#doing a little research revealed to me that characters killed at roughly the same time (cyclops and wolverine) both came back within the

[xmenred2022]

Every so often I think about hank pym and I’m like damn he’s been dead a while I wonder when they’re going to bring him back. And then a year goes by and they still haven’t resurrected him. Or even separated his corpse from ultron which is really fucked up. I think part of it is the mcu synergy which means Scott gets to be antman forever so marvel editorial isn’t really pushing for him to come back but I also think there just isn’t a lot of interest in the character, which is weird since he’s such an iconic character and it’s almost been a decade. But who knows maybe next month they’ll announce the “The Cage of Ultron” event and they’ll bring him back. who knows.

[the-lonelyshepherd]

jeff and pit girl <3

so actually trick question lol because jeff and pit girl are the same character. yeah so let me connect the dots for you.

so in the pilot episode we see the pilot and copilot get sucked out of the plane, right? presumably dead. HOWEVER. i have reason to believe the copilot was actually jeff. we never actually SEE the copilots body….. only that he seems roughly the same height as jeff. interesting, right?

jeff followed the team onto that plane in secret for two reasons 1) to keep an eye on shauna and jackie but the real reason was 2) he was in love with travis. but that’s an essay for another time.

so after jeff sneaks onto the plane, he actually ORCHESTRATES THE CRASH because he wants to get trapped with travis alone in the wilderness. during the crash he’s flung into a different part of the woods, and while trying to find the girls he realizes it might not be such a great idea to reveal his plan yet. so he watches, and he waits.

he finds the cabin before the rest of the girls and gets in an epic battle with dead cabin man who is still alive at the time. after killing dead cabin man he realizes that he’s going to starve but we all know jeff’s a picky eater so he doesn’t eat any of the nasty canned food (which is why the girls still find it). instead he uses his vampire powers to suck the life force out of jacques (dead cabin guy) which is why jacques looks so wrinkled when they found him. oh btw the symbol is the source of jeff’s vampire powers (if you put the time stamps of every jeff scene into desmos graphing calculator you’ll get the symbol). trust me, this is thoroughly researched.

due to his renewed youth, jeff is basically free to fuck around in the woods for a few months doing god knows what. he finds an old airplane, breaks something with the fuel system (if anyone were to use it it would probably be bad but he figures nobody’s stupid enough to fly an old rusted plane). he befriends a cool looking moose but it drowns when he tries to teach it to play marco polo. lost his matches at one point when fucking around in the caves. etc etc. he’s having such a. good time he makes it through a year(and several feet of hair growth) before remembering his original plan.

he returns to find the cabin burned down!! so he decides to go into the mercury mines under the woods (in disguise of course) there he finds the girls all like doing ritual sacrifice or something. but then….. he learns about what happened at doomcoming and how jackie had sex with travis. in a fit of homoerotic betrayed rage he snatches the necklace from some trembling girl who looked REALLY scared to have it (they were only playing go fish?) and takes off into the woods to destroy it.

all of the sudden there’s a shit ton of whooping and the next thing he knows? he’s IMPALED. ouch. pit girl.

however due to his vampire regeneration powers he manages to pull himself off of the spikes and leaves the body of some random hiker he found there instead. this is why the continuity error of the girl they hang not having any impale-holes is actually not a continuity error but a genius stroke of foreshadowing by the writers.

at this point jeff realizes he’s in a little too deep so he decides to hike all the way back to new jersey. the end.

[galacticlamps]

im sorry im sorry im sorry i know it’s been well over a year but i accidentally thought about Short Trips: Deleted Scenes (again) and it’s killing me (again) so i think im just gonna go ahead and post all these stupid thoughts that have been plaguing me about it since i first heard it & maybe that’ll help clear up some space in my head for like, real life things.

Spoilers I guess? It’s like a year and a half old but also high key the most recent 2nd doctor content i believe we’ve gotten which is like, the only negative thing I can say about it

The TLDR version is this:

I literally cant believe how sweet it is? Painful, but sweet. Like. I don’t honestly know what’s more likely - did they set out to write Jamie a nice little straight love interest and just fail miserably at it by constantly likening her to the Doctor AND paralleling the Doctor’s perspective with her ex’s AND putting Jamie’s relationships with both of them in direct tension with each other while constantly letting his with the Doctor win out?

OR - did they do a very 1960s thing and say hey we’re gonna write what’s essentially a story about how much Jamie and the Doctor love each other and release it on Valentine’s Day thinly disguised as a one-off romance with a french lady?

Now, as a general rule, my attitude toward questions like that is usually “don’t know, don’t care, doesn’t matter” - and while I 100% stand by that, I also have to admit that this particular audio seems to pay enough attention to detail that I’d kind of think I was selling it short if I assumed too many of these things were just meaningless coincidences, you know?

Anyway, that’s the most coherent/overarching thought. And here’s a disorganized list of things I absolutely cannot get over about it (they don’t form any kind of argument, mind, they just all happen to live rent free in my head):

- Celine is first taken in by Jamie being an idiot (specifically him claiming not to speak French, in perfect French); likewise, her entrance in the scene where they actually kiss is marked with a little anecdote about her hat getting stuck on a doornail and her scolding it as she attempts to fix her un-tameable appearance, and the narration says Celine “would often clown for Jamie like this” - all of which, while undeniably adorable, don’t exactly strike me as entirely original traits to have been assigned to Jamie’s love-interest (but also Celine is so cool and her perspective on film/media/time is an excellent addition to the long list of dr who characters)

- When they’re in the present, describing Jamie’s relationship with Celine in 1908, they call him her “companion” and highlight his going nearly everywhere with her, which earns a laugh from the 4th doctor (and me as well, though probably for slightly different reasons - but like, is that really all it takes to have a fling with someone in 60′s era who? bc if so...)

- Celine’s ex-fiance is still in love with her and is jealously watching when she kisses Jamie ... and then the Doctor appears beside him, evidently doing the exact. same. thing. They have the following conversation:

“You know, it’s not prudent to spy on people. But then, people in pain can’t be expected to act prudently.”

“Pain, monsieur? You mistake me.”

“Ah, do I? Good, because I rather thought you’d lost something.”

“What would you know about loss monsieur?”

- I’m sorry doc but who do you think you are, saying stuff like that and smiling sadly at the floor to boot? I 100% had to pause it here the first time I listened, just to not throw my laptop across the room. 

- Then when I recovered continued, the Doctor closes the door so they can’t watch anymore and explains “Possessing things comes so terribly easily to some men that losing them can feel cruel, intolerably cruel. In my experience, only the very best of men cannot be tempted to answer that cruelty with more - I do sincerely hope that you are the best of men.” (guess who gets described as the best of men by the end of the audio?)

- Jamie and the Doctor apparently develop a habit of walking along the river in Paris in silence

- During one such walk, Jamie suggests Celine come with them since she already figured out about the Tardis - and when the Doctor’s worried by this, he says he only allowed Jamie & Celine to grow closer “because of Victoria.” Jamie takes offense at the ‘allowing it’ comment and also refuses to admit he knows what the Doctor means about Victoria, which leads the Doctor to say that he knows how fond Jamie was of her - he was too, of course, but with him, “it was different, wasn’t it?” Jamie only says maybe that’s true and maybe that’s not, but his voice catches until he changes the subject

- Jamie doesn’t see Celine for days both times that she’s recovering from the shock and depression of her work being destroyed. In contrast, when the Doctor’s not well, Jamie’s "afraid” and “guilty” and hardly seems to leave his side at all, if his being there “rushing to embrace him” the second he wakes up - after a period Jamie describes as “at least a week” - is anything to go by, anyway. so either bf writers need to learn how to write a committed straight relationship or admit that’s not what they ever intended in the first place

- Oh yeah, and the Doctor spends that week "asleep” in Jamie’s bedroom - no, there’s no explanation as to if that’s where he was when he first collapsed or if it’s where Jamie decided to take him bc why would they feel the need to explain him being there? why was it even relevant to tell us it was Jamie’s room in the first place?

- The Doctor somehow manages to control the Tardis enough to take Celine on one trip to an alien planet and then return to the correct time & place for her to use the footage she recorded there in her new film - and while the audio doesn’t do very much to explain how that was possible, it does treat this as A Pretty Big Deal, and immediately afterward the Doctor has to spend a week communing with his past self (and/or the Tardis?) debating how likely it is that the Time Lords could use this to trace him. When he decides it’s not worth the risk and they have to stop the film from ever being shown to the public, Jamie asks why he agreed to it in the first place, and all he can say is “Because, Jamie, you asked me to!” earning awkward stares from the crowd.

- Oh, but, lest we forget, that little outburst is also immediately followed by him putting his arm around Jamie’s shoulders, and, shockingly, apparently beginning to actually explain the truth about the danger from the Time Lords - until they’re interrupted, of course idk why exactly but the idea of a 60s dr wanting to come clean with a companion but not being allowed to bc the show demands the war games be something of a reveal hurts me in a very good way

- The mental image of “the Doctor and Jamie, resplendent in borrowed evening wear”

- The audio admitting that Jamie’s not very good at subterfuge, and the Doctor asking if he’s going to be alright with them having to steal the film back from Celine - and Jamie’s little “Aye, Doctor” as he feels a ‘glass arrow piercing his chest’ glad to see bf is reading all my letters about exactly how i feel any time something sad happens to james robert mccrimmon

- The Doctor’s anxious to get out of there for obvious reasons, but he hangs around bc Jamie wants to see Celine again - which doesn’t happen, because of her aforementioned shock & depression, but she does leave Jamie a note that ends “you and that Doctor of yours - look after him Jamie, he loves you dearly, as do I.” yeah, if you didn’t want people to draw a parallel there, you could’ve picked, like, any other wording in the world.

- In case you weren’t fully convinced I’ve been reading too much into this whole audio already, consider this: Celine dies in Long Island in 1968, three days before her birthday - 1968 is when this story would’ve taken place in the show’s history (between Fury & Wheel), and dying three days before/after a birthday in America seems a bit... well I had some deja vu from it, anyway

- Four of all people being the one to bring back the film - I know he does it bc Sarah Jane makes him, but personally, I often feel like despite the length of his run, 4 is the Doctor with which we might’ve gotten the fewest glimpses into his interiority, so the fact that it’s him and not one of the more overtly sentimental Doctors makes it feel like it carries even more weight somehow, to me anyway. I think I wrote a post saying roughly the same thing about 4 & Fate of Krelos/Return to Telos but maybe I only did that inside my own head lol. Still, I’m all for any opportunities for Jamie to be one of the few characters to draw some noticeable emotion out of Four, but in fairness I haven’t touched too much of his EU stuff to really be able to compare the frequency with which this happens with other past companions

- Is Four referring to Two or Jamie when he says he got the film from “an old family friend”? Two did the actual stealing, but he probably means Jamie’s involvement - either way, it’s an interesting way of describing old companions - or selves?

- When Jemima goes to call Jamie a thief, Four is “roused” to defend him: “he really was the very best of men” again, any time four freely shows he cares about someone, im over the moon about it

- Oh ha ha, there’s an audio called “Deleted Scenes” featuring the Doctor who’s most affected by junked episodes. And at the end of it, a character who’s spent her life researching and lecturing about a lost film gets to watch it be ‘rediscovered’ after it’s gone unseen for decades. I feel marginally less stupid for reading into the other details of a story like this when it ends up deciding to be to be clever & slightly meta like that

But yeah

all in all, it’s kind of amazing to me that this genuinely reads like they sat down and said okay boys it’s valentines day, let’s write an audio where jamie kisses a girl, since that hasn’t happened except as a plot device in one story in 1967 - but then when they got down to business they accidentally(?) wrote a story all about how important his bond with the Doctor is and how easily that can be compared to a legitimate love interest (even if the love interest in question is a one off character & the extent of the relationship appears to be like one kiss & then having Jamie spend most of his time around the Doctor instead)

I realize there’s something slightly illogical about writing the words “shipping aside” after a post like this but seriously - no matter how many categories you’re able to see two & jamie’s relationship fitting into, this is 40 minutes of big finish just hitting you over the head with how powerful/special/important that relationship is, and with them being two of my favorite characters, i really haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since

[sofreddie]

Treacherous

Summary: Dean is spelled, what's Sam's excuse?

Characters: Dean x Reader / OOC!Sam x Reader

Warnings: NON-CON, dub-con, smut, unprotected sex, implied/mentioned mating/breeding, sex spell, light bondage/restraint, rough sex, forced sex, forced orgasm

Word Count: 1,459

Sam burst through the motel room, lugging an unconscious Dean with him. He threw his brother down onto the motel bed and rushed back to slam the motel room door shut.

Y/N jumped from her spot at the small table as soon as the door slammed open. She watched with wide-eyes and a slack jaw.

"What happened, Sam?" she asked. They were on a hunt. Y/N didn't hunt. She was a long-time friend of theirs and she lived in the Bunker, helping them with research. They brought her along on hunts, but she stayed back in the motel rooms. Truth was, none of them could stand to be apart from each other very long. Especially Dean and Y/N. But no one spoke of the elephant in the room, letting sleeping dogs lie.

"We got the witches, but one of them hit him with a spell before we killed her."

"What do you remember of the spell?" she asked, immediately opening her laptop to start looking for a cure.

Sam sighed as he finished stripping his brother down to a t-shirt and boxers, which were drenched in sweat.

"The same as all the other victims," he grumbled.

"Wait…so-"

"Yeah."

"Are you gonna go to a bar or maybe find a hooker or something?" Y/N said after a long silence passed. All the victims had been hit with fatal lust curses. Within hours after being hit, the victims died if they didn't mate someone. It was leading to a lot of violence and death in the small town, which was what caught their attention in the first place.

"No," Sam scoffed, "You really think I'd let my brother mate a hooker?"

"Then how-"

Y/N cut herself off when she caught the look Sam was giving her. She swallowed hard, her eyes darting to the door and wondering if she could escape. She didn't like the direction this was heading at all.

"Sam-"

Her plea turned into a squeak as Sam grabbed for her, lifting her from the chair and dragging her over to the other motel bed.

"Sam! Stop! What are you doing?"

Sam used his significant size and strength to wrestle Y/N, kicking and screaming to the motel bed. He quickly undid his belt one-handed, while holding her wrists together in his other hand. He tied her hands together and secured them to the headboard, before finally releasing her with a huff.

She struggled against her bindings, tears streaking from her eyes, before landing on Sam once more.

"I'm sorry, Y/N," he said without empathy, "But I'm not gonna let my brother die."

Dean began to stir and Sam worked fast, pulling out a small blade and cutting through her shirt and bra, letting them fall open to reveal her bare chest. Pocketing the knife, he undid the button and zipper on her jeans, pulling them and her panties roughly down her wriggling legs.

"Sam?" Dean croaked, coming to and rubbing a hand over his face as he became consciously aware of the effects of the spell, "Shit," he groaned, realizing what was happening. Exactly what happened to the other victims.

