#sometimes i think about how the movie developed her character so well

[annymation]

Reimagining the characters in Wish

(Part 3- Star/Aster)

ITS THE MOMENT WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR!!!

HERE COMES THE BOYYYYY!!!

Ahem… so yeah welcome to part 3

If you haven’t seen them yet, here’s the links for part 1 and part 2 where I talk about how I’d rewrite Asha and the villains respectively.

Star may be the most challenging character to reimagine since… All I have is the personality displayed on the Star we DID get, a song we all collectively headcanon as Asha x Star love song (At All Cost Demo), and my imagination… In a way that just makes things more fun too.

Now remember there’s no definitive version of this character, he never came true so there’s limitless ways we can interpret him.

Some may imagine him mute, some may imagine him as a wacky character like the genie, others may imagine him more soft spoken like the blue fairy, some may imagine him as Asha’s love interest while others may prefer them as just friends, or even have him look like her grandfather, there are no wrong answers.

So here’s how I imagine him to be like:

The Star 💫

What’s a Wishing Star?

- Before we start talking about our star boy, I think it’s important we establish what a wishing star even is, so let’s begin.

-Star is an entity from another plane of existence, a wishing star, a being whose only purpose is to listen to the wishes from mortals that can see him and other wishing stars through their night skies. They listen to the wishes from mortals and provide some guidance in subtle ways.

- A wishing star is born, or rather, gains consciousness, once someone looks to them and makes a wish from the bottom of their hearts, once the star receives their first ever wish they are no longer just a celestial body of gas, they become a new wishing star, they gain a purpose, and develop their minds just like how a human would.

- As the years pass the star becomes more wise, more equipped to help the person who wished upon them for the first time.

- For a wishing star to grow up it may take a while, that’s why most people wish upon bigger ones who are already fully developed and clever enough to know exactly how to help.

- It’s not a wishing star’s job to GRANT a wish immediately, in fact, they’re incapable of doing that, their magic can only go as far as the hope and perseverance that resides in their wishmaker’s heart.

- Things that the mortal would consider just luck could actually be the works of a wishing star putting them in the right path.

- If the person loses hope in their dream then there isn’t anything the star can do, but if they remain determined then the star can help them go far.

- So a wishing star job is to just… stay in the sky, look down upon their wishmakers, give some subtle magic intervention here and there…

-That is, when they’re wished upon at all, otherwise they just stay there doing nothing.

- However… In some rare occasions, wishing stars can do a lot more than just give a subtle magic intervention from the distance. Sometimes, when someone truly well intentioned makes a wish with all their heart… The wishing star gets the power to do some extraordinary things.

Personality

- Star, or Aster as I’ll be calling him in this rewrite, which is a non-binary name meaning “star”. I’ll be referring to them with (He/they) pronouns.

- Aster is a very young and inexperienced wishing star, in fact, counting with Asha’s wish, Star only got TWO wishes in their whole life. And he’s still working on granting that first wish he ever got 18 years ago.

(Haha I’m sure that’s not foreshadowing for something really sad)

- Because of that he’s often treated by the other stars as sort of a younger sibling or a little kid.

- I think I should just get this info out now: Aster is NOT the north star, that big, bright and iconic star we know from the Disney movies, nope, Aster is actually a small itty bitty little star that you can barely see, that kind of star you probably wouldn’t pick to wish upon, most choose the brightests and bigger ones.

- So who’s that big, bright and iconic star? Well, in the beginning of our story… That star doesn’t exist, like, it’s literally absent from the sky… After all, we're seeing that star's origin story :)

- We’ll get to that when we get to that, back to Aster tho.

- Aster is a lot different from the other wishing stars, while they’re these benevolent and wise entities, Aster is more of a naive and curious teen who’s fascinated with the world below them.

- No one wishes upon him EVER so he gets a lot of free time to just watch humans do human things and animals do animal things, and he loves it.

(He’s like Ariel and Quasimodo lmao)

- When he gets to earth he’s very excited to help Asha, showing appreciation for her wishing upon him through a lot of physical contact, often hugging her and holding her hand without him even noticing. (Asha at first is confused but she gets used to this behavior pretty quick)

- Although Aster is naive and overly excited they’re no fool, he can be very clever and creative when it’s necessary.

- He’s also not a fish out of water like Ariel when he’s on earth, they understands human customs and how things work, since he watched everything from the sky… Although nevertheless they’re delighted to see everything up close.

- He may be smart, but at first, they don’t really know how to guide Asha in the right path to make her wish come true, after all he’s a very inexperienced wishing star, and freeing a kingdom from an evil sorcerer king and queen is no easy task.

- But regardless he doesn’t let his own insecurities get to him, and remains optimistic they’ll figure it out, together.

His personality is reminiscent to Disney guys such as: Quasimodo, Peter Pan, Prince Philip (yes really, rewatch Sleeping Beauty, that boy has a lot of personality), Alladin and Hercules.

Main Traits:

- Optimistic and kind

- Naïve

- Protective

- Curious

- Energetic

- Secretly very insecure

Powers

I think it’s important to establish his abilities before we get to his backstory and all that jazz.

What he CAN’T do

Just like how Movie Asha did in her job interview, let’s get his weaknesses out of the way first.

- Sooo… don’t get mad but… Star won’t be a shapeshifter in my version. I don’t want him to feel too much like Maui or the genie. So he’ll stay in the shape of a princely looking boy the whole way through.

- He can’t teleport, would make things too easy, also there’s a plot reason I’ll explain later.

- Can’t materialize real things out of thin air, only things made of star dust so they don’t really have any utility other than to create fun visuals during music numbers or when he’s explaining stuff.

- Can’t hurt anyone, this one is VERY IMPORTANT for plot reasons I’ll talk about later on.

- Can’t make a wish come true with the snap of his fingers, he’s a star, not a genie.

Weakness: Dark Magic, hopelessness and Asha getting hurt.

What he CAN do

- Stretch and re-shape his body. He may not turn into animals but his body can regenerate and squash and stretch around (haha get it? Like the animation term), like he’s made of star dust. Have this piece of concept art as an example:

- He can Fly and make other people and objects fly too

- Unlock doors, may seem random now but I’ll explain in a minute.

- Bring plants to life, and make them grow bigger, and I mean like “make a flower the size of a house” bigger.

- Make animals talk, but the animals only keep talking IF they so desire, if that’s not something they wish for then the magic fades away with time.

- Tho he naturally understands animals and any other living thing in their own languages.

- He can feel other people’s wishes, not all the time tho, he has to make a conscious effort to see what’s that person’s deepest desire.

- His body is warm like a small sun, so he can give warm hugs… that’s a power, yes.

- Aster may not teleport, but they can move really REALLY fast

- Uncorrupt wish bubbles, I mentioned in part 2 that Magnifico twisted most the people's wishes, those wishes that are changed are called “Corrupted wishes”, Aster can change those wishes back to what they originally were.

- Create dreams, is that too much like the sandman from rise of the guardians?… Im still keeping it.

-Get inside drawings, This is just for a scene I imagine Aster shrinking and walking around inside Asha's sketch book, I think that's cute.

- Make a human disguise, I'll elaborate more on this when we get to talk about his design.

- He can grant wishes “but Anny you just said earlier he can’t—“ yes yes I know… he just grants them in his own unique way.

What gives him strength: Hopes and dreams

(Undertale reference? More likely than you think)

A wishing star purpose is to serve as a guide, that provides some magic intervention so that the wishmaker has the means to get to their goal.

As such, the stronger Asha’s hope, perseverance and passions are, the stronger and more limitless Star’s magic becomes. Like his magic abilities are charged up by Asha’s beliefs, the more she wants something, the more he can do for her.

Now, let’s talk about how Aster and other wishing stars that come to earth function, and to do that, we gotta go waaaaay back to another wish granting character in the Disney catalog.

The Blue Fairy- What can we learn from her?

- We all know the blue fairy from Pinocchio, she is in a way the closest thing we have in the Disney canon that resembles the concept of Star, so I’m considering them as both the same kind of entity, they’re both wishing stars.

(not the same character tho, and I’ll get to that soon don’t you worry)

- You would think a character we see so little about doesn’t provide a lot of context, but she actually gives us a pretty good idea about what wishing stars can and can’t do.

- First thing she says when arriving is:

“Good Geppetto, you have given so much happiness to others. You deserve to have your wish come true.”

- From that, we can interpret that wishing stars only assume a human form and help those who are truly pure of heart and have spread kindness to others. Like Asha.

- Geppetto wished for Pinocchio to be a real boy, a human boy, but the blue fairy couldn’t grant that wish, because the only one who could make himself a real boy was Pinocchio himself.

“To make Geppetto’s wish come true will be enterely up to you. Prove yourself brave, truthful and unselfish, and someday you will be a real boy"

- So, am I saying that Aster will just fly up to Asha and say “it’s all up to you to save your people… GOOD LUCK! 😊” sparkle some magic on her and leave?

- Well no although that would be funny, he’s not gonna do that, in fact, Aster will act way differently compared to the Blue Fairy.

- Although Aster can’t immediately make the people of Rosas “Have something more than this” he will do everything in his power to help Asha with anything she needs, and stay by her side the whole way through… Not at all what the Blue Fairy did.

- Lets say the Blue Fairy did exactly what a wishing star is supposed to do.

-She didn’t let herself be seen by anyone except Pinocchio and Jimminy Cricket, she only gave Pinocchio a few instructions and then left it all up to him, and even then when she went a bit beyond that to inform him that Geppetto was inside a whale she did so by sending a note… Almost like she couldn’t go back again to tell him personally… Interesting huh?

(I know the reason is because the animators would lose their minds if they had to draw that sparkly effect on her dress a third time but let’s pretend there’s more to it okay?)

- So we have her being the best role model of a wishing star… and then we have Aster...

-Doesn’t even know where to begin with helping Asha, chooses to stay on earth more than a day instead of just giving cryptic advice and leaving, was seen by multiple people aside from just Asha and Valentino, and worse of all, falls in love with his wish maker… yeah dude broke several rule… And the other stars ain’t happy about that.

- You could say the scale of Geppetto’s wish and Asha’s wish are way different, one just wants a son and the other wants to defeat two evil monarchs.

-But the stars don’t see it that way, to them every wish should be treated equally and it’s not their purpose to mingle with humans and change the course of their history.

- So you see, while the Blue Fairy could go back to the sky and then reappear anywhere she wanted… Aster won’t have that privilege.

-If he goes back to the sky he’s not coming back down, because the other stars won’t allow it, not after he broke their rules.

- Aster knows all that, because he can hear them talking to him, warning him to stop and go back to the sky… Aster keeps that information a secret from Asha for as long as they can…

- He knows after he’s done helping Asha they’ll never see each other again, but that’s fine, he’s willing to break every rule to help her…

- Oh also there’s a scene in Pinocchio where the Blue Fairy opens a lock to free Pinocchio from a cage… that’s why I said Aster can unlock doors… okay moving on to our boy backstory.

Backstory

Yup, Aster has a backstory. And it all started in one fateful night:

An elderly man was taking a walk, carrying his granddaughter in his arms, she was just a few weeks old, but he couldn’t wait to show her how beautiful the stars looked that night.

He sat with her on a thick tree branch, and even though she couldn’t understand him, he was so happy telling her the names of each constellation.

In that moment, it seemed like everything was perfect.

But then that moment ended… He heard screams, and smelled smoke.

The elderly man ran back to his home, only to find it completely engulfed in a fire.

His granddaughter was now crying in his arms as he watched some neighbors trying to put down the fire, but to no avail.

His son and daughter-in-law were in there, he lost them both in an instant, the pain he felt in that moment was immeasurable.

In that moment of sorrow all he could do was look up, between the thick smoke he saw it… a small star.

With all his heart, Sabino wished upon it

“I wish my dear granddaughter, Asha, never feel such pain and sadness as I’m feeling in this moment”

A new wishing star was born.

Those words were the first thing Aster ever heard, it took a few years for him to even know what they meant, but as Asha and him grew older, he started to understand them.

