#nothing else can compare to how this series makes me feel i could write essays upon essays of my thoughts and it wouldn't be enough
Text
Buffy and Peaky Blinders season six comparison
I don’t think anyone but me would feel the need to write a sloppy mini-essay comparing season six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Peaky Blinders.
In the sixth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Peaky Blinders, the protagonists, Buffy and Tommy are faced with mortality more than ever before. In season five, Buffy loses her mom to a stroke; a human cause Buffy could do nothing to cure. In the season five finale, Buffy sacrifices herself to save her sister (and the world). In season six of Peaky, Ruby and Polly die and Tommy believes he’s mortally ill. Tommy and Buffy feel like they’ve failed to be the heroes and leaders they try so hard to be. No matter how hard they try, mortality is something they cannot beat. In the beginning of the sixth season, Buffy is resurrected; pulled from heaven by her friends. For Tommy, this “resurrection” is less literal; his season six starts after a huge personal failure and a suicide attempt. They are pulled into life by forces out of their control and by people who love them: Arthur takes the bullets out of Tommy’s gun and Buffy’s friends cast a spell to bring her back.
Once they’re brought back to life, they exist in a middle ground between life and death. Buffy misses heaven and being at peace. On Earth, though she is surrounded by loved ones, she has to constantly fight. Constantly be the hero. She puts a smile on for her friends, she fights the monsters when they come but secretly she wishes she were still dead. Tommy recognizes the fascists as more evil than he is. He truly believes in socialism and justice. The fascists are the last, and most important enemy he needs to take down before he can rest. Before he can die. With this goal in mind, he distances himself from the world and from his family. It’s Lizzie who feels and acknowledges this distance the most. She says “it feels like you’re checking off boxes”. Both characters have a decision to make: live fully or continue to sleepwalk though life, headed towards an imagined end of the road. When it comes time to make the decision, both characters are tricked. Buffy is poisoned by a monster and hallucinates a reality where she is a “normal” girl who wound up in a mental hospital because she believes demons and vampires are real. Rather than passively existing in a world she was forced back into, she has to make a conscious decision to be with her friends and keep fighting. She can live alone, peacefully in blissful ignorance as a "normal" girl or she can live fully, in a dangerous world surrounded by chosen family and love. Tommy is tricked into believing he has Tuberculosis and will soon die. He doesn’t bother to fight it or tell his family about it. He resolves to kill himself before he can become a burden to anyone else.
Both characters ultimately choose life but their motivations for that choice are different. In the moment, Buffy doesn’t know which version of the world is real. Her decision to choose life is fueled by her love of her friends and Dawn. Tommy’s decision is made by realizing the truth; he sees Ruby and she helps him find the newspaper that proves he isn’t really sick. Buffy is pulled into life where as Tommy is pushed away by death.
Another difference is that Buffy’s choice comes half way through the second last season of the series. Tommy’s decision comes at the end of the series finale. Something that’s seriously missing from the show is the aftermath of Tommy’s decision. I read a great fanfic that explored how Tommy might reconcile things with Lizzie and Charles but unfortunately, we will never have a (detailed) canon understanding of how Tommy changes after choosing life. In Buffy’s storyline, it takes a long time for her to fully embrace life. Even well into season 7 she feels lonely and isolates herself. The choice to live is the first step in a long character arc which is why Peaky's ending bothers me so much. There are so many unanswered questions. Do Tommy and Lizzie get back together? Does Tommy become a better father? How does Tommy continue to fight fascism? How does he process killing Michael (especially now that he knows he'll have to live with that for the rest of his life)? How does his family feel about him killing Michael? Is there a moral line they can't look past? I think especially of Ada who from season 1 had a very strong connection to Polly as the original women of the family.
9 notes
·
View notes
Text
itsay ep 3 (thoughts + spoilers)
itsay ep 3 fucking obliterated me so here i am with some more thoughts on this episode (drama) in general. this is just me being an incoherent mess bc my mind is basically just one long !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! after having watched this (once raw and again subbed). this isn’t an analysis, it’s literally me just gushing over the ep as i watch it bc boy oh BOY.
WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT EVERYTHING HITTING DIFFERENT AFTER THE BOAT SCENE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! if i thought the tension in the boat knocked the breath out of me, this whole ep was that x10000.
they really started us off with a bang having continued straight off from last ep with teh smelling oh-aew’s hair, huh?? teh rubbing his face with the coconut paralleled with oh-aew smelling his coconut scented shampoo?? excuse me as i cry into my hands.
teh wasn’t willing to wake up early for tarn when she wanted to draw early in the morning, but when he sees that oh-aew wants to wake up early to study, HE’S the one that makes sure that oh-aew wakes up (and he stays up to keep oh-aew company, even if it’s just over the phone). then again when they’re at the resort...love that tarn realises that too. boy ain’t subtle. also, how is it even possible that they can have that much tension just speaking over the phone?? they’re not even in the same room and the tension between the two of them is so thick i can barely breathe.
the “let me know when you’re home”!!!!!!!!!!!!! BOYFRIEND BEHAVIOUR. as soon as oh-aew asked teh why he always asked tarn that, i KNEW they were gonna put that in there for him and oh-aew and i’m glad i wasn’t disappointed :))) the look on oh-aew’s face when he saw the text!!!!!!!!!!! the way he stopped in his tracks!!!!!!!!!
i already had a feeling that oh-aew was going to be the first one to properly realise and accept his feelings for teh based on the teasers (makes sense since he already knows he likes boys...he’s more sure of his sexuality, which would of course make it easier for him to accept based on that). seeing the way he used the ‘if you get close to him and he doesn’t move away it means he likes you’ theory that teh initially told him to try on bas with teh too was really cute. and the jealousy over tarn. i LOVED that we got to see a more petty side to him when he announced he was going to room with bas partly bc of how lowkey jealous/mad he was about teh and tarn talking over the phone. it left teh so unsettled and confused (the piano music was PERFECT in that scene), and is 510% something teh would have done too (based on the previous two eps). they really are a perfect match huh. but poor bas being caught in the middle of the two of them ;;;
i liked that a lot of this ep was from oh-aew’s perspective. i feel like we got mostly teh’s pov in the first two eps, so it was really nice to see things from oh-aew’s pov too. gave us all more insight into his personality and he’s honestly SO MUCH more flirty than i thought he was going to be omg. the potato chip scene where he just crawled over to teh and ate that potato chip all the while staring straight at teh, then lying on his lap?????????? teh was (understandably) flustered after that AND SO WAS I. i was not expecting that whatsoever. i was also really impressed with how honest oh-aew was about his feelings. i love that he’s stayed true to their previous heart to heart in the boat scene last ep where he basically told teh that he wanted transparency between the two of them. he’s sticking to that, and i admire him so much for being able to be that vulnerable and true to himself. i thought there might have been more confusion with bas, but it looks like as soon as he realised his feelings might have faded/that he was feeling things for teh now, he just went with it. i know in my last text post i said that oh-aew is usually the more cautious/pragmatic of the two, but i feel like when it comes to his feelings, he seems to be really in tune with who and what he wants (more so than teh). this of course makes sense bc he’s likely had more time to come to terms with his sexuality...which is what teh’s figuring out for himself now. on top of that, oh-aew’s feelings for teh are a lot stronger than the ones he has for bas. and since he’s also more certain that teh likes him back, he’s so much bolder in how he approaches teh. and teh, to his credit, returns that honesty too when oh-aew basically pushes him into acknowledging that there’s ~something between them (hammock scene). i was kind of expecting him to push away from that/deny it, but he didn’t. he’s obviously just a lot more confused with his feelings and still needs some time to understand them and process them fully. on a related note, hammock scene was so loaded and SO well acted by the both of them. the fact that they can move from playful in one scene too achingly intense in another always throws me for a loop.
another thing i really love about the two of them is how they push one another to be better. it’s that rivalry that makes their bond even stronger, but it’s also something that worries me for future eps ngl...
but i honestly feel SO BAD for bas...clearly, he likes oh-aew, and although oh-aew was initially confused with the two of them, he’s definitely more convinced when it comes to his feelings for teh. but when bas essentially asked oh-aew out, and oh-aew said let’s invite the rest of they guys?? he looked so sad and my heart kind of broke a little. it’s like watching the poor second lead in a kdrama. and tarn too :( i really hope that when teh accepts his feelings for oh-aew, he doesn’t keep her hanging on the way that most BLs tend to do. she deserves so much better than that. my heart really hurts for the both of them, but at the same time teh and oh-aew are just magnets being pulled together at this point. they can’t stay away from each other.
the scene where teh rubs the smell of oh-aew’s coconut scented pen (from what he’s written) all over his face bc he’s at his limit and can’t stand all those pent up feelings anymore, only to race out to their special meeting place on the beach????? the moment he sees that oh-aew’s there too and he chases after him entranced (and the smile on oh-aew’s face)????? the way the instrumental ost just swells the moment they see each other????? the way they tease and dance around another yet again????? PURE ART. A CINEMATIC MASTERPIECE. THIS IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL DRAMA I HAVE EVER SEEN. this whole sequence has to be my fave scene in this ep. god, that part where the camera closes in on them and they’re face to face before oh-aew steps away again had my heart trying to flutter its way out of my CHEST. THEY HAVEN’T EVEN KISSED IN THE SERIES YET AND THEY CAN REDUCE ME TO THIS. honestly, their power is something else. the fact that they can stir so many emotions in all of us just by the way they glance at one another, by the way they dart around one another barely touching...there are dramas/movies with multiple kiss/love scenes that can’t even create that tension and longing. it’s the kind of chemistry that burns you inside out. it’s so palpable.
the thigh massage scene had me CAPTIVATED (like all their scenes tbh) and then teh’s mum came to wake me (and the both of them) up haha. but for real, there’s just something so tentative about what’s happening. these feelings are new to them, and they’re easing their way into it. always toeing the line, but not overstepping it yet. it’s primal. they keep letting those feelings build up more and more and more. and you can always feel the way it’s leading to something else. and of course it leads into the next scene where teh’s tutoring oh-aew again but the atmosphere is so incredibly heavy, so tight, that they can’t contain it anymore (i mean, the fact that they contained it for so long when they’re teenage boys with feelings for one another is already astounding enough to me). teh tries so hard, but then the back scratch happens and...THIS ICONIC SCENE...i thought they were going to kiss then (before oh-aew turned around), but then we got something else entirely and the intimacy of it all. just wow. literally not a single kiss and it was one of the most sensual scenes i have ever seen in a BL. it’s just the way they get so caught up in one another. THE YEARNING OF IT ALL. this whole ep was just pure anticipation, and i have never ever wanted two characters to kiss more than i do these two. it’s the build up that gets me (idk if this can be considered slow build since there’s only been like three eps but it sure as hell feels like it!!!!!!!!!). then teh pulls away and it’s like a smack in the gut...but at the same time, i get it. he’s not ready yet. there’s so much for him to take in and he’s not there yet (not the way oh-aew is), and just like oh-aew, it keeps us all hanging on, so close but not quite there yet.
so much of this felt like this cat and mouse game between the both of them where one of them would advance, then retract...it makes the tension between the two of them even MORE overwhelming bc you keep anticipating something, and you get fleeting moments of it, but then it’s over by the time you blink. they keep toying with one another, but not crossing the line YET bc they know that that’ll change everything the moment they do. it’s such a testament to the writing AND the acting bc it’s the chemistry that bkpp have with one another that creates all of that push and pull dynamic, that yearning and desire. having to wait a whole week again is just devastating...i think next ep seems like it might be the climax?? i’m pretty sure it’ll be the ep where teh accepts his feelings (or at least won’t be able to hold himself back physically anymore), where all the build up finally properly erupts, but at the same time, i just know that the angst is going to start piling up and idk how to feel other than terrified bc i’m way too invested now tbh.
anyway, this drama is absolutely magnificent, and all i want to do is rave about how damn good it is. so high quality. it feels so fresh, like they’re reinvented the tried and true coming of age tale in a way, and we’re all just along for the ride. it transcends the typical thai BL story (and i now understand why they were hesitant to label this as BL when it really feels like it encompasses so much more than the usual BL tropes and story). one of my fave dramas of the year by far (BL or otherwise). it’s just a class apart from any drama i’ve watched before and ticks every single box for me. stunning in every way. down to every detail and every feeling and emotion. it’s so raw and real and i can’t praise what nadao and the team have done with this enough (and we still have 2 more eps to go!!). there’s just so much meaning in every little thing, and in all those little things you can see the time and care it’s taken them to make this.
#wait have i talked about the ost and how they use music and silence in this bc it's brilliant!! perfection!!#i told sunset about you#itsay#bkpp#text#oh and not to mention the chinese lyrics being translated to thai STUNNING#nothing else can compare to how this series makes me feel i could write essays upon essays of my thoughts and it wouldn't be enough#it's the headiness of the two of them that has taken my apart in every way#this has felt like the longest week ever and this next week is going to feel even LONGER until the day i get a new ep once again#i think i prob have more things i want to say but i can't think of anything else off the top of my head i just needed to rant somewhere#normally i would just leave my thoughts and feelings in the tags but this is just too much the way the both of them overwhelm us all#you KNOW i'm gonna rewatch this again bc i can't help myself i really can't#i have a couple feelings on how the end could go and it absolutely worries everything inside of me bc there's A LOT of foreshadowing#going around and it's just got me feeling :///#climax next week (i'm pretty sure it'll be next week) is gonna feel like a volcanic explosion after all this waiting#i can't wait till we get the other teaser and i know what's happening in the next ep preview one too#we're getting the infamous neck kiss in ep 4 and it's gonna scrape out my insides just you fucking watch#i will sob until there is nothing left of me#didn't billkin describe the neck kiss as just the sauce???????? fuck i'm not ready I'M NOT READY#the way this is the only thing i want to talk about for days months years decades#the feel of it def reminds me of cmbyn and yeah i totally see it#it's the authenticity of it somehow
64 notes
·
View notes
Text
The ASoIaF fandom can be so frustrating sometimes.
It’s okay to admit that one doesn’t like this or that character. There’s nothing wrong in disliking a character.
I am pretty open on my blog about my indifference towards or dislike for Sansa because of her stans. I don’t make disclaimers about how much I love the character before proceeding to criticize Sansa. I am not a Sansa stan and that’s okay. My blog is a place for me to jot down my thoughts and celebrate characters, books and shows I do like. If you love Sansa as a character, block me, don’t follow me etc.
What’s obnoxiously annoying are the folks who claim to love all the characters the same and then give their ‘unbiased’ opinions which are held up as canon facts because they came from neutral book reader experts. To hell with that nonsense.
These posts reek of hypocrisy and double standards. It often tears down some characters while subtly propping up others - and it’s gobbled up by the wider fandom as unbiased interpretation of the text.
One example is pushing forth the notion that calling Arya pretty (Something that both her father and brother tell her she is in the books) is wrong, it’s sexualizing her, it’s okay for Arya to be ugly, she’s canonically not pretty because Cat/Sansa said so and no other interpretation is allowed etc. And then the same person who says all this celebrates Sansa’s beauty and ships her with a 27 year old man who falls in lust with Sansa.
Or when they say that the Arya-Lyanna (and Sansa/Lyanna parallels, because it’s always important to mention Sansa with respect to Lyanna even if said person claims to not care about Lyanna as a character) parallels are overrated and not important and they don’t care about Robert’s Rebellion characters but on their blogs there’s all these posts, fanarts and meta about Elia Martell - a Robert’s Rebellion character.
A so called book expert would note that GRRM has several characters outright compare Arya to Lyanna or mistake Lyanna for Arya in the books while Sansa has no such comparison. But no, the unbiased book expert thinks that the Arya-Lyanna and Sansa-Lyanna parallels are equivalent and are both overrated.That post just annoyed me excessively into writing this long ass rant post.
Why are these neutral, unbiased folks so interested in stripping away from Arya’s story?
In the books Jeyne Poole is masquerading as Arya Stark - but that story is only Jeyne’s, has nothing to do with Arya or Arya’s importance to the North.
Arya is a strong warg, Nymeria and her wolf pack are a ‘Chekov’s wolf pack’ that GRRM has hung on the wall - Our expert opinion is that Direwolves are not all that important in the grand scheme of things.
Arya is pretty - why needlessly call Arya pretty, it adds nothing to Arya’s story and is all about sexualizing a child.
Arya-Lyanna parallels - why do we need these parallels, Arya is distinct and interesting without them.
These aspects are all important parts of the character’s story. There are so many very well written essays exploring these concepts with respect to Arya’s journey of self discovery in the books, the narrative significance of her parallels to Lyanna, her bond with Nymeria and her warging talents. For those who are interested, here are two bloggers who actually like Arya and have written about her character and character arc.
https://donewithwoodenteeth.tumblr.com/meta-masterlist
https://ashotofjac.tumblr.com/tagged/arya-stark
Some of these same people will rush to condemn any reading of the books that does not have Sansa wielding power at the end as being ‘Sansa hate’. But they will have no issues to undermine and devalue Arya’s actual book story, the relationships she has, the parallels she has, the skillsets she has, her appearance, her importance to the current story happening in the North.
There is a whole ass plot currently in the books of Northerners rallying for Arya Stark and preparing for battle against the Boltons for Arya Stark. But that’s not important because it’s actually Jeyne Poole and Arya’s story is about sailing off west of westeros. But hey, Sansa will definitely go North and hold power and that’s like 100% happening because we are the unbiased book experts and we say it is so.
Or when all else fails - Arya is a Mary Sue, she’s a fantasy character, she’s a ‘strong female character’ because she fights with a sword, people like her because she’s a tomboy who fights. Sansa is realistic, Sansa is complex - but here are all the essays that basically transfer Arya’s complexity and story to Sansa - because it fits more with their fave, because these aspects would fit better with the traditionally feminine character even though they never tire of talking about how GRRM is deconstructing tropes. Because the trope deconstruction is only applied to Arya, Jon and Dany. Never Sansa.
And honestly, why are these people reading a high fantasy series if they hate fantasy and fantasy characters so much? We love Sansa because she’s so non-magical! Then go read non-fiction books. They also twist Jon, Arya and Dany into ‘fantasy’ characters - despite these characters going through some very real and human experiences. What’s fantasy about Arya’s experiences in war torn Westeros, Jon dealing with bigotry at the wall, Dany trying to rebuild Meereen, while dealing with famine, disease and insurgency?
