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vidavalor · 9 months

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The Blitz, Part 3 Theory: The clues that suggest what it might be about & how it's affected what's come after it

I rewatched 2.04/The Blitz, Part 2 last night and a moment stood out to me that made me think I have an idea of what might happen in the flashback we all seem to have collectively agreed is almost certainly in S3-- The Blitz, Part 3.

When Crowley & Aziraphale are in the magic shop and Glozier is there in the background, the camera jumps to a pretty significant reaction shot for Glozier when Aziraphale tells Crowley that he has a Derringer hidden in a hollowed-out book in the bookshop. I think everyone sees that bit as important-- it's a literal Chekhov's gun sitting out there for the future story, after all-- but I was thinking about why it matters that one of the Zombie Nazis overheard this when they're... ya know... zombies. Their methods of murder tend to be a little more direct, yeah? lol What do they need a gun for when they eat people to death? But then it hit me why it will matter that Glozier heard this... it's not about the Zombie Nazis, exactly. It's about Furfur.

When we leave Furfur in 1941, he's just been embarrassed in front of The Dark Council by Aziraphale, who has swapped out the picture of him and Crowley for a flyer for the Ladies of Camelot, right? They literally laugh in Furfur's face. Furfur's entire plot in 1941 is about how he's been stuck in processing for millennia and he's trying to get out of it-- about how he's jealous of Crowley and the few others who get to go to Earth. He's dealt slight after slight after slight during this night in 1941. He fails to get proof against Crowley, who doesn't even remember him. He gets shamed and embarrassed in front of the higher-ups and his peers. His fledging... whatever it is exactly lol... with Shax-- who is the closest thing he has to a friend-- is damaged as she's gone out on a limb for him and he hasn't delivered. Most terrible, he's sure he's never going to get out of his miserable eternity of grunt work. He's *very, very, very* unhappy and boxed into a corner, right? So what does Furfur want, now that he's stuck in Hell forever and all of it is laughing at him?

Revenge. He wants revenge.

In the short term, he also wants someone to scream at, so he goes back up to Earth and finds the Zombie Nazis, who are roaming around London eating people. They can't go very quickly so they haven't gotten far and aren't hard to find lol. Furfur knows it's not exactly their fault that he was tricked by the angel as, technically, they completed the tasks they were given, but he's furious and he needs to vent it, so he starts yelling that he's going to revoke their zombie-life-on-earth clauses. (Even *the Nazi zombies* get to be on Earth and Furfur does not? Yeah, he's not going to be able to handle that...)

The Zombie Nazis, understandably after seeing that video he showed them in Part 2, start freaking out because they don't want that whole fly fate for all of eternity and they don't know how to reach anyone beyond Furfur so they'll do anything to keep Furfur from taking out his humiliation on them. Upon hearing that this is all about how Aziraphale tricked Furfur and got him humiliated by Hell, the Zombie Nazis start desperately suggesting that it's not too late! They can help Furfur still get Crowley and Aziraphale! Even if Hell thinks Furfur is a joke and won't listen to him about the angel and demon being involved, they can still help Furfur get revenge!

They bring Furfur to outside the bookshop to find Crowley and Aziraphale because that's where the Zombie Nazis say they saw them together earlier & they know Aziraphale lives there. Furfur's in a rage because through a side window, he's observing Crowley and Aziraphale drinking wine together by candlelight in what is the "I know you'd come through for me" scene from Part 2-- and Aziraphale even has the photo Furfur took of them earlier in his hand. (Insert here more of the recurring gag about Harmony lip-reading as now he's also looking through the window and probably gets a line like "he is saying it again! 'banana fish go-RILL-ah...'").

So Furfur is in a fur-furious rage here and is ready to murder these two but... there's just one *slight* problem...

He's a demon.

He can't get into the bookshop.

Aziraphale would have to invite him in and he's certainly not going to after their meeting earlier. But! This is when Furfur and the Nazis realize that there is someone in their group who *can* get in the bookshop...

....our fave fascist, Fraulein Greta Klauschmidt.

As "Rose", Greta recruited Aziraphale-- entering his bookshop when she was a human, invited in by Aziraphale. She can still get into the bookshop. (It's also a parallel to Shax tricking Aziraphale into letting her into The Bentley in S2.)

Once Furfur and the Nazis realize this, the question then becomes: okay, so if Greta can get into the shop, how is she then going to kill Aziraphale and Crowley? (*Especially* Aziraphale, whom Furfur really, really, really loathes at this point lol.)

This is when we go back to the scene that triggered this meta, which is that this is when Glozier then volunteers the information he overheard in the magic shop-- that there's a Chekhov's gun in the bookshop.

The Derringer works as a weapon here to do that because, as Furfur himself pointed out during the magic show earlier, if Crowley had shot Aziraphale in the face, it wouldn't just be paperwork but it might not be possible for them to "put him back together again"-- indicating that there are some things that can happen to angels and demons that are irreversible and can effectively kill them, more or less-- and a gunshot to the head is one of them.

(I'm also realizing as I'm writing this that that Glozier's *ear* falling off in the magic shop is another nod to him having *heard* important information and so far, we've only seen half of what he heard pay off-- the time and location of Aziraphale's performance in the West End. We're still awaiting pay off of the gun bit.)

My bet is that Aziraphale's Derringer in a hollowed out book is something he actually *showed "Rose" like the cinnamon roll idiot that he is* lol... so once Glozier brings it up, Greta remembers and she knows what book it's in and exactly where it is in the shop.

So Furfur still cannot get in but Greta can get in... which means Greta is now the most powerful character here. If Furfur wants Aziraphale dead, Greta can make that happen... *if* they cut a deal. What kind of deal? Well, the only thing Greta is going to want that she thinks that Furfur could give her is to not be a zombie, right? To be alive again? Reverse the clause in the paperwork and give her her life back. Whether or not Furfur can actually do this (and I'm not sure if he can or not, really, but I'd wager probably not), Furfur tells Greta that he can and she and the other Nazis believe him.

The plan is that the four of them go to the bookshop, where Furfur activates a miracle blocker card for a few hours surrounding the shop in an effort to limit Crowley and Aziraphale's powers and give the Zombie Nazis the advantage. Once the miracle blocker is in place, Greta goes inside while Harmony and Glozier make noise outside, in an effort to separate Crowley and Aziraphale to make it easier to kill them by attempting to lure one of them outside. Greta is to kill the one that stays inside the bookshop while Harmony and Glozier are supposed to kill the one that goes outside. (This will not happen according to plan at all, whatsoever, but it does seem like the most likely plan these four characters could form where they all have a role in it.)

So because Greta is the only one who can get inside, she has go to into the bookshop and be the one who can kill, most likely in their mind, Aziraphale. She'll still be a staggering zombie when the extremely bright Furfur sends her in there to obtain and fire a gun at a pair of supernatural beings lol but she manages to sneak in the back door without Crowley and Aziraphale really hearing the breaking & entering... or whatever noises the other two are making outside... as Crowley and Aziraphale are a little busy gazing at one another.

It would actually be a really funny, very Good Omens-y gag IMHO, if Greta is colossally unsubtle in entering the other side of the shop from where Crowley & Aziraphale are and is banging into stuff while Harmony and Glozier keep coming up with more and more insane noises outside... but Crowley and Aziraphale are too busy making heart eyes at one another to care or do anything about it. A very "did you... hear that?"/"oh, must be the war, let's go back to gazing" type of attitude with a steadily increasing series of sounds that are harder and harder to dismiss but they are trying, ok? lol. (This would also parallel Aziraphale ignoring the demons outside for as long as he could during The Ball in S2, until the bookshop begins literally breaking around them.)

So while we watch scenes of Furfur and The Zombie Nazis Hatch A Plot, the relationship tension between Crowley & Aziraphale is building as much as the plot tension. They intercut Furfur & the Nazis scenes with Crowley & Aziraphale having quiet, romantic, candlelit glasses of wine after their very intense and illuminating evening together. Each time we go back to Crowley & Aziraphale... they seem to be getting increasingly cozier. They sit a little closer, they get a little looser around one another. Crowley's glasses might come off. We get the sense that this is all Going Somewhere and it's somewhere they've never let themselves go before but after the events of Blitz 1 & 2 tonight? It's becoming increasingly clear to them that they will. There's virtual certainty that if *nothing else happens* to these two tonight and they're just left alone for once, they're at least going to kiss and what we're watching is them slowly enjoying the path there and them enjoying silently knowing that they're going to.

At some point, we hop from the Nazis back over to Aziraphale asking Crowley if he'd like a little music... Aziraphale might even have something *modern* kicking around, he's excited to tell Crowley (like he might have been totally not at all fantasizing about this exact Crowley-dashing-in-his-suit-with-a-glass-of-wine-smoldering-in-the-bookshop scenario when he bought this record from Maggie's grandfather recently lol)... and he goes over to the gramophone to put it on and now we've got Crowley and Aziraphale with candlelight and wine and music and they're each just taking step after slow little step that slowly acknowledges the romance at play here. Aziraphale's record is probably Glenn Miller. We know he likes big band and The Bentley played him "Moonlight Serenade" in S2 and Glenn Miller also recorded "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square", so it's one record where "Moonlight" could play and then, eventually, so too could "Nightingale" without Aziraphale getting up and moving away from Crowley... and you better believe that when we get to "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" playing that Crowley and Aziraphale are a literal breath away from kissing.

It'd be completely perfect to them, right? Very romantic. They're there together, alone, they've survived the Nazis and Mrs. H and threats of Hell and have spent the night gazing at one another and now they're here and it's quiet and there's candlelight and it's the familiar, comforting bookshop that is home for both of them... the same place, ironically, that they will drink wine together and make eyes at one another *for decades* after this night-- without Aziraphale putting on The Song, of course-- and you know they will think about 1941 every. single. time. while never actually recreating it.

(It's also why, when they're both wasted in the bookshop in S1's "Eleven Years Ago", Crowley is rambling on about bananas and gorillas and bouillabaisse/fish stew-- ya know, "banana fish gorilla..."-- and they're both so drunk and thinking about how they're almost out of time... and so they're both thinking of 1941 and wind up making those hilarious kissy faces at one another because they both obviously still want to actually kiss some 80 years after the night they almost did. Crowley also calls Aziraphale "baby" in the middle of his ramble. He might have called Aziraphale that in 1941, when they weren't drunk and were on their way to kissing. He also might have just wanted to, so it turned up in "Eleven Years Later" and might come up again later on in the present of S3, whenever they inevitably get to finally have a decent, uninterrupted, not painful kiss.)

Back in 1941, as we flip between Furfur/The Nazis and our heroes, maybe Crowley's even gotten comfortable enough to lose the glasses (though he can leave them on if he still has the hat on when they go to kiss so that he can take the hat off like a gentleman to kiss Aziraphale *swoon* and actually that's how Aziraphale died everyone surprise twist he's been dead since 1941 an a ghost this whole time lol)... and there's romantic big band on the record player and there was magic in the air and angels were dining at the Ritz when a nightingale sang in Bahhhrrrrk. Leeeeee. Square... and they're *almost* there, right? They're basically kissing. There is no way for either of them to ever legitimately pretend that was not was going to happen (even if they will try in the future lol) as their lips were a millimeter away and both of them want it and just like this and it's been six thousand years of pining and so, of course, that is when...

...Greta zombie-crashes into the room with Aziraphale's once-hidden Derringer aimed at them.

(Aziraphale's probably furiously muttering "oh good Lord" under his breath with a very different tone than in 1793 lol. That is his attitude, at least, if not the dialogue.)

So then they have to try to protect one another right and it's mild chaos for a moment as like Crowley starts looking out the window at Furfur and the rest of the Zombie Nazi Trio (paralleling his demons-outside-the-bookshop paranoia in S2) and realizes they were the noise while Greta is all "pity you both must die" again with a little smirk and Aziraphale is trying to calm her down and reason with her while also subtly trying to get close enough to get the gun and she probably fires but she's a zombie so she misses lol and he's like glancing over for Crowley and Crowley seems to disappear for a moment while Aziraphale stalls Greta and just when we think where the hell did Crowley go?! Aziraphale is about to be shot in the face!...

...Greta is shot in the face instead.

By Crowley.

With The Bullet Catcher.

And the bullet that was in Aziraphale's teeth a couple of hours ago.

Crowley has not so much has blown the fluff off a dandelion since he arrived on Earth six thousand years ago but you interrupt his first kiss with the angel and you. are. dead, you Nazi bitch...

I don't have a theory as to what happens after this beyond that we already know that Furfur is in Requisitions in the present now so he's going places lol. Also worth mentioning that Crowley or Aziraphale (I'd lean towards Crowley) could get shot by Greta's wild aim when they are trying to protect one another but it would be more of a graze that one could write a hundred h/c fics over than anything worth actually worrying about lol. It could be something like Crowley gets nicked but goes down as dramatically as he does in the paintball scene in S1 and Aziraphale is horrified but also fighting for his own life so he winds up focused on Greta and neither of them see Crowley slip away to come back with The Bullet Catcher... something like that. I'm just pretty sure that the fact that there are really *two* Chekhov's guns in the bookshop and that Greta is the only 1941 antagonist who can get inside it maths out to Crowley-- shooting her with The Bullet Catcher.

I'm not sure what happens to Harmony and Glozier. Aziraphale says in S1 that he's never killed anything so he can't kill anyone here and while I'm fine with Crowley mowing down Nazis with every Chekhov's gun left in the plot lol, I don't know that that's what happened or if, honestly, the two of them and Furfur just see Greta die through the window and run off. Maybe Aziraphale miracles the Nazis to Siberia. Who knows. But the main gist of it, I think, is that Crowley kills Greta when the Zombie Nazis and Furfur try to exact revenge on Crowley & Aziraphale and, in doing so, interrupt what would have been their first kiss and it's while "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" is on in the background so that every time the song comes up in the future, it's a reference to this near-kiss in 1941, adding layers to scenes from Soho 1967 to the end of S1 to the end of S2, etc...

Kind of makes Crowley desperately kissing Aziraphale in the middle of the bookshop while a vengeful Heaven, this time, is trying to separate them, even more aldkjlkfjlewje, yeah?

