#People having superpowers would no doubt be fascinating to him | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ariainstars · 4 years

Text

Thank You, Disney Lucasfilm… For Destroying My Dreams

Warning: longer post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So… I watched The Rise of Skywalker on Disney+ a few weeks ago. Again.

Sigh.

I guess it has its good sides. But professional critics tend to dislike it and even the general audience doesn’t go crazy for it. I wonder why?

The Fantasy

When his saga became a groundbreaking pop phenomenon in the 1970es, George Lucas reportedly said that he wanted to tell fairy tales again in world that no longer seemed to offer young people a chance to grow up with them. The fact that his saga was met with such unabashed, international enthusiasm proves that he was right: people long for fairy tales no matter how old they are and what culture they belong to.

“Young people today don’t have a fantasy life anymore, not the way we did… All they’ve got is Kojak and Dirty Harry. All the films they see are movies of disasters and insecurity and realistic violence.” (George Lucas)

I’ve been a Star Wars fan for more than thirty years. I love the Original Trilogy but honestly it did not make me dream much, perhaps because when I saw it the trilogy was already complete. The Prequel Trilogy also did not inspire my fantasy.

The Last Jedi accomplished something that no TV show, book or film had managed in years: it made me dream. The richness of colorful characters, multifaceted themes, unexpected developments, intriguing relationships was something I had not come across in a long time: it fascinated me. I felt like a giddy teenager reading up meta’s, writing my own and imagining all sorts of beautiful endings for the saga for almost two years.

So if there’s something The Rise of Skywalker can pride itself on for me, it’s that it crushed almost every dream I had about it. The few things I had figured out – Rey’s fall to the Dark, Ben Solo’s redemption, the connection between them - did not even make me happy because they were tainted by the flatness of the storytelling reducing the Force to a superpower again (like the general audience seems to believe it is), and its deliberate ignoring of almost all messages of The Last Jedi.

Many fans of the Original Trilogy also were disillusioned by the saga over the decades and ranted at the studios for “destroying their childhood”. Now we, the fans of the sequels and in particular of The Last Jedi, are in the same situation… but the thought doesn’t make the pill much easier to swallow. What grates on my nerves is the feeling that someone trampled on my just newly found dreams like a naughty child kicking a doll’s house apart. Why give us something to dream of in the first place, then? To a certain extent I can understand that many fans would angrily assume that Disney Lucasfilm made the Sequel Trilogy for the purpose of destroying their idea of the saga. The point is that they had their happy ending, while every dream the fans of the Sequel Trilogy may have had was shattered with this unexpectedly flat and hollow final note.

I know many fans who dislike the Prequel Trilogy heartily. I also prefer the Original Trilogy, but I find the prequels all right in their own way, also since I gave them some thought. However, it can’t be denied that they lack the magic spark which made the Original Trilogy so special. Which makes sense since they are not a fairy tale but ultimately a tragedy, but in my opinion it’s the one of the main reasons why the Prequel Trilogy never was quite so successful, or so beloved.

Same goes for Rogue One, Solo, or Clone Wars. They’re ok in their way, but not magical.

The sequel trilogy started quite satisfyingly with The Force Awakens, but for me, the actual bomb dropped with The Last Jedi. Reason? It was a magical story. It had the spark again that I had missed in the new Star Wars stories for decades! And it was packed full of beautiful messages and promises.

The Force is not a superpower belonging solely to the Jedi Anyone can be a hero. Even the greatest heroes can fail, but they will still be heroes. Hope is like the sun: if you only believe in it when you see it you’ll never make it through the night. Failure is the greatest teacher. It’s more important to save the light than to seem a hero. No one is never truly gone. War is only a machine. Dark Side and Light Side can be unbeatable if they are allies. Save what you love instead of destroying what you hate.

Naively, I assumed the trilogy would continue and end in that same magical way. And then came The Rise of Skywalker… which looks and feels like a Marvel superhero story at best and an over-long videogame at worst.

Chekov’s Gun

“Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it’s not going to be fired, it shouldn’t be hanging there.”

(Anton Chekov, 1860 - 1904)

If you show an important looking prop and don’t put it to use, it leaves the audience feeling baffled. There is a huge difference between a story’s setup, and the audience’s feeling of entitlement. E.g. many viewers expected Luke to jump right back into the fray in Episode VIII, because that’s what a hero does, isn’t it? The cavalry comes and saves the day. And instead, we met a disillusioned elderly hermit who is tired of the ways of the Jedi. But there was no actual reason for disappointment: in Episode VII it was very clearly said (through Han, his best friend) that Luke had gone into exile on purpose, feeling responsible for his failure in teaching a new generation of Jedi. It would have been more than stupid to show him as an all-powerful and all-knowing man who kills the bad guys. Sorry but who expected that was a victim to his own prejudice.

A promise left unfulfilled is a different story. The Last Jedi set up a lot of promises that didn’t come true in The Rise of Skywalker: Balance as announced by the Jedi temple mosaic, a new Jedi Order hinted at by Luke on Crait, a good ending for Ben and Rey set up by the hand-touching scene which was opposite to Anakin’s and Padmés wedding scene. Many fans were annoyed about the Canto Bight sequence. I liked it because it felt like the set-up for a lot of important stuff: partnership between Finn and Rose whom we see working together excellently, freedom for the enslaved children (one of whom is Force-sensitive), DJ and Rose expressing what makes wars in general foolish and beside the point. So if we, the fans of Episode VIII, now feel angry and let down, I daresay it’s not due to entitlement. We were announced magical outcomes and not just pew-pew.

The Star Wars saga never repeated itself but always developed and enlarged its themes, so it was to be expected that delving deeper, uncomfortable truths would come out: wars don’t start out of nowhere, and they don’t flare up and continue for decades for the same reason. In order to find Balance, the Jedi’s and the Skywalker family’s myths needed to be dismantled. Which is not necessarily bad as long it is explained how things came to this, and a better alternative is offered. The prequels explained the old political order and the beginnings of the Skywalker family, and announced that the next generation would do better. The sequels hardly explained anything about the 30 years that passed since our heroes won the battle against the Empire, and while The Last Jedi hinted at the future a lot, The Rise of Skywalker seemed to make a point of ignoring all of it.

The Skywalker Family Is Obliterated. Why?

Luke was proven right that his nephew would mean the end of everything he loved. The lineage of the Chosen One is gone. His grandson had begun where Vader had ended - tormented, pale and with sad eyes - and he met the same fate. Luke, Han, Leia, all sacrificed themselves to bring Ben Solo back for nothing. Him being the reincarnation of the Chosen One and getting a new chance should have been meaningful for all of them; instead, he literally left the scepter to Rey who did nothing to deserve it: merely because she killed the Bad Guy does not mean she will do a better job than the family whose name and legacy she proudly takes over.

I do hope there was a good reason if the sequels did not tell “The New Adventures of Luke, Leia and Han” and instead showed us a broken family on the eve of its wipeout. It would have been much easier, and more fun for the audience, to bring the trio back again after a few years and pick up where they had left. Instead we had to watch their son, nephew and heir go his grandfather’s way - born with huge power, branded as Meant to Be Dangerous from the start, tried his best to be a Jedi although he wanted to be a pilot, never felt accepted, abandoned in the moment of his greatest need, went to his abuser because he was the only one to turn to, became a criminal, his own family (in Anakin’s case: Obi-Wan and Yoda) trained the person who was closest to him to kill him, sacrificed himself for this person and died. And in his case, it’s particularly frustrating because Kylo Ren wasn’t half as impressive a villain as Vader, and Ben Solo had a very limited time of heroism and personal fulfilment, contrarily to Anakin when he was young.

The impact of The Rise of Skywalker was traumatic for some viewers. I know of adolescents and adults, victims of family abandonment and abuse, who identified with Ben: they were told that you can never be more than the sum of your abuse and abandonment, and that they’re replaceable if they’re not “good”. Children identifying with Rey were told that their parents might sell them away for “protection”. Rey was not conflicted, she had a few doubts but overall, she was cool about everything she did, so she got everything on a silver platter; that’s why as a viewer, after a while you stopped caring for her. Her antagonist was doomed from birth because he dared to question the choices other people made for him. It seems that in the Star Wars universe, you can only “rise” if you’re either a criminal but cool because you’ve always got a bucket over your head (Vader / the Mandalorian) or are a saint-like figure (Luke / Rey).

One of Obi-Wan’s first actions in A New Hope is cutting off someone’s arm who was only annoying him; Han Solo, ditto. These were no acts of self-defense. The Mandalorian is an outlaw. Yet they are highly popular. Why? Because they always keep their cool, so anything they do seems justified. Young Anakin was hated, Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen attacked for his portrayal. For the same reason many fans feel that Luke is the least important of the original trio although basically the Original Trilogy is his story: it seems the general audience hates nothing more than emotionality in a guy. They want James Bond, Batman or Indiana Jones as the lead. Padmé loved Anakin because she always saw the good little boy he once was in him; his attempts at impressing her with his flirting or his masculinity failed. Kylo tried to impress Rey with his knowledge and power, but she fled from him - she wanted the gentle, emphatic young man who had listened to her when she felt alone. Good message. But both died miserably, and Ben didn’t even get anything but a kiss. Realizing that his “not being as strong as Darth Vader” might actually be a strength of its own would have meant much more.

The heroes of the Original Trilogy had their adventures together and their happy ending; the heroes of the Prequel Trilogy also had good times and accomplishments in their youth, before everything went awry. Rey, Finn and Poe feel like their friendship hardly got started; Rose was almost obliterated from the narrative; and Ben Solo seems to have had only one happy moment in his entire life. Of course it’s terrible that he committed patricide (even if it was under coercion), but Anakin / Vader himself had two happy endings in the Prequel Trilogy before he became the monster we know so well. Not to mention Clone Wars, where he has heroic moments unnumbered.

The Skywalker family is obliterated without Balance in the Force, and the young woman who inherited all doesn’t seem to have learned any lesson from all this. The Original Trilogy became a part of pop culture among other things because its ending was satisfying. We can hardly be expected to be satisfied with an ending where our heroes are all dead and the heir of their worst enemy takes over. What good was the happy ending of the Original Trilogy for if they didn’t learn enough from their misadventures to learn how to protect one single person - their son and nephew, their future?

For a long time, I also thought that the saga was about Good vs. Evil. Watching the prequels again, I came to the conclusion that it is rather about Love vs. War. And now, considering as a whole, I believe it to be essentially Jedi against Skywalker. The ending, as it is now, says that both fractions lost: they annihilated one another, leaving a third party in charge, who believes to be both but actually knows very little about them.

Star Wars and Morality

After 9 films and 42 years, it still is not possible to make the general audience accept that it is wrong to divide people between Good and Evil in the first place. The massive rejection of both prequels and sequels, which have moral grey zones galore, shows it.

It is also not possible without being accused of actual blasphemy in the same fandom, to say the plain truth that no Skywalker ever was a Jedi at heart. As their name says, they’re pilots. Luke was the last and strongest of all Jedi because he always was first and foremost himself. Anakin was crushed by the Jedi’s attempts to stifle his feelings. His grandson, too. A Force-sensitive person ought to have the choice whether they want to be a Jedi or not; they ought not to be taught to suppress their emotions and live only on duty, without really caring for other people; and they ought to grow up feeling in a safe and loving environment, not torn away from their families in infancy, indoctrinated and provided with a light sabre (a deadly weapon) while they’re still small. A Jedi order composed of child soldiers or know-it-all’s does not really help anybody.

The original Star Wars saga was about love and friendship; although many viewers did not want to understand that message. The prequels portrayed the Jedi as detached and arrogant and Anakin Skywalker sympathetically, a huge disappointment for who only accepts stories of the “lonesome cowboy” kind. The Last Jedi was so hated that The Rise of Skywalker backpedaled: sorry, of course you’re right, here you have your “hero who knows everything better and fixes everything for you on a silver platter”. The embarrassing antihero, who saves the girl who was the only person showing him some human compassion, can die miserably in the process and is not even mourned.

Honestly: I was doubtful whether it would be adequate to give Ben Solo a happy ending after the patricide. I guess letting him die was the easiest way out for the authors to escape censorship. (I even wrote this in a review on amazon about The Last Jedi, before I delved deeper into the saga’s themes.) The messages we got now are even worse.

Kylo Ren / Ben Solo

A parent can replace a child if they’re not the way they expect them to be. A victim of lifelong psychical and physical abuse can only find escape in death, whether he damns or redeems himself. An introspective, sensitive young man is a loser no matter how hard he tries either way. A whole family can sacrifice itself to save their heir, he dies anyway.

Rey

Self-righteousness is acceptable as long as you find a scapegoat for your own failings. Overconfidence justifies anything you do. You can’t carve your way as a female child of “nobodies”, you have to descend from someone male and powerful even if that someone is the devil incarnate. You are a “strong female” if you choose to be lonely; you need neither a partner nor friends.

In General

Star Wars is not about individual choices, loyalty, friendship and love, it is a classic Western story with a lonesome cowboy (in this case: cowgirl) at its centre. Satisfied?

The father-son-relationship between Vader and Luke mirrors the Biblical story of Cain and Abel, saying that whoever we may want to kill is, in truth, our kin, which makes a clear separation in Good and Evil impossible. The “I am your father” scene is so infamous by now that even non-fans are aware of it; but this relationship between evil guy and good guy, as well as the plot turns where the villain saves the hero and that the hero discards his weapon are looked upon rather as weird narrative quirks instead of a moral.

In an action movie fan, things are simple: good guy vs. bad guy, the good guy (e.g. James Bond may be a murderer and a misogynist, but that’s ok because he’s cool about it) kills the bad guy, ka-boom, end of story. But Star Wars is a parable, an ambitious project told over decades of cinema, and a multilayered story with recurring themes.

A fairy tale ought to have a moral. The moral of both Original Trilogy and Prequel Trilogy was compassionate love - choose it and you can end a raging conflict, reject it and you will cause it. What was the moral of the Sequel Trilogy? You can be the offspring of the galaxy’s worst terror and display a similar attitude, but pose as a Jedi and kill unnecessarily, and it’s all right; descend from Darth Vader (who himself was a victim long before he became a culprit) and whether you try to become a Jedi trained by Luke Skywalker or a Sith trained by his worst enemy, you will end badly?

Both original and prequel trilogy often showed “good” people making bad choices and the “bad ones” making the right choices. To ensure lasting peace, no Force user ought to be believe that he must choose one side and then stick to it for the rest of his life: both sides need one another. The prequels took 3 films to convey this message, though not saying so openly. The Last Jedi said it out clearly - and the authors almost had their heads ripped off by affronted fans, resulting in The Rise of Skywalker’s fan service. It’s not like Luke, Han and Leia were less heroic in the Sequel Trilogy, on the contrary, they gave everything they had to their respective cause. They were not united, and they were more human than they had once been. Apparently, that’s an affront.

The Jedi are no perfect heroes and know-it-all’s and they never were, the facts are there for everyone to see. Padmé went alone and pregnant to get her husband out of Mustafar - and she almost succeeded - although she knew what he had done and that he was perfectly capable of it (he had told her of the Tusken village massacre himself) because she still saw the good little boy he had been in him; Obi-Wan left him amputated and burning in the lava, although he had raised Anakin like a small brother and the latter had repeatedly saved his life. But Padmé was not a Jedi, so I guess she still had some human decency. Neither Obi-Wan nor Yoda lifted a finger for the oppressed populations of the galaxy during the Empire, waiting instead for Anakin’s son to grow up so they could trick him into committing patricide. Neither Luke nor Leia did anything for their own son and nephew while he became the scourge of the galaxy, damning his soul by committing crime after crime. On Exegol, Rey heard the voices of all Jedi encouraging her to fight Palpatine to death. After that, they left her to die alone, and the alleged “bad guy”, who had already saved her soul from giving in to Palpatine’s lures, had to save her life by giving her his own. The Jedi merely know that “their side” has to win, no matter the cost for anyone’s life, sanity, integrity or happiness.

Excuse me, these are simple facts. How anyone can still believe that the Jedi were super-powerful heroes who always win or all-knowing wizards who are always right is beyond me. Luke, the last and strongest of them, like a bright flickering of light before the ultimate end, showed us that the best of men can fail. There is nothing wrong with that in itself. But it is wrong and utterly frustrating when all of the failure never leads to anything better. If Rey means to rebuild the Jedi order to something better than it was, there was no hint at that whatsoever.

And What Now?

The Last Jedi hit theatres only 2 years before The Rise of Skywalker, and I can’t imagine that the responsible authors all have forgotten how to make competent work in the meantime; more so considering that Solo or The Mandalorian are solid work. Episode IX is thematically so painfully flat it seems like they wanted us to give up on the saga on purpose. The last instalment of a 42-year-old saga ought to have been the best and most meaningful. I had heard already decades ago that the saga was supposed to have 9 chapters, so I was not among who protested against the sequels thinking that they had been thought up to make what had come before invalid. I naively assumed a larger purpose. But Episode IX only seems to prove these critics perfectly right.

The last of the flesh and blood of the Chosen One is dead without having “finished what his grandfather started”?

Still no Balance in the Force?

And worst of all, Palpatine’s granddaughter taking over, having proven repeatedly that she is not suited for the task?

Sorry, this “ending” is absurd. I have read fanfiction that was better written and more interesting. And, most of all, less depressing. I was counting on a conclusion that showed that the Force has all colours and nuances, and that it’s not limited to the black-and-white view “we against them”. That’s the ending all of us fans would have deserved, instead of catering the daddy issues of the part of the audience who doesn’t want stories other than those of the “lonesome cowboy” kind. I myself grew up on Japanese anime, maybe that’s one of the reasons why I can’t stand guys like James Bond or Batman and why I think you don’t need “a great hero who fixes the situation” but that group spirit and communication are way more important.

It was absolutely unexpected that Disney, the production company whose trademark are happy endings and family stories, would end this beloved and successful saga after almost half a century on such a hollow note. Why tell first a beautiful fairy tale and then leave the audience on a hook for 35 years to continue first with a tragedy (which at least was expected) and then with another (unexpected one)? And this story is supposed to be for children? Like children would understand all of the subtext, and love sad, cautionary tales. Children, as well as the general audience, first of all want to be entertained! No one wants to watch the legendary Skywalker family be obliterated and a Palpatine take over. The sequels were no fun anymore; we’ve been left with another open ending and hardly an explanation about what happened in the 30 years in between. If you want to tell a cautionary tale, you should better warn the general audience beforehand.

The Original Trilogy is so good because it’s entertaining and offers room for thought for who wants to think about its deeper themes, and also leaves enough space for dreams. Same goes for the first two films of the Sequel Trilogy; but precisely the last, which should have wrapped up the saga, leaves us with a bitter aftertaste and dozens of questions marks.

We as the audience believe that a story, despite the tragic things that happen, must go somewhere; we get invested into the characters, we root for them, we want to see them happy in the end. (The authors of series like Girls, How I Met Your Mother or Game of Thrones ought to be reminded of that, too.) I was in contact with children and teenagers saying that the Sequel Trilogy are “boring”; and many, children or adults, who were devastated by its concluson. There is a difference between wanting to tell a cautionary tale and playing the audience for fools. This trilogy could have become legendary like the Original Trilogy, had it fulfilled its promises instead of “keeping it low” with its last chapter. Who watches a family or fantasy story or a romantic / comedic sitcom wants to escape into another world, not to be hit over his head with a mirror to his own failings, and the ones of the society he’s living in. Messages are all right, but they ought not to go at the cost of the audience’s satisfaction about the about the people and narrative threads they have invested in for years.

This isn’t a family story: but children probably didn’t pester the studios with angry e-mails and twitter messages etc. They simply counted on a redemption arc and happy ending, and they were right, because they’re not as stupid as adults are. I have read and watched many a comment from fans who hate The Last Jedi. Many of these fans couldn’t even pinpoint what their rage was all about, they only proved to be stuck with the original trilogy and unwilling to widen their horizon. But at least their heroes had had their happy ending: The Rise of Skywalker obliterated the successes of all three generations of Skywalkers.

If the film studios wanted to tease us, they’ve excelled. If they expect the general audience to break their heads over the sequels’ metaphysics, they have not learned from the reactions to the prequels that most viewers take these films at face value. Not everybody is elbows-deep in the saga, or willing to research about it for months, and / or insightful enough to see the story’s connections. Which is why many viewers frown at the narrative and believe the Sequel Trilogy was just badly written. This trilogy could have become legendary like the Original Trilogy, had it fulfilled its promises instead of “keeping it low” with its last chapter. As it is now, the whole trilogy is hanging somewhere in the air, with neither a past nor a future to be tied in with.

