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after-nine-at-the-oasis · 1 year

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Ope?

Huh like a workout place?

Uhh ohh

OPE 😳😬😬

That is NOT good xdd

Hmm I bet this place/class isn't great for you xdd

Maybe I'm wrong but eh lol

Ooh you don't see what every day 👀👀

Oh hi lady :D

Ohh okay an annoying neighbor storyline xDD

As every good show has to have lol /lh

I knew as soon as Chimney said what do you think of her xD

Ope wait 😳😳👀 she's odd 😳

Because this is 9-1-1 xDD it's gotta have extra ~flair~

Lol but I don't mind it! I'm here aren't I XD

Ooope o.o 👀👀

OOHH oope just outta prison o.o 👀👀😳😬

I mean that doesn't necessarily mean anything and maybe the plot's about them misjudging her but o.o 👀👀

OOGH interestinggg o.o 👀👀👀👀

That's the last of my last thoughts! Now it's time for the. . .

REVIEW

I loooved this episode!! I thought it was amazing :DD. Okay, fair warning from this sentence on, it is the day before the next episode (I may even end up finishing it day of). So. Yeah this'll probably be really short xD. Especially because it's been so long since the episode! Anyway :). THE BUDDIE MOMENTSSSS!!! And Y E S S S we finally avenged Wendell :'DD. Luckily, without any other casualties (be that death or arrest xd). I'm so glad :')). And on Buck's side besides Buddie, I'm really glad he's starting to open up about how he's feeling with everything <33. Also, I'm not really nervous for next week, but it certainly looks interesting 👀! Anyway, I loved the storylines today, they were amazing 😭😭🥰❤️.

Now it's time for the individual parts!

Hen! Lovely as always 🥰🥰. I really loved Hen checking up on Buck (very literally at some points lol, in Dr. Hen mode XD), even if it was orchestrated by Maddie. I think Hen would've gone over anyhow :). But yeah! I love her <3. And I'm sure she was great at her job :)) (I don't think her checking in on Buck counts as us seeing it lol). Also the fondue pot thing XDDD. I can't lol 🥰🥰.

Chimney! Just like Hen, we didn't see him much this episode, but as always it was great to see him and Maddie :)). And again, the fondue pot XDD. But I'm a bit nervous for them next week 👀. I'm sure it'll turn out okay, but theirs was really the only personal plot we got to see in the promo, so I'm obviously focused on it lol. But, yeah, a bit nervous o.o! Anyway, for what we did see of him, he was great :). I love him :DDD. And I'm sure he was, as always, great at his job 🥰.

Maddie! She was great this episode :). Her organizing the scheme for Buck was hilarious xD. But also sweet :)). I mean, it clearly wasn't what he wanted, but it was a nice thought lol. And their conversation at the end 😭😭❤️. I love them so much :')). Start with a Buck and Maddie conversation and end with a Buck and Maddie conversation <33. I don't know if they were the exact beginning and ending scenes but eh whatever. Anyway lol :). Also, again, she and Chimney will probably be just fine, but the next episode looks a bit wild. Anyway! I love her 🥰🥰. And I'm sure she was amazing at her job :D.

Eddie! HOOOO MY BOYYYY THE BUDDIE MOMENTS!! I don't know if I'm just saying my boy or if I'm talking about Eddie but xD. Anyway, obviously I have to mention the couch (the COUUUCHHHHH), and just the domesticity of sandwiches and whatnot was adorable :')). Also, I love how Eddie respected his request not to be asked <333. Until he let Buck have a bit, anyway :). Also, the discussing of his coma? 😭😭😭 Y'all, I am not okay <333. So much quality buddie content, but also just emotional scenes this episode in general, and so lovely <33. Anyway, he's great 🥰🥰. I love him <3. And I'm sure he was great at his job lol.

Athena! She slayed this episode :D. Seeing her worried about Bobby was just 😭😭😭, but I'm so glad everything worked out :'DD. Luckily they managed to do it, together <33. Athena did a lot of great work this episode, and again, it just showcased how much she loves Bobby really well <333. I love them so much your honor :'D. Anyway, yeah :)). She was great at her job this episode, even if she wasn't technically on the clock for most of it lol. But she did amazing 🥰🥰. I love her :)).

Buck! My boyyyyy 😭😭😭😭💔💔❤️. He was really going through it this episode xd. I'm so proud of him though :')). He's opening up about it a bit, and it seems like he's on a good path <333. But seriously the angst man 😭😭😭. Although the humor laced throughout it was really nice XDD (like the people coming over to be with him, and couch theory aside just walking into Eddie's house and promptly falling asleep on his bed- WHOOPS SLFKGHDHJKS - couch xD). Anyway, I hope he doesn't make toooo crazy of decisions because of his near death experience xdd 😭. Buddie I wouldn't mind though 👀👀 - and that would seem pretty crazy XD. Anyway, his scenes with everyone, but especially Maddie and Eddie, were amazing :')). Though if you want to talk to someone who's had a more similar coma experience I think you'll have better luck with TK dude, lol. Of course he's not in love with TK so yk <33. XDDD Anyway lol! The part at the end where he admitted to checking if reality was real, especially the texting Bobby one - I can't 😭😭😭😭😭💔💔❤️❤️. He is my boy and I love him SO much <333. Anyway, yeah :)). He's currently not working, but I'm sure he WOULD'VE been Greta at his job xD. Well, hey, right now his job is recovering, so yeah, good for him xD. He's doing amazing lol <33.

Bobby! BOBBYYYY 😭😭😭. Man was going through it this episode, possibly more than anyone else (I say possibly but, sorry Buck, he was xd). I am really happy he managed to avenge Wendell though :')). And it's a really good thing those people are in prison xdd <333. And those FLASHBAAACKS!!! They can't just hit me with those 😭😭😭❤️💔. They were amazing though <333. I think it really helped cement their friendship for us, since we never got them before this plot - he did just kinda show up xd. Anyway, I'm SO GLAD Bobby's okay, and same for everyone else :')). Especially what's her face (I'm so sorry girl I cannot remember your name xD). Also, of course, Bathena was amazing :'DD. Anyway! Bobby was so great <33. I love him so much :'))). And I'm sure he did great at his job lol - his day job, not solving mysteries to avenge people xD. But yeah <3. I'm just really glad he can have some peace of mind - though obviously with everything it won't be much. And also, :OOO he's the leader of the meetings now!!! That's awesome :')). I don't wanna say he deserved it and make it sound like a promotion (or punishment lol), I just mean he's definitely capable <333. Now he can help others the way Wendell helped him :')) (I swear that parallel at the end there was amazing 😭😭❤️).

Overall, I really enjoyed this episode! We didn't see too much of the others, besides Buck and Bobby (and Athena) that is, but it was a really great episode :D. And not that I haven't enjoyed the storyline - it's not that whatsoever -, but I'm really glad the Wendell plot is over. It was good, and I'm glad they didn't drag it out too long :D. And also that he got that closure :'). Or at least his family did, if he didn't mind from beyond the grave lol xd. Anyway xd, Buck opening up and starting to move forward with his life and Bobby doing the same thing was just so :'D. Like father, like son :'))) 😭😭❤️❤️ <3. Also, I'm a bit nervous for the next episode! Not too much, and we only saw Maddie and Chimney's plot besides the call(s? I don't remember lol), but still. It looks interesting! And I'm sure there will be other to worry about lol. Anyway, this episode everybody was great :). I think this is the start of a new- well, not quite era, but time :)). Obviously stuff still carries over, especially with Buck, but with him starting to figure stuff out and Wendell put to rest (the storyline and kind shim literally lol), something new is coming :)). I'm excited! But anyway, it was a great end to all that <3.

So yeah! I loved this episode. I thought it was super good. I'm a tiny bit nervous for the next one! This has been my review of. . .

9-1-1, Season 6, Episode 12: Recovery

It was amazing! I'm definitely excited to see what happens next, be that next episode or further on I'll be here next week with my review of. . .

9-1-1, Season 6, Episode 13: Mixed Feelings

See you next week!

#9-1-1 #911 #9-1-1 on fox #911 on fox #911onfox #gayfirefightershow #oasis's 9-1-1 chatter #not actually next week xD #as I'm writing or when it aired but in opposite directions lol #anyway!! 12:32 as I write this :))#so yayy!! I only have to worry about tgd tomorrow :D #proud of myself for doing this all it once :DD xD #luckily too since like I said I won't have to do it tomorrow (today)#anyway!!!#really great episode :DD!!!#I loved it :)))#12:34 now #I love you all :DDD ❤️❤️❤️❤️!!!#byeeee :))) 🥰🥰🥰🥰 <333!!!!

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voidstilesplease · 2 years

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ELITE: Season 1 (Episode 1) Summary & Notes

*of course this contains spoilers*

Episode Title: Welcome

Summary: After a public high school collapses, the builder tries to repair its image by paying for three impacted students to attend an exclusive private school. (description straight from Netflix)

EH!:

Starts very dramatically, but I’m really oddly.... into it? Right off the bat, you see a crime scene; you see blood, you see the police getting involved… basically, you see the deal. Someone’s dead. Could be anyone, and the killer could be anyone as well. You might be attached to the dead person by the end of the season, or rooting for the killer all along. Who knows. And I love that.

The outside shot of the school is gorgeous. I don't know what I expected, since it's literally supposed to be an ELITE school, but yeah. I was very impressed.

Another really impressive thing is: Nadia. I just love the girl. I don't know how to express it in words. I just do. I want more of her.

“When your name is Nadia Shanaa, you better know what can get you expelled.” HOOOO THIS LINE. The connotation of this line is of course not the least bit amusing, but I love how homegirl came prepared. Lmao. Like, 'I'm already here. I'm not going out. None of y'all rich brats will make me. This is my shot, and I'm not throwing it away.'

On a similar note, Samuel’s introduction to the class is *chef’s kiss*. Though it’s self-deprecating, I think it’s the perfect way to show that he’s unfazed by the prejudice from them wealthy kids. That makes him kinda the opposite of Nadia because homegirl wants that trophy and the Ivy League, I can already tell, and she lets them know it - but I’d like to interpret Samu as kind of passive-aggressive, at least? Might actually not be the case, of course, and Samu’s really just this gentle dude who stays away from confrontations, but I still enjoyed the clap back when it happened.

And this one, lol. Okay. I knew there was gonna be lots of sex and nudity in this show (hello, Manu freaking Rios seduced me into doing this) but in the case that I didn’t, I think it’s…… very considerate of Netflix to let us know that they’re not gonna be shy from showing asses and breasts in this series. And sixteen-year-olds having sex in the goddamn shower. Christ. (I mean. Why am I surprised anyway? I just said Manu Rios made me do this, and his character's probably the STAR of the boys locker 🤣) Anyway....

Marina is cool, I guess… That thing about her STD is terrible irl, but an interesting plot point for the series imo. It sheds light to her rebellious streak and why she kinda has issues with her parents and Guzman who's really overprotective of her.... I don't know? Will that be important? Will she, like, infect someone? Will that somehow play into the main plot?

ALSO, important note: Ander is my male eye candy this ep, lol. He's really cute.

THE DEAD BODY REVEAL AT THE END WTF. Is this how it’s gonna be for the next seasons? Because I am shooketh. I didn't expect to know who died so early. But thanks, ig? Lol. Now I know not to invest my emotions in Marina 😂.

MEH?:

All right, I don’t hate Christian, but I strongly dislike him the first second he’s on-screen. Maybe he came on too strong? Idk. He just felt forced somehow? Although I admit the walking naked in the corridor scene was hilarious, I'm still not sold. He is very imposing in a very annoying way. Can’t even really blame Guzman for being an asshole to him lol. This brings us to the next bullet:

Guzman is an asshole. He has reasons I’m sure, and he’ll eventually drop from the high horse, but for now…. he's meh to me.

NO. They did not call the hijab an accessory. Yo, wtf is that? And they also threatened Nadia’s wearing it as a probable ground for expulsion? YO, that’s not cool. They should reevaluate that handbook and make it more open to diversity. Like??? Honestly, fuck you, ma’am.

Yooooo Samu’s older brother is a trouble-maker. And not the type that I enjoy, too. Not against it, I love trouble-makers as much as the next bitch, but I just haven’t found the reason to appreciate him? I’m sure I’ll figure out where he stands in the next episodes because he seems like an important part of the big picture. But in this ep? Nuh. No. Bye.

I'm just gonna come out and say it: I hate Lu. Which is the same reason why I should have loved her, in this backward logic of mine. And actually, she was part of my EH!s. Until that racist comment to Nadia. They’re just really bothered by her hijab huh.

Polo is hella attractive but idk wtf’s up with him? And Carla, too. Their relationship was ????? Voyeurism and consensual cheating are common kinks in the many fandoms I’ve been in (and read fics for), but…… that sex scene between Christian and Carla with Polo watching through a mirror was really lmfao ?????

Finally, I am NOT a fan of the attraction between Nano and Marina. Not at all. But I guess nothing comes out of it in the end, right, or at least nothing that lasts into the second season. Because, well…. The DEAD BODY REVEAL lol. That’s good. Perfect. But as long as Marina’s alive, and I guess she will be until the last episode, a relationship forming between her and Samu’s brother is not impossible. And that’s what I’m most dreadful about. Because I can already see it happening asgbfdhfdj. And I don’t wanttttttttt.

Standout character of the episode: Nadia

Character idfc about: Christian???

Overall: I think it's a very solid pilot episode!

Gonna do two or more episodes at a time in the next. I'm excited!!! And I wanna add screenshots, but Netflix doesn't allow it 😒

#Elite #Elite Netflix #Elite S1 #ManuRiosMadeMeDoIt #Elite Spoilers #this is NOT a comprehensive analysis on the episode #these are notes FOR ME tyvm

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niteshade925 · 3 years

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The Thunder Concluding Thoughts

So I finished watching The Thunder (《破冰行动》) in about a week. I have to say this drama is definitely NOT the disappointment that people say it is. It's pretty good. I’m recommending it to the cdrama fans out there who like crime dramas with a dark and serious story. Just be aware that it does not have an official English subtitle or fansubs (so far as I know).

Anyway, this post will be very very very long (4500+ words, in fact), filled with spoilers and my opinions. If you are planning on watching, please skip this post. I’m hiding everything else so this post won’t be hogging space on anyone’s dashboard.

Storytelling

Considering the story is about an operation to raid a whole village involved in drug trafficking (inspired by real events of Boshe village/博社村) and bring the criminals to justice, it is bound to be dark and gritty, filled with tragedies. But it’s also surprisingly not very gruesome.

The entire plot is separated into many different storylines, which merge and intersect with each other at different times throughout the drama. Here’s the main four:

The first (main) one follows the main character Li Fei/李飞 as he tries to avenge his friend and partner’s murder by finding evidence to bring down the big bad, with help from Chen Ke/陈珂, Ma Wen/马雯, and numerous others.

The second one follows Li Weimin/李维民 and Zhao Jialiang/赵嘉良 (real name Li Jianzhong/李建中), who are the two most experienced people on the law enforcement side in dealing with drug traffickers. Since the former is a director and the latter is an informant/undercover agent who reports directly to the former, their individual story lines only merged after the midpoint.

The third one follows the third branch of the Lin clan (mostly Lin Zonghui/林宗辉) and how it was half destroyed by the main branch and second branch, which culminates in Lin Zonghui’s decision to turn informant.

The fourth one follows Ma Yunbo/马云波, the Deputy Director of Dongshan City Police Department, as he slowly realizes the error of his ways and tries to earn his redemption.

There are other more minor storylines, but I won’t be listing them all out since this isn’t a wiki article lol. Anyway there are a lot of different storylines in this drama, and the ways in which they intersect are interesting, though rather predictable. These intersections also roughly separate out the drama into a few sections, which allows the drama to have a good pacing overall.

However, the way this drama establishes the backgrounds of the characters and storylines is slightly problematic, since nearly all of it is done with flashback sequences. Flashback sequences are a staple in crime dramas of any kind, because it satisfies the viewers’ curiosity, but the constant sudden scene changes were disorienting and broke the flow of storytelling. I guess flashbacks are an easy way to stick to the “show, don’t tell” rule, but I do think some flashback sequences can be told by characters in the “present time”, and this may even help to flesh out those characters more, depending on how they “tell” viewers about the past.

Another thing that was noticeable was amount of closeup shots used, especially in the interrogation scenes in the first half. They do give actors the opportunity to use micro expressions and their eyes to convey the characters’ true emotions. On the downside.....too many closeup shots tend to make me uncomfortable, so......I guess I both liked it and disliked it.

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Characters and Acting

Hoooo boy, where to start. I would say this is the best thing about the drama overall. The characters are what really drove me to sacrifice sleep just to binge the entire thing in a week. These characters aren’t exactly unique in the genre, but they made up the heart of the drama, no questions about that.

