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rainbowsky · 3 years

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Did DLS Out DD During a DDU Recording and Make Him Cry?

This has been making the rounds on Twitter and YouTube and even Tumblr, for a while now. Fancam footage of DLS making a boyfriend joke and then leaning in to a supposedly upset DD and trying to smooth things over.

This whole thing is based on fancam footage taken during the recording of the DDU 20190825 episode. In this episode dating was being discussed using four beautiful young women, DD and QF along with two handsome young guests as a backdrop.

The subtitles of the fan cam present a scenario where DLS supposedly refers to DD as ‘not needing a girlfriend because he already has a boyfriend’ and then leaning into a supposedly emotional DD and apologizing, trying to calm him down; saying viewers won’t understand what was said.

Let’s take a look at the video:

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The full fan cam footage that this out of context clip was taken from can be found here.

If you watch the episode and the complete fan cam footage, you’ll see that this happened during the segment where they were being asked to comment on various dating scenarios. An announcer would present each scenario in a multiple choice format, asking the women to choose between four options based on the type of guy they’d most like to date. For example:

How would you like the boy you like to invite you for a meal on the weekend?

A] Save your weekend for me. Do not say no.

B] You had breakfast at 7:50 this morning and lunch at 12:30. It’s already 7pm now. You have to eat meals on time. Why don’t I take you out for dinner?

C] I tried to explain my thoughts when I look at you, but I failed. So do you have time for dinner with me this weekend? Let’s talk about it.

D] Get out. Dinner.

My opinion

We should always, always be suspicious of anything that is presented without context. 99.9% of the time, when someone removes context they are doing so to mislead audiences. This clip is a perfect example of that. The video creator appears to have removed important context in order to make the clip better fit the narrative they’re trying to sell.

In this segment of the episode, the hosts and guests were seen commenting on the options as they were being read out. The comments DLS is making appear to be in response to something the announcer has said. I don’t think the comments have anything whatsoever do to with DD.

I also don’t think DD looks even remotely upset. Certainly not near tears. Some fans seem over-eager to claim DD is crying. We’ve all seen DD cry, but it’s exceptionally rare and only happens in very personal situations. This doesn’t qualify. It wouldn’t qualify even if everything the video creator claimed was true. DD would be more likely to get angry than cry in such a situation. He isn’t doing either of these things.

Whoever made this video simply doesn’t ‘get’ DD’s personality at all. The people who buy this are similarly unfamiliar with him.

I invite everyone to use your own eyes and your own judgment. Ignore what’s being claimed, ignore the framing you’ve been given of the scenario by me or the video creator, and instead just watch the clip. Does that look like a man on the verge of tears to you?

Second and third opinions

I asked the indispensable @potteresque-ire and @knivescharade what they thought of the clip. I didn’t tell them anything about my opinion, but simply sent the clip and asked their thoughts - are the subtitles correct, what do you think of the lip reading, etc.

@knivescharade

wow, for this person to put this analysis in i would say that lip reading is a very difficult skill. and to try and lip read someone like DLS, who speaks like a bullet train and doesn't really enunciate SUPER well (unlike Han-ge, for example) ... i would say the interpretation is only very vaguely possible at best.

i know both the cand int fandom have a major something for how WYB keeps swallowing around XZ, but honestly. WYB tends to get throat issues. i think swallowing has become one of his habits at this point. so... in conclusion... there are already lots of major, amazing, and irrefutable candies in the fandom already, let's not bother with such iffy ones :D

he is indeed saying that "this man has a boyfriend", but i cant quite remember which part of the show that was in. i watched that episode, it was something to do with love and having 4 guys paired with 4 girls or something like that, and listening to 'types of guys responses to etc etc' so DLS wasnt saying that WYB has a boyfriend - he was saying that 'this man', the one whose voice was playing in the audio, has a boyfriend.

That tracks with my interpretation of what was happening.

@potteresque-ire

Unless people have learned the dialect, Mandarin speakers cannot understand Cantonese, and vice versa. This is why I don't support or wash auditory candies, especially if it involves someone from Northern China (such as DLS, who is a Beijing native). Their local accents make their Mandarin even more difficult to understand.

This dialect restriction is actually not specific to a me, or other Hong Kongers. Someone whose family is entirely from Northern China would be equally prone to making mistakes if they're asked to lip read southern Chinese.

Lip reading also removes tonal consideration, which makes everything that much more uncertain. Have you heard of the Mr Shi Eats the Lion story? This is why, even if I hear some similarities, I'd hesitate to say X has to be saying ABC. Context is important.

Cantonese speakers are especially picky about tone. Mandarin have 4. We have 6 or 9, depending on who you ask. So... I may be more picky than I should be that way too. And I don't want to spoil anyone's fun 😊

The translation was correct in the sense that it was faithful to the Chinese words in the clip I saw, which replicated what DLS said accurately. But the video itself was from a fancam. Where that fancam happened (and got cut off) was at Q3 at the Q & A segment, starting ~9:34 of the official YouTube clip.

DLS said what he said half way through the voiceover of Option A (very precisely, right after the words "I'm the only one"). Technically speaking, therefore, he wasn't talking about DD.

However, it was also a little strange why DLS said what he said. If you watch that segment, all options have a certain personality attached to them. C was very talkative / pretentious. D was connected to DD because it was blunt and direct. A was the so called "overbearing CEO" personality... which is common in het romance dramas but isn't one that has been connected to the gay stereotype. And so, DLS's timing of saying that ... is curious.

Dd did look a little ... I wouldn't say upset, but tense after DLS said that. Maybe it's because that comment kinda came out of nowhere (because of its curious timing), and so it would be read as hinting at something. But that comment is harmless, wording wise.

Alternate theory

I’ve seen some talk from fans about a different theory for why DLS said what he said. Fans say the announcer for option A was Bian Jiang, the actor who did the voice of LWJ in The Untamed. They say that DLS was making a joke about LWJ not needing a boyfriend because he already has one. That actually makes a lot of sense to me as well, and if that’s really Bian Jiang, then I’d say that’s the most likely explanation for this entire thing.

Conclusion

It’s my firm opinion that DLS was not talking about DD having a boyfriend, nor was DD ‘near tears’ in this clip. Whatever DLS said to DD after that, it almost certainly wouldn’t have been ‘words of comfort to placate an upset DD’.

The Bian Jiang theory fits best, but we don’t need to know why DLS said what he said to be able to conclude he wasn’t talking about DD.

Cute DD candy from this episode

If anyone wants a better candy from this episode, look no further than when he emerges from “door #2″, chosen by one of the women as someone she’d like to date based on the food he’d picked out, and immediately launches into “I want to take a man back to my place and hide him.” A LWJ reference (which DLS and Wang Han clarify with him because they appear baffled by what he just said), but still a tactful, perfect rejection of this woman he’s being paired with. 😅

#bjyx #yizhan #ddu #ttxs #bxg fact checking #ggdd entertainment circle #ggdd signs #Youtube

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thesurfaceofthelight · 2 years

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Keep it Simple: A Sonic IDW Review

And here we are.

The Sonic IDW series. A review of the series done by yours truly. I’m gonna start off by saying that there will be slight spoilers for the most recent Issues (notably Issue 50), so if you wanna get into the series yourself, I highly recommend checking it out before reading this blog. Secondly, spoiler alert; I like the IDW series. But why? What’s my reason? What’s my drive? We’re gonna dive straight into that and it’s all under the cut. Let’s waste no further time and get right to it.

The Main Series Characters

Nearly every single character from the main series has seen a massive buff as far as their personality is concerned.

Whenever his ideals and principals are not at the forefront (that is worth an entire blog to talk about which I will get to), Sonic is maximum Sonic. He’s witty, he’s charming and he bounces off of other characters very well. In my eyes, Tails is the character who has seen arguably the largest improvements in the transition from the games to the comics. Friendly, optimistic and incredibly courageous. We’ve seen a return to his Adventure era, which has sorely been missed after Heroes.

Knuckles is a little bit different, but it’s far from bad. He’s still the stubborn, tough and headstrong echidna we know and love, but he also takes things a little bit too seriously (viewing Rough and Tumble’s introduction as a sign that they’re highly coordinated rather than silly). Amy has been given a lot more screen time and she’s very lovable as a result. Her playful attitude with Sonic is great and her desire to help everyone out if possible is equally as good.

My main man Eggman remains largely the same, but with a few extra tweaks which make him amazing. There’s been controversy regarding how in IDW he’s portrayed as a lazy idiot who doesn’t think things through and the contrast with one of Unleashed’s cutscenes (the one where he eats a sandwich), but people also fail to point out how in the same game, he hastily discarded Sonic alongside the Chaos Emeralds. He’s not lazy or stupid, he simply wants Starline (who we’ll get to) off of his case and to shut up.

Aside from that, I absolutely love what they did with the mad doctor. He has a very twisted view of the world, lumping free will with the likes of disease and famine. He is still the same Eggman everyone knows and loves. Thinking on his feet and nearly unbeatable. Metal Sonic saw a return to form as well. Long are the days of just being used as a boss battle. He’s returned to his silent, ruthless and scarily intelligent personality while his belief of ‘Sonic’ being an ideal that he has perfected is more than welcome. Don’t even get me started on Reflections.

Even outside of the main crew, the other colorful characters have seen great buffs to boot. Vector has his role as the leader in the Chaotix justified, Charmy’s a joy with just how optimistic he is, Espio serves as a great contrast to Sonic with his view on justice, Gemerl is more robot-like but his tactical and robotic yet somehow lifelike nature still apply, Rouge is more playful, Omega’s a funny character without treading too far from his roots, Silver’s incredibly optimistic and I am here for it, the Babylon Rouges are more akin to their rebellious and greedy Riders and Zero Riders characters, even Vanilla has great moments in the IDW during the Metal Virus saga and at the end of Badnik Bases And Chao Races.

Cream. Oh my lord, I love what they did with Cream. Despite her age, she is incredibly noble, sensible, empathetic and cares deeply about nearly everyone. Easily a top three character in the series, she absolutely made the Metal Virus saga even better than it is.

Even the Deadly Six get redeemed here. I kid you not. Zavok went from being one of the most joked about characters in the franchise to transforming into a Ridley-esque character. Despite possessing the appearance of a beast, he’s incredibly intelligent and gets really badass lines wherever he goes. While the likes of Zor and Zeena aren’t as buffed as Zavok, they still get great moments to show their stuff rather than just being a generic girl or having no dynamics with any other character. Zazz and Zik have always been one of the better six members, and I’m glad they get more spotlight. Zomom is still better than his game incarnation with cool fight scenes, but he’s pretty much the same. Unfortunate.

The only two characters I don’t feel are too great (at the time of writing) are Blaze and Shadow. Blaze isn’t terribly written as she is just as she’s always been since Rush, but there’s been so little of her it’s hard to comment. I liked how kindhearted and wise she was in Victory Garden, but I find myself struggling to put words together on that one. I’m sorry. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Shadow. What was once a stoic and determined, yet ultimately heroic hedgehog has now been reduced to an arrogant asshole who only cares about proving his dick is bigger than everyone else’s, nevermind how unreasonable he can be.

The IDW Specific Characters

Much like the Archie series, IDW has its own set of unique characters too. A smaller cast, but I’d reckon they are better than the ones seen in Archie (disincluding the Freedom Fighters given how they originated from the SATAM cartoon, not Archie). There’s some discourse about how they aren’t in the games and how they’re ‘OCs’ (FCs would be the proper term), but being a character that is well-written and needing to be canon are not mutually exclusive. (as Archie and Fleetway have proven)

Rough and Tumble are very basic, yet very enjoyable characters whenever they appear on screen. They’re two bad guys who want to wreck stuff and they often falter against the hero, but good God if they aren’t entertaining throughout with their rhymes and their banter. Tangle is in another, similar boat. She’s hyperactive and friendly, but her seemingly boundless optimism and relationship with Whisper really makes the character, even in the darkest of moments.

Speaking of whom, Whisper. I absolutely love the way her story was told. The subtle glare she gives Shadow in Issue 9, the “Not again!” in the 2019 Annual and the “Why?” in Tangle and Whisper 1. And then there’s Issues 24 and 25. I don’t wanna talk too much about it, but she really makes those Issues even better.

Dr. Starline. Unironically my favorite character in the series, and who I believe serves as the main antagonist for the first 50 Issues of IDW (he doesn’t appear until Issue 11 but shhh). A lot of people refer to Starline as a ‘creator’s pet’ or look down on him as another Snively, but I’m not seeing it. Starline’s just as theatrical as Eggy, but he’s also sophisticated, arrogant, highly manipulative and subtle. He’s used very often, but he’s entertaining from start to finish. He’s always working towards his end goal, but he’s always doing something different and he’s always one of the most expressive characters in the series.

As for Jewel The Beetle, I… think she’s okay. She’s cute and I like how she genuinely loves her job at the Restoration HQ (so much so to the point she had to be dragged away by Tangle in Issue 45), but nothing about her (aside from her design) ever stuck with me. Not even her role in the 2020 Annual. I did feel a similar way about Mimic until I reread Tangle and Whisper. He’s no Doctor Starline, but I love the Chaotic Neutral to Lawful Evil vibes this man gives off.

We haven’t gotten too much of Clutch yet, but Issue 48 has really made me love whatever’s coming next with him. His dynamic with Rough and Tumble is phenomenal and I love how dirty and sleazy this man is. The IDW’s most recent newcomers in the form of Surge and Kit are some of the best the series has seen. A deliciously dark backstory that does not hamper the pace of Imposter Syndrome, fun personalities and interactions and amazing character designs. I’m more of a Kit fan than Surge, but I feel like she is the better character of the two (they are still both top tier).

Regrettably however, if you’re someone who’s been keeping up with my blogs, you’ll know I dislike Belle The Tinkerer. And while I do feel a little bit more optimistic with her, my thoughts remain largely the same. I’ll keep it short and simple here. Belle’s story is not about moving on from her past and trying to find out where she fits in life. Belle’s story is about moping over the loss of her father, a Mr. Tinker, for nearly FIVE arcs straight. If you read the Issues back to back, the pacing is better, but not only was I someone who joined when Issue 41 released, her storyline repeats over and over. She’s the closest thing to a main character in the Third Saga, and it doesn’t help how repetitive her stories get. She cries about her father, a character cheers her up, she feels better. That is it. Even her role in Issue 50 (despite how much I like Metal Sonic’s interactions with her) feel undercooked.

All-in-all though, the characters that were made for the IDW are a blast. On average, I’d reckon they’re some of the best characters in the series.

The Story

At the time of writing this blog, IDW is an ongoing series. Therefore, I do not know what stories lay beyond Issue 54 and Scrapnik Island’s first Issue. What I can safely say though is that the stories we currently have are certified BANGERS.

The first saga is the saga with the fastest pace (at the time of writing) and I heavily appreciate it for that. It only lasts 12 Issues long (with a 2019 Annual and maybe Tangle and Whisper if you wanna count it), but I find the first saga to be a really fun ride from start to finish. It addresses some of Forces’ faults (Tails’ characterization, Eggman’s whereabouts after the event, why you fought a phantom of Metal Sonic) and does so beautifully.

The story itself is very simple. Badniks are regrouping under the helm of a disguised Neo Metal Sonic. After tackling some Badnik hordes and the Mr. Tinker scenario (rest assured I will get to it in the blog about Sonic’s principals), Sonic learns that Neo Metal Sonic is making trouble and sets off to stop him. Neo Metal gets a hold of Angel Island, goes Super and even turns Metal Overlord once again, but is defeated and reverted back to base Metal Sonic.

Certain highlights (for me) include the slight angst Tails has in Issue 1, Sonic and Amy bouncing off of one another in Issue 2, Knuckles taking Rough and Tumble too seriously in Issue 3, Sonic’s ‘break’ in Issue 4, Elder Scruffy’s view on the Tinker scenario in Issue 5, Sonic vs Neo Metal Sonic in Issue 7, Shadow neutralizing Super Neo Metal Sonic in Issue 10, Starline’s introduction and Sonic checking up on Tails after Metal Overlord’s defeat in Issue 11 and ‘Eggdad’ in Issue 12.

Some gripes I do have with the first saga comes down to the introductions of the two fan favorite characters, Tangle and Whisper. Their introductions are very low-key in stark contrast to the introductions to Dr. Starline and even Rough and Tumble. Issue 6 makes me feel very weird with the Sonic and Shadow debate and I’ll be honest, I’m not ready to tackle that yet. I need to think more about it.

Notoriously, we have Sonic and Metal Sonic in Issue 12 too. My gripe here is with Sonic’s reasoning and… later what Issue 50 would claim. Sonic’s reasoning here isn’t ‘If he tries to attack anyone, he’ll fall to pieces and will eventually come around’, it’s ‘we gave him a chance and he denied it’. Additionally, even though Metal Sonic was deweaponized, in Issue 50 Tails claims that he still had his turbine and metal claws, meaning he could go around impaling people willy nilly.

All in all though, the first saga was a great introduction to the IDW. I will always love the faster pace it has compared to the next three sagas. It introduces and recharacterizes multiple characters (for better or for worse) and while it has the least going on, the way it executes the story it tells is good stuff.

And then we have the Metal Virus saga.

My God. I absolutely love it. I’ll start with the pool of negatives the first time around. Of all the characters in the saga, I feel Charmy and (notoriously) Shadow are the two that were handled the worst. Charmy isn’t terribly written or anything, but he’s the first hero to get fully converted and he doesn’t do much aside from motivate Espio and especially Vector. Even after he’s turned back to normal.

And then we have Shadow. He’s just really stupid in this one. “Cowards run. I win.” You all heard it before. He gets himself infected in the worst possible manner and he’s just an idiot. There are notable inconsistencies with the art and how the Metal Virus works too. There’s a bear character in Issue 16 who hasn’t fully been coated in the stuff yet, but he begins to convert. Meanwhile, Sonic almost gets fully infected multiple times but remains the same as ever throughout the entire saga.

Shadow spindashes through a horde of Zombots and is fine, but when he grabs one with his gloves he gets infected. Knuckles punches a Zombot Shadow near the end with his glove, yet he gets infected. Ultimately though, I can forgive all of this because of just how good everything else is. It is a blast from start to finish. After Eggman is done setting up his Metal Virus and unleashes it on the world, all Hell breaks loose.

This gives us easily some of the best and most memorable moments from the entire cast. I don’t know how well the pacing is given I joined in when Issue 42 was waiting to be released and I read it back to back, but I think the pacing here is still very good. Up until the second half of the saga, we are constantly dealing with a fresh batch of characters. The stories may be similar, but the different characters and their dynamics keeps the pacing fresh.

Sonic’s actions and morals are called into account numerous times. By Vector, by Shadow, by Espio, even himself and Eggman. This is what kicks off the themes of Sonic’s principals in the series. Things get worse and worse, and what makes this so good is that we are constantly seeing how characters react and how they break down or even keep a smile on their face until the bitter end. It is amazing.

The Deadly Six actually feel like they live up to their title here. They are deadly. Their electromagnetic abilities are put on full display here and actually makes sense rather than feeling like a reason why Sonic is still busting Badniks after he teams up with Eggman. The second half is notably slower than the first, but I am very easily able to forgive it because again, the content here is so good.

Alright, time for the highlights. It’s gonna be a long one. Everything involving Eggman and Starline from Issues 14 to 25, Vector showing why he’s the leader, the “Team Chaotix!” shout and Vector piling the lady in cars in Issue 17, everything involving Cream and her family from Issue 18 to Issue 31 and Starline and Orbot’s talk in Issue 18, Omega in Issue 19 and 20, the return of the Cyclone in Issue 21, the chat between the monkey and the girl and Vector’s sacrifice in Issue 22, Sonic and Eggman’s talk in Issue 23, everything in Issue 24, Sonic and Metal Sonic’s talk in Issue 26, the Babylon Rouges vs Zik and Espio vs Zazz in Issue 28, all of Issue 29, Eggman’s escape, Zavok’s “No.”, Knuckles’ continued use of “Any second now.” and Shadow vs Metal Sonic in Issue 30, Amy and Jewel, Tails and Tangle’s talk, Shadow and Rouge’s talk, ‘drunk’ Tangle and tail waggy Whisper in Issue 31 and the Restoration vs the Giga Omega in Issue 32.

Good God, there is a lot of everything. I loved so much of this saga. I really, really do. So many great moments, so many great characters, a phenomenal story. It is the best of IDW so far, in my eyes.

Finally, we move onto the most recent saga. At the time of writing this, I am unaware if it has ended or if it is still going, though I assume the latter. The third saga. This is notably the slowest paced saga, focusing more on stories that last four Issues long with the same characters. It’s not terrible, just a different take on the series. That being said though, I feel as if this is the weakest saga we have so far.

I do not hate it for the record. I am aware that Evan has taken charge of the role of the lead writer with Ian in the back. I do believe both of them have their pros and cons as well. I like Evan’s character dynamics a lot more than Ian’s, but I do think he was better at handling angst. That being said, the third saga is a bit of a doozy regarding the story since there isn’t a big ‘overarching plot’ until Trial by Fire.

Coming hot off of the heels of the Metal Virus saga, I am okay with this. We do not need another grandiose saga so soon. Regardless of which, we’re shown numerous stories with two overarching narratives. Of which are represented and owned by two characters. Starline’s rise and fall with Operation Remaster and Belle’s loss of Mr. Tinker. The best of the third saga in my eyes comes from the Imposter Syndrome mini-series and the character dynamics with Sonic, Tails and Amy outside of it.

Surge and Kit are two excellent and enjoyable characters. Their story is deliciously dark and I cannot wait to see where they go with it in the future. The third Issue of Imposter Syndrome really did it for me.

