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lovelivingmydreams · 3 years

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Paper Flowers: the final count down

Roman and Virgil have a fight as the end of their character’s time on Vine draws nearer every day.

You are giggling as you finish reading a PrincexNemesis fanfic on AO3.

It was a great story about Nemesis, named Marcus/Marcia in the story, was cursed at a young age to switch gender every time the sun passed the horizon. Leading to the poor kid being Marcia by day, the Prince’s bethroted whom he could not stand, and Marcus by night, the Prince’s sworn enemy who he was madly in love with. It was mainly a very funny story and the author left it very vague which gender Nemesis was born with. All they said was that Nemesis would be stuck with the gender they were when the received their first kiss. Which was given to them as Marcus. The tension came from whether Nemesis would be able to avoid getting stuck as Marcia on the wedding day, as he preferred Marcus.

It was very funny, but also surprisingly deep. Or maybe you are reading too much into it.

Just when you pressed ‘post’ on your comment you get an alert.

It’s vine time!

The video opens up and you see Prince pushing of an enemy and stabbing him.

You can hear a cheer and the camera turns to dad. “That’s my boy!” he cheers.

Prince kisses a maidens hand. Once more a shout is heard and you see dad. “Great job buddy!”

Prince polishes his sword, yet another shout. “Just look at you!” dad squeals from the doorway.

Prince looks up exasperated. “Can you not!?” Dad looks sheepishly and slowly glides out of view.

You wipe away a tear as you let your laughter subside. Everyone who’s been to any game or play ever has seen one of those parents.

You’ve seen people on tumblr who have jumped on this ‘the characters all live in the same kingdom’ concept and ran with it. It was a fun world they’d created. Teacher was the Prince’s tutor. Nemesis had several potential backstories, from the son of a nobleman to an orphan servant in the castle. Prince was, obviously, heir to the throne. And dad was either a nanny to the prince and other children in court, or father to the Prince or the nemesis. It made for some fun imagined shenanigans, that was for sure.

You are curious though, what will come next.

...

“No.”

Roman groaned in annoyance. “Anxiety, I don’t need your cooperation to propose a skit idea to Thomas,” he reminded him. He didn’t, he’d never asked before they became friends. But they’d been doing so well on communicating since. What, one might ask, made Roman dismiss Virgil’s input now?

A couple of bad nights, for starters. The fact that they’d been having this argument in front of Patton and Logan for the past half hour, meaning he had to keep up pretenses. And lastly, Virgil was just being difficult on purpose it seemed.

All Roman wanted was to have a nice final skit between their characters before they moved to youtube. There still would be skits involving either of them, but he liked the thought of wrapping up the nemesis story line before starting the story of the prince of creativity and Anxiety on youtube.

Virgil, however, seemed unwilling to even entertain the idea of another Prince vs Nemesis skit entirely. Let alone one to wrap up the semi storyline they’d made.

“Then go ahead and do it. See if I care!” Virgil growled before storming off.

Roman let out a frustrated sigh and dropped in the couch. “Impossible! That man is simply impossible sometimes!” he complained loudly. He was angry with Virgil right now. He wasn’t even going to try to deny that. Virgil could be infuriating sometimes.

And he was going to complain and pout as long as he liked, thank you very much. He was not the unreasonable one in this scenario.

“Kiddo, Anxiety is just like that. You know that he has a tendency to disagree on principle.”

Roman huffed. He knew better. Virgil was not usually difficult for no reason. He was a safety measure of sorts. He made sure they all thought through every decision. Every action.

Often a little too much, but he meant it well.

It was rare that he gave Roman no room to argue. A straight up ‘no’, even before their alliance, was rare. There were arguments, objections, doubts. But ‘no’ was usually with very good reason.

Roman just could not phantom the reason right now though. Which was why he was so angry.

He had learned to manage patience when he could see the source of Virgil’s concern. But now?

“Actually Patton, usually when Anxiety disagrees with us, he has at least some form of reasoning behind it. Be it of an irrational sort. It is not often that he gives no form of motivation behind his outbursts. This would lead me to believe that he has reasons, he just does not wish to discuss them, or maybe even might not wish to acknowledge them to himself.”

Roman listened to Logan making perfect sense, as he tended to do. But he didn’t feel like really thinking about that. He was still upset with Virgil.

“Or maybe he is just in a rude mood,” Roman objected stubbornly.

Logan took in a deep breath. “As much as I dislike figuratively feeding your ego, Roman, I feel like the positive changes in his behavior over the last year might be largely due to you.”

Oh, now this was something Roman was willing to pause his sulking for.

He shot up and looked at Logan expectantly.

Logan looked like he regretted speaking to begin with. Luckily for Roman, Patton had gotten curious.

“What do you mean?” he asked. Roman thought there was a strange sting to Patton’s voice, but he must’ve been mistaken, surely.

“Roman… You have been different ever since you asked for your memories of interactions with Anxiety… What was it that you found in there?”

Oh, no. Damn him and his promises.

Roman shrugged, feigning losing interest. “He saved Thomas and his friend earlier that day, and he didn’t seem to consider that a big deal. So I got curious and looked back and found that most of what he said, like you mentioned could maybe be read as trying to help somehow.”

Roman prayed Logan wouldn’t ask more. Luckily he didn’t.

“I see. I assume that this new information led to you changing your approach to your communication with Anxiety and this led to him being less tense around you.

He let you convince him to interact with us, he made an effort to explain himself and collaborated more on your projects,” Logan deduced.

“Could it be that to Anxiety, the start of that positive change in his life is connected to the skits between your character and his?” he wondered.

Roman’s eyes widened. “What? So me ending that storyline feels like me rejecting him or something?” he asks a little incredulously.

Logan looked up in surprise. “Well… That is a possibility,” he nodded. Why was he so shocked Roman could figure stuff out on his own. He could be empathetic enough for this. He might be the ego but he was not that self-centered. Bonds with others was high on his priority list too.

“The poor kiddo feels like he’s all alone now,” Patton mused sadly.

Roman got up. He was not ready to feel bad for Virgil. Especially when he was being ridiculous. As if Roman would end their friendship like this. Did he think so little of him?

He stormed off to his room and landed himself on his bed.

He wasn’t in the wrong, it was not his job to apologize. He kept repeating that to himself but occasionally he wondered if Virgil was overthinking right now. Thinking that Roman hated him now…

No. He was not in the wrong, he got to be mad if he wanted to. Virgil got to be mad with him when he got lost in a monologue and got all kinds of ideas stuck in Thomas’ head without consulting anyone making Virgil feel like he had to be the bad guy for scaring Thomas away from the ideas he loved too much to let anyone else convince him to adjust them.

He’d swallowed his pride and apologized to Virgil then.

So he was going to be petty and stubborn for as long as…

There was a knock at his door. Roman shot up and walked over to his front door and opened it. There was no one to be seen. When he looked down though, he saw something that took his breath away.

He picked up the paper purple hyacinth and the accompanying note.

“I know you are mad. Please let me explain before you hate me forever? I’ll be waiting.”

Roman let out a sigh. Purple hyacinths represent sorrow and regret. And it must’ve been such a pain to get the paper to bend to his will like this.

Now Roman had to go and meet Virgil. He put the flower in the vase along with the rest of the assemble bouquet and hurriedly opened the door to the field.

“Virgil?” he called out before he even closed it.

The anxious man was pacing through the field, trampling a path in the ground.

Luckily the field fixed itself every time they left.

Virgil looked up and his shoulders relaxed. Clearly he saw Roman’s swift arrival as a good sign.

His anger already fading, Roman added the hyacinths to the field to show he’d gotten his apology gift and accepted it.

“I thought about what I said… Or didn’t say and… Maybe I was just… I didn’t want us to stop making skits together,” he rambled, playing with his hoodie sleeves and pointedly not looking at Roman.

Roman let out a sigh. Logan had been on the right path then.

“Virgil, you really think that I did not enjoy working on those with you?” he asked.

Virgil shrugged.

“Well I did. Therefore I will call upon your aid any chance I get. I actually expect you to assist me quite often in the creation of the sanders sides series and many other projects. I merely wanted to give the fanders a satisfying ending to the adventures of the prince and his nemesis on vine,” he explained calmly.

Virgil nodded. “Yeah… I’m sorry. Really I am. I was pretty rude to you and you did nothing to deserve it,” he said softly, glancing up at Roman nervously.

“You are forgiven, Grim Creeper,” Roman smiled reassuringly.

Then he got an idea. It would let him vent the last bits of frustration and Virgil could maybe work of some angsty energy as well. “If you really feel like you’ll miss the prince and the nemesis that much though…”

And just like that Roman summoned two swords, tossing one to Virgil who caught it in surprise.

“I shall teach you the art of the blade!” he declared.

Virgil rolled his eyes but smirked. “Let me have it Princey,” he challenged.

...

While the two younger sides sparred in the field, the fatherly side was headed to the stairs leading down in search of an anxious sides room. Hoping he’d be let in now.

“Patton?” Logan called.

Patton flinched at being spotted. Though he wasn’t sure why. Was it so bad that he tried to help Anxiety?

“Hya Logan!” Patton greeted sheepishly. “I was going to make sure Anxiety was okay…”

Logan cocked his head. “Patton, I’m obviously no expert, but if my interpretation of his thought process of today was correct, he feels rather vulnerable right now. While that might mean he’s more open to sharing and closeness, it also means he might be in a state of heightened alertness.

If you attempt to approach him now you could very well make things worse with small mistakes.”

Patton bit his lip. Logan was right. Anxiety was not in a right state of mind. If Patton wanted to him to let him in, then it couldn’t happen when he was feeling hurt and alone. No matter how badly Patton wanted to comfort him. Going in now would be for Patton’s sake. Not Anxiety’s.

“We will make our way back to him Patton. Who knows? Maybe Roman’s youtube project lends us a chance to interact with him more frequently,” Logan offered.

Patton nodded. They’d get there. Sooner or later they’d be a happy family.

He just had to be patient and let Anxiety decide when he felt ready to try again.

Intorducing the sides

@vixdoesbadart @vpow @apinkline2715 @tired-yeetling @firegirl156 @soysaucevictim @1nsomniacwriter @moonlightshow00 @naturallyunstablegamer @alias290 @meowthefluffy @frida0043 @angelic-cali @selenechris @theblackveilinreverse

#sanders sides #ts sides #virgil sanders #roman sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #paper flowers au #prinxiety

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365days365movies · 3 years

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January 14, 2021: GoldenEye (1995) (Part 1)

He’s suave. He’s sophisticated. He’s spy. He’s...

The late, great Sean Connery.

Ignoring the less then savory aspects of his personality (AKA the Barbara Walters interview...both of them), Connery is undoubtedly the most famous Scottish actor of all time. Sorry, Whovians, I love David Tennant, too. But Connery’s got him beat. He’s been in so many iconic films and roles, his influence is undeniable. But most famous of all is his turn as Agent 007, the man himself, James Bond.

I’ve seen all of Connery’s original Bond films (not counting Never Say Never Again), and my favorite is Goldfinger, in case you were wondering. But outside of that...I haven’t seen any Bond movies. Since him, the character’s been played by David Niven, George Lazenby (now THAT’S an interesting story, lemme tell you), Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and the two I’ll be looking at this month: Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig.

I’ll be looking at Brosnan tomorrow, in Casino Royale. But today, I’m looking at arguably the third most-famous Bond, Pierce Brosnan, in one of the most famous modern Bond movies, GoldenEye.

Also, yeah, never played the game I KNOW IT WAS A ‘90S CLASSIC I WASN’T ALLOWED TO HAVE VIDEO GAMES.

So, what to expect from a Bond film? Well, I’ve got a checklist here, hold on...HERE we go:

Gadgets

Girls

Good-for-Nothings

...Good music?

I’m feeling a little alliterative of late. But, yeah, looking for the Bond Girl, looking for cool gadgets, looking for dastardly villains, and listening for the theme song for the film. Got my list set, and expectations are set to Connery levels. Let’s do this, shall we?

Recap

We start at a dam in Russia. Bond James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) is infiltrating the dam, and we get our gadgets checked off right away, as he whips out an acetylene torch. He barges in on a guy in the bathroom (rude, and awkward), then meets up with Alec, AKA Agent 006 (Sean “he dies, he’s the villain, or he’s the villain who dies” Bean).

Yeah, calling it now, Alec here’s gonna die, or he’s the villain, or he’s the villain who’s gonna die. It’s Sean Bean. More importantly, it’s Sean Bean in the ‘90s. There are very few options for him. Anyway, the Russians try to stop them from blowing up the plant, and...well, Alec’s being held hostage. Yyyyyyup. And he gets shot?

I don’t know how...but I’m betting that he’s still the villain. He’s Sean Bean. C’mon. He doesn’t die this early in a movie.

The unambiguously evil Russian general (hey, the Cold War just ended) almost get Bond, but he escapes in typical Bond fashion. They chase after him, and Bond chases an airplane. How, do you ask? I WILL FUCKING SHOW YOU HOW.

WHAT??? WHAT??? Physics just broke, and Issac Newton just tunneled to China. And then the facility blows up.

And THEN the opening begins. Let’s hear the Bond song and check out the opening.

youtube

...WOW. Just...I mean...OK, so Bond songs. From the first Bond movie, Dr. No, up until the one before this one, Licence to Kill, the intros were designed and directed by Maurice Binder. They were all composed of silhouetted women, often against colorful backgrounds, and almost always nude or skimpily dressed. There would often be themes or objects seen in the film itself, and sometimes actual scenes, often projected onto women themselves. They all definitely had a similar feel and style. And then, Binder sadly passed away in 1991.

Enter Daniel Kleinman. This is Kleinman’s first take, and this is also the first movie to use CGI. While it’s not terribly obvious or gaudy in the film proper, Kleinman uses this new technology to make this intro SURREAL AS HELL. It expresses the film’s connection to the fall of Soviet Russia, and a post-Cold War society. And is does that in a pretty obvious, if abstract and dramatic, manner. And honestly, on retospect...yeah. It definitely works. Even the song, which is sung by Tina Turner and written by Bono (yes, really), works well by itself, and in my opinion, better when with the actual film. So, crazy and weird as this sequence it...kinda grew on me. I like it! Weird, but I like it a lot.

We cut to nine years later, with Bond taking a woman on a drive/race on a cliffside highway with...well, there’s our Bond girl! This is Famke Jannsen, playing...Xenia Onatopp.

Yes. Really. Oh boy. We aren’t being even slightly subtle about this, huh.

The woman in the car demands him to stop, and they make out, as one would expect. That night, he heads to a party, as James Bond does. At the party, James enters a card game with Xenia. Again...as James Bond does. This is immediately followed by him hitting on Xenia, ordering a vodka martini (shaken not stirred), introducing himself as “Bond, James Bond,” commenting on the Bond Girl’s name, and saying suave shit.

HOLY SHIT THAT SENTENCE ALONE HAPPENED WITHIN 1 MINUTE OF SCREEN TIME

Look, movie, when you got a Bond...you gotta space that shit out. Ration it a little bit, not front load all of it WITHIN FIVE MINUTES AFTER THE OPENING’S FINISHED. It’s like giving someone a beer, and then they EAT THE FRIDGE.

Jesus. OK, Miss Moneypenny (Samantha...Bond, that’s neat!) gives Bond some information, tells him not to have sex with Xenia until they tell him to (yes, really), and then say’s that she trusts he’ll say…”On-a-Topp of things.”

YES. REALLY.

Speaking of Xenia, she’s with an Admiral, having the most TERRIFYING sex I’ve ever seen in a movie. And I’m legit not sure if he survived after it. Like, real talk, it was...frightening. Somebody steals his ID, real nonchalant like, and we cut to the next morning, after his maybe-death? James makes it onto the yacht the next morning (they were on a yacht, by the way), planning on getting some information.

Meanwhile, the ID is used by...someone...to get into a leader of global military leaders. Pretty sure the Admiral got Kegel’d to death; not even joking, it’s a real possibility, and I am shaken AND stirred. And so was the Admiral.

See? Toldja.

Looks like their unveiling a new tactical helicopter, the Tiger. However, the pilots are shot by Xenia and someone else, and they take their place, stealing the helicopter. Bond tries to stop it...even though there’s literally no way he could’ve known they were going to steal the helicopter? I mean, I guess you could assume that, but...I dunno, it’s a stretch.

Meanwhile, in Siberia, a group of radar analysts or some such, where we meet Boris (Alan Cumming, who I feel like I never see play an actual Welsh person...or in a good movie) and Natalya (Izabella Scorupco). Boris is a thirsty computer nerd who hacks the US government for fun (because ‘90s nerds in movies were basically only this), and Natalya puts up with him.

The Tiger helicopter arrives, carrying Xenia and the General (Gottfried John, by the way) from the dam 9 years ago. They show up here, seeking something. Xenia shoots up the place, killing everybody except Natalya (and maybe Boris, since we didn’t see him die). Xenia, by the way, appears to be a straight sadist, enjoying inflicting pain on unsuspecting victims. The two leave, getting what they came for.

London! James Bond returns to MI6 headquarters, and meets his secretary Miss Moneypenny, who calls him the fuck OUT. She is my favorite character now.

MI6 has intercepted a distress call from the station in Siberia, and found the helicopter. The mission is heard by both Bond and M (Dame Judi Dench herself, pre-Cats). Meanwhile, the base in Siberia is hit an electromagnetic pulse originating from an orbiting satellite, which causes EVERYTHING to explode. Pretty sure that’s not what EMPs do, but why not? Suspension of disbelief.

Natalya’s still alive in there, by the way. And she’s not having a great day. You know those work days, right? Your coworkers are all dead, your equipment and office space explode, you’re trapped in a burning building, two American jets get hit by an EMP and crash into the building. Mondays, amirite?

And in case literally everything didn’t make it clear by now, this is a Cold War movie, taking place after the Cold War was concluded. See, the McGuffin for this film (it’s a Bond film, it’s kind of a requirement) is Project GoldenEye, a nuclear weapon meant to detonate in the upper atmosphere, creating an EMP. The weapon was developed during the Cold War, and has now been stolen by the Janus Crime Syndicate, whose heads include Xenia Onatopp. General Ourmunov is also suspected to be a part of it.

This information all comes out during an exposition speech, as is standard for a Bond movie. But after that speech...OH...OH, it’s so good. See, up until now, Miss Moneypenny was really the only major female recurring supporting character in Bond’s life. But we’ve flipped the script, having M played by Dame Judi Dench. And lemme tell ya...what follows is Dench REAMING BOND THE FUCK OUT. And it’s glorious.

Mind changed, M is now my favorite character. She tells him what’s what, then gives him his mission: get GoldenEye back.

We finally get our big gadgets showcase, as we see...Q (Desmond Llewelyn)! First introduced in From Russia With Love in 1963, Q is the MI6’s spy gadget man, and has been played by Llewelyn since then! He’s the only remaining cast member from the original Connery films, and it’s awesome to see him here! He’s been in more James Bond movies than anyone else, at 17. Sadly, he died in 1999, but it’s still cool to see him! We get cool gadgets, of course, including a pen grenade, a car with missiles behind the headlights, a leather belt with a grapple, a LOT of shit in the background, and a missile hidden in a leg cast and wheelchair. This is such a funny sequence, and absolutely the best scene in the movie so far, holy shit. More of THAT, please.

Meanwhile, in St. Petersburg, the General finds out that Natalya is alive, as well as Boris being missing. Calling it now, he’s been taken by Janus, or he’s working with them. Bond arrives and meets up with CIA Agent Jack Wade (Joe Don Baker), whom I also really like. He’s had enough of Bond’s spy bullshit, and he cuts to the point. He also identifies himself by showing a rose tattoo with the name of his ex-wife, Muffy. Yes, really.

