#but I expect it's going to happen this season since they keep alluding to it
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Sigh. The miraculous movie. I love it and hate it (OK not really. I can never hate miraculous- apart from puppeteer 2. Yh we are never talking about that again) at the same time. But mostly love it.
There are spoilers in this so if you don't want to see it, just scroll past quickly.
Obviously I found it good. It was entertaining, I liked the songs. I liked how ZAG was able to condense a lot into 1 movie. I actually really liked the plot. Honestly, Adrien should have found out that his father was Hawkmoth at the end of season 5. I stand by that and even made a one-shot on it because I was so pissed that he didn't find out. That being said since ZAG wants to keep the show going until we are in our deathbeds, I can kind of understand. Maybe.
Anyway.
Chat Noir, as always, is the best character. But I also really loved Marinette (I love her in the show and I love how they brought out the Marinette we knew from the show slowly out in the movie).
The ladynoir. Exquisite. Amazing. Chefs kiss. My favourite song was the one they did together. I miss them in the show. Bring ladynoir back ASAP.
And then the final Adrienette scene gosh I screamed. Like I was so hoping we got a reveal because my patience with the show and the reveal is already wearing thin. So thank goodness for that!!!! And then I screamed again because they cut the goddamn kiss.
There are a few, just tiny things I'm not sure if I like or dislike yet. They're just tidbits which I, as a pretty big fan of miraculous just find... for lack of a better word, annoying? But not exactly. Idk it just irks me a bit.
For example, I was just a bit annoyed that Marinette didn't say miraculous ladybug once- the most opportune moment being during the end where she is literally restoring everything in Paris. She also didn't have a lucky charm
There were a lot of parts where I expected something to happen which would allude back to iconic parts of the show such as when Hawkmoth's face made of butterflies showed up after the whole balloon guy (which my sister and I decided was the cutest of all the villains- its like an evil baymax made of helium) incident. I thought that just like in stoneheart, Ladybug would de-evilise all of those butterflies.
Even to this day, that part in stoneheart is my absolute favourite moment in the history of Miraculous.
One other thing- something my friend (who beta reads a lot of my miraculous stuff) also agreed on- is that although I did like the songs and I will definitely be listening to them again, when you watch the movie and watch Marinette sing, it doesn't feel like her at all. I know this is just being nitpicky at this point but I feel like the singing was too deep/ too low for Marinette's character.
One point I liked but felt they should have gone deeper into was the whole "We are stronger together" thing. The whole set up of the movie was so that they worked together as a team but they barely did that in the final fight. It was sort of disappointing that they didn't really defeat Hawkmoth together. I guess though, that is something I would also say for the season 5 finale. However, the way it happened in the season 5 finale made a lot more sense.
I guess because it is a movie, that's why it feels so rushed. We've been blessed with so many episodes for miraculous that it's really hard to condense the main points of the basic story for Miraculous into something that is not even 1/10th of the length of the show.
Other things I liked in the movie:
Alya. God I love her. In the show and in the movie.
Tom just behind the balloons as Adrienette are having a moment. Him awing when Marinette was talking about him. Honestly that seen was sweet and comedic.
Tikki. She's such an intimidating bug-mouse (and they missed another neat opportunity there). Honestly a bit scary in the movie but that's why I loved her. I wish her and Plagg had a proper scene together. Also Tikki deliberately moving Marinette's hand to Adrien's. You go Tikki! Also Tikki rapping! YAS my little genie bug.
I like how Chat noir actually got to say cataclysm.
I loved spotting all of the characters we know and love in the show.
Also was that Monsieur Rat????
The random kid who looked like tiny Adrien.
I love the design of the yoyo.
Speaking of designs, Marinette's dress is actually lovely. My favourite part is most definitely the back which looks like wings. It's actually really beautiful.
Ladynoir. Honestly the best part of the movie was just these two together. That was the thing that I was looking forward to the most. And it didn't disappoint.
I also really like the snippets of Marinette and Adrien getting to know each other and honestly, the whole rejection scene was heartbreaking.
I could go on more but I'm about to fall asleep but I needed to get this out before I do.
I am honestly sad that the movie wasn't longer. I hope next time it will be and that we will also be introduced to Felix once again. The next one is likely going to be about Mayura so I hope he comes. I've honestly made peace with the whole sentimonster thing so I won't even be mad if they bring it up- though with the lore of the movie, it being quite different from the show's lore, I don't think they will.
Anyways I'm done. You don't have to agree with me on these points, I honestly just wanted to rant about what I thought of the movie.
Bug out <3
#miraculous ladybug#miraculous#miraculous spoilers#miraculous awakening#miraculous awakening spoilers#my thoughts on the movie#im just ranting#cuz i have a lot of opinions#gotta put them somewhere#i like the movie but not as much as the show#marinette dupain cheng#adrien agreste#adrienette#ladynoir
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these were notes on my journal till yesterday but the news that we're getting the nectar-making skill with horses i figured i'd have some fun with it yet still be loud with my opinions, so i'll reblog with updates from time to time - im reposting with the original slot texts bc i was unhappy with my sleepless decision making 👍👍
| details under the cut if u wanna know but i'm a bit of a hater fyi |
longer seasons - i don't think this will happen, if miracle mods show up i might stamp them on in a different color but from what i've found it's pretty ingrained in the game that 28 days is the longest and if modders we're going to crack it they might've done it already but when im playing on pretty long life spans i just 💔💔 50+ days seasons would be the dream, but i'd be happy with 45 👀
10 outfits per category - same as before ig, this is probably super niche but i'm not satisfied and i hate having to get into cas to change it up so much bc in my head they have a closet each and i want to mix and match pieces in a realistic way 👚
pack refreshes - tbf, they did set up an expectation for that one which for the looks of it they are done with it; there's so much to fix, dine out in general, mermaids deserve some love in comparison to the other occults, updates to the bodies of water (going in the water in windenburg would be legendary), hu just bug fixes and compatiblity here and there would be nice (more hiking ? power walks in more places? its so weird how they are restricted to ONE place)
now by world refreshes - i mean that in my dreams they go back and expand the maps they give us 🗺️🗺️ im greedy and want 2 neighbourhoods for my vampires & spellcasters, a lil more space in moonwood mill, granite falls & del sol valley too why not not gonna happen so i can say wtv an extra space in mt komorebi with apartments and since we're at it in san sequoia too; will def not happen
working gallery - ig that might be coming too ?? idk my gallery sucks at times like it wont find any results when there are ?? and i know there are bc if i restrict more it might come up with something?? also just wanted better mechanism for the searches, i never had issues with disturbing content showing up tho so idk i heard some simmers weren't so lucky
bigger households - having to control or monitor 8 human/humanish sims is challeging enough but because pets, because having to fake apartments, because reasons; i use mccc but this workaround brings issues in cas so yea, wishlist ✔️
snakes // lizards - this would've been appropriate to launch with horses imo and i'd love if there had been interaction/compatibility from snakes in the wild and those taller friends & other small pets - small pet options in ts4 are non existent, sorry, birds only exist in that one tree (they are probably happy about not being captive actually), bunnies are also wild (personally im fine with it but i know that its a popular pet so i'd love if it was an option), reptiles don't exist (yet) and rodents are exclusive to the slap-in-the-face-of-this-community pack... 🐁🐇🐢🦎🐍🐦🐜
faeries or other fae kin - i feel like they've hinted at it for quite a while and we've seen it show up in quizzes too?? 🧚♀️ so i'm hopeful for this one and hope they are just trying to make sure they properly deliver on it bc there's a lot of fantasy enthusiasts and they deserve it & woodland creatures - personally would love it if the fae pack came with woodsy world and the addition of woodland creatures at least the spiritual kind (like unicorns or a white doe which they possibly alluded to with puzzles - it made me real giddy) bonus points if it has some outdoor retreat compatibility
owning more lots - after winning the lottery or keeping up with a family for generations, sims can accumulate quite a lot of money, there's not a lot of expenses in the life of a sim tbh, travelling only costs one loading screen, gardeing makes you rich and thats ok ig but being able to own a holiday house would be welcomed, not just a business 🏘️
nectar making - when tartosa came but no nectar making i was a bit let down, imagine making or acquiring a special batch for your wedding?? it would've been lovely and appropriate for a wedding pack but ... yeah anyway it comes with the horse pack for some reason so at least it's coming, and only 3 years after juice fizzing 🥂
bands and more instruments - another thing they've hinted at in polls and i kinda wished it to come with HSY yet was not surprised it didn't; that being said we need drums and other instruments like bass and/or contrabass, just more than what we have if we're to have bands plz
skating and/or surfing - these two are very different and honestly idk how the latter one would work, i just think they are popular sports we could have; at least skate boards should be easy enough to implement and a cute way for sims to drift around their closed off worlds so i have more hope for that one 🏄
hotels - even if they've been around the franchise and ts4 seems to draw all it's ideas from previous iterations i'm not confident they haven't just been replaced by rental properties but it's not the same, i'd like to be able to meet other guests vacationing on the property without having to engineer everything about it, ordering meals at hotel services and running/owning a hotel also;
retirement homes - ELDER SIM LOVE IN GENERAL (canes, health issues, idk im not that old yet ..hum wills & testiments, special interactions) i feel growing together really fucked up on that one but i was not surprised bc it's ts4 and we rely on crumbs mods here and thats why some players stop buying dlc 👵☕👴
the townie refreshes - just pay some fans to do it at this point bc it's taking so long; most of them don't need to be redesigned anyway, just add hot and cold weather outfits, preferences and maybe a sneaky extra trait or lifestyle they could have developed and voilá, finish that chapter
disabilities - i don't want it in the form of traits and thing it's rotten to make people to pay for it BUT i'd love to see some disability representation in this game, physical, cognitive and what not. i understand at this point it might be hard to introduce but i think it be really important to have this in the sims and ts4 is about time
funerals & cemeteries - death is a part of life, this is a life sim... thats it basically, i want it, i miss it in comparison to previous games, i fake it with parks and inviting guests over, but we shouldn't have to tho seems pretty basic stuff
more and better apartments - i would like it if we saw more conjoined builds, more apartment builds, both with few floors and plenty, the option to have sims living in different floors of the same building and even having business or community lots in builds that are divided into multiple lots - ambitious ik - bonus points if they update apartments in a way you can own one or more and rent them out - i don't want to play as a landlord, i swear - i just want my sims to be allowed do simbnb while they go for a weekend in the city (which ig u cant bc of the current system/coding idk) or bringing them to more existing worlds but bc of the obstacles to that i have 0 hopes
well-crafted worldly words - i see a lot of americancentric choices being made when creating the worlds, it's unrealistic for a global player base and hum.. a life sim and whenever they drop interesting worlds they are always so frigging small you have to sacrifice making a lively town, with people and businesses, if you want you're sim to live in certain environments (or use multibuilds, which is fine ig but it bothers me a bit) and they fail to utilize the common spaces of the neighbourhoods in ways simmers would love to, to bring some life into these worlds; 🌍 the worldly part of it... i am yet to see african like climates and cultures represented, asia is so wide & full of diversity and we get one japan inspired world so far, south america if confined to a destination world if you don't have mods ig (maybe it's changed by now im not sure) and europe while being represented in 3 packs so far - and one of them being the best in terms of lots per world we've had so far - 2 of them have few lots and its all very niche, so in a way i don't need to be able to point to the actual cities that inspired those worlds, it's not my priority just something that crowded and lively that draws from wider range of cultures and that mre people could recognize as close to their experience would be nice 🌏 also more islands maybe im a sulani simp
new jobs & careers - i love GTW, it was the first pack i got and sure it deserved a refresh by now and i would welcome it, especially if it meant more careers, i really liked that gameplay feature; that being said i feel like we deserve more job options OR branches. y no dentist ??? i cant think of ideas right now but while playing the game and setting up townies or sims i feel limited a lot
trans content fixes - yea i avoid using the in-game system for trans rep (i headcanon a lot and cheat stuff basically) bc its just not the best in general (clothes fit weird, there's no changes in the frame through time as there would be with hormonal treatments - which there arent in the game so makes sense), not in comparison bc i dont know other games to compare it to just real life ig but im not even that informed tbh; i am happy they didnt create a life sim where trans people are erased and don't want them to be discouraged to stop investing in this at all so i try not to mention it but fix the binder at least & here's a tumblr post that helps me a bit
something that surprises me - /pos !! because... they don't... a lot of what we see seems to me like repeating the content ideas from older games but spreading it out to make as much dlc as possible; i had a lot of more wow reveal moments with ts2 & ts3 i feel like but cant truly be sure bc brain is mush
#ok here we go im keeping this one#two ppl saw the og#i love love love to know what people miss in the game + their opinions and this just felt like a fun format#wish fulfillment#but with typos#bingo#roadmap#kinda#long post#repost#raccoon only#sims opinion#sims discourse#simblr#sims 4#ts4#the sims 4#sims related
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thoughts on this? i see people freaking out over it but to me i think it’s fine because even if it’s true this just makes them even less endgame in my eyes and will make anymore that ships them (if they’re still together by the end of s3 and he takes that offer) weirdos. if they’re not broken up by the end of s3 bc they think him being a student teacher who can stay around will fix their relationship then they’re imo definitely done by 4a bc there is absolutely no way.
I agree 100% with everything they said in their response. I'm not sure where that anon got the idea that Miss Jenn was going to offer EJ an Assistant Theatre Director-type job in ep 6 since, as we can see now that the episode is out, she doesn't. Maybe they meant that, even though she doesn't literally offer him the job this ep, the fact that she gives EJ directorial advice could allude to them possibly working together next season? Or they were just lying lol
Regardless, I'm not the least bit concerned. Before season 3 started, I was pretty convinced that EJ was going to get off of the waitlist at some college outside of Utah (funny, because I pictured it going down almost exactly like the whole "Caswell Success School letter from EJ's dad" situation happened, expect I thought he would be telling Val about his college acceptance letter) and, after a lot of agonizing, EJ would ultimately decide to go & the group would turn the cast party after opening night into a going away party for him. He'd leave for college at the end of summer and be effectively written off of the show, in a way that still left it open for Matt to come back in a guest-starring capacity, for holidays/school breaks/to come see the opening nights of future musicals...but, when we were a few episodes into this (short) season and still hadn't gotten a single mention of EJ's post-grad plans, I figured from then on that he was staying in SLC and would be in season 4.
Right now, EJ's character exists to be a road block and plot device for Rina and, once pw break up next episode, he'll have served his purpose and will no longer be relevant to the story. I think Tim knows that. I've heard him talk about how integral certain characters are to the series, but when he gets to EJ, it's never about that. It's always, "Matt's such a good guy." "He's great to work with!" "I couldn't imagine doing the show without him because he's just so nice." (not direct quotes because I'm too lazy to go looking for the articles right now lol, so I paraphrased). Tim's reason for keeping EJ around, IMO, has nothing to do with the character and everything to do with him liking Matt as a person. So, truthfully, I could see Miss Jenn offering EJ a job in the finale, simply because Tim wants to keep Matt on the show as regular (or semi-regular) cast member and that's really the only way to do it. It's dumb and kind of weird (you should not be hanging around your old high school after you graduate) but not surprising.
As for what this means for EJ & Gina? Honestly, I don't think it makes a difference as far as their likelihood of getting back together after they breakup (either before or during Camp Prom). It'd be zero if EJ was written off the show and it's still zero if he stays. They are fundamentally incompatible and at two completely different, conflicting places in their lives. The show has gone out of its way to tell us that and that's not something that's going to change, no matter where EJ is physically.
