#i lost it when they called him the tearjerker
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#i lost it when they called him the tearjerker#AHS Murder House#AHS Apocalypse#Ben Harmon#Dylan McDermott#Behold Chablis#Billy Porter#Madison Montgomery#Emma Roberts#Return to Murder House#Danny watches AHS Apocalypse
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Fionna and Cake: Simon and Marcy So Far: Analysis Part 1
INTRO:
The first two episodes of Fionna and Cake have been released, capturing the hearts of fans, and with it, some new Simon and Marcy content has dropped. Ever since the father/daughter duo made their debut in Adventure Time’s tearjerker episode “I Remember You” (season 4, episode 25) they have smote the hearts of fans everywhere. With the first two episodes, here is my analysis on which direction their relationship is going in this spinoff series.
FLASHBACK:
Fionna and Cake Episode 2 “Simon Petrikov” opens with the two running away from some oozers. They take shelter in a sewer. Simon considers putting on the crown, but Marcy pulls his hand away and glares at him. The oozers leave the two to chat. The button of Marcy’s overall dress pops off and Simon begins sewing it back on. Marcy asks him what she’d do without him. Simon assures her that “you’re so great, Marceline, someone else would definitely find you and take care of you. Maybe even someone rich!” Simon continues this fantasy, telling Marceline that she’d live in a castle with “food, medicine, and trained squirrels to tend to your every need. And as for me, I’d uh…um…” Simon directs this at Marceline, but he seems to be saying what he wants for Marceline. In Stakes Episode 2 “Everything Stays,” when Simon is officially leaving Marceline and barely holding onto his sanity, he promises he’ll send someone to take care of her. (On a related note, we see in season 7 episode 10, “Marcy and Hunson,” that Simon summoned Hunson to take care of Marceline until she left his care after the fries incident.) Simon wants Marcy to be safe, and he’d want to believe if something happened to him Marceline would be okay and someone would come take care of her. For food, obviously in the apocalypse, food would be hard to find. In season 5 episode 14 “Simon and Marcy,” Marceline tries to make Simon breakfast and resorts to pine needles and deer guts. For medicine, we can see Simon worries a lot about Marceline when she gets sick. We see when Marcy gets a fever in “Simon and Marcy,” he dedicates the whole day to finding chicken soup for her. He’d want her in an environment where she can access healthcare easily. For trained squirrels, well, it’s a funny way to put it, in classic Adventure Time style, but I think it ties back to Simon wanting Marceline to be well taken care of. But we can see he doesn’t really have any plans for himself. He’s lost his home, his books, his fiancee, and his entire life’s structure at this point. Marcy and whatever he carries in his backpack is his entire world now, and he can’t imagine what his world would be without her to take care of.
THE FUTURE:
Simon trails off when he talks about a life without Marceline. And now we’re in a future where this…kind of came to pass. Don’t get me wrong, Marcy and Simon are still close. Simon calls Marcy, Marcy is happy to hear from him even though she’s busy–more on this phone conversation later–and Marcy mentions hanging out soon. But Marceline can longer be Simon’s whole world like she used to be. She’s grown up, she’s been taking care of herself for about a thousand years and she has a girlfriend and lots of friends and acquaintances. Heck, she hasn’t just been taking care of herself, she kept Ice King company and took care of him in a way too. She’s delighted that Simon’s back, but she’s no longer dependent on Simon’s protection like she used to be. She’s also no longer right there to observe Simon’s behavior and remind him to take care of himself, like we see her doing in the flashback when he almost puts on the crown. Not only does Simon not have Marcy to take care of, he doesn’t have any reason not to spiral into this depressive state he’s in at this point (Fionna and Cake Episode 2 “Simon Petrikov,") and he doesn't have her little reminders.
Which brings me back to the subject of their call. Marcy immediately asks Simon how he’s doing, and how’s work. Simon responds by saying it was fine, skimming over how bad it actually was. But why? Why is he doing this?
CHILDCARE IN THE APOCALYPSE 101:
A big part of parenting in the apocalypse would’ve been keeping Marceline calm so she doesn’t panic. When Marceline gets a fever in “Simon and Marcy,” the first thing Simon says after waking up, feeling her forehead when she's sick and mentioning the fever got worse is “I mean, don’t freak out or anything.” We can see through what glimpses we get of his travels with Marceline that he’s very optimistic and playful. He makes up a song for Marceline (Marceline mentions him making up more silly songs), plays games with her, makes a lot of jokes (humor is one hell of a coping mechanism), and in the flashback we see him telling Marceline that this is one of the nicest sewer’s they’ve hidden in. I think it’s important for us to remember how quickly Marceline grew up to Simon. Not even in the usual “they grow up so fast” way, but as in, when he left her, she was about ten years old. The next time he saw her in any fit state to recognize her, she was a thousand years old with the mindset and body of a young adult. The timeskip would’ve been jarring for him, to say the least. It’s been about twelve years since that sudden change, but old habits die hard. Simon hasn’t stopped trying to keep Marceline from freaking out over a lesser problem. Not just because he’s used to keeping her calm in the apocalypse and can’t help but view her as his little girl still, but no one likes admitting to a loved one they’re experiencing a mental health crisis* in the first place. Along with this, while in his state of magical madness, Ice King’s condition doubtless caused Marceline a lot of anxiety and unhappiness. On top of his habits of not freaking her out and the usual desire not to explain what you’re going through, he wouldn’t want to cause Marceline any more grief than she’s already been through. Don’t worry, Simon, Marcy’s already super traumatized. Helping you out won’t hold a candle to everything she’s been through.
THE PHONE CALL:
I feel like what really drives home the difference in how Simon still sees her vs. how she is now is the phone call. Don’t get me wrong, Simon loves Marceline and is doubtless happy for her that she has a girlfriend, a career in music, and a life.
But when he calls Marceline, he’s been reminded of her by watching little girl’s caretaker help her reach a watermelon. A little child. When Simon calls her up, she is getting matching tattoos with Princess Bubblegum (or, trying to, anyway, but her skin keeps instahealing and PB is made of literal gum). Getting matching tattoos with the person you plan on spending your life with is a much more grown-up activity. The music also serves as an immediate contrast between the atmospheric quiet of the forest and gentle strumming and singing of Rebecca Sugar, compared to the rock music blasting in the background of Marceline’s antics. The contrast between the future and the past. The contrast between what their relationship used to be like, something that gave Simon’s life structure and hope, and what it is now–still loving, but not something he can model his whole life around.
ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK:
Their dynamic has changed. Simon used to be the one keeping Marceline from despair and taking care of her. Now not only is Marceline living her best life with her girlfriend (Simon has neither of those), but Simon’s the one in danger of despair. Simon is used to taking care of Marceline, but they can’t be that way anymore, since Marcy is grown up and took care of him at one point. A good visual metaphor for this is at the beginning clip of Simon and Little Marcy. When they’re running from the oozers, at first, Marcy is behind Simon, and Simon, also running for his life, pants “C’mon” to her. A few seconds later, Marceline is the one in front of Simon, holding his hand and trying to get him to go faster. It’s a real blink-and-you-miss-it detail, but I think this was definitely intentional.
FIONNA AND CAKE AS A METAPHOR FOR MARCELINE AND THE ICE KING:
This feels like a crack theory or overanalyzing, but I still want to mention this. One of the main plot points of Episode 1 “Fionna and Cake” is Cake’s mysterious health issue. Cake is obsessed with the cold, only able to recognize her own name and “food.” Cake runs to open the ice dispenser of Fionna’s fridge and ends up staining Fionna’s work clothes, at which Fionna says, “Stop acting crazy!” This wouldn’t be particularly noticeable, but in “I Remember You,” Marceline says this exact phrase to Simon with the exact same cadence, and shortly after, Simon runs to the fridge, just like Cake just did. Cake is Fionna’s cat, and Fionna tries to take care of Cake and take her to the vet. Which I think again could refer to Marceline taking care of Simon while he was the Ice King (Ice King and Cake not understanding what’s going on, the ice motifs that Simon rejects so vehemently in “Simon Petrikov,” etc.) Which, again, refers to how different their dynamic is today, since Marceline has taken care of Ice King and gained so much independence, so different from what Simon remembers.
PREDICTIONS FOR THEIR RELATIONSHIP GOING FORWARD:
It’s hard to imagine all of this is being set up just to be dropped, so this all begs the question, what will their relationship be going forward? What does the series have in mind for their future?
There’s no way Marceline will be happy Simon’s been keeping his problems from her. But she may be able to relate. In “Obsidian,” Marcy tells Princess Bubblegum, “My mom and I didn’t talk about bad stuff. When she got really sick, she didn’t even tell me. She meant well, but I think it messed me up about being honest about my feelings.” We can see this in action, too. She isn’t very communicative in her relationship with Bonnibel before the events of “Obsidian,” she doesn’t talk much about how she’s feeling, and she has a habit of talking about what someone else did rather than how it made her feel. So Simon’s difficulty in honest communication might resonate with her.
Either way, I’m excited to see what the Adventure Time crew is going to come up with for them, especially if Rebecca Sugar is involved!
CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, while the pair are still close, Simon is kind of lost without Marceline to care for and protect every minute of the day. Their relationship dynamic has changed, and, for Simon, the change was very abrupt. He still hasn’t stopped thinking of Marceline as someone he needs to keep feeling positive and calm, and he doesn’t want to tell her about his issues. This can only go one way: angsty.
Thank you for reading my analysis! My plan is to continue analyzing their relationships as new episodes release, since nothing gets me feeling motivated like new episodes, but I’m also starting up the school year, and it depends on how much Simon and Marcy content we get in the new upcoming episodes, so I can’t make promises. Sorry for the current lack of screenshots, I have an event to go to but when I get back I’ll add some pictures. I hope this at least was some food for the thought. Leave your thoughts about their relationship in the tags, reblogs, or comment section. Also, if this analysis seems all over the place, don’t worry, I’m going back to English class soon, so hopefully things will feel more professional as I brush up on my writing skills.
*I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to take care of their mental health and talk to loved ones if they’re experiencing mental unwellness. The themes of Fionna and Cake seem to center a lot around misery and depression, so don’t forget that you are not alone, and there is help available.
Hotline Numbers:
Mental Health or Suicide Crisis Hotline: 988 (you can also text with them using this number.)
#my thoughts on the only father/daughter pair in young adult fiction where the dad isn't a deadbeat or straight up dead and#the bad things they've been through isn't his fault.#or i mean i guess there are others but what is WITH young adult fiction's determination with terrible dads?#there's so much more potential in actual father/daughter love and problems outside of their control#adventure time#fionna and cake#simon and marcy#marceline the vampire queen#marceline adventure time#marceline abadeer#simon petrikov#simon adventure time#fionna campbell#cake the cat#analysis#adventure time analysis#fionna and cake analysis
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Last Twilight - Ep 12
I really gave this series a chance, I honestly sat down for this episode thinking, ok, maybe they will save this dumpster fire that was the finale of the previous ep. I really WANTED to like it.
The series went for my throat literally in the first minute 😀 After that everything was more or less torture. Almost every scene, every word felt like it was written specifically against me 😆
Let's start with a nice scene of a smiling Day saying coachy, positive bullshit suggesting that he pulled himself up by his bootstraps, and wasn't literally dragged out of the stagnation and depression by Mhok.
A montage of scenes of Day thriving. All of this thanks to himself!
And then Mhok arrives, cue the romantic Halmark escalator scene and…………
…………………….
……………….. Mhok and Day slip into their old shoes, acting exactly like they did after their first kiss scene LMAOOOO they literally went back in time to this episode, Mhok flirts, Day is skittish.
Everything that happened is pointless. They act like the 3 YEARS (!!!!) apart, or that horrible scene, or even the fact that Day fucking blocked Mhok didn't exist.
This whole episode killed me because it made it seem like Day was the victim of something really bad and Mhok was the bad guy, like it was all because of him, like he had done something terrible to Day. When Day asks his mother if he can give Mhok a chance because he might do "the same thing again", it sounds like Mhok was beating him or cheating on him?????
Mhok thanking for the breakup?????????
Mhok doing emotional labor again and winning over Day, while Day pushes him away (but not really) and is blushing and skittish and just takes the attention given to him was a literal repeat of the past and actively made me feel upset, for me it was humiliating to see Mhok like that.
And what's interesting - Mhok after his return is exactly the same, he behaves exactly the same, he is "overprotective" again. But now, Day and the plot are ok with it? 🤔
And this wedding, which somehow was about Day anyway. Like everything. (Night and Porjai in the future: remember our wedding? oh yes, that event when we took DAY to the airport and when DAY had his eye surgery? 😆)
Also, please leave the weddings, the profound speeches, the dramatic scenes, the tearjerkers, the airport runs, and the sudden phone calls about available transplants to the professionals. Soap operas do it so much better, so just… leave it. I can cry my eyes out at these scenes during Bollywood movies because they know how to do it. In Last Twilight I don't know where to hide because of embarrassment.
Day getting his sight back? I'm for it! It wasn't a miracle, just a medical procedure. Why would they deny him that? Especially since medicine could help in his case. But again, it's not about what happened, it's about HOW it happened, it's about the execution (which is also my main complaint about the scene from the previous episode). It was just melodramatic and crammed into the moment to force an emotional response from the audience. And did you notice how flat the scene when Day sees fell? "I can see!" haha, Porjai is pretty, end of the scene. Like????
The series told a certain story and from a narrative point of view, Day's regaining his sight at that moment and in such a way was artificial, so it does not give any satisfaction or joy in the fact that a blind person can see again - I was embarrassed by how cringe and saccharine this scene is. Not to mention the beginning of the episode contradicted the ending of the episode! The story must hold together, it must be coherent, the series should have a central, main idea. Last Twilight doesn't have that, it lost it 2 episodes ago, and the saccharine ending of this show was just a soap opera nail in the coffin.
tl;dr Mhok and Day are back in the past. Despite the loud speeches about development, growing and having a beautiful life despite adversities, the series made sure that the characters end it pretty much the same, in perfect circumstances, without the slightest cloud in their perfect sky 😀
The best things about this series are:
Mhok, my golden boy
Night without hesitation or making a big deal out of it, calling Porjai's baby his. I am a sucker for men who don't care whether their child is his blood. Night and Ha Do Young from The Glory, unconditionally loving their children regardless of whether they are their biological parents -> 💯💯💯
Right now, I'm not even angry, I don't even have any particular negative feelings. I just… I watched the whole episode like that:
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Followup news: one of the Bike Boys from the CitiBike Incident has released his side of the story, via his mother and Monique Judge.
A TL;DR in two parts:
1: Tearjerking demographic sympathy-farming and "I never thought leopards would make hysterical accusations at MY son, sobs woman who voted for the Leopards Making Hysterical Accusations Party"
2: My son has receipts too, they show that he was being deliberately dishonest and exploiting the system.
To expand on the first point:
Betty has seen video after video of racists and trolls calling her son a “thug” and a “thief” and labeling him as a “man” when, in her words, “He’s just a boy.” It hurts her that people are saying these things — things that she knows are not true — about him.
Betty is disturbed that people believe the worst about what her son might have done, based on little or no evidence. (And the "thief" charge is arguably correct, as we'll see below.)
