#2) obviously something is happening with a plane look at the poster | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

alirhi · 3 years

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This is oddly fun lol

Let's see how many of these I can churn out before I get distracted or need a break! (pff. like I need an excuse to watch the show again. Despite its flaws, I really, really love TFATWS, guys)

Without further ado, let's get down to it!

Episode 2: The Star-Spangled Man

I'm pretty sure I'm on record when it comes to my undying hate for John Walker, yes? So obviously, Bucky's grumpiness 100% stays 😂

I'm not really a fan of how much emphasis they put on the shield. I can see it as a catalyst for Bucky to go confront Sam, yes, but he wouldn't keep going "shield shield shield" like a broken record. Bucky has consistently been shown to be an empathetic man. I can't believe for a second that he'd be barking at Sam about having no right to give up the shield; he'd ask why. Sam's got shit to do, so he'd get impatient and not answer.

"Why'd you give up so easily? If you were overwhelmed, I could've helped you-" "You've been ignoring me. Like now, how you're ignoring me walking away from you." "Well, you weren't texting me about this." "You think I needed your permission?!" "No, but I was right there with Steve while he was learning what it meant to be Cap. I wouldn't mind helping you get used to-" "Then go teach him." A vague gesture toward the "Cap is back" posters. Bucky makes a face. "Steve passed the mantle to you. You fought with him. You earned it. That little shit didn't." "What do you want me to do about it?" "Just tell me why, Sam. I mean it. I just wanna understand." "Not now, Buck. I've got shit to do. You see me heading for a plane right now, right?" "This is important!" "So is this." Sam tells him about the Flag Smashers, we get our silly Big Three/Gandalf conversation.

I'm sorry, but that whole jumping from the plane scene is funny as hell, and I love all the nods they added in to jokes from the press tours that brought us this show in the first place (like ripping the sleeve off his jacket lol). I don't think I'd change a single thing from the Big Three convo to Bucky joining Sam in the warehouse.

"You're doing the staring thing again." "You're staring at your watch," Bucky points out. He knows it's linked to Redwing, he's just pointing out how dumb that line is in that situation. They're there for recon lol. They're meant to be looking around.

I don't...particularly care about the other common gripe here? Meaning, "Bucky's a civilian, so why is he allowed to randomly jump in on a military mission?" Bucky's also known in this universe as an Avenger, just like Sam, so I don't think anyone would really bat an eye at him joining. Also, I have my own agenda related to Bucky's apparent freedom to walk in and out of military/government things.

What does bug me (as funny as it is) is Bucky's animosity toward Redwing. Again... Bucky is a certified nerd. Always has been. If anything, he'd be fascinated by Redwing and Sam would constantly have to slap him away because he's leaning in too close trying to see the tiny watch monitor. "I don't trust Redwing" is just old man griping "I don't trust your newfangled technology" and that... that's not Bucky.

And that "we're not assassins" dig, and then laughing when Bucky gets upset? That's not Sam. Both of these men have shown a remarkable amount of empathy, and Sam has a background in helping traumatized vets. If he cared enough about Bucky to be texting him after Steve left, he'd care enough not to make callous jokes about his time as The Winter Soldier, whether he knows the full story or not.

The fight on top of moving trucks looks cool, but makes no logical sense. I keep trying to think of a way to explain this from a story perspective, rather than a lazy "it looks cool!" filmmaking one, and I'm coming up blank. Anyone with half a brain would have pulled over, had the fight, and then taken off. It was a fun sequence, though... Eh. I'll leave it.

When Karli breaks Redwing, Bucky doesn't say "I always wanted to do that." Again, it's funny - I love the jabs about that stupid robo bird XD - but not Bucky. In my version, he smirks and says "You're so gonna regret that."

"You were kinda getting your asses kicked before we got there." Is immediately followed by Bucky staring him down and asking, "And... how did that fight end for you?" Sam adds, "I don't see them in custody. Are-are they following in a van?" He looks around, sarcastically searching for another vehicle. Walker and Hoskins grimace at each other, grudgingly conceding that point.

credit to @dailycelebs

Seeing Walker, and having to listen to his stupid pro-government rhetoric, makes Bucky think about Steve. When we cut from the Flag Smashers back to Bucky and Sam and the closeup of Bucky's pensive face, we hear 1940s Steve angrily telling 1940s Bucky about how the higher ups in the army had already written off the POWs and were going to leave them to die. "I love our country, Buck," he laments, "but what do I do when I'm not too sure anymore about the people who run it?"

"What you always do," is young Bucky's answer, "stand for what's right, not who's in power."

Perfect lead-in to the conversation about handling things themselves.

When Sam meets Isaiah, and hears his story, not only is he horrified and heartsick for him, but he also begins to see Bucky in a new light. He's seeing Bucky's face, the way he tries to hide his emotions and not make this conversation about him, and he's putting things together. He's still upset at being out of the loop, but he's seeing more of the situation than just "omg black super soldier". When Bucky says "he'd already been through enough," Sam asks quietly, "like you?"

The racist cop comes back before Bucky can answer, to arrest him for missing his appointment with Raynor.

ngl guys, I was so moved by the difference in how that cop treated Sam (before knowing he's Important) vs how he treated Bucky (knowing that the government views him as a violent, if pardoned, criminal). He approaches Sam with his hand on his gun, eager to defend Bucky; "is this guy bothering you?" Just because they're having a heated conversation. Then, when he sees that there's a warrant for Bucky, he approaches timidly, apologizes, treats him gently and politely. By "moved," btw, I don't mean "it was so sweet." I mean "this is fucking sick, and very, very realistic." White cops see a white guy and treat him with respect regardless of his actual criminal record, while being openly hostile towards an innocent black man without even knowing who he is, just because he's black. Moments like this made me applaud Spellman.

"You, too, Sam - That wasn't a request" is Sam's first sign that there's something off about Raynor.

Look, again... The couples therapy banter is funny because Sebastian and Anthony are funny, but that scene, from a storytelling and a mental health standpoint, is atrocious. Without some underlying reason behind her actions, Raynor is just a pointlessly terrible therapist.

Rather than insulting Bucky from the outset, Sam is angry with Raynor for violating Bucky's privacy by not only introducing herself as his therapist, but forcing a "couples" session without her patient's consent. With his background pre-Avenging, he knows this shit shouldn't fly. He immediately points out how unprofessional she's being.

Raynor doesn't bother listening - the fuck does she care, really? She shrugs and casually admits it's "slightly unprofessional" but proceeds anyway.

"Whatever's eating at him?" Sam scoffs. "Did you really just say that to a WWII veteran and the world's longest-serving POW with complex PTSD? Did I hear that right? I've had, maybe, like five conversations with this man since we met, and even I know he's been through some shit and-" "Sam," Bucky tries to interrupt, looking uncomfortable. With his crushing guilt, he has an easier time dealing with insults than someone coming to his defense. "No," Sam snaps. "If the HIPAA Slayer over here wants to drag me into this, she's damn well gonna hear what I have to say!" He turns back to Raynor and demands, "Is this how you've been treating him this whole time? Downplaying what he's been through and making a grown-ass man sound like a sulking teenager?" Raynor keeps her cool, but barely. Visibly frustrated and annoyed, she ignores Sam's tirade and tries to force the conversation back onto the track she wants it on. Bucky's embarrassed and doesn't know how to react to any of this, so he still makes that little "he would talk less" jab. Sam, seeing that he's not going to get anywhere with him until they're away from this bitch, glowers and plays along. We get our silly/angry banter.

After their argument with Walker, Sam finally confronts Bucky about what really happened to him.

"He meant HYDRA; HYDRA used to be my people." "Were they?" Sam asks, stopping him and looking him in the eye, not letting him look away or deflect. "Steve was under the impression that they were your captors. I was under the impression that the Wakandans spent two years deprogramming you so no one could use you the way HYDRA did ever again." "I-" Startled, not expecting that, Bucky stutters a little and admits, "Yeah, I... That's true, I guess." "You guess?" "Does it matter? Sam rolls his eyes. "I dunno, does it matter that you were a slave for most of the 20th century?" "I doubt it matters much to my victims." "HYDRA's victims," Sam corrects firmly. "Just like you." Bucky fidgets; he doesn't know what to do or say. No one since Steve has even so much as insinuated that Bucky wasn't 100% culpable for what he did while under HYDRA control. "Look," Sam sighs, "I don't particularly like you. I don't hate you, but I'm not your biggest fan." "...Thanks?" "I just need you to know where I stand-" "Yeah, got it-" "-So you know I'm not biased like Steve when I say you had no choice. I don't know your story, but I know no one flips on a dime from docile and plagued with guilt to an unstoppable killing machine and back without some serious psychological damage behind that. I'm not saying you're an innocent little bunny, but I don't think you're a monster." "Thanks," Bucky croaks, more sincerely this time, and a bit choked up. He clears his throat and looks distinctly uncomfortable as he grumbles, "but to catch these guys, we may need to talk to a monster." Sam cringes. "I was afraid you'd say that."

#sebastian stan #anthony mackie #tfatws #tfatws critical #fan ramblings #show rewrite #if i'd written it #episode 2

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fallenfurther · 3 years

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Homecoming

This is a story I’ve been planning for over a year and finally feel readyish to post it. This first chapter has been reread about ten times so it’s about time to release it. It introduces the main OC for the story, which will spend the next fifteen chapters exploring Jeff’s return to earth before Josie comes back into play.

Thank you @misssquidtracy for being my cheerleader, this would be no where near as far written if you hadn’t enjoyed it so.

I hope you enjoy chapter one, which is set between Series 2 and 3.

AO3 and FFN

First Impressions

Josie stood outside the hall and took a deep breath. You can do this, she thought, you already have the invite for the invite only event. They might be the big bosses, the people who matter, but you matter too. You just have to network. Don't sell yourself short.

She steeled herself again and swallowed. She really didn't belong here. London was a long way from the compassionate community she grew up with in Scotland. But the idea of getting stuck there and never fulfilling her dreams made her determined, despite the imposter syndrome that plagued her. She looked down at herself and tried to feel comfortable. They were her smartest clothes: a black pencil skirt, blouse with frilly collar and a fitted, thanks to Nancy's excellent seamstress skills, suit jacket. They were all high street brands which wouldn't compare to the designer suits and dresses she'd be mingling with. The only saving grace was the simple diamond chain around her neck. Worth more to Josie than anyone would know, and it gave her the courage she needed. Brushing down her jacket and holding her head high she strode forwards.

She had been so fixated on herself that she almost bumped into a mature couple. Josie stumbled out an apology and let them in first. Flustered, and having lost any semblance of confidence, she entered the room.

****

Another networking event, this time forced on him by Lady Penelope. Scott scouted out the room as he sipped his Scotch. Many eyes were on the two Tracy brothers, all wanting but not yet daring, to approach. The power of his presence in a room of businessmen never ceased to amaze him.

"Found someone you like yet?" Gordon chimed cheerfully from beside him, though Scott knew him well enough to hear the bored undertone. Penelope had invited Gordon and of course he had said yes, his brother absolutely smitten with the lady. Scott shook his head. Events like this maintained Tracy Industries reputation, though they also gave Scott his player reputation. It was an easy place to pick up a girlfriend or let off some steam. Scott surveyed the room again. Within sight there were a few women who appealed to him.

"I don't always leave with someone."

Scott took a sip of his drink.

"Oh, so you're not the ever-successful ladies’ man we thought you were?" Gordon teased.

"Well, I didn't say that." Scott chuckled. "I just don't always want company."

Gordon rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. I bet you've had many failed conquests. You just don't want to admit it."

Scott shook his head. "You believe what you want, Gordon."

"Bet you can't get a random woman to sleep with you," Gordon challenged.

Scott bit his lip, trying not to rise to Gordon's bait. Yes, Scott had been planning to find some company for the evening, but a bet? He shouldn't sink to that. Thankfully, the CEO of a small engineering company that had worked with Tracy Industries a year ago strolled over. Scott slipped into CEO mode and exchanged the required pleasantries and confirmed that they were considering working with their company again, before one last handshake.

"So, the Great Scott Tracy is backing down from a challenge?"

Scott rolled his eyes. Gordon was bored and just trying to find a way to entertain himself, but Scott did like a challenge. What's the worst that could happen? With a sigh, he gave in.

"What are the stakes?"

"If you can't seduce the woman I pick, then you give the swimming pool its biannual clean."

"And if I win, you are on deck lounger duty for a month."

“Deal.”

Gordon held out his hand and Scott shook it. He knew this was a bad idea, but it

would liven up the evening a little, and Scott was in the mood for a little fun. Something to help him relax after a tough week. His brother’s eyes scouted the room looking for the ideal candidate. The smirk that appeared on Gordon’s face worried him.

“The next woman to walk through the door.”

Scott raised his eyebrow. It was a gamble, but Scott understood why Gordon had

done it. He nodded and took a sip of his drink. Both men had their eyes on the door. A few people left, but no one entered. When the door finally opened, they both held their breath. An older couple entered, their outfits and demeanour radiating their importance. A quick sideward glance at Gordon confirmed he was holding back a laugh. Scott sighed before looking back toward the couple. Behind them the door opened again and in walked a lone woman.

“That one, the nervous blond.” Gordon announced.

A nod from Scott and he accepted the challenge. His eyes surveyed the woman. She was young, probably about Virgil’s age, and she definitely looked uncomfortable. Her clothing was smart and fitted her well, but he could tell they weren’t the high end fashion that many were wearing that evening. Her hair was loose, brushing down past her shoulders, and there was nothing wrong with her features. She had the kind of appearance most people would look over, including himself, for someone more striking. Scott started to formulate a strike plan. He knew he had to avoid overwhelming her, she probably wouldn’t be expecting to get the attention he was going to give her. He turned back to his brother; whose attention had turned to something else. Scott followed Gordon’s gaze to see Lady Penelope with a tall man, laughing away. The man was obviously flirting with the aristocrat. The clenched jaw and stiffened stance of the aquanaut gave in to jealousy he was feeling. Without a second thought, Gordon strolled over to the gathering and joined in, a fake smile plastered his face. Scott shook his head, before turning back to his target.

****

The glass was chilled in her hand, and Josie took a sip of the non-alcoholic mojito with the hopes it would help steady her nerves. Practicing her breathing techniques briefly, she turned around only to come face to chest with someone. She was flustered again and felt heat rise in her cheeks. Her eyes fell on the man in front of her and her heart jumped.

She froze. Her instincts put her on high alert. This man looked like trouble, and she had just made contact with his deep blue eyes. He smiled at her, dimples deepening in his cheeks when he did so. Mind over body, mind over body, she repeated in her head. It was the intensity he gave off, the way he held himself like he was in control. He hadn't been surprised by her almost bumping into him. He'd know she was there and hadn't moved. She'd seen this before at university, she'd learnt the signs from experience. But still, why did they always have to be attractive? Why did they always gravitate to her? Josie rolled her shoulders back and gave him a brief nod.

“Excuse me.” Josie smiled politely, ducking as gracefully as she could past him.

“I’ve not seen you here before.”

Josie paused. His deep voice demanded her attention. She was here to network, at least she could get him over and done with. She could keep her cool, watch out for his game. Josie was wiser now. She turned around and held out her hand.

“Josie McNelly, engineer for Taybrooke Aeronautics, Satellite division.”

He shook her hand firmly. The man looked familiar, though she couldn't place where from.

“Scott Tracy, CEO of Tracy Industries.”

That explained the familiarity. She smile grew as she thought of her brother’s prized

poster of Jeff Tracy which had hung above his bed. Josie could see the resemblance

to the astronaut. Same eyes for certain. She'd been shocked at the sudden loss of the great Jeff Tracy. Not that her brother had ever met him, but the astronaut had been such a big part of their childhood. Especially the fights over who was greater, her admiration for Neil Armstrong was still just as strong. The memories threw her, and suddenly she had no idea what to say next. How do you network again? What do you talk about with the CEO of Tracy Industries, one of the best engineering companies in the world? Facts about the company filled Josie's head and thankfully one stood out.

"Tracy Industries doesn't have a UK branch, so may I ask what brings you to London?"

Josie took a deep breath as the man paused; glad she could make an impression. She congratulated herself while remembering what she was here to do. She'd failed to get a job at Tracy Industries on multiple occasions, maybe this could be a way in. She almost laughed at herself. The CEO was unlikely to care for someone as low down the pecking order as she. Part of her wanted to try, just in case. If people less qualified could get experience and jobs over her by knowing the right people, maybe she could too. That was why she was here, to get the contacts so she could play their game.

"You've done your research. Tracy Industries works with some UK based companies that are represented here tonight, and the event is being hosted by a good friend of mine. I've not heard of Taybrooke Aeronautics before, care to give me some insight?"

His strikingly blue eyes gazed down at her with sincerity. It threw Josie to see it in someone she suspected of having ulterior motives, however she'd tried to keep her cool. Staying wary, she engaged with him.

"Taybrooke Aeronautics is a small Scottish company. It started with plane design and manufacturing then branched out into satellites and astronautical technology. It's well known for its niche and unique satellite designs. It's entirely based in Scotland and has various sites throughout the country."

"Have they done anything I might have heard of?"

"Have you heard of Global One?"

"The GDF's space station."

"Yes, the thrusters that keep it in orbit are a product of Taybrooke Aeronautics. They are actually my design."

"Your design? Aren't they normally developed by a team of engineers."

The surprise on Mr Tracy's face was priceless. It wasn't the first time people were shocked by what Josie could do, and she was planning to make sure it wasn't the last. If she wanted to become a big name rocket designer, she was going to have to blow a few minds.

"The initial design was mine, obviously other engineers had input over materials and the like, but the actual design hasn't changed much. Taybrooke owns the patent, but my name is on it, so you can check it if you don't believe me. They aren't the only thing I've designed that's currently on orbit. Two of my resistojet rockets were used in some private satellites that were launched late last year."

Josie refused to hide her pride. Her family was proud of her achievements even if they didn't understand them. It was why she was here, to continue making them proud of her. She and her brother had had a dream and she was going to fulfil it if she could.

"That's impressive. Have you considered applying for a role in the Tracy Industries aeronautical department? I'm sure we are always in need of people with your kind of skills."

Josie took a deep breath. She wanted to believe Mr Tracy. Every engineer wanted a job at Tracy Industries, it was considered one of the industry leads and had fantastic employee benefits. The company was known worldwide for taking care of its workforce, but she had never made the cut. Neither did she believe this man would remember her beyond today. It was time to end this conversation and see if anyone here might actually be interested in hiring an engineer. Josie met his gaze and prepared to say her piece.

"I have applied for various aeronautical and astronautical roles at Tracy Industries since graduating. I've been called to interview twice, one at the European branch in Germany and another at the Japanese branch. Both times I was turned away for lack of experience. The Japanese branch didn't believe I would fit in with the company's culture and the European job was given to the son of one of the employees. It appears that I’m currently not what Tracy Industries is seeking. It’s been interesting talking with you Mr Tracy, but I have just spotted someone that I would really like to speak with, so if you’d kindly excuse me. Have a pleasant rest of the evening.”

Josie turned and strode away from Mr Tracy. She headed into the crowd, not looking back, keeping her eyes open for the people she'd flagged on the short guest list she had managed to obtain. There were representatives here that might help get her into the industry. Not that she wouldn't stop applying to Tracy Industries jobs, a girl could dream, but she was realistic. Josie knew she had to work her way up and she needed to make the right contacts.

****

Scott watched Josie walk away. She weaved into the crowd and disappeared from his sight. Gordon had lucked out and this bet was going to be harder than he thought. Miss McNelly may be nervous, but there was something beneath her words and her guard was up. He would have to change his approach, and unfortunately, he couldn't use Tracy Industries as bait. Josie wanted a job and she seemed to believe Tracy Industries didn't want her. Even if he could promise her a job, he was sure she wouldn't believe him. Scott was so used to women warming to him, swooning over his smile, and in many cases excited by the prospect of spending the evening with someone from International Rescue. Josie hadn't even mentioned it or made an indication that she knew he was part of the elusive organisation. Scott headed to the bar and ordered another scotch. He lent against the polished wood, swirling the drink in thought. He had to get her to lower her guard, to open up. His eyes hit the crowd and he sighed. Scott knew he was going to have to take the plunge.