As much as I just don't think the show needs EJ after this season (sorry to Matt) at least if he stays, he'd be put in a position of authority (it's both laughable and really concerning that pws think this would help their relationship, as if a Disney+ show would ever encourage any kind of romantic relationship between a student and someone who is, like, a half step down from a teacher and a legal adult. Yikes on yikes on yikes). + it would mean that they won't be able to use the same stupid/nonsensical argument for why pw isn't together that they're using for why Rini isn't together. I constantly hear people say things like, "if Olivia was on the show, they'd get back together..." or "The only reason Ricky & Gina are getting together is because Olivia left and they had to rewrite the whole show" and it annoys me to no end because it's just fundamentally untrue. So, if/when Matt comes back for season 4, at least they can't say EJ & Gina aren't together because he left.
#very tired rn so i am not responsible for the amount of typos in my response lol#hsmtmts#hsmtmts s3#anti-portwell#asks#anon
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Ready, Steady, GO!
Well it only seems two minutes since my eyes were welling up watching Paul Huntington play his last match at Deepdale in front of the faithful. The season finished on a real high with the thrashing on Middlesbrough and most left with higher than usual hopes that the following season would be one when we could dare to dream a little more. Ryan Lowe had carefully alluded to there being a clear out at the end of the season and sure enough most of those out of contract were gone and a couple of others transferred.
I guess we all had ideas above our station in terms of incomings which is always the way I suppose and this close season was no different. However at the time of going to press we have seen six coming into the club. Freddie Woodman and David Cornell are the new Goalkeeping duo with Woodman clearly first choice in what was an excellent signing from Newcastle in my opinion. James Pradic will add cover as third choice. Robbie Brady has signed on a free and the Irish international could prove an inspired signing if he can keep fit. Ben Woodman also has huge potential and if that can be fulfilled at Deepdale. This week has also seen two loan signings come in with Troy Parrott joining us on a season long loan from Spurs and Alvaro Fernandez making the short journey down the M61 from Old Trafford. Parrott was a hit at MK Dons last season and his a striker who can play off the front man of as the centre forward. Much will be expected from North End fans but lets give him a little time to settle in. The football season is a marathon and not a sprint. Fernandez is a left sided player reputed to be lightening quick and with Brady we certainly seem to be strong down that left hand side. Only time will tell but I am cautiously optimistic that this has been our best transfer window for a while. Being picky I would like to see a right wing back in and another forward perhaps but the window does not close unti l August 31st so lets see what happens between now and then.
After the friendlies against Bamber Bridge, Getafe, Accrinton Stanley, Hearts and Leicester, the real action begins with a trip to the DW Stadium on Saturday and an opening day encounter against newly promoted League One Champions Wigan Athletic. It should be a fantastic atmosphere for the first game with North End having sold out their allocation of 4,700, comfotably. Wigan will be a tough start for North End and I fully expect a cup-tie atmosphere in the land of the Pooles Pie as we look to get off to a flyer. On paper it doesnt appear the toughest of starts for North End but I always have to remind myself that nothing is easy in the Championship and the moment you take your eye off the ball you are punished. Team selection will be interesting from the new manager but I only expect Woodman and Brady of the new signings to start with the other four on the bench if they are needed later in the game.
Last season ended on a high and that high carried on right throughout May and the Season Card campaign went crazy on Social Media with the club achieving more than 11,500 season card holders for the coming season, up more than 50% on the previos season. Fans went out of their way to get the message out and that campaign really reaped rewards. It should, of course, be said that the club provided a superb starting position with the cheapest full adult ticket being just £280. It was a fabulous example of what the fans and the club can do when then work together. PNE- Online and Northendsouls have been doing some fantastic work over the summer with the flags and waivers initiatives and I, for one, cant wait for the first home game against Hull City to see the fruits of their endeavours and to really get behind the boys. A year ago one of my huge frustrations was fans groups on all platforms not coming together and working as one. Sometimes it just seemed liked it was a pissing contest and I include ALL fans groups in that. However with some good combined initiatives and a bedding in process it would appear that we are all as one in our efforts to all do our bit off the field in getting behind the boys on the field. There is no doubt that as supporters we are stronger together and I look forward to that bond between all of our fans groups strengthen even more over the coming season. At the risk of using a very overused phrase - Were all Preston, arent we?
So here we go for another campaign and I know its the hope that kills you but I hoping for real progress this term and perhaps a three game extension to the season next May. Win lose or draw this will be season number 57 for me and not one of them in the top flight. Maybe, just maybe, it might be our turn this time.
And finally this week:- on a personal note, after 22 years and over 1,000 Fans Panel submissions I have decided to retire gracefully from the LEP Fans Panel and, hopefully, let some one with a fresh view have a go. It started as one game at Reading one night in 2000 and ended 22 years later saying goodbye to a Preston legend at Deepdale with my eyes almost filling up. Being on the Fans Panel was the greatest fun and I must thank the LEP for letting me have my say, sometimes my rant, every week in the Post.
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JR`s HIGH FIVES
Millwall to beat Stoke 13/10
£5 stake returns £11.50 on Bet365
RETURNS STAKE
PREDITICTION 0 WINS 0 LOST 0
PROFIT/LOSS
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off his mind— john b routledge x reader
𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭: nope! this is not requested. i listened to this song and it’s based off of it. i gave it my own little spin i suppose. highly recommend this song.
𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 3.6k
𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: the feels, mentions cancer, alludes to....cheating behavior, underage drinking, weed
𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆:.....look, this song is a bop and i had to write it for someone. john b also fit this song i thought. some of the events of season 1 happened in this, but some didn’t. john b and sarah are together in this piece. y/n comes back after disappearing and her and john b catch up....and things happen. buckle up. it’s along piece.
While you go get another drink, I think of ways to tell you I'm fine. One more vodka soda then you'll never even know that I'm lying. I used to wonder why you never said goodbye, but now you're off my mind.
John B Routledge stood in the Boneyard; eyes glued on her. It’s been a year since he had last seen her, her family moved away and now she’s back in the Outer Banks, standing in front of him. His first girlfriend and first ex. He tried convincing himself he had been drinking too much, but once she turned around and searched the crowd, her eyes landed on him. She flashed him a smile and a small wave. She turned back to her group of friends, people he actually got along with that weren't the Pogues and dismissed her.
Across the beach, he watched his beautiful ex walk towards him. The moonlight lit her face perfectly, along with the bonfire in the middle. She walked with such ease, such confidence. God, she was always out of my league, he thought. He even knew that then when they first started dating. JJ, Pope, and Kiara had no hesitance holding that fact back. She had that kind of smile that would calm a storm, the kind that made him forget about all the hectic things in his life.
He hadn’t thought about her in quite some time, honestly.
“Oh shit, is that Y/N L/N?” JJ nudged John B, spotting her last.
“Yea, dude. It sure is.” John B couldn’t remove his gaze off of hers.
“Bad night to wear a stained shirt. Good luck buddy.” He patted his back before dashing off to find some girl to keep his night preoccupied, similar to how Y/N would for John B.
It felt like an eternity, the last time he saw her. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, “John B. Routledge--how’re you doing stranger?” Y/N asked, genuinely happy to see him. A year can change a lot, but she seemed to remain the same. The only new thing he noticed was her hair grew and she had a small scar across her neck.
“I’m--I’m great. Wow--Y/N. I didn’t expect to see you, when did you get back?” John B stumbled over her words, which caused her to smile even more.
“I got back yesterday. My family missed it here too much and... we’re back. I heard by some random Tourons there would be a party at the Boneyard. It’s been what, a year since I’ve been to one of these parties? Thought I would come by and see what’s changed. By the looks of it...you just got taller? Maybe you finally decided to get a haircut. You’re lookin’ good, John B.” Her eyes raked over his body, trying to notice if anything was new. “I’m gonna grab another drink, do you want a cup? Maybe we can catch up?” She offered.
John B looked at her and nodded his head. He wasn’t quite sure what to say to her, what could he say? She had been gone for a year. She left right before his father did, two significant people in his life disappeared. Y/N never gave a reason why she was leaving, but one day she was living in the Outer Banks and the next, her house was empty. She didn’t say goodbye to him, but she said when the time is right, she’ll tell him.
And it never happened.
But maybe tonight would be different.
“Yea, sure--need help with the keg?” He asked, glancing over at it. Maybe another drink will help him with his lying, not saying he missed her at all.
She laughed, shaking her head, “No thanks, John B. I’m a big girl, I can handle it myself. I’ll be back.” Y/N walked away towards the keg. John B kept his eye on her. He noticed all the heads turning when she walked past them, nothing had changed.
Y/N had been off his mind.
Got myself another lover, god I love her I'll never stop. Take her out and drive around and show her all of our favorite spots. I used to sit and cry, I felt like I could die. But now you're off my mind
Y/N handed him a red solo cup and they sat down on a broken branch of driftwood away from the party, not too far out of sight. She sipped on her beverage, making a face at how strong it was. John B smiled at the sight, god, she hadn’t changed a bit.
“So, you’re back now in Outer Banks? Like for a while?” He asked as they stared off into the ocean.
“Yea...I’d say so.” She didn’t sound too confident, but it didn’t matter. John B hadn’t thought about her in a bit, but now there she was. Snapping out of the tone, she looked at him. “Tell me, John B, what’s going on in your life. How’s school? The Pogues? Your dad? Did he ever find the Royal Merchant? I miss everyone.”
John B bit the inside of his cheek, wondering where to start. He began to explain how school went, the same and nothing new for him. He still wasn’t a scholar like Pope, that was expected. He went on telling her about how the Pogues were--Pope finally got the scholarship after a makeup interview. When he talked about his dad, she sensed she asked a bad question.
He explained that he went missing and that he was actually dead. Gone. Y/N’s heart broke and wrapped her arm around his neck and leaned her head on his shoulder. She didn’t say much, she never did, but her touch was comforting to him. “I’m sorry for your loss, JB. I know your dad...your dad loved you a lot. I know you’d be making him proud, without a doubt.” She comforted him even more. He heard it all before, but it sounded different from her.
“What about you? You just disappeared. What, take a vacation from paradise on earth?” John B teased. They both remained leaning on each other.
“I wish. I disappeared for a good reason.” She defended, but not followed through with anything else.
“Can you tell me why you just left? It reall--” John B lifted his head off of her, pulling away and looking at her. Her leaving him was brutal. He cried most times, punched some trees, and spent countless nights staring at his ceiling thinking of Y/N. He missed the feeling of her beside him in bed, the way she would show up on his doorstep with a toothy grin holding a cooler for a day out on the HMS Pogue.
“John B! There you, I’ve been searching everywhere for you.” A familiar voice shouted, causing the two on the branch to look over their shoulders. Sarah Cameron, John B’s girlfriend after Y/N--he loves her, but also Y/N. “Holy shit, Y/N--is that you?” Sarah stood several feet away, surprised at the sight.
He wasn’t quite sure how Sarah would feel about him being alone with Y/N, but it wasn’t like they were doing anything bad. They were catching up. John B told Sarah all about how Y/N broke his heart--but unintentionally. After everything Sarah went through with Topper, he shared his piece about Y/N.
Sarah was neutral about Y/N, but the sight of them two together made her stomach churn.
“Sarah, hey! Long time no see. I really love what you’re wearing, you look beautiful. How have you been?” God, Y/N was too sweet for anyone to hate. She sounded genuine and sincere; Sarah felt jealousy bubble in her stomach. She could see why John B was in love with her.
“Thanks, Y/N. I’m good, I was just looking to see where my boyfriend went, but now that I know where he is--I can go.” She jutted her thumb out.
“You can stay, if you want?” Y/N suggested, looking between Sarah and John B. Both had unreadable looks on their faces.
“Uh...Sure.” Sarah reluctantly agreed before approaching the two.
All three began to catch up with each other. Y/N began asking questions about their relationship. She was surprised that John B managed to land the Kook Princess, but she held no hard feelings. Why should she? She was the one that left John B behind. Y/N listened intently as Sarah and John B talked about their relationship.
John B didn’t want to talk about him, he didn’t want to talk about Sarah, he wanted to talk about Y/N.
Sarah would mention places that John B would use to take Y/N. Most of it was their secret and favorite spots. John B watched his ex as she handled the information: she was collected. Another thing John B fell in love with, she was great at listening and the least judgmental person he had in his life.
Sarah mentioned the light house.
John B and Y/N would run away to the lighthouse on nights where her parents would be mad with her. He would grab her hand and they would just run. Laughter would fill the air; the humidity would stick to their skin and make her hair frizzy. John B didn’t care. He would pick her up and throw her over his shoulder as they went to their secret spot. They hung a hammock there and had a few chairs sitting out. It was nothing fancy, just something her and him would enjoy. They had each other and honestly, that’s all that mattered to them.
Her parents wouldn’t be able to find them there and not a soul could spot them. They would smoke and drink, they would dance together in each other’s arms, they would even fall asleep in the hammock together.
Sarah mentioned the hole-in-the-wall bakery and how they would eat this delicious cake.
Y/N would save her money and buy him a tres leches cake. She would show up to his house, holding the cake with a cherry on top. They would share a fork as they sat on the dock and enjoyed the view of the marsh. John B wasn’t quite sure why Y/N ever picked that cake, but he never questioned it. It became their thing every Sunday morning.
Sarah mentioned the abandoned swimming pool.
John B and Y/N would skate in the abandoned pool. God, she was awful at skateboarding, but that never stopped her. John B admired that about her, nothing scared her, and she took everything as it hit her. John B would laugh and help her learn how to skate. Eventually, she thrifted roller skates and that was more his speed. They would lay at the bottom of the swimming pool, talking about their future together. One day they’ll have a swimming pool with actual water. It’d be a small house on the Marsh, and they will have each other. John B liked the sound of that.
John B would go to all those places once she left. God, everything got worse once she left.
But getting to know Sarah, Y/N was off his mind.
And we'll be better by the summer, you'll come out from underneath your coat.
After Y/N and the couple caught up. The night ended and they all went home respectfully. Sarah and the Pogues headed to the Twinkie, but John B yelled he’ll be there in a moment.
He stood in front of his ex, his hurt aching and hoping to get the answer why she disappeared. He ran a hand through his thick brown hair and looked down at her. She fixed the collar of his button up Hawaiian shirt.
“Will this be the last time I see you?” He asked, looking at her. He wanted answers. He wanted her.
“I’ll give you my number and... you decide what you want to do with it. I’ll be around John B.”
The two exchanged numbers and she left him walking towards her car. She waved goodbye to John B and everyone in the Twinkie.
He remembered why he wanted her off his mind.
I still put my hand around the headrest in my Honda Accord. But no one's there to hold onto the wheel, while I let go anymore. You're every car that passes by, everybody in the corner of my eye. But now you're off my mind
A week later, John B texted Y/N. She quickly responded and now there they were.
Y/N sat beside him in the Twinkie. She kicked her feet up out the window, her yellow vans hanging out. She smiled at him. If someone told him Y/N would be sitting in his passenger seat again, he would be damned. He would say impossible. She’s no longer in his life. Her hair blew in the wind, another sight he missed.
John B drove her around town, back to all their favorite and secret spots. He remembered after he left, how lonely he felt without her by his side.
“You still put your hand around the headrest? I’m sure Pope loves it when you do that.” Y/N teased, looking over at John B as he drove. It was a habit he picked up with Y/N in his car. He could vividly recall her saying she found it hot and attractive, and he kept doing it. Even when she was no longer around. But if you were to ask any of the Pogues, John B had never done that with them--or even Sarah.
