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skullsandwineglasses · 3 years

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Love and Redemption Review

Overall, I have to say that the story was really good, maybe even better than the popular xianxia romances that came before it like Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms, Love and Destiny, and Ashes of Love. The romance may be comparable to AOL, but as a whole, the plot in L&R was more interesting and cohesive.

****SPOILERS AHEAD FOR LOVE AND REDEMPTION AND OTHER XIANXIA DRAMAS****

Plot

What sets Love and Redemption apart from the other 3 xianxia romances is that Love and Redemption also feels like a quest/adventure story, while also delivering a gut-wrenching, star-crossed romance plot. What’s interesting about L&R is that the main focus is on the mortal realm and the FL and ML’s current mortal incarnation, as opposed to the heavenly realm and their immortal identities.

The actions of the mortals have consequences across the 3 realms, as opposed to other xianxia romances that only use the mortal realm as a temporary stage for the leads to fall in love. The other 3 xianxias that I mentioned all opened up in the heavenly/celestial realm first, while the mortal realm was just a brief trial that the leads have to endure before returning to the immortal realm. The moral realm in L&R therefore feels livelier and more eventful, and the mortals have more agency and are not easily influenced by celestial beings. Whenever a celestial being does come down to the mortal realm, their powers are limited and are they are bound by the rules and restrictions of the mortal realm (which means that celestial beings can’t use their powers to mess with the emotions and decisions of mortals).

The drama opens up with a tournament being held at the FL’s sect and members from all the other sects are arriving for the tournament. When the FL and ML meet, they are on equal footing (well, equal in terms of status as disciples, but not so much in terms of magical prowess). It’s like when you were in high school and you meet the visiting basketball team from a rival school, and then end up becoming friends with them.

Love and Redemption also takes the audience through a mystery. What is the true immortal identity of the FL? What’s her relationship to the Star of Mosha? Is she the saviour or the doomsday harbinger? Does the ML have an immortal identity too? Why do they have the same birthday? The drama keeps us on our toes because we learn about the truth and the history of the characters as they’re discovering it, as opposed to the other xianxia dramas where there is very little mystery and few plot twists.

Because of this mystery, the drama is tight and well-paced, since a new piece of the puzzle is always being revealed. Just when you thought that the mystery is solved, there’s a twist, and you realized that the twist was set up from the very beginning of the story, but you just missed it.

The story also doesn’t stray from the main leads. Yes, there are subplots (as all dramas do), but the subplots here are brief, and they usually relate back to the main leads. Unlike in AOL where the later half of the drama derails and focuses on the two other supporting couples, while the main leads only get about 10 minutes of screen time.

The Male Lead - Yu Si Feng

Before starting the drama, I read a lot of comments about how much whump and emotional torture the ML goes through and how much he sacrifices for the FL. I thought this was an exaggeration. I mean, Xufeng in AOL went through a lot of Jin Mi too, (and you could make the same argument for Ye Hua in TMOPB, or Bai Zi Hua in Journey of Flower), so I was a little hesitant about the premise since it’s such an old trope, and I was doubtful that it could top the sacrifice that other MLs have done in other dramas.

But reader, boy was I wrong. Yu Si feng is the definition of limitless, unconditional love. I lost count of how many times he almost died for the FL (not including the 9 times she killed him in their previous 9 lives). He’s spitting up blood and stabbed in nearly every episode. Episodes 37-47 were the hardest to watch because of the escalating chronic angst and misunderstandings between him and Xuan ji that caused irreversible damage to their relationship. Even when she tries to kill him and tells him she regrets having ever known him, he still drags himself back to rescue her. To quote Si feng himself, it’s not a question of whether or not it’s worth it, but it’s a question of whether you are willing to do it. And Si feng is as eager and willing as ever to sacrifice everything for Xuan ji.

I mean, even Xufeng in AOL and Ye Hua in TMOPB snapped at the FL’s cruelty and aloofness at one point, but Si feng seems incapable of ever being angry with Xuan ji. Even when Si feng purposely tries to avoid her, it’s out of protection for her, not out of anger for everything she’s done. Like??? Si feng is impossibly perfect, even by the impossible standards of xianxia.

Cheng Yi plays Si feng to a T. He conveys a different type of pain in every crying scene, and so Si feng basically experiences like 59 different types of crushing pain, and you feel it in your bones every time you watch it. The man’s eyes speak volumes.

While it would be easy to say that Cheng Yi carries the drama with his portrayal of Si Feng, the actions of the ML would be meaningless if there were no romantic interest that he was doing this all for.

The Female Lead - Chu Xuan Ji

Some people may feel that Xuan ji isn’t worth Si feng’s devotion. But, I would argue that the first 37 episodes shows us that she is definitely worth it.

Xuan Ji is similar to Jin Mi from AOL in that she is incapable of feeling or understanding love. Because Xuan Ji was born without her 6 senses (and also without a real heart, unbeknownst to the other characters), she’s naive and juvenile. But despite not having feelings, she’s still able to care completely about others. She cares about her sister, her father, her sect brothers, and Si Feng. She’s fiercely protective of them as they are of her. To the best of her limited abilities, she is devoted to people as much as she can be.

Because of her sensory deprivation, Xuan Ji is really curious about the world. She wants to be like everyone else, to feel like everyone else, in hopes of being able to properly reciprocate people’s love for her. She envies people who are able to cry because she thinks that’s an unhindered way of showing love. She regrets not being able to cry when her mother died. Xuan Ji is therefore a self-aware character, unlike Jin Mi, because she knows her shortcomings. She wants to be able to feel, understand, and share pain.

As such, she’s quite an active character because she has this goal of reviving her senses, which has ripple effects for the other characters in the story since they become a part of her journey, whether by choice or by force.

Why Si Feng fell for Xuan Ji

Xuan Ji and Si Feng are very opposite characters, and not just because of the obvious difference in their personalities. Si Feng is a boy who feels too much (we later see that he gets his persistent sentimentality from his father), but was taught his whole life to suppress his emotions (I mean, the mask both literally and figuratively prevents him from emoting). Si Feng wants to express his feelings, but cannot.

On the other hand, Xuan Ji is allowed to be as expressive as she wants, but she is empty on the inside. Xuan Ji represents everything Si Feng wants to be and is expected to be: free and emotionless.

In this mortal incarnation, SF has responsibilities to everyone, from his spirit beast to his sect. Xuan Ji is the only one who doesn't ask or expect anything of him and yet, for someone who can't feel, she's always thinking of him. she stands up for him, she brings him snacks to comfort him when he’s being punished, she helps steal back his mother's hairpin. These are very simple gestures, but they mean the world to him (no one else has done these things for him before, and he doesn’t understand why she would unconditionally do these things for him), and that's why he's so quick to risk everything for her. Thus ironically, Si Feng actually learned about unconditional love from Xuan Ji.

He’s never known love, warmth, or friendship in his lonely years growing up in the Lize Palace. And so, when you’re just a 16 year old awkward, hormonal, and introverted teenage boy, it’s easy to fall for a selfless girl who invades your personal space and has no sense of propriety.

Why Xuan Ji fell for Si Feng

We see that her love is gradual. She falls in love with him without even realizing she’s fallen in love. She cares for him as a friend at first. After all, like she said, Si Feng is the first friend she’s made from outside her sect. But soon, her caring for him surpasses that of what she feels for her sect brothers. Si Feng teaches her about the world, from what different food tastes like, to naming colours. Si Feng doesn’t infantilize her like her sect brothers do. Her sect brothers are either dismissive or protective, like Ming yan, but she is able to find a proper confidant in Si Feng who is willing to be patient with her and listen to her.

Their 4-year separation when they each undergo training and achieve a boost in their abilities, only made Xuan Ji’s heart grow fonder. She misses Si Feng, and is frustrated to see that things are different between them when they meet again. She doesn’t understand why he’s so cold and distant, and all she wants to do is close the distance between them.

It’s a meme that Xuan Ji is the one who wears the pants in the relationship. She’s assertive and bold, and I think part of the reason why she fell for Si Feng is because he gives her that space to be best and biggest version of herself, whether in the heavenly realm or in the mortal realm. She’s also fascinated by him. A person outside of her sect who has an endearing personality unlike anyone else she’s seen. He piques her curiosity, and so she’s drawn to him. He’s as much as her romantic and sexual awakening as she is his.

It’s apt that their ship name is the combination of their last names “Chu Yu”, which sounds similar to the words 初遇, which means “first encounter”. Not only is this drama about capturing the feelings of first love, but Si Feng and Xuan Ji have also had 10 different first encounters because of their 10 reincarnation tribulations.

The Romance

It’s actually quite fun and endearing to watch because both Xuan Ji and Si Feng are playing hard to get, which frustrates the hell out of both of them. Xuan Ji is trying to win back Si Feng and convince him to stay, while Si Feng himself is trying to win Xuan Ji’s heart, and she doesn’t even realize it. They’re both trying to woo each other, but they’re both being resistant, intentionally and unintentionally.

I have to admit, though, that the first few episodes were slow.

There aren’t major sparks during the first meeting between the leads. She just falls out of the sky into his arms, and he’s flustered by her sudden appearance and clinginess. The love story didn’t feel “epic” during the the first 4 episodes because it didn’t feel like there were any stakes. These were just 2 young disciples from different sects who had a stereotypical meet-cute. It was like watching a high school coming-of-age romcom.

Things start to get serious when Si feng is forced to wear the lover’s curse mask, meaning that he cannot love, or else every time he’s hurt by the one he loves, that mask will release a feather to his heart and he’ll feel unbearable pain. When all the feathers are released, he’ll die. This means that he has to stay away from Xuan Ji, but obviously, the drama can’t let that happen, so he’s constantly thrown into situations with her, he can’t stay away from her, and he ends up falling for her harder and harder against his will.

Xuan Ji trusts Si Feng completely and unconditionally (until episodes 37-47 that is). She is willing to go against her father and sect in order to protect him. She’s willing to sacrifice herself to save him. She’s willing to go rogue with her powers for him. When no one else trusts him, she does.

This makes Xuan Ji a very cathartic character to watch because she isn’t frustrating at all. She isn’t easily influenced and has her own views. She doesn’t share the same prejudiced views as the elder sect leaders. She is willing to disobey if it’s the right thing to do. She immediately clears up misunderstandings, like the one between her and Ming yan. We see her gradually become more mature through her increasing protectiveness over Si Feng.

I think because we see this rational and loyal side of Xuan Ji, we’re able to have a higher tolerance for her ignorance and mistakes later in the drama (but only barely).

The Reincarnations - What Does it Mean to Love a Soul?

Si Feng fell for Xuan Ji 10 times in the mortal world, not including the very first time he falls for her when they were immortals in the heavenly realm.

I explained why I think Si Feng fell for Xuan Ji is this 10th reincarnation, but why did he fall for her in the past 9 lives? In the flashbacks, we see that in each life, Xuan Ji is cruel and heartless, and she still had the same unforgiving and ruthless demeanor as when she was the god of war. Is it because Si Feng’s soul is always going to be automatically attracted to Xuan Ji’s soul?

Because we only see brief glimpses of the past 9 lives (more specifically, we only see the ending of these lives), we don’t really know how they met or how Si Feng came to love her in each life. But, I would assume that there was something about Xuan Ji in each of her reincarnations that attracted her to Si Feng and completed him. Also, we know that Xuan Ji is capable of tenderness. As the god of war, she disliked fighting. As Mosha, she cared about Bailing. So, while Xuan Ji’s nature might be violent and cruel, I think that with each life, she learns about love and sincerity. If we assume that the flashbacks of the 9 lives are in order, then it would seem like Xuan Ji becomes more and more affected by Si Feng’s death with each successive lifetime. In the first life, she is completely indifferent to his beheading. but we see that she begins to become affected in the later lives, but tries to shove those emotions aside because they’re foreign and unfamiliar to her.

We get even less context for how Si Feng might have fallen for the god of war in the heavenly realm. We only know that Si Feng was the Jade Emperor’s son, and only gained a celestial anamorphic form after 10, 000 years. His true form is the Golden-feathered bird. He’s always appearing by the god of war’s side to listen to her vent, but the god of war only sees him as a stray bird who comes by to visit occasionally. Why did he fall for her? Did he empathize with her loneliness? Maybe she was his only friend, like he was her only friend, but she didn’t even realize it.

We also see that Si feng loves Xuan ji no matter who she is or what form she takes. Her gender doesn’t matter to him, and gender was never even an issue in the drama. The drama doesn’t give an explanation for why Bailing created a female body for the god of war (besides that he wanted to disguise Mosha’s appearance), but it also doesn’t matter. It’s a non-issue, and I love it. We just need to accept it, because the “why” isn’t important.

Xuan Ji has 3 different identities: The Star of Mosha (Luo Hou Ji Do), the god of war, and Xuan Ji the mortal. The god of war and Xuan Ji have the same “soul”, and that soul came from the glass of Mosha’s imprisonment lamp, and also from Mosha’s altered corporeal body. So, she is a part of Mosha, but has also become her own entity.

To Si Feng, all 3 identities are Xuan Ji. The memories, emotions, and experiences of all the identities are what made Xuan Ji Xuan Ji, and so he loves all of them.

But what made Xuan Ji finally crack so that she’s now able to love Si Feng in this 10th reincarnation? I think it has to do with her upbringing. We see in her previous 9 lives that she had a troubled upbringing filled with scheming and violence. So she was consumed by the darkest side of humanity and Si Feng couldn’t pull her out. But in this life, she grew up with an abundance of love, which made her want to learn how to love, which allowed her to open up to Si Feng. In this way, the drama shows that Si Feng alone isn’t enough to redeem her, but it took the love of her friends and family to help her grow a heart.

The Angst

Okay. So. Si Feng has probably suffered more than any male lead in xianxia history. I think someone said that he has a martyr complex. But, I’d like to break down the type of angst that are present in dramas.

There is angst that is harmless, and there is angst that is damaging to the relationship.

Harmless angst is usually angst by external forces. Like parents who don’t allow their kids to be together. Like in AOL when Xufeng mistakenly thinks that Jin Mi might be his sister so he can’t be with her. In L&R, this kind of external angst happens when Si Feng mistakenly thinks that Xuan Ji likes her 6th sect brother Ming yan. Xuan Ji isn’t purposely hurting Si Feng, but it’s an unintentional misunderstanding.

Damaging angst is when the couple turns against each other and become enemies. This happened when Jin Mi kills Xufeng and says she never loved him (which technically is true since her heart was re-sealed so she didn’t even understand what love was when she said it). In L&R, this happens Xuan Ji sides with her sect and attacks Si Feng when he reveals his demon form. This happens again when they confront each other outside the Lize Palace and she announces that she’s done with him and breaks ties with him. This happens again when she stabs him, says she regrets having ever known and loved him, and proceeds to try to stab him again. In Love and Redemption, Xuan Ji keeps saying hurtful things to him. There’s not just one moment of betrayal, but a constant onslaught of betrayals over 10 episodes that make the relationship feel like it’s entered a point of no return.

The masochistic side of me likes love/hate relationships and damaging angst. I grew up with it. TVB dramas have a lot of it. My favourite is the angst in Raymond Lam and Charmain Sheh dramas like Drive of Life and Lethal Weapons of Love and Passion. But despite over 20 years of watching dramas, I was still not prepared for the pain and suffering in Love and Redemption.

The good news is that they make up fairly quickly, though some may argue too quickly and easily.

What I Enjoyed

Other xianxia romances usually only have 1 mortal reincarnation. This has 10 reincarnations (even if only shown briefly), and I love that. The leads have already had such a rich history together, but they don’t remember, and so the romance is about them falling in love all over again in this life, while also slowly remembering the love they had in their previous lifetimes.

The world-building was also compelling, and the supporting characters were great. They were the voice of reason and talked sense into the main leads to help move the plot forward. I also liked how the ML and FL each had their own personal relationship with the supporting characters separate from each other. For instance, Ming yan has a childhood friendship with Xuan Ji, but he also develops his own friendship with Si Feng. Wu Ziqi was once Mosha’s helper, and also knew the god of war, but also forms his own friendship with Si Feng. Zi Hu is also friends with both Xuan Ji and Si Feng. Having separate friendships with the leads means that the supporting characters are unbiased. They’re not likely to help the ML more than the FL or vice versa, but they’re able to see both sides of things. They help the leads, but they’re also critical of them, and is therefore able to help the leads make rational decisions. It reminds me of the friendship dynamics in Avatar where the characters have unique relationships with each other. Like Toph has her own relationship dynamic with Sokka and Katara, which is different from Aang’s relationship dynamic with them.

It goes without saying that Si Feng is the best part of the drama. He plays an emotionally repressed character, so it always feels like the heavens opened up when he smiles, and Xuan Ji seems to be the only one who can make him smile. SF's best moments are when he shows moments of vulnerability, like when he begs Xuan Ji not to cut ties with him, or when he's so happy to the point of disbelief and he's afraid of it being true that he begins to slightly quiver, like when he kept asking XJ if she was really the one who took off his mask. You can see him break down and not being able to contain his emotions and how much he’s desperately yearning for his love to be reciprocated.

I like that the FL has the same personality throughout the drama. I'm always annoyed when the FL's personality takes a 360-degree turn when she has a sudden "awakening" when her past life memories come flooding back and she instantly matures and becomes jaded. In Love and Redemption, Xuan Ji stays her bubbly self, even when she’s burdened with responsibilities. Hell, even when she becomes a mother, she’s still aloof and playful. In episode 52 or so when she burns her leg and refuses to leave Si Feng’s house, she acts like a helpless little girl again. Si Feng tells her that such a small injury wouldn’t even faze someone as powerful as she is, but she reminds him that he once told her that even if she didn’t feel pain, her body would know the pain, and so she should always tell him when she’s hurt. I just like this throwback to the earlier episodes to show that while Xuan Ji has grown and matured, she’s still the same person who wants to be loved and pampered.

Weaknesses of the Drama

Xuan Ji is a really multi-faceted and complex character (because of her villainous tendencies), but Crystal Yuan doesn’t completely deliver in all of her performances of the character. Crystal Yuan is great when she’s acting cute (though it reminds me a lot of Zhao Liying’s acting in Journey of Flower, even the voice actress is the same actress), but I feel like Crystal Yuan’s crying scenes are a little lacking. Also, Xuan Ji is a character who is often in moral and emotional conflict because she starts to feel emotions that she doesn’t understand since she’s never felt them before, but sometimes Crystal isn’t very convincing when trying to convey this internal conflict. For instance, in the scene when she thought Si Feng was getting married to Ah Lan, I thought that her devastation at seeing that should have been a bit more palpable. I mean, you finally found the love of your life after searching him for over a year and now he’s in front of you, about to get married to another woman. There should be more pain, anger, regret, disbelief, a battle of emotions unfolding on the face. There should have been more deflation, more staggering. I think back to when Tang Yan was watching Luo Jin get married to someone else in Princess Weiyoung, or when Jin Mi was watching Xufeng propose to Sui He in AOL, and the desperation and shock was subtle, but still so strong. You could feel the drop in your own stomach when sympathizing with the female character.

I also obviously disliked how Xuan Ji didn’t believe Si Feng. But I would have understood why she didn’t believe him (even when he logically explained his innocence) since there are so many people pressuring her judgment, but what I can’t get over is how she had it in herself to physically hurt him. And she already hurt him before too, so she knows how much it pains her to hurt him. She already regretted the act before. But because she mistakenly thinks that he killed Hao Chen, she decides that she needs to kill him? Does Hao Chen mean that much to you that you’d be willing to sacrifice Si Feng in order to avenge him? That was my breaking point for her character.

I didn’t like how Hao Chen’s arc was resolved. For 1000 years, he thought he was right and never had any regrets. He was obsessed with controlling his friend Mosha to the point of killing him and sealing his soul away. He then created another being, became possessive over that being to the point of falling in love with it (without admitting it), and then follows his creation down to the mortal world, and wrecks havoc on the mortals, especially Si Feng. And when Hao Chen learns that he can no longer control or redeem Xuan Ji, he decides that he needs to kill her in order to prevent Mosha from coming back. But then suddenly, because of a few words and visions from the Jade Emperor, he immediately has a change of heart and sees the error of his ways. It’s just so anti-climactic. Yuan Long’s ending was also underwhelming. I just wanted the good guys and bad guys to fight it out without divine intervention.

