#and like besties. you all made a sympathetic caring character actually. you did | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

that-was-anticlimactic · 2 years

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congratulations! you won the opportunity to choose ANY five or three jjk characters and be in a groupchat with all of them (and they cannot leave it for at Least a day so they are forced to be in it <3). who do you choose? [bonus points if you come up with a name for the chat]

bro i know i made this question (granted it Was when i was Very Tired) but this hard wow okay

nitta - am i biased? yes. i just want to be in a groupchat with her okay? she just. she. and i feel like she would actually participate too and that we could have some fun conversations <3

gojo - you know what? imma say it. i feel like he'd be so fun to be in a chat with! he'd be so excited about it too! he'd send memes and just be funny but also super nice and could cheer you up if you were having a bad day! i also feel like he and nitta would vibe well enough in a chat together oH MY GOSH GOJO AND I COULD SPEAK THROUGH CAKE MEMES TOGETHER WE WOULD JUST SEND CAKES gojo would send me the period cake. i know he would. <3

nobara - okay so maybe she'd be upset at first because gojo but like she secretly loves him <3 and also i feel like nobara and i could complain about stuff together? like, we could just rant and i feel like we'd get each other. i think she would secretly like the memes and stuff gojo sends and saves them to her phone, and she and nitta would vibe well together! i feel like they'd be able to talk about girly things together! i also feel like gojo and nobara would share their like skin or hair care routines with each other and nitta would be taking notes <3

yuuta - for one, yuuta is nice to gojo openly and not just in secret, so he would just be like. he'd be the "a pleasure to have in the chat" guy. he would listen to me ramble and i would listen to him in turn and i just get the vibes that he and nitta would get along well, you know? like she would think of him like a little brother... another little brother. and nobara and yuuta would just be fun! see, i almost said toge instead of yuuta, but toge and nobara together is far too chaotic for me and the chat and i would just be confused the whole time

yuki - this is also kind of vibes, but she wouldn't like. refuse to talk because gojo was in the chat and i don't think she'd be a little weirded out by being in a chat with kind of random kids. she and nitta are good friends. they told me personally. so being in a chat with nitta is normal. she and gojo actually are besties too, and they keep in touch. i mean, gojo is prolly under the impression that she kind of just keeps him around because she feels bad and he's grateful for it, but she does actually like him. plus, she thinks he's funny and admires how hard he works. i feel like she'd see through his whole silly act and would be really sympathetic because she knows the geto history. and nobara prolly has a bit of a crush on yuki ngl and they're both trans so yuki is like. a role model and someone she really looks up to. yuuta and yuki are just besties too. like they'd go and get coffee together and just catch up, ya know? so she would talk in the chat with us too and would participate and just have fun!

like, i feel like if i texted in a chat with all these people and asked them to list the backyardigans in order of who they would trust most with their money to who'd they trust the least, none of them would question it and they would all answer me. yes that is a very specific example. because. reasons.

chat name: did you know you're all my very best friends

^^^ that is the chat name because we're all mlp fans (tho some in secret) and we became besties by bonding over mlp and we'll have mlp watch nights and we are all just really lonely people searching for others who care about what we have to say but none of us know how to express our loneliness other than overcompensating by being annoying <3

#corey rambles:)#we don't need to read into that last bit hahahahhahah #ahem anyways yes #this required a lot more thinking than i realized wow #because i wanted people who would respond in the chat which means the people had to get along #these are people that i would want to be friends with and who would want to be in the chat even tho like nobara may be :/ at first ya know?#it has to have enough chaotic energy to keep the conversations going but also people who know when to tone it down #i'm actually really happy and pleased with this tbh #i almost picked nanami because i feel like we could complain about things together and it would be cleansing but he wouldn't want to be in #a gc. i also almost picked panda because vibes but he didn't fit completely. yuuji was also a runner up but i couldn't include yuuji #and nobara and not megumi because then he'd feel bad even tho he wouldn't realize it in the moment and yuuta just made more sense #okay done rambling now lol this was interesting tbh and the chat name came as a surprise to me: it just popped in my head

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lovecolibri · 2 years

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SaL anon here friend and while I would call last night's episode a mixed bag, I definitely thought the good outweighed the bad. Really the only part in the bad category was the L of it all, but there was sooo damn much of it. I know we keep saying how strong the S3 M*ria vibes coming off L are but MY GOD last night really went hard on them. The way her "I don't care I saved someone, I wanted it to look cooler" attitude reminded me of "I don't care if I kill someone, I need to know who to TBC

save in my visions" made me want to break something. In what universe are we supposed to like this character after that?? Ugh, and I won't even touch AR's "why are you guys reducing me to a LI?" comments 🙄. On to the good stuff!! I don't think we've ever seen the Buckley-Diaz family look sooo damn family shaped. And not just for a scene or two, for the whole episode!! Buck just so easily jumps into Dad/husband mode it's ridiculous, and NO ONE questions it (not even his gf). And the heart scene??!! Honestly WTF was that, tell me again KR how am I supposed to interpret that scene? To borrow a very accurate tag, no romantic undertones my whole ass. While I would have liked to see more Buck and Chris scenes, I loved the Diaz boys interactions so I won't complain too much. And then Bobby and Eddie talking?? Madney slowly finding their way back to each other? Unexpected icing on the happiness cake. Finally, pretty sure i've got this week's song 😘.

Bestie, hiiii!!! The good definitely outweighed the bad last night though in what seems to be the running theme of season 5, the good was GOOD, but the bad was BAAAAAAAD. In news that shocks absolutely no one except KR apparently, when it's actually focused on the mains, the show comes back to sparkling life! While every moment with L (and tay kay) sucks that life right back out of the show. 🤷🏻‍♀️

...am I? Am I manifesting season 3 m*ria vibes by mistake?! Is the universe taking me out of context like it did with Buck and the dishwasher?! Seriously this episode was just an RNM season 3 nightmare! Woman complains and pouts about something she has no business complaining or pouting about while being entirely self-centered? Everyone else tripping over themselves to make sure they mention her every time she's not in frame? Make it stooooop!! But seriously, WTF was that?! That was supposed to make her, a supposed veteran of the force who is used to dangerous rescues and should know all about how luck plays into things, look sympathetic? Like, "I couldn't have done this rescue without getting lucky so what does it even matter if someone lived"?! Girl,

Also cackling about her being like, "I'm more than a love interest" while bringing literally nothing to the table besides sticking her tongue in Buck's mouth within 5 minutes of meeting him, and being the one who has been perpetuating this whole "sexual tension" thing this whole time! ANYWAY.

Also, them cutting Chim's "like I never left" after putting it in every promo? Not having Hen and everyone making a big deal about his first shift back?! No elaborate cake of the united states with a little car driving across it?! All so, what? L could have 5 scenes doing nothing? Howard "Chimney" Han deserves SO much better, and so does Kenneth Choi. At least him and Maddie got to be on screen together again which was, as always, so so good.

Every. Single. Moment. with Eddie was stunning, show stopping, amazing, etc. Gavin has always been good but him and Ryan are really taking things to the next level right now and it's a DELIGHT to see. I LOVED the scene with Bobby too, though my small gripe on that was, if we were going to have a big talk this episode, the emotional beat would have hit better if they hadn't told us they had talked beforehand, but not shown it. If they had shown the talk being a bit awkward and Bobby still being cold, then given us Bobby still being there for Eddie, OR not being told that Eddie apologized, and then seeing Bobby still stepping up to help out because "that's what family does, Eddie" would have hit that beat a little more on the head, BUT it was a great scene.

And the Buddie moments?! What kind of fanfiction fever dream was every single Buck and Eddie interaction?! Aside from Buck having to trade favors with his gf so KR can remind the audience she exists, it was NOTHING but romantic undertones. God, not even undertones! I saw someone say that if a guy took them to a horse therapy place to help their son, and help them start healing, they would absolutely assume the guy was in love with them, and they would be in love right back. Like, that is a FAMILY! Just two husbands and their son.

I'm SO excited to see what song you have for this week! I swear, every other SaL song I listen to I'm like "Oh! This is Eddie!" ....*5 minutes later* "Oh! This is Eddie!", but your choices are always on point! I'll let you know if the two that were in particular stuck in my head today happen to be what you pick!

#my sweet nonnie friends #sleeping at last anon #911 #911 spoilers #buddie #anti lucy donato

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rederiswrites · 3 years

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For @darkfeanix and anyone else interested, my thoughts on the Wheel of Time show. Spoilers, obviously.

For you and my bestie especially I wanted to love it, but I guess in the end I only liked it. I haven't totally placed my finger on why yet. Turns out that even though I read the first seven books, I really mainly remembered 1. How the main characters made me feel and 2. The Two Rivers. Oh and 3. How much visceral revulsion I had for the Seanchan. Legit felt sick when they rolled up.

One thing moved me very deeply, especially in the Two Rivers section--the women. Unlike many a fantasy world that is supposed to be equal or matrilineal (DA), this one really really did feel like it. There were women everywhere. Imperfect women, powerful women, plain women, big women, old women. Women being happy, powerful, raucous, boisterous. Women not making themselves small. It was Egwene’s father that was on the outside, worried and with no sense of control. It felt like such an amazing reversal, and I suspect they put a lot of effort into it.

Another thing that I thought was stellar was the casting. Honestly zero complaints. Everyone was great. Including Matt, so whatever went down behind the scenes there is a pity and I wait with interest to see his replacement. I thought he and they did a remarkable job of externalizing the almost entirely internal struggle with the knife so that the audience could perceive and understand it. I also thought the additions to make his character more sympathetic was both well-advised and effective.

Rand didn’t get a chance to show what he had for a while, since his character was mainly busy brooding and observing, which any brick with a pretty face can do under a good director. But by the end I was pretty persuaded that he can carry the weight. Perrin was always my favorite of the boys, and I thought Perrin’s actor was a great match, both looks-wise and acting. The first moments when he breaks free in the Whitecloaks’ camp were definitely everything they should be. Nynaeve is just A+ all around, and Rosamund Pike absolutely has the gravity to pull of Moiraine.

But speaking of Perrin, what the fuck was the point of the fridged wife? Apparently even Brandon Sanderson argued against that one. I thought that was a huge waste of time that was needed elsewhere, and will be a huger one before he can move past this additional trauma that simply doesn’t exist in the books. The “he also likes Egwene” thing is just bonus why bother points. I’m not at all opposed to changes in general--new artists, new medium--but that was just...pointless.

But about that precious time. And the time they spent developing Logain--which they did well and which I enjoyed!--that all happened “off screen” in the books. And the time spent on Stepan, which again I actually did enjoy and appreciate! I think they really needed that time elsewhere, namely, actually explaining the conflict and developing the antagonist. My husband, who hadn’t read the books, really just cheerfully had no idea what the fuck was happening most of the time. Even I spent most of the time not remembering what the Dark One was or who the Forsaken were or why I was supposed to care, which seems like A MAJOR PROBLEM. And it wasn’t the end of the season that cleared things up, either. It was my bestie, who is a much bigger book geek than me.

Did love the relationship between Moiraine and Siuan. Absolutely loved Kerene and her actress. Her physicality was so so great. Did absolutely loathe the Whitecloaks and Eamon, which was, you know, the intended effect, so A+. Fantastically done.

