#both are very good at providing me music that fits my angsty characters

[evelhak]

Every time I see music discourse on Tumblr these days, I learn that I have horrible taste in music. And I'm surprised every time.

[anachronistic-falsehood]

i finally listened to all of the playlists and i have some Thoughts that i just really really want to share. i love all the playlists in their own ways but i do have some favourites

1. Janus’ Playlist

this one is SO GOOD so of course i’m ranking it first 

just going by my own personal music taste, i love the vibes this playlist gives off with every single song. there wasn’t a single song i was tempted to skip

every single song perfectly fits our slimy snake boi

i love all the chill jazzy songs and the upbeat retro-sounding songs it has

i started happy stimming when Razzle Dazzle started playing so yEAH that’s a PRETTY good indication as to how much i love this playlist. imagine him doing jazz hands with all six arms with this song in the background. that is all

Billie Eilish is on this playlist so-

i am literally listening to this playlist again right now. i love my slimy snake son

As Far As I Can See made me a little emotional??? nobody’s listening to him, someone show my slimy snake boy some love please

if i could add one song to this playlist, i would choose The Room Where It Happens from the Hamilton Broadway Soundtrack. i think it gives off the same vibes, and the content of the song (“i want to be involved in things but i can’t be and i’m frustrated with not being able to have my input listened to because i’m not as important as everyone else”) really fits him. 

2. Remus’ Playlist

IT HAS NINJA SEX PARTY ON IT. OF COURSE I LOVE THIS PLAYLIST

i’m used to stupidly vulgar songs because i listen to a lot of old Hollywood Undead so none of the songs made me uncomfortable 

i love that he shares a lot of the same artists with Roman. Remus is Creativity 2 Electric Boogaloo, and it’s like he’s trying to take what’s Roman’s and make it fit for himself. like “hey, i’m just you but worse, you could have been me, and i’m not going to let you forget it so i’m going to warp what’s yours to fit my own ideas”

listening to Death as a Fetish made me SAD, i just wanna hug this stinky trash gremlin rat bastard now

a lot of the songs are just straight up bops that i have never heard before?? hello?? how have i not heard these before??? seriously thank u Remus for introducing me to these songs

if i could add any song to this playlist, i would choose Thermodynamic Lawyer by Will Wood and the Tapeworms. the absolute angry chaos of the song fits him perfectly, especially the beginning where the singer yells “i hold myself in contempt!” and the music kicks in. the lyrics are all over the place, if you can even decipher what he’s saying at all, and some of the imagery that comes with it is a little extreme and Remus-ish. it’s also just a song about hating someone’s guts, and judging from other songs on his playlist, it’s pretty clear that Remus seems to hate Roman a lot. basically i’m saying i can imagine Remus doing a big villain musical number to this.

3. Logan’s Playlist

BO BURNHAM!! WHITE AND NERDY!! THE ELEMENTS SONG!!! every single song on here made me go “oh my god HECK YES!!!”

One More Time With Feeling and Not Perfect made me emotional, i wanna hug my smart nerdy boy

just from my own music taste, not all of the songs were ones that i vibed with, but i enjoyed them nonetheless, and they all gave some really good insight to his character

imagining Logan listening to Letter C and Time Adventure makes me smile. i am a Logan stan first and human being second

the song i would pick to add onto his playlist is La La La by Naughty Boy. LOOK at the lyrics and tell me that doesn’t scream Logan. i think it would play into Logan’s unwillingness to acknowledge the others’ feelings and even ignore his own at times and act like he doesn’t even have any. he wants to be right and solve things  with objective facts and he finds emotions tiring since he can’t make objective decisions when feelings are involved, so he blocks them out altogether.

4. Roman’s Playlist

this boy has a LOVELY music taste. it doesn’t fit my own super well but i still enjoyed all the songs 

MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS!!!!

again,,,,, the fact that he and Remus both have a lot of the same artists on their playlists,,,,, i see what y’all did there, Thomas & friends. i see you

having Wonderboy on there made me think that maybe Roman and Remus used to have a good brotherly relationship, and maybe. maybe Roman wants to repair their relationship but Remus is stubborn and hates Roman for unknown reasons

most of the songs were bops and i love them 

there are a lot of songs i would choose to add to this playlist but i’m going with Born This Way by Lady Gaga, because come ON you’re telling me that the gayest prince on this side of hemisphere wouldn’t have Lady Gaga???? it’s a crime to not have this song on his playlist. he also needs a little ego boost right now after SvS Redux and i feel like listening to this song would make him feel a little bit better. i think this song would highlight the few things Roman is really proud of and represent how he used to act before his self-esteem issues came into play

5. Virgil’s Playlist

lots of emo. i love it

a lot of the songs were similar to me and just kind of blurred together, but that’s probably just because i kept zoning out and doing other things while listening to this playlist. so, a plus for me is that it’s a good set of songs for me to play in the background while i’m busy to provide some noise

i love that it ended with Vindicated. i also lost my shit when it started playing Under Pressure but that’s just because i’m a Game Grumps fan and their bit in the Sonic Boom playthrough with the misheard lyrics makes me crack up every time

all in all, lots of chill songs, some angsty songs, the lyrics of most of them give us more context to his character

i appreciate that Thanks For The Memories is on here. hell yeah purp man, give us that early 2000′s emo music

I Disagree by Poppy is the song i would add to his playlist. Virgil said “i fight the man” and this song really has that “fuck the man i will fight authority” vibe to it. also you cannot convince me that Virgil isn’t a fan of Poppy’s new music. i kind of wish his playlist had some heavier rock stuff on it to show his former, more rebellious and cocky pre-AA personality, but i like what we got and how this playlist shows how much he’s changed.

6. Patton’s Playlist

these songs are so SWEET and i love him

i went feral as soon as i saw that New Soul was on here

however, i was very zoned out when i listened to this playlist so most of the songs blended together in my head and i hardly remember anything i heard. most of them sounded very similar

i do remember that i loved Turnaround, Oranges, and Oh Heart though!!! Oh Heart was probably my favourite from his playlist

i love that both he and Logan have a song from Tank and the Bangas on their playlists, and the songs are so different but still connected by the artist. it shows how different Patton and Logan are in every aspect but that they still need each other to do their jobs and that they can work together when they need to

overall a very chill but emotional playlist and i wouldn’t expect anything else from our lovely precious boy

the song i would add onto his playlist is Gotta Let Go by Hollywood Undead. it’s a very emotional song about letting go of the past and looking forward to the future. the “Moving On” episodes are what made me think of this song. i think it shows Patton’s overwhelming optimism about everything and his hesitation to move forward and stray from his strict optimistic morals.

anyway if you read this whole thing i apologize for wasting your time but i just needed to rant about these boys’ music tastes

[margridarnauds]

1 and 24 :D

Thank you!

favorite fic you wrote this year

I did a LOT of work this year, and my personal belief is that, so long as I learn from a fanfic, I’ll be proud of it. Last year, I did around 30,000 words. This year, I did 72,000. This year was really a year of testing my boundaries, from my first exchange fic (Still und Geborgen) to my first smut fic (A Pressing Matter) to getting ideas on the table that I thought had been shelved years ago (Back on the Shore) to working with fandoms that I’d never really thought I would work with (Ad Astra, A Brace of Snakes, and one fic that I’m legally not allowed to mention atm) to working with different formatting than normal (An Untitled Inquiry, In the Margins)

That being said, I think my PERSONAL favorite was either Ronan ad Scrinio or  Brace of Snakes. I love the others a lot, but these two are probably the two that I reread the most, because I love working with the character dynamics in them a LOT. Margrid/Orléans in Brace are one of those ships that I have a lot of fun working with, because as me and another friend have discussed....they FIT no matter how you interpret their relationship, whether it’s partners in crime, best friends, father/daughter, lovers, whatever. They WORK with one another, and it’s thrilling to work with two characters who are SO on one another’s level. 