I guess I’ll start with the main cast here and ramble talk about both the character and the portrayal together. Because this drama had a rough “cops vs. criminals” setup, the main cast was sort of “locked in” to specific character archetypes, and that left little space for the actors themselves to perform freely. Despite this, most of the main cast were able to do pretty well:

Li Weimin/李维民 (portrayed by Wu Gang/吴刚):

In my opinion, Li Weimin was the best portrayed character out of the main cast. Some people said that Wu Gang overacted in certain scenes where Li Weimin got upset or displayed his eccentric side, but to be honest, I don’t think it’s bad at all. I'm pretty sure the dramatic approach is due to Wu Gang's acting style and training, since he was a theater actor first, and transitioned to an actor for TV/cinema later in his career. Wu Gang’s constant little physical movements-- whether it was fidgeting with something or playing hopscotch with his feet--gave Li Weimin a certain air of eccentricity that I liked. Li Weimin wasn’t without his faults, of course, he’s rather quick-tempered and was too eager to see results, which Wu Gang illustrated with his dramatic line delivery in the scene where he was furious at Ma Yunbo for not ending all drug trafficking in Dongshan city in 3 years. The most noticeable flaws in Wu Gang’s performance (to me) was his salute (seriously can he just straighten that wrist lol) and his voice, because his voice had that smooth quality of a documentary narration, so occasionally it felt like he’s just flat out describing things. Not that I’m complaining, his voice is very pleasing to the ear, but it just doesn’t fit the scene sometimes. His best scenes for me were: 1) when he stubbornly refused Li Fei’s offer to buy a hoodie for him because it made him look too young (can relate because I have an older relative who’s exactly like that lol); 2) when he was questioning Cai Yongqiang while nonchalantly playing with his shoelaces; 3) when he had a sorrowful inner monologue about how he would be all alone if both Li Fei and Li Jianzhong died like all of his other comrades; and 4) when he suffered the loss of his friend during the climax, and had to try hard to stop himself from losing control to grief before the operation was over, because he was the frontline commander and was thus responsible for all of the agents.

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Lin Yaodong/林耀东 (portrayed by Wang Jinsong/王劲松):

Wang Jinsong never disappointed in any role he’s been in, really. He’s the actor who played Marquis Yan Que in Nirvana in Fire and the unforgettable eunuch Yang Jinshui in Ming Dynasty in 1566. I don’t think Lin Yaodong was his best performance (the best had to be Yang Jinshui in Ming Dynasty in 1566, hands down) but it was still very good. The way Wang Jinsong played Lin Yaodong (especially the even line delivery and the deliberate body movements) gave him a dignified air befitting a powerful elder. It was also thanks to Wang Jinsong’s great performance that I realized what Lin Yaodong was: he wasn’t just a drug lord, he was a hypocrite. He kept stressing the importance of clan and family, yet he was the one of the people responsible for deaths of half the third branch family; he kept reiterating that he brought wealth to Tazhai village, but what he did was slowly eroding the villagers’ motivation to do any honest work; he kept emphasizing the need to protect the Lin clan, yet the drug trafficking he introduced to the village literally ruined the young people of the village. To Lin Yaodong, the clan was nothing but a means to an end that benefits him, otherwise he would not be exclusively using members of the second branch family to do all the dirty work.

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Li Fei/李飞 (portrayed by Huang Jingyu/黄景瑜):

Li Fei is apparently quite controversial despite being the undisputed main character of the show. A lot of people think his character was “unnecessary”, “badly written”, and there were even gossip floating around about how the character was just a way to “get Huang Jingyu onboard”. Seeing all of those comments made me pretty confused, because I thought Huang Jingyu did a pretty good job for someone who didn’t have a lot of experience in acting. Before anyone says though, I am not a Huang Jingyu fan, just want to get that out of the way first. This is literally the first drama I’ve seen him in. I think his portrayal was easier for younger audiences (by that I mean early to mid 20s viewers like me) to relate to. Li Fei’s outpour of grief upon seeing his partner getting murdered right in front of him, his clever interrogation of drug dealers, his goofy little tricks that outsmarted the criminals, his dejected disregard for his own life when he expressed desire to go to Tazhai village alone; his shock and anguished headbanging on the car window upon seeing his father getting murdered (also right in front of him); and finally his emotional numbness while saying goodbye to the father he never got a chance to know.......all of it was done convincingly. I’ve laughed with him, I’ve cried (a little) with him, and for me that’s good enough. There were other comments about how Li Fei was too hot-headed to the extent of being frustrating, but I think that’s just how the character was meant to be (Li Fei was supposed to be in his early 20s). That said, I do think Huang Jingyu needs work on two things: enunciation and facial expressions. He did well when a scene required him to convey a particular emotion, but he wasn’t able to convey a mixture of different emotions (I will give an example later). If he could make improvements in these two areas, I’m sure he would become a much better actor.

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Now for memorable supporting characters. In my honest opinion, the supporting characters are the ones who really made this drama good. These actors’ performances regularly steal the limelight away from the main cast.

Lin Shuibo/林水伯 (portrayed by Qian Bo/钱波):

Lin Shuibo was a once-respected teacher who became addicted in a desperate attempt to save his addict son, and was thrown out of Tazhai village for being an addict after his son died from overdose (was revealed to be murder). Later he devoted his life to take care of a homeless drug addict teen he met on the streets. I have to say, Lin Shuibo was the first supporting character that really caught my attention and made me cry. Qian Bo nailed this character. The dejected slump of his shoulders, the hopelessness and anxiety in his darting eyes, weeping for his son with tears leaving tracks on his dirty face, explaining that he tried drugs so he could set an example of successful rehab for his son......this character may not be more than just a plot device, but he actually tore at my heart. Teaching was a highly respected profession in China, so for a teacher to fall into addiction and homelessness, resort to picking garbage for a living, that’s literally falling out of paradise and straight into hell. Despite this, Lin Shuibo never lost his kindness or capability to love, and that's what saved him in the end.

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Ma Yunbo/马云波 (portrayed by Zhang Xilin/张晞临):

Originally I was going to put Lin Shengwu as the second of the memorable supporting characters, but then Ma Yunbo’s best scenes happened and made me change my mind. Ma Yunbo was a pretty interesting and complex character, since he started the drama as a “good guy”, but as the story went on, it was revealed that he was the corrupted cop. Then as the viewer learned more about the character, we started to see that he was not simply in it for the money like Chen Guangrong (another corrupted cop). He was more or less coerced into it by Lin Yaodong because of his wife’s debilitating chronic pain, which was in turn the consequence of taking a shotgun blast meant for him. Before the start of the story, the pain had grown too much for his wife to bear, so she turned to heroin for relief, and Lin Yaodong took the opportunity to become her supplier. This was a major problem for Ma Yunbo, since he was seen as a hero who served justice to drug traffickers and was the pride of his shifu Li Weimin. Here, both the drama and many viewers say that Ma Yunbo’s greatest weakness was pride, and that was why he became corrupted, but I disagree. I don’t think Ma Yunbo’s most important trait was pride, I think it was love. I think he loved his wife deeply and that was the only reason why he started dealing with Lin Yaodong. If he was as prideful as people say, I think he might refuse his wife's request instead. In fact, his wife's suicide was what finally unshackled him from his constant internal conflict. Thus, his internal conflict was really a three way conflict of pride vs. love vs. doing what’s right. Zhang Xilin’s approach to such a complex character was subtle, conveying most of the internal conflict with facial expressions. The way he could seem to make his face age instantly with an expression was brilliant.

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Lin Shengwu/林胜武 (portrayed by Zhao Xuan/赵煊):

First, this character was pretty much a plot device. Lin Shengwu really only served 3 purposes in the story: to delay the video evidence from getting to Li Fei until the time is right (to manage pacing); to cement the people from the main branch and second branch of the Lin clan as the big bads of the drama; and to serve as a reason for Lin Zonghui’s eventual decision to become an informant. The first one is pretty straightforward, but the second and third purposes require acting skills to achieve, because the audience needs to be able to pity Lin Shengwu. And boy did Zhao Xuan deliver. Lin Shengwu’s death was the second time I got emotional while watching this drama (first time was that scene of Lin Shuibo I mentioned). The scene where a wounded Lin Shengwu called asking Lin Zonghui to take care of his children and telling him “if there’s a next life, you will still be my Uncle Hui” with a quivering voice just straight up broke my heart. Lin Shengwu was certainly not a good guy (he was the one who destroyed the evidence at the very beginning, and probably participated in drug dealing), but he really did love his family and tried to protect them, unlike Lin Yaodong. Unfortunately, his family was already in the grips of the devil from the very start, so he was destined to lose everything.

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Lin Zonghui/林宗辉 (portrayed by Gong Lei/公磊)

Of the two most conflicted characters in the drama, one is Ma Yunbo, and the other is definitely Lin Zonghui. As the family head of the third branch in the Lin clan, he was forced to watch as members of his family died at the hands of his relatives, but because he tried to stay out of trouble, he could neither say nor do anything about it. Plus, like most other members of the third branch family, he was a person who actually cared about the clan. As time went on and more people close to him died, his internal conflict changed from self preservation vs. avenging his family to protecting the Lin clan vs. doing what’s right. I don’t feel that his death at the end was really necessary to the plot (it was probably done to further expose Lin Yaodong’s hypocrisy), but given everything his cousins Lin Yaodong and Lin Yaohua have done, he’s more than justified to confront them. Acting-wise, like Zhang Xilin, Gong Lei also conveyed Lin Zonghui’s internal conflict mostly with facial expressions and body movements. There was always a slump in his shoulders, and the way his eyes alternate between looking powerless and burning with fury was really great. However, I didn’t quite like his approach to the climactic confrontation scenes, because I felt that he was a little overdramatic there, especially the line delivery, which briefly broke my immersion.

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Lin Can/林灿 (portrayed by Song Hanhuan/宋撼寰)

If I’m only talking about the acting, then I might rank Song Hanhuan’s performance as the second best in the supporting cast, right behind Zhang Xilin. I do admit that I’m rather biased towards the good guys and complex characters, but no matter which way you cut it, Lin Can deserves a mention. The first time I noticed him was very late in the story, right at the climax where Lin Can and Li Fei were both threatening to kill the other’s father. Huang Jingyu was not able to convey Li Fei’s emotions well enough (again, his facial expression needs work), but in contrast, Song Hanhuan really conveyed a wide range of emotions just in a few seconds, from fear to desperation to even a little hint of regret. In fact, he looked as if he was on the verge of total mental breakdown. That scene prompted me to go back and revisit his other scenes after I finished the drama, and that was when I realized Lin Can actually cried a little bit when Lin Shengwu died. At the time when I first saw the scene, I thought Lin Can was just shocked to see Lin Shengwu commit suicide, but now, thinking back on Lin Can’s lines about how he and Lin Shengwu grew up together as playmates, I think Lin Can actually felt sad there, however briefly that emotion lasted. That single tear was a very simple (and easy to miss!) gesture that added a whole other dimension to what would otherwise be a rather flat henchman character.

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Cai Yongqiang/蔡永强 (portrayed by Tang Xu/唐旭)

I do wish the writers could have given Cai Yongqiang more scenes, because the few scenes he appeared in were all great. The scenes where Li Weimin questioned Cai Yongqiang were the among the best in the entire drama. At the time in the story, Cai Yongqiang and Li Weimin didn’t trust each other (although it was later revealed that they were both good guys), and were both trying to see if the other person was corrupted. This led to a few interesting exchanges between them filled with quotable lines, but the best part has to be Cai Yongqiang’s answer to Li Weimin’s last question about Cai Yongqiang’s evaluation of himself and the drug control division. The way Tang Xu delivered these lines (his voice was quivering with emotion almost the whole time) was really touching:

“For drug control officers like us, there’s two dangers. The first is mortal danger, because our opponents are people who would bid their lives for money. It’s not just our own lives in danger, but also the lives of our partners, our families”......”The second is temptation. Money making is easy for drug traffickers. To save their own skins, they would try their damnedest to bribe us. Tens of thousands (yuan), hundreds of thousands, even a few million at a time. For them, a few million is the profit they earn in a few days, but for young officers who earn a measly 2-3k per month and has to pay mortgages and raise children with it, this contrast is too much. Not being tempted is impossible. But every officer in my division has overcame the temptation, and for that, I think they are all terrific. All of them are admirable.”.....”When you’ve been on the force for a while, you start to develop a deeper understanding of human nature. A lot of bizarre things happen every day. Sometimes, not being able to see them is a real blessing.”

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Thoughts on Theme

The message of a story like this is obviously “drugs are bad, kids, it ain’t worth it”, but I would say the theme is conveyed pretty well here, because the story gives us all of these characters who are examples (some of which I’m sure are inspired by experiences of real people) of what may happen once you start to do/sell/make such addictive controlled/prohibited substances as crystal meth.

First is the effects of addiction on users. This part is pretty obvious, and we have many examples throughout, though there were a few different reasons for each of them coming into contact with the drug in the first place. Zaizai (Lin Shuibo’s son) was a representation of teenagers who became addicted because it’s seen as “cool” and “everyone was doing it”. Wuzai became a drug dealer, because it gave him better profits than working entry-level jobs, and eventually he became an addict as well. Then there’s women who became addicted due to severe emotional stress, like Yang Liu and Cai Xiaoling (it was hinted that her addiction may have been a major factor in her miscarriage). Of these people, Lin Shuibo was a special case, as he apparently tried drugs out of a desire to help his son quit, but became addicted as well. Out of these characters, most died either due to overdose, continued drug-abuse, or murder (from being in close contact with dangerous criminals). The only two who got a good ending were Lin Shuibo and Wuzai, since both were able to quit and earn an honest living. Of course, this could not happen if they weren’t supporting each other through the rehab process.

Second is another type of effect that the drugs had on those who made/sold them, and that is greed. The reason Lin Yaodong had so much power over everyone else in the village was because he could give them the money they desired. According to Lin Yaodong, the village used to be dirt poor, but ever since he led the villagers to manufacture crystal meth, everyone there quickly became wealthy, and all that easy money gave rise to greed. Lin Yaodong then used a combination of his own status in the clan and the greed of the villagers to control them, thus satisfying his own lust for power:

“I know whether the people of Tazhai have had a change of heart just from sitting in this car. At this hour, adults should be leaving work, and children should be leaving school, all of them going home, even the elderly lady selling produce. The fact that our car can drive forward so smoothly on this narrow road means the people of Tazhai haven’t had any change of heart.”

This lust for power was also the reason he described his goal as to build the biggest, most beautiful ancestral shrine for the Lin clan. He saw the ancestral shrine as the seat and symbol of his power, and this was apparent when the three family heads gathered there like a panel of judges at a court to announce Lin Shengwen’s punishment.

Lin Yaodong’s image as the great provider for the village then began to corrupt the younger generations of the village as well, since they all looked up to Lin Yaodong and hoped to become his henchmen. This began to destroy the real familial bonds between people in the clan and replaced it with simple trust and blind loyalty, which effectively turned the clan into a sort of mafia. Even though almost everyone in the main branch and second branch still talked about what’s good for the clan and seemingly tried to contribute in their own ways, when one compared what these characters say versus what they do, then their true motivations began to show. There’s Lin Yaohua and his two sons, Lin Can and Lin Tianhao, who would maim, torture, and kill members of their own clan just because trust was broken. For them, there’s not much real familial bond to speak of, there’s only loyalty to “Uncle Dong” (Lin Yaodong) and "Uncle Hua” (Lin Yaohua). They may still call each other “brothers”, “uncles”, but these words contain more indications of power than affection. At the same time, the blind loyalty eroded away at the humanity of the younger members of the Lin clan, and this was perfectly demonstrated with Lin Can’s sudden decision to kill Zhao Jialiang at the climax, an act that disturbed even Lin Yaodong.

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My Criticisms & Other Thoughts

Finally, criticisms.

I agree with other people that the writing for the 3rd and 2nd to last episodes (ep 46 & 47) did not seem to have the same quality of writing as earlier episodes, but I am of the opinion that it wasn’t a huge problem. What was a problem was the overacting from some actors at the climax. Again, it wasn’t that bad, but it was enough to briefly break my suspension of disbelief. Also, the last episode was among the best in the drama.

About the complaint that Zhao Jialiang’s death was unnecessary and forced into the script, I disagree. I don’t think Zhao Jialiang ever went into Tazhai village expecting to come out alive in the first place. Dude’s there to avenge his wife and that was it. On the other hand, his death also highlights how far Lin Can had fallen. Point is, his death might feel abrupt, but it does make sense if you think about it.

About the “plot holes”. I agree with one comment I’ve seen that many of the “plot holes” people pointed out were actually explained in later episodes. They probably commented pretty early on in the drama, so that’s why certain things seemed like plot holes to them.

As for Chen Ke, again, I do agree that she may be the weakest character in the drama, but unlike some have said, I don’t think it was 100% on the actor, and I’m pretty sure it had something to do with the writing. This drama clearly aimed to be realistic, so almost all of the characters expressed some sort of shock upon seeing another character get wounded/killed, and I think that’s the reason why Chen Ke panicked when Ma Wen got blasted with a shotgun. Chen Ke was just a normal civilian who happened to be a nurse, she’s not a nurse in the army or something, of course she would be shocked if the event took place in front of her eyes. Seeing the aftermath and witnessing the event first hand are completely different things.

Everything else about the drama, cinematography, music, etc....were all ok. Nothing bad, but also nothing notable. I did like the theme song though.

(Bonus little rant about all those cdrama scenes where a character is severely ill or wounded or killed..........can we stop having all of them spit out mouthfuls of blood???? When a character got stabbed in the guts or shot through the heart, they should NOT be spitting blood, unless they are also wounded in the lungs or stomach or mouth, then ok fine, but it’s still more of a situation of coughing up blood. Seriously. When Zhao Jialiang got shot through the heart and immediately started spitting blood, I actually burst out laughing. This silly shit needs to change.)

And that is it! All in all I liked The Thunder, and I may watch it again later.