Some pretty intractable problems stem directly from the material. First, the sheer volume of material that needs to be translated over is...not good for TV. Second, the same thing that annoyed the shit out of me in the books annoyed the shit out of me in the show, which is that our little found family was broken up almost immediately and spent most of the time broken up, which sucks and also means that you spend all your time waiting to know what happened to whoever isn’t currently on-screen. And though it hasn’t had a chance to become a problem in the show yet, what ultimately drove me away from the books (besides Jordan’s decision to just like...make no progress whatsoever for a few books) was Rand’s becoming so incredibly powerful that his problems stopped being human problems.

But it’ll be quite a while before we cross that bridge in the show. I did like the show more than enough to hope that we get there.

#Wheel of Time #Wheel of Time spoilers

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scottfuckingreed · 4 years

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It’s a Pogue thing - JJ Maybank

NOT REQUESTED

Warnings!: Swearing, drugs and alcohol, and SMUT!

“Morning guys!” I beam as the boat comes to a steady stop at the edge of my front garden. It’s almost like a routine. More often than not we sail into an open set of water. Sometimes we fish, mostly we just simply do nothing. Pope extends his hand out to help me onto the boat. It strikes me sometimes that, although we are all the best of friends, it probably seems a strange mix of people to some people. We’re the scraps of the island. The ones who no one really acknowledges. Kiara and I would technically be Kooks. Both of our families have money but it doesn’t really mean shit. Everyone from ‘our end’ are airheads. They care about nothing and no one but themselves. Pope’s parents have worked their asses off, so they’re in a stable place. They don’t understand why Pope hangs with us, and sometimes I wonder the same thing. He has a real chance of getting out of this place. John B and JJ are childhood besties. Their upbringing is similar, except John B’s technically an orphan, and JJ’s father’s a piece of shit. But that’s just pogue life.

“Is your mum still out tonight?” JJ asks, making my head slowly turn towards him. Do I even need to ask? “I mean, yeah-” “Great! We’re throwing a party,” I raise my eyebrows. “Hahahahaha, definitely not.” The last time I had a party with these idiots, so much shit broke in my house. I’m not getting grounded again. “Come on Y/N! It’s summer. We could all use a party!” I roll my eyes at his words. I open my mouth to shut him down but John B lets out a cough. “Actually, Y/N, I agree.” Kiara looks just as confused as I do. His father’s been missing for almost a year. Recently he’s been looking more in depth, which I support to a certain extent, but it’s at on overload right now. I’m surprised a party would even be on his radar. “I need to talk to Sarah Cameron.”

Sarah Cameron. She’s like Kook royalty. I don’t think she’s too bad. A bit sheltered maybe, but her and Kiara have a history. So you can imagine the change in look on her face as he mentions her name. “She mentioned something that might help me figure out what’s happened with my father. Do you think she’d come?” Okay that makes sense. Ki’s face doesn’t change, and the rest of us just glance between each other. “I mean, probably... but I don’t really wanna hang-” “I just need to talk to her, then you can call the party off,” a smile - too shiny and wide - spreads across his face. John B’s always had this affect on people. He gets exactly what he wants.

As soon as I get home I scan my house. Anything fragile, valuable, or anything of the sort needs to be hidden. Vases, mini statues, ashtrays from holidays abroad. Things that make this house a home will be locked in an upstairs bedroom. I’d like to live this life a little longer.

So here I am; picking an outfit for a party I don’t wanna go to. A party that I’m apparently hosting! Since I’m not dressing for anybody, I go for a simple short black dress. It really resembles my mood. Almost as soon as I put it on, I hear my front door shut. I jog down the stairs, adjusting my boobs into their rightful positions to come face to face with my intruder.

“You should really announce yourself or something. I thought I was gonna get murdered,” in front of me stands JJ. His outfit consists of a pair of lovely beige shorts and a colourful shirt; left open to show off that torso of course. “I could kill you,” he flirts. His eyes immediately go to my cleavage. This is nothing new. I think he’d fuck a table if it gave him the right vibe. “Hey!” I snap my fingers at him. “My eyes are up here you know.” Before I go to kick him, he makes a very boyish comment of how I look sexy and whatnot. He wanders away into the kitchen, probably to raid my fridge before the party. Let’s get this over with.

More and more people start to gather in my house. In the Outer Banks, everyone kind of knows everybody. I don’t actually know all these people, but I’ve seen them around. I close my eyes for a second, before pouring a drink for myself into a classic red cup. “Are you okay?” Ki nudges me with a smile. Ki and I are very similar people. She probably doesn’t wanna be here either. She could leave, but I know she won’t. “I just realised I’m the host, and I don’t wanna be here,” I laugh it off and hold my drink up to her. “Cheers!” I add.

After about 2 and a half drinks, I’m really starting to feel this party. The music is average. It’s the ‘for everybody’ kind which means it’s majoritively overplayed and everybody more or less knows it word for word. Despite that, and despite the fact that I didn’t really want this party to happen, I drag Ki into the dance area and boogie with her. Well- I dance, she stares at me with a concerned look on her face. “The trick is you have to pretend you’re having a good time,” I giggle into her ear in a slightly tipsy tone. Although she shakes her head, I can see her trying to contain herself from moving to the music. I take her hand and spin myself into her. Her eyes give me the ‘can I go now’ look. Grunting, I give in. “Fine! Please if you see anyone doing or touching shit they’re not meant to, beat them!” I smile innocently after my words, and she scurries faster than she should. Damn. Am I that bad of a dancer?

Music vibrates the walls. It’s been almost 2 hours since the party started and it’s actually going quite smoothly. John B has asked every 5 seconds if Sarah’s here yet. I shush him with my finger. “I promise I will let you know when I see her. Honestly, you sound a bit obsessed with her...” I chuckle. “Hey!” I poke JJ on the arm. At this point, just call me mother. “Please don’t smoke that in here,” I gesture towards the spliff in his hands. “It’s a party Y/N! Relax!” With that, I snatch it out of his hands. His face grows serious. Confusion fades as I realise it’s not aimed at me. Both JJ’s and John B’s eyes stare at the group entering my house.

First in, Sarah. Like I said, I don’t really have a problem with Sarah. She comes across a bit self centred sometimes. That’s minor.

With her, her boyfriend Topper. Topper’s a dick but I think he’s harmless. He’s honestly a pussy.

And his best friend. Her brother. My ex boyfriend. Rafe.

There’s a saying; dead things should stay buried, or something like that. That relationship should be 6 feet under, but times that by 10. I guess it was a ‘serious’ relationship. It lasted about a year. It was almost perfect at the beginning, that I can’t lie. As both of our families are respected, and very close anyway, it just seemed right. There was no disgust. He was accepted. I was accepted. We did everything a couple should; went on dates, were around each other 24/7, even did weekends away together. And we argued. The thing about Rafe is he’s an over thinker. He’s paranoid. When traits like that mix they can... make a monster. The last time he set his hands on me was about 4 months ago. I’ve avoided him like hell ever since.

“This is why I shouldn’t have a party,” I sigh. My eyes can’t seem to leave that area. It’s strange to see him. I don’t want him here. “Why’s he even here? He does have some balls,” John’s tone sounds somewhat impressed. I’m not. I’m not sure if my body is ready to cry, or laugh, or scream. Finally, I blink my eyes away, and set eyes on my two friends. Before I speak, JJ opens his mouth. “We can kick him out,” he assures me. The slight nudge on my shoulders by each boy is comforting. “It’s fine,” I sigh, taking JJ’s drink out of his hands. As much as I’d love to see Rafe get his ass kicked and thrown out, and I can promise you I would, this is my battle. I can’t avoid him forever. “Fuck,” I whisper, knowing what I’m about to do. I bring JJ’s cup up to my lips and tip the entire contents into my mouth. “Shit Y/N, I wouldn’t-” before he can warn me fully, I swallow. My eyes instantly water. “What the fuck!” I gasp at the disgusting taste. I’m sure a toilet would taste better than that. And yet, that concoction would be easier to digest than the conversation I’m about to have with Rafe.

The walk over felt somewhat unreal. As if, if this was a movie, my passionate walk would be in slow motion. Between the music and my racing heart, my dramatic ‘I am the main character’ strut was complete. If only I wasn’t totally shitting myself. A brave face Y/N. Just fake it.

And then I’m in front of them. Perhaps my slow motion moment wasn’t quite slow enough. It could’ve been everlasting for all I care. “Hey Sarah,” I smile. Her sympathetic smile is warming, but ultimately useless in this situation. I doubt Rafe told her the whole story, but I can imagine she knows too well what he can be like. Maybe he even made something up. I wouldn’t be surprised. She drifts away rather quickly. I don’t know what the deal is with her and John B, but I imagine Topper intends to watch her like a hawk. He’s that type of guy. Topper doesn’t even speak, just stands slightly behind as if he’s one of Rafe’s minions. To be honest that kind of describes him perfectly. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rafe just has him around to lick his ass. When I have to, I finally look at Rafe’s face. “What are you doing here?” I ask. My eyes scan everywhere on his face but his eyes. The thought of doing that makes me uncomfortable. “It’s a party Y/N,” the smirk on his face screams fuckboy. “Plus, I wanted to see you,” he raises his hand to my face, going to tuck a piece of my hair behind my ear. My hand forcefully bats his away, making a loud slap sound; even over the music. “I’ve missed you,” he leans closer so his shouting can quieten a little. My limbs instantly tense at his words. Somehow it makes me feel kind of sick thinking about it... thinking about us. The fact that it was a thing is just... “You need to leave Rafe,” my attempt to sound blunt and assertive is a massive fail. Instead my voice echoed in a wobble, making me sound weak and pathetic. “You don’t mean that, come on-” his hand wraps around my wrist, taking my back to a time I’ve tried desperately hard to forget. I pull my arm away once, but his grip holds too strong. As I go to pull away again, a pair of large hands push against Rafe’s chest. “What the fuck man?!” Topper’s voice erupts from Rafe’s shadow. A henchman fighting his duties. I turn to see JJ, red faced, standing with a threatening stance. “We don’t want no trouble JJ, my girl here is just being a tease,” Rafe’s tone is patronising. “Leave it, JJ,” my right hand gently squeezes his left shoulder. “Let’s get a drink, Topper,” I wanted him to leave, but I watch him walk towards my kitchen. I hate that he’s in my house, but at least he’s away from me. For now.

I fade away. Without full control, my body makes it’s way upstairs. Just to breathe for a second. Almost as soon as I drop my body onto my bed, the door reopens. Startling me, I come face to face with JJ. “Hey,” his voice rings soft. When he closes the door behind him, the music becomes muffled. Peaceful. I press my lips together into a forced smile. “Should I tell everyone to fuck off home?” He gestured towards the door. I shake my head, cracking a smile. “It’s fine. I just needed a minute away from... that,” his arm extends, a red cup at the very end. I screw my face up at the smell. “How do you drink this?” Just from sniffing it, I feel myself getting more and more tipsy. “If you need it, it goes down quite easily-” he pauses as I take it. “Plus I’m really cool and manly so.” “Ah, of course.” A big part of my body (probably my stomach and liver) starts screaming no. I have no idea what alcohol is in this cup. I know it’s a lot. After this cup, I will probably be more or less gone. A micro part of me says fuck it. That’s the part I listen to. The liquid burns down my throat, and yet it strangely goes down quite smoothly compared to the first.

