#i guess its not fair to say its NOT nostalgia its a similar thing to what he lays out abt being a 90s kid unearthing secret 80s thing | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

shemarmooresfedora · 3 years

Text

Rebuilding Family

Summary: Y/N and Spencer were college sweethearts at Cal-Tech but once Spencer got accepted to the FBI Academy, he ended things deciding it was not fair to make Y/N wait for him. When they meet again years later, he discovers something unexpected.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Warnings: brief mentions of alcohol consumption, allusions to sex

A/N: so you know how last chapter i said there was going to be like 4 chapters left…sorry i lied. as much as it pains me to admit since i’m so attached to this little family, i feel this story is coming to its natural end and i don’t want to drag it out (i may do one-shots of this series in the future though!) that being said, this is the second to last chapter. i appreciate all of your continued support throughout this series <3

Masterlist

Chapter 36

You opened the front door to the house after your therapy appointment. You had been making a lot of progress.

Spencer and the kids used to go with you and then wait at the park across the street until you were done but you had decided that this time you could go alone. Spencer hugged you tightly before you left and said how proud of you he was, reminding you of your calming exercises for the waiting room, and to call him if you got too overwhelmed. Luckily, your anxiety had not gotten the better of you and your appointment went fine.

You could hear the opening notes to Golden by Harry Styles playing. Once the beat dropped, you heard Spencer say, “Okay, go babies, go!”

You rounded the corner to see Spencer conducting a dance party for the twins in their bouncy jumpers and Jo who was wearing her Rapunzel dress.

“Ollie,” Spencer crouched down to the rather stationary baby, “Look at your sisters! See, copy them! We’ll all bounce.”

While Ophelia was very audible and energetic, Ollie was more reserved. This concerned you and Spencer a bit because he would hardly cry and you had no idea what was going on with him or if he needed anything.

As Spencer backed up to start dancing as well, you pulled out your phone and hit record just in time to see Spencer accidentally bounce into the couch and trip and fall flat on his face.

Ollie giggled. Spencer shot up from the ground. Ollie had never done that before. Ophelia’s first laugh was a few weeks ago but nothing seemed to be funny enough for Ollie until his Daddy fell.

Spencer scrambled to get his phone, “Jo, can you record for Mommy? I’m going to fall again.”

You decided this was the time to make your presence known.

“That won’t be necessary,” you announced with a smile, ending the video you took.

“You heard?” Spencer beamed.

“Yep, got it on video too,” you walked over to the jumpers and lifted up Ollie, giving him a bunch of kisses, “You were really going to hurt yourself again just so I could have a video of our son laughing?”

“Absolutely, I was,” he grinned.

“You’re an idiot,” you chuckled.

“You’re the one who fell in love with an idiot,” he replied.

“I guess that makes us both idiots then,” you sighed happily.

“But idiots in love,” he kissed you.

You blew a raspberry and tickled Ollie’s little belly and he started giggling hysterically again.

Spencer was with twins on the floor on a blanket doing some ‘tummy time’ while Jo sat on the couch watching cartoons.

“Why can’t me and the babies come with you and Mommy for dinner like we usually do?” Jo asked.

“Because a year ago today, Mommy and I got married so we want to go out to a fancy restaurant and celebrate our love for each other. But, we’ll go out together as a family soon again and Uncle Derek and Auntie Penelope will be watching you tonight.”

“Okay,” Jo instantly agreed.

You clicked down the stairs in your high heels, carefully holding the railing. Spencer stood to help and offered his hand to you for support.

You were dressed in a midi A-line black corset dress with a white floral design.

“You look absolutely stunning as usual, my love,” he kissed your hand.

“As do you, my husband of officially a year,” you beamed.

He kissed you on the lips this time as the door opened.

“Kids night!” Penelope exclaimed, running into the house with Derek in tow. “I brought board games, ice cream, and every Disney movie DVD I own.”

“Auntie Penelope!” Jo hugged her and then Derek.

Then, Penelope turned to you both, “What are you guys still doing here?”

“Emergency numbers are on the fridge. We’ll both have our phones on the whole time,” you repeated the information you had told them many times before as you were pushed out the door by Penelope.

“Oh, also recent development!” Spencer added as he tried to resist Derek’s pushing, “The twins are avid crawlers now so if you set them down for a second and look away, they’ll be gone.”

“Good to know. Enjoy your night, you two,” Derek winked as he shut the door.

“So where are we going?” you asked as you walked hand and hand to the car.

Spencer opened the passenger side door for you, “We are going to the restaurant where we had our first date, my dear,” he smiled.

Spencer had rented a private patio for the two of you with lit candles, fairy lights, and a bouquet of wildflowers similar to the one you carried down the aisle a year ago.

You gasped when you saw the set-up, “I love you so much, Spencer Reid.”

“I love you more, Mrs. Reid.”

You and Spencer ordered the exact same dishes that you got on your first date for maximum nostalgia.

“There is something I wanted to talk to you about,” Spencer spoke mid-meal.

You set your fork down to show him he had your full attention.

“So I was thinking about what I want to do this summer. You’re off of work for the summer so we’ll both be home with the kids. I figured I should take up some sort of project to keep my mind stimulated,” he explained.

“Go on...” you took a sip of your wine.

“I think I want to become an author,” he stated.

“I think that’s a wonderful idea. Any idea what genre?” you smiled softly.

“At first, I was thinking about something related to my time at the BAU but then I realized I’ve had enough of that as is and I don’t feel like reliving it. Now, I’m thinking more along the lines of fiction because during all my years of schooling, I never really got to explore my creative side. I think a kid’s book could be fun for me to write. And I could work on it whenever the kids were napping or at school,” he explained to you.

“Whatever makes you happy, love. I can’t wait to read what that beautiful brain of yours comes up with,” you grinned, “This also makes my gift for you even better.”

“Y/N, we agreed no gifts,” he rolled his eyes playfully.

“It’s just something small that made me think of you,” you pouted, reaching into your purse.

You handed him something wrapped in a thin layer of pale purple tissue paper. Inside was a beautiful leather journal. It had a quote inscribed on it.

‘Do not be afraid; our fate cannot be taken away from us; it is a gift’ -Dante Alighieri

“You just saw this and happened to think of me?” he asked, amused, “How is it customized with our initials and wedding date then?”

“Fine,” you relented, “I ordered it off Etsy a while ago.”

“Good thing I also didn’t listen to our agreement,” he smirked, “But mine isn’t as sentimental and it’s really a gift for us both.”

“I’ll love it just the same,” you assured him.

“We are not going home tonight. The fairy godmother volunteered her and Derek’s services all night so I booked us a room at a bed and breakfast and I already packed you a bag in the backseat of the car.”

You started stuffing pasta into your mouth, “Eat faster. I want to go as soon as possible.”

Spencer chuckled at your eagerness.

Spencer felt you trying to sneak out of bed to get your phone.

“What are you doing?” he mumbled at the loss of your warmth.

“I just want to check on the kids. This is our first night away from the twins,” you grabbed your phone, putting on Spencer’s button up, and facetiming Penelope.

She picked up on the second ring, “Hello, my lovely.”

“Hey, Pen. Are the kids behaving for you guys?”

“Yes. They’re all sleeping soundly now. Me and Derek are just binging episodes of The Bachelorette now.”

“That’s great to hear. No spoilers though!”

“How is your night going?” she inquired.

“It’s good, it’s good. Dinner was nice. The hotel is nice,” you tried to avoid the obvious.

“Y/N, your makeup is completely smudged and I can see the collar of Spencer’s shirt around your neck,” she replied.

You heard Derek laughing in the background, “Proud of you, lover boy.”

“Okay, we’ll see you in the morning,” Spencer hung up the phone for you.

“What did you do that for?”

“Round 2,” he smirked.

taglist (just ask to be added or removed!): @samuel-de-champagne-problems @g0lden-cth @spencerreid9 @averyhotchner @coldlilheart @k-k0129 @ickleronniekinsemotionalrange @harrystylesandthegoobs @cmily @jswessie187 @rem-ariiana @hoodpankow @mochionly @spencerreid-187 @doctorreiding @reidsfish

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid x fem!reader #spencer reid #spencer reid x you #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid fic #dr spencer reid #dad!spencer #cm fanfic #cm fic #spencer x reader #reid x reader

141 notes · View notes

tellthemeerkatsitsfine · 2 years

Text

Episode 4011 of The Bugle, first one of 2017, was the by far the best of the new era so far. First one that made me laugh as many times as an average episode from the original era. Nish Kumar and Andy Zaltzman looking ahead to the Trump inaguration that was two weeks away at the time, and to the year in general that was before them. Lots of really good jokes and good chemistry, it sounds like they’d spent all of Christmas writing material for this fucked up situation and were excited to try it out.

It also contained possibly my favourite pun run, because it was the first one Andy did in character (as, oddly enough, a chicken), in which Andy-as-himself played the role that was previously filled by John Oliver of someone who keeps saying “please stop doing these puns”, and Andy-as-the-chicken delivered the actual puns, and it was a strange piece of performance art that I thoroughly enjoyed. He should take that sketch on tour.

Some of the episode was definitely weird to hear in 2022. It’s well known that 2016 made it fucking weird to hear any remotely topical media from before 2016, when they’d say things like “I can’t believe George Bush was president”, and just generally have a very different calibre of expectations for the world. One of the big things that gets me is the idea of conducting actual national and international politics on Twitter - for a few years people would joke about “imagine if that happened”, then there were a few years when it was just starting to happen and people would joke about how fucking stupid it was, and in the last few years people don’t even joke about it anymore because that’s just a normal way the world works.

But at this point, it’s also a bit weird to go back to the beginning of this and hear them try to guess how things would go. For a while Nish and Andy speculated about whether anything might ever stop Trump from using Twitter, and concluded that there was no way to put a stop to this. So there’s one prediction they got wrong, but I can’t exactly fault them for not being able to guess that. I so often feel nostalgia for before the end of 2016, this is making me remember I even have a little nostalgia for the very beginning of the Trump era, before that shit was normalized, when it still felt weird because it was not how the world just generally works. You know, when we were all devastated but the wounds had not yet calloused over into just being jaded.

Also, the little bits of continuity are helping me be less bothered by the sense of “no no this is not how The Bugle is supposed to be I hate change”. Someone who emailed in tried to bring back hotties from history, and I expected Andy to shut that shit down as a segment that’s had its day, but instead he was happy to discuss it for a while. Andy has a button that plays John Oliver’s voice saying “That’s bullshit”, and it’s fun when he presses that. Listeners have also taken to addressing their emails to Andy, Producer Chris, whatever rotating co-host is there for the week, and the metaphysical remains of John Oliver. It eases the transition a bit.

Having said that, the references to the fact that this podcast did not just spring out of the air in October 2016 are not always positive things. At one point Andy did reference a review of his recent stand-up show in which the Guardian referred to him as “the left behind sidekick”, and that was pretty rough. Like he was joking about it but there was a rare note of genuine bitterness (just because a genuine note of anything from Andy Zaltzman is rare) when he quoted that one. Nish had a similar reaction to mine, along the lines of “Holy hell that is harsh, what the fuck?” Also, to be fair to Andy, the two original voices on The Bugle were very much equal co-hosts who had the same amount of input and were running it together, but if we absolutely had to choose which one was in the sidekick role, it would be John. Andy was the one who did the introduction and conclusion of every episode, made the housekeeping announcements and posted the online stuff between episodes (I mean, there were jokes about how he fell behind on that and normally Chris did it all, but John definitely didn’t do it), and always had lots of material prepared, while John had weeks when life got busy and he had to literally and/or figuratively phone it in. So The Guardian can fuck off. Anyway, it’s fine. Life goes on.

4 notes · View notes

eternallysarcastic · 4 years

Text

winter moon/ch.1

Helloooo, I finally decided to post my little Xiao fic that I’ve been thinking about for a really long time. I hope you enjoy it! Feedback is appreciated.

Title is from Erutan - Winter Moon

You were slowly assembling the lantern, nimble fingers gently folding the paper, careful not to smudge the small writing on it. Sitting on your knees on top of one of the tall mountains on the edge of Liyue Harbour you let the lantern fly up in the air, joining the hundreds of small lights.

You sighed as you watched the beautiful scenery, feeling the nostalgia and sadness creeping up your throat. You put your hands together as if to pray, to whom you weren’t sure but you hoped there would be someone higher than a God, than an Archon, hearing your prayers.

But you knew there was no one, no one was more powerful than an Archon.

Except yourself.

And yet here you were, the God of all gods, praying for someone else to come and help you. Pathetic.

But you were desperate for someone to hear your wish, to rescue you and so you stayed all night, praying until you could barely feel your legs.

If you didn’t know better, you would have already confronted the man who had watched you the whole night from a distance far off in the forest of mountains. You could feel his wariness and his disdain, for what, you didn’t know. You had already felt the fact that he was no mortal, waves of condensed, rippling power coming from his direction miles away.

Once the sun rose, so did you. Supporting yourself on a nearby rock wall, you allowed your weak legs to gain circulation back to them and dusted off your white attire. You had a long day ahead.

Knocking on the funeral parlour door, you were surprised to be greeted by a short girl with brown hair and red eyes.

“Welcome, welcome! My name is Hu Tao and I am here to provide you with our funeral services! How may I assist you?” She spoke in a high and excited voice. She seemed a little too hyper to be working for a funeral parlour but to be fair, in all your years of life, it wasn’t the most peculiar thing you’ve seen.

“Uhm...” You were unsure how to continue. “I am looking for someone actually.”

“Oooh? And who may that be?” Her eyes lit up with curiosity. She reminded you of a small child.

But you weren't sure who exactly you were looking for. You haven't seen him in 3000 years, you didn’t know what form he might've taken this time. If it was even a ‘he’, but the stars had led you here and you trusted them more than you trusted anything else.

You had to guess. “A man?”

The girl, Hu Tao, pouted and crossed her arms childishly. “Everyone’s always looking for Zhongli and never me! Hmph!” You smiled sheepishly at her cute display of annoyance as she stepped aside to let you in.

The parlour wasn’t anything extravagant but you could see it was doing well enough to have all kinds of commodities. You stepped into a giant room with a long table in the middle, and as your eyes followed the length of it, at the head of it you saw a man.

He was sipping his tea, eyes closed and demeanour calm but as soon as his eyes opened, you knew. It was him.

The second you stepped into the room his golden eyes had snapped open and landed on you. He studied you for a second before those same gorgeous eyes widened. The sudden pressure in the room made the eccentric girl beside you obviously uncomfortable.

“I-I guess I’ll leave you two here to talk things out,” she said and she exited the room with hurried steps.

“You...” He seemed to not be able to form any further words and his eyes had filled with the foreign feeling you had recognized as hope. “You’re alive?”

“Have been for some time,” you chuckled and scratched the back of your neck uncomfortably; you really didn’t want to talk about it. “how have you been, Rex Lapis?”

That seemed to take him out of his stupor as he regained his usual calm demeanour, even though his eyes would still not leave your form as if you’d vanish into thin air at any moment.

“It’s Zhongli now,” he cleared his throat “Rex Lapis is no more.” He said and pulled out a chair for you to sit, “but you knew I hadn’t actually passed away did you, neither Gods nor Archons could ever escape your sight.”

“Isn’t that my job anyway? To be an observer and a protector-”, you laughed softly “or at least it was at one point in time. However, that’s not why I'm here, Rex L-, sorry, Zhongli. I need your help.”

“I am glad to offer my help, anyway I can, but you must know – my power is not what it used to be,” he said solemnly.

“What? Why? I knew something must be wrong as soon as I heard about your death but at the same time your constellation stayed as bright as ever.”

“I made a deal with the Tsaritsa. I gave her my gnosis,” he said as calm as ever. As if he didn’t just say he gave away the most precious thing to an Archon. You’d be furious if it wasn’t Rex Lapis himself, the god you’d known for over 4000 years and knew he’d never do anything irrational without having thought it out.

So as calm as he himself was, you asked simply. “Why?”

“Liyue’s protection and its people are my first priority. You might have heard already that the Tsaritsa is planning a revolution, a war against Celestia itself. It would be no easy feat and it will require sacrifice – I cannot allow my people to be that sacrifice,” he sipped his tea. “You must also be careful, as a God born from Celestia itself, once it’s destroyed so will your powers fade.”

“I know, that is why I looked for you. I need to find someone before that happens, my powers are only enough to point me in a vague direction but ever since that night 3000 years ago, they’re a quarter from what they used to be, I am not strong enough.” You sighed and held your hands in a fist over your weakness. Because of that fateful night 3 millennia ago, you were now reduced to begging for help – something your pride didn’t allow you to.

It was quiet for a few moments and you could feel his gaze on you. “I’d ask you what happened but I’m sure you don’t want to talk about it.”

You breathed out in relief, “Thank you, Zhongli.”

“I may not be able to help out much. Ever since I gave away my gnosis my powers have also waned, I haven’t had enough time for them to recover. However I know who can.” He seemed to have finished his tea and stood up from his chair.

Looking at him fully now, you could see the similarities of his stature and face to the one you remembered 4000 years ago. You knew he probably never meant to go back to godhood ever again, but he seemed happy where he was and that relieved you more than you thought it would.

“Shall we go, little lady.” He outstretched his elbow for you to take and laughed softly the moment he noticed your annoyed expression.

“I’ve told you a million times not to call me that!”

The full moon was high in the sky when you crossed a wooden bridge and could finally see the giant tree – hotel hybrid up close. It looked much bigger than you had thought it would at first. It’s height intimidating against the moonlit night sky. You and Zhongli used the elevator and got to the top floor.

“You can see every point in Liyue from here!” you exclaimed excitedly, leaning over the ledge of the balcony.

When you had entered a lady at the front desk had only nodded at you and Zhongli wordlessly, letting you through. You figured this was a place Zhongli frequented often. The view was as beautiful as you thought it would be, the gentle light of the moon covering everything in a beautiful silver colour.

“Rex Lapis, what may I do for you?” You heard a deep voice from behind you, turning around in time to see the boy bowing at Zhongli.

Your eyes met his golden ones and time seemed to stop for a moment. You felt pressure constricting your lungs and an unfamiliar feeling building in your chest. You didn’t understand what was happening, you weren’t even able to think, your head felt lightweight and heavy at the same time. There was a tiny ache right where your heart was supposed to be.

Yet, he also stood there, those golden eyes wide in surprise and something else you couldn’t recognise. His fingers twitched once, then twice as if hesitating before he slowly outstretched his hand towards you.

That seemed to wake you up from your state and as if you had just jolted awake you shook your head to get rid of that weird feeling that had made every hair on your body stand on end.

