#my friendship (who’s watching for the first time ever) caught up on rina from the get go

[blues-valentine]

Long Post: HSMTMTS S1 re-watch: It’s crazy to think Rina changed the game for the writers on 105 because when you watch 101-104 it really makes you wonder if some directing choices are intentional or just came out, particularly from the actors acting choices and the rest just totally solidifies Rina's whole arc. For example:

Gina’s first entrance on the show is when Kourt mentions Ricky to Nini. She is at the back on her locker when Ricky enters the scene to talk to Nini. That’s an intentional framing. On 101, before reading the cast list, he is already looking at her from across the room. On 102, he looks breathless at Gina’s dance during rehearsals and there’s a moment he keeps looking at her even after she walks away. Same episode, their first talk at the stake park does feel like the tension and lingering gazes are intentional. Like you are meant to feel the tension. And you can hear Breaking Free playing from Gina's headphones.

On 105 it does feel odd how mad Ricky was about Gina going with EJ to the homecoming dance because wouldn’t that be good? That EJ isn’t on Nini’s orbit anymore? Even Gina questions him over why is he making her dating life his business and he didn’t know why. He definitely had a crush on Gina then. He had one conversation with her (skate park) and felt like they had a connection ("l thought we sort of got each other"). If you think about it, he internalized Troy and Gabriella's outsiders narrative onto them, which it’s pretty telling.

The whole confessional "Ricky intrigues me and I don’t get intrigued" and "Does she intimidates you? Can’t say she does" tells you they were going that road, at least Ricky having a crush on Gina early on and Josh was told to act this way around her, but it was ultimately the 105 car scene that changed the plans in terms of where the romance was going, not longer being a plot device but a slow burn. And mostly, Ricky stayed in the show for Gina. This is something non-Rina's never seem to put any importance into. Ricky joined the club for Nini but ultimately stayed because Gina's encouragement made him see his own worth (and that defining moment was on 102).

To me, next episodes were key and it throws away the argument that Ricky didn't have a crush on Gina or wasn't pursuing her romantically. Gina dropped her "plans" and Ricky stopped his active pursue of Nini right after homecoming. Each of them forgot what their initial motivation was. This is why the "second choice" argument falls void. Ricky could’ve continued his pursue of Nini especially because at this point he knows she’s not longer in a relationship with EJ but he wasn’t focused on her anymore and those episodes point that out. On 106, Big Red straight up asks him if something happened with Gina on Friday, to what he responds he isn’t sure [if it was romantic] and you can see them gazing at each other across the room (with Nini unbothered in the middle of them. Again, intentional framing).

It baffles me people were trying to make Rinas feel delusional for thinking Ricky had a crush on Gina when he was obvious on his intentions. Before the song, in this scene from 106, Gina was the only one to support his idea and right off the bat she could feel his distress over the possibility of the show getting cancelled. She tried to joke about it but softly changes the subject because she could read him. It points to the emotional connection they already share. After he literally sings to her, Ricky flirts with her and I feel like since Gina didn’t have much experience she didn’t know how to read the whole thing. It’s funny because after Ricky tells her she’s good at everything and says "I can’t forget about anything that happened at homecoming" you can see in his face that he is waiting for a reaction from her — one she doesn’t give him. The scene is pretty layered.

There’s this scene on 107 where Nini clearly flirts with him and he seems uncomfortable. Instead, he looks behind him to see if Gina is bothered by their interaction and goes to sit by her side afterwards. Does that seem like a guy that is desperate to go back to his ex girlfriend now that he is seeing the signals? No. Mind you, there’s a time jump (about a month) between 106-107. Enough for Gina to know where Ricky’s house was and how long it takes her to walk there. They probably spent a lot of time together and this might also be the time Ricky got to have Gina’s mom phone number.

On 107, Gina and Ricky's emotional connection is made clear again by them talking about change and Gina reading Ricky like a book. They both share a strong understanding of each other that gets later confirmed by them on season 2. They arrived at the party and Nini straight up notices their closeness and considers them a "we" and Ricky at this point is not trying to get back to Nini. He interacts with Gina in a way that feels like he is introducing a soon to be lover. He isn’t even trying to make Nini jealous. He isn’t even close to her at the party because his focus is on Gina. After that phone call with Gina and her mom, he can tell she is distressed so he walks off straight to the kitchen to gather her stuff so they can leave, together. Gina shuts him down and tells him not to call her anymore and the first thing he does is grab his stuff and leave the party. Nini tries to stop him but doesn’t get the reaction she expects. And important to notice how he includes Gina in all of the things that are making him distressed.

