man out by becoming The Green Goblin and kidnapping both MJ and Gwen.

Somewhat similar to the choice Peter had to make in the first movie, The (Harry) Green Goblin gives him the choice between either saving MJ or saving Gwen. Peter tries to save both girls, but ultimately Gwen Stacy dies. MJ still finds out that Peter is Spider-Man and understands why they can’t be together. Neither Peter or MJ knows that Harry is now the Green Goblin, so MJ goes back to Harry and accepts his proposal. Peter, fueled with grief by letting Gwen die (and also not being in love with her) gives in to revenge and dedicates himself to finding the new Green Goblin, thus setting up the third movie. 

Now let’s get into the big failure of the franchise...Spider-Man 3. The biggest disappointment of my life. In my version of this film, first of all, there is no sandman. There is just too much going on, and we do not need him.

Peter is still obsessed with getting revenge for Gwen’s murder and is fueled by rage. This leads him to make questionable choices and leads him down a dark path. Similarly, Harry is still obsessed with getting revenge for his father’s murder and is pulling even farther away from MJ. MJ is getting scared because she is seeing similarities between Harry and her abusive father and she doesn’t know what to do. She still loves Peter, but she can’t get through to him so she continues to plan her wedding to Harry, but considers calling it off.

As we know, Harry is now in charge of Oscorp, and that is where Venom comes in. In my version of events, he “retires” from being the Green Goblin and pays BIG MONNNNNEY to get a sample of the mysterious Venom “goo” and develop a formula that he hopes will take Spidey DOWN. 

Eddie Brock is still there and is an asshole. He still tries to take Peter’s job by framing Spider-Man for doing something bad and Pete catches him. He also hates Spider-Man because Eddie dated Gwen at some point and was in love with her and believes Spidey to be the reason Gwen is dead. 

As we know, the Venom suit needs anger and Harry, being a sneeeeaky sneak finds this out and convinces Eddie to take the Venom suit he has made, and masquerade as the “NEW BLACK SUIT SPIDEY” and does a whole bunch of bad things to bring Spider-Man down.

Peter talks to Aunt May about all his lady troubles and revenge seeking, and gets pretty much the same lecture he got in the actual movie about not letting hate define him.

Eddie, fueled by Venom and his hatred for Spider-Man, double crosses Harry and decides to stike out on his own to kill Peter Parker.

By this point, MJ has had enough of all the sneaking around and all the harsh anger and such, so she calls off the wedding from Harry, which leads Harry into a rage-fueled Green Goblin moment. MJ runs away scared and calls Peter to tell him that Harry is the Green Goblin, and during the phone call Venom kidnaps her (cuz duhhhhh).

Events now play out similarly to how they did in the actual Spider-Man 3. Peter goes to Harry and begs him for his help. Harry refuses and then finds out that Peter isn’t the reason his dad is dead.

MJ is trapped in a car or whatever, and Spider-Man goes to save her. Stuff happens and he begins his final BOSS BATTLE with Venom. The Green Goblin comes to help and still gets stabbed. Harry apologizes to MJ as he lay dying. She forgives him. Spider-Man figures out how to defeat Venom and Eddie dies. Peter goes to Harry and Harry tells him that he is sorry, and Peter forgives him. Harry dies. 

The funeral happens and Peter has another convo with Aunt May. He realizes that he can’t stop living his life just because he is Spider-Man. He finally embraces both sides of himself. He finds MJ right as she is about to leave for something. He swoops down and picks her up and like takes her someplace SUPES romantic. He admits that he loves her and that he is sorry for being an ASSHAT she accepts the apology. They do the upside down kiss again from the first movie and they live happily ever after.

THE END.

[theonceoverthinker]

OUAT Rewatch 4X11 - Heroes and Villains

Wow, now that the Frozen Arc’s complete, all I can say is...HAT’S ALL FOLKS!

Don’t leave, Belle! There’s a lovely review just under it! XD

Main Takeaways

Past

I’m of a mixed mind about this flashback. On one hand, it provides some nice setup for the Queens of Darkness and provides a good plot reason for Belle to find the real dagger in the present line. In short, it connects to Belle’s character. Not only, that, but narratively, it works, it’s as long as it needs to be, and it sets up the counterpoint of Belle feeling betrayed well enough. It’s a solid as hell segment.

That said, given what happens in the present, I’m not sure this flashback is what the episode necessarily needed. And I feel bad about this because Belle gets so few episodes that focus on her and the ones she’s had haven’t really worked for me, so I don’t want to put down another one (especially when it’s pretty freakin’ solid as far as episodes go).

But, my mind goes back to (or rather forward to) the scene at the town line and the emotions we’re supposed to be feeling. And I just can’t help but feel like for that scene to be complete, something akin to seeing Rumple suffer under the dagger’s power would’ve been so much more appropriate here because it really paints how Rumple could’ve fallen so quickly from his Season 3 heroism without forcing the audience to bend over backwards to create theories to explain the change. Hell, given that Zelena comes back in the next half, having a Zelena flashback would’ve worked as foreshadowing for her return AND an establishment of just why Rumple’s so gung ho about his plan and the lengths he goes to to achieve it. And because of that, I can’t help but have a twinge of resentment towards this flashback because of that. We get a good enough introduction for the Queens of Darkness in the next episode and Belle surely could’ve found out about the dagger situation  through other means (Maybe when Henry knocks stuff down, it destroys the fake dagger and Belle then breaks into Rumple’s safe to find the real one?), but this was really Rumple’s last chance to flesh his motivations out in a way that narratively struck a chord. While I’ve pointed out glimpses of these motivations before, that’s just it: they were only glimpses. For a character like Rumple and for something that drives his character’s motivation for half a season in such a sharp twist to his character’s moral trajectory just a half season before, they really needed to do more than just glimpses here and there. And in this episode, the one where it should have the most focus, we only get a sentence discussing it. That’s not good enough.

Present

Like in “Family Business,’ the most interesting part of this episode can really be boiled down to a single moment, and that’s Belle banishing Rumple from Storybrooke with the dagger. It’s the most memorable part of the episode and if you’re reading this review, this is what you want me to get into. So here goes nothing!

Before I get into my feelings about Belle’s decision itself, I want to touch briefly on the moment from a storytelling perspective. But before that, because i’m gonna be a little negative here, I want to say that I do like this scene in a lot of ways. This is some of Emiliee de Ravin’s best acting on the show and the scene nails its tone, Additionally, as someone who likes Killian, this scene has one hell of a catharsis value after seeing him pushed around by Rumple for these past few episodes.