Highlights include Omega in general, the relationships between Amy, Cream and Rouge and Sonic and Tails in Issues 33 to 36, the return of White Park in general, Shadow roundhouse kicking Clutch in Issue 34, Starline getting his teeth kicked in by Amy and Rouge, Vanilla confronting Amy and Rouge and Shadow and his ‘son’ in Issue 36, Amy immediately sensing where Sonic was, Belle’s blissful ignorance, Tangle and Belle’s dynamic, Jewel’s pride and the greatest character of all time, ‘Monkey Man’ in Issue 37, everything with Sonic, Tails and Amy in Issues 37 to 40, Orbot and Cubot in Issue 38, Belle’s confusion to Tangle’s plan near the end of Issue 39, Belle and Eggman’s talk in Issue 40, ‘Baldy Nosehair’ and Zavok’s thought process and plan in Issue 41, Sonic in his entirety in Issue 42, The Deadly Six vs Sonic and Tails’ vs Zavok in Issue 43, Sonic sending the Deadly Six back, Starline and The Chaotix in general and Zavok’s proclamation in Issue 44, more of Sonic, Tails and Amy in the beginning, Tangle needing to drag Jewel away from her work in, Tangle daydreaming about Whisper all day and the return of Motobud in Issue 45, Belle and Ashe and Belle and Tangle in Issue 46 and 47, Sonic and Amy in Issue 47, Charmy falling asleep and carrying Vector and Espio out of traffic, Espio’s subtle comments beneath the sewers and The Chaotix vs Clutch, Rouge and Tumble in Issue 48, Sonic’s dialouge and Belle’s lines in Issue 49, just about everything in Issue 50, Sonic throwing Belle into an alley, Eggman seeing right through Sonic’s distraction and Metal Sonic’s subtle rage in Issue 51.

As for things I didn’t like, this is gonna sound really harsh but anything involving Belle that I didn’t mention above I was not a fan of. I didn’t quite like her introduction, Zeti Hunt destroyed her as a character for me and I found Tinker’s letter to be really dumb. For as much as I like Starline, his part in the B Plot of Zeti Hunt alongside Belle had no connection to the actual story. I don’t think anybody would ask how he got the Imposters out so quickly if they just cut it from the story.

The drama between the characters in Issue 45 I was not a fan of either. I think it lasted too long and it felt jammed in there. I did really enjoy the small panels when Belle and Metal Sonic did interact, but I found it weird how quickly and anti-climactic their part ended. Maybe that’ll change when Issue 52 rolls around.

So yeah, this might be my least favorite saga so far (could change in the future), but it’s moreso because someone has to unfortunately be at the bottom. With just a few stories, it could swing to swap places with the first saga.

Before I conclude this blog, I wanna talk about something going around Tumblr. Lately I’ve been seeing an Anon go on the blogs of people who don’t like IDW and I gotta call them out for it. I do not endorse people who spread negativity nor do I support people who try to cram the series down the throats of people who do not like it. If you’ve tasted the series and do not like it, it is okay. You do not need to keep chewing and nobody should force you to.

So yeah, that is it. Over 3,000 characters. Needless to say, I wanted to pump out everything I could regarding the main series of the IDW and why I enjoy it. I also love the mini-series and most of the Annuals stories, though I do not believe I will be covering them. With that said, if you stuck around for the entire ride, thank you so much for coming this far into listening why I like the Sonic IDW series and I will see you all next blog. Ciao.

#sonic #sonic the hedgehog #sonic idw

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wreckofawriter · 5 years

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Heartbeat Part 2

(Final Part) <Part 1>

Pairing: Sirius Black x Reader

Word Count: 3,580

Warnings: Angsty at the beginning, umm mentions of suicide and depression, swearing

Summary: An idea given to me by @mcluuvin666 Thank you so much! Reader moves on from Sirius and he realizes he made a mistake

A/n: This took me forever to write, I hope you guys like it!

You used to tell yourself you didn’t cry, that it was weak. But that was never true. The truth was you had cried far more in your life than you would ever admit. You had cried when your parents yelled at you or when your father hit you or your mother cursed you. You had cried when you fell from the tree in your backyard and when you slipped off your bike when you were nine. You had cried when you failed your first exam in the second year and recently you cried for no reason at all other than you simply needed to. You never let anyone see it but you cried a lot. But you had never cried like this before

You lay in that classroom for what could have been an hour or could have been a year. Loud sobs clawing from your throat like a feral beast that had finally been released. You felt your head pound as you pressed your forehead to the floor. After some amount of time had passed your throat no longer allowed any sound but whimpers from you. You could still feel tears slide down your face dripping off your nose and pooling on its curves. Your face felt hot, too hot like it was boiling, flesh burning.

Your mouth tasted bitter. You felt so frail. So incredibly weak. When you finally managed to get to your feet it was dark out, the moon nearly full, stars so bright they seemed only inches away.

You made it outside easily, no one was around to stop you if there was you doubt they would have succeeded. You stepped out onto the dewy grass where you once lay with Sirius. Where he had kissed you, where you had said you loved him and where he hadn't responded.

You should have felt stupid, so fucking stupid, but you didn’t. You didn't feel anything, anger, misery, hatred, despair and so many other bottles of feelings had been released. And now they were gone. And you felt numb. Your heart had slowed to its normal pace as you continued across the grass appearing silver in the moonlight.

You walked until your feet met with wood, you traveled out to the dock, the sound of crickets and small frogs filling you.

You stopped at the end of the dock. You contemplated taking another step, letting your body become a part of the darkness before you.

And then you did.

Your body hit the water and you were plunged into a cold you had never felt before. Your robes soaked instantly and you began to sink. You slowly parted your eyelids, you looked upwards at the celestial being above you quivering under the lense of wetness. You could see the moon, but your eyes didn't stay on the small planet for long. They traveled to the brightest star in the sky. Sirius. It blinked back at you slowly moving further and further away as your lungs began to burn. Your hair began to float in front of your face, your robes reaching towards the light as you were dragged backward by an unseeable force.

Then your eyes slipped shut and the fire inside you built, the burn strengthening. You could still see the bright star in your eyelids.

You felt the numbness suddenly disappear and for the first time in your entire life you were alone and you actually felt alive.

Your feet began to kick, black dress shoes moving in a flutter. You pushed yourself upwards, arms pumping as your eyes popped back open, your chest burnt, you would make it you knew you would, because you were still alive, and you would stay that way.

When you broke the surface of the water you immediately drew in a harsh breath forcing water further down your lungs as you began to cough. You managed to the shore collapsing in a heap of coughs. Until your lungs cleared and you were finally allowed to breathe normally again.

You're sitting staring out at the lake, ripples lingering from your plunge. The moon and stars reflected back at you making you feel as if you were trapped between two godly works of art and you could only stare, your heart thumped loudly you felt amazing, amused, and absolutely alive. Because you were alive. And you weren't about to let so asshole with mommy issues change that.

You felt a smile creep onto your lips as you stood. Your robes weighed what must have been thousands of pounds but you didn't care. You let out a light bubble of laughter chin tilting upwards as you breathed in deeply the scent of midnight dew and pond water filling you as your hair clung to your face. You extended your arms, spreading them like an eagle.

"I'm alive." You whispered up in the sky. And you were.

You awoke the next morning feeling as if you had dropped 50 pounds. Standing wasn't a struggle, your eyelids didn't drag downward, your heartbeat was lively and awake. You simply felt good.

When you arrived in the great hall for breakfast you were met with quite a few surprised faces. You could see Sirius staring at you from his corner of toxic masculinity. The surprise in his eyes made rage cycle through you. You were tempted to run and scream at him, but you didn’t. You took a deep breath reminding yourself that was exactly what he wanted and you refused to give in to his wants ever again. You ate breakfast while reading one of your favorite books you had dug out of your trunk that morning. Everything seemed so much easier after last night.

You surprised just about everyone in your herbology class by being quite kind to the Hufflepuff who sat next to you. You had even asked for some help baffling the light-haired girl. During Transfiguration, you had made a point to apologize to McGonagall for missing that morning’s detention. Her eyes had gone wide and she had looked a bit pale, asking if you were alright which you assured her you were.

On your way to lunch, you did something absolutely unliveable. A young Gryffindor had been cornered in a remote hallway you used as a shortcut. You had come across five second-year girls who were teasing the poor girl, snickers leaving their mouth. You had debated continuing walking but you let out a sharp sigh and took a few steps towards the girls grabbing the two who were currently taking charge by their hair.

They had shrieked as you yanked them backward. Once they had turned and met your face the color had drained from their own. A sweet smile graced your lips. You asked them if they knew who you were. Both nodded quickly.

“Good.” You continued to grin, “Then you should know I don’t bluff. Now I will ask you once. Leave this girl alone or next time I will rip the hair from your head.”

They had scattered after you released them, their friends already long gone. You walked towards the girl on the ground. She had on large horn-rimmed glasses which magnified her sky blue eyes. Her teeth held bright pink banded braces, her hair a dirty blonde.

“Let me guess, you’re a mud- muggleborn.” You said catching yourself quickly.

She nodded slowly, she looked terrified.

You laughed a bit and she jumped. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m a changed woman, plus muggles write the best books.” You winked. “I’m y/n y/l/n.” You extended a hand.

“Rebecca Lastings.” She responded quietly, taking your offer as you helped pull her to her feet.

“Well, I’m starving. You wanna get lunch?” You asked as you helped gather her scattered books.

She smiled a bit, “Yeah sure.”

Lunch was... interesting. Turned out that Rebecca had an older sister named Laney Lastings - in your opinion a very catchy name - and when she saw her sister eating lunch with one of the most infamous Slytherins she was reasonably concerned.

When the Ravenclaw had marched up to you as you were shoveling chicken salad into your mouth you had once again done the shocking thing. You smiled and greeted the girl.

“What are you doing with my little sister.” She had hissed cutting you short.

You shrugged, “Eating.”

The blonde scoffed, “Becc lets go.” she snatched her sister’s arm but to her surprise Rebecca resisted.

“But she was just telling me about a book she read.” The younger girl spoke softly. By the look on the older’s face, you guessed she didn’t defy orders often. “It sounded very interesting.”

Laney looked up at you. You just shrugged. “What is going on?” she looked a bit shook up.

“Look I know what you think of me, hell what every single person in this room thinks of me but I’m a changed woman.” You explained, “I am honestly just talking to your sister, I have no intention of hurting her in any way shape or form.”

Laney’s eyes narrowed but Rebecca sat back down and took a bite of her peanut butter sandwich. “Come on y/l/n people don’t just change overnight.”

You shrugged again, “I did. Feel free to join us.” You motioned to the seat next to Laney’s sister and to your surprise she took it. And for the first time in your entire life, you had made actual friends.

You dreaded detention the next morning but to your surprise, it was rather pleasant. When you entered the large room it was already sanctioned into two groups. One contained three boys sitting in neighboring desks while the second held one dark-haired boy at the back of the room glaring at the former group.

You raised an eyebrow in confusion and sat a few desks away from both crowds. You then began to sort the paperwork you were told to, taking a walkman out and clipping in a favored artist.

About halfway through the hour, you were drawn from your work when a figure appeared before you. You looked up to see a pair of hazel eyes and curly hair hidden under a navy beanie. You removed your headphones letting them rest around your neck giving him a questioning look.

“Hey.” He managed, looking a bit unsure of himself.

“Hey?” You responded, glancing at the group he had left meeting to pair of eyes which quickly darted away.

“So umm, I know it's not really my place to say but I’m sorry,” Remus spoke, biting his lip.

“Why are you sorry?” You asked, still visibly confused.

He lowered his voice, “What Sirius did was really fucked up.” Suddenly the sanctions made sense, “And I just thought I would let you know that I’m sorry on his behalf.”

You let out a small laugh, “Please don’t Remus, you clean up enough of that boy's messes already, don’t put this on yourself. But thanks anyway.” You shrugged going to put back on your headphones.

“Laney told me about what you did for her little sister.” He spoke in a rush.

You stopped, “And?”

“She has been trying to get those girls to leave Becc alone for like three months, she started skipping classes and meals to avoid them, it was bad. But you stopped them with one conversation. That was really nice of you y/n.” Remus stated.

“It was whatever.” You answered with a shrug.

“It really wasn’t,” He protested, “But look we both wanted to ask you if you wanted to come to our study session tomorrow night. We get together three times a week, it’s me Laney and a few others, they’re all pretty chill and it would be great if you could come.”

A smile found your face, “Really?”

“Yeah, we meet in the library after dinner.” He was playing with his fingers now.

“Okay, sure. That sounds awesome.” You said.

“Great.” He grinned bouncing on the balls of his feet before turning and leaving.

“Hey, Remus.” You called just before he made it back to his seat. He whipped his head to look at you. “Thanks.”

In all honesty, being nice was completely exhausting, actually caring what others thought of you took its toll, especially after the well-crafted reputation you had built for yourself. You had also started paying attention in classes for the first time in a long time so you had mountains of homework and suddenly understood your peer’s desperation for good grades. You tried to convince yourself that a study group was a brilliant idea but your worries ate away at you.

What happened when most of the group hated you? Would they cuss you out? What if they refused you despite Remus’s invitation? There was so much room for failure. Godric making friends was difficult.

You busied yourself with the nightly homework in the common room, you had gotten used to the strange looks you received. A whistle drew yourself from your herbology sketch.

“Wow y/l/n, I did not expect you to turn into a loser when you found out.”

You rolled your eyes at the familiar voice, “Avery.” You drawled.

“What has gotten into you?” He asked, taking a seat next to you, “First you help out a mudblood, then you go and make friends with her filthy sister and now you're doing Herbology homework?”

You glared at the boy, “Don’t call them that.”

He only smirked back, “I must say you look much prettier without the bags beneath your eyes and a little effort put in.”

“Go fuck yourself.” You spat resisting the urge to strangle him.

“There’s the y/n I know.” He smiled triumphantly, “But where has she been? People don’t change overnight.”

“Well, I did douchebag.” You hissed.

“No you didn't.” he sneered, “You're still the same stone-cold bitch, you’re just hiding it and let me tell you, I can’t wait for that mask to break.”

Your hand tightened around your quill, “Shut up.”

“I’ll be there to catch you when you fall y/l/n. I’m glad you’re wearing skirts again, you look hot.” He taunted his face so close to your own you could smell his cologne.

You were about to slap him but before you could a voice resonated through the air, “Avery back off her.”

You both looked up and you met the gaze of a Slytherin you swear you had never seen before. He had dark hair and darker eyes, his face was sharply cut, lips looking far too rounded on his visage.

“What do you have on it Dapperton?” Avery asked leaning away from you.

“Just back off.” His tone was harsh, a thick Scottish accent in his voice.

“Whatever.” Avery scoffed standing and shooting you one last glance before leaving the room.

“You okay?” The boy you now knew as Dapperton asked.

“Yeah, fine.” You managed.

“Cool, listen I was wondering if you could help me with my Arithmetic, I’ve heard you are pretty good at it.” He said.

“Sure. I’m y/-”

“I know who you are.’” He laughed, “I’m Lewis. Lewis Dapperton.”

“Okay, nice to meet you, Lewis.”

You had made three official friends.

You tried not to let Avery’s words bother you as the days passed. But it was hard. The study group had been a bit awkward but not all that bad, Lewis was actually a member much to your surprise. Nights became difficult again. The idea that maybe this was just a passing phase and that it was simply a few good days got to you. I mean people didn’t just change overnight.

But I did. You screamed at yourself. I swear I did.

It all came crashing into a dreadful climax two weeks after night it all started.

It had been two weeks of confusion that morphed to anger and soon into sadness and jealousy for Sirius Black. When he had seen you in the great hall the night after you had found out about the thirty points he had almost shit his pants. You were up? And you were smiling?! He was sure you were going to come over and rip his throat out at breakfast. But you didn’t You just sat at your isolated seat at the end of the Slytherin table and read, looking surprisingly relaxed.

You had left a bit early and Remus had dumped his pumpkin juice on him saying he was a complete objectifying asshole and part of the reason why women were not viewed equal to men. Leave it to the feminist to ruin a perfectly normal bet. He had made the mistake of saying that out loud and caused an uproar at the Gryffindor table.

He had seen you working in the few shared classes you had and had been quite surprised. How was it you were having a better day than him? He supposed karma bit harshly. When you saw you at lunch sitting with a young Gryffindor girl he had once again been completely boggled. And soon you were joined by a Ravenclaw as well. What universe was he in?

That night he had gotten into another heated argument with his best friends. One that ended in him sleeping in the common room, locked away from his bed.

He had dreamt of you. That night when you had stargazed. When you had kissed him. When you had told him you loved him. He dreamt of your lips on his, hands in his hair, the dew seeping through his robes and the chirp of crickets.

The next morning sucked. He sat alone during detention forced to watch as you happily hummed along to your music. Your hair was pulled back and it looked surprisingly nice. You were also wearing a skirt. When did you get so pretty? Remus talked to you and mentioned him. Sirius bit his tongue not wanting to cause a scene. Plus the glare James was giving him hurt on another level.

The week got worse and worse. Suddenly you had friends and had started hanging out with a far too handsome Slytherin. You also choose that week to look ridiculously gorgeous and suddenly his thoughts were full of you. He found himself missing your scent and the texture of your hair. The sound of your laughter was a drug he had been deprived of.

His dreams of you got worse. He dreamt that he had told you he loved you when you asked. He dreamed he hadn’t left you alone. He dreamed of laughing in detention with you, making out in broom closets, going to quidditch matches together, sleeping with you.

He woke each day more aggravated than the last. Why the fuck was he the one suffering? It wasn’t fair. Well, he supposed it was. Finally, he gathered his remailing pride and tossed it out a window before cornering you on the way back from herbology.

“Y/n please just give me a minute.” He begged as you began to walk away.

“Sirius I have wasted far too many of my minutes on you.” You spat glaring past the boy.

“Please.” He pleaded.

You sighed tapping your foot angrily, “You’ve got one minute.”

It was then Sirius realized he had absolutely no plan, “What’s up with you?”

“What?” You glowered refusing to meet his eye.

“I mean you’re all nice and shit and you’re actually hanging out with people. It’s weird.” He explained.

“So, me being nice is weird?” You clarified.

“Yeah! People don’t change overnight!” He rationalized.

“So I’ve been told.” You murmured, “Look if this is all just about me being nice then please save me time and leave me alone.”

Sirius groaned, “It’s not just that! How are you so, so I don’t know okay?”

You finally looked him in the eyes and he really wished you hadn’t. Your eyes were dark with anger, narrowed to slits, reminding him of a snake. “You wanna know why I’m so okay?” You asked and suddenly he didn’t. “Because I was really really not fucking okay.”

Sirius was visibly confused, “What?”

“I almost drowned myself that night Sirius.” You hissed.

His heart stopped. “What.”

“Yeah.” You snarled, “I walked straight off that dock, shoes and all, and I let myself sink halfway to the bottom before I decided I wanted to live.” You spoke gesturing towards the lake.

Sirius wanted the earth to swallow him whole. You wouldn’t have opposed.

“And when finally reached the shore I had an epiphany.” You spoke with false glamor. “I suddenly realized I wasn’t going to let cock suckers like you and my parents decided anything about me and the way I live my life.”

Sirius wanted to break into tears. He started at you. The face he had been dreaming of for weeks meer meters from him and suddenly realized how desperately in love with you he was.

“So guess what, I changed overnight because I would have died if I didn’t.” You spat before brushing past him without another word. Sirius grabbed your wrist as you passed.

You turned glaring at him.

“I think I’m in love with you.” He spoke his voice breaking halfway through the sentence.

“You know I can’t answer that.” You scoffed snatching your wrist from his hold and turning to leave.

Sirius watched as you left so full of regret he couldn’t think of anything but what-ifs. When you were out of sight he sat on the ground and began to cry.

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liliesoftherain · 4 years

Text

My Hero Academia Main 3 Boys x Reader

Ch. 18 Code Names

A/N: Guess who’s back... back again.. shady’s back.. tell a friend- But really! Hey guys! I bet none of y’all missed me, but I deeply missed you.

So this is a little rant so you can 100% skip this and read the story! Enjoy!

Anyways, I kinda stopped talking to everyone I met here on tumblr, and that makes me really sad. I mean, I have no one to blame but myself, but now that I’m in a better place, I hope things can go back to normal, so, @pocket-is-obsessed @pinky-the-elephant-room @sunnieskies02 , and everyone else, I’m sorry. I love y’all, and I miss y’all.

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If anyone wants to be added to the taglist, or if I missed you, please send an ask and I’ll add you!!

TAGLIST(ANY BOLD-I CANNOT TAG YOU FRO WHATEVER REASON): @rizamendoza808 !(: @iris-suoh !(: @quicksilverfangirl !(: @shortperson202 !(: @noodlenerd101 !(: @matchamidoriya !(: @thorsbtch-captainnoobmaster69me !(: @pastel-prynce !(: @sunkissedneptune @monetfatalia !(: @legit-fandom-trash !(: @lovethewitchofendor !(: @dekuxlink !(: @water-melone98 !(: @helena-way07 !(: @nothing17-7 !(: @hopelessdisasterr !(: @karmaboundlife !(: @lunamoonmint !(: @ihatemyselftoinfinityandbeyond !(: @beew !(: @kaylees1414 !(: @axerrri !(: @icythotsenpai !(: @iwantapoptartqwq !(: @acehyacinth !(: @sspidermanss !(: @httpswwwtbhkcom !(: @omgthatonenerd06 !(: @mochicheeks-world !(: @gvthic-gvrl !(: @jinxed-egg !(: @themagical1sa !(: @cherriomilkmangos !(: @1-800-schmacked !(: @human-watching-ads-from-devildom !(:

The following days were spent resting up, allowing your body to heal from the taxing day you endured; any cuts or bruises that had managed to slip pass Recovery Girl were now reduced to nothing but a memory. Monday came by, quicker than you hoped, and you were on the train headed towards the school grounds. You basked in the steady hum of the engine, watching the scenery fly by, until the area around you began to break out into murmurs.

“That’s Hakamata, isn’t it?”

“Best Jeanist’s daughter!”

“She won third place at the sports festival, it’s amazing!”

“Oh wow!”

“Hey, good job at the festival! I totally knew you were going to hit it big!”

“You were so close to winning!”

“Good luck!”

“Keep working!”

Exiting the train with a wave, you sigh in relief. While it left your heart fluttering with pride at the praises and recognition, it was still overwhelming to have so many people talking about you, to you, at once.