Betty said she was horrified when she first saw the video. “My reaction when I saw it was ‘oh my God. I almost lost my son in that moment.’ Do you understand me? I am not from here, but we all know this country,” she said. “But how the policemen here do our sons, and our husbands, and our fathers. They kill us.” Betty continued. “So with a white woman standing right there and screaming for someone to help, if the police had come, and my son was standing there, they are going to shoot him. If he runs, they are going to shoot him.”
Betty believes the worst about what the police might have done, based on little or no evidence, to an extent that is hysterical, delusional, and paranoid.
I don't blame her. She's a propaganda victim, on par with the youtube commenters she decries.
I blame Progressive America for engaging in massive amounts of misinformation, propaganda, fear campaigns, cherrypicking and brainwashing about the relative threat posed by blacks and cops.
(I expect some people may object "he was unarmed!" here, and I respond that the point still stands, the annual homicide stats indicate unarmed black men are about 10x more likely to kill someone else than they are likely to get killed by the police.)
To expand on the second point:
CitiBike in cooperation with NYC has a program where rides shorter than 45 minutes can be free if you're on welfare, details at this link.
One can infer the contours of decisionmaking policy that led here: simply making bike rides entirely free on welfare would lead to a bunch of assholes joyriding bikes all day, while simply giving the poors money and expecting them to pay would lead to a bunch of idiots drinking away their money and still having no bike rides; so you get this kind of half-assed compromise.
Re-docking the bike resets the timer, allowing him to ride for another 45 minutes before stopping again. “Even regular Citi Bike riders do this,” Mary explained. “The price goes up after 45 minutes for everyone, so people routinely ride their bikes, dock their bikes, ride their bikes, and dock their bikes again.”
I can see why people do it, but it's still kinda skeevy. The point of the 45-minute limit is that other people should get a chance to use the bikes too, without needing to queue at the docking station and wait for the short available period between rides. It may be excusable if there's plenty of spare bikes and nobody needs to queue, but that apparently wasn't the case here.
Now I want to emphasise that this article I'm quoting is Bike Boy's side of the story, presented as a defense of what he was up to, by a sympathetic journalist known to have been previously dishonest in his favor:
Michael said after resting in Harlem for a bit, the boys continued riding into the Lower East Side of Manhattan. They grabbed frozen yogurt and then headed to the Citi Bike docking station at 1st Avenue and E 30th Street near Bellevue Hospital in the Kip’s Bay neighborhood. They docked their bikes at 7:19 p.m. and sat there to rest. Michael insisted he and his friends never left the bikes unattended. They don’t leave the bikes. Michael said all four of his friends also have the same Citi Bike Reduced Fare membership, so they docked the bikes to stop the timers from going over 45 minutes.
[...]
Michael was still standing near his bike with his hands on the handlebars.
[...]
Michael says that is when Sarah Jane Comrie moved closer to him and his bike, leaned over him, and scanned the QR code with her phone even as he had his hands on the handlebars. She then pushed her way onto the bike and attempted to remove it from the docking station and take it. It was 7:24 p.m., and that is when the boys began recording.
Let's suppose for a moment that Michael and the journo are telling the truth here in their pre-video claims of "Michael says".
Even if we take their account at face value, Michael has crossed a line from kinda skeevy to outright wrong. He is trying to have it both ways at once: "using the bike" continuously so that no one else can use it, and "not using the bike" so that he doesn't have to pay for his extended continuous use. Which is it? Pick one.
Either way, sounds like he was a thief, the question is whether he was robbing CitiBike or robbing Sarah Comrie. That I leave to someone else to resolve.
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Netflix's Avatar The Last Airbender thoughts, part 4/5
about the characters from the Fire Nation
Zuko and Aang: they softened Zuko a lot, which, eh, it's fine. he opens up to Aang a little too easily in ep 6, but i loved their little talk about their studies and how they grew up. it's on the nose but honestly, you can't exactly pretend that the Zuko-Aang parallels in the OG show were subtle. "I need my honor back" *sharp cut to Zuko* was anything but subtle, so i'm actually fine with this
Iroh and Lu Ten: so, the discussions around the siege of Ba Sing Se, and Lu Ten's funeral, and Zuko's remembrance of Lu Ten were all wonderful. it's a nice detail to include the earth kingdom soldier, to show the consequences of Iroh's actions more, and i decided i liked how they handled it. i like that Iroh doesn't apologize - there is no point, and no apologies will bring the soldier's brother back. the only thing he can do is show that he knows too many lives have been lost in this war already, and move on; maybe hope that confronting him has helped the soldier move on in some way as well. as for the casket scene; Leaves from the Vine is exploitative a little, but i think the show did a good job of not just riding the free tearjerking the song itself lent to it, but providing substance under it. i especially adored Zuko in that scene; he's young, too young and too raised in an emotionally repressive family to be able to say what he really wants to say. it doesn't even really seem to be allowed for him to say "i'm sorry for your loss", because Lu Ten's fate is regarded as an honourable death more worthy of congratulations than condolences. but obviously, Zuko feels how much pain Iroh is in, and (what i also love) he's struggling with Lu Ten's death himself. there were hints in the original show that Zuko would've spent time alone with Iroh and Lu Ten, and the gifting of Lu Ten's medal is such a precious, telling moment of their relationship. my last comment is that having Zuko not only personally relate to Iroh in his grief, showing him that Iroh isn't alone in this pain, but then sitting with him after that is such a heartwarming, beautiful moment.
Zhao: so Zhao's story was interesting, i think it explored his motivation a little better, and he remained more consistent. in the OG show, he goes a little 0-100 after his first few episodes, here it was more gradual from being a nobody to having ambitions of killing the moon and becoming Firelord. hm. this is almost like a pattern huh
Fire family: is the easiest way to refer to the whole Ozai-Azula-Zuko-Iroh situation. Ozai and his relationship with his children is framed differently and expanded upon. they did change the whole dynamic somewhat, which i don't think is necessarily bad, it certainly lends more depth to Azula, whose story culminated originally in what Overanalyzing Avatar called "The Extremely Expedited Complete Mental Collapse of Azula" (if you haven't watched his analysis on why he thought Azula's breakdown was too sudden, i really recommend it). i think with how they are setting up her character, if they take it in the same direction as ATLA did, they'll have a more solid and believable breakdown at the end. i think Ozai seems weirdly - bear with me here - protective of Zuko. like he believes the crap he's spewing, and while he still treats Zuko horribly (i think the burning of Zuko's face was somehow even more cruel in this, it felt less angry and more deliberate, cold, which is... ugh. hard to even think about.), he clearly seems like he'd prefer Zuko on the throne over Azula. which was not the case in ATLA, even when they were children and Zuko wanted to show off to his grandfather, before he did anything, Ozai was already frowning. now, i don't necessarily think this change couldn't make an interesting story, i just hope the message about how abusive and horrible Ozai is to his children is not gonna get twisted and excused because of this change in attitude. i also like that there is a little more emphasis on the fact that Ozai and Iroh are brothers, and that they actually TALK to each other
priorities: from the above points, i think a clear pattern forms: despite the runtime being roughly equal to ATLA's book 1, NATLA season 1's priorities lean sooooo far towards discussing the fire nation, their soldiers, their supporters and opponents, Zuko and Iroh, Ozai and especially Azula that the Gaang looses a crapload of the runtime they originally had. and while this obviously benefits the fire nation characters, it has this negative effect of us missing out on a lot of opportunities for the main cast to bond while we're busy watching Mai and Ty Lee hyping Azula up for... whatever reason
Mai is not in this show btw. i know there was a girl with Ty Lee and Azula who looks like Mai but it wasn't her.
PART 4/5
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Here’s an outline of the third season (or “cour” if you’re a nerd) of Mahou no Mako-chan. Aside from a few very good episodes, I think this is probably the weakest part of the series. I think it’s worth mentioning Akira is not mentioned or appears at all. Neither does the sea witch. Mako’s parents make very brief appearances.
Episode 27: A stinker. Mako meets a young man who owns a fancy “Galac,” an obvious but strange parody of a “Cadillac.” Some h- jinks ensue but it’s a pretty boring episode overall.
Episode 28: Another uneventful episode. This one is about one of Mako’s PE teachers who pushes the students into doing dangerous gymnastic moves. This was actually featured in the Toei Manga Matsuri, which surprises me since it’s not that entertaining and the animation looks downright awful.
Episode 29: Finally! An entertaining episode! Tomiko is running for student council and enlists the help of Mako and Midori. Admittedly I couldn’t understand a lot of the episode but overall it was pretty fun. It was hilarious seeing Tomiko trying to get votes. It was also great seeing her in a (somewhat) positive light. Such a rare treat! This is another Fumio Eto episode so it doesn’t look very good but he does try to do a lot of interesting things with the animation.
Episode 30: One of Mako’s older sisters visits the surface but is seen by a young man named Mitsuo. At the same time, Mako’s class has been discussing Little Women, which makes her wonder how her sisters are doing. Mako crosses paths with Mitsuo that night near the harbor, where he tells her he’s looking out for the mermaid he recently saw. Assuming it must be one of her sisters, Mako agrees to “help him” catch the mermaid. Mitsuo tells Mako to meet him later that night and takes her pendant as collateral. In exchange he gives her his most precious asset, an omamori. Unfortunately things don’t go as planned, with Mako unable to meet up with Mitsuo and he ends up capturing her sister with a fishing net. The next day Urashima is called to an aquarium called “Marine Paradise,” after Mitsuo proposes to sell them the mermaid. Mitsuo gets fed up with everyone and attempts to flee with Mako’s sister. Mako begs him to let her go, admitting the mermaid is her sister and reveals she looked into his omamori, which contains a message from his sister begging him to “never die.” Mitsuo tearfully frees Mako’s sister and the two have a touching reunion. Mitsuo’s memory is wiped with the magical pendant and Mako’s sister wishes her happiness before returning to the sea.
This is one of my all time favorite episodes. It’s so beautiful. This was the first episode Shingo Araki worked on it and it’s some of his finest work. The scenes where Mako begs him to Mitsuo to free her sister and the reunion are such tearjerkers.
As beautiful as Mako’s sister is, Araki just reused Mako’s mermaid design and gave her blonde hair. This is fine but I wish he would’ve used one of the designs for Mako’s sisters in the first episode. Also, doesn’t it seem strange Mako’s father wouldn’t intervene in some way? Oh well, still a great episode!
Oh and one more thing: Starting with this episode they start calling Mako’s pendant “The Mermaid’s Tear.” They still call it “The Mermaid’s Life” but not as often. Sigh.
Episode 31: Stinker. Mako forgets a package containing important and expensive books for Mr. Urashima on the train. She tries lost and found but they’re not there. The attendant tells her about an old man who collects and resells items left on the train. Mako visits him but he doesn’t have them either. When Mako goes home to tell Mr. Urashima what happens, he of course, slaps the fuck out of her. However! This time he actually apologies and feels bad about what he’s done. FINALLY. Also this is the last time he hits her. Anyway, it turns out some bratty little boy has them and uses them as leverage to get Mako to hang out with him. Pretty lame episode overall.
Episode 32: Oh boy, this one is a tearjerker. Mako rescues a St. Bernard named Lulu after she was injured in a hit and run. Lulu belongs to a sweet, blind girl named Nobuko, who’s currently under the care of her uncle. However, her uncle is a fucking asshole, who hates dog, and is highly abusive. Lulu attacked him after he started hitting Nobuko but then was driven out of the home. He’s also the one responsible for the hit and run. The majority of the episode has Mako attempting to reunite Lulu with her owner. A lot ends up happening and things escalate when a fire breaks out and Lulu dies saving Nobuko and her uncle. This episode doesn’t pull it’s punches. It’s hard not to cry after Lulu’s heroic sacrifice. Heartbreaking episode and one of my favorites.
Episode 33: Mako and the twins come across as baby deer that’s been injured by poachers and separated from its mother. She takes it to Urashima, who nurses it back to health. At one point it runs away but the episode ends on a happy note with Mako having the poachers arrested and the baby deer being reunited with its mother. Kind of a boring episode and it really falls flat compared to the previous one.
Episode 34: It’s been many months since Mako came to live on the surface and she starts thinking about her mother. After she gets into a physical altercation with Tomiko, she has a discussion with her teacher. They both have hangnails and he mentions how they represent a lack of filial piety. Tomiko’s subordinate sees Mako and their teacher talking and assumes something is going on between them. Mako decides to write letters to her mother but her father tells her it’s pointless since the ink would smear underwater. Tomiko steals Mako’s letters (believing they’re love letters) and gets annoyed when she thinks it’s all fantastical nonsense. Tomiko’s mother finds the letters, thinks it’s a fictional story and has them published. Mako’s mother is now able to read the letters in the form of a book.
This is a cute episode but the logic in this series makes no sense. How could a cheaply printed magazine survive the depths of the sea but standard stationary can’t? And couldn’t Mako (or her father for that matter) use magic to make the letters waterproof?
Episode 35: This one was kinda hard to understand... the zoo where Urashima works is about to bought out? I think? It wasn’t terribly interesting regardless.
Episode 36: This one is bonkers. A man attempts suicide because his wife and child were killed in a hit and run. A ladies magazine holds a contest seeing if any woman can convince him to live. Mako is selected by the magazine by chance. We find out it’s all a ruse to boost magazine sales. Whoa.
I can’t remember for sure but I think this is the first episode that features Akira Kamiya as Bancho’s friend Senkichi. Mahou no Mako-chan was his first voice acting job. He takes over the role of Senkichi for the remainder of the series.
Episode 37: An anonymous person mails a lipstick to Mako. Although she’s excited to try it, she discovers mermaids can’t wear makeup. This distresses her since she wants to be fully human which means (to her) getting married and wearing makeup. The anonymous sender turns out to be a man who’s sister died in a car accident. The lipstick was originally for her but she never got to wear it. At the end of the episode Mako uses her pendant to wear the lipstick and goes to the summer festival with the young man.
I’d like to point out Mako actually did attempt to put on lipstick back in episode 3. She stops when she hears Urashima approaching and hides it in her dresser.
Episode 38: Mako and her friends cross paths with an all-girl biker gang called the “Cherry Group.” Mako and Haruko go on a trip to an island and they see the gang again. Mako and the leader, Nanako, end up falling in an old well and get trapped. This episode was okay, I guess. I liked Nanako but this episode wasn’t terribly exciting. The climax of the episode has Mako and Nanako cowering in fear over a herd of hermit crabs. How goofy.
Episode 39: Mako and friends meet a little girl named Miyuki who’s best friend is an old circus lion. The circus plans on holding a fight between the lion, Mao, and a ferocious tiger. Miyuki knows Mao will die if the fight happens, so Mako tries to stop the circus. This episode has some pretty cool looking animation but the story itself is boring. There are a few interesting moments, like when Mako’s father conjures up a storm to save her. Also we already had a character named Miyuki back in episode 19.
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Babes and the Beast Tropes Page
I made a tv tropes page for my GF fan-story. Later this month, I’ll be reposting edited chapters.
Adult Fear - Two small children are repeatedly thrown into danger, much to the horror of their grown-up guardians.
Angry Mob - Somewhat justified. Gideon galvanizes the townspeople into thinking Stan kidnapped and brainwashed the kids.
Baleful Polymorph - Everyone in the castle has been transformed against their will.
Benevolent Boss - Stan is this to the castle staff; gruff and scary, but also kind and protective.
Big Brother Instinct - Obviously, Dipper and Mabel as well as Stan and Ford have this for each other.
