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nanidoesthings · 4 days

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Thaw With Me

A Prince Hans x OC Fanfic

CW: Implied abuse mentioned.

Chapter 1 2 - The Villain In Your History

He had already determined before he left for Arendelle that a return to the Southern Isles was going to be rough. Now it was going to be devastating. Years of planning. Years of trying to get into the good graces of his family. And now things were going to be worse.

When Hans had left for Arendelle he had been so bold. Didn’t even instruct the ship’s crew to stay behind long for him. Hans had every intention of staying there under the protection of a new kingdom. Just like Lars had suggested all those years ago. Find a distant enough kingdom, fall in love quickly with a member of their royal family, get engaged, and he’d never have to return. If it had all worked out all his searching would have succeeded. Hans would have found his own place. It would have been so easy. If he had just stuck to the plan.

A plan that didn’t account for Magic in the very least.

Of course. He could always be like Preben and Karl who disappeared randomly one night. Though he certainly wouldn’t have the ability of blending in like the others. Now that he basically had a scarlet letter on his back. It chewed at him as he paced about the small cell of the ship escorting him back to the Isles. He could take the lashings from his father no doubt- both verbal and physical. King Sturm would want to make an example out of him. He had been the family punching bag for years so he knew what to expect.

Except now there was more than likely no chance for redemption, and even less for forgiveness. Maybe if he was lucky he’d be sent off somewhere- the priesthood or military training- somewhere that his family could truly believe that he was invisible. A problem that as long as they didn’t talk about didn’t exist. He now wished he hadn’t.

His pacing finally stopped as he reached a wall, head pressed against the planks and sliding down slowly. The itch of straw greeted his hand as his body sat with a plop.

Hans could have learnt to like Anna. She was charming enough. Awkward, but as his stay in Arendelle went on he could understand why. Very faintly he could remember thinking it could fun to kiss every one of the freckles on her face. They certainly had enough in common between familial trauma. His ending would have been different if he had kissed her.

“Though who's to say it would have worked,” he thought to himself. His lips tightened into a thin line. “She probably had already found love with that guy anyways.” How typical of him. Not even a notable page in someone else’s story but perhaps a paragraph.

His eyes drew closed, stuck in his thoughts with the ambience of the ship’s crew walking freely above him. Based on the regularity he felt it safe to assume something was happening. Perhaps it was finally time. He let out a heavy breath, picking up the sound of heavy steps coming down. Time for self loathing was over. He rose, the princely act returning to him. Hands tucked behind his back. If not for the bars between him and one of the guards, one would easily think him in command.

The bars were unlocked and Hans presented his wrists. He had seen people arrested so frequently he thought it more dignified to not put up a fight. He had already caused enough embarrassment to the family. Head held high Hans allowed himself to be taken with grace, perhaps the only time flinching was as his eyes adapted from darkness to light.

He looked to the dock unsure if he was surprised to see a carriage waiting for him that carried the royal crest. Maybe if he was lucky they’d take it out into the middle of the woods to release him and then hunt for sport.

“Let’s see who they sent to tell me how disappointed they are in me.” He thought to himself, his head ducked slightly upon entry. Mentally he prepared himself for the verbal lashing. Any sense of dignity lost with a final shove and slam of the carriage door from the guards.

“I thought you had a plan,” of course it was Lars. From anyone else Hans could have ignored it, but they had to send the one he actually cared about. The elder brother sat across from Hans, his tone one that Hans had only heard reserved for Lars’ children. Not a tone of burning anger, though it might sound like it, but instead of frustration and disappointment. “How long did you want to get out of here?”

He recalled the night in the library not long after their mother’s birthday some years ago. He and Lars had figured it all out. The roadmap to a future devoid of family pain. The way their eyes lit up in glee.

“It got out of hand. I wasn’t particularly aware of certain factors.”

“Clearly,” Lars pinched the bridge of his nose, sarcasm about him. “It sounds like that queen was something out of mythology.

“I hope I didn’t scorn such,” the events on the snowy mountain returned to him. The fierceness of the Snow Queen’s powers and how he had so quickly gone from a hero to the Weseltonian brothers to the enemies of the Arendellian sisters. Then his thoughts on the snow storm on the frozen fjord. With a small breath he wondered if any of his brothers would have done the same for him.

Hans finally relaxed, the plush of the carriage welcoming him. Something he needed. His arms now crossed and looking out the window. Suddenly much more casual. He soaked in the summer warmth from the window, letting the silence sit. Some days ago he had wondered if he’d be able to experience such a feeling again.

“She turned to ice right in front of me,” Hans broke the silence. “The younger one- Anna I mean. Right as I was about to swing the sword down on her sister and free that kingdom. All I did was try to save a kingdom I thought was mine.”

“And instead you threw a snowball with a rock inside right at yourself and the family. You won’t be remembered as a benevolent savior. You know that right?”

“I know Lars. I’m the villain now. They get some type of happily ever after and I go back to this,” his arms outstretched for emphasis. He was getting agitated finally. Finally some hint of remorse.

#Thaw For Me #Nani Does Writing #prince hans x oc #prince hans #Hans Westergaard #post frozen 1 #Frozen Fanfic #Lars Westergaard #The Brothers Westergaard #Elizabeth Rudnik A Frozen Heart #A Frozen Heart #Stabbington Brothers theory mention

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futilefangirl · 6 months

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I’m here late with Ryan Gosling movies ranked mainly because I need to get my opinions out of my system. Thank you for asking and I hope you can enjoy:

These movies are spectacular and also feel special to me:

1 - Drive, just gorgeous throughout, and tells a perfect story. Gosling’s character was totally riveting. I was along for the ride from the first moment; even the opening credits drew me in more.

2 - Blade Runner 2049. Amazing sci-fi world, philosophical. Again, I was with Gosling’s character every step of the way. It made me think about his life and the world he was in, it made me think about what it meant to be human and what it meant to him.

3 - Place Beyond the Pines. Luke Glanton as a character stayed with me. His love for his son is haunting. The music is haunting. It made me think about my Dad and what it means to be a parent.

These are wonderful movies I find pretty flawless:

4 - First Man. It made me feel like I went to the actual moon, like I knew the guy, and could feel his love for his daughter. It was kind of like what Interstellar was trying to be.

5 - La La Land. Gorgeous, inspiring, passionate.. the long ending scene makes me feel regret like nothing else. I love the music in it.

6 - Blue Valentine. Real, miserable present-day scenes and the most real, intimate flashback scenes. Amazing performances made through a process that really worked for this movie. It made me significantly more interested in indie movies. The end credits are haunting.

7 - The Nice Guys. Deserves the spot just for making me laugh out loud at multiple points like I haven’t done in a while. Now and then a gif of a scene will still make me snort.

8 - Lars and the Real Girl. A potentially weird premise handled well. I felt for Lars; Ryan Gosling really seemed to transform for this character. I felt his love for the doll at the end. That was a movie for those of us with imaginary friends.

9 - Barbie. Deserves the hype. Such a joyful blockbuster, infectious, and it made me think. Ken as a character made me laugh, made me feel for him and kind of broke my brain a bit because it’s so ridiculous but taken so seriously. The Ken song was arguably his finest moment.

10 - Half Nelson. I liked the friendship between the lead characters, how real it is. I like how it isn’t a white saviour movie and it’s aware of that.. and the moment of clarity scene near the end is unforgettable.

12 - The Notebook. I love it for the chemistry between the leads, it’s so good I buy everything, no matter how sappy or unrealistic

11 - Crazy Stupid Love. Good movie overall. I love the relationships between Gosling’s character and Steve Carell’s and also Emma Stone’s. The only pick up artist character I thoroughly enjoy.

These are possibly flawed movies I still found great and well worth the watch:

12 - The Believer. The character is fascinating and sympathetic, the performance is amazing. The movie is a meaningful exploration of what it’s like to stuggle with hating yourself and where you came from.

13 - Stay. Brilliant performance and a clever, tragic premise executed well. Reminds me of a Stephen King short story. I felt for that guy and his family.

14 - The Big Short. Talks about the financial crisis which deserves to be talked about more. Amazing performances and Ryan Gosling’s character really stood out

15 - Only God Forgives. I didn’t get it first watch and I think it’s the only movie where Gosling’s performance fell short for me - he was too blank I thought, but the movie still had great scenes, looked incredible and was going for something.

These movies are kind of generic but all right:

16 - The Grey Man. It’s definitely generic but I turned my brain off and enjoyed the action. I also like the character Ryan Gosling was creating and wouldn’t mind watching a franchise, sue me. The well scene was especially cool.

17 - Fracture. I liked the plot, and he turns in a great performance across from Anthony Hopkins. It was still kind of generic, which is why it isn’t ranked higher.

18 - Murder by the Numbers. I admit I enjoyed the weird, fucked up relationship of the two wanna-be criminals. The detective’s arc was meaningful to watch too.

19 - Ides of March. It had some good scenes but it’s again kind of generic. I don’t see much change in Ryan Gosling’s character, it’s a good performance but he’s just reacting to the circumstances.

These I thought were quite bad with only some redeeming value:

19 - The United States of Leland. The premise could have been interesting but I don’t know know what the film was trying to say and it was hard to follow.

20 - All Good Things. Fucked up in a not good way, I just watch the true story of a guy who killed his wife play out. Good performances, that’s it.

21 - Gangster Squad. Pretty boring and generic which is a feat given its premise; the only thing I enjoyed was the relationship between Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone’s characters in period costume

22 - Song to Song. I could kind of follow Ryan Gosling and Rooney Mara’s characters’ relationship and be invested but for the most part I don’t know what it was about. It looked beautiful visually and the cast is stacked but it seemed incredibly pretentious.

Bonus:

Lost River

Would have ranked around 15/16 for me. I like the mood and the visuals. I really like the drowned town fairytale aspect of it, it kind of reminded me of things that would capture my imagination as a kid. But I found I couldn’t connect with the characters- they didn’t seem real somehow which prevented me from being as invested as I could be. I enjoyed myself though and I would still love to watch it in a dark theatre if I could.

Didn’t rank it:

Remember the Titans. It’s a brilliant and touching movie but Ryan Gosling’s not really in it and I wasn’t really watching him.

The rest of the movies in his filmography I haven’t watched.

