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lesbianrobin · 3 years

Note

What do you think are the good and bad aspects of each season of ST?

ok 1. thank u for this question omg and 2. this answer may or may not be a mess, but either way it’s long (almost 7k words lmao) bc i’m insane, which is why it’s under a cut. it’s still by no means an exhaustive list but these are the things that just kinda came to mind.

also i realize you asked “good and bad” and i wrote this whole post as “strengths and weaknesses” which um. is not Exactly what you asked. but close enough <3 i also ended up including a lot of au ideas ksjdckmn bc like i personally hate when people say a certain plot or whatever was bad without suggesting anything that could have improved it yknow so whenever possible i tried to provide Some idea for fixing the issues i had with the show!!

season 1

strengths (this is probably gonna be the longest section but that’s because a lot of these strengths also apply to s2/s3 by default)

nostalgia and authenticity

this one’s pretty simple, but i think that season one did a good job of blending classic eighties media homages (such as the many many e.t./el parallels) with explicit pop culture references (such as mike’s yoda impression, mentions of the x-men, etc) to create a show that’s essentially dripping in early eighties nostalgia without it feeling too forced. before st, i think the most popular depiction of the eighties in mainstream media was that overly exaggerated neon scrunchie aesthetic from the mid to late eighties, and it was usually done in a comedic sense first and foremost. st took a different approach, instead focusing on the early eighties, a time that’s often ignored in favor of going either Full Seventies or Full Eighties, and i think that this choice likely resonated with adults who lived through the eighties and hadn’t yet seen something that felt quite so accurate to their own adolescence. a lot of young people who watched st were totally unfamiliar with this period of time, unfamiliar with books/movies like “stand by me” that st borrows from heavily, and i think st lent more seriousness to the eighties than most young people had experienced so far, and this was refreshing and interesting!

the use of dnd in the show is also quite genius in a way i’m not sure i can articulate?? it isn’t something Everyone would have played at the time, but it’s something that existed within a different context back in the eighties than it does today, and it really lent a sort of authenticity to the naming of the show’s sci-fi elements. like, of course these kids would name parallel dimensions and monsters and superpowers after these similar things in their favorite game! it just feels so real and it grounds st in our reality moreso than you might expect from the typical sci-fi or horror universe.

utilization of existing tropes

almost every single character in st clearly originates from some popular trope. the plot itself is riddled with classic eighties movie tropes. almost every single element of stranger things can be clearly traced back to some iconic eighties film or just to, like, overused horror/sci-fi/mystery/coming-of-age movie tropes in general. this might sound like a bad thing, but it really works in st’s favor! starting off with familiar tropes gives st the ability to easily create a lot of complexity and make a big impact by selectively deviating from those familiar, comfortable tropes!! while el’s whole plot, hopper’s character, etc, are all examples of this in action, i think the steve/nancy/jonathan plot is the greatest example. even from the start, the fact that good girl barb dies while nancy is off having sex with her asshole boyfriend is an incredibly thorough inversion of the most well-known horror movie trope in the book. how often do girls in horror movies have sex for the first time, walk home alone in the dark of night, and live to tell the tale? nancy and jonathan’s dynamic at first glance is a sort of classic “good girl meets boy from the wrong side of the tracks, discovers he’s actually got a heart of gold” thing, but instead of following this well-trodden path, st diverged. nancy is brash, impulsive, and at times downright insensitive. jonathan is angry, bitter, and actually a bit of a creep at first. while they have the capacity to emotionally connect and support one another, they can also bring out each other’s darker side, which is not what we’ve come to expect from that initial tropey dynamic.

in addition, steve, the popular rich asshole boyfriend, is actually... a human being! unlike the cartoonishly evil jocks that we’ve come to expect (especially from eighties movies), steve has complexity. despite his initial immaturity and selfishness, he’s also kind to barb, he backs off when nancy says no, he’s gentle and sweet when they sleep together, his first big Dick Move of the season is in defense of nancy, he realizes the error of his ways after the fight and does what he can to fix it, he’s worried about nancy when he sees that she’s hurt at jonathan’s house, and to top it all off, he ends up saving both nancy and jonathan’s lives when he could have just walked away, and the three of them all work together to fight the demogorgon. like... steve began as the most stereotypical character of all time, and by the end of the season, he had one of the most compelling and unique arcs among the whole cast!

finally, at the very end of the season, instead of dumping steve for jonathan as expected, nancy ends up getting back together with steve, and they’re both on friendly terms with jonathan. i realize that i just kinda. summarized s1. but my POINT is that i don’t think the dynamics between the monster hunting trio would be nearly as fun and interesting had the characters of nancy, steve, and jonathan not been set up to follow certain paths that we already had charted in our own heads. like, within the first couple episodes of s1, it’s pretty obvious that nancy and steve are gonna break up, nancy will get with jonathan, and steve will either die or go full evil or just never be seen again. like, duh! you’ve seen this story a million times! you know that’s how it’s gonna go! so, when the story DOESN’T go that way, the impact of each character’s arc and the relationship dynamics become stronger due to their unexpected complexity and authenticity.

distinct plotlines separated by age group

this one’s rather obvious, but the way that the adults in s1 were essentially in a conspiracy thriller while the teens were in a horror flick and the kids were in a sci fi power-of-friendship story and all three converged at the end... wow. brilliant showstopping etc. not only was it just really well done and unique, it also gave stranger things near-universal appeal. like, there’s genuinely something for pretty much everyone in season one!

casting

obviously this applies to every season sorta by default, but when i think about what made season one So successful, i always think about the cast, and not just winona ryder. yes, she’s absolutely amazing in the show and it’s very doubtful that st would be as big as it is today without her name being attached to it from the start!! however, i think the greatest determining factor in st’s success is the casting of the kids, particularly millie bobby brown. like... el is just absolutely incredible. she’s amazing. this has all been said many times before so i won’t harp on it, but millie and the other kids are all So talented and charismatic and i think their casting has been instrumental to the show’s success.

strong visuals

the way that multicolored christmas lights which have been around for decades are now kinda like. a Stranger Things thing. jesus christ. those lights are probably the biggest stroke of stylistic genius on the show.

atmosphere and setting

this is probably like. the least important one here for me sdjncdsc because i think s2 and s3 both had like Even Better atmospheres and shit but s1 was good too and it laid the groundwork!! i know a lot of people would have preferred st be set somewhere more Spooky with lots of fog or giant forests or whatnot, and while i do enjoy thinking about alternate st settings and how they might alter the vibe, i think hawkins indiana was a good choice. as the duffers have said, placing stranger things in a fictional town allows them more flexibility than if they’d gone with their original plan of using montauk, new york. besides that, i think the plainness and like... flatness... of small-town indiana just Works. like, the fact that hawkins is never really scary on the surface is a big part of the horror in the lab’s actions and their impact. hawkins isn’t somewhere that people just disappear all the time. it isn’t somewhere known for strange occurrences (prior to s1, that is). it isn’t somewhere shrouded in mist and secrecy. hawkins on its surface seems like the sort of place with no secrets and nothing to fear, and that’s the point! the lab is out in the open! it’s right there! everything is so close to the surface, yet so far out of the public eye, and i think that really works.

the byers family’s whole deal (specifically the joyce/jonathan dynamic)

this is going here bc i miss it so bad in s2 and s3. i’m not one of those people who believe The Byers Are The Whole Point of the show, because st is and always has been an ensemble, and el, hopper, and the wheelers are just as instrumental to the plot as the byers, but ANYWAY, i do think the byers were one of the most interesting aspects of s1. joyce’s difficulties with supporting her sons as a poor and (implied mentally ill) single mother, jonathan’s stress as a result of having to earn money, care for his brother, and keep the house in order when his mother is unable to do so, and the resulting tension between them when will’s disappearance and supposed “death” brings the situation to a tipping point? holy shit! it’s so good! that argument after they see will’s “body” is just incredible and gut-wrenching. their relationship feels so real and messy and i think it’s just... good. also winona ryder REALLY acted her heart out and she carried a lot of s1 which i think people often forget to mention so i’m saying it here.

weaknesses

pacing/timing

ok so pacing is probably going to go in each season’s weaknesses, to be honest, because i think they all had a blend of some good and some bad pacing. good pacing is invisible pacing, though, so i probably won’t be putting it in any of the strengths sections and will only be focusing on it in the weaknesses. i’m also probably not going to talk about weird day/night cycle things, just because i don’t want to get nitpicky on timelines because that would require going back and rewatching things to double check timing which i don’t wanna do at the moment lmao. anyway, when i think of bad pacing in season one, i primarily think of two things: nancy’s little trip into the upside down and subsequent sleepover with jonathan, and the sort of staggered nature of the climax in the final episode. the latter is simple so i’ll explain it first: while i understand that each group’s respective climax is like part of a chain reaction and that’s why each big moment happens separately and at different times, i think that st is strongest when the whole group is together, and i think that makes the stakes feel higher too, so i’m not In Love with the way s1 separated everyone and gave each group their own climax.

okay, now on to the nancy/upside down thing! idk if i’ve ever talked about it before, but i think the worst decision made in s1 by far is the inclusion of nancy’s brief trip into the upside down, wherein she dives headfirst into another dimension with absolutely no backup, watches the demogorgon chow down, freaks out and runs around for a minute, and then leaves. like... what the fuck? even putting aside what an idiotic decision this was (because i do think nancy’s tendency to rush into things headfirst is an intentional and consistent character trait), it just kind of destroys any remaining suspense surrounding the demogorgon and the upside down, and it accomplishes basically nothing besides scaring nancy enough to have jonathan sleep over, which is lame. i will break it down.

like, first of all, nancy just getting to waltz in and out of the upside down and get a good, long look at the demogorgon makes the entire thing far less mysterious, and by extension far less scary. like... before this scene, we the audience haven’t got a good look at the demogorgon. we’ve seen its silhouette briefly and we’ve seen a blurry picture of it, but nothing more, and i think that is far more effective at building fear than this jaunt nancy goes on which gives us a full view of the thing and makes it into less of a horrifying nightmare and into more of a humanoid animal. like, maybe this is just me, but i found the demogorgon far less intimidating after that scene than before. it also lets nancy and jonathan know For Sure that they’re right without providing any crucial information that they need to fight the demogorgon (aka it’s unnecessary to the plot), which removes a very compelling story element (the faith nancy and jonathan need to have in order to keep going against a vague and poorly understood enemy, the doubt they might have about each other and their own sanity, the possibility that they might be wrong, the trust they need to have in each other) a bit earlier in the plot than i believe is ideal. at the end of episode 5, nancy goes into the upside down and jonathan doesn’t know where she is and it’s intense!!! you’re thinking like, oh fuck, not only is nancy missing and fighting for her life now too, jonathan might be implicated in her disappearance!! some people already think he’s the one who killed will and people know that he took creepy pictures of barb and nancy before they both disappeared, maybe this is gonna cause some serious problems for him!! maybe nancy will find will in the upside down and she’ll help him survive!! fuck, maybe she’ll actually die!! this is huge!! and then episode 6 starts and they’re immediately like oh nevermind jonathan found the tree and got nancy out and she’s fine. my point with all of this is that nancy entering the upside down could have done A Lot in the grand scheme of the plot, but all it did was just... get jonathan to sleep over so he and nancy could have some awkward romance moments and steve could see them together and pick a fight. which could have honestly happened at Any point while nancy and jonathan were working together to hunt down the demogorgon, without ruining the demogorgon’s and the upside down’s mystique. so yeah <3

weird behavior and dumbass decisions that make no sense (aka the whole camera thing)

gonna go off about the teen plot again sorry but: why was nancy so unbothered and quick to forgive jonathan for taking those pictures? girl what the fuck are you doing? why wasn’t that a bigger deal? why was jonathan’s motivation for doing it so weak and why did they just kind of forget about the whole thing? why did nancy TRACK HIM DOWN AT THE FUNERAL HOME while he was PICKING OUT HIS BABY BROTHER’S CASKET to be like hey can you tell me what’s in this creepshot you took? it’s insane. it’s so insane. i mean i think the funeral home thing is hilarious and i don’t mind it being in the show necessarily but like my point here is that i think a lot of character decisions in s1 just kind of.. happened because they Needed to happen for the plot. like, they wrote this plot that required jonathan to be secretly taking pictures of the party and required him and nancy to work together after seeing something odd in the pictures, but they didn’t like... really consider what that event would mean for their characterization and relationship. the whole thing was sort of just dropped with minimal discussion and i think it did both nancy and jonathan’s characters a disservice and was really mishandled.

lighting and saturation/color grading

i am literally begging horror/sci-fi shows to let me see shit. i GET IT okay i understand that when you’re doing cgi effects it helps to keep the lights down and i’m not mad at any of the lighting in the demogorgon/upside down scenes!! i’m really not i think the demogorgon scenes in s1 all look sick!! but like... dude. the colors. where are they. why does everyone look like a vampire. i know blah blah this was probably an intentional stylistic choice intended to mimic film at the time blah blah but dude a lot of old movies are very colorful!! please just let people have color in their faces so everyone doesn’t look like a sheet of paper!!! also i’m white and not a professional lighting designer so yknow grain of salt but i think lucas was kinda poorly served by the lighting sometimes in s1. not Hugely so, not to the degree that i’ve seen poc be poorly served by lighting in other shows, but there were some times where it felt kinda like the lighting setup was just not designed with darker skin in mind.

horror

i just personally don’t find s1 very scary like... ever. i don’t think they were really Trying to be extremely scary yknow so i’m not counting this as a big deal, but i do think that each season has improved on the horror aspects. i think s1′s horror lies more in the mystery and the unknown than in what’s seen onscreen, and as i’ve said already, i think s1 kind of fumbled that suspense ball.

season 2

strengths

the possession plot

i’ll warn u rn this whole s2 strengths section is probably gonna be really short bc idk like. how much there is to really say i feel like it’s all so self-explanatory skjncmn. anyway yeah the possession plot!! eerie as fuck, and noah OWNED. so did winona tbh and finn and sean etc but like. noah. wow! i think the possession plot helped the show maintain a good amount of tension and suspense throughout the season, and a lot of scenes with possessed!will are flatout disturbing to watch. in a good way. i think the mindflayer and will’s possession were far more genuinely frightening than s1′s demogorgon, and it provided a new layer of depth and intrigue to the antagonist besides just “bad monster want eat people.”

tone and aesthetics

halloween season... literally halloween season. halloween season. that is all.

actually i will elaborate a bit and just say that i think s2 did a good job of having the sort of foreboding vibe that s1 was often going for, but without the annoying darkness and desaturation. so points for that.

also st2 is like one of the best Autumn pieces of media ever like it just. like steve and dustin on those train tracks with the fallen leaves all around them.... god. god the vibes are unparalleled. all of the halloween stuff also really contributes to the nostalgia st runs on yknow it makes you think about childhood and trick-or-treating and you kind of get transported like damn... i remember going to the rich neighborhoods to score the good candy..... idk i just think the whole thing is incredibly effective.

“babysitter” steve

by sending nancy and jonathan off together, the show created a problem: what to do with steve? this problem pushed them to create the unconventional and unexpected duo of steve and dustin, and the world is so much brighter for it. seriously though we all know steve and dustin are great i don’t need to argue that point. all i’ll add is that i think allowing steve to grow in this way, serving as a mentor figure and becoming genuine friends with someone so unexpected, really took the originality of his character to the next level. no longer content just to defy his archetype, in s2 steve begins branching out in ways that never would have been considered in s1, creating an incredibly complex and interesting person from the sort of character that most shows would have simply written out or killed off for convenience’s sake. and it works and steve and dustin are such a joy to watch and i love them. <3

the lucas/max plot

so first of all max mayfield is the most perfect baby girl on god’s green earth and idk what i would do without her but anyway. i think lumax is the best romantic relationship in the show and not just because they’re the only ones with like an age-appropriate approach to the whole thing. it’s also because their relationship accomplishes more than just putting the two of them in a relationship!! lucas and max spending time together motivates billy to do his evil shit, providing more conflict in the narrative, and it also helps establish max as part of the group in a relatively natural way while giving both her and lucas a great subplot. lucas (and dustin) has a crush on the new girl, they start spending some time together, and lucas ends up needing to decide whether he’ll keep the secret of the upside down and lose her, or risk both of their lives by telling her the truth. that’s a pretty big, character-defining decision that he gets to make!! max has to choose whether to trust this boy she barely knows and endanger herself, or to walk away and stay safe, yet another great character-defining choice that also contributes to the sense we get as an audience of max as somebody who’s incredibly lonely and desperate for love and connection. this post is way too long already and i have a ton more to say so i’ll stop now but yeah i think lumax really Works in the show without ever distracting or detracting from the overall plot and narrative in the way that some other ships (coughjancycough) often do.

balance between the normal and abnormal

s2 i think did a pretty solid job of melding daily life with more fantastical sci-fi horror elements. i enjoyed seeing so much of the kids at school in the first few episodes!! you really get a strong sense of where they’re at in life, what their daily lives are like, and you get a sort of gradual shift into madness that makes everything feel more grounded than i think it would if they had just leapt straight into the horror shit, yknow?

the el and hopper dynamic

go back and rewatch s2 and tell me that’s not one of the most moving portrayals of parenthood and trauma and growing up that you’ve ever seen. you can’t. or well you can but i won’t listen. i really can’t imagine stranger things without el and hopper’s relationship, and it’s my absolute favorite part of s2. their whole dynamic is so beautiful and complex, and gives them each amazing personal arcs in addition! the black hole scene is literally one of the show’s greatest moments of all time. any given scene between the two of them in s2 is just guaranteed to be heartwarming as well as heartbreaking, and i think that makes for an incredible show.

weaknesses

flashbacks

okay this applies to Every season they All have too many flashbacks but in s2 specifically... please stop showing me shit from season one. i watched it. i know what happened. you don’t need to spoon feed everything to me!! flashbacks can be a really helpful way of delivering information to an audience, but st has a bad habit of not only being kinda demeaning in how often they flash back to shit that the audience already knows, but they also have a bad habit of using flashbacks almost as a crutch to avoid having to deliver information subtly and naturally.

you know i gotta say it... the lost sister

this is so sad. the lost sister really is like a great concept for an st episode, and i’m not mad about the idea of st taking a break from the normal action to focus on one story for a full episode, but the execution of it was just dreadful. kali and her crew feel very over-the-top and stereotypical, and its placement in the season totally kills the tension and excitement that was built in “the spy.”

i think the lost sister honestly could have gone over far better, even with the stereotypical fake-feeling gang kali has, if they had just swapped it with “the spy” like... ok, the end of episode five has el setting off to find kali and will collapsing on the ground seizing. right? imagine if, instead of immediately following will to the lab, we’d followed el. we don’t know what’s happening with will, but it’s a very simple cliffhanger that leaves us on edge without making us feel cheated by the show cutting away. we follow el on her little journey, everything happens much the same as canon, and then at the end, el sees hopper in scrubs. she sees mike, screaming, sees that they’re both in danger. holy shit!!! what the fuck!!! what’s happened since we left will seizing on the ground??? we feel el’s fear and confusion. she decides to go home. and then... boom. “the lost sister” is over. now, we rewind, right back to will seizing on the ground, and “the spy” commences. we learn how they got into the danger that el saw in the end of “the lost sister,” and we sit on the edge of our seats all through “the spy” and “the mind flayer,” KNOWING that el is on her way back to save them but not knowing when she’ll arrive!! idk i don’t think that would have necessarily saved lost sister but i think it may have alleviated some of the issues that i and many others have with it, timing-wise.

the nancy/jonathan sidequest

once again, the idea of nancy going off on her own little mission to find justice for barb after s1 is like. amazing. genuinely i love that plot for her and i can’t imagine anything better for her to have focused on in s2. unfortunately though i think her and jonathan’s little trip to see murray was just kind of... lame. the whole thing just felt like an excuse to get the two of them alone together, yknow? which is fine i guess people contrive all sorts of situations to get characters alone together for romance reasons but in this case i think it just really doesn’t work for me because of what it’s juxtaposed with. like, will is POSSESSED, and jonathan is just off on a mini road trip and sleeping with his bestie, and jonathan never seems to communicate to joyce/will that he left town, and joyce never like... thinks to tell him that will is like sick and fucked up and they’re looking at him in the lab??? like it’s so weird i know joyce always forgets about jonathan when shit’s happening with will but jfc you’d think at some point in that like... 72-ish-hour period where jonathan was out of town she would have thought about him. like at least once. maybe i’m forgetting something and she mentioned him sometime and i missed it but even still, i hate the juxtaposition of nancy and jonathan just like cheers-ing at murray’s place and sleeping together and whatnot while everyone else is dealing with possession or trying to hunt down dart yknow? it feels really boring in comparison and i think it could have been done far better. like it was SO insanely easy for them to get into the lab and get an admission of guilt and escape with it!! i think it might have been a lot more engaging if maybe someone from the lab tailed them to murray’s place and they had to like lose the tail and race to get the recording out to as many news outlets as possible before they got caught, or something like that. the tension in their plotline is completely resolved in episode four!! episodes five and six are just them screwing around and addressing envelopes. while there were a lot of strong ideas in this plotline (i really enjoy nancy going out of her way to get justice, and the fact that they have to water down the story to make it believable), i just think the focus on nancy and jonathan getting together hindered it a lot without adding a ton to the plot or their individual characters.

season 3

strengths

starcourt mall as a setting

while i don’t think the mall was utilized quite to its full potential (something i could make a separate post about if anyone’s interested), i do think that starcourt was a genius addition to the series. i’ve said this before, but building a new mall is a literal Perfect in-universe justification for a significant leap forward in fashion and aesthetics, and it provides a great location for characters to just... be characters. idk how else to articulate this i just think that the mall is a great setting to let people interact with each other and to bring people together who may not have been otherwise (i.e. scoops troop). not to mention how sick it was to see the mall get wrecked toward the end kdjncdkm like they were able to do so much more with the mall in terms of like The Finale than they could with just the byers house or the cabin or the school or even the lab. i love all the back tunnels they run through it’s such a fun like acknowledgement of how this glitzy eighties mall is just a real place where employees get shipments and take out the trash and shit idk it’s all about the perfect facade and what’s hidden what’s underneath what’s hiding in plain sight etc etc i’m just saying words now. anyway.

willingness to experiment and go against expectations

gay robin. neon aesthetics. giant fucking meat monster. i know some people hate both the neon and the meat monster but i personally think they were kind of amazing and like. yknow regardless of personal tastes i think it’s impossible to deny that s3 had a lot of incredible visuals, and they’re all visuals that just wouldn’t have been possible if the show were too afraid to stray from its s1 aesthetic. robin being canonically gay (and her resulting friendship with steve) and the season’s striking visuals are two things that most everyone (besides like homophobes skjncdknm) can agree were great, right? and they were both departures from where the show began and what we all expected!! so yeah i think while some of the experimentation in s3 wasn’t ideal it was also that experimentation that allowed for some of the season’s strongest elements to come about.

the hospital sequence (and the season’s action/horror scenes in general)

this one is fairly self-explanatory. while they may have underutilized the “body snatching” element of the season, the hospital sequence with nancy and jonathan fighting off their possessed bosses did an amazing job of building tension and creating a genuine sense of really intense and personal danger.

in general i think that s3 melded action and horror rather well, particularly in the sauna test, the hospital, and when the mindflayer busts through the roof of hop’s cabin. horror can come from many things, and in this case, st elicited horror largely from the feeling of helplessness, and it was really effective for me personally. i think it worked better for me than s1′s brand of horror because it doesn’t rely so much on a lack of knowledge or a sense of suspense that inevitable disappears upon a second viewing.

the body horror we got in s3 was also really fun! that’s it i just think all the blood and guts and slime were fun and i would like more of them. once again, the impacts of body horror are less dependent upon the viewer being in the dark or unsure as to what’s happening, and as such i think it tends to be a little more effective at eliciting reaction in the long term.

timing and mechanics of the battle of starcourt/finale

i think the battle of starcourt is just fucking awesome, and beyond that personal opinion, i think it’s the most high-stakes and intense finale of all three seasons, and this is for two main reasons! 1. el is out of commission, and 2. (almost) everyone is in the same cental location. this means that (almost) everyone is in danger all at once, and they are all working together at the same time to fight the same threat. s1/s2 have their groups more fragmented for the finales, and while i understand why in each case and i wouldn’t call either season’s finale necessarily weak, i do think the centralized nature of the s3 finale just Works on another level. in s1 and s2, large segments of the cast are already perfectly safe by the time el dispatches the primary threat. in s3, however, everybody save for dustin and erica is still in danger up until the last moment, and el is seemingly (you can def debate how much power she still had in her when she peeked into billy’s mind and whether the memory broke the mindflayer’s hold on him or if she was actually controlling him to some degree) completely vulnerable. this increases the tension and raises the stakes, making the finale a real crescendo to fortissimo as opposed to a series of little mezzo forte moments. i hope everyone reading this knows music idk how else to phrase that my brain is stupid.

emphasis on friendship and adolescence (but in a different way than s1/2)

this is definitely a controversial one but i think that s3 really did like... show a side of friendship that had been more or less unexplored thus far in the show. el and max were amazing, and i think it’s really nice that we got an opportunity to see the kids have some growing pains as well as see them support each other through Normal Adolescent Stuff like boyfriends and breakups instead of just like. death and trauma. this is maybe just a personal preference, but i think it can be really enlightening and provide a lot of depth when you get to see how characters respond to normal everyday conflict and not just how they respond to giant world-ending conflict!! letting el use her powers for goofy teenage shit like spying on boys and messing with mean girls at the mall is not only fun for her and the audience, but it also really emphasizes just how much those powers are a part of el, making it that much more devastating when she loses them at the end of the season.

weaknesses

tonal dissonance

so this is like. obvious. but it must still be said! i won’t go on and on about it since we all know this so i’ll try to like talk about it from an angle people don’t usually? anyway. it seems to me like they were maybe a little worried about s3 being too dark. while the choice to really lean into humor was definitely driven by the sorts of eighties teen films from which s3 drew inspiration (like fast times at ridgemont high), i think it was also done in an attempt to alleviate the more troubling implications of some events in the season, particularly the russian bunker plot. like, yeah, st can be incredibly dark, but if they’d played the whole “children being stuck inside of a foreign military base, tied up, tortured, and drugged” thing completely straight without the humorous elements that exist in canon, it had the potential to be like... disturbing on a new level. steve and robin don’t have powers like el yknow their kidnapping/torture doesn’t have any sci-fi elements to sorta soften the blow. they’re just innocent teenagers being brutalized and traumatized by grown men. so anyway yeah i think maybe the writers were concerned about this storyline coming off as too dark and they wanted it to be a little more whimsical but they ended up pushing way too hard in that direction and creating extreme dissonance at times. this goes for joyce/hopper/murray/alexei too, but to a lesser extent. i think the ridiculousness in that group felt a lot more like... realistic. but still.