Big Ball - The Hanukah party in Chapter Nine.
Cool Big Sister - Wendy is this to Dipper and Mabel.
Creepy Good - Stan is this to a T. Also applies to Robbie.
Curse Escape Clause - The curse that transforms everyone at the castle can be broken by Stan loving and being loved by someone who sees his inner beauty. He learn this not from the one who cursed him, but from a good witch in the forest.
Dead Parents Are the Best - Dipper and Mabel’s parents are missed not just by their children but by the whole town.
Divine Intervention - More like fairy intervention. In the eleventh hour, Jheslbraum the oracle uses her magic to restart Stans’ heart and bring him back to life. Justified in-story by her own inner monologue.
Dream Visions - Mabel and Dipper have these when they sleep. They’re implied to be sent by Jheslbraum herself.
Enchanted Forest - Downplayed since most of the forest’s magical aspects are hibernating.
Fair Folk - All magical creatures either featured or mentioned can be considered Fai beings.
Filler Episode - Chapter 7, Which is made from scenes I couldn’t fit into other chapters.
Found Family - Dipper and Mabel find this with Stan and the castle staff.
Gaslamp Fantasy - I added some steampunk elements to the story, such as MkGuckets’ inventions and the castle boiler.
Haunted Castle - The Falls Family castle comes off as this.
He Cleans Up Nice - Applies to Stan when he bathes and puts on nice clothes.
Honorary Uncles - Dipper and Mabel refer to Old Man McGucket as “Uncle Fiddle”. They also start calling Stan and Ford Uncle. (I’m intentionally vague as to whether or not they’re actually related.)
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream - Ford is a sentient book who can’t speak, move, feel, or even see without someone holding him.
Knight Templar Big Brother - Stan is this for Ford, justified since Ford is helpless and delicate.
Light is Not Good - Monster King Bill Cipher appears as a glowing yellow triangle. Also, Gideon wears white and blue, colors normally associated with heroes.
Loon with a Heart of Gold- Old Man MkGucket.
Lost Heirs - Stan and Ford are part of the noble Falls family, making them the landlords of Gravity Falls
Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold - Stan is this. So is MkGucket.
Nice Jewish Boy - Dipper Pines is this. My version of the Pines family is more in tune with their Hebrew roots.
Papa Wolf - Stan is a very protective parental figure.
Power of Love - Family love specifically.
Protect this House - In Chapter Ten, the castle staff fights off the angry mob,
Protective Kids - Dipper and Mabel are this; first to MkGucket, then to Stan and Ford.
Rags to Riches - At the end of the story, Dipper and Mabel are made heirs to Stan and Fords’ castle and the Falls family fortune.
Shipper on Deck - Mabel tries to set Stan up with Lazy Susan. It doesn’t work out.
Tearjerker - Stans’ death scene.
Villainous Crush - Gideon has one for Mabel.
X Meets Y - This story is literally a fairy tale mixed with a cryptidcore cartoon. And it works surprisingly well!
I might add to the list in the future.
#text#list#tv tropes#crossover#gravity falls#beauty and the beast#gravity falls au#beauty and the beast au#fanic#fanfiction
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🔥🔥NEW RELEASE 🔥🔥
We are excited to share the new release of END OF ME by Claudia Burgoa – available now!
BUY LINKS -
Landing Page ➺https://geni.us/TheEndofMe
Amazon ➺ https://geni.us/TheEndofMeZon
Amazon US ➺ https://bit.ly/3ZFikjM
Amazon UK ➺ https://amzn.to/3Mbd18M
Amazon DE ➺ https://bit.ly/3GaTtxp
Amazon CA ➺ https://bit.ly/3Mbjr7L
Amazon AU ➺ https://bit.ly/3G96lny
Apple Books ➺ https://geni.us/TheEndofMeApple
Nook ➺ https://bit.ly/TheEndofMeNook
Kobo ➺ https://bit.ly/TheEndofMeKobo
Google Play ➺ https://bit.ly/TheEndofUsGP
Paperback ➺ https://geni.us/TEoMPB
Special Edition Paperback ➺ https://geni.us/TEoMSE
Hardback ➺ https://geni.us/TEoMHB
TROPES:
💔Friends to lovers
💔Forced Proximity
💔Childhood Romance
💔Workplace
💔Age gap
💔Second Chance
💔Opposites Attract
💔Grumpy/Sunshine
💔Amnesia
💔Forbidden romance
💔MFM / MMF romance/Polyamorous romance
One moment destroyed our perfect love.
This is an emotional, angsty, tearjerker Why Choose? Romance Duet by USA Today Bestselling Author Claudia Burgoa.
I fell in love with Archer St. James long ago.
We were children, but our hearts just knew it.
We were soulmates.
Our love was eternal.
But it wasn’t.
My future and my heart shattered the day he died.
Well, they say he died, but I still sense him.
They call it ghost pains.
It’s like my soul can’t live without him.
And after seven years, I’m almost ready to let him go…
There are two men who claimed to care for me—even love me.
One looks almost like the man I lost.
The other is so different, but the invisible link between us pulls me to him.
My already shattered heart is torn between the past, the present, and a dangerous future with two men.
The End of Me is the first book of The Downfall of Us Duet. An angst-filled Why Choose? MMF romance about broken hearts, loss, and hope.
Meet Claudia Burgoa:
Claudia is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author.
She writes alluring, thrilling stories about complicated women and the men who take their breaths away. Her books are the perfect blend of steamy and heartfelt, filled with emotional characters and explosive chemistry. Her writing takes readers to new heights, providing a variety of tears, laughs, and shocking moments that leave fans on the edge of their seats.
She lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband, her youngest two children, and three fluffy dogs.
When Claudia is not writing, you can find her reading, knitting, or just hanging out with her family. At night, she likes to binge watch shows or movies with her equally geeky husband.
Connect with Claudia Burgoa:
https://claudiayburgoa.com/wp/links/
#comingsoon #lovereading #billionaireromance #reading #bookish #romancenovels #booknerds #bookishlove #mustread #romancereader #wildfiremarketingsolutions
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Joke’s on You
Pairing: Bucky X Reader
Summary: Bucky’s fuckboy tendencies get the better of him. But you show him you’re not gonna be tossed around like a toy. This time, he gets the shit end of the stick.
Warnings: Language, Angst, Smut, Fighting, Angst,
Word Count: 4.3K
A/N: Okay fellas. Here she is. The third instalment of Gangsta. Now, this one can be read in the series or as a standalone. Based on Charlotte Lawerence’s ‘Joke’s on You’ (Both regular and acoustic.) and also on Love the Way you Lie obvi cause angst and toxic relationships hehe. I’ve got the next part almost fully written and lemme warn y’all, it’s a tearjerker. So good luck!
Gangsta
I see Red
Jokes On You
Habits (Coming soon)
~*~
“Hey, Steve.” He nods at you, arm resting on the back of the seat just behind your shoulders. “Waitin’ for him?” You nod, lips pursed as you cross your arms on the table.
The club is loud, music thumping under your feet and people chattering all around you. Your eyes scour the club, looking for James.
You feel Steve stiffen a moment before you find him, and then you realize why Steve reacted the way he did.
Bucky’s standing at the bar, flirting and chatting up a busty brunette waitress. You grind your teeth together, watching the way he looks her up and down.
“I’m sure he’s just being friendly?” Steve offers, cringing when you turn your glare on him.
“That’s the problem. If I ever get that friendly with a guy I’ll never hear the end of it. I fucking hate that this is such a double standard. I’m not gonna just sit around and watch him get with random bitches. Not anymore.” You make to stand up, halting when Steve grabs your hand.
“At least dance with me. Not someone that he’s gonna kill for no reason.” You ponder this, glancing over to your boyfriend once more and making your mind up quickly. The brunette is leaning in, her lips almost touching his face.
You grab Steve’s hand and haul him towards the dance floor, ignoring the way you can feel Bucky’s eyes on you. You spin around in Steve’s arms, pressing your back against his front and moving your hips against him.
He grips your waist, his head resting over your shoulder, lips just barely brushing the shell of your ear.
You slowly open your eyes, looking over to where Bucky’s sitting, his jaw clenched and his eyes focused on you.
The waitress is gone for the moment, but two glasses sit on the counter beside him, one of them stained with red lipstick.
He raises his eyebrows at you and you cock your head to the side before reaching over your shoulder and grabbing a handful of Steve’s hair. Bucky’s eyes flash a warning at him and you only roll your eyes in return, before tugging Steve’s head down and craning your neck back to smash your lips against his.
He’s stunned for a minute, before kissing you back with passion, his teeth grazing over your bottom lip. His hands trail up your body, cupping your breasts through the thin material of your dress and groping them roughly.
You pull away after a moment, panting hard. When you open your eye they immediately flicker to Bucky, a frown crossing your face when you see him once again talking to the brunette.
Huffing a frustrated breath, you tug out of Steve’s arms and strut over to the bar, smiling sweetly at your boyfriend.
He hardly glances at you, only giving you attention when you clear your throat.
“I uh... I should get back to my table,” the waitress says, smiling at Bucky before walking away. His eyes stay on her backside and you scoff.
“Really, James?” He shrugs, playing it cool when all he wants to do is bend you over the counter and fuck you until the only thing you remember is his name.
“Yeah. Maybe don’t come home tonight. She and I are really hitting it off. She’s got a tongue stud and said she’d let me see her nipple rings.”
You scoff again, shaking your head at him.
“Yeah, whatever. When you’re done being a prick let me know. I’m staying with Steve tonight. Maybe when you grow up a bit and can talk about whatever doubts you’re having about our relationship, then I’ll come home. But not before then.”
He watches you walk away, his heart aching and his mind racing. He doesn’t want to let you get away, but he has no choice. He can’t need you. He doesn’t want to need you. And yet here he is, needing you.
You walk up to Steve, your anger evident on your face.
“He being a dick again?” He asks, shaking his head in disappointment.
“Of fucking course he is! When is he not? God, sometimes I forget why we got together.” Steve chuckles, his hands holding your waist. “Because you guys are a match made in heaven? C’mon. I’ll take you home. I’m sure he’s just gonna get shitfaced then bum a ride from some poor defenceless college kid.” You nod, taking a deep breath but deciding that Steve’s probably right.
As you’re turning to the door, you see none other than your boyfriend leaving, one hand on the ass of the waitress as the two of them leave the club together.
“Jesus Christ he’s leaving with her,” you hiss, turning to glare at Steve.
“He’s an idiot. I’ll take you home.” You shake your head, determined to make a point.
“No. Take me to your place. He gets to go with a random bitch, fine. I’m going home with someone else too.” Steve sighs, knowing better than to argue with you when you’re in a mood like this.
The ride to his house is silent, the tension thick in the car as you stew in your anger.
Too many times has Bucky done this, pushed you away and fucked other girls, only to get mad at you whenever you attempt to do the same.
Fucking random guys would only get them killed, exactly how Steve said, however, Bucky cares too much about his best friend to kill him. Beat him to a pulp? Sure. But Bucky could never kill Steve.
As soon as you’re in Steve’s apartment you’re on him, mouth pressed tightly against his and hands pushing his jacket off of his shoulders. He pauses for a moment, pulling away to look at you carefully.
“Are you sure you wanna do this? You know he’s gonna find out.” You roll your eyes and step out of your dress, kicking it aside and standing bare in front of the blond.
“He can go fuck himself after fucking that waitress. If he does. And if he doesn't then he’ll finally know how I’ve felt all those times when he’s come home smelling like another woman.” Steve ponders this for a moment longer before grabbing you by the waist and pulling you tight against his body.
His kisses are fierce, all teeth and tongue and power and you allow yourself to get lost in the feeling. All thoughts of Bucky are shoved aside. He’s not a priority to you tonight.
No. The only thing on your mind is revenge.
And by God does Steve make it taste sweet.
~*~
Your head is pounding and you swear you feel like you’ve swallowed sand.
The sound of a door opening makes you pry your lids open, glancing over to the sound. Steve offers you a smile, a glass of water and a couple of pills in his hands.
You sit up and rub your face before grabbing the water and painkillers, downing them both quickly then groaning.
“Where’s my phone?” You croak, holding your hand out expectantly.
Steve hesitates and you feel the atmosphere change. You lift your head and look at him, brows drawn together.
“Give it to me now.” He sighs and pulls your phone out of his back pocket, tossing it over to you.
You catch it effortlessly, turning it on while your heart beats in your throat.
Your world crumbles slightly at the sight of your lock screen.
Zero notifications from him.
Not a text.
Not one single phone call.
Nothing.
You grind your teeth together and toss the blankets off of yourself, marching over to Steve’s dresser and grabbing a pair of his sweatpants and a t-shirt that’s at least two sizes too small for him.
“Give me your keys,” you demand, marching out of the room with murder on your mind.
Steve grabs your arm but you yank out of his grip.
“Think about what you’re doing before you do it, (Y/n). Please.” You take a few deep breaths then shake your head.
“I’m just gonna go talk to him. If he’s not serious about us then neither am I. I just want to see...” You trail off and Steve sighs, handing you the keys to his Ferrari.
“If you so much as scratch the paint I’ll-” “Yeah, yeah you’ll kill me I know. It’s fine I’ll just buy you a new one.”
You’re out the door before he can say anything else, keys jammed in the car’s ignition.
Steve would have a heart attack if he saw the way you were treating his baby.
And he would die on the spot if he saw the way you drove.
By the time you’re outside the apartment you and Bucky share, you’ve had some time to cool down.
That doesn't stop you from grabbing a knife out of the glove box though.
You hold it loosely in your dominant hand as you walk into the building then up through the elevator, the trip taking far more time than usual.
But then you’re outside of your apartment, ready to have a serious conversation about where the two of you stand with regards to your relationship.
You unlock the door and push your way into the apartment, stopping right in the doorway when you see not one but two people in your home.
A piece of your heart shatters and any semblance of composure is left a step behind you.
Bucky looks like a deer in headlights, his mind foggy, but yours is working just as well as it usually does, if not better.
The waitress from the night before stands before you in your boyfriend’s shirt, a confused look on her face.
You hold the knife tighter in your grasp and pounce, the blade just nicking her throat before Bucky yanks her out of the way.
She lets out a terrified scream, stumbling to the ground and scrambling away from you.
Before you can get her again Bucky’s got your arms pinned to your sides, his metal arm holding tightly to the arm that has the knife.
“Grace, you should probably leave,” He says softly, his eyes focused on the look of pure betrayal on your face.
The waitress gets up and gathers her things quickly, her eyes on you.
You eye her with nothing but pure hatred in your gaze, straining against his hold.
He doesn’t loosen his grip until she’s safely out the door, only then does he let you go.
But what a mistake.
Your anger is now directed at him and you swipe your blade up at him, catching the apple of his cheek and leaving an angry red slice across his pretty face.
“Fuck!” He jumps back, one hand coming up to the wound while the other extends defensively in front of himself.
You don’t follow him like he thought you would. No, instead you toss the knife aside and turn away from him.
He’s utterly confused at your behaviour. It’s not like anything you’ve ever done before.
He was prepared for anger, for wrath like no other. But this? This is new territory and he hates that.
You pour yourself a glass of whiskey and bring it over to the couch, plopping down and grabbing your phone out of your pocket. Bucky approaches you slowly as if you’re an animal ready to lash out at any moment. But you don’t.
