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dappercritter · 4 years

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Random She-Ra Season 4 Thoughts:

After much thinking and suffering, here are some random thoughts I had about season 4 inbetween feel episodes.

Going into S4 be like.

Coming out of S4 be like.

Grief and failure to communicate. This season is off to a great start!

You know, I still like Swift Wind but I’m starting to see why most people, uh… don’t.

If you told me before I started the show that I would hate a sexy catgirl and feel sorry for a creepy-looking cyborg conqueror, I would have called you a liar, paused, then said, “No, wait. Yeah, that sounds like me.”

Queen Glimmer looks nice, but I’m definitely going miss her old Cutie Honey-esque hairstyle.

Shame that Huntara didn’t join the Rebellion full-time but it’s for the best. Not just so she can liberate the Crimson Wastes, but let’s face it, nobody in the Rebellion would be able to think straight with a butch Amazonian warrior goddess hanging around.

I really can’t give Double Trouble enough praise: they have so much personality, a fantastic design combining reptilian and theatre-kid traits (two of my favourite kind of characters!), are morally ambiguous but likeable, and help alleviate all the dramatic stress that this season is packed with.

Flutterina and her village has thoroughly convinced me we need more moth people in fantasy.

Why? Simple. THEY’RE SO FLUFFY

I have some minor issues with the Flutterina controversy: yes, Adora and the Rebellion recruited a young girl to fight in a war and took her from her home and all that, which is a valid concern to have and indeed just a little hypocritical given that was how she was forced to grow up, but I feel like the fact that Flutterina is actually Double Trouble, a young adult spy with what I assume is a fair amount of combat and espionage training, makes it ring hollow for me.

Also, do we know if there’s a real Flutterine that Double Trouble impersonated or is she just a persona they made up?

Either way, it’s funny to imagine the Elberon locals trying to make sense of this little girl that just showed up out of nowhere, went off to war, and then the real one shows up right after and everyone just has to go along with it otherwise people will think they can’t keep track of their own kids.

Okay, so I’m not happy about Shadow Weaver slowly being treated as just another member of the cast, but I’m also sort of glad that it’s being implied that we’re still not supposed to trust her either.

That said, leave it to Shadow Weaver to go and potentially destroy Glimmadora on us.

Rogelio confirmed for best boyfriend.

Watching Kyle’s near sacrifice gave me some Chaos Vortex PTSD. (Pit-Truama Stress Disorder)

(If you understood that reference, you have earned my respect for life.)

Light Hope, you’re scaring the adults now, too.

Emily has a holographic projector and was at one point wanted by a ruthless conqueror of worlds. So I guess she qualifies as an astromech droid now?

Speaking of holograms, seeing Catra, Scorpia, and Entrapta when they were all friends was the worst kind of bittersweet.

(After watching Scorpia leave her toxic friendship to embark with Emily on an adventure to save Entrapta) *on the verse of tears* Fricking superb you funky little lesbian! *sniff* Fricking superb…

That’s right, Catra. You reflect on the consequences of your actions like a good kitty-cat.

Sea Hawk surprisingly looks the part for a good noir protagonist.

In his own head, of course.

Is it just me, or is Frosta acting mature again? Hyperactive Little Sister Frosta is fun, but The Only Sane Person in the Room is a Literal Child Frosta would be a missed opportunity.

Oh no, Adora and Glimmer are fighting!

Yay, they were just pretending to catch Double Trouble!

Oh no…

“Boy’s Night Out” or, “How to Delight and Emotionally Destroy Your Audience At The Same Time”

Believe it or not, Sea Hawk possesses special abilities like the Princesses. Those being:

Great singing

Superhuman positivity

Nigh-invulnerability

I’m not sure if Madame Razz is a time-traveller, a Doctor, or just has some sort of Alzheimer’s, but regardless, I’m proud of how the crew handled it.

Swift Wind might be annoying at times but if showing concern for the elderly doesn’t make him a likeable character, I don’t what does.

Looks like I can add “Hero” to the list of She-Ra episodes that deserve an Emmy or Annie.

Words cannot describe how happy I was to see Scorpia pop-up in Bright Moon amid all the drama.

Glimmer is tip-toing the line between “pure-hearted character forced into morally grey responsibilities” and “grey-area wet wipe” and I am not loving it.

So between She-Ra, Huntara, and Scorpia, we all agree Perfuma has a type now, right?

I know it’s just Double Trouble making fun of her (and my love of Elvis Presley, Johnny Bravo, and Kishidan showing) but I think Adora looks pretty dang cool with a pompadour.

Beast Island: It’s Annihilation for Kids!

Yay, King Micha really is alive!

However, he still doesn’t have a wife to come back to and his daughter is making some poor life choices. Bummer.

Nice to see Bow’s still on the Hates Shadow Weaver bandwagon.

Entrapta’s got a Kamen Rider mask now and no one call me otherwise.

And she’s got a mecha that used Godzilla’s roar.

Well, even if my She-Ra-fan-heart is dying, my tokusatsu-geek-brain is happy.

How Entrapta adjusted to life on Beast Island is both nothing and everything I expected from her at the same time.

Well what do you know, Glimmadora saves lives!

BREAKING NEWS: Non-binary reptilian theatre-kid makes breakthrough with angry lesbian cat!

Light Hope, you’re breaking our hearts…

I’m glad that the show is hopping on the anti-power-up bandwagon as well. As someone who grew up with shows like Power Rangers where everything was immediately solved by new merchandise or powers, I get a sort of twisted satisfaction seeing that the shiny merchandisable new toy is more trouble than its worth.

Oh, and of course, it makes a for a good lesson on the danger of absolute power.

Before I started S4, I hated Horde Prime because he wasn’t a giant eldritch cyborg monster anymore, but I’ve actually gotten quite accustomed to his new design. Now I hate him for being a callous perfectionist world conqueror with no sense of personal space that may or may not be into selfcest.

(*praying intensely*) Please let Adora turn into She-ra through sheer-will power next season, please let Adora turn into She-ra through sheer-will power next season, please let

Yup, I was right! This season didn’t fix damn thing the last one broke!

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batskulldrag · 4 years

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Phoenix by Fallout Boy

here’s chapter fourteen, sorry for dropping off the grid

Trigger warnings for anxiety attacks and panic attacks. As well as abuse mentions

Also innacurate representation of a court of law. I pieced this together from all my research. But it’s probably wrong

Chapter Fourteen: Burn from the Hamilton soundtrack

Patton buttoned the last button on his suit jacket. The deafening silence was not helping his nerves. He glanced over to Logan who was pacing dazedly from one side of their room to the other.

“I haven’t worn this since my last job interview.” Patton added to the void. “I’m surprised it still fits. I’ve had a lot of cookies since then.”

“What?” Logan stopped walking and looked over as if he had been snapped out of a trance.

“I was just trying to joke.” Patton dismissed it. “Are you ok?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’re stimming.”

“My pacing has nothing to do with Asperger’s.” Logan said quickly and unconvincingly.

“I’m scared too.” Patton looked at his shoes. “Not only does Payton have a lawyer, but he is one!”

“So? He can’t alter reality.” Logan shrugged. “And we have all the evidence. We can stop him from so much as looking at a picture of Virgil ever again.”

