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evasive-anon · 3 months

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Jason Attacking Tim at Titans Tower

Fanon vs Canon

We've all seen the versions in fanfiction but I'm not so sure everyone's seen the original so if you're one of those batfam fans who doesn't want to read the comics (regardless of reasons) but you are curious about how it actually went this is for you.

What I'm addressing:

What does Jason actually say to Tim during the attack?

Did Jason drug all the other Titans?

Did Jason really wear a Robin costume?

Did Jason slit Tim's throat or call him replacement?

Did Jason actually break Tim's bo staff?

Was Tim crying or scared?

Did Jason write a message on the wall in Tim's blood?

Did Jason's eyes glow green?/Did he follow pit rage mechanics?

Panels and details below. This is a LONG one.

What did Jason actually say to Tim during the attack?

Dialogue in fanfiction during the Titans Tower attack varies based on what kind of fic you're reading but usually its either 'time to clip Replacement's wings' if its staying a beatdown whump 'or oh no precious lil bby why is no one watching you' if its an accidental child acquisition. Not judging either option, but this ain't about them its about the real shit.

Look at these opening lines:

Hey, Tim. I was here first.You're the Red Hood. You've been cleaning up Gotham the easy way. Easy? What do you know about easy, Tim? You had a father that looked after you. You went to a private school, right? You slept in a bed. I slept on the streets, I lived in the alleyways in Gotham. Trying to survive. Until Bruce took me in. I trained as hard as I could. I did whatever he asked. . . at least at first. But it didn't matter. They said I wasn't tough enough to be robin. But today, they say you are. Show me, Tim. Show me what you have that I didn't.

Jason really puts himself out there in all of his dialogue in this encounter, the struggle of having to fight for anything and everything he got in life, even the things that came to everyone else for free, and then being told he wasn't even good enough for the things he fought for.

There's a trope in fanfics that if Jason knew Tim stalked Batman and forced his way into being Robin that it would change how Jason felt about the situation but that's even addressed in this comic:

You were a kid, worried about how Batman was spiraling down into darkness. You spent weeks tracking the dark knight. Solving a mystery no one else could. You discovered who he was behind that mask. Millionaire Bruce Wayne. You were so pleased with yourself, I'm sure that you forgot who you were really dealing with. I know Bruce Wayne. And let me tell you, Tim if someone was trying to find out who Batman really was. If someone was stalking him for weeks. He'd know about it. You can't be that good. I am. He let you find him. And I bet he said the same thing to you as he did to me, didn't he? That you had a talent to make a difference in Gotham. That he needed someone he could trust in war on crime. That you were one of a kind. The light to his darkness. Robin, the Boy Wonder.

Tim saying 'I am' is really such a moment that doesn't come through in text because he is right that he really did do that but I also completely understand why Jason wouldn't believe it.

TBH my favorite part is how done Tim honestly sounds with Jason thoughout all his trauma dumping. Like imagine a grown man who used to work the same part time job as you breaking into your house, dressing up in your work uniform, ranting about how much the job ruined his life while he beats your ass??? God, and he probably had to write a fucking report about it after. RIP Timmy.

What do you want? Do you want to be Robin again? Is that it? You... want to take it away from me? Why in the hell would I ever want that? Don't you get it? When I died no one cared! No one remembered me. Are you completely insane? No one could forget you. I've spent my entire career wearing this mask under your shadow. I had to convince Batman to let me try this. All because he'll never stop blaming himself for what happened to you. You ask me, that's the only reason he hasn't taken you down. He's holding back. But me? No freakin' way. That's the Robin I wanted to see. Still. You do realize the whole idea of training a teenager to fight against something he'll never eradicate is a mistake. It didn't even surprise anyone when I died. When I failed. I failed-- but I'm still beating you. Do you think you're that good now?! Do you really, Tim? Yes.

Tim bashing Jason across the face as he says 'no freakin' way'? *chefs kiss*

Jason drugging the other Titans to knock them out?

Little bit true, Kory was actually just already away from the tower and BB and Cyborg were about to bounce because of the drama going on with Donna's return but Jason like super tazes them and then drugs Raven who he thought already went through enough shit without him knocking her out violently.

Note: Jason says in the text here that he never rolled with Cyborg or BB but like he actually did in some comics so?? The continuity is lie I guess idk.

Did he show up in Red Hood gear or a Robin costume?

Both tbh but he spent most of the time in the Robin costume but bro actually made a stripper rip away version of his Red Hood gear so he could dramatically reveal the Robin costume underneath. I can't believe no one ever includes that in their fics its so fucking funny.

Does he call Tim 'replacement' or slit his throat?

No, this came from a Batman comic with Hush not Teen Titans. That incident takes place in a graveyard not Titans Tower and he calls Tim pretender not replacement.

Does Jason break Tim's staff?

Tragically, no. The bo staff snap would have been iconic. Instead he just takes Tim's staff and beats Tim up with it and breaks stuff. BUT!! He uses it to bust a statue in the TITANS MEMORIAL ROOM which is a place in Titans Tower just for having statues of dead previous titans and Jason is rightfully pissed he didn't get one. Like Tim is correct in saying no one forgot him still but like I would be hurt too if all my friends made cool statues of friends that died and then just left my zombie ass out, like wtf.

Note: I am seriously losing my shit that I have never seen someone bring up the memorial room in a fanfic. That is so much angst material. 😭

Tim crying/ being scared?

Hell no. He's a fucking Robin you know he's being a sassy boy the whole time, even towards the end when he's about done he's still saying he's her and I love Tim for that.

Note: There are a few different times where Tim does a flippy Robin move and then Jason just fucking copies it like flexing that he can do it too, and its just so petty and stupid he's trying so hard to be better than an actual child. 💀I get why in the context of the situation but its still so ridiculous.

Message on the wall in Tim's blood?

TBH I really don't know for sure on this one?? Like its implied that he did but Tim isn't bleeding all that much throughout this beatdown and like we don't see Jason do it just the Titans reacting to seeing it after. It could be Tim's blood, it could be red paint, and it could even be that Jason packed an actual bucket of blood to bring with him to write a message with after he finished. TBH the world is your oyster on this one.

Note: If anyone can find another comic where this event was brought up where they actually clarify it was Tim's blood hmu and I'll update this but I couldn't find any.

Pit rage/ glowing green eyes?

Fanon only at this point in the comics. Jason is seems to be himself and even thinks Tim and his friends are pretty cool at the end, and he's just like reflecting on if he had good friends if he would have turned out better as he leaves.

#tim drake #jason todd #red hood #robin dc #teen titans #comic panels #jason and tim #teen titans 2003 #dc comics #panels are from teen titans (2003) issue 29 #i would never tell anyone they have to read comics but i do think seeing the original scene of fanon favs is good #not because you need to follow them but because its good to know what you're taking inspo from #jason attacking tim at titans tower #LONG POST

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dengswei · 3 months

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Hii you're so talented!! i wonder if you could explain how you did this gif effect with the squares? and do you have any tips on colouring because yours is always top notch <3333

heyy thank you so much 🥹 and of course! i've never really done a tutorial before but i'll try my best to explain it in a way that makes sense 😅

so i start off with making my two gifs seperatly and colouring them as i normally would, once i've done that i load both gifs into the same project and once i've done all that i started on the grid part:

now go to view -> add guides and this window should pop up:

(it's was so daunting at first when i saw this i was like ????? and started putting in random numbers and was like oh that's how this works 🤣)

here's the settings i used for my gif which is 540px x 500px in size with 5 squares x 4 squares: (if you want more or less you just have to play around with it)

once you've done that it should look something like this:

now the next part is really up to preference again: add a vector mask onto the gif that's above the other one like this: (ignore the name of my folder that is irrelevant 🤣)

and then i used the rectangle select tool (this is because the rectangle select should lock onto the grid squares making it easier to erase certain sections) + a black brush tool to erase the squares to show the other gif that's underneath (you can reposition both gifs to your liking which is what i did)

before & after:

so my vector mask looks like this afterwards

(you don't have to do the squares so close together like i did it was just how i liked it & because of the scenes i had chosen that mine turned out this way)

now onto the grid lines: i used the line tool with these settings

just like with the rectangle select tool the line tool should lock onto the grid line you want to redraw, do this for every line that you want/have for your grid & once you're done go to view -> clear guides and it should look something like this: (added a version with just a black background so it can be seen a little easier)

(i'm ngl idk why my lines ended up kinda faded and not white 🤣 i think it might be because i used a white fill instead of white stroke but it doesn't really matter to me because i got my ideal outcome anyway 🤣)

bonus step: you can stop here if you'd like but i wanted my lines to match my colouring & my intended typography so i put all my line layers into a folder and set the mode to difference & added a yellow fill layer with a clipping mask, like this:

and it should look like this:

you can also play around with the opacity of the lines too which is what i tried out but i prefered for my set the lines being at 100% opacity but it's really up to you with what you want to play around with

now once you're happy with everything merge those layers together (make sure they have the same amount of frames first before merging them) and either save as it is or add some typography like i did and you should end up with this:

for tips when it comes to colouring it really depends on what you're colouring, if you want to manipulate the colours as much as i do i recommend choosing a colour within the scene so you're not having to change too much, or finding scenes that have colours that can be manipulated more easy (any colour that aren't skin tones, unless you're working with red or yellow like i did here, i chose yellow because one of the outfits in the gif was yellow toned and it looked better with the gifset being yellow than my original colour which was blue), also looking for scenes were the people in it don't move as much also is a big help!

i hope this helps :) feel free to ask more questions if you didn't understand or want some more tips i honestly don't mind!

#replies #mrmalcolmslist #photopeablr #tutorials #photopea tutorials #completeresources #usergif #mine | tutorials #gif tutorial #photopea #resources #gif resources #gifmakerresource #i hope i didn't forget anything aksjdskds #photopea tutorial #tutorial #gif tutorials

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sweetcarolina-24 · 7 months

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Spoiled Little Princess

Azriel x Reader

This is an excerpt from Stargirl. Stargirl is originally Rhys's sister x Azriel in first person pov, but I changed it to second person for this post.

cw: just angst and a harsh reality check for reader

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

It had been over a year and a half since you and the boys had built the tree house. But only Azriel and you still used it.

It was a late night, your favorite time to be up there. You had chosen the highest tree, so you could see the stars out of the windows.

Azriel passed the bottle of wine you were sharing, and you sipped at it, though you were already a bit drunk.

"I hate my life," you admitted. He let out an irritated scoff. "How could you possibly hate your life?" he demanded. "You have everything." "Then why doesn't it feel like enough?" you wondered.

"Because you're a spoiled princess," he spat. Your eyes snapped to his. "I'm not a--" "You throw a tantrum when you don't get your way. You've had everything handed to you," he pointed out. "I have not," you pouted. "The worst thing that has happened to you is that you have to live in these mountains," he went on. "And your days here consist of eating breakfast, doing your lessons, having lunch, ice skating, and then eating dinner. You grew up in a castle--" "It's not a castle," you argued. "It's huge," he retorted. "You've never gone a day without three meals. You've never had a night where you weren't comfortable in a bed. Your mother loves you more than anything--" "Okay, I get it," you seethed. "I don't have a right to be dissatisfied with my life." "You have no idea how easy you have it," he realized with a scoff. "It's insane to me. You have never suffered." "Isn't that a good thing?" you snapped. "It's an incredible thing," he replied. "I'm happy that you didn't have the upbringings Cassian and I did. It's just irritating to hear you complain." "Just because I wasn't locked away in a cell for eleven years doesn't mean I can't be upset," you glared. "The other girls here hate me because I didn't have my wings clipped." "Would you rather that they did clip your wings?" he demanded. "Would you rather the life my mother had?" "Of course not," you denied, shaking your head. "But it isn't my fault they weren't clipped. So why are the girls so mean?" "Because their lives have been terrible," he snapped. "You don't realize how the other females are treated here. They don't have high status parents to shield them from abuse." "So they're jealous," you shrugged. "Of course they are," he said. "They've been tortured their entire lives, and you're this privileged little princess--" "But I don't deserve the way they treat me," you insisted, tears stinging your eyes. "I never said that," he said softly. "I just mean--"

"I don't care what you mean," you grumbled, pulling your knees to your chest.

One of his shadows came over to you and stroked your cheek, as though attempting an apology for Azriel's harsh words.

But he was right. You didn't know what it was like to truly suffer. You'd spent your life in comfortable bliss, throwing a tantrum at the slightest of inconveniences.

You just took a long sip of the wine, refusing to pass it back to Azriel.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

#acotar #acotar angst #azriel x reader #azriel x you #azriel x female!reader #azriel x oc #azriel acotar #azriel shadowsinger #light angst #acotar fanfiction #angst

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oodlyenough · 7 months

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I haven't bothered with posts about the anime episodes because for the most part they've been like... fine to moderately amusing and there's not really anything to say beyond that. 2x06 Sound the Turnabout Melody (what a title) was uh not like that lmao so

started off strong with that terrible Wright & Co commercial. god bless you Maya.

ever since they introduced the concept of the friendship keychains I've been wondering if Larry still has his or if Larry is a normal person and the keychains are a consequence of Phoenix and Edgeworth specifically being Like That.

