#i think my main feeling is still just excitement at troy being on my screen like

[vaguely-concerned]

The Mandalorian Chapter 14 reactions: HOLY SHIT THAT WAS AWESOME BUT ALSO I’M CRYING edition

- the good good din characterization is back after all the weirdness last episode!!!! that soft way he says ‘no, no, I’m not mad at you’? THAT’S din djarin, he would not be fucking impatient with his son having just been informed and seen for himself that he is terrified, go away mr filoni I know you’ve got all of canon memorized but you don’t get this lol. this feels much more right in how din being conflicted and still thinking he should give the baby away for his own good plays out too  

honestly every line of dialogue for him in this one was perfect I was just whispering ‘I love this awkward clueless wonderful man just doing his best’ to myself any time he said anything. “...does this look Jedi to you?” sir I adore you more than words can describe

- we got din chuckling. asjdklfhsdkafghsdafsadhjkfsdahjkfh. fskahfksjad. side note: I can’t believe my joke post about din desperately trying to Force home school the kid with the one (1) jedi trick he knows about and the baby being delighted by it over and over anyway -- listen to his expectant excited laugh when din takes the ball and sets up the game!!!! -- was canon all along. and then the baby & mando music kicking in when he gently put the silver ball into the baby’s hands again and tells him he’s special (because he IS special. to din)? hmng. hmmmmnnnnn  

they opened on the height of softness so we would all crumple under the weight of the rest of the episode and that was very mean of them in a way I sincerely appreciate 

- nothing to see here... just a dad trying to walk through the literal manifestation of the unassailable underlying forces of the universe to get to his baby again and again........ the desperation in that, the love, the foolhardy devotion................... shit

- okay so I might be a dumbass, but I’d never noticed this before -- the silver ball has a blue spot on the top, like so: 

and in addition we get the room where the baby goes full darth grogu (I have to laugh so I don’t cry okay) on those storm troopers, and there’s a red light in there dominating the room (and it did even more in the concept art):

in star wars blue means light side and red means dark side (it’s very sophisticated that way), meaning the visual storytelling here is that there’s a battle for the baby’s soul and gideon and all his nonsense (and the trauma bb’s been through in the wider sense) is pulling towards the dark, while grogu and din’s connection leads him towards the light. just... the image of the baby looking at his own reflection in the symbolic representation of his relationship to din? the way children find their sense of self through being safely reflected and held by their caretakers? god help meeeeeee I will go in there and fistfight gideon myself for disrupting that in any way  

the smaller light seems to be blue too, like there’s still the presence of light even if it’s dimmed and small in that shitty horrible room, which is a change from the concept art!

- FENNEC SHAND SURVIVED BITCHES!!! I even called that she’d be back with new shiny robot parts back in season 1, could not happen to a cooler lady, I hope we get more backstory and interaction from her the next episodes -- sounds like she’s basically sworn herself to boba’s service in gratitude for saving her life, I wonder if that’s a cultural thing of whereever she comes from? does she live aboard slave 1 now too?? because that would be hilarious and amazing, it must be like two strange cats trying to get used to sharing the same space   

- everything I could ever hope for about boba fett in this series came true, they went down the much more interesting and nuanced route with jango and boba’s identities as mandalorians, he looked cool as fuck and made din as a character shine rather than overshadowing him... amazing beautiful yesss 

(I did 100% not anticipate just how ‘cool uncle boba here to help you fuck shit up’ he was going to be but I am delighted to get it anyway. uncle points deducted for getting someone to point a gun at the baby, but the main point still stands lol) 

the power and brutality of his hand to hand fighting too... a w e s o m e , I enjoyed the action scenes a lot in this one

- they even recanonized him actually wearing jango’s armour. what more could I ask for. I’ve had confused parent & child feels about these two since I was like eleven and here we fucking go again. and jango fighting in the mando civil wars too!

- so I’m grieving the razor crest (and I always will be, rip you magnificent jalopy, always in my heart) but also there’s the grim satisfaction that my reading on it was sort of true -- it is (...was. oh god it’s going to take a while to sink in huh) a symbol of din’s self and life, and at this point when they take the baby it tears everything else to pieces. the only thing that’s left in the ashes is the beskar and the thing that connects him to the baby. and there’s... a strange solace in seeing that that’s all he needs to keep going? he’s fucking obliterated from orbit but he still has his love for the baby and the beskar and that can keep him going until he finds something new, everything else can be replaced?????? weirdly healing, though he is probably going to have a solid breakdown at some point after they get the kid back (shut up they are getting the kid back) and the cold distant fog lifts 

also this scene/shot feels like it carries some Meaning, doesn’t it? I’m on record several times saying I never want din to be mand’alor and that’s still true, but there’s something about the framing of this and the way boba looks at him that’s like... hm. I’m not sure I have the words for it. there’s something heightened about it, anyway, for a moment he looks like something mythic there in the wreckage 

(something I would be much cooler with is our clan of two growing a little bit and those new people rallying behind him, actually, that might be neat. imagine if a force user does show up for the baby and gets adopted into the clan somehow??? so many possibilities.) 

- from the way he picks up the silver ball... din djarin is on his way to straight up murder some people huh

I think part of what reassures me about this scene is the music -- this mando flute is not distant, is not beaten, is not despondent, it’s clear and determined and strong.

- 

I love this. I love when we get explicit baby POVs, it makes it feel so real and intimate and... like home. (I especially loved baby’s point of view inside the razor crest, which just made me tear up again. baby lost the closest thing he’s had to a home in a long long time on top of it all. everything is suffering)

-

Emotionally Significant Thumb Grabbing tm; the show

- din djarin looking for the ‘on’ switch on a magic rock fhsdakjfhsadlfhsdjah I can’t breathe

 “Well, this is the seeing stone. Are you. Seeing anything?” fsafkdsajhfsa sdhfksjalhfkjsdahfkjsdhf

- the energy around the baby as he’s, in ahsoka’s words, ‘choosing his path’ is blue, and the force sort of works across time and space, right?? so there’s definitely still hope for our lil green bean to not have to come up with a really dumb unsubtle sith name for himself, as is regrettably yet delightfully tradition. darth babbu should never come to pass (I do like how they’re interrogating the normal dark/light side dichotomy in this series, seeing as this is a literal baby who can’t really be responsible for that stuff himself yet and has such capacity for both.)  

- listen. listen, the way din says ‘can you please hurry up’ with no sarcasm or real impatience whatsoever, more like a harried worry, to his force-meditating son as he jogs off to make sure no one’s trying to kill them. is hilarious and also YES this is what the character is!!! weirdly and incongruously polite under stress sometimes and with a slightly odd reaction pattern to things!!! he’s not just quiet and badass, he’s a little strange sometimes and it’s so good!  

- a friendly opening volley warning shot from boba there

also din uncertainly asking BOBA FETT if he’s a jedi... now this is the dramatic irony I’ve been looking for haha 

I guess neither shand nor boba actually know din’s name after this either. baby you gotta start introducing yourself at some point it gets real confusing when there are two mandos on screen 

oh the long weary sigh going through din’s frame when boba says he wants ‘the armour’ and he thinks it’s just someone trying to peel the beskar off his corpse again. sorry the galaxy’s so shitty dad   

- “But fate sometimes steps in to rescue the wretched” is a killer line well done mr favreau. I like that boba actually offers din a good deal as well and seems to intend to deliver on it from how things are going. 

- din using his beskar-covered bod to cover someone he’s fighting alongside!!! literal moving cover haha. also I love fennec’s costume design  

- I don’t know where din got more whistling birds from and I don’t care, it was really cool haha 

-

wow haha um so anyway -- 

(cue all the ‘who wore it better’ with cobb vanth’s ‘spiderman’s first home made costume’ look on one side and ABSOLUTE UNIT DADDY boba fett on the other side posts lol)

- aaaghh the music almost like a stunned desperate fluttering heart beat as din watches the razor crest be destroyed 

- for someone who has willingly worked for them in the past boba sure sounds less than thrilled about having the empire back in any capacity 

- oof the deadness in din’s voice when he says “The child is gone”. ooooh no that got me  h e l p 

- guessing next episode is at least partly a ‘gathering old allies and preparing the assault’ step before the grand finale, then! they cannot go for the season ender cliffhanger with this, I will fucking riot. anything can be up in the air except baby and dad being separated, I will not allow it

it would be very funny if the force user baby called out to comes stumbling into the middle of all this like the troy entering the room with pizzas meme too 

- the music in the darth grogu scene is partially a dark mirror of the baby & mando music :’( is nothing in this world sacred

also from how he reaches out for it baby might have used a light saber before in the past with the jedi? ngl the idea of baby wielding the dark saber not when he’s all grown up but in like two episodes -- with all the chaos a toddler holding a laser sword would involve -- is all that is keeping me sane here 

‘liable to put an eye out with one of these’ well gideon you sure have doomed someone to lose an eye with that one, here’s to hoping it’s you, for full dramatic payoff 

he is a deliciously smug awful force with great musical cues tho, you have to give it to him

- okay so this

is obviously awful and horrible and it makes me so sad... but it is undeniably also very very very funny in how it’s framed. you know what? after all this bullshit baby grogu can have a little dark side tantrum, as a treat, we’ve all been there right

(forget finding a jedi, we need to go out there and find a child psychologist who can help him deal with this without adding the fear that he’s on the path to become a two foot tall evil space sorcerer to the mix Y_________Y) 

- rip the razor crest except for the second time :’’’( gone but never forgotten

- the last thing din tells the baby is “I’m gonna protect you; I’ll be back soon”. and I hope that stays with the kid somehow and that it actually comes true, that din will be back for him as soon as humanly possible and all this pain and fear can be repaired. ggggghhhhh my emotions are too big for my dumb human body 

[sillyrabbit81]

Her Heavy Cross

Summary: Three years after tragedy hits, Lana she decides to start dating again. She meets Will through a dating app and they begin an online romance. After months of constant requests, Lana relents and agrees to meet and go on an irl date with Will. But is Will who he says he is? Lana is quickly pulled into an intense relationship forcing her to confront her tragic past. Will Lana face it or will she close her heart forever?