“I guess.”

“And I know.” Logan walked over and untied Patton’s tie. “Who taught you how to tie a tie?”

“I never learned how. I was busy and my hands were tied.” Patton smiled.

“I’ll let you have that one.” Logan sighed, retying the tie.

They were interrupted by Virgil screaming. They both sprinted over to him, and Patton burst inside.

Virgil was on the floor beside his bed staring at his arms in horror. Both arms, his face and neck were pink and covered with hives.

“I’ve been nuked!” Virgil yelled in dismay.

“It’s ok.” Patton said more out of instinct than optimism as he ran to Virgil’s side. “It’s probably nothing.”

“Virgil, do the hives itch?” Logan asked, kneeling across from him.

“Yeah?” Virgil replied, confused. “What are they? Am I gonna die?”

“If I had to guess I’d say they were stress induced.” Logan felt his forehead.

“I can’t show up to court looking like this!” Virgil gestured at himself. “They’ll assume stuff!”

“What will they assume?” Logan asked seriously.

“I don’t know! They’ll assume that I’m too stressed out here or something.”

“It’s ok sweetie.” Patton cooed, stroking his hair. “They’re not gonna jump to conclusions.”

“He’s right.” Logan continued. “The only assumption they are going to make is that a young man, who was diagnosed with severe anxiety, is having a reaction to the stress involved in testifying in court.”

“How can you be so sure?” Patton could feel Virgil’s heart pounding.

“I can’t. And I’m not asking you to trust the court, I’m asking you to trust us. We’re not going to let Payton get his hands on you ever again.”

“Sure, but there are limits to what you can actually do about this.” Virgil’s breaths started getting shorter.

“And everything is in our favor.”

“He’s going to deny everything, he’s going to lie about you! He’s not just going to let this slide!”

“I know.” Logan pushed Virgil’s bangs back. “But he’s already been outed as a liar. And no one is going to believe his hearsay arguments so easily. Maybe people are inclined to believe the adult, but nobody believes the liar.”

“But we don’t know what he has up his sleeves.”

“Prison tattoos probably.” Patton chimed in bitterly.

“Payton had better have the infinity gauntlet under there if he wants to win.” Roman said from the doorway.

“How long have you been there?” Logan turned around suddenly

“I heard Virgil scream too.” Roman rolled his eyes. “I just didn’t have anything to add until now.”

“We’re going to find out that you’re just a ghost that haunts this place, aren’t we?” Virgil added.

“That’s the spirit.” Patton impulsively took the opportunity for a dad joke.

“Virgil.” Roman ignored Patton. “I have plenty of make up if you wish to cover up those irritants.”

“No.” Logan interrupted. “Make up would worsen the irritation.”

“I have baby lotion.” Patton smoothed Virgil’s hair back.

“Why?” Virgil looked dismayed.

# # #

“Boop.” Patton enunciated as he smudged a bit of lotion on Virgil’s nose.

Virgil didn’t seem too impressed with that. He just sighed and looked at his arms.

“Ok, Virgil, drink this and then I’ll give you one of your pills.” Logan added, placing a mug of warm milk in front of him.

“What’s this supposed to do?” Virgil asked skeptically.

“It’s supposed to settle your stomach and relax you.” Logan felt his forehead. “Given your history of throwing up when you’re stressed, I don’t want you eating anything heavy. But you shouldn’t be taking your tranquilizers on an empty stomach. And milk, especially warm milk is known to have calming properties.”

“Do you think I need one of the sedatives?” Virgil added, taking a sip of the milk.

“You did kinda break out because of stress, Kiddo.” Patton set the lotion down. “And you’re doing a pretty scary thing today.”

Virgil rested his head on the table and Patton started petting his hair.

“You can still change your mind at any time.” Logan added, putting a hand on Virgil’s shoulder. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I can’t just duck out at the last minute.” Virgil mumbled.

“Quack.” Patton added, looking down at his anxious little baby hopefully.

Virgil didn’t even crack a smile.

“I’m gonna do this even if it’s the last thing I ever do.” Virgil sat up with determination.

“Ok.” Patton wrapped his arms around him. “But you don’t have to. Ok? You don’t need to do anything that will make you uncomfortable.”

“I know.”

“Do you wanna take your bear with you? Or your hoodie? You know, to make you more comfortable.”

“I don’t need a security blanket.” Virgil looked disgusted at the thought. “Can you imagine? If Payton saw me walk up to the stand with a fricking teddy bear, he’d drop his bullshit and start reaming me out right there. I don’t wanna see that.”

“He’d lose the case in an instant though.” Roman added. “It is normally considered bad form to abuse your child in the middle of a custody battle.”

“That’s a valid point.” Logan somehow agreed with Roman. “Payton is completely incapable of hurting you anymore. His hands are tied.”

“Metaphorically?” Virgil looked up at him.

“No, they had him in hand cuffs last time I saw him.”

Virgil laughed at the idea.

“Ok, Kiddo.” Patton kissed him on the forehead. “You go get dressed. And I promise that everything is gonna be ok from now on.”

“How can you be sure?”

“I just can.”

# # #

The courtroom looked exactly like every court room from TV. Patton looked into the gallery and saw several strangers. Roman veered off from them and sat in the gallery as well. He shot them a thumbs up.

“Why are there a bunch of people here?” He quickly whispered to Logan as they sat down at their weird table.

“Most trials are open to the public.” Logan explained. “People can just walk in and sit down.”

“Why would you want to do that?”

“I don’t know. Trials are open to the public barring a specific order from the judge. It’s in accordance with the sixth amendment, a fair and public trial.”

“I don’t know any of those words.” Virgil shuddered from between them.

Logan silently checked Virgil’s pulse and felt his forehead.

“Am I gonna live?” Virgil said flatly.

“Very funny.” Logan sighed. “In half an hour you can have another pill. If you feel like you’re going to have an attack tell one of us.”

“And if you feel like you need to take a break, just say so and we’ll tell the judge.” Patton rubbed his shoulder.

“And deny the spectators such an epic show?” Virgil sneered.

“Never mind them.” Patton shushed.

Virgil dropped his annoyed expression and stared across the room in numb horror. Despite his rash his face went pale and he started panting and wheezing.

“He’s here.” Virgil squeaked.

“Shh,” Patton wrapped himself around Virgil like a shield, making sure to block his line of sight. “It’s ok, he can’t hurt you. Don’t look at him. Just don’t look. He can’t do anything.”

Logan made eye contact with Payton and stared back at him with a blank face. Payton’s empty eyes were no match for the cold stoicism that Logan wore so well. This mere lawyer had no clue how to intimidate him, nor anyone else that realized that he had no power over them. Payton didn’t look away though, he had a lot of arrogance for a man with no real control, no real power, no permanent impact. Foolish sociopath.

“All arise.” The bailiff ended their staring contest. “The honorable Jack Douglass Presiding.”

Patton continued to insinuate himself between Payton and Virgil as they all stood to attention. Familial attachment was flaking off of his conscience like an old sunburn. The idea that Payton didn’t want to be his friend started to harden him rather than hurt anymore. All that he really felt was the determination to make sure that no one threatened his baby ever again. And if Payton thought he was going to sit over there and shoot death glares at an innocent kid, then he needed to get used to disappointment and fast.