Almost an hour later and Scott hadn't been able to get close to Miss McNelly. He'd glimpsed her but being in the crowd meant he had to be polite to the other attendees, especially those who the company did business with. Duty called without the usual klaxon that echoed through the villa. Although Scott did want to be rescued from the current conversation; fisheries in the Atlantic were more Gordon's realm. He inspected the room, going from head to head in search of Miss McNelly. He easily spotted Gordon, standing next to Lady Penelope who was conversing with a young businessman. At least his brother wasn't having much luck either. Continuing, he spotted Mr Sandip with whom he'd had a pleasant conversation with at a previous gala. Excusing himself, Scott headed over to the man, but as he neared, Scott got a glimpse of whom he was talking to. Josie's hands were moving as she described something, and as he stepped up to the pair, he could hear the enthusiasm in her voice. There was a sparkle in her grey eyes that hadn't been there previously.

"Mr Tracy! How good to see you again? How have you been?"

Mitchell Sandip had spotted him out of the corner of his eye and had turned to offer him a hand, which Scott took with a smile.

"I'm very well, thank you, though I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"Yes, well, the representative from the engineering department that was meant to attend became unwell. With so few people free to come, I drew the short straw. Though, seeing you has greatly improved my night."

Scott laughed at the accountant, his friendly demeanour had charmed Scott last time they had met.

"Now, Mr Tracy, have you met Miss McNelly? She has quite the head for numbers. Unfortunately, she's not after an accounting job otherwise I'd snap her up before anyone else could!"

Scott turned to the woman in question, eyebrow raised. Head for numbers, well she was an engineer. He watched her straight up and nod politely at him.

"I'm rather good with calculations.”

Mitchell's hand landed on Scott's arm, drawing his attention away from Miss McNelly. The shorter man's hazel eyes peered up at him full of excitement.

"She's being incredibly modest, Mr Tracy. I was certain someone was pilfering funds, and after a week I managed to work out who and how, but I hadn't mentioned it to anyone yet. I’ve just finished collecting all the evidence and sent it to HR. Well, I was just discussing yearly finances with Mr Yang over there, and I was just throwing a lot of numbers about, as you do, trying to show off, when Miss McNelly pipes up saying my calculations are wrong. I told her they weren't, and she said they had to be unless someone was swindling money. I was shocked that she could work it out like that, then she rattled off her calculations faster than anything. Like I said, I hadn’t told anyone and Miss McNelly here was able to work it out in minutes. Obviously, I had to confirm this wasn’t just a one off, so Mr Yang and I rattled a few numbers off, and Josie performed the calculations there and then. All in her head and fast as can be. It was incredible!"

Scott turned with Mitchell back to Miss McNelly. There was a proud smile on her face, even if he could see that she was still nervous. Her fingers were playing gently with the hem of her jacket.

"I've always been fast with numbers."

"Are you certain you don't want to be an accountant?"

Miss McNelly laughed, a blush coming to her cheeks.

"As I told the Professor during my interview at Cambridge, when he asked why I was pursuing a career in engineering over mathematics; for me mathematics is easy. I don't want to be bored. I want to be challenged."

A cheeky grin graced Josie's lips, obviously warming to Mitchell's easy charm. It was hard not to smile around Mitchell, the man had a unique manner that just set people at ease.

"How about a drink then?"

“Fantastic idea, Mr Tracy. I’m sure Miss McNelly is in need of one too.”

Scott beckoned over a waiter, who swiftly moved around the other attendees to reach them.

"I'll have a sherry, if you don't mind."

"I'll have a Scotch please. What would you like, Miss McNelly, another mojito?"

Josie hesitated a moment and seemed to become uneasy, her fingers returning to her hem.

"Another mojito would be lovely, thank you."

"Is that all?"

"Yes, thank you."

Scott dismissed the waiter, still intrigued by Miss McNelly. There was so much to uncover, and although he was starting to feel that he'd be cleaning the pool next week, he hadn't given up. Mitchell was just the person he needed to help break down those walls of hers.

"So, a Cambridge graduate then? I've a friend who did engineering at Cambridge university."

"Yes, it's a fantastic institution. It took me a year to find my feet, but I thrived once I did. Did you visit your friend while he was there?"

Scott chuckled slightly at the thought of visiting Brains at university. His father hadn't met the man yet and he would have been a kid himself.

"No, I never got the chance."

"That's a shame. It's like a world of its own. All the best equipment within old buildings and traditions which go back centuries. Although it was fun at the start, with all the formal dinners and dressing up in your gown, it does get a little mundane after the umpteenth time. Sure, it's a three course meal with wine from some excellent chefs, but you can't eat that rich food every day and it's expensive. I could keep myself fed and watered for a week for the price of two evening meals!"

"I must admit, I didn't make the best decisions when it came to food during my first years in the Air Force."

Scott thought back to the instant noodles and takeaways he'd indulged in on the weekends. The freedom that came with not having to eat Grandma's home cooking had been liberating. Though he did eventually learn to cook a few simple dishes during his time in the Air Force.

"Most of us make bad choices at university. It comes with being young and free."

There was a sadness in her tone and her face dimmed slightly. What mistakes had this woman made that she regretted? Did it have something to do with the guard she hid behind? She put on a forced smile, and he knew he had to keep her engaged. Unfortunately, Lady Penelope and Gordon decided to make their entrance to the group.

"Oh! Why hello Lady Penelope, and you are…."

Mitchell held out his hand to Gordon, who shook it with his usual amount of enthusiasm. Out of the corner of his eye, Scott caught the movement of Miss McNelly's hand. She was once again fiddling with her jacket.

"Gordon Tracy."

"Ahhh, Mr Tracy's brother. I see the resemblance now."

Scott hid his laugh behind a grin, though he caught Miss McNelly’s eyes darting between him and Gordon. He wondered if she was picking up on the same resemblance. Scott watched as Lady Penelope, and then Gordon, introduced themselves. The drinks they had ordered arrived, and Scott noted the way Miss McNelly took a tentative sip of the drink. The small talk started, though Scott caught the small sips she took frequently, as a way to keep herself busy. She was definitely out of her element, which might explain why her guard was up. He listened in, gaining snippets of information about the woman. Gordon was keen to keep her chatting, probably as a way of distracting her from him, thus improving the chances Scott was going to lose the bet. After a while, Miss McNelly politely excused herself. Scott watched as she headed in the direction of the bathrooms, he hoped that meant she’d be back.

“Miss McNelly is quite the interesting character, don’t you think Scott?”

Scott could see the small grin on his brother's face and the gleam in his eye that revealed to Scott the hidden meaning. Gordon thought the bet was his and he’d gotten out of his chore. Another business associate of Tracy Industries joined their group and stole Scott’s attention. Miss McNelly never returned.

****

Finally getting away from yet another business proposal, Scott headed to the bar where Gordon was perched. He lent against it and turned to survey the room with his brother.

"No success then?"

"As much as you've had with Lady Penelope."

Scott's eyes fell on Miss McNelly. She was chatting with Mitchell again. Maybe he still had a chance. Turning to the bartender he ordered a Scotch and mojito. Gordon raised his eyebrow at the order.

"One last chance. I'm not going to give in that easily."

Scott grabbed the drinks and headed toward Miss McNelly. She'd just shaken hands with Mitchell and the man had turned to chase down someone on the other side of the room. He took a breath and turned on the charm.

***

Josie watched Mr Sandip hurry after someone and smiled to herself. He'd promised to pass on her details to recruitment. She was feeling beat but was pretty pleased with her efforts. She'd sold her company and thrown out a few business cards. Hopefully she'd made her mark. The whole event hadn't been as bad as she'd expected, though that one alcoholic drink had eased her nerves a little. She was happy to have been able to keep it to one. Glancing at her watch, she confirmed it was late and she still had some travelling to do. It was time for her to leave.

"Miss McNelly, care to have a drink with me?"

Dread filled her as the familiar voice spoke from behind. Turning she immediately noticed Mr Tracy was standing between her and the exit. She took a deep breath. In the man's hands were two drinks: an amber spirit and a mojito. Her breath caught in her throat, the situation bringing her back to a night she wanted to forget.

"You got me a drink?"

She stared at the glass. She suspected it had alcohol in it, having ordered one in front of him, but what else did it contain? She couldn't confirm it wasn't spiked. Would he do that sort of thing? Save people one day, drug them the next? Rich people never made sense to her though. They defied logic.

"I thought we could chat a little more."

He held out the mojito, forcing Josie to make a choice. Did she trust the man? She looked up into his face. He had a warm smile that met his eyes and she wanted to trust him. She wanted so much to believe he was a good guy. But her fear was there, deep inside as it always was, and she couldn't. She smiled at him as she reached out her right hand and plucked the glass of what she hoped was scotch, from his grip. Josie kept her eyes locked on his as she raised the glass to her lips. The amber liquid was not one she'd tried before, probably a vintage out of her price range. She was thankful it wasn't peaty; she hates those. His mouth dropped in shock as he looked at the cocktail in his hand. Josie couldn’t help the smile as she fought not to laugh. She let the liquid roll over her tongue and down her throat.

"I'm Scottish and it's the end of the night. You never asked me what I wanted."

She locked eyes with him as the shock faded from his face. Mr Tracy glanced down at the cocktail briefly, indecision in his eyes. Josie was still on edge, ready to step back if she had to. She decided to test the water.

"Take a sip. The mojitos here are the best."

Josie challenged him. If he refused to drink it then it must be spiked. If it wasn't, there was no reason not to take a sip. His hand stayed where it was.

"I'd rather the scotch."

"This scotch is mine now, and you don't want to waste that drink now, do you?"

****

Miss McNelly's face was serious. Scott felt slightly uncomfortable under her scrutinizing gaze. It was a challenge. For some reason, she wanted him to drink the mojito. He hadn’t expected her to take his drink and she had sipped it without grimacing. Never before had he met someone who acted as she did. Most people wanted to know more about him, most pestered about International Rescue, but not Miss McNelly. It felt like she had never warmed to him, even if she had seemed better and more relaxed during their conversation with Mitchell. Scott didn't want to drink the mojito; it was his most despised cocktail. What was this woman's game?

"No, thank you."

"Fine."

Scott was shocked again when Miss McNelly took the cocktail from him. What happened next, happened both at lightning speed and in slow motion. There was nothing Scott could do to stop it.

"Thank you for the drink, but I don't appreciate the attention you've given me. I tried to make it clear I wasn't interested."

The cocktail glass was thrust in his direction, its contents flying out at him. Ice and mint hit his face as the sticky fluid started to soak into his shirt. As if that wasn't enough Miss McNelly stood on her toes, stretched up and poured the scotch into his hair. It trickled down his neck.

“I’m not interested.”

Miss McNelly stalked past him. Scott didn't know how to react. One part of him wanted to storm after her and demand an explanation, though that would probably make things worse. This is what he gets for accepting a silly bet. He turned on his heel and headed towards the exit. Gordon was sitting at the bar and the smirk on his face became laugher as Scott approached. His brother was struggling to stay in his stool.

"I'm calling it a night."

"Sure Scott….I look forward...to watching you...clean the pool." Gordon gasped between spasms of laughter.

****

Josie bolted. She started running once she had heard the door shut. She didn't stop, not looking back and running as fast as she could to the nearest light rail station. Fear was a great motivator, and she didn't slow until she was on the platform where she gasped for breath. Josie had never been a runner. She hated it. Her eyes never left the entrance until she was on the train. Only then could she start to relax. Once in the carriage the tears started to fall. She’d overreacted. She'd made a scene. Her body shook. How stupid could she be? Slipping her phone out of her jacket she swiped up her call history and tapped the first person on the list.

****

Josie lay back on the bench. It was around the corner from the hostel she’d booked for the night. The cheapest way to stay in London was to share a bunk bed with a stranger. There was no way she could have a private conversation in a room of sleeping people, and this random street bench was the easiest option. If there was ever someone she needed right now, it was her best friend Graham. His thick Scottish accent rang out from her phone.

“Seriously Josie, ye need to stop seeing every man as a potential threat. Cannae a man just be polite?”

“I don’t suspect all men, just the ones that make me feel uncomfortable.”

“Ye said this guy was Scott Tracy, right?”

“Yes.”

“Scott Tracy, the Commander of International Rescue and pilot of Thunderbird One?”

“Maybe, I can’t remember which one flies which.”

“Hold on, ye can list every damned fact available about the Thunderbirds, but ye cannae tell me who pilots them?”

“You sound like my brother! Why should I care who flies the Thunderbird? I want to know how they fly!”

Graham rolled his eyes, and Josie couldn’t help but laugh at him. She twisted onto her front, her arm aching from holding her phone in the air.

“Well, I’ve looked him up and I think ye would have been safe to drink that mojito. Although I’ll admit that he probably was hitting on ye. According to the gossip blogs he has picked up the odd girlfriend from events like that. Not that they last long, with him spending most of his time savin' people. If ye hadn’t been so aggressive ye could be heading back to Scotland with a great story! Imagine being able to say ye slept with the pilot of Thunderbird One!”

“A. I prefer Thunderbird Three. B. I’d rather spend the night with Thunderbird One herself. C. If I’d known, I would have given him your number.”

Josie stuck her tongue out, only to watch Graham contort his face in response. They both ended up in a fit of giggles.

“At least ye still have a good story for the next campfire. Many girls have slept with Mr Thunderbird One, but I doubt many can claim they threw a drink in his face.”

A groan left Josie as she placed her forehead against the wood, breathing in its damp musk. She was never going to forget this and once it’d been passed round the town, it would definitely make its way to work. They would never let her go to another event again.

“I’m an idiot. The whole night was pointless. No one is going to want to hire me now.”

“Definitely an idiot. They only let those into private schools.”

Josie scowled at her friend, though she was fighting a smile. It was an old joke, one that Graham used when she needed to see perspective. It reminded both of them how far they had come. Even if Josie was still stuck in Scotland. She yawned at the same time as the fifteen-minute warning was announced on Graham’s end.

“Looks like we’re both in bunks tonight.”

“Righty-ho. G'night Josie.”

"G’night Grey.”

Josie was just about to end the call when Graham decided to get the last word in.

“And Jo, FYI Gordon Tracy pilots Thunderbird Four.”

Josie glared at him. The last thing she heard was Graham’s laughter as the screen went black. Cradling her phone in her hand, she stared at it, before turning her head to the sky. She couldn't see the stars that she knew were there. Josie may not have her dream job, yet, but Graham always reminded her of how lucky she was.

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds fanfiction #Scott Tracy #original character #Gordon Tracy #Lady Penelope #gala #bet #homecoming #first impressions #there has to be a scottish character

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maxwell-grant · 3 years

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Charlie Chan. Who is fascinating, because he was created explictly to be an anti-Yellow Peril character. Unlike most Chinese characters of the time, he's both intelligent, physically capable, and unambiguously heroic. In the novels, he's simultaneously proud of being Chinese AND proud of being an American citizen. He gives orders and instructions to white people, and the narrative treats this as perfectly normal and acceptable. There's a bit in the first book, when an attempt to trap the..(1/2)

(cont'd)There's a bit in the first book where an attempt to trap the protagonist fails, because a message supposedly from Charlie clearly isn't because Charlie's English isn't broken, it's like poetry. Etc. The movies made him more stereotypical, & played by white actors in yellowface, but still, he's a heroic Chinese man, who is as capable and patriotic as any white man. Nowadays, he's thought of as racist caricature. Which he is, but still, it makes one think.

I'm not nearly as acquainted with Charlie Chan as you are (and I definitely suspected he was less racist in the original books because that's nearly always the norm when it comes to pulp characters) but yeah, that "Which he is" is forever going to be the most unfortunate and saddest part of it all when it comes to Charlie Chan. For all the virtues that can be bestowed on Charlie Chan, for everything great that the character had going for him and inspired, the fact that the least offensive image of the character I could find to put here for illustration's sake is from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon kinda exemplifies the big elephant in the room when it comes to Charlie.

Charlie Chan is a great example of two things: One is the way progress is never a fixed quantity and often what was progressive and forward-thinking in it's time can become something outdated and backwards and downright offensive given enough time, and the 2nd is my constant stressing that this is all the more incentive to reclaim the pulps and either highlight or fix aspects of them, instead of dismissing every aspect of them based on the preconception that everything about it's history is unforgivably bigoted and must be handled with the nuance of a sledgehammer.

I stress time and time again the need to highlight and understand the prejudices that went into pulps, because either ignoring them or wielding them as a weapon to attack them does no favors to anyone. The pulps weren't exceptionally bigoted - look at literally any medium in it's time period and you'll find bigotry and prejudice and hatred - and they were exceptional in the number of POC heroes and heroines. Pulps were a medium of experimentation and cheap entertainment that gave way to much, much more varied kinds of protagonists than were permitted in films, serials, novels, comics and radio serials of the day. Imagine if no one was allowed to bring up and discuss superheroes without mentioning the Superman Slap-a-Jap posters or the Captain Marvel story so horrifingly racist it was recounted by an American ambassador after it deeply offended a friend's son and a major influence on the 1950s anti-comic trials. "Pulp fiction had deeply, unforgivingly racist depictions that deserve intense scrutiny and cannot be ignored" and "Pulp fiction was significantly ahead of every other medium at the time in regards to authors and editors striving to publish stories about heroic POCs, this cannot be dismissed and is something that needs to be perpetuated" are not exclusive facts. "A product of it's time" is not an excuse and never was, but it's a fact nevertheless.

Every time someone speaks favorably of Charlie Chan in any capacity, they have to start with a long preface of everything positive that the character had going for him. Yes, he's a deliberate subversion of the Yellow Peril, he's a heroic protagonist, he's plump and good-natured and humorous but far from a joke, he's friendly and pleasant and well-educated and wise, he's a good dad and family man and a terrifically sharp detective who's so good at his job he gets called to solve crimes all over the world, and none of these traits are apparent to people who have to google the character and repeteadly see a white man in awful make-up into every single image of the character, who watch the movies and cringe at the broken English. It's hardly relevant in the face of all the Asian-American critics who acknowledge the character's virtues but rightfully point out that this fortune-cookie spouting caricature, acting subservient to whites and whose virtues are based around his proximity to a white American ideal, doesn't represent them and they shouldn't pretend it does.

Which isn't to say that to like Charlie Chan is "wrong", a lot of East Asians love Charlie and the character's obviously got fans in Asian Americans. It's a complicated subject and I obviously cannot begin to vouch in a subject so heavily based around perceptions I cannot experience. And I deeply detest the idea of speaking for others on their particular experiences on this kind of matter, which is something Americans do a lot everytime they talk about representation in media.

So instead, I'm going to tackle this on a roundabout manner by going on an unrelated tangent to bring up an example of representation that isn't quite representative of what it's supposed to be, has a lot of issues that have been dissected by critics among the people it was supposed to represent, and none of that stopped the character from being popular and beloved and from being claimed anyway. And it's a Brazilian fighting game character, which means it's completely within my ballpark.

Yeah, obviously Blanka doesn't look like anyone who lives in Brazil (whatever resemblance he bears to redheaded jungle protectors of Brazilian folklore is purely accidental). Obviously neither Jimmy nor Blanka are Brazilian names or even exist in the Portuguese lexicon. Obviously there are issues in Street Fighter's approach to representation across the board, sure, and I'd actually say Laura is much worse than Blanka in that regard (again, my opinion, obviously not universal), but the fact remains that Blanka is and has always been pretty controversial. Obviously there's Brazilians who took offense to Blanka and they weren't wrong to do so, and I obviously do not speak for everyone here, that goes without saying.

Obviously the idea that Brazil's major representative in a global cast of characters, the first big name Brazilian character in videogames, is going to be a freakish jungle monster who roars and bites faces has problems, as is the fact that all the others get to be regular people representing fighting styles from their countries while Blanka doesn't. None of the Brazilian SF characters represent Capoeira, which is kinda shitty to be honest. And there's a whole stereotype of Brazil as a backwards land of beasts and savages that Blanka's creation played into. There's no shortage of ground to criticize Blanka's representation and Ono actually apologized in an interview once, but then he learned one teensy little thing:

Street Fighter is very popular on Brazil. Would you like to leave a message to the fans from there?