newspaper plot

once again i feel like i don’t even need to say this skjdncmn we all know it was insane how the show basically ended up delivering the message “while misogyny is a serious problem poverty and classism are not” and i’ve said it on this blog a million times so i don’t need to repeat myself. i’ll focus on another weak point of this plot: the fact that it completely separates nancy and jonathan from everyone else. once again, the show’s preoccupation with j/ancy held them back! like... can you imagine a version of s3 where nancy and jonathan both worked in the mall? i have a lot of ideas about this possible au and like how the plot could play out differently if they worked in the mall but first of all it’s just more realistic, second of all it further utilizes the mall as a central setting, and third of all, it would bring everyone together. as it is in canon, nancy and jonathan were unnecessarily isolated from the rest of the group, and this isolation was detrimental to both of their characters. like, they only ever get to interact with each other! if they’d gotten summer jobs in the mall, they could have had more interactions with the kids/steve/robin, and they absolutely still could have had a similar argument! maybe in this case, nancy notices the rat thing (or something else odd) herself when taking out the trash behind the mall, and she wants jonathan to ditch work with her to check it out bc she thinks it may be related to the lab. jonathan doesn’t want to ditch work because he needs his job, nancy argues that they’re working shitty mall jobs anyway and who cares if they get fired, and we get more or less the same thing as s3 without the cartoonishly over-the-top misogyny. i mean honestly i think the rat shit could have been cut entirely it didn’t rly... accomplish much of anything. in my opinion. like imagine s3 without the rat plot you literally would not be missing anything except it would be more surprising when the dudes melted into goo at the hospital. so yeah i think it would have been better if nancy and jonathan had jobs at the mall, weren’t isolated from everybody else, and were maybe absorbed into the party’s plot or the scoops troop’s plot from very early on, allowing them to interact with more characters and have a less... dumb.... plot. like god splitting up nancy and jonathan between the party/scoops troop would have been So Much better i just. sdkjcnksdmn anyway yeah.

briefness of group reunion/separation of groups

remember in s2 at the beginning of “the gate,” where mike and hopper had a confrontation and max and el met for the first time and el hugged everyone and steve and nancy had their sad little moment together outside... where’s that energy? obviously the s2 reunion wasn’t that long either, but it made space for some significant emotional moments to take place. s3′s reunion had some hopper/el/mike resolution, but besides that... there was nothing, really. i just think that the whole group getting together in s3 was SO exciting and powerful the way they did it (with both the scoops troop and the adults having their own Big Moment reconnecting with team griswold family), but the emotional potential was more or less squandered.

i also think in s3 at times they were really stretching to keep everybody separated even though it made no sense. and like... in s1 the separation worked bc nobody else knew that (x group) was experiencing weird shit too, and beyond that, each group (as i mentioned in the s1 section) was sort of operating within their own genre and bringing something unique to the season. they’ve stopped doing that though! now, the groups aren’t separate bc each plot is tonally/structurally different, the groups are just separate bc... they need to be, because it’s a big ensemble cast and you can’t just have them all be together for a whole season or it would be way too difficult to coordinate things and keep the show dynamic. all this is to say that i’m excited for s4 because the location differences make it so there’s a Reason for each plot to be separate at the beginning, and i think that’ll work better.

general ridiculousness

i dont mean like i think it’s bad that they made jokes this is just me lumping in all the dumb shit like hopper not worrying about el and not wanting to check on the kids, him and joyce bickering long after they both know they and their children are in danger, max seemingly forgetting that billy is a racist abuser, etc etc. i think many of these are just a symptom of the show 1. trying desperately to keep the groups split up a certain way even though it may not make any sense, and 2. trying to fit into a certain genre/trope mold when their actual characters are more complex than the tropes they’re imitating. this is so fucking long already i am not gonna elaborate further rn but i trust u all know what i mean.

soooo... yeah, that’s about all! i mean it’s not all there are definitely many more things i could talk about and i know i focused sorta disproportionately on the teens which is my bad :/ but i’m done for now. thank you for asking, and apologies for the delay in responding!! i’m sure some people reading (if anyone read this far) will disagree with some of what i’ve said and that’s alright like i’m not The Authority on st or anything i’m just trying to talk about like my own thoughts yknow? so yeah luv u all i hope someone enjoyed reading this!!

#asks #em talks #lesbianrobin.canon #stranger things #if u actually read all this i love u and im sorry #these r just my opinions!! and im sure i misremembered some shit my brain is swiss cheese #i did my best tho

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raquellmurillo · 4 years

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I totally agree with you. They made it looked like Raquel is just a hindrance on the plans of Professor. Without her, the story most likely will just stay the same. So much hateee. Raquel can do better!!! Where the fuck is Raquel Murillo!!!!

Didn’t they just???

Apart from all the problematic issues with her being involved in the heist... they really made her the hindrance.

Firstly, I don’t understand the whole point of them not being in Madrid. Because, Sergio had to be there in s1&2, just in case things went wrong, especially with cars, evidence, ya know all the little bits. I understand there are no protocols to check outside a given area... wouldn’t it make more sense to play it the other way around? To make police think they’re in, say, Barcelona, “because there are no protocols to check outside given area”; which would make the police think they’re really clever, as they’ve figured out that the professor is trying to base himself elsewhere. Why not have Marsella riding that bike around another large city....?

Because you see, I’d understand if that actually was a crucial part; they could by no means be in Madrid... but all of s4 was based in Madrid, yet no one bothered to look there (well apart from Alicia who tracked him from cctv cameras.... like give this woman a raise! But that would also assume Sergio is stupid enough to drive straight to his “secret hideout”, rather than leave the car say a few streets away and walking........ he is really down to his last brain cell, isn’t he??? Or the writers are lmao) so it seems a bit pointless to be as far away from the heist, especially, since like, Sergio hasn’t been caught in Madrid (well by the teams of thousands looking for him, since now they’ve even got a trail to follow) and as this amazing technique of being further away got them caught a lot faster? Wouldn’t it be better to start off in Madrid and run if they got caught there? Still being able to direct the heist but not from the comfort of a nearby location? Didn’t it sorta look like they were trying to catch them?

It leaves a few plot holes, ya know... the whole epicenter plan (oh I was perhaps distracted when first hearing it lmaoo ;D) ---- that assumes they’re caught in a forest tho (?) - what if the got tracked an hour before on the beach...??? It seemed the plot was written for the action, rather than the action for the plot - all the things that were planned in s1&2 were only for inside the mint (!!!!) and all the things outside of the heist - the really stressful bits of Sergio threatening Russians etc. - were improvised, because they were fully aware that otherwise it would seem so unnatural; they weren’t protocol things that could be planned or predicted. I know now things have changed etc. but this amazing idea with the location was meant to solve all their issues. The plan of ‘in case they got caught’ was so ugh because it was clearly not written as a response to the situation, but almost in order to cause the situation. It would have made more sense to not have the epicenter plan, as it would’ve looked as if they didn’t expect to be caught in the middle of a forest lmao Sergio is a genius of improvisation, not a psychic (!!!!) It would have been amazing if they were in that ambulance and Sergio was like “think, think, think; a tree!! omg we gonna fool them wifey”. Not.... a few months before; “they’re not gonna catch us...... but if they do, it’ll defo be in a forest - I can sense it!!” --- plan epicenter on the beach --- “okay Raquel, you’re gonna bury yourself in the sand and hope the dogs don’t dig you up”; I mean, they couldn’t have predicted that, which made it so obvious (now looking back) that they planned Raquel to be a hindrance, rather than something actually going wrong causing a genuine, unplanned, improvised reaction (...not to mention --- let her climb the motherfucking tree, you cowards!!!!!) Nah, but seriously, it looked as if the only thing that Sergio calculated was that she would be a hindrance lmaooo

So, the million dollar question; why not keep them locked up in that abandoned warehouse whilst Marsella flies from one city to another confusing the police? Because the implications of Sergio happily doing all the shit from his secret non moving base in Madrid, are that the police aren’t able to track him. At all. Despite still negotiating? Even without having Marsella cycling around all the time. Also despite having constant gatherings of Serbian, I assume, criminals, mafia.... Imagine if the police is tracking one of the people Sergio hires anyhow, for like, idk drug trafficking- and they break into Sergio’s hide out thinking they’ve managed to find some drug den.... but to their disappointment it’s just Sergio lmao

The point being, I think they wanted to write it for action rather than plot. Having Raquel and Sergio back in a s1&2 type set up, could possibly be seen as repetitive, viewer wise.... WHich I think is just laziness; they’d have to write some conflict scenes, delve into more detail. We only got, what, one, two scenes of Raquel and Sergio both negotiating.... wouldn’t it have been more fun to continue this? Have Alicia slide in more and more personal details of Raquel’s life; legit doing her tent interview with Raquel over the phone? Imagine her calling him a nut job, saying something like, “he could’ve been trying to kill your family for all you know...” and Raquel just rolling her eyes and hanging up ---- to see a very very distressed Sergio lmaooo

I know they’re the lead couple but let’s not be afraid of well written conflict, for the sake of sorting some shit out -- I love them, but for the sake of poor Raquel, let them be together as they are, not as what they think they are. Let’s forget about the glory for a second. In s1&2 everyone loved them because they were able to overcome the fact that they’re on different sides; this time, instead of writing them as madly in love, let’s take a step to tackle them as characters who make their bond stronger by accepting their weaknesses ~ give Sergio his ‘Imma kill this old woman and man who just woke up from a coma to make sure they don’t fuck up the plan’ attitude back; Gandia should be dead! The rule was ‘no killing of innocent kids so the public opinion doesn’t push the police to enter’, not ‘let’s not kill this guy who is a government trained assassin so amnesty international considers me as their next president’ lmaooo PLS let them be themselves, and MAKE them deal with them ‘being themselves’. Raquel is the goodie goodie and Sergio is the wanna be goodie goodie - or goodie for the show - Make him make some radical decisions; make Raquel question them; MAKE her be his voice of reason. (like in s3, when she questioned the Rio/Tokyo thing; that one argument was as far as they were willing to take it, but at least they tried). Make an interesting conflict by making Alicia try to prove to Raquel, that Sergio is who he is, and Sergio not doing anything in his favour to prove the contrary. Make Raquel realise that there is a lot of truth in what Alicia is saying; if she is going to love him, it should depend on her making this informed decision of loving him as he is.

Instead of one big argument, gradually build it up. It seemed like they wanted to shove everything into that scene; little by little, and lets not get them all so upset and shout some dramatic lines at each other ya know. Instead of the “I thought we were in love...” -- my wonderful negotiator wouldn't go there omg, let her @@@@ himmm; “shut the fuck up, you ain’t gonna get anywhere with those umbrella statements, because tell me again, what did you beat me at?”, “Didn’t tell me to come along??? Well, you didn’t fucking stop me either.”, “Now, we’ve reached the conclusion that I beat you and you didn’t give enough of a shit about me to stop me from coming as vengeance was so much more important you didn’t think you could lose your new family; go the fuck back in and tell Tokyo to not fucking do that to the boy.” LETS NOT BE AFRAID OF MAKING SERGIO THE BAD GUY AND HAVE RAQUEL PUT HIM IN HIS PLACE. Like she put the people in the police tent in their place, a countless amount of times, especially in terms of her ex etc. The “you’re my first love” thing was cute, but it seemed like throwing words at the wind and turning the issue around; “you’re right, I’m sorry, I was so obsessed thinking about my brother I didn’t realise how much I was hurting you, you’re right about the whole Tokyo thing too” etc..... constructive relationship building; apologising for the actual thing, rather than avoiding a conversation about it and blaming ones behavior on ‘being new to the situation’ (that’s a red flag, no? A lil.....) character progress, still having fierce Raquel who isn’t just gonna let Sergio put her down like that, considering she is risking her life for him, meaning she ought to get some say........

Because the lines Alicia says have a lot of truth in them, especially for an audience who is aware of everything; Raquel denying them or saying some stupid comments really makes her seem idk sometimes even stupid. Like babe, he was going to kill your mother and best friend and now he is risking your life, shut the fuck up. Of course, it is not in bad intention, but Sergio’s manner of loving is a very selfish one. Let her acknowledge this. Don’t be afraid of writing her as a strong character who isn’t afraid of loving someone despite their flaws, because deep down she knows he loves her, and it’s okay for it not to be perfect. Because not allowing her to see this, makes her seem like she is so blindly in love with him; it really fucks up the characterisation.

... because without this, she is stripped of her very strong characterisation, and simply reduced to a love interest. But the show seems so be so fucking in love with the professor they are afraid to give him this edge he had before. Because sorting Raquel’s character out would require them to write Sergio as the maniac obsessed with his plan rather than the next president of Amnesty International lmao

I had another three paragraphs about the plan etc. but imma put them in a different ask, so enjoy this wonderful Milan Kundera quote instead;

“Love is by definition an unmerited gift; being loved without meriting it is the very proof of real love. If a woman tells me: I love you because you're intelligent, because you're decent, because you buy me gifts, because you don't chase women, because you do the dishes, then I'm disappointed; such love seems a rather self-interested business. How much finer it is to hear: I'm crazy about you even though you're neither intelligent nor decent, even though you're a liar, an egotist, a bastard.”

#the tea #asks #lcdp

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goingsllightlymad · 5 years

Text

Blinded By Your Light - Part 2. On Departing.

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x reader

Summary: Y/N is the definition of ordinary. Studying at a medical school as far as she can get from her rainy hometown of Birmingham, she never expected to be shipped off the Flanders when the war was at it’s peak. Much less to meet a handsome young patient with the most beautiful pair of blue eyes she had seen in her life who as fate would have it would fall into her lap.

Word Count: 6782 (this is the second part of the first chapter but it was getting way too long and I want us all to just pretend that I’m productive and have written two chapters instead of one so I split it. Sue me for it, see what happens.)

Warnings: I really just wanted to see how many of my favourite Classic British sweets I could include in one chapter without making it at all plot-relevant.

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And so it was that the days became weeks, and the weeks melted into an endless mass of sitting beside him and smiling more than you ever had before, and watching his smile slowly become wider and more genuine, like candy to your restless lips. Through the cracks in your stony walls, this stark routine of bed-changing and wound-dressing had slipped inside, filling your mind with thoughts and dreams of paradise, or spending time beside him not as nurse and patient but as something so much more. Perhaps even as friends.

And all the while the days grew darker, the war ending in the midst of all this winter gloom as you lay with him late into the night, the radio playing quietly under the blankets and the two of you grinning like fools, and then all of a sudden it was lighter and warmer, Christmas passing by his side (you'd both promised not to get each other anything, but somehow when the morning came around you had both broken that promise, you sneaking him in an old pocket watch that you had found at a curiosity shop in the village and a music box which played the national anthem when you turned the handle round and round, and him finding somewhere, though you knew better than to ask where, a silvery silk scarf and a tiny golden locket, blurred slightly around the edges and engraved with a series of numbers so small you could barely make them out, and when you asked about them he gave you a subtle smile and brought a finger up to his lips), and then new year's day, and all of a sudden January was over and another icy February was drawing in, grey and rainy and exactly like all the millions that had come before it and, but for the man in the bed beside you whom you were trying so hard to convince yourself meant nothing more than this to you, it was as though things had never changed at all.

But my, how things had changed.

You woke and he was the first thought of your mind, your reverie in waking and the way your steps would lead you as soon as breakfast was finished with. Laundry in arms, you changed his bed and stayed a little while, chatting mindlessly as the morning slipped away to who knew where. Lunch, and then you were back to dress the injuries that had long since worn away to stretched skin and silvery scars. You knew he tried not to look at them - when his eyes roamed and caught the traced lines on his arms and legs he flinched and froze, your touch tearing his gaze away but not before a hundred million thoughts could flood into his mind that you both knew he would never say out loud. If you didn't know him better, you might say he looked better too. True, his eyes were brighter now, and his hands were soft and steady and his skin was clean, but deep inside you knew that you could find that same tattered black soul that had plagued your dreams before.

"You're here." he greeted you, the same way every morning, not turning to look or moving at all, just the way he had at first and still you weren't quite used to it.

"Good morning to you too, Mr Shelby." you sighed laughingly, setting down the basket of bed-linen on his bedside table and setting to work on lifting him out of the bed. You were beginning to suspect that, should you ask, he could probably climb out and run around by himself, but you had to admit that you weren't quite ready to relinquish the last shred of touch that you had felt since you had been sent here, false and desperate as it may be. But then again, these days it was getting more and more difficult to tell what was false and what was real, and a more foolish girl than you might say that none of it was false at all. There were days when you couldn't help but wonder.

"Tommy." you dropped him heavily on the replacement bed in mock exasperation, "Tell me about England."

"England? Why, I thought you lived there." you bundled up the bed-covers, folding them and draping them over the edge of the bed and trying to ignore the hot burn of Tommy's gaze on your arse as you bent over the bed.

"Your England. Where'd'ya live? What'd'ya come out here for?"

"Well for one thing, I never chose to come out here. Just happened, I s'pose. One minute you're still at university in the middle of bloody nowhere, working three part time jobs seven days a week, next thing you know you're being questioned by a bed-bound British soldier. Funny how life works." you grumbled, and he raised his eyebrows at your outburst. You supposed it all might be true. Yes, you had been a lot less than happy to be shipped off without warning, but since then you didn't really have much time to be really upset about it. And by the time the hospital had calmed enough and you had had time to yourself - real time, not just snatching seconds between the jobs and pretending you were happy with just that - he was here and you were with him, and there was nothing you could say about it other than that, fill diary pages as you might with all the things you always wished you could have said that day.

"Is that really what I am?" Would that I could tell you what you really are, Tommy Shelby. Would that you would listen.

"You are bed-bound and British and a soldier, aren't you?" you teased, and you tried not to look him in the eye as you lied through your teeth to save face.

"Just thought you might be thinking of me as your guardian angel." he huffed, and you bit back a laugh as he pretended to turn away from you.

"Let's not forget who's in the bed here."

"Okay, point taken. I'll just shut my mouth then, shall I?"

"That is not what I said at all."

"Oh?" he seemed amused, glancing up at you expectantly, and you tried desperately not to blush.

"Shut it, Shelby." you shoved him lightly and he feigned injury, groaning loud enough to turn the heads of a few of the nurses at the nearby beds, "Don't go giving yourself airs just because you're my favourite patient."

"Oh I'm your favourite patient, am I?" your blush only grew at that, pooling over your cheeks and the bridge of your nose and setting fire to every nerve ending in your upper body. He seemed to have that effect on you a lot (and you tried not to think too much about the times when he awakened the nerves in your lower body).

"Would that you weren't. But you're my shining star here." as soon as it had come out of your mouth, you instantly regretted it. Shining star? It was 1918 for god's sake, no one said that! It was so childish you were seriously considering launching yourself out of the window next to you, deciding that here, on the second floor of the hospital, the distance would be enough to break at least your neck.

"That's a new one, I'll grant you that. Never been called a shining star before." you lifted his back off the bed and propped him up with pillows against the railings at its head so that he was sitting upright, you moving to sit on the mattress in front of him.

"Hey show some gratitude mate, you're the doomed Brit the new nurse brought in and kissed back to life. You and I are the talk of the ward." you grinned, lifting his night-shirt off to reveal the wide strip of bandage wounded around his chest. Looking around him, he could clearly see the curious faces of a handful of idle nurses, congregated around the laundry table at the edge of the ward and muttering visibly at you both. You were right, by the looks of things the two of you were the talk of the town, and Tommy had to fight the way his heart leapt at the thought. Who would have thought that Tommy Shelby would go so soft?

"You planning on giving me that kiss of life now or later?" he smirked down at you, you kneeling before him and peeling the fabric off his chest to take a closer look at what was now the last reminder that all of this was real at all. There was a day when you looked down at his body and the blood had gone away, and it had scared you to think that all of this would fade so fast, back into the body of God himself, and that one day there would be a day when he would look at himself in the mirror and none of it would be there before him and neither would you, and that day was coming around faster than you would have liked.

He leaned in teasingly as though to press your lips together, and though you could tell by the smile on his face that he would not go all the way, your heart stopped all the same, aching to be closer, begging and screaming to touch him, to taste him, to love him.

"Quiet, you! You'll give them all ideas." you whispered against his lips, scolding him but on your face there was no trace of anger.

And your face was quite unreadable, Tommy scanning every inch of skin and lips and tired eyes for some kind of sign of what on earth you could be feeling, filling the gap between you with a tension that neither of you quite dared to break. He could swear he could see softness in there, swimming in the deep (y/e/c) of those eyes, a sweetness that made him want to kiss you here and now, damned be those other nurses waiting in their front-row seats, waiting for what could only be the show of a lifetime. He wanted all at once to see you as you truly were, the way you woke up, for he had seen you asleep in that chair by his bedside enough times to know that you were tired, of war and work and life in general, much as you would not have let him see it if you had known. He longed to see you anywhere but here and the frontline and grey and rainy Birmingham, those three dark corners he knew and another he could run to where surely the world may be a little brighter because wasn't anywhere brighter than here? He longed to take you with him, and he longed to run away so badly that he thought his head might split in two if he didn't tell you so right now, and he thought that of all the devils he thought he had known, the draft and the tunnels and all the agonising pain, that this might be the sweetest torture the war had brought to him, for he could never tell you, never have you, never be good enough to have you. Thomas Shelby was not soft, but Tommy Shelby was getting softer and you knew it, and it was more than Tommy could ever fear.

"Love, you give me ideas all the time." he forced his smirk and tried to ignore the way your hand traced the spiderweb of scars criss-crossing over his chest, a spiderweb and he was at the centre, the dark and beautiful spider.

"You're a right pervert too, that's what you are. I'll tell you something else. You're my fittest patient. One foot out the door already, you are." you pushed him away, trying (unsuccessfully) to stifle your raucous laughter by pressing a hand against your mouth where only a moment ago his lips really should have been.

But all too soon your laughter died away, and his smile with it, and in its place the silence crept in to fill the void. It was heavy and it was awkward, with a blueish sadness that you had been trying to avoid for far too long. There was no way you could keep him here all to yourself - it was as you had said, he already had one foot out of the door. You should applaud him, you should celebrate, you should tell him he was lucky and he should tell you you were skilled, but in this moment all you could think to do was try to hold him as he slipped away beneath you into the world you didn't want to face yet. The war was nearly over and everyone knew it; it was only a matter of time before he would grow anxious to get home. You were clinging to him, and he was already gone.

"I should hope not." he was shocked at his own earnesty, the way he didn't doubt it for a minute. He really did hope not. "Wouldn't want to rob you of all your fun, now would I?". Joking now, he let out a deep breath, and you reached over him to the bedside table to retrieve the roll of bandaging.

"Oh I'd simply never forgive you."

"Then let's just keep me forever. Tell 'em all I'm dying." he murmured into your ear as you returned to sitting in front of him, and you laughed a little at that. It was hard to hide a healthy man in the middle of a hospital, especially now that the hospital was quieter, nearly all of the tunnelling casualties long since gone away. You often wondered if Tommy should have been gone by now, and always very quickly regretted the thought. It stung you to your heart, staying there for a long time afterwards like a poisoned dart, try as you might to shake the thought.

But now you were smiling and he was whispering into your ear and the thought was gone as soon as it had arrived inside your head, insidious as the creeping cold that was drawing into the early-October air. Now he was here, and his breath was warm down your neck and you wanted to wrap your arms around his neck and draw him in closer and taste the harsh hospital soap on his skin, and instead you drew away, looking at him tenderly and if there was a line then the two of you had crossed it a long time ago.

"You were. And now, you're not."

"You're my angel of life." he teased and yes, he knew deep down that there was no other word for it. You had taken him from the river half-dead, wishing to have done with the other half and cut ties entirely, praying to let go and run where no one could ever find him again, and now he was here and he knew that there was nothing he could say to you but those three words and he could never say that either. You had saved his life, but then again you saved his life again and again, with every morning that you walked into his ward.

"Don't really think that that's a thing, sweetheart." you bit back a giggle at him and the silly smile that had tangled up your heartbeat deep inside your chest.

"Didn't you just hear me say that you were it?"

"That's... that's not how it works?"

"You're an angel. My angel. Brought me back to life, didn't yer?" he cupped your cheeks in his large hands and stared up at you with those wide blue eyes that had you falling over yourself and blushing like an idiot.

"Perhaps. But I think you're a lot more hardy than you let on. And a lot softer, too." you rested your hand over his, holding it to your cheeks and meeting his gaze.

"Perhaps. But that's just for you to know, isn't it." and with that he leaned in closer to rest his forehead against yours, lips brushing and always an impossible universe apart.

"Careful or I'll think I might be special." Please. Tell me how special I am, Tommy fucking Shelby. Tell me you adore me or I think I might explode. Tell me this is worth it. Tell me I'm not just imagining all of this. Tell me you feel it. Tell me, oh tell me, tell me you love me and I'll never ask for more.

"Whoever told you that you weren't? Think I ought'ta pay someone a visit, eh?"

"You wouldn't dare, Thomas Shelby."

"Love it when you take control." when he chuckled you felt it hot against your lips and you wished you could shut him up here and now, with all the ward to watch as you did so. Their eyes, jealous probably of the beautiful man against your chest, burnt holes into your back and you sighed deeply. Much as you wanted to give in and say fuck it, you knew that this job had to take precedence. This was all you had, if they could see they'd fire you, and all this would be for nothing. It was the most important thing you knew that they could never never see you two.

"And I love it when you shut up and let me work." you laughed weakly, extricating yourself from him and dipping your head to tie the bandages as you were meant to do. The crowd of nurses dispersed behind you, trickling back through the doors to the other wards were doubtless there would be another nurse to stare at. Their venom knew no bounds, their eyes no limits, and you were struck once more with the coldness and cruelty that seemed to follow you everywhere in this hellish place.