The prequels already had the flaw of remaining too obscure: most fans are not aware that Anakin had unwillingly killed his wife during the terrible operation that turned him into Darth Vader, sucking her life out of her through the Force: most go by “she died of a broken heart”. So although one scene mirrors the other, it is not likely that most viewers will understand what Rey’s resurrection meant. And: Why did Darth Maul kill Qui-Gon Jinn? What did the Sith want revenge for? Who was behind Shmi’s abduction and torture? Who had placed the order for the production of the clones, and to what purpose? We can imagine or try to reconstruct the answers, but nothing is confirmed by the story itself.

The sequels remained even more in the dark, obfuscating what little explanation we got in The Rise of Skywalker with quick pacing and mind-numbing effects.

Kylo Ren had promised his grandfather that “he would finish what he started”: he did not. Whatever one can say of this last film, it did not bring Balance in the Force. What’s worse, the subject was not even breached. It was hinted at by the mosaic on the floor of the Prime Jedi Temple on Ahch-To, but although Luke and Rey were sitting on its border, they never seemed to see what was right under their noses. It remains inexplicable why it was there for everyone to see in the first place.

We might argue that Ben finished what his grandfather started by killing (or better, causing the death of) the last Jedi, who this one couldn’t kill because he was his own son; but leaving Rey in charge, he helped her finish what her grandfather had started. The irony could hardly be worse.

Episode IX looks like J.J. Abrams simply completed what they started with Episode VII, largely ignoring the next film as if it was always planned to do so. We, the angry and disappointed fans of The Last Jedi, may believe it was due to some of the general audience’s angry backlash, but honestly: the studios aren’t that dumb. They had to know that Episode VIII would be controversial and that many fans would hate it. The furious reactions were largely a disgrace, but no one can make me believe that they were totally unexpected. Nor can anyone convince me that The Rise of Skywalker was merely an answer to the small but very loud part of the audience who hated The Last Jedi: a company with the power and the returns of Disney Lucasfilm does not need to buckle down before some fan’s entitlement and narrowmindedness out of fear of losing money. And if they do, it was foolish to make Rey so perfect that she becomes almost odious, and to let the last of the Skywalker blood die a meaningless death. (Had he saved the Canto Bight children and left them with Rey, at least he would have died with honor; and she, the child left behind by her parents, would have had a task to dedicate herself to.)

The only reason I can find for this odd ending is that it’s meant to prepare the way for Rian Johnson’s new trilogy, which - hopefully - will finally be about Balance. We as the audience don’t know what’s going on behind the doors. Filmmaking is a business like any other, i.e. based on contracts; and I first heard that Rian Johnson had negotiated a trilogy of his own since before Episode VIII hit theatres. Maybe he kept all the rights of intellectual property to his own film, including that he would finish the threads he picked up and close the narrative circles he opened, and only he; and that his alleged working on “something completely different” is deliberately misleading.

Some viewers love the original trilogy, some love the prequels, some like both; but I hardly expect anyone to love the sequel trilogy as a whole. What with the first instalment “letting the past die, killing it if they had to”, the second hinting at a promising future and the third patched on at the very last like some sort of band-aid, it was not coherent. I heard the responsible team for Game of Thrones even dropped their work, producing a dissatisfying, quickly sewn together last season, for this new Star Wars project and thereby disappointing millions of GoT fans; I hope they are aware of the expectations they have loaded upon them. George Lucas’ original trilogy had its faults, but but though there was no social media yet in his time, at least he was still close enough to the audience to give them what they needed, if not necessarily wanted. (Some fans can’t accept that Luke and Leia are siblings to this day, even if honestly, it was the very best plot twist to finish their story in a satisfying way.)

I’m hoping for now that The Last Jedi was not some love bombing directed at the more sentimental viewers but a promise that will be fulfilled. “Wrapping up” a saga by keeping the flattest, least convincing chapter for last is bad form. Star Wars did not become a pop phenomenon by accident, but because the original story was convincing and satisfying. Endings like these will hardly make anyone remember a story fondly, on the contrary, the audience will move to another fandom to forget their disappointment.

On a side note, I like The Mandalorian, exactly for the reason that that is a magical story; not as much as the original trilogy, but at least a little. Of course, I’m glad it was produced. But it’s a small consolation prize after the mess that supposedly wrapped up the original saga after 9 films.

We’re Not Blind, You Know…

- Though Kylo Ren (Ben Solo) has Darth Vader’s stature, his facial features are practically opposite to Vader’s creepy mask. This should have foreshadowed that his life should have gone the other way, instead of more or less repeating itself. - As a villain Kylo was often unconvincing; by all logic he should have been a good father figure. (Besides, Star Wars films or series never work unless there is a strong father or father figure at their center.)

- Like Vader, Kylo Ren was redeemed, but not rehabilitated. Who knows who may find his broken mask somewhere now and, not knowing the truth, promise “I will finish what you started”. - The hand-touching scene on Ahch-To which was visually opposite to Anakin’s and Padmé’s should not have predicted another tragedy but a happy ending for them. - The Canto Bight sequence was announcing reckoning for the weapon industry and freedom for the enslaved children. It also showed how well Finn and Rose fit together. - Rey was a good girl before she started on her adventures. Like Anakin or Luke, she did not need to become a Jedi to be strong or generous or heroic. - Rey summons Palpatine after one year of training. Kylo practically begged for his grandfather’s assistance for years, to no avail. Her potential for darkness is obviously much stronger. - Dark Rey’s light sabre looked like a fork, Kylo’s like a cross. - The last time all Jedi and Sith were obliterated leaving only Luke in charge, things went awry. Now we have a Palpatine masquerading as a Skywalker and believing she’s a Jedi. Rey is a usurper and universally cheered after years of war, like her grandfather. - The broom boy of Canto Bight looked like he was sweeping a stage and announcing “Free the stage, it’s time for us, the children.”

Rey failed in all instances where Luke had proved himself (so much for feminism and her being a Mary Sue): - Luke had forgiven his father despite all the pain he had inflicted on him. She stabbed the „bad guy”, who had repeatedly protected and comforted her, to death. - Luke never asked Vader to help the Rebellion or to turn to the Light Side, he only wanted him back as his father. She assumed that you could make Ben Solo turn, give up the First Order and join the Resistance for her. She thought of her friends and of her own validation, not of him. - Luke had made peace by choosing peace. Rey fought until the bitter end. - Luke had thrown his weapon away before Palpatine. Rey picked up a second weapon. (And both of them weren’t even her own.) - Luke had mourned his dead father. Rey didn’t shed a tear for the man she is bonded to by the Force. - Luke went back to his friends to celebrate the new peace with them. Rey went back letting everyone celebrate her like the one who saved the galaxy on her own, she who were tempted to become the new evil ruler of the galaxy and had to rely on the alleged Bad Guy to save both her soul and her body. - Luke had embodied compassion when Palpatine was all about hatred. Where he chose love and faith in his father, she chose violence and fear. - Luke had briefly fallen prey to the Dark Side but it made him realize that he had no right to judge his father. Rey’s fall to the Dark Side did not make her wiser. - Rey has no change of mind on finding out that she’s Palpatine’s flesh and blood, nor after she has stabbed Kylo. Luke had to face himself on learning that he had almost become a patricide. Rey does not have to face herself: the revelation of her ancestry is cushioned by Luke’s and Leia’s support. Rey is and remains an uncompromising person who hardly learns from her faults.

This is cheating on the audience. And it's not due to feminism or Rey being some sort of “Mary Sue” the way many affronted fans claim. Kylo never was truly a villain, Rey is not a heroine, and this is not a happy ending. The Jedi, with their stuck-up conviction “only we must win”, have failed all over again. The Skywalker family was obliterated leaving their worst enemy in charge. Rey is supposed to be a “modern” heroine which young girls can take as an example? No, thank you. Not after this last film has made of her. Padmé was a much better role model, combining intelligence with strength and goodness and also female grace. The world does not need entitled female brats.

Bonus: What Made The Rise of Skywalker a Farce

- The Force Awakens was an ok film and The Last Jedi (almost) a masterpiece. The Rise of Skywalker was a cartoon. No wonder a lot of the acting felt and looked wooden. - “I will earn your brother’s light sabre.” She’s holding his father’s sabre. - Kylo in The Last Jedi: “Let the past die. Kill it if, you have to.” Beginning with me? - Rey ends up on Tatooine. - The planet both Anakin and Luke ardently wanted to leave. - Luke had promised his nephew that he would be around for him. - Nope. - Rey had told Ben that she had seen his future. What future was that - “you will be a hero for ten minutes, get a kiss and then die? (And they didn’t even get a love theme.) - “The belonging you seek is not behind you, it is ahead.” On a desert planet with a few ghosts. What of the ocean she used to dream about? - Ben and Rey were both introduced as two intensely lonely people searching for belonging. We learn they are a Force dyad, and then they are torn apart again. - Why was Ben named for Obi-Wan Kenobi in the first place, if they have absolutely nothing in common? - The Throne Room battle scene in The Last Jedi was clearly showing that when they are in balance, Light Side and Dark Side are unbeatable. Why did the so-called “Light Side” have to win again, in The Rise of Skywalker, instead of finding balance? - Luke’s scene on Ahch-To was so ridiculously opposite to his attitude in The Last Jedi that by now I believe he was a fantasy conjectured by her. (Like Ben’s vision of his father.) - Anakin’s voice among the other Jedi’s. - He was a renegade, for Force’s sake. - The kiss between two females. - More fan service, to appease those who pretended that not making Poe and Finn a couple was a sign of homophobia. - We see the Knights of Ren, but we learn absolutely nothing about them or Kylo’s connection with them. - Rose Tico’s invalidation. - A shame after what the actress had gone through because for the fans she was “not Star-Wars-y” (chubby and lively instead of wiry and spitfire). - Finn’s and Rose’s relationship. - Ignored without any explanation. - Finn may or may not be Force-sensitive. - If he is: did he abandon the First Order not due to his own free will but because of some higher willpower? Great. - General Hux was simply obliterated. - In The Force Awakens he was an excellent foil to Kylo Ren; no background story, no humanization for him. - Chewie’s and 3PO’s faked deaths. - Useless additional drama. - The Force Awakens was a bow before the classic trilogy. The Rise of Skywalker kicked its remainders to pieces. - The Prequel Trilogy ended with hope, the Original Trilogy with love. The Sequel Trilogy ends on a blank slate. - “We are what they grow beyond.” The characters of the Sequel Trilogy did not grow beyond the heroes of the Original Trilogy. - The Jedi did not learn from their mistakes and were obliterated. The Skywalker family understood the mistakes they had made too late. Now they’re gone, too.

P.S. While I was watching The Rise of Skywalker my husband came in asked me since when I like Marvel movies. I said “That’s not a Marvel movie, it’s Star Wars.” I guess that says enough.

P.P.S. For the next trilogy, please at least let the movies hit theatres in May again instead of December. a) It’s tradition for Star Wars films, b) Whatever happens, at least you won’t ruin anyone’s Christmases. Thank you.

419 notes · View notes

noonmutter · 3 years

Text

Surrender

Daily Writing Challenge 2021 Day 13: Pride/The Maw

Sometimes, Terry wished he was just proud. It would probably have made life a whole lot easier, though, he admitted to himself, also a whole lot shorter. Maybe it would've made his death shorter, too; how did that work, anyway? If they sapped him completely of this anima stuff, would that be it? Would he just... stop existing? It wasn't exactly a thing he could really comprehend from this side of it; academically, it was easy to wrap his head around, but it's not like he could have just shut himself down for a while just to find out.

But no. No, he had to be stubborn. He had to be unwilling to just lay down and stop. Had to cling to his stupid ideals and his stupid little promises to his stupid wife and his stupid children and--

"Stop tha'."

No answer. There almost never was. He knew they were still there, though; the feeling of being watched, being observed, was never going to stop setting him on edge. He'd been a target and a lab rat, he was never going to be able to ignore that feeling again. Even, apparently, in hell. Or purgatory. Or whatever this was. For the moment his world was a tiny, ugly cage and a small amount of masonry around it. Somewhere in the darkness beyond was the one trying to break him, but he had no idea where, or how they were doing it.

Terry was very tired of people trying to break him all the goddamned time.

For all that he hated Eonar for being another one of the superpowered alien beings that mortals simply couldn't contend with (he'd have gone woo~ooo and waggled his fingers in a spooky fashion for emphasis, if he'd had room), at least she'd been honest. At least she'd wanted to work with him, use what he already was, instead of reshape him into something else.

Of course, then those creepy gold lines started showing up, and he knew she'd lied. They always lied. It really wasn't worth the effort to hope that she would be dif--

"I bloody said stop tha'. I know it's you."

"Fascinating. Sooner or later you will tell me how you do that. I must know!"

The voice was familiar, but then, it would've been; this was hell, after all. No matter what hoity-toity name they gave it, Revendoof or whatever, it was still hell. It would've been too easy for his captors to be strangers, right?

And if Terry belonged here, Slant certainly did.

"Oh, well. If you're not going to be agreeable, then I suppose it's time for lunch." The sunken, sallow venthyr emerged from the void to appear in front of the cage, carrying his empty canister and humming cheerfully to himself as he opened it. "Honestly, T-1, you'd be out and about in the world again by sunup if you'd stop with this nonsense."

"Some'ow I doubt tha'. An' stop fuckin' callin' me T-fuckin'-one."

"Ah, but it's such an easy way to keep track of my progress!" Terry would've cringed when Slant smiled if he could have; the ugly makeup caked onto his face did little to combat his jaundiced complexion and just made him look more ghastly than he already had. It got worse when he made any real expressions, since it made the makeup crack a little more every time and let the yellow really break through. "After all, I broke you once before. We both know that I will eventually do it again. I have nothing but time, this time, and I am...ever so much more patient, now."

Terry said nothing. The very concept of being in thrall to Slant again--in a far more literal sense than before--terrified him, but he'd rather cease to exist then and there than admit it. He wound up screaming when the siphoning started, anyway. It was impossible not to, no matter how hard he tried; it was a wracking pain that he couldn't accurately compare to anything else. As far as he understood it, it was literally tearing his soul out, a few pieces at a time.

When he was finally allowed to stop and come around again, Terry realized the room had been brightened; enough at least that he could finally call it a room. The walls and the borders of the floor were visible now, a bit bigger a space than he'd expected. Perfect for reminding him how small and isolated he was, with nothing touching the platform his cage was on. Perfect for an audience.

He'd have spat if he could. He at least attempted to flip Slant off, though he wasn’t sure if he’d actually accomplished anything until he heard a chuckle.

"I really should learn to expect nothing less than the height of class from you, T-1. Shall we continue?"

"I'm gonna get out. An' when I get out, I'm gonna tear you in 'alf with my bare 'ands. I just want you t' know tha'."

"For that, T-1, you will need hands."

No, he growled in what he hoped was still the privacy of his own mind. He had no way of knowing just how much Slant knew of what he thought or felt. I just need to wait.

Eonar... if you were serious... now's your chance to prove it. Help me. Please.

Nothing happened. Nothing was going to happen. She was there and gone, and he was a fool for thinking anything else was going to--

"Eat a dick, Slant."

"Damn."

( @daily-writing-challenge )

#my writing #and so arrives terry #slant #eonar #dwc

9 notes · View notes

baepop · 4 years

Text

PRIVATE // 9

You tell Jennie and Jungkook how you feel.

Word Count: 10.4k

Pairing: Jungkook x You x Jennie

Genre: Fluff, Angst, Smutty smut smut

“…I’m—excuse me, what?”

Jungkook sighed and squeezed his eyes shut. “Please don’t make me ask again.” You held back a giggle as you watched what looked to be Jungkook in actual physical pain at the thought of hanging out with Jennie. Rolling your eyes nonetheless, you took his hand and led him inside. The smell of sautéed onions and garlic greeted you at the entrance, immediately drawing your attention to the kitchen. Jennie’s back was turned to you, her slight hand struggling to manhandle a cast iron skillet.

“Back already? I was so sure I wouldn’t be seeing you tonight.” Jennie spoke aloud without turning around, probably assuming you were alone.

“Oh yeah? So I suppose you’re cooking for one then?” From your viewing angle, you could see Jennie smiling widely as she prepared what looked to be a feast.

“Ya caught me. Hungry?”

“Yeah, I could eat. We just worked up an appetite.” Jungkook draped his arms over your shoulders from behind and planted a kiss on your temple.

Jennie froze at the sound of his voice. It most definitely caught her off guard as she began dicing peppers. After a moment, she recommenced her dicing, replying curtly, “Fine. There should be enough for all of us.”

This time it was yours and Jungkook’s turn to freeze. Both of you had been expecting a snarkier response, protestation at the very least. You both looked at each other in genuine fear then back at the girl who was cutting vegetables a little too roughly.

“Umm…okay, well…I’m going to jump in the shower real quick and then I’ll be over to help you cook, okay?” Jennie simply hummed as you made your way to the bathroom. Jungkook followed you closely behind, unwilling to be left alone with his sworn enemy. You giggled, smoothing the weary lines on his forehead as he stared at you in disappointment. “Don’t worry, I’ll be quick!” You laughed as he sagged against the doorway, not happy that his theatrics hadn’t deterred you in the slightest. “I promise. Just don’t kill each other, okay? Now let me close the door.” Jungkook’s lip jutted out so adorably that you couldn’t help but lean in and kiss it. That was a mistake, however, because his hands quickly snaked around your waist and held you tightly to him, his lips kissing you back hungry. Jungkook was clearly ready for round two, but you had to be the voice of reason, no matter how delicious his lips felt on yours.

You patted his chest with your hands, signaling the end of your mini make out session. He detached himself from you with a groan then stepped back so you could close the door and turn on the shower faucet. Jungkook sighed at the sound of the water running from the other side of the door. He peaked his head around to see if Jennie was still busy chopping up vegetables. She was.

Jungkook paced around a bit, wondering if it would be weird for him to sit on your bed and wait for you to come out. He sighed again, deciding to just toughen up and face his ex-fiancée.

Jungkook dragged his feet into the kitchen and stood awkwardly in the middle. Jennie ignored his presence as she lowered a heavy pot full of water onto the burner. He cleared his throat, but the girl pretended not to know he was even there.

“Do you need help, or, whatever?” His voice was low and oozed with discomfort.

“Nope.” Jennie didn’t offer anything more, and it was clear she wasn’t going to make this easy for Jungkook in the slightest. The boy looked around, ultimately deciding to pull up a chair and watch her cook. He hadn’t, after all, spoken to her since she broke off their engagement.

“So…you live here now?”

“Mhm.”

Jungkook nodded thoughtfully, looking around at the apartment that was now obviously more occupied by extra bags, clothing and furniture. “Parents kicked you out for being a brat?”

Jennie rolled her eyes and slammed the knife down onto the cutting board. “You know we’re not obligated to speak to each other. I’m sure Y/N will be out any minute now.”

“No, I’m sorry…I’m just so used to going at it with you. It won’t happen again.” Jungkook hurried to get the words out in an attempt to calm the girl down who was already on edge at the first sign of his presence.

Jennie sighed and picked up the knife again, resuming her task at hand. “Oh, I see. You’re trying to play nice with me so Y/N doesn’t dump you for good. Is that it?”

Jungkook’s face hardened, his hands drumming on his knees. He was starting to find it exceedingly impossible, the thought of ever being nice to Jennie. “You know what? You were right. We don’t have to talk to each other.”

After a minute of Jennie’s rhythmic chopping being the only sounds filling the apartment apart from the shower running, she spoke in a soft yet melancholic tone that took Jungkook by surprise, “She wouldn’t, if that’s really what you’re afraid of. She,” Jennie sighed and closed her eyes before continuing, “she’s so in love with you…So you don’t have to feel the need to come in here and piss all over the place”

Jungkook blushed, unable to keep the big goofy smile off of his face. Although she was being as rude as always, he couldn’t help but feel giddy, not only at her ending comment, but at the fact that if Jennie of all people could admit you were head over heels for him, then maybe he really didn’t have anything to worry about after all.

“I just…” Jungkook struggled to find the right words to convey how he felt. After all of the grief you both went through, he didn’t want to be the cause of any more, even if that meant playing nice with someone he deeply disliked just to see you at ease. He just wasn’t sure how that was going to work with Jennie in the equation.

“Look, you don’t have to worry about me. I’m moving on.”

