#at least he gets his admittedly just comeuppance in the end

[remyfire]

Today's brainrot is BJ and Hawkeye hearing Charles be a prick to Margaret and silently initiating a challenge to see how many times they can make her laugh in the span of three minutes

[sublime-beyond-loss]

I feel like people are really sleeping on the fact that there is a pretty good chance that the Settings Person is the cause of the skip button ending going as horribly wrong as it did. It seems to be within their skill set to remove the door, tamper with the settings of the skip button, and cause the usually pretty damn omniscient narrator to suddenly be unable to affect the room he literally created two seconds beforehand. 

I just think it’s interesting, considering the way fans tend to characterize the Settings Person as Stanley’s only real friend in the parable and a hapless victim when they could very well be the manipulator of one of the most cruel acts in the game. Considering that the narrator did not expect to end up in and seemingly cannot remember the Steam review section of the memory zone, if the Settings Person is responsible, you could say that they outright psychologically tortured the narrator and set him up to create his own downfall. 

And yeah, you could say the narrator is villainous and morally dubious in his own right and that the whole thing is one big comeuppance for the way he treats Stanley in the OG endings of the game, but it’s like, at least all of those are fairly instantaneous and the resets hit pretty fast in comparison to the prolonged isolation he’s forced to go through before dying/going insane/escaping/whatever the fuck happens to him by the end of the skip button ending. One of the only times Stanley’s suffering truly gets dragged out is the zending and that seems to be largely out of the sufferers own spite. It’s not as if Stanley is made to sit in those empty hallways of the original mod at the end of the Playtest ending until the literal end of time before the reset finally hits. At the end of the day, the narrator just wants to get his story back on track as fast as possible with killing and respawning Stanley being the fastest way to go about that. He only gets truly vicious about it in the one ending where you string him along until the very last second, which of course he’s going to be pissed off about.

If the Settings Person caused the skip button ending, if they did it to spite the narrator or to allow Stanley to put the narrator through a prolonged, torturous comeuppance, oh boooy. And I don’t buy that they did it to create a scenario where they can talk to Stanley in private, considering that they can talk to you whenever the game is booted up before the narrator even comes into the picture. I don’t even see it as them creating a way to usurp the narrator’s position in the game because they already seemingly have more power over it then him, and uh, removing the narrator clearly fucking breaks the game quite badly, which doesn’t fit with their desire to keep the game spiraling in upon itself. I can only see it as it being an act of spite or them thinking they’re giving Stanley what he wants by giving him a method to put the narrator through a fate worse than death as revenge.

I admittedly don’t enjoy this reading of the whole thing, even if it’s fun to speculate about, because I feel like it pushes the Settings Person into a far more dubious, if not outright villainous role, and I prefer to view them as a counterpart to the narrator where they’re essentially two sides of the same coin and neither are right nor wrong when it comes to their ideological differences. Plus, I prefer to view the skip button ending more as the concept of mental self-sabotage made literal. As in, the narrator is subconsciously sabotaging himself because ‘of course’ if the door disappeared and you were given the power to isolate him forever, you would do that to him, and ‘of course’ you would never actually stick it out with the likes of him, and oh look the door really did disappear and there’s no way out of this except for you to keep pushing the button and isolating him for longer lengths of time. I just find the idea of that infinitely more interesting.

[tippexdeluxe]

Okay so this isn’t about Loggerhead Shrikes but this is about Shrike and moreso all of mortal engines that I’ve read and can remember (that being the main quartet and parts of Night Flights so spoilers for those).

So Mortal Engines is quite possibly the most influential piece of media on my life I have ever consumed in my life. It sparked my love for steampunk/dieselpunk as a genre, it sparked my love for the tightly knit webs of alleys and streets and pathways I’ve always imagined the cities as, it’s basically the whole reason for my love of airships and zeppelins and dirigibles as a whole (fuck aeroplanes dirigibles is where it’s at) and in the plainest way possible mortal engines has probably influenced my way of writing more than any other book series could ever even dream of. It’s had a comparable influence on my life to adventure time and peggle (the former for being the best piece of TV to exist and the latter for being the reason I understand how the fuck a videogame controller works) and for that I treasure it and it’s excellent writing

Every single book feels, even if similar in places like there’s only so many ways to do ‘travel on airship, get stuck in place, things, climax, end’ which admittedly is kind of the whole quartet as a whole just because well… it is? Like the first book is ‘Tom and Hester form an unlikely alliance as they travel back to London to stop it destroying the shield wall’ and the second is ‘Tom and Hester try to escape the town of anchorage and get back on the bird roads to save themselves (and also stop pennyroyal fuck pennyroyal he is the best villain ever I fucking hate him)’ then the third is something like ‘wren gets captured and things happen idk can’t remember this one’ and all I remember of the fourth book is ‘they return to London to do shit also everyone is dead now’.

My point here is the books are very well written. The characters are very flawed in clear and believable ways that makes them balance off eachother very well and makes them interesting to read. Tom is often far too accepting and naive about everything partly due to being raised in London basically all his life and partly because that’s just who he is. Happy about stuff.

Conversely Hester is miserable about and hates everyone and everything but she has a reason which I love. For one she is horribly physically scarred across her whole face, and the books make it clear about this and how much it influences her and her actions. Basically the entire second half of Predator’s Gold is reliant on Hester’s scar and how it affects her perception of herself.

Like Tom and Hester are close enough to where they are likely having sex frequently enough for Hester to become pregnant (which she does come the end of the book) and they’ve stuck together for a couple years at least and she still doesn’t trust that Tom isn’t going to just abandon her for the more conventionally attractive leader of Anchorage. She genuinely thinks so little of herself that she thinks the dude who has stuck by her and has been fucking her for presumably the last two years if not more will leave her for a girl who looks prettier.

Does it seem stupid from that description? A bit. But it makes so much sense when you look to Hester’s past. For years she lived with Shrike, a resurrected man (basically mechanical super soldiers) from the 60 minute war, who was basically raising her as his child. She lost both her parents at a very young age to a man she later finds out is her biological father after he basically dooms the entirety of London to die and if London didn’t die it would basically become the second coming of the British Empire. And she spends the entire second book basically running through the idea in her head that she is Thaddeus Valentine’s (the man who ends up destroying London because he is evil and the evil gets comeuppance at the cost of all the innocent(-ish) lives in London) daughter, and that she is no better than the heartless and violent man he was. And she plays into that in her more violent moments. She struggles incredibly heavily with mental health issues that are written well and believably. It’s not the best display of mental health but that’s not its goal. The goal is to have a flawed and well written character.

As for the film: well Hester doesn’t have her facially deforming scar so it’s immediately shit because her character doesn’t work whatsoever because ‘protagonists have to be attractive’. Yeah don’t watch the film read the books instead, it’s no wonder they never made a sequel because it wouldn’t fucking work lol

[laufire]

(CW for mentions of csa)

A lot of Commonly Accepted (Often Through Uncritical Repetition) Wisdom in fandom leaves me baffled, when not straight up ticked off, but one that's been on my mind lately, that never fails to bring a scrunched up expression to my face, is the idea that Bela Talbot's backstory was some last minute add-on to her character.

You might argue that the reveal was rushed since the writers caved in and killed her off against their original plan (or at the very least, earlier than). Or that using abuse is a trite way to raise sympathy for an antagonistic character. You could even say that some of the finer details might’ve not been set in stone until they sat down to write her exist, although that one is dubious. But I’m never really going to buy that Bela’s backstory hadn’t been already planned, likely in big part.

The reason why is Season Three Episode Six, “Red Sky At Morning”, Bela’s second episode, co-written by Eric Kripke himself. As all episodes with Bela were, may I add; which means he had a hand in crafting her story from the beginning, as creator, director, and writer.

There Dean, a character that has been shown as sharp and intuitive (although his success rate ain’t that great when it comes to Bela, admittedly xD), immediately pegs her as someone with Issues TM, asking “how did she get like this”. He even taunts her by referencing her father, showing off his talent to hit where it hurts by asking if he “didn’t give her enough hugs”, ‘cause he’s classy like that. This visibly affects Bela, changing her demeanor in their conversation, from more playful to defensive. Hell, I remember during my first watch in real time this moment, especially paired with the rest of the episode, was when I first thought it was possible she came from an abusive family.

Because, c’mon. This whole episode is about parricide. The monster of the week is a ghost who haunts those that “spilled their own family’s blood”. We get two other examples: a woman whose accidental car crash killed her cousin, and two brothers who killed their father for the inheritance. Clearly, the ghost doesn’t have a narrow criteria when it comes to means or culpability -which makes sense given his particular story: he was tried for treason and his brother, the captain of the ship, issued the sentence.

And just as we find out this information... Bela sees the ghost ship that foretells her death. This, paired with the insinuations about an unsavvory past and her discomfort at the mention of her father, aren’t a wealth of information, but they start to paint a picture. We now know for a fact that Bela caused the death of at least one relative (mom and dad); that she wouldn’t have needed to do it directly (she made a crossroads deal); and that she might’ve had a sympathetic motive (her father sexually abused her and her mother turned a blind eye).

That scene offers some more tidbits of information about her past that seem too in tune with 3x15 to be coincidental, and that absolutely break my heart: Bela’s “You wouldn’t understand. No one did.“ and “I’ll just do what I’ve always done. I’ll deal with it myself”. See, I always thought Bela must’ve told people, when she was a kid. That she reached out for help not just to her mother, but to everyone around her that she thought could’ve help: teachers, maybe even law enforcement; adults that should’ve being worthy of that trust and protected her. Except no one did (and the fact that her family seemed to be not only very rich but influential paints a very bleak picture that surely contributed to her cynic view of the world). So she took matters in her own hands, and sold her soul for ten years of relative safety and freedom from her abusers.

To tie it all up, her final scene in that episode offers some more moments that again, are very in line with her backstory. We see how she treats relationships as transactionals: she pays ten grand to the Winchesters for saving her life, like she paid with her soul. Dean, again, draws attention to her likely messed up past by calling her damaged, and she replies that “takes one to know one”. Terrible childhood, ammirite. The show wasn’t been subtle here: it’s telling us Bela has a terrible past, like the Winchesters do, but of a different kind that has resulted in a different kind of person. So yeah, I think all the facts were hinted at back in 3x06.

We could go even futher back and point out 3x03, Bela’s introduction. One of the very first things she says in the show, during her first face to face with Dean (a character that just condemned his soul to Hell), is “We’re all going to Hell, Dean. Might as well enjoy the ride”. Sure, it could be an incredibly fortuitous coincidence; as a writer, I’ve had those and they’re damn great. But it seems VERY lucky, and more likely to be a case of the kind premeditated, well-placed foreshadowing that Kripke excels at.

So, okay. I’ve established why I think Bela’s backstory wasn’t a spur of the moment decision. But why is there a notable narrative in fandom that it IS?

First thing first, I want to get something out of the way: you don’t have to like it even if it was planned ahead. I understand it’s a very thorny subject, and to make matters worse, it’s inherently tied to her death. You might even be fine with the what, but not with how it was dealt with (although personally, I appreciate that neither the abuse nor her death were shown onscreen. In fact, the worse violence we see Bela on the receiving end of in her run is Dean’s threats and manhandling, which seems like a very purposeful choice ngl. Even Gordon freaking Walker was gentler lmao).

But I do disagree with some extended fandom opinions on the topic, and I guess that’s what the post is about. For one, I don’t see how the show “condemned” or morally judged Bela in this scenario. If anything, they clearly wanted to make her sympathetic, AND they showed Dean as being in the wrong by robbing him of information. Dean’s opinion on Bela couldn’t count for shit, for once, because he didn’t have the full picture; because Bela had deemed him UNWORTHY of the full picture, and thus anything he had to say on her couldn’t be taken at face value (except this is Supernatural, so I guess this was a little too much to ask of some people?). I think saying that just because Bela died and went to Hell as a consequence of her deal, IN THE SAME SEASON the same happened to our co-lead, because the writers deemed her evil and irredeemable is simplistic at best, and the audience projecting their own feelings (or being unable to see past Dean’s) onto the writing.

All that said, to go back to the initial point of all of this xD: WHY does fandom seem to insist on viewing this narrative choice as some cheap last minute addition?

There might not be one explanation that fits all, but I have a few ideas. One is that, if this wasn’t planned for and hinted at from early on, some people might feel as if this “absolves” them of their previous (and disgustingly hateful and misoginistic) reactions to Bela. Others will see this as absolving Dean, and maybe even Sam to a lesser extent, for not helping her and for being callous towards her; if her tragic backstory was this artificial, rushed choice made by Those Writers, then Dean wasn’t responsible for reprehensible attitudes towards someone who deserved his compassion (and it can’t be denied that this fandom loves absolving Dean of responsibility lmao). And a lot people are probably only repeating what they've heard from others as the accepted narrative, especially those that didn't even watch all of s3 if at all (Castiel is my fave too, but seriously, s1-3 are worth it).

It’s like they’re creating this imaginary separation between Bela pre-reveal, and Bela post-reveal, to make the situation easier to themselves. See, Bela pre-reveal was this annoying bitch who inconvenienced and embarrassed our leads (not to mention dared have chemistry with them), and thus deserved to be punished for it; or, if we’re going with more modern fandom sensibilities, she can be made to fit into the shallow #GirlBoss mold, with a side of “Secretly A Lesbian And Therefore Not A Romantic Threat” flavour -the current preferred method to make controversial female characters more palatable.

The reveal throws a wrench into this narrative. “Bitch who deserves her comeuppance” is a hard sell when you’re talking about a character who survived csa. And a shallow #GirlBoss reading doesn’t work if you have to acknowledge that Bela was one of, if not the most tragic characters in the entire run of Supernatural.

She spent over half her life at the mercy of her abuser(s), hurt by those who should’ve loved her and protected her most. The rest of her life was extremely lonely, with seemingly only a cat as company, and a surface-level freedom that hid under the sentence that loomed over her head. She died without a single friend, or a simple show of kindness and compassion, without anyone bothering to fight for her. And then she ended up tortured for who knows how long until she became one of her torturers.

All of that is extremely difficult to digest. And when things are hard to swallow, people do as people do, and they try to simplify them. So, sure. Bela’s reveal wasn’t ever hinted at, it’s completely removed from her character and the person we met, and is not even worth trying to fit into the narrative. Sounds easy.

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #481

Top Ten Pixar Villains

Those rascals and rapscallions at Pixar are famous for twisting our emotions, aren’t they? Perverse masters at making us cry with sadness or joy, often at the same time (I’m looking at you, Inside Out, with your yellow and blue marbles). Oh yes, they’ll stick the knife in and give it a good old yank, like John Travolta teaches his daughter to do in Face/Off when he’s not really John Travolta and it’s a bit icky but then she stabs him at the end of the film so it’s alright really.

Where was I?

Oh yeah. Pixar, renowned for turning grown men into blubbering messes, mostly because an adult character was convinced to part with old toys he no longer plays with. But I’d argue that one thing they’ve done less well than their parent studio (that’s Disney) is crafting iconic baddies. I mean, we all know the Disney Villains; they’re so iconic and successful as pop culture icons that there’s an entire trilogy of movies based on what would happen if a bunch of them had kids (apparently they’d sing a lot). Pixar baddies though? Hmmm, maybe not quite so iconic. I can’t see someone making a live action prequel movie about Chef Skinner.

But that’s not to say they’re not great; in fact, rather than going down the route of snarling, moustache-twirling villainy, Pixar actually does a great job in creating antagonists instead. Sometimes they’re misunderstood; sometimes they’re not the person you thought they were! Quite often some kind of redemption is offered, and the villains are very, very rarely dropped off something tall. A lot of them aren’t even defeated, so to speak! A good deal of nuance and shade goes into a Pixar villain, and if they haven’t made as many all-time-great iconic ne’er-do-wells, it does seem as if their approach is starting to rub off on Disney mothership (the likes of Frozen II and Moana either don’t have, or at least subvert, the notion of all-powerful bad guys).

So what do we have? Well, hopefully, we’ve got a list of really cool villains from Pixar movies. most of them are presented as the film’s “big bad”, although there are a couple of lesser baddies. And I think we do see the pattern emerging, of more mundane levels of villainy; the selfish and greedy and damaged. It makes for great characterisation and some beautiful storytelling; some complex and pitiable characters. And, yes, a few absolute bastards too. Let’s tut disapprovingly.

Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear (Ned Beatty, Toy Story 3, 2010): a superb performance from Beatty as a seemingly nice, jovial old bear who’s really a manipulative, power-hungry, gaslighting bully. Realistically portrayed as damaged and bitter, he has a tragic backstory that feels real, and a sense of pain and loss that feels earned in this universe. Questions the nature of everything the movies are about, and is a genuine threat in more ways than one. Plus he literally leaves them all to die in the furnace!

Syndrome (Jason Lee, The Incredibles, 2004): Buddy Pine’s backstory is one of belittlement and rejection, so his switch to villainy is as well explored as many a comic book bad guy. But he’s interesting partly in what his character says about Mr. Incredible – in a way justifying the criticisms of superheroes, as Mr. I does ignore the admittedly-annoying Buddy rather than mentoring or respecting him – but also because he prefigures notions of toxic masculinity about a decade or so before they became, well, a threat to global democracy.

Al (Wayne Knight, Toy Story 2, 1999): Like how Lots-o can be seen as a dark examination of toy life (all toys are replaceable, kids don’t really love you, etc), Al also shows us another dark facet of toy-dom: namely the life of a “collectable”. Toys, in this world, want to be played with, preferably by children, so a big ol’ man-child who stores them in boxes or puts them on display is not ideal. It’s an inversion of what a toy is for; an object of joy reduced to a commodity. Is it entertainment versus art? Who can say? Also, he’s really just a massive jerk and a huge slob, so we feel no pity for him once he gets his comeuppance at the end of the film.

Sid Phillips (Erik von Detten, Toy Story, 1995): man, they nailed the Toy Story villains, didn’t they? Maybe there’s even more to come! But right out of the gate, Sid was a classic. An utter sadist in a skull t-shirt, torturing toys for kicks; adults can see the traits of a genuine sociopath (some serial killers start by torturing animals, remember!), and he’s portrayed like a character in a horror movie. Seriously, in 1995, Sid’s room was legitimately disturbing. I’m not sure what moral lessons his actions teach us, but just as a pure article of terror, he’s supreme.

Hopper (Kevin Spacey, A Bug’s Life, 1998): it feels a bit weird, if I’m honest, to celebrate a Spacey performance. But as a character, Hopper is excellent, one of the best things about the generally-overlooked-but-still-a-bit-lesser-Pixar Bug’s Life. Riffing on biker gangs, Hopper’s locust swarm in, revving their wings. Hopper’s a classic tough guy thug, dominating through violence and threat; a creature with a small amount of power determined to hold onto it, and ultimately eaten by a terrifying bird. Just don’t look at the cast list.

Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt, Coco, 2017): after the horror of Sid and the thuggery of Hopper, de la Cruz is a different, more insidious villain. He’s a thief and a betrayer who exploited and murdered his best friend, condemning him not just to death but to a forgotten obsolescence in the afterlife. He’s a perfect example of the gaslighting, friendly-seeming bad guy, more in the mould of Lots-o, but with the world on his side and a sweet guitar. Genuinely hissable.

Stinky Pete (Kelsey Grammar, Toy Story 2, 1999): what, more Toy Story? Well, yeah. Don’t blame me, blame Pixar. And so Stinky Pete; a far more relatable and understandable villain, one driven to desperation through a lifetime of rejection and broken promises. Unlike the Machiavellian, power-hungry Lots-o, Pete just wants everyone to retire quietly together; he can’t accept the risks of freedom and only becomes sneaky and, indeed, violent after all else fails. But he does kinda get a happy ending, even if he doesn’t realise it; this is a villain who I feel could eventually be redeemed.

Randall Boggs (Steve Buscemi, Monsters, Inc., 2001): Waternoose is the real baddy in Monsters, Inc., of course; a conniving capitalist who’s prepared to sacrifice the world’s children to keep his monopoly. But it’s Randy who sticks in the mind; his selfish, vain lackey, a monster with a huge chip on his shoulder. His design – lizard-like, snake-ish, with a huge mouth and invisibility – is seriously disturbing. Hearing Buscemi’s voice come from that form – an aggravated teacher, a furious accountant – adds something special, something darkly hilarious.

Evelyn Deavor (Catherine Keener, Incredibles 2, 2018): visually and conceptually, The Screenslaver (great name) is pretty cool, but when it’s revealed that the Big Bad is really under-appreciated tech genius Evelyn, that’s a great twist. A smart woman propping up her schmoozing brother, her criticisms of the heroes – like Buddy Pine’s – have resonance, although she’s learning the wrong lessons from tragedy. Her relationship with Elastigirl, from friendship to enmity, is very well-written and performed, and her belligerence at the end is a nice touch, denying the heroes of any catharsis from her capture.

Shelby Forthright (Fred Willard, WALL-E, 2008): I was originally going to feature the autopilot, but then I figured, if you can get Fred Willard in your list… and really, who’s the big villain here? It’s us, right? We killed the Earth. But Willard’s smiling, happy CEO is there, encouraging his customers to buy, promising them safety and security, promising them a repaired world… but really he’s shovelling them off the planet, secretly commanding the computer to take humanity far away and never look back. It’s a devious, horrible plan, giving the people unending luxury, making them want for nothing, turning them into fab, soporific blobs, basically because that’s easier than the alternative. It’s a horrible indictment of humanity (also: he’s the CEO of a company, but also – it looks like – that makes him rule the world? Creepy). So, yeah, the autopilot might be a baddun, but it’s the man in charge who’s the real villain of the piece, even hundreds of years later.

Sadly no room for John Lasseter, who may not have tried to enslave humanity or torture children, but still managed to be a huge jerk and a phenomenal disappointment.

[wigshewrote]

listen, i understand that it’s a children’s cartoon and only so much can be shown in terms of violence, but never trust deaths that occur off screen!

there’s been a death so far in every book of infinity train and it looks like that includes book 3, but in 1 and 2, we at least see enough to make the instance undeniable. in book 1, we see atticus being shot, albeit just the silhouettes of the individuals involved. the death of both flex agents in book 2 are unambiguous. sure we don’t see mace get completely ground into dust, but we see enough of it to know what the eventual conclusion is. and well, sieve is probably the most explicit on-screen death that we’ll get in the series, but made acceptable due to the sheer ridiculousness of the event--i mean is it even worth explaining the “chekov’s deer with laser eyes” trope? (if you introduce a deer with laser eyes in act one... you know how this ends.) it’s a moment.

anyway, spoilers ahead: so far with only five episodes of infinity train, we already have one death, allegedly. the scene seems pretty cut and dry, and expecting a deus ex machina to retroactively save tuba is admittedly less than logical. reviewing the scene, tuba’s trajectory towards the wheel of the train and her proximity to the wheel before cutting away to simon’s remorseless face leaves very little room for hope. especially since simon didn’t look away; he undoubtedly saw enough to confirm tuba’s death.

now, far be it from me to think the writer’s of the show are predictable, but as i said above, don’t trust off screen deaths! especially ones that were as shocking as this one. there’s a variety of tropes waiting in the wings that can come to our rescue--maybe back from the dead, never found the body, or not quite dead. who knows, maybe we’ll at least get a mufusa in the clouds moment. generally, don’t count someone dead unless you have the body in front of you.

after all, this is a fairly elaborate story that the writer’s are creating. they’ve utilized their fair share of tricks and twists. this show thrives on withheld information. so it may be likely that this is not truly the end for tuba. (or who knows? maybe the writer’s were aiming to make half their audience depressed and the other half stewing in denial for week.) 

what i do know is, from a storytelling standpoint, this was a good move to make to advance the story. we see that grace prioritizes caring for hazel regardless of her beliefs. she cares about people. she cares about hazel and empathizes for her loss despite being adamantly anti-”null.” simon on the other hand seemingly cares about his ideology more than people. despite making a connection with tuba earlier in the episode, he still acts according to his ideology and prejudice. 

with this act, the audience immediately turns against simon. grace and simon clearly don’t see eye to eye on the choice--or at least the timing of the choice. we see grace start to warm up to tuba, because of the gorilla’s importance to hazel. in these episodes, is grace constantly dissuading simon from taking out tuba because she’s trying to find the most opportune time or because she’s starting to develop complicate feelings? if the latter, at what point did the former option stop being the most pressing reason to dissuade? we are likely going to get a heated conversation between grace and simon next episode, and wouldn’t that be the perfect moment to revisit grace’s falling number and simon’s rising number. surely a swap in rank is on the horizon. 

and that’s not even considering the conflict that may arise with hazel’s unexpected transformation. is hazel a null? i’m not speculating on that, but I am certain that either grace will try to hide it from simon, or simon won’t hesitate to make that conclusion. episode 6 will likely be a doozy y’all.

while i’m at it, do you want me to share who I think will most likely die and how? big surprise since most of you who made it this far in this essay probably want this outcome anyway, but simon is likely going to die later. and this isn’t me hoping that he’ll die because of what he did to tuba. no. this show does an excellent job at hinting at future plot points, and i’m certain that he’ll fall. in the first episode of book three, simon has two life threatening incidents--when the bricks fall on him in the unfinished car, and just after escaping the same car, he nearly falls off the walkway between cars. after grace catches him, she remarks that he “owes her a million,” likely referring to the number of near-death encounters she has saved him from. episode two a tree nearly falls on top of him, but again saved by grace. and episode three, simon falls from the ballroom’s ceiling panels when looking for an escape. the boy is accident prone and that will either be his form of comeuppance, or used to earn his redemption. maybe tuba comes back just in time to catch him.

anyway, don’t cross tuba off your cast list yet. when a show has an affinity for twists, and operates in a world with rules we’re still discovering, be wary of implied conclusions. look for clues in the little things. we trust these writers to deliver a satisfying conclusions, and boy howdy is it satisfying when a beloved character is revealed to have narrowly avoided death.

[halothenthehorns]

All in the Family

Chapter 71: Mad-Eye Moody

The last thing Regulus needed after finally getting his head on straight was to crash face first into a chalkboard. Coughing and spitting out dust, he saw he'd completely ruined whatever Professor McGonagall had been in the middle of writing, and it was a lesson far above his own head anyways. The accompanying images showed a rock halfway through a transformation into a dog.

Everybody else was getting to their feet, groaning and eyeing their new surroundings suspiciously as usual, so Regulus took the moment to eye Peter curiously. Ever since Peter had declared them as friends on the campgrounds, Regulus had surprisingly likened to the idea. Looking back, he'd never had anyone call him a mate before. None of his other dorm mates, certainly not the others he hung out with who were too afraid to call themselves what they someday wanted to be. To each other, they were always accomplices, allies, associates and in the end, it was more of a unity they all knew where they were going.

Did he even want to be associated with any of them anymore? It wasn't possible they knew what he did of the Dark Lord, but would they be questioning it the same way he was? That everything they'd ever known and planned to be themselves was a lie?

Peter Pettigrew had never told him what to think, and though he wasn't a pureblood, it would be nice to have just one friend who he didn't always have to consider his words around. He at least didn't see him as the coward he now saw himself as. The guy sounded like he'd been in a very messy situation, reprehensible to be sure, but a betrayal that hadn't even been enacted yet. Who's to say what decisions would be made until the moment of? Even with this future spelled out, now knowing could change everything. Why was he the only one seeing that?

Then Regulus winced as he wondered if he was still thinking about Peter, or himself.

Sirius had found the book in a student's bag, but had tossed it clear across the room without a second look. Moments later, an ink splattered copy of A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration followed and smacked into a window before he discarded the bag entirely and went on to the next.

Alice Smith seemed to volunteer herself to go over and read the chapter, but also seemed to regret it with just the chapter title.

"Oh great, what's Mad-Eye Moody going to get up to now?" Potter demanded. "Making first years wet themselves? Accidentally drowning kittens?"

"Teaching, I'd assume," Lupin rolled his eyes at his friend, though his eyes continued to track Sirius' progress through the back of the classroom. It was obvious to the walls itself Sirius was working through something, and he thought Prongs still needed him more. Even now, with Evans only feet from him in his favorite class he'd barely spared her a glance, and he was positive it wasn't for the novelty of being near her wearing off. Remus didn't really think that was possible. However, he didn't seem to be doing him much good just bumming around his side.

"And here I thought this was the one class I could count on you to take notes in," he said cheerfully enough as he made his way to Sirius' side as Smith began Harry's morning breakfast.

Sirius ignored him and traveled onto the next bag. He'd been avoiding everyone since they'd spent their brief time under the Dark Mark, and Remus' innards twisted uncomfortably that he didn't automatically know why. Sirius was not the type to blame himself for, anything, he was too proud and more than happy to pin problems on anything else. His hand in Snape's near-death and his following response last month had proved that to Remus, but he could also not come up with any other explanation for the look keeping him locked away from him and James now. It was the same vicious hatred he'd held since what Peter had done had been revealed, but now permanent whether he was looking at Wormtail or not.

He was making progress even farther away across the room while Remus hesitated, wondering if he even should go after him or let Sirius come to them? That seemed even less likely to happen than world peace at this point. Remus glanced at where Peter was, at the far end of the room and having a rather stilted looking conversation with Sirius' little brother. The number of times he'd been seeing that lately was baffling, but not his concern right now.

Remus' attention was admittedly distracted by Harry reaching his Care of Magical Creatures class and Hagrid introducing a brand new species he couldn't even identify. Blast-Ended Skrewts? Now what on Earth...it's not as if he was doing any good and it couldn't hurt to hear of this new development.

James let out a soft laugh under his breath no one heard as he watched it all. He gave credit to Remus for trying, and just as predictably letting himself be distracted. He tracked Sirius' progress as he kept himself away from everyone, as he'd been doing during their previous fight, but Sirius was not a solitary person by nature. He'd hated his home for how alone he always felt, considering his little brother prided himself on spending more time with his parents and his own house-elf over him. Before all this there'd hardly been a time at school he'd left James' side, that he couldn't glance over and see him with a mischievous plan at the ready to keep them all going to their next bout of trouble.

Yet he hadn't a chance to send a very important response back to Harry, and as his son made his way to Divination and Trelawny echoed even worse fears he couldn't help agreeing with his son. This future was more than proof enough something could happen to the four of them and they could never make up from it, and James didn't want that! Surely Sirius didn't either...

Regulus' face fell as Peter sidestepped another question for the fifth time, and he finally decided to take the hint and leave him alone. Peter flinched with guilt as he saw this, he really did have a knack for driving everyone away, but he didn't call Regulus back as Harry and Malfoy erupted into a fight. It would do him no good, he told himself, to look like a pathetic rat trying to worm up and make friends with Sirius' little brother, he should have never done so in the first place-

Everyone froze what they were doing rather abruptly as Malfoy got turned into a ferret. The person responsible for this living up to the mad part of his name.

Then James and Sirius were laughing again, together, loudly, as if they hadn't a care in the world except putting whatever student had messed with them in their place.

Evans clearly didn't agree, she was scowling ferociously that a teacher would do what Potter was so fond of in problem solving, and Frank seemed to agree with her, he seemed astounded any teacher would resort to such a thing. Alice seemed the most undecided, as if she were trying her hardest not to seem smug at this comeuppance but failing all the same.

Regulus turned back to him curiously, and then the two shared a look of excitement Peter hadn't felt in what seemed like a lifetime. There was nothing quite like the euphoria of watching others at work, knowing you were apart of something. They may not have had a hand in the proceedings this time, Peter was sure in another life Regulus actually would have been one of Draco's friends, but for now they both seemed able to agree the little furball had got what was coming to him.

Well, not entirely. Regulus was mostly laughing at the little idiot getting caught. It made perfect sense to strike while an enemy had his back turned to you, served the Potter's kid right doing such a foolish thing, but also Malfoy had made a very obvious mistake doing this in the Entrance Hall. He could certainly appreciate someone learning their lesson. Regardless of why Peter was snickering, it still felt good to see they could still agree on this being hilarious.

Remus didn't have anything to hide behind to show his amusement, and he didn't think he would regardless at the amount of textbooks available. Alice got through the rest of the chapter with the boys in high spirits, James and Sirius were finally in the same mood with something to tie them together again once more. He hoped it wasn't the simple, cheap thrill of laughter that held them together, but still held his breath it could at least be the start of mending their group once more as the chapter finished.

[honourablejester]

I’m just rewatching Baahubali 2

(If anyone has not watched the Baahubali movie duology, absolutely do watch them! They are six hours of Indian historical fantasy, wall-to-wall bombast and batshit-crazy spectacle, but also ridiculously affecting with grand tragedy and giddy romance and horrific betrayal and amazing triumph)

And one of the things that surprisingly really affected me was Amarendra Baahubali’s interactions with Kumara Varma.

Because, okay, there’s this standard story. The godlike hero goes undercover as a peasant in a foreign kingdom to win the heart of its princess. He pretends to be an idiot and winds up serving this noble ass of a suitor as part of his disguise. He performs godlike feats and makes it look like it’s the idiot doing them, and gradually the cowardly idiots starts to get a big head about it because he’s starting to wonder if he actually is doing these things. It comes to a head when the kingdom is being legit invaded by a massive bandit army, and our hero drops cover a bit to try and warn them, and the noble idiot gets uppity and not only yells at him but then kicks him. Kicks our hero solidly in the chest. Our hero who promptly goes on to reveal his godlike badassery and save the day.

In any other story, that poor uppity idiot would have been given his comeuppance and shamed for having attacked the hero.

But Baahubali raises him up instead.

Granted, by swinging in a window as a roomful of women is about to be slaughtered by about twenty enemies, handing the poor guy a knife and telling him this is his time to shine, and then swooping back out the window and leaving the poor bastard to either man up or be messily slaughtered as every woman in the room is stolen away or murdered …

But Baahubali realises that Kumara actually does have proper fight and honour in him, gives him the opportunity to prove it, and when Kumara does, when he fights and wins on his own merit and to protect his people, and thereby proves he genuinely is a worthy man and noble, when they meet again after the battle …

Kumara apologises to him for hitting him, clearly realising that here is the hero and quite possibly a literal god in mortal flesh, and clearly expecting to be shamed for what he did, and Baahubali tells him well done. He tells him that kick was how he knew Kumara really did have the strength to fight, and that the wounds he now bears are proper warrior wounds, and basically just tells him that he did good, and then hugs him. Genuinely. Like, that was amazing dude, I knew you had that in you, you did so good. And Kumara is ridiculously affected and it’s amazing.

This is just … not how this story normally goes. I mean, yes, the uppity noble often is shamed and humbled, and sometimes becomes a better person because of it, but usually they’re humbled just by seeing the hero’s badassery. They’re not usually given the opportunity to be badass themselves. They’re not usually handed a knife and told to fight or die, get themselves cut to ribbons, then stand back up and save at least part of the day. And then get genuinely and honestly thanked and admired for it, by the hero. I mean, Kumara started out as the comedy relief. The rich idiot for our hero to be godlike beside. And then Baahubali says fuck that shit, and gives Kumara a chance to be a hero for real. And is so proud of him when he genuinely lives up to it.

It’s a ridiculous and hilarious little thing and a tiny fraction of a much, much bigger story, but it honestly really affected me, and I loved it so much! They were adorable!

(And then tragedy happened, because of course it did, and for real Bhallaladeva you deserved every last second of what happened to you at the end of this movie, you absolute bastard)

I just like that Baahubali is not just a ridiculously amazing badass, he’s also a genuinely good dude who wants to lift people up just so they can be honestly proud of themselves for having done something terrifying and heroic and for real

(Admittedly by dumping them in the middle of an honest-to-god fight for their lives and then vanishing, but, I mean … it worked?)

Also, watch these movies!

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Patrick Bateman

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Patrick Bateman is one of the greatest villains in cinematic history… or is he? I do not say that as a rhetorical question, because at face value the protagonist of American Psycho is an amusing, entertaining, and charismatically monstrous individual who seemingly commits numerous atrocities throughout the film… but therein lies the rub. “Seemingly.”

You see, as the final third of the film reveals, Patrick Bateman may not actually be all there in the head. Shocking, I know, the guy who lectures hookers about Phil Collins might have a few screws loose. But the final third of the film paints a picture of a man who, while clearly sick and disturbed, may not actually be as evil as he seems. Or maybe he is.

Actor: Patrick Bateman is portrayed by Christian Bale, and as is the norm for the actor he extensively method acted, working out constantly and even maintaining the morning routine Bateman monologues about at the film’s start. Bale was told that taking this role would be career suicide, but thankfully he didn’t listen; there really is no better way to start a career than with a role like this. Bale’s performance lends a certain outward charm to Bateman, one that almost entirely masks the nature of who Bateman is, but not quite, leading to something of an uncanny valley effect that suits the role. There’s always something off about Bateman, even when he’s not really doing anything evil, and Bale sells it.

Motivation/Goals: Bateman doesn’t necessarily have a goal, per se, instead killing because he can, though at least one of his murders does have a motivation: Paul Allen is killed by Bateman for the heinous sleight of… having a fancier business card than he does. And getting a reservation at a fancy restaurant. And getting a business deal that no one seems to know the exact details of. Bateman really kills for no other reason than to please himself, and any and all reasonings for his crimes only exist inside his mind. If, of course, he actually committed any crimes at all.