Bond meets up with a Russian gangster whom he has a...pre-existing relationship with. Apparently, he shot him in the knee, then slept with his wife. You stay classy, Jimmy. You stay classy. This man is Valentin Zukovsky (Robbie Coltrane), an ex-KGB agent and current gang leader. He tells him that the head of Janus is descended from Cossacks, a group of Russians that worked for the Nazis in World War II.

Natalya finds a way to contact Boris over the internet, who tells her to trust no one, and sets up a meeting with her at a church. This is, of course, a trap, as Boris is working with Janus. Xenia, for her part as a Bond Girl, does her duty and finds James to have sex with. Xenia, it should be noted, is ABSOLUTELY THE FREAKIEST of the Bond Girls. Like, Goddamn is she kinky, you have no idea. Like...is this sex or a fight scene? The film genuinely can’t decide.

Bond forces Xenia to take him to the head of Janus, who’s in a Soviet statuary of some kind. And who’s waiting there but…

Yup. Called it.

See you (and Sean “died, but didn’t die, and is a villain, but is still gonna die” Bean) in Part 2!

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cescalr · 4 years

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Why Is Draco Malfoy So Underrated?

A repost of a Quora answer because Quora hates me for some reason

@vivithefolle i take little convincing here I go -

SO!

You. Yeah, you. You, nebulous quora questioner, you think Malfoy is underrated, do you? Well I, CescaLR, am here to set the record straight. The following is the answer I posted to Quora, that was flagged with ‘answer may need improvement’, which means some asshole was trawling the answers to the question posted and didn’t like mine so they had the moderators hide it because said person doesn’t like differing opinions. This post is thereby an archive, so if my answer is never again allowed to see the light of day on Quora, at least my maths is visible elsewhere.

Hopefully, this entertains you, tumblr user reading this post. Also, as fair warning, if you do like Draco Malfoy and somehow stumbled across this post, I recommend skipping it.

Why is Draco Malfoy so underrated?

Fleur Lee-Ranger

Author of 857406 words of fanfiction and counting.

ANSWER:

HAHAHAHA.

Ha.

hah…..

For god’s sake, I hope you’re not serious.

Let’s look at YouTube, first:

Does 2.2 million f*cking views on a woobie Draco edit seem like he’s underrated to you? Any character that gets 2.2 million views on an edit that interprets the character in a sympathetic, caring light…. Jesus Christ. They’re not underrated.

You could make a clear argument for them being overrated, by matter of fact!

The first result is his entire life story, and a redemption of the Malfoy family as a whole, and it’s… super popular!

look at that! 70k likes versus 1.7k dislikes. Let’s use my favourite maths thing once again: Ratios!!

(I hate ratios. The things I do to prove a point, eh?)

This video has 5201431 million views. It has around 70k likes, 1.1k dislikes. We’ll round 5201431, as 70k and 1.1k are both rounded numbers and I can’t be bothered to deal with numbers that are too complicated right now, it’s nearly nine pm. 5201431 -> 5.2 million. It’s the rounded number YouTube itself uses on the search page - check the first image if you don’t believe me, and since YouTube thinks that’s good enough, so will we.

5200000 : 70000 : 1100

52000 : 700 : 11

Divide all by 11 (and round awkward numbers, because we’re already dealing in rounded numbers anyway, which is kind of bad practice, but it’ll do for this context):

4,727 : 64 : 1

As I’ve proven before (not on Quora, you can probably find it in the comments of one of my fanfictions, I’ll end up moving it over here one day when I find the right question), fandom content engagement rates are always pretty bad. But honestly? every four thousand or so views, you get 64 likes, compared to just one dislike. That’s great! That’s incredible! I’d kill for those kinds of ratings!!

(Draco’d probably wimp out, though. hehe. Jokes, jokes.)

As for his woobie video:

2.3m : 152k : 715

2300000 : 153000 : 715

Nice, don’t need to remove any superfluous zeroes. Bad, for… well, your hypothesis, to put it nicely, since that means there are only seven hundred and fifteen goddamn dislikes on this video, what the f*ck, why do so many people like this b*stard child.

Ahem. Sorry, that’s rude to illegitimate children like myself. There is nothing wrong with having unmarried parents.

…Anyway, lets slim down that ratio:

3217 : 214 : 1

Holy sh*t. I would do more than kill for this ratio. Oh my god.

That’s some great engagement there. So many likes! Clearly, Draco dearie is a very popular boy! He’d love that. I hate this on principle. God am I glad 13 year old me didn’t really use YouTube (I watched gaming content and little else, didn’t even find fandom content until 2015) or I’d have contributed one of those likes, probably.

Oh wait, no! Never mind! I can’t have contributed one of those likes, because this f*cking video was posted last year!!!!!

LAST GODDAMN YEAR!!!!

Do you understand that? Do you - do you have any idea how - just how difficult it is to get that many views that quickly and with that good an engagement???? Do you???????? It has been, get this, seven, seven whole f*cking months, Less time than it takes to make a baby, and this f*cking video has 2,265,900!!! million!!!! views!!!! With a ratio of 214 likes to one goddamn dislike.

oh my god.

oh my god

I’m having a minor mental breakdown. Jesus f*cking H Christ on a goddamn bike.

Look at these comments! Look at how many likes they have!! Oh my god!!!! Draco Malfoy might just be one of the most beloved characters ever to get this sort of reaction, for hell’s sake!

I don’t know what kind of dunderhead you are to not notice how f*cking popular this jackass little b*stard boy is, but god, the whiny little sh*t has more fans than oh, I don’t know. Someone really popular. Tom Holland? I don’t know celebrities. Sorry.

But my point is, for god’s sake, Malfoy isn’t underrated. I don’t know what rock you’ve been living under, my friend, but that sheer idolisation you so crave of your wimpy f*cking husband is right there in front of you! Just search his name, and you’ll see it front and goddamn centre. Those of us that don’t worship the ground he walks on are generally much more background.

For god’s sake, he’s a trope namer.

Draco In Leather Pants.

How much more evidence do you need than that?

Of course, I could be jumping the gun. You could be a fan of his that is frustrated by the fanon interpretation of his character. ‘Why is he reduced to a bad boy with a heart of gold when actually he’s a more complicated asshole with sh*tty morality and no backbone that gives a whole ass damn about his family but not much else?’ Good question! Blame Cassie Claire, though I suppose that’s my go-to for most things.

Seriously though; Draco Malfoy is not even remotely overrated. He’s a whiny, terrible, useless waste of space in the books; and in fandom, he’s transformed into a cool, collected, redeemable or outright good person who’s smart and talented and like, super hot you guys, doesn’t he look cute with Hermione/Harry/Insert Author’s Projected Character Here?!!!!

Also: Y’all are f*cking creeps for this shit:

THAT’S A SCENE FROM WHEN THE KID IS TWELVE, FOR GOD’S SAKE. I’m not even joking, half of you are nonces and I want nothing to do with you! ‘hot draco malfoy edits’ HE’S TWELVE

HE’S TWELVE

HE’S TWELVE.

Hot take time:

Draco Malfoy is overhyped, overrated, and oversexualised and I want all of this to stop, because you’re doing it to Tom Felton, when he was a child. A child! That’s creepy! Please do not make hot edits of children, thank you!!!!!

Someone call the police. I’m done with this f*cking fandom, oh my god.

(Also, if you think I edited that in like some sick weirdo might do, just go find that video and give it a watch. I wouldn’t if I were you, I’d believe me, because watching that video probably puts you on a watchlist somewhere.

It should.)

Okay. Deep breaths. It’s been a few months, this answer was flagged with the wonderfully opaque ‘this answer may need improvement’, and I’m back to refine this. I’m not taking anything out, but I’m adding some extra investigation. For posterity’s sake; the original answer only contained YouTube analysis. Let’s look through Archive Of Our Own, shall we?

As I showed in my answer re: the well-liked-ness of Lilly and Hermione, this is the number of total fics within the HP tag.

This is the number of tags when ‘Draco Malfoy’ is added to the ‘included characters’ filter.

So, in terms of ‘fandom work presence’ (AO3 is mostly fanfic, but it is not all fanfic, there are a few vids and some art on there, too) Malfoy’s ratio is thus:

254603:65469

3.8889… : 1

4 : 1

So, rounding up, for every four works on AO3, there is one that includes Draco dearie. Good lord, he’s pervasive, isn’t he? Can’t turn a corner in the fandom without seeing his pasty ferret face plastered all over the walls… lovely.

Now, once again - that wasn’t the best ratio. I didn’t remove bashing, for example, so not all those works will be positive (as in, since you think he’s underrated, that means - I assume - you think people don’t like him enough) so let’s go the long mile:

I will find a ratio for Mr Malfoy Jr’s fans, versus his haters, in terms of - how many fics bash Malfoy, and how many greatly enjoy his existence?

Add the bashing tag, and now let’s see how many fics there are with a) Draco in it, and b) Draco Bashing:

hahahhahagag;k;asdkf

Oh no!

Oh my god I dodn’t…. one second… give me just one second….

Right. Laughing fit over, okay. 17.

So, 65469 works with Draco present, 17 of which don’t like him overmuch, and 65452 like him just fine/present him as he appears in canon! Awesome. Of course, people who present him as he is in canon may not like him the way you want him to, so, not awesome? Hmm. I’m not sure how to filter for that. I suppose you wouldn’t want people who write him OOC, though, because that’s not rating him properly, is it? Should we add OOC to the bashing, to get people who don’t appreciate his… many positive character traits… to the extent that you would like?

Yes, I think we should.

Now, there’s no tag for ‘OOC Draco Malfoy’, because that would make my life too easy. And, I’m not going through 151 works to figure out which ones have Draco being the one OOC. If they’ve written one person OOC, and they’re self-aware enough to tag it, then I’m going to meanly assume they’ve written Draco OOC as well. When one person’s out of whack, I’ve found everyone else is, too, so I’m not just doing this to be a dick, I promise, it’s for a real, good, understandable reason, one that is not only because I really don’t want to have to do any maths more complicated than basic ratios.

So. 151 OOC works, 17 bashing works. 168 works of not properly appreciated Draco Malfoy, coming up, which takes our 65469 Draco works down to… 65301.

Well, that’s a lot, still.

So, there’s still some tags to remove, like Evil, and Abusive, and all that lark. I’ll go do that quickly, and come back with the maths.

(okay, but I do have to show this:)

(fourteen works in the ‘Evil’ draco tag?? are you serious???)

(oh and you can’t filter by Abusive Draco Malfoy, like that’s not a tag, so I can’t exclude it, but it really adds to the general atmosphere of ‘Draco Malfoy? Yeah he’s cool I like him’ that this fandom has going on, doesn’t it?)

Alright so! We really only could take away those 14 works. Okay.

By the way, just so you know - I didn’t exclude tags like ‘Death Eater Draco Malfoy’ and ‘Bully Draco Malfoy’ (if the latter even exists), because those are things that happen in canon, and when I think of a character as being ‘underrated’ I include not acknowledging their canon actions, the bad and the good. A character is only as good as their complexities run deep.

So.

For the ratio, I guess;

65469 : 151 : 17 : 14

4,676.3571… : 10.7857… : 1.2142… : 1

4,676 : 11 : 1 : 1

…

Hmm.

For every 4 thousand 6 hundred fics Draco appears in, 11 of them have OOC tagged, 1 of them has Draco Bashing tagged, and 1 of them has Evil Draco tagged. That is…

That is unfathomably good. I’m really, genuinely having a hard time picturing it. I really, honestly, don’t think there’s been a character as unquestionably overrated as Draco Malfoy in all of fandom, because, good lord, look at that ratio! People love the guy!

Let’s see the good draco malfoy tag, shall we?

Now, to be fair, most people don’t bother tagging any of this sort of thing, usually, so that’s a minor flaw in my ratio-ing. We can’t actually know exactly how many works laud Malfoy, or hate him, or feel ambivalent, because people don’t tag their shit properly. But I’m hoping this helps, at least a little. Anyway, 905! That’s a few. Not many, but certainly more than Evil or Bashing or even OOC.

65469 : 905 : 151 : 17 : 14

4,676.3571… : 64.6428 : 10.7857… : 1.2142… : 1

4,676 : 65 : 11 : 1 : 1

Yep. That’s not bad, not bad at all.

So. Most people seem to like him, if we’re honest. As I pointed out above, he’s a trope namer. If you didn’t click on the link for Draco In Leather Pants, here’s a brief summary from the TV Tropes page:

[ Transcription:

Sometimes, a fanwork will portray a villainous character in a more positive light. It can be done out of sympathy for the character, for shipping reasons, as a part of a role-reversal story, several of the aforementioned or for the variety of other reasons.

The common subjects of this treatment are characters who are wicked in a classy or cool way. A physically attractive villain is much more likely to be subject to this trope than a physically ugly one; Beauty = Goodness, after all, and shallow as it may be, it seems that, for some fans, this is the case even when the character's beauty only extends to their appearance. All Girls Want Bad Boys may be a factor with male villains getting a female fandom that views them through this lens. A badass villain will naturally be preferred by many of these over meeker heroic characters at times, as well. Ugly Cute villains also get this pretty easily. ]

So! There’s that. He named a trope all about appreciating a character perhaps (usually definitely) more than they deserve, so I wouldn’t call him ‘underrated’ by most general definitions of the word:

People seem to mostly believe him to be quite good, actually! Certainly enough to write about him a lot, to draw him a lot, to edit him a lot, to theorise about him a lot, to ship him with the main character so much that the 99th filter ever on AO3 was Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter.

Hey, actually, that’s a good idea! Which filter id is Draco Malfoy?

Now, if I’m not mistaken, it’s been a while since I had to do this -

Draco Malfoy was the 1589th tag canonised in the tag system of AO3. Let’s check the Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter tag (which I know for certain was 99) to make sure:

And lo and behold, I was right. That’s mad. That’s mad!!!!

Ooh, I’ve found a fun trick

To change which rss feed you’re looking at, copy the https:// link up to .atom in the speech marks, and change the highlighted number. That shows you what uses that tag_ids: - in this case, 93 is Draco himself. The 93rd tag, dedicated to Draco Malfoy. Good lord, that’s insane! I guess there really weren’t many other things to prioritize at the time, but that’s still silly to me.

Fluff and Angst appears to be the fiftieth tag canonised, for comparison. Sometimes when you replace the rss feed’s ‘tag’ in the address bar it takes you to the tag’s page instead of the feed, because that tag doesn’t have an rss feed. The more you know!

Anyway, back on track: I think all of that, rss feeds, youtube analytics, fandom presence, all kind of proves my point:

Draco Malfoy is not underrated. He is, arguably, overrated as a character, but unarguably very popular within the greater Harry Potter fandom. Unpopular characters don’t tend to get paired with the lead, at the very least - and you can’t turn around in the Harry Potter fandom without seeing Drarry somewhere, can you?

#anyway #anti draco malfoy #hp #hp fandom #harry potter #meta #fandom meta #quora #fandom bullshit #long post #sorry mobile users!! very sorry

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chisa-tsubasa · 6 years

Text

Cords of Wooden Love

I wrote a momijiro fic because of @momo-your-gay-is-showing. I linked it here for your reading pleasure - no smut, the worst it gets is kissing, so go ahead and read it front of anyone.

Summary:

After Jirou takes a gig at a college party, she finds herself in need of a new guitar case, as hers was ruined. She finds out about a wood shop at her college and decides to ask the students in the club to make her a new one, but instead of finding a new guitar case, she finds a crush: A girl named Momo Yaoyoruzu.

The story is just under 2200 words long (about 5 pages of a Word document), I hope you enjoy reading it!

Despite having just entered the hallway, the girl couldn’t help but sneeze at the prevalent smell of sawdust. The jangling of her earrings were soon drowned out by the sound of an electric saw, making her jump slightly. She sighed, taking one last look at the business card she had printed out.

Kaminari Denki, Captain of the Wood Shop! Come on by and we’ll make you anything you want!

The yellow-haired man on the cover had a ridiculous look on his face, making the girl chuckle one last time. She silently hoped that this would be the last guitar case she would ever need, and grimaced at the memory - the inside of her last case being covered in alcohol and vomit. That would be the last time she ever played at a college party.

The door was already slightly ajar as she stepped into the shop, immediately being assaulted by a cloud of sawdust that seemed to be everywhere in the room. She immediately spotted the blonde man a few tables away, but the other person seemed to warrant her attention more. The second person was a girl that looked about her age, but much taller. Her coarse black hair was tied back in a loose, upwards ponytail, which only added to her height. She was focusing hard on her project, smoothing the edges of the wood in front of her with sandpaper. When she stepped back, more of the girl’s body was finally visible.

“Holy crap, she’s -” Her thought was cut off by the man calling to her.

“Heya, welcome to the Denki Shop!” His stupid smile was still glued to his face – the girl had just assumed it was a front.

“Hey, you’re Kaminari, right? The name’s Jirou.” She brushed her purple hair aside, the pulse of lighter-colored hair still apparent. “I got a job for you.”

“I’ll be happy to help! Whatcha need?” Kaminari graciously accepted the paper Jirou thrust into his arms, her attention wavering once more towards the other girl. “Ah, a guitar case.” Kaminari let out a deep sigh.

“Is there a problem?” Jirou asked politely – she was afraid that she was rude earlier, but she wouldn’t show it.

Kaminari stretched – “Nah, it’s just that I’m not too good at curves and hinges. Carving’s more my deal, anything I can do with electric tools! This is more Momo’s sort of thing.” Kaminari jabbed a thumb over to the other girl’s direction. She was still staring fiercely at her project, unaware of Jirou’s presence – but from this angle, she could see Momo had headphones in. “Momo’s great at everything though, metal, wood, ice, hell I’ve seen her butter sculpt!”

“So much for a conversation…” Jirou sighed again, and realized she was sweating ever-so slightly. “So would it be a problem if I asked for this by Saturday? I know it’s only three days, but I have a performance Saturday night so I need it ASAP.”

“We’ll have it done by Friday.” Kaminari gave her a thumbs-up, once again sporting that stupid smile of his.

“Thank you, and be sure to tell Momo I thank her too.” Jirou looked over at Momo one last time, blushed, and turned to leave. “If possible, I’d like the paint to be black. Any dark color is fine though.” The door closed, once again leaving Kaminari and Momo in the silence of the wood shop. Momo’s head perked up at the sound of the door closing.

“Hey, did I miss someone?” Momo asked, pulling one earbud from her ear. “I’m sorry if I did!”

“Don’t sweat it. I got a new project for you, needs to be done by Saturday.”

“I can do it by Friday I bet, my classes don’t start up until Monday. What’s the project?” Kaminari rolled out he blueprints for Jirou’s guitar case onto the table, the bits of saw dust bumping up underneath the paper. “It’s a guitar case. I figured it’s more your thing, since it’s got all the curves and hinges and everything. Plus, it’s from your secret admirer.”

Momo blushed, “W-What? How do you know?”

“They were looking at you more than they looked at me – and I could tell that your face was the target for once.” Kaminari laughed, earning him a sharp jab to the shoulder. “Ouch! Just a joke!”

“Hmph, you deserved it.” Momo crossed her arms over her chest, looking down at the blueprints. “My secret admirer, huh? I better make this one good.”

“Anyways I gotta go meet Sero and the others for lunch. You coming?” Kaminari jangled the car keys on his belt, attracting her attention away from the paper.

“No thanks, I don’t think I can bear another round of Mina trying to get me to use her homemade shampoo. It looks like some weird slime monster got trapped in a bottle!”