Pairing: OMC x OFC

Word Count: approx 4k

Warnings: mention of sexual assault, swearing, smoking, implied smut

Authors Note: The story started as a Henry Cavill fanfiction but I changed it to be an original character, but shades of Henry are still there. Hope you enjoy the story and thanks for reading.

Part 18 Part 20

Part 19

It took over two hours to get ready. I don't know how celebrities did this all the time. I enjoy dressing up, but not when I know the pictures will be circulated widely, and every time someone types into google "Liam Cross's girlfriend", images of tonight will come up. It freaked me out.

I trusted Liam when he said the dress was right, and I trusted Jen. She had only just started dating Riza when Andy and I got married, so although she hadn't done my hair and makeup, I had seen her work and the brides always looked good. So when I asked her to do my makeup for the premiere, I didn't think twice. I regretted that when Jen took the pins out of my hair.

"Jen, I look like Orphan Annie," I complained.

She just laughed and said, "trust me." She started to work a brush through my hair while humming Tomorrow. I groaned.

But as she worked the brush, the curls started to join together, and beautiful waves appeared in my hair.

"You're a genius," I said to Jen when I finally worked out what she was doing.

Jen blushed and just kept brushing. "I have always wanted to do this to your hair. You have such a timeless facial structure. I knew it would be perfect for you and for tonight."

She did my makeup in a beautiful smokey eye and deep red lipstick. It was not too dissimilar to what I would do for myself, but she added fake lashes, brushed and plucked my eye-brows and did some light contouring. She even checked my legs and arms for marks and bruises, covering any she could find.

Jen helped me dress and double-checked everything, including any visible panty line. I couldn't see how it would be possible to have a panty line since I had gotten the smallest underwear I could find, which was a string attached to a triangle of lace.

When I was ready, I looked in the dressing room's full-length mirror. I almost cried in relief. I felt like I would fit in and not look like I had a face like a dropped pie. Jen had done a fantastic job with my hair, and I looked like a cross between Rita Hayworth and Jessica Rabbit. I adored the old Hollywood style. I thanked her a million times, and she went downstairs to get Liam and Riza.

I paced the bedroom waiting for them to come back. Being alone in the room had allowed my anxieties to creep back in. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, in through my nose and out through my mouth. The dress was tight, and I couldn't quite breathe deeply enough. But I was not going to ruin this night with my anxiety. I was not. My guts didn't care what my brain was telling itself. They churned and flipped in my belly until I thought I was going to be sick.

"Lana," Liam said from the doorway. He was alone. Riza and Jen must have waited downstairs. I gasped as I took him in. The was wearing a black woollen three-piece suit with a black tie and crisp white cotton shirt with onyx cuff links. He had was clean-shaven and had his hair combed down in little waves. He looked like he had stepped off the movie screen. He looked so perfect.

"You look incredible," I tell him.

He laughed, "No, Sweetheart. Not next to you, I don't." He crossed the space between us and took my hands, spreading them wide to get a good look. "You are a vision."

I blushed and said, "I feel sick."

Liam shook his head, "you're going to do great." Liam lead me to the dressing room and stood behind me in front of the mirror. "Sweetheart, look at yourself. Look at your hair," he touched it cautiously, just above my ear, as if scared his feather-light touch would ruin it.

"Do you know how much money some women would pay to have hair as spectacular as yours? And your body, the way it curves and moves with such grace. Your skin is so delicate and as smooth as silk." Liam ran his finger down my neck until I shivered and smiled. "And that smile, my Sweetheart, You don't know what lengths I will go to for that smile. It would make Helen of Troy hang her head in despair."

"Thank you," I said. "I needed that."

"It's true." Liam kissed my forehead tenderly, his lips just barely brushing my skin. "I want to kiss you. But I'm under very strict instructions from Jen not to. But be prepared for an attack after the red carpet." He kissed my neck with as much care as before and sighed. Then he seemed to shake himself off and asked, "are you ready to go?"

I nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Ok, let's go downstairs. Apparently, we have some pictures to take."

The drive to the cinema was short, but the limousines' line was long. I barely remember anything until our car was the next in line. Liam had been going through a last-minute rundown of what should happen.

"Remember, I will get out first and wave a bit.  Just wait until I turn around, and I will help you out of the car." I nod, and he continues. "Then we will both stand in front of the car. I might wave again, but you don't have to. Just smile. Once we get past the initial photographers, there will be fans, and then there may be some interviews. Do you remember what will happen there?"

"You will sign some autographs and take some pictures. I'm to follow you. You're going to hold my hand the whole time through that part, right?" I asked.

Liam took my hand and lifted it to his lips, pressing a kiss into my palm. "Nothing could make me let it go." He said sincerely. "If there are interviews, they are usually very short, only a few questions. They may ask you who you are, and I'll introduce you, and you smile and say hi. I doubt they will ask you anything other than how you're enjoying the night, but if they do, I'll handle it."

"Ok," I murmured. "I wish I had a ciggie."

Liam smiled, "If you still want one when we're done, I'll find you one. The last part is where the main paparazzi photos will be taken. They will want photos of both of us, but they will also want ones of just me. Usually, they will call out something like "fashion", and that means you can walk to the cinema and some publicists or assistants will take you into the foyer, and you can wait for me there. Ok?"

I nodded and felt bile rise in my throat. I swallowed hard, but it wouldn't go away. My mouth filled with saliva, and I kept trying to swallow it.

"Lana?"

"Air." I gasped. "I need air,"

I put down my window just as Liam shouted, "no, Lana! Don't!"

The roar I heard was like being at a footie Grand Final. I was confronted with hundreds of screaming faces lining the road opposite the cinema. Their eyes were wild. Their bodies bounced and writhed in joy and excitement. They lifted posters and toys, screaming for Liam Cross.

Liam leaned over me and, waving at the crowd, quickly pressed the button to put the window up.

"What the fuck was that?" I yelled.

"Fans."

"You didn't tell me they would be on both sides!"

"I didn't think you would put your window down."

"Your life..." I started.

"Isn't normal." We both finished.

Liam laughed, "on the plus side Lana, you have your colour back. Do you still feel sick?"

I shook my head.  "No. Now I'm just terrified." The limo started moving.

I gripped Liam's hand as if we were nearing the top of a roller coaster. He ran his thumb over my knuckles and said, "We can still go home if you want." He cupped my cheek and looked at me. The car stopped.

I shook my head. "Just don't leave me."

He smiled and kissed my neck. His skin felt different, having shaved, but his kiss was still the same. "Never." He whispered.

The door was opened, and Liam got out.

I breathed deeply, trying to calm. The dress was bloody tight. Then Liam's hand was there, and I took it.

His eyes found mine, and I fell into them. He smiled his most beautiful smile, the one where his cheeks and eyes crinkled and his teeth flashed. I found myself unable to stop my smile. How could I not smile when he looked so happy.

As I stood up, his hand came around my waist, and he pulled me tight. He leaned into my ear and said loud enough to be heard over the roar of the crowd and the shouts from the photographers, "Thank-you for doing this, Lana." He kissed my ear so swiftly I thought I had imagined it.

The procession down the red carpet went as he said it would. The fans were electric and not as frightening as I thought they would be. Some even tried to talk to me, which was awkward because I had no idea what to say. I just tried to be polite and smiled.

Liam was amazing. He never let go of my hand. One-handed, he signed autographs, shook hands, gave hugs and took selfies. He was so charming, looked the fans in the eye, seemed genuinely happy and interested to hear what they had to say. He even blushed when some of the fans oohed after he had run his fingers through his hair. Just watching how much he seemed to love this part of his job made me forget a lot of my own anxieties.

Liam was a bit different with the interviewers, more alert and guarded. But his charm and wit were still there. A few interviewers, mostly the more gossipy outlets, asked about me. The film focussed ones largely ignored me. I hoped I gave coherent responses, and Liam was as good as his word and stepped in when he needed to and took control of the interviews. I couldn't believe how many times he had to answer the same questions, and he answered each with as much enthusiasm as he had the first time he was asked.

Quicker than I thought, we stopped for the last row of photographers. They shouted for Liam's attention and were almost as loud as the fans. When the time came for Liam to do photos on his own, he brushed his lips against my neck and said in my ear, "Lana, you were perfect. Go on. I'll be with you in a minute."

I went to the end and was greeted by the publicists who ushered me into the crowded cinema foyer. I found a quiet corner and waited for about five minutes before I saw Liam practically barge his way through the crowd, his eyes searching until he saw me.

He grabbed my hips and kissed my mouth so hard I thought they would bruise.

