#one of my favorite gamechanger episodes now!
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Heyo shutters!
I've been slowly getting through FGO after getting into it thanks to a LB6 writeup that made it sound fun (and Oberon/Castoria are both so awesome looking). While getting through singularities F/Orleans/Septem I was mostly thinking the story is alright so far with a lot of awkward moments but still bearable...
And then I met Blackbeard. And my enjoyment quickly plummeted :c. This kind of comic relief pervert character is such a low thing for writers to do, bringing down Euryale and Drake just by existing, when they were both so cool up to that point. The game hasn't been kind to its female characters design wise so far, but writing wise it was still good enough, so I'd be lying if I said I'm not worried now...is this kinda thing prevalent in future episodes?
Uhhhhhhhhh
UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Let me preface this by saying I have not played FGO since the Lostbelt arcs started.
Look I'm going to be lying if I say pervy comic relief like Blackbeard is just in Okeanos and it's only upward from there. In fact, you're in for worse, a lot worse. Agartha-worse.
But it also gets a lot better too.
FGO is a very mixed bag quality-wise, what with the FGO team having writers with very different styles, AND who are inconsistent themselves. You are going to get a lot of shit like Blackbeard. In fact, Blackbeard is annoying, but ultimately harmless compared to some of the worst FGO had to offer. In fact the last I saw of him, he had been somewhat rehabilitated into being a friendly if cringey otaku character.
But FGO does have its heights, including some incredibly good character work its other mobage rivals can barely compete with. If 70% of FGO you're going to be treated to eyerolling misogyny, 30% of the time they'll make something sweet to genuinely incredible. If you manage your expectations, there are some great surprises waiting.
For example, you may be looking forward to Lostbelt 6, the British Lostbelt, but before that, the gamechanger was the Camelot singularity, (which was also Singularity 6). Its villain was a shocking take on the most familiar face of Type-Moon, and a fantastic antagonist.
And then you summon her as a playable character and the villainous character isn't there while half the dialogue is making fun of her having huge boobs now.
That's uh, that's what FGO is like.
You'll be doing a lot of cherrypicking. There's some truly fantastic stuff in there, but getting to it is going to depend on how well you can deal with the rest (the majority to be honest) of FGO.
There's sadly also a lot of good to amazing stuff that was only in events, and in FGO most events never come back after their rerun (even when they're somewhat story relevant, mysteriously) so if you want to read them you'll have to look up a playthrough online.
One of these that I greatly recommend you look up is Aeaean Spring Breeze, to be read after the main story chapter, Salem. It's a short, simple, comedic, but devastatingly heartfelt epilogue to Circe's arc, one of my favorite characters in all of FGO. She's one of the best examples of what FGO's female characters can be when they're taken seriously as opposed to being purely vehicles for fanservice.
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okay i’ve watched a few seasons now, and i’m about to move into pre-new era seasons so-
that do or die twist is so unserious omg
i know big brother has gaslighting, spying, & manipulating too but these people just straight up going through each other’s bags is so funny, they all talk about lifelong friendships but they also don’t give a FUCK lmao
(none of these are in any order, just top 4)
faves in 41: shan, xander, erika, evvie
faves in 42: maryanne, romeo, lindsay, drea
faves in 43: i did not watch; i’ve seen the discourse around this season and i simply Don’t want to feel pain like this so i put it off for now
faves in 44: i did not watch; like purely because of the nonsense going on with carson aksjdjd i might genuinely go back to this one later
faves in 45: kaleb, kellie, jake. why did i only list 3 people? bc genuinely it’s a four way tie between dee katurah julie and emily, like this was an amazing season for women. also, the hottest season.
i think it says a lot about me that one of my favorites three seasons in a row was a zero vote finalist aksjdjd personally i think this means one of my faves this season is gonna be one too, i’m guessing venus or q
shan making dx hum her betrayal theme song on the challenge usa is so much funnier with context bc she LITERALLY hummed it out loud while thinking about how she’d have to betray one of her besties aksjsj the nerve of that woman is insane i love her
the way i got so excited for deshawn to make a comeback in that lil chicken & veggies alliance only for him to truth kamikaze his way through that tribal is just…..i actually had to walk away from my tv my secondhand embarrassment was so bad
i think it’s a lot different when you know who is going to win because i went in paying attention to erika and really vibing with her but i get the impression no one was expecting her to win the way that a lot of people thought maryanne would win over everyone else in f5.
that said, i think 41 was my favorite bc i love when people are smart but also canNot keep their mouths shut, these people were so gossipy and got soooo heated with each other, but i didn’t hate anyone, i was rooting for everyone, like i was riveted i had fun.
i literally keep replaying that “do i believe that? no i do not,” moment between naseer and heather on loop in my mind it was soooo funny aksjsjs
xander scruffy looking…….i would fold so fast i’m afraid 😔
that said, i had to walk away during some of his answers for the final tribal because he is just so sweet but he is SO unaware i was HURTING even with evvie and ricard clearing trying to lead him to an answer, it took like four false starts for him to name a good social read and everyone to nod and go “oh yeah that one makes sense”
drea’s comedic timing is unparalleled. i have never laughed that loud at a reality tv contestant, her voice is just so expressive. yes i’m talking about the potato line she is funnier than every comedian on netflix to me
that season had me screaming every episode it was really fun to watch and maryanne just like. sparkles. she’s enchanting.
i hope jonathan [redacted for legal reasons]
austin is so sexy to me because he really just laid down and died so his super hot girlfriend could win a million dollars, that’s the perfect man
actually i’d like to say it again. hottest cast. austin & dee was just pretty on pretty. jake is adorable. kellie. katurah. emily. kaleb. hottest cast by far.
i’ve been listening to know it alls & why blank lost just to get a feel for strategy and i’m excited to get through older seasons to see gameplay without so many twists because yeah there’s like a LOT of them esp in 41. it’s funny listening to them all bitch about this constantly tho. also interested in eventually watching a season without fire making - the next group i’m looking at are david v goliath, heroes v healers v hustlers, millennials v gen x, and gamechangers. might flip around a bit before i land on one tho.
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So, Picturejasper20 asked me to contribute to this, so i'll give my takes for this week.
Day 1. FAVORITE EPISODE
I mean... It's true Colors.
That's like asking what was the best fight in One Piece. There are many good and great ones, but anyone who has watched the series knows there is only one answer.
True Colors was the peak of Amphibia as both a story, but also as a narrative.
I would say that Reunion would be a close second, but Reunion has the problem that though not bad, season 1 simply wasn't overall building to this finale. There was definitely episodes that set it up, but as a finale, it really does come out of nowhere. It's there because it's the final episode, and so it's time for the big gamechanger.
By comparison, True Colors was what the entirety of season 2 was building towards, with every mystery and character interaction between the main trio all being set up to the climax that is true colors.
And thats just the overall narrative.
Because this episode has it all. Great character moments, iconic and memorable scenes, every character involved having completely separate motivations and ambitions, and characters making huge mistakes that are crucial for their developments.
I wish there was a day for favorite moment, as the entire sequence of Sasha's coup is my favorite scene of the series, where what shojld be the pinnacle of all of Sasha's achievements, becoming queen of the land, is all turned to complete and total dust in her mouth when Anne tells her in no uncertain terms that she hates her now.
It's such a powerful scene, that completely and totally uproots Sasha's entire sense of self, and it wouldn't have been anywhere as important if the series hadn't made it very, very clear that for Sasha, her relationship with Anne was EVERYTHING.
You can pinpoint the exact moment where Anne broke Sasha's heart into pieces, and i am very fond of pulling up these two pics whenever i get an excuse to do so.
And that's just one of the great moments of this episode.
The confrontation at the gatehouse, where it's now Sasha who is in the right, as this coup would be infinitely preferable to what Andrias had planned, but rather than logic or arguments, what it all comes down to is That Anne is angry at Sasha from the previous scene in the throneroom, and Sasha's arc of being a bad friend reaching it's logical conclusion as Anne tells her to fuck off.
Then there is the confrontation in the throne room, where pretty much every single line is iconic.
Andrias revelaing himself as the villain, the backstory of Amphibia, Marcy's betrayal laid bare, her subsequent fumbling of trying to justify herself rather than trying to apologize and subsequent rejection, anne deciding to give her friendships another go while admitting to her own faults, Andrias throwing Sprig out the window to make a point to Anne.
Anne's superform, Marcy jumping out the window, andrias halting as he sees she's opened a portal to Earth, Sasha and Grime holding Andrias off, of course...
Marcy getting a sword through her chest, killing her, and setting up her death and ressurrection into Darcy.
And then, having now destroyed the main trio, the season ends on Anne achieving her goal since the series started.
She's finally home. End of part 2.
I have very, VERY mixed feelings about season 3A, and in hindsight, i very much think this third season should have been a full season for each half, but in regards to how it was set up, i have NO complaints.
True colors is as close to a perfect finale i have seen a western show have since since the season finales of Avatar the last airbender.
#amphibia#anne boonchuy#sasha waybright#marcy wu#king andrias#true colors#Picturejasper20#favorite episode#amphibia week
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hi! saw your last anon and sorry if this is annoying, but just wanted to ask u a question. i don’t know anything about d20 (assuming it’s like a d&d game) but i did watch all the free game changer episodes on yt and i’m lowkey obsessed and want more. is d20 the same kind of vibe, assuming it’s the same people? for someone who isn’t and has never played d&d would you reccommend starting d20? i kinda don’t want to pay for dropout, so maybe i’ll start with that :) have a nice day!
not an annoying question don't worry!! in fact i feel like i have to apologize in turn because i already know i'm going to be incapable of being normal about answering this question lol but me being verbose as hell on main, what else is new, etc. etc.
Re: whether d20 has a similar vibe to game changer -
so i'd say you're right in that d20 involves many of the people that are featured on game changer since they're both produced by collegehumor/dropout. as you might know Brennan Lee Mulligan who appears pretty often on game changer is the main DM for d20, and since d20 is an anthology show the casts rotate out every season but one of the most frequently recurring casts incudes Zac Oyama, Ally Beardsley, and Lou Wilson who are also pretty frequent guests of game changer [the others were also involved with Collegehumor at some point, can't remember if they've been on gc tho]. collegehumor folks sometimes appear in other seasons as well - for example rekha shenkar and lily du have been in multiple d20 seasons, jess ross and mike trapp have also featured, and there's even one season that's oops all collegehumor folks called Mice and Murder which is basically holmesian style turn of the century murder mystery but everyone is an anthropomorphized animal [dropout exclusive but the first ep is on the d20 yt channel]. so if you vibe with the humor and the personalities of the people who feature a lot on game changer, it's likely you will vibe with the humor and tone of d20 too!
that said, given that game changer is styled after a traditional competitive game show and d20 is an actual play show where people play tabletop rpgs together they are very different in the sense of genre. d20, while largely improvised [which believe me is a fact that will probably be hard to believe when watching it but is entirely true], is very much a collaborative storytelling effort between the people involved and makes very concerted efforts to present a tight and cohesive narrative through their seasons. so d20 is great if you like fictional narratives and fun and colorful characters, but if you want more traditionally unscripted content like gamechanger i recommend checking out:
dirty laundry [which is actually a spin-off of a gamechanger episode; hosted by Lily Du, first ep available on the CH yt channel]
make some noise [unfortunately i think right now all the make some noise eps are also dropout exclusive, here i have linked to the trailer, but it is another spinoff based on this honestly iconic game changer ep wherein Josh Ruben, Brennan Lee Mulligan, and Zac Oyama make weird sounds at each other and it's the funniest thing in the world]
Um, Actually [nerdy trivia game show hosted by Mike Trapp]
Rank Room [fyi it's an older show and they don't make it anymore but i still think it's a fun watch; hosted by Katie Marovich]
[do u see what i mean. i thought this first question would be a short answer skdfjnsdkjfnsdns so uh deep apologies for what will come after this bc i have THOUGHTS about your second question]
Re: would i recommend d20 for someone who has no experience with d&d -
short answer: yes absolutely 100%.