#the thunder #cdrama #破冰行动 #conclusion post #thoughts #interpretations #my translation

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crystu-cii · 4 years

Note

XDD

I f e e l that pain in my soul-- my older sister uses cologne sometimes and it is sO STRONG AND WILL NOT STAY CONFINED TO HER ROOM-- AMD SOMETIMES SHED DO IT IN THE DOORWAY LIKE HELLO-- XDD

YEAH WH GET SOME SLEEP LEAVE THE STAYING UP TO US-- XDD

YES BABY JAIL, INTO THE UPSIDE DOWN LAUNDRY BASKET YOU KNIFE-WIELDING HEATHEN-- XDD oms XDD well I don't know them but I love them- YESSS THEYRE SO FLUFFY-- I'm actually curious what images pop up first imma check-- FLUFFY PUPPIES-- we've actually never owned ones that fluffy(those actually look more similar to shetland sheepdogs than the shelties we've had so far?? Very similar/similar enough where if someone doesn't know a sheltie we mention shetland sheepdogs), our current one is a purebred that we got for free(she was being given away bc her family never came back for her and the lady taking care of her couldn't afford the time to take care of a second dog long-term think) and she's got pretty short fur in comparison- still fluffy enough, but not quite so long of fur-- she's a blue merle(absolutely gorgeous fur, she's like 8 now with a lot of health problems but she's super loving still 💕💞) anyways about the fur, so long as you brush regularly you should mitigate most of that, and it mostly collects in corners- but like.. be prepared to eat and wear dog fur for the rest of your life-- (actually there's a thing called a fur zapper we bought recent that you put in with your clothes when you wash/dry them(I think it's dry but idk??) that's supposed to get a lot of hair off your clothes in that process? Also lint rollers are your best friend--) AND roombas are really helpful(we bought a knockoff one and rarely have to sweep ever so 👀) XDD WHEEZE I can't even imagine what you did-- but like you could ask for a budgie/parakeet /hj I mean, they aren't very expensive (actually they're pretty cheap) but they're very loud, need a lot of attention(especially if you want them to bond to you!) and you need to research into them a lot to make sure you're doing things right-- loads of vids online!! Loads of websites too!!! I'd know I have one- JUST A WARNING, FEATHERS AND SEED HULLS GET ALL OVER YOUR FLOOR XD p l u s like you have a friend who knows stuff about birbs :3 anyways ENOUGH RAMBLING FROM ME WOW THAT GOT LONG--

💕💕 I feel that XD OMS-- I WISH-- WHAT A D R E A M - s n a k - Awww but what a mood XD

XDDD oms YES-- EXACTLY-- XDDDD another good thing you should try eventually is SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE WHICH IS APPARENTLY DELICIOUS??? I TRIED IT FOR THE FIRST TIME(AT LEAST IN A WHILE) TODAY AND IT WAS SO FUCKIN TASTY????

H E A THEN-- XDD how cool of them to try tho :3 whEEZE Y 'A LL-- XDD

WHEEZE I SUCK WITH INSTRUMENTS SOOOO-- DAMN THA'S SOME BAD LUCK MY DUDE-- MAYBE YOU'RE CURSED DAMN-- oms wOWW--

Yesss-- ooh I've never played 👀 seen some stuff but never played-- (see: my computer sucks XD) I h a v e played Portal 1 and it is SO GOOD and SO SHORT and I WISH I HAD GOTTEN PORTAL 2 INSTEAD BUT THATS OKAY CRIES-- YESSSS THE SONGS SLAP--- ALSO THERE ARE ACTUALLY TWO WHOLE MORE CANON(PROBABLY KINDA MAYBE NOT?? IDK) SONGS, ONE FROM A LEG DIMENSIONS GAME("You Wouldn't Know") AND ONE THAT WAS CUT FROM PORT TWO("Don't Say Goodbye"(Harry101UK made an edit to make it Glados' voice!!)) THERE ARE ALSO A BUNCH OF GOOD FAN SONGS SO YEAH-- ALSO NOT TO BE A SIMP BUT GLADOS' VOICE? PERFECTION. I LOVE HER. ALSO I COULD LITERALLY DETAIL THE PORTAL LORE I AM INCREDIBLY EMOTIONALLY INVESTED IN THIS GAME-- ALSO THERES A CLIP THAT SOMEONE MADE USING A (VERY GOOD) GLADOS TTS TO HAVE GLADOS SAY TRANS RIGHTS AND ENBY RIGHTS AND IF I FIND IT AGAIN ILL SEND IT TO YOU-- YOU COULD PROBABLY FIND IT IF YOU LOOM UP GLADOS SAYS TRANS RIGHTS? IT HAS A VIDEO WITH TRANS FLAG COMPANION CUBES ACCOMPANYING IT-- ALSO YES THE PORT MODS(/ADD-ONS? MAYBE? THEY'RE COMMUNITY MADE I THINK BUT IDK ALL I KNOW IS THAT THEYRE COOL AF--) (also I apologize for all the screaming? XD it's like, four am and I was talking about portal so.. whoops?)

Right like wth???? I???? Okay but like December to February babies just fuckin DONT EXIST IN THIS GEN OR SOMETHIN-- CAUSE I FIND N O N E -- Maybe there are more December babies but there are definitely like NO January to February babies it is So Weird--

NEJFQOBGKW WOWW d an g like-p l e a se s t op over sp r aying-- xD and LEGITTTT LIKE- THAT WAS M Y ROLE TO STAY UP LATE- XDD

WHEHEHEZE- LAUNDRY BASKET TIME- G E T I N XDD anD YESS- any doggo is just such a cute doggo 😭💞💞 but for me- fLUFFY ONES ARE WHERE ITS A T- and ohhhh i see- FOR FREE?? W H A T A S T E A L XDD but awwww the poor doggg at least she's with you now ! ;0;; 💞💞😭 aaw such a lovable puppup 😭😭💞 and oHHH i see :00 but oh no- xD i also have a friend that has two dogs and whenever he would give me gifts- there would be dog hair on them no matter what- XDD and ooOhhh those sound really helpful! omg- i swear i dont have to have a pet for the need of a roomba- i already shed so much hair myself its so crazy-- xDD and oH MAN loud animals are really gon get my mom fired up- and OO birds just look so cuteee i always fantasize of having one- but then again- with the noise and all xD the more i think about it i dont think we are prepared to have a pet at all xD but i still dream of at least having one pet in my lifetime!

and OO that sounds awesome!! i have no clue if i even tried casserole before- man- sometimes i just eat food without even knowing wth it is XDDD but THAT SOUNDS so gooodddd :O

and LEGITT LIKE- TF IS HAPPENING WITH MY SCHOOL LIFE- XDD and oh my god- IT GETS WORSE- that year there was a FREAKINGG FIREEEEEEE- it wasnt that dangerous thank god- but it had to get a whole ass room renovated because of it- and guess what room it was- THE ORCHESTRA ROOM- AND GUESS WHAT M A D E I T W OR SE- that year- it was the first time the school replaced those 10+ year old instruments with new ones- NOW THEYRE B U R N T- and mind you that the school's budget isnt so- gr e a t- like oh my god i am still so bewildered over HOW MUCH chaos HAPPENED that year- and i thought that year was gon be the year- yknow? like UGH

and OHH MANN playing portal sounds awesome! but i just dont think the game would be worth my money cause i know the plot- and even with the mods and all my brain would be broken as i would possibly have no clue what to do- xDDD

and HOOOO MANNN game fan songs are just so AWESOMEEE- and those sound pretty cool! :OO and HOLY SHIT FUCK YEAH- GLADOS SAYS TRANS AND ENBY RIGHTS Y A LL- now im gonna look that up and let my ears be blessed by such words- XDDD and DONT WORRY BOUT SCREAMING ALOT- i scream a whole dam lot too XDD

and LEGITTT- finding someone's b-day in january and feb is so rare all of a sudden like wh a t - XDD

#the rambles of crystu #even tho we are legit friends on discord- ima still answer these XDDD

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everbrilliantheartbreaker · 5 years

Text

Fanfiction Reader Tag

Tagged by @eyeliner-vampire ♡ ♡

Fanfiction Reader Tag!

1. When did you start reading Fanfic (How old you were or how long ago)?

When I was probably...11 ish? so like 13 years ago

2. Do you have an AO3 account?

Yeh (LadyWisteria)

3. Do you read WIP (work in progress)? Why or why not?

All the time. I’m not picky about this at all. I’m a simple person. I see fic I think I’ll like? I read. doesn’t matter if it’s finished or not. I’ll make up my own ending til it is lol. also authors need that encouragement. finishing stuff is hard

4. What time of day is your ‘fic reading time’?

Usually late at night (like 1 a.m. and later..much later) but sometimes I’ll waste an afternoon instead (2 p.m. ish til I either have to go to work or I finish the fic)

5. How much time do you spend reading fic per week?

Not remotely as much time as I used, that’s for sure. Anywhere from an hour (if I’m rereading That favorite fic) to 2-4 hours if my friend has sent me a longfic again.

6. Do you listen to podfic (fanfic recorded like an audiobook)?

I...didn’t even know this was a thing tbh, so no. Sounds very neat but also I don’t listen to audio books anymore bcus my attention span re: audio input has gotten so bad over the years I can’t focus for more than a few minutes.

7. What’s your favorite fic genre to read?

AUs AUs AUs. and fantasy. and fantasy AUs (although good long AU fics are harder to find). I am a very simple person. I see magic mentioned, I read. I also read a lot of romance fic (proving once again that fanfic writing is often better than mainstream original writing, bcus romance is one of my least favorite YA/movie genres). I don’t read as much of them but I also love mystery and paranormal fics

8. Are there any genres that you tend to avoid?

Super angsty no happy ending type stuff. “Major Character Death” is an automatic nope lmao (unless the summary looks reaallyyy interesting or it was recc’d to me). Tragedy is definitely Not my thing

9. What tag(s) do you track?

I don’t track any fic tags (I stopped tracking tags at all since Tumblr changed it from “keeping track of new posts in said tag” to “dropping random posts from that tag into the middle of your dash, and usually the same three”)

10. How do you find new fic?

Nowadays I mostly just read what friends send me or the new stuff a very few writers I follow post, but sometimes I also come across stuff through Twitter or Tumblr and curiosity wins out

11. How do you organize your fic bookmarks?

I..don’t? Is this a thing people do?? If I wanna reread something I either search through my bookmarks by title/author or just. filter by fandom.

12. Do you subscribe to authors or stories?

Yeh. I only keep up with a very select few of them though. altho part of that is due to several of them being people I followed on fanfic.net years and years ago and never unfollowed, even though our interests may no longer be the same. (the other part is me going “oh I’ll read that later” and then just. never doing it.)

13. What is your favorite fanfic trope?

fake dating and bed sharing are always good

everyone is gay. also Good

14. What kind of plot line are you always here for?

“everything’s the same but they’re soulmates” (oh my god they were soulmates)

mafia AU

MAGIC

I really like in-between scene fics too. the events and character interactions that happen off-screen. I like writing those

15. What can an author do to make you love them?

write about my faves frequently

cool AUs

write about minor characters

good sense of humor

16. What can an author do to make you avoid them?

not into mpreg fics

a/b/o fics make me super wary I usually pass on those, even if the summary looks mildly interesting. they’re rarely if ever done in a way that isn’t rapey and gross

don’t care for fics period that have rapey scenes but you’re supposed to find them romantic

adult/minor ships

characterization is a big deal to me so if I don’t like how they handle the characters, especially faves I probably won’t be back

17. What do kudos mean to you?

when I get one I have a few seconds of “oh someone kinda liked this thing I wrote” and then I carry on about my day >.>;;; (I do appreciate them tho)

18. What kind of commenter are you (No comment, short comment, keyboard smash)?

I don’t comment as often as I mean to or wish I did, but when I do they’re loong comments (I’ve passed the AO3 character limit at least once kshg)

I tend to quote favorite parts and then react to them, and I like to theorize and ask questions about character’s thoughts at a certain part or what author imagines happens before/after the fic

19. Have you ever stopped reading a fic? Why or why not?

Yes. Once because I stumbled into a very sexually explicit fic when that was. Not at all what I was expecting (I was also very young lol), I think there was a very few I quit because they were boring or very poorly written, but most often I “quit” a fic for the same reason I don’t do audio books anymore lmao: because my attention span is sht and my motivation and commitment are extremely fickle things. I either forget or just wander away for a bit and then forget. Often I mean to come back and finish it; it’s just a matter of how long it takes. (I also second hand embarrassed out of a fic so hardcore that it’s been a whole 9 months since I’ve touched it khdfgd)

20. Have you ever read a fic more than once? What is it about that fic that makes you want to read it again?

YES. This requires like a minimum 4 separate posts to really answer but:

Behind Bricks and The Penance of a Killer by Deathbelle

this person is my fricking favorite author ever and these are two of my fricking favorite fics ever, I must’ve reread Behind Bricks 6 or 8 times now and Penance is the BokuAka-centric companion piece to my favorite fic of all time that I always wanted

Mending Bonds and If the Heart Breaks, Does That Mean There’s No Home? by RussianSunflower3

Mending Bonds is soft found family fluff centering on a very minor fave of mine and If the Heart Breaks is very angsty found family fluff that also focuses on some minor characters and it always hurts my heart but the ending and the soft middle always heal it right back up (“[Hanamaki] has a heart big enough for everyone in the world, and then some.” ohhhh my godd)

Boiled Frogs by ReginaGalaxia

this one is. a really hard read centered around emotional abuse and manipulation and hoooo boy it is a rough read especially if you’ve experienced any of that personally but it’s so well written and the character dynamics are great and in its lighter moments it’s fricking hilarious.

(bits and pieces of) The Roost by Ugglabarn

bits and pieces only bcus Roost has a lot of very heavy dark content that I’d have to be in a specific mood to reread the whole thing because it hurts my heart way too much but also it’s one of the best Fukurodani-centric longfics I’ve ever read (PLUS AN AU..!!) and I love love how they write the characters and how much focus there is on the minor members and ships and in its lighter moments Roost is also really funny the most recent chapter was hilarious

Expensive Hotel by Crown_of_Winterthorne

smut. explicit smut. excellent explicit smut with loving polyamorous boyfriends and plenty of consent discussion and kissing. my entire jam right there

Class 1-A Whomst? by Ya_Boi_Hal

this is the funniest chatfic I’ve ever read in my life and the first good chatfic I ever read. absolutely hysterical. also has some really good serious content in the middle and some Aizawa dialogue that punched me right in the feels. 12/10 will read again. sometimes I just randomly say “Mineta whomst??” and cackle to myself

and back in the day it was:

The Flame of Betrayal by DataIntegrationThoughtEntity

I guess traitor! Tahu was a popular trope back when Bionicle fandom was at its peak?? and not everyone liked it apparently but I enjoyed this fic greatly every time I read it it was well written and had interesting OCs and I am actually highly tempted to go reread it again

and Asleep Beneath a Wheat Field by Feline Freak

this was a very peculiar little OC-centric one shot that was also very sad and I don’t know why it grabbed me like it did but I remember rereading it 3 or 4 times at least

21. Do you like sequels?

The fics I like don’t usually come with sequels but The Penance of a Killer is one so Yes

22. Do you like dabbles?

I guess? I haven’t read too many I don’t think but hey, more fic is more fic. Who’s gonna complain about that?

23. What do you wish more fic authors would do?

Write about minor characters more

24. What do you wish more authors would stop doing?

that thing where they latch onto one facet of a character’s personality - or worse, one that fandom made up - and write them as if that’s the only trait they have

25. Do you like one-shots or multi-chapter?

Multi-chapter. I mean both are great obviously but the majority of my faves are multi-chapter and obviously if I like a fic I’m gonna wanna spend as much time in that universe as possible

26. How long do you like chapters to be?

Usually I feel the longer the better. once in a while I’ll hit one that’s so long it’s kind of distracting but extremely rarely

27. What’s your favorite POV (point of view) to read (first, second, third)?

Third

28. What do you think of OC’s?

I didn’t use to care for them very much but as I started reading fic by more advanced writers I found several I really liked. have a very small list of OCs from recent fics I’ve read I would actually kill a man for I love them so much

29. Do you download fic?

No, but seeing as my absolute favorite Bionicle fic vanished off the face of the earth several years ago and I cannot find anything about it an y wh ere sometimes I think about saving my faves. I never got to finish reading that fic and I am absolutely devastated every time I think about it.

30. Tell me something else about your fic reading! Anything else!

best thing is when my friend and I buddy read a fic and send each other our favorite parts

Tag!

@yaelathewordsmith and @samantha-girlscout ♡ ♡ ♡

#Toa does a meme #long post #i didn't forget about this i've just been picking at it ever since u tagged me

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mimzilla · 6 years

Note

What's your opinion on where Killua and Gon stand at the end of the series? Do you think Gon apologized to Killua offscreen/off-panel? (He did say explicitly to Leorio that he should apologize to Killua because he said some rotten things to him). I'm kind of new to hxh but them parting ways really made me sad. Is it fair to have hope that they're ok and will reunite one day?

It’s definitely fair! (This may be a bit semantic, but even if they don’t reunite, you can hope for whatever you like to happen. That’s what fanfiction is for :P). I’m not sure if you’ve finished the series, so I’m just going to work under the assumption that you have :B If you’ve finished the election arc, that’s… pretty much the end right there, so. I’ll keep any references to the current manga arc ambiguous.

tl;dr: Gon’s offscreen apology is fairly ambiguous, as it stands. I don’t think there’s any doubt that he did apologize, but the extent to which he apologized is unclear. I think that because their relationship has been the foundation on which Hunter x Hunter is built for so long, it’s essentially guaranteed they’ll meet again, and when that happens hoooo boy I sure do hope they talk some stuff out because there’s lots of unresolved emotional arcs happening right now, huh.