“I-I’m sorry, have I met you before?” You asked him quietly, eyebrows creased.

His outstretched hand stopped in its tracks before it fell down lifelessly by his side. His golden irises clouded with confusion for a split second before his expression turned blank, as if that whole exchange hadn’t even happened in the first place.

He turned away from you and towards Zhongli with his arms crossed against his chest. “No, we have not.”

It was like a lightbulb went off in your head. He was the person who had watched you for the whole night praying during the Lantern Festival! That must be it. You had felt his irritation at you from miles away, so this must be it. You had done something to disrespect him surely.

You had almost forgotten Zhongli was even here before he cleared his throat to get your attention, having watched the whole display in front of him with eyes filled with confusion. You could feel the cogs in his brain turning, thinking, analysing.

“Let me introduce you then. This is Xiao, the guardian Yaksha of Liyue and one of my trusted adepti and Xiao,” he turned to gesture at you “this is one of the celestial Gods, Goddess of the Moon.”

#genshin impact #genshin xiao #genshin impact xiao #xiao x reader #zhongli #hu tao #reader insert #winter moon

116 notes · View notes

obtusemedia · 3 years

Text

Ranking Lady Gaga's albums, from worst to best

Being a Lady Gaga fan can be an exercise in frustration.

Gaga is far more ambitious than most popstars — I doubt we’ll ever see Ariana Grande or Ed Sheeran make an album as left-field as Born This Way or ARTPOP. But she's also far less consistent, with numerous misbegotten projects.

Gaga's undeniably successful, with five #1 hits, an Oscar and multiple iconic music videos to her name. But her messy album rollouts and tradition of underperforming lead singles make her feel like an underdog compared to the more polished, precise careers of her contemporaries like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé or Bruno Mars.

Gaga is kind of a mess. But she's our mess. This album ranking will cover some records I can't stand — albums that make me constantly hit the fast-forward button, or albums I ignore altogether. But there isn't a single record on here that wasn't a bold move. Even the "back to basics" albums made strong aesthetic choices.

So let's dive into the career of the most fascinating Millennial popstar.

#8: Cheek To Cheek (2014)

This really shouldn't count. It's a Lady Gaga album in name only. But, technically it's a Gaga album, so here we are.

I've got nothing against Gaga having fun playing Rat Pack-era dress-up with Tony Bennett. She's a theatre kid at heart, and I'm sure every theatre kid would kill to make a Great American Songbook covers record like this. It sounds like she and Tony enjoyed themselves, so I'm happy for them!

...but I'm sorry. I can't be objective about Cheek To Cheek, it's the opposite of my taste. There's only so many bland lounge ballads I can take.

BEST SONGS: I have to pick one? "Anything Goes" is cute, I guess.

WORST SONG: "Sophisticated Lady"

#7: A Star Is Born (2018)

Let me first make this clear — A Star Is Born, the movie starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga? It's a masterpiece. It's electrifying and tragic and I'm still upset it didn't sweep the Oscars that year. There's even a cute dog! You won't hear me say a bad word about it.

But A Star Is Born, the accompanying soundtrack? It's extremely hit-and-miss.

Yes, it includes arguably Gaga's best-ever song and one of the greatest movie hits ever written, "Shallow." And there's plenty of other great tunes in the tracklist too — "Always Remember Us This Way," "I'll Never Love Again," the "La Vie En Rose" cover.

Even the country-rock songs from Bradley Cooper (who, reminder, is not a professional singer) are mostly good! "Black Eyes" RIPS, and "Maybe It's Time" feels like a long-lost classic.

But sadly, there are so many mediocre filler tracks on this thing. The second half of A Star Is Born's hour-plus runtime (Gaga's longest!) is padded with generic songs like "Look What I've Found," "Heal Me" and "I Don't Know What Love Is." The only good one out of the bunch is the silly, intentionally-bad "Why Did You Do That?"

In the movie, these filler tracks serve a point – they're meant to show Gaga's character selling out. They work in the movie when you hear them for a few seconds and see Cooper make a drunkly disappointed scowl. But I don't want to listen to them, and sadly, they make up half the album.

In other words — A Star Is Born would've made an incredible six or seven-song EP. But as an 63-minute-long record? It's a slog.

BEST SONGS: "Shallow", "Always Remember Us This Way," "Maybe It's Time"

WORST SONG: "Heal Me"

#6: Joanne (2016)

After Born This Way and ARTPOP, I get why Gaga needed to make a more lowkey, back-to-basics album. I also understand that many of these songs have extremely personal lyrics for her.

But is a down-to-earth album what I really want from our most outré popstar? Not really.

Luckily, Joanne is better than that description suggests. Yes, there are some bland acoustic ballads and awkward hippie-era throwbacks (two styles that are really not in Gaga's wheelhouse), but there's also some Springsteen-style heartland rockers! And those go hard in the paint.

Joanne works best when Gaga works the record's dusty aesthetics into her brand of weirdo pop, like on the sizzling "John Wayne," the winking "A-YO" or the delightfully extra Florence Welch duet "Hey Girl."

The record also has "Perfect Illusion" — a glorious red herring of a lead single that sounds nothing like anything else on Joanne. It's a roided-up mixture of woozy Tame Impala production and hair metal histrionics, and it rules. It might be Gaga's best-ever lead single! (at the very least, it's her most underrated.)

And there is one slow tune that's unambiguously great: "Million Reasons," another solid Gaga lighters-in-the-air power ballad pastiche.

Despite what some Little Monsters may tell you, Joanne isn't a disaster. There's some great stuff in there, and even the worst songs are just forgettable. But it's still far from her best.

BEST SONGS: "Perfect Illusion," "Diamond Heart," "Million Reasons"

WORST SONG: "Come To Mama"

#5: Chromatica (2020)

When Chromatica was released near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it had been seven years since Gaga had released music in her classic gonzo-synthpop vein. I can easily picture the record serving as an "ugh fine, I'll give you what you want" response to the many Little Monsters annoyed with Gaga's half-decade of folksy ballads and Julie Andrews cosplay.

I'll say this about Chromatica — outside of The Fame Monster, it's her most consistent record. There's not a single track that's a glaring mistake. And the three singles — "Stupid Love," "911" and the triumphant Ariana Grande duet "Rain On Me" — easily stand among her best tracks.

But although "all bangers, no ballads" album sounds rad in theory, it doesn't really succeed in practice. Chromatica is solid, but it's also a very same-y record. It feels like Gaga had one really great idea for the album ('90s club music with super-depressing lyrics) and repeated it over and over and over again to diminishing results.

There are some songs that are able to separate themselves: the three singles, of course, as well as the goofy "Babylon" and "Sine From Above," the Elton John duet that's the closest Chromatica gets to a ballad. But by the end of the album, you feel more worn out than electrified.

Also — and this is probably unfair, but still — Chromatica came out just a couple months after another retro-dance blockbuster pop album: Dua Lipa's magnum opus, Future Nostalgia. That's not a flattering comparison.

BEST SONGS: "Rain On Me," "Stupid Love," "911"

WORST SONG: "1000 Doves"

#4: The Fame (2008)

Out of all of Gaga's records, The Fame is most like a time capsule. It REEKS of late '00s/early '10s pop — which isn't an entirely fair criticism, seeing as Gaga popularized that era's sleazy, synthy aesthetic. It's also not a bad thing! I don't mind a little nostalgia!

As you already know, The Fame's singles are masterworks. "Just Dance," "Poker Face," "Paparazzi" — these tracks have titanic legacies for good reason. And although it's probably the least-beloved of this album's hits, despite being a total banger, "LoveGame" should still be commended for having arguably the most Gaga lyric ever (you know, the "disco stick" line).

And even though those tracks are front-loaded on The Fame, there are some gems deeper in the tracklist. "Summerboy" is basically Gwen Stefani covering The Strokes (so obviously, it's great). "Eh, Eh" is adorable. "Starstruck" is the most 2008 song ever recorded, with aggressive Auto-Tune and Flo Rida showing up to make Starbucks jokes.

Sadly, The Fame still feels like Gaga before she became fully-formed at certain points. The back half has a number of songs that feel like generic club tracks forced by the label, and "Paper Gangsta" is one of the clunkiest songs in Gaga's catalogue.

But at the very least, the bad songs on The Fame at least serve as little nostalgia bombs for that era of pop. And the best songs are untouchable classics.

BEST SONGS: "Paparazzi," "Just Dance," "Summerboy"

WORST SONG: "Paper Gangsta"

#3: ARTPOP (2013)

For much of Gaga's career, she's been ahead of the curve. She tries something, and a year or a few years later, other popstars try something similar to diminishing results.

That doesn't just apply to the successful stuff, like Gaga's extravagant music videos inspiring many copycats from 2010-2013. It also applies to the mid-late '10s trend of legacy popstars making a controversial record with risky aesthetic or lyrical choices that backfired: reputation. Witness. Man of The Woods.

Gaga did this first, with ARTPOP — arguably the most abrasive, and bizzare major label album released by a major modern popstar. And she did it better, because unlike Swift, Perry and Timberlake, Gaga's weirdness was for real. And it was in service of some prime, hyper-aggressive bangers.

ARTPOP isn't Gaga's best work — some of her experiments on it are major misfires, from the obnoxious "Mary Jane Holland" to the bland Born This Way leftover (and Romani slur-utilizing) "Gypsy."

But when ARTPOP is on, it's ON. The opening stretch in particular, from "Aura" to "Venus" to "G.U.Y." to "Sexxx Dreams," is chaotic synthpop at its finest. Those songs took Gaga's classic sound to an apocalyptic, demented extreme, and they're fantastic.

"MANiCURE" is a great glam-rock banger, "Dope" is another classic Gaga piano ballad, the title track is some sikly-smooth dreampop; even the misguided, clunky trap anthem "Jewels N' Drugs" is bad in a hilarious, charming way!

Trust me: ARTPOP will go down in history not as a flop, but as a gutsy, underrated record from a legend. Less Witness, more In Utero.

BEST SONGS: "G.U.Y.," "Venus," "Sexxx Dreams"

WORST SONG: "Gypsy"

#2: The Fame Monster (2009)

Objectively speaking, this is probably the best Gaga album.

It's her one record with no fluff, no filler — only 34 minutes and 8 tracks, all of them stellar.

It's the record that took Gaga from "wow, this new woman is a fresh new face in pop!" to "this woman IS pop."

It's the record with her signature track, "Bad Romance," which was accompanied by arguably the greatest music video of the 21st Century. (It also has my absolute favorite Gaga track, the relentlessly catchy "Telephone.")

I don't think I need to explain what makes mega-smashes "Bad Romance" and "Telephone" and "Alejandro" great, nor the accompanying legendary deep cuts "Speechless" and "Dance In The Dark." They speak for themselves.

However — the sleek, calculated perfection of The Fame Monster, while incredible, isn't something I return to often. It's just not the side of Gaga that's my favorite. That honor would have to go to...

BEST SONGS: "Telephone," "Dance In The Dark," "Bad Romance"

WORST SONG: "So Happy I Could Die" (but it's still pretty solid)

#1: Born This Way (2011)

One of my favorite podcasts is Blank Check. The concept of the show is to analyze each movie by a famous director — in particular, those who had big success early on and then got a blank check to make whatever crazy passion project they wanted. Here's a great example: because Batman was a massive hit, Tim Burton got to make whatever Hot Topic-core movies he wanted to for decades, from Edward Scissorhands to a creepy Willy Wonka remake.

That long-winded tangent is just to say: Born This Way was Lady Gaga's blank check. By early 2011, she had conquered the pop universe, notching hit after hit after hit. Every other pop star was copying her quirky music videos. So the label let Gaga do whatever she wanted — and she didn't waste that opportunity.

Born This Way is wildly overproduced. It's both extremely trend-chasing (those synths were cutting edge at the time but charmingly dated now), but also deeply uncaring about what the teens want (I don't think Springsteen and Queen homages were big at the time). And I love every messy, overblown second of it.

From the hair-metal/synthpop hybrid opener "Marry The Night" to the majestic '80s power ballad "The Edge of Glory," Born This Way starts at an 11. And Gaga never takes her foot off the pedal for the album's entire hour-plus run time. Clanging electric guitars, thunderous synths and Clarence Clemons (!!!) sax solos collide into each other as Gaga champions every misfit and loser in the world. It's gloriously corny in the best way possible.

Born This Way is also the perfect middle ground of pop-savvy Gaga and gonzo Gaga. It doesn't go quite as hard as ARTPOP, but the hooks are stronger. And the oddball moments are tons of fun, from the sci-fi biker anthem "Highway Unicorn" to the goofy presidential-sex banger "Government Hooker" ("Put your hands on me/John F. Kennedy" might be the greatest line in pop history).

Born This Way will always be my favorite Gaga album. It's armed with nuclear-grade hooks, slamming beats, and soaring anthems. Although it's not as untouchably pristine as the Mt. Rushmore of '10s pop classics (for the record, that's 1989, EMOTION, Lemonade and, of course, Melodrama), Gaga isn't best served by meticulousness. She's proudly tacky and histrionic, and so that's what makes Born This Way an utter joy.

BEST SONGS: "The Edge of Glory," "You and I," "Marry The Night"

WORST SONG: "Bloody Mary"

9 notes · View notes

secondhand-trash · 5 years

Text

Crush Culture

A/N: Me? Writing for even more fandoms that none of my followers are here for? It’s more likely than you think. (I’m just kidding please don’t leave) (Also, carrying on with my favourtie game of “find the reference” as I hid a Fleabag reference somewhere yeye)

Pairing: Aizawa Shouta x reader

Description: You were certain that the crush you had years ago died out. But as you took up a position at your mother school, seeing the same person you crushed on seems to prove it otherwise.

Warning: Drunkness, swearing, slight slight slight sexual implications, injuries

Word count: 6415

Playlist:

Please Notice//Christian Leave

Je te laisserai des mots//Patrick Watson

Crush Culture//Conan Gray

You stood in front of the gates that you were so familiar with and was overwhelmed by the sudden wash of nostalgia. How long had it been since you were last here? The last time you stepped out of those concrete walls, you were barely an adult, unknowing of how brutal the world you longed to be a part of could be. This time round, you walked back into the campus you spent the best years of your life at with the same pound in your heart that you held all those years ago but for a completely different reason.

You’d never considered education to be a potential career path for you, your heart had always been set on the crime fighting aspect of the pro-hero lifestyle. Upon graduation, you decided to go from agency to agency unlike most of your peers. You never settled in one place, moving from country to country as you saw fit. There was something about the excitement of being somewhere foreign that enticed you. It was tiring, but you loved it no less.

Which was why everyone you know was shocked to hear that you were the one who took up that new position back at the dear alma mater. When getting the questions your friends bombarded your way, you simply shrugged. You’ve had your fun, now it seems to be a good time for you to settle down after 10 years of what most people deemed as reckless. And you missed Japan anyways.

Passing by groups of chattering students, you couldn’t help but smile at how similar they were to you when you were the one wearing the grey uniform. “Funny,” you thought to yourself, “it was 10 years ago but it felt like yesterday to me.”

Principle Nezu greeted you at the front door of the main building. As he toured you around the new facilities of the campus, he explained that UA decided that it would be a good idea to hire more staff after the USJ incident. “And who better for it than one of our own!” Nezu said and you couldn’t fight the smile that crept onto your face.

“Everyone!” Nezu said in his usual delighted tone as he opened the door to the staff room. The pounding in your chest returned as everyone dropped their work and turned their heads at your direction. No matter how familiar you were with this school, the nerves of starting all over with a new identity was still permanent. “This is our new teaching assistant (y/l/n) san! I’m sure that some of you already know them from the time they were a fellow pupil at UA but make sure to give them a warm welcome no less!”

You kept a composed smile as your new colleagues greet you. Nezu was right when he said that UA always favoured its own as you vaguely recognizing each of the staff as people you had seen on campus or in old school photographs, easing your anxiousness just a bit. Some of them were people you used to admire, like All Might who still left you a bit astonished after getting a firm handshake from such a legendary figure, and it brought an odd sense of pride to think that although you might not be their equal, you were among them now.

But even though you were thrilled to meet everyone you only heard of in tales, seeing the familiar faces of Yamada Hizashi and Aizawa Shouta brought a genuine feeling of joy to you. Unlike others, these two were people that actually helped you when you were in your first year and they were about to leave their school like behind. You looked up to your upperclassmen, and share a similar position as people you admired felt like a full circle.

“Yoooooo (y/l/n)---!” you braced yourself for the endearing throb in your eardrum as the blonde man gave you a firm pat on the back. It would have been obnoxious if it had been someone else, but somehow the loud persona worked perfectly for Present Mic, “You looked so different from what I remembered. I almost felt like I watch you grow up, now that you’re established in the industry.”

“What can I say? Life after school certainly wasn’t easy.” you grinned as he continued on about the short year that you were in school the same time as he was, Aizawa watching on like he wasn’t involved in all the events his friend mentioned. You had always find their dynamic to be intriguing, they were polar opposites but they made the dream team.

“Interesting how you guys know each other so well when third years don’t usually come in contact with first years that often.” Midnight commented in the middle of Yamada’s rambling and the corner of his lips curled up. You almost winced, knowing exactly what he was going to say.

“Well, (y/l/n) chan here used to come around our classroom all the time. Although I’m sure that they weren’t there for me. In fact-”

“Let’s not go there.” You hid your panic under a playful eye roll and Yamada pursed his lips into a thin smirk as Midnight’s brow raised in amusement. You adored your friend, but you had no intention of letting him brought up what he wanted to reveal in front of so many others that you were desperately trying to leave a good impression upon. Yamada had been the one to tease you ever since you met but he was kind enough to humor you as he dropped the subject, returning to his desk to carry on with whatever he was working on before you entered the room.

The chatter died down and you were left to your own device as you started to settle down on your designated seat, very conveniently against the seemingly tired man who haven’t said a word to you since you walked in. You contemplated making small talk but decided to leave it upon seeing how he was almost dozing off. Time put its strain on the man but the “don’t disturb” aura Aizawa emitted somewhat brought you the comfort of seeing how some things never change.

Why had you crushed on this man anyways?

“It’s been long.”

The groggy voice took you aback and you lifted your head to stare at the man in front of you, now looking more awake. Your mind went blank as you didn’t expect him to strike a conversation. “Yeah." you felt pathetic at how breathy you sounded and that you couldn’t even give a proper respond with more than one word.

Aizawa looked at you with the expression you knew so well but still had no idea how to read, “You haven’t changed much.”

