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cassianandfenrysaremyboyos · 3 years

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What's your favorite moments from Blood and Ash?

Ok I love this question but it's also one of the hardest asks I've ever had to answer because how HOW do I narrow it down!!! I'm just going to do the first book because otherwise this post is gonna be as long as the books themselves lol!

The Red Pearl scene! Just an all round A+ first meeting. Poppy freezing up and going along with it because "oh no he's hot, and oh god he's taking his shirt off look at his abs" The "you should get off" "I was planning to" innuendo. Poppy thinking about how she feels "safe" with Hawke right from the start. Hawke feeling "contentment" being around Poppy, oh the signs, the signs that their heartmates, I cry. And the Hawke pov where he's like how sloshed was I the last time I was with the owner of this cloak because I do not remember their body being like this??!! And when he removes Poppy's hood and is like HOLY SHIT IT'S THE MAIDEN!! And when Poppy says hi and he's like that was... cute!!! 💓😄💖😄💓

The rise scene! Everything about it is *chefs kiss* The tension™ so much tension! Poppy trying to play it cool and not reveal who she is. Hawke knowing the WHOLE time and letting her sweat. The fighting, the banter, their bodies pressed up together and Hawkes thigh between Poppy's legs 🙄 Poppy throwing the dagger at him. Him loving it. The "I came back for you that night". And of course this scene gave us the iconic "you're an absolutely stunning murderous little creature". One of my fave scenes in the whole series!

Hawkes first day guarding Poppy where they're in the atrium and Davena and Loren are talking about the dark one being hot and you just know Hawke can hear them and is trying not to smirk. And Tawny being like "what are you going to do about him?" And Poppy all confused being like "the dark one??" And Tawnys like no Hawke! The blatent foreshadowing! And then they turn around and he's standing right there! And this is the scene where Casteel finds out Poppy's nickname and they start counting how many times he says it.

The scene immediately after the rise scene when Hawke confronts her in her room. Again just great banter and tension. Poppy stamping her foot and Hawke being like did that help? And them both realising what Poppy's wearing and Hawke giving her THAT roving look. But also I like that they start to talk and open up to each other a little bit in this scene.

When they're in the corridor and Casteel talks about his brother and Poppy touches his hand and takes his pain away and he doesn't know she's doing it. It's just soft. And it's made better knowing that later when Hawke finds out he says it was the best he's slept in ages.

The library ledge scene. Again the banter, the chemistry. The first apperance of the diary A+ for all.

The Willow. Enough said. Actually I'll just add this quote “I was seconds from taking you to the ground and becoming a very, very bad guard.” UGH

The Blood forest. When Hawke's talking about what he wants to do but is like we can't do that tonight "Because if I get any part of me in you, every part of me would be in you, and I want to hear every sound you make when that happens." Again UGH

The first night in New Haven for obvious reasons 👀 And again I'm adding a quote "I know my limitations, I know that I’m not a good enough man to remember my duty and yours or that I’m so incredibly unworthy of you it should be a sin. Even knowing that, there is no way I wouldn’t strip that robe from you and do exactly what I told you I’d do when we were in the forest. I’m not just going to hold you. I won’t stop at kissing you. My fingers won’t be the only thing inside you. My need for you is far too great, Poppy. If I stay, you will not walk out this door the Maiden." OHH MYY GODD 🔥🔥🔥 And don't even get me started on the "promise me you won't forget this... whatever happens tomorrow... you won't forget that this was real"

The following morning in the stables where Poppy realises Hawke's betrayal. This scene has everything, fighting, banter, betrayal, heartbreak. You really feel Poppy's confusion and pain. And I love the way she just goes absolutely feral at Hawke. Like yes girl he deserves it. Her trying to knee Hawke in the groin and him going "you'd be sad if I couldn't use it later" asdgjkkhf he's so annoying! (in the best way) But also so frustrating because he's just betrayed her and broken her heart (her looking down at her chest to see if there's a dagger in it because it hurts so much 😭) and he has the audacity to joke around after what he's done! And you know that he knows that he's hurt her and that he hates that he's hurt her, and he's just doing it to try keep the mood light and show her that he's still the teasing Hawke she knows, but you still feel so bad for Poppy.

The scene after Poppy gets stabbed and Hawke's so worried and is like Poppy please open your eyes please! And Poppy goes "it hurts" and he misundetstands and thinks she's talking about herself, but she means him. He hurts seeing her hurt 💔 My heart 😭. And also the part before this in the cells, when Delano gently nudges her with his nose and Kieran picks her up and carries her to rush her to Casteel. My Wolven boys already protecting and looking after her 😭 the first signs of what's to come.

Poppy stabbing Hawke in the heart. How could I not include this scene. The whole "oh my goddd whattt did she do!!" moment the first time you read it. Even though you know he's not gonna die, you're still like how... what... how... because you don't know yet that Atlantians can't die from being stabbed in the heart, so you're trying to like rationalise it in your mind, like ok she must have missed his heart because I know he's not going to die but how could he survive that?! And Hawke going "you're crying". She just stabbed him in the heart and he's worried she's crying 💔 And Poppy being like "I'm sorry I'm sorry" and Hawke banging his hand on the ground and letting out a choked laugh like "no you're not." The drama of it all.

And then immediately following that in the forest 👀 The way they go from Poppy being so angry at Hawke she stabs him, to them banging in the snow, and them being all soft and Poppy taking his pain, all in a matter of minutes! These two are all about the extreme 180's. I can only imagine what everyone in the keep thought when they saw Casteel saunter back in from the snowy forest shirtless, carrying the maiden who's wearing his shirt, her pants all ripped and a bite mark on her neck.

And lastly of course "We go home to marry, my Princess" Because what a great cliffhanger/last line.

#from blood and ash #fbaa #poppycas #poppy balfour #hawke flynn #casteel da'neer #I'm sorry this took me so long to answer anon #but as you can see it got longggg lol #asks #long post #i probably should of put this under a cut but I'm on my phone soz #i literally think i just described the whole book haha

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nymph1e · 3 years

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Okay fuck it, I gotta give in, I gotta watch through Supernatural. AFAIK, it's all on Netflix; at least I saw it on there in passing. Going into this, is there anything I should be aware of? Are there any episodes I should skip, any seasons? Should I start from season 4? I know the basic plot and concept, and I know it's very monster-of-the-week. But aside from me highkey shipping Destiel already, that's all.

Well my first piece of advice would be

but uh, let’s fucking ~GO~

If you’re actually jumping into this hellhole (why why why) don’t start at season 4. It’s tempting, but seasons 1-3 are some of the best shit in the whole show, also having context for Sam and Dean’s characters, and their relationship with the supernatural up to season 4 really highlights how fucking wild the introduction of angels is in the show. it’s basically a complete paradigm shift.

I would recommend you watch seasons 1-5 basically as is, though if you’re in a rush, season three is kinda skippable as long as you read a general synopsis. This is the original arc of the show and it shows. A friend of mine, @sammwinchestersdimples has said she’d have been fine if the show had ended there, and I can totally see her point. After season five things start to get... uhhhhh... not as good. THAT BEING SAID some really amazing seasons come later, and you’d get nowhere NEAR the Full Destiel Experience without them. What REALLY sucks is that all the seasons have good moments in them, so even if the seasons are generally bad, they’ll have episodes of GOLD. But fuck it, here’s a season-by-season breakdown.

Season 6 - This is the first... “eh” season. There’s a lot of character choices made in this one that I don’t like. The plot also doesn’t quite seem to know what to do with itself and it has no real main villain... or I guess it has a twist villain? This is also the season where they start chucking in the typical “no homos” you get when a show is queerbaiting, so they can point to the no homo bits and claim the queers are delusional.

Season 7 - The absolute WORST season, imo, is season 7, and it features Cas the least out of all the post season 4 seasons. You can tell the writers genuinely tried to write Cas off here. Not to mention the main plot is completely stupid. HOWEVER this is the season where we get golden things like Cas showing up to Dean’s prayer naked and covered in bees, and the episode where Charlie (best girl) is introduced and Dean subsequently has to flirt with a dude because she, a lesbian, cannot. (Wow so straight, Dean)

Episodes Not To Skip:

6x03 - A good Cas/plot episode (spot the famous destiel quote)

6x04 - A good all-round episode, also Jackles directed it so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

6x09 - This is one of the Batshit Episodes. Definitely watch.

6x10 - On the one hand, Cas episode. On the other, no homo, megstiel episode. Your choice.

6x11 - Good episode.

6x15 - THE ULTIMATE META EPISODE. Sam and Dean are teleported into Jared Padelecki and Jensen Ackles’ lives on the set of Supernatural and it is so batshit.

6x17 - Jolly good episode, and nice destiel content.

6x18 - Time travel episode, which is always fun.

6x19 - “Baby in a trenchcoat.” ‘Nough said.

6x20 - The Man Who Would Be King is the destiel episode. It is infamous in the fandom, and for good reason. It’s not just a good destiel episode, but one of the best episodes in the series. With banging lines like “Freedom is a length of rope. God wants you to hang yourself with it.” and “For a brief moment, I was me again.”

6x21 & 6x22 - The last two episodes are kind of must-watches after TMWWBK, trust me.

Episodes Not To Skip:

7x01 & 7x02 - follows on from s6 final. You don’t wanna skip.

7x05 - Good general episode

7x06 - Again, good general episode. Sets ups plot for the season.

7x08 - Ugh. So the A plot for this episodes invoves Becky, the insane, stalker, fandom-insert character, roofie Sam into marrying her (and it’s heavily implied they have sex - and it’s treated as a joke despite being LITERAL RAPE). BUT this is the episode where Garth is introduced and Garth is fucking amazing. So. IDEK.

7x10 & 7x11 - Plot important.

7x12 - Time travel episode! See if you can catch the bi!dean moment ;)

7x17 - Cas is back! Or is he???

7x18 - GARTH EPISODE

7x20 - CHARLIE!!!! WATCH THIS EPISODE!!!!

7x21 - Cas episode. It’s... interesting.

7x22 - The tagline for this episode is “Sam and Dean seek out an Alpha” 😭. It’s a Cas episode.

7x23 - If Cas weren’t in this episode I’d say skip it.

Season 8 - A fantastic season. If The Man Who Would Be King is the destiel episode, season 8 is the destiel season. When you watch this, DM me so I can RANT about all the amazing destiel this season. It’s also, again, a great season in general I remember watching it as it was airing it was soooo good. You have the arrival of the Bunker, you have Kevin and Charlie being awesome, some nice sprinkles of batshit episodes, BEST BOY BENNY rocks up in all his glory. Fucking epic season. Only downside it Sam’s character takes a bit of a dive. I’d recommend you watch through all of this season.

Episodes To AVOID:

7x13 - I literally pretend this stupid fucking episode doesn’t exist. Basically Dean impregnates a woman with Super Pregnancy and she has a daughter who becomes an adult within hours and then dies. The end. Everyone hated it. Man fuck this episode. Of course it was written by Buckleming.

Season 9 - Sadly, after how amazing season 8 was, and how spectactularly season 9 was set up, this season is a disappointment. It’s an ok season. It’s not bad, it’s not good, it’s just a bit all over the place.

I was going to give you the normal episode list to not skip, but looking through, most episodes this season should be watched for one reason or another. Either they’re Cas heavy, they do some interesting character building, or they feature one of the awesome side characters like Charlie or Jody.

This season is probably the height of the war in the writers’ room about destiel. Some writers want to no homo the whole thing and back way off, while other writers want to lean into it hard. So in the same season where SPOILER Cas loses his virginity to a random reaper woman and Dean kicks Cas out of the bunker to fend for himself, you also have Cas’ fatal flaw used as propaganda against him by Metatron being that he’s "in love” with humanity Dean. /SPOILER Whatever you do DON’T SKIP THE FINAL FEW EPISODES. TRUST ME.

Season 10 - Haha oh dear. This season is likely the biggest for wasted potential. You saw the end of season 9, right? You go “HOLY SHIT YES LET’S DO THIS” and then they do... season 10. They really became experts at setting up an awesome season only to fuck it up in delivery, right? Again, not a bad season, per se.

Episodes To AVOID:

9x05 - In which Dean wants to fuck a dog. I am not joking. I wish I were. Basically a spell-gone-wrong makes Dean doglike. it’s weird. it’s batshit. Not the good kind.

Season 11 - Season 11 is a pretty good season! They tried to give Dean a female love interest but Jackles said ✨No✨ and played Dean as brainwashed and uncomfortable the whole time and I love him for it. Of special note this season is the episode Baby (11x04), which is my favourite episode in the series! It’s funny, it’s heartwarming, it’s weirdly shot. I love it! We also get casifer this season which is awesome! Some episodes are skippable, but they’re generally good episodes.

Episodes NOT to Skip (ignore the 10 year special):

10x01 & 10x02 - Great episodes, Dean in this is *chefs kiss*.

10x04 - *sighs* Fan Fiction. A 200th episode that is simultaneously a love letter to fans and laughing in fans’ faces. I’ve never liked this episode for the second-hand embarressment of it all, but you should watch it and see if you like it.

10x06 - Pretty good episode.

10x07 - Jody AND Donna! Fantastic episode!

10x08 - Dadstiel rears his ugly head. I fucking love how Cas adopts two (2) kids over the course of the series and in both cases Dean eventually goes “ah fuck, I guess I gotta co-parent this thing”. Also we get some KILLER destiel this episode. hey go on a DATE and Cas tells Dean he’s a good person ^_^

10x09 - Good episode. Much destiel.

10x10 - Charlie episode!

10x11 - Teen!Dean! Need I say more?

OK so I just had a look, and you really just need to watch every episode from this point in the season on. Enjoy!

Season 12 - Another example of a TERRRIBLE season, is season 12. Season 12 is also one of the most destiel-heavy seasons in the show. You see the issue? Like, it’s got a stupid plot that makes no sense and has no fucking cohesion, but you also FINALLY have the writers going “fuck it” and all in on the destiel. After this point Dean never has another non-Cas love interest and vice versa, they stop giving us whiplash from baiting and no-homoing. IF the conspiracy theory is true, and the end of the show is shit because of executive meddling, this season is the one where the writers decided they were gonna push for destiel endgame.

I gotta tell you the truth, I skipped this season in my rewatch, so all of my memories are from years ago when it first came out. This seson was the last that I watched live (for a reason). Should you skip it? No. But I’m not well informed enough about this season that I can point out what episodes you should or should not watch.

Season 13 - Congratulations! You’ve reached the point where the show’s gotten consistently good again! (just in time for most of the audience to have already left lol). We start off with SPOILERS Dean mourning Cas like he’s lost the will to fucking live. I’m talking complete despondence, praying for Cas to come back, lashing out in anger at everything, one of the darkest points we’ve ever seen him at on the show, then pulling a 180 and being super happy the second Cas comes back. /SPOILERS They also introduce Jack, who is the SECOND child Cas decides to adopt and Dean ends up co-parenting (Sam too). In fact, Jack is explicity Sam, Cas, and Dean’s kid.

Season 14 - Another good one. My only issue is where they decided to take the plot at the end of the season. I’d recommend watching it all, regardless.

Season 15 - And so we’ve come to the end of the line. This season was... well it was actually pretty good. It started off with what we hellers lovingly refer to as the “divorce arc” where Cas and Dean have a big blow up, and Cas leaves, but that ends with Dean praying on his knees for forgiveness and a nice hug. Honestly this season you can cut the tension between the two of them like a knife, and you can tell Misha and Jensen were doing it deliberately.

I’d say watch up until 15x18, then you decide what to do with the last two episodes. If you want you can watch them to understand just why people put their conspiracy theory hats on, or you can send me another ask and I’ll rec you some post 15x18 finale fics! There’s one fic that’s a replacement for 15x20 written in script format that is particularly good.

Anyway that’s it. It’s kind of left me a little sad, to break down the show in this way. Especially coming up to season 15 nd remembering all the wasted potential. Honestly if you do decide to watch the show, good luck. I hope you enjoy it. I’m also glad you never had to be put through the bullshit false hope that came about after 15x18.

#supernatural #destiel #deancas #spn

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fonulyn · 3 years

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I need to scream about RE ID bc like. Did I enjoy it? Yeah, I did. Was it. Just wrapped up way too nicely and quickly? Also yeah. I was a little disappointed by it tho, like the length, and the flashback scenes weren't as clear as I think they should have been? Like I understood what was happening, but it took me a little too much brain power to like keep up with what was and wasn't a flashback lmao

Also I wanna say, I get wanting to keep Jun See alive but god, that did not look fun. Just let him die, dude, no one wants to live like that, smh.