(Warning for a brief discussion of abuse and unhealthy relationship dynamics)

(Ch. 338, Killua references said offscreen apology. Also, Gon does a second little apology right there and is very cute)

We’re all aware of how much Gon hurt Killua by rejecting him during the palace invasion, so I don’t really feel the need to delve into it. The narration delves into it pretty deep, and here’s some other meta on the subject (there’s 3 links there, to be clear). So it’s fair to say everyone was expecting a dramatic payoff, with emotional confessions and revelations of dark feelings and such… and the above conversation is weirdly dismissive. Their entire parting is strangely disconnected, lacking any of the tension the audience would expect from the parting of two boys who have been together since chapter 6. Because it lacks that tension, it’s paradoxically extremely tense. “What the hell is going on” we all wonder. “Where’s my emotional payoff, Togashi”

Their expressions once they turn their backs on each other, if nothing else, belie the ease with which they say goodbye.

Their parting conversation doesn’t give the impression that they’ve talked about anything much at all. Killua hasn’t explained Nanika’s powers, and probably hasn’t explained the extent to which Illumi will be chasing him and Alluka down; Gon alludes to his sadness, but doesn’t say anything explicitly; they smile and wave and say they’ll meet again, but not when or where or for how long. It’s discomfortingly shallow for two characters who previously have trusted each other with their pain.

Right now the manga is the Leorio & Kurapika show, but I think it’s fair to say that Hunter x Hunter is about Gon and Killua. Well, Gon specifically, but Killua has been the audience’s emotional POV for so long that he’s basically also “the main character”. Both of them have familial ties to the current arc, so there’s a clear way for them to get involved in the plot again, and my god but it would be really weird if this was the last we ever saw of them. I don’t doubt they’re coming back. It’s mostly a question of how long it will be, and what they’ll do before reuniting.

In my book, I’m hoping that “what they’ll do” is “a lot”, because they both seriously need to develop separately from one another. As a coming of age story, HxH is really interesting in that Gon and Killua come of age together, and because of that the conflict between them is all the more world-shattering. They each have questions to answer that they can’t answer while they’re together, or at least not which they’re together and unable to disengage from their intense affection for the other.

What do they want to do?

What does Killua want, now that he’s succeeded in helping Gon achieve his dream? To protect Alluka? What happens once Alluka is safe and ready to make her own way in the world? What does Killua want that doesn’t rely on the presence of someone to whom he can dedicate himself? Who is he when he’s on his own?

Having met his goal of finding Ging, where does Gon go from here? He’s had his adventure and returned home again, but there’s a lifetime ahead of him; who is he if not “Ging’s son”? If not “hunting a Hunter”? Is he going to string together friends and adventures as Ging has, forever chasing something indistinct and out of reach, or find another path for himself?

If they remained together, it would be all too easy for them to settle on saying “I am Gon’s/Killua’s friend”, and fail to come into their own identities. It makes perfect sense for two children facing what Gon and Killua face during the series to latch on to each other, but it isn’t sustainable. As we see.

… It’s always hard to clash with someone you love, to hurt and be hurt. But it can be good in its own way, too, in that it dredges up buried bitterness. A certain amount of conflict and disagreement is healthy, simply because if two people are always, always, always in agreement then it means something is wrong. It means they aren’t communicating properly.

(The pervasive idea that a man and woman in a relationship must always be fighting is a toxic perversion of this, often justifying abuse by saying “well, that’s normal”. I want to make a distinction between having a clash and fighting, particularly constant fighting. Two people who spend a lot of time together will sometimes clash or disagree. That’s just how spending time with someone works. The opposite form of unhealthy relationship is one where one person suppresses all their negative feelings for fear of tainting the affection between them, getting rid of outward conflict but also keeping their partner at arm’s length.)

Gon hurt Killua, we can all agree on that. It also important to acknowledge that Gon lashing out as he did wouldn’t have devastated Killua so much if Killua’s identity was not so firmly based on being “Gon’s friend”. It’s not Killua’s fault, but it is true that he put tons of responsibility on Gon’s shoulders. Ironically, in being so intensely dedicated to protecting Gon and helping Gon, he hurt Gon by making Gon the sole arbiter of Killua’s sense of self-worth - a responsibility no one can bear indefinitely.

Again, it’s not Killua’s fault, in the same way it’s not my fault if I’m sometimes in a miasma of depression and don’t get out of bed until 3:30pm. But it’s… not a good state to be in for anyone.

So… they need some time apart, to say the least. But they’re definitely going to meet again, I have no doubt of that - and I’m right there with you in hoping that they’ll be okay and will be able to find a balanced, happy relationship with one another.

#hxh #hxh meta #ahh... my old hxh meta shoes..... they're very comfy #feels good man #I use the word 'relationship' a few times #to clarify: I mean in the general sense not the shipping sense #tho I do ship it of course I mean who doesn't #Anonymous

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fly-pow-bye · 4 years

Text

ThunderCats Roar - “Mandora - The Evil Chaser”

Co-Executive Producer: Victor Courtright

Supervising Producer: Nate Cash

Producer: Marly Halpern-Graser

Written by: Joan Ford

Teleplay by: Cait Raft

Directed by: George Kaprielian

MAN-DOOO-RAAAAAA!

The episode begins with Snarf and Lion-O catching butterflies in jars. Being the Lord of the ThunderCats, he knows very well that the act of catching butterflies requires the best of stealth, as he perfectly shows off.

Lion-O: Be careful, Snarf! Butterflies scare easy, so we have to be super-duper-duper quiet. (yelling) Ooh, butterflies, HOOOO!

See, the joke is that he's doing the exact opposite of what he said he was going to do. This is going to be a constant through the first half of the episode.

This act of butterfly catching gets interrupted when a huge pod lands on Earth, with voices calling out to pull the lever. Obviously, that must mean they were just scared little voices that just needed his help.

Lion-O: Scary voices, definitely scary voices...

Or, he can acknowledge that the voices are scary. He decides not to open the cage and let out all of the scary voices, and the rest of the episode is about him catching butterflies. No, of course not, the plot wouldn't advance if Lion-O didn't let all of those scary voices out by pulling a lever because those scary voices really wanted him to do that. As one of the space criminals tells him "thanks, hot stuff", he just waves his hand and says "you're welcoooome!" in a sing-song voice despite being literally steamrolled over by one of them.

But hey, maybe it was a mistake, and those people with the scary voices were just nice people that were mistakenly put in a jail cell. One person certainly doesn't agree, as that person makes a dramatic entrance on a flying motorcycle.

As the cool motorcycle person on the cool motorcycle makes a cool motorcycle landing, Lion-O widens his eyes so hard that it becomes 80% of his face. I didn't really want to screenshot that, so here's a screenshot of our titular character-of-the-week: Mandora, the evil chaser, a character from the original cartoon. In fact, this plot is actually a parody of her first episode, also named "Mandora The Evil Chaser", which also features the original Lion-O ignoring obvious danger signs and let loose a bunch of criminals from a prison pod. Being Roar, this is exaggerated for comedic effect, and they decide not to reference "curiosity killed the cat" here.

This exaggeration also applies to Mandora, who was a no-nonsense cop in the original. Roar turns her into a super serious cop with a scowl not too dissimilar to Judge Dredd. As Lion-O criticizes her way of showing her badge with her picture upside down, Mandora makes the correct assumption that this bumbling lion is behind the prison break and arrests him. Snarf brings out his weapons, including a chainsaw, and we can only wonder what would have happened if there wasn't a prime directive against fighting interplanetary cops.

Lion-O tries to defend himself from these accusations by saying he's an evil chaser too, bringing up that fights these guys called the Mutants that are 100% evil. As another space criminal runs out of the jail cell, Lion-O, still handcuffed, hops right on top of him. The criminal does explain that his only crime was tax evasion, and Lion-O considers letting him go because his crime was so minor, but Mandora tells him that getting in the way of streets getting funded.

Despite his unwillingness to capture that crook, his help with capturing that tax evader does convince Mandora that he's on the side of righteousness, though she does consider him an oaf.

Zooming into his very tiny brain reveals that he thinks "oaf" is an acronym for "officially awesome friend", and is overjoyed by the compliment. Mandora then gives him a badge, declaring him a "deputy oaf". She had that badge ready this whole time; it's possible this is a common occurrence for her. Considering the general silliness of everyone not named Tygra in this reboot, that's not too hard to believe.

In order to Mandora to not change her mind on how heroic he is, Lion-O has to prove his status as the deputy oaf by capturing all of those criminals he let free. I would say accidentally, but he called them "scary voices" and let them free anyway.

As Mandora and the oaf zoom past by on her bike, we see Molly Lava, the space criminal that called Lion-O "hot stuff", hiding behind a bush. Other than her possible attraction to Lion-O, which only seems to come up twice in this episode, she just looks like a tiny little rock monster that doesn't seem like much of a threat. This means that most of the episode is going to be about capturing this particular criminal. In fact, all of the other criminals are caught rather easily. How?

With a montage, of course, complete with a song that exposes the might that is Mandora. The action scenes do prove that, with Mandora swatting giant flies with giant flyswatters, zapping lake polluters clean, and fighting people with laser whips. It's pretty cool, and a good contrast to how little Lion-O helps out in this montage.

Sure, Lion-O does help out slightly in a few of the scenes, but for the most part, it's just him looking at Mandora in awe of her abilities and dancing various dances. Yes, this does include doing the Booty Scooty at the camera, but I feel like it's less offensive when he did it than when a certain other group of superheroes did it. For starters, I think Lion-O is supposed to be an adult here. Well, maybe. They could de-retcon that in the future.

After the montage, Mandora does at least show appreciation for Lion-O for making her job marginally easier, and that is actually an accomplishment. Definitely a back-handed compliment, though not an undeserved one, but Lion-O takes it with pride anyway.

Something has to ruin this somehow, and it's not just because he missed that one villain. One of the criminals informs Lion-O that he shouldn't take pride in being called an oaf, and asks him if it even knows what it means. After getting what looks like a Speak N Spell from Snarf, he finds out he's been called an uneducated, clumsy person. It's not wrong, but don't tell Lion-O that.

Mandora finds out she hasn't caught Molly Lava yet, and Lion-O suggests that it would be easy to catch that cute little thing. As anyone could predict, that little cute thing is the worst criminal of them all. It would be even more cliche if she decided to call her "the destroyer of worlds"...which is exactly what she does.

Because of his newfound knowledge of what an oaf is, Lion-O offers that if he captures the cute little thing, maybe Mandora can consider him something that isn't an oaf. As Mandora tries to explain that a deputy oaf couldn't possibly defeat the destroyer of worlds, Lion-O decides to commit grand theft cool motorcycle. But hey, maybe he might be able to capture that small little rock before she leaps into a volcano and become a monster worthy of being called a destroyer of worlds. That could totally make up for that!

Unfortunately for that handsome guy, Molly Lava ends up diving into that volcano. Worst of all, Mandora shows up and realizes what the oaf has indirectly done by not letting her use her own bike.

Lion-O tries to defeat Molly Lava at her full power in, I'm not going to lie, a really impressively animated and creative fight scene. Not only is he trying to show his heroism, he also wants to look good in front of his new idol. I also like the call back to the fight in Exodus, as he repeatedly makes his sword bigger as he realizes he needs more power to defeat her with his strategy of cutting those lava arms off of the lava monster. Sadly, he doesn't seem to realize cutting off Molly Lava's arms isn't doing anything.

Exclaiming himself as Lord of the ThunderCats and King of All Thunderians, Lion-O leaps right at the giant monster's mouth, getting ready to swing his sword right into the monster. Well, something went right into the monster. Or, rather, someone.

It's here where Mandora seemingly has a change of heart on that oaf. Mandora may have only seen him as an oaf, and he pretty much was an oaf, but in her heart, she knew he wasn't lying about being a king. A king that would sacrifice himself for his people, and, while he was a dummy, he was a very brave and apparently regal dummy. A lot of emphasis is put on the king part, as if to soften what is a complete 180 on her character.

She exclaims that she would shed a tear for this sacrifice, but she knows she can't cry when she's on duty. She then takes out her time card and swipes it so that she can go on a break. Or, in this case, a "cry time." Was this really a good time for a joke? Well, anyone could assume Lion-O would still be alive since the show would have to end prematurely, so it's not like we need to take this super seriously. Still, I'd say it works.

To avenge the fallen king, Mandora gets ready to fight, her music playing as if she's about to do something really cool. This all changes when Molly Lava starts getting a big bump on her head, as if someone was coming out from the inside.

Unfortunately for the people who judged this show as horrendous because of that teaser and that Teen Titans Go crossover that the ThunderCats Roar team had nothing to do with, it turns out Lion-O is okay, spinning his sword like a propeller right out of Molly Lava's gigantic lava body, with Molly Lava herself in tow.

In the end, thanks to his bravery, the deputy oaf gets promoted to officer oaf by Mandora. As she slowly walks towards Lion-O and stretches her arms out around Lion-O, he also gets something else, too...

...for grand theft flying motorcycle, hey, I wasn't too far off, he gets a mugshot. Lion-O is still smiling at this, though, because nothing phases him now, not even when Mandora spells his name wrong. One can't forget that all important hyphen.

How does it stack up?

At first, I thought this was going to be yet another Boggy Ben, where the animation is awesome, the music is awesome, but everything else is just "lol Lion-O is stupid" humor. This one also has some great animation and a pretty cool song, and I think the plot works pretty well.

This is as good as Prank Call, and I gave that a 5, so...

Next, Lion-O has to save the ocean.

← Working Grrrl 🐈 Dr. Dometone →

#fpb tcr #thundercats roar #cartoon network #fpb reviews

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bazypitchandsimonsnow · 7 years

Text

Locked Away in a Tower

Rating: T

Genre: Angst and fluff

Word Count: 6576

Summary: Prince Simon of Watford has been kidnapped and guarded by a dragon for a year. Sir Basilton is sick of watching others fail to rescue him. Based on "supernatural kiss" prompt.

Read on AO3

AN: Hoooo boy is this long! Once again, Theo let her fic writing spin out of control. I wrote this in one sitting and murdered my eyeballs but it was worth it. I don't exactly know what supernatural kiss means, so I hope this is correct. Either way it was fun. Enjoy! :D

Everyone knows the story. It’s spread throughout the land.

In the kingdom of Watford, there’s a wizard king named David. He rules his people with an iron fist. Everyone fears his wrath. Though he had made good reforms to the kingdom, he’d hurt many in his way. But his son is another story. Prince Simon was kind where his father harsh. He used his great strength to help others rather than demand respect. He became a knight at only 17, a feat only achieved by one other; The son of the former royal family, Basilton Pitch, his bitter rival in school.

But there were those who wished to hurt King David. At age 20, someone kidnapped the Prince, and locked him away in a distant castle, leaving the King only a map and a note as a means to taunt him. To keep Simon from escaping and prevent brave men from attempting to rescue him, a terrifying dragon was on guard at all times. The kingdom was outraged to lose their beloved prince. Many blamed the Pitch family, claiming they took him because they wanted the kingdom back. But there was no proof. Only rumours and panic.

King David kept the true location of the castle to himself so his enemies would not go after his son. Knight after knight was sent, all returning unsuccessful. It became the impossible quest. The great trial for all knights of Watford. Though the King would not send one of his greatest knights, the only one who matched his perfect son. Me, Sir Basilton, and I’m damn well sick of it.

I yell as I plunge the sword into the practice dummy. I don’t know who I want it to be. King David, for once again refusing my request to be sent out. My father, for being even remotely happy about the Prince’s disappearance. The dragon, for keeping Simon hostage for a year. Simon, for getting himself bloody kidnapped. Myself, for being so bloody useless.

“What did that poor thing ever do to you, Basil?”

I turn to the snide voice. Penelope stands in the doorway, wearing her ridiculously bright coloured clothing to match her hair. Her patchwork cape waves behind her in the breeze. She thinks being a court magician means she has to look as eccentric as possible. As a magician myself, I thoroughly disagree.

“It pissed me off,” I mutter, using my left foot to violently kick off the hole-filled straw man from my blade.

“I didn’t know dummies were capable of causing so much rage.”

I sheath my sword. “What do you want, Bunce?”

She walks towards me. “I’m worried about you, Baz. You haven’t been sleeping again, have you?”

I growl, walking briskly past her into the castle. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh come on, Baz!” She follows behind me. “It doesn’t take magic to see that you’re a complete disaster.”

She’s right. I have bags under my eyes, my hair's a mess from tossing and turning, and I generally look like shit. A year of unending worry certainly does a number on someone.

“I’m just concerned about the kingdom. Without the Prince’s tempering influence, I’m worried King David will go on the warpath.”

“Those aren’t your worries, those are your father’s.”

She’s right again. Mine are more along the lines of “terrified the boy I’m in love with is going to stay locked in a tower for the rest of his life, or get burn to a crisp by a temperamental dragon.” But I haven’t told Bunce that. And I’m going to keep it that way.

I whip around to face her. We’re standing in the stone hallway. My voice is very loud in the empty cavern. “Why are you interrogating me? Have your ideas about Pitches changed? Trying to find out if my family really did kidnap the prince? Going to report back to your King’s Champion brother?” I'm spitting vitriol, like I always do when I'm scared.

Penelope shakes her head, making her purple curls rattle. “No. Just concerned for a friend.”

My resolve softens slightly. Ever since Simon’s disappearance, Bunce and I have gone from enemies to mutual respect to tentative friendship. Despite my outburst, I know she’s one of the few people who truly believes my family has nothing to do with all of this. (She's smart enough to know we've gained nothing from it expect more ire from the Court.) We’re both scared for Simon too. Bonding through fear, I guess.