Jungkook’s eyes widened as he sank back into his chair. Jennie peaked at him from behind her shoulder then put her focus back on cooking with a wide grin. “You don’t have to look so relieved. Even if I decided not to, it’s not like we haven’t shared a bed before.” She chuckled darkly as Jungkook shifted uncomfortably where he sat.

“I thought we said we were never mentioning that again.”

“Mentioning what again?” You toweled your wet hair as you sat down on Jungkook’s lap, looking at him and waiting for a reply. His mouth struggled to form words, something Jennie found extremely funny.

“Uhh, um.” If Jungkook wasn’t sweating before while talking to Jennie, he definitely was now. “The engagement. It’s just awkward to talk about, so…” You wrinkled your nose and nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t mind if we put that topic on the shelf… How are your parents dealing with the wedding being called off though? They must be pissed.”

“Not sure, actually. I’ve been avoiding the subject, and their phone calls for that matter. No doubt they’re pissed though.”

You snorted, turning to Jennie, “I don’t doubt it. Jennie’s pretty good at pissing parents off.” Jennie mimicked your snort and rolled her eyes, sliding noodles into the now boiling pot.

“It’s like a superpower or something.”

You all ate dinner together in a semi-awkward, semi-comfortable atmosphere, though you could only speak for yourself regarding the situation. You knew they were both making an effort to make you more comfortable by being civil, and you were grateful for that, but you couldn’t imagine how they felt having to pretend this was normal.

The conversation never lulled, however, all of you talking animatedly, though Jungkook and Jennie never directly spoke to each other.

After dinner, you and Jennie resumed your usual routine of picking a movie to watch and Jungkook settled comfortably beside you, willing to watch whatever you two wanted so long as he could keep his spot on the couch next to you. Though, you could tell he wasn’t much interested in what you chose to watch, seeing as how cutely playing with your fingers the whole time was much more fascinating for him.

The three of you ended up dozing off on the sofa, Jungkook’s head resting on your lap and your head resting on Jennie’s shoulder.

That was only the first of many naps taken on the couch, dinner and a movie becoming a ritual for the three of you. Dates spent out and about with Jungkook whenever both of you were free to do so slowly morphed into more domestic hangouts that almost always included your best friend.

At first, it was evident the whole ordeal was uncomfortable for them, and although you assured them you were okay keeping them separate, they insisted everything was fine, more than fine even, though you weren’t sure if they were trying to convince you or themselves. Nonetheless, you let the chips fall where they may and took each day one at a time.

Weeks went by in perfect harmony, though you could tell things were changing beneath the surface. Although Jennie had affirmed she was no longer in the business of winning your affections, you just never knew what to believe when it came to her. And it seemed, because of that, that she was more determined than ever to show you that you could take her word for it.

Each morning you awoke, Jennie was already out of bed, either secluded on the couch or out running errands. You almost started to miss the way she’d cling onto you whenever you had to get out of bed. You definitely missed the dreamy look on her face whenever you talked about things you liked. Now, she would simply nod along politely and respond accordingly, but you knew her heart was no longer in those conversations. She seemed much more guarded these days, and although there were no talks of going your separate ways, you knew this was her way of putting distance between you two so that she could move on properly. She couldn’t put up any physical walls in between you two, so she put up emotional ones. You knew it was what she needed, so you pretended things between you two weren’t different, but the fact of the matter was that they were, and you hated how much it bothered you. You refused to think about why that was, but deep down you knew it was because the thought of her not caring about you anymore terrified you. No matter how difficult you made it for her to get close to you in the beginning, she still persevered and loved you so much you couldn’t look away. It had been the most anyone had ever cared about you, ever.

Jennie was the only person, until then, to constantly look after you and care about everything you had to say, no matter how minute the detail. Although you felt like you couldn’t return her affections properly, and it would be better for her to be in love with someone else, it was still hard for you to accept that you might be losing someone important to you. It felt as if you were slowly losing a part of yourself, and each time you opened your eyes in the morning to find the bed empty, the tiny fear inside of you grew and grew.

Not all semblance of affection was gone, however. On the mornings that you had to open the shop and therefore had to climb out of bed before her, she’d readily wake up to get breakfast started while you showered, and that was something you came to cherish dearly. Although you’d never admit that her cooking was terrible, you still showered giddily at the thought of not having to do something for yourself for once. You aso ate whatever she put in front of you with gusto no matter what, because it seemed to encourage her to do more things she had never had the need for before.

On this particular morning, however, she decided to try her hand at making the coffee instead of leaving that particular task to you as always before. She had looked up a tutorial on how to make coffee while you were bathing, and as you stared at the lumpy grounds at the bottom of your cup very visible through brown liquid that was way too clear, you smiled fondly at your best friend who waited with expectant eyes for your first sip.

You placed your lips on the rim of the cup and gingerly took a taste while maintaining eye contact. You licked the grinds off of your teeth, “Mmm! Thanks Jen!” You shivered and place the cup back on the counter, “I really gotta go though or I’m gonna be late. I’ll see you later!” You rubbed the top of her head in the way she always hated but it only seemed to bring a smile to her sleepy face.

“Okay,” she called out to you as you put your shoes on by the door, “Don’t forget! We have that big bottle of grey goose with our names on it. We’re drinking tonight!”

You made a sound of disgust as you opened the front door, “I prefer dark liquor, but I suppose a screwdriver once in a while isn’t the end of the world.”

“That’s my girl.” Jennie smiled and waved you goodbye, resuming her morning routine while you set off towards the campus coffee shop to get your fix.

The rest of the day went by as normal with you operating on auto pilot as your thoughts drifted towards what Jungkook might be doing at the office. You chuckled to yourself while organizing suiting according to size and brand, picturing Jungkook staring at spreadsheets dumbfounded. Then you slightly gasped under your breath at the thought of what his thighs might look like in that suit you picked out for him while sitting at his desk all pensive. You shook your head, dissipating all thirst thoughts and instead shifting your focus towards Jennie at home and what she might be struggling with at the moment. You pictured her intensely reading the labels of your cleaning products and smiled widely, then shivered when thinking about what other internet ideas she might want to try out on you.

Eventually, your thoughts drifted away from the people who captivated your interest towards the inevitable worries for your future and what lied ahead now that school was over. As you spaced out while checking the sales for the day on the cash register, the familiar chime of the bell signaled another customer.

“Sorry, we’re already closed,” You began speaking absentmindedly while focused on the screen, “but I can make you an appointment for a fitting if you’d like—” You barely finished your sentence before looking up and realizing who you were speaking to.

You both stared at each other, you waiting for them to speak and them looking at you with that same bored expression. Some things never change.

“What are you doing here?” You closed the register and crossed your arms, drumming your fingers on your forearms.

“Is that how you speak to customers? No wonder this place is empty.”

You rolled your eyes and sighed, “I know you’re not here to buy anything.”

“Observant.” Jisoo smiled and placed her hand bag on the counter, surveying the room with a judgey sweep of her eyes before settling them on you. “I’m here to talk.”

“About? Surely there’s nothing left to say after you embarrassed me at the proposal dinner.”

The dainty brunette smiled, her eyes shining with humor, “Oh no, trust me, you didn’t need any help embarrassing yourself, that was all you,” she tucked some hair behind her ear and crossed her arms too, “I want to talk to you about Jungkook.”

Your expression became guarded but softened a bit, “Why? Is he okay?”

“Relax Cinderella, he’s fine. Well…for now, that is.”

“I don’t understand.” Your heartbeat quickened as a bad feeling settled at the pit of your stomach. You just knew you wouldn’t like the next words that were about to leave her mouth.

“Break up with Jungkook.” And there it was. Jisoo deadpanned, and although there wasn’t a single trace of humor in her tone or demeanor, you couldn’t help but cackle, making the girl’s eyebrow twitch at your audacity.

“Not a chance.” You busied yourself with the rest of the closing procedures, making sure she knew you didn’t care whether she stayed or went.

Jisoo sighed, “I’m serious, Y/N. You need to end things with him, whatever it is that you two have at this point.” You bristled at her backhanded statement. “Don’t you think you’ve already caused enough strain between him and his parents?”

“Jungkook is a grown man, he doesn’t need you to speak for him and he’s free to make his own decisions. Besides, it’s not like I’m the one that broke off the engagement, Jennie did of her own accord.”

“That’s not exactly true though, is it? We all know if you weren’t in the picture they would probably be married by now. Either way, you’re responsible for what’s happening with their families.” The longer Jisoo talked, the angrier you became. This was evident to the girl, so she decided to soften her tone and switch tactics. “We also know how much of a hopeless romantic Jungkook is. He’ll never let you go, no matter what. So you have to be the one to cut him loose or else he’ll never move on. And I mean really cut things off Y/N, or else he’ll never give up hope.”

You sighed and turned to her for the first time, “Jisoo, why are you here?”

“I told you—”

“No. Why are you here, telling me these things, getting involved in a relationship that has nothing to do with you?”

“Because if I don’t, no one else will, and someone has to be on Jungkook’s side.”

“What makes you think I’m not on his side?”

Jisoo shot you a look before picking her purse back up and draping it over her shoulder, “What makes you think you’ve done anything to prove you have his best interest at heart?” Your eyes widened and your cheeks flushed with indignance. “Look, I know you like him. And I know he is absolutely in love with you, for whatever reason that might be. But at the end of the day, family is more important than anything. Can you honestly justify him being on bad terms with his parents over an undefined relationship?” Jisoo watched your eyebrows furrow and your breath quicken, “Yeah, he talks to me about you two, big surprise.”

She made her way towards the entrance and paused to turn the “now open” sign around. “Then again, I don’t suppose you’d understand the notion of family loyalty.” Your eyes watered at her callous words. You were so tired of people thinking you incapable of such concepts simply because you grew up in the foster care system. “Just be the bigger person and make the choice he can’t seem to make. You know it’s only right.” And with that, she exited the shop and left you to mind the rest of your responsibilities.

You felt better the moment she left, but you were still on edge. As much as you tried to put the conversation out of your mind, you just couldn’t. You wanted to kill her for knowing such personal things about you and using them against you. As much as you tried to reason that she was Jungkook’s cousin, you were still livid about him sharing such intimate details about you and your relationship with someone as nasty as her. You huffed all the way home, refusing to invite Jungkook over for drinks like you said you would, as a sign of protest, though he’d never actually know that.

Should you breakup with Jungkook? You’d tried it before, but that only got him to tell you he loved you which only led to more sex. It was futile. And it didn’t help that your feelings for him were only growing since you met him, despite the massive hiccup with the engagement. But could there be some truth to Jisoo’s words? Were you ultimately thinking only of yourself by leaving Jungkook to handle the fallout of the breakup alone? When did relationships stop being fun and airy and turn into the equivalent of pulling teeth?

By the time you got home, your shoulders were slumped, and your expression was crest fallen. Jennie opened the door before you were done turning the key in the lock and instantly pouted, your bummed-out demeanor was already ruining her good mood.

“Bad day at work?” She pulled you in by the wrist and helped you take off your blazer.

“Not exactly. I just…had a rude customer.”

“Well, fuck ‘em. They don’t matter anymore. But you know what does matter?” Jennie twirled around the living room until she got to the bottle of alcohol sitting at the coffee table. You giggled as she picked it up and held it above her head like it was baby Simba. Your mood instantly lifted and your expression became sunnier. You tossed your belongings on the floor, took your shoes off and joined your best friend on the floor by the television as she carefully balanced the amount of vodka and orange juice she poured into your mickey mouse cup while jutting her tongue out with a furrowed brow.

You smiled as you took your cup from her hand, already able to smell the alcohol in it though it was inches from your nostrils. “So, how was your day? What’d you do?” You took a sip and grimaced as the fluid burned all the way down your esophagus to the pit of your stomach where it dissipated into a cloud of warmth that bloomed from the inside out.

Jennie also took a sip of her drink then squeezed her eyes shut with a squeal as her top knot drooped over her forehead. You chuckled, rolling your eyes at her inability to handle strong drinks but finding it endearing, nonetheless.

“It was great, actually! I got some cleaning done and then I went downtown to meet with an old friend who’s done some print shoots for Vogue. He said I could come down sometime and watch him work!” She continued gushing for some time and you couldn’t help but think back to the time you two first had a drink together and talked at her apartment. It was very reminiscent, except you clearly remembered having wine instead, and she also seemed much sadder back then. There was a fire behind Jennie’s words now that you couldn’t put your finger on, but it was nice to see your friend so alive and passionate for the first time.

As you downed the rest of your cup, you couldn’t help but wonder how easy your relationship with her might’ve turned out if you had decided to hit on Jennie at Yoongi’s party instead of befriending her. It’s not like it didn’t cross your mind. She was a pretty girl that shared your taste in music, what more did you need? As you stared at the bottom of your cup, you tried to think about why you friend zoned Jennie right away. Perhaps it was your experience dealing with straight girls going through a phase, perhaps you were just feeling a little antisocial that night, but either way, you couldn’t go back and change things. Maybe this was how it was always meant to be. The thought both comforted you and bothered you.

Jennie stopped talking long enough to pour you another drink, and though she made it exactly as she did the last one, you hardly tasted the alcohol, that’s how you knew you were already getting drunk.

You both decided that trash reality television would be the choice of entertainment for the night, and as she searched for the remote to turn up the volume, you put your phone on vibrate as several texts from Jungkook came through all at once.

Jennie turned the lights off and then came to sit by you. “So, where’s fuck boy? I thought you said you were inviting him.”

“Not anymore.” You answered curtly which had the girl’s eyebrows shooting up. Nonetheless, she didn’t press further as she sensed your tension on the matter. You felt petty as you sat there in the dark, ignoring your flashing phone screen. You knew he hadn’t sent his cousin to your job to aggravate you, but the whole thing upset you anyhow and you just wanted the freedom of one night to express your annoyance no matter how one sided it was.

After a while, however, Jennie rested her head on your shoulder and spoke barely above the television, “You wanna talk about it?”

You sighed, putting your second empty cup down and blinking the blur out of your eyes. Your fingers were tingling and a warm buzz spread throughout your body. “No, not really. Let’s keep talking about you though. I want to hear more about your photographer friend.” You slurred your words a little towards the end which had you both chuckling. You shoved her for snorting, and she toppled over onto the floor, spilling her drink in the process.

“Look what you did!” Jennie yelled while staring at the liquid spreading under the couch.

“What I did!?” You guffawed as you shakily got up to retrieve paper towels. When you returned, you stumbled over her to dab at the mess with a massive ball of napkins. You both laughed as she pushed you off of her and onto the floor. You laid there for a while, staring at the wiggly ceiling as she finished wiping up the floor.

You sat up when you heard her cuss under her breath. “What, what’s wrong?”

“It’s going to get sticky, there’s a lot of sugar in that juice. We should’ve poured some water first before wiping it up. And speaking of water, you should probably have some. All that sugar will give you a hangover.”

As she got up, you took her wrist and pulled her back down. She looked at you in confusion, then froze as she watched your head come closer to hers. Jennie sat there for a while, unable to breath as you brushed your nose against her cheek and smelled her hair. Coconut, as always.

“Y/N…” Her voice was shaky and low. You hummed in response, bringing your hand up to caress her face. All you could think about were the possibilities you were missing out on, all of the could’ve beens and the should’ve beens. Your hand cupped her cheek as you leaned your forehead onto hers. Jennie gulped, her fingers trembling over your palm.

“Fuck the water,” You whispered against her lips before crashing your mouth against hers in a heated kiss. She didn’t move at first, taking time in her inebriated stated to realize this was actually happening and that she wasn’t hallucinating. Slowly, her trembling fingers slid up to your face and into your hair before she reciprocated.

Jennie gasped on your mouth as you tugged on her strands and licked at her reddened lips. You blushed, listening to her tiny whimpers and muffled moans, knowing you were the cause for all of them. You tried to remember the few times you two had kissed in the past and wondered if this was the most tender of all times. It certainly felt much more romantic than you were used to being with her.

You detached yourself from Jennie’s puffy lips before kissing her cheek then dragging your lips down her jaw and onto the soft skin of her neck that was now breaking out in goosebumps. Her chest heaved, her hands hesitating on your shoulders.

You paused to move her hair off of her shoulder and tuck stray strands behind her ears, then began planting feather light kisses on her shoulder. She inhaled deeply and moved her head to the side to expose more of her neck for you to ravage with your sinful mouth. You nipped just under her jaw then nuzzled into the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply.

“Mmm. I love whatever it is you put in your hair. I don’t know if you know that but…I’m telling you now.” You giggled at yourself, able to hear how drunk you sounded but being able to do nothing about it.

“You’ve never told me that before,” Jennie was wistful for a second before perking up, “Tell me something else you’ve never told me before.”

“Hmm…” You paused and took another deep breath, sitting back to look at her. She looked back at you timidly, almost regretting her question, until you answered.

You took her hands in yours then brought them up to your face to kiss. “You’re the only person that’s ever cared about me this much and I love you for that.” Jennie stopped breathing for the second time, but you didn’t notice. You kissed her hands one more time before lacing your fingers through hers and standing up, bringing her with you.

You led her to the bedroom, sitting her down on the edge before climbing on top. You scooted towards the middle of the bed, smiling down at her lazily and tugging at her shirt sleeves. She sat up briefly to remove the top then laid back down. You stared down at her bra, recognizing it immediately.

“I remember helping you pick this one out.” Jennie blushed again, feeling shy under your scrutinizing gaze. “It’s pretty on you.” You blushed too, feeling out of your element. You weren’t used to being romantic, especially not with her. But if this was the kind of thing she needed, you’d be happy to oblige.

With nothing left to say, you leaned down and kissed her tenderly, placing your hands on her chest and feeling the delicate beading on your palms and the plush feel of her breasts against your fingertips. You were afraid it might feel wrong, to kiss your best friend and mean it, and not just because you were fighting or to even a score, although you were drunk yet again. But that couldn’t be helped, because you weren’t sure if you’d have the courage or even the desire to do this otherwise.

Your hands snaked around her torso before clumsily fumbling with her bra clasp. You both giggled while kissing since it was taking you way too long to get it off. Finally, you let her take over. She undid the bra quickly, letting the garment fall down her arms and onto the bed.

You blushed, looking at her bare breasts in the harsh light of your bedroom. Suddenly your mouth was dry, so you swallowed thickly, bringing a hand to her chest and resting your palm over her hardened nipple. You looked up at her face, and it took her a minute to rip her eyes away from your hand and meet yours. You leaned in and kissed her again, enjoying the feeling of how soft her lips felt against yours compared to how it felt when kissing Jungkook. The feeling of novelty wasn’t lost on you as you engaged in this tender experience with her. It all felt extremely intimate, so you hesitated more than usual.

With one last kiss on her lips, you lowered yourself in between her legs and took her nipple into your mouth, sucking at the bud then laving at it with your tongue. She let out a shaky breath and patted the top of your head. You closed your eyes, kneading her other boob with your freehand while gently tugging on her nipple with your teeth. She let out a low moan, shifting underneath you. You could tell she was getting worked up quickly, so you slowly kissed your way back up to her face to tease her a bit.

You noticed she was trembling slightly, and you smiled against her skin, finding it endearing that you could have such an effect on her. You kissed below her ear once more then her temple but suddenly stopped, feeling your lips moistened with salty fluid that could only mean one thing. You leaned back and noticed her crumbling expression, instantly panicking and wondering if you did something wrong.

Her bottom lip trembled as more tears spilled from the corners of her sparkling eyes.

“Hey, hey,” You cooed softly, brushing her hair out of her face then moving off of her to sit up on your elbow, “what’s the matter?”

“I…I just,” Jennie struggled to form the right words to say, to convey the mix of emotion she was feeling, “It’s just…” You waited patiently with a concerned expression but nodded along, not wanting to rush her. “It’s too hard.” She sniffled and sat up, “I’m getting over you Y/N. I mean, I was… I’ve been doing so good, because I was sure you’d never ever feel the same about me and…you just tell me you love me out of nowhere and--” A sob interrupted her, and your heart broke yet again. You hadn’t stopped to think about the fact that she might not want you to confuse her this way, and it made you feel awful. Jisoo was right, maybe you were self-involved.

“Fuck, Jennie, I’m so sorry. Fuck, I’m such an idiot.” You began sitting up from the bed, but her slight fingers clung onto the sleeves of your shirt, halting you from moving farther away from her. She threw her head back in an attempt to get the tears to stop flowing.

“You meant it, though? You love me?” She looked at you with wide teary eyes and you couldn’t help but chuckle faintly.

“Are you kidding me? Of course, I do. You’re all I have. You mean the world to me. How could you think you don’t?”