“Baby?” He asks softly, waiting for the anger.
But he gets nothing in reply.
“I’d be using my time more wisely if I were you,” you say stoically, eyes on your phone as you fight tears.
“W-what do you mean?” He’s never felt genuine fear for his life before now.
“You have twenty-eight minutes left to get your shit and get out. Whatever’s left after that is getting burned. If you’re still here then you will also be on that list of things that will be getting burned.”
He’s shocked.
“What do you mean?” He repeats, taking a few hesitant steps closer to your figure. The way that you stay so unbothered, eyes on your phone as if he means nothing to you, it’s beyond concerning.
“I’m not going to repeat myself. It’s up to you if you want to take me seriously or not.” He’s not sure what to do, but he knows that he pushed you too far, if only from the way that you don’t give a single fuck about him.
“I-I’m sorry,” he tries, voice low and hands raised in surrender and fear, hoping to appeal to your human side.
Unfortunately for him, your human side is long gone.
“Mhm,” is all you say in reply, taking another sip of your drink and trying to remember where you keep the propane.
He starts moving then, packing up a bag that’s enough to last him a few days. He’s not sure if he should believe that you’ll actually burn his things, but he grabs all his valuables just in case.
The remaining twenty-five minutes go by far too quickly, and then he’s standing at the door, watching you rise to your feet with the utmost grace.
He watches as you start gathering up little knickknacks, stray socks and books of his, a bunch of pictures, a set of ridiculously expensive champagne glasses, and the necklace he got you for your last birthday. You toss it all into a cardboard box then head into the next room to gather more things.
His curiosity and want to preserve what little he can of the relationship gets the better of him and he hesitantly creeps his way over to the box, grabbing the pictures and the necklace.
A bullet narrowly misses his hand and he almost drops his belongings in his haste to get out of the line of fire, but you’ve got the barrel pointed directly at him again, finger hovering dangerously over the trigger.
“I told you: half an hour. You’re done. Get out. If I ever see you again, I’ll kill you.” He says nothing. Instead, he grabs his belongings and leaves without so much as a second glance.
~*~
“Have you tried talking to her? She seemed pretty pissed when she left my place.” Bucky glares at his friend, “You fucking asshole, don’t even try to give me advice, you’re the one who ruined this in the first place.”
Steve raises his brows and downs his scotch then actually laughs at his friend, the sound getting slightly drowned out by the noises in the bar
“Do I need to remind you who left the club first? You took that waitress home before (Y/n) and I even left. That’s the only reason I took her home. She would’ve fucked anybody in that club and then you would’ve gone and made a mess that I would’ve had to clean up. I took her home cause you and I both know I’ll take good care of her and won’t treat her like shit. She deserves the world, Buck, and you treat her like a piece of garbage.”
The brunet is silent as his friend tells him what he knows is true but really just doesn’t want to accept.
“That woman loves you, Buck. To the moon and back. With her whole fucking heart and soul and you stomp on it every damn chance you get. If she wasn’t so damn in love with you, I’d take her out. Wine and dine her real nice, just how she deserves. I’d show her what it’s like to be loved.”
The glass shatters in the brunet’s hand as he listens to his best friend talk about the way he’d treat the woman he loves.
“I get it! I’m a fucking idiot. I’ll go talk to her.” He drops a couple of bills on the table then marches out of the bar, trying to keep his composure and his confidence on the drive to the apartment.
He’s not sure what he’s going to say, but he knows he needs to apologize. He needs to tell you that he loves you and that you’re the only one he wants.
Hesitant knuckles knock against the door and he feels stupid. It’s his place too.
When he gets no reply he pushes the door open, his stomach dropping and his heart clenching tight in his chest.
It’s empty.
No furniture, no decorations, and not one single sign of you.
“(Y/n)?!” He calls, hand darting to the gun tucked into his pants as he explores the empty penthouse.
“(Y/n)?” His voice is softer but more desperate, the reality of the situation hitting him like a punch in the gut.
You’re gone.
He lost you. And he’s not sure if he’s gonna be able to get you back.
~*~
You shoulder your way into the tiny shithole that you’re calling home, brows drawn together and shoulders heavy with exhaustion.
“Love the new place.” You’ve got a gun raised and aimed at the voice, heart racing in your chest at the fact that you didn’t even realize they were here.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” You demand, not lowering your weapon as you walk into the living room.
He’s seated on the couch, eyes staring straight through the window across from him.
“You left,” is all he says.
You want to scoff.
Scratch that; you want to shout. To yell and scream and beat him to a bloody pulp. You want to ask him why. Why he hurt you so badly and why he acts like he did nothing.
Instead, you walk past him and set your gun on the table.
“Why did you leave?” His voice is closer than before, his feet silent as they carry him towards you. You’re in your bedroom, raking your hands through your hair as you try to handle the situation.
“Why?” He asks again, two metal fingers just hardly brushing against your bicep. You yank yourself away from him, eyes full of rage and betrayal as you glare at him.
“Don’t you fucking dare touch me! You have no fucking right!” He takes a moment to look you over, a frown on his face as he sees how upset you are.
This isn’t how this usually goes. Usually, the two of you shout and scream at each other, then fuck all the anger out.
But not this time.
No, this time it’s different. Because there’s more than just anger on your face.
The look of pain, of absolute agony on your face, has his heart shattering in his chest.
“Doll... I’ll never be able to apologize for what I did. I just...” “You just what, Bucky?” You never call him that. Exhaustion laces your voice and your shoulders slump forward.
“You just what? You wanted to hurt me again? Well congrats, you did a great job. Now please leave. I don't want to see you. Not now and not ever fucking again.” He shakes his head as you turn away from him again.
“No, no you don’t mean that. We’re good together. We’re so fucking good together. You’re the Lois Lane to my Superman. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted.”
His words are dripping with desperation and truth. He’s scared, terrified that this is the end. But he’s talked you back before, he can do it again.
“I’ve been hurt before, Buck. And when I saw... that... it felt like there was a knife in my fucking throat. Like someone was stabbing me in the chest and in the back all at the same time. I couldn’t breathe and I couldn’t fight. And you know what? I’m done fighting. I’m done fighting you, I’m done fighting for you and, I’m so fucking done fighting for us. It’s not worth it anymore.”
He shakes his head but you continue, not giving him a moment to speak.
“We’re not good together. We’re toxic. We’re so fucking toxic but you love it. You love that I hate you because I always come crawling back. You never let me leave, you’ve never ever told me you loved me. It’s always been me. I was the only one who ever tried to salvage our relationship and I’m done doing that.”
He shakes his head, swallowing the sorrow and bile in his throat at the way your voice breaks, the way you crack and splinter and shatter right before his very own eyes.
And it’s his fault. He caused this. He's the one who hurt you.
“Doll I love you. So fucking much. I feel so fucking ashamed for everything I’ve done and the way that I’ve acted.” You scoff, shaking your head at him, “as you fucking should. I’m not going to comfort you. You see me crumbling, see me in pain, and all you've ever done is stand by and watch the show. I won’t let you. Not anymore.”
You sniffle and scrub a tear off of your cheek, your voice shaking as you start speaking again.
“I love you. So much that I can fucking hardly breathe when I’m with you. And when I fell in love with you... it hit me out of the blue. Out of fucking nowhere. I never wanted t-to hurt you or to make you upset. Now I can’t even look at you. You said you’d be my ride or die but you have never been there when I’ve needed you.”
His eyes are red-rimmed and his heart is in his stomach. This isn’t happening. It can’t be happening.
“B-But I can change. Just give me another chance, please, doll. I swear things will be different this time.”
You shake your head angrily, furious that you’re having to have this conversation with him.
“No! You don’t get it! You don’t get another chance, this isn’t a game! You lied again and now you’re going to fucking watch me walk out of your life and I’m not going to fucking look back!”
“Baby, please. Just... I just... I need you so much. I know I wasn’t there for you and I know it wasn’t you and it was me but your temper’s just as bad as mine is and we’re both stubborn as hell and so fucking crazy. Our relationship isn’t as bad as it seems and I love you too much for you to walk away. Come home, we can try again.”
You’re crying now, arms crossed tightly over your chest in a pathetic attempt at protecting yourself
“You’re a broken record, Bucky. Playing the same damn thing over and over again. You don’t mean a word you’re saying.”
He winds up and his fist slams into the wall, a large hole gaping in the drywall.
There goes your damage deposit.
Tears are streaking down his face and his chest is heaving as emotions wrack through his body, tearing him limb from limb and setting him on fire.
“You’re not even listening to me! Don't you hear the sincerity in my voice! I told you this was my fault! I know it’s all my fault! Next time-”
“Next time?!” You actually laugh, though the two of you know there’s no humour behind it. “You don’t get a ‘next time’! We’re done! We’re fucking done!”
“No! You’re not listening to me! All I want is to have you back home! I’m tired of these fucking games! Come home!”
He reaches for you, hands grasping your waist, and you shimmy out of his grip and back up in the bedroom, absolutely fuming at the audacity this man has.
“This isn’t a fucking game, James! If you ever come near me again I will tie you to that fucking bed and set this place on fire! I will show you exactly how you’ve made me felt and by the end of it you’ll be begging me to kill you!”
The two of you stand facing off with each other, tears falling and eyes narrowed, but you won’t give in.
Not this time.
After a few very long minutes his shoulders sag and his entire demeanour changes as he accepts defeat. As he realizes that you’re not giving in this time.
He lost.
He lost you.
“Alright. If that’s what you want, fine.” He turns around and walks towards the front door, each step sending a sharp fiery pain through his chest.
He hesitates when he gets to the door, eyes squeezed shut as he waits, hopes, and prays for you to stop him.
But you say nothing. You only watch him, wait for him to leave and take all his lies and deceit away.
He pulls the door open, steps through, and turns around, red eyes focused solely on you.
You muster up your courage and take calculated steps through the apartment towards the front door.
His heart jumps up into his throat, lips parting to apologize and to thank you for giving him another chance, but he doesn’t get a word out.
No, you close the door in his face and leave him standing alone on the other side, your decision having been made.
His movements are mechanical as he makes his way to his car, keys in the ignition and foot on the gas.
It can’t be real.
It can’t be.
He finds himself back in your old apartment, eyes on the absolute nothingness, a perfect representation of your relationship.
A strangled sob leaves his lips, and then another one. And another until they’re consuming him and he’s on the floor, unable to breathe or move.
No, he curls up in the fetal position, hunched in on himself, and screams your name. He curses himself, his friends, his stupidity.
He deserves this. He knows that.
He’s a lost cause.
Loving him was a mistake on your part.
But that doesn’t make the hurt go away.
Fuck, he wants the hurt to go away.
#bucky x reader#bucky x reader dark fic#bucky x reader dark au#Bucky Barnes x reader#bucky/reader#bucky/you#dark au#dark fic#bucky smut#bucky x reader smut#bucky x reader angst#Bucky Barnes angst#Steve Rogers x reader smut#Steve Rogers x reader angst#Bucky Barnes fanfiction
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Thurs 15 April ‘21
A proper OT5 day today, how are we doing? Well, #stressed, apparently, LOL! Oh darlings, don’t worry...
First up, Liam finished his Prince Phillip drawing and captioned it “rest in peace… small tribute to you and your service,” sighhh. As Louis put it “boss drawing and that but get your priorities straight”, I truly couldn’t have put it better! I mean Louis may not have been referring to his politics, he was following up a tweet demanding Liam’s attention (“I see you on Instagram lad, answer your phone!!!!!”), but still he hit the nail on the head. Anyway, maybe Louis wanted to chat to weigh in on Liam’s haircut! (‘WTF mate I thought we were growing it out YOU LOSE’, perhaps?) Yes, Liam’s lion mane got a shearing; he posted a picture looking handsome showing the change, and #jesusLiam trended in memory of the lost hair as fans mourned dramatically. Also there’s a little behind the scenes video of Liam making his BAFTAs performance avatar (last glimpse of the long hair, RIP)-- no footage of him making funny faces but it does feature the very tight suit and the even tighter mo-cap outfit.
And what else is Louis up to? Well he came back to say that yes, he did talk to Liam, and to ask, “how’s everyone doing?” Just saying it wasn’t enough, fans trended the answer for him; STRESSED. We’ll be all right, said Louis, “Faith in the future. Keep your head up.” Faith in the future again!! Nice. We hear you sir and are looking forward to knowing what this is the title of… Also, a geotagged photo of him that wasn’t meant to be shared, was; it shows that Louis flew into LA the other day after leaving Mexico (it’s him at LAX in the outfit he left Mexico in-- look at that hair!! FLIP FLIP FLIP.) Is he still in LA, no way of knowing, so even if the pic wasn’t supposed to go out at least there was a delay and his location remains unknown, as he likes it, though he doesn’t seem to be home to London yet. For some reason people are really stuck on the idea that Sergio (his new footie bestie) said he was going back to London but even aside from the fact that I doubt they got that deep into itineraries, I’m pretty sure he actually just said that when Louis was back in London they’d meet up; not the same thing.
Assuming Louis is still in LA that’ll be convenient for him to go punch Nick Kroll if he wants! Nick said that during DWD filming Harry fell in love with him and they ‘made an omlette’ together... oh wait, no need, he just said they literally made some eggs and fake meat and ate it one night (and obvs that he was joking about their love, but it can for sure be hard to tell Harry’s supposed love affairs from jokes, I get it if you were confused.) He also said Harry is “very good at making everyone around him feel very comfortable. He's just very grounded.” Gucci is having some kind of online fashion opening today and there was a rumor Harry would attend which, yeah, sounds legit, and there’s a Harry puzzle in a Gucci puzzle book. First clue to the Harry Styles Puzzle, “a fictitious narrative.” Timely! Yes indeed, he and Olivia “were spotted together” in London last night, oooh my the scrambling to try and come back from those legal documents is really ON! Really though, WERE THEY? The tabs claim to have interviewed multiple people who were dining there and saw them. Reaaally, okay tell me- how did this come about? Were these people so excited to see a celeb that they called the papers… but none of them took a single picture or posted to their social media about seeing them?! Pics or it didn’t happen guys, COME ON: this is very much in keeping with how unbelievably half-assed they’ve been from day one but still, pretty pathetic attempt. Then rumors went around that Harry was actually out with GEMMA which would be hilarious, but seems more likely to me that no one was actually out anywhere at all.
The To Begin Again video is out! It’s pretty and tearjerk-y and it’s got sweet laughing Zayn content, good times!! It’s mostly sweeping shots of New York City and people there, living and laughing and being quirky and stuff, big humans of NY vibe, and Ingrid and Zayn in their studios happily making music. Zayn’s studio of choice (in Pennsylvania) celebrated their star turn by posting a pic of a signed guitar Zayn gave them back when he recorded Icarus Falls there. The TBA video director says, “we filmed this video in one day- sunrise to sunset.” TBA merch is on sale today in Ingrid’s store.
And there were lots of pap pics of Niall and Anne Marie filming their video (which is not out yet) in Essex. Seems they were FILMING it on the 8th, the day of Niall’s “it’s happening” post. So what’s HAPPENING is not the actual release of it, just yet, okay then. When will it come out? Who knows! We’ll be able to tell though, Niall will come back online for non-golf posting when the time is nigh, you’ll see. Meanwhile, pics of Niall out at a pub with his friends (outdoors) last night were posted, because that’s a thing that happens when celebs go out for public outings and lots of people see them.