“I am sorry about Rafe,” JJ has taken a seat next to me on my bed. Usually I’d banish people away from my room, but I feel like JJ saved me tonight. He’s a bit of a prick at times, and an absolute idiot, but I trust him. Maybe I trust him too much. “It was gonna happen at some point,” I shrug. “He’s such a pussy,” when I start laughing at JJ’s words, I realise that the alcohol may have sunk in. A hiccup escapes my mouth. “Fuck.” I whisper to myself as my smile fades. I’m an idiot to have ever gotten with him. Young and dumb maybe. “Hey...” JJ rests his hand on my knee and squeezes gently. My body, in my tipsy state, reacts to this motion is a strange way. Why did that just give me butterflies? He’s only comforting me. My eyes drift up to look at him properly. Is he... leaning in?

I stand up before he gets close. I rub my eyes frantically. Maybe I’m about to wake up from a nap or something. “I’m sorry... I just...” I breathe. The crazy thing is, I felt it too. My body is reacting in crazy ways right now. I think I’m turned on? By JJ? That’s something I never thought I’d say. I mean... he’s hot. I’m not blind. I guess I’ve never looked at him like that. But I am now. I’m looking at the blonde hair, and the jawline, and the smile. Okay, that’s enough. I’m just in shock of seeing Rafe again. That’s it: “Pogue on Pogue isnt allowed,” I state, mainly to myself. I need massively convincing right now. I need JJ to tell me that I got the wrong idea. Tell me it’s disgusting and I’m too much like a sister. We’re meant to be family. Come on Y/N! That’s gross! Before he says anything, he shrugs. That damn fucking shrug. In my state of mind, it’s attractive. “I don’t really care,” that’s it. I’m convinced. I needed him to say something else, but that’s ultimately the answer I hoped for. “Me neither.”

I practically jump onto him, straddling him and crashing my lips onto his. The softness, yet passion, against my lips is something I’m not sure I’ve ever felt. This should feel wrong. Only, as JJ’s hands smooth up and down my body before sitting on my waist, it couldn’t feel more right. Without a second thought, I glide my tongue into his mouth. I can sense it takes him by surprise. The most attractive moan escapes him, which I can imagine was not intentional. The kiss proceeds to get more and more intimate. Somehow we just move in sync. He slowly lays back, our lips not separating once before he’s fully beneath me. Maybe JJ was previously holding back, but a rush of ‘horny teenage boy’ suddenly rushes over him. Both hands go to my ass. As much as I don’t want to fall apart under his touch so fast, the immense pleasure radiates through my body. I break away from his kiss slightly and moan massively into his mouth.

We stop kissing for a second. Our heavy breaths bounce against each other. It’s a strange moment to be in. Was this always bound to happen at some point? “Should we stop?” Confusion hits as he speaks those words, and yet he proceeds to trail kisses down my neck. I push his head down onto the pillow with my right hand cupping his chin, bringing my face close enough to his that our noses are pretty much touching. “Do you want to?” I simple ask. I’d be almost offended by his words, but only if his hands weren’t grinding me down onto his crotch. Perhaps it’s a guilty conscience. We are both massively likely to regret this in the morning. We are also likely to get caught and get grief from our small circle of friends. They are good enough reasons to stop. They are good enough reasons for this to have never started to happen in the first place. They just don’t amount to one thing, and that’s that I want this right now. His head begins to move side to side. I can’t help but begin to smile massively. “Then shut up and fuck me.”

It was as if that was a jump start. JJ’s manly hands flip us over immediately. I let out a giggle as he begins to undo his shorts. The speed of the removal of both his shorts and boxers was impressive. They get thrown wherever they go. My eyes quickly glance at his penis, before looking back up to his eyes. I suck in my bottom lip before pulling him back down to kiss me again. This shouldn’t be this easy. His tongue slides back into my mouth, battling with mine for dominance, all too easily. I’m not even a little bit nervous... until I feel his fingertips glide up under my dress. He hooks his finger under the waist band of my thong and does nothing for too long. It might’ve only been seconds, but those seconds were some of the longest seconds of my life. He pulls them off ever so slowly. I was becoming a literal puddling mess beneath him.

He knows what he’s doing. He knows he has me wrapped around his finger right now. His tongue plays against mine skillfully; slow and passionate. He’s doing everything right. Once my underwear finally reaches my feet, I just can’t hold it back anymore. “Are you done teasing me now?” I practically beg. I’m soaked, a mess, and almost fully sober. If anything, I wanted this more now than I did when we started. My heart continues racing, but I stay composed and reach over into my bedside table. I rip it open. I simply hold his shaft with two fingers. JJ takes a deep breath in. Fuck. He watches my hand roll the condom down with his mouth slightly open. “Time to break some Pogue rules,” he whispers before lining himself up. I should not be this ready for this.

Even with just the tip, I could’ve come apart then and there. I haven’t had sex in months. Whether you believe me or not, I had not imagined it would to be JJ Maybank who I was going to break my ‘no boys’ commitment to myself with. When he begins inserting himself inside me, I realise this is actually happening. The slow, easy slide in had me in pieces. I was already moaning and he wasn’t even moving properly yet. He stops. “This-” I pause to steady my breath. My entire being is, dare I say it, excited. “This has to stay between us,” I compose myself. Although this is a one time thing, it has potential to ruin a hell of a lot. So, even as I wrap my legs around his body, we have to make this promise. “Scouts honour.” He brings his pinky up to me. Kissing the backs of our hands, it was sealed.

He starts pulling out slowly, making my jaw gradually open wider and wider. He pauses before pushing back in. His eyes lock with mine, and he smiles cheekily. I’m not certain what that smile means, but I can sure take a guess. There is a part of me that wants to stop. Nothing’s really happened yet. But no part of me actually wants to. When he pushes himself back inside me, my fingers spread into his hair. His lips land back on mine, my tongue swirls around his like it’s an everyday activity. I pull gently on his hair as he begins steadying a pace. “Shit,” I moan against his lips.

Fingertips glide across my thigh, tracing patterns and sending my stomach into spirals. I couldn’t hook my legs around him tighter if I tried. The wave of tremendous pleasure of each thrust was like a drug. Every time his body collided with mine I wanted more. I needed more. To feel this, in this moment, with JJ was wrong. So why doesn’t it feel that way? His lips leave mine slowly, tracing kisses across my cheek until his lips land near my ear. “You feel so fucking good,” the vibrations of a deep husky moan forces a moan out of me. His teeth latch around my ear lobe, sucking down before moving down to my neck.

The friskiness of JJ’s lips and tongue is like motivation. With strength I didn’t know I had, and confidence in myself I thought I’d lost, I push against JJ and flip us over. Lust fills his eyes. I just sit there, only for a second, actually liking the way JJ is looking at me. Yes, it’s because I’m straddling him half naked. It’s still nice. His hands squeeze the tops of both of my thighs as well as moving up to my hips... then my ass. It was as if he pressed fast forwards.

I move my body up to start thrusting onto him again, with his helping hands guiding back down. “Fuck JJ,” I moan, leaning forwards to bring my face close to his. My moans become more and more prominent between our kisses. The hands, that remain on my ass cheeks, remain strong and steady. The way he still controlled my body, even though I was on top, was such a turn on. I reach for the headboard. If there wasn’t a party going on downstairs I think everyone would be hearing us loud and clear. The bed starts making a rather persistent squeaking noise. I let out a laugh-moan when the headboards makes a ‘one time’ bang against the wall. I could tell, with the way I was grinding myself down onto him, he was close. What a relief!

“I’m so close,” I moan against his lips in a muffled whisper. Although my body grew tired, JJ continues helping my body thrust up and down. The knot in my stomach started to tighten. My heart rate increases quite a bit. “Fuck Y/N, you feel so good around me!” His fingers grow stronger against my hips as he came closer and closer to finishing. Even with his grip being quite forceful, all I could feel was an astonishing amount of pleasure flushing through my body. The release felt like a long time coming. Once I started to let go around him, it only took seconds for JJ to reach his climax too. With his help, we ride out our highs. I grow slower and slower, until both of our climaxes finished. My heart is racing. I lift my body with the last piece of energy I had. My sensitive core flinches as he pulls out from me once more. Collapsing onto him, I fall into the crevice on his arm all too well. “Shit,” I mumble. I don’t think it’ll actually sink in until tomorrow. I’m too scared to punch myself in case I don’t wake up. “That was... uh...” he doesn’t even need to finish his sentence. “I know.”

The next morning

I wake up in a strange yet awfully familiar place. The walls, the blanket, and the view outside my window are all home. The curtains weren’t drawn last night. When I roll over, there’s something that shouldn’t be familiar. I set eyes on a naked JJ sleeping soundly next to me. My eyes widen. I can’t help but sit up drastically fast. I first find my thong. As quietly as I can, I open a drawer beside my bed and rummage for a t shirt. I find one and put it on, only to turn and see JJ’s eyes staring my way.

“Morning sunshine,” he smirks. His bed hair sticks up in every direction. I notice his boxers across the room so I stand and throw them his way. I watch as his face changes, but the proud smirk on his face remains. “We fucked last night,” he chuckles, standing to put his boxers on. I press my top and bottom lips together. “Don’t look too impressed with yourself,” using the hairband around my wrist, I quickly whip my hair up into a ponytail. My legs make their way to stand next to the boy. “It was better than I’d imagined it,” he adds. I backhand him on the arm. “Hey!” His eyes are warming. This is when I realise that I don’t regret it. At least, not half as much as I thought I would. It’s not even awkward. Part of me automatically assumed it would be. “Right,” I clap my hands together. “Are you ready to clean a house?” I ask. His rolling eyes scream loudly. Before he can even protest, I butt in. “This is your party, your mess. You’re lucky I’m gonna help you!”

With each step down the stairs, more of my messy house is revealed to me. “If anything’s broken, you’re replacing it,” I warn him. Red cups, empty beer bottles, even clothing was scattered across the floor. I start imagining the way people probably started behaving when JJ and I went upstairs. What if people fucked on... well... anywhere?! “I think we should just go back upstairs,” JJ suggests. This is going to take so long to clean. I feel JJ’s hand slap against my ass. “It’s never happening again,” I say simply. Yes, it was pretty amazing. No, I do not regret it. No, it should never happen again because our friends will kill us. “Whatever you say babe.”

Click here if you’re interested in reading PART TWO

#outer banks #jj maybank #outer banks jj #jj mayback x reader #smut #obx jj #jj obx #jj maybank smut

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brave-clarice · 3 years

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“Clarice” Liveblog: Episodes 5 & 6

Since these are extraordinarily late, I tried to keep them more concise/focused than before. I’m sorry for how long it’s taken me to (almost) catch up. And to the handful of you who’ve enjoyed these and encouraged me to do them: thank you!