“Suit yourself!” As Kaminari left, Momo glanced once more at the paper. Looking over the measurements, she decided the best wood to use, and set off to work.

Friday, Classroom 101-A

For Jirou, nothing in the world was more painful than math class. Numbers never got lost in her head, instead having a straight path from one ear to the other. She looked at the board dejectedly as the teacher droned on about confidence intervals and other statistical nuances, and Jirou could only form two coherent thoughts: the teacher really needed a haircut, and how soft Momo’s hair must be.

Seconds before her eyes glazed over, a ruler found itself slapped onto her desk, causing her to yelp. “Jirou, is all the loud music affecting your hearing? See me after class.”

“Yes Mr. Aizawa sir.” Jirou muttered, hearing snickers behind her. This always happened – she drifted off, Aizawa yelled at her, then she got laughed at. At least she could find solace in the cheering she got whenever she performed, and how good it felt to play a song perfectly all the way through.

The rest of the class ticked by, seemingly without end, making it extra painful for Jirou. The bell rang, freeing all of the students from Aizawa’s tangles of hair and numbers, all except Jirou, who was sweating nervously behind her desk. Even for it being freshman year of college, she had gotten in trouble with Aizawa more than any other teacher in her past, and the year wasn’t half over.

“Jirou, you seemed to be more distracted than usual today.” Aizawa scolded.

Jirou racked her brain for answers. “Sorry sir! I stayed up late last night and I know I shouldn’t have but I had this really big project for my world history class and I just-”

“It’s because of a girl, isn’t it?” Jirou froze, and the classroom well dead silent.

“H-How did you know? I never- I mean, sure I maybe glance at that Ura-whatever girl sometimes, but how-”

“I just know these things.” Aizawa sighed. “Look whoever this girl is, just tell her. I can’t have you being more distracted than you already are, given your 45% in this class.”

“Yes sir, I’m sorry.” After Aizawa dismissed her, her phone buzzed in her pocket. Her favorite song had to be muted to a silent buzz in Aizawa’s room, one more thing she hated about math. An unknown number flashed for a video call request, and as creepy as it looked, Jirou’s curiosity got the better of her.

“HEY JIROU!” A voice yelled from the phone, nearly causing her to drop it. She had gotten too many scares for one day. “YOUR GUITAR CASE IS READY!”

Jirou looked down at her phone and saw Kaminari’s now-signature smile looking back at her, but he was obviously strained, as if he had just run a marathon. “Kaminari, are you okay? You look stressed.”

“I STOLE MOMO’S PHONE TO MAKE THIS CALL AND SHE’S CHASING ME!”

Jirou could faintly hear a girl’s voice in the background, “Give it back Denki! I have important classwork on there!” The girl, who could only be Momo, had a voice of pure lavender. Jirou immediately melted as far as she dared in front of Aizawa’s door.

“I’ll be there in a bit Kaminari!” Jirou hung up the call and immediately broke into a sprint.

Not Even Five Minutes Later, Wood Shop

Momo waited nervously, eyes glancing towards the door every few seconds. Kaminari said that the guitar case was for her secret admirer, but he refused to give any details at all, not even whether her admirer was a guy or a girl! She bit her fingernails, knowing she could get away with it being the only person in the shop. Kaminari had claimed that he was headed out to lunch, but with it being 3 in the afternoon, she severely doubted his intentions. The door clicked open, and Momo froze.

A girl walked in dressed mostly in black with a red shirt on underneath her jacket. “Okay, she’s a girl. Good first step, and she’s pretty too! That’s also good!” Jirou’s earrings, two pairs of fake-gold earbuds, jangled as she approached Momo’s table. The guitar case, clad in black leather, much like her jacket, was sitting atop the table between them.

“Hey, Momo right? Got the guitar case?” Jirou was surprisingly cool for Kaminari’s description, but she left her confused. The case was right on the table.

“Yup! Here it is!” Momo gestured to the case, and Jirou’s eyes went wide.

“Wait, seriously? I thought this was a wood shop!” Jirou exclaimed.

“Oh no! She hates it! It’s nothing like she wanted! She wanted it painted black I bet! I screwed up!” Momo thought, tears nearly welling in her eyes.

“This is beautiful! I love the stitching of the leather on the edges!” Jirou was visibly excited, her smile growing wider by the second. “I knew Kaminari said you were talented, but this is beyond words! No wonder I love you so much!” As soon as the final words left Jirou’s mouth, both girls froze. A blush exploded onto both faces, and they both turned away, not seeing the other girl’s blush.

“Y-You really like it that much?” Momo asked, her mind racing with how cute Jirou was when she was excited.

“Y-Yeah, I think it’s r-really well made.” Jirou responded, internally smacking herself for the blatant confession.

They both stood in silence for a second, before Momo broke it, “You should check the inside, see if it’s to your liking as well.”

Jirou slowly turned around, almost ashamed to show herself to Momo, but to her surprise Momo looked just as shy as she did. She opened the guitar case, resulting in a slight squeak. Jirou couldn’t tell if it was from the case or Momo.

“It’s…” Jirou was speechless. The inside was knitted perfectly with red felt, but what really attracted her attention was the note taped to the roof. The note held two things: a phone number, all ten digits, and one word – “Date?”

Jirou’s eyes began to well with tears, “Yes! I’d love to go out with you Momo!”

Momo turned around, showing that she too was crying. The two ran around the table and embraced, Jirou resting her head on Momo’s chest. “You know, Kaminari told me how much you looked at me when you first came here.”

“Yeah, sorry. It was probably pretty creepy huh.” Jirou sighed, sniffling back more tears.

Momo placed her hand on Jirou’s head – “No, it was kind. I get catcalled every day, but hearing someone wanted me for something else, I knew I couldn’t pass up the chance to meet someone so caring and kind.”

“I mean to be fair-” Jirou started, but she felt a sharp jab in her shoulder. “Hey!”

“Don’t ruin the moment.” Momo chuckled, and Jirou decided to make her move. She raised her head to meet Momo’s and thrust it forward, kissing Momo on the lips with determination. Momo looked surprised, topping back towards the table, causing her phone to hit the table’s edge – and start playing her music.

Familiar lyrics burst out around the two, their lips and arms still intertwined, and Jirou realized the song that was playing – she herself had written and performed it, and by the look on Momo’s face in the few seconds she was able to pull away, Momo knew that it was Jirou’s song. They kissed once more, the ever-prevalent smell of sawdust doing nothing to dull their passion. Neither pulled away-

Nor did they want to.

Bonus:

Momo stumbled out of the wood shop, and found herself crashing into a pair of people. Before she could apologize, she recognized the two. “Oh God.” She thought, “Not these two!”

“Heya Momo!” Mina chirped, “Kaminari here told me that you made a cool guitar case, but it looks like you were making something else in there.” She smiled deviously, “Wanna know what would help with all that lipstick on your mouth?”

Momo’s eyes went wide, rubbing her lips with her finger – purple came off, the same purple of Jirou’s lipstick. “Don’t you dare say it Mina-”

“My homemade facial wash!”

“Damn it Mina!”

#momo yaoyorozu #momojirou #kyoka jiro #fanfiction #boku no hero academia #my hero academia

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markclaydupe · 4 years

Text

Can you review this? Please I will give your virtual Hugs!

Dan -antagonist

Michael - Dan's cousin and the protagonist

Kassie- Dan's older sister

June: antagonist with is friends with Dan

Rosie: friends with June

He didn't know what was about to happen once he finally decided to stay at his cousin's house for five months. It was a big decision for sure because he would have to leave his parents but he really wanted to know his cousin more and have a close connection with him. He didn't even know his name! All he knew was that he lived with his family and that he lived in Canada. So he decided to ask his parents about who this mysterious cousin was but instead, he got some bad or slightly good news. " Kassie is coming with you because it's not that we don't trust you but it's Canada and we don't want you to be alone with people you still don't know yet", His dad said with a serious expression. What he said was true he didn't know anything about Canada but either did his sister. Maybe it's because she was used to snow and cold climates. After all, she would always go with friends anywhere if it's snowing. So packed extra things for entertainment and bright his most valuable collectible items with him but he decided to put them back because he realized how dumb that was and how they could have gotten lost or stolen. Kassie looked liked she packed up for a lifetime she had plenty of most likely items

He and his sister got on the plane and went straight to sleep. It was long and boring with nothing to do. So a big long nap was perfect to pass the time. Once they've gotten there his sister called them to know where they were in the airport and once he saw just how cold it was he was just hoping that his sister bought extra blankets and clothes to warm up. Then he finally saw him. He had black hair and was wearing shorts and a long-sleeved shirt. He didn't know how he was wearing shorts in this cold weather and he didn't know why it wasn't snowing. His sister was introducing herself and got the pieces of luggage into the minivan. He decided to break the ice and finally introduce himself. "Umm Hi my name is Micheal and umm I was wondering why it's so cold in Canada''? He was so stuttery when he said that he just hoped that he didn't run his chance to know his cousin. "It's not cold in Canada, it's just you. You're probably not used to the cold and live somewhere with tropical weather and my name is Dan by the way”. It was true he wasn’t used to the cold, he just lived in Mississippi a place where it never snows but even if it doesn't it’s cold there but then he realized his name was Dan. He knew he saw that somewhere while cleaning the attic with his parents and it was near all these books that were about shadow people but it could have probably been someone else who wrote about that. Once they got in the minivan nobody spoke and it was awkward because everybody had an electronic out but he forgot to charge his phone and tablet. Once they've gotten to their really big home which could be considered a mansion but was too small to be one it was too big to count as a regular house. “This is your room and please make yourself at home and don’t worry about ruining things.” Said aunt Willow said with a forced smile on her fav and sounded like she just wanted him to go away and never come here in the first place which made him wonder what she was hiding. His room was massive and had its own bathroom. He unpacked and decided to see what Dan was doing.

He saw his sister just admire the big room she got and then he saw her with Dan’s parents and thanked them for the room but the expression she got from aunt Willow was a normal smile and that made him wonder why. Once he has gotten to Dan’s room he saw him video chatting with a girl. Dan realized he was there and ended it. “What are you doing here”? He looked really mad but at the corner of his eye, he realized a shadow of some sort moved and looked liked nothing in the room could project. “ Did you see that it was a shadow moving by itself and nothing in the room could have done that?” Dan got sweaty and nervous. He knew already something was wrong but did it have to do anything with shadows? “Probably something outside that made that shadow probably an animal.” Which made sense but that shadow couldn’t have so lifelike if it was projected by an animal. “ Question who was that girl you were talking to on the phone?” Dan had no trouble answering that question and said she was just a friend. “ Why don’t you introduce her to me?” Dan didn’t know whether to say yes or no but he said yes but he had to go check if she was okay with it so he told him to stay in the closet until he got her answer. He noticed the closet had many things related to shadow people. There were books about them, and other stuff he didn’t what they were but they were shiny enough to see. Dan opened the closet door and said that she wanted to meet him. So he got everything he needed and headed out to meet her. They walked for a long time until they got to an apartment building. Dan got inside and told June to come and him. When she saw him she had the same reaction as when he first saw Dan. She was wearing a hoodie and shorts and her hair was short but not too short. She finally looked up from her phone and he noticed that her eyes were black for a moment but turned back into normal eyes. That was an obvious sign that she was trouble so he decided to neglect her. So when they finally went to the park she noticed this and decide to do something about it. She asked Dan to grab an ice cream for her because Micheal was freezing to death. When he left she confronted him and told him that she was ever neglected again then you might as well spend the last moment of this day to enjoy it and get ready to spends the rest of his life in the shadow realm. He knew he had to go and beg Kassie that they needed to go home now but he accidentally bumped into a girl who looked lost. “Do you need any help”? He asked politely but instead, he got a very rude response,” Excuse me but I know where I’m going and I don’t need anybody’s help and besides your probably not familiar with this temperature because of how many jackets you’re wearing.” If she was a local then she might know everybody’s name in this town and have info about everybody because it seems like she was one of those types of people.” Do you happen by chance to know somebody named June?” Her eyes widened and she said, “ Of course I know a June and she needs to be stopped she’s a shadow assigned to get us humans into the shadow realm.” He looked at her in disbelief and wondered if they could stop a shadow? That sounded impossible because she could probably turn into a shadow and come back later when they were unaware of her presence. “ Well, why I haven’t you stopped her then if you know she’s bad news”? “ Because I can’t do it alone, it’s too dangerous to do it alone but she needs to be stooped,” she said with a big frown on her face and was on the verge of crying. Did June do something her or some bad thought she had is making her cry? “ What’s your name by the way?’ “Rosie”. Then she started crying loud, not that crying is quiet but this cry this was louder than the average cry. So he asked her why was she crying, “ Why are you crying and what has June ever done to you”? She looked at him and decided to answer it and it looked like it was hard for her to say. “ She was my friend and she took my dad into the shadow world and my mom doesn’t know this she just thought he died and he really didn’t care a bit for him since they’ve gotten divorced but now I want her to die. I don’t ever want to see her face again.” He felt really bad for her a lot and felt determined to help her but one question still bugged him(well a lot of questions but this question was fresh in his brain). Why was his Dan hanging out with June and why was he so interested in shadows. He told Rosie that they were going to get June and make her regret what she’s done.

They finally came back to the park where they find out June and Dan left without telling him. So he told Rosie that tomorrow come back and meet him here at 1:00 pm exactly. He wanted to tell Kassie so bad but at the moment he thought it was better not to. When he woke up he didn’t want to talk to his cousin ever and never wanted to meet him in the first place if he was going to put his whole family and Rosie’s in danger. Once 1:00 pm he ran through the house as fast as he could and texted his sister to let him know where he was going. After that he found Rosie sitting at a bench with a whole bin full of books which were about shadow people. Rosie said that if we wanted to get her down then he needed to do some research because she basically knew all their tactics and how to get them but she wanted me to know them to which he felt like it was a waste of time for him but if he was going to get June out of this world then he had to. Today was the day and Rosie and he already had twenty different plans. They went to the park as usual but they already knew that June and Dan met at least once every Tuesday at the park (they found that out by stalking them 24/7 which was very tiring but they needed every info they could get). They also recruited some kids who did it for some candy but they were just there to keep an eye on them until they got their plan in action so they didn’t have to get into this. They knew she could easily shift into a shadow but they were going to confront her before that happened and they got disguises so they didn’t who were they. Then the penal started they were walking up to their usual bench and continued talking. They slowly walked up to them and grabbed their shadow catcher (which is a thing they found out existed while researching about shadows) and got pointed at her. She immanently turned into a shadow and went as far from them so she wouldn’t get caught in it but she was hanging on surfaces real hard and it was a struggle to get her grip loose on the surfaces. Eventually, she got in the box and fog went everywhere. It was really hard to go through it but they did it. Rosie started crying and so did him but he realized that Dan was still in the park so he told people that went outside to see the sudden fog that someone was still in there but once they’ve searched the whole park and again when it cleared they found no traces of him. He could have been at home but he just could’ve gotten in the box with June or he could have just disappeared. So when he got home he told his parents that Dan was lost and nobody found any traces of him and that’s when they released that their secret was found out. Dan was indeed a shadow but they weren’t. They thought he was real but on the first day of bringing him home they knew something was up and he caused some much trouble because of that. So they called his parents to see if I could change his behavior just a bit for a while but that didn’t happen. So he asked them if he could go home early and never come to visit this place again. They agreed and knew that this event was traumatizing and they would do the same thing. So after packing up he and his sister Kassie went home early but on the whole airplane trip, he explained what happened to Kassie.

#rewiew #shadow #shadows #reblog if you want #please tell me what you think

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sambart93 · 7 years

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2017.04.20 Satomi Hakkenden Review!

I got a chance to finally see YamaKen (Yamazaki Kento) in this flesh a few weeks back! To be honest, I went into this stage with low expectations, for some reason my brain expects a lot less from TV actors who attempt the stage rather than from actual stage actors... doesn’t make sense right? Anyway lets get to it!

Officla Website here Official Twitter here News/Press Coverage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8* Video Coverage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6* Individual Character Interviews

*Unfortunately all the press coverage was focused on YamaKen only so there aren’t really any pics or videos of our boys.

NON-SPOILER REVIEW Overall: This was A LOT better than I was expecting!! I enjoyed this so much! Also it was very highly produced and everyone did an amazing job! I enjoyed the story, absolutely loved the fighting choreography and fighting scenes, the characters were all interesting, the CGI and project mapping was awesome, the stage was very well put together and used, the costumes were gorgeous, ensemble were troupers, basically I underestimated this stage completely and I really, really enjoyed myself! I even liked Wada Masanari’s acting and character which never happens to me! xD

BUT (not related to the play itself) holy moly the audience were so rude! It was clear most were YamaKen fans because they were (I quote them) ‘bored’ and constantly fidgeting or falling asleep whenever he wasn’t on stage and he has like the least amount on stage even though he’s the main actor. (Major rant under the spoiler section, just jump to the ‘LEARN SOME MANNERS’ section if you want to read about it in detail--no spoilers in that section btw)

Rating: 8/10

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CAST and CHARACTERS

Yamazaki Kento as Inuzuka Shino Aoki Tsunenori as Inuyama Dousetsu Tamaki Yuki as Inukawa Sousuke Wada Masanari as Inutako Bungo Nishime Shun as Inue Shinbei Matsushima Shouta as Inusa Kakeno Arai Atsushi as Inukai Genpachi Maruyama Atsushi as Inumura Daikaku Aono Kaede as Hajime Kuriyama Wataru as Samo Jirou Matsuda Kenji as Chudai Houshi Higa Manami as Tamazusa / Fusehime Shundou Mitsutoshi as Satomi Yoshizane Yaotani Maoto as Fusahachi Kawashima Ririka as Mei Yokoyama Kazutoshi as Okushirou +Ensemble

This cast is HUGE as you can tell xD

PreShow:

I thought it was super strange that we didn’t get any chirashi flyers/leaflets or anketto survey (the amount of Japanese I use now when I speak English is ridiculous, sorry!). Also when I walked in there were cameras everywhere so I was super lucky to once again end up at a show where I could possibly be on the DVD or at least have seen that version! xD

I had a ticket with a tokuten special extra which ended up being the poster - if ANYONE wants it then it’s your for 800yen xD (not including P&P).

STORY

This stage is based off a fantasy epic that is 106 volumes long and written by Kyokutei Bakin. It’s main plot is about 8 half-brothers who are descendants of dogs (hence why they all have ‘inu’ meaning ‘dog’ in their names) who are brought together through balls of power in order to save a princess and stop an evil power from rising.

Unfortunately, I don’t think any of it has been translated in English.

SPOILERS BELOW

Full Story

The first half of the play is about each of the eight guys unleashing and learning they have this power and then start to find each other, either intentionally or by coincidence. They also learn about a power that has taken YamaKen and TamaChan’s childhood friend and love interest ‘Mei’ who has been resurrected and possessed and turned her bad, so they naturally want to save her.

The second half is when they finally band together and attempt to infiltrate the enemy’s castle and reach the queen before she unleashes a nasty power (I think a dragon) onto the world, as well as save Mei.

**Major spoiler: Unfortunately they’re all killed and dead by the end of it through the different stages of the caste and the different levels of protection each part/area had except Shino/YamaKen.

