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cousinmarcustalkswrestling · 4 years

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A Cousin’s Review - NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 15 Night One

January 4, 2021-

Hiromu Takahashi vs El Phantasmo - Winner faces Taiji Ishimori for Junior Heavyweight Title on Night 2

Hiromu had a spectacular Best of the Super Juniors run that ended with the arguable match of the year against El Desperado. Then he challenged the winner of the Super J Cup to a match. That winner ended up being El Phantasmi, who is basically the junior heavyweight version of Jay White. That’s even more appropriate considering Phantasmo is also in Bullet Club.

Phantasmo starts off going for straight heat by calling out Jushin Liger so he can put his Super J Cup jacket on him, but Hiromu dropkicks him into the rail then hits him with a big ol senton. Phantasmo flips out of a sunset bomb attempt then kills Hiromu with his own sunset flip powerbomb to the floor. This is my first exposure to El Phantasmo and I gotta say that he’s really creative. He does a cool ropewalk moonsault to the outside and drapes Hiromu across the ropes and gives him a back senton. Hiromu has good comebacks, so Phantasmo plans to cut it off by breaking Hiromu’s fingers. Then he shouts out Bullet Club leadership of the past by attempting Styles Clashes and the One Winged Angel. Hiromu falters a few times, but eventually catches Phantasmo with a snap rana and gets the win.

Hiromu is ELITE right now, like arguably best wrestler in the world. Phantasmo was great and this had great psychology. Great opener.

***3/4

Dangerous Tekkers (CHAMPS) vs Guerrillas of Destiny - Tag Team Titles

The Guerillas won World Tag League to set this up and they beat the Tekkers during the tournament. This was a good fun brawly match. The GOD controlled most of it and isolated Taichi. When Zack was in, he made it more interesting with his outrageous wrestling and counters. GOD set Zack up top for the super powerbomb, but Sabre locks in a Guillotine. Sabre screams at Taichi that this is the Tokyo Dome and instructs him to do a Tower of Doom. GOD eventually use the same iron….thing to crack Taichi with and they win the titles. Good, fun tag match, Would’ve been better with more Zack.

***1/4

Kenta (HOLDER) vs Satoshi Kojima - US Title Challenge Briefcase

Jon Moxley being in the states has basically made the Challenge briefcase the interim US title. Kenta helped the Guerillas screw FinJuice out of the World Tag League tournament, so Juice Robinson challenged Kenta for the briefcase, but then he suffered an orbital bone injury. Instead of Juice’s partner, David Finlay, challenging Kenta, the legendary Kojima was named the replacement. Weird, but whatever. No way in hell that Kojima beats Kenta, but it wasn’t worked like that anyway. Kojima looked solid and got in some signature offense like machine gun chops. Kenta never looks like he’s gonna lose, but its a solid intense match. Kojima DDTs Kenta on the apron at one point. He goes for his lariat, but Kenta kicks his arm away and run through his normal offense. Kenta tried to hit Kojima with the briefcase, but Kojima knocked it away with a lariat. That ain’t enough though because Kenta runs through him and ends it with GTS.

**3/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Great O’Khan

I kinda dreaded this match, but it’s not bad. O’Khan doesn’t have the breakout performance that would justify him being in this spot, but he’s also not as awful and boring as he was against Okada. He has a few interesting moments like when Tana goes to skin the cat, but he just chops Tana’s hands. He also grabs a nice kneebar out of nowhere. Tana sells like only he can and makes his great comeback, but ends up in the iron claw. Khan gets frustrated and grabs a chair, but Tana ends up with the chair. He actually considers using it, but he tosses it to the side and drills Khan with a Dragon Suplex then ends it with two High Fly Flows. Tana plugged him right into the Tana formula and Khan didn’t mess it up, so this is just solid.

**3/4

Kazuchika Okada vs Will Ospreay

I was actually anticipating this match, just because its Wrestle Kingdom and with Ospreay’s heel turn, I figure they would really let loose and go balls to the wall. Color me disappointed. Okada teases just wrestling Will, but eventually starts slugging him. Okada is on fire with a big tope, but Will dropkicks him to the floor and takes over. All through the G1, Will’s matches were hurt because he was still trying to his flippy junior stuff and it didn’t work with his new character. Here, he has basically eliminated all of his babyface offense, but he hasn’t replaced it with anything interesting. Plus this match is 30+ minutes which means we hit a big lull while Will controls.

Things kick up a notch and actually feel like the intense grudge match this should be. After a strikefest, Will gets crazy and suplexes Okada onto a table on the outside. He goes for the Oscutter on the apron, but Okada counters to a Tombstone on the apron, then Okada instantly pulls him in the ring for a rainmaker, but Will kicks out. Will escapes another rainmaker, but ends up in the money clip. He gets to the ropes and after a turnbuckle battle, Will hits a big ol Spanish Fly. Will hits the Oscutter, but it only gets two. Deep into the match, Okada is putting over the intensity of the feud by just slapping and kicking Will. Will ducks another Rainmaker and goes for a Super Oscutter, but gets dropkicked out of the sky. Will escapes the Money Clip again and steals Okada’s moves, hitting the Tombstone, the rainmaker pose, and then the Rainmaker to an astonishing reaction, but Okada kicks out. Ospreay goes to end it with Stormbreaker, but Okada spins out, hits a Michinoku Driver and then the true Rainmaker for the win.

Once they decided to kick it up a notch, this was really fun, but definitely too long and Ospreay still needs to improve as a heel. Good match, but disappointing. Their G1 29 match is still their gold star.

***1/4

Tetsuya Naito (CHAMP) vs Kota Ibushi - Heavyweight and Intercontinental Title

New Japan has caught a lot of flack for how they’ve handled this three way situation between Naito, Ibushi, and Jay White. I haven’t really known what to think, but as soon as this match started, I realized that it worked because I didn’t know who would win and that instantly increases the drama. I also have never seen a match between these two, but I heard they have a reputation for being a little rough (LOL).

They start with just some solid wrestling until Ibushi ranas Naito to the outside. Ibushi wants the Golden Triangle moonsault, but Naito is able to leap onto the apron, avoid Ibushi’s kicks and give him a German suplex on the floor. Let the violence commence people. Naito goes right after Ibushi’s previously injured neck with neckbreakers on the floor and all types of savagery. Ibushi ends up on the apron and catches Naito charging with an insane snap rana that sends Naito flying off the apron. Thats a suuuuuuuper early candidate for spot of the year.

Now, the momentum has swung to Ibushi’s favor and he tries a German suplex from the apron to the inside, but Naito escapes by targeting the neck and delivers a crazy super poisonrana. Naito drills Ibushi with a hard Destino, but it only gets two. His next Destino attempt is countered to a Bastard Driver. We get an awesome strikefest and Ibushi powers up into the Golden Powerbomb. I love how furiously Naito tried to punch his way out of that, but he still got drilled. Ibushi immediately transitions from the powerbomb to Kamigoye, but Naito kicks out. Naito avoids the Phoenix splash and gets another Destino, but only for two. Ibushi flips out of a suplex lands a hard kick and another Kamigoye, but Naito kicks out AGAIN!! Naito lands Valentia, but Ibushi spins out of another Destino attempt, lands a brutal V Trigger and immediately hits one final Kamigoye to end it and KOTA IBUSHI IS YOUR MOTHAFUCKING DOUBLE CHAMPION BAYBAY!!

Match was awesomely built, brutal with a crazy hot ending. Better than both of the Wrestle Kingdom main events from last year. Awesome main event and MY BOY IBUSHI DID IT BAY BAY!!

****1/2

OVERALL: My favorite kinda show, all killer no filler. Ok I’m overstating it, because it ain’t all killer, but nothing here was bad, it starts with a banger and ends with an even bangier banger. Okada/Ospreay disappointed me, but it was still good overall. Damn good show.

OVERALL RATING: 3.5 OUTTA 5

#njpw #wrestle kingdom #reviews #wrestling #2021 #kota ibushi #tetsuya naito #kazuchika okada #will ospreay #kenta #satoshi kojima #guerillas of destiny #dangerous tekkers #zack sabre jr #taichi #hiromu takahashi #el phantasmo #hiroshi tanahashi #great o khan

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tsarinastorm · 4 years

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Same World-Adam Sackler/Reader-Chapter 1

*PART TWO OF SO WE BEAT ON SERIES

PART 1: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6

“I want to know you moved and breathed in the same world with me”. -F. Scott Fitzgerald

Adam’s walking through the park carrying Sample, he had got roped into babysitting as Caroline had to go somewhere and Laird was busy. He hoped it wouldn’t be for too long like it was last time. Both Caroline and Laird had seemingly been more stable than they’d ever been and it made Adam happy. Considering her real name, Adam was now glad his niece’s nickname Sample stuck, it was better than have to carry around little Jessa-Hannah. In fact, that name made him feel nauseous. Now he was over both his past relationships with Jessa and Hannah enough to be friendly with both of them, but he still preferred to keep his distance so he wouldn’t get caught up in all of that drama again.

Today was his day off from shooting his recent film and he wanted to make the most of it despite his babysitting duties. It was nice outside, and Sample needed fresh air so he took to her a local park, though he would never let her be more a few feet away him. She’s sitting down on the blanket he brought for them playing with a toy and he’s talking to her in a silly voice which makes her laugh. He hears someone speaking to him.

“Cute baby. Is she yours?” Y/N observes him with Sample and smiles. Adam’s disoriented seeing her there, and she looks beautiful he thinks to himself. She’s wearing a striped short-sleeved sweater, black jeans and flats. Act cool, act cool.

“No, she’s my niece. Her name is Sample.” He answers her and she leans down beside the blanket and hands Sample her toy. Y/N raises her eyebrows as she asks, “Her name is really Sample? That’s a different name.”

Adam watches Y/N playing with Sample, and he appreciates it. He remembers how awful Jessa was with her, so it’s refreshing to see someone who is a natural. He mentally logs this moment in his mind, because if he ever gets into a serious relationship again, he wants kids one day. “Sample is her nickname because she was born really small, sample-sized. Her name is Jessa-Hannah Bluebell something, some ridiculous name. My sister was trying to do a home-birth but was having complications and refused to go to the hospital. It was Jessa and Hannah who convinced Laird to carry her there.”

“Damn that sucks though having your niece named after two of your exes. Sample it is then” She says as she smiles. Y/N adds, “You seem like you’re really good with her.”

“I guess so. I’m a like a big kid myself and it works out.” He responds back and Sample appears to be loving all the attention she’s getting. Sample grabs unto Y/N then heads towards Adam, as Y/N hands her to Adam, their hands brush. And it’s electric, Adam can feel the tingle go through his arm. She then looks at her phone and stands up to leave.

“I have to go meet Shoshanna for lunch. But you’ll be at the party, right?”

Adam nods his head, but before he can speak, Y/N adds, “Hannah and Jessa both will be there, but if it gets weird I can find a place to hide you in the apartment.”

“Thanks, but I think it should be civil between all of us now.” He watches her go and thinks that if he wasn’t so into Y/N there would be no way anyone could get him to that party. But he supposes he’ll suffer through it if he gets to spend time with her.

**************************************************************

Marnie called you as soon as you left Shosh, and she told you that she had seen her ex Charlie earlier in the day. She said that he’d gone through rehab, been clean for over a year and has a new app he’s developing. She then mentions that she invited him to your apartment warming. You told her that if Marnie still had a couple hours of work left and you decided to browse on your computer. Without thinking it through, you start googling Adam, and then you’re clicking on his movie. You try to talk yourself out of it, but then you press play. It’s actually good, guess he really did love Hannah.

Then, the scene starts. He spanks her again and again. You feel yourself becoming aroused as you watch his back muscles move and his large hand collide with her. You’re getting wetter, and honestly you can’t remember the last time you felt this horny. You go to take a shower, hoping that these hormones will pass. But that scene was hot, and you couldn’t ignore it. Then, there was the raw emotion from that film, you could feel everything that the characters were feeling. It made you think of Adam differently to see what kind art he had created and to see what he really felt. Here you had always thought that he was more of player, you never realized the strength of his emotions. Now you find him more attractive than you did before.

Ugh, this complicates things, you think to yourself. Of course you had to go and catch feelings for one of the most inconvenient men you’ve met. First, there’s the fact that Adam may be the most frustrating man you’ve ever known, second, he’s an ex of one of your friends and has a complicated past. Third, you had decided that you didn’t want a relationship right now, you had wanted to focus on yourself. Yet, if you were being honest with yourself, you were infatuated by Adam, and you could see it potentially developing into something real one day, if it wasn’t already. He made your head hurt, your heart flutter, and gave you butterflies as cliché as that sounded. He was intense, and you could tell that he felt things as deeply as you did. You always wanted the type of connection that was intoxicating, maddening and deep enough to drown in. You knew you would have to explore things with Adam, and you made up your mind that you would be open to the possibilities.

While you’re zoned out in your own world pondering your emotions, you hear your phone buzzing. You check it and its Jessa calling you, so you answer, “Hello.”

“Hey, so Y/N, first, I need life advice then I have a question about the party tonight.” Jessa says and you can hear people in the background speaking.

“Okay shoot.” You tell her.

“I want to mend my friendship with Hannah but I don’t know how. I thought since Adam and I are over that it would fall back into place but it’s not. And can I bring a plus one to the party tonight?” Jessa asks and you sigh before answering, “You should show Hannah that you’ve changed and that she can trust you again, and you know, take an interest in her life. It will probably be a slow process. You can bring a plus one as long as he behaves.”

*******************************************************************

Music fills the air, and you have opened the sliding doors to the main terrace. Marnie has taken care of the food for the night. You weren’t sure if you wanted this apartment warming in the first place but you go along with it, because, hey, what could it hurt? Marnie has moved the furniture around in the main room so the table is in the middle of the room, while there are other seats surrounding the room. You’ve never been the best hostess so you follow her lead. Though you do set out the flowers and see that the food is out with utensils in all of the containers. You’re wearing a pale-pink, off-the-shoulder jumpsuit, and block-heeled sandals.

“I can’t believe you invited Jessa. And Adam. There is now a 99 % chance that this will turn into a shit show.” Marnie says as she continues moving around your apartment. You stop to get a treat for your dog River before answering her. “You invited who you wanted, including your druggie ex who you just ran into for a few minutes earlier today. By the way, tell me about that.”

“Well I just ran into Charlie on the street and he started asking me questions about my life. I summed up the past two years, and asked him about what he’s up to. He said that he went to rehab, and has been clean since. He also has a new app he’s starting. I don’t know it just really threw me for a loop seeing him again.” Marnie states and you notice that she’s twitching her fingers like she does when she’s nervous.

“Running into an ex can do that. Do you still have any feelings for him?” You ask because now you’re curious. She seems very flustered so you sense that there’s some emotions underneath that.

“For so long, I thought I would always end up with Charlie. Then I wouldn’t and I thought that Desi was the one, then Ray, but I think that I always really wanted closure about Charlie.” She admits and you give her a pat on the shoulder and say, “If you need closure then get closure. Love chooses you sometimes.”