I thought s1 really tried to be like "a no homo trio of besties!!!" so I assumed it was likely Larry did. instead not even 3 years later Larry is like "lmao you still have that?" and Phoenix is both embarrassed and defensive which is much better and funnier than I expected from this show lmfao god bless

Larry discovering girls while Phoenix is STILL thinking about Miles and then deciding to dedicate songs on the radio to him fahfkdhlhkhglh .... incredible. showstopping

the dedication just kept going and going, too. i thought it would end with like, 'to signal red from signal blue' but it went on and on. i know she read page one of his ten page letter. didn't even mention the illustrated annexes of red and blue holding hands 😔

edgeworth thanking phoenix aloud and meanwhile phoenix sensing a disturbance in the force and turning around to look ... lmaoooooooo?!?!?... I mean even by the high bar set by their game canon I was pretty stunned

the flipside of all the crazy but believably IC baby narumitsu stuff was I found the Von Karma stuff all kind of weird and not particularly believable/IC

I appreciate the anime making it unambiguous that Edgeworth was raised by MVK, I feel like in the games there's a bit of vagueness for no real reason despite it being the most logical explanation for everything. so that was nice. but:

as hilariously cruel as it is to imagine MVK raising this kid for three years before turfing him to an orphanage, even applying 5d chess psychological torment logic I can't really make sense of that. why would he wait that long lol. why would he have taken miles in to begin with if not part of a long-term scheme.

baby franziska was cute as hell but i think she was too nice. i totally believe she'd be obsessed with her new little brother and want his attention/approval/etc. i ...don't really believe she's emotionally equipped to go about it so sweetly, lol.

miles' prosecutor vs defense ambition arc was convoluted to me, and an example where i feel like the games already gave us reason enough for the switch (the idea that greg's murderer got away + mvk's influence) without the anime now presenting something that makes less sense. (i'm still playing AAI but i sense i'll have similar criticisms of it, as in, "you're offering me a new explanation that makes less sense than the original". a common issue for prequel media.)

the cravat-giving scene felt like it was presented very earnestly despite being objectively kind of creepy given, you know, everything.

dog person miles edgeworth REAL

why'd they name that puppy napalm 😭😭😭😭

oh most importantly THE EPISODE TAG?? LMAO? edgeworth giving them the only like on their commercial why can't i find a clip or gifset of it the people need to know NEVERMIND @camalyng has bravely answered the call with a gifset

#ace attorney #oodly watches AA #i didn't expect i'd need so many variations on those tags but here we are. the sprawling AA media empire #narumitsu

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ltwharfy · 2 months

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"Bob's Burgers" Season 6 Episode Ranking Rewatch (Long Post)

So, I've been rewatching "Bob's Burgers" from the beginning and ranking the episodes using the spreadsheet that @babsvibes created! If you want to know why I'm doing this or how I view the 1-5 rating scale, you can check out my Season 1 post! If you want to check out any of the other seasons, I've been using the "bob's burgers episode ranking rewatch" tag for all of them.

Now, on to Season 6:

Average (Mean) Score: 4.47

Mode (Most Common) Ranking: 5

Ranking breakdown: 11 5s; 6 4s; 2 3s

Season as a whole thoughts:

Another really solid season! The thing that I remember standing out to me even as it was originally airing was the number of callbacks to earlier seasons, and especially the first season, with the title (and plot) of "Sexy Dance Healing" and the title of "Sacred Couch". I remember wondering at the time if there was some sort of significance to it (my fear being that maybe the show was preparing to wind down- a lot of my favorite shows ended after 7 seasons). I wonder if maybe the production staff was feeling nostalgic with the 100th episode coming up- or if they just enjoy making callbacks as much as I enjoy spotting them (and making them in my fics)! Either way, it's the thing that stood out the most this season.

Some thoughts on specific episodes (and feel free to ask if you want my thoughts on an episode I didn't comment on):

"Sliding Bobs": Doing the rewatch, I've noticed that I generally enjoy the three-story episodes but I think this my absolute favorite because I love the framing story so much. I honestly find what Linda says to Tina at the end, about the universe being random but sometimes everything lining up and going your way, to be really beautiful and meaningful. I'll take random crap going my way over fate any day.

"The Land Ship": One of the rare episodes from the middle seasons of "Bob's Burgers" where neither the A plot or the B plot interests me. There are some funny bits ( I mean, Mr. Ambrose is in it, so of course there are some funny bits) but overall it's pretty meh in my book.

"The Hauntening": As I mentioned when discussing Season 5, I got to see a clip from the animatic of this when I saw "Bob's Burgers Live" at the Chicago Theater, so that will always make this special to me. Even without that, it would still be one of my favorite Halloween episodes, and I love Boyz 4 Now song and video at the end!

"The Gene and Courtney Show": Another follow up on Season 5, but as I mentioned when discussing "Work Hard or Die Trying, Girl", the rewatch has made me realize that I really love the way Courtney's character and her relationship with Gene developed over the show, and this is a big part of it. Gene's song at the end of the episode is so beautiful! This isn't my favorite Valentine's Day episode (that's next season...) but it's probably in my top 5.

"House of 1,000 Bounces": Bob: "Can pigeons open doors?" Teddy: "Do you mean metaphorically? In the right situation, I suppose." This may be my favorite Teddy line on the show, and the pigeon subplot is absolutely fantastic in my book. But, you're probably expecting me to talk about the Rudy plot, so...I think it's fascinating the range of takes there are on this episode. I've literally seen people list this episode as the reason they ship Louise/Rudy and other people list it as the reason they don't ship it. For me, it isn't either of those things (I was already on board the ship) but I to think it is a good story about their friendship. One of my (many) similarities with Rudy is that as a kid (and honestly, still now) I cried pretty easily. And there were definitely other kids who noticed this and would just try to get me upset because they thought it was funny. So, I love the fact that as soon as Louise realizes how upset Rudy is, she works to fix the situation. She cares that he's upset. I also think it's fascinating to watch "Bridge Over Troubled Rudy" after this one because it almost seems like the show realized they resolved Rudy and Louise's conflict a bit too neatly here and needed to explore that further (several seasons later...). If you want more of my thoughts on the role those episodes played in the evolution of this relationship between two cartoon nine year-olds that I overthink about, you can read my best non-fic piece of "Bob's Burgers" related writing.

"Stand by Gene": I've mentioned before that I love episodes that involve the Belcher kids and a diverse group of their friends going on an adventure, and I think this might be the best of them all. In my mind, it's kind of the Trope-namer, I think of those types of episodes as "Stand by Gene"-episodes (even if "The Belchies" was probably the first one).

"The Hormone-iums": This episode is really one of the two that inspired me to this rewatch! Honestly, I just sort of vaguely remembered its existence and had no clue if I liked it- so if I rated it without rewatching it I probably would've given it a 3 or maybe a 4. But I happened to catch it on TV and realized how freaking funny it is! A wonderful Tina puberty plot; the wine shoe B plot (complete with Louise wearing mouse ears on her bunny ears during their presentation to Calvin and Felix, which is basically the cutest thing ever); great songs; a joke about Tony Danza- this episode has it all, in my book! Definitely a 5; the original sleeper hit.

"Pro-Tiki/Con-Tiki": This is a pretty funny episode. Chris Parnell is a hilarious actor, and as an "Archer" fan it was fun to have him act opposite H. Jon Benjamin in a different role. But I give this one a 3 because I hate the central conflict and the way it is resolved. It's one of the few episodes of the show where the actual plot and its ending really bother me. Warren and Bob are both kind of idiots in this one. Bob has a super-rich friend who is willing to lend him money to help his business, but instead Bob chooses to frequently be on the verge of going broke because of American small business owner macho capitalism self-reliance independence nonsense? Screw that. The other Belchers were right to be mad at Bob for his actions in this episode; he's lucky they forgave him.

"Bye Bye Boo Boo": I love Louise's crush on Boo Boo so much! It is an absolute treat any time it gets brought up! It's one of the few things that completely knocks Louise off her game, and it is wonderful for that. (Also, a pretty accurate portrayal of what it feels like to have a crush, regardless of your age or gender.) Honestly, after Roudise, Louise/Boo Boo might be the Louise ship with the next most appeal to me (do they have a ship name? It has to be "Lou Boo", right?)

"The Horse Rider-er": Did you know that being the voice of Jericho is widely considered to be Paul Rudd's second most iconic role after Peter Klaven in "I Love You, Man"? (It's not, I'm just making a weird joke to amuse myself.)

"Glued, Where's My Bob?": They did a great job for the 100th episode! Honestly, if the show ever gets a planned series finale, I kind of hope the last scene is something similar to the climax of this episode- all our favorite recurring characters hanging out in and around the restaurant and supporting Bob. (Except, maybe it would be for something good, like Bob making a really amazing burger, rather than him being glue to the toilet...)

Random thoughts (stuff that doesn't affect the ratings):

-I wish they had handled the Frond/Gayle relationship a bit better. I actually think they make sense as a couple and I wish they had done more with them before breaking them up off screen. Or, they even could of kept them together (although, I understand the writers thinking it's funnier to have them single.) But at the very least, I wish they could've aired the three episodes that discuss the relationship in an order that makes sense! Why did they air "Gayle Makin' Bob Sled" before "The Cook, the Steve, the Gayle, & Her Lover"? (I mean, probably something to do with Fox's schedule and holidays and football and so forth but it still annoys me.)

-I literally just noticed that the title of the episode is "Gayle Makin' Bob Sled", I'd always read it as "Gayle Making" and thought it was just a straightforward title and now I am realizing it was probably actually supposed to be a pun on the Jamaican bobsled team immortalized in the movie "Cool Runnings" (and discussed by Gene in my favorite Christmas episode "God Rest Ye Merry Gentle-Mannequins"). God, I love the "Bob's Burgers" writing staff and the length they will go for a silly 80s/90s pop culture pun!

See you in Season 7! The post could be up relatively soon, since I've actually completed the rewatch of it, too. (Spoiler: Season 4 might be getting knocked out of first place...)

#bob's burgers #bob's burgers season 6 #bob's burgers episode ranking rewatch #long post

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strangertheories · 2 years

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There's a trance in the snow ball from season two in volume 2. Eleven was in it in the trailer but it seems like it's going to be Max's trance. I was wondering if you had any thoughts about that

I think that the characters are going to purposefully going to go into trances so Eleven can infiltrate their minds and attack Vecna from within. A lot of characters and Byler have been tagged and that's going to become relevant in a minute; this post is gonna be a long one! Let me explain...

Spoiler warning!

I'm a fan of the Nightmare on Elm Street series and spoke about how I believed that season 4 would be heavily nightmare inspired before I watched the series. But I was looking back at the film inspiration list, and it doesn't have the first Nightmare movie; it has the third, Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. I didn't really think too much about why that is the case until this ask.

There are a few things of note about this movie. Firstly, the kids put themselves into trances to find powers and fight back against Freddie Krueger. But most importantly, the female lead (Kristen) has the ability to pull people into trances. As well as this, the kids have a shared trance in the movie and this is where my theory comes in.

I think you're right; Eleven is in Max's trance. And I think this is how they're going to take down Vecna. Before I continue, I'll quickly give some proof about what the anon said.

As you can see, Eleven is in the Snow Ball but we know that Max's trance takes place there. This made me start thinking about the character's risky plan. Eleven, like Kristen in Nightmare 3, has similar powers to the villain. This is because Vecna was 001. I believe that the characters will purposefully go into trances so Eleven can infiltrate their minds and try to take down Vecna with her powers from within. The loud bang described in this clip could be Vecna trying to scare her (Vecna is Pennywise inspired and the popping balloon could be an homage to that) but it could also be Eleven trying to confuse Vecna. They clearly fight in some capacity here as shown by Eleven flying backwards although if Eleven fights back by that point is yet to be seen.

This could be linked to Will as well. Noah Schnapp posted him in a harness despite the fact we've not seen any stunts that he'd need it for yet. Millie Bobby Brown posted a video of her and Noah skating together, however Will was wearing a different outfit to what he was originally wearing at the roller rink and instead was wearing the one with the harness. Perhaps their trances bleed together and Will starts experiencing some of Eleven's trance too? I'm not too sure on that but I thought it was worth putting out there. This could be something interesting to think about for the people who talk about Will Byers having powers. If he somehow managed to infiltrate Eleven's mind it could mean he had similar powers to them.

I was theorising earlier with @hawkinsschoolcounselor about Lucas going into a trance. This is because Caleb had censored eyes with contacts in for spoilers and the people who are Vecna'd wear contacts. Whilst this might not be the case, I'm now inclined to believe that a lot of the Hawkins Gang will be going into trances like in Nightmare 3. I doubt they'll develop dream superpowers (who knows though) but I do think they'll have shared trances.

If this is the case, I can only imagine how scary that is for the characters as it exposes all their secrets, trauma and guilt. I hope this isn't used for an outing of Will or Robin. I suppose it could maybe be handled alright but I much prefer more heartfelt coming out stories like Robin to Steve. Although if Robin did go in a trance, this would probably be what it's about considering that seems to be her major secret.