Episode 5, “Get Right With God”

the music at the beginning of this episode might just be in the maintenance guy’s headphones(!) but it was still a…Choice.

there’s something so tragic about watching Clarice be unable to use her legs… :’(

this whole scenario feels like a twisted parallel universe version of the end of Hannibal.

glad to see Ardelia finally has her priorities straight and is going to fight for her best friend! let’s forget her Episode 4 subplot ever happened.

good: the warrior finding a weapon even in the direst of circumstances!

bad: those damn moths are back. at least this time they might be drug-induced.

“she worked Bill alone” no, she didn’t. not really. (Hannibal: I’m right here.)

stop trying to make Likable Paul happen, it’s never going to happen!!!

I HATE the “Reesey” nickname, y’all. HATE. IT.

plus, we know that her dad called her “Baby”?

her father’s appearance doubles down on the end-of-Hannibal vibes...Not Sure If Want.

wow, Clarice is being literally tortured? thanks, I hate it!!!

really doubt that Clarice’s Pinto used to belong to her father (who drives a truck in the books??)... weird flex.

and how would she even have gotten it? her mother would either have driven that car into the ground out of necessity or else have sold it for the money the Starlings needed so desperately.

Pintos also weren’t super high-quality cars and were definitely not built to last ~20 years.

Clarice already being able to chat with her father whenever she needs to really undermines the therapy Hannibal will eventually give her, but…I guess they’ve already accepted they’ll never make it that far?

“you’re trying to get in my head” yeah, and she’s doing it, too–’cause she learned from the best!

“you get an answer, I get an answer, Felker.” she’s Hannibal’s girl all right.

this episode’s had flashes of brilliance before diving back into…whatever tf watching one of your favorite characters of all time being tortured is.

I really wanted Ardelia to say that no, but Clarice was like a sister to her.

it took FIVE episodes to get some lamb imagery, but we’ve been looking at moths for the entire season?!

oof, Clarice voicing her own insecurities about her childhood abandonment and using them to twist Felker’s arm...painful but smart.

HANNAH!!!

I would die 4 baby Clarice

after all that, Clarice is going to apologize to Ardelia about last week? this episode SUCKS.

Good: Clarice playing mind games with Felker like Hannibal did to her; Ardelia going to bat for her bestie, lamb flashbacks, baby Clarice, and HANNAH!

Bad: So much. Clarice being medically tortured multiple times, moth hallucinations, the several-years-premature (imo) Daddy-as-Guardian-Angel plot device, “Reesey”...did I mention Clarice getting repeatedly tortured?!

Ugly: Krendler backstory + making out with his wife. Ew.

Wow, this episode was a hot mess, and I kind of hated it. I loved Clarice’s really Hannibalesque approach to Felker, and I’m so thrilled that Hannah got mentioned at all (tho...did they need to be so heavy-handed with the helmet and gun and everything?) Also nice to see Ardelia behaving much more in-character. That said, it was sickening and imo totally unnecessary to further traumatize Clarice the way they did. To make her almost helpless.

Clarice, and by extension Rebecca Breeds (who is fantastic and deserves better), has been given very little range so far. She’s frequently been shown as miserable, afraid, desperate, traumatized, angry, resentful, but I also want to see her joyful, laughing, silly, relaxed...something else that will give her depth. Her life wasn’t miserable 24/7, 365. It was just unfulfilling. We got glimpses of this in the first two episodes. PLEASE bring it back!

And rn I’m questioning how Clarice’s career can possibly drag on for another six years after this. Her apparent PTSD is already interfering with her job performance as it is--this experience is only going to make it worse. Her “body count” in Hannibal was around five, iirc, and that was enough to slap her with the “Death Angel” moniker. In the show at least four people have died in close proximity to Clarice in the space of like...a week. How does she come back from that, even as the savior of Catherine Martin? It’s a PR nightmare for obth Clarice and the FBI.

They’ve also sort of forgotten that the Martins existed while continuing to flesh out Krendler’s (?!) character? It’s weird.

I almost don’t even want to watch Episode 6 after that. But here goes...

Episode 6, “How Does It Feel to Be So Beautiful?”

the freaking MOTHS again, I hate them!

frankly, yeah, Clarice should be on leave.

Clarice’s nondescript monochrome suits and constant ponytail are just so boring. in the book she’s described as never having to put effort into making her hair look good--so why is it always pulled back in this show?

I’m not sure it’s very in-character for Clarice, at this point in her career, to go over her boss’s head to get out of admin leave (one she really needs to take tbh) even for the sake of solving a case

lol what the actual hell @ AG Martin guilt-tripping Clarice, who was very recently tortured and almost died, for not calling Catherine back? Clarice is not Catherine’s therapist!

THIS is what my Vogue-reading heroine with burgeoning great taste wears for a night out? so disappointing.

never in my life did I think I’d be sitting through Krendler’s personal drama in a show ABOUT CLARICE STARLING.

her costume sucks and her hairstyle’s from years in the future, but dang does Clarice look gorgeous.

and I love thinking of her getting a taste of the luxury she’ll enjoy with Hannibal. :)

you know what? I think I was actually fine with them forgetting that the Martins were in this show.

whyyy is Krendler being made so sympathetic?!

now Catherine Martin “loved to sew” just like Frederica Bimmel? hmm. (tbf, maybe this is in the novel, and I’ve just forgotten.)

her gift for Clarice is sweet, though.

so beautiful, indeed

Christ on a cracker, that confrontation between the Martins was painful to watch (not a criticism). this show’s AG and her daughter are very much two of a kind in terms of emotional manipulation.

I stan one (1) doofus

now either Catherine’s gaslighting Clarice...or Clarice’s trauma (over BILL! again with this!) is so pervasive that it’s twisted her memories. either way, I hate it.

so Krendler’s lawyer is dirty and that’s why he’ll (probably) turn against Clarice? but WHY? why can’t Krendler just suck?

Good: Clarice looking gorgeous, Ardelia continuing to fight for Clarice, female characters in positions of authority everywhere

Bad: Clarice’s underwhelming costumes, Clarice’s primary/worst trauma apparently STILL being Buffalo Bill & having Clarice break down crying again (and NOT over what happened last week, which would tbh make a lot more sense).

Sad: Shaan’s backstory about his wife, everything involving Catherine

Ugly: Krendler subplot. Ugh.

I just don’t know how I feel about this installment. Wish I cared more about the overarching conspiracy plot, but I’m really only here for Clarice and Ardelia. And while no show can stand on the shoulders of a single character, for a show about Clarice, there seems to be quite a bit of screentime devoted to her bosses, Martin and Krendler, and even to her team members. And all without Clarice herself getting much character development. They don’t seem to be exploring much of her character other than her traumatic backstories, and I’m no longer very hopeful that she’ll be much more fleshed out in the last four episodes, either. It’s a bummer. I really think Rebecca could shine like Jodie did if she were given a chance.

Most of the scenes with the Martins were visceral and felt so real that it was hard to watch. That said...the AG Martin/Catherine content all strikes me as being somewhat detached from the rest of the show, as if the writers are making it up as they go along with no real end goal in mind.

Man...these two were rough going. Very little humor or warmth and absolutely no joy. Of course the source material is dark, so a somewhat dark crime drama is to be expected, but I really think the show needs a slightly less intense, bleak and (dare I say it?) unpleasant episode. But they writers have really dug themselves into a hole by zeroing in on Clarice’s PTSD. And unlike in Hannibal, there’s no love interest with whom she (and by extension, the audience) can flee her misery and pain.

I'm cautiously optimistic about the rest of the season. A lot of the ingredients are there, and despite my many criticisms, it’s been great to spend time with a character I love. Fingers crossed that they finish strong!

#Clarice Starling #cbs clarice #clarice #rebecca breeds #spoiler warning #bc I know a few of you haven't quite caught up either #long post for ts #media [cbs show]#actor [rebecca breeds]#char [clarice starling]#char [the night watchman]#char [paul krendler]#char [ardelia mapp]

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coal15 · 4 years

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Wild Speculation Time! Weeeeee!

Okay, so I don’t literally think this will happen or that this is what’s going on, it’s more of an: it would make a lot of the recent strange writing choices make more sense.

Ahem. Let the wild rumpus begin:

I’ve noticed there are persistent off-and-on rumors that Ryan and Oliver don’t get along like they used to. Whether “not getting along” means “not besties” or “I loathe the very sight of you,” who knows.

If it is true that they don’t get along while at the same time more and more people are not only shipping Buddie, but anti-shipping other options all well? Wow, that is a tricky spot to be in for a showrunner.

Forcing actors who can barely stand eachother to play love interests is . . . well, it’s been done before in plenty of shows, but it’s certainly not a working environment I’d wanna be a part of. It’s a great way to make everyone on set super uncomfortable, and I don’t want that experience for any of our lovely 911 cast or crew. Bleh.

So let’s look at other options:

Write both men off the series (which would, by default, get rid of Christopher too). Or write only one of them off the show.

Okay. I’m running the show. Who do I write off? The audience does love seeing Eddie in Awesome Protective Dad Mode. But overall it seems like Buck is the more popular character in general, and the audience also loves his bond with Christopher.

But if you get rid of Eddie, Chris goes with him, right?

And now for the absolutely terrible idea that I could totally see them doing just for the sake of resolving fan displeasure and/or on-set issues:

We all noticed that Eddie and Ana are not only an unpopular pairing, but it almost seems like they’re intentionally boring and w/out chemistry, right? It seems to me like most viewers have noticed that. And they wrote Eddie being a bad parent to Christopher the second he had a chance to get New Pussy in the near future. Unconcerned about bringing Ana into their home without a mask or any distancing, seeming not to care that his son has CP (which is often associated with a weakened immune system). And then not even noticing his kid leaving the house and getting in a car that then drives away. Yeah, he went from sweet concerned father to shitty oblivious father in the space of a single episode.

Like I said, it’s a terrible idea, I’m not a fan of this idea but what if . . .

They BIG TIME played up the bond between Buck and Christopher while highlighting Eddie’s inexplicable attraction to Ana and how it instantly makes him a worse father on purpose. What if it’s being done to make general viewers less sympathetic toward Eddie. Thus less attached to the character. And by contrast more aware of what a great father Buck is to Christopher?

I mean, one way of making a ship less popular is to turn half of said ship into an asshat. Hell, they could even spend the back half of S4 and some of S5 slowly morphing Eddie into an outright total douche if they wanted to. Then give his character some kind of “semi-redemption-then-he-dies-at-the-end-of-the-episode” send-off to close out his arc.

“BUT WOULDN’T THAT DESTROY CHRIS?!?” You bellow at your phone after reading those words. “PERISH THE THOUGHT YOU HORRIBLE HORRIBLE MONSTER PERSON!!!”

And yeah. With the way their relationship has been written up to this point it would be basically awful. But many a show has been willing to retcon an entire character and/or relationship history if it suits a narrative they wanna push. Not saying it’s a good thing to do, it’s usually not. Just saying it’s not unprecedented in TV Land. (and sometimes the only workable option if a drastic change simply has to be made for whatever reason)

Anyhow, my point being : if the showrunners wanted to get rid of Eddie but keep Christopher and his adorable relationship with Buck, they might think that their best option is to gradually (or not so gradually) morph Eddie into an uninvolved and/or shitty parent, while at the same time highlighting Buck’s evolution into a full-on paternal presence in Chris’s life. Aaaaaaaannnnnnd then write Ryan off the show via whatever means while making it clear that he wants Buck to take custody of Chris in the event of his absence or death.