I reach out to place a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you, Bunce. But I’m perfectly alright.” Just terrified about the safety of the man I love. No problem there. I try to convey with only a look for her not to ask further. I can’t bring myself to say it out loud.

She sighs, knowing to back off. “Alright. To be honest, I’m a mess too. I’ve been pouring over my mother’s books about dragons. All of them say they’re non-violent creatures. They only attack as a last resort. Someone must be controlling it, making it guard Simon and attack knights.”

“So it’s under a spell. Know a way to break it?” Bunce is the most brilliant witch I’ve ever met. If anyone knows, she does.

“Without knowledge of the specific spell, no, definitely not. There’s universal curse breaking stuff, but those are a long shot.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Like what?”

She scoffs and throws me a smirk. “Well, there’s always true love’s kiss. But I don’t think you want to snog a dragon.”

I scoff myself, and start walking down the hallway again. “I would prefer not to have my lips burned off, thank you very much.”

We laugh together and keep moving forward. But my mind is far away. It’s at a desolate castle, where a now 21 year old man with blue eyes and bronze curls is being kept, guarded by a terrifying dragon. I just hope he’s okay.

“We need to launch a large scale assault. My subjects are getting very restless. They're threatening not to pay taxes now!” Lord Wellbelove shouts.

They’re all sitting at the large table in the King’s war room. King David sits at the head, elbows on the table with fingers locked together. His golden circlet is askew, and there are stress wrinkles all over his face. The constant state of panic in the kingdom has not helped to King’s mental or physical health.

“And what, have our entire army burned to the ground?” My father retorts.

“Oh be quiet, Malcolm. You just don’t want your scheme to fail. Everyone knows you stole the prince.”

“And where’s your proof? Because all of you have been accusing me for a year without a shred of evidence.”

“Then why shouldn’t we send the whole army, hm?”

“Because we shouldn’t leave the city unprotected! What if our enemies get word that Watford is unguarded? The vampires will overrun us.”

My father has a point, of course. But since it’s coming from him, they all assume it’s a plot. It’s infuriating. We love this kingdom just as much as they do. Just because we dislike the king doesn’t mean we’ll destroy Watford in the process.

“We’ll send another knight, if you all insist,” the King mutters.

Everyone turns to look at him. His expression is as hard as stone. I resist the urge to jump from my spot at the door and throttle the bastard.

“Who can we send?” Lord Wellbelove says. “Every knight has tried and failed.”

“I haven’t.” I step forward. Everyone turns to look at me. Both Father and King David glare at me for completely different reasons.

“Sir Basilton, what do you mean?” A lord interjects.

“I mean that I have not been sent to try and save Prince Simon. Which baffles me, considering I am one of the best knights.”

Premal, Bunce’s infuriatingly smug brother, steps forward from behind the King. He sneers at me. “The King has been cautious because of the suspicion of you and your family. You and the Prince have never got along, not since you were children. Why would you want to help him? And what if you kill him for revenge? How many times has your aunt accused our ruler of causing the late Queen Natasha’s untimely demise?”

I tighten my grip on my sword handle. My blood is practically boiling. “Do not assume I share my aunt’s views. I serve the kingdom, and rescuing the heir would be in service to the kingdom. So please, allow me to go.”

“I’m not sure that’s wise-” the King starts. But he’s quickly cut off by another lord.

“Why not? Sir Pitch is correct, he’s one of the best knights in Watford.”

Lord Wellbelove stands up. “Also he’s a fire mage, like his mother. I think that would be quite useful against a dragon.”

There are mumbles of agreement among most of them. King David’s lip tightens. He glares at me, but he knows he can’t refuse me now. He sighs angrily.

“Very well. You shall set out tomorrow at first light, Sir Basilton.”

I bow gracefully. “Thank you, your highness.”

The meeting ends shortly after. I receive mixture of nods and glares as they all exit. Father pats my shoulder. As I leave, Premal grabs my arm. His stare would’ve caused weak people to shiver. Luckily, I’m not so easily intimidated by the likes of him.

“If you hurt Simon, I swear to Christ, Pitch, I’ll-”

“Don’t worry, Sir Bunce,” I say, snatching my wrist away from his grip. “I could never hurt him.”

I saddle my horse at dawn. Premal reluctantly gave me a copy of the map. Father wished me luck (he probably thinks a Pitch saving the Crown Prince will help our status). The king merely shook my hand and mumbled good tidings. Mordelia gave me her favourite toy, saying it would protect me. I promised to come back. I hope I don’t have to break that.

“There, all set, Ivory,” I murmured to my stead. “We’ve got a long road ahead.”

“Don’t I get a goodbye, Basilton?”

There’s Bunce again, dressed in ridiculously patterned pyjamas. (All her clothing is terrifying).

“Depends. Are you going to insult me?”

She rolls her eyes. “We always insult each other, it’s our thing.”

I cross my arms with a sly smirk. “Then I don’t need to give a goodbye to a stupidly clothed bespectacled witch.”

She walks to me with her hands on her hips, staring up with a frown. “Well, I don’t need one from a freakishly tall asshole knight.”

We both stare for a bit, then break out into giggles. It takes my mind off the situation for a second. But when we stop, reality sets in. Bunce looks scared. I can’t blame her. She’s lost Simon and I don’t think she wants to lose me either.

She throws her arms around my torso, crushing her face into my breast plate. I make an oomph sound before hugging her in return.

“Find him, please,” she whispers, “and don’t die.”

I stroke her hair. “I will, and I’ll try not to, I promise.”

She pulls back and sticks hand in her robe pocket, pulling out a long white wand. “Take this.”

“Bunce, I have a wand-”

“I know. But you’ll want this one more. I, uh... acquired it from the royal vault. It was Queen Natasha’s.”

My eyes widen. I remember it now; Seeing my mother wave that wand, making fire dance all around the throne room for me. I’d giggle and clap at all the pretty lights. I cautiously take it from Bunce and put in my saddle bag. I clasp her hand one last time.

“Thank you, Penelope.”

She squeezes my palm in return. “Now go bring our boy home.”

I don’t verbally acknowledge what she says, but I know what she means. Of course she’s too smart not to notice what I feel. I nod and mount my horse, riding off into the distance.

I make camp in a forest that night. Ivory is tied to the tree. I lay my pallet out, next to a makeshift fire pit. Cautiously, I take my mother’s wand out of the bag. It’s a gorgeous thing, crafted from fine ivory and covered in swirled carvings, a smooth black leather handle at the thicker end. I point it at the wood pile and barely whisper the spell.

The fire roars to life. I chuckle. Of course it’s a powerful tool, especially in the hands of a fire mage like me. Like my mother was.

I remember the first time I set something on fire with magic. It was in school, in my first class of second year. We were all supposed to light a small twig. I did it without problem. But Simon made the stick explode. His magic was always powerful yet volatile. I thought he was an idiot then, unworthy of being the Crown Prince. Though deep down, I felt my stomach turn at the way he smiled sheepishly and blushed from embarrassment. I miss his smile.

“You better still be alive, you wonderful git,” I mutter.

After a light dinner, I tuck into bed for the night, still worrying as I nod off.

“You absolute idiot!” Simon shouts at me. “You unleashed a chimera?!”

“It wasn’t me! It was already here!” I roar, hoping he’ll believe the lie.

“I don’t have time to argue with you, Pitch. Just pick up your damn sword!”

I growl, but do as he says. We launch ourselves at the beast. Simon’s technique is frantic but effective. He slashes and cuts, spilling the monster’s blood. I try to be more precise, looking for a single weak spot.

“Stop dawdling and just hit it, Baz!” he yells.

“I’m trying to be effective!”

“Well you aren’t help- ah!” The chimera gets him in the side, sending him to the ground. He groans and clutches his head. The beast stops attacking me and goes straight for him. My heart seizes. I just wanted to scare Simon, not actually hurt him. It hits me like a ton of bricks in that moment. I don’t want anyone, including myself, to cause him any harm.

But I don’t have time to sort through my feelings. The chimera gets closer to Simon. I charge at it, burying my blade in it’s neck to the hilt. I pull down and blood spills out of it in one large gush. With a last wet gasp, the beast collapses. Simon blinks rapidly and groans as he sits up. I’m panting, covered in chimera blood.

“You saved me,” he says. For once, he doesn’t look at me like an enemy. His gorgeous blue eyes are wide, pink lips hanging open. He looks admiring and in awe. I realise how much I want him to always look at me like that. But, for someone scared of so little, I’m terrified of what he’d say if I told him.

“Don’t kid yourself, Princeling,” I sneer. “If you died while I was here, your idiot father would most assuredly blame me and my family. I don’t need another reason for him to hate us.”

The look goes away, replaced with a scowl, and my heart breaks. He gets up and starts to walk. “Fuck you, Pitch.”

As I watch his back move farther away, I know one thing to be true. I’m in love with Prince Simon, heir to King David, impossible golden boy, and my sworn enemy. My life is a living hell.

I wake up with a gasp. The sun is rising in the east. The fire has died. My face feels wet. I touch my cheek, and see tears on my fingers. Of course I’m thinking about that day while going off to save Simon. Six years later and it’s still fresh in my mind.

What if I do rescue him? Will I tell him then? The prospect makes my heart stutter.

“No,” I say to myself, “no time for silly feelings.”

Most importantly, I have to save the Crown Prince. Not Simon, the boy with a big heart and an even bigger smile. Because I’m a knight and it’s my sworn duty to protect this kingdom. My stupid undying love comes second to that.

That’s what I’ll keep telling myself.

The castle is enormous. A large crumbling fortress sitting on a cliff side. Crows and ravens caw as they circle it’s tallest tower. I leave Ivory tied up in a nearby wood. I make one last check to make sure that my armour is secure, my sword is at my side, and my mother’s wand is up my sleeve.

“Don’t worry, Simon,” I say, “help is on the way.”

I cautiously walk across the rickety old drawbridge, hand ready on my sword. The only sounds are the birds above. I enter the front door as quietly as possible. The whole room is pitch black. Pulling out the wand, I light a small fire in my hand. It illuminates only the first few feet in front of me. The floor is cracked with vines growing through. No one has truly lived here for ages, obviously. I walk more towards the centre.

“Hello?” I whisper. “Anyone in in here?”

I hear no response. Not a human one anyway.

The growl to my left of me is guttural, certainly animal. I freeze in place. Slowly, I expand the fire as I turn on the spot.

It’s hanging on the wall, Large, scaly, and bright red. I can only see part of it’s face. That long reptilian snout poking out in front of me. It’s lips pull back to show sharp white teeth, barely visible slit pupils narrowing under the firelight.

I back up a bit. “Oh god.”

Smoke pours from it’s nose holes, mouth starting to open. I hear it take in a breath.

“Shit-”

I dive out of the way just as the column of flames shoots out, hitting the ground with a thud. The dragon’s breath lights a series of old torches along the opposite wall. I see the beast more clearly now. It’s bright scarlet with a bit of a metallic bronze sheen. Large bat wings with sharp joint tips extend from its back. A pointed tail slashes back and forth angrily.

I unsheathe my sword and assume battle stance, slipping my wand into my belt. “Come on you overgrown lizard! Give me a real fight!”

The dragon roars, shaking the foundations of the castle. It launches forward with claws bared. I barely dodge the attack. It slides across the floor and growls. It tries to hit me again and again with it's front claws, but I parry each attempt. This beast fights with no technique. Just desperately hoping it’ll get me with a stray slash. But it’s absolutely relentless. I feel my lungs beginning to ache and my arms getting sore.

It backs away. I take a moment to breath, sword falling. The dragon opens it’s mouth, and I see fire building in it’s throat.

I whip out my wand as the fire barrels towards me. When it hits the ivory tip, the flames burst out to surround me. My arm wobbles slightly as I hold the massive amount of fire back. I can’t do this for long. It sucks away too much of my magic and strength.

The onslaught ends. I wave my wand to clear the remaining flames. Just in time to see the monster jumping towards me.

It tackles me to the ground. I hold it’s front talons away from my face with the flat of my sword, using both hands to push with all my might. It’s scaly head turns to stare down at me with one reptilian blue eye.

Wait. I know that blue.

It’s not special. Not navy or cornflower. Just, blue. The same blue I’ve spent years studying and committing to memory.

My voice comes out as a hoarse whisper. “Simon?”

The dragon’s eye expands. It stops pushing against me. Slowly, it lets me sit up. My head is spinning. My heart is pounding. It can’t be, right?

“Simon, is that you?”

Impossibly, the dragon’s face softens. It’s pupils expand and its lips hang a bit open. I fully sit, watching the beast back away slightly. It stares at me with wide, wondering eyes. That only confirms my fears. I’d know that look anywhere.

No wonder the knights before always found a dragon but no prince. They were one and the same.

“Oh god,” I whisper, “it’s really you.”

I go to my knees and drop my sword. The clanking noise rings in the otherwise silent room. I tentatively reach out towards him. He pulls back with a growl.

“It’s alright, Simon. It’s me, Baz. You know who I am.”

He calms down, and walks towards me. I carefully place my hand on his face. He turns into my touch, nuzzling my palm. His scales scrape against my rough hands.

“Who did this to you?”

He whimpers, eyes big and pleading. He looks so sad, so broken. A few tears leak out onto his face. I run my thumb across his cheek, wiping them away as best I can.

“I’m so sorry, Simon,” I say. “Who would do this? To you, of all people?” I hold the other side of his face, cradling it softly. “I wish Bunce were here with her brilliant spells. She’d know what to do. She’d know how to break this awful curse...”

My voice trails away, mind flinging back to only a few days earlier.

“There’s universal curse breaking stuff, but those are a long shot.”

“Like what?”

“Well, there’s always-”

“True love’s kiss,” I whisper.

Simon looks as close to confused as he can manage. I stare at him straight in the eye, clutching his face tighter.

“Simon, for both our sake’s, I hope this works.”

I scrunch my eyes close, hold my breath, and snog a dragon.

His lips (really just the very tip of his huge dragon mouth) are hot and scaly. They’re scratchy against my closed ones. I hold him in place, but he doesn’t really move. He’s completely frozen. Bit by bit, I feel the rough scales dissolve under my touch, replaced with soft skin. His head becomes lighter and smaller, until I’m cupping his jaw. Before I know it, a warm mouth is moving against mine. I tangle my fingers in his rough curly hair. I love the way they feel against my touch. Because they feel like only Simon could.

I pull away, blinking rapidly. There he is, kneeling right in front of me, naked save for a long red cloth bunched around his waist. His tawny skin is covered in filth, bronze curls all matted and tangled, and lids heavy over his tired blue eyes. He looks beautiful. He looks so alive.

“Baz?” he rasps out. "I-is it really you?"

I smile, salt water stinging my eyes. “Yes, Simon. It’s me. You’re safe now.”

“Oh, Baz!” He throws himself around me, burying his face in my shoulder. I feel his tears soak my tunic. One of my arms is tight across his back, the other smoothing his hair.

“It’s okay, it's all okay now,” I murmur into his ear. “It’s going to be okay. It’s all right, love.”

It takes awhile for Simon to calm down. He cries in my embrace on and off for what feels like hours. But when he regains most of his composure, I wrap him in my thick cloak and gently carry him bridal manner. He clings to my neck like he’s scared I’ll vanish if he lets go. I make sure to take my sword and wand as we leave. (Don't want to be defenceless if I have to protect him.)

I go to where I left Ivory. Grabbing my pallet with one hand, I lay it on the ground and place Simon on top. As I pull back, he tugs my sleeve.

“No,” he whines, “please don’t go.”

His voice is so small, like a terrified child’s. I shed my armour quickly. The pallet is not meant for two. But I don’t care. I lay next to him, holding his side with one hand and tangling our legs together.

His face is all scrunched up, like he’s still in pain. There are still some stray tears. I rub them away.

“You’re alright now,” I say softly.

“I was there for so long,” he sobs. “I-I was so scared. I was horrible. I was an animal, a beast, a monster, I-”

“Stop it, Simon. That wasn’t you. That was the curse.”

He opens his eyes slowly with that awe filled expression. “Which you broke.”

I freeze. We’re both magicians. We both know about the power of true love’s kiss, and certainly what it means. There's no point in denying it now. I sigh heavily. “Yes, I did.”

He tentatively brings a hand onto my side. I shiver as he traces me with his fingers. “For how long, Baz?”

I cup his cheek. I can fit most of his face in just one hand. “A long time. Almost since we met.”

He gasps and tenses slightly. But I can feel as he slowly relaxes. He smiles. I’ve really, really missed that smile. He moves closer, tucking his head under my chin. He tentatively kisses my chest, making me shudder.

“Thank you,” he mumbles into my tunic. “F-For finding me, for saving me, for... everything.”

My heart almost beats out of me. I’m overwhelmed with relief and love. I lean down and press my lips to his hair. “You’re welcome, Simon.”

We fall asleep like that, tangled together on the dirty old pallet. And I couldn’t be happier.

Simon wakes up sometime in the afternoon, when the sun is bright in the sky. Saying he was beyond exhausted is an understatement. He sits up with a start, panting and sweaty.

“Baz!” He shouts.

I run over to him. “I’m right here, Simon. It’s okay.”

He grabs my hand and breathes deeply. “I dreamt I was back in the castle. T-That I was still cursed.”

“You’re not cursed. Not anymore. You’re out of there and you’re okay.”

We hear a low grumble. Simon groans and clutches his stomach. I raise an eyebrow. “Hungry?”

He nods vigorously. “Very. I think I only ate birds as a dragon.”