This could maybe even be the route they go down for Byler, with Eleven or Mike looking into Will's brain and seeing his queer thoughts. This could also happen to Mike. As I said, I hope they don't use this approach and I don't think they will because of the painting which in my opinion is almost certainly going to be used for a confession.

I also wonder if Steve, Robin and Nancy are using this distraction to try hunt down and physically kill Vecna. We see them with all of their kit walking somewhere in the Upside Down and shots of Robin attached to a wall with vines. I think the reason Eddie isn't with them is because he's using guitar to lure away the demobats.

Anyways, whilst Eleven and the kids use their minds to weaken and attack Vecna, it would make total sense for these characters to try and sneak attack Vecna with physical weapons. This makes me worried for the older group trying to hurt him as I feel like this would definitely go wrong. Eddie is also at risk because of the fact that he's all alone with his only defense being killer guitar skills and the show has a pattern of killing off loveable new characters as well. We shall have to wait and see.

According to interviews, there's going to be a 1 hour sequence in the final episode that just doesn't stop. Could this sequence be a one hour long trance with Eleven and possibly Will and the gang fighting back against Vecna in their minds?

I hope this answered your question and that this post made sense. Thanks for the ask (:

Edit: I realized after making this post that the final episode is called the Piggyback. This would make perfect sense with my theory. Anyways, have a good day.

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nerdyrevelries · 6 months

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A Little Princess (1995): A Tale of Orientalism

Hey friend, sit down, I want to talk to you for a moment. Remember beloved children's film A Little Princess 1995? How well do you remember it? Is it a film you watch regularly or is it just something that you have vague good feelings in connection to?

The reason I ask is that there's something you might not remember about this film. Something that you might not have realized when you watched it as a wee child. What's that, you ask? This movie is perhaps the most Orientalist piece of filmmaking I have ever seen, and the perhaps is only because I can't decide whether or not Memoirs of a Geisha gets the honor instead.

Let's take a look, shall we?

I want to start you out by showing you the opening of the film, since it may have been a while since you've seen it.

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Okay, you finished? Let's analyze this clip. First of all, we've got some mysterious tinkling and stereotypical sounds of India. Text starts to scroll across the screen in a curvy font that speaks of the Orient and far off lands. Hang on, did she just say, "The mystical land of India" like she's talking about Oz or Narnia?

It really only gets worse from there. A little girl starts to tell us a small part of the story of Ramayana, an epic that is part of the Hindu faith. The images we are given make India look like a technicolor fantasy realm. And who do we have playing Sati and Rama? A white woman with a bindi and a white man who has been painted blue.

The actor who plays Rama also plays Sara's father, so I think the implication is that Sara is imagining these two as her parents (I question how many young children are even going to pick up on this detail to make its inclusion worthwhile; I certainly didn't), but the whole thing still seems racially insensitive (especially since her father is literally a colonialist. That's why he's in India.) Not only that, but they have chosen a story that is part of a religion that is still actively practiced for Sara to be telling, not a simple piece of folklore.

To add the final icing on the cake, when the story reaches an exciting part, we pull away to show the little white girl who is telling this story in 1914 India. She is telling this story not to someone else who is white but to an Indian child of her own age, who seems to be very interested in it. What's the implication here, that Sara knows this own kid's culture better than he does?

The story of Ramayana is continued throughout the film in this same dreamlike style, interspersed with the story of Sara Crewe, a little American (British in the original) girl who comes to a boarding school in her father's home country, where her fortunes change drastically when she gets news of her father's death.

Let's unpack this more. What's the purpose of having these scenes in this movie? Well, the answer to that seems to be that they want to provide the film with a feel of magic and wonder. In other words, Orientalism.

Okay, now that you're caught up, let me address a few things. Some of you might be thinking that the movie is like this because it's adapted from a novel that was published in 1905. But this simply isn't the case. Yes, Sara is from India in the book and her father is still a colonialist. He dies of "jungle fever" and Sara is later saved from poverty by Mr. Carrisford, her father's equally colonialist business partner in a diamond mine that turns out not to have gone bust, and he has an Indian servant with a monkey and is frequently referred to as "the Indian gentleman" (making the Indian gentleman actually Indian instead of a white colonialist is one of the two changes that the movie makes that I actually like.)

But you know what the book doesn't have? Ramayana. Sara's stories have nothing to do with India, sacred or not. She generally tells stories that she has made up about mermaids and things. So why does the movie have her telling a sacred Hindu story instead? I can't think of an explanation that isn't Orientalist. (And did I mention that all of the writers are this film are white?)

Your second thought might be that perhaps this is just some 90s filmmaking that aged badly! Perhaps they were trying to have more racial and cultural diversity. There are two cases where I think this is the case in the film, one of which is the Indian gentleman, and one of which I will talk about later (because I think it also needs to be discussed), but I don't think that's the case here.

As proof of my point, I'd like to show you the opening to another beloved children's classic, The Secret Garden 1993. This is also based on a book by Frances Hodgson Burnett and has a heroine who was born in India and comes to live in her parents' home country (in this case, the movie keeps the English setting.) I would also argue that the language around India and particularly the people who live there that is used in the original book is worse than the language used in A Little Princess.

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So, you have two Frances Hodgson Burnett adaptations made and released in the 90s that both open with scenes of India. But the scenes feel incredibly different.

In the Secret Garden 1993, India is firmly placed in the real world. The scene also gives us important narrative information. It tells us that our heroine, Mary, is both spoiled and neglected. She doesn't do anything for herself. She doesn't even put her own stockings on. She's always angry and has frequent fits of temper, and her parents are also selfish people who have never had time for her. Finally we learn of Mary's parents' deaths and how she survives, giving us everything that we as watchers need to know before we ship her off (literally) to Misselthwaith Manor for a transformative adventure.

In comparison, A Little Princess 1995's opening treats India like it's a fantasy land, and its opening does nothing to introduce us to our main character or tell us anything about the story that we're all actually here for. The opening is just supposed to give the viewer a mythical, magical feeling of exoticism and wonder.

Before I go further, there's one more thing the movie does that I want to address. This is the change that I mentioned that I think was supposed to be good, but I think it's extremely misguided. They make Becky, originally a white scullery maid, black.

Now, I am fine with changing a character's race from what it was in the book for the sake of more diversity (it was the only thing I liked about Persuasion 2022), but I don't think Becky is the character to do it with. This is because Becky is a servant who is treated as little better than a slave. She's starved, she's illiterate, she's poorly treated, and she lives in a freezing little attic room where she is ignored by all the students of the school below.

In my opinion, the point of making a character that was originally white into a person of color—especially in a children's film—is so that people of color can see someone that looks like them represented on screen. But Becky is the only black character in the entire film. Is it really better for a little black girl to see the only girl who looks like her be the one who is treated as if she were a slave in an American setting that is supposed to be 50 years past slavery? I wouldn't want that for my child, if I was a black parent.

It didn't have to be that way, either. There was integrated education in America as early as 1831 in the north and the west, and there were rich African Americans who would have been able to afford to send their children to a fancy boarding school. They could have made some of the students of the school black. But they didn't. They just made Becky black. (The one thing I will give them credit for is that at least Becky becomes Sara's adopted sister in this version instead of her personal servant like she does in the book.)

So, what do we do with this information? Do you have to stop liking the film? Absolutely not! I may not like for reasons in addition to those listed above (I think the 90s rooftop chase scene climax is very silly), but I don't want to tell you to stop loving something that means something to you.

But I think it's important to talk about this, and it's something I have literally never heard anyone else discussing, unless I brought it up. We can like media with problematic elements (I think it could be safely said that there's no media that's entirely without them), but I think we need to acknowledge those problematic elements. It's only by confronting and not excusing the things that are wrong in the things we love that we can get better.

#A Little Princess #A Little Princess 1995 #A Little Princess (1995)#Frances Hodgson Burnett #Orientalism #Racism #Imperialism #Colonialism #The Secret Garden #The Secret Garden 1993 #The Secret Garden (1993)#Youtube

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animehouse-moe · 1 year

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Akiba Maid War 8: A Definitely Super Friendly Baseball Match

Featuring derangement the likes of which you've never seen before

When I say Akiba Maid War is the most seriously unserious anime I've watched, I mean it. In a sense it's the purest form of parody, it's not done for the punchline or the comedy, but something deeper, something more abstract than laughing at maids playing a makeup baseball match because some maids got killed in an altercation.

It's such a special brand of insanity that it's almost impossible to explain. I mean, of course I can use words, but how does saying, "Yeah, so there's this part where Tontokoton is all confused about the random Venezuelan dudes the paid to be on their team aren't good at baseball despite it being big in Venezuela, so then it cuts to the guys that are all speaking over each other and dancing weirdly?". It does absolutely zero justice to the true nature of the clip, which you really can't help but laugh at because of how out of left field it is.

It's just so ridiculous that I'm running out of unique words to describe it. And no, they didn't use the gag once, but twice in the episode and it's just as funny the second time around.

If you asked me what I thought would happen in this episode centering around baseball, I have full confidence in saying that the thought of three Venezuelan men dancing at random points in the episode would have ever crossed my mind. But it's here, so the most insane part of that to me is that somebody came up with this. Someone behind the show sat down and said, "You know, for this baseball episode why don't we throw in a trio of international students that don't understand Japanese and have them dance a couple of times?". It's just... I don't even know. It's like a look into someone having a mental breakdown but trying to keep it all together.

It well and truly feels like you're having a stroke watching these episodes. 95% of the material feels like a fever dream that just somehow comes together, that for some unknown reason, makes you laugh at every minute of it. That other 5% though? It's what keeps this show going. They have a perfect grasp on how fast and loose they can play it, and keep an overarching story to it.

We get information that essentially confirms the boss of the Creatureland group was Ranko's sister maid, and Nagi herself loosely threatens Ranko. In a way, essentially trying to get her to forgo her current ways and fall into the weapon that she was meant to be, culminating in a storyline that was established well before the events of this series even began. It's pretty crazy that they have enough foresight to execute it, but at the same time they've created this monstrosity and I can't help but believe it was harder for them to pursue the level of derangement this show has than it was to write a cohesive plot line.

So yeah, if you haven't watched this show, watch this show. Since Bocchi The Rock's seen so much success compared to when it entered this season, Akiba Maid War is by and far the dark horse this time around. Top notch quality and comedy that you will not find anywhere else, and even a connective story to fill in the gaps. As an anime original it's absolutely amazing, and will undoubtedly leave you confused and wondering whether or not you were sane while watching each episode.

#akiba maid war #akiba maid sensou #akiba meido sensou #anime #anime and manga #anime original

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acacia-may · 9 months

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To See The Invisible [ASOUE Dewey x Kit Meet-Cute Fic]

Description: Dewey Denouement has resigned himself to living the life of an invisible man, until one day he meets someone who actually sees him...

Relationships: Dewey Denouement and Kit Snicket

Characters: Dewey Denouement (POV Character) and Kit Snicket. (Frank & Ernest are mentioned)

Genre: Meet-Cute, Slice of Life, Developing Relationships, Tea, Pre-Series.

Word Count: 3075

Rating: G. No Content Warnings.

Link to original post on AO3. Thank you for reading!

A/N: I wrote this literal years ago and completely forgot about it until I found the file on my computer recently. I cleaned it up a little bit and decided to post it since I love this pairing. Cheers!!💕

"Excuse me? Excuse me?" called a crisp clear voice. Dewey stopped winding the clock abruptly and tried to hang from his rope without making any sudden movements as not to be noticed. He sighed almost laughing at himself for his foolishness. He was not being spoken to—no one ever spoke to him. He was invisible.

"Excuse me," called the voice again, a woman's voice reverberating off the walls in the dome of the Hotel Denouement’s lobby. Dewey sighed. She must be calling to him mistaking him for one of his brothers.

"Yes, ma’am?" he called down to her—his quiet voice echoing through the dome so he sounded much louder than he actually was. He supposed that was for the best seeing as he was more soft-spoken than Frank and Ernest.

"I don't mean to bother you, but I was wondering if you could help me...?"

"Certainly,” answered Dewey with a slight smile. As he began his climb down the rope which he unraveled as he went, he thought long and hard about which brother she probably thought he was. He hoped it was Frank. He was much easier for Dewey to imitate.

"What were you doing up there?" she asked as Dewey reached the bottom of the rope, and he finally caught a glance of the woman whom had spoken to him. It was merely long enough to see that she was very beautiful, enough to make him blush and stare at her feet, her little black shoes that probably made clip-clopping sounds as she walked shrouded by a long black coat which billowed to the floor.

"Tending the clocks," he answered honestly though he stared very intently at the rope he was tying up as he spoke, both out of shyness and worry that were she to look squarely into his face she would see he was neither Frank nor Ernest as she had thought. This was an irrational fear of course as he and his brothers were absolutely identical. So much so that even their own parents as much as he could remember them had had difficulty telling the triplets apart.