Thanks again for receiving this ridiculously long list.. what are your opinions if you still feel like talking about it?

okay okay okay thank you for your response!!!

so im just going to try and simplify my thoughts as much as possible and don't judge me haha

favorites: the notebook, lars and the real girl, blue valentine, murders by numbers (how attractive and sick one ryan gosling be)

movies i need to re-watch for reasons: drive, place beyond the pines half nelson: amazing i have this very specific memory of somehow recording the slaughter rule on vhs in like 6th grade and thinking it was amazing 'young ryan' is like the most nostolgic feeling to me i also have united states of leland on vhs young ryan was everything fracture: i enjoyed it at the time of its release, been a while anthony is everything always so you know stay: cast is love felt like the ending was missing something remember the titans: obviously love gangster squad: not great

la la land: i saw once in theatres and did not enjoy but have been meaning to revisit forever, at first watch the characters just didnt seem realistic to me i felt like i should have been more moved than i was

the grey man: actually not bad, and quite literally the most action packed movie i have ever seen

song to song: i haven't seen but feel like i would love blade runner: not really my genre would like to rewatch the nice guys: was good, felt good to watch, i like that style of movie like kiss kiss bang bang or something the big short / ides of march: poop even with evan ides of march was just not it only god forgives: i actually enjoyed this one more than most people did first man: i havent seen!!!! all good things: frightens me deeply but i have seen it multiple times

barbie: was good, am moved by his dedication to the character

#anon #ask tag #:O #does this make sense #nonsense

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babyspacebatclone · 3 years

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Cursed Princess Club - A Recommedation

So, I’m pretty late to the entire “WebToons” thing. You’ll have to forgive me; after watching Keenspot devolve, I got jaded (tl;dr: I’m old).

But oh my goodness some of this hype is actually legit.

Let’s talk Cursed Princess Club, and why you should be reading it.

Original soundtrack, which adds the perfect atmosphere especially when tracks switch mid episode.

Hi-LAR-ious. The humor is amazing.

Absolutely perfect advice about relationships, self-care, and mental health, and the progress of all of them. Emphasis on the progress part.

Tied to the above, character development. But also…

Development of audience perceptions of character.

The last one is one of my favorites, because it’s so rarely done let alone handled well, let alone exceptionally. The series very quickly establishes that the characters have realistic motivations for their actions, even if our initial impressions of a character may lack that context.

We can start with Prince Jamie, who initially appears to be a one-note joke character. And make no mistake, he is a complete loveable ditz - but we eventually learn he’s a ditz with depth.

You find yourself, in a single episode, sympathetic for characters you loved to hate. People convinced they’re doing the right thing are understandable, even when shown wrong or misinformed.

I also adore how the writer/artist handles the humorous world of excess inspired by fairy tales: by making it clear it’s bizarre in-universe, that the societal expectations in-universe also explicitly downplays it, and that the humourous excess still has realistic consequences on people even while they’re conditioned to treat it as unremarkable.

(If that’s not clear, you’ll just have to read the series; you’ll understand by the Wake.)

But above all else, the heart of this comic is the heart of the Cursed Princess Club itself: Recovering from trauma, living with chronic conditions (including self-hatred), and becoming the best person you can be on your own terms.

I’ve called The Princess Bride the perfect movie, because while no individual piece may be perfect on it’s own the way it combines it’s scope of themes - family love, adventure, humor, and yes, romance - elevates everything to something grand and admirable.

Cursed Princes Club is the perfect story, even better than the Princes Bride, for all the same reasons.

(I’ll even hold Jamie’s fight against the dread portrait painter on par with the duel between the masked man and Inigo Montoya.)

Read. This. Comic.

#cursed princess club #review #webtoons #i have more to say here #i love this series #binged it on work nights

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appleciders · 2 years

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ok listen you’re SO right about beforeigners, I love the concept and my linguistics-loving heart skips a beat when they break out the old Norse and 19th century norwegian and I just WISH the show did not do so many of the other things it did because it could be so much better. forgive me for barging in I just saw your post and yeah

oh dude NO need to apologize it's so good to find someone who's watched it other than my parents lmaooo. no i so agree with you, there's so much POTENTIAL there and while it's enough to keep me watching i do have so many "imagine if they could do right by this super cool concept" daydreams. this got super long so im gonna stick it under the cut lol

like first off i wish they didn't feel the need to limit it to a cop show? like i get that it's easy and has automatic intrigue and a tried and true success record, but it's kind of lazy. aside from being Very Over the glorification of cops, i really am so invested in the idea of a show that explores the intersections of all the different spheres that were impacted by the repercussions of their worldbuilding? like you have this setup! now show me the teachers and childcarers. the social workers. clothing production and the food service world. the economic differences—the old norse who are trying to rely on the gift economy only to be hit by the closed fist of capitalism. show the tensions and social movements. actually explore the neo-luddite plot instead of throwing it away after a few episodes because yeah, actually, the industrial revolution has fucked a lot of shit up!! dig into it!!

like alfhildr is great and i did watch all of season 1 in a day so maybe i missed it but i still don't even remember if i know why she wanted to be a cop, of all things? it feels like her moral compass—and history as a shieldmaiden of the old ways at a time when christianity was crusading and trying to impose their authority on her people and her way of life—would chafe against that kind of imposed bureaucratic authority on her community. if they desperately wanted to keep the murder mystery component, i would've been more interested in an "alfhildr works a minimum wage job to pay off her student debt, unable to find better paying work because of temporal discrimination. one of her friends/coworkers/neighbors is killed and the authorities don't pay any attention and want to sweep it under the rug. she works to try to solve the murder—often at odds with local law enforcement—while also protecting her other friend/coworker/neighbor because she's wrapped up in the human trafficking of time displaced people. there still can be the intrigue of her origins, too!

in this situation, her co-protagonist is her coworker/neighbor who isn't time displaced, but is a migrant of color. maybe like lars, they have a family they love deeply and complexly, which parallels and foils alfhildr's strong non-biological kinship ties. paired together, the two allow a fuller, more nuanced exploration and interplay between the dynamics of this fictional time-ism or whatever they call it and the already established xenophobia and racism that pervades norwegian society, the differences there, and the shared experiences of poverty. discrimination, loss of home, and adapting to a new language. they of course also have a fun interpersonal repartee like the duo in the existing show!

and like okay sure fine if we're not Overhauling the whole series...if they had to make it a cop drama (which again. formulaic in a way that undersells how cool this setup is!)...they could've still had lars be the above. and in either iteration they should have people of color/immigrants/jewish people in the writers' room! they'd be able to craft the narrative far more fully and address the Bigger Issues i was speaking to in that post (which almost certainly come from a writers room that's almost entirely white).

and as far as season 2 goes....like the first three episodes and the last three episodes were Completely and Entirely different. why did i have to care about the people who were pretending to be the scotland yard people at all again? i don't feel like they had any bearing on the overarching plotlines? why did they have to accuse their only jewish character of being jack the ripper for most of his featured time??? what was the point of starting the season with his family's shabbat prayers if it wasn't going to be relevant?? and if alex was going to play the role he did, it would have been great if he'd been developed. i don't really have any feelings about him,because they never really let us know him. i feel like his twist could've paid off so much more if we'd had an attachment, you know? also, season 2 could've stood to mention alfhildr's best friend like, at least once!

i do wonder - and this will of course be revealed in time - if they learned they weren't going to be able to have a season 3. because the reason i can see for why you would shove so much together like that in such a rushed way (like the reveal at the end!! which i saw your post about and if you want to talk about my dms are open!! bonkers!!) is that you're worried you won't be able to unfold it in later episodes and you want to leave your fans on a kind of satisfied note? like in fairness to them, that's a pretty wild ending stroke!! and i guess if it can't be renewed, i don't feel like i have 16000 unanswered questions, which we would have, if we'd ended without finding out any hint of alfhildr's origins.

but then maybe they were just working within the parameters of 6 episode seasons and tried to bite off more than they could chew lmao! anyway, i totally hear you on the linguistics thing—it's cool. just like the intros—showing all the confluence and syncretism of people from different time periods is cool! and is why i cared enough to write out this whole essay!! anyway you're absolutely not barging in, thank you for dropping by <33

#like for its flaws i do like season 1 a lot #and season 2's final twist DID hit me like a - lmao - freight train #im still reeling!!!#and i am invested in the characters #there's just so much THERE that it drives me crazy #anyway #beforeigners #beforeigners spoilers

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ladyloki76 · 3 years

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You’ve Got To Be Kitten Me!

The idea had been brewing at the back of his head for quite some time now. At first he worried that she wouldn’t take it well. Close herself off from the bit of affection she had slowly allowed through. She was a work in progress, but she tried; and that was all that mattered to him. She tried. So he thought perhaps a present was in order.

They had a little cabin on Midgard, deep in the woods of Norway. It was about as far as one could get from New Asgard and still be in the same country. Things were still new, after all.

They were both rather crap at blending in in a town. So this cabin was perfect for them. They used magic for almost everything, and Loki had never felt so free. Still, he did go into town to pick up things once every few weeks. Fresh pastries from a bakery they both loved, books from a used bookshop that he loved and candy for Sylvie. And while Sylvie loved candy, that wasn’t exactly the present he was looking for.

There was a farm supply store there as well, Loki had bought some apple tree saplings there in the spring. He didn’t need to go there for anything in particular, but he figured it helped to keep up appearances, so to speak. He wandered the aisles, looking at the interesting bits and bobs, trying to think of a good present when a little ‘mew’ caught his attention. He kept walking, trying to ignore the little ‘mew-mew’ that was getting more and more plaintive. Finally he felt the tiniest tug on his pants leg. He stopped carefully before looking down. The littlest gray Norwegian Forest Kitten looked up at him, ‘MEW!’

There was a warm chuckle behind him. “It seems the last of Frigga’s kittens has chosen ye.”

The color drained from his face at the old man’s words; his mother’s name would always hold power over him.

“F-Frigga you say?” He swallowed, leaning down to pet the curious kitten. “It’s a good name, strong.” He nodded absently, continuing to pet the now purring kitten.

“Aye, my granddaughter seemed ta think so. Big into mythology that one, been begging my daughter and son-in-law ta move them ta New Asgard.” He chuckled fondly. “Fancies herself a modern day Valkyrie.”