For whatever reason, you felt a weird bitterness on your tongue at his nonchalant comment. Despite it being exactly what you expected from him. “I guess I could say the same for you.” you quickly flashed him a smile and pretend to fumble through your bag, not wanting to know if his gaze lingered on you any longer. Not that you wanted it to.

Working at UA was nothing like what you used to do but you settled in nicely. You didn’t have to teach any classes, mostly helping with administration and paperwork while occasionally offering extra support in trainings when needed. After practically running on adrenaline every day for so long, it was nice to live by a schedule for a change. You got on with the kids nicely, not having to be in charge of classes meant that you got to take up the role of the fun, sarcastic TA that banters with students. Your fellow staff played a huge role in easing your way back into the academy, being helpful and supportive as always. No matter how tired you were, seeing everyone pouring their heart into everything they do gave you the push to strive on. To be fair, it felt weird to work with people you used to somewhat put on a pedestal. But somewhere between Yamada’s loud voice echoing off the walls and Aizawa trying to shut him out by zipping his sleeping bag all the way up, it felt like home all over again.

“Class, Present Mic sensei is out for a meeting today so I’ll be substituting for him.” You said as you flipped through the handouts Yamada had given you before he left the school. The excited whispers of class 1-A did not slip through your ears and you almost snickered at how naive they were to think that they would have a free period only to smirk when you heard their groans after you handed them the blank assignment.

“You have until the bell rings to finish the assignment, feel free to ask me if you need any help.”

Despite their initial protest, the room was soon left with nothing but the sound of pen scribbling. You pulled out the files you were working on, making use of the free time you were given as the students focused on their own work. There were occasional whispers here and there but you let it slide, you were never a believer of silence equal attentiveness anyways. That was until the squeaks at the corner grew louder and a sleeve was waving in the air as a girl with pink skin whispered something into thin air.

“Yes?”

“Um, (y/l/n) sensei,” the girl, whose name was Hagakure as you found out from taking a quick glance at the seating plan, timidly asked, “what’s your relationship with Aizawa sensei?”

Relationship? You were working together? But they already knew that. “Hm,” you tilted your head, thinking about what could possibly get her to ask you that, “He was two year ahead of me at school so technically he’s my senpai, if that’s what you’re referring to.”

“No, but like personally?”

Ashido added, clearly dissatisfied with the answer you gave her friend. The rest of the class stopping their movements and looking up at you, the curious look in their eyes showing you that it wasn’t a question only a few of them have in mind.

“Personally?” you teasingly quirked your brow, entertained by her eagerness, “What exactly do you think our personal relationship is?”

“Well,” she stuttered, slightly embarrassed from exposing her purpose, “Aizawa sensei seems to talk more when he was around you and you were always smiling when he talks so we thought...”

“You thought?”

“That you two might be romantically involved.” Todoroki bluntly said and the class murmured in agreement.

You did not expect that. You didn’t really think that Aizawa treated you any differently from his other colleagues. Even if he did pay more attention to you, you simply took it as it being an old habit from him being the eldest and you being the youngest of the school back then. As for the smiling part, being friendly when someone talks to you was called “manners”. Everyone who went to school with you knew how painfully unrequited your crush was on the upperclassman. For people to question whether you were an item with the same person you pinned after now that you had gotten over him was nowhere near anything you expected.

“We are not,” a few of them narrowed their eyes, clearly not buying what you said, “now get back to your work. Present Mic is going to kill me if he knows that you couldn’t get it done by time because you were too busy gossiping.”

As silence filled the room once again, you tried to focus on your own work but you couldn’t get the boy’s words out of your head. In all honesty, it infuriated you a little. You did not spend your three years in high school being “the one who likes Eraser Head” to be mistaken as a couple with him after you spent so much effort doing the opposite of that once you gave up. Of all people, you cursed in your head, of all the people you could have wasted years going after, you had to fall for the one who find dating to be too much of a chore. Why did you torture yourself like that? You asked, as if you couldn’t pin point the exact moment you realized your feelings for the black-haired male was more than admiration.

You knew that spring had arrived when you felt the first pink petal landing on your shoulder, quietly letting you know that although it was the start of a new year for mother nature, your first year at UA was about to end. It was weird to think that you were a potential pro-hero when you didn’t feel much difference from being an ordinary civilian even after months of harsh training. You found yourself wondering if you were truly suitable for this lifestyle at times, you simply thought that you got lucky in your admission exams. Comparing to those around you, you were nothing special. You weren’t one of those who dreamt of being a hero since they were young and you were nowhere near being the most heroic. You weren’t the best at forming tactics and your combat skills were serviceable at best, you were kinda just there. When everyone had such a clear vision of what kind of hero they wanted to become, even hesitating on things like that made you feel bad for taking up a spot that so many would fight to get on.

You pushed the door to the rooftop and let out a deep sigh as the heavy door slammed shut. You had been eating alone here for a while now, despite your friends inviting you to go to the canteen with them. You needed the time of being alone to clear your mind. You tried to talk to your friends about the many questions looming your mind, but realized that they didn’t get why you had them in the first place as they kept telling you how you were already doing well enough. You appreciated the reassurance but it did not ease the self-doubt that kept coming back to haunt you.

Your eyes widened as you saw a figure sitting at your usual spot, failing to hide your disappointment. You looked closer to see that it was Aizawa Shouta from third year. You had been around him for a few times but found him to be the most intimidating out of all the third years that you encountered. You had spent enough time around him to know that he did not hate you but not enough to know if he considered you a friend. Although his chatty friends would always include you in conversations when you happened to be around them for programs or school functions, you never knew if he was secretly being annoyed by you and his expression or the lack there of made you hesitate to approach him.

You were about to turn around and leave when he caught you in the corner of his eye. “(y/l/n)?”

“Aizawa senpai!” you startled and abruptly turn back to face him, “I’m sorry, did I interrupt you?”

“It’s fine, I’m all alone anyways.” Aizawa looked at you and added as he saw how nervous you were, “You can stay if you want.”

You wanted nothing but to escape the awkwardness. Still, you carefully sat next to him, keeping some distance as you did not want to seem rude and muttered a word of thanks.

For a while, you two were just eating in complete silence and the beating in your chest was killing you. The silence was dreadful as you contemplated to talk to him many times before the fear of annoying him pushed each attempt to the back of your head.

“How’s school?”

You almost flinched as the sudden sound of his deep voice broke the silence. “It’s alright.” you tried to give the standard response, believing that Aizawa was only trying to be nice and not really that interested. He hummed and looked at you. You wanted to back to the wall under his gaze, not knowing how to read the look in his eyes.

“Hm,” he said with his eyes still fixed on you, “you looked tired.”

You instantly touched the area under your eyes, wondering if you had any dark circles that gave it away. Aizawa quietly added upon seeing your reaction. “As in mentally. Something on your mind?”

You mind was racing as you stayed silent. You thought you hid it well, not even your friends could notice how bothered you were but somehow this person who you were so sure he was emotionally detached picked up on it. Knowing him, you could easily brush it off and he would not pester you any further. But he was right, you were tired and your doubt went flooding at the slightest bit of compassion you were given.

“It’s just, sometimes I feel like I shouldn’t be here,” you said, “I know that passing the test and surviving a whole year is a sign that it was not a mistake that I am. But the thing is, I don’t have to. I’m not as determined as the others and I know that I’ll do just fine being a civilian, the world won’t miss anything. So many people are saying that I’m so lucky to be here and they would kill to be in my place but I just feel such a good chance is wasted on me.”

Aizawa looked a bit dumbfounded at your sudden explosion. “So I don’t know why I’m still doing this. I don’t know and that scares me,” you let out a dry laugh, “even thinking about it makes me feel stupid.”

You weren’t sure why you were telling him all this when you didn’t had the guts to talk to him minutes before but you would be lying if you said it didn’t feel good to let it all out. For a while, neither of you said anything and the same silence that made you crawl in your skin just then became soothing to you now. He diverted his stare away from you for a moment as if he was thinking of something to say and you realized how confusing your rant must be to him.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t know what came over me but I-”

“You’re not stupid,” he looked at you thoughtfully and it caught your breath in your throat, “you just haven’t grown up, that’s all.”

You didn’t know what to say and he looked away from you once again as his words sink in. To an outsider, it might sounded dismissive or belittling. If anything, to you, it meant that you still had a long way to go and that’s expected, but one day you’ll grow into your own person.

And even though he had no idea, that one mindless sentence gave you more direction to keep going than anything else.

Ever since then, you started to be around Yamada and Aizawa more often. The former very quickly picked up on the reason behind it and teased you relentlessly as you two were pretty good friends even before you developed you not so subtle crush on his best friend. It didn’t take long for everyone else to notice, part of it owing to Present Mic’s lack of awareness on how loud he could be and his obvious attempts of acting as a wingman. There was no way that Aizawa didn’t know it himself, he probably didn’t care about people’s gossiping but he certainly wasn’t blind. Yet, he did not treat you any differently than before. Some part of you expected him to distance from you to avoid getting more people to talk as it seems far more likely than him returning your feelings but he didn’t even show signs of rejection. By the end they graduated, everyone in the school including the teachers knew of your poorly hidden affection.

It didn’t help that you went to the agency Aizawa worked at for your internship. You literally paled when you walked into the office on your first day and saw him sitting there. On one hand, you were glad to be close to your crush but you were sure that you looked like an actual stalker. You were so sure that he would try to steer clear from you, but he didn’t. In fact, it didn’t felt much different from when you were still at school together. Perhaps it was your classmates’ fault for betraying you but you were sure that even people from the agency knew as you were always randomly paired up with Aizawa in missions. You swore that you did not know and it was a complete accident but no one believed you. Your attempts at explaining yourself only fueled the fire even more.

You weren’t sure if you were relieved for your internship to be over as you approached your graduation. You were grateful that Aizawa was nice enough to still be your friend when everyone practically made fun of you both whenever you two interacted in any sort of way but it pained you no less. His lack of acknowledgement on your obvious crush cemented your fate and you finally had enough. Who hurt you? No one but yourself, and that’s the worst part of it. Getting over someone you had loved for 3 years was tough but you made it work after pouring you entire soul into striving for the goal you spent so long finding. It was one of the things that made you glad you decided to work overseas, the distance definitely helped.

You let out a sigh of relieve the day you realized you no longer felt the rush of emotions whenever you came across Aizawa Shouta in anyway.

So for people to still suspect anything till this day was a slap to the face, you would go lengths just to deny the possibility that the feelings you tried so hard to bury down under was still there. You rubbed your temples as you tried to get your mind back on the files in front of you again. You already dwelled on it for too long.

“Are you sure that there’s nothing going on between you and Aizawa sensei?” Ashido asked once again as you walked around to collect their assignments.

“Nothing!” you shook your head with a defeated laugh.

“How about back when you were a student?”

That hit too close to home and you didn’t lie through it as quickly as you wanted to. Somehow, pretending like those long days of painful pining didn’t happen at all came off wrongly to you. “According to your logic, I could be getting on with Present Mic too.” you smirked as she fell silence upon seeing that you were not giving in any sooner.

“Besides,” you said to the girl with you hand on the doorknob, “imagine how tiring it’d be to like someone so insensibly logic driven?”

You almost felt your heart drop dead as you closed the door to see Aizawa standing in the hallway, his head bobbing as he was dozing off. Speak of the fucking devil, how long had he been there? “Aizawa sensei?”

His lids opened as you called out for him and he walked next to you with his sleeping bag in hand. “Heard that you were substituting for those kids,” he said, voice hoarse from his slumber, “passing by to check if they give you a hard time.”

“They’re really sweet, actually.” You replied with a smile and you couldn’t help but think of what his students said to you as you noticed the lift in the corner of your lips. Smiling was normal, no?

“Is that so.”

“Quit it,” you snickered at how apathetic he sounded, “you adore them. You’re just being harsh, you have always been.”

“Have I?”

“Well,” you thought of all the times he scolded you for the minor mistakes you made, “you were harsh to me.”

Aizawa scoffed, “That’s because I had expectations on you. People would let your errors slide when you are still learning, but you don’t get forgiveness that easily when you go into the profession for real. I was trying to get you prepared.” You mockingly threw you hand in the air, laughing as he rolled his eyes at you.

That’s when you felt that familiar warmth at the bottom of your stomach, mixing together with dread as you immediately realized exactly what it implied.

“What do you mean everyone is going out for a drink and what do you mean you forgot to tell me?”

“We didn’t leave you out on purpose, I promise!” you rolled your eyes at the slurring tone of your colleague from the other end of the call. You were still at school, trying to make the most out of the last school day before summer break starts to finish up a few reports you were helping Nezu on. To say that you felt betrayed when you got a call from Midnight saying that everyone was out at a bar and they completely forgotten to invite you would be an understatement.

“And you’re calling me now because?” you wanted to act like you were mad but couldn’t hold in your laughter at how drunk Nemuri was so different from the Midnight you worked with every day.

“Because the night is still young and we want to make up to you! Come on, I’ll send you the address and you can come over! Alright? Good!”

“Wait, Nemuri? I’m not-” And she hung up. How many drinks did she take? You stared at the blank screen of your phone until a message from the woman popped up, showing the address of a bar downtown. Your gaze flicked between the address and the reports on your desk. You let out an exaggerated sigh as you shoved the files into your bag, you could use a drink.

Pushing the door open tentatively, you squinted your eyes to let it get used to the dim lighting of the bar. The bar wasn’t that big and you looked around, trying to find the group of very likely drunk pro-heroes but there was no sign of your friends. Had they left? You silently evaluate the possibility of using the fact they left you out on bar night AND stood you up to guilt them into giving you less work in the next semester.

The bar was quiet with only the occasional clinking of glass and the sound of soft jazz flowing through the shop. Seeing as you had nowhere to go now that the plan to bond with your colleagues seemed unlikely, you sat down on one of the stools at the bar and glanced around to look for the bartender. It was then you saw that someone was actually sitting next to you. Well, they were sitting but the way they laid down with their head on the bar table, you were pretty certain that they had passed out.

You thanked the bartender as he gave you your drink and took a sip, feeling more at ease as you felt the sting sliding down your throat. You took in your surroundings once again, that’s when you noticed the very familiar scarf and black hair of the person who passed out like a corpse next to you.

You gave the person a light poke on the shoulder and gasped when the body jerked awake. “Aizawa?”

He rubbed his eyes and you saw how blood shot they were as he looked at you, slightly confused. “(y/l/n)? What are you doing here?” he asked and stiffly looked around him, “where’s everybody else?”

“Guess they left you here the same way the same way they did with me,” you said, trying to suppress your grin, “why are you here? I don’t really expect you to be the ‘getting drunk with friends from work’ type of person.” There was something very entertaining about seeing someone who was usually so composed looking almost disheveled. You couldn’t recall any moment in your memory of Aizawa looking nearly as clueless as he was now.

“Present Mic dragged me along.” he groaned and rubbed his temple, brows knitting together. He looked like he was in pain, you almost laughed as you imagine what the rest of the crew had done to get him to this state.

You snorted, no longer trying to hide your amusement, “Aizawa sensei, are you ok?”

“Oh fuck you,” he dragged his palm across his face and slid it down his jaw before looking at you once again, “calling me ‘sensei’ like it doesn’t turn you on just to say it.”

You laughed and drank the rest of your drink. You should have been more bashful at how he basically called you out like that but you were too amused to be embarrassed. This was the first time he showed any signs that he was aware of your old crush in the past 10 years, who knew that alcohol could be so powerful?

“So you knew.” you mindlessly traced the rim of your glass. You were sure that any signs of your dead crush resurfacing was just a side effect of being around Aizawa on a daily basis again after shutting all thoughts of him out of your head for the past years. Whenever you felt the fluttering in your stomach from being around him, you brushed it off as your mind finding someone convenient to be emotionally attached to. You managed to convince yourself that you didn’t care about him like that anymore than you were not as phased as you thought you would at his sudden boldness.

“Hard to ignore all the snickering from literally anyone who knew both of us, “He tapped his finger on the wooden surface of the bar table gently, “and Hizashi was always nagging me to date you.”

You were lost in thought as you recalled the many times you wondered if he even knew of your affection for him. Lips almost quivering, you asked the one question that used to bother you so much, “Why didn’t you say anything?”

He stared at you and you didn’t look away, desperately trying to guess what was going on in his head right now, something you gave up doing a long time ago. “Because I thought that you would give up eventually, that you would realize I’m not worth wasting your time on and find someone who actually treats you nicely.” he said and you felt a painful pang in your chest, “Hell, I wasn’t even interested in relationships. Why bother with someone like that?”

“Trust me,” you sighed in disappointment as you forgot that you had downed the shot you were holding in hand and motioned for a refill before carrying on, “I had asked myself that many times. Wouldn’t have done it if it was a choice I was given.”

“I didn’t expect you to hold onto it for so long,” he paused before adding in a much softer voice, “I almost asked you out by the time you were about to graduate.”

“But you didn’t," you said in a whisper, “and by then I finally gave up.”

Aizawa was about to say something when the bartender handed you another glass of whiskey and you two fell into silence again. You took a gulp, still feeling his stare on you.

“I’m not the same kid who took everything you said to heart anymore.”

“I know, you’re better and stronger than that kid,” the man said in a way that you would mistake as vulnerable if you didn’t know any better, “which means that although I’m regretting everything I did, I know better than anyone that my chance was long gone.”

Was it? You hated how he so easily swayed your heart that was so determined to shut him out.

He watched you take another sip of liquor without responding to him at all and let out a soft sigh, “Should I try going after you for 3 years too?”

“Please don’t,” you begged mockingly, “I know firsthand how troublesome that would be.”

You didn’t miss the slight tug at the corner of his lips and despite your better judgment, you smiled.

What is going on?

Oh god, what is going on?

A million thought went through your head as the alarm of the camp cries at the back. When they told you to help in the first year’s summer camp, you didn’t exactly foresee a lockdown to protect students from a sudden attack.

“But sensei! We should be out there helping the others-”

“No you are not.” you said as you rushed the students to go into the room. You understood why they wanted to put themselves out there but you simply couldn’t let them take the risk.

“They are surrounded by villains in the middle of a forest-”

“Which is exactly why you are staying right where you are.” Vlad King walked in with Aizawa, both in their full gear, “We need to make sure that as many students are safe as possible.”

The kids tried to argue but their protests were quickly shut down. “Vlad King, you stay here with them. I’m going in.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“What?” Aizawa said and the way he sounded like he couldn’t believe what you just said infuriated you at the worst timing possible.

“I said ‘I’ll go with you’,” you tapped your foot impatiently, “you aren’t expecting me to just stay here and do nothing, don’t you?”

