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cherry-stained-corpse · 1 year

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After watching the final episode of Netflix’s Wednesday, rewatching the whole thing a second time, and then letting it sit for a couple days to get my thoughts together, here are my overall likes/dislikes/critiques. Hopefully I don’t forget anything as I tend to do sometimes. I am notorious for long written posts, you’ve been warned.

❌ WEDNESDAY SPOILERS ❌ [obviously]

I still hold true that overall I quite love the show. While there are a few critiques and things I didn’t like very much or that I thought could be done better, I would watch it again and still enjoy myself. So now to get into my thoughts in the form of bullet points and lists :). The critiques may seem longer, but that’s mainly because I go into a bit of a rant in regards to writing and choices and stuff. Overall what I like does out way what I disliked or considered flaws.

-What I Liked-

• The casting and overall characterization of Wednesday Addams.

• Maintaining that she’s so bizarrely out of the scape of ‘normalcy’ that she’s an outcast even amongst other outcasts.

• Latino main characters and representation for once.

• Enid. I love her claws and just everything.

• Eugene.

• The focus on being primarily Wednesday and not on the Addams as a whole. It’s a Wednesday show about HER after all. The whole internal conflict is her not wanting to be overshadowed by her mother.

• The further exploration of Wednesday not just being a mini-Morticia

• The inclusion of the supernatural, creatures and such and showing how being a different species does not necessarily make you the oddest one out.

• Gothic Aesthetics done wonderfully.

• Wednesday’s wardrobe.

• Wednesday actively listening to Spanish music and the language overall being used a bit more in dialogue by, yknow, Latino characters and not limited to the usual “hola” and “gracias” in the script. Have Latino characters speak more Spanish more often please I get so excited every time…I promise it’s accurate why do you think spanglish is a thing?

• The headmistress and how it didn’t go down the stereotypical “evil headmistress/the headmistress was the one behind it all or involved” plot twist.

• The school was more interesting and kind of better than Hogwarts and that’s coming from someone who’s a massive HP fan all my life. I just wish we could have spent more times at the school related stuff doing school things. Maybe go harder on the monster high vibes (OG monster high, not G3)

• The uniforms and having Wednesday’s be different was a great choice. This girl cannot be seen in any other color that would just be blasphemy and I can totally see her taking and dying the uniform herself.

• Cello, Typewriter, Gramophone (or as most people would refer to it “record player”). Made me very happy to see those as they are literally things I love as an antique collector and user.

• I love that she’s a writer. Not just cause I can relate as a writer myself. But because it just fits so incredibly well.

• Using the term normie.

• Fuck colonizers

• Blood dance visuals

• Dark Gothy tone with gothic architecture, a boarding school with very nice uniforms, Murder mystery, secret societies…this show is dark academia.

• young Gomez and Morticia was fun to explore.

• Thing. But that’s a given.

• I can go on and on about what I liked but then this will end up way too long.

Things I Felt Could Be Done Better But Did Not Hate.

• Morticia Addams. I thought the actress did a lovely job overall (she certainly got that Morticia walk down), and I don’t really agree with a lot of peoples criticisms. But I would have liked to see a bit more attention to the part she plays in the strain between her and Wednesday. Like I would have liked to spend a bit more time on that, it kind of felt like it just got dropped after that one episode where the parents come to the school and Wednesday’s complex about being compared to her just disappears a bit too quickly.

• Weems and Morticias whole thing going on. Loved the idea but sad it wasn’t explored more, it had such interesting potential. Especially in regards to Weems and Wednesday’s dynamic.

• The whole resolution between Gomez and the Sheriff dude was way too fast. Your telling me this guy that has held a grudge for years against Gomez, is suddenly going to be all friendly after it being proven he was innocent? An apology is fine but then that should have been it. I dunno that final interaction between them even if ht was really short felt a little too “we are friends now yeah my son likes your daughter haha isn’t that funny”. Just would have liked that executed a smidge differently.

• The drama with Bianca, I liked what we got but would have liked to see more of a rivalry and moments like that.

Things I Disliked/Critiques

• while the CGI wasn’t the absolute most amazing, it wasn’t the worse…until we get to the CGI and overall designs of large creatures. I’m sure you must know I’m referring to the Hyde, but Enid’s werewolf form is not at all exempt from this criticism. Granted the Hyde’s form is a lot more agreggious. The only thing I disliked about Enid’s wolf form was her face. As a furry that follows many furry artists including ones that work with 3D sculpting and stuff, I dunno. I felt like the face, the snoot mainly, could have been shaped differently? She looks kind of derpy, the body is fine but it’s just that face. Also the way her hair/fur in her head was shaped reminded me and my partner of bibble.The Hyde though? Everything but ESPECIALLY the face. And why do Tyler’s eyeballs have to be the first things that transform and bulge out I could not stop laughing it was so…wow. It reminded me of when cartoons inflate themselves by blowing into their thumb and their head is the first thing to expand like. I dunno I couldn’t take it seriously. The art Xavier drew of the Hyde looked way cooler and scarier than the actual model of the Hyde, which is such a shame because I think the model could have done the art justice if just a few tweaks and details where added. There wasn’t enough detail so I feel like that made the face look cartoonish in an uncanny way, and not in a good uncanny way.

• Why is Wednesday so eager to work with the police? You could probably argue that she only worked and cooperated with them because they had access to resources she needed so yknow she was using them but that’s not how it came off. This is I think one of two things I did not agree with In regards to this characterization of Wednesday. And yes there are really only two as far as I remember. She was way too cooperative with the sheriff, wanting to work together with him which is very out of character even to this very characterization of her. We are supposed to see how she commits all sorts of criminal activities no problem, I mean it’s in her nature, but she still goes and asks to work with the sheriff? It made it feel almost like a jarring 180 when she did what we expect her to do, disregard morals and torture/kill people without batting an eye. Not sure if I’m making much sense. I would have expected her to have acted like Bianca in that regard, not trusting the police and going straight to Weems instead like she had said to her.

• The second thing I didn’t agree with in regards to this characterization, and it is mainly because I don’t think it’s written well. Why is Wednesday, the girl that is writing and has written several mystery novels about a detective, probably has done in depth research on murders and crime and probably has read detective novels herself…committing the mistake of jumping to conclusions way too soon and forgetting evidence that would actually debunk that conclusion? Like the whole thing with Xavier. Her first inclination to confront him and accuse him? Yeah okay. That’s fine. She’s a teen she’s bound to be impulsive. But after she knew the DNA results had come back and didn’t match? Why did she ignore/completely forget that and continue to pursue, even arrest Xavier? As a suspect yeah he could have remained in her list of suspicious peoples but shouldn’t she have considered that very specific debunking fact SHE had sought out in the first place? Wednesday is a clever person, and she’s written here to be considered as such. But she’s conveniently written to forget or not consider things that I felt like she absolutely would have while sleuthing. Not only that, but just…I feel like after falsely accusing Xavier, and then being further made to question her own deductions thanks to the results of the DNA, why did she continue to go and throw out accusations so easily? It would have made more sense to me if the DNA results made her question her first conclusions and sort of take a step back and proceed more carefully when it came to investigating her potential suspects. She wouldn’t have continued to make the exact same mistake the next several times. I think this was done with the intention of showing how she interpreted her visions with too much bias and kept clinging to a story she put together rather than consider how her visions only show a small piece and not the full picture…but I feel like the over repetition of her kind of blindly going up to and accusing people didn’t quite show that.

• Everything with Tyler and Xavier portraying anything Wednesday did or said as “signals”. I’m fine with either of them kind of crushing on her. With Xavier, it did feel a bit more one sided and more like he was trying to get close to a girl he liked but then later I feel like that got ruined by him saying “you don’t know who your real friends are” just because his attempts and advances where ignored or rejected or obliviously brushed off. It veered into demanding a bit and not actually being considerate of how she just doesn’t work that way. She’s not selfish for only focusing on a mystery she’s been very clear about wanting to solve, she’s not selfish for not paying any mind to you or your advances. Same goes with Tyler but I feel like he’s kind of worse. At first I found it cute but when he said stuff about her “sending signals” and “I thought you liked me” I was like huh? When? Where? I was at first under the impression it would develop into a more obvious attraction between them as Wednesday learned to navigate any feelings she was beginning to experience for the first time, but by the time he says that there hasn’t been an inkling of development in regards to romance yet other than his very clear interest in her. But not so much the other way around. Also, while I understand being upset or jealous that the person you like is going or chose to go to a dance with someone else…you’re not entitled to them or their time? You can’t really get mad at them for not choosing you when they haven’t even made any actual advance or show of interest towards you. This goes for Xavier too. Why is it that when she went to ask for his help when he was locked up, and she told him about the vision she had that exposed Tyler as the Hyde, his focus was on her “getting action while he’s being framed”…wouldn’t you at least be more interested in how someone finally knew you where innocent and was going to help you? Basically…with both boys it just came off as very forced “obligatory Hetero love interests”. Because it was literally just “Boy like girl. Girl interacts with boy. Boy takes that as interest from girl who is clearly not in tune with those kinds of emotions and hasn’t shown a single whiff of interest. Girl ignores advances and puts epic mystery above any romance. Guy gets mad and views this as selfish and callous for not reciprocating and focusing on her case even though this is all she would talk about around them”. It just feels like they could have done the same conflicts and plot lines with these characters without it having to be love interest right off the bat. Developed in a later season? Yeah okay. But instantly? Instant love interests that are forced in? It feels a but pushing heteronormativity and kind of disregards how character development should be gradual. People growing and especially someone who is not in tune with emotions won’t suddenly be interested in a boyfriend when they don’t even have interest with friends. Someone like Wednesday that is used to isolation and only relying on herself needs to first develop an understanding of friendships and how it’s okay to let people be your friend, that it’s not a weakness, before jumping to insta romances.

• This might go back to the whole sleuthing thing before but I’ll put it in a separate bullet point cause I would not want to make them too terribly long. But…the way Wednesday figured out Tyler was the Hyde…she didn’t actually figure it out. It was pretty much spelled out for her, shown to her. And that could be fine if executed differently but it takes away from the whole whodunnit detective-ing thing. There’s a level of satisfaction we get when we watch or read our main characters finally solving a mystery and finding out the epic answers we witnessed them searching for this whole time, and I feel like having her figure it out because her vision power actually showed her takes away from her actually solving it thanks to her cleverness and the clues she gathered, as well as conflicts with the whole “don’t trust your visions so easily they don’t show the full story and you have to learn how to navigate them” plot.

• Next. Weem’s death. Why? I really wanted to see that character arc between her and Wednesday flourish and conclude properly, maybe even have them bond a little? Explore more about her as a character and her past through Wednesday? But she died. They killed big tall lady headmistress >:(. And so quickly too not even a final word to Wednesday or anything. I get why but still. Such a loss of great potential.

• The vampires are there…but…where are they? We introduce sirens and their existence, we explore werewolves and how they work. Adequat introductory lore for those. But Vampires get one mention, and that’s it. I didn’t even realize Yoko was a vampire until I realized all the vampires wore sunglasses. I would have liked an actual main character with more than two lines to have been a vampire. I would have liked to explore a little of what vampires in this world were like the way we got to explore the wolves and the sirens a little bit. As a vampire enthusiast this made me sad.

• It kind of feels like they where too scared to go full Wednesday Addams level of cruelty and immorality. Like they kept her personality in tact but things where a bit too almost sanitized to keep her as the “good protagonist” when she’s a very very very dark grey. She’s always had a strong sense of justice but she’s not above vengeance and carrying it out in the most fucked yo ways possible. You can’t have her gush over serial killers and but then call the murderer behind the killings a “psychotic murderer” in a derogatory way but then admire murder cases. When we all know she would have been impressed by it at least a little. Cause she’s morbid that way. Also I read someone say that she would have driven her therapist insane and I wish she had that would have been so perfect. There’s ways to differentiate a character like her from the actual antagonists without watering down those aspects. Like when she was down to torture Tyler. But that ended up conflicting with some other things due to that “watering down/sanitization” of her actions.

•I didn’t mind Ajax as character but he also felt particularly empty and like he was only added in to ensure heteronormativity love interests for the mains. He especially had not much to him, no real development, hardly a personality, and on top of that it’s just established that Enid likes him but we never explore any of that so it feels empty and thus forced and shallow.

• Why are there no gay guys? Or non-binary/trans? I see the lesbian parents and potentially lesbian Yoko and that other girl but like…can we have some gay men too please? And gender inclusivity? Non-binary/Trans people would be a nice inclusion to this allegory about outcasts and being different to societal norms.

That’s it for now. If I remember anything else I’ll edit it in probably :) sorry it’s so long I just have lots of thoughts in this silly skull of mine.

Bonus section, personal headcanons I agree with :)

• Autistic Wednesday

• Morticia is totally aware of weem’s resentment towards her and considering how the Addams tend to have a very different perspective on things most people view as a bad thing, she’d likely consider it a nice aspect of their friendship. Don’t all friendships include the spice of bitter resentment?

• Bisexual Enid

• Wednesday starts listening to true crime and supernatural podcasts.

• Puerto Rican Wednesday and no one can take that from me.

#netflix wednesday #wednesday netflix #wednesday addams #wednesday 2022 #addams family #enid sinclair #wenclair #thing addams #the addams family #t

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patorosa · 1 year

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I'm back with more of these (⁠ﾉﾟ⁠0ﾟ⁠)⁠ﾉ

Part one here

This one goes the same as before, introduction of each character, their role in the og story, stuff on their redesign, stuff on their rewrite, and their role in the my story.

But first

The band

The animatronics (TA) is the original band formed by these four characters (later others characters join, but I'll talk about them later), and the formation was made by casualty, both in real life as in universe, given that the story just was starting by then. It was kinda weird but ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯. The main conflict with the band was that not everyone were cooperating with each other and giving trouble to the team as a whole.

I wanna keep that original idea of "some teens that don't even know each other well try to form a band" as them trying to be closer, and trying to win the band competition as well, because, who doesn't like winning?

Freddy

Is this the place you wanna be?

The main character, a lot of shit happens to this poor guy, he has another entity haunting him, a self proclaimed mortal enemy, and has to enter a new highschool for some unknown reason. But he has gained some good friends that help him get through his problems, right? I think he is like the third character with most character development, sharing place with Fr*d, though this is maybe not such a good thing given that he is the protagonist.

He is overall friendly, open to new things, etc. His most interesting arc is in s2 when he as to find Fr*d and understand that he is part of him or smn like that. In my humble opinion, this plot could've been a cool way to introduce the more fantastical parts of the world, but, given the poor organization, these aspect fall short, and Freddy ends up with almost no changes besides now embracing Fr*d instead of taking his pills (seriously what were the pills for??).

His new design is boring on purpose, he has a normaljacket over the school uniform and some common white shoes, almost like if he didn't want to be seen, but there's things that feel off from him, the popular haircut styled to look cool, for example.

For his personality I thought of giving him social anxiety, he struggles in any kind of social scenario, but still wants to be part of a cool friend group, though, to be loved you need to be known, and that's the terrifying part. Even with his struggles, he tries to be honest, kind and wants to have a cool highschool experience, while also trying to be true to himself.

After an incident during the first days of highschool, Freddy had no other choice but to leave the school, now he is in the only school that accepts students midsemester, and has to adapt to his new situation, while trying to get his dreamed highschool life. Maybe forming a band for the school fair is the way to start?

Foxy

Come to think of it he doesn't have a song of him telling the audience his Sad Backstory

He is the Bad Boy 😎 of the group, though he never does anything that breaks any kind of rules, BUT he is 1.94 meters so watch out!! Usually he is just used for jokes, given that his instrument is the triangle, and doesn't have a significant development, other than having conflict with Golden, and that's it.

He now is a sporty guy, that's why he has a tank top, a volleyball and short hair. He also has prosthetic legs, just to reference the animatronic design (but I also think that it's cool :P).

He has a carefree personality, not overworking himself in school or anything, other than in sports, where he puts all of his efforts, and secretly, his appearance, but refuses to admit that he is really self conscious about how others see him.

After not going to school for a while, he finally started his classes, all of his classmates missed him, but he is now a few grades behind 😦. Not big deal, just join a couple classmates that will do your homework while you practice with your friends, joining a band? Sure, what instrument is easier to learn?

Bonnie

Representation wins!! The useless romantic interest that has no personality is a man!!

This one has a lot of autism swag all over him, though he is not canonically autistic (as far as I know of). He is the romantic interest of Bon, and is the guitar of his band. He has an "unpredictable" personality, whatever that's supposed to mean, but it was mainly acting reserved, but not being reserved at all, he is all about his guitar, and is oblivious to Bon's feelings, often leaving him in the Friendzone.