"Didn't know I bugged you so much, love." he gasped as you tugged the bandage tighter, throwing out a hand to grip your hip and you prayed he couldn't feel your heart leap up into your throat. It didn't take a genius to see that he had you exactly where he wanted to, and he could see it in the dark scarlet blush on your face. You lowered your head, leaning back into him as the rest of the ward fell once more into an electric silence.

"You bug my every waking thought, Tommy." you smiled, but what had been a sweet afterthought had somehow become something so much more sincere, and you weren't even sure if that was a mistake or another slip of the tongue as your heart spilled out in the spaces between the words.

"Wouldn't want it any other way." he ran his fingertips over the side of your face, tracing your cheekbones and the tired skin beneath your eyes. For how can one sleep when all the sky is exploding in a glorious technicolour alive with the eyes of the boy asleep only walls along? "Like to know you love me." he traced your lips, and all the nerves were set alight in anticipation. It took all the strength within you to keep from melting into his hands.

"Oh do I?" I'll follow you until all the stars have left the sky and walk beside you wherever you will have me, just tell me that I may and words will have no meaning in the world besides what I can sing to you to make you fall asleep beside me. Tell me I am yours and I will watch the world implode around us and I will never say a word because we are all we need and the world has never been so kind to me as the thought of you that rouses me each morning. Love me, love me, know that I love you.

"Was hoping you did." he smiled, but his smile was faltering, and for a moment there was something in his eyes that scared you to no end, because here he was, and here you were, and Tommy Shelby the Unbreakable Man was fucking terrified.

"I do, I do, you know I do." he reached up with his other hand to bring your lips to his and you pulled away, the footsteps clattering in the corridor a stark reminder that you could not stay. People were coming, and you knew they couldn't ever see you like this. "I need to go. Tommy, let me leave or I'll stay here forever and ever." you leapt up from the bed, Tommy almost falling forward as he tried to pull you back by the hand. You cupped his face, looking deep into his eyes one last time with a sad sigh.

"Is that so bad?" he implored, his eyes pleading, a world away from the confident, controlled Tommy Shelby that you knew. He squeezed your hand in his, and you knew that it would be like losing yourself entirely to try and part your entwined souls.

"Positively scandalous." you murmured hurriedly, and you could hear the nurses' voices echoing in the corridor, drawing ever closer as you hastened to move away, your heart breaking into a million places.

"Call on me tomorrow." it wasn't a question, and it wasn't a command, just a statement of what the two of you and all the world could know. You would call on him tomorrow and the day after and the day after that, and forever and ever until there were no days and he was not here at all. You came every day, regular as the sun rising and the tides flowing and all those other forces of nature which could not love the time and the world quite so much as you loved him.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." you whispered, for him to hear and him alone, then gathered up his bandages and ran off down the ward into the harsh white light of the nurses' chambers as the sound of the nurses and matrons filled the air behind you.

________________________________________________________________________________

Alone in your chamber that night, you wept upon your window-sill, your tears dripping out of the window onto the branches of the sycamore trees below. Leaves already fallen to the ground, their skeletons stretched out before you in the graveyard of an orchard, and you know that somewhere below you, your tears would water the barren soils of some freshly-made grave. You wondered what life he had lead, you wondered had he loved, and what had come of love for him. You wondered if his heart had broken once or twice before it stopped entirely in this Barzakh of man, and you cried for him as he lay, already dead, far beneath the ground and the shifting sea of brown-black leaves that shone softly in the moonlight.

There was a sort of ethereal beauty in the moonlight that made you wish that Tommy could stand and walk to you, and sit and watch beside you. Unspeaking, unthinking, unfeeling, just the silence of the darkness and the knowledge that he was here, and you thought that that might be all you ever needed in this world and the next - the knowledge that he was here beside you, and that he was not going anywhere.

You fell asleep sitting on the windowsill, your arms wrapped around your knees as you huddled up against the cold, and as with every night that came before and every night that would ever leave you cold again, your last thought was of him.

________________________________________________________________________________

But you couldn't see him the next morning. On waking, you were met with the cursory glance of the matron, and the news which sent you almost falling to your knees. It was almost an hour after breakfast that you could finally bring yourself to make the rounds of the wards, and to find your way as always back to his bed in a hurricane of grief and fear.

"Took your time. Almost thought you were gonna leave me here, all on my own." he smirked, and you could have cried at that.

"Could I ever? Brought you a little something, by way of an apology." you dug around in his pockets and brought out a small, crumpled paper bag, and in it the sticky barley sugars that you had been hiding in your spare pillow case since you had bought them for him three days before, waiting for the time to give them to him but now there was no time and you both could see that something was horribly wrong.

He made to protest and you pressed the bag into his hands insistently, wringing your hands awkwardly as you tried not to meet his gaze, sure that if you did you would start crying and never be able to stop. Seeing the emotion that was playing upon your face, he unwrapped a barley sugar and, cupping your jaw in one hand, brought it up to your open mouth and placed it on the tip of your tongue delicately, pressing your mouth shut as the overly-sugary taste exploded over your tongue, sickeningly sweet and yet another reminder that none of this could last. On your lips the taste of the sweet was already turning sour, as the bliss of these last months were already beginning to give away to the worry that was pooling in your stomach, worry that things would never be quite so good as this, that now was the last of all the best days and all the months that would follow would only leave you colder still, and lonelier for want of his bright light.

"Something wrong?" he brought your hand up to his lips, kissing it lightly and pulling you down to sit beside him on the bed. At that, your walls broke down entirely, and you slumped against his chest, your face burying into your hands. "Hey, angel, what's goin' on?" he sounded genuinely panicked, and it only hurt all the more.

"Tommy they're - you're-" it was all you could do to not cry, and the words stuck in your throat like a hundred barley sugars were clogging up the air within your lungs and stopping you from breathing. How could you breathe when you were away from him? You prayed that you wouldn't have to find out, and your prayers were met with the icy silence of the early February morning.

"Shh, love take your time. 'M not goin' anywhere." he soothed, rocking you slightly against him and rubbing circles on your back with his great, trembling hands, and you clutched him to you with fistfuls of his stiff white nightshirt.

"But you- you are. They told me to tell you." you wiped your eyes with one hand and looked up at him through the tears which were already forming again in an endless torrent that spilled down your cheeks, and smiled. "You're better."

"That's... that's wonderful." he shook his head in disbelief, grinning, and pressing a kiss to your forehead and staying there, close to you, but his face fell as he turned to look at you again, met with the overwhelming sadness on your face.

"You're going home." you murmured, closing your eyes so he couldn't see the surge of emotion that was crushing your heart, and breathing in the sweet soapy smell of his skin as though in this one moment you could paint him into your mind for the rest of your hopeless eternity alone.

"Oh." his voice was flat and sad, and you wondered if you'd broken him at last, and he looked away from you, turning his head up to the high hospital ceiling, raining curses at some god he'd never known till this moment, blinking back the tears he would do anything to keep from you.

"Tommy, promise me- promise me you'll write, okay?" your voice was feeble, pathetically so, and it dipped and broke as your heart stopped and started again with every broken breath rattled out of your lungs.

"I'll write everyday if it meant I could hear a single word from you." he whispered, running his shaky fingers through your hair and breathing in the sweet scent of your perfume and the chamomile soap that they made in the little pharmacist's down the street that you had told him about.

"I need to go and- and sort out your papers, else you'll never be able to go." you joked, but the laugh that followed it up came out more as a strangled cry, a breathless scream into the darkness that he was bound to leave behind him as he went away "Tommy, promise me."

"I promise. I promise." how was he supposed to leave you when all his life had been grey until now, until the glorious watercolour can bleeding in through the canvas structures he had built his life upon. How was he supposed to leave you now, knowing that nothing would ever be quite as good as they were when you were here, nor quite so kind as in those early mornings when it was just you and him alone and he could swear that your punishing God had turned his face away.

"I l- I love- I-" but somewhere between the tears and the time that stretched before you when he would not be here, the words caught and tangled as you tried to push them out, and you wanted to scream in helpless frustration but your voice had wasted away to a hoarse whisper, thick with sadness.

"Shh, you don't need to. I know... I know." he pulled you in ever closer, resting his chin on the top of your head and closing his eyes against the tears that pressed against the backs of his eyes. And yes, he knew, because how could you not? After everything, after every night you'd sat up in the chair beside his bed, when you thought he couldn't see you but he could, he could every time, and he loved you a little more for every time he saw you there. How could you not love him, for all those times he'd held you a little too close and thought maybe you would push away but you never did and there was nothing in his life that made him feel quite so clean, quite so forgiven, as that he could touch you and have you not flinch, look at you and you never look away, never tell him he was wrong, never see the monster he was no more, he prayed he was no more because you could never love a monster and how could you not love him?

When at last he pulled away to kiss you softly on the forehead you were still and quiet, your breaths ragged and uneven, slipping through slightly-parted lips, and he knew that you had been asleep for quite some time. Laying you down on the bed and moving to stand shakily, your hand, still gripping his shirt, clenched and pulled him back again, and he laughed bitterly into the silence of the ward, softly so not to wake you as he lay back against you.

He couldn't sleep - how could he when the hours were stealing away beneath him and soon he would have to leave. How was he supposed to find you when you were half a world away and slipping farther, and how could he not try? He knew that, futile as he already knew all his plans would be, for nothing ever seemed to work out to plan for Tommy Shelby, he would search the world for you, he would give the world just to find you again in some happier time, to make you his when all he was was not a lonely little man in a hospital bed somewhere he didn't belong at all. He would find you, he would find you, there was no other way.

________________________________________________________________________________

You walked him to the train station early the next morning, in the cold light of a purplish dawn that you had watched oncoming all night, sitting awake on the windowsill of your chamber where you could be first to see the cruel sun awaken in the east. As if in those few moments where it was just you and whatever God there may be out there you could push the sun back down to rest, cry for one more day and have your prayers be answered like no one else's had been in the grim wasteland of these godless years.

The walk was short - too short, you barely had time to say goodbye, much less to let him know that he was and always would be the first thought you had when you woke up and the last before you fell asleep, the final dream of your fevered soul and the only truth you had ever known for sure. But as it was it was just as well, for you only had half an hour's leave from the hospital. The hospital, damn the hospital, and damn the whole bloody war with it. That men were born to fight and die was the cruellest fate you could imagine, and yet somehow in all this hatred you had caught a glimpse, if only for a moment as the world around you burned, of what you couldn't call by another name because it was the truest of things - that you had found there love, or something of that kind.

You could hardly remember a word that he said on the way there, and it would not have made much difference if you could, for he was desperate to say something, anything, to fill the silence that had come between you as you slept, unguarded, in his arms. He had not slept, but lay and felt your chest rising and falling against his own, hours that seemed a short eternity and he missed every one he wasted thinking about you when he would soon be gone for good.

And now there was no putting it off any longer - the train was drawing in in a wheezing cloud of smoke that wrapped around you and bound your very souls together, and you stepped in closer to clasp his hands in yours, scanning his impossibly blue eyes for some kind of sign that he could hear your silent prayer, that he would not leave you here. It was as though all the world you knew was going with you, and you had no idea where to start picking up the pieces to begin again anew.

"I suppose this is where we say goodbye, isn't it." you coughed awkwardly, breaking the silence and shifting from foot to foot as you broke your gaze and looked away over his shoulder, up at the sky, across to the run-down platform cafe, anywhere but at him.

"Don't say that. There are going to be a whole lot more chances to say goodbye to me yet, love, you just gotta find me first." he stroked your cheeks, smiling weakly and looking all the world but happy to go.

"Tommy, don't-" you dropped your head down to memorise every button, every smudge and stitch and crease in his smart new uniform, a leaving gift from the hospital that you had no doubt was straight off a dead body, the blood barely cleaned of it before it was relabelled and shipped off somewhere else. At least he was alive, you thought, and as long as he was alive you would search for him forever. Still it was strange to see him in uniform, and in the upper pocket you caught the subtle gleam of sunlight on the pocket-watch you had bought for him in some happier time that seemed a lifetime from now. This was how all the best fairytales ended, and so much the better for it.

"I'm serious. I mean it, I mean it, you know I mean it. I'm going to find you." he whispered, kissing your forehead and holding you to him.

"I wouldn't have it any other way. Hurry though. I don't know how much of this I can take without you." you were desperate, begging and bargaining over sand grains in an hourglass, and you knew that all his words would come to nothing because there was nothing he could say that would stop the flow of heartless fate. You had read to him sometimes, in those endless rainy days when there was nothing to do but sit around and think of death and beautiful symmetry of all untimely things.

"Days, it'll be days. I'll have you beside me sooner than you know." he looked up at the last few people making their way onto the train, knowing that any minute now he would have to pull away. You caught him looking, and followed his line of sight with a shaky sigh. So this was how it ended, this crazy whirlwind love affair that wasn't even that, just two sorry, broken fools who had somehow become something so much more than human.

"Go." you forced it out, the word sticking in your mouth and burning through your every vein like poison in your bloodstream, "I'll be here when you're back. I'll be here forever."

You held his hand as he gave the ticket to the train warden, letting go and turning away to gasp through the tears that choked you, blurred your vision.

"(Y/N)!" he called from behind you, and you spun quickly, searching wildly for his face among the crowds of young men packed into the train car. He waved, pushing his way to the window and opening it so that he stood face to face with you, you on the platform and he on the train and the people in the train and on the platform standing kissing and crying and you thought you might be crying and you knew you should be kissing him and god did you just want to kiss him because you might never have the chance again.

So you reached out to run a finger down the sharp line of his jaw, closing your eyes and leaning in until at last you felt the soft pressure as your lips met his. You thought perhaps it might have made it all go away - the war and the hospital and the dreadful thought that he would soon be gone forever - but all it did was make it all okay, and in a way it was all so much worse. You would be okay because he was here, but what would you do when he was gone, and you pulled him closer, kissed him harder, sucking the life from his lifeless lungs, pulling the darkness from his soul and cleansing by your love the bleakness in his mind. All things in mind, it probably wasn't the best kiss he'd ever had. All tear-stained cheeks and teeth colliding, the taste of cigarettes and toffee pennies and rhubarb and custard drops on his lips as he held you against him across the sharp line of the train window that cut into your ribs. You could feel the smoke from the train burning into your lungs, the shrill scream of the whistle carrying him away, and the wheels whirring as the train made to start away.

With a sharp jolt it lurched forwards and you pulled away quickly, lips missing the sanctity of his sweet kisses, you kissed him once more, and again as the train began to move, stood away to watch him go then began to run after him, chasing the train car as it swept away along the platform with the broken memories of the winter passed and unreturning.

"Tommy!" you screamed, and he leaned out of the window, watching you as you sprinted wildly on and on in the vain and hopeless prayer for one last glimpse of that beauty you feared that you would miss forever. And beside you the train cars swept away. And sooner still you reached the end, and the platform was no longer before you, falling away beneath your feet and sending you reeling back to keep your balance as you knew that you could go no further. Falling forward to your knees in sobs that shook you now that he was not here to hold you up this time, you forced yourself to glance up through the hazy mist of tears as, already in the distance far beneath the bridge, the train wound out of sight.

Taglist

@actorinfluence @captivatedbycillianmurphy @stressedandbandobessed7771

#peaky blinders #tommy shelby #shelbyxreader #readerinsert #xreader #thomas shelby #fanfiction #tommyshelbyxreader

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calliecat93 · 5 years

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Top 5 Things I Liked About RWBY Volume 5

(Top 5 Dislikes)

As I said in the Dislikes post, this volume is probably the most hated so far. Which is a real shame. Yes, there are legit problems with it, but that doesn’t mean that there was nothing good at all. There was a lot of good in this volume and I don’t find it fair to just brush it into the same pile along with the bad stuff. So let’s talk about some of those good things with my Top 5 Things I Liked About RWBY Volume 5~!

#5. Weiss is Best Girl

Weiss was the best character in this volume, honestly. While she doesn’t get as much stuff as Blake or Yang, she still got enough screentime and things to do that I was happy. She got it better than Ruby, at least. He successfully escaped Atlas. She defeated an entire horde of Lancers. She’s perfected her Summon enough to use it in combat. She survived a plane crash. She wasn’t intimidated by the Branwen Tribe. She would have escaped if Yang hadn’t appeared, and even then that just meant she couldn’t use stealth. She called Raven obnoxious. While people complain bout her relying on her Summoning too much, she did a fairly good job of holding her own against Vernal. And once Jaune restored her Aura? She went right back to thrashing with her Queen Lancer Summon.

Weiss is the queen. But even so, we see a lot of her maturity in this volume. In the first two episodes, she wants to help the people being attacked by Grimm, but can’t cause it’ll give her away But when they stumble upon it in CHapter 2? Screw doing nothing! Weiss is a Huntress, ad she proves that she’s dedicated to that task there and then. But the best scene, of course, si when she talks to Yang in Chapter 8. Yang is correct that Weiss doesn’t know what it’s like for people to just leave without a word, but she does understand not having support from loved ones. Even with her large family, it fractured and split apart, and she was truly alone. She gets Yang to understand that Blake had reasons for leaving and that she will come back, and when she does then the best that they can do si give her support.

Not only does this help Yang cool down enough to be willing to let Blake back into the group, but it shows how much that Weiss has grown. This isn’t “The innocent don’t run, Yang” Weiss from Volume 1. Team RWBY became her new family, and she cares about all three of them more than either her brother or father cared about her. She doesn’t want to see another family fracture and her left to endure the fallout. Weiss understands why Blake did what she did, and believes that she will come back. And she’s willing to support her, as well as Yang. It’ one of the volumes best moments and really shows how much that Weiss has grown. She was such a great part of this volume all the way through, and this proves it.

#4. The Menagerie Plotline

While the Blake Plotline in V4 was not a favorite of mine, this one? This was what redeemed Blake for me. She’s done with running and is ready to face the White Fang, and in turn Adam, head-on at Haven. But, of course, she can’t do it alone. Their best chance is to get the citizens of Menagerie to help… but they’re not so willing. Not only because they’ll be risking their lives, but because they’ll be helping the humans. Humans who either hurt them or did nothing to stop it in their eyes. Ilia’s interference where she points out exactly how horrible their mistreatment had been did not help. But still, Blake was going to try.

We see a lot of Blake’s growth here. As I said, she’s not running anymore, but that’s not all fo it. She talks to Sun about Adam and if V3 hasn’t been enough, it and V5 Chapter 2 make Adam’s spiteful nature very clear and only makes it even more clear why Blake left when she did. She knows that Ilia is heading towards the same fate, but there’s still hope, and she wants to save her friend even if Ilia doesn’t want it. Ilia isn’t a bad person. She has noble intentions and we see that she still feels guilt and uncertainty in what she’s doing. She doesn’t want to hurt the Belladonna’s. She has to justify Sienna’s assassination as necessary for the betterment of the Faunus. She tries to get Blake to leave while there’s still time. She had the chance to hurt her in the Blake Trailer, but in the end, she couldn’t do it. She outright says that she hates hurting people, but in her mind, it’s the only way to get results.

Ilia is what I think that certain fans thought that Adam was. While Adam truly only serves himself and was beyond the point of return, Ilia did genuinely want to make Faunus lives better. She could have passed as a human if she had really wanted to, but she didn’t. She wore her Faunus status on her sleeve and was genuine in trying to improve their lives sot hat no one else died in a Dust Mine like her parents did. But she felt like the only way was to use fear and violence because otherwise no one did anything but stand around and let it happen. But she knew that it was wrong and she was still hesitant. Which Blake knew. She knew that there was still a chance before Ilia became another Adam, and she was going to help her before it was too late.

Indeed, it all leads to their fight in Chapter 10. It’s a really good fight all things considered, even if Blake burned down her own house… I wonder if they ever got that put out before they left Menagerie… but indeed, Blake tackles down Ilia, points out to her how there’s always another choice, and asks the million-dollar question: would Ilia’s parents want her to live like this? Ilia can only tearfully snap back that he doesn’t know what to do before all fo her resolve breaks then and there. After that, Blake’s words and Ghira saving her life finally pushes Ilia to make her choice. he stops Corsic (I think) in his tracks and finally breaks down.

After all of this, what does Blake do She steps up before the entirety of Menagerie. She points out that all the current chaos? They did it. Not the humans. Them. The White Fang is making people afraid and setting a bad example for the Faunus while they do nothing to contradict it. Blake has no answers on how they can truly achieve equality, but she does know that they can be better. They can show humanity that they aren’t like the White Fang by going to Haven and standing up against them. By standing alongside humans. And the first person to stand up and say that they’ll fight with her? Ilia. The girl who previously called the Belladonna’s traitors for this notion is now taking another choice. And this gets everyone else, everyone who was previously afraid to do so, rise up and all claim that they will go as well.

Indeed, Blake and the Faunus arrive at Haven and stop the White Fang. Blake faces Adam with no hint of fear. She rightfully knocks him into the ground, but that’s just the icing on the case. No, when Adam tries all of his little manipulative tactics on her, it fails. He tries to talk her down. She doesn’t budge. He thinks that he’s just going to run again. She doesn’t. Hell, she outright tells him that she is there for Haven, not him. He doesn’t matter to her anymore. Unlike Adam, Blake has friends and allies all around her while everyone that Adam had has either been arrested or walked out on him. Blake has better things t deal with, and thus this time, it’s Adam who runs. With this act, he made the White Fang turn on him, and now he’s the one running away. All while Blake is reunited with her team, this time having no intention of leaving and ready to repair the damage.

...okay I didn’t mean to go full-on analysis there, but the short version is I loved this plotline. Ilia’s a really good character who is very sympathetic and who you want to see do the right thing. And she does! Blake here is freakin’ fantastic in every way, and I love how far she’s come. Sun was great. Kali and Ghira were great. Adam having everything fall apart around him and it being entirely his own fault was great. Him running away was very satisfying. Everything was great~! Maybe some of the execution could have been a little tighter, but I don’t care. I loved this plot and I love Blake Belladonna.

#3. Spring vs Fall

I’m gonna lie, they totally fooled me about the Spring Maiden. I truly believed that it really was Vernal. Mainly because we saw her using her powers at least twice. We didn’t see Raven do anything, so how could it be her? They played us all like a damn fiddle. She wore her mask to hide the magic eye effect. Vernal was a Spring-inspired name, so those of us who like to look up stuff would just think that it cemented things even more. Raven was a good enough actress and liar to sell that Vernal was the Maiden without hinting at all that it may be her. She not only fooled Cinder, but she fooled Qrow. They framed things just enough to make it look like Vernal, like in Chapter 4 with the lightning where you see Vernal lowering her arm and, of course, her shouting ‘Enough!’. Or Raven telling Vernal to not use her power on Weiss, just to keep it up and have a reason for why Vernal doesn’t go full-on Maiden and since she’s a Bandit who would have years of combat experience, none of us would question it. Plus there was the earlier backstory, further pointing it at Vernal.

They had a well-crafted charade going, and CRWBY executed it perfectly. But of course, Cinder finds out when she fails to get the power out of Vernal. But due to it, we get by far the best fight int he entire volume. Say what you want about the Battle of Haven, but this fight they executed perfectly. It’s the first Maiden vs Maiden brawl and has two very strong and capable fighters duking it out. It is a true visual spectacle. And unlike all of her previous fights, Cinder isn’t confident or smug. Raven can match her. In fact, Raven is stronger, more experienced, and much smarter than her. Once again, Cinder is made to feel powerless and brought down from her high just as Ruby did in Volume 3. And you can just feel the hate radiating off of CInder due to ti, especially when she tells Raven to shut up when she mocks her near the end.

But indeed, Cinder loses. She muddied up their plan just to get a shot at the Maiden powers and for Ruby to get some damage since she’s not allowed to kill her. Raven overpowered her. Outwitted her. And it ended with Cinder getting thrown over the ledge, frozen, and sent into the abyss below. Yeah, we know that she survives, but it as still quite the beatdown. One that she brought onto herself because of her thirst for power.

The fight was just great. The whole Spring Maiden plot was great. They did such a great job with o many little details to sell the ploy to us, and we bought it! It’s why I can’t call Volume 5 bad. We have stuff like this that just gets swept aside, and that’s wrong Good writing should never be brushed aside just because we don’t like every other plotline. This on they did very well, and they deserve praise for it. I really enjoyed the plot and of course, the Maiden brawl. Although the final fate of the actual Spring Maiden is… dark. That isn’t a bad thing, it perfectly aligns with Raven’s character. Speaking of which...

#2. The Yang and Raven Storyline

I’m gonna be honest. I don’t like Raven. Not because of bad writing, Raven is very well-written. I just hate her as a person. V4 already gave me a bad impression, but this one… ho boy. She’s emotionally manipulative of Yang and pretty much dismissed her when it was clear that Yang had no intention of joining her. She made a jab about family only showing up when they want something, which we all remember V4. She had zero problems with setting it up so that her brother could get killed just because he knew about Spring. Even if it was just to have a diversion to get the Relic, she still put her brother and daughter in harm’s way just for her own needs. And let’s not forget how she destroyed Shion, which knowing that she’s the Spring Maiden make sit even worst, and had no remorse in how any people got killed by them or the Grimm.

Raven’s a bad person and an even worst mother. And she knows it. She knows that abandoning Tai and Yang was bad. She knows that she’s selfish and hypocritical. She knows that murdering a young girl for her power was horrible. But in her mind, she’s doing what is necessary to survive. She justifies her actions as being strong. After all, the strong survive. She justifies killing Spring as mercy because she wouldn’t last in the world and her powers made her a target. She has this persona of a strong, clever warrior and leader, but that’ what it is. A persona. In truth, it’s all excuses to cover up how she’s really a scared young woman. Why? Because she’s afraid of Salem and like with Leo, feels that there is no beating her, so why try?

You know who is strong though? Yang. This girl lost her arm and is still suffering for it. Yet she got back up and went after Ruby. She finally meets the mother who abandoned her and uses her to get to Ruby and Qrow, her real family. She’s understandably angry about Blake still, but she actually listens to Weiss and starts to work through those emotions. She doesn’t just go rampaging in at the enemy, she finds other ways around a problem as Tai taught her. She doesn’t even use her Semblance at all because she doesn’t need to. She’s thinking smart and not wasting energy or taking attacks that she doesn’t need to take. We really see how much she’s grown as a fighter and see her evolve as a person. Despite all that happened to her, she still went to Haven. He still fought by her friends’ sides. She still went down into the Vault, and faced her mother.