Ronan ad Scrinio was PURE fluff, and it’s honestly something of a reprieve from the rest of Between the Waves, which tends to lean very, very angsty. And it was working with an idea I’d had for a long time, namely Ronan distracting Lazare from his work, while also really...giving me an opportunity to SHOW how much Lazare really, really loves him. Because Between the Waves doesn’t WORK if you can’t believe that a stuffy army officer fell in love with a peasant and vice versa, even after everything that’s happened between them. 

Speaking of BtW, Chapter 8 of PLP deserves a mention all on its own, because I’d been WORRYING about that chapter, how to make it work, how to keep the suspense, and then when the reviews came in and I realized that people HADN”T guessed it, I was thrilled. Sitting on that reveal for the last year had been HELL, and I also happened to time it so that the Reveal happened around the time I was leaving for London as well, so I would be on a plane with a rather slow wifi connection while most of The Shit was going down. 

favorite fic you read this year

DAMN, it’s hard to just....SAY. I don’t read as often as I write, which I know some people believe gives me a disadvantage, but...oh well. I will say that my friends group, without being biased at ALL, have produced some really, really good things that I enjoyed reading. I loved @trillfucker‘s Do I Terrify Do/Do You Feel Alive, they really did such a good job with the tension between Morden/Lennier and I KNOW that they feel like writing M/M is a weak spot, but they totally fucking sold it. Your work on Bres/Sreng was FANTASTIC and PINE-Y and I still think about that forehead touch all the time. @fallenidol-453‘s done Bullets Suspended in Time and Salt-Sea, both of which HURT. Estike/ @mooncastle‘s done...a lot, but especially Where the Lotus Blooms, which does a really, really good job of capturing that kind of hazy, dream like quality. And, even though I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few people, Yvie/@odachans managed to fully sell me on D’Artagnan/Aramis with Confessional.

 In terms of things not IMMEDIATELY from my own friend group, This fic that I got in an exchange for The Mummy, which does WONDERFUL things with Anck/Imhotep, and this fic that provides a happier AU to Anna Karenina. Because I needed it after watching the musical. 

And, of course, my friend @lehetsz-kiraly, where...well...

Tl:dr: I’ve had a LOT of great reading material this past year, and I’m also really lucky to know some talented writers. 

[softestvirgil]

A crappy review of Learning New Things About Ourselves, Part 2

Click here to read the first part!

"Sure, your feelings may not always make sense, but it's not your feelings job to make sense," Wow, I never thought of that.

Anytime Patton or anyone talks about dealing with feelings, Logan looks irritated.

Roman blew Virgil a kiss. He blew him a freaking kiss.

Vomity Central

"Oh my gosh what is up your butt?" "An arm!"

"Okay, I think it's clear that pointing fingers is getting us nowhere, so let's avoid that," Patton: "Agreed," *Points his finger at Thomas* "Oh! Butterfingers!" Virgil: "Huh that's not what butterfingers means..." Once again Patton doesn't get sayings.

Logan is so passive aggressive oh my god.

"Firstly there's no job security, I mean people fall out of public favor very quickly," "One! One cause of unease! Ah ah ah!" *Gets startled but ignores him* "You're balancing a great deal of responsibilities, people have limits, perhaps you cannot continue at this pace indefinitely," "Two! Two nervous thoughts! Ah ah ah!" *Ignores him again* "Your work is inessential. Some may claim they've been "inspired" by one thing you've said or another, but who's to say they couldn't have found the inspiration they needed elsewhere," "Three. Three depressing speculations. Ah ah ah," "And oh, oh I can think of another one! No one takes you seriously!" "Four... four uncomfortable characters in this room right now..." Virgil honey you did so good. You provided much needed comic relief to a really uncomfortable scene.

Logan cares way too much about being taken seriously. I get that he is logic, but not everything always has to be serious.

"Thomas, I have held back my opinions for too long," SINCE WHEN?

A real job? A REAL JOB?

"Shesh you sloppily eat some jam, accidentally make a few puns and now you're all sensitive about not being taken seriously?" "I'M NOT A JOKE!" Woah, Logan... honey...

This part of the video really shows that he is willing to be the bad guy in order to get Thomas to listen to him.

"I kind of hate you a little bit right now and shut your dirty mouth," Yeah, Logan you know he hates change.

"Thomas don't start, I have plenty of hate to go around," "Oh very funny, Virgil! You cute little muffin. Thomas you know he doesn't mean it," Patton, sweetie, stop ruining his thunder.

Patton sugar coats things too much, which is kind of like lying but less like actual deceit and more like masking the truth with positivity, which is still not great.

I appreciate the nod to Patton's attachment to memories, and also Roman noticing and helping him out of it.

"Why don't you just go get lost in a dryer!" Because he's a SOCK PUPPET? HAHAH-

"In truth, I do feel bad," Roman admitting he feels bad and saying sorry makes my heart so warm, even if he didn't appoligize to Virgil at least we are getting somewhere.

That little "Okay," thing Virgil does when he gets dismissed makes me have feelings.

"...like a stupid caveman..." Roman that isn't how you appoligize, you are trying but like try harder.

"I am responsible for my actions, and my actions alone," YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS? GROWTH! I LOVE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!

"Oh well that's... very kind," SAY SORRY BACK, DAMN IT!

I just love how Roman instantly took the chance to turn it into a musical again, and I have zero complaints about it.

"There are several several sides to us that may seem abstract at first until we discover where everything fits," It pans to Logan there, and he looks so... sad. Maybe he doesn't feel like he fits there anymore.

"I had this problem where I'd often hide my less than awesome feelings so when I would feel like sobbin' I'd just smile and crack jokes! I thought that, that was coping only joking never showing sadness hoping it would go away," "Did that work?" "Nope!" Logan? Were you maybe getting ideas there?

"Everybody gets sad even Dads that have people to care for, and therefore you don't have to hide your pain, life without rainy days is incomplete," I just, I love that part a lot. It's so meaningful.

"On the subject of storm clouds, because you know you need storm clouds to make... rain... okay I'm just gonna get into it," Yes, Virgil! Get it!

"You once knew me as real gloomy, this weird spooky broody dude because I knew you'd listen to me as too scary to ignore. I thought that I could take it all the hate could just be shaken but when you lo-care! for someone not much hurts more than their scorn," I love that Virgil and Patton are kind of using their story arcs to help Logan and Roman.

"...by bad I mean well mean but I did what I thought that I had to, which is bad too. I don't have to act all tough-" "Sometimes love is enough," GREAT NOW I'M CRYING COOL

"That was a quaint little review of things that we already knew," Logan, they were trying to help you!

LOGAN AND THOMAS IN THE SAME FRAME WILL NEVER NOT MAKE MY HEART SKIP, IT LOOKS SO STRANGE

Virgil: "You're lost," Logan: "I'm right here..." Virgil: "It's okay," Logan: "You're acting weird..." Virgil: I was lost once too but thanks to all of you life sucks less now," "We're your best pals!" This is, by far the most emotional part of the video for me. Virgil sees himself in Logan and what Logan's going through, and doesn't want him to go down that road. He cares about him, and is so gentle with his words. Then the rest all join in and reassure him that they are his friends, and that he doesn't have to fight them.