The series doesn't even try developing him, he is shown to have been bullied in school, but he never acknowledges it, he gains friends like out of the blue and doesn't mind, and he doesn't even have a reason for doing or not doing anything. Join a band?, sure I can play the guitar. Oh you want my money or i get my ass beaten? Sure no probs, I will also have money tomorrow if you're interested :). Wait,, you say that you are sorry for refusing to even be in my presence because of that one time that you mistreated me just to keep appearances with your friends leading to us not even talking anymore because of the deep guilt that is eating you from the inside?? Don't worry LOL 😜 that's what friend are for. (There's more that I could add to that but I'm lazy to put it down xd)

His design is really similar to the original, I just made him wear old baggy clothes, also in his first picture there's a version of him without glasses and his hair up.

If it wasn't obvious from the very first sentence about Bonnie, I'm going make him autistic, it just feels right for me. He is usually reserved, and doesn't talk a lot to other people, only to the ones he trusts, that makes him seem shy, but he is just uninterested, he also seems to have trouble identifying and showing his emotions, Wich can be a problem sometimes. (He will be queer, so dw)

As soon as he heard that some of his classmates wanted to form a band, he joined them right in, it has always been his dream to be part of a group and make performances, but he has never actually played in public, let's just hope he doesn't have stage fright.

Chica

Sexuality bichica?? Personality bipolar?? what

I consider her to be some sort of co-protagonist, given that she is the one that cares the most of all the group about the competition, she has the idea of joining the band, she is mostly optimistic and caring to her friends, but also has short patience and a big temper (maybe that's why the bipolar, huh). She is the bassist of her band, just like that xd, idk she is the most affected by the whole "the band separates" thing, and she is was the first to get them all together.

Now she has short hair and pronouns, and has a different body type (how do you say it?, fatter, chubbier, plus size, idk, you get the idea) to compliment her looks she always wears fun earrings.

She is very approachable and friendly, always trying to do fun things at school and tries to drag others to do these activities with her, something that others may find exhausting, but she doesn't care about that, her ultimate goal is to share the things she likes with others, and to encourage them to do the same.

She entered that school because of some relative low grades, separating herself from her friends that entered to better schools. Now she tries to do the same activities that she did with the others, but not everyone is as invested as her, making her a little overwhelming to be around sometimes. Now that there's some new students in her class, maybe she can make them do something together, like participating in a band contest. Now that's a good idea.

#fnafhs #:*3 #these are a bit lazier than the other xd #especially freddy lmao

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captain-aralias · 2 years

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i’m pretty sure i’m not going to write anything else in 2021, so here’s my end of year round up! (i do this every year - link to 2020 here, if you’re interested!).

please take the questions and answer them yourself, if you’d like - and tag me in your post! i’d love to read.

my fics from 2021

Goodbye, Norma Jean - Explicit, 14k

Silk & Velvet - Explicit, 8k

No Holding Back - Explicit, 6k

Classroom Politics - Teen, 40k

Honey, I’m Home - Explicit, 10k

Here Be Monsters - Explicit, 8k

Teacher's Pet - Explicit, 3.5k

Four Funereal Weddings and an American Stag Do - Teen, 21k

The Worst Chosen Ones (The ‘Let It Snow’ Remix) - Explicit, 7k

High up in the leafy branches (The K-I-S-S-I-N-G remix) - Teen, 2.5k

Nothing to see here (The ‘I want to be your terrible girlfriend’ remix) - Explicit, 3.5k

Cannibalism Isn’t Sexy - Mature, 1.5k

12 fics, 125k in total.

of those, almost all were Explicit (or Mature), although by word count it was just 50% Explicit! still. it’s clearly been one of those kinds of years!

more questions and answers below the cut 👇

Best/worst title?

somehow i feel like four weddings is simultaneously the best title and the worst at the same time. maybe i’d have liked it more if i’d gone with just ‘four funereal weddings’ - but i think it needs the &! one problem is that i can’t spell funereal, but mainly i changed my idea about the POV in the stag do, so it bugs me that the title is still from baz’s POV... and i think the title is too long.... and maybe it has the wrong tone for the fic, sounding too much like crack. but also, it’s the right title! that’s why it’s not just the worst, but also the best.

otherwise, maybe ‘honey, i’m home’ is the best - i wrote this fic basically because i thought of this title. although i admit that it would have worked better if i’d introduced this spell... in classroom politics, rather than in a completely different fic (keep calm) 2 years ago.

Best/worst summary?

there are lots of nice short ones, which i tend to like. i dont know whether they’re effective, but my fav of this genre is: Simon Snow looks stunning in a school uniform. (Teacher’s Pet) i like taking a canon quote, but twisting it.

two that have my classic ‘blah blah blah BUT something else’ turn - Classroom Politics does this. and is like, strap in: there’s a bunch of plot headed straight for you. and i love ‘even if it means going back to school’, as it’s so classic 90s teen movie. i feel like maybe i should have mentioned baz, but it would have thrown off the rhythm of that familiar line. maybe i could have done... ‘even if it means seeing his old roommate again. even if it means going back to school’... but it’s less elegant.

in terms of worst: i dont like either of my remix madness summaries really, and the femslash summary is basically a copy of a line that’s in the other one. (i tried to change the fic or the summary, but couldn’t.) the fics are ok though!

for ‘cannibalism isn’t sexy’ i literally used the prompt text and added my own final sentence. i thought about re-writing it a bit more, and it kind of bugs me that it doesn’t sound like me (at least to me) but i couldn’t think of a way that would better express it - and people are clicking into the fic, it’s one of my most popular fics of the year already! so clearly they liked it! i should consider getting this anon to write all my summaries.

not sure whether the summary for ‘four weddings’ is bad, but i thought more people would read it than did! maybe people just don’t want to read a break-up fic framed like a romcom. their loss, i think - that fic is great.

Best/worst first line?

almost every fic this year does the thing i do by accident, which is introduce the main conflict/idea immediately. so, they’re all basically fine. i think the best one is: The room has been missing Simon. (Honey, I’m Home)

which is about the room, and about baz projecting his own feelings onto the room. then, because he’s funny (i think this is funny) and self-depreciating, he immediately tells you that he’s projecting in the next line.

worst maybe...the other classroom politics sequel? I’m sorting through old lesson plans at my desk when I hear it – a knock on my classroom door, followed by a squeak as the door opens. (Teacher’s Pet)

it’s fine, though! just a bit baggy.

Best/worst last line?

best is Classroom Politics, of course - “Come on,” he tells me. “Let’s go back to our room.”

it does what so few of my endings do (in my opinion) and gives you exactly what you were waiting for - i’ve led up to this moment since chapter 3, and here we are. boom.

four weddings tries the same trick, but i have to mangle the conversation to get to ‘I do’.

worst...

I probably shouldn’t do it. / But I do – I do – and Simon pulls me down with him into the bed. (No Holding Back)

this is one of many of my endings that just desperately wants to be a pan backwards in a movie, rather than a piece of prose. bah. i should really try studying endings.

the ending of ‘Honey, I’m Home’ is also poor, IMO. i almost made it work - i like the evoking of the smell of the room, but the rhythm is all wrong. i wanted it to feel like drifting off to sleep.... maybe. but, er, i dont like it.

also, i think i’ve already said this, but i really struggled with the end of this fic. i was very tired, and kept trying to end it much earlier because it felt like it was wrapping up, like i’d hit some important point, but.... i’d planned on this three act structure and really it did need it. anyway. i did what i could. this fic and i will always have an uneasy relationship (probably inevitable given how much i like classroom politics)

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?

probably more!! in word count it’s not dissimilar to last year, but i thought things might tail off. i mean, i guess i also knew AWTWB was coming and maybe i thought that would make me write more ...

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?

well - i basically only wrote the same pairing, over and over. but i didn’t necessarily know i’d be sliding some agatha/penelope backstory into the first fic that featured both of these characters after AWTWB. (four weddings)

other than that - maybe normal AU? which sounds incredibly un-shocking, but i did a whole bunch of new stuff this year. some of which i knew i wanted to do (fem!snowbaz and get-together-later) and some of which i was happy not doing (break-up/make-up - although i loved it - and normal!AU)

What’s your favourite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

classroom politics! and it ought to be, at 40k and with two sequels. i spent two months writing this almost non-stop in all my spare time, including several weeks of annual leave, and it was surprisingly easy to do. my brain really wanted to write this fic.

Okay, NOW your most popular story.

arguably this is still classroom politics (again, good!) but goodbye norma jean is giving it a run for its money. interestingly, this is also a fic i really enjoyed writing and wrote super quickly. i wonder if they feel more joyful than the others. i really like norma jean. the only sad thing is that baz is not into pain, RIP this headcanon.

Story most underappreciated by the universe?

always a difficult question to answer without looking like a jerk. every year i also say, if you’ve been in fandom for a while, i think you feel like there are fewer readers... nothing will ever be as popular as something i wrote in 2018, and it’s similar across other people’s fics too.

this year, probably the answer is either the Normal AU (High Up in the Leafy Branches) or the corset fic (Silk & Velvet). i think both were hampered by being posted in extremely high content-production periods - i.e. a lot of people were posting on these days. i would advise new fic writers to avoid posting on valentines day and during COC unless you’re doing COC (or you don’t mind that engagement is lower). the corset thing barely has a plot - it’s not a get together - and perhaps troubles baz’s masculinity too much (although i tried not to!) for the casual reader.

remix has a higher bar to entry than other fics. you have to have read the original. and maybe people aren’t coming to me for their teen-rated normal AUs... which is totally fair looking at my output. watford era, magickal induced porn probably including vampire bites has been my brand for a long time - and is amongst the best performing of my works. people want more of the same. worth remembering! (even as i plan various things i’ve never done before for next year...)

still - i like both of these fics! worth checking out if you’ve never read them ;)

Story that could have been better?

i already talked about ‘Honey, I’m Home’, but i do feel like this one suffered from production circumstances. also, because i really wanted to do something different with it: baz and simon were together, they’d resolved most of their issues BEFORE they slept together, both of them had experience with other people......

i can absolutely see what i was trying to do, but the end result feels less polished to me than ... something like norma jean where there’s a note at the top that basically says ‘this is what you’d get if you shook 4 of my previous fics together’

Sexiest story?

goodbye norma jean? annabellux gave me a list of kinks to include - strangely enough there was a quite considerable overlap with the kind of thing i also like.

Saddest story?

when i get to this question every year, i think -man, i REALLY do not do angst. the best i can do is ........ the first chapter of Four Weddings (you know, the one that’s supposed to be a romcom) is pretty sad! they break up, and simon can’t fix it......... until he does, later.

or maybe - Here Be Monsters, which is about how simon and baz hate themselves! but then they don’t.

Most fun?

everything is pretty good fun. classroom politics - i was coming up with these plot ideas and just thinking: ahahahaha, i am going to put this in, and it will be hilarious. goodbye norma jean is fun - if you like that sort of thing.

the one i just wrote - cannibalism isn’t sexy - is also quite fun. it’s quick, it’s mostly baz being very baz. it has some good kissing in it.

Story with single sweetest moment?

hmmmm...

maybe this from........... this year’s winner, classroom politics \o/

“You should have tried to see me anyway,” I tell him. “I wanted you to.”

“… I’m sorry,” Baz says – and the way he says it makes me wish I could see his face. He sounds sorry, not just embarrassed. He sounds so gentle. Like sleep and alcohol and time have worn away all his edges. “I would have called you if I’d known it was important.”

i always find this question hard, because it implies i remember what i wrote in quite a lot of detail, and also remember which bits i think really worked and really worked in this way. but this is good. or anything from ‘eighth year spells’ :D or the ending.

Hardest story to write?

‘restoration ecology’ (that i haven’t posted or finished yet) is kicking my arse. one of the things i’m not doing right now is working on it 😂 but the first chapter is done, and will go up early january. hopefully will do something tomorrow, too. it’s lucky i am very into this idea.

otherwise, nothing was too difficult - the ending of ‘Honey, I’m Home’, obviously, see above - but i think time pressure more than anything. and the middle/ending of ‘Here Be Monsters’, but i think i wrote about 1k then stopped it to write classroom politics so of course i was a bit burned out and forgot what i was doing when i came back to the Monster fest.

Easiest/most fun story to write?

cannibalism isn’t sexy - i wrote it in a day, the day after i got the prompt. i just knew how it should go :D it helped that my remixes (particularly looking closely at snowybank’s library sex fic) taught me about starting in the middle, and i pushed a lot of the action into the past so we just had the confrontation. that made it work well.

goodbye norma jean was also easy, as was classroom politics really.

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?

er... i dont know. i think i needed to write four weddings after AWTWB to help me learn to write this new version of the characters we’d been introduced to. ironically, ‘here be monsters’ - the last fic i wrote before AWTWB - leant into wayward son in a way that few of my other fics had, so i had to really shake that off.

Most overdue story?

i wanted to write restoration ecology this time last year. i wrote classroom politics instead - but we’ll get there. everything else was on time or early :)

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

i talked about the things i did differently this year - but i dont think any of them felt like a big risk. i was really worried that real life would stop me writing my remix, but it didn’t, i was just sad.

i guess it was a risk to offer to write a story for an unknown winner to celebrate AWTWB, but then liz gave me literally the best prompt ever (that became Four Weddings - which i dont say is the best fic ever, but when i got liz’s prompt i was like: this could not be more what i want to write right now!!). so any possible risk now seems massively paid off.

This year’s theme and the story that demonstrates it most:

hmm... well, porn, obviously. which i think demonstrates - that i still find this the easiest to write and most likeable.

but i also wrote three things that were about getting together after school - and two sequels to one of them. so, i think there’s a big theme of growing up and being nostalgic for an earlier time that wasn’t even good, as you learn to appreciate the present.

What are your fic writing goals for next year this year?

finish restoration ecology.

some sort of smut for dem.

???

might be time to write my vampire simon fic, not sure. the moment might have passed, and i might push it back and push it back until once again it doesn’t happen.

i was thinking i’d quite like to write a thing where they get together at watford and it’s not because magic made them do it... and it’s not 50k+ words long, either. there have to be other ways.

maybe some more experiments, like - i like the idea of them becoming friends after watford not boyfriends. a. few people started writing this and it’s interesting and fun - i dont have an idea for it.

i do have an idea for the agatha-baz bodyswap. i guess i might write that. nothing the people like more than dubcon het sex, am i right?? (i mean, maybe some people). i’m trying to not think about this story until marta posts hers, and until i’ve written restoration ecology - see above. but yeah, i feel like there’s some quite significant impetus behind this one in my brain... (magic made them do it at watford, eh? it’s my favourite.)

may not run remix again - will see how it goes. i’m not actually signed up to ANY fests right now. everything seemed a bit open-ended. might do anon fest if it’s back and if i read the prompts and fall in love again...

otherwise, we will see. bring on 2022!

#carry on #snowbaz #my content #restoration ecology

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seavoice · 3 years

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On YA fiction because I’ve been thinking about this: Does anyone have any recommendations for YA books set in non-American locations? Any genre really—fantasy, contemporary, anything. And preferably by non-American authors, but if you find it interestingly written, that’s fair game. Basically just a good book!

Because—and I’m sure this is mainly in part due to my lack of exposure to these books and authors—I’ve been thinking and I’m super interested in why YA fiction in particular lacks a diversity of location, so as to speak.

To take a trite example, that standard “set in high-school“ YA formula that critics disparage is very American, and it seems formulaic because of the sheer volume of young adult books set in American high-schools. We are overexposed to it. What would your standard high school YA book look like in Thailand? In Nigeria? In Bangladesh?

Young adult fiction in particular feels like an American genre because there’s such a standard “coming-of-age” story to tell. Familiar beats. People shake it up sometimes, but there is, understandably, a thread that binds together these stories. I don’t fault it at all, but it is so culture-specific, location-specific that I want to see what coming-of-age stories look in other places, other cultural atmospheres.

In my opinion, one of the most appealing facets of young adult fiction (especially) is how much of the story depends on finding your place in the world and reconciling yourself with the culture that you grow up in. Figuring yourself out.

And the protagonists are usually more bound by society than adult protagonists—culture and your immediate community is what shapes schools, parents, traditions, authority figures, all the main constraints and opposing forces in your typical YA read. How do those opposing forces that move the story operate in other societies? What is the shape of the story there, how does a protagonist conform in Bolivia? How does a protagonist break the mould in India?

What are the cultural beats you grow up and into? Out of?

There’s of course the tangible markers that specify both geographical and societal location—the proms, the late night car drives at sixteen, the high school dress code. What is the school event that provides plot-advancing drama if high schools in your country don‘t have prom? How do you get your characters around from point A to point B if there’s no culture of teenagers being allowed to drive before eighteen? What does high-school dress code matter when every single school in the city has a standard uniform?

There’s also the less tangible. What about the questions a teenager asks about the society around him, and how do their discussions differ from what we are used to reading in the “standard” YA fiction? What is protagonist‘s ideas about religion in a strictly religious country—is the protagonist a member of the majority religion? A persecuted religion? Is their family supportive? Is his family his main source of internal conflict? How does a teen navigate conversations of race or caste or gender or ethnicity in this country, what is the discourse around class struggle in an another? How is the conversation on the disability models moving along? What is the lgbt community like in this particular space? How do these questions and beliefs inform the protagonist‘s coming-of-age arc? How is a romance story told, a bullying story told, a cautionary tale told? What are the themes a fantasy novel prioritises in a traditionally polytheistic society, or in a formerly colonised country, what is the shape of a dystopian future of this particular regime, what makes a contemporary novel in this culture a comfort read?