The reality was, you were fuming. It was a training camp, yes, but it was supposed to be a chance for those kids to learn and make memories that would last a lifetime and now their lives were on the line because some villain decided to barge in. You wouldn’t let yourself live it down if you stay behind knowing full well you could do more being out there fighting. You snarled, “You had expectations on me back then, have expectations on me now. I’m not any less of a pro than you are.”

He stared at you and for the first time in ever, you could make up on what that look in his eyes meant and it was filled with worry. You would have been touched if you weren’t having such an emergency. Deep down, some part of him knew that he was in no place to worry over you because you were right, you were just as capable as he was. But he just couldn’t help it.

“Of course.” he sighed and started walking towards the main entrance of the building with you closely following suit. He turned to face you again before opening the door, “Don’t do anything reckless.”

You rolled your eyes when you heard his excessive reminder. And remembering that made you feel so guilty as you sat on the stiff bed of the hospital, bandages wrapped around the entire upper part of your body and Aizawa stood by the side as he looked down at you.

“I was trying to shield the students from an attack-”

“With your body.”

“It was too sudden.” you winced in pain as you moved on of your strained muscles as you talked and he immediately leaned down to help you into a more comfortable position.

“You could have died.”

“Or let those kids take a direct hit? I would rather die-”

You were gonna give him a snarky response to ensure him that you were fine and you would recover very soon but the words were caught in your throat as you felt the sudden embrace of his arm across your shoulder, pressing you to his chest in such a tender way like he was afraid of breaking you.

“Please don’t do that again.”

You could feel the vibration in his chest before it hit you in full force and sent shivers done your spine. You muttered in a barely audible whisper, “This is so unfair.”

He arched his head towards you to give you a questioning look and you looked into his eyes, once again filled with the realization of how much of a disadvantage you were in. It wasn’t fair that he could just come in and be genuinely worried about you, knowing full well that it would only make it harder for you to not fall in love with him all over again. He couldn’t just do that, tugging at your heart strings like that when you were the one who had to spend years trying to forget that feeling. You used to crave that look in his eyes and you spent years pretending you didn’t in hope that it would be the truth one day. You spent years getting over him. You spent years not thinking of him whenever you see a stray cat on the streets. You spent years just to stop comparing all of the people who showed an interest on you to him. You spent years to not be in love with him. And he got to just wrap his arm around you and you would still lean into his touch. And it was so unfair, so so so unfair.

“Please stop,” you uttered, “I can’t go back to pining after you again. I’m too old for that.”

Aizawa pressed his forehead to yours and a smile crept onto your face at how uncharacteristically soft he was being, “I meant it when I said I’ll do the pining this time round.”

You snickered, surprised that he remembered his own drunk talking. “And I meant it when I said there’s no need to.”

You were having a moment when you heard a loud thump from behind the door and a squeal as well as people shushing at whoever let out the high pitched sound.

Aizawa groaned, “Those kids are a hazard.”

You laughed and put your chin on his shoulder, silently hoping that his class was prepared for the moment when they got back to school.

#aizawa x reader #aizawa imagine #aizawa shouta #eraser head #aizawa shouta x reader #bnha imagines #mha imagines #bnha #mha #bnha x reader #mha x reader #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #bnha fanfiction #mha fanfiction #bnha imagine #mha imagine

1K notes · View notes

radramblog · 4 years

Text

Pokemon Legendary Themes Ranked

I saw a video of a youtuber I like doing this tier list so I thought I’d get my own opinions in first so I’m not biased by theirs. This list is a little incomplete- there’s a few things I know are missing, most pointedly side game stuff, but I suppose they can’t win em all. Thus, here are my objectively factual opinions, no nostalgia bias here surely. Here’s a link to the list in case you want to do the same.

(Tiers are sorted in increasing quality right to left)

D Tier

Mewtwo (FRLG): Y’all know Articuno/Zapdos/Moltres also use this, right? It’s just a marginally more dramatic version of the regular wilds music, so it gets the fail from me.

Mew (Emerald): This is the same as the last one! Except it gets the edge because it is slightly higher pitched, and because it’s in a game where it’s not a remix of a song you’ve just heard dozens of times.

Mewtwo (XY): I just really dislike the soundfont XY uses for most of its themes. This sounds like a shitty youtube remix from the late 00s with like 300 views, and most of them are the same person who really likes the song for some reason. Am I just biased against the kanto wilds theme? Maybe.

Regis (Crown Tundra): Narrowly dodges being the worst Regis theme since the Platinum one exists (It’s not on this list though). I think a lot of the more recent versions of older themes suffer since they were designed with the lesser hardware in mind. It is a shame because I do really like some of the additions to the theme.

C Tier

Dynamax Legend (Crown Tundra): Mewtwo is already back for his last appearance on the list. It’s just a remix of the max raid theme, which I don’t really care for- especially after hearing it over and over and over again grinding Lairs for shinies.

Calyrex (Crown Tundra): This song being dramatic makes no sense in universe- the player knows this is the big legendary, but the character sure doesn’t- but it ultimately feels hollow. This is deliberate, since it’s actually just one half of another song.

Steeds (Crown Tundra): h o n s e theme is the other half of that song, and it’s the better half, but its still incomplete.

Aura Trio (X/Y) and Solgaleo/Lunala (S/M): These two get lumped together because I always get them conflated, which signifies to me that neither has made a strong impact. Listening to both again, I think I like the latter more, but it’s narrow.

Regis (ORAS): It’s just not the same without the horns. My gen 6 bias is showing, but I don’t really like the soundfont.

Deoxys (ORAS): similar to the Regis, this is held back by the soundfont (why the fuck is there an organ in this??) but also by the fact that at this point, the Deoxys theme just isn’t special anymore. And that’s kinda sad.

Calyrex 2 (Crown Tundra): The full version of this theme is much better, obviously, sounding suitably regal for the king of the tundra, but it overall lands at a meh. The percussion sounds like it’s trying to rip off the Weather Trio’s, which is a big no-no.

B Tier

Eternatus 1 (SwSh): We are now entering the songs I like zone. Eternatus 1 goes in a lot of different directions, and despite how 13-year-old me would balk at it I actually enjoy the dubsteppy bits of it. Sorry to disappoint you, you edgy fuck.

Ultra Beasts (SMUSUM): I don’t know why these are separated, they’re the same theme. I really like the UB theme, but the thing is it isn’t really a legendary theme- it had to be a bit less bombastic seeing as you can just encounter a bunch of these bad bois. And while it sounds suitably alien, I still think it doesn’t belong on this list.

Weather Trio (ORAS): Why is this listed as this, its just for Rayquaza. Extremely dramatic, but a retread of one of my S-tier picks (spoilers oops) and not different enough for the remaster to make it worth it.

Primals (ORAS): the same as the previous, but I do like this much better, what with the song “reverting” to the original every so often. This should probably be higher, but I don’t want to separate it from the “full” version.

Eternatus 2: It’s kind of a shame how little time you get to hear this, because it’s a big ol “you’re fucked” and that’s pretty great. There are bits of this that sound like they’re sampling Kirby Super Star, and I mean that in the nicest possible way.

Galar Birds (Crown Tundra): While I know everyone used to adore this one, I think the honeymoon phase is over for me at this point. I still like it, but at the end of the day it’s still a Kanto Wild remix.

Legendary (BWB2W2): This is really good! The way the tempo shifts around the song is a really nice touch, and that build section is excellent. Just a solid overall theme.

Tao Trio (BW): Reshiram and Zekrom’s themes are slightly different, but even Game Freak forgot that one. Kyurem’s is the same but where they have different SFX it just has dead air, which while fitting is a bit less good. I adore the beat this one has running, almost a throbbing bit going on there. Edit: Ok on relisten I’ve heard Kyurem’s a bit closer, and it’s a little different with some record skips, but they’re pretty unecessary imo.

Zacian/Zamazenta (SwSh): This is one I kinda wish was less dramatic, considering it’s not as oh shit as the situations their other themes have. I kinda hate the opening to this, but the rest of it makes up for it I suppose.

Eternatus 3: Yeah this is a Z/Z theme not an Eternatus theme let’s be real. A suitably triumphant third act to the climax of SwSh’s (lackluster) story. This is kinda just a banger, very much appropriate for the beatdown it accompanies.

Dialga/Palkia (DPPt): Closing the tier with a song that I actually love, but it’s occurred to me that it’s a little odd sitting next to some of these other ones. I mean, it’s mostly built around this very pretty little piano line, which makes it feel less weighty than the competition. It’s a classic, and hasn’t aged poorly or anything, but it’s less of a climax than I would expect. With that in mind, I shudder to think of what would happen to this in a potential remake.

A Tier

Mysterious Being (SwSh): This is getting carried here by that bass alone. The rest of it is ok I guess.

Arceus (DPPt): Ah, the track no one ever got to hear. I really love how sparse this is, being basically only percussion most of the way through. I think the Arceus event is something we should have actually gotten to experience, I’m pretty sure it would have blown little me’s mind.

Lugia (HGSS): HGSS, the games where every legendary got its own theme. Bring this back please, I’m begging here. I understand the reason this sounds the way it does is because it’s based on the Shadow Lugia theme from XD, but I haven’t played that one, so I can’t comment. I’m sure not complaining, though- considering Lugia’s other main appearance (in the movie, of course) I wasn’t expecting such a menacing theme.

Legendary (DPPt): For a “generic” theme (fucking Rotom gets this btw) this has a lot going for it. The animation that plays when you start a fight with this music is burned into my brain. It’s fast, it’s tense, and it sounds great.

Lake Trio (DPPt): Unlike Mysterious Being, while the bass slays here, it’s not alone carrying the song. This track was always my favourite out of Diamond and Pearl, and those games have a fucking great soundtrack, so.

Black/White Kyurem (B2W2): I really love that this is a remix of the (also very menacing) theme you hear when you boot the game up- you’ve heard a version of this while staring at the fucker, now here’s the real version for when you have to fight it. The references to the regular Tao Trio theme are well placed, but this more bombastic version sounds like Kyurem is here to fucking kill you, which to be fair, it kinda is.

Legendary Beasts (Crystal/HGSS): I’m lumping these together since, although HGSS gave each their own remix, they’re basically the same theme. This was the first Legendary music ever written for the series, and it still holds up really well. As for the HGSS remixes, I don’t think Entei’s slower rockier version works as well, but I really like the punchy percussion on Raikou’s version.

Regis (RSE): Hella bass and Hoenn Horns? What’s not to love? I do think the original version of this theme is by far the best one, being an ample payoff for the puzzle that was getting to it in the first place, and it makes hurling balls at the golem’s much more tolerable. I literally never caught Registeel as a kid so I could go back and listen to this whenever I wanted.

Tapus (SMUSUM): Again, why are these separated. Considering this game has literal aliens in it, the Tapu theme in SM is somehow the most messed up sounding one, but it works extremely well. The surprise vocalisations work really well with the… I’m hesitant to say tribal, but I don’t have another word for that vibe to be honest. It does feel like you’re doing a transgression with this song, which you are (why the fuck are you allowed to catch these things in universe lmao).

Ultra Necrozma (USUM): Probably the most climactic song in the entire franchise, and it makes sense- this isn’t just the climax of those games, but the finisher to the entire 3DS era of the series. The church organs, therefore, are pretty justified. This song sounds like a Big Deal, and the organ getting pretty jazzy when it gets to some of the less intense bits is a really nice little touch. And then the percussion picks up again and oh fuck here we goooooo. A fitting track for arguably one of the hardest fights in the entire franchise.

S Tier

Dusk Mane/Dawn Wings Necrozma (USUM): Haha oops I like this one more than Ultra. I think it’s just the unstoppable percussion that opens this that does it. I don’t think anyone who went in blind saw this moment in the games coming, and the intensity reflects this- its like a prelude to Ultra but it doesn’t have as much of a low point, with the onslaught of noise fitting the sheer OH FUCK that is seeing everyone’s favourite bag-dodger getting bodyjacked out of nowhere.

Weather Trio (RSE): Anyone who understands my bias is gonna understand this one. It’s almost entirely carried by nostalgia, but I just love this fucking song. Compared to some of the other things on this list, it feels nearly minimalistic, seeing as it’s pretty much just the drums, horns, and that bell, but that’s all it needs. It’s the first song in the series for a proper legendary, and it suits that fact.

Deoxys (FRLG/E): By contrast, the Deoxys theme is pushing that GBA soundfont to its absolute limit. You can hear some of the best of both the FRLG and RSE soundtracks in this song, with the Kanto percussion and the Hoenn horns both doing their part, but whatever instruments the rest of this is going for are absolutely not slouching either. It’s somewhat telling that the best soundtracks for FRLG romhacks (e.g. Clover) sound more like this than like the other themes in the game.

Ho-Oh (HGSS): Oh fuck is that a koto I love kotos. By contrast with Lugia, Ho-oh is a more relaxed track that takes a lot from traditional Japanese instruments, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t dramatic- far from it. The groove in this makes it sound like it comes from another series entirely, being so incredibly different from anything else the series had to offer at that point. That main riff is so fucking perfect, man.

Giratina (Platinum): I remember having my mind blown when I first heard this. Giratina went from the generic DP legendary music (which is obviously still good) to this chaotic energetic power play, and I was sold on Platinum immediately (like everything before XY, Platinum came out in Japan some months before in other countries, so I heard this well before the game dropped). This song has so many different lines, so many different builds, and yet none of them feel out of place. I almost feel like this song is what started me down the path that would lead to me being a prog fan. After the haunting ambience of the Distortion World, this sheer energy is such a shock to the system, and the climax of the song hits harder than any individual moment on any other song in the series. It’s my number 1 pick, and I love it to bits.

Thus, the full list is as follows. If you end up doing your own, link me up, I’d love to see how wrong you are your opinions.

#ramble #pokemon #music #lists #ill probably do this for other music in these games at some point

2 notes · View notes

letterstothemidnightsociety · 4 years

Text

Here we are at the end of October, in the Year of Our Troubles, 2020. And here I am, continuing my journey to avoid reality by looking for meaning in nostalgia and TV Hunks. It’s Supernatural!

Alright so we’ve made it to my (possibly/probably) all time favorite quartet of the entire series - Disc 3, Season 1, episodes 9 - 12. For the last few discs, I’ve been keeping things pretty technical in terms of television production and broadcast. But frankly, this sh*t is my jam. All that gooey emotion, all that sweet sweet lore, throw in some man tears and *chef kissy fingers* c'est magnifique!

Now I’ll backtrack for a hot second here to talk about the filler vs. self-contained argument that I...probably jumbled in my last post. In shows like this, I tend to use “filler” to describe every episode that isn’t arc, but honestly, that’s not fair to a number of Supernatural episodes. The main difference being, is this episode meant to pad out your season or is it simply an episode that can stand on its own two feet? I’d say that’s the case for this entire disc.

First up, it’s Home. Guys, I think I cheered when I turned this episode on. We take our Winchesters, give them some small victories, build up their confidence, and then totally break them down again by sending them back to the beginning. This is not listed as the “official” return to the arc episodes, but I’d argue that Home is where we see a return to the Main Quest. Oh yeah, and Sam finally admits that he can see...what? What do we call these? Death Omens? I think Sam calls them premonitions? Either way, it’s…*shrugs* sure, do what you want. The premonitions do become important later and they’re basically the catalyst for the whole second season and that resolution takes us into the main conflict for the third season, and so on and so on, it’s a whole thing. It just seems like a hecking lot this go around, ok? But he finally admits it to Dean and that’s probably some kind of growth. Dean going back into that house again is also some kind of growth. Of course, he was like, 4 when he swore he’d never go back to that house again? Whatever, I didn’t care. I get too distracted by the fact that DEAN IS CRYING GUYS! LOOK! HE’S CRYING!!

Oh, and one more tie to the season arc - Hecking John Winchester shows up. I mean, he’s all over the episode and I think the most shocking thing we find out about him is that he was, at one point, a business owner?? But also it ends with conclusive proof that John Winchester is a massive dick who refuses to talk to his children. And I’m sorry, I don’t buy your “have to finish it first” excuse, I just don’t. To be clear, I’m not mad at the storytelling choice to do that, I’m mad at the character, which I guess is where it should be.

I like that this episode builds out more of the world that the Winchesters live in with Missouri Mosely (Not the State!). I like that we see they’re not alone in this very literal fight against evil. She checks back in later in the series and honestly, I love Loretta Devine so I would have watched a whole spinoff show about this character.

Two things I don’t like about this episode? #1 What genius decided that Mary’s ghost would just be on fire for 20 years? Like, cuz that’s what I am understanding about this ghost. That she is just constantly on fire. And that’s...unkind.

Mary, who did this to you??

#2 Only a man could have written this episode because no single mom is just gonna LET two rando dudes into her home.

Listen boys, you’re cute, but I’m a woman with two small children. Hell no you’re not coming into my house.

Next up is Asylum and this is so good at walking the line between creepy and Spooky. UNlike the Bloody Mary episode, I do not need to hide my face from the screen at any point during this episode.

Hey look, it’s like they’re brothers or something!

This one is another episode that does a good job building character and the world the Winchesters live in. Like any good procedural, it uses the main conflict to bring out the more important conflict. In this case, it literally brings it out, cuz the ghost is a psychiatrist who makes Same confront all his Daddy Issues. And by confront we mean, take it out on his brother who is the saddest-motherf*cker-I’ve-ever-seen BUT HEY! Salting and burning a body finally works for once in their lives! I love all the cringing that Jensen Ackles does in that scene because they clearly hadn’t figured out what that effect was supposed to look like yet.

It must have been a real surprise to find out the ghost didn’t light on fire.

Oh and then there’s the phone call! And man, this must have been a bitch of a mid-season finale, cuz this episode aired in November of 2005 and the next episode doesn’t come back until January of 2006 and so you’re just WAITING to hear what John has to say.

Now wait for two months to find out what he says.

And of course, it’s nothing. We come back in January to Scarecrow and John has nothing to say cuz he’s a massive dick. Just calling 6 months in to your nationwide search for me to let you know that I’m not dead, but also, I’m only here to send you on another assignment and cause tension. And so the show continues to break down our dynamic duo because the fight they have over whether they should listen to dad or not literally splits them apart. They also introduce Meg as a new and more involved villain for the series. I mean, sort of. We don’t see her again for like, another five episodes. And then again another five episodes after that. So like, I don’t really...know that introducing her as an antagonist...really had the effect they were hoping for?

Is she evil cuz she’s a demon or just because she’s blonde???