"Lana, that was perfect. Thank you for doing that with me."

I smiled a genuine, relaxed smile for the first time in hours and asked, "so it's over?"

"It's over," Liam confirmed.

I exhaled with relief and said, "you'd have to be the only person in the world I would ever go through that for."

Liam kissed me again, softer this time, lips playing against mine, "you don't know how much that means to me." He hugged me tightly before staring at me and smiling at his goofy grin. Then he said, "come on, Sweetheart. I have a few people I'd like to introduce you to. If you are up for it, that is. Do you need more time?" I shook my head, and he led me into the crowd.

Liam grabbed my hand and moved fast through the crowd, briefly saying hi to some people on the way.

I saw Myra come in from the red carpet, and I pointed her out to Liam. Liam waved her over, and she waved back then held her hand up in a 'give me a second' gesture. She went to the corner I had been hiding in and kissed a man I assumed was her boyfriend and brought him over.

I liked her instantly. She was bubbly and happy. It was like she was famous enough to be bored by the goings-on around her, but still new enough that she hadn't developed the jaded 'here we go again' attitude that you would expect.

"Phew! That was crazy tonight. I'd say that's your fault, Liam. No one else here is big enough to pull a crowd that big." She leaned over and kissed his cheeks in the European style. "Thanks for doing it, mate. I mean, it'll be good for Stones but still, it'll help with this movie too."

Liam smiled, "Don't mention it." Liam pulled me closer and introduced me.

Myra smiled widely and pulled me into a hug. She was a few years younger than me, and she was beautiful. She had gorgeous thick dark hair, cheekbones to die for under radiant umber skin, which appeared to be without a blemish and striking sea-green eyes. She was very tall, almost as tall as Liam, but very thin. She felt so delicate when I hugged her back, but it was evident from her speech and body language; she wasn't a shrinking violet.

"Hey babes, so good to meet you. I've heard so much. You look so good. That's from Maticevski, right? Great choice. I love him." I usually cringe when I hear the word 'babes'. I think of Married at First Sight for some reason. However, coming from Myra, it just sounded sweet.

"Thanks. Liam has spoken about you too."

"Yeah, Pop has been good to me," Myra said, throwing a look at Liam that made his eyes roll.

"It's twelve years, Myra, hardly Grandfather territory."

"It's not your age. It's your attitude." She said in a snarky but playful way. "Anyway, this is my Damo. Well, Damien, but nobody calls him that." Damo smiled awkwardly and shook our hands.

Myra wrapped her arms around his waist and said teasingly, "Aww, he's shy." From the look Damo gave Myra, I'd say smitten was a better way to describe him. He's tall like Liam, and though muscular, you could tell it came from physical labour, not a gym. He had a surfie look about him with his sun-bleached shoulder long hair and tanned skin.

"I'm going for a smoke before the movie starts," Damo said to Myra.

"Can Lana have one?" Liam asks. "She has quit, but she said she would like one." I looked at Liam with gratitude, and Damo and I went behind the theatre where a smoking area was set up.

We could still hear a lot of activity going on out the front, but it appeared most of the excitement was over. Damo lit our cigarettes, and I leaned against the wall, relishing the nicotine flowing through me.

Damo laughed, "you look how I feel. Over it."

"Yeah, it's full-on, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's bullshit crazy."

"So, where do you live? How did you meet Myra and get wrapped up in this bullshit?" I asked with genuine interest. He seemed even more out of place here than I did.

Damo told me he was from the Northern Beaches and was in the year above Myra at school. He had asked her to his Year 12 formal, and she accepted, but she had cancelled to go to Melbourne for her first major acting role. "So, I don't hear from her for years, but she finds me on Instagram through old mates from school, and she tells me that I owe her a date."

"That's kinda cute."

"Yeah, surprised the fuck out of me, though. Like, why'd ya wanna go out with a sparky from the Northern Beaches."

I smiled at him, knowing the feeling. "Maybe all this bullshit gets to them, and they want someone real? Someone who doesn't want anything from them except their time and affection."

Damo smiles and nods his head. "I reckon you're onto something. So what's your story?"

I don't tell him all the details but that we met online and I didn't know who he was until I met him. "It was a complete shock when I found out who I'd been talking to."

"Fair dinkum? You met him three weeks ago?" I nodded, "It took Myra five months to convince me to go to one of these things."

I laughed, "Yeah, well, I just thought better get it over with. The sooner people can get over that Liam has a new girlfriend, the quicker I can get back to normal and not worry about it."

Damo nodded and said, "yeah, I hope so too. Myra's life can get pretty crazy."

We finished our cigarettes and went back inside. We had hardly gotten through the door when we were whisked away by our partners because the movie was about to start.

After the movie, there was a small after-party for industry people only. The people who had won tickets or were friends of friends weren't invited. Liam, of course, was invited and had planned not to go. Myra pleaded with him to stay, so when he looked at me asking the silent question, I nodded, already getting the feeling not many people could say no to Myra. Myra bounced around and hugged us both.

Liam introduced me to a few other people, including Boyd, who turned out to be an outrageous flirt and a shit-stirrer. He seemed harmless and just enjoyed taking the piss out of people. He also told me something interesting about Liam that I planned to bring up with him later.

Liam also introduced me to the showrunner Arianna, who was essentially his boss. Finally, I was introduced to Naomi, who was to play Boyd's love interest, and she was also in the movie we had just watched. The Australian film industry is pretty small.

Naomi was the opposite of Myra, friendly on the outside but was one of those people who always seemed to be looking around when you talked to them to see if there was someone more interesting or more advantageous she should be speaking to. She had icy blue eyes, bombshell blonde hair, amazing breasts and a nose that was so perfect it had to have been a nose job.

She flirted hard with Liam, touching his arm, letting it linger that little bit too long. She ignored me mostly, except when she threw me some side-eye. Liam seemed to take it in his stride, polite but not friendly, until she 'accidentally' brushed her breasts against his arm.

Liam seemed to have enough, and his eyes went dark. He put his hand to my back and practically pushed me out, saying we were leaving. His tone didn't leave much room for argument, but I wanted to know why he left so suddenly when things had been going well, and I actually enjoyed the party. I was also feeling bad that I didn't say goodbye to Myra and the others.

Liam's limo was waiting outside, and he ushered me in quickly. Liam texted Myra to say goodbye and to let the others we left. "Myra won't mind. She knows how I feel about Naomi."

I said hi to our driver before turning to Liam. "Is there a history there?" I ask. My voice was small.

Liam scoffed, "she wishes." He sighed and stretched his neck. He took his jacket off, opened his vest and loosed his tie. I looked at him expectantly. He taps the driver on the shoulder and apologises, but he's going to put the screen up.

When the screen was in place, Liam started to roll his sleeves up. It seemed like he was stalling. Eventually, he said, "I suppose I had better tell you. Naomi was cast a couple of weeks ago. The original actress playing her part fell pregnant and didn't want to commit to a series. She comes in for a table read, and I felt bad for her coming in late because the rest of the main cast had a couple of months together already. Myra knew her and said to avoid her, but I thought, well, I have to work with her should get to know her. We had a chat after the read, then she follows me back to my dressing room and long story short, she takes her shirt off and grabs my cock."

"What did you do?" My green-headed monster was in full battle mode. He better have a good and believable answer.

"I threw her out ." He shrugged. "Shit like that happens all the time. What she doesn't know is that word gets around, and soon she will be seen as toxic and won't get hired. Although I think she aims to bag a guy with money and never work again."

I believed him. I was going to have to get this jealousy thing under control. It was new to me. I don't think I had ever been jealous before, even with Andy. I looked out of the window, letting the night beauty of Sydney calm me down.

Liam put his arm around me and rested his chin on my shoulder. "So was it so terrible?" Liam asked dramatically. "The premiere, I mean."

I looked at him, his blue eyes bright again. "Not all of it," I smiled at him.

"What were the good parts?"

I ran my finger across his jaw, his skin was so smooth. I missed the three-day-growth, but he looked just as amazing without it. "I liked meeting Myra."

He smiled, "I knew you'd like her."

"And the movie was good."

"Anything else?" Liam ran a finger across my collarbone

"The free popcorn and drinks."

Liam chuckled, and his finger ran up my neck. "Anything else?"

"They have great chairs in the theatre," he was turning me on. I heard it in my voice. My heart started to beat louder.

"Is that all?" He asked with his rough, horny voice. He lifted my chin.

"The bathrooms were good too."

He traced my lips with his finger. "Is that all that was good about tonight?"

"Tonight's not over. Ask me again in the morning." He slipped his finger into my mouth, and my body was on fire. Even after all I had been through, the stress and panic, my body still responded to his touch. I sucked his finger gently, and his eyes widened.

"You're very naughty, Lana." He said as he withdrew his finger and shuffled in his seat.

"I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way," I said in my best Jessica Rabbit imitation.

Liam's eyes widened then narrowed. "What did Boyd tell you?"

"Tell me? Nothing?" I tried to look innocent, but I'm not an actress.

"Never mind." Liam blushed.

"Hang on, who is your favourite Disney Princess?"

"I'm not a child, Lana." He looked a little uncomfortable.

I pouted. "Come on. Everyone has one."

"Who is yours?"

"Moana, although I don't know if she counts as a Princess cause she's a chief's daughter. My second is Belle. Tell me yours."

"Ariel." Liam looked out the window.