"It's okay, Dean," Sam promised, helping his brother to sit up, "Y/N's gonna help."

At the mention of her name, Dean's eyes opened to see her body laid bare. His rational mind drifted into dark recesses as the spell took control, leaving him with only one thought - mate.

"No, no, no. Please-"

Y/N was hushed by Sam's large hand gripping her whole jaw tightly, moving faster than a man his size should be able to.

"You'll let him fuck whatever hole he wants and you'll take his fucking cum, you hear me?" Sam growled low and menacingly in her face as he squeezed her jaw a little too tightly for emphasis. She whined and whimpered and Sam released her, stepping back to allow Dean access.

Her attention turned to the older brother, now naked, his body glistening with sweat, muscles taught, as he breathed heavily. She whimpered as she felt her wetness trickle out of her, her body reacting to the sight of such a man, clearly ready to do with her what he pleased. To be honest, the thought both terrified and thrilled her. But the way everything was happening? And what the hell had gotten into Sam?! Was his brother really so important to him that he'd bend his morals that much?

Her eyes caught sight of his large and thick cock, hard and throbbing with his pulse. She rubbed her thighs together and bit her lip to hold back a moan.

She wasn't supposed to want this.

Her body and mind were treacherous little things.

Dean crawled over her naked form as she struggled against her bindings. It took him little effort to grab and move her to his desire. He spread her legs wide around him before notching himself at her entrance. Without prep or warning he slid inside until he was completely buried in her heat. She moaned, the stretch and depth of him more than anything she'd ever experienced.

He waited barely a beat before he was pounding her hard and fast, chasing his need as the spell urged him forward. She screamed and begged as he pumped harder and harder until he was growling out his release. He thrust slowly as he worked himself through it. Y/N was grateful it seemed to be over quick and without much discomfort. But he didn't stop, his hips instead picking up speed again as he worked himself into another frenzy.

He came inside of her three times, bringing her to the edge but not over every time. After his third roar of completion, his body slumped, his entire weight pressing her into the mattress as she realized he passed out.

She was sobbing as Sam grabbed Dean, removing him from Y/N and tossing him down on the other bed once more, covering him with a blanket to protect his modesty. Sam turned and looked at Y/N then, stalking around the bed as he examined her naked body and her swollen cunt, leaking cum.

He licked his lips, rubbing a hand over his jean-covered erection.

"He didn't let you cum, did he?" Sam asked, voice full of sympathy, "That's too bad," he hummed as he opened his pants and pulled out his leaking cock. Y/N's eyes widened as she looked at Sam, stroking his massive dick and eyeing her hungrily, "You know, I think we can help each other."

She didn't need to question what he meant as he climbed over her, his eyes raking over every inch of her skin. He spread her legs and she whimpered as his eyes locked on her gaping hole.

"Good thing Dean fucked you open," he huffed a laugh, leaning over her as he started sliding inside, "You'll be able to take me easier now," he grunted.

She struggled to take his inches, her body feeling stretched to its limits, but more of him kept coming. He grunted out a sigh and she squeaked as his cock hit her cervix, the pressure intense.

"You're so fucking tight," he groaned, sitting up and wrapping his large hands around her hips, holding her steady and he began to pound into her. She screamed and he increased his pace until her was fucking into her brutally. She felt her walls fluttering around him, her high that was denied coming back to the surface.

"That's it," he crooned, leaning over her and wrapping his arms under her shoulders for added leverage as he pulled her into his every thrust, "Take this cock, Baby."

She couldn't believe how this night turned out. Never in a million years would she had thought something like this would happen. It was like her wildest fantasies became a very real nightmare.

She tried to fight off the impending orgasm, not wanting to give Sam the satisfaction, but he was intent on drawing it out of her. He reached a hand between them, rubbing over her clit as he fucked her hard and deep. Her climax slammed into her with the weight of a train and she screamed out her pleasure in spite of herself. Sam groaned and moaned his approval before coming deep inside of her.

They both panted hard before he removed himself, tucking his cock back into his pants.

"You're welcome," he smirked, before reaching over to untie her hands, "Go take a shower. I'm sure when Dean wakes up he'll want to head out."

Sam went about the room as if nothing had just happened. Without knowing what else she should, or could, do at the moment, she silently obeyed with a nod, wincing as she rolled off the bed and to the bathroom.

[bowsie22]

Pingxie Week 2021 Day 7

Summary: Pangzi just thought it was a pretty decoration

Written for Day 7 of Pingxie Week – Prompt: Qilin (Warning, mentions of character death. The death isn’t described, but the character dying is mentioned a few times.)

He didn’t expect it to hatch, no one expected it to hatch. It was just supposed to be a nice gift to cheer Tianzhen up, even if only for a minute.

Wu Xie hadn’t been the same after Xiaoge took a shot meant for him and bled out in the tomb. When they got home, he spent the first three weeks in their bed, barely eating the food Pangzi cooked for him, staring at the pictures on the wall, crying silently.

After the three weeks, Xie Yuchen showed up and locked the bedroom door behind him. Pangzi still has no idea what was said, but after a few hours the friends left the bedroom, settling at the kitchen table to eat the food Pangzi and Heiye had cooked. It was a quite lunch and Wu Xie barely ate, but it was something. He was out of the bedroom. For now, Pangzi could be happy with that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He found it in Beijing at a friend’s shop. Wang Meng was keeping an eye on Wushanju and its owner. It had been four months since Xiaoge’s death and Wu Xie was slowly recovering. He ate more, spoke to his friends and family, even smiled every once in a while. But he certainly wasn’t the Wu Xie everyone knew and loved.

So, Pangzi decided to buy him something nice, something he could research or puzzle over, to distract him. Poring over everything in the shop, he eventually decided on what looked like an egg. It seemed to change colour from blue to green when it caught the light and had scale pattern spiralling from the top to the bottom. Large in size, Pangzi had to hold it in two hands, surprised at how light it was. Looking at it, Pangzi had a weird feeling that he’d regret it if he left the shop without this thing. Mind made up he haggled with his friend, coming out on top of course, and walked out of the shop one egg extra.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been two weeks since Pangzi had returned from Beijing and, as he expected, Wu Xie was obsessed with solving the mystery of the egg. How old was it, were the spirals a map or tribal marking, could it be opened? It was nice, seeing his Tianzhen back in research mode. They still missed Xiaoge, that would never go away. Even catching sight of his hoodie that they never removed from the coat stand was enough to bring Wu Xie to tears sometimes, never mind that sword that rested against the wall in their bedroom.

But over the past two weeks, Pangzi had noticed a change in Wu Xie. He was sleeping better, eating better. When Pangzi asked him, the younger man muttered something about the egg helping and encouraging him, which made no sense, but if it made his Tianzhen feel better, who was Pangzi to judge? Let Wu Xie do what he wanted to feel better.

4 am the next morning, Pangzi was rethinking the egg. Woken by Wu Xie screaming his name, Pangzi ran to his room, gun in hand, ready to take on whoever was making Wu Xie scream like that.

“What the hell!”

Wu Xie looked up, eyes wide, hands shaking.

“I don’t know! I woke up to a cracking sound and when I looked this was happening.”

This being the egg. It was rocking from side, cracks growing across the surface. It was also glowing, the light throwing odd shadows across the wall. Pangzi couldn’t make sense of them, why would a desk cast a shadow of a deer?

“Pangzi! Something’s coming out.”

Dropping his gun, Pangzi fell to the floor beside his friend, waiting to see what it was. He definitely hadn’t expected this when he bought the thing. Egg shell falling to the ground, the creature revealed himself. Pangzi knew he wasn’t breathing, but really didn’t care.

“Wu Xie.”

“Yeah. Holy God, it’s a qilin.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was tiny, able to curl up in the palm of Wu Xie’s hand. It had seemed to imprint on the young man, following him around the room, distressed mewling leaving its mouth when it lost sight of Wu Xie. It was kinda cute. Less cute was the fact that neither Pangzi nor Wu Xie knew how to look after it. And Zhang Rishan had been no help.

“I’ve never read anything about an actual qilin being cared for by the family. Best bet, find out what it likes to eat and keep it entertained. And by the sounds of it, keep it around Wu Xie.”

Useless. Through a lot of trial and error over the weeks they soon discovered that the creature’s favourite food was chicken, its favourite person was Wu Xie, closely followed by Pangzi and if left alone for too long, it was very capable of destroying their belongings. Pangzi would miss that leather jacket. Naming it was a responsibility left to Wu Xie, who was struggling. None of the names seemed right, so for now, it was the qilin. It came running when called either man called out for it, stopping at their feet, ready to do anything.

“We basically have a mythical dog.”

“A fast growing one. Pangzi, does he look bigger?”

Another problem. This thing grew so fast. It went from curling up in Wu Xie’s hands to curling up in his lap in the first week. Now it was roughly lion sized.

“Pangzi, it he keeps growing, we’ll have to move him somewhere else. Wushanju won’t be big enough.”

Wang Meng was already complaining about the hooves destroying the wooden floors and the horns damaging the door frames.

“Come on Tianzhen, how much bigger can he get?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pangzi regretted ever speaking. After a month, the qilin was fully grown. It was the same height as an adult deer. Its scales were navy blue or black depending on the light and it’s two horns were a light grey colour. Thankfully, they didn’t have to move the creature, as the courtyard and gardens were more than big enough for it. Pangzi wasn’t sure they could even remove it from the Wushanju. The qilin was still hopelessly devoted to Wu Xie, following his every movement with intelligent brown eyes, racing to his side if it looked like Wu Xie needed help or was in any trouble. Any similarities to the third member of their triangle were quickly and brutally snuffed out. Wu Xie was recovering, looking better and healthier, happier! But anyone who knew him could still see the sadness in his eyes, sense that something was missing from their young friend. Pangzi was not going to ruin that recovery based on a suspicion, and a far fetched one at that.

Going to bed that night, he wasn’t surprised to see the qilin curled up on the nest Wu Xie created at the foot of the bed. Approaching the creature, Pangzi knelt beside it, reaching out to stroke between the horns. He should probably be afraid of the dragon head, but the qilin hadn’t hurt them yet.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this to a mythical creature that isn’t meant to exist, but please look after him. The last person I asked to do that took it very seriously, so I need you to do the same ok?”

Maybe it was a trick of the light, but Pangzi swore that the thing nodded at him.

“Thank you. It won’t be easy, but he’s worth it, trust me.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The qilin took Pangzi’s words to heart. He followed Wu Xie everywhere, even into tombs shrinking down to a comfortable size. Knowing that those horns could be used to stab and kill made Pangzi a little apprehensive, but staying on its good side couldn’t be too difficult, could it? They left the tomb, tired and a bit worse for wear, but alive. Wu Xie was silent on the ride home. Their first tomb with Xiaoge was difficult. Pangzi still found himself wanting to call out to the older man to find a trap or follow Wu Xie down a pathway, the name catching in his throat as he realised that there’d be no reply, verbal or otherwise. A few times, he caught Wu Xie turning to the side, excitement on his face, eager to show off whatever he found, only for the smile to fall when he saw the qilin, not his Xiaoge. But they survived this tomb, and they’d survive the others. That’s what they promised Xiaoge before he died, they’d live on and keep exploring tombs. It was the least they could do.

Even with the qilin, he still didn’t like leaving Wu Xie alone. The qilin couldn’t cook or force Wu Xie to eat. Leaving Erbai’s home, having handed over some of the treasures from the tomb, Pangzi settled behind the wheel, taking a minute to relax. Every conversation with Erbai felt like another tomb, traps everywhere for him to fall into. The man couldn’t have a pleasant conversation, could he? Always trying to catch someone out on something. Checking his phone, he was surprised to see a message from Wang Meng. The younger man rarely messaged him, preferring to communicate with his actual boss.

‘You need to come. NOW!’

‘Pangzi!! Get home ASAP!! This is not a drill!’

‘Read your messages! Get back here!’

Stuffing his phone in his pocket, Pangzi sped home, heart in his throat. Had something happened to Wu Xie? Had something happened to the qilin? What was going on? Stopping outside the Wushanju, Pangzi saw Wang Men pacing outside the closed gates. Were those tears? Was Wang Meng crying? Even more scared, Pangzi grabbed the man by the shoulders, shaking him.

“What the hell? What’s with those messages, what is going on?”

“Just go in. You need to see this Pangzi.”

Holding back his own tears, terrified of what he might see, Pangzi steeled himself. He was no coward. And he promised to always be there for his friends, which meant seeing them at their best and worst. Whatever was behind these gates, he would face head on, for Wu Xie, for Xiaoge, for the Iron Triangle.

Pushing the gates, he saw Wu Xie kneeling in the courtyard. He could hear the younger man’s sobbing from here. His attention however, was instantly caught by the person holding Wu Xie in their arms. A very familiar person in a black hoodie with two oddly long fingers attached to the hand stroking through Wu Xie’s hair.

“Xiaoge?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After collapsing next to the two, pulling them into an extremely tight hug and sobbing the courtyard for about an hour, Pangzi managed to get to his feet and send Wang Meng home, ordering him to keep quiet about this for the time being. Once that was done, he and Xiaoge (who was alive! Xiaoge was alive!) pulled a still crying Wu Xie to his feet and deposited the man on the couch, Xiaoge quickly falling into place beside him. Pangzi left the couple to make some tea, needing to do something.

Returning with the tea in hand, he stopped at the door, taking in the scene in front of him. Xiaoge was there, breathing and alive, on their couch. Arms wrapped around Wu Xie, face buried in Wu Xie’s hair, the other man’s face in Xiaoge’s neck, still crying, hands gripping the familiar hoodie (the one from the coat stand Pangzi noted in the back of his mind) so tight it looked like it would rip. Needing answers, Pangzi settled into the armchair, handing the tea to his friends.

“So, what the hell?”

“Pangzi, Pangzi, he was the qilin. All this time, he was the qilin.”

Looking from Wu Xie’s tear stained, blotchy face to Xiaoge’s serious one, he knew they weren’t lying.

“Hah, the eyes never lie, I knew they looked familiar. But how?”

“When a Zhang Qiling dies, they get a second chance. But it’s not easy. The egg has to go to the right person. One who’ll care for it, look after it. Not someone who’ll use it selfishly. Your friend knows Zhang Rishan. After you told him I’d died, he went to the tomb, got the egg and handed it to your friend, telling him that you had to see it. You did and brought me back here. I had to grow and get my memories back before I could be me again.”

“And how did that happen?”

“I kissed him.”

Smile spreading across his face, Pangzi looked at Wu Xie. The other still had his face buried in Xiaoge’s shoulder, ignoring the grin on Pangzi’s face.

“I’m sorry. You kissed him like the prince does Sleeping Beauty? And here I thought you were the damsel in distress.”