Thank god they kept Leon's one liners tho, like thank you for that at least lol also Claire, my GIRL, I love her holy shit. Honestly she was amazing, like, just perfect. Not sure why she has a gun in the promotional poster, bc she just. Never has a gun throughout the entire show, I don't think? Also can we talk about how she took that guy down with that lamp, and then hopped on top of him just fucking ready to continue to beat the shit out of him? Chris would be so proud 🥲

Okay also, I saw what you said with that flirting scene, and I agree that it seemed like Leon was trying to lighten the mood, but it so didn't need to be put in there at all @ the writers. Like this show could have gotten away with no romance, or just that one moment near the end with Claire and Leon (which, I don't ship them much, and that moment at the v end where she was like "are you ever gonna stop treating me like a kid?" And he responded with "probably not" or whatever kind of ruined whatever was shown earlier? Like it feels like she's had that convo with Chris before too, so I'm like hm no don't imply romance and then imply that he treats her like a little kid every time they run into each other, now it's weird lol) and been fine. None of the story was contingent on any kind of romance between anyone.

Now with that said, can I just say Patrick absolutely wanted to suck Leon's dick? Like he was smitten, and I bet you they at least fuck after all this is said and done, if not date for a short period of time. I thought they were gonna kill Patrick off, I'm glad they didn't tho, he was v wholesome lol.

Also I wanna mention that every serious moment (save a small handful) I just. I couldn't take it seriously, it was too over the top. Acid? Really? That's the self destruct measure? Slowly rising acid? I dunno, that doesn't seem quite right to me, I don't think that's how it works lol

Honestly they should have just made this into a new movie, bc making it a series implies more to follow and in general a longer narrative, but these eps were barely 20 minutes each, so there's almost no point splitting it like that. Did I enjoy myself? Yeah, I always do when Leon is involved, but it could have been so much better.

Also the silly little shipper in me is kind of desperate for more interaction between Chris and Leon, bc as far as I'm aware it's just RE6, RE vendetta, and RE ID (and I think the person who told Chris to save Claire in either code x or Veronica was Leon? Not 100% about that tho lol) where they actually interact with each other, and considering that they're the two main characters of the franchise, they should probably meet up more? Idk, that's just my gay ass hoping for more Chreon content lmao but still.

ANYWAYS yeah, I would rate the show like a 7.5/10? It wasn't amazing but it wasn't garbage, either. Probably my least favorite of the four animated movies tbh, but I will take the Leon content, thank you Capcom. Also it was interesting to see Leon around the time following/around RE4 and RE degeneration, I thought, I dunno.

oh boy I agree 100% it was wrapped up way too quickly in the end. like killing Jason? by just dropping him in the acid? it was way too simple and easy if you ask me. and like, why didn't he yeet Leon into the acid when he had him by the throat? him not killing Leon makes zero sense to me??

asdfg yeah I get they weren't ready to let Jun See go, but I bet Jun See really would've preferred to go...

I am so happy that they kept the one liners!! Leon felt very, very in character which I loved so much. I was afraid they'd tone it down or make him super serious or so, and it was such a relief they didn't. he was so eager to help and so goddamn kind to everyone I don't know if my heart can even handle it ;;;;;

also Claire!! so badass!! I loved the part where she attacked the guy with the lamp (yes Chris would be super proud haha) and THE HEADBUTT seriously, one of the top highlights of the entire series :'D

(but honestly this is gonna get long i'mma gonna hit that read more here)

and the flirting scene, I do think they could've left it out entirely and it felt a little strong-armed in. but I'm trying to look at the silver lining? Leon was super goddamn adorable in it, like, so cute it hurts :'D and Shen May didn't seem bothered really, it was more this joking thing between them. so while yes, it was unnecessary, i'm focusing on the joking feel of it and choosing to interpret it as such :'D

also, can I just say, the "romantic moment" with Claire and Leon near the end didn't feel very romantic to me? I know it's a romcom cliché (or at least a fanfic cliché lmao) how they ended up in a pile after the rescue but ...it didn't scream romance to me? although I do kind of like the pairing! (not a top fave but a cute one)

and yes, the whole "when are you gonna stop treating me like a kid?" "probably never" felt SO much like a sibling moment!! such big brother energy from Leon, and I don't know, that made me super duper happy?? I want them to be friends. I neeeed them to be friends gdi. which is why I am unhappy with how mad Claire seemed to be at Leon in the end and how they left it off like they did. I am hoping that it sets things up for a second season? and they for whatever reason need them on kind of the opposing sides at first? because otherwise it makes no sense to me for her to be that disappointed in him. in Degeneration they already establish they work in different ways towards the same goal, and for that to do a 180 now feels... like a disservice to the characters? idk?

lmaooooo but yes Patrick 100% wanted to suck Leon's dick he didn't even try to be subtle about it :'D idk I would've wanted Patrick to have more depth and screentime too, i so wish they would've made it a longer series and given the characters more development. because I liked pretty much all of the new characters they introduced! but it feels none of them reached their actual potential!

then again that is kind of the whole deal with resident evil in general, they set up awesome characters and end up wasting them half of the time :'D guess i shouldn't be surprised.

THE SLOWLY RISING ACID PISSED ME OFF lmaooo c'mon!! it doesn't seem like a good self destruct measure. especially since ...you'd need different acid to dissolve organic matter and to dissolve inorganic matter if we're being nitpicky. and how would it be plausible for them to store enough of it safely to even do this?? they should've just detonated the whole place and blown it to smithereens or something, the acid was. stupid.

i agree, it feels like a movie. but I think @tirsynni is probably right when saying that it was sort of a test run to see if they should make more? which I am so hoping for. because even with the complaints I have of this, I DID enjoy it, a lot!! and I do want more! and maybe this time we get Claire and Leon actually working together for more than fifteen seconds! :'D

also I definitely would not say no to more Chris and Leon interactions. (yes it was Leon who told Chris to save Claire :) at least that) it... in general makes no sense to me how capcom seems to think friendships work? like how Sherry is all "Leon and Claire are my best friends" and then they imply they haven't met in years? if not more? idek it's. weird. it's like their characters go into storage containers in between their missions to be stored away so they can't even accidentally have personal lives or friendships or anything. weird.

(what I said about having amazing characters and ending up wasting their potential? yeah)

for me, personally, it's... well, my score for the show would depend on whether I just focus on the characterizations and what I liked, or if I try to actually take the plot and all into account too :'D but I did like this more than Degeneration! already the fact that Leon has actual facial expressions is enough to put it way above that one. (and for the record, I don't hate Degeneration either, I do like it, but... Leon is such a cardboard cutout with zero personality in it, it's super frustrating)

idk I think I need to still process this a bit to see how I will like it in the end :'D there are things i'm super hyped about in it, and things i'm disappointed in, let's see how they'll weigh in the overall experience eventually.

#idutr #replies #ask and i shall answer #re answers #infinite darkness spoilers #spoilers #infinite darkness

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itskyleeyo · 3 years

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hadestown brain dump (songs)

SPOILERS FOR HADESTOWN/THE STORY OF ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE

ok so it may have been more than a few days, but what're you gonna do about it?

so i wanted to do another brain dump, and i wanted to listen to hadestown, so i'm doing a song by song brain dump as i go along. this means that my thoughts are going to be even more stream-of-consciousness style (if that's even possible.) also i'm talking specifically about the original broadway cast recording bc i haven't listened to any other version. (also this was completed across multiple months so it is even more chaotic lmao).

also i highly recommend that you listen to the musical and/or pull up the lyrics as you go along! enjoy!

road to hell. the way andre brings in the chorus is flawless please. also the way that hermes is both a narrator and a character in the story he's narrating? beautiful. "the king of the mine." he sounds so nice here for some reason. also love his self-introduction "maybe it will turn out this time" no it won't but thank you for trying. also breaking the fourth wall to acknowledge the chorus and crew is so nice, here comes reeve ;) mans sounds like an angel. you can hear amber's voice stick out of the chorus and i literally love it so much. i'd die for amber gray but we'll get to that later.

any way the wind blows. the fates literally sound so perfect together. Eva's intro throws me off every time, she sounds so pretty. dear god the harmonies with the fates hit so different. can this cast please narrate my life? there's the wind comparisons ;D the "ooos" are so good. "and it ain't because i'm kind" idk i just like how andre sounds here. oh and the funny behind "so i took him underneath my wing" because hermes has wings on his helmet and shoes.

come home with me. orpheus is so oblivious but i love it. also eurydice is literally such a mood. the wordplay with "come again". the "oh, he's crazy" is my favorite part of the whole song. also eva's voice acting is so good.

wedding song. the way she says "lover"? my ass cannot handle this. eva sounds so smug in the beginning of this song and i love it. "sing the song ;)" eurydice is so fantastic. the chorus of "la" is so pretty. eva joining in during the end is just. so perfect.

epic i. hell yeah introduce the king and queen (both literally and figuratively). reeve's falsetto <3 the way orpheus looks to hermes for approval throughout the musical. hermes narrating over orpheus singing.

livin' it up on top. HELL YES THE QUEEN HAS ARRIVED. i love amber gray so much. the gravel and the rasp. please step on me. also i love the idea of persephone being the wine aunt, especially because media usually portrays her as soft and breakable. the way she says "haaard". the way the music gets more upbeat and energetic when hermes says "the world came back to liiife!" the instrumental/dance? break is so good. please kill me with that trumpet good sir. the leadup to when amber starts singing again. orpheus really knows how to give a speech. "i will ;)" amber please step on me i am not joking.

all i've ever known (intro). thank you for the intro king. the music is so pretty. the way it picks up with the piano part <3

all i've ever known. eva sounds so pretty dear god. yay more wind references! the wordplay with "hold". and also the references to hot and cold throughout the musical. "i don't wanna ever have to let you go." lol ironic because she ends up going with hades. "i knew you before we met, and i don't even know you yet." the fucking wordplay. like holy shit. the "love at first sight" feelings. this line gets me every damn time. the wordplay from 2:10 - 2:38 is so fucking incredible. i lose it every time istg. the instrumental portion is so pretty. the wind! "we'll always be like this" i fucking love irony so much. its so underrated and adds so many layers to the story.

way down hadestown. amber gray. that's it. "you either get to hell or to hadestown, ain't no difference anymore". i fucking love this line so much. not really sure why but the delivery is perfect. also the whole thing with it being a train? i love that so much. all the allusions and comparisons they can make are fantastic. more amber gray appreciation. and ofc. the fates. more fantastic instrumental breaks. "and you better forget about your wishing well." this line is so good but so sad because its literally persephone saying that "hey, fair warning, life is shit down there" and i feel bad for her. like the way she's super sassy and shit, but just stops singing when hades gets there, you can tell that she's definitely not ok. speaking of hades, holy shit patrick page. sounds so fucking fantastic. thank you for existing good sir. eva with the breathtaking single lines. and eva's voice standing out when she sings "ground".

a gathering storm. the constant references to weather and nature throughout the whole musical. eurydice with the common sense. the wind again! "did you hear me, orpheus?" he did not, in fact, hear her.

epic ii. the different names for hades in each epic make me so happy. hades thoughts: "i think my wife might not come back cause i'm super controlling. whatever shall i do? oh, i know! be even more controlling!" lmao dumbass motherfucker. that might not work out so well. i fucking love the transition into "chant" so much.

chant. this is one of my favorite songs from the musical. the wordplay within the entire song is so fucking fantastic. hades singing about desire and then orpheus singing the "song of love" was definitely done on purpose and i'm living for it. every single one of eva's lines make me emotional. ma'am why are you good at everything?? the band! more weather references! patrick page singing "lover" hits different. orpheus singing about hades and persephone being blind and deaf. lmao irony because he's not paying attention to anything around him. the wind! weather! "the song of love" is what brought orpheus and eurydice together, but orpheus' devotion to finishing it is what drives eurydice to hades. "did you think i'd be impressed" i was right ;) it didn't work out so well.

hey, little songbird. the strings <3 patrick page is a god (lol i'm so funny). how does he manage to make manipulation sound so good? bird references! the vocal contrast! eva's voice has this kind of "innocence" to it. especially compared to patrick. not sure if that's on purpose or not, but i love it. also the low note kills me every time. the octave jumps between patrick and eva's voices is just. ugh. and also eva's entire second verse is so fucking good. the emotion she portrays in her voice is so spectacular. seriously hades with the manipulation is so interesting and its so good. (manipulation is not a good thing i just mean that its done so well in the show. do not manipulate people!)

when the chips are down (intro). "your ticket ;)" yes pls sir i'll take a ticket cause life sucks ass.

when the chips are down. i fucking love the fates dear god. gambling references! eva has literally one line and still owns my heart. the band! "shoot to kill" sounds so good like i love it so much pls. also this fucking line "cast your eyes to heaven, you get a knife in the back" is so good. i'm gonna have to get into quite a few lines throughout the musical in a different brain dump because i have so much thought.

gone, i'm gone. darling eurydice. its not your fault that you're starving stop apologizing. "talk of sin" lol she do be going to hell. that's funny. the harmonies.

wait for me (intro). the piano. heremes trying to change the subject hurts my heart. and orpheus' reaction is so sad please. "no.." just rip my fucking heart out, why don't you?

wait for me. the transition. andre coming in clutch with the narration. reeve sounds wonderful, as always. the fucking fates. just kill me already. they literally sound so good. the strings' build up between the "la"s. the chorus. the buildup at the end.

why we build the wall. the total 180 in the vibes. call and response has a special pace in my heart. mr page killing it again. god, hades is such a piece of shit and its perfect. he really is a master manipulator. fuck capitalism. the chorus sounds so good. i want to platonically smooch all of them. jesus fucking christ burn capitalism to the ground. the end is amazing. also the not-so-subtle references to slavery/forced labor.

why we build the wall (outro). i'd die for andre. "anybody want a drink?" yes ma'am. yes please. (don't drink, kids) i love you so much.

our lady of the underground. its so jazzy! jesus fucking christ. oh my fucking god. i would literally sell my soul for amber gray. what did we ever do to deserve her? god the raspiness fucking kills me. also love that she breaks the fourth wall to acknowledge the band. when she comes back in after the instrumental break? consider me dead. "what the boss don't know, the boss won't mind" she sounds so good here. also i love that she straight up doesn't give a fuck about hades here.

way down hadestown (reprise). hell yeah i love reprises. the fates. andre. the chorus. i love them all. i'm such a whore for reoccurring lyrics. the strings! fuck capitalism! eva's emotions are just so fucking good. "you've already forgot?" holy shit. this shit hurted. the "ahh ooh"s are so good.

flowers. the intro <3. eva sounds so pretty. the fucking symbolism in this song is incredible. i'm gonna get into this in another brain dump bc it's a very sensitive topic. the fact that she can't actually fully remember orpheus makes me so sad. so pretty <3

come home with me (reprise). hell yeah another reprise. the way the music is much more upbeat when orpheus shows up. their excitement! eva's vocal emotions are literally so fantastic pls.

papers (intro). "young mannn" kill me patrick. train references! hell yeah persephone. the way andre gets louder when he says "raised up his voice." eva <3. reeve just always sounds so pretty. ohmygod the laugh. kill me good sir. mans straight up admits to owning people and is like "it's cool tho cause they signed a piece of paper. def not taking advantage of people that are literally starving or anything. it's fine." fuck you hades. go step on a fucking lego. orpheus is so sad :(

papers (instrumental). yes. sounds so good. i'm imagining an epic chase scene. the transition into nothing changes <3

nothing changes. respectfully? the fates could kill me any day and i'd thank them. the weather reference! that "anyhow" is so fucking good istg.

if it's true. another one of my favorites. pop off intro. the broken "is this how the world is?" sadly, yes. "but everybody knows that walls have ears." is literally such a powerful line to me for some reason. it does a great job of bringing in the chorus. and by calling the workers "walls" it shows that hades views them as "less than." they aren't even referred to as people. "what's the use of his backbone if he never stands upright." oh my god. because they literally cannot stand upright. anais mitchell is literally a fucking genius. fuck the 1%. gambling references! the chorus backing him is just so pretty. the way orpheus looks to the chorus for advice and support. "we're standing." ugh its so good.

how long. oh my fucking god. amber fucking gray. (that's it, that's the post). the way she sounds resigned/disappointed when she says "i've had enough" makes me so sad. there are no words to describe how i feel about 0:25 - 0:41. like their relationship is strained, and super mega fucked up, but it's obvious that they still care about one another. the emotion in their voices throughout this song is fantastic. the play on light and dark. also more bird references! how they view themselves/their self importance. hades is a most importantly king. persephone is most importantly a wife. it really show that hades views power as more important than anything else. "nothing comes of the songs people sing." holy fucking shit. cause their song is the "song of love," but they can barely stand each other and their relationship has fallen apart. persephone commenting on his love of power over his love of her. amber's voice during "the earth must die" is so nice and for what? god i love her. they sound so nice together <3

chant (reprise). another favorite hehe. the strings! it's all just so pretty. when the piano comes in i die a little. the self realization coming from the chorus when they're like "oh shit, this is wrong. i don't deserve to be treated like this." is so fucking fantastic. the "young mannn" again! hades really be like "manipulate her! make her depend on you financially! i've been ding this a while kid! i know how to successfully control women!" reeve sounds so pretty pls. the way that eurydice has basically become part of the chorus (since she's just another worker now). more self realization! the different ways that hades and orpheus view the "song of love." "sing before i kill you so i can use it to manipulate my wife and make her feel like shit." patrick's voice tho.