That said, I think that this scene is kind of messy.

It is framed as one that is tragic for Rumple and a tough, but necessary choice for Belle to make, and while the element of tragedy is present, the two parts lack potency. First, let’s go into Rumple’s share of the scene. Simply put, with everything Rumple has done and the real lack of focus on his motivations for going as dark as he did during this half season, I don’t feel sorry for him in the way the episode wants me to. This is something Rumple deserves for eleven episodes of lying, manipulation, kidnapping, and attempted murder and no amount of Robert Carlyle blubbering (Despite how good he is at it) is gonna make me change my mind about that. Additionally, Rumple’s lines are just not sympathetic. If they didn’t want to make this a sympathetic moment for Rumple, that would be one thing, but the music paints this as something tragic, even after Belle is out of Rumple’s sight. They want us to feel for Rumple to some extent, but he’s not talking about his weakness after losing Bae and his freedom for a year. He’s talking about how he wants his power and how they can have it all, and it doesn’t make this a complicated situation, but instead pushes the morality in this scene overwhelmingly in Belle’s favor.

And speaking of Belle, I wish that instead of going for a twist where Belle surprisingly stopped Rumple, that she had a bit of time to process the lie. I say this because Belle is very dramatic at the town line and while the buildup is good enough, Belle should get more focus beforehand as she discovers what Rumple’s really been up to as to really emphasize just how much he’s hurt her by lying to her so much. Her words in this scene are so powerful and speak of this moment as one of culmination as she realizes all of his sins, but the lack of focus on her in the present doesn’t set up the gravitas that’s needed to give birth to these words. He told a few big lies and the audience feels the weight of these lies because we spent eleven episodes seeing him lie, but Belle has seen that Rumple gave her a fake dagger and that Rumple was about to kill Killian. The first bit -- the most important one by the way the text is written -- happens off screen and the latter is presented as a twist, but is otherwise basically ignored by the scene, and that’s not even counting Rumple’s other lies. Do you see what I mean here? The heart of this banishing scene happened off screen and because of that, for all this scene’s gravitas, it feels a little narratively hollow.

Okay, now how do I feel about the banishing itself?

I think you’ve gleamed it by now, but I do agree with Belle’s decision. Granted, her scope of information is small unless in the intervening time, she learned about Rumple’s inaction during the casting of The Shattered Sight curse, but Belle does know Rumple is a threat. He lied about giving her the real dagger, nearly killed a man, and literally tried to take over the world (I’m gonna say she was able to piece that together). And not only that, but when given the chance to explain himself, he defaults to excuses. Belle was protecting everyone through this decision and herself too, and I can’t find fault in it.

Stream of Consciousness

-Okay, so is the king of the Southern Isles really okay with all of his thirteen children running off to go face a Snow Queen? Like, send a few, but ALL of them?! Like, isn’t he afraid of losing all of his heirs to a woman that his son most likely described as dangerous and mad?

-”I wanted to see how the mouse would play while the cat was away, so I lied.” Rumple is such a douche in this segment and I’m all here for it! XD

-”It’s time for you to see the world.” Welllllll, not just yet.

-Robin, your wife just came out of basically a coma. BE HAPPY ABOUT THAT. Seriously, CRACK A SMILE. Love who you love, but seriously, Robin acts like he HATES Marian in this scene. And it really sucks! Marian -- whether you love her or not, Robin, is the mother of your child. How can you not even be a little happy that she’s alive? It really does a disgusting job of painting Robin.

-I know the actress didn’t know she was actually Zelena at the time, but Christie Lang does such a job playing this scene with Regina at Granny’s so sympathetically and I just can’t help but imagine Zelena internally holding back laughter because of how she’s going to twist the knife when she fakes her side effects so that she and Robin have to leave town! XD

-”I want to be chosen.” Wow, Rumple’s right: When you can see the future, there’s really irony everywhere.

-”In the next life, things won’t be so pleasant for you.” ...Wow, Rumple’s right: When you can see the future, there’s really irony everywhere. XD Like SERIOUSLY! HOW DID THEY KNOW?!

-”He [Merlin] brought the Snow Queen from Arendelle to this world, which means his magic is strong enough to move between that world and ours.” It’s interesting how Merlin (And possibly The Apprentice) can move between realms and a reason why I understand why Merlin needed to ultimately die (Basically, he’s OP, but we’ll touch on that in Season 5).

-”So, I figured it out, why you collect so many magical objects. It’s because you have a hole in your heart.” ABC, I’m in this line and I don’t like it! XD

-I really like that we get a Belle and Henry scene! When this episode first aired, I was so surprised by its presence and I just adored the scene simply for having a dynamic like this. And together, they’re charming and cute! Honestly, given how Henry becomes the author later on, I’d have loved to see the two of them interact more as an author and a book fanatic! That said, this scene also goes to show how fucking pointless it was for Henry to work at Gold’s. Not only is his part in saving Killian only accidental (Something that was possibly implied by Gold seeing the hat and saying not to go into the back room), but in terms of his original goal of finding the Author, he’s not even snooping or working in this scene: He just blatantly asks about the Author. And it’s not like Henry and Rumple bonded at all in between these two scenes so why he’s not still snooping is weird. So why make Henry work here in the first place as opposed to Rumple just being a last option? Like, Rumple tells Regina he knows Henry was snooping, but they could’ve just had Regina bring up the Author instead or had Henry be more direct. I know it’s a small thing to get riled up about it, but yeah, it was kind of pointless.

-You know, I really FEEL for the writers. They build up these honestly pretty great twists, but the marketing exposed them prematurely.

-”Having Marian back in his life means so much to Roland.” Look, why can’t you smile like THAT for a fucking second when Marian came back?

-”If I went back to Marian, I’d be living a lie.” And setting Roland up for a life of his parents resenting each other, which wouldn’t be healthy.

-I really like Rumple and Regina’s conversation in the car. Rumple very clearly cares for Regina and wants her to be happy. As you can see by the harsh and honest way he gives her advice. He knows it sounds villain-y and kind of disturbing, but he’s sure it would be the way he could be happy.

-XD I kind of forgot that Mal could form herself via birds!

-I love Ursula’s tentacles! They’re slimy, scaly, and still malleable, giving them this gross yet cool sense to them.