Gina tells Ricky not to text her anymore and that’s because she thinks there isn’t any point in them continuing whatever their relationship was since she’s leaving (not in those words, but the subtext was there) and he still sends her multiple texts that get unanswered. It again baffles me that some claim Ricky didn’t care about Gina leaving when he was distressed and was trying to be in contact with her. He even firmly claims Gina will be back and when Nini asks him if she texted him, he goes and anxiously asks her if Gina texted her. Nini makes the first move in telling Ricky to practice with her after rehearsals and funny enough, the almost kiss happens right after Gina texts Ricky she is leaving for good. It took Gina being removed from an episode and Ricky believing she was gone for Ricky and Nini to get closer after what was like more than one month.

Opening night makes it very clear that Gina and Ricky were pretty much left in the open. When Ricky waits for Gina backstage after she comes back he tells her "I wish…I don’t know what to say" and Gina tells him not to say anything. She also makes it clear she’s only back for one night only. Was he going to say "I wish I knew you were coming back?" Who knows. At this point Ricky had regressed back to who he was and his confessional during that scene tells you this. "Maybe I’m back to who I always was. I don’t know something is different". He is stating that there’s a before and after Gina for him. And notice how the Rina cue is playing during this scene — a cue that is a representation of Ricky’s feelings for Gina, not the other way.

You cannot say that if Ricky knew Gina was staying for real, he would’ve gotten back with Nini. There’s also a quote people don’t pay attention to and it’s when Gina asks him what happened since he dropped out of the show and he says "It’s a long story. I could ask you the same thing". It hints he isn’t okay with how things went down with her. Regardless, I’m glad he got back to Nini on season 1 because he needed to get through that process for growth.

Season 1 tells you the basics of their arc and why it took them so long to get together. It basically confirms that Nini represents the childhood Ricky is so afraid to let go of and Season 2 is actually really good at showcasing Ricky’s internal struggle with trying to suppress his feelings for Gina and pushing for something he knows has not future anymore. He wasn’t fighting for Nini but more like for things to stay stagnant because that’s his confront zone.

Ricky and Gina's dynamic on season 2 is brillantly acted by Josh and Sofia because is in the subtle moments and foreshadowing and if you as an audience are used to things being told to you — you would’ve never understood Ricky and Gina as a pairing. I might do one for season 2 when I finish the re-watch for S2.

[dayas]

Potentially unpopular opinion BUT I gotta speak my truth y’all 😭🤡💀

Ricky has treated like Gina as a second choice the ENTIRE second season. Gina’s his backup, and she’s prioritized him since season one until putting her foot down (rightfully so), because she realized what was going on and decided to put herself and her identity first. EJ, on the other hand, has prioritized Gina and put her first! He asked about her feelings unprompted when everyone else was caught up, he respectfully stepped down no fuss when he believed she didn’t like him in that way, he swooped in to save her when she needed him most, and the development of their friendship and flirting plus the LOOKS ALONE have CLEARED in season two.

To put it plainly, Ricky has only gone to Gina when HE needed something (let’s be honest if Nini had been at rehearsal he would not have gone to her), and he KNEW HOW SHE FELT ABOUT HIM and STILL ASKED HER ABOUT NINI RELATED THINGS. Meanwhile, EJ went out of his way to go get her from the airport, made the actual first move and asked her out, and unlike with Ricky, Gina NEVER had to second guess EJ or his intentions.

IF they’re gonna do a Rina arc in season three for whatever reason, they’re gonna have to bend over backwards to redeem Ricky with G. Have him be a real friend and ACTUALLY care about her and SHOW IT, not just coming by when it’s convenient for him and/or he needs someone to help solve his problems. And THEN on top of THAT link in the romance, which, in my opinion, would be doing a lot after they set up the Portwell arc so gorgeously. Gina is NOT a stand in for Big Red or for Nini. She deserves something unique and her own, which is why having the Rina confession directly after Ricky said “I love you” FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER TO NINI rubbed me entirely the wrong way. With EJ, that moment wasn’t coming off the heels of some other confession or another ship’s moment; it was entirely theirs, as individual as both of their characters are.

Bottom line, friendships are supposed to be reciprocal. If someone is coming to someone else only at their convenience and is never there for the other person/doesn’t show any sign of caring at all on a deeper level, that’s not a genuine friendship for real. Personally, I would love to see Portwell kiss in the first scene and watch the development of their relationship as it continues. I think Ricky really needs to find and understand himself and come to grips with his OWN identity before he gets with anyone else, be that Gina or Lily or even Nini (I’m ALL for a Rini redemption/reconciliation/endgame if they arc it out correctly, but I’d rather have Olivia and Josh comfortable with their roles than a ship be endgame tbh). Regardless, EJ and Gina had their arcs down and tightened and that’s why they work so well together: they both know who they are as people, and they know who the other is. They’ve had the most positive growth as characters, and I absolutely can’t wait to see that hopefully continue when season three drops!

[peachsayshi]

Chapter 7 - Games

Gojo Satoru x Female Reader

Tags: Friends with Benefits, Teasing and a little bit of Fluff.

Summary: Trying to make sure the two of you stay out of the bedroom, you suggest playing a game of Twister and Gojo's mind starts to wander.

