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samiralula01 · 4 years

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Jason Todd is the Anti-Batman

* A pointless rambling of the relationship and parallels between Bruce Wayne and Jason Todd.

Picture this opening scene: There are two boys in a dark alley.

One is dressed in an expensive suit with a tie his dead father helped him with only earlier that evening. His hands are stained red with the same blood now puddled on the grimy cement. His face is in shock.

The second boy is dressed in tattered jeans and hoodie. His hands are stained with tires grease and are clutching a tire iron. His face is in shock.

Decades later, there are two more scenes to consider.

A seriously injured man sits slumped over in his father’s study. Without warning, a bat crashes through the window, and everything falls into place. He now knows what he needs to do.

Elsewhere, an emotionally distraught teenager is curled up into a fetal position on a hotel room floor. Heart wrenching cries can be heard from him. But it is only momentary. He now knows what he needs to do.

These two individuals are Bruce Wayne and Jason Todd. While they are both broken and determined men, Batman is a hero. The Red Hood is not. He is the anti-Batman and this is why.

Two Boys in an Alleyway

Despite similarities in their stories’ early themes and elements, Bruce and Jason came to walk down very different paths. One of justice, and the other vengeance. Batman is determined to protect the innocent and Jason more so on punishing the guilty. Both their ideologies have intrinsic flaws, of course, and will naturally clash often. But this wasn’t always the case.

Before they became a father and son perpetually in mourning for who they once were and what could have been, Bruce and Jason were remarkably similar. The two are cut from the same cloth and Bruce knows this better than anyone else.

In the Dumpster Slasher three-part story line, (Batman #414, #421, #422) Bruce becomes emotional. Violent. He sits in the batcave alone that night and contemplates his emotions.

“Nearly blew it. I let it get too personal. Lost my detachment...nearly lost control. Almost beat Cutter to death. Wouldn’t have been any big loss.”

Only one issue later, at the end of this story arc, Robin is out on the streets and becomes angry when he happens upon a pimp is threatening a prostitute with a knife. Now, I want you to compare his line here to Bruce’s and note what Jim Gordon said to him as well.

Batman: "I think he’s had enough, Robin. What were you trying to do, kill him?" Robin (Jason): “Would it’ve been that big of a loss if I had?”

It is important to note here that Batman is not worried or upset just because Jason roughs up a pimp. That would be hypocritical considering his own earlier actions. If anything, it’s because one of the main reasons Batman even takes in these kids, these ‘robins,’ is because he doesn’t want them to be like him.

And Jason was acting just like him.

Jason can and has screwed up and failed due to his own actions, but it was never the reason Batman became upset with him. His reactions in the comics when Jason does things like running ahead and ‘jumping the gun,’ are more like this:

He either makes a teaching moment out of it or is attempts to understand Jason’s reasons in doing any such thing. When Bruce does become harsh in his discipline, it’s either when he feels as though Jason has endangered his own life or as I said, he acts too much like him.

While there are quite a few more similarities between Bruce and Jason that makes them alike, such as both being introverted and interested in obtaining all sorts of knowledge that they might not even feel is relevant, they are both, at the core of their characters, deeply caring and compassionate people.

The differences only start to show with how they act on it.

The Not-So Dynamic Duo?

“What happened to you as a child, the terror, the pain, the horrors (...) you were broken, and I thought I could put the pieces back together. I thought I could do for you what could never be done for me. Make you whole.”

Hot take. Jason Todd is a villain and is best written as a villain.

Not in that campy way like he’s written during Dick and Damian’s Batman and Robin run while wearing that stupid pill-headed hood, (although, I grant he has a few lines that are enjoyable to read) but in all his serious, vengeful and downright brutal motives.

The Red Hood is the perfect Batman villain because he’s so different from what the widely perceived perfect foil to the controlled and disciplined Bat is...the Joker.

The Red Hood was vengeance at its purest. It is justice without being tempered by mercy. It is the rage of victims who were forgotten to become statistics. While other vigilantes wait for a cure, hope for rehabilitation, and pretend their system works, the Red Hood is a man of no such faith.

And this makes him a villain. And a damn good one.

During the Red Hood’s time as a crime lord in Gotham, he goes around blowing up buildings. He throws grenades into trucks. He mows down his competition with gunfire. Batman comes upon the bloodied hanged corpse of a man he was finished interrogating.

But what is so compelling about this all is that before all the murder, all the guns and explosions, Jason Todd was a very different little boy. And all the great and memorable villains start that way.

The Joker is not someone you’re meant to sympathize with or even understand. In fact, I find him more terrifying because he’s unknown. He has no backstory (unless you want to believe the one he gave in Killing Joke, but the clown has a new story for every face he meets) and seemingly does what he does for a laugh of all things.

Jason Todd is in pain. He’s traumatized. Betrayed. Buried. Replaced. He is no one’s son because his father abandoned him.

Once upon a time, Jason Todd was a boy who saved himself. One of the biggest lies that Batman himself perpetuates is that he saved Jason from a life of crime. He tells Alfred that Jason was always dangerous. Bruce simply took him off the streets before he could be any worse.

But I don’t believe that’s true.

Jason grew up surrounded by crime, poverty, substance abuse and yet this amazing kid saved himself everyday by making a conscious choice to be kind and care about school, care about keeping his mother alive for over a year when he was just a child himself. That amazing kid was magic.

Jason Todd as Robin was magic.

“Jason smiles. A bright smile. The kind Robin, the Boy Wonder should have.”

A good portion of his character’s assassination was in order to push the Tim is the perfect Robin idea. It was editorial decisions. The same ‘suits’ who insisted that Tim Drake be the Robin in the New Adventures cartoon despite having Jason’s backstory and personality. But I digress on that.

Jason Todd was an introverted, studious, and emphatic person. He wanted to make friends with other kids his age even though he was a loner at heart. He joined the school baseball team and was a class officer, even if his training kept him from most social interactions.

He was also very much in tune with non-verbal cues and small changes in the environment around him. He was a thoughtful person who could be found admiring the stars or passing by scenery. When he teams up with the New Teen Titans, we get to see these aspects of his personality:

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so beautiful before. We’re actually riding above the clouds.”

“Every so often, I notice you become awfully agitated...like something was going on you didn’t want to be part of. Something’s wrong, isn’t it?”

It didn’t take Bruce long to fall in love with this boy and ask to legally adopt him. He found him to be smart, thoughtful, quick at learning and funny as hell. Their first meeting opens with Batman laughing in the very same alley his heart was ripped out decades earlier.

Even in the Rebirth canon, (RHATO #48) we see that Bruce is already set on taking in Jason while he’s still with Ma Gunn’s school. He likes this kid. A lot.

“Butler, actually. You’ll meet him someday, I’m sure.”

Jason Todd was happy. Most of the time. Unfortunately, he still wrestled with depression and would sleep all day on occasion and could be found crying hidden away on his own, withdrawn from the concerned Bruce and Alfred.

In A Death in the Family, Alfred and Bruce sit down and discuss Jason’s worsening mental health, particularly after the Diplomat’s Son where Jason becomes witness to sexual assault, suicide and the failings of both Batman and the GCPD to protect innocent people. Barbara, his tutor, someone he cared about and got along with, is also shot a few months earlier.

Bruce thinks Jason has become suicidal. Alfred does not disagree with this theory and supplements it with things he’s observed himself about the ‘lad.’

“I’ve come upon him, several times, looking at that battered old photograph of his mother and father, crying. When he’s seen me, he’s hidden the picture and left the room, refusing to talk.”

It is then that Jason discovers the truth about his mother at the worst possible time, when he’s not even thinking straight, and thus leads way to the tragedy that will be his murder at the hand’s of the Joker.

The Curse of Jason Todd

“Do you have any idea what you have done?! Do you? You have no inkling of what you’ve created -- what you have unleashed! You have set free a curse upon this world!”

Red Hood: Lost Days, which depicts Jason’s dark post-resurrection origin, opens with Ra’s al Ghul bellowing this line, the steam from the Lazarus Pit still rising off of him.

I’m not going to analyze this line, I’m just using it to supplement a point of mine I hope I’m getting through well enough. The Red Hood is a compelling, tragic villain. He is similar to Batman in ways that Bruce always knew and may have even feared because of how intimately he knows his own deepest, darkest thoughts. Jason is the perfect foil as an antagonist for him because of what he represents to Bruce.

And it’s not his anger, or his rage, or even his brutality.

It’s his compassion. His caring. His emotions. And how they can open up the worst parts of themselves.

Both are motivated by preventing whatever trauma happened to them from ever happening to anyone else. They both trained for years with this motivation. And they’ve both acted out on the very person who inflicted their trauma onto them.

Here’s where their paths start to differ, however, and what separates them with a line of morality.

They both get angry. They both care so damn much. About Gotham, about innocents, about each other. They both get too emotionally invested and deal with consequences related to that. To manage with that, Bruce shuts down. He creates all these choices, rules and symbols. He uses every ounce of his self control to keep them.

Bruce Wayne is not a good person. He forces himself to be with discipline and will. He chooses to be a good man and constantly pushes himself to live up to that. Because it’d be too damn easy to be just like the Red Hood.

Jason doesn’t understand that. Because no matter what Bruce had done or will do, he doesn’t hate him. He can’t. Despite his denial of the fact to different people, he still thinks of Bruce as his father. This great figure that so many others revere and are even intimidated by.

He’s not the only bat-kid to think of Bruce in this light despite the fact that the man is not. It took Dick years to overcome that perception. Tim only just started to begin understanding this true nature after his own father was murdered.

But even if he did understand his (once)father, he still became the complete opposite of him despite so many early parallels. He doesn’t hold back his words and emotions, he doesn’t go into a state of controlled dissociation or emotional disengagement.

Jason Todd—the Red Hood—is Batman without all his rules and control. In a way, he’s what the darkest part of Batman himself wants to be. Jason does what Batman can’t do when it’s needed.

Because in Batman’s book, life beats out justice. Even if he could take down abusers and murderers, he won’t. He will choose saving and protecting lives over the apprehension of killers...he always does.

Batman is justice. Red Hood is vengeance.

Jason is a victim’s fantasy. He punishes and kills the guilty. Something Batman won’t do.

He is the anti-Batman for better or for worse.

#jason todd #bruce wayne #comic meta

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deans-haunted-baby · 3 years

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The Ones Left Behind

Alrighty time for some truth bombs. I’ve had almost a week to absorb the end of Supernatural and season 15 as a whole. And I think this is the moment where I need to throw in my two cents. For all intents and purposes I won’t go in-depth into 15x20 seeing as that conversation will just open up a whole other can of worms and I don’t need that headache. I have my reasons for being less than indifferent with how the Winchesters’ story concluded. So I won’t go there.

Instead I’ll be focusing all my energies on the unsatisfying conclusions of 4 particular characters. Two of which were main cast members (one that was on the show 12 years and one 4 years) while the other two (played by the same dude) were brought back after a decade long hiatus for a much-anticipated comeback only to be wasted and mangled unfairly by Dabb and his hack horde of a writing staff. Call this a follow up to my last post. If I sound bitter I am because these people don’t have a single clue on how to helm these characters, their relationships or their storylines 😠 Nor do they deserve them.

And yes I’m well aware of Kevin Tran, Rowena, Ketch and several others who got the shaft on this show. Those could be future posts for another time.

But I cannot stress this enough; ADAM MILLIGAN, JACK KLINE, MICHAEL AND CASTIEL ALL DESERVED FUCKING BETTER. There is no arguing these facts, none whatsoever. Not one of these characters deserved that exit to be the final chapter in their story. I won’t do an entire analysis of each character’s arc and role in the show as I’ve already done that in my rant about 15x19. But I will highlight how much season 15 royally screwed over these characters and tossed them aside like trash; as if none of them were ever part of/contributed anything to Sam and Dean’s history/world building of Supernatural’s universe.

*WARNING* This is going to get heated.

Before I dive into the heart of these issues I want to state this is not a “shipping post”. I don’t ship anyone on Supernatural, hopefully this blog has been pretty self-explanatory. So I have no arguments/opinions in those areas. I’ve been a fan of this series for 15 years because of the characters, the familial bonds and relationships formed between characters throughout its run. And I’m well-aware that the Winchesters are the lead protagonists of the show, no need to remind me. These are purely my own thoughts based what I’ve obtained from show canon. Let me just say I can’t get over just how much these writers contradicted and ignored what they put forth in the journeys of these four individuals. its a real headscratcher.

You mean to tell me that after TWELVE DAMN YEARS of Castiel being a rebellious warrior angel, searching for his own identity and meaning in life; making that promise to Kelly Kline about raising Jack as his own/risking his life for him. After sacrificing himself for his son a year ago, acknowledging he was satisfied with his role as a father which restored his faith; that it was all because of/for Dean Winchester?

You mean to tell me that after Michael, THE PRINCE OF HEAVEN and PROTECTOR OF HUMANITY, was locked away in a cage with a human whom he emotionally bonded with for thousands of years (10 years our time); who was abandoned, betrayed and manipulated by his neglectful/abusive father. After choosing free will and aligning himself with TFW for humanity’s sake, just sided with the Earth’s destruction because his little brother called him names?

You mean to tell me that Jack, A THREE YEAR OLD CHILD, who’s barely just beginning his life and spent his entire duration on the show wanting to be normal and not wanting to be special. Connecting and being integrated with humans; a child who’s biggest fear was outliving everyone he ever loved. Is suddenly ready to walk away from his family, his home and his teddy bear; to give up being a kid forever and run the universe?

You mean to tell me that Adam, SUPERNATURAL’S MOST INNOCENT CHARACTER and FORGOTTEN THIRD-WINCHESTER BROTHER, after being eaten by ghouls; pulled away from his mother out of Heaven, manipulated by angels, trapped in Hell for thousands of years because Sam and Dean left him there to rot. After coming back and helping his neglectful siblings save the world only to be ripped away from his best friend and THE ONLY OTHER PERSON who gave a damn about him; is sentenced to a life of loneliness, homelessness and turmoil until he dies and ends up in Hell where he’ll mostly be tortured and turned into a demon?

NO. I DO NOT AND WILL NEVER ACCEPT THIS BULLSHIT!

Season 15 not only manages to contradict itself where these characters are concerned (while assassinating them before the final curtain). But the writers deliberately discarded them before giving us that *sarcasm inserted* epic solo-Winchester conclusion. Regardless of how you feel about Adam, Castiel, Jack or Michael, ALL OF THESE CHARACTERS are connected Sam and Dean’s story and part of Supernatural. And when you throw them away like they mean nothing, you’re essentially throwing away a part of the show’s history. You’re ignoring 15 years worth of story building.

As I said I’m not going to go into 15x20 for reasons, it doesn’t offend me as much as what was done before that finale. Because I think those other show exits really affect 15x20 even worse than people realize. You want to know why, I’ll explain.

Lets start off with Castiel and Jack, OH BOY! We know where they end up; running Heaven and the Earth together which is all fine and dandy. I love my Dadstiel father/son duo being an endgame family unit. But here in lies the problem, we never saw it. Not even a cameo. And technically their onscreen storyline ends at 15x18 and 15x19 which is an ugly, anti-climatic bookend to an incredibly deep relationship that had 4 years of development. First you have Castiel who completely forgets why he made that deal with the Empty to begin with. HIS FUCKING SON. Not to mention it wasn’t about true happiness it was about giving himself permission to be happy; there is a difference. And then you have Jack wandering around next episode, vacuuming up power cause suddenly he’s a machine now, acting like he doesn’t give a shit over losing his dad to an entity HE’S BEEN DREADING ABOUT FOR A FUCKING YEAR.

Towards the end of season 15 I noticed neither of these characters were acting like themselves. Their motivations, their personalities and strong ties to one another had mysteriously dissolved. Castiel became less concerned about the danger his son was facing after 15x15 (what the hell was that in 15x17?) and more about speaking when spoken to by either Sam or Dean. Does he know how Dean truly feels about Jack; proclaiming the child is “not family”? I doubt the in-character version of him would let Jack leave with Dean after that insult. Castiel’s not even worried whether or not his son is alive or safe before he makes the big confession later. And for some reason Jack (who’d become heavily suicidal) was more concerned with clinging to the Winchesters, willing to die for them, instead focusing on himself and the one person who’s shown him nothing but unconditional love and given him strength since birth. Both of these characters are canonically depressed and suffer from low self-esteem that was never resolved which makes me furious.

When Chuck killed Jack at the end of season 14, this devastated Castiel in the first half of season 15. He actually got to grieve that loss throughout the episodes and deal with his anger over it, allowing the audience to anticipate the day they’d be reunited one last time. This part of Castiel’s S15 arc also ironically mirrors Jack’s S13 arc of mourning Castiel’s death until resurrecting him. And when this son finally returned to his father, who got to rescue him, it was such a poignant moment between the two. It was a cathartic payoff after witnessing Castiel in so much pain over Jack. There was so much building up between that Dadstiel reunion in 15x11 and the Empty’s pact in 14x08; this was suppose to be a tragic yet pivotal plot-point in both Jack and Castiel’s stories. And with SPN wrapping up we all expected something BIG. Yet somehow the writers retconned the whole thing by making it all about Dean, which is such a gross disservice to these characters and 4 years of storytelling.