Roman literally had to air out literal dirty laundry... oh my gods.

"...it's clear you're the one that's hurting," Yes, Thomas!

Virgil: "You feel low," Patton: "It's okay," Look at my boys working together to help their friends!

"In almost any case we embrace you, no one hates you," He needed that a lot, like I really don't think you realize how much he needed that.

"This puzzles tough, I'll admit but in time we'll find where everything fits," I have so many feelings.

"... they're originating with me," Roman?

"It's so hard to create anything that I'm proud of when it's critiqued so harshly, by you," He cares what Logan thinks, a lot... and Logan was not aware of that.

"... the song was part of the conversation," NO SH*T SHERLOCK

Okay so Logan kind of gets it now, and understands that he can still play a part in things that may not seem to make sense to him, but it still feels... incomplete?

"Why did I never question people's belittling views on what I do?" I have nothing to say I just like that part.

"Don't hug me! I'm scared," Were you waiting all this time to make that joke? I know you were you creepy emo.

"...not that I was WRONG..." You were wrong, several times.

Logince is still going strong, gays.

Virgil's smile at them when he turns back makes my heart do a thing.

"Yes, you can become a puppet..." "Only if you want to," Virgil out here applying the same respect Thomas shows him, to Logan. I love.

I feel like at this rate they are all going to blind themselves soon, ouch.

"You're not made of felt," "Of course not, I've never felt anything in my life," THAT IS A VERY UNTRUE, VERY ANGSTY DAD JOKE

"Patton you were right..." MUSIC TO MY EARS

I am really proud of Virgil for being brave enough to tell Patton that he sometimes ruins his thunder, and I think even though he was brave in doing that, he was still scared that would make Patton not like him anymore. Because Patton was his only friend in this world for such a long time.

"You're all better now, right, Roman?" "Ugh well maybe not, but I will not shy away from that fact any longer!" I am, so proud right now.

"Well you, have my support," I LOVE BEST FRIENDS

Robot stretchy arm highfive, so weird and wholesome

"You did the stretchy arm!" He was so happy about that! I love it so much!

I feel like Virgil initiated the highfive to make sure he and Patton were okay, and he looked so relieved when Patton went for it. It was a bit awkward and I think that may just be because of the stretchy arms, or it's that they both feel a little bit weird about Virgil's confession and how it might change how they interact, but they still made it happen in the end... and they are still BEST FRIENDS AND I LOVE BEST FRIENDS!

Logan got stuck and NO ONE HELPED HIM SOMEONE HELP THE POOR GUY

I love Roman and Patton's puppet bit at the end, even though I don't get it

"I have no idea what this is, but it's highly entertaining," Me with the whole series tbh.

"Well now that, that's all settled I'm ready for a little relaxation," "Well I got some good news for ya!" "What's that?" "You'll get a lot of relaxation because it'll probably be another six months till the next Sanders Sides!" Patton, no! Not again! Never again!

"If you guys are right about that one I'm gonna freakin lose it," ME TOO

[sometimesambroswrites]

(@ifthingsgetcrazy​ listen ... i give you free reign to prompt whatever you want because ... i don’t know what happened here ... i have no excuses ... you asked for a professors au where the students ship them so i wrote ... not that. I’m posting this so you know that I tried.)

BUT STILL THE HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAYS!! Thank you for always being so appreciative of everything I write, for sending me prompts, for sending me prompts while you’re asleep and for giving me reasons to write :)  Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!

Read on AO3

“I ship it.”

Cameron looks up from where he'd been insistently banging on his locker to force it open and follows Jamie's alarmingly predatory gaze to discover she's staring at Mr. Lightwood and Mr. Bane, who are obliviously walking down the hall as they chat and smile and kind of ignore the swarm of students around them.

Cameron frowns and hits the locker just right; it pops open and he shrugs his bag off his shoulder with a satisfied sigh. “Ship what where?”

He can feel Jamie's annoyed eye-roll and he bites down on his lower lip to keep himself from grinning openly.

“How many times have I explained this to you? Ship means that I – ”

“Yeah, yeah,” Cameron says, pushing his bag in his locker with both hands; one of the pins is almost dislodged from where it's hanging on for dear life to the black fabric, “That you want them to be romantically involved because you think their characters would fit well with each other,” he recites; he keeps the bag inside the locker with one hand and slams the door shut with the other, almost cutting off four of his fingers. He shrugs, lets his back slide against the metal of the lockers until he can cross his ankles: “I don't see it.”

Jamie rolls her eyes and imitates him, crosses her ankles and clasps her hands behind her back: “That's because your angsty teenage fringe is covering your eyes.”

Cameron glares at her, almost, almost reaches for said fringe. “My fringe is fine,” he mutters.

Jamie doesn't bother with a reply. Instead, she makes a beeline for Mr. Bane and Mr. Lightwood, who are now a couple of steps from the teachers' lounge, and Cameron's eyes widen as he uselessly reaches for her and ends up taking a step forward to avoid stumbling over his own feet. “Jay!”, he calls under his breath, stepping around approximately three hundred students as he tries to stop her.

When he finally manages to catch up to her, it's too late: Mr. Lightwood and Mr. Bane have already been interrupted mid-conversation and are now looking down at Jamie with a polite what the fuck written all over their faces.

Jamie has her shark smile on – all teeth and no mercy. “Mr. Bane,” she says, and Cameron can see how Mr. Bane has already figured it all out from the way his lips curl just so. There's a polite smile on Mr. Lightwood's face as well. They're both way too fond of Jamie for their own good. Cameron would know. “We could never let Winter Formal suck because we have no funds for decent decorations, could we?”

Cameron sighs in relief as he realizes that she had no intention of talking of ships of any kind. Then he glares at the back of her head when he realizes she'd probably done it on purpose to freak him out.

“We really couldn't,” Mr. Bane says, nodding solemnly, “What did you have in mind?”

“Let's just say I spent my night on Amazon and I've accidentally put together a list of what we'll need,” she says, handing over a pristine list with quantity and price listed for each item, “and it fits perfectly in the school budget.”

Mr. Bane looks delighted as he scans the list, humming and nodding his approval. “Looks perfect,” he says, then taps pensively on the sheet of paper with his index finger, “But I'm afraid I can't do it without Mr. Lightwood's help,” he adds with a satisfied smirk as he turns on his heels to look at his colleague.

Cameron freezes at the glint in Jamie's eyes, tugs on her sleeve in warning, but she doesn't bat an eye and turns to Mr. Lightwood, who rolls his eyes with a resigned smile: “If Mr. Lightwood is so vital to the project,” he says sardonically, “I guess I can't say no, can I?”

Jamie's smile turns into one with less teeth and more gratitude and Mr. Bane's smirk is filled with satisfaction. “Very well,” he says, folding the list in half, “I'll get this to the Principal and I'll update you in class tomorrow.”

Cameron relates to Mr. Lightwood's fond eye-roll a lot.

*

“I was wrong,” Jamie says in her conspiracy tone, and Cameron doesn't have the time to be surprised because she adds: “They're already together.”

Cameron rolls his eyes. “Sure they are.”

*

Evan is tall. Taller than him.