"Favourite spice girl?"

"I don't like pop music. " I raised my eyebrow at Liam. He paused a long time before answering. "Geri."

"Which one of John Snow's girlfriends was hotter with Ygritte or Daenerys?" I was having fun with it. I don't think I'd ever seen him squirm so much.

"Ygritte, Lana, do you mind?"

"No, no, just one more." I was trying not to burst out laughing. I knew I must have had a huge smirk on my face, "Mary-Anne or Ginger?"

"For fucks sake, yes, ok, I have always had a thing for redheads."

I couldn't hold it any longer, and I burst out laughing. I laughed so hard, Liam eventually had to join in. "I'm sorry." I said, "What are you going to do to Boyd?"

"Unfortunately, Lana, it looks like I will be busy for the next 25 years because I will have to kill him."

Part 20

[battlekidx2]

Kipo Season 2 Review

I know this is late, but better late than never right?

Every cartoon I’ve watched on Netflix that dreamworks made has blown me away. Kipo has managed to continue their streak of fantastic cartoons. I got to Kipo season 1 late and only saw it a few weeks before season 2 dropped. I’m really glad I did because the wait would have been unbearable. Kipo has an inventive world with a lot of potential, fun characters that I enjoy every time they are on screen, a great soundtrack, and beautiful animation. There were some things in Kipo season 1 that I wish were expanded upon and I think a lot of them were addressed with the 2nd season. Kipo still has a lot of room to grow, but it has all the building blocks to be a great show and seems to be heading there. Dreamworks is probably my favorite animation company. I have been very happy with everything they have released recently.

Characters

I think I have to start with Scarlemage.  He was built up perfectly in the first season and I really liked the payoff. Dreamworks always has a knack for writing villains be it for their movies or their tv shows and they’ve once again created a very interesting and fun villain. Scarlemagne managed to be fun and sympathetic yet disturbing throughout the season. And while I’m typically all for redemption arcs I liked that he didn’t get one in this season. I think him not changing in the way kipo wanted was a learning moment for both her and her father. For her father it showed him his greatest flaw, giving up on people/things too soon, and how damaging that can be. For Kipo it showed her that as much as she may want to believe in the best in everything that’s not how it will always work out. I think these are major lessons that will effect the characters moving forward. My favorite villains are the ones who challenge the hero’s worldview and that’s what Scarlemagne does. Scarlemagne himself was very compelling this season and I do believe that while he wasn’t redeemed this season there is the possibility for change in the future. 

I got chills every time his musical motif played. I loved the logic behind his obsession with classical music and clothes. How it initially stemmed from his innocent wonder. I think it’s fascinating how in one episode everything we knew about Scarlemagne was flipped on its head. There was a sort of tragic inevitability to his “villain’s journey”. It was all born from one choice on the side of Kipo’s father that was completely understandable from his perspective, but heartbreaking from Scarlemagne’s perspective. (I’m also a big fan of tragic villains where there’s one choice or factor that makes it so that them and the hero can’t see eye to eye)

Kipo: 

I like Kipo as a main character. She isn’t my favorite main character and I chalk a lot of that up to the fact that until the second half of this season her worldview wasn’t really challenged all that much. She was constantly proven right again and again which I think was framed really well for a large part of the first season. It’s because she doesn’t have any preconceived biases against mutes that she is able to find common ground and see the best in everyone, but this view that everyone is good and that everyone can change isn’t challenged in any meaningful way until Scarlemagne and even then we won’t get to see the fallout of that until season 3. More experienced humans like Benson and Wolf are show to have distrust of mutes and we see in Wolf’s backstory exactly why and yet despite having much more experience with mutes and living on the surface the second Kipo comes along everything they previously thought and experienced is proven wrong. I wasn’t the biggest fan of that. Again I think with this season we are starting to see a shift away from that. Kipo has just seen that her philosophy isn’t always correct with mutes and I would assume with how the season ended next season will deal with her coming to that realization about humans as well.

I think Kipo has a lot of room to grow as a character. And they seem to be taking steps to address the problems I had with her. I want to once again emphasize that I do like her. There are just things that I would like for them to address in the future. (also it’s nice to hear Glimmer’s VA again)

Wolf:

Wolf is the character I am intrigued by the most. Her past, while only briefly explored in flashbacks, was hard hitting. The fade from her attacking the mother wolf to the wolf skin she had on her head was chilling. Everything we learn about her childhood is fascinating because I like hearing about how she survived on the surface alone. It’s an interesting concept because unlike Kipo she had to adapt from a young age to survive, but she was left with little to no people skills and attachment issues because of it. She was the main character who had the most room to grow in my opinion and, while her arc may be predictable, I like how it has been handled so far. I do want more information about her past and maybe a run in with some of the wolves that betrayed her (I have a hard time believing that she killed all of them). I just think there is a lot of untapped story potential with her character and I was a little sad that outside of episode 4 and the finale she took a lot more of a backseat compared to the first season. Though it was understandable considering how much they had to cover in a 10 episode timespan.

Benson:

Benson was given more to do this season, but still took a bit of a backseat. His relationship with Kipo isn’t given nearly as much attention as Kipo’s relationship with Wolf. I would like a Benson backstory because there is still so much left up to the viewers imagination about everything he went through pre-series. He’s a really fun character that I wish were utilized to his full potential. He has a fun dynamic with just about every character he interacts with and I look forward to seeing more of him in the future. I also like his blooming romance with Troy. It was really sweet and funny.

World

Kipo’s world is actually what drew me to this show in the first place. It was a unique take on the post apocalyptic mutant world and I was excited to see where they would take it. I really liked the worldbuilding and how unique each mutant society was and how they managed to very even the burrow cities. This world is just rich with so much wonder and potential. There are still a lot of questions like “What caused the apocalypse?”, “Did the mutes cause the apocalypse or did the apocalypse create the mutes?”, “How did society evolve the way it did?”, “How can it evolve from here?”. I am so intrigued by everything about it. The worldbuilding is probably the strongest point in the show. 

Music

That being said, the music is a very close second. The score and soundtrack of Kipo is one that you can just pop on and listen to whenever you want. I don’t think there’s anything I can really say about the music other than it’s great and reminds me of spider verse with how the music is used in the story and how each type of music associated with a character tells you a lot about who they are. It does just about everything that I feel music should do in the audio-visual medium. It’s really amazing.

Overall

I’m a really big fan of this show. I have a lot of fun anytime I put it on. While it isn’t my favorite of the dreamworks cartoons I still find it to be amazing. It manages to have moments and episodes that hit me hard even on a rewatch. There’s just so much creativity and heart put into this show. I really want to see more of it because with how the show is going and growing I believe that a lot of my questions and problems will be addressed. I hope others can find the enjoyment out of Kipo that I do.

[triptychexe]

TITLE: The Replacement SUMMARY: S.O.T meets TROIS for the first time. Nia has mixed feelings about Jin. PAIRING: Mentioned Nia x Johnny GENRE: Uhhhh not sure? Like... Maybe mild drama? WORD COUNT: 1.7k WARNINGS: Swearing A/N: hehe trying a different font for post banners. lemme know if it actually works or if it’s ugly. i can’t really tell. 

Yerin smoothed her hair down one more time, trying to settle the jolts of anxiety that rattled her chest. What was she so nervous about? On paper, there was nothing for her to be anxious over. 

Except if you squint and read between the lines, there absolutely was something to worry about. Yerin took the time to read up on her newest members before meeting them backstage at Music Bank after their debut showcase. All three girls seemed to be promising enough, but there was one member that the leader couldn’t stop thinking about.

Min Soojin was not only the leader of the subunit, but she was the main vocalist and center. All positions that Nia held when she debuted. She was designated to the color red, just like Nia. She had short black hair and bangs, not unlike Yerin’s own signature debut look. Even Soojin’s vocal tone sounded similar to Nia’s. As far as Yerin was aware, this Min Soojin was not just a new member. She was Yerin’s replacement. 

Maybe the word ‘replacement’ was a little dramatic. But the uncanny parallels were enough to make Nia raise her eyebrow in skepticism. Plus the way HBH was marketing Soojin left Yerin no choice but to come to the conclusion that Jin was, without a doubt, meant to be the next ‘Nia’. And that was a hard pill for the leader to swallow.

Sitting with Micha and Eunha on a backstage sofa, she bounced her leg absentmindedly as she surveyed the live footage of the performance on the television in front of her. Her eyes were particularly fixated on Jin. Her vocals were strong, but her dancing was clearly not as strong as the other two. A wave of relief passed over Nia when she noticed the flaw in the new girl, followed abruptly by a pang of guilt. Jin wasn’t meant to be competition, she was her team mate. Yerin had to snap out of it.

“They’re good, huh?” Zim bopped her head along to the music, enjoying the performance. “Hyo has a nice flow and Ame’s stage presence is really charming.” 

“Yeah, Ame’s gonna be popular, I can tell.” Yen smiled proudly, as if she had a hand in the other girl’s performance. “Jin’s even better live than on recording. I heard she was offered a solo contract.” 

“No way,” Zim raised her eyebrows. “I wonder if that’s true.” Nia huffed. “There’s no way. HBH didn’t have any solo debuts planned. I was there for the scheduling meeting.”

Eunha and Micha noticed the icy tone in their leader’s voice.  “It was just a rumor.” Yen muttered under her breath. “Rumors in a small company like ours never end well.” Nia responded a little sharper than she intended. 