While I sympathize with Si Feng and agree that it's like watching a puppy get kicked over and over again, he honestly gets jealous way too easily and is too insecure. He also keeps everything to himself and sucks at communicating. We blame Xuan Ji for being too quick at jumping to conclusions, but Si Feng also jumps to conclusions too and causes unnecessary pain for himself.

Overall Impression

Overall, despite the frustrations, I really liked the consistency of the drama. It flows as one complete narrative and all the subplots are well intertwined with the main plot. With other reincarnation xianxia dramas, you could divide the story into distinct arcs, but it’s harder to do with this one since you have arcs that overlap and transcend other arcs. There’s the mask arc, the god of war arc, the reincarnation arc, the demon identity arc, the Mosha arc, etc. Before one arc is completed, another arc is introduced.

If you’re looking for a be-all-end-all, til the end of time and end of the world romance, this is it. While it has many similar tropes to other xianxias like AOL, I think this executes the tropes better. Although if you’ve already watched AOL or other xianxias, you might be more immune to the angst (even though this drama is angstier). But if you watch this drama first, I think it sets the bar pretty high for other xianxia dramas.

The chemistry and sexually tension is also through the roof (and the BTS will have you raising your eyebrows - are costars normally that flirty and touchy feely on set?)

So yes, this drama does live up to the hype. More meta posts to come because I’m still going through withdrawal.

(Just checked the word count on this review, and it’s over 4700 words. I’m clearly an obsessed mess).

Other meta posts:

Recurring details and motifs in Love and Redemption

Similarities to other stories in movies and literature

#love and redemption #cdrama #琉璃 #成毅 #cheng yi #crystal yuan #cdramanet #romance #xianxia #袁冰妍 #琉璃美人煞

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littlekiara96 · 4 years

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AU no one asked for (SWSH)

Headcanons for a Ballet School!AU for Sword and Shield characters.

Because I can and no one will stop me MWA HA HA

Some bits may be ooc, I didn’t want this to be angst but fluff and wholesome material.

I hope you enjoy, and if so, please reblog and share the wholesomeness, or even add your own ideas ! ^^

Staff

- Chairman Rose is now Headmaster Rose of the Rose Ballet School. He always encourages the students to do their best in competition, but without hurting themselves. He wants his school to be recognized as the best in the world, but he cares. A lot.

- When Rose watches his students dance during competitions or do their annual ballet for friends and families at the school, he always ends up crying like a proud uncle/father.

- Teachers are: Opal and Magnolia, both former star ballerinas. They were rivals in their young days, but now they sip tea together whenever possible.

- Opal mostly takes care of the younger pupils, whilst Magnolia teaches the pas-de-deux to the older ones.

- Oleana is also a teacher. She’s the one who actually shows how to do the most difficult positions, and gives night lessons on demand for those who think they need more exercising.

- Kabu teaches the male dancers. He sometimes gives small speeches about how one must respect their partner and take care of them.

- He sounds almost too romantic for the boys and they’re all slightly flustered and awkward by the end of it every time.

- The four of them are strict but kind, each in their own ways.

- Melony is the one in charge of making the costumes. Once in a while, her son Gordie comes to help her.

- They do bicker about designs, but they always end up with beautiful garments for everyone.

- Milo takes care of everything happening in backstage, be it the decors, the lights, the music, everything.

- The staff members helping him are a mix of Yell grunts and League staff. They’re like a little found-family of their own.

Older students

- Leon is the best dancer of the school. He is strong enough to hold his partners up in the air and his form and technique are top-tier, whether he dances adagio or allegro. Thus, he more than often gets the main role.

- His rival in the allegro is Raihan. He’s the best at holding his partners, but his solo movements are far more dynamic, almost brute-ish.

- He loves doing the bad guy’s part, though, so he doesn’t mind his rivalry with Leon.

- Surprisingly enough, Piers is also a great dancer. Although he can’t hold his partner up for much time, his body is very flexible and he’s the best at doing cambrés. He prefers the slow adagios over anything.

- Need someone for a sad, nostalgic solo? Leave it to him.

- But don’t tell Piers he’s got fans besides his younger sister. He would blue-screen.

- Nessa and Sonia are best friends. They applied together at the school years ago when they were still kids.

- They both dance beautifully, but Nessa is more of a solo dancer whereas Sonia loves doing pas-de-deux with anyone.

Younger students

- Hop and Bede are rivals, obviously.

- Hop wants to be as great as his big bro, but he’s scared he’ll never be good enough when doing pas-de-deux.

- Leon keeps encouraging him and saying he sees improvement in his form and technique each time he sees Hop dance.

- Bede having the “prince charming flare” (Opal’s words) doesn’t help Hop with his self-confidence, though.

- But Bede isn’t perfect either, and he much rathers having the stage all to himself than having to share it with a partner.

- He loves being the flamboyant villain against prince Hop. But he won’t ever admit it.

- Marnie is talented. She’s graceful and calm, even when alone on stage.

- But ohh boii is she a nervous wreck when backstage.

- She doesn’t show it at all, but it just radiates from her. And it stops once the lights are on her.

- Piers is so proud.

- Allister and Bea are the youngest recruits.

- Bea needs to learn how to smile more when dancing, but she’s getting there.

- All the girls keep encouraging her and saying she already has a beautiful dance style of her own.

- Allister is so shy.

- Although he was able to warm up to everyone in the school, he just can’t stand the idea of dancing on stage with people watching him.

- Rose had the idea of giving him small roles who could use masks on stage. Hence why Allister often ends up being the villain’s right-hand man, who is either Bede or Raihan.

Gloria/Victor/Protag/OC/Reader

- Gloria and Victor would be part of the younger students, anyway.

- Any OC or self-insert could be part of either group, according to their age.

- You can work from there to make any ship interaction you wish to see.

Bonus (potential ship interactions, non-exhaustive list)

- Once or twice a month, the teachers get together with all of the students, and everyone spends the day training however and with whomever they want.

- Every staff member is also invited to watch, and also give ballet a try, just for fun and laughs.

- Sonia’s Yamper is running everywhere like the happiest puppy ever, being petted and getting scratches by absolutely everyone.

- These “special lessons” are also the best occasions to dance with your lowkey crush.

- If Hop has a crush on someone, you bet Leon will tease him about it. Even more so if he sees Hop and his crush dancing together.

- But if Leon has a crush, Hop will retaliate.

- Bede will be a tsundere to his crush. As will Marnie, potentially.

- Raihan and Milo are complimenting Piers in a corner. Piers is a blushing mess.

- If Pier’s crush comes then and compliments him in any way, about any thing, he will die.

- Raihan will totally ask his crush for a dance. A friendly dance between friends.

- Bede and Raihan start a rivalry over who’s the best villain.

- When they ask Allister, he just plays with his mask and says they’re both great and he admires them, because they’re so flamboyant on stage.

- Hence Bede getting slightly flustered and both kids getting bear-hugged by a proud and happy Raihan.

- Kabu and Oleana give a bonus lesson on the pas-de-deux with a demo. Everyone claps in genuine admiration at their expertise.

- Kabu then announces the special pas-de-deux lesson that will now occure.

- The young boys have to help the older girls reach as low as possible while doing one of the most iconic poses of the Nutcracker without falling. The young girls get lifted into the air by the older boys.

- Now imagine who gets flustered by doing the exercise with whom.

- I mean, obviously all of the kids are being kind of shy at this point, moreso if it’s their first time helping or being helped by the older students.

- But have an example with Postwickshipping : Hop is helping Sonia, when Gloria comes and says “I want to do that with Hop, too...” with a small pout. And Hop almost lets Sonia fall. Or he does. Whatever rocks your boat.

- Want an example with some Piers x Reader ? Alright ; Piers is lifting Marnie up, both smiling because yay, nice siblings interaction is nice, while you approach and look at them with a small smile. Piers lets Marnie down, cue to you sighing and then saying “You’re so lucky you have such a strong, kind and beautiful big brother, Marnie”. Marnie smirks, because she knows what you’re doing, but Piers... he just becomes red.

- After the annual show for friends and families, all of the school members gather and have a wholesome afterparty. Any participant who wishes to may come up with a little choreography (or any kind of performance) and show it to everyone.

- Nessa and Sonia do a pas-de-deux together, with a choreography based on the concept of Yin and Yang. It’s so beautiful you could cry.

- Piers and Marnie sing a peaceful song they wrote together. He also plays the acoustic guitar as accompaniment.

- Bede chants poetry on Opal’s request.

- Hop and Leon rap together. It may be a song specifically done to ask someone out.

- Who am I kidding. Any of the performances could be used to ask someone out.

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dyscrasia-eucrasia · 4 years

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Part 5

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Like every day, Angel woke up to an alarm at noon. And, like every day, he considered sleeping in. But he'd established that his Instagram stories started updating at 12:30, and he refused to break that routine.

He dragged himself out of bed and over to the kitchen. He was in a bulking phase, which meant that at least he got to eat a lot of calories, but even then he had to check the notebook he kept next to the fridge to make sure he was hitting his macros. Breakfast wound up being oats made with peanut butter, greek yogurt, and protein powder. It was ugly to look at and nearly as bland, since there was no sugar to liven up the flavors. That was the sacrifice that he had to make for the sake of his physique - giving up basically everything that tasted good and living on a diet of peanut butter, chicken, and brown rice.

After he finished choking down his breakfast, he had to take a minute to search his apartment for his wireless earbuds. He popped them in his ears, grabbed his phone, perched himself on the window sill, and proceeded to take a dozen selfies, all with slight variations, until he got the perfect one of himself turned just slightly towards the window, his earbuds clearly showing, the street outside visible but artistically blurry. It took him a few more minutes in Facetune to edit out the puffiness under his eyes and a blemish that was forming on his chin, not to mention lighten his skin and up the saturation of the blue dye in his hair. He needed a dye touch-up, but no one on Instagram needed to know that.

It took him a few more minutes to craft his story post, carefully weighing the benefits of a filter that gave him dog ears and deciding how many emojis he wanted to use.

Then of course there was the matter of what to say in the story. His first post of every day was a 'song of the day' post. It took him a minute to think of what song to use. Ultimately, he wound up writing: 'Listening to Bad Guy today! Love Billie Eilish!' and then took another minute to choose the exact font style, color, and positioning.

He hadn't actually been listening to Billie Eilish. He liked her music, sure, but lately he had been on a nostalgic kick, listening to nu metal. But it wasn't #relatable to post about listening to Coal Chamber. How many people even remembered that the band existed? Certainly none of the e-boys that followed Angel's account.

No, Angel's brand didn't work with a maligned, forgotten genre from the late 90s. He'd made a name for himself as goth-lite. Not really goth, but not an e-boy either. Rather, he was just a touch edgy, but still firmly in the mainstream gay community.

All the more reason to keep Bacchus to himself. It was totally against his brand to go to shows with mosh pits.

'Tell me what song you wanna see me pole dance to!' He added to the post, making a comment field for people to respond. Within seconds, answers started to pour in, mostly Top 40 sex jams.

He spent a little longer scrolling through Instagram, commenting on videos from other dancers. Every comment was upbeat and encouraging, even if he thought their dancing was a bit shit. There was no room to be critical on social media. He had to treat everyone as if they were his best friend, even if he didn't know them. He was still building his following, and any drama could ruin that.

His DMs were full, as usual. Most of them were thirst-DMs, a couple were shady sounding guys offering to be his manager. Nothing interesting enough to respond to.

A notification popped up at the top of his screen from Grindr. He automatically tapped it to go to the app, only to be greeted with a blurry dick pic. He wasn't against dick pics, but they had to have a bit of effort put into them. This one was just lazy. The guy didn't even look like he was hard.

He tapped the back button to look at the rest of his messages. A lot were dick pics. Some were asking for a hookup. One was a message from a guy he'd hooked up with a few days ago, saying that he had a nice time and asking if he wanted to get together again.

The guy had been alright. A nice enough bodybuilder who had been surprisingly gentle and considerate during sex. But his personality had been as bland as the meal-prepped chicken sitting in Angel's fridge. Angel knew he could do better. But it never hurt to have the guy on-call as backup if he felt the need to get laid right away, so he snapped a selfie and sent it to him, with a short note that simply said, 'I had fun!'

With that, he'd had enough social media, and it was almost time for his workout, anyways.

Thirty minutes later, he met with his personal trainer. He paid a hefty fine for one of the best trainers in the city, someone he trusted to help him sculpt his physique without making comments about trying plastic surgery. His trainer was cute, nice, and painfully straight, which was something Angel had specifically looked for. He didn't want to be distracted by a guy who may or may not be interested in fucking.

Like always, working out kicked his ass, and like always, he took a sweaty selfie in the locker room mirror with his shirt lifted to show his abs and posted it on his Instagram story.

His day was far from over, though. He had to stop by the smoothie shop and take a photo of his smoothie - milk, whey powder, greens, banana, and peanut butter - and then go out and take photos around town until he found something that made it look like he was doing something interesting that day. He eventually found a corner of a building that had been tagged with a dozen Mothman stickers and snapped a selfie in front of it, captioned it 'Hanging out with my fellow spooky kids!' and posting it to his main Instagram.

And then the boredom set in. He didn't really have anything planned for the day, and he still had plenty of time before he had to go to work. Sure, he could go home and put on some makeup and take artful thirst-trap selfies, but he'd done that so recently. He didn't want to make his Instagram nothing but thirst-traps - he had to make sure he was attractive to multiple types of brands if he ever wanted a sponsorship.

The thing was, trying to be an Instagram star was lonely. He had friends, but they were either work colleagues - and thus rivals - or other micro-influencers. All their conversations were about collabs and SEO and ways to boost engagement. To outsiders he no doubt looked like he lived a lavish and incredibly fun lifestyle as a stripper, but they didn't see the day-to-day boredom or the awkwardness behind running into people who knew him from the club out in broad daylight.

He wanted someone to talk to who wasn't a part of all that bullshit.

Of course, as soon as he had that thought, he realized that he wanted to talk to Demie again.

He wasn't sure if he should. He'd just called him that morning, after all.

It wasn't that he was worried about coming off as desperate, but more that he was worried about scaring Demie off. He was absolutely certain that Demie was gay, but he was also sure that Demie was a country boy, and country gays were different from city gays. Country boys had such an endearing gee-shucks quality about them, like they were trying so hard to be beer-drinkin', truck-drivin' bros, but they were just a little too soft-spoken and shy for that.

Demie - from what Angel could tell - was a guy who wanted to be cool to other men but who was also painfully nervous around them.

It was absolutely adorable, and Angel wanted so badly to get him into bed.

But getting that kind of guy into bed was a challenge. It was like hunting a deer. Move too fast or too loudly, and he'd run off into the woods.

Or so Angel assumed. He'd never actually gone hunting. That was too much a white person thing to do.

Fuck it, he decided. Demie was the first real connection he'd made in a long time. And it wasn't like he was asking for a hookup. He just wanted to talk.

He settled onto a bench where he could still see the Mothman stickers and dialed Demie's number. The phone rang with no answer. No shit, it was a Monday afternoon. People with normal 9 to 5s worked at that time.

Well, at least he could leave a message and give Demie his number. He realized he'd never actually told Demie how to contact him.

Eventually the answering machine picked up. "You've reached Demie and Elaine," Demie's voice said. "If you're trying to sell us something we don't fucking want it. If you're trying to get on our property, we have guns and we're not afraid to fucking use them. Bye."

"Wow, your answering machine is pretty aggro," Angel said. "This is Angel, but the way. I realized I didn't give you my number. So, y'know, just in case you want to get in touch…"

He left his number and hung up. He sat staring at the Mothman stickers a little longer. He kind of wanted to send a picture of them to Demie, since Demie in a way reminded him of a cryptid - shy and kind of elusive. But of course, he couldn't, since Demie didn't have a cellphone. Still, he took a non-selfie picture of them anyways. Just in case he got to hang out with Demie sometime.

#writers on tumblr #writing #original fiction #original characters #lgbt fiction #gay fiction #wright's writing #w:demie and angel

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grigori77 · 4 years

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2019 in Movies - My Top 30 Fave Movies (Part 3)

10. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD – while I love Disney and Pixar as much as the next movie nut, since the Millennium my loyalty has been slowly but effectively usurped by the consistently impressive (but sometimes frustratingly underappreciated) output of Dreamworks Animation Studios, and in recent years in particular they really have come to rival the House of Mouse in both the astounding quality of their work and their increasing box office reliability. But none of their own franchises (not even Shrek or Kung Fu Panda) have come CLOSE to equalling the sheer, unbridled AWESOMENESS of How to Train Your Dragon, which started off as a fairly loose adaptation of Cressida Cowell’s popular series of children’s stories but quickly developed a very sharp mind of its own – the first two films were undisputable MASTERPIECES, and this third and definitively FINAL chapter in the trilogy matches them to perfection, as well as capping the story off with all the style, flair and raw emotional power we’ve come to expect. The time has come to say goodbye to diminutive Viking Hiccup (Jay Baruchel, as effortlessly endearing as ever) and his adorable Night Fury mount/best friend Toothless, fiancée Astrid (America Ferrera, still tough, sassy and WAY too good for him), mother Valka (Cate Blanchett, classy, wise and still sporting a pretty flawless Scottish accent) and all the other Dragon Riders of the tiny, inhospitable island kingdom of Berk – their home has become overpopulated with scaly, fire-breathing denizens, while a trapper fleet led by the fiendish Grimmel the Grisly (F. Murray Abraham delivering a wonderfully soft-spoken, subtly chilling master villain) is beginning to draw close, prompting Hiccup to take up his late father Stoick (Gerard Butler returning with a gentle turn that EASILY prompts tears and throat-lumps) the Vast’s dream of finding the fabled “Hidden World”, a mysterious safe haven for dragon-kind where they can be safe from those who seek to do them harm. But there’s a wrinkle – Grimmel has a new piece of bait, a female Night Fury (or rather, a “Light Fury”), a major distraction that gets Toothless all hot and bothered … returning writer-director Dean DeBlois has rounded things off beautifully with this closer, giving loyal fans everything they could ever want while also introducing fresh elements such as intriguing new environments, characters and species of dragons to further enrich what is already a powerful, intoxicating world for viewers young and old (I particularly love Craig Ferguson’s ever-reliable comic relief veteran Viking Gobber’s brilliant overreactions to a certain adorably grotesque little new arrival), and like its predecessors this film is just as full of wry, broad and sometimes slightly (or not so slightly) absurd humour and deep down gut-twisting FEELS as it is of stirring, pulse-quickening action sequences and sheer, jaw-dropping WONDER, so it’s as nourishing to our soul as it is to our senses. From the perfectly-pitched, cheekily irreverent opening to the truly devastating, heartbreaking close, this is EXACTLY the final chapter we’ve always dreamed of, even if it does hurt to see this most beloved of screen franchises go. It’s been a wild ride, and one that I think really does CEMENT Dreamworks’ status as one of the true giants of the genre …