That's the first thing Cameron had noticed about him, realising at pretty much the same time that he definitely had a thing for taller guys.

So Evan sits next to him in the chemistry lab and he's taller than him even when they're sitting, and Cameron doesn't like it one bit.

“Hey,” Evan says, voice smooth as usual, the tiniest hint of a beard on his chin and cheeks. The fact that his beard looks ginger-ish despite the fact that he's as blond as they come drives Cameron insane most of the times.

He keeps doodling on his chemistry notes and pretends he isn't as affected by him as he actually is: “Hey.”

Evan sighs. It's quiet, but Cameron hears it anyway.

*

He closes his eyes and breathes in, thinks for a moment – he ends up doing the wrong thing anyway.

He follows him into the bathroom for that tiny sigh he wasn't supposed to hear and closes the door behind himself, blocks it with the heel of his booth and his back and Evan turns at the noise, his lips open around a sigh of relief before they're crashing against Cameron's, clumsy and hurried, the hint of beard on his cheeks harsh against Cameron's palms.

They kiss for a long time, until they're both breathless and Cameron doesn't really feel his lips anymore, he just lets Evan press lazy kisses on his skin until he's satisfied.

“Hey,” he says eventually, slightly breathless, lips red, different, in a sigh of relief.

Cameron closes his eyes and relaxes against the door despite himself: “Hey.”

*

They are called the Home-made Decorations Committee and there will be no rest for any of them until the gym looks like a Winter Wonderland – whatever that means. Jamie makes it clear from their first meeting. She is standing in front of a huge amount of boxes, hands on her hips.

If it wasn't for the fact that Jamie had signed him up without asking him, Cameron would have known better than to show up.

There are groups. To each group is assigned a task. Some come with a Youtube tutorial.

Cameron ends up painting a giant styrofoam snowflake – one of the three assigned to him – carefully following the printed instructions he's been provided.

Evan sits next to him on the floor holding glitter and paint.

Cameron snorts: “Why would you subject yourself to this voluntarily?”

Evan shrugs, muscles shifting beautifully under his shirt – he's a human furnace and it's always warm in the Art Room: “I get to spend more time with you, don't I?” he says, voice low, winks at him as he unfolds his own sheet of instructions.

Cameron nervously looks around even though it's basically impossible anyone will hear them over the noise and the Christmas music blasting from someone's phone. “You're insane,” he murmurs, shaking his head as he pretends to focus on one of the corners of his snowflake with his light blue paint.

Evan shrugs; he starts singing along to Last Christmas as he dips his brush in paint, like the truly ridiculous human being he is, and Cameron shakes his head, tries to ignore the warm feeling in his stomach.

*

It's not long before Jamie's theories spread through the Home-made Decorations Committee and the bets start flying.

No-one thinks Mr. Lightwood and Mr. Bane will never get together. (Cameron is refusing to bet on any outcome.)

Jamie, a couple of other people and Evan think they're already together.

(Cameron just looks at him with his eyebrows raised after Evan has placed his two dollars in the Santa Claus hat Jamie is using to collect all the bets.

Evan picks up his brush and his glitter and plops down on the floor again while everyone else is still busy with their bets. “What?”

“You think they're together?”

Evan looks at him for a long moment before he shrugs: “Yeah.”)

The rest of the group is split pretty much in half: on one side, those who think they'll get together before Winter Formal – i.e., before they've set foot in the gym – and those who think they'll get together after Winter Formal – i.e., after they've set foot in the gym.

It's all very official and Jamie keeps track of every bet in a small notebook.

Ship names are discussed after, and that's when Cameron decides to tune them out. He still gets updates from time to time because Evan is actively participating to the conversation and he can't quite tune him out, but. That's not important.

*

It truly is worrying that Cameron walks into the gym on a Thursday afternoon, merely two days from the Formal, to see the Home-made Decorations Committee huddled-up in the middle of the room, whispering back and forth to each other, and doesn't find it weird in the slightest. It's not the first time it's happened. They're trying to come up with a way to get Mr. Lightwood and Mr. Bane to interact.

Of course, there's the After Formal Faction that doesn't quite agree and has tried multiple times to sabotage the Before Formal Faction, but, ultimately, they all agree on the chemistry. There's been talk of looks and flirty smiles and today's plan is to send them together to retrieve glue and scissors and pins they've hidden in the Art Room's supply closet.

Cameron can't believe Jamie is willingly wasting precious Formal-organizing time in order to do this.

He lets his bag fall to the floor and follows suit, ready to pick up his work where he'd left off, except that, of course, the scissors are gone. He rolls his eyes.

“Hey.”

He looks up and finds Evan's upside-down head a few feet over his own. “Hey,” he says, catches himself right before he lets his back rest against his legs. Evan is wearing a Christmas jumper – a black one with a gingerbread man with a broken leg; it reads oh snap. Fluffy pom-poms are used in place of the gingerbread man's buttons. It's ridiculously Evan, and, if it wasn't for the nervous look on his face, Cameron isn't sure he'd be able to stop himself from kissing him.

He's jittery, doesn't seem to be able to keep his fingers still. He keeps dragging his shoes against the floor. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

Cameron blinks, quickly thinks nothing good ever came after that sentence but doesn't say no, can't, really; it's a bit of an unfortunate trend, with him, this seeing troubles coming from a mile away and still running towards them. He nods, pushes on his palms to stand up: “Sure.”

He follows Evan silently, sneaks a quick glance at the Committee, still wrapped up in their plans, and when the gym door closes heavily behind them he almost starts; he crosses his arms over his chest, feels safer that way: “What's up?”

Evan's fingers twist the edge of his ridiculous Christmas jumper: “I wanted to ask you if you have plans for the Formal,” he says. He sounds breathless and steady at the same time, like he's rehearsed it but he's still nervous.

And Cameron doesn't know what to expect so he really doesn't see it coming, he simply says: “I don't think I'll go, actually.”, shrugs and almost feels relieved that that's all it was.

But Evan says: “I thought. Maybe. We could go together?”, the words unusually jerky in his mouth, Cameron is so busy wondering what happened to the usually smooth Evan that it takes him a moment to process what he just said. “What?”

Evan blushes – his ears turn red and someone who doesn't know him wouldn't notice, but Cameron does, so he notices. There's a nervous smile twitching at the corners of his lips, a stubborn set to his jaw like he knows exactly how this is going to end but he's going to try anyway. “I don't know. Like, as a couple? Maybe?”

Cameron feels – cold. He feels cold all over, fear gripping his stomach, he feels irrationally betrayed. “I don't think that's such a good idea,” he says, his voice shakier than he'd like.

Evan – flinches. Smooth, witty Evan flinches. The muscles in his jaw work for a few seconds as he grinds his teeth together. “Is it because – are we not a couple?”

A groan of frustration makes its way up Cameron's throat and he bites down on it, there's something important he needs to say and doesn't quite know how: “It's not – That's not – it's not that simple, okay?”

Anger digs a frown between Evan's eyebrows, determination fills his eyes once again as he takes a step forward and takes his hand – and that's the first time they've held hands in a public place and it almost takes Cameron's breath away. “What's not simple about this?”

Cameron disentangles their fingers before the impression of Evan's between his can burn its way in his skin. “Don't, just – it's not simple for us, okay?”

There's a discrete cough behind them, and Cameron takes a step back like he's been burned, his back hits the gym door and he curses before he realizes Mr. Bane and Mr. Lightwood are standing a few feet away from them.