He tried his best to make Asha as happy as she could be with the little that he was allowed to do.

Sometimes giving her inspiration for her drawings, other times sending her nice dreams after a bad day.

But he felt like he was failing her, no matter what he did, Asha would still go through sad times… Specially after her grandfather passed away.

Aster treasured every happy moment that he saw Asha experience, her making new friends, getting better with her drawings, dancing during wish ceremonies. Aster would shine brighter every time she was happy.

Point is: They were connected the whole time, and Aster already knew Asha even way before she wished upon him.

To be clear he wouldn’t just stay up there looking at Asha all day, he was also interested on everything else on earth in general.

But then, we have Asha’s 18th birthday, the day she had to give away her wish.

Aster knew what was really going on in Rosas, about what happened to most of the people’s wishes, and although that also saddened the other stars they all agreed they couldn't intervene unless someone from Rosas wished for their help.

So you can imagine how happy Aster was when Asha wished upon HIM, of all the stars, she looked at him and asked for his help! What are the chances?

If you could listen to them, you’d hear all the stars collectively whisper “oh…this might not end well…” as Aster flies down to earth going "YYYYYPIIIEEEEEEE!!!"

A Star Who Wishes To Be Human

- I’ve made it very clear that Aster is different from the other stars, for the reason that he’s so young and so fascinated with life on earth.

- But there’s more than that, see, I mentioned before Aster can’t hurt anyone, and that’s not because he’s some holier-than-thou pacifist, it’s because his magic literally CAN’T hurt living beings.

- Because his magic is made of ✨hopes✨ and ✨kindness✨ and ✨everything nice✨, so even if they literally make a sword with his star dust, all it’ll do is give Magnifico some tickles.

- And Aster hates that.

- He wishes he could be more useful to Asha… wait, “wishes”?

- That’s silly, a star is not supposed to “wish” for anything, to have wants, that’s a human thing... And yet here he is wanting to protect Asha in any way possible.

- This drive to protect Asha runs even deeper than just the wish he received from her grandfather or the wish she made, Aster feels as if it's a wish that comes within him.

- Aster would question why they feels this way, is it love? Can’t be that right? A star can’t fall in love…

- The same way a star can’t taste food, or smell the flowers, or feel temperature…

- But Aster wishes they could, Aster wishes he knew what food tasted like, what was the smell of the flowers and the morning dew, but most of all… Aster wished he could feel Asha’s warmth, the same way she feels when they embraced.

- This would be Aster internal conflict for most of the movie. They’d realize that they can’t be with Asha forever, but Aster wanted to at least confess his feelings before they went to enact their plan to defeat the king and queen, that’s when we’d get “At All Cost”.

- Soooo a bit of a spoiler to this rewrite, I’m basically telling a story all out of order at this point, but here goes, Aster does become human by the end, after the king and queen are defeated, the stars realize that punishing Aster for breaking their rules wouldn’t be fair after he did so much good, and also because some of them can’t stand him so they decide “hey, let’s leave him there” and just ask him to return his magic back to the sky.

- Once Aster accepts, his magic would be turned into a brand new star, that shines brighter than all the others, because it carries all the magic that Aster accumulated by helping Asha and all of Rosas. And thus we’d get an origin story for THE wishing star.

Design

Aster has brown skin, sparkly freckles and blond hair that shines and moves almost like a candle.

He dresses up as a prince, with the classic cape we see in classic princes like in Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.

They choose that form because he recalls that Asha used to read a lot about princes that would help princesses in need, so he thinks it's fitting to at least looks like one to help Asha

"But I'm not a princess"

"I know, you're just pretty like one!"

A itty bitty detail I didn't mention until now: Aster would be hand drawn animated, while everything else would be 3D, and his animation would change as the movie progressed.

By change I mean he'd start in a very sketchy looking animation, like it's being drawn very frantically to reflect how excited he is to help Asha, but as the movie progresses he'd be drawn with more detail and with more fluid movements.

This would serve to both represent his character development, showing him becoming more mature and learning what it means to be human, and also a reference to how Disney's animation evolved over the years.

He can make a human disguise, as I mentioned earlier, but that would require him to keep his magic hidden somewhere, in this case, a round stone that holds his cape together on his chest.

Once his magic was all kept inside this stone he'd turn into a 3D animated character, however his movements wouldn't feel... quite right, like he'd be animated in a different frame-rate compared to everyone else, so you could tell he was struggling to make himself move like a human, and people would be able to tell there was something off about him.

In the end when he turned into a human for real he'd become 3D animated with the right frame-rate, and his hair would no longer be blonde, but rather brown, like his eyebrows (Tangled reference? yup)

Final Thoughts

This was DEFINITELY the hardest one to translate my thoughts into words! My gosh this took so long to write.

Don't know if you could tell but I'm very passionate about this scrapped idea of a human looking star falling in love with our protagonist, and no it's not just for the ✨aesthetic✨.

I don't think it's wise to throw a romance when writing a story just because you feel like it, a romance needs to progress both the story and the characters involved, think of it like how Naveen learned with Tiana the importance of working hard, while in turn showing her that life can also be fun. They complete each other, and I want the same for Asha and Aster.

Asha needs to learn that she shouldn't feel guilty for wishing more for herself, she worries too much about others and what others may think of her that she forgets her own self worth, and Aster shows her that she not only can wish for things for herself, but she can also accomplish anything she sets her mind to. From becoming an amazing artist that can give movement to her drawings to the leader of a rebellion against two evil monarchs, she can do it all.

Meanwhile, Aster needs to learn that what Asha's grandfather wished upon him is an impossible task, for Asha to always be happy, that's impossible, because sadness is a part of life, its a part of being human, and that's what he learns, what it means to be human, to fail, get up and try again. As a wishing star Aster always knew that humans had to fail a bunch of times before having their wishes granted but he could never imagine how hard that actually was, and Asha's perseverance even with all odds against her is what makes him love her even more.

I talked a lot about why Aster loves Asha, so I should probably mention what Asha sees in him too. Asha get's a lot of laughs from Aster's innocent reactions to natural things on earth, like how dazzled he is seeing the sun rise for the first time, how he just stops and starts chatting with animals and plants like a damn disney princess, or how he randomly starts rambling about how some constellations don't look at all like the animals they're named after "Like, seriously, why did they name that one a lynx? That's obviously a snake hehehe"

But most importantly she loves how caring he is, how he's supportive and passionate about her interests just as much as she is, and how he makes her feel safe, and in turn she wants to protect him too.

I'm honestly debating with myself how I want Aster to go about the information he has known Asha all his life, like, I imagine he'd probably want to hide the fact because he didn't want to talk about the sad tragedy that led to her grandfather wishing upon him, yes Asha knows about the fire but he doesn't want to remind her and make her sad, because remember, at first he doesn't understand that sadness is just part of life.

But then like, would he pretend to not know her? Or would he be like a ghibli character and just nonchalantly say "Oh yeah, I’ve always known you" and never elaborate on that until the story demands it?

… Great, now I just had the idea of Aster functioning like Haku from Spirited Away, like they don't remember where he knows Asha from because he forgot what their previous wish was now that he’s granting a new one, let's say stars can only remember one wish at a time, then as he gets to know her better he starts to remember what his first wish was, and things start to make more sense.

I don’t know, like that’s cute but might be a bit too complicated, y’all tell me, I’m throwing ideas and seeing what makes sense, this whole thing is me asking for feedback after all.

Honestly I think the idea of Aster knowing Asha the whole time works because it not only gives a better explanation to why a star came down from the sky to help her, but also gives more sense to the lyrics “you still amaze me after all this time” in At All Cost.

Welp, I think that's all I got, thank you so much for following along with this series, and don't worry I'm not over yet, there are a few characters to talk about before I start sharing the actual script of this rewrite.

Thank You For Reading!

[wemalyri]

what are enhypen members like in a relationship? heeseung ver.

pairing: idols!enhypen × fem!reader

w/c: 1,8k

warnings: relationship development, petnames, kisses, physical touch, smut under cut

a/n:  I feel like this one is a bit messy. I just wanted to speak out. it's just my opinion and made for entertainment! you can agree or disagree, that's fine. if you liked it, likes and reports are welcomed. also let me know if I should do this with other members too. 

heeseung jay jake sunghoon sunoo jungwon niki

the first meeting

So, first of all, let's be honest. Have you seen how awkward and embarrassed Heeseung looks around girls? Even Jay in the interview said that Heeseung is actually really shy around females, but he treats everyone nicely. So when you first meet, don't expect him to talk a lot. He would act politely, nodding sometimes as you talk, but not more. He might like you, though. The way you speak, the way you look, the way you laugh. He would be quietly impressed, but wouldn’t think a lot about that, because he meets so many beautiful fans and not only every day. He would be just fascinated and that’s it.

However, as you start to bump into each other more often, he would start thinking “Oh, her outfit today was so nice” or “Her hair looked really cute today”.  Maybe he would start to open a little bit more, like when you meet in the elevator he would greet you with a smile and make small talk about weather or something casual. Heeseung would ask, "Which floor are you going to?" just to press the elevator button instead of you. 

friendship

When he realizes that you are close friends with Jake, it doesn’t go unnoticed. Sometimes he starts seeing you in the studio, in the practice room, in their dorm after all... Moreover, you get along with other members, which predisposes Heeseung’s trust to you. He’s starting to feel more relaxed around you, getting used to it. And that’s when you become friends with Heeseung too. 

He finds out you two have a lot in common, it fascinates him. The way you’re both hardworking, charismatic, kind, gentle and funny. You show your emotions a bit more than him, but it only delights him. You two would play video games together and even though you love it, you kinda suck at games sometimes. He wouldn’t laugh at you, but praise after each game “You did well, though”. During the game, when you make a good move with your character, Heeseung would exclaim “Wow that was good”. And even though you lose a lot, you are never upset with that and always praise Heeseung with a gentle smile. And there is something in your actions that made Heeseung want to give in so you could win just to see your smile and the way you try to make it up for him, so he wouldn’t be upset. 

But it’s not just about games. Everything about you just feels right like you were made for each other. Your playful comments, your interests, your reactions. The way you look, the way you talk, the way you rub your eyes, feeling sleepy during a movie. And this is when he realizes that maybe he likes you a bit a lot. 

He would understand that immediately, Heeseung knows himself. But he wouldn’t bring it up to you, scared of what to do. Normally, he would put himself together and confess to you no matter what, but right now he’s an idol… And it makes everything 100x more difficult. What if you like him back? Should you two date? But what if someone finds out? Wait, what if you don’t even like him…

With these thoughts Heeseung came up to Jake, your best friend. Actually, he wasn’t the one who brought it up first. It was Jake, who noticed Heeseung's behavior around you.

“Do you like Y/n by the way?” Jake would ask just to make sure, but Heeseung’s red ears, nervous giggle and head in love would tell everything without words.

his confession

He doesn’t care anymore what’s gonna happen. He just feels that it would be honest to confess to you, to let you know his feelings.

He would ask you for a walk and make surprise just for you. Imagine, it’s dark outside and Heeseung leads you to the Han river (sounds scary lol). He closes your eyes with his hands as you come near the place that he prepared. Heeseung slowly guides you, being careful so you wouldn’t stumble. When his steps stop, his hands move away from your face and you see a picnic place that Heeseung organized for you.

So this is where he confesses to you. He’s hella nervous, his voice is quiet.

“I don’t want my words to ruin anything, but I feel like you deserve to know my true feelings. I want to be honest with you. Y/n, I like you. Maybe even more than that. I tried to get rid of this, but that was too difficult. You don’t have to answer back, I just wanted you to know.”

When you say to him that you like him too, his smile is the brightest you’ve ever seen. You two hug each other, when he whispers “Can I be your boyfriend?

