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mobagehelllocal · 4 years

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“the tale as old as time”

The dorm leaders’ reaction to Beauty and the Beast.

-- from @shayclov391

A/N: It was mentioned on this blog a few... weeks ago? How Ai (i, heh geddit) lived under a rock because I haven’t seen Hamilton, Coco and Nightmare Before Christmas. So @shayclov391 (who had originally requested for Hamilton and Coco) asked me for Beauty and the Beast instead. Luckily, I HAVE WATCHED BEAUTY AND THE BEAST! It’s my sister’s favourite Disney Princess movie so... I watched it. A lot.

So how I did this... I sort of picked the parts of the movie where a certain character would react the ‘most’--if that makes sense. So this isn’t arranged how I normally arrange it. ALSO! This interchanges between the animated and live action version. Why? You’ll see!

Please enjoy!

You were lucky that you somehow managed to have your phone from your world with you. You couldn’t communicate with the people from your world, nor did you have your world’s internet connection--but at least you had all the stuff already downloaded on your phone... Including a bunch of movies from your world. After hearing you out, Crowley took you to Idia who managed to transfer most of the data on your phone into a new one made in Twisted Wonderland.

Thanks to that, you often watched and, or rewatched some movies from your home world.

You also decided that watching a couple of movies from your world, with your boy wouldn’t hurt... right?

You had easily convinced Leona to relax with you and watch a movie from your home. He was never the type to say no to lazing around after all--and when you had proposed this for a date, he agreed pretty easily.

You had hooked your phone up to the television in Leona’s bedroom. When you turned around to look at your boyfriend, Leona had pushed all the pillows up against the headboard and leant against it. He blinked slowly at you, and raised his arms. You giggled lightly, before you slipped onto the bed, and rested your head against his chest. He wrapped one arm around your waist as the opening dialogue of the movie began.

You peered up at Leona as the narrator told the story of the selfish prince. He glanced down at you as it talked about how the prince turned into a beast.

“Were you trying to say something by choosing this movie?” he said dryly.

“Actually, no. I just really like this movie. Grew up with it.” you said, chin on his chest.

“Huh.” he rubbed aimless circles on your back with his thumb as his gaze shifted back to the screen. You pressed your cheek against his chest, and turned your gaze to the movie too.

As the opening transitioned to the song ‘Belle,’ you felt Leona’s tail twitch around your hips.

“Bonjour~”

“This is... the language that Hunt uses.” You could feel Leona growl, and you--amused--moved your hand to pat his toned stomach (you mentally cursed him too--I mean, how could he have such a nice body, but laze around most of the time?).

“There, there.” you soothed, amused. Leona grunted in response.

“So they think she’s weird because she reads?” He asked, and you nodded your head. “Well that’s stupid.” he grumbled under his breath and you giggled lightly.

However, when a certain hunter was introduced, you quickly turned your head to gauge Leona’s expression.

“She’s the one! The lucky girl I’m going to marry.”

His expression turned from curious to serious. His brows furrowed slightly as he seemed to give a little more attention to the movie.

“She’s the most beautiful girl in town. That makes her the best--and don’t I deserve the best?”

Leona scowled.

“I don’t like him.”

“Uhuh.” you said, your lips quirked up in an amused smile. Leona’s ears twitched backwards, and his tail was thumping in the way it normally did when he was irritated.

When Belle made a disgusted expression at Gaston appearing at her door, Leona looked pleased--you could tell by the way his brows smoothened--and his ears perked up. His eyes narrowed again however--with the way Gaston kept moving to cage Belle.

“I’m very sorry Gaston... but... but... I just don’t deserve you.”

“She’s smart.” Leona smirked as Gaston was thrown out of the house and into mud.

“That’s why she’s my favourite.” you mumbled.

“Me, the wife of that boorish, brainless...

Madame Gaston, can't you just see it?

Madame Gaston, his little wife, ugh!”

Leona snickered at the song, and you laughed too. You always enjoyed ‘Belle Reprise’--especially with the way Belle exaggerated her eye roll and sarcasm.

You turned back to Leona.

“How is it so far?”

“I like Belle.” Leona nodded, “she’s not the same type of strong that Afterglow Savanna has--but her wit is one type of strength.” but then he added--

“Gaston... I’ll kill if he isn’t dead by the end of the movie.”

“Leona!” you laughed.

You and Azul decided to snuggle up and watch a movie. Azul offered to put on one of the movies from Twisted Wonderland, but you told him Idia finally finished with your phone.

“We could watch something from my world.” There was a spark of interest on Azul’s expression, and he easily agreed.

Azul had seemed to be enjoying the movie so far. Originally, he was interested because it was a movie from your world--however he began to enjoy it in gusto when the musical number at the beginning happened.

“Are there more songs?” He asked you, his tone eager.

“Yup.”

Azul looked back at the screen, with a glitter of fascination in his eyes. He expressed a little of his disgust at Gaston’s actions, but went silent again as the movie went on.

“Gosh it disturbs me to see you Gaston...

looking so down in the dumps!”

You turned to look at Azul, who had a difficult expression on his face as Le Fou started to sing. He whipped his head to look at you.

“That irritating human... has a song about him?”

“That’s not the worse part.”

“Holy carp is he going to sing?”

“As a specimen, yes I’m intimidating!~”

Azul immediately recoiled into the couch as Gaston began to start singing.

“He’s singing.” Azul exhaled, and looked at you with the cutest confused expression--ever. “Why am I watching this abomination, sing?”

“Well... his vocals are pretty good...” You said, with an amused smile.

“No way. His voice isn’t that good. It’s disgusting.” Azul looked insulted, “I can’t believe I think there’s someone whose singing is more irritating than Rielle’s.”

“Who?” you asked, amused. The name seemed familiar but you couldn’t put a finger to it. Azul waved his hands dismissively as he focused on the film again.

“I’m exceptionally good at expectorating!~”

“He is sickening.” Azul had a disgusted look on his face. “No wonder the girl refuses to marry him.”

When the song finally finished, Azul paused the movie, and you looked at him with an arched bow.

“Tell me he dies. Please.”

“... I refuse to say anything.” you snorted into your palm--way more amused. It was absolutely refreshing to see someone’s first time watching Beauty and the Beast. Who would’ve thought you’d experience it?

“He’s a bully.” Azul’s lips curled downward. “I also feel pretty bad for Le Fou.”

“You do? You like him?”

“Well, not really. But I also don’t hate him. I think he should meet better people.” Azul sniffed haughtily, and you giggled. You figured Azul might actually enjoy the live action because it tried to give depth to Le Fou. (Tried being the keyword. Whether or not it was successful, normally depended on the person watching it.)

“Tell me at least if he’s going to sing again.”

“He won’t. I think the next song is actually pretty fun.”

“Oh thank the Sea Witch.” Azul exhaled, as he slumped back to your side, before he suddenly had a thoughtful expression and turned to you.

“Is it just me, or does Professor Vargas resemble him?”

You immediately choked on your spit and starting coughing. You could your eyes well up as you begin to laugh.

“Hey! Are you okay?” Azul yelped.

‘Don’t... tell him... I shouldn’t... say anything.’ you squealed to yourself as you hunched over.

It had been pretty easy to ask Kalim to spend the evening just watching a movie from your world.

And as expected of Kalim, he quickly got super invested in the story of Belle. He would frown when Gaston would appear on screen, but he especially seemed to enjoy Maurice’s personality. He looked uneasy at the sight of the Beast but other than that... He would happily dance in his seat during the musical numbers--he was so precious when he did that, that you found yourself watching him instead of the movie.

In fairness, it was very fun to watch the first time reaction of someone who hadn’t seem Beauty and the Beast.

"The Dining Room proudly presents... your dinner!”

You remembered how amazing it was to see ‘Be Our Guest’ when you were a little kid. The concept of moving dining ware had been so fascinating and hilarious at the same time, that you were slack jawed for most of it--and laughing the other half.

When you tuned to look at Kalim, you can’t help but remember the first time you watched Beauty and the Beast too.

Kalim was slack jawed, his eyes were wide and sparkling happily as watched the animated dining ware began to dance around.

“Try the gray stuff it’s delicious~

Don’t believe me? Ask the dishes!”

Kalim laughed boisterously at that.

“The dinner here is never second best!”

“Since Jamil isn’t here, I have to defend his honor. I’m pretty sure Jamil cooks better!” Kalim told you, with a wide grin. You laughed at that, you’re sure Jamil would definitely love hearing that.

When Lumiere would begin messing around with Cogsworth, Kalim turned to you with a shine in his eyes.

“I think Lumiere is my favourite character.”

“I can see why.” you said, with a grin, as your boyfriend turned back to the television and kept watching the musical.

“If you’re stressed,

it’s fine dining we suggest!”

“Lumiere is definitely right! A sure way to cheer up someone is to have a banquet!” Kalim cheered, his smile wide. As he turned back to the television, he began a running commentary on what he thought--about each of the named dining ware.

“Wait... they used salt for snow? Hahah! That’s so unique!”

“You know... Cogsworth is actually pretty funny!”

“Mrs. Potts is cute! You look gorgeous Mrs. Potts!”

“So is Chip! I would be friends with Chip. I would protect Chip with my life.”

You couldn’t help the smile that spread on your face as you see the way that Kalim was just enjoying himself.

You were glad you suggested this movie first.

“I wonder if Jamil could get dishes to move around like that during the next banquet.” Kalim wondered out loud with glowing eyes.

You immediately winced, and apologized mentally to the Vice Dorm Leader.

You had told him to take a break, and that he could leave Kalim to you... but you could just imagine Jamil’s reaction when Kalim would ask him to make the dining ware dance around with him.

‘Okay... so maybe I shouldn’t have done Beauty and the Beast?’ you thought.

‘Whoops...?’

"So this movie has two versions. One is animated, and the other is live action. Since you wanted a film with some fashion--I thought looking at the live action one would be better.” You explained when you had plugged your phone into the television in Vil’s room. “It’s a fantasy story, so the clothes reflect some historical fashion--but they’re not exactly accurate.”

“Naturally.” Vil nodded, his legs crossed, and a glass of freshly squeezed juice in hand. “Let’s see it.”

Majority of the film was Vil just watching, and criticizing some of the fashion choices used.

“The Prince is hideous. Why is he wearing that type of make up?”

“Is that painting how he normally looks? He actually looks fine. He ruined it with the use of make up.”

“Oh, the girl is quite pretty. Is this the same actress from the other movie we watched together?”

“So they made her be the only one dressed in that shade of blue? That’s nice little attention to detail.”

“Red is such a basic color for the bad guy but... go off I guess.”

“Gaston is hideous.”

“Those three girls are hideous too. Why are they dressed like that--nothing is flattered properly.”

“Oh those roses are beautiful. I’ll give them that.”

“The Beast is hideous.”

“Gaston is hideous.”

You sweat dropped as Vil kept making these type of side comments about the film, while gently swirling his cup of juice like it was a glass of wine.

As the plot thickened, Vil did get slowly caught up in the story.

“You’re making everything look so beautiful, we should have a dance tonight.”

You could see the interest in Vil’s eyes grow as the plot moves into one of your favourite scenes--the dance. When the animated objects began to put make up on him, Vil’s eyes twitched.

“Why are they doing that? He clearly has fur? Make up won’t help him.”

“Oh my god, Vil.”

“I’m only telling the truth.” Vil huffed, before he concentrated again.

When the gold floated from the ceiling, and moved to decorate Belle’s dress, Vil made an appreciative noise.

“The detailing is quite nice.... the tiers of the skirt are very pretty too.”

“I think I saw an interview, and they talked about how they wanted the dress to dance beautifully.”

“Well, I’ll be the judge of that.” Vil’s lips curled up.

When the ballroom comes into view, Vil hummed.

“Now that is a ballroom.” He looked at you thoughtfully. “Do you have balls back at home?”

“Nope. I’d love to go to one though.” Vil tilted his head, eyeing you up and down. “I think I can bring you to one.”

“Really?” the excitement on your face made your lover laugh.

“Of course sweet potato. Everyone should experience a grand ball once.”

“Tale as old as time...

true as it can be...”

Once Belle was twisted--her skirt flowed, turned, and seemed to bloom again around her with every single step. Vil’s breath hitched, and you turned to him--to see his eyes were wide.

“Now that is beautiful.” he exhaled. “the way the skirt moves around her... Alright I want one.” You giggled in surprise and he looked at you seriously.

“Sweet potato, I’m going to make you a dress that will beat anything you dreamed off.” you blushed furiously in response.

“I’ll... look forward to it.”

"Let’s watch this movie together!” you had told him with a bright smile.

Never able to resist you, Malleus immediately agreed.

“I thought this was one of your favourite movies?” Malleus chuckled as you softly snored away on his shoulder.

“Mal... I love this movie...” you slurred out in your sleep, and he smiled softly.

“I’m sure you do.” he told your adorable sleeping face. Carefully, he moved your head to a pillow on the bed, and he stood to turn the television off.

“It was an interesting film.” Malleus mused, but just as he reached forward to unplug your phone--

“I let her go.”

His head snapped up and he saw that the Beast had decided to let Belle go back home to her father.

As Belle got on a horse to rush back to the village the Beast began to sing as he gazed at the cursed rose.

“I was the one who had it all...

I was the master of my fate...

I never needed anybody in my life...”

Malleus tilted his head, to him these lyrics...

He could understand the Beast very well.

“I close my eyes but she's still there...

I let her steal into my melancholy heart...”

His eyes flickered briefly to your sleeping form.

‘Another thing we share.’ Malleus acknowledged, ‘We both have someone who stole our hearts out of nowhere...’

“Now I know she'll never leave me...

Even as she runs away...

She will still torment me...

Calm me, hurt me...

Move me, come what may...”

He righted himself and moved to your side. He tucked your hair behind your ear--and you nuzzled unconsciously into Malleus’s familiar touch. His smile grew melancholic in response to that.

“Now I know she'll never leave me...

Even as she fades from view...

She will still inspire me...

Be a part of everything I do...”

“One day... you will leave me.” Malleus murmured softly. “As all mortals do...”

“In the first place... I should’ve steeled my heart against you... but I am powerless to your light...”

“Wasting in my lonely tower...

Waiting by an open door...

I'll fool myself, she'll walk right in...”

"Yet... when you leave me... I’ll spend the rest of eternity waiting for you again.”

“And as the long, long nights begin...

I'll think of all that might have been...”

‘Mortal... so painfully mortal.’

he mused.

‘Do you know what you dangle in front of me? The true impossibility of what we share together...’

“Waiting here for evermore...”

He doesn’t move for a long time, as he quietly watched you sleep, peaceful--unknowing of Malleus’s conflicting thoughts.

Idia originally hadn’t been very interested in the film you were trying to show him. He kept getting distracted in the beginning, before he got hooked because the castle looked pretty cool to him.

By the time Belle had gone back to the village to save her father, Idia had clutched a pillow tight to his chest as he watched in anticipation--about what was going to happen next.

“Show them the mirror! The mirror!”

“Show me the Beast!”

“Yes!” Idia fist pumped into the air, “she’s giving them proof--”

“The Beast has her under a spell!”

“Wait, no!” Idia gasped, his hold on his pillow tightened. “Noooo! Lord damn it! Gaston shut up!”

On your end you clutched a pillow to hide the lower half of your face--because you were desperately trying not to laugh. At some point you had straight up stopped watching the movie--and instead decided to watch Idia’s reactions instead.

You never thought you’d meet anyone who had never watched Beauty and the Beast, and now you were seeing Idia’s very honest reactions to it.

You almost want to make him watch the original Star Wars trilogy too...

“He’s not a monster Gaston! You are!”

“Yes! Tell him! TELL HIM!”

You inhaled sharply as you tried not to laugh. Idia was really into this. He leant forward as the ‘Mob Song’ started.

“Kill the Beast!

Kill the Beast!”

“Oh my Lord, yes!” Idia exhaled in relief as he saw the castle occupants push to keep the castle doors closed.

“I know what to do.”

“OML... What is Lumiere gonna do...” Idia chattered to himself. When he saw that they had decided to pretend to be inanimate Idia cheered.

“[Name]! This is so cool! They’re so cool! That’s so amazing--!” when Idia whirled to you, he paused because you had clutched your pillow to hide half of your face.

“Why... what are you doing?”

“I am definitely engrossed in the film.” you lie through your teeth, as you struggled to hold back a laugh. Idia eyed you suspiciously, until his attention was caught by Mrs. Potts shouting.

“Grandmother? Attack!”

“You get them Mrs. Potts!”

When Madame Garderobe proceeded to attack that one villager.

“Oh hell yes! Gg! You dead!” Idia cheered happily.

Without Idia knowing, you were just... smiling while staring at how enthusiastic he was being while watching the movie. You began to think of other movies that you think Idia would enjoy.

‘Note to self, see if I can get Idia to watch some more of the movies from back at home... maybe he’ll like Wreck it Ralph? Big Hero 6?’

‘Either way...’ your eyes flickered to your boyfriend as he gave the appropriate reactions at the right time for Beauty and the Beast. ‘I like seeing him relaxed enough to be emotive around me~’

“Fight back.” Riddle clenched his teeth and his hands as he stared at the depressed Beast. “You have to fight back.”

‘He’s surprisingly into this.’ you mused.

“Did you honestly think she’d want someone like you, when she had someone like me?”

“Die Gaston.” Riddle hissed underneath his breath.

“It’s over Beast! Belle is mine!”

“No she isn’t!” Riddle gritted his teeth, his knuckles white. When he sees that Beast finally fought back, and was winning--his shoulders slackened briefly. “No... don’t turn back on the enemy... Please...”

“Belle... you came back.”

“Is it over? Is it really over...?” Riddle frantically muttered underneath his breath, and you couldn’t help the smile that spread on your face at how adorable he was.

That is until Gaston stabbed Beast in the back. Riddle’s face turned crimson in an instant.

“Coward!” he yelled at the television screen. When Gaston fell backwards to his death, Riddle angrily muttered underneath his breath how his death was too nice.

As the scene focused on the injured Beast however, Riddle’s mutter fell away as he concentrated on the scene.

“Of course I came back... I couldn’t let them... Oh... this is all my fault... if only I’d gotten here sooner.”

You peered at Riddle as he stared, concentrated on the film, his eyes wide--wet and you were sure he was ready to start crying.

“Maybe... Maybe it’s better... it’s better this way...”

“Don’t talk like that. You’ll be alright. Everything’s going to be alright... You’ll see.”

“At least... I got to see you one last time.”

Beast let out one last breathe--

Riddle started to sniffle.

“I’m not crying.” he choked out. “I’m not crying.”

“You’re not crying.” you pretended to agree, but your lover was shaking as he saw the last petal of the rose fall to the table.

“Please don’t leave me...”

“I love you.” Belle whispered, softly, sadly--

Riddle was for sure crying now.

To think he had originally scoffed, and said he wasn’t interested in a children’s movie...

You had convinced him after telling him how it was considered a classic and was your favourite film--regardless of age.

When lights started shooting from the sky and surrounding Beast, Riddle looked up in awe with red eyes.

“Wait, did she make it? Did they make it?” he croaked out, he looked at you--and you gestured for him to watch.

The Beast--Prince Adam--now transformed back, turned around to show his human face.

“Belle, it’s me.”

Riddle watched with a bated breath as Belle drew closer and looked the man in his eyes. When a glitter of recognition passes through Belle’s eyes, Riddle exhaled in relief.

“It is you!”

“Ah, they did it.” Riddle smiled, relieved as the the other characters changed back into humans and the castle returned to its former glory. When he turned his head towards you, you shot him a grin.

“...”

“Okay... it’s not bad.”

“Not bad?” you teased lightly, and his cheeks flushed red again--except this time with embarrassment.

“Okay fine--it was really good.”

“Yay!” you hopped up onto your feet and shot him a grin. “I have a bunch more, wanna watch?”

“...Sure.” Riddle said grudgingly, but when you beamed up at him--what he originally thought was a childish waste of time...

became a precious moment you could share together.

#aiwrites #aiscenarios #twisted wonderland #twst #twst scenarios #twst riddle #twst leona #twst azul #twst kalim #twst vil #twst idia #twst malleus

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imdreaminadream · 3 years

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The results pt 2 ~ “What about it makes you cringe?” Category 1

( - prologue. - part 1 - category 2 - category 3)

Okay so this is the results to the question in the quiz, What about it makes you cringe. In reference to the questionnaires core subject about smut fanfics.

Also quick psa there will be a part for the results for the other question - “In kpop fics, Korean words i.e. jagiya, seem to be a no no, would you like to elaborate why?”

Now note these particular results are going to be split into 3 posts because I decided to split the results into 3 categories. 1 - Writing Aspects. 2 - Personal Preferences. 3 - Genuine Problems.

>THIS POST IS CATERGORY 1<

DISCLAIMER BELOW. (please read that before continuing)

This is going to be a long post. The responses were very enlightening but please don’t take this as an attack. Consider this more as constructive cheat sheet to good smut writing or just ignore it if you don’t agree with it. Some of this did get a bit deep appropriate trigger warnings will be put on the appropriate posts but I’m not sorry it got deep fics can also affect real life as much as we wish it were something that didn’t mix in with real life, it does. I’m no official like sex guru or big-time writer, or what ever BUT I did add little advice underneath each answer, which are just a reflection of the people’s answers. Again if you don’t like the sounds of this don’t take it personal and click off.

Writing aspects.

Poorly written/typos – Nearly all of the people said that, poorly written, bad grammar and lots of typos made them cringe. Answers said that sometimes works are so poorly written it comes across as though the person writing doesn’t know how sex works. Now by poorly written they talked about, the plot being non sensical, choppy or lacking decent grammar, too many typos, using words in the wrong context, repetitive language. They also specified they understand not everyone’s first language is English but the least that can be done is proofreading of the works by them or someone else. And many people cried over the use of first person, they felt it brings them out of imagining the fic.

Language used – So they we’re talking about strange words for body parts especially genitals, and just weird terms and phrases in general. Regarding body parts, everyone mentioned that childish or full-on scientific names for genitals was the worst. Feedback suggests calling it a dick, cock – although some commented that cock sounded too vulgar, and pussy. Also referring to female’s arousal as juices was a common answer, to quote one of my fav answers “so none of that her juices coated my fingers’ Like bitch it aint orange juice.” Then for weird terms and phrases, no specific example was given but I’m certain they meant things that literally every man and their dog would not say, ever! Personal opinion here but, “you like what you see?” and “Your wish is my command.”, and “tongues fighting for dominance.” should die off. It’s overused and I’m sick of seeing it – pretty sure no one says that during sex in real life anyway.

So, to avoid it alls you need to do is use second or third person, proofread, and learn how sex works if you don’t know. Also, best way to proofread it to leave it a few days then come back and read it again – also there are apps like Grammarly that help with your writing too. (PSA I personally love proofreading work, because I��m weird like that, so if you ever want me to proofread drop me a message/anon.)

So, take a moment to consider what you are writing, again proofreading is very helpful, and just stick to the mature ways to say dick/pussy. Suggestion here if you can’t write it the mature way, stop writing smut fics because clearly you’re either not mature enough or uncomfortable (to be) writing smut.