9. TERMINATOR: DARK FATE – back in 1984, James Cameron burst onto the scene with a stone-cold PHENOMENON, a pitch-perfect adrenaline-fuelled science fiction survival horror that spawned a million imitators but has never truly been equalled. Less than a decade later, he revisited that universe with a much bigger and far bolder vision, creating an epic action adventure that truly changed blockbuster cinema for the better (or perhaps worse, depending on how you want to look at it), but, with its decidedly final, full-stop climax, also effectively rendered itself sequel-proof. Except that Hollywood had other ideas, the unstoppable money machine smelling potential profit and deciding to milk this particular cash cow for all it was worth – on the small screen, it was the impressive but ultimately intrinsically limited Sarah Connor Chronicles, while on the big screen they cranked out THREE MORE sequels, Sony Pictures starting with straightforward retread Rise of the Machines and following with post-apocalyptic marmite movie Salvation, while Twentieth Century Fox then tried a sort-of soft reboot follow-up to T2 in Genisys. These were all interesting in their own way (personally, I like them all, particularly Salvation), but ultimately suffered from diminishing returns and whiffed strongly of trying too hard without quite getting the point. Cameron himself had long since washed his hands of the whole affair, and it looked like that might well be it … but then Skydance Productions founder David Ellison thought up a new take to breathe much needed new life into the franchise, and enlisted Cameron’s help to usher it in properly, with Deadpool director Tim Miller the intriguing but ultimately inspired choice to helm the project. The end result wisely chooses to paint right over all the pretenders, kicking off right where Judgement Day left off, and as well as Cameron being heavily involved in the story itself, draws another ace with the long-awaited ON-SCREEN return of Linda Hamilton in the role that’s pretty much defined her career, hardboiled survivor Sarah Connor. I’ll leave the details of her return for newcomers to discover, suffice to say she gets caught up in the chase when a new, MUCH more advanced terminator is sent back in time to kill unassuming young Mexican factory worker Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes). Of course, the future resistance has once again sent a protector back to watch her back, Grace (Blade Runner 2049’s Mackenzie Davis), a cybernetically-enhanced super-soldier specifically outfitted to combat terminators, who reluctantly agrees to team up with the highly experienced Sarah in order to keep Dani alive. Arnold Schwarzenegger once again returns to the role that truly made him a star (of course, how could he not?), and he for one has clearly not lost ANY of his old love or enthusiasm for playing the old T-800, but revealing exactly HOW he comes into the story this time would give away too much; the new terminator, meanwhile, is brilliantly portrayed by Gabriel Luna (probably best known for playing Ghost Rider in Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD), who brings predatory menace and an interesting edge of subtle, entitled arrogance to the role of Rev-9. Ultimately though, this is very much the ladies’ film, the three leads dominating the action and drama both as they kick-ass and verbally spar in equal measure, their chemistry palpably strong throughout – Hamilton is as badass as ever, making Sarah even more of a take-no-shit survivalist burnout than she ever was in T2, and she’s utterly mesmerising in what’s EASILY her best turn in YEARS, while Reyes goes through an incredible transformative character arc as she’s forced to evolve from terrified salary-girl to proto she-warrior through several pleasingly organic steps … my greatest pleasure, however, definitely comes from watching Mackenzie Davis OWN the role of Grace, investing her with an irresistible mixture of icy military precision, downright feral mother lion ferocity and a surprisingly sweet innocence buried underneath all the bravado, thus creating one of my favourite ass-kicking heroines not just for the year but this past decade entirely. Unsurprisingly, in the hands of old hand Tim Miller (working from a screenplay headlined by Blade and Batman Begins scribe David Goyer) this is a pulse-pounding thrill ride that rarely lets its foot up off the pedal, but thankfully the action is ALWAYS in service to the story, each precision-crafted set piece engineered to perfection as we power through high speed chases, explosive shootouts and a succession of bruising heavy metal smackdowns, but thankfully there’s just as much attention paid to the characters and the story – given the familiarity of the tale there’s inevitably a certain predictability to events, but Miller and co. still pull off a few deftly handled surprise twists, while character development always feels organic. Best of all, this genuinely feels like a legitimate part of the original Terminator franchise, Cameron and Hamilton’s returns having finally brought back the old magic that’s been missing for so long. I’d definitely be willing to sign up for more of this – such a shame then that, thanks to the film’s frustrating underperformance at the box office, it looks like this is gonna be it after all. Damn it …

8. DOCTOR SLEEP – first up, before I say anything else about this latest Stephen King screen adaptation, I HAVE NOT yet got round to reading the original novel yet, so I can’t speak to how it compares. That said, I HAVE read The Shining, to which the book is a direct sequel, so I DO know about at least one of the major, KEY changes, and besides, this is actually a sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s MOVIE of The Shining, which differed significantly from its own source material anyway, so there’s that … yeah, this is a complicated kettle of fish even BEFORE we get down to the details. Suffice to say, you don’t have to have read the book to get this movie, but a working knowledge of Kubrick’s horror classic may at least help you get some context before watching this … anyways, enough with the confusion, on to the meat of the matter – this is a CRACKING horror movie by any stretch, and, for me, one of the strongest King horrors to make it to the big screen in quite some time. Of course it helps no end to have a filmmaker of MAJOR calibre at the helm, and there are few working in horror at the moment with whom I am quite so impressed as Mike Flanagan, writer-director of two of this past decade’s definitive horrors (at least for me), Oculus and Hush, as well as a BLINDING TV series adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House for Netflix – the man is an absolute master of the craft, incredibly skilled with all the tricks of this particular genre’s trade, and, as it turns out, a perfect fit with King’s material. Following on from The Shining, then, we learn what happened to the kid, Danny Torrance, after he and his mother left the Overlook Hotel in the wake of his father’s psychotic break driven by monstrous apparitions “living” in the cursed halls, following him from childhood as he initially shuns the psychic gifts (or “shine”) he was taught to use by the hotel’s late caretaker, Dick Halloran. It’s only in later years, as he fights to overcome his alcoholism and self-destructive lifestyle, that he reconnects with that power, just in time to discover psychic “pen-pal” Abra Stone, an immensely powerful young psychic. Which leads us to the present day, when Abra, now a teenager, becomes the target of the True Knot, a group of psychic vampires who travel America hunting and killing young people with psychic abilities in order to consume their “smoke” (basically the stuff of their “shines”), thus expanding their already unnatural lifespans – they’re tracking Abra, and they’re getting close, and only her “Uncle Dan” can save her from them. Ewan McGregor is PERFECT as the grown-up Dan, delivering one of his career-best turns as he captures the world-weary seriousness of someone who’s seen, felt and had to do things no-one should, especially when he was so very young, the kinds of things that colour a soul for their entire life, and he’s clearly DESPERATE not to become his father; newcomer Kyleigh Curran, meanwhile, is an absolute revelation as Abra, bringing depth and weight far beyond her years to the role, but never losing sight of the fact that, under all the power, she’s ultimately still just a child; there are also excellent supporting turns from the likes of Cliff Curtis as Dan’s best friend and AA sponsor Billy Freeman, Zahn McClarnon (Longmire, Fargo season 2) and Emily Lind (Revenge, Code Black) as True Knot members Crow Daddy and Snakebite Annie, and Carl Lumbly (Cagney & Lacey, TV’s Supergirl), who beautifully replaces deceased original actor Scatman Crothers in the role of Dick. The film’s tour-de-force performance, however, comes from Rebecca Ferguson as Rose the Hat, leader of the True Knot – they’re an intriguing bunch of villains, very well written and fleshed out, and it’s clear they have genuine love for one another, like a real family, which makes it hard not to sympathise with them a little bit, and this is none more true than in Rose, whom Ferguson invests with so much light and warmth and intriguing, complex character, as well as a fantastic streak of playful mischief that makes her all the more riveting in those times when they then turn around and do some truly heinous, unforgivable things … as horror movies go this is the cream of the crop, but Flanagan has purposefully kept away from jump scares and the more flashy stuff, preferring, like Kubrick in The Shining, to let the insidious darkness bubble up underneath good and slow, drawing out the creepiness and those most unsettling, twisted little touches the author himself is always so very good at. Intent can be such a scary thing, and Flanagan gets it, so that’s just what he uses here. As a result this is a fantastic slow-burn creep-fest that constantly works its way deeper under your skin, building to a phenomenal climax that, (perversely) thanks in no small part to the differences between both novels and films, pays as much loving tribute to Kubrick’s visionary landmark as the original novel of The Shining. For me, this is Flanagan’s best film to date, and as far as Stephen King adaptations go I consider this to be right up there with the likes of The Mist and The Green Mile. Best of all, I think he’d be proud of it too …

7. SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME – summer 20019 was something of a decompression period for fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with many of us recovering from the sheer emotional DEVASTATION of the grand finale of Phase 3, Avengers: Endgame, so the main Blockbuster Season’s entry really needed to be light and breezy, a blessed relief after all that angst and loss, much like Ant-Man & the Wasp was last year as it followed Infinity War. And it is, by and large – this is as light-hearted and irreverent as its predecessor, following much the same goofy teen comedy template as Homecoming, but there’s no denying that there’s a definite emotional through-line from Endgame that looms large here, a sense of loss the film fearlessly addresses right from the start, sometimes with a bittersweet sense of humour, sometimes straight. But whichever path the narrative chooses, the film stays true to this underlying truth – there have been great and painful changes in this world, and we can’t go back to how it was before, no matter how hard we try, but then perhaps we shouldn’t. This is certainly central to our young hero’s central arc – Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is in mourning, and not even the prospect of a trip around Europe with his newly returned classmates, together with the chance to finally get close to M.J. (Zendaya), maybe even start a relationship, can entirely distract him from the gaping hole in his life. Still, he’s gonna give it his best shot, but it looks like fate has other plans for our erstwhile Spider-Man as superspy extraordinaire Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) comes calling, basically hijacking his vacation with an Avengers-level threat to deal with, aided by enigmatic inter-dimensional superhero Quentin Beck, aka Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), who has a personal stake in the mission, but as he’s drawn deeper into the fray Peter discovers that things may not be quite as they seem. Of course, giving anything more away would of course dumps HEINOUS spoilers on the precious few who haven’t yet seen the film – suffice to say that the narrative drops a MAJOR sea-change twist at the midpoint that’s EVERY BIT as fiendish as the one Shane Black gave us in Iron Man 3 (although the more knowledgeable fans of the comics will likely see it coming), and also provides Peter with JUST the push he needs to get his priorities straight and just GET OVER IT once and for all. Tom Holland again proves his character is the most endearing teenage geek in cinematic history, his spectacular super-powered abilities and winning underdog perseverance in the face of impossible odds still paradoxically tempered by the fact he’s as loveably hopeless as ever outside his suit; Mysterio himself, meanwhile, frequently steals the film out from under him, the strong bromance they develop certainly mirroring what Peter had with Tony Stark, and it’s a major credit to Gyllenhaal that he so perfectly captures the essential dualities of the character, investing Beck with a roguish but subtly self-deprecating charm that makes him EXTREMELY easy to like, but ultimately belying something much more complex hidden beneath it; it’s also nice to see so many beloved familiar faces returning, particularly the fantastically snarky and self-assured Zendaya, Jacob Batalon (once again pure comedy gold as Peter’s adorably nerdy best friend Ned), Tony Revolori (as his self-important class rival Flash Thompson) and, of course, Marisa Tomei as the ever-pivotal Aunt May, as well as Jackson and Cobie Smoulders as dynamite SHIELD duo Fury and his faithful lieutenant Maria Hill, and best of all Jon Favreau gets a MUCH bigger role this time round as Happy Hogan. Altogether this is very much business as usual for the MCU, the well-oiled machine unsurprisingly turning out another near-perfect gem of a superhero flick that ticks all the required boxes, but a big part of the film’s success should be attributed to returning director Jon Watts, effectively building on the granite-strong foundations of Homecoming with the help of fellow alumni Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers on screenplay duty, for a picture that feels both comfortingly familiar and rewardingly fresh, delivering on all the required counts with thrilling action and eye candy spectacle, endearingly quirky character-based charm and a typically winning sense of humour, and plenty of understandably powerful emotional heft. And, like always, there are plenty of fan-pleasing winks and nods and revelations, and the pre-requisite mid- and post-credit teasers too, both proving to be some proper game-changing corkers. Another winner from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, then, but was there really ever any doubt?

6. US – back in 2017, Jordan Peele made the transition from racially-charged TV and stand-up comedy to astounding cinemagoers with stunning ease through his writer-director feature debut Get Out, a sharply observed jet black comedy horror with SERIOUS themes that was INSANELY well-received by audiences and horror fans alike. Peele instantly became ONE TO WATCH in the genre, so his follow-up feature had A LOT riding on it, but this equally biting, deeply satirical existential mind-bender is EASILY the equal of its predecessor, possibly even its better … giving away too much plot detail would do great disservice to the many intriguing, shocking twists on offer as middle class parents Adelaide and Gabe Wilson (Black Panther alumni Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke) take their children, Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex), to Santa Cruz on vacation, only to step into a nightmare as a night-time visitation by a family of murderous doppelgangers signals the start of a terrifying supernatural revolution with potential nationwide consequences. The idea at the heart of this film is ASTOUNDINGLY original, quite an achievement in a genre where just about everything has been tried at least once, but it’s also DEEPLY subversive, as challenging and thought-provoking as the themes visited in Get Out, but also potentially even more wide-reaching. It’s also THOROUGHLY fascinating and absolutely TERRIFYING, a peerless exercise in slow-burn tension and acid-drip discomfort, liberally soaked in an oppressive atmosphere so thick you could choke on it if you’re not careful, such a perfect horror master-class it’s amazing that this is only Peele’s second FEATURE, never mind his sophomore offering IN THE GENRE. The incredibly game cast really help, too – the four leads are all EXCEPTIONAL, each delivering fascinatingly nuanced performances in startlingly oppositional dual roles as both the besieged family AND their monstrous doubles, a feat brilliantly mimicked by Mad Men and The Handmaid’s Tale-star Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker and teen twins Cali and Noelle Sheldon as the Wilsons’ friends, the Tylers, and their similarly psychotic mimics. The film is DOMINATED, however, by Oscar-troubler Nyong’o, effortlessly holding our attention throughout the film with yet another raw, intense, masterful turn that keeps up glued to the screen from start to finish, even as the twists get weirder and more full-on brain-mashy. Of course, while this really is scary as hell, it’s also often HILARIOUSLY funny, Peele again poking HUGE fun at both his intended audience AND his allegorical targets, proving that scares often work best when twinned with humour. BY FAR the best thing in horror in 2019, Us shows just what a master of the genre Jordan Peele is, and it looks like he’s here to stay …

5. KNIVES OUT – with The Last Jedi, writer-director Rian Johnson divided audiences so completely that he seemed to have come perilously close to ruining his career. Thankfully, he’s a thick-skinned auteur with an almost ridiculous amount of talent, and he’s come bouncing back as strong as ever, doing what he does best. His big break feature debut was with Brick, a cult classic murder mystery that was, surprisingly, set in and around a high school, and his latest has some of that same DNA as Johnson crafts a fantastic sleuthy whodunit cast in the classic mould of Agatha Christie, albeit shot through with his own wonderfully eclectic verve, wit and slyly subversive streak. Daniel Craig holds court magnificently as quirky and flamboyant Deep South private detective Benoit Blanc, summoned to the home of newly-deceased star crime author Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) to investigate his possible murder and faced with a veritable web of lies, deceit and twisting knives as he meets the maybe-victim’s extensive and INCREDIBLY dysfunctional family, all of whom are potential suspects. Craig is thoroughly mesmerising throughout, clearly having the time of his life in one of his career-best roles, while the narrative focus is actually, interestingly, given largely to Ana de Armas (Blade Runner 2049 and soon to be seen with Craig again in the latest Bond-flick No Time To Die), who proves equally adept at driving the film as Harlan’s sweet but steely and impressively resourceful nurse Marta Cabrera, whose own involvement in the case it would do the film a massive disservice to reveal. The rest of the Thrombey clan are an equally intriguing bunch, all played to the hilt by an amazing selection of heavyweight talent that includes Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette and It’s Jaeden Martell, but the film is, undeniably, DOMINATED by Chris Evans as Harlan’s black sheep grandson Ransom, the now former Captain America clearly enjoying his first major post-MCU role as he roundly steals every scene he’s in, effortlessly bringing back the kind of snarky, sarcastic underhanded arrogance we haven’t seen him play since his early career and entertaining us thoroughly. Johnson has very nearly outdone himself this time, weaving a gleefully twisty web of intrigue that viewers will take great pleasure in watching Blanc untangle, even if we’re actually already privy to (most of) the truth of the deed, and he pulls off some diabolical twists and turns as we rattle towards an inspired final reveal which genuinely surprises. He’s also generously smothered the film with oodles of his characteristically dry, acerbic wit, wonderfully tweaking many of the classic tropes of this familiar little sub-genre so this is at once a loving homage to the classics but also a sly, skilful deconstruction. Intriguing, compelling, enrapturing and often thoroughly hilarious, this is VERY NEARLY the best film he’s ever made. Only the mighty Looper remains unbeaten …

4. CAPTAIN MARVEL – before the first real main event of not only the year’s blockbusters but also, more importantly, 2019’s big screen MCU roster, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and co dropped a powerful opening salvo with what, it turns out, was the TRUE inception point of the Avengers Initiative and all its accompanying baggage (not Captain America: the First Avenger, as we were originally led to believe). For me, this is simply the MCU film I have MOST been looking forward to essentially since the beginning – the onscreen introduction of my favourite Avenger, former US Air Force Captain Carol Danvers, the TRUE Captain Marvel (no matter what the DC purists might say), who was hinted at in the post credits sting of Avengers: Infinity War but never actually seen. Not only is she the most powerful Avenger (sorry Thor, but it’s true), but for me she’s also the most badass – she’s an unstoppable force of (cosmically enhanced) nature, with near GODLIKE powers (she can even fly through space without needing a suit!), but the thing that REALLY makes her so full-on EPIC is her sheer, unbreakable WILL, the fact that no matter what’s thrown at her, no matter how often or how hard she gets knocked down, she KEEPS GETTING BACK UP. She is, without a doubt, the MOST AWESOME woman in the entire Marvel Universe, both on the comic page AND up on the big screen. Needless to say, such a special character needs an equally special actor to portray her, and we’re thoroughly blessed in the inspired casting choice of Brie Larson, who might as well have been purpose-engineered exclusively for this very role – she’s Carol Danvers stepped right out of the primary-coloured panels, as steely cool, unswervingly determined and strikingly statuesque as she’s always been drawn and scripted, with just the right amount of twinkle-eyed, knowing smirk and sassy humour to complete the package. Needless to say she’s the heart and soul of the film, a pure joy to watch throughout, but there’s so much more to enjoy here that this is VERY NEARLY the most enjoyable cinematic experience I had all year … writer-director double-act Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck may only be known for smart, humble indies like Half Nelson and Mississippi Grind, but they’ve taken to the big budget, all-action blockbuster game like ducks to water, co-scripting with Geneva Robertson-Dworet (writer of the Tomb Raider reboot movie and the long-gestating third Sherlock Holmes movie) to craft yet another pitch-perfect MCU origin story, playing a sneakily multilayered, misleading game of perception-versus-truth as we’re told how Carol got her powers and became the unstoppable badass supposedly destined to turn the tide in a certain Endgame … slyly rolling the clock back to the mid-90s, we’re presented with a skilfully realised mid-90s period culture clash adventure as Carol, a super-powered warrior fighting for the Kree Empire against the encroaching threat of the shape-shifting Skrulls, crash-lands in California and winds up uncovering the hidden truth behind her origins, with the help of a particular SHIELD agent, before he wound up with an eye-patch and a more cynical point-of-view – yup, it’s a younger, fresher Nick Fury (the incomparable Samuel L. Jackson, digitally de-aged with such skill it’s really just a pure, flesh-and-blood performance). There’s action, thrills, spectacle and (as always with the MCU) pure, skilfully observed, wry humour by the bucket-load, but one of the biggest strengths of the film is the perfectly natural chemistry between the two leads, Larson and Jackson playing off each other BEAUTIFULLY, no hint of romantic tension, just a playfully prickly, banter-rich odd couple vibe that belies a deep, honest respect building between both the characters and, clearly, the actors themselves. There’s also sterling support from Jude Law as Kree warrior Yon-Rogg, Carol’s commander and mentor, Ben Mendelsohn, slick, sly and surprisingly seductive (despite a whole lot of make-up) as Skrull leader Talos, returning MCU-faces Clark Gregg and Lee Pace as rookie SHIELD agent Phil Coulson (another wildly successful de-aging job) and Kree Accuser Ronan, Annette Bening as a mysterious face from Carol’s past and, in particular, Lashana Lynch (Still Star-Crossed, soon to be seen in No Time To Die) as Carol’s one-time best friend and fellow Air Force pilot Maria Rambeau, along with the impossibly adorable Akira Akbar as her precocious daughter Monica … that said, the film is frequently stolen by a quartet of ginger tabbies who perfectly capture fan-favourite Goose the “cat” (better known to comics fans as Chewie). This is about as great as the MCU standalone films get – for me it’s up there with the Russo’s Captain America films and Black Panther, perfectly pitched and SO MUCH FUN, but with a multilayered, monofilament-sharp intelligence that makes it a more cerebrally satisfying ride than most blockbusters, throwing us a slew of skilfully choreographed twists and narrative curveballs we almost never see coming, and finishing it off with a bucket-load of swaggering style and pure, raw emotional power (the film kicks right off with an incredibly touching, heartfelt tear-jerking tribute to Marvel master Stan Lee). Forget Steve Rogers – THIS is the Captain MCU fans need AND deserve, and I am SO CHUFFED they got my favourite Avenger so totally, perfectly RIGHT. I can die happy now, I guess …