“Back to what I said before I got off on the Charlie tangent, what were you thinking invite both Adam and Jessa?”

“Jessa says that she wants to turn her life around and I guess I want to support that. Adam and I have a lot in common, he makes me feel less weird.” You say hoping that will get her to accept the fact that you choose to invite them both.

“Look, Y/N, I know you’re a good person and want to help people but Jessa pulls this all the time. She’ll say she’s going to change, get her life together and that will last a few months then she spirals out of control. And she’ll probably end up fucking you over. But I say that as your best friend: just be careful. Then there’s Adam. I have never understood what it was about him that made Hannah and Jessa so crazy. My only worry with him is that he wants to fuck you. Then if that happens, the awkward love triangle will turn into an even more awkward love rectangle.”

You feel your face go red at her last statement, you still blush as an adult and you hate it. Then, you do your best damage control by saying, “That’s not going to happen. But I guess we’ll see what happens with Jessa. We’re best friends, we’re supposed to be honest with each other.”

Marnie turns and grab a gift bag from her room, and pulls out the bottle of champagne that was inside. She says, “Marc got us this as a house warming gift.”

“Oh well that was very nice of him.” You say and think that he was the last person you wanted to think of. Elijah then shows up early to help the two of you set up the decorations. You had bought some lights to string up through the apartment and terrace while Marnie had got a few balloons. You catch up with Elijah while you wait for your other guests to arrive. Hannah shows up first, followed by Shoshanna and her fiancé, Byron, then Ray and his girlfriend Abigail come in. Then a guy you assume must be Charlie walks in. He seems nice enough, and Marnie introduces you to him. You’re actually feeling relieved that Jessa didn’t show since Marnie was sure that she would cause problems, but you were disappointed that Adam bailed. You were looking forward to hanging out with him again and you wanted to tell him that you watched the movie.

You mingle with Shosh and Elijah, the former is talking about wedding details and the latter is giving her his thoughts on the details. Byron is keeping his opinion to himself as you assume that he’s letting Shosh do much of the planning. You look over and see Ray and his girlfriend Abigail sharing a plate of food and giggling. Your eyes continue to scan the room to see Marnie and Charlie off on their own in a corner in the room. How is possible to feel lonely in a room full of people?

******************************************************************

Adam buzzes up to Y/N and Marnie’s apartment. When he walks through the door he immediately sees that the room is full with people who aren’t his biggest fans: Hannah, Marnie, Marnie’s old boyfriend, Elijah. Then he sees Y/N and it was worth it. She standing by the door to the balcony, and smiles as soon as she sees him. She looks hot and comes right up to him and thanks him for showing up. He don’t see Jessa and he’s relieved he can’t deal with her ‘friendship’ ploy tonight.She offers him a drink and he follows her into the kitchen to avoid socializing with the other people at the party.

“I have a question and I want you to be completely honest with me.” Y/N says and looks somber. He nods his head and now he’s scared: what will she ask, it must be important. She then leans into him, handing him his drink then whispers, “What is like to fuck Hannah and Jessa?”

He watches her to see if she’s joking or being serious. She then laughs at his horrified expression and he shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders before adding, “A gentleman never tells.”

“Now, c’mon, what kind of answer is that? I invited you so you could provide details and your drama could be the entertainment for the night.” She says cheerfully, then giggles. Holy shit, that giggle may be one of the best sounds he’s ever heard.

“What? Here I thought you brought me here so you could watch me squirm. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to make it clear that you invited me so you’re responsible.” He says in a deep tone back at her.

“On a more serious note, I watched your movie….” Now, Adam starts to panic, he’s expecting her to lay into him and begin her insults/commentary. He’s surprised by her actual comment.

“It was really good. It was open and raw. Real life isn’t depicted correctly in art anymore, it was refreshing. You could really feel the passion. To have a love that’s too intense to survive is painful, but you have to let it go.”

He feels his face blush, he always feel uncomfortable from praise, but he does appreciate it from Y/N. He knows she definitely has her own opinions, and is well-cultured so if she likes it then that really means something. He awkwardly stammers, “Thank you, I appreciate it.”

Then the rest of her comments sink in, he adds, “See you get the purpose of it! That was the point of it: that you can have a connection that’s too intense for it to last.”

The moment is ruined because he then sees Jessa walk into the room with some guy, she’s obviously dragged here. She goes up to talk to Hannah, Marnie, and Shoshanna. Adam is thankful that she hasn’t spotted him yet and he wants to keep it that way.

“How are your projects going?” Y/N asks him like she doesn’t even recognize that he’s become tense. He answers, “Good, I’m actually updating some of my old writing work for a resume, and preparing for another audition. One of my friends from the cab group wants me to take the movie and either turn into a longer screenplay or adapt for the stage.”

Shit! Jessa’s made eye contact with him and now she’s coming their way. Jessa approaches with the asshole she’s brought with her. She hugs Y/N, and says, “Y/N, you look beautiful as always. This is Joe, we’ve been seeing each other.”

Jessa then turns to Adam and says, “It’s good to see you, Adam. Adam this is Joe, he’s a cardiologist. Joe this is Adam.”

Adam reluctantly shakes Joe’s hand and prays that Jessa goes away. He can tell that she brought this guy here to make him jealous but he’s so checked out of that relationship that he doesn’t care, he’s just annoyed. He wants to continue his conversation with Y/N without the newfound company. Y/N chatters with Jessa for a short amount of time which leaves both him and Joe stuck standing there awkwardly.

“If you need someone else to help you review your other pieces, I’d love to read some more of your work, if you’re open to that. I know some writing is extremely personal.” Y/N says as she ignores that Jessa and Joe are still only a few away. Jessa is trying to hide that she’s eavesdropping in the conversation, but she keeps her head pointed towards their conversation.

“I’d like that, I’m auditioning for a role with Ars Nova, and they’re going to be doing a new piece by Sara Ruhl. They look their actors to be well-rounded and are looking for new works.” Adam says and he can’t hide his excitement. He wants the role and to be a part of the elite company.

“Wait, that’s amazing! Didn’t Lin Manuel Miranda do work with them? And Sarah Ruhl? Wow” Y/N says and she sounds as excited about it as he does.

“It’s a big opportunity and I want everything to be perfect.” He says. But before they can continue the conversation, Jessa interjects, “Who and what are you talking about?”

“A theater company, one of the best in New York and one of the best contemporary playwrights,” Y/N answers her and Jessa only responds with “Oh” then she walks away and goes to talk Hannah. Adam and Y/N look at each other and raise their eyebrows before continuing the conversation.

They end up talking about past relationships, family, and pet peeves. For one of the first times, Adam is one of the last people to leave the party, Y/N gives him a hug and Marnie gives him the side-eye.Adam never thought that Y/N would agree to help him write. The idea of her reading and editing his work makes him somehow self-conscious and excited at the same time. He wants to be sure to impress her, and to make the most of it so his resume is as good as possible.

Adam returns home then goes back to read through new materials for upcoming auditions. He gives up after he notices that he can’t concentrate. His thoughts drift to Y/N as he thinks of how good she looked that night at the party, and how perfectly disheveled she looked walking the other day. He wonders what she would look like after he’s wrecked her, then he thinks about her great her tits looked in that outfit, and her perky ass. And he realizes that now he’s hard. He unbuttons his pants and reaches down to stroke his cock. He begins stroking, thinking of how Y/N’s mouth would feel sucking him, how her pussy would feel around him, and how she would look when he made her cum. He strokes at a faster pace until he feels the familiar tingle in his spine. Then his orgasm hits him and streaming cum is across his hands and his stomach.

He thinks that he’s going to have to make a move on Y/N, or else he’ll always regret it. He’s interested in her in every way: sexually, emotionally, and intellectually, and he supposes he’ll settle for any part of her she’ll give him.

******************************************************************

Once everyone is gone, you crash down on the couch beside Marnie, and you look around at the mess left from the party. You grab some a container of cookie dough and a couple of spoons, and the two you snack and talk about how great the party was. Marnie stares at you, so finally ask, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I saw you talked to Adam most of the night.” Marnie says in an accusatory tone and gets up to pick up some of the trash.

“What? We have a lot in common. I’m not going to apologize for it. You spend the night talking to Charlie, how did that go?” You say, desperate to change the topic.

“It was good, I forgot how I had felt about him. Then it’s all coming rushing back. I guess we’ll see how it goes.” Marnie says and you’re worried because while Charlie seems like a nice guy, he did have no problem ditching her and disappearing.

“I hope it works out or get what you need from it. Do you want to finish cleaning up in the morning?”

Marnie shakes her head yes and you retreat into your room, and fall into your bed. Sleep hits you at once.

#adam sackler #adam sackler x reader #adam sackler fic #hbo girls #girls hbo #adam driver #adam sackler smut

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nctxnation · 5 years

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Heart of Gold

➳ Pairing: Jaemin x Female Reader

➳ Genre: Fluff | Hogwarts AU

➳ Word Count: 6.9k

➳ “The only thing I want is to be with you.” -- La La Love, NCT Dream

“Remind me why I’m here again?” You asked, pulling your beanie down to avoid the harsh pelting rain. “I can’t even see anything!”

“We’re here to scope out the cute players!” Your friend Anna wiggled her eyebrows playfully, her eyes fully trained on the clashing mess of red and blue in front of you.

“There are none,” You grumbled, twisting your blue and silver scarf tighter around your neck to block out the arctic winds.

“Your boyfriend certainly looks good in his uniform,” She tossed you a wink, pointing at Na Jaemin who was whizzing around with a Quaffle firmly secured in his arms.

“You can barely even see him through this damn storm!” The rain was coming down hard and fast, making it difficult for anyone to see through its haze.

“So, you admit he’s your boyfriend.” “Please stop,” You rubbed circles over your temples as a means to qualm whatever headache would surely come with your friends’ constant teasing. “I don’t even like him.”

“He likes you.”

“He likes to make my life miserable,” You grumbled, plopping down on the wooden benches.

Anna was completely engrossed in the game, cheering loudly with the crowd. Your eyes wandered to Jaemin who was gliding through the air like a falcon, effortlessly dodging bludgers. The Gryffindor crowd began buzzing with electricity as he whizzed by. He pulled back his arm and aimed the Quaffle straight into the Ravenclaw goalpost. The Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs madly cried out in happiness, while the Ravenclaws and Slytherins sunk down.

The game wasn’t finished yet, although Star Player Na Jaemin was certainly making it hard for Ravenclaw to beat out Gryffindor. The Snitch hadn’t been caught yet and the anticipation in the crowd grew.

“When is it going to end?” You groaned wanting nothing more than to curl up by the fire with a warm mug of hot chocolate, pumpkin pasties, and a good book.

“Almost,” Anna breathed out, her voice clearly strained from her incessant screaming. “Look, the Snitch! Oh my God Mark is gonna catch it!”

Mark Lee, Gryffindor’s seeker was blowing through the rain like a bulldozer. Huang Renjun, Ravenclaw’s seeker, was hot on his heels, tailing after him with great speed and a glimmer of determination in his eyes.

“I can’t watch!” Anna ducked down, knocking you over slightly as she tried to hide behind your shoulder. “Did they catch it? Did we win? Did we lose?”

“I can’t see anything,” You tried to see over the shoulders of the rest of your Ravenclaw classmates, but it was too hard.

For one, Anna was weighing you down with her death grip on your arm. Two, everyone was starting to stand up on the bench to get a better view. It wasn’t until you heard a collective groan from Ravenclaw house and raucous screeching from Gryffindor did you realize the finalized score.

“Gryffindor wins! Mark Lee has caught the snitch!” Lee Donghyuck bellowed into the microphone. “That’s my best friend everyone!”

“Well, damn,” Anna muttered pulling you up, as everyone began to shuffle off the stands. “Do you think your boyfriend will invite us to the after party?”

“One, he’s not my boyfriend,” You insisted for the millionth time, as you looped your arm around hers and ambled down the steps, “Two, Ravenclaw just lost their chance at the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup, this is no time for celebration.”

“But we’re not even big sports fans,” Anna pouted, wobbling as she struggled not to slip on the wet grass.

“It doesn’t matter,” You told her, grasping her tightly as the crowd began to push you around to get closer to congratulate the Gryffindor team. “We stand in solidarity with our house.”

“I was really hoping you’d come to the after party, I guess that’s out of the question.”

You felt your insides coil at the sound of the familiar voice. Na Jaemin was grinning down at you and Slytherin Lee Jeno steadily at his side, smirking devilishly. The rain was slowly turning into a drizzle, allowing you to get a better glimpse at the Gryffindor Chaser. His brown hair was matted, clinging onto his forehead and his face was covered in a sheen of sweat that gave him an angelic glow. He wore a shy grin, but looks could be deceiving.

“I wished you’d come,” He smiled down at you. “I’d really need a Ravenclaw to rub my victory in their face and you seem like the perfect candidate.”

“I think the party would be a lot more interesting if you’d join us,” Jeno’s eye smiles were not going to budge you from firmly saying no, although Anna seemed bewitched by his charms.

“Are these boys bothering you two?” Huang Renjun was ready to fight. Although smaller than the pair, he looked like he could still take them on. “You won the game, just leave us alone.”

You were surprised by Renjun’s actions. You weren’t necessarily friends with him, you shared the same classes and on occasion came across each other in the common room, but you two were nothing more than acquaintances. Last time you checked, he was good friends with them.

“Aw, c’mon Injunnie, don’t be like that,” Jaemin tried to pull Renjun into a hug, but the smaller boy quickly skirted out of his reaching hands. “You don’t have to take every game so personal.”

“Jaemin, you forget he’s annoyingly competitive,” Jeno said as the Ravenclaw boy hissed in irritation. “Renjun this wasn’t the Quidditch World Cup, Mark just got to the snitch faster.”

“I almost had it!” Renjun cried out, flailing his arms.

“Sure you did!” You can hear Mark Lee shouting back from somewhere in the crowd.

“Whatever,” Jaemin waved it off, his eyes focused solely on you, “I’m serious, come to the party,” His eyes moved to Anna, as he instructed her, “Bring her there. Renjun’s going to be there, so screw Ravenclaw solidarity.”

“I am not!” Renjun snapped as Jeno tugged him away.

With a flounce of scarlet robes and a playful wink, Na Jaemin shuffled through the crowd, smiling brightly at the girls fawning over him.

“We’re so going to that party!” Anna squealed as you began your trek toward the castle.

“We are not,” You really were going to suffer from serious migraines due to both Anna and Jaemin. “He just wants someone to entertain him and I won’t be the subject of ridicule at that stupid Gryffindor party.”

“Aw, you’re such a party pooper.”

It wasn’t that you didn’t enjoy celebrating with fellow classmates, but last time you went to a Gryffindor party Jaemin had successfully embarrassed you in front of Hendery, the shy Ravenclaw who had stolen your heart.

You weren’t going to give him the chance to do anything like that again.

“I can’t believe you actually managed to blackmail me to be here.”

“It was so easy!” Anna didn’t look guilty, not even for your sake. “Look, if Jaemin tries anything, I’ll hex him. Just relax and have some fun. It beats staying behind and reading a book.”