epic iii. reeve coming in with that falsetto like nobody's business. orpheus really about to bite you in the ass with your own damn song. amber gray <3. the "ooo"s in the background. the way the music picks up when reeve gets to the "la"s. it's just so fucking good. that falsetto again. orpheus really looked at the king of hell, a literal god, and said "i want to ruin him psychologically" and it fucking worked. which is some of my favorite irony because hades wouldn't have shit if it weren't for that fact that he's a good manipulator and takes advantage of the needy. that last line <3

epic iii (instrumental). i have no words for how fucking beautiful this is. i so desperately want an extended version. like for real love this so much. if i get married, i want this to be the song for the first dance.

promises. eurydice is so proud of him for finishing. the way that eurydice realized that she cares about him more that material objects. wind and weather references! "if we can do it so can they!" she sounds so excited. :( "hand-in-hand" lol nope. not them refencing wedding song, anyway the wind blows, and then giving their "i do"s. absolutely heart wrenching.

word to the wise. the fates. pls step on me ladies. the lyrics throughout this are so fucking good. lol hades being damned. cause he's the king of hell. honestly its solid advice tho. humans are really fucking stupid.

his kiss, the riot. give us them adjectives king. " how dare people want rights! >:(" hades is really trying to make himself the good guy rn. the music! 2:15 - 3:03 is so good pls. the lyrics are just so spectacular.

wait for me (reprise) (intro). hello again andre! hermes literally says "he's trying to psych you out and manipulate you. he wants you to doubt everything" and orpheus says "are you sure tho?" and then procedes to doubt everything. the way the music changes is <3. the song transition.

wait for me (reprise). my absolute fucking favorite song in this musical. the first fucking lyric is so good. it really sets an expectation for the song and i am not disappointed. lyrics that talk about how fucked up any single person's brain is are so fucking cool to me. god i love this song. how soft the first set of "wait for me"s are. the support/pressure from the chorus. the entire exchange between hades and persephone. the way amber's voice sticks out of the chorus. the fates coming in clutch again. train references! more brain talk! amber gray please end me. eva sounds so pretty. and the final note is so good!

doubt comes in. the long intro that builds up suspense. the first time that orpheus's "la"s aren't echoed by the chorus/music. wind! weather! the fates sound so pretty like always. reeve genuinely sounds so scared. the way the music picks up and the chorus joins in when eurydice starts singing. the music is so unsettling and i love it. god i love his voice. 3:44 - 3:57 always hits so different. you realize just how much she means to him. how it all goes to shit when the music reaches the climax. the fact that the music clashes on purpose. the sadness in their voices.

road to hell (reprise). it all comes full circle. god andre sounds so sad. the way you come to really hear the lyrics because there's no upbeat music to distract you this time, "its a tragedy" lol because the actual written story is a tragedy. "i learned that from a friend of mine" poor orpheus :(. the way the chorus slowly joins in and the music slowly picks up. the "can you feel it" is literally so fucking powerful. fuck yes amber. fuck it up queen. amber and eva sound so nice together. the "its a love song, its a sad song" is so sad. the final lyric is just. ugh.

we raise our cups. yes pls amber. this song is so pretty. good night queen.

#hadestown #eva noblezada #reeve carney #the fates #orpheus #eurydice #brain dump #hadestown brain dump #patrick page #hades #amber gray #persephone #hadestown musical

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heretherebedork · 2 years

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I kind of ended up liveblogging this shitty episode...

Loveless Society, proving how bad your sound editing has to be for me to care...

The answer is very, very bad.

Also doesn't help that nothing else about the show is particularly appealing.

This is The Cupid Coach all over again except this is, at least, only three episodes long.

Seriously, did they listen to this show before they put it on air?

@absolutebl Like, holy shit, no wonder you couldn't understand I can barely tell they're talking half the time.

Oh fuck it got worse in the second part. I should not hear the clicking of a helmet that loudly!

Fuck it, I'm just gonna liveblog this shit

... oh, seriously, we're gonna do the personality 180 this quickly? WTF?

Why is Guy suddenly being all thoughtful and softspoken? He was just an absolute jerk for the entire last episode?!?!

Now, I'll admit, I kind of expected this. But seriously?

Nut is still darling. I really do like tsundere artists, apparently.

I also still like Mick. He's a cutie. And very sweet. Poor boy is all jealous of smiling Nut. I still like MickNut, no denials. They have potential to be adorable friends to lovers.

Are they just whispering their lines or what? Especially Guy's actor. Dude, talk just a little louder.

Poor Sa. She's surprisingly fun. And poor Mick, he deserves better.

Oy vey, really, we're gonna do this? Guy being all attentive and then just going to ignoring him? Well. He is an ass? Fine, whatever.

lol static noises

Aww, Nut trying to take of his friends. Why does everyone keep turning him down?

Bright is still the cutest guy on the show.

Sa is very sweet as she tries to support Mick confessing to Nut. And he absolutely should!

Mick is a tiny pining boy. You know he's won me over. I love him so much and I'm so sad that he's not gonna win this. Poor Mick.

lol more loud static. What the fuck were the sound editors doing when they watched this?!?! Seriously, this is almost as bad as The Cupid Coach but has a few more good moments.

Why the fuck did Guy bring Nut to a bar? Why did Nut agree to go? What is even going on with these two!?!? Is this actually coherent or am I just expecting too much?

Okay, you know what, I actually liked the shot from directly behind Nut because it really set him as not fitting in at all in the setting and everything happening around him.

Ah, yes, the Guy is just the ultimate player who never does anything serious.

Please let Nut just go home on his own and go snuggle with Mick or something and just get over Guy.

Ugh, poor Nut. Just leave, baby boy. Just gtfo of there and stay gone. This isn't worth the stress on your face.

I do appreciate that I've finally figured out the thai word for cute.

Also, yeah, Guy that was not a good way to relax anyone. 'Hey, come hang out with my friends in a bar while I wander off and chat with old friends and my friends can all tell you about how I'm a total player!' like that sounds awful.

'It's my loveless society' says the player who's obviously constantly sleeping with people/taking them on dates wtf does that even mean?

Awww, poor Mick. Again. My tiny baby. You gotta confess or give up, baby. I hate to say that to a pining baby but seriously boo.

But you're also a bit of an idiot Nut. Seriously, he's not being subtle.

Also this camera work kinda sucks.

This is the dumbest argument ever because it's an argument about not what they're arguing about. At least Mick finally says something that might give Nut a hint. Seriously, boys, you're both dumb as bricks.

Will he figure it out?!?!

I don't know, the episode just ended.

And the preview looks... confusing?

Oy.

#loveless society #thai bl #thaibl #bl series #bl drama #asianlgbtqdramas #asian lgbtq dramas #y'all do not bother with this show

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legionofpotatoes · 3 years

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alright here’s ma thoughts on that flick I mentioned

we hatewatched a*my of the dead because we were CONVINCED “zombies in las vegas” would be an impossible concept to screw up, but in so assuming we obviously invoked a holy wager with the universe and got reminded, once again, that hoping for improvement from someone who’s dependably put out bad art is never a wise choice 😐

but we were honestly kinda roped in by the marketing??? and expected a goofy fast-paced flick with the odd traditional undead metaphor thrown in, framing some sort of relationship drama maybe or hell even nothing at all! we’d have taken pure indulgent storytelling, idk italian job with zombies in las vegas, I don’t know fucking anything but??? whatever this was???? spoilers below for it is time for One Of My Rants

I mean the main reason I really want to write all this and complain. this film here probably has the most unappealing cinematography I have ever experienced in my life and that is saying something. who the fuck signed off on that CONSTANT shallow-ass depth of field that imprisons your eyeline and turns every shot into bokeh paste???? and I mean every shot almost!!!! I promise if you think I am overreacting just throw a dart at the seek bar and watch twenty seconds from wherever it lands. it is horrifying to look at. at least it gave my girlfriend a good visual shorthand for what it’s like when I lose my glasses

why was sean spicer in this movie. did they pay him to be here. was sean spicer paid hollywood money for his scene in this film because fuck everyone who was involved in that decision

the legitimately baffling hints at the extraterrestrial origins of the infection that went absolutely nowhere and had no dramatic or plot-level bearing. we love to see the franchise sprouts fellas

yet another big budget waste of everything hiroyuki sanada has to offer. and bautista too I guess? I like him but man was this an odd career move

what was the crux of his conflict/resolution with his daughter btw. I understand it was rooted in miscommunication over their forms of grief irt mom but uhh… it was all rather clunky and didn’t land for me. I tried I really tried to buy in but something was wrong fundamentally with the groundwork there, it did not click and their catharsis felt unearned. I know there’s massive amounts of tragic baggage being projected there from the author so I’m not slapping any judgment down really;

but again it would be an easy thing to wave off if they just had a vibrant cast of lovable simpletons with good chemistry and the kinetic sense of plotting the trailers promised (and this premise never discounts good drama, either). but instead it was just two and a half (!) hours of meandering into situations the filmmaking instincts had no idea how to flow in and out of

to wit. I know talking about “bad pacing” is associated with armchair bullshit but consider the example of the scene were dieter does an out of nowhere little dance after childishly screaming but then still-killing a zombie, with the film framing this as a micro character triumph, and not a second later the bg soundtrack instantly fades into an orchestral score dramatizing a nearby mcguffin reveal, completely 180 degreeing the tone without a semblance of deft insert shot stitching or even I dont know a fucking jump cut maybe. now imagine this whiplash for 2.5 hrs uninterrupted

I will keep complaining about the length yeah because this was not a story requiring this much real estate to be told. Uhh in my humble and personal opinion, of course

[man sees zombie tiger] “this is crossing the line!” you can in fact write dialogue that is not utter nonsense that falls apart once you drill down its single fickle layer of referential meta winking. what line are you talking about. you have rules in this insane situation you’re in? total nitpick moment I know but it got burned in my brain for some reason. like a microcosm of the mismanaged dramatic instincts paired with weird writing that dots this movie. I am sure the director calls this either satire or genre deconstruction. I am SO sure

tumblr domino meme that goes from “dude getting sucked off while driving” to “entire las vegas literally nuked”

tig notaro is always great to see but once you know she’s been filmed as a separate greenscreen plate months after photography wrapped - cause she had to apparently replace some abusive asshole but that’s a whole other pig not worth fucking - it becomes impossible to unsee her odd detachment from everyone else in the movie lmao. it doesn’t really “ruin” anything on its lonesome but it is hard to unsee

why. was. sean. spicer. in. this. movie

a very simple key ingredient missing from fully turning lip service sympathy for main uruk hai dude into actual empathy that would generate meaningful conflict with hero family would be to spend a bit more time articulating what he internally wanted the most. because he was obviously trying to do something here with pointed agenda. a family, to have kids, build a caste system, save his wife’s head, return to his planet??? all of these could represent the bigger context in his psychology that spurred his vengeance but none of them are dramatically emphasized long enough for you to cheer him on. I’m not asking too much I promise. Articulating interiority of a mute character is pretty doable with deft cinema language, just gotta linger and hold a shot here and there for a few seconds, frame as his POV, donezo. I know this is also one of those like. “who cares” moments but the movie does, very evidently so, in making this guy an actual character. you can kinda piece it together and create a framework of sympathy for him, sure, but then again he ultimately becomes a foil to be killed and not defeated, so. Ehh whatever

quarantine zone stuff was not a wildly childish covid allegory quarantine zone stuff was not a wildly childish covid allegory quarantine zone stuff was n

the rooftop helicopter fakout at the end was such an ass-backwards, manufactured moment of what could be a simple setup/payoff it just pissed me off??? you gain nothing by giving sad dad five seconds of pointless crisis that flips right back to previous status quo ANYWAY, except for a weaksauce waste of runtime, which could be used instead to get inside notaro’s head and actually SHOW the remorse form as she took off, literally maybe even a frown playing on her face as she’s headed for safety right before we cut back to drax and the kid. just a simple-ass, minimal, momentary setup for what is the most basic filmmaking trick of creating macro catharsis moments. Just???? g o d if you can’t even land that shit why are you even doing any of this

that lil run final pam did was very very charming and super choreographed in a way that was the tiiiniest bit overdone

the whole intro with the simul-backstories and posing with family photos was just… oddly motivated. what was the goal? “here’s what we’re fighting for” vignettes? why? it’s not a functional setup in that vein. what was all that

also I am sorry if this is insensitive but the reasons most characters end up articulating to justify going back into the hell that destroyed their lives makes them sound seriously insane

I dont like complaining about CGI (honestly) but so much of it in modern movies can achieve higher fidelity if the animation is simply subdued. Do not overengineer and over-apply 2D cell methodologies and kinematics to each tiny twitch and movement in a hyper 3D model and I promise you. it will look a thousand times more natural. look at thanos in those last two movies. your rendering and detail are absolutely perfect with the tiger you just have to let stuff sit instead of constantly simulating swaying hair strands and firing off all facial muscles at once. great moment at one point where makeup zombie horse and CG zombie tiger are both in one shot together and just by unnecessary amounts of movement alone you can tell who doesn’t belong. again; detail, rendering, compositing, lighting, all picture-perfect; but y’all just gotta let the animation breathe sometimes, and chill it out

plot holes don’t really matter to me but it was kinda funny how lilly decided not to mention the enormous wrinkle in intel pertaining to an actual territorial tribe of intelligent zombies that require human offerings to let you pass, just so that reveal could play out in real time through the joyous punishment of the cartoonishly misogynistic dude

total chad move for mister uruk hai and final pam to rule from a rusted swimming pool complex

the ending with vanderohe oh my god. with the. cash stacks at the airport register. and specifically them working in his favor. that is literally something you do to get arrested under suspicion of theft. it was almost played for laughs and I respect that. coulda been goofier. make these movies goofy ya dorks

anyway, weird, weird movie. bad marketing. message unclear (something something sins of the father???), baffling editing instincts, literal worst-looking cinematography I ever laid eyes upon. Confidently dying on that last hill

#text #long post #aotd spoilers #aotd critical

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adinosaurnamedmittens · 3 years

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Alright so I can’t stop thinking of RVB Zero and how much potential it has so I wanna rework it a bit to work better.

So first I’m gonna talk about the new characters and what I’d change before breaking down the individual episodes for critique and suggested rewrites. At this point, I’ve only seen up to episode 4, Encounter. So spoilers till that ep.

West - Honestly great! He doesn’t have a ton of character, but what he has is solid. He works very well as the gruff, no-nonsense leader who’s a tiny bit of a dad.

Raymond - Also great! He’s the most classic RVB character, as he’s an underdog who’s not the best at fighting, but has a lot of heart. My fav new character, right next to Tiny.

One - I want to change her to 2nd in command and drop the whole “can’t work within a team” thing. Keep the confidence and slight rudeness, but drop all the lines referencing anti-teamwork. It hasn’t factored into the story so far, One has been successfully working as part of the team for all the episodes. This would make her dynamic with Axel more interesting, being in a higher position of power. Especially considering how her healthy relationship with her dad contrasts with East and West’s relationship. This would reinforce the tension with East, since One now has an actual position of power over her. Also, she should have the exact same powers as Zero, but maybe less powerful. This would help foreshadow that reveal, and help us understand how the enhancements work. While One is a bit of a shit, and thinks she knows best, she’s willing to take the fall when her ideas fail or get them in trouble.

Axel - Imma be honest: totally forgot he was One’s adopted dad until I rewatched the episodes prepping for this. You could drop it totally, as it gets a bit redundant with West and East’s relationship, but I think there’s more fun in working with it. Also, if One’s 2nd in command and Axel isn’t insecure about it at all? Instantly makes him a more likable guy. I also think he parallels to Wash very well (bit of a kid at heart, weapons guy, team dad, emotional heart) so we’re gonna expand on that too.

East - Her and One’s relationship is the driving force of conflict within the strike team. With the changes made to One, East can stay pretty much unchanged. Before they were too similar. Now, with One being abrasive but willing to work together, and East being more reserved and distant, they’re great foils for each other. Also she parallels early Carolina, which I love (speed is her ability, prefers working alone, competitive as hell, dad runs team)

Villains: On characterization, they’re all good! Villains are allowed to be a bit more shallow, and they all seem to have understandable motives for what they’re doing: Zero wants revenge and power, Phase wants revenge especially against West, and Diesel just seems like he’s having fun. I do want to change Zero’s power tho, with Phase already having a teleport with a cool gimmick, and Diesel having a strength/tank ability, Zero should have a unique ability. Maybe gravity because of the sword? It would allow him some cool movement tricks while still being visually distinct from Diesel and Phase’s abilities. Or something inspired by his “ghost” line from Duo.