“Shut up Pangzi! What would you know about beauties or damsels anyway!”

It felt good to be making fun of the couple again. Xiaoge really was home. Becoming serious again, Pangzi turned back to Xiaoge, wanting confirmation of this ridiculousness.

“You’re saying Wu Xie’s love saved you?”

Xiaoge looked down at the younger man, gentle smile on his face, eyes shining with nothing but adoration for him.

“It wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Ah, this is getting too mushy for me. Xiaoge, stand up and give me a hug. I’m going to bed, let you two catch up. Remember though, not too loud though. I’m an old man, I need my rest.”

Ignoring Wu Xie’s stutters, Pangzi pulled Xiaoge into a tight hug. He was here, he was real. Pangzi wasn’t ashamed to say that he started crying again, tears falling onto Xiaoge’s shoulder.

“Thank you.”

Xiaoge whispered to him, face buried in Pangzi’s collar. His hug was tight, comforting, it was real.

“For looking after him. Thank you.”

“Thank you for coming back to him. To us. I’ve missed you so much.”

Pulling away, he took one more look at the young face in front of him. He still couldn’t believe that this was real, sure he’d wake tomorrow to a qilin at Wu Xie’s side.

“I still have a lot of questions, but they can wait until tomorrow. For now, get some rest, the both of you. We are going to be overrun with visitors once this is revealed.”

Waving to them, Pangzi left the room, stopping in the doorway to take one final look. Xiaoge, living, breathing Xiaoge sat back down, pulling Wu Xie back into his arms. Pangzi couldn’t hear what they were whispering to each other, probably declarations of their undying love, Wu Xie giving out to Xiaoge for sacrificing himself, Xiaoge saying he’d do it again to protect Wu Xie, all the normal things. God, it was sickening.

Pangzi loved it.

 A/N So, I was a bit unsure about writing a shapeshifting/reincarnated qilin. Please let me know if this isn’t ok or disrespectful in anyway and I will take this down.

[thepeanutbutterwizard]

Ninjago/Avatar au Pt6

The second half of Book 2 (hopefully)

(Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5)

So Garm finally reads the letter from Wu. It starts off as a normal pseudo-journal entry, but after it mentions finding the Garms old armor, but no body, it turns into more of a normal letter. Wu says that he’s missed his brother since he was banished, and that he hopes that they’ll be able to see eachother again soon if Garm is alive, and ends with Wu saying that he normally burns the letters he writes to Garm, so that no-one else finds them, but that he feels hopeful that this one could actually get to him. It’s touching stuff.

Lloyd picks up earthbending almost immediately, unlike Aang. The element Lloyd is going to struggle to learn is fire (if you don’t count his airbending being self-taught. He picked up airbending really, really fast, but bc he’s been making stuff up and trying to do what Maya did with her waterbending [Maya’s had decades to hone her style tho, not just three-ish years, but he’s like someone learning ballet only from YouTube, for only a couple of months] since there are no more airbenders [or so they think, bc none of them saw Morro airbend at the North Pole]), and I’ll get into why that is when it comes up. They haven’t had Garm start to teach Lloyd any firebending bc they’re trying to go in the order as much as they can, but Garm has finally convinced Kai to learn more than just the basics, and he picks it up really quickly.

Meanwhile, Morro is taking care of an injured Wu (and accidentally making him suffer through poorly-made tea). Now, Morro is onboard with Wu wanting to leave the Fire Nation behind; unlike Zuko, Morro isn’t trying to win back the favor of some distant parent, the only family he’s ever known is Wu, and he’s not about to abandon Wu for a bunch of people who would probably kill him as soon as they could no matter what he did for them, and Harumi made it clear that no-one in the Fire Nation is going to be extending them any mercy.

Once Wu wakes up, Morro does yell at him for doing something as stupid as taking a hit from a well-trained firebender to protect a stranger (Wu hadn’t gotten around to telling Morro ‘hey, you know that guy with the big burn scar who’s traveling with the Avatar? That’s my dead-but-not-really-dead older brother. Pls stop trying to stab him’, and Morro wasn’t there when Garm revealed his identity in the North Pole), until Wu tells him that Garm is his brother. This leads to Morro yelling out ‘You mean to tell me that the Avatar is my cousin?!?!’ And that how Wu learns that Lloyd is Garms son (’wait, what?’ ‘Have you really gone this long without noticing that the Avatar calls your brother his dad?’ ‘I’ve had a lot on my mind, give me a break!’), and now he thinks that Garm and Maya are married with three kids, one of whom is the Avatar.

They make their way to Ba Sing Se, with the help of the White Lotus. Wu isn’t the leader of them (he isn’t super old in this au, imagine what he looked like in S9, with the mustache), but he is a fairly respected member. I still haven’t come up with a Jet character who would work, and I am open to suggestions. If I do find a good character, they will definitely throw hands with Morro (mb Shade? Just cut out the romance subplot in S1 and pick a couple of EM’s to be the other freedom fighters?). And yes, Wu does get his tea shop in the upper ring (Steep Wisdom), and Morro tries to be happy and supportive, but even though he is fine leaving the Fire Nation with Wu, it does still feel like he wasted years of his life, both in chasing the Avatar and just trying to prove himself to everyone back in the Palace, so he’s pretty grumpy.

Now back to Team Avatar: at Maya and Garms insistence the kids have been picking out their little mini-vacations. They know that they only have a limited amount of time before the comet arrives, but Garm and Maya want these kids to be able to be, y’know, kids, at least a little bit, in spite of the fact that they’re growing up in a war-torn world. Kai want’s to check out that glacier-spring place by the desert, it’s kinda underwhelming, but they get fruity drinks out of it. This whole time Kai and Cole have been getting closer to each other. Kai feels a little guilty, like he’s betraying Zane’s memory, but talking to Maya and Garm about it does help him start to feel better, and it helps his over-protectiveness start to abate a little.

Jay wants to pick a really cool mini-vacation to impress Nya, and he asks the people who are in the glacier place if there’s any place around those parts, and ends up learning that about a year ago some lady showed up saying something about a huge spirit library in the desert that she was looking for. They never saw her again after that, and figure that she must have died out in the desert. When pressed (and payed) one of the artistically inclined staff members roughly recreated the sketch of the library, and vaguely remembered the area on the map she said she was going to search, and with that Jay has his mini-vacation picked out.

They set off and find the library. Cole chooses to stay outside with Ultra (who can’t fit inside) bc he thinks they’ll be safer if the only earthbender stays outside incase something goes wrong, and if they need to get out of there fast he’d only slow them down with his legs. Everybody else heads into the library and meet Wan Chi Tong (did I spell that right? I’m too lazy to check), who agrees to let them use the library if they 1) don’t intend to use the contents of the library against anyone else and 2) contribute something to his library.

Lloyd and Nya both use their wanted posters (they both thought they were awesome [Lloyd bc he’s 13 and Nya bc you can’t convince me that Nya wouldn’t be thrilled to have a wanted poster bc she’s been fucking with a tyrannical regime] and incredibly accurate considering the art had to have been done by someone using other people’s descriptions, and they totally intend on framing and hanging at least a few of their posters up in their rooms when all this is over), Kai has a copy of a poem that Zane wrote for him, Garm has his brothers letter (he doesn’t want to give it up, but he has nothing else), Jay has a blueprint from one of his inventions, and Maya has a copy of a story in a series that Koko had brought back to the South Pole over the years. Wan Chi Tong comments that about a year ago a researcher had arrived and had offered him another part of the the same series. He mentions that they should be careful, as she never left, and has been primarily researching the Avatar.

Everyone has an idea of who this mysterious researcher could be (except Jay), but they decide to be cautious all the same, just incase she isn’t who they think she is. They all start discreetly searching for anything that could be used to help them fight the Fire Nation, and they end up finding and empty placard saying something about ‘the Darkest Day in Fire Nation History’, but when they go to check part of the section on Fire Nation (that library was enormous, y’all cannot tell me that Zhao was able to destroy absolutely everything that the library had on the Fire Nation. It could only have been the last few decades/mb centuries of Fire Nation history), as well as a campsite that was full of scrolls having to do with the Avatar and different bending techniques (and a few misc scrolls about random things like cooking, engineering, etc). As they’re poking around the campsite, who else comes around the corner but Koko!

She has her nose buried in a scroll as she’s walking, so she doesn’t notice them all until Lloyd happily calls out ‘Mom!’, and goes in for a hug. Koko drops the scroll and has a happy reunion with her son and husband, as well as with Maya, Kai, and Nya, and she and Jay are introduced to each other. Koko explains that she’s been able to stay in the library so long was bc she managed to get the fox assistants to like her enough to start bringing her food and water. She also explains that she’s been doing nonstop research into the Avatar State, the Air Nomads and airbending, and the Fire Nation (though she’s really quiet about that part so they don’t catch Wan Chi Tongs attention and ire) and shows them that planetarium thing and that she discovered the eclipse. (How did she make it out to the library without a flying companion or something? SHe’s just that much of a badass.)

Koko had been saving up supplies and charting a course out of the desert, and planning to leave the library as soon as she could, but now that they’ve showed up with Ultra she can just grab her things and go. Someone, probably Jay, gets a little too vocal about how they have a chance to beat the Fire Nation, and cue Wan Chi Tong sinking the library and trying to add them to his ‘collection of specimen’. Garm and Koko are a dynamic duo, with Garm distraction the angry spirit while Koko gathers all of her scrolls and supplies together while Maya gets the kids to the exit.

Meanwhile, Cole is holding up the library, and trying to help Ultra fend off the sandbenders that showed up to capture and sell the dragon. Cole is able to put up a bit more of a fight than Toph was (meaning that he was able to get one or two good hits in) bc being in the desert doesn’t impair his vision (the sand does tank his mobility just as much as it would anyone with prosthetic legs tho), but he isn’t able to stop them or even hold them off long enough for everyone else to get out. Cole, despite being initially afraid of the large dragon, had quickly grown to be one of Ultras favorite people in their group (like, third favorite. Kai will never admit that he’s jealous), and is pretty upset that he wasn’t able to save him. More on Ultra later.

So Lloyd is really upset about losing his companion, just as much as Aang was. He doesn’t act out (for lack of a better word) as intensely as Aang, since Ultra wasn’t the last thing he had left of his people like Appa was for Aang, but Lloyd is still rightfully pissed off. He takes off shakily on his glider, leaving everyone behind before trying to search for Ultra and the sandbenders, ignoring his families protests. Koko starts working on getting them out of the desert using the route she had plotted out (using the sun and shadows to orient them and get started in the right direction), and starts planing out how long her food and water (she had the good sense to bring those from the library) will last between all of them. The answer is: not long enough.

Kai (and mb Jay too) is the one who has the bright idea to drink the cactus juice, bc while Kai, like Sokka, (and Jay tbh) is smart enough to know that drinking a strange liquid out of an unfamiliar plant is a bad idea,but the fact that it is a stupid idea doesn’t stop him. Wait, y’know what? Jay definitely tries the cactus juice, but instead of acting as out-of-it and inebriated as Kai does, he acts like he does in S9, weirdly chill and disconnected from reality. He’s still tripping balls, but he’s reacting to it differently from Kai. Cole just ends up carrying Kai piggy-back, even though the sand makes it harder for him to move (he’s crushing, and he’s the only one [adults included] whose physically strong enough to carry him for long periods of time) (also Kai awkwardly and drunkenly flirts with him. Everyone pretends not to notice for Coles sake) and everyone else takes turns holding onto Jays wrist and leading him through the desert or else he would have wandered off and died.

Lloyd gets back to them, landing hard in the sand, holding back tears bc even though he’s upset and could use a good cry he knows that they need to conserve as much water as they can. He’s got his family there to comfort him (even if Kai and Jay are kinda incapacitated atm), which does help him a bit, but he’s still rightfully upset. They find the abandoned sandbender skipper thing, find the vulturewasp hive, and come across the sandbenders. Cole is able to pinpoint the sandbender (no idea who this guy would be, Ninjago character wise) who lead the others to take Ultra via his voice bc Cole a) was trained in a myriad of performing arts thanks to his father, primarily singing b) has perfect pitch and c) never forgets a voice bc of that.

Lloyd goes full Avatar State, but is comforted and calmed down by his parents while everyone else books it. The sandbenders tell them that they sold Ultra to some guys who were going to take him to Ba Sing Se, and then they take them out of the desert (with the sandbenders getting the Death Glare from all of Team Avatar the whole way. Koko totally punches the sandbender who lead the others to steal Ultra once they’re out of the desert.)

They make their way to Ba Sing Se on foot, with Lloyd trying to get a handle on his emotions (and worrying everyone in the process), and they run into a family with an expecting mother/wife (I am also taking suggestions for who these characters could be. I’m pretty tired while typing this so I can’t think of anyone) and try and get on a ferry to Ba Sing Se. Cole, whose father is well known and wealthy, uses that fact, his double amputee status (he ‘accidentally’ slips out of one of his prosthetics. Kai catches him before he hits the ground), and his acting skills to get them tickets without passports.

And we get best girl Pixal back! She helps Team Avatar help the pregnant family go through the Serpents Pass, and it goes pretty similar to cannon, except instead of a situation where Sokka is overprotective of Suki, Jay picks up on how much Pixal likes Nya, and sees that Nya, his crush, reciprocates those feelings, and gets a bit passive-aggressive w/everyone, but Pixal especially. It doesn’t last long, bc Jay is a hormonal teenager who realizes he’s being a dick fairly quickly, but it does help fizzle his crush on Nya a bit (sorry again to any hardcore Jaya shippers who were hoping for that in this au, but it’s really not my cup of tea).

They also help deliver the couples baby, but Maya and Koko are the ones helping take care of that. Team Avatar get to the outer wall, just to see a huge Fire Nation drill heading closer and closer to the wall, ready to start tearing through it...

[chiseler]

TWO NEW FILMS

Viewed by Henri Duvernois

Le Bataillon des sans-amour [Battalion of the Unloved]

(The Mayor of Hell)

I was greatly moved by this film. The dreadful existence of some delinquent children, I believe, can never be shown enough. And it is not blindly optimistic to declare most of them capable of reform. During my research for a novel, I discussed this subject with the man most qualified to do so, the head of instruction at the Petite Roquette [a Paris prison for boys 7-20]. He told me flat out:

“Eight out of ten, at least, if they are treated kindly, intelligently, gently, are capable of becoming splendid fellows. And I myself would not hesitate to have them associate with my own children. If you write a book on this subject, your surest inspiration will be pity.”

He told me this at a time when France did not yet have a juvenile court, and where judges, broken-hearted—more than once I saw tears in their eyes—were obliged to condemn a poor tubercular starveling of twelve, guilty only of vagrancy and not the slightest crime.