3. JOHN WICK CHAPTER 3 – needless to say, those who know me should be in no doubt why THIS was at the top of my list for summer 2019 – this has EVERYTHING I love in movies and more. Keanu Reeves is back in the very best role he’s ever played, unstoppable, unbeatable, un-killable hitman John Wick, who, when we rejoin him mere moments after the end of 2017’s phenomenal Chapter 2, is in some SERIOUSLY deep shit, having been declared Incommunicado by the High Table (the all-powerful ruling elite who run this dark and deadly shadowy underworld) after circumstances forced him to gun down an enemy on the grounds of the New York Continental Hotel (the inviolable sanctuary safe-house for all denizens of the underworld), as his last remaining moments of peace tick away and he desperately tries to find somewhere safe to weather the initial storm. Needless to say the opening act of the film is ONE LONG ACTION SEQUENCE as John careers through the rain-slick streets of New York, fighting off attackers left and right with his signature brutal efficiency and unerring skill, perfectly setting up what’s to come – namely a head-spinning, exhausting parade of spectacular set pieces that each put EVERY OTHER offering in every other film this past year to shame. Returning director Chad Stahelski again proves that he’s one of the very best helmsmen around for this kind of stuff, delivering FAR beyond the call on every count as he creates a third entry to a series that continues to go from strength to strength, while Keanu once again demonstrates what a phenomenal screen action GOD he is, gliding through each scenario with poise, precision and just the right balance of brooding charm and so-very-done-with-this-shit intensity and a thoroughly enviable athletic physicality that really does put him on the same genre footing as Tom Cruise. As with the first two chapters, what plot there is is largely an afterthought, a facility to fuel the endless wave of stylish, wince-inducing, thoroughly exhilarating violent bloodshed, as John cuts another bloody swathe through the underworld searching for a way to remove the lethal bounty from his head while an Adjudicator from the High Table (Orange Is the New Black’s Asia Kate Dillon) arrives in New York to settle affairs with Winston (Ian McShane), the manager of the New York Continental, and the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) for helping John create this mess in the first place. McShane and Fishburne are both HUGE entertainment in their fantastically nuanced large-than-life roles, effortlessly stealing each of their scenes, while the ever-brilliant Lance Reddick also makes a welcome return as Winston’s faithful right-hand Charon, the concierge of the Continental, who finally gets to show off his own hardcore action chops when trouble arrives at their doorstep, and there are plenty of franchise newcomers who make strong impressions here – Dillon is the epitome of icy imperiousness, perfectly capturing the haughty superiority you’d expect from a direct representative of the High Table, Halle Berry gets a frustratingly rare opportunity to show just how seriously badass she can be as former assassin Sofia, the manager of the Casablanca branch of the Continental and one of John’s only remaining allies, Game of Thrones’ Jerome Flynn is smarmy and entitled as her boss Berrada, and Anjelica Houston is typically classy as the Director, the ruthless head of New York’s Ruska Roma (John’s former “alma mater”, basically). The one that REALLY sticks in the memory, though, is Mark Dacascos, finally returning to the big time after frustrating years languishing in lurid straight-to-video action dreck and lowbrow TV hosting duties thanks to a BLISTERING turn as Zero, a truly brilliant semi-comic creation who routinely runs away with the film – he’s the Japanese master ninja the Adjudicator tasks with dispensing her will, a thoroughly lethal killer who may well be as skilled as our hero, but his deadliness is amusingly tempered by the fact that he’s also a total nerd who HERO WORSHIPS John Wick, adorably geeking out whenever their paths cross. Their long-gestating showdown provides a suitably magnificent climax to the action, but there’s plenty to enjoy in the meantime, as former stuntman Stahelski and co keep things interestingly fluid as they constantly change up the dynamics and add new elements, from John using kicking horses in a stable and knives torn out of display cases in a weaponry museum to dispatch foes on the fly, through Sofia’s use of attack dogs to make the Moroccan portion particularly nasty and a SPECTACULAR high octane sequence in which John fights katana-wielding assailants on speeding motorcycles, to the film’s UNDISPUTABLE highlight, an astounding fight in which John takes on Zero’s disciples (including two of the most impressive guys from The Raid movies, Cecep Arif Rahman and Yayan Ruhian) in (and through) an expansive chamber made up entirely of glass walls and floors. Altogether then, this is business as usual for a franchise that’s consistently set the bar for the genre as a whole, an intensely bruising, blissfully blood-drenched epic that cranks its action up to eleven, shot with delicious neon-drenched flair and glossy graphic novel visual excess, a consistently inspired exercise in fascinating world-building that genuinely makes you want to live among its deadly denizens (even though you probably wouldn’t live very long). The denouement sets things up for an inevitable sequel, and I’m not at all surprised – right from the first film I knew the concept had legs, and it’s just too good to quit yet. Which is just how I like it …

2. AVENGERS: ENDGAME – the stars have aligned and everything is right with the world – the second half of the ridiculously vast, epic, nerve-shredding and gut-punching MCU saga that began with 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War has FINALLY arrived and it’s JUST AS GOOD as its predecessor … maybe even a little bit better, simply by virtue of the fact that (just about) all the soul-crushing loss and upheaval of the first film is resolved here. Opening shortly after the universally cataclysmic repercussions of “the Snap”, the world at large and the surviving Avengers in particular are VERY MUCH on the back foot as they desperately search for a means to reverse the damage wrought by brutally single-minded cosmic megalomaniac Thanos and his Infinity Stone-powered gauntlet – revealing much more dumps so many spoilers it’s criminal to continue, so I’ll simply say that their immediate plan really DOESN’T work out, leaving them worse off than ever. Fast-forward five years and the universe is a very different place, mourning what it’s lost and torn apart by grief-fuelled outbursts, while our heroes in particular are in various, sometimes better, but often much worse places – Bruce Banner/the Hulk (Mark Ruffallo) has found a kind of peace that’s always eluded him before, but Thor (Chris Hemsworth) really is a MESS, while Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) has gone to a VERY dark place indeed. Then Ant-Man Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) finds a way back from his forced sojourn in the Quantum Realm, and brings with him a potential solution of a very temporal nature … star directors the Russo Brothers, along with returning screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, have once again crafted a stunning cinematic masterpiece, taking what could have been a bloated, overloaded and simply RIDICULOUS narrative mess and weaving it into a compelling, rich and thoroughly rewarding ride that, despite its THREE HOURS PLUS RUNNING TIME, stays fresh and interesting from start to finish, building on the solid foundations of Infinity War while also forging new ground (narratively speaking, at least) incorporating a wonderfully fresh take on time-travel that pokes gleeful fun at the decidedly clichéd tropes inherent in this particular little sub-genre. In fact this is frequently a simply HILARIOUS film in its own right, largely pulling away from the darker tone of its predecessor by injecting a very strong vein of chaotic humour into proceedings, perfectly tempering the more dramatic turns and epic feels that inevitably crop up, particularly as the stakes continue to rise. Needless to say the entire cast get to shine throughout, particularly those veterans whose own tours of duty in the franchise are coming to a close, and as with Infinity War even the minor characters get at least a few choice moments in the spotlight, especially in the vast, operatic climax where pretty much the ENTIRE MCU cast return for the inevitable final showdown. It’s a masterful affair, handled with skill and deep, earnest respect but also enough irreverence to keep it fun, although in the end it really comes down to those big, fat, heart-crushing emotional FEELS, as we say goodbye to some favourites and see others reach crossroads in their own arcs that send them off in new, interesting directions. Seriously guys, keep a lot of tissues handy, you really will need them. If this were the very last MCU film ever, I’d say it’s a PERFECT piece to go out on – thankfully it’s not, and while it is the end of an era the franchise looks set to go on as strong as ever, safe in the knowledge that there’s plenty more cracking movies on the way so long as Kevin Feige and co continue to employ top-notch talent like this to make their films. Eleven years and twenty-two films down, then – here’s to eleven and twenty-two more, I say …

1. THE IRISHMAN (aka I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES) – beating smash-hit superhero movies and unstoppable assassin action-fests to the top spot is no mean feat, but so completely blowing me away that I had NO OTHER CHOICE than to put this at NUMBER ONE is something else entirely. Not only is this the best thing I saw at the cinema this past year, but I’d be happy to say it’s guaranteed to go down as one of my all-time greats of the entire decade. I’ve been an ardent fan of the filmmaking of Martin Scorsese ever since I first properly got into cinema in my early adolescence, when I was first shown Taxi Driver and was completely and irrevocably changed forever as a movie junkie. He’s a director who impresses me like a select few others, one of the true, undisputable masters of the craft, and I find it incredibly pleasing that I’m not alone in this assertion. Goodfellas and The Departed are both numbered among my all-time favourite crime movies, while I regard the latter as one of the greatest films of the current cinematic century. I’ve learned more about the art and craft of filmmaking and big-screen storytelling from watching Scorsese’s work than from any other director out there (with the notable exception of my OTHER filmmaking hero, Ridley Scott), and I continue to discover more about his films every time I watch them, so I never stop. Anyways … enough with the gushing, time to get on with talking about his latest offering, a Netflix Original true-life gangster thriller of truly epic proportions chronicling the career and times of Frank Sheeran, a Philadelphia truck driver who became the most trusted assassin of the Northeastern Pennsylvania crime family and, in particular, its boss (and Sheeran’s best friend) Russell Bufalino, particularly focusing on his rise to power within the Philly Mob and his significant association with controversial and ultimately ill-fated Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa. It’s a sprawling epic in the tradition of Scorsese’s previously most expansive film, Casino, but in terms of scope this easily eclipses the 1995 classic, taking in SIX DECADES of genuinely world-changing events largely seen through Sheeran’s eyes, but as always the director is in total control throughout, never losing sight of the true focus – one man’s fall from grace as he loses his soul to the terrible events he takes part in. Then again, the screenplay is by Steve Zaillian (Schindler’s List, Moneyball, Fincher’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), one of the true masters of the art form, with whom Scorsese previously worked with on Gangs of New York, so it’s pure gold – tight as a drum, razor sharp and impossibly rich and rewarding, the perfect vehicle for the director to just prep his cast and run with it. And WHAT A CAST we have here – this is a three-way lead master-class of titanic proportions, as Scorsese-regular Robert De Niro and his Goodfellas co-star Joe Pesci are finally reteamed as, respectively, Sheeran and Bufalino, while Al Pacino gets to work with the master for the first time as Hoffa; all three are INCREDIBLE, EXTRAORDINARY, on absolute tip-top form as they bring everything they have to their roles, De Niro and Pesci underplaying magnificently while Pacino just lets rip with his full, thunderous fury in a seemingly larger-than-life turn which simply does one of history’s biggest crooks perfect justice; the supporting cast, meanwhile, is one of the strongest seen in cinema all year, with Ray Romano, Bobby Canavale, Anna Paquin, Stephen Graham, Harvey Keitel, Stephanie Kurtzuba (The Wolf of Wall Street), Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire) and Jesse Plemmons among MANY others all making MAJOR impressions throughout, all holding their own even when up against the combined star power of the headlining trio. This is filmmaking as high art, Scorsese bringing every trick at his considerable, monumentally experienced disposal to bear to craft a crime thriller that strongly compares not only to the director’s own best but many of the genre’s own other masterpieces such as The Godfather and Chinatown. It may clock in at a potentially insane THREE HOURS AND TWENTY-NINE MINUTES but it NEVER feels overlong, every moment crafted for maximum impact with a story that unfolds so busily and with such mesmerising power it’s impossible to get bored with it. The film may have received a limited theatrical release, obviously reaching MOST of its audience when unleashed on Netflix nearly a month later, but I was one of the lucky few who got to see it on the big screen, and BELIEVE ME, it was totally worth it. Best thing I saw in 2019, ONE OF the best things I saw this past decade, and DEFINITELY one of Scorsese’s best films EVER. See it, any way you can. You won’t be disappointed.

#how to train your dragon the hidden world #terminator dark fate #doctor sleep #spider-man far from home #us #us movie #knives out #Captain Marvel #john wick chapter 3 #avengers endgame #the irishman #2019 in movies

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wordswithkittywitch · 5 years

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Barbie: A Fairy Secret

Well, it’s finally happening. I’ve lowered my standards enough to start posting my thoughts on Barbie movies. Well, my in-depth analysis so I can give all 37 (I’m counting both Barbie and the Rockers half-hour shorts as one movie. It was a continuing plot.) Barbie movies a rank based on my own arbitrary standards. And because it’s arbitrary, they are being scored out of 110 and I starting more or less randomly with the one I watched earlier this afternoon.

Barbie A Fairy Secret: Overall Score: 54/110 Why is it a score out of 110 instead of 100? Because Barbie gives 110%. Also because there are twelve categories, and only one of them is negative. Why is this score so low? Simply put, I’ve seen all the Barbie films and this isn’t the best one. I still enjoy it, and let’s find out why that is...

High points: 6/10 This is a genuinely funny movie, even if sometimes the jokes are so stupid you’re a little ashamed of laughing at them. Even if you’re watching as an adult, you have to accept this is fundamentally a kids’ movie and it’s going to be silly. Now, of course there are some kids’ movies that don’t have this problem, and some of them are even in the Barbie series. But this is a film where Ken Matrix-dodges a puff of glitter.

The architecture of Gloss Angeles and in particular the palace really steals the show; even if a lot of the floating platforms look like gold chocolate kisses hovering upside down. Beyond the gleaming gold and jewel-bright colours, we see a streaked pastel sky extending forever in all directions. Really. All directions. Raquelle asks how far away the ground is, and is quickly informed there is no ground.

Low points: -4/-10 The animation style wasn’t as polished as some of the later Barbie movies, and usually I can just ignore that, but it also lacked the pastel charm of some of the earlier ones. It was kind of in an awkward middle ground. The faces are a little stiffer than other films, and a lot of the emoting needs to be done with the body language.

And on a far more petty note, I don’t think that the name “Zane” sounds as much like a fairy as “Graciellla”. Or “Graylen”. Or even “Crystal”. “Taylor” is on about the same level of sounding like a fairy as “Zane” though.

WLW appeal: 6/10

I’m not saying that two women admitting that they both wanted to be closer but thought that the other one didn’t like them, hugging and then a rainbow of light transforms into fairies, shattering the cage they were in is necessarily lesbian subtext, but it’s really easy to read it that way. Especially since right after it happens Taylor says love is more powerful than a Passion Fairy’s anger.

However, Barbie and Raquelle’s moment of understanding each other pales in comparison to Taylor and Carrie’s relationship. The two are unquestionably close, never out of the other’s sight. However, the thing that made them read as most romantically involved to me wasn’t anything they did on screen: it was Princess Gracellia’s past history with them. When three people are close friends and two of them become so close they cut the third person out without realising they’ve upset them at all, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re dating, but any time I personally can say that I really lost a friend, it was a variation on that story. I’ve seen it in other people, and much to my disgust almost any time someone brings up that this is a problem, the blame falls on the “third wheel” for not realising that romantic love is obviously more important than any of their previous friendships, and suggesting that if they were emotionally mature they would just go off and fine someone to snog themselves, thus becoming a fully realised romantic being.

Okay, none of the romantic part of the last paragraph was textual, and I am definitely projecting at least a little bit; but this is a recurring theme across media, and it sucks, and I enjoy the fact I can avoid it. Yet another reason I have watched all the Barbie movies.

Ace Appeal: 4/10 I suppose this needs to be said at least once, and since this one is getting posted first, it’s a natural choice to get this disclaimer out of the way. No, I don’t think that anyone in Mattel offices ever stops and says, “Hang on. Does the plot of this children’s movie appeal to the sensibilities of adult asexuals?” However, I’m pretty sure there is some variation on “Not all kids like romance, and most parents want to keep the romance their kids see in media to be on the tame side, so we’ll have to pay attention to how much romance we put in and how it’s handled.” However, as an adult asexual, it is always freaking refreshing to have characters interested in something besides The Sex™, and the best place I have found to seek that is in children’s media.

In a movie aimed at adults, one would usually establish the main romantic couple with kissing, steamy stares, and other things that make your friends not want your partner hang out with the rest of the group. Or, in the case of The Airzone Solution, goosing your partner while she’s having a conversation with someone else, making her voice go up so high I finally recognise Nicola Bryant without her fake American accent. (by the way, if you’re looking for movies with asexual appeal, The Airzone Solution is not one of them.)

This is the face of a man who cannot unwatch The Airzone Solution.

Also, in a movie aimed at adults, no one can end in the same romantic relationship that they started in, which Barbie can avoid because the character of Ken cannot exist in a vacuum: Ken is Barbie’s boyfriend (the Barbie Vlogs/Dreamhouse Adventures timeline notwithstanding; especially given that there really is no question that in that particular timeline “Karbie is endgame” as the kids say.), all personality traits are related to this. If Ken appears in a Barbie movie, we know he already is Barbie’s boyfriend because Barbie is a wish fulfilment fantasy for young girls: As many rewarding careers as they like, a steady relationship with someone who adores them, a large group of friends, pretty much any material goods they can think of at their fingertips, and of course, magical powers. This, quite frankly, is why Barbie works as a woman somewhere in her twenties or thirties and why she doesn’t make as much sense when people try to age her down into a teenager. Seriously. That’s what Skipper is for. How can Barbie have a sixteen-year-old little sister if she herself is sixteen? It doesn’t make sense. But I’m getting off-topic.

This is a kids’ movie, so we establish that Ken and Barbie are dating by having them being adorable duelling with spoons over ice cream sundaes. And that’s why I’ve watched every Barbie movie ever made.

As I mentioned before, the subplot with Gracellia feeling cut out of Taylor and Carrie’s relationship feels very familiar to anyone whose friends distanced themselves for their all-important romance. And while this could happen to anyone, being dropped out of your alloromantic/allosexual friends’ lives when they discover dating is one of the most recognisable and most terrible parts of the asexual/aromantic experience. Does this mean that any of the characters present as asexual or aromantic? As usual, not necessarily. Gracellia clearly isn’t aromantic. But, also as usual, “I’ve been there! It sucks!” is a common step in headcanoning a character as ace. And even if they aren’t, it’s still relatable. We also see a happily married middle-aged couple, Reena and Graylen. Narratively, they exist to show that a marriage between a fairy and a human can work, but I could have seen way more of them being cute. But I like cute old married couples. Which may be weird for someone desperately looking for characters in any form of media who actually like their love interests and stay with them through the entire story instead of breaking up to add more drama. Anyone who has had their friends start dating knows that couples do not need to be breaking up to cause drama.

Graylen’s character design is almost exactly like the advisor in the Fairytopia series. You might not expect “older black fairy with gray muttonchops and friendly advice” to be a stock character in Barbie films, but there he is. Often, Barbie movies do not have a full mouth kiss in them. If there is, that is often because there’s a wedding ceremony. This is an example of the latter. The couple who isn’t married at the end, however, express their love by trying not to be married against their will. Still, no matter how relatable all of this is to an asexual, it does end in a very Midsummer Night’s Dream everyone paired off sort of way.

Entourage: 6/10

Raquelle- Those familiar with Life in the Dreamhouse already know Raquelle as Barbie’s self-proclaimed rival and a twisty bitch who lives for drama, making her one of the most enjoyable characters to watch. She has a different voice actress here, which can throw you a little. Especially if you’re trying to remember which My Little Pony voice actress has replaced her Life in the Dreamhouse voice actress.

Taylor- Ginger shoe fairy with a pink dress and a posh accent. Mostly responsible for the “tell Barbie the truth, go to Gloss Angeles, and rescue Ken” plan.

Carrie- Brunette purse fairy with a purple dress. Probably the slower of the two. That said, even though she supplies much of the comic relief, it doesn’t stem from her being stupid, it stems from her never-emptying purse of visual gags. By the end, Carrie’s jokes have started to grate on Raquelle:

“I think this time I’ve got a home run!”

“Enough! It’s going to be a baseball bat, right?”

Art Style: 5/10 I’ll admit this isn’t my favourite era of Barbie movies as far as animation is concerned. The faces aren’t as emotive as some of the other styles of animation. Raquelle for one makes up for this with full-body sarcasm. The architecture in Gloss Angeles is really the highlight of the film’s visuals: with large amounts of sparkling crystal and gold curlicues putting one in mind of a jewellery box with it’s contents spilling out. Particularly in the fight scene between Ken and Zane, where they recreate the “Duel” bit from that 90s Gladiators show where the contenders sand on an elevated platform and hit each other with what appear to be large fancy cotton buds. The only difference is that the contenders have wings. The architecture is shown off nicely in the “welcome to Gloss Angeles” montage. Unlike films like a Mermaid Tale, they did not feel the need to put dozens of puns in this sequence, they just put wings on everything they could think of—dogs, cats, handbags, coffee cups, shopping bags…

Plot: 7/10 The plot takes place within the “Life in the Dreamhouse” continuity: Barbara Roberts is a highly successful celebrity who lives in Malibu with her three younger sisters, is dating her longtime boyfriend Kenneth Carson, and has a close group of friends, including Rochelle who openly hates all of them (barring Ken) but remains part of the social circle.