Yen rolled her eyes before focusing back on the screen, clapping along with the audience as the song ended. The lights on stage went dark, signaling the end of their debut showcase. 

In a few minutes, the three sweaty and flushed members of Trois entered the dressing room. Hyo’s eyes widened when she noticed S.O.T sitting down and bowed hastily. Ame and Jin did the same, rushing out greetings to their senior members. An awkward air settled over the six girls, realizing that they have never been in a room together before today. 

Nia figured it was time for her leadership skills to shine. She gestured to the couches.

“You should sit down.” Nia suggested. The three girls instantly sat themselves, not hesitating in the slightest. Yerin couldn’t tell if they were just very obedient or very comfortable. 

“Here, we’ll go get you guys some food and some water,” Yen offered. “Oh, you don’t have to-” Jin started. Eunha raised a hand to stop her new teammate.

“Let us do this, we didn’t have any seniors to pamper us during our debut. Let us give you what we wish we had.” Eunha grinned before walking off with Yen in her wake towards the buffet table. 

Nia cleared her throat, uneasy about being alone with the newbies. What should she say to them? 

“Do you feel accomplished?” Nia asked the first thing that came to her head. She only realized how passive-aggressive the comment sounded after it left her lips. The smiles on the girls faces melted into nervous grimaces. 

“Well, we practiced a lot,” Jin looked between her two members. “And we’ve been preparing for this for a long time. We haven’t looked at the footage from the stage yet, but I’m confident that we did a good job.” 

Nia nodded. “You guys were good. I was impressed.” 

The three girls looked between each other with excited glances. “Thank you, Nia.” Jin smiled brightly. “You actually were the one we wanted to get the approval of the most.” “We were afraid you’d hate it and then kick us to the curb.” Hyo spoke up with a smirk on her lips. Jin shushed her friend through laughs, nudging Hyo with her elbows playfully. Hyo fought back, pushing her shoulder into Jin with a giggle. Nia’s eyebrows raised ever so slightly. She’s never had her members play around with her like that. It made her wonder what type of leader-member dynamic Jin had set up with her group mates.

“We didn’t think that seriously, of course-” Ame tried to save her friends. 

“Uh, I did.” Hyo arched her eyebrows. She gave Nia a sympathetic look. “No offense, but you can be really intimidating.” 

Nia chuckled, shaking her head. “Don’t worry, I promise I’m not as bad as I may seem.” 

“That’s a lie.” Yen appeared behind them, carrying plates of food. “She’s horrible the week before a comeback.” 

“Oh my god, before Pose dropped, Yerin was like a dictator.” Eunha shared, handing out drinks to everyone. This launched a retelling of all Nia’s strictest and meanest moments, which evoked a mixture of laughs and mortified chuckles from the three new members. The six girls ate their lunch together, swapping debut day stories, predebut memories and advice.

“Oh my god, wait till you guys go to ISAC.” Micha shook her head, pointing her chopsticks in Ame’s direction. “You are going to get so many male idols coming up to you and giving you their numbers, I just know it.” 

“Oh,” Ame couldn’t say much more, her cheeks flushed bright red. Jin chuckled, giving Ame a nudge of encouragement. 

“ISAC is fun, just don’t get lost.” Eunha shot a mischievous glance over at Nia, who tilted her head back to the ceiling and groaned. One of Nia’s worst memories was getting lost at their first ISAC event, which led to her walking around the gymnasium and avoiding bumping into other idols. There were videos of her awkwardly wandering all over the internet for weeks. 

Jin covered her mouth as she chuckled, nodding her head. “Oh my god, Johnny told me about that! I felt so bad, that sounds so scary!” 

Nia slowed her chewing down. 

“You know Johnny?” She asked, her blood running cold.

Jin nodded, patting the corners of her mouth with a napkin. “Yeah, we met at this club a couple years ago. He’s one of my closest friends. He talks about you kind of a lot.” 

“Oh.” Yerin blinked. “He’s never mentioned you.” 

“That doesn’t surprise me. He probably didn’t want you getting the wrong idea.” Jin nodded in understanding. “Don’t tell him I said anything, but he seems to like you a lot.” Jin winked. Yerin fought off the urge to respond with ‘yeah, no shit’. Johnny has been her almost-boyfriend for nearly two months now. She wasn’t oblivious to his feelings towards her.

Instead she gave a small smile. The tension was tight for a moment until Hyo let out a loud cuss word, causing all the attention to shift to herself.

“Ah damn!” Hyo whined, pushing her chair back. She had spilled her banana milk all over the front of her stage outfit. 

Staff members ran over quickly, handing Hyo a new shirt to change into so they could use stain remover on the blouse before it was too late. In the change of atmosphere, S.O.T’s manager, Hyunjung, rose from her spot at the manager’s table.

“Actually, we should get going,” Hyunjung straightened out her dress pants. “We still have some business to do back at the company.” 

“It was nice meeting you!” Ame gushed as the six girls disposed of their food together. 

“Next time I won’t spill milk all over myself.” Hyo winked. The S.O.T girls chuckled, said their goodbyes, and followed Hyunjung out of the dressing room. 

As soon as they turned the corner, Hyunjung addressed Yerin. 

“You could have been a little more subtle.” Hyunjung said severely.

Nia played dumb. “What do you mean?” 

“I mean staring daggers at Soojin while you’re having a conversation doesn’t do you any favors.” Hyunjung criticized. “What are you gonna do when you have to start promoting with her? People are going to notice the stiffness between you two. I’d say sort it out, but it’s clearly a one-sided issue.” 

Nia’s mouth was agape as she tried to formulate a response that made sense. 

“She knows Johnny though. He’s never mentioned her to me. You can’t expect me to not be suspicious after knowing something like that?” Nia said defensively.

“I mean, I know Johnny too.” Yen shrugged. “I’ve hung out with him before when I went to Yuta’s that time.” 

“Yeah but that’s different.” Nia insisted, rolling her eyes as the group stepped into the parking lot, heading towards their car. “You’re clearly just his friend and I know you. I don’t know Jin.” 

“Just because someone knows your boyfriend doesn’t mean they’re romantically involved with him.” Hyunjung reminded Nia as they buckled their seat belts.

“Johnny’s not my boyfriend,” Yerin said firmly. “Well, at least not yet.” 

Hyunjung glanced at Yerin through the rearview mirror. 

“Then there's really nothing to be upset over, is there?” Hyunjung asked, a single eyebrow arched. 

Yerin didn’t respond, knowing that the conversation was over. Eunha reached her hand across the space between their seats and laced fingers with Yerin comfortingly.

“Hey, you’re still my favorite leader.” Eunha smiled. “And nothing is going to change that.” 

Yen leaned forward from her seat in the back. “You’re my favorite leader on the days we have off.” Yen smiled brightly. “And if I was Johnny I’d rather fuck you than Jin.” 

“Thanks, guys.” Yerin huffed in amusement as their car pulled out of the parking lot and onto the freeway. 

[hawkinslibrary]

i love hearing what you have to say about season 4!! i promise it’s not too long lol, anyway i have a question for you: what do you think the next season holds for mike & el? i’m a little worried tbh

ahhh thank you !! same rules apply: spoilers ahead, so please read no further and blacklist/filter out the ‘s4′, ‘st4′, ‘spoilers’ tags if you don’t want to see anything !! 

i’m going to talk about them both as individuals and as a pair but first, i have to say that i don’t personally feel like you have to worry about them breaking up or anything again this season. i think s4 is really going to establish romantic jopper and once that happens, i don’t see them, mileven, or jancy not being endgame unless someone actually dies. which -- i’m not going to think about the possibility of anyone dying until i’m forced to confront it, so. this is fiction and it’s already unrealistic and i’m gonna take my ‘everyone survives, happiness all around, time to relax’ endings and go. anyway, i would love to add lumax to this list but i honestly think it could go either way depending on what happens in s4. that’s a different essay, though.

i tend to think that the most important dynamic on the show is the one between the whole group and i just don’t really see them spending much more time trying to develop romantic relationships outside of the ones set up since s1/2. maybe steve, robin, and will get love interests, maybe they decide to develop dustin and suzie more, maybe suzie is never even mentioned again, idk. but these will probably all be secondary -- as in less screen time, not less important than the main romances, but probably still less developed. unless it happens to be a new person added to the main cast. which, as of now, the only new mains are brett and priah who has gone from recurring to regular. so.  

i think s3 showed how messy and complicated romantic relationships (or, really just relationships in general) can be. everyone was arguing, there was miscommunication all around, everyone thought they knew what was best, no one was seeing eye to eye. but when it comes down to it, they would do anything for each other. they understand each other better than anyone else ever could. i can’t see them spending another season on breakups and romance drama after the ending of s3.  

mike and el have already been separated once before. this time, mike knows for sure that she’s alive and that’s she’s with the byers. this time, el won’t be kept completely isolated away from everyone else. they’ve made plans to meet for the holidays. they can still call and talk to each other as much as they want. i’m hoping they handle being separated this time better than they did in s2. i don’t want mike to be moping and i don’t want el to spend a lot of the season thinking about how much she misses him. in fact, i think in their case that some distance could be good for them. the same for jancy and jopper, too, honestly. it’ll be nice to see them existing outside of these relationships while still acknowledging how important they are.   