I chuckle and stand up, not letting go of his hand. “I’ll cook something up for us. There’s a stream nearby to the west if you want to wash up, and there are some clean clothes.” I gesture to pile next to the pallet.

He squeezes me once and nods. “Okay.”

His hand slowly falls from mine. I watch over my shoulder as he picks the garments up and walks away. He flashes me one last soft smile.

Simon returns just as I finish cooking the rabbits I’d caught. He rolls up the sleeves on the brown tunic (I am three inches taller). His damp curls stick to his forehead. I watch his mouth water at the sight of the rabbit.

I slide one off the spit and hand it to him. He sits down next to me and bites into it greedily, moaning in delight. I chuckle, just happy to see him like this. It reminds me of our days at school when he’d devour whole plates of sour cherry scones.

“God this is good,” he groans with his mouth full.

“Glad you approve of my mediocre cooking skills,” I reply.

“Well, I’ve just missed food without feathers.”

We both laugh, but quickly fall into awkward silence. I cautiously put my rabbit down.

“Simon, do you know what happened? How you were cursed?”

Simon scowls, fingers digging into the meat of the animal. “It’s one of the few things I do remember clearly.” He puts his meal down, picking at his pants angrily. “It feels like so long ago. I got in a fight with my father. I found out that he wasn’t just harshly taxing the rich, but the townspeople too. I told him it was too much for them. Then it all just, spun out of control. He accused me of undermining him, of trying to usurp his throne. I tried to reason with him but he was beyond it. He put me under a sleeping spell. Next thing I knew, I was in that bloody castle. He told me it was time for me to disappear so he could do his work. Then he, he... changed me.”

I reach out and grab his bicep. He’s shaking so badly. I steady him as best I can. Little by little, the shaking subsides. His head falls onto my shoulder.

“It’s all a bit of a blur after that. I remember the constant urge to attack anyone I saw. Lots of swords and fire and blood. I ran on pure instinct. Sometimes, my consciousness would take over, but only a for a few minutes. Like little glimpses of reality through the haze. It was so awful!”

I wrap my arms around him in a side hug. “I know, I know. But it’s over now. You’re safe. I’ll never let him or anyone else hurt you ever again.”

He grips my forearms. “What I don’t understand is why. Why would he do it?”

“Why else? Control. The people love you, Simon. They’d choose you over him in a heartbeat. He needed you gone in case they decided to rebel and rally around you. But I guess just killing you and saying you vanished wouldn’t have been good enough. So he made it seem like you’d been captured. Panicked over their beloved crown prince being taken by an unknown enemy, the people and nobility would need a strong ruler, like him.”

“But, he sent knights after me.”

I sigh, tracing circles on his shoulder. “Yes, he did. He needed to make it look like he wanted to rescue you, I guess. Maybe he thought we’d all give up after the first few tries, but he underestimated your popularity among the people. The lords never stopped demanding he send knights because their subjects never did.”

He looks up at me, expression filled with astonished hope. “They... never stopped?”

I brush some of his soggy hair away from his eyes. “Never. Neither did I. I asked to go after you all the time. I guess King David knew I was a skilled enough magician to break the curse, so he prevented me for as long as possible.”

He turns so we’re facing each other, caressing my bicep with one hand. “I doubt he thought you’d break the curse like that, though.”

We both break out in giggles. I cradle his soft face, covered in those beautiful freckles and moles. “As did I. Nor did I think you’d feel the same way.” An awful fear bubbles in my stomach. I pull back slightly, hands falling away. “Do- Do you feel the same way? It’s alright if you don’t, I’d understand. I’m not going to force you.”

He shakes his head violently. “No! I mean, yes, I-I do. When I think about it, I have for awhile. I mean, maybe not as long as you. But when I look back, at all the things I thought about you, they were angry, but also admiring. I’ve always admired you, Baz. More than I was supposed to.” He moves to hold my jaw in his warm hands. “I like this, Baz. I like you. I like being near you, knowing that you’re okay. Every time I resurfaced, I thought about how much I missed Watford, and Penny, and especially you. So... yes, I’m pretty sure I feel the same.”

I smile so hard my face nearly splits, moving to grip his shoulders. We lean together until our foreheads are touching. “Thank you for telling me.”

He giggles. “Thank you for saving me.”

We both move forward and kiss for the second time. It’s a thousand times better than before, because it's wanted, not needed. I know how he feels, know that he cares about me. I snake my arms around his back and press him to me. I never want to let him go.

We only separate when the need for air takes over. Simon places his head in the crook my neck, hugging me tightly. “I missed you so much, Baz.”

I stroke his hair, inhaling the scent, smoke and cinnamon. “Me too, Simon. Me too.”

We ride back to Watford as soon as possible. It only takes a day and a half at the speed we go. Simon wears my hood and cape to hide his face as we go through the outer city. He doesn’t need to be swarmed by crowds now. He needs to see someone in particular.

Using the hidden stairway and servant’s passages, we arrive at the doors of the throne room. I can hear people talking inside. Another council meeting. Simon pulls down his hood. He straightens his back and holds his head up high, looking like the powerful royalty he is. He takes a deep, shaky breath. I grab his fingers.

“You don’t have to do this now,” I say.

He squeezes my hand, but nods solemnly. “Yes, I do.”

He lets me go and pushes the double doors open. The room goes silent. Everyone turns to look at Simon. There’s some gasps and a lot of dropped jaws. Father is stunned. Lord Wellbelove seems primed for a heart attack. Bunce stands near the back, grinning ear to ear. And King David looks like he’s seen a ghost.

“S-Simon?” he squeaks.

“Hello father,” Simon says coldly. “We need to talk.”

Simon paces back and forth in our quarters. He’s mumbling to himself, running a hand through his hair repeatedly, the other picking at the hem of his embroidered tunic. His long green robe trails behind him on the dirty floor.

“What if I mess up? What if I get the words wrong?”

I sigh from my spot sitting on our bed, trying to rub off a stray scuff on my new wrist guard. (I just polished it yesterday!) “You won’t. You’ve practised it a hundred times.”

“But I’ll get up there and get tongue tied and the Lords will realise I’m too young and I can’t do this and-”

“Simon!” I stand and grab his wrists, halting him in his tracks. “Stop panicking! You’ll be a wonderful king. You’ve proved that already so many times. The whole court is behind you. Perfect words or no words at all, they will crown you.”

Simon sighs and nods. “I know. I’m just... really scared.”

“And that’s natural, love. But no matter what happens, be assured that your King’s Champion will protect you.” I pat the hilt of my sword. Simon chuckles.

“You can’t use your sword to solve all my problems, Baz.”

I shrug. “Well, I could try kissing them away. Worked six months ago.”

Simon breaks out laughing. I love his laugh. It’s so happy and cheerful. Even after everything he went through. “I think that was a one time thing, love.”

We lean forwards until foreheads tap, fingers intertwining. “You’re going to be great, Simon,” I whisper. “I know it.”

He rubs his nose against mine. “Thank you.”

He kisses me softly. I move my mouth slowly against his. It's long and languid, utterly filled with love. It makes me feel a bit drunk, and very happy. I’ll never get tired of kissing this man. He pulls away but keeps our lips close together.

“I love you, Baz,” he says.

“And I love you, Simon.” I move back so I can look at his beautiful face. “No matter what you are. Prince, wizard, knight, dragon, king. Whatever you are, wherever you are, I’ll always love and be there for you. I swear on my sword.”

He smiles, making his blue gaze sparkle. He grips my hand. “Thank you, darling. I promise the same, you know. To love and protect you from all that would want to hurt you. For the rest of my bloody days. I swear on my throne."

I trace a finger down his jaw to hold his chin. He swipes his thumb over the back of my hand. Though we are not married, and may never be, it's okay. These are as good as any wedding vows. “Thank you, my love.”

There’s a knock on the wooden doors. Simon turns to them. “Enter,” he says.

Bunce pops her head in. She’s in her most subdued formal outfit, a navy robe with stars on it. Very classic wizard. The silver forehead tiara (signifying her position as Head Court Magician) is slightly off kilter in her mound of purple hair.

“It’s showtime, boys.”

Simon takes a deep breath. I hold his hand tightly. He looks at me with a soft smile, speaking under his breath.

“Let’s do this.”

Two members of the King’s Guard push open the throne room double doors. The trumpeters sound their instruments through the grand hall. Everyone stands and turns. We walk forward slowly. Simon is at the front of course. Bunce and I stand behind him, forming a moving triangle. That’s how it’s supposed to be. A king, his champion, and his magician. The three pillars that hold up Watford. I’m so glad to be a part of it, especially for Simon.

Everyone watches us. Father and Aunt Fiona nod to me with subtle smiles. Mordelia waves wildly until Daphne stops her. Lord Wellbelove is grinning, Lady Agatha right next to him. Even Premal, who rejected former King David when he learned of his deception, looks beyond pleased. He trusts Simon to rule well, and he's very proud of his little sister. He wasn’t even mad when I took his job. (I may actually grow to like him.)

We arrive at the throne. Simon walks up the few steps, while Bunce and I stay at the bottom. The royal priest stands there.

“Prince Simon,” he says, “do you come here to take up the throne of Watford?”

“I do.”

“Recite the oath of kings to accept the crown.”

Simon straightens. “I, Prince Simon, do swear to uphold the laws of this land, rule the people kindly, defend it from enemies, and make sure it prospers under my watch. From this day until my dying breath, I promise such.”

I smile slightly. I knew he wouldn’t mess up.

“Kneel before the throne.”

Simon takes one knee, bending his head forward. The priest takes the large gold crown, covered in green and purple gems, from the satin pillow. He slowly places it on his head. It fits like it’s meant to be there. Simon carefully stands, and I see him breath out slowly.

He turns to face the court. I turn as well. My eyes flick to him. He smiles and nod.

“All hail King Simon,” I shout. “Lord Protector and one true ruler of Watford. Long live the King!”

“Long live the King!” Everyone yells back. “Long live the King! Long live the king!”

They erupt into cheers and claps. Simon steps down to my level. I feel his hand slip into mine. He’s grinning so wide. It makes my heart race.

I swore to be by his side no matter what. To love him no matter what. And I certainly meant it.

AN: Got you with that twist there, huh? Yes, I'm very sneaky, I know. Like M. Night Shyamalan before he was shit, haha. Seriously this was so much fun to do. I loved writing it. I really hope you all enjoyed it. I certainly did :) Feel free to request more kiss fics here. Though I have a lot right now so there may be a wait.

PS: I had no idea what Natasha's wand is supposed looked like. I gave my best guess. PPS: This is how I imagined Penny's tiara, except with a green gem in the centre.

#snowbaz #carry on fanfiction #simon snow #baz pitch #penelope bunce #the mage #royalty au #fairytale au #mysnowbazfic

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askguyslikeus · 7 years

Photo

((answering questions under the cut!))

i do actually plan on a little story! nothing too huge ahah but i do want this to be mostly run as an askblog! i might leave yall hints in the tags of important storyish posts but for the most part just sending asks should keep the ball rolling

eastern time zone! i have a weird work schedule and usually get out by 10 am - 1 pm or have weekdays off so my posts are kind off all over the place aha!

legit whatever strikes my fancy TBH haha sometimes i get asks that i love but i cant think of anything for them and i save them for some other time if something stikes my inspo. but usually if i can think of something that has more than one word answer and makes me smile i pick that one! sometimes i even come back to an ask i didnt wanna do cause i RANDOMLY THOUGHT OF A GOOD SCRIPT or somehting hahaha

ahhh i love exploring characters different from myself!! i mean i love writing these awkward boys who use silly lingo cause i too am super awkward and use silly lingo BUT i dont play overwatch or listen to the smiths or wanna major in music theory but i feel like michael would like all these things sooo,,, its been fun exploring new things because i want to know more about them for this blog specifically. i dont want to settle on something being their fav just cause i know about it i guess and im having fun with it

it also is nice to explore thingS ive dealt with myself through these boys in a healthy way using what ive learnt about myself and others. i deal with dependency issues and i always read michael as having them as well? but i didnt deal with them in a healthy manner for a while and ive learnt how to be better about it. and just ,,, being able to help these fictional boys in a way i struggled with is really refreshing and helps me a lot

aaa sorry i mostly just, enjoy exploring issues that i can grow in myself while also trying to get a grasp on these boys if that makes any sense?

at the moment no, i already reached out to a few people to ask them to do asks, and i do have a kinda story i wanna get to so,,, at the moment im all set on guest artists! i might do another round a little later tho!

i have not been intentionally but i have a lot of friends on the spectrum and am all for headcanons for michael and jeremy as well! i base a lot of my scripts and way of speaking and how they deal with situation on how ive seen friends of mine and myself react so!! i myself am not on the spectrum but i can see both jeremy and michael being autistic !! rock on anon

usually around an hour or two since i do multiple panels ahaha but if its one like the michael in the bathroom one or the childhood one i defs spent three or four hours on those bad boys,,,, i chose a very easy to do art style for this blog so i could work on my expressions and scripts and poses and get them done quick without worrying too much about how finished things look and hoo wee go past me cause ,,, i would not have as many posts as i do now slash i PROBs would have gave up 3 asks in hoooo boyyy

ye lol

like,,,, only a month ago woops i saw a cute shippy headcanon and i was like oh wait fuck these boys are cute. then i listened to the musical and was very blindsided by the entire plot omg but!! im glad im here!!

mostly because i wanted u to be able to tell who was talking! soemtimes my handwriting is small or my pic is big so jeremy ans michael will talk like this back to back

i ate a big corndog the other day HE SURE DID why do u sound proud im the one who ate the big corndog IM JUST A SUPPORTIVE BRO

and when they talk like that i needed a way to show who was speaking? aaaa i made theirs contrast the most since they are in the most asks together! as for everyone else i kinda just do whatever im feeling hahaha

i was gunna do something like a winky face or be like maybeee~ but imma just say ye man. i love boyf riends and im workin on a little plot to get these boyos together and happy!

ALSO I DIDNT GET AN ASK ABOUT IT BUt peopl have dmed me their headcanons or post ideas and im going to say it now in bold and caps

I DONT DO ANGST FOR THE SAKE OF ANGST if i end up posting sad things its because its what the boys are feelin in a story line but for the most part this is a happy happy blog. i have a lot of shit going on in my own life and i know some people use their ask blogs or art to draw out their venting and that is very good and healthy usually and i support you! but that isnt my way of coping and this blog will not have angst. dont prompt me for angst homies and stop trying to throw triggers out there to make me make a sad post. there are a lot of good blogs than can fill ur bmc angst needs!!

AND LASTLY CAUSE YE IMMA POST A BUNCH CAUSE THEY MADE ME SMILE :

I am SO OVERHWLEMED AND EMOTIONAL ABOUT ALL THE SUPPORT IVE GOTTEN ON THIS BLOG,,,, i went into this fandom in a really bad place and really lonely and really hating my art and idk it wasnt good but!!! making this blog is helping me grow a lot on my own as an artist but also everyone else enjoying it as much as i am ??? i die every timeee aaaaaa yall what th heckkkkk,,,,,

THANK U SO MUCH EVERYONE I APPRECIATE U ALL A LOT??? im glad ur enjoying my silly askblog idk im emotional im sorry aaa

hope i keep u guys entertained and u enjoy where i take these two!

there were some asks that were sent to me that i plan to answer soon in the form of asks so i didnt answer them but thank u for sending me questions guys!!

#modpost

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ryttu3k · 7 years

Text

Time to attempt to do an Electric gym with no Ground types in a Nuzlocke! Pray for me :D

All the way from Mauville Gym to Lavaridge! Plus, which team member will die?

Alrighty, here’s the plan. Chickweed takes out the part-Steel types. Snowdrop and Daisy go for the pure Electrics. Draining Kiss may not be SE, but it’s also not resisted, and if she gets hit by Electric moves, up goes her sp.atk! Aggie, Milkweed, and Sequoia stay the fuck away :D (Especially the two WATER/FLYING types, yeesh.)

Inwards! Onwards!

Guitarist Kirk leads with Magnemite, level 16. Time for my level 25 Fire/Fighting type, haha. Next is Electrike, level 16. Snowdrop’s Bite is a OHKO! Bless being overlevelled.

Upstairs we go!

Youngster Ben has a single Electrike, level 17. Snowdrop (level 23) again OHKOs it. Nice.

Battle Girl Vivian has... a Meditite, oddly enough? Level 19. Normally I’d use Aggie, but this is an ELECTRIC gym, so gonna get Daisy in in case it does have an Electric - yup, Thunder Punch XD Ooh, that Draining Kiss will be extra painful :D Confusion gets in a bit of damage, another Draining Kiss heals most of it!

Guitarist Shawn leads with Voltorb, level 15. I am... not actually sure how Snowdrop bit it, but it’s a OHKO nonetheless XD Now another Voltorb, level 17. And another OHKO!

Holy shit yes Milkweed you can learn Mega Drain.

Time for Wattson!! Leads with Magnemite, level level 19. Bringing in Chickweed! He takes a Thunder Wave, annoying. Ooooh, Volt Switch, you pain in the arse. Voltorb next. It uses Charge, and Chickweed gets in a Double Kick that takes it out! Nice job! Magnemite back in, ANOTHER Volt Switch, yeah yeah yeah. Now it’s the Magneton, level 21 - right into the Flame Charge ;D Down to the reds, I assume Wattson will now heal up so I’ll do the same! Going for health, those Volt Switches do a fair bit of damage. Chickweed dodges Supersonic, but doesn’t get the Flame Charge out. Oof, this Supersonic hit, but so does Flame Charge! Back down to the reds for Magneton! Another Volt Switch I s2g... and Chickweed hits himself XD;; You know what dude let’s switch Daisy in briefly, haha. She tanks a few Tackles while I see to Chickweed, send him back in in fine form, and Magnemite is down to... 1 HP, Sturdy you dick. Another Thunder Wave then Volt Switch, really? Well that’s okay, Flame Charge just takes out Magneton instead XD Back to Magnemite, and it’s dooown!