The effect of these films on the public is healthy. There are still too many martyred children—as recent news items show—but there are, above all, unrecognized, too many unfortunate children. Their sad stories do not always end in suicide, like the poor little Rozentweig child, victim of brutish imbeciles [a minor cause célèbre of 1933: Sonia Rozensweig, 13, a refugee Polish Jew, drowned herself after an encounter involving herself, a 7-year-old brother or cousin, and a local shopkeeper, which ended in the police station; leftwing and rightwing papers gave widely divergent accounts of the affair], or the baby slowly tortured by an appalling stepmother. Children are beaten. Children are, morally, abandoned. I was struck by these lines, during the courtroom scene of the film: “I’m sick of supporting him!” says one father, to which the boy replies, “When did you ever support me?”

The battalion of the unloved, then, is made up of young vagabonds left to the streets by the carelessness or poverty of their parents. A director may, through his careful reproduction of life, make a work of art at art’s finest: the sensitive transposition of truth. So it is here. The actors are between twelve and fifteen years old. Each, by his physical appearance, voice, costume, is a chapter of a  novel. Here is the snitch, the traitor, who steals and pillages but can and will sell out his comrades. Here is the leader, quick to deal out chastisement, bolder and more energetic than the others, more dangerous too, in whose generous nature his good and bad instincts are at war. A kind word, a caress may save him. But one must divine his heart and pierce his tough shell to reach it. There is the hate-filled one, who would love with the same fervor if he were given the chance; the fat kid, greedy and lazy; the pickaninny who follows the gang because he’s hungry; the sickly boy who wants to have a little fun before he dies.

The whole gang is condemned to reform school. The latter is directed by one Thompson, whom the film’s authors have perhaps made too starkly a villain. There are (and, above all, there have been) a good many of these civil servants who, without being monsters of cruelty like Thompson, even while undeviatingly pursuing their duty—what they believe is their duty—have produced equally deplorable results.

But there must be a counterforce: Dorothy, the reform school’s nurse. She is not satisfied merely to take care of the boys when they are ill. She wants them to be better treated and better fed. Her smile and her blondeness perform the miracle. An inspector is named, an insouciant young man placed there by crooked politicians. For love of Dorothy, he no longer smiles and approves. He furloughs the savage director and takes his place. Surprise! The mess hall’s foul gruel is replaced by bacon and eggs and cream cakes. The boys are made responsible for organizing themselves; they name one judge, another chief of police, etc. There is laughter and song in what once was hell. But the director returns. By a rather too neat coincidence, Gargan, the inspector, is charged with murder. The other triumphs. Once again the school is a prison. A little TB case, confined to an icy cell, dies of cold. The boys revolt, a torch-bearing mob. Terrified, the director jumps off a roof and falls to his death. Gargan, found innocent, returns. Order is restored and Gargan will marry Dorothy.

The film is full of exquisite details. One, especially poignant, bowled me over. This was not the death of the little TB case, admirably handled though it was. It was the moment when Jimmy, the gang leader, while being upbraided, takes a sheet of paper and a pencil and, in a few strokes, makes a lovely sketch. If someone takes an interest in him, flatters him with a few compliments, he might become a great artist. If he is treated roughly, he will surely become a criminal… The agonizing question of vocation is raised here. And a detail like this honors and illuminates a film.

This film is marvelously interpreted by the boys, headed by Frankie Darrow as Jimmy, very well by Madge Evans and James Cagney as the nurse and the inspector, and with great sensitivity by Arthur Byron as the kindly judge.

La Porte des rêves [The Door of Dreams]

(The Keyhole)  

The Keyhole tells the story of the beautiful Anne, wife of Maurice, her former partner in a dance act. Believing herself divorced, she has married a rich older man, Schuyler Brooks. But the divorce was not finalized. Maurice takes advantage of the situation, blackmailing his ex-wife by threatening to reveal the truth. He makes her meet with him, extorts large sums, tears her jewels from her.

Terrified, Anne asks her own sister-in-law for help. Maurice must be gotten out of New York. He is a foreigner; they will arrange that his return visa be refused. Anne claims she is going to Cuba. Maurice will follow her there and she will be rid of him.

Brooks thinks she is traveling because she is weary of her luxurious but dull conjugal existence and seeks an adventure. He hires a handsome private detective, Davis, to seduce her and become her lover. When he has done so, he is to telephone the husband, who will fly to Cuba and take the couple in flagrante. But Anne falls truly in love with the detective, and he falls in love with her. He saves her from an ambush arranged by Maurice. When Brooks, alerted by his sister, arrives to take Anne back, the ex-husband flees, falls off a balcony, and is killed. Brooks opens the door. Anne is in Davis’s arms, passionately kissing him. The jealous husband has gotten what he paid for…

Of course, any plot summary is derisive for a film of this type, whose worth lies in its dramatic sweep and the talent of its interpreters. The action is here only to serve the actors and give a pretext for ingenious images, marvelously coordinated. There is no question of psychology. In any event, to disarm criticism, the actors in The Keyhole make the heroine a former dancer, accustomed to a certain liberty and who may thus, over the course of a cruise, swayed by sweet music, the sea, and the starry sky, let herself be beguiled by a mere detective, private though he be.

But what delighted me and must be set apart is, in the role of Dot, a little blonde tart, the charming Glenda Farrell. We have already seen her in certain supporting roles where she struck us by her intelligence and acuteness of observation. Glenda Farrell belongs to that small number of actresses who produce true literary creations, through the amused tenderness with which they realize a character who would be, with another, insignificant and purposeless. She was from head to toe the cruise ship charmer who shares her takings with the barman, chooses lonely and naïve men, and drops them when she sees that the game is not worth the candle. More and more, talking pictures will use and showcase talents of this sort. And it is among them that directors must seek future stars, rather than among the immobile beauties, vamps or victims, inherited from the late silent cinema.

Such a reproach is not addressed to Kay Francis, who has magnetism and authority and, above all, that invaluable advantage for a cinema artist: a ravishing and sensitive shape to the mouth. I do not have the space here to develop this argument, but the mouth is of capital importance in film—more so even than the eyes—and not for the final kiss alone. Smile, emotion, irony, fear, radiant youth and sudden aging, it expresses everything. Take, for example, in France, the mouth of Gaby Morlay and, in America, that of Irene Dunne. If so many actresses disappoint us with their monotony, it is above all because nature has refused them this power of expression.

Henry Kolker has naturalness and ease. He establishes the character of a deceived husband and saves it from convention. Finally, the rhythm of the film is excellent and its technique fully mastered, meaning that it does not intrude and serves the story without overwhelming it.

Translated by Phoebe Green

First published in Pour Vous magazine

NUMERO. 259

2 NOV. 1933 

[whump-the-caretaker]

Shifter pt. 8

start / previous / about the characters / next

Summary of previous part for those who skipped: Avery saw a video of Beck attempting to hurt himself to save Avery. Their captor got there in time, managed to get Beck halfway into a fox form (just tail and ears), and implied that he's funding his research with promises that it can be used for sex. 

It was the middle of the night when a pounding knock came on the door. Avery dragged himself from the exhausted sleep he’d been forced into. There was a man he didn’t recognize standing in the hallway.

“Come on, up,” he said, tapping his foot impatiently. 

Avery sat up, scrubbing at his eyes. “Who’re you?”

“Are you the keeper?”

Avery blinked at him in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Are you this one’s keeper?” He held up a small wire cage with a white wisp of a fox in it, a miniature that still barely fit.

With a curse, Avery surged from the bed and across the room. “Beck?” The fox twisted and pressed against the bars, shifting to a bird, a mouse, a rabbit and back to a fox.

“You’re his keeper, then?”

“Yes,”Avery answered, even though it was a wildly inaccurate word. “He’s mine.”

“He won’t calm down.”

“Let me--”

“Step back. Away from the door, hands up.”

Avery did so.

The man cracked the door open, nothing between him and the hall, but before Avery could rush him, he tossed the cage in a high arc. Avery swore and dove for it, catching it with a rattle as the door was closed and locked. 

Avery couldn’t bring himself to care, though, not when he was opening the cage and ending up with an armful of frantic shifter.

“Avery,” Beck gasped, human again and pulled up in his arms. “Avery.”

“I’m here,” Avery promised, kissing his hair and holding him tight. Over Beck’s shoulder, he watched the stranger nod and walk away. “I’ve got you.”

He had Beck back. After days of watching him tortured, he got to hold him again. His eyes stung with the waves of relief cascading over him. 

“Avery, jesus,” he gasped. “I’m sorry.”

“Shh, no, you’re okay.” Avery backed up towards the bed, pulling Beck with him. “You’re okay. You have nothing to be sorry for.” The image of Beck hanging from the collar around his throat sprang into Avery’s head, and he pulled Beck onto his lap, holding tighter to remind himself that he was there. 

“Don’t lie to me,” Beck demanded, pressing himself into a tight ball against Avery’s chest. “You’ve been watching.”

“I--” So they were going to talk about this now. Okay. Whatever Beck wanted. “I hated it. It would have destroyed me to lose you like that.” He swallowed against the tight knot in his throat. “But I don’t blame you. I understand. Please don’t. Don’t ever. But I understand.”

Beck took a shuddering breath, tensing in Avery’s arms like he was trying to get it all out at once. “He--There’s photos.”

Avery closed his eyes. “What kind of photos?”

“Photos… to advertise, I guess.”

Nothing gets funded faster than something that can be used for sex.

If his arms hadn’t been occupied comforting Beck, he could have punched straight through the glass. 

“I’ll kill him.” He took a few shaky breaths and then asked, “Just with your fox tail or did he make you do something else?”

“He had me pose,” Beck answered. “I shouldn’t have listened, but I--”

“I know, babe. It’s okay. It’s fine. I love you. You’re okay.”

They slept together, Avery wrapped around Beck with the blankets pulled tight around him. Several times, Beck jolted awake, gasping and struggling, and Avery had to soothe the nightmares away.

It was still the deepest he’d slept since they’d gotten here.

...

Avery woke to a knock at the door.

In his arms, Beck pressed closer to him. Goddamn it.

He pressed a kiss to Beck’s hair and pulled back, turning to face the door.

The man from the night before stood just outside the cell, hands jammed in his pockets and a half dozen curious technicians behind him.

“Sorry about the weird night last night. A lot was happening.”

Avery nodded slowly, not sure what was going on.

“So, I guess I should introduce myself. This place is under new management. I’m Ricky. This is my team. I hear you’re my best bet for getting the shifter to do what he’s supposed to.”

Out of the frying pan, into the fryer, then.

Avery just watched him, waiting for him to get to the point. 

“Strong and silent type, got it. Well, I’m going to need you to swap out that thing on his neck. Not really our style outside of a scene.” He gestured behind him and one of the techs stepped up with a little metal disc, smooth and roughly the size of a quarter. “Pretty sure he’s not going to let me touch him though, so how about we skip the fight and you just help us out, okay?”

Avery eyed the disc warily. “How does it work?”

“Just sticks to the back of his neck. It’s small enough that he’ll be able to shift freely. No more choking.”

He slid it through the slot at the door. 

“And what does it do to him?”

“You ask a lot of questions.”

“You want me to put something on my husband without knowing what it will do.”

“Yep,” the man, Ricky, said. “If you won’t, we will, and I’m pretty sure you won’t like it when we do.”

“Avery,” Beck said behind him. “Just do it.”

“Yes, Avery. Just do it.”

Avery scowled, but got off the bed and went to fetch the device. It was cool to the touch but lighter even than it looked. At the very least, Beck likely wouldn’t even be able to tell he was wearing it. 

Beck eyed it warily as Avery came back to the bed, but turned to allow him access to the back of his neck. Avery hated it. He hated doing this. Hated the display of trust when he was just going to have to betray it. Hated that these people were watching and taking advantage. 

“Just there at the base of his skull,” Ricky said from the door. 

Avery took a moment to hate him in particular and then did as he was told. 

There was a soft click and Beck hissed in pain. When Avery jerked his hand away the metal stayed where he’d placed it. 

“And here’s the solvent to remove the collar.”

Avery turned back and saw a bottle set into the same slot. He stormed over and snatched it up, just resisting snapping at him for playing fucking games with them. 

The look of relief in Beck’s eyes when a few droplets allowed the collar to stretch and pull away made it worth the anger, though. That and the bruises circling the skin underneath. He cupped Beck’s face in his hands and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

“You okay?” Avery whispered, receiving a nod back before a clearing of the throat drew their attention back to the unwelcome guests outside.

“Now. I’ll give you one minute to get him to pick another form before that thing forces him out of this one.”

Avery froze. “What?”

Almost immediately he felt fur under his hands, a fox pressing against his hip where his husband once was.

“Wow, he--they really acted like he was a lot more trouble than that.”

“Defiant, yes,” Avery ground out. “Stupid, no.”

"Well, hopefully you can help us if that changes. I'm going to leave my team to get some readings." He turned to the techs and nodded in acknowledgement. "Let me know if they give you any trouble."

When he'd walked away, the techs looked between themselves, engaging in a silent argument before one of them rolled her eyes and stepped forward.

"I need to come in and get some samples and measurements. Please don’t make this difficult.” 

She squared her shoulders and reached for the door. The others grouped around her, hands tightening on their tablets, one making the telltale motion towards a holster.

Avery stayed very still. 

They relaxed when the door had shut behind her, but she still seemed nervous as she approached the bed. “All right, I need a little blood.”

Beck tried to shift forms next to him and yelped, ears pinned flat against his head as he hunched back behind Avery. 

The lady winced. “He wasn’t really clear, I know. The blocker won’t let you shift to human for now.”

A low whine escaping from his throat, Beck allowed her to take blood and measure his vitals. Avery tensed and found himself getting more and more angry watching her.

When she turned to leave, he surged up, getting an arm around her throat.

“Open the door,” he growled at the others waiting outside.

“Don’t do this,” she said. There was a gun pointed at his head through the glass. 

“Open the door.”

One of the techs scrambled with her tablet and behind him, Beck screamed. 

Foxes sounded like dying children when they screamed, but even as he shifted rapidly through a series of forms, searching desperately for some relief, the sound continued to be awful.

Avery dropped the woman and shoved her towards the door. 

Beck was still howling when the door closed behind her, and only after the others had completely checked her over did they enter something into the tablet and make it stop.

Avery trembled.

Turning back to the bed revealed a wolf tangled in the shreds of the sheets, panting and glassy eyed, his pupils blown wide with pain. Avery dropped down next to him. 

“Beck?” he whispered. 

A high whine slipped out of him, but his eyes remained out of focus, staring at nothing. 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

[douxreviews]

Cloak & Dagger - ‘Shadow Selves’ Review

"What if I just want to hurt people?"

Well, this one certain gives us a few things to unpack.

Cloak and Dagger catches up with some supporting characters, while bringing us up to speed on what Mayhem has been up to since last season's finale. Oh, and gives us a mediation on the essential nature of self, as you do.