For instance, since 15x18 was Castiel’s exit episode, why wasn’t he allowed to hug his son or Sam goodbye one last time? Why didn’t he have more of a focal role instead of standing around majority of the episode with barely any dialogue as so much precious air time was wasted on frivolous things? Why didn’t he get one last badass fight scene with someone like Death instead of being choked out and tossed around like a powerless mortal? Why did the group need to be split up to begin with when it served no purpose either than that *ugh* moment? Why wasn’t Jack allowed to call Castiel “dad” once before the show ended? He deserved to hear his son address him as dad!

AND WHY THE HELL COULDN’T JACK FEEL CASTIEL’S DEATH THE MOMENT IT HAPPENED?

The show already established to the audience the significant cosmic bond these two characters shared since before Jack was even born. It was so powerful it boosted Castiel’s grace. Jack could remember who Castiel was from the womb and that he’d protected his mother. Not to mention HE FUCKING RESURRECTED CASTIEL OUT OF THE EMPTY ONCE WITHOUT GOD’S POWER. You’re telling me Jack couldn’t feel his dad being taken away forever despite how far apart they were? No, he’d feel it in his heart. Had we’d been given a scene like that at the end of 15x18 (something of substance) with actual grief shown in 15x19 maybe the episode would’ve faired better for them.

That said it wasn’t, because Jack was treated the exact same way in his final exit. Hardly any lines and just a bunch of scenes of him standing/walking around until that pathetic reveal at the lake. HE DOESN’T EVEN GET TO INTERACT WITH JAKE ABEL’S MICHAEL/ADAM which would’ve been a great follow-up to the AU!Michael storyline in seasons 13 and 14. I swear these directors didn’t give Alex and Misha any motivation during their last three episodes and it’s evident in their hollow performances. But why would they when the scripts are basically telling their characters to quickly fuck off so the brothers can have their final outing. Jack doesn’t even behave like himself after he becomes the new God. His personality is apathetic, cold, alien, stiff and way too mature for the 3 year old child so closely connected to his family/the human world. In that moment I saw Alex Calvert not Jack Kline. It’s bad enough he doesn’t get a meaningful farewell but again Castiel, HIS DAD, is a complete afterthought to this kid 🥶

And that’s what we’re left with. Forever. A frigid, hollow ending to one of Supernatural’s most healthy, touching, family dynamics. It makes you wonder what was even the point. I can’t even fully enjoy the fact that its canon Jack and Castiel are together fixing Heaven because of what the show presented onscreen as their last hurrah. It’s not sitting right and it makes 15x20 even less appealing to me.

Moving onto Michael and Adam. Get ready for this. I could rant forever about how dirty my boys were done by this show. How they were discarded in the SPN series finale recap etc. just as they were FOR THE LAST TEN FUCKING YEARS. Was there even a plan going on here or was this just everyone making things up as it went? Their ending is the most unsatisfying and cruel thing because its INCOMPLETE. There is no real closure or resolution with them thanks to the monstrosity that was 15x19. AND NO ONE CARES ENOUGH ABOUT THEM TO GIVE A SHIT.

Much as I’ve enjoyed this show for many years, it NEVER deserved Jake Abel, his talent or his time. I keep seeing so many anti posts about Dean Winchester’s final fate in Supernatural and all I can think about is “try being an Adam Milligan fan for the last decade”. I’ve had to watch this boy go through hell with nothing to show for it either than years of memes. ridicule and the show’s mockery in forgetting him. Actually he’s the ONLY CHARACTER in this series you’re encouraged not to remember 😡 Also quick question: why give us this really interesting and healthy relationship between an archangel and its vessel if nothing was ever going to become of it?

At this point I don’t know why Adam or the idea of him was even introduced way back in season 4 let alone revisited in season 5. Because the only thing I see when I look at this character now is SAD WASTED POTENTIAL. Storylines never explored. Relationships that never got off the ground. Backstory we never got to see (like for instance his past with John Winchester and his time in the cage). A character’s birthright (Men of Letters) that was never actualized. AND the unexplained factor that Adam could look directly at Michael’s true form without his eyes burning out (making him a special case). And the thing is he could’ve been a really great character, both him and Michael. They could’ve easily reached popular status just like Castiel given the chance since Jake is a freaking acting-powerhouse. We were given a taste in 15x08 just how awesome these characters could be and how they could’ve contributed so much to the story and its core group. But unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be.

Michael will never redeem himself after years of scrutiny and being made out to be some kind of unhinged monster. This show constantly enjoyed pounding into our brains how fearsome Michael was. Warned us via Lucifer (LUCIFER, PEOPLE!) that he wasn’t rational, compassionate and didn’t care about anything except war, death and destruction. And that he was incapable of feelings and emotions. This is how Supernatural saw Heaven’s Prince and guardian of the Earth. Christ, they actually did a two-year storyline about an evil Michael from the AU world who enjoyed torturing and killing while trying to destroy the universe. I want to know WHAT THE HELL THIS SHOW’S WRITERS HAD AGINST THESE CHARACTERS? Why they felt the need to bring back Jake Abel, AFTER A DECADE OF FANS WANTING THIS, if it was simply to piss all over his characters one last time before the show wrapped. This is absolutely unprofessional and childish; the fact that Jake is taking this bullshit in stride makes it all the more shameful 😡

We could’ve learned so much more about Michael’s past and his present relationship with Adam. These characters didn’t need to sit in the cage for a decade they could’ve easily been incorporated back into the show as far as season 8 or 10! And been an asset to the Darkness storyline in season 11.There were characters and storylines introduced that served no purpose. Why did we need to keep seeing characters like Charlie Bradbury or (as much as I like him) Crowley or Garth (love him too) or Lucifer or Abaddon or the Wayward sisters? I would’ve much preferred having Adam and Michael around and got to know them instead; especially after 15x08. I would’ve wanted to see what their dynamic with TFW could’ve become had they been long-time allies. Did John ever tell Mary about Adam’s existence? I’d like to see what her reaction would’ve been like had the Winchesters remembered him during that damn 300th episode. I guess that’s another loose end untied.

But because of what Supernatural did to these two characters, it forever taints Sam and Dean. I don’t think Dabb or purist fans realize this. But when new viewers come into this show about two brothers preaching important things like “saving people”, “family first” or “family don’t end in blood” they’re going to see how badly the main protagonists treated their innocent half brother. How Castiel and Jack were treated. They’re going to see the heroes of the story abandoning this kid in Hell forever with no intention of EVER rescuing him. And that’s why their final appearance leaves such a bad taste going into 15x20. Cause as much as Dabb and co didn’t give a shit about Adam and Michael they also didn’t give a rat’s ass about protecting Sam and Dean’s integrity. That’ll be a stain they can’t undo.

So through all of it, we’re stuck with the abomination that is 15x19 aka the eye-soar to an unfinished/unpolished story of two horribly disregarded characters. Michael gets the pleasure of being character assassinated right before he’s stupidly killed off instead of going out a hero or becoming the next God (as it was his birthright and the setup was there in the narrative). And Adam gets killed off-screen, OUT OF HIS OWN DAMN BODY, then brought back by Jack only to live a miserable, isolated existence since his brothers have nothing to do with him (the dog and car are more important); his best friend is dead, he has no job or money or a fucking home and he’s legally dead! Really what is there left for him besides the brutal fate awaiting in Hell when he dies?

SERIOUSLY THEY COULDN’T GIVE US ONE SCENE WHERE THE WINCHESTERS CHECKED IN ON ADAM TO MAKE SURE HE WAS SAFE?! 🤬 His last scene pretty much sums up this shit for what it is. Tragic. I feel like crying for this poor sweet boy.

Congratulations Dabb, BL and co for giving us these much deserved broken story arcs of characters you destroyed and made OOC before leaving the airways. You did your show’s protagonists justice by doing this *sarcasm inserted* after 15 years of being onscreen. I doubt these idiotic decisions are going to age well in the long run. They certainly don’t look good on the Winchesters. Anyway that’s my hot take for the day.

ALL THESE ACTORS AND THEIR CHARACTERS DESERVED BETTER.

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danganronpasurvivoraskblog · 3 years

Note

Mod, who are your top 10 favorite characters and top 10 least favorite?

//I have actually been wanting to discuss something like this, so I’m glad someone brought it up to me.

//I’ll go through with this, but I won’t be discussing my least favorites, since I don’t want to bring any negativity, and to be honest, I enjoy writing pretty much everyone in this blog. I also fear if I share who my least favorites are in the main series, said characters won’t get as many asks, and I don’t want any unfair bias. I can definitely admit to hating Haiji though, because...well...he obviously won't be receiving any questions anymore. Besides, I doubt many people will disagree with me.

Honorable Mentions:

Makoto Naegi

Mahiru Koizumi

Kirumi Tojo

Kaede Akamatsu

Tsumugi Shirogane

Shuichi Saihara

Iroha Nijiue

Mikihiko Koyasunaga

Yoruko Kabuya

Tsurugi Kinjo

Uchui Porosen

Kibin Hatsudoki

//Though to be honest, everyone may as well be an honorable mention because I love writing every single one of these guys. Also, like I just said, don’t let this top 10 affect your asks. I love every character in this blog and I’m happy to make asks for each and every one of them. It was really hard to narrow it down to 10

#10: Tenko Chabashira

This might seem a little surprising, given that Tenko hasn't had a whole lot of screen time and story relevance so far. She's only been prominent in two arcs, Deadly Harmony and Novoselic Revolution, both of which she didn't have as much screen time as most of the other characters. However, not to spoil anything major, I have big plans for her, and what I've pulled out of her so far is something I'm proud of. My main goal is mainly to give her a bit of development, and tone down on the sexism element of her character. Not remove it entirely, mind you, because let's be real, Tenko unfortunately isn't Tenko without it, but basically to not do what the DR dev team did and make it the forefront of her character, while her other exceedingly good traits are just at the back until later on in the story.

#09: Kokichi Ouma

Kokichi is one of, if not, my favorite character in the original DR series. My main goal of him in this series is trying to grapple with his constantly changing attitude, mainly towards the DRV3 cast besides himself. At first he's glad to see them, then he turns spiteful towards Shuichi and Kaede when they try to fight him, then he straight up just abandons them and attempts to cut off contact. As he is right now, he's conflicted about how to feel about everyone. Sure, they all still hate him, but during Cabaret Kyojin's they came to his defense when he most needed it. That whole arc might've seemed pretty pointless and acted as needless filler, but my true intention of it was to flesh out the characters involved, mainly Kokichi and Kuripa. Speaking of which, that's another plot point that I'm looking forward to branching upon: the little companionship those two have going on right now.

#08: Monaca Towa

Monaca is a character I actually tend to struggle with in the grand scheme of things. The reason being that, arguably, she in canon is the second biggest antagonist in the series behind Junko. What I tried to do with Survivor though, is not make her an antagonist, but make her slowly become more and more redeemable, despite her actions. The reason why I went with this approach is mainly due to Monaca's last appearance in the series, where she states to Toko and Komaru that she's kind of just done with everything to do with Junko and Despair. I don't think it would be easy to bring her back as an antagonist because of THAT fiasco, and that is legitimately one of favorite scenes of her...which is funny because it's from DR3 and I kinda hate the anime. Her whole presence in Survivor is based around the idea of trying to seek redemption, but she doesn't outwardly want to admit this, nor does she really think she's worthy or deserving of said redemption. She's an adult now, and she grew a conscience. A guilty one that weighs her down and makes her come back to earth to basically settle things and make peace, and though it's been difficult, I love how she's turned out so far.

#07: Akira Tsuchiya

I understand many have their reservations about Akira after what he did this arc, but he's still legitimately one of my favorite villains in this blog because despite the fact that he's a psychopath who kills and ruins people all just for causing Despair, he's just kinda super relatable. He constantly lives with the attitude of just being done with everyone's shit, and I know a lot of DR fans can relate to that. He's also the kind of guy who marches to the beat of his own drum, which is obviously a very slow beat. He rarely ever does what Tsumugi tells him to do, unless the plan interests him or gives him something to do, and his character in general is based around the idea of "Shut-in NEET who just so happens to have a power complex." Overall, what makes him unique to me is just how normal he is, especially when he's compared to the chaotic sea that is the Danganronpa Villains.

#06: Mikan Tsumiki

Novoselic Revolution had the very important role in the story of mending Mikan. Without her efforts and the sacrifices she made in that arc, there's a high chance that the group would have failed to retake the kingdom from Angie and Mikihiko. It goes without saying that the screentime Mikan got in this arc was some of my absolute favorite moments on this blog from a writers perspective. A lot of people in DR dislike Mikan for her actions and character change in the third case of the second game, which I really don't think is fair. Mikan was just the character chosen to be afflicted with the Despair Disease. Nothing else would have been changed had it been a different character, so her role early on in Survivor is mainly her trying to come to terms with her actions, as well as things like making things right with Hiyoko (and Ibuki by extrension) and reevaluating whether or not she's a good person. Mikan is an emotionally and mentally broken child, and it's my full intent in my writing of her to heal her wounds like she does for so many other people.

#05: Narumi Osone

Easily my favorite Zetsubou villain in the blog. During Novoselic Revolution, I really buttered up how much I enjoyed writing Mikihiko, but in reality, I was just waiting for the Rebirth Duo (her and Akira) to burst onto the scene. She didn't make for as great a twist villain in Life and Lies of Akeru Yozora as I would've liked her to be, but even now, I still feel like she left an impact. I mean, she committed quite the number of atrocities. The main reason why I like Narumi though, is how she diverges from the rest of the Zetsubou group. While most of them are doing their evil things for reasons that constitute to causing as much Despair as possible, she does it for almost the complete opposite reason. She absolutely despises Despair, and the only reason she's with Organization Zetsubou, is so that she can patiently await and watch as the Hope that stems from the people fighting back. It's also plays into her ideal. Narumi is so obsessed with Hope that she believes that anyone and everyone who is without hope, and gives into Despair, doesn't deserve to live (and ideal that also allows her to easily hit it off with Nagito). To name the best example: The UUV. Their revenge fantasy is based around the Despair they feel post Ayumu and Marin's deaths, and not around the Hope of their goal of reforming society, even if by force. When Narumi notices this, is angers her so much she murders all of them in cold blood, believing them to be beyond redemption. As a final note, Narumi's violent nature and lust for bloodshed (and lest not forget her weird obsession with Makoto) is also made all the more tragic when you remember she's literally just a 14 year old kid with not a lot of life experience. For someone to be this far gone at such a young age is pretty depressing, but it also provides me with a lot of great writing opportunities, and god damn it she isn't a fun character to write.

#04: Mukuro Ikusaba.

I could pretty much just copy/paste the basic things I said about Monaca's personal conflict for Mukuro, but on a much more extreme level. This is something that I plan on actually branching on later down the line, but Mukuro's backstory and reason why she has a presence here is briefly mentioned by Sayaka in one post. To sum up what she said, when the Foundation were first starting to use the machines to bring back the victims of the first killing game, Makoto was the one who suggested possibly bringing Mukuro back, something that understandably, his classmates initially were against. However, at the time, Kyoko was still new to being the Foundation Chairwoman, and Makoto very much pressed the issue with her. Kyoko eventually agreed to the resurrection, but in exchange, any and all actions committed by the soldier, most notably any treacherous or bad ones, would subsequently be Makoto's responsibility. Of course, as you can imagine, Makoto accepted these terms, and Mukuro was resurrected. For a while afterwards, many were very wary of her presence, and most didn't outright accept her as a member of the Foundation, even when the Remnants of Despair officially signed up. What you have to remember is that Mukuro wasn't really brainwashed into helping Junko, at least not in the same way that the Remnants were. Most of what she did for Junko is what she did willingly, but Makoto felt that in reality, Mukuro was just another one of Junko's victims and she'd never known Hope in her life, which is why she turned out so chaotic, so his whole intention of reviving her was to redeem her honor, of which he was pretty much successful. The main trait of Mukuro's though that I tend to focus on, is arguably her most serious: her PTSD. Of all the characters who could have been hit hard with PTSD, it makes the most sense for it to be a soldier, and since the beginning of her revival, Mukuro has been cursed by the lingering ghost of her dead Despair sister. Junko's presence in her mind less drives Mukuro insane though, and simply makes her doubt herself and her presence, wondering if it was worth being revived, or whether or not she truly deserves to live. But regardless of how she feels, she's duty bound to the end, and still supports everyone unquestionably, especially towards those in her own branch being Makoto, her boss, the man who saved her, and of course her undeniable love interest, and Kuripa to whom she disciplines, but also acts as a mother/big sister figure to.

#03: Hajime Hinata.