“Are you even a Ravenclaw?” You asked as you climbed through the portrait hole, the Fat Lady telling you to have fun.

“Stop sticking to stereotypes,” She poked her tongue out and then grinned mischievously, “Who knows, Hendery might even be here. If he is, please keep me updated on this love triangle between you, Hendery, and Jaemin.”

“There’s no love triangle,” You pressed, “I have no feelings for that jerk Jaemin.”

“Sure, sure.” She seemed thoroughly unconvinced and you were tired of trying to convince her you were saying nothing but the truth. “I’ll be back, I’m going to get us some drinks.

The party was in full swing, there was Gryffindors raging over their victory. Jaemin’s words rang true, Renjun was hovering around the multitude with a fresh smile, his loss forgotten. So much for Ravenclaw pride. You walked over to the edge of the party, waiting patiently for Anna to come back with butterbeers.

“I knew you’d come!”

Lo and behold, the bane of your existence. Jaemin was alone as he approached you with a spring in his step. His golden brown hair was a disarray of soft waves that glowed under the candlelight. His eyes were warm and inviting, which sent warning bells in your head and raised the hairs behind your neck.

“I came against my will,” You replied indifferently, focusing on a speck on the wall across from you.

“I didn’t force you,” He frowned, “I hope you didn’t take it that way.”

“Anna took your words very seriously.”

“Do you want a drink?” Jaemin asked, trying his best to peek his way into your line of vision. Your eyes went straight to the floor, trying your best to look unapproachable.

“No, that’s fine,” You told him, “Anna’s gone to get us some butterbeer. I should probably go find her, she’s been gone for a while.”

“Wait, Y/N,” Jaemin stopped you mid step, his warm breath fanned over your face as he spoke, “You’re not mad that we won, right? I mean, Ravenclaw solidarity, seriously? You were joking right?”

You pulled your arm out of his grasp, “I’m not big on house pride, Jaemin. I just don’t want to be here, I think I’m starting to catch a cold, so don’t take my indifference too personal.”

“Do you want me to walk you back to Ravenclaw Tower?” He immediately grabbed your arm and began weaving you through the crowd, “I’ll make sure Jeno keeps Anna company.”

“It’s nothing serious!” You protested, halting your steps. “Plus, I’d rather not have you walk me straight into one of your pranks.”

“Is that the main reason you’re acting like I have Spattergroit?” Jaemin quirked an eyebrow at you. “So, this isn’t about you feeling ill, it’s about you thinking I’m going to pull a prank on you.”

“I wasn’t lying about feeling sick,” You defended sharply, “I was out in the rain without proper clothing for the rain. But yeah, your pranks have left traumatic scars on me. Can’t say I trust you walking me back to my dorm.”

“Well, I’m sorry you feel that way,” It truly hurt you to admit he sounded sincere about his words. “I promise, you can trust me now. I’ve changed.”

“Since when?”

“Since, I realized we’ll be Seventh Years soon and we don’t have a lot of time to actually be friends.”

“You want to be friends?” This was news to you, you were used to being at the receiving end of his teasing and pranks, friendship was far from your mind. Civility, at most.

“Of course!” He beamed down at you. Jaemin wanted to be more than friends, but he’s never been too good at expressing his feelings. “So, how about that walk to Ravenclaw Tower?”

“But you’ll miss your party,” You noted, glancing around the room at the vivacious Hogwarts students flailing about. “You’re the Star Player.”

“The whole team is,” He told you, a tone of honesty and admiration in his voice, “There isn’t one singular player that is special, the whole team is. We work together to achieve our goal. Plus Mark was the one that ended the game. If anything, he’d be the one to be missed.”

Jaemin really seemed to shine, when he spoke about his teammates. There was so much conviction in his voice, so much love. It really had you seeing a different light to him. Tonight, was seriously adding to the list of headache-inducing moments. He was the boy who pulled your pigtails, not the one who made your heart grow warm in appreciation.

Before Jaemin could continue his tangent, a huddle of Gryffindors swooped in to congratulate him. He gave you a look to stay still, while he abated the swarm around him. Without his notice, you ducked away from the group.

You were serious about catching a cold. Your sinuses were starting to feel congested and your body heat felt like it was rising. Anna would understand if you left. You didn’t want to spoil her fun, by telling her knowing she’d go after you to play the role of a nurse.

You slipped out of the portrait hole and made your journey to Ravenclaw Tower. The dim moonlight pooled through the windows, spilling into the empty halls. The castle was eerie at this time, which had you hastily rushing through the darkness. In your haste, you nearly knocked down a display of a knight’s armor.

“Who’s there?”

Oh, no. Whoever was there will find you and give you detention. Not only that, but he’d have you squealing about the raging party happening in the Gryffindor common room. You didn’t have it in you to lie to your superiors. You were weak and natural selection would surely whipe you out.

“I said, who’s there?”

You sped up, trying your best to make it the nearest broom closet or alcove you could hide in. It was no use, as a toned body crashed into you.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” You spluttered apologies as the dark-haired boy groaned, “Are you a prefect? Oh my God. Oh my God.”

“Head Boy, actually,” Your eyes widened as Hendery’s gentle face came under the stream of moonlight, “Please don’t freak out, even more. You look like your going to pass out. I’m not that scary, am I?”

“N-no,” You heart felt like it lodged in your throat. “I was just getting a midnight snack.”

“Wearing that?” He nodded towards the outfit Anna had chosen for you, clearly not proper sleepwear attire. He reached a hand out to help you up. “I know there’s a Gryffindor party happening, just because I’m Head Boy doesn’t mean I’m suddenly immune to the knowledge of parties.”

“Are you going to dock me points?” You felt your insides freeze. You had never been in this situation before.

“Technically, I should,” He admitted, “It’d be righteous of me to do so, but I think Ravenclaw house has suffered enough tonight for me to go about taking their chances from winning the House Cup too. You know, Ravenclaw pride and all.”

“Right, thank you, Hendery,” You forced your lips to smile, your heart was pounding and your face was flushed.

“No problem, Y/N,” He smiled warmly down at you. He rubbed his hands sheepishly, “It’s dark out and there’s all sorts of ghouls crawling around the castle, let me walk you back to the Tower.”

“Don’t you have rounds to finish?”

“Everyone’s probably at the party,” He shrugged, “Cassie, the Head Girl’s there. It’s Saturday night and I’m absolutely dead tired, I was heading to the dorms anyway. It’s been a while since we had a proper conversation.”

He led the way to Ravenclaw Tower, hair shining like polished ebony under the moonlight and a gentle smile on his lips. Wong Kunhang, or Hendery as he was more commonly referred to, was the one boy in the whole castle who melted you. He was sweet, sensible, and intelligent. Your crush developed in First Year when he helped you solve the riddle to enter the Ravenclaw common room. You’d see him around the common room or the library, sometimes he’d smile at you in the Great Hall.

It wasn’t until Fourth Year when you two were in the common room, unbeknownst to the both of you, reading the same book. You spent hours pouring over it, talking animatedly over every single part of it. Then last year, you were left embarrassed after Jaemin pranked you in front of him.

You two reached the Tower and quickly answered the riddle, he hovered next to you as you walked towards the hallway that led to the girls’ dormitories. With a flourish of his wand, he put out the fireplace and lit the room with a spell.

“Goodnight Y/N,” He hesitated for a moment, but then swiftly dropped a chaste kiss on your cheek.

You felt your cheek tingle from the touch of his lips. You waited until he was gone, swallowed by the shadows of the boys’ dorm hallway, then you hollered in joy.

Maybe going to the Gryffindor party hadn’t been such a bad thing.

“Pssst...Y/N.”

Something soft collided onto your shoulder, you ignored it, continuing with your notes. Jaemin sat behind you in Charms, he typically made it his duty to throw pieces of parchment at your hair every day.

The professor signalled the end of class and you gathered your supplies and headed towards the Great Hall where Anna would be waiting. A familiar smell assaulted your senses and you glanced up to see Jaemin falling into step with you.

“You left the party early,” He acknowledged, deflecting the gawking stares of passerbyers with a grimace. Of course, people would find it weird to see you two walking together. “I tried finding you yesterday, but I couldn’t find you.”

“I was pigeonholed in my common room finishing an essay.” Well, technically, you were mostly daydreaming about the school’s Head Boy.

“I wanted to apologize for not walking you back to your dorm.”

“It’s not your fault,” You said, entering the noisiness that was the Great Hall. “I made it back.”

“Yeah, but it was dark and late and I left you to fend off the professors and prefects just waiting to give you detention.”

“I’m old enough to walk myself to my room, Jaemin,” You deadpanned hollowly, “But if it makes you feel better, Hendery walked me back.”

“Hendery? The Head Boy?”

“Yes,” You stated, your eyes involuntarily searched for the dark-haired boy amongst the sea of Ravenclaws, “He found me and didn’t give me detention.”

“That’s surprising,” Jaemin chuckled, “He such a stick in the mud, I’m surprised he didn’t give you detention for weeks and docked hundreds of points. He’s quite boring sometimes, takes being Head Boy way too seriously.”

“He’s just doing his job,” You justified, sighing as a calm washed over you when Hendery’s eyes met yours and he gave you a soft smile, “He can be exciting. He’s just being responsible, you’re just too reckless.”

Jaemin noticed the softness from your face and the glazed look in your eyes, with a disgruntled groan.

“Oh, gross,” He spluttered, wrinkling his nose and pretending to retch, “Don’t tell me you like Mr. Monotone. Do you have no taste in guys?”

“W-who said I like him?”

“Oh my God, you do!”

Jaemin felt his heart clenched painfully, he pressed his hand over it and groaned in disgust again. Had he been going about it the wrong way all these years? Did you not find his jokes and pranks exciting? His teasing always got a reaction out of you, which he loved. You two bantered, it was your thing and he always felt excited about it. It was your way of flirting with each other, or so he had thought.

Should he have been reading an encyclopedia with you in the library instead? Told you about the history of Goblins rights? He never considered you falling into the stereotypical Ravenclaw category.

“How typical of you,” He blurted out, wincing as your eyes narrowed.

“What do you mean?” Your voice was icy and he was already floundering.

“You fell for the stereotypical Ravenclaw,” Jaemin said, his fists clenched at his sides as he spoke, “I just never pegged you for one to uphold stereotypes.”

Your rolled your eyes, you wanted nothing more than to be enjoying a nice meal instead of talking to Na Jaemin. “I’m sorry if I’m not the least bit exciting and reaching the level of spontaneity your Gryffindor self wants. I guess I’m just a Ravenclaw who admires Ravenclaw qualities.”

He tilted his head to the side, eyeing you curiously, “Wouldn’t you rather like someone more interesting?”

“Ravenclaws are interesting!” You exclaimed, your face flushed with a new wave of chagrin, “If you think your so superior just because you’re a Gryffindor than why are you still talking to me?”

“That’s not what I meant--”

“Jaemin, I am not in the mood to hear your stupid blabbering,” You pinched the bridge of your nose, your mind was already wandering to how tasty the pumpkin soup looked. “I don’t go around judging the type of girls you like, so please just stop before I do something drastic.”

“Yeah, but that’s because you’d really like the type of girls I like,” He smirked devilishly, winking ever so charmingly your way.

You scoffed, slinging your book bag closer to your body and already strolling off to the Ravenclaw table, “I doubt it. I’m leaving, Nana.”

You smiled to yourself, knowing it probably irritated him that you were calling him such a personal name only reserved for those close to him. Unbeknownst to you, Jaemin wore a bright grin as he heard you say his special nickname.

“It’s kind of hard to not like you,” He whispered as he saw you plopped down at the Ravenclaw table and immerse yourself in conversation with your friends.

Hogsmeade weekend had finally rolled around and everyone was scrambling out of the castle. You trudged through the icy planes of Hogsmeade arm and arm with Anna. The village was covered in a thick blanket of snow, arctic winds nipped at everyone’s cheeks making them resemble rosebuds.

“I told Wendy and Seulgi we’d meet them at the Three Broomsticks,” Anna told you as you passed by a group of third year boys salivating over the newest broom displayed at Spintwitches Sporting Needs. “I could really go for some warm butterbeer right now.”

You nodded in agreement and hurried your pace, hoping to get out of the cold quickly. The Three Broomsticks was bustling with sprightly Hogwarts student chatting around the room. You quickly spotted your roommates and the pair of you headed towards them with bags of Honeydukes candy ready to be eaten.

“We got some candy!” Anna trilled, piling some Sugar Quills and Chocolate Frogs onto the table. “Sorry we took so long, Y/N wanted to pass by Scrivenshaft's to get a new quill.”

“We ordered some butterbeer,” Wendy plucked a sweet from the pile and glanced at you with a smirk that nearly rivalled Na Jaemin’s. “Guess who’s sitting all by himself reading a book in the corner?”

Your eyes flickered to the corner of the pub where Hendery sat wearing a snug thick woollen sweater and sipping his butterbeer. He looked so soft and endearing sitting there with a snowy window in the background and the candlelight setting his skin aglow.

“His friends went to get some Honeydukes candy and he’s reserving their table I think,” Wendy gossiped, wagging her eyebrows at you. “Someone should go talk to him.”

“Yes!” Anna clapped her hands delighted at the suggestion. She shoved a blue Sugar Quill into your palm and nudged you out of the booth, “Go thank him properly for walking you from the party.”

“But--”

“No buts missy,” Seulgi interjected pulling you forcefully out of your seat and shoving you towards Hendery’s general direction. “Go talk to him or no candy and butterbeer for you.”

You wanted to argue that you had bought a good amount of the sweets they were gobbling up, but reluctantly began walking towards the Ravenclaw boy with the soft smile and gentle eyes. With your heart pounding, palms moistening, and eyes completely set on Henderey, you didn’t notice the raucous table of boys next to the demure boy.

Jeno elbowed Jaemin who was currently laughing at Mark who was ready to fight Haechan over a bet. Jaemin suddenly went rigid as you came into view, nervous and rosy-cheeked and looking as pretty as the first day Na Jaemin laid eyes on you.

Jaemin’s heart clenched as he noticed you weren’t walking towards his table, but the one one beside his where the Head Boy sat.

“Hi,” You whispered, not trusting your voice enough to come out smoothly if you spoke any louder.

Hendery dog-eared the page and cast a brilliant smile your way, “Y/N, hi. Are you here by yourself?” He started looking around in search of your friends.

“No, I’m with my roommates but I noticed you were by yourself and wanted to say hi.”

“Oh,” He nodded motioning for you to take a seat in front of him, “Yeah some of my friend’s went to go get sweets. I think Yangyang went to Zonko’s. I decided to stay behind, as Head Boy I shouldn’t be aware of the mischief he gets up to.”

“I brought you this,” You thrust the Sugar Quill towards him and he took it with a laugh that melts your heart. “It’s my way of properly thanking you for not docking me points and walking me to my dorm that night.”

“You’ve thank me plenty,” He insisted, “But I’ll accept this because blueberry Sugar Quills are my favorite.”