The potential is pretty endless.

#young adult literature #ya novels #ya literature #i DID research ya novels set in different countries and while I found a few recs the majority of these lists state that there is #a pretty noticeable dearth. or at least a disparity #and it’s just a very interesting thought experiment. what does a story about growing up look like from a teen’s perspective without the #lens of western pop culture

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number5theboy · 4 years

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Please elaborate on how Five could've turned into the most insufferable character to watch

Thanks for asking me to elaborate on this text post:

@tessapercygranger, @waywardd1 and @margarita-umbrella also wanted to see a more detailed version of it, and I ended up writing an essay that’s longer than some of my actual academic essays. So buckle up.

WHY NUMBER FIVE SHOULD BE THE MOST OBNOXIOUS CHARACTER IN TV HISTORY, AND HOW HE MANAGES NOT TO BE

Number Five: The Concept That Could Go Horribly Wrong

Alright, let’s first look at Five in theory in an overarching way, without taking into account the execution of the show. The basic set-up of the character, of course, is being a 58-year-old consciousness in a teenager’s body, due to a miscalculation in time travel. Right off the bat, Five is bar none the most overpowered of the siblings; by the end of Season 2, no one has yet been able to defeat him in a fight. He is a master assassin – and not just any master assassin, but the best one there is – and a survival expert, able to do complex maths and physics without the aid of a calculator, shown to have knowledge of half a dozen languages, has very developed observational skills and, to top that all off, he can manipulate time and space to the point where he can literally erase events that happened and change the course of history. And Five knows how skilled he is; he is arrogant, self-assured and sarcastic, and his streak of goodness is buried deep inside. David Castañeda once described Five in an interview as 90% chocolate with a cherry in the middle, meaning that you have to get through a lot of darkness and bitterness before knowing there is a good core, and I think it’s an excellent metaphor. However, Five is also incredibly, fundamentally terrible at communicating with anyone, and, because he is the only one with time travel abilities, the character a lot of the actual plot - and the moving forward of it - centres around. Also he’s earnestly in love with a mannequin, who is pretty much a projection of his own consciousness that functions as a coping mechanism for all the trauma he has endured. All in all, this gives you a character who looks like a teenager, but with the smug superiority of a fifty-something, who a) is extremely skilled in many different things, b) has a superiority complex, is arrogant and vocal about it, and most of the superiority is expressed through cutting sarcasm, c) has one very hidden ounce of goodness that he is literally the worst at communicating to other human beings, d) is what moves the plot along but is also bad at talking to anyone else, meaning that the plot largely remains with him, and e) his love interest is essentially a projection of himself. Tell me that’s not a character who is destined to be just…obnoxious, annoying, egocentric, a necessary evil that one has to put up with to get through this show. There are so many elements of this characterisation that can and should easily make Five beyond insufferable, but the show manages to avoid it, and I’m putting this down to three aspects.

That Trick of Age and Appearance

Bluntly put, Five as a character would not work if he was anything else than an old man in a 13-year-old body. Imagine this character and all his skills and knowledge, but actually just…a teenager. Immediately insufferable. Same goes for him being around 30, like his siblings, all of which are stunted and traumatised by their father’s abuse. If Five, being comparatively unscathed by Reginald to the point where he explicitly does not want to be defined by his association with his father, were 30 like his siblings, it would just take the bite out of that plot point and also give him a lot less time in the apocalypse, reducing the impact it had on him as a person. And making Five his actual 58-year-old self would make him very similar to Reginald, at least on surface level, with the appearance and attitude. Five and Reginald are two fundamentally different people, but having one of the siblings being a senior citizen that’s dressed to the nines and bosses his siblings around in a relatively self-centred way does open up that parallel, and would take away from Five’s charm as a character. Because pairing the life experience of a 58-year-old with the appearance of a teenager gives you the best of both worlds. You get the other siblings (and a lot of the audience, from a glance in the tags of my gifsets) feeling protective and paternal about Five, but his age and experience also give the justifications for his many skills, his arrogance, in a way, and his ability to decimate a room full of people. It’s the very interesting and not new concept of someone dangerous with the appearance of something harmless, a child. This is also where Five’s singular outfit comes in. I know we like to clown on Five to get a new outfit, but I think what gets forgotten often is how effective this outfit is at making the viewer take him seriously. The preppy school uniform is the perfect encapsulation of the tension between old man in spirit and young teenager in appearance. The blazer, vest and especially the shirt and tie are quite formal, relatively grown up. They’re not something we, the audience, usually associate with a teenage boy wearing; it makes Five just a little bit more grown up. But there is also a reason characters in this show keep bringing up Five’s shorts and his socks, because those are not things that we associate with grown men wearing; they’re the unmistakably childish part of his school uniform. Take a moment and imagine Five wearing a hoodie or a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers; would that outfit work for him as well as the uniform does? Would he be able to command the same kind of respect or seriousness as a character? I don’t think so; the outfit is a lot more pivotal in making Five believable than a lot of people give it credit for.

Writing Nuance

The other big building block in not making Five incredibly insufferable is the writing. Objectively speaking, I think Five is the most well-written, and, more importantly, most coherently written character on the show (which does have to do with the fact that the show’s events are all sequential for him), and his arc and personality remain relatively intact over the course of the two seasons. More to the point, a giant part of what makes Five bearable as a character is that he is allowed to fail. He is written to have high highs and low lows, big victories through his skills and his intelligence, but also catastrophic failures and the freedom to be wrong. His superior intellect and skillset are not the be-all end-all of the plot or his character, just something that influences both. His inability for communication has not (yet) been used to fabricate a contrived misunderstanding that derails the plot and left all of us seething; instead, it’s a characteristic that makes him fail to reconnect with the people he loves. This is a bit simplified, as he does find common ground with Luther, for example, but in general, a lot of the rift between Five and his siblings is that they can’t relate to his traumas and he does not understand the depth of Reginald’s abuse, which is an interesting conflict worth exploring. Another thing that really works in Five’s favour is that he is definitely written to be mean and sarcastic, but it is never driven to the point of complete unlikability, and a lot of the time, the context makes it understandable why he reacts the way he does. Most of the sarcastic lines he gets are actually funny, that certainly helps, but in general, Five is a good example of a bearable character whose default personality is sharp and relatively cold, because it is balanced out with many moments of vulnerability. Delores is incredibly important for this in the first season, she is the main focus of Five’s humanising moments, and well-written as she totes the line between clearly being a coping mechanism for an extremely traumatised man and still coming across to the viewer as the human contact Five needs her to be. In the second season, the vulnerability is about his guilt for his siblings, it’s about Five connecting a little bit better to them. There’s also his relationship with the Commission and the Handler specifically – which honestly could be an essay on its own – that deserves a mention, because the Handler is why Five became the man he is, and this dynamic between creator and creation is explored in a very interesting way – their scenes are some of the most well-written in the entire show. And TUA never falls into the trap of making Five a hero, he is always morally ambiguous at best, and it just makes for an interesting, multi-faceted character, well-written character, and none of the characteristics that should make him unlikeable are allowed to take centre-stage for long enough to be defining on their own. I know a lot of people especially champion the scenes where Five goes apeshit, but without his more nuanced characterisation, if he was like that all the time, those scenes would not hit as hard.

Aidan Gallagher’s Performance is Underrated

But honestly, none of the above would matter that much if the Umbrella Academy didn’t luck out hard with the casting of Aidan Gallagher. I think what he achieves as an actor in this show is genuinely underappreciated. Like, the first season set out to cast six adults having to deal with various ramifications of childhood trauma, and a literal child that had to be able to act smart and wise beyond his years, seamlessly integrate into a family of adults while seeming like an adult, traumatised by the literal end of the world, AND had to be able to create the romantic chemistry of a thirty-year-long marriage with a lifeless department store doll. The only role I could think of to compare is Kirsten Dunst in Interview with a Vampire, where she plays a vampire child who, because she is undead, doesn’t age physically, but does mentally, so she’s 400 in a child’s body. And Kirsten Dunst had to do that for a two-hour movie. Five is a main character in a show that spans 20 episodes now. That’s insane, and it’s a risk. Five is a character that can’t be allowed to go wrong; if you don’t buy Five as a character, the entire first season loses believability. And they found someone who could do that not only convincingly, but also likeably. As I said, he is incredibly helped by the costuming department and the script, but Aidan Gallager’s Five has so much personality, he’s threatening and funny and charming and arrogant and heartbreaking. He has the range to be convincing in the quiet moments where Five’s humanity comes to show and in the moments where Five goes completely off the rails. Most child actors act with other children, but he is the only child in the main cast, and holds his own in scenes with adults not as a child, but as an adult on equal footing with the other adult characters. That’s not something to be taken for granted. But even apart from the fact that it’s a child actor who carries a lot of the plot and the drama of a series for adults, Aidan Gallagher’s portrayal of Five is also just so much fun. The comedic timing is on point, he has the dramatic chops for the serious scenes, the mannerisms and visual ticks add to the character rather than distract from him, and his line deliveries, paired with his physical acting, make Five arrogant and smug but never outright malicious and unlikeable. It’s just some terrific acting that really does justice to the character as he is written, but the writing would not be as strong if it wasn’t delivered and acted out the way Aidan Gallagher does. He is an incredible asset for this show.

Alright, onto concluding this rambling. If you made it this far, I commend you, and thank you for it. The point of all of this is that Five, as a character, could have been an unmitigated disaster of a TV character. He is overpowered, arrogant, uncommunicative and could so easily have been either unconvincing or completely unlikeable, but he turned out to be neither. It’s a combination of choices in the costume department, decisions in the writing room, and Aidan Gallagher’s acting skills that make the things that should make him obnoxious and annoying incredibly entertaining, and I hope you liked my long-winded exploration of these. Some nuance was lost along the way, but if I had not stopped myself, this would’ve become a full-blown thesis.

#thanks for the ask again #TUA #The Umbrella Academy #Five Hargreeves #tua s2 spoilers #my meta #i guess #Replies #Anonymous

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seodami · 3 years

Text

Dearest treasure | KTH

Summary: Every kid in town was afraid of Kang Taehyun, the old -slightly creepy- man living alone for years and years in the same run down house. Every night he would go into his backyard with a shovel and dig a hole into the earth. No one knows why and there are kids rumouring about him burying people. Jungwon was a bright kid, wanting to find out the truth behind this widely spread rumour for a school project. And what he found out would change his life forever.

Genre: fluff, angst, flashbacks, story of life, snippets of life, tiny bit humour

Warning: old Taehyun, mention of death, mention of suicide/suicidal thoughts, death

Word count: 10152 (all 3 parts together)

Pairing: Kang Taehyun x reader, (Yang Jungwon)

Note: Wow okay so this story took me a while to write and I listened to hours of das music to finish this🥺 this was honestly an emotional rollercoaster. But I’m so glad it’s finally finished so I can post it on here yayyy!!! I hope you like it an enjoooyy (please tell me if you cried I would really appreciate your responses haha bc I did)

Main Masterlist

2089 (present)

Jungwon took a glance down towards the camera clasped tightly in the palm of his hand. With a heavy breath, his eyes slowly moved up to the big house in front of him. Former white paint - now a dirty grey almost everywhere - was already peeling itself from the walls, dozens of thick ivy tendrils sneaking up to the dirty windows and even further. It looked just like the old spooky houses, Jungwon had secretly seen in horror movies his parents were watching. And it especially felt like it as well.

The cold wind was slowly whirling around the dead leaves on the ground, freeing the view to numerous mounds of earth spreading over the whole front yard and probably even backyard. Some were fresher than the others. Some were older than the others.

Jungwon could feel a wave of goosebumps hushing over his body, clearly not only being the cold winds fault. With one last reassuring nod to himself, he courageously made its way over the small path through the chaotic front yard towards the old wooden front door.

It had terrified him when he was a bit younger to even lay eyes on this house, let alone go any near it, and quite truthfully, Jungwon still felt a tiny wave of fear coming through. He had heard many things around this neighbourhood and school...creepy theories as to why the old man living inside this house was seen digging holes in his garden. From murder to even paranormal activities, everything was possible, referring one of the older kids at school, Park Jongseong, who tended to love scaring innocent young students with these stories. And he even heard parents trying to discipline their children, threatening them to pay ‘Killer Kang’ - that was the old man’s unfortunate nickname - a small visit if they did not behave. It was as if this small town didn’t have anything else to talk about than a lonely, slightly creepy, man. And if he remembered correctly, he never saw or heard anyone even trying to talk to him. So what did they know?

Jungwon heard a lot. To say the least, he questioned himself quietly if he should have just chosen another topic for his video and interview for a school project. He could have. But something deep down told him quietly not to judge too quickly, not to judge a book only by it’s cover. His parents and his grandmother taught him that early on and it stayed with him ever since. He wanted to give this poor scrutinised man a chance to actually explain himself. Why was he always digging these holes into the ground? Maybe he really was a serial killer and this would be Jungwons biggest mistake, but where’s the fun in not even trying? Right? He could only lose, well...his life...

The 14 year old boy quickly shook his head, trying to stay positive. And then he finally pressed the rusty bell on the side of the door. He heard nothing at first, it was as quiet as it could get, no steps, no talking, no TV. The eerie feeling hanging in the air didn’t make it any better for Jungwon to stay calm and not giddy. “You can do this! He’s not even creepy.” He tried to hype himself up.

He almost wanted to ring again, as his heart sunk. Damp slow steps were coming closer and closer, making him hold his breath unconsciously. The door opened in an awful slow motion, revealing the old man everyone was afraid of. White hair framed his sunken in face full of deep wrinkles. He used a walking stick to stand, his position was crouched forward, so he was about the same height as him, maybe even a bit smaller. And when Jungwon met his eyes, there was a glint in them, that almost scared him off like all the other kids would have. But he stayed put.

The man didn’t say anything, just stared at him, awaiting him to explain this very unusual visit. Nobody had ever dared to ring his house. Not even the mailman thought of doing so.

“Good Morning Mr Kang. Uhm ...I am Yang Jungwon.” The young boy began with slightly unstable voice, trying to get a hold of himself. “I am a student at Namgang Highschool and we are currently doing individual video projects containing an interview with someone we find fascinating and want to learn more about. And...I was wondering if...if maybe it would be possible to...interview you?” Jungwon managed to squeak out, hiding his trembling hands from Mr. Kangs boring hawk eyes.

He still hadn’t said anything, looking up and down the underaged student. Then his eyes met his shaky ones again. “Is this a joke again, boy? Because I have no tolerance for silly boy pranks.” He finally muttered out in a harsh tone, letting Jungwon flinch the slightest. He quickly shook his head, implying that this was his last wish to do.

“No sir, no I swear this is a very serious question and project. I wouldn’t dare to do anything but.” The boy rambled, now fiddling nervously with the hem of his uniform jacket. The man pulled his glasses somewhat higher on his nose before he gave the student a hesitant nod.

“You are the first person for years daring to come talk to me...” he noted absent minded, eyes wandering behind the boy to check if there really weren’t any stupid kids hiding inside the bushes. “How...extraordinary.” He muttered, clinging onto his walking stick as he began turning around.

“You said fascinating people, boy? I have to disappoint you, there is nothing interesting about me, I dare say.” A small sigh left his mouth, beginning to close his door slowly but Jungwon was quicker. What had gotten into him? Was it the surprise at his not so cold attire or maybe has he just gone crazy? But Jungwon wanted to know more about his story. There had to be more.

“Sir, no please. You may think so but quite frankly you are the talk of town every day.” Jungwon began but got stopped hearing the other one scoffing displeased. “Killer Kang...I know this nickname they all give me. Do you use it too? I don’t want to have anything to do with people like this.” His tone got harsher again.

Jungwon frantically shook his head again. “I don’t. I would never. This is the reason why I chose to interview you in the first place. I want to hear your part about everything. I think it is only fair to give you a proper chance to explain. They just don’t know.” He gave the man a pleading look. Mr. Kang hesitated again, letting the boys words sink in. He didn’t seem like he could harm a fly, he thought. Was is worth the struggle?

He didn’t know what or why he was doing it but the next thing Jungwon saw was him walking slowly into the house again, leaving the door open. Should he follow? A quick look over his shoulder told him he should. Jungwon couldn’t believe he really meant it so he still stood unsure, fiddling with the silver camera in his hands, metal cooling against his sweaty palms. “Are you coming, or what?” The now softer voice of the white haired man asked still trotting forward in a steady pace.

This woke Jungwon immediately out of his trance, stumbling clumsily stuttering and rambling while thanking him over and over again. He had made it.