It might just be me, but I feel like Hajime in particular is the fan fav in this blog. I feel he's shown up in more posts than any other character, which is fine by me given he's also one of my personal favorite characters, and is probably my favorite protagonist (it really changes depending on my mood, honestly, I think they're all as great as each other). The remnants of Despair's conflict is an obvious one that you commonly see in post-game fics such as this one, and in Survivor, and my personal opinion, Hajime is undoubtedly the one who has it the hardest. However, out of all of the characters in the series who HAVE trauma (and let's be real, that's undoubtedly a LOT of characters in both DR canon, and this blog) he's also undoubtedly the one who handles it the best. However, there is a limit to how much pressure he can take, and that causes him to lash out (like he did with Mahiru during Misfortune's Revenge, which I know we don't like to talk about but its the most notable example). He's been through a whole load of shit and the pressure is constantly crushing him like a gigantic boulder, yet he still forces himself to carry it. Outside of my own writing, Hajime has so many conflicting thoughts and trauma in other fics, and in Survivor, I don't intend to flat out copy them, but I do desire to live up to them. The reason why Hajime has so many burdens placed upon him, and as of Misfortune's Revenge now has double as many, yet is still able to keep going strong, is because he's no longer allowing himself to be weighed down by events that are in the past and out of his control. What makes his ideal unique, is that he has power, almost limitless amounts of it, but instead of focusing on what he can do with it, he's more conflicted and focused on what he CAN'T do, and changing the past is one thing he can't, and as of such doesn't focus on it. He only ever focuses on the present, and the future, and worries about that. And you've got to hand it to the guy, while it's definitely been better, his life is actually super good right now. He has at least 15 really great friends/found family members, a home on an island resort, an AI companion in his phone who will always help him out and support him, a smoking-hot red-haired girlfriend, a pretty good job and a lot more. For him, it's not simply a matter of abiding by the Foundation and fixing the chaos that he indirectly caused. It's also about the fear of losing what he has, and wanting to protect it.

#02: Ayumu Fujimori.

I've said this one or two times before, but I think Ayumu turned out spectacular, and when I eventually had to kill him off, I felt really bad about doing so. The main reason why I removed him, and why I currently don't have any plans to bring him back, is due to my future plans, having him around would make little to no sense. He serves mainly as a catalyst for the new phase of the story, a much darker one, and with his death, we enter that phase. I know many people are worried about it, but it's not just Ayumu's reason for being in the story that makes him great. While it isn't obvious right away, the main character that I was trying to portray with him, is that he's basically the darker side of Hajime. The two of them share very similar traits in character, personality and backstory. Some notable points would be

Both of them are incredibly self-doubtful, and that self-doubt caused them to become Ultimate Hopes.

Both of them once held huge admiration for a powerful group of people. For Hajime it was Hope's Peak and for Ayumu it was the Japanese Government

Said power called them useless, which led to their transformation

Both have pretty sad backstories, which involve two different types of cruel parents and family's.

They both have a best friend who likes to sleep.

Said best friend ended up dying horribly right in front of them, with them both unable to do anything about it, which eventually leads them both to go insane and make some bad decisions.

Though their methods differ, ultimately, they both want the same thing: a brighter future for their friends and the people they love

Ayumu might be a threat, and an antagonist, but he doesn't really count as a "villain" per se. At the core, he's basically just a misguided young man, who the world treated like shit, so he just wants to get back at it. He's also an influential figure, pulling many people into his fight, and gaining many supporters outside of his friends in the UUV. For the short time he was on the blog, he was an absolute BLAST to write, and you can damn sure bet I'm going to miss him.

#01: Kuripa Kurafto.

This is undoubtedly the riskiest part of this list, especially since we're talking about an OC here, but I also think a lot of you guys saw this coming. I can understand why some of you might disagree with me on this placement, but I'll tell you now, if you're unimpressed, trust me, I am barely scratching the surface of Kuripa's character. As of such, I have to go on this based off of what's already known about him. His whole character I feel comes full circle at the end of the Ultra Despair Gang arc, in which the first monumental event in the blog actually happens: him killing Haiji Towa by stabbing him in the gut and sending him falling to his death. This is then followed by a speech to Makoto, Komaru, Toko and Byakuya, which basically lays out the key part of Kuripa's character, being his ideals. Every protagonist in Danganronpa goes by a certain ideal that contrasts that of their enemies. For Makoto, it's Hope, for Hajime, it's Future, and for Shuichi it's truth. Kuripa is the complete reverse, being a protagonist that represents Despair. He's not outright a villain, or even a generally bad guy, but he definitely has some apparent darkness to him, and is also incredibly violent when at the peak of rage. Of course, it all stems from a huge event in his life, the murder of his little sister Kotoko by the hands of Matta Gyalusetsu, which has led to his over-arcing conflict: his desire to find Matta and kill him as revenge. I tend to hate characters in stories who have the "My Sister is Dead" archetype or trope, but the main reason is because most characters who have that JUST have that, and for Kuripa that's something I'm trying to avoid. One of the most important parts of Kuripa's character is the contrast between his dark, almost psychopathic side that believes murder is a suitable way to indefinitely solve a problem, and his regular self, who to put simply, is a complete and total clown. He's like a walking meme, and makes a total fool out of himself, either through just being a mindless tomfool, a playful perv, or a loveable idiotic otaku. Still, his presence is indeed important to everyone around him, especially seen through his interactions with Makoto, Kibin, Mukuro, Uchui, Kokichi, The Kyojin's and the High Roller staff. This is another thing in regards to Kuripa's conflict that is quite saddening to. Similar to Hajime, as things currently stand, Kuripa has an excellent life. He's a successful animator who makes a lot of money from his work, he enjoys his time at the Future Foundation and really looks up to both Makoto and Mukuro who both treat him with a reciprocated amount of respect, he gets to work in tangent with his best friend, he has many pals, some of which are part of an anime club, and on top of it all, he has a cute girlfriend who playfully flirts back and forth with him all the time. He has everything a guy could possibly ever want, but due to his one track mind, he can never be satisfied knowing Kotoko's killer is still out there, and he will do whatever it takes to avenge her...even if he needs to cut a few people down to get it...

//Doing this kind of self-reflective character analysis is pretty refreshing and fun to be honest, although, doing it makes it sound like I have a big head, and am complementary of my own writing where I know many might disagree with my techniques and opinions. You're free to, believe me, but please keep any criticism constructive.

-Mod

#tenko chabashira #kokichi ouma #monaca towa #akira tsuchiya #mikan tsumiki #narumi osone #mukuro ikusaba #hajime hinata #ayumu fujimori #kuripa kurafto #self reflection

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mythoughtsxxblog · 4 years

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A Toxic Mess of Entertainment - Secret Life of the American Teenager

Quarantine Update: I've started rewatching this mess of a show for the 100th time (its so infuriating, I can never not rewatch it 💀). And I've decided to rate the characters on this show because they're just all so......interesting.

Ricky Underwood: A precious angel. His character development was fucking amazing. He deserved the absolute world and was the best parent to his child. Despite his tragic childhood and his lifestyle choices/inner struggles, he really turned his life around for his son and honestly became my favorite character on this show. His relationship with John was the cutest and I absolutely adored him and Amy (when she wasn't being annoying/immature).

Amy Juergens: Oh Amy.....so damn annoying, but likable at times. Honestly after rewatching this show so many times I've come to the conclusion that she may have had postpartum depression. She had the signs and seemed to resent her own child at times. I will say though, she had her good moments. Like when she actually acted like an adult and not a little kid. Also her cute moments with Ricky. And honestly, Shailene playing her made me dislike the character less lol

Ben Boykewich: Where the hell do I start with this piece of shit. He was slightly decent the first season, but my God wtf happened...I mean he is honestly creepy as hell. So obsessive, compulsive, and manipulative. I don't understand how the hell Amy went back and forth with him when the better man, her baby daddy, was right there the whole time. Although he's a little bitch, the storyline with Adrian and their baby killed me. It hurt me the first time I watched it and every other time I've seen it. Other than that though, he can fall in a sewer.

Adrian Lee: When I watched the show as a young teenager, I couldn't stand her, but being older now, I grew to like her. I loved her growth throughout the series, but I'll admit she did have her shitty moments. She made dumb ass mistakes (sleeping with Ben, going back to Ricky all the damn time, etc.), but I'm happy she got her happy ending. After everything she went through, she deserved it. I also loved the way her friendship with Grace evolved.

Grace Bowman: God, this bitch was annoying as hell for a good 3 seasons. She had her good moments, but she was so insufferable. Especially when it came to Jack. The storyline where she thought her having sex killed her dad will forever be the dumbest yet funniest shit ever 💀

Jack Pappus: He was alright I guess. I'm very indifferent on him. He had good and bad moments. His obsession with Grace was extremely annoying.

Ashley Juergens: I had a love/hate relationship with Ashley. I loved when she'd drag Amy when she was acting dumb, but Ashley herself acted dumb at times. She was a know-it-all and that annoyed me because it lowkey reminded me of myself 💀 at times I forgot she was the younger sister cause she was more mature than Amy lol.

George Juergens: Though he has his obvious flaws, I freaking love him. He's hilarious and I honestly think we need a reboot of this show with him and Moose 💀 also I loved his father/daughter relationship with Ashley.

Anne Juergens: Molly Ringwald is an icon. I didn't care for the character, but I love her lol. "Everybody forgot my 16th birthday" ICONIC.

Betty Boykewich: A character that had me dying of laughter most of the time. She honestly gave the show the light hearted humor it needed. Jennifer Coolidge is a legend.

Leo Boykewich: One of the more likeable parents on this show. I loved when he'd tell off Ben for how dumb he was acting which was almost 24/7. I also loved his relationship with Ricky. He treated him like a second son and it was sweet to watch.

Henry and Alice: I absolutely love them. They were the perfect duo that offered comic relief.

Bunny: LOVE HER. I would have loved to work in a butcher shop with her lol.

Lauren and Madison: Annoying as hell and honestly were never true friends to Amy. They couldn't keep shit to themselves and honestly the show would have been just fine without them. They were irrelevant characters to me 🤷‍♀️

Tom Bowman: I really liked his character. He brought a different feel to the show. I love that he wasn't treated differently despite him having down syndrome. I also love when actors with down syndrome are given a chance to shine and the actor really shined.

Some Thoughts:

With how the show ended horribly, I'm happy knowing the producer came out and said that in the end Ricky and John follow Amy to NY and ultimately they get married. I still cannot believe I watched this show for 5 years and the finale happened the way it did. But knowing this little fact keeps me at peace lol

Despite my obvious hatred for Ben, I lowkey wish he and Adrian had worked out. Yes they were, at times, extremely toxic, but I thought they had great chemistry.

Nora was awesome. I wish her character had been around since the first season. Her dynamic with George was entertaining af

Even though I didn't really care for Jack, I loved his and Tom's friendship.

#secret life of the american teenager #tslotat #amy juergens #ricky underwood #shailene woodley

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yubathegnome · 4 years

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shakespearean au: sge concept

warning - this is long and contains otk spoilers (and macbeth spoilers lol). no i do not offer refunds for time wasted. but if u don’t read this, i will find u because my fatigue is fuelling me w anger :)

11:00 pm: ok so I was casually floating in a bowl of water (segue- what is the point of baths? you can literally do the same things in ur bed but dry...) thinking about how great a shakespearean au would be... yes, I hate Shakespeare’s pretentious ass and if I have to read Romeo and Juliet one more time, I might obliterate my existence. however, imagine the drama of a midsummer nights dream au- immaculate fairy hallucinogenic woods vibes w the magic of fairies that could be linked to sge, just everyone going insane bacchanal in the woods. sadly there are more characters in this play than unnecessary first years in TCY so I decided to try twelfth night instead.

12:30 am: ok, I have tried every combination of characters possible for twelfth night (just imagine - agatha in the position of duke orsino and tedros in the position of viola, ah the angsty friends to lovers, the jealousy arc potential, misunderstood love ahh) but I always ended up w an agaphie... incident (sweet home alabama)

2:00 am: tried hamlet, taming of the shrew and king lear (plot is way to depressing)... becoming delusional

2:30 am: I WON’T GIVE UP UNTIL SHAKESPEARE IS AT MY KNEES, HERE I PRESENT U ... MACBETH

macbeth au

if u don’t know the plot... uncultured. jk i blame the british education system for my knowledge of this play but here’s a plot summary

let’s pretend scotland is camelot? yeah, just do it.

also: “Fair is foul, and foul is fair, hover through fog and filthy air.” (aka the only quote i can lowkey remember from year 9 for an absolute trash equivocation essay i waffled)

oh and also “what, you egg?” (he stabs him) - do i even have to explain the amazing significance of this quote? pls keep reading, i’m not insane.

character list:

macbeth - rhian

ok confession - i love rhian, 100% didn’t deserve to die so here he can be the tragic protagonist

outshone tedros in QFG (not that hard tbh) and gave us a glimpse of never!tedros’ potential character similarities - corrupted by evil, assuming that there r good intentions in evil people, kinda power hungry, thinks he deserves a position he really doesn’t, tricked by a prophecy

he’s a simp for sophie lets be honest (soz keian shippers) so the choice for lady macbeth should be...

lady macbeth - sophie

ok, just imagine, no morals/manipulative sophie slowly going insane and having power over powerful men- my fave trope of her wanting to kill rafal/king duncan but unable to pull through last minute because of her daddy issues... yes <3

slowly going insane cus she can’t balance her evilness and her humanity

the hand washing scene...

“Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under it.”

the guards that are killed by lady macbeth and macbeth - nicola and hort

they were a cute duo when they investigate in QFG and that’s abt it, hence the short roles

the dagger - excalibur

cursed swords check

3 witches - mistral sisters

bruh this is perfect, i don’t have to explain, this is all slotting into place

king duncan - ... yoooo, does it really matter, just the previous king of Camelot. wait maybe that Uther guy. whatever.

banquo - chaddick

im tired, ur just gonna have to pretend that tedros is king arthur’s grandson and yes, chaddick’s son

i shall allow chaddick to have an actual role where he is a humble, loyal knight who isn’t just conveniently used to fulfil some random prophecy... oh wait poor guy was wronged so bad in TCY- ok ik he dies in macbeth too but like he has a bigger role here than in the 6 sge books. chaddick/ banquo are good plot devices that only exist so the prophecy makes sense, bingo!

macduff - tedros

c-section king

he just would be that character with the unique and coincidental part of his past that allows him to be king

young and underestimated check

daddy issues and family trauma

kinda doesn’t deserve to be king but uno what, ~prophecies~

(just forget abt malcolm’s existence, i have the power now)

the king of england - agatha

agatha as king... we love to see it yes this is my way of incorporating tagatha just pretend macduff falls in love with the king of england ok. agatha breaks the news that tedros’ dad has just died- cute comforting scene

scottish macduff realises the english are ok just like tedros realises agatha isn’t a witch... idk someone write a oneshot

3:30 am:

me: let’s fix all my mistakes w some aesthetic mood board ideas.

*types in “macbeth aesthetic” into pinterest* *chooses the first 3 images*

this is very much adequate

4:00 am; do what you will with this information, people of the internet. this doesn’t even make sense at this point. can’t wait for the black coffee overdose my body will endure tomorrow :) also i love how the sleep deprivation slowly makes my tone more aggressive. im a simp for tagatha but rhian being the main character makes me happy. how do y’all make ur theories and stuff all pretty. WAIT NO COVEN! wait no hester oml... ok maybe the 3 witches might have to be the coven, wow, i can’t believe i’ve done this.

ok imagine them all running around in a circle chanting “Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble!” - iconic

ok, they can be the king of england’s attendants.

4:15 am: haha just brushed my teeth... why is this so chaotic. i cant get myself to proof read this because then i have to acknowledge how much time i have acc wasted so pls be traumatised by this chronic brain puke. will i ever write this fic... probably not but miracles happen. good night girls and gays - sweet dreams :) probs will regret this in the morning... oh how i worship the anonymity of tumblr

ps - currently writing a hate essay on hort which i might never release on fear of assasination by 12 year olds... we love to see it

pps - if u made it this far, idk what to tell u, u have perseverance. or maybe u just can’t read. how do i end these things and why am i treating this like a dear diary blog. goodbye. oh yeah, can some sge accounts maybe like... idk... interact w me uwu. i will go insane if i have to play devil’s advocate w myself any longer... GOODNIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!

#school for good and evil #the school for good and evil #tagatha #macbeth #sophie of woods beyond #i am insane #no i do not have braincells

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nothingunrealistic · 4 years

Note

do you have any Kleinsen or deh fic recommendations? I've read most of the popular ones already, so some of the less common ones would be awesome

sure! some of these recs come from this post of mine and this post of milo’s; some are new. i’ve split them up into two sections: kleinsen and gen/other. i didn’t list more than one or two works from any particular author, but if you like a given fic, i definitely recommend checking out the author’s other work. under a cut!

kleinsen

to avoid re-reccing the most popular fics, i’ve kept it to those with under 250 kudos (as of posting this, anyway.)

you’re not the only one (who doesn’t wanna be alone tonight) by literalvampire - 27.0k, canon divergent oneshot. evan and jared decide to go to a halloween party, a decision that winds up completely changing their relationship. this fic has everything: misunderstandings and miscommunication! puns! inadvertently making people jealous! jared and alana friendship / gay solidarity! the intimacy of applying and removing someone’s makeup for them! cats, and Cats!

bake from the heart by literalvampire - 5.1k, post-canon oneshot. they’ve fought, and now they’re friends again, and to show it, jared’s helping evan (who he totally doesn’t have a crush on anymore, definitely not, no way) bake for his mom’s birthday. sweet, funny, and reclaims “cinnamon rolls” for the delicious pastry rather than oversimplified and infantilized fictional characters.

why mess up a good thing by otachi - 4.4k, post-canon oneshot. jared and evan go to a college party, to meet people and be sociable, and then decide they’d rather just go home (because oh my god, they’re roommates) and hang out together. misunderstandings and discussions of feelings ensue. great characterization, great banter, and a delightfully sweet ending.

through a window, counting birds by otachi - 4.5k, vaguely post-canon oneshot. evan and jared are just hanging out on a summer night and both quietly head over heels for one another. it’s much more about Thoughts And Feelings than about plot here, and those thoughts and feelings are perfectly on point with regards to characterization and beautifully laid out for us.

baby, be gentle (it’s my first time) by jetpacks - 8.8k, canon divergent oneshot. a 5+1 fic about the times evan and jared nearly confessed their feelings to one another, and the time they finally did. a great combination of silly teenage shenanigans & banter and desperately trying & failing to talk about feelings.

on nights so cold, i know you need some company by kkamikaze - 8.6k, post-canon / canon divergent oneshot. jared reads the letter that’s been posted online as connor’s note, figures out what it is, and immediately goes to evan to have a conversation they should have had long ago. i don’t think i’ll ever get tired of “jared reads the letter” fics, and this is a great exploration of how he might respond to that.

only fools fall for you by heklin - 7.1k, time travel au oneshot. on the first day of school, jared listens to evan’s story about falling out of a tree - and then gets sent back in time to that moment, over and over again. an exploration of the history of jared and evan’s friendship, and how jared might deal with finding out how evan really broke his arm.

watch how a cold broken teen will desperately lean on a superglued human of proof by PrinceDrew - 1.2k, soulmate au oneshot. connor, evan’s soulmate (not a typo) dies, evan falls apart, and jared is there to help evan put himself back together. deeply tragic, and probably not your thing if you can’t stand connor/evan in any form, but wonderfully written.

dear evan asshat (orphaned) - 0.8k, post-canon oneshot. after their fight, jared writes more emails to evan that he doesn’t send. one of my favorite tropes for this pairing - this fic is very short, but it packs a lot of pain in there.