You made a mental note of that new tidbit of information. He suckled the Sugar Quill and you tried your best not to gawk at him, since he looked adorable. You were about to point out the book he was reading when a loud noise interrupted you.

“Ahem.” Na Jaemin was wearing his irritatingly large, face-splitting grin as he stared down at the two of you. “Hendery, Y/N. Fancy seeing you here.”

“It’s a public place,” You smiled tightly, as Jaemin nudged his way into the booth, sitting right beside you. His thigh brushing yours, sending a crackle of electricity through your body. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s a public place,” He threw your words back at you, winking as he did so before focusing back on Hendery, “Actually, I came to talk to Hendery. I had some concerns I wanted to discuss with him.”

“It’s Hogsmeade weekend, he doesn’t have time to discuss the lack of females that are at your disposal because you’ve dated all of them!”

“Sounds like your jealous,” He pinched your cheek and you swatted him away.

Hendery giggled, shoving the Sugar Quill to one side of his cheek, puffing it up cutely, “Actually, Y/N I’m always open to hear student’s concerns.”

“Of course you are,” Jaemin grumbled and you shot him a glare, “Before anything, I want to thank you for walking my dear friend Y/N back to her dorm.”

“Oh my God,” You murmured under your breath knowing this wasn’t going to go well for you.

“You see, Y/N, was very thankful you were the one to walk her back,” Jaemin said, nudging you slightly, “She has a very soft spot for you, if you haven’t noticed. She’s a bit shy so I brought upon myself to thank you for her.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you,” Hendery’s eyes flickered to you and your face flamed up. “But she’s thanked me plenty.”

You stared silently back at Hendery, feeling the warmth of his gaze wash over you making you tingle. An arm brushed over you and the smell of spearmint wafted over you. Jaemin groaned, squeezing himself closer to you.

“Oh, gross, please get a broom cupboard,” Jaemin hissed, pulling you out of your daze. “Oh, wait, I think you guys already have, isn’t that what you were hinting at?”

“What?” Hendery looked taken aback, but not angry at the accusation.

You wish you could be so calm about things too, “Maybe that’s how you and your girls choose to thank each other but we’re not you.”

“Oh, I was just kidding,” He chuckled and Hendery eased up. “Don’t you wish you would have thanked each other that way? I especially know you would have, Y/N.”

You wanted to wipe that smile off his face with your fist, but instead you got up and addressed Hendery, “I have to go. Thank you again, Hendery.”

“Anytime.” Hendery looked frazzled and was blushing a deep shade of pink over Jaemin’s words.

“Yeah, thanks Head Boy,” Jaemin said, shooting out of his seat.

“What about your concerns?”

“I’ll owl them to you, don’t worry.” The Gryffindor yelled back and he caught up with you.

“You’re unbelievable.” You shoved past him, fuming and barreling through the crowd of Hogwarts students that had begun to trickle in.

“Me? Says the one who’s following someone around like a lost puppy,” Jaemin sped in front of you blocking you from making your way to your friends. “It’s sickening. I'm just trying to stop you from further embarrassing yourself.”

“How kind of you.” You really out to punch that smug look off his face. “You saved me from embarrassing myself, by doing it yourself.”

“I’ve been told I have a heart of gold.”

“Hmm,” Your face scrunched up in annoyance. “Look, Jaemin, I don’t know what your problem is with me, but can you please just stop.”

“W-what…” His faltered and you nearly felt bad. Nearly.

“Seriously, why do you make it your life’s duty to annoy me every damn second!” You were really getting heated now, which made you unaware that you were drawing the attention of everyone.

“I...I don’t...”

“You are always trying to rile me up or mess up something,” You snapped, feeling yourself drain everything you need out of your system. “It was understandable when we were First Years, but we’re older now. I’m not here for your entertainment. Can’t you just leave me alone? I just want to go one day without you breathing down my neck, is that too much to ask? You go off ruining everything for me all the time, do you hate me that much?”

“Sorry...I…”

You took a deep breath, trying to ease the tension in your body. You were fed up with Jaemin and you didn’t want to continue shouting at him in the middle of the pub. You especially didn’t want to say more harsher things, further burying yourself in a proverbial grave. You dashed out of the Three Broomsticks and into the flurry of snow.

You thought Na Jaemin was annoying, but the hurt that flashed in his eyes when he heard you say it aloud was something you hadn’t expected. You had in the past called him annoying, but hadn’t snapped like this. He usually would brush this off, opting to respond coolly or smugly, but this time he seemed seriously hurt by your words.

You were currently set up in a corner of the library, finishing off a Charms essay. The area was hidden behind shelves but well lit as it was next to a large window that allowed a stream of sunlight in. You had an array of Charms books sprawled around you.

“Hey, do you mind if I sit here--” The voice abruptly stopped and your eyes flew up to meet Na Jaemin who awkwardly hovered by, books wedge in his arms. “Oh, Y/N. I’ll, um, just leave.”

“Wait--” You stood up quickly, sending parchment flying in your wake. “Jaemin, stop! Don’t leave, stay please.”

“I don’t want to bother you,” He glanced down timidly and you felt something pull at your heartstrings.

“You don’t bother me,” You said as you moved around the table to stand in front of him, “I mean, you do, but it’s...Look, I want to say that I’m sorry for lashing out at you.”

“You erupted,” He smiled slightly down at you, “I’m the reason for it. You had it building up. I’m sorry for all the teasing, pranks, and being nosy in all your business.”

“How about a clean slate?” You asked, reaching a hand towards him. “To civility?”

“I think I can manage,” He grinned taking your hand and squeezing it, “Friends?”

“Hey, one step at a time, this is all new to me,” You giggled as he rolled his eyes, “Okay, okay, friends.”

“Just promise you won’t fall in love with me, my heart can’t take that stress.”

You punched his shoulder lightly and he chuckled, dropping his books onto the desk. It was a little bizarre to have him sitting with you and not have him acting like his annoying self.

Now, that we’re friends can I give you some Gryffindor advice?” You nodded and he continued, “Seize the moment, you’ll never know how that person feels unless you tell them. Love is worth it, don’tcha think?”

“You actually have a heart,” You giggled. “Heart of gold, right? Do you listen to your own advice?”

He rolled his eyes sarcastically at you but his expression softened, “Sometimes I wish I could, but no. She doesn’t feel the same way, I know it.”

“Have you told her? You won’t know unless you tell her, seize the moment.”

“I like you.” His eyes were on you, powerful and overwhelming. His words ringing with sincerity and conviction that knocked the breath out of you.

Your expression faltered, you knew this was too good to be true. He was back to his teasing self again. Yet the way he said those words made your stomach flutter.

“Jaemin I--”

He broke out it giggles and you laughed too, knowing you looked like a bumbling idiot.

“I’m kidding, bloody hell, thanks for the ego boost,” He pulled out his own Charms book and stared at you with large, puppy eyes, “I might be charming but I’m not good at Charms. I need your Ravenclaw expertise.”

“I thought Ravenclaws were boring.” You asked deflecting the awkward atmosphere from the previous situation.

“You lot are the best house, now please help me.”

So you did. You spent your afternoon helping Na Jaemin with his Charms essay and the next day you helped him with Transfiguration and so on. It was to the point that it became a regular occurrence. You would meet up every afternoon in the same isolated corner of the library, and study and talk and laugh.

Soon enough you two were actually acting civilly in the classroom. Jaemin no longer dipped your hair in his ink pot when you weren’t looking or teased you about having feelings for the Head Boy, which was refreshing. You were actually starting to see the appeal that Na Jaemin had, the appeal everyone in Hogwarts had seen but you had never until now.

It was a warm Spring day and you and Jaemin had agreed to study underneath a tree near the lake. Anna had spent the whole morning claiming you should make it into a picnic date. You had just shoved a pastie in her mouth and told her you didn’t see Jaemin that way, and he didn’t see you that way either.

It wasn’t that you didn’t find him attractive, you did. His personality had prevented you from ever seeing him in a romantic light. Now, you suppose he could seem attractive at times, but that didn’t mean you had feelings for him. You were barely friends, anything romantic was out of the question.

“Y/N.”

You glanced up at the sound of your name, Jaemin’s name on the tip of your tongue. Except it wasn’t the brazen Gryffindor with the alleged heart of gold, but a dark-haired Ravenclaw.

“Hendery,” The usual flutter you felt when you saw him was gone, but you still felt rather breathless as he plopped down next to you in a mass of black and blue.

“I haven’t seen you in a while,” He said smiling at you in a way that made you swoon. In the back of your head, you thought it paled in comparison to Jaemin’s bright grin.

“I’ve been swamped with work,” You gestured to the piles of books surrounding you.

He nodded, “I want you to know that what Jaemin said doesn’t bother me. I know he said it out of jealousy--”

You snorted, “He said it to spite me,” You bit your lip, hesitating on the next words, “He knew how I feel something for you.”

There it was out. You were confessing to the Head Boy who was graduating Hogwarts in a few weeks. You had seized the moment, just like Jaemin had advised.

“I know,” Hendery’s eyes were fixed on the jade green grass billowing in the wind. “I think I have for a while.”

“Y-you have?” You spluttered, wanting to bury yourself in a pile of books and grass. “Am I that obvious?”

“You are,” He nodded, smiling to himself, “Or maybe I’ve just become more observant as time went by, which is why I know Jaemin’s obvious dislike of me is jealousy.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“As ridiculous as you two being friends now?” He looked at you, eyes staring straight through you, “I think it took too long, by the way. I expected it sooner, I think all of Hogwarts was betting on when you two would end up snogging in the middle of hexing each other.”

“I like you, Hendery,” You pressed, shoving all the books aside and sitting in front of him.

“You’re infatuated with me,” Hendery talked to you as if you were a petulant child. “There’s a difference. Jaemin on the other hand…”

“So, you think I have feelings for Jaemin then?” You scoffed. “I think I know my own feelings, Hendery.”

I liked you too at one point, but I’m leaving Hogwarts,” You barely had time to register his words. “I’m graduating and moving to France to do some extensive research. Y/N, you realize this is the most we’ve talked since we first met. This is how I know, what you feel...it’s not like with Jaemin.”

“You really are persistent.”

“It’s more like Ravenclaw intuition,” He grabbed your hand and squeezed it, “The whole school has been watching you two for years, trust me I’ve got an outsider’s perspective. I just don’t want you to feel tied to an infatuation you built when we were young.”

“I don’t know what to say.” You really didn’t everything was too much. It was overwhelming.

You knew what everyone thought, Anna made it very obvious. She had always insisted Jaemin liked you. She had always said the school expected you to date and that he was pulling your proverbial pigtails as a sign that he liked you. You deflected those comments because you thought he was annoying, but know that you were getting to see his true colors those comments didn’t bother you.

“I guess thank you for this awakening,” You felt a little dazed, like you weren’t you and you had astral projected and were experiencing things from an outside perspective. “I don’t know if I’m suddenly having an epiphany, or if I’m coming to bizarre realization that you’re right.”

“Just in time.” Hendery brushed the grass off his robe as he rose from the ground, “I come in peace don’t worry,” He told the approaching Gryffindor. “I’ve got Head Duties to attend to, so if you’ll excuse me.”

“You looked like you’re having an existential crisis,” Jaemin pointed out taking a seat next to you, “What did Mr. Head Boy want, anyway.”

“I told him I liked him,” You blurted out.

“You did?” He looked panicked and your heart swelled at the hurt that swam in his eyes. “What did he say?”

“He said you liked me.”

“I--”

“Do you?” You peered over at Jaemin, who ran his hands through his brown hair, tousling it in a way that made your hands itch to touch it. “Seize your moment, Jaemin.”

“I do,” He sheepishly confessed, a deep blush dusting his cheeks. “That day in the library, I wasn’t joking. I’ve liked you for a long time, I just didn’t know how to express it other than immature ways.”

“I thought you genuinely just liked being insufferable and pestering me,” You quirked an eyebrow at him, “Your way of flirting has some flaws, you know.”

“Gah, I know,” He facepalmed as he cringed at the memories of him pranking you. “I’m sorry about that. I guess, I just wanted your attention.”

“You have it now,” You said, feeling emboldened, “I rather like this less immature, less insufferable side of you.”

“More than you like, Hendery?” He asked and you responded with a glare, “Hey, I had to ask!”

“I don’t know,” You teased making him growl back at you, biting back a grin you said, “How about we figure whatever this is out? We can go to Hogsmeade next weekend.”

“I’d like that,” He cracked a book open, a bright grin gracing his features, “So, does this mean that I can’t bewitch your goblet of pumpkin juice every now and then? Is that a turn off?”

“You really are the bane of my existence aren’t you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” He beamed, leaning against you and twirling a piece of your hair between his fingers. Your heart thumped wildly. “I have a heart of gold, I can do no wrong.”

He pecked your cheek and winked at you, his focus falling onto the Charms book on his lap. His Gryffindor tie was loose and his white shirt unbuttoned at the collar. His brown hair glowed under the gleaming sunlight and his grin shone brighter than anything in the sky.

You weren’t sure if you still considered him the bane of your existence, but you were sure that whatever relationship progression you two were taking was something you felt like you saw coming no matter how much you denied it before.

Even though, throughout your Hogwarts years you purposefully dodged his presence, in that moment all you wanted to be was right next to him and that’s all that mattered for now.

#neowritingsnet #na jaemin #jaemin x reader #nct jaemin #nct #nct dream #nct fanfic #jaemin imagines #nct fanfiction

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thevampirediariesdiary · 5 years

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I love reading your rewatches, you always have really interesting commentary. I was wondering so far which have been your favorite delena scenes?

Thank you so much!! I’m enormously glad that you’re enjoying it. I know I’m an unreliable moderator, but I do love this little blog.

Without further ado…

Top 10 Delena Scenes That Occur In Season One And The First Half Of Season Two

10. The Original Porch MomentTM, from “Haunted”

Elena has just been faced, for the first time, with what a horrible, selfish, unfeeling person Damon can be. He tries to brush off her accusations, but she doesn’t let him, she holds him to a human standard: “It does matter and you know it.” And then he shows up on her doorstep – for no reason at all, seemingly – and puts himself at her service. He takes away the suffering he caused, because it’s what Elena wants. It’s a mysterious gesture – but it’s the first time Damon can do something for Elena that Stefan can’t, and he doesn’t hesitate to offer. She doesn’t want to accept help from him – she looks at Stefan and not at him when she says “it’s what I want” – but she does.

9. Threatened Immortality and Head Nuzzling, from “Children of the Damned”

Damon shouts that he can’t trust anyone but himself, because Stefan always betrays him, and then turns on Elena, saying, “But you…you had me fooled.” And Elena is genuinely ashamed, because she doesn’t think of him only as a monster whose trust can’t be returned, but she acted like she did. Damon threatens to kill her if Stefan doesn’t hand over the macguffin-of-the-week – and Stefan does think of Damon as a monster, but still he doesn’t believe the threat. Damon acknowledges the truth of this – he wouldn’t hurt Elena – and so instead he grabs her, feeds her his blood, and makes a believable threat instead: “I’m snapping her neck, and you and I will have a vampire girlfriend.” The worst thing he would do to her, even now when he is desperately bargaining for a way to get Katherine back, is make her a vampire against her will so that Stefan and himself can be with her for eternity. This is a hugely unjust injury (as we’ll examine, later in season two) – but does Damon understand that yet? He knows Stefan experiences it as a threat – but for him, it almost seems like it’s a win-win. Get Katherine back, and keep Elena forever.