Can’t say enough: I DON’T LIKE THE IDEA, but it would make several recent and super bizarre writing and casting choices make more sense. This is a show that usually does a great job with matching for chemistry. Athena and Bobby, Maddie and Chim, etc. Even Buck and Ali had . . . well, not terrible chemistry. Same goes for Taylor. Which makes it so strange that Eddie and Ana are such a huge dud. Even outside of “interfering” with Buddie, the actors simply have no chemistry at all. Which wouldn’t be weird if we didn’t have so many examples of the same damn show getting it spot-on right. Part of me believes it has got to be intentional.

Which gives us 3 likely(ish) possibilities:

1) They planned to straight-wash both characters all along and the utter lack of chemistry between Eddieana and ooc Eddie were simply poor writing/casting choices. Or that we’ll soon be moving on to Eddie’s “the one” (also female, of course)

2) Every writing choice in the last ep was actually designed to showcase the stifling awkwardness of Eddie with a “girlfriend” while also showcasing how much Buck already fits into the Diaz family as a parental figure. Basically nudging the general audience toward the idea of an official Buckley-Diaz family.

3) Eddie’s shitty parenting and tight Buck+Christopher bond will continue to escalate, highlighted more and more, until the audience dislikes Eddie and loves Christopher+Buck enough that writing Ryan off the show is a hell of a lot less risky.

I know Christopher has already been through so much trauma-but the Eddie Diaz I saw in the last episode is probably the last person (besides Ana) I would want guiding him through yet more trauma. If we’re going by this last episode alone? Yeah, that should be Buck’s job.

OH! Nevermind, there is a 4th possibility:

4) They just straight up re-cast Eddie and have the other characters make a few offhand comments like “did you change your hair? You look different,” and the show goes on as if he’s always been played by Mr.NewActor.

(Or I guess they could re-cast Buck instead, but I’m honestly less attached to Ryan as THE Eddie, so if I had to choose? Like, me personally? I’d pick Ryan for the ax. Sorry Ryan. Best of luck in the future, but I can’t imagine anyone besides Oliver playing Buck)

#buddie #Buck x Eddie #I continue to have more rambling thoughts #I really should be stopped #this shit is unhealthy #I promise I had actual hobbies before quarantine #I just want Buddie so much #and I need to think up reasons why it would make sense for them not to happen #shitty writing is shitty #didn't we already do this shit with queliot #memories of queliot #what a dumpster fire that was

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jackoshadows · 4 years

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It wasn’t fair. Sansa had everything. Sansa was two years older; maybe by the time Arya had been born, there had been nothing left. Often it felt that way. Sansa could sew and dance and sing. She wrote poetry. She knew how to dress. She played the high harp and the bells. Worse, she was beautiful. Sansa had gotten their mother’s fine high cheekbones and the thick auburn hair of the Tullys. Arya took after their lord father. Her hair was a lusterless brown, and her face was long and solemn. […] It hurt that the one thing Arya could do better than her sister was ride a horse. Well, that and manage a household. - Arya, AGoT

No, Arya was not jealous of Sansa. She was envious of Sansa. There is a difference here. She longed to be as beautiful as Sansa. Arya longed to do well all the things that Sansa could. She thought it unfair that Sansa had all these talents and good looks while she did not.

Arya’s envy did not exist in some kind of vacuum. It came about because Arya was seen as ‘less than’ her beautiful elder sister. Sansa could do well all the things required to be a good lady - singing, sewing, dancing - while Arya was seen as being deficient. She’s mocked for her looks and bullied as being ugly. She is constantly compared to Sansa by her mother and Septa Mordane - if you only do this, you will be as pretty as your sister. If you could only sew well, you would be as good as your sister. Arya’s envy is a result of her feelings of low self-worth - the feeling that she will never be good enough unless she is like Sansa.

“…my hair’s messy and my nails are dirty and my feet are all hard.” Robb wouldn’t care about that, probably, but her mother would. Lady Catelyn always wanted her to be like Sansa, to sing and dance and sew and mind her courtesies. Just thinking of it made Arya try to comb her hair with her fingers, but it was all tangles and mats, and all she did was tear some out.“ - Arya, ASoS

The girl was too young and too plain to be Sansa Stark, but she was of the right age to be the younger sister, and even Lady Catelyn had said that Arya lacked her sister’s beauty. - Brienne, AFfC

Her mother used to say she could be pretty if she would just wash and brush her hair and take more care with her dress, the way her sister did. - The Blind girl, ADwD

Arya wants all the things Sansa has because she is required to be like Sansa to have value in Westeros society and in the eyes of someone she loves - her mother.

Arya’s envy of Sansa is similar to Jon’s envy of Robb. It’s what Jon feels growing up as a bastard outcast in Winterfell seeing Robb enjoy all the privileges that he is denied because of his birth. Even as far as ADwD, Jon is envious of Robb - long after Robb is dead.

But Jon does not want to take from Robb. He does not have ill will towards Robb. He just wants what Robb has. That’s why Sansa’s accusation of Jon being jealous of Joffrey because his low birth is false.

"Poor Jon," she (Sansa) said. "He gets jealous because he's a bastard." - Arya, AGoT

Jon did not like Joffrey because Joffrey was a terrible human being. And not because he was more good looking or the future king. And just like Sansa devalues and dismisses Jon’s opinions on Joffrey because of Jon’s ‘jealousy’, Arya’s real feelings of hurt and low-self worth due to being bullied are often dismissed because she was simply being ‘jealous’ of Sansa.

And just like Jon and Robb, Arya never intends any ill will towards Sansa over this. She never hurts Sansa over this. She never verbalizes this envy to Sansa.

And that’s why the ‘both sides are equally bad’ take on Arya and Sansa’s relationship never makes sense except to excuse and justify Sansa’s treatment of her younger sibling. Sansa actively contributes to Arya’s feelings of low self-worth by calling her ugly and mocking her looks with her bestie Jeyne Poole. Sansa sides against Arya even after seeing Joffrey attacking her with his sword. Sansa proclaims to Cersei that it is Arya who has the traitor’s blood.

The ‘both sides’ crowd use the above single passage of Arya being ‘jealous’ of Sansa as proof that Arya is equally responsible for their fractious relationship, when these are the things that Sansa thinks and says of Arya:

Arya had a way of ruining everything. - AGoT

Why couldn’t Arya be sweet and delicate and kind, like Princess Myrcella? She would have liked a sister like that. It would have been easier if Arya had been a bastard, like their half brother Jon. She even looked like Jon, with the long face and brown hair of the Starks, and nothing of their lady mother in her face or her coloring. And Jon’s mother had been common, or so people whispered. - Sansa, AGoT

She told herself that it had not been Joffrey’s doing, not truly. The queen had done it; she was the one to hate, her and Arya. Nothing bad would have happened except for Arya. - Sansa, AGoT

“They should have killed you instead of Lady!” - Sansa, AGoT

“She tries to spoil everything, Father, she can’t stand for anything to be beautiful or nice or splendid.” Sansa, AGoT

Sansa threw back her head in disdain. “You? You couldn’t sew a dress fit to clean the pigsties.” Sansa, AGoT

“Send Arya away, she started it,” - Sansa, AGoT

Arya was chewing at her lip in that disgusting way she had. - Sansa, AGoT

“Hodor!” Sansa yelled. “You ought to marry Hodor, you’re just like him, stupid and hairy and ugly!” - Sansa, AGoT

“I’m not like Arya,” Sansa blurted. “She has the traitor’s blood, not me. I’m good, ask Septa Mordane, she’ll tell you” - Sansa, AGoT

Father had killed her (Lady), on account of Arya. - Sansa, ACoK

Sansa had once dreamt of having a sister like Margaery; beautiful and gentle, with all the world’s graces at her command. Arya had been entirely unsatisfactory as sisters went. - Sansa, ACoK

“You are the real Arya, my lady. Arya of House Stark, Lord Eddard’s daughter, heir to Winterfell.” Her name, she had to know her name. “Arya Underfoot. Your sister used to call you Arya Horseface.” - The Prince of Winterfell, ADwD

Are children who bully other kids just because they are different in terms of behavior and appearance excused because they are ‘just children’? No? Then why use this justification to excuse Sansa’s behavior towards Arya? Is the bullied child equally to blame as the bully? Do people actually say things like - “Well the bullied child is internally feeling jealous of the bully’s good looks and hence is as much to blame as the child bullying him for being ugly”.

Do people who read Hans Christian Anderson’s ‘The Ugly Duckling’ come away thinking that the ugly duckling is as responsible as the other animals who abuse him for being ugly? A book that Anderson wrote because - “Andersen himself was a tall, ugly boy with a big nose and big feet, and when he grew up with a beautiful singing voice and a passion for the theater he was cruelly teased and mocked by other children"

People suffer from low self-worth sometimes for their entire life after being bullied in child hood for their looks. Arya finds it hard to accept when others call her pretty since she’s been conditioned to accept that she’s ugly.

Is Catelyn responsible in large part for Arya’s issues with self-worth? No doubt. Did Catelyn and Septa Mordane play a part in encouraging Sansa’s behavior? No doubt. But that does not absolve Sansa’s own role in how she treated her siblings like Arya and Jon considering a person’s empathy for others often guides us towards right and wrong. Which is something important to note when Sansa is often as praised as one of the most compassionate and empathetic character of the series.

Sansa is a flawed character who mocked her sister for being ugly and was mainly responsible for the fractious relationship between the sisters and it’s wrong to blame the victim for the bully’s actions because the victim was ‘jealous’ of her bully. There’s a reason for why GRRM says this:

Sansa was the least sympathetic of the Starks in the first book; she has become more sympathetic, partly because she comes to accept responsibility for her part in her father's death.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature.html?tag=westeros-21&ie=UTF8&docId=49161

The reader is of course free to blame Ned, Cat, Arya, Maester Coleman etc. etc. for Sansa’s every action in the books but I doubt that was GRRM’s intentions.

#Arya Stark #Sansa Stark #Catelyn Stark #Jon Snow #Robb Stark #Septa Mordane #ASoIaF #A Game of Thrones

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oveliagirlhaditright · 4 years

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https://archiveofourown.org/works/25092943/chapters/60809314

SoKai Week Day 2. Prompt: First Meeting.

Author’s Note: My take on how Sora and Kairi met… but I didn’t use the manga version—or Sora finding Kairi at all—as I figured everyone would do that. And something like this might actually be canon, because in the game Sora and Riku are basically like, “You know the girl at the mayor’s house? She got here during the meteor shower.” So, it sort of seemed like they didn’t know Kairi before that moment, but perhaps went to go meet her then?

Also… While I usually write a third person that’s from a character’s PoV, this is moreso the omniscient/omnipresent PoV—like, a god or gods are narrating about Sora here and not Sora himself—and that’s why it has adult lingo instead of childish lingo in this little boy’s memory.

And (1) and (2) here are just instances where Sora and Kairi used the wrong words, because they’re babies. Sora meant to say “glaring” instead of “grinning”, and Kairi meant to say “world” instead of “whirl”… I thought about having Riku mess up with that once, too… but even as a toddler, I think he’s too smart for that. XD

Oh, and eventually the parents do catch up with Sora and Kairi… but since they’re just having a nice moment—where Kairi’s making yet another friend—they leave them be for a moment, while they secretly watch them from afar.