Here’s some issues I have with Meg, the first recurring female character who isn’t dead - she’s the first recurring female character who isn’t dead and also, I immediately hated her. I remember watching the episode the first time and as soon as I saw her I was like, oh she’s a ruiner. It was almost a relief to find out she was a bad guy at the end because it was like I was allowed to hate her? To be fair to me, Meg comes on hella strong trying to keep Sam from going back to his brother, so we’re not supposed to like her, but looking back on it now I feel like the perpetrator of some real girl-on-girl crime. Does Meg actually do anything wrong? Aside from leaning real hard on some indie-style manic-pixie bohemian free spirit nonsense, she doesn’t do...anything that should make me hate her? Until, of course, she actively acts as a wedge between our dream team, but before then, I don’t...think she does? Honestly, it could just be me, but I do think that TV has gotten much better at writing/directing/presenting female characters in a way that doesn’t feel like they’re literally shoe-horning in a third wheel. And again, ultimately we are supposed to hate her, I just can’t decide if I was picking up on signals that were intentional or not. I remember having similar feelings when they introduced Joe in season 2, but that’s still far ahead.

I am willing to admit that this might be just me. I will not take back the things I’ve said about Emma Watson though, those are justified.

And I think introducing more characters is important. It acts the same way introducing Missouri did -it broadens the world. For half a season, our only constants are the brothers. They’re these lone cowboys in a weird, mystical, dangerous wasteland and the villains are more obstacles than actual villains. When the story you’re telling needs to feel bigger than that, you need to do some world building and sometimes that starts with adding more characters. I will say, I hated Meg less this watch than I did on the first one. Or rather, I hated her cuz I knew she was The Worst, not because I felt like adding her to the show was a threat to the storytelling.

OH! ALSO! The first mention of Dean and Pie! My heart grew three sizes that day!

The hecking diner won’t serve him so he never finds out!!!

And finally, to cap it all off, we have Faith which is...a surprisingly rough episode? Ok, listen, Dean just resignedly accepting his own demise is like, ugh. UGH. ugh. Buddy. Buddy you are NOT Ok. Like, Dean is so intent on keeping everyone else in his family alive but does not seem as concerned about his own health and well-being and that...just...ughghghghg...I have a lot of feelings about that.

Listen, some day I will talk about Sam, but it is NOT THIS DAY.

Like, I get that Rev. Jerry Gergich Roy Le Grange is not actually healing people, but he literally tells Dean that Dean has a purpose and he was saved from an untimely death for a reason, and he’s kind of not wrong? But then he spends the rest of the episode stopping Roy from healing anyone else and feeling overwhelmingly guilty that he was saved over someone else. I think out of everything that season 1 has presented up to this episode, this is the most philosophical and thematically complex. There’s the question of faith vs skepticism - can we ever just blindly believe in a good turn? The fact that Dean can’t says a lot about him as a human. Then there’s the question of who gets to decide who lives and who dies? Who’s worthy of salvation and who isn’t? Why do bad things happen to good people and why do good things happen to Dean? I mean, when Dean sees the Reaper coming for him at the end, he knows that it’s in exchange for Layla’s life and he’s just...Ok with that? He doesn’t try to run or fight it, and it’s only because of Sam that he doesn’t bite it. And the end of this episode is just a real bitch slap to the feels because Layla, our Very Special Extra, knows she’s going to die and she knows she missed out on her chance to be healed because Dean was an Ass with a capital A and took her turn (probably). And she’s also just ok with that and it kills me a little bit on the inside.

Also, Layla is played by Julie Benze from Roswell and Buffy and Dexter and she’s always A+. And Roy was in Snakes on a Plane!

So yeah, not exactly “filler” in the true sense, but ties to the season arc are not as strong as in other episodes. And watching these episodes again I realize just how important they are to the series as a whole. I mentioned Helstrom last week and since then, I’ve finished the season. It’s only 10 episodes, and while I definitely enjoyed it, none of the emotional climaxes felt earned.

Is how I feel. About the Emotions in Helstrom. That doesn’t mean I won’t watch a season 2.

When you focus solely on the main arc in every single episode, you miss these little moments to develop character and relationships. When you get to the end of the season where the Winchesters are finally all in the same room taking on the Big Bad, there’s this feeling of satisfaction - you’ve been waiting for this moment. You’ve been waiting for Sam to reconcile with his father. You’ve been waiting for the guys to finally take on this thing that killed Mary Winchester. You’ve been waiting to see what will happen when the quest is over. That’s what makes the character decisions in the finale feel so big and so important, because they’ve been built up and built up for 22 episodes - 7 months in broadcast time. I think it’s harder to have the sort of weight that Supernatural builds in a show that stays so focused on the arc because its season is only 8 - 10 eps. There’s no room for sidetracking to build on the relationships in the show. You don’t have time for it, so you either have to keep character moments smaller (I’d argue MUCH smaller) or you end up with a finale that doesn’t resonate with the same gravitas as you want it to.

Don’t get me wrong - I know it sounds like I’m ragging on short seasons, but I think a short season can be very effective when it’s done right. I also think a full season of 22 - 24 episodes can be very effective when it’s done right. But I think there’s a fundamental difference in how you tell the story when you have a short vs. a long season. I think TV is still figuring that out as it goes, as writers who are accustomed to long seasons shift gears to tell their stories with fewer installments. But I hope that TV doesn’t completely do away with the more procedural-style/self-contained episodes since those can be a powerful way to connect with your characters. That’s why I’m here in the first place.

#Supernatural #Supernatural Season 1 #supernatural rewatch #Sam Winchester #Dean Winchester #Sam and Dean #Home #Faith #Scarecrow #Asylum #Jared Padalecki #Jensen Ackles #CW #Meg

2 notes · View notes

keepyourpantsongohan · 4 years

Text

Ayesha Liveblogs Cardcaptor Sakura S1

For faithfulness reasons, I’ll forgo rewatching in English even though I’m Jared 19 and never learned how to read

I will say the original English dub had a BANGER of a theme song and I do miss that

"I’m a Fourth Grader at Tomoeda Elementary” I know I watched this like when I was age 7 or smth but SHE’S LIKE 10?? OH MY GOD who is letting this ten-year-old roam the streets

“I’m gonna stomp on him” [Lucille Bluth voice] good for her

I fully forgot Sakura had a dad I was ready to accept her Grade 11 brother raising her

Sakura’s roller blades give me visceral memories of my barbie skates

Lmao is Yuki’s ability to throw a piece of candy at a child from a moving bicycle backwards foreshadowing his superhero abilities

Okay having checked this scene in both English versions and Japanese, my opinion no one asked for: the Aminax version is bad voices on all counts, Japanese has a better voice for Toya and original English dub has a better voice for Sakura and Yukito (who they called Julian lmao) I am not accepting constructive criticism

Tomoyo and Sakura sound so similar I could not even tell that Tomoyo was speaking omg

“There isn’t anything cuter or more interesting than you Sakura-chan” Tomoyo is really honest with her feelings I guess ten-year-olds be like that sometimes

“Is someone there” home invasions are what happens when you don’t lock your front door

This is not a study lmao this is a personal library there is hardly a workspace just aisles of shelves

Oh shit The Clow WIND RAIN SHADOW WOOD SWORD POWER THUNDER SLEEP CARD CAPTORS OF THE CLOW EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED NOW

Wait if this is hanging out in her dad’s study was her dad the last Cardcaptor lmao

Or probs her mom, since she’s gone the way of all anime moms

Sakura is accepting this whole “tiny magical flying lion” thing p well

“I accidentally fell asleep” “For how long” “30 years” same

“Stand right over there” Kerberos does not ask permission before magical girl transforming you lmao

“Why are you acting so wimpy” bc she’s 10 and you’re asking her to fight a giant ghost bird???

Honestly I love a good quest-to-collect-important-items maybe Inuyasha and DBZ ruined my taste but it’s a great formula

“You’ll be a better adult if you have all sorts of experiences in your life” r u going to take career counselling advice from a tiny flying lion Sakura

I do kind of miss Kero’s slightly unhinged young man energy

I like that whenever Sakura’s brother is rude she steps on his foot or kicks him fkjhjgkh excellent little sister depiction

I was expecting more secrecy but it is very funny to see Tomoyo try to convince her friend to be a superhero

“Do a flashy one” kfhkjdhkj Kero supports the use of magic powers for showing off

“Trademark poses and skills are the basic parts of being a magical girl” oh my gooood

I mean if I walked into my school and there was a mountain of haphazard desks waiting there I too would be threatened

Sakura is the only one in this group who has a reasonable understanding of what ten-year-olds should be allowed to do

LMAO @ Tomoyo’s team of bodyguards dropping her off to break into the school ONLY TO DRIVE AWAY

Tomoyo and Kero’s friendship is killing me the SHENANIGANS

I’m not sure I accept this light logic bc you need light to cast a shadow

Sakura’s “heart-racing first date” ur TEN oh my god

I mean it’s nice that Sakura wants to save the penguin but why did it take that for her to get upset it was going to drown a whole adult woman

Did Toya just RIP APART a WHIRLPOOL with his BARE HANDS

I wonder how Toya feels that his little sister has a crush on his boyfriend lmao

This cell phone is really top of the line for 1999 lmao I love it

U know if I were a high school student and my friend asked my 10 year old sibling out to lunch instead of me I’d be confused

"They’re not even gonna hold hands? Kids these days” This is a VERY weird vibe for an episode

You know I guess if you never watch the second episode you never have context for all of these superhero outfits LMAO

None of these locations have security cameras I guess the 1990s was a lawless time

Will all of Yuki’s magical advice be delivered in the form of mysterious field trips

LMAO @ YUKITO ALWAYS TAKING SAKURA TO TOYA’S TEMP JOBS

Say what you will about the ominous influence of the other card, I think Wood is being fairly polite since it’s contorting around her house instead of destroying it lmao

“I was planning to film ‘Sakura Dances in the Jungle’ in the park today” I love Tomoyo

Every little girl in this show sounds so similar lmao this is not good for my distracted watching style

Wow Ms Maki is really unloading on these two fourth grade girls

Since Tomoyo clearly interacts with even the more spirit-like Clow Cards I really have to wonder why no one else in this town is seeing these giant ghost monsters loom around the city

Well I guess this episode is a direct response to my previous comment

“I can’t stand scary stories” says the girl who spends her nights going into isolated areas and fighting magical ghosts

Seeing Sakura activate her Fly card really gives me overwhelming nostalgia for the days I wanted nothing more than to be a Cardcaptor I used to wave around a toy broom like that magic key ahhhhhhhh

In the absence of the first English voice and with the added gentle Japanese intonation for his speaking, I am constantly forgetting that Yukito’s character is a 16-year-old boy

Toya is really casually bomb-dropping the fact that he used to see ghosts and Yuki’s just like ‘dope are there ghosts around now’

Omg Kero’s sad face as he dropped the flower in Sakura’s lap 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

“I want to see if she wants to tell me something” like maybe ‘don’t run around town at night chasing ghosts ur 10!!!’

UHHHH AGAIN TOYA REAL CASUAL ABOUT THE GHOST THING

Yukito Tsukishiro: Chronic Aid-er and Abet-er of Pre-teen Mischief

Also if I’m right his name means something like “Ice White Moon?” Very heavy-handed foreshadowing lmao

“After we left, I went to the museum again and borrowed one” TOMOYO U CASED THE JOINT KJDHFKJHF

WHY IS EVERY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL KID IN THIS TOWN ABLE TO BREAK INTO THIS MUSEUM SO EASILY

Tomoyo is eerily well-prepared for this mission it’s like she has been planning to burgle a museum all her life

They really made an executive choice to have both a Yuuki and a Yuki that was a decision that someone made

Oh hey it’s the other pre-teen supehero!!! That guy!!

The more I think about it, the stranger the height difference between Sakura and her brother becomes bc compared to him she’s really like 2.5 feet tall they did not pick a proportion scale

U see this what I mean by gentle intonation, Syaoran somehow sounds older than Yuki simple by roughness of voice

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH TOYA U DEFEND UR SISTER

“Here, a steamed pork bun” Yuki sure nows how to de-escalate lmao

“That is made out of an insulator as well” Tomoyo is really prepared for any and every situation

It’s not fair of Li to compare what is probably years of magical training from his family to ‘trial by fire for eight weeks with a plush toy who doesn’t explain anything important until critical moments’

I’m really not sure what’s happening with Rika and the teacher but I DON’T LIKE IT

“I just want to be with you as long as possible” [cut to floral pattern] Tomoyo is aiming to supersede Yuki as Gentle Shojo Protagonist Sakura Fixates On looool

I’m sure there’s NOTHING significant about this familiar-looking sword brooch

Kero biting Li whenever whenever he says something rude to Sakura kghkjghk direct feminist action

What IS THIS business with Li running away flustered like that are pre-teen Cardcaptors ONLY allowed to have a crush on Yukito

“I guess I’ll have to beat him up once” Toya has zero qualms about fighting a ten-year-old

Two fourth graders giving Yukito chocolate while he peacefully hangs out with his boyfriend is the funniest version of executing this weirdness that could happen

What I’m really wondering is how the hell they cut out or explained away Li’s crush in the first English anime

“You were just a fledgling teacher and you married one of your [high school] students!!” u did WHAT what the FUCK MR. KINOMOTO I’m on Sonomi’s side

“Mother got married when she was 16″ MR. KINOMOTO CANCELLED! BANNED! THE HELL IS THIS!

“It was I who was granted time with Nadeshiko from her 16th to 27th birthdays” GO 2 JAIL DO NOT PASS GO

This episode has added a lot of layers to this show none of which I like

“What kind of person was my dad” someone who should be banned from teaching

“Your father is a disgusting person” WELL

SONOMI I KNOW UR TRYING TO BE NICE BUT HE HAS AT LEAST ONE MAJOR FLAW

Lmao they’re not even giving context why Yuki is around anymore he’s just an accepted artifact of the Kinomoto household

How is that the Time card is Li’s but not Thunder since he also returned that one to its original form

“Their fastest confirmed speed is over 100km/h” Yamazaki leave Li alone he just wants to adore the sloths jhfkhgjhgkhg

Ahhhhhh Li helping Sakura get the Power card?? These motives are quite hard to read but it seems sweet

OMGGG @ TOMOYO MAKING SAKURA DEADLIFT A PLAYGROUND

“I heard a rumour that everyone who asked Kinomoto out has been denied.” Well. [x]

“It’s one of the seven strangest things at this school, that both Kinomoto and Tsukishiro don’t have girlfriends.” WELL. [x]

AWWWWW YUKI DOESN’T LEAVE THE OTHER PRE-TEEN FAN CLUB MEMBERS OUT OF HIS KIND GESTURES

[Hannibal Buress voice] I was so caught up in euphoria of festival arcs, that for like a minute I lived in a world where the rest of this anime didn’t exist

TOYA BEING THE STAR OF DRAG CINDERELLA... OP UR MIND

I have no idea what the premise of the next Clow Card is but I really hope it’s “turn u into whatever ur acting as” bc I will LOSE my mind

I have not heard Yuki once intone as passionately as he did when he thought Toya was going to fall

“You like someone else” 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

“I didn’t promise anyone else a dance” Can I just say I LOVE TOYA?

The moment of stillness before Yukito revealed who he was asking to dance lmao... the repressed teenage wlw inside me LIVES

Yuki and Toya tag-teaming as the Sakura Support Team my heart!!

Geolocating someone from a fax... the incredible 90sness of this act....

I seriously don’t understand this world in which you leave 5- and 10-year-olds unattended for hours where are your child welfare laws

I am really choosing to ignore how absolutely bananas the concept of Tomoyo having a hidden Sakura Movie Theatre is

Speaking of weird, are we just trusting that this old man is normal? Is everyone doing that? I’m still not ready to trust yet the Sakura’s dad situation really burned me

“Girls look their best when they smile” a sweet thought that would not fly if an old man I just met told me that lmao

I’m REALLY not trusting this old man dressing up this girl in his dead (missing?) granddaughter’s clothes and staring broodily when she mentions there is a parent with her

“My great-granddaughter seemed happy” YOUR WHAT NOW

Their school trips seem much more fun than ours were we never went to the beach or fishing or got disappeared briefly in a cave

It continues to be funny how Sakura and Li have 0% tension re: Clow Cards, 99% tension re: Yukito who is already in a committed Something or the Other with Sakura’s brother

“Why were you on the roof” “Because it’s nice out today” LOL YUKITO

There’s no rhyme or reason to these card types huh some are like “I will destroy an entire zoo for fun” and other ones are like “mood lighting :)”

Sakura really isn’t out here to teach us any lessons lol it’s really a ‘get others to do your homework if you can get away with it’ episode

Rounding out the triad of superpowered pre-teens with Meilin I suppose

“Syaoran is my fiance” I have had it up to HERE with this anime cousinfuckery I don’t CARE if it’s cool in Japan or Hong Kong or whatever STOP BEING WEIRD WITH YOUR COUSINS

Poor Syaoran he was doing so well with getting along with Sakura until Meilin got here

"It was done by a girl again?” Oh my god is Meilin beating up grown men in parks for street cred

“It seems our relationship chart has gotten rather complicated” Tomoyo probably means astrology chart but here’s my understanding so far:

Speaking of complex relationships I wonder how Meilin will react to Syaoran’s crush on Yuki

This rivalry between Sakura and Meilin could not be more one-sided

I really was wondering for a second if the card was going to split in half

I love the vibe of Sakura and Toya teaming up to help their creepy dad but even MORE SO I love that Yukito is In This Household

“The contents are already up here” This episode really doesn’t hit the same way now that cloud storage exists and also what were all those floppy disks for if not to save your work Mr. Kinomoto

I love that Tomoyo always pulls her weight in her superhero sidekick role like she is here to support and help whenever needed

Sakura using her powers to impress her crush with a ghost duet lmao these priorities

“Sakura’s Little Adventure” I see what u did there

Kero’s little shoulder pat with his paw to let Sakura know he’s there aw

Omg this Clow Card is so cute “Is it your fault I’m so small now?” [nods pleasantly]

It is very bold of Sakura to be doing magic so casually when her brother and Yuki are right downstairs

I like that this show recognizes the inherent intimacy of allowing someone to cut your hair

“Information about you has gotten around to the cards” well this is an ominous start to this funky tarot reading

Well the experience of seeing his little sister try to murder him has got to be traumatizing for Toya I hope he doesn’t remember this

UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM DID TOYA JUST FALL OFF OF A CLIFF

“Can you give me a break... and stop looking like Sakura” EXCUSE ME

“My mom’s up there too, so say hi to her for me” OH MY GOOOOD TOYA REALLY DOES SEE GHOSTS AHHHHHHHHHHH

WAIT SO IT WAS A CLOW CARD DOES TOYA HAVE MAGICAL POWERS TOO

Omg @ Toya feeding Yuki from his bed this really is an intimate episode

I kind of appreciate the slow build of this show like it took them 25 episodes to introduce meaningful stakes

“But it might be tougher than the earth going ‘boom!’ Depending on who you are...” Well hello threatening figure in sunglasses standing outside Sakura’s house what’s up

“I’ll look the other way” Ms Mizuki is literally this meme:

I can only assume that if Toya knows Ms. Mizuki then she must be a ghost

Personally if Mizuki gives Syaoran the heebie jeebies I trust his instincts

“Um... do you like Yukito too?” Oh my goooood they’re sincerely discussing being Not Straight in middle school in this 90s anime that I watched when I was 7 I cannot believe

“And it’s been a year since you told me you loved me here” WHY DOES EVERYONE IN THIS FAMILY WANT TO DATE SOMEONE TOO OLD FOR THEM WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU DOING DATING SOMEONE TOYA’S AGE MIZUKI

Also I have to rethink every thought I had about Toya being gay. I mean bi is great too but my thoughts..... racing...........