“Yea, what can I say. Pope and I are like glue.” He’s voice trailed off, caught off guard by her question and his realization. She looked at him briefly, before slipping her hand under his arm and held onto his forearm. She felt him stiffen and she let go of him.
“Sorry,” She mumbled.
“Don’t be,” He looked at her.
She chewed on her lip and held onto his arm once more as they listened to the radio. She always found the hula dancers amusing on the dashboard. John B and her sat in silence as they drove to the lighthouse. The canopy of trees captured her in awe.
John B never liked driving alone once Y/N disappeared. Every car that would pass him by, he could’ve sworn it was her. He could have glimpses of her hair blowing around in the wind, the smile, how she would flick people off if they cut in front of her. Even when he would run errands or work for Ward, every person passing on the dock looked like her.
He swore.
He would see glimpses of her shoes, he could hear her laughter, the print of her favorite bikinis. She was everywhere, but no one was close by at once.
Something stole John B’s attention as they were driving, and Y/N’s hands grabbed the wheel. He was getting a text from Sarah. She held the wheel and kept it straight for him as he texted her back. Another thing he missed about Y/N--she would hold the wheel when he needed to do something. The only person willing to do it was JJ--but the rest agreed it was reckless.
But overall, he just stopped the habit. Especially when she was off his mind.
You went to fight off your genetics and you heard the west coast had the cure.
As they pulled into the lighthouse parking lot, John B led her into the shrubbery. He held onto her hand tightly and made sure she was watching her step as they went back to their secret location. He missed holding her hand, but they felt foreign after all this time. That’s how he felt holding Sarah’s hand for the first time, it didn’t feel right. But this did.
Y/N’s face lit up as she saw the familiar area, running in front of John B and now dragging his hand. “Oh my god, I missed it here.” She looked around the area before turning to face John B. He hovered over her--but everything was mixed with his morals.
He would never cheat on Sarah. He loved her.
But he also loved Y/N.
“It’s been lonely without you here,” He commented, averting his eyes away from her.
“Bold of you to say that when you bring your girlfriend here.” She rolled her eyes before sitting down in the hammock. John B stood there, hands slipping into his pockets.
“Sorry--but, Y/N--can you tell me why you left? It’s been killing me. You left--just...god. It was awful.” John B expressed.
She stared at him for a few moments before nodding her head. “Fine, John B. If you want to talk about it, we can.” She took a deep breath and clasped her hands together. She stayed silent for a bit, trying to find the words to say.
“I had thyroid cancer and no doctors here would take care of it. My mom couldn’t afford it. So, we moved. She found a rich man--which was awful. We stayed there and helped with treating it. It wasn’t as serious as we thought it was, but then my mom was stuck in this new marriage. She used him and...it was obvious. But she convinced him to move back here...and here we are.” She confessed.
“You had cancer? And what about your dad?”
“My dad left right when he found out. My mom didn’t want to be reminded of him and that’s another reason why we moved. I couldn’t tell you this because none of it made sense for me. My life felt like it was collapsing and... I couldn’t do that to you. It was better if you didn’t know, John B.” She explained and rubbed her face.
The scar on her neck.
It all made sense. He remembered all the nights of her having a cold that never went away. The nights she would sneak out and spend the nights at his place not feeling good. Always having trouble breathing. It all clicked. Obviously, he wasn’t a doctor. But for some reason he felt like he had more pieces to the uncompleted puzzle.
John B walked over to her and she made room for him on the hammock. They shuffled around and she laid in between his legs. They sat there in silence, enjoying each other’s company. All of it felt too familiar, having her in his arms once more.
“Y/N?”
“Yea, John B?” She asked.
“I love you.” He confessed.
“I love you too.”
He kissed the behind of her head. They swayed for hours, continuing to talk about what it was like for her to go through all of that. He understood parts of it. John B remembered the first time he laid in this hammock without her.
That’s when she was off his mind.
You used to be so sure but now you never know, but it's okay. Yeah, it's alright cause I'm too far from you to fall in love tonight.
Ever since she confessed what happened, John B had been bringing her around the Pogues more and even his girlfriend. Everyone was unsure about it at first, even Y/N. When she seemed hesitant to start hanging out with them again, that’s when it caught his attention. Y/N was always sure about everything, full of confidence.
“Are you sure?” She asked, looking at John B.
“Positive! They all loved you before, why wouldn’t they now?”
“Because...I’m an ex? Sarah is there and...as much as she seemed cool that one night, I don’t think she wants me around.” She tried to explain, glancing over her shoulder, and seeing everyone on the porch talking.
John B knew she had a point. Sarah told John B that hanging out with his ex made her uncomfortable. Sarah around Y/N was pure jealousy. She saw the way her boyfriend would look at Y/N--and it wasn’t how he looked at her.
Not even close.
“Just...hang out with us this one time, please. It would mean the world to me, Y/N.” He practically begged. Reluctantly, she agreed.
Everyone hung around each other with ease, no awkward moments or tension. As the day went on, they lit another fire. He watched as the fire lit her face, casting shadows in all the perfect spots to capture her beauty.
JJ tossed an arm around Y/N’s shoulder and she was laughing beside him. Almost as they never left. John B had his arm wrapped around his girlfriend, who was comfortably snuggled into his side. He watched her from across the fire.
There was no doubt that he was still in love with her. But for tonight, they were too far away from him to fall in love with her again. Sarah underneath his arm, he focused on her. But Y/N couldn’t notice he kept stealing glances at her.
JJ and she smoked the night way.
Sarah left for the night; John B drove her home. Sarah being intoxicated, she started a small argument about Y/N.
Once he came back, he found Y/N sitting on the couch waiting for John B to come back home. She looked beautiful sitting there and minding her business. He missed her and this sight. He held his hand out and she took it. He led her back to his room, and they laid beside each other.
She was officially no longer off his mind.
taglist: @taylathornton
#john b routledge#john b routledge imagine#john b routledge x reader#outer banks imagine#obx imagines
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Michael Trevino Talks The CW’s ‘Roswell, New Mexico’
So first off, what was your reaction to finding out you’d be doing that time jump this season?
Michael Trevino: For Kyle, I think jumping — I mean yeah, time has passed, right? And I think whenever you start a new season, we always ask that. We’re like, “Well, how much time has passed? Where are we starting from? Has as my character been here, been there?” So this is one of those seasons where yes, time has passed, kind of a restart, reboot and it’s fresh. I think our first episodes were showing people in their different dynamics and kind of briefly alluded to what they’ve been up to, and that’s always nice.
I had the chance to see episode nine early and really enjoyed it. What can you preview for the fans about what this episode has in store for them?
I feel that episode nine is a turning point for Kyle. Kyle, as we all know, is there for everybody, whenever he can be. He seems to be the one that they go to. He’s always putting out fires, I keep saying that but it’s true. Whenever there’s a problem, Kyle’s there for you. And I think this episode is kind of where — not that he’s reached a limit, but it’s taken a toll on him and we get a very frustrated, little angsty Kyle for good reason, I feel. I think that that frustration is a bit earned after everything, but we are going to find out in 3×09, as we’ve been finding out, a bit more about who Jim Valenti was, who was Kyle’s father, who is Eduardo, what is Deep Sky about, and it’s going to kind of jumpstart Kyle for the rest of the season. It’s a big episode for him because he finally makes a decision on, “Okay, enough is enough. This is how I feel about this and this is what we’re doing next.”
How was it for you to play with that sort of stroyline as an actor? As you said, it is such an important point for him.
Well, I gotta be honest, I just saw the episode and I’m coming in hot! I’m coming in real hot and in the moment I didn’t think it was that hot, but damn, we’re there. And so I think it’s fine because I get a lot of feedback, which is great, that Kyle is such a good guy and “I like his character, he’s there for everybody.” That’s nice, right? So I feel like after three seasons of that, to see Kyle a bit over it with what’s going on and everything that he’s being told, new information, more new information, I think it works. For me, you try to find those moments of like, “Okay, can I keep being there for everybody,” or at some point I’m going to be like, “Okay, I’m done,” right? Or “I can only do this much.” He’s never going to turn his back on people, but in this episode we see him a little frustrated.
Fans love the show, what does it mean to you when you go on social media or meet fans in person and hear their response to your work?
It’s great. It’s a beautiful feeling because we’re currently filming season four and that’s rare for a series to really last that long, to build these characters, and to still have these interesting storylines. So, to know that people are still engaged in these characters and the story that we’re telling, they’re still tuning in, it’s nice. What makes it even more special this season is because we’re watching season three right now, but we’re currently at the same time filming season four. Through the scheduling it just worked out that way, but it’s almost instant feedback and it’s also an instant reminder of “Okay, where have we been? What have we done?” So we feel closer to the story, which is great for us as actors, but sometimes it’s not that way. You’ll see something and be like, “Oh yeah, we shot that a year ago. Where am I coming from? Where are we headed,” and you want to track these stories but right now I’m just thankful for everybody that’s continuing to watch and who’s invested in these characters.
The show was picked up for a season four ahead of season three even premiering, which was so amazing to see. What was your reaction when you heard the news?
I was genuinely surprised because usually you don’t get a pickup until at least the season has aired or the season is four or five episodes in, but I guess because in the year COVID and the delay, the network was able to see all these episodes and see the ones that we’ve done already. It’s great feedback. I think that we have something special happening here in Santa Fe, New Mexico with this crew, this cast, and our writers back in LA, who are back to visiting us on set per their episode. Everybody’s still invested. It’s a great feeling because we’re all here, we’re happy to be here, grateful to be telling these stories and working, and we’d like to continue.
What has been your favorite storyline of the season so far that fans have already seen?
I think — okay, well, to answer that on what we’ve already seen, I did like and enjoy the scenes with Kyle and Michael. Those were fun to shoot. I get along great with Mr. Michael Vlamis and it’s always fun to be in scenes with him because, as we know, Michael Guerin is a bit of a wild card. With that, Mr. Michael Vlamis on the day is able to be a little bit unpredictable and I like that. I like performing with him and feeding off of what he’s bringing. He always keeps it fresh and new in each take. So, I like those scenes with him
I know you can’t tell me too much, but what can you tease about the rest of season three?
The rest of season three, I feel now that Jones is really flexing on us, we have this bit of the Avengers assembling right in Roswell, like everybody having to come together, everybody has a job, and it’s to really take care of Jones and get him out of here. So I think that’s really what the rest of these episodes are going to be about.
I love that metaphor you did. It’s perfect.
It really is because it’s like from season one to season three, we’re all separate. Now, it’s like, “Okay, we have to join forces to handle this guy.” And that’s what we’re gonna see.
You filmed season three with the COVID pandemic and now you’re filming season four with those safety precautions since the pandemic is still going on. What did it feel like for you to wrap season three with those circumstances, but then also come back for season four?
Well, I have to give it to our producers, really, because everybody in the world had to pivot. We all had to make changes in our lives and I think the changes that have been made to keep everybody — crew, catering, casting, post production, accounting, whoever — safe on set, there’s been some different rules and it’s kept everybody safe. I’m proud to say we didn’t have to shut down once in season three. Unfortunately, there’s other productions that had to, but up here in Santa Fe, no. We were just lucky or we followed the rules, I don’t know but we were great and we were able to keep to our schedule, not have to shut down, and now we’re back for season four and we know what to expect. So things are running smoothly and there hasn’t been any problem. I’m just happy, glad, and grateful that we’re able to still tell the stories.
What is your personal favorite dynamic (friendship or relationship) when it comes to Kyle?
I’m going to say that I want to see more Kyle and Isobel. I think that Isobel brings out a different side of Kyle whenever they’re in scenes or have interactions with one another. I’d like to lean more into that storyline for whatever it may be, I just want them to have more interaction because I think Kyle acts a different way around her. She’s just such a big ball of energy, so I think that would be fantastic and I would want to see more of that.
I know you’re probably not going to be able to give me too much on this, but I have to ask you, what was your reaction when you read the scripts for season four?
Well, my reaction is a kind of going off of my last answer, Kyle ends up having more storyline with Isobel and it’s nice to see that play out. And so far, it’s been refreshing to see them in scenes together. I will tease this: so far in season four, the scenes that are with Kyle and Isobel have a comedic feeling to them. I feel like their scenes are fun and funny to shoot, but there’s a comedic element to it.
Is there any other show that you are personally a fan of and would like to see Roswell, New Mexico do a crossover with?
Oh damn, that’s a great question. Off the top of my head, we’re gonna have a Roswell, New Mexico and The X-Files crossover event. This episode is going to air right after the Super Bowl and millions of people are going to watch it. It’s going to be Scully and Mulder pulling up to Roswell, New Mexico and Kyle will be there to greet them.
Is there a memory that sticks out to you as a memorable moment from filming season three?
Oh gosh, it’s our season finale, it has to be our season finale. I can’t give away too much, but like I said about as far as Avengers assembling, it’s those scenes when we’re all on set together. It’s the season finale, we’re in Santa Fe in the middle of February and March, it’s freezing, it’s like 10 degrees outside, we’re getting the exterior night shoots that we need, and we’re all in. It’s not even just the cast, it’s the crew, it’s everybody. We’re just trying to get the final shot done of the season and we are working against all the elements. It’s a bit chaotic but it’s organized — organized chaos, that’s what it is. Those feelings are you got to get the job done and that’s what we do. I mean, we all know Jones is the big bad and everybody’s gonna have to get involved to take care of him and we see that in our last episode. Those scenes are really fun to shoot. They were challenging but I think it’s gonna come together well and it’ll be a strong finish for us.
If you could create a tagline or a phrase of your own to describe Kyle as a character, what would you pick?
Kyle Valenti: I’m there if you need me.
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My Pre-release Thoughts/Mini-Theory of PLL: Original Sin
Now this theory (the first of many) will cover what I assume will take place or be relevant to what will be happening in the Pretty Little Liars reboot Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin.
Based off of what has been released so far as of date of posting (August 19th, 2021) the reboot’s details that have been released are few but already say a lot about what will take place.
The synopsis of the show, in a statement released by HBO Max, follows below.
“Twenty years ago, a series of tragic events almost ripped the blue-collar town of Millwood apart. Now, in the present day, a group of disparate teen girls—a brand-new set of Little Liars—find themselves tormented by an unknown Assailant and made to pay for the secret sin their parents committed two decades ago…as well as their own. In the dark, coming-of-RAGE, horror-tinged drama Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, we find ourselves miles away from Rosewood, but within the existing Pretty Little Liars universe—in a brand new town, with a new generation of Little Liars.”
So what does this tell us? The reboot will be set in a town near Rosewood which could potentially allow cameo appearances from the original show’s cast, though if that happened, it would need to feel organic. I’d love seeing the old cast reprise their characters for a special appearance but I think it would be best to keep the two separate from each other so as to not mess with the original show’s characters and what those writers and creators intended versus the new creators. Also this tells us that not only will this new group of Liars be getting into trouble and keeping secrets, but that their parents previously did something that someone is out for revenge for the past and present.
Ok, so what are sins? In view of the Christian faith, there are Seven Deadly Sins and also what some view as the “Original Sin”. The Seven Deadly Sins are pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and laziness (sloth), while the Original Sin refers to the belief humans are born to sin through their genetics they inherited from the first man and woman, Adam and Eve who first sinned against God in the Garden of Eden. *(Other religions/faiths have sins but since this story will be set in modern-day Pennsylvania, I believe that if it has any religious allusions, it would be to the Christian faith - no disrespect to the others!)