8. Rock-Bottom Defining Moment, from “The Return”

He’s too broken to accept the value of what she’s freely given him, and can’t believe that she would give it unless she wanted him like he wants her: “There is something going on between us and you know it.” He tries to call her bluff – “Lie about this” – but she stands firm. “Stop it, you’re better than this,” she tells him. She won’t play games with him. Katherine said, “It’s always going to be Stefan,” and meant, “I love him, but you can tag along and be second choice.” Elena says, “It’s always going to be Stefan,” and means “I care about you, but I love him, and I won’t pretend that I’m not choosing only him.” And he can’t see how that’s different – how Elena is treating him with a dignity Katherine never did. She offers him her friendship, her compassion – she cares about him deeply, and isn’t afraid of him. But Elena’s compassion and faith in him aren’t enough to make him a better man as long as he stays trapped in an old worldview. His redemption requires a deeper repentance and a deeper conversion to the good. We see the very best of Elena and the very worst of Damon here, and for the rest of the show, this is what they’re trying to come back from.

7. Tender Face-Holding In The Rain, from “Let the Right One In”

This moment is just visually stunning, for starters. Damon, on a truly righteous mission, strides through the rain and meets Elena under her umbrella. She’s sheltered and dry, but he’s the one offering comfort. They both want to save Stefan, because they both love him – this is truly one of the main things that bonds them (think Miss Mystic Falls, season 3, etc.), and this is the first time we see it so clearly. “We’ve gotta get him out of there,” Elena begs. And Damon takes her face in his hands and says her name, and then says with perfect understanding, “I know.” He’s not only doing it for her, and paradoxically that brings them closer than ever before.

6. But If I’m Trying To Save You And You’re Trying To Save Me, Who’s Flying The Plane?, from “The Sacrifice”

It’s the whole conflict of season two in a nutshell. Elena’s furious at Damon for stopping her from handing herself over to Klaus. Damon’s furious at Elena for what he sees as a worthless waste of her light. They’re both such passionate, loving people – and here we see that anger really does have its roots in love. He wants to save her, would die in the service of that desire; she’s only trying to give herself up because she wants to keep the people she loves safe – which includes him. He’s holding onto her because he’s terrified that he’ll lose her forever if he lets go – she’s striking out at him because she knows he has to let her go if he is to be saved. Only two episodes earlier he told her, “It’s because I love you that I can’t be selfish with you.” Here, Elena begs, “Damon, let me go…please.” Is love about holding on or letting go? Or both?

5. The Voice Which Calls You Back, from “Fool Me Once”

Damon’s finally completed the single-minded quest of his one-hundred-seventy-some years: he’s gotten into the tomb – and Katherine’s not there. He’s breaking apart at the seams, he’s in danger of being trapped if he stays there, and he can’t seem to hear his brother begging him to get out. But Elena calls his name once, and he freezes in his panic, and looks at her. “Please,” she says. and just like that, he’s in control of himself again. The love of his life is gone, maybe dead. But Elena says, “Damon, please,” and he’s back in reality again. Her voice is enough reason for him to go on.

4. Staircase Eye Contact Love Triangle, from “Rose”

In some ways, it’s kind of blasphemous for me to pick this over the love confession at the end of the episode, but this scene is it for me. He tells her he loves her and is letting her go at the end of the episode – but he does it here. He came to save her, even though it was dangerous and they’re still barely on speaking terms. He knows just how tightly bonded Elena is to Stefan, so much that she’s feeding him her blood. But there’s still a moment when he thinks her shining smile is for him – and then Stefan swoops in. It’s for him; it’s all for him. Stefan gets her breathless joy and gratitude; Stefan gets to hold her. But Elena opens her eyes and looks at Damon over his brother’s shoulder – she does see him, and she is grateful. She mouths “thank you” to him – and he mouths “you’re welcome” back. It’s a sweet, simple moment, because her quiet thanks is enough. He didn’t want anything other than her safety.

3. Vervain Necklace Trust Falls, from “Fool Me Once”

Not even twenty-four hours after she betrayed him and he threatened her, Elena turns up at Damon’s house, alone, in the hopes that they can trust each other again. She reminds him of their time in Atlanta, that he didn’t compel her then – “Who’s to say I didn’t?” he shoots back. “You didn’t…I know you didn’t,” she says. She has no way of knowing, but she’s choosing to believe in him, believe in the good memories they have together. And for the first time, she puts a name to why: “You and I…we have something. An understanding.” She says she knows she hurt him, but promises that she’s going to help him now. “I wish I could believe you,” he says. And she takes off her necklace, sets aside her one, tiny protection, and tells him to ask if she’s lying now. Instead, he picks up her necklace from the ground, fastens it back around her neck, and tells her, “I didn’t compel you in Atlanta because we were having fun. I wanted it to be real. I’m trusting you.” She trusts him enough to be vulnerable in front of him, and he trusts her enough to hang his entire life’s purpose on nothing but her word.

2. True Sight, from “Friday Night Bites”

This brief interaction sets the tone for everything after. Damon notices – when nobody else did – that Elena is miserable at cheerleader practice, and they discuss, quietly, whether things can matter again after life changes. “Don’t let them,” Damon suggests. “Things could matter again,” Elena answers. “Maybe,” he admits, “but it seems a little unrealistic to me.” He’s been on his usual shtick of trying to make her feel off-kilter and distrustful of Stefan, and instead, she sees right to the core of him, sees that he’s hurting, and offers her compassion: “I’m sorry…about Katherine. You lost her, too.” This is at the heart of their relationship, forever after: they see each other. When everybody else gets stuck on the surface – sweet, demure Elena, and selfish, volatile Damon – they’re never fooled. And irony of ironies, because of this simple exchange, suddenly, out of nowhere – something does matter to Damon. It’s her.

1. It’s About The Simple Intimacy Of The Near Touch, from “Miss Mystic Falls”

This has to be in first place, because of the breathless awe I feel every single time I watch it. This dance shows us Damon and Elena’s dynamic, in a kind of paradigmatic, boiled down purity – and when the perfect trust and understanding they have is embodied in the dance, they see it themselves for the first time, too. They’ve been through a lot by this point – they saw something true in each other from the beginning, since “You lost her too” – but now she knows what he is, what he’s done. “Can you still see the heart of me?” asks the soundtrack. And the answer is yes. They can still see each other truly, and because of that, they can rely on each other. Their tentative bond is forged in steel, from here on forth – they’ll never be able to go back to indifference, after this.

Special Mentions:

the “you decided I was worth saving” speech (accidentally delivered to Katherine, but objectively an amazing Damon speech)

the heroic rescue and bridal carry in “Bloodlines”

Damon: Elena, would you like to dance? / Elena: I’d love to / [Elena takes Stefan’s arm, bobs her eyebrows at Damon, goes off to dance with her boyfriend]

Jenna: he’s ridiculously hot / Elena: shhh, he’s an ass

the moment at the founder’s day festival when Damon walks up and takes Elena’s hand and so the whole love triangle is holding hands

Thanks for the question!!

#damon/elena #delena #s1 #s2 #asks #meta

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 5 years

Text

Michael After Midnight: TGWTG Anniversary Crossovers

I think enough time has passed where I can talk about these films without looking like I’m jumping on a trend.

Back when it was, you know, an actual thing, Channel Awesome would every so often gather together and make a big-as anniversary film to celebrate the site. The movies would always be these massive doorstoppers where everyone would be running around in Halloween costumes of whatever character they liked the most that fit the theme and fighting some random villain. None of this ever really tied in to their work, and none of this even remotely had anything to do with reviews. It was all just hanging around with friends and having dumb fun, and when I was younger I kind of just accepted that.

But certain revelations have made that dubious. No one was having fun making these. Everyone was miserable, except perhaps Doug Walker, who was just utterly oblivious to the plight of his coworkers. There was seedy stuff going on, people were pretty much being tortured and abused, and it’s a wonder anyone was ever able to feign enjoyment in any of their scenes. And looking back on these movies I used to remember fondly, I have to say… they kind of really, legitimately suck ass. These three films – Kickassia, Suburban Knights, and To Boldly Flee – are just legitimately painful and depressing to sit through, for reasons both meta and writing-wise.

The biggest problem with all of them is their humor, which is a pretty big problem when you’re starring a bunch of comedians, some of whom can be legitimately funny. The worst bits tend to revolve around the mind-boggling number of references they cram into each script; To Boldly Flee and Suburban Knights are much worse in this regard, as they have all of the actors literally dressed up as their favorite characters, but there are two examples of this sort of thing that shine as the worst examples of all. The first is Lindsay Ellis doing a Sarah Palin impersonation in Kickassia; Palin was such a flash-in-the-pan politician that it instantly dates the whole movie, and I don’t know if it was just bad writing, lack of direction, or what, but Ellis just fails to make this joke work at all. Like I know I can’t expect this to be as funny as Iron Sky’s Palin riffing, but still, it’s just sad.

The absolute worst, however, is JO in To Boldly Flee as Ed from Cowboy Bepob… at least that’s who I think he’s supposed to be playing. I know nothing about Cowboy Bebop and have outright refused to ever watch it because if Ed is anything like how JO played her, I’m going to fucking hate the whole show, Steve Blum and Melissa Fahn be damned. JO’s portrayal is whiny, hyper, annoying, manic, obnoxious… there’s not a single positive thing that can be said. His performance of the character is pretty much the poster child for just how absolutely awful these movies could get.

There’s also a lot of jokes where the punchline is basically just “this guy’s body/genitalia is funny, teehee.” Suburban Knights and To Boldly Flee have some truly awful examples of this, such as the numerous upskirts Doug Walker gets as Link and the infamous Spoony Dune scene. But even that isn’t the worst of it. The worst of it comes from the frequent states of near-nudity that Justin “JewWario” Carmichael would find himself in throughout these films. To Boldly Flee has him channeling George Takei and fencing without his shirt on, which is bad enough, but Suburban Knights has perhaps the worst scene of all, in any of these films, though only with hindsight.

For those of you not familiar, JewWario was outed as a creepy sexual predator during the whole #ChangeTheChannel fiasco. The guy groomed young women and did god knows what else during his time on the site, with none of his coworkers any the wiser and the management doing their best to cover it up; in fact, everyone only found out because the suits who owned CA made a huge blunder during their rebuttal of the claims of its former employees. With all of that context, please try and rewatch Suburban Knights’ climax in which JewWario helps save the day by revealing his penis to everyone. This right here is Keyser Soze levels of “uncomfortable in hindsight.”

The stories aren’t much better, and often fall into the same sort of issues that The Angry Video Game Nerd movie fell into, in that nothing in these films really showcases why we love the reviewers; Kickassia infamously has the Dr. Insano twist, as one example of how they botched this. All of these movies just feel too epic in scope and don’t really try to incorporate anything that we love about these reviewers into the films. Only To Boldly Flee really does anything right in that regard, as it throws back to everything from oneshot Nostalgia Critic villains to the Todd-Lindsay-Lupa love triangle to Phelous dying… the real problem is you have to actually sit through To Boldly Flee to see that. The movies go for these epic plots where the reviewers do cool shit like take over micronations (Kickassia), quest for powerful artifacts (Suburban Knights), or deal with extremely heavy-handed and hamfisted allegories for internet privacy bills (To Boldly Flee). You’d think maybe throwing a bunch of comedians into an epic plot like any of these could lead to some funny jokes, or maybe some sort of Monty Python-esque parody, but no, instead these comedians decide to revel in melodrama and try to genuinely act, with EXTREMELY mixed results. It doesn’t help that some of these people just aren’t even remotely funny when they’re trying to be.

Here’s the thing with The Angry Video Game Nerd’s movie, in comparison to these, though: it may have had this epic, ridiculous, goofy plot involving Area 51, kaiju, aliens, and crappy Atari games buried in a landfill, but the entire plot was building up to, and ultimately delivered on, the promise of the long-awaited review of the E.T. game. For all the film’s flaws, Rolfe knew what we loved about the Nerd, he knew what the fans wanted, and by god did he give it to them in the silliest, most epic way possible. Even if I didn’t love the film, the fact Rolfe knew why we’d want to see a feature-length Nerd film in the first place speaks volumes about how he understands that he can do what will make him happy artistically and still show the fans what they want to see.

These movies from the Channel Awesome crew don’t seem to get that at all. They don’t build up to a review. They don’t build up to them discovering the worst movie or song or whatever they review. They’re all very straightforward genre comedies where they can make a bunch of shallow, Seltzer & Friedberg-esque “Look at this thing that exists! That’s a joke right?” references. Aside from seeing your favorite reviewers in a goofy plot like this, where is there any bit of the reason you watch these people in the first place? Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if they were playing characters instead of them playing themselves, in their internet reviewer personas; at least then you wouldn’t be watching Brad Jones stumbling around in a Darth Vader helmet and think to yourself miserably “God I wish that poor guy was watching another E.T. porno.”

So there are some positives in these films, shockingly enough. Brad Jones is consistently good across the entire ‘trilogy,’ especially in Kickassia where he has the good sense to walk out on all the bullshit for a while. Maybe it’s just because these films got me interested in him, but I definitely think he does a good job. The same can be said for a lot of the actors, such as the bad guy in Suburban Knights and Ma-Ti’s actor; they manage to deliver at least solid performances in spite of the films. And then there are the James Rolfe cameos, and it’s just always good to see Rolfe in general.

To Boldly Flee, despite its reputation, actually has a lot of genuinely good bits. For instance, the distraction song is actually a really solid musical number. Linkara, Doug, and Spoony actually play really well off of each other, so when they have their three idiot villains team up they at least get some decently good moments. And other reviewers I generally like such as Phelous or Todd do a solid job, and frankly in To Boldly Flee Doug Walker does show some impressive dramatic acting… but it’s in service of a character who has previously been portrayed as a petulant, whiny, self-serving, egotistical manchild, so it almost feels like he’s playing a totally different character. Still, credit where credit is due.

None of these films succeed at what they want to. Ostensibly, they are supposed to be celebrating the site and the friendship of the reviewers, but as I mentioned, there’s no reviewing, there’s nothing that indicates what the site is about, and they all just come off as ego-stroking self-congratulatory wanking. None of these films were worth the pain and suffering that the cast and crew had to go through to produce these, and watching them at all these days is especially hard knowing that a lot of these people are smiling and joking through pain, stress, and abuse. It’s sick.

Kickassia may be the most competent, but that isn’t saying much at all. Aside from the whole Palin bit, this one has a simple, straightforward plot and is relatively down-to-earth, and it almost feels like it really was just a bunch of friends making a shitty low budget action movie in the desert… something sadly undermined by reality. Suburban Knights is probably one of the most uncomfortable to sit through due to jokes like Film Brain saying he’d eat Kinley Mochrie’s “pea-ness” (this was before she came out mind you) and the numerous jokes surrounding JewWario’s junk, but it almost works, like it nearly comes close to being a dumb epic fantasy comedy, but it just frequently shoots itself in the foot with the bad writing and acting and its overreliance on references.