That was moderately irritating, but still, done! :D

Also I now have a Gyarados.

Now that I have Rock Smash, to the north! To the desert! Prayer circle for a Trapinch, please please pleeeease...

Whoops, was hoping to avoid the trainers, haha. Picknicker Irene leads with a Plusle, level 16. This would be a lot easier with a Ground-type XD Snowdrop chomps on it. Next is Illumise, this is Chickweed’s! Level 18. Flame Charge eviscerates it.

Dangit! I can’t even get into the earliest parts ;_; Ugh fine into route 112 for plot - hey, Brendan! Free heal and Strength HM, though!

And the route catch is... a Numel XD Okay why not, haha. She shall be named Lithops.

Now for trainers! Camper Larry leads with a level 16 Taillow. Snowdrop is leading, Ice Fang does it. Next is - yikes, Zubat. Daisy can have this one! It’s level 18, Electro Ball takes it out.

Picknicker Carol has a level 19 Gulpin. Snowdrop Bites it, it uses Sludge, and she finishes it off with another Bite.

Hiker Trent leads with a Geodude, level 17. Since both my Water types are also part Flying, let’s stick with Snowdrop’s Ice Fang, haha. Another Geodude! Also level 17. Sturdy you dick. And finally, hold on to your asses, another level 17 Geodude! This time without Sturdy.

Hiker Brice leads with Numel, level 18. Sequoia still doesn’t have any Water moves, so this is Aggie’s! Next is Machop, level 18. Still Aggie’s! ...So I hit Water Pulse instead by accident, but it confused the Machop, and it... punched itself unconscious. That works XD

And now Aggie evolves!! :D

Looks like the Aquas are blocking the cable car? Cave it is, then! Fiery Path, so I can get a new friend! UGH IT’S A GRIMER. Okay, a new box-only Pokemon :| Oh whoops I OHKOed it. What a pity. What a shame.

Back in route 112! And a battle against Street Thug Jaylin, who has a Mightyena! Level 21. Mine’s 25, haha. Anyway, this is Chickweed’s.

And back to route 111? Well, okay! Ace Trainer Wilton leads with Electrike, level 20. Let’s try Daisy! Hmm, Draining Kiss doesn’t do THAT much, but it does at least keep healing the damage from its Quick Attack. Third time’s the charm! Next is BAGON <3 Level 20. Snowdrop’s Ice Fang is a OHKO. Last up is Makuhita, time for Aggie! Level 20. Takes two hits, but it’s down!

HEY IT’S AARUNE. Honestly, I don’t think I’ll do the whole Secret Base thing this time around.

Ayyy rest stop. Alrighty time to pick fights with trainers XD

Backpacker Deon has a Linoone, level 21. You know, Milkweed hasn’t done much in a while? Mud Sport, okay, no problem there XD Odor Sleuth, ditto. Air Cutter gets it down to half, that works. Headbutt does a bit of damage, Air Cutter finishes it off. Nice :)

Oh jeez a Fairy Tale Girl. Fairy Tale Girl Cece has a... Spoink? That’s not a Fairy-type! Snowdrop it is, then, and assume she can tank any Fairy move. ...Or Confuse Ray, you pest. Bite fail XD;; Odor Sleuth does nothing, next Bite goes through! Next up is Mawile. Hooboy, this’ll be risky! Level 19, Chickweed is level 28, hopefully Flame Charge is a OHKO... not quite, oof. Vice Grip, that’s okay!! Next Flame Charge does it!

Ace Trainer Brooke leads with Wingull, level 20. You still have a Wingull? I have a Pelipper! This one is Daisy’s, haha. Next is Roselia, over to Chickweed! God they’re so cute <3 Last is Numel, and that’s Aggie’s!

On to route 113 - hey Brendan. Nearly to town, just a few more trainers! Going to actively avoid the grass until I get the ash bag, actually.

Youngster Neal has a Trapinch! I want one ._. Aggie, uh, OHKOs it. Next is Electrike, Snowdrop can have this one!

Oops. No avoiding this grass XD Ninja Boy Lao! He leads with... Koffing, ew. Oi, no poisoning my birb! Another Koffing next. Okay, Aggie’s in trouble so we’ll switch him out for... let’s try Chickweed. Hey, don’t poison my other birb! >:( ANOTHER Koffing? Okay, Daisy this time! OHKO! No poison for her!

Parasol Lady Madeline has a Numel, level 22. Aggie destroys it. Nice straight-forward one XD

Aww yes Double Team TM. I can use this for maximum annoyance 8D

Youngster Dillon has an Aron! Level 21. Water Pulse from Aggie takes it out nicely. And Sequoia learned Dragon Rage nice.

SNEAKING FOR THE WIN. SKARMORY. He’s level 18 and will be named Edelweiss!

Ninja Boy Lung leads with Nincada, level 18. My, um, my 11-levels-higher Fire type destroys it. Next is Ninjask, level 20. It uses Agility, but Flame Charge - once it hits lmfao - takes it out pretty quick!

Into Fallarbor, and let’s have a look at Edelweiss!

Okay, let’s see. I’ve been hella debating what to do between Aggie and Sequoia, since having both is a little redundant. Aggie makes use of both Fly and Surf, but Sequoia is the one who learns Dive, which is essential. Sequoia also has a better moveset overall (or, at least, will). With Edelweiss, I can use Fly on him, plus I’ll have a Fairy counter with STAB Steel moves, AND a Rock counter, as well as another Ice counter.

Sequoia doesn’t have any Water moves - yet. On the plus side, Surf is coming up at Petalburg Gym. So I think I’m going to keep using Aggie until I hit Lavaridge Gym and Mt Chimney, switch Edelweiss in so he doesn’t get left behind, level-wise, and switch out... Milkweed, who hasn’t really done much at this point. Then, once I finish Petalburg Gym, I’ll let Aggie retire!

Brendan’s here, and so is A Mess? :o

Quick stock-up for healing stuff - QUICK BALLS. GIMME :D

Alrighty, on to route 114! Ayyy Roar TM. Some Swablu just flew overhead I WANT ONE.

Teammates Tyra and Ivy send out Roselia and Azumarill. I love both of those ;_; Hoooo Azumarill is tanky. Think I’ll bring Daisy in, haha. Meanwhile Edel’s Sky Drop murders the Roselia, haha. Electro Ball gets the Azumarill!

Poke Maniac Steve has an Aron, level 23. Water Pulse gets it down to 1 HP, it roars and brings in Edel, it protects and then Edel finishes it!

Probably cheating to use the radar to try and find a Pokemon you want in a Nuzlocke lmfao. Okay fuck it I mostly wanted an Altaria because flying and I have Edel now, let’s just. Dive in XD And it is... Seviper, ew XD;; Off to the box, Rauvolfia!

Aaaand PLOT.

Really, Camper Shane? Really? He leads with Minun, level 20, Snowdrop can take this one. Next is Volbeat, level 20. Chickweed cooks it.

Kindler Bernie - seriously I’m trying to stop a kidnapping here - leads with Slugma, level 20. Aggie’s turn! Next is Wingull, level 22. Daisy takes this one!

Ahhhhh. Hiker Lucas leads with Geodude, level 22. How come Brendan didn’t get held up by these guys? Snowdrop takes it. Next is another Geodude, level 20. Snowdrop tanks a Magnitude and takes it out.

Okay I s2g... Hiker Lenny has a single Machop, level 23, Edel’s still underlevelled so Aggie can take this one.

OKAY. FINALLY. METEOR FALLS. God this place is so pretty.

SHELLY <3 Brendan, ‘jerks’ is a bit mild, haha. He and Atsuko look so DETERMINED. Leading with Mightyena and Grimer, I have Sequoia leading and Brendan has Shroomish. Chickweed, I think, will do better here! Oof, Swaggered, and Shroomish is now poisoned. Double Kick takes out Mightyena, though! Yeah, Shroomishh is dead XD Brendan sends out Marshtomp, Shelly sends out Carvanha. This is Daisy’s! ...Oh never mind Marshtomp killed it XD Dangit, Mud Shot got disabled, WE REALLY COULD HAVE USED THAT ON GRIMER, BRENDAN... Well, let’s try Electro Ball - hey, and it’s down!

Hey, it’s Maxie! Wow Maxie chill a bit. Okay, guess it’s off to Mount Chimney, huh? And a Smack Down TM! Hell, you know what? I will take that free trip to Mauville! A heal up, and then to Mount Chimney! Cable car is free this time!

Oh hey, an Aqua grunt that’s not already facing a Magma XD Leads with Poochyena, level 22. I’ve already put Daisy at the front, she can Draining Kiss it! Ew, Grimer next. Uh, Chickweed. Ayyy OHKO!

SHELLY <3 Big mood tbh. She leads with Grimer, level 24. Flame Charge only does like half, dang. Oof, a Ground move. Chickweed tanks it, Flame Charge finishes it! Next is Carvanha, level 24. Electro Ball OHKO!

HI ARCHIE YOU’RE SO COOL. FIGHT ME. Mightyena first, level 25. Daisy gives him a smooch. Ooh, only half damage, huh. Swagger, annoying. Another Draining Kiss does it! Sharpedo! Level 27. ...Oh fuck Daisy is fucking dead. Swagger damage then Assurance. Heck. Um. Dark/Water, I have a Fighting/Fire type that would be quite a bit slower than a fully-evolved Sharpedo. Fighting, Bug, Grass, Electric, Fairy. I now have none of those lmfao. I am going to try... Aggie. Wing Attack at least hits for neutral damage. Another Swagger, Wing Attack into reds, cannot risk Confusion damage so a quick switch to Edel, he copes with Assurance, another Swagger, hits himself dammit, okay back to Aggie, another Assurance then Screech, nothing, Wing Attack finishes it! Next is Golbat, switch to Snowdrop, take it out with Ice Fang - no, into the reds. Confuse Ray I AM SICK OF CONFUSION. But she gets another Ice Fang in and it’s OVER.

RIP, Daisy.

Got the meteorite, at least! But like... dang XD;;

Welp, on to Jagged Pass and then Lavaridge, haha. Oh, didn’t end up catching any there. Okay XD So I can still catch someone at Jagged Pass later!

Into town, RIP Daisy, and I’ll bring back... Milkweed, for now. Will leave it at that for now!

Current Team

Reserves

Dead

Catnip the Skitty, found route 116, killed by Lass Janice’s Marill in route 116

Daisy the Pikachu, found Slateport City, killed by Archie’s Sharpedo at Mount Chimney

#atsuko's adventure

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kyuu-rereads-umineko · 7 years

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Ep6, Chapter 2 (Part 2)

In which Battler gets a rude awakening, and Ange and Ikuko drop anvils on our heads.

When we last left off, Battler was making a beeline towards... Um, Meta-Kuwadorian, I guess? To meet with Beato.

hoooo god. Kumasawa is there, and greets him with, “Welcome, Master. Beatrice-sama is waiting for you. This way, please...”

The narrative is pretty obviously set up to parallel Battler/Beato with Kinzo/Kuwa-Beato, I’m aware of that, but oh god is Kumasawa’s greeting loaded as hell in hindsight.

“This place was a villa set aside for Beatrice’s use. It was a sacred site for her only, built so that she could spend her days without being affected by the outside world.”

Battler reflects on how glad he is that Beato was revived and “everything’s okay,” and I’m actually starting to feel a bit nauseous here good lord

“The dining hall [...] existed so that they could enjoy some black tea while discussing the truth, now that he had finally reached all of it.” As much as the Kinzo parallel throughout this scene is making me sick, the prospect of Beato and Battler talking things over once he figures things out is an appealing one.

oh goooooooooooood. Battler asks how Beato’s doing (and if she’s the “same as usual,” critically), and Kumasawa replies, “Oh yes, she is in very high spirits now. She has been waiting for you all this time, Master.” She doesn’t actually say anything to suggest Beato’s different somehow...

I think I need to adjust my thinking here a bit. On a logical level, I was fully aware of how Genji, Kumasawa, and Nanjo had a hand in Kinzo’s treatment of Kuwa-Beato (and how much of a role they played in Yasu’s downward spiral), but on an emotional level, I don’t think it really sank in until now, assuming this is indicative of how they responded to the situation in the real world as well.

I don’t know why this is making me feel so strongly now of all times, given that I’ve been well aware for a long time that everyone on the island had their own part to play in bringing about the tragedy, but... Eugh. I’ll be damned if Kumasawa’s behaviour here isn’t leaving a horrid taste in my mouth for whatever reason.

Anyways. Battler enters the dining hall, to find Beato... who bows to him. uh oh

She thanks him for “giving me this form,” and Battler, being Battler, breaks down into tears. okay who am i kidding i 100% teared up the first time i read this scene because i was relieved to see she was back

Poor Battler’s so caught up in his own emotions he doesn’t even realize at first that Beato’s demure behaviour isn’t an act she’s putting on...

He apologizes to her, and she replies that he has nothing to apologize for, calling him “Father” in the process. The music fades out almost immediately. hoo boy

“Beatrice was born for your sake, Father.” In hindsight, the way Ep6 handles this concept - that Beato exists “for Battler” - is something I feel very meh about. Thinking back on it in general, I suppose Ep6 is probably one of my least favourite episodes of the bunch - Erika feels like she’s overstayed her welcome (barring her death at the end, that scene was amazing and no not just because she died), the attempt at making her sympathetic falls flat on its face, the whole Greek Chorus thing with Featherine and Ange is kinda... weird (I do enjoy it, but something about it feels very strange, even beyond the whole meta in your meta in your meta shenanigans), Ep7 goes on to handle the question of “who does Beato exist for, if anyone,” much more gracefully than this (It’s still interesting to see the different halfs of Beato playing off each other, and I think it’s an important clue as to the nature of Beato as we know her and as a facet of Yasu, but it just doesn’t really feel... “right,” to me?), and to top it off, it goes on and on. I felt like Ep5 was stretching it with just the first twilight plus Hideyoshi as far as murders went, but Ep6 doesn’t even get past the first twilight. I mean, sure, a lot of the plot’s taking place in the Meta-World now, but still - seeing as Battler spends like 60% of the episode in a coma, it doesn’t really work for me.

BOY I’M GETTING SIDETRACKED A LOT HUH

Anyways! Battler asks Beato to stop being so polite and to talk how she normally does, and she’s completely clueless... Battler changes the topic to the food on the table, she replies that she wanted to prepare a “modest reward” for him completing the 6th game, and... Kumasawa interjects, still without explaining the situation to Battler. Sh-she does actually know what’s going on here, what Battler was expecting, right...?

Battler confronts her, and she gets flustered. Beato, meanwhile, gets ready to pop open a bottle of champagne, saying, “In the hopes that you will prove victorious over your longtime rival, Furudo Erika...” and Battler promptly loses it, scattering things everywhere. “Who... are you...?”

Oooh. I’d forgotten that when Beato replies, she uses “watashi” instead of “warawa”. Not that it doesn’t make sense, or that it’s a surprise, but it’s interesting in hindsight, given that the use of “watashi” in Ep4′s Tea Party was one of the biggest clues in the first half of the series to Yasu’s existence.

At any rate, when she repeats that she was “born for Battler’s sake,” he snaps and shouts at Genji (in another layer of meta? man i don’t even know anymore) to explain what’s going on. When Genji informs him that she truly is Beato, he states that she’s “totally wrong, a fake.” O-ouch...

It’s quite easy to read Battler’s denial here as similar to Kinzo’s (likely) reaction to Kuwa-Beato in the real world... which, granted, is the point, but still!

Again, for some reason (maybe her closeness to Yasu while she was a servant? shruuug), Kumasawa’s responses to Battler rub me the wrong way a lot more than Genji’s do, saying that Beato “was only born a short while ago” and that it’d “be cruel to expect her to act as she once did so soon.”

“The old Beatrice-sama had lived for a thousand years... This Beatrice-sama, on the other hand, was only born a short while ago...! If she appears to be a different person, well, that just can’t be helped...!”

Battler asks if that means he has to wait a thousand years for her to become the same Beato we all know and love, and Kumasawa says that someone’s personality is determined by more than just their birth. Cut to Ange and Tohya!

“Even if you had two of the exact same person, they could change enormously depending on their upbringing.” dot dot dot

“Even though they might be the same human to start with, their upbringing could change them so much they effectively become two different people.” dot dot dot

Ooh, I’d forgotten that this line is dropped so earlier - Tohya/Ikuko makes a comment about how the term “person” relates to “personalities,” and Ange thinks, “If a personality is what makes a person a person in our eyes, you could probably say that a second personality represents a different person entirely, even if it inhabits the same flesh body.”

In hindsight, this line is something else I feel kinda lukewarm about. I mean, it’s a pretty obvious “HEY READERS ARE YOU LISTENING,” thing, but good grief is it ever beating you over the head with the whole “SHANNON AND KANON ARE THE SAME PERSON” thing. Not very subtle at all, really...

“...It seems you’re quite a skilled reader... For most of my readers, it would be necessary to spend several hundred pages to explain how a single person can become different people depending on their upbringing and time.” LOL

And Ange fires back with, “Don’t underestimate your readers. We aren’t just reading. We read... and we think.” I wonder if we’re seeing a bit of Ryukishi’s internal frustration surfacing here?