And your answer again makes him the happiest person ever.

relationship

I feel like he’s the type to be really awkward and shy at first. Like the first time you would go out somewhere to get used to each other’s presence. Even though you already were friends, now your relationship felt different and you would need time to adjust yourself. Heeseung would definitely be the sweetest guy ever, trying to show himself from the best side as your boyfriend. He would buy you flowers, win plushies in the arcade, text you even when he was at work. He would listen to you attentively, admiring you with a soft smile on his face. Also at the first time, I feel like he would be kinda awkward in the physical way around you. Like you two would hug each other when you met but nothing more. His ears would turn red and his leg would start shaking every time your hands met for a second or when your faces just closer to each other.

But it’s only for the first time. You can tell that when Heeseung gets comfortable, he gets too comfortable. He would start teasing you more, flirting more, touching you more. When he gets confident it’s really rare to see his ears red. He would flirt non-stop, getting really close to you physically. He would act like he was born to make you flustered. You can see how satisfied he looks when fans are blushing around him but if you’re his gf IT’S EVEN WORSE. And Heeseung is definitely the type of guy who would love to be affectionate around members/his friends. Flirting with you just to hear fake throw ups behind him? Oh yeah he loves that.

first kiss

I feel like Heeseung has had his first kiss already, but it doesn't make him less nervous. It's still important for him, he wants you to be comfortable enough, he wants to make it memorable. 

One time you are watching a movie together, his hand wrapped around your shoulder, you cuddling. When a movie ends, no one speaks. You just look at each other, your eyes stuck on his lips. Heeseung notices this and looks at your lips too, trying to put himself together to lean closer and gaze into your eyes, “Can I?..”, his voice is a soft whisper. As soon as you nod and give your permission, he slowly leans closer, pressing his lips to yours. He doesn't move first until you really kiss him. He smiles into a kiss, answering back. 

18+ UNDER CUT

first time

This bro is inexperienced, but he always tries to do his best. And always succeeds. Heeseung would be really scared to mess up in front of you. Like he's gonna read a lot about sex, watch different videos, even though he is probably not going to find out something new. He just wants to make sure there's nothing he doesn't know about. 

When the right time comes, Heeseung is the most gentle and caring person in the world. He's passionate, but slow. He asks you if you are sure a lot of times before doing something. He looks at you with those gentle fascinated eyes, giving you compliments as you take your clothes off. 

“You're so beautiful…” he whispers, leaning closer to you to kiss your naked chest, caressing your sides with his hands. 

I feel like for the first time he would be kinda shy to talk a lot, but he would remind himself to do it. When he sees your reaction to his words, Heeseung gets more confident. With each moan that follows his movement, he would become braver and bolder. 

“That's it, baby…” he murmurs, feeling you clenching around his fingers as he pulls them in and out, warming you up, “You feel so good around me”

He would let you cum before the main part as much as you want. On his fingers, on his tongue. Even though he's really hard and it's difficult to control himself, Heeseung would give you the best he can, making sure you receive enough stimulation. 

“Let it go, baby. Let me taste you well” he mumbles before pulling to your pussy again, sliding his tongue inside you, his nose massaging your clit. 

He would give himself off for 200%, being in the moment fully. When it comes to the main part, you have already come twice and he still hasn't even once. When you suggested a blowjob, he almost choked on the air, imagining your mouth around his cock, but didn't let you do anything. 

“Not today, baby…” he said as his ears turned red. “Or you want to stop? That's okay” Heeseung asked to make sure that you didn't suggest a blowjob just as an excuse.  “No, no, no. I don't want to stop” you answered, pulling him closer by the nape of his neck, “Don't stop…” you whispered and Heeseung couldn't help but smirked. “I got you, princess. I won't stop.”

I can say that when he finally slides inside you it's going to be the best feeling he's ever experienced. And it would become his favorite moment from now. 

Also, I feel like he's not into aftercare when it comes to himself, but he cares about you. Like he doesn't care if he's sweaty and covered all over your cum. Heeseung is going to ask you about your feelings first, to help you clean yourself. 

+ bonus

I feel like when he's used to sex with you, he's going to become wild. He just loves to make you feel good, loves to know that he can make you feel that way. He's going to find out a lot of things about himself through sex with you. 

It doesn't mean that he would be rude for no reason, only if you ask him to. He's always gentle with you, but also ready to do whatever you want to make you feel good. And trust me, if you want something from him, he's gonna be the best at it. ;)

[super-cosmic-library]

staring at you staring at me

written for @steddie-week day 3: mutual pining

wc: 1085 I rating: G I tags: alpha steve harrington, omega eddie munson, courting, happy ending I [ao3]

“If you don’t stop staring at him, I’m going to tell Keith you’ve been slacking on the job.”

“You wouldn’t,” Steve says, turning away from watching Eddie examine every single VHS in the horror section of Family Video.

“No, I wouldn’t,” Robin agrees. “Did you know he tried asking me out again?”

“What the fuck? What’s wrong with him?”

“I could give you a list. First off, he needs a better deodorant, his sense of humor is abysmal, he thinks that women can hold their periods in like pee, he doesn’t know what the Loch Ness Monster is, he . . .”

Steve glances back at Eddie as his best friend continues to prattle on about their manager’s flaws. Eddie’s examining the same copy of Friday the 13th he’d looked at the day before. Steve loves the way the omega’s face scrunches up as he reads the synopsis before putting it back on the shelf and moving on to the next film.

Eddie’s attention flickers over to them, catching the alpha’s eyes. Steve gives him a little finger wave, which has Eddie pulling a chuck of hair in front of his face to hide behind.

“Steve, are you even listening to me?”

“Uh, yeah,” he whips around to look back at her, trying to recall the last thing she’d said. “Keith calls mashed avocados guacamole.”

“It’s just avocado, salt, and lime juice, Steve! That’s not guacamole!”

“Yeah, no, totally.” His gaze wanders back to Eddie, who’s now examining Fright Night.

“Just court him already.”

It’s a discussion they’d had repeatedly over the past several months. Steve had come up with excuses to not court the omega every time, ranging from giving him time to heal from his demobat wounds to having to kill Vecna again to Steve just having a bad hair day.

“My hair can’t be a mess if I’m going to start courting someone. It’s my best feature.” Steve had said.

Now, though, after months of excuses, he doesn’t have the energy for anything less than the truth. “What if he doesn’t want me?”

Robin raises an eyebrow at that. “Really? You think that Eddie doesn’t want you?”

“Well, yeah. I’m not exactly the type of alpha a guy like Eddie would go for. I mean, you’ve heard his cafeteria rants. I represent everything Eddie hates in the world.”

“He hates secretly nerdy guys who fight monsters and mother pups that don’t belong to him?”

“Preps,” he gestures to his starched polo and jeans. “He hates preps and rich kids.”

“Well, you’re not exactly rich anymore.”

She’s right. His parents had cut him off back in June when they found out once again that he’d not been accepted into any of the colleges they’d wanted him to apply for. In the year since he had graduated, his parents had expected that he would use the free time to round out his character and develop more “real world” experience to make his college applications more appealing to admissions boards. Unfortunately for them, the colleges they’d demanded he apply to required better greats than the ones he’d eeked by with. So his dad decided to cut him loose. Now, he rents the Henderson’s basement from Claudia, happy to help out around the house and get more time to torment Dustin like a real brother would.

“Come on, Steve. He’s in here practically every day for hours at a time, browsing the same selection of movies and making eyes at you. I mean, have you ever even seen him rent a VHS?”

“That’s because I rent them for him with my employee discount.”

“Does he even watch them?”

“Yeah, we watch them in the trailer for our weekly movie nights. I’ve told you about them, Rob.”

“Uh huh, uh huh,” she nods. “And how, exactly, do you two sit when you ‘watch’ these movies? Opposite ends of the couch? Separate seats entirely? Cause I’m willing to bet that not only do you cuddle during them, but Eddie initiates it.”

She’s right. But friends can cuddle without being romantically interested in each other. He and Robin cuddle sometimes. He and Tommy used to cuddle all the time before they drifted apart. Cuddling doesn’t mean Eddie’s interested in being courted by him.

He repeats the sentiment to her.

“I’m just saying, I think he’d be interested if you court him.”

“She’s right.”

Steve practically jumps out of his skin. He hadn’t heard Eddie approach the circulation counter. Embarrassment floods his cheeks. “Eddie, what–”

“You know I can hear everything you guys say, right? This place isn’t that big, and your voices are loud.”

Steve wants to shrivel up in a hole and die. He’s going to have to change his identity and move to a different state in order to escape his mortification. He’s going to have to–wait. Did he say . . .

“Did you say she was right?”

“Yeah. I feel like I’m going crazy with anticipation for when you start courting me,” Eddie easily admits. “I would have started courting you, but you seem like the kind of guy who’s traditional in that sense.”

Oh, god. He gets to court Eddie. Eddie wants him to court him. This revelation makes him want to sprint home to grab the gifts he’s been accumulating over the past few months and give them all to him at once.

Calm down, tiger. No need to rush it. Eddie deserves a proper courting ritual.

“So, when I ask to court you, you’re going to say yes?” His thoughts are in overdrive. He needs the confirmation before he gets ahead of himself with planning.

“Yes,” Eddie smiles.

Steve takes in a deep breath. “Eddie, sweetie, I’m going to need you to leave.”

The omega’s face falls. “What? Why?”

“Because I’m going to start freaking out in a really embarrassing way, and I don’t want you to see it. And,” he shoots him the signature Harrington smile. “I’ve got to start planning out our first date.”

Eddie pulls his hair in front of his face, swaying on the balls of his feet. “Will I still see you for our movie night tonight?”

“Wouldn’t dream of missing it. You still want Beetlejuice?”

Eddie nods.

“See you at eight, then.” He gives him a wink.

As soon as the shop door closes, Steve turns on Robin, eager to start talking through all his ideas until he comes up with the world’s best and most perfect first date.

The beta slumps against the counter. “Oh, god, what have I done?”

[gucciwins]

Love

Love told through actions

A/N: another short story. it's sweet and i hope you enjoy

+

Love in movies was always spoken to be about grand gestures and confessing your love in the rain. Y/N had never been lucky to be loved like that. Y/N cut off relationships because her partners never made her feel the butterflies books talked about. It was always an empty feeling, and Y/N held out for that something more.

It wasn’t until she met Harry that she realized the movies had it wrong. Love wasn’t about putting yourself on the line or professing your love in order not to lose the person you loved. Love was in every little act of kindness a partner did. 

From the moment Harry came into her life he showed her love. It’s one of the biggest reasons she falls in love with more and more each day.

Harry loved to have Y/N’s coffee made in the morning because he knew it would put a smile on her face. 

He loved to help her put on her coat before leaving the house because then he would be assured she wouldn’t be cold. 

He loved holding her hand and putting it in his pocket because he loved keeping her close.

Harry made a playlist of her favorite songs because he knew how much she hated the shuffle playing the same three songs in a row.

He learned how to braid her hair because sometimes she was busy cooking and needed it out of the way. Harry knew a braid would keep it tight, which is also a reason why he always has a claw clip clipped at the end of his shirt. 

It also made Y/N reflect that she pours her love for him in acts of love. She texts him during her lunch break so he knows she is thinking of him. She helps make his bed in the morning when he’s in the shower. Y/N will make extra lunch because she knows he’s forgetful in packing his own. It’s the little things for them. 

Y/N had a rough day at work, she didn’t let Harry know but she would be going to his place after work. She had spare clothes in her pre-packed bag and was ready to enjoy the night with Harry. Y/N knew she might not be fun company but Harry always managed to put a smile on her face. 

When she arrived at his apartment, she parked in his free space knowing he saved it for her. He’d never make her walk in the dark, especially not alone. She walked up, knocking one time and let herself in. Harry didn’t lock the door when he knew she was on her way. Y/N thought it was unsafe but he promised her it was only a few minutes. 

She took off her shoes, lining them up next to Harrys. Her bag was dumped on a nearby chair. Y/N walked inside trying to find Harry but instead found the living room set up with blankets and pillows. There were endless of her favorite snacks almost spilling off the coffee table. The tv was set up to show the newest Trolls movie ready to be played. 

Y/N felt herself well up with tears. Harry set this up for her, for no other reason than because he wanted to. 