It has been revealed that Bailee Madison, Maia Reficco, and Chandler Kinney, have been cast as Imogen Abel, Noa Oliver, and Tabby Hayworth, respectively (pictured below left to right as mentioned).
Now THIS is what stood out to me… In a show entitled Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, they created a character whose last name is Abel. In the Bible, there is the famous story of Abel and Cain, where one brother kills the other. To sum it up, Cain and Abel are the sons of Adam and Eve - Cain born first and Abel second. So Cain grows jealous of Abel for the favoritism being shown to him by God, so Cain murders his own brother, Abel.
*Note: the original Pretty Little Liars books even alluded to the story of Abel and Cain as that is the basis for the twins storyline of Alison and Courtney… notice the names have the same first letters, except Courtney is Abel and Alison is Cain (since she murdered Courtney).
Now how does this tie into my theory?
Well I believe that the original sin committed by the Liars’ parents was murder of a classmate/friend/enemy for one of the 7 deadly sins (or maybe it was self-defense?). Imogen Abel will either be killed by her (secret/twin?) sibling (like Abel) or she will end up the killer (like Cain). Since the books twisted the Abel/Cain story to make the killer’s name start with “A” (and ultimately be known as “A”), I think it’s fair to guess that Imogen could be the real killer and “A” in the reboot. Also her parents will definitely be involved in the “original sin” since their last name is Abel and Abel’s parents were Adam and Eve who committed the original sin.
I’m unsure how much material the reboot will pull from the books and the original show in terms of storyline ideas or plot points, so who knows what to really expect! However, a few key staples of the Pretty Little Liars brand are things that some fans may be tired of but they are what have made the show and the books the phenomenon they are. They are:
1. a group of characters being targeted, harassed, stalked, and tormented by an unknown foe who is always a few steps ahead of their prey
2. the unknown stalker being connected to the group or a specific member of the group, and having their reason for their actions being tied to the group/individual in some twisted/straightforward way
3. the one thing some fans will be tired of but I personally *love* … TWINS. Yupp, there HAS to be twins at some point in the show, and it has to be crucial to the plot. It was the premise of the books’ storyline, and then in the last A arc storyline in the original show.
For the PLL reboot to feel like I’m watching a PLL-inspired show (since I know it’s all new content), there HAS to be the 3 plot points I just mentioned and I believe that will be factored into my earlier points about Imogen and her family. Imogen will be the new Alison, and she will be the one to have a twin or even be the new A.
Final thoughts/mini-theories:
- I’m pretty positive that twins will be involved in the mystery, to what extent I am unsure but I have strong feelings Imogen will be featured in that storyline.
- It’s possible that Imogen may be a twin, and if it’s not her, I believe it will be one of her parents, since their last name is Abel, tying back into what I explained earlier.
- The Liars in the reboot will be more proactive in figuring out the identity of their stalker and the underlying mystery, than their predecessors in the original TV series. *No hate to the OG Liars but it always felt like they never tried hard enough to get law enforcement or anyone to help them out until the later seasons instead of from the get-go.*
- I don’t want this reboot to be a faithful adaptation in the sense of using all the material from the books but applying it to new characters. I have mixed opinions on it being set in the same universe as the OG show but I’m glad they will have a new setting, characters, and plot. I do still wish they utilize the twins storyline because I personally LOVE twins and have always found the PLL Alison/Courtney storylines one of the best ever written in terms of the buildup to the reveal, the details dropped along the way, and just the way my mind was blown apart reading it the first time.
So that’s pretty much all I have at this point based off what has been released. Hopefully this show will bring back old fans, bring in new fans, and we can rebuild the PLL community here again! Let me know your thoughts/theories/comments about the reboot, or even about the original show(s) and books! ❤️
#pll#pretty little liars#pll reboot#pll original sin#pretty little liars original sin#bailee madison#maia reficco#chandler kinney#imogen abel#noa oliver#tabby hayworth#pll twins#pll twin theory#pll original sin theory#pllos#pll:os
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While you're doing reactions, if you're up for it, how are you feeling about all the finale predictions you made on March 23? By my count, you scored pretty well!
hooooooo boy (the alluded post, for those just catching up)
how i feel about my predictions is that...you’re right and i scored pretty well, but much like the characters doing right in the episode itself, it didn’t matter. part of the reason why the finale made me feel so much--why i loved it, despite still being emotionally hungover from ugly affect--is because i WAS right, but i was so often right but wrong on a smaller scale, or right but wrong because i completely misunderstood the overall thematic stakes, or in one case right but in such a phenomenally cruel and roundabout way that i’m still reeling from it.
more detailed breakdown under the cut (as in “let’s unpack this,” and as in “i have an emotional breakdown”):
WHERE I WAS MOSTLY RIGHT
Team Green, Yang, the non-Robyn Happy Huntresses, Klein and the non-combatant Schnees were gimmes from the beginning, even the ones of whom we didn’t have visual confirmation by the end of Worthy.
Pietro and Maria are still MIA so i’m putting them here, but...Winter’s gonna have to tell Pietro, when he shows up again.
Cinder and the Relics i was correct about, but even though i knew going in that she would win i didn’t imagine the scale of her victory. mostly because i thought she might have learned some self-discipline and just skedaddled with the Relics in an attempt to trap as many people as possible in superhell, but a) she didn’t, and b) she won without needing to.
Salem, Watts, and Ironwood are where i predicted, but i think part of me really bought into the fan theory that maybe Salem would want to keep Atlas around. both Watts and Ironwood lasted much longer through the episode than i expected because i was working from that assumption, but with the direction the episode actually took it makes perfect sense that they exited the stage as Atlas fell--they are, after all, twin architect-destroyers of Atlas. brains and brawn.
Nora ended up in Vacuo, but she’s...uh, not happy about it. not that i expected her to be happy, but this is much much worse. og JNPR is now JUST Renora, and much as i love freewheeling modular megazord JNPR, that’s gonna hit like a truck. last time they lost someone Renora were consciously trying to play supportive teammate to Jaune, who’d just lost his partner, and Nora especially also had to talk Ren off the edge with the Kuroyuri stuff. i expect they’ll swap the dynamic this time, especially since Nora was already planning to go all independent woman before this.
Qrow, Robyn, and the AceOps are stranded, but in transit and not in Mantle, because Mantle the place is no more. and Vine is dead. the reason i posited that the AceOps might be split up was so they could find their team dynamic after it’s been unsettled, and...well. having one of them do a heroic sacrifice should do a similar trick. because i didn’t think Atlas would fall on Mantle i thought Qrow and Robyn (particularly Robyn) would get more to do, but both of them are pretty much exactly in the same place they were in at the beginning of the season: trapped in a cramped environment, cut off from the people they love and uncertain what happened to them, and unable to contribute in a way that they would consider meaningful. i’m guessing we won’t check back in with this crew for a while, but if we do it’ll be interesting to see if the Qrow and Robyn dynamic changes--like, if he has to be the one to talk her down from cabin fever and despair. (before he finds out that he was the one who should have been despairing all along.)
WHERE I WAS MOSTLY WRONG
Neo is in superhell. i had put her in Atlas because i’d overestimated Cinder’s ability to play the long game, but what the show ultimately doubled down on was that Cinder remains at heart a petty and impatient opportunist, and that’s where she’s most effective. which i dig! i dig that she has not so much improved (in means or ends) so much as learned to hold the beneficial and detrimental parts of herself farther and farther apart, because in the end they’re all the same parts, and because presumably she’ll end up starfishing out so much (who knew the way she took care of Winter’s death pigeons was foreshadowing?) that she breaks in two. and i dig Neo in superhell without Cinder, because it’ll be our first chance to see Neo not working for anyone outside of that one time she fought Cinder. if superhell does end up being part afterlife, she might also get some closure with the Torchwick stuff.
Jaune being in superhell points to it being part afterlife, because the chance for HIM to get some closure is also right there. that was always the case, but the reason i made the prediction i did was because i assumed that Jaune would remain the person he has been this whole season--this stolid, clueless but incredibly effective supporting leader. having a Jaune who is at the top of his game meet up with Pyrrha again is obviously appealing, especially to me, a person who scribbles misshapen hearts labeled “Arkos = 5evr” on all my notebooks, but at the time i didn’t think it was necessary to his story...and then the story dramatically shifted his character and threw all my carefully hedged bets off (which is something we’ll also get to with...later).
having a Jaune who has just effectively EUTHANIZED someone meet up with Pyrrha again isn’t just appealing--it’s vital. and it’s vital because the exact parameters of how and why Jaune ended up having to kill Penny is a point-for-point echo and escalation of the way the Amber to Pyrrha transfer was supposed to go. last time Jaune Arc was party to a Maiden transfer process he had no idea what was going on, and he tried to intervene when he worked out that whatever Oz was doing was going to hurt Pyrrha, and that however minute thing contributed to Pyrrha’s death and the Fall of Beacon. this time it’s not just that he knows what’s going on and the stakes of it. it’s not even just that he is the Ozpin operating the Aura Transfer machine. it is that there is no machine--there is just him, holding the knife. he knows the Amber better than the Pyrrha this time, and this time the Amber is his friend, and still whole, and choosing. not just consenting, but asking him. trusting him. so he carries it out. the old Maiden dies, and like Ozpin he dies shortly after, but not before he watches the new Maiden fail.
but he does prevent history from repeating, because a new Maiden is created, and she gets to live. and Cinder Fall has made him a murderer on top of everything else, but she WILL remember him, now.
there are other people i was wrong about, but that’s...for later.
WHERE I WAS RIGHT AND IT DIDN’T MATTER
Ruby, Blake and Weiss are all in superhell, so on paper i was right, but...well. sing it if you know the words. the reason i’m putting them in their own section is because it’s not just that they fell and didn’t jump like i thought; it’s that they would not have jumped, and that changes everything. you know how i realized that we would lose everyone, and not by choice? it was Weiss. it was when Weiss said we have to do this for Yang. Jaune had reminded Nora of what was priority one minutes before, but the implications of that didn’t sink in for me until Weiss confirmed it. they PLANNED for this. not just the eventuality where they would have to die, but the one where they’d have to watch everyone else die and do nothing except keep going.
which...has implications. the best way to read this--and i think we’re all dying for some good news--is that even if it certainly does not feel that way, RWBY was able to snatch a partial victory from Salem’s claws. they lost the Relics, but they got the Maiden powers away, and most importantly: they saved Atlas and Mantle. by the time Jaune intervened Grand Central was empty. there was no one left to evacuate. they didn’t get everyone, but they got a lot. even before Cinder intervened so catastrophically they knew how many things could go wrong, so they made a plan, and largely stuck to it. on a purely material level they only lost one thing vital to the war effort--the Staff. but they got everyone else out, which was priority one. the show in general and this arc in particular has emphasized that our heroes don’t think they should be exceptionalized, that they’ll fight tooth and nail to make sure everyone is given the treatment and respect they deserve, and they’ve made good on that. they’re Huntresses, and Huntresses be thou for the people. they chose, and they won what mattered to THEM.
but on the flip side: they chose, and there’s no way to read this choice as anything but a compromise...and a very Atlesian one at that. when confronted with calculus similar to the one JYR faced after they lost Oscar in War, our heroes chose...the opposite. one, then three, then four, then five, then six for the many. what was that number compared to two entire cities’ worth of people, especially when they’re the ones who signed up for this? i’m not trying to take this down the slippery slope where our heroes are no better than the dictator they just dethroned, because when the time came for sacrifice they chose themselves first. but it remains a sacrifice, which means that when the time came to test the hard moral limit they set for themselves, they...moved. they decided ahead of time that some risks aren’t worth taking. that this is not a situation where everyone wins, so they had to go for the next best thing, then the next best thing after that, and so on. i’m honestly not sure where it points to yet, except my usual refrain that this show is a lot less didactic than it seems, but...yeah. this is going to lead to some invigorating discussions in-universe.
and maybe it’ll start with this: that Jaune and Weiss--the two who had to verbally advocate for leaving the fallen behind--fell last of all, which means they had to watch everyone else go first. and the last person they saw was the same person. Weiss, who executed the plan to brilliant perfection, saw the past--the first family she ever had--streaking after her in an endless void, forsaking the priorities they all agreed upon, for her. Jaune, who followed the plan to execution and broke a part of himself, saw the new Maiden he crowned, backlit and pulled away by the bright future that he ensured was possible, but can no longer access.
QUEENMAKER
i’m starting with Penny, because Penny came first. there has already been a ton of discussion on the ways that she’ll come back, and while i absolutely agree that she will, for now i am not so much interested in that as i am in eulogizing this Penny. the Penny we had just now, not identical but continuous with the Penny we had before that, in the same way that everyone is not identical but continuous with who they were in the past. the Penny who IS dead, her eventual resurrection notwithstanding.
because she DID die, and her death matters. that’s the thing about the deaths in this season, and it furthers my point re: RWBY’s presumed didacticism--the show’s treatment of death has changed as our heroes have changed. it is no longer (and never was) as simple as “death and sacrifice are always senseless waste,” and more something like...”death has to matter, and we will give it meaning.” Hazel and Vine sacrificed themselves, and the fact both resulted in a “positive” outcome (more lives saved) does not make the deaths any less tragic. but neither should the tragedy of it take away from the fact that they saved lives. what separates our heroes from a Salem or a James Ironwood even now is that they recognize the importance of grievable life even as they accept inevitable death, that what is worth it all about preserving life is not to make sure that lives go on forever, but that lives have meaning and are remembered, that when you’re gone the people who are still here respect you enough to carry that meaning with them. it’s a tenuous balance to walk, but all the more important for that reason.
Penny--though her death can and will be reversed--is much the same. in every arc there has been a Game of Three Maidens (which i guess would make shogi the better metaphor and not chess because--what AM i on about), and in every Game there has been sacrifice. and i thought that would encompass Winter, here. we’d get away with it not being literal death, since Fria already took care of that, but she would be trapped on the other side of the gate--in pretty much the exact same position James Ironwood ended up in the episode itself, actually. it just seemed obvious: she’s the decoy, the one who missed the call by inches, the last revealed defector when there still was an Atlas from which to defect. all of it pointed to Winter’s story ending with one last delay barring her from salvation, of her finally being too late...
and well. i WASN’T wrong in the broad strokes, but first there was Penny Polendina. Penny could have let Jaune try to save her and Weiss die for her, but she knew she had to make a different choice to save as many lives as possible. so she offered herself up as the sacrifice instead. last week i waxed prolonged poetic about how Winter defected so recently, how it has been just IronwoodandWinter for so long, how Winter doesn’t have a team and only the healing shreds of a family, how no one would think to look for her...and then Penny did. you were my friend. (given Winter’s rough age and the hazy creation dates for the PENNY Project, it’s possible that Winter is Penny’s OLDEST friend.) Penny thought of Winter as she was dying, thought about the good Winter could do if Winter had her powers, believed in Winter, and in doing so, saved Winter’s life before anyone else’s.
she ceded the spotlight to Winter in this last episode, but this season as a whole belongs to Penny Polendina--the myriad ways she creates herself, the ways she defends her self-creation, ultimately culminating in her new body, created by no one but herself. but for her final act the Maiden of Creation did something different and no less miraculous: i thought of you. a thought was all it took.
she created someone else.