Personality: One of the most obvious facets of Bateman’s personality is that he is incredibly narcissistic, a trait glaringly obvious in scenes such as when he has a threesome with the hookers, where in the midst of sex he seems to be enjoying looking in the mirror and flexing more than he does the actual sex he’s having. As Bateman was created as a satire of yuppies and the whole commercialistic greediness of the 80s, this is to be expected, but it’s interesting to note that his narcissism isn’t really anything that makes him stand out amongst his peers, as all of them are so entirely self-absorbed that even when Bateman is name dropping serial killers in conversation or outright admitting to crimes, the people he’s talking to don’t even notice or outright mishear him. It is worth noting that this narcissism is probably what leads into his one redeeming trait, which is that he never kills anyone who he knows to love him, including his gay coworker or his fiancee, neither of which are people he is even remotely fond of, with the former outright disgusting him. Of course, as I mentioned, he likely only allowed them to continue living because of their admiration of him and not out of any genuine kindness

Bateman mentions that his entire persona is carefully constructed, which is evident with his long-winded yet endlessly amusing ramblings about pop culture which he goes into before doing his various misdeeds. Bateman just has an entirely shallow, delusional idea of what it means to be human and have interests that he stands out to the audience, though not really to his peers, as they are just as vapid and shallow as he makes himself appear to be. Of course, as is much more evident in the book but which is still pretty clear here, Bateman hates everything about who he is, and finds the life he is in a sort of cruel irony, as while he despises everything about his life he cannot think of any way to escape it, and no one can stop him and murdering people brings no joy because his confessions are ignored, no one really cares to discover the truth, and even if they did the people of this world are ultimately so interchangeable (a running theme is that people mistake each other for other people all the time, misremembering names and faces to highlight how void of personality and completely interchangeable all these people are) that even when he does kill someone no one really notices anyway.

Of course, that is assuming Bateman is really a killer. As is made clear in both book and movie towards the end, Bateman may in fact actually be not all there, which seems a silly thing to say about someone who was presented as a serial killer for the rest of the narrative, but the third act of the film really casts his mental state into complete doubt. From the ATM telling him to feed it a cat to his ridiculously explosive shootout with the cops to his return to the scene of one of his more grisly crimes only to discover that there is nothing there at all and the rooms are being refurbished to be sold add a surreal layer to the film and cast all that we have seen in doubt. Perhaps everything prior is just the delusions of an extremely mentally ill man who uses murderous slasher fantasies to cope with his utterly banal Wall Street existence. Much like in the book, it is entirely up to the viewer’s personal opinion on what exactly happened.

Final Fate: Bateman suffers no comeuppance for any of the crimes he committed, even after confessing to them. In fact, in a final mind screw, his killing of Paul Allen might have been entirely imagined on his part, and so his confession to a lawyer is entirely laughed off, leaving Patrick to stew in his bitter resentment at everything he has done (or so he believes he has done) having been for nothing. “This confession has meant nothing,” as he states.

Best Scene: It’s really hard to say there’s any scene better than the blackly comedic scene in which he reviews Huey Lewis before taking an axe to Paul’s head. I suppose it helps that Paul is played by Jared Leto, and many people would like to see him suffer. And if you find yourself doubting how great this scene is, here are two familiar faces who may convince you of the scene’s greatness

Best Quote: Patrick’s numerous pop culture monologues are faithfully translated from the book, and while it’s hard to just pick one, obvious props need to go to his pseduo-intellectual blathering about Huey Lewis and the news in the aforementioned scene.

Final Thoughts & Score: Patrick Bateman is easily one of the most fascinating characters in all of fiction. It is nothing short of miraculous that he was translated so faithfully from book to screen, to the point where the numerous aspects of him that were toned down (he never murders a child in the film, and his little escapade with the tubing and the rat is mercifully omitted, for instance) are not much of a bother seeing as Patrick is still a massively entertaining and interesting satire at the upper class of the Reaganomics era. The fact that one can read his actions multiple ways and examine the character from so many angles, leading to entirely different viewing experiences between different people, makes Patrick Bateman the very first 10/10 villain. There’s just a lot of nuance and ambiguity to the character that makes rewatching the film infinitely rewarding, and toning him down a bit from the book definitely helps making it easier to revisti the movie than the (admittedly fantastic) book.

[douxreviews]

Star Trek: Discovery - ‘Brother’ Review

"Space: The Final Frontier. Above us, around us, within us. We have always looked to the stars to discover who we are."

By nature I love brevity: Star Trek: Discovery takes a long, clean breath of fresh air in this big, bold premiere that sheds the burdens of Season One and lets them roll down the hill behind.

Star Trek: Enterprise was canceled in 2005. And in the Fall of that year, as shows premiered, fans were faced with a sad reality: for the first time in 28 years, a new season of Star Trek was not among them. And for 12 years, this continued. And then we Discovered a new frontier. Breaking the silence of more than a decade, Star Trek: Discovery was a sign that Trek was not dead.

But of course, it was not without its flaws. Discovery Season One had issues with its tone and its dialogue. The crew, above and beyond their stilted, grandiose speech, rarely seemed like a family, or even a group of people who like each other. And the levels of anxiety and brooding were at dangerously high levels. We're talking Superman from Batman v. Superman levels of anxiety and brooding.

The fans pointed out these issues, though the good parts still remained (excepting the 'fans' who actively went out of their way to be openly hostile towards the series, its creators, and its viewers). And the team behind Discovery listened. 'Brother' benefits from a light and relaxed tone that feels like the lifting of a heavy curtain. The crew speaks in a generally human and natural manner, and they work together like a tight family. Brooding is nowhere to be seen, and the anxiety present is of a different sort than the cloud of deep worry that permeated Season One. Instead the viewer felt more of an empathetic concern about the characters and their lives.

The first and most immediate effect of 'Brother' is, in fact, to distance the show from its past mistakes. Associating these issues with the influence of Captain Lorca makes a lot of sense from a story perspective, even if the creators' insistence that all the darker elements were only a result of him doesn't quite sit right. From the outset, Captain Pike makes it clear that he is very different from Lorca. Everything about his manner and bearing suggests a completely different man from Jason Isaacs' power-hungry warmonger. But Pike is no Kirk, either, as one might anticipate. Anson Mount gives his Pike a humility and a grounded feel that Kirk never quite developed.

The other proverbial elephant on the starship is the presence of Spock. Though the adult version of our beloved half-Vulcan does not appear, his importance in the events of 'Brother' and the impact the mere allusion to the character has on the series is clear. We learn that he and Burnham's strained relationship is the result of her decisions, not his. It's clear she views him and his legacy as an oppressive force in her life, perhaps as a standard she could never live up to? There's a great shot that really sums this up, when young Spock makes his holo-dragon. The dragon moves toward Burnham, and roars at her, and Spock walks in through its mouth. I think that's how she sees Spock.

Sarek and Burnham's conversation about reverence also factors in. This show has decided to include a character that most fans undoubtedly have a lot of reverence for. But to make him a useful character, with an arc and a purpose, reverence is not enough. The massive weight of Spock's impact on Star Trek and the fans' adoration of him will be a problem that Discovery will have to deal with.

Moving to our regular cast, I loved how they were dealt with here. The other side of Lorca's effect on the Disco crew is that such a major and personal adversary has brought them together and made them rely on each other. All of the returning cast felt like a family around each other, and their interactions made the ship feel like a real workplace run by a real team. This is a major improvement from last season.

It looks like Burnham's journey this season will be thoroughly intertwined with Spock's. I look forward to seeing her relationship with him and how it develops, but I do hope they give her a role to play apart from and outside of the shadow of her foster brother. Likewise, Stamets seems overshadowed by the impact of someone else. Everything around him reminds him of his lost love Dr. Culber, and he's having a very hard time dealing with it. It seems like the end of this episode was enough to get him at least a little bit excited about science again, though it's unlikely that this is the end of his plotline about leaving the ship. With Wilson Cruz brought on as a full cast member for this season, it'll be interesting to see where this goes.

Tilly and Saru don't seem to have much in the way of an arc yet, but I'm sure this will change. I expect most of Tilly's story this season will have something to do with her enrollment in the Command Training Program. Saru mentioned his sister Siranna, from the Short Trek 'The Brightest Star,' and the showrunners have stated that we may see other Kelpians this season, so expect to see a visit to Saru's home planet of Kaminar sometime in the future. Maybe siblings will continue to be a theme this season.

Overall, 'Brother' was a pretty epic way to kick off the new season. It's fun and engaging, with a lot of potential. I can't wait to see where we go from here.

Strange New Worlds:

This section will record the planets the Disco visits and the places they go. Not a whole lot of that in this particular episode.

New Life and New Civilizations:

Here I'll keep track of all the new species, ideas, and cultures the crew encounters. Again, nothing in the way of that here.

Pensees (Thoughts):

-Mia Kirshner (Amanda) looks a lot like Amy Adams. She also really resembles Amanda from TOS, so that's nice.

-Stamets has a botanist friend aboard the Enterprise.

-In keeping with the Trek tradition of altering the intro, we have some brand new graphics added to the opening theme.

-Regulation 19, Section C allows a higher-ranking officer to take command of a starship in one of three contingencies: 1. An imminent threat; 2. The lives of Federation citizens are in danger; 3. There is no more qualified officer available to deal with the situation.

-I love Doug Jones' Saru walk. It's just so much fun to watch.

-That's the first shot we've gotten of a turbo lift running through a starship in all of Trek, if memory serves. Pretty cool, too.

-Another Alice in Wonderland nod. Also, holo-candles.

-Sarek mentioned that he's reached out to Klingon High Chancellor L'Rell (Mary Chieffo), and she had no explanation for the red bursts either.

-The Captain goes on the away mission, in true Trek tradition.

-There was a bit of Spock's Jellyfish ship from Star Trek (2009) in the design of the pods they flew.

-How cool was the pod sequence? Also, it was admittedly rather satisfying to see Olson Connelly get his comeuppance when he failed to pull his chute crashed and died because of the dumb risk he took.

-One of the ads loaded at the wrong time when I watched this the first time. The long ad break split a shot in half.

-I liked Reno (Tig Notaro). The idea of using an engineering approach to medicine is interesting, although I wouldn't want to be one of the first patients it was tried on.

-The Red Angel is still very much an unknown. I partially expect it will have something to do with the Klingons, if not only because they seem from the trailers to have a big role to play.

-The asteroid material wouldn't beam up. That's intriguing. It may be the key to fixing the spore drive, too, as it looks from the trailer that we'll be jumping again this season.

-'Not every cage is a prison, nor every loss eternal.' That's very interesting, and it has a lot of significance for Pike.

-It makes sense that the crew of the Enterprise would have issues with sitting out the war while on their five-year mission.

-The Disco's new Doctor is named Dr. Pollard.

-One of the names in the credits was 'Matt Decker.'

-A lot of references to faith/religion and related subjects in this episode. I don't think it's necessarily significant, but I thought it was worth noting.

-Alex Kurtzman directed this episode. I thought he did a great job; maybe he should stick to that instead of the whole coming up with ideas thing. I'm still baffled by the seriously weird and unsettling bits about Klingon anatomy from Season One.

Quotes:

Amanda: "I bless you, Michael... all my life."

Pike: "Do not covet thy neighbor's starship, Commander."

Pike: "Why didn't we think of that, Connelly? Think of all the syllables that gave their lives."

Pike: "Sometimes it's wise to keep your expectations low, Commander. That way we're never disappointed." Advice to the audience, perhaps?

Tilly: "I put her in a Utility closet, and I put you in there. I'm drunk on power."

Stamets: "Tilly, you are... incandescent. You're going to become a magnificent Captain because you do everything out of love. But I need you to repeat after me. I will say..." Tilly: "I will say..." Stamets: "Fewer things." Tilly: "Fewer thi- okay."

Sarek: "Spock has great reverence for his mother, but reverence tends to-" Burnham: "Fill up the room." It's the shot of Burnham's fairly empty quarters just as she interrupts that sells this one.

Pike: "Detmer - fly... good."

Pike: "I was expecting a red thing. Where's my damn red thing?"

Pike: "Spock asked the most amazing questions. It's completely logical, yet somehow able to make everyone see that logic was the beginning of the picture and not the end."

Burnham: "There are so many things I wish I'd said to you; so many things I want to say now. I'm too late, aren't I? I can only pray I don't lose you again... brother."

A strong, solid premiere. 5 out of 6 damn red things.

CoramDeo is interested in things.

[aion-rsa]

Loki Episode 6 Review: For All Time. Always.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This review contains Marvel’s Loki episode 6 spoilers

Loki Episode 6

If you thought Marvel’s Disney+ shows were done with Contact homages after Monica Rambeau’s transformation sequence in WandaVision, you thought wrong. The Loki season finale, “For All Time. Always.” opened with another one. We heard iconic dialogue from other MCU films, including Vision’s “What is grief, if not love persevering?” – which went from a heartbreaking utterance to an instant meme earlier this year – as we pulled out from Earth and its blistering sun and outward toward the Citadel at the End of Time where Kang resides, but not before we were joined by the likes of Neil Armstrong, Greta Thunberg, and Nelson Mandela.

Finally, we heard Sylvie calling out to Loki: “Open your eyes!” She’d go on to say variations of the same plea throughout this episode.

“What makes a Loki a Loki?” Mischief? Lies? Revenge? Our Loki experienced a breakthrough when it came to these quirks and failings and seemed resolved to make better choices.

Sylvie? Yeah, not so much.

Sylvie only saw lies and felt revenge for her own pain and the suffering of myriad Variants as she sought the destruction of the TVA and, ultimately, the rebirth of the multiverse. I found myself just as much on her side as I was on Loki’s, and the creators of the show did a great job to get me there because Loki, Kang, and Sylvie all had valid points to make while arguing about whether to kickstart the infinite possibilities of the multiverse – once you open that box it’s not easy to close it existentially or narratively. But we knew a Multiverse of Madness was on the horizon, and that Sylvie was probably going to be the winner of this particular argument.

The Loki season finale reaped the benefits of getting most of its big action out of the way in the penultimate episode‘s battle against Alioth, and I felt no disappointment that “For All Time. Always.” had about half an hour of exposition in store. We started this thing by absorbing a ton of exposition and that’s how we were going to bloody finish it! This time, however, it was exposition I absolutely yearned for, and Jonathan Majors’ Kang was there to deliver it in spades as I hung on his every word.

How good was Majors as Kang, though? I found him to be an instantly terrific addition to the MCU, despite his villainous appearance being signposted for quite a while. In the Sacred Timeline, Kang at least appeared to be a thoughtful, clever, fairly amiable and quite casual man who chuckled his way through an inevitable and dangerous comeuppance (which he admittedly allowed to happen) but there are other versions of Kang out there now who aren’t quite so pleasant to deal with, and we’ll almost certainly be meeting at least one of them in the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. I suspect we may run into him again before that, but Majors has a unique chance to put in a completely different performance as Kang every time we see him.

It seemed fitting that when we finally met Kang he was eating an apple – a symbol for knowledge, immortality, temptation, the fall of man, and sin. Loki has played with all of these themes deftly throughout its run, and continued to do so in this episode. The Wizard of Oz and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory vibes were still running strong in the finale as Kang explained to Loki and Sylvie that he was tired and had decided that they were the perfect people to take over his majestic reign of the Sacred Timeline, and it all made for a definite improvement on The Matrix: Reloaded’s similar but legendarily confusing Architect encounter by actually making sense in a clear, effective, and adroit way.

It takes a lot to write Loki into a place where he plays a fairly innocent pawn in a chess game that he has no idea how to play, especially after we’ve seen him be several moves ahead in other MCU outings. But to have him be the voice of reason in that scenario was quite something, and Tom Hiddleston’s performance during the sequence where he struggled to avoid fighting Sylvie in order to express it was incredible. I may not have completely bought into the romance between Loki and Sylvie, but I did buy into the essential ways that they were too different to trust each other when push came to shove.

Kang managed to give Renslayer a bite of the apple before he met the end of Sylvie’s sword by passing on some key knowledge through Miss Minutes. Renslayer and Kang are heavily connected in the comics, even becoming romantically involved at several points, so we can probably expect to see them on screen together in the future now that she has ditched Mobius and the TVA and set out on her own quest. As Sylvie defied Loki, so Renslayer defied Mobius. But hey, that’s free will for ya baby.

I was pretty gutted to find out during the episode’s Planet of the Apes-esque cliffhanger that Mobius doesn’t remember Loki and that their friendship is now entirely one-sided, but I trust that these two will reconnect at some point. I can only assume that Owen Wilson will return for Season 2, and that assumption is just one thing keeping me happy right now as I bid goodbye to Loki for a while. I enjoyed watching every episode of this series, but I’m glad that in the Season 1 finale we not only got answers, but actually saw one of these Disney+ shows dare to impact the MCU in a major way, far beyond the kind of personal character and power development we saw with Wanda and Sam.

Yes, the multiverse has returned, and we have no idea what madness lies ahead, only that a war beyond our wildest nightmares with Kang at the center of it is coming. I couldn’t be more excited to find out what happens next or how Loki and the rest of the MCU denizens will play their parts as Phase 4 unravels.

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The post Loki Episode 6 Review: For All Time. Always. appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3ieZUD0

[shenmeizhuang-blog]

10 + 11 questions tag, cont.

I got more questions, that is all. *waves at @renewedmotionforjudgment * 

Original here. 

A. Always post the rules. Answer the questions then write (10 or 11?) new ones.

B. Tag 11 people and link them to the post. Tell the person who tagged you that you’ve answered their questions.

Favorite heroine?

Bu Bu Jing Xin’s Ruoxi/Zhang Xiao, because I loved how they explored her inner conflict, as well as the discrepancy between how well she adapted to the Qing court lifestyle on the surface and her 21st-century ideals. 

A close second would be Legend of Zhen Huan’s Zhen Huan, because I live for that transformation to moral darkness.  

Favorite drama trope?

An anti-hero (preferably anti-heroine’s) “descent to evil”, as well as satisfying comeuppance and/or revenge. 

Name a character that you initially liked but came to dislike?

Oh dear god, Glory of Tang’s Dugu Jingyao. I still have no idea what to ultimately think of her character, though I can rationalize an appropriate ending from the scenario the show provided. Also, I can’t help but suspect that the scriptwriters sort of pretended that the major conflict that was largely her doing was actually between Dongzhu exclusively (admittedly, Zhenzhu leaving the 王府 actually improved the entire viewing of experience of S2, and the “胡话” actually really made sense to me). Umm…this post totally won’t be more of me ranting about The Glory of Tang Dynasty.

Least favorite drama trope?

In period dramas especially, when male lead is forced to marry someone who isn’t his love interest, sometimes the second female lead, therefore acts like a total asshole towards her. Like, WTF? (Sadly, it even happens more often than I’d like to think.) E.g, why I couldn’t even get through Shen An and Song Ning’s arc in Lure of the Hua Xu Song: City of Devastating Love and why I hated the most recent Huan Zhu Ge Ge remake.  

What dramas do you think should be 20 episodes shorter?

Perfect Couple – literally chop away the last 20 episodes and literally we already have a much more improved show. General And I, probably, though I dropped it so can’t give full judgment. 