Or how Jon and Dany getting any kind of happy ending or becoming rulers would be so boring, sweet, predictable, conforming to tropes, a happy ending etc. But Sansa getting love, romance, going home, becoming the Stark in Winterfell, getting her fairy tale ending - that’s totally what GRRM is going to do! No trope deconstruction there! In may ways, Benioff and Weiss’ ending is not all that surprising - Mad Queen Dany, Jon remaining a bastard with the freefolk, Sansa having power as a leader - are all popular theories among bnfs in the fandom. D&D wanting to wind up the show quickly with easily found fan theories is not that much of a stretch.
ASoIaF reddit is equally frustrating. Instead of Sansa stan bnfs on tumblr who pretend to like Arya and Dany while subtly undermining their story and importance, on Asoiaf reddit it’s Stannis stans who dislike Jon and Dany because these characters present a challenge to Stannis. The mere suggestion that Jon may play a role in the battle against Ramsay sends them into frothing at the mouth rage. They hate Jon, Jon is a Gary Sue because he dared advice Stannis - the greatest general ever - on Northern military strategy. Never mind that Jon grew up in the North and learned from Ned, how dare Jon Snow know more than Stannis! Unacceptable!
And I love Stannis Baratheon. I want Stannis to crush and defeat the Boltons. But unlike reddit dudebros, I can see that he is a secondary character, a tragic character who is most probably going to perish and Jon takes over because Jon Snow is a central protagonist in the story.
I feel it’s the same with Sansa. IMO, GRRM clearly doesn’t see Sansa in the same way as he does Arya, Jon, Dany, Tyrion and Bran. Whenever he is asked questions about the books, book plots, long term arcs, endings, age gaps etc it’s these characters he often brings up and references. It’s these characters who are important to him.
And that’s why there’s a lot of undermining and undervaluing of these character’s and their stories, them being described as fantasy characters, tropes, Mary Sues and Gary Sues, ableist rhetoric about Tyrion and Bran to undermine them.
I am damned certain that if it was Sansa who had all the parallels to Lyanna, or if she was the warg, or Jeyne Poole was impersonating her, this would all be ‘VERY IMPORTANT’ and on all the gifsets and essays. But she isn’t. So fandom bnfs are reduced to talking about how these aspects are not all that important anyway.
It’s like how this quote - ‘You may be as different as the sun and the moon, but the same blood flows through both your hearts’ turns up on gifsets every other day on the Arya tag but this quote - ‘Sansa could never understand how two sisters, born only two years apart, could be so different. It would have been easier of Arya had been a bastard, like her half brother Jon. And Jon’s mother had been common, or so people whispered’ very rarely does and will not get reblogged when it does.
Or when Sansa sees Joffrey trying to kill Arya and sides with Joffrey or when Sansa throws Arya under the bus and tells the Lannisters that it’s Arya who is the traitor - just sisters being sisters y’all!
It’s all about maintaining a certain narrative about Sansa - and when others point out her actual relationship with Arya in the books, we are accused of hating and wanting Sansa dead and how we should be criticizing Tywin and the Mountain instead. This is nonsensical whataboutism and ignores that people talk about these aspects of the books because sometimes bullying, getting mocked for one’s appearance, abuse and neglect from parental figures etc. can resonate with certain readers unlike getting one’s head smashed in by Frankenstein.
At the end of the day, I wish these people would be honest about the characters they like and relate to. We are all biased. That’s why our opinions and interpretations are subjective. There’s nothing wrong in saying, hey, I like Sansa more than Arya or Dany, I relate to her character more.
I relate to Jon Snow a lot, I see things from his POV, I would disagree with the characters who disagree with Jon, I enjoy his story at the Wall and the North. My interpretations of the text are therefore colored by my bias towards Jon.
For others, it’s Dany or Sansa or Arya or Tyrion or Jaime. And that’s okay because these are fictional characters and liking one more than the other is not going to earn anyone woke points and lead to women’s rights.
And finally, there’s nothing edgy or cool about disparaging the central protagonists of a high fantasy series as being fantasy characters - go read other books if one is not into fantasy.
121 notes
·
View notes
Text
TMBS Book 1 Brain Dump
~An Embarrassingly Long Post~
I don’t know why I’m writing this or why I’m so determined to do it. Maybe to finally assume my true form and become a mega dork on main, or maybe just for fun!
This is basically a compilation of all the main points running through my head after reading The Mysterious Benedict Society (2007) for the first time. Rather than posting a ton and spamming the tag, everything’s here in one neat package! (hopefully this gets it all out of my system rip)
Contents:
The Book Itself
The Book Itself, for real this time
The Characters
A Funny Parallel
The S.Q. Section
Lines & Scenes I Liked
Spoilers abound!
The Book Itself
Upon acquiring the first three books (don’t judge me pls), I was surprised at just how long they are. Like, they’re still pretty light being paperbacks and all, but these books are hefty lads.
The first book has this Disney+ Original Series circle thing printed on it, which is kind of unfortunate. Regardless, I love the cover illustration and yellow is actually my favorite color :D It made me weirdly quite happy whenever I saw the book lying around in my room
Also, it’s really cute how there’s a letter from Mr. Benedict at the end! (It only reveals that you can find out his first name if you “know the code”, meaning the bit of Morse printed below the summary on the back.) Shock and horror, though, as I realized I’m starting to recognize some of the letters
The Book Itself, for real this time
It’s wonderful how the tone of the book really shone through to the show adaptation. Something about the deliberateness of the aesthetic, from the set designs to the fashion to scene compositions, that really sells that particular style— like it’s very clear that this story is being told to us, rather than one we’re seeing unfold, if that makes sense.
Where that narration style stood out to me the most was the first chapter. We are told (rather than shown) how Reynie gets himself to the point of the second test, and there’s this whole twisty time maneuver for that whole sequence of events that’s really interesting
A super secret fun fact about me is that I wanted to be a writer when I was younger! So this particular balance of show vs. tell is really neat, since it runs counter to my own tendencies. The sheer amount of commas in every sentence is also kind of comforting, since Ahah, I Do That in those few serious-ish attempts at writing lol
Overall this book’s style reminds me a lot of Roald Dahl’s books, which are very nostalgic for me :D The whole “kids are more competent than adults” angle helps a lot too haha
The Characters
Oh boy here’s where I get a little bit critical! Overall I did really like this book!! it’s just that that expresses itself in all this weird “”analysis”” lol
Reynie - much better in the books than in the show
It’s sort of a lukewarm take but I feel like show!Reynie is kind of boring? He doesn’t have a lot going on flaw-wise, and obviously since he’s the protagonist he can’t have too many weird traits or else the kids watching can’t project themselves onto him as easily
(I call it the difference between an aspirational protagonist and a vessel protagonist. Going off of the Roald Dahl vibes, think Matilda vs Charlie. show!Reynie is more of a Charlie)
Thus when we get to see him really struggle with the Whisperer and doubt himself it gives him a lot more dimension, at least in my opinion
It is a federal crime that the white knight scenes were not adapted into the show
Sticky - my son
I’ve long held to no one besides myself and my long suffering sister that Sticky is The Best Member of the Society
He happened to hit a lot of the Bingo squares of Stuff I Like In Characters: glasses, anxious, nice :), kind of a coward but ultimately is there for his friends, etc
For some reason I don’t talk about him nearly as much as you-know-who, but I love him just as dearly
Kate & Constance - I don’t have much to say
Kate is really interesting in this book! I like how we get to see more of her depths, in particular that one passage about her belief that she is invincible being the only thing that keeps her from falling apart? :c
Also her constant fidgeting is relatable lol
Constance is somehow a lot more tolerable in the book. I think I’m just one of those people with no patience for small children, unfortunately lol
(Some of) The Adults
It’s interesting that they had such an offscreen presence for most of the book. Giving them more time was probably one of the stronger changes of the show
However if that decision was made at the expense of the white knight scenes I think the choice should have been clear
I like the way Rhonda and Number Two are written
Milligan always on sad boy hours 😔✊
The “mill again” passage is touching but kind of messes up the pacing of the getaway, at least for me. Maybe I should read it again to make sure I didn’t miss something
Miss Perumal is much better in the show. We see so little of her in the book she doesn’t function well as an emotional anchor for Reynie, imo
The Institute Gang
Jackson and Jillson serve their purpose well, and Martina was surprising to say the least. I like the direction they took her in the show! I can’t imagine how funny it must have been to watch the tetherball subplot come out of nowhere lolol
These sections were written out of sequence, so random tidbit I couldn’t fit in The S.Q. Section: I like how he stumbles over his words. relatable
Mr. Curtain
While I think I know why they decided to not give Curtain the wheelchair in the show, we were totally robbed of Actor Tony Hale’s performance for the reveal during the final confrontation
Speaking of the wheelchair, it’s such a powerful symbol of his need for control or rather, his fear of losing it
The Contrast between him and Mr. Benedict. This point is expanded on in A Funny Parallel
Mr. Benedict
Oh boy, Mr. Benedict… How do I say this
I find it hard to trust Mr. Benedict, unfortunately
I mean to say, I do in the sense that I know he would never hurt the kids, thanks to knowing that a) this is a children’s book series and b) the meta (tumblr) states that he is really nice and lovable and stuff, but seriously. Why do the kids trust him at first?? I probably missed something somewhere
I like to think I’m an optimistic person, but unfortunately I’m also super paranoid. The premise of “a bunch of vulnerable orphans team up with a strange old man” is just so odd to me I don’t know how to explain it
I don’t know!!! I really want to trust Mr. Benedict
One of the strengths of the show is that we get to see him more often, and thus he gets to acknowledge more often that the plan is weird and that he feels really badly for putting the kids in danger and that he’s trustworthy and genuine
But his lack of presence for most of the book just makes him into something of a specter, invisible and unknowable, speaking only in riddles from across the bay
Which is why the white knight scene is so important!! I loved that scene ;-;
Because here’s an actual emotional connection! We can actually see it happening, rather than only being told that it exists
Reynie asking for advice and receiving encouragement, in words that demonstrate that Mr. Benedict actually cares about him and worries about him and agghh
It is a federal crime that the white knight scenes were not adapted into the show
But overall this whole issue didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the book at all! It’s just ->
A Funny Parallel
Okay, ready for my biggest brain, hottest take ever??
Mr. Benedict and Mr. Curtain…. are… the same
I mean obviously not entirely, given that one is benevolent and kind and the other is… Mr. Curtain
But seriously. Genius old man seeks out children (mainly orphans) to enact a plan. Said children often end up incredibly devoted to his cause and deeply admire him this is a little flimsy
Undoubtedly that’s intentional and is supposed to show the difference between them, like some kind of cautionary tale? “Let yourself be vulnerable and let others help you, lest you turn eeeeviiillll”
I guess that’s where the aforementioned epic contrast comes in. You get Mr. Curtain, strapped into his wheelchair and hiding behind those mirrored sunglasses, terrified (but unwilling to admit it) of ever showing the tiniest hint of vulnerability, vs. Mr. Benedict, who can let himself fall knowing that someone will catch him :’)
Anyhow I have nothing against the parallels, I just think it’s funny
The S.Q. Section
The S.Q. Quarantine Thread so it doesn’t leak out everywhere else <3
I’d like to meet the emo angstlord genius who read this book and decided to make SQ into Dr. Curtain’s son. What in the world
Okay I should probably preface this by saying that I absolutely adore both book!S.Q. and show!SQ with all my heart. Somehow, despite being a completely different character in both mediums, he has managed to be one of the best characters in either and certainly one of my favorites (besides Sticky of course) in the entire franchise, despite the fact that I’ve only read the first book/watched the show so far. I am confident in this statement.
But seriously! How?? Why?? I could probably write a whole other essay about why show!SQ is such an interesting character, and the change works so incredibly well. I’m just. Baffled
Okay, focus. book!S.Q. is such a sweetheart, oh my goodness. Like, 100% one of the most endearing characters in the book. Poor guy. I don’t even know where to start!!
He just seems to be a genuinely good guy at heart, despite being technically one of the bad guys. He’s genuinely happy for Reynie and Sticky when they became Messengers and helped Kate when she “fell” and was concerned about Constance when she looked sick and how he was in that meeting with Mr. Curtain and Martina?!!? aaahhhhghgh ;-; he just wants people to be happy TT-TT
Comparing him against literally every character at the Institute is probably what makes him so endearing tbh. When everyone else is so awful to the kids, it really makes him stand out. Like a cheerful little nightlight in the worst, most humid and rank bathroom you’ve ever been in
It’s kind of pointless to theorize about a book series that’s already concluded (I think?) but. Is the implication of S.Q.’s forgetfulness supposed to be that Mr. Curtain used him in brainsweeping experiments somehow? The timeline probably definitely absolutely doesn’t line up but like. How did he get to being a Messenger being the way he is now, given how cutthroat the process is? And then of course Mr. Curtain keeps him around as an Executive because he’s fun to mess with and presumably his loyalty. I’m very curious as to how their relationship develops in the other books, if at all. Those are probably where the seeds of the “let’s make them family” logic were planted
But wouldn’t it be hilarious if the reason we don’t know what “S.Q.” stands for in the books is that he just. Forgot
Another thing that occurred to me. Given that he and the other Executives were Messengers at some point, what were their worst fears? What is S.Q.’s worst fear?? Inquiring minds need to know
One last horrible little anecdote: I was thinking about book!S.Q. while eating breakfast, as one does, and suddenly it hit me.
I want to believe The Author Trenton Lee Stewart had the name for a character, S.Q. Pedalian, and was like, “Hm! What sort of quirky trait should this young fellow have?” Because, of course, in this style of fiction every character has to have at least one cartoonish or otherwise distinguishing trait to stand out in the minds of children. (For instance, Kate has her bucket, Sticky has his glasses, Constance is angry, and Reynie is Emmett from the Lego Movie)
Anyhow, he looks around the room, searching for inspiration. Suddenly he comes across a jumbo box of plastic wrap. Completely innocuous in design, save for one line of text. 300 SQ FT.
“…large… S.Q. …feet? THAT’S IT!” i’m sorry
Lines & Scenes I Liked
In no particular order!
Sticky quotes Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Evil combination aerobics/square dancing in the gym with the Executives
Everyone being happy at the end :’)
Everyone partying after Sticky reunites with his parents, and later finding Mr. Benedict asleep at his desk from the moment they shook hands :’’)
Literally any scene with Sticky in it
Any time Kate says “you boys” or “gosh”
[“Um, sir?” S.Q. said timidly, raising his hand. “A thought just occurred to me.” / Mr. Curtain raised his eyebrows. “That’s remarkable, S.Q. What is it?”] clown prince of my heart </3
S.Q.’s determined monologue about searching for clues after he bungled up the first time
Literally any scene with S.Q. in it (please refer to The S.Q. Section)
Reynie trying to resist the Whisperer.
[Let us begin. / First let me polish my spectacles, Reynie thought. / Let us begin. / Not without my bucket, Reynie insisted. He heard Mr. Curtain muttering behind him. / Let us begin, let us begin, let us begin. / Rules and schools are tools for fools, Reynie thought.]
NO MORE HURTIN’ WITH CURTAIN
Milligan showing up on the island!!
Remember the white knight hhhhhh
“controle”
A Super Secret Bonus Section
I would be extremely surprised if anyone read through all the way down here lol. Regardless, here’s a little acknowledgements section :D not tagging anyone since I don’t want to bother all of these people
Special shoutout to tumblr blog stonetowns for unknowingly yet singlehandedly demolishing my reluctance to read the books by posting a ton of cute quotes. Thank you for your service o7
Thanks to the two OGs that liked the post I made right before this one, for being my unwitting enablers and for sticking around despite being a) technically an internet stranger (hello!) and b) someone I haven’t spoken to irl in literal years (hey!!)