Harry walked out to the restroom, drying off his hair and his shorts hanging low. “Hi, honey.” 

Y/N felt herself melt and hurried over to be in his warm embrace. He was quick to welcome her with a kiss to her temple, Y/N placed her own over one of his swallows. 

“You don’t want to watch Trolls,” she sputters. Not believing he’d watch a dumb kid movie simply because they’re herfavorite. 

Harry frowns, running his hands down her back. “I’ll have you know, I’m a big Branch fan. His character development is set to be huge.”

Y/N giggles, because that means he must have watched the other two films on his own. These were comfort movies that couldn’t make her sad. Their job was to have her sing and laugh to the silliness of the characters. 

“Any special reason for the set up?” Y/N asks curious. 

Harry smirks, pulling away to look at her shining eyes. “Can’t I be a good boyfriend and surprise you?”

Y/N shrugs, “sure but feels a little on the nose.” 

Harry drapes his arm over her shoulder and guides her into the bedroom. He has a change of clothes laid on the bed for her. “You didn’t text me a single heart.” Harry hangs up his towel. “You love putting ten hearts to everything so I knew you must be feeling down or something.”

Y/N feels her tears start up again because Harry really does notice everything. She gestures for Harry to come back over to her and he does quickly. Y/N leans up on her toes and places a kiss on Harry’s sweet lips. It’s an “I love you” one they both don’t have to voice because it’s felt. 

“I’m going to suck your dick so good after we watch the Trolls.” Harry throws his head back in surprise. 

He pulls her into another kiss, much longer and much more passionate. “Don’t take long, I’ve thrown your favorite blanket in the dryer.”

Another, I love you. 

[dreamingumbrellas]

why tua s1 is a masterpiece and 2-4 give me a migraine

i gotta use my english degree for something so lets talk about it

i’d like to note beforehand, that i’ve only seen about half of season 4. but given everything i’ve heard about it, i’ve decided to avoid watching it for my own mental wellbeing. i really haven’t enjoyed the last three seasons much, mostly i’ve been dredging through because of how much i love season 1. it feels painfully like seasons 1 and seasons 2-4 are for completely different fucking shows–particularly in tone.

i think tua season 1 attracted attention to its unique themes that are lost in the rest of the series. the primary themes are of trauma and dysfunctional family dynamics. it’s a story about seven severely abused siblings learning to cope with their trauma and reconnect as adults. season 1’s tone is somber. it shows us glimpses of the characters’ childhoods, and how it affects them in their adult lives. the characters in season 1 were, most importantly, flawed! they were assholes, because trauma turns people into assholes sometimes! 

you can directly trace back the siblings’ character flaws to the shit reggie put them through. Luther was the golden boy, which put too much responsibility on his shoulders and isolated him from his siblings. As a result, Luther is ultra-loyal to his dead father, in obvious denial of the abuse he endured because he was never able to form an identity for himself outside of reggie and the academy! he is the only one that never moved on. and then reggie turned luther into (for lack of a better term) a giant monkey without his consent, causing him to hate himself and even further alienate himself from the rest of the world. 

diego never left the ‘number 2’ headspace. he fights with luther even into adulthood. despite how much he claims to hate his father, he became a vigilante likely as an effort to finally be good enough for his dad. and lets not forget (unlike the writers) about his stutter–something that formed in childhood and came back as an adult when he was triggered with memories of his childhood. he’s inherently defensive because reginald pit the siblings against one another constantly.

allison is a narcissist–though, when we meet her in season 1, she’s more of a narcissist in recovery. she’s recognized how her childhood affected her and wants to become a better person to make up for the mistakes of her past. what mistakes again? well, she used her powers on her daughter because 1. she was never told no. reggie encouraged the usage of her powers, and the household where she grew up was violent, manipulative, and competitive. she had no sense of real normalcy, so she never learned how to build a happy, healthy family for her daughter. to cope with her trauma, she clung to her fame–this is shown both in adulthood and childhood flashbacks–leading her to become a movie star, and not accept her own faults.

klaus, well, klaus is the most obvious example of trauma. mostly due to reggie forcing his powers on him when he was a young childhood. locking him in a mausoleum for hours on end. he became a drug addict as a result. living on the streets, in and out of rehab, and stealing for money. we see him struggle constantly throughout season 1–through his interactions with ghosts (when its very possible he wouldn’t have developed such a fear of them if it weren’t for reggie), with flashbacks to his childhood and (later) to the vietnam war. his inability to take things seriously and his self-destructive behavior are both coping mechanisms. his siblings don’t trust him because of his lying and kleptomaniac tendencies.

five is a character whose development is utterly abandoned after season 1. he was only thirteen years old when he accidentally travelled in time to the apocalypse, where he remained for 45 years. i remind you of this because the writers won’t. he survived those years for his family! because he felt immeasurable guilt for leaving them! he was so lonely for these years that he developed a romantic attachment to a mannequin (something only referenced for a joke in later seasons). he was in an extremely vulnerable position when he was recruited by the handler (a character who was very creepy in her own right) and he was forced to use his childhood ‘superhero’ skillset to essentially become an assassin, a job he loathed himself for. all so he could have a chance to save his family. five is cocky, sarcastic, and yes, wants to save the world, but we forget that he wanted to save his family first. he was willing to sacrifice the world if it meant saving his siblings. and even once he returns to the present, he experiences ptsd flashbacks to his time in the apocalypse. five is severely traumatized and stuck between childhood and adulthood, has lived for far too long and has done too many terrible things to be a child, but is stuck in a childs body and never got the chance to emotionally mature past the age of 13. this in no way resembles the five we get in later seasons.

in season 1, ben is a tragedy. he is the character that haunts the narrative (literally). his death was the reason the family split up. he experienced an incredibly traumatic childhood, forced to slaughter people against his will. all so that he could die tragically young (we’ll get into his cause of death later). he’s stuck following klaus around for years, unable to interact with anyone else. he watched his brother deteriorate in front of him with no way to help. he’s angry about his death and sometimes takes out his frustrations on klaus. but at the same time, he was ‘the kindest’ of all the siblings. he cares deeply about his family, but can’t do anything about it.

i think it’s easy to forget that the initial focus of the show was viktor. viktor, who was told how unremarkable he was again and again. who was isolated not just from the world but from his own family as well. who was drugged up from an incredibly young age and forced to ignore his emotions. yes, the umbrella academy was abusive. but being isolated from his siblings was just another form of abuse. he grew up to resent his family on a lot of levels, writing his book as a method to vent his frustrations but only ended up in driving his siblings further away. viktor went through a lot of shit in season 1, and resulted in him ending the world. but did his family kill him? no. because that was the point of the entire show. that despite their trauma and how much they might resent one another, the siblings still loved each other more than the rest of the world put together. 

everything ive outlined are the elements that make up season 1, and are almost entirely forgotten about later. but by losing the integrity of the characters, they lost the narrative. the point of the umbrella academy was never saving the world–it was about a broken family reconciling with one another despite everything. these points of trauma are taken seriously. it was the complexity of these characters, at least in my opinion, that attracted attention towards them. and sure, we didn’t love every character all the time. remember how much luther was hated in season 1? but it’s because he was realistic. these characters, and the shit they went through, weren’t a joke. and the season ended off in a way that forshadowed these elements being explored more in depth. remember how it ended?

with the seven siblings holding hands as the world exploded around them. and for only a few seconds, we saw them transform back into their child selves.

now, this plot point (whatever it might have been) was instantly cancelled and forgotten about in season 2. but it really makes you think about the season we could have gotten: the characters being forced back into their childhood, having to confront the root of their trauma and essentially, all their problems. they could look back at what happened to them with a mature perspective and worked through it, realizing that they were not each other’s enemies. they could have made up for lost time, helped eachother heal, and ultimately prevent the apocalpyse by being family. you know, something that would have actually wrapped up the narrative nicely.

so, what happened?

the shows original themes of trauma, and repentance, and family were abandoned in favor of humor and spectacle. it seems like the creators misinterpreted what made the first season so successful. sure, the first season had a lot of funny moments and great fight scenes. but it was the emotional depth and complexity that made the show what it was. but worse than that, it continued to spit in the faces of the characters trauma, downplaying it in almost every way possible.

klaus’ relapses were played for comedy. his fear of ghosts was drastically downplayed with the use of cartoonish ghost-buster ass looking ghosts. five’s ptsd was never acknowledged again; his coping mechanism, dolores, became a joke. luther lost all character complexity entirely, instead becoming a himbo (who we love, but, still). viktor rarely brought up the feelings from his childhood, and nobody acknowledged his tell-all book again.

one of the things that infuriated me the most was the incorporation of reginald in later seasons. lets remind ourselves of some things: he purchased seven children, treated them like objects without names, trained them tirelessly and deprived them of a childhood, traumatized them by turning them into murderers, pitted them against one another, and literally tortured them. and that’s only the things we see him do on screen. you cannot convince me for a second that any of the siblings would ever be able to be the same room as that man without having serious flashbacks. I don’t believe for one second that they’d work with him, trust him, or empathize with him in any capacity (except maybe luther) except they do, consistently. even five, who is easily the smartest member of the academy, and extremely protective of his siblings.

and- LEST WE FUCKING DISREGARD- reginald MURDERED ben.

the moment that happened on screen felt like the last shovel of dirt on tua 1’s grave. supposedly all the siblings REMEMBERED this incident in seasons 1-3. and yet they went to their fathers funeral, spoke to him (relatively) civilly, and teamed up with him after seeing for themselves their father shoot their brother in the back of the head for seemingly no reason. not only did they apparently not hold this against their father, but they never mentioned it once in three seasons.

and yes, i know, there is a very simple reason for this. it was obviously made up at the last moment for plot convenience. but the implications for this being retconned in are damning for the characters. by writing this in, the writers decided that the siblings commitment to one another is meaningless. that the foundations upon which this show was created, are fucking meaningless. they threw away not only the individual complexity of each character, but also their relationship as a family.

[tossawary]

Okay, we finished "Kung Fu Panda 4" and I didn't like it. It was, at best, "okay" to me. It felt visually underwhelming, emotionally shallow, and the world it presented felt underwritten. There are bones of character arcs there that are... fine... but the actual execution felt hasty and unearned, with little sense of real danger or stakes, and they kept stomping on potential emotional depth by defaulting to jokes all the time instead of balancing that with quiet contemplation or real angst sometimes. It felt like a series of disconnected, television-quality, jokey romps.

Like, a lot of the fights in KFP1 were great because they were 1) visually stunning, 2) with real stakes and danger, and 3) serious emotional relevance. Tai Lung's escape sequence from his underground prison shows off how deadly and clever he is, building dread over the fact that he's coming for Shifu and Po. Tai Lung versus the Furious Five is Shifu's old student versus the new ones, on a precarious rope bridge, showing off how deadly and clever both sides are. (BOTH Tigress and Tai Lung are not happy Po has been chosen as the Dragon Warrior instead of them.) Tai Lung versus Shifu is rife with personal history and pain on both sides, as they tear into the Jade Palace during a thunderstorm. Tai Lung versus Po is more humorous, but it feels like relief after all that previous stress, and Po gets to show off everything he's learned physically and how he's grown emotionally.

In KFP4, the most visually interesting fight to me was when Po had fallen through the floor after the first Chameleon confirmation, so he was fighting the lizard guards in a dust cloud of inky silhouettes. It was visually different and could have presented a creative challenge with decreased visuals for Po, but it barely lasted a minute.

And none of the fights felt particularly emotionally compelling to me; a lot of them were very jokey and didn't have interesting stakes. The Chameleon is so painfully underdeveloped as a character and has no interesting emotional connection to Po. She DOES have an emotional connection to Zhen the fox, who I also felt was not well-developed, but that relationship also felt underdeveloped and without compelling emotional stakes to me, so their final confrontation didn't feel particularly satisfying. It didn't dig into the pain the same way confrontations with villains like Tai Lung and Lord Shen did.