He entered the dark hallway, suddenly being hit with a strong smell of a typical musty grandparents house. It remembered him of his own grandmother’s one, where he spent almost half of his childhood. With one swift movement, he gently shut the door and followed the tracks of this houses owner without forgetting to put his shoes off. There were some stacks of newspaper laying around randomly, old picture frames hanging on some of the white and dark green walls and old brown rugs adorning the cold floor. He noticed a small picture of a young lady in a baby blue dress, sitting on a self built swing while smiling ear to ear. But he quickly moved on. It was as every other old people’s home, Jungwon thought.

“Boy, say, do you want a cup of tea? Or water?” The young student heard the now calm voice asking him, seeing as they arrived in the living room. An antique looking glass chandelier was hanging right in the middle, brown couches placed generously inside the big room. Jungwon was surprised. He expected to shake with pure fear in his veins, but why did it feel like he was just visiting his grandparents? A friendly visit. That was the first moment he knew he misjudged the famously feared old man.

“No thank you. I was wondering if I could maybe...film the whole thing? The interview? I prepared some questions already if that is fine with you.” Jungwon timidly pulled out the camera behind his back and soon enough some pieces of paper. There was a moment of silence, Mr. Kang just looking speechlessly at the innocent and oh so polite brown haired boy. His heart already told him, despite his inner conflicts, that he was a nice boy. A really well-behaved kid. He could tell him, he could understand, and maybe even help. At least that was his hope.

“You are really something else. Jungho was your name?” With small steps he wandered to one of the couches, plopping down painfully slow with a nasty crack of his bones into an already deep hollow on the couch. Just like his grandparents. Jungwon by now was really overwhelmed by the mans compliance and...kindness?

“It’s Jungwon, Mr. Kang.” He added, earning an understanding nod from his side, followed by a motion of his hand for him to sit down. “Of course, of course. You can set up the camera on the table if you have to. It was a long time ago since...anyone filmed me.”

It didn’t took long for the eager student to put his camera on the table in a good angle. His script was already sprawled all across his lap and with nervous looks in between, he asked the man if he was ready to begin the interview. Jungwon was aching to know the truth behind the misunderstood lonely person in front of him. He finally wanted to clear the unpleasant rumours about him, wanting to know what really was behind his actions.

“Ready, boy.”

Jungwon clicked the red recording button on his camera, sitting down on the couch behind it. And he did not waste any time to start.

“My first question for you Mr Kang, has to do with your widely spreaded nickname. As you told me earlier, you were already aware of such name. What do you think about it?”

It was the second time, he heard him scoff in annoyance. “It’s ridiculous what people tend to gossip behind someone’s back when they are bored. Whoever believes these ignorant, mindless comments should go to school again and get educated. This nickname... ‘Killer Kang’ -“ he stopped to caugh out loudly, repositioning himself more comfortable in his seat before continuing to talk. “ - holds absolute no truth in it. I can’t seem to think why somebody even invented it.”

Jungwon immediately nodded in agreement, earning a small nod from the man himself. “That was exactly my point. It looked almost like people just invented some crazy untrue theories when they cannot seem to understand a certain...action.” He tried to find the right words. “It’s probably nothing new to hear, but people around this town, I think they came up with this name solely to...to find an explanation as to why...the holes...I mean you digging them with a shovel in your garden...is that...” he lost his voice in the end of his sentence, not wanting to say any wrong words.

But Mr. Kang just nodded, looking out of the window with a distant look. He suck in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “It’s probably not the answer you or all the people would like to hear. All the foolish theories. It’s something far more...simple.” He looked over to Jungwon, soft eyes under the thick crease above them. He was ready to tell someone. Just anyone. He longed for a conversation for too long, maybe that is why he agreed in the first place.

He was so lonely.

“Let me tell you my story right from the beginning. I hope you do have some time, boy, it might be a longer story.”

And then he began to tell his story. Your story.

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twistedapple · 4 years

Text

On Pomefiore

[Note: Tumblr being Tumblr, I’ll put the links and due credits in a reblog; also, partially under the cut because it’s a bit long]

This post is something that has been brewing for a while now – my more observant followers will know when it started based on a certain tag. To preface this write up, I’d like to precise that I have been motivated in working on it because of the way Pomefiore was being received when I joined the fandom. Since then it has been followed by certain beliefs that – while being qualified as headcanons, which is perfectly fair and fine in itself – tend to be treated as actual gospel. It’s not a thing specific to the Twst fandom mind you, it happens in most fandoms – heck I still keep an eye on the KHR fandom and there are still people regularly making posts about mischaracterisation, and that fandom has been around for at least ten years. So I’m not here to preach, but to clarify a few things regarding what Pomefiore represents as a dorm, as well as provide a comprehensive commentary on its associated characters.

First belief: Pomefiore is the shallow dorm of pretty people.

But is it? The very first thing we learn about Pomefiore is that it’s the dorm of Hard Workers and other Overachievers, right in the prologue. This dorm is presented as built on the hard work of the Fair Queen, and she’s regularly taken as an example of how one should conduct oneself – especially by Vil, who expresses a lot of admiration and respect in his lesson chats, and clearly treats her as a model to follow in order to reach perfection.

Now you may think “but Crow, the very first thing we learn about the students is that they look impeccable and polish their appearance”. And you would be right; it is indeed how the students of that dorm are presented. However, let me expand a bit on this thought by making something clear: there’s what the dorm is defined as, and then there’s the path each dorm leader decides to follow. To give a few examples, we see Riddle follow the rules of the Queen of Heart to the letter, and dole out punishment whenever these rules are broken – to the point it impedes the students, who can’t use their magic in an environment where it is required. We see Leona applying the Might is Right type of thinking, which leads to Savanaclaw students being often depicted as bullies (and let’s not talk about the Magift tournament...). Azul, under the pretence of benevolence, is actually ruthless in the way he binds people to his contracts – it’s also shown that the Leech brothers act as his enforcers, either by forcing people into deals (during exam periods, as shown at the start of Episode 3) or by reclaiming the due payment of the contract in more or less pleasant ways (Jade being the local master manipulator, while Floyd canonically states that he finds the breaking of bones a more efficient method). Are you seeing where this is going? As a dorm leader, Vil applies his own views on his fellow Pomefiore students; his views happen to include appearances because he aims to be perfect in every way and has a professional background that justifies it. Is it fair to go as far as he is going when it comes to pressuring other students? Of course it isn’t, it’s the whole point of showing him slapping Epel for what he deems an inappropriate behaviour (see Epel’s Ceremonial Card). It sets the conflict of the dorm – and I personally dig how this major narrative bit is hidden in a story... Which brings us to the other point, the meta aspect of Pomefiore. It’s based on Snow White, a story that relies heavily... On appearances. Now let me ask you: is it really surprising to have a dorm based on such story have a focus on appearances as well? And we even get to see different aspects of it: Vil focuses on the tiniest details to be as polished as possible, Rook has a deep love for change and fleeting moments, Epel can turn something nobody wants into something highly desirable (carving damaged apples to sell them better). Pomefiore is the dorm of transformations – both literal and metaphorical -, a fascinating concept in my opinion and a brilliant idea for a solid narrative arc.

Second belief: Vil is a horrible, narcissistic person, but he will also play dress-up/makeup

Let’s sit for a second there, because there are many things to unpack. Now, what do we know about the fairest of all dorm leaders? Well, quite a lot, for someone who has yet to properly appear in the main story! The very first thing we learn about him is that he has a whooping 5 million followers on Magicam – which is massive and not a number you reach while sitting on your hands and waiting for something to happen. This is such an impressive number that we even get to see various reactions to it, from being very impressed to trying to use that fame for personal purposes. Through reading the stories in which he appears, we get to learn some interesting things about Vil: generally speaking, he fits perfectly the image of the consummate professional. In Jade’s SSR story, we get a solid peek into his life and the man has a busy schedule. He juggles daily with his duties as a student, a dorm leader, an influencer and a professional model – these things take time and he manages to go from one duty to the other with both the ease of someone who’s used to it and the precise organisation of someone with a solid head on his shoulders as well as an incredibly strong work ethic and drive. Speaking from personal experience with the modelling part and an informed opinion on the influencer part, these two fields alone aren’t easy to handle at all. Being an influencer can be very cutthroat (as a certain beauty community has been demonstrating since last year...), and being a professional model requires a lot of drive and dedication, as well as major self-care in regard to both your body and your mental health, because those are the tools of your trade as a model. In consequence, Vil as a dorm leader focuses on appearances as a result of heavy intellectual work to honour the Fair Queen he so highly respects (he says so in his voicelines: “True beauty is determined by strong intellect. You can always doctor your looks, but your true colors will still shine through right away.”), but Vil as a person is also extremely focused on his appearance because he’s doing his job. It’s not narcissism, it’s professionalism. And with his Ceremonial Robes story, we even get to learn that he was ostracised in his hometown for being a performer, yet he kept going and working to reach his goals. For someone who’s only 18 years old, this is an exceptional display of drive, discipline and maturity.

Vil has the highest standards for himself, but because he comes from pretty damn far, he also expects other people to be capable of showing the same degree of determination to achieve their goals. He expresses that in various ways, from being openly displeased with Leona’s general negligence (with Ruggie doing all the work in the background – see Leona’s school uniform story and Ruggie’s lab coat story), to being unimpressed by the new Pomefiore students and getting ready to whip them in a shape he’ll deem desirable as soon as he lays his eyes on them. He’s also highly critical of people going for the easy way out: in his school uniform story, he not only criticises Cater for trying to use him for his own five seconds of fame by buttering him up, but he also emphasises the fact that his services aren’t free. Emphasis on that: Vil isn’t a charity. He isn’t the sort of person with whom you’ll mutually brush your hair while sharing smoothie recipes. Rook is more likely to be the one up to that sort of thing, because Rook is nice and a good senior (see: Rook’s ceremonial robes story). Vil, on the other hand, encourages a lot to try and learn on your own, to use your own head in order to create your own brand (see his lab coat voicelines). He’ll be more enclined to help only after you started doing a part of the job independently and showed you can think and act for yourself. And even then, he’ll likely kick your ass to push you to keep up, because behind all the sparkles and lustre Vil is very much depicted as an overbearing Drill Sergeant. Like I pointed out earlier, it’s heavily hinted that he didn’t get where he is by waiting for good fortune to come by. He works for his success daily and expects other people to do the same. Does it seem like a rather unfair treatment? Sure, but at the same time it provides a great learning opportunity for those willing to put up with it, and Vil offers it in a surprisingly selfless manner: there is an open concern about the way people present themselves, and how they can do it to be their best self at all time.

Interestingly, it creates a peculiar dynamic with his vice dorm leader, Rook. There’s a constant sway between them, with Vil bluntly telling him he can be easily replaced if he fails in his duties, while still relying on him more than Rook relies on him in return – in fact, Rook pretty much follows his own path, and Vil happens to be a very nice view along that path so Rook decided to stop and hang out for a bit, but he still checks his surroundings for other nice views. So while Rook puts up with Vil’s tight requirements (see Rook’s ceremonial robes story, where Floyd cleverly observes that he doesn’t seem that fond of the perfume Vil created for him and forces him to wear during ceremonies), he’s also the one taking actual charge of the new students (see when he checks on Epel in his ceremonial robes story, or when he offers his support during the Ghost Marriage event) and trying to smooth things out when Vil is being too rough (see Vil’s ceremonial robes story). Interestingly, it leads to a communication issue between these two, fueled by what looks very much like a unilateral dependant relationship on Vil’s part, no matter how much he denies it. He rejects Rook through threats of replacing him, yet fully trusts his eyes and sincerity, yet this very sincerity is the reason why Vil doesn’t fully open up to Rook (see Vil’s lab coat story, he goes to Trey to vent about Rook’s lack of consideration) and uses a Harsh Commanding Queen attitude to hide his own insecurities from the eyes of the person who can see them best. It’s likely not helped by the fact that Vil is aware that he needs Rook more than Rook needs him – it’s obvious when reading the latter’s profile: Rook likes his privacy, and while he keeps putting his nose in other people’s business (not out of malice, but genuine curiosity), he’s notoriously deemed annoying by characters like Leona and Malleus because of his overly curious yet inconsiderate nature. There’s a selfishness in Rook which protects him from getting fully controlled by Vil, I’ll repeat myself here but I’d rather insist on that: Rook willingly decided to follow Vil, it means he has the power to refuse him as well (which is very much like... Oh, the Huntsman in Snow White – though in his case specifically, there’s also variations in which his family is held hostage and all, while Rook makes his own decisions).

This entire situation is heavily fueled by Vil’s need for control. As aforementioned, he focuses on the tiniest details and holds complete control over everything that makes his life what it is: from the type of makeup he picks to every single component used in the meals he prepares himself, Vil has a clear need for full control, and it’s reflected in the way he interacts with other students, as well as in the way he handles even his club activities. Vil isn’t just a model, influencer and even actor, in the film study club he works as a director and in one of his stories (lab coat), he’s even shown to create the special effects himself, because only he can provide for his own desires in the most exact fashion. This is where his little “I can replace you easily” becomes funny, because it translates his need for control without really holding since Rook is the one with the most agency in the relationship. In comparison, in Silver’s PE uniform story, Silver is treated like a pawn and Vil even berates Malleus in front of him because Silver dares deny him (how dare he have his own agency instead of being a nice prop who should feel honoured to be selected). Interestingly, Silver also compares Vil’s way of doing things to something martial. AhemDrillSergeantVilahem. In this story, the interesting point is that things finally start working well when Vil stops considering his own vision and decides to look beyond it a bit: taking Silver’s actual abilities into consideration, he finally has a scene that works. It works because he loosened the control a bit – while Silver went along with it but remained vocal the whole time about where his own skills lie.

While the relationship between Vil and Rook, as well as Vil and the rest of the Pomefiore dorm, have been holding through a quietly tense status quo, there is one pebble - dare I say, one potato - who is more than willing to challenge the whole situation through open defiance and a strong will: Epel. He has been set by the narration to be the catalyst to an incoming breaking point, because he wants to live his life to the beat of his own drum, yet remains a teen still in need of a journey of self-discovery. It’s illustrated in how he misunderstands the point of Pomefiore by only looking at the surface - something Vil reproaches, which is why he even talks about his need for more self-awareness in the lesson chats. Of course, Vil uses his own language (beauty) to get his point across, but the underlying point is that Epel has yet to reach a certain degree of self-realisation - such as the fact he is free to try and work hard to become beefier (Vil wouldn’t object as long as he puts in the necessary efforts), or that he is a good fit in Pomefiore because he has the drive to reach his goals and gives himself the means to do so (high awareness, anyone?). Basically, he’s the example of Vil’s communication issues: Vil’s martial nature tends to drown the actual meaning of his motivational speeches. Paradoxically, when dealing with someone like Epel, it actually fuels the teen through spite, which is both comical and quite impressive given Epel’s results (reminder of his own lab coat story, in which he manages to impress Crewel, a man made from the same fabric as Vil, with his formidable results through hard work). However, this form of motivation isn’t healthy, and just like with Rook, a good, long talk is needed to create a better understanding - instead of forcing his Tyranny of Beauty on others.

Bonus point, because I really want to address it

For some time now, I’ve been vocal about my personal feelings regarding the reception of Pomefiore and its characters. While it became more positive since June, it still tends to miss the point for a reason I’d like to address: the Not Like The Other Girls mentality and how it specifically affects the way Vil and his own femininity are perceived.

While I am not invalidating this thinking as part of a larger growth process, I think it has been unfairly used against Pomefiore. In a way, it’s very much the way Epel reacts: it’s just a Pretty People Dorm led by an Annoying Pretty Boy, and Savanaclaw is cooler. However, this is not only superficial, it puts a judgement of value that means that one has to be put down for the other to shine. In other words, Vil as a character is undervalued because his way of life - which matches traditionally feminine occupations, hell he’s even using a feminine pronoun - has been associated with vanity, narcissism, and superficiality by the fandom. To get my point across, let me provide you with quotes from some of our most brilliant minds:

“Woman wants to be independent […] this is one of the worst developments in the general uglification of Europe. Woman has so much reason for shame; in woman there is concealed so much superficiality, petty presumption and petty immodesty – one needs only to study her behaviour with children!” - Nietzsche

“What is truth to a woman? From the very first nothing has been more alien, repugnant, inimical to woman than truth - her great art is the lie, her supreme concern is appearance and beauty” - Nietzsche (again)

“A man’s face is his autobiography. A woman’s face is her work of fiction.” - Oscar Wilde

“All the pursuits of men are the pursuits of women also, but in all of them a woman is inferior to a man.” - Plato

“As regards the sexes, the male is by nature superior and the female inferior, the male ruler and the female subject” - Aristotle

Do you see where I’m going with that? Because he has an occupation focused on appearance, something historically associated with women, Vil should be… Less? Should be negative? Even though he is quite vocal about it being a mere result of a much deeper work on himself, throughout his voicelines, lesson chats and personal stories? It’s not vanity, it’s not narcissism. It’s Vil expressing himself through the age old art forms of fashion, skincare and makeup. How, and why it being focused on something external should be less? It’s especially obvious when you stop and consider Vil’s own testimony: he has been ostracized by his own community for being a performer. His appearance is as much a mask as it is a proof of everything that preceded it – him saving himself with his own means and work. It’s both a protection and a result that he proudly brandishes – and he absolutely can afford the arrogance to do so, considering his achievements at such a young age (reminder, again, that he’s 18 years old, despite being very disillusioned with life already). Why should it be less that? Vil’s inclination towards appearances is both his truth and his fiction, that’s what the narrative tells us - and there’s nothing bad about that.