Porto Ruby by captchaluff - 1.9k, pre-canon oneshot. evan goes over to jared’s house to do homework, but they end up drinking and sharing secrets instead. a really interesting look at what they might have been like in middle school, though with a less than hopeful ending.

the maroon hoodie by jamb - 4.2k, everyone lives au oneshot. all the teens are friends, and they’d all be having a great time if jared weren’t Suffering Terribly thanks to seeing evan wearing his hoodie and then trying to figure out how to date him. delightful duo of low-stakes kleinsen pining and playfully antagonistic jared & connor friendship, if that’s your bag.

have you listened to me lately? lately, i’ve been fuckin’ crazy by outlawslikeus - 1.0k, post-canon oneshot. evan’s dropped jared, and jared’s read the letter, and now jared spends his time writing emails he’ll never send. a character study of jared at his most heartbroken.

and now, for some recs of my own work, because i love attention!

love, comment, and subscribe - 6.5k, canon-compliant oneshot. takes the idea of jared’s tech inspect and extends it into a series of videos being made over the course of canon that document jared’s gradual unraveling. make sure you have “show creator style” on for this one!

futile devices - 8.3k, multichapter. a collection of prompt fics, originally posted on tumblr, with a common focus on jared and evan’s relationship and everything that tends to go unspoken between them. these cover a wide range of compliance with and divergence from canon, sometimes including the deh novel.

no comfort in the truth - 3.7k, soulmate au multichapter. specifically, it’s a spin on the “last words your soulmate ever says to you” concept, while sticking closely to the events of canon. this one is entirely will roland’s fault for saying he doesn’t think evan and jared would ever reconcile.

if you only say the word - 1.8k, canon-compliant oneshot. my own take (one of them, anyway) on Jared Reads The Letter, and one that could easily be happening in the background of the reprise of ywbf. the first thing i ever wrote (though not the first thing i published) for deh - i think it holds up still.

gen/other

most of these don’t focus on romantic relationships much or at all; since such stories generally aren’t as popular anyway, i’m not sticking closely to the 250 kudos threshold here.

Somebody To Find You by stayawake - 3.8k, canon compliant oneshot. a retelling of canon from alana’s perspective. i love alana dearly, and this does an excellent job of exploring her actions in canon, how she feels about connor’s death and others’ reactions to it, and what she might go through after posting the letter online.

feeling stupid, feeling small by nosecoffee - 2.2k, pre-canon oneshot; jared & connor, jared & evan, jared & zoe. jared is lonely, and he’s depressed, and he doesn’t feel like a person, and even hanging out with the murphys now and again won’t do much to fix that. a deeply sad look at what jared’s life, and his interactions with evan, zoe, and connor, might have been like before canon.

every sun doesn’t rise by nosecoffee - 3.5k, canon divergent oneshot; evan & connor, evan & jared. connor is dead, and now he’s a ghost, and he’d appreciate it if someone came and got his body, so he makes his way to evan to ask for help, and jared gets pulled in along the way. a downer of a fic, but morbidly funny as well.

i’ll be waiting for you until we meet again by demistories - 7.0k, soulmate au oneshot; alana & connor, evan & jared. in this au, you can talk to your soulmate (romantic or platonic) in dreams; connor’s known his soulmate for years, but he doesn’t know her name. a fun look at a connor-alana friendship, as well as connor’s possible friendships with evan, jared, and zoe in a kinder timeline.

they were kids that i once knew by PrinceDrew - 4.3k, canon divergent oneshot. evan and connor both die by suicide, though only connor’s death is recognized as such, and when a story about the two of them being best friends emerges from the public grief, jared gets lost in the middle. very well-written and deeply sad.

and mine:

the lights will arise - 3.9k, canon-compliant multichapter; alana & jared. part of the same series as if you only say the word, and examines alana’s arc during canon and how it could intersect with jared’s. all part of my agenda to 1) let alana and jared be Friends and 2) actually let us see what they’re up to during ywbf reprise.

let facts be submitted to a candid world - 11.3k, au multichapter wip (2/7 chapters); alana & jared, alana/female oc. it’s a national treasure au. alana is nicolas cage. that’s it. i have no idea if i’ll ever update this again, but you might enjoy what’s there anyway.

#inbox #anonymous #dear evan hansen #kleinsen #other people write #sometimes i write

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prompts-of-a-dreamer · 3 years

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I'd like to request a jjba matchup please! Any character from any part is fine. I'm a straight gal. :) I'm glad my last comment about your headcanons made you happy.

At first I'm shy and introverted and it takes a while for me to open up. I feel like my resting b*tch face scares people away sometimes, haha. After a few months, I finally show my true colors: goofy, very weird, tomboy and down-to-earth. If my friends had to describe me, they'd say I'm the goofy idiot of the group. I like laughing and making other people laugh. Hell, I even make corny dad jokes. I'm a very honest person, also super sarcastic and overprotective. I have a sailor's mouth lol. At times when I'm upset, I don't know when to shut up and I say hurtful things. I overthink things a lot and it really slows me down to the point where I get depressed and I completely shut down. I hold a strong passion for art and music because they're the only things that get me by. People tell me a lot that I'm a pretty girl, so my confidence is on point. However, on rare occasions I find myself wishing if I could just get rid of my naturally chubby cheeks. I'm 5'6', leo (INFP-T) and I get along with most people. I get along with a lot of geminis, aquarius, libras, aries and tauruses. When something isn't right between me and another person, I want to talk things out and understand their side. I'm a good person to come to when people need to get some weight off their chest and I'm especially generous to friends and people I love. I often come up with the dumbest questions/scenarios to talk about when I'm bored. I like the idea of going around and pulling harmless pranks on people. I've never had a boyfriend before, but if I did have one I'd be very affectionate and clingy. I'd cause play fights and give him stupid nicknames. He's the only one I'd ever show my soft and girly side to.

thank you!

Hi, this is my first time doing matchups, so I’m sorry if this doesn’t fit, but here’s what I think. JJBA has a lot of characters, but I’ll narrow it down from parts 1-5 because I haven’t fully read the manga yet.

I have some character headcanons for this, and I’ll rank it by compatibility:

1. Joseph Joestar (Part 2)

At first you two would bicker and quarrel a lot. He’d note your shyness and how quiet you are, practically taunting you to say something, even if it is out of annoyance towards him.

He’d do some goofy stuff, pulling pranks on people, but you caught him while he was on his hideout. With a displeased look on your face, you pursed your lips. He tried explaining his elaborate prank on Caesar.

At first, you were trying so hard to keep a stern look on him, so that he’d stop goofing around. You didn’t dare to show him your ‘crackhead’ side yet, you two just weren’t close enough for you to do that.

But his weirdly appealing ridiculousness soon got the best of you, and you couldn’t help but laugh at him.

He was surprised by your laugh. “Oh my god!”

It was a long and slow progress, but you were finally ready to show how amused you were, at first by witnessing his pranks, soon followed by you giving ideas and suggestions. Before you knew it, you started helping him set them up, taunt Caesar, and hide with Joseph near the trap, spying on the unknowing Caesar.

Caesar seems really irritated at you two, trying hard to not let his guard now whenever either of you are around. If he catches you two together, a funny, ironic confrontation happens, because it’s two against one.

One of the most memorable moments of you and him is when he made you try ink spaghetti.

He seems like he doesn’t care about little things, but he gave you a silent compliment when he accidentally encountered you singing and playing music.

You have a competition on who’d make the worst (and by worst I mean best, corniest) jokes. Caesar hates it when you hold one of those competitions around him, he’d just get up and leave the room.

He might unintentionally tease you about your cheeks (sorry! chubby cheeks are cute, don’t feel bad!) but when he sees that it bothers you, he’ll try so hard to lift your spirits up again.

“Hey, (y/n)! I didn’t mean it like that, I’m sorry! Your cheeks are cute, if they were asses I’d slap them.”

He’d pinch your cheeks to make you stop sulking.

“Your cheeks are fine, now cheer up.”

The relationship between you and Joseph could be entire platonic, one-sided, or romantic, though I’d advise you to stay friends. You two make a great duo, but Joseph is emotionally shallow, he doesn’t show much affection, at least not until you die a tragic death, crushed by a stone, leaving him behind. Only then will he show how valuable you were as a person to him.

If he’s into you, he makes a lot of sexual innuendos. The Barney-Robin type of chemistry from ‘How I Met Your Mother’.

He doesn’t like cuddling.

But he likes play fights and weird nicknames.

2. Josuke Higashikata

Josuke would be the best friend type of boyfriend. The one you can talk to, play games, but also share sentimental moments with.

It might be a little awkward at first between you and him, but once the ice cracks, the conversation doesn’t tire out.

Congratulations, you unlocked an achievement: Josuke’s bed head.

Do not tease him about his hair, unless you need a quick, free way off the planet.

He enjoys seeing you do your hobbies. He might sing with you.

If you were upset, he’d be shocked a little bit, but tries his best to be understanding and to comfort you. He’d let you lay your head on his lap or ask if you wanted any food.

He won’t force you to talk, if you don’t answer his “What’s wrong, baby?”, he’ll just rub your shoulder and stay next to you, an ear ready for consolidation. But he’ll leave you alone if you ask him to.

Fights do happen, but you usually talk it out after a couple days.

He rolls his eyes when you say one of your corny dad jokes.

But he likes the harmless pranks.

Playing video games together, with you wearing his hoodie/clothes.

He’s not afraid to show some vulnerability, though at first he might try to stop the tears during a sad movie.

During horror movies, he’ll show little to no reaction. Not out of toxic masculinity, but he just needs a little more to actually get him scared.

He’s really glad to show you his nephew. He thinks the age difference is cool.

3. Jonathan Joestar

You and Jonathan would make a good couple.

He would be understanding and would compliment on how beautiful you are.

Loves to see you draw, paint, or hear you sing. He doesn’t join in on it, though, he’s a little shy.

Would never make you cry. If he did, he’d never forgive himself for being so ungentlemanly. Let him repent his sins for a while.

5′6″ is by no means short but Jonathan is BUILT. He’d pick you up, bridal style, and carry you around.

Doesn’t mind cuddling.

Doesn’t like your dad jokes. He doesn’t hate it, but he could live without it.

Other headcanons with random characters:

Art rivalry with Kakyoin. You don’t even get to talk to Rohan, he hates you if you were around Josuke.

Polnareff would definitely flirt with you.

Doing weird, random, goofy shit with Mista and Narancia.

Abbacchio either hates your dad jokes or joins you in making them. His retorts are horribly unfunny.

And that concludes my assessment of these characters. Thank you for reading.

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littlemisssquiggles · 4 years

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So we get a RWBY version of Thor (and possibly reformation of JNPR) vs Loki fight in the Volume 7 finale? Nice!

…Umm…maybe?If you’re referring to Neo versus Noraspecifically in that sense then perhaps? I dunno.

Thissquiggle meister is still waiting oncertain things that were alluded both during and prior to this season. I’mstill waiting on this super-duper bad thing that Neo will do to upset the FNDMand I’m still waiting for the payoff of all the Ren and Nora bits from thisseason. Somehow my theory still remains that the horrible thing Neo will do will be to mortally wound Nora.Somehow I’m still banking on the idea of Neo disguising herself as Nora to foilRen but by the time Ren figures this out, Neo had already made the move to killhim only for Nora to come out of nowhere and shield Ren.

Orworse…Neo disguises herself as Renmaking Nora believe it’s her beloved boyfriend only for Neo to stab Nora right throughthe heart from behind as the real Ren looks on in horror. Perhaps this way, it can lead into thePLOT finally revealing what they’ve been teasing all season with Ren and hissemblance. Unless that’ll have nothing to do with the Neo fight and will bereserved for a later volume in the Atlas Trilogy (like V8 or V9).

Don’tget me wrong. I don’t want Nora to be killed off nor do I want her to be hurtat all. However I do think it’ll be pretty messed up if Neo does something likethat---using the face of the boy Nora loves to deliver a killing blow to herright before Ren’s very eyes. That would be very tragic, especially given thebit of development that Renora had for this season. Again, not expecting Norato be killed off---especially since Jaune will be right there to heal her.

Unless…the wicked thing Neo does is pull a Helafrom Thor: Ragnarok and slashes Nora across her face, causing herto lose an eye like her Marvel counterpart.

Doubtthis will actually happen in the canon. Nonetheless, I’ve heard so many “Nora will die” theories and “Ruby will lose an eye” theories that Ihave yet to hear any depicting the possibility of Nora surviving for manyseasons to come but at the expense of losing one of her eyes. Possibly even goingthrough a slight personality changeas a result of this event---becoming more sombre as a result of the trauma oflosing her eye leading to more friction (and growth) in her relationship withRen while simultaneously serving for more development on Nora’s part since weare expected to learn her story at some point.

Rememberhow Nora made a big point about Ren talking to her about his real feelings---imagine the reverse scenario where Norabecomes depressed following her lossagainst Neopolitan (and the loss of her eye) mirroring Yang at the end of V3where she becomes reclusive and even refuses the company and solace of Ren whotries to get Nora to open up to him only this time she just spitefully lashesback at him for never opening up to her about what he was going through for V7.

Thistype of scenario can even present the chance for Yang and Nora to bond. I remember reading somewhere that allegedly Yang still suffers from herPTSD of losing her arm to Adam in spite of his death (and in spite of the shownever truly highlighting that at all).

It’dbe curious if Nora is to go through this traumatizing ordeal, losing a part ofherself (potentially leading to her awakening repressed memories of her pastbefore she met Ren in Kunoyuri; sparked by this sudden new trauma) only to haveYang of all people---someone who survived her own fair share of traumas and hadto learn to basically reboot her lifewhile learning to cope with a physical disability---to be there as an aid toNora.

Ironicallyenough, Yang and Nora are pretty much the bigsister figures or den motherswithin their respective teams. Outside of Ruby and Jaune and the time Rubyspent travelling with JNR back during the Mistral Arc, very rare do we see thismixing of the two teams.

Mostof time, it’s mainly just Ruby seen socializing with JNR outside of her ownteam and I think part of that was owed to her time spent with them after theFall of Beacon. Although, V7 did give us our first look of Weiss hanging out withJaune (and Oscar) for the first time since…well…ever. But it works here givenJaune and Weiss’ history from the previous seasons.

Thisleaves Yang and Blake and Ren and Nora---ironically the two “close pairs” within their respectiveteams. I know Ren and Nora have been confirmed to be a couple but…I still wishto use the term ‘couple’ loosely in regards to the Bees since nothing reallyhas been confirmed yet, in spite of all the nods to it this season. Oddlyenough, I’ve seen folks parallel Bumblebeeto our Flower Power duo.

Wehave yet to really see Yang and Blake interact with Ren and Nora outside oftheir respective teams. Hence why I like this hunch of mine of Nora and Yangdeveloping a close friendship after Yang chips in to help Nora with her traumaas described in my headcanon.

Itcreates a window of opportunity for friendship dynamics that haven’t beenexplored before between these four characters beyond the fact that they are the“ships” within their teams, y’know what I mean?

Surewe got Ren and Nora discussing Blake and Yang’s relationship in V7CH6, as awkwardly as it was executed but…therecould be more substance to that.I know Renora and Bumblebee are the “pairs” of JNPR 2.0 and RWBYrespectively; however their characterizations are more than just the fact thatthey are the supposed couples withintheir circle of friends; y’know what I mean?

Ifsomething game changing were tohappen to Nora for this season---something that could potentially alter her andcharacter moving forward while simultaneously affecting her relationship withher friends/teammates and her relationship with her boyfriend Ren---I’m justsaying that it could be cool if it additionally paves the road for a friendshipto spark between her and Yang, of all people.

IfNora does suffer some trauma, it’d be interesting to see her and Yang bond foronce over a topic like that. Not to mention that it would be nice to see Blakeand Ren interact for the first time and bond over being the close companions tothe traumatized individual and having to deal with how to approach saidindividual when they feel like they don’t know how it.