The 'shadow self,' according to Jungian philosophy, are those parts of one's personality that you reject or choose to not know about. That's a horrific oversimplification, and I apologize to any psychology students who might be reading this. It's not really my field. I had to google just to confirm that much.

Most obviously this is a reference to Brigid and Mayhem, implying that Mayhem is that shadow self that Brigid has always had inside of her, neatly separated off into its own body. I believe there was a Star Trek episode where something similar happened to Kirk, but it was a little less... let's be polite and say 'nuanced,' than what we get here.

Actually, the Star Trek comparison is useful here, particularly when compared to the explanation that Mina gives us in this episode. Since I'm going to actually talk about it, I've felt obligated to look up what it was called, and it's 'The Enemy Within,' for anyone wondering who didn't already know. Additional apologies to Star Trek fans for the oversimplification I'm about to launch into. Fans of both Jung and original series Trek, please contact me directly and I'll send you an apology fruit basket or something.

In 'Enemy Within,' Kirk is split into 'good Kirk' and 'evil Kirk,' and the point is very much that even good people have bad stuff in them and it's a character study of who Kirk is as a complete character. That being the purpose of the experiment, one Kirk is very definitely 'good,' and the other definitely 'evil.' In 'Shadow Selves,' Mina describes the process that's been splitting her test mice into two, and therefore by proxy what's happened to Brigid, as resulting in one version of the self with no activity in the brain's rage center, and the other version having activity only in the rage center. Your basic Hulk scenario.

But neither of those descriptions fit what we actually see of Mayhem's character this week.

Mayhem isn't full of rage, particularly. She's task-oriented and happy to kill people she views as 'bad,' but that's not at all the same thing. If anything, Mayhem is a much better cop than Brigid. Sure, her first instinct is to track down and kill her other half, but she gets distracted almost immediately by wanting revenge on the guy she was already looking to get revenge on before the personality split, and then never shows an inclination to kill Brigid again, despite the half a dozen times this episode alone in which she could have done so.

Great job to the showrunners for the Mayhem backstory we get tonight, and the way it pulls a lot of the pieces of this season's plot together. Mayhem starts with wanting revenge on Connors, isn't able to find him, and then decides that since she wants to kill people anyway she should focus on finding bad people to kill, becoming Dexter with Day-glo fingernail polish. Plus, she's clearly capable of being thoughtful and kind, as shown in her comment about Ty being her friend. It was nice that Delgado gives her the advice that pushes her in the direction of punishing the guilty, by the way. Put a pin in Delgado, we'll circle back to him in a minute, but there's one last point about Mayhem that I want to touch on before we move on.

This show is one of the rare examples in which every single change they've made to the source material has made the show stronger. The exception, as I've said before, being not having Ty stutter, but that's more of a practical consideration, so we'll let that slide. In the comics, Mayhem is essentially what you'd get if Toxic Avenger and the Punisher made a beautiful love child, but having Mayhem and Brigid be two separate beings who share Brigid's memories and thought processes was a brilliant move and is really paying off for them. The way that Mayhem clearly wants Tandy to side with her and be her partner on the investigation is just one aspect of the overall impression that what Mayhem really wants is to prove that she's better than Brigid, and that's fascinating. I can't wait to see where this is going.

But Brigid isn't the only one whose darker side has come to the fore here, and now we get back to Formerly-Father Delgado. Wow, was I not prepared for how dark they went with Delgado. I questioned last season why they threw in such a randomly dark note as the reveal that Delgado had killed a kid while driving drunk, but now I think they were just preparing us for this next stage in his character development. I don't have a ton to say about drunk street preaching nihilist Delgado except that I'm impressed that they went there, and it was nicely handled how he factored into Mayhem's evolution from seeking vengeance to becoming an actually effective rescuer of human trafficking victims. That was not where I saw any of that going.

And last but not least, Ty and Tandy continue their promised power-up. Tandy's ball of light which lit up the whole warehouse was cool looking, but my inner fangirl nearly passed out with joy when Ty finally unveiled his full body of darkness effect and then we got to witness firsthand someone inside the dark realm of his cloak being tormented by visions. Now all I need to die happy is for Tandy to ride 'inside' him to crime scenes and leap out throwing light knives.

Bits and Pieces:

-- The debate between Ty and Tandy as to whether they should just step back and let Mayhem kill the human traffickers had valid points all around. Generally speaking, I'd put myself on team 'yes, please murder the human traffickers' but Ty's concerns about the victims being collateral damage was fair. That said, I did not feel bad when Mayhem ran that one over with a truck.

-- Mayhem climbed out of the lake 242 days earlier, so Evita's statement last week that it had been eight months was more or less on the nose.

-- The extremely mini story-arc of Dale, the skeezy desk clerk at the transient hotel, was a thing of beauty. From creeping on Mayhem, to backing away, to the obedient puddle he'd become by the time Brigid came to find the hotel was just perfection. This show really does understated very well.

-- Haven't we all wanted to beat up a refrigerator?

-- Oh Mina Hess, I'm so glad that you're OK. Mina has apparently now added microbiolical bio-chemistry and behavioral research fellow to her already impressive track list of Structural Engineer, Thermodynamics expert, plumber, renewable energy expert, and about twelve other unrelated specialties. At this point I think it's best to view Mina like Reed Richards, i.e. all purpose science-y person who knows all the science-y stuff when it's needed. Plus just maybe she'll encourage a few more girls to pursue STEM careers, and that's a good enough goal in its own right.

-- Today I learned that SRO stands for 'single room occupancy,' a type of hotel that in a less dignified age I would have referred to as a flophouse.

-- Tandy mentions in passing that she and Mina have kept in touch. I feel like we were cheated out of a few highly entertaining explanation scenes.

-- Special shout out to Emma Lahana for the physical work she's doing to differentiate Brigid and Mayhem. Mayhem moves in a very distinctive shoulder forward way, which is very different from how Brigid walks. It's a nice, subtle detail, and should be praised.

-- Apparently I was overcomplicating the kidnapped girl plot last week. They seem to just be human traffickers who panicked and let Mikayla go because Ty had suddenly appeared in their ambulance so they had to cover their tracks. I kind of appreciate the show letting me work that out for myself.

-- 'The Glitter Gutter' is a great name for a strip club.

Quotes:

Mina: "Don’t worry, these cosmetics were tested on humans."

Brigid: "She’s not me." Tandy: "She’s got your face and she’s got your badge."

Dale: "No one went in your room. I didn’t mean to make eye contact, I’m sorry."

Tandy: "What is this?" Brigid: "This is Mayhem."

Mayhem: "And in another lifetime, Ty was a friend. At least he was to me, I don’t know if he’d say the same."

Tandy: "Hey Ty, look. Ya got a deranged map twin."

Mayhem: "You don’t get to play the victim. (Slashes his throat) Well, now I suppose you can."

Fuchs: "Who’s up for Awkward reunion pancakes?"

Lots of good stuff here, with only a couple of awkward plot contrivances to really criticize. For example, it's a little hard to swallow that Brigid being pulled from the lake would make breaking citywide news under those circumstances. Still, if that's the show's biggest sin, my shadow self is happy.

Three and a half out of four shadow dimensions.

Mikey Heinrich is, among other things, a freelance writer, volunteer firefighter, and roughly 78% water.

[waywardnerd67]

All For You

Summary: (Y/N) has been in love with Dean Winchester for as long as she could remember. In all that time she has kept an important secret from him. One fateful day, she has no choice but to reveal it to him sending them both down a path of trust and forgiveness. Characters: Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Castiel, Angel!Reader Pairing: Dean x Angel!Reader Warnings: Angst/Fluff Word Count: 3188 A/N: GIF Request for angst with an ending of fluff from @alyssa6marie I hope you love it. As always this is unbeta so all mistakes are mine. Likes, comments and reblogs are splendid and I will love you doubly for them! Enjoy!

There was no better place to be than where she was in that exact moment. (Y/N) was nestled into her boyfriend, Dean Winchester’s side with her arm draped over his waist. They were laying in his room watching a movie on his laptop as she sighed contently snuggling closer to him.

“Everything okay?” Dean asked running his hand down her back. She flinched slightly has his hands went over her shoulder blades.

“Everything’s perfect.” She said looking up into his olive eyes smiling.

He leaned down kissing the top of her head and turning his attention back to the movie. She closed her eyes taking a deep breath in. The mixture of whiskey, leather and car grease overwhelming her senses. That’s when she heard the familiar voice inside her head.

“(Y/N), we need to speak. It’s important.” The deep rasp of Castiel rang in her head.

She sighed, “I’ll be right back. Little girl’s room is calling.” She said reluctantly getting up from his warm embrace.

She walked down the hall and ducked into her bedroom, that she hardly slept in anymore, seeing Castiel waiting for her. “What is it, Cas? I was extremely comfortable where I was.”

“It’s Lucifer, (Y/N). He’s… he’s rattling the cage.” She heard fear in Castiel’s voice.

She sat down on her bed, “What do you mean he’s rattling his cage? He’s always making noise down there.”

“It’s different this time, (Y/N). Alarms are sounding in Heaven and they’re calling you back up.” Castiel said wearily as her eyes snapped up to his.

“No.” She said firmly standing up in front of her superior.

Castiel gave her a sympathetic look, “It is not request, it’s an order.” She sighed running her hands through her hair.

“What do I tell Dean?” she asked his voice trembling slightly as she said his name.

“You know what I think you should tell him.” Castiel said the sounds of his wings taking him away. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen.” She muttered leaving her room and going back down to Dean’s.

She must have had a look on her face when she walked in because Dean sat up pausing the movie, “(Y/N)?” he questioned.

She smiled at him as best she could, “I have to leave in the morning. Castiel needs my help with something angel related.”

Dean nodded patting the bed next to him and she got back into the same position she was in before. “Well I guess we should make the most of this evening as we can. Also, remind me to kick Cas’s ass for always stealing my girl when he’s having angel issues.”

(Y/N) chuckled leaning up and pressing her lips to his, “I promise it’s usually boring research. You know how much Cas hates computers.”

Dean’s laughter filled her guilt-ridden heart with a moment of joy. She spent the night watching Dean sleep as she always did and pretending to wake up in the morning keeping up her façade. Dean laid in bed watching her get dress and pack up her things for a few days.

She leaned kissing him goodbye. She was pulling away from him as his hand slipped behind her neck pulling lip back to his. Her body was heating up as his mouth moved with hers. She wanted nothing more than to stay with him, but she knew Castiel would soon be calling for her.

“Be safe.” He whispered against her lips.

She nodded, “Always.” She smiled grabbing her bags and walking down the stairs seeing Bobby Singer and Dean’s younger brother, Sam in the kitchen. She waved goodbye to them and headed out the door to her Jeep.

She met Castiel in their usual spot a park about an hour outside of Sioux Falls. She parked her Jeep in a secluded spot and walked over to the bench Castiel was sitting on. She sat down next to him, “Alright I’m here.”

Castiel placed his hand on her shoulder and suddenly then were up in Heaven. She had almost forgotten how beautiful it was, but it was nothing compared to the wonders of Earth. (Y/N) shrugged out of her jacket and stretched out her wings to their full span.

It felt good to expand her wings and it amused her that Castiel was smiling seeing her wingspan. “They’re just wings, Cas. You have them too.” She said chuckling.

“Your wings are beautiful (Y/N). Just like our brothers’.” The mention of them made her pull her wings back in quickly.

She followed Castiel to the main throne room where her brother was sitting in their Father’s chair. “Hello, (Y/N) I’m so glad you came.” His voice was low and menacing.

She stared at him long and hard, “Hello Michael.”

“(Y/N), I want you to go down and make sure the cage is intact still. See why Lucifer is making so much noise and quiet him before Hell starts running amuck.” Her eyes widen at her orders and then she narrowed them onto smug brother.

“That is impossible mission and you know it. What is your real game plan here?” She asked having a sneaky suspicion on what it was.

Michael smirked confirming her suspicion, “You’re going after Dean Winchester, aren’t you?”

“That is none of your concern sister. Now, do as I have order and check in with our brother.” He sat straighter and his tone was hard as stone.

(Y/N) shook her head taking a step towards Michael, “No. I will not let you touch even a hair on Dean’s head.”

Michael held up his lance to her neck as he scoffed, “There is nothing you can do that could protect Dean Winchester from me. Then I will drag Lucifer up from the cage myself, killing him once and for all.” Michael came closer to her roughly pulling her to him, “Now go and do… As. I. Ordered.”

She stumbled to the ground as he let her go. Castiel went to help her up but she pushed his hands away, “I’m fine.” (Y/N) pushed herself up and turned around walking out of the throne room.

“(Y/N) wait!” Castiel called out to her as she started running and spread her wings taking flight into Heaven’s skies.

The wind whipped through her hair and wings as she flew through the clouds. It had been so long since she had flown with her wings so almost forgot how wonderful it felt. She felt wild and free up there like the day her Father created her.

She slowly descended back down into her favorite courtyard. She landed on her feet and sat down on the only bench there. She pulled out her phone looking down at the picture of her and Dean. She ran her finger over the screen thinking of how she wanted nothing more than to be with him.

“Are you going?” She sighed hearing Castiel’s voice.

“Yes. He gave me an order and I have to follow it. I just have to go do one thing before I go.” She looked up into Castiel’s knowing blue eyes.

He placed his hand on her shoulder, “I could come with you.” His concern touched her.

“Thanks, but the mission and Dean are two things I have to do on my own. Promise me, you’ll be there for Dean. He is going to be pissed and he will push everyone away but you need to stay by his side. Protect him, Castiel.” (Y/N) stood up not waiting for an answer from him and made her way back down to Earth.

She walked into Bobby’s house hearing the old grump talking with Sam and Dean. “We need to figure out a way to stop the apocalypse from starting all together.”

“Hey guys, did I miss anything while I was gone?” she asked walking in. Dean flashed his perfect teeth at her smiling widely.

She walked over to him seating in his lap and putting her feet up on Sam’s legs. “Hey sweetheart, didn’t miss much here. How was your angel research with Cas?”

She shrugged nonchalantly, “Boring. Wishing I was here with you guys.” She leaned down so only Dean could hear her, “Could we go talk something?”

He looked over to her nodding as she got up and walked towards the front door. Dean followed right behind her. They walked a little ways out until Dean stopped her, “Hey you’re not bringing me out here to shoot me or anything?”

She chuckled nervously turning around, “Of course not. I need to talk to you about something.”

“Okay then, everything okay?” He asked as she started to pace in front of him.

“Well that depends on you, handsome.” She said as he looked worriedly at her.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and released her wings. She heard him gasp, “Son of a bitch.” She opened her eyes to see his shocked face.

“You’re… you’re a…” He stuttered.

She nodded bringing her wings back in, “Yes Dean, I’m an angel. I was ordered to protect you by my Father before he left.”

Dean ran his hand over the top of his head. When he looked back up at her she was taken back by his stern expression.