A/N: Sorry if there are mistakes! I don't have a beta and get tired rereading the chapters over and over again. This is a little short but we have some fluff and feels and we get a little insight on how Gojo has been feeling. I'm building up to something, I promise!

- - -

“Okay, left foot on green…”

With his right foot remaining on the red circle, Gojo spread his legs wide to place his left foot on the green circle towards the end of the mat. Things were easing up on his end when it came to work and he decided to take advantage of that by spending his free time with you tonight. What he didn’t expect was for the two of you to be in the middle of your living room playing board games instead of the usual physical activity that you both have grown accustomed to partaking in.

“Is this really how you want to spend our evening together?” he asked, taking the spinner from your hand as he proceeded to flick the arrow with his thumb and index finger.

You nodded your head, “We need to keep ourselves out of the bedroom. Otherwise, we will never leave...”

Gojo rotated his neck from side to side before replying, stretching to prepare himself for the awkward positions he was about to hold, “you’re making it sound like that’s a bad thing.”

“Listen, game night is going to make up for movie night which never happened because we wound up doing it on your couch instead...”

A smug grin spread across Gojo’s face, thinking of your failed plan to have a scary movie marathon with him. You were hoping to catch the sorcerer squirm but what you didn’t expect was him teasing you thirty minutes into the film that inevitably resulted in you being fucked senseless on his couch.

“You’re really going to put the blame on me for that? If you were paying attention you wouldn’t have succumbed to my advances so easily,” he retorted defensively.

“You had your hand up my skirt!”

“Now, I told you what that skirt does to me,” he jokingly snapped, pointing his finger at you sternly before shrugging his shoulders. “I couldn’t help myself…”

“Okay, well how about the night we were supposed to go out for dinner but missed our reservation because you decided to rip up my dress on the car ride over…”

“Let’s not get too dramatic, I merely broke the zipper and I did buy you another dress.”

“Okay, how about last night?”

Gojo parted his lips, pausing to think how the two of you wound up naked in the shower instead of going to the karaoke bar with Rina and her friends.

“Last night... wasn't my fault,” he pointed out, arching his brow at you as he recalled the way you teased him into submission.

“Oh, yeah. That’s right…” you shyly replied, biting your bottom lip as you scratched the back of your head. “So, uh, what’s my next move?”

“Quick to change the subject, I see?” Gojo answered with an easy smile, “Put your left hand on the blue circle…”

With your feet on the green and yellow circles, you leaned your body forward to put your left hand on the blue sphere. Meanwhile, Gojo dropped the spinner on the ground beside you, suppressing a laugh as he watched you struggle to spin the arrow and call out his next round.

“The point here is...” you grumbled as you tried to adjust yourself back into a comfortable position, “...the two of us are getting carried away. I just think this little break might do us some good.”

“I don’t think working up a sweat is a bad thing,” Gojo insisted.

“Well, we can burn calories after I kick your butt,” you added on, waiting for the arrow to land. “Right hand on green...”

“For someone trying to make sure we keep our distance, you sure picked an interesting game tonight,” Gojo teased, finding his new posture which brought his face close to yours.

“I know for a fact that you can’t cheat playing Twister,” you reminded, before glancing up at him from under your lashes and inching forward to peck him on the tip of his nose. “Besides, I never said I wanted space, I just thought I’d change things up for the evening.”

Gojo’s smiled into your lips as he gave you a soft kiss in return, “if you think you can distract me by being cute, you are absolutely wrong .”

“We both know how much of a sore loser you can be,” you answered back, “I just hope you’re ready to throw yourself a pity party by the end of this because I am definitely winning.”

“Mhmm, whatever you say. Right hand, blue…” he continued, trying to pay attention to the game and observing you reach your arm slightly underneath him to place your hand on the circle.

He couldn’t explain when things became this comfortable with you. If he had known that hooking up with you would bring you both closer together as friends, he wouldn’t have rejected your offer that easily.

You’ve both already broken one of your rules. However, Gojo didn’t mind forgoing the “drinking” rule to decide whether or not the two of you wanted to hook up. You both no longer needed the excuse anyway, after a while it became painfully clear that regardless of what the plans were, things always resulted in the two of you tangled up in someone’s bed sheets.

The sorcerer spent a majority of his spare time alone, unaware of how much it bothered him until you came along. He thought about the way you described yourself when you were in a relationship with your ex-boyfriend, and wondered if this felt similar in any way. Not that he considered you as anything other than a friend...but he was curious .

You both were different in many ways but often clashed when it came to your perspectives on love. You believed that there was a person out there for everbody, that there was nothing like falling in love with somebody who looked at you as if you were their whole world.

Granted, those were your opinions when you were in a happy and loving relationship but Gojo always disagreed with you because he was convinced that relationships were messy and only brought unnecessary drama to the table. That’s why he had his own personal rule that was standard practice when it came to his “love” life.