"Ono: Yes, I'm aware. At the time of Street Fighter II a lot of the arcade machines produced went there, so I knew we had lots of fans there. A message to Brazilians, well, I'd like to apologize. I know Blanka's a weird character and I don't want any Brazilian to feel uncomfortable with that.

When Blanka was conceived, we knew there were forests in Brazil, and so we thought he could look like that. I was actually kinda nervous knowing I'd meet Brazilian journalists. Still, this is the first Street Fighter in ten years, so we'd like all fans to play, including Brazilians, which are many.

Thanks. Well, but you should know that Brazilians love Blanka

"Ono: Ah, good! I was scared of getting beat up if I ever went to São Paulo! (laughs)"

(That's from a 2012 tv special called The Greatest Brazilian of All Time where over a million viewers voted to elect whoever they wanted, and Blanka was going to win. He was polling ahead of Aryton Senna and PELÉ, fucking Pelé, yes this happened. He wasn't even disqualified for being a cartoon character, it was an open poll, he was disqualified due to canon stating he had been born in Thailand, which I think may have been retconned since then. Again, A MILLION BRAZILLIANS voted for this contest, and Blanka was going to win.)

Blanka is great and sweet and lovable, he made the best out of the incredible shitty hands fate dealt him and became a cool and strong green man who shoots lightning and flies, a self-taught warrior who rides whales and planes to fighting tournaments, and he loves his mom and friends and kicks ass and after he's done he dances in joy and gives the kids of his village piggyback rides, and Brazil loves him. He doesn't represent any existing person or fighting style, he's rooted in a negative stereotype and incorrect assumptions, he's not even really Brazilian, and he's our boy and nobody can take him away from us.

No criticism of Blanka, no matter how in-depth or even right it is, is ever going to affect that, because regardless of what was wrong or misguided and offensive about him, we claimed him and loved him so throughly that Capcom kept playing up Brazilian representation in every subsequent game post Alpha, and because of Blanka's impact and reception in such a big game, Brazilian characters have become a staple of fighting games, and that's how we got much more diverse representatives in those games. Fighting games have more Brazilian representation than LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE on media not produced here. It started as BAD representation, with way less thought put into it than Charlie Chan, and it still mattered to a lot of Brazilians who reclaimed it and made it better than it was ever intended to be, and as a response to it, it gradually became better.

Progress is not a fixed quantity, it's an uphill battle, and it's not unwinnable. Everything's gotta start somewhere.

The Good Asian is a ongoing comic that I think does the best job I've seen yet of handling an Asian American detective protagonist, which is not really a high bar in the first place, and more to the point, The Good Asian illustrates the 2nd part: the reclaiming. The Good Asian deals a lot with the realities that a 1930s Asian-American detective would run into, the strained circumstances and relationships between said character and the world around him, because it's born from an author who took a look at Charlie Chan and Mr Moto and the like and recognized the potential in those stories that could not be fulfilled in it's time period by the people writing said stories.

The Good Asian pays little reverence to Charlie Chan, but it acknowledges that it cannot exist without Charlie Chan, and it reclaims the Charlie Chan premise at the hands of someone more adequately equipped to tell a gripping story that goes places none of Charlie's contemporaries would ever go. Regardless of how good or bad of representation Charlie Chan was, Charlie Chan mattered and was beloved and inspired a better example for others to improve on or rebel against.

I desperately wish that I could google Charlie Chan without having to look at a guy in yellowface, and the ONLY way that's going to happen is if the character ever gets meaningfully brought back and reclaimed for good by people who can meaningfully tackle the character and present him as he should have always been presented.

And then, I imagine it would be a lot easier to show people on how swell Charlie really is. A true, positive role model and hero, who no longer has to look like a gross cartoon to be able to exist at all. Who can finally be what he was always meant to be, and always was deep down.

#replies tag #pulp heroes #pulp fiction #charlie chan #detective fiction #the good asian #street fighter #blanka

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crygimethydgoode · 3 years

Text

Lover’s Fantasia Chapter 2 (Crystal Methyd x Gigi Goode RPDR12) August

you weren’t mine to lose

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32286397/chapters/80027479#workskin

Summer 2019

Between

Gigi sat in the back of the jeep in silence, listening to Rosy talk on the phone with Symone. Hunter kept his eyes on the road, but Gigi could feel him looking at her every minute or so. Like he thought she was going to break or something. “Yeah so we dropped Crystal off at the airport- yeah she was on the show with Gigi- well that’s why I’m bringing her up cause- Symone- Listen I’m trying to say that- stop asking questions! WE WILL BE HOME IN FIFTEEN MINUTES AND THEN GIGI WILL TELL US EVERYTHING! No, she hasn't told us anything cause... well... yeah. I- YES SYMONE BECAUSE SHE WAS CRYING,” Gigi and Hunter’s heads both whipped to glare at Rosy. “Sorry Geege,” Rosy muttered, shooting her a bashful smile. “We’ll be there soon, Symone. Bye,” Rosy hung up the phone and turned around in her seat, grabbing Gigi’s hand. “I’m sorry,” she repeated.

“It’s okay,” Gigi forced a smile. She really couldn’t be bothered to care. Not when she had just said goodbye to Crystal. Not when she had just found out about... everything. Not when the fire in Gigi’s chest had turned into a cold, empty... nothingness. Not when Crystal was worlds away.

As Hunter pulled into the driveway, Gigi saw Symone sprinting out the door to meet them. Despite everything, Gigi was relieved to see Symone and rushed out of the car to hug her.

“Geeeeeeeeeege,” Symone whispered, arms wrapped tight around her.

“Hi,” Gigi was choked up, realizing she was actually back. She could be normal again. Well, until the season was announced. Gigi knew her life would be utter chaos once the season aired. For now, she could just be one of the successful L.A. queens. Symone pulled away, grinning at Gigi.

“You had a whole welcoming entourage ready, but I told them you were exhausted and would see everyone tonight. Let’s go to your place and talk, okay?” Symone said evenly. Gigi couldn’t find the words but nodded gratefully as they crossed the street to her house.

“Everything is... the same,” Gigi was confused walking through her house. Everything was exactly where she had left it, untouched. But it all felt so utterly foreign, almost like Gigi was walking through a movie set of her house. Wasn’t she just in her hotel room with Crystal? How did she get here? “Did anything happen? While I was gone?” Gigi asked in an odd voice, looking around.

“No. We had an awfully boring time without you. Everything is the same as it was when you left,” Symone answered, unbothered. Rosy’s back was to Gigi, staring at one of the posters on the wall. But Hunter was looking at Gigi, a concerned expression on his face. Gigi could feel his calculating eyes on her and turned to look at him. Why was everything the same?

“Geege? What’s up?” Hunter asked cautiously, slowly crossing to her. Rosy wasn’t looking at the poster anymore.

“If... if nothing changed...” Gigi struggled to find the words, taking a deep shuddering breath. “If nothing changed... Why does... Why does it all feel so... why do I feel so different?” her voice was barely above a whisper, and she was mortified to feel tears springing to her eyes. “What’s wrong with me?” Gigi’s voice cracked, and Symone quickly rushed to her, sitting her down on the couch.

“Gigi... what the hell happened?” Rosy asked in her sweet voice. Gigi knew that voice like the back of her hand. Why did it sound so... foreign?

“I... I don’t even know,” Gigi whispered. Hunter rolled his eyes and plopped down next to Gigi on the couch.

“Bullshit. She met someone. Crystal... Methyd? One of the queens. And someone obviously self-destructed and fell for her during the show despite the fact that she lives halfway across the country. And has a boyfriend. And now she’s... yeah,” Hunter trailed off, and Gigi couldn’t help but laugh. Oh yeah. Crystal. That’s why everything had felt so different, so foreign. Gigi had been off in her own little world during Drag Race, just her and Crystal getting through the competition together, leaning on each other. And now she was back in the real world.

“I wanna hear about this Crystal Methyd. Why’s she got you going crazy? She’s not that great, is she?” Symone asked. Hunter, Gigi, and Rosy were deathly quiet, not meeting her eyes. They all knew. Finally, Hunter spoke up.

“Crystal is... really fucking amazing. We talked to her for like half an hour and she was just... the best,” Hunter admitted, Symone slowly nodded. Rosy, who had been oddly quiet, finally burst out.

“SHE’S SO COOL! Like she was so funny and so witty but so... nice. And Crystal really just has the best vibes like I feel like I could talk to her for hours. And she has a mullet!! Also, I stalked her on Instagram and her drag is so cool! She’s one of us,” Rosy sounded so excited, and Gigi felt her heart break a little. It wasn’t just her. Everyone saw how magical Crystal was. How did Gigi already miss her so much? Hadn’t she been with Crystal not even an hour ago? Why did it feel like Gigi hadn’t seen her in months?

“Alright I get it, she’s amazing. But still. What the hell happened?” Symone implored. Rosy and Hunter were looking at Gigi too, waiting for her to speak. And so she began. Gigi told them everything. How she was immediately fascinated by Crystal when she came into the werkroom. How Crystal’s room was next to hers. Gigi told them about the night she finally knocked on Crystal’s door, and how everything was different after that night. How they leaned on each other. How so many things went unspoken between them. How Gigi slowly fell for Crystal, except it wasn’t slow at all. How from the moment Crystal walked into the Werkroom Gigi knew she was doomed but didn’t want to admit it. And how Crystal told her about Paul at the airport, a guilty look on her face. Finally, she finished. Hunter, Rosy, and Symone were shocked, still just looking at Gigi. That was until a grin slowly spread on Rosy’s face.

“So what I’m hearing is... you get a real-life slowburn rom-com?” Rosy was trying to contain the excitement in her voice, but Gigi heard it loud and clear. Rosy dissolved into giggles, Gigi silently laughed into her hands, shoulders shaking. And Symone was just screaming.

“ALRIGHT NOPE!” Hunter yelled over the cackling. “This is why I’m SICK of you bitches. You say you’re gonna ‘slow burn’ and get your heart broken. NO GIGI.” He tried to sound strict, but Gigi knew he was fighting not to laugh.

“HAHA OKAY!” Symone cackled, and Rosy doubled over in laughter. “When has Gigi EVER listened to Hunter?!?!” And now Hunter was laughing too. And as Gigi looked at her dearest friends, she was relieved to finally feel happy to be home.

But she still felt like a part of her was missing, somewhere in the skies, on a plane back to Missouri.

But missing Crystal became easier. For a moment Gigi had been nervous. Nervous that she wouldn’t be able to handle it. But it was hard to miss Crystal when they talked every day. Every day, no matter what, they texted back and forth about the dumbest, smallest things. And no matter what, every Friday night Crystal FaceTimed Gigi before she went to bed. Sometimes they’d only talk for fifteen minutes. But some nights, after talking for hours, Crystal rubbing her eyes and slowly starting to slur her words, Gigi unable to hold back her yawns anymore, the two would just fall asleep together on FaceTime, neither of them wanting to hang up. It was nice.

Too bad Paul was there sometimes.

But Gigi surprisingly wasn’t bothered. Because Paul didn’t talk.

That’s a bit harsh. Paul was very quiet. Gigi was almost reminded of Crystal with the other girls, always keeping to herself unless spoken to. Gigi had always thought that’s just what Crystal was like in big groups. But now she knew. That’s what Crystal’s... life was like. But she didn’t seem to mind. So Gigi left it alone, and tried not to even think about Paul, knowing it would just drive her crazy. And she waited.

Fall 2019

Still Between

So for two months Gigi felt that aching emptiness in her chest, but it was bearable. She just felt so lucky that she got to miss someone like Crystal. And then, one Sunday morning in October, Gigi woke up to a voicemail from Crystal that left her body glowing gold with hope.

“GIGI!! Gigi. Giiiiiiiigiiiiiii. Hi. Hi it’s- it’s Crystal. Crystal Methyd. Crystal ELIZABETH Methyd, thank you. Gigi, we're gonna be famous. I never thought that would actually happen, you know? But I think... I think we’re gonna be REALLY famous. But... I don’t really care about that, I guess... ‘cause I just- I miss you Gigi Goode. Mmmmm I miss you soooooo much. And I- you wanna know how much I miss you? I’m really fucking drunk right now. And I-I’m with my friends and I’m very drunk right now. And I-I’m with my friends and I’m- I’m with my friends and I won’t stop talking about you. Lux says she’s sick of hearing your name. But I think your name is beautiful. But they- they said I talk about missing you wayyyyyy too much, and that I should just- like go live with you. Um... but I can’t... do that... so instead Daya got out her laptop and we got three plane tickets to go to L.A. in November. And I found a really cute air bnb in East Hollywood, right by you. Because I... I’m drunk and I really miss you. A lot. Paul’s asleep upstairs. He’s uh... sleeping I think. I miss you. And I want to see you really bad. So I’m coming to see you. Please don’t leave to go home while I’m in L.A. please. I really miss you. Because I’m... drunk... and the more sober I get... I think I start to miss you even more... so... yeah. Anyways bye, Gigi. Sincerely, Crystal Methyd. Bye.”

#gigi goode #Crystal Methyd #crystal methyd x gigi goode #crygi #crygimethydgoode #fanfic #fanfic rec #drag queen fanfic #crygi fanfiction #Lover’s Fantasia #please read this we promise you’ll love it

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remnantoforario · 4 years

Text

Unmerry Men AKA The Problem With Robyn Hill

I’ve been sitting on this rant for a while. I’m sure there are people who have talked this topic to death since Volume 7 ended, and did a much better job than I am about to, but I still feel the need to throw my hat in the ring (or shoot my arrow at the target given the subject matter) and say definitively and without question: that Robyn Hill is a terrible character.

Get some snacks. This is going to be a long one.

Let me preface this rant by saying I don’t hate Robyn HIll...in CONCEPT. That last word is very important.

The idea behind her character is a sound one: Atlas is characterized as a country with a VERY clear disparity between the rich (Atlas)

and the poor (Mantle)

So it makes perfect sense that there would be a Robin Hood (see what I did there) type character that would bridge this gap between the two and seek to make things equal, or at least a little less lopsided. As an idea this is great, but the problem (as with most everything in RWBY) is in the execution.

Outside of Forrest extolling her praises in the back of a cop car in Chapter 2, the first time we see Robyn is when she stops Clover, Ruby, Qrow, and Penny from reaching the Amity tower site.

During this introduction, she tries to coerce Clover into disclosing classified government information via her Semblance, and Penny has to expose her ambush tactics. Not the best first impression.

Now in a vacuum, this scene isn’t really that bad. Thanks to (clunky) exposition, we are already aware that there is friction between the military and the Happy Huntresses. As such it makes sense that we the audience first meet Robyn as an antagonistic force against RWBY and their allies.

The thing with this though is that all four of the writers of this volume forgot to lift the perception of Robyn being an antagonist until around the final third of the volume. Objectively, there is no reason anyone outside of her own group to want to trust or follow her.

The M,K,K, & E are trying to position Ironwood and Robyn in the roles of the Sherriff of Nottingham and Robin Hood respectively. The main problem with this is that they fail to establish Ironwood as a tyrannical threat on par with the Sherriff.

Does he make questionable decisions? Certainly. Are his choices morally wrong? In some cases, yes. But they are more often than not written in a way where the choices he makes are OBJECTIVELY best for everyone (even if they try to frame it otherwise).

Closing the borders, hiding the Amity plan, diverting resources to FINISH said plan, and his other tactics (while at times misguided) were done in order to protect as many people as he could from Salem and her forces. They were all calculated risks that clearly took a mental and emotional toll on him. He’s a severely broken man trying to keep whatever he has left from falling apart, but everyone is working against him (including his own allies but that’s another story).

This brings me back to Robyn. She is hailed as the “Hometown Hero of Mantle”, but all we ever do is see her take shots at Ironwood and Jacques and talk about how much the former ISN’T helping Mantle. My question to her, her hardcore cans, and CRWBY is “What has Robyn done to help Mantle?”. RWBYJNR and various talking heads mention how Robyn is helping the people of Mantle, but because the volume (seemed) so rushed to get to Salem’s arrival, we never see her doing anything that’s not directly tied to the plot.

She’s not working on Mantle’s wall, she’s not in the streets talking to people, handing out medical supplies, giving away food, or anything that actively helps Mantle. We don’t even see her fight Grimm in the streets until the FINAL episodes of the volume. All she and her group do is actively antagonize the military and steal (which we never see them give to the poor). For someone hailed as the town’s hero, she doesn’t seem to really be doing anything to earn that title.

After the election night massacre, she openly declares war on Ironwood essentially and begins stealing resources needed for the Amity project, until she is ultimately stopped by Blake and Yang.

Now in theory I have no problem with Yang and Blake telling her about the Amity plan; my main hang up about it is that Robyn has done nothing to earn this trust.

Until this point Robyn has been getting in their way as they try to reestablish global communications, but now they suddenly feel comfortable telling this sensitive information to a complete stranger and risking a leak even when they KNOW Tyrian is in the city? Instead of telling her that, why not tell her about Tyrian instead? I’m sure she would want justice for the people he killed.

Then she is later invited to the Council meeting (despite not being a member) and made aware of classified information that she shouldn’t know of, as well as make a complete ass of herself and show why she probably shouldn’t have won in the first place.

This leads to her finally believing Ironwood, but eventually that gets tossed out the window at the end of the volume where her actions almost directly lead to Clover’s death.

As she, Qrow, and Clover are transporting Tyrian back to Atlas, Ironwood’s order to arrest RWBYJNRQO is issued. Now there are three things that are very important to keep in mind here after this order is issued:

1. Clover is clearly conflicted about following this order.

2. Qrow is calmly trying to talk things out.

3. Robyn is NOT under arrest.

Let me repeat that. ROBYN IS NOT UNDER ARREST.

So as Qrow is level headedly suggesting they all talk it out, Robyn (who again is NOT under arrest) starts a fight that results in Tyrian escaping his restraints, the plane going down (after Tyrian kills the pilot and co-pilot), Robyn herself being unconscious, and Clover being ultimately being murdered.

Now tell me after all the information is presented, why we are supposed to care for this character? What have the writers done to position her as someone we should invest in?

A lot of her accomplishments are told to us rather than shown, and whenever we do see her onscreen she’s mostly a nuisance that makes pretty much any situation she’s in worse. Yes, I know this is just one volume and she will obviously be a central character in V8 and possibly 9, but the damage has been done. Any attempt to salvage her will just be cleaning up the fall out from V7.

Now since I’m not one of those people that likes to complain for the sake of it, I’ll voice my opinion on how Robyn could have been written better.

The first thing we do is distance her from the Happy Huntresses. She will still be the leader, but that information won’t be revealed until AFTER the election. It’s not really a good look for a vigilante to try and run for a public office if they are still breaking the law. That’s like Bruce Wayne running for mayor of Gotham AS Batman (though the people would likely still vote for him).

So as far as the public (including Ironwood and RWBYJNRQO) are concerned, Robyn is a normal Mantle city official and Joanna Greenleaf is the leader of the Huntresses. For those of you who don’t remember who she is (and I don’t blame you), this is Joanna Greenleaf:

The second thing I’m going to do is give her a more established connection to Ironwood. My idea? Former military. Robyn was once a part of the Atlas military’s intelligence and recon division because of her lie detecting semblance. When she discovers corruption within the system (lets say something having to do with Faunus, the mines, Mantle, or the SDC) she exposes it but quickly becomes disillusioned with military life and is discharged. She then begins living in Mantle and becomes their representative. We can say this happened maybe five to ten years before the series itself starts.

She served under Ironwood and has a deep respect for him, but does not agree with his decisions as defacto head of the Council. This is what leads to the friction between them.

Next, we change up how she and the Huntresses are introduced in V7. When RWBYJNRQO arrive in Mantle the election race has only barely begun (we’re pushing it back). We see posters for Robyn and maybe hear snippets of an interview she is giving to a news station on one of the TVs.

When the Grimm attack, instead of RWBYJNRQO running out to help immediately, they are cut off by the Happy Huntresses who quickly get rid of the monsters. Ruby and the others wonder who they are before the Huntresses scatter when Penny and the Ace-Ops arrive. The heroes are still arrested for stealing an airship and violating Atlas airspace (as they should have), but now there is some intrigue about who that group of women were.

Forrest still gives his exposition, but leaves out Robyn because no one knows she’s their leader.

When the gang arrive at the school they meet with Ironwood and Winter, but hear Ironwood complaining about “that woman” after having just finished a call on his scroll.