“Well,” Jennie smiled, wiping a stray tear from her face, “you’re not exactly the most expressive person.” You both chuckled lightheartedly.

“Yeah, well, I’m working on it.” You smiled, reaching for Jennie’s shirt and handing it to her. She looked down at the balled-up fabric in confusion.

“I don’t want to stop.” She looked up at you tentatively and you pursed your lips.

“But, you’re right though. Doing this is only going to make it harder for you to move on.”

“But if you love me then… why do I have to move on?” You smiled, finding her pouting to be the most adorable thing ever.

“Because, Jen, loving you doesn’t mean I’m in love with you.”

“Well, what’s the difference, anyway? Maybe loving me is just the first step towards being in love with me.” You giggled as she nuzzled up to you. You wrapped your arms around her and laid down together.

“The difference, is that only one of them leads to the kind of thing you’re looking for.” Jennie hummed against your chest, sliding her hands over your waist then under your top.

“And what do you think it is that I’m looking for?” Jennie’s hands slid upwards until they found the mounds on your chest, gently groping and kneading you above your bra. Your breath hitched in your throat.

“I…I’m not sure anymore.” You let out a shaky breath as her hand sneaked under your bra. Her fingers slid over your nipple and pinched it until it had you biting your lip for more. When she looked up at you to see your reaction, you lowered your head and kissed her, the heat from earlier returning tenfold.

You brought your hands to both sides of her face, holding her to you and closing your eyes to deepen the kiss.

“Does this mean you’re not moving on anymore?”

“Not if there’s a chance for us. Even the smallest chance. There’s no way I can move on then.”

You frowned, “That doesn’t seem fair to you Jen. I can’t promise you anything.”

“Well, I’m a big girl, and it’s not your decision to make, is it? Now stop talking, you’re ruining the mood.” You couldn’t help but crack a smile. She was as bossy as always. You finally started to feel like you two were the same as before.

“Yes ma’am.” You smiled against her lips then promptly removed your shirt. Her eyes raked over your body. You blushed as she pushed you down onto the bed to plant ravenous kisses all over you. She removed your bra with calculated dexterity, tossing the worn polyester to the ground and returned the favor enthusiastically.

She didn’t spend too much time focusing on your breasts, choosing instead to continue kissing her way down to your navel. Your stomach twitched when her hair tickled it softly, making her smile. She hooked her fingers over the waist band of your pants then gently tugged until they came off completely. She paused to stare at your barely covered cunt, much to your curiosity.

Her hands slid up your bare legs sensually, and this time it was her turn for her mouth to run dry. She tentatively licked her lips as her hands reached your underwear, rubbing the fabric with her thumb and looking up at you. You stared back with a quirked brow, letting her have complete control of the situation.

Jennie turned back to the apex of your legs, decidedly taking her time on teasing you. This was the first time she’d ever gotten you under her, and she didn’t want the moment to pass her by so quickly. She wanted you to be the one begging for her this time around.

Jennie ran a single finger up and down your slit, causing you to squirm underneath her. Given the amount of alcohol you consumed in such a short amount of time, you were hornier and needier than usual. You also noticed how much more vocal you are, barely registering the hissing sounds sliding from your lips as your own. When her thumb began circling your clit above the cotton fabric, you threw your head back and rolled your eyes into your head. You were already getting wet from the teasing. You’d be embarrassed if you weren’t so desperate for her touch.

She bunched up the fabric and held it against your slit, moving it up and down and causing an excess amount of friction down the center. Your core was now hot and wet, overly ready for her tongue and fingers, but she wasn’t ready to concede just yet, not when you looked so cute torturing your bottom lip like that.

“Fuck, Jennie, stop teasing me!” The girl grinned mischievously, shushing you with a finger upon her lips.

“I’m going to do what I want and you’re going to like it.”

You grinned, knowing full well how stubborn your friend could be when she wanted to be.

“Do you know how many times I’ve fantasized about this moment?” She inserted her finger into her mouth and swirled her tongue around it before pulling it out with a pop. She moved your underwear to the side and slowly rubbed her drenched finger in between your folds, letting a sigh out when she felt and saw how slick they were for her.

You sat up on your elbows to get a better look at what was happening, bucking your hips each time her finger came close to your entrance. The devilish smirk on her lips every time she jerked her hand out of the way fired you up, so you pushed her hand off of her and pounced on the girl, pinning her to the bed.

Jennie giggled, attempting to wriggle free but to no avail.

“You think it’s funny to tease me?” You nibbled on her ear then rested your head at the crook of her neck, feeling how warm she was as you tightened your grip on her wrists. Jennie shivered, knowing your tone of voice could only mean she was in for it now.

You moved both of her wrists to one hand, the other trailing down her figure until it reached her breasts. You pinched her engorged bud roughly, earning a couple mewls from the helpless girl underneath you.

But your hand didn’t stop there. Once it was done assaulting her perky breasts, it continued trailing down, bypassing her shorts and her underwear and sliding straight into her slick folds. She gasped, struggling against your tight hold on her. She’d expected you to tease her in return, so she wasn’t prepared at all when two of your fingers slid into her abruptly.

Jennie closed her eyes, widening her legs to give you better access to her most intimate parts. She writhed and moaned under you, much to your amusement. You bit your lip watching the way she abused hers in an attempt to not scream once you found her g spot.

“Y/N…Y/N…” Her body trembled, her walls quivering around your digits the more you assaulted the fleshy mound inside of her that drove her absolutely insane. You could tell how close she was, so you paused to remove the rest of her clothing. You didn’t want to miss the sight of her orgasm in its entirety.

Once she was completely naked, you wasted no time re-entering her and finding her g-spot again.

“Cumming already?” Your thumb slid upwards along her folds until it found her sensitive clit, circling tightly around it. “I can’t believe you’re going to cum this quickly when I haven’t even used my mouth on you yet.”

“Fuck you.” Jennie spat the words out at you in between moans with flushed cheeks and a sweaty chest. You chuckled, increasing the speed of your fingers pumping in and out of her to drive her over the edge.

Her tight pussy squeezed the life out of your fingers as she moaned extra loudly, her orgasm quickly approaching. The sight of her writhing under you had you flooding your own underwear. You wanted so badly to mark every inch of her smooth skin with your mouth, to make her see stars with your tongue.

“That’s it baby, c’mon.” You stared down between her legs, mesmerized by the way she was squirting for you just from your two fingers. Your tongue darted out and licked your lips at the sight of her drenched pussy, wondering what the fluid tasted like. The last time you had fingered her, you didn’t get to see her cum, and boy, did you deprive yourself. “Fuck, you’re so hot.” Jennie moaned in response, struggling to move your fingers away from her oversensitive core. You conceded, only to lean down and lick a thick stripe between her legs to taste what your tongue had missed out on. Her legs trembled and she fell backwards onto the bed, panting with exhaustion. You bit your lip, your mouth glistening with her arousal. She laid before you, naked, beautiful and spent. You smiled, hoping she was enjoying herself as much as you were.

You sat up on your knees, climbing over her to give her a kiss for being such a good girl for you, but when you got closer to her face, you realized her breathing was even, too even.

You must’ve underestimated how plastered she was, because apparently the orgasm was strong enough to put her to sleep immediately. You chuckled, settling for a kiss on the forehead before climbing off of her. You laid beside her, pulling the blanket up to cover you both as you nuzzled into her side with your arm draped over her mid-section.

You were still buzzed, but you weren’t tired for some reason, so you settled for listening to her breathing for a while, hoping the rhythmic sounds would lull you to sleep, and they probably would have, if it wasn’t for the sound of your front door opening and closing jolting you awake.

Your eyes widened and you sat up instantly, the bedsheets falling off of you to expose your naked chest at your intruder standing at the doorway. Jungkook’s irises darkened, trained on your hardened nipples. You stared back at him, unsure of what to say. He looked pissed, and rightfully so.

The last time you fucked Jennie, you did it to get back at him for keeping a huge secret from you, knowing it’d hurt him because it was with Jennie, of all people. But this time was different. You fucked her because you wanted to. Frankly, you weren’t sure which one was worse. You swallowed thickly, your eyes trained on each and every one of his movements.

He never broke eye contact with you, not when he removed his blazer and shoes, and definitely not when he removed his tie. His eyes flitted to Jennie sleeping beside you briefly before coming back to you. His jaw was tightened, his expression hardened. You’d never seen him so visibly mad before, and it sent a thrill down your spine. Still, his silence was deafening, but you weren’t sure if you preferred it to his yelling. Your eyes were glued to his, but there was a magnetic pull drawing you to his body, especially as his veiny hands undid the buttons of his dress shirt, one by one, to expose his taught muscles. His tense disposition only caused his muscles to flex harder, and it was making your head swim.

Once his shirt was off, he removed his belt roughly, tonguing the inside of his cheek in annoyance as he mulled over whatever it was that was going through his mind. His pants were barely hanging onto the dip of his hips when he held up shiny metal objects that jingled when they moved. You swallowed again, feeling grateful when he finally spoke.

“You left your keys in the door, again, if you’re wondering how I got in.”

“Oh…” It was all you could say. You weren’t sure if you should start to explain yourself, partly because it was obvious what was going on when he got here and also because suddenly the excuse about being mad at Jisoo seemed corny. It’s not like you were cheating on him exactly, but you knew this could still hurt him, and it made you feel guilty as hell.

Jungkook tossed the keys onto your desk with a loud clang. He sighed, frowning at your lack of words, so you cleared your throat to fill the silence, “I… um…sorry I didn’t text you back…”

“I can see you were busy.” You blushed, feeling judged with the way he quirked his brow. Suddenly, he continued removing his clothing, and it only just now dawned on you that he wasn’t leaving in rage. In fact, he was getting ready to stay.

Your mouth watered at the sight of him kicking his dress pants off, exposing his bulging thighs and standing in the light of your bedroom, eyes on you.

“Are you mad? You look mad.” You blurted out the words you were thinking, feeling relieved when you said them, then not so relieved when he didn’t answer you. He simply turned around to remove his watch and place it on your desk along with his keys and wallet. Then, he walked over to the light switch and turned the lights off before making his way over to you and climbed on the bed, taking purchase on the opposite side Jennie was on. He climbed under the sheets then turned to you and hugged you tightly, pulling your back flush against his hot chest.

“Mad? Nah…annoyed? Yes. Very much so. I hate when you ignore my texts.” He took a deep breath, both of his arms squeezing you for dear life. You felt comforted in his warm embrace, spooning in bed as you had done together many times before.

“Sorry. I was being petty because—”

“Jisoo. I know. Don’t worry, I talked to her already.”

You laid together in silence for a while. Your initial fears at his arrival dissipated into warm feelings of affection and relief. Suddenly the sleep that had eluded you found you, and you realized you hadn’t been able to sleep before because of all your thoughts about Jungkook.

You yawned and spoke sleepily, “I love you too, you know what right?”

Jungkook’s pensive demeanor cracked and made way for a small smile hidden in the disarray of your hair, “Yeah, I kinda figured that already.”

You chuckled, rolling your eyes in the darkness of your room. You looked towards Jennie again, wondering how it was possible for someone to be such a pretty sleeper. You yawned again, wanting to hold out on sleeping just yet to say one more thing.

“I wasn’t talking about me ignoring your texts.”

“I know…and you know that I’m the jealous type. But… I can’t waste my time getting mad at you over this, you’re just going to do whatever you want anyway.” Jungkook’s hand slid up your chest until it rested comfortably on your boob, giving it a squeeze. “Also, I know you love me, and I guess that’s enough for me for now.” Suddenly you were aware of his boner pressing up against your backside. “Plus I’ve already made up my mind to punish you in the morning.”

You sighed contently, closing your eyes and falling asleep in the arms of the man you loved, sleeping next to the woman you absolutely adored.

It was only a few hours later when you awoke. The room was still dark for the most part, but a few streams of light floated in through the blinds and illuminated spots in the hardwood floor with a dull purple glow. You were still very much in Jungkook’s embrace, and you were in no hurry to leave it.

Jennie had shifted over on her side sometime during the night to face you. You wondered if she had woken up long enough to notice Jungkook was sharing the bed with you both, and upon focusing on her face, you noticed she was indeed awake. It only took a few seconds for her eyes to meet yours. You shot her a dreamy smile that bordered on cocky, one that said, remember when I made you cum so hard you fell asleep? You wriggled your eyebrows, earning a smile and an eye roll from the girl.

You noticed her eyes fall from your gaze and journey downward, surveying your naked torso with Jungkook’s large hands wrapped around you. Her eyes got all the way down to the underwear that you still had on. She wondered if they were still moist from earlier when she was having her way with you briefly.

“Can’t sleep?” You whispered to her, not wanting to wake up Jungkook.

She shook her head, reaching out a tentative hand to run her fingers down your stomach to the waist band of your panties. “No. Now that I’m not drunk anymore, I want more.” The tips of her fingers slid just past the band, massaging the skin just underneath it and causing your lower stomach to twitch in response.

“You’re so needy.” You both chucked sleepily. Her hand slid down further, making slight contact with your lips and it made you lose humor instantly. You froze, wondering if Jungkook was awake yet or not, but you felt his even breath at the back of your neck which told you he was still sleeping like a kitten. You bit your lip, looking at the mischievous look on Jennie’s face. She can’t possibly be planning on doing what I think she’s doing.

“You’re kidding right?” Your voice hitched as her fingers pressed into your clit. Your legs were closed with Jungkook’s draped over yours, but she was still able to squeeze in between your folds and apply pressure to the right spot. Your walls instantly clenched, and you did everything you could not to buck to the rhythm of her touch and possibly wake up Jungkook. “Jennie…Jungkook’s right here, you’re insane.” You hissed quietly at her, but it wasn’t intimidating enough for her to stop

“Oh please, as if you two haven’t fucked while I was sleeping nearby.” Oh shit. “Yeah, I know about that. So, are you going to be a hypocrite? Or are you going to let me finger you like a little slut while your boyfriend’s wrapped around you?”

You licked your lips, words failing you. The thought shamefully excited you. Your silence was your admittance to feeling sorry that she knew about that, and it was also permission to punish you for it.

She slid a digit down along your folds and hummed with approval. Turns out, you were just as moist as she’d presumed.

Jennie carefully scooted closer so your faces were mere centimeters from each other. The new proximity allowed her finger to enter you comfortably from a new angle. You closed your eyes and sighed, reveling in the feeling of her being inside of you and massaging the dull ache that manifested itself when you were initially making out hours ago. You hadn’t had your release yet and you felt like you were so tightly wound that you could burst at any second. It would also explain why you were already flooding after a few thrusts of her finger inside you.

Jennie’s nipples hardened instantly, her own legs shifting for friction. She was so unbelievably turned on right now, not only because of the danger but also because she was finally getting to pleasure you like she’d always wanted to, and the way your body responded to her was making her head swim. Her fingers got greedy, swirling inside of you to make obscene noises with your leaking arousal. Your mouth hung open and your eyes glazed over. When she saw you were about to moan, she leaned in and pressed her lips onto yours, slipping her tongue into your mouth and swirling it around yours. You were forced to keep your mouth open while her finger slipped in and out of you, making increasingly embarrassing noises that had you blushing. You were definitely a little slut for her.

Your walls soon began squeezing her finger periodically, and your stomach began twitching. You shut your eyes, panting while feeling like you were going mad not being able to move or make a sound.

When you thought you might finally cum, your eyes shot open and Jennie’s finger inside you stilled as Jungkook growled by your ear.

“Are you getting her ready for me?” Jungkook’s groggy voice was impossibly deep, his sultry tone registering with the depths of your core. You blinked a few times in the dark, then looked at Jennie who was looking just past your shoulder.

“No, actually, I was getting her ready for my tongue.”

“Well, that’s too bad, it’s my turn to punish her.” Your eyes widened even more, realizing they were having a conversation about you while you were right there in between them about to cum.

“Fine. But I want to make her cum first.” Jennie’s voice was monotone and decided, resuming her finger’s movement. Your shallow breathing returned, a feeling of confusion, bewilderment and arousal intermingling inside your fuzzy mind.

Suddenly, Jungkook’s hand squeezed your breasts as his fingers began playing with your nipple. His other hand slid down the curve of your figure to your leg and hoisted one up, giving Jennie better access to your pussy and free reign over your entrance.

He pressed a kiss into the bottom of your ear and it had you shivering in anticipation, “Were you close to cumming, baby?” All you could do was nod, resuming your focus on Jennie’s fingers. She slid in a second one and began pumping them at a sweet languid pace that had you bucking your hips into her palm. Jungkook didn’t stop tending to you, peppering kisses down your neck and onto your shoulder. His hand on your leg groped your flesh and his boner pressed up against your back side, waiting impatiently for its turn inside of you.

Jungkook’s hand slid from your inner thigh to your clit suddenly, rubbing circles into the nub as Jennie worked her magic on your core. You began moaning uncontrollably and bucking your hips wildly, unable to reason how this could feel so so good.

“That’s it, baby.” Jungkook’s cooing in your ear was your undoing. You came all over Jennie’s fingers without abandon, leaning back into Jungkook’s hard body for support. You moved their hands away from you at the feeling of over stimulation, but Jungkook wasn’t letting you off the hook. He wasn’t one to let go of a grudge so easily, that was for sure.

Without warning, he hooked your leg over his arm and brought it further up, lining his now exposed penis up with your entrance and pushing in. You moaned loudly, feeling the girth of his cock entering you without resistance. You trembled and squeezed your eyes shut, feeling the entirety of his motion from being overly sensitive. Suddenly, Jennie’s fingers were at your mouth, waiting for entrance. You parted your lips, letting her digits in and sucking on them sensually, tasting yourself on every inch.

Jennie bit her lip, pleased with how good you were being for her. Her irises darkened, watching Jungkook enter you roughly. You kept your eyes on her, getting off on her watching Jungkook begin fucking you without mercy, taking all of his frustration out on your sopping wet cunt. Jungkook’s hands held you roughly as tight groans and hisses escaped his mouth. He loved the way it felt to fuck you after you’ve just orgasmed.

Suddenly, Jennie looked past your shoulder to the boy with a focused look on his face and bangs matted down on his sweaty forehead.

“I want her to eat me out while you fuck her.”

Jungkook barked a laugh, sneering as he pounded into you rather roughly, earning a cry from you. “Not a fucking chance.”

They spoke over your loud moans. Your fingers reached out to play with Jennie’s nipples while she continued watching you getting pounded into the mattress.

“You’re so greedy Jungkook.”

“Don’t fucking push it, I’ve been nice enough, haven’t I?” Jungkook’s eyes furrowed, focusing on how tight your walls felt around his throbbing member. He slowed his thrusts and changed his angle, bucking his hips into you sweetly. You both hissed at the feeling. He bit his lip at the sight of your sweaty body surrendering to the feeling of him being inside of you over and over again. You hadn’t been fucked like this in a while, and the stimulus from both your lovers in close proximity was making you want to cum again so soon. “Is my cock that good baby? You’re already squeezing the shit out of it and I’ve barely fucked you how I want to.” You couldn’t speak, not when you were so focused on your second orgasm that was bound to make you see stars, so you nodded and bit your lip. Not to mention, Jungkook was being extra vocal and it was a weakness of yours.

Jungkook looked at Jennie as you nodded, a smug smirk on his face. Her eyes were fiery, unable to believe his audacity, but also wanting to see you cum again.

“I’ll tell you what,” Jungkook moved his lips towards your ear but maintained his eyes on Jennie, “I’ll let you cum if you say my name. I’ll fuck your little pussy just how I know you like it.”

“Fuckkk, Jungkook!” You moaned his name as his fingers returned to your clit, his hips rocking into you with renewed intensity.

Jennie licked her lips, her eyes glazing over lustfully as she brought her finger down to her own clit to rub furious circles at the sight of you getting fucked like a bitch. She was unbelievably jealous but so turned on at the same time. Her own walls were drenched and closing around nothing, the feeling driving her crazy. She craved your expert mouth on her lips, both above and below, but she recognized that look on Jungkook’s face. He wasn’t prepared to share you any more than he had been already.

“Junkook, Jungkook, Jungkook!” The boy smiled cockily, loving the way his name spilled from your lips repeatedly. How could something sound so sweet and innocent yet inherently filthy at the same time? He wanted to show you how much you were his and only his with each thrust driving the point home every time he bottomed out inside of you.

“That’s it baby. Now, who do you love?” Jungkook whispered in your ear, but not low enough for Jennie not to hear.