Dialogue – Too much dialogue and not enough action cropped up a number of times. Also that the dialogue written is cringy essentially, Then there was too much dirty talk, and dirty talk that shouldn’t even be considered dirty talk which commented a lot in regards to dialogue. And although I think I wrote about this answer previously but weird words, exaggeration, and choppiness in the dialogue. (someone commented over use of buzzword but idk what buzzwords are.) May I also personally add that written fake stutters irritate the living day lights out of me just stop.

---- I actually did another questionnaire about this, it didn’t garner same amount as this one but it gained a good few responses. The answers should be available to see, if you want you can take a look at that to see more about people thoughts when it comes to dirty talk in fics. ----

Advice is, keep in mind when writing dirty talk what sounds good, to plausible, to terrible. Just think about what sounds realistic as well, draw on your own experiences or what you want to be said to you. Also, if you don’t find it sexy don’t write it for everyone else’s sake or to fit in with the trend, stay true to yourself but try to vary it up for each fic you write.

No build up – They talked about how some fics go straight to the dicking down, to action, with no build up or a bit of sensical plot, and it doesn’t work. Or if the characters haven’t even talked and suddenly, they’re down to fuck. They expressed it doesn’t make sense and doesn’t feel like the characters are even that interested, as though they’re fucking for the sake of fucking. This also ties in with some comments that said sometimes people fail to remember smut isn’t just about being railed, it is also about connections with people and making love so going straight to the fucking, fails to make the reader want to continue reading.

The solution to this is to reference history/tension or build up the tension between characters, or just set the scene a little bit before getting straight into it. Also remember no one is having sex without some foreplay and if they are it isn’t very good, so don’t let it be like that in your writing.

Lack of realism/inaccuracies – Okay so this was mainly in regard to sex, the way the body works and some scenarios. To elaborate, people said that there are just some sex positions and places to have sex that just don’t work. In example one person wrote how sex in a gaming/office chair doesn’t work well and they know through personal experience. So, for the readers it’s just super unrealistic that it happens, and it leaves the reader either fixated on figuring out how that is possible or cringing because they know it’s not possible rather than reading the rest of the fic. There’re also just some ways the body doesn’t work I’m not going to go through examples there are so many, but we all know what is meant. Also, I’ll mention that kinks also were apart of the lack of realism, I’ll talk more about that in the next post.

So, based on this the only thing I can say is keep it real and keep it accurate as possible. Like we know its fiction but consider how ridiculous some of the stuff you’re writing may be, how impossible it is. Just don’t be afraid to google things – you can actually freeze and delete your search history – to double check or educate yourself about. Or ask for advice, draw from experience, or maybe try it out yourself with or without your partner then reflect that in your writing.

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END OF CATERGORY 1

(Feel free to discuss in comments, in my messages or send anons or anything like that if you want.)

Tag list

@nctsworld, @lauraneuuh, @jooniyah, @ceoofxiaojun, @lovemayble @hyucksie @myelle-n

- if anyone else wants to be tagged for the next parts let me know via anon or dm -

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medea10 · 3 years

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My Review of Flowers of Evil

How did I get into this anime? Because Flowers of Evil is something no one says, “Oh I want to see that, this looks like a masterpiece”! Oh, I was well familiar with the rotoscope nightmare stories from this and hoped to God my randomizer wouldn’t curse me with watching Flowers of Evil. I was however intrigued to learn that there was a yandere in this anime that’s on Yuno Gasai AND Shion Sonozaki levels. But intrigue can only get me so far when you spend 13 episodes watching…

THIS!

No this is not an exaggeration. Everyone has this kind of cringe face throughout the entire anime series. Be afraid children.

So the story is about this guy named Takao Kasuga. He loves to read and he loves the class smarty-pants Nanako Saeki. He doesn’t just love her, he sees her as his muse and his Venus and all that bullshit. But this is an admiration from afar. Pretty sure Saeki doesn’t even know he exists! One day, Kasuga forgets his book in his classroom. And on the ground, he notices a gym bag that belongs to Saeki. Oh come on, he’s not gonna go down the perverted route and steal a girl’s gym…

So he steals Saeki’s gym uniform. And surprise, one person knew what happened. The class loner, Nakamura! She forces Kasuga to form a contract with her. It wasn’t written or anything, just verbal. However, that doesn’t stop Nakamura from forcing Kasuga to do whatever she wants. But does Nakamura really like Kasuga or is she just into torturing this shit-faced pervert?

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: You know, I’m too thrown off by the animation here that it has temporarily paralyzed me from catching voices or even giving a damn. I’m familiar with only two of the cast mates and the rest is literally my first time hearing it. Okay, I have one comment here. I often forget Mariya Ise could do some damn-ass scary characters like Nakamura. And when she does those murderous screams, forget about it! Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

*Kasuga is played by Shinichirou Ueda

*Saeki is played by Yoko Hikasa (known for Bea on Pokemon Journeys, Rias on High School DxD, Mio on K-ON!, Hina on Domestic Girlfriend, Kirigiri on Danganronpa, Frieda on Attack on Titan, and Diana on Little Witch Academia)

*Nakamura is played by Mariya Ise (known for Bonnie on Pokemon XY, Levy on Fairy Tail, Ray on The Promised Neverland, Stocking on Panty & Stocking, Mika on Durarara, Dorothy on Black Clover, and Yuuko on Yuri on Ice)

SHIPPING: Oh please, anime Gods, do not turn this into another School Days fiasco. I find myself praying for this a lot these days. But in this anime’s case, please do not go down that route!

So, it was clear from episode one that Kasuga had a crush on Saeki. But this got very perverted very fast when he stole her gym clothes and that lead to the contract with Nakamura. Now is Nakamura romantically invested in Kasuga or is she just a crazy bitch. Let’s chalk this up to a 50-50 split here.

It wasn’t until the fourth episode where Kasuga and Saeki actually spoke to each other. And one episode later, they go on a date and end up in a relationship. One has to wonder if Kasuga would have one day acted on his own and ask Saeki out. All of this happened because he was being forced by that psychopath Nakamura. She tortured this kid and forced him to do so many unethical things. Stripping him naked and putting Saeki’s uniform on him for one! Who does that? So would Kasuga have done these sporadic actions if Nakamura wasn’t in the picture? After he stole that uniform, anything is possible. Now here’s the crazy shit here, Saeki loves Kasuga and she doesn’t care that he stole her gym uniform and did fuck-knows-what with it. She’s mad that Kasuga hid it, but still loves him.

Girl, the fuck is wrong with you?! You must be some special kind of crazy!

By the end of this series, you do see a shift in Kasuga and who he wants to chase after. Saeki or Nakamura?! Let’s just say that during a running away scene, Kasuga was going to go home with Saeki until he saw Nakamura and he chases after her. That’s a pretty good sign that Kasuga has switched gears on who he likes. I won’t delve any further than that as the anime only gives us so much and the rest of this love turmoil between these three characters is covered only in the manga. Probably a sign I should read the manga!

LOOOOOONG NO DIALOGUE MOMENTS: Dude, I know you’re trying to set the mood for certain moments, but I think you can dial it back a bit. This complaint isn’t just what happened at the beginning of episode 9; it took forever to get the main gist of this story in the very first episode. I had no idea what the main premise of the story was until the last five minutes of the first episode when Kasuga stole Saeki’s gym uniform.

Now I’m not knocking serious moments where there is no dialogue between characters for a long period of time and we just watch the animation of them walking or doing something. Hell, Neon Genesis Evangelion had famous scenes like that. But the elevator scene didn’t last six fucking minutes. Neither did the scene where Shinji kills Kaowru. In episode 9, we watch Nakamura and Kasuga walking from the school to home and watch the whole walk after destroying the classroom. I guarantee you, you could leave this episode running, fix yourself a bowl of cereal and toast, eat it up, go to the bathroom to have a good yank, then finish it off with watching a Che Guevara documentary…and Nakamura and Kasuga would still be walking home! I’m exaggerating and I don’t care. I feel like being an asshole here.

OH DEAR GOD, WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!: Very rarely will I ever look at an opening or ending theme song in literal fear. In fact, the last one to be so morbid was with Attack on Titan’s second season ending. I mean, the imagery alone should tell you that this is full of spoilers and possessed by the devil itself. Now that I think about it, that’s still undefeated. But Flowers of Evil’s ending theme is a close fucking second. Have you heard this thing? It sounds like Bjork singing in Japanese, synthesized, while a cat walks on a keyboard and having a seizure at the same time. Thank God there are no actual visuals for this other than the flower featured on Kasuga’s book. I don’t think we can handle anymore animation from this nightmare fuel.

ENDING: The writing is on the wall!

And the floor, the ceiling…that classroom is just a fucking mess!

Kasuga’s one bad deed led to another and another in a domino effect. And instead of a little devil on his shoulder, he has a classmate that’s a sociopath. Kasuga has guilt about hiding so much from Saeki in this relationship and he wants to tell her everything he did. Nakamura says, “Nah, you’re going to write it all over the classroom and let the whole world know what a piece of shit you are��. Let’s just say Nakamura and Kasuga went overboard and completely destroyed their classroom. Kasuga gets a bit of a lucky break as the other vandalism covered up his name on the chalkboard confession. But two people have caught onto Kasuga’s crime, Saeki and Kasuga’s mother.

Saeki put two and two together when she noticed the ink smearing on the ground resembled the flower art work on Kasuga’s book “Flowers of Evil” and her stolen gym uniform was placed right there. As for Kasuga’s mother, she put two and two together when she heard what happened to his classroom and noticed Kasuga’s behavior and dirty clothes from the night of the crime. Won’t be long before everyone knows what Kasuga did.

What now, shit-face?

Run away with Nakamura to the next town. Yeah, why the fuck not?! Saeki ends up tracking them down and tried to convince them to come back and for Kasuga to be truthful. Saeki wants Kasuga and I almost want to say the same, except hanging around this psycho-bitch for a while has caused him to try to stop Nakamura from leaving. Having Saeki see Kasuga go after Nakamura isn’t really a good look! At this point, it really feels like his love for Saeki was nothing more than lust.

Dude, isn’t there a rule about not messing with crazy…like, don’t stick your dick in crazy?! This dude has got one crazy bitch on psycho-yandere levels and the other that’s about to turn into Kotonoha from School Days in about five seconds. Well, no one left town today as the police were called to look for Saeki because her parents are overprotective types and they take the other kids in.

We get a small time-leap of one month after the night in the police station. Nakamura’s been ignoring Kasuga and Kasuga ends his relationship with Saeki. Dude, stop trying to stick your dick in crazy! Kasuga tries to speak to Nakamura again and it fails. So he visits her at home and meets Nakamura’s father and grandmother. Then, he sneaks into her room and reads her private journal that talks about Kasuga a lot. Dude, you are stepping in uncharted territory! Drop the journal and get the fuck out before Nakamura comes home. So Nakamura comes in her room and finds shit-face reading her journal.

*sighs*

First, I would like to acknowledge that Mariya Ise has one hell of a throat to scream as much as this crazy bitch does. Second, the fuck did I just say, ya dumbass?! Here we get another chase scene between Kasuga and Nakamura. What follows is…I can’t place my thoughts on this. Weird imagery, out of place dialogue, and possible scenes of future stuff to happen! A rape scene involving Saeki, a festival, a hideout, a knife, and fire! Thanks for the cryptic message guys, really appreciate it! Either the anime ran out of money or they’re fucking with the audience. Kasuga says he wants to form a contract with Nakamura and that’s the end!

Hmm, this anime came out in 2013 and it is now 2021. All the buildup and no word on a sequel! We all know that sequel ain’t ever coming. You have a better chance of a continuation to Haruhi Suzumiya than you do with this hunk of shit.

Okay, maybe ‘hunk of shit’ is too mean. This wasn’t a terrible anime. It was weird as fuck, the animation leaves a bad impression, but overall it wasn’t that bad. Now the manga to Flowers of Evil is a favorite to many. Probably because the characters don’t look like a cringey meme and there aren’t so many awkward pauses with no dialogue. Unless there’s a whole volume of Flowers of Evil out there where we just look at pictures of Nakamura and Kasuga walking home where they don’t say a fucking thing! I am not letting that go! Charlie Brown movies didn’t go to that level you guys did!

I was interested with each passing episode to see what Nakamura was going to do next and what she was capable of. I couldn’t make out if she was going to be homicidal or suicidal or just impact psychological warfare on her prey. It was the latter for this series, but I heard of some attempted seppuku going down in the manga. I’d like to think maybe one day a different studio would pick up this series, but I seriously doubt it with the rotten reception this adaptation received. It was said that the director to the anime saw this more as a live-action series than an anime and that’s why we have the rotoscope animation. It wasn’t until 2019 that we got a live-action adaptation to Flowers of Evil. Not sure how people felt about that adaptation, but even I have a feeling that it was much better than the anime. Hell, a Netflix adaptation probably would have turned out a better product. It would be nice for this to get a reboot, different studio, different director, and smash everything that has the word ‘rotoscope’ on it

Yeah, if you can get over watching the animation, give it a watch. Episode one drags, but it picks up the second Nakamura confronts Kasuga.

If you would like to watch Flowers of Evil, Crunchyroll and Hidive have all 13 episodes available for streaming.

Okay, now that I’m finished with that sociopathic nightmare let’s pick another Sentai Filmworks anime.

HELL NO! I am not reviewing, “My Teacher Accidentally Made Me Horny”. That’s what I’m calling it and you should all do the same. NEXT!

Okay…I have no idea what the hell this anime is, but it looks harmless enough.

#anime review #flowers of evil #aku no hana #takao kasuga #nanako saeki #sawa nakamura

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naruthings · 4 years

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THE NEJITEN FANFICTION RECOMMENDATION MASTERLIST

oh, anon, the lack of nejiten fics thrive in the hearts of many… i may have similar experiences myself……………

but fear not, i have searched far and wide and i have returned and came back stronger than ever before!!! after re-reading every single nejiten fic i have on my favorites… handpicked the best ones and returned with even more fic recs!!! so ladies and gentlemen, i present to you, only THE BEST NEJITEN FICS YOU WILL READ ON FANFICTION DOT NET. HERE WE GO!!!

HALL OF FAME: ONE-SHOTS

THE BEST one-shots you will find on the site. Some are fluffy, some are sad, some will make you want to rip your heart out. But rest assured that without a doubt these fics are the absolute frivvy. These will not disappoint!

Tier 1: Spring — Here we appreciate the beauty of simplicity. Fics full of fluff and spunk that end in one and will make you end up feeling peppy and happy afterwards. A refreshing break from the complexities of life, short and sweet but nicely written, representing everything bright and new and blossoming, but most importantly, pure. So, friends, get your toothbrushes ready, because you are in for a sweet ride!

Tags: fluff, romance, humor, family, friendship

1. The Kissing Booth by BrownEyedHoneyBadger

— “ Lee was already reaching for a dollar inside his pocket. Mentally, Tenten began to scream. No. No. NO. This could not be happening. She should get up and run. Screw charity work. She was not kissing the guy whose eyebrows were furrier than the school mascot.”

Comments: A great start into the journey. NEJI IS SO GODDAMN SMOOTH. basically this fic is incredibly witty and genius. ugh!!

2. Psst! by Arkana

— “Lee finds out about Neji and Tenten’s relationship the hard way. The VERY hard way. “

Comments: I BUST MY ASS LAUGHING AT THIS ONE. I SWEAR THIS IS THE BEST, SWEETEST MOST IDIOTIC SHIT I HAVE EVER READ. PLS GIVE IT A GOOO

3. Conversations: Somniloquy by Mendori-chan

— “Neji. Your spit is warm.“

Comments: A storytelling all in dialogue. The perfect reenactment of something supposed to be short and sweet. I loved the dialogue and continue to love it!!

4. Godiva by Toboe Lonewolf

— “Neji had broken one of the most hallowed rules known to woman. ‘Thou shalt not steal her chocolate.’ Tenten’s going to make sure he never does it again. At least, not without her permission.”

Comments: just the fluffiest fluff out there!!

5. Screw Chivalry by Hearts and Stuff

— “Tenten didn’t want to do it. Really. But Neji shouldn’t have been such a butt.”

Comments: FUNNY AND HUMOROUS. I loved this so much! Has one of my favorite dialogue in any fic, really. PROBABLY REREAD THIS LIKE 100 TIMES IN 7TH GRADE

6. Hindsight by YamiPaladinofChaos

— “Sasuke and Tenten, on a date? Neji is not happy, not in the least. And of course, it’s all Naruto’s fault. No, really. It is.”

Comments: Okay, THIS SHIT WAS HILARIOUS. OH MY GOD. THANK U FOR THIS WONDERFUL AND FUNNY ASS FIC. kinda gets weird tho but i guess it’s part of the appeal.

7. I’m a Kunoichi, But by notesonlife

— “Tenten and Neji read a feminist book. And of course, trouble ensues, as Neji becomes increasingly aware that Tenten is currently, and may have always been, a girl.”

Comments: So, guys, notesonlife has always been one of my favorite authors early on my nejiten phase, and this is one of my favorites. please read their other stories as well!

8. The Problem with Hats by Aquarius Galuxy

— “Broken a/c, a tipped-over Weinermobile, and a girl who can’t seem to stop bugging him. It seems as if Neji’s day can’t get any worse than this.”

Comments: A sweet, well written fic by one of the writing senpais herself, @aquariusgaluxy ! I love both Neji and Tenten here so much!! NEJI IS SO FCKN CUTE HERE!! AND CHEEKY TENTEN!!!! AAA

9. Mission: Reverse Nejiten by Adelle-chan

— “Tired of all the failed attempts, Naruto uses Lee’s beliefs to get the two together. Or sort of.”

Comments: HOLY CRAP THIS WAS GREAT AND FUNNY AS HELL. Characterization is on point. This is my definition of a perfect naruto fic — where the other characters interact with the ship and the dynamic is great, like it’s part of the main story all along. i fucking love this one.

10. Truth Be Told by Mistress of Sarcasm

— “Hyuuga Neji falls for Tenten the day she almost broke his nose. Tenten doesn’t think of Hyuuga Neji as boyfriend material until an hour before he confesses.”

Comments: Holy crap! this was sweet as fuck! also one of the OG fics I want you all to read. Please give it a try!

11. Fifty Winks by Sandataba

— “Oversleeping is sometimes a good thing.”

Comments: Nice and Fluffy. shit u want to eat. I found the last part super cute!!!!! STILL think abt this fic from time to time.

12. Boxers by notesonlife

— “In which Tenten reorganizes Neji’s underwear drawer, and Neji decides to propose.”

Comments: OKAY, THE FLUFF IN THIS ONE WAS SIMPLY TOO MUCH. IT WAS TOO GOOD MAN. PERFECTION.

13. Rush Hour by Poisoned Scarlet

— “It was during one of those days; when the crowd was at it’s fullest, that he strolled into the shop and inadvertently humiliated her.”

Comments: Heehee. this one was cute.

14. Actions Speak Louder by Lotos-Eater

— “Short oneshot containing a dangerous amount of fluffiness. The surgeon general recommends you brush your teeth immediately after reading.”

Comments: HOLY FUCK. THIS ONE WAS SO, SO CUTE. ISTG THIS SHIT WAS. AAAAAAA. JUST PERFECT. *CHEF’S KISS* PERFECT.

15. Keeping Up Appearances by 716799

— “Them? Caught in the act? NEVER.”

Comments: okay, at first i was a little hesitant to add this fic but THOUGHT IT WAS THE PERFECT ENDING!! SO SWEET N FLUFFY!!!

MORE UNDER THE CUT!!

Tier 2: Summer — Stories serving as a reminder of our lazy, hazy days of summer — complete with all the thrumming romance, sexual tension, and drama that reflect easily so on those summery teenage memories. They’re sweet, spicy, sometimes heavy, but have all the ingredients you need for the perfect sunset fics. Read with passion! Let’s go!!

tags: romance, drama, lime, spicy

1. a memory stick filled with myspace friends by straw8erries

— “fake facebook dating: it’s really cute, she swears.”

Comments: Funny, spicy, a little heavy, but nonetheless hot, what other story to start off this tier? It’s a college AU , maybe not with the closure that you would expect from something like a summer romance, but it has these moments that shine.

2. Singing Sirens by 716799

— “Everything about this says that it’s not going to work. But Tenten has always specialised in disasters, and nothing in their world is a coincidence.”

Comments: Sooooooo hot. I love the goddamn dialogue, the characters feel so fresh and new but so true to heart at the same time. Please give it a try!

3. In Coffee City, We Borrowed Heaven by Aquarius Galuxy

— “It wasn’t as if he wanted to take this class, anyway. Reproductive Health 1101 was for people who couldn’t look up information on Google. Or someone who needed a science module to fit in his already-packed schedule. Hyuuga Neji belonged to the latter group of students, and he was in no mood to explain himself.“

Comments: As always, @aquariusgaluxy never fails. This was equally hot and equally clever, and you can’t help but with it were longer, but isn’t that the point??? sometimes ambiguity is also magical

4. Sixth Time’s the Charm by thedarkangel22

— "Gosh, Neji, where’s your sense of adventure, huh?” “I managed to lose it somewhere between the third and fourth time we were caught with your hand down my pants.” Where Tenten and Neji can’t seem to resist one another.

Comments: I remember reading this fic over and over again because I couldn’t get over how nicely written it was. Great plot, set up, dialogue, seeks excitement throughout the whole fic. Exhilarating. Pls read.

5. Revolver by Scintazzle

— “’You’d better not get in my way, incompetent novice.’ Tenten just got a new partner in crime. Unfortunately, he’d like nothing better than to work alone.”

Comments: Holy holy shitttttt, what is it with nejiten and agent cop AUs? They’re so goddamn hot. This one is no exception.

6. Recess by NessieGG

— “Tenten gets stuck on desk duty, but it’s a kind she’s not used to. 'Neji, I’m not going to have a make out session with you in a broom closet.'”

Comment: One comment: hehehehHHEHEHEHEHEHE

7. Eggnog by iflip4dolphins

— “She had slept with her worst enemy, and now she was trying to remember what had happened.”

Comments: OH MY GOD, this fic has such a good writing style. And such a great composition too. I just love everything about this fic. More love for this fic please. i super love it. I REREAD IT ALL THE TIME. IT’S LIKE MY GO-TO FOR PERFECT NEJITEN CHARACTERIZATION AND FLUFF. You will too!

8. Tension by Interim

— “Tension mounts when Tenten finds a surprise in her shower.”

Comments: YES. HDFGIHILHGIH.

9. I Swear I’m not Drunk Officer by fanfictioner22

— “The title says it all.”

Comments: THIS WAS FUNNY OK. and it had that spicy tinge to it that makes u wanna go mmmmf. MOTHERFUCKER!!

10. Airless by NessieGG

— “This was not the type of assignment that Team Gai specialized in. 'There’s something else you should know about the Grass nin…'”

Comments: OH MY GOD, this fic is all sorts of special! The drama, the tension…. the best resolution ever. written impeccably by the ever-talented nessiegg too. god i love this fic. it rlly has it all. v captivating!