Fast forward to the mine mission. Instead of Jacques showing up, this is where we gets their first full appearance from Robyn. She is brought via airship to the mine (along with an exasperated Winter and Penny) and begins to badger Ironwood about ducking their meeting, stating that Mantle still hasn’t received the supplies he promised days ago. You could also have her briefly greet the kids and Qrow before going back to argue with Ironwood.

Things proceed as normal, but inbetween some of the bigger story events we see news reports of Robyn helping people around Mantle. Feeding the poor, cheering up the miners, handing out supplies, giving speeches, and other things to show that she really is the hero of the people. Not everything has to be directly tied to the plot, you can use extra devices like tv news and the like to expand on characters. They tried this in V7 but they didn’t go far enough with in my opinion. This would inform us more on Robyn’s character without her being the direct focus as well as give the audience an actual reason to get behind the things she says.

The main aspect of Robyn’s character that I would focus on would be her relationship with Ironwood. Nothing romantic, just how their ideologies align (or don’t) and how they view each other. They respect one another. Robyn knows Ironwood is a good man, but she doesn’t fully understand why he’s doing the things that he is doing. She doesn’t know why he’s being so secretive. She wants to give him a chance, but he keeps denying her.

On Ironwood’s part he knows that morally Robyn is in the right and genuinely wants to help everyone in both cities, but his paranoia will not allow him to simply tell her what is really going on. Salem’s reach is far and if she was able to turn Lionheart (one of Ozpin’s closest confidants) then she can get to anyone and that is frightening.

This is why Robyn utilizes the Happy Huntresses. They are able to move outside the law and do the things she can’t (similar to Jim Gordon and Batman). She doesn’t want to condemn Ironwood because of all the good he’s done, but people are suffering and something needs to change.

Neither are wrong, but they can’t find common ground.

I’d position Robyn more as a fringe type of character. She doesn’t directly intervene in the plot, but you know she’s always there bidding her time until she can be more prominent.

I have more ideas for her, but this post is long enough as it is so let’s just end it here.

TLDR; Robyn Hill is a good character concept with horrible execution. Hopefully she will be somewhat better utilized in future volumes, or kill her off at the start of V8. At this point I’m good with either.

#RWBY #Robyn Hill #Happy Huntresses #Long Post #Tyrian Callows #Jacques Schnee #James Ironwood #Joanna Greenleaf #may marigold #fiona thyme #writing critique #Qrow Branwen #Clover Ebi #this is probably one of the longest posts I've ever made #RWDE

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retvenkos · 4 years

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amends pt. 3 // ricky bowen

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series - Slow Burn Ricky Bowen x Stage Manager!Reader Fic. Summary: That’s asking a lot of the theatre gods. Then again, it does include a lot of drama, so maybe it might just work out. pt. 1 // pt. 2 // pt. 3 // pt. 4 // pt. 5 // pt. 6 // pt. 7 // pt. 8 // pt. 8.5-ish // pt. 9 // unfinished

Things to note for later productions: Carlos can do every dance imaginable, he just can’t dribble a basketball. Don’t be present when he is choreographing basketball scenes - you will become his demonstrator, no matter your skill level. EJ, on the other hand, can dribble and sing, he just can’t seem to combine that with convincing acting. Meanwhile, Ricky can, indeed, play basketball (information that you didn’t know you needed), but he doesn’t seem capable of acting the part of a true leader while doing so.

“Okay, that was a good effort, guys. Continue practicing, because tomorrow's rehearsal is the blindfold test! If you double dribble during your pirouette you’ll will be offbeat for the rest of the dance.” Carlos looked meaningfully into each actor's eyes. Intimidation wafted off of them in waves. Ah, how you loved early rehearsals. They were always so good before everyone developed a superiority complex.

“Hey, (Y/n)?” Natalie’s voice came on in your headset. “Miss Jen wants everyone to meet her in the bomb shelter. She says we’re ‘uncovering a relic for success.’ Any thoughts on what that means?”

You tipped your head to the side, thinking... “Nope. But, uh, I’ll get everyone. Thanks, Nat.” You headed over to Carlos, who was trying to make sure everyone put the basketballs away. “Hey, guys? Miss Jenn wants everyone to go to the bomb shelter. It’s important.”

“I’ll go get the people in the choir room,” Carlos said. You raised an eyebrow at him as he practically skipped out of the room.

to: dance boi (2:46 p.m.) are you trying to be helpful? or just see seb?

(2:46 p.m.) who says i can’t do both?

You laughed as Carlos texted you a winky emoji. Oh, if only you could have half the confidence he exudes. Imagine the possibilities!

from: dance boi (2:49 p.m.) nini and ashlyn are missing. miss jen needs me tho,,, can you find them?

(2:49 p.m.) kill me now.

You sighed. Of course, two leads are missing in action, and you have the whole school to look through - the wider Salt Lake Region if one of them has a car. You looked up and found Ricky texting by the props. Can you initiate a conversation with him? Sure, you have officially breached the gap and were a ‘friendly acquaintance’ with Ricky - scientifically, at least. But you had never actually engaged him in conversation outside of ‘do you know how to do question 27?’ (and he always did, of course). Deep breaths, (Y/n), you can do this...

“Hey, uh, Ricky?” He looked up from his phone, a little startled. You inwardly cringed at that. Way to go, (Y/n), scaring the boy will definitely win his favor. “I hate to bother you, but Ashlyn and Nini are out in the school somewhere. Can you help me find them?”

“Oh,” he cleared his throat and nodded, “Yeah. I can look down here if you want to go upstairs.” You flashed a grateful and started to head to the exit. OMG, you did it. Sure, you didn’t say more than a few sentences, but it happened and-- “Hey, (Y/n)?”

You spun around quickly. “Yeah?”

“Can I get your phone number?” You felt your eyes grow twice their size. “Just so that I can text you if I find them,” Ricky quickly corrected. “So you don’t have to keep looking?”

“Right!” You let out a breathy laugh as you went over to him. You exchanged phones and put your number in his. “Text me if you find them.”

“‘Course.”

...

new text from ricky

You stared at the lock screen of your phone, your feet rooted to the spot where you stood. The notification that had popped up no more than fifteen seconds ago taunted you silently. You could feel yourself start to sweat.

Why was Ricky texting you? This was certainly a new development - one that you were not against one bit. Sure, you had exchanged numbers last Friday, but never in your wildest dreams did you think that he would text you after that first text (of which you had analyzed in every way).

from: ricky (12:04 p.m.) hey, (y/n). can you help me go over my lines in the library? (12:04 p.m.) only if you have this lunch. don’t worry about it if you don’t.

Your heart leapt in your chest. Meet him at lunch? That doesn’t meet anything... right?

to: ricky (12:05 p.m.) i’ll meet you there in ten.

You rushed out of your English class and made it to the library in record timing. Then you browsed through the fiction section for a few minutes so that you wouldn’t look like you got there too early when he showed up. You ran your fingers along the spines of different books as you thought of the last few rehearsals.

The tension between Ricky and Nini was lessening every day, which was good for the overall show, but this obviously made EJ paranoid, as he seemed to be constantly sizing up Ricky. It almost made you laugh, thinking about it. EJ, a senior that is generally thought of the be the school’s heartthrob is jealous of boy-next-door Ricky Bowen. They were on opposite ends of the same spectrum. And Nini? She was on a completely different plane. You almost wondered how she ever met Ricky and EJ in the first place.

You snapped back to the present as you saw Ricky pass you, headphones in, his head bobbing up and down to the music. He was mouthing the words to it, and if you were correct in your guess, he was listening to ‘Start of Something New.’ Miss Jen would be proud. You sure were.

After a moment you walked over to where he was sitting down, his script out in front of him, writing all over the margins. He was rooting for something in his backpack, but when you sat down he looked up at you. “Hey. Thanks for meeting with me.”

“Of course. Anytime.” You pulled your script out of your bag as he found a pencil. “What scene do you want to go over?”

“You mean besides all of it?” You both laughed and you cherished every moment of it. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to memorize every single word of this.” He flicked through every page, shaking his head.

“It won’t be too bad - trust me. It’s just a lot of practice.” You smiled at him reassuringly. “And,” you continued, “If you have good castmates, you can kind of know where the conversation is going based off of their emotions.”

“If that’s the case, then I must have missed the part where Gabriella is trying to break up with Troy in every scene.” Ricky’s voice was low as he spoke, His eyes clouded over with emotion as he stared past you. You turned and saw Nini and EJ kissing each other in historical fiction.

Oh, no. How do you approach this one? “Are you okay, Ricky?”

He blinks a few times and swallows. His voice was hoarse when he spoke. “That was our spot.”

A beat. Silence. “...I’m sorry.”

“No,” Ricky cleared his throat and looked at you, his eyes glassy, “I am. Can we go over where Troy is confronted by Chad?”

...

Theatre 4 with Miss Jen was always a curveball. No matter what you expected, you were always given something very, very different. You loved it that way, to be honest. It kept everyone on their toes. Last week you had been reciting Shakespeare while stage fighting. Miss Jen said it was easier to understand the ‘linguistic beauty’ that Shakespeare possessed when you were fake punching your partner. She was right, to be honest, but how she knew that was beyond you. So when she told you to get the fake ferns from the prop closet in the auditorium, it didn’t phase you.

What made you stop in your tracks when you got there, however, was Mr. Mazzara, hunched over an old High School Musical Poster, his phone in hand. When he noticed your presence he snapped to attention, quickly slipping his phone into his pocket. “What class do you have right now, miss?”

“Theatre. I’m getting a prop for Miss Jen.”

“Oh. Well, then, hurry.” You grabbed the fern and placed it between the two of you, a buffer from his evil, math powers. “And tell Miss Jen that she has a prep period right after lunch where she should be getting her own props, not having her students do it.”

You nodded and he walked past you. You looked around the prop closet to see if anything was missing, but everything seemed to be in order. How weird. Mr. Mazzara had never taken an interest in theatre before - in fact, you were certain he hated it. But he had been around more recently, hadn’t he? And then his words rang in your ears, ‘she has a prep period right after lunch.’ How would he know that? You were very sure that a teacher’s schedules were somewhat private. And Miss Jen hasn’t been teaching for long, it’s not like they could have bumped into each other enough for him to have noticed... unless...

You cringed.

Were Mr. Mazzara and Miss Jen seeing each other?

----- taglist:

@snowman-spidey, @dinsey-chanel

#high school musical the musical the series #hsmtmts #ricky bowen x reader #ricky bowen #x reader #fic #fic series #stage manager! reader #slow burn

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crimefightingspiderguy · 4 years

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left hand free

Part II to the series, i want you to want me.

Summary: (Y/N) is checking in on Peter in Germany.

Warnings: I guess swearing? Maybe spoilers for Captain America: Civil War, but like who hasn’t seen that bad boy lol?

Pairings: Peter Parker x best friend!reader

Word count: 1,632

A/N: I’ve decided that I’m going to attempt to get this series done before I start my summer semester, so on the 15th of May, if I can’t then updates will be slow during that time, at least for a month until I finish school. Updates will ideally be 1-2 times a week since that’s about how many days I have off from work. Thanks for the support on the last part!

You anxiously pace back and forth on your kitchen floor. Lost in your thoughts, only brought to reality by the familiar ding of your phone. You let go of the breath you didn’t know you were holding. You pick up your phone and look at the text from Peter,

P: “Just landed in Germany”

Y: “Well now that the hard part is over, have a great trip! 🙄🥴”

P: “All will be fine lol. Make sure to send me a picture of us “hanging” so I can check-in with May.”

“Hey, dad!” You called to him, hoping he could hear you from his room.

“What’s up?” He popped his head out from behind the door frame.

“I have a strange favor to ask. Can you take a picture of me working on my Spanish project? Since Peter and I couldn’t work on it together, they want us to take pictures of each of us doing our halves so they know we didn’t just have one person do all the work.”

“What happened with Peter coming over this weekend?”

“Oh, it turns out he had a college recruitment thing. He didn’t think he’d qualify when he applied, so he thought he’d be able to make it. He’s gonna do his half in his hotel.”

“Oh, alright.” Your dad takes your phone from you and snaps a picture of you leaning over the poster board, pretending to write the title for the project. He hands you back your phone. “That’s an odd request from a teacher.”

“Well, that’s what they tell us, but we all really know that they’re just lacking in volunteers for the yearbook so they want to get some extra pictures of kids working on projects if they can.” You chuckled nervously, and took the phone back, immediately sending it to Peter. He went back to his room, telling you goodnight and to not stay up too late. “love you!” you shout as he shuts his bedroom door.

“Back at ya kid!”

You phone bings and brings your attention back to Peter.

P: “Oh look how cute you look when you pretend to do homework 🥺”

Y: “Shut up. I hope Captain America knocks you on your ass with his shield.”

P: “Well that’s not very nice. Maybe I should ask one of the Avengers if they’re in the market for a new best friend.”

Y: “Go ahead and do that for me because if you die then at least I’ll have someone to comfort me. Does Thor happen to be on your team? If so, I’ll gladly mourn my loss in his big strong arms 😢”

P: “As a matter of fact, he is not. Guess you’re s.o.l. Nighty night.”

Y: “Night, try not to get yourself killed dumbass.”

You continued working on the Spanish project throughout the night. After all, you were planning on having two people doing this, and now you have to make up for that. Well, that’s what you told yourself, you knew that you wouldn’t be able to sleep well all weekend with the thought that Peter might be in danger. But, if he really has been Spider-Man this whole time, then he’s been in danger for some time. But this seems like a different kind of danger. You’ve always know Spider-Man to be the friendly neighborhood crime fighter, but now that he’s working with the Avengers, you worried what that kind of exposure to a bigger enemy might mean for him. Maybe this is why Peter never told you, he didn’t want you to hold him back or worry constantly about him. You’d understand him not telling May because of that, but you thought that your friendship was something beyond just caring about each other. You thought it was the two of you encouraging each other and helping them to be the best version of themselves, so why didn’t he trust you with something that was so important to him? Maybe he thought you’d rat him out? But if he gave you the chance he would know that you would never go behind his back like that. Maybe this was your chance to prove that to him. Well, whatever his reasoning, you hoped he would be more honest from here on out.

The next day you hadn’t heard anything from Peter all day. You assumed he was probably just busy, plus being in a different time zone probably didn’t help, but you still had a gnawing feeling. That was until you got a text of a picture of Peter with some locals, and you realized he was probably sightseeing until it was time to “suit up”. You smiled at the picture and saved it. He looked so genuinely happy, and you didn’t get to see that often in pictures. You realized that this was something that he was excited about. His nerves and tension you sensed when he asked you to cover for him were gone, and he was fully enjoying himself and his chance to fight with Iron Man. You sighed contently and shut off your phone, figuring it’s probably best to not have it taunting you throughout the day.

When you finally turned your phone back on, about right before you got into bed for the night, you had a video from Peter waiting for you. It was him running around a town square and showing you all the different food carts. You chuckled, not really sure why he felt the need to share all the food carts with you of everything, but you didn’t mind. Accompanying the video is a text that says,

P: “Mr. Stark says we’re gathering at the airport in the morning because that’s where Captain America is heading, trying to escape.”

Y: “Loving the video and picture, looks like fun! Hope everything goes well tomorrow, kick some ass Pete ❤️ (oh and don’t die please)”

P: “Oh now you want me to come back. Now that you know Thor’s not here to dry your tears?”

Y: “I’ve always wanted you to come back, I’m just saying if you don’t… I might not be so torn up if Thor was sent to break the news to me 😉”

P: “I’ll put that in my will really quick “P.S. Send Thor to break the news to (Y/N)”.”

Y: “I appreciate your support on this bud! Oh by the way, here’s a picture of the project finished for May, tomorrow I’m baking Mantecados so when you get back you can be my taste tester and then everything should be ready to present on Monday!”

You’d gotten up and snapped a picture of the finished poster board. Then propped your camera on your desk so it looked about Peter's height, and set a timer. You hopped in front of the board and held your arms out in a way that someone would show off a car on a game show, and out on a big grin. You sent both to Peter so he had some options for what to send to May as proof. He responded to you after he saved them and forwarded them to May.

P: “Thank you! May is really appreciating the fun shots of you acting like poster board making is your calling. Also, I’m really looking forward to knowing absolutely nothing about our project when we present lol.”

Y: “Hey, that’s on you lol. Read the points I have on the board on your plane ride back.”

You set your phone down and closed your eyes, a smile on your face that you couldn’t shake. You were able to sleep peacefully knowing that for now, Peter was okay. You could worry about him tomorrow, but for now, he’s okay.

You decided to sleep in as much as you could, since today all you had to do was go out and get some baking ingredients, then bake. You woke up around noon, which is definitely longer than you thought you’d stay in, but you weren’t mad. You were facing your alarm clock on your bedside table then turned on your back to stretch. You looked up at your ceiling and fell out of bed.

“What the actual fuck!” You yell as you fall, scared to death.

You heard the most familiar laugh echo through your room as Peter fell from your ceiling to your bed. You stood up, grabbed your pillow and smacked him across the head.

“Hey! It’s not my fault you’re easy to scare!”

“No, but it is your fault that you’re a total ass.” You laugh at him, but then pause as he takes off his mask and reveals his black eye. You quickly take his face into your hands and gently rub your thumb over it.

“Who did this? I’ll kick their ass.” You said, completely forgetting that he was just fighting the oldest living Avenger.

“I’ll let Mr. Stark know to warn Cap that you’re coming for his head.”

“Right, sorry. I did just wake up, I totally forgot you were off fighting big bad guys. So what was it like? Are you an Avenger now?”

“It was interesting and kind of cool to be doing more than just stopping random thugs from stealing old ladies’ purses, ya know? And no, well… I’m basically an Avenger, but I think I have to wait for another assignment or something for me to prove I’m ready.”

“Well, hopefully, they’re not needing you too much.”

“Why not? I could really do this! I could be an Avenger!”

“What about school?”

“Well I could obviously do both, I would just have to only do Avenger things when I can, but I’ll manage, I’ve been managing for a while now.”

“Well, as long as your happy, and not dead, I’ll support you.” You chuckled, hoping that Peter would continue to trust you with his Spider-Man secrets.

Current Taglist: @popluckbih

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ayankun · 4 years

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The Asset

so I’m making my mom watch Agents of SHIELD (obviously) and today we watched eps 1x03 - 1x06. That’s The Asset, Eye Spy, Girl in the Flower Dress, and FZZT.

THEN I ACCIDENTALLY SPENT LIKE FIVE HOURS DISSECTING MY LEAST FAVORITE EPISODE YOU’RE WELCOME

First off, full spoilers ahead, of course.

1x03 is, hands down, the worst episode of the series. PERIOD. I didn’t give it my full attention when I did my rewatch, because I remembered it well enough for some reason and the guy that plays Quinn looks too much but not enough like Tahmoh Penikett to seriously irritate me. DODGED A BULLET THERE.

Giving it your full attention does not do it any favors. I was physically discomfited, squirming in my seat and dropping snide remarks every 12 seconds. It’s bad, you guys.

First off, we have this guy, who is, for now in S1, the one and only “Agent Mack.”

THE SIMILARITIES ARE UNCANNY.

Then this big rig gets dropped like 50 feet and I’m supposed to believe that this guy strapped in the back only had his glasses knocked askew?

Ok then we go see what the team is up to, and lord, three episodes has not been enough time for Chloe or Brett to Figure Their Shit Out. They’re so awkward and dumb looking.

After a passable briefing scene, where we learn that Baldy McGlasses is a valuable asset (and beloved advisor to FitzSimmons) who was being transported with maximum security before being kidnapped, we get this wildly wild “we have to put something on the screen while exposition happens” shot:

Which cuts contemporaneously to

Thanks I hate it

Where did the atmospheric smoke go? Was that highway always there? What time of day is this supposed to be where the ambient light changes so drastically over a matter of seconds? They couldn’t have kept the camera on the left side of the lane marker?

But it gets worse because Simmons has a line and the coverage for this is basically just a matched jump cut over to the other half of the line up and back again.

I can’t stand it.

So Agent Mack survived the fall and is still on the scene of the accident. My mom was pretty incredulous that he was alive, and I was thinking it was too bad that he had to sit there for hours waiting to be debriefed instead of being taken to a hospital.