“You. I love you. Please, I want to cum!” Jungkook chuckled deeply, speeding up his fingers on your clit while glancing at Jennie to make sure she heard.

“As you wish.” Jungkook’s hips bucked into yours relentlessly, shifting your body roughly atop the bed sheets, but he didn’t hear your moans, much to his confusion. He leaned over and realized it was because Jennie was kissing you, quivering from her own orgasm that she had quietly reached from her own fingers. The sight was enough for Jungkook to cum right then and there, so he was grateful when your orgasm came quickly, making your body go limp in his arms and drenching his reddened dick. Jungkook moaned, feeling pure ecstasy as he released his seed into you. Your pussy quivered, getting filled to the brim.

The three of you panted, laying on your backs in a heap of limbs. You continued kissing Jennie until her orgasm left her feeling weak again, all the while Jungkook rubbed circles into your skin while catching his breath. You were the last one to fall asleep, your head swimming with thoughts of what just happened. Above all, you felt more complete than you ever had, not having to sacrifice one love for another, at least for tonight. You knew your days were numbered, but nonetheless you sighed in contentment. You didn’t know what the morning would bring, after all. You just never knew with these two.

200 notes · View notes

thesunnyshow · 3 years

Text

Name: kelsie Writing Blog URL(s): @lovingyong

Age: 22

Nationality: american

Languages: english, some sign language and spanish

Star Sign: libra

MBTI: INFJ

Favorite color: pink

Favorite food: taco bell (lol)

Favorite movie: pride and prejudice, kill bill, gone with the wind, or the handmaiden

Favorite ice cream flavor: green tea

Favorite animal: otter

Coffee or tea? What are you ordering? tea or hot chocolate. never coffee because i’m allergic

Dream job (whether you have a job or not): human rights attorney or writer

Go-to karaoke song: never gonna give you up - rick astley

If you could have one superpower, what would you choose? teleportation

If you could visit a historical era, which would you choose? mmm hard to say bc i enjoy my rights as a woman so i guess probably the 90s

If you could restart your life, knowing what you do now, would you? Only starting at the summer before high school

Would you rather fight 100 chicken-sized horses or one horse-sized chicken? horse sized chicken but i could not explain why. It’s just my gut instinct

If you were a trope in a teen high school movie, what would you have been? I was the floater/nobody for sureeeee

Do you believe in aliens/supernatural creatures? yes aliens allll the way lets go

Fun fact about yourself that not everyone would know? I only type with two fingers on each hand but can still type 60 wpm

What fandom(s) do you write for? nct but i want to also start writing for haikyuu soon

When did you post your first piece? july of 2018

Do you write fluff/angst/crack/general/smut, combo, etc? Why? I like a good combo. Life is never completely fluffy or totally angsty. It’s good to have a balance to make it all seem more realistic and immersive

Do you write OCs, X Readers, Ships...etc? x reader right now but when i write for haikyuu, it’ll be ships

Why did you decide to write for Tumblr? I think it was just… there and available. Ao3 is fun but there’s not a lot of chances or opportunities for interaction so i decided to go back to the hellsite

What inspires you to write? Oh goodness, anything and everything. Oftentimes it’s music. I hear a song and i’m immediately like i need a story for this asap

What genres/AUs do you enjoy writing the most? Mafia and crime. It’s such a guilty pleasure of mine

What do you hope your readers take away from your work? I just want it to be a temporary escape and provide at least some form of enjoyment

What do you do when you hit a rough spot creatively? Read more or watch anime just because both of those are enjoyable things for me but can also give me the inspiration to create again

What is your favorite work and why? Your most successful? you may regret this is literally my baby. It’s not my favorite, but i think taeyong’s spin off story, a way out, is because it's everything i wanted for ymrt, i just didn’t have the same skills at the time. Another favorite of mine is hanakotoba because it’s literally my heart and soul in a story and i’ll always have that deep personal connection to it. My most successful is white knuckle tight which is truly still fascinating for me because it was an idea i got on a random tuesday during christmas break and i just ran with it. I think it’s an alright story but it’s far from my favorite. I lack the emotional attachment that i have to other pieces.

Who is your favorite person to write about? taeyong. Writing him is almost like second nature to me. His character is always the easiest for me to construct and i think people will find he’s the most consistent character throughout stories. There’s not as much variation.

Do you think there’s a difference between writing fanfiction vs. completely original prose? Yes and no. i think writing kpop fanfiction is much more similar to original prose because you don’t have a world to build around. You only have a person. In fact, you don’t even have that. You only have an idea of a person to construct into a character. I think the only difference is that you can get away with a lot more unreasonable plot lines.

What do you think makes a good story? Good characters and enough emotion to create an attachment to the plot. I want to care about what’s happening and the best way to do that is by leading me to some sort of connection to the characters

What is your writing process like? Very chaotic and sporadic. I’ll come up with ideas at 3 am, make a random note about it, and then do my best to bring it to life when i’m actually awake. I don’t plan. I just have snippets of scenes i would like to include. So much of it is just writing whatever comes to mind while im writing it

Would you ever repurpose a fic into a completely original story? I’m doing so with one right now, though 8-% of it is getting scrapped and changed. There’s nothing wrong with that though. Having good bones is what matters and i think this story has exactly that

What tropes do you love, and what tropes can’t you stand? I love enemies to loves if it’s done right. Exes to lovers is another classic. Mafia is a given. Hanahaki and soulmates always does something to my heart. I can’t stand hybrid and a/b/o fics idk why i just have never been able to get into them. Yandere like tropes are also really hard to do right so i usually avoid those as well

How much would you say audience feedback/engagement means to you? It means a lot. I’m sure any writer can tell you that but it’s truly the reason i still write fanfic and haven’t just given up and written only original prose.

What has been one of the biggest factors of your success (of any size)? Timing. It’s always about which member is really getting to people at the moment and which trope is gaining traction. 85% of writing on tumblr is kind of just dumb luck

Do you think fanfic writers get unfairly judged? Yes. i think it just comes from lack of understanding

Do you think art can be a medium for change? Without a doubt. Art pieces as well as writings have made significant impacts in my life in a variety of ways. It’s a medium of awareness and recognition

Do you ever feel there are times when you’re writing for others, rather than yourself? Not really because i kind of just do whatever the fuck i want (sorry for my language lol) but i usually come up with totally self indulgent ideas and then just do it.

Do you ever feel like people have misunderstood you or your writing at times? No… not yet. I expected someone to with shattered memories but it seemed to do and say what i wanted to

Do your offline friends/loved ones know you write for Tumblr? My roommates. My friends know i write they just don’t know what

What is one thing you wish you could tell your followers? I’m doing my best and i wish i could put stories out more often

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers who might be too scared to put themselves out there? Just go for it. You have to try if you want to see any sort of results. Plus these people don’t know you so what’s the risk

Are there any times when you regret joining Tumblr? nah

Do you have any mutuals who have been particularly formative/supportive in your Tumblr journey? Kai, jewel, and abbey for sure. They were some of my closest mutuals when my blog really started to take off

Pick a quote to end your interview with:

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go… - dr. seuss

#@lovingyong #feature author #thesunnyshow #nct #episode 49 #haikyuu

13 notes · View notes

ohmygodtheywereparabatai · 4 years

Text

kinda pissed ngl

This post wasn’t supposed to be a rant...

I originally began by wondering what Valentine’s father must have been like, for him to be so influenced by him.

We’re told that he had a similar upbringing to Jace and Sebastian, one involving the expected manipulation and abuse. However, those two completely disavowed any association with Valentine, and hated him with a passion: one was prepared to kill him, while the other acknowledged him only though blood, downright saying “I’d like to spit in his bastard face” behind his back. I wondered why Valentine didn’t have this attitude toward his own father. How, instead, he destroyed himself and everyone around him while pursuing revenge. How a son in an abusive situation could love his father that much.

And, yeah, there’s many other factors that tie into Jace and Seb’s hatred, but that’s exactly my point. When it comes to Valentine’s relationship with his father, it’s a big, fat blank — and I hate it. First of all, there wouldn’t even be a Mortal Instruments series without the initial villain that propelled the plot, and this is that villain’s story! Why don’t we know more? Why is there this empty gap between Valentine being a “gentle, kind boy” who had “an intensity bent toward doing what was right, what was good” and then suddenly the murderous, raging sociopath takes center stage? With... zero elaboration??

Part of the reason I’m tired out by the hate is because we never get to find out why. Sebastian’s why is the demon blood coursing through his veins, his determination to bind his family to him, no matter how unwilling, and to raise Hell. It’s in his nature. He had no choice. His eyes were meant to be “green as spring grass”. We bawled for a reason.

All I’ve ever been trying to do since I became fascinated with Valentine’s character was filling in that why. The blank in his character arc – the blank that makes him look cartoonish, and just a bloated allusion to Hitler. It made him so easy to hate, and so difficult to understand. Why did he fight so hard for change, and as early as twelve years old? Why was he so good at manipulating people, at filling in a hole where they felt lacking, at being able to charm his way out of deadlines and due dates with just a smile? (That sounds like a legit superpower. Sign me up.) Why does he say the word “party” with such revulsion, as if at fifteen years old he wouldn’t even allow himself to have fun?

Who were Oskar and Seraphina? (He even had an uncle.) How do they fit into this villain’s backstory, the grief-fueled rage that ultimately defines his transition into the bad guy, and decides the fates of so many other characters? They have to be more than just a mention in the Shadowhunter Codex in order to flesh out Valentine’s character, in order to help us empathize with his downfall, and see his flaws echoed in ourselves. That’s the tried and true way to write a fantastic villain. To capture the very evil that resides in all of us – instead of taking abuse, racism, bigotry, whatever feature of modern politicians or conservative alt-rights you can slap onto a fictional character in order to evoke the strongest response from a target audience. Relying on real life and nothing else to give your antagonist dimension is a cheap move. I hated that Valentine was a springboard for Sebastian’s narrative. I hated that he was sidelined as the psychopath, when in reality he wasn’t genetically predisposed to violence at all – he became a monster. He wasn’t born one. He aligns with the criteria for a sociopath much more accurately, and on plenty of different levels (I did my research, Sherlock!!) But all for what?

This is the man that dies “unable to distinguish between force and cooperation, between fear and willingness, between love and torture”. This is the man that tells Jocelyn in her deleted story: “I’m afraid of losing myself in all this sometimes, Jocelyn. It’s why I need you. You keep me human.” ... and who loses himself anyway. This is the man that learned, painfully, that “To love is to destroy, and to be the one loved is to be the one destroyed.” Not Jace. Not Sebastian. This is the man that came to the conclusion that he was meant for a higher purpose, that he had driven away everyone he loved – and was forbidden from trying to retrieve them – because they were distractions, that he couldn’t allow himself to be human. We probably expected Valentine’s flower card to do with pride, or vanity, or rage. Instead, it was the anemone – a flower that means forsaken.

For·sak·en: abandoned or deserted.

There’s an underlying tragedy behind Valentine Morgenstern, and I’ve struggled to dig it up, at least for the last four years now. Though his actions are inexcusable, and there is no doubt that racism, bigotry, and abuse are the extents of his monstrosity... he was once the good guy. The hero, even, set on reforming the future, ensuring that the world would be safe. Instead, he becomes “the very monster he sought to destroy”, and the only word from him is? That he parallels himself to Milton’s Lucifer, and that’s about it. Fuck this.

.......

I just think the very first villain to ever grace Cassandra Clare’s seductive, compelling Shadowhunter universe – deserves a little bit better.

#long post #valentine morgenstern #shadowhunters books #tsc #the mortal instruments #shadowhunters #city of bones #city of ashes #city of glass #the circle of raziel #the secret treasons #the evil we love #tsc rant #cassandra clare

50 notes · View notes

yes-these-obsessions-are-healthy · 4 years

Text

Late-to-the-party disorganized reflection of Jessica Jones Season 1, sue me

One of the biggest things that bugs me about Jessica Jones Season 1 is... and this isn’t me attacking the writers.. but it’s the fact that Jessica is so dismissive of other peoples’ trauma at the hands of Kilgrave when she’s asked to include herself in the group therapy sessions. It’s a deep character flaw that I dislike but I’m still somewhat glad exists. It makes her more believable, but in exchange it makes me dislike her more than if she were to say nothing. She refers to them as “whiney”, which..no offense Jessica, but if what they’re doing is whining, then what are you doing when you bring up your trauma to Kilgrave?

To him, she’s whining just the same as them, only being far more unreasonable, and she uses that sentiment as an excuse to not go to the talks. She says to Malcolm at one point the equivalent of “Someone will always have it worse, so why should I air my dirty laundry out when I probably had it better than someone else”, as if it’s a suffering contest. The nature of victimization, the quality of it, the quantity of it, is what Kilgrave, and ultimately Jessica, are overly-fixated on.

For Kilgrave, the suffering of another person is fine by him because he doesn’t give a shit, but at the same time he thought he was being a great lover to Jessica by taking her all over the world and letting her wear fancy clothes and eating in the finest restaurants. What girl wouldn’t be happy about that? She’s just being ungrateful, she’s just being hysterical, he could have been so much worse to her. It’s a chilling thought process. “I COULD, but I won’t, and you should be thankful.” It’s the threat of a bad time that gives him power, and it is his frequent demonstration of how much of a bad time he could give someone that keeps him powerful.

The very character of Kilgrave is someone who is preoccupied with his wants and needs, like any psychopathic man-child who is desperate for a hit of serotonin that comes from having his whims met or doing what he feels like doing in the moment. His perception of things is the truth, his opinion of someone is how it actually is, and anything to the contrary is just a way for people to try to cage him in and control him. Everything is semantics, negligible, unimportant. The man can feel bad, but it’s self-pity or shallow concern. I think he does tiptoe close to feeling remorse for what he’s done to Jessica, but he stopped just at the ledge, looked down, saw the words “Accountability” and “Responsibility” emblazoned on the trampoline, and went “lol nope”. Because that would mean feeling bad, that would mean changing his self-serving behavior, and that shit is lame. Why would he make himself feel bad? He felt bad in the past, he felt tortured and traumatized by his parents (whether a psychopath or not, the experiments forced upon him would have made any child his age feel like a lab rat, I think, especially since they were so painful-looking..).

Where am I going with this...Kilgrave hits that sweet spot of 1% tragic villain and 99% horrible. He’s a nutter, he may have always been a nutter, or the experiments messed up his head. Whatever the case, his obsession with Jessica is the first time he’s ever felt infatuation for another person. He could list off all the things that fascinate him about her, and in the police station he tries to explain why he can’t stop thinking about her. She represents a challenge that half of him hopes to conquer, and the other half doesn’t. An eternal struggle between them to keep him entertained as he floats through life getting everything he wants. She can be his fiery woman, but she is his woman. She is a weapon he uses as he likes. And somewhere down the road he decided he was genuinely fond of her, but fondness does not translate to kindness and compassion when it comes to guys like Kilgrave, it just means you are too valuable to murder. Most of the time.

What strikes me the most though, is that I don’t know where the manipulation ends and where the self-delusion starts.

The manipulative explanation: Kilgrave is genre-savvy and knows what to say to make him out to be a psycho with a crush--i.e., oh he can’t comprehend what he’s doing is wrong! he didn’t choose to be crazy! He's only just now realized that this thing he feels is love and it may be the thing that he needs to help him become a better person! He wants to love someone and this is how he thinks he should go about it! Jessica, why would you give up on a chance on rehabilitating someone by teaching him the error of his ways? uwu. And he’ll pounce on those doubts and reel her in the first chance he gets. If he has to, he’ll use any innocent bystander as a way of getting her to go along with his bullshit. Maybe he’ll ease up on the criminal bullshit just to get her off his back, but...

The self-delusion explanation: He didn’t mean to hurt Jessica. Well, he did mean to hurt her on numerous occasions, but he didn’t want her to get mad or upset over it. He just wanted her to obey him and do what he said. Everything would be better if she just did what he wanted. Granted, he might have been a bit too harsh on her, but he never did it out of hatred! He has no concept of the depths of pain someone might feel; he’s quite skeptical of the idea that someone could be suffering so much under the surface while displaying the opposite sentiment on the outside. His psychopathy fuels, informs, and reinforces his powers, and vice versa. He doesn’t care about empathizing with others, so he will freely use his powers in a way that disregards them. He will go so far as to use his powers to make someone do something because he knows they don’t want to do it. With Jessica, I think he used his powers to force her to be someone he wanted her to be, but because the very nature of his powers are so pervasive, it truly is difficult for him to determine if someone is doing something against their will because he ordered them to, or if they are doing something because they were willing to do so anyway/agreed with him.

At some point Kilgrave, for whatever reason, came to believe Jessica was following his orders but had also internalized them. He probably thought Stockholm Syndrome had set in and she was happy. He saw what he wanted to see, because the alternative was ugly--someone he was really keen on didn’t truly like him back, and that revelation would’ve broken his underdeveloped heart. Yes, she was being controlled but she wanted to be controlled, she was fine with being compelled to do things because it was him giving the order. In his sad little head, he thought he had a chance to “Win” her back, and his efforts to not be a horrible human being in her presence for a day-and-a-half should have been enough for Jessica to realize he was serious. If anything else, he would try to ape the behavior of a “normal” human being for as long as he thought he would get rewarded for it in the end. He genuinely thought he was doing what she wanted while they were living in her house. He thought that he was truly on the path to redemption in her eyes, that his crimes could be forgiven or overwritten if he did enough good things (regardless if he did them for altruistic reasons). That was why he was so distraught and felt so betrayed. He didn’t understand that that is not how it works. Even if Jessica did forgive him, that still doesn’t change the fact that he hurt scores and scores of people throughout his life. The fact that he most certainly wouldn’t care says enough about how screwed up he is.

On a single, tissue-paper thin level I can empathize with Kilgrave when it comes to not understanding why people are making such a big deal about things like “peoples’ feelings”. When you are not in touch with your sense of compassion, or you do not know how to empathize with people, people berating you about your insensitivity and callous nature is like being berated in a foreign language. You hear the upset tone in their voice, but the points being made don’t make sense. While anyone who disregards someone’s bodily autonomy and displays a lack of remorse for their crimes (or fails to see why something is a crime) is repugnant, it’s a testament to the writers and David Tennant’s portrayal of Kilgrave that actually made me feel bad for the bastard for a few minutes. He’s so twisted, he’s done so much wrong, but he wouldn’t have done any of these things if he hadn’t been granted powers. He terrorized his parents until they abandoned him. If he had been a normal boy there might have been hope for putting him in an institution or something, but no, not with his powers of compulsion/persuasion. If you took either one of those features away--Psychopathy or Persuasion Virus--he would have not gone down the path he had. It was a perfect storm, it was inevitable he would have become a fully-fledged criminal after being abandoned by his parents before he even hit puberty. I truly believe that. You can pull up the “well not every psychopath is a criminal” but how many psychopaths have this sort of superpower IRL? I’m not talking the glib charm and persuasion, I mean forcing people to do things they don’t want to do as if they’re robots and he has a remote control.

His self-entitlement is off the charts, but it’s someone who didn’t choose to be crazy or choose his power but has come to be this way for whatever reason and I really, REALLY don’t want to use the word “gaslighting” because that word is overused to shit on the Internet to just mean “trying to lie your way out of a situation”, but I think that Kilgrave was trying to delude himself. He’s good at doing that, since it is impossible to talk to him without him being able to shut you up and make you cut your tongue out with scissors for angering him. Jessica was potentially the only person in the world who could maybe possibly get through to him, or at least deflate his bubble a bit. I know that Kilgrave would only allow it if he thought it would lead to Jessica giving him “another chance”, and when it didn’t happen he would accuse her of lying and trying to lead him on, as if she owed him forgiveness. That’s the kind of man he is. Quid pro quo and all that.

Going back to the very first paragraph, though...I don’t cite this writing as a mistake, but rather a deliberate effort to write her as someone whose response to trauma is not nearly as often seen in media. The pervasive image of a victim that has suffered what Jessica has suffered is someone blubbering in a corner and essentially wrecked, afraid of men, afraid of people, afraid of life in its entirety. ‘Someone who cries is exposing weakness.’ is the underlying message. Jessica nearly cries on many occasions after suffering a flashback or a nightmare, but she centers herself and shakes herself out of it because doing so comes more naturally to her than it may for others. I don’t really know how to explain it, but it’s not that people who “allow” their trauma to affect them are weak, but rather some people are able to mentally shake themselves out of its hold if given the proper tools to do so at a steadier clip than others. Predisposed skill level at processing trauma, and it’s a skill you learn and develop as time goes on, hopefully. Not all minds react to trauma the same way. Jessica fears Kilgrave, but she also hates him, she hates him in a way that translates to “I would lay my hands on you to remove you from my presence”, i.e. physical, verbal confrontation and rebuffs, whereas other forms of hatred that stem from trauma seem to be “I would do everything in my power to remove myself from your presence”, i.e. avoidance, hiding. Season 1 to me felt like a war between both instincts, and ultimately Jessica chose the former.