long answer: why do i so enthusiastically recommend d20 for people who have never played dnd? because i am a people who has never played dnd and d20 is one of my favorite shows ever! tbh i do think i am kind of biased as d20 is really the only actual play show i've ever been able to get into and i'm sure there are plenty of other shows out there that work for other people [if you're a podcast person for example you have tons of good options, i however am Not] but there are a number of reasons why I personally enjoy d20 as an actual play show:
I often struggle with other actual play shows because of how long and meandering they are. I think this is more of a personal preference thing because even when reading/watching more traditional forms of media i always tend to prefer tighter narratives with a clear ending in mind [e.g a 3 season show with a good finale is more compelling to me than an ongoing 10 season show with no ending in sight] but because d20 is an anthology show and each season is more or less a self-contained story aside from the few sequels i find it much easier to keep my attention on the episodes. to be sure the eps are still quite long, most ranging from 1.5-2 hours, but brennan + the other dms they feature on d20 do a really good job of keeping the pace moving while still giving the players freedom to explore the world and make their own narrative choices [which i think is one big appeal actual play shows has over other forms of media, the improvised and collaborative nature of the storytelling versus something that's already been fully scripted beforehand].
another thing i struggle with is how cumbersome dnd combat can be, personally i don't think it's the most accessible especially for people who have no ttrpg experience but d20's combat actually works pretty well for me because 1. they plan their combats before the season starts and especially in the earlier seasons of d20 they stuck pretty strictly to alternating between roleplay versus combat episodes so it's easier for me when i know kind of what to expect and 2. because they plan their combats in advance they are able to build INCREDIBLE custom battle sets with custom minis [shout out to Rick Perry!] and for me the visuals really help me keep my attention on the combat versus when combat is more theater of the mind [which to be clear does sometimes still happen in d20]. Tbh i still think combat can be a little clunky especially in the earlier seasons of d20 but i think the show has always gone to a lot of effort to create really creative and engaging combats for both the players and the audience and as it's gone on they've only gotten better at achieving this
in that vein i think the fact that d20 is 1. entirely filmed and 2. edited very well is VERY helpful for someone like me who has traditionally struggled with podcasts because the lack of visual context makes it hard to stay focused. as far as the editing goes i know some people prefer more of a livestream feel but just for me personally having the editing and the different camera angles and the sound cues and the music [d20 is really good at picking royalty free music for their soundtracks btw may i just say] gives me something more concrete to focus on and keeps it more visually interesting. and i do feel that they still make an effort to preserve the more natural/organic feel of ttrpgs by limiting their cuts story wise and focusing a lot on player reactions in the moment so for me it kind of hits the best of both worlds!
personally i think the choice for d20 to cast a lot of talented improv comedians is fucking inspired, especially when the show is so comedy-oriented. improv comedians are good at making bold choices on their feet, crafting rich characters while improvising their dialogue on the spot, and collaborating with each other, which are all skills that are very helpful for an actual play show context and everyone they cast on d20 is SO talented at all of these things. there are some players on d20 who also have little to no experience with dnd [notably Ally Beardsley has only ever officially played dnd on camera for d20; Rekha Shenkar and Mike Trapp in Escape From the Bloodkeep were also very new to dnd at the time] which on the one hand i think helps audience members like me who are inexperienced with dnd knowing some of the players are in the same boat but also they tend to make some of the wildest most out of the box choices as a result of being new to the game. so i think ultimately it's just a really fun combination and it's so much fun to watch in action!
and just a few more reasons why I consider d20 a favorite in a more general sense:
I mean Brennan Lee Mulligan as d20's main DM is a HUGE draw of d20 in my opinion. like if you were already a fan of him from game changer or other college humor content i think you will especially appreciate him in d20 because he is absolutely in his element here. actually last year i made a ppt for my friends about why i like d20 so much so here is a relevant excerpt:
i want to emphasize that d20 is a comedy-oriented show so tonally comedy is what it will prioritize. however i also want to emphasize that this does not mean it pulls any punches with the emotional depths it's able to reach. the themes and the worlds and the characters are SO rich and complex and compelling and I think i have experienced basically every human emotion and then some while watching this show. i also think it's incredibly character driven and does an amazing job of prioritizing character and relationship development and player agency, which is one of my favorite things to see in any kind of show!
and conceptually i just think it's so much fucking fun! it being an anthology show means there is something in here for everyone but i have enjoyed every season i have watched immensely [which is all of them except for one!] and have found it remarkably easy to become invested in every single one. you want to know what it would be like if dnd took place in a john hughes style teenage coming of age movie? or what if lord of the rings was about the bad guys but also it’s a workplace comedy? or how about an urban fantasy story set in modern day new york with a secret sixth borough hidden away in the world of dreams? you can have it all and more from d20! and this is just the seasons that are available on yt for FREE there are so many other cool and fun stories and worlds and dms to engage with!!!
tl;dr it's a good show and i like it very very much thank you for coming to my ted talk
#answers#daffodiline#you know what. if you don't end up reading all of this. i don't blame you lol#tl;dr i highly recommend d20 but if you like game changer there are lots of other things to check out on youtube too!
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This is supposed to be an ask game, but fuck it, I wanna answer them all
End of the Year Asks
Song of the year? "Fake Out" by Fall Out Boy!! ... or "Dumbest Girl Alive" by 100 gecs
Album of the year? So Much (for) Stardust by Fall Out Boy... but Folie à Deux is the one that really made my year
Favorite musical artist / group you started listening to this year? tuv <3
Movie of the year? I knowwww I'm so boring for this... but Barbie
TV show of the year? Shrinking on Apple TV
Episode of tv or webisode that defined the year for you? GameChanger's Bachelor episodes
Favorite actor of the year? probably Sarah Sherman from SNL
Game of the year? Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Best month for you this year? June... this year sucked so bad that the month of my colonoscopy was the best one lol
Something that made you cry this year? I cried almost every day this year about something or other. My health, my trauma, my job...
Something you want to do again next year? see Fall Out Boy 🥺
Talk about a new friend you made this year my college friend's girlfriend :) she's been hanging out with us when we get together, and she's super sweet and fun!
How was your birthday this year? I worked, and no one remembered it was my birthday 🙃 and then like 5 people showed up for my party that I invited like 30 people to
Favorite book you read this year? I don't think I've finished a full book 😭 I always get distracted and move on to something else. Of what I've read, Watchmen was the best
What’s a bad habit you picked up this year? staying late at work
Post a picture from the beginning of the year not revealing my identity, so here's a picture of a really cool snake I took early in the year :)
Post a picture from the end of the year and for that same reason, here's a picture of an ostrich I saw last week :)
A memorable meal this year? it's not even, like, a special meal, but having tacos at my girlfriend's house with her parents. It's the kind of domesticity and comfort I've always wanted in a relationship
What’re you excited about for next year? putting out my demo! I met a producer who wants to hear my music, so that's top priority
What’s something you learned this year? how to deal with intrusive thoughts and compulsions
What’s something new about your place of residence (room, home, or general location) now vs the start of the year? I have guinea pigs now where my unused desk used to be! :D
Favorite place you visited this year? I really haven't been anywhere very exciting this year :/ uhhhh NYC? Which sounds exciting if you don't know that I live in the NYC metropolitan area
If you could send a message to yourself back on the first day of the year, what would it be? Be strong, dude. I know you have all of these ideas about what you're going to accomplish this year, but be veeeery flexible with those. You're going to grow a lot, but it won't be in the ways that you expect. It's gonna hurt (physically and emotionally), but you're gonna get so much stronger.
Did you keep any New Year’s Resolutions? I mean....... I didn't really have any "resolutions," but I said that by the end of the year, I wanted to have asked my crush out (check - that didn't go well!) and be out as male to my family (nope, but we're a bit closer to that)
Did you create any characters (in games, art, or writing) this year? Describe one Jesse Ashford. 15 years old, angsty teen with daddy issues, loves art, skateboarding, and punk music, wants to grow up too fast. I love him so much I can't contain it.
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Interested in going more plant-based? Here are some of my favorite vegan/plant-based resources! Hot Tip: If you're not interested in going "full vegan", simply ignore any "vegan" versions of things like cheeses, milks, etc - use the dairy versions instead! When I first started exploring veganism, I mostly used these books to see where I could do without cheese/dairy/etc. 1. Forks Over Knives is not only a documentary, it's also a series of cookbooks, an app, and a magazine. I personally buy the magazine, which comes out quarterly, but the cool thing about FOK is that pretty much all of their recipes end up on their website (making it a good, free resource, too!) 2. Gamechangers also has a cookbook and is one of my favorite documentaries on the subject, but they also include many crowd-pleasing recipes. 3. The Vegan Stoner is a website I've visited for years, but they have recently compiled some of their best recipes into a few cookbooks now! 4. Vegan Comfort Food and Vegan Celebrations are both authored by Alicia C. Simpson (who I personally consider one of the best less-known vegan cookbook authors. I love the menus and the fact that Celebrations is actually organized by holiday! I personally own both now, but I've also borrowed these from the library! 5. Last but definitely not least, Sauce Stache! He's one of my favorite vegan YouTube cooks. While I wouldn't call many of his recipes "healthy" or true to the "plant based" ideals set in FOK/Gamechangers, I'm amazed at some of the stuff he comes up with! I more consider him a "vegan food scientist/chemist" but am STILL amazed by his Vegan Fried Egg and I'm considering trying his wheat bacon! --- Check out our most recent episode where we talk about Whether People Should Become Vegetarian - Part 2 (Episode 273)! Click the link in our profile to find where you can listen to Friends Talking Nerdy. We hope you join us. #factoryfarms #factoryfarming #veganrecipes #healthydiet #animals #veganpasta #animalagriculture #endfactoryfarming #factoryfarm #animalwelfare #eatlessmeat #dairyisscary #plantbased #environment #savetheplanet #environmentallyfriendly #pollution #podcaster #podcast #podcastingtips https://www.instagram.com/p/CjE2bM0uMEY/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
#factoryfarms#factoryfarming#veganrecipes#healthydiet#animals#veganpasta#animalagriculture#endfactoryfarming#factoryfarm#animalwelfare#eatlessmeat#dairyisscary#plantbased#environment#savetheplanet#environmentallyfriendly#pollution#podcaster#podcast#podcastingtips
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Haikyuu Season 4 Reactions
~ A disillusioned ex-film student reacts to the new episodes of Haikyuu ~
Episode 19
I did not expect Karasuno to catch up, and I’m very impressed (although I don’t rightly recall the score at episode end). And despite the fact this episode showcased so much of Inarizaki’s strengths, we were reminded of Karasuno’s dogged determination–the attribute that makes them so endearing in the first place
Inarizaki reminds me of Shiratorizawa in several ways: Aran’s power (as explicitly noted) reminds me of Ushijima’s, Nishinoya struggling with serves, and the middle blocker Suna filling the role of Tendou by having more tricks up his sleeve. In the case of Suna, I’m not even sure how Karasuno will counter his skill set
That being said, in so many ways Inarizaki is far more lethal than Shiratorizawa, and that’s important to sell this match. Inarizaki really are “The Ultimate Challengers” (the episode title)
Likewise, we were reminded multiple times of the cheer squad’s influence in Atsumu silencing the music. I also like that each time he kills the music with his fist is at a different point in the song. By interrupting the theme unpredictably, I think it would keep the opponent even more on edge
After Noya’s struggles with jump floaters were brought up in the first part, I love that we are seeing Noya have to deal with that weakness of his against Atsumu. It makes Atsumu an even more dangerous server than Ushijima, not to mention Atsumu specifically targeting Noya
I was disappointed we did not see more of Suga though. He’s so fun, and I was all ready for “Mr. Refreshing” to shine (he did have that one great corner receive at least) and was hoping to see Karasuno get to take full advantage of the two-setter deployment
Kinoshita staying in the zone was super cool. I can’t wait to see him try to serve again
I likewise enjoyed seeing Kageyama staying calm, as well as the reminder of one of my favorite scenes of season 2. Kageyama, too, did an excellent job remaining in the zone during Inarizaki’s timeout, which might well have been an effort to disrupt Kageyama’s streak
My favorite camera movement of season 4 part 2 so far: the camera rapidly tracking backwards, following the ball from Kageyama’s serve all the way to bouncing off Osamu’s wrists
And the elephant in the room: what happened to the animation in that one stretch of 75 seconds? The rest of the episode was nearly exemplary, but that one rally from 05:48-07:03, was absolutely atrocious: choppy, off-model, sharp corners. It didn’t even look like finished art some of the time
Ending on Inarizaki’s #1 was very effective. In particular the building of the music leaves one with the impression this guy won’t be some average pinch server but a potential gamechanger. The fact that he’s replacing the ace Aran (#4) of all people I think supports that conclusion
Removing Aran at this juncture would both vindicate and sabotage Ukai’s strategy to wear Aran down: his removal could be interpreted as Karasuno’s plan succeeding, but now the weak link they cultivated in Inarizaki’s roster is gone. That being said, the plan wasn’t working 100%, since right after the “annoying out,” as Daishou called out, Aran scored quite imperturbably, and that’s to be expected from a team as high level as Inarizaki
#haikyuu#haikyuu reactions#haikyuu season 4#haikyuu season 4 reactions#this reaction is a genuine mix of I-forgot-what-happened-in-the-manga and I'm-just-playing-coy
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i'm actually Terrified to ask this ngl, but ... lin?