I guess I’m especially tired of this point because I’ve had to deal with that thinking pattern myself irl, for evolving in similar fields/similar hobbies, and it’s frustrating to see that sort of close mindedness. It’s infuriating. So, that’s a more personal aspect of my rant... But here we are.

#twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #twst #pomefiore #vil schoenheit #rook hunt #epel felmier #now that pomefiore is deemed a fashionable dorm by the fandom lol

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therefugeofbooks · 3 years

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Ryo is a trans boy who finds in graffiti and fashion a way to express himself and escape his reality. He befriends Jin, the new student in his classroom, and they bond over their love for fashion and decide to create a brand together. Boys Run the Riot by Keito Gaku is a own voices coming of manga with beautiful and heartfelt scenes!

Read my review under the cut (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ

Boys Run the Riot is very different from what I expected when seeing the cover and reading the synopsis. There are lighthearted and inspiring moments, but it is also full of dark moments that made me sad, frustrated, and mad.

Ryo is a trans boy but he hasn't come out to anyone. It's heart-wrenching to read that he feels so lonely and out of place. Also, he has to deal with the unhealthy environment of high school, bullying from his colleagues, the girls' uniform, and his mom that keeps asking why he only "dresses like a boy". He finds in fashion and graffiti a way to express his true self and there are very emotional in which he talks about that!

The other main character, Jin, is a new student in Ryo's class. His appearance makes people think that he is a "delinquent" and "troublemaker", but he is the most friendly character of this story. He is very supportive when Ryo comes out as trans to him and it is a beautiful scene! He's funny and he's the cause of many hilarious and lighthearted scenes.

Ryo and Jin bond over their love for fashion and decide to start a fashion brand together! I was interested in Japanese street fashion when I was younger, so it was cool to see this theme in a manga. Ryo and Jin's friendship become stronger as they develop their first t-shirt and I loved to see their interactions and mutual support.

There's one more character that becomes part of the gang at the end of this volume, Itsuka. He's a member of the photography club and Ryo and Jin ask him to take some pictures of the first t-shirt they created. Itsuka has a lot of internal conflicts, he feels like an outsider but he is a part of the popular kids' group. And by helping Ryo And Jin, he's befriending the "weird people". Itsuka's arc goes more on the topic of high school dynamics and family relationships.

About the art, except when I read horror manga, I usually read cute and fluffy manga, so I was surprised by the art of this one. The screentone is very dark in the characters, character's clothes and it's heavily used in the background. This characteristic and the art that is more on the realistic side give this manga a more dark and serious atmosphere. And there are very dark moments, but also very cute ones! I think this is not the art style I would usually go for, but I'm looking forward to seeing more of it in the next volumes.

At the end of this first edition, there's a bonus part with an interview with the mangaka. He's a trans man and he was inspired by his own experiences to write Ryo. We usually don't know much information about mangakas, so it's interesting to read about his own experiences!

Overall, there're lighthearted, emotional, and dark scenes in this manga. Ryo's struggles seemed realistic but it can be distressing to read, so be aware of the trigger warnings. It's a manga about school and family dynamics, bullying, friendship, and expressing yourself even with hardships. I loved it and I'm excited to read more about Ryo and Jin! If you're looking for a more realistic manga about coming of age with a focus on friendship, I highly recommend Boys Run The Riot!

Courtesy of NetGalley.

Happy Reading (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ

#booklr #the refuge's reviews #boys run the riot #keito gaku #read in 2021 #read trans authors #trans characters #mine: original posts #the refuge of books

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akimmito · 4 years

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I’ll still be with you

Previous | AO3 | Next

Master List

Chapter 2: The blue of the sky

Maybe, I can never see this sky again...

The raindrops fall in silent lament, drowning out the noise of the city that is prey to its tears. He just watches the clouds above him, ignoring the water and allowing himself to soak, the white uniform shirt sticks to him defining the muscles he hides underneath, the hair almost covering his eyes as it drips following the rhythm imposed by the sky.

"From here, I can't tell if you're crying or not."

Damian looks away from the dark sky and meets his best friend's vibrant blue, a brilliant color among all the gray that surrounds him. Since that fateful night everything has lost its meaning, didn't he want to make his father proud? Didn't he want to show that he could do great things? Didn't he want to find his own way?

"You're going to get sick, let's go to class."

"No, I'll stay here..."

"Shall I call Alfred or Dick? You don't look good. ”He keeps staring at the blue, sees it blur with the boy's conflicting emotions. Jon is still three years younger than him, it doesn't matter that he's already nearing puberty. His features are still childish, he still lights up as if he were his own sun without needing the star that revitalize him.

"I'll be fine, I just need time..."

Why do I feel this way?

Jon just watches him before nodding, doesn't say anything else, and walks away. He gives him little glances the further he walks back to the classroom, for several days he has been that way, sad. And as if the skies of Gotham felt it, the same amount of time it has been raining, shedding the tears that the teenager is not able to let go.

Damian looks back at the clouds, feeling his eyes sting. In an attempt to contain the sensation, he closes his eyes and just lets himself be felt, the drops soaking him even more, knowing that Alfred won't be happy when he sees him dripping so much water that he could give a whole neighborhood drink. But the rain stops falling on him and he opens his eyes again, a black umbrella protects him.

"I extended a permit to your teacher, come with me."

Damian feels the return of the rain abruptly on him and sees Drake walking towards the main entrance, unlike him, his brother is so neat that he doesn't seem to be walking in the rain. He looks at him for just one more moment before walking behind him.

Before, when he first arrived, he saw Drake as someone inferior, as a piece to be eliminated from the board in order to achieve his objectives, he earned his contempt and a cold shoulder that prevailed until now. Drake is the hardest to read, always hidden behind a sympathetic image, easy to ignore, easy to underestimate and forget that, of all the Wayne family members, he's the most dangerous. He runs Wayne Enterprise better than Bruce, everyone says, the efficiency of the company grew as soon as he got the full job a year ago. Drake is nineteen years old and it's already everything Bruce never asked for, but is proud to have.

If I were like him would my father be proud? Would he love me more?

They move silently through the damp streets of the city, Damian has his eyes fixed on the drops that crash against the glass of the window. There was no comment, Drake just handed him his jacket and now it's just as wet as the rest of him.

He don't want to keep thinking, he just want your mind to push all the thoughts that drown him and let he breathe easy. He feels tormented by not being able to fulfill his father's expectations, by the quiet years in the company of Richard and that were broken by the abrupt return of Bruce, by the time it left and will never return, by the lost happiness, for the torn illusions and for the dreams that are impossible to reach on a horizon that recedes with each step he takes.

"I'm Sorry."

Damian turns to Drake immediately, he's suddenly with the blue of the sky that is dimmed by sadness.

"Why?"

"It's my fault, I brought Bruce back."

He doesn't say anything, maybe that's enough, because his brother returns all his attention to the streets.

The sound of the rain envelops them and the cold is almost welcoming. Damian closes his eyes and leans against the glass, he doesn't care about the destination as long as it's as far as possible from the mansion, the school and everything that haunts him. Because he failed.

I just have to resist… it's the only thing I can do.

I'll not change my father's mind.

I'll not change overnight...

The lack of movement brings him back to reality, the noise of the drops hitting the car is not heard either. They are under cover.

"Where we are?"

"My home."

Sure, Drake lives in the city. Like Todd, he follows the patrol routes imposed by Batman, but no longer lives in the mansion. It's just Bruce, Alfred and him...

A sense of tranquility floods him, it's not the mansion. It's a place without shadows, but neither with a light that he doesn't deserve. Follow Drake up to the tall silver, barely noticing the details of the apartment, though it0s more of a complete building. He vaguely remembers that it's the old theater near the alley where his grandparents died, it was not important and still is not, it is almost surprising how detached he feels to the whole thing, when that event was the first and great event that he brought to life to Batman. He could say, without shame, that he feels closer to the death of Richard's parents, because he always spoke to him about them and made him part of those moments, he made them his family.

"Why are we here, Drake?"

He sees him wandering aimlessly until he stops in front of a door, gives him a glance before entering the new environment. Damian follows him, assuming the answer to his question is there.

A room so small that it could be a matchbox, at odds with the large space enjoyed in the previous room. Stacked books and scattered papers are the main decorations, but the most important are the two computers. Drake works in that little 4x4 space? The place is visibly uncomfortable.

"Drake."

"Bruce is being unfair to you." Damian frowns, his brother doesn't face him, he can only see him in profile while he turns on one of the two computers. The light illuminates his face, making his dull expression better to see. "I was also unfair to you six years ago and I remained so for a long time, I was stuck in your version of ten years. I'm sorry for that too, you deserved more. We're family."

It was never a secret that Drake held a grudge against him and to receive such a sincere apology, admitting that it wasn't just Damian who made mistakes, it's a new and unfamiliar feeling. It's not exactly unpleasant, although it does cause him some discomfort.

"I know it was an accident. I can't judge you for that, I've been close to passing that line… ”He falls silent and begins typing, opening files and an email. Damian begins to suspect that those computers are not for work, he looks for the switch and when the whole room is properly lit, he can see everything in greater detail.

Stacked books are magic, since when has Drake been interested in magic? It's no secret that he feels rejection towards it, so it's strange. The scattered papers, for some that he can read, are bank accounts and other documents related to a certain Gabriel Agreste. On the far wall are a couple of photographs, guarded as if they were a secret. Red Robin and a spotted heroine, Drake and a young girl with bright blue eyes and a kind smile. He can only assume that it's the same woman.

"What is all this?"

"The memories of my trip."

Damian doesn't make sense in his words, but doesn't push. He's tired of pushing.

Just hold on... this place is at least much better than the mansion.

"I'll go."

"Hm?"

"I'll leave Gotham and I'll not return." Only until then does he look at the screen, there is another photo of that same woman, but in the design of a French Marie Lenoir passport, he's sure that this is not her real Name. Next to it's also one of him, Timothée Rothchild. That just confirms it's not her real name. "There is something I must do and it will take me a lifetime."

"Why are you telling me?"

"Do you want to come?"

Damian just watches him open another document and this time, it's his photo with a blank passport.

I wanna go?

Maybe that's the time to go back and find my way...

---------

I don't know if I managed to express well the feeling of melancholy and of being... lost, yes. I hope I have made it.

What did you think?

#maribat #ml x dc

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thebad---catholic · 4 years

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My problems with AOS

Well here I am, 10 years late with an opinion no one asked for, but I have to write this down and throw into the void so that I can be at peace. I’ve been salty about this film franchise for a very long time now. This will mostly focus on Star Trek (2009) with the other two movies sprinkled in.

1. Starfleet

Honestly where do I even begin? In TOS, Starfleet was modeled after the navy (idk how accurately, but Roddenberry was in the air force so I’m assuming he’d know how all that works). You can get a feel for the chain of command, and everything feels natural with character ages and things like that. There’s a procedure for everything.

AOS Starfleet feels more like a high school club than an interplanetary exploration organization. Jim is supposed to be twenty-five when he gets the rank of captain- after he was almost expelled for cheating. He has no idea how to operate or run a starship. TOS Kirk moved through the ranks of Starfleet and was promoted on merit and leadership skills- he worked for his position.

Why was Jim the only person who knew what was happening when Nero showed up? Was there any requirements to joining to Starfleet other than get on the shuttle? Why did the linguist not know the difference between Vulcan and Romulan when they’re the linguist? How did Pike bypass the chain of command to appoint Jim Kirk as First Officer which was an obvious show of favoritism to someone was about to be thrown out of the academy? Why the fuck was he allowed to keep the title of captain? What the fuck?

Speaking of Jim.

2. Jim Kirk’s Character

I...don’t like Jim’s character in this film. It’s not terrible for a younger version of Kirk, but like I said though, there’s no reason Kirk should be this young. And in this one he’s just kinda a douche.

We know from TOS that Kirk gets around, but he genuinely cares for his exes, and in general respects women. He uses sex appeal as a strategy, but more than anything this comes off as a subversion of the femme fatal trope bc Kirk is a man. In the movie, he’s just a standard action movie protag who has lots of sex just because.

The scene when the Orion woman says she loves him and he replied “that’s so weird” is just...so weird? Like I can’t imagine Kirk doing anything in that situation than backing off and explaining that he doesn’t feel the same way. The scene continues with him hiding under the bed when Uhura walks in. Watching how the camera angle makes Jim out to be a voyeur made me uncomfortable then and it still does. It could be explained that Jim is trying to figure out Uhura’s identity or that he’s listening in and people look at who they’re listening to but like...she was in her underwear. You shouldn’t look at people while they’re getting undressed, especially when they don’t even know you’re there? Is that a hot take? Apparently.

In TOS there’s this really nice scene in This Side of Paradise(S1E24) where the whole crew is high (again) and has abandoned ship, leaving Kirk to tend to things. We see Jim move around the ship with a little clip pad and make the proper checks. This is a captain who knows his stuff. That is the Kirk we should have seen if we’re going to see Jim become captain.

AOS kirk goes through a standard “stop being an asshole” arc commonplace for male protagonists, but this happens well past the point he should stop being an asshole. Either the AOS series should’ve been a prequel with Jim becoming captain at the end of the trilogy, or he should’ve been older with a completely different arc- maybe coming to terms with his rank? Imposter syndrome? Learning to trust his crew and building trust with them? Building a friendship with Spock and McCoy? There’s a lot to work with here.

3. Spock and Uhura’s relationship

Why. Like why. For what. Por Que.

I like giving Uhura a bigger role, I don’t like making her a love interest to do that.

It doesn’t make sense for either of their characters. Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, linguist expert who handles all transmissions to and from the enterprise- an icon of black women’s representation is now demoted to Spock’s nagging girlfriend. This bothers me more than a little bit.

It manages to make even less sense for Spock. A hallmark of Spock’s character is his duality. He struggles to combat his emotions and the human half of him. His repeating character arc in TOS is coming to terms with humanity while upholding the Vulcan way of life. Having him in an established romantic relationship before this arc is supposed to happen just makes for a boring romantic subplot about a relationship that shouldn’t happen and that I don’t care about.

TOS Vulcan culture is kinda shitty. Explicitly patriarchal and stuff, and also kinda racist against humans. The source of Spock’s inner conflict is not himself but a society that views him as lesser for being half human. However, one thing that I can certainly understand from a “logical” (logic in quotations bc racism and sexism is fucking stupid) people is ritualized arranged marriages. It just...makes sense to me that Vulcans would simply have their mates chosen for them and then marry that person and be done with it. Neat. Logical. Conformity.

This makes Spock and Uhura’s relationship even stranger. Why would Spock go so against conformity that he dates someone before he truly comes to terms with himself? Even if they throw out ponfarr and arranged marriage, it still doesn’t work but now it especially doesn’t work.

My personal theory is that Spock and Uhura’s relationship was established purely to make shippers shut up. It’s no secret Spirk is the most popular ship from TOS. I have no doubt they knew this while writing the movie. So to quietly wrap a no homo on Spock and Kirk’s friendship, they use Uhura as a prop to do so.

The teacher/student dynamic should only be relegated to fan fiction and the throwaway line about oral sensitivity makes me cringe. Every. Time.

4. McCoy

Karl Urbans performance is easily my favorite part of this movie. He captures DeForrest Kelley so well it hurts. He made Leonard Nimoy cry. His chemistry with Pine made McKirk go from the most underrated triumvirate ship in TOS to rival Spirks popularity in AOS. His scenes with Zachary Quinto are just *chefs kiss*.

So why doesn’t he have more of a role? The triumvirate is missing a third.

In particular, there’s a scene where Uhura, Kirk, and Spock make their way down to a planet to talk to a Klingon. I can’t remember which movie it was or why, but Spock and Uhura were bickering and Kirk remarks “can we do this later?”

The line was funny. It would’ve been golden if it was McCoy and not Uhura.

A fantastic performance by an underutilized character in a movie where that character should’ve been at the forefront.

5. Representation

I am skeptical of any movie that advertises diversity. Nonetheless, it made me happy to know Sulu was going to be gay. This is Star Trek after all, known for its diversity and large LGBT fan base, and an homage to George Takai who’s a gay man irl. So whatever.

The fact that I wasn’t expecting much says a lot about the current state of LGBT rep in media but this blink-and-you-miss-it shit is really starting to get to me.