Cast and Character Breakdown

About halfway through the play, I started to giggle to myself as I realised just how many of them are Tokusatsu actors! Which casting directing is a Toku fan(?!) and got all these awesome guys together xD Seriously Aoki, Matsushima, Nashime, Kuriyama, Maruyama, Arai, Matsuda freaking Kenji(!), ALL Toku actors!! xD

Yamazaki Kento as Inuzuka Shino

YamaKen’s voice surprised me. I don’t remember it ever being THAT low but when he first started talking, I couldn’t help but giggle because I thought he was putting it on! But as the show continued it became apparent that his voice is just that deep and I do not remember it ever being that deep >.<

YamaKen had a lot less stage time than I was anticipating, especially because he’s the main character and all(!), but at the same time I can understand why he had such little time on stage considering his main forte IS TV and Movies, and he doesn’t have as much stage experience as EVERYONE else on that damn stage xD (well except Nishime, I think this was his first stage outside of the Kamen Rider stage greetings and things.) *researches* Yeah YamaKen has only ever done the first run and then this run of Hakkenden ever, that’s his entire stage experience.

I think he did a very good job though! This is one of the few times of late where he’s really been able to prove he can actually act and not just ‘gets the job because of his face’ kind of thing. I’ve always believed he can act but as of late (as I said) he’s only being hired because he’s popular and because of his looks - come on, he practically mastered the whole Koukou Romance role about 8 movies ago(!)...

THIS stage right here is the kind of shit I want him to go back to! This is the kind of job I want him to take and shine in! I WANT him to do completely different stuff again like he did 6, 7 years ago! This is where he shines and proves his acting skills and he did great! I felt for his character, I really understood how he character was, he really showed his character’s personality perfectly. Also that outfit was so cool with the massive blood splatter across and everything! THIS IS THE YAMAKEN I REMEMBER AND LOVE! Y’all feel me on this right?! xD

YamaKen slipped during one of the flight scenes but he very smoothly just rolled around and got himself straight back up ^_^

One scene I really enjoyed with YamaKen was when YamaKen and Matsushima met for the first time and Matsushima is in girl’s wear and is singing in a high voice and being all playful -- it was very pretty. In part two they meet again and this time because Matsushima’s in normal boys wear, YamaKen doesn’t realise at first who it is and Matsushima has to act a little for YamaKen to remember. In fact ALL the YamaKen x Matsushima scenes I really enjoyed!

YamaKen’s final scene was really great too! It was of course sad but seeing him trying to hold on to life and fight with everything he had and then all the 8 brothers coming together one last time was so cool! You could feel the pain YamaKen’s character was going through too!

OOOOHHH! And the almost kiss scene too!!! So the evil queen towards the end approaches YamaKen, thinking he’s given up on life and decided to take her side, she gets REAL close to him and almost kisses him and naturally he’s like ‘don’t be so stupid’ and strikes her! Such a sexy but good scene! I could hear YamaKen fans’ hearts break during that possible almost kiss scene but I just thought it was totally juicy xD

Main point: I am happy with his performance and this is what I want from him in the future! Please stop taking ‘only because of your face’ jobs.

Aoki Tsunenori as Inuyama Dousetsu

My first two notes about him are literally: his hair us flawless. AND: Aoki is just flawless whatever. xD

Do I really need to say anymore? But I shall anyway!

Aoki is just impressive whatever he does and he always so flawlessly (okay three shots) adapts to any role he’s given. It was so easy to believe that his characters are real. His character in this was also very interesting.

Seeing his character start on the bad side and then slowly turn to the good side because of a misunderstanding and then ends up fighting his father (from my memory, I don’t think he learns til AFTER he’s given the final deadly strike that it’s his father) . And THEN the even bigger twist when his father has been resurrected and being controlled by the evil and therefore in order for everyone to get to the next stage of the castle, he has to fight and kill his father again and seeing his heartbreak this time around! Oh my poor heart....

I really liked his costume too, it was very monk-like, rustic and simple and I’m pretty sure he was barefoot and for the entire play - although I was a little concerned he’d get splinters or something... And that flawlessly beautifully long hair xD

I can’t really explain it well but something about how Aoki performs, it always feels so natural and real and flows very well and it’s like being sprinkled with fairydust. Whatever he does, it’s enchanting but also with the familiarity feel to it. Does anyone understand what I mean?!

Tamaki Yuki as Inukawa Sousuke

TAMACHAN!!! <3 << I think I’m the only one who calls him this xD

I didn’t even need to see him, as soon as he spoke I recognised his voice straight away xD

Let’s get the opening out of the way first: I was a little annoyed and upset when Tamaki’s character was killed within the first 10 minutes or so of the stage! I was like “IS THAT ALL?! IS THAT ALL I’M GETTING OF MY BEAUTIFUL TOKIENTA?!” but luckily he’s resurrected pretty much straight away and given one of those balls of power and such. He got a lot more than just those 10 minutes on stage -- phew!!

Although I DID enjoy that the opening scene was YamaKen and TamaChan fighting. I also really liked the fact they were brothers. Their dynamic was very interesting. The brotherly love and hate between them too was great. I especially loved their last big scene together! It was heartbreaking but also awesome!

Tamaki’s fighting was so good! I really enjoyed seeing him fight and his choreography!

Wada Masanari as Inutako Bungo

Wada Masanari still bores me. I just feel he’s been a bit too typecast and always get/plays the same type of character; unemotional, constant resting bitch face, very serious and focused on one mission and that was this character too.

HOWEVER, thinking back, one of his scenes does stand out to me still. His character has two younger siblings and unfortunately they get completely slaughtered and seeing Wada play an emotionally broken and heartbroken older brother as he picks up his dead little sister and just cries with his siblings in his arms, it really struck a cord with me, and for the first time I actually saw his character rather than thinking ‘oh look it’s Wada on stage’. It was a very emotional scene and definitely hit the feels.

I also like that he fought with axes too. Reminded me of Gimli from LOTR xD but we didn’t get to see enough of him being badass unlike the others.

*I apologise to Wada fans if I’ve hurt you with this opinion of him but I can’t help it.

**If you have any recommendations for where Wada’s acting really stands out then I’m open to suggestions and will watch them! ^_^

Nishime Shun as Inue Shinbei

He is TOO adorable!! While Ghost was a trainwreck, I’ve always thought he was adorable and cute and it was great to see him finally shine and show us what he can do (lets not mention Ghost again shall we) and this was his first major work after Ghost too I think - I don’t know how big his roles were in the two doramas he did.

I really, really loved his character! FIRST(!) his costume is absolutely adorable and beautiful and it was my favourite out of all the costumes.

He was very playful and one of those characters who only showed up when it was completely necessary so he was playing a much mature character than (possibly) himself.

As previously mentioned, his role is small BUT I think it left a HUGE impression on everyone including myself.

I have a note that says: his entrance was so cool and so good! It was towards the end of part one when YamaKen and co were surrounded and being beaten and Nishime just jumps in to save them all ^_^ He was being so smug that he could fight everyone so easily.

But his death was heartbreaking! He got slashed to crap and was just constantly saying ‘痛くないよ・It doesn’t even hurt. It doesn’t hurt.’ and then he dies.... our poor baby! =‘[

Matsushima Shouta as Inusa Kakeno

I really liked his entrance! His entrance was him coming out of the right side doors in girls clothing and did this beautiful dance while singing in a very high voice, that strangely worked and his voice did not break. It sounded and looked really good, but also kinda laughable because of how well he pulled it all off! I am all for seeing Matsushima like this! He always does unique characters, just like his character in Drive xD Then his character, in the same scene, proceeds to steal YamaKen’s sword and then hides in the shadows with it as YamaKen is left in a situation where he might need to fight.

But then in part two he’s in normal warrior wear (which confuses YamaKen’s character xD) and turns out he’s this badass archery militant guy!

Unfortunately he too didn’t get nearly as much stage time as he deserved. On top of that, he was the ONLY one who had an off stage battle which really annoyed me! We see him on stage going ‘okay I’ll hold the entrance with my archers’ and then the next scene he’s in, he comes on stage covered in arrows and dies... we saw EVERYONE else’s last battle and death but we didn’t see his and that annoyed me somewhat.

Matsushima’s character is a very playful character and has this slightly dark streak to him, it’s a good character. They’re ALL good characters okay! xD

Arai Atsushi as Inukai Genpachi

Arai fans are going to hate me. He just doesn’t enter my conscious line of sight ever! I’ve seen him on stage at least three times (Yuhiden, Judo Shounen and this) and each time, I can’t even tell you what he did or who he was. I just don’t get or notice any presence from him at all. He’s just forgettable for me.

BUT I do remember he has a scene with Wada’s little sister who puts a flower in his hair and he keeps it in the entire time; that’s a cute moment. I’d say his character is pretty much the same as his Yuhiden character but don’t take my word on that. But other than that, I do not remember him in this. Sorry Arai fans!

Maruyama Atsushi as Inumura Daikaku

We got ourselves an Okita Souj here: he coughs up blood for most of the show and is a very weak guy because of his illness and because he’s dying. BUT he’s totally sweet as he spends his time tending to the sick and looking after them <3 Maruyama keeps getting these types of role recently. Sorry that’s all I have to say about him....

Aono Kaede as Hajime

She was great! I loved how she first played this cute innocent girl and then as soon as she’s resurrected and taken to the dark side (haha SW reference) she gets badass and sexy. Even in one scene, she strips while talking to YamaKen as she reveals to him that she’s not the Hajime he knows anymore. Also she has an onstage kiss with Higa Manami in the beginning, which is how Higa’s character possess and takes control of her, to which I was like ‘OH YEAH!’ - my brain is a pervy weird thing okay.

I LOVED her outfit in part two! It was sexy and like black leather and she did a great time with the fighting scenes. Although her choreography was a LOT slower compared to the boys; it might’ve been the actress’ own lack of stamina and strength, but it was noticeable how much of a slower pace her fight scenes were BUT I still enjoyed them. She fought like a badass xD

I understand that some people might be annoyed and think ‘oh this is sexism! and misogyny, and of course they make the girl strip and act sexy and wear scanty clothing’ etc. BUT I personally do not mind it at all - boys or girls - and I enjoyed it okay. As long as they’re a badass and a good character which she definitely was! BUT I understand why some people might see this negatively.

Kuriyama Wataru as Samo Jirou

Kuriyama, just like Aoki, had hair that was absolutely fabulous! It was so fluffy and nice(!) and long too! They both suited it, although it didn’t look much different to what Aoki usually has xD it was especially fabulous when they fought and it swished around and everything xD

Kuriyama was part of the bad guy side (and so was Aoki originally) so you saw him pop up in random places trying to fight the other guys. I feel it was a safe character for him to play; there was nothing majorly challenging for him I don’t think... it was a simple enough character for him to do and he did it while looking fabulous!

Unfortunately I do not remember what happened to him in the end but he too died xD I think he was ontop of a rock and him and his rival (Aoki?) killed each other at the same time. But don’t take my word for that.

Matsuda Kenji as Chudai Houshi

I did not realise until AFTER the play that it was Matsuda freaking Kenji on stage! No wonder he looked so familiar! And no wonder I enjoyed his performance! He’s a freaking badass in ALL the Toku’s he does, and I always love his characters! I wish I’d realised and known before I watched this because then I would’ve been more pumped about him and his character and would’ve spent more time on him. BUT having said that I really enjoyed his character anyway! I love how he comes in and seems mysterious and helps guide all the boys and explains what happened in the past and then to be confronted by his son and to fight his son to the death. And THEN for him to be resurrected and possessed and turned evil,!! That really broke our hearts to see Aoki having to fight his father again =[ and the way Aoki laid his father to rest the first time around too! <3 So even without knowing who it was at the time, I still ended up enjoying his performance and character which shows he’s a damn fine actor -- they all are!! xD

Higa Manami as Tamazusa / Fusehime

I don’t have much to say but I really enjoyed her performance as she got more dragon-like and more deranged and more cracked and less human. Also, she looked fabulous. All her evilness was great! I especially love that final scene with her and YamaKen <3 when she was so close to kissing him and bringing him to the dark side but BAM he’s like ‘you think I’m that stupid?’ and attacks! It’s so good! I loved her entrance too where she’s brought in by humans carrying her on a palanquin; I was super impressed that they had no problems or accidents as they carried her on stage, lower her, relifted it up with her on and carried her off stage xD

Yaotani Maoto as Fusahachi and Kawashima Ririka as Mei

These two had a short time on stage but they were adorable! They played two roles! They technically open and close the entire stage as young YamaKen/Shino and Aono/Hajime planting a tree <3 They also play Wada’s younger siblings. They did a great job in the short time they had ^_^

The Ensemble were great and there were a lot of them and they had a lot of work to do. They were also good at covering the flaws and such of the others, or picking up items or clothing that accidentally came out and stuff xD

And I think I’ve finally finished me segment on the actors! Phew! That only took like 4 days >.<

AESTHETICS

For some reason in my notes here, I have: These seats = NOT comfortable. But I don’t remember this at all >.< oh well! But apparently Bunkyo Shibik Hall does not have comfortable chairs xD so there’s your future reference! ^_^

The stage was amazing. They had these huge lumps of set pieces that so smoothly moved around the stage and everything and they looked very well built and were impressive! Especially when ensemble would move the set pieces around AS the actors fought ontop of them! That was super cool ^_^

The lighting and project mapping was really cool too! I like how they had this little cardboard circle that would come down and they’d use PM on that to show the power balls and the dragons eye and such! Also towards the end when the dragon’s egg was cracking open and they used the stairs to show the cracking which was awesome!

The fighting and choreography...need I saw more about this? It was so amazing and I enjoyed all the fight scenes and everyone was badass and did a great job! It’s detailed more below but due to the audience being so rude, I couldn’t get completely into it which is a shame because I wanted to be completely into the fighting and the sad scenes. But seriously, they were all fighting in such a badass way and the choreography is amazing!

LEARN SOME MANNERS

And now for me to get my rant out...

Seriously the audience! They were the rudest I’ve ever experienced! It was clear that 80-90% of the crowd were YamaKen fans because that’s all they had him as their phone wallpapers xD BUT you could also tell most probably had never been to the theatre before, nor were part of the ‘Katana Girl’ group (which is where the problem mainly comes from) because holy moly they were rude as hell(!) YamaKen seriously has the shortest amount of time on stage even though he’s the main character and whenever he wasn’t on stage, pretty much everyone around me was either fidgetting or fall sleeping or being like ‘this is boring’ -_- it was a freaking amazing play if you actually went for the whole cast and the story and everything(!!!) ugh they seriously made me angry. One girl was completely out of it by about 30minutes into the first half, during the intermission she went and never came back...I kinda wish the rest of them had done that. Ugh seriously, I’ve never been surrounded by such a poorly behaved audience in my life and it made me feel bad for the other actors. So I made sure I clapped EXTRA high and hard for everyone EXCEPT YamaKen.

Don’t get me wrong, I love YamaKen, I’ve been following that boys career since he was 16 years old but now he’s too mainstream in that the (Japanese) fans are so ridiculous now that I just don’t want to support him. Can we go back to YamaKen when he had more free range to do none mainstream stuff like hackers and hikikomoris?! *cries*

Seeing him get and do THIS role was a godsend because it was finally something different and something that I feel suits him much more than what he’s done recently, but he’s so over-popularised and over-saturated right now that I can’t watch most of his recent stuff because it’s ALL the same. And the damn fans too these days... anyway...

I saw one girl with a KuroMyu bag which meant that she was a Tamaki fan and that made me happy BUT made me realise that we stage actor fans were the ridiculous minority, which shouldn’t be happening when you have actors like TamaChan, Aoki and Wada on the same effing stage! I felt SO bad for the other actors thanks to 90% of the audience being complete dicks. I mean it was expected and I did expect some YamaKen bias ridiculousness but I definitely wasn’t expecting the audience attitude to be that rude and inconsiderate.

Another friend of mine also went to this stage (for Wada) and without me even mentioning my opinion or anything, she ALSO mentioned how rude the audience was and how YamaKen bias it was, and that she also heard people go ‘oh this is so boring’, like seriously which play were you watching?!?!?! because it was VERY good!!! e and my friend loved it! But then again we always go to the theatre and we also watch these kind of things.

Unfortunately due to the poorly mannered audience, I couldn’t get completely into the stage, and I so desperately wanted to cry during the second half of the play because it’s just heartbreak everywhere! However, due to all those distractions, I just couldn’t. =[ I’ll wait until the DVD to cry my heart out properly to these actors and characters.

Ugh...rage and rant over.

GOODS

The pamphlet pics are super nice! But I found it strange that they weren’t doing bromide sets. I would’ve liked pretty much bromide sets of everyone, BUT then again it would’ve meant I spent more money which is probably for the best that they didn’t have any xD but yes it was strange for them not to have bromides but I guess the production is above that of 2.5 even though they hired Tokusatsu actors galore xD

---

And that is my long-ass review! I cannot believe I’ve spent a good week writing this.... but it’s finally done! now I’m one less review down! Hopefully the others will come out quicker xD

Hope you enjoyed!! ^_^

#aoki tsunenori #wada masanari #yamazaki kento #arai atsushi #nishime shun #tamaki yuki #kuriyama wataru #matsuda kenji #stage #review #舞台 #里見八犬伝 #satomi hakkenden #matsushima shota

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a-dinosaur-a-day · 7 years

Text

A Story about a Balaur and a Dakotaraptor

Oh Geez what have I done

Just, picture a universe like Zootopia, but the animals are all Reptiles (including birds) from 70-66 Mya (The Maastrichtian age). Also, they aren’t physically anthropomorphized.

Trigger Warning for emotional abuse, weed and alcohol, I guess? Anyways this is the story of the Adorable Sapphics:

By Tas on http://tasmagorical.id.au. Thanks to @ryuukiba for giving me important Spanish Insults. It’s long, but feel free to reblog.

I first saw her in my Intro to Philosophy class.

I was only in the class because my girlfriend of the time – Jinny, an Anzu from my hometown who came with me to this strange, giant university – wanted to major in Philosophy, and well, I need to fill some electives, I guess.

The teacher was rambling about something that I didn’t give a flying pterosaur crap about – I think it was ethics, which is embarrassing in retrospect – and I was just staring around the room. It was an “international” school, meaning that people from around the world came just to attend the world-famous classes. A giant Deinocheirus, one of the weirdest people I had ever seen, ever, was sitting in back, chewing on a piece of… water plant? A Simosuchus was in the front, and couldn’t really take notes – being quadrupedal and all – so he was using his tail, and it was an amusing sight. An Alamosaurus – who was much too big for the classroom – had a hole cut out of the wall of the room for him – and he was falling asleep in class.

And there she was.

Sitting a few rows from the front, on her own, using one of her feet to take notes. This was amusing in and of itself – did she not use her fingers buried in her wings to grab things, like I did? Jinny didn’t, but Jinny didn’t look much like me, either, and she just looked like a mini version of me.

I looked closer at her foot, and saw she had two Big Claws.

Two!

I watched her in surprise, now completely disconnected from Philosophy. Who cared, anyway?

She had two pens in her claws – using one to manipulate an actual pen, for notes, and the other a highlighter – to highlight back over her notes.

Wow, I thought to myself, maybe she could give me some tips on being a better student. Or at least, she could for this class. I was pretty good at calculus, didn’t need help with that.

“Setha!”

I looked over at Jinny, brought back rather rapidly to reality.

“Have you been paying attention at all?” Jinny laughed, the sound coming out like a loud, abrasive caw.

“Not really,” I shook my head, “I told you, Jin, I’m just not that interested in all this.”

“Then why did you take the class with me?” Jinny demanded angrily as the professor wrapped up and we all shuffled to leave the lecture hall; a Quetzalcoatlus had to fly up and peck at the Alamosaurus’ face to get him to wake up.

“I dunno, cause you wanted to take it together?” I snapped back.