First impression: “Ms Briggs???” But honestly god…..I loved Lin right from the beginning. I adooore stoic and abrasive female characters and the fact that she was an older woman who got to be, I guess, unmaternal endeared her to me right away. IIRC she really was the first notable woman in Avatar (excluding Hama because she got beat in one episode, and Kyoshi) over the age of like……20 that got to actually fight. She was such a gamechanging character for me honestly.
Impression now: I love u Stone Cold Metal Auntie…. Ms One Black Coffee… She’s another one of my favorite characters in all of Avatar, no surprise because I’m always drawn to characters with complex family relationships. I really want new Lin content so I hope she gets more prominent storylines in future comics 💚
Favorite moment: Ugh…when she tears up the Equalist airship even though she knows there’s a risk of getting captured… and then she does, and the subsequent scene where she sacrifices her bending. Those two scenes really solidified my love for her :’(
Idea for a story: YOUNG LIN. I really wanna see more about her childhood to young adult years. How it was growing up with Toph as a mother, her relationship with Tenzin, how the Gaang-kids interacted and what mischief they inevitably got up to together, more insight on her need to please Toph and the dynamic between the two of them and Su. Just a real deep dive into her psyche and relationships!
Unpopular opinion: Again I don’t think I have one.
Favorite relationship: This was a hard choice between Korra and Su, but I think Korra just narrowly wins out. They’re both such strong and forceful personalities, where it’s very easy to clash and they do, especially in Book 1. I love the gradual progression of Lin going from ‘turning up at a gala held in Korra’s honor solely to tell her she ain’t shit’ to becoming so caring and protective of her in Book 3. But I also have to include an honorable mention in Mako sdkfjsd.
Favorite headcanon: I loooove this headcanon I read recently that she’s always been very close to Zuko. That when she was a kid/teen she would go to him with questions and conversations she felt she couldn’t have with Toph. They could talk for hours about the pressures of following in your parent’s footsteps and trying to please them (whether they wanted you to or not), having parents who maybe weren’t all that present, having fraught relationships with terrors of little sisters, etc.
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Favorite skam skam france and wtfock moment?
hey! sorry for answering today but my brain hasn’t been working properly for this kind of question! anyway:
skam: i think ohn takes the first place, honestly i can’t imagine any remake ever beating it for me. everything was just so perfect, the build-up, timing, feelings, scenery, MUSIC and acting. it’s such a magical clip and so moving that i’m honestly in awe every time i watch it and get a whirlwind of emotions. the other moment that comes to my mind is sana and yousef’s date in ep4 with gunerius playing in the background!
skam france: how could i say something other than the piano scene? it was truly a gamechanger for me, before that i was just casually following the season, sometimes watching a clip when youtube recommended it for me, but how lucky i was i was on tumblr when that episode happened. i saw it... and something in my brain just clicked, i can’t even desrcibe the feeling i got but i just knew there was no going back for me. and thanks to it, here i am now.
wtfock: ejhfeuwfgueir good thing that wtfock’s s3 that i’ve watched was such a mess so it makes the good clips stand out and for me easier to know which one to choose. so, i absolutely loved the sinterklaas one, that warmth and happiness that was radiating from that clip ahh! i think it may be one of my favourite in the whole skam universe!
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Under Christmas’s Influence
Merry Christmas Sandy ( @tehgreeneyes )! I was fortunate enough to be your CS Secret Santa this year! I know we didn’t really talk much, but I really enjoyed what we did talk about. 12 Monkeys is now definitely on my to-watch list, with all the Googling I did to cameo it in here (I might have fallen into a vortex for a couple hours of distraction, but whatever). You said that one of your favorite tropes was fake!dating/engaged/married, so I wrote you a (not so) little fake!engaged Christmas story. I hope you don’t absolutely hate Hallmark Christmas movies, because that is where I drew a bit (aka a lot) of inspiration for this story. Merry Christmas!
(This is a long one, so you can read it on AO3 too in case it hurts your eyes.)
The call from his brother isn’t necessarily unexpected. It is Christmastime - the one time of year one starts reflecting on the past year and thinking about all the important people in one’s life. But since getting married last winter, shortly after Valentine’s Day, Killian’s barely heard from his brother or new sister-in-law. A postcard from the honeymoon, the occasional tag in a Facebook post, but otherwise, nothing.
It’s been difficult, he will admit, watching his brother go from bachelor to husband, but only in that selfish way where now Liam has to ask if he can accompany Killian on bar crawls or can’t make it to every football game during the season.
So when Liam does call as he walks in to his apartment after work one afternoon, Killian gladly answers it. It had been a long, trying day at work - depositions for most of the morning, then a conference call that lasted five hours with little time to eat or even use the restroom in between. Killian cannot wait to get out of his stuffy suit and tie, throw on his sweats, and watch T.V.
ESPN, he tells himself. There’s that important college game on tonight.
It’s a losing battle, though: it’s Christmastime, which means corny, completely unnecessary, totally unoriginal Christmas movies. The perfect remedy to the problems practicing the law could bring up.
Killian flips the light in his room on before immediately turning on the T.V. and muting it before answering his phone. He greets his brother just as some woman silently giggles at a man holding a dog.
Haven’t seen this one before.
“Little brother, my god, you are alive!” Liam says instead of hello.
“In the sense that I’m still alive and breathing, yes,” Killian quips back, putting his phone on speaker and proceeding to change out of his clothes. “Other than that, I’d hardly say I’m alive.”
Liam groans and Killian can just imagine his older brother slapping himself on the forehead. It’s his own fault, the sarcastic streak Killian has, though it does both of them wonders during certain situations, particularly during hard court cases.
While Killian chuckles, Liam’s groan transforms into a sigh. The change in mood is as unexpected as Liam’s phone call, but instead of asking about it, Killian lets the quiet ensue. If there’s one thing Killian’s learned about his big brother in his time on earth, it’s that, if something’s bothering Liam, he’ll say it.
So when Liam says, “I apologize for being an arse,” his younger brother can’t imagine what he’s managed to do wrong if they haven’t truly spoken in months.
“About what exactly, may I inquire?” Killian asks, changed and taking a seat at the edge of his bed. His eyes sort of glaze over as he stares at the screen. Another man’s face is contorted into some slimy smirk or grimace or something akin to that, looking after the woman with the puppy.
This plot would be so much simpler if I could hear what they were saying.
Killian fiddles with the remote, trying to find the button for subtitles or captions, while Liam continues. “I know I’ve been sort of…” he pauses just as the captions begin scrolling along the bottom of the screen, “neglecting you since I married.”
Shrugging, Killian reasons, “Your priorities have changed. You’ve got Belle now. All that marriage stuff. Honeymoons and thank you cards and on and on.”
“Yes, but you’ll always be my little brother.” This time, Killian groans, but it’s in the same way that he bemoans cheesy pickup lines and corny Christmas movie plots. It’s a sentiment he doesn’t exactly always feel this time of year, but when he does, it makes his heart grow like the Grinch’s.
“I’m still learning how to balance brotherhood with marriage, alright?” Liam says, his voice a bit gruffer. “So I’m sorry if I made you feel poorly. I never meant to.”
“Worry not, Liam. I’ve gotten used to it.”
His older brother scoffs. “Now don’t say that,” he says. “You really make me feel like a horrendous person.”
Killian barks out a laugh. “You said it, not me.” Dramatically, he flops back on his mattress, letting his muscles relax into the comfort. It really has been a long day.
“So what’s going on in your life?” Liam asks in a friendly manner. “What have I missed?”
Killian opens his mouth to answer - it’s been months, there really is too much to cover in a single phone call - but it shuts quickly when he hears a key in the lock of his front door. There’s only one person in the world who’s got his spare key to his place.
While losing Liam as his automatic plus-one to all social events was a bummer, Killian’s managed to find solace in his neighbor, one Emma Swan, who barged into his life quite suddenly and hasn’t really allowed him a moment to recover since.
Liam just doesn’t know that.
Not quite yet.
And with all the time he’s had to theoretically prepare for this moment, Killian hasn’t the slightest idea how to tell his brother that the most important thing he’s missed in the past months isn’t an event, but a person.
0000
He’d briefly seen her move in, just a couple days after returning to his apartment from Liam and Belle’s wedding festivities. The door next to his propped open with a box overflowing with shoes and the grunts and groans of furniture-moving from within were dead giveaways. Still tired and a bit hungover, Killian resolved to introduce himself later. Maybe after he’d had a thorough shower.
Very thorough. I’m pretty sure someone vomited on me during the morning-after brunch, he thinks. I can still feel the grime on me.
And that’s all the thought he spares this new neighbor of his. Killian goes about showering and returning to the land of post-Liam’s-wedding. It isn’t until two or three Sundays later that the new neighbor crosses his mind again.
Settling down on the couch, Killian takes a deep breath. 12 Monkeys is set to premiere in mere minutes - perhaps not the best attempt at unwinding before what’s promised to be another tough work week, but he can’t even ponder the idea of dodging spoilers. Too much stress.
His eyes slide shut and the next thing he knows, the opening notes of the theme music float through his ears. Killian opens his eyes, hoping they clear in time for him to catch all the intricacies this episode might offer.
And then the pounding starts.
Someone incessantly bangs at his front door. Everyone who’s anybody important enough to him knows not to interrupt him during this time of the week. So he tries to ignore it, just let the complexities of Dr. Railly and James Cole’s adventures take him away.
But the knocking won’t stop.
“They’ve just got the wrong apartment,” he mumbles to himself.
“Open the door, 312! It’s an emergency!” a woman’s voice shouts through the door.
Apparently not.
An emergency could mean a slew of things: broken bones, burning buildings, a mouse in the shower. But if it’s either of the first two, he doesn’t want the woman’s injury on his conscience for the rest of his life. And Liam did raise him to be a gentleman. It wouldn’t be chivalrous to let the mouse run all over this woman’s apartment if she really didn’t want it to.
Eyes still glued to the TV, Killian walks and opens the front door. The only way he can tell that the blonde hurricane that rushes by him is a person is the brush of hair against his arm and the aforementioned tone of voice.
“Excuse me,” he says, watching as she takes his seat on his couch to, what seems like, watch his T.V. “Can I help you?”
“My cable isn’t working and I heard the theme song through the walls.” Her words are direct, offering no other option except for the fact that she’s in his apartment during his show. Eyes on the screen, the woman pats the cushion next to her. “Close the door and sit the fuck down.”
And despite the fact that she’s the one that barged into his apartment, Killian does as she requests: a bit stunned, he shuts the door and ambles over to the couch, barely able to focus in on the show unfolding before them.
“Who are you?” he inquires, easing himself on to the cushion she’d indicated.
“311,” she replies.
“Lovely to meet you, 311. Is that the name - “
She shushes him, her hand waving next to him, gaze still intent on Cassie as she’s deep in conversation with some character Killian hadn’t even known existed. “Wait until commercials. Then talk.”
Again, Killian surprises himself by following her instructions. Between commercials, he manages to get a little more information out of her through hesitantly asked questions. Emma Swan, she says, apartment 311, moved in a month or so ago after escaping from bailbonds and getting something a little more efficient (and probably safer) in law enforcement.
But that’s all he gets that first night, aside from the few physical descriptors he gets from her profile. Otherwise, she’s silent, intent on trying to figure out the twists and turns the show keeps throwing at them. And, man, even as distracted as he is, even he can tell that this season is bound to be a gamechanger.