This isn’t to say that one must always choose to directly confront the source of their trauma and terminate it, since I think people can recover Jessica has shades of that, and it is a battle throughout the season of “Do I avoid him or do I confront him?”

She is a very shut-off person, really compartmentalizes everything while trying to make it seem like what happened to her doesn’t affect her, but only in front of strangers. When she is with Kilgrave she goes out of her way to remind him “Hey, you fucked me up, did you know that? YOUR CRIMES AGAINST MY PERSON FUCKED ME UP.” And he doesn’t know how to comprehend that. He expresses his disgust for the word “rape” because he believes the myth that rapists are the kind of people that hide in dark alleyways or skulk around skeevy dive bars. They’re cowardly, pathetic little men that resort to force because they can’t seduce a woman properly. But he! He is a suave well-dressed man with refined tastes! Women fall head over heels for him (until they realize he’s a horrible person, then they try to leave only to find they can’t). How many rapists attract the number of women he does? How many rapists are able to get a woman to say ‘yes’ without laying a hand on her? How many rapists shower their victims with expensive gifts and attention? How many rapists love their victims?

Zero! So that means he’s not a rapist, obviously! To be accused of rape is a big existential threat to him. It would mean challenging the nature of the relationship that he has created in his mind between him and Jessica. He came to think there was genuine love between them and he somehow lost her, or he failed to pick up on something and she ran away. He blames her for breaking his heart, but at the same time he comes close to admitting that maybe he did something wrong and it made her angry, so he should at least try to fix it to make her happy, as if she got fed up with him coming home late from the office one too many times. You know, something objectively minor but still considered important in her overdramatic female mind. I should note that Kilgrave does not come off as a man who thinks less of women for being women, but believes they are a bit different from men ala “Women are from Venus, Men are from Mars”. Women require different handling; they don’t always say what they want because they don’t want to admit that they want things. That ties into Jessica’s statement that she doesn’t flirt, she states what she wants. But Kilgrave demonstrates that even when a woman states in plain terms what she wants, men assume the woman is lying, in denial, means the opposite, or she can be persuaded...

It’s the discounting and downplaying of Jessica’s claims that really sell how far up his own ass Kilgrave really is.

So in short:

Psychopathy + male chauvinism + Unfettered infatuation + Persuasion virus = The Biggest Recipe for Disaster in the History of Gender Relations Ever

#this is basically just a bunch of thoughts written down with some coherency #these points have likely been touched on before but if I want to get this bastard out of my system I need to write them down #kilgrave #jessica jones #character analysis

10 notes · View notes

wizardofahz · 4 years

Text

Supergirl SG-1

Kara: I had to take the dog to the vet. Alex: You don’t have a dog. Me: Oh yeah, my Supergirl / Stargate SG-1 crossover fic...

Basically most things in both Stargate SG-1 and Supergirl are canon in this crossover, except the DEO replaces the NID in the Stargate universe.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Wormhole X-treme is real?”

As Alex snickers at Winn’s surprise, J’onn thinks to himself that he really should’ve known that Winn had watched that ridiculous show. He doesn’t bother reining Alex in as she begins to tease Winn. His next words will turn the tables anyway.

“Alex, General Carter will be arriving within the hour. I’d like you to be her liaison.”

As expected, Alex splutters. “I--” She points at herself as words seemed to fail her. “I’m meeting General Ca--” She swallows and tries again. “General Carter as in General Samantha Carter of Stargate Command, one of the founding members of SG-1?”

“Unless you’re too nervous”, Kara teases, clearly relishing the opportunity to get back at her sister for teasing her for her pre-meeting President Marsdin jitters.

“What? No! Me? Nervous?” Alex protests in a futile attempt to play it cool before letting her genuine feelings come to the fore. “Yes, yes, I’m nervous. She’s so badass and so smart. She blew up a sun. How many people can say they’ve blown up a sun? I’ve never blown up a sun. Even Supergirl hasn’t blown up a sun. She’s so cool,” Alex concludes almost dreamily.

J’onn holds back a sigh--H'ronmeer help him if Alex also asks if she should get a blow out--and says, “I trust you will handle this with appropriate poise?”

“What? Pssh,” Alex says with a nervous laugh. “I got this.”

When General Carter and her group arrive, it takes Alex some time to “get this”.

Watching her around General Carter is truly something, and J’onn has to step in before Alex can give her slack-jawed, starstruck introduction of, “Hi, General Danvers, I’m Agent Carter.”

Luckily, Alex’s hero worship takes a backseat when the science discussion comes around, and J’onn can leave her to it.

…

“While Agent Danvers fills Sam--” Cassandra Fraiser stops to correct herself. “--General Carter in on the scientific side of things, I’d like to talk to you about the more human side--” Fraiser stops again with a wry smile. “--wrong terminology, about the more personal side of things.”

Cassandra Fraiser is one of the civilians working with Stargate Command. She doesn’t look that much older than Kara, and apparently her specific role is helping settle displaced aliens on other habitable planets.

The case that she’s currently handling is somewhat similar to Kara’s. A race of aliens from a red sun orbiting planet are facing a crisis and need relocation. Preliminary tests have shown that if they move to a yellow sun orbiting planet, which they’re likely to, they may begin exhibiting lower levels of powers similar to Supergirl’s.

Hence coming to Supergirl and the DEO for help.

“I appreciate that you’re coming to me for help with adjusting to new powers,” Kara says, “but your priority should be helping them face the trauma of losing their planet.”

“That part I’ve got,” Fraiser answers easily. “It’s the new superpowers part that I’d like to understand better if we’re going to help them deal with it.”

Kara leans forward. “No, you don’t understand. Losing their world is, it’s beyond devastating.”

The wry smile returns to Fraiser’s face. “And I’m saying this as a fellow alien who is the last of my people, that part I understand.”

Kara observes Fraiser more carefully now and asks, “You’re an alien?”

Fraiser nods. “I’m from a planet called Hanka. My people were slaughtered by one of the Goa’uld System Lords. I was twelve when Sam and her team brought me to Earth.”

“I’m sorry,” Kara says, and she means it. No one looking at her would assume she is an alien, much less one shouldering such an emotional weight. Now she’s gone and assumed the same of Fraiser.

“I’m sorry about your planet too,” Fraiser offers. Then she bows her head as if embarrassed. “I actually have you to thank for me being here. I saw you on the news, and I-- I struggled a lot to adjust on this planet. It felt like death kept following me, so I kept running. Seeing you out there, knowing how much you’ve been through and how much you’re still willing to give, it inspired me.”

“I’m glad you seem to have found your calling. I’m sure you’re great at it,” Kara says, truly glad to have found another kindred spirit.

This time Fraiser blushes. “Not sure about that. This is actually my first case.”

“Oh, well, I’m sure you will be great at it then,” Kara says confidently. Then she switches gears, which Fraiser seems grateful for, “So based on what you said earlier, I guess you didn’t have to deal with new superpowers when you got here?”

“Not unless you count growing a bomb in my chest,” Fraiser responds casually. At Kara’s aghast look, she adds, “Long story and thankfully not a recurring thing.” Then she remembers, “Actually, when I was a teenager I developed magnetic powers, but they almost killed me, and that’s also a long story. At this point, all I’ve got is that I can sense Naquadah and theoretically use Goa’uld devices.”

Kara finds herself wanting to hear all the stories but tells herself that now isn’t the time. Instead she says, “We never encountered the Goa’uld on Krypton.”

“They never really expanded that far outside the Milky Way galaxy. Nasty snakes. Good riddance.” Fraiser shudders. After a moment of quiet reminiscence, she suddenly perks up. “Oh, good thing about coming to Earth though: getting a dog.”

That also causes Kara to perk up. “You got a dog?”

“It’s an Earth rule. Every kid has to have a dog.”

“What?!”

…

“These are the sun grenades that I mentioned,” Alex says as she holds one out to General Carter for closer inspection.

Now that she’s calmed down, interacting with General Carter isn’t that intimidating, and as long as she concentrates on science, her mind doesn’t get the chance to freak out.

“These are fascinating,” General Carter says, and Alex smiles at the compliment.

“I figured that we can bring some to their home planet,” Alex says, referring to the aliens in need of relocation. “We can set one off in a controlled setting and see how they react.”

Before General Carter can respond, Kara storms into the room, Cassandra Fraiser close behind.

“Why didn’t I get a dog?” Kara demands.

As Alex turns around, it takes her brain a while to register what Kara said. “What?”

“When I came to Earth, why didn’t I get a dog?” Kara repeats. “It’s an Earth rule. Every kid has to have a dog.”

“What?” Now Alex feels even more confused. “That’s not a thing.”

She seems to be the only one who doesn’t know what’s going on because General Carter and Cassandra Fraiser are both smiling knowingly.

“It’s not an Earth thing. It’s a General O’Neill thing,” General Carter explains.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t really clarify things for Alex, but it does a semi-decent job of placating Kara. Despite the pout, she settles against one of the lab benches. “Well it should be an Earth thing.”

“Even I didn’t get a dog,” Alex points out. “Besides, you had Streaky.”

Kara crosses her arms. “Doesn’t mean I couldn’t have had a dog too.”

…

“Do you want me to come along?” General Carter asks Cassandra Fraiser in the gateroom as she double checks the younger woman’s gear. “I can ask Walter to clear my meetings.”

Alex perks up at that, almost salivating at the prospect of seeing General Carter in action. She and Kara will be the only DEO members joining the Stargate Command contingent, but J’onn has come to see them off.

“No,” Fraiser responds immediately, and Alex deflates. “Stop worrying. And I thought Jack was bad.”

“Yes, well, speaking of,” General Carter says with an amused smile. "Please don’t use any of his diplomacy techniques.”

Fraiser rolls her eyes. “Oh, sure, I’ll just stick with Daniel’s. He only dies every few years.”

J’onn holds back a snort. He’s seen the file of one Dr. Daniel Jackson, and that is not a hyperbole.

“Not helping,” General Carter says.

“You brought Teal’c out of retirement to go with me. I’ll be fine.”

As if on cue, a large black man--no, another alien, J’onn corrects himself, a Jaffa--enters the gateroom. “I give you my word that no harm will come to Cassandra Fraiser.”

“I have no doubt,” General Carter says as she hugs Teal’c.

“J’onn J’onzz,” J’onn introduces himself to Teal’c. “I hear you’re a PI now,”

“Indeed,” Teal’c says, tilting his head as they shake hands.

“If you have time after the mission, I’d love to hear more about it,” J’onn says. He’s brought the DEO a long way, but he’s been weighing his options for some time now.

“It would be my pleasure.”

As the team walks up the ramp, General Carter and J’onn say at the same time, “Be careful.”

Alex, Kara, and Fraiser all exchange exasperated looks.

“We will.”

#supergirl #alex danvers #kara danvers #stargate sg1 #samantha carter #cassandra fraiser #j'onn j'onzz #teal'c #me earlier this week seeing that all of stargate sg1 is available on amazon prime: oh n o #i will be very tempted to rewatch and there are 200+ episodes

70 notes · View notes

homespork-review · 4 years

Text

HOMESPORK ACT 5 ACT 1: Mobius Double Plusungood, Part 2

BRIGHT: Nepeta wants to know what’s going on. Aradia finally stops dodging the question and tells Nepeta she’s dead, but doesn’t elaborate on how it happened. She asks Nepeta to keep it a secret, which Nepeta agrees to. Aradia’s also picked up some froglike traits from being merged with the sprite -- namely a tendency to ribbit.

In retrospect, it’s kind of funny that an active player can merge with a sprite. The role of a sprite seems to involve having detailed knowledge of how the Game works and what the player should do next, but only dispensing vague advice to the player. Prototyping a player would give them full access to that knowledge with no sprite vagueness to get in the way. The Game doesn’t seem too concerned about that, though.

CHEL: Now it’s time to get to know AG better. A doodle of her declaring her to be a HUGE BITCH fades into her standing in her room. Rather gothic, and also filthy-looking; it’s dark, with a red sky outside, and cobwebs and broken Magic 8 Balls lie around everywhere. There’s a FLARP poster and numerous pages of notes on the wall.

Your name is VRISKA SERKET.

You are a master of EXTREME ROLE PLAYING. You can't get enough of it, or really any game of high stakes and chance. You have persisted with the habit even in spite of your ACCIDENT. But then again, you don't have much choice.

Your lusus is VERY HUNGRY, ALL THE TIME. She can only be appeased by the FLESH OF YOUNG TROLLS. You cloud campaigns for teams of Flarpers, utilizing your abilities for ORCHESTRATING THE DEMISE OF THE IMPRESSSSSSSSIONA8LE. Your victories supply you with treasure, experience points, and SPIDER FOOD.

You are something of an APOCALYPSE BUFF, which is something you can be on Alternia. You are fascinated by end of the world scenarios, and enjoy constructing DOOMSDAY DEVICES for the hell of it. You are drawn to means of DARK PROGNOSTICATION and the advantages they offer, particularly in gaming scenarios. Your abilities in this department were hobbled with the loss of your VISION EIGHTFOLD, and you have since sought alternatives through various BLACK ORACLES. You consult with these ominous globes, but routinely destroy them in frustration over the PUZZLING GUARANTEED INACCURACY of their predictions. Breaking them has developed into a habit BORDERING ON FETISHISTIC, and with each you destroy, you add to an insurmountable stockpile of TERRIBLE LUCK. You have to stop. But addiction is a powerful thing.

FAILURE ARTIST: FINALLY we get a name for her and we don’t have to keep saying AG. I imagine the non-Homestucks are feeling like I did when I played Danganronpa 2 finally and saw the “fingers-in-his-ass” guy.

CHEL: She examines a drawing on the wall, of her FLARP character MARQUISE SPINNERET MINDFANG, who is just Vriska in a different coat and seaboots, with a hook instead of her robot hand. She is the scourge of land dwellers and sea dwellers alike, and worst nightmare to silly BOY-SKYLARKS everywhere. She has accumulated more treasure and gained more levels than any member of the PETTICOAT SEAGRIFT class ever. She gained all the levels. All of them.

En route to her computer, Vriska steps on a D4, and complains about how she’s had terrible luck since her mysterious accident. I’d just like it noted that this is a small but noticeable occurrence of Vriska’s tendency to blame others for her problems; if she cleaned her room some time, that wouldn’t happen. Still, she doesn’t worry about it too long, as she’s busy.

So many irons in the fire. Such a tangled web. It is a web full of flaming irons and mixed metaphors.

BRIGHT: Vriska equips her weapon of choice, a set of enchanted D8 dice called the FLUORITE OCTET.

...okay, I’m getting used to characters having semi-absurd weapons, but seriously, what? Let’s review everyone else’s chosen weapons: Hammer, knitting needles, sword, gun, sickles, lance, clawed gloves, walking cane. Sollux had some throwing stars but didn’t assign them to his specibus owing to his telekinesis being enough; we haven’t seen Aradia’s strifekind yet, but she also has telekinetic abilities, and hers are apparently enhanced by her being dead. So that’s a lot of genuine weapons, and some things which aren’t weapons but can readily be used that way in a pinch...and then Vriska has a set of enchanted dice.

It’s a good fit both for Homestuck’s absurdity and for Vriska’s obsession with luck. But it does stand out rather.

Anyway, rolling the dice will execute a wide range of highly unpredictable attacks. Very high rolls can be devastating to even the most powerful opponents. Apparently these work everywhere, not just in FLARP games. Also, while we see ghosts, psychic powers, and superpowered coding, I think this is the only reference to plain magic we have on Alternia.

Vriska steps away from the computer to avoid talking to GA, who she refers to as an unwelcome solicitor, but returns to it when someone else starts messaging her. Vriska calls him this guy; he has no icon -- and, oddly, no username -- and types in white, which means the reader (and Vriska) ends up highlighting the conversation a lot.

Hello.

AG: Oh my god, why are you talking to me????????

This is the last time we'll ever talk.

AG: Still sticking with the white text I see. So smooth and stylish!

AG: I forgot how much I loved highlighting it to read all the 8oring things you have to say.

AG: It's like a fun game for super extra handicapped retarded people. Like opening a present! Find out what o8noxious thing the mystery tool typed.

AG: What is it!

A parting courtesy, I suppose.

All the ways I've exploited you were meant to bring about the events that will take place this evening.

Knowing this will provide context for the events in your near future, and will affect how you behave in response.

These events will be just as important as those preceding it.

I've gone to great lengths, you see.

Well, this guy sounds ominous.

Also, using ‘handicapped’ and ‘retarded’ as insults is entirely in character for Vriska, who has no time for people who can’t operate on her level. Currently Vriska’s also being shown as an unlikeable character. We’ll see how that develops.

CHEL: Still, a lot of people really don’t like those words being used casually, and the fact that we need to show you how things develop should imply that they won’t develop in a way you’ll like. So…

CLOCKWORK PROBLEMATYKKS: 39

White Text Guy, as the characters refer to him for a while to come yet, continues gloating about how successfully he’s exploited Vriska, who tells him she’ll log off and orders him not to use that nasty trick where you log me 8ack on out of petty douchey spite! WTG says he’ll be brief, though he’s not particularly brief in fact, tells her he no longer hold[s] her accountable for any wrongdoing, and says that if she accepts this, she may get her luck back. Vriska doesn’t believe him and continues to rant, and he points out that her unpleasant, simplistic temperament is what made her so easy to mess with.

If you turn a swarm of wasps on a crowd, the outcome is certain.

He leaves with these even more ominous words:

Though the magnitude of the ensuing destruction resulting directly from your actions will be neither possible or necessary for you to fathom, there nevertheless ought to be a silver lining.

The only question is whether you will live long enough to see it.

Vriska, enraged, lifts a Magic 8 Ball with the intention to smash it, but decides she can’t be bothered, and answers GA, hoping some camaraderie will cheer her up, even if it’s from a meddler. However, GA’s first question is “Is Your Lusus Dead Yet”. Not particularly cheering, is it?

Vriska, for the first time, expresses concern and sympathy for another person when GA says her own lusus is dead, though it may be undermined slightly by her own personal disappointment in never having got to meet said lusus. GA doesn’t seem very concerned, and says “Maybe You Still Can”. According to her, though, all their lusii are dying, as a “Preemptive Consequence” (if that’s a meaningful concept) of the upcoming Game. Karkat blames himself for activating the cursed code, but GA thinks it was inevitable. However, Karkat’s idea of a curse Is Inseparable From His Perception Of Events As Intrinsically Negative And As Tailored To His Personal Dissatisfaction, and so is Vriska’s poor luck. GA points out that if Vriska cleaned her floor she wouldn’t step on so many things. THANK YOU, GA, you made my point for me! Vriska is angry at GA “meddling” so, and demands to know why she does.

GA: Because Youre Dangerous

[...]

GA: Its Ok To Be Dangerous

GA: Lots Of People Are

GA: And Dangerous People Can Be Really Important

GA: Maybe Even The Most Important Sometimes

GA: But It Just Means Theres Got To Be Someone Around To Keep An Eye On Them

As Vriska gets angrier, it’s noted that she puts 8s in her typing in places where they don’t work as Bs or as “eight” sounds, and they become more numerous.

AG: Or you know, if you're so h8gh 8nd might8 an8 th8nk you're so gr8at, m8y88 you c8uld oh I d8n't kn8w........

AG: TRY AND ST8P ME FROM DO8NG B8D THINGS????????

GA: That Wouldnt Work

GA: If I Tried To Stop You You Would Regard Me As An Enemy

GA: Instead Of Merely As A Nuisance

BRIGHT: GA’s strategy appears to be trying to talk Vriska into being a better person, either by persuading her that it’s the right thing to do or by being so annoying that Vriska does the right thing to avoid being meddled with. She’s making an effort, I’ll give her that. And given that she doesn’t live anywhere near Vriska, there isn’t all that much she can do to rein her in.

CHEL: Vriska signs off, ranting about her “Lousy st8pid godd8mn supportive friend!” and heads down the enormous staircase to check on her lusus.

You wonder if any other kid on the planet has such a high maintenance lusus? You DOUBT it.