He tries to say: “I'm – ” but doesn't have enough oxygen to finish the sentence because Evan's dark eyes look lost and disappointed at the same time, and Cameron feels his own eyes water suddenly and doesn't even know why before he all but runs to the closest bathroom.

*

He goes to Jamie's because Jamie always has ice-cream and tissues.

Jamie just takes a look at him before she's tugging him inside and pushing him down on her bed; she disappears downstairs and reappears with ice-cream and spoons.

*

She's disappointed and sad and a little bit angry that he hadn't told her. Cameron knows she would be. But, since she is the best of friends, she doesn't focus on that. For now. She pats his head and lets him have most of her ice-cream, doesn't ask for his reasons and just says: “It's gonna be alright.”

*

Cameron doesn't see Evan on Friday.

They don't have a single class together and he doesn't show up for the finishing touches to the gym and Cameron feels like a trash-can.

Jamie tries to help him out a couple of times, but Cameron sends her a small smile and shakes his head; eventually, she simply lets him be.

He's busy trying to spread some artificial snow on a tree to hide all the places where the plastic of the branches is showing when Mr. Lightwood says: “Here, let me do that.”

Cameron hesitates for a second, his cheeks burning red as he remembers he hasn't even begun to deal with the fact that two of his teachers probably heard him fight with his – Evan. With Evan.

He hands him the bag of artificial snow and Mr. Lightwood stands on his tip-toes to reach the higher branches of the tree; he resolves to simply throwing it and hope for the best when he realises he can't reach the top of it, and Cameron chuckles without really meaning to. He's just really tired.

Mr. Lightwood smiles at him, and it's in that smile that Cameron knows he heard.

Mr. Lightwood looks down for a moment, takes another handful of artificial snow and moves to the next tree. Cameron follows him.

“You know,” he says, “I never went to any of my school's dances.”

He tries to make it sound casual, but it's the slight tremor behind his voice that stops Cameron from brushing off his clumsy attempt at whatever this is. He looks away, pretends to be busy with a branch that will probably fall off if they keep putting snow on it. “Really? How come?”

Mr. Lightwood shrugs. He's not looking at Cameron either. “I wasn't out,” he says, tries to pass it off as a casual answer but there's a heavy weight behind it that Cameron understands all too well. “Well, not that being out would have really made it any easier, at the time. But I didn't want to spend my nights dancing with some girl or sitting around. So I didn't go.”

Cameron swallows; he's holding a handful of snow and he drops it carefully in a little pile under the tree. He asks: “Do you regret it?”

A weird smile curls Mr. Lightwood's lips – bitter, but like he was expecting the question. “No point in regretting it, is there?”, he says, shakes a branch with too much snow on it so that it falls naturally on the lower ones. “But I am sorry,” he adds, turning to look at Cameron, a heaviness to his voice, “that not enough has changed. That you have to make that same choice.”

Cameron stops, emotions rushing through him too fast for him to catch them, they leave him raw and breathless, his eyes wet because, apparently, crying is the only thing he can do these days. “A lot has changed, though,” he whispers around the knot in his throat. Because it's what he's been trying to tell himself all along. A lot has changed. Not enough, but a lot. He's no longer the child who got pushed to the ground. He can look them in the eyes and say I'm a fag. So what?

Mr. Lightwood nods, relief making his smile lighter: “Yeah,” he says, turning back to the tree, “That's why I'm thinking of taking my fiancé to this one.”

Pride and happiness surround the word and Cameron feels them in his chest; he sneaks a glance in Jamie's direction: “It's Mr. Bane, isn't it?”

Mr. Lightwood winks at him and Cameron groans: “I can't believe Jamie was right.”

Mr. Lightwood chuckles, and they spend a couple more second on that tree before they move on to the next.

“Do you think I should go?” he asks once he's worked up enough courage to speak.

Mr. Lightwood looks him in the eyes when he says: “I think we'll have your back if you do. Both of your backs. And a lot of other people will too.”

They go back to working in silence after that.

*

There's one foot of snow in the parking lot and Cameron is freezing, but it's almost nothing compared to the fear that's turning his insides into stone.

Jamie loops her arm through his, tugs on him the tiniest bit: “You can do this,” she whispers, and Cameron repeats it to himself, in his mind, you can do this, you can do this, and he's suddenly in the gym, blue and white surrounding him, and if he wasn't so busy panicking he would probably be proud of the work they did – as it is, he's not sure where his feet are.

He sees Mr. Lightwood and Mr. Bane standing on the edge of the crowd of students; they are casually holding hands.

Mr. Lightwood smiles at him when he catches his gaze. He points at his eyes and then at his own back.

Cameron stands up straighter, a slow, tiny smile curling his lips; he disentangles his arm from Jamie's: “I have to go find Evan,” he says.

Jamie's smile is blinding; she stamps a deep blue kiss on his cheek before hurrying away.

Cameron takes a deep breath.

It's a bit like in the movies, really. The crowd parts and suddenly Cameron sees him, sitting down with his legs crossed, wrapped in a dark blue suit and a white button down, he's talking to some of his friends from the football team. He looks gorgeous. Cameron moves without registering it, before he knows it he's standing in front of him and all his friends are quiet.

Evan is looking at him like he doesn't quite believe it, and Cameron kind of shares the sentiment.

He holds out his hand, says: “May I have this dance?”

His fingers are shaking just so, until Evan takes his hand. “I thought you'd never ask.”

*

Evan being tall isn't such a bad thing when Cameron can use him as a pillow when he's tired but he hasn't danced enough quite yet.

Mr. Bane and Mr. Lightwood are dancing too. Well, they're swaying in place while they chuckle and whisper. They look younger.

Cameron is happy they got their chance to dance at a prom together.

Mr. Lightwood sends him a bright smile and Cameron gives him a thumbs up.

They all did.

[maychorian]

Weekly Voltron Fic Recs #48

Rules: You can find past weekly rec lists here, and non-list recs in my general fic rec tag. Also follow @maychorianrecs for individually tagged posts, the easier to search and reblog. This is stuff I like, and I have a huge bias toward Lance, hurt/comfort, and general fluff, in that order. Gen unless otherwise noted. Please comment on the fics if you read and enjoy them!

Why it sucks to be a snake in space by EboniObsydian for polarspaz Words: 31,825 (8/?) Author’s Summary: It had been a month since the transformations, since the ill trip through an electrical storm transformed the humans into creatures of myth - Shiro became a dragon, Hunk became a troll, Lance became a centaur, Keith became a naga, and Pidge became a gorgon - and there were still things and quirks to get used to. Even so, the castle floors were still cold and slick and Lance still slipped on them when he was unawares. Shiro still scared the heebeegeebeez out of everyone with smoke occasionally emitting from his nose and mouth and his icy touch, Pidge still didn’t dare remove her blindfold around anyone and Hunk still lurked indoors during light hours when planetside. Between him and Shiro though, no one knew whose hoard was bigger. Alternatively titled “Myths in a Space Castle" — Inspired by @polarspaz’s Snakes & Horses AU where Keith is a Naga and Lance is a Centaur. Not strictly adhereing to the AU since Shiro is a chuvash dragon instead of a vampire and Pidge uses female pronouns. Updates sporadically.now you can find me on tumblr! @bucketoffudgeinamuffin My Comments: This is such a FUN fic. It reminds me of a survival fic where characters have to deal with a new and crazy situation and learn how to survive and find food and build a fire and all that. The mythical creatures the paladins turn into are all very fun and interesting and fitting, and the way they have to adapt is so well thought-out and fascinating to read. I’m really enjoying this, and I’m really looking forward to more. This one sucked me in, for sure. The Keith and Lance friendship is especially good, but no one is neglected.