I'd also like to just throw in here that it's actually possible that all of this is the same but they *did* kiss... that they were kissing when Greta burst in. Part of me really wants that to be the case. That maybe they did get to have this kiss, if only because even if only a tenth of what I've said above is anywhere close to right, it's still pretty romantic and it would be nice if they got to have that, especially then, even if it was ultimately interrupted. It's Soho 1967, though, that convinced me that they came *very* close but ultimately didn't (and honestly, the only way they don't in 1941 if they get that close is if they're interrupted and an armed Zombie Nazi crashing through the bookshop feels about right lol.) It's this bit from Aziraphale to me that says they almost kissed but didn't:

The picnic was likely Crowley's 1827 date in Edinburgh. The Gabriel statue was there for amusement but you know Crowley had a picnic set up nearby. (It's not that weird-- people used to picnic in graveyards in the 1800s & the only time Crowley & Aziraphale would be able to together would be under the cover of darkness.) Then, they ran into Elspeth and the night took a turn. (Elspeth was also digging up bodies from graves, which is a parallel to zombies, hooking 1827 to 1941.) Dining at the Ritz-- literally going to The Ritz and eating together, which they do twice in S1-- is something Aziraphale would literally like to go do as a date as but it's also code in the 1967 scene for "perhaps, one day, we could finish 1941." He's telling Crowley in 1967 that he would still very much like to kiss him one day.

The near-kiss in 1941 would then also be what gives Aziraphale the motivation to eventually give Crowley the holy water in 1967. Back in 1863, Aziraphale didn't totally see that Crowley wanted holy water to protect them. By 1941, when they're staring at the corpse of a once-Zombie Nazi on the floor of the bookshop that Crowley just killed with the gun that's in his hands, it's a different sort of proof. 1941 becomes the era of 'here is proof that Crowley will literally kill to protect Aziraphale' and maybe it freaks Aziraphale out a little (as well as also turning him on a lot lol). Maybe that's why they spend the next years after that until the '60s together but not really together. Maybe that's why they don't have another chance at the kiss after 1941-- why they don't just try again-- because Aziraphale slows down a bit after it, afraid that Crowley could get hurt and that this is too dangerous, but he also understands now that Crowley is in love with him and when he hears in 1967 that Crowley is going after Holy Water, Aziraphale just gives him some, as a way of saying that he knows they're in love but this is impossible and they need to not pursue this in a way that will get them killed because he can't lose him.

A near-kiss in 1941 adds layers to 1967 Soho by adding an additional meaning of 'physical intimacy' to "dining at the Ritz". It adds even more weight to the end of S2 and the kiss and the "no nightingales" through to the Tori Amos angsty cover of "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" in The Bentley. There are other scenes (the end of S1 and others) that it touches as well, if indirectly, but maybe my favorite is this scene, which has already been given extra layers of meaning since The Blitz, Part 2 and The Bullet Catcher plot but lol now add in the idea that the rest of the story is that Crowley and Aziraphale were going to kiss and they were interrupted in the moment, shot at with at least one of them probably getting nicked, and then Crowley killed someone with The Bullet Catcher and tell me it doesn't make this already amazing sequence even more amazing:

#ineffable husbands #good omens #crowley #aziraphale #good omens theory #good omens 1941 #good omens meta #aziraphale x crowley #crowley x aziraphale

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linkspooky · 3 months

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The Death of Kenjaku

So I was planning to write this meta the week that Kenjaku died, but decided to delay until we got full confirmation of his death. Something I didn't believe in even after Kenjaku passed the merger onto Sukuna. However, watching this video about death in Jujutsu Kaisen inspired me to finish this post. Not because I disagree with anything the YouTuber is saying, but because they can speculate on the meaning of so many deaths in Jujutsu Kaisen but can't find the meaning in Kenjaku's sudden death. This has led me to speculate why Gege made the choice to kill Kenjaku in the way that he did. What meaning is there in Kenjaku's abrupt and unsatisfying death?

Who is Kenjaku?

The first step in understanding Kenjaku's death is of course understanding how he lived. We actually know incredibly little about Kenjaku's character by design. Despite the fact he's literally in Geto's body, he's not meant to have sympathetic or human motivations to his actions (though hold onto that "human motivation" in your head for a moment). No flashback sequence shows the audience why this guy is the way he is, no single event seems to have driven him to do what he did.

This is what we know about Kenjaku in brief. He is a sorcerer who is over a thousand years old who was around in Sukuna's day. He once had a friendship with Tengen, but found her original self boring and unambitious. He also contrasts heavily with Tengen, who lives outside of humanity, because he has lived among humanity for 1,000 years. One of those lifetimes was Noritoshi Kamo who violated a woman and conducted heinous experiments. He produced ten children in his one thousand years, the nine death painting siblings and Yuji Itadori. He considers the first children boring, because human and curse hybrids turned out too normal.

He also partially blames himself for how boring they are, because he can't create anything that will exceed his expectations, the only thing that can exceed his expectations is born in chaos. He spent a thousand years organizing the culling games, and wants to use the games to create a merger, because he thinks creating a merger between Tengen and Humanity will create something entirely new and interesting. He also believes the way towards the future lies in further optimizing cursed energy, not in breaking away from it the way Yuki Tsukumo tried to do and Maki has.

The only people whose word we have on Kenjaku's motivations are Kenjaku himself, and Tengen's word and Tengen themselves who claims to not know what goes on in the human heart.

From all of the above Kenjaku seems to be a shallow character who's motivations can be summed up as "because I can" and "I want to see what happens." This shallowness is intentional however, as Gege who once praised the minimalist storytelling of Nasu and Evangelion likes to pick and choose what crumbs of backstory he gives out for his characters. We've never gotten any exposition on the Gojo clan, but we have an entire chapter about Takaba's failed career as a stand-up comic. This isn't a judgement of good or bad writing, this is just how Gege writes as minimalist as possible. This is in line with how Gege writes the ancient sorcerers as well, they are all much more shallow driven by instinct or Freudian Id (I desire) rather than the higher reasoning of modern-day sorcerers. Takaba uses comedy as a means of communication and bridging the gaps between people, Higuruma's backstory is the critique of the modern day justice system. Ishigori apparently lived a satisfying life where he was succesful and had good women, but that wasn't enough so he wants to get into a fight with Yuta to satisfy his hunger and feel like he's eaten desert.

It sounds shallow when I summarize it in text, but in the context of the fight with Yuta, it's a challenge for Yuta who for the most part only cares about his loved ones and sees the world through his love goggles to be more selfish and fight for his own desires. It's also reflective of a more basic and instinctual kind of thinking, as opposed to the higher reasoning and logic that modern-day sorcerers apply.

I'm keeping most of this first part to text for this reason, like go back and read the fight with Ishigori and Yuta. If I summarize Ishigori's character reasoning out of context it sounds stupid, but read the fight and it works because it's ID (I Desire) vs. Yuta's superego in not only having to collect points to help rescue Tsumiki, find a way to protect all the innocent people in the Culling Games, and also collect enough points to take on Kenjaku himself so Gojo won't have to. Meanwhile Ishigori's just fighting to get some of that sweet desert, the shallow works in contrast to the more layered motivations of our heroes.

Kenjaku is a shallow archetype fighting to satisfy his baser impulses (in his case curiosity) in comparison to the main characters who are fighting for more complicated reasons and often people besides themselves.

The question then becomes what archetype is Kenjaku. In that case answering who Kenjaku is is quite simple.

Kenjaku is a clown.

It might be more accurate to say that Kenjaku embodies what's commonly known as the "trickster archetype" but I'mma go with clown.

The most obvious example of a clown villain is what most consider the joker to be, that is a silly little clown man who challenges the straight faced and grim batman and sews chaos where Batman attempts to establish law and order in Gotham and make the city into a better place.

From the book Batman and Psychology:

More than any other villains, the Joker and Two-face reflect Batman himself as funhouse distortions, converses of who and what he is. The laughing, jesting, brightly colored Joker contrasts with grim, dark Batman. The Joker is the Joker. No alter ego. The film's opening bank robbery shows him wearing a clown mask over clown makeup, Under the surface there's only more Joker. He gives no history except inconsistent lies. When he finally considers the impact of his demand Batman unmask, he retracts the threat and demands that Batman's identity remain undisclosed. He wants a batman who has no other self, a Dark Knight whose only deeper layer is further darkness.

Is there a better descriptor for Kenjaku then these words?

Kenjaku is Kenjaku. No alter ego. A clown mask over clown makeup., Under the surface there's only more Kenjaku.

In other words, what you see is what you get.

Kenjaku even mirrors Joker's opinion of Batman, he thinks people should be more like him, not the other way around. He's not the outlier, he's being true to humanity's basic impulses of curiousity and discovery.

A more apt comparison as a clown though would probably be Loki, one of the most classic examples of clowning in the shared mythology of humanity. The character who challenges the common wisdom of gods like Odin who suspended themselves from the world tree for eleven days in order to gain wisdom. Loki, who through his trickery manages to bring about the events of Ragnarok for no deeper reason than because he can. Everyone swore not to harm Balder and Loki goes to find something that can harm him because BET.

Mythological Loki doesn't need a deeper motivation because what he represents in the mythology is someone who challenges authority and brings about a change, because in Norse Mythology nothing lasts forever and no era is permanent. Jujutsu Kaisen is also a story about how things should not in fact stay the same and tradition is bad sometimes.

When Kenjaku finds Tengen's true body he's curled up in a tree root in the fetal position, and he killed what is basically the all-knowing, all-seeing supposedly immortal sorcerer that maintains the status quo of japan, it's not exactly subtle.

Kenjaku is a clown, and clown's gotta clown. We don't need any more explanation that, it's more about what he does for the story. However, what he represents, the deep intellectual curiosity, and also a drive to disrupt the status quo in an attempt to see something more interesting can also be analyzed more deeply because they are human emotions that motivate us as well. The same way that Mahito is an inhuman monster, but he's created and motivated by the fear of other humans, something all of us have. '

Before moving onto his death though, I wanna hammer in how Kenjaku really is just motivated by these two things, a desire to see something interesting, and intellectual curiosity by comparing him to other characters.

The Clown in Fiction

I've already compared Kenjaku to Loki and the Joker, but when it comes to someone who wants to disrupt the entire order of the world simply because they're bored we've got to go to the original girlboss.

So there are plenty of villains who go "I'm evil because I'm bored" but they usually tend to be pretty shallow, either shallowly written for the lulz evil characters who just exist for shock value or just kinda dull. No one has ever done it as good as Junko Enoshima and no one ever will again.

For those who need context DanganRonpa is a death game series where the main villain basically has caused the apocalypse, wiped out most of humanity, and then induces survivors in a bunker to kill each other in a death game, where if someone commits a succesful murder they can escape the bunker, but if they're caught in a trial they're executed. Also, if they're not convicted in the trial everyone else is killed, motivating the jury to find and execute the guilty murderer.

Junko Enoshima the main villain and orchestrator of this death game ended the world because despair. She wants to inflict despair on everyone because despair. Because hope sucks and despair is where it's at.

It sounds shallow and it is and Kodaka has said in interview he wrote Junko to be a villain character with zero redeeming character traits, and no sympathetic backstory to describe why she is the way she is, but there is still something motivating her.

If you go a bit deeper into the lore and read Dangan Ronpa Zero, there is an entire book which explains the lengths which Junko goes to feel normal human emotions. The thing is much like Kenjaku Junko is too smart for her own good, everything is predictable and therefore everything bores her. Once in an attempt to live normally, she literally lobotomizes herself, makes it so that she can't remember anything and has continual amnesia constantly forgetting what just happened to her, because that's the only way she can live without knowing everything that's going to happen and constantly predicting everyone's actions.

Junko has whatever her universe's version of the six-eyes is, but instead of lording it over other people like Gojo and basking in her superiority she wants to feel normal, and connected to the world. If she can't have that she tries to make the world as unpredictable place as possible so she can experience it the same way that everyone else does.

Hope is harmony. A just heart, moving toward the light. That is all. Despair is hope's polar opposite. It is messy and confusing. It swallows up love, hatred, and everything else. Because not knowing where you will end up is despair. Despair is even what you cannot predict. Only despair's unpredictability can save you from a boring future.

I'm still not describing it properly because I don't want to go into a Danganronpa essay in this post about Jujutsu Kaisen, but one example I always use is two characters from American Dragon Jake Long. They're a pair of twins who see the future, one always sees happy things, and one always sees sad things. The one who has happy visions is a goth who's very depressed and the one who sees disaster is an incredibly peppy girl.

Jake is so confused as to why the twin who always sees good visions is so depressed, and she basically tells him to imagine having every good thing, every small little surprise, every pleasure taken out of life.

Kara: When you only see good things, nothing's special anymore. All the pleasant surprises are taken out of life. Sara: But, when you only see bad stuff, even the smallest bit of good news makes you happy!

All of this to say what Junko feels isn't just boredom, or a desire to commit evil for evil's sake, but also a full on existential crisis where she's simply too smart so she doesn't feel any connection to other people or the world around her. In order to feel that connection, that connection that everyone else has, to feel like she is actually a participant in her life not an observer she's willing to go to extremes to make the world a more interesting place, to therefore make her own life feel satisfying.

Kenjaku vs. The World (Kenjaku Pilgrim's sad little life)

To connect all this back to Kenjaku imagine the profound existential despair of a person who's lived for a thousand years, and felt bored all that time. Sukuna is at least a hedonist, he gets his fun by getting into fights, humans might be bugs to him but they're tasty bugs.

Kenjaku goes to similiar motivations and has similiar extremes, he's uninvested in the world around him, he's lived a thousand years but has no attachment to the world, to life, to the people around him. I said that Junko wants to be a participant in life not an all seeing observer and that was purposeful language because to bring back an old post. I rambled on this post about Gojo that part of Gojo's problem is that he only experiences observer-to-object relationships or I to it.

Ich and Du, translated as I and Thou is a book by philosopher Martin Buber. His two main porositions is that we may address existence in two ways:

The attitude of the “I” towards “it” towards an object that is separate in itself, which we either use or experience.

The attitude of “I” towards “Thou” in a relationship in which the other is not separated by discrete bounds.

In Buber's terms, those who only experience the first type of relationships are only observing the world around them not relating to them. Kenjaku doesn't relate to other human beings because they are objects, he only experiences subject -> object relationships and never subject -> subject.