When the episode is finished, she quietly thanks him, a much different tone from earlier, and leaves his apartment with a completely changed demeanor. But just before his front door shuts between them, Killian sticks his foot in the jamb.
“Next week?” he asks. She - Emma - turns gently, eyebrow raised and eyes squinting at him with confusion. She’s wary, for some reason or another. Swallowing nervously, Killian repeats himself. “Would you like to come over for next week’s episode?”
Taking a step back, Emma’s tongue peeks out between her lips. “My cable should be fixed by then,” she says.
“Oh.” That’s a bit of a letdown. Then again, as he’s constantly had to remind himself tonight, she hadn’t really given him much to go on about her personal life except that her cable was out.
He’s always been up for a challenge, especially one as beguiling as the show that unintentionally brought them together. For now.
“Regardless, you’re more than welcome to come, Swan,” he tells her. Gesturing toward the door, Killian also suggests, “Perhaps knock a bit gentler next time.”
He watches Emma struggle to hold back a grin, her fingers wringing around each other. “Maybe,” is all she deigns for an answer. Her eyelashes flutter against her cheekbones and that’s not something Killian usually notices with anybody. With a silent nod, she takes the five or so steps back to her front door and goes back home.
Killian lingers in the doorway far longer than appropriate.
The next Sunday, he’s settling into the couch, ten minutes to showtime, when a much more hesitant knock sounds at his door. Killian can’t help the smile that crosses his face as he approaches the door.
When he opens it, Emma stands on the other side, both hands holding a plastic bag between then. When he glances down at it, she struggles to hold it up on display.
“Apology Chinese?” she says by way of greeting, her lower lip getting stuck between her teeth. Bringing the bag back toward the ground, she adds, “I’m sorry I forced myself into your apartment last weekend.”
Killian’s already shaking his head before she’s completed her thought. “Completely understandable,” he remarks. “The cable was down.”
Chuckling, Emma shuffles her feet. “I’m glad I’m not the only one who sees that as an emergency.”
It takes an exorbitant amount of time for Killian to stop nodding like the village idiot. But when he does, he takes a step back and waves her into his apartment. “Please, do come in,” he offers. “You made it just in the nick of time.”
And the rest, he likes to say, is history.
0000
“Killian!” The shout is followed by slam of the front door. “Killian, where are you? I need to complain to you about my day and then drink all your booze.”
He’s up quicker than he thought possible at this time in the evening. Killian slides down the hardwood floors into the living room, silently and frantically slicing his hand across his throat and mouthing shut up!
Emma just stares at him with befuddlement in her eyes. She briefly mimics his motions.
“Are you having a fucking stroke?” she asks, coming up to him. “What’s wrong with you?”
Bringing his phone down to his chest to cover the speaker, Killian whisper-shouts, “It’s my brother,” just as he can hear Liam on the other end of the line. His voice is muffled, of course, what with the shirt and all, but even from here, Killian can tell his brother’s tone is adamant and desirous of information.
Emma, on the other hand, is dumbstruck. Those green green eyes of hers are blown wide with surprise. She tiptoes away and sinks into the corner of the couch, pulling one of decorative pillows he threw on there when he first moved in a couple years ago into her lap and squishing it.
“Sorry,” she whispers, hiding the lower half of her face with the pillow, presumably trying to protect herself from the blush of embarrassment rising on her cheeks.
Killian sighs and shakes his head. He walks over behind the couch and rests his empty hand on the top of her head, running his fingers through the hair that catches there. When he finally puts his phone back to his ear, Killian just catches the tail end of Liam’s barrage of questions.
“Who was that, little brother?” Liam asks.
“No one,” Killian answers too swiftly. He feels pressure on his hand, Emma leaning into his hold, before she gets up and heads toward the kitchen.
Probably to start drinking that booze she mentioned, he thinks.
Liam catches his attention once more. “Killian, I can’t even see you and I know you’re lying through your teeth.”
Unconsciously, Killian’s hand raises and scratches at the skin behind his ear. “So?” he asks, his brother losing his focus as Emma finds whatever poison she was searching for and takes her seat back on the couch, cup in hand.
“So, I’m your older brother,” Liam explains. “You’ve got to tell me.”
“Have not.”
“Have so.” Liam doesn’t say anything for another moment before pleading, “C’mon, Killian.”
Sighing, Killian looks at Emma again. He’s not sure why he hasn’t told Liam about Emma yet, lack of communication in the past few months aside. It’s always been his little secret, almost - a secret friend who’s come to rely on him for alcohol and support and who knows what else.
Emma turns on the T.V. in the living room, already on the Hallmark channel from last night’s bad movie binge. She mutes it, but Killian doesn’t need the dialogue. It must be the end of the movie, the main characters standing at the end of a church aisle.
“It’s just…” he hesitates.
“Yes?”
He knows it’s going to be a mess before he even comprehends what he actually says. “My fiancée?” He winces, the ends of Emma’s hair making some sort of noise as they whip around on the back of the couch. Killian can feel her staring at him.
“Fiancée?” Liam repeats, sounding just as disbelieving as Killian is that he actually said it. Killian hums in agreement as Emma’s green eyes go impossibly wider. Liam, on the other hand, grumps. “Bring her...Him?” Killian rolls his eyes and replies her. “Her to Christmas Eve dinner. You guys can stay with Belle and I and we can have a real Christmas morning.”
Moaning, Killian walks around to the front of the couch and takes a seat beside Emma. His free hand comes to rest on her knee, a move she mimics in solidarity. “I don’t know, Liam,” he says. “I really wouldn’t want to intrude on Belle and yours first Christmas as husband and wife. You should have - “
“Nonsense!” his brother shouts. “Christmas is about family. We should spend it together.”
“I thought Thanksgiving was about family,” Killian scoffs.
“You and I both know we have no bloody clue about these American holidays. We like to - “
“Keep good form as we go.” Next to him, Emma chuckles. He’s been known to say the same phrase on occasion. “I know, brother.”
“I know you know. It’s my job to remind you sometimes.” On Liam’s end of the conversation, something arises in the background, a scuffling sort of noise. It’s probably Belle, Killian thinks, making dinner or coming in from work. Liam’s voice is muffled as he probably greets him.
“I’ve kept you too long, haven’t I?” Killian asks once the racket on the other side signals his brother’s back on the line.
“No, no, I called you, remember?” Liam says. “I’ll let you get back to your -” he pauses, making his voice more suggestive, “-.fiancée.”
“Thanks.” There’s something hard to swallow around in his throat. “I’ll see you for Christmas Eve dinner, I suppose.”
“Yes, both of you will,” Liam bids, his last phrase a subtle reminder, before hanging up and spending the evening with his wife.
Killian, on the other hand, groans and throw his phone on the coffee table. He rubs his hands against his face.
“Fiancée?” Emma says calmly. “Really?”
Killian shrugs, his face warming with embarrassment. “I’m really bad at thinking on my feet.”
“How is that possible? You lie for a living!” Emma flops back on to her spot on the couch, really too semantic for her own good.
“No I don’t.” It's a point of discussion since the inception of their friendship: in her experience, Emma's seen attorneys lie and lie and Killian tries really hard not to.
But sometimes…
“I just sometimes have to spin the truth in a different.” Emma glares at him. “Ugh, I don’t know.” He throws his hands up in the air, exasperated. “I was watching one of those bad Hallmark Christmas movies and I guess their subliminal messaging worked.”
Scoffing, Emma turns back to the T.V., where one of said movies comes to its joyful conclusion. As always, there's unnecessary confetti that's definitely going to kill the birds, but no one cares about that because it's a low budget T.V. film. “I’ll be sure to write a letter to the TV executives congratulating them,” she says drolly, finally unmuting the T.V. She sighs as the new movie starts, one he's already seen this season. “Well, what happens now?” She asks on another sigh.
Killian should've known. His Swan is nothing if not curious, if not nosy. But she was there, as she is nearly every night in any given week, and he knows he really should've asked her before blurring out the word fiancée as he did.
But where else is he going to find a fake fiancée in such a time crunch?
“What plans do you have for Christmas?” he inquires, hoping for a subtle reaction.
That's not the case, of course. Turning toward him slowly, Killian watches as Emma's eyes go wide as saucers, her brows raise high, and her jaw drops.
“Killian, you can’t be serious.”
“Swan, darling, what else are you going to do?” he reasons. “You’ve got an invitation to dinner on Christmas Eve and the guarantee that you’ll wake up to presents and stereotypical family warmth on Christmas morning.”
“I-I mean,” she stutters, jaw still dangling dangerously close to her breastbone. “Weren’t we going to get drunk Christmas Eve and sleep off the hangover Christmas day?”
Recoiling a bit, Killian raises a brow and asks, “We were?”
Emma shrugs, somehow digging herself further into the couch. She takes to holding the decorative pillow from earlier, a sure sign of her nerves. “We didn’t decide anything, but I figure it was the sort of thing we would do.” Looking furtively between him and the T.V., Emma shrugs again. “I was gonna suggest it after dinner tonight.”
“Well, we can do that at Liam’s,” he offers, playfully nudging her with his elbow. “We’ll have some drinks with dinner, have a nice time, then steal whatever from the liquor cabinet and down it all in the guest room in our pajamas.”
She rolls her eyes. “That can’t be good form.”
He doesn’t deign her an answer - not because it’s technically not good form, but for other reasons - and begins poking her on the knee. “Come with me,” he requests of her quietly. “You can meet Liam and Belle. It’ll be great.”
She’s quiet for a moment, her eyes on the male character as he ascends to a throne, before looking him dead in the eye.
“Promise?” she asks softly, her mouth partially hidden behind the pillow.
Killian nods solemnly. “Promise.”
0000
It’s been dark all day, clouds heavy with snow, but somehow, as Killian and Emma sit in her car in his brother’s driveway, Christmas Eve somehow seems to get darker.
“It’s kind of cold,” Emma mumbles, playing with the ring on her left hand. It’s fake, of course, but real enough to pass for an engagement ring. Or at least that’s what they’ve settled on. Killian dug it up from his pirate Halloween costume, and he spent a pretty penny on getting something real enough to fool adults more than children.
Works well for short notice, he thought.
“Yeah, it is.” They sit there for a moment longer, both lost in their respective thoughts, before Killian tsks. Reaching over the center console, he stills her nervous fiddling by taking her hand in his own. “You ready?”
Inhaling sharply and deeply, Emma nods slowly. “I can’t believe you talked me into this,” she says accusatorily.
“I can’t believe you agreed to it,” he quips back with a smirk. Killian doesn’t need to see her to know that she’s rolling her eyes. He unlocks his door and squeeze her hand once, hopefully transferring some courage from his palm to hers. “It’s going to be great.”
Emma scoffs, unlocking her door as well. “You better hope they’ve got some top shelf stuff in their cabinet.”
Killian chuckles as he steps foot outside the car, letting go of Emma’s hand to grab the bottles of wine they brought as gifts. “I should hope the same. Alcohol’s the only way to warm up after this cold,” he says over the roof of the car.
The wind blows up a terribly bitter breeze just as they walk up Liam and Belle’s front steps, leaving Killian and Emma to huddle up to each other.
“It’s fucking freezing!” Emma shouts over the wind.
“Try the door!” he replies. “It should be open.”
The next gust of wind ushers them into the starkly warm house. Both shaking off the breeze and the snow, they hang up their coats and rid themselves of their boots. Killian can smell some sort of meat roasting from the over, the scents wafting down the hallway with the Christmas music gently playing on the stereo.
“Hello?” Killian calls, draping his scarf over his jacket. “Liam?”
Liam’s head pop out from around an archway that must lead to the kitchen, for he’s decked out in a festive Santa apron. His smile is goofily wide, though Killian’s sure that there’s a grin as equally as absurd on his face.
Bloody hell, I did miss him.
“Little brother!” Liam shouts, much to Killian’s chagrin. He comes around the corner and embraces Killian in one of the tightest and, in his opinion, most unnecessary hugs in the history of the universe. “My god, it’s been eons.”
Killian can’t help but belt out a laugh as he slaps his older brother on the back. “I saw you at your wedding,” he reminds Liam.