It also used to be an old fanon theory, that Kairi’s name is actually “Hikari” and not “Kairi”. And that she tried to say her name was Hikari when she was first found… but was having difficulty speaking from having just space traveled, and it came out sounding more like “Kairi”. So the adults started calling her Kairi, and later she had amnesia and couldn’t even correct them that that was wrong and thought it was right herself. So I went with that here, just because.

Enjoy!

How Can I Love, When I’m Afraid to Fall?

How had Sora and Kairi met? That was an easy one… Sora had gone over to her house with his dad—after having heard about the new girl at the mayor’s house—soon after he’d helped that person who had been squeezing his heart, as he felt that she somehow needed his help, too.

And it was, strangely, when the small Kairi opened the door to let him in… that would partly make a later Sora realize he loved her. Since he would often see Donald do such things… and so it was clear that she could fit in with both the old and new segments of his life.

“Kairi!” chastised the man, who Sora could only assume was Kairi’s adopted father—the mayor—as she tried to usher them in. "You can't just open the door by yourself like that, sweetie." And with that “sweetie” added in for the child he had only just met, it had seemed to Sora that the elected official had already come to adore her heart and spirit.

But even though the man had just told Kairi “no”, about letting Sora and his dad in… he motioned that they should come in now, anyway, in probably thinking it would be rude otherwise.

"Hi!" the cute girl had said with such energy, that she'd inspired Sora to try and be just as extroverted as she was from now on, since it did no good to be shy in Kindergarten. "Have you come to see me? I'm Hika- Kairi."

"Yeah! We hear you came from another world!" Sora exclaimed excitedly, as he’d beamed at Kairi and resisted the urge to pinky promise with her that he’d help her fine her home planet.

…But even though Sora had been young at the time, he'd been able to tell by the look on the mayor's face that he was uncomfortable with what he had just said. His face had looked both pinched and purple as, he'd stepped closer to Sora's old man and whispered, "Even if she is, this is not the time nor the place to-"

And Sora had immediately understood then, that the mayor was unintentionally confirming that Kairi did come from another world. Parents were always this grave, when they wanted you to believe something. It was like how Sora had recently come to accept that Santa wasn't real… somewhat because of Riku. And when he’d told his parents that, they'd used big words to try and say that Santa did exist.

"Surely the world is good enough, that a man would secretly give everyone presents one night a year," Sora’s mom had argued. But Sora had deduced later—when he saw a play guitar his parents gotten him for Christmas when they’d all been out shopping together (that they’d clearly forgotten about) labeled as "From Santa"—that that wasn't true.

And one time, when Sora had suspected his dad had eaten his cookie, the man usually of few words had asked, "Would an honest and good man do that to you, when he also just bought you a slip-and-slide to show you how good he is?" And Sora had heard that his dad's voice was higher, too.

It was the same thing here. And knowing that, Sora interrupted the grownups before they could get angry, as only adults did, and said, "I'm going to take Kairi to the Play Island. She needs to meet Riku, if she's going to play here!"

And Sora was running off with Kairi's hand in his own, before either man could catch them. They were toddlers, after all, and much faster because of it.

Just a few days ago, a massive makeshift bridge had been erected, to get people from the Main Island to the Play Island faster. And while it would sink before Sora and Kairi turned six, it served to get them to what they'd eventually see as their home right now, so Kairi could meet her other future best friend this night.

But as they ran... Sora couldn't help being struck by how Kairi’s red hair matched that of the setting sun. He'd never been out this late before, and so this memory would later stick with him for two reasons.

Once they reached the paopu tree where Riku was at, Sora felt proud that he'd won this "race" with Kairi, but also bad that she was now wheezing with her hands on her knees. He put a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her once, before walking towards Riku.

"Hey, Sora," Riku smiled, as he seemed to sense his bestie's attention on him even without turning around. "What are you doing out so late?"

An older Sora would have easily turned that around on Riku—in wondering why he was out this late—but baby Sora had had no idea what attitude or turning the tables was, so he instead proudly showed off Kairi, by putting a hand in front of her face before pulling it away, like a magician revealing what was behind curtain number one. "Riku, this here is Kairi. She's from another world! But the grownups don't want us to know and were grinning at each other." (1)

And Riku was instantly sympathetic here, while Kairi winced. And at the time, Sora had thought it was secondhand embarrassment she felt for her new father's sake... but years later, he would come to understand why Kairi might fear adults being angry at her—because of the experiments Xehanort did on her; and perhaps he treated her worse during them, if the results displeased him some way—and it made his blood boil.

"The... other world thing is cool," Riku had chirped, as he’d indicated Kairi should relax and take a seat on the paopu tree trunk he himself had just vacated. "But the adult stuff is rough... eat a paopu here, and take a load off. …They say, if two people share one, they'll kiss forever or something. But who cares about the icky thing? Just eat it like I do, and pray that other part will never get to you."

Kairi did seem somewhat hungry to Sora, so maybe that was why she took Riku up on his offer. But only somewhat. For in maybe not wanting to mess up the paopu fruit legend like he was okay to, she smashed the fruit in her hand some and then just only drank the juice from it. And Sora watched on, somewhat transfixed, as he thought he was the only one to do that…

It was after a seagull accidentally dropped a coconut by the new trio's feet—and they all began eating it, after they’d worked together to get it open—that Kairi finally spoke up about something that seemed to be on her mind, "...Don't get your hopes up, you two. I might not be from another whirl. I don't remember." (2)

And Riku opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but Sora cut him off by extending a hand towards Kairi for her to take and smiling at her. "Even if not... you may be from another island. And so, you can show us another world that way. And maybe we'll be your friend for that... or everything else!"

And Kairi's face lit up like the Christmas tree that Sora loved even now, as she threw her arms around Sora and eventually brought Riku into the hug, too. "Thank you both... so much."

And years later, Sora would come to understand that maybe Kairi had come to love him, because he'd been the first to bring her something good after her recent world of horrors.

Author’s Note: I also hope I didn’t make Kairi’s adopted dad seem abusive. Because he’s not. At all. That one part was just to say that Xehanort gave Kairi trauma about any adult for a while:(

#sokai week #sokai #prompt 2 #day 2 #first meeting #canon #canon compliant #oneshot #out from under #mine #my work #Shanna writes #my writing #long post #this is an hour early where I am. but oh well. better try to get ahead before work tries to get me behind with these

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ks-caster · 4 years

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The 100 Season 7 Episode 4 - Post-Liveblog Recap

Okay, so I liveblogged an episode for the first time - and it turned out to be a nice way to stay focused through the commercial breaks. Might continue to do that for the rest of the season.

But TBH I started doing it just so I could bitch about the CLEAR AND BLATANT LACK OF A SCENE WHERE SANCTUM!KRU REALIZE THAT BELLAMY AND ANOMOLY!KRU ARE MISSING. That was an important scene that the whole fandom, more or less, has been waiting for the entire time for various reasons.

How do the characters react? Who figures out that something’s wrong first? Does Clarke sense Bellamy’s absence because they have a bond? Does Emori go looking for her space sister to comfort her other space sister only to find her missing?

(Actually, she does. That’s my headcanon and I’m sticking to it. Might fic later. Accounts for Emori’s complete absence while her bestie Raven is falling apart.)

Edit: here's the fic!

Anyway, back to the episode - whoever was in charge of editing really really dropped the ball. Missing realization scene, poorly ordered Raven and Clarke scenes. The music during the Dev-and-Hope montage was a nice touch but just too loud enough that I really had trouble telling what they were saying - and the pacing would have felt better with just one show of teenage!Hope before we got 20-year-old her. The cut from Orlando agreeing to train Anomaly!Kru to 5 years later was WAY too abrupt for me to get a feel for the character and relationship development that they were trying to shoehorn in in order to create conflict at the end. I got where they were going with everything, but in a I’m-reading-a-newbie-writer’s-fanfic-because-I-love-the-story-concept-and-want-to-support-them kind of way and not in a I’m-watching-a-show-made-by-experienced-professionals-and-paying-for-the-privilege-in-ad-revenue kind of way. Disappointing.

Jumping around here for a bit: I gotta say I’m loving the makeovers this season! Hair and makeup did a great job on bringing back the old Raven without losing the maturity they gave her, giving Murphy and Emori their Gucci Royalty Vibes without losing the feel of their individual styles, and making Hope look like she can’t find quite the balance between feral forest girl and innocent shut-in who can’t bear to take a life (which is accurate to her character, of course).

And Echo! So I really, really didn’t like her makeovers in seasons 5 and especially 6, because it felt like they were trying too hard to make her look pretty in a 21st Century kind of way. She looked softer, more vulnerable, which really contradicted her character traits - but I thought that might’ve been on purpose, to show a change in her (that she did indeed allow herself to become softer and more vulnerable for her family). And her post-time-skip (not that one. Or that one. The other one. There’s a lot of those. Bah.) look feels like a return to herself; she’s beautiful but in a no-nonsense, don’t-forget-I-can-cut-your-throat kind of way. (Is this because I just really love the butch look on woman and am myself a butch woman? Maybe. But that doesn’t mean I’m wrong.)

Side note: Where the hell did they get clippers on Penance? Those haircuts were entirely too even to have been done with scissors. I’ll buy that Gabriel and Orlando shaved their heads and their perfect round cuts were growout, but Hope and Echo? Electric clippers. Like I said I like the looks, but guys, there’s no way.

I liked that I got a better feel for Hope’s character this episode - she’s trying so hard to be like her mom and Aunty O and all the heroes they told her about when she was a child, but the truth is she’s been in one real battle, she froze, and her best and only friend died. And since her only role models were these incredibly strong people who didn’t give up, back down, hesitate, that wouldn’t be an easy thing for her to get over. (Given that Diyoza was pregnant with her for two entire seasons, I’d really like to have more time developing Hope’s character - or even the same amount of screen time but go easier on the timeskips, lol. She keeps having growth/maturity/life experience spurts so it’s hard to keep up with the development that we’re shown.

So, 5 (7? Wasn’t she 22? There’s still 2 years we missed right?) years after watching her friend die, and 5 (7?) years of blaming herself for freezing, she’s put into the same position, and she stabs some lady in the neck. Kid didn’t steal her coping mechanisms! All joking aside thought, the kid basically relived her trauma in real life - honestly her reaction was 100% valid.

I’m sure I’m supposed to be upset by Echo’s choice to kill the remaining gold-head people. But I think the only reason that’s supposed to bother me is that she promised (ish - she was real explicitly clear that she’d do what was necessary to rescue Bellamy and them were the breaks) Orlando that she wouldn’t. I think I’m supposed to care about the fractured relationship between AnomalyKru and Orlando.

I don’t. I don’t know if it’s the super-fast timeskip (it was weird enough to see the changed dynamics in SpaceKru when I deeply knew all of the characters AND we got time to see the changes play out) or the fact that I didn’t really get to know Orlando in a way that made me super sympathetic to him (I’ll get to that in a minute) or if it’s just that he was smart enough to know he was being played from the start (see Navy SEAL mom didn’t teach you how to swim and Echo again being 100% clear that killing people might still happen) and walked right in anyway. Either way, his betrayal wasn’t enough of a motivator for me as an audience member to be bothered about how things ended between him and AnomalyKru. I kind of shrugged and moved on.