IfNora is suffering and Ren becomes frustrated since he feels like he doesn’tknow how to communicate his feelings and concerns to her, it’d be interestingto see Blake be the one to approach him with advice on that using herexperience with Yang after returning from Menagerie.

I’mjust saying it could be an interesting take. But then again, I’m just spouting jibberjab over here. This wasn’t even the point of your message anon-chan XD Either way, I’m just saying, certainideas---particularly ones surrounding Nora---could potentially be cool since itcan open doors for her to grow more as a character while in turn strengtheningher relationship with the people around her---particular her boys (Jaune andOscar) and her boyfriend---Ren. Just saying. Doubt it will actually happen but…aye,it could’ve been a cool idea.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2020)

#squiggles answers: rwby #nora valkyrie #lie ren #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #oscar pine #jaune arc #rwby theories #rwby volume 7 theories #rwby volume 7 spoilers #Anon-ninja #squiggles answers

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kakenaku · 4 years

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Any recommendations for sad action love? Like my mister or scarlet heart

Jeez there’s a category for it? sad action love sounds so hilarious to me i don’t know why lmao. Anywho getting down to it, i don’t think i’ve watched many so please bear with me on this one.

Heartless City starring Jung Kyungho, Nam Gyuri and Yoon Hyunmin

Pretty depressing throughout and i don’t think Jung Kyungho actually smiled in this at all (that’s my sad scale). There is romance in it but its kind of layered…i don’t know how to explain without spoiling it. There’s a crap ton of action and sadness and i guess love so you’ll enjoy this one (also has the brotp of the decade). So yh watch it…you know who you are.

Secret Forest starring Cho Seungwoo, Bae Doona and Yoo Jaemyung

this poster still gives me chills to this day i swear

Lots of sadness (ft Peter Han’s sad voice) and quite a bit of action since its a mystery crime thriller. In terms of love there’s a bit of unrequited love and although they never really confirm anything it was definitely there. This drama made you want to bury your head in the ground a scream a whole lot (for different reasons).

Save Me starring Taecyeon, Seo Yeji and Woo Dohwan

I feel bad recommending this one since its so dark and depressing 90% of the time…ok actually 100% of the time. Not to be dramatic but i felt physically sick at some points. There’s a lot to do with the horrible business behind the closed doors of cults and some scenes you’ll definitely find disturbing but it’s such a good drama.

Chicago Typewriter starring Yoo Ahin, Im Soojung and Go Kyungpyo

I feel like any drama that involves the past has to include some tragic love storyline in it, and this was no exception. Apart from the fact that Jinoh couldn’t be seen, the stuff from their past lives especially near the end was seriously heartbreaking. We all know that one scene that was like a stab in the chest. This is like a historical without going too far back and a little bit more happiness.

Ouroboros starring Oguri Shun, Ikuta Toma and Ueno Juri

this duo was so powerful i can’t even believe we got to see them together again

I’m using this loophole since you didn’t specify that it had to be a kdrama to include my all time favourite jdrama with one of the strongest casts i’ve seen. It’’s set in the modern day and involves a cold case, leads with dead ends, the most heartbreaking romance and the yakuza. This is so worth watching, and if you don’t like jdramas still watch this because its simply incredible and it’d be a waste not to watch it.

#anon #answered #kdrama asks #recommendations #the anons are coming in with some great questions these days

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verannaca · 4 years

Text

so I saw Frozen 2 for the fourth time

i have so many questions.

there’s a relatively negative (and very long) review beneath the cut so pls read at your own risk. and, of course, spoilers.

I’ve seen Frozen 2 four times now and yikes. I’d kinda hoped it would get better with each viewing, but it’s somehow worse??? I really loved the first movie; it literally changed my life in an incredibly drastic way (don’t ask) but it had been very important to me over the past six years, and...I’m so disappointed.

My initial reaction was disappointment, and I should’ve stuck with it. Like, wtf was that? But some parts were also really well done? It left me so conflicted lol

PROS

Vuelie was a good way to open the film; I quite liked the nostalgia :’)

The intro scene in general was good; I liked seeing more of their parents, although idk what their father was thinking telling them such a tale before bed lmao seems like some shit my mother would do

All is Found is my favourite non-depressing song in the movie, and it opens it beautifully. ERW has a wonderful voice.

The animation really is beautiful; it looks so realistic. Specifically the clouds and the one scene of the waves crashing over the pine trees. It looked amazing!

The music is good but not great. FTFTIF is my favourite; it’s so catchy and cheery. I really liked TNRT, and SY is perfect, but these songs just weren’t as catchy as the ones in Frozen?? I’m thankful for AURORA tho, that was a lovely gift.

Bruni was absolutely adorable (even tho he was an obvious cash-grab for merch lol), 10/10 love Bruni. Bruni + Elsa = even better.

Anna looked absolutely breathtaking throughout the entire movie; the redesign they did animation-wise really works in her favour, and now she’s rocking those Emilia Clarke eyebrows which is a hell yes from me. Her final look gave me all the feels; I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the dress and hairstyle?? it seemed a bit too not Anna, but at the same time, it showed her growth and maturity and I’m very happy with that.

As dark as it was, the shipwreck scene was beautiful. It was handled beautifully; their reactions were devastating. There is a huge con here, but I’ll save that for later.

The ocean battle was really neat. The water looked so good, and Elsa looks good wet???

The whole scene in Ahtohallan was well done; I liked the memories. I wish Anna had been there; she deserved to see her history, too, and it wasn’t fair that Elsa got that spotlight once again.

Everything after Elsa freezing was absolutely breathtaking as well. Anna’s reactions, the song, the scenery-- it was tragically beautiful.

Kristoff had the two best lines in the ENTIRE movie: “I’m here. What do you need?” and “It’s okay. My love is not fragile.” It’s so rare to see a good, supportive relationship in tv/movies, be it heterosexual or homosexual, it doesn’t happen. It’s so rare. So this was a beautiful break from that; the faith he had in her was amazing. Thank u. the real mvp.

The scene with Anna as she accepts the fate of her future; as she takes in a breath and realises/accepts that her home is gone, and her blood family is gone. Everything about it was perfect. You could feel her emptiness. Poor baby needed a hug :(

I liked that Kristoff also hugged Elsa when she returned; it showed that they were friends, which is really important for Anna tbh

I think that’s it for pros??? Now for the cons.

CONS:

Gonna start this off simple: the plot was weak. This is unfortunately not an unpopular opinion; it made no sense. It was too convoluted to the point where nothing was explained.

The pacing was off, and it was ridiculously anti-climactic. The layout in general seemed a bit weird tbh I could definitely sit here and justify all of it, but I shouldn’t have to.

They gave us no reason to gaf about this voice that Elsa was hearing. How long had she been hearing it for? Why was she so drawn to it? Why didn’t she think she was just hearing things? Or maybe she did at one point and then realised she wasn’t crazy?

There was almost no character development. Elsa was the same as she was in Frozen, but this time, it was just annoying. She never learned or grew. Anna was demoted to a clingy side-character even though she’s the protagonist; I have no words for how frustrating this was to watch. I miss the Kristanna bickering. I liked their dynamic overall; I understand their insecurities and lack of ability to communicate because of it, and I liked how non-toxic they were. Overall, they did love and trust each other; they believed in and supported each other, even though they had a falling out (again and again) and were separated for most of the film (again, wtf?) EA had no development together, and honestly, they were annoying asf as a duo. There was no communication and no understanding. I will say that Anna’s fear and frustration throughout the entire movie was absolutely 100% understandable and sensible; she’d already lost too much before, and wasn’t prepared to lose anything else. I just wish she’d been portrayed a bit differently??? And it would’ve been nice if Elsa had stopped for, like, two minutes to be like, “hey, are you okay, you seem clingy and worried” but instead she just kept running and didn’t gaf.

It was over dramatic for the sake of plot, when it didn’t have to be. Elsa didn’t have to continuously try and push Anna away “for her protection.” They absolutely could’ve done the vast majority of things together. Fuck, they could’ve gone to the dark sea together. Anna could’ve stayed on the beach while Elsa tackled the Nokk. Then when Anna saw that Elsa was perfectly capable of protecting herself, they could’ve parted ways then and done whatever it was they needed to do. Or, Elsa could’ve taken Anna to Ahtohallan?? They may have discovered there that Anna couldn’t enter, but then they’d be given the opportunity to communicate, and Anna would’ve at least been included, since this was her history, too.

If this is a movie about two sisters, why the ever loving fuck is it all about Elsa and her origins? What about Anna’s origins? They were her parents, too. Sure, we ask “why does Elsa have magic,” but why doesn’t Anna have magic? Why was Elsa the “gift”? Why is Anna’s superpower “love”?? And why is that “superpower” only valid when it’s in regards to Elsa? Why is Anna so strong, physically? Emotionally? Personally? Is it just her? Why isn’t she an element, too? What’s with this bridge bullshit? Why the fuckkkk is Elsa the “fifth spirit” when she’s ice and ice is literally just water? I have so many questions.

How the heck was Iduna Northuldra? Did she become “whiter” because she remained inside a castle for twenty years? Or was she always “white passing”? Or was she adopted into the forest? Who are her parents? Did anybody miss her when she ran off to the kingdom? Her scarf was from “one of [their] oldest families” and yet nobody seemed to know who she was? And what do you mean “oldest families”? Are there no remaining members of that family? Nobody who was missing her? Nobody who would’ve recognised her daughters who are literally carbon-copies of her????

The shipwreck scene and the following scene pissed me off soooo much in the theatre lol First, it really was beautiful how they did it, but the interactions felt out of character. Elsa brought up the memories of their parents’ demise without consoling Anna at all. Not only did she just do it without at least a warning, she then proceeded to leave her behind in her own fit. Which, okay, yes, to an extent that makes sense; she was over-ridden by guilt. But those were Anna’s parents too. Elsa was all she had, and Elsa left her behind. I just- AND THEN in this moment of severe grief and horror, as these terrible things were revealed, Anna was pushed away again to be left on her own to deal with things alone. She’d JUST sacrificed her own feelings for Elsa, and Elsa’s response was to shove her away. WHY. I just??? hello??? Like, Elsa does care about Anna, right? That’s canon? So why tf would they write her like this?? jfc

Every single new character was wasted potential. Mattias above all else was very interesting, and should’ve had at least ten minutes more screentime??? I liked the scene of him and Anna discussing whatever, but there should’ve been more. They both cared more about Arendelle than anyone; they were both sworn to protect. There could’ve been more of an on-screen relationship there. (and don’t fucking come at me with your gross-ass ships please, tyvm). Honeymaren and Ryder were there for ??? merchandise? A reason for Elsa to stay behind? Queer-baiting??? I don’t get it. They did,,, nothing. Yelena? Did nothing. Why do these name-characters do nothing?? What’s the point???

This was advertised as a “big adventure” but had hardly any adventure. Frohana was apart for most of the damn movie, the action scenes had little consequences, the “climax” was ??? what, Elsa freezing? Who cares?? It’s obvious she’s going to come back. The wave heading for Arendelle??? Yeah, that would’ve been a good climax if it actually did any damage. But no, I guess Elsa can teleport now? aight. and now she gets to play hero again even though she didn’t do shit

The plot(?) was very predictable, and didnt really have a twist. Old white guy kills innocent POC. Okay. That’s real life, yeah? It’s shit; it happens, but why was this whole movie based around that? Was it a political statement? We don’t really need more political movies these days??? People are aware, and things are shit as is; idk it just felt forced. But this is a v controversial subject so imma shut up lol

THERE ARE NO CONSEQUENCES. Unless you’re Anna. Then you suffer severely cuz,,, fuck her, right? The entire cave thing (as beautiful and needed as it was) could’ve been prevented entirely if Elsa had just fucking communicated. But instead, Anna had to suffer again in such a severe way. Her feelings DID have consequences; they effected her severely and even influenced wreckless behaviour. But then?? it’s all over. And suddenly, it doesn’t matter. Suddenly, who cares? Elsa returns and is (for some unforeseen reason) magically forgiven. This ISN’T HOW SISTERS ARE. If my sister pulled half the shit Elsa did, the first thing she’d be greeted with is a slap across the face and a very loud “fuck you.” THEN she’d get a hug and some tears. You don’t fuck with people’s emotions like that. And the fact that there were no serious consequences is infuriating.

Anna becomes Queen without context. Did she want to be queen? Did she suggest it? Did Elsa decided “eh fuck it i’m bored, your turn” and just dump it on her? Anna is a free-spirit. Yes, she was absolutely devoted to her kingdom; her people always came first; she was an incredibly loving and selfless princess, but was she truly prepared to give up that freedom to be Queen? I think she fits the role beautifully; she was absolutely born to rule. But is she happy? Or is she yet again cleaning up Elsa’s mess, since that seems to be all she does?

Why did Elsa stay in the forest? Is it because she felt like she belonged with the spirits? With the people? Away from civilisation? All of the above? None of the above? And how did that conversation go with Anna? How did she explain; “hey, I know I died and fucked you up and promised that we’d always stay together, but I’ve decided I’m gonna leave you behind again and stay here with these people I barely know.” Did Anna object, or did she see the positives of being away from someone so toxic???? It makes no senseeeee, they were so good together in the first movie; it all feels so out of character. Both of them feel out of character.

There were few (very few) moments in which they really were like themselves:

The charades scene.

“You think I’m c R A Z Y?”

Head tilts with Bruni.

Anna laughing at Elsa’s braid-stache.

Elsa making toys for children.

The pleasant Kristanna scenes at the beginning.

Anna’s anger scenes.

Even Elsa’s personal drama???

but that’s it? I’ve seen it four times in theatre, and a few times online (though mostly in pieces) so I don’t think I missed anything. Perhaps I’m blinded by the frustration that this film caused. Overall:

The plot was weak.

The animation was beautiful.

Kristanna wasn’t the Kristanna we truly know?

Elsa was dramatic and annoying because she had no development.

Anna was demoted to a clingy side-character and was given a half-assed purpose.

The music was meh.

There was too much and yet somehow not enough.

It was a mess.

Six years. SIX. I-

ugh.

final note: PLEASE ANSWER MY QUESTIONS IF I MISSED SOMETHING. I think it’s also important to note that if you went to the theatre for 2 hours of entertainment, that’s great, but not the same as those of us that have dedicated six years of our lives to these characters? So please don’t come @ me if you were just a movie-goer. I also wanna say that there were a lot of parts of this movie that I loved and will hold onto, but overall, the movie as a whole was meh. I LOVED Anna & Elsa in Frozen; they had good development and had reasons for being how they were. They had a good dynamtic and worked well together. I hated their relationship in F2; it was toxic and forced in many ways; they didn’t interact nearly enough, and when they did, they were bitching for the sake of plot, which was very frustrating.

This isn’t a hate post so please don’t come at me lol my opinion is entirely irrelevent in the grand scheme of things, but hey, we’re here to chat and share, right?

sigh.

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arkus-rhapsode · 5 years

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My Hero Academia Chapter 217 Review

So, it’s been a while since I did a review of this, eh? Yah, sorry. And next week is a hiatus so, lets dive in

We open up on Bakugou and Deku fighting, well more training. As Bakugou is trying to force the Black Whip to activate. All Might has to tell Bakugou that this is about testing Deku and making sure he doesn’t release the Black Whip unintentionally.

We get a flashback revealing that now that Bakugou is in on the One for All secret, he now gets to be meeting with Deku and All Might. I can’t help but imagine Bakugou being at least a little giddy on the inside considering he now gets to hang out with his favorite hero. Though he’s spending it with Deku so maybe it balances out.

Anyway, we get confirmation here that All Might did not know of these multiple quirks and likely Nana didn’t either. So this makes Deku the first of all the users to complete one for all.

Also, we see Bakugou’s addition this duo’s dynamic, he is master of cutting straight to the point. Already, asking questions to move the conversation forward. And when Deku suggests that this was possibly was caused through external means, Bakugou is the one who suggests that this was thanks to All for One.

Bakugou compares the quirks of All for One and One for All, as well as being the one who puts forward the fact that the quirk of One for All originated from All for One.

We cut back to the present where Bakugou’s trying to force out the black whip, but All Might needs to reel him back a little. Deku says that the quirk will only activate when with his feelings. My guess is from what the Hell Boy looking guy said, the feeling Deku needs to have to awaken Black Whip isn’t danger, but rather, feeling of grabbing or catching something or something. So maybe we should get Iida and start a chase or something?

Okay, make up your mind already Hori! Look I appreciate that Horikoshi had seemed to make it out as Deku needed to master the percentage portion of All for One to withstand the physical taxation of quirks like Black Whip. But now it seems like its implying that Deku should start figuring out how to unlock it instead of waiting till the fiiture like he had said 2 weeks ago.

I guess what this could be implying is that Deku should learn what “feeling” activates his other quirk, but he shouldn’t use it until he’s mastered the strength portion of the quirk. Now that would be fine if that were the case. Its also a possibility that this is a transnational issue and I might just be misinterpreting it.

Also, Deku is a little hung up on the comparison to All for One. And likely the fact if this was caused by him, its very likely All for One might be able to do other things to his body.

We cut away to the best part of the chapter.

All of class 1-a and class 1-b hanging out and enjoying dinner together.