“Really?” Pulling back, the look on Liam’s face makes him seem a lot duller than Killian knows he is. But then he lights back up, in the present instead of the past now, as Belle comes into the room. “Then it has been too long, Killian.”
Moving around his brother, Killian takes his sister-in-law into his arms. “Belle,” he pauses to buss her on the cheek, “radiant as always.”
“Why, thank you,” she says, color rising on her cheeks. She blinks a few times before her eyes focus behind Killian, on to Emma. He’s nearly forgotten she’s there, she’s unusually quiet.
But Belle, ever the people person and general lovely lady that she is, immediately takes to her, stepping forward and offering her a friendly smile. “You must be Killian’s fiancée.”
“Yeah,” Emma chokes out, her voice decidedly soft and watery. “I’m Emma.” Awkwardly, Emma sticks her hand out. Instead, Belle goes in for the hug, Emma’s hand getting caught between their chests. Killian hears her quietly go, “Oof, a hug.”
“I’m sorry,” Belle says automatically, taking a step back subconsciously into Liam’s hold. “Do you not do hugs? I should’ve asked first. I’m sorry, I’m just excited that we’re going to be family.”
And that’s something that neither Killian nor, he’d bet to say, Emma had thought about. Sure, they can pretend that they’re going to get married, say that they incredibly happy and in love, but the idea of being family…
It’s not one of the angles they thought of, he can safely say that. And, from what he know of Emma’s past and the skeletons in her closet, he’s afraid the mere fathom of it might trigger her into quitting the whole charade.
But Belle, bless her, isn’t privy to Killian’s inner monologue, and moves on to the next thought. Addressing Emma, she says with a chuckle, “I don’t know if Killian’s the same way, but I know Liam is a handful more often than not.”
Liam pulls her closer into his chest. “Now, darling, I resent that sentiment,” he chides her lovingly.
Their little exchange, apparently, gives Emma enough time to reboot and get over whatever turmoil she might be experiencing internally. “Hugs are fine,” she tells Belle, her voice a little stronger than when introducing herself. “I was just surprised. It’s been…” She licks her lips, and glances up at Killian for a tick. “Well, it’s been a while since someone greeted me that way.”
“To be honest, Emma, I’m not surprised,” Liam replies. Looking to his wife, he adds, “Did I tell you, Belle, when I called Killian, the only way I knew about Emma’s existence was because the front door slammed and she yelled at him?”
Killian’s arm goes around Emma’s shoulders, mimicking his brother because that’s what engaged couples do, right? “Frankly I deserved it.”
“He did,” Emma agrees, finally cracking a smile. And then, surprisingly Killian, she places a hand on his chest, looking up at him with a weird glimmer in her eyes, one he’s never really seen in her before. “But he’s still the best part about coming home, and he knows that and accepts that I am a very loud person.”
“I do.” Something about that look of hers keeps him from sarcastically remarking that she can be incredibly loud without even trying. It shakes him because, for some reason or another, her glance reminds him of the way his brother looks at his wife.
Shaking the thought from his brain, Killian turns back to Liam. “So dinner?” he asks. To Emma, he says, “I don’t know about you, love, but I am starved.”
“Seconded,” Emma agrees.
Liam and Belle usher them into the kitchen where the final timer goes off. Liam pulls a ham from the oven and Belle mixes them their first drinks of the evening. That easily leads into dinner, where Killian finds himself glancing at Emma, his excuse being that he wants to make sure she’s having a good time. By the way she laughs hysterically at Liam’s tales of their childhood and keeps whispering to Belle next to her, Killian believes that she is.
A couple times during the meal, he finds his hand wandering over to her knee, exerting slight pressure, silently asking her if she really is doing okay. She always responds with a complementary squeeze, and when her hand lingers there more often than not, Killian tries to focus on literally anything else occurring at that specific moment in time.
By the time the dishes are drying and the leftovers are packed away for lunch tomorrow, Emma’s happily tipsy and Killian’s well on his way to joining her. Liam tells them they’ll have to share the guest bed, but neither of them take issue with it. It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve fallen asleep together in close quarters.
Killian manages, though, to keep up his end of the bargain. After bidding Liam and Belle a goodnight and merry Christmas, he nabs two bottles of rum from the liquor cabinet and sneaks them into the guest room, where he finds Emma laying on the bed, flipping through the T.V. channels. She throws the remote to the end of the mattress when her search lands on the Hallmark Channel.
“For someone who enjoys complaining about the subject matter, you’re always quick to find them,” he says over the click of the door closing.
“I get it,” she states as he hands over a bottle. She pops the top and takes a healthy swig.
“Get what, love?” he inquires.
“The bad movie thing,” she says with a roll of her eyes, as if that’s been the topic of discussion for the past two hours and not the last two seconds. Pointing toward the screen, she explains. “Escape. Even though he sent her back home and banished her from Aldovia or wherever, you know he's going to go find and her and they're going to be happy.” On a sigh, Emma settles her head into the pillow. “It's nice.”
It’s so outside of Emma’s realm to be as serious as she is right now. Killian smiles softly at her, joining her on the bed. “I'm glad you finally see that.”
Just as it’s seemed she’s gotten comfortable, Emma swiftly stands, digs through her overnight bag, and goes off into the bathroom with her pajamas. Killian watches the movie as she changes, trying to pick up on the plot points he’s missed and occasionally taking a drink of rum.
When Emma comes back in the room, her daytime clothes balled up in her arms, she announces, “I don't have a family.”
It’s not necessarily out of left field, what with all the talk of Liam and Belle’s wedding and their fake impending nuptials over the dinner table, but Killian’s still a tad surprised by her statement. He doesn’t say anything, though: just allows her to continue at her own pace.
“I was bounced from foster home to group house until I aged out,” she explains, setting her clothes atop her bag. “There were so many kids that none of the adults particularly cared about the holidays.” Coming back to bed, Emma curls up beneath the covers, her voice growing quiet. “And when I grew up, I took to ordering Chinese food and watching these bad movies and the old stop motion ones all night.” She scoots closer to him, her eyes never leaving the T.V. screen. “This is the first Christmas I won't spend alone.”
Killian’s always known her life to be a little harsher than she deserved, but never quite that bad. There’s a hint of that emotion from earlier, the one that made him feel things, linger in her eyes, and he can’t help himself: gently, he brushes some stray strands of hair from her face, his hand staying on her cheek. “Then we're going to make this the best Christmas ever, Swan.”
“It already is,” she sighs happily, looking up at him. “I'm here with you.”
He leans down and kisses her forehead before crawling under the covers himself. Emma’s head ends up on his chest halfway through the movie, the rum forgotten on the nightstands, and they’re both asleep before the prince even proposes.
0000
Killian wakes up shortly after sunrise, head pounding with a headache. He stumbles to the bathroom for aspirin and water and brings back enough for both of them. Popping a few too many drugs, Killian takes a large swig of water to wash them down, and settles back in bed, hoping to get a few more hours. If there’s one Christmas present he’s not going to take for granted, it’s the chance to have a lie in.
Especially when an innocent Emma flips over and snuggles into him, sleep warm. And though her sigh airs on the side of dreamy, Killian can’t say the same for her morning breath. He’s casually choking on tainted air when she rouses.
“What time?” she asks, still half asleep.
“Too early,” Killian says, dragging his hand down her back to try and lull her back into unconsciousness. “Go back to sleep, Swan.”
“But Christmas,” she grumbles.
“It’ll still be Christmas when you wake up,” he assures her. But her breath’s already evening out, and she’s fast asleep less than a minute later.
0000
When they both wake to the sounds of pans clanging in the kitchen a few hours later, Killian feels a lot better. His head isn't killing him anymore, his mouth no longer tastes like cotton, and he's still got a Swan in his hold.
For now.
“You're so fucking hot, get off me,” she grumbles, pushing him wearily, her eyes still closed.
“It's so kind of you to say so,” Killian quips back, holding her even tighter. “I find you to be quite attractive as well.”
Emma groans and shoves his face away. She rolls over and scoots to the very edge of her side of the bed. “You know what I fucking mean.”
Killian sidles in behind her, careful when he threads his arm across her hip and waist. “I do,” he murmurs behind her ear, “but it's Christmas, so your words of malice mean nothing.”
She says something else that her pillow exclusively hears, but then she's sliding out of bed and toward the bathroom.
“If it's Christmas, then we better get started,” she says before closing the door. “The sooner it's over with, the sooner I can be mean to you again.”
Chuckling, Killian shouts through the door, “I like you even when you're yelling at me!”
Emma pokes her head and shoulders out the bathroom door.
“I'm not yelling,” she says matter of factly. “I'm simply expressing my opinion in an angry and slightly elevated tone.”
Once taken care of, Killian and Emma shuffle into the living room to find Belle curled up in a corner of the couch, sipping from a mug.
“Merry Christmas, You two,” she greets them quietly.
“Merry Christmas, Belle,” Emma says in return. “Where's your Jones?”
Belle giggles and tilts her behind back to the kitchen. “He wanted to put some cinnamon rolls in the oven to bake while we opens presents,” she explains.
“Always thinking ahead,” Killian remarks as his brother walks into the room.
“Ah, the lovebirds have awoken.”
“I could say the same for you.”
They exchange gifts - nothing to big or mind blowing. Liam gives Killian his annual pair of socks. Emma and Belle, it seems, thought along the same wavelength, exchanging candles and lotions meant for a relaxing home-spa day. Nobody changes out of their pajamas - too busy eating leftovers and watching classic Christmas movies - until Killian regretfully reminds Emma that they have to drive back home tonight.
“Some of us have to work early tomorrow morning,” he tells her jokingly.
“It’s not my fault your field likes to start their day at 8am,” she gests back.
By the time they say their final goodbyes and merry Christmases to Liam and Belle, it’s dark again, though thankfully not snowing. And when Killian drops Emma’s overnight bag at her doorstep, he can’t quite believe they made it through the holiday.
“Thanks for playing into my fantasy,” he says, surprising himself by how shy he sounds. They’ve spent the better part of the last 48 hours together pretending to be head over heels in love with one another, and now is the part where he begins to be scandalized by the matter? How curious indeed.
“Thanks for giving me the part.” Searching beneath her feet for the answers to life’s greatest questions - or at least that’s what he assumes she’s doing, she staring so intently - Emma scuffs at the floor. Unlike his apartment, she’s got a welcome mat, a little dinky, but still as welcoming as the word written across it. She kicks at it before she inhales deeply. “This might be a bit of a surprise, but that’s probably the best Christmas I’ve ever had in my life.”
“So you said,” Killian says with a chuckle, sticking his hands into his coat pockets. Then he admits quietly, “Me too.”
Her eyes light up, that same emotion bright behind her fluttering eyelashes. “Really?”
Killian shrugs. “The company was above average this year.”
“Aw shucks.” She kicks at the mat again. “Hey, um...” And then she stops herself from continuing.
“Yeah?”
Her right hand is cradling her left as Emma looks at the costume ring on her finger. His gaze falls to it as well. It’s just a silly fake pirate ring, and yet seeing it on her finger, knowing that it belonged to him only a day ago, does something that he suspects looks a lot like the little glimmer that keeps showing up in her eyes.
“I know I should probably give you this back,” she says, “but, um...”
“Keep it,” he says without hesitation. “It's part of your Christmas present.”
Emma shakes her head, already starting to pull the ring off her finger. “You've already given me so much and I just…”
“You've been perfect,” Killian interrupts her. He takes her hand in his and holds it tightly, effectively stopping her from removing the ring. And then, surprising himself, Killian adds, “Since the day you barged into my life and demanded to watch 12 Monkeys.” His tongue runs along his teeth, contemplating the idea formulating in his mind. “But...”
“But?” she repeats.
“If you feel so inclined to thank me...” His sentence drifts off, leading him to raise his finger and tap it to his lips.
Rolling her eyes so hard Killian fears they might get stuck that way, Emma says, “Oh my god, are you serious?”
Killian shrugs again, bringing his hand back into his pocket. “I said if you were inclined.”
“Please, you couldn't handle it,” she says quickly.
“Perhaps you're the one who couldn't handle it,” he quips back easily.
And before he knows it, Emma’s pressed against him, chest to chest, her hands pulling harshly on the lapels of his jacket. He’s jettisoned forward, his lips to hers, in what’s probably the least expected kiss in his life and possibly the lives of everyone else in their apartment building.