“Your father, as in God?” He asked his jaw setting into a straight line.

Once again, she nodded and Dean took off back towards the house. “Dean wait, please!” She called out. She took off after him entering the house after him, “Please let me explain.” Her voice cracked slightly as rushed in.

Dean walked in the kitchen grabbing the bottle of whiskey Bobby kept in the cabinet and take a long drink. He sat down as Sam and Bobby walked in the kitchen, “What’s going on?” Sam asked.

“Oh nothing, just the woman I’ve fallen for has been lying to me the entire time. Oh, and she’s an angel but not just any angel like Cas. No, she’s a damn archangel!” He yelled causing her to flinch.

Sam and Bobby looked over to her stunned, “(Y/N) is this true?” She turned towards Bobby tears falling down her cheeks.

“Yes, it is. Look, my Father wanted me to protect Dean Winchester from my older brother, Michael. I was only supposed to observe, but as I watched him grow into this amazing man I fell in love. My Father was gone and Heaven no longer felt like home so I went to the one person who was always home to me.” She looked over to Dean whose jaw clenched.

Bobby looked at her sympathetically, “Why are you telling us now?” he asked.

“I have to leave on a mission and I don’t know when I’ll be back. I-I just wanted to tell Dean the truth before I left.” She could feel her heart ripping in half as Dean would not look at her.

“What mission?” She looked to Sam and shook her head.

“I can’t say.” She said guilt flooded her body.

Dean scoffed, “Surprise, surprise something she can’t tell us.”

“Dean, I was going to tell you who I was. I didn’t want to tell you like this, but I also couldn’t leave without telling you. I’m sorry you found out this way. I never meant to hurt you.” (Y/N) wiped away the tears on her cheeks.

Dean shook his head, “Well, you did and I think you should leave.” His tone was flat and emotionless.

She stood numbly staring down at him, “Dean… I just want you to know that I-I love you.”

“I don’t care.” He said looking up at her with a cold expression.

She felt her heart shatter. The emotions she was holding back burned in her chest. She walked towards the back door and before stepping outside she turned back facing the three men she loved more than anything.

“I love you. I love all of you. Goodbye.” She walked out of the house and ran as fast as she could to the end of the street Bobby lived on.

She let out the strangled sob as she fell down to her knees crying. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. (Y/N) looked up to see Castiel, “Will you be alright?” he asked helping her up.

She hastily wiped away her tears and squared her shoulders, “Yes I will be fine. Right now, I have to focus on getting down to the cage and having a conversation with my brother.”

She started to walk away, but stopped staring forward she said, “Remember your promise Castiel. Protect Dean Winchester at all cost.” Saying that she was flew away and it would be many years before she would see any of the again.

Eight Years Later

“(Y/N).” She looked up from her spot in her jail cell her jaw slightly dropping.

“Dad?” she whispered looking up into her Father’s soft blue eyes.

He unlocked the cell setting her free from her brother Michael locking her away. She tried to pray to any angel that could hear her but the walls were warded heavily. Her clothes were ripped and her hair was knotted from not keeping up with it.

Her Father pressed his hand against her forehead as a warming sensation spread throughout her body. When she opened her eyes, she looked better than when Michael threw her in there. Her Father smiled down at her but it did not reach his eyes.

“(Y/N), I am so sorry my child. I should have foreseen what Michael would do to you. I should have come sooner to get you.” He pulled her into his arms holding her tightly as she began to weep.

She thought she would never escape the four walls of her cell. “I-I tried to stop him. I tried to protect Dean. I failed everyone.” She cried into his shoulder as he comforted her.

“Sweet child, you did not fail anyone. Dean is fine and I think he will need you most in these next few years.” He paused to wipe away her tears and she could see in his eyes that he was leaving again.

He smiled, “Yes I am leaving again. Your Aunt Amara and I have a lot to take care of together. Don’t worry I will be back one day.”

She nodded as he kissed her forehead and walked away from her. “Father?” she called out as he turned around to face her. “Before you leave, I want you to do one thing for me.” He nodded as they walked the halls of Heaven together one last time.

(Y/N) walked without her shoes on in the grass. She was in a park near Lebanon, Kansas waiting for the one person whose mere thought kept her sane during her imprisonment. She looked up hearing the familiar roar of the ’67 Chevy Impala.

She watched as Dean got out of the car looking worn and tired. She noticed Castiel was also in the car but stay inside of it. She picked up her shoes and started to walk towards him. He looked up stopping in his tracks as she approached him.

“Hello Dean.” She said her voice just above a whisper.

His jaw slightly dropped as his eyes traveled over her body. “(Y/N)? Is that really you?” he asked.

She nodded as he reached out bringing his hand over her cheek. “It’s me, Dean.” She leaned into his touch as a small gasp escaped his lips.

He drew back his hand panic glossing over his olive eyes, “Wait… how? Cas said that you went to the cage and never came back. He said you were killed.”

“I know. That is what Michael said happened to me. I went to the cage and found out that Lucifer was working with Ruby tricking Sam into drinking demon blood. When I came back to Earth, Michael captured me and locked me away in Heaven. That’s where I have been all this time.” She explained as he nervously ran his hand over the back of his neck.

“How are you here now?” He asked backing away from her as she stepped closer. Her heart thumped against her chest and she stepped back again.

“My Father. He found me locked away and he set me free.” She said with overwhelming gratefulness washing over her.

Dean scoffed, “Well good to see you again, but I have some British douchebags to take care of.” He turned around and she reached out to him touching his arm.

“Wait, please. There’s more to the story.” She said as he sighed heavily.

“What more could there be, (Y/N)? You’re still an angel and I’m some dumb human. We can’t be together so why torture ourselves any longer.” His words cut through her like a knife.

She stood directly in front of him, “That’s just it, Dean Winchester. I’m not an angel anymore. When my Father freed me, I asked for him to take away my wings and my grace. I wanted to become human because I knew I could never be with you if I was an angel. Look.” she pulled out her knife and cut her arm bleeding red but not healing.

“I bleed like a human. I hurt like a human. I feel everything just like a human. I did this all for you, Dean. I did it all for you because you were the only thought these last few years that kept me sane while I was locked away from everyone. The only thing I could think of was getting back to you.” Her cheeks were burning and her chest was aching from the emotions she held back.

That’s when he closed the distance between them. His soft lips smashing against hers and his arms wrapping around her picking her up. He set her back down leaning his head against hers, “I missed you so much, (Y/N). When Cas said you were dead it felt like a part of my heart died as well.” He whispered.

“I missed you too, handsome. I miss all of my family. I got to see Bobby, Ellen and Jo before I left Heaven. They send their love except Bobby who just mumbled idjits which is his way of sending love.” She said making him chuckle.

“Well come on pretty girl, let me take you back to Sam and mine’s home. We will spend the night catching up and drinking.” She nodded wrapping her arms around his waist and walking towards the car.

Castiel got out and she ran up to him giving him a hug. “I missed you, old friend.” She whispered squeezing him tightly.

“I missed you as well, (Y/N).” He said as she let go of him and he held the passenger door open for her.

She got in the car running her hands over the leather seats and turning up the radio when she heard Led Zeppelin playing. She caught Dean smiling over at her as she stuck her hand out the window feeling the air rush over it.

She would miss her wings and Heaven, but where she was right now was home. There was no place she would rather be.

If you enjoyed this story then check out my Masterlist!

My Nerd Herd: @waywardbaby @waywardrose13 @carryonmywaywardcaptain @ladywinchester1967 @dwgrl1903 @akshi8278 @ericaprice2008 @mirandaaustin93 @spnbaby-67 @time-travel-bouqet @1967-essentialghoul @weirdoblogger69 @dean-winchesters-bacon @jensenyourdeanisshowing @destielhoneybee @-lovepeacenhope- @destiel745 @carribear31 @srsllydunnodoncare @whimsicalrobots @starstruckzonkoperatorbat @adoptdontshoppets @mrswhozeewhatsis

[abalonetea]

Ahem: For the OTP asks, any and all questions for whatever ship needs some extra love this fine day (aka whomever you haven't gotten to talk about enough). And for that last one, let's go with, What is one spoiler about this couple that makes no sense out of context? Just, throw me a random fact that you like that sounds like nonsense.

hello yes but i love you and i love this ask!!!

honestly, you always come up with the best asks! there’s just so much in them, it’s great. and this was so much fun to write up!

Part One! i’m sorry in advance that this is so long but! you said any and all questions so! i just went ahead and did all of the questions i haven’t had a chance to do yet! i hope that’s okay!!!

i actually got roughly the same amount of asks in for everyone, so??? i’m just alternating between my two favorites which are, predictably, the two main pairings!

What was their first impression of each other?    wow that kid is scrawny thought Red, ducking into the small alley between buildings.   at the other end of the alley, Bolte picked up a large rock and thought that kid looks like he could eat me shit   

What is their ship name?   dgksdfsd ship names are both my favorite thing and the bane of my existence so! probably it would either be blocke, Blue Knight, Science Sweets, or cocoashipping depending on your preference. blue knight orcocoashipping are probably my favorites though!

Describe their relationship dynamic.   is they would die for each other a good enough response? there is literally nothing that Bolte and Red wouldn’t do for each other, from taking dangerous hits in a battle to becoming something cruel in the name of safety.   each one just tries so hard to keep the other safe and happy, it’s this loop they’re stuck in where they put themselves last out of necessity. Bolte can come across as very mean but Red is also pretty sarcastic, and they just. try so damned hard! Bolte makes the calls on the surface, but it’s really Red that has the final say in pretty much everything.

What was their relationship like before they got together?   they were absolutely the best of friends! Locke and Blue had already been living together for a while before they started dating, and it was just one of those things that rolled from one title into the next.  

How would they describe each other?   he’s the coolest person i’ve ever met, Red would say. boss is the best. strongest guy i’ve ever met.   too kind for his own good, Bolte would say. Red is what everyone should strive to be. he’s stronger than anyone else i’ve ever met.

What do they love about each other?   Locke loves Blue’s sense of humor, and how smart he is, and the way his eyes crinkle at the edges when he smiles.   Blue loves Locke’s optimism, and how much effort he puts into everything he does, and the sound of his laugh when he finds something really funny.

What do they have in common?   Red and Bolte are both incredibly stubborn, fairly lodged in the self sacrificing category, dealing with health issues, have the world’s most horrible sense of humor, the same taste in food, a love for animals, and the deep buried interest in being a good person. 

What are some differences between them?   Red prefers not to fight if given the chance, Bolte is actually decent at cooking, there’s still a belief on Bolte’s end that Fara Falls can be returned to some semblance of a decent place, Red is more eager to trust and give second chances.

Do they get married? Who proposes and how?   nnnn probably not, but only because i can’t picture that as being something either of them would think about. that being said wouldnt that be a fancy fix-it au drabble to write?

Who dies first? How does the other one react?   hey! you know the great thing about time loops? both of them “die first” within the confines of the story! fun! i know this answer very well!   to be very blunt, Red gets extremely drunk and, during Fara Falls time, generally kills himself to “speed up the reset” unless Captain happens to find him first, at which point he generally moves in with her. his death doesn’t actually affect the speed of the time loop starting over but, obviously, it means he doesn’t have to be around for it. this decision is spurred on only because Red is aware of the time loops and has done some amount of research and testing on them in the past.   i’ve said in text posts that Bolte would burn the world if something happened to Red, and I mean this in a very literal sense. during the occasion when someone kills Red, be it Kee or a character within Fara Falls, destroying said person becomes Bolte’s driving force. frequently, he has Captain right there watching his back.  but not in Fields of Fara, no, in Fields of Fara he has Blue at his back, and that world will burn, too

Are there any love rivals?   not really! 

Describe your favorite moment of that ship!   dfjv sdjfvdsbsf all of them!!! they’re all my favorites! i love the soft moments, when Bolte pulls Red into the rare hug, when Locke runs his fingers through Blue’s hair. i love the serious ones, where Red willingly follows Bolte back into Hell because where one goes, the other follows, and the thought of Locke sitting up at night waiting for Blue to come home, of him taking on Midnight’s interest to pull it off of Blue.   I love how much they love each other.

Describe or write a really fluffy scene!   red sits down on the back porch, mug of cocoa in hand, and the borrowed sweatshirt looks good on him. it’s bright in a way that matches his eyes, mostly revealed by the mask that’s pushed onto the side of his face, early morning sunlight catching on strips of old scars, on sharp teeth starting to go nubby.   there are many horned deer grazing in the distance, long tongues wrapping around the puff flowers pushing out through the snow, the sugar weed. bolte wraps an arm around red’s shoulders, tugging him up against his side, and the look that the paladin shoots him is nothing short of surprised, brows lifting in a silent question.   bolte doesn’t know what sort of answer to give, though, so he stays silent too, just sits there and relishes in the fact that this is okay and the fact that they are more safe here than they’ve ever been.

Describe or write a really angsty scene!   the corner’s of Locke’s mouth twitch into something that isn’t quite a smile, breath stifled out beneath his own good intent, hands shaking as he runs them through his loose, unkempt hair. “it’s okay,” he swears. “it’s okay, it’s - it’s okay.”   but the check hangs between them like an omission, a hymn, and blue has a look on his face like maybe nothing is ever going to be okay again. “locke?”   “i swear,” says locke, and that’s not desperation in his voice but it might be something a little closer to hysteria, too high pitched to be anything close to level, to calm. “it’s okay.”   they both know it’s not.   it hasn’t been for a really really long time.

Talk about a headcanon you’ve never talked about before.   oooh, difficult, but fun!    for locke and blue - Blue has nightmares a lot, and it’s part of why he and Locke have been sharing a bed for a while; Locke’s Good Intent helps keep them away, and it helps to have someone around when he does have one.   for bolte and red - whenever Bolte is having a really bad day, Red will rub his hands or his knee or whatever’s acting up for him.

What does a typical date look like for them?   red and bolte have never been on a date before, oops, and the concept is actually very foreign to them. it’s likely never something they do in a traditional sense.   locke really likes going places and even though that’s not really blue’s thing, sometimes he’ll surprise locke by splinching them out to the Capitol for a nice meal somewhere! usually they just eat at the house and play cards and listen to music.   sometimes locke convinces blue to dance with him oops

What’s a really significant moment in their relationship?   the first moment that Bolte realizes, so long as they’re in Fields of Fara, he can actually have some semblance of a relationship with Red, that he realizes he can lean over and kiss Red and not worry about someone finding out and use it as leverage against him. and he does. he catches Red by the shoulder and kisses him and you could honestly knock Red over with a feather.   for Blue and Locke, it’s probably shortly after Blue realizes that, hey, they are dating and suddenly a lot of the things Locke has been saying and doing makes more sense. Locke looks at Blue from the other side of the couch and says, “you’re so cute in that” and Blue’s whole face turns bright red and he thinks, oh i really like this.

Part Two!