You arrived at the school gates, quickly rushing inside, shaking your umbrella off as you broke it down. You quickly grab what you need from your locker, placing your umbrella with the others before heading off to your classroom.

Pushing the door open, you smile at the conversations that were going on--everyone seemed to be in high spirits, and you missed the rambunctious energy of your friends.

“Hakamata!-” Denki was grinning and waving excitedly, turning to look at you as you sat down, “How was it coming to school this morning? I bet a lot of people noticed you! Isn’t it great how we’ve all been thrown into the spotlight after just a few days, huh?”

“I guess, it’s nothing much really. We should all be proud of how far we’ve gotten huh?”

“Of course! 1-A is awesome! Only 1-A kids took any of the top spots after all!”

Your attention is stolen as the door opens, catching the eyes of the boy who had been on your mind all weekend. Todoroki blinked at your stare, only for your eyes to be forced away as Kaminari demanded your attention on something. You struggle to focus, nodding along as you desperately try to make his words have meaning--since your thoughts drifted towards your last encounter.

“Aizawa-sensei, your bandages are gone!”

“Oh, I’m so happy!”

Your eyes snap to the front of the room, seeing your teacher--looking way better than he had previously. He looked as if nothing had ever happened, the only indication being the freshly made scar residing under his eye.

“Yes, they are. Thanks. However, more importantly, we’re having a special hero informatics class today…”

Silence hung in the air, each student desperately trying to figure out what could possibly be going on--a pop quiz, maybe?

“You all need code names.”

The class shouted in relief and excitement, only to have Aizawa glare at the noise. You all quieted down immediately, one menacing look from your teacher was all it took. Once settled, he explained further on the subject: how the code names worked, about the internships, and how these offers weren’t normally given to first years such as yourselves.

“Here, the offers…”

Aizawa clicked a remote, causing a holographic image to appear on the board, showing how many hero agencies put in offers for each student. The first three statistics were large, the rest of them dropping drastically from the thousands, to a few hundred and less.

You see your name as the second highest ranking, shocking you, beating the first-place festival winner by more than 50 whole offers.

“Normally the offers are more spread out, but this year all eyes were on these three.”

“Gah, there’s such a big difference!”

“Todoroki is first, Hakamata is second, and Bakugou is third…?”

“How is that, when Bakugou was the winner?”

“Seems the scores are the opposite of the sports festival rankings.”

“Guess some people may be too scared to ask a guy who had to be chained to his podium.”

“HAH!? What are the pros scared of!?” Bakugou whipped around, glaring at Sero for his comment.

Ignoring the loud outburst, you glance behind you at Todoroki, who looked as unbothered as ever at the fact he had the most offers. You give him a small smile as your eyes once again connect, just as they did right before the start of class, and he--surprisingly--returns the gesture.

“Despite these results, you’ll all be interning with pros. Offers or not.”

“So, we can all intern?”

“Yes. Seeing as you guys have had combat with real villains--thanks to the USJ incident. We believe it will be beneficial to see real pros up close, on the field, and to do that…”

“We need hero names!”

“Yes. They may be temporary, but take them seriously or--”

“THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER!”

Aizawa was cut off by the sudden shout, the door followed by slamming open, stealing everyone’s attention. He sighed as the risque pro hero Midnight sauntered inside, smirking at the attention that fell upon her.

“Midnight is going to have final approval over your names,” your teacher starts, pulling up his sleeping bag, “It’s not my forte--but just remember, the name you give yourself represents what kind of hero you want to be. It’s important.”

What kind of hero I want to be, huh?

You were handed a stack of white cardstocks, passing the remainders back as you grabbed one for yourself. It seemed like a normal, blank canvas, but you saw it as a gateway to your future as a hero. You remember all the times you tried on different hero names--mostly different variations of your fathers, even if now you cringed at the memories.

You knew your hero name was important and necessary, a name to prove to the world who you were and what you were capable of.

‘Your hero name is supposed to represent your desires-- to allow you to become your ideal self. What kind of hero do you want to prove yourself to be, or better yet, just--who are you?’

You take a deep breath, taking comfort in your father’s words as you write down your name…

“Now students, who is ready to share?”

You watch the students go up one-by-one; cringing slightly at the--extravagant--name Aoyama had chosen from himself, feeling bad for Mina as she was sent back to her desk to rethink, and giddy at the cute name Tsu had picked. The rest of the names went by alright until Todoroki had gone up to present his hero name.

“Shoto.”

“Oh,” Midnight blinked in surprise, “just your name?”

“Yeah.”

You frown slightly, Shoto hadn’t looked up, choosing to stare down at the podium with a blank expression instead. You watch as he trudged his way back to his desk, still no eye contact towards anyone as he sat down. Biting your lip, you try to shake the image from your mind. He had his reasons, and you didn’t have to know them.

“Jet Black Hero: Tsukuyomi!”

“Oh, God of the Night! I love it!”

You snap your attention back towards the front, giving a small clap to Tokoyami as he presents his name. He bows at the class before sitting down.

Mineta and Koda present their names, both very fitting and true to their image. You felt yourself grow the tad bit eager as Bakugou was the next one to present his name.

‘I wonder what it could be? He excels in just about everything, he must have a really cool hero name picked out-’

“KING EXPLOSION MURDER.”

The name wasn’t what got you, it was the serious look on his face as he said it that did. You slap a hand over your mouth, snickering as quietly as you could into your palm. You weren’t the only one holding back giggles, Eijiro, Sero, and Kaminari doing the same.

“Um, I’m going to have to say that one is too violent.”

“Hah!? Whaddya mean-”

“Why don’t you be Explosion Boy instead!” Eijiro suggests.

“Nah, he should be Grenades!” You chime in, a smirk on your face as you mimic his gauntlets.

“Or what about ‘BOOM PSH BAWHH’, you know, explosion noises!” Denki laughs.

“How would you even spell that-”

“SHUT UP ALL OF YOU, OR I’LL SHOW YOU WHY MURDER SHOULD BE IN MY NAME!” Bakugou interrupts, a scowl on his face as he yells at the three of you.

“Maybe your hero name should be ‘Anger Issues’, it’s fitting, dontcha think-”

You were cut off by a growl from Bakugou, his face morphing into pure anger as he points straight at you.

“BRING IT, GLOW WORM! I BET YOUR HERO NAME IS GOING TO BE CRAPPY.”

You say nothing in return, standing up and making your way towards the podium, giving him a teasing smile as you got close enough.

“Go sit down and maybe you’ll see.”

“Good idea, go sit down and rethink your name a bit, Bakugou.” Midnight agrees, clapping her hands to diffuse the tension.

He grumbles on the way back to his desk, and you just face the class with a sheepish grin.

“Well, here’s what I want to be--who I will be; Luminary!”

You picked a name like Luminary because you wanted to prove that you were more than just another person; you wanted to be the guiding light, leading people to justice, leading people to their hope. Maybe you weren’t there yet, you did have a long way to go before you could be considered a pro, but that doesn’t mean you weren’t going to try.

You’d be the light, shining in the darkness, for all others to see and follow.

“Oh how sweet, you’ll be a very inspiring hero, I’m sure!”

You shyly smile at the applauds, only for the demeanor to change, a smirk growing as you see Bakugou roll his eyes and look away.

Checkmate.

After a few more people presenting, Izuku shakily stands at the podium, taking a deep breath before showing his cardstock.

Blinking in surprise, you zone in on the singular word on the card, raising an eyebrow questioningly at the boy.

“Really Midoriya?”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Yeah man, remember that can be your name forever.”

“Right,” He looks down, “I used to hate it, but then something changed… I guess, someone taught me that it could have a different meaning, and that had a huge impact on how I felt about it. So now, I like it!”

You smile wide as he makes direct eye contact, giving him a nod of encouragement.

“Deku, that has to be my code name!”

-----

“Now that that’s all done, we can go back to talking about the upcoming internships. They are a week long, and as to who you’ll be interning with; if you were on the board, you will choose from one of the offers you were given, as for everyone else, you’ll be choosing from a different list.”

The lists were handed out as soon as the bell rang overhead, signaling the end of the first half of the day, and the beginning of lunch.

“I wanna fight crime and bad guys in a big city!” Kirishima grinned, eyes taking in every name on his sheet of paper.

“I just hope I can intern at a place where there’s a lot of water!” Tsu sighed.

“Turn in your choices before the weekend.”

“We’ve only got two days!?”

“Yeah, so you better figure it out. Dismissed for lunch.”

Aizawa shut the door as he and Midnight walked out, leaving the class to class among themselves.

You read down the list, sighing in defeat as you had multiple papers of agencies stapled together. You should feel grateful, and you do, but there were too many places to choose from! Plus, you were probably just going to end up interning with your dad--

You pause as you read a specific agency, blinking before rereading it to make sure you weren’t seeing things. You weren’t, because right there in bold lettering:

“Endeavor Hero Agency”

What could Endeavor possibly want you to intern with him for?

Taking a look around the room you see most of your classmates breaking off into groups--some heading for the mess hall, and others staying in their seats. You spot Todoroki as he walks out the door.

“Ne, (y/n), what agency are you thinking of-”

“Sorry Eijiro, I’ll talk to you later,” You smile apologetically, standing up to race after the boy--not feeling the few pairs of eyes on your body as you leave.

“Todoroki, wait up!”

He turns to you, confusion in his eyes but waits for you nonetheless. You stop in front of him, clutching onto the list you had brought with you.

“Yes?” His voice was vacant of emotion, and while it was normal, it made you feel nervous.

“Uh, sorry, I just have something to tell you.”

He tilts his head, an indicator for you to continue, and you take a deep breath before presenting him the paper. His eyes search the words, bewildered as he tries to understand what you were trying to show him. Pointing at the hero agency you knew he was familiar with, you see how his eyes widen ever so slightly.

“Endeavor made me an offer…”

“I see.”

“Well, I just wanted to say I won’t-”

“You should take it.”

Your brows furrow, taken aback by his statement.

“What?”

He hands you back your list, looking straight into your eyes with a small flame of determination.

“You should take it. It’s a great opportunity to be working with the number two hero.”

“I was going to go for my dad, who still is in the top five, you know.” You respond, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Oh,” Todoroki’s eyes widen once more, “sorry. I didn’t mean to say your father... he is a great hero. I just… I may hate my father, but I know working with the number two hero will provide some benefits. His agency is pretty good with things like rescue and evacuation, along with battle. It’s a good opportunity, something different than what you see every day at your father’s own agency. Isn’t it good to want to get a new perspective on things? To take these ideas you learn, and make them your own, I guess?”

You’re unsure of what to say, agreeing with the boy internally as his gaze falls towards the ground.

“I know I want to be a better hero than my old man. I want to be seen as someone not in his shadow, not ‘Endeavors son’. And if that means I have to put up with him for a week, so be it. I’ll learn to be better, I swear it.”

“Um,” You rub your arm shyly, “so that means you’ll be interning with him, then?”

Todoroki nods in response.

“Well, I suppose that means I’ll see you there. If, um, if you’re okay with that.”

“Yea, I am.”

You smile, and a spark of emotion floods through his eyes as he mirrors your expression, and it somehow makes you relax. He was completely right; he had said everything you had ever thought about yourself, how you wanted to prove that you were more than just a daughter of a great hero. That you were a great hero yourself.

With that in mind, you had no regrets as you turned in your list--even if it was Endeavors Agency.

You’d be ready.

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 4 years

Text

Diary of the Writing Raven

Part 3 of the 1000+ follower milestone! A continuation of Raven lore (check out part 1 and part 2 for more context)!

Today, we will peak into the raven’s diary. Shhh, don’t tell anyone. The bulk of the entries are hidden under the cut--because a bird has to keep their secrets under lock and key!

***Warning: Spoilers for the main story campaign, particularly chapter 3 and chapter 4!***

Day 1

I am here. At Night Raven College.

There is a strange man. He calls himself my Uncle. He says that he is so very, very kind...and that he will give me a nest, a place to call home.

Uncle has given me this diary with which to record my thoughts. I will put it to good use.

I am thankful.

Day 32:

Uncle says I cannot stay in the attic writing.

He says I cannot stay in my cage forever.

Uncle says I must go out into the world.

He says it often.

I am scared.

Day 45

Uncle has given me robes.

He smeared things on my face.

There will be a ceremony of sorts, and I must attend.

...I am still scared.

Day 46

The ceremony is over.

I got lost on the way to the Mirror Chamber.

A weirdo chased me.

But...a nice person helped. Then he guided me to the ceremony.

He had very pretty eyes.

His name is Mon-sure Schemer? Mister Jade Leech. I hope I can see him again.

Day 49

I am so fortunate! I have stumbled upon Mister Jade again--this time in the hallway.

There was another Mister Jade with him. His name is actually Mister Floyd. They are brothers--twins, in fact! Eel mermen, too.

They look alike, but their personalities are quite different. It is a curious thing.

Mister Floyd is a little scary. He talks funny, and he is moody--but he promises he does not bite. He has taken to calling me “Black Pearly”.

They say they work at this “Mostro Lounge”, and that I should visit.

I am excited!

P.S. Mister Jade says I do not need to call them misters. I will be doing that!

Day 50

The Mostro Lounge is lovely! It has these glowing jellyfish lights, and seashell decorations. There is cool jazz, and a calming underwater ambiance.

Jade seats me and gives me recommendations. I don’t know what a lot of things on the menu are--Uncle has been feeding me mostly grain and small scraps of meat, trying to get me accustomed to human food.

Jade brings me a thing called Flounder’s Blue. He says it will be easier to hold down than solid food.

Flounder’s Blue comes in a short and stout glass. The liquid itself is actually yellow, with streaks of a blue drip swiped on the inside of the glass, and a blue...circle (?) stuck in, protruding out like a fin.

It tastes...sugary. I do not yet have the words in my vocabulary to properly describe it.

Jade tells me the circle is a “wafer”, the blue is a “syrup”, and the liquid is a “pineapple and cherry juice”.

I am learning many new things today.

Jade is so smart!

Day 54

I almost flopped at giving a presentation to Professor Trein’s class.

Floyd says it’s because I talk strangely, that I stutter and pause too much.

“Why can the Black Pearly write so much, but talk so little?” he asks. “You should tell Jade to tutor you, he’s pretty good with words!”

I have to agree with him. Jade taught me many new words in the Mostro Lounge before. I was embarrassed, but I asked him for help.

He was happy to oblige.

We will meet a few times each week to work on my speaking skills.

Day 59

I tripped and fell in P.E.--I am still no good at running.

Jade was sweet and helped patch me up.

I cried a little.

Okay, a lot.

He stayed with me until I stopped.

Day 71

I have gotten into the habit of visiting the Mostro Lounge every weekend.

The owner, Azul, is friends with the twins. He lets me sit at a table in the corner to do my work and practice speaking.

Jade sits with me and exchanges words.

He has me read stories I have penned aloud.

Sometimes he puts a plate of snacks or a drink in front of me and asks me to taste them, then describe the flavor to him. Other times, he points to people or things in the lounge and asks me to give my thoughts.

Once, he pointed at himself. I told him that he was very patient, that he was someone I trusted.

“Fufu. That is good to hear,” he says.

I also told him that his smile was beautiful.

Day 75

Today, I saw Jade’s true form.

We were swimming today in P.E., but I had to sit out. Ravens cannot swim.

Floyd and Jade were eager to get into the water. Their skin turns blue, and they sprout fins and long eel tails.

...I am not entirely certain why they lack clothing though? It must not be customary for merfolk.

They are having fun in the water.

I am glad.

Day 83

An angry Savanaclaw student came to me in the hallway after Alchemy.

He started to say something about the Leeches and deals, but Floyd told him to stop bothering me. In that moment...Floyd looked like a monster, all teeth and sharp edges.

Jade pulled me away and invited me to go hiking with him.

It sounds fun, but I am concerned about the Savanaclaw student.

Jade says to not fret.

So I listen.

Day 84

There is so much to see in the mountains!

Trees! Streams of water! Rocks! Dirt! Animals! Plants! The sky!

I want to experience everything at once. I am so excitable that I trip over my own two feet a few times--but it’s okay. Jade is always there to help me up.

His favorite thing about nature is mushrooms. He tells me all about them, and the places they like to hide.

I like listening to him talk. His voice is so deep and melodious--and his eyes sparkle when he is excited.

It’s very cute.

Day 86

Jade shows me the mushrooms he is cultivating, and his terrariums.

They are fascinating--each mushroom has its own personality, and each terrarium is like a miniature world.

A thought has wormed its way into my head as of late:

I wonder what it would be like to be a part of his world.

Day 90

It rained.

I shared an umbrella with Jade.

It was a little strange to be squished right next to him.

My heart would not stop pounding, and my cheeks were on fire.

Day 112

The days are growing colder, and shorter.

I wish that time did not fly so fast.

I want to spend more of it with Jade.

I need to return the jacket he lent me.

Day 120

Uncle is worried.

He says I spend too much time with “morally dubious” people.

He questions my ability to judge character.

He does not believe me when I tell him that Jade is a good person.

Uncle warns me to be careful.

I am being careful.

Day 132

Winter has set in.

Jade is kind enough to provide blankets and warm beverages for our study sessions.

At this point, I do not have many issues speaking, but...I do not want to stop. I want to learn more and more. I want to learn more about him.

I enjoy being by his side.

I hope he feels the same.

Day 139

We said our good-byes for the holiday break.

Uncle is taking me with him to a tropical island, and Jade is staying in Octavinelle.

I tell him I will miss him, even if it is just for a few weeks. He looks a bit sad, but he sends me off with a head pat and a smile.

Uncle offers to order me a tropical drink as we board the cruise ship. He tells me not to think of Leeches--those vile, blood-suckers, he calls them.

I say no thank you, but I dream of Flounder’s Blue.

Day 153

The new year has come.

It feels nice to be back on campus, to see Jade again.

We exchanged stories.

Not much happened on my end--I mostly sat indoors and wrote what I could to pass the time. Uncle was often up late into the night, partying and sipping on pina coladas.

Jade says that he helped a few friends and stopped a snake from tearing apart Scarabia. He even shows me a video.

How heroic of him!

I know that I can always count on Jade.

Day 166

I went shopping with Jade.

Floyd was in one of his infamous moods, and Azul is busy with school work--and Jade could not possibly restock ingredients for the Mostro Lounge all by himself.

It was quite busy in town--it made me nervous. I’ve never done well in big crowds of strangers.

Jade said I could hold his hand, if that made me feel any better.

It did.

And it reminded me of the day we first met.

Day 170

I’m still thinking about holding his hand.

Whenever I do, my heart quickens and my forehead begins to bead with sweat.

What is wrong with me?

Have I fallen ill?

Day 185

The students speak excitedly about this holiday known as “Valentime’s Day.” It is a time when you give gifts to the people you care for a lot. A common one is a sweet known as chocolate.

Jade laughed when I told him about it. He said it is actually “Valentine’s Day”, not “Valentime’s Day”. Silly me!

I asked him how many valentines he was expecting.

“None. Oh, woe is me. I appear to be rather unpopular among my peers, fufu.”

How could someone as amazing as him not get any valentines? It boggles my mind.

Day 186

I’ve decided.

I will give him a valentine.

Day 193

I’ve stopped writing stories and devoted most of my free time to researching recipes and designing chocolates.

I think he will like little mushroom-shaped ones. I’ll need to test the flavors out to see what works the best.

I hope the chocolates will bring a smile to his face.

I like his smiles.

Day 195

Oh no, diary.

I’ve realized.

I think I like him.

Day 197

The chocolates came out so well!

I’ve wrapped them up in a box and secured it with blue ribbon. There is an old nursery rhyme...

If you love me, love me true,

Send me a ribbon, a ribbon of blue.

Even if I cannot say those accursed three words...I hope that my feelings are able to come across. The curse cannot punish me for that, yes?

Day 198

I was a fool. I have been tricked. I was being used.

I heard them. I heard everything.

In the Mostro Lounge today...the octopus was speaking to them, the twins with the pretty eyes.

“This is not like you. You are working too slow,” the octopus said to the man I considered my friend.

“I apologize. She was...putting up much resistance. It can be rather difficult to form a connection with such a jittery bird.”

“That is your job,” the octopus sighed. “We need the raven on our side when we approach the headmaster about expanding the Mostro Lounge.”

I understand now--I understand it very well.

Those smiles, that kindness--they were smoke and mirrors.

To begin with, I was always destined to be a prop in someone else’s story. A convenience. Something to be used, then discarded once I am no longer useful.

I have overstepped my boundaries as a storyteller. I...should have remained on the sidelines, where I belong.

I...I know what I must do. I will not allow myself to be tricked a third time. Not by that old storyteller, and not by a slimy eel.

I will steel myself. I will build a wall—and none shall scale it. I will lock myself in a tower, or perhaps even a bird cage, and throw away the key.

To the man with the pretty eyes and the charming smile, farewell.

I’m glad that this raven was, at the very least, able to be a useful footnote in the pages of your story.

Day 201

He feeds me pretty lies and sweet nothings, day in and day out.

He tells me everything I want to hear--that it is a misunderstanding, a mistake. That things are different now. That he cares.

Uncle was right. Leeches are vile blood suckers.

Day 210

I reject his advances every chance I get.

I know they are all with ill intent to begin with.

Even so...no matter what I say or do, he always manages to get the upper hand in the conversation, the interaction.

I hate him.

I hate Jade Leech.

I hate how he is able to take my words away and render me speechless. Words are my only strength, my power as a storyteller. Without them, I am vulnerable.

I don’t want to be the same weak and naive little bird I once was.

Day 213

It is unfair.

Maybe I am too kind, or too weak, or too gullible, but...I want to believe him.

I must put such thoughts behind me and move on.

Day 226

Uncle tells me that someone has sent a letter and a small package.

Into the trash the package goes--right where it belongs.

But the letter--that, I cannot bring myself to throw away.

It bears his handwriting, the very same gentle curves and slopes that taught me new words and phrases many an evening.

It is silly of me to be this sentimental--and over an eel, of all creatures!

So I stow the letter, unopened, in a drawer. It will remain there as a permanent reminder of my follies.

It is better this way.