Loki listened politely, still petting the little kitten.

“Ah, don’t mind me, yammering on ‘bout my family.” The old man chuckled. “That’s the last of Frigga’s kittens an we retired her from breedin’, she’s to be a pampered Queen now.”

Loki grimaced as the tiny kitten began to climb his leg, little razor claws digging in as he inched his way ever higher.

The old man chuckled, “M’ Lars, by the way, owner of this shop.”

Loki nodded, “Luka-“

“Friggason, aye, I remember when ye bought them apple trees last spring. How’re they doin’?”

Loki was so rarely caught off guard, he simply nodded. He looked down and gently plucked the kitten from his leg and cradled it in his arms. He swallowed before looking back up at the old man. “You have a sharp memory, Sir, and the trees are doing well, I hope to see some blossoms again next spring, I know it will take several years for them to bear fruit.”

Lars nodded. “Aye, ye have chickens & a few goats out there too, right?”

Loki tried to hide his smile, Lars knew damn good & well he had chickens and goats. He bought supplies for them from time to time. And rat traps once, more for appearance’s sake than anything.

“Why don’ ye take Frigga an her last babe there. We’ve been callin’ him ‘Loki’ on account as he was the smallest, but the most mischievous one in tha litter. Smart as whip, wouldn’t be surprised if he could learn voice commands.”

Loki blinked in shock, looking down at the kitten in his arms. “Loki?” He whispered, little Loki looked up at him and mewed happily.

“Aye, winter’ll be coming sooner than ye think, Frigga will keep the rats and mice outta yer little barn.” Lars nodded happily, as if it was settled.

Loki nodded, holding the kitten securely to his chest. He smiled slowly, “I think that sounds like a wonderful idea Sir, I was just trying to think of a gift for my,” he paused briefly, “girlfriend.” He flushed.

Lars grinned, “What young lady could resist a mama cat and her wee babe? Let me go in the back, Frigga’s in the office, where he’s supposed to be, by the way.” He winked at the kitten who just mewed back. “I told ye he was smart as a whip.”

Loki nodded, smiling like a fool and not bothering to tell him HIS young lady might take offense to him coming home with two new pets. But she did enjoy spending time with the goats and even the hens, gathering eggs every morning.

Soon Lars was helping him load Frigga’s carrier into the backseat of the small electric car he owned. It was more like a small dog carrier, due to how large Norwegian Forest Cats were. Still, you could hear Loki’s indignant mews from inside the carrier as well. Along with the two cats, Lars gave him a litter box & some litter, and a bag of the food Frigga was used to. Also her vet records were all up to date as she had just been spayed. Loki thanked him profusely and made a mental note to make some good fortune come his way, and perhaps a visit from a Valkyrie for his granddaughter.

The shadows were growing long when he finally pulled in front of the small cabin they called home. Sylvie stood from where she had been sitting on the porch steps, clearly waiting for him.”I was beginning to wonder what had happened to you? Thought maybe you hightailed it to greener pastures, not that it would have mattered to me.” She shrugged, as if it mattered not to her.

Loki took her hand, squeezing it gently. “Forgive my lateness, I ended up talking to Lars for quite some time.”

“Lars who owns the farm supply store?” She asked, her nose scrunched up.

“You knew his name was Lars?”

“Well of course I did, I do pay attention to people.” She stuck her tongue out.

Loki chuckled. “Well, my observant little vixen, Lars has given us a gift.” He lifted the carrier out and brought it to the porch. “Meet Frigga and Loki.” He opened the carrier and Frigga stepped out, regal as any Queen; Loki scrambled out, his eyes wide and saw the drawstring of Sylvie’s hoodie and sprang at her face.

Somehow she managed to catch the kitten before he landed on her and she held him out at arm’s length looking at him in shock.

“Darling…are you alright? I know I didn’t—“

She looked at Loki, her expression horrified. “Is he another one of US?!”

Loki couldn’t help the laugher that escaped from him. He tucked her hair back behind her ear. “No, Darling. They’re just cats.”

Frigga fixed Loki with a look that would have made him uncomfortable, had he been looking at the cat. She curled up against Loki as he and Sylvie played with the kitten. This was a good family.

#loki shorts #Loki #Sylvie

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winter-fox-queen · 3 years

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Kisses Like Wine 6

Summary: The Thief gets into trouble, the reader makes a plan.

Warnings: A little violence, some introspection.

We are drawing close to the end. :D

I’m tired of you. You’re no better than my family.

He used the USB stick with its code to get into the vault. Liberated the stone. Got out of there. If he was not, indeed, the world’s greatest thief, he would have failed utterly, because his focus was destroyed.

Your words kept echoing in his ears. He’d had a lot of terrible things happen to him. He’d been poisoned once and laid at death’s door for three days, just on the edge of death, the pain like the unrelenting fires of hell but he couldn’t let himself fall into a coma.

It didn’t hurt nearly as bad as what you said. She’s just frustrated, he soothed himself. It was a very frustrating night and you were not at your best.

He wanted to do something. He imagined doing something. Scenario after scenario, and they all ended the same, you saying that you understood what he’d been trying to do. That you forgave him.

Maybe. Maybe. That you loved him.

That thought set him back. Love was never part of the plan. His plan was to show you a way out of your cage, but not replace it with another one. You had to take your freedom, you had to build your own life.

He kept telling himself that he never wanted that life to be with him.

You were right. He was a liar. Something had changed. Maybe it changed the night of the ball.

All this made him careless. For the first time in his life, the first time in his long and very successful career…he was being tracked.

He got on a plane, headed to the final diamond, a five star hotel overlooking the Rhine. Half hoping you would be there, doubting you would be.

He never made it out of the airport.

***

The last thing I was interested in was the Heart of the Rhine. But here I was, working as a maid, looking for a way in.

Unlike the Compass, The Heart was usually in a vault, hidden behind a wine cellar.

“Are you any closer to getting the Star?” My brother asked me when he called to check in.

“Do you know the Heart of the Rhine is worth twice what the Star is? Twice.”

Silence. Then, “Really?”

“And it is incredibly lovely. I figure…get the Heart, then I can either just bring it home for the family, or trade it for the Star. Get papa to let you know his preference, will you?”

“We’ve spent so much money getting you this far, we probably should go for the better stone…recoup our losses.” He *almost* jokes.

“Did you email me what you found out?”

“Yep. And overnighting your shopping list. This is…this is it, right? You’ll be done after this?”

“Miss me?”

Another silence. “It’s not the same around here, no. But…I don’t know how much more dad will let you do.”

“I know I’m not his only plan.”

“No. The other plan is not…I’d avoid our boy, if I were you.”

I felt chills…”What are they going to do?”

He hung up.

I stared at the phone, cursed, then slipped it back in my apron. The day before I thought I’d seen Lars, a huge piece of work that our head of security sometimes brought in. I new he was on retainer, and usually worked for us a few times a year.

I changed, took off my wig, and went looking for him, scratching my scalp.

He was not hard to find. I had to troll him in a bit, walking all over the place, but I knew once he got sight of me, he’d zero in.

“Hey, Lars!” I handed him one of two cups of coffee I’d gotten.

He nodded at me.

“So, any luck finding the Thief? Dad told me to connect up with you, compare notes.”

“I’m done with that…someone else has him, and by the time they’re done, there won’t be anything left to bother with.”

I tried to make the spike of panicked fear I felt act like rage. “Are you fucking kidding me? They kill him, and we won’t get our property back!”

He shrugged. “Your father’s not that worried. He must think you’ve already got it in the bag.” He took a sip of his coffee. I wish I’d poisoned it. “ But, you should know that.”

I channeled every privileged woman I’d ever met, straightened my spline, looked down at him, and said, “Do you like working for my family.”

He started to look uncomfortable. “Yeah. But that’s your father’s call.”

“True. And I think his call will be a definite no when I show him the pictures I took of you screwing my sister on his desk. You should work for the porn industry…”

“You’re bluffing.” He growled.

“Am I?” I took a step towards him, as if I wasn’t scared. “You will take me to where they are keeping him. If you have people you can hire to get here fast, do it. We will go in and retrieve the thief and you…you get to keep your job.”

“He’ll fire me if I get you killed.”

I stepped back, sighed. “Lars. Do you really think he’ll care? He just wants the diamond. In a year, maybe two, our head of security will retire. Don’t you want a nice, cozy position that pays well and has lots of benefits?”

He licked his lip. “I might be able to get a guy. Maybe two.”

The Thief was cursing himself. He started with French, then in celebration of where he was imprisoned, German. Spanish, his mother tongue. Arabic was next, and maybe, after that, Russian…

All the while, he was thinking. He didn’t have long…the taste of blood in his mouth and the pain in his ribs told him they’d roughed him up while he was out, but not much. He was duct taped, but they had not searched his person, so did not know about the very sharp blade he kept in his shirt cuff, and he was working, working.

Whatever drug they’d used (Was this karma?) had faded, leaving him clear minded.

Were you safe? You had to be safe. Please God, keep you safe.

Maybe this was you. Maybe the torture had not begun in earnest because they were waiting for you. And you wouldn’t really hurt him. No matter how much he deserved it. He’d beg for your forgiveness then say, punish me, punish me so you know I am telling the truth, not lying to avoid the pain.

He heard voices. They were speaking Gaelic of all things. Had he’d displeased anyone from that part of the world? He didn’t think so, but anything was possible.

He heard someone at the door, so he held his hands together carefully (he was almost free) and let his head hang down.

Someone came close, smacked him gently. “You must be awake by now…open your eyes. It’s time to talk…”

He raised his head. “And what would you like to say? What’s the weather like outside…it was supposed to be nice, but with a bit of a chill.”

“You have amassed a rather…stunning collection of wealth. The gentleman I work for thinks it is time you share. So, you tell us where you keep your valuables, and perhaps we will let you live.”

Their eyes met, and the Thief said, “A wise man would not let me live…”

They could both hear gun shots, on the other side of the door. “Hold that’s thought,” he said almost amiably as he went outside.

The Thief got up, threw the duct tape on the chair, and caught the door before it could close. At the doorway, he could swear he heard you yell out to someone…not angry, mad. In charge. He smiled and drew his pack of cards out, selected one and threw it on the chair.