He never hooked up with somebody more than once.

Rumors about his womanising ways only stemmed from the fact that he did actually have plenty of lovers. However, he could barely recall their faces and didn’t even remember their names. Sometimes they recognized him on the street, and foolishly attempted to strike up a conversation with the handsome, rich stranger who paid for their company.

Gojo would politely brush them off every time. His stone cold reaction broke the hearts of those who were lucky enough to even be in his presence. He surely didn’t need to pay for the escorts or call girls but the act itself was easier and he had the money to spend anyway. These acquaintances never asked him any questions about his personal life, which benefited him greatly because it left very little room for anything other than small talk. Once both parties were satisfied, Gojo would leave every encounter without ever looking back. Sex was a routine way for him to blow off steam or merely take care of his natural urges. However, you didn’t know that you were the first person who he consistently kept as company in the bedroom.  

Up until this moment, he had been suppressing his desire for you. Now that he has you, the sorcerer could tell he was getting greedy. He respected your wishes when you asked him not to see anyone else on the side but surprised himself when he realised that he had no interest in seeking out the strangers that used to keep him company at night.

Even though you both insisted that this new partnership had no influence on friendship, Gojo was observant enough to see that it was not the case. Little things were starting to change here and there, and he was carefully making note of it every time it happened.

For example, whenever he was off fighting curses, you started habitually checking up on him to make sure he was okay. One night when he was unable to answer his phone, he received a string of unusual text messages from you to find out what happened. He remembered calling you right after, teasing you to ask if you were worried about him. You surprised him with your fear, how you easily believed that something was powerful enough to harm him despite him repeatedly telling you that nothing could touch him. When you responded to his question with a sincere yes, an unexpected sensation spread across his chest. If he wasn’t paying attention to how much you cared about him before, he was more aware of it now.

To ease your worries, he made it a point to shoot you a text whenever he could just to let you know that he was alright. Although, he did sometimes forget which resulted in you panicking on the phone with him. Only this time, Gojo never made fun of your concerns.

In turn, he realised how fiercely protective he became of you and it killed him whenever he had to deflect your questions when you asked about his life. There was so much you wanted to know and so much that he wished he could tell you. However, he had every intention of maintaining this invisible boundary. The last thing he wants is for you to get caught up in something that you couldn’t understand. If he were to invite you into his whole world, that would only lead to you facing dangerous threats that loved to lurk in the shadows.

He would never forgive himself if something were to happen to you.

A few more rounds passed, and the two of you were intertwined in the most precarious situation. You were in a reverse tabletop position, looking like a crab with two hands and feet on the blue and yellow circles. Meanwhile, Gojo was in a plank position above you, his palms pressed on the red and green circle by your side, with one foot next to yours on a blue circle and another on a yellow circle.

You were shaking underneath him, desperately trying to maintain your awkward stance while Gojo appeared bored holding his own position with ease.

“Okay, I didn’t take your strength or height into consideration…” you groaned with a pout.

A chuckle escaped his lips, “give up, yet?”

“No…” you groaned, eyeing the spinner by your side as you reached for it with your right hand. You lifted your head slightly, your neck straining as you tried to call out the next move. “Left foot, green…”

Gojo picked up his leg but as he stretched himself out he realised that he couldn’t bend himself properly in that particular way.

Your eyes widened, watching him shake as he tried to rotate his body without lifting himself completely up off the mat.

“Or maybe your height is actually a disadvantage?” you questioned, ignoring the way your arms burned from holding yourself up as your heart raced with anticipation.

“Shhh, I’m concentrating...”

Gojo kicked his leg out one way and then the other, the comical image of his tall body in motion only made you laugh at his reaction. He tried his best to ignore the sound of your voice but knew that he could barely maintain his balance as he tried to find the green circle. However, he miscalculated the gravity of his own weight when he shifted to the left side of his body, his elbow buckling underneath and causing him to collapse.

“Yes!” you exclaimed, raising your arms up in victory, paying no attention to his body pressed on top of yours.

His face was buried in the crook of your neck, breathing in deep to inhale the scent of your soap. He felt your hand pat the back of his head lightly, indicating that you wanted him to get off from on top of you. He slowly unraveled himself, irritated by his own misfortune as he rolled onto his back to lay down beside you. He tilted his head to look at you, noticing you turn so you both were making direct eye contact with each other.

Gojo always knew you were beautiful. Nothing in this world could convince him otherwise but he never paid attention to the details of how pretty you actually were. Little things about you that made the gears in his head turn, from the gorgeous mane that sprouted on the top of your head, to the way your eyes sparkled whenever you were excited or how the curve of your lips was your secret tell to let him know exactly what you were feeling when you couldn’t find the words to explain yourself.

Why me? He thought to himself, if you wanted to fuck around with somebody then why did you ask me?  