“So stupid,” Jinny muttered as we left the room. I could feel my head feathers puff up in annoyance, but I tried to keep it to myself.

I looked around wildly for the two-clawed girl. I had seen so many others, closely related to me, who had big claws as well – there were the small cousins of mine from home, the Acheroraptor – but there was also Adasaurus, from the same place as Deinocheirus; and Atrociraptor, from a few miles North of where I lived. There was even Austroraptor, who was as big as I was, but from South America!

I had never seen anyone like her.

I finally locked eyes on her. She looked so small – but I knew plenty of distant relatives of mine who were small – but she also walked differently. More like my distant distant relatives, you know, the ones who were experimenting more with the air? And branches and stuff?

Anyway, she was cheerfully getting out of her seat when another animal walked up to her – it was one of those weird digging things, you know, the kind that dig up insects all the time and just kind of run around? He was a big one, much taller than the double-clawed girl, and he kind of shoved her forward with his nose.

I felt my feathers raise more in annoyance.

“What are you looking at?” Jinny asked.

“Oh – uh – nothing,” I said, and we walked together through the campus to our next class.

“Maybe you’ll return to normal in calc,” Jinny groaned.

“Usually do,” I offered, but the image of the digger pushing the double-claw forward was burned into my brain.

Still, being a freshman was hard – and I had other things to worry about. Like intro to chemistry. Which was probably going to kill me – slowly – in a vial of acid – used in the laboratory portion.

So I studied a lot. My best friend from home – Mik, a Tyrannosaurus who was increasingly getting huge and terrifying – was really good at chemistry, so we usually spent our time studying together.

“So are you going to actually come with me to the review session, or are you going to sit in your dorm and play video games with Nikko?” Mik asked as we poured over textbooks together, two nights before the second exam of the term (and I needed to pass).

“Nikko is busy trying to find a girlfriend,” I snorted. Nikko was our newest friend from the school, who Mik had met in his Biology class. He was a Velafrons, and he was terrible at speaking English, but man, could he swear and yell at us for not even trying at Spanish, so to each their own.

“Dammit,” Mik groaned, “I guess a relationship between a hadrosaur and a tyrannosaur is too crazy anyway?”

“Dude, you’re literally wanting to bang what you could consider a prey species,” I snorted at him.

“Yeah,” Mik sighed, “Why did he have to be straight?”

“Cause them’s the breaks,” I paused, “But no, I guess I’ll go to the study session tonight.”

“Thank God,” Mik groaned, “You need it.”

“Watch it,” I snarled.

“You know you haven’t been able to beat me in a fight since we were kids,” Mik paused, “Don’t try it.”

I snorted again and went back to studying, burying my nose in the book.

“By the way,” Mik said, “On the subject of Romance –“

“Oh no,” I groaned.

“Jin says you two like, never hang out anymore?” Mik asked.

“Jin only gives a crap about philosophy and history and all this shit that’s meaningless to me – and oh man, she’s just gotten more annoying about being against religion – like I’m not religious but does she have to belong to a club that’s literally a militantly atheist group? Really? How freaking rude, right?” I snapped.

“Well you know I agree. I don’t know why you dated her in the first place. We made fun of her in junior high,” Mik shook his head.

“Look, I’m a lesbian, tail is hard to come by,” I paused, “And she… had a nice phase in high school.”

“You mean that phase when she tried to make Ethel and Jacob atheists? Because she ‘didn’t care’ that they were ya know, Avialan, and therefore Jewish, but she did care that they believed in God?” Mik snorted, “There’s a reason they didn’t come here with us.”

“How are they doing at Hell Creek U, by the way?” I asked.

“Oh good,” Mik said, “They’re probably going to get married soon, honestly. They don’t see the point in waiting around.”

“Aww!” I gasped, “That’s so sweet. Are you going to go?”

“Dude, I’ve been friends with them since we were hatchlings, of course,” Mik paused, “Do you think it’ll be like Greg and Winnie’s wedding?”

“Because… they’re all Avialans?” I asked, laughing, “You do know there are differences between Avisaurus and Brodavis, right?”

“Yeah, course I know that,” Mik said defensively.

“Like, I don’t think that Ethel and Jacob will have as many water-related components –“

“I’m sorry, I was just wondering if there would be commonalities, that’s all!” Mik snorted.

“Well we’ll find out,” I paused.

“But back to the main topic,” Mik said, “You go to Maastrichtian University. The biggest school in the whole world. Reptiles from far and wide come here to get a fantastic education. You can definitely find someone nicer than Jinny.”

“You really want me to get rid of her, huh?” I laughed.

“If she could stop saying that I, because am a Tyrannosaur, am naturally violent, that would be great, that’s all I’m saying,” Mik roared.

“Yeah, okay, I’m going to break up with her,” I said, “You have a point.”

“Thank God,” Mik groaned, “Racist piece of shit –“

I snorted loudly and buried my nose back in atomic structures, but honestly, the relief at realizing I didn’t have to be with the only lesbian (that I knew of) from my home town was Huge.

Jinny didn’t take it well, and honestly, I don’t really care that she didn’t – she was a huge bitch. But now, of course, I was stuck in philosophy.

The things I do for love, I thought dejectedly as I sat in a different corner of the room, next to an Albertonykus, named Renee, I knew from the LGBTQ+ club (she was bisexual, but in a stable relationship with a boy from home, so that was a bust).

“What do you think we’ll suffer through today?” she asked.

“I don’t have a clue,” I groaned, “Why am I in this class.”

“Because you liked a mean girl and didn’t break up with her until after the add/drop period?” Renee offered.

“Why are you in this class?” I asked, sighing deeply.

“Because Lim is a philosophy major back at ‘Shoe College and I’d like to know what he’s talking about,” Renee laughed, “See, I, unlike you, am in a happy relationship –“

“Don’t rub it in,” I shook my head sadly.

“Ahem!” the professor called out. I quickly turned to pay attention, filled with embarrassment so my feathers puffed up all over.

“This week I would like you all to work on a project on personal perceptions of the existence of higher beings,” the professor began, “You’ll be working with someone I will pair you up with based on previous papers. I think it is extremely important that you work with someone with a different perspective on the subject than you.”

I nodded. Made sense.

“This is a rather large lecture hall, so your partners are all in a document on the online class portal,” she explained, “Emails are provided so you can get in touch with your partner. Now, back to the arguments presented by Fluffcart –“

I opened up my computer, wondering who I’d get paired with. Reading down the sheet, I was being matched with Nami, a name I didn’t recognize, so I pulled up my email.

Hey, looks like we’re partners for this thing – where do you want to meet up? I typed, tapping my claws against the floor.

I didn’t get a responding email for the duration of the class – though, I supposed, I should have been a better student and paying attention anyway. In fact, I didn’t get an email until later in the day, while I was hanging out with Mik and Nikko.

“You are so bad at Super Smash Dinos, Setha, I don’t know why you even try to play,” Mik teased.

“YOU HAVE TO USE YOUR FEET, DON’T EVEN – “ I shrieked.

“Tiny armed tonto,” Nikko laughed.

“How dare you make fun of my arms –“

“Estás bien way, ‘course I’m making fun of your arms-“

“You fucker –“ Mik flicked his tail at Nikko, hitting him in the back of the crest.

“Ow! ¡Fíjate, pendejo!” Nikka shouted, “Keep those feathers away from me –“

I got a buzz from my phone, so I picked up while they bickered over video games, reading quickly.

Hey Setha, Let’s meet in the student center tomorrow at eight. I can’t really do later than that. ~ Nami

I sighed. Eight was when I had LGBTQ+ club, but, if she couldn’t do another time, well, there you go.

Sure, see you then. I’ll be the tall as fuck raptor, I sent, snorting quietly as Nikko beat Mik single-handedly. Literally. Nikko was playing with one hand. Nami didn’t respond to my message, so I just went back to playing.

I hardly ever went to the student center, mainly because I was super broke, and didn’t really feel like spending money I didn’t have on crappy junk food. It was also crowded and loud, and so many students were just… everywhere. Not my thing.

“Are you Setha?” a thick accent greeted me with. I looked up from my bad phone game – Angry Pterosaurs – and up into the most adorable, perfect face I had ever seen.

It was the two-clawed girl!

“Oh, hi! Nami?” I greeted, trying to not get too flustered. She was so small and gentle looking.

Oh no.

Not again.

How many times must I fall for a straight girl?

I had seen her since then with the digging boy – I didn’t know the kind of animal for either of them, they were from somewhere I wasn’t familiar with – and it was painfully obvious they were together.

“Yes, hi,” Nami said, sitting down, “I’ve seen you in class, nice to meet you –“

“Nice to meet you, too,” I paused, “I – uh – guess we should get started, then?”

“Yes, sounds good,” Nami said, “Let us see here – the assignment says we should discuss our differing perspectives of the possibility of the divine, and then explore those perspectives, and write up a report about the differences and similarities.”

“Right, well, I’m easy,” I said, “I’m agnostic.”

“Ah,” Nami nodded, “I see.”

“What about you?” I asked, tapping my claws against the floor again. I was much too flustered by how pretty she was. How could anyone’s feathers be so green? Was that even possible?

“I’m Jewish,” she said, “Avialan, you see.”

“You’re… Avialan?” I asked in confusion, “But you look like… a raptor, you know, like me.”

“No,” she shook her head, “I’m a Balaur. We’re Avialans from Romania.”

“Wow that’s… really interesting,” I paused, “Why do you guys look like raptors?”

“Why does anyone look like anything?” Nami said sharply, “Does it matter?”

“No,” I shook my head, “No, it doesn’t, I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have asked.”

Nami nodded in satisfaction and pulled out her planner, “Well I go to shul every Friday and Saturday, of course. I suppose you could come with me, and we could talk afterwards about everything, if you don’t have other plans?”

“No, I shouldn’t,” I said, “Um, I don’t really have… services, being agnostic and all.”

Nami laughed, “No you wouldn’t, would you? Well we can just talk here about it if you’d like.”

“Uh… sure,” I paused, “I mean, we don’t have to get this all done so fast, we have a few weeks –“

Please let me hang out with you more –

“Oh, I don’t have a lot of free time,” Nami said sadly.

“Why not?”

“Coyle likes us to spend all our time together,” she shrugged.

“Coyle?” I asked, trying to play dumb.

“My boyfriend,” Nami said, “A Bradycneme.”

“Ah, okay,” I said, “So he… doesn’t let you do things on your own?”

“Not really, no,” Nami sighed, “Really, just my classes and shul.”

“So he’s not Jewish either?” I asked.

“Well, he’s a Digger, not an Avialan, so…” Nami laughed.

“People convert,” I offered.

“True,” Nami paused, “No… he doesn’t show much interest in it.”

“Oh,” I said, “I’m sorry.”

“It alright,” Nami said, “Anyway, so, tell me about what you believe?”

“Right, well, I guess I just don’t think about it much?” I said, “I wasn’t raised in any particular faith. It just didn’t matter to me much. I say I’m agnostic because I don’t really know if you can empirically prove whether or not there’s a God, and well, I like to believe in what I can prove.”

“Why?” Nami asked, writing down some stuff as I talked, lifting up her leg and using her toes like I had seen on that first day of class.

“I dunno. I’m a physicist,” I paused, “I like numbers, and calculations, and reasoning through things. It makes sense to me. I find a problem and I solve it. The universe can really be reduced to numbers, and… I dunno, I like combining them and finding answers through that. Measuring things, testing things, and using that to find my answers. That’s what matters to me, that’s what helps me understand the world. I question it. And I questioned God… I guess I did. I dunno, I never really thought about it extensively… but the times I did… I questioned God, and I couldn’t find evidence either way, and that was good enough for me…”

“Hmm,” Nami paused, “I see, yes.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you,” I said, grimacing.

“Oh you didn’t!” Nami said, “No that was very polite.”

“It… was?”

“Yes. Coyle is much ruder about how he’s an atheist. Keeps trying to get me to stop going to shul,” Nami looked embarrassed, “I shouldn’t have said that much.”

“Oh, I don’t mind,” I said, feeling furious that someone would treat this girl I barely knew so rudely.

“I’m famished,” she looked at her phone, “And I have some time before he’s done with his writing club.”

“Do you wanna go to the burger place? Serves some great Mammals,” I offered.

“Uh… I’m an herbivore,” she said, looking even more embarrassed.

“Oh! I shouldn’t have assumed, I keep forgetting you’re not a raptor,” I groaned, “That’s completely my fault.”

“We can go to the sandwich place,” she offered, “They have kosher veggie wraps.”

“Okay!” I said eagerly, glad she wanted to spend so much time with me when I had literally put my foot in my mouth.

“So for you, physics is a religion?” she asked as we got in line. She was so much shorter than me.

“Yeah, I guess it is,” I admitted, “I don’t really… worship it? But it makes sense to me. It’s how I understand the world around me.”

“So what made you take philosophy?” Nami asked, “I mean, it’s also very logical, of course, but it’s not really… empirical.”

“Ugh, I had the worst girlfriend in the world and she’s a philosophy major, so I took it with her to take a class with her,” I groaned, “We’re broken up now.”

“You’re gay?” Nami asked.

“Uh… yeah,” I said, now feeling scared.

I’d had people be dicks to me before.

“Are you in the LGBTQ+ club?”

“Yup, I’m missing it right now,” I sighed.

“I wish I could go,” Nami lamented, ordering her sandwich and moving out of the way for me to do the same.

“Oh – are you…?” I didn’t finish my question.

“I’m… yes,” Nami paused, “I’m asexual, but I’m panromantic – I’ll date anyone.”

“Ah, gotcha,” I said, suddenly very cheerful indeed.

“I’ve only ever dated boys though,” Nami explained, “I had a… wonderful boyfriend in high school, but. Well. I’m with Coyle now.”

I didn’t push it.

“Why can’t you go to the club?” I asked, changing the subject for her. She looked especially uncomfortable, her feathers puffing up dramatically.

“Coyle doesn’t want me to,” Nami said simply, “He’s… very protective.”

“I see,” I said.

I didn’t like Coyle.

“Well, you should still hang out with people other than him,” I said, “Want to do something this weekend after we do stuff at your shul?”

“Oh… I… well,” Nami looked torn, “I would like to, yes, I think, but I don’t… I’ll make an excuse.”

“You should!” I eagerly wrote down my dorm room on a piece of paper, “My friends and, I we play a lot of video games.”

Nami laughed, “That sounds like fun. I can say I have a thing with my shul, he won’t question it.”

I nodded, but I still felt uncomfortable inside.

Mik, Nikko, and their new friend Tuoma – a trans girl Kritosaurus that Nikko met through his biology lab – were all in my dorm when I got back, playing Dinorio Kart.

“Eyyy there she is!” Tuoma greeted.

“Hi guys,” I paused, “Don’t you all have like, a huge biology test tomorrow?”

“We’re having a study break!” Mik protested.

“How are you guys expecting to get into medical school if you don’t study?” I snorted, sitting across from them.

“I am doing no such thing,” Nikko reminded, “I’m going to grad school.”

“Right, then it’s the other two who are stupid,” I shook my head.

“Hey!” Mike groaned as he lost, “Come on, Setha –“

“Don’t come on me, if you flunk out I’m gonna be all alone…”

“So how was your meeting with your philosophy partner?” Tuoma asked.

“Um,” I paused, “Good…”

“What’s wrong?” Mik asked instantly, stopping mid game.

“Oi! ¡Cabrón!” Nikko shouted.

“If you think that someone’s in an abusive relationship, but you barely know the person, what do you do?” I blurted out.

Everyone fell silent and looked at me in worry.

“I’m… not sure,” Tuoma sighed.

“Maybe befriend them?” Mik offered. Nikko nodded in agreement.

“I… I mean, I’m going to try, obviously. I just… I’m scared for her, and I don’t know her like, at all,” I sighed.

“Well, ease into it. Maybe it’s not as bad as it seems from the outside,” Mike said soothingly.

“Maybe…” I frowned, “She’ll be hanging out with us Saturday evening, after I do stuff with her for our project.”

“Ah – Tuoma’s bringing a new friend too!” Nikko said.

“Oh?” I asked, pulling out dried meat from Mik and my’s bowl of snacks.

“Yeah, their name is Qindo, they’re agender, we met at the trans support group,” Tuoma explained, “Thought they’d make a fine addition to ‘getting high and attempting to play Super Dinorio Bros’ club.”

“Ha! Awesome,” I laughed, “It’ll be an interesting evening for her.”

“What’s her name? What is she like?” Mik asked.

“Remember when I told you about a girl in my philo class with two foot claws?” I held up my foot and swiveled my claw back and forth in demonstration.

“Eww, get that out of my face, stinky,” Tuoma laughed.

“Yeah, I do,” Mik snorted.

“Well it’s her,” I paused, “She’s an Avialan, actually.”

“An Avialan? ¿Realmente?” Nikko asked.

“Yeah. A vegetarian, too,” I paused, “I really stuck my foot in my mouth, to be honest.”

“Kept assuming she was a raptor?” Mik laughed. I threw a pillow at him.

“Yes, you dumbass,” I paused, “She looks like a weird Adasaurus, okay? Geez.”

“So what’s your philo project about?” Tuoma asked.

“Religion, oddly enough,” I paused, “So I’m going to go with her to Shabbat stuff this weekend.”

“You know, we never went with our friends from home, that should be interesting,” Mik offered.

“I hope so,” I paused, “I’m looking forward to it, for sure.”

Mik stared at me critically for a minute before shouting, “Oh my God.”

“What?” Tuoma asked in confusion, looking between us rapidly.

“Setha’s fallen for her!” Mik laughed loudly.

“Fuck you, too!” I shouted, so embarrassed I wanted to melt into the floor.

“She’s in love! Oh no! Oh this is fucking typical!” Mik roared with laughter, making Nikko shout in instinctual fear.

“Leave me alone!”

“Why are you like this?” Mik chortled.

“Hey – you had a giant crush on Nikko before –“

“HEY”

“Wait you did?”

“I…”

“This should be interesting,” Tuoma said, sitting back and munching on some leaves in glee.

“I thought you were cute, but then I realized you were straight –“

“I mean, yeah, but like, I’d still be flattered, man!” Nikko shouted.

“I didn’t think you wouldn’t be – “

“So why didn’t you tell me?”

“Cause I was embarrassed!”

“I’m a flexible person! I mean, I’m not attracted to you, but like, I wouldn’t freak out about it! Again, I’d be flattered!”

“Well by the time I realized you would be I had gotten over it!”

I snorted loudly, satisfied that they were off the topic of my crush on Nami, and opened up my computer to work on an online homework assignment for calculus.

That Friday, I met Nami at her shul, which was just off of campus. It was a small place, but quiet; I wandered through the halls curiously, looking at all the pictures and names on the walls.

“It’s much bigger than the one from my home,” Nami said quietly. I turned around to see her, feeling embarrassed when I nearly knocked her over with my tail.

“Oh?” I asked.

“Yes,” she paused, “We’re still… recovering from. Well. Everything that happened.”

I nodded. I didn’t bring it up, for her sake. She already looked sad, and she hadn’t even said allowed the word.

“Do you get along with the people here well?” I asked.

“It’s a modest place, so yes,” Nami smiled, “It’s my one relaxing moment of the week, really.”

“I’m looking forward to participating,” I nodded as we went into the hall together, sitting together and taking out prayer books.

It was a beautiful, if quiet, affair. Almost everything was sung, and everyone was really friendly. Wine was drunk, and candles were lit, and I didn’t really know what was going on – or how to say, any, of the words – but it was nice. Nami looked really relaxed and happy, which made me happy, much to my chagrin.

God dammit.