A jealous fairy named Crystal feeds Princess Graciella, ruler of the fairies, a love potion which makes he fall in love with Ken. Graciella kidnaps Ken and declares she will marry him that very day. Zane, Graciella’s previous boyfriend and also a fairy, challenges Ken to three successive duels as Ken tries to back out of this. Barbie and Rochelle, rival film stars, come to Ken’s rescue, aided by two fairies who have been living in the human world disguised as humans and working as Barbie’s personal stylists.

The whole thing feels a lot like Barbie does Comedia del Arte, which I love. A love square that is resolved with two couples at the end, a love potion, over the top comedic figures, a lovesick woman declaring she will marry someone she just met, the upper class characters being saved by the complex planning of their clever servants; if you accept personal stylists as the modern equivalent of a tiring maid.

Zane is probably the main reason I keep thinking Comedia del Arte when I’m watching this. And it’s not just that he has the same accent as el Captaino (a stock figure in Comedia del Arte. The foreign captain who is usually a comedic rival for the young lover). In his first scene, he challenges Ken to three successive duels: “So, you think I am not bold enough for two duels? For that, I challenge you to a third duel!” “Why not? I wasn’t doing anything after the second one anyway.”

I can’t help but think about how the plot would have been different if princess Graciella had drunk the love potion three seconds earlier and fallen in love with Rochelle instead of Ken. “I have to save my frienemy who has just graduated from pain in the ass to total bitch.” would have been a very different story to “I need to save my boyfriend.”

The whole thing is a mess of consent and lack thereof. Crystal puts a spell on Graciella so she becomes obsessed with Ken, Graciella puts a spell on Ken so that a marriage proposal comes out of his mouth, much to his horror. And, if the whole “Comedia del Arte” thing hadn’t been running through my head the entire time, the fact that it pretty much starts and ends like A Midsummer Night’s Dream would have done it: Someone gives the queen of the fairies a love potion. She falls in love with the worst possible option. Humans get involved. The two romantic couples are sorted back into their ideal combination, the fairies convince the humans it was all really a dream. Even Carrie and Taylor reminding the audience of the secret at the end puts me in mind of Puck’s final speech.

The plot would have gotten a higher score if it hadn’t been for one plothole that seems to grow and shrink the more I examine it: Crystal was in love with Zane, but he was in love with Graciella. So she gets her hands on a love potion and uses it on… not Zane. I guess thought if he wasn’t in a relationship he would pick her on his own. Perhaps she wanted “real love” and was prepared to give her princess a chemically assisted version. We will never know.

Character design: 6/10

It’s not unusual for the cast to be wearing their best costumes in the final act of a Barbie film, but in this case this was achieved by putting most of them in fairly ugly outfits for most of the action.

The costuming was quite up to standards in the last fifteen minutes, but that leaves us with fifty seven minutes of unnecessary peplum to account for.

Raquelle and Barbie appear in formal gowns for the red carpet premiere:

Raquelle wears a one-shoulder purple and blue gown with a lettuce edged wrap skirt with a high-low hem, simple blue teardrop earrings, and some excellent shoes.

As usual, Raquelle is quickly upstaged by Barbie, who wears a ruby pink bodice with a peplum hem over a bright violet mermaid skirt. These are accessorised with rhinestone rose jewellery and silver pumps, although the shoes are only revealed when Raquelle rips the back of her dress up to her thighs.

While these gowns only show up in the first scene, they are easily the best looks they wear in the film, which is understandable as they are the dresses worn by the dolls. The doll look sort of reappears at the start of the final act, where Barbie and Raquelle transform into their winged form from the dolls, which is the tops from their red carpet gowns on cocktail dresses.

Barbie’s rose peplum top melts much more pleasingly into the three flounces of her miniskirt, while Raquelle has a flounced A-line miniskirt with the slightest edge of silver and pink petticoats peeking out the bottom. A silver ruffle accents her neckline and compliments her wide silver belt. The looks are finished in both cases with those curling vine heels that Mattel was putting on all the fairy dolls in the early aughts. This is such a breath of good taste after their “normal” outfits from the main part of the film.

After the premiere, the human characters really get the short end of the stick as far as costumes are concerned, and while I can see how it was important to make the humans visually distinct from the fairies, even when everyone is wearing “clip on” wings.

Raquelle spends most the movie in cobalt blue knee-length trumpet dress and a pink polka dot mini sweatshirt; which frankly should never have happened. The effect is completed with strappy silver heels which barely do not reach the end of leatherette black leggings. Sadly, the effect is “I dressed Barbie first and these are all the doll clothes I have left over”.

Barbie’s main look seems to be doing everything it can to keep a knee-length jean trumpet skirt with pink stitching from ruining the rest of the outfit. This is done with a pink and white striped tee and a half-sleeve black jacket. I don’t want to be too hard on this look, I’ll admit, because I can see my sister wearing something like that, but hopefully a more flattering cut of skirt.

But then again, I’ve always hated trumpet miniskirts; I hated them when they were in style, I hate them now that they aren’t, and I hate the fact I owned two because that’s what was for sale at Walmart in the mid 2000s and I hadn’t taken to making most of my own clothing yet. I called them “crotch ruffle skirts”. I was a bitch in high school.

Miss Roxelle appears very briefly in a tasteful white and gold two piece pencil skirt suit. As a fashion designer and the older fairy who they come to for help, it makes sense that she has a classy, mature vibe.

For the wedding, Ken gets a fashion upgrade from “we put him in a plaid shirt to make him look more heterosexual” (which was kind of ruined by the teal and metallic gold palette) to “one of those really tacky heterosexual wedding toppers” for the wedding scene. The horror of someone tied up and being forced to marry someone they barely know is somewhat diminished by the image of groomsmen elbowing each other and chuckling, “As usual, am I right, men?” That said, matching the pattern on his lapels to the pattern on his wings was a nice touch.

Crystal takes the purple/green slightly alternative route in villain costume design: fingerless gloves, cropped vest, stripy skirt, asymmetrical bob, purple leggings and black ankle boots.

And interestingly, she is the only fairy who presents as a girl who has dragonfly wings. I’m not going to say that this means Crystal is transgender, but I am definitely going to be thinking about that for a while. Part of me thinks, “Sure, why not, that’s probably going to happen in fairy society as much as human”, and part of me thinks, “Usually it’s the heroes or sidekicks in Barbie movies that get queercoded.” So let’s just move past Crystal’s boyish wings.

I spend a lot of time Graciellla is on screen trying to figure out how her hair is accomplished. Like most Barbie characters, it looks physically possible so that it can be recreated on a doll. It looks as if two French braids were started on her head, then the loose hair was tucked under itself, a little bit like a rolled chingon.

It probably is related to the fact her standard outfit is pretty basic: a petal pink strapless cocktail dress with a rose pink sash. It’s accessorised with a mess of pink rhinestone jewellery to set off her tiara.

Zane starts off in a fantasy style purple vest and striped jeans in a desaturated purple palette: The gold trim and collar pushes it towards the high fantasy fairies were meant to be, but it appears that halfway down the design they realised that they wanted it to be reflective of modern fashion and gave him pinstriped jeans. Don’t get me wrong, I love purple pinstriped jeans, I own purple pinstripe jeans, but they don’t go with his top. High fantasy and mid-2000s fashion are hard looks to marry, and I’m objecting to this example. Now, I could have forgiven him for wearing knee-high boots and cuffing his trousers to show them off, if they weren’t striped jeans and black combat boots. He’s half pirate and a half “I just came from a Green Day concert”. And he tries so hard to make it work. Wearing the exact same outfit in white and gold to his wedding was a choice. Once of several stupid choices made by Zane over the course of this movie.

Zane goes full Star Trek Next Gen for his combat jumpsuit: And honestly, I kind of love it. The gold and cobalt blue set each other off beautifully, the wide gold stripes down Zane’s legs, the elegantly tooled golden breastplate, the spirals of gold coming up his boots to the wide gold edging.

We actually see the slits the back of Zane’s jacket when he gets on his knees to propose to Graciella, and all of the feminine fairies (except for Crystal, as mentioned before) are wearing tube tops and off-the shoulder dresses so that they can dress without damaging their wings. But it appears that his wings are emerging from narrow slits in the back of his vest. Which might account for why the masculine fairies have smaller, narrower wings; more like a dragonfly than a butterfly. And it might also account for why Crystal has dragonfly wings and a cropped vest.

Finally, we have Taylor and Carrie, who ride the line between fantasy fashion and human fashion by wearing some fairly simple, “this looks like a doll” dresses. They also look far more like a “set” than any other characters because while their outfits look different, they are comprised out of the same basic elements: A dress with a fitted satin bodice, capped sleeves, and a flounced circle skirt accessorised with a short bead necklace, simple earrings, a headband and a side ponytail. The only real difference between them is their magical focuses:

Carrie, being a purse fairy, has a glittery doctor-style handbag; so called because the frame opens out like an old doctor’s visiting bag, not because like the Tardis it is bigger on the inside. Though both are true. Taylor has magenta glitter peek-toe platforms with knee-high laces with wings on the heel and rosettes on the toe. Raquelle admits, “If I had to trust my life to one pair of shoes, it would be those.” as Taylor chirps: “The more fabulous my shoes, the stronger my magic!” Me too, buddy, me too.

Music: 3/10

There is really only the main theme, Can You Keep a Secret? which plays over the opening and closing credits. It’s peppy, it’s happy, it’s not so stupid you’re grating your teeth, but ultimately it’s pretty forgettable. It serves its purpose and allows the story to move on. It plays again during the “welcome to Gloss Angeles” montage.

Animal companion: 4/10 Halfway through the movie, Pegaponies show up and help the humans with their difficulty in flying with clip-on wings. The pegaponies show up, transport the main characters to the palace, and are never heard from again. They do not talk or exhibit greater than animal intelligence, but however they do greatly advance the Rochelle and Barbie friendship plot by allowing the two of them to discuss how their relationship, and their animosity, formed. All pegaponies are recolours of the same mesh: a stocky, small horse with a striped mane and sparkly lace-like wings. The heroes all ride sidesaddle, partially because they’re all in dresses and partially because they all have wings themselves. While I usually subscribe to the less-is-more approach to pets in Barbie movies, in this case more might have been more.

Antagonists: 7/10 Zane- Since Barbie has Raquelle, it only makes sense that Ken gets someone who declares himself his rival as Ken protests that they aren’t actually pursuing the same goal. And like Raquelle, Zane is over the top and hilarious. He’s probably my favourite part of the movie. Graciellla – Crown Princess of Gloss Angeles, because “queen” sounds evil unless you’ve got a kid. While she isn’t exactly a bad person, she spends most of the film trying to force someone who isn’t in love with her to marry her. Actually, that is in fact pretty bad, but it is slightly mitigated by the fact she’s under a love spell. Remember kids, love spells aren’t consent! She spreads the awful cycle of “fairies don’t need no consent” by magicing a proposal out of Ken’s mouth inbetween his protestations to let him go. So, even though she changes her plan as soon as she’s not under a spell, she still has the whole “I’m an immoral fairy who really doesn’t care how much I mess up human lives” thing going on, which I also enjoy. Kids have to learn to fear the fey sooner or later. Crystal- From her arm-warmers to her stripes, here’s the soft grunge girl here to punish the preps for existing. Well, to punish everyone around her for the sorry state of her love life. Unrequited love stinks. Of course, what makes her a villain instead a tragic hero is that she is perfect content to ruin as many lives as it takes to get what she wants. Again, fairies tend to be amoral. Raquelle- Only an antagonist in that she remains Barbie’s self-proclaimed rival, and pain in the rear, even as she joins her quest to save Ken. To be fair, at no point does Raquelle stop thinking of herself as Ken’s friend. Partnering with a rival to save a mutual friend is probably Raquelle’s most antihero moment across all media she appears in. So while there’s a lot of antagonists, ranging from rivals to villains to “manic force of nature” I would have a difficult time saying, “You know what movie has some great antagonists? A Fairy Secret.” Although it definitely gets points for variety.

Doll Tie-in: 4/10

Comparing the doll commercial to the movie, I get the feeling that the people making the commercial hadn’t been given the plot to the movie before writing the script for the advertisement.

youtube

Personally, as someone who just genuinely likes dolls, I don’t like the moulded on bodices, since they limit the number of dresses you can put over them. I get the idea that the moulded on swimsuits are to give the dolls some vestige of dignity when the girls are leaving them undressed.

As for “transforming dresses”, the Fairy Secret dolls all have variations on the “skirt folds out into wings” gimmick.

This was also the period where the doll designers decided that plastic moulded curlicue laces going all up a doll’s shins said “fairy fashion”, and that, I’ll admit, I like.

At least the faces have better moulds than the characters in the films.

#Kittywitch has watched every Barbie film #Barbie #reviews #meta #Barbie: a Fairy Secret

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bananagreste · 5 years

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I wish the show’s main plot is about the kids, their friendships and shenanigans, instead of the supposedly deep, supposedly mysterious and supposedly angsty plot that leaves people feeling disconnected because there’s no build up.

The show’s main plot has the potential to be great if done properly, but there’s a lot of vagueness and assumptions that I feel instead of the writers trying to keep it a surprise, it’s more like they don’t know what their plot is about.

What else could explain the inconsistencies?

However, that’s discussion for another day.

The reason I wish the show’s main plot to about the kids is because I want to see their interactions with each other on screen, instead of assume they may have interactions but off screen.

‘But, they do have interactions!‘

Really?

Marinette is the protagonist of the show, thus the episodes are normally presented through her perspective. However, this is restrictive because Marinette can’t possibly be present in every situation imaginable.

Unfortunately, the narrative forces Marinette to be present in every single thing, even though the plot is not necessarily about her. It would have been better if the episodes feature the perspective of the character being focused on, but the narrative does not do that.

For example, in Queen Wasp, impressed with Marinette’s hat, Audrey offers to take her to New York for a chance to become a fashion designer. The episode could have focused on Marinette’s dilemma choosing between her dreams or her duties as superhero. However, the episode is about Chloe, who gets upset with her mother’s treatment of her.

Another example is Frozer, Chat Noir is rejected by Ladybug who reminds him again that she likes someone else. Dejected, Adrien wants to seek love advice. This episode could have been a nod to Animan, where Adrien asks Nino, the one with a girlfriend. However, he asks Marinette for advice instead, unaware that he traps her into an awkward situation.

Last example is Catalyst, where Marinette makes an impossible promise after Chloe provokes her because she always does the same thing for Heroes Day. However, at the end of Mayura, the subplot is magically resolved with the classmates deciding to appreciate Marinette for her efforts to help them.

There are other examples, however, I choose the latest episodes to illustrate how Marinette often ends up in situations she never ask to be in but has no choice because she is the protagonist.

Queen Wasp

Marinette aspires to be a fashion designer so an offer to go to New York? It’s an amazing opportunity. Unfortunately, this subplot only exists to provide Chloe a reason to be upset at her mother for choosing the girl she dislikes over her. Audrey chooses Marinette for her talents and it’s unfair to her if she’s discredited simply because Chloe says so.

However, Marinette never asks to be offered to go to New York. It’s a fashion show, not a fashion design competition. If it is the latter and the winner gets an offer to go to New York, it’s an entirely different case. Marinette also has no idea that Chloe wants to go to New York with her mother. In a situation where saying ‘no’ means forfeiting her chance at fulfilling her dreams, but saying ‘yes’ means Chloe holding a grudge towards her, she’s stuck.

Chloe’s issues should have been handled better, especially the epilogue. Why have Marinette sarcastically insult Chloe and Audrey when it is more powerful if she tell them how Chloe’s stunt to impress Audrey can result in serious injuries, potentially death? Marinette’s parents are inside the train and if Ladybug and Chat Noir didn’t arrive in time to stop the train from crashing, would the Bourgeois family take responsibility?

“I can’t change the way you and your daughter behave, but please think about how your behaviour have consequences towards other people. I almost lost my parents today. Can you imagine losing yours?“

Frozer

It’s nice that Adrien trusts Marinette as his friend but she’s not the right person to talk about his crush. If he doesn’t want to disturb Nino because he’s with Alya, who cares? Nino is his best friend and he has a girlfriend. It won’t kill him to drag Nino away from Alya and asks for his advice. Nino will probably roast Adrien, ‘Adrien Agreste, popular model, with love troubles? Wow, and I thought you can do anything!‘, but will help him to return the favor (Animan).

When Adrien tells Marinette he’s too shy to go the ice rink alone, I’m like, “Boy, if you are not brave enough to be alone with someone, why even bother going on a date?” He might as well bring Gorilla as chaperone.

Adrien’s motives are also confusing. He refuses to move on from Ladybug, but tells Marinette that he has a crush on Kagami, but Kagami thinks Adrien has a crush on Marinette because he can’t stop looking at her and nobody is aware that the girl he likes is actually Ladybug.

Adrien should have been honest to Kagami on why Marinette’s there at the rink, but he lies. Instead of roasting him for the truth, the narrative shifts to Marinette's indecisiveness and Kagami is praised for telling Marinette that she should move her ass instead of hesitating, or she’ll take Adrien away from her.

Hold on for a minute.

When did it become about Marinette when it should have been about Adrien?

This episode exists because a boy can’t accept a girl’s rejection despite having a valid reason. He decides to go on a date but drags his female friend to tag along with him but lies to his date about why the friend’s there because he can’t admit he’s scared of his date. The girls don’t communicate except for exactly 8 seconds. The boy then ditch his date to check on the friend.

In the end, it doesn’t even matter because Adrien decides to maintain the same target, even if he keeps failing. It’s basically the same conclusion as Glaciator, but now Kagami sees Marinette as a love rival.

When Kagami is said to be Adrien’s rival, I thought she would challenge him but understands the pressure of fulfilling family’s expectations. Never did I expect her to be Marinette’s rival in their conquest for Adrien’s love. I thought Lila is enough but I guess not.

People claim that Kagami doesn’t see Adrien romantically, that Kagami wants to help Adrien and Marinette get together, but I’ll reserve the judgement until S3.

It would have been interesting if Adrien asks Nino for advice, Nino spills the beans to Alya, Alya tells Marinette in panic and Marinette starts to despair. However, Alya refuses to let Marinette lose hope so she concocts a plan to sabotage the date. Is it a good idea? No. Is it fair to Adrien? No. But is it worth the risk for her best friend’s love life? Yes.

Besides, from the girls who execute Operation: Secret Garden, what do they have to lose? Heck, get the boys in their class to join in as well. Adrien goes on a date with Kagami and everyone is there to his confusion. If anyone asks? They want to go ice skating with everyone.

Catalyst + Mayura (Heroes Day)

The season finale is... eh.

Marinette’s subplot is unnecessary as it has no bearing on Mothygreste’s plans to attack Paris on Heroes Day. Marinette can plan 100 good deeds 100 days in advance and she will still be interrupted bc a jerk decide to ruin everyone’s day.

Also, does it not bother anyone when Ladybug says they are unprepared to face Mothy? I understand if this is Origins where they have no idea what they are doing bc they are new at being superheroes, but it’s been 48 episodes.

I guess it’s a good thing the akumatized villains are mostly into brawls, because they would have been tough to beat if they actually use their powers. With this in mind, The Puppeteer does a better job despite being a child. (Take that, Mothy!)

It’s nice that Ladybug asks Mothy to surrender in peace but really, because Lucky Charm says so? “Here’s an empty box, Mothy. You know what that means!“ “Who says it’s not your earrings that should be inside that box?!“

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

Speaking of Marinette’s subplot, can her parents be more supportive when she needs them the most? Yes, her promise is definitely outrageous and they are on time crunch with prior commitment but can’t they work on a compromise? If they can’t do a big feast, they can still do a small feast. They are not feeding the school, just the class. Besides, Tom destroyed Marinette’s birthday cake three times in Befana but he managed to deliver in the end.

Sabine gives good advice - being truthful *is* a heroic act, but peer pressure is a thing and Marinette doesn’t like to disappoint people. Also, she has anxiety and tends to overthink. You know what people with anxiety and overthinking end up doing when people reassure them everything will be fine? They don’t believe you because they already thought of the worst possible situation.