"You do that?" she asked, and Dewey’s brow furrowed. Was she surprised because Frank seemed too busy tending to guests to tend to a clock or because Ernest seemed too pretentious to care about something as mundane as one? Or was it simply because she didn't know if Hotel Managers in general tended to the clocks in their hotels themselves?

Not entirely sure which question she was really asking Dewey simply answered, "Yes" still rolling his rope.

"Is it difficult?"

Dewey shrugged his shoulders. "Not really. I’m used to it." And he certainly was. He had been caring for the clock at Hotel Denouement since it had been built.

There was a slight pause, and Dewey wondered what the woman must be thinking though he did not turn to look her. It was almost as if he couldn’t. Then he remembered that she had requested assistance and was probably wondering why he wasn't offering her any.

"What can I do for you?" he asked at last with kind concern in Frank's cadence as he put his rope into his suit pocket. He decided to be Frank until she explicitly implied she thought he was Ernest.

"Oh... well I was wondering if you could tell me where in this hotel would one find a cup of tea at this hour?"

"Well…” Dewey hummed thoughtfully. “The tea room in room 395 is closed, but there is a big supply closet full of tea in room 959. You're welcome to use it and the kitchen in room 641 which is always open to guests."

"I'll never learn all those numbers, no matter how many times I stay here..." she replied with a rather disgruntled sigh. "And I consider myself very well read and comfortable finding my way around libraries."

A smile tugged at Dewey’s mouth. It was rare he had met a guest who fully understood the hotel was organized like a giant library.

"Don't worry," he reassured kindly staring at the front desk over the woman's shoulder still much too shy to look at her. He wanted to ask her if she came to the Hotel Denouement often, but he simply said, "That is what we are here for."

The woman chuckled. "Surely you have to rest sometime...do you ever sleep?" Dewey nodded blushing slightly, and his companion let out a brief, breathy chortle. "I suppose most guests don't need help at 2 in the morning."

Now Dewey chuckled himself, neglecting to mention that he was usually always up at that hour to tend the clock when it was the least likely he would be seen.

"It's alright. I like being helpful..." Dewey mentally kicked himself. Not only was that an incredibly pathetic thing to say, but it didn't sound like either of his brothers. Maybe it could pass as Frank, Dewey thought, if you squinted and stood on your head... He let out a long heavy sigh. Hopefully, she wasn't paying too much attention.

After a long, heavy pause, Dewey's hands began to tremble nervously. Maybe she was onto him…

Dewey twisted his long spindly fingers together as he tried to fill the silence and defer attention away from himself the only way he knew how. "I can tell you how all those things are categorized though if you'd like...in case you ever need tea in the middle of the night again and can't find someone to direct you...um..." he stammered in a quiet voice shuffling his feet. "As I'm sure you know, the tea room is in 395 for Etiquette..."

Dewey felt a lump in his throat as began to sweat. He could feel the young lady move closer towards him. "And um..." he murmured nervously pulling on his collar still trying not to look at her for fear the sight would render him catatonic. "959 is Southeast Asia... and um..." His voice cracked, and his cheeks burned—far too aware of how incredibly close she was to him now. He swallowed hard. "And 641 is for...for... food and drink." He finished as quickly as he could—praying that his face was not nearly as red as he feared.

The silence which followed was so long that if he could not still see the shiny tips of her shoes he would have sworn the woman had left. He could not help his curiosity any longer and at last he looked up into the woman's face. She really was beautiful, with soft, gentle features and long blonde hair pulled up with what appeared to be two pencils. He evaded her warm eyes though he could see the metal rims of her glasses.

Her brow furrowed, and the expression on her face looked troubled and confused as she asked, "Who are you?"

Dewey inhaled sharply—unprepared for such a question. He had never been asked it before. Most guests just assumed he was either Frank or Ernest, and if they weren’t sure, they would ask which of the two he was—his answer to which was more often than not Frank. However, somehow he knew that this was not what she was asking.

"I am a manager of this hotel," he answered carefully, thoughtfully. It was the safest response that came to mind at the moment, and he could only hope it would be adequate enough. He paused—listening to the clip clop of her shoes as she came even closer towards him and stared questioningly at the letters printed above the pocket on his uniform that read "Manager." Despite his best attempts to evade her gaze, he met her eyes on accident. They were warm, inquisitive, and seemed to see right through him in a way that made Dewey shiver. He turned away abruptly with flaming cheeks.

"I didn't know Hotel Denouement had three managers," she said dryly. Dewey inhaled sharply trying not to gasp, but he cleared his throat—tried his best to calm himself.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean..."

She tilted her head at him. "Well you're not Frank or Ernest..."

"What? What makes you say that?" He mentally kicked himself for the hitch in his voice as he tried his best to remain aloof and nonchalant , but the woman merely laughed. "I'll have you know that I'm..."

"You're what?" she asked, the slightest smile twitching in the corners of her mouth. "Do you want me to pretend you're Frank or Ernest?"

"But I am..." he faltered far more helplessly than he cared to admit.

The woman’s brow furrowed, and she was about to say something more. Dewey inhaled sharply, steeled himself for further questioning when her expression softened. "I'm sorry. I must have been mistaken," she said though the look in her eyes was pointed, knowing. "I apologize. I have enjoyed my stay at your hotel. It is a very nice and safe place if I do say so myself, and it's so peaceful as if..."—she paused—"the world is quiet here."

Dewey could almost feel the intensity of her gaze on him as if trying to decipher his response as she added, "But I didn't realize this was a sad occasion..."

"The world is quiet here," Dewey answered meeting the young woman's eyes as she shifted a bit on her feet—the bottom of her coat twirling until Dewey caught sight of an eye tattoo on her left ankle identical to the one on his own. A smile twitched in the corners of his mouth, and he offered her an understanding nod.

"So Frank or Ernest," she asked, with a somewhat wry smile. "If you weren't Ernest or Frank who would you be?"

Dewey pursed his lips together, thoughtfully considering her question before he whispered, "Their brother.”

The woman seemed to let out an almost inaudible gasp, but she covered it up well with a light chuckle. "That would really be something—having three identical brothers in one family. How would anyone ever tell you apart?"

"No one could. Well...until..." Dewey paused and blushed, but she seemed to gather his meaning as a smile twitched in the corners of her mouth.

"Some people just have a sense for those kind of things,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. “And if I did, my name would be Kit. Kit Snicket." Dewey smiled. Kit Snicket. What a lovely name he thought to himself, blushing as he did. "And what would your name be, if it wasn't Frank or Ernest?"

"Dewey," he almost whispered—his pale face the lightest shade of rose.

"Like the Dewey Decimal System? How appropriate..." she bantered dryly, but her face softened. "I like it..." As she met his eyes, Dewey blushed, but Kit just smiled. "I imagine you'd have to be pretty fond of libraries with a name like that."

"There'd be nothing better in the entire world," he sighed wistfully.

"I did part of my apprenticeship in a library. It was very nice while it lasted.” She sighed. “Sadly, as you can see I was not there nearly long enough to memorize the entire Dewey Decimal System."

"That's alright.”

"Easy for you to say,” she teased. “You're practically a librarian."

As a blush filled his cheeks, Dewey chuckled sheepishly. "Thank you. I always wanted to be a librarian."

Kit quirked an eyebrow at him questioningly. "So is that your job then? Cataloging the hotel and working behind the scenes?"

Dewey shrugged. "I don't mind working behind the scenes. There are others..."—Dewey paused, thinking of his brothers' in whose shadows he had lived his who life. "who are much better at helping than I am." His gaze fluttered to the ground, and he swallowed hard—fidgeting under her gaze, hoping he wasn’t so transparent.

"I do like to help people too...," he hurriedly added. "just in different ways..." He didn't add ‘because I’m painfully shy and people have always made me nervous,’ even if that was the truth. He sighed. He knew his work was important too, even if it was a secret, but he could only imagine how foolish he must sound. After all, helping guests was his brothers' job. How could he help anyone if no one even knew him?

"Well, the world needs all kinds of people to volunteer to help," Kit reassured him. "And I think you're the perfect person to help me find a nice cup of tea..."

"You...you want me to come with you?" he stammered incredulously.

"Only if you wouldn't mind—since you know where it is," chuckled Kit, and Dewey flushed—mentally kicking himself. Why had he taken it so personally? Of course she wanted him to come with her. She had asked for directions and needed a hotel manager to show her the way to go. "I'm sorry," she said. "I suppose you don't have many guests asking for tea at 2 in the morning."

"That's alright," reassured Dewey. “I…We’re always happy to help.”

Kit smiled. "Do you like tea?"

"Yes. Do you?" He shut his eyes tightly—resisting the urge to smack his palm to his forehead at the ridiculousness of that question. Why was this so difficult?

Kit, however, just laughed. “Yes, I like tea." Her face lit up with a bright smile when she siad it, and Dewey’s eyes widened—his face feeling suddenly warm at the thought: she was so beautiful when she smiled. "But I only like it as long as there isn’t anything in it,” Kit continued. “Tea should be as bitter as wormwood and as sharp as a two-edged sword."

Dewey’s brow furrowed. He, unfortunately, didn’t know much about tea, and often took honey in his, still he replied, "I'm not sure what kind of tea we have in room 959, but I will try my best."

He paused—reaching to press the button on wall by the elevator under the number 118. "Room 959 is directly across from the elevator on the 9th floor. I can stop at the 6th floor on the way up to show you where room 641 is. If that's alright?"

Kit tilted her head. "Or you could just join me for tea, if you wanted…?”

Dewey could have choked. He tried to answer her, but his mouth was painfully dry—any words he could have said getting caught and garbled in the back of his throat.

"Since you're walking all the way there anyway," Kit added with a shrug. “I know you are busy, but it would be nice to have your company for tea."

"My…my company?" he stumbled as his cheeks burned.

"Yes. Maybe you could teach me the Dewey Decimal System."

Dewey stared at the ground and bit down hard on his lip. Was she making fun of him?

"Uh…Um..." he choked not quite knowing what to say. He had never had tea with anybody before. In fact, he rarely talked to anybody. Most people did not even know he existed, after all. He was always just “Frank” or “Ernest.” At this thought his face fell, and he swallowed hard. "I don't think I can...er...should..." he sighed. "I think you have me confused with someone else."

Kit's brow furrowed. "Oh? And who are you then?"

The word escaped before he could even think to stop it. "Invisible."

A thick silence quickly enveloped the room. Dewey stared at the intently ground, listening to Kit shuffling; however, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

When he finally looked up at her, he met her warm eyes, and she recited very seriously, "I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me." Dewey knew she was quoting the words of their associate, but they seemed to cut right through him. Time seemed to stop as she stared at him, and his breath got caught in his throat as she leaned forward and whispered almost directly into his ear—her warm breath brushing up against his neck, "I see you..."

Ding! The sound of the arriving elevator rang through the lobby. Dewey blushed furiously as Kit pulled away from him stepping through the open doors—her shoes clip-clopping and her long coat swaying revealing the tattoo on her ankle as she walked.

"I suppose I can find my own way if you need to get back to work," she said as she pressed the button for the 9th floor.

Dewey was too stunned to say or do anything. His mind swirled with thoughts and questions. The only thing he knew for sure was for the first time in his life he was not invisible to someone, and he knew then that no matter what happened next, he couldn’t just stand there and watch her walk away. His feet seemed to move on his own as he practically dove towards the closing elevator. Strangely enough, a hand reached out just at that moment to stop the closing door. Kit nearly ran directly into him as she began to step back into the lobby. Dewey swallowed hard—his heart pounding from how close she was to him, and even Kit flushed—glancing at the ground and sheepishly pushing a strand of her hair out of her face.

"Oh...um...sorry..." she tripped over an apology, but Dewey could only nod—too far too mortified to form any words. "What does 118 stand for? Elevators?" She paused, fidgeting with a slight chuckle. "It was going to bother me. I had to know."

A smile tugged at Dewey’s mouth as he chuckled lightly, holding the elevator door for her and following her inside. "Force and Motion,” he explained as he took a place by her side.

The elevator doors finally slid closed, and a wide, bright smile spread across Dewey’s face as he turned to face his companion, practically beaming at her. Kit stared up at him with warm, inquisitive eyes, but she tilted her head at him curiously. Dewey fidgeted. “What? Does that…not make sense?”

“No, uh…” Kit began to reply. “It’s just...I was thinking…” She paused—biting her bottom lip as if thoughtfully considering what to say, but a smile seemed to tug at her mouth in spite of herself. Something gentle, kind and—dare he even hope—somewhat affectionate passed over her face as she said, "You don't smile like your brothers, Dewey."

#dewey denouement #kit snicket #kit snicket x dewey denouement #dewey denouement x kit snicket #do they have a ship name?#dewey x kit #kit x dewey #i love them your honor #asoue fanfiction #my writing

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miloucomehome · 8 months

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VIVANT stuff (spoilers): Apparently, we now have an official hanzi version of Liu's name...? + theory :'D

Part of my JP TL is having a mild meltdown over the fact that a program of some kind (or a new "preview before the final episode" video?), showed a clip of Nozaki recounting his story about Liu Mingshen on the plane (Episode 7) to Nogi and highlighted the rendering of Liu's name in Chinese. Then wondering "Wait why is the hanzi rendering of this guy's name being highlighted?? Is he important?!"