A kiss on his lips snapped him out of his drawn out thoughts, he felt the pads of your fingers along his cheek, slipping lightly underneath his blindfold to reveal just one of those blue eyes.

“Ready for another round?” you questioned.

Gojo softly smiled, thankful that you haven’t grown bored of him just yet. He lifted himself up, bringing one of his hands to cup your face as he pulled you in for another kiss. His tongue parted your lips and he allowed himself this one indulgence as he trailed his hand to the back of your neck.

Whatever thoughts that were running through his mind, he chose to ignore. There was no reason for him to consider such trivial things anyway. You were spoiling him with your body, playing out the fantasies that plagued his mind. He was aware that his greed fueled his lust for you and honestly did not know what he would do if you were to ask him to stop.

He deepened the kiss, allowing the frustrating thought to play out in passion instead. You shifted your position, your hand falling to his chest as you gripped onto the collar of his tee. Still holding onto the kiss, Gojo lifted himself upright so he was seated and as much as he would love to take advantage of this current situation, he chose to pull himself away instead.

“Best of three?”

“That sounds good to me!” you replied as you circled your arm around his neck, before returning to kiss him again.

Gojo gave in for only a second, before cheekily breaking away and tapping you gently on the forehead with his index finger.

“Oh no, you aren’t doing this to me again...” he said, his hands moving to your waistline as he gently pushed you away from him. “You wanted to have a game night and we are going to see it through.”

He leaned across from you to pick up the spinner, before settling back down and holding it in between the tiny space that separated you both.

“Winner goes first.”

- CHAPTER 8: HEAT - 

[idontwanttowhy]

Review: Holiday Love ホリデイラブ (2018)

A frustrating Fatal-Attraction-esque jdrama

Synopsis

Takamori Azu (Riisa Naka) has been leading a seemingly perfect life with her husband, Takamori Junpei (Takashi Tsukamoto) and their daughter Nanaka. However, her world crumbles when she is told that Junpei has been cheating on her with a part-time co-worker, Izutsu Rina (Matsumoto Marika)--by Rina's husband, Izutsu Wataru (Nakamura Tomoya) no less. To make matters worse, she discovers that Rina won't let go of Junpei and is doing everything in her power to destroy their relationship. A rollercoaster of betrayal, mistakes, and obsession ensues.

AC Overall: 8/10, be prepared to be mad

So this drama is about people being unfaithful in their marriages and the tolls that takes on themselves, their relationships, and their families--and ultimately how they dealt with it all. I was very frustrated throughout the drama, partially because of the cheating and partially because of how everything panned out. But what kept me watching was the mistress, Rina's, plans to be with Junpei, despite both his wife's efforts and her husband's efforts to separate them. Be prepared for Fatal Attraction-level obsession. Matsumoto Marika did a great job playing the obsessed, unstable mistress. Give it a watch for the mess of it all, from will-they-won't-they get back together drama and possible revenge cheating, to unhealthy obsessions and extreme ~moves~ because of it. Some of it was predictable, but the execution was creative at times. And it's pretty short, good for a binge.

AC Review (Spoilers, and very long)

Ngl, this drama had me Fuh-RUS-TRA-TED practically the whole time. Bc I 1) could not understand Junpei for cheating and 2) tbh still don't understand how and why Junpei had two women who wanted to be with him. But I digress. Actually no, this whole review is going to be a digression. First ep we see Junpei fucking some other woman and they talking about "I wish I had married you" and love and blah blah blah. Which makes it decidedly not an "I fucked up and my dick slipped" situation. Not that the latter is better bc they're both shit. Idk if it's better if someone "slips up" because of a lack of control, or a strong love towards someone else. Jury's still out. But Junpei whispered sweet-apparently-nothings into this woman's ear for a YEAR, and dead acted like nothing was going on at home. And then had Rina assed out in front of his wife and her husband talking about "I didn't say all that" like suuure want receipts? So ultimately everything was his damn fault. Anyway. My girl Azu, blessherheart, was completely blindsided when Rina's (very attractive though also very abusive but very attractive and why would you want Junpei over him but yeah he's abusive so I get it but if he wasn't then...) husband showed up with a beat-up Junpei talking 'bout "he's fucking my wife, what are we going to do?". And poor Nanaka! The children in both marriages suffered the most bc they really were just innocent bystanders who got caught up in the bull and will probably have some trauma because of it. Like Nanaka was such a happy spirit but got depressed when she lost all her friends! My heart really went out to her.