as far as i know, the byers and el stuff has not started filming yet so all there is to speculate on are rumors, the audition tapes, and logical guesses about where the story goes after s3. el obviously moves away with the byers. we still don’t know where. she’ll still be mourning hopper and trying to figure out life without her powers. and, of course, she’ll be in a long distance relationship with mike. i think she’ll be having a hard time and she’ll wish that mike was around, but she’ll realize she’s got a pretty good support system around her now with the byers, too. i’m very, very excited for more joyce and el content particularly, but there’s gotta be some great scenes with her and will and jonathan as well. 

there’s only one audition tape that i can confidently tie into the byers + el plot(s?) and it’s the queen bee/mean girl character ‘angela’. if we’re running with the whole ‘there may be some truth to the audition vids’ thing, then this one teases that el will be going to school and that angela will be bullying her. this is something she would probably want to talk about with mike (b i g troy s1 vibes) but i don’t know if she actually would ? so this is probably more a thing that el and will could bond over or that she could talk about with joyce or maybe jonathan. i do think there will be at least a few calls between the two of them before the action really hits and the whole group is (hopefully...) reunited.

so, el -- at least in the beginning of s4 -- will be going to school where ‘angela’ bullies her, forming a bond with joyce + will + jonathan and becoming part of the family, mourning hopper (+ hopefully having conversations about him + his past with joyce), missing her friends back in hawkins, continuing to learn how to navigate life without her powers, and trying to maintain a long distance relationship with mike. 

mike... i’ve been seeing some wild theories about him today but they aren’t really that far-fetched i think. first, going back to the audition tapes, the ‘eddie’ audition i saw makes it seem like mike is going to be part of the hellfire club with dustin. i’ve recently learned that there’s another version of the scene where ‘eddie’ is only talking to dustin and mike might not be a part of the club after all. if he isn’t part of the club, then the basketball v. hellfire, jocks v. nerds thing turns into lucas v. dustin and mike’s probably there just caught in the middle while max is off distancing herself from everyone.

at this point, i really want mike and max to become good friends. i think the end of s3 gave them the perfect opportunity. s4 max has s2 mike vibes. it’s not the same situation at all, but he knows kinda what she’s feeling and they could connect through that + the fact that they’ll both be missing el. i also just really want... some wheeler siblings content. i’m hopeful that s4 gives us good nancy and mike scenes bc there’s no reason not to give us good nancy and mike scenes (+holly!). however...

while there’s proof that gaten and sadie and natalia and priah have all been filming since production restarted, and while i have reason to believe that caleb has been filming a lot inside/at the studio recently... there’s no evidence that finn has been on set. there’s none for maya and joe, either, but people have said that finn isn’t even in atlanta right now. maybe he is and maybe he just hasn’t been seen and maybe he’ll pop back up tomorrow. or, maybe he already filmed whatever he needed to film for hawkins before production stopped.  

the wild theory that’s popped up today is that everything gets to be too much for him in hawkins and he just... hops on a train to go visit el + the byers. i don’t know if i buy it, but it is interesting to note that he was sitting with them at the table read. and since we can guess that steve and robin will still be working at the video store, robin and nancy will be investigating pennhurst together, lucas and max may have some angst, joyce and murray are probably teaming up for the finding/saving hopper plot, and el is going to bond with will and jonathan, it seems like the order might mean a little something. i’d even bet that dustin and erica have scenes with them bonding over d&d.    

now this theory pretty much only exists because no one’s seen finn on set and one of the paps posted some pics of some trains. there’s also always theories about how there will be issues at home with the wheeler fam and if that’s going to happen, what better time than in s4 when all of his friends are pulling away and el’s gone again. so if he is missing el (and will) that much, and if he has any reason to worry about her and how she’s doing, or if the party becoming distant and issues at home are weighing on him and he feels like he needs to get away, he’s absolutely the type to venture off on a train by himself. i don’t know how it would work since he’s definitely supposed to still be in school and his friends/nancy at least would notice he’s gone, but.. it’s fun to think about and we’ve got zero actual content to go off of right now.  

another way i could see mike’s plot going is that he’s the one trying to keep the party together this season. playing mediator with lucas and dustin, becoming better friends with max, being the connection between the hawkins plot and the byers plot (along with nancy). 

there was also talk of him joining the track team bc the track has been set up with hawkins high colors for filming. but mike ‘this isn’t a stupid sports game’ wheeler? i don’t think so... basically, no one knows at the moment what’s happening with mike wheeler in s4 lol.

s4 mike is just like s4 byers fam -- a complete mystery to me currently. i don’t personally think that he’ll be leaving school and hopping on a train to visit el. i think he’ll be a part of the hellfire club with dustin, or that he won’t and instead will be attempting to keep the party from completely disbanding. i hope that we get wheeler siblings scenes and that max and mike have a breakthrough and become better friends. i also feel like he’ll be having some complicated feelings about hopper, the last interaction they had, etc. and, again, the whole long distance thing with el. 

so... mike and el broke up in s3. it was messy. but then they reconciled. and then hopper “died”. s3 ended with them at this weird place where she’s heard him say that he loves her and she’s told him that she loves him back. things are a little awkward in the scene bc everything has changed at this point, but a kiss, an ‘i love you’, planning to meet up on the holidays, and promising to call frequently all sounds like they’re back together and going to try making the long distance thing work to me. 

i think they’ll be together when s4 starts. i think that we’ll probably only see them talking on the phone or their radios for the first few eps. maybe we’ll see flashbacks or something to them being together on the holidays. the distance might be hard and they’re definitely going to be missing each other. like... el doesn’t have mike or hopper with her now and i’m thinking the party is going to be drifting apart, plus they’re both probably going to have other personal issues that have nothing to do with each other or the party. maybe they’ll be experiencing some emotional distancing of their own while dealing with the aftermath of hopper’s “death”, the move, and whatever’s going on with them at home and at school. i think that once they reunite (probably not until the last half of the season), they’re likely to be stronger than ever. 

now, onto personal theories that have zero basis. for some reason, i can’t get it out of my head that this season might dive into psychological horror a little bit ? like a greatest fears type of thing ?? and i keep thinking about brenner popping back up and using the people el loves to get to her or something and 👀👀 

[unchainedandstillunfree]

my albums of the year 2019

Somn - The All-Devouring American Football - LP3 Employed To Serve - Eternal Forward Motion Vi som älskade varandra så mycket - Det onda. Det goda. Det vackra. Det fula. WRVTH - No Rising Sun Eat Your Heart Out - Floresence Outlander - The Valium Machine Nionde Plågan - Reflektion Northlane  - Alien Shirokuma - Clothes I Wear For The Spaces I'm In After The Burial - Evergreen This Gift Is A Curse - A Throne of Ash Fallujah - Undying Light Mayfield - Careless Love Renounced - Beauty Is A Destructive Angel Counterparts - Nothing Left To Love Sleep Talk - Everything In Colour Earth Moves - Human Intricacy Ghost Iris - Apple of Discord We Never Learned To Live 100 gecs - 1000 gecs Parliament Owls - A Span Is All That We Can Boast Mireplaner - A Mountain of Saola Hooves WVNDER - Nothing Stays Presence of Soul - Absence of Objective World

Somn - The All-Devouring

Post-black metal is a bit of a hit and miss genre but I can’t think of anything about this album that possibly could be improved. The compositions move beautifully between slow buildups and fast black metal parts, the soaring melodies and savage riffs are stunning and the dynamics between the two vocalists bring something really original to their music. Absolute perfection.

American Football - LP3

American Football really outdid themselves here, the quality of songs on LP3 is of another world to their first two albums. Somehow these songs about being a jaded middle-aged father resonate with me more than their first album which was about leaving university and pining for those years and lost love. But there are so many beautiful, memorable moments on this, it’s impossible not to be moved.

Employed To Serve - Eternal Forward Motion

One of the tightest UK heavy bands right now somehow got even tighter whilst expanding their post-metal influences. The package is diverse but somehow the whole thing rumbles past effortlessly and you find yourself wanting to start all over again. I saw them live twice this year too and they were spectacular both times, seething with menace and emotion.

Vi som älskade varandra så mycket - Det onda. Det goda. Det vackra. Det fula.

I’ve really gotten into screamo in the last year or two and this came late in the year to blow me away. The instrumentals feel more influenced by post-rock than they do by hardcore but the buildups and heavy moments still hit hard. Excellent vocals sung exclusively in Swedish, I can’t wait to delve into them properly.

WRVTH - No Rising Sun

I will miss this band a lot. Another one that’s difficult to describe but sits somewhere in between tech-death, post-metal and emo. It’s a truly exhausting emotional experience to listen to all the way through but the density of ideas will keep your attention throughout.

Eat Your Heart Out - Floresence

Pop-punk is meant to be a bittersweet genre but Eat Your Heart Out really perfect this dynamic with angelic vocals constrasted with surprisingly heavy riffs.

Outlander - The Valium Machine

Mostly instrumental “doomgaze” from Birmingham. The atmospheres they manage to slowly build and build are so wonderful and dreamy.

Nionde Plågan - Reflektion

Another stunning, diverse screamo album that draws heavily on post-metal and crust. Repetitive, hypnotic, looping riffs and an anguished atmosphere with more harsh Swedish vocals.