We see Kirishima and Tetsutetsu discussing quirks, and it highlights what I said about them during the team Todoroki vs team Honenuki fight. That Tetsutetsu and Kirishima, while almost a joke on how similar they are, are fundamentally different people. As Kirishima suffers from a lack of confidence while Tetsutetsu suffers from overconfidence. I know its pretty much a foot note in the grand scheme of things, but I do appreciate that Hori does go the extra mile with these characters when he could’ve just made it the simple joke of, “their the same person basically.”

Also, Tetsutetsu brings up that while he can become iron, its only so hard. But Kirishima, he can keep hardening. I bet in his unbreakable mode, Kirishima is so much harder than Tetsutetsu that he could potentially crack his iron. But as iron, Tetsutetsu doesn’t have to worry about fire or other extreme weather cause his skin is metal. Kirishima will have to worry though, as while he is hard, he’s still made of flesh which can burn or freeze.

Also we have Momo and Kendou catching up with eachother. Then, my personal favorite, Tokoyami getting asked by Komori if he has photos of Hawks from off duty.

And yes, Mineta is locked in a clockwork orange chair. Actually that’s kinda brilliant.

I wish we could do more, but we gotta get to plot.

Wow... Now that Todoroki mentions how when they fought during the sports fest, Deku told him to come at him with everything he had and yet Deku wasn’t truly giving everything he had. Now to be fair, as Deku tries to say, this power just started to manifest, so its not like that was intentional. But you get what I mean here, that really awesome moment has been a bit cheapened in hindsight.

Well, I’m still glad someone is trying to press Deku about the two quirk thing cause last week everyon kinda dropped it. Though Todoroki now is dropping it so...

Well that all aside, Todoroki has actually texted back endeavor. Though its mainly to learn about the flashfire, but hey, baby steps.

Oh you just know Endeavor has been checking his phone every other goddamn minute.

We cut to the UA teachers meeting and they pretty much are done discussing where Shindou will be going.

We see Mic finally say what the fandom has kinda been saying for a while now, Aizawa sees some of himself in Shinsou. Which... Yeah, a super powerful quirk that could be totally used for evil, but you still have something on the inside that makes want to do good. Also, you’re really both pretty surly.

But Mic also asks if SHinsou reminds him of Shirakumo, likely the flame haired guy in Aizawa’s flashback last chapter. And can I take a minute to say I love how Hori likes to foreshadow new character? Because he often doesn’t just drop them in as an individual, but he tends to show them with characters that have already established. Like when Gentle was going through famous villains he mention All for One and Stain, but then mentioned two other guys who will potentially be related to other obstacles. Or like with Overhaul’s gang who first appear during a Twice focused chapter.

Anyway, we cut to Eri who is naturally a little scared of Monoma.

So Monoma was brought here to copy Eri’s quirk, but considering his... everything (I love that line) It might be best that Mirio and Deku be here to.

Monoma explains that he can’t use quirks that accumulates power through converting it, then its basically a dud. Same with Eri here.

Mirio asks why then was Monoma even brought here.

Aizawa says that having Monoma copy it would’ve helped Eri with control and here we go again. Adorable Eri moments.

I wanna take this moment to say Eri’s however, don’t feel like a cheap gimmick to pull at the audience’s heartstrings like other daughteru characters. She actually lived a life of physical and psychological torment and is still haunted it by it. Its not like we have one arc, boom, your cured from depression and can now exist just to do cute shit. So while Eri let go of Overhaul’s psychological grasps, she is still likely holding a lot of self loathing for her powers and what its done to people. So I wanna say that Eri is a great example of the cute young child character with a tragic backstory to make the audience care about protecting her, because she actually really needs it.

I know, kinda a wierd tangent, but with some recent shit in other series, some child characters just seem to exist to be cute after their “tragic” backstory and it bugs me.

And our chapter ends, with Deku giving a vote of confidence that she will one day control her powers and he to vows he’ll do the same.

Post Chapter Follow Up: This chapter was great. Last week I had some issues, mainly because this recent arc kinda has the same problem as the Overhaul arc. Namely, it starts off really strong, has a contender for one of the greatest moments in the series, then a twist out of left field happens and the entire few chapters become a total cluster fuck. Which while last week, we were all happy for Shinsou and Uraraka, but how that arc concluded was still a bit of a disappointment when you saw how it was going before.

This chapter however, was a perfect little epilogue.

Positives are all of the character work from Todoroki and Endeavor, to Deku and All Might’s dynamic shift with the introduction of Bakugou, to Eri and Deku etc. I also wanna say this chapter is full of content, yet it is paced wonderfully.

Nothing feels too long, nothing feels too short. It also manages to start setting some stuff for the future. But nothing so obvious that its like, “This is what the next arc will be about!” no this was a self contained little chapter and I really enjoyed that.

I have no negatives for this chapter. Any that I could think of, I might blame that on more just what came before this chapter, but its nothing that it could fix or change right now.

Final Verdict: 10/10

While I have issues with the last third of the joint exercise arc, this chapter on its own is still a great epilogue to it

Great bits of character

Great bits of development

Hints of foreshadowing

Just all around good

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constantviewings · 4 years

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The TV Show Trials - Christmas Movies

‘Tis the season! I’m steering off course this month to review films instead of a TV show, because a TV show that’s only about christmas wouldn’t make much money.

White Christmas

A successful song-and-dance duo become romantically involved with a sister act and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general by planning a yuletide musical extravaganza.

This film is iconic, and I loved every second of it. The costumes in this film are gorgeous and I want to own every single one. I plan on making a tradition out of watching this every year.

Rating: 5

Elf

Buddy is a human who was adopted and raised by Santa’s elves. He learns about this and heads to New York City to meet his biological father while also spreading Christmas cheer in a world of cynics in the process.

I feel the need to proceed my thoughts with the fact that I have never been a fan of Will Ferrell, and I am not a fan of this movie. Most of the jokes come down to Will Ferrell either screaming or being dumb. Also, not be overly sensitive, I’ve never been a fan of casting a bit role for a dwarved actor just to make jokes that they’re short.

Rating: 2

Scrooged

Based on Charles Dickins’ A Christmas Carol, Scrooged is a modern retelling that follows Frank Cross, a cynical and selfish television executive, who is visited by a succession of ghosts on Christmas Even Intent on helping him regain his Christmas spirit.

The film does drag in the first act, but once the ghost of Christmas present shows up, it only gets better. I thought the touch of Bill Murray ‘interacting’ with the audience is a fun way to close out this entertaining film.

Rating: 3

It’s A Wonderful Life

George Bailey has given up his dreams in order to help others, and his imminent suicide on Christmas Even brings about the intervention of his guardians angel, Clarence. Clarence shows George all the lives he has touched, and how different life in his community would be if he had never been born.

This is a beautiful film with a great sentiment, but my god is it boring! Like everyone else, all I really knew about this film was the ending, and that is truly the only part that I enjoyed. By now you should all know how I feel about films longer than eighty minutes, and at one-hundred and thirty-five minutes, this film is way too long.

Rating: 3

Crown for Christmas

After getting fired from her job as a maid at a ritzy New York City hotel, Allie reluctantly accepts a temporary job as the governess to the daughter of the King of Winshire. Soon, Sparks begin to fly between Allie and the king.

This film is just A Christmas Prince (which is coming up) but, in my opinion, better. The editing is pretty tragic, but it makes up for that with heart. I am always a sucker for father-daughter stories.

Rating: 3

A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas

Six years after their last adventure, Harold is asked to look after a Christmas tree by his father-in-law, but his ex-roommate Kumar ends up destroying it. The two then set out to find a replacement for the damaged tree.

Despite my earlier comments about Will Ferrell, I am a sucker for irreverent comedy and this film is full of it. I’m also a sucker for goofy 3D, another feature of this film. Also, Neil Patrick Harris is always great to see, especially in this.

Rating: 3

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Charlie Brown finds himself depressed despite to onset of the cheerful holiday season. Lucy suggests he direct a neighbourhood Christmas play, but his best efforts are ignored and mocked by his peers. After Linus tells Charlie Brown the true meaning of Christmas, Charlie Brown cheers up, and the Peanuts gang unites to celebrate the Christmas season.

This special is weirdly anti-commercialist? As well as being very boring, I can guarantee that I won’t be re-watching this.

Rating: 2

The Muppet Christmas Carol

The Muppet characters tell their version of the classic tale of Scrooge, an old miser who doesn’t care about the joyous season of Christmas is visited by spirits who foretell his future. Will Scrooge turn over a new leaf and change his ways?

This has earned it place as my second favourite Christmas Carol adaptations; behind the Barbie version, of course. Like any Muppets film, it’s entertaining, funny and the songs are great. I also really want one of this tiny mouse muppets.

Rating: 4

Klaus

A simple act of kindness always sparks another, even in a frozen, faraway place. When Smeerensburg’s new postman, Jesper, befriends toymaker Klaus, their gifts melt an age-old fued and deliver a sleigh full of holiday traditions.

This film has a beautiful heart, but is tonally dissonant in the first half. Once Klaus and Jesper start delivering their presents, it picks up drastically. The heart-warming story, mixed with the gorgeous animation makes for a cute Christmas film.

Rating: 4

A Christmas Prince

When a reporter goes undercover as a tutor to get the inside scoop on a playboy prince, she gets tangled in some royal intrigue and ends up finding love - but will she be able to keep up her lie?

How did this film get two sequels, it’s so boring?

Rating: 3

Krampus

Frustrated by the constant quarrel between the members of his dysfunctional family, max loses interest to celebrate Christmas, awakening Krampus, a demon who will punish his entire family.

Making a tonal 180, we land on this film; which I adore. The creature design for Krampus and his minions is fantastic and the family dynamic is perfect. My only gripe is that the whole film is too dark, visually, I don’t like struggling to watch movies.

Rating: 5

Better Watch Out

Ashley travels to the suburban home of the Lemers to babysit their 12-year-old son Luke during the holidays. She must soon defend herself and the young boy when unwelcome intruders announce their arrival.

I hate home intruder films, by that I mean they scare the shit out of me, so I actually love them. I’m not going to spoil this film, because it is best to go in with all I’ve given you already. I loved this movie and the cast does an amazing job, especially Levi Miller.

Rating: 4

Christmas Under Wraps

When a doctor doesn’t get the position she wanted, she ends up movie to a remote Alaskan town. She unexpectedly ends up finding love, happiness and discovers that the small town is hiding a big holiday secret.

I don’t know why I expected more from the most popular Hallmark film, but this isn’t much. Also, this Santa’s pretty shit if he only leaves on Christmas Eve in Alaska, he would have already missed half of the world.

Rating: 3

Magical Christmas Ornaments

Marie finds her Christmas spirit reawakened when her mother begins sending her the family’s Christmas ornaments. As each ornament arrives, it brings a positive change to Marie’s life, including an introduction to the handsome man from next door.

This film, is the worse precursor to The Holiday Calendar on Netflix. There’s nothing wrong with this film, but maybe watch The Holiday Calendar instead.

Rating: 3

Jack Whitehall: Christmas with My Father

Jack Whitehall invites his notoriously stuffy father onstage in London’s West End for a Christmas comedy extravaganza, complete with celebrity guests.

Is it a fun watch? Yes. Will I watch it again? No.

Rating: 3

Christmas is easily my favourite time of the year, and I hope it’s pleasent you as well. I’m wishing you the happiest of holiday seasons and a fantastic 2020!

#The TV Show Trials #White Christmas #Elf #Scrooged #It's A Wonderful Life #A Crown For Christmas #A Very Harold and Kumar Chrismas #A Charlie Brown Christmas #A Muppet Christmas Carol #Klaus #A Christmas Prince #Krampus #Better Watch Out #Christmas Under Wraps #Magical Christmas Ornaments #Jack Whitehall #Film Reviews #Happy Holidays

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punainenpuolukka · 5 years

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Oh, the Thing with the Ghosts, the Boys, and the Car?

This is a weird one, a confession of sorts. A confession that I might come to regret come tomorrow (when I'll probably be watching the new episode). This time I truly can’t explain.

Part 3. I sort of like Bucklemming and I’m sorry about that

Look, I know that the overall consensus in this fandom, which is so divided and gets up on arms with the drop of a hat, is that Bucklemming is the worst. Even I think, say, and joke how Bucklemming is the worst. Repeatedly. Before and after a Bucklemming episode I think “Eh, it’s Bucklemming”. Recently, when season 12 reruns aired on TV here, around 2 am or so with double episodes to boot, I remember thinking that there was something deeply wrong with the episode and I couldn’t understand why it was so awkward and painful to watch, until I checked who wrote it, it was Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Lemming of course, and suddenly it all made so much more sense. People are reminded to lower their expectations before their episodes just so that there would be minimum amount of (collective) disappointment. We all know the drill pretty well, don’t you think?

The thing is, I don’t hate Bucklemming episodes. In fact, I quite like some of them.

No, don’t get me wrong, quite a few of Bucklemming episodes are bad, just flat out bad, there’s no excuse, but I still don’t hate any of them. They tend to be a bit thin on the subtext, they are funny but the humour is based on awkward situations and stereotypes stretched to extremes. A lot of things happen in a short amount of time both to their detriment as well as their advantage, as sometimes the story doesn’t have time to breath but at least it keeps the audience at the edge of their seat. Also, the revelations in their episodes are liked dropped anvils and so exceptionally blunt there is very little room for interpretation, which I occasionally appreciate since I’m dumb. Just so dumb. Quite like many Bucklemming episodes. In addition, even the episodes that I would consider to be poor in quality for them (and Supernatural as whole) tend to have at least one good thing, even if it sometimes is just the premise, which admittedly might not be their doing. Nonetheless, the overall quality of Bucklemming episodes I’ll watch them gladly, maybe with a little less attention than normal, but regardless for me my love for the whole show overrides cringe of their episodes any day.

And Bucklemming episodes are plenty cringey. Like the bad kind of cringe that makes me wonder that even if the they wrote the episode, there were several people taking part of making the episode that went “I guess it’s okay”, and still nobody mentioned that maybe this is actually the worst idea (I’m referring to 8.15 Man’s Best Friend with Benefits, as in the one with witches and their familiars, which writing-wise is not the worst, plotwise pretty solid if I recall, but the final product is just, um, calling it highly questionable is far too kind). Sometimes Bucklemming in combination with some directors (yes, I’m especially talking about Robert Singer, we all know why) somehow conjure up a legitimately bad episode of Supernatural consisting of multiple minor things that alone are not that bothersome but together ruin everything. You know, like killing a beloved character in a way that is not only remarkably horrific and cruel but also unnecessary, which leads to the question am I talking about Kevin, Charlie, or maybe Eileen? These episodes are the ones that make me ask “why, just why”, but I also tend to forget the truly terrible stuff pretty much by the end of the episode. It’s generally not important, or more accurately, the execution of it is not important, so I just don’t think about it unless someone mentions it. However the truly terrible stuff is discussed a lot. Of course it should be, critiquing is very important part of media consumption, but even then, sometimes it’s better to just let go. Just forget and move on.

Now that I’ve discussed why Bucklemming is bad, which, let’s be honest, was not necessary at all since we all know and didn’t even touch their creepy, rapey stuff, but I’m very insecure and felt I needed to agree with the consensus before I bring up my positive outlook on things and insist that not only Buckner and Ross-Lemming are capable writers, some of their episodes are not only very enjoyable but also actually quite good. Of course enjoyability is subjective, so there’s no guarantee that others think the same. Unfortunately, there is no time to go through all Bucklemming episodes, and not all of them are worth going through at all, since most of them are just ‘meh’, but regardless, I’d like to present some of my favourites.

8.03 Heartache

This is the episode of Supernatural I actively spend thinking the most. And it’s a lot. It highlights the tragedy of immortality and how you cannot really create connections with others because eventually they will wither away and die but you remain the same. Of course in this case the immortal Mayan athlete also had to sacrifice human hearts in exchange for his immortality, which his wife knew and seemed to accept so that they could be together, which raises the question of how she could close her eyes for so long to the atrocities her husband committed just so they could be together since she didn’t seem malicious at all, nor was she resentful of her husband taking his own life so suddenly. She seemed almost relieved that she didn’t have to worry for him anymore, and when her time comes she could rest in peace. Curiously, her husband was not really allowed to rest as the people who had gotten the organ transplants from him sort of continued his life and wanted to be immortal like him and get all the other benefits he had. It’s so tragic and twisted that what is the greatest gift you can give to a stranger corrupts them and what was supposed to save their lives eventually ruins them. The whole episode is a surprisingly original take on the immortal lover trope, and it doesn’t hurt that it does the patented Supernatural trick of mirroring single episode characters with the main ones, this time connecting the immortal athlete who died and Cas, also sort of immortal who “died” recently.

10.16 Paint it Black

This episode is a very curious episode as whole. In a sense, it’s sort of average MoW episode with relatively strong plot but it has the sort of escalation that I appreciate greatly. I mean we’ve had so many vengeful ghosts that target the same kind of demographic, but there is something in this episode that tickles my fancy just right. Also, I cannot really describe the weird joyous horror when the ghost nun in the past cuts her finger so that her blood and bone can be ground up and used in her portrait. She seemed to do it with such glee that it’s a wonder that the painter didn’t see all the red flags in her behaviour (though he was an Italian man, an artist and full of himself, maybe girls cut off their body parts of for him nonstop). It was such a delight. In addition, Dean, who at the time had the Mark of Cain and was once again spiralling deeper into depression and desperation, visits confession and reveals that now that he is about to die (yeah, that doesn’t seem to stick, but I digress) he regrets not experiencing things perhaps for the first time. And we still don’t know what those things are.