“Because the next time I see you, you’ll have someone else that you’ll be in love with” Yukito BF confirmed but oh my GOD this relationship chart IS complicated good lord

If there’s anything the episode “Sakura and Her Shrine of Memories” has taught me it’s that everyone in this show is bisexual and all teachers in their neighbourhood should be in jail

I understand that Meilin is a kid but poor Syaoran he is constantly being harassed

I love Yuki’s bottomless stomach lmao

Syaoran and Sakura have such a genuinely supportive relationship but it is very funny how they try simultaneously to get Yuki’s attention with the exact same words

“I’ve been thinking for a while that Mr. Terada is a lot like my dad” oh thank you Rika for someone finally being normal in this show

“Well it’s a harmless one” You see this is what I mean the dichotomy of Clow Cards is like... “I’m going trap you in a maze until you perish” or “I’m gonna give you a sugar rush :]”

I like that Sakura and Syaoran are starting to partner up as a duo on purpose like yessss I love a 1-2 finish and friendship development

Ahhh poor Syaoran he’s realizing that Yukito’s #1 in his life is the Kinomoto fam

We’re all familiar with the eternal struggle of whether using ur superpowers for school sports is cheating

AWWW SYAORAN USING HIS POWERS FOR MAGICAL PEP TALKS AFTER HE HELPED TURN REI’S PET FOX INTO A POKEMON CARD THAT’S MY BOOOOY

“I will stomp on him” it’s been 31 episodes let Sakura stomp on her brother

Oh my GOOOD does this Big card mean that Sakura WILL FINALLY STOMP ON TOYA LMAO

Ur telling me that no one else in this ENTIRE TOWN notices this altercation of a giant preteen vs a dragon

Why does the logic for how voices travel based on size apply for the Little card (when Toya was speaking) and not for the Big card (when Sakura is speaking)

Sgskdhgkhkgjh honestly body switching as a trope will never not be funny

Syaoran blushing and running away from Sakura oh how the turn tables

Every domestic scene that Yuki and Toya have adds ten years to my life we love some gay/bi teens about to be gay/bi adults

Ffskhhfkj I absolutely cannot relate to this Southern Hemisphere nonsense of finding ten degrees celsius arctic cold like BRO that is a normal spring day here

“We’re not frozen because we have magical powers” I know that cutaway was to confirm Mizuki’s magical powers again but this would’ve been a hilarious time to reveal that like Yamazaki the Compulsively Lying Classmate had powers

Awwww he likes her now that’s cute

“I got work that day” I will bet someone ten dollars that Toya is working at that quiz rally

Update from 5 minutes later: PAYPAL ME $10

Kero keeps whispering to the moon when in fact some iteration of the moon is right around the corner (literally)

GOOOOOOOOD SYAORAN REALIZING HE HAS A CRUSH ON BOTH HALVES OF THAT TEAM KILLS ME SWEET BOY

Shared Gaze of People Who Have Dated* Toya and Have Magical Powers They Haven’t Revealed Yet

*Go to jail Mizuki

I am really going crazy wondering when they’re gonna reveal stuff about Yukito like bitchhhhhhh I know you’re a moon man when will u tellll usss

How many more times will Sakura have this same threatening dream before she realizes her math teacher is probably going to try to kill her

Update from one minute later: I guess it was exactly one more time

“That’s right, Yukito’s birthday is on Christmas day” is this coming to be a coming of age where he like suddenly sprouts wings at age 17

I’ve been thinking this for a while but this show makes it seem like Japan has a much more fun approach to athletics than my school experiences

Yukito really is unflappable about hanging out with a bunch of kids half his height huh he’s like the Fourth Grader Whisperer

I KNEW IT YUKITO NEVER GOES WITH SAKURA ANYWHERE UNLESS HER BROTHER WILL ALSO BE WORKING THERE DFHKDFHKJ every time it’s just “Hey Toya :)”

“This kid...” HAHAH TOYA HAS JUST REALIZED THAT SYAORAN HAS A CRUSH ON HIS LITTLE SISTER AND HIS BOYFRIEND THE UTTER SUSPICION IN HIS TONE

“Wind become a binding chain” Whoops Sakura foiled by 4th grade knowledge of the elements

Oh shiiiit love a world-building moment now we have two card combos in play ayyyyy

Lmao @ Kero using his returned powers immediately for fireworks mood lighting is a serious Clow Card priority

“I would like to come again this year” everything in this show feels like foreshadowing for dramatic irony

#ayesha talks anime #liveblogging #ayesha liveblog ccs #long post

6 notes · View notes

calliecat93 · 5 years

Text

Top 5 Things That I Disliked ABout RvB: Singularity

(Top 5 Likes Post Link)

Well, it’s been about four months since RvB17 concluded. The shortest season in the series thus far, RvB17 has had overall very positive reception with good humor, compelling drama, and nice character development. I enjoyed it… but I would be lying if I said I loved it unconditionally. And I’d be lying even more if I said that it was better than the sadly often derided S16. The season has its pros and it has its cons, as every season of the show does. The cons this time probably annoy me more than some due to what I like and dislike, so that’s important to know before going further into this post.

So, it’s time for another Top 5 Likes/Dislikes about the recent RvB season! Now normally I do this shortly before the upcoming season, so why am I doing this now and not when RvB18 starts? Well, I’ve had a lot of these on my mind for a while, and after completing a recent rewatch, I want to go ahead and get it all out. To compensate, when RvB18 does roll around I’ll likely do a post about the past three seasons, and maybe some other stuff like what I’d like to see. And of course, as always, this is just my opinion and I will be as fair as possible, so take everything that I say with a grain of salt.

Anyways, let's get the part that I always hate doing done first: the Top 5 Dislikes.

_______________________________

I hate being negative. I really, really do. Overall, S17 was a very enjoyable season and I liked it in spite of its flaws, as I do with most media that I get into. But I do have issues, more so than I did 15 and 16, and I do want to talk about them. Most of you who’s followed my blog probably already know them, but I’m gonna try to be more detailed about why I disliked it. So we’ll start with something nit-picky, and work our way up. So let's get started with...

#5. Execution of the time travel/The Everwhen

This one is probably the most minor, but the whole thing just… confuses me. So for those unaware, the Everwhen is essentially a giant time portal that allows you to possess your past self at any point in time. This is… not a bad concept at all. It’s a really cool one and they use it to great effect by going to various points in the show’s history. Then using the past variations of Halo also makes us more invested since we recognize those periods. And while I wish we got to see more moments in those periods that we didn’t see, the few that we got in Episode 5 with Wash and Carolina was very well done. I only have two real issues with the Everwhen. First being an excuse for the mass amount of nostalgia banking, but at least it served a purpose… well, the Freelancers did. The Mercs were totally unnecessary. But that can easily just be a me thing and I get that it made a lot of fans happy, so I won’t harp on it. The other reason though is the reason why it made this list.

The execution is confusing as Hell when you really think about it.

First, how does this exist? I guess we’re supposed to believe that Chrovos made it, which I guess that I can buy. But aside from a line in Episode 1 about how the Reds and Blues time period was the backswing that caused the paradox, there isn’t really anything about how this gateway suddenly exists. Which presents another problem, the Reds and Blues inside it. Okay, so the paradox happened and it messed their memories up. That I understand… but why are they having deja vu in the past?! Shouldn’t they have been like Wash was? In some period where they did and didn’t break time? I get that they were in the middle of the paradox while Wash had been in the present, but in that case, how did they get knocked back to the past? At first, I assumed that Chrovos put them there, which would have made sense in order to keep them out of the way. But that’s never said. The implication is that they just got put there randomly, but because of Wash’s state, it really doesn't make any sense for them to be there.

But I think I get why it was like this. On The SHizno Podcast, Jason explained how the original pitch was that the Reds and Blues were going to be in a simulation of Blood Gulch that Chrovos put them in. Think S9 when Epsilon was in the Memory Unit… which it being too similar is one of the reasons why that plan got rejected. It probably explains why they used Halo 2 Anniversary in the S16 finale if the simulation plan was still in effect when Joe wrote it. But that would explain why they were in the past and having memory issues while Wash wasn’t. And it being a simulation is what I thought it was... until Huggins was able to move through it without going through the portal, which made everything even more confusing. As much as I get being too similar to S9, I can’t but feel that it would have been the better move and not given me a headache over how this stupid Everwhen worked. Because it being a simulation and not the actual timeline made a heck of a lot more sense.

Ultimately, this is Number 5 because as I said, it’s nitpicky. Time travel is a mess no matter how it’s utilized, so I’m pretty lenient on it because thinking about it too hard is painful and not worth it. Plus it may just be my own stupidity confusing me. Still, it DID bother me and it made Episodes 7 and 8 especially a pain in the ass to watch through. But since again it’s overall more nitpicky, I’ll leave it at Number 5.

_______________________________

#4: The Simmons Labyrinth

Yeah, we all knew that this was going to be on here. What’s left to be said that I haven’t talked about already? I think we all know why this was hated. First, it isn’t funny. I mean don’t get me wrong, the delivery of the joke was fine, but the joke itself sucked and made no sense for Simmons’ character. Say what you want about Grif’s Labyrinth, whether you saw it as good or terrible, but at least it made sense for his character. Simmons… is afraid of aliens cutting off his private parts. I’m…. fairly sure that RvB has done a joke like that before, and it was likely better there. Plus it didn't fit the tone. All the Labyrinths, even Grif’s, were portrayed as either serious or at least uncomfortable for the victim. I guess they wanted something to lighten the mood, but… it failed. Badly. It just took me out of it until we got back to Carolina’s. Even knowing Jason’s original plan of the alien being Simmons dad, while that would have been more impactful, still would have been treated as the final cut was and still would have taken me out of it.

What could have been done instead? IDK. Could have had Simmons relive one of his many embarrassments in high school. Could have been focused on the test anxiety that made him fail and get shipped off to Red Boot Camp. It could have been one of the many traumas that his dad inflicted on him, like being forced on the women’s volleyball team or something. All of those are still lighter than some of the other Labyrinths and could have had a comedic edge, but it still tells us something about Simmons and would make sense for him. I… am still trying to figure out how what we got fits Simmons at all or tells us anything about him. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

The reason that this is Number 4 is because the scene was ultimately brief and Simmons didn’t exactly have a major role up to that point. It was incredibly stupid and not funny, but IDT it ruined his character or anything. Plus at this point, I and many others have gone on about it and there is really nothing left to say until we see what happens in the future. Jason seems to be aware of the critiques, and I imagine that others behind the show would also be aware by now. Maybe it'll be taken into account in future seasons and they’ll finally give Simmons the attention that he deserves.

_______________________________

#3. Huggins

Ho boy, I’ve been waiting to let this out since the season ended. So for those who were reading my blog when S16 was airing, you know that Huggins was one of my favorite parts of said season. She was likable and fun, her friendship with Grif was adorable and helped his character massively, and she was just a bundle of joy who made me smile every time that we saw her. Her death, while I knew even then it was likely a fakeout, was a huge shock and had me praying that it being a fakeout was correct. Which it was! I was so happy… until we saw how she was actually handled this season.

Personality-wise, Huggins was fine. Her being able to go through time made sense and was even referenced in S16. But… well, she’s used to discovering that Black Holes lead to the beginning of time, goes through time to find the paradoxes that Genkins made, and… that’s it. In other words, Huggins was nothing but a damn plot device. I have a problem with character shafting, but this one was just unfair. Maybe Jason couldn’t think of anything else to do with her? Maybe her VA wasn't available for much? Maybe they didn’t have the budget to animate since Miles did say that they had a slightly smaller budget at RTX? IDK. There’s any number of reasons why, but it was annoying nevertheless. I mean Huggins only appeared in THREE EPISODES, and the first was only at the very end. After Episode 8, she just… disappeared.

There’s a lot of reasons why I hated this. First, just dropping a character like that despite her clearly being important and prominent is an insult to the character. I have issues with how the Reds and Blues were shafted aside from Donut, Wash, and Carolina, but at least they were still around. Huggins leaves to go find paradoxes in Episode 8 and then is gone. Last we hear of her is in the finale from Donut. But the bigger issue is that, if you remember, she was understandably angry at Grif for deciding to go with the plan to save Wash, even though he knew what would happen. It happened and… there’s zero reconciliation. None. Yes, Grif was happy to see her. Yes, he clearly felt remorseful. Yes, he did apologize. But Huggins never really forgave him, saying that she can't be mad at him at the moment because of the larger picture. But it was pretty clear that, while not enraged, she was still unhappy with him… and they don’t allow the two to talk? At all?! After everything in S16, we couldn’t get closure on that?! Really?!

That was what pissed me off. It pissed me off for Grif’s character, but trust me I’ll be going more into that shortly. But for Huggins, it pretty much just says ‘yeah, we are only bringing this character back for exposition and nothing more’. I know many hated S16, but Huggins was easily one of the factors that people enjoyed. I enjoyed it. As I said, her and Grif’s relationship was easily my favorite part of it and I still enjoy rewatching all of their interactions. IDK if she’ll be back in later seasons. I really hope so because, at the very least, she and Grif should reconcile. But even so, she deserved better than what she got. She was a good character, and she deserved better than what she got. I shouldn't be wondering if her remaining dead would have been a better alternative afterwards. I really shouldn’t. So… hopefully future seasons can maybe fix things, but for now, this remains a major problem for me.

_______________________________

#2. Grif Character Shafting

In general, Season 17 had a BAD case of character shafting. Now it’s a huge ensemble cast, so not everyone is going to be able to get attention. I wasn’t that upset that characters like Sarge, Caboose, and Simmons (even if that doesn’t excuse his Labyrinth) not getting much attention because they had already been more lowkey in this story arc. I didn’t mind it with Tucker wither since he got PLENTY of attention with Chorus. Hell, I honestly wish that they kept Wash and Carolina more lowkey because they ALWAYS get the majority of the focus, but for S17’s story it’s understandable why they would so I can forgive it. But you should probably NOT shaft a character who has been one of the central focuses in an ongoing story arc and still had a ton of character development that had to be wrapped up.

You know… like Grif.

Yeah, I won’t lie. While I thought that Grif acted IC and everything… they really dropped the ball with him. I wouldn’t mind that much had S15 and 16 not happened. Those are two seasons that gave Grif a ton of character development. He was essentially the main protagonist in S16, the one most involved in the plot despite how much he tried not to, and began resolving his issues. He went from doing everything in his power to avoid the plot, to openly confronting it and even rejecting the pizza that he had wanted so bad. He was the only one who knew what was about to happen after openly being mocked by Genkins, and despite his best efforts, he failed to stop it…

...and this got aBSOLUTELY NO FOLLOW UP? WHAT THE HELL?! THat’s like if, after Season 11, Tucker acted like none of the events during S11 affected him and didn’t grow as a leader and a soldier. It would come off as super weird since 12 followed the aftermath of S11 and would have been a huge disservice to the character and his development. That’s how it felt here with Grif. At first, it looked like they may show stuff since Grif DID believe Donut at first. But he had to ignore it since Donut isn’t allowed to be listened to. When he got his memory back, everything should have been hitting him then and there. There should have been more anger and probably some guilt about how even when he tried, he still failed and now they have even more bullshit to deal with. But they just… bizarrely ignore it.

I wouldn’t say that Grif regressed, but the fact that there is NO follow-up to his development in a storyline that allowed said development to begin with is a disservice. I get it, they only had 12 episodes and Donut and Wash were the more important. I understand that. And hey, S18 could follow up on it. But there still should have been something. Maybe the reveal about him lying about the enlistment was supposed to be that. Which I did like that… but that was not enough imo. He didn’t reconcile with Huggins. There’s no follow-up about how he failed to stop the paradox. Even for someone as lazy as Grif, we should still be seeing some emotions there. His Labyrinth, while I ultimately don’t hate it and I do see how it can apply to his character, probably should have been something stronger like being stuck back on Iris with the volleyballs mocking him or something.

Character shafting does have to happen in an ensemble cast. But Grif should NOT have been one of them. IDK how they could have incorporated him better while still keeping everything intact, but it’s still frustrating. Again, maybe S18 can provide something. I hope that at least Grif is allowed to reconcile with Huggins and realize that he should actually talk about his issues because I do think that his scene with Kai was an important moment for him. Whether you like to hate the retcon, it makes sense for his character to run away and he’s actually offering to talk about it. Okay, it’s more for Kai’s sake than his own, but he’s still willing to talk about his feelings, which is not something that I could have seen him done without his S15 and 16 development. Hence why I think that is S18 has him be more willing to talk to say Kai or Simmons and about how much S15 and 16 really did affect him instead of trying to brush it aside by calling himself hateglue, he can have a complete character arc. But as far as S17 goes, there’s no excuse for it and was a big problem for me.

_______________________________

Honorable Mentions

Aka, the things that annoyed me, but not by much or I didn’t feel were bad enough to add onto the list.

Tucker not taking responsibility/talking to Wash: It was his idea to go and save Wash despite knowing the consequences, so he’s as guilty as Carolina imo. There should have been more focus on that, and about him reconciling with Wash and accepting what had to happen. The fact that they had zero interaction was bizarre tbh. But it isn’t as big of a deal as other things, so I kept it off. Consider this Number 6.

Character shafting: I hated it, and everyone outside Donut, Wash, and Carolina felt wasted. But it’s already a huge cast, so it was bound to happen and Grif’s was the one that manly pissed me off. So I spared it.

Nostalgia banking: That’s a me thing, so I didn’t feel it was fair to add it, especially since it overall did serve a purpose.