#faith in the future#clearly Louis is foreshadowing his George Michael cover can’t wait for it#(kidding)#ingrid michaelson#anne marie#holivia#sergio aguero#fuck the royals#nick kroll#15 apr 21#hopetown sound studio
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Fruits Basket Manga Review ch (76 & 77)
So, I decided to read the manga mainly in search for a more natural balanced female presentation than the idealistic, shallower, savior depiction of tohru in the anime.
I’m intentionally skipping all the chapters of her as a (mother figure) in yuki’s life & won’t read them or even visit them for comparison with the anime. I love yuki’s growth story & the unique depiction of his platonic relationship with tohru, but if his mother-tohru phase was a drink, then the anime has force fed it to me till it came from my nose! So, for yuki, I’ll be reading his growth past-his mother confession.
I’ve consulted my lovely manga readers friends & thy recommended starting from ch 90 since the content in that chapter was completely cut! but some recommended checking kyoto chapters first since they contain a nice glimpse of the author’s style & artistic vision. Kyoto ep in the anime isn’t focused on “mom-tohru” so, i like the idea! I’ll jump to ch 90 right after ch 77.
- Subtle growth of a woman ( Clash of visions & presentation between the manga’s “ Loosing the wallet with mom’s photo vs the anime’s fractured photo frame):
I really love the underlined connotation of tohru loosing her “mom” unknowingly! In the anime, this scene played without any reference to kyoko & tohru’s attachment to her. We saw tohru the teenage girl confused as she experience romantic love for the first time. Nothing more than that. But the manga says “ Main female MC is way deeper than a (mom-figure) or a (girl in love), In this panel, tohru chases after kyo & unknowingly looses her famous wallet containing her mom’s picture. Here’s what this subtly indicates:
Normally, tohru would notice right away that her wallet is missing, here she never even notice until kyo suggest they hang out together. Subtly indicating that tohru is moving further & further from her phase of “ an afraid, grieving, abandoned child clinging to her mom”.
Normally, tohru would panic, say “ mom is missing” & everyone around her goes into search mode to make tohru at ease (hiro’s ep). Here once she notices, she says “ my wallet is missing” & kyo relaxed & laughingly gives her her wallet back. While he goes to bring the wallet, tohru instead of thinking “ oh nearly lost mom!” is musing over the fact that “it’s strange that kyo can make me happy or sad with one word only”. Subtly indicating that tohru is replacing her mom with kyo as part of growing up from the child she was to the woman she will be.
Tohru calling kyo “mysterious”, subtly explains that tohru is in the uncertain phase of understanding her feelings as a woman & hence, pave the path for upcoming trauma exploration & psychological depth.
The entire scene in the manga is depicted to convey different layers: romance, upcoming growth, & unexplored traumatic issues of abandonment, grief, & human weakness. “ Accepting human Weakness & change” IS the manga’s vision.
In the anime, the fractured picture worked simply becuz no issues of any traumatic experiences with tohru were ever hinted. Nothing abt tohru being a young woman moving away from a traumatic childhood was ever implied beside the weakly sharply cut & forgotten few scenes of her mysteriously going “ im okay” while remembering her dad’s shrine. Was there ever anything abt replacing her mom with kyo? Nope!. Was there anything abt tohru reluctance of loving kyo? Nope! to fix that, let’s shock the audience with empty photo frame! It’ll make the viewers confused & if we play the climax right & give tohru a tearjerker speech confronting akito, all is good. It worked in the anime as it served the purpose it was created for: shock value & drama. ppl bought it. But in the long run, it cemented tohru as the “savior angel” never the “ weak human”. But not many will have issues with that. Having yuki with his impressive story of growth & kyo with his shocking story of pain is enough to distract from the rest. The director must think: What does the audience want?
a woman who’d save the prince with her motherly care?“ Done!”.
a woman who’d love the monster? “ Done !”.
a woman who has her own deep story? no one will miss that~ skip!
-Yuki’s next stage of growth: Friends:
I like how smoother the scene played here. Yes, yuki thinks back to his gratitude to tohru, but it plays subtly & more emphasis is on his friendship with kakeru. No added scene of him waving back to tohru after kakeru which brought the focus back to mom-tohru again. No. Here is way less shoved in your throat. Yuki says how he felt in the moment, moved on to the next stage, thought abt his life & choives, moved on to school. Clear lines that makes yuki more dynamic & way less “ living in his head” character.
Side Notes:
The manga’s art is pretty but expressive! I was afraid it’ll have that weird eyes bigger than the moon & too much sparkles & bubbles like the usual old shojo manga art!
Yuki is way more expressive than the anime & less pretty & sparkly! I welcome this with flowers & songs! lol.
Tohru has “low” pigtails instead of the child-like high pigtails! YES! it is crazy that this trivial change adds so much to tohru’s presentation to the viewers’ eyes. In real life no big deal but in an artistic medium such choices send subliminal messages to viewers minds, that’s why artists spend a lot of time choosing their characters default appearance. It means a lot for the character’s overall path & sends messages. High child-like pigtails: make her look like innocent & naive child since viewers usually associate such hair do with children & toddlers. Low pigtails: are cute girly style that we associate with teenagers & young adult women, it’s practical & cute.
Kyo’s looks as youthful & handsome as the anime but less angry, annoyed & more versatile in his expression! It always bothered me that the anime just go with kyo’s default frowned face, hands in pocket looks unless he should express a key emotion. Also, kyo without an undershirt in his uniform! interesting change from the anime.
I missed kyo’s two buddies! T_T. Why they weren’t in the anime’s finale.. could’ve at least put them in the underwhelming graduation ceremony ~
I really appreciate that yuki’s fanclub are one page, less annoying.
That awkward moment when a manga panel drawn by one person can depict a crowded city more than an anime with a huge team. Like the anime didn’t even need to zoom out for a huge wide shot that showcase its weakness in depicting a crowded city. If you can’t draw that, just zoom in to lessen the effect of emptiness. kyoto isn't a deserted area especially not during a school trip!
The teachers checking on the sneaking vs sleeping students scene is a welcoming sight! XDDD
Hana met kakeru before? saw him & tohru together? weird!!
Kakeru is more focused on tohru here.
I really love the photos taken for everybody. It indicates real good time! Hana eating, yuki around girls, arisa annoyed, kyo teased with playing card: did the play “rich man poor man” again? XD
I’m starting to love yuki more in the manga than the anime!
Kyo having short inner thought abt not being able to tell tohru a girl confessed to him & deciding to say “ none of ur business” is doing wonders to the scene!!! it makes him less mean to tohru & more balanced character. I mean I guessed so in the anime, but what could've prevented making the VA say this short line of inner thought?! Yuki’s VA says essays & essays in nearly every ep abt nearly every character?!.
I liked the way kyo held tohru’s hands when he turned to her, the way he held her hand in the anime is a bit weird. lol. Also, in this scene, tender gentle kyo is so well-done both in the anime & manga. The manga wins for the zoom in & focus on emotions, tho.
Next is chapter 90!
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The True Story Behind James Cameron’s Titanic
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James Cameron’s 1997 blockbusting tearjerker, Titanic, puts an epic love story in the middle of the greatest maritime disaster in the history of the North Atlantic. On April 15, 1912, midway through its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg. Because of a severe shortage of lifeboats, 1,517 people died. In the weeks which followed, the luxury liner was said to have been billed as “unsinkable,” but that claim had never been made until after the nautical disaster.
This and other myths have lived on, thanks particularly to Cameron’s romantic (and often fanciful) movie. And yet, not all truths have been lost at sea.
Jack and Rose
Jack Dawson, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, and Rose DeWitt Bukater, played by Kate Winslet as a young woman and Gloria Stuart when elderly, are a myth. They are fictional characters. Jack wasn’t slipped $20 for rescuing Rose, and never taught her how to spit off the side of a ship like a man. But there was a member of the Titanic crew named Joseph Dawson. Born in Dublin, Joseph Dawson worked as a coal trimmer, evening out piles of coal which were shoveled into the ship’s furnaces.
Rose DeWitt-Bukater is the first film character portrayed by two actors who were both nominated for an Academy Award. Winslet was nominated as Best Actress, and Stuart was nominated as Best Supporting Actress. Rose is modeled on Beatrice Wood, who did not travel on the Titanic. Born in San Francisco to wealthy parents, her coming out party was cancelled the same year the Titanic sank.
Beatrice joined the French National Repertory Theatre under the stage name Mademoiselle Patricia, playing more than 60 roles before she was noticed by artist Marcel Duchamp. She was well known by artists during the Dada period, and lived long enough to be invited by James Cameron to the opening of Titanic.
Captain Edward John Smith
Before skippering the Titanic, Capt. Edward John Smith (Bernard Hill) spent 40 years at sea without major incidents. Smith had been working on boats since he was a teenager. He earned a master’s certificate, which is required to serve as captain, in 1875. He became a junior officer with the White Star Line in 1880. He commanded his first ship in 1887. Like many veteran captains, he occasionally ran ships aground, and was captain of the Olympic when it collided with the British cruiser Hawke off the Isle of Wight in 1911, a year before he helmed the Titanic.
The Titanic received iceberg warnings several days into its maiden voyage. Smith adjusted the course but reportedly did not decrease speed. He was away from the bridge when the ship struck an iceberg. The first damage report, from Fourth Officer Joseph G. Boxhall (Simon Crane), found no damage. But a closer inspection from the Titanic’s designer Thomas Andrews (Victor Garber), found five of the ship’s 16 watertight compartments were flooded. The Titanic could have stayed afloat with up to four flooded compartments. At about midnight, Andrews reported the ship would founder within 60 to 90 minutes. Smith gave orders to uncover the lifeboats and alert the passengers at 12:05 a.m.
Because of some of the reported incidents, some historians wonder whether Smith was in a state of shock at the news. Crewmen didn’t lower the lifeboats until 12:45 a.m., and only because Second Officer Charles Lightoller (Jonny Phillips) reminded the captain to give the order.
Smith’s final moments are unknown. Early newspaper reports alleged he shot himself with a pistol. Several witnesses claimed to have seen him swim to a nearby lifeboat with an infant in his arms before swimming back to the Titanic. Some witnesses said he was swept off deck by a wave, others believed he made it to an overturned lifeboat. Smith’s body was never found.
Joseph Bruce Ismay
J. Bruce Ismay (Jonathan Hyde) was born Dec. 12, 1862, near Liverpool, England. His father was the founder of the White Star Line. Educated at Harrow and tutored in France, he travelled the world before becoming the New York company agent for White Star Line. He became head of Ismay, Imrie & Company after his father’s death in 1899, oversaw its acquisition by J.P. Morgan’s International Mercantile Marine Company in 1902, and was named president of IMM in 1904.
In 1907, Ismay met with Lord Pirrie of the Belfast shipbuilding company Harland and Wolff to discuss building a fast luxury liner with huge steerage capacity which would rival the Cunard Line’s RMS Lusitania and RMS Mauretania. Three ships were built, the RMS Olympic, RMS Britannic, and the pride of the fleet, the RMS Titanic. The ship was built by British White Star Lines at a cost of $10 million. It weighed 46,000 tons and was 882.5 feet long.
History puts culpability for the Titanic disaster on Ismay. He reportedly demanded the captain increase speed in spite of the iceberg warnings, but during the U.S. Senate’s Inquiry into the disaster, he testified the ship was never going at full speed and didn’t even have all of the boilers on. Ismay was the company officer who gave the order to cut the number of lifeboats onboard from 48 to the Board of Trade standard minimum of 16, plus 4 collapsible Engelhardt boats. But Ismay also helped crewmen get the lifeboats ready and convinced passengers to board the lifeboats before danger was visibly apparent. Ismay boarded Engelhardt C, the last lifeboat launched, only 20 minutes before the Titanic crashed beneath the waves.
While Ismay was attacked in the press and branded a coward for escaping while so many working-class women and children died, testimony from surviving officers exonerated his actions as in the best interest of the passengers. Ismay retired from IMM and the White Star Line in 1913.
Chief Engineer Officer Joseph Bell
Joseph Bell (Terry Forrestal) was from Farlam, Cumbria, and a family who had been farmers for generations. Born in March 1861, Joseph began his seafaring career as an apprentice engine fitter at Robert Stephensons and Co. in Newcastle. Bell joined the White Star line in 1885, serving on vessels working the waters of New Zealand and New York.
Joseph, was promoted to Chief Engineer on the Coptic in 1891 and married Maud Bates in 1893. By 1911, he was the Chief Engineer on White Star Line’s Olympic before being transferred to the Titanic. His staff consisted of 24 engineers, six electrical engineers, two boilermakers, a plumber, and a clerk. None survived the sinking.
The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Legend has it, Margaret Tobin Brown (Kathy Bates) was called “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” because she helped evacuate the ship, took up one of the oars in the lifeboat, and threatened to throw Quartermaster Robert Hichens (Paul Brightwell) overboard if he didn’t go back to the boat to save more people. The myth says the nickname was plucked from the first words she said upon landing safely in New York: “Typical Brown luck. I’m unsinkable!” But Brown actually got the tag as an insult from Denver gossip columnist Polly Pry as revenge for the story of a local hero being printed in another magazine first.
Molly Tobin was born in Hannibal, Missouri in 1867. Her Irish family was part of a wave of immigrants who came to America after the country’s industrialization. Margaret went to school until age 13 when she began working in a factory. She left in search of better work conditions. She met J.J. Brown, a mining engineer, and they were married on Sept. 1, 1886. While most of their neighbors in the Leadville, Missouri community lived in devastating poverty because of the 1893 Silver Crash, J.J. discovered gold in Ibex Mining’s Little Johnny Mine, where he was made a primary shareholder. The couple became nearly instantaneous millionaires.
Moving to Denver where the Silver Crash also took a heavy economic toll, Margaret became part of the Progressive movement, fighting for public baths, public parks, and other city improvements. The Browns separated in 1909 but never divorced. Margaret and her daughter Helen were on an extended vacation with Col. John Jacob “Jack” Astor IV and Madeleine Astor in 1912 when they heard news about a family member’s health issue at home and booked passage on the first available ship, the Titanic.
After the crash, Margaret was lowered in lifeboat number six, which was equipped to hold 65 passengers, but set off with 21 women, two men, and a twelve-year-old boy onboard. Margaret manned an oar. Her knowledge of foreign languages helped her bring passengers aboard the Carpathia, the first ship to answer the distress call. Margaret distributed blankets and supplies, and got the first-class passengers to donate money to help less fortunate passengers.
Brown continued her Progressive program, helping miners striking against the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. Twenty people were killed when a battle broke out between the miners and private guards hired by the company in one of the most violent labor conflicts in American history. Once the aftermath and PR battles died down, Margaret moved into her summer home in Newport, Rhode Island where she became involved with Alva Vanderbilt Belmont, the President of the National Women’s Suffrage Association.
The two women spearheaded the National Women’s Trade Union League, which advocated for a minimum wage, an eight-hour workday, and did not distinguish between women of the upper classes and working women.
Margaret wrote newspaper articles, gave public speeches, and was drawn to the radical side of the party, which pushed for a national suffrage amendment. In July 1914, Brown and Belmont organized the Conference of Great Women, which led to Margaret’s bid for a U.S. Senator seat representing Colorado. She shifted her focus when World War I broke out, traveling to France to work for the American Committee for Devastated France.