Marinette is not acting stubborn when she insists she can do the baking all by herself. Her stubbornness masks her panic. She can bake but she fails bc her mind is all over the place. If you can’t focus, nothing comes out right.

Anyway, let’s not solve the subplot and skip ahead to the picnic scene!

Let’s have Adrien, the one with the moral compass despite not deserving of it, tell Marinette how she’s been helpful to everyone so we can get the Adrinette cheek kiss scene which makes everyone happy and forget the disaster even happened. Honestly, it’s more significant if everyone individually tell Marinette about her good deeds but that requires time and we have none.

Really, how do you look at the season finale and think it’s great when the pacing is terrible? Mothygreste’s plans are basically a giant publicity stunt.

You think I’m done with this?

When I wish for interactions between the kids, I wish for interactions between kids who are not Marinette with kids who are not Marinette, specifically Adrien interacting with other characters.

We see Marinette interact with almost everyone in the show, from the children, to the friends, and to the adults, but we don’t see others interacting unless Marinette happens to be there.

Adrien has two goals in Origins. He want to attend school like everyone else and he want to make friends like everyone else. Despite fulfilling his goals, I feel something is missing about his friendships.

That’s right, we don’t see Adrien’s interactions with his friends.

ADRIEN + NINO

Nino is Adrien’s best friend but how many times have they interacted with each other on screen? Nowadays, when we see Nino, he’s usually with Alya. We still see Alya hang out with Marinette so it’s not like she’s attached to Nino’s hip. (In light of S3, maybe Alya does want to attach herself to Nino’s hip.)

Nino is unfortunately a character that can’t exist on his own. In S1, he exists if Adrien exists. In S2, he exists if Alya exists. The Carapace episode? It’s not even about him. He has to prove himself to Alya’s older sister, Nora, who is not convinced he can protect Alya. In Alya’s episode, we see how Alya interacts with her younger twin sisters, Ella and Etta. In Chloe’s episodes, we see how she interact with her parents.

In Nino’s episode, we don’t learn anything about him, his family or his backstory. If we are exploring the themes of protection, why not focus on Nino protecting his family or forced to fight them in order to protect them? Alya has to fight her sisters, Chloe has to fight her parents, Adrien has to fight his father, Marinette has to fight her grandmother, so why is Nino not fighting anyone close to him?

I love the episode Anansi. I love that Nino loves Alya that he’s willing to risk his safety in order to save her, despite being tossed around and having a one-on-one fight with Anansi. Even when Ladybug tells him to stay out of danger, he still runs after Alya.

However, we have a pattern that episodes focusing on the new holders involves their family so if this is the one chance for us to be introduced to Nino’s family, grab the chance! It’s always possible to see Nino’s parents without focusing on Nino, similar to how we are introduced to Alya’s parents without her as the focus, but do I dare hope when the writers don’t seem to care about Nino?

///

Anyway, let’s talk about Adrien and Nino’s friendship.

Remember the scene in Malediktator where the school celebrates Chloe leaving Paris? Who leads the party because he’s the DJ? Nino Lahiffe.

When Adrien comes in and sees the school celebrating, the only person he calls out is Marinette since she happens to be nearby. He should have seen Nino up there on the stage and call him out as well. How dare his best friend celebrates his childhood best friend leaving Paris? That’s wrong!

In Nino’s defense if he’s actually confronted by Adrien, Chloe may be Adrien’s friend but she is nobody’s friend at school. Not because she’s not capable of making friends, but because she considers everyone to be beneath her since she’s the Mayor’s daughter.

Also, she calls them losers when she stops by at the school. I thought Adrien should know that before he goes around telling people what’s right or wrong.

This is an excellent opportunity for conflict to happen because Adrien has to consider if risking his friendship with Nino is worth it if he remains on Chloe’s side. He admits that her behaviour isn’t positive and she’s likely won’t change for the better, but him being okay with it doesn’t mean everyone’s okay with it.

Adrien doesn’t get threatened by Chloe, but everyone else does.

There’s a scene in Origins where Adrien asks, ‘Why does everyone keep telling me this?‘, after Marinette asks if he’s friends with Chloe. Previously, Nino also asks if he’s one of Chloe’s friends.

I wish the show has a scene where Adrien asks Nino why people are cautious of him just because Chloe is his friend. The latter can explain that Chloe has been misusing her father’s influence to get what she wants throughout collège, so if one of her rich and influential friends attending the same school as her, won’t the likelihood of this friend behaving exactly like her is high?

Adrien can dispute these claims by explaining to Nino about his struggles. “My father says I can ask him for anything, but when I ask to go to school and make new friends, he says no. I have to sneak out of the house twice just to get here. I don’t blame you for thinking I behave like Chloe since Chloe is... like that, but some of us still have to struggle for what we want. Father always decide what’s best for me but for the first time in my life, I want to make my own decisions.”

I don’t expect Adrien to go into the deep aspects of his life (his mother going missing, his father’s behaviour changing, etc), but I wish he’s honest with his thoughts instead of think everything is a-okay. It can be tough to share one’s thoughts when one’s been raised to suppress one’s feelings because Gabriel has no qualms saying his son is oversensitive, but we all start somewhere.

///

One of the things that bothers me about Adrien is his lack of struggles when making friends. One can argue, ‘Well, he’s a popular model and everyone knows him since his face is plastered all over Paris, from newspapers, to billboards to a freaking blimp!‘ but is that the friendship he wants?

If Adrien isn’t rich, isn’t influential, isn’t popular, isn’t a model, isn’t skillful -- do people still want to be friends with him? Chloe’s interested in him because he’s rich and popular, Lila’s interested in him because he’s handsome and popular, Kagami won’t even know him if he’s not the best fencer of the school, and Wayhem? He’s a fanboy who goes all out, even with matching clothes.

Adrien doesn’t have a story to call his own. Everyone sees him as Adrien the son of Gabriel Agreste, the famous fashion designer, or Adrien the popular model slash teenage heartthrob. When does he get to be just Adrien?

(If anyone reply saying ‘This is why Adrien likes to become Chat Noir since he gets to be his true self!’, I’m sorry, but get that argument far away from me.)

ADRIEN + MARINETTE

I am pleasantly surprised in Origins when Marinette has no idea who Adrien is (despite Gabriel being her favourite designer; Adrien is the brand’s face) and calls him out after seeing him do suspicious stuffs. Nino is not interested with Adrien when he sees him with Chloe, but Marinette doesn’t even know he’s friends with Chloe until she mock laughs at her.

If Adrien is a stranger caught in a misunderstanding, he can explain himself and Marinette will understand. However, realizing that Adrien’s friends with Chloe, it makes sense if she assumes the worst of his character.

“But she doesn’t even know him!“

Just like Nino who refuses to shake Adrien’s hand when the latter introduces himself, Marinette also refuses to listen to Adrien’s explanation because their first impression of Adrien is influenced by their thoughts of Chloe.

Adrien is rich, like Chloe. Adrien is the son of someone influential, like Chloe. Adrien is friends with Chloe. If Chloe is like that, Adrien must also be like that.

There’s multiple ways for things to happen in the Umbrella Scene.

1) Adrien goes to Marinette to explain that Chloe is responsible for the gum. He apologizes, but doesn’t explain his circumstances. Marinette still assumes he’s like Chloe but at least has the guts to apologize to her.

2) Adrien goes to Marinette to scold her for accusing him without a proof. He states that it’s Chloe's fault, not his. Then, he nags about how he’s trying to help remove the gum from her seat and this is the thanks that he gets from Marinette? Obviously they never speak anymore after that.

3) Adrien is afraid to approach Marinette so he doesn’t take the chance to clear up the misunderstanding and days passed. Both of them continue to assume the wrong things about each other since they don’t make the effort to talk.

Fortunately, Adrien listens to Nino’s advice and tells Marinette the truth. Adrien explains about the gum incident, shares his feelings on his inexperience since everything is new to him and offers his umbrella so she can get home safe.

///

While I appreciate the symbolic meaning of Origins being the S1 season finale, there are times I wish Origins have been the beginning because I like Marinette and Adrien’s dynamics.

My issue with the current dynamic? The narrative plays a lot into ‘the girl with the intense crush and the guy who is a popular model’ trope. It’s a common trope in romance. However, the narrative portrays Marinette’s crush towards Adrien as a negative thing. I have seen arguments against Marinette saying that she’s obsessive, borderline creepy and places Adrien on a pedestal.

The narrative wants us to believe Marinette falls in love with Adrien for his kindness, but why do we see her portrayed to be more in love with his face?

If Marinette (and everyone else) sees Adrien as perfect, it is because that is what the narrative wants her (and everyone else) to see. The narrative doesn’t give Adrien the chance to screw up (and even if he did, it’s never addressed) so how is it even possible for Marinette to see the imperfect side of Adrien?

So, let’s consider:

Marinette has low self-esteem and low self-confidence, possibly with little to no friends due to years of Chloe’s bullying, until Alya, her new friend, intervenes on her behalf and encourages her to stand up for herself.

Adrien leads a sheltered life; never attending school, no friends to call his own, his life's a schedule. Nino, his new friend, encourages him to talk to Marinette and suggests addressing the gum incident as a conversation starter.

Marinette and Adrien start off as strangers who end up in a misunderstanding, thankfully resolved through honesty and kindness. Despite being each other’s new friend, neither have much experience with close friendships. However, with their friends’ encouragement, they make the effort to interact with each other.

Marinette may feel awkward to interact with Adrien, remembering her reaction with the gum incident. ‘Alya, he apologizes to me, but I didn’t! What will he think of me if I don’t apologize? I’m also at fault.’ Alya, even Nino as well, reassures her that Adrien doesn’t think ill of her and it’s okay if she wants to talk to him.

Adrien also hesitates to talk to Marinette out of fear of offending her just like the gum incident. ‘What if I say something wrong and she snaps at me? I’m not saying she will do that because she’s a nice person, but what if I am extremely bad at talking? It’s not like I talk to people all the time.’ Nino reminds him that if he can talk to Marinette about the gum, he can talk to her about other things.

Alya and Nino forge an alliance after realizing their friends need dire help. As Alya is also a new student to the school, she has a lot of conversation starters. When she talks to Nino, she includes Marinette and Adrien, often asking for their thoughts and help them converse with each other.

It’s a slow start, but as it steadily grows, eventually the results make its presence known.

In developing Adrien and Marinette’s relationship, we also see the development of Adrien and Nino’s, as well as Marinette and Alya’s friendships (plus Adrien + Alya and Marinette + Nino, you get the idea).

After all, the four of them are not long time friends. Alya and Adrien are the new kids, Nino and Marinette are the existing kids who may have known of each other but not close.

In other words, it’s not just Adrien and Marinette who have to get to know each other. Nino and Alya also have their work cut out for them.

ADRIEN + CHLOE

In S1, Adrien and Chloe are childhood friends but they are not close. Adrien even show visible discomfort when Chloe invades his personal space. During Origins, Adrien tells Nino that Chloe is his only friend but later tells Marinette that he has no friends.

In S2, Adrien and Chloe’s relationship is retconned into childhood best friends who are close. However, Chloe tells her mother that Sabrina is her only friend, but to Ladybug that nobody is her friend.

The narrative wants us to believe they are friends but makes no effort to show them interacting despite having the chance to do so in the first place.

In Queen Wasp, Chat Noir says he understands the reasons behind Chloe’s actions. He knows it’s difficult to impress one’s parents, since he also has a tough time impressing his father. But, is it worth endangering others’ lives?

He could have said, ‘I understand you did it to impress your mother, but what you did was dangerous. Superheroes are supposed to protect the people of Paris, not create a situation and endanger them in the process.’

‘You are not a bad person, Chloe. You can change for the better. Besides, you did help us fight against the Papillon’s akumas before. It means you have what it takes to become a superhero, but it has to come from a genuine place.‘

Chloe may not know that Chat Noir is Adrien, but the latter knows Chloe. While Chloe tends to listen to Ladybug and dismisses Chat Noir, if the latter says that he believes in her potential, she will feel appreciated since now another person believes in her.

However, change takes time. I don’t expect Chloe to do a 180 ° turn and instantly becomes a better person. Mistakes are still bound to happen.

In Malediktator, why didn’t Chloe personally tell Adrien that she’s leaving? Why did it take Adrien coming back after lunch to discover that she’s gone and the school is celebrating her leaving? While he doesn’t agree with the way they are celebrating, he understands why they are keen to celebrate. However, instead of scolding Marinette, Adrien should have reached out for Chloe.

‘Chloe, you’re leaving for New York and didn’t bother telling me? Do you not consider me as a friend any more? Remember when I was grounded by my father for losing his book? I personally messaged you about that. I could have informed the school and Ms Bustier could have told everyone that I couldn’t go back to school, but I personally told you so you don’t have to worry about my whereabouts. I don’t understand why you didn’t do the same for me.‘

They go back and forth, with Chloe complaining that everyone hates her and she’s better off without them, while Adrien tells her that she still have friends and they don’t want her to leave.

‘I’m your friend! Sabrina is also your friend! We don’t hate you! Are you saying that you are okay leaving your friends behind without telling them? We are not objects that can be discarded as you please.’

While I understand why Ladybug talks to Chloe so she can give her the Bee Miraculous, I feel it’s more significant if Adrien talks to Chloe about what happened with their classmates and the state of their friendship.

Later, Chat Noir can suggest to Ladybug that they need Chloe’s help if they want to defeat akumatized Andre. Chloe doesn’t understand why Chat Noir vouch for her but Ladybug tells her since Andre is akumatized because of Chloe, she can do the right thing by helping them to defeat him.

Thus, when we see Chat Noir give Chloe the Bee Miraculous in Catalyst, it won’t feel odd to see they casually talk to one another.

In this essay, I only focused on Adrien’s interactions with his friends since his is clearly lacking the most despite being one of the main protagonists. However, there are other interactions the show could have explored.

Reverser is a good example where the plot is focused on Marc and Nathaniel, not Marinette. We still see Marinette play a role in helping Marc, but we also see Alix help Nathaniel by becoming his listening ear. After snapping and ripping off Marc’s book, Nathaniel could have just stormed off, believing his actions were correct. However, he went to Alix for advice. Alix, as his friend, could have blindly agree with Nathaniel, but she offers a different perspective to explain Marc and Marinette’s intentions. Later, they assisted Ladybug and Chat Noir in defeating Reverser. After reconciling with each other, Marc and Nathaniel create a comic book and dedicate the first issue to Marinette.

The show is capable of featuring stories about the kids interacting with other kids so I hope we get to see more of them in the future. Personally, I rather see the kids interact with each other instead of being slapped in the face with angst.

#zue's metas #consider this the last time i write a long essay #it took me 11 days #i have more to write but my head wants to kill me already #yes this is the friendship essay

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thetemperamentalcat · 5 years

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Daenerys and how I wanted it to go (Long but please read)

After reading posts and articles on Daenerys and her becoming the Mad Queen there is some logic in her becoming mad. She has demonstrated in the past a willingness to enact violence and death onto others. However she has also shown a great deal of empathy and kindness to others. For the first 6 seasons she has balanced between these two states. The seventh season is a bit iffy but in my opinion there isn’t anything that rivals what the rest of the Queens, Kings, Ladies and Lords of Westeros have done.

The eighth season rolls around and . . . .

It was just rushed and I feel like we’re missing a few episodes in which we get to see her descend into madness. There isn’t much to draw from in the first three episodes of season 8. Episode 4 was very weak in doing anything useful. Missandei, her best friend, just got beheaded in front of her. Of course she is going to be angry and upset.

I think what would have been really interesting for season 5 is to see Daenerys falter in her desire for the Iron Throne. Everything she had gained throughout these 6 (maybe 7) seasons she has lost or mostly lost. Where she vacillates between anger, grief, paranoia and doubt. And worked into these emotions are tinges of the infamous Targaryen madness.

First she is angry and talks about burning the Red Keep or just razing the entire city. (This would of course greatly concern Varys who goes off to write letters) Her anger eventually dissipates into grief.

And in her grief she may sometimes forget Missandei died and sometimes be in denial of that. Tyrion and Varys correct her of that fact and this causes her to go where she feels safest and isolate herself. Perhaps curled against Drogon, her last child. Maybe she talks to him.

Then Jon arrives and she sees him talking to Varys. Daenerys accuses Jon, Varys and Tyrion of plotting against her. Which Varys actually is. (Side note: Tyrion and Varys learn about Jon’s parentage from someone else other than Sansa. Does she not remember the last time she told a Lannister something thinking it would help her??)

Daenerys accuses Tyrion of being a secret Lannister Loyalist and Jon of using and manipulating her. At this point, Varys finally says to her face he doesn’t think she’s fit to rule. She shoots back that its because she isn’t male. Varys answers that while that may partly be it but also he sees her brother in her - more specifically Viserys. He paints her a picture of her ruling the ashes, of ire and blood, and every house or what is left them bowing down because “We wouldn’t want to wake the dragon now do we?”

Daenerys visibly flinches as if Varys had hit her. Because she remembers her brother. She remembers his arrogance, his cruelty and his madness. She remembers her fear of him. She has never wanted to become him. These words make her sick to her stomach and they drain her.

But to the three men she is unreadable. There is a long stretch of silence. And then, she give a command. For them and everyone else to go home or go where ever they wish. She will stay in Dragonstone for now and if they stay they will have her protection. She is giving up.

Tyrion protests and says she is the Queen.

Daenerys says “Queen, King. Anyone can call themselves thus. But it doesn’t matter. Power, true power, comes from the people and their love I have no love outside these walls only fear.”

The three men leave and converse with one another. Tyrion is, of course, concerned. He truly believes Daenerys would be a good queen. And he begins to doubt himself and his ability to serve her. He talks about him believing himself to be clever but maybe that was a trick he played on himself. Tyrion, the character who always valued and found pride in his intelligence, is starting to doubt himself.

Varys is cautious and regretful. He hadn’t expected this reaction from her. Dragon fire raining down from above? Yes. To be eaten by a dragon? Yes. To have his throat slit open by Grey Worm? Yes. He wonders if perhaps he was too hasty in his actions and decisions of trying to overthrow Daenerys. He never thought she would give up.

But Jon is not doubtful. He’s shocked by Daenerys’ actions and angry with Tyrion and Varys. They have stood by and done nothing. Varys makes a token effort of saying Daenerys talked about bringing the sky down onto King’s Landing. Jon snaps back and asks if they hadn’t thought she was angry because Daenerys had just lost her child and couldn’t protect her friend. Jon talks about what he did and what he wanted to do to Ramay Bolton. And that if there were any Frey left alive what he would do to him. If his friends hadn’t stopped him Jon would have joined Robb’s army and who knows where they would be if he had. That if it is madness to want blind vengeance on those who have harmed you and yours then it is better to be mad then what the two of them are. Jon storms off.

Jon and Daenerys have a heart to heart. A real one. She’s tired and talks about all she’s lost. She didn’t think she would lose this much. She also talks about Viserys. And most of all she wants to go home. She talks about a place with a red door and a lemon tree. Jon suggests they go and leave. Daenerys asks if even that would break his oaths. Jon says he is upholding his vow and she’s his queen.

Daenerys says she isn’t a queen. Jon just says the words “My Queen”. They have an intense stare before they are interrupted by Tyrion and Varys.

They have a new plan. She doesn’t want to hear it. But Tyrion tells her Cersei can’t stay queen. (Side note: Let’s assume that Cersei has been shown to become mad even though most of her screen time was just staring out a window and smirking. Sorry Lena Headey, you deserved better than this.) The people will suffer under her rule. They may not wear chains but they will be Cersei’s slaves nonetheless.

Daenerys turns to Varys. He looks at her and then bends the knee. End episode.

#got #game of thrones #got spoilers #game of thrones spoilers #opinion #daenerys targaryen #jon snow #tyrion lannister #deserved better #spoilers #they deserve better #they all deserved better

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scarletraven1001 · 6 years

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Greenish

05 - “Wait a minute. Are you jealous?”

A post-Buu saga Vegebul one-shot for prompt #5 on this post, requested by @heeyyy-macarena and @venitia89.

I hope you all like it!

Also on Ao3.

All Fics in this Series: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9

8-8-8-8-8

Greenish

8-8-8-8-8

Chichi was surprisingly interesting.

Vegeta supposed, that he could now understand what Kakarot had seen in the very simple and rather excitable female.