To Boldly Flee is, to put it absolutely simple, a hot mess. This film is an utter trainwreck from start to finish. It is the Battlefield Earth of internet review movies, a bloated, messy, overly long dumpster fire with some of the most nightmarish behind-the-scenes stories and horrendous financial mismanagement you could ever imagine. But where Battlefield Earth is at least unintentionally funny, this film… is not. This film just makes you feel bad for everyone involved, it makes your heart ache for all the poor reviewers who had to suffer under the miserable conditions, it makes you question Doug Walker’s sanity in thinking he could turn his screeching manchild of a reviewer into some tragic martyr in a total 180 from how he had always been portrayed prior. None of these three films are worth sitting through, but I think To Boldly Flee is, with hindsight, the one least worth sitting through, which is a truly incredible accomplishment.

It’s kind of tragic. I still like a lot of the reviewers who took part in these – Todd, Linkara, Phelous, Brad Jones, and even Doug to some extent (though that’s an unpopular opinion these days) – but I just can’t muster up any forgiveness for these films anymore. And I don’t blame any of the people in it (except maybe Doug); most of them were there out of obligation or friendship or what have you. These films are just a monument to hubris, ignorance, broken friendships, horrible management, and wanton cruelty to those who called you friends.

See that picture up there at the top? With all of them gathered together like friends? God, how I wish that were the reality. How I wish that picture accurately reflected life, that they were all pals having a good time and that these films were something they were proud of. But behind that picture are stories all of them could tell of hurt, betrayal, resentment, anger, contempt, and some very unspeakable things in Carmichael’s case. I wish the sort of world a surface level glance at that picture shows you existed, where the crew of TGWTG all had a blast making these shitty movies together, because at least in that case I could find a sort of ironic enjoyment in them. But reality has gone out of its way to undermine any of that.

#Michael After Midnight #Review #Movie review #Channel Awesome #TGWTG #That Guy with the Glasses #Kickassia #Suburban Knights #To Boldly Flee #Internet reviewers

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especially-in-heaven · 5 years

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‘She was Marian’

Let’s talk about Robin Hood shall we,

We’re all here for a reason. We love this show and are so loyal we’re still here are 10 years of no new content (and we have to listen with eye rolls about the Harry potter fandom, and the Merlin fandom suffering without content). And all of us are all really pathetic sentimental people who just can’t let go

This show literally changed me. I’m now doing a television production course because of this damn show, because my 7 year old self when it first came onto my television was blown away by how good this show was. It was my first introduction to complex interesting characters, female heroines and storylines that still amaze me. I’ve now made a vow to myself that I won’t stop my career in television until I get to be part of a new version of a Robin Hood production, because I’ve always been a fan of the legend but since this show I’ve not seen any re-make that compares to this wonder (I’m probably going to be here a long time).

But as I was thinking about what I love about this show, all I could think about was Marian’s death (The scene that broke us all) and how Marian’s character had a big impact on me growing up and my perception of what a woman should be.

And whilst she dies to further a male’s story (BBC I hate you), her death was the reason some of us are still here. Would this show have stuck with us for so long without it? How many of us would be writing fanfiction to improve it? Her death was imperfectly perfect for the fans and keeping us in love with this show.

And okay so I KNOW Robin Hood isn’t exactly teaming with female characters but I was a child at the time I watched this and had no knowledge of the patriarchal society. But the 2 (let’s not count season 3. Season 3 sucks) female characters they do have, they are perfectly done. Marian is the reason I keep coming back to this show, she was my role-model growing up and no matter how many complaints you have about how the show represented female character, it was nothing but positive for me growing up with it. Calling Marian just headstrong and ‘fiesty’ (which is the most basic thing I could ever call a female character) doesn’t even begin to go into her storyline as a trapped life of a woman in the medieval ages. Stuck between doing what she wants and protecting her family and self. As Aarya Stark says in game of thrones, “The world doesn't just let girls decide what they're going to be”.

Marian is not only a strong female character;

She is vulnerable: the moment Guy finds out she’s the nightwatchman, she is scared. She doesn’t move. She doesn’t shout and get to business like when Robin found her out. She sits there, still. When she must walk out and have her hair cut (one of my favourite scene) she takes it but the tears are in her eyes at the humiliation… and yet still she doesn’t talk about it with Robin when he asks about her hair. She is vulnerable when Gisborne threatens to burn her home and does everything she can to stop him taking it from her

She is scared: Did you see the quiver of the lip when she saw how she wasn’t going to survive the blow to the stomach, or how she turned to Robin with fear in her lives when she’d been stabbed the first time and says ‘never lie to a dead man’. Or how she fights to escape execution, the look of fear she has when she looks out of the window and sees the hanging rope getting ready for her. She’s not ready.

She is brave: ‘I was trying to be brave’ she tells Robin honestly when Robin asks her how she’s okay with this marriage. She’s brave when she walks down the aisle, she’s brave when she walks out to her execution, and she’s brave when she looks the man she love in the eye and reaches down to the sword to pull it out, making sure his eyes are on her… because she knows no one else will do it for her and she bravely knows she can’t avoid the inevitable.

She is manipulated: Gisborne knows that Edward won’t survive if the Sheriff’s plan to kill all his traitors works in 1x13. But he tells Marian anyway that if she stays and marries him, Edward will be protected. Gisborne waits until she’s most vulnerable to kiss her, after she lost her father – I don’t care about how many Guy/Marian fans are out there… or how many times you compare it to beauty and the beast… just stop promoting an abusive relationship.

She is manipulative: As does she has to be to survive in the castle. She uses Gisborne’s feelings against him to get what she wants, to do what she needs to be done. She tries to control Gisborne by offering to marry him, if he kills the Sheriff. Once again, showing her braveness. She doesn’t want to marry him, but knows the bigger mission and loyalty to the king (a man who really did not deserve this loyalty). The show never sexualised her visually (I mean the only complaints that people have about her outfits are how ugly some of them are – can we please forget that awful jumpsuit) but Marian knew how to use her femininity to her advantage and turned the male gaze around to suit her own needs. Whilst this isn’t a very good trait a woman should be showing to kids who are watching the show that they should use the femininity to get what they want… it’s a reflection of Marian’s character and her survival instinct. And I never said she had all good traits.

She is conflicted: She wants to do good by the poor, but knows the Sheriff won’t allow it and must protect her father. She wants to be free, but knows if she leaves Gisborne at the alter her loyalty will be questioned and her father’s life could be in danger. She also wants to love who she wants to love but Robin keeps doing illegal things (godamn it Robin!), but knows her neck will be on the line if she shows it. Her death scene wraps this up perfectly, her story arc and no matter how much we hate that scene, the writing is so perfect here. Whilst Marian knows she loved Robin before this moment, hearing her say it out loud like she did brings the biggest smile to her face. She no longer cares about the consequences of her saying those words… because now she doesn’t have anything to hide, her father is dead and no longer needs protecting, they know about the nightwatchman and she just wants to be herself. She came once before to being free, just before she marries Gisborne… ‘you really want to know the truth?’, she speaks. But alas Gisborne forces her to marry her instead (fuck you Gisborne). The relief of being herself out loud in 2x13 is what brings that smile on her face. She’s free and no longer conflicted for a split second before Gisborne stabs her.

I think actually, Marian being uncomfortable being in the forest was she didn’t quite understand how to be living there. She had been so used to being in the castle and playing a ‘false life’, in ‘Get carter’ when she runs into the village to save the peasants I felt like it was a sudden expel of all the pent up frustration at living in the castle and finally being free to do what she wants. When she tells Little John ‘I can’t breath in here’, it’s because Robin is suddenly placing restrictions on her again. However, I think this all changed when she sees Gisborne again in the castle and he ‘forbids her to go’, and Marian realises in that moment she can actually walk away. That’s when her feelings about being an outlaw in the forest suddenly turn as she realises for once, there is no pretending.

She is loud: No matter how many men tell her to shut up during council meetings she will still give her opinion. And as much as I love you Edward… please don’t give your daughter a ‘be quite’ look when she says what she wants to say. She’s probably the only person in the world who’ll tell Robin he’s being an idiot (or preferably a ‘fool’). She angrily speaks out when Gisborne doesn’t save lambert and doesn’t hold back despite the fact that he’s her betrothed. This was the first time Guy saw first hand how she won’t turn a blind eye to his wrong doings and it’s probably another reason he fell in love with her.

She is quite: She runs to stop the Sheriff hitting Gisborne (In treasure of the nation) but holds herself back at last second, remembering there’s not much she can do if the Sheriff wants to hit Gisborne. Another example is when Much comes to stop her wedding, she holds herself back from speaking the truth. She also tells Robin that ‘he must do nothing’ when he wants to stop the execution of Will and Allan in 1x01… in this scene, we are reminded that she’s a character whose lived under the Sheriff’s rule for a number of years and we know she’s a character that learns from her environment and how to act to keep the small amount of influence she has, because she knows that her influence as a rich noble woman helping the poor is too important to lose. Perhaps calling her quite isn’t the right term, because it’s not that she’s quiet, she’s screaming inside that the world is wrong. It’s her intelligence that holds her back… something that the sometimes very rash Robin doesn’t have (sorry, Robin)

She is a woman. Or as Robin puts it to Isabella… ‘she was Marian’

My point here is, Marian’s characterisation whilst has its negatives of being stuck in a love triangle with 2 men (screw the love triangles. Every female character in the show for some reason gets stuck in one of these. The show would have been 100% better if the love triangle had still been Djaq/Will/Allan but if Allan and Will were getting it on too… but I suppose you can’t have everything.)/ her death serving to cause angst and being a stereotypical ‘fiesty woman’… she’s so much more. The show never screams ‘feminism’ (they need more female characters for that) but they don’t ever turn her into a mary-sue… Marian’s character is quietly powerful through how they show her very human emotions which I think a lot of TV shows are missing these days. Watching her as a child taught me a woman should fight to be herself and that women can be complex without having to apologise for it. and I love her so very much. #pleaseprotecther

And when I get around to one day making my own stories, I’ll always remember how it was Marian taught me how to write a good/ complex/ human female character (from learning from the mistakes the show made, as well as the perfect choices)

I honestly don’t know what this rant was and if it makes any sense. I just really love Marian and wanted to get her characterisation of my chest… That’s it.

#my gang to me 2019 #don't know if i'm too late for this now #robin hood bbc #BBC Robin Hood #robin hood #marian #mythoughts #my ramblings #s1 #s2

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film-clown · 5 years

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Holy shit. So I’ve just watched 13 Reasons Why, season 3.

I know I cry at pretty much everything but god fucking damn, this show hit. It hit in every way possible and it is absolutely their best season. They talked about such important issues in the real world such as ICE and abortion rights, and they carried the sexual assault storyline better than ever. I think, almost every plot line was done very, very well. I’m gonna discuss everything from the show, so spoiler alert if you haven’t watched it.

First and foremost, I’d like everyone to give a huge standing ovation for Devin Druid’s performance this season. I cannot even BEGIN to express the way each and every one of his scenes moved me. They obviously continued the story of his assault by Monty, and they did it damn well. This storyline also very well showed that a person can move on, heal, and better themselves from mistakes they make. Tyler changed, with the help of amazing friends and a support system. I loved it, truly. I’ve seen many comments about how this was the show’s way of making viewers feel bad for a school shooter, and honestly? I’m not going to look at it that way. Second chances are how the world runs, but I’ll get into that later.

Now speaking of Monty... LOOOOOOOOOOOLL

Alright so.. I kinda saw this coming? 💀💀

I mean, kinda. But not really. I feel like as much as people would call Monty’s plotline this season toxic, due to the internalised homophobia, I’m going to choose to look at this as something people genuinely go through.

As a male jock, in high school, it’s a HUGE joke to be gay. Unfortunately, slurs are always thrown around, and even if you aren’t homophobic, the energy that jocks give out about the LGBT+ community will surely make you into that. So honestly? The demonstration of how Monty felt throughout the season when it came to his sexuality was accurate.

Now this little bit is gonna be my soft side talking - don’t attack me for it. The scene in the last episode where Monty finally goes up to the guy from Hillcrest and isn’t a dick to him, I can’t describe how that made me feel. And when Monty’s dad later came to visit him in prison, and spit on his face because he figured out he was gay? That shit made me sad. If you’re gonna spit on his face, do it because of what he did to Tyler. Not because he’s gay. Fuck.

In conclusion, I think Monty had some potential. Some. I don’t think he deserved to die though, and he certainly did not deserve to be blamed for Bryce’s death just because he’s dead.

Jock culture is so toxic. It was strongly established this season with both this plotline and the assault one (gonna get to that later) and I hope the world watches this show and takes some action. I don’t give a fuck what you’ve done in your life, nobody deserves to not love, or be loved.

I really feel bad for Monty to have grown up in such a toxic environment, with a piece of shit homophobic dad and that jock culture. The scene where Winston says, “You can be whoever you want to be” and Monty says “No.. I can’t.” Yeah I’m sorry but that scene broke me.

PSA: Monty’s still a dick. This is just my lil gay self talking.

Also, Timothy Granaderos and Deaken Bluman are so sexy. Thank you for listening.

Now fuck. GOD DAMMIT YO. Tony Padilla’s storyline fucked me up.

As much as I cried half the time, I’m so glad the writers brought up the misuse and abuse of ICE towards POCs in America. It broke my heart into so many pieces when viewers found out that his family had been deported and/or held in detention centres. It is so not fair. And to think that there’s countless families in our real world who are suffering through this shit. :(

I love Tony and Caleb so much. Imagine finding somebody who loves you THAT much. I’m glad that after showing a toxic gay “relationship” (Monty and Winston) they showed something as beautiful as this. Definitely one of the best parts of this season.

Speaking of relationships... wow.

I loved them. Like truly. First of all; the SEXIEST couple I’ve ever seen in any series. Also I think my emotional connection with them is cause they literally came back to each other...

...and they stayed together. Through everything that happened this season, they stuck together (for the most part, lol) and I loved that. The love triangle of Alex, Jessica, and Justin was weird though.

I also really, really loved Jessica’s journey on loving her body again. And treating herself right. It’s good that they brought up female masturbation in this season too, the stigma really needed to be broken. I’m so proud of her 🥺.

Okay and, wow. Justin’s reveal on being a survivor.. my god. One thing that’s really good about this show is, it highlights that men can also be sexually assaulted, or raped. And, that does not make you any less of a man. Society needs that reminder.

Also. I love Justin so much. So so much. But I’ll make a separate post for my man.

The brotherly relation between Justin, Clay, and Zach. My favourite thing to come out of this season. I’m so glad that the realest people in this show found a brother in one another.

The adventure of Justin settling into Clay’s family was a heartwarming thing to watch, as well.