After WWI, Molly indulged her lifelong passion for the stage, performing in plays in Paris and New York. The 1960 Broadway musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown was based on her life, Debbie Reynolds played her in the 1964 film adaptation. Brown died in her sleep on Oct. 26, 1932, at the Barbizon Hotel in New York City.
Madeleine Astor and Jacob Astor IV
Madeleine Astor (Charlotte Chatton) was five months pregnant when she boarded the Titanic in Cherbourg, France with her husband Col. John Jacob “Jack” Astor IV (Eric Braeden); her husband’s valet, and her maid and nurse. Madeleine was the daughter of William Hurlbut Force, a shipping magnate, and her family was part of Brooklyn high society. The Astors were ending their extended honeymoon which began with a trip from New York on Titanic‘s sister ship, the Olympic.
When the Titanic was sinking, Astor’s husband helped her and her maid into lifeboat four but was denied entry himself by Second Officer Lightoller, who said the boats were for women and children only. Col. Astor perished with the ship. Madeleine Astor gave birth on Aug. 14, 1912. Her late husband’s will was conditional, and when Madeleine married her childhood friend, the banker William Karl Dick, four years after the Titanic tragedy, she lost her stipend from his trust fund.
Isidor and Ida Straus
Here’s a real heartbreaker greater than even Kate and Leo. Remember the image of a couple holding each other and crying as water seeps into their cabin? They were based on the tragically real figures of Isidor and Ida Straus, two of the wealthiest people on the Titanic.
Born into a Jewish family in Otterberg in 1845, back when that village was part of the Kingdom of Bavaria and Germany did not yet exist, Isidor immigrated as a child with his family to the United States. Growing up in Georgia when the Civil War broke out, he even considered joining the Confederacy before instead becoming a blockade runner for the South (think Rhett Butler). After the war, he moved to New York City where he met Ida, a fellow immigrant from the Germanic states.
In New York, Isidor worked at L. Straus and Sons, which quickly became the glass and china department at Macy’s. Yes, that Macy’s. The original one. By 1888, Isidor and his brother became partners in the first major American department store. By 1896 they owned it. Around this time, Isidor even served a single term as a Congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives.
When the Titanic hit an iceberg in 1912, Isidor and Ida were returning home after a holiday in France. As a first class passenger woman from one of the finest cabins on the ship, Ida was almost immediately offered space on a lifeboat. Isidor escorted her to it, but when it came time to get on, she refused. She wouldn’t leave her husband. Isidor was then also offered a spot on the lifeboat beside her, but he also refused, saying he would “not go before other men.”
So both of them declined the lifeboat space and instead gave it to Ida’s maid. One witness said she heard Ida say, “We have been living together for many years. Where you go, I go.” They walked off back toward the neck, never to be seen again.
And the Band Played On
The crew of the RMS Titanic took the adage “women and children first” very seriously. The Titanic‘s eight-member band, led by violinist Wallace Hartley (Jonathan Evans-Jones), never even jockeyed for position. When the band heard the ship was going down, they set up in the first-class lounge and played to keep passengers calm. As the water rose, the band moved to the forward half of the boat deck. Hartley worked for the Cunard ship line before taking the gig on the Titanic. The other band members were violinists George Alexandre Krins and John Law Hume, violist and bassist John Frederick Preston Clarke, cellists John Wesley Woodward, and Roger Marie Bricoux, and pianists Percy Cornelius Taylor and Theodore Ronald Brailey.
According to some passengers, the final song played was “Nearer, My God, to Thee,” a hymn written in 1861 by the Rev. John Dykes. Versions of this song play in the films Titanic (1953), A Night to Remember (1958) and Cameron’s Titanic. This was discounted by Colonel Archibald Gracie, an amateur historian who survived the disaster.
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“I assuredly should have noticed it and regarded it as a tactless warning of immediate death to us all, and one likely to create panic,” he is quoted as saying in Steven Turner’s book, The Band That Played On: The Extraordinary Story of the Eight Musicians Who Went Down with the Titanic. He recalled that the band played cheerful songs to keep spirits up. Other survivors also reported hearing songs like “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” and “In the Shadows.”
“Nearer, My God, to Thee” was sung by passengers who survived the 1906 wreck of the SS Valencia and had been played during the impending doom on the decks of the Titanic, but those passengers who heard the song had disembarked earlier than the crew. Wireless operator Harold Bride told The New York Times he heard the song “Autumn” before the ship sank.
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Thelreads, Vigilantes 58, Replies Part 2
1) “Oh, that’s really sweet of him. Yeah this is absolutely his honest feelings on the matter, it’s nothing planned or rehearsed for goodbye from Japan. And oh my god the way they are fucking crying there I can’t-“- Crying lasers must make it hard for poor Scottsuke to watch tearjerking programs and films, unless he has dozens of spare TVs
2) “…
Oh no, this is not good, they are going to take that out of context, won’t they? I mean, his wife is there and she knows she can trust Makoto to not have done anything, but the media is already going to jump at his throat for that gossip, won’t they?”- I’ve heard of men that make enough rope to hang themselves with, but I swear CC makes enough on accident to fully rig a 3-masted frigate.
3)“And his wife threw him at the wolves this time, good lord.”- Honestly, if this is anything like his previous missteps back in America she’s probably numb to it by now
4) “Oh, I hadn’t noticed that Makoto wasn’t present there for a moment. Goddammit Makoto, your beset worker is leaving and you’re late to say your goodbyes? What kind of boss are you?”- The kind of boss that needs to pack both his suitcase and her own at the same time.
5) “Alright Makoto, loved how you handled it, now quick question: Did you seriously made Koichi and Pop sign confidentiality agreements? Jesus Christ Makoto.”- Makoto takes her job very seriously, and CC’s been sunk by loose lips one too many times in the past.
6) “Goddammit those fuckers-
Alright, so although the Captain can’t tell the truth, he did admit to be extremely grateful to Koichi, and even if he was a major jerk to him at first, now he sees him as a good friend, and a major influence on his rebirth”- I suppose it was inevitable that Koichi would miss the subtext in that statement, between his own inability to recognise his personal achievements and positive influence on others, as well as the fact that even when you do state something outright, you’ve gotta write it in flaming 10ft letters before he gets the idea.
7) “GODDAMMIT KOICHI, YOUR MASSIVE AND DENSE DUMBASSNESS IS RUINING THE MOMENT, HE CALLED YOU A HERO MY GOD-“- Hey! A reason to use this again that isn’t tied to romance!
youtube
Koichi’s just a goldmine of opportunity for statements of density, isn’t he?
8) “WHAT THE WHAT
MAKOTO IS LEAVING
AND SHE’S GGOING TO STUDY IN THE GODDAMMN (M)AVENGERS TOWER?!
OR IS THAT THE MAKOTO TOWER-
NO FUCK THE JOKES WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE’S LEAVING?!’- Well, If it wasn’t before, it will be after a month of her arriving there. But with this, Koichi has lost another layer of protection from both the police and No:6’s plans, given how Makoto was the one who helped direct his actions in Knuckle’s absence and helped run inference protecting him from Phelps’s investigation, however unsuccessful, into the vigilante’s activities.
No longer does he have older allies standing alongside him to take charge in a chaotic situation, and sooner or later, it will be up to him to be the one that steps forward to save the day, even without the reassurance of dependable allies around to save him if it all goes sideways.
9) “NO NO NO NO NO
ABSOLUTE NO, I CAN’T BELIEVE IT, THIS CANNOT BE! MAKOTO CAN’T LEAVE THE STORY LIKE THAT, WHO’S GOING TO KEEP THE IDOLS FROM THE GENERAL STORE UNITED? KOICHI? FUCK NO, WE NEED SOMEONE WITH A BRAINCELL”- And with her gone, there’s no reason fro Phelps to hold himself back if Koichi crosses the line again and outright fights a villain illegally. He made it clear that he’d only look the other way once, and that was mainly because Koichi’s actions were reasonably low-key and indirect to hero work, and Makoto’s life was saved as a result.
Without her presence around to physically guilt him or prevent his investigation into the VF from switching focus to Koichi when he next inevitably gets caught in another of No:6’s plans, Phelps will very likely bring the full force of the law down on Koichi for his vigilantism. Heck, he actually might be even more motivated to do so, because to his mind, he’d be protecting somebody Makoto cares about from hurting themselves recklessly and needlessly.
10) “WAIT NO
I KNOW WHAT THAT NARRATION MEANS
THE CHAPTER IS ABOUT TO END OH FUCK NO YOU BETTER SWITCH BACK TO THE FIGHT RIGHT THIS GODDAMN MOMENT FURUHASHI”- Welcome to what it’s been like for the last for us for the foreseeable future ever since this chapter first released. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and at least some of us are still reading just to finally find out what happened off-screen one way or another.
11) “GOD FFUCKING DDAMMIT IT’S NOT KNUCKLES
IT’S THE GODDAMN McMOLE AGAIN
WHERE’S KNUCKLES? WE DEMAND KNUCKLES!”- We’ve been demanding him too, but Furuhashi’s not been responding for a long time. Guess he’s not Schrodinger’s Knuckle at this point.
12) “OH, SO YOU MEAN THAT YOU GUYS HAD HIS LEGAL NAME AND DNA HANGING AROUND AND SOMEHOW IN THOSE DECADES SINCE HE DISAPPEARED NO ONE EVER MANAGED TO FIND HIM, REGARDLESS OF THE FACT THAT HE CHANGED HIS NAME?”- I’m betting Tanuma had something to do with helping Knuckles disappear off the face of the earth and re-invent himself after whatever happened to him as Overclock that cost him his quirk. Like, his whole disappearing act seems very much like something he pulled off himself, to drop off the grid and re-create himself as somehow who could tackle the VF and their plans, and Tanuma’s aid on the inside was necessary for Knuckle to bury his old identity and start anew.
We know he’s kept in contact with him, since it was thanks to Tamuma that Tamao’s recuperation in the hospital was kept under wraps, and if the VF weren’t the ones that directly destroyed his old life, then it makes sense for it to be Knuckle himself who erased all traces of his past self so he could tackle the VF solo under a new identity, for whatever personal reason he possesses.
13) “HUH, DIDN’T YOU HEARD THAT IT WAS DNA FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES MIXED TOGETHER? ALSO, IF MY FRAIL UNDERSTANDING OF DNA SERVES ME RIGHT, IT ISN’T SUPPOSED TO CHANGE TO THE POINT OF BEING CONSIDERED A WHOLE DIFFERENT PERSON, REGARDLESS OF THE EXISTENCE OF TRANSFORMATION QUIRKS”- Pretty sure he doesn’t believe it either, but if he’s complicit in helping Knuckle obscure the truth behind the VF’s activities from their official allies so Knuckle can handle the Mastermind behind the curtain himself, then he might be trying to invent a plausible reason as to why there’s multiple DNA signatures attached- in fact, that could be part of the reason why nobody connects these Bomus to the later brand of Nomu.
@thelreads
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Ducktales Treasure of the Golden Sun: Three Ducks of the Condor or Now with More Racism!
Hello all you happy people! And welcome back to my look at Ducktales: Treasure of the Golden Suns!, the pilot episodes that started it all. This look was one of my patreon stretch goals. To explain them in case some of you aren’t familiar with patreon it’s essentially like a kickstarter stretch goal: every milestone I reach in my monthly earnings means a crop of reviews for you guys, with this being 10 and my review of the movie, and the goofy movies in two weeks and September respectively, being the 15 dollar one. So if you want reviews of the OTHER Ducktales mini series Time Is Money and Super DuckTales, then hop on aboard and help me reach my 20 dollar goal so I can keep making these reviews for a living and give you all more. Said goal also includes a Darkwing Duck review eveyr month AND a review of teh Danny Phantom special The ULtimate Enemy so hop on board HERE AT MY PATREON. Patrons also get exclusive reviews, access to my discord server (Though if anyone would be more intrersted in me making that public let me know), and to pick a short each time I do a birthday special for a character from Looney Tunes, Disney and Beyond. And next month is my boy Donald’s so since you all already sat out goofy NOW is the time.
So now my very necessary plug is out of the way, i’m very poor, we can get to the review proper:
When last we left off Scrooge and the Boys went on their first proper adventure together, heading to Central America to follow the map from the first episode and running into Dr.Claw El Capitan and his new best buddy Glomgold. Mild racisim, moonsoons and much better pacing ensued.
So join me under the cut as my boy Donald returns, some iconic characters are introduced in Webby, Launchpad and Beakly, though this series only made one of them iconic to be fair, and we get some more mild racisim because fuck my life. Onward to the cut!
So yeah as I’ve mentioned a few times now this episode had a content warning.. which was fair as there is some pretty cringy stuff in here but it had the side effect of me holding my breath until the racisim came up and whapped me in the face. So i’m keeping that tension up for you guys so I don’t have to suffer alone.
We open at the Mansion. Scrooge is trying to find a governess for the boys, but they keep scaring off all the clients because they don’t like the idea. And for once.. i’m on Scrooge’s side here. Yes I know there’s a sterotype of rich people hiring a nanny to not have to parent. and it’s sadly often true and it’d SEEM like Scrooge is doing that.. but really he just wants the boys to be safe. He’s fully grown to care for them and just wants someone cheap and responsible to look after them while he’s busy and clearly still makes time for them. As someone who is a former nanny, albeit for someone working class, I get that as much as you WANT to spend every moment with your kid you often can’t. I say all this because SO MANY kids movies and shows villianize parents for not spending time with their kid when their clearly just working to support them. There are nuanced exceptions to this and refreshingly Craig of the Creek has outright avoided this: JP’s mom is gone almost all the time due to working as an airline pilot, but while he clearly misses her he never resents her or guilts her over it, he understands sh’es supporting him and goes out of his way to make sure his friends can meet her. It’s really swee.t And while again I get it, this guys a billionare, most examples aren’t, Scrooge still really CAN’T stop working: He has more money than god and like most bilionares REALLY should give most of it to charity or to help with programs instead of hoarding it in a massive bin.. but he’s also got tons of companies, factories, investments... people COUNTING on him to make sure these are working correctly and keep their jobs. So yeah i’ts nice that the show isn’t demonizing scrooge for this or dosen’t even consider it: he’s getting help beacuse he needs it, that’s what’s important.
So while the boys widdle down the nannies, Scrooge talks to a renowned coin collector. He does show off his collection to the guy, but his main goal is naturally to show him the coin from last time. Turns out that naturally for a five part episode the treasure they lost last time was just a fraction of the real thing and the real titular treasure is a mythical horde even Scrooge, who normally has proved something out of myth is very real 5 times before breakfast, didn’t think existed.
Something I do love about this five parter is how every treasure hunt has ended up being important each piece of the puzzle leading to the next like any good treasure hunt. As for where this one leads the collector HAS heard of only one other coin like it, up in the Andes Mountains in a mysterious fortress whose mountain habitat and being a fortress makes it hard to get to and the owner is apparently a real piece of work.. but Scrooge isn’t afraid of a little hard work and is ready to go after it.. he just has to find a Nanny first.
And he does as there’s only one left: Mrs. Beakley, who we FINALLY meet after two episodes. Yeah for some weird reasont his episode choose to cram the rest of the major main and supporting cast into one episode.. it still works, they all still get great introductions it’s just weird to me when you have five episodes to not say introduce Launchpad last time.