Last but not least thankz 2 my sister for putting up with me ranting about the book when I first got it and for asking about “CQ” sometimes lol. (i desperately hope you’re not reading this orz)
#the mysterious benedict society#this took me like three days to finish rip#it’s worked though! i feel less of a Mighty Need to think about this stuff constantly now#however!!! today through some conniving i have gotten the Second Book#now I’m at 3 out of 4 infinity stones. muahahaha#was going to include my villain origin story about why i like show!SQ so much but cut it for being too long and irrelevant. however#if the words jeff naomi and Sweet Dreams are Made of These mean anything to you please hit me up. it’s kind of a funny story
31 notes
·
View notes
Photo
@uberoll-oystercrackers putting this PT convo on blast just for the sake of switching to this format where u don’t have to break everything up via replies because [comically deep inhale]
honestly like idc idc i guess ppl are just like “uhh mytho’s got nothing going on b/c he has no feelings!!” like Yeah Correct, that’s a premise / inciting factor for this series and everything everyone’s doing lol, it’s only Boring if you don’t think about the character at all lmfao which i guess some ppl don’t, but like, there’s only 4 of them.....it’s Wildly Interesting that he literally has no feelings at first, like, for one thing it’s cool how there’s always the Idea of characters who don’t have emotions or act on them, but this is like the rare “realistic” situation where having no feelings means he needs someone to steer him around and make choices for him (and how Vulnerable that leaves him lmfao like episode 2 is wild but also that ppl just haven’t really realized that they Could just pick mytho up and pitch him into a wall, and fakir and rue are sort of careful neutral alliance keeping tabs on him) and you know, the whole s1 structure of mytho regaining both Capacity For / Experience of An Emotion and his sense of identity and by extent of all this his agency, and how like, Thematic everything surrounding this character is that’s reflected in the overall series like. trying to control someone for your own benefit vs being willing to sacrifice your own interests (and then some...) for their freedom & the Protecting Someone (And/Or Wanting To) As A Love Language that all the characters show for each other at various points & hope vs despair.......and like No Shit he’s dispassionate & passive b/c he can’t Feel Feelings & resultantly can’t make decisions or feel motivations but obviously he’s still Motivating other characters to act on his behalf, & there’s so much mystery & drama already in “yeah this guy you think is just a neat handsome guy is also an actual prince from a story who’s Real & sacrificed his heart in the fight with an evil giant raven monster that eats people & so he can’t feel anything or remember who he is” like damn!!! epic of him even if right now he can’t do much of anything on his own. i’m interested, and then i’m Interested every time in the Drama & Mystery of this person regaining parts of himself and completely rediscovering An Emotional Experience and how that is totally recontextualizing his entire existence for him.....
plus also even though “person literally lost heart via magic and doesn’t know what Feeling Things is” isn’t a We’ve All Been There situation i was like oh and you know it’s not like what mytho’s got going on isn’t potentially Relatable....can get into a side essay about dapressione and trauma and other types of stuff that can make it seem like someone can’t/shouldn’t have full access to their feelings / self / agency &/or it’s Dangerous if they try.....whew
but continuing on YEAH ugh just completely fascinated with mytho the Entire Time actually lol like, i’ve tended to lose steam in early s2 b/c he’s sort of Less involved beyond the [hehe time to cause some trouble in this particular ep] role lol but even so it’s like well it’s kinda fun when at least somebody’s being a bitch who lives for drama lmfaooooo & we get mytho Struggling Internally & sometimes punching through that way but again it’s like yeah oops the guy was basically autonomous but zwoop here’s a problem where that doesn’t mean shit anymore lol b/c he’s got this alternate evil self steering the ship all the time now lol got em.....the Peak of that i guess is where we get to have an epic swordfight between raven!mytho and fakir like you know what fuck yes!!! the intrinsic drama of that lmfao!!!! and then it’s like “oh no :/ loving the drama? that’s just what drosselmeyer wants” except Not b/c actually what makes it totally rule is that it’s this chance for Real Mytho to come through for the sake of protecting fakir (tbt “i wonder what i think of you, fakir”...) and really like that being what prompts fakir’s “you know what, even though before i was afraid my role as a knight would kill Me and i’m afraid my coincidental(?) role as a guy who can Reality Write could kill Anyone Else, i gotta try b/c that’s the only thing i could possibly do here and i want to try protecting everyone else b/c everyone else including mytho is protecting Me” and like augh everyone is so Thoughtful about how to try to help mytho out even as like, they can’t hardly interact with him or undo the situation lol.....as you’re getting into the series finale and everyone’s just outright Voicing things and you get “i/we want to protect mytho” like 32x and it’s beautiful each time ;___; like and well sorry but him & his heart/lack of are also the heart of the whole story here.....
and you know what *i* want to protect mytho, sympathizing with all the characters like fuck yes you’re so right, this guy rules, episode 6 aka The Fear Episode is SO good, like, you’ve gotten kinda used to the episodic format here, ep 5 did sure also make it obvious that things are Building on what’s happening prior here & that there’s stakes and stuff but it’s such a shakeup, like, that maybe just kinda sneakily dipping in and out of the arena giving back a piece of his heart until it’s done with, no problem, Isn’t Gonna Happen, and again, the Drama of it all......that the heart shards are yeah kind of their own People who are these fractions of mytho’s self and the way you interact with them is gonna like, affect things, since tutu didn’t like “resolve” things with that heart shard and just kinda got him on a technicality there lmfao so it’s like, yeah not only does mytho have a more general / abstract cause to be afraid of tutu & her bringing all these Unknowns & completely new things to him / changing things up and apparently introducing conflict, but you’ve gone and gotten his capacity for fear all recently riled up and specifically afraid of his interaction with You from 5 sec ago, and how could anyone know this mysterious magical being giving you Negative Feelings is like, Safe......and i’m sure it’s all compounding here, like, it’s Wild to be suddenly experiencing A Feeling for the (seeming) first time, and that in itself sure could be Scary, he just hasn’t had the proper emotion available with with to Be Afraid, now he’s gotten back a freshly stoked (capacity for) Fear and how off the shits it must be to be afraid for the first time anyways, or to be feeling the other stuff for the first time, and who knows what Unfun Feelings could come next, there’s a lot to freak out about.......and not like it’s trying That hard to never suggest like oh fakir's not that bad even though he’s technically an antagonist at the start b/c of being at odds with / against the protagonist, it’s pretty telling there lol like he’s unhappy with mytho having feelings again at all and has already been getting mad about it but is just being Helpful here and trying to comfort him, like aw that’s neat i think it’s nice, and again throwing it back to “I Wonder What I Think Of You, Fakir” you get fakir reassuring mytho that nobody but him is around, and mytho having this capacity for Fear is choosing to confide in fakir re: what he’s dealing with here (not that this would on it’s own be some guarantee that mytho’s Right to be unafraid of fakir, but, knowing all we eventually know...) like again lol it’s funny that drosselmeyer’s loving the Drama of mytho only having regained Negative Feelings like, i mean i’m soaking it in as well but it’s like, that guy’s all about Angst and it’s like no im here all about the Hurt/Comfort more like, thank you lmfao
it’s also SO good how it’s like, the next episode is turning around & giving the story a way forward not by like, oh let’s just counteract this Fear mytho’s struggling with by returning the....emotion of Courage i guess, but rather by giving him back Curiosity to ultimately lead to him actually seeking a conversation with tutu.......and it’s like AUGH it’s soooo fun that he goes to that river and has a conversation with his own heart shard lmfao like that’s you!!! and that You does not realize you’re them!!! that’s wild and i love it......wait i took low res screenshots when i rewatched this a few weeks ago lmfao
i Love it lmfao like it’s Such a good choice to have him not only have lost his Emotions but also memories / knowledge of who he, himself, even is.....like yeah man it was all on you to fight this heart eating raven monster!!!!!!!!! which you know, it’s also Fun that earlier in that episode when he and fakir are hanging out in the secret Problems Mill (which....fakir is hilarious like that lmfao. whole other tangent here like ppl are not only rolling with Animals As People but stuff like “yeah fakir might just be like ‘oops gotta go!’ and whisk mytho away to various out of the way Locations” like lmfao these teens have some free rein, but it’s nothing compared to s2 where it’s like “They Were Roommates but ig fakir tried to kill mytho who’s now being really dramatic and weird which is v different from before and maybe he’s in love with that one random dude who’s around now, which sucks for everyone else, oops now he’s just like Vanishing for god knows how long at a time it’s fine!!!!” lmfao like god. ballet school just is like that sometimes...) anyways Yeah that mytho’s been having nightmares about the raven and fakir is just going like IT’S FINE JUST DON’T THINK ABOUT IT lol and knowing fakir is also being pretty driven / restricted by fear, reasonably, as he thinks (well. and is correct) that he’s The Knight and his fate is literally written as “yeah if the story gets going and you’re a part of it you’ll just be killed” like yeah, oof......Wonder What I Think Of You Fakir like yeah AND he is that knight you actually did know who was suddenly killed trying to protect you and he’s sorta accepted that role again except he’s not really a fan of that Being Killed thing so here we’re having some issues in his misguided approach here re: Mytho Should Not Get His Heart Back, but he’s also trying to protect them Both from the story, and he’s only So Willing to act Against mytho, like, well hey thanks for apologizing after you hit him and then like, not doing that anymore lol, v reasonable how he’s struggling here lol where he’s trying to Protect mytho but the story a) wants to invite tragedy and b) has already said that The Knight has been / will be killed and can’t actually protect the prince within the story, also c) he’s just like one random high school guy out here......and also that it must just be kinda hard to adapt to this changing situation where mytho Is regaining this sense of self and motivation, but for like the past decade or whatever he Has needed fakir to just be in charge and tell him what to do all the time and, if he had the sense of what it was to trust someone, trust fakir to just always be acting in his best interest, but then mytho’s idea of his own best interest a) starts to Exist and b) is at odds w/fakir’s b/c also c) he doesn’t have All his feelings yet, Or all his memories, while fakir is like “noooo i know the story”.....like there was never any need to just like tell him he sucks at random times lol but it’s also kind of funny that’s just part of fakir’s shtick, calling mytho a dumbass one more time when he’s just fully himself as The Prince again lmfaooo. but prior to that, surely fakir could wonder what mytho thinks of him (or potentially Could think of him) too.......it’s just soooo good when mytho is like, expressing things verbally while trying to work through / figure out Feelings and even ones that he doesn’t have back yet, and it’s always fun how that inevitably throws off whatever character he’s musing about this to......including whenever ahiru’s just like “oh fuck yes he can do this b/c he has more feelings back now, that rules” and/or “aw :( he’s struggling w/this b/c he only has Some of his heart back”
and also that reminds me it’s SO good when the characters just kinda get to Do Something together lmfao like. ahiru and rue hanging out when looking for mytho that one time, iconic stuff, mytho and ahiru hanging out in the previous episode, iconic, maybe it kills me that in the first ep of s2 you have mytho saying ahiru’s his friend and the only person he feels like he can tell anything (and ahiru feeling bad she hasn’t Told Him Everything lol) and then he basically never gets to interact with her again knowing and as himself like Scream it’s fine ;v; !!!!!! let these people spend more than 3 seconds together Interacting lmfao it’s soooo good when they do :’0
and THEN you get into how there’s all this stuff re: The Story, like, fakir is the reincarnated knight, ahiru is the duck given tutu’s abilities Via a piece of mytho’s heart, but we had the original knight and tutu in the story as these actual ppl who we only hear a Little bit of lore about, but mytho actually knew / knows, and like, the original genesis for tutu only being on 1 Page of the story and apparently drosselmeyer doesn’t even really put any thought into what her motivations could be lol like yeah idk whatever she wants to marry the prince or whatever so that’s why she loves him and Says It and disappears......and like we have almost No direct info about her but uh nbd at least some of her actual essence is actually now an intrinsic part of mytho’s actual heart and specifically embedded in the heart shard of Hope, like damn!!!! you Know there was something more Real and Complex going on there and i love it so much.......and the original Knight, lohengrin.....might have been doomed to be unable to protect mytho with his sword, but there’s other ways to protect that guy and Someone needed to be doing it.......i’m just like wow mytho’s gf and bf!!!! and they both sort of died but hey. there’s still a lot to think about
so yeah lmfao love that you can originally see this series like, a decade ago and here it is like damn still lying down / yelling / generally riled up about mytho and just having So Much to think about / appreciate from this series like. it’s so Singular and has so much going on.......cherish it and i’m just still anytime like [epcot vine voice] Mytho...........
25 notes
·
View notes
Text
Petty Chapter 6
Awesome it’s updated again :) As you can tell through this chapter, Peter is getting closer to Reader. Please read the warnings before you read. Tags in reblog and to join a taglist, click the link in my bio.
Series Masterlist
Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader
Warnings: Swearing, Blackmail and other illegal activites
Word Count: 2.2k
Just as soon as you walked to the stadium, you doubted yourself. What was the point? You couldn’t understand yourself, but maybe you were being the bigger person here by offering peace first, even though you were the one that acted against him first. Fuck. You were just confused with him.
Why did he have to be Spiderman and write that dumb essay? You started to rant in your mind, snickering quietly when you started to make fun of his name again. Sure, there were a lot of bad things of Peter that you can think of now, but maybe… just maybe you can see him as an average person. Like a person you’d see on the street, and never think of again.
That would be easier if you saw him that way, but you didn’t. Unfortunately, you didn’t like him, and just his presence near you made you agitated, even though you knew you shouldn’t. You couldn’t help it.
As you continued to walk closer to the bleachers, noticing a few people there, you twiddled with your fingers nervously. As you rounded to the other side of them, you cleared your throat, standing straight again as you saw Peter sitting there with some papers scrawled out with Ned by his side, and others sitting across from them.
Everyone looked up to you after you cleared your throat again, and Peter crossed his arms, sighing when he saw you. Ned almost grinned at the way Peter was acting, wanting to compare it to a third grader but decided it wasn’t time.
“Hey… um, Peter can I speak to you?” You mumbled to him, leaning a bit as you felt the cold metal hit your head just slightly. Peter instantly glanced over to Ned and his other classmates, who were studying for science and a few other subjects. Ned gazed back at him with raised eyebrows, expecting Peter to go talk to you. After listening to Peter yap about everything, Ned was sure Peter just needed to talk to you about things.
“Why?” Peter shot back defensively, shifting in his spot. One of his classmates looked at him strangely and Peter realized he was acting rude. Peter muttered something under his breath before getting out of his spot, walking towards you.
You walked a bit away with Peter, towards the trees as you thought about how you were going to say stuff. He swiped his hand through his hair as you leaned against one of the trees, gazing back at you with hesitance. You could tell he didn’t want to be here, but you were sort of glad he was taking a chance to let you talk to him.
“I’m… Look I saw what you posted, and I know it’s sort of my fault and well, anyway- Do you want help?” You stumbled out, feeling nerves pop out in you. This was something you didn’t do often. You didn’t really offer to help people you didn’t like at all, so it felt strange. You didn’t have that many valid reasons of doing this except to feel less guilty, but still it was so odd.
Peter blanched. He had no idea why you would ask him that, since you caused him to fail. He took a step back in surprise, and shoved his hands in his pockets, glancing at you with furrowed eyebrows. What was your reasoning? He didn’t know at all, so he started to guess.
Would it benefit you in some way? He couldn’t see any way you would benefit from helping him at all. He didn’t want your help at all, but now the idea was growing on him, as he started to wonder what the fuck you were doing.
It couldn’t be to help your cousin behind this either. You were your own person, and Peter could tell that the two of you didn’t have the best relationship if you went failing random people with her class. Was this just to hurt her? He bit his lip, shaking his head to himself which caused you to clear your throat to see what was happening.
If there was nothing… he had to find out. You couldn’t just be helping him for nothing. He needed to see why you were offering any help.
“Fine, how can you help me?” It came out smooth and your eyebrows shot up in surprise, thinking that he wouldn’t have accepted. You cringed internally, wondering if he was that bad in English. He was an “intern” at the Stark company, so it just seemed so odd to see that English was his weakness.
After a brief moment of thinking, you shrugged, “I can tutor you. I’m an okay tutor.” Your dull answer made him chuckle while shaking his head. He didn’t want that at all, it wouldn’t work any type of way because he was always busy with his duties as well as the other homework he gets from the rest of his classes.
“Can’t do that, don’t want to be hang out with you.” He scoffed and instantly regretted. It wasn’t the kindest thing to say but when he saw you roll your eyebrows back to him; he knew you were sort of okay with it. He didn’t need to give you any kindness, did he? He still felt bad and it wasn’t exactly the full truth.
“Alright…” You paused, scratching your head. He seemed to be worked up and you started to think if it was because of you talking to him. You didn’t know what else you could tell him, but now you felt obligated to help him since you offered. There was something that always hung in the back of your mind whenever you got worried about your finals. Something that was always the silent option, throughout the years of high school. You knew if you were caught even thinking about it you could get in trouble too.
It was very much illegal and ruin your chances of getting into university. You cringed internally, wondering if saying it aloud to a superhero – one that fights against crime, would be alright. Shouldn’t it be though? You thought about it more, seeing that Peter was technically still breaking many laws as being Spiderman. Like he blew shit up almost every weekend and you were sure he made sneaky weird technology, especially if he made his suit. You didn’t really know much about his background on Spiderman, but the more you thought about it, you realized that it shouldn’t matter if you told him your idea.
And it wasn’t like you would get in trouble because of him, since he is a hero.
Besides, you’ve joked around a lot about it with your friends. Saying that you could just sneak into school and steal the answers to every exam and final you were taking. And sneaking into schools were too easy nowadays. Just got to jump a small fence and find an unlocked door or window, or just steal a key beforehand.
You were a good student, and so was Peter.
Every student knows that you must leap for opportunities, if they want something, right? You assured yourself as you second thought everything.
Peter was the type that would launch for goals, and technically so were you if it meant it would make you feel less guilty about ruining his chances of going to college.
“I’ve got a plan.” You spoke up, making Peter frown in return. He could see your slight grin, and he worried about what you were going to say.
“And what’s that? Fail more students?” He responded, groaning as you rolled your eyes. Why did he always have to act like that? He knew it was more than just the reason you failed him, but he couldn’t put a finger on it.
“Sure, Sherlock. And then we’ll magically get into college and it’s all rainbows and daisies.” The sarcasm poured out of your mouth as you started to think if you should even share your plan with Peter. If you didn’t, you could always go in by yourself, and get the history exam answers. That would be easy, and less risky.
Before Peter could retort to your comment, you continued, “Listen, we’ll go to Mandy’s class after or before school someday, and sign into her account to see what her plans are for the final. Then we’ll leave, and you can use it to pass.”
Peter was flabbergasted. “No fucking way, are you serious? You want to pull and Ocean’s Eleven on your cousin?”
A short laugh came out of your mouth, looking at his face. It was red in shock, his jaw dropped, and you can tell he was just too stunned. “Parker, you in or out? And,” You paused, biting your lip.
“And if you’re out, I expect you not to tell anyone about what I just said. You know, because I’ll just tell everyone you’re Spiderman, and blah blah blah- people will know your big secret.” The threat should have been implied, but you decided to say it aloud to him, to make sure.
Peter crossed his arms at it, “Wow, blackmail must run in the family then.” He glanced back to Ned, seeing how he was focused on the group instead. Peter just wanted a normal senior year as Spiderman, the high schooler, but no.
Now he had to deal with crime, his grades, and you. He couldn’t tell what was more frustrating now, you or crime, but as you cocked your eyebrow back to him, expecting a definite answer, he came up with his opinion.
He had to do it. He was doing it for his own good, and to impress both Aunt May and Stark. He needed to do it; you were the one who opened this door for him. He knew it was wrong, but he couldn’t let them down right now. It would destroy him. After all he’s done as Spiderman and as a regular high school student, and then an English exam would be his downfall? He couldn’t let that happen. He needed to push through, even if it was bad.
“Okay… I’ll do it.” He murmured, stepping closer to you as if it was a huge secret. It was. He couldn’t let anyone know about him sneaking into a school with you. He still didn’t tell Aunt May about what you did either, but he knew he would soon. He felt horrible for holding so much back from her, that he knew he had to at least tell her that story.
Your gaze turned softer when you saw he dropped his anger in his words, and you felt relieved that things were starting to be better now. It felt strange as you started to realize he was the first person you confessed to about your plan honestly, and not just a joke. You couldn’t trust anyone else about it, knowing how bad this was.
“Let’s talk about it somewhere else?” You questioned, offering somewhere more private as you glanced around, noticing that more people started showing up, walking around the two of you. Peter nodded in agreeance, before gazing back to the group he was with.
“Hey guys! I’ll catch up later.” He called out, waving back to them. You grinned sheepishly back to Ned as his gaze turned to you with curiosity. Your grin dropped as you spun around, feeling Peter’s hand on your arm. You glanced down to it with knitted eyebrows as he tugged you gently towards another direction.
“I’m not a pet, I don’t need a leash.” You mumbled, ripping your arm away from him. Peter almost let out a chuckle before he saw the glare on your face, before he bit down on his lips, deciding to keep quiet.