Buber also goes on to theorize that meaning in our lives comes from subject -> subject relationships we form with other people.

Kenjaku jokingly says that to be his friend you have to never bore him and be his equal, but there's no one considers his equal because he's the subject and everyone else are just objects.

He regrets he can't sit down and talk theories with Tsukumo Yuki because she's one of the few people who think like him.

Kenjaku is a paradox of an incredibly brilliant man who is also shallow as a puddle that you can stand in and not get your socks wet. However, he tragically can't really form a more complex identity because our identities are formed by our relationships to other people and Kenjaku doesn't relate to anybody.

That's basically the theme of the whole Choso and Kenjaku fight, Choso is a weird aborted fetus of a curse who still has a strong identity and is able to feel unconditional love for Yuji because of the connection of family and the ideas of brotherhood that binds the two. Kenjaku is a bad father who abandoned Choso because they were "boring" but also never really gave them a chance to grow up or be interesting, he just dismissed them offhand and moved on to the next weird science project.

However, his reason for dismissing Choso isn't Choso's fault but rather a case of Psychological projection. It's not Choso who is boring, but rather Kenjaku himself, he said so earlier.

"What I can create, does not exceed the bounds of my own potential. The answer is always flickering darkly in chaos."

Kenjaku cannot look within to find anything satisfying abput his life because there's nothing inside of him. He doesn't have a fully formed identiy he's just ID, and because he tramples all over other people to form his desires he also cannot ever form a full ego. Just like Sukuna and most of the ancient sorcerers he's a paradox of being all ego, and yet having an underdeveloped ego with shallow motivators.

Kenjaku cannot look within because he's a boring person, and he cannot look for other people to find worth in his life because they're just objects, so instead he looks into the void, he tries to change the world around him by spreading more chaos hoping that it will make something unpredictable happen in front of his eyes - and that will give him the meaning and investment in his life he's deprived himself of because he refuses to form relationships with other people.

It's the Gojo problem. It's the Kashimo problem. It's not the Sukuna problem, because Sukuna admits he doesn't care about and rejects things like love and meaning.

If Kenjaku makes the world around him a more interesting place, he will be able to live in it. It's the same as Gojo trying to raise people up to his level by creating stronger students.

So after going to great length to demonstrate how powerful and all-consuming Kenjaku's boredom is, and how cut off he is from his own humanity, here's the part where I sort of defend his death.

Wouldn't it be funny if the joke character killed the main villain?

Let's be honest it was Takaba's kill here, Yuta just camped and killstole. I think part of the problem with people not understanding the meaning behind Kenjaku's sudden and unexpected death is attributing the death to Yuta cutting his head off out of nowhere, and not Takaba's thematic victory over Kenjaku.

Takaba represents a blindspot for Kenjaku which is why the main characters use him as a weapon against him, and he also calls out in a fashion Kenjaku's hypocrisy. First and foremost, Kenjaku presents himself as an agent of change, but he actually has no interest in many of the modern sorcerers and holds a bias towards the heian era as the peak of sorcery. He even says that he's going to bring back the Heian Golden Age to Sukuna at the end of Shibuya arc.

Because that's what Chaos is Kenjaku, things being the same as they were 1,000 years ago. Kenjaku is an agent of change and chaos and somehow his definition of change is... resetting things back to the past because the sorcerers of the past were so much better than today.

Kenjaku goes out of his way to awaken hundreds of modern day sorcerers, and then dismisses literally off of them except for Hiromi because they don't have enough potential for him compared to ancient sorcerers. He essentially did the same with the Death Painting Bros, he went through all of the trouble to create them, then dismissed them as not having enough potential BEFORE THEY EVEN GOT THE CHANCE TO GROW UP.

Kenjaku has a habit of just going BORED NOW and leaving before he even gives things the time to impress him. He does the same with the Culling Game, he set up the death game to push sorcerers to fight each other and bring out their powers, but he never actually intended to watch the sorcerers evolve. He just wanted to slaughter everyone inside to start the merger.

He goes through a lot of potential to set up these situations and then abandons them before they have the chance to even evolve, because they do not have enough "potential" in his opinion, but like his opinion is often shown to be wrong. Takaba represents that blindspot because he was one of the modern sorcerers that Kenjaku underestimated and dismissed offhand as boring without giving him a chance to shine.

That is the joke that Takaba introduces himself with "Wouldn't it be funny if a random comic relief side character suddenly defeated the big bad?"

He's immediately pointing out a blindspot, because Kenjaku automatically believes himself to be an important character, he underestimates Takaba because he's a side character, one of the people Kenjaku has dismissed as boring and uninteresting (before they even had a chance to evolve into something else). Like that's the other thing Kenjaku wants things to evolve but he doesn't... let them. He abandoned Choso and the rest before they even grew up, they were literally fetuses and he threw them away. Kenjaku is the protagonist of reality, and Takaba is a side character, and therefore Takaba couldn't possibly harm him because Kenjaku and his boundless curiosity are the center of the world.

It's not just about subverting the audience's expectations to have the main villain die in such an anti-climactic way before the final act even starts, but it's pointing out how narrow Kenjaku's viewpoints really were all along. He wants everything to be surprised but he never lets anything surprise him, because either he gets bored right away, or he looks down on others before giving them the chance to evolve, or the third thing he just straight up has to control everything. He can't let the culling game evolve naturally he's going to slaughter all the players by hand so he can move onto the next part.

It's the contradiction between a schemer who needs to control everything and everyone to bring about his intended result and everything needs to be a part of his big plans, to someone who wants to be surprised by others and have things go off the rails. You can't have both of these things at once, Kenjaku cannot have things surprise him if he rigs everything to go his way with his overly elaborate schemes and his tight-fisted control of everyone in the story.

Like, in comparison to Kenjaku the joker just blows things up and sprays people with laughing gas. They're both playing the same game but the joker is having fun and Kenjaku isn't.

Kenjaku wants an unexpected future, but he doesn't care about any of the modern sorcerers and has a bias towards the heiean era that he considers the height and wants to reset things to bring back the heian era. He wants to be surprised but won't give up control.

Kenjaku's boast is that unlike Tengen he's spent a thousand years living on the ground instead of lording up on them from above like some deity, but is that true? Has Kenjaku lived? Has he engaged with the world? Formed relationships with people? Or does he just sit in the corner rubbing his hands together menacingly and scheming his schemes.

Takaba unironically gives Kenjaku what he wants, something he's never seen before in a thousand years, and it's from a place Kenjaku never expected. Some random guy, who he dismissed as one of the boring modern sorcerers with no potential like Higuruma.

Takaba not only exists in Kenjaku's blindspot, he almost immediately points out Kenjaku's second hypocrisy. If he's willing to resort to mass murder just to feel entertained, then if he found something else to entertain him there'd be no reason to get violent and scheme his schemes.

In other words Kenjaku hasn't really gone looking for other places to try to find what makes life worth living, or at least enertaining, he hasn't really tried any alternatives to finding joy in life because Jujutsu is all he cares about. Takaba says that if he found something else even more entertaining than the merger there'd be no need to go through with the merger, and he turns out to be right. Kenjaku could have found meaning and entertainment with the world someplace else, he was just too narrow minded and never looked anywhere else.

As I said from the beginning Kenjaku's existential crisis comes from his inability to relate to other people and viewing them all as objects, but in Kenjaku's mind of course he can't relate to others they're too boring, so therefore it's the world's fault, and the fault of others and not himself.

However, right away one of those boring people starts relating to Kenjaku.

I joked about how we know nothing about the Gojo clan but Takaba gets an entire backstory chapter about his failed comedy career, but this chapter is plot important because jokes are the way that Takaba relates to and forms relationships with other people. Takaba makes jokes to relate to others but has a fallout with a comedy partner and has never been able to form a lasting relationship with a comedic partner because comedy doesn't mean the same to them as it does to him - because to Takaba comedy is about forming relationships with people. Which is why he thinks he's failed if he's failed to make everyone in the audience laugh because he wants to make comedy that will make other people relate to him and understand him.

However, he almost gives up on comedy because he's afraid that he might fail on that endeavor. He gives up on striving to make everybody in the audience laugh, because of self-affirmation and a desire to protect himself. He didn't want to fail so he started distancing himself from the audience under the excuse "Well, I can't make everyone laugh so it's okay if not everyone understands me."

Takaba at some point gave up on trying to use comedy as a means of understanding and relating to others, because of his fear of failure and at that point he nearly lost - but he rallies himself by saying that he won't give up on making someone like Kenjaku laugh. If his comedy is about connecting to others, about understanding others and having others understand him then he can't just give up on Kenjaku and say it's Kenjaku's fault that Kenjaku can't relate to his sense of humor. He's got to try even harder to make Kenjaku laugh.

This is also pretty much the opposite of Kenjaku's point of view. For Kenjaku it's everyone else's fault for being so boring that's why he can't relate to them. Wheras, Takaba takes personal responsibility, he wasn't funny enough, he has to try harder, he's the one who's going to make Kenjaku laugh by improving himself. Takaba looks inward, and Kenjaku looks outwards because there's nothing inside Kenjaku.

This is a parallel to this.

The difference however, is that Sukuna did not betray his ideology. Sukuna lives for the kicks that battle provides him and wants to face strong opponents so he can eventually devoured them and be momentarily entertained.

Like Sukuna is not bored the way Kenjaku is. The world is his playground. He may refer to living as just killing time until you die, but he also says that there's an infinite variety of humans to entertain yourself with. The world is Sukuna's toybox and he's satisfied with just that. In fact he doesn't even care about the merger, until his frustration with Yuji makes him think a little deeper about himself.

Kenjaku is not the Sukuna in this scene, he's the Gojo. He believed he was above others, only to be reminded suddenly that he was just the same as everyone else and brought back down to humanity. I mean, they even die off panel the same anticlimactic way. Gojo's infinity meant nothing in the face of one surprise attack a world-cleaving slash Gojo didn't see coming. All of Kenjaku's backup plans meant nothing in the face of Yuta camping and kill-stealing.

Kenjaku didn't lose because Yuta's plan of camping and killstealing was simply too brilliant for him to prepare for however, we're given the exact reason kenjaku lost - because he was having too much fun with Takaba.

Which meant what Takaba said earlier was true, if Kenjaku found something funnier, something other than the merger that could make him laugh there'd be no need to go through with the merger to begin with.

Kenjaku loses because all along he could have related to people, formed meaningful relationships with others, looked for meaning in life outside of Jujutsu but just chose not to. Which is also a parallel to this.

Sukuna says that Kashimo and Gojo both lost because they were greedy. They already received love in a way, they had the love of everyone who regarded them as the strongest, they had people who earnestly wanted to challenge them and respected them - which Sukuna sees as a form of love, and yet they still wanted more.

They were the ones who put themselves up on that pedestal and decided to stand above all of humanity, they don't get to whine about being lonely on top of that.

To add my interpretation to Sukuna's speech, what he's outlining is a general conflict in Jujutsu Kaisen, you can choose to be all ego to put personal development above everything else but it comes at the cost of not being able to form relationships. Maki's as powerful as Toji now, but the sister she always wanted to protect is dead and basically committed suicide. Meanwhile Noritoshi Kamo didn't participate in the final battle, but he reconnected with his mother and half-brother.

There are plenty of characters who die and suffer in jujutsu kaisen because they chose to value other people above themselves, because Jujutsu Kaisen rewards selfishness and punishes selflessness / having an underdeveloped sense of self.

I'll pick Mechamaru as my biggest example, he lived to protect Miwa, and not only does he die an unsatisfying death, he also breaks her heart.

However, at least Mechamaru experienced love. His desire to protect Miwa is granted, because Miwa is also out of the final conflict. Mechamaru is one of the most miserable characters in the manga, and yet he experienced love in his life for someone else that made his brief life meaningful. The characters who choose love, and other people over strength tend to get stepped on, but they at least had that love in their life to begin with.

It's a having your cake and eating it too situation. Kashimo chose strength over love, and he got to be so strong he was unbeatable and lived to old age, but not only is he unfulfilled but he whines about being unable to relate to the people around him - you're the one who chose to step on everyone like bugs.

Characters in Jujutsu Kaisen don't just experience death when they try to be selfless however, like yeah there's a disproportionate amont of selfless minor characters who die, but like Yuji is the most selfless character in the manga and he's continually punished for it and yet he's the one referred to as a person with an unbreakable will.

Rather instead of Jujutsu Kiasen preferring the selfish side on the scale of selfishness / selflessness, the kind of messy, deaths that get handed out to people like Mechamaru happen when you betray the ideals you were living for. Whether they were selfish or selfless.

It goes back to Toji's internal monologue. You lose when you lose sight of yourself - like there's some deaths that don't fit the mould but for the most part, Gojo, Kashimo, Toji's and then Kenjaku's deaths all follow this pattern. By coincidence they also all take place offscreen for the most part (I suppose we see Yuta cut off Kenjaku's head but it's quick and unsatisfying compared to all the rest).

Kenjaku died because he betrayed what he was living for and he temporarily lost sight of himself. As I said Kenjaku's airtight principles were that everyone was boring and people weren't worth relating too so the only way to find enertainment in life is to cause chaos - but he found himself relating to some nobody he wrote off as a minor character Takaba and having fun with him. Which meant the belief he was false, he could have tried relating to other people all along he just didn't.

He warped his sense of self to reaffirm his identity. Takaba almost did that too, he tried to blame other people for not finding him funny to protect himself, but he moved past that and redoubled his efforts to make Kenjaku laugh.

There's also the added layer of irony that Kenjaku's sudden death brings about, the person who spent a thousand years trying to make the merger happen doesn't get to see it.

However, here's my assertion on why Kenjaku's death before the merger always had to happen.

Because, even if Kenjaku had seen the merger he still would have been bored.

Literally everything about Kenjaku's character and previous actions shows that even if he made his big scheme come true, he would have gone "meh" and moved onto the next scheme because that's how he always reacts.

He got bored of the death painting siblings, he presumably got bored of Yuji, he got bored of all the ancient sorcerers and new sorcerers he made for the culling game, he worked with the disaster curses and got bored of them and dismissed them as inferior primitive curses, he goes out of the way to engineer these chaotic situations and then never feels any satisfaction from them so why would the Merger be any different?