Northlane  - Alien

Dammit, Northlane brought back dubstep breakdowns and nu-metal riffs in 2019 and managed to make it sound so good. This band couldn’t make bad metalcore music if they tried.

Shirokuma - Clothes I Wear For The Spaces I'm In

I spent a lot of time this summer when I wasn’t listening to this album thinking about the album. The atmosphere is unbelievably dense and oppressive with screeching vocals but beauty manages to shine through 

After The Burial - Evergreen

How many progressive metalcore bands manage to improve this much on their 6th album, especially after tragically losing their main songwriter? Never more full of ideas and of course some of the heaviest riffs of the year.

This Gift Is A Curse - A Throne of Ash

A wonderful blend of post-black metal, hardcore and crust punk done in a way that only a Swedish band really could. Filled with riffs that range from brutal to haunting. I keep coming back to this album throughout the year.

Fallujah - Undying Light

The new vocalist was divisive but I absolutely loved Anthony Palermo even before he joined Fallujah. The songwriting was a bit lacking in the middle of the album but it’s still head and shoulders above what most bands in this genre are doing and the last minute is one of my favourite moments in Fallujah’s discography.

Mayfield - Careless Love

The best Counterparts album this year was released by Mayfield, who draw from across melodic hardcore and metalcore but especially from their compatriots to fill this album with groove and emotional moments and grief.

Renounced - Beauty Is A Destructive Angel

A lot of people though Renounced were done but they came back with the most Renounced album yet, really leaning into the early-2000s metalcore sound and aesthetic 

Counterparts - Nothing Left To Love

Okay but Counterparts’ new album was pretty great too. As heavy as they’ve ever been and a lot of memorable songs (we’re just going to ignore that absolute travesty of a last song)

Sleep Talk - Everything In Colour

Wonderful melodic hardcore from Australia with desperate vocals and the addition of some wonderful choruses and gang chants. This album is very easy to listen to over and over again 

Earth Moves - Human Intricacy

Another exciting UK metal band with an expansive post-hardcore/post-metal album. Every song has a different flavour and it really shows the talent of the band in a way which previous releases didn’t quite get to.

Ghost Iris - Apple of Discord

Metalcore band from Copenhagen that really showed potential on previous albums but here managed to really tighten up their sound and create a set of wonderful songs filled with groove

We Never Learned To Live - The Sleepwalk Transmissions

Of all of the bands making music about technology and screen culture, WNLTL managed to really capture the feeling of the day and write a poetic letter to the future. Fantastic post-hardcore from another(!) exciting UK band

100 gecs - 1000 gecs

If you know you know.

Parliament Owls - A Span Is All That We Can Boast

More post-hardcore that is reminiscent of Dance Gavin Dance and The Fall Of Troy. Truly wonderful songs 

Mireplaner - A Mountain of Saola Hooves

“chaotic post-metal” on their bandcamp describes this perfectly. 

WVNDER - Nothing Stays

Andy Cizek absolutely smashed it this year with two releases and appearances with two other bands. His vocals here are wonderful and the songs create a perfect vibe of “summer of sadness”

Presence of Soul - Absence of Objective World

Haunting post-metal/doom from Japan. When they actually hit the heavy moments, it absolutely floors you.

[anotherloganstan]

Breaking Free - Prinxiety

Summary: The Sides go to a bar and sing some karaoke. Main pairing is prinxiety but also some side logicality. 

Note: Alright, I’ve never seen High School Musical and won’t start now but I did listen to this song about 100 times okay… This is also a human AU bc I didn’t know how else to do it and this seemed to work.

Word count:  1,304

They’d been planning to go to this bar for months now and, eventually, Patton had dragged them all here because no one can say no to Patton really. Virgil will admit that it wasn’t so bad, the bar was nice enough, a little dark but aesthetically pleasing, and two for one cocktails was a plus. They had only been here about twenty minutes when Roman insisted that they put their names down for karaoke.

“Come on it’ll be fun, plus I know you’ve got a good voice so there’s no excuse,” Roman practically begged Virgil to sing with him, Virgil would rather not stand on stage in front of this (small) crowd but he didn’t exactly want to say no to his boyfriend. “Why don’t you sing with Patton or Logan?” Virgil offered, glancing at the other two who were seated on the other side of the table to them. “Nope, definitely not.” Logan was quick to shut down that idea so Virgil gave him an over exaggerated frown and turned to Patton, he knew if anyone would get him out of this it would be Patton.

“I think you should give it a go.” God dammit. “No, no thanks, sorry Ro,” Virgil apologised, he was really sorry for letting Roman down like this but no way was he going to humiliate himself on stage in front of these people. “Aww, come on Virge, if you sing with Roman I’ll go up and sing with Logan,” Patton suggested, a bright smile on his face conveying that he just wanted Virgil to have a good time, and the horrified look on Logan’s face was hilarious.

Virgil sat there in silence, the other three not speaking a single word, not even Logan who he thought would protest to singing. “Okay fine, I’ll do it. But only if I can choose your song,” Virgil agreed, causing both Roman and Patton to almost bounce with joy in their seats while Logan just sipped his drink bitterly. “It’s a deal,” Patton confirmed, grinning at Logan momentarily and the other gave a sarcastic smirk in return.

“Alright, come on, we’re choosing a song.” With that Roman had interlaced his fingers with Virgil’s and was dragging him in the direction of the DJ’s booth. Virgil expected Roman to flip through the song book quickly and point at a pre-decided song but was stunned when Roman asked, “so, what do you want to sing?” And, oh god, Virgil hated making decisions already.

He really didn’t want to make a decision on a potentially ridiculous song that he would have to sing in front of lots of people and humiliate himself by how offkey he sounded. “I was thinking maybe a song from a musical, not that I’m biased, but you can choose.” Roman offered the song book in Virgil’s direction, already flipped to the musicals section, “yeah, no, musicals sound like a good idea.”

“Are you saying it’s a good idea because you actually like it or are you just letting me choose this because I’m a musical fanatic?” Roman question, and boy was it a good question, “uh, both I guess.” Virgil added a shrug and concentrated on the page in front of him to avoid looking at the other. “How about a High School Musical song?” Virgil shyly suggested, thumbing the pages nervously, “oh my goodness! Yes! We can do a duet. You can be the Gabriella to my Troy.”

Roman sounded so ridiculous right now but it just made Virgil feel giddy almost, his excitable boyfriend always managed to brighten his day somehow. “Okay, Breaking Free then?” Roman nodded eagerly in response and wrote down their song choice and names on a piece of paper then put it in the empty suggestion box on the DJ’s stand. “Wait,” Virgil said, stopping Roman from putting away the song book, “shouldn’t we put in Patton and Logan’s request while we’re here.” Roman nodded in agreement and then they put another suggestion into the box.

“Alright! Up now is Roman and Virgil singing Breaking Free from the High School Musical soundtrack, come on up you guys.” The DJ’s shouting was way too enthusiastic but Roman clearly took no notice as he bounced up the stairs and onto the stage, which he is used to, with Virgil trailing behind as far as he could with their hands clasped together.

The lights on the stage are too bright and too hot, Virgil almost regrets wearing his leather jacket but it still looks good. However, the lights did serve a good purpose to Virgil, because the rest of the bar was so dark the contrast meant he could hardly make out the audience. He couldn’t worry about much else as a microphone was thrusted into his hands and the audio track began to play.

“We're soarin', flying There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach If we're tryin', so we're breakin' free You know the world can see us In a way that different than who we are Creating space between us, 'til we're seperate hearts But your faith, it gives me strength Strength to believe”

We're breakin' free We're soarin', flyin' There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach If we're tryin', yeah, we're breakin' free Oh, we're breakin' free!”

As nerve wracking as it is, hearing Roman singing with him is comforting in an odd sort of ‘I can’t believe I’m singing in public’ kind of way.

“Can you feel it building? Like a wave the ocean just can't control Connected by a feelin', ooh, in our very souls (very souls) Rising 'til it lifts us up, so everyone can see We're breakin' free We're soarin', flyin' There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach If we're tryin', yeah, we're breakin' free Oh, we're breakin' free! Runnin', climbin' To get to the place to be all that we can be Now's the time So we're breakin' free, (we're breakin' free, oh yeah) More than hope, more than faith This is truth, this is fate And together we see it coming More than you, more than me Not a want, but a need Both of us, breaking free!”

Virgil can see Roman looking at him from the corner of his eye, but he refuses to have the cliche gazing into each other’s eyes while singing a duet moment and focuses his attention on the lyrics on screen. However, it is sweet and he is sure his face is bright red right now, probably less from embarrassment and more from the awkward affection.

“Soarin', flyin' There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach If we're tryin', yeah, we're breakin' free (breaking free) We're runnin', oh climbin' To get to the place to be all that we can be Now's the time (now's the time) So we're breakin' free (oh we're breakin' free) You know the world can see us In a way that different than who we are”

The audience is clapping, and he’s pretty sure Patton is cheering at them, and Virgil understands why Roman does this regularly but not enough to do it again. Adrenaline is coursing through his veins but in a good way and Roman’s hand is firmly clasped in his again as they return their microphones. God, the things he does for love.

“That was Roman and Virgil singing Breaking Free. Next up is Patton and Logan signing Barbie Girl by Aqua.” Virgil is sure that Logan is going to kill him before the night is up but it was worth it, especially because he recorded the whole thing. Virgil can live with being the Gabriella to Roman’s Troy but he’s not so sure Logan can live with being the Barbie to Patton’s Ken but Virgil is sure to keep reminding him.