“And where are we going? The bathrooms or something?” You rambled on, glimpsing to him as he cleared his throat. He shook his head, thinking about going to one of the benches. This all felt insane to him, but he was glad things were starting to look upwards now. You were one of the most surprising parts of his year, and he just hoped that next year, things could clear up, and be easier That he would be in college, balancing life between a student and a superhero.
“Right here.” He replied, after a few moments and sat down. He slung his bag down on the floor as you sighed to yourself.
“Well, I was thinking maybe just taking Mandy’s key. That’s the easiest way to get in, but since you’re Spiderboy- Man, what do you think?” You wanted to get straight into it, and Peter was thankful you didn’t say anything else rude, other than Spiderboy, which he could deal with.
Wanda and Clint say that stuff to him all the time, it was a teasing thing the group always did with each other. “Uh, that might be easy, sure. Would she notice it was gone? I know a way in.” He responded, shrugging back to you.
You rolled your eyes again, shaking your head. You knew exactly which way he was speaking about. “Not that entrance. You make too much noise.” You mumbled back and he bit back his urge to reply to you.
He repeated what you said in his head, in a whinny voice, mimicking you. “Okay, fine.” He responded, clenching the side of the bench.
“Alright, my plan it is then. Tonight at 10 good?” The question threw him off, not expecting it to be so soon, but it made sense. He nodded back to you, without speaking as he thought about how he’d take a break from his rounds for a few hours to go back to the school.
#peter parker#peter parker x reader#peter parker x you#peter parker x y/n#peter parker fanfiction#thanks for reading ily
38 notes
·
View notes
Text
Stay With Me
masterlist
Request: hi!! i really loved your first fic!!😙 i was wondering if you could write one where the reader is a slytherin, and she’s like pretty good friends with draco. she gets an owl one day with some bad news about her family (you can decide what lmao) and she acts like she’s ok at first but she leaves the great hall rly early while draco watches and he goes to help. you can choose how it ends hehe
Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Slytherin!Reader
Summary: Y/N and Draco are the best of friends. When Y/N hears news that will change her life, it’s up to him to help save her from her grief.
Word Count: 1.9k
Warnings: Mentions of death (nothing graphic though).
a/n — Thank you for requesting! I hope I did justice to this prompt lol.
——————————
For a moment, everything was nice.
It was late in the evening, and the Slytherin common room would be deserted if it wasn’t for you and Draco occupying the space. He sat lazily on the mossy coloured couch while you sat next to him horizontally with your legs draped over his lap, your back leaned against the armrest. The closeness between you two was almost second nature, being too overdone for it to be given another thought.
It was comfortable, that’s all. Just normal behaviour between friends.
Or at least, that’s what you say to yourself.
“And that damn bludger almost knocked my head off near the end! It was a miracle I managed to duck on time,” Draco beamed, using hand gestures as he spoke to walk you through the events. Earlier that day, Slytherin won a Quidditch match against Ravenclaw, and Draco couldn’t be more ecstatic. You nodded your head in agreement as you kept your head low, focusing on the essay on your lap which needed to be completed.
With a boastful smile stretched across his face, he continued, “It was an amazing catch! The Ravenclaw seeker got close to the snitch, but I was clearly faster.”
It was silent for a moment as Draco waited for a response. You were too engrossed in the Transfiguration assignment in front of you that you almost forgot he was there, but a hand waved in front of your face brought you back to reality. Putting away the parchment with a sheepish grin, you turned your attention towards him.
“Sorry, I was finishing up my paragraph. But yes, you were amazing out there. I watched the whole thing, remember?”
His face reddened slightly at your praise, but you failed to notice under the dim candlelit lighting. Suddenly, a realization hit you; Christmas break would be approaching very soon. The mere thought warmed you like a nearby fire, and you found yourself getting giddy at the thought.
“Draco! Christmas break is in one more week. Can you believe it?” you asked, eyes wide in excitement like a child receiving candy. He nodded vaguely, unable to show much happiness at the matter.
You found immense joy at the idea of Christmas. While your half-blood and pureblood parents are comparable to a nasty old Grinch, your muggle grandmother makes the holidays entirely bearable. She frequently bakes with you, blasts old Christmas tunes whenever your parents are away, and puts on heartwarming films to enjoy together every night and morning.
These little traditions are practically the only reason you enjoy coming home. Your parents are strong upholders of the snotty rich family stereotype most Slytherins seem to bear, but having someone at your house who loves you for you and not your possible potential makes you extremely grateful.
Unfortunately, your best friend didn’t have that same luck. Draco’s parents are to a similar degree of cruelty as yours, but the lack of comforting adult figures at his house makes him loathe coming home for the break more so than you would.
It was only the prospect of seeing you after it what made him survive throughout the holiday season.
Frowning at his sudden quietness, you grabbed his hand and gave it a small squeeze. Your lips stretched into a comforting smile, not knowing what else to say to ease his mind.
He gave you a reassuring glance in response, and all was quiet for a moment. Merely the delicate crackle coming from the fireplace was heard as you unknowingly kept his hand in yours. After a minute’s time, you pulled your arm back and swung your legs off his lap.
“Come on, let’s go to bed,” you said, dragging him up by his arm. He chuckled at your slight manhandling of him as you picked up your essay and waved goodbye to him. You then headed to the girls dormitory, while he went the opposite way.
That night, memories of candy canes, gingerbread houses, and the Home Alone series occupied your thoughts, leaving you in a blissful dreamland for the remainder of the night.
~~~
The next morning, you found yourself being awoken by the loud shuffling of feet outside your door. Judging by the streams of light pouring through your drapes, you knew it was time to get up.
Your morning routine didn’t take longer than 15 minutes. Once you deemed yourself ready for the day, you headed to the common room, only to see Draco leaning boredly against the portrait hole. Upon seeing you, amusement flickered briefly in his eyes.
“Race you to the Great Hall,” he spoke quickly, breaking out into a sprint before you could even respond. With a small groan and a grin threatening to spread across your mouth, you ran after the platinum haired boy.
Typical Draco, you thought. When will I ever catch a break.
Although his long legs and early exit gave him a lengthy advantage, you managed to catch up to him considerably fast, and you two crashed into the Slytherin table at nearly same time. An airy chuckle escaped his lips as you panted heavily, taking a seat as well as a large gulp of water. The pair quickly received eyes on them for their abrupt entry, but all stares were disregarded upon the sight of food in front of you.
You licked your lips in delight and swiftly reached for the French toast, ignoring the loud entrance of owls delivering the morning mail. You almost didn’t notice one approach your table, and certainly not when it swooped next to your head, but a small tap on your shoulder redirected your attention to the letter laid in front of you.
Curiously enough, you weren’t even expecting any mail.
“Who’s it from?” asked Draco nonchalantly as he scarfed down his scrambled eggs. You shrugged your shoulders and picked up the letter, impatiently unwrapping it without paying mind to front cover.
Dear Y/N L/N,
I hope you’re currently studying for exams or completing your coursework. Remember, I expect nothing less than Outstandings in every class.
Of course. Typical of mom to start off a letter addressing grades. No ‘Hello my daughter’ or anything.
I’m sending this letter to tell you that your grandmother has passed away. It was inevitable, really. She was getting quite old. But the burial was last Wednesday, so that’s done and over with. Our annual Christmas and New Year’s parties will resume as normal, so don’t you worry. Anyways, resume your studying.
Yours Truly,
Mrs L/N
Grandma… is dead?
Your knuckles gripped tightly onto the paper, your eyes skimming through it again and again to confirm you read it accurately. Eventually, the tears developing prevented you from seeing it clearly, and you simply crumpled up the letter and shoved it in your robe’s pocket.
You were alone now. All alone.
It took a minute for you to digest the information. You sat silently, making no effort to pick up your fork or look up from your lap. You couldn’t believe she was really gone from your life. It seemed like it was almost yesterday when you two were belting out Jingle Bells while icing sugar cookies.
And now, she was gone, just like that.
Standing up from your spot, you looked up to the ceiling to quickly diminish the water in your eyes. Once relatively dried, you faced Draco, who stared up at you with concern lacing his features. He was no longer focused on the meal in front of him, nor the conversations going on around him.
Forcing a small smile on your face, you croaked, “I’m feeling a little full. Just going to get some fresh air.” Without letting him reply, you rushed out of the Great Hall. Your jaw was clenched to prevent you from sobbing immediately as you ran out the doors and towards the Black Lake.
Soon, you found the spot under a tree which you had always claimed to be your own. It had the perfect view of the lake in front, so you often came here to de-stress, study, or simply hang out with Draco. Today, however, it was used as your crying corner, away from the eyes of your peers and noise of people chatting nearby. It was secluded.
And perhaps, that level of isolation was exactly what you needed to break down.
So, you cried. And cried. You sobbed louder than a newborn baby, and produced more tears within a minute than you have done within a year. You were grieving for the only adult figure in your life you ever found solace in.
What felt like hours of misery turned out to be mere minutes, which was soon interrupted by a figure dropping down next to you and pulling you to their chest. Although the puffiness of your eyelids and tears pooling above it blocked your vision, the smell of cedar wood and vanilla made you well aware of Draco’s presence. He cradled your upper body as you cried into his chest, gripping onto his shirt in tight fists.
“Draco, s-she — my grandma, she’s g-gone,” you hiccuped between your words. He didn’t respond, simply brushing the hair from your face and rubbing your back while trying to hush your cries.
It took a long while, but eventually, the tears had ceased and the whimpers were quiet and minimal. You simply took in Draco’s scent as he protectively held you. Upon noticing your silence, he finally broke the silence.
“I’m sorry, Y/N. You don’t deserve this.”
You released a pathetic chuckle, eyes looking empty as you dismiss the last part. “But it still happened. And now, I’m all alone.”
Immediately, Draco pulled you from his chest, keeping you in his arms but now facing him. He stared into your eyes with an unreadable expression and carefully remarked, “You are not alone. I’m here for you. Always.”
His response left you with a small grin tugging on your lips. You felt grateful to have a friend like him in your life, putting up with you no matter the circumstance. But as quickly as the thought came, it was replaced with the looming reality of what’s to come next week. You would have to come home for Christmas and endure constant neglect and judgement from your parents. Fear washed over your face in an instant as your eyebrows furrowed in worry.
Noticing the change of expression, he moved his hand to your jaw to hold the side of your face. “Hey, hey, what’s the matter now love?”
“I’m gonna have to come home for Christmas,” you spoke with quivering lips and a shaky tone. Tears threatened to spill from your eyes once more, but Draco caught each one and wiped them from your cheek with delicate strokes of his finger.
“No, Y/N, you won’t. Not this year, at least. You can come with me to my house, or I can stay with you at Hogwarts. Either way, I am not leaving you alone.”
“Y-you’ll stay with me?” you asked tentatively. You and him both knew how much you needed him at a time like this, but his understanding without your spoken words left you feeling a certain type of admiration for the boy.
Just as you did yesterday, Draco squeezed your hand in a reassuring manner before mumbling, “Of course I will.”
He then left a gentle kiss on your forehead, spreading warmth to every corner of your body. “I promise, Y/N. I won’t leave you. Not now, not later, not ever. I will always stick by your side.”
——————————
a/n — I had lots of fun writing this, despite it currently being an ungodly hour. Thank you again for requesting and let me know what you think!
#draco malfoy#draco x reader#draco malfoy x reader#draco one shot#draco malfoy one shot#draco fanfiction#harry potter fanfiction#harry potter one shot#writing#my prompts#draco x reader imagines#draco malfoy imagines
230 notes
·
View notes
Text
The sides denying aspects of themselves
I could write 50 essays on this topic but you'd all get bored and it would be incoherent. So let me talk about some of the parts of the sides that they deny. You probably all already know these but I think it's interesting to talk about and look at the examples--so here we go!
Logan "I don't feel anything" Sanders
OK, right out of the gate this is so untrue. Its so, so, so untrue. You know it, I know it, we all know it.
We've seen him happy:
Angry:
Scared:
Frustrated:
And empathetic/ remorseful:
We've also seen him passionate (Crofters musical), defeated (SvSr) and childish (Losing my motivation)
And all of this requires feeling.
I think what's interesting about this, is that the veil is so thin for this lie. For the pieces I wrote on Roman and Virgil, other characters have had glimpses of the parts they deny but for the most part it's pretty hidden. However Logan having feelings and denying them is common knowledge. Like all the characters know it.
Even Deciet, who yes, is incredibly astute and intuitive, picked it up within knowing the guy for like 10 minutes of canon interaction.
But what is most interesting about all of this to me is that CHARACTER THOMAS KNOWS.
Not only KNOWS but has canonically called him out on it!
C!Thomas [to Logan]: This just serves as testament to the fact that you have a temperament- which is fine, you just haven't accepted it (-LNTAO)
C! Thomas [to Logan]: I've seen you scared. (-Embarrassing Phases)
This is so so fascinating. Firstly, it's worth remembering that Thomas is in control here.
As Virgil said "You're the boss Thomas. Anything you want to know, you can know. You just have to be open to hearing it."
They're his sides. He ultimately has control over them. And Thomas knows that Lo is hiding his emotions, so WHY doesn't he resolve this? Because, let us be clear, it might take time, but if he wanted to, he could.
A) He doesn't think that ultimately, it doesn't matter
B) He doesn't want to
C) He hasn't actually adressed the matter
D) He is concerned about the consequences
Personally I think it's a combination of all four, although perhaps less so D.
We never really get long enough to pause on this topic and see the other sides reactions to this, so it's difficult to draw any firm conclusions. The best we really have is The Puzzle Song in LNTAO, and from that we can conclude Roman is frustrated, and Patton and Virgil are empathetic, but also a bit frustrated and trying to facilitate change.
OK, we've established that he has feelings and looked a little bit at other character reactions. Let's move on to our favourite blue boy himself.
Firstly, motive. WHY does he do this. This is one is easy, and widely canonically established, its his overwhelming need to be taken seriously. Right?
Well sort of.
That what I would have said at first too, but I don't think thats exactly right. It's because he needs to be LISTENED TO, and it's important we make that distinction. I think Crofters is a great example. He made a bit of a fool of himself in that video, and what's more, he didn't care. And I don't think it's becuse of his powerful love of Crofters overtook his sensibilities (lol) it's because he didn't have a point he needed it express in that video. His emotionless, serious personna was created is that the other sides, and Thomas, would listen to him, when he expresses facts and opinions. Because that's all Logan wants.
So it's pretty heartbreaking that it hasn't worked.*
*(Please note I do not think the sides were unjustified in talking over him in some of this points and that some of them are clearly a result of high emotional stress. That said its still clearly getting to Logan)
This is even more distressing when you consider that for Logan listening and learning, going both ways is very much his love language (See Joans explanation of Sunrise from In The Heights on his playlist, and his reaction to Thomas saying he might take an astronomy course). Logan is killing himself trying to be listened to, trying to be loved, and it's not WORKING (Hmm, remind you of another side?)
But this is a progressive development. Maybe it's partly a result of Thomas not having the characters super fleshed out when the series started, but even so, this personna Logan is putting up is coming up more and more often, and he's clearly repressing his feelings more and more. It's kind of difficult to show this, but just watch Logan in early season 1 compared with now, there is a marked difference.
But actually, I think there are two things that illustrate this perfectly.
First, him making himself into a textbox in POF. I mean it goes without saying, but textboxes aren't people. They don't have emotions. Logan feels he can't even show up anymore, because he as a person, is not worth paying attention to. I don't think it's a coincidence that he chose a form that cannot be talked over, and pops up on the front of the screen, impossible to hide, or cut out of shot. Remember, it was Janus who created the skip button.
(That being said I think I'm not saying this is a sign of him having a healthy ego and interfering, if anything it implies the opposite)
Second, the unicorn onesie. The unicorn onesie is something I keep coming back to when I think about Logan because... UNICORNS. They're a fantasy creature, there's not a jot of science or reality about them. Of all of the choices, Logan, fact oriented Logan, doesn't understand figures of speech Logan, doesn't like cartoons because they're not realistic Logan, WHY does he pick a UNICORN!?
In my opinion, the unicorn onesie is something of a confession. Vulnerability. It kind of represents all of the feelings and fantasy and fun that Logan tries to repress. And that kinda makes sense doesn't it, I mean, feelings, fun and fantasy, that's what unicorns often stand for.
So I think it's telling that throughout the series, we first see him embarrassed, but not too torn up about being seen in his onesie (able to show and engage with his feelings fairly openly, but trying to keep fairly calm and serious) to being unable to wear it around his friends in a relaxed environment, WHEN THEY ARE ALL WEARING ONESIES (Can't show any emotional vulnerability at all and suppressing all his feelings in order to seem serious and be listened to.) Thinking about it this way, Roman saying "no onesie, no vote" could be an interesting parallel to how the sides view this. Because, again this isn't working, and if anything, the deeper Logan goes into this emotionless front, the less he seems to be listened to, which makes him go even deeper, and it's an endless positive feedback loop, which is ironic considering how soul-crushingly negative this is.
What I'm trying to say is that we've seen repeatedly, that the point in the episode where a/the side(s) get emotionally vulnerable is often the point in the episodes where everyone calms down and listens to one another, so this emotional repression is doing nothing but damaging Logan.
That being said, you can understand how he's worried about letting his front it down. Because Logan is right.
There will be times where he needs to be heeded, and ignoring him could lead to disastrous consequences. The biggest example of this is DWIT. If he wasn't there they could not have gotten rid of Remus, everyone else would be panicking, and Thomas' mental state would be in the gutter.
Thomas NEEDS Logan.
So if Logan feels like showing his feelings will stop him from being listened to, then logically, he has to continue to hide and suppress them.
I think in season 3, maybe even the season 2 finale this will be adressed and be a big part of his character arc, and I for one, can't wait.
Anyway I think that about does it for this one. Thanks for reading!
20 notes
·
View notes
Text
How I Would Fix the MCU Movies (in chrono order)
Black Widow is mentioned but there are no spoilers! also this is super long sorry lol
CA:TFA
--More time with the howling commandos- instead of a montage with their battles with sit with them and feel their struggles. we feel not only capt’s grief but everyone on the team when bucky ‘dies’. idk would have loved to see more of a band of bothers bond
Captain Marvel
--I saw/read somewhere that her story could have work really well with a similar structure as CA:TFA and i agree. they were so concerned with making carol look powerful that they forgot to give her the fiery/badass personality we were promised. there was too much telling not enough showing
Iron Man
--Literally Nothing. Perfect. Great Intro to the series.