An honorary mention goes to episode 1.13 Route 666, which is not really one of my favourites, but I also remember very little of it, other than the general description of it, which amuses me to no end: It’s the racist truck episode. It sounds so dumb, and it was, of course, but I have a fond memories of it regardless. Or maybe fond feelings since barely remember what happens in it.

So, I like Bucklemming, sort of and on occasion, and I don’t think everything the dreadful duo writes is worth the derision they get. I’ve learnt to live with them, maybe it would help if others tried to live with them too, and accommodate their expectations and try to find the good things in the episodes instead of focusing on the bad ones. And if the Bucklemming episodes are a disappointment then they are. Move on. Life is already a disappointment, 40 minutes of disappointment won’t make it worse. Also, I really like the word ‘Bucklemming’, so that’s a plus, and a reason why repeat it constantly. Though I still wish that Bucklemming would just stop with the creeps.

#spn #supernatural #supernatural season 15 #spn s15 #bucklemming

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tarthserjaime · 5 years

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Reason #1,682 to hate how D&D handled Jaime and Brienne in episodes 4 and 5:

I can't even talk about this show to almost anyone irl now, nor watch reaction/analysis videos, because of how D&D framed:

1) Jaime and Brienne as a drunken, unimportant hookup that almost entirely happened off screen. They stripped that development of any romantic overtones by not showing an actual love scene, which should have been one of if not THE most romantic in the show given these characters' long history. Instead they gave us an awkward but sweet first kiss, then conflicted Jaime looking at Brienne sleeping twice, then a soul crushing parting. They never showed the audience any real physical tenderness between them, intimate conversations, nothing. Then they split them up the same episode, in an almost cauterizing fashion that was nowhere near the satisfying goodbye that every other significant duo (platonic, familial, or romantic) have had this season. And they had Jaime ride off without a backwards glance, never to mention Brienne again.

The result of that for the general audience has been accepting J/B as a casual, temporary, unimportant, awkward, fanservicey, unnecessary addition to S8. They can't take it seriously as a real romantic relationship that has been building for 6 seasons, or even a relationship that was significant in the end. Like Jaime the GA can put it in the rear view mirror and forget about it as an aberration on the way to point 2.

Initially I took this to be shoddy writing/directing that merely indicated a lack of care re: the JB story. Now we know that it was 100% intentionally framed that way so the GA would accept the D's view of JB as a) a hookup driven largely by Jaime trying to be something he really wasn't (i.e. Brienne's "good man"), b) a short-lived relationship that failed because the romantic connection was not there, and c) something that should never have happened in the first place because they're really just platonic or whatever. Or because Brienne represents Jaime's honor, and he's clearly Not That Guy. This is why the knighting scene was framed as more romantic and *more significant* than their actual love scene or any subsequent JB scenes. (The score alone supports that.)

Again, this is all intentional, of course. With very little changes D&D could have written/shot/edited the JB love scenes to be as tender and romantic as all of their other unrequited scenes have been. Easily. And it would have matched the historical tenor of JB's relationship much better, which would have guided the GA to say "Ah! Of course! This was always where these two were headed." The GA would have then had an investment in *romantic* JB because it was presented as a true romance, vs. an offkey OOC drunken hookup that many people also presumed to be a one night stand because they can't math or something.

ANYWAY. You know where I'm going with point 2...

2) The other thing D&D did that tanked JB and Jaime's character arc was of course framing twincest as the *real* romantic story for Jaime. Doing this places Brienne again in the rear view mirror, a regrettable and forgettable dalliance while Jaime was on vacation in the north. Reuniting with C., giving up his life to die with C., who suddenly lost her evil, powerful, "I choose violence" enemy-destroying persona to become the epitome of the tragic romantic lover weeping in Jaime's arms about her non-existent baby . . . All of that, even the blocking of it, again framed Brienne and JB as aberrant and wrong and the fatal twincest embrace as the tragic romance that C. and D&D (and sometimes pre-Brienne show!Jaime) always saw it as.

They framed it as the tragic but romantic fate of JC, and much of the GA now seems to be accepting that. Someone today irl said they liked the "tomb to womb" arc that seemed the most appropriate ending for this "romantic" pair. Nevermind that it was a toxic relationship. Nevermind that Jaime had learned just one episode ago that C hired someone to kill him. Nevermind that we had seen with our own eyes how taken with another woman Jaime was all season, and not just some random northern hottie but the person with whom he's had the deepest connection other than his siblings.

But nevermind that. Nevermind the incest, or the way that C getting her sympathetic ending undid 7 years of Jaime's development apart from C.

No, the bottom line for the general audience, thanks to all the very deliberate storytelling choices D&D made in their twincest fantasy death, is that JC were the real love story and that's the only way that Jaime's story could have ended. Rocks falling or not.

The end result is that everything that *I* know about JB and believe about Jaime lost any traction with the general audience. And that's why I'm finding it almost impossible to discuss the show with most people irl or listen to commentary about it.

Because either they're all wrong -- or D&D have made my deeply held beliefs about Jaime and Brienne seem crazy. And trying to bridge that gap now, and explain to people why they/D&D are wrong, is frankly exhausting, depressing, and rage-inducing all at once. We'll never be able to prove them wrong now, since the books (should they ever appear) will only be read by maybe 5% of GOT viewers, which means that ever after the predominant views about the show will reflect these two points.

I don't think I'll ever be able to tolerate that without wanting to throw down with someone about how wrong they are. And I can't wait for it to be over so those conversations will soon end.

#sorry for all the typos and the rambling #typing on a phone is not the easiest way to write something more than a few sentences #jaime x brienne #braime #brienne of tarth #rip jaime lannister #rip jaime lannister's character arc #we were robbed #tbtwp #jb grief cycle #never getting over it #long post #sorry cant do a read more cut on my phone #also my posts arent showing up in the tags so maybe like 4 people will read this and thank you if you've made it this far lol

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thelostguardianau · 6 years

Text

The Lost Guardian- Chapter Four

“A Truth Unbidden”

(Authors note: Okay so this chapter is HEAVY. Hense why chapter three and chapter four were orginally going to be one chapter, chapter three trying to soften to blow that is this chapter. We learn some new things, so buckle up my friends. This thing is so long that I’ve been battling the text box limit to get my introductory in. I can’t cut this sucker in half again.)(second note; I will not be doing a taglist for this au anymore, as I have made this blog for those who want to keep track of it. I will only post updates and the art that i make for this fic (and fanart too, if that every comes about xD) enough people were interested in this fic for the taglist to become overwhelming for the dyslexic person who has to manage it, so I ask that you follow this blog instead if you are interested. Thank you.) Notice! I have art for the main set of Guardians, and am currently working on the rest of the characters as this fic goes, take a look! I’ve put a lot of work into these and I’m really proud of em!

Chapter Three | Chapter Five

Fandom: Thomas Sanders Sides

Pairings: Eventual Polyamsanders(LAMP/CALM)

Warnings: Good god where do I even start. Talks of depressing matters such as death, endangerment to ones life, controlled experimentation, kidnapping, mental instability. Conversations focused on detailed desciptions of tragic(?) and grim life events. Has an episode of a sort of mental relapse/dellusion when blacking out from an anxiety attack. So much swearing. Oh yeah and Remy kinda has to be kinda serious for this chapter so I apologize if he is ooc.

“Every lifetime, had he been subjected to being a Cursed Soul? Was every lifetime was some version of hell or accepted defeat? Or were some of those lifetimes kinder to him? It sounded unlikely. It would be no wonder as to why his soul was like this if that was the case, however, considering what Logan said.. There was definitely still a piece missing, a final reason required to make the puzzle click in Virgil’s mind. “

As they all filed into the room, Virgil took notice that it was similar to a small conference room, but interestingly enough, it held a corner filled with pillows and soft blankets. Patton immediately guided Virgil to said corner and sat down, bringing the nervous ravenette right into his lap. The others trailed slowly behind, discussing what they knew so far, and how to go about assessing the problem at hand. When they had given Remy all that they knew, Remy walked over to the duo and sat down in front of them. It was a long moment before Remy made a move to do anything.

Remy sighed, reaching out and touching Virgil’s chest for a long moment, green eyes glowing and trained on something unseeable. Slowly, he moves his hands away from Virgil’s chest, and out followed a malformed shape of light. Virgil’s chest seized as he pressed his back further against Patton, eyes trained on the weird ball of light in surprise. ‘Wait, what? What is that?’

When it was a certain distance from Virgil’s chest, Remy stopped, and blinked. It was then it seemed that Remy actually saw the thing for the first time and hissed lowly at it, as if it caused him pain to see it. The room around them had gone silent, all attention on this one thing, god, what was it? Patton had tensed behind Virgil, the arms looped loosely around his waist had tightened.

“Shit, kid, obviously I underestimated the severity of this. I shoulda looked at this last night.. Not that it woulda made much of a difference, but..” Remy inhaled a hiss again as he gently combed his hand through the mess of knotted and loose strands, the ball looking more like a flame coming undone.

It was light in color, almost like the color of his bright lilac soul timer, however it seemed more dull and desaturated, almost a light grey, and the knots and shimmering strings surrounding it were a ombre of bright and dark hues of the same faded lilac purple. The moment Remy had begun to touch through it, Virgil’s body felt like it had been doused with ice water, and he couldn’t help but jolt a little. “Shit, Sorry kid, shoulda’ warned ya. This.. This ain’t gonna feel too pleasant, but we have to do this, okay?” The rest of Remy’s seemingly chill and carefree demeanor had vanished completely the moment this thing appeared. Seriously, what the fuck was it? Virgil couldn’t take it, not with his mind spinning in confused circles.

“What is that?” Virge surprised himself with how afraid but stable his question sounded.

Remy simply looked at him, almost shocked. Almost. “Well, kid. This..” Remy gestured, his other hand still combing gently through the strands, not pulling on them too hard, just analyzing information from them in a way Virgil wasn’t trained to see. Remy gave a heavy sigh, his eyes downcast at the mess of light in his hands. “This is supposed to be your soul. But, as you can clearly see.. Something just.. ain’t right.” Remy ran a hand through his hair, distressed. “..It shouldn’t look like this, kid.” Remy pulled away long enough to get in a good stretch of his arms. “This is what I would call a sick soul. Healthy souls aren’t so.. grey.” Remy leaned back over to get a better look, his fingers ever so gentle, twirling, guiding and touching the pathetic looking thing.

Roman picked up Remy’s open ended explanation after a moment, voice tense and serious. “Usually, a healthy human soul is dark in color, rich in hue and colorful.. A healthy Guardian soul is bright and glowing, light-maybe almost neon-in color. Your soul.. it sits so starkly in the middle..” Roman trailed off, eyes widening, he glanced over at Logan whose eyes were trained intently on Virgil’s soul. “Because, although it’s grey and kinda desaturated.. It’s glowing, and is much lighter than any Human soul we’ve ever seen..” There was a long, heavy pause. “Human souls.. they just. They don’t glow like that.”

“This can’t be right. Something is..” Logan wavered, turning to rapidly flick through the information he was gathering on the blue screen of light, one that he had conjured up the moment Virgil’s soul had appeared. “No human could ever possibly have a soul like this. Not naturally. The likelihood of it is a theoretical percentage of-“ Remy raised his hand, silently cutting Logan off.

“I’m gonna stop you right there, honey, before you hop off the deep end with your charts and statistics and the other things that your beautifully brilliant head comes up with. I gotta clear this up real quick.” Remy leaned back, detaching himself from the soul as he supported himself with one arm.

“Lo, this kid, this soul.. He may have a human body.. but..” Remy ran a hand through his hair again, troubled. “..he isn’t human.”

All at once, the room seemed to stop still, and Virgil swore he could choke on the tense atmosphere. Virgil’s mind was reeling.

“What?”

The genuine surprise in Logan’s voice wasn’t assuring. “That-that, Remy that can’t be-How- Remy, there is no record case of a Guardian to start out in a Human body. That’s just- it’s not naturally possible.” Logan’s face had contorted into one of disbelief. “I’m-I’m not trying to question you, but, it-it just doesn’t make logical sense.” Remy looked calm, unaffected, despite Logan just having disagreed with his superior.

“Logan, how long does it take an average human body to succumb under the power of a Guardian soul?” Remy’s voice was gentle, unchallenging. He was instead trying to keep Logan calm and stable despite the Master Guardian’s very obvious panic. “U-uh, the most recent tests showed..” Logan looked down, eyes flicking here and there, snapping his fingers to try and recall the information.

“Recent tests showed that.. depending on the guardian soul, from Guardian, to Master, and theoretically the Elite, about.. 15 to 25 years.” Logan looked back at Remy, who had turned his attention to Virgil again, green eyes searching for something deeper. Virgil simply looked unhealthily pale and confused. “Patton-cake, honey, are you able to check V’s soulspan history?”

“U-uh, yes! I can only see most of it, though, not all of it, sir. I haven’t quite mastered it fully yet.” Patton’s voice vibrated nervously against Virgil’s back. Remy seemed to accept this, and gently gestured for Patton to do so. Virgil felt one of Patton's hands slip over his wrist, touching on the soultimer as he hugged Virgil’s arm to his stomach, so Pat could still offer Virgil the comfort of an arm around him. Patton’s other hand slipped free and was held out in front of them, resting next to the mess that was apparently Virgil’s soul. Virgil felt Patton rest his chin on top of head and hum, he assumed Pat had closed his eyes to concentrate.

Virgil watched Patton’s markings spring to life, glowing brightly. Like before, a small sky blue screen of light appeared above his hand, large enough to provide readable ease from a distance. Remy’s hand slipped over Patton’s after a moment, making the Guardian jump slightly. The screen shimmered into something of a lime green color, indicating a mixing of abilities to achieve their desired goal. Virgil watched as reversed nameless symbols filled the screen in an odd timeline format. He watched Remy’s eyes scour the screen, lips silently reading out illegible numbers, and was vaguely aware of Logan copying the given information quickly as well.

After five long minutes, Remy pulled away and sighed, running a hand through his hair in a troubled manner. He turned to look back at Logan and waited, allowing the Guardian to sort through the newly gained data, Virgil assumed. Patton relaxed against Virgil, humming tiredly, his job done for the moment.

Virgil unconsciously shivered when both of Patton’s arms looped around him again. Patton seemed to be feeling extra touchy today, especially after Virgil had confessed his touch starved nature. Maybe this was him every day though, Virgil didn’t know Patton well enough to say, despite this he allowed himself to be cuddled like a teddy bear by said Guardian anyway. This tense situation didn’t seem to help him decide if it was for comfort or something bigger left unsaid.

“Seven,” Logan stated at last, leaning against the table as if needing something to brace himself on. “Seven lifetimes. Each interval accosting to 20 or so years on average, equating in full to 140 years of soul existence. That's..” Logan dug his palms against his eyes, resting his glasses on his head for a second. He looked so utterly troubled by the shortened lifetimes, but also by something even deeper.

“That’s too much time.. for a Guardian’s soul to be in the system.” Logan hadn’t uncovered his eyes, but it was clear he was still fast at work, calculating and formulating, trying to make sense of this situation. He had sounded so devastated.

How had this poor Guardian soul ended up in the Human Soul System and not been found for so long? What happened to his original body, did he even have one? Wouldn’t they have found it by now? Did this kid even have a long term memory? No, clearly not, given the look of confusion on Virgil's face.

“Wait.. What do you mean? ‘Too much time to be in the system?’ I thought that Guardian Souls simply deteriorated human bodies over time.. and that's why you guys have specially made ‘vessels’ or bodies or whatever, because human bodies don't last long.” Virgil was honestly confused, but there was something creeping dark at him from the back of his mind. Every lifetime, had he been subjected to being a Cursed Soul? Was every lifetime was some version of hell or accepted defeat? Or were some of those lifetimes kinder to him? It sounded unlikely. It would be no wonder as to why his soul was like this if that was the case, however, considering what Logan said.. There was definitely still a piece missing, a final reason required to make the puzzle click in Virgil’s mind.

Logan gave a long sigh and put his glasses back on. “In the past, curious Guardians volunteered to test what it was like to be inside the human system, and a few daring souls tested, with a couple of Masters and Elite supervising them all, what happens when they stay in the system for varied periods of time.” Logan’s eyes flicked over the screen in front of him, touching and sorting symbols effortlessly as he continued to talk.

“The results of a Guardian living a ‘Finite Soul’ fated interval, that timer situation being the default for all Guardians who tried, were that no Guardian received more than 25 years inside a human vessel. As for what happened to a Guardian, we found that for one interval, there was minimal to no change to the soul. However, after two intervals, Guardian’s souls showed signs of changing. After three intervals, a Soul showed symptoms of dimming, shrinking, loss of power. After four, these symptoms worsened slightly, and showed a new symptom coined as ‘unraveling’ from itself.”

Virgil blinked, peering at the knotted strands of light surrounding his soul; was this the result of ‘unraveling?’

Logan sighed again, and adjusted his shirt, a habit that said Logan wore ties often. “This particular symptom alarmed Elites, and once they had gathered all the information they could, they called off the experiment. This symptom was dangerous, as it reflected that the longer a Guardian soul was in the human system, the more the soul’s inherent nature began to change to fit into the system. In short, the souls were trying to become human. They were unintentionally evolving to try and rid themselves of the power that was overwhelming their human bodies.” Logan paused for a very long time.