More on Orlando... So The 100 has had several plotlines that center around people doing dangerous, terrible and downright ridiculous things because of their religions; see the kidnapping and conclave of freaking children killing each other to become commander, Gaia’s whole character arc + starting a new religion around Octavia/WonKru betraying that religion to go back to their old one centering on Madi, WHO IS GODDAMN TWELVE, all of Sanctum and season 6, the Sanctum conflict here in season 7, and now this goddamn Bardo Disciple shite.

Now I’m not dishing on real life religion or religious people - I happen to have one of those myself - but the plot of some-people-take-their-religion-way-too-far-drink-the-koolaid-and-hurt-people-around-them has been done and done and done on this show. And now here we have Orlando, who was a high-ranking member of his religion, drank the koolaid, cast out, still a true believer and therefore dangerous because his perspective is fundamentally skewed. I don’t know anything about this religion but that it’s militarized (they can arrest people) and think that sentencing people to 10 years of madness-inducing Geneva Convention violations and then bringing them back to their families two days later is okay. I don’t really want to know anything else, because I’m worried that the show is going to work hard on making this religion scarier than the Sanctum one (needing to one-up themselves with the big bad, of course) which just keeps making the commander religion look humane in comparison.

Which it wasn’t. But I digress.

So Orlando was kinda’ cool, but getting in too deep with a fundamentalist who was complicit in his own abuse by said religion (and so who knows what he thought was okay to do to other people) and then it ended badly.

Cue shocked Pikachu.

Moving on. Clarke. Baby. After the harrowing experience of the radiation destroying the radio so you couldn’t say goodbye to your mom when you were supposed to go to space, then missing your time window and getting left behind on Earth, and the radio broke them too so you couldn’t even be sure your friends would leave in time until they blasted off, and then calling Bellamy every day when you knew he couldn’t hear you, and ALL OF THE FREAKING LAST SEASON WHERE YOU WERE POSSESSED AND WOULD HAVE GIVEN ANYTHING TO LET YOUR FRIENDS AND DAUGHTER KNOW BOTH THAT THAT WASN’T YOU AND THEN LATER THAT YOU WERE ALIVE and THEN your MOTHER getting possessed and you had to check to see if it was really her and it WASN’T. Clarke.

After all that terrifying inability to communicate.

You leave Gaia behind to warn everyone of the danger. INSTEAD OF CALLING THEM ON A PIECE OF HANDY TECHNOLOGY OR TAKING A QUICK TRIP BACK YOURSELF. TO TELL YOUR DAUGHTER WHERE YOU WERE GOING. YOU DON’T THINK THAT MAYBE MAKING EXTRA SURE THAT EVERYTHING GETS COMMUNICATED CLEARLY AND IMMEDIATELY MIGHT BE A PRIORITY.

And then Gaia gets kidnapped. Honestly, cool! Not ‘cause I’m rooting for Gaia to be hurt (I don’t care all that much about her tbh) but I LOVE Indra and I want her to have more screen time and development this season - and or the chance to cut people up with her sword - and kidnapping her daughter seems like a great way to facilitate that.

*Looks at list* Oh, right, Jordan. I forgot you were here. Honestly I can’t figure out what the fuck is going on with you, and since I’ve had a whole season of not connecting with you because the story was too busy focusing on external plot... I don’t see that changing any time soon buddy. Sorry.

Oh and that FrEaKiNg PrOmO!

My garbage boy! My chaos gremlin! My excellent-at-impersonating-a-deity-even-if-it-goes-against-his-programming! What are they doing?!

I’m torn between NO DON’T HURT HIM and YES HURT HIM BECAUSE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND BRAVERY BWAHAHAHA. At least I know there’ll be Murphy and hopefully Memori content in the next episode. That’s the good shit. It’s the only thing left about this show that still feels “pure,” not that I didn’t know what sort of darkness I was signing up for when I started but just because he and Emori are sort of the last light in the darkness, and it’s nice to get a break periodically.

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facelessxchurch · 4 years

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What we’re your thoughts about the book?

Some asks were answered already in this post already so I just smacked those asks in here at the part where I talk about the topic in question, which is why the answer may not 100% fit the question.

Massive “Seasons of War” spoilers below the cut:

First off, of all, this book read like GoT/any zombie movie ever. With the necromancers being like the white walkers, Vile is the night king and daugar are the wights. even with the necromancers crumbling away after Vile got killed Tell me I’m not the only one seeing that.

I think there was a lot of fanservice and some confirmed headcanons in the book, which I really liked. Saracen magic got revealed, there was a return to the Leibniz dimension, the Vile vs Vile fight so many wanted finally happened (tho that was kinda underwhelming) and the Dead Men returned which I’m sure made a lot of people happy.

Ravel poisoning Saracen during the war and Vile being so powerful bc of being dead were two popular headcanons that got confirmed. And I am personally so happy that this book killed the ‘there is no sarcasm in the Leibniz dimension’ headcanon bc I bloody hated that.

Finally, Landy tries to please the old fans instead instead of what feels like purposefully pissing them off. I guess the phase 2 book sales weren’t that great so far (nice try blaming it on the pandemic, but no).

I’m also glad that the romance in this book was kept to a minimum bc The Val/Militsa kiss in the beginning, yikes, fanfiction has better written kisses than that. And the the dialog for the lesbian love triangle (bc for some reason Ms.Wicked aka Laura’s self insert is Militsa’s ex??) was cringy and stiff as hell, it felt more like first graders trying to do a dramatic play and not natural at all.

Surprisingly enough Mevolent’s and Serafina’s relationship seems to be the most healthy and romantic in the entire series and I have no idea if that was on purpose or if Landy just has twisted views on relationships.

I however am actually kinda happy with how Mev was written. He was sympathetic and charismatic, tho some of the stuff he did doesn’t fit to they way he’s characterised when he’s on screen (I know he is probably lying 90% of the time he speaks, but still). Like, banning all languages apart from English doesn’t seem like something a man who cares about culture, literature and art would do. It also seems kinda stupid bc those languages will be forgotten eventually and if they need an old text translated no one will be able to do it. Also, why English? Isn’t Mev old enough that his first/original language should be Gaelic? So weird. I have the feeling this was mainly done so Valkyrie (and with that the audience) can understand what the people on the continent are saying bc I very much doubt she understands/speaks any languages apart from English.

But I loved that Mev was also shown as insanely smart. He managed to outsmart Val multiple times. And I love how he doesn’t need his magic to fight, how quick and agil and skilled he is. So I take it that his fighting style is more based on agility and not getting hit, and he uses brute force only when forced into it (by Darquesse/the Unnamed). I was wondering about that bc his armor is made of leather and chainmail instead of metal plates which is considered light armor and not something a tank type of fighter would wear.

What really rubbed me the wrong way tho was when he was talking Tanith and Skul and more or less stated the war wasn’t a challenge anymore ever since Skul died. Or when he was talking to Val being like ‘you’re more powerful than I could ever hope to be’.It bothers me even more knowing that Val is based on girlfriend!Laura. Does really everyone and everything in-vers, even a big bad like Mev, rub Skul’s/Landy’s and Val’s/Laura’s ego? Big yikes.

Crespular Vies is surprisingly fun. At first I thought the two men going after the Obsidian Blade were hired by the Unnamed, but since that wasn’t the case, I think Crespular Vines hired them that so he could show up in time to save Omen and his friends. I think him opening up to Omen about being Skul’s former partner came too unprompted, too quickly and that he is trying to gain Omen’s trust so he can get close to Skul through him. I think another giveaway that that’s the case is bc one of the men Omen had to meet to get his brother back wore a Cleaver outfit and Vies gave that man probably the same reasoning Omen gave him.

That said Omen’s chapters were surprisingly enjoyable. By what I had heard of others I expected a sad sack that can’t fight worth a damn.

I’m not found of the Temper/Kierre stuff, it came out of nowhere.

Val is overpowered AF, it seems that she can get on Darquesses level with more practise/learning how to keep the doors open. She certainly needs to be nerfed.

Also I skipped the Darquesse chapters bc I’m giving negative fucks about her and the plague doctor.

The last 10% of the book were too rushed and felt like half finished thoughts.

Also I was kinda really bothered by the citizen of the Leibniz dimension. They were cartoonishly racist and it was very pretty black and white for the most part AKA everybody good is in the Resistance and all other sorcerers are evil/corrupt. That is also shown by there being children in the Resistance camp while there was no mention of children in the mage cities. In reality, most people are fairly mellow and it’s just a small percentage that is either really good or really wicked. I would have liked to see more racism towards mortals in form of apathy or ‘the soft bigotry of low expectations’ like I’ve seen it from Serpine in DotL. You know, make it a little less black and white.

Also, I understand the mermaids, but the bats in Europe were random AF. Like, I would understand it if they were just in Romania/Transylvania as a nod to the Dracula-typ vampire legends originating from there. As a plot-device they weren’t really needed to keep the protagonists from flying bc the danger of getting spotted by necromancer by doing so should be enough of a threat to keep them on the ground. This might seem nit-picky of me, but the bats just seemed so bloody random to me like wtf????

And also bc I’m a slut for magical creatures, I would have really liked to see more of them than just daugar and giant bats. Some undead cut together and resurrected necromancer experiments would have been pretty cool tbh. Like whatever the hell this is.

Something like zombie bears would have also been acceptable, I mean, bears are fucking terrifying on their own, let alone when undead and decaying.

I’m kinda pissed at China that she wanted Skul to kill Nef, but it does seem in character. Of course I still don’t like it bc I headcanon as Nef, Eliza and China having been besties during the war (no matter what canon says, I’m keeping that headcanon). I’m surprised Skul didn’t let Wreath have Nef considering that. Then again, he thought Nef might still be useful. And he was right. I loved how Nef actually had an essential part in saving the world by throwing the bomb. So proud of my boi <3 But Skul refused to kill him even after that. Could it be that Skul is finally getting character growth and development? 👀

Aaaand, China’s continuing to be a tyrant. With Tanith’s sense of justices flaring up shown when he killed the city governor, Erato, and Nef being shown to go after people that betray him (Lorien) I think those two are being set up to go after China to kill her (and to probably kill Creed too). Imagine Eliza joining the team bc she want a piece of China too.

I feel sorry for Baron, but at least he got a few speaking lines this time around. Still, I really wanted Nef to save him. :C Like, he suffered so much before he died too considering he spend a year alone starving and thirsty with broken legs in the middle of nowhere wft, why is Baron getting fucked over like this? #BaronDeservedBetter2020 he is the only honorable person of all faceless followers and he’s the one that gets screwed over in every book he shows up in, why tho- 😭

Speaking of Nef, I absolutely loved him in this book, he was a delight and stealing the show whenever he was on the page, despite being used as punching bag through pretty much the entire book. If people have always treated him that way I can see why he turned evil jfc that poor man. Despite that, he was still being such a clever, funny and relatable bae <3 He’s described as ‘cynical, and nasty but also kinda cheerful’ and as liking to ‘needle’ people (aka trolling and roasting) by Val and that essentially describes every shitposter on the internet ever. And I so loved the way he roasted Saracen lmao

And how he’s so clever, like the Lorien part was my favourite scene closely followed by how Nef essentially talked Remus Crux into getting himself killed, just 👌 smart snek boi, I love him <3 Also I hope he keeps poisoning everybody thoughts against Skul like how he had already been doing it to Tanith, he’s poison in human form and that’s just my jam.