I cannot be hurt.

I will not be used.

The curse will not kill me.

I can write stories, forever and ever.

This is...for the best. Isn’t it?

#Jade Leech #Floyd Leech #Azul Ashengrotto #Dire Crowley #twst #twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #spoilers #angst #STOP READING MY DIARY #Tale of the Cursed Raven #twst oc #twisted wonderland oc #Raven Crowley

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storysims · 4 years

Photo

NIFTY KNITTING - GAMEPLAY OVERVIEW 🧶

Gameplay was what I was most excited for with this pack. As an irl crafter + crocheter, this is the dream! ✨ (Still would like a hobby pack though, EA).

I ended up going a lot more in-depth than I thought I would, so obvious “spoilers” under the cut.

I was provided with an early access copy of Nifty Knitting to review via the EA Game Changers program!

Getting started with the knitting skill is as easy as plopping a bag or basket of yarn into your sim’s inventory and picking something to create! At level one, you’ve got the choice between nine different beanie variations for all ages.

I noticed my sims had a tendency to gravitate towards rocking chairs for knitting, unless directed to sit elsewhere. You can pick their knitting spot by clicking on any sittable surface and telling them to knit in the pie menu.

Unfortunately, the bag or basket has to be in your sim’s inventory to do any sort of knitting. In my opinion, this sort of defeats the purpose of having yarn sitting around the home. It’s honestly a shame, since my apartment is covered in random bags of yarn and half finished projects. It doesn’t stop you from placing them for decoration, but it does make for some useless spending for sims on a budget. And honestly, what was the point of voting on what this looked like if we’re never going to see it outside of inventory?

Additionally, each sim will need their own basket of yarn in their inventory if multiple members of the household want to knit.

As your knitter progresses through the skill, more things will become available.

level one - beanies

level two - socks

level three - mailbox cozys, hanging plants

level four - rugs

level five - sweaters, the ‘teach to knit’ interaction

level six - poufs

level seven - decorations (cacti, turtle, octopus, penguin, llama)

level eight - toddler and baby onesies

level nine - sweaters with scarves

level ten - child toys (bear, grim reaper), mentoring sims in knitting

completed aspiration - yarny toy, yarny sculpture, ‘sacred knitting knowledge’ trait, bonus when teaching other sims, ability to dispel the sweater curse

I was honestly pretty disappointed that onesies require such a high skill level. I’ve really been looking forward to decking out all the babies in my 100 Baby Challenge in cute new clothes. Like I mentioned in my CAS review, I don’t foresee Day having the time to devote to knitting in the forseeable future, much less getting to level eight.

Thankfully, items are available to buy on Plopsy!

According to the gurus, Plopsy can also be used on the computer - but I never even thought to try it. I was honestly surprised that it was fully functional on the phone, both for buying and selling items.

Buying something on Plopsy is just like anything else in the game - funds are immediately deducted and the item can be found in your inventory. When purchasing clothes, you’ll need to select the item once it arrives in your inventory and hit ‘add to wardrobe’ in order for it to appear in CAS.

I specifically tested purchasing baby onesies, and it seems like a mod I have prevents them from actually being applied to the baby. I have no idea which one, but I tested two onesies purchased from Plopsy in a CC free game and had no issues.

Failed item variations cannot be purchased on Plopsy - your sims will have to make those all on their own!

Selling items on Plopsy is probably my favorite part of this pack, and has the potential to be a huge money maker! Most things your sim can craft with a quality value assigned to it will have the option to be listed online from the sim’s inventory. I was able to list paintings, woodworking sculptures, herbal brews, photographs, flower arrangements, potions, candles, and knitted items for sale!

One of my test sims knitted a sweater dress and the cost of yarn was deducted automatically from her household funds - §50. She listed the dress on Plopsy, and within 24 hours she had an offer of §747. 💰

After knitting and selling duplicates of several items, it definitely seems like the cost varies a bit depending on the buyer. But I was always able to sell at a profit.

Believe it or not, there are dangers to knitting! This pack doesn’t come with a new death, but instead a curse. In my opinion, this is a super fun change and I’m so glad for something different.

There’s a chance that when giving a significant other a knitted sweater, both sims will become cursed!

Oh no, you’re cursed! They say couples with the Sweater Curse are destined to break up, so be very, very careful. Maybe don’t try anything romantic for awhile, because it will not go well. The threads of fate can be cruel.

So naturally, I cursed Bob and Eliza and then spammed the hell out of romantic interactions. They were all rejected. Their relationship plummeted in the span of a few sim hours. I didn’t stick around to see if they would organically break up on their own, but it wasn’t looking good.

It’s worth noting that I was never able to get this to work while they were married, but the second I demoted them to dating they got hit with this nasty seven day long moodlet. So if you plan on gifting sweaters to significant others, it’s definitely worth completing the aspiration.

As fun as the failed knitting items and the forbidden sweater look in CAS, there are consequences to wearing them in game!

The moment a sim puts them on, they’ll receive a negative moodlet:

Itchy Knits (From Clothing Item) It’s as if a thousand tiny insects are nibbling the flesh!

I’m a little disappointed that these aren’t feasibly wearable in game, but I’m sure someone will fix it with custom content. It does add another unique repercussion to knitting, though!

On a more wholesome note, the ‘teach to knit’ interaction is absolutely adorable. 🥰 Knox sat down with Bee, his daughter with my simself, and got her skill all the way to level four!

Children can knit on their own without being taught, just like adults. But I have very fond memories of my grandma teaching me to crochet as a kid, so this was an interaction I was SUPER excited to see in the game.

I still feel like this is a small pack as far as physical content goes, but the gameplay is pretty fun. Plopsy is an amazing feature, and I definitely see myself using it often! Both with buying and selling, I really feel like it adds another layer to the game and gives more self employment opportunities for sims that don’t want a traditional career.

There’s a bit of gameplay I feel like I didn’t get the chance to fully explore yet, but I’m looking forward to integrating it all into my game.

My initial reaction to playing this pack was disappointment, but I honestly think my expectations were too high. This is a stuff pack, it’s bound to be small. After a few days to sit and play around with it, the gameplay specifically grew on me. I still have a lot of mixed feelings - some things I really like and some things I’m just not crazy about at all (cough cough, buy mode. why did everyone vote in crazy pastels? it matches NOTHING).

But with tempered expectations in mind, I would ultimately recommend this pack for the gameplay elements alone - especially to crafters. As always, different people enjoy different things. If this style of gameplay isn’t your cup of tea, pass it up or wait for a sale!

#the sims 4 #ts4 #ts4 nifty knitting #eagamechangers #review

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traincat · 4 years

Note

Hi traincat! Hope you're doing well. I figured since you have an extensive knowledge on all things Spider-Man, you would know your way around his rogues! I wanted to ask if you have a favorite or one that you find most compelling and why. Thanks a million!

I think my answers for which rogues are my favorites and which I find most compelling and which are widely viewed as the best and why are all pretty wildly different. I do think the popular assessment that Spider-Man has one of the best rogues galleries in Marvel canon is true. Like, I think the absolute best Spider-Main villain story -- the one that gives you the best sense of the villain as a character and also the one that works best at uniting villain and is Kraven’s Last Hunt, which is just incredible on every level. (Content warning for suicide.)

(Web of Spider-Man #32) Also, like, in terms of design, Kraven is great. Love a big Russian game hunter perpetually bare chested and wearing leopard print cropped leggings. That’s not something you get sick of. Only Kraven Sr. for me, though -- I’m less fond of his son, although I think the whole family affairs in Grim Hunt and Scarlet Spider v2 are pretty fun.

On the other hand, though, I think that some of the biggest villains in Spider-Man’s gallery, namely Norman Osborn and Doc Ock, are overused, although I know why they’re overused and it’s because they’re really good villains. (But also you can only make people pay for the same story so many times with only minor variations before it starts to get old.) I think Norman and Peter are pretty perfect opposites, whereas Otto and Peter are mirror images -- although I think generally Norman stories pull off that opposite nature better than Otto stories reveal him as a mirrored image of Peter.

I think it’s interesting that Otto is kind of the first “big” villain Peter encounters -- he makes his debut in ASM #3, so there are villains that come before him, but they’re like, the Vulture and the Chameleon. And there are great Vulture stories -- love that flying octogenarian -- but like, I would not put the Vulture in the absolute top tier Spider-Man villains. And the Chameleon is a freak.

Same, girl. (Web of Spider-Man #65)

More villain talk beneath the cut.

By comparison, Otto is the first villain to actually serve Peter a real defeat, the first one to humble him. So I think it’s interesting that they come from very similar backgrounds -- both geniuses, both lonely as children, both people who were in danger of becoming very solitary, isolated adults, which Otto did and which Peter did not. They had a mother figure who verged on at times or was actually smothering in her affections, and a salt of the earth type father figure. And Otto gains his powers after suffering an accident with radiation much the same way Peter does. It’s one of the things that disappoints me about Superior Spider-Man, because I don’t think it plays into the idea of Otto and Peter as mirrored images of each other nearly as much as it could have. Even Otto’s Parker Industries originally showed up in a “bad” version of Peter’s life, where he never got bit by the spider and instead becomes a CEO:

(Sensational Spider-Man #41) “You prove yourself to everyone -- except yourself.” Which is what Otto is continually trying to do, and which is what he always falls short of. So it’s interesting that there’s kind of all this set up here and that the actual comics sort of continually fall short of it.

Green Goblin stories live up to their rep a little better, in my opinion, and they’re better at playing into those parallels. Norman and Peter are both self-made men, but Norman is rich and Peter is not. Peter accepts responsibility and fault; Norman does not. Norman’s life is devoid of women, while Peter’s is full of it. If Norman and Peter are both studies in masculinity, then Norman’s is toxic and Peter’s is not. Peter is capable of growth; Norman is entrenched in this role he’s made for himself -- he is not capable of sustained growth beyond the role he’s made for himself. There’s a reason I think Norman gets used so much and it’s because it’s a heady dynamic to kind of play into -- especially when you go with the relatively more recent angle of things where Norman kind of views Peter as the perfect heir, worthy where Harry is not. Honestly, it’s a good time whenever you’re involving Harry in the mix at all, as someone caught between these two very powerful figures and how the tug-of-war there for ownership of him is just completely soul destroying.

(Spectacular Spider-Man #180)

But I do think Norman is overused, and it’s gotten a point where in Amazing Spider-Man #800 it was like -- oh, what, he’s going to kill Flash? He’s going to kill someone else Peter loves? He’s killed like half the main-main cast at this point. He’s behind the murder of Peter and Mary Jane’s baby, he’s responsible for Ben Reilly’s death, he killed Gwen Stacy, Harry’s death goes directly back to him, he’s kidnapped May and Mary Jane and Flash and blah blah blah it’s JUST TOO MUCH. It can’t always be this one guy! You can’t just bring him back every 50 issues like “this time Norman Osborn’s gone too far” when he went too far in the ‘70s. Everything since then has just been trying to recapture the moment he threw Gwen Stacy off the bridge. It’s exhausting. I’m begging Spider-Man, as it starts hyping up yet another Norman story for ASM #850, to do something new.

In comparison to Norman, I think Harry’s run as the Green Goblin is fairly flawlessly executed as far as villain stories go, especially in its final hour. Spectacular Spider-Man #200 is really one of my favorite single issues of all time. Harry has the pathos that Norman really never does -- you can feel for Harry in a way that you can’t feel for Norman. And it’s because Harry loves Peter -- really, truly loves him -- that his acts of villainy take on that special edge of cruelty. It doesn’t just hurt Peter that these things are being done; it hurts Peter that these are being done and that it’s Harry doing them and that, in a lot of ways, they both blame Peter for why Harry is doing them, even if at the end of the day it’s in no way Peter’s fault. And then there’s the utterly perfect moment as Harry dies in Spectacular Spider-Man #200, that his act of triumph is that he can’t bring himself to kill Peter, because he loves him too much. It’s perfect. I live in fear they’re going to make Harry a villain again and try to replicate it only to fall painfully short.

I think the Jackal is actually underutilized because he is in my honest opinion the scariest Spider-Man villain, or at the very least the creepiest. Where Norman can only dream of remaking Spider-Man in his own image, the Jackal actually does that with Ben Reilly -- and, to a lesser extent, with Kaine, his first damaged clone. He’s a good lurker, too, less show-y than either Otto or Norman. He lurked in the background for a while. And in a series where I think you can pick a lot of the villains apart as men who take advantage of their power, having the Jackal be a college professor whose villainous career stems from his obsession with one of his students fits right in. And he’s just creepy. He’s upsetting! The things he does to the clones -- both the Peter and Gwen clones, although I think the comics are not so great at letting the Gwen clones shine as individual characters, which is something I wish someone would actually do something about -- are very upsetting, especially since you can extrapolate from a lot of Kaine’s stories and the things we know bother him and how he’s consistently paralleled against Janine Godbe, that both Kaine and the Gwen clones were sexually abused by the Jackal. (Spider-Man’s not typically shy about examining darker subjects, and while we can only extrapolate from canon with Kaine, it’s extremely there on the surface with the Gwen clones. I mean, he married one.) And honestly, the villain who’s whole schtick is cloning makes more sense as someone who can repeatedly come back from anything than Norman’s deal of Corrupt Businessman Surprisingly Hard To Kill. I’ve said before that Peter appears to have a bit of a loophole in his personal moral code when it comes to violence that either has no consequences or lessened consequences, like when he cuts loose against Wolverine, someone who has a healing factor, or when he buried the Juggernaut, supposedly indestructible, in concrete. The Jackal as someone who could and has clone himself repeatedly opens up similar doorways -- what’s to stop Peter from cutting loose if the Jackal isn’t confined to this one body? There’s a lot to play with there and a lot more interesting spaces to go than, say, having to invent increasingly poor excuses for why Peter hasn’t taken more permanent action with Norman if Norman is always going to return to do harm to someone beloved to Peter.

Finally, I’m in a weird spot with personal favorite villains because honestly my instinct is to say the Lizard. And that’s an issue because of one fairly recent storyline and everything that’s spun out from it: Shed (Amazing Spider-Man #630-633), the storyline where Curt Connors loses all control over the Lizard, kills, and partially devours his son Billy. Like, I LIKE grim dark Spider-Man comics, and Shed is honestly too much for me -- not because of the Lizard’s actions, but because in the story Peter fails to save Billy. And I say not because of the Lizard’s actions because I think, as fun as a giant lizard man in purple pants and a lab coat can be, I think Curt Connors makes for one hell of a supervillain metaphor for domestic violence.

(ASM #365)

(Spectacular Spider-Man v2 #13) And it’s very compelling. There’s a lot of things to explore down that alley. But once you actually go as far as having the Lizard kill his son, you can’t take that back. And the problem is, that’s what Spider-Man comics have tried to do post-Shed. It feels weird and deeply out of character to have writers assume that Peter could forgive the murder of any child, let alone a child he knew, and have him continue his relationship with Curt Connors. It’s a weird message to go “yeah, he ate his kid, but he wasn’t in control, and he made up for it via cloning, so we’re all good now.” Like imagine trying to spin that in any horror movie. It doesn’t work -- that your villain kills his kid and then clones him and pretends everything is okay now would be the plot of the horror movie. Spider-Man is a series fundamentally built on the fact that actions have consequences, and sometimes those consequences are utterly unfixable. Peter can’t go back and intercept the burglar to prevent Uncle Ben’s death. He can’t clone Uncle Ben and wipe that incident out of history. So to have a story like Shed in continuity as something that doesn’t alter Peter’s perception of Curt Connors forever doesn’t work.

Anyway that’s why my favorite villain is the Shocker. Love that quilted bastard.

#traincat talks comics #*replies #long post/

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dlwritings · 4 years

Text

Firecracker Soul | Dean Winchester

Chapter 23 - Lucifer

pairing - mob!Dean x teacher!ofc

word count - 5,625

warnings - language

additional notes at the end

(previous)

The next week, it was time for Sam and Jess' law firm opening. Everyone decided to meet up at Sam and Jess' so they could all get ready together. By all, it was mostly just Alice, Jess, and Hannah. The men didn't need nearly as much time to prep. For the girls, it was just an excuse to get dolled up together, which they thought would be fun. In the end, it was a definite blessing. Alice couldn't get a handle on her hair, Hannah couldn't decide on a lipstick shade, and Jess was still torn between two dresses.

Dean had to knock on the bedroom door three times before they were finally ready to go. When they stepped out, each man's jaw dropped respectively as their significant others came into view. "Well, ladies," Dean said, clapping his hands and rubbing them together. "You all look amazing." They said their respective thank yous, and Dean wrapped his arms around Alice's waist. "You sweetheart," he said, nuzzling his nose against hers, "look absolutely flawless."

"Yeah?" she whispered, the apples of her cheeks turning pink. "You think?"

"Oh, I know," he said. "Gonna have a hard time keeping my hands off you tonight."

"Come on, love birds," Sam said with a chuckle. "We can't be late."

They got to the venue, and it was gorgeous. There were caterers carrying around fancy trays, simple but elegant decorations, and a DJ playing music in the corner. "Jess," Alice said with a head shake of disbelief, "this is all amazing."

"I mean, I didn't actually do all of this," she said.

"Don't be modest, baby," Sam said, kissing her temple. "Even if you didn't execute it, you still planned it." Jess smiled and tilted her head up to give him a kiss.

They all socialized around the party, and Dean never left Alice's side. He kept his arm around her waist and pressed kisses to her cheek whenever he could find an excuse to. "You're quite flirty tonight," Alice teased at one point as they made their way to the bar.

"I told you," Dean said. "I knew I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off you."

"Well, loverboy," she said, patting his chest, "I think it's about time for you to give your introductory speech." Dean chuckled and kissed her cheek.

"Don't move a muscle," he said.

He walked over to the stage that had been set up and grabbed the microphone. "Hey, hey, can I get everyone to settle down for a minute?" he said with a smile. When the crowd was quiet, he said, "I have the honor of introducing the new owners of Winchester and Moore Law, my brother, Sam, and his wife, Jess. Now, I've known this couple since they met at Harvard, and I have never met two nerds-" This made the audience chuckle. "-more deserving of owning their own firm than these two. So, without further adieu, here are Sam and Jessica Winchester."

The audience applauded as Sam and Jess came onto the stage. "Thank you all for coming," Sam said. "This plan has been in the works for-"

"Well hi there."

Sam was still talking, but someone had approached Alice. She turned around and saw a man she had never met before. He was of average height and he had dirty blonde hair and light scruff on his cheeks. He seemed older -mid 50s at the most- but was handsome. He was dressed in a dark blue suit with a slightly lighter blue button down underneath.

"Hi," she said, giving him an awkward smile. He asked the bartender for a bourbon soda and leaned against the bar. He smiled at her again.

"You must be Alice," he said. "Dean's new girl, right?"

"Yeah," she said. Something about him was making her nervous. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and looked around, hoping Dean or Cas or Hannah or anyone was somewhere nearby, but everyone seemed distracted by Sam and Jess' speech..

"You're even prettier than they say," he said, taking the drink the bartender handed him.

"Thank you," she whispered. He reached up and stroked her cheek with the back of his hand, and she flinched.

"You seem nervous," he said, cocking his head to the side and grabbing her chin to make her look at him. "Do I make you nervous?" She swallowed thickly.

"I should go find Dean," she said.

"You know, I've been looking for the guy myself," he said. "Why don't we go find him together?"

She opened her mouth to say something back, but Cas soon appeared behind the guy. He noticed her look over his shoulder, so he turned. His smirk widened when he saw Cas. "Castiel," he said, clapping him on the shoulder. Cas brushed his hand away.

"You should not be here," Cas said. "How'd you get in?"

"I have my ways," he said.

"You need to leave," Cas said.

"So Crowley can come to your parties, but I can't?" he asked.

Alice jumped when she felt a hand on her back, and she looked and saw Dean. She relaxed instantly and moved closer to him. "Lucifer," Dean said. The name made Alice's stomach drop.

Lucifer looked at Dean and grinned. "Well hey there, Dean," he said. "I was just getting to know your little girlfriend here. She sure is a cute young thing, isn't she?" Dean's grip on her waist tightened, and she felt a lump rising in her throat. She was scared, there was no denying.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Dean asked him.

"I just wanted to socialize," Lucifer said, holding his hand up defensively before sipping his drink. "I heard you were having a party. I wanted to give my congratulations to Sammy."

"I'll pass on the message," Dean said. "Now get the hell out of here."

Lucifer downed the rest of his drink and smiled. "No worries," he said. "I've seen what I needed to see." Alice wasn't oblivious to the quick glance Lucifer sent her way. Dean clenched his jaw, and she felt his fingers twitch around her waist. Lucifer sent the men a wave and made his way out of the venue.

As soon as Lucifer was gone, Dean turned to look at Alice and put his hands on her cheeks. "Are you okay?" he asked her, his eyes darting across her face. "Did he hurt you? Did he touch you? What did he say to you?"

"I'm fine," she said, upset at the slight shake in her voice. "He, he just touched my cheek and told me I was pretty." Dean glanced up at Cas before looking at her again and placing a kiss to the top of her head.

"I'm sorry I left," he said. "I shouldn't have left you alone."

"I'm okay," she said. "Really. It's okay." Dean gave her a soft smile and nodded, then looked at Cas.

"Go make sure that's taken care of," he said. Cas nodded, and Dean looked back at her, brushing a piece of her hair behind her ear. "Do you want to head home?"

"No," she said. "We have to be here for Sam."

"I'd rather be home with you," he said without missing a beat. She laughed and placed a kiss to his cheek.

"Later," she said. "Right now, we need to support your family."

Dean sighed playfully. "Fine. But I'm not leaving your side again."

"Fine by me," she said.

The rest of the event, while super successful on the surface, was boring for Alice and Dean. They forced themselves to talk with everyone, but neither of them really wanted to be there. And it wasn't necessarily because they wanted alone time back at Dean's. It was just that neither of them found obligatory socializing very entertaining.

And things only got worse when Jo came over. "Hey you guys," she said, laying her hand on Dean's arm. He moved out of her touch. "Isn't this event just super special?"