What is one spoiler about this couple that makes no sense out of context? Just, throw me a random fact that you like that sounds like nonsense.

Red and Bolte: bolte wears red’s mask

Locke and Blue: blue tells locke to quit smiling

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

Why did Ned not research Joffrey for Sansa the way the Tyrells did for Margaery?

1-O asked:

Hey! I’m sure this must have been asked but I can’t find it, sorry. If the Tyrells didn’t hesitate (apparently) to kill Joffrey because he could harm Margaery, how come that Ned was ok with him marrying Sansa? Did he take any measure to protect her? Arya, Bran, Robb and Jon disliked Joffrey already at Winterfell and after the incident at the Trident it was sure he was a danger; sure it was difficult to cancel a betrothal with the prince but if someone could have talked to Robert (who already knew his son was a jerk) it was Ned. Why didn’t he at least inform himself better about Joffrey’s character before accepting? Thanks a lot!

Much of your question can be answered if you examine the sequence of events. Joffrey’s character, while openly bratty and obnoxiously privileged and aristocratically violent, was not truly revealed until after he became king and had Ned executed despite the agreement worked out by the Small Council that he would confess to treason and take the black. That’s when Sansa realized the truth about his character, that’s when Tywin realized the truth, presumably that’s when the Tyrells and many other lords of Westeros realized the truth.

And even they didn’t know the whole truth – while Sansa learned Joffrey was a monster when he had her father killed, she didn’t know he would ever have the Kingsguard abuse her until the moment it happened. Nobody knew that Joffrey would resolve quarrels brought to the king by having the llitigants fight to the death until it happened. Nobody knew Joffrey would threaten Sansa with a crossbow (that he’d been learning how to use by killing cats) and have her stripped in public until it happened. Nobody admitted Joffrey was getting off on Sansa’s humiliation, except Tyrion, and he was ignored. (And even he thought Joffrey could get it out of his system if he got laid.)

That’s why the Tyrells were willing to marry Margaery to Joffrey to make her queen… at least until Petyr Baelish put his little finger in the pie:

“The old woman is not boring, though, I’ll grant her that. A fearsome old harridan, and not near as frail as she pretends. When I came to Highgarden to dicker for Margaery’s hand, she let her lord son bluster while she asked pointed questions about Joffrey’s nature. I praised him to the skies, to be sure… whilst my men spread disturbing tales amongst Lord Tyrell’s servants. That is how the game is played. […] Lady Olenna was not about to let Joff harm her precious darling granddaughter, but unlike her son she also realized that under all his flowers and finery, Ser Loras is as hot-tempered as Jaime Lannister. Toss Joffrey, Margaery, and Loras in a pot, and you’ve got the makings for kingslayer stew. The old woman understood something else as well. Her son was determined to make Margaery a queen, and for that he needed a king… but he did not need Joffrey.”

–ASOS, Sansa V

Without the truthful rumors Littlefinger spread about Joffrey in Highgarden, Olenna wouldn’t have known to ask Sansa about the “troubling tales” she had heard about him, to confirm that he had indeed sadistically abused Sansa and probably would do the same to other women, to hear that he’d betrayed a promise to save Ned, to hear about the Trident, to hear that Sansa thought he was a monster.

Furthermore, note that it’s Olenna and Margaery who handled the interview with Sansa and confirmed the truth about Joffrey’s character. And they were the ones to handle the poisoning plot to remove Joffrey, as well. Mace Tyrell, who actually made the betrothal and was determined to have a queen daughter and king grandson, likely didn’t have anything to do with it and never knew what Joffrey was truly like.

Also, it was not certain to Ned after the Trident that Joffrey was a danger to Sansa. He had been aristocratically violent to a peasant (in a sadistic manner tbf), he fought with Arya after she whacked him over the head to stop him from hurting her friend, but Joffrey didn’t do anything to Sansa personally except take her on a long horse ride (without guards) and get her drunk. The only sign of his future danger to Sansa was when she tried to help him after his injury and he looked at her with loathing and “the vilest contempt” – and do you think Sansa told her father about that when she couldn’t even admit it to herself at the time? I most sincerely doubt it.

Joffrey’s sadism and psychopathy, before he became king, wasn’t obvious like Prince Aerion the Monstrous, breaking a woman’s fingers before a crowd, or deliberately killing a horse in a tourney in order to injure his opponent (with plausible deniability). The incident with the pregnant cat when Joffrey was a child was closely held among the witnesses (Robert, Cersei, and Stannis), and for sure Ned never heard a word of it. The incident with Joffrey killing and skinning Tommen’s pet fawn was also closely held (Tommen is the only one who ever talked about it, and only once), and again, nothing Ned would know about. The Trident incident was waved off as a “boys will be boys”, as children fighting, and left Ned with more anger towards Robert and Cersei than Joffrey.

Most importantly, Ned didn’t research Joffrey’s character before the betrothal because his best friend, his ward-brother, Robert, the king, asked him. The king, asking him to marry his daughter to the crown prince. And even so, Ned wasn’t quite sure:

He hesitated. “These honors are all so unexpected. May I have some time to consider? I need to tell my wife…” “Yes, yes, of course, tell Catelyn, sleep on it if you must.” The king reached down, clasped Ned by the hand, and pulled him roughly to his feet. “Just don’t keep me waiting too long. I am not the most patient of men.”

–AGOT, Eddard I

But as you can see, Robert didn’t give him much time to decide. And then after Ned and Catelyn received Lysa’s secret letter where she claimed the Lannisters murdered Jon Arryn, he felt he had no choice:

“Sansa must wed Joffrey, that is clear now, we must give them no grounds to suspect our devotion.” –Ned, AGOT, Catelyn II

Also, while Robert knew his son was bad news, he never told Ned that until it was far too late:

“You know what stops me [from abdicating]? The thought of Joffrey on the throne, with Cersei standing behind him whispering in his ear. My son. How could I have made a son like that, Ned?” “He’s only a boy,” Ned said awkwardly. He had small liking for Prince Joffrey, but he could hear the pain in Robert’s voice. “Have you forgotten how wild you were at his age?” “It would not trouble me if the boy was wild, Ned. You don’t know him as I do.” He sighed and shook his head. “Ah, perhaps you are right. Jon despaired of me often enough, yet I grew into a good king.”

–AGOT, Eddard VII

And Robert still isn’t telling Ned why he’s troubled by Joffrey, he doesn’t mention the cat or any other incidents of sadism or other things that make him fear Joffrey’s rule. He never mentions anything that might lead Ned to believe Joffrey would hurt Sansa.

Joffrey’s behavior is excused as “he’s only a boy” (Tyrion reacts that way too, for a while), the wildness and mistakes of youth, not recognized for what it would come to be. Not recognized as something that would be dangerous to Sansa. Not recognized as grounds to break a betrothal with a crown prince. The only thing that made Ned finally decide to stop the marriage was discovering that Joffrey isn’t Robert’s son after all. (Which is also something the Tyrells knew when they made their betrothal.)

So, to sum up, Olenna understanding that Joffrey could harm Margaery and doing something about it, while Ned did not do the same for Sansa, was based on knowledge and events that did not happen until Ned was already dead. And Ned had no chance to research Joffrey’s character before acceding to the will of the king, and likely would not have found anything that would make him fear for Sansa even if he had tried, as most of those truly troubling events did not happen until after he was dead. I hope that clears things up for you.

[oumakokichi]

While it might be hard to say, coming from the perspective of someone who knew in the first place, at what point in the game do you think the average player pick up that Shirogane is the mastermind? For example in DR1 I'm pretty sure Junko being the mastermind is guessable from approximately trial 5, and quite possibly even earlier in SDR2. As Shirogane is a pretty different kind of mastermind, how does she stack up?

Ooh, this is a reallyinteresting question. It’s kind of hard to say because it probably all dependson how you tackle the game per se. For instance, if you head into ndrv3tackling it as a pure mystery series, looking at all the clues presented, andconsidering each individual character as a possible suspect, you can probablystart thinking of Tsumugi as suspicious around as early as Chapter 4 or 5.There are some definitely damning moments for her then, where she slips upnoticeably or says things that look really, obviouslysketchy in hindsight.

However, if you were to tacklethe game as “a Danganronpa installment,” thinking of it in terms very similarto the first two games, and expecting twists and developments akin to those…Well, pinpointing her becomes a lot harder. I would say that if the playerfalls for the Hope’s Peak remember light themselves, and begins to think of thegame in terms of “hope vs. despair” rather than “lies vs. truth,” realizingthat Tsumugi was the mastermind in plain sight all along becomes much harder.Because from that point on, your expectations are all about Junko—Junko and her followers, her Remnants of Despair, her impact on the world at large. If you think the culprit is Junko, basically, you’ll have a hell of a harder time realizing it’s Tsumugi.

It’s hard to maintainobjectivity and follow the rules of a mystery series after buying into thewhole Hope’s Peak act, precisely because of the emotional impact it has on boththe characters and the player. Whileexpecting a twist exactly like the first two games’, and thinking of everythingas leading up to some epic culmination of hope vs. despair, a lot of littleclues and foreshadowing that were very intentionally and deliberately left inget overlooked. And that’s exactly what Kodaka was going for with Tsumugi’scharacter, I think.

Tsumugi probably first comesunder really obvious suspicion when it’s clear that her lab opens up only onthe 5th floor. Considering how late in the game this floor is, andthe fact that only Amami shares a lab with her on this floor, it’s easy to seethere’s clearly more to her than meets the eye. After flying relatively underthe radar and sharing almost no important scenes with Saihara and the othersvery intentionally, her sudden cutesy scene in her own research lab withSaihara just feels…a little off, considering the rest of the group’s emphasison working together, training together, investigating together, etc.

There’s also a really brilliantpart in the Chapter 4 trial if you have Saihara use a lie bullet against Ouma insteadof a truth bullet, and lie to him that he went to the parlor to see if Ouma wasthere. Ouma of course can see through Saihara’s lie in about 0.2 seconds, butalso knows that if it comes down to a question of whose lie the group is goingto believe, his own or Saihara’s, he’s already lost that battle. And most ofthe group agrees willingly and happily with Saihara because: 1.) he’s theirfriend, and 2.) he’s a SHSL Detective, so out of a sense of complacency theyall kind of take his words at face value and assume that of course he wouldn’tlie to them, Tsumugi is the only one to express any doubts about Saihara’sclaim. And in hindsight it is really, transparently obvious that it’s becauseshe’s not his friend, she’s notfriends with any of them whatsoever.

She literally speaks up in theChapter 4 trial if you use that particular lie bullet only to say, “Hmm, but it’sstrange, I wonder why even though Saihara-kun says he went down to the parlor,I didn’t see him pass by me while I was downstairs?” And the music kind of cutsout and everyone just sort of stares and is taken aback, and then sheimmediately follows up with an, “Oh, but of courseI’m not doubting you Saihara-kun! I’ll trust you because we’re friends!”

And it’s easy to kind of forgetthis really obviously sketchy moment of hers in all the emotional twists andturns that come about with Ouma and Gonta later in the trial, but it stillstands out to me super vividly precisely because of the fact that she reallydid make it very apparent that she was not meant to be functioning within the groupthe same way that the others were. By that point, really, only she and Kiibowere two of the more unknown factors in the group. And considering how muchmore prevalent Kiibo becomes around Chapter 5 and how much he begins helpingout with the investigation and the trial both, the suspicion really does comedown to just Tsumugi after that.

We see Himiko’s growth anddevelopment, and we interact with Momota and Maki on an almost daily basisin-game, watching all of them plus Saihara become a super close-knit group.Ouma remained the most suspicious figure only by virtue of calling himself theringleader, and the longer Chapters 5 and 6 continue, the more obvious it isthat he was lying about that. Without Ouma there to take the fall, the questionshould immediately come back down to who would have had the most ampleopportunity to slide under the radar and orchestrate all of this—but again, ifthe player is already thinking in terms of “Junko, Junko, Junko” by this point,realizing that it’s Tsumugi is going to be rather difficult.

There are other moments offoreshadowing that I can think of within Chapter 5, all of them pretty obviousin hindsight but perfectly capable of going unnoticed on a first playthrough.When translating the transcript ne0dym sent me for the truth of the outsideworld scene, I mentioned that it was absolutely hilarious that Tsumugi gotroughly one speaking line in the second half, and only to say the equivalent of“you can’t stop the killing game on yourown, that’s so irresponsible!!!”

Knowing that she’s theringleader herself while watching this scene makes it seem like she might aswell be waving a big red flag going “hello yes I am the ringleader,” but on afirst playthrough, this little point of foreshadowing could potentially slipright past the player if they’re not reading for clues like they would in anormal mystery, particularly as Ouma is playing his role of big red herring soperfectly at the time.

By Chapter 6, I’d say that thatTsumugi as the ringleader becomes really apparently clear—it’s one of thosethings that the game kind of hits you over the head with, the same way the Junkotwist was hit over your head, just incase you hadn’t already caught on to all the hints in Chapter 5 already. But eventhen, the fact that Tsumugi, unlike Junko, wanted to be caught, makes things alittle different.

By Chapter 6, the issue wasnever really about hiding her identity, or even the fact that she had killedAmami. If she really wanted those things to go unnoticed, she would never havejust left clues from all the way back in Chapter 1 sitting around her bigringleader lair. It would’ve been perfectly easy for her to dispose of Amami’ssecond, bloodstained Monopad with the memo to himself, or Kaede’s steel ballwhich had strands of fabric from her backpack and was sitting untouched in thetrash. After all, every single body and item related to previous cases thatOuma didn’t hoard in his own room was all thoroughly disposed of.

The fact that Tsumugi leftthese things lying around intentionally so that they would obviously tie backto her is proof that she wanted to be caught. It was all in order to furtherthe killing game and bring it to its climactic point, because you cannot have aDanganronpa-style killing game without “the big mastermind reveal.” By Chapter6, she’s no longer playing to stay under the radar, but instead playing so thatit’ll be relatively easy for the characters to guess that it was her. And thenof course, she “discards” her “character” as Tsumugi Shirogane, and insteadembraces the fiction that is Junko, and the rest of the Hope’s Peak cast.

By the point at which shestarts cosplaying and mimicking these characters, it might be relatively hardfor even the player themselves to unassociated Hope’s Peak from the tragedy athand. Considering Tsumugi even tries to fool the characters into thinking “no,Tsumugi was actually the fake one, I’m Junko Enoshima and I’m alive and welland I was hiding in the school as the ringleader all along,” even after she’sbeen caught, it’s so easy to fall into the traps she set. The real battle byChapter 6 isn’t determining that Tsumugi killed Amami or planned everything; itreally only starts after she’s been caught, because that’s when she reallybegins jumpstarting her lies and takes credit for absolutely every part of the “fictional scenarios”around them.