Afterwards we all went to another room and sat down to eat dinner, which was almost entirely vegetarian, so I couldn’t eat it. Still, I enjoyed sitting there, listening to everyone talk.

“We hardly ever see Balaur anymore, but it’s really nice to have Nami with us,” an Enantiornis named Lolla said.

“So what are you going to write about in your project?” another Enantiornis named Poppy asked.

“I dunno, I think just… well, I liked what your Rabbi was saying about social justice and all that. I dunno, my main perception of religion has always been… thou shalt nots, that sort of thing,” I explained.

“Well, yes, but that’s not how it is here, or at least, not in this shul,” Nami said happily.

“Sin is more missing the mark, than some sort of inherent state that we’re all trying to escape,” Poppy nodded, “And it’s much more about fulfilling mitzvot than anything, really.”

“Belief in God is important, but it’s also about community, and coming together, and studying Torah,” Lolla explained.

“And debating the meaning of it!” Poppy laughed.

“Oh yes, can’t forget that the biggest part of being in this tribe is… arguing,” Lolla giggled.

“Nothing is really dogma, there is no one ‘right’ way to be Jewish,” Poppy said.

I wrote everything down in my phone, nodding and listening as they continued to discuss. It was really enlightening and interesting, and it was nice to learn about how Nami had grown up.

The next morning I met Nami there again – way too early in the morning. I was so tired I needed coffee.

“Sorry,” she greeted, not even saying anything before offering that comfort.

“It’s alright,” I yawned, “What am I in for this morning?”

“Torah, of course!” Nami said happily, “Come on.”

There were more prayers and singing that I didn’t understand, but also reading from their Torah, which was beautiful, ornate, and huge. They read that in Hebrew, too, and I just listened to the poetic sounds of the words, amazed at how I had no idea what was going on – but I felt connected to everything anyway.

We then met with more of Nami’s congregation members, talking and laughing as we ate lunch, with people discussing and debating the Torah portion for that week – even though I had no idea what it was, they still managed to talk about it and eagerly discuss, and eventually I caught up with the story as I listened.

“So, do you think you know what you’ll write about?” Nami asked as we walked back to campus together.

“Yeah I do – do you?” I offered.

“I’m not sure. You kind of gave me less to go on,” Nami laughed, “I’m hoping to learn more about you and what you believe tonight.”

“By watching me goof off with my friends,” I snorted.

“Well, that’s what you saw me do, didn’t you?”

“Fair point,” I frowned, “You weren’t really goofing off, though.”

“It’s still fun, to me, anyway,” Nami paused, “I’m a Jewish Studies major. Well, double major. That’s why I’m in philosophy, I need to take a few philo classes.”

“What is your other major?” I asked.

“Geology,” Nami grinned, “I like studying fossils.”

“Really?” I gasped in surprise.

“Course!” Nami paused, “I appreciate the ancient, whether it’s Torah, or the ancient fossil ancestors of Avialae, or just those weird mammal relatives from before the Great Dying.”

“That’s so neat,” I exclaimed, “We should talk about that more.”

“Heh, alright,” Nami nodded.

“You seem more cheerful than when we met,” I offered as we stepped back on campus, heading towards my dorm.

“Well, Shabbos is my time,” Nami explained, “Time just to myself.”

“Yeah,” I frowned, but I didn’t push it.

Which, of course, didn’t sit well in my stomach.

“Ey! You must be Nami!” Mik greeted as we went inside.

“Hola!” Nikko greeted.

“Hi,” Nami said shyly, sitting down in a corner. She was easily the smallest person there. Tuoma was there too, and her friend Qindo, who was a Champsosaurus.

“Setha’s told us so much about you!” Mik grinned. I hit him with my tail.

“Right, I’m Mik, I’m Setha’s friend since we were like, freshly hatched,” Mik began, “This is Nikko, a dork from Mexico –“

Nikko swore a long string of angry Spanish words in response.

“Tuoma, our other friend from Biology –“

“Hi,” Tuoma greeted cheerfully.

“And Qindo, who is also new –“

“They’re weird, I’ve been here five seconds and I’ve determined this –“

“What are your majors?” Nami asked nervously.

“I’m premed,” Mik paused, “So is Tuoma.”

“I’m going to go into genetics,” Nikko said.

“I’m an English major,” Qindo explained.

“And you know I’m physics,” I offered needlessly.

“Ah, I’m Jewish Studies and Geology,” Nami paused, “Qindo, do you know a Bradycneme named Coyle?”

“Ugh, him? He’s a dick,” Qindo said immediately.

I groaned softly.

“Uh… he’s my boyfriend,” Nami said.

“Oh. Um. Uh,” Qindo looked like they wanted to melt into the floor.

“Anyway!” Mik said, “Have you ever had edibles, Nami?”

“I… what?” Nami asked, laughing weakly as we all sat around the dorm.

“You know, pot brownies, that sort of thing,” Tuoma offered.

“Oh I – no? I have never had pot of any sort,” Nami said, looking embarrassed.

“This should be interesting,” I giggled as we all took some from the plate Qindo was holding. Mik then put in Dinorio Bros as Nami stared out into the distance, just chewing on the brownie.

“I should probably have asked if this is Kosher,” Nami said softly.

“Oh fuck, I’m sorry,” I groaned, “I should have thought of that.”

“Eh, it’s alright,” Nami sighed.

“I’m pretty sure it is?” Tuoma grimaced, “I didn’t… think of it. Sorry Nami.”

“Not your fault, just mine. I forget to check sometimes,” Nami shook her head.

We sat around and let it set in, me reaching that lovely euphoric state I looked forward to every week. Nami perked up considerably as it hit her, and we all started shouting at each other and playing games, laying and being ridiculous as we failed spectacularly. We weren’t good at the game high, or anything. It was just fun to be terrible – as a group.

From then on, Nami joined us every week, because she just lied to Coyle and said that she was doing stuff with her shul. She started personally preparing the brownies, and none of us minded – in fact, she was better at it than Tuoma. We got an A on our project (which ended up being an elaborate discussion of the perceptions of God and the similarities between agnostic and Jewish thought) and I even managed to pass Philosophy despite having never, not once, paid attention during lecture.

Even though I still found Nami beautiful – both inside and out – I didn’t really get to see her except Saturday evenings. We weren’t majoring in the same thing, so we didn’t really take any classes together past that point, and even though I think she knew how the rest of us thought of her boyfriend, she didn’t break up with him.

So I dated a few other girls - including Tuoma, for a bit, though we broke up amicably – but never really stayed with any of them.

“Yo Setha!”

“Yeah, Mik?” I asked, looking up from my project. We were juniors, now, and I was doing a lot of research with one of the professors on optics and electromagnetism.

“Look man, we should take a class next semester – the whole group,” Mik offered.

“All of us?” I asked in surprise.

“Yeah!” Mik paused, “Cause look – there’s this class on Dinopology, the history of the evolution and culture of Dinosaurs – shouldn’t we do that?”

“I mean, Qindo might object,” I snorted.

“Qindo can suck it, come on, it’s an intro class that none of us have taken – not even Nami! Let’s do it!” Mik said eagerly.

“You know full well Nami won’t be allowed to do that without Coyle,” I snarled.

“Wow, you haven’t even tried to seem like you approve, have you?” Mik laughed.

“Do I have to, really?” I paused, “At least when she isn’t here.”

“No, I guess not. I just kind of… I dunno. At least he isn’t physically hurting her or anything,” Mik sighed.

“Yeah, but come on, Mik,” I paused, “You see how she is with us – after a full day of being with her shul, and then with us, and not seeing Coyle at all – versus seeing her randomly in the week. She’s a completely different person.”

“I know,” Mik sighed, “But we’ve gone over it a thousand times. She won’t tell us why she’s with him, she won’t break up with him, and there’s nothing really we can do about it, without ensuring that she won’t even be able to hang out with us the small amount that she does.”

“Yeah,” I groaned, “I guess. But count me in for Dinopology.”

“Excellent,” Mik grinned.

Nikko and Tuoma were automatically on board, and Qindo’s reaction was essentially “Might as well learn how you people think, I guess.”

“I dunno,” Nami sighed as she got to the dorm on Saturday, pulling out brownies from her bag.

“Come on, it’s not like Coyle is a double Jewish Studies and Geology major,” Qindo said, their mouth filled with a large mammal steak we had cooked earlier.

“Yeah, you can’t have taken every class together,” Tuoma nodded.

“We want you with us! It won’t be the same without you,” Nikko begged.

“Please? We had so much fun in Philosophy together,” I said.

Nami looked at me sadly, “I can try. He just kind of insists that we take all the electives together, since we can’t take major classes together.”

“Well you should ask tomorrow! Then text Setha or someone,” Mik paused, “The rest of us should sign up for sure. Please do ask to morrow, Nams, registration is this week.”

“I will, I will. It definitely fits into my schedule, weirdly enough,” Nami paused, “Nikko, what are you doing?”

Nikko had decided to attempt to balance my stuffed animals on his head.

“… No sé,” Nikko admitted, his speech very slowed down.

“Oh no,” Tuoma giggled.

“Someone keep him away from sharp objects,” I grinned.

The next morning, as I attempted to work through the haze of a morning hangover and finish up my report, I got a text.

Coyle says that I can take it as long as he takes it with us…

I sighed. Better than nothing, I supposed.

Sure, I responded, We should probably know him better, I guess.

You can’t tell him about our weekends, Nami immediately responded, I just told him I knew all of you from classes and such.

Well, I quickly typed back, That’s not a… total lie?

Just what I thought. Thanks Setha. You’re always so understanding about this.

I gulped quietly.

And so guilty about that understanding.

Yeah, ‘course. I’ll let everyone else know.

“Fuck that!” Qindo said, literally calling me after I texted them.

“I know, but –“

“Come on, Setha, you more than anyone would be pissed about this!”

“Of course I am, but I’d rather Nami get to enjoy something with her friends for once! Geez, Qindo!” I shouted back.

“I’m with that dick in all my other classes, and this isn’t even something I’m interested in!”

“Look, we’ll all take a class you want first semester next year, and Coyle will not be allowed to come, how’s that?”

“Fine,” Qindo sighed, “Fine. You all owe me.”

I had never really had to interact with Coyle before – in Philosophy, I just kept sitting with Renee more often than not – so I really didn’t know what I was in for as I entered the large lecture hall the first day of the next semester.

“Hello,” Coyle greeted, in a gruff, angry voice.

“Hi,” Tuoma greeted cheerfully.

“I recognize some of you,” Coyle looked at Mik critically, who he definitely would have missed seeing in a class, “So you’ve all taken classes with Nami?”

“Yup,” Mik answered immediately, “I took a geology elective.”

Nami nodded, “I told you that, Coyle.”

“Yes,” Coyle said slowly, “So why Dinopology?”

“It’s an elective we can all take?” Qindo said sternly.

“Right,” Coyle sneered, sitting with us. The professor started talking about the subject and I took notes quietly, seething that this complete dick was with us.

“For the first week of class, I want you to pair up and work on a presentation on the origin of Dinosaurs…”

Of course, Coyle paired with Nami, but at least she was having a class with us for once.

“I just want to pry her away from his single fingered, grubby hands,” Mik sneered as we all watched a movie during the week, Nami of course not there.

“I want to smash his cabeza into his cuerpo. Cabròn,” Nikko hissed.

“Nikko, take a deep breath,” Tuoma soothed, nuzzling her head against his. They had started dating only a few weeks ago.

“Seriously though, the boy is infuriating,” Mik growled, “Maybe me and Xin could go and teach him a lesson.”

“You and your Tarbosaurus boyfriend attacking him sounds wonderfully appealing,” Qindo sighed dreamily.

“Any move we make will just make him reign in his control more. The two live together,” I sighed, “There really isn’t an option.”

Mik looked at me in annoyance, “Why are you like this?”

“What are you on about?”

“We’ve been friends with Nami for two fucking years and you are still just as in love – no, MORE in love – with her as you were when you first saw her!”

“Leave me alone!”

“But you won’t do anything to save her from this situation!”

“She doesn’t love me back, so it doesn’t matter, you douchecanoe,” I hissed.

“So you’re saying the only reason to save her from a terrible relationship is, so you could be with her?” Tuoma asked angrily.

“That doesn’t seem like love,” Qindo said quietly.

I growled, “That’s not what I meant – “

“It sounds like what you meant!” Mik roared, “Setha, I can’t believe you!”

“It’s not what I meant at all – I mean – look,” I sighed heavily, “You’re right. That was a terrible thing to say. I didn’t mean it. I really didn’t. I just. Don’t want to risk having her get into an even worse situation because I intervened, or anyone intervened, and it didn’t go successfully. What I meant by what I said was just… I dunno. Maybe if I saw that she liked me back or something, I could try and use that as a reason for her to get herself out?” I offered.

Everyone relaxed considerably.

“I still think you should try regardless,” Mik grumbled.

I frowned, but focused on the movie.

Eventually we were given a huge project – a research one, where we had to study a topic in dinosaur evolution, and write a paper and make a presentation for the class – and we had to pair up with other people, so Nami and I worked together. Mik took Coyle, mainly because Mik wanted to find an excuse to eat him.

“No one would ever know, I’m telling you,” MIk insisted.

“Do not eat him, Mik!” Tuoma shrieked as I, Nikko, and Qindo cackled in the corner during the exchange.

I met with Nami during the week, us sitting in my dorm while Mik was out doing other things.

“So, what do you want to do for the project?” I asked, flipping through the pages of the book.

“I don’t know,” Nami sighed, “I’m so tired.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” I looked up from the book, frowning at Nami sadly.

“No,” Nami shook her head, “Let’s just pick a topic.”

“How about the evolution of Avialans? You know that really well cause of your major,” I offered.

“Eh,” Nami groaned, “Yeah, I do, but consider: I know it too well.”

I laughed appreciatively, “How about the evolution of Titanosaurs, then? Doubt anyone else will want to do that.”

“Sounds impossible,” Nami grinned, “I’m on board.”

I snorted and we got to work, compiling as many sources as we could. The project would be a long, drawn-out one, and take most of the rest of the semester, so we got to hang out alone a lot without worrying about Coyle.

“Okay but why would your favorite character be Neville!” Nami laughed.

“He has so much untapped potential!” I grinned, “He’s the most underrated character in Harry Potter –“

“But Hermione!” Nami insisted, “An Avialan Icon!”

“Hermione is great! A pure rolemodel! Adorable! Not as great as Neville!” I grinned.

“What kind of Lesbian are you –“

“A perfectly good one, thank you very much!”

Of course, we saw completely eye to eye on other pieces of media we both loved.

“The most infuriating part of Star Wars,” I said as we took a break from examining fossil evidence charts, “Is that everything in episode three is completely avoidable.”

“SHE JUST HAD TO GO TO AN EGG DOCTOR!” Nami shrieked.

“That’s all she had to do!” I agreed.

“Then they would have actually kept track of her condition!” Nami nodded.

“Made sure she was healthy!”

“Focused on the important things!”

“Maybe even,” I fake gasped, “Tell Obi-Wan!”

“Oh no, such logic is impossible for Anakin and Padme!” Nami snorted, “How far Padme had fallen…”

“She was such a good character before three ruined her,” I agreed, “On the Clone Wars, especially.”

“Oh don’t bring that up,” Nami groaned, “I still get mad about how that show makes me feel worse about Order 66 –“

We also discussed, well, non-media related things as well.

“I hate that Nikko doesn’t have enough accommodations,” Nami sighed.

“What do you mean?” I asked, looking up from the powerpoint we were working on.

“I mean…” Nami frowned at me, “I mean, he’s got a bad leg, right? He should have easier ways to get to classrooms and stuff, but this school is terrible at large-sized elevators.”

“You’re right,” I sighed, “I never really… thought about that. Since he hardly ever, you know, talks about it?”

“We should do something about it,” Nami offered.

“Like what?” I asked.

“Write to the school! Raise awareness! We really aren’t disability friendly at all!” Nami demanded.

“When are we going to do that, miss maximum-load-of-classes?” I offered.

“Um… at some point,” Nami admitted.

“We should, I agree,” I paused, “We’ll talk to the others about it on Saturday.”

The night before the project was due, she had been spending more time with me than with Coyle, and she acted like it – much more confident, much happier, much more excited about, well, everything.

“Nams?” I asked tiredly as we worked late into the night, piles of papers around us as we composed a large paper.

“Yeah?” she looked at me, her eyes drooping with sleepiness.

“Why do you stay with Coyle?” I murmured.

Nami sighed deeply, “I suppose I should tell you the story, I guess.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” I quickly offered.

“No, I want to,” Nami closed her laptop and stared at me for a long time.

“I dated this guy in high school. His… name was Olne,” Nami paused, “He was an Elopteryx. A troodont.”

“Okay,” I nodded.

“We were… I really loved him,” Nami was crying now, “I really, really loved him.”

“What happened to him?” I asked softly.

“He got into a car crash,” Nami drew in a shaking breath, “Didn’t live very long afterwards.”

“I’m so sorry, Nams,” I whispered.

“He was so sweet. And nice. Like you, really,” Nami paused, “I mean, he liked the same things as you. He was nicer than you are.”

I stuck my tongue out at her, which made her laugh.

“But… Coyle was his best friend. He was so upset after what happened. We just kind of… fell in together, because, well, we both knew what the other was going through,” Nami sighed, “He was so… scared of everything after that. He got overprotective. Constantly worried, since we’re in a new country and everything, that the unknown will cause something to hurt me.”

“That’s… not what I was expecting,” I admitted.

“He’s very mean, I know,” Nami paused, “And… controlling. But his heart’s in the right place.”

“Except you’ve been living here for two years, Nams,” I paused, “And you… I dunno. You’ve adjusted really well. You can take care of yourself.”

Nami sighed heavily.

“And you don’t… seem to be in love with him,” I muttered quietly.

Nami looked up and stared at me critically, “No, I don’t.”

“Then?”

“I’m not sure how he’ll react,” Nami paused, “And I have no where to live. And he’s a reminder of home”

“You can crash with me!” I offered eagerly.

Nami laughed, “Are you sure? Mik takes up a lot of room.”

“I’m used to Mik,” I said dismissively, “He’s basically my brother.”

“Very true,” Nami paused, “Thank you for being understanding, Setha. I’ll think about it”

“Of course,” I agreed, “It’s up to you, obviously. And I understand not wanting to give up a reminder of home. Why do you think I put up with Mik?”

Nami laughed appreciatively, and we got back to work.

We turned in our paper the next day and delivered our presentation, and it was one of the best ones of the class. Nami looked so happy, and confident, that I was shocked to not see her that Saturday at our weekly hang.

“Maybe I should text her?” I asked softly.

“I’ll do it,” Mik sighed, “If nothing else, I think Coyle ‘trusts’ me now.”

Qindo growled softly.

Mik texted quietly as we all sat around, staring at each other worriedly.

An hour went by without a response, and our worry only grew.

“This is my fault,” I groaned.

“What do you mean?” Tuoma asked.

“I mean – I encouraged her to break up with him. I shouldn’t have done that,” I cried.

“Look, we encouraged you to encourage him,” Mik said, “It’s all of our faults.”

“Definitely,” Qindo agreed.

“I know, but… I won’t be able to live with myself if…” I cried.

“If what?”

“He could be hurting her… like, physically,” I whispered.

Mik looked at his phone again – nothing.

“I’m going to their apartment,” he said softly.

“No, I’ll go,” I said, “If we need to emergency extract her, you’re the better choice for that; let me ruin any chance of me seeing her again.”

“Setha –“ Nikko said.