11. In Men’s Clothing by voidforrent

— “It wasn’t that Neji didn’t find Tenten’s breasts attractive; he was just trying to be respectful.”

Comments: Oooowee, I remember not liking this fic the first time i read it. but as i grew older i realized HOW FUCKING HOT THIS FIC ACTUALLY IS. I AM NOT EXAGGERATING. IT WILL MAKE YOU SWEAT!!

12. Racetrack to My Heart by Aquarius Galuxy

— “Ino takes Tenten to a blind date - except it’s not quite blind, and not quite what the latter expects.”

Comments: BRUH THIS FIC WAS HOT AND BRILLIANT. THAT’S ALL I HAVE TO SAY. NEJI AND TENTEN ARE SO FUNNY HERE. YOU WILL NOT REGRET THIS!!!

Tier 3: Autumn — Stories with pain, stories with substance. Stories that have something to say, making our hearts hurt, breaking them. Stories that are subtle, with some sort of comfort in the air. Bittersweet. A lot to take in. Stories that speak to the mind and soul. Stories with words and feelings as vivid as the warm colors of autumn, as the seasons prepare for the occurrence of death, and the winter to come.

tags: drama, hurt/comfort, romance, angst

1. Little Feet Working the Machine by pusa-is-me

— “There is a reason why Team Gai is not sent on seduction missions.”

Comments: This is, I think, the perfect fic to describe this tier. Painful and subtle. Plays with your feelings. Raw & powerful. Again, one of the first few things I ever read about nejiten. still think abt it from time to time.

2. Christmas, 1944 by Giada Luna

— “Not all of the War Efforts were 'Over There.’ Tenten comes home froma long shift at the factory to an empty home, Bing crooning on the radio, and dreams of a Christmas with him back home.”

Comments: sad sad sad. then happy happy happy. cries and smiles. LOVED IT.

3. 13 Unmentionables by pusa-is-me

— “This is not a love story. At least not yet.”

Comments: OH MY GOD. OH MY FUCKING GOD. THIS FIC…. IT BROKE MY HEART, IT TORE ME TO PIECES. SOMETHING ABT IT JUST MAKES ME FUCKING ACHE. MAKES MY HEART THROB. GODDAMN. SO MUCH PAIN. IT’S SO FUCKING RAW.

4. Mindless Perversions of Love and Life by voidforrent

— “There were times when she couldn’t help but wonder why.”

Comments: (we’ve won, but at what cost?) :(

5. Birds by Snowshinobi

— “Birds fill his lungs, his throat, but still, not one reaches his mouth.”

Comments: Okay, okay. Tbh i rlly don’t know how to categorize this fic. did it break my heart? did it make me squeal? but something in my heart told me to categorize it as autumn. pls have fun because this is beautiful.

6. Certain the Journey by NessieGG

— “He made her understand that, to him, her love was absolutely worthless.”

Comments: Omg :(((( okay but this was beautiful as well.

7. fragmented dreams by Seynee

— “She has loved everything about him that hurts.”

Comments: so fucking beautiful. almost perfect. loved it.

8. Stitch my heart back together again by SaturnXK

— “There is nothing I don’t love about you, Tenten,” Neji says softly. And Tenten wants to cry because it isn’t true. There are too many things wrong with her, and Neji is a liar.

Comments: OH MY GOD, this one attacked me right in the heart. it just… please just read it. it’s so pretty.

9. Mine for the Night by syaoran no hime

— “For this whole night, she will close her eyes and pretend that he is hers, his glacial heart and all. For tomorrow, she can never have the same liberty again.”

Comments: AHAHAHAH i remember reading because of this one. this author is just so og and so good :’)

10. Since Spring by NessieGG

— “Neji is driven to the brink of his sanity when his teammate disappears and is given an option. 'I can use a technique that will allow you to forget every memory you have of Tenten.'”

Comments: raw. powerful. ugh. a lot of feelings in this one, wrapped under beautifully written strings.

11. Those Old Feelings Again by Poisoned Scarlet

— “It wasn’t that they weren’t aware of their attraction for one another… it was just that one was good at burying it, and the other was too stubborn to admit it.”

Comments: :( and then :)

12. Bergeron Falls by Goldberry

— “It’s been five days since they’ve seen the sun and everything is water.”

Comments: oh, thank god i recommended a goldberry fic or else i’d never be able to forgive myself. yes this is very beautiful as always :)

13. Lotus by memory’s marionette

— “Even if I now saw you only once, I would long for you through worlds, worlds.“ Because one life is not enough for love, and the past forever bleeds into the future.

Comments: SUCHHHH a beautiful fic. oh my god. i almost want to highlight this and show it to the world because that’s just how good it is. reincarnation done and written perfectly. i love love love this fic~~~

14. Right Before His Eyes by NessieGG

— “There has been a change in Tenten that Neji does not understand. 'You’re leaving the team.'”

Comments: classic nessiegg :)

15. Falling Flight by Toboe Lonewolf

— “When Tenten falls, she falls hard. And right now, she’s falling hard…for him.”

Comments: OKAY, well honestly, I WAS SO EXCITED TO FINALLY RECOMMEND THIS. i know this isn’t drana/angst but it just felt right for me to recommend this under autumn. plsplspls enjoy!!

Tier 4: Winter — The end of the year, the end of an era. Bonds strengthened and broken. Friendships were made. Read as the branches of winter fill up with snow, trees of knowledge that have been through the seasons, preparing to die with everything they have with them. Stories about growing up. Stories about family. The beginning and the end. This is their outcome.

tags: family, hurt/comfort, angst, romance, friendship, fluff. basically all the tags. if you’d notice they’re all growing up fics with exceptions to some but i think you’ll understand :) this tier is more assorted but the feels speak the same

1. She Was There by Ally1313

— “She was there. She was always there.”

Comments: I don’t know why, but something about this fic always makes me want to cry. It has a very special place in my heart. I first read this when I was 12, and I loved it so goddamn much. THIS FIC, IT CHANGED MY LIFE. IT INSPIRED ME TO LOVE NEJITEN MORE THAN EVER. SO PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ENJOY IT!! OH GOD I LOVE IT SO MUCH. WHAT A GREAT WAY TO START OFF WINTER.

2. Chichue by keroRiBBIT

— "I’m nervous,” Neji said. Hizashi smiled at him, “There’s nothing to be nervous about.” “You said that before too.” “Have I ever been wrong?” Neji growing up in Hizashi’s care.

Comments: OH HIZASHI. THIS FIC IS THE CUTEST GODDAMN THING I HAVE EVER READ. LOVE ITTTTT

3. coda in d minor by metaphorically-blue

— “She doesn’t look like her father. /And children can’t recognize grief./”

Comments: this fic has been recommended to be by someone on tumblr before. needless to say, it broke my heart. a short angst break :’)

4. Fate by Silverlight

— “The first date, the first kiss, the first time he asked her to marry him.”

Comments: cute cute cute cute!!

5. 20truths: Neji and Tenten by Cyberwolf

— “The longest conversation the two have in school is when Tenten explains the advantage of titanium shurikens over plain steel ones to Neji, then wishes him luck in the target range.”

Comments: Of course, this winter growing-up-fic collection wouldn’t be complete without a 20truths!!

6. Only You by Byakuxhisa4eva

— “There are very few things he would ever deny her.“ Even at his cruelest, he had always been kind to her.”

Comments: okay, now this one is a classic :)

7. Shadows of the sun by withered

— “Death changes nothing, even when Neji is gone; Tenten is still trying to reach him.”

Comments: another short but necessary angst break :’)

8. A Series of Indecent Proposals by Pleasantries and the Aftermath

— “The first time he kissed her, she slapped him so hard, she left a welt.”

Comments: very very cute. they are just so. goddamn cute. very well written and nice characterization.

9. Drifting by Ariel32

— “They were drifting down a river, and the only thing that mattered was that they were driting together. You can’t help being in love.”

Comments: AAAAAAAAAAAAA this was so pretty!!!

10. Twenty Truths About Team Guy by RennaV

— “Twenty Truths about Team Guy the rest of Konoha doesn’t know. Mostly comedy and focusing on the relationships of the members of Team Guy. It does end kind of sadly. Sorry.”

Comments: OK THIS IS A BIG ONE. A BIGBIGBIG ONE. I REMEMBER reading this and wailing like a little baby. i really cried a lot. this one built up my heart and shattered it to pieces. beautiful.

11. Soul-Marks by fanfictioner22

— “The soulmate!AU Nejiten style.”

Comments: this one was so clever and thoughtful. so goddamn funny and full of substance. LOVED IT.

12. Irresistible by MyFallenAngel

— “The fact that Hyuuga Neji was irresistibly irresistible was undeniable.”

Comments: This was one of the fics I read earlier on, and it was SO CUTE. Everything was just so pure, so undeniably Nejiten. Please, give it a read!

13. Papercranes by Bloody Angels

— “The paper cranes have always been a part of her life and perhaps, they always will be.”

Comments: CAN YOU HEAR IT???!? MY HEART ROSE AND FELL. SO PRETTY. SO BEAUTIFUL!! broke it too. cried like a little bitch.

14. Blind by Midnight Insomniac

— “She is sixteen and in love.”

Comments: HNNNGGG THIS ONE RLLY STRUCK A CHORD IN MY HEART. THIS ONE ALWAYS STANDS OUT TO ME FOR SOME REASON. LOVE IT!!

15. Chance Encounters by Scintazzle

— “That humiliating moment where Tenten grabs the shoulder of a person who she thinks she knows, turns him around, and doesn’t recognize him. At all. And things just go downhill from there.”

Comments: CUTECUTECUTECUTE AAAAA

16. Severing Ties by fanfictioner22

— “Some ties are better severed and Tenten learns it the hard way.”

Comments: angst breakkkkk but it was v beautiful :’)

17. Truth Be Told by MistressofSarcasm

— “Hyuuga Neji falls for Tenten the day she almost broke his nose. Tenten doesn’t think of Hyuuga Neji as boyfriend material until an hour before he confesses.”

Comments: I REMEMBER THIS ONE. IT WAS SO CUTE. I LOVED NEJI AND TENTEN IN THIS. ONE OF MY PERSONAL FAVS :)

18. The Seasons by sotto.voce88

— “Love was never seasonal.”

Comments: v beautiful :)

19. Patchwork by NessieGG

— “When she thought he was sleeping, he saw her get scissors and snip off a section of the yellow sheet beneath their intertwined bodies.”

Comments: I remember always avoiding this fic no matter how much times it popped up on my feed. I remember it was because I was very scared of how heavy this fic would be. I was right. It’s too beautiful for words. I CRIED AGAIN. JESUS I RLLY CRIED WITH THIS ONE. Just really the perfect way to end this tier, please read Patchwork!! (classic nessiegg, always beautiful :(()

Okay, now that concludes my oneshots recommendations!! I get to breathe a little now :)) please read all of them. they really are the best of the best. Now moving on…

THE KONOHA INTERLUDE: OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

nejiten oneshots/ficlets written in the perspective of the konoha 13!! pls enjoy these for they are genius :)

1. The Lost Things by pusa-is-me

— “Where Shikamaru realizes that the Hyuuga Neji does know how to get jealous, and that for all her intelligence, Tenten was pretty oblivious.”

Comments: A little ShikaTen is always cute for me. I love shikamaru and love it when he appears in nejiten fanfictions because he of all people know how oblivious those two are to one another :))

2. No Competition Here by carved in the sand

— “You think your man has anything on mine?”

Comments: Pure crack-ish fluff and humor

3. Replacements by 716799

— “Nothing is ever as good as the real thing. (One day, she will ask him to henge.)”

Comments: o noessss…. but also AN ABSOLUTE MUST-READ. THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE NEJITEN FICS OF ALL TIME. i LOVE THIS SO GODDAMN MUCH AND IT’S BEAUTIFUL AS FUCK NOT TO MENTION GENIUS!!

4. Exchange by Wielder of Paperclips

— “In a short exchange of words, Shikamaru enlightens Tenten. “

Comments: ANOTHER ONE OF MY FAVORITES. GOD I THINK ABOUT THIS FIC EVERY DAY. THE DIALOGUE IS SO CUTE AND SHIKA IS THE BEST!!

5. Princess by insert cliche

— “One of the biggest reasons why Uchiha Sasuke hates Hyuuga Neji is also the most unknown.”

Comments: vv cute!! a stoke of genius

6. Bad Dog, No Biscuit by Lotos-Eater

— “Or, Inuzuka Kiba’s Even Longer Day. Kiba is not quite the player he thinks he is. Will there be anyone to appreciate his animal magnetism and rugged charm?”

Comments: KIBA IS A GENIUS. I REALLY REALLY LIKE HIM AND I THINK THAT HE WAS WRITTEN REALLY WELL IN THIS FIC. PLS READ THIS ONE IT’S HILARIOUS.

7. Inner Light by NessieGG

— “She had heard the rumors. But she had never gone so far as to assume that they might be true.”

Comments: OMG. THIS WAS BEAUTIFUL. I really just like anything to do with Sakura. She’s so ugh here you really really feel her. Beautifulll

8. Sempiternal by saccharinely

— “In which she sends the letters left unsent. She needs closure. He gives it to her.”

Comments: A really beautiful SasuTen fic. Somehow it should be triggering but it all makes sense to me :)

HALL OF FAME: FICLETS

a.k.a.: stories that are too long to be oneshots but are too short to be actual fanfics. usually around 2-3 chapters but wouldn’t have been done any better :))

1. On Sex by Lotos-Eater

— “With titles like this, who needs summaries?”

Comments: Really, it seems shallow, but it’s truly one of the best-written, most beautiful and introspective things I have ever read. it really grew on me and I love it so goddamn much!! IM SERIOUS I RLLY LOVE THIS ONE ITS ONE OF MY GO-TOs

2. Goldilocks by a Different Name by Aquarius Galixy

— “Tenten discovers that someone has been living in her apartment when she goes away on long missions.”

Comments: vv cute fic with very witty dialogue :) neji is cute

3. Call Your Manager by Clementive

— “Tenten’s feelings for her English project partner are as complicated as his coffee order.”

Comments: another really cute fic. Tenten is a legend!!

4. Heatwave by Yahboohbeh

— “When she found her breath again it was ragged. Only one thought tore through her mind: Consume me. The Suna sun wasn’t the only reason their faces burned.”

Comments: very very hot n spicy like the title and caption suggesttttS

5. Perchance by KNO

— "Wow, what are the odds we’re both at the same party AGAIN?”

Comments: ONE OF MY FAVORITE NEJITEN FICS OF ALL TIME. i love this one so much. so witty and smart, especially all the expressions and dialogue. Super cute too!!

6. Four Conversations on the Subject of Flight by wildcatt

— “Flying is not as perfect as you imagine it to be, you know. Flying is just falling up.”

Comments: So fucking affecting all the time, I sweat. For some reason I always remember this fic when i think of nejiten :0 PLSPLS READ THIS ONE!!

7. Confessions by Cyberwolf

— “Tenten is trying to tell Neji something. He’s not quite getting it.”

Comments: THIS ONE WAS VERY VERY FUNNY AND CUTE. I LOVE ANYTHING WITH THE KONOHA 13. BRILLIANT!!

8. The Only Alliance by notesonlife

— “A black leather bound sketchbook binds her to him, and breaks her against him.”

Comments: THIS ONE WAS BEAUTIFUL. TRULY A HALL OF FAMER. SO MUCH SUBSTANCE AND ALWAYS STICKS WITH YOU. WRITTEN VERY PRETTILY. PLS READ!!!!!!!!

HALL OF FAME: ONE-SHOT COLLECTIONS

a recommendation panel of the best one-shot collections you will ever find on the site!! as if a single one-shot was enough… :”)

1. Vicissitude by KNO

— “A collection of drabbles and one shots. Neji and TenTen pairing. Contains regular appearances of other characters.”

Comments: THIS. THIS IS PROBABLY MY FAVORITE. EVERY frickn oneshot in here is a gem and i treasure all of them in my heart. genius, too. In here stems a lot of my favorite nejiten oneshots ever. PLEASE GIVE IT A TRY!!

2. The Path to Ashes by notesonlife

— “Neji says it’s their fate. Tenten shows him nothing is secure like that. NejiTen. 017: Naruto’s smirk reached ear to ear. “Next, whoever both gets twelve will kiss.”

3. One shots: Neji and Tenten by I-Heart-Hatake-Kakashi

— “100 Nejiten oneshots. Chapter 100 - Happy Birthday Neji!”

Comments: okay, when in your entire life do you get to say: “I WROTE 100 ONESHOTS FOR NEJITEN” ever???!?!? well, this author can! they actually wrote 100 nejiten oneshots and all of them were so unique and affecting and had this certain continuity to it that left me in tears when I finished.

4. Shades of Konoha: Dragon and Phoenix by Giada Luna

— “Series of oneshots featuring Neji and Tenten. Chapter 32: NejiTen Month 2019: Body/Cursed * They tell him he is born to bound - and he believes them.”

Comments: I have only recently discovered this collection and have been loving it so far. Props to Giada Luna for all the times I smiled bc of these!!

6. Right, Wrong and What Falls Between by Aquarius Galuxy

— “What is, what was, what may have been. (Part 34: Three feet away, Neji continues to read his papers, as if ignorant of what she’s doing.)”

Comments: ANOTHER ONE OF MY FAVORITES. God I really love these. There are some real gems in this collection. Genius fics. PLEASE READ THIS ALONG WITH POSTCARDS. THEY ARE BOTH QUITE GENIUS.

7. Untouched by MakeYouSmile

— “Why are you doing this to me?“ Tenten asked quietly. Neji did not give her the pleasure of responding. "After all that’s happened, you’re still standing in the same place.” –A collection of Neji/Tenten shorts.

Comments: A lot of beautifully written Romance/Angst on this one. Really heavy n affecting!!

8. Perks and Pains by keroRiBBIT

— “There are pros and cons in every situation. Most of the time, one just outweighs the other. Ch. 3: A lover with such long hair. Perks: It comes in handy when you desperately want to hold on to something. Pains: It tends to get messy in the morning.”

Comments: SHORT BUT GENIUS. THIS SHIT WAS FUCKING HILARIOUS, TAKE MY WORD ON THIS. THE FIRST CHAPTER ALREADY HAD ME HOOKED. SERIOUSLY IT’S HILARIOUS AND GENIUS AND AURGHHH PLS JUST GO READ IT!!!

9. Careless Whispering by misspandalily

— “17: Neji, Tenten and Lee are fairies who run a catering business together. Mostly AU oneshots.”

Comments: VERY CUTE FIC COLLECTION by one of my closest nt authors!! pls give it a try!!

10. Lotus Blossoms and Other Musings by Yahboohbeh

— “Collection of one-shots. Part 28: Her eyes were nothing like his.”

Comments: Very sweet collection :))

HALL OF FAME: MULTICHAPTERED

okay, okay, i gotta admit, i’m not particularly the strongest in this department. yes, I am quite knowledgeable on nejiten one-shots, but unfortunately i have not read a lot of the longer ones. but the ones here… they’re really good. so with those words, i hope and trust that you will enjoy these :)

1. Manager and Other Side Jobs by Scintazzle

— “Accepting the shady job offer wasn’t really one of her best choices…but discovering she threw up on her future boss was even worse. Tenten’s new relationship brings a whole new meaning to complete and utter servitude.”

Comments: THIS FIC. I have so much feelings with this fic. Scintazzle’s writing is one of the few that I can actually follow through. Very interesting plot and a lot of sexual tension. !!!

2. Eyes Like Pale Thistle by Aquarius Galuxy

— “She crawled beneath his skin and questioned the way he saw life. Perhaps all he’d wanted, really, was a little bit of control.”

Comments: I REALLY REALLY LOVE THIS ONE. Was super hot but had a lot of substance and a lot to say. Had moments of brilliance that I really appreciate!

3. Neji Gaiden by Levi Ackerman

— “Inspired by recent omake - if Neji wants a gaiden, Neji will get a gaiden! This story chronicles Neji’s life with his team starting from their graduation from the Academy. Follows canon with extra details.”

Comments: NEJI GAIDEN! HOLY HOLY SHIT PLEASE READ THIS ONE. DEFINITELY A MUST-READ. Since it follows canon it really gives it more points because IT GETS NEJI AND TENTEN’S CHARACTERIZATION REALLY ON POINT. AND EVERYTHING MAKES SENSE WHICH IS SUPER CUTE. PLEASE OH GOD READ THIS ONE. IT’S QUITE GENIUS AND IS VERY WELL WRITTEN. the author really knows the characters she’s writing about and UGHHH JUST PLEASE. It’s a shame it isn’t finished tho, but otherwise IT’S WORTH IT!!

4. like paper dolls and little notes by Seynee

— ”It’s not that Tenten hates flying. In fact, she kind of likes it. Especially when she gets free cocktails. Especially when she’s sitting next to a handsome stranger. Especially when she gets to talk to him. This is going to be good.”

Comments: nawwww this one was a classic. really hesitant to finish this before but the ending is totally worth it. made me cryy :”)

5. The Fat and Pretty of Art School by Paper Lanterns and Yoghurt

— “We’ll laugh and we’ll sing (poorly) but whatever happens we’re in it together babe.”

Comments: OMG. I LOVE THIS ONE SO MUCH. BASICALLY THE ULTIMATE HEADCANON TO THE NEJITEN HIJINKS. It’s super super cute and the characters are really on-point. had some really funny and endearing moments too. love Tenten’s friendship with shika and sasuke here. SUPER COOL YOU FEEL LIKE A COOL KID WHILE READING THIS.

6. Rapunzel by wildcatt

— “And she leads the blind prince home.”

Comments: It is quite short, but it is REALLY REALLY BEAUTIFUL. I WAS SOBBING, COMPLETELY IN TEARS during mass as I read this fic. Everything is written with so much heart and pain. pls give this one a try.

6. Complexities of Blackmail by Aquarius Galuxy

— “[Everything in the world is about sex, except sex. Sex is about power.] Lieutenant Tenten finds herself caught in a web of blackmail when Lt Hyuuga Neji stumbles upon her doing what she shouldn’t have been. Mere rivalry between old teammates turns into something deeper, much to Tenten’s horror and bewilderment.”

Comments: Ohhhh, blackmail, blackmail, blackmail. Of course. This is the god of all nejiten fics. It’s so fucking beautiful. Every time I go back to this in every chapter is just something so beautiful and bewildering it warms my heart. DEFINITELY A MUST-READ. Blackmail just sticks. Left me as a sobbing mess at the end. Very raw and very powerful.

7. Crossing the Middle Line by Scintazzle

— “You know you’re screwed when your ex-girlfriend becomes your new secretary…and you’re falling in love with her all over again.”

Comments: OH MY GOd this FIC THIS FUCKING FIC. very hot. sweet n spicy. short and cute. quite hilarious at times. loved it!!

8. Right Kind of Wrong by Nokito-chan

— “She yanked him out of his comfort zone. He made her want things she tried to guard against. Somewhere in the middle … hell broke loose.”