Not only did Kenjaku die before he saw the merger, he was basically doomed to never see the merger, because it would not have fixed whatever is wrong inside of him.

Because it's not the world that's boring, it's Kenjaku himself.

He gets a brief glimpse of what he could have done in life, that he could have tried to forge connections with the people around him and related to them on a personal level - and then he dies the way he lived, in a kind of boring and unsatisfying way.

It's the narrative punishing him in a way, the same way it punished Gojo, and Kashimo, by not letting him see the big explosion after he went to all the trouble rigging the bombs. It's punishing him for the same reason too - by deviating from his true self and showing what he thought were his reasons were shallow all along. Gojo could have always related to people he just chose to stand on his pedestal alone, and Kenjaku could have always found the world to be more enertaining he was the one dismissing other people as boring without giving them a chance to grow.

Takaba confronted his beliefs and then stayed true to his ideology of making everyone, 100% of the people in the crowd laugh. Kenjaku didn't confront his beliefs, he strayed from them because he didn't have the strength of character to evaluate himself the way Takaba did.

Hence, he's finished off by one of those boring people who used their power in a way he never expected. The main villain is defeated by the comic relief character and it's hilarious.

#jjk meta #kenjaku #fumihiko takaba #ryomen sukuna #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen theory #jujutsu kaisen analysis #jjk spoiler #jujutsu kaisne spoiler #big spoiler actually

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wandixx · 10 months

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I just realized that there is literally zero fanfics with Danny Fenton/M'gann M'orzz pairing and idk, am I the only one who see nearly endless potential in it?

I don't know how they met but they're probably pretty fast friends.

With Danny being space nerd, he would ask M'gann all the questions about Mars. At the same time, from what little I know about Miss Martian, she is "Earth nerd" and would ask him all the questions about Earth and what normal teenage life is like, because YL team is not the best study case. Like, only Wally and maybe Artemis (I don't know a thing about her other than 'snarky/blunt archer') had normal human life. He is happy to answer, introducing her to his semi normal life before accident.

They exchanged stories about stars from their respective homes.

Just imagine, Danny binge watching "Hello Megan" just to know what she is talking about and it's not his thing, really, but he learnt to enjoy it because he associated it with M'gann (we can have Jazz being fan too and feeling 'betrayed' because she tried to strongarm her brother to watch it for years and all it took was to cute alien girl to mention it and he is pulling all nighters).

Just imagine, M'gann asking one of her teammates (probably Robin) to teach her to play Doomed, so she can play with her halfa friend and his friends and not ask about every controller. They don't really mind her being newbie but sudden progress doesn't go unnoticed or unpraised.

Everlasting trio inviting her to Nasty Burger every once in a while to talk about random, not hero related things.

Rest of the YJ may not even know about Phantom. They just know about this Danny, M'gann's totally civilian friend, who likes milkshakes and video games.

They share their stories and tips about heroing and powers they have similar. Mostly M'gann shares things she learnt from her uncle or in Mountain because let's be honest, self taught is rarely better than someone with proper mentoring. She for sure helps with ghosts if they attack during her visit, even if Danny tries to shield her from it. "I'm supposed to be your civilian friend, am I not?"

She definitely does what she can to help with his hero PR. She may or may not accidentally convinced rest of the Team she has celebrity crush on underappreciated ghost hero from the middle of the nowhere. They help her, spamming all negative news reports with praises for Phantom from both hero and civilian accounts. It caused some mess, Justice League had questions but Danny was happy so it doesn't matter.

If we go with ghost being super emphatic we can have Danny overwhelmed by everyone's feelings (honest hate his parents have towards his hero persona, confliction of towns people, concern of his friends, excitement of Casper students idk, EVERYTHING) and M'gann helps him overcome it. Later both of them being there for eachother when everything was just too much. Y'know just this mutual understanding that nobody else can really give them.

Maybe some communication troubles because M'gann prefers telepathy and Danny does not like it in a slightest (Freakshow flashbacks or something) but tries to accommodate. Or M'gann doesn't even try because idk, one of telepathy rules is "don't read thoughts of dying person unless they project it to you" and she feels it goes for dead (even if only halfway) too.

They're just vibing with eachother.

Then there is ghost attack outside Amity and Team is send to deal with it. M'gann is surprisingly competent at dealing with everything ghost does while evacuating civilians while someone magic competent is called. Suddenly she stops, gets her phone and makes a call:

"Hey Danny, do you have a moment?" whole team is too shocked to react, because in the love of whatever they believe in, why is Megan calling her civilian friend in the middle of the battle with unknown entity. "It's [insert whatever ghost you want] wrecking havoc. Can you come by at take them to the zone? I don't have thermos on me right now. Thank you."

WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?

Que Danny flying top speed to wherever she is, fights a ghost and contains them. Que someone (maybe Wally) being like:

"When did you wanted to tell us that your civilian friend is a hero?"

M'gann honest to god forgot that Team thought Danny was a civilian.

"I worked quite hard to drag her into as little of my Phantom bullshit as I could. I am proud of being a civilian friend, thank you very much"

They all came in contact together after that.

Martian Manhunter tried to give Fenton a shovel talk but boy was too excited to meet his favourite hero and to focused on not making fool of himself to be actually scared or something. He deals with Skulker on a regular basis anyway, there are very few threats that could actually scare him.

Team members also tried to shovel talk him, just in case. They all failed for one reason or another

Or maybe Danny is already YJ member. Everything above can still happen just without ghost attack. Danny can have issues with Zeta Tubes though. That's a good stuff.

There can be a drama of "I'm your friend only because I'm alien/semi normal, am I not?"

Or we can go with space obsessed Danny going full Vlad on cute alien girl. Y'know, because "that's a halfa thing to do". M'gann is not into that. I'm not really excited about this take but that's a possibility too.

Use it as you will. Just please someone write it

#dp x dc #dpxdc #dcxdp #dc x dp #no other fandom tags to not iritate people in either fandom who aren't into dp x dc stuff #just let them vibe #danny fenton/m'gann m'orzz #they could be so cute together #danny's reveal to yj could be something like:#M'gann: shapeshifts into her civilian disguise #Danny: oh I can do that too #and then shifts into his human form #que everyone is shocked #everyone other than m'gann #she knew #Wally: Why are ghosts Martians on steroids?#i definitely don't have around 1000 if no more words of Danny comforting M'gann after she saw civilian die in car crash she couldn't prevent #he found a ghost and dragged them and all that jazz just give his friend a closure #but he was really sus about it so uncle J'onn does not approve #“M'gann what are martian funeral traditions?”#that's the question that started this whole mess #I know nearly nothing about dc martians so it probably doesn't make to much sense canon wise #that's the reason why i won't post it #probably #maybe I'll get myself to do research and edit what I have to fit #who knows #do i tag correctly?#idk how to tag

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marvel-ouss · 1 year

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The Way I loved You

Charles Leclerc x Reader, Arthur Leclerc x Reader

Warnings: italics are flashbacks, the timeline is unreliable (Charlotte and Charles are dating and Zak is still McLaren's team principal), mentions of cheating, nicknames in French and Italian, "y/n/n" means "your nickname", screaming, fighting, English is not my first language

Type: fluff and a bit of angst Inspo:

Reader pov

Time goes by and you can’t even feel it. If a year ago you had told me I would be dating Arthur Leclerc I would literally laugh in your face.

I would never imagine dating my ex’s brother, never in a million years. But it end up happening.

I dated Charles for three years, all our friends and family thought we were getting married some day without them knowing, those were the best years of my life, of course it all went south on the end of the third year.

Lewis organized a drivers dinner or something like that and Charles as a f1 drivers was expected to be there. He told me the latest he’d arrive was 11pm so he didn’t keep me here alone for too long since Arthur was out with some friends as well.

It’s 3am Arthur arrived one hour ago and not a single glimpse of Cha, he didn’t answer the phone or replied my texts so I was getting worried. I got up from my bed and headed towards Arthur’s bedroom and knocked on his door “Thuthur?”

“Get in y/n/n” he said just loud enough for me to hear on the other side of the door.

I got in and sat on the end of his bed, I could tell I woke him up “Do you have any news on your brother?” He checked his phone “No, he hasn’t answered my texts yet.”

“Alright, thanks Thuthur I’m sorry for waking you up, sleep well” I kiss his cheek and leave the room. As I get to the living room I sit on the couch and open Twitter to see if there were any updates. After a while of swiping trough the timeline I see a video of my boyfriend with a girl I could recognise, Charlotte the first girl I met and could call my friend when I moved to Monaco.

I was left speechless. I could not believe my eyes while the video of my friend and boyfriend kissing played on replay. I could feel the tears starting to fall down my face.

I felt betrayed. I didn't even notice the time passing.

I wake up from my trance when I hear the door unlock. There he was, the man I swore to be my night in a shining armor. The man I loved the most.

“Hi bab-“ “Get out Charles, I don’t want to see you” I don’t even want to listen to his voice, because I know I will forgive him in a blink of an eye. We’ve been here before he fight all the time, for stupid things but this, now this was serious. This was the first time he cheated, and only to make everything better, with my friend.

“What’s wrong babe?” his calmness usually soothes me. Unfortunately all his calmness right now was making me furious.

“Don’t call me babe, not after tonight!”

“Babe I can explain” he widened his eyes and approached me.

“GET THE FUCK WAY FROM ME” I got up from the couch and headed to the kitchen to get a glass of water to calm down.

“Y/n, listen to me!” He says going after me.

“I don’t want to listen, Charles! You went out, you didn’t say a word and I was left worried the entire night!” I kept screaming, I was so angry I started tearing up “I understand you want to go out with your friends, enjoy you're youth and have fun but the least you can do is send me or Arthur a message!” I checked the time on the kitchen’s clock and continued “It’s 5am and I haven’t slept because I was worried! I thought something might have happened to you! Just for me to go on the internet and see you with another woman!”

“Babe, I can expla-“ I take a glass out of the cabinet and fill it with water and say: “No you can’t!”

“Please listen to me!” “I won’t, tell Charlotte I said hi, now leave” he has a shocked look on his face which means I was right, the girl in the video I saw earlier was indeed my old friend.

“The silence says it all. I’ll sleep on the couch tonight, when I wake up I’ll make my bags and leave” I say sipping in my cup of water.

“Are you crazy? You are not going anywhere! Not before we talk!” I could tell he was getting desperate. This was all his fault in the first place.

"Now I'm the crazy one?" I turn my back I head to our bedroom so I could get a pillow and a blanket.

Charles enters the room after me and closes the door.

“Please Y/n, let’s talk, I need to explain everything to you, it was a dumb mistake, I shouldn’t have done it. I started drinking and I felt needy but you weren’t there! When I looked at her all a could see was yo-“ “Please Charles, shut up” “-u and I just wanted to kiss you and hug you, but you weren’t ther-“ “SHUT THE FUCK UP! I can’t listen to you anymore! I’m done with your excuses! At the end of the day I’ll be the one to blame because I wasn’t there, and the jokes on me.” I make my way to the bedroom door and open it.

Arthur’s door is open and he is resting his side on the doorframe. “You good?” He asked in a cautious tone.

“Sorry for waking you up but your brother’s a dick!” I make my way down stairs. I could hear Arthur talking to Charles in French but I just went to the couch, laid down and eventually fell asleep.

The next morning I packed my things and left, I stayed at Lando’s house for a while until I had the money to buy my own house. I had some money in my savings for as emergency and this was the perfect moment to put it to use. I met Lando a long time ago, when I first came to Monaco, four years ago, it was with the intuition of becoming a f1 photographer, and that ended up becoming true, I was a photographer for McLaren during one year. Zak had a lot to say about Daniel Ricciardo so I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.

Danny has a heart of gold and he didn’t deserve half of what he went through on his last year at McLaren.

After leaving McLaren I did some jobs here and there but settled as a Quadrant photo editor and a APM Monaco main photographer. Even with two jobs I still have time for myself, when they need me they give me a call and I go as fast as I can.

It was easy making the money I was missing to buy a house and not even 3 months later I was all settled in my new apartment.

Lando puts the last box we brought down from his apartment on the table. I bought a two bedroom apartment in the same building as Lando.

“How could you do this to me? You can't leave meee” Lando said with a fake crying voice.

I burst out laughing “Landoo, stop with the drama, we’ve talked about this. You have my phone number and I’m just two floors down!”

“Oh right I forgot about that part! Seems like I’m not getting rid of you that easily.”

“Lan, I think it’s more the other way around.” We stay silent and the next second both our laughs fill the apartment.

"Sorry to ruin the mood, how are you feeling with all this situation?"

"Honestly I don't know. It feels weird. this is the first year in almost four years that I won't be constantly at the paddock. I'm gonna miss the races and specially the people." I was starting to get nostalgic, thinking of all the moments I spent at the paddock, the people I met and all.

"You can always come by, you're welcome to come with me!"

"Yah, obviously!" I say in a sarcastic tone "The last thing I want to do is fight with Zak again, and I doubt I'll be welcome at the McLaren hospitality"

"Y/n you know a bunch of people, you'd be welcome in all the hospitalities! We'll really miss you around." He says hugging me.

"I'll miss y'all as well" I start crying with my face buried in his neck

"Y/n/n, please stop crying or we'll make a pool in the middle of your living room"

"Sorry" I say stepping away and wiping my tears away. "I'm gonna take a bath and settle in, talk to you later?"

"If you want me to go just say it!" he says stepping out the door "See you tomorrow miss" he kisses my cheek and leaves.

I remember being there, in the middle of my apartment, crying my eyes out because of some boy that decided to play with my feelings. Later that night Arthur called to check on me, after all we were pretty close. He came over that night and I got to say everything I was keeping inside of me.

Thur coming over started being something usual so we just got closer and closer.

“Mon ange, do you have any ice cream?” I hear Arthur ask from the living room.

“I only have vanilla ice cream, mio caro” I say from the kitchen door.

“You’re basic, as anyone ever told you that?” He says in a playful tone getting closer, holding my waist and hiding his face in my neck.

“Yes, you have, plenty of times!” I laugh.

“Forget the ice cream, let’s watch a movie and cuddle!” He picks me up and makes his way to the couch. “What do you wanna watch?” He asks putting my feet back on the ground.