EP 1: Viper

The Good: The introduction to the villains and their abilities was amazing. I love Phase’s knife and it’s honestly one of the coolest things I’ve seen in the show. And the intro to the Strike team? Hilarious. Great character work. You can tell that One and Axel are close, that Raymond is hesitant and new, East and One have a very competitive relationship, and West is the tough love dad.

The Bad: Don’t violate the 180 camera rule. The intro fight scene was cool, but the camera moved way too much and made it hard to keep track of everything happening. And with the new, shiny art style we need a bit more time to absorb what’s happening since the detail level went up. Also y’all healed Wash’s brain damage with a throwaway line, and then immediately fridged him? Not cool. I mean, if you wanted to show how tough the villains are, you already had them beat up Carolina.

Story Changes: - Zero gets name dropped this ep so we get a scene next ep where Axel recognizes his name. - Either replace Wash with a high ranking soldier and completely scrub him from the episode, or give a different reason why he can’t help, maybe exactly Carolina’s reason of “you’re recovering”. I’m not committing to totally removing Wash bc in Recovery Carolina’s line of “That I-that we thought was a medium risk asset” hints that Wash knew exactly what they were carrying and I’m excited to see where they take that. - Mainly I want scenes of Wash talking to Axel and expanding on his characterization as they are both Nice Boys Who Have Been Through It. - I also think a scene after we meet Strike where Axel asks Raymond “You like riding with East?” and Ray goes “You two stuck me with her on purpose!” and One goes “Yup!” all cheerfully. Just reinforce those team dynamics and friendships before it goes to shit!

EP 2: Recovery

The Good: The garage scene was perfect. Tiny is amazing, love her so much! And Axel got such great characterization during this ep. What a dork. West and Raymond also work super well together, their interactions are great.

The Bad:You know it’s a problem when the villains have a better dynamic than the heroes. The scene where Carolina explains all the strike member’s abilities and personalities? Bad. Also a little OOC for her. And redundant, since we also get Raymond asking West about East, and Axel’s explanation of the girls to Carolina.

Story Changes: - Have Axel, the emotional heart, waiting outside the recovery room for Carolina. Honestly, this isn’t that big, but I think it’d suit his character. - Carolina’s exposition is changed to solely history and abilities, no commenting on their personalities. Maybe East gets a little “has shown difficulty in working with others” but that’s it. The physical acting for these scenes really shines through, so let it stand alone. Even watching without sound, you can pick up that West is a no-nonsense leader, that Axel isn’t a flashy fighter but gets the job done, that East is fairly young and doesn’t take fighting seriously, and that One is willing to leave others behind if she thinks she can do it better. - For Carolina’s convo with One this ep about her “not willing to work on a team” either swap One with East or change it to “you need to listen to your team more. Don’t assume that you immediately now what’s best” - At the end of training, when Axel says “the guards were priority #1″ One should say “I knew you could handle it.” and Axel could respond with “Well, it’d be nice if you let me know that.” to show that One can work well as 2nd in command, but needs to communicate and stop assuming things. -Also should change Axel’s warning line about her enhancements to “Don’t push yourself. Remember what happened last time?” to enforce that this is a habit, and that while he cares about her, he’s not trying to boss her around as much. -Don’t reveal that East is West’s daughter until Raymond and West talk. That way, there’s a bit more emotional weight, and Ray’s line of “I was digging through the team files” makes more sense if Carolina doesn’t drop that info in the previous scene. - When Axel talks about the experiments East went through, he should mention that he was there for some of them. Dropping more foreshadowing for the Axel/Zero reveal! - Carolina drops Zero’s name in their convo, and we get a shot of Axel’s hand tightening on his weapon, showing the audience that the name means something to him, but we don’t know why.

EP 3: Duo

The Good: First 3rd of the ep? Really good. I love One being rude to Carolina, and then gaining a grudging respect. West and Raymond are, again, the best dynamic. How? I honestly have no idea. The car looks so stupid in the funniest way, I hate it but I love it. Also god yes Axel and Zero’s relationship is so wholesome and could be the best thing in this season. One’s warning call to the facility? The funniest shit. And Zero’s dialogue is hella cliched, but it works bc he’s obv such a dramatic bitch.

The Bad: HOLY HELL THE DIALOGUE. First, One and East’s fight? garbage. Very forced. Super hard to believe these two are real people. Carolina and West literally repeat the exact same line, less than 5 seconds apart. The dishwasher joke West makes does NOT at all work, it’s too tonally dissonant.

Story Changes: - Obv. need to change One and East’s convo. End it with “Without your power, you wouldn’t even be on this team!” East should storm off or almost attack One, requiring Axel to diffuse. - It’d also be really nice to get a line where One acknowledges that she went too far with that, but puts off apologizing to East. It’d be a nod that she’s good at reflecting and assessing, but too proud to actually take her words back. - I’d like to make Raymond more panicked when they find Wash. It’d help sell that he’s in bad shape and add more weight to “He’s got a heartbeat!” - Maybe re-work Phase and Zero’s conversation a bit. The dialogue is definitely not this season’s strong suit. - Pull Carolina’s “I’m just trying to help, East.” since it’s more impactful for East to storm off immediately and West says the line a couple seconds later. And change East’s dialogue to “You may be my CO, but don’t try to be my dad. Not after what you’ve done.” Or something similar. - For the dishwasher gag in the meeting, either pull it or double down. It’d work so much better if someone asks “Are you serious about this? Aren’t there more important things to discuss?” and West just deadpans. “This is of the upmost importance. If we can’t keep this base clean, how can we be expected to do anything else?!” and then Carolina clears her throat super loud and West goes “...Right. Rookie? Take it from here.” - Rework the “Carolina stay behind” dialogue. Even just a “Carolina. You’re still recovering. If you get hurt again, it’ll just be longer till you can take these bastards down. Keep an eye on Wash, will you?” I just couldn’t get behind the wording of “we need you here. With wash” It sounds like every cliched “woman must stay behind while the manly men save everyone!” Might be personal preference but just ew. - Add a scene where One notices Axel being a bit off (bc he’s worried about Zero being a part of the bad guy team) and she asks if he’s okay. He brushes her off, says its nothing. She goes “alright, i trust you.” - Maybe make the flashback a bit more apparent? There was a moment in the middle where I questioned whether or not it was a flashback. Again, could be a me problem.

EP 4: Encounter

The Good: The fight scenes continue to be absolute standouts. The varied environments, the movement, the dynamics on point. Wish we could’ve saw a bit more from Axel, but as is the scene worked well. The framing of the ep was good too, cutting between the mission and the fallout. And Ray, resident coward, immediately squaring up without a thought after West got injured? *chef’s kiss*. THAT is good character development. THAT is an amazing way to establish their relationship without telling us outright. Go feral, my boy! And Tiny and Raymond’s convo was so cute. I love how, despite what he says, Ray is there for his team and always willing to help. Carolina and One’s convo was also pretty decent. It got a bit long and over-explainy on Carolina’s end, but there were some pretty good moments.

The Bad: The fight after the mission failure was SO over-acted. Too much motion, to many camera angles. It changed what should have been tense arguments to hilarious melodrama. This has been a consistent problem, but it REALLY affects this scene in particular. And the second Axel enters the scene it just immediately goes downhill.

Story Changes: - Add a line from West in the beginning scene like “I’ll cut them off!” to explain why he isn’t in the car too. This also means it’s not as out-of-nowhere when West shows up to trash the car. - One should call out Axel instead of East. If she’s his daughter, she should be able to tell when he’s acting off. And she would have an easier time connecting the dots between Axel and Zero. - Instead of “I trusted you.” One should say “You lied to me.” 1) He’s her dad. One lie isn’t gonna break her total trust. 2) This would imply it’s the first time he’s lied to her, adding more weight to the whole situation 3) It’s way more accusatory and less cliched (if only a bit) - Add in a “One, wait!” bc I am a sucker for it and we could hear the guilt in his voice, rather than the weird scene where the girls make him spin around by bumping into him. - It’d also be nice if Ray stayed back for a bit before leaving, so we got a bit of his feelings on the matter. I mean, obviously he cares a lot about West, but does he blame Axel for not being there to help? It’d be nice to know!

TL;DR The best parts of the episodes are the fight scenes, and when they focus on the fun team dynamics. The worst parts are dialogue (mostly the serious bits) and over-animating, as this takes away from the drama.

I don’t mind the cheesy villains, but that may not be the case for everyone.

The best part of RVB has always been the rag-tag found family dynamics. While the fight scenes are cool, they have always been supplemental to the real meat of the show. The writers are trying something new with the whole “actual family” but you have got to focus on and develop these relationships if you want fans to care.

Mostly, I see a lot of potential in these characters, but there are GLARING issues in this season that are holding them back.

#rvb #rvb zero #rvb zero spoilers #rant #long post #criticism #might add on to this when new eps release bc i am invested #though not entirely for the right reasons #i just see the POTENTIAL #and i physically cannot hold myself back

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whitleyschn33 · 4 years

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RWBY Volume 8 Episode One: Quick Thoughts

Or not so quick, seeing how long it took me to write this and how much I ended up having to say. Spoilers (duh) under the cut, as this thing got insanely long.

So we open with a maid scrubbing a floor, a shot that lasted long enough I was starting to wonder where it was going before we cut to Cinder. So, Cinder backstory - interesting way to open the volume, but I’m not sure if it’s a good way. At the very least, I would have cut it a couple seconds, or have it flash between Cinder’s face and the flashback. Same information, but given in a quicker manner that lets us know exactly what we’re seeing instead of wonder who this random maid is for 10 seconds.

Whale aircraft carrier. The design is interesting, if looking a bit too clean for my taste. I would’ve liked to see the bones and muscles of the Grimm incorporated into the design a bit more, the surfaces less smooth and more textured, but it looks good.

Facial acting on Neo is good - I appreciate being able to see what’s running through her head, even if it also makes me wonder why Salem isn’t picking up on the obvious tells.

Emerald and Mercury are back and with new outfits; I can hear the diehard EmMerc fans screaming from here. Would’ve liked a better look at the whole outfits (I don’t think there’s even one close up of their entire bodies), but I like Mercury’s! Emerald’s model feels off to me for some reason, like it’s wider or more padded (?) than before, but it’s not a big deal and is probably just a result of her wearing a jacket now.

Oh, yeah, Hazel got one too, don’t care.

Why does the whale have a screen? A connection to one of those seer orb Grimm?

Cinder is still not interesting to me, but I am curious - can one woman hold multiple maiden powers? What happens if one woman holds them all? If they can hold multiple powers, what happens when they die? Do they both/all go to the same person, or would they split?

I like the Faunus that gives Oscar the soup. His design is pretty cute to me (I think he’s a mole Faunus?), and I feel like he’s based on something, but I’m not sure what. Getting a Narnia vibe for some reason, which I’m always on board for.

How did Ruby know where Oscar ended up? Did he call?

Weiss’s braid looks much better! I’m still not a huge fan of it, but this model is an enormous improvement - it actually looks like hair instead of rope, it’s slicker, and doesn’t look as heavy. Nice job, animators. Blake’s looks better, too, more fluffy, but it’s not as drastic a change to me.

Nice to see the Happy Huntresses actually doing something to help Mantle, and having Joanna(? that’s her name, right?) take charge and be helping Ruby get Oscar back in exchange for their aid is nice. It feels realistic for a situation like this.

And more secret keeping, but in this case, dropping the Oz bombshell would actually probably be a bad idea. There’s enough going on, bringing up Oz being back can wait until tensions aren’t as high.

Why would Ironwood stop evacuation? That makes no sense for his character, and there’s no reason to stop them. Until he gets Penny back, Atlas isn’t going anywhere. Might as well keep evacuating until you can find here, get as many people to safety as possible before getting away. I’d assume the Doylist answer for this is that Mantle still needs to be a factor in any decisions made after this and it can’t be that if we can get everyone evacuated, but that doesn’t make the Watsonian explanation make more sense.

Actually a good plan, getting everyone into the crater if it is in fact warm (why, I wonder? Thermal vents? Heat coming off of Atlas?) solves the cold problem (that people should’ve probably already died from) and having to defend one smaller location is strategically a good option. Corralling people would also make any eventual evac to Atlas easier. There is the small problem of, you know, Atlas literally crushing anyone in the crater if the staff is used on anything else, and Salem is known to be after that Staff, sooooooo -

Okay, maybe a nitpick, but I thought Pierto’s specialty was prosthetics and robotics. Doesn’t seem like something that necessarily overlaps with what’s needed to convert Amity into a satellite. I guess maybe the engine/whatever is going to propel it into the air could be similar to Penny’s boosters/whatever lets her fly, but it doesn’t seem like something that he would be involved in raising Amity. Whatever - I know we need a scientist person to tell these things to RWBY+Co and Pierto is the most likely candidate to be in a position to do that.

It seems like, from Ruby’s dialogue, she both wants to warn the other kingdoms and ask for their help. This has been trampled to death, so I won’t rant, but - there is no one that’s going to be able to help. Argus is hours away, will take time to assemble, and isn’t a very large force to begin with. Mistral is still weakened from V5 and has next to no huntsman, and is even farther than Argus. No idea what’s going on with Vale, but they’re probably still nursing their wounds from the Fall. Vacuo is the only kingdom likely to be able to muster up a force, but they’re on the other side of the map and will take hours, if not days, to get together an army - and that’s if they decide they want to help at all. The other objective was warning the Kingdoms about Salem. Ignoring that Salem is immortal and can just throw as many Grimm as she pleases until the defenses fall, ignoring that the other Kingdoms might not even believe Ruby, what’s to say they won’t go “F*ck Atlas, they’re on their own” and recall every available Huntsman and Huntress to shore up their own defenses? Or what if the other kingdoms just fall into anarchy? Learning an immortal witch with an endless supply of Grimm will come knocking on your doorstep soon tends to cause chaos. Or is Ruby going to leave the whole immortal part out again? I just can’t see what this will accomplish.

Holy shit, it’s actually happening. Dissent from WBY, and it’s coming from Yang of all people - I love it. I wish Yang had gotten to finish her sentence, say something along the lines of “Maybe if we’d told the truth immediately things wouldn’t have gone this way” since that would fit with her “hate secrets” thing she had going on in V5/6, but the fact that Yang is actually questioning Ruby’s leadership and choices - yes yes yes, more of that please, less of the hive mind. I wish it’d come a little earlier, but at this point I’ll take what I can get.

I’m slightly confused at the sides that Ren and Nora are taking here. I like that we’re splitting them up here (we never get to see them separated, and after last volume, I am more than on board with letting Ren get some breathing room), but Ren going with Yang, Jaune, and Oscar to help evacuate Mantle while Nora goes on the “bigger picture” team to get Amity up and running seems weird considering where they were last volume. Nora was always screaming about how the big picture stuff was hurting Mantle, while Ren was pushing to keep training, keep working, support Ironwood and try and work at the big picture problem, so it would seem like they should be on opposite sides. I’m not saying it makes no sense - I can absolutely see Ren feeling protective of towns under attack from Grimm with no Huntsmen in their corner - but it feels like a bit of a 180 from their last positions.

Did Oscar just call Jaune “John”?

Yeah, if nothing else, don’t let Penny get anywhere near Salem or her cronies. Salem can absolutely not be allowed to get her hands on the Staff, especially with the whole “get everyone to the crater” plan. Squish.

Yang and Blake splitting up, maybe we can actually get some conversations on what the hell is up with them that we should have gotten in V6/V7 instead of petty showing off and Nora projecting.

“But what about Mantle?” “Oh, I’m helping Mantle.” with the same thing you spent all last volume complaining about. Uh-huh, that’s not annoying.

Weiss has an idea on how to get up to Atlas - Winter’s ship, maybe? That one she came in on in V3 was her personal ship, wasn’t it?

Ironwood calls Penny. From the music, it sounds like they were aiming for foreboding and manipulative, but Ironwood just sounds tired, the poor man. Love how Ruby doesn’t even try for a comeback for Ironwood’s argument, really convincing.

Dead Clover, and I hope that he stays that way, because if he’s brought back to life, so much of V6′s themes of life and death and the natural cycle is just going to be spit on (again). Clover is dead, and there should be no way around that save interference from a literal god. Any attempt at bringing him back needs some kind of drawback - some prevision of life, a body that moves but his soul isn’t there, something, please RT, don’t double back on your “Death is permanent” thing again.