This scene made me cry SO much. Clay coming back from hearing about what happened to Tony’s family, to tell his parents he loves them and making sure he’s thankful that he has them. I love this family so fucking much. It was a true wake up call for me too. I went and sat with my mum after watching this. Even if your relation with your parent(s) is rocky, please never take their place in your life for granted.

Alright. The best fucking scene from this ENTIRE show. All 3 seasons. This scene was: it.

You can watch Part 1 here, and Part 2 here.

I cried start to finish on this one. Viewers also find out that Justin is a survivor, and I.. wow. Fuck. I literally have no words for everything to do with this.

This scene is so important for everyone to watch. It’s important for survivors to watch this to know that they’re not alone. You are never alone. And to those who haven’t been a victim of assault, please stand by those who have. Please support them, fight for them. The justice system is cruel to survivors, and unity within society is what can get us through another day. It can make things better.

Honestly I suck with words. Go watch the scene and hear what Jessica says.

Alright, now it’s time for the most controversial topic of 13 Reasons Why; Bryce Walker.

I’ve seen a lot of people say that the show is shitty for trying to sympathise and make viewers feel bad for Bryce - and I’d like to agree to disagree. Bryce is awful, the fact that he raped so many girls and did such horrible things to so many different people will neither be forgotten, nor forgiven. But I’m gonna choose to look at his plotline in the most positive ways possible.

You cannot forgive a rapist, or an abuser. They aren’t mistakes, they’re somebody’s actions that were intentionally done. But you can choose to let the person learn from it. You can choose to let the person grow, do better. I believe that everyone, no matter who, deserves a second chance. Not a single person in this world is perfect and if people weren’t given second chances, this society would be lifeless. I will choose to believe that Bryce was doing better. I saw a post that said something along the lines of, “It took the loss of his girlfriend, friends, and social status for him to realise that what he did was fucked up.” And I agree. Of course it took that for him to realise. Nobody realises what they’ve truly done until they, themselves, face the consequences for it.

The writers truly did an amazing job on portraying Bryce’s storyline. As problematic as it is, it’s reality, and as Thanos once said, “Reality is often disappointing.” Like, do you know how good you have to be at your job to make viewers FEEL BAD for a rapist? We all knew how horrible Bryce is, yet some of the scenes with him and his mum brought me to tears. I’d also like to give a whole round of applause to Justin Prentice because, wow. That man is damn talented. He did an amazing job this season. Don’t ever forget to separate the actor from their character!

One of the things that really stuck with me from this season is when Ms Baker was brought in for questioning. She said, “Did you know that this department has put more investigative efforts into solving the murder of a convicted rapist, than it ever did for any of his former victims?” And WOW. Did she lie? Did she really fucking lie?? No she didn’t.

Going back to what I said earlier, the justice system is cruel to victims. The way they investigated Bryce’s death vs how they treated Hannah’s case is how things are in real life. It’s really upsetting.

Also, the way they portrayed feminism/the SO club was DISGUSTING. I wish they had done better with that, rather than to carry on the annoying and disrespectful feminist stereotype. Protesting at Bryce’s funeral was so disrespectful.

By the way, wasn’t that Audrey from Scream? LOL

The last topic I wanted to discuss is Ani, but she annoyed me so much that I refuse to put in effort to talk about her. She’s absolutely disgusting for having sex with her friend’s rapist, as well as sticking her nose in business that had nothing to do with her. As Justin once said, “Fuck off, Ani.”

In conclusion,

This show is, and always will remain controversial and problematic. And a lot of people will choose to view it in the most skeptical way possible, rather than to see the points it makes. I definitely agree that this show hasn’t always been the best at portraying certain things - especially in season 1 - but they’re doing better now. This is high school culture (not the part where students are investigating a murder instead of doing homework). This is how the justice system treats rapists vs their victims. These are the struggles of survivors.

AS USUAL, THE SOUNDTRACK SLAPS. Go listen to it, please and thank you. This one is my personal favourite!!

Also, I’m always open to discussing/debating the things I talked about in this post. :)

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reactingtosomething · 7 years

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Reacting to Wynonna Earp: Episodes 210-212

An Occult 23andMe

The Setup: Miri and Kris adore Wynonna Earp and have been reacting to this season a few episodes at a time. As always, we are in awe of Emily Andras’s writing, Melanie Scrofano’s face and general talent, and the entire cast and crew. We also have a few questions, critiques, and predictions that are sure to be proven wrong.

Find our previous Wynonna Earp s2 reacting here, here, here, and here.

Spoilers through the season 2 finale, “I Hope You Dance,” below!

KRIS: I feel like you should lead with some all caps here or something

MIRI: As usual I HAVE A VERY MANY FEELINGS

THE BAAAABY

WYNONNA

***ASCENDED WIDOW MERCEDES?!?!??!***

And Jeremy is just such a peach

as per usual

KRIS: I actually saw this Scrofano Instagram the night of the episode (and I watch the morning after via iTunes) so I had some sense of the twist coming

MIRI: OH MY GODDDDDDDD

(I was really proud of how well I avoided spoilers this time)

KRIS: Which was kind of a bummer, but it still landed for me

Especially because of the detail of Nicole’s involvement

MIRI: Yes! An excellent tying together of various threads

KRIS: So you kind of called this, or something like it, back when we reacted to the pregnancy. Was this what you had in mind?

MIRI: ...I might have to reread that reaction really quickly to refresh my memory on what I meant

KRIS: I remember you said “noble sacrifice”

MIRI: Ohhhh yes

Yeah, I think from a show and a show writing perspective this is what makes sense

KRIS: At the time my mind went somewhere darker and more supernatural

MIRI: Because it is the version that reinforces/adds a layer to the core plot of the whole thing--Wynonna has to end the curse. For herself, but mostly for everyone she loves because she refuses to let this fall on someone else like it fell on her

And the baby adds to that, but without having to change the actual structure of things drastically--which they would have to do to add an actual baby in week to week

Also, this is the version with a combined maximum pain now and pain in the future. (slash tension, slash stakes)

KRIS: Yeah it definitely is obvious in hindsight that Wynonna would not want her baby in the Triangle

MIRI: But they covered it with the revenant question so well it didn’t feel obvious at the time!!

KRIS: It’s a little funny to me that Wynonna’s version of “I named her so no one looking for an Earp will find her” is “I didn’t give her a name that starts with W”

MIRI: HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

KRIS: Because I feel like “named after the grandparents” is pretty standard?

MIRI: “It’s just your mom’s name and my mom’s name and we’re only MASSIVELY FAMOUS/INFAMOUS within the community of people who might want to use/abuse this baby”

KRIS: I guesss maybe people wouldn’t necessarily expect Doc as the father

MIRI: Maybe, but several people with great knowledge of history already know

Like the Firebros Cult

KRIS: But aren’t they all, like, barbecued now?

Did I read that scene wrong?

MIRI: Oh, right

I forgot about that

Which is funny, because in the moment I was super excited about Dolls using his fire again!

KRIS: Right! And obviously I wanted a wide shot but I UNDERSTAND

MIRI: I mean, they already got a helicopter and a baby in the budget

KRIS: That did feel a little unresolved, mechanically, I guess because Dolls’s goal for the episode (get the doctor) was ultimately irrelevant

Emily Andras was very happy about her helicopter

“I was bluffing!”

MIRI: Let me just say for the 8,000th time: I would very much like to be Emily Andras when I grow up

KRIS: I usually roll my eyes at “gonna move to Canada” but if it’s “gonna move to Canada to work for Emily Andras” I’d have to be like “yeah that makes sense”

MIRI: YES

K: I really do like Canada, just not when Americans say they'll move there to run away from our problems

KRIS: Stuff like not getting a resolution beat for the Order made me think, not for the first time, that this show definitely rides a knife-edge of just having too much going on

MIRI: Yeah, I feel that re: Rosita and Mercedes too

KRIS: And if the emotional storytelling wasn’t as assured the whole thing could easily fall on its face

YES Rosita

MIRI: And I wonder if it was part baby clock/changing the whole season so late in the game?

KRIS: Maybe

I’d probably have to rewatch the first season

MIRI: But in general this show is just chock full of plot

Rosita is the only one that really bothered me

KRIS: I’m not super clear on what Rosita’s plan was, re: safe passage

MIRI: I wonder if there’s a scene or two on the cutting room floor there

(in this episode or previous ones)

Because she’s set up to be pretty cool, and while her point about the whole “I’ll shoot you last” thing being kind of TERRIBLE to say to someone/have to live under is valid, the turn just felt rushed to me

KRIS: Yeah

MIRI: Also, did she die?? Was she Saved? What exactly happened?

KRIS: I had to look up the last time Peacemaker turned blue and it was when Wynonna shot Willa

MIRI: Ahhhhhh I did not remember that

Huh

KRIS: I thought maybe she’d been un-revenanted but her reaction was still pretty angry so that didn’t feel right, so then I thought maybe Waverly had fired a warning shot?

MIRI: So maybe its when it has to act outside of normal bounds? Killing an heir, working for a non-official heir (yet?)

KRIS: Yeah that makes sense

MIRI: Hmmmm I’m holding out a tiny bit of help for it having saved Rosita and her not understanding

which is why she’s angry

KRIS: I definitely hope she comes back

as a regular

MIRI: And that would potentially fit with the idea of Waverly being something else supernatural

Me too!! I really love her

KRIS: Also sentient or semi-sentient weapons are always a favorite trope of mine

MIRI: I know this is not at all what you meant, but it reminded me that I love the Wynonna moment of declaring that she’s her own damn weapon, not anyone else’s to use

KRIS: And although I think the more straightforward reading here is “Peacemaker does what Wynonna says,” I also kind of like the idea of like “Peacemaker’s understanding of Family has caught up with the 21st century”

Yeah!

M: Speaking of family...(I love this gif and couldn’t find a better place for it)

MIRI: Well if Widow Mercedes could do it, maybe Peacemaker could too

Can we talk about her? Because I’m low-key obsessed

KRIS: Yeah that was wild

MIRI: I was 100% shocked

did not call her turning against the husband at all

and I LOVED IT

KRIS: Yeah, and a break with Beth was pretty well set up with her getting steadily disgruntled by everything over the last few episodes

MIRI: Yes! Her turning on Beth felt totally natural, but I did not even consider her turning on demon husband

How did you feel about him being all weak? I know someone who didn’t buy it, but to me it totally worked nicely as another Andras subversion of the expected story.

KRIS: That made sense to me

MIRI: Especially if he’s a demon who needs to feed (as the Widows clearly need to) and he’s been cut off for 100 years

Cool

KRIS: And I definitely didn’t feel cheated out of a battle with a demon lord or anything since I was invested in the baby stuff

MIRI: Totally! They did a very nice job of shifting the main tension and keeping stakes very high

Did you briefly think that Doc had become a revenant? Because I briefly thought that when he was talking to Bobo and I was Very Concerned

KRIS: No, but what line made you think that?

MIRI: When Doc said he’d been to hell

(yelling down to Bobo in the well)

And Bobo mentions Wyatt screwing both of them

But then he called Doc mortal

KRIS: Oh okay. Yeah I just really liked that line both on the level of having lied to Wynonna earlier and on the level of conceding that at least so far Doc’s maybe done more bad than good

MIRI: Yeah, it all worked, I just had a moment of fear

KRIS: So now we know that Doc listens to Adele

MIRI: As any right-thinking person does, yes

Wait, we jumped off of Widow Mercedes too quickly

I just need to say that she was SUPER COOL all ascended and powerful and shit and I wish there had been time to have her be the big bad of her own 3 episode arc or something

Ok, moving on to the bullet splitting thing

KRIS: My concerns about too many plot threads notwithstanding, I actually think this season was just as long as it needed to be and I don’t know that another major twist would have worked for me

MIRI: No, I don’t think it actually should have happened. The overall narrative would have suffered. I just wanted more Ascended Widow Mercedes in like a pocket universe or something

KRIS: She had kind of an Evil Elsa from Frozen thing going on (as someone who has not seen Frozen)

MIRI: And an interesting mix of Dark Willow and finale, white-haired ascended Goddess Willow from Buffy

KRIS: Oh that’s probably more what they were going for

Okay bullets

MIRI: I think the Frozen thing is valid

Yes, bullets! Doc finally gets to kill something/one

KRIS: I feel like we have literally never seen Wynonna load Peacemaker before so I had gotten to a point of accepting that it magically didn’t need to be loaded

MIRI: Hahahahahah

KRIS: I did kind of want his dramatic “When I shoot something, it dies” line to be lampshaded by someone

Although to be fair he called it out himself last week

MIRI: I would like to take this opportunity to say something that is not fair of me, but I feel strongly:

Tim Rozon’s face doesn’t make sense to me without the Doc Holliday mustache

KRIS: HA

MIRI: He’s still handsome! It’s a good face! but it just makes no sense to my brain

KRIS: There was a time in my life when I wished I could grow a mustache like that

It’s possible that time has not entirely passed

MIRI: hahahahah

KRIS: But mostly it was like, senior year of college

I feel like we should probably circle back to episodes 8 and 9 10 and 11 for a second

MIRI: Definitely

They did a whole episode without Wynonna! That is so fascinating and ballsy

KRIS: I feel like I wrote down notes somewhere about this but I can’t find them so maybe I just think about it a lot -- how do you feel about tropes like the Couple Destined to Be Together, or “destiny” tropes in general?

MIRI: Hmmmmmmmm it entirely depends on how well executed they are. Sometimes I am ALL IN, other times I think it gets creepy

I’m good with it here

Because it’s not super heavy handed to me

It falls more on the “they are just so right for each other, they keep finding each other” side of things than the “they are Destined To Always Be” side

Plus they had known and cared about each other as friends for a while in the alternate reality

You?

KRIS: As a trope it’s not my thing at all and I may be reacting more to fandom reactions than to anything actually in the text

MIRI: Been there

KRIS: I mean generally I was onboard with it

I think “they’re so right for each other” vs “they are destined” might be a distinction without a difference but I agree that execution counts for a lot

MIRI: I am a little bummed Waverly is confirmed gay (rather than bi) but I’m still so happy about the character and her sheer existence

KRIS: I’m also not sure exactly when it happened (and part of me is deeply suspicious and legitimately concerned that literally letting her hair down had something to do with it) but this last run definitely cemented Nicole as my favorite character

MIRI: Well I think the difference falls in what makes them right for each other being destined implies predetermination and an outside force

While being right for each other comes out of who they both are as people, and there could theoretically be other people just as right for them out there Say more about Nicole as your favorite

KRIS: Maybe part of it’s that she’s in a way the least intense of everyone? Not in the sense that she’s boring but that she has a healthy sense of perspective?

MIRI: Right. She is arguably the normal amongst all of these eccentrics

KRIS: I feel like it can’t be as simple as “audience surrogate,” but I guess there’s a little of that

MIRI: And she’s working to remain that, per Nedley’s speechifying

KRIS: And I think a lot of it is in her line readings -- like you could easily see someone delivering “your ass is top shelf” and “I’d do a lot of things to you” with too much of a wink

EASILY

MIRI: Yes! She’s just so sweet and earnest about both and it MAKES those lines

So, how did you feel about alternate reality without Wynonna?