THEN there’s some FitzSimmons pratfall-adjacent sci-fi nonsense that my mom really got a kick out of. But I was too distracted by Iain’s decision to play Fitz as a douchebag so far this season so I wasn’t in the right mood to be impressed.

Ok then we go back to the lab to do some science on the MacGuffin, and I will admit my favorite part so far is Skye challenging Coulson on the existence of the truth serum, and Coulson plays it so Coulson-y it’s truly chef’s kiss.

BUT THEN May comes along and drops 100 pounds of print media for Skye to review (oh yeah, there’s a key subplot about there potentially being a mole inside SHIELD, which is how McGlasses got got) and MY MOM who REGULARLY prints out things like Facebook posts to keep for posterity rightly pointed out that they have high-tech on this plane like holograms and stuff, so printing out all this correspondence in order to go through it page by page makes 0% sense.

Also we never see it again.

OKAY THEN COULSON AND WARD ACCOST A COWBOY RIDING A HORSE THROUGH THE WOODS. Said cowboy also just happens to have the incriminating bag of gold on his person, which Coulson and Ward straight up steal. That’s it. That’s the whole concept for the scene. Coulson’s just parked his car along a narrow woodland path, just waiting for a cowboy to come riding along so he can accost him/steal his gold.

Check out how whack this scene-setting shot is, too. We have Coulson on the left, facing the Cowboy on the right. At this trajectory, you can see that Lola and the horse are basically pointed perpendicular to one another.

Yet cowboy pulls to a stop without banking and addresses something dead ahead of him.

Surprise! Coulson’s over there now and Lola and the horse are facing dead on.

To really drive this home, cowboy spends the rest of the scene on the left, addressing Coulson who remains on the right.

Anyway so yeah, this scene is about roughing up an innocent civilian for intel and then stealing his legally acquired wealth.

At least they can’t take the sky from him.

The purpose of the cowboy gold is that it’s directly traceable back to Quinn Worldwide, which is hilarious considering that one assumes the under-the-table transaction used this method of currency in order to not be easily traced.

Coulson name drops Quinn like he’s some off-brand Tony Stark that we should be impressed with, and we are immediately shown that Ian Quinn’s defining characteristic is that he has an assistant to hang up his cell phone calls for him. We are not impressed with Ian Quinn.

OKAY AND THEN WE GET THIS COMPLETE MIS-READ OF SCRIPT INTENT IN THIS SHOT

why why why why why why would you ignore a character’s line like that. Why are you choosing to TELL me that a man is tied up when it would be SO EASY to SHOW me.

Especially since the narrative so far is that McGlasses has been skillfully kidnapped by a very determined adversary, and this moment, this interaction, is where that assumption is proven erroneous. Quinn’s line is a very specific cue that we are meant to SEE that he’s restrained, per our expectations following a kidnapping, specifically to introduce the twist that Quinn is just that budget Tony Stark who actually has no malicious intentions towards his former colleague.

A super close close up of McGlasses fails to achieve that moment the script was hunting for. I’m feeling that the intent was to keep the focus on this dude because of the upcoming secondary twist where he is revealed to be the SHIELD mole who masterminded his own kidnapping, but this guy is So Bad at acting I don’t think keeping him front and center is ever going to pay off.

(ok I just checked and it turns out Ian Hart is a prolific English actor. this makes me feel like I ought to chalk it up to “difficulty emoting while doing a fake American accent” but guys this performance is so bad I’m really not willing to believe there’s a good excuse)

anyway it turns out Quinn’s good guy!

.....but then he’s on the wrong side of the shot all of a sudden for no good reason and HEY maybe this set up with the wide angle on the lab and a clear look at McGlasses’ physical situation within that environment would have been an alternative for, you know, maybe some sort of establishing shot? Maybe? No?

Also here let’s take a moment to let the “plot” really sink in. These two chuckleheads are former classmates and colleagues, even though one of them looks about 20 years older than the other, and Quinn discovered that “an asset” was being moved, “deduced” that the asset was McGlasses, and wanted to bring McGlasses in on his semi-nefarious science plan. So to avoid SHIELD interference in his schemey scheme, Quinn

kidnaps McGlasses directly from SHIELD custody,

in the showiest manner, not only using but LEAVING BEHIND the exact product at the core of his scheme,

and pays a local cowboy with easily traceable gold in exchange for just some regular backhoe to bust open the big rig transporting McGlasses, instead of, I don’t know, using his massive wealth and influence and in-house R&D products to not massively incriminate himself

He couldn’t have just invited McGlasses over without calling attention to himself?

There is the way that “the asset” was being “moved” makes it sound like McGlasses was on top secret lock down with no civilian rights or means of making/receiving contact with people like old colleagues. But this is never clarified, like, the only other thing we know about him is that he evidently advises classes at the Sci-Ops branch of the SHIELD academy.

ALSO we have yet to learn that McGlasses personally staged “being moved” and leaked the hints regarding the identity of “the asset” to Quinn just so that Quinn would do all these nonsense things he done. He couldn’t have just invited himself over???

Also the conversation they have at this point is real rough, with non-sequiturs, shambling exposition, and garbage jokes that wouldn’t float even if you didn’t have a log and a ham struggling to mimic human behavior.

Also Quinn bought the PRIME MINISTER OF MALTA’S old manor specifically because it has a huge underground lab???? What about Malta do I need to know about before this makes sense?

Let’s move on. FitzSkimmons have an only-mostly painful scene of exposition in which Iain is still having a hard time with the lines/characterization the Powers That Be are forcing Fitz to be at the moment. I’m going to say it. Season 1 Fitz is Utterly Unlikable.

However, this rant has given me the opportunity to 1) stand corrected and 2) appreciate this understated joke:

She’s still on page 1 of 1 billion LOLOLOLOL

The other nice thing to come out of this scene is the casual validation that the public school system may not be right for everyone, and that being a high school drop out does not mean you can’t also be an intelligent self-starter who finds value and satisfaction in picking up a trade skill on your own. *coughs in Robbie Reyes*

UGH but then we go back to McWooden and Bargain Ham. Their story is UNINTERESTING and their performances are HARD TO STOMACH. Also it ends on a mirror of the shot we started with (so there is some evidence of intelligent design at play here after all)

But this framing makes me so uncomfortable like, I’ve shipped for less don’t put weird ideas in my head that no one wants least of all me--

Ok. We’re a third of the way through. It doesn’t stop getting worse.

So here’s the correct way to reposition your characters if you want to change up the eye lines without making it super jarring! The start of this scene is actually really textbook-nice, just look:

The pre-mission planning is already in full swing, but we follow Skye, the outsider on the outside, approaching the scene with some amount of hesitation.

She starts on the right, facing left, and crosses across the path of the camera as it follows her towards the meeting, ending up on its left while the folks currently giving lines are framed over her right shoulder. Your eye line and sense of positioning has fluidly followed hers, and this makes sense.

From this establishing shot, we do a real nice punch in on Coulson as he’s speaking, using a really action smooth cut as he does a bit of business with his hand.

We’re still coming into this scene from Skye’s POV, and this shot reflects that -- close enough to focus on the important action, but distant enough to show Skye’s current position (literally and figuratively) relative to the rest of the team.

The reverse shot is ... fine. It’s fine. I don’t like that she’s framed on the right hand side of the screen (exactly where Coulson was a split second ago), but the eye lines still match up and it does give the impression that the camera is the avatar of the audience and we just turned on the spot to look at her as she quietly invites herself to this scene and starts putting that big beautiful brain of hers to work.

Then we leave her to it! Feel the difference this cut has, emotionally, from the last time we looked over at Coulson:

We’ve left Skye’s aloof POV and now we’re all up in his biz. This framing tells us he’s no longer the subject of Skye’s contemplation and has gone back to being a character of the TV screen doing TV character things.

The remainder of this scene holds onto that “normal” shot-reverse-shot framing of the team as they give their opinions and work through the plan.

This laudable result of thoughtful camera work is almost instantly ruined by Fitz yammering on about using a brave little monkey to do their serious spy business and HOLY COW Iain does his best with the dreck he’s been given but there is no universe in which I will find this type of dialogue acceptable.

The valuable plot point here is that Skye is finding her footing on the team, doing hacky stuff on her phone and putting herself out there as -- wait for it -- an asset to Coulson. Ward responds to this with bafflement, being generally supportive of her known abilities while also being doubtful that she’s a complete package, and turning to Coulson for advice on how to round her training out.

This results in yet another JARRING AF transition (read: there’s no transition) from Ward and Coulson’s heart to heart to Ward pointing a gun at Skye at some indeterminate amount of time later.

Look we haven’t even had time to ingest Coulson’s line yet and BAM we’re here.

This scene’s fine. It’s doing double duty and that’s admirable. Triple duty, even. Many duties are being performed in this scene. We have

fledgling Skyeward

the introduction to the gun-manipulation maneuver Skye will use later on

Skye’s irreverence butting heads with Ward’s need for brass-tacks

at least one solid joke at Ward’s expense

Ward valuing Skye’s er, assets -- I’M TALKING COMPUTER SCIENCE YA PERVS

a very competent conversational segue into Ward’s Whole Deal, wherein we are introduced to the concept of his childhood trauma (lolol and man does Brett just fail to deliver these lines in any sort of a way that inspires human empathy wowowo he’s so bad in this one)

a callback to an earlier conversation as well as a set up for a future joke

SKYE STEALING WARD’S GUN FROM OUT OF HIS PANTS A++++

Now we go into pre-heist plan-walkthrough mode, and it’s so boring and lifeless that Skye’s actual summary line is “Plan, green, drop, walk ... pie.” To be honest, she got more out of the discussion than I did.

May has an interesting character moment where she’s complaining about going into the field and then immediately regrets it because she was never going to be sent in, but that means Coulson’s going in instead and that worries her. I keep thinking back on this season as being unfocused, but that’s because I forget that the sales pitch for this entire shebang is “we killed Coulson in Avengers but now here’s a show where he’s the lead because everyone loves him so much” and the subsequent focus of the inaugural season is everyone’s burning curiosity to find out how they undid his murder.

Aside from the sci-fi/Marvel/generic spy show gimmick of the week, these early episodes never fail to prioritize the interpersonal dynamic of their team while simultaneously teasing out the Coulson mystery with these nice little regular hits.

I let it keep playing while I was typing, and we flew over some whatever business where Skye goes to Quinn’s party, and Coulson and Ward land their little raft on the beach, and the other kids are watching from the Bus and FITZ IS AGAIN TERRIBLE

I feel you, Jemma.

(Also, am I wrong in hearing him give in and say “boobs?” The Netflix subtitles have it as “oops” but that can’t be it.)

Anyway so Skye’s busy using her Assets to win Quinn over, and Chloe’s shining moment in this scene is the delivery of the drivers test joke.

Back to stuff that’s gratingly awful, we’re supposedly on Malta, right? And you know how Hollywood generally and the spy show/movie genre specifically tries to stretch their location budgets by putting on color filters to “evoke” distant lands?

We go from the above, washed out and unfiltered, to this sepia-toned nonsense:

This is supposed to be taking place basically right outside. Why not just keep the filter on for the interior scenes, too? There’s plenty of searing Maltese light coming in through that wall of windows.

(They must have had a hard time on location for the manor shoots, though, it’s just as washed out in the earlier scene set outdoors that I didn’t show you because it was boring but I’m showing you know because it’s not even the same color filter as the Coulson/Ward shots

)

((Also, yeah, I get it. You can’t fly to Malta for a day for a television shoot. But how many people are you fooling when you put the Santa Monica mountains in the backdrop of every exterior shot?))

So we go back and forth between these high-grain-low-saturation beachfront stuff to these holy angelic light of judgement shots and I hate it.

Like, why choose to shoot against this nuclear-blast light? It’s not doing your actors any favors.

Especially when you’re ALSO choosing to depict that same “natural” light with a whole different palette and then continue to give us the opportunity to compare and contrast.

Also I hate the Ward/Coulson business because it’s just generic spy stuff where some guards come out of nowhere and I guess maybe it’s implied that their cute boat was found but it could just as easily be that it was explicitly stated that there were guard patrols and I forgot.

But then they fight and defeat the guards in literally under 8 seconds and that’s that. End of stakes.

The character moment that validates this trivial obstacle is that Coulson tries to do something with a gun and finds that May’s concerns weren’t entirely unfounded. He’s a little rusty.

Also Ward’s response to this is to chuck the gun into the laser wall and I don’t know why. In any case, the energy from both of them in this screenshot really resonates with me.

So then Skye Does The Thing with her Assets and if you’ll let me be picky again about plot holes, why does the wireless access MacGuffin need to have an interface for Skye to check that the connection is possible, and THEN have that connection activated by LITERALLY dropping it on the table. They couldn’t have set it to auto-scan and then tell her through her earpiece to stay still when the connection activated itself?

Whatever. Success! Immediately followed by ... INEXPLICABLE OBSTACLE

WHO, praytell, is on the other end of that walkie talkie? Because the downed man is the man you see. Typically, it would be like a survivor of the scuffle who radios for backup, but here we see the scene of the scuffle and some unknown unseen ADDITIONAL MAN who I guess is just spying on them from somewhere and radioing still more unseen men?

Instantly hearing this news, the Unseen begin a sniper assault on Coulson and Ward, and we get to see their bullets getting evaporated by the laser wall. Remember those guards walking along the sea cliff towards the sign? There’s no place for the snipers to be sniping from, unless they have some kind of invisible floating island.

This scenario is made even more hilarious once Fitz brings down the laser wall and Coulson and Ward dive through like they think they some kind of James Bonds and then the wall goes back up and the snipers keep sniping.

Why aren’t the guards on the inside of the perimeter of the compound which they guard? This laser fence is now protecting the intruders. Minor design flaw.

Anywho, Quinn is still talking about how he doesn’t trust SHIELD and SHIELD doesn’t trust him, so it’s like, what are we supposed to believe about this guy anyway? Why did Coulson introduce him as bargain bin Tony Stark if he was known to be bargain bin Justin Hammer all along?

So now that snipers have failed to snipe the intruders, some Seen Guards come to alert Quinn so he breaks the wireless MacGuffin and turns a gun on Skye. (Just sayin, if it had been some secret device that was still in her bag, she’d have plausible deniability)

I think, at this point, I have two conclusions

Team Coulson has no extraction plan for getting McGlasses out of the compound since they don’t have a Plan B to get back through the laser wall, no firepower to use on the Seen Guards, and no available land-or-sea getaway vehicles.

There was never any sort of extraction plan for Skye even if the laser wall and the Seen Guards were not an obstacle.

Here’s where it gets the messiest.

Coulson busts in on McGlasses but is told no rescue is required.

AT THAT SAME TIME

May has just popped open a tablet over in some room by herself, evidently disinterested in whatever FitzSimmons is probably doing right now in light of this drastic turn of events, and she’s randomly googling up on the SHIELD leak mentioned earlier, only to discover that it was MCGLASSES ALL ALONG.

Keeps a cool head, our May.

Yeah, we know, we .. he ... he just said ... you know what? We didn’t actually care, though? Who the mole was or that it was McGlasses. We certainly didn’t spend the last half hour watching May diligently tracking down some breadcrumb trail of clues to get to this dramatic reveal, only to find out a second too late. We didn’t even see her checking up that Skye had/didn’t have this angle covered.

Did she print out the contents of the four-foot binder as some sort of eco-terrorist cruel joke since she was just planning on spending three seconds on the computer to complete the same task?

Ok so Coulson misinterprets McGlasses’ decline of his rescue operation as collaboration with Quinn until May clues him in. We then go to commercials and come back and have to go over all this info again just in case we didn’t follow that super exciting double-cross the first two times.

At which point we figure out where all the pre-production time was sunk -- somebody had to spend a lot of effort envisioning how they were going to do the wacky-gravity scenes. My feeling is that fun challenges like that are what stand out to people who are working on a thing, and sometimes the prestige of “pulling that off” can overshadow the need to pay attention to other, less exciting aspects of filmmaking, like making sure your eye lines stay coherent in a scene or that your color gradings aren’t super distracting.

Anyway I do really like the load-bearing scene where Quinn threatens Skye at gunpoint because it is one of those many examples this season has of laying ground work for and paying off character moments.

Skye’s flip and smart and completely not ready for this level of field action, but she remembers her training, remembers how earnestly Ward wanted her to be ready for this defining moment, and gets the gun!

That “nOPE” when she can’t shoot the man is also Classic Skye and we Love Her For It.

Anyway oh yeah, McGlasses reveals his master plan to get kidnapped, so that he could get on site and ruin Quinn’s everything because he’s a Bad Justin Hammer. His performance is SO PAINFUL and his reasoning has yet to make sense. Coulson doesn’t ask “why did you have to be kidnapped to get in, though” but he does ask “why didn’t you try reasoning with him” as if that were the question we needed an answer to.

Also it turns out FitzSimmons has been pretty chill this whole time since their agents lost their extraction plan (well, they’re smart, they probably knew all along that there wasn’t one) and are just puttering around the lab working on what looks like their regular day-to-day science, talking excitedly about gravitonium rather than panicking that the whole plan’s gone to shit.

Unflappable.

COME ON PEOPLE the mission wasn’t “throw McGlasses into the gravitonium and do high-fives” it was “rescue McGlasses from Quinn’s grasp.” From the way that this plays out, there is 0% indication that their initial plan was ever expected to succeed.

WE DON’T EVEN SEE HOW THEY GET OUT OF THERE, WE JUST LOOK AT SOME MCGRAVITONIUM AND THEN SEE COULSON ON THE BUS INSTRUCTING THE CONTAINMENT FACILITY ON HOW IT SHOULD BE HANDLED.

Oh well, the gratuitous plot is disposed with after this point.

In the denouement, we get to see May and Coulson interact over his experience in the field and her experience being stuck watching him in the field. She’s finally ready for combat, but strictly for his sake. And he’s at the point where he’s ready and willing to take her up on her offer instead of trying to prove that he’s everything he was before he died.

Following that, we get some Skyeward with some really gross romantic comedy type music. Bear, you’re better than this!! But the scene is nice, Chloe really brings it (almost brings too much) and Brett is there to support her.

It’s a really on-the-nose admission from Skye that her allegiances lie with SHIELD, but its an organic continuation of that bit from earlier where she wandered all up on their meeting, the outsider, and pushed her way into the heart of it. She wants this. She wants to feel like she belongs here. And now she’s been trusted with some opportunities and tools to prove it!

This early in the season, we’re still doubtful that she’s on the up and up, what with that Rising Tide plot thread hanging so loose and tantalizing over our heads. Due to the potential of a storyline revolving around her betrayal, there are a lot of fun little moments in the next few episodes where Ward gets to say some betrayal-related stuff that is absolutely excellent in retrospect.

I was watching some old interviews and while it is very clear Brett did not know the fate of his character in advance, it’s also distinctly implied that no one knew and the arc of the season may have developed episode by episode. That’s so nutty to me, considering how strong the structure of the season is, how there are so many satisfying call backs and payoffs later on.

I think I’m more likely to applaud a well-plotted narrative, in which foreshadowing and a deliberate order of events slowly unravel to great effect. But I can definitely appreciate the ability to force the illusion of the same by being crafty and attentive and not letting any usable threads go to waste.

Ultimately, whether by design or by providence, Season 1 is successful in pulling it all together. It’s just that episodes like this one don’t really inspire you to believe that that outcome is likely, or even possible. Episodes like this one cause a person to give up watching halfway through the season and walk away for years until cajoled into giving it another shot because “it got good somehow.”

But what this season has, every episode, especially ones like this one, is a pronounced, chaotic, relentless prioritization of Character over Plot. What is this show about? Who cares. That’s the wrong question. This show could have been about anything, and these early episodes are all too aware of it. What kind of story can you tell when every option is on the table and no one knows what to expect from you?

You find that story, step by step, episode by episode, through the eyes of your characters. The forward motion of the story isn’t “how did Coulson come back to life” but “what is life going to be like for him now?” It’s not “will Skye betray the team” it’s “what does she want and what is she willing to do to get it?”

Posing and answering these character questions generates the Story of Agents of SHIELD. Plots be damned. Remember how at one point in this episode, our heroes robbed a cowboy at gunpoint? Yeah. Me either.