Comments: OMG. THIS FIC WAS EVERYTHING. super hot as well and was a really fun time. tenten’s bond with konohamaru was really sweet :)

9. The Twelve Days of Christmas by Giada Luna

— A quirk of fate turns Tenten into a modern day Snow White and tosses her into the lives of the Huyga-Uzumaki family right at Christmas. However, she has her own problems, and not time for 'Prince Not-So-Charming’ or anything else to get in her way.”

Comments: a very cute and light read that is perfect for the seasons! giada is such a talented writer; her words flow and make sense. everything is as it should be :)

10. Scars and Stitches by pusa-is-me

— “A love triangle of Gai-stronomic proportions.”

Comments: THIS. THIS. I hate this fic. I love it to death. So much conflicting emotions here, but left me at tears as always. Really just one of the best nejiten fics i’ve ever read out there, and the perfect last recommendation. I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY. WHAT A WAY TO END THIS CHAPTER

CLOSING REMARKS

So that concludes my masterlist! What do you think? It was a long-term project I started in march? and have finally finished in time for the holidays!

I’m 100% sure that there are some brilliant fics I missed along the way, and I apologise if I haven’t added them. Please give me more recommendations so I may add them. And Please treasure all these fics as I have.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! I hope these keep you covered for the rest of your breaks :)

Pls also check out the authors here on tumblr for they are still active :)

AUTHOR TAG:

@iridescentirises @aquariusgaluxy @misspandalily @giada-luna @fanfictioner22 @zealousheart

#nejiten #nejixtenten #tentenxneji #neji #hyuga #tenten #neji tenten #I SPENT SO MUCH TIME THINKING ABOUT THESE

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bulbpix · 4 years

Text

If You Just Listened - Part 7

100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900.

No, that couldn't be right. You counted again.

100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800... 900.

You shook your head. 'Okay, wake up. Focus.' You counted again.

100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600...

You placed the bills on the table, burying your face in your palms. This wasn't enough. This wasn't nearly enough. After your bills, you had a little over fifty dollars.

You hit your forehead with the base of your palm.

'Where did it go?'

Your eyes widened with sudden realization.

'Food.'

You pressed your palms against your eyes. How could you have been so careless? Of course you worked hard. You wouldn't deny that. But you indulged yourself at the wrong time. The completely wrong time. And on top of that, you paid for all of Arthur's food too. You tried to think about your next course of action. Maybe sticking to beans and rice for a while could help? Maybe you could wait to wash your laundry every two weeks? You sighed, dropping your forehead against the table.

Lucy walked into the breakroom, stopping in her tracks once she spotted you. She cleared her throat.

You shot up, startled and embarrassed by her sudden appearance.

"Oh... Hey, what's up?" You brushed yourself off, trying to act casually. "Not much..." she responded, eyeing you curiosly. "Taking a nap?" "Yeah... yeah. I just got tired." She nodded, not quite buying it. She looked towards the bills on the table, which you quickly tucked away. She sighed, taking a seat across from you. "I see. Money problems." Your gaze drifted downward, and you sadly nodded. You opened your mouth to speak, happy to be able to vent- "You know this guy I dated was also bad with money. But man, he was HOT. I'm talking like six pack, long hair, bright eyes..."

The rest of Lucy's monologue was a blur to you. You tuned her out, her voice being nothing but a mumbling background to your thoughts.

What would you do now? How long would you be able to stretch fifty dollars? You certainly couldn't afford to treat yourself anymore. Maybe you could skip a meal or two. But there was something you were forgetting...

Oh god. You wanted to visit your parents. But there was nothing left.

You could feel your eyes begin to water, your face growing hot. Not wanting to be seen like this, you quickly stood up and began walking to the exit.

"Woah, where you headed?" Lucy asked, surprised by your sudden departure. "Home. Shift's over, I just wanted to get some things in order before I left," you responded. She looked at you, a hint of concern in her expression. "Okay...Oh. Also. Mike's buying new liquor for the bar, so the crew is gonna get trashed on the rest of the old stuff in a few days. You in?" "Uh... yeah. Sounds good," you replied, just wanting to leave. It was beginning to get difficult to keep your voice from shaking. "Great. See ya then."

You rushed out of Pogo's, making your way home as quickly as you could. You didn't want anyone to see you like this, Gotham was not a place to show weakness.

'Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. STUPID.'

The air reeked of garbage. Drug deals were clearly happening along every sidewalk. Police cars drove by, apathetic to their surroundings. Every wall was covered in old, peeling flyers and graffiti. And this is where you would stay. Your parents would have to wait.

The thought stung you in your core. You wouldn't be able to visit home, all because you couldn't be responsible with your money. Instead, you would have to stay in this miserable black hole that called itself a city.

Finally, your apartment building was in clear view. You sighed in incredible relief, so desperate to release your emotions somewhere private. You reached into your pocket, pulling out your keys as you approached the door.

You didn't realize how much your hands had been shaking until you tried to put the key in the door. You missed it, then you missed it again, and again,... and again. You furrowed your eyebrows, trying to steady yourself. You went for it again... and dropped your keys on the pavement.

Dropping your keys wasn't particularly upsetting. Nor was trying to guide your trembling hands. But you just couldn't hold yourself together anymore. You turned around, your back sliding against the glass entrance as you sunk to the ground.

You tried to be an optimist about your situation, you really did. But not being able to visit home had made everything so ugly again. You weeped quietly on the floor, your makeup running down your cheeks and dripping off your jaw. You hated this place. You hated the constant noise, the cost, the sense of dread. You just wanted to go home. Just for a little bit. You just wanted to see your family. But you couldn't. And you only had yourself to blame.

You gritted your teeth to prevent yourself from wailing, your body now shaking with your sobs. You took a deep breath, trying to calm yourself down.

Unbeknownst to you, Arthur was also arriving home from his clown gig. The sound of muffled sobbing caught his attention - and it was coming from the apartment building?

He walked closer, poking his head carefully around the brick wall, his green wig comically sticking out.

And there you were. Crying. Sad. Alone.

He quickly ducked back behind the wall, hanging on to his cap and wig. He knew he had to do something. But what? What could he do?

Honk-honk!

You were startled out of your sadness by the sound of a goofy clown horn. You looked up, scanning your surroundings for the source, but saw nothing. Until...

Honk-honk!

Arthur stuck his face out from the corner again, then hid it again, then poked it out again, playing a game of peek-a-boo. You stared at him in confused (but happy) amusement as he began taking exaggerated steps towards you in his ridiculously oversized clown shoes.

All of a sudden, Arthur whipped a magic wand seemingly out of the air, pointing it directly at your nose. You nearly yelped in surprise... but nothing happened. You looked at him, puzzled. Was something supposed to happen?

Arthur scratched his forehead, carefully inspecting the wand. He then offered it to you. You looked at him suspiciously as you took the wand in your hand.

As soon as he released it, the seemingly straight wand went limp like a noodle in your grasp. You smiled and sniffled, wiping your nose with your other hand as you handed him back the wand.

He tapped it against his leg, and like magic, it was straight again. He gave you a smug nod, as if he hadn't planned this from the beginning. You laughed at his stupid, sly expression - to the point of accidentally snorting. A bit embarrassing, but you were having a great time watching his performance.

And voila! He thrust the wand toward you again, a bouquet of fake flowers shot out of it and tickled your nose. You laughed again, taking the flowers from Arthur and holding them closely to you. He bent down in front of you, pointing at his red clown nose. You weren't quite sure what he wanted you to do, but you slowly reached up and pinched the nose between your thumb and pointer.

Arthur began to back up, the string that wrapped the nose around his head beginning to stretch. After taking a few more steps back, he gave you a thumbs up. You smiled, letting go of the nose.

FWOOSH! The nose smacked him on the face! He tumbled backwards dramatically, landing right on his rear. You let out a loud laugh, thoroughly entertained by the silliness of the entire situation, and pleasantly distracted from your stress.

Arthur stood up, brushing himself off and beginning to dance. He spun like a drunken ballerina, and jumped around like a monkey in the jungle. It was ridiculous, nonsensical, extravagant, and most of all - fantastic.

You rested your chin on your hand, softly chuckling at Arthur's show. Your eyes were still puffy, but you were successfully cheered up.

As you sat at the apartment steps, happily watching Arthur dance, you realized something. Arthur wasn't just a nice guy that showed up at Pogo's a lot. He wasn't just a talented clown or a good neighbor simply doing his part.

He was your friend. And he was a great one, too.

A/N - Sorry for the wait guys, ya girl has been very very busy. But here's the latest installment!! YaY!! I wanted to experiment with this chapter, and see how much interaction I could write without any dialogue. Let me know if you guys liked it!

#joker #arthur fleck #joker x reader #arthur fleck x reader #slow burn #slowburn #arthur fleck x y/n #joker x y/n #arthur fleck x you #joker x you #if you just listened

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15001700tt · 4 years

Text

Descendants of the Moon

Thug Fight.

Descendants of the Moon Masterlist

Word Count: 2,003

Tag List: @multi-fan-trash @chastja

if you want to be added to the tag list pls DM me

Key: Bold- Dialogue said in the Drama

Episode 1:

The knife fight between the North Korean man and Shi Jin happened, and Shi Jin got injured, they go back to South Korea and hang out in the arcade where they help catch a thief and then they go to the cafe, Dae Young soon realizes that his phone is missing and they head to the hospital, they are accompanied by Gwang Nam as he was with them at the cafe.

Mo Yeon receives the thief and compliments the person that gave the medical treatment. Her colleagues around her.

“Make sure to make his treatment as painful as possible” Mo Yeon read off his arm.

“Easy” Nurse Ha Ja Ae muttered as she pressed against his sprained ankle, he grunted.

“His guardian just called, I think they’re on their way” Choi Min Ji informed Mo Yeon, handing her the phone.

The patient/thief tries to run away except he runs into Yoo Ji, she was in the lobby, and he looked rattled, and paranoid, she stopped.

“Where are you going?”

“Who are you, lady!?”

“Are you stealing medical equipment?” she narrowed her eyes.

“Mind your own business” he snapped and walked out of the hospital. She squinted her eyes, as she saw a group of guys following where he was going. She shook her head and followed them.

She reached the underground parking to the side, she hid behind a wall, watching what was about to happen, first, they started beating up the thief, then his friend when he tried to help him out. She moved to go help him out but she stopped when she saw three men coming towards the crowd. One was very tall, while his two other friends were a little bit shorter than him. He looked very serious, while his friend smiled at the other short man. And started yelling.

“Everyone! Stop what you're doing!” his shout halted their actions. They looked at the loud one in disbelief, their leader scoffed.

“Just pass by if you know what’s best for you,” he told them with a senile smile.

The three men smiled and kept walking towards them. The silent man walked up to the injured thief and the boy held onto his pant leg and begged for his help.

The man asked him why he was getting beaten up, the man nodded and told them that he was his brother. Of course, the gang didn't believe him. And the friend that was getting hit explained that the boy; Ki Bum needed to pay the fee of leaving their gang. Dae young nodded and asked how much that was. The gang leader scoffed, Dae young solemnly nodded and pulled out his wallet.

Yoo Ji couldn't believe he was really going to give them the money. She was just about to move when she heard the man say, “if you can get the wallet from me, I’ll give you the money” he informed them.

“If it’s an empty wallet, you’re dead,” one of them said. At that moment two of them got out knives. Yoo Ji realized that these 3 men were like no other, the man with the wallet didn't even back away, his two friends took a defensive stance but backed away, as if knowing that this isn’t their fight, yet.

Dae young beat two boys with his wallet, quite easily, almost like he wasn't even trying. As they dropped their knives. Shi Jin bent down and picked up one of the fallen knives and inspected it. Making the rookie mistake of telling everyone to get out their knives. Dae young and Gwang Nam rolled their eyes as Shi Jin looked taken aback when all of them pulled out their knives.

“I am still learning,” he joked. Gwang Nam smiled and took a defensive stance ready to strike.

Yoo Ji realized what was so different about them, they were just thugs, they looked professionally trained, she guessed by their attitude and the way they stood that they’re probably from the military.

As they fought, she noticed that the thief whom she now knows is Ki Bum and his friends were still injured. She also saw one of the thugs charging at the tallest one of the military men. She quickly intercepted his blow and hit his throat, making him choke and fall to the ground. As they noticed her presence the rest of the thugs tried to fight her, but she was fast. She quickly took care of the gangsters and hurried towards the injured two.

“Come on! let's get you back to the hospital” she informed Ki Bum, he grunted. The other boy helped her prop the boy and took him up.

A few minutes later the three men accompanied them and took the boy from her arms.

“You were impressive back there” she complimented, eyeing the three men.

“So were you, who are you again?” the loud man asked.

“Just a good Samaritan” she excused.

“Well I am Shi Jin, this is Dae Young and last that’s Gwang Nam” he introduced. The men didn't acknowledge her as they were holding onto a barely conscious teenager. But Gwang Nam gave her a small smile.

They rushed back to the emergency room, Yoo Ji was about to leave them in the lobby to get back to her stuff, but someone in a military uniform caught her eye, she realized that it was Myung Ju, a military surgeon who did her residency in Haesung Hospital, they were acquaintances, since Yoo Ji spends most of her time at the hospital. She walked up to the girl.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” Yoo Ji asked Myung Ju, breaking her out of her daze.

“Oh my god, you still hang out around here?” Myung Ju broke eye contact with Dae Young. Yoo Ji noticed how tense both Myung Ju and Dae Young were. She shrugged it off and guessed that they knew each other. The three men walked away, and nurses Ha and Choi met them halfway, taking the patient and laying him down.

“Yeah, the biggest scoops are always hiding in the upper levels of this hospital” Yoo Ji jokes. Yoo Ji wasn’t a doctor, she was a journalist with a creative writing passion, but her work led her to come here often thus her hanging out around the hospital was for her information of VIP’s and other stories because of their amazing doctors and emergency team. She was a pretty involved person, she volunteered in other countries and wrote the best stories. Although she does cover some pretty serious worldwide topics, she had gotten on her boss’s bad side lately so he sent her to get information about the VIPs.

“You haven't changed one bit from the last time I saw you” Myung Ju smiled, Yoo Ji realized that she did so out of politeness, Myung Ju looked like she was in a hurry.

“Alright, I won’t hold you up anymore, I am sure you're busy,” Yoo Ji said, Myung Ju nodded and excused herself.

Yoo Ji went to check on the progress of Ki Bum getting treated. Instead what she found was much more amusing. Mo Yeon was being relentless in her accusations of Shi Jin and Gwang Nam, assaulting the poor boy.

“Mo Yeon, give it a rest, they didn't beat him up, he’s involved with this gang and they beat him up for wanting to leave” Yoo Ji interrupted as Mo Yeon threatened to call the police.

“Yoo Ji, you’re here again, and why should I believe you?” she questioned.

“I was there, I even got a few punches in” Yoo Ji smiled and winked at the doctor, who couldn't help but chuckle.

“Right because I’ll believe the creative journalist that loves to exaggerate her stories” Mo Yeon playfully jabbed but Yoo Ji knew that Mo Yeon doesn’t believe her.

“I am not, check the CCTV” Yoo Ji suggested. Mo Yeon nodded and started walking towards the security’s office when Shi Jin caught up with her. Yoo Ji rolled her eyes, she can tell he had taken a liking to her, although Yoo Ji didn't understand why as Mo Yeon was trying to call the police on him.

Yoo Ji didn't follow them out as she knew that Mo Yeon is hard-headed and nothing she says will change her mind, but as she turned around she found the tall man, Gwang Nam staring at her. Yoo Ji’s cheeks flared red, she couldn't help but admit that he was handsome.

She pivoted around and followed her doctor’s friend to the CCTV room. She already knows the way as she’s been there a lot. As soon as she arrived she found Mo Yeon reacting extremely to the footage.

“Oh my gosh!” she blinked rapidly and was entranced by the screen. Yoo Ji chuckled, catching Shi Jin’s attention for a second, his equally amused face acknowledged her.

“Just like that!” Mo Yeon squealed as she saw Shi Jin hit two of the boys in the same time. She then pointed at him and back to the screen. Then came the part where Yoo Ji came in and Mo Yeon’s wide eyes soon caught Yoo Ji’s.

“Omo, I am friends with such a cool person!” she gleefully said. Yoo Ji laughed as she saw her friend’s excited face.

“Your awesome friend has to leave because she has to go report for work, but next time doesn’t accuse me of exaggerating, I can make your murder look like an accident!” Yoo Ji called out with a chuckled waving bye to her friend. Shi Jin raised an eyebrow at her strange farewell.

They leave together and Mo Yeon finds out that Shi Jin is injured. She helps patch him up as well as flirt.

Back at the base, the Alpha team gathered in their room and were fooling around. Gwang Nam was dressing up the two plush bears that Shi Jin and Dae Young brought back from the arcade. Dae Young just came back from his run, to a sight. Shi Jin was putting up two identical uniforms against his body.

“Deputy Team Leader, which one should I wear?”

“Where are you going dressed so prettily?” Dae Young’s sarcastic tone made Shi Jin frown at him with a fake pout.

“I am going to Haesung the day after tomorrow to get my wound cleaned,” he told him.

“The medical corp is right here but he insists on traveling an hour and a half to get his wound treated,” Woo Geun explained to Dae Young.

“Haesung has the best medical team and my body needs to be healthy in order to defend the motherland!” Shi Jin voiced out his reasoning.

“The doctor is pretty” Dae Young and Gwang Nam stated at the same time, making Woo Geun and Cheol Ho burst out in laughter.

“There are no pretty doctors in the medical corps” Shi Jin excused.

“Yes, there is” Dae Young refuted.

“Oh! I know who you’re talking about! Its First Lieutenant Yoon Myung Ju, right?” Cheol Ho said excitedly. Gwang Nam and Woo Geun looked at each other worriedly.

“But I heard that she was dumped harshly by the guy she was dating” Cheol Ho kept on going, “whoever the guy is I want to see his face” he was caught off by Gwang Nam and Woo Eun when they put up the mirror Cheol Ho was holding, in front of his face, to stop him from saying any more. Shi Jin communicated with Dae Young with his eyes, ‘if you just continued dating her instead of running away, he wouldn’t be in this position’, Dae Young narrowed his eyes at his friend.

Shi Jin goes to his date and Dae Young accompanies him to pay the hospital fees for Ki Bum, he doesn’t get to see Mo Yeon as she was in the operating room all day, she calls him and they reschedule but they don’t go as he has to leave because he has a mission in Afghanistan.

#dotm #dotm wip #halie writes #descendants of the sun fanfic #descendants of the sun #dots #kdrama fanfic #kdramas #kdrama fanfictions #kdrama #Yoo Ji (OC)#Ahn Bo Hyun #Ahnbohyun #ahn bohyun

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lightsandlostbells · 5 years

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Druck season 2, episode 9 reaction

This episode is hard to watch. It straight-up turns into a horror movie in the middle.

I’m obviously very excited to talk about Matteo’s season but I still want to do a thorough job with the last few S2 episodes, because I loved Mia’s season and think it deserves a close look. Hopefully I will get these done soon!

Episode 9

Clip 1 - Mia and Alex on the stairs

Mia is coming back from the shop talking to her mom. Bringing her parents into the story more at this point is not only relevant to their own marital issues, as we’ll see, but again, a reminder of what we’ve seen of them so far and a way to connect that Mia is projecting her family problems onto what happened with Sophie.

At first Mia tries to ignore Alexander, like she told him in her text to leave her alone. I don’t know if she’s so overcome with betrayal and hurt and shock that she thinks he isn’t worth her time, or if she just doesn’t want to face the truth. If she doesn’t talk to him, then he can’t confirm what Björn said, which would be devastating to her. But when Alexander wants to talk, she asks him outright if it’s true. When he says she can’t believe Björn, Mia points out that’s what Björn said about him. Ouch. It’s true that Mia knows Alex on a level she doesn’t know Björn, but that also might make the lies worse? Her boyfriend she opened up to and went through drama for vs. some dude she doesn’t really know.

He follows her into the building asking whether he knows how crappy Björn treated Sophie, and Mia blows up at him and says she doesn’t care who did what to each other. She’s mad that he lied to her about his sister. Because yeah, Alexander and Björn’s situation is a case of he said, he said, but the sister lie is pretty cut and dry. He told her she lived in Bali. Sophie is not in Bali, she’s dead. Therefore, he lied to Mia. It’s understandable she focuses on that. Alexander says it was just complicated and he would have told her. He’s not good at talking about that kind of stuff. Sure, I get that he finds it hard to talk about Sophie especially considering how she died. But you know, Mia would’ve had to find out eventually. When composing the guest list for their wedding, when Mia was like, “Hey, why don’t we invite your sister,” was Alexander going to be like, “About that...”?

At the same time, while I understand why it’s the sticking point for Mia, it’s also still one of the things I find most understandable from his POV? I mean, I really do have sympathy for Alexander here, and you could also argue that maybe he was even entertaining the fantasy that Sophie really was in Bali. It’s a pretty big lie, but it’s one that came from a place of pain. And the content of the lie isn’t hurtful to Mia herself, like Mia lying to the girls about being sick was hurtful to Kiki herself because it covered up her lie about Alexander; Sophie being dead doesn’t really hurt Mia in a personal way. It’s just the fact that it was a lie that hurts her.

Mia points out that he beat up a guy and then disappeared for several days. Again, that’s all of Alex. His silence was the most damning thing, tbh. If he’d texted Mia after it happened and gave even the briefest explanation (like “That guy hurt my sister”) then it wouldn’t be as messy. And by not explaining, he put Mia in the path to contact Björn since obviously Alexander wasn’t going to talk.

Alex says Björn is a psychopath, Mia say Alex is also not right in the head, if he can do something like almost kill Björn. He says she’s exaggerating, but ... no, she isn’t. All kinds of stuff could’ve happened to Björn, and I don’t care about him, but I do care about Alex not going to prison for killing a guy or severely injuring him.

He points out that she’s so pissed she could have pushed him down the stairs. Um, what? Which is also Mia’s reaction. Just from this angle, it looks like she’s angry and confronting him, and she grabbed his shoulder, but that’s not the same as pushing someone. But someone who is used to violence and abuse would think that. I truly doubt the thought even crossed Mia’s mind, it wouldn’t cross most people’s minds. So either that behavior is normal to him, or he’s just trying to counter her by making his own actions seem not that unusual. She says she didn’t push him and that’s the difference. Alex said if he did to her what Björn did to him, she would’ve pushed him. Man, that’s creepy? Like I know that Alexander is not a bad guy, and that Björn is a very bad guy, but he is being somewhat manipulative. Especially from Mia’s perspective, since she’s still in the dark, and Alex is basically telling her she’s capable of violence. As much as I would get a visceral thrill out of seeing Mia push Björn down the stairs, doesn’t seem to be the case.

Clip 2 - Mia and Amira on violence

Mia sits by a window at school, when Amira comes up. Hey, they managed to make this clip a windowsill scene like in OG, sort of!

The timing and context of this scene is pretty different from OG, obviously. With Noora and Sana, this scene happened before Noora told Vilde about her and William, so that was a critical component of the scene, the secret relationship, Noora being able to spill about William to Sana when she’d bottled up much of her feelings. This scene happens after Kiki knows, everyone knows, the happy ending should have been achieved.