“Thank you, bailiff.” The judge snapped him back into the room. “You may be seated.”

The crowd sat down on command. It was kind of impressive.

“Mr. Pent.” The Judge looked at Janus “Yesterday I asked you if you were really going through with this. I’m going to ask again.”

“The defendant is insistent on having this out in court your honor.” Janus answered professionally.

“Is this correct?” The judge looked at Payton and his lawyer.

“It is your honor.” The lawyer answered.

“Alright,” The judge replied. “Proceed with your case. Why do believe Mr. Foster to be an unfit parent?”

“We have documented evidence of both physical and emotional abuse as well as neglect.” Janus pulled out a folder.

“Interesting.” The judge looked at Payton. “Mr. Foster, how do you respond to these allegations?”

“The claims against me are completely fabricated.” Payton said coldly. “I have never laid a hand on my son, nor have I abused him emotionally.”

“Why would your brother make up something like this?” The judge countered.

“I assure you. I have no idea.”

“Let’s see your evidence.” The judge, his honor? Turned back to them.

“I have with me a portion of the fire chief’s report from Mr. Foster’s home.” Janus read. “It states that Virgil’s bedroom had no door, which caused the fire to spread to his room much quicker than normal, and that his window was nailed shut.”

“Mr. Pent,” His honor looked annoyed. “Do you have children?”

“I do not your honor.”

“Did you have a window when you were a teenager?”

“Yes, your honor.” Janus was somehow playing this straight.

“Mr. Foster,” His honor turned to him.

“Yes sir, I mean your honor?”

“Since staying with you, has Virgil had access to a functional window?”

“Yes, your honor.” Patton shook, he had no idea what was happening.

“How about a door, does he have a door?”

“Yes. Your honor.”

“Mr. Pent, how about you? Did you have a door when you were a teenager?”

“Yes, your honor.”

“Mr. Foster,” The judge turned. “When you were Virgil’s age, did you have a functional window?”

“Yes, your honor.” Payton seemed confused as well.

“How about a door?”

“Yes, your honor.”

“Why is it that your son has neither of those things?”

“Virgil was in the habit of bringing friends over uninvited and sneaking out at night, I removed the door and sealed the window to prevent this.”

None of the three had it in them to be surprised by this anymore. They barely had it in them to be disappointed.

“Firstly, taking off the door won’t prevent any of that.” His honor retorted. “Secondly, he nearly died in a fire because you nailed his window shut. You’re either abusive or stupid.”

“Your honor.” Payton’s lawyer added. “Neither of these examples indicate abuse, making the evidence irrelevant.”

“That is fair, he could just be stupid.” His honor nodded. “Unfortunately, that kind of ignorant endangerment is still grounds to call him an unfit parent.”

Patton saw Payton’s eye twitch, it must have been killing him that his current defense was ‘please, I’m very stupid’.

“Mr. Pent,” Judge Douglass turned to Janus “Give me something more relevant to your case.”

“Here we have documented images of the bruises Virgil sustained, and several hospital records detailing various injuries.” Janus held out the folder and the bailiff took it to the judge.

The judge looked over the documents quietly and stoically.

“Virgil,” His honor looked up. “You’re planning to testify as a witness, correct?”

“Yes…Your honor.” Virgil grabbed Patton’s hand.

“Ok, why don’t you come on up?”

“Yes sir. I mean your honor.” Virgil stood up and looked at Patton desperately.

“It’s ok, just don’t look at him.” Patton whispered, rubbing Virgil’s hand.

The bailiff took Virgil up to the box and they swore him in. The poor baby was visibly shaking.

“So, Virgil.” Judge Douglass was surprisingly gentle. “I’m going to start by asking you why your window was nailed shut.”

“Payton, my dad, told me he didn’t trust me to not sneak out.” Virgil said frankly. “So, he nailed the window shut. The door was a different thing entirely.”

“Well, what was the door about?”

“He found a journal that I was keeping for a class when I was about eight.” Virgil tensely rubbed his arm. “And he got mad at me for keeping things from him while also telling my teacher things that were none of their business.”

“If I may, your honor.” Payton’s lawyer added. “This is not relevant, nor does it prove abuse.”

“I disagree,” Janus argued. “It is important we know why Payton felt that there were aspects of their home life that were meant to be hidden.”

“In that case, maybe we should ask what secrets Virgil was willing to share with his teacher and not his father.” Payton’s lawyer countered.

“Absolutely.” Jan agreed. “Virgil, what exactly were you writing about?”

“I was eight.” Virgil looked around uncomfortably. “I mostly just drew pictures. I had maybe two passages about how my dad made fun of me whenever I wet the bed. and the rest was dedicated to talking about the Goosebumps series. I wasn’t allowed to read them, so I always figured that was why Payton was mad at me.”

“Taking the door off is kind of an extreme reaction.” Judge Douglass stated blankly.

“Excuse me, your honor.” Patton added timidly.

“Yes, Mr. Foster?”

“How would Payton know what Virgil was writing about unless he read the journal?”

“We’re just wasting time with this.” Payton interrupted. “Nothing I’ve been accused of so far is child abuse, in fact I admitted to removing the door. Because Virgil and I were having some trust issues, with just cause. And none of that is illegal.”

Payton made direct eye contact with Virgil while he was talking, and much to everyone’s surprise Virgil stared right back at him.

“Alright.” His honor stared at all of them. “Let’s move on to the allegations of physical abuse.”

Virgil bit his nails and pulled at his tie.

“Let’s start with how Virgil managed to get a perfect belt buckle mark on his back.” His honor’s eyes scalded anyone who looked directly into them.

“A question I have been wanting answers to as well.” Payton glared at Virgil.

“You mean to tell me that you don’t know how that got there?” His honor almost seemed to laugh at Payton.

“I can only speculate that Virgil bruised himself to frame me for abuse or that my brother put those marks there to further his own agenda.”

“And what agenda is that?” His honor spat.

“Since last month Patton has started a campaign to discredit me, starting by accusing me of lying about my past. I have no doubt that once he learned my son was in the hospital, he decided that the best way to ruin me was to accuse me of abuse.”

“Why?” The judge asked leadingly.

“I have no idea why. Perhaps because I managed to make something of myself while he’s still living in the house we grew up in.”

“You’re a member of the one profession that everyone hates.” Judge Douglass retorted. “You know what everyone told me about going to law school? They said don’t. As far as I’m concerned you made a mistake by pursuing law. Maybe other people are impressed, but I’m not.”

Payton looked like someone had slapped him.

“And the bruise in question was a month old when Mr. Foster was given physical custody of Virgil.” Janus pointed out. “At that time Virgil had no contact with anyone without his father knowing about it. In fact, by Mr. Foster’s own admittance Virgil had no secrets from him and no way of doing anything without his knowledge.”

“With all due respect, your honor.” Payton’s lawyer commented. “This only clears Mr. Foster from having caused that bruise. Virgil could have very well done it himself or received it at school.”

“Virgil,” The judge went gentle again. “Can you explain how you got this bruise?”

“Don’t bother asking him, we know what he’s going to say.” Payton snapped.