He slipped out. The place was a large warehouse…a good place to take someone, you could do what you wanted and no one would hear, throw the body in a box and ship it. He was tempted, to go and find you, but…the card would be enough. The game was afoot.

Thank you to you lovely people for being on my tag list, if you want added or dropped just let me know. <3

@grogusmum @mishasminion360 @hnt-escape @littlemisspascal @pedro4ever @writteninthestars18 @fromthedeskoftheraven @sharkbait77

@quica-quica-quica @eri16 @the-blind-assassin @ayoungpascallover-readings @songsformonkeys

#casillero diablo wine commercial #Pedro Pascal #The Thief The Thief x Reader

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nerdybirdy6602 · 3 years

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for the angst prompts! 7 for daisy/sylvester/lars or 13 for carazuli? whichever you prefer!

Hey there! Thank you thank you thank you for the requests! I promise you that, eventually, I'm going to swing back around to the daisy/sylvester/lars prompt because I DO love it, I just don't have any ideas right now. For now, however, please have this carazuli "Hush, it's alright. None of it was real." angst that makes my heart ache.

Lazuli Rocks knew how everyone was going to die.

She supposed that was part of whatever plan the Sugar-Plum Fairy had for her, no matter how much she loathed it. There was an indescribable ache that settled in her chest every time she looked at her family, knowing well all the pain and all the loss that came with the rest of their lives.

Perhaps the person she mourned for most was her beloved Caramelinda, the future queen and, later on, future empress. The heart of the realm would one day break, and Lazuli would no longer be there to hold her together. It was that very spark of grief that had begun to crawl into her nightmares and play out in her mind. There came a point where she could no longer distinguish what were possible futures, and what were simply nightmares crafted by her grief and sick imagination.

There was one in particular that rocked her to her very core. In hindsight, she knew this couldn’t have been a vision because she directly interacted with it, but it felt so real and intense that she didn’t know what else to make of it.

It started with Caramelinda standing with her back to Lazuli in a field of sweet-smelling sugar grass. The archmage called out to her, but her voice was lost to the wind, strangled before it could even reach the other woman’s ears. Cara’s voice, however, was crystal clear.

“How could you do this?”

The words were harsh and bitter, more so than Lazuli had ever heard. The thought of her beloved so angry at her made an apology rise to the tip of her tongue without even knowing what she was apologizing for. When Cara turned to face her, blue eyes glistening with unshed tears, Lazuli felt like crying with her.

“You couldn’t tell me you were leaving?”

“Cara,” the archmage began, “you know why I couldn’t.”

Reason did nothing to assuage the flames of her anger. “I’m your wife, Laz! I love you!”

“I know,” she rasped in return. “All the more reason to shield you from what was to come.”

“You abandoned me!”

Lazuli felt the tears track down her face before she could stop them. “For the sake of your future! I had no choice, my heart. You know I had no choice.”

“That’s not true,” Cara snapped, fury and heartache at war on her face. “You used to tell me everything, and now it feels like I hardly know you. How much haven’t you told me? How long have you lied to me?”

“I’m sorry, Cara,” Laz sobbed. What else was there to say? “I am trying to protect you. I’m trying so hard to keep it together. You don’t understand-”

“You’re right,” Cara sneered in a tone so unfamiliar to Lazuli, she could hardly recognize it. “I don’t understand how you could ever leave the one you love to face this cruel world alone.”

When Lazuli awoke, it was to the sounds of open sobbing. It took her a moment to understand that the sound wasn’t coming from an outside source, but from her own mouth. It sounded so unlike her. Lazuli was the collected one. Though she wasn’t the oldest of the Rocks siblings, she was the calmest. Outbursts simply weren’t her style.

But Bulb above, did she weep for all that was to come. She wept for her sisters, who would face their deaths alone and afraid. She wept for Caramelinda, who would be forced to marry a man she could never love, and rule the kingdom with a man she could never respect. Perhaps most of all, she wept for herself, and all the horrid futures she had to keep to herself.

It wasn’t until a kind hand rested on her back that she realized Caramelinda was even beside her. She wondered if Cara, with all her kind touches and soothing words, truly meant any of it. Was she already sick of the lies and deceit, or would that exhaustion set in when Lazuli was no longer around to witness? Somewhere deep within her heart, despite the nightmare, Laz knew she could never be that cruel. Perhaps that was what made it worse, that she could hide things from Cara knowing full well that she would never do the same.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered in a voice that was scratchy and rough. “You deserve more, my heart. So much more that I cannot provide. I can only pray that you come to forgive me when these things have already come to pass.”

“Hush,” Caramelinda soothed, pressing herself closer to Lazuli’s embrace, “it’s alright. None of it was real.”

Lazuli simply shook her head, because no words could aptly describe the ache in her soul. Did it matter if the dream was real if it spoke the truth? She pressed her head against her lover’s chest and let out a shuddering sigh. At least for now, she could experience the warmth and closeness of Cara’s embrace without worrying about what was to come.

“I’m sorry,” she croaked, but the words came out as desperate as she felt.

She hoped Cara would remember this moment of regret after the war had already made a martyr of her.

You can find more prompts from the list here!

#coldwest #thank you for the request!#d20 #a crown of candy #acoc #carazuli #caramelinda rocks #lazuli rocks

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pageofheartdj · 3 years

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I always tend to take new fave show and cross it with Gravity Falls to see all these characters interacting with each other and seeing the differences in their world xD Mabel would vibe with all centaurs so much!

But then I remembered SU and how everyone were singing there too and... I wouldn’t want them to meet. Because the Genocidal rulers were basically ‘forgiven’. And yeah, I’ve heard that Steven didn’t actually forgave them but that literally DOESN’T matter, they didn’t face ANY consequences for anything they did. Sure, their Pink is still gone and Steven isn’t kin on spending time with them. But this is a personal thing. They fucked up so many planets and their own subjects, but I guess for SU those don’t matter.

And that got me thinking how would Wammawink feel about it. Would she be pressured to forgive minotaurs?

And that made me think that Wammawink and Steven are both optimistic and hopeful pacifists yet they are different...

Wammawink is a pragmatic pacifist and Steven is idealistic pacifist. And he had no right to judge the Diamonds. Unlike Wammawink... unlike Aang(optimistic and hopeful pacifist) Steven never experienced true loss. Unfixable loss. Personal loss. His mom was never around so it’s not like he had her and he lost her. All his loved ones are with him, they never suffered until they are broken by the Diamonds. Lars died through the accident and was quickly brought back. Steven never faced the hardships the regular gems did. He was never personally involved with any destroyed planet. All these horrible things happened somewhere somewhen and didn’t influence his life.

Wammawink and Aang lost their people in a violent way and they were never brought back and they faced the pain of loss and grief. And they knew through hard way that you can’t solve all problem with just talking even though they wished to. No, they fought. For their new family and their kindness.

#centaurworld #atla #aang #wammawink #steven universe #STEVEN QUARTZ UNIVERSE #not that i am trying to threw shade on steven #this is all the writing #him dealing with diamonds never felt climactic #he was not the one who suffered under them

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satohqbanana · 3 years

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Lars on Rhen and Dameon But It’s a Post on r/AskReddit

Warnings: Modern AU, mention of drug abuse, some cursing, probably crack (no not the drug). Also this is pretty anti-Dameon, so pro-Dameon DON’T READ.

Posted by anonymous:

People of Reddit, have you ever had a bad gut feeling about someone that everybody else liked, that turned out to be true?

Posted by orbnotesss:

I still feel so bad about this.

A couple of years ago, I met the girl I consider my best friend, let’s call her R. She used to annoy me so much, but if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have realized I really needed to see a therapist regarding my personal issues. She was one of the first real friends I’ve made in a long time, and I’m eternally grateful to her for not giving up on me.

Anyway, several months into working together in the same company, we meet this guy, let’s call him D. Religious sort, studying for a PhD, vegan I think? Everyone in our friend group loves him. Everyone in the company loves him. Not me. There was just something about him that didn’t click right with me. I didn’t like him, and he didn’t like me. Probably because I was just always suspicious of him.

R begins dating D almost immediately after meeting him, and it somehow felt wrong. I confide in one of our older coworkers about my gut feeling. Tells me I’m just being jealous. (I’m a guy btw.) I keep watching R and D, and I never let them out of my sight whenever possible.

Over the months I establish some patterns: D always works late into the night. Doesn’t say anything much about his family. Keeps asking our other coworkers in different departments about their jobs and their shifts. He talks about this side-job he has, and about this certain acquaintance who keeps lending him money for some reason. I could relate to the family thing since I also come from a messed-up family, but it was just fishy. He stuck his nose into other people’s businesses, and he brags about this other job opportunity he has. Okay, so maybe our company was kinda struggling in this certain period, but did he really have to flaunt off like that?

I tell R about it, and she tells me she’s been thinking about switching jobs to support her boyfriend. I tell her not to. We get into a huge fight because she thinks I’m being an asshole again, like how I was before I got therapy. We reconciled eventually, and we’re cool with each other as long as we avoided talking about D. Which sucks, but okay I’ll take it.

Fast forward to a few months later. Execs launch an investigation on D, headed by R. Apparently he had been using up company resources to fund the scammy business that his shady acquaintance was running. He was trying to get his shit pass the radar, which is why he wanted to know what everybody did. He had also been trying to recruit R into the same scam, and she almost fell for it. He had also been on drugs that his acquaintance was selling, which is why he always owes money to the other guy. Also, there’s also talk about how D was plotting murder against his mother, who was trying to get him off drug abuse, but we’re not sure if that’s true or even relevant. I wish I was making this all up.

However, the execs still love D because D’s mother is on the board. R also begs with the execs and D is just sent to rehab. D is never punished for anything he did, and yes when he came back from the rehab, he got his old position back, and somehow everyone else still loves him.

Sadly, to this day, D and R are dating, and they’re going to be married soon. I could probably excuse R forgiving him because that’s who she is and she still really really likes him, but I don’t understand why and how she could still like him that way. She was so broken and upset when shit hit the fan, and I remember having to drive her back home, make her dinner, and stay with her all night because she couldn’t compose herself. I still remember her crying, and it breaks my heart every time I think about it. She’s such a great, kind, and caring person, and I’d never met anyone more forgiving than her, but I don’t think she deserves this.