It didn't feel like Po grew as a person at all. He didn't want to choose a replacement and then he changed his mind, but... I felt like we didn't dig into his resistance. I liked how emotionally vulnerable and also emotionally enduring Po has been in previous films, and I don't feel like we really got to see him open up and connect to Zhen properly.

Also, Po and Zhen felt like they were the same age, so... why is she a good replacement? Po didn't feel like the teacher between them. If there's a theme of "having achieved your goals, it is time to cultivate the next generation", I don't think the movie did it well. I think it would have been improved by the small change of making Zhen a child, obvious in both appearance and personality, very skilled in her own way but prone to making bad decisions and stuck in a bad situation. More vulnerable. More in need of guidance and support via Po's hard-won experiences. (Awkwafina does not make me think "child" or "youth"; her voice makes me think: "That is a grown ass woman.")

I think the movie would have been much more interesting if it had been about Po taking on his own students and struggling to be a teacher, with the different approaches needed for different children. (Movie Trailer Voice: "The Dragon Warrior takes on his greatest challenge yet..." Switch to Po's shocked face as he says: "Teaching?!") Frankly, it's a little weird that the Jade Palace doesn't have any younger disciples at this point anyway. I have vague memories of Po teaching the other pandas to fight in KFP3, but they were motivated by protecting themselves from an active threat, so it would be different.

Like, the first KFP movie came out in 2008. It has been a WHILE. Po is getting older. He's completed the arc of becoming the Dragon Warrior and Master of the Valley of Peace in the initial trilogy, sooooo... he SHOULD be looking forward.

We could open the movie with Po in some fight or another. It's cool. It's badass. Po is having a good time. Po saves the day and the local villagers, defeats the bad guy, and then at the very end... he gets a crick in his back from a relatively innocuous movement. Ow. He signs autographs for the crowd while holding himself at an awkward angle and trying to hide his injury.

Po then goes to the restaurant opening as he does in the movie. He helps open it while trying to hide the crick in his back. Both of his dads are there and concerned for him. One of them could whip out some funky "traditional" remedy for comedy purposes and Po is like, "Ugh, Dad, not again!" (This is a problem Po has dealt with before.)

Both of Po's dads should be visually older. Panda dad could have a cane now. Goose dad is still running around for his restaurant, but he's slower than he used to be and his eyes aren't so good anymore.

Goose dad has perhaps even hired a couple new cooks and servers for his newly renovated, larger restaurant. Things are changing. He needs the help. Po is too busy with martial arts. Goose dad is obviously struggling trying to teach and manage his new employees; one of the young cooks doesn't get Goose dad's explanations and Goose dad is frequently telling one of the young servers to stop playing with [object that is not a phone but is definitely standing in for a phone to the modern audience].

Po isn't surprised by this (he's obviously discussed it with his dad beforehand), but it's obvious that he feels both fondly for his Goose dad and a little sad that he's kind of been replaced. His face has a conflicted smile. He can even confide in Panda dad about this.

Or, perhaps Master Shifu is here! Master Shifu has come to the restaurant opening because he is friendly-ish with both of Po's fathers and enjoys the food. Perhaps it is implied that Shifu has come here with Po before. Shifu is by this point very used to Po's antics as the Dragon Warrior, and while he disapproves of the autographs for adoring fans on principle, he thinks such arrogance and fawning is dangerous, he by now trusts that Po's heart is in the right place and knows that Po will always put the Valley of Peace first.

Po is jump-scared by Master Shifu sitting beside him casually eating noodles. Shifu is relaxing a LITTLE into semi-retirement and also enjoys scaring Po like that. "I was here when you sat down," Shifu says calmly, and it is clear he's messing with Po. (Shifu is also visually a little older.)

Lines are exchanged which indicate their affection for each other (they've come so far!) and some of Shifu's opinions listed above. Shifu calls Po out for badly hiding an injury. Po whines about how this didn't used to happen so often. Shifu says some wise proverb about aging that Po doesn't process immediately, then Shifu translates bluntly, "You're getting older, Po, it happens."

Po whines a little bit. He gets dramatic and has some miniature crisis because he still feels young and childish at heart. There's a joke sequence where we zoom into Po's mind, perhaps with a different style of animation, as Po imagines fighting battles against bandits as an elderly panda with a long beard and a walker. Perhaps it could even be a diverging reimagining of his opening dream sequence from KFP1. He's still kicking ass somehow, there's just a bunch of jokes about the annoying parts of getting older. (The elderly Furious Five didn't show up because they fell asleep in the middle of the day or something.)

Po is snapped out of his daydream by something. Maybe one of the new servers dropped a stack of bowls, there's a loud CRASH. Shifu could be just sitting there calmly, eating, patiently waiting for Po to get back from his dramatic crisis daydream. Shifu is used to that by now.

Po is like, "Master Shifu, you're super old, right?" Shifu, unimpressed, says nothing. Po begs him for the secrets of kicking ass while being old and fragile. Shifu has some blunt, old-school badass response about pushing through the pain. And maybe Po is like, "Yeah, that's what a real warrior would do!" And then he reached for his chopsticks and somehow pulls at the crick again. Ow.

Shifu softens and says that Po has been the Dragon Warrior and a Master for some time now, he has learned a great many things, done a great many impressive deeds, and it is time that Po take the next step towards true mastery. He must take students.

Po reacts with incredulous surprise.

Cut forward. On the way back to the Jade Palace, Po is complaining to Shifu about how he still feels like a student most of the time. Shifu counters that Po taught the other pandas how to protect themselves. Po says that that was a special case.

And maybe Po is a little nervous about change, but the thing is...? I feel like Po would be REALLY excited to have his own students once he settled into the idea a little. Po is a kung fu nerd. Po should know a lot about famous master-student pairs. Po is also maybe a little lonely with the Furious Five gone. (Allegedly, the studio was not keen about the cost of hiring Angelina Jolie back for even a few lines as Tigress.) Po loves learning about kung fu and sharing his love for kung fu!!! I would love to see a character honestly THRILLED for this next stage in their life.

Po should be EXCITED to train his own "Furious Five"! He loves them! He loves that stuff! He wants his own team!

Po and Shifu get back to the Jade Palace and it turns out that Shifu (being the all-knowing control freak that he is) has apparently already selected three new children to be Po's first students. Shifu has chilled a bit but still loves planning his students' lives for them.

(The other benefit to this is that we don't have to waste valuable screen time finding these students. We can learn about the backstories as the movie goes on, but we can for now go straight into Po bonding with these new characters and struggling with meeting their individual needs.)

(I know that Universal allegedly set a strict limit on the length of the movie, because they felt like kids wouldn't be able to pay attention to a long one, and also shorter movies allow for more screenings in a day and also more money.)

Po is excited to share kung fu with these new disciples, but he gets tripped up by the fact that each of these three kids has their own personality quirks and learning styles. They have their own skills. They have their own flaws and vulnerabilities. (One of them could even be connected to the main villain of this movie somehow. A "traitor" stuck in a bad situation.) They don't always get along with each other; they're each vying for Po's attention. (Maybe one of them actually wanted to be taught by Tigress and is grumpy about getting Po.)

Po tries to cook a great meal for them to share together and he can't even get that right on the first try; the kids all have conflicting likes and dislikes. One of them doesn't like dumplings at all! The horror!

Po: "What's wrong, buddy? You're not eating your food..."

10-year-old Student (whose family was killed by the movie's villain): "The only thing that I'm hungry for... is VENGEANCE."

*lightning flashes in the background outside the window and everything*

Po: "...Okay, I love the energy, but that's not on the menu right now. We have tofu."

Student: "...I don't like tofu."

Teaching presents the opportunity for Po to mishandle various situations. He might accidentally upset all three of the kids in different ways. He might feel a little resentful that Shifu shoved him into this without warning and is barely helping. He starts to get stressed when a new mysterious villain shows up in the Valley of Peace and he has to handle that AND three struggling children at the same time. Maybe he gets a little snappish when the kids don't listen to him in a dangerous situation.

And I think Po would feel especially badly about this because of how he has been occasionally failed by each of his father figures. His goose dad discouraged him from following his dreams and has been jealous regarding Po's birth family. Shifu was an ASSHOLE to Po at first. His panda dad was tragically absent and their relationship is sometimes a little awkward. Po thought that his bad experiences would have made him automatically good at this, because he knew how to be better, but it feels like he's doing even worse.

Po and Shifu could have a great heart-to-heart over this, where Shifu ends up (indirectly perhaps) apologizing for springing this on Po, but insists that Po is already doing better than him and that he did it because he knew Po would be a great teacher. Shifu could also pledge to help a little more, Po need only ask. He doesn't have to do it alone.

(I thought that Po's dads in KFP4 didn't have a good storyline. They were overly comedic in a film that already had enough comedy on Po's side of things, and I didn't think that the attempts at emotion near the end landed. They didn't have a compelling role in the film. And Shifu was basically absent from the movie. It's possible to just hire different actors if the originals are too expensive, isn't it?)

Vulnerable students would bring serious stakes back into the fights. Po in KFP4 was essentially unbeatable, with little to fear in almost any situation he entered, because he can handle himself even against dozens of enemies by this point. But his students cannot do that! He would have to protect them! And if there's two or three of them, then he can't easily protect all of them at once. One of them could get injured in some fight to up the stakes for Po.

I don't have anything more concrete from here, because that would involve creating proper student OCs for Po and working out how their arcs would mesh with the Chameleon or another villain. I like the idea of one student secretly working with the Chameleon as per the actual movie. Perhaps another student could have actually lost their family or their home because of the Chameleon, which later puts this student in greater emotional conflict with the "traitor" student.

It's just... if the idea was to challenge Po and have him grow as a person, I don't think they achieved that effectively. He felt a little flat to me. Overly naive and condescending. I was not compelled by his relationship with Zhen, which felt a little shallow, without good chemistry, and like it was happening more between equals than someone Po could really teach. A trio of new students or something like that would have breathed even greater new life back into the franchise.

Hmmm... anything else to say... The people I was watching it with and I picked a bunch of nitpicky holes into the plotting and world building. Nothing super duper egregious. Just a lot of things that didn't add up well or could have been tweaked. (Why were the names "Steve" and "Scott" used in this movie??? It's a joke, but it's not a very funny joke, and it feels representative of a larger lack of attention to detail. It's a shallow joke at the expense of the cohesion of the world and now I'm distractedly confused as to when Western elements were established in this film franchise. Surely there was a Chinese pun to be made there that didn't have to appeal to anglophone audiences???)

I was not impressed by the "and then everyone clapped" ending where all the spirit villains told Po that he was cool. It felt like it was undermining previous storylines to have all of them find their inner peace and not try something. Like, uh, the 3rd movie starts with Kai having been imprisoned in the spirit realm for a long time and busting out because he's still a jerk, so even if Kai has magically chilled now, why are ALL of them in peaceful agreement? I would have thought Tai Lung and Shen and Kai would all fucking hate each other. This is taking off their nasty edges without having earned that development.

I feel like I just watched someone miss the obvious turn because they decided that going another direction would be "more fun" or "better" somehow, but it was not. Just take the obvious turn and give Po his own "Furious Three" kid students! (They're workshopping the name.)

[smalltownrobin]

I'm actually so tired of these surface level readings and interpretations of Vickie.

I'm not about to argue Vickie has been developed well so far, okay? We barely saw her, and we still haven't been told much explicitly about her, and I hate that, I wish they payed more attention to her since she's their only canonically bi character (so far) and she's going to be partnered with one of the main cast, not to mention she's half of their only sapphic relationship. It SUCKS.

HOWEVER.

Calling her just a carbon copy and saying Robin "deserves" a better romantic plot is ridiculous??

How can she deserve a better romantic storyline when we haven't even seen all of it yet? We are at the beginning of their plot, we know there's more to come and we can be pretty certain they're going to progress into a proper relationship, or at least admit feelings for each other. I wish we saw more of them in s4, but we can mostly gather where they're going with the next season based on circumstance and how the characters have interacted with each other so far. That kind of Joyce/Bob dynamic of one of them not knowing anything about the upside down I think is such a sweet concept for Robin? It could bring out new sides of her if she's the one guiding Vickie through all of it, or even trying to keep her away from it. Obviously if you don't like that you don't have to, but saying she should have something "better" really sounds like you've not even thought about it.