It’s also probably the single best thing to ever happen to him, romantically-inclined or otherwise.
Emma doesn’t step away once she’s done with him, merely comes down from her tiptoes with a heavy breath. “Only one way to find out, right?” Her voice sounds wrecked, her tongue coming out to lick what’s left of him on her lips. Then she lets him go and takes a step back. “Why don't you drop your stuff off and we can see how much we can actually handle together?” she suggests.
Raising a brow, Killian smirks. “Challenge accepted.” He grabs his bag from where it’s fallen to the floor and can’t help himself when he leans over and presses his lips to hers swiftly once more. “I’ll be over in a few minutes.”
He leaves her unlocking her front door to enter his own apartment, throwing his bag on the couch and beelining it toward his room. There’s dirty laundry to do and he should probably just go to bed because he does have to go to work in the morning, but the opportunity presented to him is just too good an offer to pass up and he can’t be sure that it’ll still be there come morning.
I hope it is, Killian thinks as he pulls on his sweatpants.
But then there’s banging on the other side of his bedroom wall, insistent and forceful and she’s never done that before. Something must be wrong. Throwing on another shirt and forgoing shoes altogether, Killian rushes over to her apartment, knocking equally as hard on her front door.
Emma’s smiling when she flings the door open.
“What's wrong?” he asks, confused by the conflicting information he’s receiving.
“Killian, the Hallmark movie with the dogs!” she shouts at him.
Shaking his head, Killian squints. “Yes, what about it?”
She points toward her living room. “It's on!” Taking his hand, Emma drags him into her apartment, her pleading eyes doing a number on his stomach. “Can we watch it and or have it on in the background?”
He sighs as the screen comes into view. It’s the beginning of the movie, so they can watch it in its entirety and laugh about it together. “I suppose we can wait,” he relents, allowing Emma to sit him down on the couch. He, in turn, wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her legs over his lap. “But I'm not taking my eyes or hands off you for a moment.”
“Good,” she says with a smirk of her own. “I'd despair if you did.”
She tucks her head in the space between his neck and shoulder and something settles, warm and happy, in Killian’s chest.
If Killian had to think of one word to encompass this Christmas, he'd have to settle on unexpected. From his brother’s phone call to his and Emma's fake engagement, the last thing he thought this holiday would end with was him and Emma cozied up on his couch, curled around each other while watching a cheesy Christmas movie.
(And if they don't make it to the triumphant end in order to create their own, then sue him. Sometimes Hallmark movies have to write themselves.)
#csss#captain swan secret santa#cs ff#cs au#fake!engaged#ALSO CHRISTMAS FLUFF#ouat#my words#storytime#this is easily the longest one shot ive written ever#its over 7k#i was worried it wasnt going to get done in time#BUT IT DID#MERRY CHRISTMAS SANDY#i feel like i neglected you as a secret santa#im sorry#i hope you enjoy this!
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Better Call Saul - S3Ep9: “Fall”
TV reviews? Yep. This is something I’ve wanted to try for a while and I figure I should start with one of my favorite shows currently on air. So here ya go.
“Who needs money when you’ve got the moral high ground?”
A lot happens in “Fall”. To a lesser show, this can be detrimental. Sometimes we need breathing room to process everything that happens, and piling on too many stories can make an episode feel exhausting.
But this is Better Call Saul. They know the perfect amount of plot that won’t overwhelm the audience, but will also make sure they feel they got more than their money’s worth. Plus, at this point in the series, we’ve all come to love (or hate, or love-hate) the characters so much that every little thing they do is delightful to watch, even if it’s something mundane, or something we know is wrong.
We all love watching Jimmy do his thing, right? He’s the good guy! Okay then. So even if he makes an adorable old lady lose all her friends and start to break down crying at a bingo hall just so he can swipe a quick 1 mil off of her settlement money, you’re still gonna root for him? Yeah. Exactly. When he got her the shoes, I was still on board. When he was gossiping to her friends, I was still on board. Even when he rigged the bingo game, I was still reluctantly on board. But when Irene ran off crying and he starts acting dumb to get her to settle, I was pretty much completely off the Jimmy train. Sure, he did it for Kim too, but he did that thing he always does where he assumes Kim will want a solution to their problems no matter the cost. I’m sure Kim would flip her shit if he found out about what he did to Irene. Seriously, I don’t know what it is about old ladies crying, but it was genuinely hard to watch. It just sucks to know that, even when you get up to the silver years, bullies are still real and friends can still abandon you like we’re all back on the playground in 4th grade. Fuck you for that one, Jimmy. You may as well already be Saul Goodman.
Of course, Jimmy isn’t the only reprehensible character. Chuck once again continues to be nothing but a liability for everyone in his life. After Howard oh-so-gently suggests that he retire, Chuck makes the very logical decision to throw another one of his signature hissy-fits and sue the whole friggin’ company. I’m with Howard on this one; “God damn it, Chuck.”
Strangely enough, Howard becomes the voice of reason in this episode, not only attempting to get Chuck to be reasonable, but also telling off Jimmy for his greed and selfishness in the Sand Piper case. See, that’s what is so exciting about this episode. Now that he’s truly shown his dark side, I suddenly have a whole new perspective on Jimmy, and therefore a new perspective on his rivals. Just one episode ago, I was all gung-ho for Jimmy and was totally anti-HHM. And while Chuck is still the literal worst, I find myself rooting for Howard now.
He’s not the only one I’m rooting for though. There’s still Kim, and I will always love Kim. She is a dedicated, no-nonsense worker, as well as a good friend to Jimmy even when he doesn’t deserve it, which is more often than not. Her one flaw, of course, is also how dedicated she is. Her need to get her work done both well and quickly is often unhealthy, and we get to see that unhealthiness come back to bite her as she literally crashes and burns. The scene with her car getting stuck in the dirt kinda washed over me when I first watched it, but the final shot retrospectively turned it into a brilliant bit of foreshadowing. Kim is always on the edge of of losing control of her life. She works herself nearly to death and, while she is an excellent lawyer, she has to slow down if she ever wants to live a normal life.
There have been gunfights, beatdowns, and all kinds of violent scenes in Better Call Saul, but Kim’s car crash may be the most harrowing and visceral shot they have pulled off yet. They hold the camera on Kim just long enough for the audience to think that maybe something bad is gonna happen, but before it’s certain, they pull the trigger and cut to a bloodied Kim, zooming out to reveal all her hard work getting lost in the Albuquerque wind. It’s sad, but it’s also kind of amazing.
Besides that, we get Mike facing Lydia (ugh) for a “position” at Madrigal and Hector, unfortunately for Nacho and his father, not dying of a heart attack. Both subplots are very simple, but they’re still solid, and combined with the near perfection of the other storylines, “Fall” is a total gamechanger character-wise, and may just be the best episode of the season. Next week is the season finale, and my god I am so excited. So many new conflicts, so much character growth, and so many possibilities for an insane cliffhanger to lead us into season 4. Next Monday can’t come soon enough.
Shot of the week - I will never get over that car crash sequence. Ever.
Quote of the week - Jimmy’s ad libs on the bingo ball numbers are always a delight. They start clever (“B9. Let’s hope that biopsy comes back be-nign.”) but eventually he kinda runs out of steam (”It’s B12...like the vitamin.”)
Performance of the week - I have to hand it to Michael Mondo for Nacho’s gut punch of a scene with his father. Combined with last episodes fantastically tense pill switch, Mondo is really starting to show off his chops. I also want to shout out to Kim for her performance in the crash scene. Literally everything about that sequence was perfect.
Extra notes: Jimmy wants Kim to stay at the office another 5 minutes, and suggest she could drive 60 instead of 55 to make it there at the same time. First off, would that work? Secondly, if Kim had stayed the 5 minutes and then had driven faster to get there, she may not have survived the crash. Damn.
- Sooo, did the pills not work? Did Hector take different pills? I need answers now! I don’t want Nacho to die. Please. He’s the new Jesse honestly. I hope the reason he’s not in Breaking Bad is because he gets out of the business and not because he bites the dust. Get out while you can, Nacho!
- The Madrigal employee who speeds by on a segway is a prime example of those little details that make me adore this show.
- I have to know: Is mall walking a real thing old people do? Oh and is chair yoga a real thing too? I’m very out of touch with the elderly community. Someone on the inside lemme know.
- My first TV review! How did I do? Should I grade these or no? Lemme know.
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qb’s Mid-Season Reviews (Spring 2017)
Now that we’re at the halfway point for the season, I wrote some blurbs on my favorite and least favorite shows from the Spring 2017 season that I’ve watched so far. They’re loosely ranked by how much I’d recommend each anime, and go over the apparent strengths and weaknesses of each one. My favorites are the mostly the same as I speculated from the start of the season, but some of them didn’t turn out so great. These are what I’d say are easy recommendations:
Alice & Zoroku
weaknesses - Alice & Zoroku has a tendency to be slightly maudlin, prone to a few tonal swings, and its necessary double-length first episode can be an obstacle. Additionally, it’s on the darker side of magical girls, and although it isn't defined by violence, it doesn't hold back in portrayals of cruelty, even when it probably should.
strengths - It pulls off a Nanoha-style combination of sci-fi and magical girls, and successfully balances high emotional peaks. Sana discovering the world and integrating into Zoroku's family in turn raises the stakes for the magical battles which threaten her new family. Zoroku the grumpy florist is a straight-up boss, and his role in the story as a grounded role model is both innovative and a perfect fit for this style of magical girl anime.
Grimoire of Zero
weaknesses - Grimoire of Zero is a pretty conventional high fantasy on the surface, and if there’s one major flaw it’s how the magical action scenes tend to read like a novel, with lots of flashy lights and words but not much actually happening.
strengths - It handles an incredibly precarious fantasy world filled with dangerously heavy topics like witch burning, slavery, complex magical rulesets, mass murder, sanctioned killings, and political tensions with aplomb in a remarkably natural way. It also has character relationships that are just as natural and incredibly endearing that serve to balance learning about the brutality of the fantasy world, but manages to never feel out of place. Although Grimoire of Zero is certainly conventional, its incredible tact with extreme topics and naturalistic writing are rare qualities for the genre anime fans are probably the most tired of.
Tsuki ga Kirei
weaknesses - It’s a very conventional school life heterosexual romance, and although it’s a modern take, it still has those limitations. It uses a lot of 3DCG for crowd shots that tends to stand out when you notice it, but that’s a rising trend that we’ll get more used to over time until we’ll hardly notice it at all. Maybe.
strengths - Tsuki ga Kirei is particularly strong at making conventional romance tropes interesting through a modern lens of smartphones in a way that keeps the show fresh and relevant. Contrasting to the crowd shots, it features extremely detailed and personal character animation where it counts, seemingly animated on the ones at times. It’s very good at what it does, plus the gag clips at the end of each episode about the side characters are really funny and good for relieving drama.
Seikaisuru Kado: The Right Answer
weaknesses - Kado uses an ambitious style of 3D/2D animation that’s kind of distracting, and it can’t seem to decide if it’s going for the tone of a slow-paced live action drama or a traditional anime style, and kind of mixes both. Plot-wise, its resolutions to world-changing problems are a bit too simple and notably Japan-centric.
strengths - Kado showcases a fascinatingly hard sci-fi and sociopolitical thriller without the mandatory robots or war you’d expect, and provides the kind of story that you would never normally see in anime. It’s designed to be way up the alley of theoretical physics nerds and succeeds at that with its gigantic space cube. Toei has touched on an interesting well with the themes of negotiation and dilemmas and has chosen an ambitious and unique style to explore them in.
CUBE
ORB
ORB FROM CUBE
Unfortunately, some of the shows I had early hopes for haven’t delivered, and some of them belong in the Poo Poo Garbage:
Atom: The Beginning
strengths - Atom (prequel to Mighty Atom aka Astro Boy) has an Amazingly animated OP sequence, straight up one of the best segments of animation I've seen all year. It also features intricately designed robots and creative mechanical movement that has been fun to watch.
weakness - The humans are very boring, static, and ugly, and are a majority of the show’s runtime. There’s a serious lack of enthusiasm with anything that involves things that aren’t robots and it sucks all the life out of the show, ironically.