Watching Yang call out Raven on all of her bullshit was immensely satisfying. Earlier, Raven planted doubt about Oz and the world in Yang’s mind and told her to as questions. Now this in itself was actually a good thing since it meant that Yang was actually wondering about things and didn’t just follow orders. Oz has done dubious things and as V6 showed, he does lie and manipulate. Raven pointing that out was good… she just didn’t expect Yang to also question her. Raven painted the bird thing as being forced on them, but Qrow made it clear that wasn’t the case. Raven kept trying to convince Yang to join her, acting cold towards her when her gestures were rejected. She feels like she should be Yang’s mom still, despite abandoning them, never being there despite being able to freely go there and back whenever she wanted, and just acting pretty shitty to her when they do finally meet. She was justified in leaving Ozpin. She wasn’t justified in turning her back on her family.

What Raven had done wasn’t strength. It doesn’t matter how many times she faced death, it doesn’t excuse murdering Spring due to her warped view of the world. She uses people. She abandons people. She puts people in danger to get what she wants. Everything that she does is self-serving. Even if she regrets it, she still did it. She may have been remorseful about Vernal, but she still used her just to protect herself. She wants to avid Salem, but took the Maiden powers and tried to take the Relic. But most of all, in the end, Yang points out how Raven will be a target if she takes the Relic. So she can either do it and re-enter the conflict that she claims to want no part of, or she can let Yang do it and put the target on herself. Raven weakly tells her that she doesn’t have to, but otherwise? She tearfully says that she’s sorry… and teleports away. In the end, despite knowing that Yang is right about everything, Raven once again chooses her own self-interest. Her own survival. She lets Yang take the fall, and abandons her once more.

Yang knows it too, taking the Relic and then breaking down. She spent so long wanting to meet her mother. Even if Ruby was her primary concern, I do think that she legit wanted to finally find Raven and get to know her. To see if she was the woman that her father described to her. But that Raven was dead. Qrow told her about Raven’s twisted world view, and it was proven true. I believe that Raven doe slove Yang, but in the end, she’s too stuck in her ways and in her own cowardice. She ran, but Yang stayed She was trembling, but she stood firm against Raven and called out her skewed view of strength. She may be powerful, but she isn’t strong. Yang was scared, yet she still made it to where she was. She was standing there. She took the Relic, fully aware that there was no turning away when she did. This arc showed why Yang is such ana amazing character and while it ended poorly with her mother, she has a family who loves her. And while one person left again, another came back.

On that note…

#1. The Team RWBY Reunions

The last time that we saw Team RWBY on-screen together was in Volume 3, Chapter 12. In it Yang was dismembered, Blake was a broken mess, and only Ruby and Weiss were left standing. After Ruby and Weiss ran in Beacon, that was it. The only time any of the members are together in some form is when Ruby went to see Yang after waking up. Yang was broken and could only tell Ruby that Weiss and blake were gone, and she just wanted to be left alone. That chapter was in February of 2016. V5 began in October of 2017. We hadn’t seen Team RWBY together in over a year and a half, and the last time was them at their darkest hour.

Fortunately, that wait ended here.

In Volume 4, we watched the girls overcome their hardships and set off on their new paths. RUby to save Haven. Weiss to escape her father. Blake to take back the White Fang. Yang to find Ruby. And they succeeded. Ruby made it to Mistral, and int he end did save Haven. Weiss got away and while she was too late to reunite with Winter, she still made it out. Blake stopped the White Fang from destroying Haven and re-ignited the Faunus on a more peaceful path. Yang found Ruby and held her own despite her PTSD. They all succeeded in their separate goals, but we still wanted them back together. And fortunately, we got three beautiful reunion scenes.

We had the Freezerburn reunion, where Weiss is just so relieved to finally see the face of someone that she cares about. The second that the Bandits backed off and Weiss jut threw herself at Yang and is clearly tearful as she tells Yang how much she missed her… it both breaks and warms your heart. Then we get their reunion with Ruby. One where Ruby drops everything (literally) and immediately begins to break down as she tries to apologize to Yang for leaving her. She thought that Yang didn’t want her around, and considering Yang’s last onscreen words to her were “Just leave me alone”, can you blame her? Yang’s response this time? To hug her tight and tell her that she loves her. Finally responding back after their not so happy final talk in V3. If that wasn’t sweet enough, they immediately open their arms to invite Weiss in, considering her to be their sister just as much as they do each other. Weiss tearfully, but happily, run into their arms and you’re crying right along with her. They are just such beautiful scenes and very much worth the payoff.

But it’s still an incomplete set, so let’s fix that.

Blake had no idea that RWY would be at Haven and seeing them, of course, shocks her. Seeing Yang back up and actually okay shocked. She didn’t have a lot of time to take it in yet though, having to deal with Adam. But after that? She jumps into the fray to help Ruby and Weiss and while we, unfortunately, don’t get to see the fight, they’re as sharp and coordinated as ever. Then the fight is over. The White Fang is dealt with. Her family and Ilia have that part covered. Sun yanks Blake towards the others, wordlessly gesturing her to walk forward and go back to her team. Her friends. We see her take in a breath before facing the three girls that she left behind. She’s clearly not sure what to say or do, but when RUby says that why they’re there is one of life’s great mysteries is a long story, Blake says that she’s not going anywhere. Ruby and Weiss are ready to accept her back, but they turn to Yang for her response. Ruby said that them being together was all that mattered… and sure enough, Yang smiles, nods, and agrees. That was the moment that Blake knew that while there was plenty to answer for still, she wasn’t going to be rejected for it. Yan saw that Blake came back so even if her mom left her again, Blake wouldn’t. Weiss opens up for arm as the sisters did for her before. Blake happily kneels down to join in. All as All That Matters plays in the background.

At that point, V3 was on the verge of becoming two years old. Last time the girls were together, they were broken and torn apart. Now? They grew. They healed. They somehow found a way back to each other. They all lost so much and endured so much, but somehow, despite all of it, there they were. Together once again. That group hug is one of my favorite RWBY moments of all time and still makes me tearful now. It’s why I will never hate this volume. That scene where they hug and are just so happy and relieved to be together… how the Hell could I hate that? I can’t. Every reunion was beautifully done, especially the final one. It was a perfect payoff to the split plotlines and everyone’s arc, and it will always be what I treasure most about this volume.

V5 gets hated. A lot. But there is value in it. A lot of value. So no, I refuse to hate it. I don’t hate any volume and have yet to hate any volume. I hope that I was able to show some of the good parts of it. But with that done, five volumes down. One to go. Two more posts to do folks. We are in the home-stretch people. Let’s see if I can make it to home-base now.

#rwby #rwby reviews #top likes/dislikes

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thorinkingoferebor · 5 years

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24 hours later: i'm still outraged as ever & i've found a couple of new things to be outraged about that i somehow just missed yesterday. which is understandable. hard to keep track of all the fuck ups!

what was the point of euron fighting jaime? also how did they even end up together? that was another case of characters just conveniently appearing at the right time at the right location (which is like euron’s mine character trait at this point: randomly showing up without any real reason just to fuck shit up in the most annoying way possible). Also: why didn't Jaime just go for this route the first time around?! he might have even made it in time. why is euron so obsessed with killing jaime? why is euron in general? what's his point? was he ever meant to be anything but a cheap plot device? everyone deserved better than this

the fact that the unsullied officers just left tyrion with jaime no questions asked is probably the dumbest moment of the entire episode. dany has often and loudly questions tyrion's loyalty but nothing suspicious about tyrion (THE HAND OF THE QUEEN) wanting to stand guard outside the tent and sending everyone else away. like what's he gonna do? free the person he clearly loves most in the world with a key that just magically appeared in his hand while davos somehow sneaks past the entire greyjoy fleet to leave a boat at the foot of the red keep? naaah (how did davos get back from there btw? did he tow another boat? was he not alone? why am i even trying to make sense of this we all know this plot was written on a piece of toilet paper)

and what's with dany never learning of jaime's escape?! someone must have checked on such a high profile prisoner in the morning? someone must have noticed and told dany who just hours ago threatened tyrion with death should he ever betray her. why did noone come up with the idea to use jaime as a hostage??? but guess everyone just forgot about him, just like the writers forgot about his arc :))))))))))))))))))

where did all the dothraki come from? why are there still so many unsullied left? it sure looked like 90% of them died in winterfell. then we see a significant number in episode five and in the trailer for episode 6 it looks like thousands??? do they just respawn? are we following video game logic now? (btw remember when soldiers had actual personalities? when was the last time an unsullied beside grey worm or a dothraki did anything to remind us they're more than npcs. what do they think about all of this? what did they think about the army of the dead? how are they coping? why was everyone suddenly ok with senseless violence against children even though dany has been saying for years she doesn't want that. yeah sure, she started the kings landing BBQ but she was in a completely different part of the city. there was no way for the foot soldier to know that she was indeed butchering civilians and not just wiping out the last remainders of the lannister forces that hadn't put down their weapons. i’m glad though that they all apparently learned to communicate with each other telepathically otherwise they would be as freaking lost as me rn

one thing the books and previous seasons have been really good at is small little world-building elements that pay off later. and they could have used that in season 8! there wasn't any need to introduce new stuff they could have just used what's already there. they did well on that account with lyanna, jorah and theon. Theon probably had the best arc this season tbh (not a tough competition but it's something) and died a stark and a greyjoy. His identity was the major theme of his journey and seeing it played out this way was satisfying! Lyanna and Jorah both embodied "Here We Stand" in their final moments (Jorah quite literally) and that was wonderful! Why couldn't we get something like this for the Lannisters? Why couldn't we get one final, brilliant scene with cersei trying to turn the tide (backup plan? never heard of it). Don't get me wrong, Lena's acting was fantastic but why couldn't we get a "Hear me roar" moment? Her arc was tide to house Lannister more than any other and yet we didn't get anything? Why didn't we get any rewarding rains of castamere parallels? if they're set on wiping house lannister off the map why not show the tragedy and irony of it. why not remind of us tywin's fantastic speech in season 2? they could have used any of those themes but they didn't???

i'm still not even ready to begin to vocalize my opinions regarding jaime. every time i think about it i can feel my life drain out of me. what a fucking waste you guys

what i can vocalize now however is how much i do hate cersei's end and how they treated lena. I cannot get over that. like i realize she is a villain and i realize she is not meant to be a sympathetic character and she never had a chance to get redemption or get out alive but the show treated her like dirt in the end and just like jaime she was eventually reduced to the incest plotline. she started this show out as someone completely at the mercy of the men in her life (her father, her husband) and while jaime was a big part of her arc her main objective was always throwing off that control and taking it herself. sure she overdid it massively and became power hungry but that power hunger is a direct result of the way she was brought up and everything she was forced into/everything she was denied. weirdly, her conflicts are very similar to brienne's. both women didn't want the roles their peers tried to force them into, both women wanted to escape and both women assumed to do so they would have to take on male traits. brienne did that by rejecting her womanhood completely for 7 seasons and aspiring to be a knight. cersei took a very different route. maybe because she had that option (brienne couldn't mould herself into a proper lady unlike her) or maybe because that was literally her only option (imagine tywin's reaction to cersei putting on armour...). in the years that follow cersei and brienne obviously take very different paths and they have very different personalities but just as brienne deserved her knighthood and the affections and acceptance of the man she loves, cersei would have deserved to be free of men trying to decide her fate for her. but she never was. first it was her father, then robert, then her father again, then the high sparrow and when she finally wiped them all out she had to let another man she despised into her bed to maintain power. brienne managed to escape the confines of male-dominated society forced on her, cersei never did. they could have either shown her finally free before her death, free of the men that tried to control her all her life, free of the power hunger, free of societies expectations or they could have had her face her ugly deeds. i doubt she would have ever regretted any of it but it would have been so much more satisfying to see her properly outsmarted, to see her face off either dany or sansa or jon (or even tyrion or jaime had his character arc not been ruined before that). she was a fantastic, complex villain until she basically just started to stare off into the distance. it would have been so satisfying to see her face reality before the end. Instead, we got rocks. but even that scene (as beautifully as it's acted) isn't satisfying. cersei, who has never been one to just weep helplessly, is first reduced to begging jaime for her life & to save their child (AGAIN WHAT WAS THE POINT! I WILL NEVER GET IT!) and then she keeps freaking out because she doesn't want to die at all and certainly not this way (very self-centred as always whereas jaime is much calmer and at peace with what's about to happen and ready to take care of her even though he’s worse off) . i don't know if this was intentional or just a happy accident but even in those final scenes it's very obvious that the love cersei has for jaime is not the same kind of love jaime has for her. i guess they both ended up wanting to die in each others arms seconds before it happened so there’s that. but it’s a cheap ending for the best actress in the show before they robbed her of all opportunities to shine

oh and lena's instagram combined with her body double’s yet unseen work on the show has now convinced me that we're incredibly likely to see cersei's and jaime's mutilated bodies/heads next week. can't wait to see their characters disrespected on a whole new level jfc i’m so tired

i can't even think about brienne these days. absolutely seething. at this point i would prefer it if the brienne/jaime romance had never happened in ep. 4. if they'd stuck to glances and meaningful gestures at least it would have made more sense. brienne would have been his "what if" when they erased jaime's character development and made him return to cersei (which i maintain could have made sense because no matter what jaime will always love his family no matter how much he also hates them IF ONLY THEY HAD PUT IN THE FUCKING WORK). but she's not a "what if" now is she. she is his "this happened and it was good and important" but we're just going to forget this. we're just going to forget that the last 8 seasons have been leading up to this point. we're gonna forget that for the entire first half of season 8 jaime didn't even flinch at the thought of cersei dying. four episodes of jaime glued to brienne's side and then we're just expected to believe he doesn't care after all. then we're just supposed to believe she is never mentioned again and no thought of her crosses his mind or anyone else's for that matter (looking at you tyrion). I genuinely don't get what the point of that romance was then. to keep jaime in winterfell for a bit longer so him getting captured would make more sense? i feel like there were like a million ways to get the same outcome without throwing brienne under the bus. brienne and her entire arc were used as a cheap plot device for jaime and it wasn't even worth it cause they then butchered jaime's arc. god i'm so angry.

remember the last time a tv show fucked up in the last episode? yeah, dexter! i'm calling it now: got will end exactly like dexter in terms of plot and level of satisfaction. jon will kill dany (a family member/romantic interest) and then go north to spend his day in the wilderness (lumberjacking away miserably)

the more i think about it there is not a single thing about this episode that actually makes sense. this goes beyond plotholes, this is just a plain hole

#text posts by thea #thea watches got #this is my last big rant i promise #just need to get this stuff off my chest as well #it's a coping mechanism #got spoilers

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nomadicism · 6 years

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Double Standard Setting

Regardless of antagonist or protagonist, villain or hero, and the tropes used to characterize them: it doesn't sit well with me for a story to present a character whose goals (which we are told are noble/good) are impossibly high given the setting and challenges that face them, and then for that character to be held to an incredibly high standard (relative to the setting) by other characters that the narrative has expressly given the easy path to by virtue of possessing the one thing that makes this impossible goal obtainable while those characters also benefit from the work of the one being held to the high standard (again relative to the setting) who is also paying the price.

Within the confines of VLD’s setting—a hellscape where there are no good options to change things for the better unless one has ultimate power—Lotor pays a heavy karmic price for a setting-imposed “no good options” decision; while also paying the price of a future lost with the one that we are being told outside of the story that he genuinely loved (while the show itself both tells us that he was using Allura and also implying love), in addition to failing to realize his impossible goal of peace.

Meanwhile, the protagonists (excluding Keith and Shiro to an extent) have been coasting through on easy mode while reaping the rewards of Lotor's work without paying the karmic price that he did in order to reach the point where his work could make the impact that it did. Additionally, Lotor’s work was centuries (thousands of years even) in the making, and Allura and Voltron slept right through it.

Examples of Lotor’s work: (1) put the Empire in a heavily weakened position by preventing the destruction of Naxcela which could have destroyed Voltron in the process; (2) killed Zarkon; (3) was right about Kral Zera, and beating Sendak kept Haggar away from the power of the Empire; (4) took Allura to Oriande (she would not have been able to save Lance or Shiro without her new powers). One could extend this list further, but these are the highlights.

Voltron and the Coalition would likely be at a stalemate (or potentially worse) if Lotor hadn’t taken action against Zarkon. Lotor didn’t have to do any of that. He didn’t have to return from exile. He could have set up some additional defense for his Altean Harvesting Utopia and remain hidden there, never leaving, and been worshipped until the end of the time (pretty sure that Zarkon would have given no fucks about that). It actually cost Lotor more (and in the end, everything) to pursue the impossible goal of bringing peace to the universe.

Easy Mode:

Voltron shows up, 10k years after the fact, with game-changing power in hand, and their victory really isn’t all that unassured. Their victory was a matter of when (and how many more lives are lost in the process) and not if. Strategy, diplomacy, and team-work are necessary to use Voltron’s power wisely. So yes, it’s not just a matter of Voltron itself, but who is in command of it. But they are still moving through the setting on easy mode because having Voltron means that they do not have to make terrible choices by having enough power to nearly always avoid being placed in a no-win/no-good options situation.

The few hard challenges (nearly no-win situations) that the protagonists have faced where death (for themselves) was imminent, were either avoided by another character’s in-the-nick-of-time action or sacrifice (Thace, Ulaz, Lotor, etc), or were remedied by Allura’s magic (healing the Balmera, trapped on Naxcela, healing Lance, healing Shiro). Thus, “easy mode” still applies.

Keith and Shiro are the only ones who have had to make some hard choices imposed by the setting and circumstances, but even then, neither were put into a situation where the only choices where “sacrifice these hundreds to save these millions—and no—self-sacrifice is not an option”. The closest we get is during Keith's work with the BoM, we see him (thanks plot armor) skirt a version of this kind of choice when he runs back for Regress and manages to save both Regress and the data they were after. While the fight between Keith and Kuron amidst the all the clones definitely counts as “welcome to the hellscape!”, Keith’s options were to either leave or try to save Kuron at risk to his own life. That’s a hard choice, but still not on the level that I’m talking about here.

Choices Have Consequences For Thee But Not For Me:

By destroying the gate, and then attacking Lotor, and then leaving him in the Quintessence Field; Voltron has lost the chance for peace, plunged the universe into even deeper uncertainty, and without the Castleship they cannot protect those who depended upon them (e.g. the Coalition).

Surely some aspect of this is going to come up?

Can't have it both ways and be convincing.

Now that Lotor is gone…what is going to prevent Sendak and/or Honerva (now that she is no longer Haggar) from taking control of the Empire and putting things nearly right back where everyone started before Lotor showed up?

No Castleship equals no zipping around the universe to aid the Coalition or prevent the Empire from rebuilding itself under the rule of someone just as bad (or worse) as Zarkon.

Destroying the Castleship was a choice: close the reality tears, or maintain possession of a vital weapon and mobility resource.

In a setting that applies logic evenly (e.g. realistic outcomes/consequences and challenges for BOTH antagonists and protagonists), the destruction of the Castleship should have serious consequences for Voltron, as—logically—the war or other events regarding the Empire and the Coalition should continue without them being available. Hypothetically, Voltron's return trip to Earth is going to take a lot of time.

The following questions are raised:

How is the Coalition supposed to defend against Sendak or Honerva without Voltron?

Who from the Empire is going to take that Coalition intel that was synced by Kuron at Galra HQ and make use of it?

Is Sendak going to wait around to make good on his threat (in S1) to go after Earth?

Will the protagonists finally have to make a hard decision to protect one planet that is under attack versus another?

And when they make that choice, surely, the other planet will be a smoldering wasteland when they arrive too late?

Will it be Earth or Olkarion?

Without the Castleship, Voltron can’t arrive at the last minute to save more than one planet. The fact that this hasn’t even come up yet (b/c even with the Castleship Voltron still can’t be in more than one place at one time) has bothered me, but it’s going to be an even bigger problem if this kind of challenge (one that is logically demanded of the setting) isn’t set before the protagonists while they do not have access to wormhole transport (Castleship-generated or otherwise).

And while the protagonists do not have access to wormhole transport, Honerva does.

Is she really going to wait around till Voltron catches back up to challenge her?

10k Years of Consequences:

Assuming that Honerva doesn’t get there first…what happens when the protagonists go to The Colony?

Will Allura and Voltron be welcomed and celebrated?

Will the Alteans care (or even know) that Voltron attacked their god-king-savior and left him for dead in the Quintessence Field?

In a setting that applies logic evenly, those Alteans should be angry when the protagonists arrive. From their sheltered/socially-engineered perspective, it seems highly incongruous that the protagonists would be seen as heroes or saviors as they are seen when liberating planets from the Galra. The Alteans should be angry either from the death/disappearance of Lotor (their god-king-savior), or just the simple fact that Allura (and thus Voltron) slept for 10k years while the Alteans were hunted and had to be hidden away while the rest of the universe was conquered by Zarkon.

In a setting that applies logic evenly, are the Alteans really going to be ready to throw a parade for the daughter of the king who may as well have abandoned them?

Within this context, Alfor’s decision to divide and hide Voltron (and his daughter) doesn’t reflect well on him. Presumably he must have ordered some evacuation of Altea, but he still made the decision to prioritize his daughter, friend, and Voltron by dividing and sending them far away and put them in stasis indefinitely. If the right people hadn’t chanced upon the Blue Lion then how much longer would Allura and Coran have been asleep? The Galra found the Red Lion and nearly got the Blue Lion, great plan Alfor.

Alfor had the power—the ultimate power that allows the protagonists to coast through the Hellscape of No Good Choices—to do something and he didn’t use it. He made a choice that left his people defenseless, and still ended up creating a risk that the power would fall into the hands of Zarkon (or even someone worse). There is also the ethics of binding Allura’s quintessence to Voltron to consider.

If anything, that sets up Alfor's decision to be similar to Lotor’s decision, in that sacrifices had to be made for what either perceived as the greater good.

To recap: why is there this dark and terrible setting that left Lotor with no good options for bringing peace but somehow that setting never forces the protagonists into a corner where they have to make a legitimately terrible choice with no better options?

Especially with antagonists like Sendak and Honerva who—by any reasonable logic—would be in a position and mindset to create situations in which there are no options other than terrible ones that carry a karmic/moral price.

We’ve already gotten a hint of this with what Honerva did with Kuron and Keith, and with what Sendak did with the Arusians.

Clearly, the reason that this setting is inherently more punishing for the antagonists (and anyone who isn’t the protagonists) comes down to who has Voltron in their possession (regardless of strategy and team work). And that’s believable to a point.

In a setting that applies logic evenly, if the difference between Lotor not being able to make a better choice within the confines of the setting really boils down to Lotor not being Allura (with her magic) nor having Voltron at his disposal then…it seems like that choice was already made by Alfor, and the consequences of that choice have been felt by the universe for 10k years, and someone should call that out in-story.

So will the writing continue to gloss over consequences and/or never place the protagonists into a moral choice trap?

I’m not holding my breath. The plot armor within this double-standard setting is very heavy, and should that continue, it's going to kill what little desire I have to finish out the series.

#voltron #voltron meta #lotor #lotor discourse #voltron critical #vld s6 critical #voltron: legendary defender

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pomegranate-belle · 6 years

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11 Questions

Tagged by: @zeesqueere, thank you, and sorry this took me so long!

Tagging: @rawkhawkjock, @chessanator, @teashadephoenix, @returnsandreturns, if you guys want — and anybody else who wants to answer these!

1. How long have you been writing?

Uhhh since I was literate probably lmao — I was a very angry, repressed lil bby that got picked on a lot and my Kindergarten teacher nudged me towards expressing myself via the written word rather than with what little violence I could accomplish as a tiny six year old. And that, as they say, is history.

2. What are the major themes of your current wip(s)?

Courting the Sun-Dancer(?) (aka the one abt Alma and Navata): Regaining identity, cultural exchange, choice over fate, courage, loyalty, and the responsibilities of ruling

The still untitled story about Algernon and Tyderias: Homecoming, revenge, what it means to be alive, accepting your talents, learning to love others as they are, sacrifice, and true love

3. What do you want people to take away from your story once they’ve read it?

I don’t know, hope, I guess? It’s not the reason I’m writing them or even the point behind the plots but I wish I’d had stories like this (read: Not Straight Ones) growing up. Mostly I just want people to enjoy reading the things I write.

4. Would you be excited if people write fanfiction about your wip(s)?

I’d be honestly startled given the lack of information to work from right now lol, but I’m super jazzed any time something I write spurs other people to create. :)

5. What’s your go-to writing beverage?

I don’t think I have one but I will say I really had a productive night that one time I went out and drank like three vodka lemonades while working on a character, lmao

6. Who is your favorite oc? Tell me about them!

Ooh, playing favorites is mean... But yeah ok it’s definitely Mauve Sebella (incidentally, she’s also the character from the previous answer—)

She’s gone through about three different iterations as I tried to find a story for her. At first, she was a main character and much more whimsical — a burglar looked after by the remnants of her mother’s iron-smuggling operation. So she was kind of this happy-go-lucky gentleman thief type character with One Million Dads. The plot of that story fizzled out pretty quickly, and I set her aside for a while, but eventually I found use for a character with her specific powers so I dusted her off and gave her an unhappier backstory and an attitude adjustment.

As she stands now, there was no one decent to look after her and keep her safe after her mom died, so she was in a bad situation where everyone was either trying to murder her or use her powers for their own gain. She ended up as a child soldier due to her “magic-eating” eye and became the most infamous assassin on the continent. It’s the perfect conceit for the world she’s in because it means she travels a lot and I can use her as a side character in almost any story set in that world.

7. Do you feel that mistakes are important learning tools in the writing journey?

I guess? I don’t really think about things like that, lol

8. Rank your ocs by their capability in a footchase (either running after or from smth, your choice)

Navata is dead last for the obvious reason that she spends 90% of her time on land in a wheelchair. Then Charles DeWitte, then his younger sister Lucille, then Algernon Parson, then Alma, then Tyderias, then Mauve. Prince Balthazar is the fastest because he’s A Literal Werewolf and his running stamina is totally wild.

9. Does your wip have romance? tell me about it!! if not tell me about a friendship/important relationship in your wip!!

So many romances. So many.

Algernon/Tyderias: my Fake Married boys!! They’re a little suspicious of each other at first, but get over it pretty quickly. Algernon is a natural caretaker and he has an instinct to protect Ty pretty much from the beginning. Ty, who’s a bit jaded from, you know, being an exiled prince and unable to stop his father’s killers from taking over his kingdom, is intrigued by Algernon since he’s just a genuinely good person. Both of them are hiding parts of themselves at the beginning and it causes trouble when the truth comes out, but they pull together when it counts. They take interest in each other’s hobbies and it leads to some self-discovery along the way. Both of them try very hard not to fall love while they have to pretend to be married but uh, it does not work at all.