-I love how Cruella has the most understated entrance, but is the most dangerous of all three of them! XD

-”Shall I get you a stepstool so you can look in my eyes when you threaten me?” Fucking iconic, Cruella.

-You know, we never did find out what the Queens of Darkness even want! XD

-I kind of wish we got more out of Emma and Elsa’s goodbye. Elsa says a lot, but Emma really doesn’t get the chance.

-Damn, the Sorcerer’s Hat is BEAUTIFUL when it goes off! I love the use of stars and the shades of purple! It’s just lovely!

-I know this is a super emotional moment, but I am curious. Given that humans are...well, humans, what would happen if we unknowingly built a town over the clearing that cloaks Storybrooke? Like, ordinary people can’t pass through the town line into Storybrooke, but what happens if they just build a town in the free space they enter when they do so?

-”Two.” Tow what? I know they’re getting shots, but what kind of stuff do you want to get drunk off of? If I were the bartender, I’d charge you for top shelf shots for such vagueness!

-I’m very glad that Regina and Emma didn’t drink before driving! XD

-Why are all these fairytale creatures moving to New York? I live in New York and it’s expensive as hell!

-”Demanding a ransom from the Dark One is not a deal. It’s a deathwish.” That is such a Rumple line and I love it!

Favorite Dynamic

Rumple and Killian. These two drive the tension of this episode flawlessly. This is the dynamic we worry about. The past is a foregone conclusion and the Queens of Darkness are at least a little distant. But Rumple having control over Killian’s life is what we worry about and serves as the ticking clock that makes this episode as exciting to watch as it is. It’s with Rumple and Killian that we get a good balance of plot and story. Rumple gives a lot of exposition about the Sorcerer and because he’s about to kill Killian, he can tell him anything he wants with no fear, allowing for this really intriguing honesty which we rarely see with Rumple. And Killian’s biting back at every chance he can, really showing off that hot headed personality of his. And let’s talk about Killian’s scene with Emma at Granny’s because EVERYTHING with them works and I would be remiss to not talk about it. The scene shows just how powerless Killian really is and builds the tension of how much control Rumple has. It’s where this dynamic shines the brightest and it brought to new heights by the terrifying music and the editing cuts between Rumple and Killian. It also shows just how both well and horribly Rumple knows Killian. While he can impersonate Killian’s speech patterns well enough, it’s the more down-to-earth mannerisms and subtleties that make it clear before we even first cut to Rumple that this is a facade and make it clear to Emma that something’s up. And once it’s revealed that this is indeed a facade, the scene grows so much creepier as we see Rumple literally putting words in Killian’s mouth. It’s an actual masterpiece of a scene.

Writer

Adam and Eddy conclude our half season. It’s definitely not their best episode, that’s for sure, but not at all their worst. Just maybe to this point. Anyway, I’ve been throwing around the word “gravitas” like a tennis ball to a puppy lately and that trend continues here. If emphasis is put onto something being set up or paid off, it at least needs an emotional backing that is reasonably strong. When characters make big and sharp decisions, there needs to be a good deal of substance to those decisions.

Culture

So, how about that Frozen Arc?

I went into this rewatch knowing that despite keeping an open mind, I would most likely dislike two episodes (The present segments of “The Apprentice” and “Breaking Glass”), but otherwise love the hell out of the arc as a whole. I left it...basically feeling the same way. While I didn’t adore “Family Business” in the way I used to, I still like it and the same goes for this episode too. Overall, the Frozen Arc succeeds more than it fails for me. It features two interesting villains with interesting schemes, more of a reminder that whoever runs OUAT’s casting is a god amongst us puny mortals, interesting uses of those characters, and boobs.

Now, let’s talk about the Frozen characters and balance. This is an incredibly unpopular opinion, but I think that the Frozen cast had fuck all to do with the balancing issues of this arc. Apart from the flashbacks in “The Tale of Two Sisters, “Rocky Road,” “Smash the Mirror,” and “Fall” (all of which were setup for the events in the main storyline), each flashback either didn’t involve them at all or had their characters act as support or a counterpoint to one of our mainstays. And these served as overall good moments of development for the characters they worked off of. Rumple got the most sympathy in his brief moment bemoaning his defeat at Anna’s hands then he did for basically the entire half season and David’s past with Anna not only was a great character episode for him, but unknowingly led to an entire arc for him later on. And in the present, it’s pretty noticeable to me that Elsa and Ingrid’s troubles are what give way to Emma, Regina, Belle, and everyone else working out their own shit with her as an excuse to be together. Some may say that makes them a plot device, but they’re given enough character and contributions to the story to not become that.

Anna, Elsa, and Ingrid’s stories were not at fault for the lackluster storytelling in some cases (Rumple’s motivation, Robin’s...just everything, Killian’s entire character in “The Apprentice,” Emma and Regina’s fight). Throughout my reviews, I’ve been posing small changes that didn’t need to even touch the Frozen segments to be enacted that would have better aided the storytelling for the characters and arcs as a whole. Now, that’s not to say they didn’t impose at all. I think when it came to Ingrid’s defeat, Emma and her magic should have played more of a part, even if it was just as someone who could protect Anna. But it was the minority of cases. Overall, the Frozen cast acted as support and led to interesting character moments. We see Emma learn to accept and love her magic as a part of her through Elsa, a different aspect of her magic that hadn’t been taught to her at this point. We see David grow into the hero he is through his lessons with Anna and struggles overcoming her grief. We see Rumple and Ingrid play a cat and mouse game with all of Storybrooke as their arena. We see Belle grow as a more selfless person through her friendship and somewhat betrayal of Anna. These are all interesting character moments that I don’t know could’ve been done without either the Frozen cast themselves or some other side characters and I’m glad it was the former. Not only did they make the arc more cohesive through having a more intimate cast of secondaries, but it ended up creating something visually striking from the rest of the series because of all of the ice imagery.

To sum it up, the Frozen saga’s pretty tight.

Rating

8/10. ...I feel like sometimes, these reviews don’t do my feelings justice. I feel like I do a bad part communicating during episodes where I have a lot to say negatively that most of the time, I am enjoying myself and the only reason I make it a point to elaborate on my rating for any given episode is so that I can discuss more positive elements. Because I did have a fun time watching this episode. While my criticisms were what they were, I was grinning like a dope for the entire thing. I liked the extra bit of focus on Belle, Rumple being Rumple, Rumple and Killian’s full on dynamic, and basically the entire flashback.