When You Are Alone by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) Words: 26,355 Author’s Summary: 5 times Shiro and Ryou disagreed. Updates every other day. My Comments: Part of an excellent, wonderful series in which “Kuron” is redeemed by Team Voltron and stays on as Shiro’s twin, Ryou. This entry is a great exploration of both characters learning to adapt to the changes and exploring their own personalities. Humor, angst, comfort, deep conversations, everything I like in fanfic is there. It’s so good.

humility by bobtheacorn Words: 1,446 Author’s Summary: “Before I turn this on,” Pidge begins, “I’d like to just go on the record and say that Hunk is hands down the best member of this team.” “Seconded,” Lance says without hesitation.Pidge continues, “And his tireless contributions to the emotional well being of his fellow paladins is commendable and beyond reproach. If I had a medal, I would give it to you, Hunk. As a matter of fact, I’m making you one first thing tomorrow.” “Stop, you guys,” Hunk says, and whether he’s feigning being emotional or it’s genuine is hard to say. He’s fanning a hand in front of his face, blinking at the ceiling. His voice is a little choked, “Man, I said I wouldn’t cry.” Keith is sitting beside him on the couch with his arms crossed, bewildered by the formalities. //Keith doesn’t know anything about video games. Outrage ensues. My Comments: This is so cute and funny and adorable. Love these kids hanging out and having fun.

CUPS by SerenePhenix Words: 4,385 Author’s Summary: Coran was willing to sacrifice far more than just his wellbeing for the sake of these young people in his care. Anything to ensure that they could win this war. Anything to ensure they did not have to worry about something like making an alliance. My Comments: When you find a good hurt!Coran fic, you gotta hold on to it, because it’s rare and precious like a jewel. This is great, though of course Coran is kind of an idiot for not just telling someone. But of course he has to be strong. For all the kids. Sigh.

Exploration by luoup (ravenic) Words: 1,573 Author’s Summary: Day 4 Prompt 2: Exploration Shiro & Lance&Hunk: going somewhere new and interesting and fun My Comments: What a great trio! It’s so nice to see them hanging out and chilling and enjoying a cool area. Fun, relaxing read.

in the places where it is soft and quiet by kingwise Words: 2,807 Author’s Summary: Pidge found this rose quartz room one day while exploring what would be her new home. She didn’t quite want to call it that though. Home was rumbling laughter, round glasses, and the smell of frozen peas heating in the microwave. And now, the only thing she had left were the glasses. (When she wore them, it felt like back when she played dress up with Matt. They were a burning memory she clung stubbornly to.) or, where pidge feels terribly sad and misses her family, and lance tries to help in the end (takes place pre-s4) My Comments: Love Lance being such a sweetheart with sad Pidge. Always good to have more of those two.

Sugar Cookies by Gootbuttheichou Words: 2,538 Author’s Summary: Lance is more than thrilled to be attending the Galaxy Garrison in order to become the world’s best pilot; however, he didn’t expect there would be so much studying to do. Luckily, his roommate Hunk is happy to study with him, and happy to bake treats when his friend is gloomy from studying. My Comments: Aw, sweet boys. Hunk is such a good friend. I want them to be roommates in canon so bad, but for now at least I have fics.

Fever Can Wait by oldmythologies Words: 2,138 Author’s Summary: Prompt fill: “Hey there! Can I request a sickfic where Shiro gets a fever so high he starts babbling and gets disoriented. Maybe he gets a cold bath before it gets worse? :O” from crazy-indigo-child on tumblr. My Comments: Really sweet sickfic with delirious Shiro and gentle Keith. Hits the spot.

Fireworks by AmnesiaticRoses Words: 7,397 Author’s Summary: Voltron is treated to a victory party – a planet-wide one. But not all of the locals are celebrating, and are instead looking to exploit the party as the paladins let their guards down. Written from prompts provided from Grimkohai, technically using the one for the third week of October – “Festival” – but if I don’t get this out of my hands I’m going to tweak it into a mess. My Comments: This is an EXCELLENT fic, and the fact that my comment is the only one is an absolute travesty. The action, characterization, and worldbuilding are all fantastic. It feels like an adventure in a place you’ve never been but would like to visit someday. The paladins are all smart and competent, but special spotlight on Lance for being smart and brave while concussed and captured. It’s so good, you guys. Read this fic. Comment. It deserves more love.

as the lion loves the lamb by Demenior Words: 3,986 Author’s Summary: The Lions are powerful, ancient machines that have existed for eons. To be chosen by them is an honor only few have, for they pick only the greatest of heroes to serve them. But to serve a Lion is a life sentence. And a Paladins life is always a short one. The Lions are hungry. My Comments: Seriously horrifying take on what the lions are and what they want. This creeped me out, and it’s pretty rare for words on a page to do that. Excellent stuff.

Cold As Ice (With No Sign Of Life) by PastelClark Words: 1,826 Author’s Summary: It is a dark, terrible thing that only crawls to the surface, like frost over metal, when she is alone. When she feels her paladin go with one of her siblings somewhere far away enough that her hold over the bond fuzzes and fades out, flat-lining into the barest of sensations, and she is left with only herself. And she must be broken, she decides, to feel this way—because she is a leg, meant to be stable and secure and strong, as she has known from the beginning of her creation. Legs do not get paranoid, or frightened, or…or lonely. But she does. When her paladin leaves, the cold sets in. And the cold, it is nothing but lonely. My Comments: Angsty little Blue POV on losing Lance. It hurts.

Chamomile Tea by SerenePhenix Words: 3,937 Author’s Summary: Deciding what’s best for oneself is never easy and just a long process of trial and error. OR: Pidge fucked up and Shiro’s there to help. My Comments: Part of a series, a modern AU where the paladins are roommates and take care of each other. So here’s Shiro taking care of Pidge. Lovely.

Light of the Galaxy by thekingoftrash Words: 5,308 Author’s Summary: Sometimes, it’s the aftermath of freeing a planet that gets you. OR Shiro’s hurt, Hunk’s helpful, and Lance and Keith argue over the proper grammar usage of quiznak. My Comments: Hurt Shiro, supportive team, what else can you ask for?

Sweet Dreams Are Made of This by tymedfire for mssstilinski Words: 3,172 Author’s Summary: Lance gets Earth music again. My Comments: Cute fic with the team appreciating dancer!Lance.

Nose Knows by sedna_mode Words: 1,861 Author’s Summary: Following a one-off comment from Hunk about how good his sense of smell is, the team devise a challenge to test him. The only thing is they… forgot to involve Hunk himself. Good thing he’s always up for a challenge, and Hunk is good.And he knows it. My Comments: Absolutely perfect fic based on a preview from one of the comics. I love this view of Hunk and the team.

Made of Stardust by itsthevoid Words: 3,819 Author’s Summary: Altea was destroyed long ago, and since then, Allura hasn’t had a planet to call her home, not even Earth. This doesn’t mean that she’s homeless. My Comments: Really lovely futurefic in which all of Team Voltron gets to go home, even if it isn’t what they expected. I loved the conclusion.