And I can’t agree more with this approach. In my experience, PWP works best when its about the characters.

#agents of shield #aos

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trashinaglass-archive · 5 years

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That’s My Girl

That Girl Part 2

Request: I love That Girl! Omg imagine if you did a part 2 and Tom's doing press for ffh and the interviewer asks if he's dating anyone and he's like yeah y/n and jake is like the sexist woman alive, y/n?! And harry is still jealous but its all cute and funny

A/n: I’m so glad y’all liked That Girl enough to ask for a part two. I loved writing it and the excitement seeing the requests for this was so real.

“Thank you, Miami!” You yelled as your concert ended, standing on one of the speakers at the front of the stage as you waved and did a final bow as the lights went out. You made your way backstage where you met your boyfriend, walking into his arms. You leaned your body against him, both of your arms around his left shoulder as you greeted him with a kiss.

“You did amazing, darling,” he told you with a big smile on his face. “And I rather like this outfit you got on.” You lightly smacked his chest as his hands began to wander, pulling a leg around his waist. Your final stage outfit was a bedazzled bra under a red leather jacket with black shorts and thigh high boots. It was one of your favorites- and obviously one of Tom’s.

“Don’t get too familiar,” you joked, releasing him as you began to walk backstage where all of your stuff was. “Are we good to go?”

“As soon as you are- we have a jet waiting at the airport.” This motivated you to move faster. You and Tom planned your tours with each other in mind- yours finished in Miami not long after his started in Mexico, you joining for Bali until it finished in LA.

You changed and quickly gathered your mostly packed bags from your dressing room, waving goodbye to your friends, family, and crew as you and Tom left. You board the private jet, a makeshift bed to the side, looking deliciously comfortable.

“How long is it to Bali?” You asked Tom as you sat on the bed, watching as he changed into something more comfortable.

“25- 27 hours,” he answered with a questioning gaze, not entirely sure if that was right. “Something like that.”

“Sounds like just enough time to sleep if you ask me,” you said. Tom moved to where you were sat, hands on the bed beside your thighs and hovered over you. Your hands rest on his shoulders as you kissed him. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too. But we’re going to have so much fun. You’re going to love it,” he said, excitement shining in his eyes.

“I can’t wait,” you told him, kissing him once more. “Except that I can because I’m so fucking tired.” A yawn escaped your throat as you said this, emphasizing your words.

Tom laughed as he watched you. “Scoot over then, Dopey.” You giggled at the nickname- Dopey being your favorite of the Seven Dwarfs. You moved to lay on the bed, taking the side against the wall while Tom took the open side. He laid on his back with you cuddled into his side, placing a kiss to the top of your head. “Goodnight, gorgeous.”

“Night,” you replied back, sleep overtaking you almost immediately.

. . .

After a long sleep and a few hours hanging out, the plane landed and you were in your hotel room in Bali.

“I have a few interviews this afternoon, but I’m off all day tomorrow,” Tom informed you as you both changed for the day, getting ready for your breakfast plans with the twins. “I’m sure Harry and Sam probably have something planned that you can join in on while I’m gone.”

“You think they’ll want to hang out with me like that?” You asked him, biting your lip in worry. “I mean I don’t know them all that well.”

“Look at our Sexiest Woman Alive being nervous over two Kingston boys,” Tom teased making you roll your eyes. “They’ve been wanting to get know better you for a while now. I promise they’ll be happy for you to join them.”

“Okay,” you agreed, though not fully convinced. You made your way down to the hotel’s restaurant where you met Sam and Harry. They stood up as they saw you approach them, standing up to greet you.

“Good morning,” Sam said as he hugged you, Harry doing the same though holding it for a bit longer than Sam. “Good flight over?”

“It was, yeah,” you answered.

“So what’s the plan for today?” Harry asked, as you all finished your food.

“I have interviews this afternoon so whatever you guys want to do after this, I’m down- I just need to be back by noon to shower before I go,” he told them. You looked out the window as they began to discuss different activities. The beautiful sand and blue waves calling your name.

“What about the beach?” You asked, looking at the view for a second longer before turning to face the boys.

“Yeah, let’s go!” Harry answered a bit too quickly. He shook his head to calm down a bit before speaking again. “I mean that sounds like a lot of fun. We should definitely do that.”

Tom gave him a knowing look, “we can do that. Do you want to go back to the room and change?” Tom asked you.

“Not really. I kind of just want to be out there moreso than swim,” you explained.

. . .

You spent the entire morning on the beach- walking around, taking pictures, Harry flying his drone, messing around in the water coming up to your mid-calf. You were very happy with your decision to come out here.

“Tom!” Sam called from the beach chair he was sat in. You and Tom were stood in the water, hand in hand, as you joked around and just enjoyed each other’s company. Your attention only leaving each other at the sound of Sam’s voice.

“Yeah?” He called back, squinting to see him better.

“It 12:45, don’t you need to go?” He asked his older brother, remembering what he said at breakfast.

“Shit!” He said, looking at his watch. “Yeah, I have to go.” He turned to look back at you, an apologetic look on his face for leaving so suddenly.

“It’s okay, just don’t get in trouble for being late,” you said, shoving him to start walking. He laughed at your actions and felt better that you weren’t upset with him.

“I’ll call you when I’m done- maybe we can get dinner after.” You nodded at the suggestion. “Okay, do something fun while I’m gone,” he said kissing you before walking away. “If I come back and find her damaged in any way, I’m killing both of you,” he told his brothers, pointing to them.

“Tom, go!” You laughed. He shot you a wink before finally making his way off the beach. You turned to the two twins, clapping your hands together once, “what now?” You asked. You all turned, hearing the sound of an engine to see a man in the water riding the waves.

“Jet skis?” Harry asked. You and Sam looked at each other, a smile coming to your face.

“Jet skis,” you both said with a nod.

. . .

“I loved that,” Tom said as he and Jake finished a game. The interviewer thanked them before leaving and allowing the next one in.

“Not to be rude, man, but you smell terrible,” Jake said with a laugh looking at Tom.

“Sorry,” he replied, feeling embarrassed. “I went to the beach with my brothers and girlfriend and it was hot and I lost track of time. I meant to shower, but I had to rush here to not be late.”

The interviewers laughed, “don’t worry, I can’t smell you from here.”

“Good,” Tom laughed, putting a hand to his chest dramatically.

“But I didn’t know you had a girlfriend. Anyone we would know?”

“Oh, shit. Yeah. Um,” he laughed as he realized what he said. “Yeah, it’s y/n-“ he barely got out before Jake interrupted him.

“Sexiest Woman Alive, y/n?!” He asked in his excited voice, joking at first.

“That would be her,” He replied smugly, proud to have you as his girlfriend.

“Damn, how’d you pull a chick like her?” Jake asked, now genuinely interested.

“I don’t know,” Tom laughed. “But whatever it was, it worked.”

“How did your family react to you dating her?” The interviewer asked.

“They were really excited. All of us love her music- Harry had a huge crush on her actually.”

“Really?” Both men asked Tom, laughing at the information.

“Yeah- had posters of her, she was his phone wallpaper. He was in love, but not anymore,” Tom shared. Jake burst out in laughter at the last bit.

“‘She’s mine’,” Jake mocked.

“Hands off the merchandise,” Tom continued to joke with Jake, both laughing before looking back at the interviewer.

“Has he accepted that she’s officially off-limits?”

“Mostly- I mean you can’t just speak a crush out of existence, but he’s kept it under wraps. But he definitely likes having her around right now.”

“I’m sure,” the interviewer laughed before moving on with the actual interview. It felt like forever before their day ended, Tom pulling out his phone to call you.

“Hello?” You answered in a goofy voice.

“Hey, have you guys eaten yet?” He asked.

“No, we’re literally still on the beach.”

“Isn’t there a restaurant on the beach? Want to go there, get some dinner?”

“That would be the best honestly. I don’t feel like changing,” you laughed.

“Okay. I’ll meet you there in a minute.”

. . .

“Changed your mind on not swimming?” Tom asked as he saw you, an oversized white blouse falling off one shoulder revealing one side of your bikini top.

“Maybe,” You smiled as Tom sat next to you, pressing a kiss to your lips. “We rented some jet skis and then they tried to teach me to surf- didn’t go well though.”

“She wiped out so hard at one point. It was hilarious,” Sam shared.

“Is that where this came from?” Tom asked, touching the red spot on your arm that disappeared under your clothes.

“Yeah, that’s gonna be a sick bruise,” you said, rubbing over it. “How did your interviews go?”

“Great,” he told you, beginning to think of everything that happened. “Jake mentioned that I smelled bad because I wasn’t able to shower which lead to me telling them about my girlfriend.”

“Of course you did,” you said with a laugh, taking a sip of your drink.

“Sorry, but at least it’ll now be known that the Sexiest Woman Alive is officially off the market.”

“You have to let that title die,” you said leaning your head back, feeling slightly embarrassed by how much he brings it up.

“I don’t think I will,” he replied stubbornly, leaning his face toward yours for a kiss. You rolled your eyes and playfully pushed his face away from you.

#tom holland #tom holland imagine #tom holland one shot #tom holland blurb #tom holland x reader

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lunaraindrop · 4 years

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Dream Running in Airports (part 2)

Unlike being involuntarily sucked in like the last one, Penny had to put in a little effort into finding Eliot Waugh's dream. Unlike Quentin, Eliot always remembered to ward his mind to keep his thoughts to himself. That was something Penny really appreciated. Normally he didn't hear a peep from the King of the Physical Kids mind. He obviously valued his thoughts being private and staying private.

Fat luck it did for Penny now though.

Sleeping made it easier for him to step into Eliot's mind.

Penny whistled.

Penny: Shit. Nothing can be mistaken as Christmasy in here.

Eliot's dream took him to a place he swears has to be that Oculto place he had heard people whisper about.

It was a balmy night with a slight breeze. There was a raging party to his left. Out of the sand rose a lit up dance floor covered in writhing bodies. The party goers were dancing to some crazy remixed club versions of Hungry Eyes and Dido's Here With Me. There were fire dancers, laser lights, and people swimming in giant champagne glasses.

To his right was a large orgy. Out of the sand was a padded looking platform covered in swaths of gauzy fabrics from an unseen ceiling. The fabric made the movements behind it more muted. Less porno, more sensual interpretive dance. Of fucking. So much fucking. Like, goddamn. Moans and gasps floated through the gauze like music.

Penny had to admit, he was not eager to look for the man in either place. But, he realized he wouldn't have to.

In the middle of the two, was Eliot. Not dancing. Not fucking. Alone. Something about that didn't seem right to Penny. Eliot was always the life of the party. He and Margo were two of the most flirty, openly sexual people he knew. Yet he wasn't in either scene. Hell, even Margo wasn't with him in his dream. He was sitting in a lone beach lounger, sipping on what looked to be a glowing purple cocktail. In the dark.

That spoke of some fucked up shit.

But just like how this was not a Christmasy dream, this dream was unlike the saddest elf on the shelf, because Eliot was obviously aware that he was dreaming.

Eliot: *sips his drink* *stares at Penny* This is new. You've never been in one of my dreams before. So either my brain is putting you here because I either subconsciously want you to have more fun or get laid...or you're trespassing.

As Penny walked closer to the lounger, the pleasant breeze started to feel more cold. From his vantage point, Penny could tell that Eliot could see everything happening in both the scenes going on that he was not apart of.

Being far enough away from both the party and orgy, Penny could finally see that he recognized some of the people. Among some of the other names less Physical Kids that he had seen come and go from the cottage parties, he spotted Eliot's partner in crime.

The absent Margo seemed to be having the time of her life drinking from a bottle of wine and twirling around the dance floor in a cleavage-friendly red and white striped minidress and tiny Santa hat. She was the center of attention at that party. Eliot seemed happy to see her so.

A loud noise drew their attention towards the orgy. Where most of everything had been ethereal and muted, the loud bark of familiar awkward laughter might as well have been a sonic boom. Through a peachy gauze was the dorky silhouette of one Quentin Coldwater, smiling for a change. He was looking at who appeared to be a naked Alice like she was a Fillory book offering him a lifetime of magical blow jobs. They were kissing, but not full on lustful tonsil hockey. No. The kisses were tender things, in which the hobbit would pull back, laugh and look at her in wonder. He touched her in cherished, soft strokes.

Eliot...did not seem to like that. What's more is that this is a dream. It's harder to hide the truth from someone when they are standing in your head.

By the way Eliot was looking at him, he knew that too.

Eliot: Yeah, you can fuck off now.

Penny really didn't need this shit...but he had already gone this far. Plus, it seemed that Brideshead Revisited was pathetically pining too.

They deserved each other.

Penny: Look, I have better things to do than to do favors, but I must have had some funky magical egg nog because now I have a fucking Christmas spirit. It is making me want to do good things. So for my *one* good deed charity work this year, let me just say what I need to say and then I can get the fuck out of your weird sexual pity party, okay?

Eliot: *eyeing him* Your "good deed" has nothing to do with your dick, right?

Penny: *rolls his eyes* Fuck no. You're not my type.

Eliot: *sighs in relief* *more devil may care relaxed* Oh good. That would have been awkward.

Penny: Yeah...awkward is the word for it.

Eliot out of nowhere whips up two more or the glowing drinks, and hands one to Penny. This one is red and seems to have crushed candy canes around the rim.

Eliot: It is a recipe I am trying out with peppermint Schnapps. It seems festive.

Penny knew the drink wasn't actually real, but it didn't stop him from drinking it.

Eliot settled back into his seat and indicated Penny to continue.

Penny: Look. Your nerd boy has never had a good grasp at remembering to put up wards so I don't have to hear him all the time. This time I actually got sucked into his dream.

Eliot: *pretending to not be intrigued* Oh, a Q dream. What does this have to do with "charity work".

Penny: I'm getting to that. The idiot was dreaming of being a character from Love Actually and-

Eliot: Was he Sam?

Penny: Who?

Eliot: The little boy that runs through the airport.

Penny: That's freakishly accurate. Are you sure you can't read minds?

Eliot: *smiles fondly* It's just Quentin. Brave little boy that believes in love and hope? Has a good relationship with his dad? Yeah, that just screams Q.

Penny: *annoyed that he is feeling a little sad for Quentin* Yeah...so that airport scene. He dreamt it. But it didn't go so well.

Eliot: *unable to hide his intrigue* *slightly concerned* Like how not well?

Penny: Like the love of his life got on the plane before he could tell him he loved him, and he sat on the floor in a pathetic heap telling himself that he wouldn't want him anyway.

Eliot: *stands up* Shit!

Penny: Yeah, so what I need is-

Eliot: *realizes something* Wait wait wait wait wait. Did you say "he"?

Penny: Did I stutter?

Eliot: You must have heard wrong. Q is straight.

Penny stared at the well dressed man before him incredulously.

Penny: *shakes head* I don't know how the fuck you made it into Brakebills, because you are dumb as shit.

Eliot: *about to say something smarmy*

Penny: No, you listen! You've actually met him, right?! I have literally seen him drool over you AND heard his little nasty thoughts on begging you to bend him over any available surface. He is the fucking poster child for disaster bi! Have you seen him try to sit in chairs?! He can't! It's like he either has a stick up his ass or he's allergic to the floor! Come on!

Eliot: *wide eyed* *slack jawed* Repeat that about Q wanting me to "bend him over"...?!

Penny: *losing patcience * I have had to hear it too many times how the hardwood desk in your room looks sturdy and the perfect height. I've never even been in your room, dude! I know this shit though.

Eliot didn't say anything. He just felt for his chair and sat down shakily. Penny didn't let him gather his wits to possibly try and talk around this. Penny knew what he knew.

Penny: This is my good deed. If you want him as much as I think you do, then go and get him. Right now he's fucking *sad* because he doesn't think you'll ever want him like he wants you. And hey, if I'm wrong, if you are not stupidly pining over his ass, then find him someone else that he can moon over. You're his friend. Help the guy out.

When Eliot did finally find his voice, it was strangled, yet thoughtful.

Eliot: For someone that isn't his friend, you sure are play at great wingman.

Penny: *preparing to leave* Seriously, that Josh guy must have spiked my egg nog. I'm going to punch him in the stomach if I start sing carols.

Penny started walking up the beach, noticing that the air around Eliot was warmer. The party was gone, and so was the orgy. Strangely though, Eliot didn't seem so alone anymore. Just before he blipped out, Eliot ran up to him.

Eliot: Hey Penny. Since you've been drugged into charity, I think I can help you with your good deed. I need a favor though. Is it possible for you to take me into someone else's dream?

#queliot fic #queliot #christmas #penny adiyodi #penny 40 #lunaraindrop

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mxliv-oftheendless · 5 years

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Black Dahlia (Chapter 2)

So wow, um, people actually like this? Wow. I mean I was going into it hoping people would like it, but I just always get so flattered when I learn people like my stuff. So thank you all! Please enjoy Chapter 2!

Heather had to admit—she was impressed.

From what she had heard, KISS had designed the sections of the park themselves, and she could see some of the park as the Mystery Machine pulled into the parking lot. Specifically, the huge statues of them holding up a globe that was no doubt in the center of the park. She had to give a smile and shake her head at that—KISS really never did do anything small. As soon as they got out of the van, even from where they were parked Heather could hear screams coming from inside.

“It is so majorly groovy to be at KISS World on Halloween night,” Daphne gushed as they headed for the entrance. “Listen to those crowds. I’m so excited, I think I’m gonna freak out!”

Heather laughed and looked back toward the park. She suddenly noticed that lining the park walls were flower bushes and admired how well they had been taken care of. She nodded at them. Hello there.

“Apparently, you’re not the only one,” Velma said to her, and pointed toward the entrance. Crowds and crowds of people were running screaming out into the parking lot.

Heather tilted her head in bemusement. “Weird,”

“Like, dude, don’t most people usually run towards awesome rock concerts?” Shaggy asked.

“Not at an Ascot Five concert,” Fred interjected smugly. “Everyone walks in a calm, orderly fashion.”

Heather rolled her eyes. “Fred, what did I say about—”

Suddenly voices filled her head and she froze. She knew voices like that… she turned her head towards the flower bushes. All of them were whispering faintly, but she realized their message: DANGER.

“Witch!”

The yell snapped Heather back to reality, and she blinked at the flowers before turning back to the entrance. Two men were running toward them.

“Help!”

“Witch!”

They grabbed onto Shaggy’s costume in terror.

“Oh my gosh, she’s so terrifying.”

“The scariest witch ever!”

Heather raised an eyebrow. “Witch?”

“With the red mist,”

“And the creepy laugh,”

“Save yourself while you can!”

The two ran off, presumably to their cars.

Heather’s blood ran cold at their description of the witch. No… it couldn’t be her…

Shaggy watched them go, then turned back around. “Wait a minute,” he counted on his fingers. “The Demon, the Starchild, the Catman, the Spaceman—” He whimpered in fear. “Please tell me they added a witch!”

“Somehow, I doubt that,” said Velma matter-of-factly. “In fact, it’s probably the reason we’re here.”

“Not me!” Scooby piped up. “I’m here for the funnel cake!”

Heather laughed and scratched his head. “Me too, Scoob.”

Fred slipped quickly back into the role of the leader. “C’mon, gang, let’s get to work.”

The group of six walked toward the entrance, where an intimidating woman and two men, all of them dressed as security guards, stood vigilant.

“Like, excuse me, ma’am—” Shaggy began politely, but the woman cut him off.

“Sorry. Park’s closed.”

“But we’re here to solve a mystery,” Fred said confidently to her.

The woman looked condescendingly at the group. “Sure you are. You always wear makeup when solving crimes?”

Daphne looked insulted. “Uh, I should hope so!”

Velma stepped over to Daphne. “She means the KISS makeup,” she explained to her. She turned to the woman. “No, we’re just excited about the concert tonight. But we’re the mystery solvers you called for.”

“And you are…?” Heather asked politely.

The woman glared at her. “I am Delilah Domino, chief of security. Why would I call mystery solvers?”

Fred now looked very confused. “What? But Daphne took the call. Right, Daph?”

Daphne suddenly looked very sheepish. “Well…”

Velma turned to her expectantly. “Daphne?”

“Okay, the thing is, no one actually called for our help,” Daphne confessed.

Everyone stared at her. “What?”