“When I want to hear from you, I’ll call you.” Judge Douglass pointed the little hammer at him. “Virgil, answer whenever you feel ready.”

Virgil looked as if he were about to be hit by a train. He shook his head and blinked repeatedly.

“Payton and I were arguing, and he grabbed one of my belts off a chair or something…” Virgil inhaled sharply through his teeth. “And he hit me with it.”

“Did he do that a lot?”

Virgil gagged and slumped back into his seat, breathing hard.

“May I have some water?” Virgil whispered.

“Of course.” Judge Douglass said gently. “Bailiff, could you bring him some water?”

“Your honor,” Payton interrupted. “With all due respect, you’re not really going to humor him, are you?”

“I’m interested in what you mean by humoring him.” Judge Douglass looked down at him.

“Humoring him in his so called ‘anxiety attacks’. He only uses them as an excuse, and now he’s using it as a pity ploy.”

“I’m really not.” Virgil panted, looking like he was going to faint.

The bailiff brought Virgil a bottle of water. He fumbled opening it. Patton started to stand up only for Logan to pull him back down.

“Are you feeling better?” Judge Douglass addressed Virgil.

Virgil nodded.

“Mr. Foster. The older Mr. Foster.” The judge turned again. “Virgil has been diagnosed with severe anxiety by two doctors and is suspected to have PTSD. The fact that you deny this is concerning.”

“Your honor, this disorder is merely him being overly dramatic.”

“Doctors would disagree.”

“Of course, they would, their entire business is based on humoring these people so they can take advantage. No doctor benefits from Virgil acting his age instead of behaving like a toddler.”

“Virgil.” The judge ignored Payton. “Did your father hit you often?”

“Not very often.” Virgil inhaled sharply. “Just when he lost his temper. Like if I argued with him or if I got bad grades. He, he, uh. He normally just grabbed my wrists. And kind of, squeezed them really hard. Sometimes he dug his nails in, but he didn’t like to leave marks on a body part that couldn’t be covered up that easy.”

Patton quietly rubbed his own wrist, phantom pains returning.

“Do you have a clear recollection of when the hitting started?”

“Payton started hitting me when I was around ten.” Virgil squeezed the bottle, crackling the plastic. “I don’t really remember why he started. I just remember that he slapped me one time. And then he never stopped.”

“What do you say, Mr. Foster?”

“I maintain my innocence.” Payton said harshly. “Even if you they can prove that Virgil was injured, they cannot prove that I was the one who injured him. Which I was not.”

“Virgil says differently.” The judge countered.

“Virgil is thirteen! He’s a child, and most likely has been coerced into testifying against me.”

“That so?”

“Yes.”

“Really, because so far, he not only says you hit him, but is saying why you thought it was ok to hit him all those times. The only case that is falling apart here is yours.”

A cold silence hung over them.

“Mr. Pent, please continue.” His honor sighed.

“Certainly, your honor.” Janus didn’t blink. “I would like to call the court’s attention an event on the fifteenth of August that led to Virgil being hospitalized. The official claim was that he fell down the stairs, but his injuries suggest repeated blows, inconsistent with a fall. There is also the fact that the defendant claimed at the time that Virgil was morphine intolerant, while recent tests proved that Virgil has no such allergy.”

“Mr. Foster, would you care to explain that?” Judge Douglass asked.

“The official reports say that Virgil fell down the stairs because he fell down the stairs.” Payton insisted. “His doctors didn’t feel the need to interrogate me at the time. Which is telling of this case’s validity.”

“And Virgil,” Judge Douglass asked softly. “What do you say happened?”

Virgil inhaled tensely and closed his eyes quickly. Tears leaked out.

“I got held back in school.” Virgil exhaled. “Payton yelled at me the whole ride home. When we got inside, he slapped me. And… and… he just started hitting me. I don’t remember much, but I do know he threw me down the stairs.”

Virgil wiped away tears with a shaking hand.

“Ok, why don’t you go back and sit with your uncles?” Judge Douglass said gently.

The bailiff brought Virgil back to them and Patton instantly took him into his arms.

“Now, as to Virgil’s supposed morphine allergy?” The judge asked.

“I may have suggested the allergy in error.” Payton said. “I thought he was intolerant because both me and his mother are.”

“Medical records from your family disagree.” Janus argued. “Your mother received a good deal of morphine while she was ill. Patton was on several morphine related opioids after an accident that ruined his teeth. And you yourself received morphine during a surgery. Not only that but, Hazel Drake, Virgil’s mother, has no such allergy listed either. Records also show that Virgil had never been tested for this intolerance prior to his so-called fall down the stairs. So, you would truly have no way of knowing if he had an allergy or not.”

Payton had nothing to say. Patton and Logan breathed a sigh of relief. Virgil looked at them nervously. He was chewing on his sleeve. They each took one of his hands.

“Virgil has also been diagnosed with both severe anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder since his stay in the hospital.” Janus continued, looking like a cobra about to strike. “So, I would like to call Dr. Emile Picani to the stand.”

Dr. Picani walked professionally to the stand and was sworn in.

“Dr. Picani, what was your diagnosis of Virgil Foster?” Janus asked coolly.

“Virgil is suffering from severe anxiety due to an extremely stressful home life and post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from physical and emotional abuse.” Emile began. “Over the course of our sessions I learned that Virgil had been wetting the bed throughout his entire childhood and up until now.”

Payton scoffed; it was clear that he didn’t think anyone would hear him. But all eyes turned in his direction.

“A very telling sign of emotional abuse.” Emile continued, ignoring Payton. “Virgil also reported daily panic or anxiety attacks, night terrors and a complete loss of appetite. The fact that he hadn’t been eating was obvious when he was admitted because he was roughly twenty pounds underweight.”

“Did Virgil mention any instances of abuse in any session?” Janus led.

“He told me that if he would wet the bed, his father would mock him severely. He also mentioned one instance, which we talked about earlier, when he tried to defend himself to his father and was hit with a belt.”

“Objection, Your Honor.” Payton’s lawyer stood up. “Dr. Picani is only repeating something he heard during this trial. There is no proof that Virgil told him this in therapy.”

“Overruled.” His Honor retorted. “The evidence that Virgil is suffering mentally still remains.”

“Your Honor.” Payton’s lawyer continued. “Virgil’s bed wetting could be a result of being rehomed after the arrest of his father.”

“We already established that it had been happening for a long time before that.” Janus said smoothly.

Janus moved gracefully, almost as if he was slithering.

“In that case.” Payton’s lawyer argued. “it could be the result of a learning disability or a ploy for attention.”

“Dr. Picani,” Janus looked back to the stand waving a gloved hand. “What such disabilities would cause bed wetting at this late an age?”

Virgil looked down and covered his face with his hands. Patton noticed that his ears were turning red.

“It’s ok, Honey.” Patton whispered, petting him tenderly. “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Any disability that would cause bed wetting for this long would be apparent in other aspects.” Emile answers. “Low functioning autism, severe Down Syndrome or Locked-In Syndrome to name a few. Virgil clearly has none of these. And the bed wetting gets worse when he’s stressed out. I can guarantee that it’s not an attention ploy because prior to receiving therapy Virgil was avoiding fluids altogether so he wouldn’t wet the bed. This led to him being severely dehydrated when he was admitted.”