KINGSLAYER | THE MAIDEN THAT WAS PROMISED
the thing about Winter is that she came first.
no, i’m serious. i checked the fairy tale and everything--Winter came first. as the Wizard’s first visitor she encouraged him to reflect and meditate, and when probed about why she was here at all, she answered: i am waiting for my sisters. Spring and Summer have to wait, too, of course, but. Winter was the first.
Jacques and Willow named their firstborn Winter. it is not the way this story begins, but it is certainly is one of them, because the story begins with Winter, and Winter begins the story--a new retelling, a new cycle of heroism. we’ve since been introduced to other characters in that indeterminate age group between RWBY and STRQ, but Winter--by virtue of being Weiss’ older sister--anchors herself to the new generation in a way those others (even Cinder, who comes closest) do not. she started things, in the mythical emblematic way that this show likes to move, and the way she started things--the way she MADE herself start things, thanks to the house she grew up in--was with love, and protection. she took care of Weiss and laid the groundwork for the person Weiss is today, and conversely: she took care of Weiss, and through Weiss, laid the groundwork for herself and how to take care of everyone. so eventually the steel thread she tied to Weiss she also linked to Whitley, to Penny, to Marrow, to all the people they love, and on and on it goes. Winter loved Weiss, so she made herself learn how to love Weiss, and so when i say she started things what i mean is she started family. a new home, for a new generation of the orphaned.
Winter came first. but as the show demonstrates time and again, especially with Winter: first does not mean best. because being first also means you’re the prototype, a volatile thing that must be tested and tempered and then discarded to make way for what comes after, what gets improved. and it is THIS part of being first that Winter has internalized most of all. Winter, the first Maiden, taught the Wizard peace and prepared the earth so that her sisters could grow and foster and harvest the life within it; Winter, the first Schnee, laid the groundwork in her siblings, but did not wait for them. and let herself fallow in the process. she left, and every time they tried to follow or stay with her she sent them away. (she keeps sending them away; even after defecting and taking down Ironwood, the first thing she says to JNPER is go.) Winter laid the first stone in the foundation, but she cannot take credit for the home her family turned it into, for all the ways it has flourished, because she willfully absented herself of that (birth)right.
and the reason she did this was very simple: she was afraid. she could not bear the thought that while she had to learn how to love she made mistakes, the idea that instead of preparing the earth she might have poisoned the well. so she ran. she turned her face away so she would not have to look, so they would not look to her. she left, and every time one of her siblings superseded her after that, every time she was made to be their Esau--passed over--it just seemed to confirm that she was right to leave. look how well they’ve all done without her.
in the stories, eldest siblings aren’t here to win. they’re here to be made an example of, and Winter...had resigned herself to that. she was prepared to be left behind for good by all the people who have outpaced her.
but then there was Penny Polendina. Penny didn’t follow her, or try to stay; Penny came back for her. Penny remembered Winter when all Winter wanted was to be forgotten, because she’d gotten it in her head that it was what she deserved for all the things she’d done or enabled or failed to do. why did Penny remember Winter? because you were my friend. there is no divine complexity to it, nothing for Winter to fall hopeless short of. there is only the fact that Winter gave Penny something, made something together with Penny, even as she was trying her hardest not to, for fear that she would create something terrible. and this does not take away from all the ways Winter did fall short, but it is still SOMETHING. and it is enough.
it was your power, after all. Penny means the Maiden powers, but she also means THIS Maiden’s power: the power to create. you made this home, Penny is saying to Winter, you should get to reap its fruit, even if you weren’t around for the labor. all you have to do is say yes.
this was a gift. she says yes. she accepts, because in the end Winter Schnee loves her family more than she hates herself.
but then--
(a gift for what? Winter will ask herself wretchedly later, after she has failed in the two tasks she thinks Penny set for her.)
the thing about Winter is that she came first. she taught Weiss everything she knows, and she was so busy doing that she never had the time to show Weiss everything she feels. so in the end what Weiss never predicted was that for all of her team’s painful planning, for all of her own pained enforcement of that plan...none of it was a match for her sister. that when the time came it was would be WINTER who defaults to the absolute ideal of “no one gets left behind,” of “every life” meaning every life, priority one be damned.
or that Winter, in trying to choose both, in finally and fiercely trying, with surely enough power to make a difference, would fail.
what are you doing? Winter heard as she watched Weiss fall into nothingness. my life doesn’t matter.
so here, then, is the story of Winter in The Final Word: a girl returns home after having left it, but in this version it is the home who has changed and the girl who has not. and from this both are unmade. but she gets to live, because she was invited back home. and she gets to go through the portal as its last passenger, into the Promised Land.
and she is still the Maiden of Creation. even after all this, THAT is still her task. to build a refuge for her people, to collect the broken strands of the family she began and her siblings continued and expanded and reinforced, and gather them up again into a new home. it will be impossible, but at the same time: she has done this before.
and this time, she will wait for her sisters.
(a gift for what? for nothing, would be the answer. gifts aren’t FOR anything. they’re gifts.)
#typeoneninja#rwby#helen writes meta#VERY LONG OBSCENELY LONG META CANNOT EMPHASIZE HOW LONG#at least it didn't take me a whole month this time
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Furuba S3 - OP - Pleasure - A Deep Dive Into the Lyrics + Pics: SPOILERS!
Like with the ED, I’m going to be taking a closer look at the images and lyrics combination for the OP as well. I’ll be using my own translation of the OP lyrics. It should be noted, however, that the Japanese lyrics I did my translation off of were written out by listening alone, since the official release of the song and lyrics hasn’t happened yet, so there may be changes to this once the official lyrics come out.
We open up with a stormy, rainy day. This alludes to the climax of the series. That night.
Kyo and Tohru:
Wavering between who I want to be,
And who others want me to be, yeah yeah yeah.
Here we have Kyo and Tohru. Technically, the lyrics that play over Tohru are just “yeah, yeah, yeah.” But I think this indicates that the lyrics that come before it are tied to Tohru, just like how her imagery is tied to Kyo’s. Tohru is a people pleaser and has a doing things that benefit herself over others. While Kyo has always had the stigma of being the Cat placed on him. Many of the other characters and a lot of them have this expectation for who Kyo is as a person already laid out before them. This conflicts with the kinder, gentler person Kyo really is and tries to be (more so since meeting Tohru).
Of course, we also have the locations of the characters. Kyo is up on the roof, where he usually goes to think. Tohru is walking along a rode (either on the way to or from school). This fits with her character being the central one tying all the other characters together and how this season we will really start to seeing Tohru taking her own path and traveling down it.
The rest will be under a Read More due to length and spoilers!
Yuki and Machi:
I want to love you, yet my cold heart
Keeps holding me back, yeah yeah yeah.
Yuki grew up in a cold household and we’ve seen him struggling over the course of this series with being able to open up to people, let them in, and simply connect with others. He isn’t a cold ice king or anything like that, but he has been confused by love and affection in the past - not quite sure how to handle it. In a different yet similar way, Machi grew up in a cold household as well. A household with a need for her perfection and as a result she was brought up believing that she was dull. Both Yuki and Machi want to break free from this, but they both have a hard time with properly showing each other their feelings, though in different ways. At first, Yuki just doesn’t quite know how he should show it, and Machi gets flustered. But they both try hard and do eventually reach enough other, despite all this.
Yuki’s location isn’t Shigure’s house, but it does resemble a traditional looking house like Shigure’s, especially in the screenshot above. Shigure’s house was Yuki’s first steps towards his own freedom and independence, and he is looking outward, with resolution at the world outside. Ready to head into it. Machi is shown at the school, the place where Yuki sees and interacts with her the most.
Akito, Shigure, and Beads:
The moment when I accept that my true voice and parched loneliness,
Are apart of who I am,
will be Pleasure.
The image of Shigure matches up with the lyrics talking about “true voice,” while the “parched loneliness” lyrics play over Akito’s image. And “are apart of who I am” plays when the split screen of Akito and Shigure appears. So the lyrics connected Shigure with the idea of a “true voice,” which does work. He is constantly playing roles and putting up facades, while Akito is associated with “parched loneliness,” which also works with her utter isolation from regular people and life. As well as her isolation from the zodiacs themselves, in a way, due to her role and the spoiled nature of the Curse.
Once Akito and Shigure (as well as the other characters) accept themselves for who they truly are and allow themselves to move on - the Curse breaks.This is why we get a shot of Kyo breaking his beads as the lyric “Pleasure” plays in the background.
As for the location, the place where Shigure is looks very similar to the location he and Akito are in when they first discuss Tohru staying with the Sohma’s and not having her memories erased. Akito’s location also looks very similar to her room in the main estate.
Rin and Haru:
What is it that you're waiting for?
Fate? Chance? A miracle?
A world where we are drawn to each other is
Pleasure.
For this part of the song I flipped the lyrics, in the Japanese, during Haru’s part, the Japanese is actually saying, “Fate? Chance? A miracle?” while during Rin’s part it is asking, “What is it that you’re waiting for?” I flipped it because it sounds a bit better and more natural that way in English. Regardless, these set of lyrics fit the two of them really well.
We have Haru, who is more direct and straight forward about his feelings towards Rin. We see that in the scene when he tells her that he loves her. Nothing really holds him back, but Rin holds a lot of her feelings and herself inside. She does it not only to protect herself, but Haru as well. So the lyrics of “What is it that you’re waiting for?” fit her nicely here as well.
Then the lyrics of “A world where we are drawn to each other is Pleasure.” plays over the close up images of the two of them. The juxtaposition of the lyrics “drawn to each other” and the sad expressions and split screen, really highlight how they want to be together, but can’t be.
Also, there locations are interesting. Haru is walking along a bridge that looks very similar to the one Yuki was walking over when Haru first met him as a little kid. And Rin is standing in a hallway with rooms with closed doors next to her. It makes me think of how she ends up locked up in the Cat’s Room.
Hiro and Kisa:
Breathing right here, right now
Our worlds are intersecting.
This is another section where I flipped the order of the lyrics in the English so it flows better. During Hiro’s image, the lyrics that are sung are “right here, right now” and with Kisa’s image we get the lyrics “breathing” and then the split image of both of them is when the lyrics “Our worlds are intersecting” are sung. Though a more direct translation would be “intersecting worlds.”
But yeah, here with Kisa and Hiro we see that they are starting to enter their early teen years. They are living and growing right here in the moment and learning to take things as they come. Their lives are getting more complicated and their relationship with each other slightly more complicated and intertwined as well.
Hiro is walking along a road, a small, quiet backroad (sort of the opposite of Tohru’s image in that way). And I feel that fits his role. As Hiro is getting older, he is learning to observe more and be more careful with his speech. To kinda take things a bit slower. His character also is integral to Rin and Haru’s plotline, but in a more “background” type of a way. Where Kisa is is different from where Yuki was in his image, but it looks very similar. I think that ties into how Yuki and Kisa relate to each other in some ways.
Kagura:
Pleasure.
Now this image and lyric combination is interesting. They kinda contradict each other. We see Kagura alone, looking downward, and in the shadows of a house that looks very similar to her actual parent’s house in the anime. But we get the song lyric of “Pleasure.” It seems unfitting in some ways, but when you think about how pleasure is being used within the context of the song, it deals more with the characters finding themselves than anything romantic or sexual in nature. So I think this shows how Kagura ultimately ends up finding herself once she starts taking a closer look at herself without any romantic ties and really looks at the darker parts of herself.
Kureno and Momiji:
Fate, chance, a miracle -
This is our shared secret.
A world where we are drawn to each other is
Pleasure
I didn’t flip the lyrics here, because the English could work while being kept in the same order as the Japanese lyrics. We get Kureno standing outside, something he doesn’t really do all that often, with the lyrics of “Fate, chance, a miracle” playing over it. Kureno’s curse broke, but he still has a lot of confused feelings about it and there are still so many unknowns. For him, he can’t tell what it was for him (part of his fate, just a chance of fate, or something miraculous). While the “this is our shared secret” line hints at the fact that Kureno’s curse is broken and Momiji is the next character to have their curse break.
Obviously, the use of “drawn to each other” and “pleasure” here aren’t romantic or sexual, since neither Momiji nor Kureno have that kind of relationship with each other. It is definitely more of a connection to them having a shared bond of no longer having the zodiac bond. Visually, I think the important bit about Momiji’s image is that he is standing directly in the sunlight. It makes me think of how, after his curse breaks, he talks with his mother on his way to school and how that scene is inserted between his talk with Akito about starting his own journey, moving forward, etc. It was a bright and sunny day in that scene with his mom.
Hatori and Ayame:
Right this moment, under the same sky,
Our worlds are intersecting.
Hatori, like Kureno, doesn’t really leave the estate that much. So it is nice to see him outside of the house, even if he is still within the estate. Meanwhile, Ayame’s location looks very similar to the stairs leading up to Shigure’s house. Or, at least, that is what it reminds me of.
Lyrics-wise, “right this moment” is played over Hatori’s part. Hatori...doesn’t really have a much of a role in this part of the series. But, I think this lyric can relate to how he is starting to live his life now that he has connected with Mayuko. In their episode together, Mayuko lived in the moment and cried for him, and Hatori is learning to appreciate that aspect of living. Living more by how you want to live, not based on the expectations of others, as well as learning to live in the moment, instead of in the past.
Ayame’s lyric is “under the same sky” which I feel can connect to Ayame’s plotline of learning that others are impacted by his actions. We see through his plotline with Yuki, his past with Mine, and the very brief bit of backstory with the girl he turned down in high school, that Ayame’s journey is realizing and understanding the well being of others and how they are connected to him and vice versa.
Though, I also feel like these set of lyrics can really fit with the moment the curse lifts. It happens in a moment, and they all kinda look upward after it happens. After that curse lifts, they all start to move in their own directions and paths, but they are all connected by this sense of loss too.
#Fruits Basket#Furuba#Fruits Basket The Final#Kyo Sohma#Tohru Honda#Yuki Sohma#Machi Kuragi#Shigure Sohma#Akito Sohma#Rin Sohma#Hatsuharu Sohma#Kisa Sohma#Hiro Sohma#Momiji Sohma#Kureno Sohma#Ayame Sohma#Hatori Sohma#Fruits Basket spoilers#Furuba spoilers#FB spoilers#Fruits Basket manga spoilers#long post#image heavy post#analysis#Pleasure
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On TMS.. I don't know if it's me being an older, slightly jaded femslash fan / viewer, but I kind of feel like TMS keeps surprising me re: Bradley and Laura almost every episode, especially since it is a drama. Their relationship so far seems to be entirely a positive thing for Bradley without a lot of drama about it. Sure, challenging to Bradley sometimes, but in a way that enables growth. But something (relatively) stable. But makes me slightly anxious waiting if other shoe is going to drop.
I'm also slightly intrigued if we as viewers are supposed to assume that Alex knows about Bradley and Laura. Sort of feels like she has to, but then again timeline wise it seemed like the outing happened simultaneously with Italy, and Alex is great at only noticing her own problems. But they haven't had her react or even allude to it AT ALL, which feels strange. One more episode to go..
No, agreed! Not just a drama, but a (show that thinks itself a) prestige drama, nothing good or happy can happen for long, to anybody, let alone the wlw?
If my expectations were low, with it being extremely possible that it would end up being even worse, their story has somehow surpassed them many times over. At every opportunity, when they could have gone down the okay or the oh no path, they have actually gone with the pretty good path.
And like, our pessimism isn't unwarranted, we're not making up this poor history, and yet, every ep we've been like, welp, this is the one when things start to go wrong and then?? I mean, even TONIGHT, I'm trying to get this answered before the season finale because I'm half certain that something will happen. It's like you said, right, it having been good so far just makes that wait for the other shoe to drop longer and more nerve wracking.