“...The problem with that,” Logan finally looked at Virgil, eyes focused but pained. “Is that without our unique energy, our powersource, our nature as a Guardian soul: without the very thing that the soul was trying to diminish in itself to fit in, we would die.”

Remy’s eyes were down cast, staring intently at the damage the soul had endured, but still managed to clarify for the still confused ravenette. “So, to correct you, it is actually a two way street. The more bodies a soul goes through, the more it learns to see what is wrong, and tries to fix it.” Logan heaved a shaky sigh, running a hand through his hair as he ran through the statistics, looking grim as he reported them.

“Currently, your soul is in jeopardy. ..of.. completely unraveling… You have been in the human system for just about 140 years. That is 7 life times. With each interval, your soul broke itself down more and more, trying to fit where it wasn’t supposed to, without even knowing it. This is likely why it went unnoticed to all of us until now when we let Remy take a closer look. Your soul is so.. damaged and changed, that it comes off as human. I am willing to bet that had you not been found, you.. You would have been lost to the world by the end of your next interval.” Logan looked at the ground, sick with trepidation.

Virgil was silent for a very long moment, he turned his head to join Remy in his observation. He was speechless. And, also, very much in some kind of mental shock. His entire world and outlook on life was being overturned as he knew it.

“Logan. How long ago was the experiment?” Remy was deep in thought.

“Too long. It would have ended 50 years before Virgil was brought into existence.” Logan hummed, back to flicking rapidly through the vast amount of information.

Remy sighed “And all participants were accounted for when the experiment was shut down?” It sounded like he was grasping at straws. Logan simply nodded at him.

Patton hummed softly, swaying gently with Virgil as they all thought deeply, but it would be Patton, after couple of minutes of thorough dead-end discussions later, to bring something new to the table. “Hey Lolo? Wasn’t there that incident with that Rogue Soul a couple of years ago? Didn’t that lead to a whole secret search for a missing Guardian?”

Virgil was sick and tired of silence overtaking the room, and pressed further into Patton’s arms, even more tired of all these surprises, he almost wanted to tune them out. It was almost comical, in a dark sort of way. Kid has one month left to live, and now they’re saying that he was so unfortunate that each of the unfortunate lives he'd been living were actually only killing him even further, and that his month left to live had almost been the last of his very existence. That he wasn’t supposed to be human in the first place. Truly, Virgil couldn’t think of anything more cruelly ironic.

Logan’s eyes had locked with Remy’s, and they were seemingly holding a silent guardian to guardian conversation, and Virgil had to realize that, well, Guardians could actually do that.

Everything was quiet, that is, until Remy broke eye contact and growled some very vulgar curse words to the ground. “..Oh no... No. Nononononono that Fucker!”

The outburst had scared Virgil enough to make him jump, curling his legs to his chest. Patton held him tighter and cooed softly into his ear to calm him down. When he was sure Virgil was calm enough to proceed, Pat nodded to Roman, who spoke up at the signal. “Remy, context please?”

Remy grumbled and pulled out his phone, searching through it for a moment before answering. “That Rogue Soul, with all the trouble he stirred up-only a couple of Master Souls and all Master Elites know this but- he did an awful fuckin thing, worse than what the rest of the public was told at the time.”

Remy shakily reached out, and guided Virgil’s soul back into him, taking time to assure himself that it was back into place, as if it was as fragile as glass. He then stood up and started pacing the room, still searching through his phone. “We didn’t let people know because, well, we didn’t know what he did, exactly. The bastard wanted his time renewed, the old fuck, he used to be an Elite and was one of the oldest at the time. Sure, we Guardians live a long ass time, but even our souls give out. This, this monster, wasn’t very happy about it, and wanted to twist the rules. So he went to one of the few guardians on the planet that could actually do that, an Origin Guardian.” Remy sucked in a sharp breath as one of his hands clenched into a tight fist, as if remembering the story like it was a personal memory.

“Most people don’t know what that is, for a reason, for this reason, actually. We keep them under secrecy from humans. All guardians know they exist, but most are unaware of who these special few are unless they are a Master Guardian or an Elite. To put it simply, these cute little puffballs are fucking important to our balance as a system. These guys not only heal human souls, but they make Guardian Souls.” Remy was gesturing wildly now, obviously working himself up, this story was really putting him on edge. Virgil was listening closely with interest. An Origin Guardian? Why did that name call to him so much, like it was familiar? He was sure he’d never heard the words before, until now.

“So, Origin Guardians ain’t all that special past that, in fact, they aren’t even as powerful as us Elites. But, what they are, are highly sensitive to the outside world. They are the only Guardian type to possess such a natural skill and tolerance in working to weave all sorts of important energies into one new being, out of all types, and that means that they require the highest maintenance out of all Guardian types.. It isn’t easy, by far, for them to make an average Guardian Soul, it’s extremely draining and time consuming, let alone having to hook it up a unique body, made by an Elite, to go with it,” Virgil saw there were angry tears in Remy’s eyes, shining against the tight expression he wore.

“So just imagine the days and energy and effort going into making a Master Guardian, the weeks it takes to make an Elite. And so now think about how long it takes to perfectly hone a Guardian Soul so that it may have the sensitive nature of creation itself, to become an Origin Guardian.” Remy’s bright green eyes stopped right on Virgil and stayed there for a long moment, something within Virgil pulled at this silent connection, before the Elite returned to his pacing. Virgil had figured out by now that Remy was typing something out on his phone, but from his view on the floor, he had no way of telling what.

Remy just trekked angrily on. “On that day, that fucker of a traitor bothered the one Origin Guardian who had just begun recovering from a two month long journey to create a new Origin Guardian. The poor thing had been too spent to ask an Elite to create a body for it yet at the time, and so it rested in a protective room inside their home center while he regained enough energy to be able to attach the soul to a body.” Finally Roman stopped Remy’s pacing, and guided him sit to a chair, Logan pushing a cup of coffee towards the already exhausted Elite.

“Of course, the Origin Guardian denied this Elite’s request, because it was unlawful, unnatural. This Elite then had a tantrum, and was furious, so a massive argument broke out. Except you don’t argue with an Origin Guardian, not as aggressively as he did, at least. Poor things are hypersensitive to projected emotions, and it honestly pains them when they are hit with negative emotions. So, the Origin’s platonic bond-mates kicked him out, and left this Elite fuming for revenge.”

Remy growled lowly, looking far away, and took a long sip of the coffee he was offered. “The next day, the Soul ‘newborn’ was gone.”

Virgil felt himself shiver, trying not to think about a distant feeling of angrily steady hands grasping at a vulnerable soul, stealing it away.

“When we interrogated him and he admitted to the crime easily. However.. no matter what we did, where we looked, world wide, even after the Elite was banished to be a Rogue Soul, we could never get out of him just what he’d done with it.” Remy leaned back in the chair and heaved a heavy sigh, story telling over.

“Couldn’t he.. have, I don’t know, destroyed it?” Roman leaned on the table next to Logan, eyes trained on Remy while his hands moved to work at Logan’s tense shoulders.

“No, with an Origin soul so young like that.. It would have still been directly connected to the Origin Guardian who made them. Kind of like a parent to a child, a soul-bond in a different light, I guess.” Remy dragged a hand over his face briefly. “Destroying it would have had disastrous effects on the creator. It would probably scar for life, and they would forever feel like something was missing once the pain had subsided. This bond connection could diminish over time if the Origin Guardians separated, but no, killing the soul didn’t happen. The Guardian never showed any signs of reacting to a severed soul-bond.” Remy tapped his foot as he sent messages rapidfire, now clearly relaying information to other Elites.

“After 30 years of searching the whole world while on the down low, with no luck, you eventually give up... I know this Guardian, he still thinks about it to this day, and has refused to make another Origin Soul since. He may not have had painful, lifelong scarring from a severed bond, but he lost the most important thing he’d ever created in a matter of days, his child, and he’d never had solace in knowing what had happened to them. That stuff fucks people up, and he especially was no exception.” Remy pulled up his phone once more to his face and stared at it for a long time.

Virgil’s mind was still reeling. All of this, it sounded so foreboding. Why had they moved onto this topic? It was so clear that it bothered Remy to speak about it, so why was he? Patton’s forehead rested against the top of his shoulder, having to slouch to do so, but Virgil couldn’t really feel it right now.

After a few minutes, Remy let out a long, low hiss of defeat, “..How do you tell your best friend of three centuries that his child that was abducted, oh, i don’t know, 14 decades ago, that, Surprise! you found him. Oh, and that he's almost on death's door, having lived each of his first seven abominable lifetimes like he was just waiting for the nightmare to end, because he never knew anything else. That his perfect little baby was now broken and dying, but alive?”

Virgil broke out of his shocked daze with a start, “W-Wait a minute, we didn’t agree that this incident was me! What are you talking about??” Talk about jumping to conclusions, why did Remy sound so goddamn final about that?

But before Remy could respond, Logan cut in with a solemn expression. “Because we know it is you, Virgil. This incident happened 140 years ago, one month from today. This is the only incident of its kind, and from what I’ve gathered, Remy already knows that this Guardian was the one responsible for creating your soul from just looking at it. Everything adds up. Perfectly.” Remy gave a weak nod, staring at the ceiling with a look of hopeless exasperation.

“Well, at least we know now. This changes everything.” Came Remy’s voice, sounding unsure and highly upset.

Patton gently removed his forehead from Virgil’s shoulder, letting out a small sniffle. Roman is quiet and conflicted, still trying to sooth Logan’s tense posture.

Surprisingly, it’s Logan who breaks the silence this time. But instead of calm, calculated facts, it’s his hand slamming against his screen, all the moving data coming to an immediate halt. Slowly, the screen dissipates, and Logan’s shoulders start silently shaking, and Roman slips his arms around the other soon after. Logan’s glasses are set on the table as he is turned around and pulled into Roman’s embrace. Patton is tense and trying to gently get up, to reach over and comfort the other, and Virgil moves off of his lap, not wanting to hold Patton back. Somewhere between the long stares and physical reactions, Virgil knows he’s missing something, because they are clearly communicating to one another, but Virgil doesn’t quite get how. And after that outburst, the silence was getting to be unbearable.

But Virgil just sits there, slowly slipping back into this weird haze that was settling over him. It faintly occurred to him that his limbs weren’t responding anymore, but his sight was also fading, so maybe that didn’t matter.

Were his ears ringing? Virgil couldn’t be sure.

‘There is no way that this is real. I had to have-laid down or something- last night, and this was one of those vivid dreams humans have where they believe they have woken up, but haven’t. He couldn’t have ended up on the roof last night, wasn’t he tired? No Guardian had ever cared about him before, why would they now? He probably just ate something weird last night before going to bed, and now he was having one of those wild dream within a dream nightmares. Why couldn’t his subconscious just let him die in peace?’

Virgil woke up with a start, breathing heavily and glancing around in panic. He was in his apartment, having seemingly passed out on the couch with his hoodie on. It was thankfully clean, but, it doesn’t make sense on how. When had he put it into the dryer? Wasn’t it still being washed when he’d laid down? Everything felt so soft, and unreal, intangible even.

He got up and looked around, trying to calm his breathing. What time was it? Why couldn’t he read the numbers on the clock? A glance outside said it was almost sunrise. Virgil distantly thinks that he’d having an off day and his panic has blinded him. He knows should really be heading out for work, so he grabs his keys and heads out without a second thought. He fumbles with the door far longer than he wants to admit due to his shaking hands. Except, when he steps outside, it’s suddenly daytime, and thats not even the strangest part.

From as far as he can see on either lane, there isn’t a person in sight, nor any car. Which is extremely strange for any day of the week in a city of any kind, he’d never seen anything like this before. What was happening? Where was everyone? What the fuck was going on? The city was dead quiet, oddly no shop seemed open, either.

Unnerved and beginning to full on panic, Virgil dashes down 3 blocks to the bakery, and finds it empty and closed too, despite it being midday. His key to the bakery doesn’t open it like it should, and knocking on the door receives no answer. Even the knocking was muted, he couldn’t hear his voice, fuck, he couldn’t hear anything. His breathing is picking up even harsher now, and Virgil cant help when he falls to a crouch, curling over himself as he grips his hair. He’s staring at the concrete and it looks wrong. The silence felt like was a weight rapidly crushing his chest, seizing it tightly and relentlessly.

Everything looks wrong. Something is terribly wrong. What the fuck is going on?

“Virgil.” A soft voice echos distantly, and it slams into his consciousness. He wheezes as he stands upright, dizzyingly fast. His head whips this way and that, trying to find the source of the voice, the only sound in the ringing silence.

“Virgil.” Louder this time, off to the left of him. He sprints down the walk way, tearing down the street, trying to find the source because he can't take it. He can’t take this. His chest hurts, he can't breathe, but he doesn’t care. The silence is deafening. Please, goddamnit, don’t let him be alone.

Virgil suddenly trips, the ground rushes up to meet him, and everything goes white. Please, god, don’t let him be dead.

“Virgil!” Logan is crouched in front of the unresponsive ravenette, Patton and Roman on either side. Logan’s long shimmering wings are outstretched, the tips curled around Virgil but barely touching him. He knew that when Virgil would come to, it would more than likely be a violent exchange, so keeping distance would minimize damage. His wings were there to catch Virgil and prevent him from slamming his head into the wall, as a concussion mixed with a panicking adult in denial would only make things worse.

Virgil suddenly blinks owlishly, his mind moving sluggishly to be pulled back to reality once more. He’s surrounded by familiar faces, but they don’t immediately register. Its enough for his panicking mind to slam him with enough adrenaline to try and launch himself away to safety from these strangers. He’s met with something touching his back and sides, curling around him but it's not a wall, not a corner to shove himself into; it would, however, have to do. The panic surging through him floods him with fear, and he curls in on himself as a last resort, shaking like a leaf as he pressed against whatever it was that held him there. To say the disorientation felt awful was an understatement of the century, but the pain felt even worse.

“Virgil.. It’s okay. You are safe. Can you hear me?” The voice is calm and deep, and familiar to Virgil. Whatever Virgil is pressed up against pulls him closer to the voice, just a bit. The not-walls were warm and bright, and blue.

His chest hurts, his head is spinning, he is shaking so bad he feels like he's coming apart at the seams. “Virgil, you have to start breathing again. Breathe with me, four-in, seven-hold, eight-out.” Logan’s voice was soothing, and slowly drawing Virgil back. He hears the voice audibly breathing to the rhythm and he desperately tries to match it, because his chest is burning, and he wants it to stop. Virgil struggles through the breathing exercise for a couple of minutes before he can fully breathe again, before he can finally think clearly again. When Virgil opened his eyes, he found he was much closer than when he had started, finding now that Logan's wings had gently been pulling him forward, little by little.

“There you are. Take your time, we’ve got you. You are okay.” Logan’s voice was steady and comforting, but as Virgil’s senses slowly came back, he could hear the faint tremble in his voice. Logan’s face was carefully neutral, but his eyes were rimmed red and his hair was slightly tousled, he had been crying. Still, he continued to whisper calming words of encouragement and assurance to Virgil as the ravenette tried to regain control of himself.

When the adrenaline finally subsided enough for Virgil to feel comfortable with moving, he relaxed his body the best he could and took deep, shaky breaths. God, everything hurt from tensing up so badly. He watched as Logan’s head bowed a bit, his face turning grim and guilt-ridden.

“I.. am sorry, for allowing you to fall into such a state, it was unprofessional to pull attention away from you with my outburst. Forgive me.” Logan’s voice was filled with guilt, and somewhere in Virgil’s tired confused mind, he decided he didn’t like Logan sounding like that. He decided he wouldn’t let it stay that way.

“Virgil?” He had fully uncurled and shakily began crawling the rest of the way over to the trio, his eyes set on Logan’s chest. When he finally made it, he looked up at Logan, who seemed surprised by his shaky determination.

“Virgil, what-“ Virgil slipped his arms up around Logan’s neck, hugging him close and tightly. Then the determination dissolved, and his body returned to its shaking as he clung to Logan’s shirt.

“It-it wasn’t.. wasn’t your f-fault. I-I’m here now, okay?” No one would know if Virgil was referring to Logan’s apology, or to the fact that Logan felt guilty for ever letting Virgil’s soul get as damaged as it was in the first place. Perhaps it had been both, Logan wasn’t sure.

Shaken from the others words, Logan slips his arms around the small other, and curls his wings around him as well, holding Virgil tight and securely as silent tears made their way down Logan’s face once more.

“We’ve got you now, Virgil, you aren’t alone anymore.”

Virgil finally let his terror of the world and the possibility of the future he could actually have crash and settle into him, unable to hold it at bay any longer.

God, he was so scared. His entire life was being uprooted. He might not be going to die, he might actually live longer than he ever thought he would. He would have an important role in the world. He’d have friends. These new possibilities terrified him.

He’d never ever imagined he’d have a chance in this world, let alone have something so big and important to live up to.

But, hopefully, he wouldn’t have to deal with it on his own.

He wouldn’t have to live on his own.

Because now, he truly wasn’t alone.

Next Chapter

#sanders sides #polyamsanders #virgil sanders #sanders sides fanfic #thelostguardianau #patton sanders #roman sanders #logan sanders #remy sanders #trigger warning

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