“But when I heard KISS was throwing a special Halloween concert, I just had to come! I mean, look at that poster of Starchild.” Daphne pointed dreamily up to the mentioned poster. “He stares at me wherever I go…”

“So does the Mona Lisa,” Shaggy argued. “But you don’t see us on a plane to Italy!”

Heather crossed her arms. “Why didn’t you just tell us the truth?” she asked, trying to hide how angry she was becoming. I left my house defenseless on Halloween night just so a crazed fangirl could see KISS? “We all would’ve gone with you.”

“Not me,” Fred interjected.

Daphne waved her hand at Fred pointedly. “Exactly. But once we got here, I knew we’d all have a good time. Besides, the offs were pretty good there’d be a mystery for us to solve. I mean, we’re the Scooby gang, and it’s an amusement park. Right?”

Heather went to say something else, but then closed her mouth and nodded in concession. Okay, she had to agree with that.

“Wrong,” Delilah interrupted. “It’s a closed amusement park. And chances are, there won’t be any Halloween concert, either. So go home.”

“But we’ve come so far!” Shaggy protested. “Couldn’t we at least have some snacks for the road? Maybe some rocky road?”

Delilah was not amused. “Out.”

The gang looked like they wanted to protest further, but Heather grabbed Fred’s shoulder and steered them away. “C’mon, kids, you heard the woman. Let’s go back to the van.”

One look at Heather’s face told them all they shouldn’t argue. So instead, they turned away and followed her.

When they were far enough away from Delilah, Daphne turned to Heather guiltily. “I’m sorry, Heather—”

“You should be,” Heather said sternly to her. “You lied to your friends, and you lied to me. There’s a reason I don’t leave my house on Halloween, Daphne.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. I just… really wanted to see KISS.”

Heather’s face softened, and she put a hand on Daphne’s shoulder. “You shouldn’t have lied. Besides, there’s a chance we’ll still see them.”

Daphne looked up. “How do you know?”

Heather glanced back over her shoulder, then leaned in, smiling conspiratorially. “You didn’t really think I was just gonna make you all leave, did you?”

When she realized what she meant, Daphne smiled brightly and hugged her. “You’re the best!”

Heather chuckled. “Yeah, I know,”

-KISSTERIA-

Back at the van, the gang changed out of their KISS costumes into their regular clothes and were wiping off their makeup. Heather was helping Scooby wipe off his own.

Velma wiped off the last bit of makeup and put her glasses back on. “All right, time to get serious. It seems KISS needs our help.”

“Like, I’m no guitarist,” Shaggy said jokingly, “but I can play a mean armpit!”

He went to start playing his armpit, but Heather stopped him. “Don’t you dare,” she said, despite the amused smile she had.

Daphne shook her head at them. “Not to play music, Shaggy, to solve the mystery.”

Fred looked toward the park eagerly. “Well, then it looks like we’ll have to sneak in!”

“You’re okay with this?” Daphne asked in surprise.

“Of course I am. It’s a mystery, right? And solving mysteries is what we do.”

-KISSTERIA-

Once they had snuck into the park—with no incidents, thankfully—Heather took the chance to look around. As she predicted, it was a pretty good amusement park. The statues holding up the globe were indeed in the center, and off to one side—

Heather stopped and raised an eyebrow at the Ferris Wheel. “What’s a Star Portal doing in an amusement park?” she said to herself.

Fred grabbed her arm and pulled her along. “C’mon, Aunt Heather,”

They were walking past a cardboard standee of all the KISS members when they heard footsteps. “Hide!” Heather hissed.

They all scrambled to hide behind the cutout, while Scooby, who was unable to keep up, froze in place as a “YOU MUST BE THIS TALL TO RIDE” statue.

The footsteps grew louder, and Heather peered curiously out to see what was happening. From one direction was Delilah Domino, while from another direction was a man with white hair and a beard who looked stressed out. Is that Manny Goldman? Wow; she hadn’t seen Manny since the 90s.

“Caught some kids and an old woman trying to stay in the park, Mr. Goldman,” Delilah reported, “but I got rid of them.”

Heather frowned in annoyance. She was not that old.

“I can’t believe we’re chasing customers away,” Manny lamented.

“I know, but we went over this. Until we solve this witch mystery, it’s safer to keep everyone out.”

Delilah certainly was insistent on keeping people out of the park. Curious…

Manny looked concernedly at her. “Now, don’t get crazy, Delilah. Just stay calm, because I’m gonna be very honest with you… I called for some backup.”

Delilah was immediately indignant. “Backup?! You must be kidding! Mr. Goldman, I am the chief of security. I think I can take care of this unusual situation.”

Manny shook his head. “Time is not on our side,” he insisted. “The witch has scared away too many people. Tonight’s Halloween concert is our only chance to bring them back.”

He turned and walked off towards a castle-like building. Delilah made a noise of irritation before walking off herself.

Once they were both gone, the kids and Heather came out from behind the cardboard cutout. “Did you hear that?” Daphne whispered.

Fred nodded. “We got here just in time. Come on, let’s check out the supervisor’s office.”

They snuck across the park toward the building Manny had gone into, heading around the corner to the back. Heather looked over her shoulder, and realized Shaggy and Scooby had disappeared. She was about to tell the others, but then shrugged. They could handle themselves—they were always the ones who ran away from danger, after all.

As the four remaining crawled under an open window, voices made them stop and listen. “Chip, you don’t understand. If KISS doesn’t perform tonight, I will lose the park!”

“That’s not my concern, Manny,” came a second voice; obviously whoever “Chip” was. “All I care about are the concert tours. Every one of these cities translates into dollar signs. You know what happens if I lose these cities?”

“You have more time to take your kids to KISS World.”

Heather covered her mouth to hide a snort. Manny always did have a deadpan sense of humor.

“No, it means I lose money. Every time KISS comes back into the park, it means they’re not on the road performing, and I’m not selling their merchandise. So forgive me, but as far as I’m concerned, this park can wind up in a toiler. Preferably this KISS toilet.” There was fake roaring noise. “Because I don’t know how I’m gonna unload this thing.”

Heather wrinkled her nose. A KISS toilet? Ew.

Suddenly, the four of them heard screaming back from where they had been.

“That sounds like Shaggy and Scooby,” Daphne stated.

When they ran back around to the front of the castle, they saw Shaggy and Scooby running as fast as they could towards the castle. But before they could stop, Delilah Domino appeared and grabbed them, freezing them in their tracks.

“You. I thought I told you kids to stay out!”

Heather went over to Delilah. “I’m so sorry. Shaggy and Scooby must’ve seen something that scared them. If you would just let them go, we’ll be on our way—”

Delilah glared at her and cut her off. “Are you the one in charge of these kids?”

“Well, no, but—”

“I could have you all arrested for breaking and entering!”

Heather narrowed her eyes. “Okay, listen, there’s no need for—”

“Hey, hey, hey! Whoa! Whoa!”

Heather turned to see Manny approaching them, with a man in a green suit she assumed to be the Chip man following him. “Calm down,” he said. “I’m—holy mackerel!” He exclaimed upon seeing Heather. “Heather McMann, is that you?”

Heather smiled and went over. “Hiya, Manny. I thought that was you.”

They hugged and air-kissed each other on the cheeks. “My goodness, Heather, how long’s it been?” Manny asked.

“Too long,” Heather said fondly. “Man, I haven’t seen you since 1998,”

The gang watched their interaction in surprise. “Uh… Aunt Heather?” Fred said. “You know this guy?”

“Know him?” Heather placed a hand on Manny’s shoulder. “Kids, you’re looking at Manny Goldman, the finest club owner in the history of Ohio. What’re you doing here, anyway?”

“I’m park supervisor,” Manny explained. “Now, what’s with all the ruckus?”

Delilah stepped forward, dragging Shaggy and Scooby with her. “It’s these nosy kids again. Fortunately, I used to work for a government defense company, so I know how to take down intruders.”

“Like, she’s not kidding,” Shaggy said, his voice sounding strained due to Delilah’s hold on his shirt.

Heather raised an eyebrow at Delilah. “You must’ve been bad at your job if you used to work there,”

Delilah glared heatedly at her. Heather just smirked back.

“Sorry, Mr. Goldman,” Velma apologized. “We’re just trying to help.”

Daphne jumped in. “We overheard that the park is in trouble, and seeing how we’re such big KISS fans, we’d like to do all that we can.”

“We’ve got it under control, missy,” Delilah said in a superior voice, “thank you very much.”

“But don’t you want the crowds to come back to the park?” Fred asked.

“Oh, they’ll come back,”

Everyone jumped at the echoing voice. Heather smiled.

There was a sudden explosion of smoke and confetti, and when the smoke cleared, there they were.

“To see us!”

#black dahlia #chapter two #black dahlia series #ohh shit there’s a witch!#of course there is #it wouldn’t be a scooby doo movie if there wasn’t a monster right #daphne’s a tricky girl #can’t blame her tho #starchild stares at me wherever i go too #delilah’s kind of mean #manny’s a nice guy tho #y’all know who’s there at the end 😉#kiss au writing #scooby doo and kiss: rock n roll mystery #my writing #stay tuned for chapter three!

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hippychick006 · 5 years

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5.01 - Sympathy for the Devil

I had almost completed this recap when chrome decided to freeze on me. Normally I autosave, but Tumblr doesn’t have this feature and I forgot to save as I went along. As a result, I’m slightly more irked than normal so this might show in the writing.

It’s long again. That’s only partly due to the fact there’s so much going on: we have Sam, Dean, Zachariah, Castiel, Nick, Bobby, Chuck... and far from being overwhelmed and giving me whiplash, the story is all linked to a single thread. It’s interesting and engaging, and the actors all do an amazing job, so this episode is definitely worth a re-watch, especially if you like your heart getting ripped out of your chest while it’s still beating.

The rest of the length is due to having so many issues, both from a narrative and retconning perspective. Part of the problem is I’m bringing some of the pandering dialogue from the last few years back to the earlier episodes and it just makes these episodes even more painful to watch than they were the first time around.

Thunderstruck by AC/DC plays as we recap on Season 4. It’s not any less traumatic in recap.

We open exactly where we left off. Sam and Dean are in the convent holding on to each other. We don’t stay there for long though as just when things start looking dodgy, Sam and Dean are transported onto an airplane. I like the inflight cartoon is a clip of Yosemite Sam in front of the devil. Nice touch.

Just when they think they are safe, a bright white light shoots up from the ground (obviously from the convent) and the force causes the airplane to veer off course. The oxygen masks descend, and the plane shakes violently. I think even Sammy might be all aboard the nope to flying ever again train after his second experience of a flight almost crashing.

They land fine though because next time we see them, they are in a car that isn’t baby. The digital readout on the radio gives it away, and I remember baby is back at Bobby’s as Dean was teleported in the last episode. There’s no decent rock music, it’s all hurricanes, nuclear tests, earthquakes and swine flu. Sam turns it off and tries to speak to Dean. Dean says not to say anything, that it’s okay, they just need to keep their heads down and figure things out. First things first, find Cass.

Chuck’s house is an explosion, blood is splattered everywhere. And as they look around, Sam suddenly gets whacked hard in the face with a toilet plunger. Turns out to be Chuck, he’s survived and he’s surprised to see them. He asks if Sam is okay. Sam responds, “Well, my head hurts.” I love sarcastic Sam, we don’t get enough of him. Chuck clarifies: “No, I mean—I mean, my—My last vision. You went, like, full-on Vader. Your body temperature was one-fifty. Your heart rate was two hundred. Your eyes were black. Dean: “Your eyes went black?” Sam turns back to look at him, “I didn’t know.”

Dean asks where Cass is and Chuck says he exploded. After 10 seasons of Cass and 3 years of “Where’s Cass?” on social media, I would be cheering this outcome now, but Season 5 me is a little sad.

Sam indicates that Chuck has something stuck in his hair. Turns out it’s a molar. Chuck: “This has been a really stressful day.”

Zachariah turns up (and for the purposes of my fingers, he’s now Zach), Dean’s pissed and going nowhere with them as “You sons of bitches jump started judgement day”.

Zach: Maybe we let it happen. We didn’t start anything. Right, Sammy? [Zach winks at Sam]. I control my red mist of rage and quietly start a tally of how many times Sam will be blamed by the narrative for starting the apocalypse.

Zach wisely ignores my angry typing and continues: “You had a chance to stop your brother and you couldn’t. So, let's not quibble over who started what. Let's just say it was… all our faults and move on…

Oh Zach, if only we could, but at least twice more in this episode alone, not to mention years later, the narrative will still be pointing the finger at Sammy.

Zach is very keen to put the past betrayals behind them. They’re back on the same team again. As he puts it: “You want to kill the devil. We want you to kill the devil. It's...synergy.” I love Zach. Yes, he’s a dick, but you know where you are with him. He’s not sneaking off stealing colts while pretending to be besties.

Dean unsurprisingly after the last episode has trust issues and suggests that Zach “Cram it with walnuts, ugly.” Zach gets hissy. He tells them they need to strike before Lucifer finds his vessel. Sam asks “Lucifer needs a meat suit?”

Zach confirms this and that Dean can stop him, but he will need the help of the angels. Dean though, doesn’t want jack squat from the two-faced douchebags (his words). Dean soon gets bored with the conversation and pulls a door towards him. We see it has the angel banishing symbol on it. Dean slams his hand on the door and Zach and his goons disappear. Dean: Learned that from my friend Cas, you son of a bitch.

Wait, hold on. Back the fuck right up. The guy that forced you to face and torture Alastair, lied to you about what exactly you were signing up for, betrayed you by not telling you about heaven’s plans for your brother - and you do not want me to get started on the panic room fiasco. He finally does one right thing and you not only trust him, he’s been elevated to friend? That guy? GTFO with that nonsense. Heh, watching when you no longer like a character gets you to see everything in a new light.

Chuck: This sucks ass.

Well thank you Chuck, for that observation. It does indeed suck ass. I had no idea on re-watching I would have so many issues with a Kripke episode.

We next see Sam coming down a staircase to enter a motel. He enters the room and throws a hex bag to Dean saying, there’s no way angels or demons will find them with those. Dean asks where he got it from and Sam says he made it (his face is so earnest here). Dean asks how and Sam’s reluctant to tell him, but Dean looks at him and he says. “I…I learned it from Ruby.”

I love Sam’s face in this interaction, but I’m going to call the scene out. Dean knows about the hex bags. He learned about them in season 3, from Ruby herself. He even used them himself in 4.18. I’m going to ignore the hypocrisy that it seems to be okay to use something learned from an angelic lying skank that betrayed them (the angel banishing sigil), but not something else from a demonic lying skank that betrayed them (a hex bag). Oh wait, I’m not ignoring the hypocrisy at all because I’ve just called it out! Increasingly bitter 10 minutes into the episode, we move on.

Dean asks if Sam’s “jonesing for another hit of bitch blood or what?” Sam says no, whoever put him on that plane cleaned him up. He tries to speak to Dean again. He doesn’t get further than Dean’s name. Dean responds sharply, “Sam” and turns and walks away saying it’s okay, that Sam doesn’t have to say anything.

Sam: Well, that's good. Because what can I even say? "I'm sorry"? "I screwed up"? Doesn't really do it justice, you know? Look, there's nothing I can do or say that will ever make this right… (bolding for the people that say Sam doesn’t own up to his mistakes, even if he makes them unknowingly).

Dean (angrily): So why do you keep bringing it up?! Sam keeps quiet and Dean continues, “Look, all I'm saying is, why do we have to put this under a microscope? We made a mess. We clean it up. That's it.”

Ha ha, if only that were true. Let me just stop you there, Dean and quote your own words, Season 8, episode 23: “All right. Well, I’m just spit-balling here, but if I were you, uh…Ruby, killing Lilith, letting Lucifer out, losing your soul (don’t get me started on this one either ffs or these recaps will turn into war and peace), not looking for me when I went to Purgatory…”

While I’m still not so quietly seething, they talk about what they would do if it was any other hunt and decide they need to find Lucifer.

Cut to our first view of Mark Pellegrino as pre-Lucifer, Nick. I liked Season 5 Lucifer (both Mark and Jared’s versions) so I liked all of these scenes the first watch. I like Hallucifer in Season 7. I like a couple of scenes after that; e.g. Sam in the cage with Lucifer in season 11 and Sam again with Lucifer in the cave in Season 13, but other than that, I’m done with Nick/Lucifer and his storyline (plus all the angels). Anyway, to rudely cut Nick’s scene short, his dead wife appears in his bed and says: “It's you, Nick. You're special. You're chosen.”

Oh, I forgot superfan psycho!Becky (online username samlicker81, webmistress of morethanbrothers dot net) was in this one. Enough said about her the better. I do like her room has a poster of Route 666 and The Benders. The first was Kripke’s least favourite episode, and since the Benders was in no way a clunker episode, I’m going to presume it’s one of his favourites. Becky is writing wincest: "And then Sam touched…No…caressed Dean's clavicle. 'This is wrong,' said Dean. 'Then I don't want to be right,' replied Sam, in a husky voice." I’d have to nope out of that fic, or swap the names around, if only because Sam doesn’t have a husky voice, Dean does. Anyway, Chuck calls Becky, asking for her help to get a message to Sam and Dean.

Back at the hotel, Sam’s at the table reading John’s journal and Dean is watching TV.

Voice 1 on the television: How would you then explain an earthquake, a hurricane, and multiple tornadoes, all at the same time, all around the globe?

Voice 2: Two words. Carbon emissions.

Dean (to voice 2): Yeah, right, wavy gravy.

I love these little pieces the show put in. Much better use of dialogue than pandering.

There’s a knock at the door, Dean readies his gun. Sam answers to reveal it’s superfangirl Becky. Becky turns out to be one of those fans that don’t respect boundaries as she touches Sam’s chest. She says she knows he’s Sam Winchester “and you’re…” Becky looks at Dean who is sitting on the bed watching “… not what I pictured.” Becky invites herself into the room, telling them she’s read all about them and even written a few… Anyway, she tells them she has a message from Chuck but that he’s being watched by Angels, “Nice change-up to the mythology, by the way. The demon stuff was getting kind of old.”

Oh Becky, Becky, Becky. Season 14, and we’re still on the angel crap 10 years later, so stow 3 years of demons getting old bullshit. Weeps for what once was, angels would have finished end season 6, which Gamble tried to do, but no, we get 8 more seasons and counting.

They get the message out of Becky. Chuck had a vision: “The Michael sword is on earth. The angels lost it.” and it’s “In a castle, on a hill made of forty-two dogs.” Did Castiel send this message? It’s got his cryptic fingers all over it. She touches Sam’s chest again.

Jealous!Dean alert!

Omega!Sam glances nervously over at his Alpha before asking Becky to quit touching him (in retrospect, I think that was just the fan fic version of this episode). Becky does not respect Sam’s wishes.

Bobby arrives at the motel and Dean checks to make sure he wasn’t followed. They don’t check him for demon signs and vice versa because they all have anti possession tattoos or charms (this bit’s important in a minute). But Dean does check to make sure Bobby wasn’t followed:

Bobby: You mean by angels, demons, or Sam's new superfan?

Sam (laughing): You heard.

Bobby: I heard, Romeo…

Bobby explains about Michael who used the sword to “boot Lucifer’s ass to the basement” during the last big dust up upstairs. (because over the last couple of seasons, Sam’s forgotten how to do research on his own). They ask the wise one how they find the sword. Bobby responds. “Divvy up and start reading—try and make sense of Chuck's nonsense.” Well thank goodness Bobby’s here! .

Sam gets up and goes to get a book. He looks troubled. Bobby asks if he’s all right. Sam says no, that this is all his fault. Dean tries to warn him to stop, but Sam keeps going; says that Lilith didn’t break the final seal, that she was the final seal and that Sam killed her and set Lucifer free (entirely on his own, because Dean did not break the foundation stone that allowed the others to fall and 64 other seals just magically put their hands up in surrender and keeled over without any intervention). But it’s okay for Dean to be tricked by Hell into doing something, but not Sam. Okay show.

Bobby has forgotten the entirety of season 4 was to stop the seals being broken and that everyone was fully on board with the plan to kill Lilith and stop the final seal being broken as he asks, “you what”

Sam: You guys warned me about Ruby, the demon blood, but I didn't listen. I brought this on.