But regardless as I said it’s a good intro.. despite the boys wilding a lasso and a snake.
Beakly is unphased and even dosen’t remotely fall for them trying to say she got the wrong name. And while Scrooge is a little impressed, he’s even more when she states she’ll work for free... with one condition: Free room and board for her and her grandaughter, Webby, who has been there the whole time and looking cute as a button. Scrooge is unsure but one minute of Webby being adorable later and he’s agreed. She can’t eat much right? He also hopes she’ll help the boys not be douchebags, unaware that their inherent poorly written sexisim means that was never going to work. And why yes I will call it out eveyr time it happens because it happens every time they have an episode together and only gets worse.
He goes to Gyro for help and Classic Gyro.. is utterly delightful. While I clearly have issues with Classic Scrooge, whose a greedy poorly aged asshat and the boys, who are sterotypes of male children, Gyro? He’s nice, friendlya nd eccentric, using a delightfully wakcky pogo hat thing to think and takes only a mintue to figure out how to solve a seemingly unsolvable problem and only needs a few hours to build his cool looking bird ship, using bird legs to offset the hard to sort out landing conditions. But since it’s a fancy bitch, it needs a pilot and i’m sure we all know where this is going...but since Carol Danver sis busy he has to go with Launchpad.
Launchpad’s intro is great, cheerful as he does a job testing a plane and naturally crashes it, and when thought dead walks out seconds later unharmed and jolly as ever. Scrooge is naturally terrified of the prospect of flying with him but dosen’t really have another choice “I hope my insurance is paid up.”
Scrooge it’s you.. of course it isn't.
So with that our hero bids a farewell to the boys and ends up unteitonally coming off MASSIVELY unlikeable. No really he leaves them behind for their saftey despite needing help... and then upon finding out Donald is going to be on leave soon in the andes, and just assumes that YOU KNOW, he’d LIKE to go on a dangerous exausting adventure instead of actually get some rest after working in the goddamn navy and STILL dosen’t take the kids along despite having a very tearjerking farewell IN FRONT OF HIM that happened at most a month ago. Granted i’m suprised Donald is getting leave this soon.. but since I genuinely like to look into this sort of thing and the last time I didn’t I was correctly reminded Gulliver’s Travels was a satire.. and found out someone HAD actually watched the Jack Black movie. I only vaugely remember a trailer.. I thinkn it was a trailer? Maybe it was the middle part of a juinor novelzation where htey have all the photos? I really don’t know. I know almost every pokemon on sight but not where I saw pictures of a forgetable jack black movie, what a shock.
So long story short I DID google it. Here’s what I got
So given clealry more time has passed than we’ve seen on screen, enough time COULD have passed for Donald’s three day pass to kick in. So credit to the crew for actually thinking that out. They still get all the blame though for not only not seeing how bad not taking the kids to see the uncle whose like a father to them a month after he left when he CLEARLY can is bad, but how worse it is that the first break donald gets ina month.. is spent helping scrooge against his will on a life or death treasure hunt.
And I get WHY they wanted to try out having Donald on an adventure: he was in most of the carl barks material.... but I also dont’ get it as Launchpad was deisgned entirely to fill in for Donald when needed, we’re only three episodes into the series and this gives the wrong impression Donald will guest star a lot more. In practice while he still did get a meaty 8 episodes on the show including this one, 2 of which were cameos and the pilot only dosne’t count because of the exnteded slapstick sequence, and dosen’t appear at all after season 1, likely because Fenton’s introduction made him reduntant as he was an even more blatant Donald stand-in. It just feels weird to shove him into the pilot movie when we should be focusing on our main cast, epsecially with so many getting intorduced this episode. It woudl’ve made more sense for Gyro to be the third man instead and it woud’ve elmaited Scrooge’s uttelry horrible actions here of depriving his nephews of their surrogate father.
So Uncle Dickstick leaves with Launchpad to go abduct donald.... and tha’ts not me being funny, that’s what actually happens. Donald is singing out on leave.. with his superior... weirdly doing paper work outside on the flight deck.
And is angry at Donald because of him taking pictures and stuff and threatens him if he’s not back exactly in time... because look he’s on a boat with a bunch of sweaty men but as the most superior officer he can’t enjoy that so he has to get off SOMEHOW and ruining donald’s life just happens ot be a thing for him.
So yeah Scrooge straight up naps Donald via claw and Donald is angry, wondering, as you’d expect “What’s the big idea”.. and once Scrooge clairfies he did it.. still asks that because what the fuck. And the episode treats this as comical, as it does Launchpad not understanding Donald.. and don’t get me wrong you CAN make a good “I can’t understand Donald Duck” joke, the 2017 series made PLENTY. But said series also spoiled me as they did it with far more effort, while also still showing just how much it would suck to have everyone around you struggle to hear what you say and never listen to you. They actually cared abotu Donald’s well being where as this one thinks “Gee you knwo what would go great iwth a hard month’s naval work? MORE WORK HELPING YOUR UNCLE GET RICHER FOR NO PERSONAL BENIFIT AFTER HE KIDNAPS YOU”.
So our heroes.. and scrooge, head to Andes and find the temple and it’s here “Sigh” we met our antagonist. A Conquestador Douche who DOES have a name and it is on the wiki.. but is so generic and unlikeble I’m just going to keep calling him conquestador douche, whose introduced waving his sun coin around while the natives all bow to him because of the coin.
Welcome to the racisim! Admitely it’s not as bad as Treasure of the Lost Lamp, that’s a high bar to clear, but ti’s still not great to have the racist cliche of “character conquers a civilization because of they belivie he’s a messenger for their “silly” god”. And the saddest part is not that I didn’t notice this trope and how bad it was as a kid watching shows like this... but that as an ADULT about 4 years ago when I watched this episode how racist it and this trope in general was didn’t register to me at all. That.. really bothers me that it took me this long to pick up on things like this and i’m sorry for it.
That’s honestly WHY we need these warnings and WHY i’m so hard on this racisim: it wasn’t necessary, it could’ve been removed and you clearly just didn’t care or didn’t realize it was racist. And even acceptable for the time dosen’t work for anymore: I learned recently that the creators of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, both white, hired black writers..and actually LISTENED, looking to them for personal stories and to check them if one of the white staff wrote something that wasn’t true to the black experience. I know that sounds like the bare minimum but this was the early 90′s, that kind of thinking wasn’t hte norm like it is in most writer’s rooms now.. and sadly not ALL writer’s rooms. Not only that but just today I ran into a MST3K skit that lampooned this kind of bullshit from not long after this episode. People clearly knew better, the writers of this episode just didn’t’t care
So yeah, I get this was a kids show in the 80′s, I get the writing staff being almost all white.. but they still coudl’ve avoided cliche sterotypes and done something diffrent. It was was still wiithin white people like myselves power to actually think about something other htan themselves and we did not. So i’m never going to stop holding my own people accountable for just how BADLY we’ve fucked up in ways great and small because it still hasn’t stopped , likely never will so I won’t.
But yeah.... the tribe here are portrayed as ignorant, mindless dumbasses who blindly follow tradition and a clearly corrupt leader. It’s patronizingly stupid to assume just because a belief system is diffrent than yours a person will belieive anything. Religion CAN make people act stupid, the fact many people are homophobic simply because the bible, a centuries old document written and distrbuted by humans that could of been altered by people with a clear homophobic agenda, says they should be. But there’s the very clear very gross implication here that any god but the christian god is invalid and simplifies wonderful and well thought out myths and beliviefs from various cultures into “well they belivie in da sun god because of the shiny coin”. It’s gross, i’m glad it’s stopped and it’s VERY telling that the closest Ducktales 2017 came to this was the most dangerous game night which while a tad cringe inducing at least showed the tribe it used was clever, disposed the person they mistook for a god after it was clear he wasn’t one , and were wholly sympathetic.
Naturally Conquistadouche orders the tribe to attack Scrooge and it works briefly , though Scrogoe prepares to take on the ENTIRE villiage.. and given this is Scrooge and on this blog we’ve seen him take on an entire town before, and that was a more inexpericed less bastardly scrooge yeah their fucked, and only escape death because the coin falls out of scrooge’s coat when he tries to help donald who naturally injures himself trying to help.
And since as per white dumbass racist logic, the villiagers thought Conquistadipshit was a messenger of the gods because of his coin, they think the same of Scrooge, this causes them to stop and bow instead and protect scrooge when Conquistadumbass tries to attack our heroes. Their given a room for the night naturally.
Conquistadick demands they give him the coin and leave, but Scrooge has none of that: he has no reason to leave and has all the leverage so he instead demands to know wha’ts going on.
Turns out Conquisineart is the decdendant of one of the crew from the ship Scrooge found: their captain rain off with it, leaving two of his men behind, though both had the map to the rest of the treasure and split it: one left for the Arctic, the other stayed and did the whole racist god bit. And somehow despite all the time passing Conquistadoodoohead still has his half and Scrooge aranges a trade for the coin. And why yes their is the obvious problem of “what if Conquistascoobydoo say tells them he’s the true god and attacks scrooge like he ends up doing in the climax”. And Scrooge’s plan.. is to have the plane ready and to run to it, despite Launchpad not being a mechanic and saying as much. Instead of you know... stealing the guy’s coin while he’s asleep or something or just having launchpad, whose bigger and stronger and donald whose not bigger but is also stronger hold the guy while Scrooge steals his sun coin, then simply walks to the plane with the map, the coins and all the leverage. at worst the guy tries to do the same scheme without any coins and as the end of the episode shows, that wouldn’t have worked. He was stupid. Oh and the cherry on top of this shit sundae is scrooge objects to the guys tyranical rule.. but is okay with letting it keep going if he gets his coin and DOnlad, whose there for the deal, never call shim on it.
We then get a bit of Launchpad being forced off a cliff to ride a giant Condor...
Look this episode is filled with racisit sterotypes, a generic villian and Scrogoe being awful. I’ll take a fun sequence of Launchpad riding a condor, with Donald providing an assit with his camera by blinding the beast so Launchpad can ride him properly giving them more leverage now Launchpad is popular. And a deadline to fix things by tommorow.
The next day Launchapd and Donald have defied logic and their own tendency to screw up and fixed the bird, while Scrooge makes the deal.. and naturally it goes EXACTLY how you’d expect and Scrooge runs, though our real heroes get thigns running.
That’s when the people arrive on condors to persue, a fight insues yoru standard hero stuff.. not bad but given the racist context I can’t really enjoy it like Launchpad flying a condor.. which had some mild racisim in them making him do that as a ritual clearly deisgned to kill him but i’llt ake mild over pretty damn obvious. Eventually douchebag looses his coins, his ctizens abndon him. Happy end.
So with the map Scrooge decides to do the logical thing.... have launchpad drop him in the middle of the ocean in a raft and steer there
Launchpad takes Donald home in time and his superior is mad he dosen’t give him a proper salute.. even though he CLEARLY just got home and is diisorented from a crash. Launchpad makes a quip and this episode mercifully ends.
Final Thoughts:
This episode starts out okay.. but quickly goes downhill fast and steep. There are massive bits of racisim, massive leaps in logic, and massive amoutns of scrooge being a dick.. not his WORST in this series but it’s still bad. It’s just not very good. It’s the second worst episode of Ducktales i’ve seen, only held up by my boys Donald and Launchpad. This was miserable.
Next Time on Treasure of the Golden Suns: Our heroes head to the arctic for another offensive episode to rescue scrooge from his own stupidity.
Next Time on this Blog: We return to Green Eggs and Ham and hop on a train as our raging bitchcanoe mother and daughter duo meat our ambigiouslyg ay duo at last.
See you at the next rainbow.
#ducktales#donald duck#scrooge mcduck#launchpad mcquack#huey duck#louie duck#dewey duck#bentina beakley#webby vanderquack#gyro gearloose#treasure of the golden suns
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PSISLY: An Obey Me!CYOA – sixty-eight🔖
Every family has one or two secrets they keep, don’t they? It can be something shocking like being descendants of royalty, to something intriguing like hiding treasures of endless wealth in some marked location. Our family wasn’t any different. Apparently, according to our elderly relatives, we descended from fallen angels. It all started when a beautiful angel named Lilith fell in love with our ancestor. Their love had been realised after Lilith’s brother sacrificed himself to make Lilith human, so that she can live her life happily with the man she loves. But that didn’t stop there. Many years later, a descendant hailing from our family was spirited away in the demon realm and fell in love with a demon themself. According to my grandmother, that demon was none other than the brother who sacrificed himself for his sister.
They loved each other very much. I still hear stories about them during camping trips and family reunions. In fact, one of the most popular superstitions about them is apparently true. Whether or not there’s validity in their hearsay however, I’m not really sure. I certainly don’t feel like a fallen angel nor a demon. It would have been great if I inherited some of my Grand Uncle’s magical abilities---anyway, I feel like I’m derailing from the point.
The sceptical in me just wanted to know if the rumours were really true. Apparently, every wedding anniversary of theirs, Grand Uncle always comes and leaves a single flower on their grave. Some paintings of Grand Uncle exist in the ancestral house—he was dazzlingly handsome with golden hair and emerald eyes, and is often depicted either holding a book or a cat in his portraits. He never aged and never changed in appearance. I think I saw a blurry photograph of him last family reunion but I didn’t really believe it—it was taken by one of my more superstitious aunts and I can hardly consider themselves credible.
That was why I decided to investigate it myself. It’s a lovely spring day and I have plenty of time, so what can possibly go wrong?
.
.
.
.
.
I know I shouldn’t say that, but it really did seem like this day is agreeing with me. Granted, I apparently missed the bus to get to the cemetery because it only operates on the weekdays, which I found weird because I was certain my stupid old wristwatch indicated it was Monday today. Not everything turned out bad though. I was able to buy carnations at a really cheap price even when it’s already past Mother’s Day. I asked the cashier how they had so many flowers left in stock if they had such a sale on the day itself but I seemed to have gotten the cold shoulder. Did I ask something offensive? I was genuinely curious because they sold such beautiful flowers at such a cheap price. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked.
“ XXX Station. XXX Station.”
Thankfully, there are other alternatives to get to the cemetery like the subway. I offered a pregnant lady my seat and she smiled and thanked me.
“My husband bought me a similar bouquet today,” she told me. “Are you going to give them to your mother too?”
“My Grand Uncle’s spouse.” I corrected. “It’s their wedding anniversary today.”
“Oh my, how romantic!” She said she was hormonal because of her pregnancy so any sweet or tearjerking stories can make her cry immediately. I was reluctant to part with my favourite handkerchief, but I thought she needed it more than me. I left the station with complicated feelings.
The pathway to my relative’s cemetery was in cobblestones instead of the usual concrete. It almost felt like I was stepping into a different realm. Perhaps the atmosphere of this place is the reason for the fallen angel rumours? I don’t know. But I certainly feel like I’m not on Earth anymore. It was rustic. Charming in a medieval kind of way. Even the names on the epitaphs were barely readable, like they were from an ancient language. I didn’t linger for too long though as I had other things to do.
“A gazebo with a garden of flowers…ah, here it is!” For someone who died for almost a hundred years ago, my relative’s grave was well-maintained. They didn’t look like they aged a day in their photograph, nor were there any discoloration or dilapidation in their gravestone. It was as if their resting place was protected by magic.
.
.
.
.
.