And Ironwood did lose his arm completely. It’s an awesome looking prosthetic, but the fact that it’s black when the rest of his prosthetics are silver, combined with the comments made by the CRWBY about Ironwood’s humanity, make me very afraid they’re going to go for some sort of bullshit parallel to Cinder’s black Grimm arm. I do like the orchestral version of Hero playing here, though.

I like Winter’s new hair style - similar enough to her previous one, but looser. Not exactly happy about what that might symbolize, but it looks really good. It looks like she might have nerve damage, though, which would mean she might be off the battlefield until she can get her hands (hah) on some sort of brace to help her move her hands (which might be hinted at in the OP~)

I do really like Ironwood and Winter’s relationship, please don’t f*ck it up, CRWBY.

Is the only thing CRWBY knows how to do to make Ironwood seem like the bad guy shoot people for no goddamn reason? Ironwood was surrounded by loyal soldiers after declaring martial law, there was no reason for him to not just order Slate detained (that one was Slate, right? Not that it matters). The man’s annoying and probably in cahoots with Jacques, but shooting him is out of character, excessive, and makes no sense when he could just be arrested. “It shows he’s slipping -” No. It’s lazy writing meant for shock value and to give characters a reason to go “Oh, he’s going evil now, I better question my loyalty to him” (based on the look Winter and Harriet share) rather than any actual flaw in his plans maybe because CRBY realized that Ironwood’s plans are rational and the best one on the table right now, so they can’t use that to turn people against him. F*ck that.

Salem sends a bloodhound or whatever after Oscar, we already saw this bit in the trailers. No comment.

TLDR: Once again, RWBY sets up a lot of stuff that I find interesting and want to see more of. However, their treatment of Ironwood doesn’t make me optimistic for them to treat him right, and RWBY has a track record of setting up good concepts/plots/characters/arcs and then failing to execute them well or at all. We’ll have to see if V8 actually lives up to the promise or falls flat due to the issues that plagued V6 and V7 .

Going to make a whole new list for the OP because dear Lord, this thing is dense.

This song is definitely more in line with RWBY’s usual sound than Trust Love, and I’m all for that. The beat is a little hinky to me - it’s going to take a few re-listens to get used to it - and once again I wish the lyrics were clearer, but I know people that weren’t as happy with V7′s sound will be happy with this return to form.

Establishing shots of Mantle going to hell, nice use of red and contrast, but I wish there was a bit more use of shadow to really sell the red coming from fires and emergency lights.

Ruby standing alone, turning to find the others standing at the ready to fight, but away from her and with their backs turned. Any chance of more dissent? Will we actually get some growth from Ruby, in regards to her leadership in particular? We can only hope.

The four girls, on a blackish/blue background with floating warm lights, with images of their V1 selves in their clothes/hair/weapons. I really love the animation in the portion, the girls look so good. It also makes me wish we’d get some sort of flashback to V1-3, because I want more of their Beacon designs in the new animation style. The fact that this background/setting shows up again later in the trailer makes me wonder if it might be what the interior of the Atlas vault looks like. No basis for that, just a random thought. Couple minor nitpicks, focused on Yang. The fact that she’s the only one not in a more dynamic pose (and this is Yang of all people) seems odd, and the way her hair flows looks weird to me based on the angles and whatnot. Putting her in a different pose like a charge would fix this, letting her hair flow more naturally and giving them the space they need to to add in her past self. Otherwise, gorgeous.

Ironwood with Atlas inside him, slowly being overtaken by the red as he looks up. No real comment other than beautiful.

Clover dropping his pin, with the AceOps and Qrow in the leaves, before transitioning to Qrow taking Robyn’s hand in prison. It looks like Harriet will be taking over as team leader. I don’t have a lot to say here - Marrow’s the only AceOp I’m interested in, and Qrow and Clover’s relationship has never been compelling for me. Robyn, similarly, is not a character I like, so a Qrow/Robyn team-up jailbreak isn’t something that I’m interested in unless Watts is involved. Already teamed up with one villain, Qrow, why stop there?

Oscar in pain holding his head, while Grimm eyes surround him and then Salem with wyvern wings comes out and looms over him preparing to grab him. I like the visual of Salem as the Wyvern at Beacon, but her face looks almost doofy in this shot. I think it’s the lack of expression mixed with the eyes. If she had a more menacing expression, I think this would work a lot better.

The falling weapons of the girls, Crescent Rose with Myrtenaster and Gambol Shroud with Ember Celica. Cue the shippers.

Jaune with his sword in front of his face, pulling it down to be at the ready, with Nora and Ren in the far background, their backs turned on each other but looking sad at their positions. I know Jaune’s thing is probably generic, but it gives me Mulan vibes, which is funny considering. Hey, hint that Martial Arcs will become canon now that Renora is on the rocks? fingers crossed More of Ren and Nora’s rough patch, and I really hope that that gets some focus. Their kiss last volume left a bad taste in my mouth with how it went down, and getting into these two as separate characters and their relationship. Ren not requiting Nora’s romantic feelings towards him would be a really interesting place to go with these characters that everyone’s pegged together since episode 4 (in no small part due to their lack of interaction with anyone else, but I’ll get to that).

Winter and Weiss walking towards each other on the Schnee symbol, passing each other by with Winter getting her new hairstyle and a brace of some sort. She’s actually wearing this brace in the hospital, but on the other arm, while now it’s on the arm she couldn’t bend her fingers with. Interesting, and it looks all looks really good!

The Schnee snowflake falls between Whitley and Willow, before shattering onto a chessboard. YESSSS, Whitley’s in the intro again! That’s more than I could’ve hoped, and I really really hope that him looking contemplatively like that means something - that’s he’s figuring things out, coming up with a plan, something! Still no new design though T-T CRWBY, what do I have to do to get my boy some new clothes?

From the chessboard, Salem rises up, turning the other black pieces into Grimm to attack the white where Ironwood stands. His pieces turn to dust, the board blowing away entirely. Nice callback to V1. Ironwood stands alone - no allies, and no space to move forward. He’s a king with nowhere to move - check or checkmate.

Smug Watts hacking while leaning against a mirror, rotates to show Pierto doing the same, his reflection looking over its shoulder at him, then a pan to Penny to show the same thing before the mirror breaks. I’m not sure what this might symbolize. Inability to trust yourself, maybe?

A snowflake flies through the air and lands in Ren’s palm. It turns into a flower petal, (or scraps his hand, I can’t quite tell) then Yang, Jaune, and Oscar join him, Ren smiling to Jaune. Another flower petal flies by to transition to Nora, who reaches out but can’t catch it, looking dismayed until RWBP comes in to join her. I assume the symbolism is straight-forward - the snowflake turns to a petal when caught by Ren (lotus guy), then flies to Nora who can’t catch it. Really living for the Ren focus in the op~

Pans to a shot of the whole group in the middle of everything - Atlas and Mantle overrun with Grimm on one side, Salem’s whale and Grimm army on the other, and Amity in the middle, which Penny flies up to hover below. Penny is going to be vital to launching Amity, and probably for reasons other than the terminal.

Then Ruby and Yang looking at each other with a smile and nod before the girls jump into fighting some Grimm. Interesting bit when the volume opens with the sisters starting to have disagreements.

The entire thing freezes, Cinder strolling cockily past the crew to walk in front of a bored/disgruntled Neo and Emerald who starts to wave but looks dejected when Cinder ignores her. Not much to say here - I don’t really like the freeze frame for some reason, no idea why. This also doesn’t give us any new info on the dynamics between these three characters.

Cinder grabs her Grimm arm in pain as fire flares up behind her, transitioning into Merc, Tyrian, Hazel, and Salem with the lamp in her eyes, transitioning to the lamp and staff twirling around each other, both emitting smoke like they’re being used as they come together. I wonder if this means that the last question and the Staff are going to be used, and maybe together? Once again, though - Atlas falling, people in the crater die.

Smoke clears up to reveal Ruby, looking up to Atlas first in invasion mode, then peaceful. Turn to a shot of the group standing looking to the left, Yang and Ruby looking like they’re posed but the others just kind of standing there. It’s a weird shot, and I’m not sure what to make of it, honestly.

The ice breaks beneath Ruby’s feet, sending RWBY falling into a void, their bodies trailing those lights that we saw before. Ruby opens her eyes to see the brightest light, the Staff. She reaches out to it, but Grimm paws and hands drag her down. V6 callback?

The word Happy? flashes only to be crossed out, a sketchy Grimm roaring, then the words Ever then Never as it’s crossed out, with a sketchy Penny lifting her head and her eyes then face going red, then the words After Again being crossed out. I’m not really of the words - I think it’s going for a Happily Ever After Happy? Never Again thing, but there’s no Happily that I can see, and it just kind of comes across as a bit emo to me. I like the sketches of the Grimm and Penny - I think it might be a Wyvern Grimm or something like that, and the red spreading from Penny’s eyes to her entire outline is interesting. I wonder if it’s connected to the Maiden powers and how she’ll use them.

Sketches of RWBY’s weapon fall into the snow, Crescent Rose falling with the tip stuck in the snow, then a flash and a pull out to Crescent Rose in the snow in full animation, framed by the broken moon as rose petals fly by with the “Created by Monty Oum” credit appears. I really like this as a reference to the Red trailer, and compared to the very cluttered ending shot of V7, this is a nice change of pace.

I like this OP. It’s definitely above V7′s for me, with a good song and some beautiful animation in it’s visuals. If I had to criticize it, I would say that it feels very long and cluttered. My breakdown of the opening feels as long as everything I mentioned in the actual episode. I realize one was going almost shot by shot, while the other summarized, but the point still stands that this things feels longer than it needs to be (I’d have to check time stamps to see if it is actually significantly longer).

A more promising start, all in all, than I’d hoped for. Things irritate me for sure, Ironwood’s treatment, Ruby’s plan, all that stuff, but I know I would have those bones to pick going in. The shake-up of the usual teams and the promise of inter-group conflict is enough to get me to want more, and I look forward to seeing how my favorite characters will be utilized.

What are your thoughts on the episode? Reblog and comment down below, and we’ll start a convo.

Until next time~

#rwby #rwby8 #rwby volume 8 #rwby8 spoilers #rwby 8 spoilers #ruby rose #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #yang xioa long #episode breakdown

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chibivesicle · 5 years

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Golden Kamuy chapter 210: holy shit, this is a chapter that we’ve all been dying for.

Ah yes, chapter 210, you are already a chapter that I’m completely in love with and it shows many of Noda’s strengths as an artist and a storyteller.

The chapter is called “sweet lies” and this is clearly a reference to what Tsurumi has told many people but the focus is on Koito and Tsukishima in particular. The title page makes it very clear that Koito will be a major focus of this chapter. I have been waiting for these events ever since Ogata called Koito a bon-bon in Russian and kicked him in the face before escaping.

Koito’s right hand holds his photo of Tsurumi and Tsukishima that he had acquired from Tsukishima back in chapter 101.

Recall that he was upset that Shiraishi had escaped and he had also encountered Ogata on the airship who helped in the escape. Tsukishima is in part trying to get Koito to calm down by giving him this very photo.

Looking back at this panel for the first time in awhile, it shows that Koito has a little light in his eyes and he wishes he were born earlier to serve at Tsurumi’s side in the war. Koito immediately has a pre-cut photo of his own head that he wants to glue on over Tsukishima’s and he tells him to make him some rice glue.

Tsukishima says, no, but based on the title page for 210 he definitely found some glue somehow.

When they were heading to Abashiri, recall that Koito had more doctored photos including this one here:

At some point, he got another photo with Tsurumi in it as well as other commanding officers and he added his own head to all of the men in the photo, longing to have had a chance to serve with Tsurumi. Koito pre-photoshop - he was pretty dedicated to making his photo collages!

Now, also recall that this photo has been used for the cover of chapter 147 - Igogusa, where Tsukishima’s backstory and loyalty to Tsurumi was solidified.

Really, all of this is indicating that Tsukishima and Koito are tied to Tsurumi and this photo shows how closely they are tied. I’ll come back to this in a bit. Like some of the other dense and intense chapters, I’m going to jump to the part between Asirpa and Sugimoto, that creates a pause and adds to the tension between Koito and Tsukishima.

The quick and dirty about Sugimoto and Asirpa’s separate paths:

The chapter continues to keep us in the dark about the end of Sugimoto and Asirpa’s conversation after the movies. It is now the night before Tsurumi will arrive in Odomari. Asirpa reminds us that she’s never actually met Tsurumi, she only knows about him through her interactions with everyone else. This really does two things for me as a reader - it seems to speak to unresolved issues between the two and she’s musing what type of man Tsurumi is. Hasn’t she gotten enough information to in part figure this out from what others have said and done? I’m a little surprised by this statement, she saw what Tsurumi did to Sugimoto’s face with those dango skewers.

Either way, just like before her encounter with Wilk at Abashiri she’s expressing her concerns about what will happen. She wants to know what Sugimoto will do in the gold hunt? What will Tsurumi do with the gold? Most importantly, what will happen to the Ainu, her community in all of this. Sadly, Sugimoto can’t see the forest through the trees. His current vision on all of this is “Asirpa vision”. As long as Asirpa is removed from the hunt for the gold, it will be alright - she’ll be clean and she can go back home to Huci. As the lovely Merdopseudo has written, Sugimoto is back to his usual habit of “Sugisplaining”, that Asirpa doesn’t need to think about things. Just be good, give up the code and walk away from the gold, the Ainu and just go back home, safe, clean and pure. Kiro told Ogata that Asirpa’s time on Karafuto was to mature her - and it has. I still miss Kiro’s character greatly but he really helped Asirpa see the bigger picture than just her kotan in Hokkaido.

These entire two pages almost fade to the background compared to the rest of the chapter. Their relationship dynamic has changed. Both are holding back now thinking about their own concerns and their goals which have shifted or the fact that Asirpa is gaining a new and different goal. Her new focus is scary for Sugimoto. I don’t think they are being as honest to each other as they should be. They aren’t good at conflict - both are dancing around the major issues involved in this entire gold hunt.

In a way, I like how fucking awkward these two pages are - it really highlights that their reunion wasn’t what either of them expected it to be and that they are currently on different paths. I love this tension - I’m waiting for it to explode.

Now onto the meat of the chapter.

Koito has put the pieces together and his world view is shattering:

The chapter has a lovely two page spread of the harbor at Odomari as Koito asks Tsukishima a question before Tsurumi’s arrival. We first see Koito looking at his photo of Tsurumi and Tsukishima that his face has slid off of. Koito’s brow is very furrowed and he’s really intense looking. I love how the picture of a steamship is followed by his face shaded and more focus in his eyes. Tsukishima makes a comment that Koito isn’t at excited and cheerful as he would normally be about Tsurumi’s arrival. Remember that Koito was in tears as they left for Karafuto as he longingly looked at his Tsurumi bromide!

As Koito speaks to Tsukishima not looking at him, he tells him that Ogata told him something at the hospital in Akou before he escaped. He first mentions the Russian term for bon-bon. Tsukishima’s eyes narrow a bit before he continues on. He goes on to tell him that Ogata (with his face completely shaded in black) tells him that “the next time he meets Lt. Tsurumi . . .” and then he turns to him and looks at him directly (please get some chapstick Ogata!) to “ask him about the Manchurian railway.”

Tsukshima’s reaction is both one of surprise (as indicated by the light burst) and also one of annoyance and stress. Tsukishima has stress lines under his eyes, his cap covers part of his eyes and his face is shaded as he’s only able to reply with “. . . .”

Koito then begins to describe the Manchuria Railway as a concession from the Treaty of Portsmouth, meaning it went from Russian control to Japanese control. This then solidified the Japanese presence in Manchuria under the guise of the expansion of the influence of Imperial Japan and its increasingly aggressive colonial role in the region.

If you have any knowledge of the history of this in the region leading up to the second world war than this doesn’t come as a surprise to you as a reader per se. The important part is what Koito then adds in.

Koito has additional information due to his background; he knows that one member of the army was quite vocal about the whole Manchuria Railway, Hanazawa. He is still a shitty father in my mind, but hey, it looks like as a member of the military and Satsuma elite he did think about things from a strategic perspective. Therefore, Hanazawa was the lone critic about the whole railway situation.

Koito then goes on further to explain that b/c his father was friends with Hanazawa, he also knew about the controversy surrounding the railway and that Koito heard about it in his household. Koito also knows that Tsurumi connects the bodies of their comrades from the Russo-Japanese war will be at rest on Japanese soil and that it should include Manchuria. This was mentioned in the flashback that Tsurumi and Tsukishima had in chapter 150 when both were wounded at Mukden.

Tsukishima still doesn’t have a response to Koito’s inquiries as he continues to connect Tsurumi’s goals with what happened with Hanazawa’s death. Tsukishima’s eyes are barely visible, his eyes are almost completely obscured by his cap and its shadow. This does NOT LOOK GOOD AT ALL. This looks very concerning and that Tsukishima is thinking about likely bad things. Koito continues forward and very emotionally asks Tsukishima is there is a direct connection between Hanazawa’s death and Tsurumi.