Flip My Ship - The Home of All Things “Shippy Goodness”

Rumbelle - Rumple waking Belle was cute as fuck! I love how he not only prepares breakfast for her, but basically tickles her nose until she wakes up. Also, I love Rumple and Belle banter in the beginning of the episode, too!

Captain Swan - Killian Jones can fight his heart being stolen so he can communicate for a second to Emma that something’s up and I LOVE IT! Like, it’s not even a second, it’s closer to three, and this is with the freakin’ DARK ONE in control of him! Also, THE NOSE SQUISHES!!!! That’s my fucking JAM!

Outlaw Queen - I definitely haven’t been the biggest fan of this relationship lately, but their goodbye at the town line really did get me. I felt so sorry for both of these two because they were so close to making things work and the circumstances that tore them apart were tragic, but (seemingly) necessary and the scene with them prior to this showed that they were going to handle their relationship the right way. Because of that (and the stellar and emotional background music), the scene really worked. I really felt bad seeing them have to separate and teared up a bit seeing Regina rip apart page 23.

Swan Queen - I love how supportive Emma was of Regina here! It feels really organic to them and the relationship they have to chill out over shots. And I love Emma’s enthusiasm to join Operation Mongoose! That was just too fucking cute!

-----

Another episode has come and gone and now finally, i can move onto the Queens of Darkness arc!!!

Thank you for reading and to both @watchingfairytales and @daensarah! See you guys next time!

Season 4 Total (95/230)

Writer Scores: Adam and Eddy: (24/60) Jane Espenson: (20/40) David Goodman and Jerome Schwartz: (30/50) Andrew Chambliss: (14/50) Dana Horgan: (6/30) Kalinda Vazquez: (14/40) Scott Nimerfro: (14/30) Tze Chun (8/20)

Tags: ouat, once upon a time, watching fairytales, ouat episode code, ouat rewatch, jenna watches ouat, ships mentioned, triggers mentioned

*Links to the rest of my rewatch will no longer be provided. They take posts with links outside of searches and I spend way too much time on these reviews to not give them that kind of exposure. Sorry for the inconvenience, but they still can be found on my page under Operation Rewatch.

[ayankun]

yalright let’s do this

AGENTS OF SHIELD SEASON ONE REWATCH COMPLETE BREAKDOWN MEGAPOST

hella spoilers for the entire canon up through season 5, but not 6 because I only saw it the once and am having a hard time remembering ANYthing about it.

I cannot determine specifically what it was about this season that caused to be branded “literal garbage” in my mind-hole for seven years.

Best guesses:

there’s some cheesy stuff that probably didn’t sit well with me at the time, and, at the time, there was no way of knowing that that kind of stuff was going to be ultimately eradicated

there’s some good stuff, like character stuff and plot stuff, but it didn’t successfully implant positive emotional responses in my brain-hole, leading me to be frustrated/offended at its own self-importance

there’s some stuff that just Doesn’t Work.  I won’t call anybody out, but there are some main side characters whose casting, in my opinion, leaves much to be desired.  when it comes to acting ability, I feel that it’s important to have the ranges of your entire cast match each other.  if you’re gonna hire B-listers, at least make sure they’re ALL B-listers.  if you’re gonna splurge and get some S-tier talent, pleeeeease don’t embarrass the B-listers by thinking you’re doing them a favor by including them on your project.  Understood, this opinion is highly subjective and I can’t expect everyone in front or behind the screen to buy into it, but it’s definitely a pet peeve of mine that causes strong reactions in me*

some of the plots are tired and/or straight up boring.  I got through them easily this time through because I was able to focus on the things I like, which is largely character interactions and re-learning the backstory for stuff that I know will continue to be important later on.  imagine listening to your grandpa’s stories about his life, but instead of telling you the cool stories about going to the moon or whatever, he’s telling you in great detail about the time he got his shoelaces stuck on like, a rusty nail sticking out of a fence.  It’s not a great story but it does explain why his mom only bought him velcro shoes after that and one time when they were trying on shoes in the store a couple of years later, some other kid started making fun of him for having velcro shoes and long story short your grandpa’s relationship with that kid is what got him interested in astrophysics and also he married that kid twenty-five years later -- but right now the story is specifically about spending forty minutes trying not to get tetanus.

Now that I’m older and wiser, what really surprised me throughout, though, was that not only was I not having any type of reaction that validated my “literal garbage” classification, I was noticing that there was A Lot of stuff that ticked a lot of boxes.

I’m talking technical stuff, the textbook basic filmmaking stuff, the stuff that I subjectively find objectively “Good” because it means that creative decisions were made with intent and were also executed proficiently enough to make that intent clear.

I’m talking SYMMETRICAL NARRATIVE which has to be one of my all-time favorite techniques, one that I personally use a lot, and I’m very biased in responding favorably when I see it, so I think ultimately this is a huge reason why this season cannot be classified as garbage this time around.  Because it shows that they cared!  It shows that they had A Plan!  It’s an emotionally satisfying technique that can be used to great effect when tipping the audience off to how far we’ve come from where we started.  It creates this nice tidy structural loop which I find very appealing.

Just real quick, you see this in individual episodes or even scenes, too.  Here’s a classic A+ example from episode 2:

Simmons has given Skye a bottle of water as a gag because that’s what happens on planes, and that bit is a set up to this bit, where Coulson is talking about how he rebuilt the Bus from the “studs up” and it demands to be treated with kid gloves; ergo:

Only to have the thing completely wrecked over the course of the episode.  In the denouement, “just starting to warm up to this place,” Coulson says ruefully, righting a broken glass as if that will put the plane back together; Skye immediately tosses a coaster down and moves the glass on top of it.

As a callback, it juxtaposes the starting-state and ending-state in your mind and highlights the contrast between the two.  And it’s also a nice character-building beat where you, the audience, get to observe Skye’s character in that she remembers a trivial detail that happened to be important to Coulson.  You also get to see Coulson observing the same, and you understand a little bit more about both of them.  *chef’s kiss*

So this is a pretty powerful and common technique, and I guess you could say that any well-resolved narrative is by definition going to recall you to the specifics of how it started.  Like ep 1 we start with Mike and Ace, their call and response “what are we/we’re a team,” and an understanding of Mike’s desire to be his kid’s guardian and hero and his desperate search for the tools that will allow him to become that.  In the finale, we see the pay off where Ace (via Skye) reminds Mike of this motivation, and Mike is finally in the position to protect his kid by taking out the Big Bad.