Then saying she deserves better because Vickie is just a carbon copy of her is actually so silly to me, she deserves better than someone who understands the way her brain works and can relate to her? Robin's friends love her and care about her, but ultimately they don't know how to handle her sometimes. Vickie sharing one trait with her that will make both of them feel seen and understood is not lazy or boring, it's normal and even beneficial for partners to share traits like that.

The "carbon copy" thing really needs to stop because you sound five years old I'm sorry. They both ramble and they're both in band. Yet they dress totally differently, have different taste in movies (or are we all forgetting Robin likes classic black and white movies while Vickie watches raunchy movies about teenage sex), even speak and act differently despite sharing the rambling thing.

Most of Vickie's character is in the subtext (which I hope will be expanded on s5), but from what we've seen of her she does have some traits that don't seem to be in Robin's character (some things Robin does or the way she acts being a direct result of upside down monster hunting capers, whereas Vickie just does it on her own). To me they're pretty distinct from each other while sharing some essential traits they can connect on.

If that's just not what you like, that's okay! Ship what you want to ship, like who you want to like, but just put a bit more thought into it if you're going to tell people why you hate rovickie for the millionth time. It's okay to have a preference, but don't speak as if you're making a profound point about sapphic representation when you yourself aren't looking that much into it.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

do you happen to enjoy fairy tales as much as (character) Miss Raven does? I got the feeling not just because of- well, you choosing that as a big characteristic on her, but also bc of how you sometimes talk about your fav characters in scenarios where they have "princely" attitudes or stuff like that HHAHSHSHSH plus I think a certain amount of that type of writing shows in your pieces (which I love!!!)

if the answer is yes, then I wanted to ask: what kind of dairy tales are your favorites? is there certain motifs you specially like?

YES 🤡 I’m super into fairy tales! One of my favorite Disney movies is Enchanted, but I also love the Shrek universe (Shrek 2 and Puss in Boots 2, my beloveds) and Ever After High before it quietly got cancelled. I listen to fairy tale-themed songs (I’d recommend Cinderella Step by Daoko; been listening to that a lot lately), read fairy tale retelling novels, collect fairy tale themed blind box toys… All of it 😭 And one of my favorite anime ever is Princess Tutu, which references a lot of classic ballet and fairy tales ✨

As I mentioned in this post, Miss Raven (the OC) is not meant to be a self-insert, but she is in part informed by my own tastes since I did create her. I injected her with my love of fairy tales, but tried to incorporate that in a way that makes sense. While she was still an actual bird, she often people watched and then daydreamed about being a part of “that world”. Her wild imagination eventually leads to this rose-colored expectations of how great “that world” is. She’s expecting a fairy tale but is then slammed with the reality that the students at NRC aren’t exactly the perfect princes she was imagining. Miss Raven copes with it by being delulu daydreaming and penning stories~

Before TWST corrupted me, I love Love LOVED princely/knightly characters… and butlers and bug brother-types still I blame that in part knowing me enjoying fairy tales so much. snvsjwbskwkekdbsk I-I didn’t realize that that kind of dreaminess bled through into my writing 😭

I think it’s pretty obvious by my blog name, but I love Alice in Wonderland for its whimsy and nonsensicalness. Many of the motifs that commonly appear in Alice (mushrooms, card suits, tea and sweets, talking flowers, clocks, white rabbits, etc.) are charming to me. It’s a big reason why I was super into the White Rabbit Fest event. Anything Alice-inspired… I’m so tempted to grab 😔 I once went to an afternoon tea inspired by this story, which was so fun! I’d like to go again someday, and this time with my TWST plushies.

Some other stories I like are Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and The Ugly Duckling (though this one is more a fable than a fairy tale). I also quite like stories told in ballet, such as Swan Lake and Coppelia. If you squint at Miss Raven, you’ll notice that she has elements from each of these stories. I just really enjoy stories with themes of self discovery and/or getting lost but then finding your way. Again, this is also echoed in Miss Raven’s own growth and development journey.

[queer-ragnelle]

hello..👋👋

as someone who wants to get into arthurian legends.. where do you think I should start? is there a precise canon to follow? oh and.. this might be a stupid question but.. how would you describe guinevere's and lancelot's relationship...? i personally really like them because of what I've heard online, but i got shamed for liking it a while ago from people who really hated guinevere and said gawain or galehaut(not sure if i spelled it right) would be better for lancelot..

Hello anon!

I have a Beginner’s Guide to Medieval Arthuriana pinned on my blog. There’s no precise canon to follow, but you’ll get the most bang for your buck reading the works of Chrétien de Troyes and the Vulgate Cycle. Much of what Chrétien developed ended up in the Vulgate, like Lancelot rescuing Guinevere from kidnapping, but there are more elements added from other stories, such as Lancelot’s upbringing in the lake which originated from Lanzelet by Ulrich von Zatzikoven. On the other hand, Yvain’s journey as Knight with the Lion doesn’t make it into the Vulgate, so that’s worth reading on its own.

Regarding the part about people shaming you: block them if you haven’t already and anyone else who does so in future. I’m terribly sorry those people were unwelcoming as you begin to read and learn about Arthurian Legend. Let that not reflect on the community as a whole—there’s many lovely people here that’ll be happy to help you along. I hope you’re able to cultivate a positive online experience to the best of your ability and start enjoying the legends with us! :^D

But back to the fun stuff—I also really like Guinevere/Lancelot! My favorite dynamic is when Arthur is included too, but Guin is my number one pick for Lancey. ;^) It’s hard to describe them in so few words but I think it’s important to establish that they’re friends. This is an oft overlooked aspect that really deserves attention. They care for each other deeply. She helps him out of his madness and he helps her out of danger. This is something Arthur couldn’t do for either of them, much as he wanted to. That’s what makes the pair special, to me.

As for shipping wars about medieval characters….kinda ridiculous! And shaming other people over it is just abhorrent. I’m sorry you had to deal with that! Personally I enjoy Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot and Galehaut/Lancelot. I think it’s obvious I favor Gawain with his wife Ragnelle lol but Gawain/Lancelot is fine too. Gawain can have a little Lancelot. As a treat. I even enjoy “crackship” type pairings, like Bedivere/Lancelot or Kay/Lancelot or maybe a little [unrequited] Agravaine/Lancelot, and if the author or filmmaker chooses to write her in a positive light, Elaine/Lancelot as well. But that’s just it—there’s certainly no such thing as a “better” person(s) to couple with Lancelot. It’s literally fake. It’s fiction. It’s for fun! Doesn’t sound like the people you’ve encountered were having very much fun and put that on you, which was wrong.

Here I’d like to mention I run a discord server called the Arthurian Theater Server. Every weekend I stream TV shows and movies, mostly Arthurian, sometimes random fantasy. But it’s more than visual media—my friends and I share resources, character playlists, art we made, stories we wrote, we’ll liveblog retellings or newly discovered medlit translations, and discuss anything else Arthurian! We have custom made emojis for all the knights and ladies, a variety of original art stickers of the characters provided by several members, and an array of sounds bites ripped from films and TV for the soundboard to be played while streaming. Tumblr can be a little hard to navigate with the unreliable tag system, so this server is dedicated to an organized and moderated exchange of ideas and content. You’re welcome to join us!

Let me know if you have any other questions, it’s never a bother. Take care!

[cheesecakeluvrs]

Rogue and Gambit in X-men 97’

This is neither One Piece nor Sanami but I’m obsessed with X-men 97’ currently and I need to talk about this somewhere

I keep seeing people say that Rogue is cheating on Gambit in X-men 97’ but that is absolutely not the truth. This is understandable because the general knowledge is that Rogue and Gambit are together because they are in the comics and I’m sure some people who watched the original X-men animated series as a child look back and remember them being together. While they were awfully flirting with one another they never got together officially

This is also probably because Rogue and Gambit were a pretty fresh couple in the early nineties so I’m sure the writers just went with the same flirty approach that they had before they got together in the comics

While it’s clear they have feelings for each other as they kiss 2 times and almost another (although one of those kisses was not consensual) and Rogue also calls herself “Mrs. Lebeau” when she needed a name (which I’m sure there was also confusion on Rogues name due to it also being fresh) they are definitely NOT together

Gambit is literally my favorite character so it’s hard bashing him so much like this but he has no right to get jealous of Rogue. Everyone on the internet keeps saying “poor Gambit” and such and I just wish they would watch the original

Gambit in the original is just not a great guy a lot of the time to Rogue. First, one time Morph flirted with Gambit as Rogue and told him that she had been lying about not being able to touch people (LIKE HOW DO YOU FALL FOR THAT HOW DOWN BAD ARE YOU) so his reaction to that is to go up to her while she’s sleeping and kissing her resulting in his passing out. Like I get you want this woman but leave her to her sleep

Second, he makes kinda creepy comments too. Like one time he tells her “you need to lay off the fried chicken” and one time she was just out of her usual fighting clothes and he said “you should dress up for me sometime” (but she did flirt back in that situation so I’ll give him that one)

Lastly, saying Rogue cheated on him is crazy because Gambit flirts and hits on so many people (even though they’re not serious he still can’t get jealous of someone else’s relationship if he’s doing that) then has the audacity to get all angsty when Rogue and Cody go on a date or when Rogue and Archangel touch and share a sentimental moment due to Rogue absorbing some of his memories one time

Okay okay and DESPITE all this I am still Rogue and Gambits biggest shipper and cheering for them in 97’ so what is going on with Magneto. People who did a single google search keep coming up with the “well Rogue and Magneto were canon in the comics”, yeah they got married in “Age of Apocalypse” but referencing couples outside of 616 is crazy. You know who else has been together when we are counting EVERY timeline? LITERALLY EVERYONE. This is Marvel comics, this is not new, everyone has hooked up and everyone will continue to hook up. Just look up a list of all the people Wolverine alone has been with

Sure they COULD go with Rogue and Magneto for X-men 97’ and I’m just a stupid dum dum for believing otherwise but I see no reason to with all the buildup of the original and that sad face Rogue made in episode 4 was a little hm….

I think this is all for a little drama, a little development, a little spice because if Marvel hates anything it’s happy couples with no problems. I am praying that this is just to improve their relationship and at the end of this stupid love triangle they will finally be together but who knows

There is also a little theory that Magneto and Rogue actually aren’t doing something too crazy. I just find it weird that they haven’t actually shown us anything (I know they can’t show us them doing something devious but maybe at least kissing) only heavily suggesting it with the training room and Gambits nightmare thing. It’s just because a lot of times shows and movies will heavily force something like someone cheating then they later find out that they were actually just spending so much time together because they were planning their birthday party or something

I sound as desperate and delusional as Gambit but I’m doing all I can. I probably should’ve just waited for tomorrow then posted this after watching the new episode but I couldn’t wait so maybe all of my thoughts and opinions will change in a few hours

[pumpkinpie59]

ranking the tmnt shows based on plot writing, character writing, and what my preferences are:

first off, plot writing

6, tnm

idk what to put here.

5, 2012

it really sucks because its first season’s writing is unironically my favorite writing in the franchise. but then the show steadily gets messier and more inconsistent writing as it goes forward. especially in season 4. i wish i could defend it more but it is at the bottom for me. besides tnm ig

4, 87

i actually like the arcs in 87, but the thing with 87 is that … the plot isn’t the point! but i don’t consider that a flaw. the show is a comedy first, and it’s great at what it does. so yes, even if the plot episodes are pretty forgettable compared to the goofier episodes, it’s not the worst thing in the world. but it’s still number 4.

3, rise

rise is kinda weird because even tho most of the series is comedy filler like 87, it’s most known for its plot. but i think it earns that because sometimes the show will throw in episodes that foreshadow the big plot at the end of the season, and it handles it pretty well for the most part.