(I’m also still wondering how Glory of Tang managed to be 92 episodes long. 92 EPISODES LONG. I think maybe they actually needed ~80-85 or so episodes, because there are way too many flashbacks in S2. Like, just from the general vibe of the show it doesn’t feel like a particularly long show (?), and actually remains fast-paced and intense until Ep 70, and then by Ep 76 the pace picks up again all the way to the ending. And even then, I’ve read fan complaints that they actually cut out quite a lot from the original script, and I’m just like ???)

Favorite example of trope dissection/dispellation?

As I was writing these questions, I was mostly thinking of how I LOVED how Glory of Tang completely subverted the whole “he has a tragic backstory but he lurves the girl and happens to be hot, therefore for some reason deserves her love/healing” bullshit. 

But, more GOTD feels aside, Bu Bu Jing Xin in general sometimes feels like such a wonderful trope subversion in itself – the way they examined time travel, Ruoxi/4th’s entire dynamic, Ruoxi’s characterization, developing Minghui and Mingyu, etc., etc. 

Favorite time travel drama?

Bu Bu Jing Xin! Obvious. 

(Go Princess Go is rather unique, though slightly too…brash (?) for my tastes.)

What historical figure would you like to see a drama about?

Something about Tang Dynasty’s Princess Gaoyang, Princess Anle, or Princess Taiping

Also, largely shocked that there hasnt been a hit show about the Qing Dynasty’s Emperor Guangxu and Consort Zhen, since their entire story/political situation literally screams cdrama. 

What type of plot twist would you like to see more?

When someone supposedly had amnesia, but it turns out, he/she was faking it. Something that ends up subverting a trope. Hmm. Maybe?

What is the worst plot twist you have seen in a drama?

I’m pretty much thinking of the entire latter half of Scarlet Heart: Ryeo. If you haven’t watched the debacle, don’t. 

I asked and tagged people already, so I don’t feel like putting out more questions, except for these questions (that most likely won’t see, and probably won’t answer): 

How many more dramas will Mao Zi Jun participate in before he lands himself a lead role? 

When (specific dd/mm/yyyy) will Glory of Tang get English subs?

Speculate why all these upcoming shows are basically 40-90 episodes long.

Help me rationalize how or why JJ Lin has a music video with over 100 million views on YouTube (as well as other music videos with considerably large view counts, despite most of his fanbase located in an area with no access to YouTube), yet zero presence on Tumblr. 

On the contrary, why does everyone talk about Jolin Tsai’s crazy MVs, though her videos actually have considerably fewer YouTube views?

If Yu Zheng, being Yu Zheng, decided to adapt SHR, would it be an even worse mess, or would he somehow miraculously recreate the political intensity and complexity of Schemes of A Beauty? Give statistical evidence.

Anyone watch C-variety??

Given my drama preferences, what non-C-dramas do you recommend?

Longest show you’ve seen and completed ever. 

Thoughts on H&R (欢瑞)’s penchant for repeat casts, tendency to split their recent shows into multiple seasons, as well as overall poor drama-promoting abilities. 

Name two celebrities from different countries that look freakishly alike.

[nerdywerdyprincess-blog]

The Final Solution (last episode revision)

So I can’t live with it. Sorry, I just can’t! I’m re-writing the episode the way it should have been written, tying up all loose ends and making good on that promise to “make history”. What follows will be a chapter by chapter revision of The Final Problem, re-titled the Final Solution. Featuring M-Theory, M/M, Fluff, Eurus’ and Moriarty’s comeuppance and a kiss we should have gotten. It will feature scenes from the The Final Problem trailer and some actual dialogue from the original episode so you could argue the Final Problem trailer could apply to this story as well.

Here’s the teaser Prologue. Cue the comments and let me know if you want more.

The Final Solution -----------------------      Prologue -----------------------

All he could register at first was the cold. Though his mind was slow and drugged, he found himself pulled from blissful oblivion forcefully by the sensation of freezing limbs and shivers that shook his entire body. There was pain as well of course; his head pounded in a way that reminded him of the morning after his stag night with Sherlock. He’d been so drunk! And for good reason, he now realized.

Sherlock…. Was he speaking to Sherlock now? Yes, yes, he was! He remembered now. Sherlock had held him close as he cried, and he could still remember the scent of his aftershave and the way his elegant, soft hand had curled around his neck a little awkwardly, holding him close as he shamefully wept.

And then he remembered something else. His therapist, one blue eye and one brown…..a gun.

The east wind.

John Watson slowly opened light brown eyes to take in his surroundings, fully expecting to be in a hospital or perhaps, if he were quite unlucky, some version of the afterlife. He felt too groggy and too drugged to do more than blink a few times and move his head to try and figure out where he was. Definitely not a hospital…

Everything was too dark to make out at first, and yet there seemed to be some pale light streaming down from above, allowing his eyes to adjust and illuminate stone walls. He suddenly realized he was wet. Very wet! And sitting at the bottom of…..something. A well maybe?!

“Christ!” John swore as he started to try and pick himself up out of the water. He could die of hypothermia alone if he remained immersed in it! But where the hell was he?

“Hello?!” John called up towards the round opening at the top, even as he started to semi-blindly feel around him, hoping to find some kind of hand-hold that he could pull himself up and use to climb to the top, although admittedly that would be difficult as it was so high up. He moved freely…. He felt nothing weighing him down like a chain or anything, which was lucky he supposed. He did frown as he heard the clink of something at his feet and reached into the water which was waist deep and came up with…..bones….

“Shit,” John whispered softly, because the bones were small. Dog bones? He certainly hoped so! Although the femur….as he could see that’s what it was…tended to be angled more like a human bone.

There was a sudden vibration and then ringing in his pocket and John felt his heart pound in shock and hope as he realized he had his mobile phone on him.

Eurus….his therapist….the woman Sherlock had spoken to! Had she been so careless as to leave him a means of communication? And why had she done this? What was the plan? Why pose as his therapist and drug him with some kind of tranquilizer and then place him here? It seemed an odd game to play.

He suddenly wondered how his mobile could survive being submerged in water, but the answer was obvious as he reached for it, and it implied that him having it on him was entirely deliberate, as someone had wrapped the small device in a plastic, water-tight bag. John’s hands shook as he unwrapped it quickly and then answered the phone which was still ringing.

“Hello? Hello, Sherlock?!” John asked anxiously with a shamefully desperate waver in his voice, having not even glanced at the caller I.D. and somehow assuming that it would be Sherlock, who must be looking for him, right?

“Did you miss me?”

The voice one the other end of the line made him feel even colder than he already was. He literally couldn’t feel his own feet for a moment as he registered that Jim Moriarty was speaking to him! Or at least, someone who had a recording of his voice and sounded just like him.

“W-Who is this?” John asked and took a deep breath to steady himself. He had to stay calm. He was a soldier damn it, and he had to stay calm! “What sort of game is this?”

“It’s time for the final problem. Do you know what it is? Once upon a time there was a doctor named John!” Moriarty’s voice taunted him over the phone.

“This is impossible. You’re dead! You can’t be alive. This is a trick!” John insisted angrily, even as he looked around desperately for a way out. But it was then he noticed that the water level was….getting a little higher…

“John’s Daddy was mean to him and his Mummy died when he was little. So he decided he wanted to go to war and prove to his Daddy that he was a tough man’s man!” Moriarty continued as if he hadn’t heard him, saying ‘man’s man’ with a kind of mock-macho voice. “Only he wasn’t, was he? No, John has a secret. A secret he’s never told anyone!”

“Stop it!” John snapped sharply, even as he started to breath faster. The water was rising…. He wasn’t imagining it. “Just stop it, alright?! What do you WANT?!”

He didn’t care who it was now. Eurus or Moriarty or the devil himself. He just wanted out!

“John left the army and he made a new friend. A friend named….Sherlock,” Moriarty whispered softly, the name sounding like a caress on his lips. “Only trouble was, Sherlock already had a friend, and John just got in the way. And so….John had to go.”

There was a click as the phone and the line went dead. John’s heart pounded in terror as he glanced down and realized that Moriarty or whoever it was hadn’t just hung up! The entire phone was black with loss of power.

“No, no, no! Work! Work, you have to work!!” John exclaimed and tried for several seconds to power his mobile back on, but it was useless. It was as dead as the bones that lay at the bottom of the well.

John dropped the phone in disgust and as the water started to rise, he felt himself shivering again with the cold and treaded water to keep his head above it. He started to think about his life, and how it was likely to come to an end quite soon, and all the regrets he was going to have.

Mary was one of them. He’d known it was a mistake, but he’d gone through with the wedding anyway, and looking back that had been cruel to both of them! But she’d deserved better. Granted, he had too, he admitted to himself with a dark and bitter scoff. He hadn’t deserved the lies or the manipulation, but she had deserved someone who hadn’t thought about cheating on her or who had actually wanted to carpool to work with her! Someone who had….loved her….the way she deserved. It still killed him, her last words to him, and how she thought him so perfect and how grateful she had been to him. Even crying about it and admitting it out loud didn’t take away the sting entirely. He found himself grateful for Rosie though… She was something he could never regret.

But even greater than his regret over Mary was his regret over someone else.

“Sherlock…” John whispered to himself, closing his eyes briefly as he realized how much he’d left unsaid, and how much he had failed Sherlock too. He was still haunted by his actions back at the hospital, where he’d literally been beating Sherlock while he was down on the ground. In that moment, he had become the worst version of himself.

He had become his father.

And he’d never gotten the chance to apologize for that. He’d never gotten the chance to apologize for blaming him or for pushing him away or for….any of it. He should have done it that same day, he berated himself. The day when he’d finally let go and Sherlock had comforted him, though it was the last thing he deserved! But John, as always he realized, had been too wrapped up in himself and his own demons to consider trying to address Sherlock’s. And yet, he knew that even if he’d tried, it would be difficult because John had never been good with expressing his own emotions.

Which was why, he realized suddenly, he was going to die without ever having voiced out loud to anyone the truth. The secret which….somehow….Moriarty had known.

Too late now, he realized as the water rose faster and he had to struggle to keep from going under. He was going to die here, alone, at the bottom of a well. And Moriarty or Eurus….or maybe both of them….would go after Sherlock and there would be nothing he could do to stop them.

The thought brought tears to his eyes, which drowned in the water just as he knew he would, and though he treaded water with all his might to keep from going under, he knew it was only a matter of time before his muscles gave out and he ended up as just a pile of bones in the bottom of a well.

-------------------- CUE INTRO MUSIC

TO BE CONTINUED....

[recentanimenews]

THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH Has a Large Hairy Son in Episodes 183-189

Welcome to THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH! I’m Joseph Luster, back in record time, and I’ll be your host this week as we barrel on through all 220 episodes of the original Naruto anime adaptation. In last week's episodes 176-182, we spent most of our time in the Hidden Star Village, but that arc comes to a swift end this week. Even more filler lies beyond, though, including the start of the Peddlers Escort Mission arc in episodes 183-189.

  As you may be able to tell by the tone of some of these questions, I'm feeling a little deflated at this point. The filler can be overwhelming at times, but at least we have the occasional one-off to brighten our week. In this case, the highlight for me was most definitely the gag episode in which Naruto has to avoid laughing during a funeral despite every possible attempt to get him to crack. It might be the series' most successful attempt at straight-up comedy to date.

  The rest of the batch was mostly disappointing, but there were a few ups to go along with the downs. As Crunchyroll user OrichalcosTwin1 said in last week's comments, "I enjoyed the Hidden Star Village filler, though as you're about to find out this week, I feel it could've concluded sooner and stuck around longer than it should've." I couldn't agree more. Let's find out what everyone else thought! 

    Do you love Sumaru's Mom's Ghost and her two-hit multi-target attacks? Did the finale of the Star Guard arc surprise you in any way, or was its ending written in the stars from the beginning?

  Paul: It was good that the main resolution to the Star Village story involved the children and the other villagers rebelling against Akahoshi after he went Full Crazy-Eyes and freely confessed his evil plans to everyone within earshot, but for the ultimate confrontation, it should have been Sumaru receiving his mother's spiritual energy to deliver the final blow. This arc was Sumaru's story, and tacking Naruto onto the end like that feels like a missed opportunity.

  David: Agreed. Ending a village’s internal political strife by punching the bad guy is one thing, but letting Naruto do it instead of the character most closely affected by the whole thing is pretty lame.

  Jared: I basically laughed when Sumaru’s mom gave her power to Naruto instead of Sumaru. Way to bury the kid both figuratively and literally. Other than that, the arc ended basically how I expected with Akahoshi getting his comeuppance and being real dumb.

  Kevin: The ending was predictable, aside from the stuff that made no sense. Of course the star was going to be destroyed, that way no one can try to bring it up as a power source later. Also, apparently ghosts exist in Naruto. I guess Orochimaru could’ve had a shortcut in creating the Reanimation Jutsu.

  Danni: The whole thing just fell way off the rails, honestly. I’m so tired of evil villains in this show maniacally cackling about how evil they are while trying to kill a bunch of children.

  Kara: I realized right as we were closing out that the Village Hidden in the Stars was literally just Naruto’s excuse to have fairies, after which point I kind of gave up on it making sense at all.

  Noelle: It’s a very typical villain cliché, but I can’t say it doesn’t work. Some of that fantasy stuff sure did happen though.

  Carolyn: It was definitely… weird. I have to agree with the above, that giving Naruto the power was a very odd choice. It also just feels like really weird and awkward writing. I know we’re in the land of filler, but this series is backflipping over the shark at this point.

    It took putting Akamaru in great peril to make me realize nothing can ever happen to Kiba's sweet pee-spraying baby. Which Naruto characters would you defend with your life at this point? 

  Paul: The easy answer is Rock Lee, who is much more of a good boy than Akamaru. It's weird that Akamaru can have a full-on “An American Werewolf in Leaf Village” episode in which he severely injures numerous shinobi, including his own master, and yet he's allowed to continue his ninja-dog training like nothing happened. I figured they'd pull a trick where Akamaru wasn't infected and there was some other werewolf running around, but nope. Straight up Cujo.

  David: Over the course of all this filler I’ve gotten even more attached to Neji and Tenten. Maybe I should go back and rewatch some episodes of that Rock Lee spinoff…

  Jared: ROCK LEE. 

  Kevin: Anime, if you ever try to hurt my ninja son Rock Lee ever again, the Five Great Nations are going to become the Five Great Craters. 

  Danni: ROCK LEE DEFENSE FORCE, ASSEMBLE! [sfx: Kamen Rider transformation noises]

  Kara: Rock Lee, as the rest of the room says. And Hinata. Dear God, I can’t wait ‘til 50% of her lines aren’t “Naruto-kun…” She deserves better than she gets in pretty much any part of her life.

  Noelle: As with everyone else, Rock Lee protection squad unite.

  Carolyn: Hahaha, did we ever expect anything less than a giant chorus of people loudly cheering on good boy Rock Lee?

    The Hidden Leaf Legend episode about Onbu made me think about all the aspects of the Naruto world of which we're not aware yet. From legends to history and beyond, what are you most curious about, and what would you like to see expanded upon in future episodes?

  Paul: There should be an episode where Naruto and the other young ninja of Leaf Village get sent on a snipe hunt mission by Tsunade in search of the legendary tsuchinoko, only for Kakashi, Might Guy, and the other Jonin to prank the heck out of them. Then they actually find a real tsuchinoko during the third act, and it grows angry over them invading its territory, and hijinks ensue.

  David: I was and am still interested in essentially anything that doesn’t have to do with ninjas. How does the rest of the world operate on a day-to-day basis, and how much, if at all, are they even aware of these ninja villages that seem to constantly be at war with each other?

  Jared: I’m kind of surprised there hasn’t been more backstory on the early Hokage, unless that’s being saved for later in Shippuden. Outside of that, I think it’d be good just to dive into character backstories or just go full slice-of-life at some points.

  Kevin: Honestly, I’m most curious about jutsu creation. We’ll get at least some insight into that later in Shippuden, but even then I’d still like to know a lot more.

  Danni: I just wanna know why everyone in the Hidden Leaf Village loves the SEGA Dreamcast so dang much.

  Kara: Considering weird ninja magic is essentially part of day-to-day life, I want to know what their escapist entertainment is like. What the heck do you read action comics about when you’re already halfway to a superhero? I’m guessing they have, like, Archiemaru or something where the escapism comes in the form of severe normality.

  Noelle: Even knowing some of the stuff that comes later, there’s a lot of things that aren’t really that expanded upon. The discrepancy between technology and how that clashes or interacts with ninjutsu is one, and how ninja society seems to be something both out in the open but not something that everyone can do is another. We might get to why ninjutsu happens later, but what of the people who aren’t ninja, in a world so heavily slated toward magical powers and how those with magic seem to rule society?

  Carolyn: We see villages with normal, non-ninja people fairly regularly, but we have no idea how they live. How do the government and ninja work together? Do they work together or do the ninja sort of work on their own laws/volition? Maybe that’s been answered, but I certainly don’t remember it. 

    As episode 186 reminds us, there's nothing more powerful than a forbidden laugh. Can you recall any particularly gut-busting "church laugh" moments in your life where you really lost it when you shouldn't have? 

  Paul: One time my sister got busted for accidentally cracking up during Christmas dinner because the decorative plates we were about to eat off of had a drawing of a little hobo Frosty the Snowman, complete with patches on his snow-suit. I guess the contrast of cloth patches on a suit made out of snow was too much for her, and she burst out laughing during what was supposed to be a solemn moment. She got grounded, and the Legend of the Hobo Snowman went down in Chapman family history.

  David: I don’t remember the details but I do recall actually being sent to the principal in elementary school for being unable to control my laughter one day.

  Jared: I can’t remember the specifics, but I’m pretty sure mine was an actual church laugh moment. Something must’ve made me have the giggles or I was just in a mood but I did that when I was going to church at the time and got in a bit of trouble for it.

  Kevin: I was watching Dororo, and one episode in particular had a guest animator who apparently is known for his… unique art style. Hyakkimaru “running” (ice skating) uphill between trees forced me to pause the video so that I could stop hysterically laughing.

  Danni: I have a rather subdued laugh usually, so I can’t think of any moments where laughing got me in trouble. However, a childhood spent watching a lot of America’s Funniest Home Videos has led to an adulthood full of instinctively laughing when people hurt themselves pratfalling.

  Kara: I was on a bus in Cardiff a few years ago and there was a guy who refused to sit down or hang on or anything. The driver braked and the dude went sliding comically. A few people snickered but I busted out laughing way too big and He Did Not Appreciate That. I got off at the next stop to avoid having my head punched down my own neck. (As an aside, I’ve gotta express my appreciation for Naruto basing an entire episode around the concept of the Giggle Loop from Coupling.)

  Noelle: Admittedly, I’m not the kind of person that bursts out laughing, even if emotions show on my face. My friends saying particularly wild things in public will always get me laughing, though.