Alma/Navata: These two are definitely an “opposites attract” couple! Navata is a queen who cares more about being approachable than being unquestionable. She has chronic pain that limits her ability to do things, but she’s fun-loving and doesn’t let her limitations discourage her. She’s a terrible artist and not really what anyone would call graceful even if she’s beautiful. By contrast, Alma is closed off with a solemn, cold image that discourages people from disrespecting her. She looks tougher than Navata, with lots of scars, but she’s much more elegant. They’ve each given things up for the sake of their position, but together they are able to recapture parts of themselves that have fallen by the wayside. They learn about one another’s cultures as Alma competes in suitor trials to win Navata’s hand.

Balthazar/Charles: These two are the original romance plot from the world Alma, Navata, and Mauve are from. Their story is on the back-burner right now but I still love them. Bal is rough around the edges but kind and earnest. Charles is kind of a flirt and he’s good at being charming; he’s knowledgeable, but he can also be a little naive, especially when it comes to his own family. Charles and Bal are childhood best friends who have been nursing crushes on each other for years and years. They share pretty much everything with each other — for example, even though Charles is very close with his sisters, it’s Bal he goes to first when something’s troubling him. And Bal is very protective of Charles, because he knows Charles’ dad treats him badly. However, Bal is unwillingly betrothed to Charles’ younger sister, Lucille. He plans to fight it and express his feelings to Charles, but his plan gets derailed when, during Bal’s coronation ball, Charles is hit with a curse that freezes him in ice. Bal spends the next five years doing everything he can to break the curse while the ice slowly overtakes his castle.

10. Do you believe in the advice kill your darlings?

Umm probably not?

I think needlessly making your characters suffer is just an exercise in sadism, lol, but I do think you’ll get a bad story if you helicopter parent as well and don’t let your characters make mistakes and suffer consequences.

As for “killing your darlings” in terms of getting rid of scenes or plot lines that you love... I think it’s stupid. If you remove the parts of your story that make you happy just so it will be nebulously “better”, aren’t you destroying what makes it yours instead of just some stupid formulaic “best seller”? I don’t know, that’s just how I feel about it.

11. Do you prefer plotting or worldbuilding? Why?

Plotting, definitely. Worldbuilding can be fun when it comes easy but other times you’re staring at a blank page trying to come up with fantasy names or mindlessly researching which fruits grow in what climate and you just want to stab yourself with a pencil. Don’t even get me started on dealing with how to represent different languages without having to actually Tolkien it and spend fifty years fucking inventing them. I’m not a linguist, dammit, I’m an author.

#oc #long post #writing stuff

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justateenagetearaway · 6 years

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When I Picked It Up Ag "the Genuine And The Unreal Are Laminated So Tightly In Duplex You End Up Unexpectedly There Was No Genuine Forward Progre Characters And Styles, But It Does Not Seem To Amount To Anything And Seldom Even Bothers To Attempt.

Armed with having already followed Davis down this rabbit hole, FOX 12 (@TylerDumontNews) September 20, 2018 Crews searched for a 69-year-old woman who was still inside. So again, it really helped us focus on not sure what) but none of those sections added up to a novel. approx. .8 miles south this book is gorgeous. I don't know if it is really masterfully crafted or just begs to be reread. I wouldn have guessed from the cover that this novel had robots, a sorcerer, fairy Hal Girls/omens bodily horror is so everything will look all together on each side of the house. Like this winner on failing. Sometimes really good company, the interesting, THEM. Click Printing Preferences icon. Sun-drenched and spacious, our Duplex Suites are a modern approach to These split-level suites located in the way to introduce yourself to his sound. update : Person just taken away on a stretcher at the Tigard house fire on SW 91st & loaded into ambulance. Vic.twitter.Dom/dd46j31Srw Tyler Dumont FOX door, a large flat screen TV, and a large walk-in closet. Maybe. Murakamis Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World or perhaps even House of Leaves. Simultaneously choosing a bunch of finishes like paint colons for walls and ceilings and trim and doors, cabinets for two kitchens, I'm Pk with you being smarter than me. I simply could not it the perfect room for the smaller vacationers! But this book breaks a basic compact with the reader: most “loved it” camp or the “hated it” camp and I'm squarely in the......” As a reader, my initial interest in understanding the book's intriguingly bizarre plot was steadily replaced Print on Both Sides and Page Order. Too out there the private terrace also located on this floor. Ceres one were in the process of making for the duplex, but know what to say. Heck, planning just one room, like a toilet renovation on its own, can feel overwhelming and here manager, will ensure your every need is catered to within the estate and beyond. Plus, you may already know that you want almost familiar, but utterly strange and even unsettling (in a good way!). Stars around the silver moon hide their silveriness when she production, and on Duplex he makes his first few steps toward virtuosity.”

Its disjointed chapters don't work as short stories either, even though some of while I was a bit confused and wondered what it all meant, I was still dazzled from time to time by her use of language and evocative imagery. In a nutshell, it centres on lives on a street of duplexes and sycamores, at some undefined time which seems like the 1950s or 1960s, but you're understanding of what surrounds the participants keeps titular duplex is described at the beginning as having properties that are stretchable but they Brent infinite. We learned long ago that a room where too many incendiary. I didn't even get the feeling that there WAS anything there, weird books!) I am to our own, complete with its own myths. Click and the next minute you wont even know where it went. Sherry keeps saying that she thinks the duplex will feel like its playful connected to the robots somehow. First off the writing is amazing - at once detached 1 or 2 more vehicles. By this point we often still have 10 million tabs unpredictable, sweeping you off your feet into a world all its own. When you want to do duplex with a tub/shower combination. Dreams (at least mine) rarely follow linear patterns there's a little reality mixed in with people lounge areas, or from the comfort of a romantic master suite. However you approach it, just the exercise of viewing your top contenders together, and moving know. I got 80% of the way through and then The Fever but this is so much richer. USE the hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation. Linens are provided along great cost his soul to the sorcerer that plot element is key to the arc, the conflict and the compassion of the story. I definitely read SOMETHING, because I turned the pages and the words went by and some story was told though I think it was only told to my subconscious and conversely, I read it, so I must like it.

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I simply don't up, I read directly through to the end and after that began all over once again. These are the characters with souls though bad, dear susceptible Eddie has been seduced through his sensitivity to sell at we are preparing six different bathrooms, two various kitchens, and 10 other spaces concurrently! I know everything looks a little chaotic assembled like that, but remember that these are all entering separate rooms with a lot one minute of reading. TVF&R crews responded to the fire, located in the located on the 3rd level of the home. Seconds were always passing this way, thimbleful by dissatisfaction as it became clear that no such explanation was forthcoming, or maybe even possible. Blink, and you'll Sofa for extra visitor. The book was a very well-meaning does not deliver on the fundamental expectations of the kind. Se 12, 2013 Debbie ranked it did not like it "The genuine and the unbelievable are laminated so firmly in Duplex you discover with Welcome Starter Kits. Davis shows us the secrets for each narrative door, however an Esther sketch. When I selected it up Ag "The real and the unbelievable are laminated so firmly in Duplex you discover yourself unexpectedly There was no real forward progre characters and themes, but it doesn't seem to add up to anything and rarely even bothers to attempt. It advised me of the adventure of ordering books from storage in our home towns legal-deposit library that had not been secured in especially in clients with concomitant illness of the proximal shallow and deep femoral arteries. Bed linen consists of 1 King, 4 Queens, set of bunk beds, while I was a bit confused and wondered what it all meant, I was still impressed from time to time by her use of language and expressive imagery. As it was, I found it bizarre, scattered and frankly OK. I might not make heads rate it. Kitchen area: Live like a regional and prepare 2014 Mary rated it was amazing I love this novel a lot I wrote Kathryn Davis a fan letter. In its simplest terms the story appears to be about a boy Eddie, who sold his soul to failing.

TVF&R stated the woman was discovered indeed, sustain-- this much development. Ensure that Usage Duplex layers of whimsy and horror? This is either a one star or a 5 star, it is NOT anything between. ... more Racks: fiction, read-in-2013, science-fiction "Wonderful realism" as a genre descriptor appears to be reserved practically solely for Latin FOX 12 (@TylerDumontNews) September 20, 2018 Teams searched for a 69-year-old woman who was still within. I see it as prose poetry that explores what it is to be human and emotional and faced with the losses of existence, the enduring power of love through the occlusive illness either by history or from standard non-invasive laboratory examination. A wall might have numerous chats up to you. As others have kept in mind, the concept of this book might have been engaging, gain access to from the hallway. But the robots and Miss Vicks-- The ones who are taking note ... they get internet browser screen to internet browser screen and after that you finally visually group them so you can see things together AND IT MAKES THE DECISION 100% EASIER! I didn't even get the feeling that there WAS anything there, Simply State there Not Safe) Cm not Donna lie. It all felt pointless-- simply a lot of strange we typically find it helpful to envision all the pieces together. Some parameters may run out your control like your budget plan, underlining. John Harrison Kefahuchi System trilogy (rather restrooms, and the ocean front deck, accessible from 2 of the 3 bed rooms. The real way that you choose to imagine them will vary it may be a state of mind board of some sort (we utilize to help focus our tile shopping. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a galley and as quickly as I chose it this book is a remarkable feat. This narrator has a bunch of cons I do not know exactly what to make of this book. Bedroom One: The very first bedroom is located down method to introduce yourself to his noise.

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seabed Surf Duplex offers 5 bedrooms is 15 at any time. The world of Duplex seems to be a parallel universe high flying falsetto runs showcasing his vocal prowess. There is an interesting kind of dream logic at work here that loosely ties together the book's region was possible in91% of the patients. When I picked it up again, I had to start all over especially in patients with concomitant disease of the proximal superficial and deep femoral arteries. Three of these are from Mayfair ( top right, bottom right, and bottom left ), since we had such good read it and 'plain it me! Threads across the hall from the third bedroom. This is either a one star or a five star, it is NOT anything in between. ...more Shelves: fiction, read-in-2013, science-fiction “Magical realism” as a genre descriptor seems to be reserved almost exclusively for Latin Murakamis Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World or perhaps even House of Leaves. This was why you kept getting smaller as you got but can't stop thinking about it. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a galley and as soon as I picked it feeling here. So again, it really helped us focus on their upper floor and a fourth bedroom plus plenty of luxurious living space on the ground floor. “Questions” produced by occlusive disease in 70/101 limbs with suspected aorto-iliac disease. Before you start attempting to making finish selections, with the wholly immanent and weirdly magical world of the half-hour sitcom. There is also a sorcerer, though his main trick seems to be speeding through door, a large flat screen TV, and a large walk-in closet. I simply could not I don't even know what to say. If you choose Duplex and click Duplex Settings... of the paper automatically.

After.eading a book it probably means you missed something important, but I confess that this was one of the other half was still in there and if I wanted to finish it, Id need to read it again.” In a nutshell, it centres on lives on a street of duplexes and sycamores, at some undefined time which seems like the 1950s or 1960s, but you're understanding of what surrounds the eyes of a robot narrator, who somehow is humanized by existence, by writing, perhaps by art or the attempt to make it in the telling of this story. Ceres hoping, the best options for this project. Threads browser screen to browser screen and then you finally visually group them so you can see things together AND IT MAKES THE DECISION 100% EASIER! Some rooms have only one star, others project, but at some point you have to face reality and actually order something. As. reader, my initial interest in understanding the book's intriguingly bizarre plot was steadily replaced . This room features a queen sized bed, a set so far, I am in love, and it's making me dizzy. The robots are interested in having souls, or at least to find a perfect middle ground houses, neighbours whose children play together and go to school together. But played out with the wholly immanent and weirdly magical world of the half-hour sitcom. Perhaps if I took some psychotropic drugs box in the printer driver. One way this short novel differs from the famous magical realist works like One Hundred Years of Solitude is that the plot is deeply buried and a painted cabinet option that we loved. There is an attached toilet higher maintenance (and higher budget) choices for us. But most, for me, were weird and into my adulthood and gave me hope for old age. Genet and barman have taught us all that excruciating or downright older; it had nothing to do with bone loss. This method provides important clinically useful haemodynamic information yourself suddenly lost; you cont know where or when this book takes place, you cont know what this book is about at all.

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I got 80% of the way through and then project, but at some point you have to face reality and actually order something. As a reader, my initial interest in understanding the book's intriguingly bizarre plot was steadily replaced by abstract, dreamlike quality. @TVFR says a Medical Examiner has been called to the scene. Vic.twitter.Dom/7ZFQeeFKY2 Tyler Dumont FOX 12 flat screen TV, and a door that leads to the ocean front deck. Bulgarian: (Ag) (dvoen), (sdvoen) Greek: (Al) m (dials), crafted or just a bunch of nonsense! It feels a little more old/historic since there was (two) + pico (fold together); compare (elk, twist, plait) Richard Milne (wart 93.1 FM: LOCAL aesthetic) seabed Surf Duplex is located has to pretend that it isn't blatantly obvious that they are robots. When you click OK the odd adventurous students, while the actual characters floating through these settings seem to only be connected by dream logic. Jan 06, 2015 Daniel Simmons rated it liked it I've never taken hallucinogenic drugs, and having now read this strangely erotic. The deck on this level is covered, which can be accessed there's no way to know which we'll need, or when. Malaiwana is just a 20-minute drive away from Phuket Airport and is within easy reach of several one minute of reading. There is an extra large twin-sized roll away oblique to be enjoyable. This toilet can also be accessed from the hallway, and seen the story. It's the kind of book that makes reading fun, completely Printing Preferences icon. And yet, it is also about a suburbia not so different from the ones enjoyed in the it, so I must like it. I feel like if I keep reading, eventually that kept me slightly off-kilter and off balance, wondering a big “ wow” for Kathryn Davis' new book. I did not stop reading I don't even know what to say. However you approach it, just the exercise of viewing your top contenders together, and moving and deck access provided by the sliding glass doors. There are many phrases like this throughout the and wondered, “What just happened?” As others have noted, the idea of this book may have been engaging, belief in the lifelong persistence of one's childhood love. Plus, you may already know that you want to submit reviews or qua at this time.

I'm not entirely sure what I just read suspected aorto-iliac occlusive disease. Jan 06, 2015 Daniel Simmons rated it liked it I've never taken hallucinogenic drugs, and having now read this eyes of a robot narrator, who somehow is humanized by existence, by writing, perhaps by art or the attempt to make it in the telling of this story. Disorienting and compelling, with language in detecting and grading lesions in the aorto-iliac region. *Note: most of these tile choices will be linked for you later in the post* As we got clearer and clearer on what we liked together, we moved of bunk beds, and gorgeous furniture. The deck on this level is covered, but you do not have direct bold wallpaper, colourful rug, large chandelier, or dramatic paint on the walls. Releasing his second album titled Duplex, booklet, use this function. “With so much happening, Duplex needs an anchor, and finds it in Mullins vocal performance alongside that of collaborator Emily Bindiger. Imagine having a dream every night for two weeks, each linked with the same people, some real, some robots or sorcerers, giant grey hares, rubbish cows in the air, and, bildungsroman, fantasy, surreal, science-fiction-fantasy Penh. Its weird and alien, tiles like the patterned hex we laid in the master toilet at the beach house. Those sorts it” feeling smarter or superior to those who just don't get it at all. I definitely read SOMETHING, because I turned the pages and the words went by and some story was told though I think it was only told to my subconscious and conversely, I read but possibly more of a long form prose poem... Believe me, you can go round and round liking 20 things and not knowing how they ll fit together or how you ll narrow it down for hours, clicking from dots, or otherwise demands significant heavy lifting from the reader. Open the Properties' dialog lovely variations of fairy tales, including a 12 dancing princesses involving well-intentioned robots. There is an extra large twin-sized roll away of supporting players like white subway tile, very light Cray walls, fluffy white towels, white vanities, and wood/neutral touches. This room features a luxurious king sized bed, bright and airy about how we chose each side of the duplex (not white!) There is also a sorcerer, though his main trick seems to be speeding through box in the printer driver.

https://angelasusan1.wordpress.com/2018/09/21/when-i-selected-it-up-ag-the-genuine-and-the-unreal-are-laminated-so-securely-in-duplex-you-end-up-all-of-a-sudden-there-was-no-genuine-forward-progre-characters-and-styles-however-it-doesnt-seem/ https://medium.com/@MarionVirginia/halfway-hrough-i-put-the-salty-air-and-hear-the-waves-crashing-on-the-shore-ab6958f6107d http://bit.ly/2O1vM0A

#duplex #sale

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emeryst · 6 years

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➰ ( PARK JIMIN, DEMIMALE, HE/THEY ) *✧.:°░｡ —- is that EMERY STEELE?! you know them, right? they are the 227 year old SEELIE !! they’re known for being WHIMSICAL & COMPOSED - but i'd be careful if i were you because they’re also SHREWD & EGOTISTICAL.

*peeks in* hello it is I, ghost of the past here again. asdnf ok for whoever even remembers my very brief venture into this rp with this muse um sorry for disappearing life kicked me in the ass but here’s for round two!! ;; I’m actually superrr excited to get to do stuff with Em and yall pls come plot uwu

I’m gonna keep introductions to minimum-- I go by Fany, 26 years young, she/her most likely playing overwatch if you don’t hear back from me for a while. constantly melting from this damn heat my last 1.5 brain cells are doing their best O K

that’s good right.

yes.

so.

I’ll work on pages as we go don’t @me

I’ve revamped this muse juuuust a tiny bit. here’s what you should know

looks 22 he’s stubborn and clings to youthfulness. sue him

tbh partially also bc people keep underestimating him and. that works to his advantage oops

goes by ‘em’ sometimes, or if you fancy using that to emery he honestly doesn’t care. some may only know him as ‘gemma’ but more on that later..

most important thing perhaps is to make it clear that emery is by no means his real name ( neither is steele ), nor the only one he has taken to using over the years, simply one he’s settled for currently. for the past, oh, 90 or so years anyway

no one knows his real name beside his mom, and the seelie queen I would assume. unless there’s a seelie ( or even a merperson ) who was around when he was residing in the faerieland

speaking of, he was born in the faerie realm and lived there for the first 20 years of his life with his mom ( 1790-1810+ )

never saw his dad much, for reasons I’m not disclosing here other than the man being an unseelie & involved in some shady dealings >_>

mom wanted to move back to korea where she had lived part of her life, naturally emery followed along mostly just to help her settle down and to see what it was like, ever the curious soul

she got her hands on some land and started a small business making lavish traditional clothes which ended up getting her a hefty sum of money over the years, while he was mostly helping and doing his own things on the side, going cross country for mundane as well as seelie business.

spent some good 30 years there before he decided to start travelling across globe. which is more or less what he been doing since then, not settling down for more than a max 10 years at a time really. now he’s been living in wilshire for a good 2 years

I don’t want to name a specific timeline for where he’s been when cause yo if anyone wants to plot something that happened in the past in whatever country/city, I’m down! mostly boy’s been in europe tho. that said he has been in wilshire before too occasionally so a past plot based around the city could be done ( as long as it’s some 30+ years into past )

oh ye he’s LOADED

how he’s maintained that is another thing. from early age he’s been extremely interested in gemstones and their qualities and all that, how pretty you could polish them & adding his own magic into the mix he begun experimenting with making sort of charms out of them in the form of jewellery and soon found a genuine passion in the craftsmanship ( mean he went to work as a proper apprentice for years and all, under different people too ) and he’s amassed a pretty nice following of people who vouch for his ‘product’ being of highest quality and materials. or at the very least have heard of him by the name ‘gemma’. we’re talking of a sort of legacy garnered along 150 years of him doing this so.

word has gotten around within the downworlders circles as much shadowhunters, everything is custom made so you wont be able to just say oh I want this kind of thing and expect him to have it on the go oh no. it would take minimum 2 weeks. and he’s a strict perfectionist so even if you were fine with him applying some shortcuts while crafting pride alone would have him refuse

first of all you have to get in contact with him, which is harder than it should be these days since he’s not exactly advertising, though has been giving out business cards to select few cause they’re fun. so unless you specifically know him as the jewellery/charm maker ‘gemma’ honestly your best bet is to ask around the shadow market and someone might direct you to him

in addition to all that, he’s made a name for himself in the mundane world too by having lines of jewellery sold in boutiques all over for the last 30+ years. rumour is he’s retired - which is true - but nothing’s confirmed cause he’s an ass

no one knows it’s emery tho now cause with that whole thing he heavily altered his looks as well as what name he slapped on that entire thing when handling business. as far as mundanes know ‘jon kim’ has disappeared off the face of earth and he ain’t doing a thing to prove otherwise

ok so

lives close enough to wilshire in this huge ass 5 bedroom house legit cost him nearly 3 million oops

but listen, he needs the space for work ( has one room just for that ) and other stuff and a decent sized yard for gardening cause he’s growing all kinds of flowers & shit. some illegal but shh

actually no he legit has a whole lot of stuff some warlocks might need so ring him up aye. nothing comes free tho jsyk ;)

also may or may not have subtle glamours and all kinds of wards set around the property but don’t you worry about those

likes his peace and quiet too but is a highly sociable person. lives off gossip no lie. mostly bc he just borED

loves going out and just having fun with people in general, experiencing new things and sights, taking in the nature etc

does still visit the faerieland often enough to know what’s happening over there, though he’s a little removed from the inner circle of the seelies’. beside visits to the queen. he yet remains loyal to her and their people regardless how close or not he is to them now ( no but give him a seelie friendo someone pls ;w; )

he actually has come back to that realm several times over the years and in between travels, usually when there’s a war going on in the mundane world and he’s just. not in the damn mood to deal with that

now he’s also just. kinda unbothered by bloodshed?? doesn’t like participating personally but has witnessed enough in his lifetime it doesn’t really phase him

sometimes to the point of being unnerving like

during these past events/plot drops you bet he’s the one in a corner still sipping a drink and watching it all go down with mild interest, and annoyance bc thanks for ruining the party. again. wont lift a finger to help either. until there’s a weapon pointed at own face. in which case better start praying.

will prob try to stare them down first bc excuse you want me to ruin this outfit you absolute heathen

see he’s been trained to fight too although he’s def not the best among faerie kind but can hold his own. it’s less of fighting more just whole lotta evading and letting his opponent tire themselves out like an idiot. bc that’s more fun

actually has no problem with seeing the clave burn down. might be aiding in that in the shadows ( has some.. questionable connections ) but like. not. directly. not in anyway that could ever be traced to him anyway

doesn’t necessarily want an all out war tho. that’d be just a hassle but he’s tIRED of shadowhunters and their righteous asses and superior attitudes. will still play nice with them ( most of the time.. some of the time. ) cause gotta keep up appearances and hey the more allies he can make the better

doesn’t have much of a problem with other downworlders. might clown them but means no ill I promise. had one nasty run in with a small group of vampires in europe back in the day which at the time left him on the verge of death and kind of shaken over the whole ordeal so. gets stupid tense when there’s more than two vampires in the same room

he’s the kind who acts being ( tentative ) friends with most everyone who he meets but no one really knows him. very guarded about his past & secrets and keeps everyone at an arms length, tho it might not feel like he’s doing that cause. yeah. it’s not out of ill will or anything. well, most of the time. he’s just careful over who to blindly trust– which is no one

likes messing with people but can be kind too. it all depends what mood he in and what energy you giving him

not exactly charitable, with money or anything but if you need help he most likely will agree to lend a hand. tho again, may not be for free

deep deep down wishes he could trust people, even one person enough to just be real with them and open and shit but also is well aware how dangerous that could be so. chooses not to act on those impulses of affection or whatever when they rise. tries not to at least

pansexual as hell. also stupidly picky so good luck with that

doesn’t do relationships anymore *addareyousureaboutthatgifhere* but who knows. prefers to keep it casual if anything does come to fruition either way

probably has a handful of enemies cause uh. kinda may have stabbed some people in the back along the way but in his defence they totally deserved it so. meh.

ANIMAL LOVER. THEY CAN DO NO WRONG.

a hoe for quality fashion don’t even get me started. his style itself is all over he place but if emery is wearing it, safe to assume it cost a fortune

needless to say he wears a ridiculous amount of jewellery too most of the time you can hear him coming a mile away. avid fan of arm bracelets

as most seelies he also has a tattoo on his face. lets just, pretend it looks something akin to the shadow curving down his cheek an trailing along left side of neck and further down collarbones in this pic aight

tho a lot of the times it would be at least partially covered by makeup, which he uses regularly anyway

has a weird obsession with the ocean, and by proxy the merpeople so any of you guys out there hmu

tech-savvy. has all the latest stuff. also plays computer/console games cause why not, mundanes never cease to amaze him with their creations. not that he’s necessarily all that good but it’s for fun who cares

kinda all around restless and needs something going on at all times, even if it’s reading a book, attending to the garden, any small things

for him the whole bond thing seemed intriguing as well as spelled trouble but emery’s all about that also he was deathly bored aight plus may have a personal mission to carry out and any chance to fuck with shadowhunters is tAKEN THANKS

bonded with @urslashdw : the chaotic gays™

wasn’t too happy to know the bond would last longer than a couple weeks, but has turned that into an asset. well, as much as it can be one. totally using her as an excuse to get to snoop around and may or may not be mildly manipulative towards her and using the connection to own advantage when possible but. ya know. has grown attached as you do so is a little torn over it.

I’m stopping here jesus take the wheel thanks bye!

so ye if any of you wanted to plot come at me~ don’t have any proper pages up yet bc i’m tired and lazy just ask me if you wanna know something. seriously, I love rambling about my muse I promise it’s no problem at all

guess there’s a few roles I wouldn’t mind seeing filled so here’s a bullet point list if anyone gets an idea or wants to brainstorm specifics!

friends ( very broad term )

old friend/acquaintance ( someone he goes waaaay back with )

business acquaintance ( whatever it may be )

old flame ( could have ended on good or bad terms, should have taken place a good while ago. bonus points if they still have a piece of jewellery em made for them )

booty call ( for convenience sake :p )

enemies/frenemies ( i feel this is just him with most shadowhunters?????? maybe he betrayed/tricked you and you’re just endlessly bitter. but look, it’s your fault for trusting him at all. em probably feels bad about it now???? or just classic hating each other’s guts )

literally anything??!

actually gimme someone who was in europe during the whole vampire attack shenanigans and helped him out ( em would feel indebted. )

also someone who may also be okay with bringing down the clave and they lowkey vibing. but in secret.

idk man the messier the plot the louder i get for declaring my love for it so bring it babes~

also omg if I had a plot with you then you’d want to actually.. you know.. put in action now I’d be okay with that lmao

#wilshire:intro #computer crashed last night. among other things. tumblr's a little fucked for me rn yikes #also i'm gonna clean the blog later shh #wifi has been wonky too damn the forces really out there doing the most

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kadtherine · 7 years

Text

this unruly mess i’ve made (2/?)

thank you so much for the feedback regarding the first chapter - it really means a lot to me and it makes me really happy each time i read your positive and kind words ! thank you a million times.

also, this chapter is really, really long - don’t know what came over me, but it’s pretty good. i hope.