[battlekidx2]

Kipo Season 3 Thoughts and Review

Okay so I just finished binge watching Kipo season 3 and wow that was a ride. They really did save the best for last. I thought the second season was an improvement on the first and I think the third season outdid the second. There was just so much to love. It didn’t fix every problem I had with the first few seasons but it did a really good job at covering as many as it could. The conclusions that the show reached for its world and the individual characters was almost all satisfying across the board. Honestly I feel everyone should watch it and form their own opinion. 

It is a bit cheesy and very optimistic, but I think it’s the kind everyone could use right now. Kipo is a show filled with wonder and possibility and it’s exactly what I needed and I feel a lot of people could use considering everything. It deserves the hype it gets. Now to get into spoilers. Since it just dropped they’ll be under the cut.

Kipo season 3 was fantastic. I know I just said that up above, but I feel like only saying it once is an injustice. I want to start off with the characters since they’re what kept me coming back to the show. Without further ado here we go.

Characters

I think I’ll start off with the titular character, Kipo. I will say she was the character I had the most problems with coming out of the first two seasons, but that’s mostly because of how pronounced her role is so the issues I had were more at the forefront than for anyone else. They didn’t really fix my problems, but I felt they did a fairly good job addressing them. I found her to be a much more compelling lead this season. There was a lot more internal struggle with what she should do than any other season and her optimism was mostly very endearing and needed within the show and with everything that’s been going on in life. They had Kipo become frustrated, make mistakes, almost give up hope, and it felt earned when she came to the conclusion to give everyone a shot. I will say her optimism felt a bit much when she was directing it at Emilia, especially after it was revealed that Emilia killed her own brother to prevent human and mute cohabitation. But her final decision to free Emilia from the mute body was understandable and wholly Kipo, so I liked it. 

Now I want to talk about a duo I really wanted to interact and have screen time this season and was so pleased that they did: Wolf and Scarlemagne. I love both of these characters and thought they would have such great chemistry because of the similarities of their backstories. Both were betrayed by those they thought of as family and left to survive on their own in the mute eat mute world that the surface was. Their interactions this season just proved that I was right to be excited for it. Scarlemagne and Wolf somehow brought out the best in each other (and the worst but that was only for a little bit). It was nice to see them nudge each other in the right direction towards the end and come to have faith in Kipo’s vision for a better future despite their troubled past. That final talk they had before returning to prahm reflecting on their lives and how Kipo changed them was really heartfelt and just the quiet moment before the storm I needed.  “Things could have been so different if I’d stopped hating all humans for the mistakes of a few” and Wolf did the exact same thing with mutes. This line summed up their arcs, individual tragedy, and point of understanding and connection between them. It made the conclusions to their individual arcs that much more powerful. Wolf ends up getting the family that she never thought she could have after the wolves and Scarlemagne sacrifices himself to save his sister, Kipo. His death scene was so heartbreaking. He died in Lio, Song, and Kipo’s arms having gotten the chance to have his family one last time. And finally truly becoming Hugo once again. I don’t know if the found family trope has ever hit me as hard as it did with these two characters (it may be I’m just emotional since I just finished the season less than an hour ago). (as a Scarlemagne stan I do wish he had been able to live out the rest of his life with the Oak family though)

Side note: the king hugo leitmotif playing when Hugo died was so sad and perfect. 

I have a lot of thoughts for Wolf and Scarlemagne after this season. I don’t know which is my favorite character; they are both pretty phenomenal. Wolf was the mvp of season 1 and Scarlemagne was the mvp of season 2. I don’t know if anyone was surprised that Scarlemagne got redeemed this season. I know I wasn’t, but I found how they went about his redemption to be really interesting. It felt like a progression. I wish more time had been spent on it, but I felt that with the screen time it did have they did a good job. I felt his change of heart and with that conversation with Wolf I really did think he had fully come to regret his actions, acknowledge his flaws and wrongdoings, and resolved to do better. With Wolf she has been holding onto the past for so long that she doesn’t know how to let it go. The pain of her first family betraying her hasn’t gone away because she got a new one and has come to (mostly) reconcile her prejudice against mutes. It just became more muted and easier to ignore. Having her confront the wolf, Margot, who’s betrayal hurt her the most, was the first step towards being able to fully let go. Her finally shedding the wolf skin was the final step for her to unburden herself with the past pain and prejudice and putting on the purple and silver cloak for prahm was her letting herself be the hopeful child she was on the inside that Kipo had brought out (albeit still keeping some of the gruffness that she had before). I just love these two characters.

Benson was great this season. I felt they knew what to do with him to a better degree than in the first and second seasons. The story of how he first met Dave was unexpectedly heartwarming and highlights their importance to the series which I felt was a bit too understated in the first two seasons. (Dave was actually useful this season!) I was shocked that the history of Dave and his eventual meeting with Benson was such a unique and great commentary on the idea that violence only begets more violence. That talking things out, like he and Benson did, was what ended the centuries long conflict and ensured that they survived instead of taking each other out like everyone else before them did. It shows the pointlessness and destruction of cyclical violence in a way that many shows have failed to capture. Even much more serious shows that you would think would have less censorship to work around and thus be able to explain better. So often in shows they try to preach that violence isn’t the answer but so many cartoons fail to back up that lesson within their story. Kipo does back it up and more in this last season.

Going back to Benson. They let him play off of a lot of new characters and made him feel a lot more like family within the group. This is best shown when he and Dave tag along with Wolf and Margot to look after Wolf. They aren’t the best bodyguards but they clearly deeply care about Wolf and want her to be happy and supported. His romance with Troy was sweet and I really liked his Prahmposal and when Lio gave him advice on how to prahmpose (I really like dad Lio this season). Benson is just such a fun character and I’m glad a lot of the things I said I would like the show to do with him ended up coming true.

Emilia made for a good obstacle for the main characters to overcome. She wasn’t that interesting of a character though. I liked what they were going for with her in their attempts, I believe, to show the intergenerational aspect of prejudice through her and her father. I did think some things felt off with her. I just didn’t buy that Kipo should try to give her so many chances. When Song revealed what she did to her brother that sealed the deal and made Kipo saying she has to believe Emilia could change ring hollow to me as a story beat. Her belief in others had mostly worked out in her favor so far in the show, but Emilia was given no moment or slight glimpse to give the audience any indication she could change which makes it hard to feel invested in this plot point. I liked that they made Emilia hold her ground and never change because you can’t change everyone’s minds and to change Emilia’s mind Emilia would have to accept that killing her brother, who she loved, was wrong and that just isn’t a step I think she could make. I also think it’s important to show that not everyone can change. In a perfect world that could happen but the world isn’t perfect. I think Emilia was the perfect villain to show that. I still wasn’t a big fan of her character but I think she served her purpose in the show well.

I will say I’m a bit conflicted about this because, while I would like to see more sympathetic villains who don’t get redeemed, I also think that with the racism angle that the show was going for making Emilia unsympathetic worked well. She’s just a xenophobic person who is adamant about staying set in her ways regardless of the reality before her. This does have basis in reality, unfortunately. So I do like it for that. I’m really glad they didn’t give her a mutes killed my brother/family tragic backstory to “justify” her racism. Her racism is at no point justified which I appreciate. 

Plot

The plot of the third season had a big task in front of it. It needed to wrap up the world’s conflict, 2 centuries of mute human conflict, in 10 episodes. Which I was very iffy on whether or not it would be capable of doing. This show had 2 great seasons but the amount of stuff it had to wrap up had me a bit nervous. Those nerves were unfounded though. The third season actually came to a very satisfying conclusion for the world and I bought that the characters we saw were able to bring the conflict to a peaceful end (or as peaceful as it could be). There were a few things I was a bit disappointed in. Two things to be exact, the lack of the use of Song after the episode “Song remix” and the complete disappearance of the vaccine plot point. 

Song and Lio were supposed to create a vaccine to the cure. They even stole all the pieces they needed to make it and then it was never brought up again. I would have been fine with even just a line saying they were still working on it near the end or that they found it wasn’t possible, but it just isn’t brought up after they steal the supplies. It didn’t negatively impact the finale to me, it just felt weird considering they made such a big deal about it earlier in the season. I felt Song deserved more of a role after “song remix” because she had missed so much of her daughter’s life and her daughter seems to have adopted two siblings. It felt like a missed opportunity for family bonding between the group especially since Benson and Wolf have never (to our knowledge) had a loving mom. I love this show’s use of the found family trope so I really wanted to see this. Though Wolf cheering with Kipo saying “Go mom” was a highlight and adorable.

Conclusion

I really loved this show. Dreamworks may be my favorite animation company. They’ve done such a good job with their cartoons as of late and they’ve had a good track record with their recent cartoons with sticking the landing. Not all but most. Kipo is a show I will definitely return to from time to time. It’s just so optimistic and sometimes I think everyone can use the optimism and wonder that Kipo brings to the table. I’m sad to see this show go, it came and went within the same year, but it went out spectacularly. It was strong from start to finish. I had some qualms here and there but they never once deterred me from enjoying the show. I really think this show deserves more attention and praise than it gets. I hope more people decide to watch it because it deserves it.

side note: I love how they finally incorporated the age of wonderbeasts part of the title in the finale.