  Carolyn: Actual laugh or defensive laugh? I worked as a ride operator at an amusement park as a teen and some kids tried to run on the ride AS IT WAS MOVING. I had to use the emergency shutdown and started laughing like a maniac. The kids' parents were very angry at me for that, but some co-workers and other customers assured them it was a nervous laugh, which it was. They could have gotten very, very hurt and I didn’t know how to react to that.

As for an actual “wow that was funny” laugh … well, this story is a bit mean but it got to me hard. Outside my apartment one day, I saw a kid that was about 11-13 riding a bike and just toppled over and started laughing immediately. It was the way the bike fell. Usually, you imagine some wobbling, the handlebars going back and forth as they lose control or something. This was literally straight up to straight down in one immediate motion. It caught me by surprise. Also, the kid was fine.

    That Brings Us to the Land of Gree— you know what? Forget these veggie peddlers, we're way beyond the point of no return in Filler Purgatory. I hardly remember what it was like when Naruto was good, and the writing is at an all time low for most of this batch. Could you ever recommend this show past episode 140 or so, and has this changed the way you feel about it as a whole?

  Paul: I'm a completionist, so if I'm going to recommend something, I'm going to recommend all of it. You don't get to skip the boring or mediocre bits if you want to claim you've experienced a work of entertainment. The filler hasn't broken my spirit yet, and there are individual parts of it that I find compelling, although I admit nothing we've seen here compares to Naruto at its apex moments.

  David: I’d just recommend skipping all of it, but if you’re gonna watch any of it, the second best thing is probably to skip the arcs and watch some of the one-off episodes instead. The best part about the filler has been the focus on some side characters who didn’t get much time before, and the mostly silly single-episode adventures get you that without having to sit through nonsense stories that just make you wish you were watching the actual story instead.

  Jared: I might not necessarily recommend watching all of the filler, but maybe some of the better parts if they wanted to check that stuff out. People will watch what they watch and I’m not their dad, but I don’t think it’s necessarily all terrible like some people will lead you to believe. It certainly hasn’t changed my overall opinion of the show, it just makes me want to get back to the actual story. Although, if you want a test of endurance, then yeah, people should watch all the filler.

  Kevin: The only way I can realistically recommend Naruto after Filler Purgatory started was if I was trying to talk about all of the interesting character interactions that come from unique team combinations. Unfortunately, even the filler arcs have turned into the same few teams on a loop, and the plots aren’t nearly interesting enough to carry 100 episodes. So in all honesty, unless you just want to full Naruto experience of waiting forever to get to Shippuden or REALLY want to know everything that happens, even if it’s filler, no, I can’t recommend watching past episode 140. 

  Danni: I refused to listen to anyone telling me to skip certain arcs of Dragon Ball since they were filler. I said that if I’m gonna watch it, I’m gonna watch all of it. That being said, I really wish I could just skip ahead to Shippuden right now.

  Kara: This week of episodes has just been a hot mess. Not gonna lie. I’d been coasting because at least I could joke about them. But between this weird double-bluff veggie ninja story and the episode about Naruto adopting the kind of mascot character they’d add to a cartoon adaptation of a live-action 80s sitcom, I’m feeling anywhere from weak to done.

  Noelle: I skipped over most of the filler in my original run of Naruto, and I’d say-- yeah, I’d still rather do that. Nothing here worth noting. 

  Carolyn: I don’t think I would recommend Naruto, as a whole or just cutting off the filler parts. There have been shows I couldn’t get into and people will say to wait for season 3 or 4. I just don’t understand highly recommending something that has so much not-good in it.

    Finally, let's wrap up with the HIGHS and LOWS for this week.

  Paul: My high point was everyone trying to make Naruto laugh, especially with how the humor-assassins would take one look at him and decide that anyone with such a foolish face would be an easy mark. I appreciate the low-grade shade that reminds us that Naruto is kind of a maroon. My low-point was the end of the Onbu episode, which concludes like a mash-up of the Tribbles episode of Star Trek and Gremlins. That joke didn't so much land as belly-flop.

  David: High point was the preview for next week’s first episode - I’m excited to see Hinata getting to handle a fight on her own; hope that’s as neat as it looks. Low point was the ending of the star village arc for the same reasons I said in the first question.

  Jared: High point for this week would probably be the end of the funeral episode with the ridiculous reveal, fake out, and then reveal of the dad being alive. It was probably one step away from going full “IT’S ME AUSTIN” in terms of that. Also, Shino just getting up in Naruto's face like NEVER TELL ANYONE ABOUT THIS PLEASE. Low point would probably be basically everything else. Land of Greens is just not great and the other episodes were pretty much just there. Glad we finally get to meet Boruto though, even if I thought he came later on in the series.

  Kevin: 

High - The plan to take down the first of the enemy ninja in the Land of Greens. Sure, it’s a pretty short moment and not too difficult to figure out (he’s using his weapons as dowsing rods, so break the weapons and lure him to a place without water), but this is Filler Purgatory, and characters not being completely dumb is enough to be one of the better moments of the week.

Low - The Onbu episode. I like getting some worldbuilding, but like I said in my High, I also like characters not being excessively dumb, and practically every decision in the Onbu episode was some level of dumb.

  Danni: High point was the entire funeral episode. It was such a solid comedic concept and the payoffs all landed perfectly. It’s exactly the kind of stupid I want out of all this filler. Honorable mention to the Onba episode, which was maybe a tier below but still some good dumb fun. Low point would have to be watching another arc end with a villain maniacally cackling while trying to murder a bunch of children with a crossbow. Low LOW point was when that one kid’s dead mom became a ninja ghost who just kind of held Naruto in the air like a limp cat. 

  Kara: High point was honestly Magnet Ninja. Like seriously that’s one of the most resourceful Jutsu sets I’ve seen: just grab those headband nerds by the headband. Secondary high point was the puns in the funeral episode that didn’t get translated in the subtitles (as a former subtitle editor, though, I don’t blame them for not trying). Low point was the wrap-up of the Village Hidden in the Seelie Court.

  Noelle: High point, the funeral episode and how everything in it works pretty well. I wouldn’t say it’s all my kind of humor, but it’s functionally fairly solid. No complaints there. Low point… we’re just not going to address how fantasy elements in the afterlife are a thing now? No? Okay, I guess. 

  Carolyn: The uniforms and Naruto’s not-amused reaction to them were pretty great for me. The low point? I guess the weird ghost stuff. The last Scooby-Doo ghost episode was silly, but it also knew it was silly. They sort of took this seriously and that’s quite bizarre.

    COUNTERS:

  This Week:

Ramen: 11 bowls, 1 cup

Hokage: 4

Clones: 78

  Total So Far:

Ramen: 182 bowls, 13 cups

Hokage: 62

Clones: 789

  And that’s it for this week! Remember that you’re always welcome to watch along with the Rewatch, especially if you’ve never seen the original Naruto! Watch Naruto today!

  Here’s our upcoming schedule:

-Next week, KARA DENNISON returns to guide us through the end of the Peddlers Escort Mission!

-On August 2nd, NOELLE OGAWA shows us the formation of the Konoha 11!

-Finally, the mighty DANIEL DOCKERY returns to explore the mystery of Yakumo! 

  CATCH UP ON THE REWATCH!

Episodes 176-182: Reach for the Stars!

Episodes 169-175: Anko’s Backstory At Sea

Episodes 162-168: The Tale of the Phantom Samurai

Episodes 155-161: Quickfire Curry

Episodes 148-154: The Forest is Abuzz With Ninjas

Episodes 141-147: Mizuki Strikes Back!

Episodes 134-140: The Climactic Clash

Episodes 127-133: Naruto vs Sasuke

Episodes 120-126: The Sand Siblings Return

Episodes 113-119: Operation Rescue Sasuke

Episodes 106-112: Sasuke Goes Rogue

Episodes 99-105: Trouble in the Land of Tea

Episodes 92-98: Clash of the Sannin

Episodes 85-91: A Life-Changing Decision

Episodes 78-84: The Fall of a Legend

Episodes 71-77: Sands of Sorrow

Episodes 64-70: Crashing the Chunin Exam

Episodes 57-63: Family Feud

Episodes 50-56: Rock Lee Rally

Episodes 43-49: The Gate

Episodes 36-42: Through the Woods

Episodes 29-35: Sakura Unleashed

Episodes 22-28: Chunin Exams Kickoff

Episodes 15-21: Leaving the Land of Waves

Episodes 8-14: Beginners' Battle

Episodes 1-7: I'm Gonna Be the Hokage!

  Thank you for joining us for the GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH! Have a great weekend, and we'll see you all next time!

  Have anything to say about our thoughts on Episodes 183-189? Let us know in the comments! Don't forget, we're also accepting questions and comments for next week, so don't be shy and feel free to ask away!

    -------

Joseph Luster is the Games and Web editor at Otaku USA Magazine. You can read his webcomic, BIG DUMB FIGHTING IDIOTS at subhumanzoids. Follow him on Twitter @Moldilox. 

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[stories-aha-blog]

more on naive storytelling

“tropes are tools, and as such, neither necessarily bad nor good”

---->

Well. There are tropes and tropes.

Take the following two lists of tropes:

LIST 1

- whodunnit. A murder victim is found; who was the murderer? Master Mind starts to investigate, their are misleading

- a motley crew find each other, and are on the move together

- a “guy and a girl with completely different approaches to life” are pitched against each other, which leads to lots and lots of bickering and door slamming, but ultimately proves to be (or rather also be) a form of hidden sexual tension

- the formula of romantic comedies

LIST 2

- abundance of last minute rescues

- redemption equals death

- the main driving force of the plot is the battle against the forces of evil

- plot armour: no matter how many dangerous situations the main characters get into, none of them ever dies

- the main character acts so “straight and honorable”, that he would have zero problem with anything he says in any of the scenes to any of the other character, being recorded and played to any other character he interacts with

- no bad deed goes unpunished, every single “bad guy” gets his comeuppance

The first one, in my terminology, are “pay-off delivering constructions”.

There may be good reasons not to use those. Because they feel old, because they are over used. Using the formula of romantic commedy is gonna make your story somewhat predictable and unoriginal.

But, and that is the big difference to the items on the second list, they doesn’t necessarily lead to bad or sloppy or second grade storytelling.

The second list, in my view, are nothing but “unfortunate traditions of Bad Storytelling”.

Maybe it is really the case, that for every one or at least most of the the examples on my second list, there is at least one story out there, that actually pulls this off successfully. But even so, I would still claim, that the likelyhood that they are indicative of “sloppy or second rate storytelling” is just very, very high.

After they ran out of book material to cover, Game of Thrones makes use of “Last minute rescues” non stop, almost in every episode. Which, I would claim, is one of the reasons that the show feels like it has significantly tapered off in quality. There are many others, probably more significant ones, but this definitely adds to the problem.

Admittedly, the distinction may not be quite as binary as I make it seem through the choice of my examples.

- in battle, the protagonist and the antagonist will inevitably fight it out in a personal duel

- average guy has to save the universe

may be example for cases, where it’s debatable whether they belong to list 1 or list 2. I, for one, wouldn’t hesitate to put them on list 2. But others might disagree. What works as a pay-off delivering construction for one person, may be a turn-off for another.

Maybe items on my two lists represent more the two ends of a sliding scale, than a clear cut distinction.

But I would still claim, that the items towards the far end of the second list, almost inevitably mean bad storytelling.

Yes, there are some genres, that allow to get away with many more of those. The characters of Darth Vader and the Evil Emperor, the fight between Good and Evil, the use of the light and the dark force, the Last Minute rescues, don’t ruin “Star Wars”, because Star Wars is trying to be nothing more than a kind of fairy tale. It isn’t trying to be more than it is: Lighthearted entertainment in the form of a fairy tale in the version of a space opera.

(Some would argue that the same is true for Lord of the Ring. Maybe they got a point. It seems to me, that Lord of the Ring takes itself too seriously, and it simply takes up too much space in order to be justified. And for Game of Thrones, it seems to me that “it could have been more, and was trying to be more.”

"One does not necessarily have to cluck in disapproval to admit that entertainment is all the things its detractors say it is: fun, effortless, sensational, mindless, formulaic, predictable and subversive. In fact, one might argue that those are the very reasons so many people love it." — Neal Gabler, Life the Movie: How Entertainment Conquered Reality

---->

Yes they may provide entertainment. And being entertaining doesn’t have to equal bad.

But achieving entertainment through these devices, does.

Where are the Last Minute Rescues in “The Wire”? Where is the Fight against Evil, as a major plot device? You bring one crew of drug dealers to prison, and it gets replaced by another. Possibly more reckless one. Also we really liked our characters from the first crew.

Let me ask you: Is “The Wire” any less entertaining, as any of the countless examples for second rate or naive storytelling?

If the same goal can be achieved in a better way --- why not use the better way?

[halothenthehorns]

OWL POST AGAIN

Remus hated to be the one to get their attention, to remind them there was still a chapter left, but he figured they may as well get this all over with sooner rather than later. They'd have more than enough to be dealing with later as is. Lily came down the stairs with the baby, but decided to hand him over to James while Remus got started.

Hermione was trying to get Harry's attention, telling him they had ten minutes left to get to the hospital wing before Dumbledore locked the door.

"The fact that you still somehow pulled all of that off is a miracle," Lily muttered.

They began running down the spiral stairs of the tower,

Sirius couldn't help but wonder if this was the same tower Hermione and Harry had been caught on with Norbert, and how much trouble he could have left his pup in if he was discovered helping him. They may be almost done but he felt like his worries would never end.

and as they reached the bottom and began tearing through corridors, they had to come to a quick stop as they heard Snape saying that he hoped Dumbledore wouldn't cause a fuss about Black receiving the Kiss.

Remus ground his teeth together as he forced that out. He just couldn't believe anyone was okay with this punishment, that the Minister had given his permission for it to happen! The only reason he wasn't still shouting about it was because Sirius had gotten away, but that didn't make what they'd tried to do feel any better.

Fudge agreed it would happen the moment Macnair arrived with the dementors, and how grateful he was this whole matter was to be over, how much he was looking forward to telling the Daily Prophet about this.

"Ha!" James snapped, no real humor to be found as he scowled at the book, though briefly distracted when his infant took advantage to their proximity and made a grab for his glasses. The father had a chore for a few moments getting them back from the tight little fists.

Fudge even said that when Harry came back to his right sense he'd probably want to tell the Prophet all about how Snape saved them all.

Harry made some gagging noises as he theatrically clutched his throat at the thought.

Finally the voices passed by, and they kept running for some time until Harry heard Peeves approaching, and they had to duck inside another classroom as the poltergeist went bouncing by with laughter. Hermione was muttering how terrible a thing he was, laughing about Sirius getting Kissed.

"Oh he wouldn't," Lily frowned. "He can't hate you that much. Why would he hate you at all?"

"I like to think Hermione may have just jumped to the wrong conclusion that time," Sirius agreed with his head cocked to the side. "He has no personal interest what happens to me, could be anything that's got him in such a good mood."

Then she warned Harry they only had three minutes left to get back, and as Peeves' voice floated away and they started running again, Harry asked what would happen if they didn't get back in time.

"Madam Pomfrey will know you got out," Lily guessed, "and you could get into a cart load of trouble."

"They can't prove anything," James said at once, bouncing around in unease because he knew how untrue that was. At least Snape would try to pin the whole thing on Harry, and since Fudge clearly liked him this could turn pretty nasty.

Hermione groaned she didn't want to know as they sprinted forward, the door finally coming into sight and Dumbledore saying what time it was and that he was going to lock them in.

"Did it say anything about Dumbledore not seeing you?" Remus asked, "because otherwise that really would have been impossible."

"I think Dumbledore's okay," Harry shrugged, "he did know about all of this after all, we just couldn't let him lock the doors."

Sirius was still cross eyed as he tried to work out that Hermione and Harry had just left to save him...but now they were arriving and talking to Dumbledore because they just had...man he hated time travel.

He began to shut the doors just as the two came barreling forward, and he smiled at the sight of them, asking if they'd accomplished everything. They agreed, and then Dumbledore pressed his ear to the door and agreed that they'd left as well.

"Because, you know, that's a sentence that exists now," James rolled his eyes.

He ushered them inside and then really did lock the door. The hospital wing was empty once again except for Ron who was still passed out.

Sirius cracked up laughing at that, imagining the poor kid's face when they had to explain all of that to him later.

Madam Pomfrey came back out in a very bad mood.

"I believe that," Remus nodded in sympathy.

Harry and Hermione thought it best to accept their chocolate quietly. Madam Pomfrey stood over them, making sure they ate it.

"Think it's kind of moot by this point," Lily shrugged, "since it's technically been what, three, almost four hours since that run in with the dementors, and since Harry warded them off the second time Harry never even got a second blast."

"Please stop," James moaned, "I've only just wrapped my head around this, don't make it worse."

"Just let them enjoy the chocolate in peace," Remus agreed.

Harry could hardly eat his share though, sitting tense on his bed, worrying and waiting for some kind of news, which he received by hearing a fearsome roar of outrage.

"Who wants to bet it's some new horror?" Remus sighed, trying to imagine what else could have happened tonight to cause that.

"Oh come on Remus, now you're just depressing me," Sirius tried to give a light laugh, though admittedly on the same page as him.

Madam Pomfrey was alarmed at the noise, demanding to know what that could be, but in answer, they heard Fudge trying to tell Snape that Black must have disapparated!

They couldn't help it, they all started laughing at once. Sirius had just gotten the best of Snape, and the man didn't even know how. He'd just had every last bit of false glory snatched away from him, and he deserved every second of it for what he'd tried to do to Sirius. Only Lily felt the tiny spot of pity, as he didn't know any better, he thought Sirius really had done all of those things, but what he'd tried to do wasn't forgivable. He could have listened to them, which she knew he never would, shouldn't have been out there in the first place, he'd only gone out to torment Remus. So even she couldn't help giggling a bit at this comeuppance.

He was reprimanding himself that they should have left someone in the room with him!

"Yeah, they should have-" Sirius rolled his eyes.

"But thank Merlin they didn't," James finished for him.

"I think Dumbledore might have had something to do with that," Remus said without any of his usual warmth in speaking of their old headmaster.

No one argued the idea, but they all noticed his tone, and he kept reading quickly before they could ask.

Snape wouldn't hear it though, storming through the hallways and screaming that this had something to do with Potter!

"Well he's not wrong," Harry smirked.

"But still," Lily shook her head at just how stupid and sad this display was. "His first thought is to jump to you? He doesn't even know why you'd help him, he has no idea about any of this, but his first instinct is to blame it all on you."

"They still can't prove anything," Remus grinned, as Harry and Hermione had the perfect alibi now.

Fudge tried to protest that, but then the door opened with a bang.

Five scowls were aimed at the book though, that bit of violence really was uncalled for.

They both came in, with Dumbledore who was the only one looking like he was enjoying the show.