I make my best puppy eyes. “No, Y/n, no, please not ‘What’s your number’ again” he says in an annoyed tone. We’ve watched that movies at least 20 times in the last few weeks. “Please, please, please, please, plea-” I keep the puppy eyes to try to convince him. “Okay, you won, but I choose what we’re getting for dinner!” “Deal” I say with a big smile on my face.

The movie ended and Arthur was about to order the food when he got a phone call from his personal trainer so he goes to the other room to answer.

“All good?” I ask when he comes back.

“Yeah, the f2 season starts in three weeks so I need to get in shape before the season start” we keep talking about the f2 season and how excited he is to start racing again. “You should come with me to the races, if your job let’s you of course” he says exited but insecure at the same time.

“I’m not sure, mio caro. Especially with your brother there. I don’t want to make things awkward” I say with a sad tone.

“You still don’t know, do you?” He looks really confused.

“Know what?” I furrow my brows.

“Charles is taking Charlotte to most of the races” and that’s it, replaced like a snap of a finger.

I got lost in my thoughts. Didn't realize I was crying until I feel Arthur hugging me. That was when everything fell down, every tear I held during 6 months, every feeling, all the thoughts, all the love I still felt for Charles. Everything.

"Mon cœur, you don't need to cry anymore, everything will be alright."

I lift my head from his chest "Arthur I'm not sure if I'll ever get over him, he was my first love, he's the person I spent three years of my life with" I sobbed "You don't understand what I'm going through, I loved him more than anything just to be replaced by one of my closest friends, I trusted them. I feel betrayed by the both of them. I don't know if I'm ready to see them together! Thuthur, what do I do?"

"Mon ange, trust me when I tell you that he loved you, he's also hurt by the break up and this was his way to cope, just know that it was real while it lasted."

"If he was hurt he would have tried again, he didn't even call!" I argued

"Of course he didn't. I told him not to." he said really calm

"Why would you do that?" I was so confused, I've been complaining that Charles never tried again but the cause of it has been invited to MY house by ME countless times.

"Would you forgive him? Wait, better question. Would you forget what he did? Or every time you were with him you'd get flashbacks of the video? Don't try blaming it on me because I know that that's what you're doing!" I didn't answer, I just started blankly at the rug on my living room floor. After a while Arthur stood up "I'm sorry but I'm leaving." he made his way to the front door and left. I knew I had fucked up.

That night I went to Lando's house to get his opinion on the situation. Lan always has the best advices! He told me that Arthur might care for me a little bit too much and told me that I needed to replace Charles to help with the pain. I still remember his words to this day "When your puppy dies you need to replace him to help you cope with the pain, it doesn't mean you'll stop loving him, he'll always have a special place in your heart but you need to allow another puppy some love as well" yes he compered my situation with puppies! What's in that's kids head, be forreal.

Me and Arthur didn't speak for three weeks, a sent him hundreds of texts but he didn't answer any. So I did what anyone would do: I went to Bahrain with Lando to talk to him.

"ARTHUR LECLERC GET BACK HERE!" everybody started looking at me and Arthur. He turns around and when I reach him I wrap my arms around his torso and bury my face in the crook of his neck to feel the smell of his perfume that I loved so much. "I'm so so sorry for not saying a thing that night, I was just left speechless. Everything you said was true I just didn't want to accept it. Then you left and it was already too late. I'm really sorry mio caro"

He hugged me back and lifted me so I could wrap my legs around his waist and hold onto his shoulders. Now we were face to face. "I forgive you mon cœur, I also apologize for ignoring all your attempts to talk to me, I'm sorry cherie"

I just couldn't resist him. After what Lando said and all this time away from Arthur, I knew I needed him in my life. It was not a want, it was a need. So I kissed him. I didn't care about the cameras or about the people around us. It was just me and him in that moment.

I separated my mouth from his to catch my breath and he followed to kiss me again. "Thur, can you put me on the floor please?" I whispered. "Only if you don't run away." he laughs before putting me on the floor. "Grazie mio caro" I smiled at him.

I looked at his beautiful eyes before getting on my tiptoes and kiss him again.

I went with him for most of the races, the time we spent in Monaco was enough to make the APM photoshoots and all the Quadrant editing could be done while I was away in other countries.

I avoided both Charles and Charlotte. I couldn't deal with any of them. I didn't want to ruin my happiness.

Right now I've been dating with Arthur for seven months and his f2 championship is going great. I still run from my problems instead of solving them.

Today is race day so there's drives, wags, cameras and teams everywhere. Me and Arthur were walking to the Dams motorhome so he could check the strategy before the race. "Y/n?" I didn't answer. I've been ignoring Arthur for the past 30 minutes cause since early this morning he decided that he wanted to challenge my patience. He only called me by my name (which never happens), closed every door in my face and disagreed with everything I said even if I was right! The man's insane! So I decided not to talk to him. we where passing the interview zone when he held my waist so I looked at him "Baby, Mon ange, mon cœur, cherie,-" he said burying his face in the crook of my neck "That's enough Arthur" I started laughing and he started tickling me. "Stoopppp, Thur. Please stop" I can't stop laughing. "Apologize for not speaking to me."

"Thur, stop please, I apologize" a say pushing is hands away from my waist.

"Come here" before I could even think he had already thrown me over his shoulder like a potato bag. "Thur put me down!" I couldn't breath from laughing so much. "Nope, I'm gonna carry you to the hospitality"

All the laughing and talking got interrupted "Arthur? Y/n?"

Charles pov

“The car seem-“ I stopped hearing the interviewer when I heard her laugh, the laugh I didn’t hear for so long, I always loved her laugh. I loved her smile, her eyes, her hair, well I loved her. I love.

I don’t remember much after I left the club on that night but I know we had a fight. What I did was wrong. More than wrong. I don’t know what got into my head! I love her. Even after all this time I still love her. Charlotte means nothing compared to her.

I wanted to go after her but Arthur told me do drop it, everything he says was right but I didn’t want to listen. Then I realised that it might be for the best. That’s why I went back to Charlotte so I could try to get over her.

But I need to respect her happiness. She’s with Arthur and I know he's good for her.

“Charles, are you with us?” I hear the interviewer

“Sorry, can you excuse me?” I turn towards what I believe was the dams hospitality “Arthur? Y/N?”

Hi everyone, this is my first time writing something a publishing it. So please be nice :)

Let me know if I got something wrong and let me know your opinions.

Should I do a part two?

#charles leclerc #charles leclerc imagine #charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc x you #charles leclerc one shot #arthur leclerc #arthur leclerc imagine #arthur leclerc x reader #arthur leclerc x y/n #charlotte sine #f1 #formula 1 #racing #f2 #formula 2

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lotusconstellation · 1 year

Note

Well, I had an idea for you to do...

The reader is a streamer who enters the Welcome website and, together with the live people, gets to know this Welcome and Yandere! Wally.

Well, how would Wally react to that? And as time goes by wally falls in love with the reader, how would he see the reader's fans and his job of doing live, playing games, watching videos?

-🐰

{Sorry this took so long! But I ended up getting to caught up in the request and ended up having to make a pt. 2, I do apologize though, I hope you don’t mind. As always, I hope you enjoy! And thank you for the request!}

(Art, Wally and Welcome Home all rightfully belongs to @partycoffin)

“Nostalgia” Pt. 1

Pairing: Yandere Wally Darling x Streamer! GN!Reader

Tw: Yandere behavior, cussing

Summary: You decide to take a trip down memory lane with your Viewers. Unaware of the consequences.

Y/N was a daily streamer under the name of {Streamer name}.

Y/N wasn't very big or popular, maybe with a few frequent watchers here and there that would greet them in real life and ask for a quick picture, but that’s all Y/N could ask for really.

They didn’t need to have a big platform or have a lot of money. They just wanted to stream for fun, just something they could do in their free time when they had nothing else to do.

Y/N didn’t really have a main style of content to put out. Sometimes it’ll be them reacting/watching something a viewer recommends, playing a video game, or even just making a relaxing space for anyone who needs it— playing soft music in the background while answering to any comments.

One day, Y/N was hit with an unexpected wave of nostalgia. They had started remembering fond memories from childhood. From the happy ones to the embarrassing ones— down to the old shows they used to watch as a kid. The sudden wave gave them an idea. Once they would get home from work, Y/N would take their viewers down memory lane and react to old shows and/or movies from the early 2000’s.

“That theme song had no reason being that good, I’m telling you,” Y/N said, taking a sip of their drink while reading the chat.

=======

NeonLeon: No fr

Anxpsyche: The Little Einsteins theme song from season 2 is the best, I know they just added clapping but it made it sm better

WhimsicalWanderbitch: I remember I used to watch Little Einsteins and The Backyardigans all the time when I was kid with my brother

Passionfruit69: Pls play the wonder pets theme song

WhimsicalWanderbitch: me and him always sang along to the songs

Theanklebreaker: I loved wonder pets, omg

JumpInTheMacaque: Does anyone remember Sharkboy and Lavagirl?!

Kirbolissous: OH MY GOD I REMEMBER I USED TO LOVE THE SHIT OUT OF YO GABA GABA THAT SHOW WAS MY SHIT

Escapeben: Do you remember Oswald?

Scouts_Kubs: all I remember watching is little bill and how the teletubbies scared tf out of me

Springday23:SAME!

lychee_jelly_tea:I REMEMBER SHARKBOY AND LAVAGIRL

=======

As Y/N was talking with the chat, they had let out a gasp. “Aweee, oh my god, I just remembered this really old show I used to watch,” The Streamer cooed, flashbacks flooding their mind of them watching said show for hours on end. Recalling all the soft yet bright and vibrant colors of the show, and all the lovable characters.

Y/N waited a moment for the chat to respond. Seeing most of them asking for the name of the show, while a few others carried on with their own conversations. “It wasn’t an early 2000’s show, it was like…” The streamer’s words trailed off, trying to remember when the show was made. “Ah fuck, when was the show made? It was made in the…70’s..? I wanna say, oh my god, Wait, what was it called? God damn it,” Y/N leaned back on their chair, with their hands over their face, as they tried to remember the name of the show. Meanwhile the chat was listing off shows from the 70’s to try and jog their memory.

========

lychee_jelly_tea: Lupin the third pt. 2?

JumpInTheMacaque: The Addams Family?

Theanklebreaker: Uh…New Fantastic four?

Kirbolissous: Was it The New Adventures of Batman?

NeonLeon: Scooby doo?

======

“Oh my god it was called Welcome Home!,” Y/N shouted, jumping up from their previous position.

“That one show that looks like it was inspired by Sesame Street? Oh my god wait-“ Y/N went to Google and searched up, “Welcome Home Characters” the results popped up right immediately. “These bitches!” The streamer circled their cursor around a big JPG image of all the ‘Welcome Home’ characters.

“I remember that whenever I would have to be babysat by my grandparents, all they had was this old Combo television unit and a bunch of old VHS tapes. So all I had to watch was whatever VHS tapes they had and Welcome Home was one of them,” Y/N explained, unintentionally looking further down the rabbit hole of the show, reminiscing in all its glory. By now, Y/N was grinning from ear to ear.

“Oh my god, this is gonna be embarrassing but I remember Wally, the main character- er the one with the blue hair, low-key used to creep me out,” Y/N laughed, feeling embarrassed how a puppet with a blue pompadour used to creep them out.

“Like, I wasn’t scared of him but the way he laughed and the way he would just stare at people for an uncomfortable amount of time in the show is what creeped me out,” Y/N had elaborated after noticing the chat was clowning them for being scared of a puppet.

====

Anxpsyche: Bro, you were scared of him? He looks gay as shit

lychee_jelly_tea: I ACTUALLY REMEMBER WATCHING THAT SHOW AND HAVING A HUGE CRUSH ON WALLY!

JumpInTheMacaque: @Lychee_jelly_tea had me watch that show when we were younger and I low-key loved it

NeonLeon: You were really scared of a puppet? This puppet out of all of them?

JumpInTheMacaque: They actually have a website for that show now

Theanklebreaker: I would be scared of the chicken that looks like Big bird

Passionfruit69: I’d be scared of the gray one that’s looking at the butterfly

=========

“Okay- Later on I wasn’t scared of him. He grew on me, I’m just saying when I first watched him I thought he was a little off!” Y/N defended, it took awhile for them to notice a specific comment. “Wait, JumpInTheMacaque, you said they have a website?” Y/N leaned forward, scrolling back up to where JumpInTheMacaque made that comment before scrolling back down.

======

JumpInTheMacaque: Yea, but you can’t really do much with it rn, you can only see the neighborhood from a Birds Eye view and see the Info about the characters

====

“I still wanna see it, give me a sec,” The streamer went to The search bar before pausing. “Is it just called ‘Welcome Home website’ Or…”

“Oh! I found it!” Y/N exclaimed, clicking on the website without hesitating The website opened up and a picture faded in with the title in big pastel letters on the left center of the picture and Wally sitting on a painted rock with colorful flowers, trees, and home all right behind him. Wally stared at you with his round eyes and had an opened mouth smile. Y/N oooh’ed in awe, fascinated by the way the site opened up. “Oh my gosh, this is so cool,” Y/N tried to contain their excitement, but the shake in their voice and the huge smile on their face was a dead give away. They apologized when they realized their failed attempt. “Sorry guys, I’m just so excited right now.”

"With a hop, skip, and a jump, you are ushered into the colorful, serendipitous world of Welcome Home! It only takes one stroll down the neighborhood to know this is just the nicest little place you’ve ever seen! Watch Wally and his colorful array of friendly neighbors learn about the vibrant world around them and take part in nonsensical fun!"

“Oh Jesus Christ, alright, let’s get started- There’s a guestbook?!…YOU CAN WRITE IN IT?! Wait- I wanna look at everything else first before I do the guestbook.“

The rest of the stream was filled with Y/N clicking around in the neighborhood and reading the info about the characters, expressing memories and giving info about some moments they remember from certain episodes. Y/N was about to click out of the neighborhood and take a look at the guest book. However, they caught a glimpse of something that seemed…out of place. “What the hell is that?” Y/N questioned, pointing to the small black spot under Home with their cursor. “What the hell is that?” The streamer leaned closer to their screen, squinting their eyes to try to get a better look. Right away, they tried to see if they could move Home out of the way, but it didn’t work. Whenever they clicked on Home it either opened up to Wally’s info or it didn’t move. “What…what do I do? That’s not just me right, you guys can see that?” Y/N was at a loss, what do they do?