That’s not a jab at him, for the record. Given Umineko’s underlying theme of making an effort to think about other people and understand them, I’d be frustrated to have readers dismissing it as impossible or what-have-you as well.

“If I make a hundred people read it, only 90 people will actually be able to. However, only 50 will actually understand what it means. And not even 20 will actually think beyond that... And all I ask is that they think it over a bit.” Hmm. Interesting echo on Yasu’s desires, huh... That even if a thousand people should read her tale, as long as just one person understands, that’s all she wants...

Ange observes that Ikuko’s forgery has the same “scent” as the message bottles, which is likely why the Witch Hunters became so interested in her to begin with. Well, that makes sense, given that her forgeries were written by someone who was actually there!

“...Why does her tale have the same scent as Beatrice’s, I wonder...? Is it because... she actually has reached the truth, as she claims? Does this mean that anyone who knows the truth could create an endless number of message bottles? Is that what the catbox world is like...?”

With Ange’s determination to find “a hint of the truth from within this story” so she can bring an end to the catbox, we cut back to Battler... showing the 6th game to a Beato piece.

After having a very one-sided conversation, he snaps again. Poor guy...

“You created many kinds of furniture, as well as several tales in the past... When I saw that, I was sure... you were having a great time doing it, but that’s wrong. You were... unbelievably lonely.” Oh, Yasu...

Battler acknowledges that chick!Beato is alive, and the Beatrice he knew as she was a thousand years ago, but the fact that she looks identical to Beato is what causes him grief. While there’s no doubt that Battler’s arc in Ep6 is very deliberately mirroring Kinzo’s arc with Bice’s death and Kuwadorian Beatrice, I feel like there’s a critical difference starting to surface here - where Kinzo was unable to emotionally accept that Kuwa-Beato was actually his daughter, until after it was too late for him to try atoning for his sins (whether or not he actually could is up for debate, but), Battler eventually does, at least outwardly. Even when chick!Beato regains her memories, he still seems to accept that the Beato he knew is gone, as shown in the funeral at the start of Ep7.

I suppose whether or not that’s a good thing, given that he still treats chick!Beato exactly the same as the old Beato come Ep8, is up in the air, but...

#kyuutext #umineko #umineko no naku koro ni chiru #dawn of the golden witch

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dapperfvck-arc · 7 years

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How do you run your blog?

Repost; Do Not Reblog

Speed: It really depends. Usually I’ll get to a thread within a week or two at the longest. Given that have several partners that I talk to and plot with daily/weekly, we generate a lot of new ideas frequently and when something takes awhile, it usually got buried by under a crust of new threads and occasional meme prompt ask. My drafts box is like an archeological site, I swear. Sometimes I do have trouble with inspiration for a reply, but usually it’s just a matter of getting wrapped up with my little circle of friends and co-writers.

A side note, during my working week, my productivity slows to a crawl. I’m usually better off in Skype or tumblr IM and may get to a thread or two either before or after work if I’m just not in lurk/shit post mode until I pass out.

Replies: Aesthetically I use extremely light formatting. The first word always bolded and italicized and default size with all other text smaller. I also bold the quotation marks in dialogue because it looks hella cool on my blog proper given that I have bolded/italicized text is a different colour than the rest of the text. It also looks classy af on the dash. Icons for either FC depending on verse or comic caps are used until it gets to nsfw stuff or with some drabble prompts. As for preferences, I’m really quite flexible. Honestly, tho, I’m a multi-para whore and with most threads, eventually they start to get longer and longer. However, unless I can’t parse my muse’s thoughts on a matter or situation, I won’t go in hard and fast on a one-liner or small single para. Unless you’re one of my people, but then again, you prolly already have experience being slapped with my throbbing multi-para hard-on.

I don’t expect people to match me, and sometimes I may struggle to match length, as well, but I do like to see an attempt. Like if I give you a four para starter, I would prefer not to get a two sentence reply back (some of you are shaking your head, but this actually happened to me in my halcyon days in the community).

Starters: I don’t do greeters, because idk, for me it feels like when a teacher called on you because you weren’t paying attention. Nearly every time I’ve gotten a greeter, I’m unprepared and feel quite suddenly pressed. The RPC is already a ball of anxiety 85% of the time and I don’t want to add to anyone’s discomfort, providing I’m not the only crazy person who reacts to getting a greeter like a distant gunshot. Depending on how clogged my drafts box is and how busy I am, I probably post a starter call every couple weeks and open starters very rarely because like, idk, no one ever hops on them, so I don’t really feel like they’re welcome. In the case of the latter, I only ask that people read the tags. Some open starters are meant for mutuals, particularly ones with some established interaction.

Unless they’re plotted starters (or replies to longer ask box meme responses that I wanted to turn into a thread), they usually start short and often vague. Please don’t keep it vague. It drives me nuts. I want you to present an idea, go out on a limb, whatever (I mean within reason of course, use your common sense, too).

Inbox: It’s a mess, tbqh. A lot of times I mindlessly reblog or queue memes, especially at work or when I’m out and about on mobile, and then don’t feel like doing them or get excited over certain prompts over others. I will say that I keep things in my inbox for a very long time and might get to replying to prompt weeks to months later. Frequently I will draft ones that I know will be long.

Selectivity: Hoooo boy. I’m pretty fucking selective tbh. I like my partners to be literate and of course be able to enjoy their portrayal/character. That’s not to say I’m not open to meeting new people and interacting with new muses. I don’t need to know your muse extensively to RP with you, but I’m also perfectly willing to educate myself (I’m not going to front, I was compelled to watch both Daredevil and Preacher for the sake of character/canon research, as well as starting to read Lucifer). Also, I mostly RP with mutuals, but again, that doesn’t mean I’m not willing to discover new mutuals, you feel me?

Sometimes when my stress levels are high or I’m drowning in drafts, I tend to be a bit more standoffish and stick to “my people”, however this doesn’t last for long and may be broken by a compelling enough new interaction.

Wishlist item: *pounds table aggressively* CONSTANTINE FAM! AND I SUPPOSE THIS IS REALLY SELFISH BUT I WANT A CHERYL OR GEMMA RP BLOG IN MY LIFE. AND IDEK MAYBE HAVING A CHERYL BLOG WOULD BE BORING AS SHIT, BUT A GEMMA??? SURELY TO FUCK SOMETHING FASCINATING COULD BE DONE WITH HER. Also: CHAS! ELLIE! HELL BLAZER CANON CHARACTERS PLS.

ahem.

Anyway, idk, I really don’t have a wishlist? I mean, there are certain themes I’m keen to explore. Like my mythological bent to John, and developing certain verses, but like...all things considered I’m just more interested in world and relationship building than ticking off a wishlist of AUs or situations I want to see played out.

Honest note: I’m fiercely independent, and I don’t put up with bullshit. Honestly, I don’t have much tolerance for drama and the easiest way to push me away is pull me into a vortex of social or interpersonal drama. Been there, done that, and honestly I can be a bit skittish if I start getting a weird vibe. I’m coming up on five years RPing on tumblr and there’s not a lot that shocks me anymore.

A few more admissions:

-- I love writing ships. When I wrote fanfic, it was 95% shippy stuff. That doesn’t mean it’s all about romance, fluff, and sex, sometimes it’s just how two muses relate to each other or a glimpse into their lives together, but I know my strengths and tend to default to them. This doesn’t mean I’m out to collect lovers for John or am not willing to step out my comfort zone, just that there’s going to be a lot of that stuff here.

-- If we talk ooc, there’s a 100% more possibility that you’re going to get more attention from me both ic and ooc. It’s just a matter of comfort level. Though I might seem together and confident, it’s only really in regard to my writing. I’m intimidated by people who are so much better at being witty and fun and silly on tumblr and chatty about their characters and fandom outside of the constraint of meme prompts or whatever. I guess I’m just afraid of boring people or having followers roll their eyes like “omg Iggy stfu. Don’t you have twenty-odd replies? Chop, chop you anal retentive bitch.” Mind, no one’s actually said this to me, I just have dodgy self-esteem, honestly, and some days are worse than others.

-- If I tell you I think you’re a good writer, I mean it. This is important.

-- If I tell you I’m worried about the quality of a reply I gave you, I’m not fishing for compliments, I’m legitimately uncertain that you’ll like it. Just fyi.

-- I’m bad at writing m/f ships in any expedient manner. I have no good excuse for this other than being queer trash that would rather write about men being in love and lust. And uh, that’s not a good excuse at all. I’m just the literal worst and I’m sorry I come off as not inclusive enough. Honestly, I’m trying to be better about this deep failing of mine.

-- I apologize a lot for things I shouldn’t. Sorry lol

Tagged by: @vamptrampbamf

Tagging: @dcviltongued, @aliasinvestigate, @hittcr, @haharlarious, @riskedfalling, @hawkwxrd, @rageinmybones

#w ow this got real ahhgdhtghd

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justastormie · 7 years

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I’m doing two, because I can.

Ancient Historical meme from my drafts;

First things first: What’s their name and when and where did they live? If there are any/ you have one, add your favourite picture of them.

Erwin Johannes Eugene Rommel (1891-1944), Germany, lived around Württemberg for most of his life, the occasional world war aside. Of historical note for being a masterful tactician, writing an important book of military theory about wwi and commanding the german forces in the north african campaign of wwii.

Napoleon (1769-1821), France technically but had a great deal of fun on camping trips all over Europe. Of historical note for one-uping Alexander the Great. Created landmark legal, military and social organizations. List of fuckups is longer than most people’s list of accomplishments. One of the most enduring military and political legends of the modern era. Bees.

1. How and when did you first hear about them?

Rommel- I honestly can’t remember. My father is a wwii nut so i was raised on the stuff. I got serious in my interest of him about 12/13 when I first read the collection of his papers translated into English.

Napoleon- fourth grade (about ten years old). We had a section of world history, dismal though it was. In one of the little “fun facts” thing they had a tiny little box describing Nap’s return from Elba with an itty-bitty reproduction of Steben’s Returned From Elba. I thought that sounded like the most badass thing I had ever heard, and was also a little in disbelief because surely someone can’t just walk back and reclaim their kingdom. Like, that shit didn’t happen in real life. So I bought my first biography to find out the real story.

2. What do you like most about them?

Rommel

he tempered his ambition and leadership with compassion and a fierce sense of honor

genuinely seems to have been a nice dude

he and his wife are cute as fuck

was later cute as fuck about his son Manfred

was incredibly clever

was a peach eating lunatic adventurer masquerading as a srs prussian soldier

he was a romantic both in the age of chivalry sense and the modern sense

Napoleon

SUCH A BADASS, oh my god

was an over-invested mono-maniac at all times, which I can related to

incredibly capable in many fields

i have been napoleon and josephine trash since day one

crowning himself. i just love that moment.

was really smart. on a ‘holy shit’ level. (even if he did some massively stupid shit sometimes)

meritocratic promotion structures

hamilton WISHES he were this non-stop.

never gave up, never gave in. even on st. helena he started dedicated his energies to preserving his legend and legacy, to great effect.

3. Is there anything about them that makes you angry or that you don’t like at all?

Rommel

literally worked for nazis

pretty sexist

there’s a lot i disagree with him about, but very few things that make me truly pissed off. ie he was of the period opinion that military men shouldn’t be involved in politics, as he thought that would mean the military as an organization would start defining germany’s political future which would turn into military rule and he was catagorically against that. which i think is both wrong and allowed him, and others in the german army, to disclaim responsibility for political shit they didn’t agree with that was being done by their government. but i can absolutely see where he was coming from, and i think his concerns were reasonable and legitimate.

so yeah. a lot of disagreements, but very few things that just piss me off.

Napoleon

w h e r e d o I b e g i n

allowed his obsession with legend and conquest overwhelm his moral values

sold his honor and his moral principles in order to maintain power

frequently only took into account the human cost of warfare way too fucking late

rampant misogyny

really fucked over Junot

really fucked over tons and tons of people who were loyal to him, from close friends to the soldiers who followed him

got a truly staggering number of people killed on account of his own short-sighted obsessions

to paraphrase the old tv show Wiseguy, You don’t get to shove people around just because your fire burns brighter, no matter how brilliant that fire is.

never gave up, never gave in. even when he fucking should have, looking at you reasonable peace terms of 1813.

4. If you had one day with them in our present time - what would you do together?

Rommel - Aviation museum, he’d absolutely love it. I’d get him to pick some German place to eat and interrogate him ruthlessly about what inter-war rural Germany was like.

Napoleon- Smack him repeatedly in the face for invading Spain Walk and talk. Have him show me around Paris and have a debate over legal systems. Nerd out over Ossain. Show him a modern bookstore. Let him see how much of his work has survived into the present day. Shove him into at least one shrubbery.

5. What would you like to talk about with them?

Rommel - Engineering, aviation, dogs and funny army stories

Napoleon- All of the things. I can only imagine the conversation would be a pinball game of madness as to topics covered. And okay. I’d have to ask about Waterloo. I’d be that person. I don’t think he’d do it, but I’d love to hear him talk about Corsica.

6. In which way do you identify most with them or a figure they created?

Rommel - He was an intensely practical man who tried very hard to do the right thing and frequently failed. I hope that one day I’ll have the strength of character to try to rectify my mistakes as he did his.

Napoleon - I too am an over-invested, bossy weirdo.

7. Thoughts about their death? E.g.:Was it too early, was it deserved, woud you have tried to prevent it and how?

Rommel- oh god TOO EARLY, UNDESERVED, that poor brave bastard. I mean the fact that he was murdered because of his role in a plot to overthrow hitler and make peace with the allies is reason enough. would have definitely tried to prevent it, but would need like. the a-team to stop it. because you’d have to rescue not only rommel but his family that was being used as leverage against him. unless you’re allowed to go really far back and then i’d just start slapping the shit out of everyone at the versailles peace conference.

Napoleon - hoooo boy. uuuuuuuh. i mean. do i like it how he died? no. does that dislike come from a rational place? ...nooo. best case scenario for me would be he gets shot before the last charge of waterloo. hell if i had my way i’d go back and convince him what REALLY needed done was him personally leading the imperial guard up the hill. heroic, dramatic death and historians get to fight over wellsley actually beat napoleon for the rest of forever. europe also gets a break from napoleonic insanity. which doesn’t happen if napoleon gets to live. once more if you’re allowed further back, i slap the shit out of him before he invades Spain and point out that Ireland is lovely this time of year (it’d still be a clusterfuck, but less of one).

8. Is there a book or movie etc. you would recommend to someone who’s new to the person and would like to learn more about them?

Rommel - The Rommel Papers is a good place to start, there are frequent letters to his wife but the content is primarily military.

Napoleon - Shannon Selin’s website and book. The book is fiction but she is the lord our god in this fandom for her mad research skills. She provides sources for everything, which makes her the perfect jumping off point. (Now if I can just convince her that what she REALLY needs to do is write another book starring josephine)

9. What can we learn from them?

Rommel - when in doubt, bluff like a motherfucker right action is not a mystical, obvious thing at all times, we must do what we believe is right to the best of our abilities while being willing to let compassion guide us onto different paths.

Napoleon -

human beings are capable of astonishing intellectual and physical feats, and the best of our stories can still be written, they are not confined to antiquity.

find friends who will support your goals and then listen to their good advice even when it challenges your ego.

if loud, bossy weirdos can find devoted friends and romantic partners than we’ve got a pretty good shot too.

don’t invade spain

propaganda is half the battle

love, in all its forms, is a resilient motherfucker

don’t interrupt your enemy when he’s making a mistake

strive to be so badass that hundreds of years later, the historical fiction that is all about fighting you has their characters become complete fanboys any time you actually show up (ft. Richard Sharpe in Down With The Tyrant But OMG Harper Look It’s Napoleon *SWOON*, hon. mention also goes to William “Why Aren’t I French” Laurence).

a willingness to take charge is half the battle for power

bees are a cute fashion accessory and go with anything

10. Would you want to be friends with them if they were still alive?

Rommel - I think he’d be a good Dad Friend to have. Someone to ask for advice and go to reenactments with. A good person for moral/personal advice even if their political/social views are outdated. Definite bonding over dogs.

Napoleon - Would entirely depend on how we met. I feel like we’re similar enough on a personal level that it’d be very easy for our personalities to clash, and we’d have to declare ourselves mortal enemies and neither of us would back down from that because what is admitting you might have been hasty. Or, if fate were kind, we’d get on splendidly with constant low levels of dry sarcasm and prank wars. There would also be lots of emotions everywhere, at all times. People would hide. I have to admit I’d still stab somebody if it meant I got to be a Marshal.

11. The most powerful quote by or about them?

Rommel - have short one and a long one

"We have a very daring and skillful opponent against us, and, may I say across the havoc of war, a great general."

- Winston Churchill during 1942. During the fucking war. I mean damn, it doesn’t get better. Though since this is easily the most famous quote about him, have a personal favorite;

“Living legends, they project, each in his way, the classic image of a the warrior: brave, vigorous, sharp of eye and mind, rapid in decision, alert in danger, faster and bolder in the fight than his enemies. of this extraordinary brotherhood is Rommel-the brotherhood of Hector, of Rupert of the Rhine, of those who can only be described as heroes; and it is curious that so determinedly practical a modernist as Rommel-the least fanciful of men- should have joined a company so bonded by myth.”

-David Fraser from Knight’s Cross: A Live of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel

Napoleon -

All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others

i mean;

History is a set of lies agreed upon.

- Napoleon at some point, i’m not sure. But i’ve always loved it and found it apt.

#stormie cares about dead people #and blathers on #i'm cleaning out my drafts

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