Mia alludes to some Alex drama, then says she was truly in love with him. A lot of the dialogue here is similar to OG, such as when Mia asks Amira whether she ever just wants to get drunk and hook up with someone, and Amira says her faith is stronger than desire, and when Mia says her principles were the most important thing, but then since Alex, he’s the most important thing.

Mia tells Amira about the whole Alex-Björn-Sophie history and situation. Amira is surprised that Alexander had a sister. I wonder how plausible it is that so few people would know? I think it is perfectly possible, especially if the family tried to keep it quiet, but did Sophie go to the same school as Alex? IDK, it’s not really a nitpick, just wondering if there wouldn’t be any gossip at all, and if Sophie’s former classmates would have any idea she died, if there were any news articles about it, people posting memorials to Sophie on social media, etc. (I can definitely buy Mia and Amira not knowing, but Kiki would certainly be clued in to the gossip.)

Mia says she doesn’t know why she got involved with Alex because he’s not good. Amira is like, because he lied or because he beat up that guy? She doesn’t get it, why did Alex beat him up? Mia explains about Björn saying Alex blames him for the death of his sister, but that it’s not true. According to Mia, Alex twists her words, he says everyone in his situation would react the same way. Amira is like, hit someone with a skateboard??? My beautiful girl, we are on the same page with that one. But she also says, you don’t know exactly what happened between this guy and Alex, and you don’t want to know? Mia is like, is there a reason to hit someone with a skateboard? Amira says it depends what happened. I love her attitude here, I’ll get that that in a minute.

Amira is like, so it’s over between you, because of your principles? She says that when the fight happened with Hanna and those girls, she broke one of those girls’ noses. LMAO WHAT. Damn, Amira went hard. Were there any consequences for that? Not that I blame her since the other girls started the fight. Amira asks if Mia wants to stop associating with her, too. Mia says it was self-defense, they went after Hanna first, but Amira points out she doesn’t reject violence categorically. And well, it’s not mentioned, but Mia also jumped into that fight, she can’t cancel herself, lol.

The lesson for Mia is to find out the truth before she passes judgment. Amira is all, look, I’m not a fan of Axel either, but I saw how you two looked at each other, and maybe he deserves to be listened to. Mia and Amira share a little comfort moment where Amira rubs Mia’s arm and Mia puts her head on Amira’s shoulder.

Oh my God. They improved on this moment from the original show. You guys. This was my least favorite scene in all of Skam, and they made it so much more palatable for me. I’m so happy.

I was always bothered how Sana went to bat for William when she didn’t even know him. For instance, she says that William was angry and scared when he smashed the bottle on that guy’s head, but how could she possibly assume that from his motivations? I get assuming the best of people, but Sana doesn’t know William and she cannot accurately say that he’s a guy with sympathetic motivations and not some dude who just loves fighting and being violent. Like it came across as William apologia from the show’s voice of reason so we were supposed to accept it. Amira, on the other hand, does not make any assumptions about Alex’s motivations - she’s confused by what they were, and questions Mia’s hardline stance against violence, but she doesn’t jump in to tell us that Alex probably had good reasons for what he did. In fact, she says she doesn’t like Alex much, but she saw how Mia and Alex were together and maybe he deserves to have his side heard. I feel like this is what the original scene was trying for, and it somewhat got it across, but it was just framed in such a weird way, where Sana came across as defending William more than supporting Noora IMO, and in a situation where Noora was upset about him being violent. It was such an unhealthy message to be sending. Here I felt way more that Amira was Team Mia first and foremost, but she made a logical point by bringing up the fight to defend Hanna, and sure, it’s not the exact same situation, but it’s a decent way to illustrate that things aren’t always black and white, and maybe Mia should at least hear him out before she ends things with him.

And you know what? If Mia still wanted to be done with Alexander after this point, I’d be fine with that. Of course I know he has his reasons to do what he did, and I mean, from a story perspective I want them to end up together, but ultimately Mia is within her rights to say she doesn’t want to be with a guy who’s capable of beating someone with a skateboard no matter the reason. I felt like Amira was making more of a suggestion to listen to Alex, rather than a judgment toward Mia for not listening, which goes over way better with me.

Also, this scene is missing the part where Noora complains that William is controlling and she feels like she can’t argue against him, and Sana is like ... but does he get angry when you disagree? Then what’s the problem, that he’s smarter than you? That part of the scene has never felt right with me, first of all because William’s not actually that smart, lmao, all of his arguments are self-serving and it frustrated me that Noora wasn’t allowed to pick at the obvious holes in his bullshit. But more importantly, because it felt like there was no problem if William like ... didn’t Hulk out when Noora disagreed with him, that him getting angry was the only possible reason him telling Noora what to do or feel or think would be an issue. As if him trying to tell her what to think/feel/do in itself isn’t a problem, but also, completely ignoring that there are other ways besides anger someone can react unhealthily if you disagree with them. Like, for example, belittling you and calling you naive, something William does to Noora. Or dismissing your concerns as a tedious hurdle to get over, something William also does to Noora. Or turning your argument back on you, making you seem like the bad guy, like oh, you thought I was mean for saying something rude to Vilde? Well YOU were the mean one for saying rude things to me after that! Something William does to Noora. Sana’s response to Noora’s concern that William was controlling presented manipulative behavior within the limited manifestation of anger, when it can take so many more forms. And to be clear, Alex does say a lot of the same bullshit earlier in the season, during the date with Mia, but at least here Amira isn’t rushing to defend him. (And you know, if your friend tells you she thinks her boyfriend is controlling, maybe you should just accept her gut feeling and not try to talk her out if it. She probably knows better than you. Just saying.)

Clip 3 - Björn ruins everything

It’s raining and Mia’s headed to Alex’s. She run into Björn coming out of the building. Björn says he was there to see Alex, but he wasn’t home. Mia’s like, you sure that’s a good idea? I mean, maybe not for Alex, but anything that potentially leads to Björn getting his ass beat sounds like a magnificent idea, IMO.

They have polite talk about how he’s doing. He’s leaving but then turns around and apologizes for dragging Mia into this, it should be between him and Alex only. See, I can completely get why Mia might give Björn some benefit of the doubt, because outwardly he seems polite and thoughtful. He seems to be handling the matter more maturely than Alexander. Alex might be the better guy on the inside, but on the outside he can be rude and inconsiderate.

Mia starts to cry and sits down on the stoop, saying how everything happens at once. Björn sits down; he’s not overly in her face at this point, like he’s not trying to hug her or touch her, he just carefully asks if he should go and then sits down with plenty of space between them. Again, right now Björn doesn’t seem like such a terrible guy. It’s not like his behavior immediately pings as predatory.

Mia gets a text from her dad about her parents’ separation. Her mom kicked out her dad. Björn offers sympathy and beer. She says no, but he says alcohol can solve all your problems. So she agrees to a beer, and Björn goes off to get some. It’s pretty subtle, this moment, because again Björn seems like a nice guy, and in another instance, this could be a completely innocent suggestion. But he’s basically planning to lower her defenses. If she has one beer, maybe she’ll have another. And another. Maybe she’ll get drunk. Maybe she won’t be able to fight back. When Mia initially declines, he re-suggests it in such a friendly, helpful way, not like he’s pressuring her. But he does want her to re-consider. Like why does Björn care whether Mia has a beer or not, why is he invested? It’s chilling when you look back at this and see how his intentions were there all along.

While Björn is gone, Alex calls. He’s at school about to take a maths exam, but they express their desire to talk. They’re very polite and calm, not heated or emotional. They agree to talk tomorrow. Björn just ruins everything, they would have worked things out and Mia wouldn’t have been assaulted if Björn hadn’t been creeping around Alex’s. Actually, why does Björn go to Alex’s place? Is he stealing stuff? Trying to get Sophie’s things? He’s just a creep who gets off on the power of walking through Alex’s place when he’s not around?

Björn comes back with the beer and they clink to divorced parents. He tells her a story about his own family problems; he found chats between his dad and an old school friend, and his dad told him not to tell his mom, but his mom eventually caught the dad Skyping nude. Dad said Björn knew all along, so she kicked both of them out. But now he’s over it and gets along well with his parents.

This is a pretty interesting anecdote, honestly, because my initial reaction was, well, that’s shitty of Björn’s mom. It’s not your kid’s fault, the dad is the one in the position of power and the one who’s cheating on you, the dad is throwing his son under the bus. And then I was like ... well. If this story is true. Because this is something else manipulative of Björn, telling Mia a sad story that relates to her own family problems at the moment. Gaining her sympathy, opening up to her and telling her something personal so she feels she can trust him. I mean, Björn got me here and I know what’s coming in the story. If I momentarily forgot this guy’s true character, then it’s easy to see how Mia can feel like this guy isn’t so bad.

We don’t know if that story is true or not. If it’s true, then it’s an indicator of a dysfunctional family life and possibly a bad upbringing full of secrets and lies - definitely not an excuse for Björn’s behavior, though. Alexander also has a crappy family situation and he manages to not assault drunk girls. In any case, it’s a disturbing story. Björn says he’s over it and has a good relationship with his parents, but does he really? Is that just a thing he’s saying to make Mia think he doesn’t hold grudges? He’s not bitter at his mom for throwing him out as a teenager, he’s totally chill, he’s not the villain that Alexander said he was. He wouldn’t have an unwarranted grudge against Alexander or anything. The story not only makes Mia feel bad for him, but it makes him sound like a level-headed person who doesn’t cling to past wrongs. And the story also makes him sound like an innocent bystander, basically. Björn is the victim of other people’s indiscretions. And hey, maybe in this case it was true, but there’s something about it that primes you to think maybe Björn was just an innocent bystander in the Hardenberg family drama as well. It’s all pretty subtle but looking back on it, you see that sharing this story wasn’t just casual, it was strategic.

Mia says she doesn’t even know why it makes her feel bad, her parents are terrible together. He says it’s stupid to wish everything stays the way it was. They walk off together into the rain. It gets a little blurrier. Probably because Mia is drinking.

By the way, I love the presence of the rain in this clip. It might have been unintentional, it just happened to rain the day they filmed this scene, but I appreciate the atmosphere it conjures. Wet and cold, not super comfortable if you’re caught in it. Just something to add to Mia’s gloomy mood. (Or, you know, I also just like rain sounds.)

We see the two of them getting on the bus and Björn filming her for Instagram, through the POV of his phone’s camera. She’s not into being filmed, but Björn does it. Meanwhile Mia is opening another beer. Björn is getting closer to Mia, leaning into her for a selfie. Seems ominous as FUCK.

Clip 4 - Run away, Mia

Mia is still hanging out with Björn. NOOOOO BABY NOOOOO.

She says she has to go home and FaceTime with her dad, she explains her parents live in Madrid and that she’s 18 and lives alone, moved out when she was 16. Her aunt lives around the corner and used to check on her. We didn’t hear that before? I mean, maybe they weren’t super close, but auntie was an adult figure in Mia’s life monitoring her, that seems like an added bit of stability instead of a 16-year-old being completely on her own. But anyway, this part of the conversation gave me massive anxiety, because I was so worried that Björn was going to use this information against her. He knows she lives on her own, not with her parents, and I was afraid he was going to follow her home or try to go back with her and basically use this information to prey on her. I was utterly dreading that happening and hoping that like, Hans and Linn would be there to intervene and Mia wouldn’t wake up with Björn in her bed or something.

Mia says she doesn’t want to study, and Björn suggests hanging out with the guy her boyfriend almost killed instead. At that, Mia says Alex said Björn treated Sophie badly. Björn does not actually deny this, which is a red flag, IMO. He says that they treated each other badly and Sophie was complicated. Look, it happens in real life, instances where both partners in a relationship hurt each other, it’s mutually toxic, but abusers being like “my partner hurts me too” is a common defensive tactic. They shift responsibility for the abuse and present themselves as the victim, too. Notice he doesn’t elaborate on how exactly they treated each other badly, he just walks away, ending that line of conversation.

He sees some people taking a photo and he offers to help them. See, what a helpful, decent guy he is! Don’t think too much about the Sophie thing! Then he has them take a picture of him and Mia. (I love the one lady who’s waving at them, lol.) Björn has the guy take picture after picture, “one more” over and over. If I didn’t have bigger reasons to hate Björn, I’d want to kick his ass just for that, tbh.

Oh no, it’s even later and Mia’s still walking around with Björn, drinking. Lots of focus on the beer bottles. The night seems to get dreamier as it goes on.

OH JESUS that shot of Mia smiling and Björn blurred in the background, then switching to Björn in the background eyeing her. Fucking CHILLING, it’s like he’s eyeing her like prey. It doesn’t last too long and it doesn’t beat you over the head or anything with what a bad dude Björn is, but it’s enough to send shivers down your spine. It’s enough to make you think something is off, in case you too got drawn into Björn’s faux harmlessness.

I get why Mia would be out with Björn, because he has done a very convincing job of seeming normal and nice. She’s going through a very hard time, with Alexander, her family, not to mention other stresses like exams, and this evening feels like an escape. She can wander through the city drinking and feeling free and having fun. Björn isn’t asking anything heavy of her at this point. He’s just been a sympathetic listener and a chill companion. He’s managed to get to Mia when she’s vulnerable and wear down her defenses with alcohol. This guy is a skilled manipulator.

Clip 5 - Kill Björn, for real

Mia just keeps drinking. Oh no. She’s getting dizzy and drunk. She checks her phone and sees how late it is. . I like how the camera is all wobbly and gets blurry at points, like she’s so tipsy that it takes a moment to focus on her phone. She realizes she has to get home. Björn stops her. He tries to kiss her and she steps back, her giggly relaxed mood gone. She says she’s going to drink water. She goes into a bar or restaurant or something and is in the bathroom drinking water from the sink. (The graffiti reflected in the mirror says Eazy Peasy Lemon Squeezy, by the way. Truly the most important detail of this scene.)

Mia pukes a little into the toilet. She moans as if in pain. Things are getting very unstable and unfocused now. The sound effects and cinematography are ominous as hell, like this went south real fucking fast. There are a lot of closeups so you only get brief glimpses of what’s happening

OH MY FUCKING GOD HE’S BEHIND HER, WE SEE HIM STANDING IN THE BACKGROUND AS SHE’S HUNCHED OVER THE TOILET

Jesus CHRIST this is filmed similar to a horror movie, like he’s Michael Myers or some shit. Seriously, they film Björn similar to a slasher villain, his face blurred out, his figure unfocused in the background. Poor Mia is sick and feeling miserable so she doesn’t even notice that he’s behind her.

Was he locking/barring the door?

…. What is he doing?

HOLY FUCK IS HE JERKING OFF AND FILMING HER, DESPICABLE

The sound of his breathing as he does that ... JFC, he IS Michael Myers.

The look on her face when she realizes she’s not alone, damn. She gets up and shoves him aside, says to leave her alone. Thank God she was able to escape.

Mia gets outside and there’s some slow motion as she runs through the streets disoriented. She gasps when some guy asks if she has a light. Everyone is a threat now. She must also be worried that Björn has caught up to her or found her.

Björn texts her the pictures he took of her that day, going from smiles and happiness to Björn filming Mia from behind in the bathroom. The way the clip ends on her heavy breathing makes me think of Alexander’s panic attack and the focus on his breathing.

So we’re still doing this storyline, with only two episode left. I am glad that they didn’t drop such an important theme of S2; earlier, as we were getting closer to the end of the season with this plot not happening, I thought they might not include Björn assaulting Mia, but that sexual assault would be brought up because it turns out Björn raped Sophie and she ended up committing suicide because of it. I definitely wouldn’t say they toned down the assault but they did omit a part that would absolutely require more screentime than is perhaps possible at this point, when Noora thought she may have been raped but is unsure because she blacked out. That was like a two-episode plot point, there were scenes that focused on her finding out the truth. Something terrible happened to Mia, but it seems like she’s mostly aware of what happened; she was drunk but she didn’t black out. Narratively that’s better for the remaining time in the season, it would be waaaaaay too intense to cram in Mia trying to figure out if she was raped by Björn while she was unconscious, on top of wrapping up everything else in the season.

This clip was really, really good. Horrifying, but well-executed. The reveal of Björn standing behind Mia in the bathroom caused genuine fear in me. It was pretty clear about what happened but it didn’t cross over into unnecessary grossness because they had Björn be shadowed and his movements be kind of obscured, like it was shocking but didn’t feel like the moment was done for shock value, if that makes sense.

Clip 6 - Mia shutting out the world

Mia is lying in bed. She’s got wet eyes but she almost seems all cried out.

Hanna texts her about missing her bio exam, oh no. Mia says she’s sick. Nooo, Mia, don’t cut yourself off from your friends about this.

Hans and Linn come in and say Alexander is here. Mia says she’s sick, and the roommates already told him that but he won’t leave. She still doesn’t want to see him. However, Alexander comes and knocks on the door. She gets up and locks it. I like that moment, how careful and quiet it is, but also how simple it is, like she doesn’t seem to be debating it too much, she just knows with utter certainty she cannot face Alexander right now, and that’s heartbreaking.

You can hear Alexander trying to open the door and calling for her but it gets blocked out when Mia gets back in bed and sticks in her earbuds and listening to sad music - like the reverse of that earlier scene where she took out the earbuds to be able to hear him. There she was slowly opening up to Alexander, here she’s decisively trying to shut him out.

I like that the camera gets so close and focused on Mia toward the end, like she’s shutting everything else out. Except her own thoughts, those she can’t escape. The closing images after Mia shuts her eyes are flashbacks to last night, the trauma lingering.

Clip 7 - New Kiki is an upgrade

It’s a few days later. Mia is on her bed, looking at her computer. Hans says the kitchen is on fire and to come help, and lmao, I love that this is apparently plausible enough that Mia doesn’t call bullshit, like Hans could genuinely be burning down the apartment right now. which I guess was to lure her out of her room. But of course it was really to lure Mia out of her room, and when Mia opens the door, he says it’s a lie, and that she has a visitor.

Kiki is there, and she is wearing big round glasses that are utterly adorable. I love this development for how cute she looks and because of what it says about Kiki’s potential development. I don’t know, is it still considered uncool to wear glasses, or have we moved beyond that? But I do think that an image-conscious person like Kiki wearing big round glasses is a nice sign of her being more comfortable in her skin.

Kiki asks about her and Mia says she’s sick with a fever, Kiki doesn’t buy it. Worth mentioning that the last time Mia claimed to be sick, it was also fake, so Kiki is gonna suspect another fib right away. She says that Hanna said Mia missed her biology exam and didn’t call in sick. Mia said she forgot. Mia :(

Mia says Kiki doesn’t have to take care of her when she’s been a terrible friend and Kiki has better things to do, but Kiki shuts that down, saying Mia Winter doesn’t whine and she doesn’t pity herself. Heh, I love that Mia tried to push her away but Kiki seems totally over the drama, which is a big step considering a few weeks ago she was posting angry IG stories showing how she was pissed at Mia.

That gets through to Mia a bit. She says she likes Kiki’s glasses. Kiki does that expert push-up-the-nose gesture glasses wearers learn to perfect and thanks her, saying Carlos thinks they’re ugly. Mia correctly is like, he has no taste, you look fantastic! Kiki says she thinks so, too. Awww! Kiki was so willing to change herself for what Alexander wanted (trying to get a new perfume because Alexander didn’t like hers) that it’s nice to hear she doesn’t give a fuck what her boyfriend thinks about how she looks. It’s about what Kiki likes about herself, not a boy.

I like Carlos and all, but he’s the one in need of glasses if he doesn’t think Kiki looks good in hers. I mean that is legitimately a terrible opinion. This is why girls should not listen to boys’ hot takes on their appearances

Kiki says she’s feeling really good, although Carlos tells her she should go to a therapist because she’s so concerned about gaining weight. Mia is like, that’s what I’ve been telling you since we’ve met! Kiki says she never said it so directly. Well … fair point, from what I recall? Did Mia ever outright say Kiki should try therapy, or has she always been carefully walking up to the subject but never quite getting there? Really I’m not sure Kiki would have tried therapy before, and I don’t want to pin it on her getting a new boyfriend and valuing his opinion, but I also think the fact that she’s no longer chasing someone who isn’t interested in her, trying to keep his attention, does a lot to push the focus back to herself. Not what Alexander wants, but what Kiki wants.

Mia asks if she’s going to do therapy, and Kiki says she’s already been to a therapist, who is a tree hugger. Yesss, Kiki went to therapy! Honestly I would’ve expected her to put up more of a fight about it, considering she didn’t believe there was a problem for a long time, but it seems she’s accepted it. Mia says it helped her, and explains to Kiki that when she was 13-14 she was so lovesick she didn’t want to eat anymore and got sent to a psychologist after collapsing at school. She didn’t like it at first, but now realizes she wouldn’t have been able to get better if it weren’t for the psychologist. Kiki asks why she thinks she has to deal with everything on her own, then. Mia doesn’t really have a response to that. Kiki holds Mia’s hand and says they’re all there for her. Kiki hugs her as Mia tears up

Such a great scene, and I LOVE that Druck is having characters talk about therapy and normalizing it. We’ve heard about Mia, Kiki, and Alexander going to therapy, and it’s treated not as a scary or shameful thing, but something that’s a real option to help people live better lives. I love that Kiki seems to be in a better place but still acknowledges that she could use help for her weight-related anxiety. I love that they acknowledge that going to therapy doesn’t instantly solve your issues, but that Mia says it ended up being instrumental in her recovery. It’s just a very thoughtful inclusion and I think it’s part of why I feel Druck really wants to help teenagers in the way that Skam did.

Clip 8 - Björn fjucked up

That was a typo in my notes that I have made more than once and I decided to keep it.

Mia waits for Björn in a bar. When he enters he tries to touch her in greeting, and I feel my inner Ripley rising. GET AWAY FROM HER YOU BITCH. Mia is not receptive to his touch.

Björn tries to order a beer for her - he doesn’t ask, just orders, but she says she doesn’t want one. He was probably trying to get her guard down again, seeing how well it worked last time. He even tries to get her to change her mind like last time, saying it’s on him. Trying to seem all friendly and generous again. But Mia is aware of his true character now.

Björn wants to sort out this drama quickly, how dismissive. He apologizes for what happened, saying he was wasted. But when Mia is unimpressed, Björn says he misintepreted the signals Mia gave him, so let’s not make a #MeToo thing out of this. FUCK YOU, DUDE. He says she flirted with him and now she’s embarrassed. Shifting the responsibility, making it Mia’s fault. Mia’s like, I sent you signals to whip out your dick in front of me? Seriously. Even in a hypothetical scenario where she had been flirting with him, how do you make the leap from flirting to taking your dick out, like isn’t that wildly extreme? And how do you interpret Mia as flirting when she had just backed away from a kiss outside? That’s a pretty clear stop sign. Björn says he was drunk, what is she going to do if she really gets harassed? Goddamn. Druck has the abuser response playbook absolutely down perfect, I’m pretty impressed at how they nailed the typical bullshit excuses.

Mia says he did sexually harass her and that she reported him. Björn is like, are you serious? He confides that he has a criminal record and this won’t look good for him. LMAO, not her problem you have a criminal record, dude. Shoulda thought of that before you took of your dick. And why the fuck do you have a criminal record?