Remus and Harry gave a happy little laugh, they found the Headmasters attitude perfect with their own, but nobody else still looked very pleased with him, still working out and wanting answers from him before they'd allow any good feelings to surface again.

Snape stormed over to Harry, demanding to know what he'd done!

"Yeah, cause he's really going to tell you," James rolled his eyes.

Both Madam Pomfrey and Fudge tried to calm Snape down, but he wouldn't hear of it as he shouted in the kid's faces that they'd helped Black escape!

"Best part is, he's actually right," Sirius cackled.

"Those were always the best moments," Remus agreed with an old smirk. "When he'd try to catch us at something, and he'd be the one telling the truth, but we still got off." His face fell at the end, old memories of the four of them laughing about this all day after the fact, and unable to picture that without going blood thirsty again, so moving on fast.

Fudge demanded he stop, he was talking crazy.

"Least he admits it now," Lily huffed.

Snape was adamant though, saying he knew he was right, but then Dumbledore interrupted by pointing out they'd been in the locked door this whole time, to which Madam Pomfrey confirmed. Dumbledore went on smoothly that unless Snape was implying they were in two places at once, it couldn't be done.

Remus full blown laughed as he realized Dumbledore had just told Snape what Harry and Hermione had done, and yet in such a tone they all knew it wasn't possible, they wouldn't have believed it if they hadn't just heard Harry's account.

Harry also got the realization that somehow Snape had been left out of the loop of Hermione's Time Turner, otherwise he would have thrown that out. Maybe Harry had been wrong before and Flitwick hadn't known about Hermione's secret either, Flitwick just hadn't questioned Hermione missing one class from her perfect attendance, so McGonagall probably had been the only teacher to know about it.

Snape froze as he looked at everyone, Fudge's shocked look,

"Goodbye Order of Merlin," Sirius sneered.

to Madam Pomfrey who looked mildly concerned, to Dumbledore who was still giving a small smile. Snape stormed out then without another word, and Fudge cautioned Dumbledore he should keep an eye on that one.

Harry couldn't help a small frown, wondering why that felt foreboding to him?

Dumbledore sighed though, saying that he understood Snape's feelings of disappointment.

"Disappointment!" Lily nearly shrieked. "He wanted to watch Sirius be, well murder would have been kinder!"

"Ge, thanks Lil," Sirius grumbled.

Fudge sighed that Snape wasn't the only one, how the newspapers were going to have a good laugh at him.

"Oh you poor thing." James snapped, his dislike of this minister growing more with every time he spoke. Every time he'd been mentioned all he'd seemed to care about was what the Prophet, and by extension, the public would think of him. He may be in his rights to do what had happened so far, but it didn't make any of them like him one little bit.

He would be humiliated between Black and that hippogriff getting away in one night. Before he left though, Dumbledore asked about the dementors, and Fudge agreed they'd have to be taken away as well.

"Thank you!" They sighed in relief, thinking that if one good thing had come of tonight, it was that! They didn't even care about the reason. Even if Harry did know how to get rid of them now, the last thing they wanted was him going near them again.

He couldn't condone their behavior of letting them try to Kiss Harry.

"Now how did he know about that?" Harry asked in surprise, he'd certainly not told anyone, and Sirius didn't even know, he'd passed out too soon to even tell Dumbledore, and Snape had shown up too late to see that.

Remus did not look happy to answer, but he hated talking about dementors at all so that wasn't new. "Dementors can, ah, communicate, but it's not something pleasant at all. When they wish to, they can string together thoughts in your head, putting together what they wish for you to understand what they're telling you. It's, unnerving to say the least. Honestly though, I'm surprised they would admit to doing it."

Sirius offered back, "well the Dementors don't have any sense of loyalty to the Ministry and as Hagrid says, they don't care about innocence, so telling Fudge that they were going to perform the Kiss wouldn't have stirred any sense of guilt in them. Harry was in the way of their mission, so they were just doing what came naturally to them-" he couldn't help but stutter for a bit right there, the vivid mental image still trying to suck the soul out of him now at his little pup in that situation. "They were probably just told to report what had happened, why they'd come after me and why they left, and they did."

Harry nodded in understanding, but still asked for more, "how did they know to come out there though?* Snape nor anyone ever got a chance to call for them."

James despised every last word he was using, it only served as more of a reminder of how long Sirius had to be there for this to be true, but he still offered, "they say if you're around a dementor enough, it gets ah, a sense for you. It can tell when you're nearby. That's also why they were even used as guards over just say Aurors, they didn't know about Sirius being a dog so the Ministry would have figured the dementors would sense him approaching miles before he got there. Now Sirius has been a dog all year, so they wouldn't have been able to tell that, but he came out of the Whomping Willow as a human talking to you, and the second he did that they would have sensed him and come swarming." He finished with one more great shudder, still feeling sick all over at the thought of this topic.

Harry decided he was out of questions for now, still knowing he'd much rather never have to deal with those things again then keep coming up with questions for them, but also trying to ignore the feeling saying that was wishful thinking.

No, they were too unmanageable, and they'd have to find something else to guard the school, maybe dragons.

Sirius groaned something unintelligible that none of them needed to translate. They all agreed anyways, they really hoped Fudge was kidding.

Dumbledore agreed Hagrid would enjoy that.

"Least someone would," Remus laughed.

Then they left as well, and Madam Pomfrey went back to her office, but the sounds of the doors closing again finally awoke Ron.

"Oh boy," Lily muttered, not exactly looking forward to hearing this story explained again in detail, she'd barely held it together the first time around.

He caught sight of his friends and at once began demanding to know where Sirius and Lupin were.

"Actually that one's a valid question," James frowned, getting a little twitchy as he realized they may not be as in the clear as he'd hoped. Remus hadn't exactly slipped his mind, but as Sirius' problems had been slightly more pressing he hadn't thought about it since Remus was last mentioned. Now he realized there was still a fall guy around, and it wasn't Harry. Snape himself had said he would try and get Remus Kissed along with Sirius, but while Sirius had made a run for it, Remus would probably wake up somewhere in the forest and come stumbling back up to school into the waiting arms of Merlin knew what.

Remus hardly looked concerned, he just gave a halfhearted shrug and tried to keep reading in the most nonchalant way possible. He'd already worked all of that out and knew he wouldn't have a problem dealing with those consequences, someone other than Sirius deserved them and because it was Remus' fault he'd gotten away, Remus would pay for it and wouldn't let his friends dwell on it any more than he could allow.

Harry helped himself to some chocolate as he told Hermione to explain.

Time skip to the next day, where a Hogsmeade visit was being enjoyed by most of the school, though the trio rather enjoyed spending their time out by the lake and talking about the previous night's events, and wondering where Sirius and Buckbeak were now.

"Wherever the nearest non extradition country is I would hope," Lily muttered.

Harry was lounging in the shade, absently watching the water and the giant squid floating just underneath the surface, his mind across the shore where he'd seen his own patronus stag gallop towards him...

James still gave a happy little smile at that reminder, beaming down at his infant son and cooing to him with pleasure.

Then Hagrid arrived, greeting them with still happy filled teary eyes. He admitted he should be upset about the escape of Black, but asked if they knew what good thing had happened? They feigned they didn't know,

"Can't imagine how well that worked out," Sirius snickered.

and Hagrid beamed as he explained Buckbeak had gotten free! Hermione praised how good that was, while trying to subtly give Ron a shove for starting to laugh.

"That could have still been appropriate," Remus chose to laugh now, "happy laughter for his friend."

Hagrid didn't seem to notice as he explained he must not have tied him up right, though he had been worried Lupin had gotten to him last night.

"Wasn't actually a problem," Harry gave a slight laugh, worried that Remus' good mood had vanished the moment his name came back up.

Thankfully Lupin had said he hadn't eaten anything.

Harry was very torn, he wanted to ask how Remus would even know such a thing, was it just like a feeling he would get? Vague memories that wouldn't make sense, and he had to piece them together? He held that in though, the same fears as everyone else bubbling up because they really wanted to know what had happened to Remus.

Harry asked in surprise what that could mean, and Hagrid was shocked that they hadn't heard, since Snape had told the Slytherins this morning and the whole school must know by now.

"Snape told the Slytherins what?" Sirius began dangerously, his eyes narrowing to near slits as Remus tried to keep going, ignoring his own mounting sense of doom at how this was starting.

Lupin's a werewolf.

"HE DID NOT!" James roared, his hands shaking so bad he was in danger of dropping his child, who began crying at the outburst. James tried to force himself to calm down, rocking his baby gently but the shaking wouldn't stop. He'd been so angry at hearing all of this for so long now, he should have had plenty of practice, but hearing what Snape had just done to one of his friends was not going to be an easy thing to move past.

"I am going to kill him." Sirius vowed right then, his eyes going dangerously dark and his hand already wrapped around his wand. "He couldn't have my soul sucked away so he turns on you! What's he trying to do, get you arrested next!"

Remus tried to pacify them, as Lily and Harry weren't looking much better, "honestly I'm considering myself lucky Hagrid's not yet saying I've been executed. I'll take this over-"

"Snape had better have been fired for that, or so help me I'll wring Dumbledore's and Snape's neck!" Lily cut him off with pure venom. "That was private information that in no way affected anyone at the school, he should not be able to get away with that!"

"It's probably Dumbledore who stopped the Committee for the Control of Dangerous creatures coming after me the moment Fudge made it to the Ministry," Remus argued back, shrinking into the couch at the looks he was getting. He kept going though, he'd always been the persistent one, "if that's all Snape could get away with doing to me, then I'll still be thankful."

"That's it, you're going on the chopping block next," Sirius snapped, unable to comprehend how Remus was still defending them. He'd been targeted as much as Sirius this year and still he was straining to keep peace.

Remus didn't look happy about it though, he was wavering terribly as he struggled to keep going.

He was still torn apart inside at what Dumbledore seemed to have done to Sirius in leaving him in Azkaban, how it must have been his Headmaster who had convinced Remus Sirius had done all of those things in the first place, but still it had also been Dumbledore who'd allowed him his job this year, who was clearly still protecting him from the worst of what could happen. Dumbledore had tried to fix his mistake and had helped Sirius in the best way he knew how by giving Harry and Hermione the means to slip Sirius out, shouldn't that give him some redeem ability? Despite how fearsome everyone still looked, Remus kept going while the silence lasted.

Then Hagrid explained he was packing now of course.

"Packing?" Harry repeated, looking just as shocked as anyone at hearing the news. "Why, you aren't really leaving because of that!"

"He better not be," Sirius snapped when Remus failed to answer.

Truth was that yeah, Remus could see it. He'd come closer in that night to attacking three students, one of them being Harry, than he ever had in his life. It had been his fault the rat had gotten away because he hadn't had the sense to stay in the Shrieking Shack, the kids were convinced enough they could have come up with any other solution and dealt with this in the morning, anything other than what he actually did! Still being smothered with guilt, Remus kept going for now, loudly, as he knew James and Lily were fixing to start telling him off like Sirius was going to. He wanted to hear the full thing, find out if he had quit, or was being fired, or something much worse could still be happening that Hagrid didn't know about.

Harry repeated that back and demanded to know why? Hagrid was surprised at Harry's shock, saying he was leaving of course,

"Hagrid just lost some points with me," James muttered, thinking that Hagrid should be at least a little more upset, but then he reflected that may be too harsh on him. Hagrid had only gotten the story second hand, probably didn't know all the details of how and why Remus was out on the grounds like that. It still irked him anyone would expect Remus to leave because of this.

that he'd resigned and wouldn't risk it happening again. Harry jumped to his feet despite Hermione and Ron protesting that if he'd already done the act, but Harry insisted he still wanted to go talk to him and he'd meet them later.

Remus sighed, he'd gotten the feeling Harry would come and see him, it didn't make him feel any better though. He owed Harry a world of explanations, even with everything come clear about Sirius it still didn't really explain where in the name of Merlin he'd been these past thirteen years. Maybe now that he wasn't technically Harry's professor anymore, but an old friend of his father's, he could explain just a little bit more.

Harry charged up to the office and found the door cracked open. When he poked his head inside he found everything packed away, but Lupin watching the door expectantly. He smiled as Harry came in, saying that he'd known Harry was coming while gesturing towards the Marauders Map.

"That joke never got old," Sirius muttered, as they'd done that to each other all the time, though with more spirited fun of hiding behind a doorway and trying to freak out the others. It only served as yet another painful reminder though, that the rat had fallen for that trick the most and often retaliated by trying to shoot a curse at them no matter how many times they repeated it and it had always been funny. Great, now he couldn't even think on his map without getting a cold and murderous chill.

Clearly seeing something was bothering Sirius, Harry quickly asked, "I've just thought of something. If Remus was watching us all night, how come he wouldn't have seen me and Hermione twice on that?"**

Remus did a double take at Harry, nodding and saying, "now that's a fair question, but I think it was the timing of it all. I would have turned on the map at about the time I was done with my own exams, to watch you lot head down to Hagrid's. We know Hagrid's Hut itself can't actually be seen on the map, so the doppelgangers wouldn't have been seen any more than the original trio. When you guys left, the second Harry and Hermione would have been following along in the edge of the Forest of their own progress, perhaps still just out of sight of the maps range. By the time Sirius collided with Ron and dragged him and," he grimaced for a moment but still managed to get out the name without biting his tongue off, "Scabbers underground, I would have been sprinting out the door and probably not paying too much attention to anything anymore." He looked around like he was expecting someone to argue with him, but when no one did he concluded. "The only instance where I possibly would have seen them both was when Harry and Hermione are first in the closet after they've time-turned back, and the trio were on their way down to Hagrid's. The only way I can explain this is that I hadn't opened the map to see this yet."

"Makes as much sense as anything that happened that night," James snorted.

Harry belayed that and repeated what Hagrid had told him, and Lupin agreed it was true.

"Remus!" Lily snapped. "You're being ridiculous!"

"How so?" He shot back, trying for a pleasant tone. "How are you not trying to strangle me and agree with me, I nearly bit Harry. I could have killed those kids because of my oversight, and what if it happens again? I won't let some accident hurt anybody, and Sirius won't be around next time."

"But that was-" James tried to add, but Remus was being adamant.

"A one time event, but what if it happened again? I'm actually happy I'm not taking the risk."

The others were at their wits end with him, but what could they do? They couldn't force him to keep the job, it was just maddening that something like this had been taken away from him.

Remus was a good teacher, by far the best one Harry had yet in that subject, but more than that it would have just been nice for him to be on hand more for whatever mayhem Harry was clearly going to get into. It was hard enough for him to keep down a job, especially one as good as this.

James and Sirius still blamed the rat for this happening, linking Remus' fall from his certainty in the job to his interference, yet another thing he'd ruined in their life.

Lily couldn't help but blame Severus, he'd gone and told everyone about this for a petty justice he thought he deserved. The students would tell their parents and Remus would be terrified of what the public would think of him, and he'd lose every last drop of faith he should have in himself. That potion was good for him, but she couldn't begin to imagine how expensive it was, plus Remus wasn't that good at potions himself. So this all meant he was probably going to go back to a relatively closed off, and pained life. Remus had been very right in saying Sirius wouldn't be around to help, with any luck he'd left the country and wouldn't be coming back until his name was cleared.

Harry was the most monstrously disappointed, still grumbling, "but you're the best Defense teacher I ever have." He still meant it with the utmost sincerity, he didn't need his memories to reinforce that assured feeling. It would have been even better now that he knew of Remus' connection to his father, and with Sirius gone out of the country with any luck, he would have liked someone closer by, but he wasn't getting anything from that. With the gentlest of prodding he tried to deduce that he never got that close to Remus. He didn't even think he'd remained in his life all that much, which just wasn't adding up with what he felt now. It left him confused and hurt and still he couldn't help but think that he never got an answer for this.

Remus though was thinking on something else, that maybe if he was lucky he had quit for a totally different reason than his lycanthropy. After all if his assumption was right and Dumbledore had convinced him of Sirius' actions, then everything had come out properly, well that meant that Remus would have turned on Dumbledore. If he was lucky, he may well have stood up to the headmaster and said something about it, maybe quit in some shot of spite for what he'd been convinced of. That may have been giving himself too much credit though, he'd proved time and again he'd back Dumbledore's play no matter what. He didn't really want to keep bringing the idea up, but he wanted so badly for it to be true he offered that to the others. Sirius actually smiled, he rather liked that idea of Remus telling off the headmaster. When no one else put up an argument for it, Remus decided to keep going.

Harry demanded to know why, if the Ministry thought Lupin had been helping Sirius? Lupin went behind Harry and shut the door before answering,

"Always a good idea," James sighed, still not happy, but willing to hear Remus out. "Even if the map showed no one else there, I wouldn't put it past half the paintings in that school to go chatting."

that no, Dumbledore had convinced Fudge otherwise.

That at least gave them all a shot of relief. Whatever wrongdoings Dumbledore had done to Sirius, at least he'd made up for them in that action of protecting Remus. He had been at Hogwarts on Dumbledore's orders, so he'd better have stood up for him. Sirius knew he would have wound up in Azkaban all over again if he heard otherwise.

Then he explained that act had just been too much for Severus, having that happen on top of his Order of Merlin taken away from him,

"Clearly not hard enough, as he's still breathing," James snarled.

so he'd told everyone about his werewolf status that morning.

Lily began swearing colorfully under her breath all over again, unable to believe he'd done something so horrid and cruel. Snape had better have been fired for that as well, it just wasn't right he could get away with doing that to Remus!

Harry was still confused why he was leaving just because of that! Lupin gave him an odd smile as he explained that within the hour letters would be arriving from parents,

Remus couldn't help but notice how he hadn't actually answered Harry's question, maybe giving him a little more hope for his own idea, but it still wasn't enough. It would never be enough for what he owed Sirius for believing that lie, but if leaving this job and with any luck actually helping Sirius now, perhaps spending his now free time looking for the rat while Sirius was safe, then he'd take the trade any day.

that they wouldn't want a werewolf teaching their children.

"They can bite me," Sirius snapped! Remus had gone to school with most of those people, Dumbledore should have pointed out to all of them that Remus wasn't dangerous, stuck by his Professor as much as he'd surely done for Snape when he'd been hired fresh as a Death Eater. He really wished Harry had sat in on that conversation, because if Dumbledore hadn't done everything in the world to convince Remus to stay then he was going to have a shit fit all over again.

After last night, he agreed with them, he could never let those circumstances come about ever again. Harry still rebutted that Lupin was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher they ever had, and pleaded with him not to leave.

"Or ever will have," Harry still agreed.

"Maybe it won't be permanent," Lily offered hopefully. "Maybe once that rat is caught, and Sirius' name is cleared, maybe Remus will get it through his thick head he's needed at that school."

Everyone else wanted to look like they believed that, but the fact that Harry didn't add anything but instead just gave a slight frown wasn't encouraging.

Lupin just shook his head as he finished packing, and while Harry stood there trying to come up with something else to prove his point, Lupin changed the subject by saying how proud he was of how much Harry had accomplished.