I don’t know if I 100% buy Doc as the town bad guy, but he was kind of a dick before

So i guess becoming worse is as possible as becoming better

KRIS: I also think -- and I’m getting a little more real than I’m generally comfortable with here -- that as a straight man with a tendency to be hand-wringing about my trying to be a good feminist, there’s a safety in identifying with a character like Nicole who is also sexually attracted to women but by virtue of NOT being a man (and being written and acted as well as she is) is free of a lot of potentially toxic baggage

MIRI: That makes total sense to me

KRIS: I think the alternate reality was a pretty good execution of the “this one person makes all the difference” trope

(The “Remedial Chaos Theory” episode of Community is the high bar for me there)

I bought Doc as a bad guy but maybe not entirely as a ringleader

MIRI: Fair

KRIS: I loved how Rosita, Jeremy, and Nicole had all taken on bigger Black Badge or Black Badge-adjacent responsibilities

MIRI: Yes! I liked all of their interactions

The Iron Witch stuff worked for me too

KRIS: Yeah, better than I think I would’ve expected

MIRI: Grounding it in the sister relationship is always a safe bet on this show

KRIS: That bit where she let down the glamor for a second and Waverly and Nicole were Slowly Spinning in their “real” outfits was pretty cool

MIRI: Very dreamy and funky

I buy Waverly making a stupid choice to save Nicole. You?

KRIS: Yeah, in general I think pushing her luck when other people don’t want her to makes sense for Waverly, and definitely on the heels of everything she’s been through up to that point

MIRI: Agreed

KRIS: I really liked the team interactions in 8 a lot

Dolls telling Waverly “let’s just say it was an order”

MIRI: In the vision quest ep?

KRIS: The Nicole in the Hospital ep

MIRI: Oh, 10, not 8 👍🏻

Yeah, I like the friendship between Dolls and Waverly a lot. It’s never super heavily explored, but it’s always really charming

KRIS: Oh wow I totally lost track of the episode count at some point

MIRI: It was a 12 ep season, not 10

I think we got slightly thrown off in our thoughts about when we would react, that’s all

KRIS: I also really wished there’d been more of a reckoning between Jeremy and Wynonna about Rosita

That seemed like a really important beat that ended up not going anywhere because of all the ensuing crazy

MIRI: Yeah. I hope they come back to it in some way next season

KRIS: But I also really liked Dolls stepping in to be the test subject for awhile and I thought it was weird that possibility didn’t come up earlier

MIRI: Hmmmm

That is valid

Maybe because he couldn’t be killed? And she couldn’t either, but revenants can be harmed short term

KRIS: There also was never an acknowledgement that Waverly broke a promise to tell Wynonna about Rosita

MIRI: Like she was out for a few minutes when Tucker shot her

KRIS: I mean I bought it happening

MIRI: Yeah, people have been in general shitty to Rosita

KRIS: But there was a beat missing on either end -- even Rosita didn’t really mention it

MIRI: Maybe her turn was more earned than I have acknowledged

Right--the building blocks are there, but she never really had a good moment dealign with it all

KRIS: Oh, Nicole’s soon-to-be ex-wife!

Again it felt like there was a beat missing in Shae’s recognition that Waverly was the new girlfriend, or someplace where that might have come up explicitly, but I really liked skipping right over the jealousy tropes

MIRI: Agreed on both counts!

Do we think she’ll come back though? Only because of the note on the divorce papers

KRIS: I didn’t really get that sense, I more just read it as “hey here’s a healthy relationship that’s nice”

MIRI: I think you’re right

I like that Waverly can be weirded out without going full tropey Jealous Girl

So @sweet-but-mostly-sour wanted us to discuss Jeremy’s apparent powers. Any thoughts?

KRIS: I don’t know that it would’ve occurred to me independently

The line there did seem to be hinting at something (I can’t recall what he said) but it also would have made sense to me that he just knew the plan?

Especially because Waverly was pretty clearly expecting Doc at the rendezvous, as opposed to meeting up with him beforehand

Oh it was something about why he’d been recruited into BBD

MIRI: Yeah, one sec, I’m almost to it in the ep

I think

Ok I was wrong but I WILL find it

Oh, I think you were right about it being a warning shot--Waverly grazes Rosita’s temple and Rosita runs out

KRIS: Ah

(I wonder if she just missed?)

MIRI: Yeah, no idea if it was a deliberate warning or not. We know how tricky Peacemaker is

Found it!

Doc asks how Jeremy knows stuff and he says:

“I told you I was in an accident. [The car accident when he was 11.] I wasn’t recruited to Black Badge for my excellent Seinfeld impressions.”

KRIS: Hmm

MIRI: I really love how transparently into people he is without ever creeping on them

KRIS: “I’d feel it in my groin”

I guess in hindsight that is also a plant

MIRI: The groin or the powers?

I forget who he said that about

KRIS: Doc

A plant for his having powers

hidden in a “Classic Jeremy” joke

Honestly I think I might prefer a Jeremy who picks up on things like Wynonna’s pregnancy just because he pays more attention than other people (or other men)

But I’m not against Jeremy having powers or anything

MIRI: Well, hopefully one doesn’t preclude the other

KRIS: I liked “I don’t fit in here. None of you asked me to” a lot

MIRI: YES that was beautiful without being shmoopy

KRIS: It was an unexpected way for that line to go

MIRI: I think he and Nicole could get a long very well

Yeah, I was expecting a “I never fit anywhere but here” thing and I liked this much better

KRIS: I think my other favorite finale line was “That better not be a nickname for your beav cause I’m not in the mood”

MIRI: Wynonna is always so very Wynonna and basically it’s just dialogue goals in all the ways

KRIS: And Melanie Scrofano finally got her f-bomb! Though I don’t know if it was censored on air

MIRI: I love how important that was to her

We have not yet discussed Mama Earp

KRIS: Oh yeah I really wanted to come with a Mamas Earp joke but blanked I guess there’s not really a joke there, I just wanted at some point to say Mamas Earp

That was another spoiler I stumbled on ahead of time (gif somewhere)

MIRI: I did not get what you were doing there but I finally caught up

Oh no!

So has Wynonna known where Mama Earp is this whole time?

KRIS: I didn’t even think of that. I guess so. That’s interesting

I definitely thought the very first line of that VO was a “flashback” line

MIRI: Me too! I think it still might have been?

KRIS: It seemed like it was part of a “There’s X, and there’s Y, and then there’s Z”

What do we know about Mama Earp?

(Do we know Mama Earp’s name?)

MIRI: (Is it Michelle? the baby’s middle name?)

KRIS: Oh right

MIRI: We know she left when Waves was 2, if I recall correctly

And that’s about it

KRIS: Hang on I’m gonna rewatch that bit

MIRI: “There are men, Wynonna, mean as a rattlesnake cornered at dusk. And there are demons sweet as clover honey. And then there’s him. I told you he was real. I never stopped believing. But he will rise. And when he does, you’ll believe it too.”

KRIS: Man there’s a lot going on there

And maybe a lot of possibilities

MIRI: I know!

Has she been working on this the whole time? Did Waverly get her researcher tendencies from Mama Earp?

KRIS: Right! Is this why she came back to Purgatory?

MIRI: But she’s not fully back

KRIS: Was there some point when Mama Earp might have reached out post-return?

I mean Wynonna coming back

MIRI: Oh, did you mean Wynonna?

Gotcha gotcha

Also, will we get specifics about the mean men and sweet demons?

KRIS: (I also have to say -- #sorrynotsorry -- that I appreciate a show that is this careful about its use of needle drops)

MIRI: (this is such a Thing for you and I love it)

(Also, the music in Wynonna Earp is always damn effective, so I think I have to agree)

KRIS: Is mean men and sweet demons an unusually poetic line for the show or do I just feel that way because when other characters say lines like that it doesn’t always feel right?

MIRI: I think it is unusually poetic, but the HEAVY accent might be meant to somewhat excuse it as country sayings?

Also, I think it’s meant to read as “something my mama used to say” the way we took it, and then twist to be much more literal

I think Mama must have been wrapped up in the occult too. It can’t just have been Ward’s thing. Even if it was after she married in, the “I told you” part means she knows a decent amount about how all this started and where it might go

KRIS: Right

I wonder if Wynonna might have reached out to her after the vision quest?

MIRI: Would she have kept it a secret if she did? I’d buy that

Oh, speaking of Bulshar and secrets, what about that little nod Nicole and Dolls have when we see Nicole has the ring near the end there

KRIS: Definitely seems like Nicole getting an unofficial promotion (that I guess they don’t want Waverly to know about?)

MIRI: Maybe it’s less a secret and more a “when we have time, we’ll discuss all this”? I hope?

KRIS: The classic Intense Dolls Stare did come close to being unintentionally comical in slow motion, that close to Waverly’s line of sight

MIRI: YES

KRIS: Yeah I don’t see how it could be a secret

Maybe Dolls and Nicole are already just moving ahead and they want the others to Have a Moment

MIRI: That makes sense for all involved

Ok, is there anything big that we’ve missed?

KRIS: It’s kind of insane that we’ve mentioned Bobo literally once

I don’t know that I have anything to say about him, but still

MIRI: RIGHT, I meant to bring up Bobo!

KRIS: I guess I’d missed or forgotten that he was specifically Magneto-ish and not generally telekinetic

MIRI: I do have things to say, or just to bring up, I guess

Yeah, I had too!

And I wonder if there’s a reason for that that we will see/explore?

Ok, points that I don’t really have much to say about, but I feel should be stated: 1) He’s now an acolyte of Bulshar and 2) He called Waverly kin, but is pretty certainly not her father

KRIS: Someday Waverly’s going to start an occult 23andMe

MIRI: Hahahahahahahahahahhaa

KRIS: I definitely had one more little thing I wanted to mention but it’s escaped me

Oh Nicole’s cat!

MIRI: Calamity Jane!!!

KRIS: (God I have to get back into Deadwood)

MIRI: Do you have any predictions for next season? (Knowing, of course, that Andras will subvert all expectations and impress us all in the process)

KRIS: I basically wouldn’t dare at this point

Though I will ask for a web series that’s The Adventures of Randy Nedley and Calamity Jane

MIRI: OH MY GOD

I never knew I wanted that until just now

They are grumpy best friends

KRIS: I’m even too afraid to guess in which “act” of the season Waverly will come face to face with Mama Earp

MIRI: You say that, and I’m like, “Oh, well...wait. No...Could be..?” Andras is breaking my brain

I can definitely see a first episode option, a midseason option, an end of act 1 option, etc...

I predict we’ll learn what Waverly is, if she’s not entirely human

KRIS: That makes sense

I still kind of want to know what happened to BBD but I get the sense that’s a closed door

or at least as closed as TV gets

MIRI: Yeah, I’d say try to let that hope go for now

I wonder if we’ll be getting any new members of the gang? I feel like no

KRIS: Hmm

MIRI: Maybe someone to replace Rosita if she’s gone?

KRIS: I mean I hope Rosita comes back to the fold, somehow, but I could just as easily see her having a more complete villain turn

I could also see a version of this that’s vaguely Alias season 2 where Mama Earp is around a lot

MIRI: But I feel like things are pretty well balanced, plus we’ll be getting Mama Earp and surely some new enemies/adversaries

KRIS: I really hope Jeremy gets time with her

MIRI: Yeah, same. And she may come with a supporting character or two Interesting

Wait, with Mama or Rosita?

KRIS: Mama Earp

Just for the jokes

MIRI: Yes, I’m weirdly into that

KRIS: I was a little surprised there wasn’t a Wynonna-Dolls beat somewhere at the end

MIRI: I wonder if they didn’t want to put it in competition with the Wynonna-Doc beat

KRIS: I don’t see where it would have fit in but I’m curious about which ship is sailing next season

Yeah that’s what I figured

MIRI: I thiiiiink it’s Wynonna/Dolls

I think the little kiss with Doc was just an acknowledgement of the magnitude of it all and that they care about each other

She and Dolls seemed pretty settled after the vision quest

KRIS: Yeah

MIRI: Which reminds me that we may have the same side/opposite sides thing come up again next season

KRIS: With Doc and Dolls?

MIRI: Dolls and Wynonna

They discuss it in bed after the vision quest

KRIS: Ohhhhh right right

That kind of came out of nowhere for me

MIRI: Yeah, I think it was either a red herring going into the finale arc, or groundwork for future tension

KRIS: I’m basically just looking for a good Andras or Scrofano tweet to end this on

https://twitter.com/MelanieScrofano/status/901230636748464128

https://twitter.com/emtothea/status/901474002631249921

https://twitter.com/emtothea/status/901272365060861952

MIRI: She has a voice she uses to talk to/about cakes. Again, I aspire to be Emily Andras when I grow up

KRIS: https://twitter.com/emtothea/status/901278447497994240

https://twitter.com/emtothea/status/901278890181574656

https://twitter.com/MelanieScrofano/status/901265498771513344

MIRI: KRIS you have to give me time to react to things, stop texting at the speed of Wynonna plot twists!!!!! KRIS: OH we forgot about Jeremy referring to Wayhaught as Wayhaught!

MIRI: Jeremy is the most genre savvy, but in a totally non-annoying way and I love him very much

Oh my godddd I missed this as a callback

KRIS: Oh me too

MIRI: I feel like Jeremy’s “It feels like a Phil” line means they’re not going to go too far with whatever his perception/power is

He’s not all knowing. He has feelings and observations that are just him being Jeremy too

KRIS: I think I found the winner

MIRI: 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

They did say vagina/euphemisms for vagina a lot this episode

KRIS: https://twitter.com/emtothea/status/901264948176629760

MIRI: https://twitter.com/MelanieScrofano/status/901263525510873088

KRIS: https://twitter.com/MelanieScrofano/status/901279279379611648

We’re clearly out of control

MIRI: Our role models are not helpful on that score

KRIS: I feel like this has been a reasonably successful seeing-a-season-through

MIRI: Yes! I liked doing it this way and would be down for picking a show or two to do this for in fall

https://twitter.com/VarunSaranga/status/901268191984439296

KRIS: Maybe a half-hour?

MIRI: Yeah, that would be good. Do we want to do a new one or something returning?

KRIS: I guess we should wait and see

OH we should do Crazy Ex when it comes back

MIRI: YES

That’s not a half hour but YES

KRIS: OK we should really wrap up and have one of us start formatting this monster

Thanks to anyone who followed along with us

MIRI: Definitely! We hope you enjoyed and that you come back and keep enjoying. And let us know if you have any requests!

KRIS: Also fuck it, if the others aren’t watching The Bold Type by the time the season ends we should just do a finale reaction

MIRI: YES SOMEONE IS FINALLY GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE BOLD TYPE WITH ME

KRIS: SOMEONE PLEASE CATALOG EVERY SUTTON REACTION SHOT FOR ME

Wow that’s completely unreasonable, sorry Tumblr I take it back

MIRI: Never apologize, Kris.

Would Melanie Scrofano apologize? I think not

KRIS: Our Lady of Go Fuck Yourself

Hmmm, not my best

MIRI: No, I liked it

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