He starts to get emotional and almost sniffly (manipulative) but Mia holds her ground. Her face is just unresponsive and unsympathetic and I love it. She’s not cracking. Then Björn asks her if she’s shown the pics to Alex, and Mia shakes her head. He says he’ll show them to Alex. Björn is pissed because her psychopath boyfriend almost broke his neck, and now Mia wants to report him over nothing, according to him. He says he’s just fighting back. Again, I fucking love how stone cold Mia is. Let Björn lash out all he wants, he’s not getting through to her.

Björn says if Mia doesn’t take back the report, He will show Alex the pictures and report him for grievous bodily harm. FUCK. I think she has a very brief moment of consideration, probably for what will happen to Alex, but Mia says, go ahead, he deserved it. DAMN GIRL. STONE. COLD. Björn says what does she think the police will do when they were alone, no one saw them, and she was drunk? Mia says maybe he would’ve gotten away with it a few years ago, but times have changed. And yes, maybe this is awfully optimistic of her. It’s not like #MeToo and related movements have made it so victims always get justice, that they are always believed and supported. There is still a long, long way to go. And of course I understand that things are not simple and there are reasons why victims would not want to report. But I still like that this is the message. I feel like it’s important to show that Mia will not be silenced and that she isn’t discouraged from reporting. Of course it’s never easy, but this is part of how the world changes, when women speak out.

Björn accuses her of trying to fight some feminist war, she says yeah (lmao that backfired on him, feminism is not a dirty word for women like Mia) and that she’s not going to keep her mouth shut even if the police can’t prove anything. It’s not blackmail, it’s the truth.

Björn gets up to leave, but before he goes, says Mia is brave, totally alone. One final attempt from him to get her to back down. Mia says she’s not afraid of him. Not gonna lie, I was waiting for that beer on the table to get thrown in someone’s face or for Björn to slam it down and break the glass or something.

After he goes, she takes her phone out of her pocket and says, he’s gone, I’m coming over to you now. She sees a bunch of text messages of support from the crew. Awww, the girls. So were they listening to the conversation? Recording it, hopefully? Because Björn just incriminated the hell of out himself. Not like he denied taking out his dick.

I do wish we had seen more of the girls prior to this scene, because Noora telling her friends was so important in that story. Even if Mia just told Kiki when Kiki visited, that would’ve been really great to see. But I do like that it proves how wrong Björn is when he says she’s totally alone, for that claim to be countered immediately, when we see the whole time she had people on her side.

Social Media/General Comments

Mia’s mom sends her a quote from Julia Engelmann, saying it moves her and she would like Mia to contact her. Google tells me she is a German actress who does slam poetry. I don’t know if there are any specific connotations with her, let me know if there’s something to this person that’s especially relevant to this story. Anyway, the quote is “Everything’s good, but never good enough. I don’t let go enough but allow way too much.” And regardless of the intent of the quote, in the context of Mia’s mom, I think she’s trying to say how her life isn’t what she wants. She feels stifled with Mia’s dad, she’s feeling restless. She wanted to hang out with Mia but something about it almost felt like she just wanted to get away and hang out in Berlin as much as see her daughter. Her life is OK but she craves more, and she isn’t as free as she wants to be, she allows too much from Mia’s dad. Mia is independent and this season she’s been letting down her guard to let someone else in, Mia’s mom wants to be independent and seems like she’s shutting out her husband.

So there’s a clip of sorts between Mia and her mom, that wasn’t in the episode itself, but was posted on the YouTube channel. It’s a video chat. Mia’s mom says she and the dad are separating, and what we learn from Mia is that this isn’t the first time it’s happened, or said it was going to happen, and that obviously Mom went back to Dad before. Mom says she was too weak it call it quits for good before, and now Dad is begging her to stay. Mom didn’t tell Dad, though, she thinks he just has to know that she can’t stand him anymore. Errr, not a great plan? As Mia points out, she’s just going to treat him like shit until he leaves. Mia describes this plan as cowardly. Now Mom gets upset and says Mia is making accusations. Mia thinks she deserves them because she’s playing with her dad and keeping him in suspense instead of being honest. Mom thinks if she throws him out, Dad will just come crawling back, and she’ll have to be the bad guy by breaking up with him. Mia says yeah, sometimes that happens. Mom doesn’t want Dad to hate her. Mia says sometimes that’s how it works. This actually gets through to her mom, like she seems to realize it has to be this way before she ends the call.

It’s amazing because Mia seems to be a lot more mature than her mom, like Mia’s mom is an adult and Mia is a teenager. But Mia also had to grow up faster by being independent and living on her own.

Mia also learned the same lesson earlier this season. She avoided telling Kiki the truth, in an attempt to avoid conflict, not have Kiki hate her, and not deal with the consequences of her relationship with Alexander. But eventually everything was discovered and exploded. Sometimes you have to be the bad guy if you’re going to be honest.

More Jonas messiness as Matteo asks if he wants to know if Hanna hooked up with boy Sam, Jonas says no, but then seems curious when Matteo says she didn’t. Later, Matteo texts Jonas as Jonas is missing his history exam. Jonas seems way too casual about oversleeping and missing the test, he’s not freaking out about it as most people would. My boy, you are all over the place.

Mia texts Hans to come get her and it has such a feeling like Isak texting Eskild after the hotel scene, I love it. I don’t think Hans realized the depth of what happened to Mia just from that short text conversation, obviously, but he came and got her without questions. I enjoyed this especially because at times Hans has seemed more selfish and careless than Eskild was, but we see that he really does have a thoughtful caring side here.

I lost track of some of the SM stuff at the time, but I heard Mia deactivated her Instagram after the assault? If so, ouch, poor Mia. Also a good use of the real-time and SM format.

When Mia texted Björn to arrange a meeting with him, Björn was so overly friendly, using happy emojis, and he said she could come to his place. UGH. Red fucking flag. Mia thankfully suggested the bar without acknowledging what he said. But it just grosses me out how innocent he tried to make himself come across, as if their last encounter didn’t end in Mia running away from him.

There was a ton of fandom drama because Björn’s actor decided to post some stuff on IG about how in a parallel universe Björn and Mia were the OTP or what the fuck ever, and then went on a rant all Alt Er Love when people pointed out it was messed up to glorify his sexual predator character. I didn’t pay a ton of attention to it because at best it was cringe-worthy and probably an attempt to win over the Skam fanbase, at worst gross and inappropriate, like I get it, as an actor you have to get into your character’s mindset, and a guy like Björn probably doesn’t think he’s the bad guy, he’s the one being wrongfully accused. But you shouldn’t carry that abuse apologia when you’re done with the job. Anyway, I don’t think we’ll see Björn after this so ... bye.

I’m not German so feel free to elaborate, clarify, or correct anything that I missed or misunderstood

If you got this far, thank you for reading!

#druck reactions #druck

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taliesin-19 · 5 years

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Tips for Writing Better Dialogue

An Anon asked me a few questions about writing dialogue yesterday, so here’s my unprofessional opinion about what I think works pretty well for me :) It gets long just like everything else I write unfortunately.

1. First and foremost, always, always, always, read dialogue out loud (or at least whisper it lol). With all the emotions, all the inflections, and all the mannerisms you can manage. I approach it like I’m acting out a scene

2. Manufacture pauses yourself (this one gets a little technical)

When people speak in everyday life or when actors read scripts, there's naturally going to be some pauses throughout. People don't just recite paragraphs with no breaks. Sometimes they linger on a thought, change the direction of the conversation, take a breath, etc. And while readers are mostly intelligent enough to insert those pauses themselves, I've found that it's better as a writer to do it for them. It's just cleaner that way and reads more smoothly.

The way you do this is by inserting dialogue/action tags that literally take up the the amount of time you want the pause to take. (# of words is proportional to length of pause)

So, here are two lines of dialogue without manufactured pauses:

1) "I'm Harry. Harry Potter."

2) "The name's Potter. Don't wear it out."

And with manufactured pauses:

1) "I'm Harry," he said, "Harry Potter."

2) "The name's Potter," he said, crossing his arms and giving her a wink. "Don't wear it out."

These are really simple examples that may seem obvious, but when it comes to reading long scenes of dialogue, I find that many times, I'm mentally inserting pauses myself so that it reads more naturally. As a writer, you can save the reader's energy by doing it for them. This can also be applied when one character says something, and you want the next character to pause for a moment before responding back.

For example: (Without pauses)

"I killed a man once," he said.

"What?"

(With pauses)

"I killed a man once," he said.

Her eyes shot up to meet his. "What?"

Or alternatively:

"I killed a man once," he said, staring at a spot in the distance.

"What?"

3. Use dialogue/action tags

This goes along with the previous tip, but I wanted to emphasize it. Characters should always be moving, acting, reacting. Nobody ever just stands there and has a conversation like a statue.

You can find many resources online for dialogue/action tags for various emotions, but some examples include:

‘running his hands through his hair’

‘shaking her head’

‘folding his hands on his lap’

‘crossing her legs’

This also helps with the idea of “showing versus telling”. It’s more effective to say “he dropped his head in his hands” than to say “he felt defeated”. Or “her nostrils flared” versus “she felt angry”

4. Don’t use names in dialogue unless it’s for emphasis

Look at the difference between these two pieces of dialogue:

“Good morning, Harry!”

“Morning, Ginny!”

“Did you sleep well, Harry?”

“Yeah, Ginny, how about you?”

vs.

“Good morning, Harry!”

“Morning!”

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah, how about you?”

Obviously the first was a bit exaggerated, but you’d be surprised how often people put character names in dialogue. It’s just not natural. How often do you actually say someone’s name in real life besides to get their attention?

You can do it for emphasis too. Like when a character is feeling a stronger emotion.

For example, “God, Harry, you are so infuriating sometimes!”

or “You know, Ginny...I really love you.”

5. Use ellipses and dashes, but don’t overuse them

This goes back to my manufactured pauses tip, but it’s more internal. While someone is talking, they can have little pauses here and there without having to break off into a dialogue tag.

Like the last example above. “You know, Ginny...I really love you.” could also work as “You know, Ginny,” he said. “I really love you.” But I think the first sentence shows a more measured response. Like the person is thinking before finishing their sentence. It’s really your judgement to make in these situations.

I use dashes to show that someone is about to say something, but then cuts off for a second like “I didn’t plan for this to happen. I wasn’t--I didn’t think.”

Or to hesitate/stutter like “Are--are you sure?”

Or to change the direction of the sentence like “I know, I know, I just--it’ll make me feel better.”

Or to cut someone off like:

“Harry, I--”

“I don’t want to hear it.”

6. Each character should have a distinguishable voice

This is one of the hardest things in terms of dialogue, but the goal here is that if you didn’t add any dialogue tags at all and just wrote a conversation between two people, the reader would be able to know, for the most part, who is talking based on the character voices. This is something that I can’t describe very easily, but I would recommend reading through a few actual HP passages and paying attention to the character voices. Especially for the characters you plan to write about.

Things to pay attention to:

-the use of filler words like: er, erm, yeah, I mean, right, you know, so, etc. Don’t overuse these, but sprinkle them once in a while in dialogue for characters that you think would use them more. Hermione, for example, would probably not use many filler words at all. Harry would probably use more ers, and erms. Ron might use some more yeahs and rights.

-pay attention to slang and who uses it. We all know common British slang by now such as: bloody hell, blimey, wanker, tosser, buggering hell, etc. But the problem people have when trying to use it in fanfiction is that they make these universal. Hermione most likely will never call someone a wanker (unless she’s extremely angry at them maybe lol). Dumbledore probably won’t ever exclaim ‘bloody hell!’ Harry probably wouldn’t even say blimey that much. Ron is my go-to slang user, to be honest. And I tend to write Harry using more slang when he’s with Ron as a consequence. He’s not going to call most people wankers, but he’ll call Ron one. You just have to be careful with slang. Again, don’t over do it because then it just sounds ridiculous. I would recommend watching some British comedy or talk shows to practice this a bit more because it can be very hard for non-British writers. Or just get a British beta

-pay attention to personality. Is your character more sarcastic and dry? Then write more sarcastic and dry lines. Is your character more prim and proper? Then don’t have them swear and maybe use some larger vocabulary. Is your character insecure or shy? Give them a few more pauses in their speech, add some more dashes and ellipses (but don’t over do it!!!!!). Try to make each character’s personality bleed through their dialogue. It’s not always easy, but it’s possible, and it gets easier the more you write them.

7. Finally, said, said, said, said.

I would highly recommend, sticking to ‘said’ only in dialogue tags. Trying to get creative with ‘stated, yelled, screamed, cried, exclaimed, interjected, etc’ really will not help you. These words will only detract the reader from the actual dialogue. Dialogue tags are something that readers’ eyes skim through quickly to get back to the important stuff. So we don’t want anything eye-catching in there to make them pause. ‘Said’ is an invisible word. As are names. Which is also why you should always stick with names or pronouns instead of descriptions like ‘the green-eyed boy’ or ‘the redhead’.

I’ve used other words besides ‘said’ a few times in GYWM, but they really added nothing, and I could’ve just stuck with ‘said’. My first fanfiction “A Memoir,” is also riddled with these sorts of issues,but that’s why we learn, practice, and grow!

So, yeah there’s probably a lot more stuff I haven’t covered, but hopefully this is a good start. Again, I’m not a professional writer here. These are just the things that have worked for me, and things that I appreciate when reading something. I really hope this helps. If anybody has questions or wants clarification on something feel free to ask!

#writing tips #fanfiction #writing #dialogue #hpfanfiction

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oscar-isaacs-number-one-bitch · 5 years

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“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” Movie Review

It’s been 5 years since our screens were last graced with the presences of Hiccup and Toothless, the dynamic and impossible not to love duo of the How to Train Your Dragon films. At the end of How to Train Your Dragon 2, audiences were left off seeing Toothless taking position as the alpha of the dragons, and Hiccup accepting the call to be chief of Berk, as his father had wished him to be. With the beginning of The Hidden World, Berk has become the world’s first-ever dragon-Viking utopia, and Hiccup and friends conduct raids on armadas of ships, freeing all manner of dragons from captivity all across the world. But with the presence of a new night fury dragon, as well as a new enemy called Grimmel, Berk is once again in danger, the relationship at this series’ center is tested, and both Hiccup and Toothless must learn that eventually, some things must come to an end, as we learn to let go.

I’ve talked ad nauseum about the How to Train Your Dragon movies and what they mean to be both as a film lover and as a visual storytelling junkie, and I will continue to talk about them until the day I die. The first film is my favorite animated movie of all time (and rightfully so) with a brilliant script, astounding animation (especially for its time), one of the greatest animated film scores of all time, and a narrative that’s both sharply plotted and perfectly paced. The second HTTYD movie followed that up with a story that was more mature, if not quite as naturalistic in its dialogue and pacing, with animation that had advanced during that four-year wait to the height of its capabilities. The Hidden World, then, aims to be that rare trilogy capper that takes the series out on a high note, and for the most part, it does. I just wish the rest of the film, the stuff that wasn’t part of the finale, held up as well as the finale (and the other two movies) did.

See, I did like this film, but I wanted to love it. The adventures of Hiccup and Toothless are some of my favorites of all time, and while with that legacy comes (understandably) a lot of weight that may be difficult to hold, I’ve seen this series hold that weight before with ease. Those first two films have some of the most perfect pacing in any animated features, so the fact that the first two acts of this one are actually kind of dull apart from a handful of moments shared between the light fury and Toothless, as well as a barely 5 minute segment within the title location, is disappointing regardless of how well-animated the action and lighting is. Your mileage may vary on that front, but for me, things just seemed a little bit off what with the intro not including the usual title theme, or “this is berk” introduction by Hiccup until about 6 or 8 minutes in. Those two elements are not necessarily huge missteps for the film, but Dragon devotees like myself will notice their absence. Don’t get me wrong, I’m far from one to endorse pure fan-service as replacement or non-tertiary strengthener for narrative storytelling, but The Hidden World doesn’t quite have as many callbacks to the first or second films as it probably should when considering it’s meant to be the closer to a trilogy nearly ten years running.

In addition to this, whole swaths of the movie go by where not much actually happens at a plot level. Yes, the friendship between Hiccup and Toothless is tested, and Hiccup’s role as chief is challenged somewhat, but both of these things barely have any effect on the overall narrative as it stands. The large driving force of the plot is that Grimmel presents such a huge threat to Berk that they’ll have to relocate, and maybe the dragons will have to relocate too, but the threat he’s meant to represent honestly isn’t all that compelling. Grimmel’s character is not only under-written, but generically so, and doesn’t have anything quite as affecting to him on a character level as Drago being a fellow disabled person because of dragons in the second film. The script tries to do something with him that parallels a real-world anti-immigration allegory, but while the effort is notable, it ultimately feels underwritten, like they introduced the idea, but then didn’t really know where to go with it, and so it just fades into the background.

In fact, this movie has a character development issue that was bothering me for most of its runtime. Hiccup grows and learns something, but virtually no one else does. No one except Hiccup changes at all from the beginning to the end of the film, and while that’s all well and good that he undergoes a transformation (albeit only in one spoiler-ish respect) this time around, one of the greatest strengths of these movies is that most of the supporting characters change along with him, learning their own lessons along the way. The supporting characters in this movie, though, are relegated to small roles usually designed to deliver a low-level joke one too many times or scout something or tell Hiccup he’s better than his self-doubt. They’re no longer characters in their own right; they’re crutches by which to tell the story (apart from a couple of sweet Stoick flashback scenes) and move the plot along, which is sad considering how richly detailed they’ve been in the last two installments.

There is enough to like about the film, however, that despite being kind of let down by it overall, I still had a good time watching it play out. The animal courtship between the light fury and Toothless is one of the strongest aspects of the movie, and plays out in often simultaneously hilarious and adorable fashion. There are some new things she teaches him that come in very handy during the film’s thrilling (if a bit generic) final sequence, and the results are truly marvelous to behold. While she remains unnamed for the entirety of the film, she will be one of the characters audiences walk away remembering the most. The movie is also fantastically animated, and while The Hidden World plays it pretty safe in terms of shot selection (seriously, where did all the rest of the wide shots and flying intensity go?), what’s up on screen is incredibly detailed and looks gorgeous in its coloration and lighting design, particularly in that 5 minute title sequence. The hidden dragon world is a stunning piece of animation that will go down as one of the greatest ever committed to film. It may feel a bit strange to say that about an animated feature, but if you’ve seen the other two films, you know I don’t exaggerate. Some reviews are also touting John Powell’s score as a major strength, and while it does feel weaker than the other two overall (and doesn’t really enhance the film much), I can almost tell what they mean when listening to it on its own.

The Hidden World’s greatest strength, though, is its finale. Sure, the first two acts may be a bit dull and underdeveloped, but once this movie decides to turn on the emotional gauge, it dials it up to 100 and never looks back. Despite feeling like the overall movie wasn’t quite as good as the first two, this finale is by far the best since the original. Writer and director Dean DeBlois has gone on record several times as saying he never wanted to make anything more than a trilogy for this series, and for that level of integrity, I respect him immensely. Film trilogies are quite rare in this modern, franchise-crazed movie landscape, and to get a finale that makes it so hard to say goodbye to these characters and this world despite its gradually diluting quality, is something truly special and remarkable. (Yes, I was absolutely in tears by the end, and you will be too.)

Overall, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is a heartfelt and sincere, but somewhat flawed finale to what remains a great motion picture trilogy. While I found the supporting cast underwritten and the villain uncompelling, I still had fun watching the friendship between Hiccup and Toothless be tested, and seeing where the characters ended up. The first two acts are really just fine (if not super affecting), and it may be the weakest of all three so far, but this trilogy conclusion also has some of the best moments of the whole overall set, not the least of which is its grippingly emotional finale.

I have loved getting to watch these movies over the past 9 years. I have loved growing with them and re-watching them in anticipation of each entry. I have loved taking this journey which has brought me such joy, laughter, and at times, wonderful sorrow. It is bittersweet for me to say goodbye. Farewell, citizens and dragons of Berk. It has been an honor watching you.

I’m giving “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” a 7.8/10.

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dcarevu · 5 years

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DCAU #17: The Cat and the Claw (Part 2)

“Oh, I've been going to the Paris Grand Prix for years... You know, one of these days I think I'll enter it.”

Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back. So how much did Part 2 of our first Catwoman story satisfy? Does it get a bowl of cream, or a spritz of water?

Episode: 16 Robin: No Writers: Sean Catherine Derek (story), Laren Bright (story), Jules Dennis (teleplay), Richard Mueller (teleplay) Director: Dick Sebast Animator: Akom Airdate: September 12, 1992 Grade: C

The first part of The Cat and the Claw had me interested, but certainly not blown away. It was a hit-and-miss episode with enough good ideas in it to allow me to enjoy it and wonder where the story was going to lead. I liked that it did give out a sense of substance, but honestly, I don’t think that the substance held steady between the credits of part 1 and the first scene of part 2. Part 2 does continue the story, but sucks out a lot of what made part 1 worth watching, and if I had never even watched part 2, I would not have been missing a damn thing aside from the realization that Catwoman ends up okay and the day is saved. But I think it was safe to assume that anyway, you know what I mean? Part 2 left very little impact on me, positive or negative, and for that reason I’m labeling it a C. Ironically, this is probably the episode with the highest stakes so far, right? With a conclusion that has a pretty epic scale. But it’s just not handled in an epic way. The concept is there, but the execution is lacking. Even if a studio like TMS or Spectrum were the ones to take care of the visuals, it still would have given the same feelings. The team knew what they were doing, giving it to Akom. Yeah, Akom’s work here is pretty bad, and Part 1 is more visually appealing in addition to being simply more entertaining. Even though it didn’t look the best, I could appreciate Sunrise’s unique style. When Sunrise failed, it still made for something that you don’t see everyday. Akom’s work was just plain old underwhelming. This is especially noticeable during the climax with their work on the fire (yeah, fire count, by the way).

That fire looks like something from a Hanna-Barbera cartoon, guys. I’d expect to see similar on Scooby Doo. You don’t get a sense of the danger or the heat coming off that thing, and so you don’t get a sense of worry as Batman tries to get the hell out of there. Another very Akom scene is the car chase that happens when Bruce and Selena are together, out of costume. It looked laughably lame. That scene could have been so exciting and dynamic! But, at the same time, like I said, I understand why Atom was chosen. Even if the animation got me a little bit more invested, it still would have felt empty because of a lack of why I should be invested. It’s like watching a Transformers movie. Just brainless action. And why waste money on sending this episode to a better studio when a much better episode could be? The only real Akom-caused highlight was the train stuff. That looked pretty cool, likely because even though the train was moving, it still provided a static, stable platform for our characters, so it required less technical stuff to animate. All of the other cool stuff to look at was definitely in the storyboards. I liked the bit where the Bat Plane flew across the moon, kinda emulating that iconic moment in the 1989 film. And my favorite visual moment was when Selena’s secretary put on her glasses, and we see it via a POV shot. But then once things are crystal clear, a second later she walks into the shot, seamlessly transitioning it from POV to third person.