Iron Man 2
--again really solid movie i wish the villains were a bit more developed by tbh this is my fav iron man movie
The Incredible Hulk
--babes i dont even remember this movie its super cool they keep rossi around from it tho. hes literally the only thing the mcu kept from this monstrosity i would keep a similar plot structure but with mark ruffalo and a better script and tbh a better evrything. cannot tell you where to start with this jesus
Thor
--would have liked to see of the personality thor has later on in the timeline line- but it is interesting to think maybe he developed his humor and friendliness from his time on earth, idk this movie was kinda dull? i mean everything is dull compared to ragnarok and better compared to the dark world so idk how to fix that- maybe less of chris’s weird screaming- definitely less of chris’s screaming
The Avengers
--honestly love this movie-great set up to the team dynamics wouldn’t change anything. i love the nostalgia i get from watching this
Iron Man 3
--another movie i dont really remember but? this is the one with the bunny right? i feel like after iron man 1 the quality of tony’s enemies has gone down hill but i could watch rdj do anything so overall good experience
Thor: The Dark World
--besties what even happened in this movie like, jane babes what are we doing. loki is as amazing as ever tho. but like ‘oh no lokis dead again whatever are we going to do’ i would simply through the whole thing away- keeping jane going to asgard, loki being dramatic, and the relationships of the asgardian gang we get to see. also the reality stone thats pretty important
CA:TWA
--I. Love. This. Movie. my fav in the whole timeline. can you tell im a capt girl? literally the best wow won’t change a thing
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1
--so! much! fun! i love their family dynamics and tbh i love peter quill (we all did until pratt was a dick but)
Guardians Vol. 2
--I wasn’t obsessed with this movie but I cant quite figure out how i would change it- it was visually beautiful and emotionally beautiful but idk something felt off until the very end
Age of Ultron
--hot take- i really like this movie. i like how it completely changes the direction of the series and makes the mcu feel so real, like the friend ship seen- i would have like more clint so his character arc in endgame would have been impactful i dont hate the farm family but man i sure dont love them jesus but yea i love the dialogue and the only thing i would really change is clint’s involve meant. also helen cho deserved to have a bigger part in the mcu
Ant-Man
--super fun! i feel like this movie is great the way it is- a familiar super hero movie when the series was starting to get pretty dense with the lore wont change anything
CA:CW
--i read somewhere this movie was originally going to be steve and sam and the rest of the squad finding bucky and i was robbed. over time the mcu starting telling us how great steve and buckys relationship was instead of showing us. like men can show each other affection marvel that is a thing that happens but tbh i loved this movie- i would change a lot but i still really enjoyed it
Spiderman: Homecoming
--its so cute i love it but I miss andrew garfields peter- he felt more like the comics but besties i love this movie and tom i would just change how ton is characterized to be more comic actuate but also maybe not idk
Doctor Strange
-- tilda swinton owns my heart and sole. but imma be honest i saw this in theaters 3 weeks after a horrid concussion and i remember none of it and thinking about it makes me sick (love head trauma) so imma just leave it how it is
Black Panther
--nothing. its art.
Black Widow
--I’m writing this around an hour after I watched the movie and tbh I dont know how I feel about it. I dont love it yet but im not quite sure why yet- its most likely the pacing it felt a little rushed to me but idk yet ill be able to gather all my thoughts in a later post prolly
Thor: Ragnarok
-- to think i can even dream to improve on anything taika waititi is putting bad karma into the universe. that man is a genius. you can feel just how comfortable everyone is in their characters which makes for a great performance
Ant-Man and the Wasp
--the breather we all needed after iw but i dont think anyone really loved it- no idea how to fix it but yknow it was just bland
Avengers: Infinity War
--I loved it. I loved it so much. obviously there are some bad things here and there but i would not change a thing
Avengers: Endgame
--I hated it. I hated it so much. obviously there are some good things here and there but i would not keep a thing.
(I have in fact written an essay about said topic bc i felt so passionate about it i did not know what else to do)
Spiderman: Far From Home
--I dont know something was off for me with this one- again I think it was a pacign issues but I am not sure how I would change it
I might do the tv shows in another post- but if i do those i want to include the netfilx marvel tv shows as well as the agent carter and agents of shield series(es?)
anyway thank you for reading all of this if you did!
#ca:tfa#captain marvel#iron man#iron man 2#the incrediable hulk#thor#the avengers#iron man 3#thor: the dark world#CA:TWS#guardians vol. 1#guardians vol. 2#age of ultron#antman#CA: CIVIL WAR#spiderman homecoming#doctor strange#black panther#black widow#thor ragnorak#antman and the wasp#iw#endgame#far from home#marvel is now my hyperfixation again#so get ready#this will all i talk about for the next month
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
just look for my owl (two)
fred weasley x y/n series
a.n: Fred Weasley Fic!!! wondering if this will get anywhere. i’m sticking all my friends names in this and it’s very entertaing for me. 2.3k words in this bad boy, and i’m feeling confident in my decision to write on wattpad and tumblr HEHE. enjoy! please keep in mind that i only use they/them for y/n!
Our beloved Fred Weasley falls for Ilvermorny student [y/n] [l/n]. He’s determined to get to them, but the only way he can is through post sent through the two. The only thing left for the pair is to just look for an owl.
Click here for part one! <3
☾
[y/n l/n] had been waiting for their owl to return with their aunt's response to their rant about what exactly to do with the little time they have on their hands.
A new year at Ilvermorny was set for Y/n, but they did not know how long they'd be able to last the back and forth sprinting from home back to school.
Luckily, their partner, Leslie, was able to help them out with their time management.
[y/n] and Leslie had begun seeing each other at the end of Y/n's fifth year, initially bonding from their participation in Quadpot.
Leslie was good for Y/n, no doubt, but as of lately, they haven't been able to see Leslie as much, leading to a disinterest forming from Y/n's side. Just a few hours back, [y/n] was not able to pry themselves off of Leslie's roaming hands, eager for a person next to them who did not constantly leave off.
Yes, they did live half an hour from the school, but Y/n's weekends began turning into three-day ones, ones that made them miss out on Quadpot games and Homework assignments, and ones that made them miss out on Leslie's presence.
It was involuntarily sprinting, but what was [y/n] to do, leave their mother all alone with no one to take care of her? Their father was gone, no siblings, the rest of the family overseas, there was truly nothing. And besides, it was family over anything.
Y/n's mother was 68, just a few years younger than her sister Minerva. She had always been upbeat and extroverted, but as of lately she's been unable to just get up from bed. Along with the old age, it just wasn't looking good, as much as [y/n] didn't want to think about it.
As [y/n] was walking in through their front porch, they saw a brown owl swoop in through the kitchen window with a letter presumably from her aunt.
[y/n] dropped their bag from Ilvermorny in the initial home hallway and ran to the sink where the window was propped open with an owl perched on the ledge.
"Perfect," says Y/n. They hurriedly step on the back of their shoe one by one to slide them off and hurried to the table, wherewith excitement, they open the parcel.
[y/n] had always loved sending and showing polaroid photos to anyone, and as of late, their aunt had corresponded with that.
Inside the parcel was their usual parchment essay, and- holy shit, thought Y/n. At least 15 polaroid snapshots this time from Aunt McGonagall.
[y/n] grinned at this gesture and fished out the photos.
McGonagall had provided a photo of her classroom, the architecture at Hogwarts, their aunt in front of a- cauldron? Gross, thought y/n. Flipping the photos, McGonagall had added notes at the back of them. Her aunt even added a photograph of a... stained textbook? She just probably forgot about this scrap, thought y/n.
Still looking through the polaroids their Aunt had sent them, [y/n] ended up finding a lot of color combinations of mostly red and yellow.
[y/n] knew that her Aunt was head of Gryffindor house, as she had talked about the houses a bunch to them in her letters which is why most of the photos were that color scheme.
Houses were not new topics to y/n, as Ilvermorny had four as well: Horned Serpent, Wampus, Thunderbird, and Pukwudgie. They were a Thunderbird at school, playing for their Quadpot team as #5, and they were good at it.
Just as [y/n] was thinking about Quadpot, they passed through two snapshots of presumably Hogwarts Quadpot team- or so they meant Quidditch.
[y/n] was now looking closely at these photos; one of them being a team photo, and the other a candid of team members #3 and #5- hey, just like my number, thought Y/n.
[y/n] had probably stared at both of the boys' back profile for two solid minutes without blinking, forgetting about their partner Leslie. There was nothing on the back of the photo regarding names.
Shoulder blades showing through his practice jersey, #5 having more of an athletic figure when compared to #3, who also had a built back, but was a bit cut off in the frame while #5 was perfectly in it. "This is so sad", murmured Y/n, wishing they could see who #5 was, even with a partner. He had a broom in his hand that was held on so tight by his arm, almost as if it were to fly off in mere seconds. His grip was firm, making everything in his arm flexed and tense, making [y/n] take a deep breath.
Saddened by this fact, they admit that it is best that they stop staring at this poor boy, who was most likely just watching a scrimmage in front of him. Who were they to stare, but they continued to. "... so stupid," they thought. "Wait-"
With a spark of brilliance, [y/n] quickly looks for the team photo their aunt had sent them, dropping everything in their hands and looking through the stack of polaroids until- there he was.
#5 towering over the rest of his teammates, posing for a team photo taken by the Head of Gryffindor house. The members had been arranged in two rows, four players in the back and three in the front. The shorter ones were in the front and luckily did not block Y/n's view. They flipped the photo to check for names again, but there was nothing except for "Gryffindor 1994 Quidditch Team," written in their Aunt's cursive writing.
He was on the far right, next to- #6 who looked exactly the same.
"Twins," said [y/n] with a wide mouth, still in awe of how attractive they all were.
Ignoring #6 even though him and #5 were identical, Y/n's eyes went back on #5, looking down his body at least twenty times in the minute they had spent staring at the photo. He had a smile on his face, straight teeth, and messy red hair which must have been the result of a long practice. He had his arm on his twin's shoulder, and his other arm reached over the teammate next to him, #4. The arm on his twin was hanging off his brother's shoulder with goggles in hand, gripping just on the strap. There was a light sweat on his face and neck which provided a gleam to it, not too much sweat though, it was a perfect shine extenuating his sharp angles, even his Adam's apple slightly more visible with the shine on it.
Although the photo was a collective snapshot, [y/n] was able to see the build on absolutely every single player. This included the one they had their eye on, #5. The same practice jersey [y/n] had seen before was clinging onto his skin and chest, giving them an image of his build. He was lean, for what they could see, and visibly athletic. [y/n] had begun to wonder what their Aunt was thinking when she sent these photos of her team after practice, well, [y/n] knew, it was not meant to be perceived this way, but still.
#5 was undoubtedly handsome, and they wished to know his name, beginning to be angered by just referring to him as a number on a team. They checked again for a name, but there was nothing.
The rest of the team was just as attractive as #5, #7 having black hair and glasses that [y/n] wondered how they stayed on during a match. His hair was also messed up, and there was a shine on his face from the sun and sweat, his Jersey a bit larger than everyone else's, leading it to hang a bit and show off his collarbones and neck.
#6, a copy of #5, had his Jersey pinned on his body, giving [y/n] a visual of his build, his chest a bit hollowed from his stance since he was laughing more than smiling. Since he was more on the edge, the sun hit him a bit more, showing the outline of his lower torso sticking to the Jersey, a view of his refined abs greeted [y/n] as they blushed at the view even though he was not infront of them.
If they're identical twins, then that means- Stop, thought Y/n.
The team was built by the gods, boys and girls, they all looked happy to be there and thankful they have what they have. [y/n] was jealous of this, because their team was a bit- separate, All trying to one-up another.
No, this team was hot. [y/n] threw it out there, still wondering why their aunt thought it was a perfect idea to send it to y/n.
This was enough- [y/n] was dating Leslie! Not the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
But #5's smile was something unlike [y/n] had seen in their entire life. This was something new, even just a smile, it was new. Cheekbones risen with his smile, his brown eyes were full of light and lust, still visible from paces away from where the photo was taken.
Putting the photos aside from guilt for hitting on an entire team, [y/n] got to the parchment that was neatly folded up in the parcel. [y/n] turned their head to look at the owl that still perched and was now making noises.
"Y/n,
Forget about my sister, darling. Studies come first, everything else is secondary."
God, thought Y/n. What else was to expect though, their aunt was literally a professor.
"... What is there even to do in Massachusetts? Y/n, you need to tell my sister to send you to Hogwarts. There is no future for you there. You and I both know.
...
Tell my sister to get up."
-Minerva"
[y/n] hated when their Aunt sprung up an attitude. The parchment was a few feet long, but it was mostly a rant for not understanding what the words meant, and to get [y/n] to Hogwarts full time.
"Mum!" Yelled [y/n] through the walls. Even living in the states, Mum always stuck. They pushed their photos aside as they shifted against the wooden table.
[y/n] didn't get a response.
"Mum?" Says [y/n] while standing up from their seat. "Mum, I'm home!"
Frantic now, [y/n] walks through the kitchen, through the living room, past their bedroom, and into their mother's room.
And that's when [y/n] sees her- not moving.
She coughs in her sleep, peacefully on her side with her back facing the door in which [y/n] was standing. [y/n] takes a normal breath of air, differentiating from their shudders, and wakes their mother up.
"Mum, you scared me."
Slowly stirring, she eventually wakes up with a smile on her face.
"Fetch me some water, won't you darling?" Say's Y/n's mother while cupping their face as [y/n] sits down next to their mother.
"Of course, Mum. My letter from Aunty came today, why don't you come to read it?"
"Maybe later. Minerva is mad at me." Says the mother.
As [y/n] escapes the grasp of their mother, they get up without saying anything.
How is "Minerva" even going to know if you read the letter or not? You haven't talked in months, thinks y/n, now irritated.
Moving past the brown owl to get a glass for their mum, [y/n] stares at the owl that somehow made the journey to the states from Scotland where Hogwarts is.
They'd have to send a different owl back to their Aunt, as this one was on the verge of falling apart if it did not get any rest. Luckily, [y/n] had their own owl named Stricker.
The owl hooted at her and [y/n] continued to pour water for their mother, all the while just thinking about the team photo they had received.
[y/n] could not give these thoughts the time of day though- no, no, no. [y/n] had school and priorities, not some random ginger an ocean away from them. Their mum- that was a priority, they thought.
Carrying the water back to their Mum's room, [y/n] couldn't help but wonder if what their aunt had said was true. To return to Hogwarts, that is.
[y/n] knew that eventually, this routine of running to their mum back and forth and dealing with Potions homework on their kitchen table was not going to last, and [y/n] would not be able to last on their own at Ilvermorny without the support that was given to them by their Mum.
[y/n] forgot about Leslie. What about Leslie's support, you walnut. God, already forgetting about them? The thoughts in Y/n's brain were bouncing everywhere, mostly about the fact that they had even thought of the idea of leaving their mother and leaving their partner of six months.
But they couldn't help but just think about #5 as a real person, not just a number and a photo. What he was like, what brought him happiness, sadness, anger, lust. What his hair was like under their touch, what it would be like to wear his jersey instead of theirs, what the handgrip would feel like on their neck. You need to stop, thinks [y/n] to them self.
Now sitting in the aforementioned bedroom, [y/n]
handed the water to their upright mother and began to gaze out the window, thinking about- everything in life. Their Potions homework was definitely at the bottom of their imaginary list, the first one being if Hogwarts was a good idea- but it wasn't.
Their Aunt didn't know what she was talking about, and a quidditch team was not going to change their mind about anything. Not a chance, they were going to stay and take care of their mother.
And that's when [y/n] snapped their head, their mother drop the glass on the floor from where she was sitting, hand dropping off the side of the bed, and their mother's body just going limp infront of them.