Spring Gifts by wingedflower Words: 3,535 Author’s Summary: Lance is always homesick, but some days are harder than others. Especially this day, when he would give anything in the universe to be back on Earth with his family. For the time being, his space family will have to do. But maybe it’s not so bad after all. My Comments: I adore the way everyone was so supportive of Lance once they realized he was having a rough time, emotionally. They treated his sadness like a wound, something that deserved to be acknowledged and cared for, and they were all willing to drop everything to do it. Just lovely.

Siren’s Curse by Internal_Screaming Words: 2,051 (½) Author’s Summary: Galra are slowly taking over the kingdom, only a few villages stand against the empire, and even those are disappearing quickly.Pidge remembers the day they took her family, and every day since, she had tried to find a way to get to them. Then her answer comes, as she finds Shiro during a storm. She believes this may be her chance to get on land and find her lost family.Galra are a specific race on earth, mermaids and sirens are different species and believed to be myths. Pirates roam the seas and are known to either give no shits about the war against the Galra or have chosen a side. Usually the side being that of the Galra. My Comments: Really cute fantasy AU with mermaids, sirens, humans, and pirates. Fun read, and I’m looking forward to more.

Survivor’s Guilt by Agapostemon Words: 8,281 Author’s Summary: “What were you doing at my house in pajamas this morning?” Shiro groans.“Oh, uh…” Matt stammers, “Y-your boss called me? You didn’t show up to work, and she was worried. And then I got worried, because… your texts last night were a little scary to begin with, but then you didn’t show up to work? Anyways, I drove over to check on you, and your door was unlocked, so…” he gestures vaguely. My Comments: Modern AU in which Matt supports Shiro through PTSD, depression, and a suicide attempt. It’s pretty dark, but with a hopeful ending. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

stillness by bobtheacorn Words: 3,088 Author’s Summary: “You’re all too young to really understand the nuances of Pac man,” Shiro says, trying to get a rise out of them, though it backfires.“Vintage is cool, Shiro.” “Yeah, old things are in! Why do you think we have so much respect for you?” “Oohoho! Pidge!!” //Coran finds something interesting on the scanners and takes everyone on a detour for some well-deserved rest and reflection. My Comments: It’s so nice to see the Voltron crew just hanging out and enjoying each other’s company. Fun, relaxing read.

Lost in Translation by EdgarAllenPoet Words: 22,178 Author’s Summary: “Keith shook his head, not knowing how to communicate that he didn’t understand him. Kolivan’s face turned to stone.” My Comments: Keith accidentally goes to an alternate universe and runs into a BoM where no one understands him, and when they do, they don’t believe him. It’s brutal, especially if you’ve read the other fics in this story where Kolivan and Antok are father figures to Keith. Very intense read, I couldn’t stop once I started.

Kiss From a Rose by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) Words: 14,176 Author’s Summary: 5 times Shiro got kisses from the team, and one time he returned them My Comments: Absolutely adorable fic, notwithstanding some pain and suffering along the way. All of the platonic kisses were incredibly sweet and cute, and the ending was ridiculously satisfying.

Casting Shadows by BlackFriar Words: 74,777 Author’s Summary: An encounter with an ancient creature leaves Keith a child and Shiro reliving the past. While searching for a way to get their red paladin back, the team uncover a connection between a savage race of aliens and one of the universe’s oldest mysteries…and learn the past is never truly behind anyone. My Comments: This is an absolutely home run of a fic. Intense and horrific at times, but a thrill ride. It weaves together past and present in a great way. This is not a cute, fluffy deaged fic, though. Young Keith is terrified, for good reason, and that never really goes away, though the ending is perfectly satisfying. There’s also a lot about past child abuse that gets really awful at times, and the enemies in this fic are particularly disgusting (think the Reavers from Firefly/Serenity). Warnings aside, though, this is a fantastic fic. Plot, characterization, and worldbuilding are all spot-on. I really enjoyed it.

Muzzled by Emls479 Words: 5,181 Author’s Summary: The blade of Marmora aren’t the only ones with time altering technology. Days on the outside can be months within. Keith finds this out a little too late. My Comments: Holy crap, poor Keith. This was brutal, most especially because from his perspective, he was abandoned by his team, even while they were doing everything they could to rescue him. The comfort at the end was very good, but oh man, Keith goes through some awful stuff in this one.

If It Helps You Breathe by LynnLarsh Words: 5,632 Author’s Summary: A bad night with alien liquor puts Lance in a headspace he’s spent years trying to get out of. It’s a downward spiral that he eventually realizes he needs help dealing with.Trigger warning for self harm. The tags are important on this one. Please tread carefully. My Comments: Warning for self harm, so mind the tags. I really appreciate that Lance sought help on his own, eventually, because I know how hard that is. The hurt/comfort is good, and it’s realistic about how hard it is to deal with issues like this.

Grey by Skiewrites Words: 4,281 Author’s Summary: Grey is a secondary quintessence, made of Black and White quintessences. It represents the movement and manipulation of quintessence from one host to either another host or outside the host in an unnatural form. The most common use for Grey quintessence is during attacks in the form of lightning bolts. The physical representation of Grey quintessence is storm. Lance learns a lot from his family during his childhood, ranging from him being an alien and about the species that destroyed his home planet 10,000 years ago, to the legends of Voltron and the quintessence they use to protect the lion they’re currently hiding with.It’s a shame he never really said goodbye. My Comments: Really interesting twist on the concept of Altean Lance, with great worldbuilding and family interactions. I’d be interested to read more in this ‘verse.

Honest Work by juniperallura Words: 1,365 Author’s Summary: Based on my random HC that Shiro likes to garden because it’s peaceful and dear god someone give that man some rest My Comments: A relaxing little fic with Shiro getting some satisfaction from working with his hands.

cutthroat by buttered_onions Words: 1,363 Author’s Summary: Lance volunteers.(A Voltron/Hunger Games AU.) My Comments: Another amazing AU from buttered_onions, though Hunger Games scenarios always make me sick. There’s going to be more, but this is already brilliant.

Previously Recced Fics That Updated:

Shadows of Stars (33466 words) Coran's Guide to the Care and Keeping of Earthling Humans (37525 words)

[attemptedfilmcritic]

Spider-Man: Homecoming Review (Spoiler Free/Spoiler Talk Below)

Rating System: 

buy it on DVD or digitally (legally)

see it opening weekend

pay full price at the theatre

catch a matinee if you want

rent it for $3-$5

I wouldn't recommend it

As someone whose lived almost their entire in life in love with this character and has been on both spectrums at one time or the other with the Toby-Andrew feud, it is safe for me to say this is the best interpretation put to screen yet. Said every tv spot and critic ever so far. And, they're right. Well admittedly in most cases.

For Peter Parker/Spider-Man, there's one thing I picked up on throughout the movie that I could not drop or forget for the life of me. It's that Tom Holland is beat for beat Marty McFly in some key moments in this film. And that's not a bad thing! The way he delivers when in panic or excitement of any kind just screams 1980s Michael J. Fox to me. And I dig it. He had such a youthful and comedic charm which translates well with this character. Which helps with their allusions to ‘80s classic films. That's what this Peter as Spider-Man is like. He's panicky and screams his confusion. And he's genuinely pretty nerdy and innocent. He's apart of an academic club and was in band. I was in band, I know these things.