By the time he’s blurted it out, Koito is nervously sweating, his hair is a bit loose and his stress lines under his eyes are intense. He’s almost pleading with Tsukishima for him to not confirm what he’s thinking. Tsukishima looks anything but pleased, his face is deadpan and his eyes are pretty much obscured completely and his face is half shaded.

Koito still doesn’t get an answer from Tsukishima, so he becomes even more emotional, still sweating and gesturing with his left hand for emphasis. He throws out the theory that Ogata wasn’t happy with the fact that central put the blame on the 7th and Hanazawa which resulted in his suicide, so he joined with Tsurumi’s plan for the coup. But since Hanazawa was in the way of the Manchurian Railway, Tsurumi had him eliminated and Ogata found out and defected against him. The then asks why Ogata would tell him that and we still can’t see Tsukishima’s facial expression well!

When Tsukishima finally looks up and replies to Koito his looks are so robotic. His eyes seem cold and even though he’s got stress lines his face is deadpan. He replies that Ogata will say anything to foil their plans and then he turns the conversation around to ask him why he trusts Ogata’s words now. Koito was ready to shoot the wildcat to kill previously - this is a 180 for Koito’s opinion on Ogata for sure.

With great emotion and intensity Koito then says “Barchonok” the Russian term for bon-bon. He flat out states that Ogata was one of the kidnappers at Hakodate. He knows it. Koito is correct and on the money - he’s not backing down and he needs answers now.

The chapter then transitions to the two pages with Sugimoto and Asirpa to build the tension between them. Technically they don’t even get a full 2 pages as Koito and Tsukishima are on the bottom here:

Koito looks shocked when Tsukishima deadpan asks what is clearly a rhetorical question. That the bodies were Russian. Koito was there - he’d know what he saw right? Eh? Eeeeehhhh? Koito looks so shocked at his reply - this can’t be Tsukishima’s answer to him? He knows Tsukishima!

He then asks Tsukishima to confirm that he was one of the masked kidnappers too! Koito is at his limit of patience. He’s so many emotions at once; upset, hurt, confused, sad, angry . . . a man whom he has trusted hurt him in the past all for Tsurumi’s own personal gain.

Tsukishima’s reply is still dead pan though now he’s lifted his hands in defense of Koito’s aggressive questioning. He falls back on the idea that Koito, is falling prey to Ogata’s manipulations, while Koito recognizes that Tsurumi made sure he and his father are in debt to Tsurumi. I love the fact that Koito sees that he and father were set up to be used by Tsurumi and so were Hanazawa and Ogata.

With Tsukishima’s reply that it is delusional, Koito forges ahead in his accusations of Tsurumi’s manipulations. Koito then realizes, he’s getting no where with Tsukishima and he’ll just make sure he and his father ask Tsurumi directly. I love this facial expression from Koito! He looks so determined as he’s physically turned away from Tsukishima in a sense giving up on him and moving forward on his own.

Finally, Tsukishima strikes back stopping Koito dead in his tracks. With an absolutely creepy facial expression, not even looking at Koito directly he asks about the fact that the two of them were saved during the kidnapping. This is such a loaded statement, since it implies that there was a possibility where they weren’t saved!

Yes, if Koito and his father didn’t play along to Tsurumi’s tune during the kidnapping, well it implies that the 27th didn’t need to spare them. They could have killed Koito and his father during the process!

This stops Koito. He turns back to Tsukishima with a very uncomfortable “what?” . . . that his brain is trying to process exactly what Tsukishima just said.

Tsukishima then goes on to state that he didn’t realize that Ogata knew of the connection between Hanazawa and the railway. He thought Ogata’s goal has always been to expose Tsurumi and turn him over to Central Command. This is a reference all the way back to his shoot out with Ogata in Yubari here.

This confirms that what Tsukishima told Ogata was his own personal theory behind Ogata’s motivations. I was always curious about it, since I had always though this was something that Tsukishima thought, but I was never sure if this was something Tsurumi told Tsukishima or something that Tsukishima came up with. With the way that Tsukishima describes it to Koito, I will read that this is a Tsukishima theory - not one from Tsurumi. I think this makes sense, Tsukishima worked with Ogata long enough that he thought he had a decent read on him - but as we’ve come to expect - most characters never have a good read on him - they still place their own ideas on him to explain his actions.

This continues with his statement that he can’t figure out what Ogata was unhappy with - that Tsurumi gave him the opportunity to kill his father wasn’t enough to please him?

Koito looks like he’s in a state of shock as he asks for confirmation that Ogata killed Hanazawa as a part of Tsurumi’s plans. His face is covered in sweat drops, his face is shaded he doesn’t really know what to say or do. . . . When Koito was first introduced, he wanted to know why Ogata would betray Tsurumi with his father’s death under the pressure of central command.

Tsukishima doesn’t even stop to confirm or deny this, he just keeps talking deadpan in expression. He simply states that he was tricked as well and by a very elaborate ruse. Tsukishima is just short of saying that Tsurumi must have manipulated Ogata into killing Hanazawa or making him believe that this is something that he would want to do . . . . He can’t outright say that Tsurumi manipulated Ogata to do the actions he’s done - instead, he goes on to state that he was deceived as well.

This seems to indicate that there must have been something between Ogata and Tsukishima - he’s done many terrible things for Tsurumi, but he’s still almost judging Ogata actions as different than his.

Anyways, back to Tsukishima’s poor explanation for Koito - he leaves out a lot of information that we will remember from chapter 149-150 and instead jumps into state that he met another man from Niigata, Sado in particular in the field hospital during the battle of Mukden, when he angrily then approached Tsurumi but still protected him when they both were injured. Only much later did Tsukishima realize that there was no way for him to bump into a member of the 2nd, the division that he and Tsurumi were in during the Sino-Japanese war.

Therefore, that man was a plant by Tsurumi to test his loyalty to Tsurumi and his future plans to go after the Ainu gold. Tsukishima freely expresses to Koito that Tsurumi molded him into the perfect right hand man for him. He went to a great length to shape Tsukishima and that Tsukishima would do whatever he asked.

The scariest part is how Tsukishima has accepted this. And it all makes sense how despite working hard and being a dependable individual, that he never seemed to break away from Tsurumi’s influence on Karafuto.

This entire panel haunts me. Tsukishima is stating that he sees no value in his own life. He’s accepted the fact that he is totally fine with what Tsurumi has done to him. He won’t even bother getting upset in the first place b/c his life has had little value to begin with. Therefore, he will follow Tsurumi’s plans to help the 7th.

Most importantly, when a completely wrecked Koito is finally able to ask him if that is all of Tsurumi’s goals - Tsukishima can’t look him in the eyes to reply. Just that Tsurumi’s specialty is “saving people with “sweet lies”.” and that he has no idea with his final goal is.

This implies that Tsukishima sees himself as “saved” by Tsurumi and therefore he owes him for his life. If the reader still takes Tsukishima’s Igogusa flashback at face value and he killed his father and it was of Tsukishima’s own free will that it happened - it returns to the idea that Tsukishima sees himself as a dead man walking and that he’s using his borrowed time to serve Tsurumi.

I can’t help (along with many other readers) wonder if Tsurumi manipulated Tsukishima into attacking his father so that he could “rescue” him from prison and created loyalty by killing his father. I mean it is clear that is the method he used with Ogata in 103.

Koito tries to get an answer from Tsukishima on why he’d continue along with this, but Tsukishima simply states it is better to align oneself with an individual with grandiose plans. In the most detached way possible with a blank face, he states his true desire is to watch Tsurumi’s manipulations all the way to the end. He seals his fate of going down with Tsurumi like the loyal right hand man that he was molded to become. Free will isn’t a Tsukishima thing.

He then finally states that Koito must keep all of this information to himself as Koito is sweating, breathing heavily and literally on the verge of a panic attack as he warns him that Tsurumi will kill him and that Tsukishima will be the one to do it.

And keep in mind. Despite how respectable Tsukishima may look, he’s the man who shot Captain Wada in the head at point blank range! Wada commands Tsukishima to fire at will, to which he replies yes and shoots Wada instead of Tsurumi.

Tsurumi then mentions Manchuria to the rest of the men of the 27th present when this happens.

Okay, back to the current chapter.

It zooms out to Koito leaning forward, panting as his knees are beginning to give out. To me it looks like he’s about to have a full blown panic attack. Readers are used to Koito as being overly dramatic, and he drops to his knees declaring that Tsurumi is amazing. His fingers are contorted and he looks stiff when he’s on his knees as his eyes almost roll up into his head.

He’s sweating and blushing all over his nose and face, something that we haven’t seen on him before. He can’t help but scream out that he’s pleased that Tsurumi wanted him to join him so badly.

He does his usual overly dramatic prostration but then spins on the dirt as he declares how impressed he is as being a part of Tsurumi’s plans.

Tsukishima just watches him from afar as this happens.

Thankfully, Sei Kobiyama on twitter was able to point out a key point during this scene. Usually, when Koito had a meltdown, he would end up expressing himself in his local Satsuma accent - thus making his screams unclear to the reader and those around him.

This time, when Koito becomes distraught, his understandable accent is maintained, as mentioned here:

This is a linguistic change that Koito no longer sees Tsurumi as his saviour and someone to look up to - instead, he’s a man who will go to great lengths to get men to serve him loyally.

The chapter then ends with Tsurumi and the 27th arriving in Karafuto. Both Usami and Warrant Officer Kikuta are with him. Usami’s face is obscured so we can’t see his eyes and he’s likely pleased while Kikuta looks a bit sad. He’s likely torn between the recent events in Noboribetsu with Ariko and serving Tsurumi.

This was one hell of a chapter!

What are the major take home points from this:

Koito’s innocence is lost.

With Ogata’s hints, Koito has realized how much of his life has been influenced and manipulated by Tsurumi. Encountering Tsurumi in Kagoshima when he ws visiting his brother’s grave. Spllling out his feelings to Tsurumi a nice and pleasant man in 1900. How the entire kidnapping was to make sure Koito and his father would fall into line with Tsurumi. He gained access to the navy (necessary for defending Hokkaido from the main island in the event of a coup) and also gained a talented but unwavering subordinate in Koito.

Koito was raised to be an ideal 2nd lt. for Tsurumi - much better than the very annoying and rule following Yuusaku. With how elaborate Tsurumi’s scheme was to get Koito to worship him, it makes it even more clear that Yuusaku would have be the largest impediment to Tsurumi’s goals with the 27th. In this chapter, Koito tells Tsukishima that he’ll call Tsurumi out in front of his father - I am not 100% certain that Yuusaku would have done the same thing - we know he was a rule follower to the end and I wonder if Yuusaku may have said something to a similar effect. Or the idea that Yuusaku if left alive would also run to his father to expose Tsurumi’s plans. Whatever the background with Yuusaku - it was clear that he was a non-manipulable individual.

Some people may have thought he faked things or was spazzing out at the end of the chapter - I read it that he’s in part now aware of what he should say but at the same time his own viewpoint is so shattered that it comes out as a bizarre mix of drama, comedy and horror. The best way I can approach it is from personal experience. Where something happens and you just don’t know how to react so in part you are almost laughing but crying at the same time but you are a total mess of emotions and it becomes overwhelming.

If we stop and think about it - Koito was manipulated since he was 14! 14! This is horrible and he’s digesting this in his early 20s now. Not like this woudln’t upset him at all? Furthermore, this is all from Tsukishima, a man who he looked up to and felt like he knew and trusted. Sure, Koito could be rude with him, but this is the man who carried him to a dog sled, who placed him on the sled gently and protected him from Kiro’s explosives. All of Tsukishima’s actions benefited and protected Koito. To have that same person threaten to kill you. Well, that would be a total emotional mindfuck.

This is setting up an interesting dyanmic between Ogata and Koito. With the flaskback to the kidnapping, it was Ogata who patted Koito on the back while Tsukishima held back. Ogata didn’t need to be nice to him but he was. Both men were ignored by their fathers for a “favored” brother. Once was legitimate despite being younger while the other was older and was supposed to carry on the family honor. At one point in time, Koito and Ogata were not seen as useful by their fathers. Tsurumi’s actions got Koito’s father to notice him, while nothing Tsurumi did, could get Ogata’s father to notice him.

I am comfortable enough to throw out the idea that Ogata is acting like an older brother to Koito. Not an amazingly great older brother, but at least as one who is giving him enough information to see what is happening and maybe change things. Koito’s older brother was kind and had very pale skin tone as shown here from young Koito vision.

We see a sparkle of light in his older brother and the old idea is that he was a very good older brother to Koito.

Ogata is canonically referred to as being usually pale - most obviously here by Shiraishi.

Ogata does not like involving innocent individuals in schemes - when Koito was younger he was still innocent - enough that kidnapper Ogata would be kind to him.

You could try to write this off as Ogata being an agent of chaos - but agents of chaos don’t have a soft spot for innocents. We know that Ogata has a whole hang up on innocence and purity in the context of those who commit atrocities and who can wipe their hands clean of them. But, since Koito is a military man who has dirtied his hands, he’s already someone that Ogata can relate to much better than Yuusaku.

The bonus of this, is that Ogata can deal a blow to Tsurumi’s plans by releasing Koito from his control. Ogata in addition to his obsession with finding a blessed path, is one of exercising free will. This may explain why he was upset at Wilk’s role to set Asirpa up as an idol for the Ainu - she does not have her own free will to decide and she was too similar to Yuusaku.

Thankfully, their showdown in the ice floe really helped to shift some of her thinking in addition to Kiro’s death.

Can the tiger’s curse be Koito having to face his own actions and choose a free will in the 27th? Realizing that he is tied to the lynx, Ogata and that the two men have much more in common than Koito already knows in regards to their fathers’ friendship? I think Ogata even respects the fact that Koito is an intelligent man, just that he didn’t apply himself. He was able to easily catch up to his peers to pass the military exams so Ogata was likely banking on his intelligence to connect the few bits of information that he left Koito with before escaping. I personally really want Koito to break away from Tsurumi and team up with Ogata. I think Ogata is working with the partisans and if Ogata re-appears, Sofia will be with him and Koito can talk to Sofia (still banking on both of them bonding by talking in French).

Is there any “hope” for Tsukishima?

Oh man. This is a hard summary for me here - I love Tsukishima. When the action moved to Karafuto, I really fell in love with his character more. I have a meta about how upstanding and respectful he is as a character to others. He did what was expected of him, made sure Svetlana told her parents what happened, helped up a Russian guy he knocked down in the stenka and kept having all of these “soft” nice guy moments.

But what began to worry me was his lack of doubt at things. Koito seemed to be more open to questioning what was happening. He told himself to shoot a thieving cat on sight - that he had to tell himself facts about Ogata to make sure he’d capture and kill him. Meanwhile, Tsukishima remained silent. He relayed facts to Sugimoto about the wildcat nickname but he never said anything to get Sugimoto more riled up or less upset by Ogata. He just did what was required of him.

He only became pushy once they reached Toyohara where they were to wait until meeting up with Tsurumi in Odomari (next chapter?). It is almost as though Tsukishima is a example of the trope that one should be worried about the “normal” ones. He has done his job always with benefiting Tsurumi in the end. He’ll now follow him to the end even if it means he dies alongside with him.

Noda called him the conscience of the 7th back when he made the character guides at the beginning of the tankobans. I am beginning to wonder if his conscience is more of the fact that Tsukishima will express a moral doubt or concern only to still follow orders?

I can’t help but look at these eyes here, here he blankly tells Koito he’s fine with his situation in 210.

Are similar to Ogata’s in chapter 103 to Hanazawa.

Both express the emotions - or lack thereof of men who are doing horrible things that are clearly harming them but following through on those actions b/c Tsurumi is leading them to that.

For volume 15 Noda expanded chapter 150 to include how Tsukishima let go of the lie that kept him tied to Tsurumi from the end of the Sino-Japanese war until the Battle of Mukden.

Special thanks to @goldenkamuyhunting for these edited images of the volume version.

While in Otaru, Tsukishima goes out alone in the evening. He reveals that he’s held onto Igogusa’s hair all these years. He is a dark figure against the lighter buildings in the harbor.

He pulls the hair the Tsurumi had given him that was folded between some well worn paper, that may even have some of his blood stains on it, indicating he kept it close to his chest when he was in battle.

He stands on the edge of the harbor and holds the open paper in his left hand, the hair in his right as his eyes are completely covered with his hat. There is a slow motion opening of the right hand as it releases the hair so that it almost slides out. Not throwing or anything active. A passive release of the hair back into the ocean, depicted as a black abyss.

We get his own view as the hair falls out of his hand and into the water to dark to see any details of.