#fred weasley x you#fred weasley#fred weasley x y/n#fred weasley fanfiction#harry potter fanfic#fred weasley fanfic#fred weasley fic#weasley#weasley fanfiction#hogwarts
17 notes
·
View notes
Note
hey arden do you have any book suggestions? i don’t have any preference/specific genre i’m looking for but i just need something new to read while in quarantine :)
you’re in luck! i happen to be a massive nerd and i’m going to compile a gigantic list of recs for you. here we go.
the only classics worth reading: i want to preface this by saying i did not pick these books because they are written by women. they are just good and they happen to be by women. this reinforces my theory that only women can write.
emma by jane austen: better than pride and prejudice by a long shot. the characters are funny, the romance is swoon worthy (don’t think too hard about the age gap), it says very smart things about society, and i could write an essay on how it revolutionized fiction.
wuthering heights by emily bronte: my all time favourite book about how awful people are and how the cycle of abuse perpetuates itself. it’s absolutely exceptional in every respect. i won’t go into too much detail because i don’t want to give anything away, but you should definitely read this book.
jane eyre by charlotte bronte: i’m not saying i’m a bronte sister stan, i’m just saying i’m a bronte sister stan who can’t be bothered to take five seconds to copy the accent. anyway, i read this book when i was a wee lass and i stole it from an apartment in nice. the characters are genuinely amazing, and it’s an early feminist book, which i think is fantastic.
the handmaid’s tale by margaret atwood: you don’t get more feminist classic than this. set in a dystopian future where women are only valued for their ability to procreate, atwood examines gender roles and still delivers a brilliant adventure story. if you end up liking this, try the power by naomi alderman, which essentially tells of the opposite society.
the bell jar by sylvia plath: an introspective story about mental illness. it’s the type of writing that i feel hits hard at about any age, and i remember feeling really haunted after finishing the whole thing in a night. definitely high up on my list of amazing novels.
feel good books: sometimes, we need to read something that’s not revolutionary but still radical. don’t worry, i got you. here’s the lasagna of novels.
finding audrey by sophie kinsella: this book is funny, heartwarming, and makes you think. as someone with anxiety, i felt really represented by a lot of audrey’s behaviours. her mom is lowkey nuts, but i feel like that shouldn’t impede your enjoyment of the book.
the shadowhunters series by cassandra clare: LISTEN. objectively cassandra clare is a terrible person. objectively these books are not good. but they are amusing! they are comforting! they are interesting! also, there are a million of them. start with the infernal devices: clockwork angel, clockwork prince, and clockwork princess. set in old old london, this series features the only valid love triangle ever, girls who like to read and kick ass, and boys who are soft and play the violin. next, head to the mortal instruments, which is pretty much drinny fanfiction. don’t think too hard during these and you’ll have a good time. after that, read the short story collections the bane chronicles and tales of shadowhunter academy. if you got really into the lore (like me) these books are funny and a little captivating. finally, get to the highlight of this whole thing, the dark artifices. the one true love of my life, emma carstairs, stars in this brilliant trilogy about forbidden love. yes, it’s super corny, but all these books are super corny. if you can’t get enough of the universe (or accidentally got hooked) try out the collection ghosts of the shadow market. once you finish that, you can read the first books in the new series(es), red scrolls of magic and chain of gold. all of these books are jam packed with magic and vaguely plagarized demons. not brilliant, but a fun ride.
emma mills books: emma mills writes cute happy contemporary romances and i can’t recommend her enough! first & then tells the story of a jane austen obsessed nerd who crushes on a jock. which could actually be about me, and if you trust my judgement, you probably like me enough to read this book secretly written about me. foolish hearts gives theatre kids and boy band stans alike a chance to feel represented in what could be one of the sweetest (and funniest!) romances of all time. famous in a small town gives band kids and people who are clarinet-sized a chance to shine, and includes a country singer who struck me with her similarities to taylor swift. (our song is even referenced in the novel!) by far my favourite would have to be this adventure ends, which is hilarious and heartbreaking and talks about fanfiction without looking down on it. all of these books are definitely feel good and will make you believe in heterosexual romance.
mildly upsetting fantasy: just fantasy trilogies that will hurt you.
the poppy war by r.f. kuang: wonder what harry potter would be like if the magic system was complicated and the murder was high? no, like high on opium? and the plot was based on chinese military history? look no further than the brilliant work of art that is the poppy war. this book is by far the best fantasy out there, i cannot exaggerate that enough. also out is the equally compelling sequel the dragon republic, and the final book in the trilogy is set to hit shelves this year. please please please read this amazing book.
six of crows by leigh bardugo: six dysfunctional criminals try to steal from the most heavily guarded prison in the world. what could go wrong? this novel is intelligent and witty, and will keep you on the edge of your seat as you’re dragged into this scheming and brilliant world. in my opinion, this is the only valid book in the grishaverse. this and its equally well plotted sequel, crooked kingdom.
the gilded wolves by roshani choski: this one is definitely similar to six of crows in its funny and smart main cast. the magic system is super unique and the plot is endlessly enjoyable. it’s also set in old old paris! so france is always fun. there are also tons of mythology references and disaster bisexuals. and apparently the sequel (the silvered serpents) comes out july of this year.
scythe by neal shusterman: the first book on this list by a man, wow! i’m so inclusive. anyway, this genius trilogy is set in a world where humanity has solved almost every single problem, except overpopulation and corruption. an elite order called scythes are tasked with killing and managing the order of death. it’s like the hunger games went took a political science seminar. everything spirals out of control very quickly and the characters are so great. the sequels are called thunderhead and the toll respectively, and the overarching tale is gripping.
the cruel prince by holly black: i’m not kidding when i say this is the only faery book that matters. this book stars a human girl who grows up in the magical world and more violence than is statistically necessary. but it’s good! this is also a trilogy (every book on this list is the first one in a trilogy, i am the worst, i’m sorry) and the sequel the wicked king is quite possibly the best scheme-y magic politics thing i’ve ever read. and the final book, queen of nothing, doesn’t disappoint by a long shot.
contemporaries no one talks about
the boy who steals houses by cg drews: this book has autistic representation! and it’s written by book blogger paperfury, who is even more of a delight on the page than she is on the internet. be warned, this book includes heavy mentions of abuse and graphic violence that are unavoidable. but it will break your heart and stitch it back together again. also, waffles.
some boys by patty blount: this book deals very candidly with the aftermath of rape and public pressure. it is also one of my favourite books of all time for its treatment of ‘bro culture.’ and the heroine, grace, is incredibly strong. i read this book in maybe fourth grade? and it essentially inspired me to start giving a damn about social justice. so yeah, there’s that. (i also haven’t read it since fourth grade, so someone will have to tell me if it holds up).
emergency contact by mary choi: i’m rereading this for the second time right now and it’s still really awesome. it tells the story of an unlikely friendship, big dreams, and does it all through a really interesting narrative voice that manages to effectively capture two very different people. it is yet another romance, but it’s really wonderful and heartwarming. (unlike the other two books in this section).
children’s books that treat kids like people
a series of unfortunate events by lemony snicket: this is quite literally my favourite series of all time. it’s upsetting and kind of wrong once you think about it a lot, but it’s also maybe the best thing ever written. i literally cannot explain how much i love these books. there are thirteen books, so you’re definitely in for a good, long time.
the mysterious benedict society by trenton lee stewart: three books about propaganda and smart kids and found family. i literally do not know what else you want out of a series. it’s fun and there’s only a little bit of kidnapping, so it’s very family appropriate compared to the other books on this list.
wuh luh wuh
the seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid: i KNOW no one shuts up about this book but you really should read it. like, there’s nothing that will ever top the narrative. the drama, the glamour, the girls who love girls, you know? all the components of a brilliant novel. it’s also got some truly poetic prose and genuinely beautiful moments. the reason everyone talks about this book is because it’s amazing. send tweet.
girls of paper and fire by natasha ngan: (massive trigger warning for sexual violence) haha! another violent fantasy book that’s part of a trilogy! thought you escaped that, didn’t you? this magic system is brilliant and the book is so good. it’s a breath of fresh air into young adult fiction. and did i mention it’s a wlw romance? i read this during a math class and had to go to the bathroom to cry when i finished it, because there was finally a heroine in a fantasy novel who i could see myself in. there’s also a sequel, girls of storm and shadow, that is equally amazing.
it’s not like it’s a secret by misa suigura: wlw girls with soft poetry vibes. complicated family lives. candidly dealing with racism, sexism, and homophobia. this book is really good. simply read this book.
i have even MORE book recs but i decided to cut myself off because this is the longest thing i’ve ever written for tumblr. hope you enjoy!
121 notes
·
View notes
Text
Houseki no Kuni vs. Steven Universe
Context: I commented on a Houseki no Kuni video on YouTube agreeing there was no point in comparing Steven Universe and Houseki no Kuni, as a lot of marketers have done in the past, because Steven Universe is clearly better. A Houseki no Kuni fan derided my view and “challenged” me to explain. So, I found myself writing an essay. An actual essay. To explain what Steven Universe does right and what Houseki no Kuni does wrong. And, I stand by it enough that I want to repost it here.
So, here we go.
Let's talk character, shall we? Now, a lot of fans of Houseki no Kuni bring up the fact that comparisons to Steven Universe are mostly arbitrary, that despite being gemstone-based works, both have different rules, lore, characters, story, etc. All of which is totally fair and accurate. We shouldn't assume that two stories are the same or are even trying to accomplish the same thing because they both have a character named "Yellow Diamond" or "Padparadscha" in them. But, that said, there are a few story similarities the two works share. Both deal with a main character who undergoes an arc from an immature idealistic to someone much more mature and wiser. (Though, this is a storytelling convention unique to neither series.) Additionally, a major focus in both works is the main character's relationship to their main parental figure and role model. In Houseki no Kuni, this would be Adamant-Sensei. In Steven Universe, this is Steven's mother, Rose Quartz. Rose Quartz is deceased, of course, and Sensei is not, but for the most part the protagonists' relationship to these individuals is very similar. Both Phos and Steven go from idolizing these figures and seeing them as the epitome of what they themselves should aspire to to strongly reevaluating their previous hero-worship and coming face to face with all the hardship they've truly caused in the past. In this way, Phos and Steven can be said to through similar stories with similar lynchpins to start their journeys.
However, the moment you realize this crucial similarity is when the comparisons between the two arcs begin to crop up. And, in every way, Steven Universe is more dramatic, more focused, and has a better setup and payoff than Houseki no Kuni. And don't think I'm saying that Steven Universe is tonally darker than Houseki no Kuni because it isn't. That's not what I mean by "more dramatic." Dramatic doesn't refer in this case to scariness of subject matter or imagery, it refers to how strongly motivated the protagonist's decisions are. How badly do they need something and how are their decisions motivated by that need?
Let's start with Steven Universe. While Steven's goals. problems, and beliefs change a lot throughout the course of the series, there are two clear motivations that remain throughout his entire journey. They are:
1. Protect the Earth.
2. Who am I?
That's it. Everything Steven does can more or less be boiled down to those two things. The first problem represents the biggest physical source of conflict in the series. There are wild gem monsters roaming the Earth endangering the human population, many of the antagonists who come to Earth want in some way to harm the Earth. Keeping the planet and the human race safe is what motivates not only Steven but all his allies.
The second motivation deals with Steven navigating his identity as not only a gem hybrid but, perhaps even more crucially, as the only child and heir to someone he's been taught to believe was a great hero. His mother, Rose Quartz, protecting humanity from destruction. She led a rebellion against a tyrannical government to free other gems. Despite being an alien, she grew to love humanity and fell deeply in love with one human man in particular. She gave up her very life to have Steven. Etc., etc. From the beginning, Steven has been attempting to live up to his mother's legacy. In this way, Steven's second motivation, who am I, is even more important than the first because it is what drives him, and the rest of the Crystal Gems, toward the first goal. The reason they fight so hard to protect Earth is largely because of the precedent set by Rose Quartz. This is what changes wanting to protect the Earth because it's the right thing to do to needing to protect the Earth as a way to connect to Rose Quartz, someone they all love and long for. When you compare the two, wanting will always be less powerful than needing.
As the story goes on, Steven learns slowly but surely that the situation isn't as black and white as he'd thought. The monsters he'd been fighting are actually gems who underwent an involuntary transformation, most of the villains who attack humanity aren't doing it simply because of their wickedness but are directly reacting to what Rose Quartz has done. Their actions are the fallout of her actions, and a lot of the antagonists are motivated by very real and (as Steven discovers) justified hurt by what Rose Quartz did to them. Many of them are mourning people who were lost in the war she caused, several were emotionally wounded by her directly, including some among Steven's closest friends. Steven's view of his mother changes from sunny and worshipful to one of uncertainty and even resentment. But, through Steven's growing knowledge, wisdom, and attitude change, his goal of "Who am I?" remains unchanged. Because now, his goal changes from proving he's like his mother to proving he's not like his mother by becoming a better class of hero, one who heals instead of hurts. Though his quest of self-realization has changed from "I am the same," to "I am different," the core goals that motivate his thinking have not changed.
Now, keeping all of that in mind, Steven's needs and how the most important figure in his life informs those needs, let's go back to Houseki no Kuni. Phosphophyllite starts off the series in many ways the same position as Steven. He's the youngest gem, he's weak, he's inexperienced, and he's naive. He completely idolizes not only his Sensei but also the fighting skills of the other gems, wishing to be as strong as they are. The main difference in their situations is that while Steven started off the series being adored by the other gems, Phos mostly only irritates his people, but in all other ways, Phos and Steven start off in very similar places.
Phos's goal is also clearly established in the first episode/chapter of Houseki no Kuni: "I want to be valuable." Phos is constantly derided for being a worthless gem. With a hardness of only 3.5, useless in battle, and in general incompetent, Phos wants to prove that he can be useful, that he can be needed. So far so good. That's a strong motivation and a clear way forward for the story. The building blocks of Phos's arc have been put in place.
The problem, the big problem that drags the rest of Houseki no Kuni down, is the execution. The inciting incident (the thing that gets the plot started) in Houseki no Kuni is when Sensei hands Phos the notepad and tasks him with writing the encyclopedia. Immediately, there's an issue of timing. Phos may be the youngest gem, but the story clearly establishes that when the story starts, he's 300 years old. Why is Sensei only now asking him to do this? The fact that gems are immortal beings doesn't change how many days and seconds long 300 years is, which is a lot. Phos's attitude and desire to be useful aren't a new thing, so why did Sensei wait until he was 300 to give him something to do? Like, what was Phos doing all that time? And, if Sensei was content to let Phos carry on doing nothing for 300 years, why did he decide now was the time to give him a job? Just a whim? Sorry, but a whim is not enough. Sensei doesn't need the encyclopedia done. If he needed it, it would have been done hundreds if not thousands of years ago. But no, he comes up with this on the spot, as Phos is lying in a bag in pieces, presumably just to make Phos feel important.
But, okay, now Phos has been given a task. Finally. So, does Phos use this task to prove he can be useful? Does he strive to be the best writer/researcher he can be in the hopes that people will take him seriously? Does he even seem to care about the encyclopedia thing at all? Nope. His immediate reaction is to whine and complain that the encyclopedia assignment is not good enough. For the length of time that the encyclopedia remains a plot element (which is surprisingly little), Phos frequently expresses a lack of interest if not outright disdain for the project. Heck, even when Euclase tries to get him to investigate Ventricosus's shell, something he points out no other gem knows anything about and would be a huge discovery, Phos immediately tries to pass the task back to Euclase. They're outright asking him to do something important, something no one has ever done before, and he's not doing it.
Okay, that by itself wouldn't be so terrible because Phos finds another goal for himself in the form of Cinnabar. Early on, as Phos struggles to find a starting point for the encyclopedia, he talks to Cinnabar and discovers how bad his situation is. Cinnabar, too, carries on a task that he knows has no value (night patrol), he never interacts with anyone because the mercury constantly radiating off his body makes him a danger to everyone, and he's even more fragile than Phos with a hardness of only 2. Everything about Cinnabar's character seems designed to make him appear as the one person lowlier then Phos. Here is someone who could actually need Phos. Phos's vow to find him a better job (something only he can do) is a powerful moment because it shows how Phos is choosing to make himself valuable, by helping someone in a way no one else can.
So, then, Phos's bond with and desire to help Cinnabar is a big motivator in the story, right?
That's a hard no, as well. After Phos returns from the ocean, his desire to help Cinnabar becomes mostly an afterthought. As the story goes on, Cinnabar becomes less and less relevant. The manga rapidly approaches the point where Phos never thinks of Cinnabar at all. Late in the story, the other gems actually find a better job for Cinnabar without Phos, something which is humiliatingly easy for them to do. I get that Phos slowly forgetting Cinnabar is supposed to be a tragedy, symbolic of him losing himself as more pieces are broken off and replaced, but it doesn't read as tragic because I didn't like the person Phos was in the first place. He was whiney, incompetent, and showed an inability to follow basic directions despite being 300 fucking years old. So, his transformation was just from "asshole" to "different kind of asshole." Yeah, I don't care about that. I don't miss who Phos used to be, and I don't like who he is now, so his transformation doesn't affect me as either positive or negative. It's just kind of a thing that happens.
But, why does Phos change so much? What is it that made him so bitter, so jaded (but somehow no wiser or more competent)? Well, that would probably be the winter with Antarcticite and his quest to learn more about Sensei and his connections with the Lunarians. Antarcticite's shattering and capture marks the first major personality change in Phos. It's the beginning of his cynical outlook, and his desire to rescue Antarcticite is what compels him to investigate the Lunarians, which leads him to Sensei. Since the Lunarians and Sensei are much more the focus of the plot, I'm not sure why we wasted so much time with the encyclopedia and Cinnabar if the true inciting incident was Anarticite's shattering (halfway through the anime!) but whatever. So, now we have clear motivation, right? We have a clear need, right?
Not really. Because there's no reason Antarcticite's fate would lead to Phos being suspicious of Sensei. There isn't. I get why he would become more interested in the Lunarians, but why would that lead to growing hostility toward Sensei? Antarcticite's shattering wasn't Sensei's fault, and none of the other gems who have lost partners have a desire to blame or question Sensei, so why does Phos? Because he's just special or something? Phos discovers that all the other gems suspect something's up with Sensei and the Lunarians, but they've all agreed not to bring it up because they respect Sensei. Phos was just as devoted to Sensei as everyone else, so why can't he let it go? He doesn't grieve more than the others, he isn't any smarter than the others, so what? It gets even more muddled when he realizes Antarcticite also knew and didn't want Sensei investigated. So, Antarcticite, Phos's main source of grief who is supposedly so special to Phos and his main motivator doesn't want Phos to investigate Sensei, and Phos still can't let it go. There's a moment (which is featured in this very video), where Phos murmurs to himself that he "just wants to know the truth." Oh, he just "wants to know?" So, we're back into wanting instead of needing. Phos's quest for the truth, by his own admission, is a want and not a need. But, just wanting is not good enough. Wanting is not compelling, wanting is not interesting. He has to need the truth about Sensei.
Like, suppose the Winter Arc happened differently and Antarcticite's shattering was Sensei's fault? Like, Sensei does something or says something that leads to Antarcticite's shattering. The most extreme version of this is that Sensei shatters Antarcticite himself (something we've seen him do to Phos and other gems before) because Antarcticite accidentally discovered something about Sensei's connection to the Lunarians. And, suppose Phos was the only witness to this incident because it's winter and all the other gems are hibernating. And, let's further suppose that Phos tries to tell the other gems what happened when they wake up, but none of them believe him because Sensei is just so beloved. Now, Phos has a real reason not to go along with everyone's complacency, now Phos's quest for knowledge becomes a need instead of a want. Because now, it's not just curiosity driving him, he's compelled to seek justice for Antarcticite. And this goal sets Phos apart and makes him valuable in the way he always wanted because now he's the only one who will hold Sensei accountable, someone no one else is willing to do. And, this carries the same tragic irony that the actual story tries and fails to convey. In his desire for self-actualization, Phos has condemned himself to a lonely road no other gem would choose to walk and that he himself wouldn't have chosen at the start of the story.
But, that's not the version of the story we were given. Instead, it's curiosity that moves Phos, and as he loses more pieces of himself, the things that he used to care about, rescuing the other gems from the moon, fighting the Lunarians, helping Cinnabar, all fall away as Phos constantly gives up on his previous goals in pursuit of new ones. Again, I get that this is supposed to be tragic, but if the main character can't be bothered to care, then why should I? It's not helping that Pho's character arc is caused by (not symbolized by, caused by) physical changes that basically means he becomes brain-damaged every time he loses a body part. Instead of changing and growing organically, as Steven does, Phos is instead having his mind, memories, and personality reset after every arc. That's not growth or character development, that's just stat change.