(I do have a theory but honestly I really don't want that to be the case because i don't think it would fit with the world of VIVANT and there's no precedent, nor signs that is remotely possible. It would also be the weirdest dip towards the fantastical/spiritual for the series to take.)

EDIT: Found a theory before twitter auto-refreshed on me that theorizes that Liu may have been an earlier undercover identity Nogi took on for an earlier mission many years ago. It's plausible, but I think it loses ground when you remember the abridged history we got about Nogi and how and when (ish) he joined Beppan. (My impression is that Liu was someone Nozaki knew many years ago.)

EDIT 2: friendly reminder that the character chart is still incomplete as we head into the final episode. (the actor, top right) 🤔

EDIT 3: Ok fam, what if "Liu Mingshen" was one of Nogi's mission identities he used in China a few years earlier? Something happened, he "died" and Nozaki finally clued in on what he found so interesting about Nogi during the moment on the plane when he told him "You look like him--the colleague I cared about/favoured/liked". あなたは鶏群の一鶴、眼光紙背に徹す is maybe the Japanese translation of something he said as Liu to Nozaki in Chinese originally. It's still coded, so he maybe hasn't figured out that it may be a translation and is reading it atm as a "Ok, you're trying to tell me something--I'll keep my eyes peeled" message.

(maybe this scene is Nozaki receiving something from Tojoh where he tells him it's a reference to something in Chinese and gives him the original version)

Nogi entrusts him, not only because Nozaki is sharp and intelligent and suspects he's not a Monitor, but because Nogi also remembered that identity and realized Nozaki did too when he mentioned "Liu Mingshen". (but this also makes me wonder why F didn't recognize it, if this is theory is plausible)

Also: this will all instantly sink if it turns out Nozaki met Liu a really long time ago. So it hinges on everything having occurred within the last 10 years of the series' timeline from the present.

Edit 4: also hinges on F just having the same memory capacity as Nogi. I feel like he should remember at the very least most of their past missions, but at the same time, if you change jobs within 5, you might not remember all your colleagues that well (or their names) if you didn't work at the place for very long.

That's my theory 👆

(and I'll polish it up in my "final post before the finale" post lol)

#VIVANT SPOILERS

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fishylife · 5 months

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Splitting up my screencaps post for the Creation of the Gods variety series. Here's episodes 4 and 5. (Episode 4) (Episode 5)

Episode 4

More clumsy audio editing...while they were riding in the fields I heard two audio tracks with different music

They're riding in Inner Mongolia :o

His scarf lol

I kept seeing Zhang Xuehan in the training camp but I didn't remember her playing a character in the movie. MDL says she's in the first movie as Qiong Han but I'm wondering if she actually appears in later movies. Wuershan only mentioned that Xuehan had trained with Naxi though.

Ci Sha likes singing :3

They ate with the local villagers

Yu Shi riding the tractor coolly: I have to be the hottest person on the farm

Next scene: *Yu Shi chasing pig and failing to get a selfie*

Sandstorm on the plains :o

Naran was like "aw, wish I got to learn to ride horses with y'all :<"

Archery lessons!!

Parkour with bows >)

Oh no, Yu Shi's horse stopped at the last second ^^;; Guess they got scared

And then they began training for the sword dance

Third evaluations

Naran dance performance

That's kinda badass

Yeah their drum performances are pretty cool

Naxi and Xuehan played the drums while the guys did the archery and sword performance.

Lol Liu Tianchiw as loving the violence during the performance XD

Oh this is cool, they've prepared choreographed fights in different formations with different weapons

Hou Wenyuan felt he was most suited for Yang Jian :o

So apparently in the original script, the dance at the feast was different. After Wuershan watched the guys' performance, he changed that dance to the sword + shield dance.

Liu Han was getting emotional during his thank you speech to the teachers and the guys were like "CRY!!!!!!" XD Meanwhile in the studio Yu Shi was like "aw cute :3"

Omg more shoddy audio, during the speaking segment afterwards the audio of those on set was completely cut out...we just heard the music v.v

Acting performances are the final hurdle :o

Nooooo overlapping music audios again ToT I've brought this up several times but it's because it's very distracting.

Wuershan said that during camp, the trainees didn't know the script nor the characters. That being said I think I saw at least one trainee wear a 封神 T-shirt so I think they maybe had some idea but not the specifics.

Now that they have their assigned roles, they're finally getting into analyzing their specific characters.

Bro his long hair T_T I wonder if he was keeping it long for the movie or if it just happened like that. Chen Muchi's hair was growing long too so maybe it's the former.

Are we going to get any commentary on the creation of Chen Muchi's stage name

Jing Niansong marking Yu Shi's quiz on Chen Muchi like it's an actual test XD

Yin Jiao and Ji Fa bonding time by playing hide and seek.

Chen Muchi looking for Yu Shi with a SWORD X'D

Chen Muchi disturbing Hou-ge bouncing his yoga ball during hide and seek XD

Chen Muchi succeeded in the end, finding Yu Shi in 2min30s

In the third portion of the training camp, all the candidates considered for Ji Fa were in one team, and all the candidates considered for Yin Jiao were in the other team. So Yu Shi and Chen Muchi wouldn't have bumped into each other too much during that time.

Chen Muchi learning guqin and struggling ^^;; I mean yeah, he's a jock

Zhou Mi laughing at how Chen Muchi plays the guqin XD He was like "why do you touch it like you're being electrocuted" ^^;; From his scene before with the guqin teacher, I think Chen Muchi isn't used to plucking something as delicate as a string.

Naran learned guqin too :3

And also all sorts of dance. She said she trained for 2 years for not even 2 minutes of dance on screen. But that's showbiz isn't it.

Naran talked about how she studied foxes, went to the zoo to take videos, watched videos of them all the time. There are a couple of clips of her practising waking up as Daji and we see how different her mannerisms have become in the later videos.

And then training fox characteristics even more with Sang Lin

Oh this is super cool, now Sang Lin is 'attacking' her with a sword and she has to defend herself as a fox.

Interesting detail, Sang Lin said that most animals will swat inwards, not outwards.

Afterwards we see her practising a scene with Chen Muchi where Yin Jiao is trying to kill Daji.

Hou Wenyuan as Yang Jian lol. I don't know if it's confirmation bias but it just doesn't feel right lol. Hou Wenyuan as the asshole Chong Yingbiao works because Hou Wenyuan is a big personality. Ci Sha as Yang Jian works because we know he's 斯文 and a little formal. Hou Wenyuan admitted that this was not it so afterwards he was cast as Chong Yingbiao lmao.

Huang Xiyan started practising spear since he heard that the Erlang Shen character hadn't been cast yet.

Ci Sha had trained to be a hostage son for 6 months and then he was cast as Yang Jian, so he had to retrain all over again, practising spear with long robes.

LMAO Ci Sha singing while dragging Nezha around

Omg but Wu Yafan climbing all over Ci Sha was cute X3

Wu Yafan kept getting the giggles while practising lines with Zhou Mi (who was playing Jiang Ziya). Yafan kept accidentally calling Zhou Mi 師父 instead of 師叔 and every time Zhou Mi would be like "誰是你師父啊?!"

Oh shit, we found out about Huang Xiyan's personal history with his own father, and how that translated into his character's feelings about his father. Did not fucking help that we had two pieces of music overlapping during this moving scene and I couldn't fully concentrate on Huang Xiyan telling his story.

Afterwards, Li Yunrui was like "bro are you crying? why aren't you crying yet?"

Wuershan said that everyone who attended the training camp would be assigned a role. So for those who didn't get major or supporting roles, if they were willing to stay, Wuershan would assign them smaller roles.

Voting for this episode's title was fairly even because frankly everyone worked very hard for this movie.

Episode 5

Cute :3

I'm not sure exactly what kind of martial arts they're practising. Is it kickboxing or MMA? Anyway it's more hand-to-hand combat.

After checking their fundamentals the coach was like "yeah we're starting from zero with these ones"

The guys getting hyped for Chen Muchi vs. Ci Sha. I think Wu Yafan said that Ci Sha had practised this kind of MMA before. Anyway they were kind of laughing that they each never defended, they only ever attacked.

They went by the beach today to fight and do obstacles in the sand. Real 男子漢 stuff.

Strategy for gaining possession of the tire: Hug your bro, even if he's on the other team

Hou-ge's Strategy #1: Push Ci Sha, realize he's on your team, push someone else

Nana hides her face in the fox plush when she's laughing really hard :3

Hou-ge's Strategy #2: Take Yu Shi's pants off

Naxi and Nana CRYING laughing at Hou Wenyuan's shenanigans X'D

And then Hou-ge having a relaxing time on the beach lol. Just anything this guy does is hilarious tbh.

Hou Wenyuan and Yu Shi having a tussle (fake) in the water

Crawling with your bro on your back

LMAO there are not one, but TWO wedding photoshoots going on in the background

More hardcore military obstacle training in the sand

There are a lot of big mansions in the background

I wonder if Li Yunrui used to play soccer.

Bro Li Yunrui ALWAYS leans into Huang Xiyan when he laughs

BEACH BOYS PHOTOSHOOT

Riding horsies in the water! :3

"Recognize the man by his torso" game

Lol talent show night

I'm starting to wonder if the layered music is to prevent strikes from copyrighted music???? It's so distracting though, I'd rather they just mute it tbh.

Naran's birthday! :3

And then Wu Yafan's birthday :3

They said they are family ;_;

(Having to delete screencaps at this point because too many pictures in the post ToT)

Naxi recorded a lot of Naran's fox videos and also when Naran was still figuring out how to act like a fox, Naxi try acting as a fox with her so she wouldn't feel so awkward :3

Whenever Li Yunrui learns something new, he'll show Huang Xiyan...and Huang Xiyan will low key not pay attention lol

Lol the cello again

#thinking out loud #screencaps #cvariety #movies #creation of the gods #sorry i realized i'm getting really sloppy this is not entertaining this is me literally just reacting

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cosettepontmercys · 8 months

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I totally agree with everything you said about rerecordings. I honestly forgot about Sweeter Than Fiction but I like your idea too. It makes sense..and ya it was probably cuz they had cowriters or how she maybe she doesn't agree with the message of Drama Queen anymore. For a while, Ive been thinking about how it would be fun to listen to each rerecording differently the first time. For the first two, I listened in order but then for Speak Now, we went with vault songs first..and now for 1989 I was thinking I will listen on shuffle for the first time..and see how the vault songs mix in with the original songs. I've never done that but think it might be cool to experience since I've heard these songs a lot..and 1989 especially has her most popular songs. Idk though..cuz I know Rep seems like it must be listened in order..then for debut I don't hear the full album all the time so I might just play that in order too. So this is my last chance..and I wonder if it will make me feel differently about the songs haha. That didn't really happen with the Speak Now vault songs though..they just felt pretty separate or like just added to the album. What do you think? How do you usually listen to them? I know sometimes people choose favorites first.

Oh that makes sense about the Roman Holiday musical..and maybe it was hard to translate to stage too. Since it's an old movie, I guess it kinda makes sense to use Cole Porter songs but I can see how that didn't really add anything.

For Paradise Square, i did not know much about it either. I guess there has been an issue of being unable to release their cast album. So the composer has posted a few clips of the musical and songs on his Instagram to appreciate the show and I was watching them yesterday. It seemed pretty good and had a lot of dancing. Haha that Smash comment! Ya it seems pretty in demand..which makes sense. Also your comment about the green light with staging would be totally cool.