"It's great," Dean said dismissively.

"You look really nice, Jo," Alice said, attempting to diffuse any tension before it even started. Jo eyed Alice up and down before giving her a smile.

"Thanks," she said. "Is this your first event with Dean?"

"Mhm," Alice hummed.

"Yeah," Jo said before Alice could even finish the sound, "I can kind of tell."

"Oh?"

"Jo-"

"Well, Dean likes a more scandalous dress," she said, putting her hand on his arm again. He moved once more. "But I guess you wouldn't know that yet."

"Jo, I swear-"

"Hey guys."

Alice bit back a groan as Amara joined the group. The last thing she needed was for this to turn into a showcase of all of Dean's ex-girlfriends. Amara gently touched Jo's shoulder. "Your mom was looking for you," she said. "Something about Ash refusing to get cut off." Jo rolled her eyes and all but huffed before turning on her heel and walking away. When it was just Amara, Dean, and Alice left, Amara gave the pair a smile.

"Thanks," Dean said to her.

"No problem," she said. She looked at Alice. "She did the same thing to me when I was with Dean. Don't let her get to you." Alice furrowed her eyebrows, a little shocked, but thanked Amara. Before she walked away, she gave her one more smile. "Your dress is gorgeous."

"Thanks," Alice said again. Amara nodded, waved at the couple, and left them alone. Alice and Dean were both quiet as they watched Amara walk away. Dean opened his mouth to say something, but Alice cut him off. "Pizza," she said. "I want pizza." Dean looked at her, amused.

"Really?" he said.

"Yeah," she said. "Can we go get a pizza?"

He chuckled. "Sure. Let's just say goodbye to Sam and Jess." Alice nodded in agreement. They said their goodbyes quickly and headed out to the Impala. As soon as both of their doors were shut, Dean turned to Alice. "I'm sorry about Jo," he said. "I don't know how to talk to her when she gets like that."

"That's not what I'm thinking about," she said. Dean tilted his head in confusion. "I guess I didn't expect Amara to come to my rescue."

After Jo's initial comments when Alice first met everyone, Dean had given a brief rundown of his short relationships with Jo, Bela, Anna, and Amara. Each relationship was better classified as a long-term-booty-call, except Amara. Dean's words on that relationship hadn't been very much in favor of Amara. He didn't exactly call her crazy, but he described her as a little obsessive and way more into him than he was into her.

"Amara and I had our issues," Dean explained, "but she kind of calmed down once we broke up. Her brother used to be one of my soldiers too, but he ended up being a dick and kind of fucked us over, and even after we killed him, Amara stuck around. She's loyal. I wouldn't call her my friend, but she's not like Jo. She moved on after everything. Found herself. Took a trip to Reno. Came back a more sane woman." Alice laughed, and Dean smiled and kissed her cheek. "Let's get some pizza."

When they pulled up to the pizza place, they shared a laugh at how they'd look walking into some hole-in-the-wall pizza joint dressed in their fanciest garb. They got some peculiar looks from the employees, but if anything, it just made them laugh harder.

When they got back to Dean's apartment, Alice went to change into something more comfortable. Before she could close the door to the bathroom, Dean followed her in. She furrowed her eyebrows at him in the mirror as he pulled out his phone. He stood behind her and kissed her cheek as he aimed his camera at their reflection. She giggled and posed for a few pictures with him before kicking him out so she could change.

As the weather had gotten colder, Alice started to keep pajama pants at Dean's. Usually she could get by in just his t-shirt, but since he already kept his apartment so cold, she knew she'd want to bundle. When she rejoined Dean in the bedroom, he was already changed, now sitting on the bed with the box of pizza open. He had a pizza slice right in front of his mouth but froze before taking a bite when he saw her. "Was I supposed to wait for you?" he asked.

She laughed. "You're such a dork."

Alice plopped beside him on the bed. They both polished off two pieces without talking at all, each hungrier than they realized. "Why do I feel like half of our dates involve eating pizza in one of our bedrooms?" she asked him when he discarded the box on the side table.

"Because we're the best couple ever," Dean said. Alice laughed only to yawn soon after. Dean did the same. "What time is it?" he asked, unable to see the clock behind her. She turned to check.

"Wow," she said. "It's already two."

"Shit," Dean mumbled. "Yeah. I'm ready to crash."

"Me too," she said. They both got under the covers, and Dean mumbled something about taking care of the leftover pizza in the morning.

All night, Alice had been thinking about how crazy it was that Sam had been able to go from mobster to lawyer in the span of a few years. It was admirable, and she wondered if Dean ever thought about doing the same. "Can I ask you something?" she said, trailing her fingers across his stomach.

"Of course," he said.

"Do you ever wish you weren't who you are?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he responded.

"Like," she said, "still Dean Winchester, but not Dean Winchester, mob boss. Do you wish you could do something else?" Dean was quiet for a moment. He didn't like to lie to her, but he also didn't like to be vulnerable when it came to his job. When he looked down at her and saw her soft eyes looking up at him, he knew he had to tell her the truth.

"Yeah," he said. "I, I actually haven't wanted to do this for a long time." Her eyebrows furrowed as she propped herself up on her elbow to look at him more clearly.

"Seriously?" she said. Dean nodded. "Well, then why do you still do it?"

"I can't just quit," he said. "I'd have to leave it to Cas, and I don't want to do that to him."

"If he's underboss, aren't you just delaying the inevitable?" she asked.

"Yes and no," he said. "You're not supposed to step down from being in the mob. Underbosses are there to take over when you die. I guess I don't want to make him take the job before he has to." Alice nodded and laid back down, resting her head on his chest again.

"So what would you do?" she asked. "If you could leave all this behind, what would you do?"

"I'd retire," he said without missing a beat. "I'd have enough money to survive for the rest of my life, and I'd just stop."

She chuckled. "Okay, well what if you could start over? If you could go back in time and not have this be your life. What would you do then?" Dean was quiet again. He had never been asked that before, and he didn't have an answer ready. What would he do? If he could do anything, what would it be?

"I always wanted to be a fireman when I was a kid," he said. Alice swore she heard embarrassment in his voice.

"Really?" she asked. He shrugged, and she smiled and put her hand on his cheek and scratched his beard. "Why a firefighter?"

"I don't know," Dean mumbled. "It was just a kid's dream."

"Come on," she said, sitting up on her elbow again. "Talk to me. I don't know a lot about little Dean." He sighed again but sat up, and she sat up as well, promptly sitting herself on his lap. He chuckled as he put his arms around her, and she cuddled up to his chest.

"So, you know my mom died when I was a kid," he said. She frowned but nodded. "One of my dad's rivals at the time, his name was Azazel, he set our house on fire."

"Oh my god," Alice whispered, looking up at him. "Who was inside?"

"All of us," Dean said. "Mom's the only one who didn't make it."

"Wow," she said. "I'm so sorry."

"I think it affected me more than I let on," he said. "You know, I had to be tough. My dad didn't need to worry about me when he had to worry about Sammy and how he was going to take down Azazel. Back then, I didn't really understand that the mob was my future, so I could be like every other kid and think about what I wanted to be when I grew up. When Mom died in the fire, I thought if I had been a fireman, I could've saved her."

Alice sat up straighter and turned so she was straddling his waist. He wouldn't look at her, so she just put her hand on the back of his head and ran her fingers through his hair. "Anyway," he said, clearing his throat, "that didn't last very long, because I grew up and realized my life had been decided for me. And I knew I couldn't be angry about it so I forced myself to be okay with it." He still wouldn't look at her, but now she wanted him to. She lifted his chin and stroked his cheek.

"It's okay to be angry about it," she said. "It's okay to feel like you were robbed of a normal life."

He sighed and leaned into her touch. "I just feel like if I walk away from this, I'm spitting on everything my parents died for."

"How did your dad die?" she asked.

"Azazel," he said. "Dad was intent on getting revenge, and he got some intel that Azazel was going to be at a handoff, so we were gonna go and get him- together. Him, me, and Sammy. Turns out we were fed bad intel, and it was a total ambush. I was fighting off one guy, and I didn't see Azazel had his gun pointed at me. Dad-" Dean cut himself off and cleared his throat. "He jumped in front of the bullet."

Alice's lips parted in shock, and Dean was quiet for a few minutes. She could tell he needed time to compose himself, so she didn't push. "Sam and I killed the capos and soldiers that were still there," he said, "but Azazel ran. By the time we could get to Dad, he was already gone. And I was the new boss."

"Dean," she whispered, stroking her thumb across his cheek, "I'm so, so sorry."

"So I can't just say fuck it and give it to Castiel, you know?" he said. He wasn't good at taking sympathy, she realized. "Like, my dad died for this. My mom died because of this. I owe it to them to stick it out." Alice bit her upper lip and didn't say anything until Dean raised his eyebrows at her.

"I don't want to overstep," she said, "but don't you maybe think they just want you to be happy?"

Dean scoffed. "You didn't know my dad."

"Mm," she hummed, "I guess not." She hesitated. "I just think living your life like you owe everyone something isn't a happy way to live." He sighed, but smiled.

"Yeah," he said. "You're probably right." Alice kissed his nose before adjusting herself on his lap again and cuddling up to his chest. "What about you?" he asked. "Did you always want to be a teacher?"

She chuckled. "Yeah. I never had any doubt."

"And you're happy with your choice?" he asked. She shrugged.

"It's not what I thought it would be when I was a kid," she said. "It's not all rainbows and butterflies and snacks and finger painting and circle time. It's a lot of work, but it's still worth it. And I think I'm pretty good at it. Feels like what I was meant to do."

Dean kissed the top of her head. "I think your students would agree."

When Alice woke up the next morning, Dean wasn't there. It was a little after 8:00, so she pushed herself out of bed and went to join him in the kitchen, hoping he already had a pot of coffee going. When she left the bedroom though, she didn't smell any coffee. And, she heard Dean's voice. Was he talking to himself? She saw him on the couch, and he was on his phone. He locked eyes with her, and he gave her a smile and held up a finger. She nodded and went to the kitchen to make some coffee.

By the time the pot was brewed, Dean was finally off the phone. He joined her in the kitchen and greeted her with a kiss. "Who was that?" she asked.

"Jack," he said. "He was giving me an update."

"How's he doing?" she asked, sipping the coffee from her mug.

"Good," he said. "He said Lucifer's got something planned coming up, but he's keeping it pretty quiet except for the few men he's involving."

"I take it Jack's not one of them?"

"No. He can't keep pressing for information either because it'll look too suspicious."

"Right," Alice said with a nod. "Do you have any more of a plan?"

Dean shook his head. "Our hope is that Jack finds out the next time Lucifer's taking his jet somewhere, and-"

"Lucifer has a jet?" she repeated.

Dean chuckled. "I have a jet too."

"Shut up!" she said, her eyes wide. "You do not."

"I do," Dean said with another laugh. "I'll show it to you sometime."

"Awesome," Alice said. "Anyway. Sorry. What were you saying?"

Dean grinned. "Jack's gonna find out the next time Lucifer's taking his jet somewhere. There's only one private air terminal in the area, so if we can find out when he's going there, we'll be able to ambush him."

"Hmm," Alice hummed. "Sounds like a solid plan."

"I think so," he said. "I hope so."

"Does Jack seem on board?"

"He's the one who came up with it."

Alice nodded again. "It'll work," she assured him. "Jack seems like a smart kid, and I know you're a smart man." Dean chuckled and kissed the top of her head.

"Thanks, sweetheart," he said.

"Anytime."

The next two weeks went by in a chaotic mess. The semester was wrapping, and Alice needed to put all thought and preparation into school. Between grading last minute assignments, preparing for final assessments, and helping the kids rehearse for the winter program, she hardly had a moment to spare and spend with Dean. Luckily, he understood. He had his hands pretty full keeping track of Jack and still maintaining the daily duties he and his people needed to complete. While they spent most nights together, they hadn't had a chance to go out on an actual date since the night of the gala.

The only thing keeping Alice from breaking was knowing she'd have two weeks of holiday break after the recital. It was on the last Friday of the semester, and before she knew it, it'd be Christmas and New Years. All she needed to do was get through this.

"Okay kiddos!" she called, clapping her hands together to get her kids' attention. "I need everyone to line up at the door. Your families are all in the gym waiting, so remember we're going to show them how hard we've practiced on these songs, right?" The kids all cheered and lined up at the door. Even though Alice wasn't the music teacher, she had been helping out as much as she could. She and her students would practice their songs whenever they could, and she was sure her first graders would stand out as the stars of the show.

But maybe she was just biased.

The students got into the gym and found their spots on the risers. Alice sat with the other teachers, finding a seat next to Thomas. "How've you been lately?" he asked, squeezing her hand when she sat. "You haven't been staying after as late."

"I'm better," she told him. "I patched things up with my boyfriend, and life is finally starting to feel normal."

He smiled at her, and she turned around to scan the gym for Lexi's family. It didn't take her long to find them. They were all sitting in a row -Jess, Sam, Dean, Castiel, and Hannah- and Dean waved as soon as he locked eyes with her. She smiled and waved back, and Thomas followed her gaze. "Is that him?" he asked.

"Mhm," she hummed. "He's one of my student's uncles."

"Well, I'm glad you're doing better," he said. "I was getting sick of watching your first graders."

"Thomas-"

"Alice, I'm only joking," he said. She rolled her eyes and gave him a playful shove, and they were both quieted down as the music teacher stood by the microphone.

"Thank you all for coming to our winter recital!" she said, causing the audience to start clapping. "We'll start off with some songs, and then some of the fifth graders will be playing their recorders for us. Once we're done in here, there are snacks set up in the front lobby, and you can visit your child's classroom to chat with their teacher and see some of the work that they completed over this semester."

The kids sang some renditions of holiday classics as well as a few horribly written children's tunes that were likely only created for elementary school choir teachers. Alice smiled at her students the whole time and kept pointing to her face to remind them not to look so serious. She did the motions to the songs with them, even though she wasn't even sure if any of them were watching. By the end, she was positive she was the teacher cheering the loudest.

When the kids were done singing, they were instructed to sit on the risers as the select fifth graders performed their songs. Then, class by class, the teachers would line their students up and return them to their classroom where the parents and guardians would come pick them up. Her students lined up with proud smiles on their faces as they walked down the center aisle, waving to the people they knew in the audience. Alice noticed Dean shoot Lexi a wink as soon as she walked by which made the young girl laugh and wave enthusiastically.

Back in the classroom, Alice encouraged all of her students to sit. Some kids were asking about the snacks in the hallway, and she kept repeating that they could get snacks if their parents allowed it.

Then, she pulled out the cookies she had bought for all of them.

Slowly but surely, parents made their way into the room. They all stopped to chat with Alice for a while, sometimes asking how their child had done that semester and other times just striking up conversation. In the hallway outside her classroom, Alice had displayed artwork and short stories her students had completed so that her classroom wouldn't get too crowded with parents looking at their student's accomplishments. The last thing she needed was a classroom of 20 first graders and at least 20 adults all trying to maneuver around.

Alice was keeping track of how many students had already left with their guardians, not wanting to lose track of a kid. There were still about ten kids left in the room when Lexi's family came in. They all made their way straight for Lexi. Sam lifted her up into his arms. "You did so good, Lex!" he said, tucking some of her unruly hair behind her ear. Lexi just smiled and buried her face in Sam's neck. Another family came in, so Alice chatted with them a little bit as the rest of the Winchester clan left the room. She hadn't realized Dean stayed until the other family left. He had his hands behind his back as he walked over to her, and when he stood in front of her, he handed her a bouquet of red and white poinsettias and roses. "For you," he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek as she took the bouquet.

She chuckled. "You should've gotten these for Lexi. She did all the work."

"Oh, don't worry," he said. "I pulled a rose out of her for her first. I just wanted to make sure you're celebrated today too."

"I hardly did anything," she said with another laugh. Dean shook his head in disagreement.

"You don't celebrate yourself enough," he said. "You've been working nonstop for these past two weeks just to make sure everything gets done on time and goes well for these kids. You've been sleeping less, and I know you've been stressed. And look how good it turned out!" He motioned around to the kids still chatting with each other and some more parents and families coming in and eating snacks with their children. When she looked back at Dean, he smiled again. "I can't pretend to understand all you have to do for this job," he said, "but I don't think you're praised enough for how much work you put into what you do." He kissed her on the cheek. "Congratulations on your first semester as a teacher, sweetheart."

Alice fought back a lump in her throat as she gave Dean yet another hug. So much had been happening in her life lately that she hadn't had the chance to take a breath and realize that her first year of teaching was flying by. Things were just as stressful as she had been told they would be in college, but she hadn't realized how nonstop her life had been until Dean pointed it out to her. She wasn't used to getting praised for what she did, and to have Dean say all of that meant more than words could ever say.

She wiped away a quick tear and looked over his shoulder. "Okay," she said. "I have more families to talk to. Go join the others." Dean chuckled and nodded.

"You want me to come back here before we head out?" he asked.

"No," she said with a dismissive shake of her head. "I'll probably stay late and help clean up a bit. I'll just meet you at home for dinner."

"Should I make something?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Whatever you want."

He nodded again and left her in the room to chat with other families. About an hour went by before she was finally alone in her classroom. Before she started to clean up, she sat at her desk and opened the presents that a few of her students had gotten her. Ten gifts later, she had received five mugs, two Starbucks gift cards, one candle, one teacher-themed necklace, and one plaque that read, "Thank you, Ms. Berkley, for teaching me things I did not know, for helping me to flourish and grow, for showing me things I could not see, and for bringing out the very best in me." She set the plaque up in front of her computer so it would be the first thing she would see every morning upon arriving to school, then packed all the other things in her bag.

Before heading out, she made sure to tidy up her room. All the student work that wasn't taken home, she brought back into the classroom and filed away into each student's cubby. Once she was done in her room, she made her way down the hallway and to the gym to help Jimmy and a few teachers clean up in there. Folding up all the chairs and cleaning up the lobby took another hour, and by the time she was done, she was exhausted.

She bid farewell to her colleagues and headed outside to her car. As soon as she was in, she let out a heavy breath of exhaustion. She looked at the flowers in the passenger seat and smiled, then started the car and made her way to Dean's apartment.

She was in the middle of jamming out to "Older" by Ben Platt when her car started to slow down. She pressed more on the gas, but nothing happened. "What?" she said to herself, her eyebrows furrowing. She groaned in annoyance and pulled over to the side of the road. She wasn't in an alley or even in a particularly nasty part of town like the last time she got a flat, so she didn't feel as worried about her wellbeing. If anything, she was more annoyed.

"Great," she mumbled, cutting the ignition. "Love this for me." She got out of the car and popped the hood, then put her flashlight in her mouth and started tinkering with things, checking for the most common engine issues. Usually, she could spot basic car problems, and even if she couldn't fix them at the time, she could call her dads and fill them in on what had happened. It took her a few moments, but she found the problem. There was a small cut in her radiator hose.

"What?" she said to herself. "How did that happen?" She reached in her pocket for her phone, but was never able to make a call.

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(next)

series masterlist found here

general masterlist found here

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add yourself to my TAGLIST

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#dean winchester #dean winchester fic #dean winchester imagine #dean winchester x ofc #original female character #ofc #supernatural #supernatural au #mob!dean #mob au #mafia au #dean winchester fluff #supernatural imagine #supernatural fic #firecracker soul

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carlatsukinamistolemyhamsandwich · 4 years

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9, 12, 14, 25, 28, 30, 31, 34, 37, 40, 41, 42 and 50 for the Diabolik Lovers Ask Game please! By the way, I love your blog SO MUCH. ♡♡♡

From this ask game.

Thank you for the ask anon, I’m really glad you like my blog :)

This got kind of long so I’ve put my answers below the cut.

9. Do you hate anyone in DL?

Hate is a very strong word, but if you saw my recent post on Shuu’s CL route then you’ll know that I am not the biggest Karlheinz fan. Richter and Cordelia are also fairly awful but I can’t help but feel some sort of pity for Richter as it seems he had a pretty miserable life and while some of the things Cordelia did are just horrible, my negative feelings towards her have somewhat lessened since we got a bit more of a glimpse at her backstory in DF. Menae must have died before Cordelia could really remember her, and we have to remember that she was heavily manipulated by Karl. Like yes, Cordelia is dreadful, but I still think Karl is the big bad of the series. He does so so many awful things and no matter which game you look at, I can’t help but feel that his reasoning is always pretty bleh (even if that probably is just due to not great writing).

Also after that Subaru LE ending Seiji Komori can eat dirt.

12. What do you think of the fandom?

Hmm... While I know some people hold negative views of the DL fandom at large, I don’t think any fandom is entirely unproblematic. My personal experience has generally been pretty good but I will admit I have seen some fairly terrible behavior in the 3 and a half years I’ve been seriously into DL. Then again I also haven’t been this deep in any other fandom and, sadly, I think that is just the nature of the internet.

Still, there are some amazing and very talented people in this fandom, and I feel extraordinarily lucky to have been able to interact with them, so I prefer to focus on that over anything else.

14. Sub or dub?

Sub all the way. When I first started watching anime, I initially just watched dubs, but after I started learning Japanese, I switched to subs to try and pick up some more vocab and now I can’t go back. Also I really like a lot of the Japanese voice actors in DL ^^

25. What do you think of DL haters?

I generally hold the attitude of “live and let live”. If someone doesn’t like DL because of the triggering content (and the way it deals with it) or the sometimes questionable plot then fair enough, it’s not like I think the series is without its problems. The only time I will have any issue at all is if they actively attack fans of the show. If someone is just minding their own business and not hurting anyone then under no circumstances is it okay to blindly attack them over a work of fiction. So yeah, you do you as long as you’re not being a twit about it.

28. Would you ever show your parents DL why/why not?

For anyone who remembers some of the random stuff I post, you’ll know that my mother is indeed aware of Shin’s existence (and Carla’s) which perhaps would have been difficult to avoid given that he’s plastered all over my bedroom wall and I talk about him A LOT (I am just as bad irl folks), but I’ve never gone into the details of the series with her as I feel like she’d be fairly disturbed at some of the content (and it’s for this reason that I would never show her the anime).