They all sighed, grateful and at least agreeing that if Remus had to leave at least he'd left with something good behind him.

Then he asked about Harry's patronus, but Harry first asked how he'd even known? Lupin pointed out how else had all of those dementors gone away? Harry explained what had happened, and Lupin agreed that's why they'd called James Prongs.

Harry couldn't resist the bright smile that crept over his face all over again, words didn't describe how happy he was his patronus had been his own father, that he'd finally gotten to see the magnificent animal that had spent countless nights protecting his brother from himself. He still couldn't help but wonder though, if he was an animagus, he'd clearly be a stag as well, but what would he look like? So similar to his father that they'd hardly be able to be told apart even then?

Then Lupin handed Harry back his Invisibility Cloak, saying he'd found it in the Shrieking Shack.

"I thought you pocketed that in the Shack?" Lily frowned.

"Don't look at me," Remus frowned, as that had been the last time he'd heard it mentioned as well.

"Maybe I found it on the grounds and put it in there," Sirius shrugged, that being unlikely as he didn't really think he could spot that from the air on Buckbeak, but he also liked the idea that he wouldn't have just up and left without saying goodbye to Remus. Maybe he had thought back to Remus, and found him after he transformed and dragged him back to the Shack, and found the cloak along the way. Maybe he'd wanted to make sure Remus woke up with a friend at the end of his bed one last time before he had to leave for how long. It didn't sit right with him if he really hadn't considered Remus at all after his own freedom was offered.***

Then he also added on that he felt Harry should be given the Marauders Map back, saying that he was sure he Ron and Hermione could find something to do with it.

"Hopefully the good kind," James added on happily, thinking it was high time his son use that for its intended purpose.

Lily didn't even disagree anymore, she'd happily take hearing her son pull some goofy prank rather than constantly worrying about his life at this point.

Harry took the map back with a smile, asking about how those manufacturers would have found it funny if he'd been led out of the castle. Lupin agreed James would have been very heartbroken if his own son had never learned any of the secret passages of the school.

"Well he's got you there," Sirius agreed with a real laugh.

"I can't deny I'm disappointed it took you three years, and you didn't even find the first on your own," James sighed, wagging his finger in mock scolding at his son, causing him to laugh all the harder.

Then there was a knock on the door, and only after Harry stuffed his cloak and map out of sight did Remus call for them to come in. It was Dumbledore, telling Remus there was a carriage waiting for him. Lupin thanked him, picked up his suitcase and old grindylow tank,

"So that's actually your tank then," Lily muttered. "Why do you even have that?"

"For fun," Remus rolled his eyes at her. He was known to randomly catch wild animals and study them before releasing them again, he actually had a niffler at his house right now he was most likely keeping in that tank, though thankfully as they lived off of dirt and he'd left plenty in there he wasn't worried about it going hungry.

and said his goodbyes to Harry and the headmaster. He told Dumbledore he didn't need to be seen down,

Though still disappointed and argumentative on the subject that Remus should keep his butt right where he was, the others noticed for the first time Remus was acting a little odd around Dumbledore as well. Maybe Remus' idea wasn't all that crazy.

and he gave a final smile at Harry before the two shook hands and he shuffled out the door. Harry got the feeling Lupin was trying to make a quick getaway.

Harry couldn't help but frown, he had a bad feeling he wasn't going to be seeing Professor Lupin for some time, and it wasn't making him feel any better.

Harry sat down in the empty chair as he watched the door, and it took him a moment to realize Dumbledore was still there. He asked what Harry was so upset about, that he should be proud of what he did last night. Harry sighed that he hadn't made any difference, that Pettigrew had still got away.

"That's not your fault at all," the four of them all tried to say at the same time, making Harry try to shy away at so many people half yelling at him at once.

Remus, James, and Lily gave a quick pause when they realized they'd startled him, but Sirius kept going, "Harry you must realize that wasn't your fault. What were you supposed to do?"

"I even went back in time and couldn't do anything about it," Harry shot back, still frowning deeply, wishing he could have taken Hermione's Time Turner and still tried something!

"What am I, chopped liver?" He demanded right back. It still stung, that Harry had to rescue him at all when it should have been the other way around. Yes he was eternally grateful, but he should be the one protecting Harry, not causing even more problems with his life! Still he kept up his point, "you did exactly what you were expected to do, help out my sorry arse. Now come on pup, I'll get upset all over again if you're really going to be stubborn on this."

Harry couldn't help a light laugh then, surprised that he actually did feel better. If Sirius didn't blame him, the one person who'd been most affected by the rats getting away, then maybe it really wasn't his fault.

Remus and Lily smiled, pleased Sirius had gotten through to him, but James couldn't help that feeling again. Something he'd never felt before wanting to make an appearance, like he should have been the one to comfort Harry about that. Why would it bother him now though, Sirius was doing just fine.

Dumbledore was shocked, repeating what Harry had said, but instantly corrected Harry had made a huge difference! He'd found the truth, and saved an innocent man from a terrible fate. Terrible. That word niggled at Harry, and all at once he remembered 'Greater and more terrible than ever before' and he realized those were the words of Professor Trelawney's prediction.

"Oh wow," Remus muttered.

"Yeah, I forgot all about that," Sirius said with some real annoyance. She really couldn't have thrown a name into that stupid prophecy. Some other clue that would have made his life a lot easier to cope with! Even if he had been the one to convince the others this Professor was a real Seer, he now probably disliked her the most of all.

Harry began to tell his headmaster that his Divination teacher began acting strange yesterday, and Dumbledore asked if he meant stranger than normal?

Harry couldn't help a little snort, at least the Headmaster admitted it.

Harry agreed that she'd said something about Voldemort coming back because of a servant, that he'd return even more powerful.

Harry gave a terrible shiver at that remembrance, and he wasn't the only one. Now that Sirius wasn't having his life ruined by that, he considered all of the words all over again and felt bile curling his stomach as he realized how true that felt. It wasn't real though, right? Voldemort wasn't really going to come back, all because of that rat? At least now he didn't really think it was his fault, but he got the feeling no one had really convinced him of that in his own time.

The others weren't feeling much better. They recognized Trelawney had clearly made a real prediction, but maybe they were lucky and it wasn't being literal. Maybe he wouldn't really 'come back' but...and they couldn't really think of any other way that could mean. Well, hopefully it still wouldn't have to deal with Harry, right? That could take years to happen, and Harry was safe here with them now, so they really didn't want to linger on that long.

Then she hadn't remembered what she'd even said, and Harry asked if that had been a real prediction? Dumbledore agreed that made her account up to two.

Harry felt a little stirring in him, wondering why that felt significant. He remembered back to feeling he would be grateful he kept Trelawney's class, and he wondered if it had been because of this prediction about the rat and Voldemort, but he didn't really think so. Was it because of this other prediction then? Why would he care about that?

Harry was shocked at how calm Dumbledore was about this.

"With any luck, because he knows Voldemort coming back isn't ever going to be a problem," James muttered.

Pointing out that he'd stopped Sirius and Lupin from killing Pettigrew, so if Voldemort did come back it would be his fault!

"Oh Harry," James quickly said this time, frowning slightly at him. "You can't really believe that one? You showed him mercy, that's a lot more kind than he deserved. They were still his actions though, his decisions, not one thing would be linked back to you."

"I'm still grateful you did as well," Sirius quickly added while Remus nodded vigorously. "If we had murdered him, then who knows, maybe I never would get my name cleared, because that rat couldn't admit to anything he did. I may not have been able to prove that was his body, but I'd done something to it to make it look like him. No, we needed him alive."

Harry had to chew on that for a moment before he nodded, finally admitting that while he would always feel guilty Peter got away, Sirius had been kept alive and that was the important part. He nodded his agreement and while Sirius and Remus looked happy enough to move on James couldn't help a lingering frown, a tickle of annoyance that yet again Sirius had gotten through to Harry while he hadn't.

Dumbledore disagreed at once, explaining to Harry that he did the right thing in sparing Pettigrew's life, because he now owed his life to Harry.

'Which is a hell of a lot more than he deserves' James still couldn't help but snarl, wishing they could change the subject again already as the longer this dragged on the more agitated he got.

Voldemort's most loyal servant was now also in Harry's debt.

"Something which will bite both of them in the arse," Remus said pleasantly, hoping Harry would stay well away from that, but enjoying the irony for as long as he could.

It was something that had happened the moment Harry stepped up, creating a bond between the two of them. Harry protested he didn't want a bond with Pettigrew, he was the person who'd got his parents killed! Dumbledore though said that this was magic at its roots, unintentionally or not, something that could not be undone.

"Like when I saved you," Lily added on. "That wasn't a spell, it was an action that created magic, not something you can or can't do on purpose."

Harry was still frowning, hating to think he had any connection to that rat for what he did, but he leaned a little closer into his mother anyways and let it go for now.

Dumbledore finished with the idea that he had a feeling Harry would be grateful for this someday.

Harry considered that for a moment, and realized that Dumbledore may have been speaking the truth. He had no idea why, it was a very faint feeling, but something in him was agreeing with Dumbledore, and he hoped it was worth it.

Harry couldn't picture it, and Dumbledore seemed to sense this as he also said that he'd known James quite well his whole life, and he knew James would have done the same for Pettigrew.

James sighed and looked away from everyone. He still didn't know what he'd do when the time came and they could leave this place, when he knew for a fact Sirius and Remus might still go and act on that now before the rat even saw it coming. Would James join them, would he try to stop them, or would he stand by and do nothing which would be just as bad as either option. He hated himself right then, for not wanting Peter dead for what he did to them, but he still couldn't bring himself to want his death either. And yet when he looked him in the face again, would that still be true? Wormtail, one of his brothers. Maybe Dumbledore was right, but it didn't make him happy either.

Harry admitted that he'd thought he'd seen his dad last night, he'd thought it had been James who had sent that patronus saving Harry's life. Dumbledore agreed it was an easy swap, and though Harry may grow tired of hearing it, he did look remarkably like James. Expect for the eyes of course, those were his mother's eyes.

"Nope, that never gets old," Harry smiled brightly, trying to catch his dad's eye as they were all well aware of the battle warring in him right now, none of them feeling they had a right to make the decision for him, he had to come to grips with that on his own just like before. Harry did want though to keep his mind on something more pleasant until then, so he kept going even though his dad wouldn't really look at him. "I never get tired of hearing that, makes me happy every single time."

James heard that alright, and gave him a bright eyed look right back.

Harry still called himself stupid for thinking it, he knew his dad was dead.

Remus still couldn't read that without a hitch in his voice, the news never getting easier to hear, the act that had caused it now more fresh and disturbing than ever before, but James was still distractedly smiling at his son and so Remus kept going past that.

Dumbledore gently told that he didn't really believe the dead left the living. Harry showed the best quality of his parents every day, which helped them to live on. His father had come alive again last night through his son, Prongs rode again.

James was so giddy he was nearly bouncing, because that's exactly what he'd wanted. Even if it had only been in spirit, he had been there for his son when he'd been needed most. Sirius could give all the advice he wanted, at least James had that! His brain gave a quick little pause, realizing what he'd just thought and for the first time understanding what might have been bothering him, but then he got distracted by Sirius blurting out, "ah, what? How did he know about Prongs?"

Remus was frowning down at that, wondering if perhaps he'd finally told Dumbledore?

It took a moment for Harry to catch up and realize what Dumbledore had said, and then Dumbledore explained that Sirius had told him everything last night, including the animagi part.

"Oh," Sirius shrugged. "Guess I really did tell him everything."

"Well I suppose that's a good thing at least," Lily sighed, this also meant that Dumbledore would also know about the rat's animagus as well, he'd be much easier to find with Dumbledore and Remus looking for both personas of the traitor.

Dumbledore gave a small chuckle as he congratulated his past students for the feat, and then he gently reminded Harry that he'd found his father inside of himself when he'd needed him most.

Harry and James were beaming at each other, more happy then they'd ever been that they at least had this to identify with to each other, something that couldn't just be put down to a genetic look or old possessions. Harry truly emulated his father right then and forever with that one simple spell.

Then Dumbledore finally left, with Harry more lost than ever.

Nobody at Hogwarts really knew what had happened the night of Black's escape except for the trio and Dumbledore.

"That seems to be a running theme for you," Remus rolled his eyes, "you getting caught up in the mess, and at the end of the year everyone else trying to catch up."

The closer school came to an end, the more wild the stories became of what really had happened, but none of them ever came close to the truth.

"I'd like to think that if anyone did guess that well, they'd put Trelawney out of a job," Lily laughed.

Malfoy was furious about Buckbeak.

"Oh boy," Sirius groaned, his eyes narrowing with distaste. Now that he realized his own life had been saved because of that hippogriff, he felt insanely protective of the beast, which made Malfoy's actions this year all the more loathsome to him.

He was convinced that Hagrid had found a way of smuggling the hippogriff to safety, and seemed outraged that he had been outwitted by a gamekeeper.

"Ha," Remus snapped, happy that Malfoy hadn't actually been able to get away with anything this year.

Percy was as talkative as anyone about Sirius,

"Oh great," James groaned in disgust, he already didn't like this one, he really didn't want to hear anymore failing statements about his brother now that he knew the absolute truth.

speaking of the political side and how when he entered the ministry he'd come up with some new proposals for the Magical Law Enforcement, mostly going over this to the only person who listened to him, Penelope.

Lily on the other hand couldn't help but be interested. While she would curse anyone who tried to use those on Sirius, she could think of plenty of other people those could do some good towards.

Percy was clearly a smart and ambitious boy, she did want to hear these things and see how they could be put to use.

Though the weather was perfect, though the atmosphere was so cheerful, though he knew they had achieved the near impossible in helping Sirius to freedom, Harry had never approached the end of a school year in worse spirits.

All four of them couldn't help but be in absolute agreement with him. Between Remus leaving, Sirius still being on the run, and the rats escape plus the horrid rise and fall of hope of wanting more than anything for James to have been alive, this was by far the worst year for them to have lived through.

He wasn't the only student upset at their Defense teacher leaving, having overheard Seamus glumly wonder what they could be getting next year, while Dean gave a hopeful offer of a vampire.

"I'd prefer the werewolf," Sirius grumbled with distaste.

It wasn't just Lupin though, Harry also couldn't keep his mind off of that prediction, and kept wondering if Pettigrew had caught up to Voldemort yet.

Remus couldn't get that out completely coherent. He may agree with his friends, the rats actions had nothing to do with Harry's decision, he'd done the right thing, but it didn't erase the black hatred he possessed whenever the name was mentioned, whenever he realized all over again what he'd become and what he was going to do to James, Lily and Sirius.

The thing that was lowering Harry's spirits most of all though, was the prospect of returning to the Dursleys.

"Oh," Lily moaned, placing her face in her hands and nearly bursting into tears all over again at that. In the following events that had led her to worry about Sirius' life, she'd almost forgotten about that horrid reminder but now it was back full force. It just wasn't fair that this had been ripped away from Harry and Sirius, that he was forced back with those horrid excuse for people. His return would be made all the bitter because of what that rat had done, his hand being the one to wrench all of that away.

For barely ten minutes, Harry had been offered something more, a real home with Sirius, his dad's best friend, it would have been the closest thing he would ever get to having his own father.

Sirius couldn't help but wriggle with displeasure. Of course he wanted that to, to be that missing piece of James for Harry, but it hurt terribly that he'd have to play the role at all. James should be there for his son, to be the scolding parent and happy go lucky father all in one, while Sirius could be the goofy Uncle and help him get away with everything.

James couldn't help in that moment leaning away from Sirius slightly. Of course he still wanted Harry away from the Dursleys, of course he wanted Harry to have a proper home life, but it still didn't erase his rising fear that he was only just beginning to realize he had.

While it was supposed to be a good thing he hadn't heard a word from Sirius, as this meant he was going underground, it still didn't erase how miserable he was that what he wanted most of all was impossible.

"Not impossible," Lily said at once, watching all of them take several steps back in their mood with displeasure. "It just might take a little more time." What they wouldn't give for Harry to even have gone on the run with Sirius than go back to Privet Drive, after the cupboard and starvation and whatever else Harry wouldn't speak about, anything Sirius could provide would be better than that!

Their exam results came back, and they'd passed everything. Harry was shocked he'd actually gotten through on Potions, and couldn't help but wonder if Dumbledore had done something to stop Snape failing him.

"I didn't even know he could do that," Harry admitted, "it was just a guess."

"Well, I'm not really sure, but I wouldn't be surprised either," Remus couldn't help with some blistering hatred still lingering as it was made clear Snape still had his job.

Snape's behavior toward Harry over the past week had become quite alarming.

Sirius couldn't help a low whine of fear, he'd been afraid of this but now his earlier joke had come back and it wasn't nearly as satisfying as he'd thought. He'd been so sure that he and Remus could step in and Harry would tell them whenever Snape did something to horrible and the two of them could tell Snape to shove it for Harry! Now neither of them were around, and Harry was the only one left to take the fall for all of Snape's built up hatred, and it just wasn't just!

Harry wouldn't have thought it possible that Snape's dislike for him could increase, but it certainly had. A muscle twitched unpleasantly at the corner of Snape's thin mouth every time he looked at Harry, and he was constantly flexing his fingers, as though itching to place them around Harry's throat.

Lily's throat vibrated she made such a scathing noise, she wanted to jack slap him all the way to the Whomping Willow and let that tree finish off the rest of him she was so sick of him. She'd thought he'd hit his low in calling her that word back in fifth year, and she just kept being proven how wrong she was but the hurt had stopped chapters ago, now she was left with simmering hatred that was going to boil over on him the second she could.

He'd concern himself with that next year though, as for now he heard about Percy getting top grades in all of his N.E.W.T.s, and Fred and George getting a couple of O.W.L.s each,

"How would they know that?" Remus chuckled in surprise, "they wouldn't get the results until summer."

"I, have no idea," Harry said, blinking in shock as well. "I suppose with their dad being in the Ministry, maybe they got a heads up that they at least passed a few, and just guessed the rest. I just remember them talking about it is all."

"Well good for them anyways," Lily sighed, finding at least one thing to smile about again.

and because of the Gryffindor win with the Cup the end of term feast was done with lion pride because they'd won the House Championship as well. Even Harry managed to put all of his worries aside as he laughed happily at everything that night.

All five of them gave great sighs, wishing the story would just end there, wanting more than anything to move to the part already where the most eventful part of Harry's next year of school would be him reading in the paper about the capture of the rat and Sirius arriving on the next holiday break. The fact that Remus kept going just wasn't giving them any pleasure, and they didn't see how it could.

Hermione offered up some more news, that she'd quit Muggle Studies.

"What, are you telling me she actually got tired of being tired?" Sirius rolled his eyes.

Ron was shocked, saying how she'd only just told them she'd made a three hundred percent score on her final.

"And she still got a perfect score!" James balked.