As the hair falls into darkness on the next page we see Tsukishima walk back to the 27th barracks and he enters the back of a room full of men. The two page spread shows Tsurumi removing his bandages in front of his men and the introduction of his face shield.

Tsukishima watches all of this from the back of the room deadpan. He has let go of his ties to his past and his love of Igogusa. All that remains is his loyalty and devotion to Tsurumi.

This is it. This is the point when Tsukishima dedicated himself full to serving Tsurumi. He’ll follow him straight to hell if that is how things go down.

In some ways, I’m having a hindsight is 20/20 moment in regards to Tsukishima. The entire time on Karafuto, Tsukishima has been relatively quiet. He’s done what he was supposed to do and other than his emotional outburst with Svetlana, he’s been very tight lipped and silent. This is a parallel with Ogata who was keeping quiet to not reveal his skills in Russian. Tsukishima hides his devotion to Tsurumi through his banal and normal actions. He doesn’t give us much to go on, it is easier for him to show nothing - by showing nothing or slight annoyance, others can’t get a read on him.

I would argue that Ogata is much more emotional and it shows on Ogata’s face much more than Tsukishima’s. His default is to have a blank face when wants to cover, Ogata’s eyes frequently betray his emotions. They are subtle but his are more obvious that Tsukishima’s.

What all does this mean for the future?

I am still under the indication that Koito will break away from the rest of the group.

I’m still hung up on this image from the end of 180. We now know that Tsukishima will follow Tsurumi to the end. Tanigaki has no problem following him as long as he doesn’t have to return home. Sugimoto sold out Asirpa for 200 yen to Tsurumi.

Cikapasi and Ryu stayed behind with Enonoka and her grandfather. Koito stands separately. I thought maybe he’d end up with Enonoka and her grandfather after he found out about Tsurumi. That could still happen but what if Enonoka and her grandfather are a stand in for Asirpa and Huci and maybe Retar?

He would still be aligning himself with the Ainu, just Hokkaido Ainu versus the Karafuto Ainu.

I want to know what makes Tsukishima different from Ogata? Both men were involved in the kidnapping of Koito. Tsukishima continues to come back to Tsurumi despite that he’s in an abusive relationship. Ogata snapped at something and couldn’t do it anymore?

We know he doubted Tsurumi when he had him kill Hanazawa. What was it that pushed him over the edge? Why has Ogata escaped while the rest remain loyal to him. Granted some of the men are less intelligent than Tsukishima, Koito and Ogata, but the smart ones see what his happening. Is Kikuta also in this group of the more intelligent Tsurumi inner circle. So far he’s proven himself to ge a quick witted and smart guy.

What happens if things begin to unravel? How does Sugimoto think he can get out of this one? The only reason he was able to escape Tsurumi the first time was with Asirpa and Shiraishi’s help and Tsurumi letting him go. Now, he’s handing both Asirpa and Shiraishi into Tsurumi’s control - he won’t be able to rely on them being on the “outside” to help him.

Furthermore, Ogata demonstrated that if one escapes (as with Tanigaki in Kushiro) you escape before your watchers get close to the deadline. The earlier you escape the better since they will become more attentive. I’m sure Ogata learned this from Tsurumi and Tsukishima will know this.

Sorry I don’t have much more for you guys. I’m still mulling things over and I’m re-adjusting to my work schedule so that will throw me off for a bit more.

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy meta #koito otonoshin #koito heiji #tsukishima hajime #tsurumi tokushirou #asirpa #sugimoto saichi #ogata hyakunosuke #kiroranke #hanazawakoujiro #hanazawayuusaku #Igogusa

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whereisten · 5 years

Text

The Wedding Singer

Summary: You are an up-and-coming singer and songwriter who is thriving in the wedding singer business. When you find yourself singing for your former best friend Samantha Perez and not-so-former crush Yuta Nakamoto, shit really hits the fan.

Multi-part series: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4

Part 1

Word Count: 4,000 words

Being a wedding singer in Miami, Florida was no simple feat, you thought to yourself. There was no one quite like a picky bride. But a picky bride and groom? That was another challenge in itself.

Especially on this specific day. April 29, 2019. You were meeting your clients in their lavish home in Brickell. Everything was very pristine but cold. You felt like you were in a homey clinic.

“Y/N, it’s so nice to meet you!” A young woman rejoiced when she welcome you inside. “Thank you so much for seeing us on such short notice. I’m Renee Torres.” Renee was the one who contacted the agency.

“It’s nice to meet you! My manager told me this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up so here I am!” You felt a little more at ease with meeting a friendly bridesmaid. Thankfully, she wasn’t catty like other bridesmaids you’ve had to interact with. “Fantastic, if you’ll just follow me.” Renee led you into the living room.

“Sam. Yuta. This is Y/N!” Renee left you with the couple.

Your heart fell when you heard her name.

And his.

Holy mother of God. Samantha Perez.

And Yuta Nakamoto.

“Y/N!” Your former friend Samantha Perez stood up from her loveseat and hugged you. “How long has it been? Eight years?”

“Oh my God, Samantha,” You said as you lost whatever oxygen you had left in that second.

“Y/N,” Yuta said as he joined you and Samantha. “It’s so great to see you.”

And there he was. The boy of your dreams. Well, no longer a boy. But still possessed that boyish charm that wrapped everyone around his little finger. Yuta Nakamoto was a star basketball player even when he was in middle school. You always hid behind your group of friends when you all went to every one of his home games. You drew the line at traveling to his away games, unless it was a championship.

Yuta was always beautiful. A radiant smile from the very first day you met. He was always kind to you in every class you’ve ever shared. He’d lend you a pencil on the very rare occasion when you were the one asking for one. He danced with you at homecoming when no one had asked you and you were very near the point of crying all the way home, feeling sorry for yourself. He bought you a rose every year on Valentine’s Day.

Well, he did that for every one of his female friends back then. But still. He didn’t have to do that.

But that was Yuta. The nicest “could’ve been a dick because he’s hot and popular but was not” guy.

As for Samantha, she was always beautiful, too. With her flawless makeup and fantastic bone structure. Her excellent sense of fashion. Heels that could you me neatly in the heart if she kicked you to the ground . Samantha also went to every one of Yuta’s basketball games with you and your friends, you recalled. However, once sophomore year started, she dipped and started hanging out exclusively with the popular kids. She did a complete 180 with you and until this day, you never understood why.

So eventually you stopped wondering.

Until today.

Once Samantha released you from her vise-like grip, Yuta hugged you and your throat went completely dry. He smelled just as amazingly as you remembered. Woodsy mixed with his cologne that he’d used since high school.

When Yuta released you, you said, “Congratulations to you both.” Very convincing, Y/N. Hopefully, they let you leave after singing a song and decide to go in a different direction so you never have to see them again.

“Thank you, Y/N,” Samantha said as she sidehugged Yuta. She was really rubbing it in your face. Especially since she knew you were in love with him for the longest time. Even before she was. Samantha may have crushed on Yuta like the rest of your friend group had. But she had many boyfriends throughout high school. But never Yuta.

“I had no idea you sang, Y/N,” Yuta said, looking particularly interested in you.

“She was spectacular in the junior year talent show,” Samantha nearly purred in his ear. She was massaging his chest. You had to fight yourself from cringing outwardly.

That wasn’t a compliment. Samantha was toying with me. We were supposed to be having a business conversation but Samantha was talking to Yuta like she was ready to rip his clothes off. And it would increase her libido if she did it in front of me.

You shivered.

“Are you cold, Y/N?” Yuta asked. For someone who was clearly getting seduced in front of a third person, he was awfully attentive.

You shook your head. “No, I’m fine, thanks.”

He smiled. Fuck you, Nakamoto. I know you don’t know the effect you have on people, especially me. And that pisses me off.

Samantha began, “Well, Y/N. Renee sent you a list of songs that we’re interested in having performed at the ceremony as well as the reception. So I would like to hear a song from each selection.”

You gulped. You’ve always dreamed of serenading Yuta when you finally had the courage. You thought the chance passed you by. But now that you had a chance, it was too late.

Samantha and Yuta sat back down on the loveseat. Samantha motioned for you to start.

“Which song did you pick from the ceremony list?” She asked.

“Let’s Stay Together by Al Green,” you replied.

Yuta’s big smile reappeared. He really needed to quit it or else you were going to place your head under a faucet and let cold water run over your head.

Samantha said, “Begin at anytime.”

So you did. You took a deep breath. Released. Closed your eyes and gave it to them acapella.

You stopped after the first chorus. Yuta jumped out of his seat and clapped. Samantha clapped politely from her seat.

“Y/N, your voice is incredible. You’re hired!” Yuta said as he took your hands.

You tried to hold onto his praise and not the fact that he was holding your freakin’ hands.

Samantha got up from her seat. You removed yourself from Yuta’s grasp. Samantha said, “Sweetie, I would like her to sing a song from the reception playlist and then we can discuss it.”

Yuta shot her a look. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say he looked to be in disbelief.

Enjoy being married to that, Yuta. God help you.

“Okay,” you said, “I’ll sing Yours by Ella Henderson.” As much as you detested Samantha, she had the same taste in music as you and you had to give her high praise for her song selection.

As you sang again, you felt more confident. You felt secure and powerful. You had a gift to share with the world, you told yourself. And if Samantha didn’t see that, she could fuck off. You could sing at as many weddings as you wanted. And hopefully, someday, score a recording and songwriting contract.

When you finished once again with the chorus, Yuta turned right over to Samantha. “There’s no question. She’s the one.”

Not the right choice of words, Yuta. I winced.

Samantha sighed. “Of course, she is. Y/N, you’re hired.”

;;

Jungwoo was cackling across from you at the cafe table. He couldn’t stop. Johnny cringed but you knew he was fighting the laughter that would escape him at any second.

“Jungwoo...it’s not that funny,” you groaned.

Johnny caved. “Are you kidding me? It’s hilarious. Yuta is getting married to that she-demon?”

“Yes,” you replied.

“Yuta was always smart. He took AP Physics with us!” Johnny protested.

“Booksmart doesn’t always translate to lifesmart. If that’s even a word…” You should propose it to Webster’s Dictionary.

“Dude, you must’ve felt like your heart was being RIPPED out of your chest and stomped on the ground. For hours. To the rhythm of a Cascada song. That intensely.” Jungwoo was always so profound.

And merciless.

“Well, It’s been eight years so thankfully, I only cried once since the meeting,” you answered.

Mind you, the meeting was yesterday afternoon.

��So you’re going to do it?” Jungwoo asked.

“Why not? They’re paying me a fortune.”

“Samantha has it out for you to this day,” Johnny warned.

“Oh, I know. But...the more I thought about it...she’d want me to run and hide. I mean, she’ll also want to see me squirm at her wedding. A present no one else can give her but me. My pain and suffering.”

“Why go through with it? Why are you letting her torture you-oh God, you think Yuta will change his mind and run away with you? Oh honey bunches…” Jungwoo took my hands in his. Uh oh…he only threw “honey bunches” out when I was being truly pitiful.

You smacked him. “Don’t be silly. Yuta and I are never going to happen. We were and always will be platonic. He’s an undeniable flirt and too nice for his own good. That’s something Samantha will have to deal with. But me? I’m going to sing my ass off and make everyone cry like they’ve never cried before. I’m not going to let Samantha get to me.”

Much.

Johnny frowned. “I hope you’re right…”

“Sometimes I gotta be. And this is one of those cases in which I am!”

“Alright alright...Let’s change the subject.” Jungwoo scratched his blonde coconut head.

You smiled. “How’s it going with Vanessa these days?”

He blushed while Johnny chuckled. “She’s great, Y/N. She’s the first girl who has ever laughed at my jokes without a hidden agenda.”

“And how can you tell?” Johnny asked. He gave me a knowing smile as he directed that question to our friend.

“Because I walked her to her apartment and she cooked me dinner and then sent me off.” Jungwoo had a daydreaming look on his face. He was smitten.

“And you weren’t upset about that?” You asked.

“Not at all. I want to take it slow.”

You cooed. “Our little Jungwoo is finally becoming a man.” You, Johnny, and Jungwoo befriended each other during your stint of musical theater at the University of Miami. It was yours and Johnny’s senior year and Jungwoo’s freshman year back then. Three years later, Jungwoo was a senior now. Johnny was a producer, working at DC Records, a very affluent label in the States. You were very proud of your friends.

They were still idiots, though, and that made you feel even more fond of them.

“Okay okay next topic,” Jungwoo demanded.

You sighed. “Well, Samantha is so anal that she’s choreographed her entire wedding.”

Johnny and Jungwoo frowned at each other in confusion.

“Which means I’m going to every rehearsal, even if I’m not ‘performing’ the entire time,” you said.

“You sure it’s not Yuta who enjoys a good musical number?” Johnny chuckled.

“Yuta, as perfect as he may be, is no dancer,” you answered.

“I seem to remember you raving about how Yuta was an amazing dancer after Homecoming junior year,” Johnny delivered that sucker punch.

High school you had a big mouth. “But then we saw his Cupid Shuffle senior year.”

Jungwoo begged, “Send that video my way, please. I gotta see what is so special about this Yuta Watanabe.”

You and Johnny corrected him, “Nakamoto.”

Jungwoo shrugged. “Whatever.”

;;

A week had passed since you were hired by Yuta and Samantha. Today was the first day of rehearsal for the ceremony AND the reception. The rehearsal space was at the Brickell City Centre Ballroom. The ceilings ran high with diamond chandeliers. The dance floor stretched far and wide. Although the tables were covered, you already knew you would love to have your own wedding here. It probably cost a fortune.

The irony? This wasn’t the venue for the happy couple’s wedding.

There were over 50 people present. Most likely, some of them were dancers while the rest was the wedding party. You recognized some of your high school classmates. Although you weren’t particularly chummy with any of them, you still greeted each other.

Samantha got up on the stage and spoke into the microphone. “Alright folks, we’ll get started in ten minutes. In the meantime, feel free to grab some water bottles and snacks!”

Maybe Samantha could be redeemed. You walked over to the snack table. Your heart almost stopped when you nearly tripped on your wedge. Oh for God’s sake...Please don’t let me fall.

You almost did but someone grabbed you before you kissed the floor. You awkwardly clung onto a stranger as he dipped you. You two looked like you were in a freeze frame of a tango.

You looked up into the brown eyes of your savior and your body temperature reached astronomical levels. His eyes and even his eyebrows were sharp, making his face all the more striking. His black hair tickled your right shoulder.

“Oh my God I am so sorry! Thank you for catching me.” You rambled as you regained your balance and let him go.

He asked, “Are you okay? You seem panicked.”

So much for thinking you had it together.

“I’m okay, I promise,” you reassured him.

He lifted an eyebrow and it was the most attractive thing you’d ever seen. “If you say so. I’m Taeyong, by the way. The best man.” He offered his hand.

You shook his hand a little too enthusiastically. “Oh, hi. I’m Y/N. The wedding singer.”

“Oh, so you’re the infamous Y/N.”

“Oh dear God…what did Samantha say about me?” Yeah, you were panicked.

Taeyong chuckled. “Nothing. Yuta’s the one who wouldn’t stop talking about your voice.”

You blushed at yourself for jumping to conclusions and being in the presence of this man. “Oh.”

Taeyong said, “I can’t wait to hear you for myself.”

You gulped. It was the way he said it. You didn’t know if everything that he said came off so sensually or if it was all in your head.

;;

Rehearsals were in full swing. The wedding party was practicing their ceremonial entrance. The bridesmaids and groomsmen were paired up. Maid of honor Renee was paired up with Taeyong. He had an effect on everyone, it seemed, because Renee was almost to the point of melting.

Renee told you that you would be able to leave in the next hour after your rehearsal to the ceremonial entrance. The wedding party and the others would scrutinize you, then. Including the best man. And suddenly, all of the nerves hit you.

No, Y/N. These are clients. They don’t know anything about you and if they did, they would remember your Jesse McCartney phase and that you took very meticulous notes in every class you had together. That was that. None of them cared about how you liked Yuta. Everyone liked Yuta. There was even a waitlist to ask Yuta out in high school. So what made you stand out from the other girls? You were just a nice girl from high school, okay? Now show them who you grew up to be.

You got up on the stage and stood up at the mic, having pre arranged the songs with the sound guy. You were waiting to get approval from Samantha that Johnny perform piano and guitar with you, come wedding day.

It was just you and the microphone. And surprisingly, this was the first time you weren’t anticipating Yuta’s reaction.

Samantha and Yuta approved your cover of “Let’s Stay Together” that they decided that you would perform it during the ceremonial entrance.

The instrumental began. You sang the first verse. “I’m...I’m so in love with you. Whatever you want to do...is alright with me…”

You didn’t know what it was that happened to you when you sang. You just kind of transformed into the version of yourself you wished you could always be. Jungwoo told you that you turned into a seductress when you sang. Johnny said that you should own who you were and never look back.