====

Kirbolissous: What the hell?

lychee_jelly_tea: I’ve never noticed that before! What is that?!

Anxpsyche: what in the actual hell is that?

NeonLeon: Why is there just a black hole under Wally’s house?

JumpInTheMacaque: Try inspecting it, find Home’s code, delete it, then get out of inspect

=====

“Okay, hold on,” Y/N followed the instructions the best they could, they wouldn’t really skilled in this type of stuff, so they struggled a bit, though they figured it out pretty quickly. “Okay…” They mumbled, now seeing a huge black hole in the place Home was. Y/N was confused and clicked on the hole. The computer suddenly opened up a new browser and it seemed to be taking awhile to load. However, Y/N said nothing, sitting in silence as the air slowly started to grow thick, and their palms started to sweat.

Y/N’s eyes grew wide once the image finally loaded. The whole screen was black other than a red outline of Wally on his knees, reaching up to a window and Home’s eyes staring back at him. Y/N stared at the image for what seemed like hours. They just sat there, inspecting the image in horror, but mainly in bewilderment.

What was this?

Why was Wally on the ground?

What was going on?

Why was this on the website? Was it supposed to be?

Slowly, Y/N clicked off the browser. The computer immediately took them back to the Welcome Home website. Y/N scratched their nose and clicked out of the neighborhood, going to the guestbook. “Okay, I don’t know what that was but let’s-…” The Streamer put in the name they go by online. “Let’s just do the Guestbook then I’m calling it a day,” Y/N tried not to let people see how spooked they were, but again, their now quiet and soft tone, gave it all away.

Y/N wrote in the guestbook.

“Looked around the neighborhood with all my viewers, everything was so bright and colorful! Really loved it!”

With that, Y/N bid their signature goodbye to everyone before stopping the stream and turning everything off, but Y/N didn’t move just yet. Their mind was still stuck on the image of Wally.

Was that supposed to be on the website? Why would it be? Are they just trying to add a twist to the franchise now? But why would they, it was fine the way it was. Yes, it got canceled, but that’s only because it became outdated. Was this a sign for something big?

Gah, Y/N shouldn’t be worrying about this. People are allowed to add things to a franchise as long as it stays true to the characters (to a certain extent) and stays respectful to the creators boundaries, and Wally was a bit of an odd one. Maybe they’re just now going more in depth with his character since now it’s a new time with new interest, and they have to get people’s attention somehow, right?

Whatever the reason, it was getting late, and Y/N had to get up for work tomorrow. With that, they finally got up from their uncomfortable chair they use for every stream and stretched. Satisfied when they heard some joints pop and crack. Y/N let out a yawn, realizing how tired they were before walking off to their bathroom to brush their teeth..

𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪 𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪 𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪

…Through the static of the TV, you can hear Wally’s muffled voice boom through the tiny speakers.

"That concludes our time together for today, my dear neighbors. But rest assured, tomorrow is another day, and I'll be watching over you just as diligently. Goodbye, neighbor. Ha ha ha.”

*Click*

The End! I hope you enjoyed and keep on the lookout for pt.2!

That is all for today, I hope you are having a good Day/Night/Afternoon and I will see you all in my next writing, au revoir!! 💜💜💛💛

#welcome home #wally darling #wally darling x y/n #wally darling x reader #fanfic #fandom #x gender neutral reader #gender neutral post #x reader #yandere #yandere wally darling #yandere wally darling x reader

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obsidianbaby · 10 days

Text

Don't Love Me Like A Brother - Chapter 1

Brothers Best Friend Series - CHAPTER 1

Prologue -

series synopsis - ronnie's younger brother, tyler, is a famous youtuber and influencer and is best friends with the sturniolos. This series will be following ronnie's life as she befriends the triplets and catches herself developing feelings for a certain someone...

chapter synopsis - flashback to meeting the sturniolo triplets for the first time after tyler films his very first collab with them.

warnings/notes - no smut just fluff and maybe a touch of angst??

a/n - it didn't feel right to jump right into an established friendship with the triplets just yet so im giving y'all this to eat up for now enjoyyyyyyy mwah xx

___________________________________________

CHAPTER 1 - do you believe in love at first sight? fuck no, but i do believe in interest at first sight.

1 year ago ~

ronnies pov

it's currently almost 5pm and i'm waiting for a text back from ty to see if he'll be home for dinner tonight so I know what to make.

Dad's working until 8pm so i'll have to make sure ty doesn't come home and stuff his fat face so there's enough left for dad.

I decide to text ty again

_________

sent at 4:49 pm

ron - i was thinking of making my carbonara tonight, you down or what?

tyguy - FUCCKKKKKK yes

tyguy - dad working til close?

ron - yepp

ron - hows filming? did you cause them any serious injuries?

tyguy - filming was a blast we're just packing up to leave now

tyguy - and not that could give them reason to sue

ron - your honor, they agreed to the video idea, my brother is innocent

tyguy - she's correct your honor, in fact i was coerced into filming with them, i am but an innocent bystander

ron - *insert clip of tyler pushing the sturniolo triplets off of their skateboards resulting in serious contusions to the head*

tyguy - i have no idea what that is, ai goes crazy these days your honor

ron - BAAHAHHHAA

ron - when will ya be home, dinner will be ready in like an hour ish

tyguy - we are on our way now

ron - we?? our??

tyguy - yeah i invited them to come try your cooking, so make sure you make enough for us, we're growing boys

ron - alright. thanks for offering to help cook btw

tyguy - did you not offer to cook for me?

ron - yeah FOR YOU not for the 4 of you PLUS me and dad..

tyguy - boo you whore

tyguy - be home in 20

ron - see you soon cunt !!

______

20 minutes pass and i hear the garage door swing open and a herd of elephants storming their way towards me in the kitchen.

"something smells fucking delicious"

"oh my god im so ready for this fucking food"

"are you sure its okay we stay?"

"dude don't worry i let her know" ty reassures him.

I feel a pat on my shoulder as ty stands beside me looking at me slaving over the stove.

"yeah you let me know 20 minutes ago asshat" i scoff.

"hey now no sharp tongues in front of the guests" ty says jokingly and i turn around to see nick, matt, and chris standing awkwardly by the kitchen table. I'd be damned if i didnt say these men standing before me weren't some of the prettiest mfs i've ever seen.

"hey ronnie, im chris, its nice to meet you," chris says beaming a kind smile and fuck me his smile is to die for.

"yes and thank you so much for having us over im literally starving," nick says rubbing his tummy, "i'm nick by the way" he adds and his brothers and ty laugh.

"not a problem guys, the more the merrier they say" i smile back at nick, i know he's gay but its not a crime to appreciate real beauty when i see it.

"are you sure, we don't want to make it a hassle for you" the third one chimes in not offering his name to me. Not like i don't know who he is already. and fuck he looks so good in his baggy jeans and polo shirt, and is that a chain around his neck? fuck.

"yeah matt its all good" I smile, turning back around to focus on cooking, hoping they think my flushed face is from the steam coming off the hot food and not from how flustered and awkward i feel to be surrounded by three gorgeous guys.

"ooooo she name dropped you kid" ty says mockingly.

"don't think you know the definition of name dropping but the effort was there" i joke back, the boys all laughing at my words.

"don't be weird guys you can sit down you know" ty says gesturing to the kitchen table and taking a seat himself, "its gonna be a while for the chef to complete our entree"

"would take less time if you offered to help me ty" i say stirring the pot (literally and metaphorically).

"i can help" matt offers, walking up beside me, "show me what you need me to do".

i offer him a smile, "no no please you're our guest, i've got this. thank you though" and he nods smiling back at me.

"yeah i'd stay out of her way when she's cooking, turns into hells kitchen" ty jokes from his seat at the table.

"watch your mouth tyler or i'll make sure you get sauceless pasta in your bowl"

"whateverrrrrr"

"do you guys want anything to drink since your host hasn't opened his big mouth to offer you anything?" I ask, turning to face the guys who now all sit around the small kitchen table.

"yeah sure, what do ya got?" chris asks, standing up from his chair, and i try not to stare at his exposed biceps in the tank he's wearing.

"help yourself" i motion towards the fridge behind me and chris wanders over looking through the options. He grabs the glass container of lemonade and turns to me.

"what is this..?" he asks, a cute and confused expression on his face.

"thats my nans homemade lemonade, family recipe. Its fucking delicious, a good choice." i say smiling at him.

he nods and places it on the counter beside me.

"glasses are in the cupboard left of the sink" i add, and chris nods, grabbing a few glasses out.

"anyone for nan's lemonade?" he asks his brothers and ty.

"yes please"

"absolutely"

"yesssss"

as the boys sit at the kitchen table waiting for dinner sipping on nans lemonade, deep in conversation, matt wanders over to me again.

"yes matt?" i ask, avoiding facing towards him so he can't see how nervous he's making me by standing so close.

"bowls? to set the table?" he asks, and i point to the correct cupboard and slide the utensil drawer open for him.

Matt collects everything we need to set the table and ty comes into the kitchen to help him.

______________

a few minutes later and we sit around the small kitchen table chatting and eating, i notice matt taking small glimpses at me from across the table which is making me blush like a fucking fool.

"pastas delicious ronnie thank you" chris says from beside me, and i turn to look at him, and i return a smile feeling my cheeks heat up.

"thanks chris"

______________

since i cooked, ty stands in the kitchen cleaning up and setting aside a bowl for when dad gets home.

Matt helps ty in the kitchen while i sit on my laptop at the table with chris and nick, uploading the content they filmed today for us to watch through and for me to edit.

"i see your brother also makes you edit all of his content" nick jokes from beside me eyeing chris.

"you love editing though and you're actually good at it so" chris says from across the table.

"yeah it's alright though, i love this shit" i say, busying my fingers as i open a couple tabs to get ready to cut the video together. "videos uploaded, did you guys want to watch the uncut version first before i start?"

"nah its okay we trust you" matt says from the kitchen.

"sounds good to me" i smile as i connect my headphones to my computer to begin watching the uncut video.

Chris wanders over behind me leaning over my shoulder and says something to me which of course i can't hear through my noise cancelling headphones. i slide up the left side of my headphones slightly over my ear and ask him to repeat himself.

"did you take that?" he asks referring to the sunset picture as my homescreen.

"yeah i did" I smile shyly.

"oh ron's brilliant with a camera, she takes all of my photos you see on the gram." ty says proudly from the kitchen.

"thanks ty"

"wow you're incredible ronnie" chris says over my shoulder and i can feel the heat of his breath on my neck.

"thats really sweet chris" i say turning to face him, his blue eyes piercing through my green ones, our faces closer than most acquaintances are used to.

"well we're all done cleaning up, shall we give ronnie some space to edit?" matt suggests walking over to the table, and i snap my head immediately away from chris to look over at matt.

the guys all agree and disappear off to ty's room leaving me alone at the table, happily watching ty teach the triplets how to skateboard from my computer screen.

an hour later, i get a message from ty

____________

tyguy has added you to a groupchat

tyguy - made this for our future collabs and for ron to give us updates on the editing

ron - still editing (it's literally only been an hour and you guys filmed around 3 hours of content so)

tyguy - yeah sorry about that

chris - dont worry take your time ronnie

nick - yeah 3 hours of me pulling every muscle in my entire body

matt - cant wait to see what you create :)

tyguy - yeah dw my post day is on wednesday so we have a couple days

ron - we?

matt and chris liked a message

ron sent 3 attachments

ron - keeping this in, sorry nick

chris - lmaoooo

tyguy - kid was not cut out for the skate life fr

matt saved 3 videos

nick - i hate all of you

ron changed groupchat name to "amateur hour"

________________

another hour passes and i hear dad come in through the back door in the kitchen.

"heya winnie" he says placing his lunch box on the counter and coming over to place a kiss on my head.

"hey dad, how was work?" i ask smiling up at him. he takes a seat across from me at the table and groans.

"ah it was alright, how was your day kiddo?"

"it was goooood, just editing ty's video he filmed today."

"ah, with those triplet boys right?"

"yep. you hungry? I made carbonara for dinner tonight"

"oh jesus christ you're an angel." he says going to stand up but i wave my hand.

"no no allow me," i say getting up from my chair, "and take your nasty boots off man they stink" i add as i giggle, walking over to grab dads bowl from the fridge to heat up in the microwave.

"will do" he says, sliding off his boots and walking over to place them just outside of the back door before returning to his seat at the table.

"here ya go" i say, placing the hot bowl of creamy pasta in front of him watching contently as he digs in.

ty and the triplets then quietly wander into the kitchen

"the guys are leaving now" ty says, "hey dad whats up?" ty says giving a friendly pat to his back, "these are my friends, Nick, Chris, and Matt" he introduces them and they exchange a wave with my dad.

"hey guys im joe, welcome to the Wilkinson house," he says with a warm grin before turning to ty, "heya tyguy, hope you helped your sister with dinner tonight." he adds before taking a bite of his pasta.

"he did not" i add and the triplets chuckle quietly from across the kitchen.

"i cleaned though" ty adds proud of himself.

"yeah with matts help" i add looking over towards matt and flashing a smirk which matt returns. ty swats my arm in annoyance.

"its not polite to inquire the help of guests to do your job" dad says jokingly, winking at the triplets.

"it was the least i could do to thank them for inviting us for dinner" matt adds and i smile at the computer screen trying hard to avoid looking at up him to see the cute smile thats probably spread across his face.

"well thank you son, appreciate it when ty's friends do more to help around the house than him" dad says to matt, smirking over at me and i laugh.

"sorry didn't know it was bully ty time" ty says in annoyance as he walks back towards the triplets gesturing for them to make their way down the hall to the garage.

"no we're sorry for your confusion because bully ty time is actually all the time" i say laughing and dad and the triplets join in. ty just flips us off as he ushers the guys to follow him.

"bye guys!" i say waving at the triplets as they follow ty.

"bye ronnie thank you so much for dinner! it was so good to meet you" nick says flashing a warm smile.

"bye ronnie thanks again for dinner, it was delicious" chris adds, beaming at me.

"bye ronnie thanks for everything, see you soon" matt says smiling and waving as he turns to follow the other three down the hall.