I mean he jus- he doesn’t even give his husband a KISS. Like why.

6. Destroying Vulcan

WHY. Oh god why.

This isn’t Star Wars, JJ. We don’t do that here.

Imploding Vulcan was the most god awful shock value bullshit plot device I’ve ever seen in a movie and it was done entirely to make Spock sad. Besides the gaping plot hole of “why did Nero go back in time to destroy Vulcan when he could’ve just saved Romulus” I’m just grasping to find a purpose for this particular event. New fans don’t care at all about Vulcan while I was enraged that they would do Amanda that dirty.

It’s not just that they did that, it’s more that they did it like that. Vulcan’s destruction should’ve caused a federation wide meltdown as the biggest catastrophe in the entire franchise. If they were gonna make the stakes so pointlessly high, they should’ve treated the destruction of Vulcan exactly how they would treat the destruction of earth. There a million ways to treat that event with more gravity and million better plot lines that don’t involve G E N O C I D E

7. Miscellaneous petty bullshit because I’m a baby

-lower the fucking stakes Jesus Christ

-Don’t like the set. It’s bright and white and boring and gives me a headache. You don’t need a remake of the old set but like have fun ya know? Shit looks like an Apple store.

-Christine and I are the same in that we are both soft and are thirsty for Spock. Imagine my surprise to learn she wasn’t fucking there. Same with Janice but I’m more pressed about Christine. I don’t even remember the name of that blonde doctor lady who is Not Christine but i didn’t want her.

-The costumes in AOS look boring but still don’t feel like a uniform either. I deadass think Chris Pines outfit in the SNL skit looked better than the actual movie (minor adjustments needed)

-I didn’t notice this at first but someone pointed out that women’s uniforms don’t signify rank and now I can’t not see it. I don’t...think this movie treats women good? Or McCoy? Or just people who deserve better?

-Lens Flare

-I get why they did it but I don’t like that they misquoted the opening theme to say “no one” instead of “no man”. I probably wouldn’t have even notice except they gave the line to Uhura. Comes off as just a touch too “yay feminism” which is really rich coming from that treated Uhura like an object to be looked at when she wasn’t too busy being Spock’s emotional support gf, and completely cut two women from the main cast.

8. Conclusions

If I could describe these movies in one word it’d be generic. Which sucks because Star Trek far from generic.

They’re fun to watch but not think about. It was nice that I got to see a Star Trek movie in theaters. I just wish it as the same Trek I saw on TV.

#star trek the original series #star trek tos #star trek aos #star trek alternate original series #jj abrams #jim kirk #captain kirk #dr mccoy #bones mccoy #spock #mr spock #lt uhura #nyota uhura #hikaru sulu #star trek #star trek headcanon #trekkie #trekker #star trekkin

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princeasimdiya12 · 4 years

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Talentswap-DR1 Kids with V3 Talents

So I came across a post made by @mythgirlimagines who gave some headcanons that featured the kids from the first game with talents from the V3 game. I really enjoyed the idea and I began to think of my own headcanons for each kid and how their lives would be different with their new talents. So with their permission, I was able to come up with this. I hope you like it!

Sayaka Maizono as the SHSL Adventurer

As a kid, she spent all her time at home since her dad was always working and her mom passed away.

She found comfort in watching TV programs that showcased different countries and cities and loved seeing the people having fun together.

Wanting to find happiness like those people, Sayaka began to secretly wander around her home city and partook in sight seeing and trying new foods.

She also practiced interacting with the people and asking them different questions.

After getting enough practice, she began traveling around different parts of Japan before making her way through the Asian countries followed by the rest of the globe.

She vlogs her travels by uploading pictures and videos of the food, fashion and festivals in each place she visits.

The popularity of her vlogs has resulted in her gaining contracts with multiple tourist companies who want her to visit their cities to boost tourism.

Mukuro Ikusaba as the SHSL Pianist

Mukuro doesn’t really care about playing the piano. She only took it up because her sister insisted that she do something useful with her life

She spent most of her freetime practicing the piano and would perform for hours on end to see how far she could go before exhausting herself.

She’s won multiple awards and critical acclaim for her performances but they mean nothing to her if they didn’t come from her sister.

When Junko decided to become SHSL Despair, Mukuro began to channel her talent to her sister’s instruction.

Her music can manipulate the emotional states of anyone listening to her and increase it based on the melodies she performs.

Ex. A somber tune can make people into sobbing messes while an aggressive song can make listeners become hostile and violent towards each other.

Junko would use her sister’s talent to either influence new followers or to dispose of unlucky victims.

She mainly wears a slim black dress when she performs on stage.

Leon Kuwata as the SHSL Tennis Player

Just like in canon, Leon doesn’t like his talent. Particularly the heavy training that’s involved.

He mainly uses his tennis player image to become a celebrity.

This involves staging photo sessions with him posing in his tennis uniform or performing cool moves for the camera.

He mainly performs solo and the few times that he partakes in a doubles match is if his partner can boost his image.

This has resulted in him getting into arguments with them because of his lazy nature.

He ended up in multiple flings with various fangirls which tarnished his image as a celebrity.

His wardrobe consists of a white polo shirt with orange stripes, shorts and a red sweatband.

Chihiro Fujisaki as the SHSL Maid/Butler

(As to avoid potential discourse, I’m going to gloss over their backstory and headcanon them as genderfluid)

They find cleaning and organizing rooms to be mentally relaxing.

They take pleasure knowing that a clean house or room will become much refreshing and comforting to their client(s).

Most people are surprised that someone as small and fragile like them is capable of doing multiple chores and duties in a single day.

They prefer to work behind the scenes or with as few people watching over them.

Chihiro often has difficulties when it comes to making public announcements to large groups.

Some days they dress up in maid uniforms while other days they dress up as a butler.

Their specialty when it comes to cooking is making perfect creme brulee.

Mondo Oowada as the SHSL Artist

As a professional artist, Mondo can make a variety of artworks.

His area of specialties include sculptures and murals.

Despite making tons of money with his artworks, he secretly dislikes the rich people who buy his pieces due to their snooty personalities.

He initially hated his talent because he was hoping to be good at something that was more manly or cooler.

His big brother was the reason for why he became an artist to begin with.

Having been Mondo’s main parental figure their whole lives, Daiya wanted to ensure that his brother would have a secure career that he could be proud of and that he wouldn’t have to risk his life for. Just like he does as a gang leader.

After his inevitable death, Mondo took his art career more seriously to honor his big brother.

He wears cargo pants with a white tank top and has a paint splattered bandanna around his neck.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru as the SHSL Aikido Master

He took up aikido believing it to be an ideal practice of mastering self control

He devotes most of his freetime to studying the different forms of aikido aswell as the religious aspects tied to the skill.

At his old school(s) he became popular for taking down various delinquents who would terrorize his defenseless classmates. But what really moved everyone was how Kiyotaka invited each delinquent to join him so that they can master self control and change their lives for the better.

He ended up becoming the president of a large club dedicated to aikido.

Despite his popularity, Kiyotaka is still very awkward at friend making as all he can discuss is his general studies and aikido.

All of his relations with his peers are purely professional.

Hifumi Yamada as the SHSL Anthropologist

He started out by watching foreign cartoons and dramas and wondered how different they were compared to the ones shown in Japan.

This led to him binge watching multiple foreign shows while taking notes and analyzing the cultural norms displayed in each show.

His hard work paid off when he landed a spot on a TV show where he showcased his research and the popularity for each show in their respective country.

He does most of his research in his hometown but sometimes he’ll travel to specific cities either to showcase new research or to analyze a TV show/movie production.

He dreams of being remembered as a hero who was able to connect every culture and bring world harmony.

He often reaches out to Sayaka in the hopes that they could do a travel collab together but she politely denies his requests using various reasons.

Celestia Ludenberg as the SHSL Inventor

She uses a steampunk lolita ensemble whenever she makes public appearances and speaks with a Victorian accent.

She’s able to maintain her composure when she’s in an environment with an exceptionally hot temperature.

Celestia takes pride in being able to take apart the most mundane of household appliances and rebuild them into something better and praiseworthy.

Several companies have already commissioned her to make service drones.

She’s willing to make any invention that’s requested provided that the client can afford her extravagant prices.

There’s rumors that she’s been secretly making inventions that can brainwash people and turn them into her obedient servants.

She’s openly expressed interest in studying Kyoko’s existence but the robot makes it clear that she doesn’t want to be involved.

Sakura Oogami as the SHSL Entomologist

While she underwent extreme training thanks to her family’s profession, she has caused conflict among them for refusing to continue the fighting legacy in favor of her true passion.

She’s earned the nickname “The Mountain Woman” on account of how she’s always spotted hanging out in the mountain range studying bug life.

Sakura earned publicity by researching every individual insect found in Japan and how they interact with one another in their ecosystem.

Sometimes she allows the more dangerous insects and arachnids to bite/sting her so she can develop an endurance towards their toxins.

She also does environmental activism by stopping companies from illegally destroying the forests.

In her spare time, she enjoys meditating in the middle of the woods or by waterfalls.

Aoi sometimes asks if Sakura could lend her some of her butterflies for her magic shows.

Junko Enoshima as the SHSL Supreme Leader

She’s a cult leader. Plain and simple.

Using her analytical talent, Junko can analyze any person who’s unfortunate enough to talk to her.

By lending her ears, she gives them the impression of a person who genuinely cares about them and their problems no matter how pathetic they may be.

Most of the people who are drawn to her are often poor unfortunate souls who have been hurt by society or loved ones.

Wanting to fight boredom, she used her initial members for manipulation games and mental torture to see how powerful her charismatic personality can be.

She uses her findings to establish herself as a prominent figure of the 21st century.

A figure that can guarantee dramatic change if her subjects are willing to follow her commands.

When she decides to become the SHSL Despair, she uses an alternate persona via Monokuma to broadcast messages of despair and hard truths to the listening audiences.

And to keep Hope’s Peak and the police from catching on about her plans, she makes it so that she runs an exclusive club for intellectual and high class individuals.

Makoto Naegi as the SHSL Astronaut

Despite being average, he wanted to show everyone that it’s possible to accomplish the extraordinary even if you’re ordinary.

He loved the idea of going to space and seeing the beauty of the stars and the Earth down below.

Ever since middle school, he’s been training his body so he can be prepared for space travel.

He’s studied different star systems but he has difficulties when it comes to mechanical engineering and repair.

The closest he’s been to space was traveling in ships that reach high enough for him to experience zero gravity.

Despite being the youngest member of the space program, all the staff members adore him for his bright personality and his eagerness when it comes to completing missions.

In his free time, he tries to learn English and Russian should he be assigned to work with astronauts of the US or Russia.

Kyoko Kirigiri as the SHSL Robot

Her creator was her grandfather Fuhito who wanted an heir for his engineering business.

Her design was modeled after his young granddaughter who had died alongside her mother.

Having familiarized herself with the ongoing grudge between Fuhito and Jin, Kyoko can’t help but wonder if her creation was born out of spite.

She’s willing to follow along with her grandfather’s wishes but she does question if her actions are because she was programmed to follow them or because she herself wants to do it.

She’s built with a titanium body armor that can endure any extreme forms of damage along with providing her with super strength.

Given the right resources, she can also hack any computer system and gain access to any information found in said system.

Jin had conflicting feelings about allowing Kyoko to enter Hope’s Peak due to her bringing up feelings of anguish for his lost daughter and needed to be pushed by his dad to accept her.

She prefers to stay in the background analyzing the actions and behaviors of her classmates but she will show no hesitation in using force to resolve potential conflicts.

Byakuya Togami as the SHSL Cosplayer

In this reality, he lost his chance of becoming the Togami Heir and was banished from the family.

He still wanted to make a name for himself and decided to pursue a career that no one in his family would cross paths with him in: cosplaying.

Initially, he was depressed for a month after losing his big chance and immersed himself in anime shows to drown out his depression.

In a way, he found inspiration by watching the protagonists who continued onward and decided to make new paths for themselves despite failing to achieve their initial dreams.

If he wanted to be like them, then he could try dressing like them.

He only watches anime that has an enriching fantasy setting or has historical themes

Using what was left of his money, he funded a public fashion show that displayed the elaborate costumes of famous anime characters.

He became a big hit and was given sponsorships to produce more cosplays.

He has a love/hate relationship with his talent. On one hand, he prides himself in being the best at cosplaying. But on the other, he hates it because it’s a reminder that he lost his right to be a Togami.

Touko Fukawa as the SHSL Detective

Having grown up reading mystery novels, Touko became familiar with the cliches and expected tropes found in each given mystery.

Before going freelance, she served as a secretary for a private detective.

When looking over his cases, she pointed out the familiar patterns for each case while explaining her reasonings behind her deductions. She ended up being right 9 times out of 10.

The PI decided to give her simple cases that involved family drama and cheating spouses to test and expand her knowledge.

Eventually she would be hired for more extreme cases involving drug rings and murder.

Because of her abusive childhood and upbringing, Touko still has Dissociative Identity Disorder and created Genocider Syo as a coping mechanism to protect her.

But rather than killing people like a cliche yandere, Syo shows up whenever Touko ends up cornered or captured by dangerous criminals.

While she has no idea what gloomy got herself into, Syo has no issue with thrashing the low lives who would threaten her existence.

This has often led to the criminals becoming seriously injured or even being killed as a result. When it comes to the latter, Syo takes special care to ensure that it looked like an accident or that the criminal died by someone else’s hand.

This unfortunately resulted in Touko having a bad reputation as a loose cannon detective.

The detective decided to cut ties with Touko to maintain his business but ensured to tell her that she has what it takes to be a true detective.

She still thinks badly of others and is quick to point out the negative qualities associated with that person.

Yasuhiro Hagakure as the SHSL Assassin

The reason he got into assassination was to own up for his mistakes.

When he was 13, his gambling habit led to him and his mother losing their house and having to live on the streets.

Wanting her son to learn responsibility, Hiroko called in an old friend who had ties with the local yakuza and requested that he give her son a job.

Unbeknownst to the two, the only job that the friend could offer was being an assassin. And wanting to make his mom proud of her boy, Yasuhiro accepted the job without telling Hiroko.

After years of brutal and life threatening training, Yasuhiro became the clan’s go-to hitman and was handsomely rewarded every time he successfully got rid of a clan enemy or someone who couldn’t pay their debts.

His preferences for killing involve drugging the victims with slow but lethal poisons or attacking them when they’re alone. His appearance requires him to be extra cunning as to avoid being detected.

Eventually he was caught by the authorities but was contacted by Hope’s Peak who learned about his unusual career.

He was given two choices: he could go to jail for his murder or he could attend HP so that his talent could be studied while also receiving the school’s protection. Even a moron like Yasuhiro knew what choice to take.

When he went to tell his mom the good news, he found that she disappeared without a trace. Some say that Hiroko left out of shame when she found out about her son’s crimes, others believe that she was kidnapped and killed by revenge driven enemies. Regardless of the rumors, Yasuhiro has a gut feeling that she’s still out there and he intends to find her to make things right.

He uses the SHSL Fortune Teller title to keep his assassin career a secret.

He still maintains his carefree and ditzy personality both because no one would ever expect him of being a professional killer and so that he can keep pushing forward in life without falling into complete despair.

His baggy clothing and dreadlocks make it easy for him to hide knives or bottles of poison.

Aoi Asahina as the SHSL Magician

Ever since she was a little girl, Aoi loved everything about magic.

She read different types of fairy tales and myths so she can learn more about it and use them for her shows.

When she first started, she would perform tricks for her brother Yuta and would ask for his input regarding each performance and how she could improve herself.

Her costume is based on the classic witches mixed with a magical girl theme. (Think along the lines of Little Witch Academia).

Her magic shows put alot of emphasis on spectacle and enchantment so the people watching could fall in love with the concept of magic.

When she has the time, she bakes her own special donuts and offers them to a certain number of lucky participants.

Despite her friends and family encouraging her to participate in competitions, Aoi doesn’t feel that it would be right to use her magic tricks to compete for publicity.

She wants her magic shows to be an inspirational thing that brings happiness and wonder to the people watching.

She enjoys performing for children and often performs at schools, hospitals and orphanages.

The trick she’s best at performing is the underwater escape challenge.

#danganronpa #dangan ronpa #talentswap #sayaka maizono #mukuro ikusaba #leon kuwata #chihiro fujisaki #mondo oowada #kiyotaka ishimaru #hifumi yamada #celestia ludenberg #sakura oogami #junko enoshima #makoto naegi #kyoko kirigiri #byakuya togami #touko fukawa #yasuhiro hagakure #aoi asahina

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ironwoodatl01 · 3 years

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RWBY: Start to Finish -

Introduction - What is RWBY without the blessings of the twin gods of fantastic animation, and Halo existentialism? It is a project that should have only survived until the next big thing to distract its creators. But RWBY has taken to life the way Frankenstein’s Monster took it. Not very well.