He had never really spoken to her before. He never made it a habit to speak to women, never mind women that belonged to his rivals.

However, Gohan, the little smartass, had told him that on Earth, it was customary to be on somewhat friendly terms with their significant other’s friends, and from what he could see, Chichi was Bulma’s most usual companion.

He had been discretely trying to be a more accommodating husband ever since the Buu fiasco, and he supposed that the rather intelligent son of Kakarot may have been on to something.

Thus, when the dark-haired housewife had sat down on a chair near him while they were in Capsule Corp for a backyard picnic, he cleared his throat, and stupidly floundered around for something to say.

To say that Chichi had been shocked, would have been an understatement.

He smelled her surprise that bordered on distress, and he had almost abandoned his attempt to be sociable when she smiled and said something back.

It was not long before he realized that Gohan’s brain may have been passed down from this lady, since it clearly was not from Kakarot.

She had home-schooled her son and somehow turned him into a boy who was at the top of his class. He had to applaud her for that.

She was smart, rather amusing, and had an acceptable knowledge of fighting techniques.

Also, she had once pushed Kakarot off a floating cloud. That was hilarious.

“… and so, I told Goku-sa that unless he cleaned up the whole place, he was not getting any dinner. And I tell ya, I have never seen the house so spotless before!” Chichi laughed.

Vegeta smirked. “Good. Let him earn his keep. I, personally, work for Bulma as a Product Tester, as she calls it.”

Chichi blinked. “Really? I had no idea, Vegeta-san.”

“It is not common knowledge,” he answered. “And it is not a difficult job. All I need to do is try to break things or stay standing after missile blasts. I find it rather enjoyable.”

The dark-haired woman sighed. “I wish I could get Goku-sa to keep a stable job.”

“Perhaps you could find something that is closer to his natural skills,” he said. “Something that is related to fighting.”

“Or eating!”

Vegeta threw his head back, releasing a throaty laugh. Chichi laughed loudly along with him, hand on her chest as her giggles rose up.

As his laughter subsided, Vegeta looked up, and saw, from somewhere off to the side, that his lovely wife was standing still, watching him with her large blue eyes as he spoke to her friend.

He gave her a smirk.

However, he was rather surprised when she didn’t smile back as she usually did, and only turned away, handing Trunks another slab of barbeque.

Odd.

8-8-8-8-8

It was late in the evening, and all of their guests had already gone home.

For the very first time, Vegeta found that he actually had a pleasant time at an Earth gathering, but at the end of the day, all he truly wanted was to have his wife to himself again.

He had showered, and now he sat up in bed, waiting for Bulma to finish washing up so they could go to sleep.

Or… possibly… go to bed and not sleep.

She emerged from their bathroom, short blue hair still damp, soft cheeks flushed from the hot water of her bath.

He stared up at her as she moved to their cabinets, and she quickly pulled out some comfy underwear and a pair of her thick, white pajama sets, before she walked to the changing screen to dress up.

His brows furrowed.

Something felt… off.

He couldn’t quite put a finger on what it was, but even though her motions appeared normal, Vegeta had a sneaking suspicion that there was something wrong with Bulma.

He kept a neutral front up as she walked out from behind the screen, and watched as she quietly sat on the bed, fluffing up her pillow and pulling her sheets up before she laid down.

Without a word. With her back facing him.

His brows furrowed further, until he was sure that his thick eyebrows had probably merged into one thick black line at the center of his forehead.

Something was up.

He needed to tread lightly.

“Oi. Bulma,” he called.

She just sighed deeply. “Good night, Vegeta.”

What in the universe was wrong with Bulma?

“Are you alright?” he asked, concern mixing in with his confusion.

“Yes. Go to sleep.”

Now he was worried.

“No. Something is wrong. You are usually much chattier than this before we go to sleep,” he said.

He watched as her shoulders turned rigid, one hand curling into the blanket where it lay upon the side of her hip.

“Well why don’t you fly off and ask Chichi to chat with you?” she hissed.

Vegeta was even more confused now.

“Kakarot’s wife? Why would I want her to…”

Vegeta trailed off, eyes wide in stunned disbelief.

Could it possibly be…?

“Wait a minute,” he muttered, astonishment coloring his every syllable. “Bulma… Are you jealous?”

“No.”

Her single-word answer, and the speed with which she replied, told him otherwise.

“You are!” he accused, eyes narrowing as he smirked in delight. “You are jealous! Do not even try to deny it, woman.”

“I am not-”

“Bulma, I have lived with you for a decade,” he said. “We have a son. Do you honestly think that I do not know you well enough to tell when you are lying?”

She harrumphed, before she pointedly shifted so that her back remained facing him, and her face was nearly buried in her pillow.

Vegeta grinned menacingly.

This was going to be fun.

“Oi. Bulmaaa,” he nagged, darkly delighted at this interesting development. “Admit it, you are jealous of Kakarot’s woman.”

She ignored him.

“Why are you jealous? Come now, was it not you who told me,” he paused, before adopting a higher pitched tone, mimicking her as best as he could. “Vegeta, you can’t ignore everyone all the time. We need to talk, Vegeta! Vegeta, you’re so quiet, you’re such a snob! Vege-”

“Alright!” she yelled, finally rolling over, before she sat up to face him head on. “I got jealous. Happy now?”

“Why? She is Kakarot’s wife,” he asked, genuinely confounded.

Bulma’s cheeks turned red as she met his gaze.

“It’s stupid,” she pouted

Vegeta smirked. “If it was so stupid, it would not bother you so much. Come now, woman, tell me,” he said, as his smirk widened into a full-blown evil grin. “Before your hair adopts that permanently greenish tint.”

Bulma twiddled her thumbs together, a gesture that Vegeta found strangely endearing. “You were talking for an hour. An hour, Vegeta. And you were both laughing so much. And I remembered how long it took me to get you to even smile at me, and to see you so relaxed, so quickly...”

He rolled his eyes. “You do realize that the only reason I even spoke to her was for you, do you not?”

It seemed to be Bulma’s turn to be confused. “Huh?”

“I was told that it was preferable here on Earth for spouses to be on pleasant terms with each other’s acquaintances,” he explained. “I saw that Chichi was one of your closest ones, and so I decided to speak to her. Was I… Was I mistaken, then?”

Bulma’s cheeks suddenly lost their angry red hue at his words. “You… you did it… for me?”

“Of course,” he scoffed. “Have you ever known me to actively seek out conversation? I did it because I did not want you to look bad, as you say when I behave inappropriately.”

“You did something you are uncomfortable with… for me?” she whispered, her eyes now wide and slightly watery, making Vegeta panic.

He raised his hands in a placating manner. “Woman, do not even think of shedding tears at this. I have died for you and Trunks… this was truly nothing.”

“I’m sorry, Vegeta,” Bulma sniffled, reaching out to hold him.

He felt her wrap her arms around his neck as she buried her face onto his chest, and he lifted a hand to place it onto her head, gently stroking her hair.

“I feel terrible. You were just trying to do something for me, and I was being stupid about it. I’m sorry.”

“Forgiven. I understand,” he said softly, before a grin snaked onto his lips again. “After all, if I were a woman who had managed to land a man as irresistible as myself, I would be insecure, as well.”

She pulled back at that, lightly slapping his chest in irritation, making him laugh heartily at the annoyed look on her face.

“Vegeta, I’m serious!” she cried. “I’m sorry.”

He smirked. “You truly need not ever be jealous, Bulma. You are my wife, and the only one I would ever think of sharing intimacy with. Besides, believe me, Chichi is the last woman you should ever be jealous of.”

“Why is that?”

“That woman and I are very much alike. We would likely clash in a horrifying way. We are both fighters, both born into royalty and now have no lands or subjects to speak of. She is an ambitious woman who had given up on many of her dreams as she found her place with her family, as I have forsaken thoughts of universal domination in favor of settling down here on Earth with you and Trunks,” he explained. “And above all… she is Kakarot’s wife.”

Bulma winced. “When you put it that way, I feel even worse for being jealous.”

He sighed. “Woman, if you ever think about feeling jealous once again, remember this…”

She stared intently at him as he held her by the arms, making sure that he had her full attention as he spoke.

“Bulma,” he began. “I would fight the gods themselves for you. You are the only woman I would ever choose to be with. I have eyes for no one else. And I shall never seek to be with anyone else.”

Her lips trembled slightly, before she smiled… a beautiful, bright smile that lit up the room with its vibrancy, making Vegeta realize once again that he truly had, somehow, managed to find the one woman who had been made especially for him.

She was perfect. And he would never, ever forget that.

Bulma leaned forward to wrap him into another hug, her grip tight and secure as she breathed onto the skin of his neck.

“I love you,” she murmured.

“Hn,” he replied as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

He felt her leave a soft kiss on his shoulder, and he grinned as he felt another… and another…

“So, Vegeta…” she murmured against his skin, and he felt her touch change from its earlier warm comfort into a sizzling caress.

Her fingers trailed along his shoulders as she leaned up, and he hissed when he felt her teeth nibble along the shell of his ear.

“How about I show you exactly how sorry I am for today?” she whispered seductively.

Vegeta grinned.

Perhaps, he should speak to Bulma’s friends more often.

8-8-8-8-8

End

#vegebul #vegebul fanfiction #vegebul fanfic #prompt fic #one shot #db fanfic #vegeta #bulma #dragon ball #fluffy fic #scarletraven fanfiction

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theramseyloft · 6 years

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For those wanting to breed or foster pets:

The price and screening process for a pet is meant to be a safety net to prevent your baby from going to some one who will not take good care of it.

But once that baby is out of your hands, there is no guarantee that the quality of its care will continue.

Here is a recent example, my response to it, and my thoughts in parentheses.

For context, This is not just some one asking for advice out of the blue. They purchased the cock from me to breed to their hen.

This first conversation follows a detailed genetic discussion of what makes the pair (A blond Cock who carries white and a Dark/wild pied hen) sex linked.

Long explanation very, very short, this pair can only throw Dark/wild cocks and blond or white hens.

It is physically impossible for Darks to be female out of that pair.

And it is physically impossible for Blonds and whites to be male.

(The next topic I plan on starting is one on Ringneck genetics, so that explanation is coming, sweet hearts.)

Client: So interesting! So the blonde pied who I swear is a boy is actually female? She has never laid an egg and is very dominant just like ziggy treats daisy. Lol you just answered my question before I typed it. Daisy is the mom. That's why I'm so fascinated by all of this.

Dove mom: Yep. It is literally impossible for any blond or white offspring of Ziggy and Daisy's to be male. Blond cocks can only throw blond male offspring when paired to a white or another blond.

Client: Could they be any other color besides blonde- the pied babies I mean. Is it weird she hasn't laid an egg is 1 year old and mates the other birds. I read doves can be gay and they don't really know sex...but she acts 100% male. You should write a book!!

Dove-mom: Ringnecks do not flock. When sexually mature ringnecks are in a bigger group than an opposite sex pair, they fight. It can be mistaken for cuddling, because Ringnecks have two specific modes for fighting. Cocks typically box and bite and overtly dominate. Hens fight a war of attrition by trying to elbow eachother out of the space they want. It looks like cuddling, but mated pairs of ringnecks do not choose to cuddle together in a nest. At most, they stand shoulder to shoulder on a perch. They do NOT lean on eachother when they do this. Leaning on the other bird is an attempt to shove it. When doves are kept in a group long term, though, the stress causes them to effect behaviors of the opposite sex as a defense mechanism. More aggressive hens will attack other birds overtly by boxing, biting, and chasing like a cock. Gentler cocks will be cowed into expressing hen behavior to avoid attack. The larger the group, the younger new babies are cowed into silent docility.

No, hens out of that pair can only be blond or white. Pied is an autosomal recessive gene that alters pattern. A blond pied is still blond, and thus female.

Client: That makes sense. I'm still curious as to why th ziggy is being so kind to the babies. They all even clean each other. My first 3 Clean each other too. All this time they seem like best buddies. But it sounds like I'm wrong.

Dove Mom: Ringneck doves are NOT social. They HATE other doves they are not mated to, including their own weaned children. Ringnecks are Viciously territorial because ALL encounters with ANY dove other than their mate are direct threats to their nest, mate, and young.

Life revolves around the nest for ringnecks. No matter how many you give a group, only one can be The Best. Even if all nests are identical in every aspect, there is only one Best location. Only the biggest, fittest, most aggressive cock can defend it, and thus his wife and peeps from all comers. Likewise, only the biggest, toughest hen can outlast all the other hens to keep the nest.

If another cock fights of the resident, he doesn't just get the nest.

He also gets the toughest hen! She will NOT accept her former husband if he loses.

In the fight betwen hens, who ever leaves first for what ever reason loses her claim, not just to her nest, but to the biggest, strongest, meanest cock. If the resident hen leaves to eat, drink or poop, she forfeits her claim and her former husband will help his tougher new wife chase her off.

Stakes are HIGH in ringneck encounters! So the mere presence of other doves able to make physical contact with a pair is about like having them live in a flight with a hawk or snake.

Ziggy is being unusually patient, but that;s because you have taken the previous babies out in a timely fashion up to this point and he expects them to be gone soon.

Client: Wow. At the first sign of aggressive behavior from him I removed the babies. But since I haven't seen this yet I held off. Maybe it's best if I remove them this weekend.

Dove Mom: While his wife is not stressed by them, he's tolerant. For now, there is enough food. She isn't feeding new babies yet, and the current babies are too young to be rivals. The second any of that changes, he will turn on them.

You may need to put the cock-ish hen by herself with calcium suppliments. Stress and malnutrition are the only things that prevent egg laying in ringnecks, regardless of the presence of a cock to fertilize them.

Client: You know what's also strange. The cockish hen sits on the eggs like a male while the hen eats etc...

I'm getting ready to pick up my son I will respond back in a little bit . there's a lot of weird things going on maybe it's just because I've never witnessed so many birds interact with each other before.

Dove Mom: Nah. Same sex hen pairs always do that.

Both sexes have an equal hand in rearing eggs, so there is literally no difference between the way cocks and hens set.

The lady wife gets off, and the cockish girl get on because it's her turn, just like it would be if her mate were male.

---------------------------------------------------------------

A few weeks pass, and the Client contacts me again.

Client: Hello my friend! I hope this finds you well. I'm sorry I didn't respond sooner. I really hate to bother you with another question but if you don't mind- one of my babies is constantly fluffed like he's freezing. He's the only one. Tonight I put a heater by the cage. But could this be a sign of something else? Everyone is healthy and I've only seen this when they are cold. Our temperature has dropped like crazy in the last week and that's exactly when this happened. He cuddles under my scarf and is so sweet. But in the cage is just a big fluffy baby. What can can I do? Could it be something more?

I tried searching for answers before I bothered you but I came up with nothing.

(Note: For those who want to get started breeding, this nervous language is a red flag. Not that they looked for answers on their own, but that they did that before they “bothered” me. Watch the pattern as the conversation continues, and you’ll see why this was an inkling of something being wrong.)

Dove mom: You aren't bothering me,hon, I promise.

But yes. Fluffing is a sign of cold and general discomfort. Feeling cold can be caused by more than a drop in the actual temperature.

Birds who are sick often fluff up, and so do birds who are stressed. To know which it is for sure, move the baby into a hospital enclosure with food and water.

If, upon realizing that its alone, it perks up and its feathers smooth, then it was distressed, likely by harassment from the other doves.

If it remains foofed, add heat.

If the bird remains foofed, then it isn't just cold and something is physically wrong.

How does the baby feel in your hand?

Does the muscle tone of its chest and belly match that of the other doves?

Client: I will do this now. I started heat last night but haven't seen improvement. The other birds do not bother him at all. But he weighs much less than his brother. And seems cold when I handle him. He likes to sit under my scarf.

(Other birdS?! Plural?! Who don’t bother him... but he has mysteriously lost an apparently drastic amount of weight?)

I have been feeding him sunflowers started last night and he is eatting. If I remove him from the cage and if he turns around will I be able to put him back in once he's better?

(Put him. BACK?! With other doveS, plural?! After all the time I took to warn you that they they DON”T flock, AND he’s visibly lost weight?!)

He was actually the bigger baby and within the last week I've noticed he is now the smaller one.

(SIGNIFICALNTLY LOST WEIGHT!!! That you noticed A WEEK AGO!!!)

Dove mom: How many other birds live in the cage he was removed from?

Client: 3 others. Mom dad and brother. But ziggy prunes the babies just like he does with daisy and there's no fighting or meanness at all. The cage is large with 3 food and water containers. It's about 4ft wide and 3ft tall. They each have their own perch although at times they eat together and sit together. It's a very interesting thing to watch. Even my mom comments on how friendly they all are. I've been waiting to see if ziggy turns on them but he hasn't yet. I've witnessed him do that with our other birds, so I know what to look for but he hasn't done it yet.

(Three. Others. His PARENTS!!! and little sister. That you said you were going to move DAMN NEAR A MONTH AGO!!!)

(Really. No meanness. You don’t fucking say.)

(Even your mom notices how friendly they are. Is your mom a fucking DOVE BEHAVIOR SPECIALIST!?!?!?!)

(And yet, out of fucking nowhere, this child, who was the larger baby, is now VISIBLY SMALLER AND COLD TO THE FUCKING TOUCH!!!)

(I WARNED YOU!!! IWARNEDYOUIWARNEDYOUIWARNEDYOU THIS IS WHAT I WAS TRYING TO PREVENT!!!)

(How many more days would you have waited?! Why did my fucking grand baby have to suffer emaciation for you to take the fucking warning sereously?!)

(Do you realize how close he is to DYING!?)

(I WAS TRYING TO *PREVENT* THIS!!!)

Dove mom: I have already warned you that ringnecks do not flock and that ringneck unrest does not always look like fighting.

I have also told you that an adult breeding pair does not care how big the enclosure is. ALL of the space they can physically reach belongs to that pair, and they do not want other birds sharing it with them.

That squeaker did not just suddenly lose weight for no reason.

That is the consequence of a young bird having been quietly menaced into shut down and largely barred from eating.

That is a thing that Ringnecks do.

I am begging you, please do not put him back afterwards.

Let his patents keep their win, because that is what this is to Ziggy and Daisy.

That squeaker, and his sister, will die, very miserably slowly, if they are forced to keep living with their parents.

Now that the son is gone, attention will turn to their daughter, and she will "mysteriously" lose weight.

Please, please, I am begging you, do not put him back.

Either now or after he recovers.

Ringnecks HATE other ringnecks and pairs MUST be kept by themselves.

Client: Ok. I will remove the other baby today. I found a new home for one of our birds and now I just have two youngest and their 2 older sisters. I hate to ask this but can these babies be in a cage with their 2 older sisters? I don't have space for another large so I need to determine my plan of action once the baby gets well. I have a smaller hospital cage but it wouldn't very large enough to live in.

(indistinct noises of the Dove Mom suffering an aneurysm.)

(WHY ARE YOU BREEDING THEM WHEN YOU LACK SUFFICIENT ENCLOSURE SPACE?!?!?!!!!!!)

(WHAT DID i JUST FUCKING TELL YOU?!)

Dove Mom: No, he cannot.

They own that space and will defend it.

The hospital cage is going to have to do for now.

Client: Ok. But it's OK for me to put the 2 babies in the hospital together? I have to leave for work so just want to make sure I have all the birds where they need to be. How long do you think it will take the baby to recover from the trama?

I feel awful. And doves are tricky because I've even seen them eat together.

(This is why those scared, frustrated, furious thoughts stayed in my head and such care was taken not to just rant at this person. Look at the questions they are asking now.)

Dove Mom: There are only two. They are not old enough to claim territory. And they are opposite sex.

They will be ok together. He is eating, so he isn't too far gone. Two to three weeks should see more weight back on him.

(Breeders and rescues, your primary job is to educate. Always answer questions as clearly as you are able.)

Dove aggression is subtle more often than it's overt.

The biblical "Dove of Peace" is not a Ringneck. It's a Rock Dove: A pigeon.

Pigeons are the only species among the hundreds of columbidae that are genuinely social and live in cooperative groups.

The misconception that Ringnecks are peaceful and social arose largely from the biblical dove of peace and a failure to understand that dove is a colloquialism for a white domestic pigeon in most of the rest of the world.

(Where both Ringnecks and pigeons are common, the Ringneck gets to be called a Dove, and things get confusing where that is what white pigeons are still called.)