More things like that could have probably almost created a B-level of enjoyment, admittedly. This part is also campier than part 1, with a lot more cheesiness thrown in, and that is to the episode’s detriment. The idea of Red Claw’s group of terrorists stealing a vial of disease from a military-guarded train is a really cool one, and I’ll take that over another standard police chase any day (until those chases start getting more god damn interesting). But something about watching them ride their little vehicle, leap on top of the train like ninjas, walking around on the train effortlessly, and dismantling it was pretty hard to take seriously.

(This thug was in the last episode too, and he’s got this constant, static grimace. Makes me chuckle.)

Seeing Batman glide in with the bat-glider for the first time was neat, but then again, we get flown into a corn field. This is some of the cheesiest dialogue/line delivery on the show so far, even dwarfing the stuff from I’ve Got Batman In My Basement. No easy task! It’s like the writers here were aware of the serious tone, and trying, but still could only make a guy dressed like a bat so rational. I especially cringed at Batman’s shock that Red Claw was a woman. Having Catwoman be an admirable, strong character is doing feminism in a cartoon right. But this episode was too on-the-nose about it. Another instance is when Catwoman and Batman are tied up. Catwoman says something about their savior being a “woman’s touch”, and then she claws them out. Outside of the show trying to push a feminist message, why, in universe, would she say that exactly? Batman was not being sexist toward her. Red Claw certainly wasn’t. Red Claw is a woman for crying out loud! And how are her claws particularly feminine, anyway? Are they supposed to represent those stereotypical secretary nails? C’moooooon. Lame, lame, lame. I’m a feminist, and I’m all about cartoons showing that women are every bit as capable as men are. But if this is how they do it, then just don’t even try. And to add insult to injury, after we get Catwoman saving both of them, we end with her getting the shit beaten out of by Red Claw in a fight, merely because she does absolutely nothing to defend herself. Catwoman is an athletic cat-burglar who, in the previous episode, managed to give Batman a challenge. And now she’s just letting Red Claw kick her over and over in a way she easily should’ve seen coming. What a…confusing approach.

While the superhero stuff was seriously below par, it’s slightly made up for because of how it explores Bruce and Selena’s relationship a little bit more. I liked seeing them on another attempted date, and so did Char! They’re really charming together, and it was incredibly satisfying to see Selena begin to enjoy his company. But as things start to go right for him, things also start to somehow go more wrong, and he discovers that Selena is Catwoman. To me, it’s believable that he wouldn’t have made that assumption right away. First of all, what are the odds. Second of all, a much different environment, mindset, and appearance. Plus, it’s not as though he was seeing Catwoman every single night, right? Most of his interactions of her was as normal human beings dressed in normal human clothes. Bruce mentions that he hasn’t felt a fondness of a woman like this in a very long time (Mask of the Phantasm entered my head for a second), and it feels so genuine. Somehow over these 16 episode and pilot, with a pretty small amount of spoken words for a main character, we’ve gotten to know Bruce…or…Batman…quite well. We can tell when he’s being phony, we can tell when he’s being sincere. This was sincere. And because his Bruce persona is such an exaggeration of his decency, spotting cracks in that just makes you feel something, man, especially when it shows us that hint of affection. This can be compared to Bruce Wayne talking to Harvey Dent about how proud he was that Harvey was seeking psychological help (Two-Face Part 1). These moments show us that Batman still has this warmth to him. It may be like a candle in the wind, fighting to stay alive, but every now and then there is a spritz of gasoline. For a second, Bruce Wayne and Batman are one. But y’know what? This is all well and good, however it makes me wish that the Red Claw stuff was absent. In part 1, it was different. I wanted to know where it was going. But without decent payoff, there is no reason for the terrorist story element at all. This would have been so much stronger if it were a half hour dedicated to building up the relationship of two troubled adults, fighting for what they believe in, succumbing to a certain level of darkness, all while not being able to find common ground. Paul Dini could have done it. Alan Burnett could have done it. Y’know what, Tom Ruegger probably could have done it. But no. We got writers who felt the need to add in that unnecessary, goofy superhero stuff that was not meant to be the focus of Batman the Animated Series when it didn’t need to be. But if there is one major strength of the superhero stuff, it’s the very ending. Because despite what Batman and Catwoman just went through together, saving countless people, Batman still needed to put her in handcuffs (and not in the way he probably wishes he could).

(Blurry screenshot, apologies...by the way, are bat-handcuffs really necessary, Batman?)

That was paaaaaainful, but the right kind of painful (again, not in the way Batman probably wishes it was). Having Batman state that he didn't want her taken away like a common criminal was a great addition, and I really want to know which writer came up with that line. Whoever did got what makes Batman and Catwoman so interesting. If only they could have gotten a crack at this episode on their own. As some final words, despite me giving this episode a C, I went back and forth between a C or a D many times. I’m still not entirely sure which is my true grade. It depended on what I was writing about. When I was complaining, I was sure that I should make it a D. But as I was talking about some of the more positive elements, I thought maybe a C was more appropriate. Bottom line, I’m not sure. I think a C is the most fair, though, because aside from just being a middle of the road grade, it could also represent me being completely confused on my opinion. Is that understandable?

(Here we clearly see that the section of the train that was bombed is still very much intact)

(Batman was very much on model throughout the episode, particularly in the face)

Fire count: 8 Char’s grade: B

Next time: See No Evil Full episode list here!

#batman tas #dcau #dc animated universe #batman the animated series #the cat and the claw #the cat and the claw part 2 #part 2 #catwoman #red claw #batman

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evescole · 6 years

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Fight // Peter Parker

word count: 3,374

pairing: peter parker x stark!reader

warnings: cussing, fighting, it’s literally the airport scene in civil war

summary: the avengers found themselves being torn apart by the accords. now, tony’s daughter has to make the decision for herself and figure out which team she’s really fighting for.

a/n: yeah hey hello. so i watched civil war (again) because i had a snow day and i got this idea. this follows the plot of civil war (the airport scene and beyond) but i had change some of the dialogue and events that occurred. there will be two parts after this one! enjoy.

masterlist

leave me stuff

part two // part three

The Stark name was well known for many reasons. Wealth, the Avengers, a lot of things really. One of the things the name stood for: loyalty.

Maybe it wasn’t obvious to many but the Avengers especially knew how loyal the Starks were. Tony himself had proved his dedication over and over again by saving lives. He was out there to make a difference in the world, to keep everyone safe.

You? Well, the world had only good things to say about Y/N Stark and that was the truth. While Tony got in his fair share of backlash for his actions, you were there to pick up the pieces and string everything back together. You stayed where you heart was.

Loyalty became an evident issue for not only you, but the whole team as the Sokovia Accords came to play. You each had a tough decision to make and honestly, you were terrified to see how it played out.

“What do you mean you aren’t signing them?” Your father looked at you in disbelief while you sat at the counter.

You sighed, running a hand through your hair. “Dad, I know Steve wouldn’t just disagree for no reason. There’s something more behind this, just please trust me.”

Tony shook his head, pulling his glass from his face. “You’re going against me on this, Y/N?”

Suddenly, you felt like a little kid all over again. It was just like you had been busted with your hand in the cookie jar and lied about it. You didn’t like it one bit. “You’re asking me to choose between my family here, Dad. You can’t expect this to be easy on me.”

“No, you’re right,” Tony scoffed, “But I at least expected you to be on my side. It’s not like I’m your dad or anything.”

You kept your eyes on the counter, feeling guilty about doubting him already. You were in a tough spot. Yes, you knew the Avengers had crossed lines and needed to be in check but at the same time, you knew there was more to Steve’s side than just freedom.

“Look, I can’t give you an answer yet, okay? I need to talk to Steve and I need to sort this out on my own.” You looked up at your father, hoping to appear someone confident in your answer.

Tony looked at you and shrugged. “Fine, whatever.” You rolled your eyes at his childish behavior and stood up. You needed to visit Steve in the training area and get this over with. “I already have your boyfriend on my side.”

You froze in your spot. “Peter said yes?”

Tony inhaled, knowing he had your attention. “Well, of course. You know, I bet he would want you on our team too, Y/N.”

You took a deep breath, not daring to turn around because you knew you would give in. “I said I’ll think about it, okay?”

Tony shook his head as you continued walking. “Didn’t need you anyway, angel.”

His words hurt a little more than you wanted them to but you knew he just wanted a reaction out of you so you continued walking. When the training room came into view, you sprinted in. Steve was lifting weights as you approached.

“Hey, Mini. What’s up?” Steve set the weights down when he saw you. He had grown to call you Mini, seeing as you were a mini version of your father.

You shrugged, your teeth clamping down on your bottom lip. “Got into an argument with Dad.”

“Oh.” Steve nodded in understanding. “Well, we can get the punching bag out if you want. I’m sure he’ll let you do whatever you asked for soon.”

“No, um. This..This one was different, Steve. I don’t think I’m going to sign the Accords.” The hero looked at you in shock, prompting you to finish your statement. “You’re not the kind of person to just disagree without reasoning and I want to hear why. All of it.”

A few weeks later, you found yourself with Clint and Wanda, on your way to cause some chaos. Steve had filled you in on everything that happened up to this point. Even though you wished it hadn’t come to this, you knew the battle needed to be fought.

You never really gave your dad an answer as to where you stood with the Accords and you knew he wouldn’t be happy when you stepped out onto the battlefield today. You just hoped he wouldn’t hate you too much.

“Mini, you sure about this?” Steve asked as soon as you climbed out of the van.

You nodded, wrapping your arms around yourself. “Don’t make me regret this, Rogers.”

He gave you a smile and nodded as Wanda pulled you into her side. Clint introduced Scott Lang to the group. You weren’t quite sure as to what he could do yet but you hoped he wouldn’t disappoint.

Suddenly, an announcement came over the airport speakers to evacuate. You felt nerves creep up your spine, knowing it was your father who set the plan into motion.

Steve looked at you one last time before nodding to your team. “Suit up.”

It was straight panic from there. You had already been in your gear since you escaped the compound earlier. The black latex covered your legs as well as your chest, protecting you from majority of the attacks that were to come. While Wanda’s outfit was red up top, you kept yours black, giving you the badass feel you desired.

Steve was the first to step out onto the tarmac, running towards a helicopter as the rest of you hid in the shadows. He was almost to it when something hit the side causing it to spark. You watched as Iron Man and War Machine landed on the ground a few feet from Cap.

“Wow, it’s so weird how you run into people at the airport.” The face mask disappeared to reveal your father. “Don’t you think that’s weird?”

“Definitely weird,” Rhodey replied.

Steve shook his head. “Hear me out, Tony. That doctor, the psychiatrist, he’s behind all of this.”

A black blur suddenly moved in, landed a few feet from the group. “Captain.”

“Your Highness,” Steve addressed the newcomer, who you realized was Black Panther.

Your dad ignored the entrance and started pacing as he usually did. “Anyway, Ross gave me 36 hours to bring you in. That was 24 hours ago. Can you help a brother out?”

“You’re after the wrong guy,” Steve replied.

“Your judgement is askew,” Tony shot back, “Your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday.”

Steve cut him off, “And there are five more super soldiers just like him. I can’t let the doctor find them first, Tony. I can’t.”

Your heart dropped as you saw Natasha approach Steve. Just like Wanda, Nat was one of your best friends. She was always there for you and it upset you that you had to go against her.

“Alright,” Your dad sighed, “I’ve run out of patience. Underoos!”

Suddenly, a blur of white left Steve defenseless with his hands webbed together. You watched as Spider-Man landed, Cap’s shield in his right hand. As if your heart didn’t hurt enough, Peter’s appearance only made it worse. You knew what you were getting into when you agreed to help Steve but that didn’t make the guilt any less.

“Nice job, kid,” Your dad complimented.

Peter, in what looked to be a new, decked out suit, looked up. “Thanks. Well, I could’ve stuck the landing a little better, it’s just a new suit. Wait, it’s nothing, Mr. Stark, it’s perfect, thank you.” Peter scrambled to correct himself.

Tony shook his head. “Yeah, we don’t really need to start a conversation.”

“Okay,” Peter sighed before saluting Steve. “Cap, Captain. Big fan, I’m Spider-Man.”

“Yeah, we’ll talk about it later, just-” Tony tried to shut your boyfriend up to no avail. “Good job.”

Spider-Man waved. “Hey everyone.”

Steve smirked at the greeting. “You’ve been busy.”

“And you’ve been a complete idiot. Dragging in Clint, rescuing Wanda from a place she doesn’t want to leave, a safe place. I’m trying to keep-” Your dad paused, “I’m trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart.”

Steve didn’t even bat an eye. “You did that when you signed.”

By now, you knew your father was done with games. He could only handle so much. You weren’t even shocked when he started yelling, “Alright, we’re done. You’re going to turn Barnes over, you’re going to come with us, now, because it’s us...or it’s squad of JSOC guys with no compunction about being impolite.”

Suddenly, Sam’s voice was in your earpiece. “We found it. Their quinjet’s in hangar five, north runway.”

Steve’s webbed hands were in the air as Clint shot an arrow, breaking the restraint. You watched as Ant Man grew big again, knocking your boyfriend down in surprise. Scott gave the shield back as fighting broke loose.

Wanda was quick to grab your arm and start leading you through the airport. Your powers were similar to hers so you were planning on just following her lead as best as you could. While she continued on with Clint, you hid behind one of the luggage carriers, trying to catch your breath.

“Wanda, I think you hurt Vision’s feelings.” Your dad tried to play the guild card.

“You locked me in my room,” She shot back.

“Okay, first, that’s an exaggeration. Second, I did it to protect you. Hey, Clint.”

Clint nodded his head. “Hey, man.”

You could hear your dad chuckle, “Clearly retirement doesn’t suit you. You get tired of shooting golf?”

Clint shrugged. “Well, I played 18, shot 18. Just can’t seem to miss.” He quickly shot an arrow just past Iron Man’s head.

“Huh, well, first time for everything.” The suit shrugged as he blew up the arrow.

“Made you look.”

With that, Wanda began pulling cars from the parking deck, her attacks burying your father from view. You came out from your hiding spot, scared he had been hurt.

“He’s fine, Y/N. Come on!” Wanda grabbed your arm and pulled you from the scene. You ran with them until Steve, Scott, Sam, and Bucky caught up. The quinjet was finally in view as you made it out of the maze of airport vehicles.

A lazer coming down in front of you made you skid to a stop as Vision hovered overhead. You were too far behind the group to be seen and honestly, you wished it stayed that way. You weren’t looking forward to revealing yourself to the opposing side.

“Captain Rogers. I know you believe what you’re doing is right, but for the collective good, you must surrender now.” Vision returned to the ground as the rest of Team Iron Man filed in.

Your team began to spread themselves out, you and Wanda being the last two. She grabbed your hand, pulling you with her to stand along your teammates.

“Y/N Y/M/N Stark, what the hell do you think you’re doing here?” Your dad shouted, the suit’s eyes narrowing on you.

“Y/N?” Spider-Man’s eyes widened as he realized you were actually here.

You squeezed Wanda’s hand tightly. “I told you, there’s more to it than just freedom, Dad. You have to believe me.”

Tony ignored you, however, and turned towards Steve. “Seriously, dude? You had to bring my daughter into this?”

“I brought myself into this!” You defended.

Tony shook his head. “Enough, Y/N. Get out of here, now.”

You clenched your jaw and gave Steve a subtle nod, telling him you were going on. He returned the gesture before beginning to lead your team into battle. You let go of Wanda’s hand as you broke into a jog, your eyes on your boyfriend who was across from you.

“Don’t do this, Y/N,” Peter grunted as you swept his feet out from underneath him.

You didn’t say anything, dodging the kick to your stomach. Using your powers, you stopped Peter’s ankle mid-swing and pulled it up, hanging him upside down.

“Aw, seriously?” He groaned, “Not cool, babe!”

You tried to catch your breath as you approached, the purple hue in your hand reminding you of your hold on him. You used your free hand to pull his mask from his face, freeing the sweaty brown curls. You didn’t hesitate to press your lips to his, savoring the moment while you had it.

“I’m sorry,” You whispered as you pulled away. “Whatever happens after this, just know I love you.”

You let him have the mask back before you let him drop to the ground. You could see Clint fighting with Natasha, making them your next target.

Just before her foot could connect with him, you held your hands out, freezing her attack mid-air. Her eyes widened as she looked at you. “Y/N, don’t.”

You inhaled before twisting your hands, sending her flying away from your teammate. Clint looked up at you, surprised. You shrugged. “You were pulling your punches.”

He rolled his eyes at you before starting to run. You gave Nat another glance before taking off towards the center of the battle. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Captain America taking on Spider-Man.

“Don’t hurt him too bad, Cap! That’s my baby you’re fighting,” You spoke into your earpiece.

You could hear Sam gag. “Ew, young love.”

You rolled your eyes as you ran towards where Black Panther was taking on Bucky. Your path was blocked as Iron Man dropped down in front of you, his arms crossed.

“Dad, please don’t make this harder,” You pleaded, trying to get around him.

“You know, I never thought you’d do this to me, Y/N. After everything I’ve done for you, this is how you repay me. That’s great, angel. So awesome.” He held his palm out towards you, making you tense up.

“You wouldn’t actually hurt me, would you?” You challenged, your hands clenching next to you. This was your dad you were talking about. You couldn’t do this, no matter what you were fighting for.

Iron Man tilted his head. “No, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to stop you.”

Your legs were swept out from under you by Natasha before Peter swung over top, webbing your hands to the ground. You groaned, struggling to free yourself.

“You don’t understand what’s happening, angel. This isn’t just play time.” Tony’s face mask disappeared as he kneeled next to you.

You grunted, still straining against the webs. “You think I don’t know that? This is my family being torn apart, Dad! That’s not fair to me.”

“You’re safer out of the fight than anywhere else,” Nat joined in, leaning over your other side.

You sighed, “Please don’t do this.”

Tony shook his head as he stood up, his mask coming back on. “You brought it upon yourself, angel.” He took off, defending himself from Clint’s arrows.

Natasha gave you a sad smile before disappearing from view. You groaned again, pulling against your hands as hard as you could. You could see the purple glow from your hands dissolve the webbing, freeing you from the ground.

As soon as you gained your footing, you could see Peter struggling to hold what looked to be like an airport gate. You used your powers to move it off of him, giving him time to escape from beneath it before you took off running again.

“No, you get to the jet. Both of you. The rest of us aren’t getting out of here.” Sam’s voice rang in your ear.

“As much as I hate to admit it, if we’re gonna win this one, some of us are going to have to lost it.” Clint agreed.

You turned the corner, almost running straight into Steve and Bucky as Sam explained his idea. Steve sighed, “Mini, you coming with us?”

You shook your head, looking at the mess around you. “I’m either going to be grounded for life or in jail for life after this one. Might as well not make it worse.”

Steve gave you a sad smile as he pulled you into his arms. “I’m sorry I brought you into this.”

You squeezed him back. “It was my choice, okay? Don’t worry about it.”

He leaned down and kissed your forehead. “Be careful.”

You nodded as you began running away just as Scott became giant. You looked up, blinking a few times in shock. “Well that just happened.”

“Y/N, move!” Peter’s voice pulled you back to reality as an broken airplane wing flew towards you.

You yelped, dodging out of the way before getting a hold on it and using the wing to knock Vision off his course. He caught himself before realizing where Steve and Bucky were going. You watched as he flew through Scott and knocked the watchtower down.

“No!” You willed your legs to run faster, throwing your arms out as you attempted to stop the debris from falling. Wanda was suddenly right next to you, combining her strength with yours.

A forceful sound wave made you lose control on the tower. You screamed, collapsing on the ground as the debris continued to fall. Your head was ringing, a pounding sensation attacking your skull.

You took deep breaths as you finally opened your eyes. Wanda held a hand out to you, helping pull you off the ground. Your eyes landed on Scott, who was still a giant. You could see Spider-Man swinging around his legs, trying to make him trip. Your dad and Rhodey were there to knock him down, causing Scott to crash into an airplane.

You weren’t worried about that, though. You watched as Peter was knocked aside by Scott’s hand, causing the webslinger to fly into the ground.

“Peter!” Your impulse got the best of you as you ran towards him, sliding to your knees. “Are you okay?” You dodged a punch, catching it in your left hand as you tugged his mask from his face completely.

He took a deep breath as he realized it was you. “Oh, God. That was scary.”

“Yeah, good job.” You smiled at him. “You really impressed me so I’m guessing you’ve got Dad down too.”

“You think?” He panted.

“Yeah, kid, you did good.” Tony kneeled down next to you two. “But you’re done. Stay down.”

Peter began to protest but you placed your hands on his shoulders. “It’s okay. Just stay here.”

“You’re done or I’m calling Aunt May!” Tony threatened, his face serious. Peter groaned and flopped back.

You stood up just as law enforcement vehicles swarmed the area. Tony sighed, pulling you into a tight hug. “I’ll lecture you later, okay? I love you.”

You let go as he took off into the sky after the jet. You bit your lip to keep the tears at bay. “I love you too.”

You kneeled down next to your boyfriend. “You know this isn’t going to end pretty, right?”

He sighed, grabbing one of your hands. “We’re gonna bring you home, Y/N. I promise.”

You couldn’t stop the tears this time, a sad laugh escaping your throat. “I don’t deserve that, Peter. I don’t deserve being rescued or forgiven or welcomed back. I’m so, so sorry.”

You stood up, squeezing his hand tightly before letting go. You could hear him shouting after you as you made your way towards Wanda, fully ready to accept whatever punishment your rebellion caused.

She stood up and hugged you tightly as you cried. “It’s gonna be okay. We’re gonna be fine.”

You just shook your head as police and various law enforcement members made their way towards you. As much as you hated to admit it, you wanted nothing more than your dad’s protection but you knew, it definitely wasn’t coming now.

You stepped out of Wanda’s hold as you were forcefully grabbed by an officer. You didn’t protest, didn’t say a word as they forced you into handcuffs and brought you to your knees. It was evident to all of them, anyway.

You had given up. Given up on your team, your family, your boyfriend. You had given up on everything...including yourself.

part two

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mercerislandbooks · 3 years

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Girls With Bright Futures: A Conversation

You’ll be seeing a book on the Island Books new paperback fiction table February 2nd, if you haven’t already spied it on several most anticipated releases of 2021 lists, including Newsweek, Refinery29 and Popsugar. With an eye catching cover, a local setting and an instantly intriguing premise, Girls With Bright Futures is the book everyone is going to be talking about. Taking place in Seattle at the fictional Elliott Bay Academy, and told from three alternating points of view, we get an inside look into the cutthroat world of college admissions and the unrelenting pressure on both the kids applying for college and the parents trying to ensure their success.

I was hooked from the very first page, plunged into the high stakes of vying for the last early admission spot at Stanford, and thankful that my college application days are now in the distant past! Seattle residents and co-authors, Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman, were kind enough to answer a few of my questions about their book and the writing process. And be sure to check out the details for their book launch at Island Books at the end of the blog!

Welcome Tracy and Wendy! How did you two decide to write a book together?