Bolding this line for the people that say Sam doesn’t take responsibility for his actions, which he’s done twice now in this single episode. Shame no one else is stepping forward and putting their hands up. Also bolding, because they warned Sam about Ruby and the demon blood, but not that killing Lilith was the final seal, because none of them knew that, so how Lilith was killed and who did it is 100% irrelevant, when they all thought killing her would stop the apocalypse, not start it.

Dean says nothing throughout this next piece, watching as Bobby stands up and walks closer. I want to say this scene is set up brilliantly. Both Dean and Bobby are on a raised platform, looking down on Sam as if in judgement. Kudos, because that’s exactly what’s happening here. Bobby: “You're damn right you didn't listen. You were reckless and selfish and arrogant. Sam says he’s sorry. And Bobby responds: “Oh, yeah? You're sorry you started Armageddon? This kind of thing don't get forgiven, boy. If, by some miracle, we pull this off...I want you to lose my number. You understand me?”

Sam just nods, he’s not expecting Bobby’s response to be anything different, and that just breaks my heart. Sam suggests he go to a Church nearby and see what they have on the lore. Bobby: Yeah. You do that.

We see a shot of Sam walking outside and I’m on the point of tears. And if we question why the narrative is written this way, it’s because of Jared Padalecki’s face all the way through this episode. The writers don’t hate Sam, they just love kicking him, so we get moments like this. And dammit, because I do love these scenes we get, even though I hate the narrative that’s giving me them.

Bobby and Dean are doing research. Bobby says he’d never have guessed that John was right about either saving Sam or killing him. That maybe they should’t have tried to hard to save him. “He ended the world, Dean. And you and I weren’t strong enough to stop him proper. That’s on us. I’m just saying, your dad was right.”

I glare at Bobby and remind him he was in 7 episodes last season, not a single one of which did he try and “save” Sam. In fact, he was pushing to use Sam’s powers in 4.21.

Instead of this triggering a punch to the face, or even a protest from Dean, it triggers him to remember something in his dad’s journal. He searches through his bag and pulls out a zip lock bag which contains business cards. The one he’s looking for is to their dad’s lockup in upstate New York which is called “Castle Storage”, located at “42 Rover Hill." The cryptic message is solved and that’s good enough for Bobby who punches Dean, knocking him through the fence on the raised platform. Bobby advances and attacks again. We see Bobby’s eyes go black. And I’m really hoping the show will explain this as Bobby has anti possession protection. (Warning, the show does not explain this).

Two demons enter the room while Bobby grabs Dean by the throat and drags him to his feet. The female demon seems to be the one in charge and does all the talking. Long story short, it’s Meg (Dean incorrectly guessed Ruby before she gave him another try). I wasn’t sure about Rachel’s version of Meg at first, it was difficult shoes to fill, but she grew on me. Meg is delighted the apocalypse has started, and for the third time this episode we get Sam single handedly starting the apocalypse: “We really owe your brother a fruit basket.” Dean on the other hand, is a bump in the road to them getting their demon utopia of hell on earth and every demon is going to be gunning for a piece of him.

Dean (smirking): Get in line.

Meg: Oh, I'm in the front of the line, baby. Let's ride.

Instead of getting her hands dirty though, she hands the knife to Demon!Bobby saying she wants Dean’s surrogate daddy to be the one to kill him. Bobby attacks and we see him struggle, but his eyes turn black. He raises the knife. Dean: “Bobby! No!” The black fades from Bobby’s eyes, the knife comes down, and Bobby flashes that orange colour to signify the demon inside dying. Bobby has stabbed himself rather than Dean and what a sacrifice. Really sad to see Bobby go.

Dean is pissed that his retconned surrogate daddy has been killed and punches Meg. The other demon attacks him, but luckily, Sam’s decided to come back for more judgement and sees the situation. He goes to help and gets slammed in the face with a telephone, knocking him back against the wall. And this really isn’t Sam’s day.

Meg: Heya, Sammy. You miss me? 'Cause I sure missed you.

Sam: Meg

At least Sam knows his demons. And Meg’s happy to be recognised. Sam swings and it’s clear Meg needs to get the upper hand for plot reasons as he completely misses. (this should really go under dumb Winchesters because Sam has an uppercut that would have lifted demon!meg off her feet, but I’ll assume it’s because he has slight concussion from 2 blows to the head and let it slide). Meg takes full advantage of the plot, punching Sam a couple of times, kicking him in the boy bits and knocking him to the ground. I’m presuming this is all so we can get our “Sam lying helpless on the floor with the demon pulling his hair” kink filled. And damn the show for knowing me so well (quietly sends show a fruit basket). “It's not so easy without those super-special demon powers, huh, Sammy?” Meg taunts. Both boys are getting trounced here, but finally it’s time for Dean to get the upper hand and start showing the 20+ years of training he’s had up to this point. He takes the legs out from under his demon, takes the knife out of Bobby and stabs the demon. Orange flashing indicates the demon (and the human he’s hitched a ride with) are dead. Dean stands and advances on Meg who backs away then smokes out of there.

Back to Nick. Upshot of his scene is that his baby died. This was sad at the time, and now I don’t really care.

Sam and Dean are at the emergency room, helping Bobby who… well let’s just say he’s a lot less dead than I was expecting. Back the fuck up for the third time this recap. Checks back to 4.04 (Metamorphosis):

SAM: I'm pulling demons out of innocent people. DEAN: Use the knife! SAM: The knife kills the victim! What I do, most of them survive! Look, I've saved more people in the last five months than we save in a year.

I really hope this gets explained. (Note, it doesn’t seem to get explained this episode, so it now negates Sam using his demon powers instead of the knife, if all they have to do is stab someone in the gut to kill the demon, but not the host). Bobby’s put on a gurney, Sam and Dean try to follow, but Judgy McJudgerson nurse says to not move, she’s got questions (she totally suspects them of being the stabbers). Sam looks distressed (he’s possibly already worried the narrative of the next episode will be blaming him for Bobby getting possessed and stabbing himself). Dean says. “Sammy, we got to go.” Sam doesn’t want to go, but Dean tells him the demons know where the sword is and they’ve got to get it before the demons.

They arrive at the storage locker, but when they get inside, the demons are already dead. They look around confused.

Zach: I see you told the demons where the sword is.

Me (at the TV): Oh great, the angels are here.

Dean: Oh, thank god. The angels are here.

Fine, Dean said it better.

Zach TK’s the doors closed. Long scene short, the angels planted the prophesy inside Chuck’s head. They had lost the sword but the Winchester’s just hand-delivered it to them. Dean is confused saying they don’t have anything. Zach tells Dean that he’s the Michael sword and gets quite nasty about it: “What, you thought you could actually kill Lucifer? You simpering wad of insecurity and self-loathing? No. You're just a human, Dean. And not much of one.”

Dean asks what Zach means by him being a sword. Zach explains he’s Michael’s weapon or more accurately, his receptacle. Dean realises what this means. “I’m a vessel?” Not just a vessel Dean, but the vessel; Michael’s vessel which Zach says is a great honour. Dean begs to differ:

Dean: Oh, yeah. Yeah, life as an angel condom. That's real fun. I think I'll pass, thanks.

Uriel – being the funniest angel in the garrison - might have found that line funny. Zach has a lot less humour. “Always joking. Well...no more jokes.” He raises his hand, fingers like a gun pointing at Dean, then he switches over to Sam. Bang. A bone cracks and Sam collapses.

Dean (angrily): You son of a bitch!

Zach’s completely done with screwing around though and if Dean keeps mouthing off, he’ll break more than just Sam’s legs. Dean figures out though that Michael will need his say so to ride around in his skin and gives his answer “Eat me. The answer’s no.”

Zach tries a carrot, “Okay. How about this? Your friend Bobby—we know he's gravely injured. Say yes, and we'll heal him.” Quickly followed by the stick, “Say no, he'll never walk again.”

Dean says no, even when Zach gives him stage four stomach cancer and he’s coughing up blood. Zach hasn’t got to head honcho for no reason though and goes straight back to Dean’s biggest weakness: “Then let's get really creative. Uh, let's see how...Sam does without his lungs.” Dean turns to look at SAM, who gasps for breath. Dean says to just kill them, but Zach is only just getting started.

A bright light flashes, Zach turns and one of the angel’s has a hole in his throat. It’s Castiel (season 5 me: yay Castiel survived! Season 14 me: oh my god, you’re like a cockroach!). Zach obviously isn’t a fighter because he just watches as Castiel and the remaining angel fight. And this must be an episode where Castiel has to look good, because he’s killing these fight scenes. A second angel dies. Zach’s too important to the plot to die right now so Castiel and he have a conversation (meanwhile no one worry about Sammy not breathing or anything, I’m sure he’s fine).

Zach asks “how are you…” but get’s no further before Castiel answers: “Alive? That's a good question. How did these two end up on that airplane? Another good question. 'Cause the angels didn't do it. I think we both know the answer, don't we?. Zach says it’s not possible. Castiel: “It scares you. Well, it should. Now, put these boys back together and go. I won't ask twice.”

Zach vanishes and Castiel admonishes Sam and Dean, telling them they need to be more careful. Dean says “Yeah, I'm starting to get that. Your frat brothers are bigger dicks than I thought.”

Castiel says he doesn’t mean the angels. “Lucifer is circling his vessel (he looks at Sam). “And once he takes it, those hex bags won't be enough to protect you.” Without warning he puts one hand on Dean’s chest, the other on Sam’s. They wince in pain and when they ask what he did, he says he carved an enochian sigil into their ribs which will hide them from every angel, including Lucifer.

Sam asks if Cass was really dead and he responds yes. Dean asks how he’s back. But Castiel doesn’t answer. He vanishes with a dramatic flap of wings, leaving Sam and Dean alone. FFS Castiel, I thought we were done with this cryptic bullshit and flouncing off when you defected last season.

Back to Nick. His dead wife is back though she tells him she’s Lucifer. He tells Nick he’s special. There's very, very few people like you (true, until later seasons). Long scene short, Nick says yes to being Lucifer’s vessel.

Back to the hospital, Bobby who shouldn’t even be breathing, let alone speaking, is heard yelling from behind his closed hospital room door about being unlikely to walk again. The door opens and a doctor runs out. We see Sam and Dean leaning against the window. Bobby’s in the bed, still yelling after the doctor “…Yeah, you better run!”

Sam asks what they should do now. Bobby says save as many as they can, but whoever wins, they’re boned. Dean left fields with “What if we win?” Bobby and Sam stare at him as Dean continues that he’s serious. Screw them all. "Hell, they want to fight a war, they can find their own planet. This one's ours, and I say they get the hell off it. We take 'em all on. We kill the devil. Hell, we even kill Michael if we have to. But we do it our own damn selves.” Bobby questions how they are supposed to do that. Dean responds: “I got no idea. But what I do have is a GED and a give-'em-hell attitude, and I'll figure it out.”

Bobby looks at Sam who shrugs in response. Dean pats Bobby on the shoulder and tells him to get better then heads for the door, Sam noticeably doesn’t go to Bobby, he follows Dean. Bobby calls Sam and he stops. Bobby tells him, “I was awake. I know what I said back there. I just want you to know that...that was the demon talking. I ain't cutting you out, boy. Not ever.”

If only the episode had ended there, but no. We see Dean and Sam walking across the parking lot. Sam’s enthusiastic after Dean’s rousing speech and suggests that maybe they go after the colt. Dean asks what difference that would make.

Sam: Well, we could use it on Lucifer. I mean, you just said back there—

Dean: I just said a bunch of crap for Bobby's benefit. He stops and Sam also stops and looks at Dean as he continues, “I mean (laughs), I'll fight. I'll fight till the last man, but let's at least be honest. I mean, we don't stand a snowball's chance, and you know that. I mean, hell, you of all people know that.” Dean walks around Sam to get past him.

Sam (heavy sigh): Is there something you want to say to me?

Dean looks at Sam for a long moment: “I tried, Sammy. I mean, I really tried...

Quickly looks to see where in the episode Dean “really tried”, but comes up with a bunch of emptiness. [I need to remind people, I love Dean, I hate the narrative, in the same way in season 8, I’ll be saying I love Sam, I hate the narrative].

“...But I just can't keep pretending that everything's all right. Because it's not. And it's never going to be. You chose a demon over your own brother— (Sam rolls his eyes, as do I) —and look what happened.

Sam: I would give anything—anything—to take it all back.

Dean: I know you would. And I know how sorry you are. I do. But, man...you were the one that I depended on the most. And you let me down in ways that I can't even... Dean pauses, struggling for words:. I'm just—I'm having a hard time forgiving and forgetting here. You know?

Sam asks what he can do. And Dean says nothing. That doesn’t surprise Sam. Dean continues: “I just don't...I don't think that we can ever be what we were. You know?” Again, Sam’s just nodding in agreement. Dean: “I just don't think I can trust you. Sam looks up and we see that he wasn’t expecting this. Not sure why, as this was the whole problem of Season 4.

The episode ends with Dean in baby and Sam standing in the parking lot.

Up next, more heartache and brother angst in Good God y’all.

#supernatural #rewatch #season 5 #5.01 #sympathy for the devil #spn critical

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gloriousclio · 6 years

Text

HARRY POTTER WORLD

It was so much fun!!!!!!!!! And expensive. BUT SO MUCH FUNNNNNNN.

And it was so much fun to go on a trip and not have it be for work. I didn’t have to give a presentation on metadata or archives or anything.

The only thing that got to me was being called a muggle repeatedly. YOU DON’T KNOW MY LIFE!!!!

Okay, read more if you like, otherwise just know that it was super fun and sun-shiny and good. My friend took most of the pics, but I’ll throw in a few for flavor.

So ok, in the interest of full disclosure, I am a very nervous flyer. I hate going through security, I don’t like how expensive everything is. But mostly I don’t like being that high up. My body doesn’t love the pressure changes. My ears don’t pop. To make flights better for me, I take half a xanax when the boarding process starts, and I use these little doodads called earplanes which help equalize my ears. I won’t fly without either thing. Before I discovered earplanes, flights were a thousand times more painful, literally trying to cup around my sinuses with my hands, and crying from the pain of it. If your ears have trouble popping on planes, you know how painful that can be. Try these things, it really helps me. Pop them in when you get all settled in, pull ‘em out when you reach your flying altitude, and then an hour before you land, pilots will start to slow down and descend so pop ‘em back in again.

(I also pray rosaries during turbulence, but that’s a result of the catholic upbringing more than anything. I can do it on my fingers without pulling out the beads so it’s just a pattern I can focus on. The beads are in my purse at all times, I’ve only ever needed to pull them out once.)

ANYWAY

Monday! I drove to my parents’ and parked my car in the driveway, and then Dad drove me to the airport. My car would have been fine on the street at home, I’ve never had a problem, but it’s nice to know they were keeping an eye on it. Freak blizzards are a thing. The flight down to Florida was in the afternoon, I encountered the longest security line I’ve ever dealt with in my life. MSP is usually pretty efficient, but not on the 29th. Yikes. On the whole, this flight was fine, but I wasn’t paying for the inflight wifi. Screw that, Delta!

We got there kinda late, and we never found the hotel hottub that was advertised. Pizza for a late supper, and then sleep.

We were on the first shuttle to Universal on Tuesday morning! We saw all the HP things! The first ride we went on was Escape from Gringotts, and they trick you into thinking the first drop is a long one, but apart from the uncomfortable seats, this became my second favorite ride. We poked around in Diagon Alley, practiced some magic with the interactive wand we splurged on, and then caught the Hogwarts Express.

I’m really really impressed with the “London” bits. No one talks about it, but I did a double take at “King’s Cross” because, having taken journeys (north!) from there, my body kinda slipped into UK mode, and I kept greeting the park employees with a cheerful “hiya!” which I only say when I’m over there. There was a little kiosk area with some English snacks, and then my eyes would snag on the “chips” which of course are crisps in the UK. It’s not so different when people use cyrillic letters as stylized latin letters when talking about Russia (you know, like the “Borat” movie posters? My eye snags on the д, which gets used as an A in that case, but is a D sound. Little things like that. Brains are weird.)

I also know there’s a lot of complaints about Hermione’s “voice”, particularly on the train. Lexie probably experienced that differently than me. I have seen exactly 3 of the movies and have very few clear memories of any of them. So for me, the entire park felt like a fun and playful interpretation. It doesn’t match what’s in my head, but it was totally playful and whimsical.

Okay, so Hogsmeade was great, and we probably spent the most time there. There’s a little Hippogriff rollercoaster that we went on twice - you get a cool view of the castle, and hurtled past Hagrid’s hut as well. It’s so fun!

And then the castle ride itself. Like the Gringotts line, they are very intentional about how they constructed the line. You don’t stand outside in the sun for very long, much of it is spent indoors, there are lots of architectural details to look at, and bits of story play out in the moving images. You get to go in the Gryffindor common room, which is full of lovely, faded tapestries and more moving portraits. Dumbledore’s office is crammed full of stuff. You pass the Mirror of Erised at one point. (In Gringotts, there’s the great hall and the poem, and there’s a “back” area full of ledgers, and you ride in a “lift” in an attempt to control the line a bit, again, very smart and a great use of space and time). Everything is pretty well detailed, and there was always something new to peep at.

That said, the longest line we stood in was 30 minutes, and advertised to be 60. They have lockers where the “free” time is adjusted to the wait time, so Lexie set timers on her phone - we got to get right back in line without changing lockers a few times.

We took advantage of our early admission on day one, and blasted through both parks. Towards the end of the day, we mutually agreed there wasn’t enough to keep us entertained the whole day on Wednesday, especially since they weren’t doing anything special on Halloween (I was hoping for a Death Day party or something to honor Lily and James, a secret Halloween Feast menu, literally anything). In fact the Diagon Alley side of the park closed early both days for a horror night that Universal does.

The second day, we went shopping at a Disney themed shopping center (after pricing out the Kennedy Space Center, which was too much for our budget this trip, sadly. I think both of us would have loved to go! Not just me). I will say, I won family Christmas with what I picked up at the center. No one tell my parents or brother, but I got us all Darkwing Duck mugs, which was a favorite cartoon for all four of us when J and I were little. There is almost never DW merch. I was not expecting that, and since no one knows we took this lil’ side trip, they have no idea what’s coming.

In the afternoon, we went back to HP world and knocked around, doing some magic, admiring everyone’s costumes, and doing the rides a few more times.

Apart from the mugs I didn’t intend/expect to buy, and of course, food, I bought a Gryffindor quidditch shirt, Gryffindor earrings, a pygmy puff, and a pretty Honeydukes Candy Jar. And some treats and sweets. Sadly, their butterbeer recipe is waaaaaaaaaay too sweet, even for me. I would split another one, but I like my recipe better (which is just cream soda and butterscotch schnapps, haha. The park version is non-alcoholic).

(I named my Pygmy Puff Lollypop Charlotte Hanover, Esq. or Lolly for short.)

We had so much fun! If I were to do it again, I’d only do one day (but get the two park ticket again so I can go back and forth). I would absolutely come in October again. All the staff members were quick to say that this is not a busy time for them, even on Halloween. We almost had no lines to speak of. The weather was absolutely perfect, sunny and warm, upper 70s and into the 80s. We knew we were running the risk of going during hurricane season, but it worked out really well, we got a great deal on a nice hotel, tickets for 2 parks/2 days. And because our hotel was bundled with the park, we got a personal driver to and from the airport (!) as well as free shuttles to the park.

It was really great and fun and playful. It felt like interactive, self-insert fanfic at certain points (which is not in anyway a knock on it, as you know). My HP experiences in the UK can’t really be compared to this, obviously.

The flight home was rather more turbulent than the flight down, but all in all, both flights were relatively relaxed for me.

But I will say, it’s great to be home and in my own bed (also I’m not about to drop $10+ on every meal for awhile).

If you’re a Potter fan like me, it’s a really fun trip. If you’re going, make sure you splurge for tickets to both parks on however many days so you can go back and forth. There’s outdoor performances that happen, our favorite was for sure Celestina Warbeck’s. (The singing toads and the presentation of the Beauxbaton and Durmstrang schools were not super impressive, just saying, and they were the movie version, so oof, those performative gender roles.)

Harry Potter is so great!!!!!!

#the wizarding world of harry potter #the wixen world #hp #harry potter #diagon alley #hogsmeade

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