“Anything else?” Judge Douglass asked the room.

“Yes, Your Honor.” Payton’s lawyer continued. “Dr. Picani only has Virgil’s word that he had been having panic attacks or anxiety attacks regularly. The same goes with the night terrors.”

“Virgil nearly had a panic attack while he was testifying.” His Honor said deadpan. “And showed clear signs of having an anxiety disorder. As for the night terrors…”

He turned to Patton and Logan.

“Mr. Foster, Mr. Berry, has Virgil had any night terrors since staying with you?”

“Yes, your honor.” Logan nodded calmly. “He has had both night terrors and nightmares almost regularly. Both those and the bed wetting have decreased with anti-anxiety medicine, therapy and a less stressful environment.”

“Objection.” Payton argued. “We only have their word that Virgil has had such episodes. And there is serious doubt as to Mr. Berry’s credibility.”

“Why is that?” The judge asked.

“He is on the Autistic spectrum.”

“Mr. Pent, have you presented all the facts for your case against the defendant?” Judge Douglass looked to Janus.

“I have evidence to suggest neglect.” Janus added, coldly. “But I’ll make it quick.”

“Do it then.”

“Virgil was diagnosed with Strep throat when he was admitted. He had a severe case, due to not seeing a doctor about it. As Virgil’s guardian, Payton Foster would be responsible for taking him to a doctor, but it was revealed that Virgil had dealt with the illness for ten days. Virgil was also twenty pounds underweight. His father would have noticed this but did nothing. We also know that Mr. Foster, the defendant, denied his son pain killers based on an assumption of an allergy that he had never been tested for. There is also Virgil’s window being nailed shut and the fact that Mr. Foster, the defendant, had no smoke detectors in his home. Which led to Virgil’s nearly being killed in a fire. We also established that Virgil had a bedwetting problem that his father never sought medical advice for, and potentially mocked him for. Even if you doubt abuse, you cannot deny that gross negligence was at play.”

“Alright.” His Honor nodded. “Mr. Foster, you may present your case.”

#logicality #romile #parentalmoxieity #parental logicality #platoniclamp #pattonsanders #logansanders #romansanders #emilepicani #janussanders #sympathiticjanus #humanau #famILY

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everbrilliantheartbreaker · 5 years

Text

Fanfiction Reader Tag

Tagged by @eyeliner-vampire ♡ ♡

Fanfiction Reader Tag!

1. When did you start reading Fanfic (How old you were or how long ago)?

When I was probably...11 ish? so like 13 years ago

2. Do you have an AO3 account?

Yeh (LadyWisteria)

3. Do you read WIP (work in progress)? Why or why not?

All the time. I’m not picky about this at all. I’m a simple person. I see fic I think I’ll like? I read. doesn’t matter if it’s finished or not. I’ll make up my own ending til it is lol. also authors need that encouragement. finishing stuff is hard

4. What time of day is your ‘fic reading time’?

Usually late at night (like 1 a.m. and later..much later) but sometimes I’ll waste an afternoon instead (2 p.m. ish til I either have to go to work or I finish the fic)

5. How much time do you spend reading fic per week?

Not remotely as much time as I used, that’s for sure. Anywhere from an hour (if I’m rereading That favorite fic) to 2-4 hours if my friend has sent me a longfic again.

6. Do you listen to podfic (fanfic recorded like an audiobook)?

I...didn’t even know this was a thing tbh, so no. Sounds very neat but also I don’t listen to audio books anymore bcus my attention span re: audio input has gotten so bad over the years I can’t focus for more than a few minutes.

7. What’s your favorite fic genre to read?

AUs AUs AUs. and fantasy. and fantasy AUs (although good long AU fics are harder to find). I am a very simple person. I see magic mentioned, I read. I also read a lot of romance fic (proving once again that fanfic writing is often better than mainstream original writing, bcus romance is one of my least favorite YA/movie genres). I don’t read as much of them but I also love mystery and paranormal fics

8. Are there any genres that you tend to avoid?

Super angsty no happy ending type stuff. “Major Character Death” is an automatic nope lmao (unless the summary looks reaallyyy interesting or it was recc’d to me). Tragedy is definitely Not my thing

9. What tag(s) do you track?

I don’t track any fic tags (I stopped tracking tags at all since Tumblr changed it from “keeping track of new posts in said tag” to “dropping random posts from that tag into the middle of your dash, and usually the same three”)

10. How do you find new fic?

Nowadays I mostly just read what friends send me or the new stuff a very few writers I follow post, but sometimes I also come across stuff through Twitter or Tumblr and curiosity wins out

11. How do you organize your fic bookmarks?

I..don’t? Is this a thing people do?? If I wanna reread something I either search through my bookmarks by title/author or just. filter by fandom.

12. Do you subscribe to authors or stories?

Yeh. I only keep up with a very select few of them though. altho part of that is due to several of them being people I followed on fanfic.net years and years ago and never unfollowed, even though our interests may no longer be the same. (the other part is me going “oh I’ll read that later” and then just. never doing it.)

13. What is your favorite fanfic trope?

fake dating and bed sharing are always good

everyone is gay. also Good

14. What kind of plot line are you always here for?

“everything’s the same but they’re soulmates” (oh my god they were soulmates)

mafia AU

MAGIC

I really like in-between scene fics too. the events and character interactions that happen off-screen. I like writing those

15. What can an author do to make you love them?

write about my faves frequently

cool AUs

write about minor characters

good sense of humor

16. What can an author do to make you avoid them?

not into mpreg fics

a/b/o fics make me super wary I usually pass on those, even if the summary looks mildly interesting. they’re rarely if ever done in a way that isn’t rapey and gross

don’t care for fics period that have rapey scenes but you’re supposed to find them romantic

adult/minor ships

characterization is a big deal to me so if I don’t like how they handle the characters, especially faves I probably won’t be back

17. What do kudos mean to you?

when I get one I have a few seconds of “oh someone kinda liked this thing I wrote” and then I carry on about my day >.>;;; (I do appreciate them tho)

18. What kind of commenter are you (No comment, short comment, keyboard smash)?

I don’t comment as often as I mean to or wish I did, but when I do they’re loong comments (I’ve passed the AO3 character limit at least once kshg)

I tend to quote favorite parts and then react to them, and I like to theorize and ask questions about character’s thoughts at a certain part or what author imagines happens before/after the fic

19. Have you ever stopped reading a fic? Why or why not?

Yes. Once because I stumbled into a very sexually explicit fic when that was. Not at all what I was expecting (I was also very young lol), I think there was a very few I quit because they were boring or very poorly written, but most often I “quit” a fic for the same reason I don’t do audio books anymore lmao: because my attention span is sht and my motivation and commitment are extremely fickle things. I either forget or just wander away for a bit and then forget. Often I mean to come back and finish it; it’s just a matter of how long it takes. (I also second hand embarrassed out of a fic so hardcore that it’s been a whole 9 months since I’ve touched it khdfgd)

20. Have you ever read a fic more than once? What is it about that fic that makes you want to read it again?

YES. This requires like a minimum 4 separate posts to really answer but:

Behind Bricks and The Penance of a Killer by Deathbelle

this person is my fricking favorite author ever and these are two of my fricking favorite fics ever, I must’ve reread Behind Bricks 6 or 8 times now and Penance is the BokuAka-centric companion piece to my favorite fic of all time that I always wanted

Mending Bonds and If the Heart Breaks, Does That Mean There’s No Home? by RussianSunflower3

Mending Bonds is soft found family fluff centering on a very minor fave of mine and If the Heart Breaks is very angsty found family fluff that also focuses on some minor characters and it always hurts my heart but the ending and the soft middle always heal it right back up (“[Hanamaki] has a heart big enough for everyone in the world, and then some.” ohhhh my godd)

Boiled Frogs by ReginaGalaxia

this one is. a really hard read centered around emotional abuse and manipulation and hoooo boy it is a rough read especially if you’ve experienced any of that personally but it’s so well written and the character dynamics are great and in its lighter moments it’s fricking hilarious.