You will understand then, why I was slightly horrified when she told me she’d read the wiki because she wanted to know more about the characters I loved so much (like bless her, but also O.o). Apparently Carla is “a baddie” but she thinks Shin is okay.

My parents are also aware of the existence of this blog but, fortunately for me, have no interest in reading it.

30. What do you think of Yui?

I like Yui (I mean what is there to dislike?), she’s a lovely character and has a really good impact on the boys. I’m not as invested in her as perhaps some of the fandom but that’s because I am unapologetically here for the dumpster fire that is the boys.

I prefer writing reader inserts over Yui x diaboy fanfics, simply because it’s fun to see the boys in a slightly different relationship dynamic to that we get in the games (like if you look at my most recent Shin drabble, Yui would never tease Shin like that but I would so reader insert it is).

31. What is your favourite Dialover song and why?

What do you mean I have to pick just one??? Gahhh I love love love Kessen no Dies irae, because it features the Tsukinami bros and it’s just my sort of music but I think my favorite might actually be I.M.I.T.A.T.I.O.N.G.A.M.E. I’m not the biggest Kino fan but Maeno’s singing voice is phenomenal and it also brings back happy memories of when I finished Shin’s LE route for the first time.

34. Tell us your top three routes! Why are they your favourites?

Hooo boy, this is a tricky one because we all know my bias at this point ^^;; I’ve limited myself to one Shin route because otherwise this list would just be me waxing on about Shin and goodness knows I do that enough already.

1) Shin’s Lost Eden Route

While I like his DF route, I love that Shin’s LE route pays a bit more attention to his feelings towards Yui than his complicated relationship with Carla. I love that it really stretches him as a character and we get to see him relying on Yui, like I don’t know who came up with that plot but BLESS. I think the pacing is very good and the bad endings are just so tragic (and I love really angsty bad endings). And some of the scenario chapters from this route just make me melt.

I also love this route for personal reasons. I’d only just fallen into Shinhell when LE was released and I remember seeing the CGs for his route but there was no information on the plot in the English speaking side of the fandom and it was driving me nuts because I just wanted to know that he was okay. It was at this same time that I had a bit of spare money so I... bought a PSVita and a copy of Lost Eden so I could find out what happened (I was planning on getting a Vita anyway just maybe not THAT soon). I’d only been learning Japanese for 6 months (I am nothing if not horribly ambitious) but I didn’t let that stop me and played through the route. And I loved it (even if I struggled a little with the language) and I was so happy to find out what happened to him. So yeah, I just have warm memories of it.

2) Carla’s Dark Fate Route

While I like Carla’s LE route, I think the pacing and plot of his DF is just a bit better. I love that it gives us the best glimpse at the backstory of the founders (I will take any and all Krone and Giesbach tidbits I can) and I think the progression of Carla and Yui’s relationship is really well handled (even if he is dreadful towards her at times). Also I like Carla, I think of all of the diaboys, he’s one of the ones I’m most similar to so I find it easy to empathize with him.

3) Subaru’s Dark Fate Route

It’s been a while since I played this route but I remember having a really good time when I did. The Vampire Ending is incredibly sweet, as are some of the scenario chapters and I thought the plot was fairly well structured. Plus Carla and Shin are in it so bonus points there.

37. If you could change one thing in your favourite Diaboy what would it be?

I never want to answer questions like this because I love Shin as he is, I don’t want to change him.

I mean I would like for him to see more value in who he is than just his bloodline and get it into his skull that he is not inferior to Carla but only as gradual changes based on environment (or just idk talking to Carla but goodness only knows that won’t happen unless Carla’s on his deathbed again).

40. Your thoughts on Karlheinz?

See above. But yeah, not a fan, would not be sad if he became the victim of a bizarre fishing accident and never again appeared in the DL franchise but I think that’s a bit too much to hope for. Sorry Karl fans but I can’t get over the stuff he’s done (and also I have had enough of “and it was Karl’s fault all along” coming up in the games).

41. Would you buy the games if they were released in English?

I’m a little torn on this one because I love supporting Rejet and otome game localisations but I own all of the games aside from VC already so there wouldn’t really be any point. I think if I had a LOT of money to spare then I would, but as my finances stand at the moment then it’s a no.

42. If you got to design the 14th Diaboy what would he be like?

Oh this is a difficult one, ideally I’d like to see someone who was a member of one of the other demon races but I don’t think you can really have a diaboy without the blood-sucking, so I guess I’d make them half vampire half adler (as I think they’re the race we know the least about). As for personality... It’s tricky because I feel like the diaboys already cover a pretty wide spectrum. I’d probably make him a cocky jerk because I love cocky jerks and I’d make him fairly witty too but more logic than feelings orientated. I’d have him kidnap Yui because he wants to use her as a pawn against the diaboys in some nefarious plot (that I’m not going to think too much about because this post is not meant to be an OC planning session) and not because he has any interest in her or plans for her himself. I guess he’d sort of be a cross between Kino and Carla?

I’d give him a vendetta against Karlheinz too because I can :D

I had to cut this short because I started coming up with a backstory an everything but I think that’s too much ^^;;

50. Do you think Richter should have a route of his own?

Honestly? No. It’s not that I wouldn’t be interested to see the story of Richter with someone who is not Cordelia (even if he is not my favorite dude from the franchise) but more that I can’t see Rejet dropping Yui as a heroine and RichterxYui? No thank you. After all the stuff he’s done in the games and his obsession with Cordelia? I just don’t feel comfortable with that pairing, sorry.

#reply #ask game #I'm always super happy/surprised when people say they like my blog #because I feel like it's kind of chaotic but if you guys like it then I must be doing something right #character hate #?#I feel like I've been relatively polite but just to be safe #I have half tried to proofread this but it's so long #bless you if you made it to the end

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alittlextrathatway · 5 years

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Hi! I know you have closed the prompt game, but I just saw the prompt list and I am kind of obsessed with dialogue #50, very curious with what you could come up with. So, I really hope you would take this one too! Thank you either way!

A/N: Technically yes the prompts were closed, but you are totally right to be obsessed with this prompt. When I saw which one you requested, I was too intrigued to say no. ;) Once again, we’re taking a trip to Established Brettsey land. Hope you like this last prompt! I put in a cut so make sure you follow it!

50. “People are staring.”

————————————-

Since the end of their shift Casey has been acting odd. It’s not bad or good. Just…odd.

She didn’t notice anything at first. They left the firehouse and headed home. It was a rough shift with very little sleep so Casey moved his appointments and any other work to the next day, and then they went to bed. She’d barely gotten under the covers and curled into Matt before she passed out completely.

She wakes up seven hours later, well rested but starving, to find Matt staring at her. Granted, it’s an adoring stare, but not exactly a normal occurrence. The intensity of it upon just waking up may have made her jump. (Not far, but enough that he noticed.)

Casey chuckles, presses a kiss to her forehead, and mumbles an apology.

“How’d you sleep?” She asks, blinking bleary eyes at him.

“Like the dead,” he answers. “You?”

“Blissfully. Man, we were wiped.”

“We didn’t even stop to eat before we crashed,” Matt points out. “It’s after two in the afternoon. No wonder I’m famished.”

Sylvie groans, nods, kisses his jaw quickly, and then grudgingly sits up in bed. “Do you want to cook or order in?”

Casey sits up after her and rests his chin on her shoulder as he tries to decide. “I know we slept through it, but I think I still want breakfast.”

She hums in approval. “A really delicious homemade egg, bacon, and cheese sandwich sounds amazing right now.” She pairs a pointed glance at Casey with a pleading smile. He usually only makes them when one of them is hungover, which doesn’t happen often, but they are always delicious.

He shakes his head while laughing softly at her. “Subtle,” he teases. “But you’re right. That would hit the spot.”

“Yes!” She exclaims triumphantly as she wraps her arms around his neck. “You know I love you, right?”

“At the very least I know you love my egg sandwiches,” he quips dryly.

Her reply is sugary sweet. “I have enough room in my heart for both you and your egg sandwiches.”

He snorts. “Mhm. Love you, too. You hop in the shower. I’ll make breakfast.”

“You’re entirely too good to me,” she says.

He responds, “I know.” Which pulls a playful shocked gasp from her throat as Casey gets out of bed.

“Rude!” She shouts through a loud guffaw.

She does as Matt requested and takes a shower. She dresses in her softest sweater and most broken-in pair of jeans. Immediately, she feels more human than she did this morning. When she enters the kitchen, Casey has two sandwiches ready and waiting.

His phone pings as she approaches. He checks it and then swiftly turns it face down. “Change of plans,” he announces. He looks anxious and awkwardly avoids looking down at his phone. “I need to get dressed and go check on a job. Just got a text about a leak.”

She knows it’s a lie. What she doesn’t know is why. “Okay. Do you have time to eat first? I feel bad I conned you into making these sandwiches and now you have to go.”

He quirks a brow at her with a mirthful stare. “Conned?”

“Conned, persuaded – what’s the difference?”

He laughs and comes around the counter, placing his hands on her hips. The space between them narrows quickly and, before she knows it, she’s swept away by wandering hands and an intrusive kiss. He presses his forehead to hers as he pulls away.

“Yeah, I have time to eat,” he tells her. “Not gonna pass up a meal with a con artist. Especially not one who looks like you.”

“Flatterer,” she accuses.

They eat side by side at their tiny kitchen table with her legs across Matt’s lap and one of his arms slung across the back of her chair. He looks as easy and relaxed as ever. Whatever it is he’s lying about, he doesn’t feel guilty about it. She trusts him with her entire being, that includes her life and her heart. If he doesn’t feel guilty, then it’s nothing for her to worry about. He gets dressed and then hurries out the door – promising to be back in time for dinner as the door closes behind him.

Sylvie distracts herself with housework. She’s put off laundry for long enough and the kitchen could use a good deep clean. There’s definitely something going on with Matt. The way she woke up to him staring at her and his cagey lie about whatever text he received. They’re small things but they’re not normal.

On the flip side, the affection and love between them hasn’t changed or faded. She has no doubts about how he feels about her. Whatever he’s into, it won’t end in a break up. Not that she ever truly thought it would. Any worries either of them had have been talked to death. She’s past that stage of ever shifting insecurities when it comes to Matt Casey.

So, the mystery of his behavior continues on.

He shows back up around five o’clock with take out and asks if she’d still like to go to Molly’s later. She tells him that of course she’d like to go to Molly’s later.

“How is that even a question?” She asks him teasingly.

He grins at her with amusement and holds his hands up in a placating gesture. “Just checking. Every now and then you prefer to go somewhere else. I’ve learned better than to assume.”

“You’re a very smart man, Matt Casey. I’ve always liked that about you.”

He laughs and pulls her chair closer to his. “I don’t have any other choice if I plan to keep up with you.”

After dinner, they head to Molly’s. Matt keeps her hand tight in his, fingers laced together, and leads her to a table in the back corner. Her brow furrows. This is not their usual table. She looks behind them to make sure no one’s taken it and, sure enough, it’s empty and waiting for them. It’s on the tip of her tongue to ask about the change but she bites it back.

She takes off her coat and drapes her purse over the back of her chair while Matt goes to get their drinks. Foster and Kidd wave at her from the bar, but they don’t come over. Which is just as odd as Matt’s shifty behavior. She’s had just about enough of being left in the dark.

When Matt comes back, he places the beers on the table and sits down next to her. It may not be their usual table but she has to admit the corner is pretty damn cozy. The lighting is dimmer, accentuating the glow of the twinkle lights, and it’s a four chair table so she and Matt have taken up one whole side. His chair is angled toward hers so that his body walls her off from the rest of the patrons. It feels intimate even if they’re in plain site of the general public.

“Okay,” she says with a suspicious narrowed gaze. “What is going on here, Matt? You disappeared for a few hours and don’t think for a second that I thought it was for a job. We’re sitting at a different table. Emily and Stella won’t come near me–What exactly am I missing?”

He sighs but keeps a soft smile on his face. His expression is nothing short of bemused. “You couldn’t have given me just a few more minutes?” He asks. “Because I had a plan and speech but in neither of those did you get impatient and call me out.”

She blinks at him in confusion. What is he talking about? “A plan and a speech for…?”

His hand reaches in his pocket and when it appears again he sets a small velvet black box on the table.

She sucks in a startled breath and feels an excited flush in her cheeks. “Matt.”

He swallows thickly and fumbles to open the box. She sinks her teeth into her bottom lip to keep from chuckling at him. He’s adorable, especially when he’s nervous. The last time he was this nervous, he asked her if she wanted to move in together. She thought he was adorable then too. When the springs on the box finally give, an exquisitely modest diamond ring with a platinum band is revealed.

She loves it almost as much as she loves him.

“We’ve talked about it before in hypotheticals,” he begins. He pauses to clear his throat. “I know you don’t want a whole big production so I thought what better place to do this than…our favorite place. A quiet table, surrounded by our friends without involving our friends. I don’t know, it felt…like us.”

It is them. It really is. Her eyes start to water and she knows her smile reflects her joyful tears.

“We were friends before we were anything else,” Casey tells her. He points between them with a fond smile. “This, us. It happened slowly. I was in love with you a long time before I realized what it was. Until then, I don’t know, I’d kind of given up. I thought the job was all I was ever going to have. What do they say? Stop looking and it’ll find you? Well, no one tells you what to do when the person who finds you has actually been there all along.”

They look they share is nostalgic as they both remember all the awkwardness and tension that led them to that first move and first date. The stops and starts, the arguments and half broken hearts. It’s like she admitted to herself earlier, their issues have been talked over and talked over until they know each other’s fears inside and out.

“We managed,” Sylvie assures him as she places her hands over his. “Really well, I think. Considering I thought this was all impossible once upon a time.”

He raises the back of her fingers to his lips and nods. “You’re not the only one who thought this might be impossible. I’m glad we both ended up being wrong.” His chest rises and falls with a deep calming breath. “I love you. I’m always going to love you. Sylvie Brett, will you marry me?”

Her vision clouds over and her throat clogs with overwhelming elation. A few happy tears that were gathered in her lashes finally fall. For lack of words, she nods repetitively and places her hands on either side of his face to pull him in for a kiss. She kisses him once. Twice. And then a third time with an open mouth a slip of tongue. Just appropriate enough for public consumption.

“I love you too,” she rasps. “And yes, Matt Casey, I will absolutely marry you.”

“That’s what I was hoping you’d say,” he tells her while he slips the ring on her finger.

Her laughter is tearful as she takes a moment to admire the way his ring looks on her hand. “You did such a good job. This ring is perfect.”

She closes a fist around the collar of his sweater and uses it to bring his lips crashing down on hers again. Just like in their apartment that afternoon, he sweeps her away with deep kisses and even deeper emotions. She’s caught up in him and only him until the prickle of prying eyes raises the hairs on the back of her neck. She pulls away from the kiss, taking one last nibble at his bottom lip. Casey grunts in protest and Sylvie lets out a rare giddy giggle.

“People are staring,” she whispers when he opens his eyes again.

“Let ‘em,” he replies with a wicked smirk. “I don’t care.”

“We could do that, but consider this…we could leave and celebrate in private. Preferably naked. Or we could make out in the back of a bar like a couple of college kids on spring break. That’s good too,” she says with a coy smile. “I’ve already made one big decision tonight. This one’s all you.”

“Make out in a bar while our friends stare at us or have you all to myself and naked? That’s not even a choice. I vote naked, obviously.”

Sylvie stands with a wink and puts on her coat. “Like I said, you’re a very smart man, Matt Casey.”

The ring glimmers in the light and catches her eye as she moves. What a beautiful extraordinary unbelievable day, and, thank her lucky stars, it’s the first of many.

#brettsey #chicago fire #brett x casey #matt x sylvie #veoia #prompt game #fanfic #my fic #angellwings writes

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tjkiahgb · 6 years

Text

Episode Recap: 3.12, “The Ex Factor”

The episode begins with Andi dancing and crafting, as you do. She decorates the bottom of a group project for school about eggs.

Hold on a second. Let me just check their work.

Okay, first of all, that opening sentence is a mess. “Categorized by... stand on two legs”? Proofread! Come on.

But, and this is the bigger issue, it appears the majority of this paragraph is lifted right from the Wikipedia page on theropoda.

The other paragraph from up above, on the index card to the left, is lifted from the Wikipedia page on turtles.

It’s not just that plagiarism is bad, but this is lazy plagiarism. Do they not think the first place their teacher is going to check is the Wikipedia article? Move some words around! Mix some synonyms in there! It’s like you want to be caught! God!

Also, which class is this for exactly?

You’ve got Aristotle in the top left, so... philosophy? But then you also have Charles Darwin in the top right, which suggests science.

Or is this just the entire general history of the chicken or the egg question going back to the dinosaurs?

I feel like the project needs more focus.

Maybe Andi’s group mates will step up to help deal with these many issues.

Nope. Never mind.

When this project gets failed, you’ll only have yourselves to blame.

At Red Rooster, Bowie finishes up a group guitar lesson and walks out into the store to find Plot Device.

Sorry, did I say Plot Device? I meant Miranda. My bad. And she’s brought along her daughter, little Plot Device Jr.

Bowie awkwardly tries to figure out what these two are doing here.

Before Miranda answers, she sends Morgan off.

“Morgie, honey, why don’t you go do the loudest thing possible in this small room while we try to have a conversation. I think that’d be a pretty neat representation of our role on this show.”

So Morgan bangs on the drums while Bowie tries to talk.

He makes a joke about being happy with the knowledge Morgan can’t steal one of the drums, but I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, she’s good at thievery. Don’t let your guard down around her for one second. You’ll think she hasn’t taken a drum and then find out she emptied out the till when you weren’t looking.

Miranda tells Bowie he was right in what he said when last they spoke. You remember, that thing where he was like, “Hey Miranda, you should try parenting even the tiniest amount.” Turns out, that was good advice. Miranda listened and feels she’s a better mother and Morgan’s a happier child.

Morgan returns and tells Bowie that Miranda has a new boyfriend, whom she refers to as “Not Bowie.”

Which is insanely passive-aggressive for a child her age. Or just aggressive-aggressive? It’s like somewhere in the middle. It’s active-aggressive.

Miranda heard Bowie was teaching guitar so she brought Morgan to see if she could sign up for lessons. Bowie’s like, eh... I’m all booked, it’s not a great time, yadda yadda. So Morgan’s like...

Bowie’s like, “Morgan, I don’t hate you... I just don’t like you. There’s a lot of area in the middle.”

No, of course, Bowie relents because that’s a super messed up, manipulative, guilt trippy thing for an 8 year old or whatever to say. So Bowie sends Morgan to the back to look at guitars.

And then Miranda, who has a boyfriend, gets closer to Bowie and she’s like...

Bowie points out that she has a boyfriend, but Miranda is like, “Pfft, Not-Bowie? He’s no Bowie.”

Here’s the thing, Bowie and Miranda dated for like, a few months? Probably at least a half a year ago? There was tension with Bowie’s family the entire time and then things ended really poorly, so what exactly are Miranda and Morgan hanging onto here? More trips to the miniature golf course? Access to a record store? Plant stuff? “Not-Bowie just doesn’t have the kind of knowledge of plants that a woman like me needs.” Let it go, girl.

Bowie tells Miranda he’s engaged, which she takes well.

She’s like, who’s the lucky woman for no reason whatsoever I’m just curious and nothing more and Bowie tells her it’s Bex.

At The Spoon, the GHC and Jonah get breakfast. Well, the GHC gets breakfast. Jonah says he’s not hungry and just wants to enjoy their company, which Buffy thinks is both sweet and weird.

Like a baby holding a hammer.

Amber comes by with a dish she’s supposed to throw out because it’s a wrong order. Instead, she offers it to Jonah, who accepts and starts to dig in.

I gotta say, Jonah’s silverware technique needs work.

How do you have any control of the fork that way? Also, who cuts scrambled eggs with a knife?

Buffy’s suspicions are raised by Amber’s seemingly too nice behavior.

At Cloud 10, Celia takes time out from helping all of the zero customers in the place to finish up Bex’s wedding invitations.

Bex tells her the invitations are beautiful. Celia says she was going to mail them herself since she already did everything except that, but decides that Bex should handle mailing them, because it’s her special day. “It’s your wedding, you should be the one to have the honor of putting these papers in a metal box.”

The door to Cloud 10 opens and who walks in? Not a customer, that’s for sure.

Celia’s immediately on the offensive, calling her Melinda and asking if she’s there to accuse them of losing something to cover up a theft.

Miranda seems to treat that as an actual question.

Miranda says she’s there to congratulate Bex on her engagement. Celia’s not buying it. Bex asks her to go chill in the back office for a minute. Celia agrees to do that but then adds that Miranda shouldn’t get too comfortable.

“...and polishing a broadsword in a threatening manner.”

Miranda tells Bex she really only came to give her best wishes but then she launches into what feels like an extremely pointed story about her failed relationship with Morgan’s father. She never saw it coming, she says. They were so happy. A perfect relationship for six years. And then they got married and the whole thing collapsed like a Jenga tower. They drifted apart until it felt like they were living two different lives. Eventually, they couldn’t even remember why they were together in the first place.

Wow. She really only needed to add something like, “And let me tell you, having to raise a daughter together helped nothing. In fact, she only made things worse! It expedited things!”

Miranda’s tale of woe really affects Bex.

Miranda’s like, oh, don’t worry, I’m not talking about you and Bowie. I’m sure your marriage will be just fine. I mean, half of all marriages end in divorce, but it probably won’t be you guys, right? Hahaha. Flip a coin, right? Heads or tails? Heads or tails? Hehe.

Back at Red Rooster, Bowie finally comes to check on Morgan. He makes her promise she’s going to behave.

It’s like prison rules.

Bowie takes his eyes off of Morgan for literally seven seconds to grab a guitar and turns back to find she’s disappeared like some kind of GHOST.

Bowie does the smart thing: he looks around for a second, checks the top of a desk...

...doesn’t check behind the curtain that’s right there, shouts “Morgan!”, checks nothing else, and then walks out of the room...

...despite not having heard the door open and close behind him.