But I don’t want to go through the list to demonstrate that everyone’s character arcs likewise left them in a thematically resolved position relative to where they started.  Obviously this is an expectation of all (well structured) narratives. 

(And I don’t really mean to talk about callbacks themselves, such as Fitz’s obsession with monkeys or May’s repeated demand of “don’t call me that.”)

Stuff that only comes up at the beginning and the end.  Here’s the kind of symmetry that I mean:

Skye’s use of GPS encryption and the location of the diner where she first meets Mike.  Both topics come up in ep 1, and are revisited in ep 20 when she’s stalling for time against Ward and brings him to the diner by telling him that it’s the GPS coordinates necessary for decrypting the drive.  It says, last time you were here, Skye, you were living out of a van and fangirling over people with superpowers; now you’re an official agent of SHIELD (fun while it lasted, anyway) and you’re currently doublecrossing your own doublecrosser who was directly responsible for transforming you into the competent spy you are today.

Same thing: the only time we see Lola fly is at the end of ep 1, when Coulson and Skye are heading back to the Bus, and in ep 20 when Coulson rescues Skye from off the Bus.

Ep 2: 0-8-4.  We’re introduced to the very first object with the titular designation, and Simmons idly wonders “imagine what it would do to a person.”  Ep 22, it’s used to evaporate Garrett.  Same ep, we also meet the little, what even is it, that dendrotoxin EMP (??? I don’t recall whether the gadget is named) that Ward uses, and Coulson uses it in ep 17 to incapacitate Garrett.

Similarly, all the cool alien gadgets we spent the first few episodes gathering and locking up, including that first 0-8-4, are all broken out into the wrong hands in ep 18.

Also in ep 2 we are introduced to the idea of being thrown out of the airplane and Skye & co specifically prevent Ward from being sucked out.  We’re introduced to the concept of Coulson’s cellist!  Fury also makes a cameo (”talkin to me about authority”) ! 

It’s a little later on, but ep 6 has Simmons jumping out the plane, and Ward proving his Good Teammate status by jumping out after her (while Fitz is struggling on his way to do the same).  Ep 21, Ward boots FitzSimmons out the plane, and in ep 22 Fitz finally has the chance to properly save Simmons himself.

Ep 19 Coulson has a chance to save his cellist (again)

Ep 22, Fury comes back all Deus ex Machina and relinquishes authority of SHIELD directly to Coulson.

There’s also some dialogue recycled on purpose to make a point, like Fitz-Simmons introductory scene is recreated almost verbatim in ep 21:

Ep 2, talking to Skye about his mission vs ep 18 talking to Raina about his mission

(gotta admit, the man took this role seriously.  check out that cheekbone game he achieved in such a short time)

And again, Ep 1 Ward vs Ep 18 Ward.  They even framed it the same!!

All this to say, Season 1 is Structurally Sound and it has my blessing.

Now let’s move on to the list of things I liked that surprised me:

It’s pretty well polished, visually.  Joss Whedon’s veteran control of the director’s chair is readily apparent in the pilot, setting the visual tone for the series.  There are some made-for-tv shots over the course of the season, sure, and the least impressive compositions tend to involve CGI backdrops, but they do make the most of their interior sets and work hard to dress up various LA locations to, er, inspire the idea of the international scope of the show.  In my last update, I talked about ep 8 The Well in the context of Quality Directing, so it definitely goes above and beyond the basic shot-reverse shot when it wants to.

Ward.  Just for the record, I think Brett Dalton is great at his job and really brought exactly what they wanted to this character.  Eps 1 and 2 are a little shaky and stiff, but everyone’s performances are, as they let these characters coalesce around them.  I remember not liking Ward when I was watching this live, and honestly I think this was intentional.  He’s that character that you expect that you’re expected to like, you know, the traditional cocky savior type that lots of those fancy heroes are.  But because he’s so tropey in his characterization, you’re just ... over it?  And then when they flip the script and you’re supposed to hate him -- WOW.  It’s like two Christmases at once.  They took something you were already doing and rewarded you for it.

I’m not unaware of the “redeem grant ward” phenomenon.  I’m aware that the character had fans who were honestly drawn to and appreciative of the character before that persona was revealed to be a lie.

And honestly, it’s not that I like OR dislike Ward at all.  As a person.  It’s annoying that he’s a cocky bad-boy.  But it’s sweet when he plays nice with Simmons.  It’s embarrassing that he and May have “a thing.”  But it’s cathartic when he opens up to Skye about his past.  And Then, the sequence where we know he’s Hydra but Skye doesn’t.  And Then, the sequence where Skye knows he’s Hydra but he doesn’t.  And Then, his weird yucky confusion where he still wants to pursue something with Skye or doesn’t want to put down puppy-dog-eyed Fitz.

As a character, Ward is a great character.  His set up is so bland that the twist does appear to come out of nowhere, but on a rewatch all the groundwork is there.  His characterization as a baddie is enthralling.  I’m forecasting into season 2 a bit, but you want to follow his nefarious exploits just as much as you want to see his ex-friends smash his face in.  Brett Dalton played it right, A+ good job.  It makes Framework!Ward just that much more of a beautiful thing, to get to see what it would have been like if the Season 1 persona had actually been the man.

Also as covered in the last update, I was really very pleased to see how much character work was being done in this season.  Because I only watch and rewatch starting from the second season, there are important plot points that I’d been grudgingly attributing to this season about which I’d forgotten the specifics, such as, what’s the deal with Gravitonium, howcome we hate Ward so much, where did they get that memory-torture-machine, why are you acting like I recognize Titus Welliver’s character?  What surprised me was how much of a focus there is on character development as well.  A lot of good origin story stuff, like how green FitzSimmons is and how soft and good-hearted Skye is and all the reasons we respect and trust May and all the reasons we would follow Coulson to the ends of the earth.  Watching a found family start to put down roots is worth it, too, ten times out of ten.

The tie-in stuff wasn’t as overstated and stifling as I remembered it being.  They were allowed quite a long leash even this far back.  Centipede is based on Extremis, but helms a a unique narrative.  The Asgardians-of-the-week are just MacGuffins for driving character stories.  Turns out all of SHIELD has been Hydra all along!  Sucks to be you, a show about the Agents of SHIELD ... oh wait, Daddy MCU’s insane twist is mirrored in the DNA of your team’s composition AND baked into your overall season arc?  Well then.  Carry on!