I know I’m never going to trust D again. I just don’t understand why she’s still so into that guy. Why would you still trust someone who’d been lying to just about everyone?

Edit: Yes, this is a true story. I really, really wish I was making this all up.

Edit 2: Yes, R and I still hang out together. We just avoid talking about D. I wish we don’t have to do that, because I feel like she’s hiding something about him.

#annelaurant writing #I read too many reddit stories #sorry not sorry #removed fandom specific tags

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jasontoddiefor · 4 years

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Remember that AU in which Anakin is a single father in witness protection after turning on his boss and falls in love with Obi-Wan? Here’s more. Read on AO3!

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Anakin thought he wasn’t seeing correctly when he stared into the face of Dooku Serenno. Anakin had met the man plenty of times in the past, in the part of his past he thought he could l finally leave behind and forget, more or less at least. He couldn’t believe it. Everything had been going great lately. He had gotten a part-time job to keep busy when the twins were gone and the FBI wasn’t breathing down his neck, the twins had adjusted wonderfully to Kindergarten and had made plenty of friends, and Anakin had a boyfriend.

An absolutely perfect man miles out of his league whom he didn’t deserve and still stayed with him. Obi-Wan was too good to be true sometimes. He was caring and thoughtful with his every gesture, adored the twins and never even minded it when they talked about Padmé. Anakin hadn’t even thought about dating again before meeting him, his status making it more than difficult, and even without that – Anakin loved Padmé. He couldn’t imagine not being in love with her and had always assumed that immediately would deter anybody who could see past the whole single-father of twins and yet Obi-Wan never even looked jealous. If anything, he encouraged the twins to speak of their mother.

Anakin had known that he fell hard and fast for people, but the thought of Obi-Wan someday not being there had already become unbearable.

And now he was staring at Dooku.

Dooku, who knew all the blood that stained Anakin’s hands, who had seen him at his worst and walked through the aftermaths of one of Vader’s infamous tantrums. The fragile peace Anakin had found was threatening to fall apart just because of his presence.

“I believe should be asking you that,” Dooku spoke up icily. “What are you doing here, Vader? What do you want from my grandson?”

“Grandson?” Anakin echoed. Right. Dinner with Obi-Wan’s family of which Dooku was a part. Anakin couldn’t see any resemblance between Obi-Wan and Dooku – but Obi-Wan had said that he was adopted. And yet, still-

Still – how could somebody as good as Obi-Wan come from the same family as Dooku. The bastard was to blame that Sidious had gotten away with as many of his crimes as he had. Sure, Sidious had also threatened him, but the man had been stupid enough to help Sheev Palpatine once. He should have known what it would lead to. The only reason Anakin hadn’t mentioned any of that to the agents holding his leash was simply that there were more important people to worry about than the lawyers Sidious had made use of. His enforcers were much more dangerous and more likely to kill you.

“I didn’t know about this,” Anakin continued.

Dooku rolled his eyes. “Obviously… But neither did I. I thought you were dead.”

“I am,” Anakin hissed. “Vader-” Anakin paused to look around as if anybody could overhear him. It was stupid, but he had just walked into the guy who was the reason he was short an arm. He figured he could allow himself some paranoia. “Vader died four years ago and I do not plan on resurrecting him.”

“So you will just content yourself with bringing your enemies down on my family?”

Anakin felt his rage begin to boil up. That was absolutely not the case. He had done everything he could to ensure his family was safe and that nobody near him would ever learn of the secrets he was hiding.

“I didn’t-“

“Daddy, daddy!”

The door was ripped open again and Luke was staring at Anakin with wide eyes, utterly excited. “Daddy, Obi-Wan’s daddy is even taller than you!”

“Oh?” Anakin crouched down in front of his son, keenly avoiding looking ta Dooku. He knew that if he did so now, he would lose all his calm. He needed to get away from this situation for a moment.

He never should have invited Obi-Wan over, never should have spoken to him-

“That’s impossible, sweetheart,” Anakin said seriously. “Are you sure?”

“Yes!” Luke shouted and took Anakin’s hand to pull him inside. “Daddy, you have to come see.”

Glancing back at Dooku, Anakin allowed himself to be dragged away by his son. He made a gesture that hopefully conveyed that Dooku should shut his mouth and focused on Luke instead.

Luke led him into the living room. It was small but cozy and half the dishes were already put on the table. The food looked amazing, much more extravagant than anything Anakin was used to for homemade dinners and his and Obi-Wan’s dates had all been homemade dinners because Anakin was a paranoid bastard who didn’t want to leave the twins home alone with a babysitter.

Anakin kind of wanted to throw up.

This was so normal.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had done that-

No, he could. Over five years ago, in those last months of Padmé’s pregnancy when they had thought they had escaped Sidious and were just happy together. They had eaten breakfast in bed and cooked together and wondered how they would handle all this with a child as neither had been particularly used to running a household on their own. They had tried to figure out what house to buy and how to paint the nursery-

“So you’re Anakin Lars, yes?”

The man Luke had led him to was indeed taller than Anakin, though not by that much. He had long hair, pulled back into a ponytail, and a kind smile. He seemed like a nice man, utterly unbothered by Leia sitting on his shoulders and braiding his hair.

“Yes, Sir,” Anakin said.

That was how you still introduced yourself to your partner’s parent, wasn’t it? Anakin wasn’t slipping back into yes, master, no, master, I will try, master-

“It’s nice to meet you Anakin,” Qui-Gon said warmly. “And no need to call me Sir, please. I’ve been waiting to meet you. Your twins have already had a lot to say about you.”

“Ah yes. They talk a lot,” Anakin said lamely. Could this situation get even anymore out of control?

“Honestly, Father,” Qui-Gon then sighed and looked past Anakin to where Dooku must be standing. “What have you told this poor boy? He looks like we’re going to eat him alive.”

“I have done nothing-“

“We used to work together,” Anakin quickly intervened. “I gave Dooku’s company a hand when it came to their cybersecurity and somebody still managed to get to Dooku. Don’t think he’ll ever forgive me for that one. It was a huge loss, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Dooku gritted out in-between shut teeth. “Tremendously.”

“Is that work I hear?”

A new man entered the living room from the kitchen it looked like. His black hair was a mess and he mustered the group in front of him with interested eyes. This must be Xanatos then, Obi-Wan’s other brother.

“I thought we said no work talk,” Xanatos continued and then held his hand out to Anakin. “Nice to meet the guy who made my brother act like a schoolgirl with a crush. I’m Xanatos.”

Anakin took his hand. “Anakin.” Vader, Vader, Vader. “Lars. Niece to meet you. Obi-Wan has told me a lot about you.”

“All good only, I hope?” Xanatos asked with a smirk that was borderline flirtatious.

“Stop flirting with my boyfriend!” Obi-Wan then shouted from the kitchen as well and moments later walked inside with a couple of bowls in hand. “Please just ignore him, Anakin. He’s an idiot. Qui-Gon dropped him too much on the head as a child.”

“Hahaha, very funny,” Xanatos replied and then finally sat down in his cha. “I was a teenager already when Qui-Gon got stuck with me. You, however, itty-bitty Oafy-Wan-“

“Boys,” Qui-Gon’s voice rang out. He sounded a little tired, this arguing must happen more often then. Anakin only hoped that Luke and Leia wouldn’t turn out like that. “I apologize Anakin. I fear you get to see all of Obi-Wan’s bad sides today. The of them are not as well behaved as your children.”

Qui-Gon looked up to Leia who was content sitting on his shoulders and smiled. “You are a little princess, aren’t you, Miss Leia?”

“Yeah!” Leia agreed. “And when I grow up, I’m going to be president.”

“I will be a knight,” Luke spoke up. “And I’ll save daddy from all the bad guys.”

Anakin smiled slightly. If he had something to say about it, his son very much would not ever even see one of the ghosts haunting Anakin.

“Don’t worry, I can take care of myself.” Anakin shot Dooku a meaningful look. They could settle this later, but he wouldn’t ruin this evening for Obi-Wan.

“And what is that smell? I would give an arm and a leg for that dish.”

The twins, long used to his jokes, still giggled while Obi-Wan only rolled his eyes, Qui-Gon and Xanatos looked confused and Dooku-

Dooku was pale.

Was it- No. It couldn’t be but-

Well, Perhaps the tyrannical lawyer was feeling a little guilty about Anakin’s predicament.

Oh.

Oh, this could be fun.

#obikin #Anakin Skywalker #obi wan kenobi #star wars #fanfic #in an endless universe AUs #im having way too much fun with this au

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thexfridax · 4 years

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Translated interview with Adèle Haenel on ‘The Bloom of Yesterday’ (2016)

Interviewer [I] Adèle Haenel [AH] Translator [T]

I: You won the César twice as Best Actress [T: Best actress in a Supporting Role for ‘Suzanne’ in 2014, Best Actress for ‘Love at First Fight’ in 2015] in France, and were invited multiple times to compete in Cannes. Why did you want to take part in a German film?

AH: I liked the screenplay. I really don’t care about the market mechanism. I acted on instinct for all my films, and here I was interested in the story, and the extreme [T: nature of the] character of course. I was also familiar with Lars Eidinger’s work [T: who played Totila/Toto Blumen]. He is famous in France, and contemporary German theatre is also recognised. I’ve just done a play in Paris by Marius von Mayenburg, who is the author-in-residence for the Schaubühne [T: a theatre] in Berlin, and all roles had the names of the real actors, Lars Eidinger was one of them of course.

I: And how was it working with Lars Eidinger on set?

AH: Lars made a lot of suggestions, that’s always refreshing. When he unexpectedly changes the rhythm while acting, when the scene’s tone shifts a little – I really liked this about him. And that he can be so funny. This helped me to feel at ease abroad [T: she uses ‘in der Fremde’ here, which is actually more poetic than abroad but is hard to translate]. I didn’t feel as free and confident of course as I would when shooting in French, especially for improvisations. And we often improvised when we felt that the scenes became too static. Lars was sort of the driving force, so that I could react without words and create something new. And I always felt that he never just acted for himself. The most interesting thing about acting is not to always reproduce your own life, with your own private feeling – but what’s happening if you meet someone special, a partner in crime, and through them [T: she uses the male pronoun him here] something unexpected happens, something new altogether. This is what I think is the most interesting part of our job, and Lars is doing this quite well.