2, tales

i honestly really enjoyed the way the plots were set up in tales. since it’s pretty new, i won’t spoil it, but i think my only actual complaint was the framing devices they used. but otherwise it was pretty good.

1, 03

every once in a while, the show would have a hiccup writing-wise, but overall i liked the flow of the arcs and stories it was trying to tell. out of all the tmnt shows, 03 was the best at juggling several arcs at once and committing to giving them closure (cough. unlike 2012-).

okay character writing rankings.

6, tnm

tbf this one has venus. and a pretty good donnie.

5, rise

this is so controversial i know. but i just get so frustrated with how the show handles leo and donnie’s writing specifically. they feel ooc half the time and there’s little consistency. and then raph and mikey (my favorites of the team) were sidelined a lot.

4, 2012

mikey has no character growth whatsoever and is an adhd stereotype. donnie’s development gets thrown to the background so you only notice it if you’re paying attention to him the entire time. leonardo gradually gets worse over the course of the series and we never see him get better. they couldn’t decide what to do with karai half the time. april’s arc got switched for a different one halfway through (i still love her tho). the only one with a decent arc is raph, and i still think it could’ve been better ://

3, 03

this is not a knock at 03. i just think that character growth wasn’t its priority. telling stories was. however we do occasionally see them go through arcs. most obvious is leo, but i also enjoy seeing raph get less hostile and trusting leo more over the course of the first season.

2, 87

you’d have to watch the whole show to see it, but there’s almost … an accidental ?? arc for each turtle??? raphael gets angrier up until it reaches typical raphael levels in red sky, donatello goes through ups and downs of wishing he was never mutated while still pursuing human-level knowledge, michelangelo early on in the show wished he was more human (he changes his mind after becoming human once, but the feeling lingers a bit sometimes), and leonardo goes through anxieties related to his team (he acts differently about being without them depending on the season). but even without considering development, their personalities are written fantastically and i love seeing how they interact with the world around them.

1, tales

this is suspect to change since we’ve only had a movie and a 12-episode show. but what i’ve seen so far, i’ve really liked. my only complaint is that donnie feels different in the show vs the movie ://

and ,,, my biases

6, rise

sorry.

5, tnm

guilty pleasure idk what to say. uh. venus de milo. and turtlelamb <33

4, tales

i liked it a lot! i just want more characters and world building. we’ll see where it goes in the future.

3, 03

i love many aspects of the show. it’s not quite as entertaining to me as the next to tho. idk why but my attention span just can’t handle too much of it.

2, 2012

i grew up with this one. does it suck? oh yeah for sure lmao. but it’s nostalgic and i like a lot of the characters. and season 1 particularly is amazing. sucks for the rest of the show tho lol. i will unashamedly bully it.

1, 87

wow. who would’ve— i mean. man. who could have possibly guessed— this one has lotus blossom so i’d say this one can’t be beat.

[mutant-mayhem]

[MUTANT MAYHEM SPOILERS] i think mm april x leo was handled infinity better than 2012 april x donnie (obligatory turtles is turtles i love the show but-) with the 2012 show donnies crush on april is like half his character and the romance is executed,, so badly. donnie is being a total creep and every time you think he learns his lesson he gets rewarded for “learning” to not be a weirdo (which should be common sense ffs) with a kiss. most of april and donnies interactions are just that: donnie being a creep and april pretending to not notice. you rarely see them bond or do anything with each other that shows theyre compatible. on top of all that theres no payoff. they never even get together at the end. with mm leos crush on april id really say is just a foot note and is kinda just forgotten about until the mid credits scene. yeah sometimes hes awkward around her but it really just more so comes off as a teenagers not knowing how to handle his first crush and being kinda cringey about it as opposed to straight up stalkerish behavior. april and leo do still bond with each other- well at least as much as you can in a movie with a 100 minute run time without getting in the way of other things. but there was a time skip in the middle of the movie so it makes the payoff at the end where april agrees to take leo to the prom more believable since there might have been a lot of development off screen (especially since i imagine there were more timeskips during the mid credits scene) overall its not a groundbreaking fantastically written relationship (it is literally just a minor side plot) but it does its job and it didnt give me as many nightmare flashbacks to 12 apritello as i thought it would

[verosikastrikerstellaexcuser]

Gonna jsut put this put here....I think that Stolitz COULD have worked...if they had looked ahead and had a timeline

But no, instead they made Stolas....well, all that and are now desperately trying to retcon/undo his character to make Stolitz happen by the end of the show (instead of just planning ahead, or having, you know, actual character growth)

Like, you don't have to have a 100% complete timeline but you need to have at least an outline, if you wanted Blitz and Stolas to end up together you shouldn't have set Stolas up as someone who is using Blitz purely for sex and Blitz being uncomfortable with it :/

And honestly? this applies to literally every writing mistake in not only helluva boss but hazbin hotel as well

Oh 100% it could have worked and thats the saddest thing. If St*las was portrayed like his Instagram self he could have been. They wanted to make St*litz a cute fun ship with just some drama and issues they have to work past first but by the time they decided that, it was too late, they'd already written several fucking episodes and Murder Family had already happened.

The biggest problem is that damn deal. The deal turned St*litz into sexual extortion. I think if they wanted messy and imperfect and miscommunication, what should have been done instead is this:

They never knew each other as friends, that trope is fucking stupid and its unnecessary to their story, not to mention creepy with Blitz being purchased for a day as entertainment for St*las. Blitz seduces St*las to steal his grimoire. But then St*las has such a good time he tells Blitz after "Lol of course I know you're the reason its missing. Why do you want it?" and when Blitz explains his situation St*las is sympathetic to him not being able to obtain a crystal and allows him to keep it outside the full moon. Naturally from there because they see each other every full moon, they begin to hit it off and develop a flirty friendship. They both act like they did in the old instagram, going shopping and watching horse movies etc. They both get to actually have interests in common, just fucking something man. I like the idea of St*las finding Blitz's humor funny, especially since Blitz never had that with others when trying to perform in the circus etc. It would mean a lot to him I bet.

With this version of events you could still have had Blitz's fears about just being entertainment for rich ruling class St*las, and he could be "up and down" for lack of a better term with St*las, depending on whats going on. For example, after seeing Verosika again, you could make Blitz become cagey and irritable with St*las and push him away because it makes his fears of ruining yet another relationship if he had one bubble to the surface. But then other times, he reaches out to St*las when hes frightened of dying alone etc. While St*las is madly in love with Blitz but sees how cagey Blitz can get and how he often seems to need to pull away. Able to tell that Blitz has a lot of issues hes working through, St*las so doesn't dare push things too hard and tries to keep things non serious. This in turn would feed Blitz's idea of just being entertainment even more, even though of course its unintentional and has good motivations on the part of St*las as he'd try to not be putting too much on Blitz.

And there you go. You've written a flawed repressed gay dad that caused discord in the family home by going with the fling that was sprung on him without splitting from Stella first, humiliating her. He could also maybe sometimes get too distracted chasing Blitz that he forgets to prioritize his daughter. This would have made him a flawed dad thats trying and bad at communicating without making him a sexually exploiting piece of shit. If they wanted soft more wholesome St*las, this was how to do it, imo. Let them have actual chemistry and build up via meeting over and over on the full moon. Let St*las be a tease sometimes without it being too far and sexual harassment that is against Blitz's will. But nah. They made him a glorified SAer instead.

Given how St*las has resonated with a lot of gay men with the themes of repression etc, it fucking sucks. They could have had something great, I like the idea of either a villain or a genuinely nicer St*las honestly. The problem is that they needed to fucking pick one before being 1 season into the whole show. But they didn't. This is why you plan your shows.

[starsopinions]

Sylki should have been a sibling relationship

Loki season 1 starts with Loki from The Avengers, Loki is at a very low point in his life, and he hates himself. I have seen people claiming that he falls in love with himself because he is just such a narcissist, but he doesn't even like himself let alone a different version of himself. He hasn’t had any of the character development of the later movies yet so why would the writers try and give him a romance plot when there is such a good opportunity to have Loki and Sylvie have a sibling relationship which neither of them had growing up. So here is why is think Sylki should have been a sibling relationship.

Sibling relationship

In Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok we see Loki and Thor’s relationship building and slowly getting better but before that and up until The Avengers, they fight all the time and Loki is angry at Odin and Thor. Loki constantly feels left out and, in his own words, lives in Thor’s shadow. So when his life is suddenly uprooted by the TVA and he meets Sylvie, instead of being interested romantically he could instead take her under his wing and have a more sibling-like relationship. He could then see what it is like to have a good relationship with a sibling, in contrast to what his relationship with Thor was like. 

I think this could also work to set up a future reunion between Thor and Loki. Kevin Feige recently said: “But for that meeting to really be fulfilling, we have to get Loki to a certain place emotionally.” I think that this sibling relationship could get him there. He could see what went wrong between him and Thor and see that maybe Thor didn’t always do the right thing but he meant well. Loki would be the ‘older sibling’ in this situation which could help him gain more insight into Thor’s decisions and have a better understanding of them.

I think that, on the flip side, it also works well from Sylvie’s point of view. She barely remembers Asgard or Frigga and probably can’t recall ever having a (good) relationship with Thor. She has been on the run her entire life and has never known real friendship or family. So Loki could teach her what it means to have a family, or they could even discover it together seeing as Loki doesn’t have the best relationship with his family either. Loki could teach her what Frigga taught him and tell her stories about their home (imagine how cute that would be). Sylvie could learn to trust again and experience fun in her life. 

Sylki doesn’t work

Besides this, I also want to shine some light on why I think that Sylki, as a romantic relationship, does not work. As I said earlier, Loki is at a really low point in his life and it doesn’t make sense to give him a romantic interest because he has issues and he desperately needs some character development which is just blatantly ignored in favour of this romantic storyline. But even his romantic interest doesn’t seem to be ready for any romance in her life. Sylvie has barely had the chance to see what life is like and it seems such a weird choice to immediately jump into something romantic without her getting the chance to live. There is also the argument that these characters may not be ready for love but that sometimes it is just there, no matter if you are ready or not. But I don’t agree with that because these aren’t real people, there are writers who can 100% decide what happens. So I think they should get that character development that they need through their sibling relationship. 

I think something else that has been bothering me is that it is kind of, maybe, possibly incest. I know the lines of that are blurry because obviously, we have never seen something like this before in real life so it’s hard to judge, I do understand if anyone else doesn’t think it is weird, but it just doesn't sit right with me. I also think the show writers realised this and that’s why Sylvie isn’t named Loki and she doesn’t look like Loki at all and all that makes it even weirder.

Chemistry

Another issue I have with this couple is that, in my opinion, they just aren’t that cute together. They don’t have any romantic chemistry and all their bonding seems more sibling-like rather than anything else. Take for instance season 1, episode 3. They are on Lamentis and they are fighting over the TemPad (around 6:30 if you want to watch it back), their bickering and taunts seem so sibling-like. Another example is season 1, episode 4. They are both captured and are about to meet The Time-keepers (around 35:00). The way Sylvie checks in on Loki, I just don’t see them as a couple they act like siblings. Even the iconic blanket sharing moment (S1, ep 5 30:00), the awkwardness and the way Loki tries to take care of Sylvie. To me, it just seems like an older brother trying to take care of Sylvie. 

Lokius

And on top of all of that, I think there is one more point left to make. There is a much more suitable match for Loki right there, and it’s Mobius! But like I said, I think Loki needs some character development before he is truly ready for an actual relationship. Especially because this show is about Loki and a part of that is that he is bisexual and genderfluid which isn’t explored at all in the show so I think it would be cool to see him coming out as bisexual in season 1 and slowly growing comfortable around Mobius. I think it would fit the themes of the show well and a good slow burn is always welcome in my book. Also, did y’all see the way Loki searched for Mobius in season 2, episode 1? Because that’s the kind of chemistry I’m missing in Sylki!! 