Anyway anyway. So my girl Azu did the right thing at first--had Junpei's ass sleeping in the car and everything, which I loved, and was determined to divorce him. But then she got tricked into (almost) sleeping with a Japanese Micheal Cera (simultaneously old- and young-looking somehow) by a client-like gurl. I was proud that she stopped it (and he didn't continue without consent) but like, her sister and best friend's response was like "how could you (almost) fuck a stranger" and I'm sitting here like "she was drunk? he was blackmailed into this? she thought she knew him at least a little? and she realized she didn't want to and didn't actually have sex with him? and where was this energy when they found out about Junpei??". And then the best friend proceeded to give shit advice, talking about "don't tell Junpei, it'll ruin his ego" when realistically, she shoulda just told him the minute she decided she wanted to be with him still (which I'll discuss later) bc they were split up at the time, and he did (arguably, though maybe not, still depends on the person's pov) worse. But no, he found out through the mistress (of course!) and thus put Azu in purgatory. Her flip in the decision to be with him again was because he had always been there...which I get (prob bc of my scorpio sun) but ughhh I wish she hadn't welcomed him back so easily. Like yeah, say you still want to be with him, sure, but make him sweat at least a little more? Make him beg? act different? idk. She made him feel too comfortable too quick, which made him feel more entitled to being upset about her and JMichael Cera talking about "I know I shouldn't be mad, kedo..." and making my girl Azu sad, which leads me to...

THE MISTRESS. with her baby voice. wtf. And Junpei couldn't keep his dick in his pants even after all the shit. I mean, they didn't fuck but dude was acting sus again around her, which was just more fodder for her in the end. (His only other female co-worker watching and knowing everything was me the whole time. Like, you dumb, dumb man). He was waaay too nice after all the shit, letting her into his dorm and letting her do him favors so he felt guilty and letting her try to talk him into leaving his wife. I was sooo mad that after all the mess, Junpei still didn't grow any balls to say to her, point-blank, "I'm not leaving my wife, please leave" until way too late for me. And she really, and i mean REALLY, went out of her way to get Azu to cheat and molded him like putty. I had no faith in Junpei. Throughout the whole thing. Dude is spineless. And...so was Wataru, but in the macho-man kind of way. Controlling to hide his insecurities. Violent for no reason (did we need the r. scene? fuck) But in the end, he was the one that caved the least when it came to the cheating, trying to figure out what happened, and taking concrete steps rather than the wishy-washy moves Azu and Junpei were making. And then he grew as a father after kicking Rina out, because then he spent time with the kids (after his mom said she had a life lol) and they ultimately chose him in Tokyo which was super interesting and redeeming...wait wait wait but he was still very abusive and there is no excuse for that. I really had to stop myself--whenever he wasn't yelling at grown ass adults and breaking shit--from thinking that he was a good person. The struggle. But this man really said everyone's dumb, and I low-key agree. I could understand him the most (though it doesn't excuse anything, ik ik). But I would've changed the locks too.

We gotta talk about the best friend too. I watched on viki with the comments, so throughout the show people were like "oh they should be together" and shit, which had me kinda tight because I really appreciate when shows allow for platonic friendship between a cishet- man and woman? Esp without one professing their ever-present love to the other. Dude gave shit advice but ultimately was the only one thinking straight and suspecting Rina was behind it all. And then actually doing the groundwork to prove it. And he sent her new clients when the news of the affair broke and everything. And and he had Nanaka's approval. Honestly there wasn't anything to dislike (except the shit advice...).

The ending tho, was the kicker. Homegirl put on a whole play for the company and really sought to end his life. I expected something, bc how could someone as obsessed as she was just back off? (and he deserved it bc Junpei didn't sacrifice enough for me, got around everyone knowing about his affair but had his wife's business out on the street, didn't have to lose his job like he was supposed to, etc...) but I didn't expect a performance. The flair. A1.

This show didn't necessarily have me gasping (except for that scene)--more like "wow I saw that coming but wow they really did that". Good stuff. And I learned that in Japan if a spouse cheats or otherwise does something that's cause for divorce, they have to pay a compensation fee! Wild.

If you made it to the end of this rant, I appreciate you ;

[ryollie]

year 1; ollie and talbott’s first meeting.

fic under the cut! beta-ed by rina @catherinestark-hphm​

“Hey, Penny?”

Penny jerked at the sudden mention of her name. Her cauldron, which was bubbling angrily prior to her being called, started simmering down as she stirred her new concoction with utmost care. Ollie was slouched against the wall of the artefact room looking bored out of his mind. Penny let out a tut of disapproval. If there was one thing she disliked, it was being interrupted when she was in the middle of her intricate potion experimenting sessions.

"What do you need, Ollie? I’m kind of in the middle of brewing this variation of dreamless sleep and not to be rude, but this is advanced Potions work that requires concentration.” Her cauldron hissed in disapproval and Penny furrowed her brows in dismay. The potion was missing something. Oh! “Would you mind passing me the crushed snake fangs in the corner, please?”, Penny asked offhandedly as she flickered through the pages of her potions journal.

Ollie scrunched his nose and grabbed a fistful of snake fangs to pass to her, hastily wiping off the residue dust on his robes after Penny reached for them. Who keeps a potions journal, Ollie mused to himself.