I: How was it for you to work in a foreign language?

AH: It was important to me that I didn’t have to hide the difficulties in speaking. That doesn’t make any sense, it has no soul. To prep I watched a couple of films with French actors, who acted in German, and this was the biggest problem in my opinion, it had no soul. It was too neat, like German lessons. But it’s a way to protect yourself as actor. Chris Kraus [T: the director] understood that I didn’t want it that way, I needed uncertainty for the character. We went along with this uncertainty for the character. He wasn’t too fussed about certain words that were too difficult for me. That worked quite well.

I: How did you learn German so quickly for the film?

AH: I had a German teacher in France first, with whom I worked for a couple of months. Afterwards I went to Dresden, and spent two weeks there and passed the [T: language] test at Goethe-Institute. I went to Berlin for rehearsals and had to speak German all the time. I didn’t want a French assistant, or a dialogue coach, I really wanted to immerse myself in this country. That’s why I made a lot of progress. Voilá …

I: What’s the difference between working in Germany and in France?

AH: It was quite new for me here. I had never worked like this. Chris Kraus cleared the set at the beginning of each scene, and we rehearsed the whole scene like in theatre. Some scenes were quite long, i.e. we shot these scenes in bits and pieces over three days – and we rehearsed the full scene on the first day to figure out the rhythm and outline the characters’ psychology. That’s great. It’s great to just spend time on the acting. But of course, it is also quite a privilege.

Bonus

Lars Eidinger [LE] on working with Adèle Haenel

I: Your character experiences an extraordinary love story of great intensity against this background [T: of facing his family’s fascist past]. How was it to work with Adèle Haenel?

LE: With Adèle I always had the feeling that I found my female counterpart. We have similar ideas about acting. Adèle is not the person who plays against another colleague, or who is self-absorbed, on the contrary. Everything she does in the film works through me as partner, and vice versa, everything she takes, she takes out of me. That is absolutely satisfying. It doesn’t mean that it’s absolutely harmonious. There are of course difficulties and moments, where it takes long to find each other. But there was always the same ambition. And that’s why it was possible for us to go into emotionality together, you usually don’t experience it like this at work.

[…]

On the other hand, I must say: I thought that the screenplay was really funny. It was quite a good Litmus-Test, when the driver picked us up at the hotel in the morning, and Adèle and I rehearsed our scenes, and he then cracked up. You actually get a good idea how much comical potential those scenes have.

Jan Josef Liefers [JJL] on Zazie Lindeau and Adèle Haenel

I: How do you see your character of Balthasar Thomas?

JJL: First and foremost, Balthasar loves a madwoman. That speaks in his favour. […] Balthasar loves Zazie, he is also a bit obsessed with her, he is even separating from his wife, but he really has no clue – and that’s his limitation – what’s behind the things that she reveals of herself. She gives him her affection, and her body, and also two, three thoughts – but this is not what this woman is really about. And what this woman is about, what makes her complicated, what makes her so vulnerable, and also hurt, this is something that Balthasar never sees. All of this is only for Toto to see.

I: How was it working with Adèle Haenel?

JJL: Adèle is the kind of person, she just comes along – as Adèle and not as a film star that she is in France – and then goes on to Saxony, to stay with friends for a while and study German. She was really that unpretentious. And incredibly disciplined. Adèle spoke German so well during rehearsals that Chris even asked, it would be nice, if you could maybe say again: [T: Isn’t it? but with a French accent] – because she could almost say Isn’t it? without an accent. Adèle is the kind of person, who likes to laugh and approaches people, who as an actress is very much connected with her counterpart, and only retreats if something is not quite right for her. It’s a special kind of blend of intellect, talent and instinct.

Chris Kraus [CK] about Zazie (and Toto) and Adèle Haenel

I: You just mentioned the aspect of reconciliation in the film. Toto seems quite unforgiving.

CK: Yes, exactly, that’s why it’s so hard for him and the film’s overall goal [T: to attain reconciliation]. Toto doesn’t forgive himself at all. And to punish himself, he also doesn’t forgive other people anything. Punishment is always linked to morals. Of course, morals which failed.

I: What about the character of Zazie, who Toto falls in love with?

CK: Zazie was for me always as traumatised as Toto by her family’s past, but psychologically this manifested differently due to her temper. The destruction in both characters is comparable. That’s what brings them together. Their deficits and trauma. It unites them.

I: Why did you choose Adèle Haenel, who has become such a big star in France?

CK: This was originally the idea of the Casting Director Nina Haun, with whom I did almost all my films together. I met Adèle three years ago, when she was an up-and-coming young actress, not the French super star of today. We were really lucky that she wanted to be part of a German film for personal reasons, to explore her German-Austrian roots.

I: How is it that Adèle Haenel is almost fluent in German?

CK: It’s quite a miracle. Adèle hardly spoke any German apart from two, three words, when I first met her. But her character really had to speak this language quite well. We planned to give her a language coach, as we did with Tambet Tuisk in ‘Poll’. But Adèle adamantly refused [T: assistance], found it inauthentic and chased the guy off. She told me: ‘Give me three months, and I will speak like Goethe.’ And that’s how it was. She lived in Dresden for a couple of weeks, took a private tutor in Paris, and when she finally arrived in Berlin for the shoot, she was quite chatty and could also swear like the taxi drivers in Berlin. That was quite impressive.

—

Note: CK, LE and JJL also spoke about quite profound topics / themes that the film dealt with (like the Holocaust or the perpetrator-victim dynamic). However, I focused on translating the bits about working with AH here. If you can, please watch the film and let me know if you have further queries about the film / their interviews. I’m not a historian, but I do hope that history (and maybe this film) can teach a lesson or two about the persistent threat of fascism, and the difficulties of reconciliation in the face of past and present atrocities. And yes, this film is also funny, which is quite a feat in this context.

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ashthewaterghoul · 3 years

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“What if Qui-Gon Survived”

Chapter 10

Padmé’s silver Noobian ship exited hyperspace and was confronted with Anakin’s home planet, Tatooine. Anakin landed the ship at the coordinates that Qui-Gon had sent them and waiting just outside the homestead was Anakin’s Master and a young man, who looked not too far in age from Anakin. After introductions were made, they all went into the homestead and padawan was reunited with his old droid, C-3PO. When he saw his mother, bruised and scared, he fell to his knees and a silent tear or two rolled down his cheek.

“Anakin?” Her weak voice croaked

“Yeah, it’s me, Mom. I’m here.”

Her pale hand reached for his face “Oh, my handsome, grown-up son.”

“It’s okay Mom, it’s all over.”

“I’m so proud of you, Ani. I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Mom.”

Anakin wanted to give his mother the biggest hug he could, it had been ten years since he’d seen her after all. But, the frail state of her body simply wouldn’t allow it, so he just lightly held her body and her weak arms hung around her son’s neck. Qui-Gon walked into the room.

“Come, Anakin, your mother needs rest.”

The young Padawan reluctantly agreed and gave his mother a kiss on the forehead before leaving the bedroom.

The Jedi Master put his hand across his Padawan’s back and guided him through the homestead to the small dining area, where Beru poured some blue milk for everyone.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Anakin.” Owen said shaking his hand “Your mother has told us many stories about you. I only wish we could’ve met under better circumstances.”

Anakin nodded his head, “It was Tusken Raiders, you say, that did this to my mother?”

“Yes, it was.” Another voice answered “Cleigg Lars, Shmi is my wife. I’m sorry I didn’t go and look for her, I just can’t ride again yet” he motioned to the stump just above where his kneecap used to be. After a brief conversation about how Cleigg met Shmi, Anakin excused himself and went out of the homestead and walked towards a speeder.

“Where do you think you are going, my Padawan?” Qui-Gon’s voice said from behind.

“I’ve never seen this part of the planet before, forgive me if I want to explore it.”

“No, that’s not it. I know of your intense dislike of this planet and a fair few of the creatures that inhabit it.” Anakin sometimes forgot how skilled his Master was with people and their emotions.

“How would you feel if your mother was beaten and tortured to within an inch of her life?”

“Anakin, you know that is a question I cannot answer. I was taken to the temple as a baby, I have no recollection of my mother.”

“I can’t bear to think that those animals could roam after what they did.”

Anakin’s shifting presence in the force unnerved the old Jedi.

“Revenge is not the Jedi way, my young Padawan.”

Anakin finally turned to face his Master, fury emblazoned across his face, and the look in his eyes resembled that of a confused, frightened young boy.

“I almost lost Padme, then there was no contact from you for days, I haven’t heard anything from Obi-Wan for just as long and my mother almost died.”

“Anakin, I know you are angry right now, but remember your first night in the temple? When I told you about Tahl? How I acted when she died?”

“Yes.” The young man said hanging his head.

“That’s one part of my time as a Jedi I don’t want you to go through. And look, you didn’t lose Padme or me or your mother. I’m sure Obi-Wan will be in contact soon, he’s doing his job, the same as you and me. Now, come inside and spend some time with your step family.”

“But, Master, Jedi aren’t supposed to have attachments.”

“So the council says, but what they don’t know won’t hurt them.” Qui-Gon winked at his padawan and walked back inside. Anakin chuckled in disbelief and followed him in.

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appleb18 · 4 years

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I Wanted Believe in Steven (A Critical Steven Universe Post)

Steven Universe, a popular show that has won the hearts of so many people. It had good songs, talks about mental health and relationships, a lovable cast of characters and it’s revolutionary for representing LGBT. As the show finally wraps up with Steven Universe: Future being the series finale, I want to say this… I used to believe in Steven Universe. I truly got into it when it first came out and then I started to appreciate it more as the show progressed even with the flaws. However, as time moved on, the show’s flaws have outweighed the strengths, making my enjoyment decline and become critical and nitpicky towards it. So I believe it’s time to point out the many problems with the show.

The Glory Days of Steven Universe

Before I begin ranting about the show, I want to talk about when I actually liked Steven Universe back in seasons 1-3. It was when everyone actually enjoyed the show before it went downhill.

- So before Steven became really annoying, I actually liked him when he was developing in season 1. He was very immature at first but he gradually grew. He became a member of the Crystal Gems and finally summoned his shield.