Oh ya..maybe that's why they were kinda similar and because they were both based on books. But ya..I still love Love Simon and it's soundtrack but I never read that book either. I really think this one could have had more potential..the movie was fine to me but it just didn't make me feel anything. It could've been more maybe but I also see a lot of people loving it too. I saw someone say that the book has a lot of pop culture references I think so I get why you would say that about when it was written but I'm still always curious about differences from the book to the movie. Apparently you said they cut a whole character..and I'm just like what? Haha. And yes of course to the buddy read! I hadn't thought about it but I think I have time for some reading today so maybe I'll restart it. But I also saw you had a lot of books on your list already so I wasn't sure. There's no pressure and I'm afraid I'll be horrible at keeping up with it lol. I'm not sure if it's like we read a couple chapters then we can talk about it as we go or if you have something else in mind but let me know! I hope you're doing well too and also your dog is the cutest!!!

hi friend!! i am terribly, terribly sorry about how long it has taken me to get around to replying to this </3 i keep meaning to sit down and write an essay reply to your other ask but i have simply not had the time/energy to do so! i treat little women very seriously so it will be a very long essay-answer just so you are prepared! but i did not want to let this ask sit in my inbox longer than it already has </3 and i also just missed talking to you!! how have you been? i would love a behind the scenes documentary/something that gives us more insight into why taylor picks the songs she does from the vaults/how she decides which ones she wants to release/not, and which era she wants it on! i usually listen in order, ending with vault tracks, but i think it'd be fun to shuffle it around! you'll have to let me know which listening experience you enjoyed most 🤍 !! i cannot believe in about two months time, we'll have 1989 tv. i also think that roman holiday is one of those stories that would just not work today! and i think that despite the musical still keeping it in the 1950s, it still felt very ... modern? i don't know how to explain it! i think it was a case of them trying to writing so they could fit in cole porter songs, rather than fitting in cole porter songs to support the script/character development/writing/etc? if that makes sense! i just saw the outsiders is going to broadway, which i'm super stoked to hear more about! ( i know nothing about the outsiders musical, i'm just intrigued) between the outsiders, the notebook, merrily, and then i just saw nycc is doing titanic, i have a better feeling about next season than i have in the past! and then smash in 2024-2025 in theory... i'm just excited! here's a question for you: if you could adapt any book as a musical, what would it be? and if you could revive any show on broadway, what show would you choose? they cut a couple important characters in rwrb, which made me really upset but it is what it is! (+ all the other issues i have with the movie) i do maintain that the book is much better (although not perfect, obviously) but i'm glad that a lot of people seem to love the movie 🤍 it simply is not for me and that is okay!! and yes, still down to buddy read!! i can either match your pace (you can just tell me how much you've read when and i'll read up to where you are), i can read at my own pace and then we can discuss, or we can do a set number of chapters/pages/etc. every x days! let me know what you want to do, i'm flexible 🤍 and thank youuu!! i am doing okay! it has been a rough couple of days over here (family/health stuff) but things seem to be looking up here! 🤍 and my dog says hello!!! hope you're doing well too, friend!

#post: answered #🩷 anon

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sofiiel · 9 months

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Ch. 32 | The Vanishing

Summary: 3836 words : When things seemed to be going right between Eddie and Myrtle. The failed attack on Loxion causes the group of super-humans to think Eddie and Corroded will be safer without her.

◁ Previous | Table of Contents | Next ▷

Warnings: Dialogue heavy. This chapter is more centered around the original characters.

The van fell into silence as Scott followed Rick and Axel up the road. Myrtle watched over Amy, Gail, and Angel silently. Each was now resting.

"I wonder if Doris is doing any better." Myrtle thought.

Myrtle frowned, "Maybe I can't go back home if this is how things will be." she thought, her eyes scanning over their worn faces. "Will they keep hunting me? I can't keep putting people in danger."

"Hey," Eddie uttered to her quietly.

His hand lightly rubbed her shoulder. He looked Myrtle up and down with concern. "What's wrong?" He asked her.

Myrtle looked back at him, "Everything." she whispered for fear of waking the others.

Myrtle turned her eyes to her friends. "They didn't ask for this, everyone was lured here for my sake." She said quietly.

Myrtle shook her head and tried to will away the tears. "And I don't even know why."

"Ok so there's something they want me to power, and we can guess it's related to the gate. But that's not a real answer, is it?" Myrtle said, she took a look at Jeff and Gareth who were each gazing out a window as if processing everything they'd just seen.

Myrtle looked to Eddie distraught, "They shouldn't be wrapped up in any of this. None of you should. It'd be different if it was just Amy and Angel. We're connected with Doris and Kali and it makes sense that they're here." she said.

"Average ass rangers and halflings travel about with wizards and elves all the time." Eddie said, "In fact, a very wise wizard once said, Many are the strange chances of the world, and help oft shall come from the hands of the weak when the wise falter." He said.

Myrtle leaned her head onto Eddie's shoulder. "I don't want to be anyone's problem. I'm tired of that. It's only getting worse as I fight it." Myrtle whispered.

"Wait...a minute." Eddie muttered, glancing down at her, he arched a brow. "Whoever told you, you were a problem?" He asked.

Myrtle's side glanced.

"Who told you, you were a problem?" He repeated, his tone slightly angered, but not towards her.

When Eddie didn't get a reply, he wrapped his arms around her to hold her closer.

"Maybe I shouldn't take her home. If that's what she can even call it." Eddie thought. "Why won't you open up to me." his mind sighed.

Eddie gave her a gentle squeeze. "One day you'll tell me everything you lock away in that pretty little head of yours." He whispered deeply to her, resting his head atop hers.

Myrtle stayed nestled in his arms, watching over their friends. "I'm not going back." She thought to herself, "I can't."

Myrtle's mind flooded with the faces of those she'd cared for back home, Robin, Patrick, Keith, Max, Her mother, Chrissy, and even her father.

"Just...after last night, how do I tell you..." Myrtle thought to Eddie. In the meantime, accepting the warmth of his arms.

And as if he could hear her, he held even tighter.

Deborah sat in her office digging through a small file, her desk littered with newspaper clippings and a Hawkins Middle school yearbook.

"It's not just a coincidence, it has to mean something." Deborah thought.

"You're in here on an off day...again?" Hopper asked as he entered the police station.

Deborah looked up from her messy desk and gave a feeble smile, "Um...I've taken up a Hobby?" she said, shrugging her shoulders high.

"You used to be a nightmare in high school...with all your fixations." Hopper sighed, walking to the desk. "So, what's your newest obsession?" He asked her.

Deborah bit her upper lip and glanced down at her research.

"Myrtle McKinney?" Hopper asked, he looked up at Deborah, "do I need to be worried about this?" He asked slowly.

Deborah opened her mouth wide, prepared to explain, when Hopper threw up his hand.

"Don't tell me you're back to looking." He said.

Deborah's face solidified into a stone gaze, "I will not stop until I find out what happened, Hopper." she said.

Snatching up a picture of Myrtle from Middle school, she pulled a worn photo from the pocket of her uniform.

"Look at them, Hopper." Deborah said placing her photo next to Myrtle's face in the yearbook.

Hopper peered down at the identical faces, the old worn photo of a little girl anywhere between seven and nine years old.

"yes, they look strikingly alike but-"

"They look *exactly* alike, and what are the odds that my sister and this McKinney share the same first name, Hopper." Deborah pushed.

Hopper closed his eyes and sighed heavily, "Deb" he said with a careful sternness.

As Hopper opened his eyes, he was faced with dark eyes daring him to defy her.

Hopper pointed at the pictures with his hand, "That girl can't be your sister. That was probably well before she was even born." He reasoned.

"I'm not stupid, I know that," said Deborah.

Hopper let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm simply saying that...well she was just found right? She could be my sister's child." Deborah said, "My sister could have named her Myrtle in hopes that I or someone would put things together, maybe she even helped the girl escape from the men that took her in the first place." she explained.

Hopper watched her with a blank stare. "You're a cop, Deb. You know the likelihood that your Myrtle is alive is-"

"Slim, yeah I know. But even you, have to admit. It's strange." Deborah said, pointing to the photos. "They're virtually twins." she stated.

Hopper gazed at the photos and shook his head. Yes, she had a point, but at the same time, Deborah was known to reach far in her attempts to solve the old town mystery of what happened to little Murtle Sinclair well over 30 years ago.

"So, what do you plan to do?" Hopper asked, looking down at Deborah.

"Have this random teenage girl DNA tested?" He asked.

"I could," she replied quickly. "If I explained things to her, I mean she was orphaned. She might be interested in finding her real family too." Deborah reasoned.

"Or you get the poor kid's hopes up over nothing." Hopper said.

Deborah fell silent. "Just think about what this could do to the kid and her family before rushing in." Hopper warned.

Deborah sighed heavily, "I will." she promised.

"Good, now come on. I need you to flirt with that guy at the coffee shop and get me a discount." Hopper said with a grin.

Deborah rolled her eyes and grabbed her hat, "You should be ashamed." she teased.

"Isn't that the whole point of being a best friend of the former prom queen?" He said, following after her.

The panicked caravan pulled to a stop in what Myrtle would only describe as the middle of nowhere.

"Are we even still in the city?" she asked, peeking out the window of the Van.

"Doesn't look like it, outskirts of Pennsylvania looks like." Jeff said.

Myrtle looked to find Eddie fast asleep in the seat, head tilted back and mouth wide open. She suppressed a giggle.

"Are we the only ones up?" She asked Scott.

"Yeah, you, Me and Jeff makes three." He said.

"Four!" Gareth called out, waking with a start. He hastily fiddled with his seat belt, freeing himself and trying to step around the others in a rush for the back doors.

"I gotta piss!" he yelped, exiting the van and making a B-line for the side of the road, wading into the tall grass.

Myrtle and the two remaining boys looked at each other and laughed.

"I'm going to miss the guys too." Myrtle thought while unhooking herself from the seatbelt.

"You too?" Scott snickered.

Myrtle shook her head, "Ha, no. I'm going to check on Kali and the others, see how Doris is doing." she said.

"I also need to stretch my legs, we've been driving for hours," Myrtle added, hopping out of the Van.

The midday sun of summer felt good against her arms, even through the mild humidity. Myrtle stopped halfway to Kali's van to look around.

"Wow we really are in the middle of nowhere." she thought, the place looked more sparse than Hawkins.

Not far off, surrounded by houses gifted with large be it lazily kept yards, was a small lemonade stand by the sidewalk. It had been left abandoned as a group of children ran around the front yard to the back of the house.

The calm scene around her, almost made her reality feel like a bad dream.

Kali opened the doors to the white van, "Myrtle?" she questioned. Her voice drew Myrtle back down to where she stood, where she really stood. Her world was a mess.

"Yeah, how're you guys holding up?" Myrtle asked, making her way over.

"We're fine," Kali said moving so that Myrtle might climb into the vehicle. Axel exited the van ruffling through his pockets for a lighter.

"Here," Mick called, tossing him her matchbook.

Myrtle looked at Kali, "His nerves are bad." Kali explained.

"All of our nerves are." sighed Mick.

Kali closed the van doors behind Myrtle and the two turned their eyes to Doris, who was resting quietly with a deep frown on her face. A red splotch was left on her skin where the tiny weapon burned her.

"She's ok...." Kali whispered, "That thing just drained her, a lot."

"She was subjected to it longer than anyone else. It makes sense." Myrtle spoke with a pained expression.

She could hear and feel each one of her friends drop to the ground because of those tiny little things, and the phantom feeling was making her stomach twist into a knot.

Kali studied Myrtle's expression, "You," she started slowly, weighing the air around Myrtle.

"You didn't come here just to check on us, did you?" she asked.

Myrtle shook her head weakly, "No." she sighed, turning to Kali.

"I want to accept your offer to stay with you," said Myrtle.

"You're sure?" Kali asked.

"Yes and No. It's funny, I've got so many friends now, that I should want to return home. But -"

"You'd only end up getting them hurt." Kali said.

Myrtle gave a nod. "Look what they did to Doris," Myrtle spoke softly. "And Angel, I've known neither long, but I know they are strong, and both were brought right to their knees. In seconds." she exhaled.

Her eyes welled slightly with salty water, "What could they do to the others?" Myrtle asked.

Kali nodded, "You aren't wrong to worry, but I will say they can still be of help. Mick, Funshine, and Axel aren't like us. But here they are." Kali reasoned.

Myrtle looked at Mick, "They aren't. But they're tough, I can tell. They're fighters - each of them looks like they've been fighting all their life." she said.

Mick smiled, "not wrong there, kid."

"We were just, small-town teens. They can't be like this, it's not on them." Myrtle sighed. She then laughed slightly, voice gently breaking, "but they're oddly loyal."

"Are you going to tell them or just slip away?" Mick asked.

Myrtle looked up, "Oh," she said breathlessly, fiddling nervously with her fingers.

"I didn't think about that." Myrtle looked down at her hands, "How do I do it? They'd throw a fit if I told them. Not that I blame them, if this was always going to be the case, they could have left me to start with." Myrtle thought.

"But I don't want to not say goodbye." This thought rang the loudest through her reasoning.

"I don't know what would be easier." Myrtle sighed.

"Neither, if they are your friends, they will suffer either way. You'll have to cut all ties if you really want to keep them safe." said Kali. Her words came out cold, but her eyes were kind and held sympathy in them.

Myrtle shut her eyes tight and nodded. "I won't be telling them. I just need to figure out how to just...slip away." she said.

"We can help you with that," said Mick.

"Do you think it will be hard to get Amy and Angel to join you? We'd be something to reckon with them along." Kali asked.

"Not at all, Amy's been looking for answers about her sister involving Loxion and if they truly are tied with the Lab that held you and Angel. She'll be all for it, I'm sure." Myrtle stated.

"And Angel?" Kali asked.

Myrtle sighed, "I don't know him well, but I know - He's gonna be pissed off when he wakes up. Something tells me he'll want revenge of his own. We'll help you take down those involved with the Lab if you can help us find out more about Loxion and put an end to them." said Myrtle.

Kali smirked at the determination in the girl's eyes. Kali held out her hand, and Myrtle took it.

"We'll turn you into something to be feared." Kali boasted, giving her hand a shake. "And we will tear down Loxion and the Lab someday together." she added.

Myrtle smiled faintly.

"I'd better be in on this path of vengeance" Doris croaked through a dry throat as she opened her eyes.

"Sorry, did we wake you?" Myrtle asked quickly.