That obedience bracelet was kinda fucked up tho.

Why does this thing even exist? Aren't electro shocks or any other form of pain enough instead of shutting his nervous system down/rendering him completely defenceless? I feel like some messed up mage 100% used it to keep himself (sex) slaves at some point in time :/ Landy might have gotten that idea from some fucked up hentai. Even the implications of the name "obedience bracelet".... I can’t be the only one that got creepy perv vibes from that thing, right?

Btw what the fuck happened to Harmony? You know, Leibniz Serpine’s girlfriend. She hasn’t been mentioned again. Did she die? She didn’t seem too found of him in DotL, was she plotting against him and he found out about it, killed her and fled the Resistance? Or did she die prior to him leaving and it was part of the reason he left bc she was the only thing that had tied him emotionally to the Resistance?? Or Landy just forgot she existed. I would not be surprised.

Of course my biggest issue with this book was how he retconned Nef’s magic and how he took his trademark, his red hand, away, but more about that in a different post.

TL;DR: Nef was a delight even though he was done dirty. Mev’s scenes were a 50/50 split between good and bad. I actually liked the Crespulare and Omen chapters. The Unnamed was a disappointment. The last 10% of the book were to rushed and the final fights that were supposed to be the biggest were underwhelming. The rest is meh, didn’t really care tbh. Let’s be real here, I only bought this book bc Nef played a bigger role in it, anyways.

#skulduggery pleasant #seasons of war #seasons of war spoilers #review #book review #I hate 'read more'#but this got so bloody long #RIP mobile users #long post #Anonymous #answered

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shi-daisy · 5 years

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I've noticed that you're not very fond of Renji or the Kuchiki characters in general. Can I ask why? (No offense, just curious)

No offense here, anon. I'm more than happy to answer.

I'll start with Rukia since she's the easiest to explain. Rukia was one of my favorite characters up until the Hueco Mundo Arc. You see at first she was a dynamic girl, a little helpless but that was understandable since she had no powers, she was funny, kind and I really felt for her during the first arcs. Then Kubo just replaced her with another character. Rukia got more closed off, agressive, punch happy and tried to make Ichigo apologize about something that wasn't his fault. I didn't hate her, as she still had some of her best traits but this shift made her go from one of my faves to a neutral character. Worst off it's when she marries Renji after he left her for years and almost slashed her to bits, and the novel, oh that damn post canon novel gave me rabies. She's embarrassed by being called Abarai? I could buy this from Orihime, or Momo, hell I'd even buy it from Riruka, but Rukia? No, that's not her. Instead of forgiving Byakuya and Renji in a heartbeat, Rukia's character would've been better off if she told them both to sit on a prickly cactus and stay the hell away from her, then left with Ichigo and Co. to the human world at the end of the Rescue arc. Instead she forgives those two, who have been nothing but shitty to her and takes to hero worshipping Byakuya. No, that's the worst thing she could've done and to top it off she marries one of them and has his kid. That dude hit you once and you not only marry him but have his kid?! Gurl, that literally begging for trouble right there. I just felt disgusted with the way Kubo handled Rukia. I don't hate her but I don't love her as much as everyone else in the fandom does.

Renji And Byakuya though? Those two I absolutely despise.

During the first arc these two come to the human world to arrest Rukia, who need I remind you was completely powerless, and what's the first thing Renji does? Swing a goddamn sword at her. He literally just tried to slash her with his sword. Does Byakuya interfiere? Tells him to maybe tone it down a bit? Nope, he does fucking nothing. Renji keeps trying to hit her, with a grin on his face, and later on even chokes her. It's not until Uryu, who's a freaking Quincy, steps in that the whole aggression stops.

I know people defend this with 'oh Kubo meant for them to seem as villians at the time' but I think you can't come back from trying to slash your bestie/future wife or from letting my sister be slashed to bits.

But ok, if it was just that, I'd be willing to let it slide so as long as the two apologize and Rukia gave em a 'reason you suck speech' or something similar. Well next time we see Renji he's taunting Rukia in prison. He backs out and says it's a joke later but it was still scumy of him to do that. During that same scene Rukia says she knows she'll get killed and pinnapple dumbass tells her Byakuya would intervine, but she shoots him down by saying that he'd likely just kill her himself and has never once cared for her from the moment he adopted her. Like, what? This asshat hasn't even looked her in the eye in 40 years? I know in shinigami time that's like 4 years maybe but it's still a long time to be emotionality neglected.

After his fight with Ichigo we get Renji And Rukia's backstory and instead of growing sympathetic towards him, I hated him more. So he and Rukia grow up together with some friends in the poorest place in Soul Society, and after their friends death they join the academy to get better housing and food. That's good so far, only the two are separate because Renji has more potential and Rukia is average at best. He gets new friends and keeps moving forward. Rukia was alone and stuck. Sad but ok maybe they'll make up after graduation. Nope, because the Kuchiki clan wants to adopt Rukia, remove her from the academy and now she'll live as a Noble. It's clear in that scene that Rukia does not want this, that she'll take any excuse to not accept, does Renji tell her to stay with him, or to choose what she wants? Of course not, the idiot congratulates her, makes a light-hearted joke about it and then sulks when Rukia sadly thanks him and leaves. Then he suddenly decides to stay away from Rukia for... bullshit reasons. Like I get Kubo tried to paint it as a I have to stay away so the Kuchiki won't get mad at her, but Rukia didn't ask for that, she was lonely, even more so without Renji, and he didn't even attempt to communicate with her or just check in? She obviously didn't want that and he didn't either, but no, I'm apparently supposed to be heartbroken that they were speareted. Then when he sees her again, his childhood bestie, the woman he loves, his future wife and mother of his child, what happens? He tried to slash her with a sword when she was depowered. See how his backstory made the previous scene worst. Honestly I was glad he chose to help Ichigo not let Rukia get killed but damn, it shouldn't have taken this long!

After that we get the whole Renji vs Byakuya thing. Renji goes down like a chump, assists in the final battle for a bit and that's it. No apologies for the past, or for what he did when he arrested her, or the things he said to her in prison, zero apologies from Renji Abarai. This doesn't work, especially if Kubo wanted to marry these two off by the end of the series. Renji needed to apologize directly, we needed to see it play out, not just be told he did it offscreen. This left me hating Renji for the reminder of the show. He was now more friendly and even a bit of a comic relief but his first impression muddled that for me. On the Fullbringer Arc he refused to fight Jackie because a man who hits a woman is trash but... didn't you just do that to the chick you're in love with like two years prior? Did he forget? Was that an admission of guilt or something? I dunno. It felt like a last ditch attempt from Kubo to make him more likeable but to me it fell flat. By the end I was fully disinterested in Renji, wheather he lived, died, married Rukia, Byakuya, whoever the hell, I just didn't care for him at all. It did bug me that he took Uryu's spot in the final chapter cover. Uryu deserved better than Mr hypocrite taking his limelight. Renji would've been better as one off villian, Kubo should've given his backstory to another character and have them with Rukia instead. I'll never get over the fact that this dude spent his first appearance being the most unlikeable jerk, physically assaulting the woman he loves, talking shit like a cocky dumbass, almost killing two of the main characters, and taking the girl he loved to her death; only to be married to said girl in the end, with a daughter and on best terms with the people he fucked over. I ain't a fan of him.

Byakuya it's another character who I wanted to smack against the concrete, repeatedly. First appearance? Lets his lieutenant throw his sister around like a ragdoll, almost kills an innocent human, and basically acts like everyone's beneath him? Good, I already hate him. Next time we see him, he shows no emotion towards Rukia's sentence, he's still hell-bent on stopping the human squad from rescuing her, almost lets Renji die after he loses to Ichigo (honestly I was down for Renji bitting it but c'mon this dude is your employee and you don't care if he dies? Big yikes) Keeps messing up every attempt from the others to rescue Rukia. Almost kills Renji in a fight, then goes to fight Ichigo and here's where he became irredeemable for me. During his fight with Ichigo, he says he'll beat Ichigo and then kill Rukia himself. That's when I wanted Ichigo to chop him into sashimi. You can't say something like that and expect anyone to forgive you. He loses against Ichigo and at the very least honors his word to not kill Rukia. Okay then he defends Rukia from the real baddies. Nice, I still hate him. When he's being healed he tells Rukia that he adopted her because his wife was Rukia's actual sister, and he promised he'd keep Rukia safe if he ever found her.

All throughout the flashback I only felt sympathy for Hisana. Being put in the poorest place in Rukon, having to leave your baby sister to survive, marrying a guy who you love only for his family to hate you because you're not Noble, then getting terminally ill and not being able to help your lost sibling, all of that is horrible and broke my heart. More so when you realize that Byakuya didn't keep his promise to protect Rukia because it would break the law. He can stick his laws where the sun don't shine Rukia almost got killed unfairly because of him, Ichigo and his friends would've died unfairly because of him, he doesn't deserve any forgiveness. At least the dude had the spine to apologize on screen but that still just the bare minimum. I wanted to see him make up for all the shit he caused, maybe try and help change the law so a mistake like this dosen't happen again, just something productive. Well no, he's still the same cold and unlikable jerk we first met, only now he seems to treat Rukia better. This should've been a start, not the default. When he almost died in the final arc I thought it was a fitting end, he's humbled down, he apologizes to Rukia and Renji for losing, he leaves everything in Ichigo's hands, which mirrors how he was opposing him on the first arc but it's now fully on his side, it was the best way to salvage this unlikeable prick. But no, he dosen't die. He lives and its back to the grind again. Worst of all it's how he appears during Rukia's big fight and she uses her Bankai, he's there to mansplain and sour the fight and ugh I hated that chapter. Then he says he's proud of Rukia and it's meant to be a heartwarming moment, to me however it was vomit inducing. You're proud now? Two years ago you almost killed her! You ignored her and neglected her for decades and this is supposed to be cute?! No, his pride is worth less than dirt when he treated her this badly before. Heck if he had won back at the beginning Rukia wouldn't even be there. You almost killed her two years before, and now you're proud? Miss me with that nonsense.

The ending was especially jarring for me not just because Renji got with Rukia but also because they, along with Byakuya did nothing to fix the system that almost led to Rukia's unfair death. None of them did anything and if there's one thing I would love to see if Bleach ever got a sequel,would be Ichika yelling at the three of them for their ineptitude. They let the Sokyoku get rebuilt, they didn't do a smidge to change the system even though they're two captains and a lieutenant, and still live in prefect rich peep paradise when Rukon is still as shitty as it was when Renji and Rukia lived there.

Sorry for the long answer, I just wanted to let everything out as in most discussions people are baffled by the fact that I don't like these three characters all that much. Hope this answers your question anon!

#ask #anon #anti renruki #anti renji #anti Byakuya

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