Engaging with Season 1 explicitly as a prequel is a powerful thing.  First time through, I had the distinct realization that “too much of a good thing” was at play regarding Coulson.  He’s everybody’s favorite MCU character in 2013, hands down, but ... getting intimate with him for 40 minutes a week really waters down his mysterious G-man appeal.  BUT.  After spending six+ years with the man, Season 1!Coulson is a precursor to the 3-dimensional Director you’ll fall in love with, rather than a distortion of the one-liner MCU!Coulson you thought you wanted.

So what’s next!  Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and here all all the things I associate with AoS that were not present in Season 1:

Robot hand.

DaISy JoHnsOn

AGENT/DIRECTOR MACK where is he I need him

Fitz’s facial hair

Their underground SSR base with the exposed brick, I miss that place all the time

Hive, Bobbi*, Hunter, Kyle MacLachlan, Maveth (everything** about Seasons 2 and 3, really).  Robbie Reyes.  Aida and Kasius!!  I know these things are temporary, but they’re so important to the best bits and I love them.

Getting to see episode after episode where there are scenes at a time containing a majority (up to 100%) of women and/or POC characters with executive agency, and none of those characters are token or temporary but were placed there with intent to normalize a diversified cast.

My absolute favorite episode of all time, 4x15 Self Control.

Things I am not looking forward to:

**Lincoln.  I’ve seen these seasons four times and just now I had to google his name because I wasn’t sure it wasn’t Logan.  He’s garbage and I’m glad he’s dead.  Other opinions are available.

Misc. Thoughts

*I said I wouldn’t name names but Adrianne Palicki is a C-lister who can swing a B+ if the stars align. I love Bobbi, though, especially the way the character’s reputation precedes her, how her adorableness complements her badassness.  In fact, the character’s a great foil to May, who is also a badass lady and S-tier agent but has a completely different approach to being those things.  Bobbi’s a reminder that badassness and aloofness are not correlated at all.  Also there’s a headcanon out there that she’s non-binary (one of the reasons she prefers Bobbi over Barbara) and that is a concept I can get behind.  Bobbi’s perfect and I’ll fight you if you don’t agree.

Poor Trip!!!!!!!  When you always start from Season 2, he’s really just a flash in the pan, there and gone.  I’ve always been like, “well, he didn’t really have a home here, no carved-out niche, so I guess getting Coulson’d and becoming something to avenge is the best a character like him is gonna get.”  But now that I see that he comes late to the game as a literal stand in for Ward, his story is that much sadder.  He was never intended to BE a character.  He’s introduced with Garrett as a pawn/distraction during this arc’s who-is-Hydra shell game, he’s kept to demonstrate what kind of friend and agent Ward should have been, his defining character trait as a gentle flirt only serves as a catalyst for Fitz’s coming to terms with his feelings for Simmons.  The poor guy is just a walking plot point, up until the bitter end.  :<

I had entirely forgotten and/or never tracked the fact that Fury put together Coulson’s team specifically to monitor him after project T.A.H.I.T.I.  I’d forgotten the distrust Coulson has for May after he perceives that she has betrayed him by being a part of this.  It’s a season-specific reveal that is literally never mentioned again.  It’s important to the fabric of the narrative of that particular arc, offering up May alongside Ward and Trip as fodder for the aforementioned shell game, but the true inciting incident of this entire show just gets swept under the rug and ceases to matter.  I’m kind of :/ about that.

When you’re bi and non-binary, you’ll get a lot of mileage out of wanting to be/be with Daisy and/or Fitz, don’t judge me

In conclusion, Season 1 is the opposite of literal garbage, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is my favorite show and my favorite MCU movie, Daisy Johnson is my favorite Marvel superhero (not related to Season 1 but still true), and nobody had better spoil Season 7 for me pleaAAASE don’t let it happen.

[rapperkookz]

Paralleled Love - 1

Descendants of the Sun-like AU with special agent!female reader and doctor!jungkook

Song Y/N worked as a special agent for the Korean government, much like a Kingsman or James Bond film. To the outside world, she worked part-time at a dog cafe, but when her skills are needed, she lives a double life stopping notorious murderers, infamous gangs, illegal drug dealers and arms traders.

Jeon Jungkook worked at Haesung Hospital as a member of BTS - the VVIP medical team. He is the youngest surgeon, but one of the most skilled doctors in the hospital.

What starts off as a simple stitch, turns into a love story as memorable as Romeo and Juliet. Fate has a cruel plan for Y/N and Jungkook which marks similarly to her military soldier brother and his doctor wife: full of laughs, tears, love, and blood.

A/N I have never written a fic on tumblr so this will be a first for me rip. I just rewatched DOTS so I figured why not? Hopefully you guys will give me lots of love :) All rights go to the directors and producers and actual real life people being mentioned in this fic, it will be similar but also not really to the drama, I am not stealing plot, not to worry :)

Song Y/N

Jeon Jungkook

BTS - VVIP Medical Team

NCT - Special Agents

ch. 2

ch. 1 - Your POV

It happened to your brother and now it’s happening to you. Rarely do you ever speak with your older brother, solely due to the nature of both of your jobs, but after attending his wedding with your now-sister-in-law, you and him bonded over his love story. Being on break, encountering a gang of hoodlums, and meeting the doctor that eventually became the love of his life. They broke up and after 8 months were reunited by fate in a third world country far away from home for volunteer work. 

You, too, were on break after half a year of harsh winter training in Siberia. Seeing that your brother was spending time with his family, and not deployed somewhere for the military, you spent some time catching up with him. There were differences between both of your jobs, but essentially were more than likely the same. He took the role of a special forces major, doing top secret work for the Korean military. You were a special agent, also doing top secret work, but for the Korean government.

“Doesn’t it worry you? leaving your family?” you asked as he rocked his son to sleep.

He gave you a smile, “Always, but I’m good at my job, and that includes-”

“Not dying” you answered, “I know that all too well, Joongki oppa.”

“your work is more dangerous than mine” Joongki answered, “I’m at least protected by the military, the government doesn’t protect you that much, y/n.”

“It’s a risk I take,” you said clinking your glasses together before taking a shot. You winced as you leaned against the couch. He noticed your discomfort and motioned for you to turn around, “Shit, did my stitches open?”

“Yeah, your back is bleeding.” He said, “let’s go to the hospital, you need professional care.”

“You’re only using this as an excuse to see Hyekyo unnie, aren’t you?” you chuckled getting up, holding your nephew as Joongki grabbed his coat. The two - technically three - of you drove to Haesung Hospital, acting careful as to not stain your brother’s car with blood. Walking inside, you let your brother deal with the receptionist, coincidentally timing your arrival so that Hyekyo was eating dinner.