As a matter of fact, one does and Vriska knows that, but we’ll see them later. Not a continuity error, it’s just Vriska self-pitying.

From a window, we see a doomsday device hanging over a chasm by chains attached to the surrounding cliffs. Vriska built it for an especially powerful and influential member of the nautical aristocracy, with help from an as-yet-unnamed nearby friend. Vriska reaches the bottom of the stairwell, and we meet her lusus, which is…

… a spider about the size of a cathedral. For the sake of our arachnophobic readers, we’ll refrain from posting a picture. Suffice it to say she’s as terrifying as she sounds. Pan out to show the entire valley is filled with cobwebs, and Vriska’s hive is matched by a similar one on the other side of the valley.

Before we move on, I’d just like to chat a little about the astrological symbolisms used here. Vriska’s the Scorpio troll, and it puzzles a lot of people that she’s spider-themed instead of scorpion-themed. Both arachnids, but not the same thing. However, Scorpio does have multiple symbols, depending on the source of the interpretation of the constellation, including the spider and the phoenix. Observe! (I enjoy astrology. Sue me.) Also, a scorpion would be a lot harder to get the story symbolism out of; Vriska is at least attempting to be a master manipulator pulling on strings, i.e. webs. The astrological symbolism and alleged personality traits aren’t used for all of the trolls in general, either. The troll with the sign of Aquarius the Water-Bearer is seadwelling nobility and probably wouldn’t be happy to be represented astrologically by a servant, and Gamzee is basically the opposite of the ambitious and hardworking traits of the allegedly typical Capricorn. Basically the signs are mostly aesthetic and if Huss can work in some connected symbolism that’s a bonus. I don’t consider this a negative thing in particular, though it might annoy some astrology buffs.

Actually, I don’t know how intentional this was, but one fan actually analysed how the social expectations on Alternia are in fact the exact opposite of what would actually suit their astrological sign. It didn’t get finished but there’s some interesting information - read the posts in question here, beware spoilers!

BRIGHT: One amusing consequence of this can be turned into a game: Go to Tumblr, find an astrology post, and see how long it takes to figure out if it’s a Homestuck riff. Some of them even just say ‘Vriska’ for Scorpio.

It’s probably just because I mostly follow fandom-related blogs, but I’ve yet to see a Tumblr astrology post that wasn’t a more-or-less-subtle Homestuck joke.

CHEL: And the ones which aren’t make for great fanfic prompts!

BRIGHT: Vriska’s lusus is fine, as it happens. Vriska pretends to be happy about this, but she’s rather less convincing than Dave is about his own guardianship issues.

FAILURE ARTIST: And we turn from Vriska to look in her neighbor and it’s….that creepy guy! Hurray!

Your name is EQUIUS ZAHHAK.

You love being STRONG.

You are so strong, you would surely be the class of the elite legion of RUFFIANNIHILATORS. And while such a calling would be quite honorable, you would prefer to join the ranks of the ARCHERADICATORS, perhaps the most noble echelon the imperial forces have to offer. Unfortunately, you SUCK AT ARCHERY. You have not successfully fired a SINGLE ARROW. Every time you try, you BREAK THE BOW. You are simply too strong. You have broken so many bows, it has developed into a habit BORDERING ON FETISHISTIC. You have to stop. But addiction is a powerful thing.

You have a great appreciation for THE FINE ARTS. You use your aristocratic connections to acquire PRICELESS MASTERPIECES, painted in the oldest and most respected Alternian tradition of NUDE MUSCLEBEAST PORTRAITS. These striking depictions of the EXQUISITE FAUNA native to Alternia remind you of the PUREST PHYSICAL IDEAL that must be sought by anyone who professes a LOVE OF STRENGTH. When those of lesser bloodlines turn up their uncultured noses at such stunning material, it MAKES YOU FURIOUS.

Practically everything MAKES YOU FURIOUS. You have so much rage, it can only be expressed through STAGGERING QUANTITIES OF PHYSICAL VIOLENCE. You build strong and sturdy robots, set them to kill mode, and BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF THEM in caged brawls. Sometimes you LOSE TEETH. But they usually grow back.

FAILURE ARTIST: Equius Zahhak’s first name is obviously a take on the Latin word for horses, but his last name is from a Persian demon who is also known as “he who has 10,000 horses”.

So yes, that furry porn on his walls is high art to trolls. Though the prequel Hiveswap Friendsim, which has artist characters, doesn’t have MUSCLEBEAST PORTRAITS. Maybe Equius is actually weird.

CHEL: Actually, the Friendsim does have musclebeast art; if you squint at the beginning of Nikhee’s route, you can see depictions of white muscular chests flanking the arena, which don’t look like troll chests. Hiveswap proper is rated PG, so we’ll be spared it there, too.

FAILURE ARTIST: Equius is more even-tempered than his introduction suggests. He’s not completely violence-free (as we will see) but he’s not in a constant ‘roid-rage. Heck, from what we’ve seen before of him he just gets peeved and snotty.

Equius calls for his lusus Aurthour, who I guess could be called another self-insert. Aurthour is a centaur-type creature with cow udders and a mustache and looks like something out of Hussie’s early comics. Aurthour carries a glass of lusus milk on a platter, presumably from its own udders. Ummm.

You cannot hope to beat Aurthour in a butler-off. He is simply the best there is.

Sweet, I guess.

CHEL: I wonder how Aurthour contorts around to reach his udder. Centaurs aren’t really known for flexibility.

FAILURE ARTIST: We find out why Aurthour has a shiner. It’s not because of domestic abuse but because when Equius “gently” pats Aurthour, Aurthour bruises. Yet this creature is the only lusus STRONG enough to raise Equius.

Equius tries to drink the glass, but it shatters in his hand. Which begs the question of why Aurthour doesn’t use an alternative to glass. Well, I guess Equius going straight to the source would be too disturbing even for Hussie. A bigger problem is how Equius can do the fine detail work of building robots when he can’t hold a glass.

Equius goes into a rage, which just means he stands around in Hero Mode while the lusus milk quickly evaporates. Wait, quickly evaporates? What is it made of?

CHEL: I assumed the heat of his rage boiled it.

FAILURE ARTIST: Equius tries to equiup equip a bow but fails due to his strength. Like the glass smashing, this is a normal occurrence. You’d think he’d give up but apparently breaking bows is like popping bubble wrap to him. Expensive bubble wrap. So he has the useless 1/2bowkind, a bowkind for when he’s ever that lucky, and the fistkind which he actually utilizes. Yes, in Homestuck, you can register your fists as lethal weapons.

Equius talks with Nepeta and the narration summarizes like thus:

CT: D --> Yes AC: :33 < no CT: D --> Yes AC: :33 < no CT: D --> Yes AC: :33 < no CT: D --> Yes AC: :33 < no CT: D --> Yes AC: :33 < no CT: D --> Yes AC: :33 < no CT: D --> Yes AC: :33 < no

Equius is still worried about his good friend Nepeta, so he decides to relieve his stress by talking with another friend. And here comes a line fans take as meaning trolls don’t have friendship.

It should be noted that in troll language, the word for friend is exactly the same as the word for enemy.

Though that line contradicts Equius considering Nepeta his friend only a few lines back. This worldbuilding sucks.

CHEL: Well, he doesn’t treat her the way a human should treat a friend at this point.

FAILURE ARTIST: So Equius trolls this frienemy who turns out to be Gamzee.

centaursTesticle [CT] began trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]

CT: D --> Have I ever told you what a reprehensible disgrace you are

TC: hAhA, fUcK yEaH, oNlY eVeRy MoThErFuCkIn DaY bRo!

Yeah, Equius, pretty much everyone tells Gamzee that every day.

Equius says he wants get some things off his chest, which giving what we later learn about troll relationships might be adulterous. Gamzee tells him not to let his feelings be bottled up lIkE a FuCkIn AlL sHaKeD uP bOtTlE oF fAyGo and this metaphor makes Gamzee thristy. Equius berates Gamzee for drinking soda, which seems harsh but we later find out soda is booze for trolls. He’s also angry at Gamzee for doing sopor slime. Now, fans think Karkat didn’t like Gamzee doing sopor slime but we never actually see it. It’s just Equius who cares. This leads to an exchange I find interesting.

CT: D --> You will stop

TC: WhOaAaA, i WiLl?

TC: hOw Do YoU kNoW tHaT?

CT: D --> No, you don't understand

CT: D --> It's not a predi%ion, it's an order

CT: D --> I command you to stop

Gamzee is so passive he finds it hard to imagine making decisions that will change his future. Sad. And when Gamzee does get what Equius means:

TC: Oh, AlRiGhT bRoThEr.

TC: yOu MoThErFuCkIn GoT iT.

CT: D --> What

CT: D --> Are you serious

TC: yEaH.

TC: I mEaN, yOu GoT tO sHoW sOmE fAiTh In YoUr FrIeNdS, cAuSe ThEy'Re AlL tHe OnEs WhO'rE bEiNg To LoOk OuT fOr YoU.

TC: sO fUcK iF yOu SaY i'M nOt DoInG tHe ShIt RiGhT, tHeN wHaT tHe MoThErFuCk Do I kNoW!

CT: D --> No

CT: D --> This is una%eptable

CT: D --> Ok, let's start over

CT: D --> I apologize

CT: D --> I was completely out of of line, and I'm sorry

CT: D --> I have no right to talk to you like that, or tell you what you can't do

TC: aWw, No WoRrIeS!

Gamzee was ready to kick sopor slime except Equius backed down. Wondering about the timeline where Equius didn’t back down.

Still, Equius begs Gamzee to behave like a superior. Gamzee asks what that means and Equius gives a very creepy answer.

CT: D --> 100k, it isn't that difficult

CT: D --> Try to be cognizant of your desires and needs

CT: D --> And attempt to regard those around you as simple vehicles meant to bring about your gratification

At least Equius is a hypocrite...most of the time.

Equius asks what Gamzee is doing and Gamzee relates his adventures in Sgrub. He bonked an imp on the head and scared another with a horn and eventually ended up sharing pie with them. Equius likes the tales of valor but is disappointed with the peaceful end.

Equius asks Gamzee to roleplay and Gamzee says yes; there’s an uncomfortable sequence where Equius tries to get Gamzee to virtually dom him. Gamzee is terrible at being assertive, but Equius is still whipped into a state of contrition. Basically, Equius is getting off on this.

CHEL: It should be noted that tricking a child into sexual behaviour is a form of abuse even when it’s done by a child of the same age. Not cool, Eq, and not funny, Hussie.

CALL CPA PLEASE: 11

CLOCKWORK PROBLEMATYKKS: 40

SEND THEM TO THE SLAMMER: 4

Though, while that is clearly the reading we’re meant to get from that, I have to say Equius never reads to me like he’s actually enjoying being ordered around. With Gamzee he’s just frustrated that he’s not behaving in a correct manner, and in later exchanges he seems knocked off-balance by the normal social order being upended. I know I’m just projecting, but it reads more like he has some issues with anxiety or OCD and is desperate for someone else to take control and tell him what they want him to do so he doesn’t have to worry. He sweats constantly during these exchanges, which is supposed to imply he’s aroused, but people sweat when they’re worried or afraid too.

FAILURE ARTIST: On a lighter front, Equius says he doesn’t live near the ocean, which considering his neighbor regularly goes on a pirate ship is an odd thing to say.

CHEL: How near is “near”? He might just mean not within walking distance so he can’t casually wander out to the sea like Gamzee does.

FAILURE ARTIST: Equius ends by wondering about the social order that puts someone like Gamzee above him but someone as graceful and poised as a certain mysterious she is of the lowest caste. Gamzee (and the readers) ask who she is and Equius brusquely says D -->I shouldn’t be talking about this D → You’re the enemy before signing off.

CHEL: If one’s been paying attention, one can guess.

Next, Equius and Vriska are in cahoots. Cahoooooooots. Vriska declares her intention to meddle, and they have a brief exchange about sarcasm. It’s horribly inconsistent whether trolls have sarcasm or not, as I’ve pointed out before. Already gave a point for it, though.

Anyway, Vriska asks if Aradia’s present is finished. It is.

CT: D --> But I don't understand why you're intent on gratifying that worthless peasant

AG: 8ecause I promised I would and it's none of your damn 8usiness! Man.

Their plan is to let Aradia usurp Sollux as leader with her cute little ploy (recall her sending him to sleep and letting him swallow mind honey earlier), then both snatch power from her and become joint leaders. Each asks the other if they’re planning something sneaky and each insists they’re not. Equius can sense that Vriska is trying to read his mind, and when she won’t stop, he takes control of her cybernetic arm, which he built, and makes her slap herself in the face.

FAILURE ARTIST: So given that Vriska tried to read Equius’ mind, despite the dangers (both physically and mentally), it is unbelievable she refrained from reading Karkat’s due to delicacy.

I think Hussie has said in his commentary that Vriska had a crush on Equius. The fandom prefers lesbian Vriska at this point and so has ignored that. YMMV on if there is evidence of a crush in the text but I find the idea amusing.

CHEL: Equius goes to fetch the present for Aradia which he was supposed to give to Vriska.

You naturally will doublecross your accomplice, just as you assume she has plans to doublecross you. You assume she is assuming the same of you. Business as usual for blue bloods.

How the hell does this society get anything done?

You will deliver it to Aradia yourself to gain her favor, and then doublecross her and take your rightful position as team leader. How ironic that someone of your blood purity must work to win the favor of the lowest sort of peasant. Humiliating. Strangely titillating, even. But in the end, class order will be restored.

He takes the tarp off the present, and it is…

Why, Aradia. It appears the red glass of your eye has caught the pink and green glint of the moons in their perigees. The sweet poetry almost makes a man forget how the grime that once filled your veins made his stomach turn. It is a good omen for illicit lovers. Could you imagine the scandal if anyone found out?? No one must ever know.

But worry not. Your heart will pump no more of that despicable red sludge. You have been given a new heart. You can be taught the ways of the class you were always meant for. No one is beyond redemption.

Be grateful, dear Aradia. For the first time in your meaningless life you have met a man with true compassion.

Jesus fucking Christ. See what I meant when I said his interactions with girls were worse than his posters? No points because it’s supposed to be creepy, and with the teachings of his society it’s not entirely his fault, but wow.

FAILURE ARTIST: Well, his interaction with a girl is creepy. His relationship with Nepeta is more problematic than fans remember but that’s two-sided and not infatuation. As for Vriska, he’s cold and business-like with her. He collaborates with GA but that’s off-screen and was probably also business-like. Meanwhile, he has lustful interactions with most every male character. We’ve seen how he acts with Gamzee and we’ll see more later. Equius’ interactions with guys are another example of Hussie using male attraction to other males as a punchline.

CHEL: But yes, he’s built her a robot body. Unfortunately for everyone involved, while making out with it, he feels judged by one of his battlebots, gets angry, and punches it. It goes flying out the window and robosplodes above the valley, and its remains hit Vriska’s doomsday device, setting it off. It breaks before it can actually destroy the planet, but the chains holding it up snap, sending it swinging into the cliffside, causing another explosion. The cliff collapses, taking part of Equius’ hive with it, sending Aurthour plummeting into the chasm and crushing Vriska’s spider lusus under tons of rubble.

Cutting back to before that, we see Terezi battling imps on her treehouse’s rooftop, when Vriska messages her, declaring that playing the game together means breaking their truce. Terezi says that’s not what the truce was about; it was about STOPP1NG TH3 3NDL3SS CYCL3 OF R3V3NG3 and Vriska not using her powers maliciously anymore. Terezi’s next couple of comments are just calling Vriska a liar so I’ll just take Vriska’s, to further illustrate her behaviour.

AG: Man, you like to give me such a hard time a8out all that. I can't catch a 8reak! AG: Can't you see I'm trying to put all that 8ehind me and make amends with every8ody? AG: No, of course you can't see that. What am I saying! [...] AG: I'll prove it to you. I'm giving Aradia a present that will make her feel all 8etter finally. AG: Then I'll 8e in the clear. Phew! Totally redeemed. You'll see. I mean smell.

Vriska appears under the impression that large flashy gestures are the important part of an apology, not actual sincerity. Terezi points out Aradia doesn’t care about anything anymore and probably won’t care about this.

AG: Man, why can't you cut me some slack for once???????? AG: It's not like I even did anything that 8ad to you. AG: I lost seven eyes 8ut you only lost two! I would say you came out ahead in the 8argain. GC: 1 KNOW GC: 4ND 4CTU4LLY GC: 1 N3V3R R34LLY GOT TH3 CH4NC3 TO TH4NK YOU >:D

Vriska’s disbelief aside, Terezi really is serious here. Not surprising to the reader, her blindness is basically a superpower.

AG: Remem8er Team Scourge? How convenient all that must 8e to have forgotten! You were so nasty. AG: Oh man, if you crossed Terezi Pyrope you were fucked!!!!!!!! GC: Y34H 1F YOU W3R3 4 B4D GUY GC: W3 W3R3 SUPPOS3D TO B3 L1K3 4 V1G1L4NT3 DUO D1SP3NS1NG JUST1C3 GC: 4ND YOU COULD T4K3 TH3 B4D GUYS HOM3 4ND F33D TH3M TO YOUR STUP1D SP1D3R GC: BUT 1NST34D YOU JUST F3D H3R 3V3RYBODY! GC: 4ND L13D 4ND L13D 4ND L13D

Okay, this little exchange needs some more dissection. Terezi is supposed to be the “good cop” of Team Scourge, the by-the-book one on the side of the law. But we saw what Alternian law is like, and later on we’ll see demonstrations that things such as having a birth defect or, according to Hiveswap, owning fiction which so much as mentions the possibility of rebellion, are punishable by death. Not only is this not making Terezi look any better, if she’s as obsessed with the law as we saw, who would she deem not a “bad guy”, and why would Vriska have such a shortage of “bad guys” that she’d need to take anyone else? Hussie appears to have forgotten that the Alternian concept of justice is different from the Earth one.

FAILURE ARTIST: And what we would consider a “bad guy” wouldn’t be the same on Alternia. There’s tons of trolls murdering other trolls on Hiveswap Friendsim without any hint that’s illegal. It’s probably completely lawful for a highblood to kill a lowblood just because the lowblood annoyed them.

WHITE SBURB POSTMODERNISM: 29

BRIGHT: Maybe. I’d say what this shows us, and is intended to show us, is that Terezi’s sense of justice isn’t just based on Alternian law, but on her own moral code. The law made it perfectly acceptable for Vriska to feed lowbloods to her lusus regardless of whether they’d done anything, but Terezi didn’t think it was right, and for her that superseded the law. She’s the ‘good cop’ not because she always follows the book, but because she’s willing to ignore it.

We also know she thought Vriska was on the same page as her. Note that Terezi makes two accusations here — the first is that Vriska killed people who don’t deserve it, and the second is that Vriska lied to Terezi about doing so.

CHEL: That may be what it’s intended to show us, but what we’ve already seen is that she worships the law; she draws and gleefully licks pictures of the head of the troll court, His Honorable Tyranny, and she shows no concern in her roleplay with hypothetically executing people for relatively trivial crimes. That makes this a bit… shaky, IMO.

BRIGHT: True. Terezi may have stopped killing since her FLARP days (or, at least, we get no indication that she’s still doing so), but it doesn’t seem to have shaken her belief in the Alternian legal system. Just her belief in Vriska, who even brings up a similar point.

AG: Well if you want to know what I think, you should start changing your tune. AG: Cause even though you got all these highfalutin morals and fancy reserv8tions, you know as well as me that a killer is a killer is a killer! AG: There 8n't no ch8nging your ways for good, and one d8y you're going to flail that silly l8ttle cane of yours and not find n8thin to 8ump into, and fall f8ce first into the shit ag8in. AG: And you're going to do something t8rri8le to some8ody and wish you could t8ke it 8ack 8ut you c8n't!!!!!!!! AG: And then you'll work hard to win 8ack their trust, and you'll try and try and tr8, and you'll see how hard it is! AG: You'll seeeeeeee!

Vriska’s making this all about her own feelings about Terezi abandoning her, but she’s not wrong.

Vriska hears the doomsday device exploding and the subsequent rockslide, and goes to find out what it is. Terezi tells her not to get crushed.

The next page jumps back in time again -- this time, quite far back. Terezi’s eyes are normal, and she’s talking to Aradia about Tavros’s recovery. Aradia says he’s probably paralysed for life. Terezi brings up the possibility of getting him robo-prosthetics, but after the Vriska debacle Aradia is firmly against having anything to do with bluebloods.