(bits and pieces of) The Roost by Ugglabarn

bits and pieces only bcus Roost has a lot of very heavy dark content that I’d have to be in a specific mood to reread the whole thing because it hurts my heart way too much but also it’s one of the best Fukurodani-centric longfics I’ve ever read (PLUS AN AU..!!) and I love love how they write the characters and how much focus there is on the minor members and ships and in its lighter moments Roost is also really funny the most recent chapter was hilarious

Expensive Hotel by Crown_of_Winterthorne

smut. explicit smut. excellent explicit smut with loving polyamorous boyfriends and plenty of consent discussion and kissing. my entire jam right there

Class 1-A Whomst? by Ya_Boi_Hal

this is the funniest chatfic I’ve ever read in my life and the first good chatfic I ever read. absolutely hysterical. also has some really good serious content in the middle and some Aizawa dialogue that punched me right in the feels. 12/10 will read again. sometimes I just randomly say “Mineta whomst??” and cackle to myself

and back in the day it was:

The Flame of Betrayal by DataIntegrationThoughtEntity

I guess traitor! Tahu was a popular trope back when Bionicle fandom was at its peak?? and not everyone liked it apparently but I enjoyed this fic greatly every time I read it it was well written and had interesting OCs and I am actually highly tempted to go reread it again

and Asleep Beneath a Wheat Field by Feline Freak

this was a very peculiar little OC-centric one shot that was also very sad and I don’t know why it grabbed me like it did but I remember rereading it 3 or 4 times at least

21. Do you like sequels?

The fics I like don’t usually come with sequels but The Penance of a Killer is one so Yes

22. Do you like dabbles?

I guess? I haven’t read too many I don’t think but hey, more fic is more fic. Who’s gonna complain about that?

23. What do you wish more fic authors would do?

Write about minor characters more

24. What do you wish more authors would stop doing?

that thing where they latch onto one facet of a character’s personality - or worse, one that fandom made up - and write them as if that’s the only trait they have

25. Do you like one-shots or multi-chapter?

Multi-chapter. I mean both are great obviously but the majority of my faves are multi-chapter and obviously if I like a fic I’m gonna wanna spend as much time in that universe as possible

26. How long do you like chapters to be?

Usually I feel the longer the better. once in a while I’ll hit one that’s so long it’s kind of distracting but extremely rarely

27. What’s your favorite POV (point of view) to read (first, second, third)?

Third

28. What do you think of OC’s?

I didn’t use to care for them very much but as I started reading fic by more advanced writers I found several I really liked. have a very small list of OCs from recent fics I’ve read I would actually kill a man for I love them so much

29. Do you download fic?

No, but seeing as my absolute favorite Bionicle fic vanished off the face of the earth several years ago and I cannot find anything about it an y wh ere sometimes I think about saving my faves. I never got to finish reading that fic and I am absolutely devastated every time I think about it.

30. Tell me something else about your fic reading! Anything else!

best thing is when my friend and I buddy read a fic and send each other our favorite parts

Tag!

@yaelathewordsmith and @samantha-girlscout ♡ ♡ ♡

#Toa does a meme #long post #i didn't forget about this i've just been picking at it ever since u tagged me

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monster-mum · 6 years

Text

Kids say the darndest things.

I have always loved reading. From a young age my room would have piles of books everywhere and it wasn’t unusual for me to be reading more than one book at a time. Around the age of twelve is where my interest developed into writing, more specifically poetry and journalism. My school didn’t have any kind of newsletter at the time so I pitched an idea to the headmaster for a school publication. He approved and within a few months the school Bulletin was born. Surprisingly enough I didn’t write for it, or edit it, despite being asked. I didn’t have the confidence in my own abilities. Twenty something years later I am sat on my couch putting together my first post for my new blog, Onwards, upwards and slightly to the left.

My life now is very different to that of my twelve-year-old self, for one thing I am quite a bit older and have matured, slightly. I have acquired a husband called Chris and have three beautiful children, my little monsters. Steven is seven, Lyla is four and Lachlan is 10 weeks. They are crazy and hilarious. I am slightly taller than I used to be as well and have much better dress sense, though not as good as Lyla’s. I also have lines on my face! You ever look in the mirror and think “Who the hell is that?” I actually physically jumped at the sight of my reflection once. One morning as I gazed horrified at my aging face noticing the crow’s feet framing my eyes, I shouted on my husband. I pointed out the lines and he said “aw I love your smiley lines!” If I had the power to shoot laser beams out of my eyes this would’ve been one of the times it happened. Just to clarify to any men or women reading this, if your wife says she has crow’s feet, or wrinkles around her eyes, your answer should be “what lines?” It’s a very similar response to that rather stunning young woman whose breasts haven’t discovered gravity yet, nothing jiggles on her body and glides (Yes glides, these kinds of women do not bounce unless they are excited) past you in the supermarket. Here’s how that conversation should go.

Anti-gravity, jiggly proof, gliding woman passes you both.

Two minutes later…

Wife “That woman was pretty. I like her top. What do you think?”

Husband/Wife looks around confused (acting is crucial at this point) “What woman?”

DING! DING! DING! Correct answer!

I call these Entrapment questions. Have you ever wondered at what age these “Entrapment questions” start at? Well I can tell you it’s as young as 7! Yes 7! How do I know this? Well a number of months ago I had the wonderfully awkward privilege of being privy to an entrapment scenario between my seven-year-old son and his girlfriend. This is how that conversation went.

Set scene: I am sat in the car driving home after my son and his girlfriend have finished their swimming lesson. Both are sat in the back chatting about school.

Girlfriend “So Steven, tell me, who is your favourite girl in our class?”

I’m sat in the front wishing that I had insisted my husband drive them to swimming. Just so you are aware reader with my kids you never know what is going to come out of their mouths. As I sit in anxious silence waiting for whatever bomb my creative son is about to drop I find that time seems to have slowed down. The silence is deafening and just when I am about to make one of those awkward parent jokes to break it he finally speaks.

Steven “Well she has brown hair and her name is … (We’ll call her Delores)”

Delores “Yes. That’s me so that’s good.”

I can’t believe it! Fantastic! Great work son! I take a deep sigh and begin to relax…then

Delores “Well can you stop calling me Lucy then please.”