I really expected, at some point, Alex to turn to Bradley and be like, "Laura Peterson???", but there really has been zero acknowledgement. She HAS to know but... I mean, even her NOT knowing would be a kind of story in itself, that she somehow missed it, but... Yeah, I don't know. She really could have missed it amid all the other news stories she herself was in the middle of.
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Varian & Affirmation
Analysis:
And we’ve got another one, folks! This one hit hard for me for sure. Just the way that the show set it up...it’s incredible. So without any further adieu...
“Well, shall we get started?”
Motives
So I’m just going to come right out and say it: Varian is selfish in Season 1. The whole way through. (Now don’t leave yet! If you know me you know how much of a fan I am of this complex alchemist and this is not a hate post by all means!)
But yes. Throughout the whole of Season 1, Varian has a very self-centered mindset that’s hard to pick up on at first, but it’s there. Here’s some dialogue examples:
“I am sure that I, Varian, can unlock the mystery of your hair with the power of science!”
“Hey Flynn Rider? Wanna come with?”
“It doesn’t matter. The truth is all I really wanted to do was impress you, I thought that if I showed you what I was capable of you might see something in me.”
“Actually he’d probably be impressed. At least I hope he’d be impressed.”
Most of these quotes sound perfectly innocent, and they are! But it’s the motives behind them that make them more self-centered. Varian’s main goal, his life blood practically, is affirmation. He yearns to be adored and recognized for his achievements. It’s a perfectly normal and human want. I myself struggle with this all the time. But when it’s the only thing that you strive for? The only thing that makes you happy? It effects everything that you say and do. If you dig deep into these quotes, you can see what he’s really craving.
By discovering the mystery of Rapunzel’s hair, Varian gets credit and especially admiration. By showing his idol his inventions, he’s expecting Eugene to tell him what a genius he is or how amazed he is that this fourteen year old kid could build all this. The third one is just wanting Cassandra to recognize him since he looks up to her, and went to great lengths to impress her. Even when he helped her, it was still because he wanted to impress her and get her to help him in return. Throughout that episode he’s trying so hard to get her to compliment his work. In three of these examples, he gets the adoration he asked for. But that’s the problem: he asked for it. Eugene and Cass essentially tell him the same thing, “you’re a great, smart kid with good intentions.” And both times he responds more...despondently. For Cass it’s “thanks for saying that.” For Eugene it’s just looking at him sadly because this wasn’t what he wanted to hear. In essence: it isn’t enough.
And the last quote obviously represents the affirmation he craves the most, his father’s, and the one that he doesn’t get.
Even slight comments like “I build it myself,” “of my own design,” and “wanna see my new invention?” all have the underlying motive of craving affirmation from his peers. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but since Varian often has tunnel-vision and can’t see the consequences of his actions, it quickly becomes an issue. Especially in the case of, of course, the black rocks.
Taking it Too Far
We find out that Varian discovered the rocks in Great Expotations. Rapunzel inadvertently tasked him with figuring out how to get rid of them, and in his mind he needed to. To impress her and possibly all of Corona. So he ran tests and got reprimanded by his dad probably more than once. But this is the biggest thing he could ever do: rescue his village and the kingdom and make his dad proud in the process. That’s why he wanted to come with him and hopefully talk to the king. Yes, in this case he actually wants to help his village, he’s not heartless and he cares a lot, but he’s predominantly focusing on the rewards that will come after he figured it out.
Of course we know his plans go awry again, but he never stops focusing on his goal of making his dad proud of him. Seriously...NEVER.
Taking it WAY Too Far
Enter: Villain Arc. Suddenly his need to be adored and affirmed flips upside down. He doesn’t want compliments anymore, he wants people to fear him, respect him, and listen to him.
Examples:
“I have asked for help and have been ignored, I will not be ignored any longer!”
“I tried asking for help in a civil manner but was denied by everyone in Corona. So, unfortunately, this is my only remaining recourse.”
“I’ll make them hear me...”
I touched on this in my Confidence analysis, but Varian never loses his drive. And his want to be revered, consumes him. Even when he goes to prison, he joins Andrew and takes over Corona to be feared. But he soon realizes, it’s still not enough. His want for revenge doesn’t satisfy him or make him happy, it just makes him feel worse as the weight of what he’s done gradually crashes down on him.
By the time Rapunzel comes back, it’s all an act. He’s not craving adoration anymore. He just wants a way out of this cycle of disappointment that isn’t getting him anywhere. You can tell from the lines, too.
“Me? No, not really.”
“So that no one will forget they turned their back on my father!”
“I took their queen prisoner! I threatened their princess! I helped these guys take over their kingdom!”
Now the first one is small, but it actually shows a lot of development (even if he says it in a rather dorky way) because he’s not taking credit for something or taking the “fear” that he wanted so badly. The second one just sounds like a threat but it’s not “they turned their backs on me,” like it was in season 1. It’s back to his father, and it’s, in a way, humbling Varian by taking himself out of the picture. And of course the last one is the most evident: he’s listing his faults and realizing he doesn’t deserve the adoration he used to crave so much.
Making it Right
During Varian’s redemption...we see these thoughts really come to light.
“All I ever wanted was for my father to be proud. But if he were free from the amber now, and saw everything I’ve done, well he’d be ashamed.”
This is his turning point. This is where he owns up to how warped and twisted his mindset was and makes an effort to fix it with Rapunzel. Not for himself; not for the glory, but because it’s the right thing to do. He knows he messed up with the Quirineon, and he’s literally willing to die to make up for his mistakes. This is a direct contrast to his previous statement: “I will make you proud of me, dad. If it’s the last thing I ever do.”
Because if he dies fixing his mistakes, he doesn’t expect any kind of praise. He’d leave a legacy of horrible deeds that would never make his dad proud; but he’d be saving Corona and that’s all that matters. Of course he doesn’t actually die, thank goodness, and Rapunzel saves Corona instead, but he’s learned something from this whole experience. And one thing he especially didn’t expect was for Rapunzel to keep her promise after everything. And even when his dad finally says those words...they were supposed to mean everything, but they don’t. It still isn’t enough. Especially not after everything that’s happened. I touched on this in another analysis as well, but he feels like he doesn’t deserve those words.
From this point, Varian has a whole new outlook on life, not dependent on gaining recognition. He’s still the cocky, confident alchemist we know and love, but he shows off his inventions because he’s proud of them, and that’s enough. He saves Corona from the red rocks because he genuinely wants to help his kingdom, he doesn’t have any underlying motives whatsoever. He helps with the Demanitus Scroll because he wants to help Rapunzel figure everything out. And at the end he helps defeat Zhan Tiri because he knows he can help, and he genuinely wants to. (And here’s where I get emotional.)
Varian doesn’t once ask for compliments or a “thank you” throughout season 3, yet that’s exactly what he gets. After all of those years of seeking and yearning for adoration, he finally gets it when he doesn’t need it anymore.
In every selfless thing he does for Corona, he gets a reward in some way. When he rescues the kingdom from black rocks, he didn’t ask for anything in return, yet his reputation was restored. When he agreed to help with the scroll, he actually got to work in Demanitus’ Lab, someone he’s admired forever. And when he helps with the portal, he gets to go see Demanitus’ tomb and I mean...
that’s the happiest we’ve ever seen him. And it isn’t just the big things either, it’s the little ones. The way that Rapunzel calls him “a genius,” when he doesn’t ask for it or allude to it in any way. The “good job, buddy,” that Eugene tells him after he fixes up the balloon. And every time he’s complimented, he stays humble. He even responds one time with “just doing my part.”
And at the very end of his arc, after all of that selfless work he did for Corona out of the goodness of his own heart, he’s given his very own title of “Royal Engineer.” An official position in the kingdom that people truly look up to and respect.
Conclusion
This is honestly one the most well-done character arcs I’ve ever seen, because it’s absolute poetic justice. At the beginning, Varian is so focused on his own need of affirmation that he forgets everything else, and jeopardizes himself on multiple occasions. Especially when his motives become warped. But when he finally sets his pride and his own ambitions aside and realizes he’s already enough, that’s when he gets the respect and adoration that he had always wanted. And that my friends...is CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.
#just when i think i knew everything about this kid- SOMETHING ELSE SHOWS UP-#varian tts#varian#lissa analyzes varian....again#varian analysis#villain varian#tangled the series
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So first off, what was your reaction to finding out you’d be doing that time jump this season?
Michael Trevino: For Kyle, I think jumping — I mean yeah, time has passed, right? And I think whenever you start a new season, we always ask that. We’re like, “Well, how much time has passed? Where are we starting from? Has as my character been here, been there?” So this is one of those seasons where yes, time has passed, kind of a restart, reboot and it’s fresh. I think our first episodes were showing people in their different dynamics and kind of briefly alluded to what they’ve been up to, and that’s always nice.
I had the chance to see episode nine early and really enjoyed it. What can you preview for the fans about what this episode has in store for them?
Michael Trevino: I feel that episode nine is a turning point for Kyle. Kyle, as we all know, is there for everybody, whenever he can be. He seems to be the one that they go to. He’s always putting out fires, I keep saying that but it’s true. Whenever there’s a problem, Kyle’s there for you. And I think this episode is kind of where — not that he’s reached a limit, but it’s taken a toll on him and we get a very frustrated, little angsty Kyle for good reason, I feel. I think that that frustration is a bit earned after everything, but we are going to find out in 3×09, as we’ve been finding out, a bit more about who Jim Valenti was, who was Kyle’s father, who is Eduardo, what is Deep Sky about, and it’s going to kind of jumpstart Kyle for the rest of the season. It’s a big episode for him because he finally makes a decision on, “Okay, enough is enough. This is how I feel about this and this is what we’re doing next.”
How was it for you to play with that sort of stroyline as an actor? As you said, it is such an important point for him.
Michael Trevino: Well, I gotta be honest, I just saw the episode and I’m coming in hot! I’m coming in real hot and in the moment I didn’t think it was that hot, but damn, we’re there. And so I think it’s fine because I get a lot of feedback, which is great, that Kyle is such a good guy and “I like his character, he’s there for everybody.” That’s nice, right? So I feel like after three seasons of that, to see Kyle a bit over it with what’s going on and everything that he’s being told, new information, more new information, I think it works. For me, you try to find those moments of like, “Okay, can I keep being there for everybody,” or at some point I’m going to be like, “Okay, I’m done,” right? Or “I can only do this much.” He’s never going to turn his back on people, but in this episode we see him a little frustrated.
Fans love the show, what does it mean to you when you go on social media or meet fans in person and hear their response to your work?
Michael Trevino: It’s great. It’s a beautiful feeling because we’re currently filming season four and that’s rare for a series to really last that long, to build these characters, and to still have these interesting storylines. So, to know that people are still engaged in these characters and the story that we’re telling, they’re still tuning in, it’s nice. What makes it even more special this season is because we’re watching season three right now, but we’re currently at the same time filming season four. Through the scheduling it just worked out that way, but it’s almost instant feedback and it’s also an instant reminder of “Okay, where have we been? What have we done?” So we feel closer to the story, which is great for us as actors, but sometimes it’s not that way. You’ll see something and be like, “Oh yeah, we shot that a year ago. Where am I coming from? Where are we headed,” and you want to track these stories but right now I’m just thankful for everybody that’s continuing to watch and who’s invested in these characters.
The show was picked up for a season four ahead of season three even premiering, which was so amazing to see. What was your reaction when you heard the news?
Michael Trevino: I was genuinely surprised because usually you don’t get a pickup until at least the season has aired or the season is four or five episodes in, but I guess because in the year COVID and the delay, the network was able to see all these episodes and see the ones that we’ve done already. It’s great feedback. I think that we have something special happening here in Santa Fe, New Mexico with this crew, this cast, and our writers back in LA, who are back to visiting us on set per their episode. Everybody’s still invested. It’s a great feeling because we’re all here, we’re happy to be here, grateful to be telling these stories and working, and we’d like to continue.
What has been your favorite storyline of the season so far that fans have already seen?
Michael Trevino: I think — okay, well, to answer that on what we’ve already seen, I did like and enjoy the scenes with Kyle and Michael. Those were fun to shoot. I get along great with Mr. Michael Vlamis and it’s always fun to be in scenes with him because, as we know, Michael Guerin is a bit of a wild card. With that, Mr. Michael Vlamis on the day is able to be a little bit unpredictable and I like that. I like performing with him and feeding off of what he’s bringing. He always keeps it fresh and new in each take. So, I like those scenes with him
I know you can’t tell me too much, but what can you tease about the rest of season three?
Michael Trevino: The rest of season three, I feel now that Jones is really flexing on us, we have this bit of the Avengers assembling right in Roswell, like everybody having to come together, everybody has a job, and it’s to really take care of Jones and get him out of here. So I think that’s really what the rest of these episodes are going to be about.
I love that metaphor you did. It’s perfect.
Michael Trevino: It really is because it’s like from season one to season three, we’re all separate. Now, it’s like, “Okay, we have to join forces to handle this guy.” And that’s what we’re gonna see.
You filmed season three with the COVID pandemic and now you’re filming season four with those safety precautions since the pandemic is still going on. What did it feel like for you to wrap season three with those circumstances, but then also come back for season four?
Michael Trevino: Well, I have to give it to our producers, really, because everybody in the world had to pivot. We all had to make changes in our lives and I think the changes that have been made to keep everybody — crew, catering, casting, post production, accounting, whoever — safe on set, there’s been some different rules and it’s kept everybody safe. I’m proud to say we didn’t have to shut down once in season three. Unfortunately, there’s other productions that had to, but up here in Santa Fe, no. We were just lucky or we followed the rules, I don’t know but we were great and we were able to keep to our schedule, not have to shut down, and now we’re back for season four and we know what to expect. So things are running smoothly and there hasn’t been any problem. I’m just happy, glad, and grateful that we’re able to still tell the stories.
What is your personal favorite dynamic (friendship or relationship) when it comes to Kyle?
Michael Trevino: I’m going to say that I want to see more Kyle and Isobel. I think that Isobel brings out a different side of Kyle whenever they’re in scenes or have interactions with one another. I’d like to lean more into that storyline for whatever it may be, I just want them to have more interaction because I think Kyle acts a different way around her. She’s just such a big ball of energy, so I think that would be fantastic and I would want to see more of that.
I know you’re probably not going to be able to give me too much on this, but I have to ask you, what was your reaction when you read the scripts for season four?
Michael Trevino: Well, my reaction is a kind of going off of my last answer, Kyle ends up having more storyline with Isobel and it’s nice to see that play out. And so far, it’s been refreshing to see them in scenes together. I will tease this: so far in season four, the scenes that are with Kyle and Isobel have a comedic feeling to them. I feel like their scenes are fun and funny to shoot, but there’s a comedic element to it.
Is there any other show that you are personally a fan of and would like to see Roswell, New Mexico do a crossover with?
Michael Trevino: Oh damn, that’s a great question. Off the top of my head, we’re gonna have a Roswell, New Mexico and The X-Files crossover event. This episode is going to air right after the Super Bowl and millions of people are going to watch it. It’s going to be Scully and Mulder pulling up to Roswell, New Mexico and Kyle will be there to greet them.
Is there a memory that sticks out to you as a memorable moment from filming season three?