Carolina guilt trips need to die: I forgive it here because it worked for the story and was well executed. But... writers, you’ve done Carolina guilt trips since at least S10. It’s lazy and boring now. Come up with something new for her. Let it die.

Donut being ignored: Mainly, I think they played it up too much. DOnut displayed no noteworthy flaws in this season, and pretty much everything revolved around him. On rewatch, this was annoying and made him seem better and more important than everyone else. That’s unfair. But after all the years where he got shit treatment, he earned it honestly, so I forgave it.

And that’s it! So onto Number One!

_______________________________

I thought long and hard about what Number One could be. Grif Shafting almost made it, but again the finale scene did actually make me happy. As such, I had only one real option left…

#1. The 12 Episode Count

Imo, this is I think the cause of many of the problems with S17 that I have. This should not have been a 12 episode season. 15 maybe, like last time. But not 12. Now there’s any number of reasons that they decided to go with that. Miles did say at RTX that they had a slightly smaller budget, so maybe they just simply couldn’t afford to do more than what they were able to do. Maybe they just thought that 12 episodes wrapped up the story and that there was no need to exceed that number or try to avoid stressing themselves and others out more. Production is hard and not cheap and you’re not going to be able to do everything that you want or even need to be able to do. As such, I’m not angry at them for deciding this since most likely, they had to work with what they had available.

That being said, it is still a problem. A 12 episode season has both its pros and its cons. With the pros, they were able to keep an overall steady pace and focus on what needed to be focused on without having to extend it or cram in filler. But the cons are you have to cram in as much as possible with limited time and put aside the things that aren’t as important. Grif wasn't as important as the other things. Huggins wasn't as important as the other things. They didn’t have time to elaborate on all the time travel, so they did as much as they could and then focus on the story. And Simmons Labyrinth was just a bad idea and would have still sucked even with a longer episode total, so nothing to say there.

My point is, while I do think that 12 episode seasons could work for RvB, they probably shouldn't have done it in the middle of a story arc. Again, they might not have had a choice, but it’s still an annoyance. The first half was fine and the best of the season. But the second half felt much more rushed and overstuffed. Episodes 7 and 8 shoved in exposition and it came across as more confusing than informing. Donut forgave everyone FAR too easily and it didn’t feel like they genuinely felt sorry after being called out. Which made the moment where he did call them out feel slightly less impactful. Only slightly, Then we rush through fixing the paradoxes and The Labyrinth within like four episodes, which when watching all the episodes together really makes it and the ending feel really anti-climactic. It’s like they shoved a ton of character stuff within like ten minutes, but we don’t get to explore it naturally. A problem that I think 15 episodes would have helped solve, but 12… it just… was not enough.

If they do go with 12 episodes again, I think it’ll work better since they’ll have a new story arc that they cal plan properly for. They didn’t have that luxury here. That, on top of Joe having to leave and Jason having to take over writing duties. Which is another annoyance. IDK the circumstances obviously and not to diminish Jason, but Joe should have been allowed to finish his own damn story, the fans' opinion on if he was good or not be damned. But again for all I know he chose to walk out, so I’m not going to go any further than that. Considering what they did have, the fact that they did make a good product is to be admired. But there’s still a lot of problems imo. Ones that I think that the episode count ultimately caused most of. As such, it is the thing that I dislike about RvB17 the most.

______________________________

Again, this is only my opinion. There was a lot that I did like about RvB17, and when I write the Likes post I’ll gladly talk about them. That being said, I do think that this wasn't as good as 16 and IDC how many people think I’m insane for saying that. It had story issues, character issues, and the second half was ultimately just a mess. A fun mess, but still a mess. No, IDK how any of these could have been done better and IDT it’s so bad that it can’t be amended in later seasons. But overall, these issues did damper my enjoyment and things that I hope to see improved in the future.

Okay! Dislikes are done! Thank God! Now I can do the happy stuff! Hopefully, the Likes post will be ready in a few days. But thank you all for reading, and I hope that you enjoyed~

#rvb #rvb reviews

10 notes · View notes

smkkbert · 6 years

Text

Time for a story - Intoxicated

Once she had gathered the courage to take a look at the latest data, Felicity released a breath of relief. There was still a lot of room for progression.

“Why are you sighing like that?” Bruce asked, the confusion quite audible in his voice. “This isn’t what we hoped for. Actually, it’s quite far from what we have hoped for and it means that there is a lot of work ahead of us.”

Felicity smiled to herself.

Bruce was right. It wasn’t what they had hoped for. The closer the moment of truth had come the more Felicity had realized that she wasn’t ready to let go of this project. As long as there was work to do on it, she had something to focus all her energy and all her skills on.

Felicity knew it was stupid. There were so many new things to discover as the technology branch was basically still in its baby shoes if you compared it to most other fields of work. Without thinking about it for long, she could name at least a dozen of projects she wanted to approach in the next ten years.

Still, working on these bio-stimulants with Bruce held a special place in her heart.

“We are geniuses,” Felicity said. “We will make it work.”

“I hope so,” Bruce said. “I mean the short-time results were incredible. Now we just have to enhance the longtime results.”

“Absolutely.” Felicity nodded her head. “But we already knew that it would take at least one more generation of the bio-stimulant to make it fit for the requirements of its users. Our first focus was to make it walk again. Now we have to find a way to give people the same flexibility as people who aren’t in need of this little help.”

As the results of their latest tests and surveys had proven, the users of the bio-stimulant were more than happy with the flexibility they had gained through the bio-stimulant. There were still things they couldn’t do because the current functions of the bio-stimulant didn’t allow them to.

“I am going to quote you when I will issue the press release tomorrow.”

“I have no problem with that at all,” Felicity replied, “as long as you are the one who talk to the press in the first place.”

Bruce chuckled while Felicity was leaning back in her chair with a content sigh. Working with Bruce was making her feel incredibly good. They were quite similar and yet different enough for their skills and complement each other’s.

“I think we should be bold and place a deadline for our first improvements by the end of June.”

“June?” Bruce blew out a breath. “That’s just three months from now.”

“We are on a good way with the bio-stimulant,” Felicity said firmly. “We can do this.”

“Still, it’s a little crazy. Don’t get me wrong. I want these enhancements to be done as quickly as possible too, but I think we shouldn’t put too much pressure on us or our employees.”

Felicity bit down on her tongue. She understood where Bruce was coming from and she even had to agree with him, at least partly.

“Okay, let’s compromise,” Felicity suggested. “At the beginning of July, I will come to Gotham for a couple of days and we discuss the progress we have made and what specific parts we have to work on more thoroughly. Deal?”

With almost held breath, Felicity waited for Bruce’s answer. She knew she could have easily invited him to come to Starling City, but she was almost sure that he would have found a way to avoid it at the last moment. Although they had worked out most of the tension that had been between them, making sure they were both feeling comfortable knowing that he had feelings for her that she would never require, it still wasn’t the way it had been between them before she had found out about his feelings.

“Are you sure Oliver won’t mind?”

“Oliver is not the boss of me,” Felicity replied firmly. “Besides, we trust each other like a hundred percent.”

Still, Bruce stayed quiet for a moment. He was taking his time to consider the honesty of her answer. From the look on his face, Felicity guessed that he wasn’t completely convinced.

“Feel free to call him and ask him about it.”

Bruce shot her a brief glance through the camera, messaging his neck uncomfortably like Oliver did when he was feeling uncomfortable. Felicity cocked her head, watching Bruce on the monitor of her computer.

“I guess that won’t be necessary,” Bruce replied eventually. “If you say it’s okay, I guess it is okay.”

“It is okay,” Felicity assured him, “and I think it’s-“

When Emily stepped into the office, Felicity stopped to look at her assistant.

“Sorry, Felicity,” she said with quiet voice, “but William’s in the line.”

Felicity frowned slightly. William was out with some friends. They wanted to check out the perfect spot in the forest to camp for a night once it was a little warmer. Admittedly, it had sounded far-fetched when he had told Oliver and her about that, but they had both decided to stay quiet about this. They knew they could trust William.

“We are finished here anyway,” Bruce said quickly. “I will call you once I briefed my team.”

“Alright. Bye, Bruce.”

“Bye, Felicity.”

The display went black and only a moment later Emily put William’s call through. Felicity shot her assistant a grateful smile through the large glass fronts before she took the call.

“Hi, William.”

“Hey.” William sounded off as Felicity noticed immediately though or maybe because he cleared his throat quickly. “Can you pick me up?”

Felicity frowned, glancing at her watch. It was barely three p.m., and he had told her and Oliver that it might take until after nine for him to be picked up. It didn’t exactly make sense.

“Are you okay?”

Worry was audible in Felicity’s voice since that was exactly what she was feeling. Being a teenager was rough as she knew from own experience. At the same time, being a teenager of parents that had never really been together and having four little siblings that were a lot younger had to be extra sucky at that age. William was torn between the love to his family and the need to distance himself and gain a little bit of freedom. It was a hard line to walk.

Felicity remembered her own youth and the bad decisions she had made back then all too well. She had become a Goth and she had dated Cooper. None of it had been good for her, and she had actually known about that. Yet, she hadn’t been able to stop herself. She had needed to know how far she could take it even though it had almost destroyed her.

“No, not really,” William admitted eventually. “I smoked a little bit of pot, and I am freaking out. Is that normal? I don’t feel normal. I feel nervous. Have you had pot before? I feel like you haven’t which is smart. Bot, you know, you and dad told me that, uh, we should call if we ever needed a ride home. I shouldn’t have called. I’m sorry. I-“

“No, William,” Felicity replied quickly, making sure he wouldn’t hang up the phone. “I’m glad you did.”

She felt the honesty of her words washing through her chest. She knew how hard it was to reach out to a parent if you felt like you really messed up. That he was calling her and not Oliver meant a lot to her. She often felt like she was the bad cop in the family though she knew it wasn’t fair. She and Oliver were both quite consequent, and they agreed on most decisions when it came to educating their kids.

“Okay, just listen to me,” she added soothingly. “Some people can get anxious or paranoid. You never know who it’s going to affect you. When I first had a pot brownie, I was feeling dizzy and disorientated. Do you feel dizzy?”

“Yeah.” William sighed. “I feel terribly dizzy.”

Felicity nodded her head. “It’s going to go away. With time.”

“Is that how you got rid of it?”

“No.” Felicity smiled almost a little with a little bit of nostalgia. “I was brought into the hospital because I had an allergic reaction to the peanuts in the brownie, so my first and only high really didn’t end well.”

William chuckled, but it ended in a groan soon. Felicity didn’t need him to say it to know that another wave of dizziness was making it hard for him to stay focused. He was probably feeling terrible.

“It’ll wear off, but until it does, I am here for you, okay?” she asked. “Just tell me where you are.”

→ → → → →

As soon as Felicity saw William sitting on the fallen trunk of a tree, his elbows propped onto his knees and his face lowered into his hands, she felt incredibly sorry for him. She might not exactly remember what it felt like to be high, but she did remember what it felt like to be a little more drunk than was good for you. She hated the feeling with passion.

She stopped the car right in front of him and got out slowly. She knew that quick movements were only making the dizziness worse. There was barely anything to make it better.

“Hey.”

Her voice was soft when she crouched down in front of him. Her fingers touched his knee briefly until William’s eyes finally found hers. Felicity could see that he wasn’t really focused. His dizziness was basically showing in his eyes.

“Felicity.”

She smiled at the way he said her name, almost the way Oliver did when he realized she was right there after he had just woken up from a nightmare.

“I know you are feeling terrible,” Felicity told him. “We are gonna get you through this.”

William needed a moment until her words seemed to catch up with him. As they did, he nodded his head repeatedly though and whispered, “Okay. Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me.” Felicity smiled at him. I’m your mom. This is what we do.”

She said it because it was what she was feeling. She had been feeling like it for a long time now. She knew she wasn’t his mom the way Samantha was. She hasn’t raised him since he had been a baby, but she had been a part of his life for a very long time now, and she hoped that she had had a good influence on him and his life. She was his mom, at least one of them.

William nodded slowly. The movement seemed to make his vision blur because he squeezed his eyes shut and took in some deep breaths.

“It’s going to be okay.”

Felicity gave William the time he needed. He took some more deep breaths before he looked at her again. His eyes were still unfocused. He looked like he wanted to say something, but another wave of dizziness seemed to keep him from doing so.

“Come here,” Felicity said and put her hands under William’s elbow to help him up onto his feet. She linked their arms and led him over to the car. “I’ve got you.”

“Are we going home?”

Felicity chuckled. “No. We are getting Hawk out of the trunk and then we will take a little walk.”

“What?”

“Trust me,” Felicity said, squeezing his hand. “I know what I am doing.”

William nodded his head slowly and released a long breath. “Okay.”

They did exactly that. Felicity opened the trunk and let Hawk jump out. He waggled his tail and Felicity could almost see at the tip of his nose that he wanted to jump up at William. Since she wasn’t sure that she could hold William upright if he lost his balance, Felicity told Hawk to keep down with a gesture of her finger. The puppy, who was as much a puppy as Baby Sara was still a baby, stayed down though it made him release a dark, little growl.

Slowly, they started their way down the large path through the forest. Neither of them said a word. Felicity doubted that William would be able to say anything as he was completely focused on taking deep and even breaths.

“I apologize in advance if I throw up.”

Felicity smiled and nudged William’s ribs playfully. “Don’t worry. I have raised a handful of kids. I have seen vomit more than once.”

William groaned and rested his head against Felicity’s shoulder. She smiled, stroking her hand up and down his arm soothingly. There wasn’t much she could do other than that anyway.

They continued their way in silence for a little longer. Felicity felt the fresh air clearing her head. She had sat behind her desk for too long today. William’s call had basically come just at the right time.

“Have you decided what to do with your life yet?” Felicity asked eventually. “You are turning eighteen at the end of the year and you are starting college next year. Not long and you have to apply for colleges. So, any plans yet?”

William sighed and shrugged his shoulders. Felicity waited for him to add something, but he stayed quiet.

“I guess that is a no then?”

With another sigh, William lifted his head from her shoulder. Felicity looked at his face, seeing him frown for a moment before he looked at her.

“Honestly?”

Felicity smiled. “Of course. It’s me, Felicity. You can always tell me the truth.”

William nodded though it started to look like he was just moving his head back and forth almost like without control.

“It’s why I called you. I mean I could have called dad, but I know he would just flip out about it though he certainly consummated heavier drugs than just a pot brownie. Mom would have been so worried that she would have taken me to a doctor. And Thea… yeah… I could have called Thea.”

Felicity chuckled. “Maybe next time.”

“I really hope there won’t be a next time.”

Felicity swallowed down another chuckle. She was sure William was feeling back enough as it was. He didn’t need her to enjoy his intoxication when he was already feeling so miserable as it was.

“I think I am going to go far away from here.”

William’s admission made Felicity stop and look at him. She felt an ache in her heart at his words because there was no reason for him to leave here just for the sake of being away if he was feeling happy. So far, she had believed that he was happy, but apparently she had been wrong.

William almost looked ashamed about his words because he lowered his eyes quickly. Staring at his feet, he pulled his hand from the pit of her arm and pushed them into the pockets of his jeans.

“What do you mean?” she asked. “Far away? Why?”

William still didn’t look at her. He kept his eyes low and shuffled his foot back and forth.

“William,” Felicity whispered. “If you aren’t happy here-“

“It’s not that,” William interrupted her quickly. “I am happy here.”

He was still breathing heavily though he tried to take deep, even breaths. He was sweating and dark rings were forming under his eyes. Felicity guessed that his body was working on getting rid of the toxin now.

“Then why do you want to leave?” Felicity asked. “I mean if it was because you wanted to go to a specific college, okay, but why leave just for the sake of it?”

“Because I love you guys so much,” William said. “I love you guys, but I need to be a normal teenager that goes to colleges and does things guys do in college. I can’t always be the big brother of four little siblings. I love being that, but I have to try other things.”

Now it was Felicity’s turn to nod her head. Since William had stepped into their life, he had been the best big brother she could have wished for her kids to have. Once he had moved in with them, he had never complained when they had asked him to take care of his little siblings or when family days had been limited to childproofed activities.

What he said made sense to her though. She doubted that most teenager boys rather spent their evenings watching Disney movies with their siblings rather than partying with their friends. William had always tried to keep a balance. Felicity knew that his desire to spend more time with Audrey and his friends had made him feel guilty lately. When he was leaving Starling, that would be different though.

“We will all be sad if you leave,” Felicity told William, pulling his hands out of the pocket of his jeans and squeezing them, “but, whatever you decide, just know that you have my full support.”

Only know William lifted his gaze. He looked a little more focused now, allowing Felicity to see the insecurity in his eyes.

“Really?”

Felicity smiled. “Of course. I will always support you. I will always have your back.”

“Because you’re my mom.”

Felicity’s smile widened even more when she nodded her head and whispered, “Yeah. Because I am your mom.”

They both moved into the hug at the same time. Felicity’s arms wrapped around his shoulders as William’s arms wrapped around her waist.

“Thank you, Mom.”

Felicity smiled. “Always, William. Always.”