“Oh, nothing much…? I was wondering if you’ve heard of this Ravenclaw boy in our year? You know everybody, after all,” Ollie began hopefully. “I was hoping you had some extra intel on him…”

Penny narrowed her eyes and shot Ollie a suspicious look before shifting her focus back to her potion. Twelve stirs clockwise, she made a mental note in her head and began to count the number of stirs.

“You must be talking about Talbott Winger. The quiet boy with the ruby eyes?”

Ollie’s eyes lit up at her description of the Ravenclaw. “Yes! That’s him!” Realizing he sounded a tad too enthusiastic, Ollie quickly composed himself so that he would have a more neutral expression. He awkwardly ran a hand through his messy white hair as he tried to look casual. “Right. As I was saying, what do you know of him?”

Twelve turns done, now, five drops of snake venom. Penny was struggling to brew this potion whilst upkeeping this conversation, but Ollie’s sudden desire to find out more about Talbott piqued her interest. “Well, he’s a loner. I don’t think it’s best to ask me for his background information, though. Talbott values his privacy.” Penny hoped that emphasis on the word privacy would give Ollie the hint to stop prodding deeper. But when Ollie started sulking, Penny couldn’t help but giggle a little.

She looked up to Ollie, arching an eyebrow. "What’s with the sudden interest in him anyway? Tulip and Andre not Ravenclaw enough for you?”, she joked.

Ollie gave her an affronted look before giving a half shrug. “I dunno. I think he’s cool.”

“Cool? How so? I don’t know if you noticed, Ollie, but I think you beat anybody in our year when it comes to coolness by a landslide,” Penny countered. “Ollie Potter, son of the wizarding heroes Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, well adored by the public as the poster child – born with his father’s eyes that are as green as a fresh pickled toad and luscious wavy silve-“

She blinked when Ollie interrupted her, suddenly exploding emotionally.

“That’s the thing, Penny – I’m tired of all the unnecessary attention I get! People glorify me for my looks or for my parents’ achievements, it’s a bit stupid, really. I think it’s bloody brilliant that Talbott can just fade into obscurity like that and not be bothered by anybody. I wish I could do that…” Penny’s expression softened as she reached for Ollie’s hands to give him a reassuring squeeze. “…then maybe I wouldn’t have to spend my free time hiding out in the dusty old artefact room watching you brew some complicated potion.”

Penny was glad she retracted her hand in time.

She glared at Ollie. “Well, nobody forced you to be in here, you know.” Her look of disdain slowly morphed into a look of sympathy as she thought about Talbott. “I think you should try to befriend Talbott, you could learn a thing or two from him about being inconspicuous and avoiding the crowd. And truthfully speaking, I think he needs more friends beside me and Professor McGonagall.”

Ollie looked aghast.

“It’s been half our year and he’s only made two friends?! One of which is a professor? Blimey, that’s depressing. Couldn’t be me,” he murmured.

Penny was so sure that if she rolled her eyes any harder, they would disappear into her eye sockets, never to return.

Ignoring Ollie’s snarky comment, she began absentmindedly chopping up the bat spleens that she needed for last part of the brewing process. “Apologies, Ollie,” she began sarcastically, “Not everybody is as popular as Saint Potter.”

Ollie’s cheeks flushed angrily as he bit back a retort. He had to play nice if he wanted to coax any information out of Penny. “Tell me more about him so I can befriend him better.”

Penny added in the chopped bat spleens. “No. You do it yourself, besides, I’m bus–” There, fifteen milligrams of bat spleens.

“Just tell me a little b–” Wait. Was it chopped bat spleens or powdered bat spleens?

“No Ollie, I already told you to–” Sweet Merlin, it was powdered bat spleens. Stupid Ollie, with his stupid distracting questions and-

BOOM.

Smoke started billowing wildly from the Artefact Room as both Ollie and Penny coughed violently, desperately swatting the smoke out of their faces. Ollie managed to regain his bearings fast enough to cast an air-freshening charm to clear the smoke and dust in the room. After the surroundings were clear, Penny looked down to her cauldron and let out a cry of dismay – she found it completely melted and the ruined remains of the potion she spent the whole afternoon painstakingly brewing sizzled sadly on the floor; like fire snuffed out of a Hungarian Horntail.

Ollie winced and instinctively backed away for his own safety. Away from Penny, not the botched potion, he thought humorlessly.

“Ollie…”, Penny’s eyes glimmered dangerously, and she gripped the remains of her cauldron tightly. “Can you just leave and go live out your friendship fantasies with Talbott or something? I’ve really got to finish this potion by today and frankly with you around, I don’t see this happening!” she said exasperatedly.

Ollie grimaced and guiltily nodded before leaving the Artefact Room, solemnly promising to himself that he would get Penny a new and much better cauldron as an apology for ruining her potion.

…+++…

Ollie was pissed.