_______________

new message recieved at 10:11 pm

i sit up in my bed closing my laptop and grab my phone off my nightstand.

chris - would love to see more of your photography sometime

chris - if you'd let me of course

ronnie - id be honored to show you my photography

chris liked a message

ronnie - im almost done with the video

ronnie - very impressed with this btw

chris liked a message

ronnie sent 1 attachment

chris liked a message

chris - im pretty proud of myself for landing that on the second try ngl

ronnie - kinda pissed it took you only two tries

ronnie - took me weeks to land that

chris - you skate too?

ronnie - who do you think got ty into skateboarding?

chris liked a message

chris - ah so you're a master chef, a professional editor, take really dope pictures, and you skate too huh?

ronnie - im pretty cool what can i say

chris - I'd have to agree with that

ronnie - it'd be a crime not to

chris liked a message

__________

1:34 am

ron air dropped 1 video to amateur hour

ron - video is done mfs

ron - let me know what y'all think

matt liked a video message

matt - videos perfect ronnie thank you

tyguy - mid

ron disliked 1 message

chris - wild thing to say to her

tyguy - she'll get over it

nick - videos great ronnie

nick - tys an idiot

ron - thanks guys (ty count your days)

tyguy - im quivering in my dino slippers

ron - ty if I let you edit your own videos you would probably just be clocking out of your shift at dons rn

nick, matt, and chris liked 1 message

tyguy disliked 1 message

nick - HAHAHAHA

chris - low blow lmao

matt - i only see facts

tyguy - why do you all hate me fr

ron - boo you whore

nick, chris and matt liked 1 message

tyguy - ending it rn

ron - can you bring me a glass of water before you do? Im parched from keeping your career afloat

nick, matt, and chris like 1 message

tyguy - would you like it with ice your majesty?

ron - yes and a straw thanks

_______________

tyguy Posted New YouTube Video at 6pm est on Wednesday May 17th 2023

" Teaching the Sturniolo Triplets How to Skateboard? "

END OF CHAPTER 1 - Do you believe in love at first sight? fuck no, but i do believe in interest at first sight.

____________________________________________

a/n - hehehehehhe im having so much fun writing this hope you guys enjoyed chapter 1 MWAH xx

#sturniolo #matt sturniolo #sturniolo smut #matt sturniolo smut #chris sturniolo #chris sturniolo x reader #chris x reader #christopher sturniolo #matt sturniolo x reader #matt x reader #nick sturniolo #nicolas sturniolo #nicolas sturniolo fanfic #nick sturniolo fanfic #matthew sturniolo #matt fluff #chris sturniolo smut #chris fluff

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respectthepetty · 8 months

Text

In defense of Kanghan trying sucking!

*puts on my Kanghan defender hat*

Kanghan's dad never lets Kang do anything. He dismisses Kang and tells him not to try, which Kang has stated upsets him. But Sailom always pushes him to try. He never does anything for Kang because he knows Kang is capable enough to do it himself.

Yet . . .

Sailom, who had Kang fail a test to teach Kang he couldn't be bought, quickly told Kang that he would complete their assignment without Kang having to contribute. Normally, Kang would be thrilled by this, but Sailom had faith in him when no one else did.

So Kang is hurt.

Things are awkward between them, but even when they were enemies, Sailom expected Kang to pull his weight. Now, Sailom is treating Kang just like his father does, and that bothers Kang.

Instead of giving up like he would normally do with his father, Kang goes to check on Sailom (because he wants to make sure he is okay), AND THEN GETS TO WORK!

Kang picked Sailom up and gave him the worst wipe down in BL history, but just like with Sailom and that steak, this is new to Kang and the fact that he tried is what is important. He didn't make fun of Sailom for not knowing how to eat a fancy meal, and Sailom didn't make fun of Kang for trying to care for him later when they spoke.

Then, Kang went further and completed their assignment ON HIS OWN!

I know everyone and their grandma hated the amount of flashbacks in this episode, but I appreciated that each flashback in this section showed Kang getting answers right and Sailom praising him. The flashbacks didn't show them necessarily working together on an assignment, as much as they showed Kang getting the answers correct on his assignment with Sailom's guidance.

And those flashbacks also showed the times Sailom took care of Kang when he was too tired to continue, even when Sailom himself was tired.

Because those memories served as a reminder that 1) Kang could complete this assignment alone, and 2) Sailom had already done the same for him several times. Kang just needed to try.

Caring about someone is new to Kang, but he told Sailom he would try FOR HIM.

This is a kid who has never had to keep a promise in his entire life not even to the girl he likes, yet here he is showing up to check on Sailom and take care of him even though he has no clue what he is doing. He took that promise seriously because Sailom takes him seriously.

Then, he sees Guy taking care of Sailom, and Guy is doing so much better than Kang who rarely cares about anything, so how would he be good at caring for someone?

We get flashbacks of Guy (I know y'all hate them), who even pointed out to Kang that HE takes care of Sailom, pushing Kang away when Kang tried to help Sailom in the classroom.

This is the same person who told Kanghan that people only want to be around him because of his money (which is a sore point for Kang).

Kang tried to take care of Sailom and sucked at it, yet here is someone who doesn't seem to struggle the way he does. Kanghan cares about nothing, so to finally care about something, NO, someone (Pimfah and Sailom!) and fail at it both times . . .

This is why his dad tells him not to try. This is why he doesn't expect anything from him. This is why Sailom told him he would do their assignment by himself without Kanghan needing to help.

Because Kanghan sucks.

He sucks at school, which is why he was failing. He sucks at soccer, which is why he is on the ground. He sucks at caring for someone, which is why Guy steps in each time. And Sailom knows this, which is why he said he would do their assignment alone.

Then, Sailom screams "Troy!" "Kang, YOU'VE GOT THIS!" and like a damn health bar in a video game, Kang remembers through the power of a flashback (I know, I know) that this isn't about how much he sucks at caring about Sailom because what is important is that he does care about Sailom.

Kang showed throughout this episode that he does care about Pimfah. He likes her. He wants her happy, even if it isn't with him. But he doesn't care about her the way he cares abut Sailom, right? Yet when Pimfah was describing how she knew she liked Sailom, she was describing Kanghan's experience with Sailom.

And many people wrote that what Pimfah was describing was admiration not love.

So, according to many of y'all, if what she is describing isn't love which just happens to be the same exact experience Kanghan is having with Sailom, then he isn't experiencing love either, right?

No. He feels sorry for Sailom.

He feels guilt.

But, according to y'all and Kanghan, he doesn't love Sailom.

So what is it he is feeling because he, and the audience, doesn't know how to describe this?

He doesn't want Sailom to have to work so hard. He doesn't want Sailom to walk in the rain. He wants Sailom to eat a nice meal. He didn't always feel this way though.

But somewhere after seeing Sailom get beat up and threatened with an iron to his bare arm, he started to care about Sailom.

Then, he promised Sailom he would try, for him.

So . . .

Kanghan is trying to describe what he is feeling when everything in his life (and the audience) is telling him this isn't love. It's pity. It's guilt. It's admiration. But it's not love.

So when Kanghan throws this in his face

he really thinks about it.

This doesn't feel like guilt. This doesn't feel like pity. This doesn't feel like admiration. He cares about Sailom. He cares for Sailom. He sucks at it, but damn it, he is trying.

He keeps getting everything wrong, but he is trying.

He is trying to do better. He is trying to figure out what this feeling is. He is trying to get it right. And he is trying to make Sailom understand something that he doesn't even understand.

But the point is he is trying.

Even if he sucks at it.

#dangerous romance #sailom x kanghan #kanghan is trying #he sucks but he is trying #give the kid some credit #putting this in the tags cause I'm salty ->#some of y'all are giving Boss 'No Boundaries' Ton more grace than this kid #let ALL the boys be messy #this blog supports queer rights #and queer wrongs #so let Kang get it wrong so he can try to get right

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nalyra-dreaming · 3 days

Note

Lestat and Louis seem to fill incredibly similar roles in Armand’s life, like the parallels are insane. Is this true in the books? Does/has Armand sought out people he could use to do things for him on purpose or is it more subconscious?

Armand... let's put it this way:

He was (deliberately) broken, at a very early age.

And then ... things happened to him, often things that he could not do anything against, or who were done by someone much more powerful, and then... he was broken again.

We will yet get to see that. I think we might get to hear? maybe more about it in the upcoming episodes, but I think we will only get to "see" it in s3, maybe.

Because Armand did skip over all that and... I could be wrong, but I don't think they'll do flashbacks to his early life. We'll see.

In any case... Lestat reminded him of Marius, his maker. He... imprinted on Lestat, to put it that way.

And then he tried to "get" Lestat in the worst possible way (after Lestat's turning), he spell-bound him and force-fed on him. And Lestat beat him to a pulp in a rage. That is why he and Lestat never really hooked up though they are attracted to each other and grow to forgive and even love each other to an extent later on. (Obviously that is different than the fanfic version we saw^^).

Lestat knows it would be a catastrophe to take Armand with him, and rejects that wish (and leaves him).

Louis... Armand grows interested in Louis first and foremost because he is Lestat's, and was Lestat's chosen companion.

Luckily he falls for Louis. That is why Louis survives, Assad confirmed that just now in Autumn's video as well. Armand chose love. Or... what he sees as love.

Because his one true love will be Daniel, but that just as a note.

Armand... does not particularly seek out people to use them I think... he wants love. Craves it. But he is so broken that he goes about it in the worst possible ways, and so does not reach what he wants - until Daniel.

Daniel falls for him despite everything. He sees it all - and grows to love Armand, in totality.

So... it's no coincidence the show paralleled some thing there, but... it's complicated. VERY complicated :)

#sillybillytime #ask nalyra #iwtv s2 #iwtv #amc iwtv #interview with the vampire #interview with the vampire s2 #amc interview with the vampire #interview with the vampire amc #iwtv amc #lestat de lioncourt #the brat prince #iwtv lestat #iwtv louis #louis de pointe du lac #beautiful one #iwtv armand #armand

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codfanficedits · 8 months

Text

One mistake - Part Seven.

Pairing: Simon 'Ghost' Riley x fem!Reader - She/her pronouns being used

Summary: Simon lost you after making a mistake on a mission.

Wordcount: 1280 | Rating: E (18+ only!)

Warnings: cussing, swearing, grieving, angst with no comfort, conversation, blaming, therapist, moving on after losing a loved one.

A/N: Part seven! Simon is moving onn.

Part 1 ~ Part 2 ~ Part 3 ~ Part 4 ~ Part 5 ~ Part 6 ~AO3 Link

243 days.

God it has been 243 days. And while his grief for you is a token of the love he holds for you, life is moving on, Simon is moving on. He no longer spends his days and nights in his bed, instead he goes out, out in the open, out to visit a coffee shop, a bookstore, the park.

He treats life as if he had died and had begged God for a second chance, taking in every detail of the beauty of life.

243 days. He has missed your birthday, you have missed his. But don’t worry, he took a cupcake to your empty grave and sang for you. You still visit him in his dreams, and while he still wakes up missing you, longing for you in his bed, he is grateful to have you visit him even if it is through his nightmares and dreams.

He no longer has therapy sessions with Sarah, although they have helped him a whole lot, he is okay by himself, the flashbacks no longer taunt him and when this mind wanders back to that day, he can put himself back in the narrative, telling you that he loves you, that he wishes life could have been different.

Simon even went back to work, not to his full extend yet, that is a little too much, just yet. But he is getting there, and he hopes that you’re proud of him.

The grieving has become easier over time, and with it came a little bit of guilt, for the longest time it felt like he was forgetting you.

But he is not. You’ll always have a spot in his heart, he can never really forget you. Although he can only remember your face from the pictures and video’s, he remembers you. Although your voice isn’t the same in every dream, flashback or video, he still remembers you. You left your mark on his heart and he won’t get rid of it.

Simon takes in the ambiance of the little coffeeshop that he is in, waiting for his date to arrive. Sophie had been a nice girl, she isn’t you, obviously she isn’t you, and it took him a few weeks to get used to it. He stopped looking for you in her eyes, and while she will never leave such a mark on him as you did, she is pretty amazing. Simon told her upfront about you, how you always be a part of his life, through his work, through the apartment he shared with you, through him. And Sophie was okay with that, Sophie had no intention to replace you, no Sophie knew that she could live alongside Simon’s love for you.

A smile breaks out on his face when he spots here, a little wave following quick.

“There you are!” Happiness in his voice.

“Yeah, sorry I’m late.” You were never late.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m glad you’re here.” She kisses him on his cheek after those words.

And it took him a while, but he can smile after the small gesture, it no longer feels like a betrayal towards you, after all, he would’ve wanted you to move on too, it is only fair that he allows himself the same.

His eyes soften when he smiles at her, it was like a tug at his heart strings that he had long ago thought were cut.

“Going back to the taskforce.” Simon eventually says.

That piques her interest. “For long?”

“Nah, it’s for a birthday party.” Simon shrugs.

A little bit of an awkward air lingers around the both of them, neither of them sure what to say next. Sophie wants to ask if she can come, but she respects his space too much, she respects the walls around him too much to just barge in and demand he takes them down. Besides, the base is the only place where she hasn’t stepped foot in to replace you.

On the other side of the table is Simon, wanting to invite you, but worried that he is just using her to drive out the memories of you, worried that his teammates will think that he is getting over you way too quick. Worried that people will judge the level of love he has for you.

“So,” Simon clears his throat. “It’s Soap’s birthday, and we’re celebrating tomorrow evening.”

“And I know we haven’t been dating for long, but maybe, maybe you’d like to come?”

A deep breath. No reaction.

“Yes.” Sophie smiles while she talks. “Yes, I would like that. I’ve heard a lot about them, can’t wait to finally meet them.”

A smile tugs around his lips. “Good, good.”

“So, I’ll pick you up around 7ish, and I’ll drive us to base. Just wear something casual, they’re soldiers, so don’t expect anything too fancy.”

Even after 243 days he can’t help but feeling like a traitor, inviting another woman to the base the two of you used to serve at.

Sophie smiles at him, her worries melting away at his relaxed demeanour.

“8ish.” She repeats. “I’ll make sure to be casually dressed.” She presses a kiss on his cheek again. “I have to get back to my work, but it was nice to see you in my lunchbreak.”