Twin Angel BREAK
strengths - The magical girl transformations and OP look good, and it's funny in a broad sense that it was made and continues to exist.
weaknesses - There’s almost nothing notable about Twin Angel BREAK (Twin Angels BREAK) at all, its comedy consists of extremely obtuse jokes that don't work, and it’s even significantly less interesting than the adult-oriented slot machine version that has heavy fanservice because this one doesn't even have that appeal. It also loses the sole strength of the Twin Angel series by having laughably terrible fight choreography that rarely looks passable. I expected Twin Angel BREAK to be either amazing or entertainingly bad and it has done neither. Twin Angel BREAK has no weaknesses its good actually
Hinako Note
strengths - Hinako Note is generally pretty funny for a moe girls in a club show, and features endcards that reference famous movies and stories that are cute and good.
weaknesses - It does not stay funny, in fact the jokes run dry very quickly. There’s a distinct gap between portraying the same characters as hyper-sexualized and chibi multiple times in the same scene that is extremely disconcerting and inconsistent. On top of that, the fanservice that is there is horrendously inappropriate in all senses of the word, sexualizing characters that are FAR too young even for the nearly nonexistent standards of moe anime, and even when the girls aren’t disturbingly young it always feels really out of place every single time they go for it. This extends to some of the endcards, which are usually cute and clever but occasionally fetishistic and gross. I’ve never seen an anime’s tiny, insignificant problems fester into absolute dealbreakers as quickly as Hinako Note managed to.
Overall, this season seems to be as strong on average as any other season, but lacks the punch of the seasons we’ve had lately, with crazy projects like Flip Flappers, Yuri on Ice, Rakugo Shinjuu, Scum’s Wish, and even Kemono Friends. Kado seems to be ambitious, but possibly in the wrong direction, and everything else that’s good tends to build off of established conventions. We might have been spoiled with unconventionally successful anime from the last year, and it certainly doesn’t mean this season is bad, but it’s looking like the original anime of Spring 2017 will be overshadowed by the gamechangers we’ve enjoyed recently, and the concurrent sequels to anime everyone already knows are good.
-magical girl liker qb @queuebae
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The Fake RWBY Volume 4 or Writing Issues and Pacing
Volume 4 of RWBY ended. We saw our favorite team being split through entire world and embarking onto journeys in entirely different continents, interacting with different characters. Yet for the scope the Volume 4 undertook, There’s a surprising lack of substance. Or Should I say, surprising lack of NEW substance.
Now many who followed my posts might have an inkling of thought on why I chose Ruby with the map as a opener picture to this post. Whether you do or not, let me tell you a tale about Volume 4, the Volume that as far as Narrative and Characters are concerned could as well not exist. In fact if we look from character point of view it literally does not exist. Why?
A long wall of text accompanied by images, charts and schemes waits you after the cut.
Introduction - Too Much Cause Not Enough Effect
Now to start talking about volume 4 first we need to remember where Volume 3 ended up.
I doubt anyone would try to contradict me in saying that Volume 3 ending was a game-changer. The core four characters were thrown out of comfort zones and out of their normal routines being supposedly forced to confront things they were running away from.
I mean Yang literally lost an arm and fell into depression, Weiss was forced to confront her abusive father, Ruby's whole worldview crumbled and Blake felt guilty that Yang got hurt and ran. That’s gamechanger, by definition. The old setting falls apart, characters die, the main characters are thrown into four different directions. This is perfect point to DO SOMETHING with those characters right? There’s so many tragedies piling up in their lives that htey can’t simply run away, right? The very basic narrative structure would require them to face what happened. I mean YANG LOST AN ARM, how do you ignore that?
What’s more the characters are split up into separate groups, meaning giving character focus should be EASIER now, right?
And yet beyond Weiss struggle against her abusive family, Volume 4 fails to address any of what happened. Its like Ruby and the map. You can see her walking episode by episode, but they are still in the same forest road, as if walking still. And that term describes the problem with this Volume.
Walking Still - Or Going in Circles
The show is stuck. Volume 3 presented lots of cause for changes, yet there’s no effect to be found. There are some tries to shake up the status uo but ultimately the characters are either sitting still or walking in circles, retreading the old ground, walking down the paths that narrative and the writers seemingly forgot already having taken the characters through before.
Now to explore why Volume 4 ultimately is pointless and disappointing, let’s look at the journey of each of the four main characters and the writing issues that exist in each of the plotlines.
Ruby Rose - A story drowned out by white noise
Now Ruby had the best set up and most potential from where Volume 3 left off. Her worldview was shattered to pieces, two of her friends died in front of her eyes with her unable to save them. She was destroyed mentally by everything that happened. Again, I wrote abut her characterization before many times so I wont clog this up with that. Perfect set up that any capable writer would say needs to be followed through. You don’t put the characters through such issues and shrug it off.
And Writers do seem to remember that. Ruby is clearly not okay. She is suffering. And yet while Plot is realizing that, the narrative itself is willing to shy away from it because of how screentime in Ruby’s scenes is structured. To start talking abut that one has to use the terms of Narrative Foreground and Narrative Background.
Narrative Foreground is the main stage of Now and Here plot storytelling, where events are happening.
Narrative Background are where the meaning to the said events are assigned, where characterization sits, where character depth comes, where the author delivers clues and information about HOW Characters are and how it relates to what is going on.
If we are to visualize Ruby scenes via these concepts this is what we get:
Ruby and Jaune both share a role in the foreground, participating in the events, however when it comes to Narrative Background, Ruby’s characterizatin is drowned out. When it comes to character focus, Jaune and the rest are getting it far more than she. Ruby is relegated to observer role which is ridiculous considering the build-up.
For 12 episodes all we really see of her are some clues that she is not okay told via foreground and then her just either looking at others or at the map.While others around her are getting active proper development and focus
The flaw with writing of Ruby’s character this volume is possibly best showcased by Volume 4 Chapter 10. Namely the scene which starts with Ruby Opening up for the first time in the volume:
This is a perfect way to segue into exploring how SHE feels, perfect opening for that and yet Narrative does not allow her that:
In a single split second moment the focus shifts away from developing HER and how SHE FEELS to developing how OTHERS feel. In a single moment the scene that starts as a chance to develop her as a character and give some needed and albeit very late development to her. Yet we do not get that. Its crazy but she is literally an observer in a scene ABOUT HER. And in turn we learn more about what Jaune thinks about the journey and what is going on and what Ruby must be going through than how Ruby herself feels. Mind you this is literally the only scene till the finale that bothers even addressing Ruby’s emotional state and characterization. That’s it.
In whole Volume Four Ruby exists as solely an element in development of OTHERS. She is a backdrop element for Jaune’s development and then she is backdrop element for Ren and Nora’s journey and story. And any capable writer would be pulling their hair out of frustration when thinking about the complete lack of follow-up to what happened and waste of PROTAGONIST this way.
Weiss - The Star of the Volume 4
I am not joking when I say that Weiss is easily the upper-limit of writing quality of this volume. Not only she gets logical follow-through from where she edded up i n Volume 3 but her story does not feel as disjointed and fits her character and respects her character.
Yet her storytelling as logical as it is is not without issues. Hilariously the issues with the overall season structure and with other characters hurt her own story, because as insane as it sounds, Show just does not have the time to give proper screentime to volume’s most coherent storyline and is more interested in showing others walking still.
The thing that trips up Weiss story i s how disjointed it is. We are jumping forward in time an unclear amount of weeks each time she gets screentime. One chapter she learns about the upcoming charity concert. The next? Oh look its suddenly week latter and she is in it already singing. So while her overall characterization is continuous and makes sense, the viewer has to fill in blanks on actual plot that is going on, from which her storyline suffers. The show never tries to establish Atlas beyond the charity event and the abusive father and brother. The show never bothers to set the tone of what is going on because it is frantically struggling to use the screentime to do that in the other stories that have NOTHING going on. In turn Weiss interesting stay at home and confrontation with her issues feels incomplete, because Show jumps away from showing it.
Which hilariously is the opposite of a problem with the plotlines of last two members of team RWBY
Blake - And Walking in Circles through Old Paths
I have to admit, at first I was confused and intrigued that my guess about Blake deciding to take over White Fang because of Yang getting hurt was incorrect. I was intrigued on where the show could take her and what kind of plot will she have at home. And yet as volume progressed, I was less and less excited for it.
Because I realized I am watching a weird Rerun of TheStray/Black and White with show having forgotten it happened already.
I am conflicted at deciding what could be the possible reasons of what they did with Blake this volume. Did they just have no idea what to write for her?
volume starts off with inventing an issue. An issue Blake already faced, an issue about running away. Volume ends with resolving that issue. Again.
Its just redundant. If I were to put whole Volume 4 Blake story into a scheme of narrative structure I would have something like this:
Let me ask you, what is the point of the red rectangle elements?
For Blake? NONE. We are retreading the ground already walked with her character towards the same outcome that is already possible. She walks full circle to where she was at the end of Volume 3. None of what happened in Volume 3 is addressed. Not in any time in the story does Blake address what happened to Yang. The most you get is vague friends speech(which goes against Volume 3 having singled out Yang in terms of Blake narrative) which is LITERALLY A COPY FROM Volume 1 Finale. You could start Volume 4 with where Blake is at the end of it and nothing would be lost.
The only one “benefiting” from it is Sun because this whole detour literally is there to place importance on him. I say “benefiting” in quotation marks because there’s no benefit to him as a character. In fact problematic and creepy behavior of his here feels out of character and weird. Its a disservice to him as a character, it does not develop him and it just (rightfully so) paints a target on him because of his character giving off wrong vibes in the story.There’s a scary dissonance between what writers seem to WANT us to view Sun as and how they write it. Because stalking and disrespect for personal boundaries is “charming and cool’ y’all. It literally accomplishes nothing beyond placing importance on a character with barely any screentime and development before(Let’s be frank, the last time Sun was important or got focus was mid-Volume2.)
I am not saying they did this detour storyline solely to have plausible deniability for their queerbaiting of Blake/Yang with how Volume 3 ended, but....screw it that’s the only logical explanation I can muster at this...
Yang - The Pointless Screentime
Let’s make this clear. I Like Yang’s character a LOT. She always was under-represented and her issues were always in the background, so with what happened in Volume 3 I was excited. Because Yang was second to only Ruby with the amount of things that have happened to her to throw her off her status quo. You can’t just disappear her depression and lost arm, right?
Turns out you can.
Now to give the show credit where its due, the start of her story sets up PTSD perfectly. The way a trigger is portrayed is perfect. The way her detached behavior is is PERFECT. And then show fucks it all up. How?
Let’s imagine you take the problems from Ruby’s side of story, problems from Weiss side of story and problems from Blake’s side of story and throw ALL of those mistakes into single storyline.
This is Yang in Volume 4:
See the problem with this? I did not even bother to add proper labels because of how pointless a schematic is this . Not only her plotline is even more disjointed than Weiss, but there’s zero actual characterization there too ANd whatever there is is pointless.
Okay I can try to make a clearer schematic to showcase how such a fusion would look:
The Above timeline is with most of Yang’s Volume 4 events removed.
The Below timeline is how it happened in show.
See the red bits? They literally are pointless. The only difference between the above fictional Volume 4 with those bits removed and the actual “fake” volume 4 that happened is that it took 12 episodes of screentime wasted to get to the same point without accomplishing anything else.
The pacing is awful. Yang’s screentime jumps around weeks into future and feels very disjointed. One episode she is with PTSD and being guilt-tripped into training, the next? She is suddenly training and totally fine.
The story is problematic. People yelling at Yang to STOP MOPING? Port comparing PTSD to fear of mice? The narrative treating Yang being guilt tripped into accepting a robo arm to be useful as thing to be celebrated, a positive?! The show devolving into magic prosthetics territory via just pretending all of Yang’s problems faded away just because she got this “totally feeling natural and totally great and strong prosthetic arm”?
The story ignores Yang’s issues and trivializes mental and physical disability.
The story is essentially pointless. We learn nothing about Yang, we develop nothing. In fact the set up from Volume 3 is just DROPPED. You literally would not lose anything by starting the volume off with where it ended - at least with offscreen healing proccess, the viewer would not have to deal with ableism in show.
Department of Redundancy Department
Now problems and all, at least something happened, plot-wise, right? WRONG.
Let’s sum up the plot progression of all four storylines in one big image, shall we?