CHEL: Terezi warns Aradia that revenge attempts will end badly and she wants to handle it. Aradia says Vriska isn’t able to control her, but Terezi says Vriska will find a way to harm her anyway. They lament how they were both distracted by the same person.

AA: wh0 was he anyway GC: PR3TTY SUR3 1T WAS VR1SKAS FR13ND AA: what was he d0ing there AA: watching us GC: WHO KNOWS GC: H3S NOT R34LLY H3R FR13ND THOUGH GC: YOU SHOULD S33 HOW H3 T4LKS 4BOUT H3R B3H1ND H3R B4CK GC: SH3 H4S NO 1D34 HOW B4D H3S PL4Y1NG H3R GC: BUT TH3N 1 DONT TH1NK H3 KNOWS HOW B4D SH3S PL4Y1NG H1M 31TH3R

This sounds like they mean Equius, but we’ll see. Aradia feels she’s letting Vriska win by doing nothing, but Terezi has a plan. She confirms that her friendship with Vriska is over.

Cut to Aradia’s house, and here I need to go into a bit more detail. This is her house:

Aradia’s a maroonblood, the lowest of the low on the hemospectrum, peasantry and cannon fodder and supposedly extremely numerous. Yet her house looks to be about the size of the entire block of flats I live in, and she lives in it alone, with no other buildings at all in sight. In the next page, we see inside her house, which looks exactly the same as all the others; she has piles of roleplaying books and posters and a computer, and nothing looks to be in disrepair.

WHITE SBURB POSTMODERNISM: 30

BRIGHT: Her house also looks a lot like Tavros’s, what with the windmill feature on top and the brown hangings rather than maroon, which threw me off at first.

CHEL: We’ll talk about this more later. For now, let’s stick with the most noticeable thing; Aradia is alive! Her skirt is untattered and her eyes have colour and pupils. Her lusus is alive too, napping beside her. It’s not quite clear what it is exactly; it has a sheep-like head, but its body is long and slim with much bigger hind legs than forelegs. Could be supposed to be dragon-like? I’ve also seen it interpreted as kangaroo-like. I don’t think we ever get a better view of it.

Anyway, Aradia knows Terezi’s advice is sound, but she can’t bear not to do something to Make her pay. She puts her hands up to her temples, and the image fades back and forth with one of wrapped troll corpses in Spidermom’s web…

It's a shame it had to come to this. You don't like summoning the spirits of the dead to settle scores.

But if she had to face her victims again, maybe she'd finally learn to feel remorse.

OOOOOOOOOO

This begs the question, how the fuck can the highbloods oppress people who not only hugely outnumber them but can shoot lasers from their eyes, control animals, and summon the dead at will? Well, there’s actually some explanation for that. The player trolls all appear to have unusual levels of power, for whatever their given powers are; most maroonbloods can’t do this. In Hiveswap a main character is a more typical maroonblood, who can just about bend spoons with his telekinesis and not much else (though we haven’t seen him speak with dead yet, and it’s possible he’s better at that). Not all trolls even have their caste’s powers, as far as I can tell, as we do see a yellow in Hiveswap Friendsim who’s not a psionic and some ceruleans who don’t seem to have mind-control powers as well. Head or eye injuries, which aren’t exactly rare in Alternia, can cause the loss of said powers. Also, the highest blood castes have powers of their own and other things to hold over the lowbloods’ heads. It’ll be a while till we get to that, but I’ll say now it is convincing, we do not have an Oppressed Mages scenario.

Anyway, Aradia does her thing…

As Vriska cowers on her floor, White Text Guy messages her again. Vriska replies angrily, ghosts looming over her shoulders.

Aren't you going to kill her?

AG: Who????????

Your friend.

The one who summoned the spirits.

AG: Will that make them go away?

Does it matter?

She brought them here to torment you. This obviously warrants revenge.

Vriska asks why WTG doesn’t kill Aradia instead, since he helped kill Tavros; he replies “All I did was stand somewhere for a few minutes. I just gave you an opportunity to do something you wanted to do anyway.” So, seems it wasn’t Equius they meant earlier. Vriska protests she never intended to kill her gaming companions, and blames him.

Again, I didn't talk you into anything, nor am I doing so now.

You were, and are, going to do this regardless.

I only ever place myself into positions of tangential involvement with events that will bring about my employer's entry into this universe.

I oversee the events as they take place, and ever so slightly nudge them into motion when necessary.

BRIGHT: Looks like Aradia and Terezi haven’t told her Tavros survived, which is eminently sensible. This conversation also highlights another Vriska trait: That she’s a very active person, but will try to shift responsibility as soon as she doesn’t like the consequences. That could be a result of her upbringing -- Vriska had to actively go and kill people for Spidermom, but she wasn’t responsible for the overall situation. (Although -- how much did she do to ameliorate it? By the time SGRUB starts, Spidermom’s far too big to fit into Vriska’s home. Vriska might have been able to get away with not feeding her at that point; there’s not much Spidermom can do if she can’t get to her.)

CHEL: The later addition to the canon, Pesterquest, claims that the lusii can psychically nag their charges and she could bother Vriska that way, but that directly contradicts Act 5, in which the trolls want to prototype their lusii so that they’ll be able to communicate properly with them for the first time, and also couldn’t Vriska just move further away?

BRIGHT: Inertia is very much a thing, and people do often just settle into a rut of ‘this is the way things are’ even when something could be changed, so it’s not improbable that it wouldn’t occur to Vriska to move — come to that, I don’t believe it occurs to anyone else either — but the fact that it doesn’t occur to her does say something about her character.

CHEL: Also, why didn’t Vriska feed the spider on animals? The possibility is never so much as considered by her or anyone else, though it seems the most obvious thing to do. Sure, the spider might be picky, but as we said, it can’t leave the valley due to its size, or it’d be hunting for itself. If it’s left with the choice to eat cows or die, it’d presumably pick the former, especially since the lusii aren’t supposed to be sapient and thus wouldn’t have the capacity for spite. For assuming that Vriska did what she had to when such a screamingly obvious better option is never addressed, here we go with a new count, which will rise whenever Vriska’s horrible actions are excused.

ALL THE LUCK: 1

Back to the scene, Scratch claims omniscience, which Vriska mocks.

AG: Sure you know a lot, 8ut I know for a FACT there's stuff you don't know.

That's true.

But the gaps in my knowledge exist by design.

They are the pillars of shadow on which my comprehensive vision is built.

Necessary pockets of void meant to effectuate outcomes I've foreseen and which will require my influence.

Each dark pocket, in time, will be filled.

[...]

I don't lie.

Deception is only necessary for those like you to achieve their objectives.

I play with my cards face up.

Isn't it funny how during our various matches, I can tell you what my moves will be in advance, and still win?

Vriska, angered by this, does in fact plan to kill Aradia; Not much point in living with all these moaning spooks just to spite some guy you don't give a shit about. She can’t control Aradia because Aradia’s own powers get in the way, but there are other people she can use.

How about this guy? Unfortunately, you can only control him about half the time.

Then again, that should be all the time you need.

Cut back to Aradia’s place, and she receives a message from Vriska, telling her her boyfriend is outside.

BRIGHT: Vriska also lightheartedly tells Aradia she’s sorry, and that she’ll make it up to ‘him’ someday. Presumably ‘he’ is meant to be Tavros, except that Vriska seemed to think Tavros was dead in literally the last conversation she had. This is probably just a slip-up on Hussie’s part, but it’s possible to read this as Vriska referring to a different ‘he’ entirely, considering what’s about to happen.

CHEL: Aradia looks, and sees a figure hovering telekinetically over the fields....

Note what’s in his hand. You do not under any circumstances eat the mind honey… His eyes start flashing and Aradia looks afraid, but we suddenly cut to a view of Alternia, and then to a closeup of its green moon. The prompt instructs us to Be the white text guy, and we meet him in a very familiar-looking green mansion.

You try to be the white text guy, but fail to be the white text guy. No one can be the white text guy except for the white text guy.

The white text guy is known as Doc Scratch.

He is an officer of an indestructible demon known as Lord English. His job is to pave the way for the arrival of his master, who will be summoned upon the termination of the universe. He has worked at this task for many centuries, and will continue to do so until THE GREAT UNDOING.

Scratch is Alternia's FIRST GUARDIAN. Every planet destined for intelligent life has such an entity meant to protect it, and facilitate the planet's ultimate purpose. A first guardian is typically almost as old as the planet itself, and each has a unique, circuitous origin through the knots of paradox space. They can be born into a great diversity of forms, though they all share a common, especially potent genetic sequence.

Remember Rose’s MEOW book, and how DD used it to create Becquerel? Yep.

The code grants them near omnipotence, and when merged with a host of great intelligence, near omniscience as well.

BRIGHT: Only near-omniscence, however. Scratch is surprised to find Terezi contacting him, but he’s able to work out that she got Sollux to help pretty fast:

Occasionally I discover there are things I have not always known.

It gives me the opportunity to make deductions, which are practically always flawless.

It's gratifying.

He also suggests she call him ‘Mr. Vanilla Milkshake’, and then hints that Aradia might not be straightforwardly dead by stating that Sollux and Terezi believe she is dead, and will soon believe she is not, both of which are true statements about their beliefs rather than reality.

Props to Hussie on this: I’m pretty sure every Homestuck fan wants to punch Scratch in the face. He’s just so obnoxious.

Terezi, however, refuses to let Scratch keep derailing her for long. She wants Scratch to get involved in their feud again, and she has a good reason for him: She knows how Vriska’s been able to come so close to beating Scratch in their games lately. Before she can tell him, though, she needs to talk to Vriska again.

She starts by asking how Vriska feels about killing Aradia, after she promised not to. Vriska responds with dramatic insincerity about how she feels awful, and then says Terezi should be happy that Team Charge is out of the picture.

AG: Uuuuuuuugh, what do you want from me????????

GC: 1M NOT SUR3

GC: 1 GU3SS 1M LOOK1NG FOR SOM3 R34SON TO CH4NG3 MY M1ND

GC: 1 DONT KNOW WH4T YOU C4N S4Y TH4TLL DO 1T

GC: 1 SORT4 HOP3 TH3R3S SOM3TH1NG THOUGH

In the end, there isn’t. Terezi tells Vriska she’ll be dead in a couple of minutes, and to ‘CONSULT W1TH YOUR L1TTL3 4DV4NT4G3’ if she doesn’t believe it, then leaves the conversation.

Vriska’s little advantage turns out to be a MAGIC CUE BALL, which is similar to a magic 8 ball except that it’s predictions are specific and accurate, and it lacks a portal through which the user can read said predictions. Fortunately that’s not an obstacle for Vriska: Her VISION EIGHTFOLD allows her to see through the opaque casing.

CHEL: Vision Eightfold is the vision from the one of Vriska’s eyes which has seven pupils, which she covered with an eyepatch with seven rubies on it when she was FLARPing. Also remember that Jade had a Magic Cue Ball but couldn’t read it? Yeah, it’s another one.

BRIGHT: One other thing: According to rumour, it used to belong to the man on the moon.

As Vriska asks the cueball whether she should be worried about Terezi’s threat (answer: YES), Terezi lets Scratch know where his missing property has gone. Vriska asks the cueball how it’s going to happen…

I WILL EXPLODE IN YOUR FACE.

Boom.

This section is one of my favourite Terezi moments. It really shows off Terezi’s ability to outthink and manoeuvre people. She’s never spoken to Scratch before, but she still plays him against Vriska easily.

CHEL: This is why Vriska has a plain eyepatch and a robot arm in her future appearances, but she’s otherwise fine. Bluebloods are tough, apparently.

BRIGHT: Back in the future, Spidermom has survived the rubble falling on her, but just barely. Vriska puts her out of her misery with her magic dice, which summon up a massive guillotine and decapitate the lusus, drenching Vriska in spider blood.

GORE GALORE: 11

The decapitation sets off another landslide, sending Equius’s house straight down on Vriska’s head, but before it can land, a portal opens underneath it and transports it into the Medium.

Vriska promptly jumps on Trollian to freak out about this, because her plan depended on her getting Aradia’s surprise present from Equius to pass along and then Aradia and Vriska entering the Medium together, and never mind that a house was about to fall on her -- in fact, when Aradia points out that Vriska was about to die, Vriska accuses her of planning this. Aradia placidly agrees.

CHEL: This is part of my evidence for thinking Vriska might not be neurotypical. Not the priorities most people would have. Also, meanwhile, note that the lusii have the same blood colour as their charges, while the non-lusus animals Nepeta killed were black and had red blood. I’m not sure whether that’s a species trait, or a side effect of the weird bond between them (doesn’t make a lot of biological sense, but then this is basically fantasy with a sci-fi coat of paint).

Vriska is enraged by things not going the way she planned; her grand gesture of apology, the robot body, will now be handed over by Equius and not her, ruining her chance to be friends again with Aradia. Again, she doesn’t seem to understand how apologies work.

AA: were we ever really friends

AG: Yeah!!!!!!!!

AG: I don't know. I felt like we were even if you didn't think so.

AG: I guess I'm not very good at acting like a friend. Or saying stuff like, hey friend! You're my friend! It doesn't really occur to me.

For some strange reason related to her prototyping with the frog statue, Aradia types out “ribbit” into the chatbox, and informs Vriska she’s not on the Blue team as she expected, enraging Vriska further. Vriska accuses her of taking revenge, which Aradia denies, saying Vriska was always going to be on the Red team, and that she doesn’t care about her death.

AG: You're so infuri8ing! Why c8n't you just h8 me? It would 8e a lot easier th8t way.

AG: Or at least feel 8othered or annoyed or S8METHING! God!!!!!!!!

AG: May8e I sh8uld just rip my he8rt out of my chest and pound it to a 8loody pulp here on my desk with my sup8r strong ro8ot arm.

AG: Pound pound pound pound pound pound pound pound!

AG: Look at that, more nasty 8lue 8lood all over me. Why not! Might as well op8n the floodg8s and p8nt my whole hive with this oh so envia8le cerulean SWILL.

AG: 8ecause clearly it's up to me to feel em8tions for the 8oth of us, you misera8le soulless witch!

AA: 0_0

AG: I h88888888 you!

AG: H8 h8 h8 h8 h8 h8 h8 haaaaaaaate!

AG: I only regret killing you cause it m8de you so 8ORING!!!!!!!!

AA: s0rry

Aradia assures her that the teams are meaningless, but being on the Red team will put Vriska in the position they need her in. Vriska’s confused and angry, and leaves the chat.

In Equius’ LAND OF CAVES AND SILENCE, he trolls Aradia again, telling her he will be the sole leader, which she doesn’t care about. He’s surprised she isn’t objecting, and says he needs a towel.

CT: D --> Never mind

CT: D --> I'm trying to stay professional about this

AA: ab0ut what

AA: what are y0u talking ab0ut

CT: D --> Forget it

CT: D --> It's just pleasant to consort with one of lesser breeding who clearly understands her place

He’s been established to suffer from hyperhydrosis, but he’s clearly also supposed to be getting off on this, which, since he’s thirteen, is icky to read.

CALL CPA PLEASE: 12

It only gets worse.

CT: D --> I 100k forward to seeing how well you serve me, server player

AA: uh

AA: thats n0t quite the meaning 0f the w0rd server

CT: D --> What do you mean

AA: as y0ur server i manipulate y0ur envir0nment t0 help y0u advance

CT: D --> I don't understand

CT: D --> Are you

CT: D --> Are you saying

CT: D --> That

CT: D --> You are in a position of control over me

AA: i supp0se s0

CT: D --> Oh

AA: what

CT: D --> Oh my God

He babbles about how he needs fresh air or another towel, getting so agitated he actually drops an F-bomb, which he immediately covers up with “Fiddlesticks”. He says he wants to break something, and Aradia offers to break something for him, as she’s developed an interest in breaking things recently. Next page, she flings an “abluti0n trap” through his wall.

FAILURE ARTIST: The running gag of girls fucking up boy’s homes with bathroom appliances continues!

CHEL: He’s very happy, except about her commoner slang.

CT: D --> In fact, this is an order from your leader

CT: D --> Call things by their proper names

AA: what

AA: y0u want me t0 call it a bath tub

AA: that s0unds ridicul0us

As FA noted, this bit of worldbuilding ends up retconned out with all trolls calling things by strange rewordings later on.

Whatever it’s called, Equius asks her to throw it through the wall again. She asks if that’s an order, and he can’t decide.

CT: D --> You could cause quite a bother for me, with the power you wield

CT: D --> I can do nothing to stop you, peasant girl

CT: D --> It's so magnificently depraved

CALL CPA PLEASE: 13

Aradia ribbits again and he takes it for roleplaying, but commands her to continue to do as she pleases. He tells her he’s bringing the robot body, and muses on whether she should actually be co-leader again; in fact, he decides, she should be the actual leader, in secret, through him. She points out that’s what they’re doing anyway.

CT: D --> You take to authority well for one of your b100d

AA: i d0nt have bl00d

CT: D --> Not yet

CT: D --> But soon your heart will beat anew, and through it, fresh b100d and fresh passion

AA: 0_0

CALL CPA PLEASE: 14

Equius proceeds to STRONGJUMP right up to his first Gate, punching off an ogre’s head as he goes, and to STRONGFALL out into LOQAM, where Aradia waits. Equius hands over the robot and Aradia enters it; she seems happy, but Equius cautiously asks if she feels anything else.

EQUIUS: D --> Can you detect anything within you might describe as

EQUIUS: D --> Smoldering passion

[...]

ARADIABOT: 0h g0d

ARADIABOT: 0H MY G0D WHAT DID Y0U D0!

ARADIABOT: did y0u pr0gram this r0b0t t0 have feelings f0r y0u?

ARADIABOT: R0MANTIC FEELINGS???

EQUIUS: D --> Hrrrk

ARADIABOT: ANSWER ME BLUE BL00D SCUM

EQUIUS: D --> I

EQUIUS: D --> Yes

EQUIUS: D --> Uh

EQUIUS: D --> It's a chip in your heart

EQUIUS: D --> Is that not ok

Understandably, it is emphatically not.

GORE GALORE: 12

Now, this is undeniably a really, really, really creepy thing to do. I’m not sure how much blame can be applied to Equius here, though; he’s been raised in a society which would presumably tell him she would have to accept his advances no matter what, considering their caste difference. In a horrifying way, the chip might have been, in his mind, the nicer option. Still, as I said, creepy.

CALL CPA PLEASE: 15

BRIGHT: I think it’s telling that he asks if it’s not okay after Aradia freaks out, as though he honestly hadn’t considered that Aradia might have a problem with it. Specifically, up until that point, Equius seems to be interacting with Aradia more like she’s a prop than a person — it doesn’t seem to occur to him that she might not want what he wants, unless their wants conflict in a way that he finds titillating. Then she freaks out and he’s surprised. And that in turn speaks volumes about how lowbloods are viewed by highbloods in wider society.

Contrast Vriska, who absolutely realises that people down spectrum can have their own agendas and emotional reactions; she just does her own thing anyway. Vriska is actively malicious; Equius is, at least in this case, accidentally malicious. Note that he doesn’t make any effort to prevent her from removing the chip once he realises she’s distressed. (Not that he really gets a chance.)

Equius in particular also seems to have a problem about slotting people into roles in general -- he does it with Gamzee, too, although since Gamzee is higher-blooded than him, he has to at least face the fact that Gamzee doesn’t fit into his role. He comes across as very sheltered.

FAILURE ARTIST: Equius considers it such a good thing to be a highblood that he thinks he’s doing her the greatest favor by turning her into one.

CHEL: This also brings up the question of where he got all that blue blood. I hope it’s synthetic. If not, he’s already said he doesn’t kill animals, so I’m not sure whether it’s creepier if he killed another troll for it or if he slowly drained it off from his own.

Aradia’s not contemplating that, too busy crushing the artificial heart and slapping the shit out of Equius for multiple pages, before, er…

Yes, she’s apparently making out with him as a reward for violating her mind, even after the chip was removed.

BRIGHT: The first time I read Homestuck, I thought that was meant to imply that not all of the programming was gone.

FAILURE ARTIST: Hussie did confirm the programming was gone. He compared it to a failed roofying.

CHEL: This is a bit of a shock, but it makes somewhat more sense when we see more of troll culture, not long in the future. Still, right now it’s probably upsetting for a number of readers because that part of troll culture hasn’t been established, so…

CALL CPA PLEASE: 16

CLOCKWORK PROBLEMATYKKS: 41

#Homespork #homestuck #review #reread #Let's read #homestuck meta #vriskourse

5 notes · View notes