Seriously Steven! Wtf man! Well, that’s it then my son you are on your own, I can’t see you digging your way out of this one. I am totally one of those Mums that if one of my kids is doing the dirty on someone I will throw them under the bus. So there I am consumed in my own thoughts of preparing my “tough lesson” speech for later on and glad that I wasn’t a part of this awkward conversation when…

Steven “Aw well, you know me I like to joke around. I’m a joker aren’t I Mummy?”

What! Serious, what! My “tough lesson” speech flies out of my head and I am now sat smack damn in the middle of my pain in the arse son and his girlfriend’s “conversation.” The one I was intentionally staying out of. Geez what do you say? A big part of me was tempted to say “Joker! Steven, it is never cool to call your girlfriend by another girl’s name! People have been murdered for less!” But my Mum’s voice came into my head reminding me that that probably wasn’t a suitable response for seven year olds, so I went with “Yeh (insert awkward laugh) you’re a reeeeeal joker Steven. (insert another awkward laugh).”

When I was younger and daydreamed about parenthood I thought of all the different hilarious ways me and Chris could embarrass the kids. Things like us making up a “welcome to our home” rap which we would do whenever the kids brought friends round. We are not good rappers. My inspiration for that one is that scene in Bad Boys 2 when Martin Lawrence’s characters daughter goes on her first date. Anyway, it never occurred to me that my kids would be the ones putting me in awkward positions! Steven is the King of putting me and Chris in awkward conversations.

Years ago, he had this teacher who was a very large lady. One time when we picked Steven up from nursery me and Chris found ourselves in the middle of an awkward conversation with her.

Teacher “Steven did well today…He also asked me why I am so fat.”

Me and Chris both become very interested in the floor and walls.

Chris “I better go and get Steven’s stuff together.”

Are you fricking kidding me Chris! Off he walks while I try to explode his head with my mind. I am terrible with these kinds of situations. I never know the correct thing to say and end up making things worse or more awkward.

By now the silence has gone on way too long and still I have no idea what I am supposed to say. The main issue I am struggling with at this point is that this woman is extraordinarily large and I am kind of interested to find out why she is so big, but you can’t ask! That’s a conversation rule, no super personal questions. This is another thing I am not good at judging. What constitutes a personal question? So, I go with…

Me “Oh…right…”

Teacher “I told him that I am fat because I eat lots of food.”

Me “Oh…okay…right.”

Oh, thank God that conversation is over. I am just about to change the subject when she says…

Teacher “Steven then asked me why I ate so much food if it makes me fat.”

I see Steven and Chris across the room and intensify and extend my efforts into trying to explode Steven’s head as well as Chris’s. How hard can this be! Come on brain!

The teacher is looking at me as if I am having a stroke, my exploding efforts are obviously visible on my face. Quick! I must think of something to say. What would my Mum and Dad say? Shit, they would’ve run off and abandoned me like my soon to be ex-husband and then laugh at me being stuck.

Me “oooookay…I am sorry?”

The teacher’s demeanour relaxes. “That’s okay kids are kids and they are just curious. He did well today and had a good day.”

She then walks off. Outside I look totally casual as I walk over to join Chris and Steven, meanwhile on the inside I am leaping for joy and yelling! “I did it! I held an adult conversation and didn’t muck it up! I am maturing, I am awesome!”

One thing I learned from that was to never feel too safe in your kid’s behavior. This was not the only time that Steven has done this. There was also the time with the one-armed man, but that is a story for another day.

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maggins · 7 years

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well it’s been a few days so i guess it’s alright to post this so here’s some of my thoughts on the live action BatB

tl;dr: I liked some of the new things, but I’m..... salty about others.

SPOILERS under the cut! mobile users please scroll through this! (sORRY it’s pretty long, I didn’t mean for it to get so long wOOPS;;; )

okay so I have been pretty excited about this movie since that teaser trailer came out bc wow the aesthetic possibilities that arose were pretty intriguing, and hey, it’s a Beauty and the Beast story, and I’m a goddamn sucker for those sO YAY

and...... I dunno, I went into this movie wanting to love it, and I think I came out just.... liking it. in terms of my opinion on Disney making live action remakes of their animated films, I’m kinda neutral; so far I don’t love them, but I also don’t mind them either. I thought Maleficent and Cinderella were okay, I didn’t think there was anything particularly extraordinary about them, but they weren’t all that bad either. Jungle Book was a pleasant surprise; I never really blogged much about it, but basically, I didn’t really know what to expect out of it but it ended up being my favorite out of those three in terms of giving a new twist to a familiar story (tbh it could also have to do with my personal experience with the original movies; I had never seen Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty as a kid, and only watched them much later on in my life and I guess I never truly appreciated them that much bc both films seem very much like products of their time; but I did own and watch a VHS of Jungle Book many times, so the nostalgia factor might be accountable as well)

Beauty and the Beast, however, is another matter. I have also never seen/owned this movie during my childhood (tragic, I know; the only times I remember seeing clips from it was in the trailers of my other Disney VHS’s). I believe the first time I saw it I was in my preteens or something, but boy did I ADORE this movie, even if it took me a while to get to see it. The music and characters and story and aesthetics.... mAN I loved it all

so since this live action adaptation was based on a more recent film that I quite adored, I got pretty excited for it! Like, sure, there wouldn’t be any way it would surpass the original, but at least I could get some new concepts and backstories to characters I loved! (the thing with the prince’s family they were hinting at in the teaser trailer got me sO EXCITED)

AAaaand I guess that’s pretty much what I got?? But still, there was something about the new movie that wouldn’t quite let me connect emotionally with the characters, and I’ve been feeling super salty about that??

I’ll be honest, I thought I’d cry when I would watch this movie and... I didn’t. I just... had so many nitpicks and I couldn’t stop thinking about them throughout the film, and I think that really damaged my enjoyment of it???

my major nitpicks:

I have a SERIOUS issue with the pacing/timing in this film. I think in the original, scenes would flow very neatly into each other, and it never left me with the sense of “wait, what??”. In the live action, I felt like some scenes were cut SO abruptly and some things were happening so fast it barely left me any room to let the emotions sink in; for example, I very SPECIALLY felt this on the scene were the Beast lets Belle go; like sure, I understand she has some urgency in going to her father, but in this version I barely felt anything from either of them, whereas in the original they at least take some time to convey that that scene was a goodbye, in the way that the Beast looks over the rose and weighs his options before saying he’s letting her free, and in the way that Belle reaches out to him in thanks before leaving

some acting?? I dunno, but at times I felt like they were just reciting a script and not acting it out... and it was seriously lacking in some gesticulation at times (I think this because I keep going back to the animated version and I feel that it is SO much more expressive than what they accomplished in the live action. Just compare both versions of Belle’s reprise scene; in the original Belle is just gesticulating and twirling around and looking the distance and wow that’s powerful stuff and it sticks with you; in the remake it felt more bland, like she runs up the hill and twirls once and then just.... stands there........ sigh idk)

the end scene?? it was supposed to be the emotional climax of the film?? and I think I ended feeling a LOT more for the servants turning inanimate than for Beast fricking dying in Belle’s arms??? like, I felt like there was supposed to be a “oh my god you’re here you’re actually here I’m so glad to see you again” moment between Belle and the Beast when he jumped to be next to her on the balcony, but they just stood there almost at arm’s length and I just wanted them to fucking hug or give each other some sort of physical reassurance?? after that I felt like Belle and Beast’s small dialogue before he dies was so rushed, it all just..... it felt bland to me; I dunno if it was really just me or something, but...... siGH