“Oh? what are you doing here?” she asked, a smile automatically on her face upon the sight of her son and husband.

“y/n needs stitches,” Joongki answered, giving her a kiss on the forehead, before you handed the sleeping boy to her.

“You don’t have to do it unnie, I don’t want to take your free time giving me stitches,” you said.

She touched your arm affectionately, “I’ll make sure you’re in good hands, y/n. Is your wound from work?”

You nodded, knowing that she already knew the kind of work you did since it was similar to your brother’s. She called to her colleagues, asking if any of them were free to stitch you back up.

“I have to do my rounds, but Jungkook can do it,” Jinki answered.

“Perfect, can you take y/n to where he is?” Hyekyo asked and he nodded, “just come back here when you’re done y/n”

“We won’t be going anywhere,” Joongki agreed. You diligently followed the doctor around the hospital, stopping in an empty ER room, where he paged his co-worker.

“You need me, hyung?” a boy said walking in the room, he looked youthful enough to be around your age.

Jinki nodded, “this is Hyekyo’s sister-in-law, she needs someone to restitch her up, can you do it?”

“Of course,” he said grabbing a new pair of latex gloves from the box on the table. Jinki bid you goodbye before going to do his rounds. “Your shirt is all stained miss-?”

“y/n, Song y/n,” you answered taking off your shirt, leaving you in only a bra. The doctor coughed, unprepared for you bold action, “I don’t know your name, doctor?”

“Jeon Jungkook,” he answered kindly as you laid face down on the operating table. He blew a raspberry at the sight of your wound, a large gash painted your back diagonally, the stitches that held it together previously now stained with fresh blood. You winced at the sting of the disinfectant that he used for cleaning your back. “May I ask what happened for you to get hurt this badly?”

“I was on a run and I fell down some stairs and my back hit against a pole,” you said calmly, the lie slipping off your tongue easily. You didn’t get this gash from a run, you were on a mission trying to stop arms traders and during a face-off with them, you were pushed against the brick wall. “Is it that bad?”

“It’s not pretty” he chuckled, “I’ve seen a patient come in, once, being impaled by a tree,”

You scoffed in disbelief, “That has gotta hurt.”

The both of you engaged in simple conversation as he stitched you up, the atmosphere comfortable and easy to be in. Jungkook was a surgeon. There were 7 in his ‘skilled’ group: 4 surgeons (trauma, cardio, neuro, and ortho), a psychiatrist, an anesthesiologist, and a pediatrician. He was also, indeed, your age: 27 years old. “When are you free next?”

“Are you asking me out on a date?” You teased folding up your blood-stained shirt and wearing your sweater. You didn’t miss the blush that formed on his cheeks as he coughed and put his glove-free hands in his coat pockets, “I’m kidding, what for though?”

“To uh-to um check in your wound, make sure the stitches hold,” he said, trying to act composed, “but um I mean, if you’re free to get lunch afterwards, I would be up for that too.”

You smiled, “I’m looking forward to it, I can come next week.”

“Perfect, around noon.” He agreed and the two of you exchanged numbers. He walked you back to the cafeteria, where Joongki and Hyekyo were waiting for you, “I’ll see you next week.”

“For my appointment,” you grinned and he nodded before going back to his work. Your brother gave you a smirk, “Oh don’t start, he did my stitches.”

“That’s how our story began,” he said nudging his wife. You rolled your eyes, sitting across from them.

“He’s one of our best new doctors, Jeon Jungkook,” Hyekyo commented, “top of his class, he’s totally your style y/n.”

“Unnie, I don’t have time for a relationship” you whined.

“You say that now, but then it happens,” she said, “Look at your brother and I.”

“And now we’re married and have a son.” Joongki agreed pinching the boy’s cheek lightly. As you were about to argue against them, your phone rang.

“717, report to HQ, immediately.”

“Copy that,” you answered hanging up. You looked at your brother and sister-in-law, familiar but worried expressions on their faces. “I will see you, hopefully soon.”

“You have to come back for your appointment next week,” Joongki reminded, to which you responded with a playful punch to the shoulder. After saying goodbye, you drove your car to the government building. Passing by the regular office workers, you stood in front of the elevator and pressed the up arrow 5 times, placing your watch in front of the well-hid scanner so it would know your destination was under the basement level.

Exiting the elevator, the black and white interior of the “top secret cove” - as you like to call it - came into view. You bowed to your colleagues, walking into one of the meeting rooms.

“717, what do you know of a Lee Junmo?” your superior asked, eyes trained on the monitor framing the side wall.

You bowed your head, “Lee Junmo, head of Power Alcohol. He’s a very well-known public figure,”

“Power Alcohol is lacing some of its cheap beer products with poison, in order to target the poor and addicts,” she said looking at you, “it makes consumers sick to death unless they buy an expensive medicinal cure.”

“Ma’am, that makes no sense,” you scoffed, suddenly feeling self conscious with the alcohol you drank previously.

“From the look on your face, I’m assuming you were drinking before coming here.” She said with a chuckle, “lucky for you, the poisoned beer hasn’t sold yet, nor should it ever be placed on the markets. You need to stop its production.”

“Why, may I ask, is this happening?” You said in disbelief.

She cracked her neck, sharp eyes noticing the blood-stained shirt in your pocket, “Lee Junmo has a superiority complex and genius idea that putting poison in alcohol will help the population problem. Completely stupid. What happened to you?”

“My, um, my stitches reopened from the Chinese arms incident.” You said.

“Well certainly, you’re not doing this alcohol spree on your own. I was gonna send in 205 so he could have more time in the field, but you’ll need more experienced hands since you’re injured. Call 802 to accompany you. After that, you’re off for a month, until you fully heal.” She said dismissing you. You bowed and dialed your fellow agent’s number, informing him of your new mission.

“Crazy Alcohol guy? I’m so in.” He said nonchalantly, “I’ll meet you at HQ, y/n.”

Not even 10 minutes later did 802 show up, the two of you getting dressed and geared up for your trip, “Minhyung, you might need to be doing most of the action stuff. I can barely fight as it is,”

He nodded and went over the plan with you. Sneak in the production building, delete the files of the ingredients of the beer, and burn any current alcohol. “So basically, we’re setting the place on fire,”

“And making it seem like a fuse accident,” You answered getting the keys to the government vehicle. “As protocol goes, no more using our names from this point on, in case we get infiltrated.”