- Peridot’s redemption was handled very well and I enjoyed her character throughout the whole show.

- The show once balanced filler and plot.

- I enjoyed the Crystal Gems chemistry back in seasons 1 - 3. They acted like a family with Garnet being the wise guardian, Pearl being overprotective, Amethyst laidback and Steven maturing.

- The songs are great.

- The messages are relatable such as “Love Letter.” Garnet tells Jamie that love-at-first-sight doesn’t work. It takes time and a lot of work. You must know the person first before you begin to love someone.

Those are the reasons why I enjoyed the show back in the day. Now it’s time to talk about how the Crewniverse messed up everything.

Inconsistencies. Are. Everywhere

Steven Universe is well known for having no consistency and that’s one of the major problems with the show. While I can forgive season 1 animation because let’s face it, not every show has good animation like Phineas and Ferb. Though having characters go off-model consistently gets really irritating to watch. It’s irritating because most of them are professional storyboard artists and yet they’re doing a very sloppy job.

The reason behind unprofessional animation is Rebecca Sugar wanted her crew to have artistic freedom and have their own stylistic choice. They can draw whatever they want as long as the viewers can recognize the characters. There are many problems with this.

While it’s nice to see the artist's own style it doesn’t work with a cartoon that’s story-driven. You’ll probably argue that some shows like Adventure Time and American Dragon go off-model. However, it’s just redesigned and they stick with it till the very end of their respective series.

Also, shows like Ren and Stimpy and Flapjack go off-model because for comedic effect.

So stylistic choice doesn’t mean artists can draw whatever they want. It means that a character has their own style.

Terrance and Philip from South Park

Elmore characters from The Amazing World of Gumball

Each of them has a unique character design. It’s not the Korean animator's fault for it, they’re given what the Crewniverse drew, trace it and just animate it and they can’t fix their errors. What makes it upsetting is that animation pilots and shorts made by a single person or independent team with very little funding have more consistent and appealing animation than Steven Universe.

I ain’t an animator, but I know when animation goes off-model. Sadly, it’s not just inconsistent art that the show suffers from, but inconsistent writing and discontinuity as well.

Such as in “Are You My Dad?” Aquamarine and Topaz knocked out Steven and then she abandoned him while they took Lars, Sadie, Onion, Jamie, and Connie. Then in “I Am My Mom” they lure him and The Crystal Gems out for information to find Greg. So if you wanted to get information to find him, why didn’t they just grab him when he was knocked out?

Also, why did Aquamarine agree to Steven’s terms? Her wand is the most broken weapon in the show. She could’ve grabbed everyone including The Crystal Gems.

Garnet couldn’t tell Steven about her future vision because it wanted him to go more? If she just told him about Greg's capture, he would have understood. Also, she gave him future visions in “Jailbreak,” “Snow day” and “Future Boy Zoltron.” Why didn’t she do that for that kind of situation?

The Crystal Gems, who have special abilities, summon weapons and powers that fought Gems and Corrupted Gems and yet they were beaten by a freaking Steven Catus, Really?

We saw Lapis control the freaking ocean in “Mirror Gem”, “Ocean Gem” and “Why So Blue”, so why didn’t she use that to remove the injector?

After 6,000 years of waiting for Pink Diamond, Spinel got news about her Diamond and that she gave up her physical form to give birth to Steven. It changed her appearance from happy go lucky to edgy. Now she wants vengeance. So I’m wondering how was she able to get an injector and a scythe, then go to Earth in under a few hours?

In “Giant Woman,” Pearl explains that two gems have to decide to fuse together and they have to sync with each other to do it. In “Change Your Mind,” Steven fuses with the Crystal Gems midair while they are in their gem state.

How the hell did Connie get affected by Blue Diamond’s pathokinesis when Lapis Lazuli arrived in “Reunited”?

She was fine when BD did it the first time.

Mean Lapis and Bluebird are still on the loose. I know most shows leave things unanswered but you can’t leave two villains out there. They can still do harm to others

I really wish the Crewniverse showed more professionalism because there are so many errors in the show and some of them are so simple to fix, yet they don’t and that’s what I call lazy.

The Cast of Characters Don’t Do Much

I used to like the cast of characters, even the humans I enjoyed watching. When season 4 - Future came in, they got ruined. Most of them don’t do much in the show. I feel like they got sidelined because the Crewniverse had no idea what to do with them.

Let’s first talk about The citizens of Beach City and how they are the most boring characters in the show. At first, they weren’t so bad because they did have a role to play in the story like when The Cool Kids talked to Steven about his mother when he found out that she was a war criminal and he blamed himself for his mother not being around anymore. They also helped him not get scolded by The Crystal Gems when they found Peridot’s escape pod.

There’s even some slice-of-life episodes that I did enjoy watching such as

“Sadie’s Song”

And “Historical Fiction”

But now they don’t react to any Gem situation anymore. They just stand around and serve no purpose to the plot. Look at “Future”, throughout the whole epilogue mini-series, the humans didn’t do a dang thing in the series. For example, The Cool Kids, Lars, Sadie, and Shep don’t talk to Steven about his mental health when he was about to crush them with his force field. It just makes it feel that they don’t care about him or oblivious about that experience

Then they didn’t do squat when Steven became a monster and I know they're just humans but their friends and the show focus on them a lot, so they have to use them. It made me wonder why they even focus on them in season 4 and season 5 if they're not going to serve their purpose in the story.

Now let's talk about the more interesting characters and how the Crewniverse wasted them. Many Gems and few human characters (Lars, Greg, Connie) get them characters to grow, face struggles and have moments that can make a character likable. After all that, the Crewniverse had no idea what to do so they just left them.

Peridot’s redemption was well written. from season 1 - season 3. From a villain that has unknown technology and feels more alien than the Crystal Gems to a member of the Crystal Gem. As much as I love her development and she’s my favorite, however, she doesn��t do much in the show. Most shows that give a lot of development to a character are part of the main cast but in Steven Universe's case, she gets put in the barn with Lapis Lazuli and does nothing. She’s never involved in major story arcs such as she didn’t come along to help Steven to get his dad back in Zoo Arc and didn’t help with beach city citizens getting kidnapped in Wanted Arc.

Even in the Pink Diamond Arc, she has no part to play. All she was in that arc was a punchline and a hyperactive character with no defining moments. While it’s nice she has a new outfit, it doesn’t change anything.

Peridot had the potential to be a really great character but she got wasted because they had no idea what to do with her.

Pearl and Garnet never got their own character arc. When they fused with Steven to become Rainbow Quartz 2.0 and Sunstone it was rushed. I know they didn’t have time to do their arcs but if they cut townie episodes and focused on their bond it would’ve felt more impactful for him to fuse with them. Season 4 could’ve been Garnet and Season 5 could’ve been Pearl. Just look at Amethyst where she finds mutual respect and love for Steven and that’s really great to see. With them, we don’t have a moment like that.

A good example of using characters is Regular Show. They used their characters pretty well, giving each of them a good amount of screen time.

Benson’s drum solo

Getting to know more about Skips history

Muscle Man setting his ashes free at Great Trucker Graveyard

High Five Ghost reunited with his love interest

Pop’s proving that he’s part of the guys for Guys Night

Rigby graduates high school

Mordecai painting for Benson

And what I like the most about is they all have a moment together as best friends. Such as in “Parkie Rewards,” although Benson doesn’t win an award, the gang made their very own award and paper trophy. Benson made a speech about how he appreciated his staff workers.

I really wish Steven Universe had something like that and I really wanted to see more of Lapis, Garnet, Amethyst, and Bismuth but sadly the writers aren’t giving them much to do anymore.

A Shift of Pacing

Steven Universe really wants to tell a story like most cartoon shows are doing such as Over the Garden Wall, Adventure Time, Owl House and many more. They keep adding episodic episodes in the middle of unresolved conflict and have the concluding rushed. An example of this is the Cluster arc.

Peridot tells The Crystal Gems that the Cluster will emerge at any time… AT ANY TIME! So the gang planned to create a gem drill to destroy it to save the Earth. So instead of working on the drill, they kept delaying it like

Garnet told her story to Steven of how Ruby and Sapphire met

Celebrating Steven’s birthday

Peridot processing on becoming a “Crystal Gem”

I know Peridot was working on the drill and I like Peridot’s redemption but it’s a life or death situation. You can’t do other things when the Cluster can emerge at any time. The way they resolved the arc was really rushed. The Crystal Gems finally locate the whereabouts of Malachite and so Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl go to Watermelon Island and fuse to Alexandrite to defeat her. Then the Cluster emerges and it’s up to Steven and Peridot to deal with it. Instead of destroying the Cluster, he talks to it and it stops itself from emerging by bubbling itself. The way the writers conclude the arc was so anticlimactic and rushed. It ended two major plots, Malachite and Cluster in two episodes and Steven just talking to it was ridiculous. The Cluster arc should’ve at least had two episodes and Malachite should’ve come after the event because she was briefly mentioned in three episodes.

Adventure Time has a mini-series that primarily focuses on plots. It resolves conflicts and it doesn’t waste any time such as Islands, Stakes, and Elements.

People tend to blame the network for the inconsistent schedule and hiatus. While it may be true, however, it’s not really a big issue with the show. Gravity Falls isn’t consistent with its schedule but it has better pacing than Steven Universe. From Nov. 26, 2014 - Feb 16, 2015, the ep “Northwest Mansion Noir” was released, another month of waiting for “Not What He Seems.” Then we have to wait for four months, July 13th, 2015, for “The Tale of Two Stans.” Then there’s Steven Universe where we have to wait for six months for the next episode and it is just Towney episodes and it doesn’t even matter to the plot. So I pretty much don’t understand why people are complaining about the Steven Universe hiatus when Gravity Falls, a well-written show, has a hiatus as well.

They could’ve had a well-written story if only they weren't so focused on the human side of Steven and cut most of the filler out.

Action Doesn’t Have Consequences

In most shows, movies, and video games, characters will make rash decisions that have other characters disagree and even have a bit of a falling out.

Look at Gravity Falls “Land Before Swine.” Stanley doesn’t like Mabel’s pet pig, Waddles, and he left him outside when there was a Pterodactyl in town. Stan left Waddles unattended and caused him to get captured.