I could go even deeper into the series and all of its problems: how the Lunarians' motivation is also a "want" instead of a "need," how the series uses Buddhist imagery and motifs to trick people into thinking the story is more profound than it really is, how the character designs for the gems make them all look like the same person wearing different wigs, and how many of the side character have one-note personalities as opposed to Steven Universe's complex characters and unique character designs, but when you get right down to it, Houseki no Kuni's main core issue is that there isn't a good enough reason for anything to happen. Steven Universe has clear emotions that drive the story forward. Houseki no Kuni does not.
When I was in sixth grade, my language arts teacher told us that a story was not just a collection of events. It's not just, "this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened." It's, "this happened because of this or this happened to complicate this." Steven Universe does that. Everything that happens is a consequence of what happened before. Houseki no Kuni just kind of has things happen. Why does Sensei give Phos the encyclopedia assignment? Just a whim. Why does Phos want to investigate Sensei? He's just curious. Why do the Lunarians want to pass to the next world? They just think it'd be nice. Why did Sensei reconstruct Phos after 220 years? Because Sensei is a dick.
In light of all this, I'm fully convinced that the reason Houseki no Kuni gained any kind of popularity at all is because of the art style of the anime. That's it. Because, when you really break it down, it doesn't have anything else going for it. Except the soundtrack, I guess. The soundtrack is nice.
#steven universe#houseki no kuni#land of the lustrous#analysis#criticism#phos#sensei#cinnabar#rose quartz#antarcticite#lunarian#writing
108 notes
·
View notes
Text
So... I meant to do this post as a picture edit comparing things. But my computer where I can screenshot pictures and then find a way to upload them to Tumblr won’t let me do it anymore--it won’t let me post to Tumblr because it says the browser’s too old, even though I just downloaded the new one--so I’m just going to write an essay instead.
The Reason Why I Think Versus XIII Noctis/Now Yozora and Stella/Now Stella 2.0 (or whatever her name is. We still don’t know it) Might be Alternate Sora and Kairi
1. I was actually going to start this off by comparing the ways that Noctis and Stella flirted with how Sora and Kairi do--which, yes, Sora and Kairi have flirted and have chemistry. Shocking to a lot of this fandom, I know--which are quite similar.
So, in the scene where Noctis and Stella meet (though that’s been retconned, as Nomura later decided he wants them to have been childhood friends: another way they’re like SoKai), Stella is looking at a painting of the goddess Etro in Noctis’ citadel (the top floor of this one area) and Noctis sees her up there and goes up to see her (and there’s one moment where the camera, that was omniscient PoV up until this and will be later, becomes Noctis’ PoV, as the shot becomes slow motion and you can tell that while Stella is focused on the painting, all that Noctis is really seeing is Stella. And we’ve now gotten shots of Sora looking at Kairi that way now. And there are a few other scenes in this trailer when Noctis is staring at Stella when she isn’t looking).
Anyway, Stella notes that Noctis can see this light that she can--that most other people can’t--and begins talking to him about it. And while Noctis is attracted to Stella... she makes him very nervous for that reason, and he isn’t sure he can handle their meeting for that reason, so he’s trying to scamper off... all while attempting to play it cool. He’s also uncomfortable with the topic, because he knows more about it than he’s letting on.
But some parts of their conversation that is somewhat banter-y/flirty are:
Stella: Prince Noctis, you can see the light.
Noctis doesn’t confirm or deny, but with his next words he pretty much confirms he can: When did you first notice it?
Stella: When I was a child.
Noctis: Near death experience, right?
Stella: Was it the same for you?
Noctis: It’s not my fondest memory. LOL
Stella then talks about how it’s said that when people die, Etro--the death goddess--will open the gate, welcoming the souls of the departed. And when that happens, a bright light is supposed to appear from the land of the dead (the light that Noctis and Stella can see). And that any who can see that light are rumored to receive great power. Stella says that that’s how the legend goes in her country, of Tenebrae, and Noctis confirms that Lucis tells it the same way.
Stella then asks if Noctis received any power, like the legend says he should, from being able to see the light. He says: “I wouldn’t want anything like that. I’m fine the way I am.” To which Stella in an excited manner replies, “That’s what I thought! Any power... if it came at the cost of someone’s life. It would give me nightmares.” And she shivers. Noctis says, “Me, too. Good thing it’s just a fairytale.” But you can tell from this scene that they’re both lying and have received this power (that’s why they’re fishing for information from the other, to see if they’re the same), even if they don’t want to admit it. And I think Noctis even knows Stella has the power and is lying, and is being somewhat sarcastic towards her with the “good thing it’s just a fairytale.” He then is actually pretty kind in warning her not to talk about the light to other people if he were here, because “being too different from others only causes problems” (which indicates that Noctis has seen this firsthand, which is why he’s all hush-hush about it now).
And since they’re playing this game about the legend not being true, Stella asks: “If the legend is just a fairytale, what do you think the light really is?” Noctis replies: “It’s just something that’s there. Why can’t that be enough?” Noctis indicates that he has to go, and Stella says that she’d better do so, too. Stella introduces herself to Noctis (because she hadn’t until this moment, but she already knew who he was), but it’s clear in their hesitance and mannerisms that they like each other and don’t want this moment to end. Noctis even asks Stella to call him by his nickname “Noct”.
Stella tells Noctis: “You know, I think I received something from that light tonight. I was given the chance to speak with you.” Noctis then jokes, “Well, then. Enjoy the nightmares,” since earlier Stella had said that if she got anything from the light--as doing so, in seeing the light, meant that someone had just died in that moment--it would give her nightmares. And Stella teases, “You’re a funny one, aren’t you Prince Noctis?” He tells her to call him “Noct” again, and she says she will the next time they meet: so he should come by Tenebrae sometime and she’ll show him around. He says he’ll consider it, and Stella leaves.
Now, let’s compare that with some SoKai banter. At the opening of KHI, Kairi startles Sora awake and she laughs at his expense. He tells her to give him a break, and she says: “Sora, you lazy bum. I knew I’d find you snoozing down here.” He then tries to argue that, “No, this huge black thing almost swallowed me up. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t- ow!” at which point Kairi has slapped him upside the head and asks, “Are you still dreaming?” Sora: “No, it wasn’t a dream... Or was it? What was that place? So bizarre.” Kairi: “Yeah, sure.” Sora then asks Kairi what her home was like: where she grew up. And she says, “I’ve told you before, I don’t remember.” There’s definitely some snark in that “I’ve told you before” bit. Sora asks: “Nothing at all?” And Kairi lies, “Nothing.” Sora then asks if Kairi ever wants to go back and she says that she’s happy on the Islands. Sora is doubtful about that questions, “Really?” Kairi then says she wouldn’t mind going to see it, though, and Sora says that he’d like to see it too, along with any other world out there: he wants to see them all. Kairi then asks what they’re waiting for.
Some other SoKai banter-y moments from the series: Kairi suggesting she and Sora take the raft without Riku, before admitting she’s only kidding. To which Sora teasingly says, “What’s gotten into you? You’re the one that’s changed, Kairi.” And then it continues onto a very sweet scene where Kairi explains that at first she was scared of seeing other worlds, but in knowing she can always return home she feels safe about it. And Sora reassures her that she will alway be able to come home. To which she tells Sora to never change... and though he’s baffled by it, you know he must appreciate the compliment.
The little argument they get into in the Underground Cavern: Kairi: “Well, let’s go.” Sora: “You can’t go.” Kairi: “Why not?” Sora: “Because it’s way too dangerous.” Kairi: “Come on, Sora. We’ve made it this far by sticking together. You can’t go alone!” Sora: “Kairi, even if we’re apart we’re not alone anymore, right?” Kairi: “I can’t help?” Sora: “You’d kind of be in my way.” Kairi: “Okay. You win. Take this. It’s my lucky charm, be sure to bring it back to me.” And she’s almost threatening him to bring it back with her tone, like “bring it back to me, or else.” But this is really her way of saying “make sure you come back home to me alive, you butt”. And Sora answers: “Don’t worry, I will.” And they make a promise that he will. And Kairi tells him that wherever he goes, she’s always with him and he says he’s always with her later, too.
If you talk to Kairi on the Islands, as she’s telling you what to collect. She’ll say something like, “Did you get that?” And Sora can say, “Yeah, I heard you.” Or “What was that again?” And if he says the latter, she’ll say “You’re hopeless!” and then begin telling you it again. She can also, in an exasperated way, give you hints on where to find things....
Which I think Sora references in this KHII conversation, as he teases her yet again: “You don’t remember my name? Thanks a lot, Kairi!” Kairi gasps here. Sora: “Okay, I guess I can give you a hint. Starts with an ‘S’.”
And just... look at all the text bubble things she says to him in KHII (quoting off the top of my head here) “I wish I could fight like you and Riku... I know what you’re going to say,” he was clearly arguing with her here, or about to, “but you two shouldn’t be the only ones getting hurt.” “So you all were out adventuring while I was living a normal life? Why do I always get left out? You’re going to tell me about it later!” “The three of us being together again like this reminds me of old times. If we all make it home, let’s finish that raft of ours!” “I’m sick of waiting so don’t tell me to stay behind. From now on, wherever one of us goes the other follows. Got it?”
And even in KHIII, where people say her feistiness was completely taken away, look at the look she gives Sora when he seems about to deny he ever wanted to share a paopu with her... Or how she says “I told you Sora, you’re safe with me.” (If that had been Nami instead, or something, she would have just blushed or smiled or sweetly said, “You’re safe with me, Sora.” There would have been no “I told yous” going on). And how she gives him that “So you finally figured it out, did you?” look, when he realizes it was her act of true love that saved him.
Other examples of Kairi poking fun at Sora: She actually calls him a lazy bum twice in KHII. The second time is after Leon knocked him out. Kairi: “Come on, lazy bum. Wake up.” And yes, I think that was Kairi and not Yuffie. In KHII, she tells Riku: “Come on, Riku. You know Sora’s completely hopeless without us.” And in KHI Sora says, “I can’t believe it. I really flew. Wait ‘til I tell Kairi! I wonder if she’ll believe me... probably not.” And in 0.2, Kairi tells Riku, “Who’s this Riku and where’s the old one? You sound like Sora.” And when Riku pretty much admits he is being Sora-esque, Kairi tells him, “Well, we still like you.” Which sounded like more Sora ribbing to me. Like, “Oh no, Riku! You’re acting like Sora! Yikes! But don’t worry, we still like you.”
So now that I’ve hopefully established that Noctella and SoKai have some of the same chemistry and flirting techniques, let’s move onto other ways they’re similar:
2. The childhood friends thing, for sure.
3. That they got separated when they were young (fourteen-year-old Sora and Kairi and probably under twelve Noctis and Stella), as via concept art, I’m pretty sure the scene where Noctis and Luna get separated in Kingsglaive (when the Empire occupies Tenebrae) was actually written by Nomura (there’s quite a bit of evidence to this, but I’m only going to get into it if you want me to)... except I feel Stella would have chosen to stay behind like Luna did, and this might be a reason she came to resent King Regis, Noctis, and Lucis some (as Stella was supposed to be part antagonist... though I have my series that that was a ruse. And that Lucis was secretly the bad guys the whole time, so in somewhat opposing them Stella was really the heroine all along, but ehh).
3.5 And with that, they seem to be separated a lot (like SoKai) and do the “reaching for each other” thing, too.
4. Both couples have the same power. Sora and Kairi can summon Keyblades, and Noctis and Stella both had the Power of Kings (that’s what it’s called in FFXV, anyway, if that was what it was called back in Versus XIII, I don’t know). And with that, and also with them both having the power to see the Light, I think Nomura meant for the two to parallel each other--or perhaps be Foils--that we’ve even seen a bit with Sora and Kairi, like with how their movements in the secret place to see the paopu drawing are exactly the same.
5. Both pairings, for some reason, have connections to the Final World... that should maybe be Sora and Kairi’s place (and I have my theories about that), since it’s where sea and sky meet. But a dead Stella is there, and a dead Sora is there, eventually at the same time(?) (...and Sora and Kairi met there in the main game). And if you get the bad ending of the Yozora fight, it looks like Yozora reaches the Final World and finds Stella. And if you win the Yozora fight, it looks like Sora enters the Final World and finds Kairi. And Stella told Sora about Yozora... and it’s maybe implied that Kairi told Yozora about Sora? And both Sora and Yozora are in a night version of the Final World... which I especially have no idea how Yozora is there, if Sora got there by abusing the Power of Waking. And both boys also got there, somewhat, in presumably trying to save their girls (that I’ll get into more in a minute).
6. Noctis and Stella at least called each other on cell phones in Versus XIII, apparently. And Sora at least had the potential to call Kairi on the gummiphone in KHIII, but never did (but maybe he didn't because Kairi didn’t get hers until Jiminy gave everyone them at the end of the game, and by then there was no point). But perhaps Sora and Kairi will communicate this way, ala Noctis and Stella, in the future.
Which brings me to the more important number seven. 7. In the one concept art, it looks like Stella has the Lovers’ Notebook from XV... which maybe means that that was always Nomura’s idea, and Noctis and Stella would have somewhat communicated through letters to each other like Noctis and Luna ended up doing. And Kairi writes letters to Sora (she’s been doing this since II). And perhaps Sora might write to her in the future.
8. Both girls were presumably killed by their respective game’s antagonist, and the protagonists were distraught by the loss of them (well, this fact is being kept from Yozora, since another’s heart has taken root in him... but Stella says he will be distraught when he finds out. And I believe her. And I also think he knows more about it than she realizes) and go to great lengths to bring them back. Like, I think that’s why Yozora reaches the Final World in the bad ending: he’s trying to find Stella.
9. Reasons I think Kairi and Stella are the same person (other than what I’ve already listed)... From the little we know of Stella, which I admit isn’t a lot, she and Kairi seem to have similar personalities (with them both being teasing, yet kind). Stella is/was arguably a princess like Kairi “is”. Based off the one concept art of Stella, they both clearly like pink and perhaps fashion... They both have ethereal kinds of powers, it looks like... A lot of people have even brought up how the new version of Stella looks a lot like Kairi (and even the past design for Stella had purple eyes like Kairi, as does her new design). Especially the Another Side, Another Story design for Kairi. They both like flowers... And while I do think her name will be star-themed, based on her necklace and her being called the “Nameless Star”, perhaps it represents how the paopu fruit is star-shaped... and the paopu fruit has been connected to Kairi for a long time now, like with how that was the chess piece that represented her on Xehanort’s chessboard. Oh! And they’re both very polite and respectful. And both Kairi and Stella 2.0 have sort of emblem necklaces, but tbh... so do most FF girls. And Kairi can warp-strike like Stella may have been able to. Stella’s magic is now purple like Kairi’s signature color used to be. Part of Kairi’s skirt in KHIII is like Stella’s from Versus XIII.
10. Reasons why I think Sora and Yozora are the same person (other than what I’ve already listed): their names both mean “sky”. And long ago, Nomura said how he named Sora and Yozora (then Noctis) as opposites for a reason (since Yozora is “night sky”). Probably because Yozora has become corrupted, as someone’s possessing him... and maybe he was even corrupted because his light, Stella, is gone. Like it was so easy for Master Xehanort to turn Sora into Rage Form when his light, Kairi, was gone. Yozora can steal your Keyblade... and apparently if you hack that fight, you can get the words “you’re not the true Keyblade bearer”, or something like that, to appear. Which sounds like some Sora and Roxas type shit to me. Oh! And Yozora can steal your Keyblade, which says a lot right there! And the fight with Yozora begins on Sora’s heart platform/his heart, before Yozora somehow turns it into Shinjuku/the world of Verum Rex. I also think we were supposed to imagine Rex thinking Sora was Yozora was a red-herring when, in fact, it was anything but. Like, I think Sora looks like Yozora some. Edit: And, yes: Yozora is a prince--maybe? His driver referred to him as a commander--but there’s also a lot of evidence that Sora secretly is or is going to become that. Or a king, rather. Edit 2: And Sora is teased over his crush on Kairi in KH, and according to old Nomura interviews... the chocobros were going to tease Noctis about Stella in Versus XIII. They can both warp, too. And they could both be said “I’ve been having these weird thoughts lately, like is any of this for real or not” moments in their stories. Could Magia and Aegis be like Yozora’s Donald and Goofy?
There are even more things I could say... (like, how according to rumors, Ravus was a lot like Riku--and Ravus hated Noctis because he killed his sister Stella... while possessed, no doubt. And perhaps Riku is the Ravus to Stella’s Kairi, as maybe he does see her as more of a sibling now, and we just saw his hatred of Sora when it came to Kairi play out earlier and for different reasons), I won’t because there’s less concrete evidence there... I really think this could easily be a thing, guy. And if nothing else, it’s at least a theory worth looking at, imo.
Edit: Though it’s also just possible that Nomura likes to use similar tropes with his couples. Haha.
#long post#sokai#noctella#yozorastella#verum rex#theory#also I didn't proof read any of this and right now am too lazy too. wee!
15 notes
·
View notes
Text
Some of the Rune Soup premium members started a side project of angel bothering in June. This is my “What did I do this summer” essay. It was an experiment for me the entire way and nothing below is said with any form of authority. This is just my experience.
How we worked with the angels
The whole thing felt magically entangled from the start. Looking back, I’m not sure there is a piece of my life this working didn’t touch. I really wish I had written a long-form journal throughout. Now that we are at the end it’s hard to see how and when each piece snapped into place. Trying to summarize it here has been like taming a dragon.
Everyone knew they wanted to do some magic with angels, but not sure what. The UK had a scrying group working with Rudd’s Keys to the Gateways of Magic and we decided to run with that. Going into the project most of us had never tried scrying or even followed along with a grimoire. We started a discord server to keep everything in one place and it served as the backbone of the working. It was a constant source of resources, discussion, and inspiration.
Rudd’s Keys to the Gateway of Magic is a series of 10 invocations to the planetary angels. Each angel coming from their respective layer of heaven. The order we did them in was: Metatron/Moveable Heaven, Raziel/Starry Firmament, Cassiel/Saturn, Sachiel/Jupiter, Samael/Mars, Michael/Sol, Anael/Venus, Raphael/Mercury, Gabriel/Luna.
Each invocation is about a 25-minute long prayer… though I think long-form angelic contract law is a better description. It’s dry and monotonous. But that is a feature of its design, not a flaw. Reading the prayers you quickly slip into a trancelike state. After the prayers, you spend 10 minutes scrying with your stone. To make it work for a group we had different members read the invocations, then we all separately scryed. After that, we would spend 30 to 40 minutes comparing notes. The group discussion after each scrying session is what made this working zing. I can see why scrying is sometimes done in pairs.