“You got it 717,” he nodded as the two of you entered the car. You connected your watches so to have each other’s gps at all times and to communicate through ear piece, not only with yourselves, but also with the government. The building was about a two hour drive from the city, in a rural area towards the southernmost tip of the country. The place was bordered by lights, a huge POWER on the front of the building.

You parked a good half a mile away from the place, “Alright 802, I’ll shut down all the cameras so you’ll be good to go. There’s an emergency side door on the west side, a complete blind spot to any cameras, you can get in through there. You have exactly 30 minutes to find the blueprint, delete it, and get back out here before I set fire to the building. We need a good distance as to not get any trace, there’s no people here for at least 10 miles of this place.”

Minhyung nodded, giving you a fist bump of good luck, “don’t tear your stitches out.”

“That’s the least of my worries, if you need help, I’ll run to you in a heartbeat,” you said, “now go, We’ll be monitoring you the whole time.”

“802 starting mission,” he said exiting the car and disappearing to the side. You followed him through the computer screen attached to the car, your heart beating in adrenaline. 802 otherwise known as Minhyung or Mark Lee was a fairly trained agent in the NCT unit. You often worked with several of their members, since most of your missions can’t be done as a solo operation, unless you’re calling for a death wish. 10 minutes gone by smoothly, Minhyung made his way in the building undetected and was now currently looking for the alcohol information.

“You have some company, to your left,” you said, “after you’re done with them, keep heading straight, there should be a heavily guarded room, I’m assuming it’s in there.”

“I see it.” he said taking down three more guards. You waited for him, bouncing your knee up and down, itching to go out and get some part of the action, “I’m on my way back, get the explosive ready.”

“802 wait! Vehicle approaching the entrance, you have to find a back exit, I’m heading south.” You said stepping on the pedal, “HQ, we need to leave as soon as 802 is back in the vehicle, send fire to my coordinates as soon as I say the word.”

“717 you better hurry,” they said from your ear-piece, “The bomb in your car is detached, the one set for your coordinate is ready.”

“Where are you? I’m out of the building!” Minhyung said

“I see you, right in front of you,” you said stopping the car in front of him. He got in quickly and you sped off, “alright fire.”

“What happened to a good distance away?” he asked catching his breath.

Your foot pressed on the pedal to go faster, heading straight with no clue how to get back to the city. Minhyung set the gps back to headquarters, getting ready to press the autopilot button as soon as the place was on fire. “Bingo, press it.”

You relaxed and leaned back in the seat, giving him a pat on the shoulder, “Piece of cake.”

“Mission complete, files and evidence destroyed, 802 and 717 are heading back to HQ.” You said.

Minhyung cracked his knuckles, looking outside comfortably, “When I get home, I’m gonna go to the bathroom and take a nice warm bubble bath,”

“Usually girls say that,” You commented.

“Boys can treat themselves too, y/n, don’t be so old-fashioned,” he said hitting your arm, “I’m gonna take a nap. Tell me when we’re back.”

Narrator’s POV

“-everyone out of the way! Patient coming through!” A doctor yelled running through the hospital and towards the OR, grasping the gurney that was being rolled along with him.

“Vitals are unstable, he’s in v-fib!” A nurse yelled putting her hands on the patient’s chest to try and get his heart to start beating again. Grabbing the two paddles, the doctor told the nurse to page the cardiac surgeon, stopping the way to the OR momentarily.

“Clear!”

“Pulse is back.” The nurse said.

The doctor paused for a brief moment of relief, pushing the gurney forward once more. They reached the room in a matter of minutes, the doctor scrubbing in quickly to meet his co-surgeon who was already inside and examining the patient. “Doctor Jeon, what’s your course of action?”

“The patient has multiple gun shots to the abdomen with no exit points, only entry. The heart is barely under control, I’m afraid a bullet might have scathed one of the ventricles,” Jungkook said, “Doctor Kim, you fix the heart while I get the bullets out.”

Taehyung nodded using a scalpel to open up the patient’s chest, immediately did blood start oozing, “I need some fresh blood, quick before he bleeds out.”

The two young surgeons worked diligently, fixing any complications before it escalated to something fatal. Jungkook put down his instruments at the extraction of the last bullet, cracking his neck with a relieved sigh, “Everything looks good, can you close Doctor?”

“I can finish by myself, yes. The rest are looking for you in Yoongi hyung’s office. I’ll come by once I’m done here.” Taehyung said without looking up. Jungkook exited the OR and removed his gown and gloves, washing his hands thoroughly before heading up to the Psychiatry Wing. Opening the door to Yoongi’s office, his nose was flooded with the scent of noodles.

“We ordered you some black bean noodles,” Namjoon said handing the youngest an unopened bowl. Jungkook thanked him and immediately began devouring the bowl.

Jimin smirked, “Slow down there, Jungkook. You don’t wanna choke and die before your date next week.”

“How do you know about that?” Jungkook asked taking a sip of Yoongi’s water.

The boys started clapping his shoulder, teasingly. “I was doing my rounds and I talked to Doctor Song and she mentioned something about her sister-in-law and Doctor Jeon scheduling an appointment next Friday for a checkup and lunch.”

“I need to make sure her stitches are healed,” Jungkook said innocently, shrugging his shoulders.

Jin laughed, “Please, you haven’t had a date since the nurse from dermatology stalked you after dinner and a movie.”

“She did seem a bit off, you know?” Namjoon commented, “When is Taehyung coming?”

“I’ll eat his noodles if he doesn’t show up soon.” Hoseok agreed.

Jungkook chuckled, “We just finished a surgery, gun shot victim. His name is Na Jaemin if I’m correct, I wonder what idiot gets himself shot here in this area. There were 6 bullets in his body, one barely missed the heart.”

“He’s lucky to be alive,” Taehyung confirmed walking in and taking a seat next to Jimin.

“Tell us more about your date, Jungkook,” Yoongi said getting the attention of the group again.

“Hyung,” Jungkook complained for a moment, “Her name is Song y/n, she’s absolutely beautiful, wow. I thought my heart was going to explode when I saw her for the first time-”

“Disgusting,” Jin said hitting his head with a folder, “If you give her that line, I hope she throws up in your face.”

“Now that’s disgusting,” Yoongi said, “just eat your food.”

A/N and that’s the end of ch. 1! Pls give me feedback it’s greatly appreciated :)