He walks out to the main part of the store and asks if anyone’s seen Morgan, but no one has. So he does the smart thing again: he goes back and checks the room she’s most likely in. No, I’m just kidding, he walks out of Red Rooster.

God I bet I’d be so good against him if we played Hide and Seek. I’m not amazing at it or anything, but he is terrible.

At The Spoon, the kids debate what to do with their day. They settle on going to Adrenaline City. Jonah says it sounds fun, but he’s gonna pass. That is, until Amber shows up and says she has an extra pass.

Jonah agrees to go. Amber’s like, great, I’m just gonna go change real quick. But, um... doesn’t she have to work? Didn’t her shift just start? It’s breakfast. Or does she only work the 8am-9am shift?

Jonah goes to thank her for inviting him. Buffy sniffs out that something is up. She thinks Jonah and Amber are getting back together.

The gang heads to Adrenaline City.

I guess I’m not sure why Cyrus was excited for this. Does he not know who he is?

Buffy uses her basketball skills to win a weird blue llama.

Listen, I don’t like amusement park stuffed animals. They’re super fragile and probably all filled with asbestos. They cost 25 cents to make and you can’t win a decent sized one without slapping down $50. I’m not saying that prevents me from trying to win the damn things every time I go, I’m just saying I don’t like it.

Anyway, the whole time at the park, Buffy’s enjoyment is dampened by the escalating Jonah and Amber situation.

Buffy turns to her emotional support stuffed animal for comfort.

Don’t put the asbestos llama that close to your face!

Cyrus, meanwhile, continues to suffer through a day of fun at the park.

Alone, by the way. Hey, you know who’s between friends right now and probably wouldn’t mind sharing a flying swing with you, Cyrus? Just saying.

After their day of riding rides, Jonah and Amber share a pretzel, which Cyrus points out is basically marriage at their age. Andi protests that Jonah is still in a relationship with Libby, but Cyrus and Buffy are unconvinced. They need a reason to believe this isn’t Jonah and Amber 2.0 and they want to know if Andi has that reason.

Meanwhile, after what certainly must have been several hours (enough for the kids to discuss going to the park, then go out to the park, ride all the rides, and eat pretzels and debate relationships), Bowie finally exits Red Rooster.

And he still hasn’t had time to put down the tiny guitar.

Bowie runs around shouting Morgan’s name and lazily looking around for her before finding Miranda nearby at some kind of pop-up swap meet. He apologizes profusely. He tells her he took his eyes off her for a second (that’s barely an exaggeration) and she disappeared. He’s been in a panic looking for her and he thinks they should call the police.

But then Morgan pops out of a clothes rack.

And Miranda laughs and high-fives her.

The two delight in thinking about how worried Bowie was. They get much joy from remembering the fear that was on his face just moments ago when he thought he'd been responsible for the disappearance and even, potentially, death of a small child. LOL. I guess it is pretty funny when you think about it.

Bowie asks Miranda if she knew about this and Miranda’s like, yeah, haha, she does this all the time.

Or basically, LOL, here’s another funny joke, Bowie. Remember when you said I should act like a parent? Well, nah.

Bowie is on the verge of tears and is mad for some reason Miranda doesn’t understand. He walks off. Morgan asks if they’re getting Bowie back, but Miranda, realizing that not everyone loves an emotionally traumatizing, surprise game of “Whoops I lost a child”, says no.

That night, Andi invites Cyrus and Buffy to Andi Shack to show them Jonah’s wish from the Moon Festival. She hands it to Cyrus, who opens it up and reads it.

No, the wish actually says he wishes his family could be happy again.

Andi says she thinks Jonah’s family might be having money problems. For example, he wouldn’t order food at The Spoon. Cyrus remembers that he didn’t want to go to Adrenaline City until Amber offered the free ticket. All the puzzle pieces start to fall into place.

They think this is why he’s been close to Amber. Because Amber also went through similar money troubles and he probably confided in her. Buffy feels bad for judging them.

They wonder if there’s something they could do. Andi says, for now, respect his privacy and not jump to conclusions.

That’s a mature way to handle it. That line of thinking lasts all of five seconds before Cyrus suggests they get involved somehow.

At Bex’s, Bowie tells Bex about his day. Bex mentions Miranda also came to see her and scared her. Bowie tells her to get Miranda out of her head. He thinks about how lucky he is to have all this: friends, family, hole.

He talks about how much he loves this and hopes it never changes. Bex agrees, but this also makes her think about some things.

The next day, the GHC come into Red Rooster to ask Bowie to hire Jonah at the store. Does Bowie have hiring power at Red Rooster? Or does he just own this place now? Where is the owner? Is this like a squatter’s rights situation?

Bowie apologizes. It’s a small business and they just don’t have the resources to bring on another employee.

Jonah emerges from the back and Bowie immediately spills everything.

He’s like, oh hey Jonah, sorry about not being able to give you the job you needed and that we were all just talking about. What? No I don’t think the kids were being weird and secretive a minute ago when they walked in here without you to ask for work on your behalf. Everything seemed normal to me.

Andi says they just wanted to help, and Jonah realizes they know he’s going through something.

Andi explains to Jonah that she found out about his issues because of the wish from the lantern.

Yeah, but it could also be that you upset the Moon Goddess by ruining Celia’s wall. Either one, really.

Jonah explains that sometime last year, his dad made an investment that went bad and a couple months ago, his parents had to declare bankruptcy and that’s when they finally told him about it. They lost their house and moved in with relatives.

He tries to remain positive even though it’s not easy. At least his family has a place to stay and they’re all still together.

Jonah feels like a weight is off his shoulders having told his friends about this.

Andi tells him he doesn’t have to keep secrets from them. That he can tell them stuff he thinks he can’t. Jonah’s like, I got it. No more secrets.

And then he makes another horrible poker face that screams: “Except for that other thing that I’m definitely keeping a secret from you guys.”

Outside of Cloud 10, Bex brings her big ol’ box of wedding invitations to Nicky the Mailman (no relation to Ricky the Suit Man) for shipping.

Nicky the Mailman admires Celia’s handiwork, then inadvertently “Mirandas” Bex by saying something to make her nervous about the wedding.

I wish he kept digging deeper. “I remember mailing invitations to the wedding with my first wife. Boy, that ended badly. Horrible, bitter divorce. Much like my second wife. You know they say third time’s the charm, but some mornings I look at my current wife and think ‘Buddy, not from where I’m sitting.’ Anyway, about these invites...”

Bex flips and takes back the invites and runs off.

The GHC, meanwhile, walk through the park. Cyrus does that thing where he doesn’t realize he’s holding his phone and looks for it, then he shows Andi and Buffy a piece of candy that mysteriously made its way into his pocket.

They spot Jonah and Amber across the way, sitting at a bench together. They all talk about how it’s great he has Amber to confide in and how silly it was that they thought they might actually be back together. Haha.

I mean, they were a truly toxic couple. Haha. Neither of them probably wants to reenter into a relationship like that. Haha. Anyway, it’s great that they’re friends now because they really--

Wuh oh.

As the episode ends, Andi has just one question.

Andi, how much time did you spend near the llama Buffy won at the amusement park? This could be a symptom of exposure to asbestos.

Well, I must say, having gotten to the end of the episode, I find myself shocked, appalled, and greatly disappointed by what’s happened here.

...

Where the hell was Gus?!

What monster added him to the IMDb listing for this episode?!

Show yourself, coward! How dare you get our hopes up like this!

I don’t even know if I can go on watching this show anymore! I’m so tired of betrayal! I’m so tired of--

Oh, TJ’s back next episode? Well okay then.

Same time next week, everybody!

#Andi Mack #Cyrus Goodman #Buffy Driscoll #Jonah Beck #Amber #Bowie Quinn #Bex Mack #Celia Mack #Miranda Patrick #Morgan Patrick #Nicky The Mailman #Andi #episode recaps

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misscamthenorwegian · 5 years

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The Untamed: What’s that about, Cam?

So Cam, what’s this “The Untamed” thing that you’ve been reblogging so much and has resurrected your urge to write? I’m glad you probably didn’t asked! (Note: This is written from the perspective of a Norwegian who’d never read the novel, is fairly unfamiliar with Chinese drama and once in a blue moon falls for a M/M ship. This is that blue moon, and boy, does it shine. Opinions within are simply my opinions.)

What’s it about: “The Untamed” (Chén Qíng Lìng or CQL) is a Chinese web-drama based on a novel called Mo Dao Zu Shi (”The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation”). It is set in an ancient Chinese fantasy universe where there is magic, zombies, monsters, adventures and a lot of very, very pretty people. It’s an action-adventure murder mystery zombie drama with humor. Yep. In the first episode, Wei Wuxian - the main character - dies and is then brought back 16 years later through a body sacrifice ritual. Yep, that’s the start. Wei Wuxian proceeds to run into people from his past, including Lan Wangji, his former classmate and very definitely something else, and his angry brother who declares his desire to see him dead. In this universe, “cultivation” is using a spiritual form of magic, and only a few can truly master it. There are several powerful clans/sects that sometimes work together and sometimes has leaders that conspire against the others. Everyone has several names and titles and you may need the occasional chart to remember it all. Also, there zombies and sword ghosts and magical music. After the first two episodes, the series flashes back to events 16 years prior and then jumps back to the present later on. Who are the characters?

Wei Ying: Talkative, smile that can out-cute a rabbit, likes his alcohol, likes his Lan Zhan, likes his jokes and mischief, thinks outside the box, scares most of the cultivation world later on. Yes, really, that cutiepie is feared.

The first main character is Wei Wuxian, also known as Wei Ying and later, Yiling Patriarch, a young and powerful cultivator who discovers a different way of cultivating and, through that and making a number of unortodox and defiant choices, end up on a collision course with the rest of the cultivation world.

Lan Zhan: Can murder you with a gaze and then his sword, scary af when wants to, likes his rabbits, his Wei Ying, composes love songs with mushed ship names and is respected by most of the cultivation world yet doesn’t strive to be. The second main character is Lan Wangji, also known as Lan Zhan and Hanguang Jun. He appears reserved and cold to many, speaking only rarely. At first, he and Wei Ying do not get along, but they later form a strong relationship that is implicitly love in the series (explicitly so in the novel - they marry there). Other important characters are Jiang Cheng (Wei Wuxian’s brother), Lan Xichen (Lan Wangji’s brother), Jiang Yanli (Wei Wuxian’s senior sister), Jing Guangyao/Meng Yao, someone who is looked down on by many because of his background but later becomes a powerful sect leader, Nie Huaisang, who is not a fighter like his older brother and loves his fans and solves issues his way, Wen Ning, an adorable puppy who is also known as the ghost general - and loads of other people. Seriously, it takes a while to sort everyone out. Why Cam likes it: First and foremost, I fell for the relationship between Wei Ying and Lan Zhan. I love me some good partner dynamics, and this one has that in spades. Wei Ying and Lan Zhan are very different in personality, but they share a sense of loyalty, commitment, desire to protect and strong values. While their relationship has angst and rocky patches, it is caring and loving. It’s basically the sort of stuff I go for: some angst, a lot of cute, mutual caring, uniting against common foes, characters that compliment each other, great chemistry - yes, I’ll have some of that.

This shit is my jam.

Oh, look, more of my jam.

Let’s have an emotional and lovely moment while surrounded by hostile people jam.

Jaaaaaaaam.

In mortal danger and saving each other’s life jam. They also kind of end up as co-parents for a kid. There are also a lot of other complicated, interesting and downright tragic relationships (familiar, friendly, romantic and just plain complicated) and characters. I have a serious soft spot for Lan Xichen, for instance, while others are all about Wen Qing, some just want Jiang Cheng to get some theraphy already... On and on, there are a lot of very different characters to enjoy. Secondly, it has an interesting world with a fantastical elements that I hadn’t read or seen that much before before (as sadly, I have mostly run across Western fantasty stuff, with some expections). It draws a lot from ancient China, and has some great music, costumes and scenery. They managed to differentiate the five main sects really well, and some of the scenery is just gorgeous. Thirdly, everyone is really pretty. I am shallow. Sue me. Fourth, the plot has some really interesting stuff. The novel is a lot more grey than the series, but the series also has elements of that, as well as people ending up doing not so great things out of the best of intentions. There is also a happy ending of sorts for the two main characters (and some others), though there are tragedies along the way. Along the way, there are a lot of really great emotional scenes, and some funny moments as well. Fifth, while not all the action is great, some of the fight sequences are very fluid and dance-like and pretty. The use of music as a part of the battle also works well at times. Sixth, though it has clonkier bits, the series feels like a labor of love. It has charm and goodwill and people who clearly cared when making it. There is a lot of BTS stuff for it as well. Seventh - adorable bunnies and Fairy the dog. Some stuff to consider if wanting to watch: - This is a Chinese drama, which means it is subject to Chinese cencorship. This is why the relationship between Wei Ying and Lan Zhan is explicit in the novel, but only implied in the series. However, what they do manage to get past the cencors is pretty amazing. There are still slow-motion romantic zoom, lots of loving glances, some dialogue that goes pretty far, and some physical affection (though nowhere near as much as in the novel due to cencorship). - The actors for the main characters do a great job, but the character - and acting - of Lan Wangji can take some episodes to appreciate sine it’s a character that communicates a lot through very minor facial expressions. There are some other good performences also, some decent ones, some varied, and some a bit eh to me. Your mileage may vary. - All the characters are dubbed. It’s a Chinese drama thing. You get used to it. - The first two episodes (set in “the present”) are really confusing on first time viewing. Episodes 3 to mid-33 are flashback episodes set 16 years prior. It is worth rewatching ep 1 & 2 when you have a clearer idea of what is going on. - The CGI is... yes, well, not always great. The first few episodes have some real CGI clunkers and there is some stuff later on too. - The editing can be a bit off. Cuts between shots don’t always lign up, and some episodes have good end points, while others end mid-scene and then pick it up in the next. The sound editing is also sometimes a bit off, and fine at other times. - There are fifty - 50 - episodes, so you’re in for quite the watch. - There aren’t a lot of female characters in the story. There are some, and a few of them I really enjoyed, but the series and novel definitely have mostly male characters. - The series changes several things from the novel, including plot points and how the story is structured and told. Several characters are also different to their novel counterparts, sometimes minorly so, sometimes majorly. I came to the series first, the read the novel, while others have done it the other way. You may ending up prefering one or the other. To me, the novel does better at some things, and the series does better at others. - The series have been a major hit and the novel was very popular, and as such, you can find a fair amount of fanart, fanfic, merch and so on. - The novel has a happy ending for the main characters, though not all. The series has a more implied happy ending for the main characters, though again, not all. Where can you find it? An English-subtitled complted version of the series is freely available on YouTube here. An English translation of the novel can be found here. An in-progress can be found here. Anything else?

I rest my jam.

#the untamed #wangxian #wei wuxian #lan zhan #cam makes a long post

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ireddeadredemption2pc-blog · 5 years

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Red Dead Redemption 2 PC

Red Dead Redemption2 PC

The old west feels brand new again.

Oh Jesus Christ, what have you done? “Thomaschen 978 wants to know why a dozen carcasses and a couple of horse corpses are placed on rail tracks bordering the early industrial city and are the New Orleans stand-in St. Denis.” You killed half. village.” PC Games For Free

We are on round two of the recurring corpse pile. My poses got the idea to jump in front of the train after a few rounds of Lose Your Friends and Toss Them in the Sea in the Couple Friendly Strangers. Like GTA 5, Red Dead Redemption 2 has its own bowling minima, we explain to Chen in a roundabout way that provokes his fear. Die in the shared open world of Red Dead Redemption 2 and you’ll react fast enough to move your corpse around. Best RPGs games pc

The boy is in line with us. We should make it bigger. As the train comes around again, another pose tries to take us out. The chain defends us but does not bring it back to the tracks. He goes away screaming. Death of a true warrior.

Red Dead Redemption 2 could be the biggest, most humble videogame ball pit for an annoying story about impulsive children, the forced disintegration of the community, or simply a quiet and reflective hiking simulator. It’s just about what you need it to be, and it’s good at it.

Just hours before the corpse-bowling, I was alone through the icy forests, stepping into the long shadow cast across the snow by the rising moon. I heard a gunshot from a distance. The tracks of some wolves marked snow in the same direction. I saw them who won. Anytime I pay attention and look closely, RDR2 is the result of my curiosity. Best Racing games on pc

The mind-numbing expanse that makes up the vast world of RDR2 speaks to the creative force of a development team with an intense, obsessive dedication to realism (and all the money and time needed to do so). Like how my friends’ characters flare up when I fire a gun at them, how animal carcasses disintegrate over time, how NPCs react according to a sloppy or bloody outfit, how to stir through a doorway. Scares everyone everywhere.

It is hard to believe that RDR2 is so deep and wide and is also a harmonious, playable thing. I was already playing it for days worth the console version. This is why I am particularly disappointed that it ended up on the PC to some extent.

For every non-taught multiplayer adventure, disconnect or crash on the desktop, desktop. The rock star’s best storyline and character so far has been filmed through Frame Hutches’ slideshow and addressed over the launch weekend.

RDR2, one of the best Western games and one of the best open-world games I have ever released with enough stability issues, is recommended for the hard way until everything is completely smooth.

Morgan trail

EVERY PRETTY VISTA IS SOMETHING TO LOSE THROUGH ARTHUR’S EYES.

The story genre of Red Dead Redemption 2 follows the dying days of the Wild West. The sprawling industrial world faced the bandits and social downtrodden of Arthur Morgan’s small band, an imperfect but loyal, loving and self-reliant community.

Capitalism is reducing its value as resources to humans. Indigenous USA America is driven from the plains to make way for ‘civilization’ and commerce. The forests are brought down for timber, the hills are cut down for coal, and Morgan’s chosen family is caught in the middle, forced to flee, assimilate, or respond with violent protests is done. They do all three.

This is Rockstar’s most serious drama, and it’s really, really long. If you are running, the story ends after 40 to 50 hours and then continues for 10 to 15. The main story missions of Red Dead 2 feature distinctly rockstar fare: ride to a destination that is talking to everyone, tightly scripting though, entertaining things, riding, and chatting to the final destination.

Missions are often thrilling action sequences or artificially mundane pictures of wrench labor and trade, full of long-winded Bespoke animations, and outstanding performances. They are only hopelessly harsh, to the point where it feels like I am following the stage directions rather than playing the role of a vagabond in the Old West.

Step out of line in these campaigns and this is a failed situation. As opposed to Red Dead Online, there are very few of them that encourage players to think for themselves, each designed to advance the story. The RDR2 show is at least a spectacle of the slow pace of life in the Old West.

This is not the death and theatricality of a lifetime; My favorite missions include shoveling, drinking wine with a friend, proposing an old romance and riding a hot air balloon. Working through a greater rut, stricter tasks are considered meaningful in the end anyway, inspired by extraordinary, ambient world-building and characterization.

Side missions, minigames, small activities, and random world events — whether they hunt great guns, capture a play, or stumble upon a woman trapped under a horse — all set Arthur’s character and setting in subtle, rich ways. Please inform.

Nested in the third act of a fully animated and voice theatrical performance, something like 10 minutes, it is possible that the response button is pressed after an artist has included a telephone. Arthur would shout, “Hell with the telephone!” It is an optional activity, a long one, and an option is to react in that short window. I think most players will remember this, but this is Canad Response 1 through 3 because this is something Arthur would say, a rageless goofy set his way in the right way.

He would write complete, real diary entries about the 50-hour campaign, sketching memorable scenes and depicting the state of affairs of his chosen family, which people once knew changed their fortunes between hope and despair. It is meant to be a completely alternative reading, but a refreshingly intimate take on a masculine figure that unsettles many doubts and hopes as to the next person.

He sings himself on a lonely ride and lowers his old body in the mirror. He will have an exciting conversation with the horseshoe woman as he gives her a ride into town, both commenting on the troubles of working for wealthy, ungrateful men as a growing necessity. I feel it all. Best horror games on pc free

Hillbillies can capture him after making the camp, a couple may try to rob him after inviting him to dinner, a man with snakebite can come out of the forest by stumbling and tell him to suck venom is. These haphazard encounters portray brutal life on the fading frontier, as nature pushes back against inner poppers who want to change it. Arthur is the perfect vessel to see it

This is because Arthur Morgan is one of the darkest human characters I have played during a great turning point in American history, playing a playful, cruel and compassionate role according to differing theories.

The game world, beautiful as it is, is made more beautiful and tragic by how it is ready to play it on every occasion. Every beautiful vista has something to lose through Arthur’s eyes, power lines and train tracks, cut through the skies, and the rest of his life is slowly filling with factory smoke. Just about everyone sees a sad end in RDR2, too. This is a story that I might not sustain every moment, but I will not forget its brutal arc or the man in the middle of it all. God damn is it sad? An apocalypse that led to this.

Ren Der Reflection

Assuming that you are able to run it at high settings, the biggest strength of RDR2 is how it exquisitely renders the Old West setting on PC, drawing more attention to the nuanced details that make it. This is one of the best looking games I’ve seen and a rare experience that justifies a new GPU or CPU.

Better draw distance and a greater range of vegetation detail were added, making some vistas look photographic. Long shadows vary from walking or roaming between places to rides, to cute nature tours. Due to animal attacks, bullet holes, rain, mud, or rapid flow of blood, the markings on the clothes are caused by very high-resolution textures, which tell a very little story about your friends.

A new photo mode makes it easy to share those moments of amazement. The way the player rides on RDR2 for just sightseeing and sounds is an important feature. I am desperately trying to get an artistic portrait of my horse’s silhouette to sit against the moon, yet another self-proclaimed goal was tolerated by this ridiculously large complex game.

With 2080, i9-9900K and 32GB of RAM, I can run RDR2 mostly on ultra settings with some resource-intensive settings completely off or switched off. But some hardware combinations are proving troublesome for RDR2, leading to random crashes in some APIs and, more recently, to a hotfix, leading to hitching problems for some 4-core CPUs.

During the first weekend, I couldn’t spend more than an hour without crashing on the desktop, though Vulcan switched from DX12 (which gives me better framerates) back to static stuff. Sometimes the UI malfunctions and I cannot select a select or purchase option, the map fails to appear, or I get paged unexpectedly from game servers.