Speaking of comedy! This film is full of it, as promised with any film slapped with a Marvel Studios logo on it. It's done very well and not really shoved in your face. Sometimes its situational and sometimes it’s through written dialogue. It doesn’t sacrifice sincere moments for the sake of an extra laugh (a gripe Doctor Strange received a lot). The comedy is where it belongs and the powerful climactic superhero moments are where they belong. Nothing messily meshed. Save one joke, that was totally worth it.

The suit in the film is really interesting. I’ve always loved the design itself, but the features it provides is insane. And it makes sense character wise because it was built by Tony Stark. Of course its going to be over the top and have insane gadgets. But l love the Peter has no idea how to use them or even a clue why he would use some. Some critics were getting antsy about 576 web shooter combinations. “That’s outrageous! What happened to plain and simple Spider-Man?” Well I can tell you Peter agrees! It’s a great touch to his character. He’s from Queens and isn’t used to high-tech luxurious super-suits. He just uses what he knows. And that’s all he needs. Though, when it’s time to take advantage of some features its pretty neat.

The primary love interest is Liz (who would be a loose interpretation of Liz Allan). Her character somewhat correlates to her comic roots. She's popular. They got that right. This Liz is also smart and apart of the academic decathlon club, something I would not expect from Liz Allan in the comics. But in all honesty that's pretty much it for her character sadly. Not a lot said nor done. She's not annoying but not compelling either. His friend in this film is a huge departure from Harry Osborn. Not Ned Leeds confirmed (later Hobgoblin) but just “Ned”. I thought he was a great addition and carried a good amount of the comedy from this film. Some claimed he wavered back and fourth from annoying to funny. I never felt he was annoying. A breath of fresh air, since both portrayals of Harry were quite angsty and “I will never be good enough for my father” territory. This is nice. Just a positive friend there to help. Basically also joining Peter on this cool, adventurous, dangerous ride. 

Michael Keaton is a good baddie. He plays the part. Intimidating and has a motive, but sadly not really Loki tear of relevance and memorability. He's a good starting villain for Spider-Man. You are given an insight to why he does what he does. Granted, it's not Zemo level of tragedy. But he pulls his weight in the film. Not completely over-doing it into campiness but not phoning it in at all either. As for Shocker he's in a few scenes and is somewhat of a throwaway villain plucked from Spider-Man's rogue gallery. He's not a particularly interesting villain even in comic form so if he had not been there and was replaced with Bad Guy #2 the story wouldn't have lost a beat. I understand wanting new and never used bad guys adapted because “we have the rights now! Let's go crazy!” But I say quality over quantity. Vulture would've been—no, is plenty for the whole movie. And yes, Tinker gets a little bit too, but I argue he'll be more useful and brought back for future installments. Similar to what they're doing with Klaue. So he might actually have a pay off. Unlike Shocker, sadly. As for Donald Glover he's great! Only in two scenes, but cool. He's chill and even helps Spider-Man. I really want them to bring him back because he was criminally underutilized. The second scene with him is incredibly funny.

Right off the bat I will just say the ending is hilarious and made the entire theatre burst out laughing. I love the ending credits because it was new and thoughtful. It was youthful, yet again, and just made the part of watching the credits to get to the after credits scene more fun. It's colorful, which is what this movie is as well. It's bright and sunny. Marvel gets a good amount of flack for its gloomy cinematography despite its much more playful tones. Not all juxtaposition is good, translates well, or quite frankly makes sense. This movie breaks the trend. And it's fitting for a great summer-y superhero blockbuster flick. You want to have an exciting harmonious display to inflict a positive memory of seeing this movie on a relaxing summer day with your friends. You'll remember it with affection and ease. The stakes aren't as high with this film. The whole earth isn't in peril. There is conflict and tension but none too much that The Avengers themselves would have to come take care of. So it helps with the logic in that aspect of the universe as well. 

Quite recently I've been big on spotting patronizing films with telling and not showing. Or worse. When they do both. They don't trust the audience to put it together, watch, or be intrigued. Invested. But we are! This film does hardly any of that, though it is slight. Sam Raimi is king of showing and not telling thus far out of all three Spider-Man directors. But overall it treats its audience with respect. The pacing is balanced as well. Some scenes are slow for development and even plot purposes and others a grand and big for a superhero film. 

The theme of the film is slightly muddled and mixed for me to put my finger on. Overall it's to take responsibility. I mean, what else would it be? Do the right thing. When confronted with the Vulture, Peter is given a very clear and major threat on his life and his friends and family’s life. The whole scene he is clearly scared out of his mind. But he doesn't hesitate to drop everything and go after him the second he can. Knowing everything at stake. Because he has to. It's inspiring. He also humbles himself and feels the need to learn more and grow before becoming a full time Avenger. Ya know, go to school and stuff.

The musical score will have you smile with the opening theme. Otherwise, sadly nothing will top Danny Elfman’s. There aren’t any other distinct themes I picked up on could hum other than the iconic one everyone already knows. 

Rating time. I would say both see this opening weekend and buy it when it comes out. It's truly great and a prime example of fun popcorn movies that can have quality. Quality acting, special effects, writing, you know the drill. I'd recommend it for kids (probably 10+), teens, and adults. See it with your family, see it with your friends to support watching movies as great as this in the theatre. And for Marvel to keep making fun movies that are all creating a bigger interconnected world. Or! If you just simply love Spider-Man and only care about him!

Either way, just see it! 

Because it's honestly amazing.

SPOILER TALK

Now that the overall review is laid out I do want to give comments on…other things.

All I can say is I don't mind that Zendaya was/is “MJ” but I'm curious as to how they're going to play her out. Is her name solely just a wink at the character Mary Jane or is she going to be a genuine love interest? Time will tell, but personally I prefer the former. I'd really appreciate a plain and simple companionship between Peter and this character. I can't see these characters having a love for each other that isn't platonic. Let her be Michelle and let Mary Jane be Mary Jane. There doesn’t have to be some new spin or cross making of the sort. Preferable I’d say have this new character made be her own thing or adapt Mary Jane from the comics as well as you did with Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Because those two characters of Michelle and Mary Jane are absolutely nothing alike. Obviously. 

I'm picky about Spider-Man love interests, okay.

As for the connection of Liz being the daughter of Vulture it is hilarious, but has very little impact emotionally. Yes it is funny but you don't feel bad for Peter in the way you should. You feel bad because he's in a bind and can be harmed physically. Not because this girls parental ties puts a burden on their love or relationship. It gives temporary tension, which is awesome, but in the long run the relationship between Liz and Peter went nowhere and is more or less one-sided anyways. It had no strain. If they really developed Liz to have more depth and a mutual love and admiration for Peter it would be more painful, in a good way. But the tie doesn't hurt. It pays off when she has to move to Oregon(?) and is given a gentle boot for MJ to step into the shoes of the love interest. To which I ask, why not just have MJ be the main love interest in the first place? And I don't mean have Peter fawn over her the way he did with Liz, but in build a strong friendship that clearly indicates room for romance in the future. Start with some chemistry first. They know each other but I can't say they're even friends right now.

Also, I'm so glad they brought back Pepper and repaired her relationship with Tony. Honestly, I really missed her.

Also also! With Donald Glover’s role as Aaron Davis, Miles Morales totally exists in this universe as well! He even references having a nephew. I just really don't want them to kill off Peter Parker after the trilogy is over for Miles Morales. Keep them both! We can’t lose the best Spider-Man put to screen!

And the last after credits scene is clever as hell. Nothing special or big. Not baiting anymore movies or characters or plots. Just simple and new.