In that sense, I would sayTsumugi might actually be a little harder to pinpoint than Junko. Where Junkowas pretty obviously the mastermind for the first two games from relatively earlyon, and the entire trial about Mukuro only served to make every single step ofit more obvious, Tsumugi manages to disguise herself again and again byconstantly slipping through the cracks. Other people, other “characters,” areso much more obviously suspicious than she is, whether it’s Ouma or Junko, orboth even. And so I think that’s why many people were startled to discover whather true behavior was like as an antagonist, and even more startled to discoverthat she really had no sense of self.

Ironically, I think one of thebest clues for many people to discovering that she was the ringleader ahead oftime was just her talent itself, possibly combined with her plain appearance. I’veseen many people in the tags, both pre-release and after the game’s launch,just saying that Tsumugi doesn’t look very trustworthy—and it’s hilariouslytrue. Her talent as a cosplayer was one of the things that many peoplepre-release thought would make her one of the most likely culprit candidates,and boy, they were not wrong. It’s just that her cosplayer talent was takeneven above and beyond most people’s expectations.

Again, thank you for sendingthis in, because this was a really fun, interesting question! And of course,this is all still apples to oranges. Junko’s status as the mastermind might havebeen more obvious than Tsumugi’s, but that’s ultimately because Junko is suchan unstoppable force of nature and so over-the-top that at some point it reallyis impossible for her to hide herself.

Tsumugi, by contrast, has noidentity, no real sense of self, and so can continually reinvent herself, slipby unnoticed, and fool the people around her and even the players themselvesagain and again. It makes sense that she’d be the harder-to-catch mastermind,but it doesn’t necessarily mean that either she or Junko are “worse” than eachother. Both of them are very effective at what they do, they simply accomplishtheir objectives by very different means.

[petelanemoviereviews-blog1]

The Shape of Water (2017) Review

The Shape of Water (2017)

Review Date 3/15/18 “When he looks at me, the way he looks at me... He does not know, what I lack... Or - how - I am incomplete. He sees me, for what I - am, as I am. He's happy - to see me. Every time. Every day. Now, I can either save him... or let him die.” Many people have or will come away believing this film is solely about a woman falling in love with a fish-man. Oh, how wrong they are. Guillermo del Toro has created yet another beautiful masterpiece. Premise: Set in the early 1960’s, a mute night janitor at a top-secret research facility forms a bond with an amphibious man-like creature. The film tells how people only see what is on the surface, not what is underneath. Our main protagonists are a mute woman who everyone thinks is mentally handicapped, and African American housewife, a closeted gay man,..and a fish guy. This is set during a time of intense racism and misunderstanding. We’re still suffering from those same things today. It shows one of humanity’s greatest faults; the failure to come together because of our differences and our refusal to try and understand. Like its fellow Academy Awards Best Picture nominee; ‘Get Out’, The Shape of Water is a social commentary. I think most of the same people that liked Get Out will enjoy this as both films aren’t that ‘turn-your-brain-off- and- enjoy' type of experience. The film is considered a horror, as it shows at times the cruelty of man. We’re the monsters in this film. People have said that the film promotes bestiality. I’ve heard that a lot. A little side note is that the film does kind of make fun of these people but making to where they don’t know it. I don’t remember hearing that (much) about Beauty and the Beast, which is what this film essentially is. I wouldn’t call it a rip-off as I see Beauty and the Beast as a template. There are a few scenes where Elise and the Amphibian Man are ‘together’ but they are all artistically done. There’s even a very ingenious one that is arguably one of the best shots of the film. Doug Jones and Sally Hawkins are fantastic together. Their characters communicate with each other through body language. To be honest, every actor and actress is fantastic when paired with another. I loved the relationships between the main character Elise and her friends Giles and Zelda. Jenkins and Spencer were rightly nominated for their performances. Elise completely understands them, and they completely understand her. Along with the creature, they all form this little circle that supports each other as all of the main characters are victims in some fashion or another. Some which are very on the nose, some which are not. The characters are among the most fleshed out I’ve seen in recent memory. There are many subtle gestures and actions they do that allude to a certain trait never shown but letting the audience know about them. They’re ostracized in some way and there are scenes depicting their struggles. Even our antagonist; Strickland, while outside the circle is somewhat a victim, in my opinion, is given a thorough backstory. He has a loving wife (also a victim here) and two children. He’s a sadist at times but there are also times when he’s shown to still be human. His life is also in danger and he’s doing what he thinks is right and if he screws up, he’ll be killed for it. I have asked this just about every time I find out Jones portrayed a creature or monster in a film; Where’s his Oscar nod?! The man uses his body to act and many times despite not having a line, he outshines the actors that do. I hate even mentioning this movie because it was so terrible, but he was even good in The Bye Bye Man. Yes, he’s had speaking roles in a number of movies; Hellboy 2 (David Hyde Pierce provided the voice of Abe Sapien in the first one but gave it to Jones in the second one), Falling Skies, and Star Trek: Discovery just to name a few. I’ve always been a sucker for practical effects. Humanoid CGI monsters for the most part just don’t do it for me in most cases. I like for there to be a living person in that suit, on set, interacting with the actors. You don’t get the same emotion from them when you just have a ball on a stick or a guy in a suit with dots to later be generated over. That’s why I loved the original Alien movies. Alien: Covenant disappointed me in this area. Sure, there are some shots that can’t be done with a guy in a suit and that’s fine. Covenant did use the guy in a suit thing, but it didn’t do it that often, so a lot of the shots looked a bit cheap and cartoony. It’s easier nowadays to do something like that on a computer. I’m not saying there isn’t a craft to it, but I think it requires more effort and time to create an amazing costume. Gollum from Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Na’vi in Avatar and a few others get a pass as there was just no way for an actor to wear such a costume. Those two films along with District 9 blew me away with their effects. Here in this film, that’s Doug Jones in roughly 90% of the scenes the creature is in. Again, there are some shots in the movie that would be impossible to do but for the most part, you’re seeing this beautifully and intricately designed suit. I felt like what I what was seeing was a living, breathing thing. Like the first couple of the Alien films, you feel the creatures’ presence. In the live action version of Beauty and the Beast, I didn’t feel that with the Beast. Again, the CGI just looked cheap to me. But here, it’s absolutely amazing. The creature’s first full reveal isn’t portrayed as shocking as in most movies involving monsters. There’s a strange normalcy to it. Elise isn’t scared. She’s curious just as the creature is to her Now yes, the first time the audience is slightly introduced to him a few scenes before this is somewhat of a jump scene. I’ve always loved del Toro’s dark fantasy atmosphere. Many of his films show a seemingly normal world with much more going on than humanity realizes. He’s said he’s been very inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. One of the biggest things he borrows from the author is that there are simply things out there that humanity is not meant to understand. It is stated that the creature came from the Amazon (a clear homage to one of del Toro’s favorite films, The Creature from the Black Lagoon) but there’s another fantastical element present in the film that I won’t spoil, although telling you that kind of spoils it itself. The opening shot shows that del Toro should be the only choice to direct the film adaptation of the video game Bioshock. There are parts of the film where it does feel like you’re playing the game, wandering through the underwater city of Rapture. Heck, if I were to flip channels and come across this movie at the right time, I probably would think I was watching said adaptation. Paul D. Austerberry, Jeffery A. Melvin, Shane Vieau rightfully won the Academy Award for Best Production Design and I’d love to see them work on the adaptation as well. Something that I’ve always noticed in del Toro’s films (one of his motifs if you will) is that there is often a short burst of unexpected graphic violence here and there. But the thing about this is that in his films is that it’s meant to drive a point across. Not trying to nitpick here, but no one in this top-secret research facility noticed the janitor opening a coded entry, vault-like door and having lunch with something that is obviously…well ‘top secret’? No one thought of having a guard posted there 24/7? I let a lot of things slide and even I’ll let this as well, but I just wanted to point that out. If there were a guard or didn’t let the janitors in there, there would be no movie. There are a few times where the film’s minor faults are shown. The writing is amazing but every now and then there will be a line or plot aspect that just seems a bit lazy. Again, they’re very minor and miniscule to the rest of the film, but a keen observer will be able to spot them. It does drift into the realm of cliché here and there, but I sort of expected that. Some of them are clearly homages to classic monster movies though. Still, we have seen the ‘tortured-creature-befriended-by-a-kindhearted- human’ shtick’ more than enough times. Before concluding, I must explicitly state that the film has nothing to do with del Toro’s film adaptation of Hellboy. The Amphibian Man is in no way related to Abe Sapien despite their many similarities. Some have suggested that Abe is the son of the Amphibian Man and Elise. This cannot be true. In the graphic novels, Abe was a human scientist in the Victorian Era born Langdon Everett Caul. He was transformed into the creature due to an arcane ritual gone wrong. In conclusion, yes there are a lot of people who see this movie as promoting bestiality. As I said before, it makes fun of them for only seeing what’s on the surface, when there’s a much deeper meaning behind it. It is as if the film is saying; “Hey, you’re part of the problem that is discussed here. You’re the whole reason why this movie was made! But you fail to see it.” That’s what I found most amusing about this film after watching it. These people fail to see the beauty underneath. For those that do explore the film’s depths, they’ll find true beauty. Score: 8.8/10

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Loneliness in “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck essay

demonstrate Topic:\n\nThe interpretationof the estimation of solitude in Of Mice and custody by fundament Steinbeck.\n\nEssay Questions:\n\nWhy does magic trick Steinbecks Of Mice and men makes the reader familiarity unyielding feelings?\n\nWhy is John Steinbecks reinvigorated Of Mice and blend force is considered to be one of the middling roughly prominent do works of the beat of the Great slump?\n\nHow does Lennies death change George?\n\n thesis Statement:\n\nThis is a parole ab pop forth the last look forward to that 2 deal put one across, the confide they befool put either(prenominal) solar day of their spiritedness in, the go for that leads to promiselessness and nakedness.\n\n \n bleakness in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck essay\n\n \n\nThe best put schemes o mice and men\n\nGang aft agley [often go wrong]\n\nAnd leave us nought bargonly heartache and pown(prenominal)\n\nFor promised joy!\n\nRobert fire\n\n1.Introduction\n\nAnalyzing John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men makes the reader experience fixed feelings. As John Steinbeck himself is cognize to be an extraordinary author the withstand Of Mice and Men entirely confirms this belief. John Steinbecks novel Of Mice and Men is one of the nearly prominent works of the cadence of the Great notion, written in 1937. This novel reveals the reader the tone of mint of that period, their immense entrust to become happy and the nakedness they feel in their hearts. It shows the intake of two people that is finished, and as they c alone for nonhing excerpt this moon after(prenominal) they suffer it perpetuallyy matter is senseless. Destiny forces them to stay private with themselves and their whole being is loneliness, because no one is subject to help each of them after what happened. This book consisting of one degree centigrade pages is the symbolic description of the romance that runs away after having been slicegled into pieces and Lenny Small was the one to lay this fantasy. This is a book some the last confide that two people need, the hope they invite put each day of their life in, the hope that leads to discouragement and loneliness.\n\n2.Dreaming and loneliness again\n\nLennie Small, a huge further mentally retarded young man and George Milton, an average guy, ar friends that have a common hallucination they want to contact. They try to determine it in the counterpane of Soledad.Occasionally, Soledad office loneliness in Spanish and this describes the place better than some(prenominal) other description. Only George and Lennie work effortful and are always to defecateher, trying to earn silver in evidence to achieve their fancy to buy a ranch of their own in Soledad. Before they enter the ranch they make a barricado at a creek. George says that if Lennie ever finds into all trouble he should run and hide in the creek until George comes to rescue him. Everything these guys do in the ranch in the Sa linas Valley is they strive to go away and to cause the least that is give carely to get. They face rejection from the ranchers at first, and thus it gets a lower-ranking better, simply still Lennie faces the hatred from curly the ranch owners son. As Lennie is very muscular he once starts contact Curly wifes hair and kills her. He has to effluence to the creek. George and Lennies envisage is ruined and George comes and kills Lennie at the creek, as he understands that thither is no hope for them any much.What happens to George after that? Something that would have happened to any man, when he understands that there is no hope left. Him and Lennie working hard every day in order to realize their romance was the last opportunity to LIVE, and not to exist. Desperation Hurtand loneliness again.\n\n \n\n3. The message of the book\n\nThe book is very tragic. Steinbeck focuses much on the ranchers in his novel covering the anger they had for George and Lennie, and the isolati on they experient because of that. They were aliens there, and though till Lennies death they stay together, they are still lonely and have nobody to support them. notwithstanding it is not the ranchers, but Lennies strength that he cannot ready leads to the consequences of a ruined dream for both of the man.\n\nA spectacular message de liered by dint of the bailiwick of candy and the old label becomes the key to novel resolution. As soon as the pass over got old and became useless the rancher suggests Candy to go the dog. Candy does it, but later thinks that he should have shot himself, too. Candy shot the dog to put it out of the misery it was facing. The same thing George did to Lennie. Georges only savvy for living was the achievement of his dream to have a ranch. Lennie destroys his dream and George realizes that he has to shot him in order to put him out of misery he decides to live out this loneliness and desperation on his own. The book shows the nigh important the incapability of people to escape their fate and thoughts, as people during the Great Depression had nothing but hope and if the hope was gone everything was gone. It became more than lonelinessit was a fatality.\n\nIt is not just a trading floor of Lennie and George and their loneliness in the homo but also a story virtually all the people during Great Depression and their lonely hopes that never came to life and still they got a little difference: Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They bustt be pine no place...With us it aint like that. We got a future. We got somebody to gabble to that gives a damn slightly us[Steinbeck 13-14]. Steinbeck does not get into a general psychoanalysis of the characters but he reveals them and their attitudes through little things. And this creates a sodding(a) base for understanding that Lennie was just the way he was and there was nothing to do about it. He was just a man, the sa me with George. And the truth is that he believed that they are different: We are different. Tell it how it is, George[Steinbeck, 34]. They were different, lonely but different because they had Georges dream.\n\nLoneliness was a terrible shipment in the heart of all these people of that m including Lennie and George. Steinbeck reveals the cornerstone of loneliness through Georges words: I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That aint no good. They dont have no fun. After a long time they get mean. They get wantin to fight all the time[Steinbeck, 45]. That is what loneliness made with people back then. Lennie was the only shaft that made George different from others and his disaster is that he has to kill this savage with his own hands. The end of everything in the book is Georges still soul torments of losing a dream and being lonely again.\n\n4. remainder\n\nLennies and Georges dream to have a piece of cut was like a dream to be happy, but as Crooks said: nob ody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. Its just in their head. Theyre all the time talkin about it, but its jus in their head [Steinbeck, 81]. What George and Lennie did was they were staying together manduction their loneliness and alienation.If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Custom essay writing service. Free essay/order revisions. Essays of any complexity! Courseworks, term papers, research papers. 100% confidential!Homework live help. Custom Essay Order is available 24/7!