Simon lets out a sigh when he is all alone in the coffeeshop again. Oh how life went different than he had hoped, but he was content. His eyes take in the scenery once more.

You would have loved it here.

He puts his car into park while he waited for Sophie to get out of her apartment, his leg bouncing against the steering wheel, he could feel himself getting nervous, as if he would bring Sophie in to your territory. As if he would take away the final thing on this mortal earth that was only yours. Simon tried to push those thoughts away when he saw Sophie leave her house, a bright smile on her face. He could see that she had tried to dress casual, but it was a little too perfect to be casual, and it warmed his heart.

She kissed him when she entered his car. It was endearing to him, all feelings of guilt being pushed to the side when his lips touched hers.

“You look amazing.” He complimented her. A soft blush forming on her face. Her hand rested on his knee when he started the drive. It was quiet and he still wasn’t used to it. You, his teammates, his captain, the lot of you would always tease him about his bad driving skills. But not Sophie, she was missing out on the inside joke.

“It can be quite rowdy on base.” Simon warned her.

“That’s okay.” She said with a faint smile.

“Good, good.” He muttered.

A soft squeeze on his knee, and a smile formed on his lips.

Simon tried to focus on the road, pushing away every single thought inside of his mind. He shouldn’t feel guilty for moving on, he shouldn’t feel guilty for bringing his new girlfriend to his base. He shouldn’t be so nervous about his teammates meeting Sophie.

He shouldn’t. But he was.

A deep breath emerged from his lips when he parked the car on the base, taking in the atmosphere.

“Ready?” He asked.

“Ready.” She nodded.

When he exited the car, he took in his base, the memories of you flooding in again. Sophies hand in his shook him out of it, and he smiled at her.

He let in the commotion, the rowdy, loud cheering happening all around.

“Simon!” Price calling out over the parking lot. “We have something you should see.”

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wit4writ · 5 months

Text

PJO: Episode 1 Detailed Review

The first two episodes of Percy Jackson and the Olympians has dropped on Disney+ and I have OPINIONS. I’ve been scrambling to shove my thoughts back in my brain like they’re snakes escaping from a basket. *pushing lid down* I’ll let you guys out once I can wrangle you into a coherent, easily comprehensible form, okay?

Here are a few disclaimers: I am not an expert in any way, shape, or form. This is meant only a critique with changes I would have personally added, and I will be highlighting things I liked as well as disliked. If you disagree with me, that’s fine, just be respectful. There will be tons of spoilers. Also, I have no issues with actors based on their looks/ethnicity.

Before I delve into it, I will say that overall, the episodes aren’t bad. They do a decent job of introducing us to the world and our protagonists. The setting, costume design, special effects, and lighting were well done, and the actors did a good job of portraying their characters.

However, the entire thing feels rushed. Almost as if someone at Disney freaked out and tried to push something before it was ready to please fans and investors. (I’m not saying this happened, I just wouldn’t be surprised if it did.) Transitions between scenes were choppy and/or long. Instead of letting us get to know the world and characters organically, such as through dialogue and interactions, it forced characters into being exposition robots instead (more so in the second episode). Examples will be highlighted as I get into the detailed review.

So, let’s begin with episode one!

The beginning was great. I loved the voiceover as we introduce Percy and his past. I enjoyed the changes that were made to translate the book to the screen in this case, as it was condensed into a watchable form, but it still was able to tell us important details: Percy has been seeing weird things since he was little, he’s an outcast at his school, and he has a best friend, Grover, who’s being bullied.

Next was the museum, which was also good. Mr. Brunner’s speech was great. Percy looking at the page and seeing all the letters rearrange themselves was a literal “show, don’t tell” that worked well. The flashback with Sally explaining Percy’s name and the story of Perseus was amazing. I loved we got more of Sally and Percy’s relationship here, as well as the emphasis that not all heroes look like heroes and not all monsters look like monsters.

The sudden shift back to reality was a great transition, especially since it highlights how his ADHD can make him daydream. We see the same girl who bullied Grover make a nasty comment, and I think a response from Percy would have been great here (“Shut up, Nancy!” etc.) so we naturally get to know her name and justify Mrs. Dodds’ warning to Percy. Mr. Brunner’s intervention was a good move and I liked how he gave Percy the pen, though if he tried to make Nancy apologize to Percy it would’ve been more impactful. If Nancy blew him off and Mrs. Dodds defended her, we’d see this was an ongoing problem and we’d get some characterization. If Nancy did apologize, she’d have a reason to resent Percy beyond bullying him for the sake of it, and we could connect it to her actions of going after Grover.

Grover’s conversation with Percy was good, but it should’ve been longer. We get told they’re friends and saw them hanging out in the introductory montage, but beyond that, we don’t get much of them actually being friends before everything blows up.

When Nancy goes after Grover, it’d make sense for her to antagonize Percy more, to highlight her nastiness and their ongoing problems. We’ve only seen two incidents of bullying, three if we count her throwing food at Grover, and it felt very cold and unemotional, like someone pulled real-life bullying incidents and put them in a training video. Her just walking away after doesn’t make sense. She knows she’s made Percy angry, and she has a chance to provoke him further and indulge in the rush of power that bullies get when they torment their victims. A back and forth between Percy and Nancy would have gone a long way to showcasing their history and Grover and Percy’s dynamic. For example, after Nancy throws the food at Grover:

// Nancy: “Oops.”

Percy stands up.

Percy: “What’s your problem?”

Grover grabs him and tries to pull him back. Classmates start to notice.

Grover: “Percy, don’t.”

Nancy: “I’m not the one with problems here.”

Percy: “Look, can you just back off?”

Nancy: “Aw, does wittle baby Percy wanna whine to Brunner again?”

By now, their classmates are surrounding them and laugh at her comment. Percy looks around, but the teachers are nowhere close. //

In my ideal scene, there’s a few more barbs from Nancy as we focus on Percy’s reaction to the bullying and humiliation, and as his temper roars, and there’s screams, water sprays, and Nancy’s in the fountain.

The impact of him just walking up and “pushing” her into the fountain was lackluster. Part of what’s great about this in the books is that not even Percy himself is sure what he did, so when his powers emerge at Camp Half-Blood it hits even harder. Also, the way she just flew into the fountain made it look like he had telekinesis, not hydrokinetic powers.

The pen vibrating when Mrs. Dodds started coming after Percy…I’m neutral on that. But the menace of her just getting closer was amazing, and the fact no one noticed was cool. When Percy started backing away, I was sure he was going to run, and then the confrontation would take place somewhere more secluded. I was disappointed when that didn’t happen, because the whole thing felt too short. This is his first monster encounter, and it was over in a matter of seconds. There was no sense of stakes (Stakes are used to engage your audience and make them care about the characters/their problems), it was more like—that happened, okay, everyone move on. This moment would have benefited from us staying in it longer.

Percy fainting/blacking out after the fight was a choice I also don’t agree with. The effect of him not only surviving his first fight but being able to walk away would’ve given us a sense of a couple different things: there’s more to the world and him than meets the eye.

The old lady with Nancy during this part needs clarification. Readers of the book know that she’s the “new” teacher, but she could also pass for a concerned citizen. This could have been clarified by Mr. Brunner saying something like, “Mrs. Kerr, take Nancy to the gift shop and get her a new shirt.” Then, when Percy freaks out, they drop the bomb that Mrs. Kerr is their teacher and Mrs. Dodds doesn’t exist.

What followed was a four second darkness transition (felt too long and took me out of the viewing) and the scene in the principal’s office. Honestly, that entire scene could’ve been shortened or maybe even skipped. It didn’t make sense, which I could go deeper into, but for now, I’ll just say that we don’t need the added scene of Percy getting beaten down by this. We’ve already seen him bullied and almost killed. Ideally, I would have the scene go something like this:

// TRANSITION

Percy is zoned out, still thinking about the fight, and the principal calls him.

Principal: “Mr. Jackson? Mr. Jackson, are you listening?”

Percy: “Yeah, sorry.”

Principal: “As I was saying, you have been on thin ice since the term began.”

Percy: “So it’s my fault that Nancy’s bullying me and Grover?”

Principal: “You should’ve informed a faculty member.”

Percy: “I tried, but none of you listened!”

Principal: “Nevertheless, pushing Ms. Bobofit into a public fountain was a step too far.”

Percy: “So how many detentions do I have this time? Or is it a suspension?”//

Then we cut to Percy packing his bag and heading out.

Grover betraying him was unnecessary and cruel. We did not need the extra angst and that kind of behaviour ruins the trust in a friendship, no matter the reason. I’d have them sharing a short, yet heartfelt goodbye before Percy goes out to wait for his ride and talks with Mr. Brunner.

The interaction between Eddie the super and Percy was great in adding some context to the apartment dynamics. Gabe was so slimy, and it was nice to see Percy’s sass come out more here. I appreciate the callbacks to the book in that he’s playing online poker and later on, during his conversation with Sally, Sally promises him food to get him off her back.

I was confused why Sally Jackson was standing out on her balcony in the rain. But I liked the interactions of Sally, Gabe, and Percy. Sally was sweet and understanding, and her attitude with Gabe made me laugh. These moments were what I was craving, where interaction and dialogue revealed more about the characters.

Another four second darkness transition (sigh) to Percy’s first weird dream. I liked this sequence, but it felt out of place. Starting with Percy and Sally’s interaction in the car would’ve been better, and showing them running into the house, then Sally dismissing him to get dried off. It was an abrupt transition to suddenly jump to him in the bathroom.

Percy talking to his mom was sweet, but the dialogue could’ve been tighter. That’s how I felt about a lot of dialogue bits. For example, when Sally talks about how his dad was a man unlike she’d ever met before, she said it three times. If it was delivered in a more rambling way it might have worked, but I think saying it twice would’ve gotten the point across.

Sally telling Percy about his dad and the gods was an interesting choice. I liked how they did it, but it felt like there were, again, sentences that could’ve been easily cut to make it more succinct and improve the flow, because she came close to becoming an exposition robot, which is a term I use to describe a character who has become a narrative vehicle to spout huge chunks of exposition at the audience and in doing so sacrifice their personality and characterization.

Percy asking if Sally fell in love with Jesus was a great comment.

Sally and Grover’s interactions were incredible, I loved it. Also, the reveal of Grover’s legs was so well done, I laughed out loud. This, like the previous scene in the Jacksons’ apartment, allowed the interactions and dialogue to reveal more about the characters, allowing for revelation without dumping information.

Grover almost became an exposition robot in the car. If we cut the whole betrayal arc, we could’ve devoted more time to the actual explanation and made it flow better. Also, if we’d established that Percy’s been protecting/trying to protect Grover from bullying, like in my rewritten scene at the fountain outside the museum, that line where Grover said he was Percy’s protector would’ve made for a greater contrast.

I liked the action sequence with the Minotaur and car running into each other, but it was cut abruptly. If it showed the car going off the road, then Grover kicking out the back window, it would’ve allowed for a smoother transition.

Sally getting Grover to swear to protect Percy and her talk with Percy also took too long, considering there was a Minotaur after them. I would’ve cut a lot of it and made everyone speak faster. This moment needed to be shorter to reflect the fact time was literally running out and Percy was in actual danger (thus raising the stakes). Something like this:

// Grover points at a pine in the distance.

Grover: “We’re almost there. Once we get past that tree, we’ll be safe.”

Sally: “Good. Percy, give me your coat.”

Percy automatically obeys and Sally takes his coat.

Percy: “Uh, why?”

Sally: “He tracks by smell. If I go one way and you go the other, it’ll be enough to confuse him.”

Percy: “What? No! We need to stick together!”

Sally: “Grover, you swear to me you’ll take care of him.”

Grover: “I will, Mrs. Jackson.”

Percy: “Mom, what’s going on?”

Sally: “I can’t go into camp. It’s not a place for…mortals.”

Percy: “Whoa, no. I’m not leaving you out here by yourself. What if the monster gets you, what if you get lost, what if—”

Sally: “Perseus!”

She hugs him.

Sally: “Remember you’re a miracle, and my son.”

She pulls back to look him in the eye.

Sally: “I love you.”

The Minotaur roars—they’re out of time. //

Sally facing off with the Minotaur was well done. Though I would’ve had Percy start running back the moment he saw the Minotaur grab her, then stop when she vanished. It would’ve communicated his desperation then devastation as he failed to save her.

I was confused why Percy’s pen started vibrating here. At first, I assumed the pen was some sort of monster detector, but seeing it vibrate at this point seemed to refute that. Now it appears that the vibration serves as a reminder to Percy that he has a weapon, which I don’t like. It takes away Percy’s agency and acts like a sword ex machina. Letting Percy keep the pen from the museum onward was an interesting choice, but I think it’d make more sense to not have it or have him search his pockets beforehand (like at the cabin), discover it, and suddenly remember it during the fight.

The fight between Percy and the Minotaur was all right, but I’m not sure why the music cut out then came back later. Music serves to elevate the emotional intensity of scenes like this, and I think it would’ve heightened the scene to have the music continuous to the end of the fight. A moment of silence, followed by the music returning or blood pounding and/or tinnitus ringing noise could’ve worked too.

The ending was okay. I think showing Percy and Grover struggling to walk through the forest, then collapsing once they pass the pine tree would’ve been better, followed by the last scene playing. Instead, we were given two fainting spells/blackouts, which was two too many for my taste.

This is a big world with lots of lore, but it feels as if we sacrificed characters for info drops. Nancy Bobofit and Mrs. Dodds fell flat, and I felt ambivalent towards them, which isn’t great for antagonists. The changes I outlined would have served to give them characterization in their brief appearance, so they felt more like people rather than plot devices. Also, I don't think we ever shown/told that Mrs. Dodds was his pre-algebra teacher, which seems like an odd omission considering the title of the episode.

My favourite parts of the episode were when characters were allowed to just be people and talk to each other. There are times when I don’t mind exposition, but not when characters are sacrificed for the sake of it.

I liked this episode, but I wanted to love it.

This got far longer than I anticipated, so I’ll be making a separate post for episode two.

#percy jackson #pjo series #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo tv show #tv review #pjo #sally jackson #greek mythology #grover underwood #disney plus #disney percy jackson #percy jackson review

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