Hermione shrugged that off, saying that now she'd dropped that class she had a normal schedule, and she'd turned her Time-Turner back in. She couldn't handle another year like this one.

"But, but she didn't even use it for anything fun," Remus couldn't help but whine. "She had that thing for a whole year and only used it on homework."

"Well I'm happy to hear that," Lily sighed, "that poor thing needs more of a break, if she went another year like that I'd be even more worried for her."

They were boarding the train now, and Harry couldn't find the enthusiasm to jump in to discuss this. Ron noticed first and told his best mate to cheer up, he'd be sure to call Harry over this summer as he knew how to use a fellytone now.

That at least gave them a little chuckle again, yes Ron clearly knew exactly what he was doing.

Hermione corrected him on the proper name, and told him he'd do some good from Muggle Studies.

"I'm sure he gets enough of a lesson at home," Harry corrected, fondly remembering most conversations with Mr. Weasley started or ended with something to do with Muggles.

Ron ignored her and kept going, talking about how Harry would have to come over to his place, as it was the Quidditch World Cup this summer!

"It's what!" All four boys perked up like the sun anew. Lily couldn't help a girlish giggle at that, she would hear about twenty more Quidditch matches then the disaster of a year she'd just lived through.

"Oh please Harry, I'm begging, tell me you go," James moaned, clasping his hands together as if in actual prayer.

"I sure hope so," Harry nodded back eagerly, he had a very good feeling about this!

"With any luck Ron wouldn't have mentioned it without having some way to listen in as well," Remus pacified, his own eyes lighting up with hope at the possibility.

Ron also mentioned that his Dad could normally get tickets from work.

"That's even better," Sirius practically squealed. "Can you imagine hearing about an international game through Harry! He'll get to see the professionals at work, oh glory I think I'm going faint-" and he was actually jittering around so much he may not have been joking.

"Relax Padfoot," Remus had to restrain himself from laughing to hard. "Don't go wetting yourself before it even starts."

Harry was laughing too hard to respond, the longer he thought about it the more sure he had been right, or at least he really hoped so and this was one good thing to be looking forward to.

This idea actually managed to cheer Harry up, agreeing he was sure the Dursleys wouldn't mind seeing him leaving after what he did to Aunt Marge.

"Thank you for that lovely reminder," Lily forced a laugh this time, her bad mood still lingering enough Harry had to go back at all, that this would be the first time he'd be face to face with them since Harry had left that place. She still couldn't help but ask "why couldn't you just stay at the Leaky Cauldron again until Ron's parents would let you come around?"

"I asked Dumbledore," Harry groaned, "and he said Tom wouldn't allow it, as I'm still underage and would need consent again, apparently the Minister gave it the first time but wouldn't again."

They had to suck in air very carefully to prevent themselves from screaming about that all over again, wishing Dumbledore and the Minister would stop making decisions for Harry already.

Couldn't he at least go stay with Remus! It would be tricky, but surely they could have worked out something other than this!

Feeling much better, Harry now happily joined them in a game of Exploding Snap, right up until the lunch cart came around and they all got some treats of everything except chocolate.

"Can't even blame you," Remus couldn't help a light snicker, at least happy he had another line or two before he had to think on the end of the train again.

It was late in the afternoon before the thing that made him truly happy turned up...

"Oh yeah," James asked, trying to perk himself back up.

Hermione noticed it first, saying there was something out the window.

Well that was an odd way to start, but Harry had said it was something happy, so none of them could even get worked up about it, instead Remus kept going with heavy interest.

Harry pulled the window open and found it was a very tiny gray owl, twisting this way and that from the stream of the train, but clearly making its way to Harry's window, while holding a too large letter.

"Aw," Lily couldn't help but coo with a smile, wondering who on earth that could be from, but knowing mail always made her son happier.

Harry reached out and caught it, finding it felt like a fluffy Snitch in his hand.

"Jeez, that thing is tiny if it'll fit in your palm," Remus raised a brow in surprise.

He brought it inside and released it, where it began zooming happily above the ceiling, clearly proud of itself as it dropped the letter to Harry's lap. Hedwig watched with a disapproving look, and Crookshanks yellow eyes were following its progress as well.

"Uh oh," they all couldn't help but say a little indulgently, no one able to pick a bad feeling towards the ginger cat after what he'd done for Sirius this year.

Ron noticed this and snatched the owl safely out of harm's way.

Sirius couldn't help but laugh, wondering why the little owl hadn't swooped back out when it was done with its task, but finding Ron's actions nice enough.

Harry unfolded the letter, and happily exclaimed it was from Sirius!

"What?" They yelped in shock.

"Sirius, why would you be sending me mail," Harry frowned in concern. "Wouldn't someone be able to trace that back to you?"

"Oh no," Sirius brushed that off, that hadn't been why he was surprised. "It's plenty easy to make yourself untraceable, paranoid old gits do it all the time when they think the Ministry's out to get them, which they're probably right about," he finished absently. "I can send mail and not have the owl unable to trace it back to me with a spell or two, no I'm just surprised I'd send it so early."

"I'd have thought you'd wait at least a month, you know put some believability into the idea that you aren't in contact with Harry, rather than on the train when anyone could have seen that," Remus explained their confusion.

"Oh," Harry shrugged, that hadn't been what was bothering him at all, he always rode with just Ron and Hermione.

Harry began reading out loud, that Sirius' note started with a hope Harry got this before he reached his own home, he wasn't sure how used to his aunt and uncle were to owl post.

Sirius muttered something under his breath that made James and Remus give an almost cruel laugh, and though Harry and Lily may not have been opposed to whatever he'd just suggested, neither really wanted to ask for details either.

Then he said that he and Buckbeak were safe in hiding, but he wasn't going to say where in case the owl was intercepted.

"There's that Marauder brain I've missed hearing about," Remus said fondly, he just knew Sirius had to have some sense still about him.

He wasn't too confident of the owl he'd picked, but it had seemed up for the job.

"Where would you have gotten him anyways," Harry couldn't help but ask, when he realized Sirius wouldn't have explained that.

"Probably found him in the wild," Sirius shrugged. "It's a lot more rare to find intelligent owls that aren't wizard bred up for the job, but it's not impossible either."

He was sure the dementors were still out looking for him, but they weren't going to find a trace of him where he was. He planned on letting some Muggles get a sight of him sometime soon,

"Sirius," Lily began with worry, but hoping he had a good idea of why Sirius would do this, James waved her down so Remus could keep going.

very far away from Harry so that some of his security would get let down.

"Oh," Lily still pouted, but then acknowledged, "yes, well I guess that's alright. Just please at least tell me you let them spot you from a long ways off, even Muggles could be dangerous if they catch sight of you."

"Worry wart," Sirius returned fondly, loving he could still pick on her at all for this and receiving the glare she gave him with pride.

He did add on that he was sorry he hadn't a chance to mention it before, but it was him who'd sent that Firebolt-

"What a shocker," James rolled his eyes with a laugh.

"Never saw that coming," Remus snickered.

Hermione interrupted to say she'd known it all along.

"And still with the 'I told you so's from her," Lily couldn't help but chuckle, still finding the girls faults more human than alienating. "Hasn't she learned anything this year?"

"Don't take so many classes," Sirius shrugged.

Ron agreed, but pointed out that it hadn't been jinxed either. Then he yelped in pain as the little owl he was still holding nipped him too hard on the finger in what it clearly thought was being kind.

"Yes, owls tend to do that a lot," James smirked, his own owl Click having a knack for doing that whenever he delivered a letter.

Back in Sirius' letter, he explained that he'd done it by having Crookshanks hand in the order for him, but the money for the broom had been taken out of his own vault.

"See, it wasn't difficult at all," Sirius laughed happily, joyfully imagining the confusion on those shopkeepers face at the cat delivering such odd instructions, but happy it had worked out for the best for his pup!

He hoped Harry would consider it worth the other thirteen years of presents he'd missed.

"It most certainly is," Harry agreed cheerfully, wishing he had it now, to share with his whole family and take another spin on it, wondering why that would cause another bump in his throat.

He also gave an apology for having frightened Harry that night when he'd been outside of his uncle's house.

'Wish you'd gotten around to asking him why he left' Remus couldn't help but think, still wanting more than anything for Sirius to go teach them a lesson about how they'd treated their Harry, but he didn't want to ruin the good mood again so soon so he hurried past that.

He'd only wanted to see Harry, but he realized he may have given him a fright.

"Perhaps a bit," Harry smiled lightly, now wishing he'd caught many more glimpses of that Grim, as it was the most important dog in the world to him, and not exactly liking that aching that wouldn't seem to go away, reminding him of how long he should be expecting the wait for the next glimpse.

He also added something else extra in the letter that should make his next year a little better for him.

That gave them all a perk of interest, what on earth could Sirius have wrangled together for Harry on the run?

He promised if Harry needed anything, all Harry would have to do was send him a letter, Hedwig would find him.

"So, was that spell like, specialized or something?" Harry asked, scratching his head as he tried to work out this complex bit of magic he'd never heard of.

"Well, yes," Sirius shrugged, trying to think of the most basic way to explain it. "I could change the spell just slightly so that only your designated letters would find me."

"You know I have been wondering though, if that spell wasn't placed on Harry long ago," Lily couldn't help but point out now that she thought about this.

"Why's that?" James scoffed.

"Well, Harry is the famous Boy Who Lived," Lily shrugged, always hating the reminder, but willing to say it to work this out loud. "That's got to come with say, some kids wanting to write to him, he is almost like a celebrity. I can't believe not one kid would have addressed an owl to him in their youth, but Harry never received a scrap of mail. If Dumbledore could wrangle together to get your key like he did first year, maybe he placed that no messages spell on you as well, and lifted it for Dumbledore himself through the Hogwarts letters, Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, and now Sirius. Of course that wouldn't count for the Improper Use of Magic Office, you can't get out of the trace."

"I, guess," Remus frowned, it did make some sense, even if it did bother them all the more, since any mention of Dumbledore now came with the added irritation of whatever he did to their lives, and really wishing he'd stop interfering already. If he hadn't done this, then Harry would have known his whole life he was a wizard and those Dursleys could have possibly backed off all the sooner. It hadn't happened though, and this was still more speculation than outright answers, so since Harry had no idea of the possibilities himself he just waved Remus on.

He promised he'd send more mail soon, and signed off. Then Harry peeked inside the envelope and found the other thing mentioned, and read it to find it was a note, as Harry's godfather, giving him permission to go into Hogsmeade.

"Yes!" James yelped with joy, catching Sirius by surprise by hugging him and still laughing. Sirius wasn't so unobservant he hadn't noticed James acting a little shifty, but he hadn't understood why which is why he was all the more happy he seemed to have done something good in that moment.

"How would you have even known he couldn't?" Lily couldn't help but ask between laughing. "That hadn't come up in your five minute conversation."

"I am positive I've been sending letters with Remus as well," Sirius shrugged, "maybe he mentioned it."

"I am a little disappointed," Remus couldn't actually say that with a straight face, he was smiling as well but still kept going, "now Harry won't have any reason to use that secret passage anymore."

"I'm sure Harry will still find plenty of reason to get into trouble," Lily giggled.

Harry cheered that Dumbledore would accept that! Then he noticed a PS on the first letter, and found it saying that since Sirius felt guilty Ron no longer had his pet rat, he could keep this owl.

Sirius couldn't help a violent snort of laughter, well he wasn't wrong, but at least this was his way of making up for attacking Ron that night, offering up an owl in return. What an odd way to phrase that though.

Ron went wide eyed in shock as he repeated that.

"Well that backs up that you must have found him in the wild or something," Lily giggled, "I can't see you going through an Owl shop and buying him, or stealing him from someone either."

"Hopefully Molly and Arthur won't say anything," Remus chuckled.

James couldn't help but do a double take, Ron's parents never really having occurred to him before, but suddenly wondering just how much Ron would tell them about this year. If Ron could convince his parents of Sirius' innocence, then that would be yet more people on his brother's side to help him. If he even got Percy to believe it, that would be all the better with his career path, it would do some good for someone in government to know the truth. Ron would have to be careful though, he couldn't go spouting too much before his family really believed the truth or all three kids could do more harm than good.

Ron eyed the owl still held tight in his hands in shock for a few moments before stunning them all by offering it up to Crookshanks.

Harry broke out laughing, thinking that all of their problems could have been solved a lot sooner if Ron had done that in the first place to Scabbers, cracking up even more at the idea of Ron being suspicious of an owl and not even being able to blame him.

Asking the cat what he thought, it was a real owl right? Crookshanks gave a purr.

"There's a sentence you don't get to hear much," Lily gave a half hearted laugh, wanting to find as much amusement as Harry, but the reminder only causing her more hatred again, as well as the boys.

Ron cheered that was good enough for him, he was keeping him!

"So glad someone got their wish this year," James muttered with sincerity.

Harry kept rereading his note from Sirius all the way back onto the platform.

Sirius still beamed with pleasure, happy that he could still do some good for Harry from afar. His pup would never again have to wonder if he had someone to turn to, someone out there to look after him.

He still had it tight in his hand as he went out into the rest of the world, and spotted Uncle Vernon.

Which didn't make his murder suspicions any better upon hearing of those useless excuses of caregivers all over again. He wished he could have arrived on that platform for Harry instead, wanted to be able to walk right up to them and deck them a good one and take Harry far away.

Lily still found it a bleeding miracle they showed up at all to pick up Harry, wondering at what their motives for that could be, knowing that either Harry didn't know or wouldn't tell her anyways.

He was standing a good distance away from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, eyeing them suspiciously, and his worst fears clearly came true as the first thing Mrs. Weasley did was hug Harry.

"Well how dare Harry ever receive a hug," Lily scathed, more venom then she'd expected making an appearance the more often she heard about Mrs. Weasley doing this, but her terrible theory confirmed and wondering if Mrs. Weasley was the only bleeding person to ever give Harry a hug! She wrapped an arm tight around him now to at least comfort herself.

Ron gave Harry a quick wave goodbye as the Weasley's departed, promising he'd call about the World Cup!

James gave a lackluster sigh, never having believed the idea of a Quidditch World Cup could be dampened, but hearing about those stupid Dursleys actually did the trick.

As Harry approached Uncle Vernon and he caught sight of the paper in Harry's hand, he began to threaten that had better not be some new thing he was expected to sign for! Harry told him it was a letter from his godfather, and Vernon began spluttering at once Harry had no such thing.

"I will tear every last one of your limbs off if you ever say that again," Sirius vowed, his eyes narrowing into cold slits while something else gave him a happy spark. So he couldn't be there for Harry in person, but if Harry set this up right, he could be in another more important way.

Harry said that in fact he did, he'd been his parents best friend,

Remus was so eager to hear if he was reading this right he couldn't even bring himself to make a crack about that.

that he was a convicted murderer,

"What a lovely way to start," James beamed, bouncing in place and making baby Harry trill with laughter.

and that he was on the run for now, but he'd be checking in on Harry frequently, to make sure he was happy of course.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes," Lily cheered, doing a little happy dance. If that didn't scare those Dursleys into treating Harry right then nothing would!

Still grinning at the look of horror on his Uncle's face, Harry wheeled his cart towards the cars outside, hoping for a much better summer than the last.

That wasn't the happy ending they'd all wanted, so many things had been left unresolved and they were just so tired of at the end of everything Harry was still forced back into their presence, but for now they'd take whatever happiness they could find, knowing by now it wasn't meant to last.

THE END

"That's the end of this one," Remus finally breathed in relief as he gave it a careless toss away from him.

"Finally," Sirius moaned, slumping back and running his hand across his face. "Remind me to skip the next one."

"No way," Harry yelped in protest, now trying for a frown but just unable to keep the expression as he teased, "then I'd miss out on all the Sirius/ serious jokes."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Lily scoffed, trying to lounge a bit more comfortably as she noticed the time. It was still too early for the next meal, but she had something even more important she wanted to discuss. She didn't really want to bring it up, but she turned to Remus with regret filled eyes and began carefully, "Remus dear, we need to have a talk."

"I know," he agreed at once, some color coming into his pasty skin, though it was red tinted with shame and some fear. His eyes flickered to the baby in James lap and away again, his hands starting to tremble as the idea just kept replaying in his head of what he'd almost done to that baby, what he could do tonight. For a wild moment he wanted to suggest that he should try to leave. Most likely the same thing would happen to him, he'd be knocked out for trying to vacate and the true monster should be as well...but what if that didn't happen? He'd never yet seen magic that would affect his transformation, so what if he did go on a rampage and possibly hurt someone? He couldn't ask Harry to come, it would be far too dangerous either way. Either Harry would be out there alone with him unconscious, or he'd have to single handedly deal with a full grown werewolf.

"You guys are overreacting," Sirius scoffed, placing his elbow carelessly on Remus' shoulder and trying for an offhand tone. "The three of us will barricade ourselves in one of the guest rooms, we'll repair whatever damage we'll make, and be done with it. Moony won't get past us," he finished, gesturing at himself and James for emphasis. "Then I'll come back down here, crash on the couch for a day, and we'll all be good to go."

"Just one problem," Harry frowned, "you should sleep in an actual bed."

Sirius made to shrug that off, but Harry cut him off.

"No way," Harry insisted, a set look in place and crossing his arms. He looked so much like James in that moment Sirius actually had to do a double take. "I've heard how bad this was going to get, and you should get a real bed. I'm sleeping down here tonight, I don't get special treatment."

"Looks like you lost Pads," James snickered as he stretched to stand up.

Remus rolled his eyes to cover a scowl as he muttered something about going to the bathroom and exited the room.

HPHPHPHPHP

Insane girly squealing taking place probably in the background even as you're reading this! I cannot believe I've actually completed three books in a row! There was a lot of hype and build up for this book, and I hope I did it justice! Please let me know what you liked or didn't like!? Got any plot holes or questions in general you want to see me dissect? Got two more chapters to post before I create 4, just because I really couldn't cram everything into the bottom of this one this time. Promise it will come up very soon, ain't no way I'm stopping now!

Thoughts on Prisoner of Azkaban:

The beginning, set up, and basically anything I've ever said previously regarding this series, still holds true 98% through the largest of portions through this book. It never felt like it was dragging to me, once again I was completely thrown off by the bang of a plot twist at the end, the setup of some small backstory on Harry's dad was done beautifully but never felt forced, there is a reason this is my second favorite book in the series. My only reserve on this book is the time travel plot at the end, which I've stated my opinion on, but even that's done so well I can't find nearly as much to complain about as I can in other medias this is done. The wonderful world of Harry Potter has successfully done one of my biggest problems of a plot and gotten away with it beautifully because of the way in which it happened. 9/10 for me! You cannot skip this book by any means, it holds too much for what happens in later books, and why would you with characters like these?

*Question offered by nahte123456! Thank you for the endless discussions you always offer!

** Question offered by maana999, kudos to you, I've never seen anyone ask this, hope you like my explanation.

***I've got a second story called Moon and Stars where Remus and Sirius do have a proper goodbye.