You liked to close your eyes when you sang so you could really get into the song. But you chose to make eye contact with Taeyong since he was a stranger and in that moment you found it easiest to interact with him. Plus, you wanted him to know that you were interested and see if you really were a seductress.

Might as well shoot your shot.

When the song ended, you were overwhelmed by the roaring applause and you smiled. They could call you Miss Colgate Optic White with how big your smile was that moment. Taeyong was grinning right at you. You only noticed that he had moved closer to the stage. There was a little girl right beside him. She had wavy blonde hair and brown eyes.

She looked a lot like Samantha.

Samantha gave you a thumbs up and motioned for you to leave the stage. That was it for today. Thank the Lord. You went to grab your purse and water bottle when the little girl surprised you and only stared at you.

“Hi…” You said carefully.

The little girl took this as a cue to let it all out. “Oh my God, you are amazing. You are better than Leona Lewis, Ariana Grande, Alicia Keys, and Adele combined. And you’re pretty like a princess.”

The little girl couldn’t have been more than seven years old. She was adorable and very enthusiastic. Her words warmed your heart. “Thank you. Nah, I wouldn’t say that. But I do want to be a singer like them. Someday.”

The little girl’s mouth opened. “Please. That would be awesome! I’m Sonya!”

“It’s nice to meet you, Sonya. I’m Y/N.”

“Y/N, will you marry my brother?” She asked.

Well, that was a shock. You laughed. “Who’s your brother?” It sounded like you were entertaining the possibility of marrying her brother.

“Taeyong!” Sonya yelled.

Wait.

Taeyong, you realized, hadn’t been that far away from you and Sonya during your little exchange. He approached you. Sonya wrapped herself around one of his legs. “This is my big brother, Taeyong.”

“We’ve met, Sonya,” Taeyong said as he smiled fondly down at his sister and met your gaze with that same expression.

“She is perfect for you,” Sonya said, “I know he’s a neat freak and very very bossy but he’s a great guy. I think his plushie collection is pretty cool, too. Do you like plushies, Y/N?”

Taeyong gaped at his sister. You giggled.

“A plushie collection, huh?” You teased.

“He has Piplup and Pikachu and Rilakkuma, too,” Sonya bragged. “He would buy you a lot of plushies, Y/N. So please marry him.”

“Sonya, why do you want me to get married so badly?” Taeyong asked.

Sonya sighed. “Because Sam is getting married. And I want you to be happy, too.”

Wait a minute. What did Samantha have to do with this?

“Wait, how do you know Samantha, Sonya?” You couldn’t hide the frown on your face.

“She’s my sister, Y/N. She is my sister from Mommy and Taeyong is my brother from Daddy,” Sonya said. She definitely said this a lot.

You couldn’t conceal your shock.

“Y/N? Are you okay? You look like you saw a ghost,” Taeyong said, concerned.

“You and Samantha…” You began.

“Step-siblings. Sonya is our half-sister,” Taeyong explained.

How did you not know about this?

“Oh.” That was all you could muster.

“So what do you say, Y/N?” Sonya asked. “Will you give my brother a chance?” Sonya looked so hopeful and kind and radiant.

You started to see the resemblance to Samantha. The wide-eyed dreamy expression she used to have when you were in primary school. The giggly and teasing lilt in her voice. Her laugh most of all.

“Sonya, leave Y/N alone,” Taeyong said.

Sonya pouted. “Fine. But I’ll try again next time. And the time after that. And the time after that. You are coming to the next practice, right Y/N?”

You nodded.

“Good!” Sonya smiled. “There’s hope! Bye Y/N!” Sonya ran off to Yuta. Yuta scooped Sonya off the ground and spun her in circles.

“Y/N?” Taeyong asked cautiously.

You looked at him. “Samantha and I were friends. A long time ago.”

“Really?” He raised his eyebrows.

“It...didn’t end well.”

“But if that were true, why are you here?” He asked.

“Good point. There’s a lot of reasons I can think of.”

“Like?” Taeyong wasn’t hiding his intrigue.

“Please don’t laugh.”

“Now you know if you start off with that...There’s a guarantee that I will laugh,” he said.

“That is so true.” You sighed and continued. “She and Yuta hired me because...I clearly don’t suck at what I do.”

“Oh, definitely not.” Taeyong gave you a deep, meaningful look. Like he had more to say.

You gulped. “And Samantha probably wanted to throw it in my face that she was marrying Yuta.”

“You know Yuta?” He asked. A trace of disappointment was on his face. It was almost as if he knew where this was going.

“We all went to school together up until high school. Samantha and I were chapter members of the Yuta Nakamoto fan club.”

He asked, “Wait, that was an actual club? I thought Yuta’s high school friends were bluffing.”

“There wasn’t an actual club. There may as well have been. The waiting list to date Yuta was very real, though.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Were you on the waiting list?”

You laughed. “Hell, no. I didn’t think I had the right to be.” You regretted saying that last sentence. Your low self-esteem from high school was coming back in waves.

He glared, his jawline very prominent in that second. “Is that so?”

“I...have no idea why I’m telling you all of this but...don’t look too much into it. I’m just here to do my job.” And then go home and have some green apple sangria to numb the pain.

“You...don’t still like him, do you?” Taeyong asked. “Yuta?”

You winced. “Do you want me to lie?”

“Nope.”

“I kinda still do. But it’s been years since I’ve seen Samantha and Yuta. I don’t know who they are now. I never really knew Yuta in high school, either. We weren’t that close of friends.”

Taeyong still looked annoyed.

“What’s with that look?” You asked.

“I was going to ask you out...but now with the truth out…I’m not so sure.”

Your jaw dropped. Someone was going to have to help you pick it up off the ground. “Wait, what?”

“From the moment you grabbed a chocolate chip cookie, I’ve been trying to get up the nerve to ask you out. And then I caught you before you fell. And then you sang. And then it was really over for me.” Taeyong moved closer to you.

You didn’t want anyone to be suspicious of you and Taeyong. After the bomb dropped that Taeyong was Samantha’s brother, you were even more on your toes.

“Taeyong…” You didn’t know what to say. He felt a spark, just like you did. Who knew your clumsiness could work in your favor?

“If you’re still into Yuta…” Taeyong said.

You interjected. “Taeyong, I’m attracted to Yuta. But do I like him enough to really say I like him? Even love him? No.”

Taeyong put his hands in his pants pockets, waiting.

“Taeyong, we just met. I think we still need to get to know each other before we entertain the idea of a date.” You couldn’t believe you were saying this. Did the fact that Samantha was his sister now deter you at all?

His somberness faded completely. “Really?”

“Yes,” you said.

“Okay, well how about a movie tonight?” He didn’t waste anytime.

“What were you thinking of watching?” Please say horror. Please say horror. Please say horror.

“I’ve been wanting to see The Conjuring 3...Are you into scary movies?” He asked, hopeful.

It was as if the Lord smiled down upon you at that second.

Well, that day, the Lord smiled down upon you. Multiple times.

Part 2 (Coming Soon)

200 notes · View notes

leilakisakabiri · 5 years

Text

Interstate - 94 (d.d)

plot: the reader goes to Chicago with David for the holidays and then decides to pay a visit to her own family, Too bad she doesn’t make it to her family.

warning: fluff, worried david, lil’ stressful situation?

send in ur David requests if you guys have any, enjoy!

(the gif literally has nothing to do with the story, i just thot it was cute ok.)

⍣⍣⍣

December.

The month that marks the beginning of the end, the end of one chapter and the starting of another. The festive season. The month filled with joy and embracing love ones.

Also coincidentally the month with the highest rate of car accident’s, especially in the Midwest.

You had come with David to Chicago this year, you guys had been dating for about 8 months at this point, and when he had asked you to come you were more than happy to oblige. Since it was the holidays, nobody else would be joining the two of you except Natalie.

It was your third day in Vernon Hills, and it also happened to be Christmas Eve, you were planning on leaving that evening to drive to your hometown of Minnesota. The plan was for you to go first, that way you could both be with your families on Christmas, and then the next day David was going to come and join you. It was a great plan, you guys were essentially hitting two birds with one stone, that way you both got to spend time with your families and see each other. It seemed foolproof, but neither of you had expected one factor, the weather.

You left Chicago that evening in the rental car you and David had rented, it was around an 8-hour drive to get to your hometown, so you would reach very early in the morning. After saying goodbye to David’s family and thanking them for letting you stay with them, you pulled David outside to say goodbye.

You both walked out together, him leaning down to give you a kiss. You smiled into the kiss, finally pulling back, unwrapping yourself from him “I gotta go, bye David.”

He groaned, grabbing your wrist and pulling you back into his embrace, he hugged you, rocking your bodies back and forth,

“I’m gonna miss you Y/N.”

You laughed, “David I’m gonna see you in two days.”

“Too long,” he muttered in your hair.

You giggled again, finally detaching yourself from him,

“I’ll see you soon.”

He smiled, giving you a quick kiss,

“One for the road,” he said winking.

You grinned back at him, turning to walk to the car,

“Bye babe.”

He waved, watching you as you got in the car, “Stay safe.” he finally, the roaring engine of the car partially drowning his voice out. You gave him a thumbs up and peeled out of the driveway ready to hit the road and see your family.

It was hour 4 and you were halfway there, and you drove closer to your hometown the more nervous and excited you felt. You were nervous to be back with your family and see your friends again, had things changed or were they still the same? You were excited to be back and catch up, going back home always felt like you were stepping into a time lapse, everything was the same, it had been the same since you were 18 and had first left, it felt as if you were still that socially awkward 18-year-old girl just looking for her place in the world.

The empty fields covered with snow passed you left and right, you loved drives like this, it felt so calm, there were no cities, no lights, no loud noises, just peace. This year the weather had been especially bad with numerous blizzards hitting the Midwest within a matter of days.

Tonight was no different, the snow had slowly started falling an hour ago but now that the wind had picked up it was flying all over the place, making driving a little difficult. You heard the radio host talking about hazardous weather conditions when you had first left the city but you had brushed it off. You’d grown up in Minnesota, you got your license driving through 4 inches of snow, you could handle a little snow. However, you had severely misinterpreted how bad it really was.

As you continued to drive, it became harder and harder to see, the snow piling up on your window pane. You groaned, trying to wipe it off, but it made little difference. It was well past 10 now and you knew you were closer to home than Chicago. You checked your phone for service, debating whether or not to pull to the side of the road and look for hotels to stay the night at.

You had no service.

You groaned, frustrated, the only bad thing about these types of drives was that the service was usually shitty, going in and out, one second it would be there and the next it was like it was never even there to begin with.

You set your phone to the side, continuing to drive, you just had to push on through, you couldn’t even call if you wanted to anyway.

It was another thirty minutes later and nobody had been on the road for a solid hour at this point, so it was only you. You had become more relaxed, the snow had gotten worse but your eyes had become accustomed to it.

You were just about to turn the corner of the road when you saw headlights coming your way, along with the sound of a large horn blaring. Your eyes widened, normally you wouldn’t be so scared, but the driver was in a truck and it had crossed the intersection and was barreling straight towards your car.

You felt the fear race through your veins, and at the last second you took your foot off the accelerator and turned the wheel as hard as you could. The car did a 180 and skidding on the ice, one second all you saw was snow, the skid marks on the road and then the next the back of the truck had barreled into your car full force, destroying the passenger side and sending you toppling off the road.

You heard the glass shattering on impact and were hurled off the intersection, you felt the car shift beneath you, tires squealing in protest, and before you could even let breathe the care had flipped over in the snow, with you still inside.

Your head was pounding, it felt like someone had torn it apart and squeezed your brain. Your hand shook as you placed it against your head trying to ease the pain. You pulled back when you felt something warm on your fingers, looking at them you felt the bile rise your throat when you saw it coated in crimson red blood.

You heard footsteps outside and then suddenly your car door was being thrown open, a bearded man stared down at you,

“Ma’am can you hear me. Are you okay?” your mouth opened but no words came out, instead, you nodded your head, letting the man take you out of the car.

Once you had finally gotten out, you felt the cold wind nip ferociously at your face. You stood, your body trembling from both the shock of what the hell had just happened and because of the bitter cold.

The older man began apologizing,

“Ma’am I’m so sorry, I hit a patch of ice that I didn’t see, and the truck spun out of control I tried...I couldn’t stop it, I’m so so sorry.”

You were still in shock but you knew it wasn’t his fault, you'd seen plenty of car crashes growing up in Minnesota and you knew that 90% of the time especially in winter it was just due to the horrible weather.

You nodded accepting his apology, “We need to call someone.”

He showed you his phone, “I have no service.”

You turned back to your wrecked car, your heart wrenched as you saw the damage, it was totaled. You pushed back the tears, of course, you had to ruin the car. David would not be happy.

David. Oh god you needed to call David.

You pointed to the car, “my phones in the car.”

The man went to retrieve it, coming out with a shattered I phone in his hand. You sighed, well great.

Your head was stilling pounding but you noticed the blood had dried, probably because of the cold.

“Let’s walk up the road and maybe we can get some service.”

The man agreed and you both walked silently for about five minutes before you heard the man yell, “I got it! I got one bar.”

You smiled, “Thank you, god.”

The man called the police first, explaining to them what had happened. As you listened to him explain you felt the tears prick your eyes, god you had come so close to dying.

There was still so much you wanted to do, so much you wanted to see, so many people that you didn’t want to leave. You weren’t ready to say goodbye, but sitting in the snow late at night on the side of an intersection you realized you didn’t get to choose when you were ready, it happened whether you wanted it to or not, and that thought terrified you.

The man finished talking and gave the phone to you. You dialed David’s number a million thoughts racing through your head.

Please pick up.

It rang and rang and finally when you had started to give up hope that he would answer someone answered. You let out a sigh of relief,

“David?”

You heard someone giggling on the line, “No this is Toby.”

You heard David in the background yelling at Toby for answering an unknown caller, you chocked back a sob, trying to calm yourself down, “H...hey Toby can you please give the phone to David.”

Toby didn’t question it, you heard him give the phone to David whispering, “it’s Y/N she’s crying I think.”

David was on the line within a second, a sense of urgency in his voice, “Y/N what’s going on, why are you calling me from a random number?”

You let out an audible sob when you heard his voice, god you were so scared.

“David” you hiccuped not being able to finish your sentence, “I’m so sor...sorry.”

You could hear the fear starting to seep in through David’s voice, “Y/N what’s going on? You’re scaring me.”

“There was a truck, I didn’t see it, there was ice, and then everything happened and I couldn’t… I cou-couldn’t stop i-it.” You whispered, tears completely drenching your face now.

You could hear David shuffling in the background, “Oh my god. Y/N holy shit. I’m coming baby, where are you?”

You hiccuped, choking on your words, “The car’s totaled David, I’m so sorry. I promise I’ll pay for it.”

“Y/N I don’t give a fuck about the car, I don’t care. I just want to know that you’re okay, your the most important thing to me.”

“You’re not mad?” You asked in a small voice.

He let out a sigh, “No I’m not mad, but please tell me where you are.” His voice broke at the end and you could tell he was on the verge of crying.

You gave him the details and after assuring him that you were fine multiple times and that you would stay put and wait until help arrived he hung up, promising you he would be there soon.

It was another 15 minutes later, and the throbbing in your head had returned, this time however accompanied by a sharp stinging sensation in your ribs. The man whose name you had come to learn as, Roger, stood next to you huddled underneath the tree. It was unbelievably cold, with temperatures going below -20 degrees. Thankfully both of you were decked out in winter gear head to toe so you had at least a little warmth, but slowly as the minutes past you could feel your toes starting to freeze.

Finally, you saw the flashing red lights and both of you immediately headed towards the road, as you approached you saw multiple cop cars and ambulances parked next to the sight of the crash.

The pain was almost unbearable in your ribcage now, you felt a sharp pain shoot up your rib cage every time you took a step. You had almost made it to the sight of the crash when you felt your legs give out underneath you. Immediately you were surrounded by a swarm of people, nurses and officers helping you up. You saw the infamous yellow stretcher and you felt bile rise in your throat.

The next time you woke up, you were in a hospital room, harsh bright light flooded your vision and you let out a low groan, trying to block out the light with your hand. You heard a sniffle next to you and you turned to see David sitting on a chair near the door, tears streaming down his face.

“Oh my god Y/N.” he rushed over to you, grasping your hand in his.

You let out a watery smile, “Hey dude.”

He let out a small laugh before wrapping you in a hug, burying his head in your shoulder, you could feel your gown get more and more soaked as his body shook. His reaction made you want to cry and soon both of you were a watery sobbing mess.

“I’m never letting you out of my sight again. I’m not losing you, I can’t.” He chocked on his words, pulling back to look you in the eyes.

You held his gaze, your lips turning at the corners, “Fine by me.”

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