What a shocker, we started and ended Volume 4 on relatively same point as Volume 3. And majority of what happened is literally a rehash of what already happened. So what is the point, again?
Conclusion
When it comes to plot progression or character progression, the only purpose Volume 4 serves is background info that could have been delivered in World of Remnants or actual storylines.
Ren and Nora storyline could have easily been a miniseries between Volume 3 and Volume 4 showing them traveling to Mistral and rest of what we saw in Volume 4 not being shown and nothing would be lost.It would have been better even as most of the narrative mistakes and inconsistencies would be avoided.
Instead what we got is essentially flawed and pointless Volume that does noting of substance, wastes multiple narrative set-ups Volume 3 left and has serious pacing and writing issues and lots of problematic elements. It does not feel like a real Volume. It feels like a fake volume that fills in the season between Volumes, ala RWBY Chibi.
In fact you can most likely skip Volume 4 and you would not be lost in anything from the indications so far.
I ended Volume 3 excited for what is ahead. I ended Volume 4 worried for writers capability of executing whatever ideas or plans they have.
#rwby#rwby4#Ruby Rose#Weiss Schnee#Yang Xiao Long#blake belladonna#rwby meta stuff mine#meta stuff mine#mine
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you already know I'm gonna ask for genshin<3
GOD BLESS ILY 💖💕 i should mention that i accidentally closed tumblr halfway through answering this, so i am literally retyping all of it. this new phone has a very like, slippery screen n i'm not used to it so i was like OH SHIT HAGDJANHDBSN
my favorite female character: SUCROSE!!! i only have very minor complaints about her design (really i just wish she was wearing some pants) n the parts of it i do like (her hair n her ears n the COLORS) are so pleasing to look at. i fly around with her bc the mondstadt wings match her really nicely n she looks so cute. her little ears.......i adore her. she has a voiceline about how she wants to use alchemy to create a fairytale utopia n it's SO sweet n i love her so much.
honorable mention hu tao, bc she's actually the only female design i personally don't complain about at all (the bar is so low though) n i LOVED her story quest. i'm also a really big fan of how she's voiced in english (bc i play in english) n also she's hilarious. i'm obsessed with her dynamic with zhongli too.
my favorite male character: strap in kids. this is gonna be a long ride. i have a top three, although it's technically more of a top four.
tied for first are childe n xiao bc i cannot choose between them. i had a really fun journey with childe; when i first started playing, my friend told me they thought he would 100% be my type n i looked at a photo of him n went "ehhhh" so i wasn't really sure at first. i also knew the um. "reputation" fans of him had within fan content n such so i was ALSO wary of that being a very frequent fandom-goer. fast forward a little bit n his banner roles around. i actually decided to pull for him for GAMEPLAY reasons initially, bc the idea of a ranged user being able to use a melee stance was literally a gamechanger for me who wasn't n still isn't very good at archers. i did start liking him reluctantly at that point, but i didn't really want to admit it (very funny looking back) n i used to make fun of him a lot bc i was in denial. NOW i have him in my party (my incredible dps my beloved) n i have finally met him in story which made me fall REALLY hard REALLY fast bc believe it or not, canon childe is NOTHING LIKE fanon childe. n that's a good thing mind u. n the rest is history, he now means everything to me. i am soft for him daily. i also rescind my previous "ehhhh" about his appearance bc he is very sexy. i am ALSO very much an advocate for how griffin voices him n i could talk about the golden house scene for literal hours; it is THE best scene in the game so far.
xiao was sort of similar, my (same) friend n i both knew i would like him bc he is VERY much my type. we were right. i was hyped up to meet him n as SOON as i did i fell so hard i fell off a cliff. it breaks my heart every day i don't have him as i wait patiently for him to rerun. playstyle wise i honestly think he's really fun, but i would probably be saving for him even if i hated how he played, bc i just love him that much. i'm also obsessed with yaksha lore in general n i think about him a lot. xiao my beloved. he also has one of my favorite (if not my favorite) designs.
diluc n zhongli are the last two, bc i can't really choose which one of them i like more, only bc they're both important for different reasons?
diluc was my FIRST favorite character. i took a single look at him n i KNEW. first character i loved, first character i really wanted, as well as the character i tried to (n failed to) REROLL FOR. over fifty times, n nothing. i have him now, but goddamn. i have a thing for characters associated with fire, n as soon as i heard about the whole darknight hero thing i was like oh my.....marriage. i was heartbroken when i played through the chunk of the story quest where they let u trial him before i had him bc i wanted him so bad. he's literally been on my team since day one. i go idle with him to hear him say nice things to me. i love him so much.
n as for zhongli, he's. also special. the definition of comfort character. "he's more than daddy to me. he's.....he's like GRANDPA" HQGDNANHD no but seriously, he walks on sceen n i just feel safe. part of it is keith being so very good at voicing him, but regardless i love him very much. he tugs at my heartstrings a lot n i think he's probably the character the causes me the most physical heartache bc i feel so bad for him.
honorable mention dain, bc who would i be if i didn't mention dain. mwah.
my favorite book/season/episode etc: i'm gonna go with quest for this one! n i think we all know what i'm gonna say; OF COURSE IT'S ZHONGLI'S STORY QUEST!! i complain a lot about how this game doesn't treat tension properly, but i have absolutely nothing to complain about in either of his quests. particularly part two really held its own for me against the entire main story, in my opinion. i know part two just came out, but i am ECSTATIC about the possibility of future parts. also the only story quest i've shed tears over (although i came pretty close on childe's n xiao's). i even THINK about a scene from that quest n my heart breaks into pieces. emotionally, zhongli owns me.
my favorite cast member: in terms of acting performance, probably keith. in general, yuri. he is one of my all time favorite voice actors n i inhale everything that he has done like fucking kirby. i'm really attached to a lot of the english cast though; laila, griffin, khoi, erika, etc.
my favorite ship: this is hard, actually. what's hilarious is that all my favorite pairings involve zhongli. i honestly, at this point, think it's a tie between zhongluc n rezhong. bc rezhong there is just so much there n so much to THINK about, but zhongluc is very comforting to me, personally, n the whole dragon n the phoenix imagery stuff sucked me in like a VACUUM. i also really like guili though; basically, if zhongli is in it, i will at least think about it (sort of, see later).
a character i'd die defending: childe no uhh. in terms of characters who NEED defending, kaeya. i am so SICK of u people not knowing how to interpret him. i'd like to add in eula here too, bc i REALLY like her, n i think some of u went a little bit haywire. in terms of characters who don't really need defending, xiao. i would die for him, actually.
a character i just can't sympathize with: ironically i don't genuinely hate any of the playable characters yet. dottore is pretty fucked up so i guess him, but also i still find him interesting hagdbanhdnan.
a character i grew to love: besides childe? ganyu! i didn't NOT like her by any means, but i was mostly indifferent, n while i WISH her story quest had a little more to it...i adore her very much.
my anti otp: besides the obvious ones, zhongchi.....LET ME EXPLAIN!! i don't HATE it, exactly. but i got so irreparably BITTER about it clogging up both childe n zhongli's individual tags, to the point where i couldn't find enough content without it, i completely lost interest. i will accept nice art of it, but i also have a massive problem with how A LOT of fans tend to over/hyperfeminize childe in relation to the ship, which feels very disingenuous to me bc childe.....isn't a feminine character, really. he's just, i dunno, skinny?? if anything, his whole fight happy shit feels more masculine to me, lmao. it just very much feels like a lot of u can't accept a pairing between two men unless u put one of them in the role of the "woman" n it very much bothers me. like, listen, i know childe is canonically a malewife n i love that about him, but it's about the intent. n i feel HORRIBLE vibes from a lot of u people. i know active fandom genshin fans have bad vibes in general, but u know what i mean. i have been to this rodeo before, n i hate it every time. also, i see a lot of very mischaracterized childe in relation to the pairing too, n to a much lesser extent zhongli, but it still exists. basically, i don't hate it, but i am bitter. n it very much feels like a lot of u are turning them into ur token fandomwide homos which NEVER ends well.
please all i ask is if ur gonna ship two men can u at least treat them both like some semblance of men i am tired
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Day 20 - Ability
It’s only right that we precede our top 10 of this Fringe September with the birth of actually superpowered superhero Olivia Dunham. (The birth of regularly powered superhero Olivia Dunham is of course the Pilot episode.)
Oh God, this episode you guys.
It’s the introduction of Cortexiphan, one of my favorite arcs of the show, and already we’re told that Olivia herself was treated with the drug as a child. That she was experienced on by William Bell (and Walter, although we don’t know that yet) himself.
#ITSALLCONNECTED
But before we know that, the episode’s plot itself is driven by David Robert Jones stirring up shit. He demonstrates a new biological weapon by putting it on a couple of two dollar bills, that closes every orifice on the body of the human getting into contact with it. So you got your regular Fringe gruesome already.
Moreover, he threatens to deploy a giant bomb of that stuff somewhere in the city. Oh, and he gives himself up, because drama. And because it seems like he’s dying as a side effect of his teleportation escape.
Of course, as we find out by the end of the episode, he wasn’t actually DYING, just experienced a lot of side effects. Damn it Walter, you could’ve mentioned that earlier you know.
In any case, what he wants in order to not blow up that bomb is... Olivia. Passing a test. Where she’s supposed to turn off a bunch of lights WITH HER MIND.
Jones tells her about Cortexiphan, which gets confirmed by Nina as well - a drug that was designed to work on children’s perception, giving them abilities such as telekinesis, mind-reading, etc. Nina also tells Olivia about the time and locations of these experiments, which are nowhere near where Olivia lived.
Jones however is convinced that she was part of the experiments, so they play along. There’s this really cute scene where Olivia gives the whole mind-game a shot, and the whole team is watching on with bated breath. But when a noise breaks her concentration they all just smile with a “haha, yeah that was crazy” expression, and Olivia just asks Peter to reconfigure the lights so that they would turn off by themselves during a demonstration to Jones.
So they do that, Olivia does a whole performance of looking like she’s the one turning off the lights, and it looks like Jones buys it because he tells them the bomb’s location...
...EXCEPT THE BOMB CAN ONLY BE TURNED OFF BY THE SAME TRICK. They can only defuse the bomb if Olivia turns off the lights on a display with her mind.
They try to evacuate, but there’s not enough time, so Olivia stays behind despite Peter’s insistence and tries it one last time. And Peter turns back too from the doorway the last second, deciding against leaving her there, so he too sees what happens. Which is OLIVIA JEDI-MIND TRICKING THAT ENTIRE BOMB OFF.
It’s an iconic scene, but Olivia is still trying to convince herself that it wasn’t her, that Jones was playing mind games with her. She couldn’t have been part of the trials. She was living in Jacksonville at her father’s military base at the time.
But then Nina calls and guess where was an additional trial that Nina found out about after digging into Massive Dynamic’s Cortexiphan files? IN JACKSONVILLE. AT A MILITARY BASE.
Whoops.
This is also the introduction of the ZFT manifesto. “Many warriors of the inevitable confrontation are among us now – but before they can be considered soldiers, they must be regarded as recruits. And the expectation must be that they shall be unwilling.“ - they immediately deduce that this passage was specifically about the Cortexiphan children.
Walter also realizes something else while looking at the manifesto, and at the end of the episode, he brings out his old typewriter to confirm his old suspicions. THAT MANIFESTO WAS WRITTEN ON THAT SAME TYPEWRITER. SO WALTER PROBABLY WROTE THAT.
The plot thickens everywhere.
Ability is an iconic piece of early Fringe, a gamechanging Olivia episode that moved forward the show’s mythology on more than one fronts.
Other notes:
Jones’ weapon is the same one our team uses in 5x04, when they’re infiltrating the train station.
Walter more than once says that Cortexiphan was Belly’s invention, that it was his trials - but we later find out of course that it was a joint experiment, and that Walter was heavily involved in the Jacksonville trials specifically. He even says “I created Cortexiphan” in 5x12. Of course, Walter’s mind is still all over the place at this point, so he’s probably just suppressing those memories.
“YOU’RE ALWAYS A LITTLE WEIRD.”
“I’m reading Advanced Forensics by Annemann. I keep it next to my gun.”
And my absolute favorite: “TO GET A MASSAGE.”
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