“Just, let me go,” I shook my head, “This is my mess.” I left the dorm in a rush and ran across the campus, running as fast as my fluffy legs could carry me. I even flapped my wings a little to get some slow-moving Alamosaurus to move out of the damn way.

I had to, eventually, just hop onto them and over them, to keep going towards the student housing apartments on the other side of campus, running through the small streets that reeked of weed and alcohol, running up some stairs to their small apartment.

I could hear shouting.

My heart clenched in my chest and I rammed my head roughly into the door.

“OPEN UP,” I screamed.

Coyle opened the door, glaring at me. He was covered in blood.

“You!” he shouted.

“Yeah, me, you dick,” I pushed him out of the way, “Did you hurt her?”

“No, she hurt me!” Coyle roared.

I looked around for Nami, and found her in the middle of the room, looking ruffled and angry. In fact, she was completely disheveled, but she didn’t look to be bleeding – but her claws were covered in blood.

“I told him – I told him I was leaving him – and he tried to… He tried to attack me so I fought back!” Nami hissed, “What, did you think these claws were just for Supreme Studying Techniques?”

I grinned in pure, utter pride.

“You bitch –“ Coyle hissed.

“Come at me again, I dare you,” Nami shouted. Coyle did, though, and he was bigger than her, so he pinned her down.

“HEY!” I shouted, but they both ignored me. Nami kicked at Coyle roughly, scratching at his stomach, making him scream in pain and back away.

“Eventually you’ll tire out!” Coyle hissed.

“Not before you run out of blood!” Nami snapped.

I didn’t want to see her get any more bruised and beaten, so I ran forward, shrieking at the top of my lungs. I pulled him off of her and held him back loosely, not drawing blood with my teeth.

“Let go of me you bitch!” Coyle roared.

Nami threw out another kick, more blood coming from him, and I dropped him on the floor.

“We’re done. I don’t need you, and Olne would be ashamed of you,” Nami snapped.

“You take that back!” Coyle demanded.

“No,” Nami paused, “I’ll be having Mik collect my things. Goodbye, Coyle.” We left the apartment together, Nami limping heavily.

“What did he do to you?” I asked quietly, horrified that she had gotten hurt at all.

“Ugh,” Nami sighed, “He tried to use his large size to overpower me. I think he broke my leg, maybe? But I could still kick, so I did.”

“I’m proud of you,” I said honestly. Nami laughed.

“Thank you for encouraging me to do that. I’ve wanted to… well, since we met, to be honest, but I never had the courage,” Nami sighed.

“Why did you want to when we met?” I asked, helping her walk by just straight up putting her on my back, walking slowly to the student health center.

“He was getting insufferable? Surely you noticed. I’m not… okay, I wasn’t… really about drugs but I joined you guys just to have some way to avoid him. I’m just. I was scared of him. He’s big and well, he has a lot of emotional weight on me,” Nami sighed.

“Still, that’s just. An odd thing to say,” I sighed.

“I’ll tell you some time,” Nami explained, “Let’s just get me to a doctor, yeah?”

“We certainly shouldn’t let Tuoma and Mik practice on you,” I laughed. Nami laughed with me, as we went together to the center. She did have a slight fracture, but it was easily patched up.

She moved in with me and Mik and it was wonderful – and honestly, Coyle was way too afraid of Mik to try anything.

“To Nami’s freedom!” Nikko cheered the first weekday we actually all got to hang out together.

“To Coyle’s butt being kicked! Literally!” Tuoma cheered.

“To never having to look at Coyle’s stupid face again!” Mik laughed.

“Unless it’s to kick it!” Nami giggled.

“HUZZAH!” I cheered.

We all clinked together our glasses of wine and laughed, drinking and cheering together about the beauty of this latest development.

“So what do you want to do with your newfound freedom, Nami?” Qindo asked.

“I want to figure out who I am without the dick,” Nami said honestly. Mik laughed loudly and Tuoma clapped.

“But besides that, what I really want is to just be happy,” Nami paused, “I think being with him kept me in a shadow for… all of college. I haven’t been able to move past my past.”

“Well, we’ll help you any way we can,” I said happily.

“Any way?” Nami asked, grinning at me.

“What are you asking?” I snorted.

“Never mind,” Nami paused, “Let’s play some rock band?”

“Oh no,” Mik groaned.

“Oh yes!” Nikko cheered.

“I love watching you being completely unable to do anything!” Tuoma giggled.

“This isn’t fair –“

“Mik, you’re the largest predator on the planet, you don’t get to talk about what isn’t fair,” I grinned.

“Setha, you’re a dick.”

“Thank you!”

Nami was laughing more than I had ever seen her do, and the sight just gave me hope and joy. She was free, and she was happy, and that dick would never hurt her again.

Senior year we all got a large house together off campus, but Nami and I were the first to move in – Mik was off volunteering in some of the poorer countries, giving health care to people who really needed it; Nikko and Tuoma were on vacation at the Nemegt; and Qindo was still working their crappy summer job at home.

“Hey Setha?” Nami asked as I put up my posters in my room.

“Yeah Nams?” I answered, looking over at her and getting flustered as I always did when I looked at her beautiful, adorable green face.”

“Um. Can I talk to you?” Nami looked rather flustered herself.

“Sure,” I agreed, stepping down and cocking my head to the side, “What’s up?”

“Er, so you wondered. Back in the spring. About how I knew I wanted to break up with him from the moment I met you?” Nami asked.

“Yeah?” I said, what a strange thing to bring up.

“Er… well, okay,” Nami laughed nervously, “This is really hard for me to say, because, um, I’m still in… a weird headspace. After Coyle.”

“Of course,” I frowned.

“Er… you see… I think you’re really cute,” Nami admitted. I felt myself flush in amazement.

“You… do?”

“Yeah,” Nami said, now talking very fast, “Yeah, you see, well, I thought you were really pretty, and I love how brown your feathers are, and I watched you in class and the way your feathers would perk up whenever you saw something you actually cared about on the computer, and well, I was really excited to see it was you that I was working with, but I didn’t want you to know because I knew Coyle would like, not approve of me having friends, because who can trust these Americans right, so I just pretended to not like you, but then you were so respectful and kind and thoughtful at shul, and I was like, I have to hang out with her more, and it was so nice to have somewhere to go and someone to hang out with every weekend who wasn’t from shul, and I just had so much fun with you, and you were always so nice to talk to, and so pretty, and I just. Wow. I’m rambling, I’m sorry,” Nami said.

“Don’t be!” I said, my heart pounding loudly.

“Um, so yeah, I think you’re pretty, and funny, and smart, and interesting to talk to, and you can be nice, but you’re really brave, and yeah,” Nami rambled, “Um… I like you.”

“I like you too,” I said immediately.

“You do?” Nami breathed.

“Dude, the first time I saw you I was just, fascinated by you, and how beautiful you were, and I was so curious about everything you are, and when we talked and went to your shul you were so sweet and thoughtful and you just want the best for everyone, and hanging out with you was so great and I was so glad you wanted to, and I just – yeah,” I stopped, feeling embarrassed.

Nami’s four curved claws were all tapping together in happy unison.

“I just, think you’re really beautiful, and wonderful, and I’m happy we’re friends, and I’m happy you’re in my life,” I said firmly.

“I’m happy you’re in my life too,” Nami paused, “Because eyou’re really beautiful, and wonderful, and a great friend, and, well, I wouldn’t have stayed with Coyle forever, but you definitely helped me get out of that… faster.”

“Thank God,” I said honestly. Nami laughed softly.

“Well… um… do you wanna…” Nami paused.

“Do you want to be my girlfriend?” I asked immediately. Nami nodded eagerly and I bounced with excitement, my floof going every which way as I did so.

“We should go on a date,” Nami said eagerly.

“We should,” I paused, “First… can I… nuzzle you?”

“Oh!” Nami looked embarrassed and flushed again, her feathers all sorts of directions, “Yes! Yes please!”

I leaned down to her and gently nuzzled her, pressing my snout into hers. She felt nice and soft and fluffy, and she smelled like the fruit they ate at her shul, and I couldn’t help but giggle. She giggled too, and we pressed our noses together for a minute, before pulling away and laughing with each other.

“Well then,” I said.

“Yes,” Nami grinned.

“Wanna go see a movie?” I asked.

“Ooh yes!” she agreed, and we walked out of the house together, laughing and talking about nothing in particular –

And we have made each other infinitely happy since.

#dmm2017 #dinosaurs #birds #balaur #dakotaraptor #I AM TRASH #story #maastrichtianU

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toastin-to-ghostin · 5 years

Text

My take on Danny’s Death Day

Word count: 3941

Danny’s Death Day:

Today was the big day, or so Danny’s parents kept blabbering on about. His parents, Madeline and Jack Fenton, were ectologists, professionals in all things supernatural and unexplainable. In university they had studied ectology as a side endeavor to their engineering and science degrees, and had developed a prototype for their current invention then. It had been a dramatic failure, and resulted in the injury of one of their colleagues, but still the Fentons pressed on to explore the depths of this largely criticized field of science. And so, with years upon years of research on their side, today was the day the Fentons would finally open a stable portal to the other side.

Of course Danny and his red-haired sister Jazz, three years his senior, believed anything supernatural to be complete nonsense, and being scientists their parents really should have known better (or so Jazz had constantly reprimanded them about). Danny huffed dramatically as he slumped down onto the lab bench and crossed his arms. The fourteen-year-old dark haired boy distractedly tapped his foot as he pondered the day’s events. He and Jazz had been rather rudely woken up at an ungodly hour (only an hour before his usual alarm, actually) and shoved out the door for school. Their parents insisted it’d be safer if they were out of the house as they finished up on their project, ready for the big reveal in the evening. He had grumbled his way to school, bitter about his parents’ scientific obsession, which had taken up their time for the better part of the last four years. He didn’t understand their science, and was indignant that his parents were the laughing stock of the scientific community (which filtered back to his peers at school). However, he did admire their enthusiasm and determination. While this project had taken up a significant amount of time, he appreciated the rare moments they had given up to be with their children. Maddie, outside of her hazmat suit and lab goggles, was an adoring mother who loved baking cookies and showering her kids in hugs and kisses. And Jack, who was hardly out of his lab clothing regardless of the occasion, had a heart as big as his bear-like body, and always knew how to cheer Danny or Jazz up.

With that in mind, Danny desperately hoped and prayed that the past four years of near neglect weren’t for nothing.

Beside him were his two best friends, who both stared absently around the Fenton Works laboratory. The two scientists had converted it into a modern science research workshop. Tucker, with his signature red beret and his smartbook tablet on his lap, brushed his eyes over the many pieces of silver technology scattered around the metal workbenches of the lab. The walls were littered with schematics and blueprints. A few faded Polaroids of Maddie, Jack and one other frequented the space, as did several articles on ghost sightings. Sam’s eyes had a glimmer of intrigue at the eccentricity of the room, her retro gothic get-up juxtaposing the futuristic workshop aesthetic. She leant over her knees and cradled her head. Tucker idly tapped his tablet. Danny’s dark hair fell over his soft-blue eyes, but he paid it no attention. He would rather have been playing video games with his friends. And from the disgruntled looks on Sam and Tucker’s faces he could tell they felt the same. Across the room Jazz sat with a straight back, one leg crossed over the other, with her head buried in a book about the psychology of crazed scientists. She occasionally looked up to shoot a sharp look at her parents, as if assessing them according to what she was reading.

On the far end of the basement lab was a great hexagonal archway lined with heavy metal plating, accentuated by black and yellow tape on the outside. The tunnel behind it stretched back into the ground until it faded to shadow. The inside was covered with the same silver metal panels, multiple grooves and buttons littering the inside. The large burley figure of Jack stood inside leaning against the wall with a spanner, his orange jumpsuit piecing through the darkness. Maddie, in her turquoise suit, stood in front of the three adjacent monitors, speedily typing equations and algorithms into the keyboard. She paused for a moment to check her watch. Gasping, she called to her husband to emerge from the tunnel. With one final tweak of the spanner, Jack came into the open and took in an apprehensive breath. Maddie wrapped her arms around his left arm and kissed him on the cheek. They stayed like that for an anxious moment before separating as the sound of approaching footsteps echoed from the top of the stairs. The scientists went to stand at the bottom landing, waiting.

From the stairwell emerged two official looking men. Both had clean-shaven heads and briefcases held by their outside hands. The odd thing about them was their suits, which were a stunning shade of pure white. They both introduced themselves (in an overtly obnoxious tone) as agents ‘K’ and ‘O’. Danny pondered their choice of outfit. As if echoing his thoughts, Sam murmured to her friends, “Well that’s a bit impractical, isn’t it? I mean, black is so much more versatile.” She pointed to her own outfit for example, a sly grin on her face.

Tucker added, “Yeah, they give me the creeps. Who are they?”

Tiredly, Danny slightly sat up and sighed. “They’re from a sub-government agency called the Guys In White, or G.I.W. They deal in the same whacky “science” as my parents.” Danny made quotation marks with his fingers for emphasis.

“Never heard of them. And you know me; I know everything concerning technology,” Tucker stated, waved his tablet proudly in the air.

Sam scoffed sassily as she crossed her legs and arms. “Well, imagine the outcry if the public discovered that their government were funding supernatural research.” Tucker acquiesced and pondered, glaring at the small silver guns that sat on the agents’ belts.

“They’re the ones funding this bloody thing,” Danny continued, waving a lazy hand in the general direction of the portal. He sighed and looked to the metal floor. “Probably is a big waste of time.”

“Hey, c’mon, Danny,” Sam encouraged, placing a hand of his shoulder. “Your parents promised to drop ectology entirely if this thing doesn’t work.”

“Yeah,” Tucker added, his energy helping lift Danny’s heart. “And if it does work, then it’ll all be worth it. Imagine what we could learn from it.”

Danny pulled back his shoulders and smiled softly. “Thanks, guys.” He was grateful for his friends’ support, but still wasn’t entirely comforted. What he hadn’t told them is that if the portal failed, then his parents would have to pay the G.I.W. back, and he knew, even as a fourteen-year-old, that that wasn’t possible. He didn’t want to worry them with that - his parents hadn't even told him. But money was the least of his worries if this failed. He could almost hear his school peers jeering “The Fenton Failures”. Danny sighed. I bloody hope this works.

By now his parents had warmly greeted the eccentric agents and they had taken a standing position besides the computers, each with a tablet at the ready to assess. Jazz had finished scolding both her parents and the agents about the illegitimacy of ectology, which resulted in a stern lecture from her mother. Now Jazz sat in her original spot with a frown, looking the other way.

Danny had been staring into space when his father’s booming voice distracted him from his musings. “Hello, and welcome, one and all, to the grand opening of the Fenton Works Ghost Portal!” He waved a large black-gloved hand dramatically at the archway. “To our esteemed guests, Agents K and O from the Guys In White, thank you for joining us on this fantastic day. Today, we make scientific history!” Danny couldn’t help but roll his eyes, but he smiled at his dad’s dramatics.

Maddy stepped forward, her energy more controlled but no doubt as equally vibrant. “As you all know, ever since our uni days, Jack and I have been studying the field of ghosts and the supernatural. And after all the scrutiny, criticism and jokes, today our twenty-plus years of research will pay off. We have hypothesized, beyond reasonable doubt, that there is a physical realm in which otherworldly creatures inhabit. This realm opens itself up to the real world all the time, allowing supernatural entities to explore and roam our lands, to haunt humans and destroy lives. But those portals are unstable and disappear very quickly. Today, we will open a stable, constant doorway to this realm, to the Ghost Zone. And from there, we will research the ectoplasmic beings, in the hopes of finding a way to permanently sever the connection between the two worlds.”

Maddy finished her speech and took in a deep breath as she watched the agents type on their devices. She nodded to her husband with a steeled face and confident smile. Jack walked over to the side of the portal where a large lever was positioned. It was a hefty stick of silver metal lined with black and yellow tape. Currently the stick pointed downwards to the ‘Off’ position. Jack turned to address the audience. “Final test for Project Portal. Date: Sunday Sixteenth of February two-thousand and fourteen.” Danny and Jazz leapt from their seats together. Jazz’s book fell to the floor. Danny stared desperately into the tunnel, pulling at his fingers nervously. The siblings shared a hopeful glance before returning their attention to the portal. Jack puffed his chest and clutched the lever with both hands. With one final tentative gasp he yanked it upwards. Jazz and Danny huddled together as the giant heavy doors of the portal slowly closed, two panels on either side sliding to meet in the center. Maddy held her goggles tightly with both hands as she watched. Jack hadn’t let go of the lever. A dead silence echoed around the ambient room. Then, a quiet whirring buzzed in the distance. Danny clenched his toes and fists at his side. But the buzzing stopped abruptly and another silence followed. For a few painful moments the tension was palpable before Maddy finally broke it with a curt nod to her husband. He pressed a button on the side wall, leaving the lever in the ‘On’ position, and surely the doors slid open again, only to reveal the blinding darkness of the empty tunnel. Maddy and Jack shared a look before running over to the computers. They fiddled through files and equations muttering, swearing, grunting. The two agents merely slid their tablet back into the briefcases and turned to leave.

Beside Danny, Jazz grunted angrily. “Called it.”

“Jazz!” the boy snarled. She simply side glanced him and lifted her chin.

“Now they can focus on being parents. I’m going to the library to study.” And surely, she spun on her heels and was gone.

Danny turned his attention back to the portal, glaring at it with such an intensity he was sure he could will it to turn on with just his mind. His parents were scrambling through papers and equipment. Jack noticed the G.I.W. agents departing and dropped everything he was doing to run after them. Danny vaguely heard him mention that he and Maddy were going to the G.I.W. headquarters. He assumed his parents had a lot of explaining to do. But Danny could not tear his crystal-blue eyes from the darkness of the failed invention. He ran his hand through his raven hair and sighed. He was like that until he heard the vans pull away on the street above.

Meanwhile, Sam and Tucker were standing apprehensively to the side, frozen in the previous awkwardness of the Fenton scientists’ humiliation. Sam looked over to her friend, his eyes wide in shock and sighed. “Danny…” she began.

“I can’t believe it,” he whispered.

“Danny,” Sam repeated.

“No. This – this wasn’t meant to happen. I – it was meant to work.” He looked up with pleading eyes to his friends. “Why didn’t it work?”

“I don’t know man,” Tucker said taking a step forward to stand next to him. “After all their research, I guess it…” He glanced at Danny, eyes fixated on the portal. He didn’t want to say the next bit. “I guess it really isn’t real.” Danny seemed to implode on himself. “Or we just don’t have the technology yet to support your parents’ genius science?”

“Just forget about it, Danny.” Sam insisted.

Danny stepped forward and placed his hand on the side of the portal. “Forget about it?” he scoffed. “How do I forget four years of neglect?” There was an aggressive edge to his voice, but he sighed and walked over to the monitors. All anger dissipated into tired longing. “I know my parents love me – and Jazz – but… it’s still annoying. They must be so crushed…” An idea sparked in his mind. He steeled himself and marched over to the rack of laboratory hazmat suits. He grabbed one and pulled it over his NASA t-shirt and jeans. The main body of the jumpsuit was white, but the collar was lined black. He slipped on corresponding black gloves and boots. His mop of obsidian hair complimented the outfit.

Sam rolled her eyes at his antics. “What are you doing, Danny?” she breathed, only half expecting an answer.

“After four years of all their hard work, I’m not gonna just let them walk away as losers. I gotta do something.” He turned to face the void of the tunnel and paused. “I have to do something.” His voice echoed hauntingly around the metal shaft. He took one step forward, entranced by the soft glow of the dark channel.

“I don’t know about this,” Tucker voiced.