He had been in the castle searching high and low for Talbott for the past half hour, and his break was almost over. Merlin, I knew he was difficult to find, but this is ridiculous, Ollie thought miserably to himself. He let out a deep sigh. Perhaps this friendship was never meant to be. Just as Ollie was about to resign to his cruel fate, he caught a glimpse of a head of chestnut-brown hair in the corner of the courtyard.

Talbott!

Ollie’s heart quickened in excitement as he glanced cautiously at Talbott in the courtyard, hiding behind a giant pillar. Okay, just play it cool, he told himself. Slowly approach and introduce yourself, he’s standing right the-

It happened so quickly that whatever just happened barely registered in Ollie’s mind.

Talbott vanished.

There was an eagle in his place.

Oh.

Talbott was an Animagus.

Ollie’s eyes widened as a shocked gasp escaped his lips. The eagle turned its head sharply facing Ollie, before a flurry of feathers and magic swirled around him, with Talbott re-emerging out of it.

“Potter. You were stalking me.” Talbott snarled and he glared at Ollie with cold, unfriendly eyes. Ollie felt his skin turn cold as Talbott walked towards him menacingly.

“I-I…I didn’t mean to!”, Ollie stuttered. He felt his skin pricking with discomfort and somehow, at such a crucial moment, he lacked the words to explain himself.

“Didn’t mean to? What, you just happened to be standing there in a corner looking suspicious?!”

“I-I just wanted to be your friend!”, Ollie cried out desperately.

Talbott seemed taken aback by the sudden declaration and carefully observed Ollie with his steel, hawk-like gaze.

“I don’t know if you noticed, but I don’t do friends, Potter. Much less with somebody of your calibre – being associated with you would just draw so much unnecessary attention.”

“I want to be like you,” Ollie blurted out.

“You want to be a social recluse?”, Talbott asked with a look of amusement on his face. He was curious about Ollie – he’s heard so much about him. He heard that Ollie Potter was an arrogant brat who had everything he ever wanted handed to him. He’s heard that Ollie Potter towered above the weak and enjoyed ripping those who dare challenge him to shreds. He’s heard that Ollie Potter used others’ secrets against them and managed to get away with every bad deed he’s done because he’s Harry Potter’s son.

The boy standing in front of him was nothing like he expected, though.

“I don’t like all the attention,” Ollie said earnestly, breaking Talbott’s train of thought. “I wish I could be like you and blend into the crowd. I just want to be normal… I’m awfully sorry I intruded on whatever you were doing. I didn’t know you were an Animagus; that’s brilliant, honestly! Is that how you get away from large crowds?”

Talbott surveyed Ollie with watchful eyes. For some peculiar reason, he seemed to be glowing. He had an untameable mop of natural silver hair, his messy bangs covering most of his forehead, yet just enough to reveal his eyes. His eyes were so green. His cheekbones were high, and his features were sharp and refined, yet a hint of feral energy leaking out of him. Talbott slowly began to relax as he realised Ollie wasn’t a threat and not what people at school perceived him to be; he couldn’t sense an ounce of evil from that white-haired mess. Strangely, the longer he seemed to be around him, the calmer he felt.

“Fancy teaching me how to be one too? Maybe I can fly away from the crowd,” Ollie added, laughing softly.

Talbott was jolted back into reality. He felt his ears tinge red upon hearing his laughter, and Ollie somehow seemed to be glowing even more now. What? It’s not like you hadn’t heard laughing before, Winger. Get a grip!

Before Talbott could fully come to his senses, he had agreed to teach Ollie how to be an Animagus.

“Really?!” Ollie gave Talbott a toothy grin and he stepped forward to give him a big hug – only for Talbott to take a giant step back, resulting in Ollie tumbling onto the floor in front of him. Ollie let out a wince of pain as he rubbed his arms. “Ow, what gives?”

“No,” Talbott said firmly as he crossed his arms. “I said I would help you become an Animagus, but I never said that we were friends.”

Talbott couldn’t help but feel a little guilty as the smile slid off from Ollie’s face.

“Well…Do you think there’s ever a chance that we’ll be friends in the future?” Ollie looked up hopefully.

“No, Potter. Well, do you still want my help or not?”

Ollie gave Talbott a mournful look that somewhat resembled a kicked puppy. As though it was some kind of spell, the glowing around him seemed to dim too.

Talbott sighed and shook his head. “Okay, fine. Maybe sometime in the future, but not now.”

“It’s a deal! I’ll see you tomorrow then, Talbott, same time same place!” Ollie smiled and brushed past Talbott’s hand with his. “It’s a date!”, he added cheekily before running off for his Charms class.

Talbott’s face flushed a deep red as he gingerly touched the part of his hand that Ollie left his mark on. Stupid Potter, he thought. Talbott hoped that he didn’t make a mistake by befriending him. In retrospect, being friends with Ollie Potter was not the smartest move for somebody who preferred being in the back lines. With a sigh, Talbott retreated into corridors in preparation for his Potions class - he’d certainly have a lot to think about when classes are done today.