RWBY can never escape the drama of its famed creators, which in any case gives the show a twist of lemon that zests up the story. Depending, of course, on which side of the fandom one asks. But that begs the question; how does RWBY stack up for someone who is not invested in the legend of its creation?

RWBY -

In a world of Humans, Monsters, and Magic there are four girls. Four well-armed, deadly little girls training to slay monsters known as ‘Grimm,’ to protect a civilization that is a ‘Remnant’ of something greater that was destroyed long ago.

Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long. Together they form the titular team ‘RWBY,’ and these are their adventures.

A punchy premise. Simple, yet solid enough to build a story upon. Complexity should only be a product of the story, not its selling point, and for the worse RWBY gets complex as the story progresses.

But for now, let’s start with Chapter 1.

Chapter 1; Ruby Rose

While a mysterious couple debates the merits of a Simple Soul and its effect on a ‘victory’ of some sort, we are introduced to Remnant. More specifically, a city in the wider world of Remnant. A very modern city with modern criminals, wearing sharp suits and wielding guns.

A gang of these sharply dressed ne’er do wells attempt to rob a store for its ‘Dust,’ but their crime spree is halted by the show’s Protagonist. A little girl in a red riding hood named Ruby Rose.

Shenanigans ensue, a rooftop chase leads to a rooftop duel, followed by a rooftop magic duel between a ‘Huntress’ and a Mysterious Female in a red dress. The fight ends with the Mysterious Female winning since she manages to escape.

Ruby Rose is a Huntress fangirl though, so she chalks it up as a lucky escape on the Mysterious Woman’s part, and tries to get the Huntress’s autograph.

Ruby gets interrogated instead. With cookies, compliments on her skills, a career talk, and an enrollment form into Beacon Academy. Where Ruby Rose gets a chance to follow in the footsteps of the very people she idolizes.

In the end, we learn that the criminal Ruby fought was Roman Torchwick, the Huntress Ruby first met was named Glynda Goodwitch, there was a civil rights thing for Faunus, and that Ruby could see Signal Academy from the airship she was riding to Beacon Academy.

Thus, the adventure begins.

Problems -

There are several problems from the start of this episode which could all be summarized with a general umbrella under which the show tries to hide from any criticism about its story pacing, and world-building. This singular, lampshade issue could incidentally be resolved with three words.

Keep. It. Simple.

RWBY’s first episode suffers from complexity. The bad kind of Complexity. Now, while both good and bad Complexity makes people think, the good kind of Complexity makes you think about the facts of life.

Bad Complexity makes you rethink your life’s choices.

There are a few points in this episode that illustrate my point on complexity, and I will talk a little about each below:

The Opening Narration -

The opening narration was wordy. Pretentiously so. But more importantly, it sets up a world of fantasy. A world that is a ‘Remnant’ of something that came before, a world where its inhabitants grapple with infinite darkness composed of fangs and claws using primal magic. Magic manifested in Dust, a material dug up from the earth of Remnant. The very flesh of the world aiding its inhabitants in the war against the darkness.

The narration sets up an adventure in a world that is highly fantastical. But the first scene of the episode involves men in modern suits, wielding modern weaponry. Followed by the minimal display of this vital material called Dust, and no sign of the darkness called Grimm.

Okie Dokie.

Huntresses -

A tiny girl in a red cloak pulls out a giant scythe and beats up grown men.

Roman; I sleep.

Older woman with a tiny stick.

Roman: wE gOT a HUnTrESS!

Granted, Glynda does pull off some impressive magic. But what identifies a Huntress from any other fighter with a giant scythe? A Cop pulls out a badge, wears a uniform, and identities himself as a Cop in action. How does Glynda identify herself as a Huntress to criminals like Roman?

The Faunus Rally -

Toward the end of the episode, a few minutes is dedicated to talking about the Faunus and their rally.

This is all I could tell you about them since nothing in the opening narration or the fight with Roman alludes to either the presence of Faunus or their place in the world of Remnant.

Taking each problem together -

Is nearly impossible because each point raised above is individually so distinct, there is no clear way to connect them into a coherent whole.

The opening narration sets up a high fantasy story about people fighting for their survival against vicious monsters.

The fight between Ruby and Roman, where a lone girl with powers battles modern criminals and stops robberies like a superhero comic.

Then there are the Faunus.

There are thus three distinct stories instead of a singular narrative focused around the girl named Ruby Rose, neither of which are properly developed. This is not surprising since there are only 12 or so minutes for the episode.

As a result, instead of an episode and an introduction to the story. I get three separate scenes written by different people. Solely united by the character of Ruby Rose, who is wholly inadequate for the task.

Ruby Rose -

A rose by any other name would be just as dull.

A character’s complexity is something that should not be decided upon at the start of the story. Complexity, and a character in general, develops over the course of a narrative and is fully grown at the end. At this point in the show, all we really need to know about Ruby Rose is her goal as it would be the main reason the audience would follow Ruby’s story. However, Ruby’s goal is not to be a Huntress.

Sure, Ruby says she wants to be a Huntress to help people. But nothing we were shown through the episode indicates that she wants to be a Huntress. Ruby Rose doesn’t do anything to become a Huntress. She fights Roman because of coincidence, her training has nothing to do with being a Huntsman since Huntsmen use Glyphs to fight. If Glynda was any indication. Ruby Rose may idolize the Huntsmen, but that doesn’t show passion toward being a Huntsman in the first place.

A contrast to Ruby would be Izuku from My Hero Academia. Izuku wants to be a hero, so he studies up on the pro heroes in his area. His education is focused on becoming a professional hero once he graduates Middle School. More importantly, Izuku's values and his heart is set on walking the path of a hero, and when given the chance to save his bully’s life? Izuku takes that chance and proves himself to have the heart of a hero.

Altogether, Ruby only becomes a Huntress by chance. While Deku was waiting for a chance to become a Hero. The latter is what makes a Protagonist’s desire and goal interesting for the audience.

Conclusion -

Ruby Rose, both the episode and the character, are kinda dull.

The first episode has set up three distinct story set-ups without formatting them into a coherent narrative. The Protagonist also fails to bring the episode’s three major plot elements together into an interesting story. This is especially egregious since a reasonable audience doesn’t need a very big hook to get them interested in a story. The attention span of the audience of ANY show is equivalent to a shoal of Mackerel. We just need a picture of a hook that says ‘Hook’, and we’d be flapping on the end of a line.

In conclusion, Ruby Rose the episode is confusing, conflicting, and saddled with a very tepid Protagonist who is so bland Gordon Ramsay is waiting in the wings to tear your walk-in apart.

Better shows were canceled for less.

#rwby spoilers #RWBY #RWDE #anti rwby #pro ironwood #writing #rwby review #reviews

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xserpx · 4 years

Text

Battle Ground Thoughts

Major spoilers below.

The Good

I really enjoyed the last part of the fight with Ethniu. Hendrick's sacrifice was well done, and the Marcone reveal was fantastic. The action was really great, although it did get too much at times, especially the beginning of the fight with Ethniu where it’s more like reading a shonen manga, lots of huge ‘final’ attacks and mist clearing as they wait for the blood spray before someone pulls a trap card. Still pretty likeable.

Marcone as a Knight of the Blackened Denarius is intriguing. My one caveat is that I think it diminishes his post-Small Favor achievements quite a bit, knowing he had access to all that power. It makes sense, especially considering just how much Marcone was able to get done, but yeah, I liked this little twist. Marcone is probably the main reason I would keep reading the books, as things stand.

I like the fact Harry's finally been kicked off the White Council, as he should be. I'm not sure why this is controversial, though. He’s clearly broken several laws, and tbh I was kind of surprised they kept him on after becoming the Winter Knight, like... conflicted interests, much?

Drakul and the Blampires were cool. Wouldn't mind seeing them again.

The Bad

Justine's reveal, while interesting bc omg Outsiders infesting the characters we love, it also absolutely terrifies me in terms of what it actually means for Thomas/Justine both in the future and in the past. A future that might not even happen, now. And considering how long it's been since she was infected, it's entirely possible a lot of Justine's feelings have been manufactured as well. One of the things at the top of my Do Not Want list was Justine or the baby getting hurt, and now we’re here.

I'm severely disinterested in Harry/Lara. I have no idea where it's going, but it's boring at best. Maybe Jim Butcher has an idea for it that doesn’t result in me rolling my eyes, but I’m not feeling charitable today.

Ivy and Harry never got a proper conversation. Also why tf was Ivy dressed in a school uniform for that fight? Unless she's a sailor senshi or something, it just doesn't make sense. Plus she should be in her mid-late teens by now, ffs, not her early teens.

We're still drawing out the Starborn mystery? Ugh, ok.

Michael's cursing out the White Council for kicking Harry off the team... Completely OOC, sorry, I hated it. Michael is a great character because he doesn't swear as a matter of principle. If he had to start swearing, that was a bad hill to choose.

The way the morality of the White Council flip flops depending on Dresden's mood is getting annoying. At the meeting at the end, he says the Council is the biggest defender of humanity, and that he's clearly sitting at the monsters' table, but they're also supposed to be the enemy for treating him as such? Ebenezar and some of the Seniors are douchebags, for sure - especially Eb as it's personal - but Carlos and the rest are solid good guys trying to do their best. After everything that's happened, Harry shouldn't be so freaking bitter. He’s a monster now. Either own it, or make different choices. Also Carlos should’ve told him what Molly did to him. I hate that this hasn’t been addressed and that Carlos just looks like a suspicious bastard when he’s actually sustained life-changing injuries and trauma. Communication generally between Harry and the White Council needs to start happening like yesterday.

Butters needs to just go away, please. Give me a break from this shithead. He's had a few months of training and can keep up with literally everyone. He gets all these Crowning Moments of Awesome, but he never suffers for it, and at this point I'm genuinely wondering whether he'll ever suffer any consequences whatsoever. Also he constantly outshines Sanya, who is ostensibly better qualified, and the Sword of Hope should have been the stronger of the two in that last fight. I’m sick of hearing how great Butters is, and being expected to laugh at all his dumb, nerdy references.

Harry barely thinks about Thomas when he considers his recent losses. Sure Thomas is still alive, but barely, with no guarantees he'll survive or that he'll come back the same person. Harry should be grieving for him as much as he's grieving for Karrin at this point. I also wanted there to be more reason behind Thomas's actions, some sort of conspiracy within the White Court, but there wasn't. It's bad enough being anxious for Thomas, but being anxious for his whole goddamn family is just way too much, ffs.

The Ugly

I mean, I've told people: if I'd tried to imagine a worst case scenario for Karrin Murphy's death, it would have been better than the ending we got. It's worse than James Norrington dying at the hands of Bootstrap Bill. It's worse than Superman's dad dying while trying to save the dog. She shouldn't have died at all, period, but if she absolutely had to go, there is no fucking way in HELL that that was the best way for it to happen. Whether she comes back or not, there is no way to justify that scene. Gard saying she saved everyone by defending Dresden might be a satisfying Watsonian explanation for some, but of all the times, of all the places, of all the ways, and of all the people... JB picked the absolute worst possible combination. Absolute. Garbage. It's not that he can't write decent sacrifices. Hendrick's death was superb! So why the FUCK couldn't Murph get the same treatment? Why the FUCK was she killed off so FUCKING pointlessly? This isn't a real life story. This isn't some hyperrealistic, anyone can die, Game of Thrones type bullshit, where you can just kill off the second main character as shock value and have it be valuable to a bigger theme. This is the Dresden Files, a fucking series where all the women are Playboy models, and there's a middle-aged dweeby guy in sports goggles riding a skateboard and wielding a lightsaber and facing off with a Titan after just a few months of training, and having threesomes with bisexual women half his age, one of whom wears a fucking Avengers t-shirt to bed. It's a fanservice show. So it is not too much to ask for the main female character to be given the kind of death she actually deserves, let alone that she be allowed to live long enough to enjoy a relationship that's been so fantastically built up over 15+ books. (Query: was any of her family at her funeral? Audiobooks make searching hard, and I can’t find out if that was mentioned.) It's not unfair to hate the FUCK out of JB for pulling such a horrible, awful, LAZY move. I didn’t cry when it happened. I actually laughed quite a bit, maniacally, because it was that much of a train wreck. I'm not crying now, either. I'm just so, so tired. RIP Murph.

Granted, I haven't had to wait for a Dresden Files book like this before. Skin Game had a very neat ending, whereas this asks way, way, way more questions than it answers, which is probably more par for the course in this series? But now my two favourite characters are out of the field and may never come back, and I'm just so fucking tired and disappointed, and tired of being disappointed. I don't know whether it's worth staying invested in the vague hope Jim Butcher will start giving a shit about anyone other than Butters, but I can't see the next book being much good when Thomas and Karrin won't be there. When Karrin may never be there again. When I don't even know if the next book will show up, or if there'll be another hiatus resulting in a mediocre story.

I'm predicting that there'll be a Murph-centric short story in the near future that'll probably be a "gotcha!" to all the fans like me who fucking hate how BG turned out. Either it'll finish her off entirely or hint at a resurrection, which may or may not come. Either way, it won't justify her death. It won't make this better.

If I wasn’t as invested in Karrin, I’d like this book more. I can understand if people like it, and there are definitely some good things about it, but it’s hard to appreciate those bits when there’s such a massive pile of stinking shit sitting smack bang in the middle.

#dresden files #battle ground #battle ground spoilers

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nudibranchiethoughts · 3 years

Text

Disclaimer: this is 90% of a ramble I wrote in response to a thread on my main blog :-) im not editing yet b/c I've topic jumped to celtic languages vs anglocentrism. Also I found out tumblr posts have a limit so I'm gonna continue the thread in reblogs LOL

Addressing a common theme in the original discourse thread, especially with regard to using LGBTQ people as tools or weapons: I am very literally an LGBTQ person in the flesh, I associate with almost exclusively LGBTQ people (just the way the mop flopped). Unless I am somehow weaponizing myself - I’m interested to see the reasoning. I’m self-IDing on this post for reference - I’m queer, bisexual non-binary. I actively participate offline in queer direct action/mutual aid + post covid, hopefully organising some things in my local area.

Canon in works of fiction is a fun guideline (though it is important for works of fiction to be finished before their canon is presented) for artists and otherwise creative people to work with. I don’t actually care enough to view content on Alex’s YouTube channel and when reading the “official” wiki for character backgrounds there was no mention of sexuality. This leads into a secondary point, the word of Alex in non-canon media is not the word of god. Unless there is direct, real LGBTQ rep in the finalised product it can only be taken as lip service - show in game that there are LGBTQ characters, not in related and non-canon media like YouTube videos. It’s the same kind of slapdash representation used by JK Rowling pre-TERF days to make her works seem more progressive than they are. To clarify: I’m not making a direct comparison - Alex is not JK Rowling. It is the nearest example that’s easy to search and verify. To condense this: If it is not on the ‘official wiki’ with a source in game, or in the game with no room for confusion that the characters are LGBTQ, it is lip service at best.

The majority of my issues lay outside of the development process and involve what I perceive to be really unfair treatment of the fanbase (people are giving him money and he has only JUST implemented Osana. It has been 6 years. Sole developer or not, that’s an incredibly long time when she probably should have been added in at the beginning to fix balancing issues and time schedule conflicts - it would have been easier) as well as issues with wider anime content that have directly influenced his game development and attitudes towards women.

Yandere Simulator is misogynistic and I would venture to say Alex is too. This is pretty easily summed up in the first regard with the panty shot mechanic + the reduction of women into being either rivals or NPCs with no personality or emotion. I would be interested to see if the final product passes the Bechdel Test or not. I genuinely think I would have had less of an issue with this first point if he had just openly stated that Yandere Simulator would be a fanservice ecchi game with a yandere character - at least it would have been open about the intentions. Instead it’s being gussied up as a social sim + assassination game.

Tackling the misogyny in plainer terms: the objectification of women in Yandere Sim both continues to push stereotypes of women only being objects to gain or exploit as well as the sexualisation of school uniforms and youth. Even if there is a disclaimer that they are all 18, the sexualisation of school uniforms and “schoolgirls” contributes to the idea of younger girls being more sexually desirable. There are multiple published studies regarding the impacts of sexualisation of younger women and its impacts on both their mental health and their safety - I’m going to cite my sources at the end of this if you do want to read up as well as pulling the relevant information from the articles if needed. This is of course not limited to Yandere Sim and is more than prevalent in wider anime/manga content as well as a lot of content outside of that. I am not touching on the fact the games mechanics include torturing and murdering school girls, I think that’s pretty self explanatory. No media exists in a vacuum - it should, will be + can be critiqued in its wider social context. Yandere Simulator is absolutely not exempt from this.