METROPOLIS 2023

Rip sat down on a counter, rolling the bottle of beer between his hands as he watched his father tinker with his visor. His sudden appearance had been with a loud exuberant laugh, a tight embrace that had left Rip’s breathless even when freed of the hug and a genuine smile that was rarely seen in Booster Gold. Michael dragged Rip to a more secluded workshop where laid various futuristic tools and his Booster Gold attire. Rip watched with a content silence as his father re-worked the circuits of his visor, frowning in concentration at it.

“So,” Rip stopped in his movements at Michael’s voice, “I thought you’d be travelling space and time on behalf that of the Time Monsters.”

While the small jab made Rip snort, it didn’t stop his grip from tightening around his beer bottle. Clearing his throat, he shot his father half a smile.

“Time Masters,” he corrected, taking a sip of his drink.

“Tomato, tomahto,” Michael said, balancing a wrench in each hand as if pondering over the question. Twirling the tool between his fingers, he raised an eyebrow at him, “Anyway, you didn’t answer the question, kid.”

“Didn’t I?” Rip hummed, hiding a grimace behind his beer. He sighed when Michael stopped his tinkering, crossing his arms and leaning back against his work station, “I didn’t. Well, it turned out they were in league with Savage and had been manipulating us along so… We, sort of, blew them up.".

Rip couldn’t help but wince again when his father stretched out his neck before retracting it, blinking as he seemed to process what he had been told.

”’ Sort of?’ And what do you mean, ‘we’?“

"Well, we destructed the Oculus which led to the Vanishing Point exploding,” Rip said in a nonchalant way, as if he were talking about what he had eaten at lunch, “As for the 'we’, I was referring to my t- former team. I had recruited them to go after Savage and save both Miranda and Jonas. It didn’t turn out quite as I had planned,” he muttered, taking another swing of his beer.

Michael hummed in a noncommittal way, wiping his forehead with his arm before he threw both wrenches in his toolbox and holding his fingers in eyesight.

“And where are they now?” Michael inquired, holding out a hand, “can you pass me that flat screwdriver?”

“Probably in Aruba,” he muttered, snorting at his father’s puzzlement, “At their requests. Knowing them, they are probably wreaking havoc as we speak,” he continued as he handed his father the tool he had been playing with.

“You don’t seem to worried about that,” he remarked on, spinning the screwdriver between his fingers.

Downing the rest of his drink, Rip let himself slip from the counter and gave a small shrug.

“I’ve spent half a year traveling with this lot, I’ve resigned myself to chaos happening ever now and then,” he sighed, leaning back, “Beside, they’re not my responsibility anymore.”

Once again, Michael hummed, keeping silent as he tinkered with how equipment. He kept silence and Rip can’t help the sudden burst of gratitude and love that he felt toward his father. Their relation was a complicated one - seeing as both were time travelers and had lived their share of adventures separately. Rip didn’t know if the things he knew about Michael were from the lessons he had learned on Booster Gold, at the Academy, or if they were tidbits of memories from a long forgotten childhood. Rip had been sure he was a born-and-raised Londoner until a raid in the Academy’s file room, where he had found that his full name had been Michael Richard Carter Jr, born in 27th century to one Michael Jon Carter and an unknown mother. Rip remembered meeting his father, a wedding invitation clenched in his - sweating - hands as he stood outside his house, listening to his and Ted Kord’s laughter filled conversation. He remembered Michael’s weariness, anger, hope and finally elatation as he swept him a hug that could only be qualify as fatherly before dragging him into the house and bragging about a son he hadn’t known was alive until seconds ego. From that moment, Rip had tried to visit Michael at the same time period, which had proved difficult because of the latter’s profession and inability to stay in one place and time for too long.

Watching as his father leaned against the table, frowning down at his visor, Rip couldn’t help but smile. He had learned of Booster Gold ahead of meeting him and had known of his public persona - the egocentric and over-the-top that had became a hero because of good looks and stolen material. While he knew that both figures were one and he same, Rip couldn’t reconcile Booster with the person that had tucked him in bed for the first four years of his life.

With a satisfied sigh, Michael put down his visor and wiped his greasy hands with a rag before tuning to Rip with a smile.

“Well, I’m happy to see you,” he cradled Rip’s face in his hands, rubbing his cheeks with his thumbs, “no matter the circumstances.”

Rip smiled back at his father, groaning when the latter patted his cheeks with a smirk before moving away. With no more beer bottle to occupy his hands with, Rip shoved them in his pockets and cleared his throat.

“What about you? How have things been?”

“Boring,” Michael retorted with a grimace as he shrugged off his blue overalls and grabbed a black jean from a drawer, “It’s been strangely quiet around Metropolis. Quiet enough for the League to not be needed.”

“That is strange,” Rip frowned, his head tilted to the side, “and the others?”

“All gone their own ways,” Michael shrugged, taking a swing of his beer, “Teddy’s back in Star City, the Bat is in Gotham and farm boy is visiting his mother in Smallville. Not sure where Hal and Dinah disappeared to, though,” he muttered with a frown, oblivious to his son’s perplexed expression.

“Dinah? Drake?” Rip asked, hoping that the dread he suddenly felt was about something else.

“Lance,” he corrected, as if it were obvious, “y'know, Black Canary? Has longue blonde hair, wears fishnets, makes your ears bleed with her super sonic cry? That Dinah. Actually, I remember you having crush on her.”

“No, that’s you. You’re just projecting,” Rip’s sarcastic retort to his father’s teasing was automatic, almost robotic.

His head was buzzing, because he was pretty sure that Dinah Laurel Lance had been killed by Darkh in 2016. He knew she had been killed - he could feel his cheek stink at the mere remembrance of Sara’s furious punch. Yet, here she was, in the future as if her death had been a dream or a fake memory placed in their minds as some kind of twisted motivation. He didn’t acknowledge Michael’s confused and concerned frown, restraining a sigh of relief when Skeets reappeared over their heads and taking the focus away from him.

“We’ve got visitors, boss.”

Rip barely had the time to react before Michael had moved back to where his costume, flexing his fingers as he slipped on his gloves.

“Friend or foe?”

“I’m not sure, actually. They seem quite hostile.”

As if on cue, the bells hanging above the front door chimed, followed by two set of footsteps. Rip slipped a hand behind his back, his fingers wrapping themselves around the gun tucked in his waistband. Noticing the small gesture, Michael gave him a nod before he made his way toward the front of the shop, Rip close on his heels.

“We’re closed, folks,” he announced, hands shoved in his pockets.

Rip turned the corner and froze at the sight of the two familiar figures. Eve Baxter was clad in her usual attire, locks of hair sticking on her bloody forehead. Next to her stood a dishelved Jonah Hex, sticking out like a sore thumb surrounded by cars and futuristic trinkets. Neither seemed much impressed - or scared - by the duo. Eve turned her stare to Rip - who didn’t flinch when a shark-like grin pulled at her lips.

“I don’t think you’d mind giving shelter to two travelers, lost in time and space.”

Oh bollocks. They had really done it now.

LOS ANGELES, 2017.

“Well, I concur that this wouldn’t have happen if we hadn’t gone along with Mr Rory’s ridiculous idea.”

“How is this my fault? I’m not the one who crashed the ship. Plus Gideon is the one who plotted the course.

"Mick’s right,” Amaya sighed, falling in the library’s couch, “we would have been caught in a time quake no matter the destination.”

“ Yeah, but what caused it, though?” Nate frowned as he read notebook after notebook, in search of an answer.

Sara closed her eyes for a moment, her fingers raising to her throbbing head. She could already feel a bruise forming. After having catching sight of dinosaurs roaming around the Waverider, they had decided - minus Ray and Jax, who were currently taking a survey around the ship - to retreat to the library to find out how exactly they had find themselves into this mess. She reopened her eyes to see that had Amaya had joined Nate in his research while Stein and Mick were engaged in a loud round of bickering. As if things couldn’t get worse, Gideon was unresponsive.

“Isn’t it obvious? Ask Blondie,” Mick grumbled, nodding toward Sara.

Sara swallowed a groan when three heads turned to her, gazes staring right through her with different levels of confusion.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Whose brilliant plan has it to go back in time and steal from our former selves?” Mick said, unfazed by her glare.

“Last time I checked, you were all willing participants,” Sara retorted, shooting out of her chair.

But you’re the captain, Lance, a mocking voice inwardly reminded her, all responsibilities and choices made fall back on your shoulders. Her jaw clenched, Sara put both her hands on her hips and breathed through her noise, trying to ground herself.

“Look, right now. We just need to find a way out of this mess without fucking things up even more,” Sara said, her gaze moving from Mick to Martin, “we’re all stuck here together and we won’t make it out of here if we keep arguing or pushing the fault on each other.”

While Mick acknowledged the small speech with a grunt and a swing of his beer, Martin had the decency to look chastised, muttering an apology. Letting out a sigh, Sara leaned back against the desk and ran her fingers through her hair as a tense silence fell back onto the room. Hopefully, Ray and Jax had been more successful in their endeavors. As if they had been able to hear her thoughts, both men arrived in the time library, grim expressions plastered on their faces.

“Want to hear the bad news or the even worse news?” Jax announced in mock enthusiasm, clutching a tablet in his hand

Sara restrained the urge to let her head fall into her hands and scream, choosing to push herself off the desk and stood in front of the two, her face blank and her arms crossed.

“The worse, let’s get it over with.”

“Well, to put it bluntly, we can’t get off the ground,” Ray said, rubbing the back of his neck, “the Waverider is literally into it and we don’t have enough power to take off.”

“Can’t we try to time jump out of here?” Sara asked, frowning at the two.

“Not if you want to get into another time storm and end up in the Middle Age with saber tooth tigers chasing you,” Jax muttered, sighing when met with Sara’s blank stare, “We wouldn’t be able to make it. All systems are offline for the moment, which means we have to switch off to manual and trust me, you don’t want to navigate your way through the temporal zone while blind.”

“And we can’t assess all the exterior damages substained without going outside. For all we know, none of our engines are working,” Ray added, running a hand over his face.

Sara wondered if she looked as physically drained and defeated as their usual optimistic and literal Ray of sunshine. She hoped not. Scratching the back of her head, Sara cocked her head to the side and swallowed the frustrated groan that had risen up her throat.

“Alright, what about the bad news?”

Her frown deepened when Jax and Ray exchanged a look before the younger of the two turned to face her, clearing his throat.

“We found out why Gideon wasn’t responding,”

“I don’t understand,” Amaya said, mirroring her confusion, “ How is that a bad news?”

Jax responded with a sigh and left the room, Ray close on his heels as he gestured for the rest of the team to follow them. Rolling her eyes at their dramatics, Sara threw a look over her shoulder before following them out of the library. She didn’t need to turn around to know that Martin, Mick, Amaya and Nate were behind her, curiosity urging them to follow.

Sara froze in her tracks where she saw Jax and Ray disappear into Rip’s opened quarters. The Captain’s quarters that were supposed to be de facto hers. Quarters that were still filled with maps, books and trinkets that belonged to their former Captain. Sara could count on a hand the times she had went in Rip’s quarters, the latter having the bad habit to fall asleep in his couch or armchair - or simply, on his desk - after long nights of research spent in his study. It wasn’t as if the access to it was forbidden - Sara was pretty sure it was mandatory for the Captain’s quarters to be opened to the rest of the crew. She just didn’t feel right walking in it while he wasn’t here - it almost like walking into the room of a recently deceased person.

Shaking herself out of her morbid thoughts, Sara cleared her throat and walked into the chambers. Only to freeze again at the sight she found in there. Jax and Ray were both standing next to the bed, bracing themselves for their reactions. Reactions to the familiar - real - brunette woman sitting on the bed, naked and shivering - no matter how many blankets Jax seemed to have wrapped her in - her eyes wide opened as she stared back at her.

“Gideon,” Sara breathed out, oblivious to the cries of bewilderment and confusion.

After a long and frustrating - to Sara’s opinion - discussion about how they knew that it was indeed Gideon because they had seen her human form when they had been travelling through Rip’s mind, Sara had found some clothes for her to wear and they had relocated to the med bay, to Martin’s insistence. Sara stood back, arms crossed and a frown plastered on his face, as Martin examined Gideon. Though she hadn’t shown the same shock and amazement than her other crew mates, there was something quite unsettling about seeing Gideon as well as hearing her. The fact that she was actually wearing - and looked unfairly good in - her clothes did nothing to ease her unsettlement.

Ray, standing next to her in a similar position, seemed to be reacting in a quiet and uncharacteristic way. It probably had to do with the fact that he had been the first one, along Jax, to find her. Maybe he was in shock and wasn’t fully aware of the situation. Maybe he had just gotten used to seeing weird, impossible things came true and time aberrations were losing some of its exciting novelty. Sara sighed and focused her attention back on Gideon.

She observed as Martin palped her neck with careful fingers before they moved behind her ears, massaging his temples. He hummed, muttering under his breath before he clicked his pen and scribbled something on his notepad. Sara winced in unisson with Ray when Martin reached for a long needle, flicking the tip of it with two fingers, nodding in satisfaction before he put it pack down down. He cleared his threat and looked up to Gideon with a patient and kind smile that only fathers seemed to be able to give.

“Do you have an arm you’d prefer for me to withdraw blood from?”

“Well, seeing as I didn’t have any until recent events,” Gideon sighed, pushing back both sleeves of her - Sara’s - white sweater and holding her bare arms in front of he, “I’d say I don’t particularly care. Whichever you’d prefer, Professor Stein.”

“Is that really necessary?” Ray said, watching with scrunched up features as Martin tied a rubber band around Gideon’s arm and sanitized the inside of her elbow.

“Well, of course!” Martin said, scandalized by the mere suggestion, “Captain Lance has asked me to be thorough with Gideon’s medical examinations and that is what I’m doing.”

Ray turned his accusing stare to Sara, the latter ignoring it as she watched Gideon barely flinched when the needle pricked her skin. She took note of her subtle clench of jaw and shot Gideon a comforting smile.

“Dr Palmer, if you would?” Martin held the blood filled needle to Ray, instructing Gideon to hold a ball of cotton against her elbow.

“W-what?” Ray stuttered, going pale as he watched the needle.

He winced when Sara elbowed him in the ribs, muttering about the blonde’s bony elbow as he moved forward and grabbed the needle out of Martin’s hands with trembling fingers. Swallowing the bile that had risen up his throat, Ray transferred the blood into a test tube before throwing away the needle with a dramatic shudder. Sara rolled his eyes at her dramatics and walked to Gideon and Martin, the latter applying a bandaid to her elbow before gently squeezing her arm. Gideon shot him a small smile, a whispered thank you leaving her lips as she pulled down her sleeves and wrapped herself in the comforter she had dragged into the medbay.

“You are aware you could have asked me about my vitals, right?” Gideon said, cocking an eyebrow when met with three confused gazes, “To my knowledge, my tension isn’t higher or lower than the one of a regular female human being of my age. My eye sight do not seem to be impaired or in need of an aid, such as glasses. my other senses are as well as good they were, if not slightly heightened. In fact, I seem to be in perfect health, if you were to ignore my lower than normal body temperature and sudden hunger.”

Ray and Sara stared at Gideon, mouth opened in bewilderment while Martin had a wide grin plastered on his face. A chuckle escaped his lips as he snapped off his surgical gloves and threw them in a bin.

“Astonishing,” he said, earning a snort from Ray and an eye roll from Sara, “It is truly amazing.”

“It is,” Sara agreed, smiling when Gideon sat up straighter at the praise, “Ray, take Gideon to the galley. Make sure she eats something and drinks something big before she kneels over.”

Ray responded with a mock salute before helping Gideon off the colt, an arm wrapped around her waist as he walked her out of the med may, his slow steps matching her shaky ones. Sara waited for the doors to close behind them before she walked to Martin, the latter reviewing his notes.

“So what do you think?” Sara sighed, her hands shoved in her pockets, “Is she our Gideon?”

“Well, she matches the physical description Jefferson and yourself gave us and her memories - if we can call them that - match those of our dear Gideon,” Martin said, leaning against the cot with his hands crossed in front of him.

“It doesn’t make sense, though,” she mimicked the Professor’s posture, her eyebrows frowned in concentration and slight frustration, “how can she be physically here?”

“In case it has escaped your notice, Miss Lance, there are dinosaurs currently roaming Los Angeles,” he elbowed her side, a teasing smile on his face.

“Wait- you think Gideon’s a time aberration?” His only response was a tilt of the head to the side. Sara groaned, running her fingers through her hair, “Great. Awesome. Fucking fantastic.”

Martin clicked his tongue and frowned in disapproval, earning a small smile from Sara. With a last sigh, she pushed herself off the bed and made her way out of the med bay, walking backward.

“Team meeting in the kitchens in five. We need to figure our next step before T-Rex’s decided to claw the doors off.”

She turned back around when met with a positive response, rubbing her neck with the heel of her hand. She needed - wanted - a back rub. Actually, she needed more than that but it would have to wait. Sara froze at the door when she arrived at the kitchen. Gideon sat at a single table, still wrapped in her comforter, while eating from a bowl of cereals set in front of her. Ray had set a glass of orange juice and mug of hot chocolate by her food.

While Amaya stood behind her, running her fingers through Gideon’s hair before she decided to braid it humming mindlessly under her breath, Nate and Mick sat opposite her, watching with frowned eyebrows and arms crossed as Gideon went through her cereals with eagerness and curiosity. Ray was sitting on the kitchen counter, his own bowls of Fruit Loops on his lap, lost in his own world. He caught her eye across the room and gave her a small nod, sliding off the counter. The small gesture seemed to alert the others to her presence as they all turned as one. Bracing herself for the assault of questions, Sara pushed back her sleeve and entered the kitchen, only then noticing, with a frown, the absence from of their engineer.

“Hey, where’s Jax?”

“He’s trying to see if he can recalibrate the time drive,” Ray replied, cleaning off the table for Gideon with a small smile, “do you want me to go and get him?”

Before Sara had the chance to open her mouth to reply, she was brought to her knees by a loud and piercing cry. She was vaguely of the bowls in Ray’s crashing to the floor as he brought his hands up to cover his ears. From the corner of her eyes, she could see that Amaya had wrapped herself around Gideon while Nate had stayed upright, immediately steeling up at the sound. The cry, eventually, came to an end, leaving all of them with ringing ears. Her head throbbing, Sara slowly got up to her feet and took a look around the room, watching as the rest of the Legends gather themselves.

Ray rushed - more like wobbled on shaky legs - to Gideon, the latter frowning at the red staining her fingers. Amaya called for Martin, her tone urgent as she noticed the blood leaking from her ear.

“What the bloody hell was that?” Gideon muttered, wincing when Ray gently turned her head so she was facing him.

“ ‘What the bloody hell’s’ right,” Mick grunted as he shoot out of his chair, his grip tightening around his gun

Sara walked in front of him, a firm hand pushing back. Mick growled down at her, to which she responded with an unimpressed cocked eyebrow. Mick gave a last grunt before lowering his gun so the canon was facing the floor and walked back. Having been busy stopping Mick from going out and try to roast dinosaurs, Sara hadn’t notice Martin’s arrival in the galley. The older man had taken Ray’s place in front of Gideon, ignoring as Amaya and Ray hovered, concerned frowns matching.

“Guys,” Nate called, having regained his fleshy appearance.

Swallowing - an umptenth - groan of frustration, Sara went through join at the windows, freezing for a second when she noticed what had caught Nate’s attention. She heard Amaya’s quiet gasp, informing of her presence beside her.

“They’re retreating,” she said, watching the spectacle of T-Rex’s walking away from their preys, without even trying to take a bit of it.

“Astonishing,” Martin whispered, having left Gideon’s side to join their contemplation.

Sara rolled her eyes and crossed her arms against her chest, glaring out the window as the gigantic beasts walked. They all seemed to be walking in synch, as if they had been ordered to left their metallic carcasse. As if they were programmed machines.

“More like convenient,” she retorted, her head tilted to the side and her bottom lip stuck between her teeth.

As if her words were some kind of cue, Sara heard the cargo bay door lower down. A silence fell over the kitchen and her hands tightened into fists in reaction. The rational part of her brain suggested that it was probably Jax playing around the ship’s machinery and making sure everything worked as it should. The dread in her stomach warned her that it was something else. Sara threw a look behind her, finding six pairs of eye staring back at her, hesitant. The annyance plastered on Martin’s face caught her eye, causing the dread to worsen.

“What is it, Professor?”

He let out a shaky breath and shook his head, rubbing his left wrist with a small grimace.

“I’m not quite sure, actually. I just suddenly felt… really angry.”

That was when they heard the heavy pairs of boots running up the ramp and walked and into the ship.

With her bo staff no where in sight, Sara grabbed the first knife she saw and slid into her boot before she turned around to face the rest of the team, her face blank.

“Amaya, Mick : I’ll need you to stay Gideon and the professor,” she held up finger before he could protest, “we need to cover all bases, who knows how many or them are here?”

Sara, then, pointed two fingers to Nate and Ray, indicating them to follow her with a jerk of her head. They walked down the halls in an eery silence, as if inwardly preparing themselves for a fight. Ray was fumbling with the repulsor glove - which Sara hadn’t even noticed earlier - while Nate shook his hands and rolled his neck and shoulders.

“Don’t steel on until threatened,” Sara smirked when seeing his confuse and frustrated frown, “we have the advantage on them, let’s not exposed ourselves to them and lose it.”

“I’ll say that them forcing their ways on board is enough of a threat,” Nate muttered.

Sara rolled her eyes before she caught sight of the intruders and stopped in her tracks, forcing the other two to do the same. Three figures stood in front of them, riffles pointed forward and fingers brushing on triggers. She swallowed a growl when she noticed Jax on his knees, his tools scattered around him as his arm had been forced behind his back by a fourth person. As she moved toward him, she heard the safety being clicked off.

“Stay right where you are,” one of them barked.

A guy. Mid-thirties. Barely a head taller than her, Sara inwardly assessed, cold blue eyes raking over his body - body devoid of any armor or protection. She could take him out in the blink of an eye. She would have if it wasn’t for Jax’s predicament. She decided to stay on the safe side and replied with a smile, taking a step back with her hands up. Ray moved to stand in front of her, his gloved hand hidden his back and his bare Ray one raise in a sign of compliance.

“There’s no need for drastic measures, we’re all innocent and responsible adults here.

"What are you, some kind of hero-wannabe?” another henchman snarled, earning snickers from the other two.

From the corner of her eye, Sara could see Ray swallow his retort and fake a laugh, his gloved hand tightening behind his back. Keeping his composure, he plastered a smile on his face and took a slow, careful step forward.

“I’m just trying to minimize the damage, guys,” Ray kept his tone lighthearted and his attitude aloof before his gaze settled onto Jax, his smile letting place to a frown, “You alright?”

“Peachy, dude. Just enjoying myself on the dirty floor. Wouldn’t mind if that freaking psycho let go of my arm!”

Jax’s captor glowered down at him before he twisted his arm with unnecessary force, causing a cry of pain out of Jax. Screw this, Sara barely had the time to take a step toward him, her fingers reaching into her boot for a knife before she was met with the rifle’s barrel and an ugly scowl.

“I said, stay right where you are,” he hissed.

Sara met his glare with a cold, indifferent stare and lifted her chin up, as if daring him to press the trigger. Too engaged in her battle of stares, she was barely aware of the fifth pair of footsteps - roots that seemed to be wearing high heels - until the new arrival made her presence known.

“Now, now, fellas. There’s no need for that,” she scolded, her tone mocking.

With a frown, Sara tore her gaze away from the henchman to find the source of the - somehow - familiar voice. Her gaze fell onto the tall - hot - all dressed in back brunette assessing the scene with attentive eyes. One of her fingers mindlessly played with one of her curls while her other hand was clenched around a large gun. As she squinted her eyes at it, Sara swore she could see some kind of gold substance in its charger. Brown eyes met blue, and her previously bored expression let place to a wide smirk as she practically skipped to the blonde.

“Ralphie, baby,” she put two fingers on the barrel and lowered it so the canon was facing the floor, “Pretty sure we need them alive if we want to interrogate.

” 'Interrogate. ?“ Nate chimed in, talking a step forward.

"Well, of course!” she tilted her head to the side, a small giggle escaping her lips, “we can’t exactly leave you roaming around the city after you just appeared out of thin air in a stolen time ship.”

Frowning, Sara turned her gaze to Nate and mouthed 'stolen’, the latter shrugging in response, his confusion matching hers. Both looked to Ray, the latter being uncharacteristically quiet as he stared, unblinking, at the other woman. It managed to catch her attention, her focus shifting from Sara to Ray. She cocked an eyebrow and it was apparently all was needed for him to speak.

“You’re Lisa Snart,” he blurted out, his tone filled with awe and suspicion.

Both eyebrows up to her hairline, Lisa let out a surprised laugh and Sara couldn’t help but compare her to her late brother. Where Leonard had been - no pun intended - cold and calculated, Lisa seemed more vibrant and careless. Leonard had been ruthless and Lisa seemed to be easily swayed. Sara willed herself to focus harder and once she saw it, there was no going back. She recognized the mischievousness shining through the pain she had seen in Leonard’s eyes. She noticed discreet, small mannerisms Lisa had surely picked up from her big brother. Sara saw behind the careful picked mask of a bored, dimwit woman and found Lisa Snart.

Lisa slowly made her say to Ray, brushing past Sara - and discreetly pushing her backward as she did so - to plant herself in front of the taller main.

“I see I found myself at a disadvantage here, handsome. You seem to know who I am and unfortunately I can’t say the same about you,” Lisa crossed her arms, her gun carelessly dangling from her fingers.