Michael Trevino: Oh gosh, it’s our season finale, it has to be our season finale. I can’t give away too much, but like I said about as far as Avengers assembling, it’s those scenes when we’re all on set together. It’s the season finale, we’re in Santa Fe in the middle of February and March, it’s freezing, it’s like 10 degrees outside, we’re getting the exterior night shoots that we need, and we’re all in. It’s not even just the cast, it’s the crew, it’s everybody. We’re just trying to get the final shot done of the season and we are working against all the elements. It’s a bit chaotic but it’s organized — organized chaos, that’s what it is. Those feelings are you got to get the job done and that’s what we do. I mean, we all know Jones is the big bad and everybody’s gonna have to get involved to take care of him and we see that in our last episode. Those scenes are really fun to shoot. They were challenging but I think it’s gonna come together well and it’ll be a strong finish for us.
If you could create a tagline or a phrase of your own to describe Kyle as a character, what would you pick?
Michael Trevino: Kyle Valenti: I’m there if you need me.
#michael trevino#kyle valenti#rnm cast interviews#rnm spoilers#rnm 3x09#roswell new mexico s3#roswell new mexico#roswell new mexico s2
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Here’s the final part of the “Raph is a system” theory compilation post! It’s the last of what I can scrape up from canon; while I still have ideas on how it might loop back into character interactions and plot and so on, they’re much more speculative in nature. (Part 1 is here) (Part 2 is here) (You’re reading Part 3)
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"Red” is the alter with the least screen time, so it took a while for me to connect the dots on when and why he formed.
His shadowed face, the dramatic background music when he speaks, and his seriousness are reminiscent of the “brooding on rooftops in the rain while gloomily staring off into the distance” thing that Raphs throughout the franchise will do sometimes. That’s easy to poke fun at on a superficial level because most of us look back on our edgy phases with self-deprecation, but it’s a lot less funny in the context of the life he lives. Being a normal human teenager in normal human society is a fucking nightmare; being a mutant teenager who has no idea what to expect in terms of development or lifespan, only five people he can safely interact with ever, and a very limited future hiding from everyone else for as long as he lives has got to be just awful.
RR’s few lines in “Pizza Puffs” tell us a lot. “It’s the only way they’ll learn” and “this is for their own good” suggest that he formed when the turtles started exploring more of the sewers and going aboveground, and Being The Leader became more of a responsibility. A thousand new ways for them to get in trouble meant a thousand new ways Raph would have to bail them out, and that got old fast- especially since they didn’t have April’s knowledge to help them in the beginning. I doubt they met her the very first time they left the sewers. The wiki says April knew the boys for five years as of “Mystic Mayhem”, so they would have been nearly eight at the time, perhaps the mental equivalent of a ten- or eleven-year-old human.
A while back I sifted through all the eps with Raph in them in the vague hopes that “Pizza Puffs” wasn’t the only episode featuring RR... and lo and behold, I found something! The shadowed face and dramatic background music are also present in “Minotaur Maze”!
“I can’t do it. I got no mystic mojo. I’m useless.”
“Hey, that’s not true, brother. You just gotta believe in yourself, and know this: If I die in this maze, I will haunt you for the rest of your life.”
(I know that’s only two data points, but y’all canonically cannot scoff at me.) RR shows up when HR is no longer able to tolerate the bullshit at hand. “I’m not going to baby you Leo, get your shit together before your ego kills us all” was a reasonable response to nearly being shish-kebab’d.
“Pizza Puffs”, on the other hand... LDM pulled through in the end, but that RR got HR to stay behind added an unnecessary level of risk. Getting his brothers to learn a lesson should have waited until after the giant mutant cannibal had been dealt with and they were no longer poisoned.
This hands-off “figure it out on your own” approach probably came from Splinter. I swear to Pizza Supreme In The Sky I’m not trying to shit-talk him, but his lack of involvement with his sons was a major flaw. Before all that character development he was terrible at things like “emotional support” and “life lessons”, leaving Raph without the blueprints to deal with a lot of problems. HR would respond by rushing in and figuring things out as he went, but sometimes RR would have to say “No, we’re maxed out and can’t deal with this, we’ve gotta step back”. As we’ve seen in other iterations, when Raph is maxed out and doesn’t step back...
...he goes too far. Plenty of folks have commented on how rarely the Rise turtles smack each other around compared to other versions; it’s telling that RR spoke up just a moment after HR smacked Mikey in “Pizza Puffs”.
Raph is much bigger and stronger than his brothers this time around, meaning such an outburst would have a much higher risk of Genuine Grievous Injury. And while his size and strength also mean a measure of gentleness has been baked into him since day one, there would still be times HR would feel himself boiling over and RR would head off somewhere quiet for fear of the above situation; which was potentially alluded to in “Hot Soup: The Game”.
“You went out on your own when you were his age.”
The context of “Man vs. Sewer” suggests Raph isn’t going to go off on his own without very good reason- such as cooling down before he does something he regrets. That this detail shows up in Casey’s debut episode suggests it is how they will properly meet and bond, since befriending Casey and doing vigilante shit with him is what usually gives Raph a way to blow off steam while having someone nearby to keep him in check. But that probably won’t happen until partway through season 3, since I doubt we can cram the rest of Casey’s redemption arc into the movie alongside the invasion and time travel trauma shenanigans and leader drama. So in the meantime RR will continue to brood on rooftops in bad weather and listen to Ephemerality songs and monologue to himself because he knows nobody’s going to hear him over the incessant background noise that makes up the cities above and below.
I was a bit stumped about how that meeting would take place- the events of the finale (and possibly also the movie) would no doubt have both the human and yokai populations on high alert, making it dangerous for RR to slip away for some peace and quiet. But the events of the finale also gave us some insight on Raph’s powers; he has a way to leave without actually leaving!
Hardlight Clone Jutsu, baby!
So whenever HR finds himself in a particularly sour mood, a wisp of power winds its way up through the open-air portion of the lair and forms into a clone aboveground. HR doesn’t have to leave for a while to cool down before coming back and dealing with the situation calmly, because RR is already on a rooftop somewhere dissipating those bad feelings by listening to the rain and/or yeeting trash cans.
But mutants can’t freely walk the streets of New York, and the Hidden City Police probably still have it out for Raph. And someone, hero or villain, will eventually realize that Raph has a gloomy stray clone running around and ask questions that can’t be answered without cracking open the can of worms that is This Whole Situation. RR needs to get creative. That we’ve seen clones have both full color and the basic red/white palette suggests their color could be altered in other ways; and that the holo-form grew extra arms in the lair fight vs. the Shredder suggests their shape could also be changed further.
So what will he choose to look like, if not his body?
Obviously he’ll use a red and black color palette because it slaps, leaning more towards black since I compared him to Batman back in Part 1. A low-detail design makes it hard to identify him, giving onlookers the impression that they just couldn't see him well in the dark. Mentally filing down his spikes and decreasing the curve of his shell are easy enough, but it takes him a while to figure out five fingers instead of three, and there’s not much he can do about his voice other than lowering the pitch so he just opts to not talk much within earshot of others. A cape further disguises his silhouette and again, it slaps. The impression of a mask means he doesn’t need a face and it lets peoples’ assumptions work for him. Humans are more likely to think he’s human than a Very Human-Shaped Mutant, and yokai come in so many shapes as is that he could be anything from a witch to a dehydrated googlyschmootz.
(You know how it is with franchises. Old patterns repeating in new ways.)
New York City never sleeps, and I doubt the Hidden City does either. He’ll run into Casey eventually, but in the interim he stumbles across and intervenes in some attempted purse-snatchings and kidnappings and the like. Most of the would-be victims use his arrival as their chance to escape, but one of them is too frozen with fear to move until their attackers are chased off into the dark. He escorts them home, and it’s only once they’re at their doorstep that they work up the courage to ask him who he is.
It’s... a difficult question, in more ways than one. “Raph” is out of the question. “Red” isn’t quite right, and neither is “Angel”- they’re a tad too identifying still, and the R.A.P.H. thing was HR’s idea anyway. So he shrugs, and melts away into the shadows.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m Nobody.”
#rottmnt#rottmnt raph#red raph#rottmnt nobody#the 'raph is a system' theory#this will never be canon in a million years but it's canon compliant and that's what's important to me lol#ephemerality is a synonym for evanescence#i had to use a thesaurus for that one#anyway i am have always been and will always be an 03 hoe#long post#i have an inkling about how his meeting with casey would go so i might put that here sooner or later
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@peregrer the What. 👀👀👀 *insert John Mulaney gif of "say more right now"*
ok so when I say "the extent to which I've fleshed out the QT GBBO AU in my head is getting to be embarrassing," I truly and deeply mean it, please enjoy 1,900 words of utter ridiculousness.
first, our competitors:
Legarus - performs so poorly that viewers are a bit confused how he got on the show in the first place, a la Jamie (series 10) or that one guy who made a lime and chocolate cake in the first week.
Chloe - nice flavors and good ideas for decorations, but pretty sloppy. was up for elimination in the first week but came back with a great showstopper.
Melheret - good but not as good as he thinks he is (hence his bread week elimination because of sloppy technique), heavy-handed with the alcohol flavoring
Agape - solid competitor, not flashy but tasty + pretty results. I haven't worked out exact week-by-week themes (that would indeed be Too Much) but I imagine this is something like "Dairy" or "Caramel" or "Vegan," some particular element she just happens to not be strong on. viewers are disappointed by her early elimination
Teleus - Dad contestant. brings in a bunch of weird pans and gadgets he made up himself, does pretty well until it comes to Fiddly Foreign Foods he doesn't know (probably eliminated in French or Patisserie week)
Laela - typically has good flavors and pretty designs but technical knowledge is a bit lacking, so there are usually some flaws in the execution and she's often in the bottom half of technicals
Phresine - Grandma contestant. nails the classics but ultimately isn't creative enough to make it further.
Magus - the "Ian (series 6)" flavor of Dad contestant, often brings in foraged ingredients or eggs from his own chickens or whatnot and revives old recipes/flavor combinations no one else knows about. one week, some of those turn out to just be too weird, leading to his elimination.
Sophos - pretty elaborate decorations and good flavors (on the border of classic and new), but he tends to try a million different embellishments on everything and struggles with timing, occasionally to the detriment of technique.
Kamet - always has really interesting and different flavors and tends to do well in technicals especially, assuming he doesn't get overwhelmed. which is... an assumption (Finalist)
Costis - leans towards classic and indulgent flavors, although sometimes a bit sloppy--the kind of contestant where the judges look at his dishes and say "it's a bit of a mess" and then Paul Hollywood starts laughing because it still tastes delicious (Finalist)
Irene - absolutely stunning visually, queen of the technicals, occasionally gets the "style over substance" warning (Winner)
more details below the cut
I've gone back and forth on whether Eugenides should be in it but ultimately I decided no because I wanted to maintain a pre-show relationship between Laela + Kamet (I thought otherwise at first but then I realized I hadn't left Kamet any longterm friends or family for his finalist video and that's depressing af) and Irene and Sophos which to my knowledge hasn't happened once on the show so far? so having a married couple on top of that seems like it would be a stretch, and also then I think I'd need to make Eugenides the winner on principle and you know what? he can stand to be second fiddle to his wife for a little bit. My alternate backstory for him is that he was actually the winner of MasterChef one year (good with knives), so in the first episode Irene's first little chat to camera is something like "my husband's been bugging me for years to try out and I keep telling him he's got a skewed perspective on cooking competitions, finally I applied just to shut him up... and here we are." Her little video introduction is about how baking is a stress relief from her bigshot job. Her decorations tend to be abstract and gorgeous rather than cutesy.
Kamet, likewise, was nagged into applying by Laela, but she very cleverly framed it as she wanted to apply and wanted him to do it to for moral support. both were confident the other would get in and surprised that they did themselves. This is one of those series where everyone's friendships are immediate and obvious and super adorable (cast of series 10 my beloved...), and in particular these two are holding hands in episode 1. Laela's deep blue robe from TaT sticks in my head for whatever reason so I imagine her making an elaborate blue peacock cake or something one week that wins her star baker. somebody always does a peacock something and it's always impressiev.
Phresine is cool as a cucumber under pressure, always has lovely things to say about everyone else's bakes, and is the go-to last-minute helper because she usually comes in under the time. Irene starts out similar but as the weeks go by she starts to feel the pressure a bit more and cuts it a bit close. Sophos is the worst on timings, and mentions his wife at least once an episode. (I also played with him being single on the show and meeting Helen later through Irene and Eugenides, but this idea is too cute to pass up tbh.) Teleus lives with Relius, a fact that isn't mentioned until a few weeks in when he comments that Relius likes a recipe or gave him an idea for a flavor or something (Relius does not bake himself but will happily sample practice bakes), to the surprised delight of every viewer whose favorite contestant is the oldest gay in any given series (me, me, that person is me).
Costis tends to use a lot of chocolate and, as I said, pretty "classic" flavors--one of those people who makes a full English savory bake at some point. He's usually in the top half of the competition but doesn't get the top until one of the later weeks in the competition, which is a Honey themed week, and he absolutely nails it. The delicate decorations of his honey nut cakes and his use of honeycomb are particularly praised and that's the week he gets star baker. One of those bakers who flirts with elimination the first few weeks but noticeably improves over the course of the show.
My most, like, plot-y ideas are about Kamet (SHOCKER). I imagine he was born in Setra (I usually make Setra a non-autonomous region in my AUs) but arrived in Britain as a child due to [Unspecified Crisis] and ended up with foster dad Jeffa, who was roughly from the same region but not Setra itself; whenever Kamet wanted Setran food as a kid, Jeffa would take him to the library to find recipes and that was what sparked his love of baking. He's well-read on the subject and knows about foods from a lot of different cultures, so he's usually heard of the technical challenges even if he hasn't made or eaten them. He does a lot of fusion flavors, and is ALL ABOUT bread week.
I don't usually make the his-relationship-with-Nahuseresh-is-romantic leap in modern AUs but I think it works for this one because of the nature of the format--Nahuseresh doesn't actually appear on camera but is alluded to once or twice, ends up being Very Displeased that Kamet is doing something for himself, and during the week following Laela's elimination they have the fight that makes Kamet realizes this is actually a terrible relationship and he needs to leave now. He calls Laela to let her know what's up and mentions that, since he'll need to stay in a motel and has presumbly lost his job as a secretary (yeah working for your boyfriend is Bad, he's realized that now), he's going to have to drop out of the show. Laela, despite living in a studio flat without room to host him, immediately thinks "um fuck that" and calls Costis, and within an hour Costis and Aris and a few rugby buddies have moved all of Kamet's things into Costis and Aris's flat, where Costis insists that he'll squeeze into Aris's room (they've shared before, it's fine) and that Kamet gets first dibs on the kitchen for all bake off practices.
None of them actually reveal any of this to the show's producers. Kamet gets a little overwhelmed the following week and nearly walks away from the tent, but Costis jumps in to keep his bake from being ruined, and some soothing words from Irene + the hosts calm him down and he returns to finish. The only mention of the Drama comes in the finale, during the longer video clips they do on each of the contestants. Kamet is deliberately vague about the details of the situation, but Aris shows up in both Costis's and Kamet's videos and references the fact that having TWO flatmates in the bake off is a bit difficult because they only have a standard size kitchen, so he hasn't cooked for himself in a month and has been living off cake and savory breads. one of the hosts talks to Kamet in the tent after that clip is shown and he still won't talk about it in more detail, but says that he wanted to tell people so they could appreciate why Costis hasn't practiced as much the last few weeks (the judges scolded him for winging it a couple of times), and admits that he totally copied some of Costis's techniques for honey week based on watching him at home.