@fannaz @promiseyoullbepatientwithme @bytemegeekette @felicity-said-just-in-case @phanseptiic @orangeisorange @mspotatohead14 @whentheheavenfades @emmaamelia95 @smoakingskye @seaolicity @ourwritinginvein @1022bridgetp @felicityqueenforever @leagueofolicity17 @yryssss @myhauntedblacksoul @muslimsmoak @sherlock44 @sinceriouslybea @arrowsalways @olivyflavescentdeer @olicitys-castle @ofnothingcharming @vaelisamaza @smoakedandcharmed @alexisa1206 @mysaudadespt2 @florence-bubbles @addictiontelly @queens-of-arrows @memcjo @hysterical-for-joshifer @oswinelevenforever @olicitylovemaking @bandanab310 @mymusiclove101 @lynslogic @scarletqueen23 @olicityshipper19 @alex-wesley @arrows-4ever @unabashedlynerdypatrol @louehmysoul @ligiapimenta @chattyyana @charlie-leau @coal000 @samcrowleys @ishippolivia @julianegomesqueen @malafle @miriam1779 @charlinert @melaux @ontheolicityship @myshipperlife @wrightainsley @lexi9515 @ladygreenwood @multi-fandom-crazy-fangirl @morinamel @mje-thomas @kebarry @canadianheartgirl @nannett2307 @almondblossomme @paarti12 @kathrynelizabeth89 @imdfabulous @cutearrowgirl @mrt2501 @mecha1330 @arsipaci14 @mzminx @salasvia @brandis91 @cainc3 @morganmiguess @pr0fessi0nal-fangurl @iamisalima @nessafra @jonhdiggle @niki-is-amazing @universed-posts @hopeful-warrior @senoritaswiftie @bellemmie @green-arrows-of-karamel @iheartarrow @olicityovereverything @oliverfel4 @navyaarsha @fandoms-breathe-life @simone4mcswarek @olicity-in-the-heart @fullychippedcreation @geemarie @everything-but-normal-cat @myarroworld @tjmartinez @pleasantfanandstudent @itsmagnoliagirl @j69confessional2 @scentedcolorpirate @icanica74 @javinancupil @tjmartinez98 @certainmentalityface @tatianadamaceno @ryelew @wildwillowzepplin @missafairy @letsplaymurde-r @lipizette @positivepiper @nuttymilkshakehologram @laksagirl @turnupthemusicandscream @pumpernickle93 @onceuponanolicity @1106angel @jaspertown @fadinglands @morganashimi83 @mochababychristy @omglovechrissie @mariejr88-blog @thetaufactor @onceuponanolicity @speakandseethetruth @bri206 @aglasgo @thats0klaroline @geemarie @pineprincess @nerdgirljen @peterpanslostgirl666 @eternal-olicity14 @allyouhadtodowas-stay-stay-stay @lovelycssefan @tsseract @flowerandsunshine @dcnmarvelgamergeek @blondeeoneexox @monetsmark @soaring-cities @bb-olicity @mashamarty @rulerofsilence @erika-amber @felicity087 @i-claim-only-emily @pattid1 @westallenandolicityshipper @babyolicityandwestallen @nothingmorethanmyotps @kayleenyc @tonto16 @olicityfluv @olicitea1990 @olicity5ever @haahaaa2408 @pattid1 @faegal04 @24karatgem

(If you want to be tagged or untagged, just let me know. :))

#arrow #olicity #olicity fic #olicity fanfic #time for a story

43 notes · View notes

wolffyluna · 5 years

Text

Storybook Pirates - F!Hawke/Isabela

@kawuli: Something with f!Hawke/Isabela or f!Hawke/Isabela/Merrill?

“I will write something short, it’s just for a prompt-fic” I said to myself, as I ended up writing 1.8k words in the space of a morning.

F!Hawke/Isabela, largely canon compliant.

(And I am still taking prompts, if people are interested!)

***

Hawke grew up on tales of pirates. Tales of dashing rogues, battling wind and waves and worse ne’er-do-wells. People who were just bad enough that they got to do the fun things, but good enough that you could rely on them to race across the waters to go save king and country and their one true lady love.

She grew up running along the shores of Lake Calenhad, brandishing a stick as a cutlass, and saving Bethany from the Dread Tax Customs Officer Carver. (None of them were quite sure what a customs officer was, other than, presumably, the natural enemy of the pirate.)

They took turns, as pirate and captive and customs officer, but Marian was the eldest. She got to strong arm her way into being the pirate more than her fair share of times.

If Lothering was on the coast, she might have felt different about pirates, felt about them more the way she felt about highwayman. But she grew up on the shores of a lake. The sea, and the dangers of being boarded, and having all your goods taken, and the question of whether you would starve, were just as fictional as pirates to her.

And then she grew older, and maybe most would have grown out of the tales of pirates—but when she grew older and magic sparked from her fingers—running away across the waves where no one knew who she was and no one was in a position to care, being just bad enough to do the fun things, but good enough to still be a hero, and not a bomb with a slow burning fuse to abomination-hood—Well, that had appeal.

***

She ran away across the waves, to a town that didn’t know who she was, and at the time, wasn’t quite in a position to care—It wasn’t as fun as it was in the stories. Because this was real life, and in real life you have to grieve the people who die, and you can’t be assured of your victory because you are the ‘good guy’, can’t be sure you were the ‘good guy’. But she made the best of it. She would be the dashing apostate that was here to help, so she could get enough money to go and be a pirate of the Deep Roads.

(“They’re roads,” Varric pointed out. “If you’re anything, you’re a tomb robber, or a highwayman, not a pirate.”

Hawke was aware of this, but still had her instinctive dictate of highwaymen. “Tomb robber just does not quite have the same ring to it.”

Varric held out his hands, and smiled. “It all depends on how you say it, Hawke.”)

***

She went to the Hanged Man, and met Isabela. Helped her out, offered her a cut of any jobs she helped her with, hung out getting far too sloshed on far too terrible liquor.

Isabela was a pirate, a real one—and one just like in the stories. Okay, so her jokes would never get told in a children’s pirate story. But she was cocky and brave and sure of herself and gave witty one liners as she ran people through. She swayed as she walked, compensating for the yaw of the ship that wasn’t under her feet, even on land. She joked and drank and was incorrigibly greedy—but she was good hearted on some level.

She was a story book pirate, and even if Hawke was older now—you still always had that pull to childhood stories, that nostalgia for things that never happened. All that was different is she could turn to the starry eyes of ‘you’re my hero’ into the starry eyes of ‘you’re beautiful—want to have your way with me?’

(Isabela laughed. “You know it’s not that easy to get into my pants?”

“Really? What if I said I’d been looking forward to a chance to be debauched by a pirate queen?”

Isabela tapped a finger under Hawke’s chin. “I’d say I’d been looking for a chance for an apostate to have their way with me—”

“But that ship has unfortunately already sailed?”

She smiled. “Similar ships. But this specific ship?” She put her hands on Hawke’s hips, pulled her close. Her breath smelled of cheap whiskey distilled badly, and, somehow, the salt of the sea. (Hawke guess that must be her imagination.) “I’d be more than happy to board.”

Hawke grinned. “I thought you said you weren’t that easy.”

“’Beautiful’ is a dime a dozen. But ‘pirate queen’? That’s rare. Can’t let that opportunity go by.” She kissed Hawke, hard and all pressure, nearly pushing her over.

Hawke managed to extricate herself for one second to breath, and say “Aye-aye, my captain.”)

***

Isabela was not a story book pirate. Isabela told a story—and Hawke felt embarrassed that she hadn’t spotted it. Hadn’t taken the thought that this was too good to be true to it’s logical conclusion—that it wasn’t.

She knew Varric span tales. He said as much.

But because Isabela did not say it outright, and the stories were about herself, and Hawke wanted to believe in heroic pirate queens—she missed it.

She freed the slaves in her hold, and that was good—but she dumped them on the coast, no supplies, no by-your-leave, no nothing. And she may not have had a lot of choice, but it stuck in Hawke’s craw. But that could be put aside as life not being a simple as stories, people not being able to pick the perfect option.

And stealing to Tome of Koslun. Okay, so pirates stole things, Hawke was aware of that. But it got her crew killed, and dumped a bunch of angry Qunari of Kirkwall’s heads—but still reasonable. She was imperfect but she tried and Hawke would take ‘tried.’ And she had lied about it—but no real pirate was Owen the Honourable. Real pirates lied, and Hawke knew that.

But running off with the one thing that would make the Qunari peacefully go away? To save her own skin (assuming Castillon was honourable and wouldn’t kill her anyway, assuming Hawke wouldn’t be able to save her from Castillon)? It was still reasonable. That was the frustrating thing. It was the sensible if self-centred—but she still believed in the greedy, seemingly self centred person, running forth to save the day, because that’s ‘just what anyone would do.’

But no, Isabela ran.

(And okay, Hawke had given it to her, and said it was hers, but she’d hoped she could talk her around, explain that surely if they could fight their way through that, Castillon would be no trouble—

But Isabela ‘didn’t want to cause any trouble.’ The bitch.)

And now half of Kirkwall was on fire.

***

Her judgement of Isabela may have been a bit premature, Hawke would admit, as Isabela strode through the double doors, tome under her arm. “I believe I can help.”

And striding over a prone Sten was also a very nice touch.

So, Isabela:1, Arishok:0, because Hawke was more than happy to let bygones be bygones, and trading people for the safety of a city was wrong.

“When a pirate was more willing to be the bigger person than you are, that’s not looking good for you,” Hawke said, staring up at the Arishok in an attempt to be intimidating.

“Thievery must be punished. If you are willing to stand you life in for this woman—”

Hawke took her staff off her back, cool flame leaping over its end at her touch. “I am.”

The Arishok nodded. “Then we duel.”

Hawke was a good fighter. Being able to set people on fire from a distance did give her a, maybe unfair, advantage in that situation.

But burly Qunari with axes were very much not her forte. The Arishok had evidently fought mages before, knew how to get in their faces and not give them the room to cast. Every spell was risk of getting smote by that tree-cutter—and she had misjudged too many times already. She rolled back, healed herself, stopped the bleeding—and felt her connection to the Fade weaken. Not much, but enough to know she wouldn’t be able to heal herself for the next ten minutes. She went to raise herself up off the floor--

The Arishok ran over.

No time for standing. Hawke raised her staff, trying to will fire into the world, try and get him burning and rolling on the floor and her having room.

The fire grew weakly, piecemeal, like trying to light a forest fire with a candle—it would happen, but would it be soon enough?

The Arishok gained on her, and the flame was so, so small.

Something flew at the Arishok. Metal, shiny, landing in his back. A dagger.

Isabela’s dagger.

It was a weak stab, barely holding into his flesh.

But moving light objects was easier than conjuring fire, she could do it in her sleep (and she had, occaisionally, done just that, and accidentally made a thankfully empty chamberpot fly around the room). She released the fire spell, with an embarrassingly small puff of smoke, and pulled the dagger towards her.

The Arishok was strong, but her was made of flesh. He was made of flesh, with most of his important bits stuck in his chest.

The dagger inched through him, and he raised his arms, aiming to hit her while was casting—and then the dagger flew right through him.

It caught Hawke on her hand, cutting her knuckles, but honestly she didn’t care. A slice out of her knuckles was better than being sliced in half. The Arishok fell forward, and landed on her.

The Qunari, as one, turned and left.

“Uh, hey? A little help, here?”

Aveline and Fenris ran over, and helped roll the Arishok off her.

Isabela leaned on a pillar, and watched from the sidelines.

***

The official line was that Hawke had duelled the Arishok, using daggers, and stabbed him. The Champion of Kirkwall was most definitely not an apostate, what are you talking about, they are a good honest stabby bastard, just like you and me.

The line from Varric was that Hawke was apparently capable of summoning knives out of thin air.

The rest of them, that were in the room, knew what had happened.

Hawke may have landed the final blow, but Isabela had killed the Arishok.

And saved Hawke.

And indirectly saved Kirkwall.

Which made up pretty well for endangering it in the first place.

***

Hawke bought a drink from the bar, and toted it over to Isabela. It was whiskey—but the good stuff. Old, sensibly distilled, from Fereldan. Tasted of peat, but apparently some people liked that.

She placed it on the table in front of Isabela. “Here you go.”

Isabela picked it up, and sniffed it. “The good stuff? For poor old me? You shouldn’t have.”

Hawke leaned on the table nonchalantly. “Only the best for my favourite pirate queen.”

Isabela smiled, and took a sip.

Hawke spoke quietly, so that only Isabela could hear, and even the most determined eavesdroppers couldn’t. “And thanks for the help back there.”

“Only the best for my favourite rogueish apostate.”

#premium original content #dragon age #isabela #hawke #F!hawke/isabela #hawkebela #my fic #wolffy writes fic

1 note · View note

shebeafancyflapjack · 5 years

Text

I finally saw the new Lion King...

Oh boy. Here we go.

I know I’m late to the party on this and there have been so many bad reviews of this film already that have mentioned the major problems. They’re all true. Every single one. So at least in that regard I got what I was expecting! Nothing better but nothing worse. I was expecting dead eyed animals with no emotion matching the voice acting and that’s exactly what it was. It was distracting and annoying but I did get over it to a point. So I’ll try not to make this review just another long rant about the lack of expressions. However I will mention that my best friend who I went to see this with is from South Africa and used to work over there at a nature reserve; she said she found the animals creepy as hell. She compared to how disturbing the uncanny valley in films like Final Fantasy (the movie) and Mars Needs Moms were.

In short; the technology is incredible and hopefully will get used in a better and ORIGINAL film, but it really didn’t fit a story this epic and personal where you need to see the fear, the sadness, the joy etc in these characters faces. It especially hit me at the end of I Just Can’t Wait To Be King where Simba and Nala are supposed to look so happy and giddy but there’s just...nothing there.

Eyes are the window to the soul in animation. And it’s not impossible to make realistic cg animals look emotional - Jungle Book and Narnia are proof of that. But this movie was definitely, in a word, soulless.

That’s the animation rant out of the way, what else can I add?

I’ll admit that I am biased. Lion King is my all time favourite Disney movie. I saw it when I was three, I still to this day have the Simba plushy I took to the first screening and held aloft, haggard and dog-eared as he is in my closet. I danced to I Just Can’t Wait To Be King at my Brownie talent show. I’ve watched the film enough times I know it beat for beat. However, saying that, I know it’s not perfect. When I went back a few years ago and watched all the old Disney films I did notice more flaws in Lion King and actually gained more appreciation for films like Hunchback and Beauty & the Beast that had slipped under my radar as a kid. Practically I do think B&TB is the stronger movie of that time. But, damnit, Lion King will always be my favourite at heart, just like Ocarina of Time will always be my favourite Zelda even though I think other games like Majora’s Mask or Breath of the Wild are technically better. Lion King was my first love and, given how meh most of the Disney remakes have been so far, I knew this wasn’t going to come close to how great the original was. But still I thought I’d give it a try and see what new things they could bring, same as I liked at least some of the new twists in Cinderella, Maleficent and Aladdin.

Sadly this movie brings nothing new aside from a different style which even that doesn’t really work. It’s a shot-for-shot remake except with certain parts slightly changed or flat out cut and it feels so off. I could tell what I was in for from the very first scene and it basically summed up the rest of the movie. First shot, same as before, the sun rises as the Circle of Life plays. Except in this one, the sun rises....and there’s like a three second gap before the music starts. I know that sounds like such a tiny thing but it happens so much! The soundtrack is EXACTLY the same, except it no longer flows with the animation the same as the old one. The first Lion King was almost on par with Fantasia with how perfect every movement and beat of the scene matched the notes of the music - like with Simba’s roar at the end, he starts roaring before the music has its big climax and it’s so distracting. That’s when I realised what this movie felt like; as though I was listening to the original Lion King soundtrack while watching National Geographic. Like the odd random bit happens to work but most of it just feels slapped on because it’s Lion King and they had to.

And when this movie does do things new, sometimes they get a laugh or can be interesting, but it’s so short and we go back to just quoting the original word for word without the same energy. James Earl Jones sounds tired recycling lines he said thirty years ago. The rest of the cast however are actually really good and we know these are great actors. When they’re saying something new it’s great but when they say words from the original it’s like they’re just quoting a different movie everyone knows.

Timon and Pumbaa, for example, are the best new addition to the movie, along with some moments from Zazu and definitely a more intimidating Scar. This is because a lot of their routine and dialogue is changed up instead of just reusing old jokes. A scene with them from the original which was the funniest for me, the hula distraction, is replaced with the start of Be Our Guest - and it’s hilarious. I was expecting to be annoyed they took it out but no, it was something new and clever even if slightly meta but I guess same as The Lion Sleeps Tonight is which was in the original (and is redone here, also pretty funny).

Moments like that worked but also in a way annoyed me more because they showed the potential of how this film could have been so much better. The same story but a new script, why was that so hard? Aladdin, Cinderella and Jungle Book had a few lines here and there similar to the original but still took risks - with JB even going as far to change the ending. I have problems with those movies, sure, but I at least respect them for trying to be creative.

Other tiny ‘new’ things that are added are Shenzi being a much stronger villain, which is kinda cool but they try to set up this rivalry between her and Nala in the final act and I was like; “...did I miss something? Was there a deleted scene were there was a bigger conflict with you two?” But then the other hyenas are no where near as funny as before, Benzai and not-Edd just do this “no homo” routine and then they don’t even speak again in the third act. Nala, Sarabi and the other lionesses get a bit more screen time but again it feels so rushed and actually makes it seem more confusing when Nala is like “if you want Simba you’ll have to come through us!” and then they all just watch again as Scar nearly pushes him off pride rock.

It also tried to fill in a plot hole with the original which, in my opinion, just created a worse one. So in the original Scar knocks out Zazu and there’s always questions afterwards of why Zazu didn’t tell the other lionesses - I always just assumed he couldn’t remember why he lost consciousness. In this one Scar sends Zazu back to ‘get the pride’ at the gorge. However, he THEN claims he wasn’t able to get to the gorge before Mufasa was killed....Except Zazu knows he was there! Yet he never tells the other lionesses! He doesn’t even say anything to Simba! It also had me questioning why Simba didn’t throw it back at Scar for sending him down there to roar and then being blamed when Scar explicitly told him to practice his roar as loud as he could - in the original Scar just hints to ‘work on that little roar’.

They did the same thing in Beauty and the Beast with that magical teleporting book. And in Cinderella where she’s more independent because she goes outside the manor and yet never just leaves. Don’t pick at something if you’re just going to create more questions.

So to sum up, is the film garbage? I wouldn’t go that far. I’m looking at it from the mind of a cynical adult who was always going to be comparing it to the original, which I think is fair if you’re doing a shot for shot remake. But for little kids who this is aimed for...I wasn’t sure watching it, some scenes I thought a bit too dark for them (like literally it’s hard to tell the lions apart in the fight scenes) but after it was done I was in the toilets waiting for my friend and I saw a little four year old girl with her mum and she was holding a Simba plushy in her arms, just like the one I had as a kid, and she was saying how much she loved it. The sight almost made me tear up with nostalgia. And it made me realise, despite all my criticism, this movie is more so for little girls like that than me. If this movie somehow made her feel the same wonder and excitement than the original did then it definitely can’t be worthless. I just hope she has or will get around to seeing the original. Maybe she’d like it more, maybe not. Maybe they will remake this movie again in thirty years and she’ll be writing a lengthy blog post about how the remake of the remake butchered her childhood memory of the remake...So long as she has those memories and those timeless feelings, it’s what matters most.

Okay I got surprisingly sappy at the end there but that really Lion King does hold such a special place in my heart I can’t not get emotional from it, even when ranting.

One last thing, my theatre was dead silent for most of the film aside from a couple of laughs at Timon and Pumbaa. However, I kid you not, when the lightning struck the tree and caused the fire around Pride Rock at the end, someone in the audience shouted out; “DRACARYS!” and I nearly doubled over laughing!

Speaking of which, Simba finding Mufasa’s body? Game of Thrones already did that scene better with Drogon and Dany. No contest.

#also wtf was up with that fur journey scene #the lion king 2019 #tlk #disney remakes #simba #mufasa #nala

3 notes · View notes