"I heard interesting things, that's what woke me. I'd better be in on it." Doris said, she sat up and rubbed her neck.

"That hurt like a bitch." she hissed, she turned to Kali and craned her neck, "Is the scar sexy?" she asked her.

Kali chuckled, "Hardly, it looks like a giant freshly popped zit."

Doris shrugged into a simper, "Too bad, I needed another impressive scar for the collection." she sighed.

Myrtle giggled, "You're really taking this in stride." she said.

Doris arched a brow, "It wasn't fun, but I've faced worse, and I am sure worse will be coming for me one day soon." She shrugged with her arm up in the air, "No use in letting it keep me down, I won't get anything done." Doris sighed.

"The real question is...do you think that bitch is still held up in that storage facility?" Doris asked.

"Doubt it, you guys busted that place pretty good. I'm sure the police have investigated it by now. Closed the area down." Axel said, getting back into the passenger seat.

"Damn," Doris whispered. "It'll take us a long time to track them down again." she sighed. "Even with Myrtle with us, they won't make the same mistake."

"That's perfectly fine, I'd rather not have to face them again until I know I can. So yeah, in no hurry." Myrtle said.

"But taking her out now would mean getting back to your life sooner, to your friends sooner." Doris reasoned.

"Or it could mean I die a very painful, untimely death. I'd rather be alive when I go back to my friends, not in a casket or an urn." Myrtle said.

Axel laughed loudly, "Whoa wait-" he said, "She's leaving them?" He asked.

"You missed a lot while out on that smoke break," Mick said simply.

Axel leaned back to look at Myrtle from his seat, "Welcome to the teeaaam, sugarplum!" he sang playfully.

Myrtle's smile was faint, "And to think I thought you were mean at first." she said.

"Oh, I am, I just make exceptions." He said.

Axel's eyes fell on Kali, "One day you could be for them what she is for us. And Kal? Kal's the only one who can turn you into that." He said.

Myrtle looked to Kali, who tilted her head and rolled her eyes.

"He's putting a little too much on it, Axel is the dramatic type." She said.

"I can tell by the hair." Myrtle chuckled.

"I can hear you." Axel muttered.

"How do you even fit in here without messing it up?" Myrtle asked.

Axel grinned, "Half a can of hair spray." he said.

Gail stood with her ear to the glass of the white van, where the windows had been coated with white paint for cover.

"Leaving?" Gail thought.

She looked back to Eddie's van, where the others rested. Scott and Jeff had gone to stretch their legs, heading for the abandoned Lemonade stand in hopes of luring the seller back, so they could purchase some.

It would be easier to let her go, but Gail couldn't unsee how Eddie looked at her, or the way he spoke of her. Gail took in a deep breath.

"Should it even bother me if I'm not..." her thoughts wandered as she recalled the fuzzy memory and Amy's face.

"Who is Susan?" Gail asked herself.

"Never mind it you have to tell Eddie and the guys," Gail whispered, backing away and heading to the green van.

But as she ran around to the back doors, Angel stepped groggily out of them, letting them fall shut lightly on their own.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Don't tell me you're planning on running again." He spat at Gail.

She rolled her eyes and scowled, "No. Ok, believe it or not, I'm not that stupid. I need to warn the guys." said Gail, trying to push past Angel.

However, he refused to move, "Warn them about?" he asked skeptically, clear eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Myrtle's going to leave." Gail huffed, "I need to tell Eddie, so he can talk her out of it. She's going to leave, and she's going to do it without saying goodbye." Gail explained.

Angel's brow rose high on his face, "Continue." He ordered.

Gail growled under her breath, "She's going to stay with Kali and Doris. She wants to go after Loxion. I didn't hear much else, but...they want you to go with them. I missed some bits." Gail murmured.

"So for all you know, she told them no? And you'd be panicking everyone for nothing." Angel reasoned.

Gail looked into his eyes for a long time in silence.

"Y-you're trying to stop me from telling him." Gail stammered.

A thin smile slipped across Angel's lips. "It'd be better for the both of us." he hummed.

"Eddie would hate you for it." Gail shot.

With a hard roll of his eyes, Angel scoffed, "Eddie already hates me enough to where it wouldn't matter." he said.

Gail shook her head, "You're awful." she hissed.

"And you're not? You don't even know who you are." Angel whispered.

Taking steps forward, he backed Gail away from the van doors. "Your current existence is a lie, so what's it to tell another one?" He asked her, earning a furious glare.

"What the hell are you talking about?" She asked him.

Angel smirked, "So you've already lost a great deal of awareness about your original self." he spoke amused.

"Ok then 'Gail' think of it this way, you let the fairy and I leave, and you get your chance to start over." He bargained with a silver tongue, turning to look back at the van.

"He will need a shoulder to blubber on about it," said Angel.

Gail fell silent, "but if he found out..." she murmured.

"Oh, he'd hate you. Almost as much as he hated me. It's up to you to decide the worth of the risk." said Angel.

"Though one thing remains. If Myrtle wants to go, He may not be able to stop her. She's going to do it because she cares about them, and they aren't built for the world we live in." Angel left her with those words as he made his way toward Rick's truck, where the man stood smoking a short blunt.

Gail stood in a humid breeze watching the door to the Van.

"You're going to tell him." she told herself, but her feet no longer wanted to move.

Amy groggily popped her head out of the Van, "Myrtle?" she asked Gail.

Gail watched Amy with wide eyes, and Amy arched a brow.

"Okay, you're obviously still freaking out." Amy muttered, hopping out and wandering off around the Van.

Gail's eyes followed her, "Why do I know you?" Gail's thoughts questioned. "She seems to have forgotten she called me Susan..." Gail sighed.

"Hey, weirdo," Amy called, spotting Angel as he was walking away from Rick.

Angel coughed lightly and drew in a deep breath to expand his lungs. "What do you want?" He asked her, his usual edge seeming more passive.

"I um, have you seen Myrtle?" Amy asked, her face scrunched up, "You reek of Ganja" she muttered pinching her nose.

Angel sighed, "I do, and you should go ask Rick for a puff of it as well. It does wonders for numbing that pain from those fucking little zappers." he said.

"I'm good, I'd rather have the clarity, thanks," Amy muttered.

Angel rotated his shoulder a few times, to loosen the muscles that knotted together, seized from the pain hours before.

"Myrtle's visiting Doris, looks like we're headed to the same place," Angel said, reaching out for the Van doors he held one door open.

"Oh, perfect timing." Doris greeted them with a wide mischievous smile, "hurry get in." she called, beckoning them with a wave of her curling fingers.

Amy looked at Angel confused as he seemed to know exactly what was going on but followed him inside nonetheless.

"What's going on?" Amy asked.

Myrtle turned around to look at them and gave a strained smile.

"We're leaving," Angel said.

"Leaving? Where?" Amy asked quickly.

"To whoever the road to Loxion and the Lab workers takes us to." Kali said.

"You're going to hunt them down?" Amy asked.

"We wanted answers, didn't we?" Myrtle asked her.

Amy smiled, "I mean hell yeah but...." Amy glanced out the window to the green van a small distance away.

"They can't know, it's too dangerous. They aren't like us." Doris explained.

Amy gave a nod and looked at Myrtle. "If you're good, I'm good," she said to her. Myrtle smiled gratefully at Amy and turned to Angel.

As she went to open her mouth to speak he tilted his head.

"I'm with you, fairy. You don't need to ask." He said, eyes glinting with the same sharpness of his smirk.

"I owe them a kick in the teeth too." He murmured as if annoyed.

Doris laughed, "I knew that zappy shit would make you mad." she hummed.

"So when do we leave?" Amy asked.

"As soon as Axel returns with Funshine, he just left to get him." Mick explained.

Myrtle exhaled a nervous breath and shook out her hands.

"It'll be ok," Kali said calmly.

"Will it?" Myrtle thought.

The back doors opened again and in climbed Funshine as Axel got into the front passenger seat.

"Soon is here, then let's hit the road." Axel chimed excitedly.

Myrtle could feel the acid burning in her gut, and Angel quietly took her hand.

"It will be alright, It's scary at first, and then it gets easier." He whispered.

Myrtle nodded, "Let's go." she said.

Amy watched her with concern, "you're sure? Like..."

"I'm so sure, this is the only way they'll be kept safe," Myrtle said with a firm nod.

"It's the right path, Myrtle, you won't regret it long." Kali said with a smile, she rested a comforting hand on Myrtle's arm. "And you're not alone." she added.

"Step on it, Mick!" Doris called.

Mick started the Van and Kali quickly cloaked it with her powers, they'd all but vanished to the world around them.

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#eddie munson x original character #eddie munson x oc #This story is not Arachnophobia friendly #Eddie Munson/Original Female Character(s)#eddie munson x black!oc #eddie munson x fem!oc #eddie munson tolkien fanfic #TABA sofiiel

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h50europe · 3 years

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Why the myth about Steve's PTSD doesn't add up and other inconsistencies

In the last few episodes of H50, PL tried to sell us a mentally broken Steve suffering from PTSD. Only the whole thing came a bit too late. The clip you see is from season 4 and ended up - no, not in the series - but somewhere on the floor of PL's editing room. And why? after Kurtzman and Orci departed, along with their writers, PL took the helm and started turning Steve into a super-soldier. He stylized him into something that wasn't meant to be. Instead of developing the characters, PL began to incorporate more and more hair-raising action sequences into the series and then let Steve fight on the front lines. There was no mention of Steve's mental state, and a lot was explained by PL with: it just happened "offscreen." Yeah, sure. PL can't create a decent character. He can only produce stereotypes and one-dimensional beings. Like Adam. What potential would that character have had had he been turned into Five-0's antagonist? But no. So his role remained diffuse and monotonous. Sometimes even tragicomical.

Back to Steve. When SEAL Team started on CBS, PL also lapsed into SEAL mania. If someone who writes fanfiction were to produce as much garbage as this man did, he would be chased away from every writers' platform in disgrace. PL's Super SEAL also had to rescue his team members from a blazing inferno. Not man by man, no, he flew a helicopter right into the danger zone and lifted a whole cabin out of the burning jungle. If lunacy had a name, it would be PL. While the action became more and more exaggerated and unrealistic, the same happened to the protagonists. After the departure of Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park, PL completely lost his mind. And please, don't blame the writers for the nonsense that was thrown at you. A series stands and falls with the showrunner. He dictates what he wants and passes it on to his staff.

And so, lovable Steve became a soulless robot who only showed feelings here and there. Danny diminished more and more into a sidekick. McDanno became a ship that drifted anchorless through a stormy sea and threatened to capsize again and again. From season 8, it became a reboot of the reboot. PL tried an ensemble show and failed more than miserably. Often the actors just stood around bored. At least that was the impression. The only highlight was episode 8.10. A feast for all McDanno fans. But even here, the outcome of "who shot Danny" was more than insubstantial.

Wait, there was something about SEALs... Oh, yes. Junior appeared on the scene and became Steve's lapdog. I really wondered when there was going to be an episode where he would fetch sticks for Steve. Luckily we had Eddie for that. And because he thought he was so clever, PL invented the episode speed dating. How many subplots can you squeeze into one episode at the same time? In some episodes, you couldn't even take a look at the bag of potato chips without losing the thread.

The case of the week became the yawn of the week. There were so many loose ends that PL then came up with something called retconning. That's what you do when you're no longer satisfied with what was once established in the series years ago, or it no longer fits. But PL went one step further and did the same with the characters. The more the series was dragged out, the more the characters deteriorated and became OOC. It means, often, they were not recognizable at all. And that's where we come to Steve. Because PL, in his desperation, didn't know what else he could do to Steve, and so he killed Joe White. He did it in such a cheesy way with a fake sunset that it made you sick.

Of course, one episode later, there had to be another gig of PL's favorite Barbie. He stuck a fake beard on poor Steve/Alex, so he couldn't even hug Danny/Scott properly. The episode also raised more questions than it answered any. And Steve? He still didn't suffer from PTSD, even though he had now lost Joe White and a fellow SEAL. Everyone is dropping like flies, except for Steve, who is standing like a rock. No matter what. He doesn't need in-depth talks with Danny, nor psychological care, nor any sleeping pills. No, he's doing great. He also opens a restaurant with Danny because apparently, the carguments are already getting on PL's nerves. Unfortunately, this plot device leads into nirvana. The idea was nice, but nobody thought it through to the end. And the merry-go-round continues. Until we get to season 10, where it gets even more absurd. Now PL is almost bombarding us with McDanno episodes, or at least it should seem that way. Oh well, he's already planning for season 11, so a new character has to come on board quickly. While in the beginning, Steve's mother, Doris, dies.

Alex was allowed to take on the subject. Of course, only under the strict eyes of PL. He then nullifies Alex's idea that Steve kills his mother. Because a good soldier and Super SEAL won't do that. Little does PL know. THAT could have been the opening of a PTSD scenario for Steve. However, apart from that, this episode would have had any potential for a multi-arc. Just imagine Steve chasing his mother across multiple episodes. Again, PL stepped in and butchered Alex's episode. You can really feel sorry for the guy. PL at his best or worse? He just can't help it. And then, on the very last meters of the series, he brings someone new, who is allowed to cruise around with Steve most of the time. Because Danny was kidnapped by Wo Fat's widow, PL also invented quite late to have some villain at his disposal. This wannabe mastermind must really have been living under a rock somewhere if she wasn't even mentioned by her husband or appeared earlier.