I imagine the finale task is something like an illusion cake--probably with a bunch of additional required elements because the show has been going bonkers with the finale showstoppers in the newer seasons--and Irene wins with a jewelry box containing, among other things, ruby earrings made out of candy. Kamet does a stepwell, and Costis does something architectural (I was thinking castle but something visibly Greek-ish so maybe a temple or a megaron? idk). Irene wins but they're all BFFs and that's obvious, so everyone's delighted for her. The little montage at the end reveals that Irene + Gen are expecting twins, that everybody hangs out all the time, and that Costis + co recently helped Kamet move into his own flat where he's now working on a novel (Immakuk and Ennikar inspired, obvi, leaning heavily on the honey-shared-on-the-road thing and including some recipes that actually work in the narration, albeit still written in an ancient-novel-like-way).
[Obviously not part of the show, but when Kamet mentions that it's time for him to look for his own place, Costis tries to v awkwardly invite him to stay forever and Kamet is like "nope I've got to try this on my own but yes we will go on a date once I've moved out and see how it goes from there."]
[This is so far beyond the scope of the show but also several of them go on to have more baking-related careers and have active social media presences and at one point they're all hanging out and Eugenides pulls out a camera and demands they all produce baking pick-up lines. Teleus refuses and also doesn't believe anyone knows baking pick-up lines off the top of their head or could make them up on the spot. Sophos sort of proves him right by coming up with "you're the apple of my pie," which Eugenides instantly mocks because Sophos's three greatest loves are baking, Helen, and poetry, and that's the best he can do? Helen comes up with "I like my cake the way I like my men--rich, sweet, and bright red," to which Sophos blushes on cue. Irene's is "when I'm with you, I feel like chocolate heated to 50 degrees--I struggle to maintain my temper." Eugenides protests this is more like an anti-pickup line. Irene insists this is the most accurate marriage-related baking pun anyone could ever come up with.
[Laela's is "You and I are like custard--I hope we never split." Kamet's is "You remind me of bread, because I knead you." Costis freezes for a minute and finally comes up with "Fancy a cream horn?" which produces a lot of giggling and makes Kamet slap his arm in such a way that, hen Eugenides posts this video to instagram, fans of the show all go WAIT ARE THEY DATING NOW] [by this point, yes they are] [I didn't even have to google baking pickup lines for this, guys, I legit came up with them on my own, please clap.]
am I obsessed? I might be obsessed
#queen's thief#attolia irene#kamet#costis ormentiedes#sophos#eugenides#teleus#eddis helen#laela#oh dear I bet her tag is virtually unsearchable#sorry laela
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A comprehensive list of all my Ghost au's
this post will be talking about all of the ghost au's ive created or co-created including talking about ghost au's from old fandom's that i am no longer in.
if you want to ask about any of my au's my ask box and dm's are always open this includes the hermitcraft au but keep it to a minimum please
also if any of the creator's of the characters have said that they arent comfortable with what im making ( with proof ofc) i will edit or delete what is needed to fit in the boundaries
also another thing this is a long post if you just want the art go under the cut!
this post will discuss how each au works and basic plot stuff about them
the fandoms in this post are hermitcraft, epithet erased, and dsmp
okay first things first-
my hermitcraft au (what a pity)-
On my old tumblr account I made a few posts about it along with a fanfic which never got finished due to me not wanting to interact with the fandom any more due to personal reasons and also I'm not very good at writing imo but I think I'm ready to talk about it again.
Just keep in mind i will most likely not talk about this fandom ever again at least not on here again for personal preference : -)
it was about season 6 Grian since he was who i was hyperfixating on at the time, being haunted by the ghosts of Sam and Taurtis, both of them from the old roleplay series' Yandere High School, and Tokyo Soul, and taurtis from Grians old-ish smp Evo.
Since I never finished the fanfiction nobody but me and close friends ever got to hear the full story i had planned but now you will i guess.
It was mainly just grian stressing about Sam and Taurtis being ghosts and him worrying about being crazy, though he would still join the hippies during the area 77 war he would be significantly more stressed especially when finding out that Sam and Taurtis have been possessing his body during the night, he’s more worried about Sam though because of his track record back in the other servers( yhs and ts) it was going to be that Sam (although death isn't permanent) would go on a killing spree in Grians body which would cause the area 77 guys to put him in the facility to see what's going on with him, and it didn't get further then that.
My favorite part of this au much like all of my au’s were the design elements i had for it which i'll have under the cut with the other designs.
Now for a rundown of how the ghost physics work in this world, in typical ghost fashion Sam and Taurtis were not able to touch or move anything, but they were able to interact with Grian, him being the only person who could see/hear/or touch them. Their only super natural abilities is being able to possess Grian.
Okay! Time for my Epithet Erased au!:
Unlike what a pity this one doesn't have a name or a fanfic to go with it as said before i'm not exactly a writer but i have talked about it a bit before on this account along with posting the designs and general concept but i'll go more in depth here!
As said in my original post this au was a co-creation with my best friend and sibling @brocolibean so go check bun out ^^
Unlike ‘What a Pity’ it was more lighthearted and comedy centric because it dealt with a bit more and also the original show is a comedy. This au didn't include the character’s epithets so they are all humans. This will also include talking about house each ghost died so if your uncomfortable hearing about that you might want to skip the ghosts portion
Just like the original post I'll separate the story summary into 3 parts with intervals in between to talk about the ghosts.
First we have the Banzai boys part of the story. Giovanni, Spike, Dark Star, Crusher, Flame Thrower, Car Crash, and Ben all decide to move into a house together so they could all easily split the rent since its close to their collage, the house, which they get for cheap, is aa very old house with sketchy history. But it's a huge house for cheap so they don't complain they encounter the ghosts very early on living in the house and they swear to figure out how they died so they can get their memory back!
The ghosts, Molly, Sylvie, Trixie, and Pheonica have no memory! All they know is that there are ghosts! They are connected to the property of this house but if you where to get something- like perhaps a stone from the property the ghost is still technically attached to it therefore the ghost can go with you anywhere
Speaking of-
-Phoenicia Fleecity is one of the last ghosts to show herself, her body is found in the overgrown garden flowers growing over her skeleton, she is from the victorian era making her the oldest out of the ghosts though he death is the most mysterious
-Molly Blindeff is the first ghost the group meets her decomposed body is found buried in the floorboards of the living room, found when gio decided that the house needed renovation and taking matters into his own hands, she died via blunt force trauma i will not be going into detail here because i'm still thinking of doing something with this au she died in the early 2000’s
-Sylvester Ashling is the second ghost to show himself though he didn't want to, his body was found in the bottom of the pond in the backyard of the house in the garden. His body while it was decomposing and falling apart was still intact, bloated from drowning. Again i wont go into detail but this wasn't an accident time of death is unknown
-Trixie Roughhouse is the third person to show themselves to the Banzai Blasters she is found in the bushes in the backyard her face disfigured from some sort of explosion unlike the others it seems like it was purely an accident, like sylvie their time of death is unknown
Mera Salamin is the collages part time librarian nicknamed “the library witch” she started seeing her ghost after obtaining a neck bow with a blue pendant from a pawnshop she got it cause it was pretty and didn't expect a himbo to come along with it
-Indus Tarbella is a ghost who is attached to the pendant and bow Mera wear it used to be his own until he was decapitated wearing it through he was properly buried he has no troublesome memories about what happened even after seeing his body he’s just happy to be with Mera
Percival King is a security guard at the college and one of the best at that, she wields a story she got from a pawn shop as its her preferred weapon she takes her job very seriously
-Ramsey and Zora both died by the same sword while fighting neither remember who wielded the sword, even after death they hate each other and hate being bound together even more
Everyone ends up meeting and finding out they all have ghost hijinks ensue.
The way ghosts work in this world is a bit strange I'll admit but it's one of my favorites.
The ghosts can interact with the human world(menma style) but
they can only talk to the others who can see them (the Banzai Blasters, mera and percy) and the ghosts can interact with each other ghosts in this au attach themselves to an item or property that has someway to do with their death, the kids in the property, Indus it's the bow, and the sword duo is well, the sword Percy carries. As alluded to from before Gio and the rest of the boys end up carrying a bit of the property with them in the form of friendship bracelets four for each of them which makes 28 different bracelets so the kids can decide who to follow around for the day.i talked about how percy and Mera’s items work enough but i would like to mention that Indus does most of the heavy lifting around the library but becaus enoone else can see indus they assume she’s magical, the glowing pendant doesn't help.
The last two au’s i want to talk about are both dream smp au’s
though i've never talked about them online until now, again thanks to @brocolibean for letting me brain vomit my way through these au’s and helping me out with things i love them please check him out
I'll be honest i'm so scared of this fandom so i'm afraid to talk about my au’s please be nice to me
Also this is all roleplay and fiction!<3
The first one i'll talking about is the dsmp ghost hunters au
Sam runs a company where groups of people hunt ghosts for money!
Those groups being
Phil, Technoblade, Wilbur,Tommy, Tubbo, and Ranboo
Dream, George, Sapnap, Quackity, Karl
Bad, ant, Skeppy, and Puffy
There’s most likely more but there the only people i can think of at this moment
The only canonical ghost being Schlatt
This au doesn't have a proper story perse it's more about gags and stuff about the different character fighting over ghosts for money but the story stuff i do have-
Sbi family dynamic is real here you can rejoice, Phil adopts Tubbo after his dad (Schlatt) kicks the bucket and fucking dies , Tubbo befriend’s Ranboo some mysterious teen who just desperately needs a job so he- and the rest of the Minecraft family help him get one- though they find out Ranboo isnt as human as he was made out to be and he finds out he’s this worlds version of angels called ender’s and he’s there to protect Tubbo and Tommy which explains why the more violent ghosts start being less violent at the arrival of Ranboo joining their team.
Bad isn't human either being a demon his entire group know’s plus quackity. Quackity found out but squirting him with holy water through a water gun but don't worry he promised not to tell anyone; -)
Bad and Ranboo know about each other because they see each other as their true forms
The minecraft fam found out about Schlatt being a ghost through Tommy- despite Tubbo telling him not to- telling them from calling up and paying for them to investigate their own house saying “technically i didn't tell them” they ended up not getting rid of Schlatt though
I'm not going to talk about how the ghosts here work because it's not super important to the plot
The second au is another ghost au where the main characters are ghosts themselves,
like the others its mainly lighthearted and comedic with dark attributes
The plot surrounds the sbi family moving into a new house and Tommy finding out it's being haunted by two ghost’s. Those ghosts being Tubbo and Ranboo
This au isn't fully figured out but I know that he found out he was haunted by sending a selfie to someone(possibly Drista and Purpled? Since there are only other minors who were part of the dsmp lore? But ultimately idk) and them being like “yo i didn't know you had friends” and him being like “?????”
Tubbo died from a boiler exploding and Ranboo died from drowning (which are apparently my two favorite deaths) this also doesn't have an official story? It was just an excuse to make ghost designs with a bit of a story without the commitment
As said before it's a sbi au but also a Dadschlatt au cuz I like Dadschlatt au’s.
The main story bits i have are background stuff for Tubbo and Ranboo which ill elaborate now
The house was originally meant to be just a summer home because it had a large lake in the backyard Ranboo’s family would go there often but that doesn't mean his family liked him very much because of his heterochromia, Vitiligo, and his height his family thought he was strayed from god and drowned him
Tubbo died during sleep while Schlatt wasn't home either out drinking or just at work he came home to the house being partially blown up and his son nowhere to be seen he calls Puffy out of fear and she calls the cops. He moves away and most likely starts drinking a bit more.
The house gets rebuilt and now the sbi live there hijinks ensue!
The ghosts in this au work in a simpler manor only Tommy can see them unless a photo is taken but even then they are blurred, they can float and go through walls and their ability to touch things is limited Ranboo’s memory is worse then Tubbo’s but Tubbo’s isn’t much better.
below the cut will be designs and stuff be safe pal's- there will be minor/cartoony blood-
rip me exposing my old art on this account also i'm ripping these from my fucking amino account that i don't use but still have the password too
gonna do the original what a pity drawins first them ill show a more recent rendition because i hate the old drawings
these are the old drawins i hate them
then,,, i just drew them,,,,, fuck these guys/j
thses are the old sprite edits of these four! trixies design is the only one that really changed
the ded;-; i couldnt fit him on the page
there he is! ft indus and very much alive mera(who i cant figure out how to FUCKING DRAW-)
gay's get wilbur'd/j
they lookin for ghosts
the whole fmaily is here but its quality is shit
these bitches dead! good for them,,, good for them,,,,,,/j/rp
#LET FUCKIGN RE TRY THIUS'#LETS HOPE IT ACTUALLY SHOWS UP IN THE FUCKING TAGS#FUCK#no fucking arounf this time: -/#long post#au talk#EE Ghost au#hermitcraft au#not maintagging hermitcraft im scared of u bitches/Lh#grian#samgladiator#btw i dont support sam gladiator i think he's a prick#he can go suck a dick/srs#taurtis#yandere high school#tokyo soul#epithet erased#wont tag the characters unless their drawn#molly blyndeff#mera salamin#indus tarbella#dr sylvester ashling#trixie roughouse#phoenica fleecity#zora salazar#ramsey murdoch#dsmp au#dsmp tommy#dsmp tubbo#dsmp ranboo
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Controversial opinion:
I don’t like the new season of What We Do in the Shadows that much.
The first two episodes are just horrible and uncomfortable and impossible for me to get through and if I rewatch this season I have to skip past them.
I love episode 3 and I like episode 4, but the show doesn’t seem to….have a coherent plot at all right now.
And yeah I know I keep seeing people eye roll online and say “um the vampiric council is clearly the plot”
Yeah not really they showed it once and now it’s just a gag that it’s supposed to be the point of this season and yet they haven’t focused on it at all, and I know next episode actually focuses on it but I’m not holding out hope for it meaning anything.
Also Guillermo is a fucking VanHelsing, he’s a vampire slayer and yet for four episodes now he’s just kind of been…there. He’s almost a background character at this point. Like the only things with him so far is he’s low key in love with Nandor and even that we only had one episode showing him struggle with jealousy related to that then in episode 4 he’s just back to normal as if they’re just friends. Episode 4 legit had no actual plot to it other than to do a mini Oceans 11 plot towards the end. That was it. Guillermo has no real anything in this episode other than we know he isn’t straight and he’s their bodyguard, he spent most the episode standing around and going to other countries collecting dirt. It was more so about Laszlo and Shawn and even then that wasn’t too focused on either.
I expected them to focus at least somewhat on Guillermo considering the big reveals and that when Jemaine was still on the project he made Guillermo the primary focus of the story and since he’s left that’s completely stopped so far and I know it’s only four episode in….but it’s a what 10 or 11 episode long season and we’re almost halfway through and nothing has actually happened other than a half ass will they won’t they plot.
Like….this is going to change, right?
Amendment to my post: apparently Jemaine is still in charge of the project, I thought he left completely because well that’s what a shit ton of people had been alluding to and outright saying for almost a year now.
I still stand by everything else that I said here because just from a general writing aspect it’s not a good sign that they introduce a ton of plot points then do little to nothing with them and if I mixed every episode from all 3 seasons so far together and had a person who hadn’t seen the show before watch them then tell me which season they think each is from they probably couldn’t tell me. I would really like something with the Vampiric Council since it being thrown in as a “major” thing has become a background plot point they don’t seem to know what to do with.
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