I think one of the first discussions on discord was “What even am an angel?” (This is a bit of a Rune Soup inside joke… it’s what you say before you dive into the philosophical goo of something and try to pull out its quintessential meat.) From that question, our project took on an exploratory direction. Most of us were calling on angels to better understand them, their story, and their place in the cosmos.
For me, the main questions were, which I hope to answer for you at the end.
- What even are angels?
- What do they want?
- How can we work with them?
Early on I would use the two week period between sessions to interact with each angel. The most used method was right before sleep or after meditation I would ask the angel to show themselves. Or I would ask them to show me something. I did not use formal prayers or rituals. Just a simple “Yo, you up?” The results from these sessions were small blips of information that would only make sense later.
It feels weird to say they just sorta showed up, but they did. Some with better results than others. It didn’t feel like I needed an elaborate ritual or prayer. Instead, they felt quite willing.
I think the best way to illustrate the answers I arrived at is to walk you through the three most important contact events I had. Or skip to the end when I try to sum up what I think about angels.
Michael
Michael was pure fire. I had never worked with them before. I did this invocation solo and by coincidence, it landed on Michaelmas (September 29th) By the time we worked our way to Michael I was better at asking questions and getting answers. My first few scrying sessions were mostly a jumble of pictures and me desperately trying to piece something together.
With Michael, I asked what are we doing with all this? Like yes, this is fun to call you all up... But why did I just jumble through 25 minutes of prayers that I only sorta believe in? What’s next and why?
Michael told me “The magic is in the creation of the prayers, the sigils, the drawings. Repeating and replicating someone else’s words is fine, but it is a shadow of what comes from the creation process. Each one of us should always seek to divine our own system. The power of grimoires is not that these prayers or these sigils are correct or powerful. It’s that this person took the time to write and make them. Following someone else’s grimoire/system is just training wheels.”
The scrying session was really moving and I wanted to honor them with something. I started drawing an altar card for Michael. I am an occasional artist—emphasis on the word occasional—but as I drew Michael, something flowed out of me. It felt right. I share this not to say my drawings are some masterpiece. It is to illustrate the creative process of making something for the angel was magic. As I drew I understood the angel differently.
Again, I was presented with the evidence that just mentally sitting with the angel brought presence. Not quite like scrying, but small nudges and flows. It was like sitting with someone while you paint their portrait. You aren’t speaking but you are taking them in. Trying to distill their essence onto the canvas.
The process was so delightful that I decided to do the whole set of angels. With each picture, I poured over the notes in my journal and paid attention to syncs, signs, and dreams. Often little bits would click into place and make my vision of the angel more concrete.
If I had to put words to the feeling... it’s like they want you to connect or talk to them on a different level… one of creation and inspiration. Something about angels (or some angels) makes them more accessible. It’s less that my drawings are a correct representation of them, but a representation of my connection to them. I’m showing them how I see them. Letting them look through my eyes so I can look through theirs.
Raphael
Raphael is the only angel that showed up for me in a traditional way. They were a brilliant ball of wings and light that shimmered and turned slowly. My drawing of Raphael is exactly what I saw. When I asked what was their form, they told me they are the speed of white light.
I asked what they could teach me and light burst from my palms, then my eyes and mouth… then every cell in my being. They told me that healing comes from a physical action connected to a mental intention.
The important thing I want to stress is the light that shot from my palms was a feeeeeeling. I’m emphasizing this to hopefully better describe it. Do you know when you wake up from a dream and you can still taste or feel the thing in your dream? Maybe it was a sex dream with a random coworker and you spend all day at work feeling awkward around them because you can still feeeeeeeel it?
This is how the light shooting from my palms was. It was a feeling. The next morning in meditation I could feel that light. I can still grasp at it now a month later, but it’s harder, farther away. That feeling was Raphael’s virtue. The thing they had to teach. But let’s put a pin in that thought. We will come back to it, I promise.
Gabriel
My Gabriel session confirmed what I got from Michael. At this point, I was much better at communicating and asking questions. Gabriel said they are the angel that has the most contact with humans. They are the signs and syncretistic events.
When I asked Gabriel how to work with them they told me to “Create their likeness and know them.” And to “Lay their virtues on your shoulders like a mantle.”
A tarot spread the next day solidified what I was getting. The center card was the six of wands from the Dracxidios Tarot. It shows a human body with energy flowing from their centers and connected to an anatomically correct heart. In my journal I wrote next to it, “Humans in flow are angelic” I mention this note because I’m not sure why I made that connection. It wasn’t something that stuck with me until I went back into my notes.
The surrounding cards in my tarot spread were The High Priestess and the eight of coins. Which speaks of bringing things from intuition into tangible form. In the end, I think this is what angels want more than anything. They want you to take what is inside and make it physical.
Now to perform my greatest trick… to wrap this whole thing up in a package and try to deliver it in some coherent package. 😉
What even am angels? (Or at least what are these angels?)
This is just my answer from this moment in time. (Which happens to be November 9th at 9:27 am, in case you’re wondering.) You should ask yourself a question like this. But don’t just think it in your head… write it down. Go on. I’ll wait. Things become very slippery when you try to make them concrete.
To me, angels are fractal emanations from gateways of being. They are like a concept of being that gained consciousness. They are persuasions fluttering on the edge of perception.
An angel is never one thing, but a revolving mass that changes. Which face of the emanation you connect to is up to you. I think on some level it matters who you are and why you are calling on them. It’s like the stupid two wolves thing, except with fractal beings there are infinite connection lines. Which means, I can’t tell you what your angels are because your angels are different than mine.
What I can say is that they have always been here.. with humans that is. They get wrapped up in the dominant metaphysics model of the time quite easily, but to say they came with Christianity is silly. They do not feel Christian, and I doubt they give two fucking shits if you are either. They are just happy to work with whatever model you are working with… because the true control here is the picture you paint of them and what you do with it.
And lastly, I believe that angels are not above, but below. They are not found in the layered heavens above, but deep within the pools of self. They are beings of the subconscious. This is why they are so easy to contact and why they lend themselves to dream, journey, and intuition work.
What do they want? And how can we work with them?
Call them up and “know them.” Angels bear gifts, but they can’t teach you something if you never interact with them. I can summarize what I got from them and hope it helps you, but really these things are tailor-made for each person.
Lay their virtues on your shoulders like a mantle. Once you see the essence of what they are, how can you think with that? Raphael was the key to understanding that each one had a gift to teach. And that I could hold that gift in my mind's eye and change my perception. This point is much harder to articulate because it is a feeling. All I can do is tell you to pay attention for it. Maybe even ask for it.
Create their likeness. This might be knowledge for me personally, but I think it’s worth sharing. While I enjoyed using Rudd’s angel calling method because it worked so well, it isn’t my style. Throughout the project, I had been wondering how to do more scrying without long prayers. Michael answered, and Gabriel confirmed… find your own dial-up method. For me, that has been my drawings. Each person will have their own way in. Once you make contact strengthen that connection with contemplation and representation. This is the key to their gateway.
This last piece is just a suggestion. Like I mentioned in the beginning, I wish I had kept a longer journal. Angels are of the subconscious and they communicate that way. They are entangled beings that will show up in every aspect of your life. It’s much easier to put themes together if you keep a journal of notes, thoughts, and feelings. I kept only the most basic notes, and this made it much harder to pull things together for me.
1 note
·
View note
Text
ThOr DiDn’T eVeN mEnTiOn LoKi By NaMe In EnDgAmE!!!1*
Apparently unpopular opinion: Thor didn’t need to mention Loki by name for Endgame to heavily imply that he missed him. The levity of watching him toddle by Loki’s cell underlaid with a canned shot from TDW of Loki throwing the doohickey in the air again and again out of boredom aside, we can ascertain fairly easily from it that Thor intentionally tries to remove known obstacles to his and Rocket’s success at stealing the Aether in 2013 Asgard, and Loki by far would be the biggest one. After all, if hearing Thanos’ name is enough to elicit the kind of reaction it did when Hulk and Rocket first meet up with Thor again, post-Snap, and Thor basically can’t talk about Jane without almost crying, and also that he starts pacing and freaking out when he sees Frigga walk by in 2013 even before he puts two and two together what day it is wrt her death, his trying to communicate with any Loki in his current state would have been nothing short of disastrous. I’m willing to bet Monopoly money that the Avengers specifically had a Talk while Thor was snoozing on the couch while wearing his entire collection of lesbian depression sweaters at the same time regarding What To Do About Loki if Thor got sent back to a time period where he would most likely run into him.
Notably, too, Thor makes a damn good effort to work through his panic attacks and reliance on alcohol/food to do what they came to past Asgard to do - it’s not his fault his mother could basically sense that something was hinky the second he and Rocket teleported to 2013. I’m not sure how well the ‘talk to pretty pants’ conversation would have really gone had the original plan actually come to fruition, but I assume the Avengers were a little desperate to make all the variables for each team’s mission add up, and whether or not Natalie Portman believed that 2023 Thor bore any kind of resemblance to the emo nard she was dating a decade prior probably wasn’t high on their priority list compared to everything else.
I also personally appreciated that Tony was the most understanding of Thor’s plight, having been that same kind of messy bench himself only scant years ago. (I could write a literal essay on how the other Avengers’ coping mechanisms wrt their treatment of Thor were actually pretty in-character/justifiable, but, well.) Likewise, we get a nice parallel of both Thor and Tony meeting up with their departed and dearly missed parents back in time and getting some closure. Also, Tony’s fumbling reaction to seeing Howard in 1970 jeopardized the 2012 New York mission waaayyy more than anything Thor did in 2013 Asgard - which is fine, it was kind of refreshing to see Tony having to fly by the seat of his pants while no longer having the emotional strength/stubbornness to hide when he’s feeling sappy/appreciative of his friends/family, etc. (In the same vein, Peter Quill shared at least as much of the blame as Thor in not taking Thanos out at the tail end of IW before the Snap, and arguably in a much stupider way, so.)
Bonus, we also know now that all Asgardians think raccoons = rabbits.
TL;DR: We are all disappointed by the lack of confirmation that all of the hopeful build-up before Loki’s death scene in Infinity War wasn’t just a fluke, that the big-wigs at Marvel really aren’t even going to try to lazily write him back into the main plotline, even after learning about the Loki TV series and the premiere What If? episode that both Hiddleston and Hemsworth are in, probably to show yet another alternate timeline of Loki getting to wield Mjolnir without giving proper weight and closure to the original one, etc. I would even go so far as to say that it’s okay to be legitimately angry that Loki fans in particular might be getting toyed with because those in charge of his MCU story line seem from interviews and snarky Twitter statuses and whatnot to find it kind of funny / hold a grudge for so many people focusing on him instead of all the Other Stuff they painstakingly set in motion across 22 films. That said, there is nothing in Thor’s portrayal in Endgame to suggest that every unshed tear or mechanical fumble for another beer bottle or wayward, distressed facial expression wasn’t specifically implying how devastating it was to him that Loki was no longer at his side, possibly for good; the directors/writers chose to show, rather than tell, and it sometimes feels like mere crumbs, but the few morsels we got were still pretty satisfying, imo. (The fact that like 30 people who need to see this so they’ll stop peddling tired B.S. about the Russos putting ‘kick me’ signs on Tom Hiddleston’s back every day during filming won’t because they’ve blocked my fat ass is, well, pretty telling. Sigh.)
* It’s really fucking hard to type like that for any sustained length of time, fwiw.
96 notes
·
View notes
Text
Supernatural Rewatch 01x14
Nightmare
(Next Episode | Masterlist | Previous Episode)
(Not Spoiler Free, I’ve seen up to 15x13)
Alright, it’s taken me a while to write my summary of this episode because it deals with some pretty heavy stuff, and I’m not sure if it deals with it very well. There are people who are much more knowledgeable about this subject than I am who have written really good essays on The Winchesters and abuse, so I’ll leave that to them. I’m just going to try and talk about what we learn specifically from this episode:
I’m going to start at the end, when Sam and Dean are walking away from the home of an abused kid who just committed suicide in front of them and they say:
SAM: Well I'll tell you one thing. We're lucky we had Dad.
DEAN: (Looking astounded and pleased) Well, I never thought I'd hear you say that.
SAM: Well, it could’ve gone a whole other way after Mom. A little more tequila and a little less demon hunting and we would’ve had Max's childhood. All things considered, we turned out ok. Thanks to him.
DEAN: All things considered.
This is an argument used very often throughout the show to absolve John Winchester of his guilt, of how much he failed as a father – it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. It could have been worse. Much worse. At this point in the show Dean is still completely dedicated to his father, and although Sam pushed back against him and thinks how they were raised “was jacked,” I don’t think he’s fully conceptualized it as “child abuse.” I don’t know if either of them really ever do. (Once they kill Chuck, they really need to go to therapy). What we do learn here is that John didn’t regularly beat them. And Sam is grateful for that. That’s a really low bar.
A moment that I feel like is worth commenting on is when Sam is talking with Max, trying to understand him and Max says, “When my Dad used to look at me, there was hate in his eyes. Do you know what that feels like?” and after a long pause, Sam answers “no.” I can’t tell whether Sam is lying here or not.
In my personal, very unprofessional, and uninformed, opinion, I think Sam is realizing that his relationship with his dad wasn’t That Bad ™ and so he doesn’t feel qualified to compare it to what Max is describing to him. (For instance, I have been Depressed ™ but when I had a friend who was officially diagnosed with Clinical Depression and started taking medication for it, I didn’t feel like my experience was bad enough to really compare and I started to think that maybe I had never really been depressed to begin with (news flash, although my experience was different I was still definitely depressed)). But that’s what I think Sam is feeling here. He had a bad childhood, he has a bad relationship with his father, and normally he’s not afraid of acknowledging that, but when faced with something that is bad on a whole different level, he suddenly feels like he doesn’t have a right to dislike his dad. Like he doesn’t have a right to be hurt by the way his dad treated him, because his dad never hurt him in this way.
I think he does know what it’s like to see hatred in his father’s eyes. But John never crossed that line so … it couldn’t have been abuse, right?
(Wrong)
This episode also features an argument between Sam and Dean that we will revisit often throughout the course of the show: Kill the monster or give them a chance to be human?
Sam: … I was connecting to Max! The thing is I don't get why, man. I guess -- because we're so alike?
DEAN: What are you talking about. The dude's nothing like you.
SAM: Well. We both have psychic abilities, we both...
DEAN: Both what? Sam, Max is a monster, he's already killed two people, now he's gunning for a third.
SAM: Well, with what he went through, the beatings, to want revenge on those people? I'm sorry, man, I hate to say it, but it's not that insane.
DEAN: Yeah but it doesn't justify murdering your entire family!
SAM: Dean...
DEAN: He's no different from anything else we've hunted, all right? We gotta end him.
SAM: We're not going to kill Max.
DEAN: Then what? Hand him over to the cops and say 'Lock him up officer; he kills with the power of his mind.'
SAM: No way. Forget it.
DEAN: Sam...
SAM: Dean. He's a person. We can talk to him. Hey, promise me you'll follow my lead on this one.
DEAN:(After a long pause) All right fine. But I'm not letting him hurt anybody else. (takes Gun)
Something interesting that I’ve notice is, up to this point in the show, almost every monster they’ve faced has looked very inhuman. In later seasons we see more Vampires and Werewolves, monsters who look mostly human until they attack. The monsters the brothers have faced in season 1, even the reaper in “Faith,” don’t look like people. Even the demon they exorcised in “Phantom Traveler” didn’t act like the demons we meet later in the show – it didn’t talk much, and when it did it was with a monstrous voice. None of the monsters have been shown as sentient, conscious beings who can make decisions for themselves (with the exception of the Shapeshifter in “Skin” but he was so obviously creepy and messed up that any sympathy the audience felt for him was mixed with revulsion).
The point is, Max is the first “monster” we are introduced to who we understand to be fully human, capable of reasoning and understanding. Sam, with his deep empathy, sees himself in Max even before he knows they’re connected. He wants to help him. Dean, on the other hand, believes that evil deserves to be killed, and if something is killing people by Supernatural means – even if those killings are “justified” – then it’s his job to put a stop to it. This is something that the brothers never see eye-to-eye on, and it’s interesting to track how it affects the way they approach problems all throughout the series. (Including Jack who, sadly, Dean sees as a monster before he’s even been given a chance.)
The last comment I wanted to make is just an observation of the different ways Dean tries to protect Sam. There are two points in this episode where Dean is forced to confront the reality that his little brother suddenly has psychic abilities:
Once, while driving:
DEAN: I don't know Sam but we'll figure it out. We've faced the unexplainable every day. This is just another thing.
SAM: No. It's never been us. It's never been in the family like this. Tell the truth, you can't tell me this doesn't freak you out.
DEAN: (After staring straight ahead for a long moment) This doesn’t freak me out.
And again later, at the very end of the episode as they leave their motel room:
DEAN: I know what we need to do about your premonitions. I know where we have to go.
SAM: Where?
DEAN: (Deadpan) Vegas.
DEAN grins at SAM
DEAN: What? Come on man. Craps tables. We'd clean up!
DEAN follows SAM to the door and pauses on the threshold. He considers SAM, looking very thoughtful, then turns to pull the door closed.
In the first scene the audience (and honestly probably Sam) can clearly see that Dean is worried. But he won’t admit it. He knows Sam is scared of what’s happening to him, but it’s Dean’s job to protect his brother and he’s not going to make this any scarier than it needs to be. So he calls it “just another thing” and he tries to casually say that it doesn’t freak him out, even though it does.
Later, we see him joking about it. In a previous episode I made a comment about how I feel like Sam is bothered that Dean doesn’t seem to be taking this seriously, but in this episode, we see that the jokes are being used to mask his fear (in typical Dean Winchester fashion.) He is deeply worried about Sam’s powers, but he doesn’t want Sam to know. He doesn’t want Sam to worry. So he makes light of it, forces himself to laugh about it, all in an effort to protect Sam.
#supernatural#supernatural rewatch#01x14#1x14#nightmare#abuse#cw: abuse#tw: abuse#sam winchester#dean winchester#max#psychic#seriously this episode is very upsetting and I hate it#abuse tw#abuse cw
2 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
kolplayone
KolplayOne
jjayococha
제목 없음
klk-and-knk-fandomstuck-blog
Blood puns and talking stuff
hellostarsss3
Little Star🦐✨
anythingbutmywifi
wifisexual