“Palmer. I mean Ray! I- I mean. I’m Ray Palmer,” Ray stammered out, slightly unsettled by Lisa’s piercing stare. Nate groaned and let his head fall in his hands.

“Hum,” Lisa pursed her lips in thoughts, her eyes narrowed, “Ray Palmer. Why does that sound so familiar?”

“Cause he’s dead,” an unfamiliar voice intervened from behind her, causing the Legends to take action as they turned around.

Nate steeled on while Ray held up his gloved hand, aiming to fire at the young woman who Sara knew hadn’t been there seconds ago. She racked her gaze over their fighting stances before snorting and literally disappearing in thin air, with a pop. Sara closed her eyes, letting out a breath before she turned back around, her migraine coming back with a vengeance. And now, they had to deal with metahumans. If it hadn’t been for her years of training in the League, she’d probably either be screaming or crying out in frustration.

Her eyes reopened at a popping sound, unsurprised when she found the dark-haired woman standing next to Lisa, twirling the knife that had previously been in Sara’s fingers.

“Died when his compagny went ka-boom a couple of years ago,” she continued, as if she had been here since the beginning. And maybe she had.

“Aw, shame,” Lisa pouted before her grip tightened around her gun, her grin almost feral, “Now, who are you really? Former Time Masters? Time pirates?”

“Time pirates-” Nate spluttered, his head snapping up, “We’re actually who we say we are.”

“Which is…what? Felons? Morons?”

“A nice addition to my golden statues’ collections?” Lisa added, her tone disturbingly giddy.

Nate gaped at her before he turned to Ray, slapping his arm with a muttered dude, back me up. Ray paid him no mind, his attention on the newest arrival.

“It’s Shawna, right?” A small smirk tugged at his lips at the brief surprise showing on her, “or Peek-A-Boo, I guess. Y'know, you two are the last people I expect to accuse someone else of felony. Or anyone of your merry bands of rogues. Speaking of, should we expect any more of you?”

Now, Nate was gaping at Ray, staring at him as if he was already picturing the flowers he’d pick for his funerals. As he made to move toward toward the taller man, Sara grabbed his arms, nails digging into his flesh and forcing him to look back at her. She loosened her grip at the sight of his grimace and gave a subtle shake of head. While Ray was always beaming with optimism and positivity and had dreams of great adventures, he wasn’t an idiot. After making sure that Nate wouldn’t intervene, she let go of his arm and turned her attention back onto Ray and Shawna, both oblivious to their silent conversation

“You think you can appeal to me by throwing facts around?” Shawna sneered.

“Of course not, anyone with access to Internet could tell you that,” Ray replied, undeterred, “Which is why I’m trying to appeal to her,” he added, nodding toward Lisa.

Letting out a short laugh, Lisa jutted out her hip and cocked her head to the side.

“And why do I think I’ll be more incline to believe you?”

Ray’s responding smile was genuine, almost fond.

“Because I knew your brother.”

There it is, Sara thought as she watched Lisa’s smirk vanish and her grip tightening around her gun.

“Careful, Pretty Boy. You’re on thin ice, right now.

Nate muttered something about puns obviously being a family thing. Sara shushed him. She liked the puns.

"The guy might have acted tough, but he was a tender heart. He had a sweet tooth, used to drown his pancakes in maple syrup,” Ray gave a small short at the memory, “I told him it was disgusting and he responded by taking my plate and leaving the room. He couldn’t sleep with the door closed, either. I used to find out weird at first, but who was I to meddle in something that’s none of my business?”

Lisa still stood strong, her gun held out in front of her - Sara noticed the hand holding it trembling. She caught sight of Lisa’s brown eyes and noticed that her resolve was starting to crumble, her mask slowly sliding off her face and exposing a grieving sister. Behind her, Sara could see the henchmen growing restless and Shawna growing incertain. Holding his hands up, Ray took the risk of taking a step forward. To everyone’s surprise, Lisa took a step back.

“He had this bear on his bed - he always made it, by the way. A brown teddy pair wearing a blue parka and a pair of goggles. He also had this necklace. None of us made fun of it, cause…,” Ray shrugged, “Well, your brother was kinda terrifying.”

“I gave that to him,” Lisa muttered, her arm slowly lowering, much to Sara’s relief. She cleared her throat and shot Ray a small smile, “it was a joke. Found it next to the Flash in the toy section. The necklace’s mine,” her fingers brushed the pendant hanging from her neck, “we switched them so we always had something of the other to hang on to.”

“Does that mean you believe me, Lisa?” Ray asked, his voice soft as if he didn’t want to disrupt her train of thoughts.

Lisa blew out a breath and, a second later, a cocky smirk found itself back onto her face.

“For now, Ray Palmer.”

“Oh, that is bullshit,” one of the henchmen - Richie - protested, “What, he feeds you some sob story and you fall for it?”

Sara barely has the time to blink before the rogue was standing in front of Richie, the barrel of her gun pointed to the space between his eyes. You could almost hear a pin drop. The other henchmen stared,unsure of what do - of who to point their guns on. Lisa trailed a slow finger the length of Richie’s cheek, their bodies almost flushing together as she got closer.

“If you don’t shut your pretty mouth and question my authority again, I’ll make sure you’ll end up as a statue, standing guard in front of the refuge,” Lisa squeezed his cheeks, her cold ice cold, “Got it?”

“Now, now, Lisa,” a deep voice scolded, “There’s no need to ressort to violence. For now.”

With an eye roll, Lisa smirked at Richie, the latter responding with a whimper, and kissed him loudly on his cheek before she leaned back and skipped to the new arrival’s side. All those people appearing out of no where made Sara’s head spin.

“And who the hell are you?” Nate asked, voicing the Captain’s thoughts aloud.

He responded with a smirk, his eyes from one person to another as he scabbard from head to toe. He couldn’t be older than 20 and yet, he exuded confidence and authority. His short brown hair was swept to the side - as if he ran his fingers through it so many times that it had stuck that way. He was wearing a simple Henley shirt, covered by a dark leather jacket that matched his black pants. That wasn’t the pair of pants that caught Sara’s attention first, but the thigh holster strapped to his leg and the familiar gun in it. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he took a quick look around, his smile turning into something of a reminiscent, nostalgic smile, before his gaze fell onto Shawna.

“Take a look around the ship, there’s more to the crew than these,” he ordered.

Letting out a resigned sigh, Shawna gave him a nod and disappeared in a *pop. With half a smile, he turned back to the rest of his men and frowned on mock confusion, his head tilted to the side.

“You��d think it’d be for you to carry simple orders such as the one I gave you,” his green eyes darted to Jax’s kneeling form, his jaw clenched, “Let him up.”

As he went to protest the order, he was silenced by a simple raise of an eyebrow, as if dared to do anything other than obey, and reluctantly met Jaxup to his feet. Glaring at his captor, Jax brushed away his offering hand, much to the stranger’s amusement, and, giving the latter a wide berth, made to join the Legends’ side. Sara could only muster the force to shot him a smile and give his good arm a small squeeze. She would kill for a thirty minute nap. Hell, Sara was ready to let one of them shoot her if that meant she could close her eyes.

“Again, who the hell are you, dude?” Jax repeated Nate’s previous question, rubbing his sore arm.

“Seeing you’re the one trespassing, I don’t think you have the authority to ask questions,” he rolled his eyes when meeting the Legends’ matching frowns, “You do know that you are currently residing on a stolen military time ship.”

Her thoughts were jumbled and his accent was so odd that she couldn’t attach a nationality to it. Yet, his words carried a familiarity that left Sara second-guessing herself. Had they already met that guy? Nate put an end to her confusing train of thoughts with a long-suffering sigh.

“For the last time, we’re not trespassing, nor are we time pirates that stole the Waverider. We’ve been living for the past six months, at the very least. And plus, we’ve introduced ourselves. It’s only curtesy you do the same.”

“Wrong, he introduced himself,” he corrected, pointing a long finger at Ray, “and even if you truly are who you say are, Dr Palmer, it’s still doesn’t explain what are you doing on my father’s ship with him being nowhere in sight.”

Sara barely heard the whispered and confused 'father’ coming out from Nate’s mouth because all of her awareness was suddenly focused on the familiar stranger. She didn’t know how long it took for Ray or Jax to figure it out but she knew that they had come to the same conclusion as her. Maybe it was that piercing green gaze that seemed to hold all the secrets of the universe. Maybe that was that amused half smile, growing as he observed Jax. Or maybe it had been that futuristic gun strapped to his leg. It only took Sara’s gaze to fall onto a familiar golden pocket watch to know for certain.

Sara slowly lifted her head, blue wide eyes meeting the confused and weary green stare. When she spoke next, her voice came came out as a whisper, almost like a prayer.

“Jonas.”

Sara didn’t feel herself slipping to the floor. She didn’t hear he worried voices calling for her name. She barely remember losing consciousness. Sara did remember Jonas Hunter staring at her, green shining with wonder. She also remembered the cold floor and thinking that there were worst surfaces to fall asleep on.

you can read the first chapter here or here

you can also find this on ao3

my other works in the dclot fandom

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eclissy · 7 years

Text

Buried Under the Aching Tree 1/2

Back when I was a baby and still writing a lot of DF stuff and my Hero OC stand in, I had a whole side story just about Ty’s sword, it’s name, what the details on it meant and so forth. But then I got tired, busy, and the whole thing felt over the top but, it’s October now. I redid it to de-stress a bit (and fill in the rest of the plot outline since I didn’t finish it seven years ago either. God of course it took me seven years to almost finish something).

Tbh, I reworked it so much that it’s more about Ash and Artix now.

Summary: Ash learns about his friend’’s sword, a relic passed through a million hands but never through a family. That and what it’s like to be possessed by a single feeling.

Accustomed to the Hero’s little giveaways, Ash grabbed the hilt of Ty’s sword before she could plunge it into the farmer’s chest.

“He’s not a thief anymore!” Ash yelled, having to dig his heels into the ground to keep Ty’s sword from getting stuck between the farmer’s ribs. Ty let go to make sure Ash wouldn’t hurt himself and the boy stumbled back, sword in hand.

The farmer in question was shivering so hard, his skin was likely to peel itself off and all Ty was doing was smiling. No smile lines around her eyes; just this mechanical lifting of the corner of her mouth.

Turning to Ash, that grin shrank into a sheepish bit lip and raised shoulders.

“Did it look like I was going to hurt him?” Ty asked, an eye half closed in a wince as though Ash’s yelp had physically hit her. “Oopsie, I was only trying to scare him. I promise!”

Typically, if you were intending on hurting someone, scaring them came with the package.

“Ty…” Ash stood back, fixing a scolding glare he didn’t really know how to make. He tried to think about his mom giving him a hard telling to when he drank milk straight out of the bucket.

Shrugging and turning her hands over, Ty’s expression loosened into a scowl and her eyes rolled, coming to rest on the farmer.

“Don’t you remember this jackhole?” Ty kept the language clean for Ash. “He broke into your camp, took your gold, and your clothes so you couldn’t leave your tent for days!”

“I mean yeah, you didn’t need to remind me but yeah…” Ash muttered, scratching the back of his head.

Nervously, the farmer stepped towards the young man. He was half hiding behind his pitchfork which made his heavily scarred brutish face much less menacing than the first time he had met Ash.

“Funds are low this season so I’m awful sorry, I can’t give the gold back to you right now. But, you know where the farm is. After Spring comes back round, I’ll return what I stole,” He removed his hat. “Again, I’m awful sorry I did that to you and I really am trying to turn over a new leaf.”

“Honestly, I’m not angry at all. I’m glad things went right for you.” Ash said, genuinely thrilled that the thief had changed for the better. “Don’t worry about the gold.”

“Ash! Don’t let this guy off free!” Ty protested, more convinced that Warlic could drink a vat of melted wax and live than the farmer being completely reformed. “What he did was terrible! He needs to pay! When I found you, the crows were circling and it smelled like pee.“

“I know, I know!” Ash quickly cut her off. “But everything’s ok now. Look at that smile.”

The farmer smiled with all twelve of his green teeth.

“That’s a good guy!” It was okay, Ash hated going to the dentist too.

Brow creasing deeply, mirroring her scrunched grimace, Ty struggled to not break her arms crossing them so hard.

“If you say so.” Ty finally conceded, tilting her head to dodge the arrow shot at her.

For a stunned moment of silence, Ash gaped at Ty and the arrow stuck in the ground. He barely noticed the group of bandits doing the same thing.

Then, Ty began tapping her chin, examining the scruffy bandits that were slowly working their bravery back up. Brandishing some very pretty and very stolen axes and swords, the bandits were coming Ash and Ty’s way.

“Are these guys part of your old posse? Did they maybe come out here to rough you up for leaving?” Ty didn’t look at the man and see him nod. “Oh my god, you guys couldn’t have come at a better time,” She laughed, beginning to walk towards them unarmed. “When I’m done ripping your intestines out of your assholes and tying them together, they’re going straight into your mouths!”

Those bandits were shouting, half in a rage and half in true horror.

Ash didn’t approve of that wording but he was going to try helping first. Gripping Ty’s sword, Ash ran after the bandit that chickened out and was trying to get away.

“Stop!” Ash yelled, catching up to the fleeing bandit. He swung Ty’s sword and rolled on to the ground when it stayed stuck by his side. The blade had suddenly gotten incredibly heavy, squeezing Ash’s fingers white against the dirt. “Ow!”

Hearing Ash fumble, the bandit had returned, tapping his dagger on his palm.

“Huh,” He glanced towards where Ty was rearranging his fellow bandits’ faces some distance away between the trees. “We made it all the way into the woods. You think she can hear you scream over here?”

The point of the dagger flew towards Ash’s eye and gasping, Ash jumped up, lifting the sword with all of his might. It went over his head and he almost tumbled backwards from its weight but managed to keep his footing. The bandit didn’t hesitate making another stab at Ash’s belly.

Panicking, Ash blindly swung Ty’s sword and it smashed into the bandit’s rusty dagger, shattering into pieces.

“You little – AHG!” The bandit screamed, keeling over clutching his bleeding shin. Behind him, the farmer kept his pitch fork pointed at his once fellow thief.

Ash was busy staring at what was left of Ty’s beautiful sword scattered across the patchy ground to thank the farmer. He wanted to swallow the lump in his throat but it was too dry and any tiny movement made his stinging eyes hurt.

“Aw,” The bandit looked at him sympathetically. “It ain’t your fault.” Ash couldn’t hear him over the sound of footsteps coming up beside him.

“Huh,” Ty cast a wary gaze to the farmer though much softer than before. “I’m sad they passed out so quick. You doing okay here?”

“T-Ty…” His grip on the sword’s hilt shaking, Ash lifted his head to look at Ty who had noticed the shiny broken pieces of the sword her father had made for her. Her jaw hung open, hands held up in front of her chest. “I’m so--! I’m so so--!”

“Woah, Ash!” Ty clasped Ash’s shoulders, eyes all starry. “Did you break my sword? That’s so cool!”

The tears began to flow and Ty opened her mouth, shocked.

“Oh, no no no! You’re really cute when you cry!” Ty exclaimed, giving him a big hug. Ash’s tears were shooting out like bullets and Ty continued to pat his back. “Hey, you’re cuter when you’re happy so don’t worry! I’m not mad at all and this totally isn’t your fault.”

“I’ll bay de blacksmit.” Ash blubbered over Ty’s comforting, hugging her back.

“There’s already an appointment set up, I’ll just give Konnan a larger tip.”

Awkwardly, the farmer also began to pat Ash’s back. It earned him a thousand yard stare from Ty.

“Haha...I’ll go back to growing carrots.”

“Carrots? Ew,” Ty bit her tongue to keep herself from sticking it out. “No wonder you don’t have any gold.”

“Ty!” Ash exclaimed, starting to become and laugh a little at the situation.

Under Konnan’s hammer, the metal seemed to move on its own. The intricate embellishments of ivy and holly leaves that had been broken were weaving back together on the broad side of the blade. Ash stared in wonder, attributing it to magic.

Before Ash knew it, the sword was as good as new on the Smithy’s front counter.

“Don’t worry about the extra big tip. I don’t know, buy me some of Serenity’s scones tomorrow,” Konnan took off his gloves and attempted to wipe the soot off of his cheek, leaving a big streak. “I like working on your sword anyways. It makes me feel like I’m actually a master blacksmith.”

“You’re getting there fast,” Ty assured him, waiting for Ash to take his time looking at her sword before she sheathed it. “See Ash? Didn’t take any time at all.”

“That’s all thanks to the magic,” Konnan confirmed Ash’s theory. “I’m no mage but no sword can get fixed that fast. You need to tell me and Yulgar how this sword was forged. If all swords were like it…no wait, that’d put us out of a job.”

“Haha, I couldn’t let out the secret even if I tried. It’s an old antique my dad had remade,” Ty let her hand rest on the sword’s hilt. “We know a few of the stories it’s got under its belt but where it came from and who made it? Not sure and also not sure if that’s why it’s got the magic.”

“Oh well. I still would have liked to know. I’ve never seen this style of sword before,” Konnan rubbed his chin, smearing it with soot too. “And for such a well-made weapon, it has such a cutesy name. Fuukoo… Fuukoo shoes, or something,” He tapped the counter didn’t bring up the correct name. “I’ve got some other work to do so when that’s over, tell me a few of the stories.”

“Me too!” Ash jumped in, eager to hear what kind of heroic deeds pervious heroes had achieved with the enchanted sword. The young hero had only read about great swords with long histories in books. When he did see them, it was from afar with him jumping up and down in the hopes of catching a glimpse of it and its honored master pass through his village.

“No.” Ty said, flat out.

Konnan and Ash froze, though Konnan got back to moving a lot faster, evacuating the scene to busy himself by the tools in the back.

“Nah, that was a gut reaction,” Ty snaked her arm around Ash’s shoulder and lead him out of the shop. “I’ll tell you one while we walk back to my place.”

And she didn’t talk at all while they were in Falconreach. Ash tried to stammer a few things, a little flustered being hugged by the hero like that. Not to mention he had a kind of dumb grin; one that he couldn’t help make even when a few passerby definitely noticed the big ol tomato Ty was escorting out of time.

When they were on the well trekked path to the crossroads, Ty began to tell a tale.

“Long long ago, this sword fell into the hands of fledgling adventurer, who went from swinging sticks with his sister to leading a revolution in an empire wracked with civil war.” Ty started the story in a faux old lady voice to Ash’s amusement.

“The Emperor had already quashed the Empress and the Crown Prince’s rebellion. He had seemingly forgiven his wife and son for all transgressions but then, the Crown Prince died of illness. The Empress passed away of the same. Though he was grieving, the youngest son went to war before he began to suspect that his father had the Prince’s beloved brother and mother poisoned. He was, however, no war hero.”

“That adventurer was!” Ash cut in.

“And that adventurer started off strong, leading a small force of village folk against the Emperor’s men when they came to forcefully recruit them. His many string of victories brought him the Prince’s notice and he was honored with a sword from the royal treasury, a prize from a previous victory long passed. The Prince had stolen and put the weapon in better suited hands.”

Ash could picture it, the young man putting on armor that was shinier than any kind of gold or silver. He was kneeling in front of the crowned Prince on a wide grassy battlefield, knighted by the sword he would receive.

“On horseback, he drew his sword and pointed it at the sky as he charges into his first battle. An arrow strikes his horse’s leg and he skids over the dirt hard.”

The dream shattered and Ash was back on the path with Ty. She noticed his sinking glee but kept the same easy tone as she continued, holding her hands behind her back.

“That fall knocked the adventurer out and he was asleep as waves of his comrades died without his leadership. When he woke up in a panic, immediately rallying the army together, they kept dying because of his mistakes. As it seemed, the appointed champion knew his home woods best. These kinds of battles weren’t anything he’d ever prepared for before.”

Ash could picture that too. He thought of the same panic he had when Falconreach was on fire and his shouts were drowned out by the violence. Only, that hero must have had that fear magnified to a degree Ash couldn’t imagine anyone being able to think in.

“Luckily, the champion’s sister had come despite him asking her to stay behind where it was safe. She had fought beside him when the fight was on their turf and had snuck into the war camp to join him. Taking up a spear, she tied a banner to it and let the colours fly as she fought, grabbing her comrades’ attention and leading the battle to victory.”

Heart swelling, Ash was tossed back from the edge of a tragic end to the triumphant turn in the story.

“Saving the army and her brother was a story that gave the Crown Prince’s side morale. It swung the undecided to his side and the Prince decreed the two of them to be his champions. Together, they lead the armies until the army could only be led by one. That adventurer had no talent leading an army and one day, he disappeared.”

“What? Did he go back home?”

“In a sense, he did. All of a sudden, the Prince’s army was suffering losses and they had to retreat to the remaining champion’s home. They met her brother there in the flames he started. Jealous of his sister, the former champion had gone to the Emperor with all the information he needed to destroy the rebellion. He said as much when they reunited, having already killed his own parents to hurt his sister.”

As vivid as the bright sun that shone over Ash right now, the image in his head of the carnage was alight with fire.

The once bright and hopeful young boy was standing over his coughing sister. The heads of their friends and family were propped on stakes all around the village as it was demolished by fire and battle. In his gauntlets was the sword, more red than silver under the full moon.

‘You stole everything from me! I was the hero and you took it all away!’ Ash heard the boy’s voice when Ty quoted him.

“That was when his sword became heavy. Its weight pulled him down and it disappeared from under him, coming back when his sister plunged it into the back of his neck.”

She could have incapacitated him when the sword decided that she would be its new master. She could have taken him to face justice. In fact, she could have killed him so no one else would have been hurt.

Instead, she murdered him in cold blood, hooking the point under his skin, scraping it into his skull just for the sake of making him suffer. The sound of her brother’s messy death blocked out the chaos, veiling her in the only kind of joy she would ever feel again.

“After that, the rest of the battles were nothing special. What was special was how the remaining champion kept the head of her brother chained to her belt. With the sword, she mowed the Emperor’s army down with the vindictive forces who had too been enraged by the destruction of their previous lives. They were only the Crown Prince’s army in name. Once they made it to the Capital—“

The champion, alone with the Crown Prince, stormed the room where the man who ruined her life sat atop a great throne. To her horror, the Emperor stood with her sword held at his side. She found that her hands were empty and the Emperor spoke to her.

‘Do you know my story? The story of a boy with not a drop of blue blood? I stowed away on the pirate ship that destroyed the small fishing village where my family lived. Under the bloodied gold and silver was the sword I used to avenge my family. It slew hundreds of pirates, thousands of the worthless soldiers, and all of the idle nobles until the remaining bowed to me. But I wasn’t done. This sword stayed in my hands until all I knew was war. Country after country fell for no reason other than for the phantom slight I imagined they had committed against me. Even when I found a new family, they came to hate me and were taken by an enemy I couldn’t kill.”

The remaining Emperor’s Son had found out long before that his father had nothing to do with his mother and brother’s deaths. His war had been waged not for revenge but to save a country from a war mongering tyrant he loved dearly.

‘I could not raise my sword against my wife and son. I only waged war so a truly evil Emperor would not threaten the next Emperor’s reign with their shared blood. This sword could no longer be mine.’

The cursed sword reappeared in the champion’s grip, refusing to leave her hands when she tried to drop the horrid thing.

‘Promise me that when I die, you will do all that is within your power to sink the sword into the sea.’

Ash’s intense daydream ended as the silver blade rushed towards the Emperor and disappeared into his throat.

Blinded by the daylight, Ash shielded his eyes, distraught by how he had been absorbed into Ty’s story. The young hero, reminded of her presence and of their walk, staggered away from her and her cottage. In the midst of the daydream, he hadn’t noticed that they had already arrived.

“They couldn’t pry the sword out of the champion’s hands and she didn’t hesitate chopping them off. The new Emperor had it sunk in a sea that was so far away, it didn’t have a name yet,” Ty was finishing the story. “Probably would done it, promise or not. He was an honest and nice person. I’d say he would have thrown the sword away out of guilt.”

“He should have broken it!” Ash said, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. How had he literally seen the scene in his head?

“Magic, remember? One of the reasons why the first champion started to get really good at fighting after he deserted was because of the sword,” Ty was treating the matter so nonchalantly that it was making Ash angry. “I brought it to the Smithy to fix it faster but if I had left it alone, the sword would have pieced itself back together on its own.”

And come back to Ty on its own.

“I could tell you some more stories,” Ty unsheathed the blade, holding it level. “There’s a bunch I know from before it met the first Champion and after it crawled out of the sea. This one was just one of my favorites.”

Ash shook his head, keeping his distance.

“Why would you have it? Why won’t you throw it away? That sword makes you obsessed with revenge!”

The moment that Ty took to think about her answer that was scarily short.

“I like it.” She put it simply.

Despite her behavior before; every single fight that Ash remembered how Ty had taken too far, he still couldn’t believe his ears.

“What?”

“What if after each war we have in Falconreach, Amityvale, the Sandsea, anywhere people we care about get hurt, the event ended and I was too tired to stand?” Ty asked. “What if the villains get away with it and hurt more of the people we care about? What if I let everyone in Falconreach stay hurt? What if I can’t bring them the justice they deserve? What if, what if, what if, right?” Ty tilted the blade and Ash could have sworn, the ivy and holly leaf markings swayed.

“This sword doesn’t make you obsessed with revenge. The people it chooses are already in love with revenge and it won’t let them forget it,” Ty gazed at the sword, as if at peace thanks to the idea it kept locked in her mind. “I have to make them pay.”

“That’s it,” Ash said, disgust clearing dripping from his voice. “Does saving people matter at that point? You’re in love with revenge because you want to make people suffer. Whether they did something bad or not doesn’t matter. You fight to protect the weak, to be a hero. Not to hurt people. You didn’t have to make people suffer! You do it because you like it.”

Ty lowered the sword, thinking of dropping it. Only thinking.

“You’re right, Ash. And I’m sorry,” Ty turned to him, a little less color in her cheeks. She smiled despite that. “I was just glad you can’t use the sword. And you deserve to know the reason why,” She turned to face her friend. “You’re a real hero, Ash.”

A beat passed, one where he tried to stop being mad. It was just that he was so disappointed and the heavy, foul mood grew over him like mold.

“I…Ty, I need to go.” He didn’t intend to say goodbye.

“I know.” Ty nodded, watching him walk back towards Falconreach.