The graphics settings are almost too much as well, and probably confusing. In our test, only a handful of settings affected performance by more than 1-2 percent. Large residuals, the mapping between MSAA, volumetric lighting, and parallax occlusion, affect performance by 5 to 25 percent. Most of them don’t make a big visual difference anyway and are best left out.

The way the settings are presented is made to feel underdeveloped: a huge list with unclear presets that require tinkering to make RDR2 run in a satisfactory framerate. It is hard. The PC should be the best place to play, not the best place to play, after all, after a few patches. It’s a shame for a game to look good. upcoming pc games

Cowboy poetry Red Dead Redemption 2 PC

Like in singleplayer mode, in Red Dead Online I can make my goals reasonable and watch them. The problem is, it is basically hamstrung by a frustrating multiplayer leveling system that locks basic equipment and cosmetics behind long XP requirements that can meet hours, perhaps days,

The option is spending gold, premium currency, items and clothing to unlock them immediately. A fishing pole is not available until level 14. A damn fishing pole in an outdoor recreation game. This is not spectacular and is a terrible way to invest players.

out a basic suite of tools (fishing rod, bow, varmint rifle, nice hat, etc.), Red Dead Online opened up widely. I have largely ignored traditional matchmaking modes such as gunfights and horse races, cheap thrills, I will play much better versions in different games, to have fun. It led to the most inventive, serene, real, and sometimes buzzing echo I’ve ever had.

I once walked into the middle of a fire in Blackwater and took the player corpses one by one to the church cemetery. Some were captured and participated in the ‘burial’ of their friends. A corpse thanked me for the gesture. Later, in an extended streak of criminal activity, my pose and I caught another player and instead of killing them on the spot, we rode into the swamp and threw them into the garter infected waters. I got the idea to act like a friend. Best pc games 2017

On a less absurd note, I set myself a constant goal of earning strictly enough money from hunting to buy cool-weather gear and a fine rifle. I am going to hike in the mountains and find the best way to hide there, a wild mountain man adorned with animal skins, which almost touches the floor.

In the meantime, I’m stopping gunmen across the city by running through the streets and calling for a parley. I am participating in an eight-player ballroom. I am living the life of a normal cowboy in the best shepherd game. I hope it clears up soon.

RDR2 PC System Requirements

OS : Windows 7 SP1 64bit

Graphics Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 2GB / AMD Radeon R9 280

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K / AMD FX-6300

Memory: 8 GB RAM

DirectX: Version 11 Or 12 Support

Storage: 150 GB

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biscuitreviews · 5 years

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Biscuit Reviews The Witcher III Wild Hunt (2-year Anniversary Review)

The Witcher III: Wild Hunt is perhaps my favorite game to come out of the PS4/Xbox One/Wii U-Switch console era. It’s won tons of awards and was game of the year for many people in 2015. I didn’t get into the Witcher series until Witcher II: Assassin of Kings was a free download for Xbox Live members in 2016.

After I finished Witcher II, I immediately went to Witcher III and my god, talk about an amazing sequel. It was bigger, it was better, and for being the end of Geralt’s story, it did a great job for making newcomers such as myself, not feel lost at all.

I’m going to be spoiling the game so if you haven’t played Witcher III, definitely play it before going into this review.

The story of Witcher III, revolves around Geralt of Rivia, a witcher looking for his adoptive daughter Ciri alongside his on and off again lover Yennefer of Vengerburg.

Geralt will travel through large open world zones during his quest. Velen took inspiration from the Polish and Northern German countryside, Novigrad is reminiscent of the Polish city of Gdańsk during the medieval era, and finally you have the Skellige Isles, taking inspiration from Ireland. Each of these areas are massive and beautiful to look at. It’s easy to forget that you’re in a world currently being ravaged by war or filled with monsters until you stumble across areas that give you a stark reminder that there is a war happening.

One thing that I love about the game is how it handled decisions. There’s no clear good or bad decision, everything has a shade of grey. Sure there are choices that sound better in the short term, but it could have long term ramifications that could come back to haunt Geralt. One example is Triss’s quest line in Novigrad. Sure, you’re helping mages escape the city to where they no longer have to fear for themselves, but by doing so, you give the witch hunters a new target to pursue, which are non-human races such as elves and dwarves. However, if you don’t help mages escape, than later in the story Geralt’s dwarven friend, Zoltan, can help him with a jailbreak. If you do help the mages, Zoltan won’t be able to assist Geralt due to not wanting to face the wrath of the witch hunters.

Even the types of decisions you make are fantastic as well. All of these choices are actions that Geralt himself would make and do in that situation, it’s just a matter what you believe would be the overall choice he would go with. With many choice based games, dialogue options cover many aspects of a character archetype, because normally, you are making a character and are taking that character on the journey. In this case, Geralt is a character, he has his own beliefs, likes and dislikes, and dialogue choices reflect his specific personality rather than a personality a player would create.

It’s also why some aspects in gameplay are limited such as crafting. Geralt is able to craft oils and potions on his own as long as he has the formula and the ingredients. Applying the proper oil and drinking the necessary potions are necessary for fighting monsters in this game, which I’ll discuss more about later. When it comes to making armor and swords, Geralt has to seek out a Blacksmith to make these items as Geralt himself doesn’t have the kind of skill set, therefore he has to seek out a person able to build these items.

I also love how story quests and side quests interact with one another. Main story quests could go differently if you’ve done some side quests that relate to that specific quest and vice versa. Also the fact that side quests have just as much weight as the main quests make them feel more important and worth doing for that extra bit of lore or for that impact it could have on the main story.

As well polished and built the Witcher III is, it does have some minor glitches being an open world game. Sometimes you’ll find objects just randomly floating in air. Occasionally the input to talk to NPCs won’t work and you’ll have to either step back and walk forward to have the prompt reappear or just reposition Geralt himself for the NPC to talk to you. The fact that Geralt can either die or get heavily damaged from ridiculously low heights is also highly annoying and instills a fear of any small dropping points.

Another issue I would like to point out is that it’s not exactly the most socially inclusive. A lot of the main women are highly sexualized and sometimes feel that they’re nude for the sake of it. There are moments where you can choose anti-LGBT dialogue options when you encounter those characters, which I found exteremly baffeling that it was an option considering Ciri is bi and Geralt seems supportive in the dialogue they exchange. I get it, it’s a choice, you don’t have select those options, but the fact that they’re there to begin with just leaves a bit of a bad taste. Let’s not forget the entire ocean of white people in this game. I’m sorry, but including two people of color in a DLC just doesn’t cut it. Does it break the game for me? No, but I think not acknowledging that this exists within the game is even worse.

As mentioned previously, monsters have certain weakness and you are expected to exploit those weakness when fighting monsters. Using the proper tools to easily take down a monster feels great and makes you feel more invested in the world as you have to research these creatures in your bestiary to know their weaknesses.

Going above and beyond to take on an extra tough enemy or a monster clearly above your level although feels great at first, it’s quickly brought down when the experience gained is very little and the loot isn’t something that equates the struggle you went through. It’s just a bit disappointing that you’re encouraged to research monsters and exploit weaknesses and when you do just that, the rewards just don’t reflect that.

There’s also one quirk with dialogue as well that’s honestly more funny than terrible, but the way it happened just made it more memorable to me.

This instance is going to a wake party with Yennefer in Skellige. She’ll comment on how she likes that Geralt is growing out a beard. Now if Geralt does have a beard in this instance, it makes sense, however if Geralt is clean shaven, Yennefer will still make the comment which I always found that to be a funny little programming quirk. It’s obvious that this response was to happen when Geralt has a beard and the programming within the game was supposed to read that. There are a couple of instances that NPCs will react to Geralt’s appearance and the reaction is appropriate in those moments. But the beard moment, always brings out a chuckle.

Granted for a game as massive as Witcher III to only have a few minor issues, it’s actually rather impressive. However, I will admit that it has been four years since it’s initial release and there might have been more bugs then, but now it’s a mostly smooth experience.

As mentioned in a previous post, I do refer back to this game a lot for professional research as well. CD Projekt Red used a branching writing program known as Articy Draft, a program I use in my day job. I’ll do different decisions, I’ll change the order of when I do quests and just imagine how the branching dialogue looked within Articy and the type of variables used to determine how certain events play out.

One also can’t talk about Witcher III without mentioning Gwent, what is perhaps one of the best mini-games within a game since Final Fantasy VIII’s Triple Triad. Gwent is an easy to learn, but tough to master card game at the start. It’s tough at first as Geralt doesn’t have many cards at his disposal, but once you finally get a win, the dam starts to break little by little. Geralt will begin winning more powerful cards that can be added to his deck. Eventually it does get to a point where everyone becomes a bit easy to defeat as you gain more powerful cards and build your deck for effective strategies. Regardless it’s a game within a game that you can easily get lost in.

Witcher III also set what many gamers regard as the “Golden Standard” for how DLC should be treated. Witcher III includes 16 free DLC additions ranging from additional quests, items, additional costumes, and Gwent cards. Then there’s the two paid DLC expansions, Heart of Stone and Blood and Wine, which involves two new stories.

Both of these expansions also add additional gameplay mechanics to make Geralt stronger, which you will need to take advantage of for Blood and Wine as monsters and enemies in that particular expansion are a bit tougher than in the main game and Heart of Stone.

Blood and Wine also contains my favorite quest in the entire game. The quest is called “Paperchase” and it’s hilarious. Something about a legendary monster slayer still having to adhere to the bureaucracy of a bank to get a reward for saving a guy years ago is just amazing. It shows that not all great quests have to involve you having an encounter that puts you on the edge of your seat.

The Witcher III is a game that deserves the praise and reception it has received. It has made a mark on the RPG genre that many developers are taking note and implementing in their games. The most famous case being Ubisoft with the Assassin’s Creed series by following a similar dialogue decision based structure and having side quests impact the main story and vice versa. This is a game that has earned its status as a modern classic, which I’m sure will keep that status for a very long time.

As I’m sure it’s no surprise to anyone on Tumblr or any denizen of the internet, The Witcher III: Wild Hunt receives a 5 out 5

So far it’s been quite an interesting two years on this site. Frankly, I expected to just be a reviewer that would continuously scream into the void. To my surprise, I’ve had quite a few of you that like and share my posts adding more to the conversation whether you agree or disagree. I’ve also recently passed the 50 reviews milestone as well so the 50 and the two year mark happened rather quickly!

Here’s to the march on getting to 100 reviews...at some point!

#Witcher III #Witcher #Witcher III: Wild Hunt #geralt of rivia #video games #gaming #video game review #game review #gaming review #review #biscuit reviews

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pass-the-bechdel · 6 years

Text

Dollhouse season one full review

How many episodes pass the Bechdel test?

92.3% (twelve of thirteen).

What is the average percentage per episode of female characters with names and lines?

46.83%

How many episodes have a cast that is at least 40% female?

Nine, over half (six of those were 50%+, one of them 60%).

How many episodes have a cast that is less than 20% female?

Zero.

How many female characters (with names and lines) are there?

Twenty-eight. Thirteen who appeared in more than one episode, six who appeared in at least half the episodes, and one who appeared in every episode.

How many male characters (with names and lines) are there?

Forty-two. Eleven who appeared in more than one episode, five who appeared in at least half the episodes, and three who appeared in every episode.

Positive Content Status:

Not good at all. The series is rife with violence against women and involves sexual assault on a constant basis, with acknowledgment or exploration of such inclusions intermittent and interlaced with excuses. Needless to say, it never even gets close to flirting with an above-average content rating (average rating of 2.76).

General Season Quality:

A mess. There are elements of good things here, and some episodes that utilise that potential, but mostly this is a show that doesn’t seem to know what it wants to do or how far it really wants to pursue its own promises, and it is full of dead air and extremely questionable storytelling, wrapped around one of the least-dynamic lead characters I’ve ever seen. It’s a recipe for failure, and a disappointing one at that, because done right, this could have been truly amazing.

MORE INFO (and potential spoilers) under the cut:

Let’s nail down how consent works, because it might be the most important issue at the heart of this show that the writers just don’t seem to understand: consent is not a binding contract. Real consent is

1. ongoing (may be revoked at any time if the individual in question wishes; must be re-established or renegotiated if the circumstances originally consented to change)

2. enthusiastic (if the individual becomes uncertain/uncomfortable with conditions, actions must halt until consent has been renegotiated and re-established)

3. informed (an individual cannot consent to terms that are obfuscated or omitted; consent gained through lies or trickery is not consent at all), and

4. willing (coerced consent - whether through threats, ultimatums, manipulation, or other means - is not real consent. If the individual is placed in a position where declining is not a viable safe option, they cannot give consent).

Pretty clear-cut, really. With that in mind, the only way that the Dollhouse could operate in an ethical manner would be if the dolls were genuine volunteers who were restored to their original personalities after every engagement, so that they could consider the requirements of each job as they arose and pick and choose which ones they were comfortable fulfilling; it would then also require that their imprinted personality include strict parameters agreed to beforehand to preserve their ability to revoke consent if their boundaries are violated. Of course, there would still be LOADS of ways for the technology to be abused, but that’s an irrelevant discussion in context, because that’s not how the Dollhouse operates. Many of the dolls are not willing participants from the outset, but even if they are, after being stripped of their personalities and memories they lose the power to make informed choices and their enthusiasm is all programmed in, and it’s irrelevant anyway because they are not presented the opportunity to give or deny consent in their ongoing situation. Whether or not the dolls can consent is not up for debate: by definition, plain and simple, they cannot. To suggest otherwise is kinda the same thing as when people say that marital rape isn’t a real thing, as if signing a marriage contract permits your spouse to override your bodily autonomy anytime they want. Consent can be fickle, subjective, and highly conditional, and those are all good things because they protect the basic human right to personal sovereignty. Consent is not a binding contract.

Despite occasionally throwing around lines about how ‘you can’t consent to being a slave!’, the show doesn’t want to commit to the idea that the dolls are, unequivocally, being abused, and the failure to be morally assertive on that point leads to some seriously reprehensible presentations, most notably in terms of rape. The oft-repeated lofty idea behind what (theoretically) makes the Dollhouse ‘good’ is that they give people ‘what they need’, which mostly means fulfilling sexual fantasies. Naturally, this makes all of the Dollhouse clients who acquire a doll for sexual purposes, rapists. They know that’s what they’re getting into, too, they know that they’re paying big bank to have a person brainwashed into fulfilling their desires, which by definition means that the person is being denied the capability to give consent. This isn’t a naughty secret being hidden from the client; it’s a known factor which they’ve decided they don’t care about. They’re ok with taking advantage of this person in order to fulfill their ‘need’. Thus, the fact that Joel Miner just wants to play house with an imprinted version of his dead wife is not cute or romantic, it’s still rape, but the show doesn’t treat it that way: it’s directly handled like we’re supposed to be happy that he gets what he wants, in the same episode as the writing finally bothers to dabble vaguely in the concept of consent issues after it turns out that Sierra has been raped by her handler (while NOT imprinted to think she wants it). Thus, the episode in question draws a straight parallel between the idea that there’s ‘real rape’ (what Hearn does), and then there’s innocent wish fulfillment (what Miner and anyone else who bothers to have their victim programmed first does), and we shouldn’t conflate the two. Except, obviously, we should conflate the two. Both are rape. There’s not a moral grey-scale here, that’s like arguing that if you drug someone first so that they can’t resist, that’s less assaultive than if they were cognizant enough to struggle. Both are rape, both disregard the bodily autonomy of the victim and deny them the right of choice. ‘But I really miss my dead wife!’ doesn’t make it better, and it certainly doesn’t make it ok. And giving people ‘what they need’ at the expense of others is not virtuous - especially when you factor in the price tag attached to a made-to-order sex slave.

The above-referenced episode is one of the most egregious examples of this at play, but it’s a recurrent issue throughout the series, and not one that’s gonna go away. The story is not interested in analysing the fact that DeWitt has repeatedly raped Victor; her conflict about the issue revolves around the feeling that she - like the other Dollhouse clients - is pathetic for ‘needing’ programmed service. And while Ballard expresses misgivings about the idea of raping Mellie, he still does it, repeatedly, and there’s no condemnation from the narrative; we’re supposed to see this as a complication to Ballard’s moral compunctions, that he’s confronted with shades of grey in the black-and-white world he had imagined, but there are no shades of grey. You knowingly committed rape. More than once. The first time they had sex, when he didn’t know she was a doll? THAT is something Ballard can feel conflicted about, because he didn’t do it knowingly, he was not able to make an informed decision, his own ability to consent was impaired and he’s entitled to feel abused by the Dollhouse machinations that put him in that position. THAT is legitimate conflicted emotion. Going “fuck you, Dollhouse, you want to send me a sex slave, I’m gonna take out my conflicted emotions ON HER through what I readily recognise as rape”, that’s...not something a character can do and then still hang around on the show representing any kind of morality. That’s not even anti-hero material, that’s villainy, and if we respond to Hearn’s crimes by snapping his neck against a coffee table, why is Ballard still roaming around feeling righteous? The show is so sketchy on morality, it doesn’t even present Ballard’s attitudes as self-delusions, it isn’t exploring his descent into evil. Even from the first episode, it was unclear where the story really sat with Ballard, seeming simultaneously aware of the fact that he’s not as pure and heroic as he imagined himself, but also never pursuing the idea of exploring a more complex moral reality. If ‘now he’s a rapist but he feels bad about it (but not bad enough to NOT DO IT IN THE FIRST PLACE)’ is supposed to suffice as ‘deconstruction’, boy howdy, I got news. You can’t even pretend to deconstruct anything if you’re too busy equivocating to have an opinion in the first place.

I’ve used this word so much already in relation to this show that it’s starting to lose its meaning, but what Dollhouse really suffers from is a misogyny problem. I touched on it already in the episode ‘Omega’ when I talked about how Alpha’s ruminations on the nature of the self/consciousness/etc are undercut by the intense misogyny of his character and story, because his presence in the narrative and his impact on other characters is so heavily tied up in the violent expression of his misogyny that there’s no room for a clear-minded discussion of anything else, and in truth the entire series suffers from the same affliction. Misogyny is so ubiquitous in the story at the same time as being so rarely acknowledged that they can’t engage meaningful thematic discussions about anything else; misogyny is the elephant in the room, and so much space is being dedicated to it, there’s nowhere to squeeze anything else in edge-wise. The refusal to acknowledge the clear-cut nature of consent and thereby the inherent sexual assault built into the frame work of the narrative is part of this, but it also represents an insidious division between ‘real misogyny’ and the various kinds that the show doesn’t want us to acknowledge, the many and sundry equivocations it is entertaining in order to avoid having a moral backbone. Alpha literally slicing up women’s faces is ‘real misogyny’ (by the writers’ definition), and a character like Nolan putting Sierra in the Dollhouse so that he can have force her to have sex with him is ‘real misogyny’ (quite contradictory since Nolan still has his doll programmed to want him, just like all the other clients; apparently it’s only rape if the perpetrator is a mustache-twirling cackling supervillain type). Tanaka slinging off about ‘whores’ is ‘real misogyny’ that Ballard can take umbrage with, but Ballard’s infantalising obsession with calling women ‘girls’? We’re not batting an eye. The fact that Echo is repeatedly engaged by one Matt Cargill, whose rape sexual fantasy is all about teaching a ditzy inexperienced girl new things? Cute! Echo being violently beaten in more than three-quarters of the episodes this season, sometimes multiple times per episode? Eh, that’s normal. That’s normal writing.

The ‘real misogyny’ is the stuff that the writing deems worthy of being called out, and like with the issue of creating a false grey-scale to excuse ‘softer’ rape crimes, this creates a situation in which more low-key misogyny can skate by unchecked because we’re being encouraged to view it comparatively, instead of objectively. If you’re talking about a violent serial rapist and you say “he calls women ‘girls’ all the time, too!”, it sounds like you’re being silly, because hello, there are much bigger problems to talk about. On the other hand, if you don’t sit around making softening comparisons, you can actually talk about how women being infantalised by men is a big problem that is part of a larger tapestry of misogyny, especially disturbing for the intersection with sexualisation (HUGELY at play with the dolls in their ‘doll state’), and relevant to the discussion of pedophilia (which, incidentally, the show featured TWICE in just thirteen episodes, but without any kind of exploration or commentary that would suggest an actual reason beyond the voyeuristic fetishisation of sexual violence which is this show’s bread and butter). Because the misogyny problem on this show is so all-encompassing (along with the rape-apologist grey morality, it is built into the framework of the series itself), the fact that it is never acknowledged and brought into the thematic conversation of the story blows a hole out the side of the writers’ ability to have any kind of sophisticated conversation about the morality of their subject matter: the combination of oblivious sexism and wanton avoidance leaves the moral compass of the story...nonexistent, really, smashed to pieces and rendered useless. It’s like they didn’t want to have to talk about the morality of the Dollhouse at all, they just wanted the narrative conceit of programmable people and the opportunity to indulge various objectifying fetishes, but since that’s not how storytelling works they figured they’d ramp up the ambiguity and pass off the lack of nuanced discussion as ‘shades of grey’, despite how inappropriate that is with sex trafficking. Thus, you get a show which treats “but if the perpetrator is sad, is it really rape?” like that’s a legitimate question.

Honestly, we could unpack this show forever, because all of it needs unpacking, because it’s riddled and stained irrevocably with garbage in a way that is pervasive and complicated, but I’m gonna let this lie for now. We’ll talk about it all more as season two unfolds, and when I review that season’s developments and eventually, the full series (save me). There’s loads of stuff that I didn’t even touch yet, so at least I know I won’t be starved for content. I did know that, coming in, I knew it’d be an unhappy mess. The one thing that really surprised me about season one is how little the narrative actually discussed its own invoked themes, I thought they did better than that - perhaps season two will fill that void a bit. Maybe Echo will get hit in the fucking face less, too. I’m not gonna bet on that. After all, what would this show be without women turned into sex objects and then violently punished for it? Well. For starters, it would be better.

#Dollhouse #Dollhouse season one #Bechdel Test #female representation #full season review

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