Because towards the end, PL obviously ran out not only of steam but also of ideas, everything culminated in a wildly illogical scenario. Steve has to live through a dramatic day with Eddie, who stands as a metaphor for Steve (as I said, PTSD was never a thing for Super SEAL), Danny bangs his brains out in a ladies' room with a complete stranger, who dies shortly after that in an accident with Danny's rental car. Apparently, there was no budget to turn the Camaro into scrap metal. Danny then also goes home alone, ignoring the incoming emergency vehicles. Everything remains open at the end of the episode. While Steve expresses his gratitude to Tani and Quinn and says, he would be just as lost as poor Eddie without the dog and all of them. The strange thing is that you never notice anything until that sentence. A few forced dialogues are supposed to make the drama visible, but they all happen way too late or are so poorly written that you miss them.

PL had decided early on to make Steve a Teflon hero. That also means he didn't need to put much substance into the character. Which you can clearly see if you compare the first three seasons to the rest of the series. But towards the end, PL wanted to turn the tide and forcefully rewrote Steve's past. There is a huge difference if you compare Steve from seasons 1 to 3 with Steve from season 10. It is only a sparse remnant of what made this character so great. This change in Steve's personality also affects his relationship with Danny. The witty, affectionate banter degenerates into a snappy, humorless bitch-fest that takes all the joy out of it.

The final two episodes could have been written for any other crime show. As mentioned, we have Cole, who even gets a book'em Cole from Steve, which can only be described as out of line. And it begs the question, was that what Lenkov originally had in mind? Danny out of the show and Cole in? Was the last episode, which mainly featured McCole, something of a test run? Did all the McDanno moments happen only to tear the two apart eventually? Was the real final scene the one where Steve and Catherine take Danny's coffin back to Jersey? Was Danny not supposed to survive? Was that the real reason Steve wanted to get out of Hawaii because he wanted to pay his respects to Danny? And would he really have returned to Hawaii later? Or would he have turned his back on Hawaii? To me, this ending is more plausible than what PL served us. Then, Steve handed over his credentials to Cole instead of Danny, his second in command. Honestly, you can't make the end of a series any more sloppy and dumber than that. And I won't even lose a word about the last 1:30 minutes because I think everything has already been said.

No PL, mission absolutely not accomplished. You created Teflon-Steve. You never wanted him to show any weakness. You turned him into a superhuman who can survive anything. Only to pull the rug out from under him on the last few meters to the finish line and spit on his legacy. How can you dismantle such a great series and its characters like you did? How much do you have to hate something to do that? In the final interviews, the showrunner didn't exactly cover himself in glory either. Everyone who grew up with the series from day one knows that its end was wrong on all the possible levels and that the showrunner is solely to blame for that. It takes a fair amount of egoism and carelessness to drive 10 years at full throttle against the wall. Not many people can do that. Whether you can be proud of that, however, I doubt.

My respect if you have made it this far. Each of you gets 10 extra brownie points for it.

#McDanno #steve mcgarrett #danny williams #scott caan #alex o'loughlin #H50 the final chapter #H50 series finale #Lenkov #Eddie #Junior #seal team

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kino-alternative · 3 years

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“ To Be Someone ”

|| Hajime Hinata X Gender Neutral!Reader ||

❀ There he stood, staring at the huge building in front of him. The building in front of him was Hope's Peak Academy, the school of the talented and gifted.

From sports stars, singers, musicians to something as big as a yakuza, princess, heck- even something as complicated as luck. Those that excel at their own specific talent that no average person could reach are called an Ultimate.

That's what Hajime Hinata dreamed to be. Someone with an ultimate. Someone with talent. To be someone. Though, he is nothing but an average, normal, talentless and good for nothing reserve course student. That was him. He was nobody. A nobody who could only dream.

Hajime gripped on the strap of his bag as his eyebrows furrowed. Just dreaming. A dream that won't become reality. He turned around, looking at the ground as he began to walk away from the main building.

As he continued to walk to the Reserve Course Department, someone else passed by him and headed to the main building. Hajime stopped his tracks and turned his head to look behind him. Sakura petals blocked his view. The only thing he could see was the main building uniform and the keychain clipped onto their bag.

Soon enough, the person disappeared from sight when the gates closed. Hajime continued to stare, his eyes glistened before tearing away his gaze and walking back to his original destination.

❀ Leaning on the bench of the park located in between the two schools, Hajime let out a long sigh of exhaustion. Throwing his head back, he admired the orange-red-yellow mixed sky. It was quiet. No one really went to the park since the talentless and talented refused to meet each other.. or something like that.

Huh? what was that? Is that... Is someone humming? Before Hajime could even lift his head, he gave in. He couldn't help but let himself relax to it. It was soothing and comforting. Like most sappy writers describe, it felt like a warm hug or being cradled gently like a baby.

Bringing himself back to reality, he opened his eyes and lifted his head. He then turned around to look behind him. There, he spotted a familiar looking keychain and the main building uniform. This was the person from before. What were they doing here?

The person opened their eyes, revealing a (E/C} color. They stared right back at him, their humming stopped as silence once again returned. Both took this as their chance to get a better look of the other.

They opened their mouth, their eyebrows raised "You're...The boy from before, right?" Hajime slowly nodded, almost hesitantly "Y-Yeah.. Are you..?" He trailed off once they answered with a nod as well. The boy thought for a moment. He wanted to ask them something but wasn't quite sure if it's okay.

After debating in his head and listing the cons and pros, he opened his mouth and asked "If you don't mind me asking...What were you doing at the Reserve Course Department?" Dang it. That came out rude.

They didn't seem to pay any mind to it and furrowed their eyebrows, a smile forming on their face. "You want to be an Ultimate someday... Right?" Before he could respond to their rather true assumption, they added on "The same goes for me...Just the exact opposite of what you want to be"

Opposite? "The exact opposite of what I want to be...?" Hajime slowly repeated as he processed their answer. The gears in his head started to turn when it clicked, his eyes slowly widening while at it. "You... Want to be a Reserve Course Student?"

They nodded.

He was confused.

"Why-" "Maybe some other time" They cut him off, standing up from their seat and grabbing their bag as they put their earphones and phone away. They began to walk back to the main department, stopping for a moment and looking at the brunette. Raising their hand and smiling, they said "See ya! Oh, and don't forget to tell me your name, alright?"

Before the boy could even utter a word or sound, the same kind of petals once again blocked his view. And once they were out of his sight, the person was already gone.

Hajime didn't noticed until now that his hand was reached out. He looked at it and stared at his palm. The exact opposite of what he wanted to be. That was their reasoning.

Unlike him, a person who wishes to have talent... Wishes to be someone special... They want to be a person who has no talent? Do they wish to be someone ordinary?

❀ Back in front of the gates of Hope's Peak Academy. Hajime sighed, lowering his head. He still didn't quite understood why the person wanted to be like him. To be nobody.

"Ah, so you are here" He flinched and immediately turned around. There standing with their usual smile was the person themselves. They raised their hand, waved it "Hey" "S-Sorry.. Er.." That's right. They still haven't introduced to each other.

The person then walked to his side, staring at the main building. Though, unlike him, their eyes weren't filled with any positive emotions or even a tiny bit of admiration. It was just blank. No interest whatsoever.

He wonders why that is.

"We haven't introduced to each other yet, right?" They asked, their eyes now staring at his. Hajime blinked and nodded "Yeah.." The person faced him, pointing a finger at themselves, "I'm Y/N L/N, Ultimate Music Writer" They held out their hand for him to take and shake.

Hajime smiled awkwardly and took their hand "I'm Hajime Hinata. Reserve Course Student"

Their hand was warm/cold. How comforting.

"Well, Hajime, I don't normally go to class... Do you have enough time left before school starts?" Y/N asked with a tilt of their head, their eyebrows raising. Hajime pulled out his phone and pressed the on button, his screen opening and there said the time. Oh, he was- An hour early!? Since when!?

He decided not to ask and simply nodded at the person, "Yeah. At the park?" He asked back. They grinned and turned around, "Mhmm, c'mon"

The walk there was filled with small talk, just to ease the tension just a bit and get to know each other. Asking the basic questions, what do you like to do? Any hobbies? Etc...

Although Hajime - he believes - had pretty basic answers, Y/N didn't seem to mind at all and continued on.

Once they get to their destination, they sat on one of the benches.

Hajime glanced at them for a split second before looking at the fountain. He decided to think and zone out for a bit. Asking questions to himself as he pondered...

Is it okay for me to ask them?

Is it too early?

Before his thoughts could fully consume him, his mouth open and said on it's own "You don't have to tell me now. I think we should try to get each other first" Y/N stared at him , their eyes slightly wide. Ah, they didn't expect that. Neither did Hajime himself.

Y/N had a smile, a smile that you could tell was relief. Relief of not having to tell something you don't want to. They closed their eyes and thanked the brunette, "Agreed. Thanks"

Hajime couldn't help but smile back as well. Relief of not choosing/saying the wrong thing. "So, you were saying?" He asked with a tone to signal them. With that, the subject changed as the ultimate rambled "Oh! Right! Apparently, that wasn't the actual-"

❀ Everyday. Every hour. Every minute. Every second. They would meet at the park. The place that stored many memories between the two opposite students from the two different buildings. They would laugh. They would fight. They would vent. They would even stay quiet and still managed to enjoy their time together.

They would be there for the other when they need them most.

"Ah, there you are" Y/N smiled as they raised and turned their from the phone in their hands to the brunette walking towards them. They let out a hum. A hum that signals that they knew what the other was feeling. They set their phone down and asked, "Hey, what's wrong?"

Hajime, despite the fake smile on his face, knew better than to lie to them. Especially since the two have been best friends for a while now. Although he doesn't want to bother them, he was quite glad that someone asked him and actually sounded genuinely concern.

The boy sat down beside them, throwing his head back as he closed his eyes. With a sigh, he said "The leaves are green" That, indeed, was true. Y/N tilted their head, nodding slowly, "I see... Who or what? Why?" But to them, that meant something else.

As cheesy as it sounds, the music writer once told him that they had an idea. Specifically, signal ideas. Hajime, of course, thought it wasn't necessary but did so anyway. He thought he wouldn't need to use the them but they were, in fact, useful at most situations.

The one he just used now, meant envy and or jealousy.

"..." He stayed silent at first, having second thoughts before saying what he had on his mind. His thoughts and feelings. "This is gonna sound very stupid... And probably getting annoying but.. I guess I'm just really jealous of you"

Y/N blinked, "Me?" They didn't sound offended. They sounded more... Confused than anything. Which Hajime was thankful for since he didn't want to offend them in any way.

"An Ultimate. Someone that excels at a specific thing and an even higher than actual professionals.. Talent, basically" He smiled. A sad one. "The usual, you know?.."

"..."

Y/N stayed silent as they leaned on the bench, throwing their head back as well with their eyes closed. Hajime's, now open, eyes looked at them with a lift of his head. It looked like they were stuck in their mind.

It wasn't unusual, so he patiently waited.

""Maybe some other time", that's what I said when we first met, right?" They suddenly asked, which kind of startled him. Hajime fully lofted his head and shifted slightly in his seat to look at them despite their closed eyes. "Yeah.."

"I wanted to be free. Free from everyone's expectations. Free from my title" They stared back at him, noticing how he was closely listening to what they were saying. "To be someone who could just do what they want and who they want to be. To be someone even without talent. Because to me, talent isn't the only way that makes you someone or special"

They smiled and lifted their head, hands on their knees as they looked at the brunette. "To me, everyone is their own person and special in their own way. Talent or none" They grinned, their eyes closed as they exclaimed "And to me, Hajime Hinata is special and an ultimate in his own way"

Hajime stared at them, his eyes widening. Before he knew it, his face was red and his heart was pounding. Flustered. Touched. He felt... Special. Just by hearing them say it.

He cools down, his cheeks are still have a visible pink color on them. A smile made it's way on his face. Ah, so that's their reason.

"Oh, I was going to tell you more but it seems like time passes by rather quickly" Y/N pointed at the time on their phone. Hajime snapped out of his trance, eyebrows raised as he asked "Huh? What were you-"

Before he could continue, they stood up from the bench and looked down at the brunette. With their hand raised and waving, they said those words "Maybe some other time" And with that, they left.

Hajime watched them disappear from sight. He blinked before putting his hand down and smiled softly. He stood up from the bench and began to take his leave as well.

He understood what they meant. So now looking forward, he was taking his first step of not having to worry about becoming someone. Because now... Talent or talentless... Everyone is their own person, special in their own way.

#danganronpa #danganronpa x reader #x reader #danganronpa goodbye despair #danganronpa imagines #hajime hinata x reader #danganronpa hajime #hajime hinata #hajime x reader

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