Ha! I'm starting to become quite superstitious myself! This is ridiculous.
After lighting up an incense and placing the carnations on their grave, I looked at my wristwatch for the time: 11:11 military, or the wishing hour as I’d like to call it (my puns are great, okay). If my aunts and grandmas were right, my Grand Uncle should be showing up any minute now.
.
.
.
.
!!!
My eyes locked with someone…huh?!
“Pardon the intrusion.”
There was no blond hair nor emerald eyes. Certainly, he looked young and handsome in a timeless way, but his eyes are—
“Gold and silver…”
His smile was warm and gentle; as if he recognised me even if I never met him before. “Ah, are you a relative? I can see the resemblance.”
“Grand Uncle?!?”
He looked rather…sad as he answered. “No... Am I bothering you?” I immediately shook my head and answered him with a question of my own.
“Are you here to see them?”
“Mhm, if you may allow me?"
Nodding, he held the expensive looking bouquet in his arms and bent down. Who was this man? He certainly wasn’t Grand Uncle. But…even so…why does it feel…
“Can I place it here?”
“Y-yeah…”
The man smiled as he thanked me, gently placing the pink carnations down to their grave. He didn’t speak at all but, the way he looked at my relative’s picture was…strange. He seemed really lonely and vulnerable that I felt like I shouldn’t be looking at all. I made an excuse that I wanted to take a stroll and left him alone.
“You lived a happy life, didn’t you?”
I thought I heard him say as I left, which made me pause. They died a long time ago. How did this man know my relative lived a happy life when he looked so young? Was he a fallen angel like Grand Uncle?
I wanted to ask him once I walked back, but when I returned from my stroll, he was already gone.
I didn’t know why, but his absence made my heart ache. It was as if I lost an important person. Was I swayed because of his good looks? Or did I long for someone to gaze at me with as much passion and longing as he did to them? Years have passed since then and I’m starting to forget what he looked like. It was ironic that now that I am the same age as my grandmother, I had finally began to understand her fascination with our family superstitions. But instead of the usual tale of my Grand Uncle and his devotion to our relative, I am now telling my own story—a tragic love of the lonely looking man with gold and silver eyes.
[EPILOGUE END]
💌 tag request: @krussyfed, @lilliansstuff , @cupsof-tea
#psisly#hamartia series#obey me#obey me x reader#obey me fic#interactive fiction#obey me shall we date#obey me mammon#obey me mammon x reader#obey me satan#obey me satan x reader#obey me barbatos#obey me barbatos x reader#obey me lucifer#obey me lucifer x reader#obey me author#obey me author x reader#love letter#secret admirer
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Noragami Thoughts
After a few years of not looking at this series (which is completely understandable, I very much wish the creator a full recovery) I was blown away upon my first return to the story.
Granted this isn’t the first time I’ve ever felt something so deep for a polished work, but I’d like to say it all the same--returning to Noragami felt like coming home. I’m a completely different person than I was when I first encountered the series, but I was surprised to find that my high regard for it didn’t change at all.
If anything, it only increased.
Thoughts below the cut because this is long, and I just needed to get my ideas down (good old catharsis). Don’t open if you aren’t caught up with the manga! There are spoilers.
I love this manga. Truly, I do, and one of the things that I noticed going back is how expertly Adachitoka handles both Yato’s self-understanding and the perception of the other gods. I think what levels me the most about this manga is that its emotional highs and lows are not only expertly controlled (we experience the weight never quite to the point of devastation, even though things are culminating in that direction) but the way we experience the characters is just...so breathtaking?
I love that the reason we hurt so much when they’re hurting isn’t always because we see the character in question in anguish. It’s because we see everyone that loves them suffer so acutely when they’re not okay.
And how beautiful is that? Something about that choice--that narrative decision to take trauma, to take pain and make it something that is always about love, is astonishing to me. I don’t think I know of another series that does it quite so poignantly as Noragami does. It expertly executes what I like to call “the anime effect”; in which we are so easily taken in by the humor we are utterly blind-sided when the world comes crashing down on the characters with full force.
And if that seems farfetched, just look at a handful of the recent examples. (I’m positive I could find more if I went looking back.) Kazuma is in a state of utter crisis because of what happened to Bishamonten, and the sheer desperation of everything he has done is chilling. His face and his self-deprecating words do little to hide the turmoil, but I feel like sometimes that’s lost in all of his shenanigans with Yato. We feel it in the moment, but we’re so swept away by the plot that it’s almost sidetracked. Almost. Until we get to the absolutely heartwrenching panel of Bishamon crying after he reports what he’s doing--essentially what he’s always done. Being devoted to her to the point of self-destruction; because it’s precisely the outcome she was trying to avoid in using another shinki against Fujisaki.
Take another, Ebisu. We see him painstakingly working despite his adorable youth to bridge the gaps that his predecessors failed to, to right every wrong he possibly can. He’s approaching the future with fresh eyes. But then we see that, even though he’s trying hard to be strong, there’s something more there. The older Ebisu, knowing that his fate was to perish long before any great age, had come to terms with that--as best as any person could possibly come to terms with that--and was already invested in protecting his successor. Gently, earnestly, firmly. We see a younger Ebisu that is enthralled with him, and the reader naturally assumes young Ebisu sees him as a parental figure. But then we get those shocking lines, the ones that mention how scared his predecessor must have been. How hard a lifetime of secrecy must be, how hard it must be for his closest retainer to keep secrets as well. We see an Ebisu that is young, yes, and with plenty of mourning available to him--and he takes it all in stride. Seeks to alleviate a great weight that was never his responsibility to begin with. But he takes it anyway, at the sight of their struggle. He makes it his own, despite the danger, because he loves them; as most young children do, without reserve.
And the surprising one, Nana. We see Yato make an attempt to ask for her help in ending Fujisaki once and for all--and Nana doesn’t seem entirely against the prospect of a fight--but Ara-habaki banishes him at the mere prospect of lending her over for that purpose. The meaning of that gesture? Profound and undeniable. Nana is utterly touched by the implication, is moved that somebody in this shoddy excuse of an afterlife would give a damn about her feelings as compared to her value as a shinki. We see a god that once again rejects the prospect of using shinki like chess pieces, and we even see Yato’s misgivings about using her to begin with--it was an act of desperation, and he moves no further when he’s reminded that it’s wrong. When he’s reminded that this isn’t the sort of thing he should do. After all, how can he look Yukine and Hiyori in the eye with the knowledge that he used a child to protect them? An unrelated party, a person who has never seen life because of her incredible power, and has been used one too many times to win a war that was never her responsibility.
And then, we have Yukine. Good fucking god, I can’t even start on this one without crying. I truly can’t. Granted I don’t know the intention of Adachitoka when first writing this (feels intentional), but the parallels between Yukine and Yato? Absolutely destroy me. There was nothing left in my heart but sorrow for the last few chapters. Here’s why.
We have Yato, or perhaps I should say Yaboku, yes? Who takes on Yukine as his shinki. As we all well know (and probably want to scream) Yaboku was the victim of considerable abuse by Fujisaki. I probably don’t need to go into the finer points, but coercion, blackmail, and outright threats have been exchanged, to say nothing of the way he uses Yato’s emotional suffering for his explicit amusement. Yato is a tool to him, nothing more. Anything Yato wants can and will be used against him for the sake of tightening Fujisaki’s collar around his neck even tighter.
Yato is no stranger to the kind of pain that comes from being the child of a person that does not remotely love you. A guardian who appreciates nothing, recognizes nothing, praises nothing, protects no one unless it is of use to them. Feelings, fairness, humanity--none of those things matter.
Enter Yukine. In milliseconds Yato is charged with the care of a young man who was veritably buried alive by his own father. With nothing and no one to help him, an entire life lost--devastated--by the person that was intended to care for him. That kind of betrayal on its own, is purely horrific. There are no words I can say, nothing I can offer that can speak to the monstrosity of something like that. But I would like to offer that the way Adachitoka brings us to this truth is what makes it so utterly tearjerking. That it is precisely the narrative style of tangentially enclosing on the subject that is so ruinous I can barely see my screen, even now as I write.
It’s because we knew, even when we didn’t know.
From the very first moment, we see Yato accept Yukine and he covers his eyes with his arm. We see tears streak down his face but he makes no further comment to any of it, keeping quiet with his subsequent silly antics.
Strike one.
Throughout the course of manga we see allusions to how Yato encourages Yukine to learn what he didn’t get the chance to in his human life, sifting through workbooks and engaging with schoolwork with Hiyori’s help.
Strike two.
When Yukine is locked inside the box the other gods enforce during the trial in heaven, trying to pressure information out of Yato? We see Yato panic at exponential degrees, begging them to let Yukine out because neither of them can breathe.
Strike three.
Yukine’s pervasive fear of dark, enclosed spaces?
Strike four.
And last, but absolutely not least, we see Yato digging where Yukine was presumably left to die. Nora notes that he was so on edge that he was hyperaware of his surroundings, forcing her to watch from a distance. Let that sink in. Yato was already so taken with his charge, with respecting his dignity and suffering as a person, that he would be damned if he let Fujisaki interfere. Not only that, we visibly see Yato’s absolute horror, the distress in every line of his face as he races to the site of murder and digs like a madman, no thought to his own fear or discomfort.
He takes more responsibility for Yukine’s care than the kid’s own father ever did.
Strike five.
Hiyori begins to outright sob when she too, brings all of the pieces together so quickly; that moment of realization, where every fragment of odd behavior suddenly transfigures itself into a coherent image, the mosaic visible. We experience Yato’s horror twofold when it echoes in Hiyori, and we feel the depth of her sorrow to know that somebody she cares about suffered such an egregious indignity. And to top all that off, we are aligned with her in this moment as one of solidarity. Yukine is rough around the edges sure; but we love him, and his fate is one we would wish on nobody.
Strike six.
And, my dear readers, is that enough for us? Are we feeling enough hurt quite yet, Adachitoka asks? Fuck no.
Because now we know that Yato not only carried the weight of Yukine’s trauma, but we also know how deeply he understood. Granted, their fates were a little different, but he knows. He knows how infuriating helplessness can be, the incapacity to stop the hurt at its source; because their lives were changed irrevocably beyond their control. Neither of them got to choose who they were born to. And even so he still tries to do right by Yukine, even if his attempts at care are awkward or ridiculous or roughly hewn--they’re utterly, heartbreakingly genuine. And he chooses to be better than his father no matter how many times he messes up; never, ever sinks to those lows. Never uses Yukine, never ignores his will, would never risk his life--even if it meant saving his own (Fujisaki sees literally everyone that will not contribute to his aspirations as expendable). And that’s what makes me cry, even more than the refrigerator scene. Because Yato would never put Yukine at risk to save his own life, even though next to no one has ever given a damn about him, even though Yukine pokes fun at him all the time and hurts him when he acts out of line/immorally, even though he had every liberty to treat him like an item or coerce him. He doesn’t. Or perhaps more accurately he can’t; not when he knows how much that hurts.
The other gods assume Yato to be lazy, irresponsible, unfeeling, selfish. Yato could have dropped Yukine like a rock. Could have said lol no thanks, this ain’t it chief, and decided to find another shinki that would cause him less grief.
He doesn’t.
And that’s what’s so awful about their falling out. Because Yato cares, cares beyond his capability to express, cares to the point of unrelenting faith in him. But he’s the certified goofball. The disgrace among the gods. A no-name. And he’s fully internalized that. He struggles with vulnerability, has to be somewhat drunk or flees the scene shortly after any expression of heightened feeling--and we can thank daddy Fujisaki for that. Yato understands his love for others as a purely destructive force; if being around him isn’t enough to ruin their lives, Fujisaki will ensure it. And that conditioning doesn’t go away in mere weeks of renouncing an abuser.
He loves Yukine and Hiyori so much that he no longer cares if he dies if it means that they live freely. He spent an entire god-span lifetime trying to remain in existence by any means possible, was obsessed with surviving at any cost. And yet, the moment his loved ones are at risk, it no longer matters.
Not only is he capable of more altruism than his father was ever capable of, he directs it whole-heartedly to the people devoted to him. When he was given no love, no solace, no semblance of worth of any kind--he still gives their existence meaning and would do everything in his power not to hurt them.
And that’s why I love Noragami. Because it does precisely what so few stories do, imo. It shows us that people grow for the better only when they find love, and that love can come from unlikely places--that you can love even if it was never, ever given to you.
In Noragami, we come to understand that love is a choice. And sometimes it brings us pain, sometimes it brings us joy, but it always brings us to a better place.
I would like to end this all with the words that bring this entire analysis together, in the beauty of knowing that Adachitoka by no means implies this without clarity.
Nana and Fujisaki are two of the strongest characters that we have ever seen in this manga. Fujisaki is motivated, iirc, by the loss of the love of his life. This aching bitterness, the sheer undying rage inspired by her life cut short is what enables him to transcend every barrier that should stand in the way of a human being, presumably. He is our insight into what happens when love is twisted, we see a potential that was utterly lost to selfishness and cruelty--one that reverberates through Yato starkly.
We see the danger of improper mourning, of an incapacity to let go. A truth Yato understands: life must go on, that it must keep flourishing anew no matter how much the growing pains sting.
And here, we see Nana. In her profound compassion, she understands that every single life is a meaningful individual, that they are innumerable points of value and beauty and worth in the world, and as such her death cannot be a source of sorrow. There is a clarity of understanding; she knows she is not alone in her experience, she knows that all human beings encounter trials and tribulations. She knows that she is not the first to die so young, so unfairly. And that’s what grants her strength. Yato calls it self-sacrifice, and while I understand that he assumes it to be a self-martyring conviction, I don’t think that’s quite what she’s getting at. Look at her dialogue, the careful phrasing: “It hurts more when someone you love dies.” She’s not saying she would rather die 1:1, she’s saying that the worst experience a person can have is seeing their cherished one in agony. The worst feeling, the only thing that could ever hurt her beyond sanity, is watching someone dear to her suffer without any means to stop it. Precisely what warped Fujisaki beyond repair.
“He loves Yukine and Hiyori so much that he no longer cares if he dies if it means that they live.” Reread those panels with that understanding. He literally marvels at Nana’s capacity to do that, to love people with so much tenderness and generosity, when he doesn’t even seem to realize that he’s doing it himself. That he too, is noble and strong, even if he can’t believe it.
And that’s the whole point. That’s the entire grounding of this manga. That love is what drives us, that we are made to love, and through love we find peace and self-understanding even in the most turbulent of times. I wouldn’t be remotely surprised if it is to be Hiyori’s devotion to him--ever steady, ever pure in its intentions and belief--that will be what grants Yato the strength to overcome Fujisaki, and heal Yukine.
And having said all that, I know they probably won’t see this but I still feel the need to say it anyway. Thank you, Adachitoka. Works like this are the ones that inspire me to keep trying, that bring me to tears as much as it makes me smile. I can only hope I can create somethings so wonderful someday.
#noragami#noragami aragoto#noragami spoilers#noragami aragoto spoilers#noragami yato#noragami hiyori#noragami yukine#noragami ebisu#noragami kazuma#noragami bishamonten#noragami fujisaki#bro the new chapters had me shaking and crying#deadass still can't fully process what this manga means to me#this was just a shallow attempt at getting to the heart of it#god damn adachitoka have mercy#if any of you managed to get through that you have my sincere thanks and congratulations#analysis
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