I’m very excited to see where they will take us with Loki season 2. I think so far (2 episodes in) they are doing an amazing job with storytelling, comedy and cinematography and as always Tom, Sophia and the rest of the cast have been absolutely killing it!! Let me know if you agree with me and don’t forget to maybe reblog and like and all that fun Tumblr stuff :) 

Disclaimer: This is no hate at all to anyone who worked on the show! I am a huge fan but these are just my opinions! :D

[zhongrin]

childhood 🍬❤️

◇ characters ◇ zhongli

◇ tags ◇ death, depersonalization/derealization disorder, misunderstandings galore, but also teeth-rotting fluff, crack at the end

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡 ⬙ 𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡

you don't even remember when you first met zhongli. he's in every single one of your birthday photos starting with your first.

he's just. always been there????

he's only a year older than you, but acts like he's much older sometimes.

being classmates, he's very close with your older sister guizhong. the three of you always hang out together, and sometimes zhongli's big brother osial even joins in.

naturally you go to the same school too.

and well, like almost all the girls in the school, you might have developed a tiny teeny crush on zhongli. i mean, how could you not? zhongli is so nice compared to the other boys. he doesn't pull your hair to get your attention, he shares candies with you, and he has the cutest smile!

you tell this to guizhong shyly and she laughs, but she gives you a knowing look and tells you to 'go for it' with a wink, whatever that means.

and then, one particular day while you're hanging out without her or osial around, zhongli pulls you closer and tells you that he has a secret to share with you.

oh??? could it be???

your little heart beats frantically in your chest. it feels like a balloon is slowly inflating inside you as the longer zhongli's silence stretches. that same adorable grin stretches his lips, chubby cheeks dusted in pink as he says:

"i think i want to marry guizhong one day."

.....

congrats, your heart just got broken to pieces at the tender age of eight :)

out of pettiness and misplaced anger, you cross your arms and huff.

"you can't!"

"wha- why?!"

"c-cause... cause!! i'm gonna marry osial!!!"

............

it makes sense to your eight years old brain, okay??? if you marry osial, zhongli can't possibly marry your sister, right?????

as always, you confide to guizhong - because you share everything with your sister and you desperately need someone to vent to - and she's literally rolling on the floor howling with laughter about this whole mess.

great, your sister finds the tragic situation funny.

naturally, things get a little.... awkward, between you and zhongli. you both kind of drift apart and you no longer hang out together every weekend.

so instead, you hang out with osial.

you're not sure what makes him want to hang out with you. you suspect zhongli told him about your "crush". which makes you a little mad, even though you basically did the same thing, ratting his crush to guizhong.

but anyway. you find that osial is a good company, even though he's more rambunctious than his younger brother. he's a different kind of fun, at least.

and then....

when you start high school, guizhong gets into an accident.

it's much too sudden. you waved her goodbye in the morning as she dropped you to your class... and then suddenly you're in the hospital later in the day, watching silently as your parents sob over her unmoving form on the hospital bed.

.....

strange.

your chest feels empty.

like someone just scooped a whole section of it off you and dumped it somewhere else.

....

.......

..........

since then, it's like you're watching a movie.

a really dull, boring one.

wake up. brush your teeth. chew on cardboard-like stuff. school. extracurricular. shower. more tasteless chewing. homework. study. sleep. rinse and repeat.

osial comes over every now and then. and he tries to bring you out, make you laugh like you used to, tease you to get a reaction out of you - something, anything...

.... but the most you give him is an empty stare and a smile that doesn't reach your eyes.

it isn't until when zhongli confronts you at school one day, that you finally break.

you don't know why. you haven't seen him or talked to him properly in months, maybe years, even.

you remember osial telling you that zhongli was in a similar state when he found out about guizhong. 

...... oh, right. he must have loved her all these times.

you don't really remember what transpired, but you remember seeing tears running down zhongli's cheeks, and that triggered your own tears, and that led to these two high-schoolers holding onto each other, crying and sobbing into each other's shoulders.

by the time your eyes hurt, you feel... present. like you're finally seeing things from your own eyes. you're highly aware of zhongli's warm arms around you, the way his wet lashes droop, the smell of osmanthus flowers enveloping your senses-

oh.

oh no.

not again.

"do you still love her?"

gods, you really want to hit yourself right now.

he regards you in confusion. after that crying session, that's what you're asking him first?

"of course, she will always be a dear friend to me."

"not like that-" you sigh and decide to drop the subject, "... nevermind."

"..... ah, are you referring to that confession from years ago?" zhongli chuckles as if he's remembering a fond memory, "perhaps i was, back then. but a lot of things have changed since then, so i can confidently say that the statement is now invalid."

you stay silent, and he watches you for a while before saying in a softer tone that sounds.... sad?

"don't worry, i know you still love osial."

............ h a h ?

"y-y-you remember that?"

"of course. and you've been hanging out with him constantly even until now, so it is quite obvious, i'd say. i... thought you were dating, at first, which is why i kept my distance... until that mindless brute hit me, saying i was being delusional and a very bad friend for not being there when you needed it most... i tried telling him that you really liked him, however-"

"zhongli, no, i said that because i was- i dunno- i was a kid and you were my first love and you just had to go and say you wanted to marry my sister- it was out of spite, okay?!"

dead.

silence.

"..."

"..."

"....... i was your first love? 'was'...?"

there's a hopeful look in his amber eyes, and you avert your eyes instinctively. but zhongli steps into your field of vision again stubbornly, eyes narrowed in determination as he slowly takes your hand into his.

"i... this might sound inappropriate given our current situation, and what has just transpired, but... [name], i adore you."

you blink and experimentally pinches your hand. pain has never felt so welcome in your brain.

"like- as a- friend?" you stammer, the familiar hope blossoming in your chest, but you're oh so scared.

scared of being disappointed again, of having your heart broken, again-

"my apologies, let me rephrase that. i bear romantic attractions to you."

the balloon pops. tears prick the corner of your eyes once more.

you think you can hear guizhong giggling and patting your back.

"will you... allow me another chance? to make you fall in love with me once more?"

yes, yes yes, a thousand times yes, you want to scream.

but... you've always been a little petty, haven't you?

".... fine," you keep your voice as haughty and aloof as possible, but your smile betrays your attempt at posing an indifferent attitude, "but it won't be easy."

zhongli smiles.

"a battle hard-won is a battle worth remembering. you won't regret this, [name]."

fast forward to twenty years later as you visit guizhong's grave with your children - and yes, you can certainly say you didn't regret giving your now-husband a second chance.

"do you remember the days when we were so young and foolish? sometimes i wish i could rewind time and fix all the mistakes i made... but i fear the butterfly effect will take you away from my arms, so i think i should just savor this moment instead." "husband, i love you and all but can we please go to sleep it's 4am."

extra 1:

"dear, you are sure you don't want to marry my brother anymore, right?"

"ZHONGLI. THAT WAS LIKE. I DUNNO. FIFTY YEARS AGO?? ALSO WE'RE LITERALLY MARRIED??? JUST COME HELP ME CHANGE OUR BABY'S DIAPER????"

"i'm just making sure..."

extra 2:

"i bet my dearest sister is laughing at us right now."

"i believe you would be correct, my love."

© zhongrin | 2022 ◆ no repost. reblogs much appreciated. feel free to reach out to submit suggestions, feedback, comments, or if you just want to talk!

◇ taglist ◇ @paintingsofdragonspine | @genshinparty | @abyssmal-skies | @hamdehlesmis | @depressivecomforts | @sophiethewitch1 | @why-am-i-here-someone-save-me | @sunnshineflxwer | @heartonthemoon | @yuutasbabe | @percyval-archives | @carbs-need-more-love | @rebeccka | @queen-belial | @stygianoir | @niverine | @silentmoths

ps. if you want to be removed/added from the taglist, just send an ask!

[thoseyoulove]

Just finished Part I of The Vampire Lestat and here are my first impressions (I skipped IWTV *for now* since the show has already covered it... I'll read it eventually):

I can't tell yet if I like it or not.

So far, I enjoy the concept and the characters seem to be compelling. In terms of eventfulness, there hasn't been much, but I do have some interest in these people. They all appear to be complicated and have a lot of baggage, which I guess makes them appealing and gives the story potential. Let's see where this goes.

I don't hate, but I also don't love Anne's writing style. I don't think she narrates and describes things very well, she lingers on stuff I don't care that much for and doesn't provide details on things I'm actually curious about? There are some abrupt changes that annoy me sometimes as well.

I do believe this might be an attempt to get ourselves in the mind of Lestat and how he process to the world around him, though? It would make sense considering how chaotic he is.

Another thing I like is how he got so obsessed with the 20th Century, music and theater. The descriptions really give me the idea of someone experiencing the world for the first time (in a while) and considering how isolated he was growing up or after everything that happened with Louis/Claudia, it makes sense that he is so fascinated by all these discoveries. And it's really immersive and sweet to see how he in awe he is with all of it.

He also speaks like he is somebody born in the 1700s. So I give her credits for that as well.

Pretty sure Lestat is neurodivergent at this point (ADHD is basically a yes from me, maybe he has dyslexia and/or autism too).

And his memory is trash. So often he doesn't know if he actually did something, or if it were someone else, or if it was just a thought... I'm like, ARE YOU OKAY (he isn't)? By the way, this is painfully relatable because I also have poor short (and long-term) memory. Heaven help him (and moi).

That boy is a water sign if I've ever seen one.

He cries A LOT. I don't remember ever seeing any (book/show/movie) character cry that much, specially in such a short time lol. And the fact this is coming from a man and not a woman... There you go with defying gender norms, king!

Lestat having Borderline Personality Disorder isn't even a headcanon at this point, but a FACT.

He probably hasn't been hugged enough times in his life and it SHOWS.

Even with the abuse in his family, his frustration with his mother and the "malady of mortality", he manages to stay optimistic in a way that feels so childlike and naive that makes my heart warm and ache for him. I'm like, you deserve better.

Again, I don't know if I'm enjoying or not, but I do like the fact I can imagine Sam's Lestat doing all of this on season 3. Picturing Sam bringing these moments to life is the BEST PART of the reading.

Would I still read these books if the show never existed? That's what I need to find out.

I can see why some people got so invested in this character, though. At least for now. Some stuff hit close to home and I find myself rooting for him. I imagine that for the ones who read it at as a teenager, it must've made them feel less alone and seen to some extent.

At this moment, it's Lestat > Gabrielle > Nicholas for me.

Lestat's father isn't a person I care about, but depending on how the show adapts him, I guess it could be a good opportunity for a blind actor. It would be killing two birds with one stone, because it would develop Lestat's backstory, but also give space for a category that barely gets any job in the industry. I would love to see a powerful guest star that is a an actual disabled person playing a disabled character. Sure, we would hate him, but if someone manages to show their potential, book more roles and maybe even earn an award or nomination, why not?

Whenever Lestat talks about kissing his mother I get confused if the incest is already happening or not lol. Because I normally would just imagine a platonic kiss on the cheek or forehead and I haven't seen anything explicitly inappropriate. I don't know if it's because I'm reading the Brazilian Portuguese version, or if Anne wasn't that clear, or maybe I'm slow and naive, but nothing big seems to have happened? But I'm familiar with those spoilers, so... Anyway, whatever. It's not like I was counting the days to read about incest, so I don't really care about it being evident or not. I just mean that for now they seem to be more of a "parent that didn't want kids, but cares for him in a distant, but still real way and child that seeks for any crumbs of love and affection" kind of relationship.

Speaking of that, Lestat is SO DESPERATE for love, omg. Nicki was basically the first person besides his mother that was nice to him and he told the guy ALL OF HIS LIFE STORY AND FELL IN LOVE almost immediately? Get up!

Peak BPD/ADHD/maybe autistic/water sign/Scorpio behavior. MY GOD.

Still don't know how to picture Gabrielle and who I fancast playing her. I do think I have some sense of who she is now, which is nice. I also have some actors that could pass for Sam's parent and have the appropriate age to play her in my mental library, but I can't form a face yet. Not the face of a real actress or even an imaginary face, it's just a blur so far. Which sucks because I loooooooooove imagining fancasts, specially for a show as great as this one, but I'm just waiting for the revelation to come to me lmao.