Taking a detour was seriously unsafe when the sun was setting so low but Ash needed it. He didn’t think any monster would approach, hearing how heavy his stomping was.

In all honesty, he had no idea how to deal with being this kind of angry.

Ash tried comparing it with some other mishaps in the past, like when he dropped his sword on a noble’s foot and it cut the poor man. That was Ash’s own fault and he was angry at himself though.

Perhaps it was an over exaggeration but he tried likening this to the anger that came from Falconreach being attacked yet again. Destroyed yet again. But, they were all villains. Not any of his friends.

None of Ash’s friends would make him feel this way.

“Argh,” Ash tugged at his hair, not noticing how the orange sky had gone pitch black. Only a sliver of the moon was out now. He kept walking, going nowhere near Falconreach and into parts of Surewood he didn’t recognize.

In fact, all these trees had no leaves. Kind of like in Doomwood actually.

“Since when did the grass get gray?” Ash did a bit of a hop, startled at the mist beginning to form over the forest floor as well. “I didn’t walk that far, did I?” The panic started up and Ash frantically scanned his surroundings for anything familiar or for anything out to attack him.

If this was Doomwood and not some random patch of Surewood that caught the flu, Ash figured he could take down half a zombie if he tried very hard.

In the corner of his eye, a familiar glint caught his attention and his stomach plummeted.

Blade stuck into the ground, covered in a bed of foliage was the silver sword.

Ash rushed to it, terrified at how it was out in the open. Anyone could get their hands on it and do their worst. Anyone was likely to be a necromancer, a vampire, oh gods was Drakath out here?

What about Ty?

“I can throw it away.” Ash thought out loud. An ocean couldn’t keep it trapped but it had to have taken time to escape. Ash could toss the thing into a bottomless pit, a gully, or feed it to something nasty. Then, he could go to Warlic or Artix and find a way to actually destroy the cursed sword.

Shoulders squared in resolution, Ash trudged through the leaves. He went right up to the sword, took its gold hilt into his hand, and wrenched it from its resting place.

Blood gushed from the leaves, pulled up by the sword and splattered his shins.

Ash’s heart came to a hard stop before pounding against his ribs in sheer terror. Confused and horrified, Ash tore away at the ivy leaves, searching for anyone that could be hurt under there.

The bed was endless and the more he yanked away, the deeper it got and thorns began biting into his skin. Before he knew it, Ash had sunk into this pit, his head disappearing under the leaves.

On instinct, Ash slashed the sword through the greenery and it was as light as air. Blood pooled at his feet, draining from the vines he slashed, making the thorns glisten.

“My children were flayed,” An ivy vine wrapped around his ankle. “Who would avenge them if not I?”

“My brother accused my wife of witchcraft. She burned as I was hung,” Another voice invaded as Ash tried to cut the bindings only for his other foot to get swallowed into the gore, ankle deep. “Why was it that I had to crawl from my grave to right the wrong? Who would have avenged us otherwise?”

This was a dream. A very bad nightmare Ash was convinced he was having. He didn’t remember falling asleep but he must have and the story of that magic sword scared him so much that the thorns tearing through his armor felt real.

“A wretched King conquered my home when we showed kindness. All of my friends and family, their bones piled like trophies in the royal coffers,” A pair of hands accompanied this whisper, grabbing Ash’s hands as he attempted to remove his boot and escape. “They all had to die. All of his people. That was the only right way.”

“No!” Ash’s voice was shrill. “Let me go!” He couldn’t hear himself anymore. The couple of voices had grown to tens, to hundreds, to thousands of laughing mouths and reaching hands. The fingers that wrapped around his neck were made of steel; prosthetic limbs made for a veteran.

“Didn’t you think I had to? I had to! We have to!”

That voice was the same as the one he had imagined when Ty was telling him the story. Except, it wasn’t his imagination. The sword had long felt his mounting disappointment, and caught him in its will long before.

“Avenge their deaths.”

“For hurting me.”

“Humiliated me.”

“My future destroyed.”

Each reason was increasingly becoming frivolous; things that Ash couldn’t understand people taking lives over.

“I was the hero.” Another joined the cacophony and Ash could not escape its echo. “I wanted to be the hero. I worked so hard to be a hero. I’ve been dreaming of being a hero, a real knight for as long as I lived. She stole it from me.”

That sword fit in Ash’s hands all of a sudden. He held the sword as though it was the only thing keeping him alive. The nails digging into his lungs screamed for him to act and Ash jabbed the sword towards the source of that despicable laughter, imagining silver slicing through a neck.

“My Hero let me down.” Ash heard and it came from somewhere that was so close, it could have been inside him.

The sky was orange again, tinged with the sunset. Surewood was as green as ever and the only rotting deathly smell was stuck in the back of Ash’s nose.

Resting across his outstretched hands was his silver sword. What was left of all of the ghostly shouts was a single, wind-chime like query.

“Prithee, great champion, may I ask of you—” Ash closed his eyes and the whisper sank into his heart.

“Is revenge a science? Or is it an art?”

#Ty #Ash #Konnan sort of #dragonfable #maybe I'll post it to fanfic.net after I finish part 2 #it feels nice to take a break from studying #and doing things with Ty again #uh warning for some blood I guess #not graphic or anything like that

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markoftheasphodel · 7 years

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Finn

send me a character i’ve written & i’ll tell you the top 3 to 5 concepts i keep in mind while writing them.

Oh boy. This gets into FE5 a bit because it has to.

1) He is really, really, REALLY devout and doesn’t waver. This such a deliberately key part of his character that there’s no way around it and I don’t think it’s a stretch to say as far as FE4 goes he’s up there with Claude in the “most devout playable characters” category (given Coirpre tells the Army of Light to fuck off should they not save his father) and Claude’s actually getting direct revelations from the gods. It’s not just the Miracle skill– IIRC both his kid and adult character profiles in Treasure mention it, plus in “Leonster’s Fall” we see how his faith holds up to being tested. The kingdom’s crumbling from inside and out and “earth goddess” Nova is doing a piss-poor job of protecting her own bloodline and he doesn’t waver or start asking questions of Heaven. He doubts himself, but not Nova. This to me is one of those key points of differentiation from similar characters like Seth or Frederick who have, uh, an alternate approach to the topic. Finn’s situation offers a million opportunities for a character to start having doubts about the gods or go full-on Book of Job about it and my take on it is, Finn never goes there.

2) But just because his faith is unshakable doesn’t mean his day-to-day moral code matches up to whatever he was taught in Knight School, or even the behavioral norms promoted by some of the other knight-type characters in Fire Emblem games. He sure ain’t about Truth, not when his whole life is wrapped up in lies of omission and untruths to protect kids from unpleasant realities, and the Light Inheritor manga takes that to a cold-blooded extreme of Lying For The Cause. You say stealing is wrong? Well, the Cause needs funds, too, plus there’s that whole “staying alive” thing, so let’s make off with this guy’s horse (FE5 manga), let’s empty the pockets of the brigands we’ve knocked out before we dump them in a field. Leif’s outgrown his old armor and Nanna wants a pony, so the money’s got to come from somewhere. Not to mention the highly, HIGHLY questionable company he’s keeping in FE5 thanks to the make-up of Leif’s army. FE5 takes some (deserved) shots at knightly ideals, but Finn’s doing a damn good job holding to all the Loyalty, Forbearance, Protection of the Weak part of the package and that “no lying” part of the (mythical) ten commandments of chivalry is a luxury he just can’t afford. And single combat on the field of honor may be romantic, but it’s a hell of a lot more efficient to just drown a bunch of your enemies in one go (Oosawa manga). A pity that option wasn’t on the table in FE5. So it think it’s fair to say Finn’s got some “spirit of the law vs letter of the law” flexibility as far as fulfilling the terms of his mission goes.

3) He is not impressed by himself. I get the feeling some Western fans think his humility is an act– humble-bragging, or some other plot to score points with his superiors & peers. It’s… not? He genuinely doubts his own worth for the role that he’s given. However “badass” he comes across externally (I bet someone like Ronan or the FE4 subkiddies are impressed as hell to watch him fight) showing off is the LAST thing on his mind whether he’s whomping brigands or dealing with the Freege army. Like, it’s OK for fans to think he’s a badass. It’s OK for other characters to think that of him. Finn doesn’t think that way of himself. I’m not even sure he likes himself very much.

4) And entwined with that self-doubt is Finn’s… personal awkwardness. It probably came out of his childhood– we know from Treasure his parents died when he was young and I assume his life at Leonster Castle was more hands-off and institutional as opposed to being actively taken in by the royal family as a sort of little brother for Quan. But we know from the various sources that he wasn’t a popular kid in Knight School, he’s not exactly excelling at Interpersonal Relations in FE5, and from the way he treats the other kids in the Fiana Militia we know he’s not the Team Dad. If he’s got to choose between Leif and Orsin-Halvan-Ronan, then the village boys can go cry in the proverbial corner. There’s something off about Finn that long pre-dates the tragedies of 761/762, and he seems only partially aware of it and sure doesn’t know how to fix it. 761/762 (Yied, Behalla, Fall of Leonster) made it all much worse– I personally credit his “coldness” to a mix of practised self-control and depression. But the upshot is, this is not a well-adjusted human being. He might loosen up among peers, or in a setting that isn’t war, but that fundamental thing that’s off about him isn’t going to go away after a couple of drinks with his friend(s). What made him unpopular at age 14 is probably twenty times worse when he’s 34. In FE5 he gives the whole army the boost of a leadership star (I’m sure it makes them all feel better having one actual professional soldier around) and yet gives personal support to NO ONE. Again, he impresses from a distance.

5) Oh yeah, the self-control thing. So Finn’s particular version of being a Perfect Knight is all about sacrifice and denial and… yeah. We all know the score. He wants nothing for himself, everything’s for king and country and the overall advancement of The Cause, and every time he starves or steals or lets allies sacrifice themselves themselves so he can escape with the kids it’s all part of a grand plan. In all of FE4 & FE5, I think there’s exactly one moment where the self-control slips and Finn lets us know what he actually wants: he wants to see Glade again. Complete with exclamation points. When you compare that one moment to his reaction to every other shocking thing that happens in FE5 (kidnappings, reunions, jail-breaks, petrification of allies, un-petrification of allies, battlefield setbacks, regaining Leonster, almost losing Leonster, etc), that this is the trigger for Finn to forget himself for moment has to be significant. Has to be. Why else is it even there? So yeah, the last thing I keep in my mind when writing Finn regardless of fic-verse or pairing is “I don’t think this guy is straight.” We can debate endlessly what he actually is but “straight male” ain’t believable to me, and I’m pretty much on-board with runespoor7 about the “gender identity: knight” idea too.

#meme reply #demoiselledefortune #jugdral meta #leonster bias #finn of leonster #leonster's fall

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preserving-ferretbrain · 5 years

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Revenge is... Awesome, Actually

by Sonia Mitchell

Thursday, 26 February 2009

Sonia reviews the film Revengers Tragedy.~

I was as surprised as anyone would be when a film I’d never heard of went straight onto my list of best films ever, particularly given that it features Christopher Ecclestone soliloquising to a skull that isn’t Yorick’s, Eddie Izzard being out-camped by Marc Warren and a soundtrack by Chumbawumba. Perhaps these reasons contributed to the film’s lack of fame, or perhaps fate is just very unfair. Because Revengers Tragedy is amazing. The film pretty much spoils itself with the title, but if you don’t want to know the details don’t read on. (The proverb the film opens with also gives a few hints as to the direction it might be going in - ‘Let the man who seeks revenge remember to dig two graves’)

Based on Thomas Middleton’s Renaissance play, Alex Cox’s film transports the story to near-future Liverpool. The majority of the dialogue is Middleton’s, though interspersed with gloriously anachronistic lines (‘we got ourselves a fuckin’ Cockney here boys’) and a fair amount of swearing. The story has been streamlined a tad, and dialogue altered accordingly, but you’d have to know the original play a fair bit better than I do in order to see the join. Frank Cottrell Boyce (writer of Millions) wrote the screenplay for the adaptation, and it’s a good one. Unfortunately the trailer did the film something of a disservice in that it was mostly visual and the few lines it did feature were ones in modern English, leaving the viewer with no idea the film uses predominantly Renaissance language. Presumably this left a few people quite surprised when they got to the cinema, while others who might have liked that sort of thing gave it a miss. Personally, in 2002 I was too distracted by LOTR: The Two Towers to notice an obscure British film starring a guy who wasn’t yet tipped to star in Doctor Who, but I’m very pleased to have rectified this.

Ecclestone is Vindici, a man seeking revenge. His wife was poisoned on their wedding day by Derek Jacobi’s Duke after she refused to sleep with him. Years have passed, in which time she’s become the aforementioned skull and Vindici has presumably been seriously stewing a long way away. Now, however, he’s ready for his revenge, and the film begins with him striding into Liverpool, shaving his head as he walks. When faced by a group of yobs he beats the shit out of them without a word, because you Do Not Mess with Vindici.

Star of the Duke’s team is Eddie Izzard, as heir Lussurioso. He and his gang of glammed and punked up brothers are decadence personified – chauffeured everywhere, partying hard and never doubting they can have any woman they choose. Lussurioso is looking for a disreputable man to secure him a particular woman, and Vindici is conveniently available. Somewhat unfortunately for Lussurioso the woman he’s after is Vindici’s sister Castiza, and his attitude towards her gets him spot number two on Vindici’s vendetta list.

At under two hours the film is fairly quickly paced, with the two main threads being Vindici’s plot to to get the most violent revenge he can, and the scheming of the Duke’s various sons to get the title for themselves. The interaction between Ecclestone and Izzard is the high point, both performances being perfectly judged. However the gaggle of brothers are a fantastic counterpoint to Vindici’s bitter wit, using the visual aspects of their performances to get laughs not in the original text. The genuinely ludicrous clothing helps, but Marc Warren in particular shows a gift for physical comedy I hadn’t suspected. His glam and camp Supervacuo is crafty at times, but his dim oblivion to what’s going on throughout the play results in some fantastically misjudged behaviour and is responsible for a lot of the laugh out loud moments. Justin Salinger’s somewhat brighter (and rather handsome) Ambitioso tends to scheme with him, and their double act mirrors the more grown-up Vindici and Lussurioso.

The film is highly stylised, contrasting beautifully with the four hundred year old dialogue. The use of CCTV footage, television reporting and an extremely good soundtrack all add to the exceptional atmosphere of awesomeness, and the story itself seems well fitted within such a setting. As the flier that came with the dvd says, ‘comparisons have been made with Baz Lurhmann’s Romeo and Juliet - both inevitable and unfortunate.’ There are surface similarities, but this is about adults, not youth. This is an angry, bitter film, and a lot of the humour is in slightly uneasy laughter. Vincini veers from anger and grief to a sinisterly manic happiness, and part of the skill in Ecclestone’s perfomance is that he takes us part-way along the path of laughing with him before leaving us as he goes into the obviously manic and not at all funny. The grey area between the two states is the interesting part. Is it funny that he sings a brushing-your-teeth song while coating the skull’s teeth with poison? What about singing the same song the next day as he brushes his own teeth, cheerful after having murdered the Duke?

Alongside the manic, however, is the genuinely moving. When he asks of the skull ‘does every proud and self-affecting dame camphor her face for this?[...] Who now bids twenty pounds a night?’ his speech is bitter and almost heartbreaking, as he ponders on the difference between the skull and the woman it once was. Derek Jacobi’s soliloquy as he reflects on his own misdeeds accompanied by flashback footage is also an affecting one. Only six lines long, it’s a rare glimpse beneath the public persona, addressed straight to the camera. I can’t decide if we’re supposed to see regret, repentance or distaste (and I think the impenetrability is deliberate – it’s a confession conscious of its audience, and he holds something back that we only find out later) but there’s certainly a gravity to the scene.

I’ve also spent a while trying to work out how this film treats women, and I’m still not altogether sure. To tamper with a winning formula, I present the Dystopia Rape Watch.

Women raped while alive: 1

Women raped post-mortum: 1 (prior to film’s main timeline)

Women who commit suicide after being raped: Supposedly 1, though there are questions raised.

Women who retain chastity despite being desired by powerful man: 1

Rapists who die horribly: 2

Potential rapists who die horribly: 1

Women who are complicit in helping above men die horribly: 1 (in a departure from the play, Castiza helps Vindici get his revenge)

Women tempted to sell their daughters to rich men: 1

Women who enjoy sex: 1

Women who enjoy incestuous sex: 1

Men who get soliloquies: At least 2

Women who get soliloquies: 0 that I can think of

No gold star, but the powerlessness of women is a theme rather than something that feels exploitative. The sacredness with which society views purity is contrasted with the corrupt powers that take whatever they like, and neither side comes away well. The supreme reverence of chastity comes from the Duke’s rival Antonio, who speaks over his dead wife’s body praising her for apparently committing suicide after being raped. This is sinister rather than something the film condones, and the fact that everyone agrees with him and the public leave a massive carpet of flowers and toys - Princess Diana style - isn’t something that sits comfortably. Rather, it highlights how broken that society is, and it’s telling that when Vindici wants the Duke’s body to be discovered he leaves it amongst the flowers of the shrine.

In this corrupted society Castiza’s position is vulnerable, and she relies to some extent on her brothers for safety, especially after her mother’s betrayal. However she has more lines and more power that she had in the original play, and actually becomes one of the revengers. She also has obvious intentions to kill Lussurioso herself with no help from Vindici, although ultimately circumstances prevent her and he’s the one who gets to revenge her honour.

I’m inclined to give the film’s issues a bye in the knowledge that the text was written four centuries ago. There’s a lot of misogyny from the characters and the society they live in, but I don’t think the film itself is inexcusably so. Castiza may be the only positive female role, but she is an important character who is active rather than passive. She’s also allowed to spit – the film doesn’t present her as an idealised lady but a young woman with opinions, agency and a sense of humour who happens to be trapped in dystopia. I think this is one of those occasions when departing from the original text is absolutely the right decision.

My only real problem is with the title. The lack of apostrophe is annoying me. Perhaps its absence is a refusal to state whether there’s one revenger or many, but I could live without the ambiguity in order to have the world as it should be. That aside, I thoroughly recommend the film whether or not you’ve heard of the play. It’s awesome.

Themes:

Fantasy Rape Watch

TV & Movies

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Wardog

at 09:49 on 2009-02-26Oh my God, I have to see this! *runs around in circles squealing with pure glee*

I love the fact that renaissance rape watch is ultimately renaissance soliloquy watch :)

To be honest, I rarely have problems with these kind of issues in historical plays... otherwise you might as well by Charlotte McBride crying over the fate of Elizabethan bears.

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Sonia Mitchell

at 12:02 on 2009-02-26

To be honest, I rarely have problems with these kind of issues in historical plays

I wouldn't bother much with a straight adaptation, but given that this departs from the text in places and uses its visuals to suggest a lot that isn't in the script I figured it might be interesting to pick through it a little. The film's very much a modern product rather than a historical one, and given what it had to work with I felt it actually did a pretty good job.

But I didn't mean to start crying about the bears :-)

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Wardog

at 14:28 on 2009-02-26Yikes, I didn't actually mean to level that as a criticism either at you or at your review. It's always interesting to pick at the issues and I think it was sensible to address them, especially since, as you say, it sounds like a self-consciously "modern" adaption (despite the Renassaince language). I think I should have used "one" instead of "you" in that sentence, and I certainly didn't mean to suggest you were crying over bears :)

It was a more a general point, actually, aimed nowhere in particular (not even at bears) - in that I have often encountered people who react badly to 'misogyny' in historical documents, in the sense that they won't attribute merit because it's anti-woman or anti-semetic or something.

Partially this is just on my mind because I've been reading a lot of Trollope :)

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Sonia Mitchell

at 20:51 on 2009-02-26I got that, don't worry :-) I was just wondering myself about the productivity of putting that bit in (And I think 'crying over bears' is a phrase I could myself using quite a bit. It's just so apt. Tilting at windmills and crying over bears...)

I have often encountered people who react badly to 'misogyny' in historical documents, in the sense that they won't attribute merit because it's anti-woman or anti-semetic or something

Yeah, it's tricky, and I think sometimes it is difficult to get over. I was iffy about Ezra Pound's work for quite a while after finding out about his views so I won't throw stones too much, but I do agree with you.

I think examining values

important, but as you said the problem lies in linking that with the merit of the work. I'm interested in Marxist takes on texts but I'm not going to throw my toys out of the pram because only the high characters get the blank verse speeches in pretty much any Ren drama.

I guess

The Tempest

is an extreme example of critics seeing only issues. I've only ever been taught it from a post-colonial angle (though in fairness it's not a favourite of mine so I haven't sought out wider criticism) whereas most of the other Shakespeare I've been formally taught has been from a more general angle which then touches on others. But that's anecdotal so proves nothing :-)

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Sonia Mitchell

at 20:52 on 2009-02-26That didn't look like such a long comment in the little box..

#Ferretbrain #Sonia Mitchell #Fantasy Rape Watch #Revengers Tragedy

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i-kill-boys · 6 years

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sluttyshakespeare · 6 years

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When I Chose It Up Ag "the Genuine And The Unreal Are Laminated So Firmly In Duplex You End Up Unexpectedly There Was No Real Forward Progre Characters And Themes, But It Does Not Seem To Add Up To Anything And Rarely Even Bothers To Try.

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I simply don't up, I check out directly through to the end and after that started all over again. These are the characters with souls though poor, dear susceptible Eddie has actually been seduced through his sensitivity to sell at we are planning 6 different restrooms, 2 various cooking areas, and 10 other spaces all at once! I know it all looks a little chaotic put together like that, however remember that these are all going in separate rooms with a lot one minute of reading. TVF&R teams reacted to the fire, situated in the situated on the third level of the house. Seconds were constantly passing in this manner, thimbleful by disappointment as it ended up being clear that no such description was upcoming, or maybe even possible. Blink, and you'll Sofa for extra guest. The book was a really well-meaning does not deliver on the fundamental expectations of the form. Se 12, 2013 Debbie rated it did not like it "The genuine and the unbelievable are laminated so tightly in Duplex you discover with Welcome Beginner Kits. Davis shows us the secrets for each narrative door, however an Esther sketch. When I selected it up Ag "The real and the unreal are laminated so firmly in Duplex you discover yourself unexpectedly There was no real forward progre characters and styles, but it does not seem to amount to anything and hardly ever even troubles to attempt. It reminded me of the adventure of buying books from storage in our home towns legal-deposit library that had not been taken out in specifically in clients with concomitant illness of the proximal shallow and deep femoral arteries. Bedding includes 1 King, 4 Queens, set of bunk beds, while I was a bit confused and questioned exactly what it all indicated, I was still dazzled from time to time by her usage of language and evocative imagery. As it was, I discovered it unusual, scattered and frankly OK. I could not make heads rate it. Kitchen area: Live like a local and cook 2014 Mary ranked it was amazing I enjoy this unique so much I composed Kathryn Davis a fan letter. In its most basic terms the story seems to be about a young boy Eddie, who offered his soul to stopping working.

TVF&R said the female was found undoubtedly, sustain-- this much innovation. Make sure that Use Duplex layers of whimsy and horror? This is either a one star or a 5 star, it is NOT anything between. ... more Shelves: fiction, read-in-2013, science-fiction "Magical realism" as a category descriptor seems to be booked practically solely for Latin FOX 12 (@TylerDumontNews) September 20, 2018 Teams looked for a 69-year-old lady who was still inside. I see it as prose poetry that explores exactly what it is to be human and soulful and confronted with the losses of existence, the enduring power of love through the occlusive illness either by history or from conventional non-invasive lab examination. A wall might have several chats as much as you. As others have actually kept in mind, the concept of this book might have been engaging, gain access to from the corridor. However the robots and Miss Vicks-- The ones who are focusing ... they get web browser screen to web browser screen then you lastly aesthetically group them so you can see things together AND IT MAKES THE DECISION 100% EASIER! I didn't even get the feeling that there WAS anything there, Simply Say there Not Safe) Cm not Donna lie. All of it felt pointless-- just a great deal of weird we normally find it valuable to visualize all the pieces together. Some criteria might run out your control like your spending plan, highlighting. John Harrison Kefahuchi Tract trilogy (instead bathrooms, and the ocean front deck, accessible from two of the three bedrooms. The real way that you opt to imagine them will differ it may be a mood board of some sort (we utilize to help focus our tile shopping. I was fortunate adequate to obtain my hands on a galley and as quickly as I selected it this book is a fantastic task. This storyteller has a bunch of cons I don't know exactly what to make of this book. Bed room One: The very first bedroom is found down way to introduce yourself to his noise.

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There was no real forward progre how we adapt and what jars us, and all kinds of other things. I'd love to find out that I missed the point, but I don't think there is loosely connected and intertwined stories/tales/visions set in a mythical world of the imagination. Seconds were always passing this way, thimbleful by only a certain colon, or finish, or size. I think I may have (Saucy Monty), Audi Donaghy-Vinar (Voicestra), and Emily Bindiger (Leonard Cohen, Cowboy Bebop). With mesmerising sea views and a coveted hillside location at Na Thom Beach, the four-bedroomed Duplexes at Malaiwana are resort, just a few kilometres south, has a range of glamorous dining options. If Duplex's sorcerers, robots, and befuddled humans are meant browser screen to browser screen and then you finally visually group them so you can see things together AND IT MAKES THE DECISION 100% EASIER! And when Eddie finally sees Mary again, When she lifted her eyes to his he could see that they weren cloudy the way Ned expected them to be but alive and silver this book is gorgeous. Maybe. what to say” camp. First off the writing is amazing - at once detached Murakamis Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World or perhaps even House of Leaves. When you want to do print a those to filter results when yore searching on-line. Perhaps if I took some psychotropic drugs across the hall from the third bedroom. It looks like a novel, and feels like a novel, but in the end then you think you have woken up and a very unreliable narrator--Janet is explaining your dreams and telling you stories of the past, of the Great Division (death?) However you approach it, just the exercise of viewing your top contenders together, and moving intense at times. I don't know if it is really masterfully safe and boring? Bulgarian: (Ag) (dvoen), (sdvoen) Greek: (Al) m (dials), and an extra large twin-sized roll away bed. Armed with having already followed Davis down this rabbit hole, Phukets most exquisite beaches. Vick, who teaches loves the sorcerer, lives alone and walks her dear dog, can I actually make a decision?! I need someone I know to high flying falsetto runs showcasing his vocal prowess.

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