#cw misogyny #cw yandere simulator #anti-yansim #gremlin??#cw sexualisation of youth #cw mental illness #cw hospitalisation

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evildoe-r · 4 years

Text

sunstroke (bif x derby)

word count: 3,434

rating: T

main characters: bif taylor, derby harrington

spoilers for video game: yes (Dishonorable Fight and Complete Mayhem)

...now he had thrust his apology back into his hands. Bif was one of the few he could not freely take sincerity from, that was his own mistake, and one he just made deliberately. Presently, he felt sickening remorse pooling inside of him, steadily drowning him.

warning; very long post

It was a year nearing its lively prime stretching across dusty, strange Bullworth. The evening crept and called the fading light that spread its warm hue across the rooftops and glistened on uncertain waters. Bif made his way through the subdued small town, to return to his dorm at the Academy after he and his friends spent the day at the gym having sparring matches, choosing to spend the penultimate day of school there instead of waste it at Miss Peters’ traditionally mind numbing school play that took place at the end of each academic year. They’d all had a much better time in their gym - all of them except for the absent Derby, who he rarely saw anymore, even around the Harrington House. Derby, who once would let him walk alongside him as his right hand man. He couldn’t tell if he was avoiding him or it was simply coincidence - a coincidence that occurred directly after he had lost a boxing match to none other than new kid Jimmy Hopkins, and disgraced the Preps’ standing within the school hierarchy.

He hated losing, but he hated the confusion that had followed even more, the vague insights and cues into Derby's fluctuating relationship with him on the rare occasion he did see him around. It was stupid to dwell on this, he knew it. But no matter how much he pushed aside the thought that Derby somehow hated him, it would creep up on him in the school hallways, in the classes he hadn't ditched, before he slept, always circling back to him.

He had lingered around in the gym longer than the others. Somehow, even after the usual high he got from defeating an opponent in a sparring match, today his movements as he showered and dressed back into his uniform had been slow and his thoughts were cloudy. On the morning after tomorrow's summer day of suspended classes, they would all return home, far away from Bullworth Academy.

Although the day had been hot, the evening lent a cool breeze which had given him some relief. Even after a cold shower, Bif felt too warm. His hair was still damp and he slicked a hand through it as he walked along the path looking out onto the sea. He could sense the day's sickening heat slowly retreating, which he was grateful for. He would have welcomed the warmth any other time, but all week his head swam with thoughts that made him almost weary. As he made his way toward the bridge, a pack of Greasers raced past him on their bikes, turning toward New Coventry and paying him no mind. Looking straight ahead, he narrowed his eyes against the waning sunlight. He heard their voices before he spotted them. It was Justin and Chad several feet in front of him, their backs turned to him, speaking excitedly and louder than usual. Bif almost halted in his path as he suddenly recognised that unbearably familiar voice mingling with theirs.

Derby.

He forced himself to continue walking as normal. Lighthearted laughter erupted from them before he heard Derby’s courteous parting dismissal as the other two departed towards the direction of the Academy.

Shit.

Derby was left there, standing uphill in front of the setting sun like a great shadow. He watched Bif carefully, and now, Bif had no choice but to meet him and his gaze, always razor sharp.

Derby was the first to speak.

“Bif.”

“Hey,” Bif tried.

As he approached Derby, he couldn’t help but notice how he observed him, studied him so closely. Bif knew that Derby had seen him before he realised he was there, just as he saw everything. You didn’t just escape Derby’s notice.

“Thought you’d be back at the House by now,” Derby said.

“Well, yeah, I just got held up,” Bif replied, making an attempt for his voice to remain neutral. But he was scared, excited, anxious. He hadn't realised how much he had anticipated this, whether it was to confront him or to reconcile with him. He only wanted for things to return to what was supposed to be normal.

But now, Derby’s voice was calm, slightly softer than usual. It eased him a little. Maybe he didn't hate him after all.

Derby watched his taller friend’s nervous hand run through his hair. The reddish brown strands were the color of fire in the last reach of the small town sunlight.

“What’s the matter?” he asked. Bif’s green eyes widened a little in surprise at the question.

“Uh, It’s nothing, Derby,” he finally said.

"You seem a bit on edge," Derby observed.

"Oh, boxing and all that. Parker gave me a hard time. But I won anyway, you know."

Derby offered an acknowledging nod before changing the subject. “Well, I don’t plan on going back to the school grounds for another while.” He gazed out towards the sea, and then turned expectantly onto Bif, awaiting a response.

"I guess I didn't either," his friend admitted. “I’ve had enough of that place right now.”

“Walk with me, then?” Derby straightened the clean white collar of his shirt.

“Sure.”

It was quiet. The evening had completely settled upon the town, the sky a gradient of bright pink and a moody blue. Familiar lighthouse beams shone against the darkening horizon. The sound of the sea relaxed him, always inviting him to reminisce about his hazy days as a very young child, on holidays with his family to otherworldly time zones, where he would run on mystical white beaches while his father’s voice commanded him to behave, and so he did. But now, the sky was a soft bluish purple, and the quiet beach was dark and lulling and his friend was right beside him.

As they walked in silence together, Derby watched Bif, noting his furrowed brow, his mind seemingly unsettled. “Shall we walk down the pier?” he suggested, making his way down the wooden surface perpendicular to their path. Bif was at his elbow and slowly followed him down, his familiar movements sure and steady as his body, yet his face was always an open book. As the sun’s last rays leapt above the buildings, Derby knew he must be anticipating something, but he did not speak.

III

Derby began to hum a slow, sonorous tune that he could not recognise. This was almost like old times. Derby by his side as they walked through Old Bullworth Vale, then down to the beach, spending the early summer days during free periods there, as he convinced Derby to go diving into the cool waters with him and swim to the lighthouses and back.

They were alone here, besides a weary eyed middle aged man who could have been thirty five or fifty, in a slightly tatty grey suit who was leaning casually against the ledge looking down into the dark waters below them.

“Man, don’t do it!” Derby called with a grin. The stranger turned to them, and spat, before turning and walking away as he lit a cigarette.

“I’ve seen that guy before,” Bif insisted. “Comes around here a lot, tries to go where it's quiet."

“Then it’s his unlucky day,” Derby smiled, as they watched the man depart. Despite himself, Bif laughed with him, his previous anxieties lapsing.

“Hey, can you believe Miss Peters had that dumb school play even with everything that happened?” Bif had suddenly felt lighter, and was in the mood for banter.

“Everyone made quite the mess of the school, that’s true,” Derby agreed, “But the auditorium seemed virtually untouched. I didn’t even see any renovations taking place there. I guess nobody bothered with it.

“You know, when father heard what happened he wasn't happy at all. He searched for a prestigious school worthy enough for his investment and then all hell breaks loose." He shook his head in disapproval.

“He’s considering transferring me somewhere else for my last academic year,” Derby confided.

“Yeah?” Bif was oddly disheartened. “I thought your dad was busy with y'know, stuff.” Derby would occasionally mention his dad and how his business was fairing, but truthfully, Bif never had the patience nor the interest to hear it all out.

“He is. He really doesn’t have time for all this,” he agreed. "But my God, what a state the school was in afterwards..."

“Yeah, the place really turned into a total dumpster fire after Hopkins beat your-”

A look of irritation flickered over Derby’s face and Bif stopped short. “Uh, yeah, you know,” he said awkwardly, feigning an itch on his neck. He tried to think of something witty, but his head felt confused and muddled again. With nothing more to say, their conversation dissolved into silence, and they watched the waves in the distance for a while. The islands ahead were sharp shadows, only their dark outlines visible in the late evening light.

It was certainly like old times, he thought. Nonetheless, something felt misplaced, wrong, and he was unable to focus.

“Can we talk about it, Derby?” He was venturing blind into a conflict, he could feel it, but he had to try. “I don’t think I gotta explain what I mean.” He braced himself for surprise or even offense from his friend, but his face remained impassive.

“I’m actually not sure what you mean.”

It was Bif’s turn to look annoyed. Reigning in his sudden anger, he found himself raising his voice more than intended. “You ignored me for ages, and now you’re acting as if everything’s normal.”

Derby’s neutrality stubbornly asserted itself as he spoke. “There is nothing out of the ordinary here, Bif.”

“Were you mad after I lost to Jimmy?” Bif demanded.

“We have nothing to talk about regarding this matter, I mean it.”

“But you were avoiding me! You avoided me for weeks, Derby!” he said desperately.

“I don’t want to discuss this now-”

“Well I do!”

“Of course I was angry, Bif,” came the reply, and his mask of nonchalance had disappeared.

“I don’t need to explain why, you know that quite well. Can we drop it now?” the corners of his mouth quivered slightly and his voice rose and fell a little as if he couldn’t decide whether to be angry or not.

Bif gave an exasperated sigh as he dragged his hands down his face. Didn’t he realise the guilt he felt after he lost? He disgraced himself, and worse, Derby Harrington. He was one of his closest friends, yet he was unreachable all the same. You lost to him too, Derby, don't you remember?!

Derby glared at him, jaw clenched. Those sharp eyes, and now he’s finally cutting. “You want me to say I lost too, is that it, Bif?”

There it is, and just how had he figured? It seemed like he could always see what was swimming past the surface, and sometimes, with Derby, he didn’t know himself. Always so precise, never anything less. He spoke of loss, and now he'd taken every word from him.

Derby recalled that day at the gym too well. Bif lying there, barely conscious, as Hopkins taunted them. It was undeniably embarrassing, and Bif would never know the sensation of anger and betrayal that had struck him afterwards. Not just Bif, but his supposed friends too, humiliated by an apparent nobody, suddenly crowned King. Bif seemed taken aback by his question, and he was unsure if he meant it rhetorically or not. He decided to allow him to feel shaken a moment, before he carried on. He needed to make him understand.

“Have you ever thought about how the situation affected me, Bif? Just once?”

Bif was angry, that much was too obvious, but his poise was diminished, almost giving way. He was more than angry, he was upset.

“That’s all I’ve been thinking about since that day, Derby,” he said, quietly this time. Suddenly, he turned away. Derby could hear the waves again for a brief moment, slow and rhythmic, distinctly timed. Bif seemed to focus on an object in the distance before he exhaled loudly and whirled to face Derby again.

"Why does any of this matter anyway? It was just a stupid boxing match!"

"You think this is about boxing? Oh, you're so naive, Bif. " Derby was indignant.

"Then what is it about?" Bif pressed him. “You just love patronizing me, I know you do.”

“Patronizing? Did you just learn that word from English class yesterday?”

"Seriously? Whatever, you're too important to tell me anyways. Keep it to yourself, I don’t care."

He had avoided Bif in his shame, he knew that much. He would not ask questions about his whereabouts to other Preps, but he had picked up on his altered emotional state whenever he saw him, which he would insist to himself was a lesson of sorts, a justified consequence of his own failure. His friends had left him disgusted then, most of all Bif, who seemed to guard his champion title so fiercely beforehand. Bif, who he slowly and so carefully placed his shaky trust into.

“So you’re not even gotta admit you pretended I didn’t exist, right?” Bif looked like he found it impossible to stay still. His fists were clenched, and he seemed almost breathless.

“I would never admit something that wasn’t true.” But it is true, he knows.

“Fuck you, Derby.”

Derby almost flinched. His friend’s venom had left him witless, and he wanted to reply with equal scorn, but the rebuttal would not come.

“And guess what, maybe I didn’t wanna see your face either, Derby.”

“Good. I was getting pretty sick of you, you know.”

He rued his words as soon as they left him, and he averted his gaze. Bif was hurt by this, he knew, and this time, there was no reply, no hostility. A bitter quiet fell on them.

“I didn’t mean that truly, Bif. You know that.”

I’m sorry.

“Yeah.”

"Look, I'm sorry."

Bif voiced his apology like a tired surrender. Derby had never seen him like this. Not even on that day at the gym. There was a terrible vulnerability about the person who stood in front of him.

"Don't say sorry to me, Bif."

"I just felt like I owed you-"

"Don’t." he told him. “Don’t apologise.”

“Then what the hell, Derby?” His annoyance was tinged with relief, appearing somewhat yielding, which Derby was grateful for, as an unexpected tiredness grabbed him. For once, he felt out of control of the unraveling before him. He was being hurled off the tracks and he was finding it hard to steer them both into his direction. He had wanted to see Bif today, take in the reassuring presence he gave him, which became so familiar to him over these past few years. They’d argued, and now he had thrust his apology back into his hands. Bif was one of the few he could not freely take sincerity from, that was his own mistake, and one he just made deliberately. Presently, he felt sickening remorse pooling inside of him, steadily drowning him.

He'd fought with Derby before, but it was usually over something stupid.

"My dad is more important than your dad!" He'd jokingly taunted one night in a slightly drunken daze, and Bif, also in a liquor induced stupor had gotten angrier than he'd wanted to be.

Derby had turned away from him and Bif said nothing for some time. It was a similar feeling to the tiresome end of a gruelling fistfight, but he was unsure whether he had won or lost this time. Bif felt lighter now, but consequently emptier too.

"Bif," Derby began slowly, "I did wrong you. It was a mistake on my part."

His admission was unexpected, for sure, and he found himself stricken. He would have felt less surprised if Derby had suddenly burst into awful, messy tears.

"God, Derby, you weird me out. I’ve known you for years, but you still confuse me."

He felt uneasy now, and he wished this would end. Derby turned, and Bif expected another disagreement to ensue, but there was none.

"Look, It's fine, Derby. I mean, I guess it’s not fine, but we don't have to bring it up anymore." I'm exhausted. "Let's just forget this, for now."

Derby looked tired too, for once.

“Okay, Bif.”

He's as shaken as I am, he realised.

“Let’s start to head back. It’s late. If you have any more gripes about me, you can tell me directly on the way.”

At least he could retain his sense of humor.

But it really was late, Bif realised. The stars were coming out, and the town’s usual toll had trailed off into silence, save for the occasional car rumbling through the street. They made their way wordlessly across the pier, turning toward the Academy. He almost hated Derby that night, yet he still he wanted him by his side, and despite his fatigue, he wouldn’t have minded staying there a while longer with him.

There was a peaceful air following them as they traveled to the place they’d had to call home for the school year. A yellow crescent moon was suspended in the cloudless dark sky. The night was warm, and still young. They would arrive well before midnight anyways, and when they reached the Academy, they knew it was past curfew, but Derby had made sure early on in the year that they would go unnoticed by the displeased prefects who wandered the school grounds with torches at night, looking for troublemakers. After all, they loved money, same as everyone else. And besides, it seemed pointless to enforce a curfew on the second last day of school. When they entered the house, the lights were dimmed and it was mostly quiet, except for the muffled sound of footsteps on one of the top floors. They started to make their way upstairs and through a carpeted hallway decorated with paintings and houseplants. Bif stopped suddenly.

“Wait, Derby, are you really leaving Bullworth?”

He eyed Bif for a moment before answering. “I certainly hope not. How am I going to find so many lackeys who are willing to fight for me in a new school in so little time?” he said, looking at Bif, a laugh breaking out of his neutral expression, and Bif let out a chortle.

“Man, hadn’t thought of that,”

They stood there in the faint lamplight, so mellow it made him slightly dizzy.

“I gotta go to bed, have an important day of doing nothing tomorrow,” Bif said. As Derby laughed, he looked younger, and for a brief second he was the person who would sneak out of dinner parties with him as a lark and explore the old, stately home they’d both been confined in for the evening, finding dubious locked doors and dusty basements.

“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow then, Bif,” he said, laying a hand on his arm, suddenly pausing. He could feel his warmth through his cotton shirt. He realised how much he had sweated that evening in the summer heat, but either Derby didn’t care or didn’t pay any attention. A sensation in his chest exulted, unsettled him. There was the flicker of longing he’d experienced through the years, now plain and clear as day, and not so uncertain as it used to be. Derby seemed to linger there for a second, lifting his ambiguous gaze to his own eyes, keeping it there, making him restless, but in that moment, Derby began to back off into his room. And when he tore his hand away, Bif almost objected, calling his name and telling him to wait. Derby just stood there in anticipation, and when Bif asked if he was okay, he replied in that affected tone that Bif had always hated, asking why he shouldn’t be. Bif just shrugged his shoulders, and Derby then hastily bid him goodbye, retreating into his room. The door clicked shut, leaving him there.

When he finally went to bed, his frustration had begun to stir among his fatigue and he wondered if he was wrong to think he might fall asleep that night. At one point, the heat in his room was stifling, and he leapt up from his bed and threw open the windows. When he was finally able to close his eyes, he thought of Derby, the sea and its lighthouses, his wanting and his hurt, and the mess he’d thrown himself into. One more day and they’d be apart, and now he wished that he’d caught Derby’s arm before he’d made himself scarce that night.

______________________________________________________________

Notes

Hey, If you read the full thing, I greatly appreciate it! This was quite difficult to write at times because the characters of Bif and Derby were not given so much nuance in the game itself, so it was quite challenging to write a story that delves into their psyche and way of thinking. I wrote this with the intention of exploring their individual characters and feelings toward each other a bit further, especially after the events of the Dishonorable Fight and Complete Mayhem missions. The interactions and the implications of their relationship dynamic are quite interesting to me. Please feel free to tell me what you thought, and once again, thank you for reading!

-A

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