One thing I expected going into the movie was more layers/backstory to the main characters and on that account I wasn’t disappointed, like we DID get more on Belle and the Beast’s stories, but.... I left wanting even mORE?? remember me mentioning I was super pumped about the portrait of the Beast’s parents in the teaser trailer because holy shit I was so here for that!!!........ and then all we got was a few lines from Mrs. Potts and the first verse in the Days in the Sun song. that. was. it??!?

about the Dress Discourse™: I’ve seen the posts about it, and on that I say: it’s not an ugly dress per se, but I felt like it was the wrong dress for this movie. I think it failed to evoke the dress from the original movie, and it failed to evoke the time period. tbh I think that dress only looks nice when it’s actually moving, so I didn’t mind it too much during the actual dance scene. However in that little scene before that, when she’s just standing there at the top of the stairs, it..... doesn’t look iconic at all. OH, and that scene with the little gold details falling down from the ceiling/whatever to settle down on the dress....... yeah, I didn’t buy that. It felt superfluous, and I think what they were trying to do there was something along the lines of the dress scene in the Cinderella remake. But hey, it actually MADE sense to have a pretty/sparkly dress transformation scene in Cinderella because hey, it’s part of her actual story to have her rags turn into a beautiful dress. In this movie, however.... it made no sense for that scene to be there other than for the *・ﾟ✧sparkly✧・ﾟ* factor??? it was unnecessary, and tbh i think it robbed screentime from more important stuff

I know I keep comparing both the original and the live action, and one might come at me like “you should treat each of them as their own thing!”; well, I honestly don’t know if I can at this point when a lot the live action is a shot-by-shot remake, and just... at least for me, in the shot-by-shot recreated scenes, there failed to be an emotional connection as strong as in the original movie, you know what I mean?.... A scene that’s coming to my mind is when Belle is making her way to the West Wing. In the original, she felt inquisitive, but also very cautious all the way there, with her walking slowly, and her slight hesitations in posture and gestures. In the remake.... I felt like she just speed-walked all the way up to the West Wing, the whole time I was like “girl, you’re in a completely new environment and you have no idea of what’s coming, there’s no way you’d feel that confident”

I dunno, I suppose I knew the remake wasn’t going to be as good as the original overall, but... it lacked the original’s charm, it didn’t suck me all the way through into the story and characters, and that’s been bothering me so much, man; I really wanted to love this movie and I was a bit disappointed :(

Now, were there things that I actually liked? yeah!

M A U R I C E. good gOD, he was fantastic, and I’m a much bigger fan of his live action version than the animated one. I loved that he was an artisan/artist, I love his and Belle’s relationship and how much they genuinely loved and supported each other. He was awesome, 1000/10, Dad of the Year™, would recommend (his fucking reaction to Chip was priCELESS friCK)

FUCKING EVERMORE HOLY SHIT TAKE ME THAT WAS AMAZING I LOVED IT SO MUCH you fucking GO, Dan Stevens

I feel that Belle and Beast had more moments together and I loved their bickering and bonding over books it was v nice~

I enjoyed ALL the musicals numbers sO MUCH; I loved hearing the old ones with a new twist and bOY they were such a delight to hear, I was grinning the whole time; and the new ones were wonderful too!! as you’ve noticed, I mcfreaking loved Evermore, Days in the Sun was a nice little tune that gave light to many characters’ feelings/backstories and I quite enjoyed that; and How Does a Moment Last Forever, however short it might have been between Maurice’s and Belle’s versions, was so wonderful and I loved that music box quality it had to it

Belle wanting to teach young girls to read? Being a tinkerer/inventor? fuCK YEAH I LOVED THAT??!?

aesthetically, the movie’s fricking GORGEOUS; that castle was incredible and I wanna go there

I kinda liked how they tried to cover up some plot holes from the animated movie? Like how they don’t mention how many years this curse has been going on, but it’s very clear that it was set when the prince was already an adult (unlike the he-was-supposedly-cursed-at-11-but-somehow-there-are-paintings-of-him-as-a-young-man thing from the original), and the curse also affecting the memories of the villagers, that kind of stuff was neat and I’m glad they thought of that

each time a petal falls the castle keeps falling apart and the servants turn more and more into the objets they were cursed into?? that was nEAT (and ultimately led to a pretty frickin tragic scene at the end yOU kNow THe oNE)

I loved Garderobe and Cadenza?? they were like an eccentric couple of travelling artists and bc of the curse they were separated in different parts of the castle bc they couldn’t move around too much and mAN I felt for them I loved them

I liked this new Beast; but in the point that I’m very much aware that he’s very different from the animated one, and I’m okay with that, you know, something a little different but that is still recognisable isn’t bad, and I love both versions of him. Good job, Dan, you did gr10

stuff I’m still pondering if I like or not??

I’m.... not sure how to feel about Agathe/the Enchantress?? like, woah okay it’s actually cool that she stuck around the area and didn’t just vanish after casting the curse, but... what was her agenda, exactly?? like, sure, teach the prince a lesson about inner beauty and yada yada; but I never got, and still don’t get why she ever felt the need to do what she did, both in the original film and in the remake. Also I have mixed feelings about her being there when Belle was crying over the Beast; like, I GET why she was there, technically they had run out of time and the Beast was fricking dead; but it also felt to me like she was intruding on a sensitive moment that was very much supposed to be Belle and Beast’s (one could argue the same thing kinda happened with Cogsworth/Lumière/Mrs. Potts being there in the original movie, but idk I didn’t feel their presence there as much as I felt Agathe’s in the remake)

AbOUT BELLe and tHE BeasT...... I’m reeeally conflicted about this, like I felt that there WERE more moments between them than in the original, and I’m so here for that, but at times it also felt like they weren’t quite... connecting?? Again, I think the physical reassurance factor wasn’t quite as developed here as it was in the original, and I was quite disappointed by that idk

also about the thing with Belle’s mother and their magic-travel to Paris.... I know it was supposed to be a bit of a bonding moment between Belle and the Beast, but it also kept nagging at me that this moment should probably be hers and hers alone, and the Beast was just.... standing there?? I have a serious issue with some characters just standing there and doing nothing in certain moments in this film Like, if you’re going to have him there, at least have him comfort her in some way??? (again, pHYsiCAL reAssurAnCE iS imPorTAnt GuyS)

That’s.... all I can think of at the moment. At least, these were the major things that stuck out to me; I’ll be blogging more about this as time goes on in tag form, I guess. It’s weird, I’ve been feeling so salty because I wanted it to be so much more, and it just ended up being okay.

All in all, there were concepts introduced that I was really into, but as a whole it didn’t work all the way through for me. I’ll have the original film for that, I suppose

sHruGS

#maggins' ramblings #batb 2017 spoilers #i've had this on my chest for a long time siGHS #this is.... not very kind i'm afraid..........

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