Client: You did tell this would happened But I thought I was seeing love and a family living together. I can't express how horrible I feel. Hopefully baby turns around soon and can relax peacefully. THANK YOU AGAIN!! sorry for my hard headed ways.

(Here is more of why breeders and rescues should measure your responses very carefully, especially when you are upset with the handler and worried for the safety of the bird.)

(Had I actually SAID all the things my thoughts were screaming in the parentheses, I would not have gotten enough information to be able to accurately advise this person through the peep’s recovery, because they would have been shamed and frightened out of asking anything else.)

(For your baby’s new family to be too afraid to bring their concerns to you, lest their mistake earn your wrath is NOT the outcome you want! Next time there is a problem, that out come cuts your baby off from your help and could cost it its life.)

(Seek more information, Answer questions, explain, and give context FIRST and FOREMOST.)

Dove mom: That's what misinformation does.

Unfortunately, very few people that keep doves actually spend time observing their group dynamics.

I have spend the last six years researching them because I could not find information that matched up with the way the birds were actually behaving.

If you ask the people that breed them in a flock, they will tell you that weak babies just die.

Those babies did not hatch weak.

Their parents were harassed by other birds wanting their spot. Setting was interrupted. Feedings got interrupted. Peeps got trampled. One or both parents lost the rights to a nest before the peeps were weaned.

Babies do not just die or sicken out of the blue. Those stresses add up.

But flock format is convenient, so places that use it just assume that losses of 30% or more young are normal and that less aggressive adults have mellowed rather than having been stressed into shut down.

When pairs are kept singly and squeakers are removed when they wean, the vast majority of peeps wean safely and the birds are never forced into stressed out shut down.

With Ringnecks, flock format only works in one of two circumstances, both of which require an entire room's worth of flight space.

Either, the entire population of the grow out flight is under 6 months old: too young to claim a mate or territory.

Or an adult or mixed age population is unstable: with individuals being adopted out before they can claim a space and a mate or be claimed as a mate.

A LOT of space needs to be allocated to breeding even a single pair because the pair is quite prolific and ringnecks are antisocial.

There has to be a space not only for weanlings to go, but sexually mature birds you plan on keeping. -------------------------------------------------------------

It is ok to be angry.

It is ok to be scared for the welfare of the animal.

It is ok for your answers to be as stern as the potential danger necessitates.

But ranting always does more harm than good.

Breeders and Rescues’ primary job is to correct misinformation, not shame people out of wrong behavior.

Neglect and abuse are cruel, but very rarely malicious.

Cases like this are more of the actual norm.

Influenced both by the cultural portrayal of doves as peaceful AND by vets and rescues insisting that doves live peacefully in groups: This person was understandably skeptical of a *breeder* insisting that those vets and rescues are wrong.

In their place, wouldn’t you be too?

Especially if the interaction between the birds LOOKS so sweet and peaceful.

My client learned the hard way that this *specific* breeder is not talking out of her ass, and will answer questions calmly and honestly.

It is imperative that I be safe to bring questions to, even if the problem is directly caused by the client, because education is the only way to ensure that care improves.

The outlook for the peep is good. They asked *just* before it was too late.

And this hard lesson WILL stick, if they care.

Future peeps will be more carefully planned for, because I guarantee this experience will be a haunting one for them for a very long time.

#A day in the life of the Dove-Mom #Dove-mom cooing #animal neglect #handling animal neglect #ringneck dove #educating adopters/clients #breeder struggles

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imaginedisneydescendants · 7 years

Text

Something There That Wasn't There Before

*Requested* A Gil imagine where the Reader is Ben’s twin sister and they start to like each other. Takes place when Gil, Harry, and Uma come to Auradon.

Paring: Reader x Gil

Word count: 1,669

A/N: Gil is such a sweetheart, he needs more screen time! I just realised that this is my first imagine for Gil.

Request | Masterlist

When Uma, Harry and Gil were offered a scholarship to Auradon Prep, they were quite shocked; after what they threatened to do to the King and to Auradon, the matter was simply forgiven and forgotten. Typical. The Auradon bunch were such goody-goodies; trust them to be all civil.

Gil felt like he didn’t belong on the Isle; somewhere deep down in his heart, he knew that he belonged in Auradon. However, if Uma and Harry decided that they didn’t want to go then neither would he, simple as that — he didn’t want to be in Auradon while knowing that he left the only people who cared for him behind — their word would be final. It took the Captain and her first mate some time to consider the King’s offer as they didn't want to leave what they had worked so hard to achieve on the Isle, but to his surprise, they agreed to move to Auradon.

Auradon was different, to say the least, much different to the Isle of the Lost. The three of them discovered that Auradon was anything but boring like Harry had called it, and never in their wildest dreams would they actually grow to like it here. However, it wasn’t all rainbows and smiles. For them, it was a struggle to adapt to the Auradon way of life, where it was forbidden to do anything of the things they did for fun on the Isle such as stealing, fighting and cheating.

Learning how to be good wasn’t easy, and they didn’t expect to change overnight. The three pirates would never lose who they really were, not completely. However, for Gil, being good sort of came easily to him because he fit into the social norm at Auradon Prep. The other Auradonian’s were easily fooled by his thick-headedness and happy-go-lucky attitude that made him seem like a non-villain kid.

Gil didn’t think his life could get any better once he left the Isle until he met her.

(Y/N) was the daughter of Belle and Adam, and was the younger twin sister of King Benjamin by only ninety seconds; he never let you forget either. Twins to be in line to the throne was quite rare and unheard of, thus the two of you were labelled the heir and the spare; Ben being the heir and you being the spare.

(Y/N) knew that she wouldn't get a chance to rule Auradon. Even if she was the first born twin, Ben still would've been first in line to the throne. Seems unfair, doesn't it? But it was always like that; it was a tradition. However, (Y/N) didn't mind, she'd rather have freedom over responsibility and early grey hairs due to stress any day.

Being the youngest, you got away with a lot as your parents weren't so hard on you like they were with Ben. When your older brother and your parents were attending to royal duties, you spent your days in the castle library, tucked away in your makeshift reading nook. You never got tired of reading about faraway lands and experiencing adventures you’d hope to experience someday. You loved to read, a deep love that closely rivalled your older brothers.

When Ben had inherited the throne, he had started bringing in more villain kids like Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos, Auradonian's began to accept them in a way they never thought as possible. But despite good and evil getting along, you just couldn't bring yourself to accept all but one of them.

When Fairy Godmother had practically begged you to help out a struggling student, you couldn’t help but accept. You always wanted to help other people out, no matter what they needed help on. But when you found out that you were going to be tutoring the son of Gaston, you tried everything to get out of it, but alas, Fairy Godmother wouldn't budge.

Obviously, you were scared of him. His father tried to kill your dad and tried to force your mother into marrying him. So you couldn't help but think that Gil was somewhat the same as his father.

Oh, how wrong you were!

You didn't think that he would show up for your first study session in the library, but lo and behold, he was right on time. From the moment he first saw you, Gil knew exactly who you were. He could've recognised that face anywhere as it was identical to the King's.

"Hi!" Gil greeted cheerfully as he approached the table in which the girl was sitting at.

"Um, hi," The girl greeted nervously, her gaze shifted from the table to his eyes repeatedly.

"You're (Y/N), am I right?" Gil asked.

She didn't say anything but her nod indicated that he found the person he was looking for. With a smile, he dumped his school supplies and sat in the seat beside you. As you started the study session, you didn't expect Gil to so — what was the word — friendly. It shocked you; he wasn't anything like Gaston, in fact, Gil was the complete opposite of his father.

You wondered how this boy survived on the Isle when he wasn't anything like the other villain kids you had seen cross Auradon’s borders. You assumed that for what he lacked in intelligence, he made up for strength and brute force. Despite that, Gil didn’t seem as much of a threat as you first thought he was. Gil didn't want revenge on you nor your family, he was a genuine guy.

"There’s something sweet and almost kind

But he was mean and he was coarse and unrefined

And now he’s dear and so unsure

I wonder why I didn’t see it there before"

As the weekly study sessions turned into daily get together's, (Y/N) started to see Gil in a whole new light. She didn't think of him as a villain like she had months ago; she saw him as the sweet and loveable guy that everyone wanted to be friends with. You quite enjoyed his company and his goofy shenanigans. You even started to hang out with Uma and Harry every so often, and they considered you as a best friend.

As time went by, you began to notice your behaviour change whenever you were around Gil. You couldn’t put your finger on the reason why, but you always felt a little jealous whenever Gil talked to other girls, making them swoon. You often became flushed whenever he grabbed your hand or even looked at you, and found yourself laughing at every joke he told, as you desperately tried to get his attention at every moment. You even caught yourself sneaking little glances at Gil every so often; loving how he'd either wave at you, pull silly faces, or smiled at you. But you loved sneaking glances at him when he didn’t notice that you were, it gave you an opportunity to study his handsome features.

Gil knew that he was falling for you — scratch that — he did fall for you; hopelessly and deeply. (Y/N) was everything he hoped for and more. She understood him in ways Harry and Uma didn’t; his unique sense of humour and how his mind worked (Y/N) accepted him for him and he couldn’t be happier. As Gil was sitting in class, fidgeting with a pencil that he was supposed to be taking down notes with, he felt a strange feeling — as if someone was watching him. Turning his head over his shoulders, he caught (Y/N)’s eyes quickly shift from him back down to her notebook before she pretended to be taking down notes. But, considering Gil’s oblivious nature, he shrugged and tried to focus on what the teacher was trying to say up at the front.

"She glanced this way, I thought I saw

And when we touched she didn’t shudder at my paw

No it can’t be, I’ll just ignore

But then she’s never looked at me before"

You cursed yourself, Did he catch me staring? I hope he didn’t, real smooth (Y/N).

You had to restrain yourself from banging your head on the desk. This was getting ridiculous, you couldn’t believe that you were starting to fall for the lovable goofball. You knew it would never work as you were a princess and he wasn’t a prince, nowhere near it, but to you, he was a prince at heart. Besides you were positively certain that he only saw you as a friend and nothing more.

"New and a bit alarming

Who’d have ever thought that this could be?

True that he’s no Prince Charming

But there’s something in him that I simply didn’t see"

As you made your way down the halls of Auradon Prep, you saw Gil running at full speed towards you, his light brown eyes never left your figure. As soon as he reached you, Gil engulfed you in a bear hug but was careful not to squeeze you too tightly.

"W-What's this for?" You questioned him in surprise as you returned his hug.

After a couple of seconds, he released you and answered giddily, "I got a B+ on my test!"

Your face lit up in awe, "Wow, that's so awesome Gil. I'm so proud of you!”

Gil’s face lit up, "Couldn't have done it without you, (Y/N). You’re the best tutor ever!"

Gil suddenly bent down, leaned forward and planted a soft and gentle kiss on your lips. The kiss lasted a few seconds, but those few seconds, you felt like the world had stopped; you felt like you were in heaven, but it ended all too soon when Gil pulled away.

Before you could say anything, Gil couldn’t contain his happiness and said, “I gotta go tell Uma and Harry, I’ll see you later (Y/N)!"

As you watched an excited Gil runoff, your face became hot and flushed. Your stunned expression turned into one of euphoria as a wide smile graced your lips before you thought to yourself, there may be something there that wasn't there before.

#descendants #descendants 2 #disney descendants #descendants imagine #disney descendants imagines #gil x reader #reader x gil #descendants gil #gil

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hellyeahheroes · 7 years

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Cleansing the Crimes of Old Krypton: Comparisons Between Superman #1-6 and Supergirl #1-6

Ever since the rise of the comic-book anti-heroes, Superman and his family were positioned by writers in the opposition to them. This is a natural progression for those who understand the character’s roots as the hero of the little folk. Such qualities are resonating with the liberal and socialist ideals. Meanwhile, antiheroes often voice ideas that would be very terrifying if said by real-life politicians. The efficiency being presented as more important than human rights or collateral damage. The idea that the justice system only stops the protagonist from doing what’s necessary. An approach where stopping the bad guys is more important than protecting the innocent. These ideas can easily be applied to politics. And as a result, lead to authoritarian or outright fascist thinking. Don’t get me wrong. Some people claim if Batman won’t kill the Joker, he has the blood of Joker’s future victims on his hands. I’m not saying they’re cheering Donald Trump saying federal judges who overruled his ban on Muslim Immigrants are to blame if a terrorist attack happens. But we need to recognize the parallels.

Many successful antihero stories were built on exploring the consequences of this approach. You can find those themes everywhere from The Authority and V for Vendetta to Code Geass. Sadly, lately, we have a continuous increase of those problems being glossed over. And not only for actual antiheroes but even more upstanding characters. Especially in movies. Once paragons of virtue on big screen become terrifying. And yet we're supposed to cheer when they commit atrocities. Violating borders of a foreign country, intruding on people’s privacy, destroying an entire city in battle, murdering people. It all becomes not only justified but even glorified. They say it’s okay for “good guys” to do those things. Because otherwise, we’re all going to die. Because they’ll stop once the danger is gone, pinky swear. Because only the bad guys get hurt and killed. So relax and handle all the power and no accountability to those guys, they need it to protect you.

Superman stories often tackled this issue. Sometimes results is a compelling, meaningful voice in the discussion. Other times we get an awful, hypocritical story. That is given praise regardless because it sticks it up to the other side. “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice And American Way” and it’s adaptation “Superman vs the Elite” are a prime example. There Superman proves wrong the Authority knockoffs who claim that might makes right. By beating the living shit out of them, thus proving that might do indeed makes right…. if you’re Superman. Thankfully, two stories I want to talk about do not have this problem.

For inspirations, both stories reach back. To a tale of 4 individuals that tried to replace Superman after his supposed death - Reign of Supermen. Superman books under Rebirth banner, in general, try to recreate the feel of that era. Superman is dead and his replacements start showing up. Kenan Kong in the New Super-Man, Lana Lang in Superwoman, even Lex Luthor dons the cape. But DC managed to have their cake and eat it too. The main Superman book still has it's Man of Steel. It's Superman from another Universe, with wife and son. He is more in line with old DC Continuity, compared to Superman that died. Meanwhile, Supergirl reaches to feel more like beloved TV Series, even if Kara is still a teenager. To connect with Reign of Supermen both books use a different way. They reach for its “bad” Supermen - Eradicator and Cyborg Superman. They also revamp them to have them fit a specific purpose.

Or use earlier revamps, as is the case with Cyborg Superman. Before Flashpoint this name was held by Hank Henshaw, a scientist with a grudge. In New 52 he is the man who had sent Kara to Earth from Argo, last surviving city of Krypton. Her father, Zor-El. He failed to save the whole colony and is desperate to undo past failures. He turns dead corpses of his citizens and even wife into cyborgs like him. But to regain sentience the need to consume life force of intelligent beings. Then Zor-El hears Kara cry in her moment of doubt. She question she’ll even be able to fit on Earth and how strange and, well, alien, our customs are for her. Her father doesn’t hesitate. He decides to invade Earth, harvest humanity to resurrect Argo and take his daughter back.

Eradicator was absent from New 52 era of DC, to resurface in Rebirth, with a simplified origin. Before Flashpoint it was an alien A.I. obsessed over Krypton. In Rebirth Eradicators were created by General Zod. It was a mechanical police force used against both criminals and political rivals. This one came back to life through contact with the blood of Superman’s son, Jonathan. And then vowed to protect and restore Krypton’s legacy. Starting with the last heir of House of El, Superman himself. Clark is reluctant to trust the robot when it offers to examine Jon’s health and fluctuating powers. Turns out it was a good call. Eradicator decides that being half-human half-Kryptonian, Jon is impure. And that the best way to heal him is to eradicate human part of his DNA. Jon would become fully Kryptonian, but also cease to exist as a person he was up to this point.

Both those villains have a history of representing darker shades of Krypton. In old continuity, Eradicator was a go-to explanation for every Krypton-related bad thing. Villainous interpretation of Zor-El is nothing new either. Before Flashpoint his whole motivation was "He hates his brother, Jor-El". He didn't send Kara away to save her, but to make her kill Kal-El. He had brainwashed his own daughter to make her a weapon against her cousin.

If anything, this version of him comes off as, if not sympathetic, then at least pitiable. Flashbacks show us he was a caring, loving father, who sent Kara away to protect her. It makes it much more tragic to see how far he has fallen. Even Kara starts to feel bad for him over the course of the story. She recognizes in him a man haunted by his failures, whose actions are a desperate try to fix everything. But Supergirl still calls him out. She points out that he doesn't care about anything but himself anymore. If he did, he’d see how twisted his “solution” actually is and try to find a better one. The results were more important than how he achieved them. And things like mass murder became merely means to an end. It doesn't matter how many he has to kill. It doesn't matter he turned his wife and friends into mechanical monsters. Once he gets them back, everything will be back to normal, he tells himself. He expects his wife and daughter to go back to their old life and ignore all the blood on his hands. He is delusional. When his wife regains part of her mind, she sacrifices herself to save Kara's adoptive mother. She'd rather be dead than part of this. Does it get to him? No. because for Zor-El it doesn't matter how appalling his methods are. Only that he wins.

Both Zor-El and Eradicator are operating on racist and xenophobic assumptions. They see everyone who is not Kryptonian as inferior and disposable. The whole idea of a Kryptonian living with human family is appalling to them. Zor-El several times states he never meant for Kara to stay on Earth forever. He expects her to simply abandon her new home, now that it served its purpose. He also mentions in passing wars betweenKrypton and other races. It's implied they were as horrible as what he is doing now. Meanwhile, what is Eradicator? A Kryptonian version of police brutality and law-enforcement being used for political reasons. All these factors make the reader ask a question neither of the villains bothered with. Should you bring old Krypton back? If Kryptonians were warmongering xenophobes, then why should they return? Who is to say if they do, they won’t go down the same path again? Neither Eradicator nor Zor-El makes a strong case against this argument. Not when they’re willing to stomp into the ground anyone who stands in their way.

We live in times when people in power tell us we need to give up parts of our freedoms for our own protection. That we need to do whatever it takes, no matter how unethical, to protect our way of life from “the enemy”. Even if it means crushing rights of those different from us. This is no different from many anti-heroes in comics. How often do we see one accusing more restrained superheroes of not having what it takes to “get the job done”? Or claim not only are they too weak, but people they protect are dumb masses easy to sway and control? Those themes are still being explored by creators of both books. Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason do it through later Superman villain, the Prophecy. Lord Havok and the Extremists serve this role in Steve Orlando’s JLA. But it isn’t enough to have heroes beat this type of villains. What is even more important is how they beat them. As I mentioned above, in that kind of stories it’s easy to come off as a hypocrite, if you play your hand wrong.

Luckily, even on that ground, the stories are on point. Neither Superman nor Supergirl can defeat their enemies alone. It is the strength of family, friends, and allies that allow them to overcome this threat. As Kara says, she isn’t on Earth to inspire humans – they inspire each other. Threat Eradicator and Zor-El present cannot be defeated by an individual. It needs the united effort of everyone it threatens. Even average people like Cat Grant or Bibbo Bibbowski have their part to play. It’s love, family, and unity that save the day.

And in true classic fashion, they are both shown mercy. While Eradicator’s physical form is destroyed, Superman’s very aware that’s not enough to kill him. Meanwhile, Cyborg Superman ends immobilized and imprisoned. The story ends with Kara hoping to find a way to save her father. If you follow solicits you know they’ll both be back in May’s Action Comics. Some might complain about the never-ending nature of superhero comics. How no victory is ever meaningful because the villain will come back. It’s one of the major problems raised by supporters of the antiheroes. But looking at those villains a metaphor for fascist tendencies, it works. Fascism can be beaten, but it cannot be killed. It will always find a way to creep back under a different name. The weakness of anti-hero stories lies in them giving the reader a fake sense of finality. They tell us we have to do whatever it takes, even if it’s immoral and unethical, to win against the evil. That once we beat it, it’s gone and we can go back to normal. But that’s not true. Evil is forever and it will keep coming at you in new forms. We can see it in today’s world as well. Not so long ago many folks would say fascism died when WWII was over. Allies victory over this evil was final and definite. The questionable choices made by them like bombing civilian cities, were justified because fascism is now dead. Once put down it will never rise to power again. And then Richard Spencer and Steve Bannon started making the news…..

The purpose of this text is not to bash on fans of the antihero characters. But when working with them it's important to show their questionable aspects. Otherwise, they can become propaganda tools for the worst kind of people.

#Superboy #Jonathan Kent #Jon Kent #Supergirl #Kara Zor-El #Kara Darvens #DC

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