Soos messed up a lot in the episode. Without thinking, he barged in as Dipper developed the film which ruined a good picture of the dinosaur.

He tries to be optimistic when Mabel finds out Stanley left him out however it ineffective when he ravels the yarn back up and thus cut the clear path and accidentally break the lamb

To prove their worth is by Stanley fights the pterodactyl to save Waddles

And Soos and Dipper make up when he apologizes and he admits he made mistakes. Dipper and Mabel then took Soos advice to follow his lead and walk in a straight line as for dinosaurs' eyes are so far apart and that it can’t see in front of itself and the plan went well.

So with Steven Universe, most characters in the show have done pretty terrible things and the show never atoned for their actions.

In “Island Adventure”, Sadie trapped Lars and Steven on an island by hid the Gem portal with leaves so she can hit on him. Although she saved his life by poofing the gem monster with a pointy stick, it doesn’t help the fact that she trapped them for a month! It is also idiotic that the show treats Lars as he’s the bad guy where in reality, Sadie is!

Amethyst, although I do like her character development in the show, however, she did pretty a messed up thing and they never resolved it. In “Maximum Capacity”, Greg finds out that he’s missing the fireworks and Amethyst shapeshifts from Steven to Greg to cheer him up. She changes back and gets mad at him for not spending time with her. So she shapeshifts to Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond which causes Greg to look away and it’s the second time she has done it, and then Steven comes in to stop and question both of them. Amethyst feels guilty and left. So in order to make things up, she came up with an idea to clean that the Crystal Gems can clean out Greg storage. So this is really messed up. She shapeshifted as his wife and not only it scarred Greg but Steven as well and yet the writers never decided on how they can properly make it up. That’s so horrible.

Lapis Lazuli took the Earth's water, almost killed Connie, broke Peridot's tape recorder and called it garbage, and she took the barn. When she finally comes back to help the Crystal Gems to fight against the Diamonds. Her response to everyone was “hey”. She never apologized for anything she has done. I know she has PTSD but it doesn’t excuse her actions.

The only character that actually feels guilty and has to make amends of her wrongdoing is Pearl. She deceived Garnet by keeping rebuilding Gem communicator so she can fuse with her to form Sardonyx to make herself feel better. Steven and Amethyst find out and spill the beans which gets Garnet mad and Pearl feels guilty. In the last episode of the Sardonyx arc, they get trapped by Peridot. When they were about to get crushed, they two finally talk and Pearl apologizes to her and calls herself “just a pearl” and Garnet tells her you are your own gem and that makes her feel better and fused to Sardonyx once again.

Now it’s time to talk about the second major gripe with the show that everyone has and it’s the Diamonds being redeemed. The Diamonds are tyrannical fascist dictators that caused genocide many species, colonized many worlds, corrupt gems, shatter gems that don’t obey, have an army, gems that are off-color are put to the underground, and force fused shattered gems into a Cluster. After what they have done, you think they need to pay, right? Unfortunately, since Rebecca Sugar said ``there are no villains' ' and the show is about empathy, the Diamonds, especially White Diamond, get a clean slate. So it’s fine to have a villain be sympathetic and have a sad backstory, it makes them more human but having them redeemed is something you should never ever do, especially what they’ve done. They have very little screen time to show their development and have doubts about their empire.

Then they made them worse when in Steven Universe: “The Movie” and “Future”

In Steven Universe: “The Movie”, The Diamonds become clingy aunties to Steven and tell them don’t do evil things anymore like calling other species “equal lifeforms”, disband their arms and not shatter gems.

In Steven Universe: “Future”, The Diamonds abilities have a completely opposite effect towards Gems such as

Yellow Diamond’s ability to change from poofing gems to fixing

Blue Diamond’s ability to change from sad blue orbs to happy blue clouds

White Diamond's ability changed from manipulation to control her for a brief moment.

Having them become good and having emotions won’t cut it. They can’t atone for what they’ve done for the past millions of being fascist dictators and just saying “I’m a good Diamond now” can’t wipe away their past actions. It doesn’t work like that!

My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, A SHOW FOR LITTLE GIRLS, have a better-written villain redemption than Steven Universe and I ain’t kidding. Discord was the main antagonist for “Return of Harmony”. All he wanted to do is cause chaos. He was defeated by the mane six at the end of the second part of the episode.

In season 3, “Keep Calm and Flutter On”, Discord was reformed by Fluttershy because Princess Celestia believes he can be a good ally and knows that she can do it.

Throughout season 4, everyone still doesn’t trust him even though he’s friends with Fluttershy.

In the season 4 finale, he sided with Tirek and he betrayed them because he thought he’ll be rewarded for it.

Then he was betrayed by him. After Tirek and Twilight fought, she gave up her magic to save her friends, including Discord. It made him realize that friendship is more precious than anything of what he’ll give him and that’s when he’s been fully accepted as a friend to the mane six.

I also want to talk about Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond. While many fans in the community and the Crewniverse always point that she’s terrible and I agree she is. Such as leaving Spinel for 3,000 years, cracked her first Pink Pearl, abandoned her Diamond duties to be free, started a Gem war that cost many Gems to shatter to pursue her own goal, bubbled Bismuth, gems got corrupted, and left Steven with the burden. It is indeed bad but when compared to the Diamonds, she’s more of a saint than them. At least she does develop, doesn’t shatter gems and save the Earth from the Diamonds.

With story pacing being all over, villains and even characters aren’t paying for their actions and a cast of characters aren’t doing much, what’s the most problematic of the show? Well, it’s a combination of all my problems into one and that is…

Steven “Center Of” Universe

The major problem with the show, the one that brings down the show a lot and it’s Steven Omnipresence. First off, I don’t mind when a show has a protagonist point-of-view like Ben 10, Phineas and Ferb, Over the Garden Wall, etc. As long as it's written well and keeps the story moving, it’s fine but with Steven Universe, it has tons of problems. Steven's point-of-view is the cause of all its flaws and I can’t stress it enough about it.

So let’s first talk about the obvious one and how it’s only Steven's perspective. The problem with this is we only see things if Steven is there to witness it. The show introduces a fascinating world of Gems and yet the show doesn’t dive into that because Steven doesn’t care about and all he does is hang around Beach City. Steven will never explore unless he chooses to and some major plot points are offscreen which you should never do, especially it’s a story-driven show. An example of this is “Wanted Arc’” and yes I’m using it the third time as my example because it really is a terrible arc. When Steven comes back home, he had some information about Homeworld, discovered that there’s a mystery about Pink Diamond shattering, Off Colours, Steven can bring back people from the dead and Lars in space. With all that, what does Steven do? Nothing. Throughout his adventure in space, he never mentions it to the Crystal Gems and instead of that being the main focus, it’s townies and Connie. While Steven is doing Beach City fluff, Lars is actually progressing the plot by him developing and escaping Homeworld with the Off Colours. I truly wonder why the Crewniverse believes that Beach City is more important than Gems?

They got interesting lore and I truly want them to explore it more but they had to waste all that and have the most major plot points be offscreen for Steven's perspective.

The second problem with Steven p.o.v is his contestant presence. The show will always be about him, no other characters get the spotlight or do anything unless he’s there. There’s rarely a scene that doesn’t have Steven and it’s frustrating when there’s a well-rounded cast of characters that I want to see more than him. We’ll never see them interact with other characters nor explore different parts of the world. Other shows have done it such as

Amazing World of Gumball - “The World”

Adventure Time - “Varmints”

Avatar: The Last Airbender - “Zuko Alone”

Rick and Morty - “Tales From the Citadel”

Imagine how great it will be if explore more of the cast like

Uncorrupt Gem characters and Curley Lapis going by their day in Little Homeschool.

Lars becoming a space pirate

Lapis and Peridot becoming friends

Pearl meeting up with Mystery Girl

Volleyball recovering from her trauma

Ruby and Sapphire being their own individuals

They got a lovable cast of characters that I want the show to further explore and yet the Crewniverse don’t do anything with them and that’s such a missed opportunity.

Then the third most egregious problem with Steven p.o.v is he’s the communicator. The show tries to message that talking things will work but no one really talks to each other unless it’s Steven. Characters barely make their opinion or a chance to speak for themselves while Steven's opinion will and shall always be in the right and we barely see characters talking to one another. Examples of these are…

When Steven bubbles Bismuth, Pearl and Garnet don't say a thing and just let him. They don't question why he did or lash him out for it. They just went along with it. Steven decided to unbubble her in “Made of Honor “ for a wedding without talking to anyone else about it and again, they still haven’t asked questions and they just went along with it.

In “Reunited”, instead of Crystal Gems look at each other to find their strength like Garnet telling Pearl she’s her own Pearl, Pearl telling Amethyst she’s isn’t an accident, and they tell Garnet that she’s a great leader, Steven has to remind them what they are supposed to be.

Blue and Yellow had issues with the Gem Empire but too afraid to say to White Diamond. Until Steven arrived and that’s when they tried talking to her.

The Diamonds become good because Steven tells them being a fascist dictator is bad and they agree. They disbanded the Gem Empire and changed their abilities to help Gems under two years.

Steven made Pearl talk to Amethyst.

The message the show tries to tell that people should communicate is completely flawed because rather than have other characters improve their lives by talking to one another, they made Steven the messiah that every character looks up to. Steven will change your mind and you have no choice in the matter.

Conclusion

With the end of Steven Universe, I want to say that this show could’ve been better. Steven Universe was created by Rebecca Sugar, a former storyboard artist for Adventure Time and the one who mainly writes episodes about Marceline and wrote songs for the show. When she announced that she's left AT to make her show, I was excited and had such high hopes for it. I really want this show to succeed and it could’ve been the next Adventure Time, My Little Pony Friendship is Magic or Gravity Falls but sadly it failed to do so. The show flaws outshined it the strength by it was handled unprofessionally, wasted their characters, the pacing is all over the place, no character pay for their past actions and Steven’s point-of-view. I don’t think it’s the worst show I’ve ever watched nor a masterpiece, it's just a disappointingly average show in my personal opinion. I hope Rebecca Sugar and her crew not just see this as their progressive show by representing LGBT and messaging but also see what they would have approved of on the show and how they could’ve made it better. I had a lot of good memories when I first watched the show. It had the potential to be better but it never filled the promises they made.

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