“Let him.” Tucker was horrified at Sam’s suggestion and told her as much “What? It’s not like it works anyway. Let him wallow. Goths do it all the time; it’s cathartic. Go on, Danny, see if you can turn it on.” Tucker shrugged and sat back down, fiddling away on his tablet.

By now Danny had tuned out his friends’ conversation. The pristine silver panels and intricate metal work was beautiful. He saw the buttons up close now and fingered them gingerly. He saw another lever right at the end of the 10m long tunnel. It was positioned in the ‘Off’ position however its handle was facing up. Above it was a small metal plate indicating it as an emergency closing mechanism. Next to it was a button labeled ‘Engaged’. It was symmetrical to the mechanism outside. He stared at it quizzically. For some reason, he recalled that the outside lever was will on, and the button was pressed. Without a second thought he tapped this button. For a moment nothing happened. But then, a fluorescent green light bubbled at the end. He stared into it, ignoring the shouts of exclamation from his friends. The unearthly glow was intriguing, cold yet inviting. It eddied and swirled, growing and pulsating. Soon, the entire back wall was engulfed in the ectoenergy and instant dread flooded through Danny. Within a heartbeat, Danny spun around and shoved the lever down with all his might, ensuring the dangerous energy was trapped inside the tunnel, protecting his friends. He caught their horrified expression just before the doors slammed shut, and he was electrified with the full force of the Ghost Zone.

***

Sam and Tucker squeezed each other in a hug as panic clouded their minds. They both shut their eyes tight and yet tears spilled through. A strange light had emanated from the back of the portal. Danny had pulled a lever. And just before the doors shut on their friend, they saw his eyes wide with clam panic as he was engulfed by the energy. His screams ran out until is voice went hoarse, and even then his screams crescendoed into a haunting wail. Tucker and Sam had scrambled to the computers and doohickeys to try anything to open the portal and rescue their friend. But they had collapsed just outside the closed doors onto each other, helpless. There were no adults to help them, no one to call as Danny suffered. They were frantic, stock-still, and petrified as Danny’s deathly cries of agony were branded into their memories.

***

Pain. An icy fire coursed through his body. It contaminated his blood stream, his organs, his skin and every cell, destroying everything like a river of lava over forest. And then once the deathly sensation seeped into every atomic structure, he was ripped apart with a coldblooded jerk. His mind went blank, but instead of fading into darkness, he awoke in pure peace surrounded by a white ether. He went to lift his hands then realised he had no body. He was simply energy, a consciousness, floating in this immaterial world.

Where did the pain go? Where did that pain come from? He could hardly remember. He figured he should be frightened, yet at the same time, didn’t feel he needed to be. All that he could comprehend in this realm was the bliss that floated around and through him. It was so inviting, he could almost forget what had been, without caring for what will come. The atmosphere wrapped around his consciousness like a warm, heavy blanket, lowing him into another world. It was so inviting…

Not yet! He jolted back into the present. The ether seemed colder now. Danny sensed another consciousness approach him, however he was certain space and time were redundant concepts in this world… He felt the other stream of energy swirl around him, its energy profound and rooted in a meaning he could not comprehend. It spoke without a voice but Danny understood nonetheless. It was giving him a second chance. Within there was a thread of danger, but an even greater salvation overshadowed the doubt. Without hesitation Danny reached into the stream and felt as their energies combined, overpowering his sensations, and drawing him back into the physical.

The agony flooded into his mind once again, his atoms annihilated by the ectoenergy. Quickly, his body was stitched back together, atom by atom, by the foreign energy, and he welcomed it. He screamed through the pain as his DNA was remodeled, half his human cells being replaced and rejuvenated by ectoplasm. In a flash of neon emerald he felt a flood of icy coolness embrace him. He was floating now in a sea of green mist, but seeing the doors of the Ghost Portal through the fog comforted him. He was home. He approached the doors. Surprisingly they slid open for him to exit the portal and re-enter the human world. The lab was beyond the exit, as familiar as ever. In the center of the cold metal floor two figures were huddled together. Hesitantly he stepped out of the mist and into the light.

***

Sam sobbed on Tucker’s shoulder, as he did on hers. Tucker stared into space. He was frozen, and he could not will himself to move. Those screams, Danny’s screams chilled him to the bone. They sucked the life out of him. And now it was all Tucker could do to keep himself together. By now, Sam had dug her nails into his back, but he didn’t care. Perhaps the pain would distract him from… He shot up, ripping himself from Sam’s embrace. That same sickly green as before illuminated the lab. Dread seized him. A slight creak drew his attention to the portal. An unearthly energy slithered through the slit between the doors as they slowly slid open. A thick emerald mist obscured the tunnel. He tapped Sam and she gripped onto him in horror as they both watched a shadow emerge from the portal. It stepped out of the green swirl and into the light.

It was humanoid, but its form was vague, wrong. An ethereal glow pulsated from the form, but that’s not what caught his attention. The eyes blazed a deep toxic green that screamed power. They were as alive as they were dead in their supernatural energy. The figure’s white hair floated in an absent breeze and its body was covered in a black bodysuit, the boots and collar a stark white in contrast. The skin – if one could call it skin – was near translucent, like pearl under a full moon. Sam shrieked, scrambling backwards. Tucker stopped breathing and clenched every muscle in his body as he beheld the figure before them. The ghost – he assumed it was a ghost – jumped back in shock at their reactions.

“Sam, Tuck,” it hissed. The voice was unsettling as it echoed unnaturally. “Guys… It’s me” The figure held its arms out defensively. Slowly the radiant glow dampened and Tucker could fully see the ghost’s face.

Suddenly realisation hit him, but the words were caught in his throat.

Beside him Sam jumped up with a gasp. She went to speak, but was also lost for words. “Da…” she stuttered finally. “D - Danny?” Not an it, not a ghost, but…

“Danny!” Tucker exclaimed, dread and intrigue littering his tone. He dared not step forward. Was he dreaming? A quick look at Sam assured him that this was real. But it simply couldn’t be – Danny couldn’t have been standing before them…

Danny titled his head to the side and frowned. His fearsome eyes deepened with concern. Looking down he observed his white-gloved hands and black suited body. Wisps of white hair fell in front of his eyes and he gasped, taking a strand in his fingers. He twiddled the hair between his thumb and forefinger, his frown deepening. His vague form continued to shift and move, like waves forming and falling upon each other. He was a contradiction of physical and immaterial and yet he was standing before Sam and Tucker, existing. With another glance at his friends, Danny turned to the portal. He grunted in disbelief. “I must have… died.” He scanned his body once again and then walked – no – floated to a blank monitor and stared into the black mirror. His eyes were wide, but not with horror, with surprise, and Tucker thought he saw a glimmer of relief in those haunting eyes, too. “I’m dead,” he whispered. “But – wait…” Danny turned back to face his friends and placed both feet firmly on the metal floor. “I am also, still, alive.” And with that a ring of blue-silver light appeared at his waist, before splitting and travelling the length of his body, up and down. The black and white suit was replaced by the simple t-shirt and jeans Danny was wearing earlier that day, and his green eyes and white hair reverted back to their natural blue and black. Now, Sam took a meek step forward. There was Danny, looking as he always did, looking human. And yet…

“We heard you,” Sam whispered, her breath shaking. She clutched her chest with both hands trying to steady her body. Her hair was on end. “You screamed…” She resumed sobbing, running her hands through her dark hair, eyes lowered.

“We thought we lost you,” Tucker coughed, clearing his tight throat. He had ripped his beret off his head and was clutching it in a white-knuckled fist. Tears streaked his face.

Danny, for the first time, registered this notion. Fear slid over his face like a shadow and he looked back at his reflection. He shook his head and gasped. Frantically he patted his torso to make sure he was physically there, but still his face was taut. After a few moments, with a shaky breath, he turned to face his friends and said, “Well… I’m back.”

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lovesimos · 7 years

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Last summer began with a few MJ’ estate executor’s interviews informing the fans that there would be no other forms of un-released songs or albums, but there would soon be an announcement of new projects. In fact, (cannot say the timing was like a Swiss watch) a press release announcing a special Michael Jackson Halloween animation theme would be televised in the fall on CBS. Predictably, the reaction of many fans was once again very critical in relation to this new project of the Estate.

“Thriller” 3-D version announcement arrived. A world premiere at the 74th Annual Venice Film Festival, alongside its original matched film “The Making of Michael Jackson’s Thriller” – the hour-long behind-the-scenes documentary whose broadcasted sale to MTV and Showtime and released in VHS format at that time. The “Making of Thriller” has never been released in any other format, and Thriller has never been released on Blu-ray. We also had much hype announced of a fans-useless “Scream” compilation, but I have no word to spend for it.

I’ve never appreciated any of the products the estate has released after MJ’s demise, but Thriller 3-D clearly intrigued me; especially since having seen Captain EO as far back as 1992 – when Disneyland Park Paris was called Euro Disney – and it was stunning and I could not ask for more. I was so amazed to see MJ in 3-D in Captain EO and I would not be surprised to be thrilled for “Thriller 3-D”. This is definitely something I will not miss. The 3-D vision is an experience and has nothing to do with going to the cinema to see a movie. You are in the movie! Having a Smart TV with a cinema home setting, I also appreciated the 3-D effect in the extras of the “This Is It” documentary, (introductions to Thriller, Earth Song, and Smooth Criminal) which are pretty nice to see. Some of the visual effects seemed to emerge from the screen straight into the room!

It’s not a big surprise if I share publicly that there is not one single release from the estate that causes a vibration of my soul. However, I never thought I’d have reason to doubt that Mr. John Landis would allow anyone to ruin a direct “relative” of his dream movie. It might be that many don’t remember the 1981 “An American Werewolf in London”. Landis wrote the script when he was a teenager. Rick Baker won the first Oscar for makeup for that movie.

And Michael Jackson was a big fan of both. That’s why he called Landis and told him of his appreciation of An American Werewolf in London and of Baker’s work particularly while asking him to direct his “Thriller” video.

Unfortunately, public disputes in the community were set in motion following an interview with Engineer Martin Nessi explaining the technical issues he had on mixing the “Thriller” for Dolby audio.

Fans screaming “to the sacrilege – the sound has been disrupted, tarnished” jumping to conclusions such as ” the original audio track is lost – Why couldn’t be provided – Sony archives are crap” – (I also jumped on this bandwagon at first).

And with the “Scream” London party the tragedy begins. Despite the fantastic restoration and the exciting 3-D interjection, the sound is strange. The result is that many other component sounds are totally missing except for the percussions.

Our poor engineer, Martin Nessi, comes onto twitter attempting to give a professional explanation but soon withdraws from the scene due to the rudeness he was apostrophized; after having to do a titanic job he had to deal with even the most stupendous insults.

Now, those who dared to insult the engineer cannot be stopped! “Bullshit walks”, and there is NO way to face unreasonable speech. Insults come like rain, in less than 30 minutes you have been cast off as a fan and suddenly you find yourself in the category of the “bullshitters”. Oh well…an approach to be proud of.

News from the next “Scream” party in Sidney assures that Sony sent a new audio and that the sound is mostly conformed to the original.

Good! We have the privilege to have another clip on the web and again fans screaming: “chopped, reframed, cut”…

Say it again? But it’s not that….did people forget that the video has been transformed into another format and we are talking about a 3-D interaction?

Even if the Adobe is only a preview of a 3-D broadcast, the details and beauty of the restoration are notable. Plus you need to appreciate 3D.

I agree that everyone can have opinions but I believe that a video taken with a smartphone while sitting in a chair and displaying the shadow of a row of chairs at the bottom of the screen, proves nothing from the technical point of view; it’s what can be called a “glimpse”. And complaining for the sake of it denotes a cruel intent to stir things up in an already conflictual community.

“All of the copies of Thriller out there now are duped,” Landis tells Billboard, “and it used to drive me crazy. I’d been trying to get to the negative for a long time as the new digital technologies are amazing at restoring films. And Michael and I always intended for people to see Thriller in a movie theater”.

In more than one interview John Landis emphasized that his primary interest was to get the original master and restore the negatives of the video clip Thriller and “The making of”.

Restoring old films from the negative with new technology is crucial for their preservation in the years ahead. “There are countless films that disintegrate because the chemical base of the film corrodes over time. Once the camera negative, internegative and last print of a film are gone, the film is gone forever.”

And the 3-D has nothing to do with the original clip. It’s an alternative way to see it. It is a homage to Michael Jackson that a technology he loved very much was used. The shift from 2-D to 3-D is very impactful. It’s an almost faithful representation of the real world. It creates an illusion so real and reactive that it trumps our senses and becomes every bit as real as the physical world itself. If you don’t like it, never mind. You still have the original video wholly restored from now on. That’s the most important thing!

The good news is that the videos have been restored! The Estate of Michael Jackson put some real Michael Jackson money into the preservation of Michael Jackson’s work! And surely a good chunk.

I know, with all the goodies the estate has spoiled us with during this 8 years – fake songs – garbage remixes – DVD of grotesque quality – probably no one noticed but it actually and strangely happened.

It is not necessary to thank and worship Sony or his estate executors, is their duties to celebrate and take care to Michael Jackson artistry.

Yet in the end, Martin Nessi’s explanation is more than reliable. He did nothing other than the same procedure (with a different technology) done in 1983.

In fact in the book “I Want My MTV” written by Craig Marks, there is an anecdote of how the audio for the video clip Thriller came out:

“The version of the song in the video is different from the one on the album. On the album, the song begins with a series of spooky sound effects that don’t lend themselves to dancing. Editing the song for the video was a challenge since producer Quincy Jones wouldn’t release the master tapes. Landis explains how they got around this restriction. “The song was five minutes long, and I needed it to be 12 minutes for the video,” he said. “So Michael and I went to the recording studio at three in the morning. We walked past the guard – ‘Hi, Michael.’ ‘Hi’ – put the tracks in a big suitcase and walked out with them. Then we drove across Hollywood, duped them, and put them back.”

Landis told the same in an interview in 2008 for the release of “Thriller 25” to the magazine “Horrorhound” September/October 2008:

“Making the Music Video”

The music in the video and this is so interesting to me that no one has ever figured this out. But “Thriller”, the song, is just over five minutes long and the song in the movie is about twelve minutes long. Landis explains the difference. Quincy Jones the producer of the album and Bruce Swedien, the mixer said that we couldn’t get the original track. So Michael, George and I went to the studio in the Valley and we stole the tracks. There were only about 38 tracks. It wasn’t that complicated a song. We mixed down and then re-cut it completely – they’re TOTALLY different songs. Really different! And people don’t hear it. Even the Vincent Price rap was re-recorded for the video. What happened was the original takes were tied in with a synthesizer track and I couldn’t separate it. I asked Vincent Price to come back and re-record, and he did. “

So, as you can read, they had to proceed in a very similar way as Martin Nessi, already explained in his interview at https://www.izotope.com/…/3d-thiller-mixing-michael-jackson…

Concerning the restoration of the movie and the “making of thriller” Landis supervised the restoration and conversion from the original 35mm negative, provided by the Jackson estate archives. In addition to the visual work, the film’s audio – the song, the effects, and Elmer Bernstein’s original score – has been upgraded to 5.7, 7.1, and Atmos standards.

We know the estate artistically is far from the mark. We should not buy things that do not suit us, it seems to me the minimum. It will not necessarily change much as long as the general public continues to buy any record. I’m sure one day the fans will, once again, be the target. That’s why it is useful to formulate constructive criticism and let the estate know that fans will not buy anything. But I think it seems important to differentiate between a 3-D Thriller and a “Scream”.

I also would like to remind all concerned that Michael Jackson always wanted to do something “special” for Halloween, and a project was already planned to air on CBS in 2009. When Michael Jackson signed with AEG Live for the concert at the O2 Arena in London, his agreement had a specific requirement; AEG had to help him venture into the cinema. The first thing Michael wanted was to produce something special for Halloween on television, focusing on what he had done in the field of horror with “Thriller” and “Ghosts”. And Randy Phillips organized a meeting between Michael and the program’s producer, Ken Ehrlich. The meeting took place before rehearsals on June 24, 2009, at the Staples Center on the eve of Michael Jackson’s death. Ken Ehrlich, who was to produce the show for Michael, later said, “When I saw him the day before his death, we had a meeting on a Halloween project that Michael wanted to do with CBS.” The intention was to create an annual Halloween special on television. Michael was going to be the guest and perform in the show. Michael wanted to put forward his short film “Ghosts” and the first “Michael Jackson Halloween Special” had to be broadcast on October 31, 2009, on television.

It would have been the perfect timing for all the involved parties and Michael would have been free thanks to a three-month break planned during his tour. The first part of the tour was due to end on September 29, 2009, and Michael Jackson was not scheduled to return until January 7, 2010, the start of the second part.

Since Michael was not on tour during the broadcast, his performance for the special would have been taken from a series of high definition footage that AEG Live had planned to capture during the first part of the tour. Thriller, Ghosts and Threatened live shows were also scheduled for this special evening, giving the audience the opportunity to see Michael Jackson’s triumphant comeback, and also giving AEG excellent publicity that the tour will continue in cities around the world. Frank Dileo said that Michael was satisfied to see the special Halloween he wanted with the film Ghosts and his own participation. He agreed with all of this. Everyone knows, unfortunately, this special Halloween eventually did not take place.

So for once let’s take this sign in a positive way, even if we know very well that this Michael Jackson Halloween season is not what it could have been with him not being in charge of the project.¨ (Read the story at Damien Shield website: http://www.damienshields.com/michael-jacksons-halloween-special-that-never-was/)

Let’s not forget that the power of MJ’s message created an event such as “Thrill the world” in 2006; an annual international dance event and world record-breaking attempt. The title of the event is an allusion of another one of Michael’s songs, “Heal the World”. http://www.thrilltheworld.com/

The syllogism that through a “monstrous” dance we can “heal the world” is simply fantastic. It is an invitation to the world to dance simultaneously in an almost tribal dance that goes beyond the “thriller”. A sort of spiritual dance about the struggle that is taking place between good and evil, light and dark. Warding off evil spirits with the art of dance and a proving that connecting the world in a fun, a joyful celebration is a key to understand that you can do more than you think you can. In addition to sharing the joy of dance, the celebration of community and the passion for living, the communities participating in the simultaneous dance use the event to raise money for local charities to help others in need.

It’s also an encouragement to people to pursue any dream, vision, idea, and passion that they would like to see realized. Nothing is impossible. Impossible just means it hasn’t been done yet. Do the impossible!

It is a celebration of the genius of Michael Jackson and his commitment to better the world.

For once let’s not think of who is behind these events development, but think of the beauty to have a worldwide event in honor of Michael Jackson.

This is Michael! His work, his legacy, and just one of the many reasons of why he will be remembered forever.

Sources:

http://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/813388/grammy-awards-producer-dishes-michael-jackson-tribute

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_American_Werewolf_in_Londonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson%27s_Thriller_(music_video)

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/7890127/michael-jackson-thriller-3d-world-premiere-venice-film-festival

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-ujlaki/keeping-cinema-alive-by-r_b_5585774.html

http://www.irmt.org/

THRILLER RESTORED: THE FIRST REAL INVESTMENT FOR MICHAEL JACKSON’S LEGACY Last summer began with a few MJ’ estate executor’s interviews informing the fans that there would be no other forms of un-released songs or albums, but there would soon be an announcement of new projects.

#74th Annual Venice Film Festival #CBS #Ethical Journalism #Halloween #London #michael jackson #Michael Jackson Legacy #Sydney #tabloids #The Estate of Michael Jackson #The Making of Michael Jackson Thriller #Thriller #Thriller 3D #truth

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