We’ve been friends for more than 20 years. In fact, Wendy’s husband and Tracy first met when they were right out of college living in Washington, DC. We all ended up in Seattle in the mid-1990s and connected when our oldest kids were toddlers, and the two of us became instant friends. Over the years, we’ve supported each other through careers, motherhood, community volunteer work, and many life events—some wonderful, others terrifying. Throughout it all, we bonded over our deep reliance on humor and our tremendous mutual respect. It’s not an exaggeration to say that we always felt a collaboration on something was inevitable. But for years, the perfect idea eluded us. On long, angsty walks, we batted around book ideas (always non-fiction in those early days), business ideas, and even an idea for a board game. But at the bottom of it all was a desire to better understand the culture of motherhood today—all its rewards and privileges, and on the flip side, the judgment and toxic self-doubt that plague so many of us.

Finally, just when we were starting to launch our kids from the nest, we read two books that really set us off on this path, but for very different reasons. The first was Modern Romance which was a collaboration between the comedian Aziz Anzari and Eric Klinenberg, a sociologist from Columbia, in which they looked at how romance and courtship rituals have evolved over the last 100 years or so. Something about that the way that book took on a culturally relevant topic, combining humor and research really resonated with us and got us thinking about whether we could do something similar with modern motherhood and friendship. But we quickly realized we were neither stand-up comedians nor sociologists, so we were still casting about for an idea.

And then we read another amazing book—Daring Greatly by Brene Brown. We were so inspired. For years, we’d been telling our kids that it’s OK to try new stuff even if it means failing sometimes, and yet we’d been unwilling to take that kind of risk ourselves. And so we thought: If we were going to “go big” and really risk being vulnerable, what would we do? All of the sudden we realized we wanted to write fiction (and please believe us: writing a novel and sharing it with the world is an excruciating exercise in vulnerability!). We wanted to create something, to be free to dream up characters and stories and worlds. The only flaw in this plan was that neither of us had ever written a word of fiction. If only we could figure out how to write a novel, we believed our work ethic and willingness to hold ourselves accountable to each other would get us the rest of the way there. So what did we do? We kid you not...we pulled out our computers and googled: “How do you write a novel?” That was at the end of February, 2016—and the rest is history!

What was the inspiration for Girls With Bright Futures?

Because our book is launching in the wake of the Operation Varsity Blues college admissions scandal, most people assume that salacious news story was our inspiration, but that’s actually not the case. In fact, prior to Girls with Bright Futures, we had already written an entire manuscript featuring college admissions mania as a major theme, but that manuscript was submitted to publishers in 2018 without success. Forced to go back to the drawing board, we ultimately conceived of Girls with Bright Futures in late 2018 and had not only plotted out the entire book but had nearly completed our first draft when the scandal first broke in March 2019!

As far as why we chose this topic in particular, it's kind of a long story! But in a nutshell, when our older boys were in the midst of the college admissions process, each of our husbands suffered a life-threatening health crisis. Thankfully (knock on wood), our guys are alright, but it was such a bizarre coincidence that we both experienced such intense brushes with mortality during the high anxiety of the college admissions process—it felt like a sign we couldn’t ignore. Initially, our writing was more therapy than anything, enabling us to try to make sense of all our feelings. At the same time, we became fascinated by what seemed to be an increasingly competitive and anxiety provoking college admissions process for our kids. We wanted to explore the impacts of all this on families, friendships, students, and school communities.

The pacing is so good in your narrative, what was your writing process like to make that happen?

Well first, thank you for saying that! We’re staring at each other over Zoom right now trying to remember how it all came together! Before we start writing, we work out every scene—e.g., whose point of view, where the scene starts and ends, and what we need to accomplish. Every scene has a specific purpose to keep the plot unfolding. In addition, we really wanted our story to illustrate and mirror the real-life phenomenon of how an anxiety-fueled action by one character can provoke escalating responses in others. Some of our pacing derives from this tension. Finally, we intentionally juxtaposed humorous or satirical scenes against more serious ones, and dialogue-heavy scenes with more expository-laden scenes. After all, variety is the spice of life (ugh—and cliches are the bane of a writer’s existence!).

How did you decide what kind of representation you wanted in your characters?

Our overarching goal was to write a compelling (even shocking!) fictional depiction of the toxicity of the college admissions process for parents, families, friendships, and communities. There were many different approaches we could have taken and we considered all of these, including race, ethnicity, and income/class. As two white women, we were conscious of not wanting to misappropriate any stories, but we did want to find a way to show how racism rears its head in this setting. We decided to make our three main characters white women of varying socioeconomic levels while incorporating plot twists (no spoilers here) and a whole roster of women whose races and ethnicities are intentionally ambiguous to expose some common racist assumptions in many high school communities. Telling this story through a lens of extreme income inequality allowed us to shine a light on the role of that particular trend as a major driver of anxiety and bad behavior in many school communities. Our hope is that we’ve constructed a story that will stimulate discussion on a range of social justice issues.

What was surprising to you about writing your first book?

Writing and publishing a book are two totally different endeavors. On the writing front, we had no idea how little time we’d spend actually writing our book versus planning it on the front end and revising/editing it on the back end. In terms of publishing, we were initially surprised to learn how much marketing is involved and that the majority of that marketing involves social media (even more so now because we’re launching in a pandemic). As neither of us were remotely active on social media before our publishing journey, we had to push ourselves to overcome our discomfort and there has also been a (very) steep learning curve (like what the heck is an Instagram story for and why do we have to do it?). We’ve been fortunate to have digital natives (i.e., our children) who owe us big-time for all the years we spent raising them. Check out our social media game on Instagram @katzndobs.

What are you working on now?

While we can no longer sit side-by-side at Tracy’s house, we’ve continued working together over Zoom. Our next novel isn’t a sequel to Girls with Bright Futures, but it’s set in a similar world with more parents behaving badly. That’s about all we can say right now!!

And last but not least, at Island Books the staff is always asked about what we’re reading. What are the two of you reading and recommending now?

Tracy: My favorite read over the holidays was The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, and I am currently reading Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour.

Wendy: Eliza Starts a Rumor by Jane Rosen was my favorite read over the holidays, and His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie is my current read.

Photo by @KristenSycamorePhotography

Tracy and Wendy will be at Island Books on Saturday, February 6th from 10am to 2:30 pm for a Covid-era signing of Girls With Bright Futures. A free custom Hello Robin cookie is their special gift to you with purchase of their book, while supplies last! So put on your mask and stop by to support these lovely debut authors and their fantastic book. Hope to see you there!

-- Lori

#island books #lori robinson #girlswithbrightfutures #katzndobs #2021debuts #bookclub #debutauthors #tracy dobmeier #wendy katzman

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pcvkaplowitz-blog · 6 years

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In Retrospect...

“Stand up when your name is called” directed the Costa Rican border agent standing in the front of our bus. Coming from Nicaragua I’d heard a lot about Costa Rica, it seemed like everyone I talked to knew somebody working across the border. The more politically minded would tell me that the only reason Costa Rica was prosperous was because of the Nicaraguans who fled during the war. Since then the border crossing is hard for Nicaraguans, and usually it would have been harder for me as well, but the U.S. Embassies in Nicaragua and Costa Rica had already coordinated with the Costa Rican government to ensure our evacuation went smoothly.

“Josh Wynn” called the agent, and I though back to killing the scorpion and chinche with Josh “Bootylicious” Wynn what seemed like an eternity ago but actually only been the week prior. In Somoto, Clare “Fachenta” Davies looked on in horror, silently praying that the next two years of service in Nicaragua wouldn’t be filled with dangerous insects in a remote mountain village. The bugs were a hardship we expected to face. Indoctrinated with the mantra of resiliency the prospect of leaving Nicaragua before the 27 months term of service ended barely figured into the imagination. Now, almost two months after arriving we were crossing into Costa Rica.

News of the protest first reached me on Thursday while travelling from Somoto back to my training site by way of Managua. The handful of the other volunteers who happened to be traveling on the same bus with as me received texts notifying us of the protests. The first messages were innocuous, telling us that we must take taxis to avoid loitering in the Managua areas. The severity increased with each successive notification until finally we were told to disembark in Tipitapa and avoid Managua all together. In Tipitapa we rendezvoused with Peace Corps officials who drove us back to our sites. Even then I failed to comprehend the extent of the upheaval brewing.

Once safely in Niquinohomo the news of the protests came through filtered sources. It was clear that the initial protest was in response to an executive order changing social security but the reason for the volatile nature of the protests was unclear. The only news channels broadcasting on TV served as offered biased critique and inaccurate reports, skewed to support Ortega. My host sister works in the Mayor’s office and downplayed the protests. Other locals in my house claimed that the protests had been used as an excuse for vandals to loot stores. They all seemed to think there would be a return to order soon. These viewpoints contrasted sharply with those of other members of my community.

On Friday it became apparent that the unrest was bigger than originally apparent. People complained of election fraud, lack of representation, and the disconnect between the Ortega of today and the former Sandinista leader. Some accused Ortega of selling out Nicaragua for his personal profit. Additionally, it became apparent that the peaceful protests had been responded to with violence. Riot police took to the streets and counter-protestors fought the demonstrators. In Tipitapa, where I had been hours before, a Nicaraguan was killed. State news claims the murder was by vandals intent on burning the mayors office, but a number of other sources allege the vandals were paid by the government to cause violence and delegitimize the protestors.

Peace Corps sent me another notification: “Standfast.” The emergency action plan was officially underway. In Niquinohomo it remained calm, it seemed surreal. I had heard the news but assumed it was exaggerated like the way Fox covers the protests in Ferguson and Chicago. I still thought things would settle down. I didn’t pack a go-bag and walked around town in my flip flops chatting with the neighbors.

That night there was a large march in Niquinohomo. Hundreds of people paraded through the streets wearing black, waving Nicaraguan flags, tearing down Sandinista propaganda. Trucks and biked honked their horns. The people chanted. “They have the right to demonstrate” said my sister who works at the Mayors office. She didn’t join the protestors though, I heard anyone who worked for the state (including teachers and local and regional officials) would lose their job for demonstrating or criticizing Ortega. The police in Niquinohomo waited on the street corners and watched. The police in other sites were not so patient.

Violence blossomed over the weekend. Police fired live rounds into crowds, killing students. Snipers on the rooftops in Managua targeted people seeking refuge in a church. I was told “They’re aiming at the head and the heart, they’re trying to take people out.” In Bluefields a journalist was killed, shot in the head while streaming on Facebook live because his channel had been cut off. Across the country the army was deployed.

My friend living in El Rosario texted me: “I heard they are coming to burn our alcaldia (trans. mayors office)...” Her family locked down their house and she slept with her knife. The mob never came for her but in Leon, Diriamba, Masaya, Managua, Bluefields and other cities it did, burning down the mayor’s offices. In Masaya fighting between the police and the citizens was especially severe. “It’s a war over there,” my host family warned me.

Ortega spoke but his two-hour speech only managed to enrage the crowds. His themes were tangential, and his demeanor was slow. He reminded me of a tortoise with Alzheimer’s. He called for dialogue but only with the heads of the COSEP, a group of business leaders that spent the past decade eating out of Ortega’s hand. Later he revoked the executive order, but it wasn’t enough to calm the crowds. Some businesses closed. Many grocery stores and gas stations were looted.

Peace Corps activated the next step of the Emergency Action Plan on Sunday, “Consolidation.” At this point Peace Corps Volunteers in Managua were locked down in the central office, unable to leave even to go pack their belongings for the evacuation. Trainees in Diriamba had spent the prior night gathered at the house of a volunteer avoiding the disturbances downtown. I packed half my things, expecting the reversal of the order to be enough to reverse the consolidation decision.

At 9:00 pm I got a call telling me that I’d be picked up the next morning for Consolidation in Grandad before eventual evacuation to Costa Rica and the States. Reluctantly I admitted that I would have to leave tranquil Niquinohomo. My host mom was upset “We have food, we have water, we have electricity, this house is very secure!” She told me. “Out there is where the craziness is, everything is fine here!” I had to explain the order was from the Ambassador and it was for all volunteers not just us. She still didn’t want to see me go.

I left twice. At 10 AM the van picked us up and I helped load bags on the roof, tying the bags down as the sun beat down. I finished securing the bags and hopped down, ran to hug the host families goodbye, and hopped in the van. We got on the road and began our briefing session when Daniel “Freak” Tassitino asked me where my backpack was. I apologized profusely as we turned the bus around to go grab my laptop, passport, and camera. Twenty minutes later and I was back on the road with my backpack and a big IOU for Daniel’s host family.

In the bus Ashley explained the situation. Official reports of death were underreported and estimates are that 100 people were killed over the weekend. The plan was to stay in Granada for two days and get all volunteers together before moving on to Costa Rica and eventually the United States. The Embassy was evacuating all non-essential personnel. There were concerns about accessing food, water, and gas. Some routes to the embassy had been blocked off leading to fear about being cut off. It felt good to be with the other trainees. We felt safe together and I trusted Peace Corps to keep us safe.

The customs agent began calling names I didn’t recognize. The names of the Volunteers who shared our bus. All the trainees and volunteers got evacuated together. In Granada we mingled awkwardly. The group was conflicted. I’d met some of the volunteers before and I tried to take advantage of the opportunity to talk with them and meet other people who could share some perspective with me. At the same time I tried to avoid being insensitive to those taking the transition harder than I was. Some of the older volunteers resented being pulled away from their families for the last time without being able to say goodbye. Some had friends in jail. But here in a fancy hotel we enjoyed drinks by the pool and catered meals, almost as if nothing happened.

Granada looked peaceful. I knew there had been protests earlier in the week but the tourist district we stayed in was tranquilo. The first day we were locked down in the hotel. There was nothing to occupy our time that first day except the pool and Flor de Cana rum. I don’t think it really hit me that I’d be back in the States in less than a week. When we to packing up all our stuff and leave our homes I told my friend Troy “Sweet T” Marderosian that “best case scenario this is all just an annoyance.” The first day in Granada were like a little bourgeoisie vacation at the time and I enjoyed it while briefly under the impression that we may return to our normal routine before too long.

The briefings began the second day in Granada and it was made clear we would be leaving the country. Don Howard, the seemingly implacable country director, choked up during his speech. He tried to sound hopeful, but the gloomy reality of the situation couldn’t be ignored. The uncertainty that had provided refuge and hopes of a quick return during the consolidation process morphed as Peace Corps switched to “Evacuation” mode. Staff members families were sent to the United States. The Director traveled with an escort from the embassy. The immediate confusion of what going to happen now turned into an anxiety about what’s going to happen next.

We boarded the busses. Fifty volunteers per bus, our belongings stuffed into the storage spaces, only a few hours behind schedule we headed toward the border. Jammed packed, I was grateful for the air conditioning. No stops, I was grateful for the bathroom. Although, we did get off for a minute right before the border while they searched the busses, it was fast almost cursory. And now here we are getting ushered into Costa Rica. When they called my name, I waved from the back row, popping my head above the seats, acutely feeling the privilege of my blue and gold passport.

The border crossing made me think of all the people we were leaving behind. Don Howard had mentioned that all the staff accompanying us were leaving their families. How could anyone be asked to leave their family in an agitated country to accompany some privileged gringos across the border? And what of our own friends and host families? I’m grateful Niquinohomo is safe but the protests have continued. I’m outraged at the injustices committed by the government in Nicaragua, the lack of representation, the twisting of the facts. I also can leave at will. I’m privileged to disconnect.

“Poverty is not knowing if you can ever leave” Said Peter Hatch during our training. And now I’m leaving a country just when the situation gets hairy. It’s funny that just a few weeks prior I was surprised that people had been complaining to me about the government and now there were riots in the street. I guess the people had enough. A number of people told me that Ortega had sold out to corporate interests.

“Nicaragua could be the richest country in central America” said my neighbor. But the country has a brutal history of dictators using the natural resources for their own personal gain, complicit in this is the buying power of the United States and other foreign countries. The U.S. has been responsible for starting wars in Nicaragua and benefited from exploitative trade agreements. It is the pinicle of irony that an American businessman pressured Ortega to reverse the Social Security mandate that sparked the riots. Civil disturbances are bad for business.

“The people don’t trust COSEC, they’ve been stealing from Nicaragua for the past 20 years” Said Ashely. The people have power in the streets, but when they let the business sector speak for them they lose that power. Ortega has dictated who he will negotiate with, the streets don’t care, the streets shout “Ortega, Somoza, son la misma cosa.” The streets want change. The people are finding their voice. And I am leaving.

In Costa Rica the change is noticeable. The countryside houses have cars in front of them. Even the roads in the mountains look different. Although I haven’t had the chance to travel much of Nicaragua, For the first time since moving to Latin America I got to see the Pacific Ocean. We check in and settle into rooms at another nice hotel and meet up for the first debrief sessions.

The sessions at the hotel are mundane. They cover the logistics of the departure. The specific reasons for leaving. They leave the future floating in ambiguity. They share the resources Peace Corps offers to deal with the transition. My mind meanders, my pen doodles on the page. I look around and see other people drifting off in their own worlds.

As a volunteer the time in Costa Rica felt protracted. Our debriefing meetings were done en mass and despite many voices asking, the answer I really wanted was absent. I still don’t know if I’m going back. The officials refused to speculate. It’s really up in the air. At least, I better understand the process of how the decision is going to be made.

The suspension of activities works on 30 day cycles, starting with the date we left the country. Every 30 days the staff in the embassy will assess development in Nicaragua. The criteria they will use to determine if we are cleared to return is the same criteria that factored into their decision to evacuate. These include, access to food and water, access to gas, freedom of travel, peaceful demonstrations. Protests are acceptable as long as the threat of violence is low.

Now I wait. In the meantime, I’m keeping myself occupied, see friends, travel, write, organize my photos… I can already feel a shift in my attitude. When I first got bck I was enthusiastic to explain the situation and confident that I would return, my brain still focused on the content of training. Now, hardly a week later I am thinking in terms of plans and things I would like to do here, imagining my goals for after Peace Corps.

In some ways it’s good to have this opportunity to think a little bit more of my goals for after Peace Corps and direct what I want to get out of the next two years. Assuming I still go. I still want to go but I’m dreading what the culture shock will be like going back and forth. I felt like I was just settling down and getting ready to live in Nicaragua for two years when I got pulled out. If I have to go to another site the wait could be another 9 months, and I don’t know what I would do in the meantime…

So while my head is still spinning it is only because once again the future is unknown. Thrown back into the chasm right when I was getting comfortable with my plan for the next two years.

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love-takes-work · 6 years

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Steven Universe Comic Big Donut Special (2016) - Outline & Review

A review and outline of the special issue comic dedicated to events at the Big Donut.

I didn't find out this existed until the day before it came out! How exciting to just suddenly get a dollop of cute comic content like this. I mean, let's be honest: stories about Steven and the Gems horsing around doing non-plot-relevant things and being cute is not exactly what Steven Universe fans tune in for, by and large, but the writers of this comic had the characters down, and every fluffy little story is such a little treat. If you're expecting plot or lore, you're not going to get it in these one-shot comics, and you should understand that only the TV show is going to go there since these are not generally created by the show's writers and storyboarders. So keep that in mind when you read comics in this universe. They're going to be fluff or mild self-contained plots, and you want to tune in to read them because you get to spend a little bit of time with the characters doing their thing.

Every story in this collection is about donuts! Yes, literally every one! So of course Steven spends a lot of time at the Big Donut and the characters Sadie and Lars make a number of appearances. Here are some notes on the stories: Clash of Gluttons:

To celebrate a blowout donut sale at the Big Donut, Steven declares that he is going to break his eating record, which draws Amethyst's attention because she's convinced she can eat way more donuts than he can. A contest is established, and the two eat themselves sick.

Steven is sure he has no more room in his stomach, but there's always room for the Father-and-Son Special when Greg arrives! Notable for fans: 1. It really doesn't make any sense in-universe for Steven to think he could beat Amethyst at eating, so the suggestion that they tied at the end is stretching credibility a bit, even in a silly plot. ;) Steven can eat, but Amethyst . . . I mean, she eats things that aren't edible, regularly, and literally does not have an organic body to worry about. 2. Steven and Amethyst have some supporters behind them as they prepare for the donut eating. Predictably, Connie and Lion are supporting Steven, but Pearl is right behind him sweating like she's distressed, while Garnet is giving Amethyst a massage and for some reason Onion is there behind her. That is peculiar.

3. Steven eats weirdly angrily while Amethyst does so with clear delight on her face. It's funny.

4. Steven...doesn't have a Gemstone in this comic?? What. There are multiple pictures of him after he ate too much with his exaggerated stomach poking out and Sara drew a regular cartoon outie bellybutton on it every time.

Big Donut Contest:

Another contest requires entrants to design donuts! Steven, inspired by the "don't donut" from last year, encourages the Gems to collaborate with him as an entering team to create the Crystal Gem combo. Surely Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst can create something very special to contribute to the contest, right?

Well . . . hard to do when Pearl is clueless about food, Amethyst doesn't understand what food is palatable for humans since it's all yummy to her, and Garnet doesn't see the point in participating since she already knows how it all ends. But Steven anticipated their donuts not necessarily being appropriate, so he made his own Crystal Gem combo of representative donuts of the four of them. Everyone loves it.

Notable for fans: 1. Lars's slacking is called out by Steven in this episode and it's adorable.

2. Garnet and Pearl are playing video games together in Steven's room in one scene! I've never seen Pearl play video games voluntarily before. 3. An exchange between Steven and Pearl was perfectly Pearl. Steven: "Big news! DONUTS!" Pearl: "Steven, that's not news, we already know about donuts." 4. The suggestions Steven makes for the donuts they'd make are as follows: "The Pearl donut's beautiful, refined flavors! The unbeatable flavor fusion of the Garnet donut! The bold, daring Amethyst donut!" That's so cute and they're clearly all flattered by these descriptions. Of course, Steven completes the quartet with "The sweet and bubbly Steven donut!" Yes, Steven, you're adorable.

5. Steven's cooking apron has Sad Waffle from Crying Breakfast Friends on it. 6. Pearl's idea of a good donut is a hologram donut because in her eyes food you don't have to eat is ideal. Amethyst's donut is a gross pile of junk food. Wow.

7. The final Crystal Gem Combo made by Steven is super cute. Amethyst's is a filled eclair with purple frosting and a squirt of whipped cream; Pearl's is an elegant frosted pale cruller with sprinkles; Steven's appears to be a jelly-filled with pink icing and a big star decoration, and Garnet's is a heart-shaped donut with markings like Garnet's outfit, complete with red and blue star sprinkles. Garnet's reaction to this donut is so precious.

The Donut Thief:

A mysterious thief keeps taking donuts from Sadie and Lars, so Steven accompanies them to the thief's roof hideout to uncover the identity of the thief and stop the thievery. After some antics and mishaps, they find a baby raccoon is responsible. Steven wants to keep it. Notable for fans: 1. Lars grudgingly acknowledges Steven's magical abilities in this story (while saying he doesn't want to be involved if Steven's powers are). It's pretty typical, and as usual, Sadie defends him. The character dynamic is well presented here. (Same goes for when Lars wanted others to be first to climb the ladder to the roof.) 2. What!! Steven does his puppy-dog eyes on Garnet to get her to let him keep the raccoon and SHE STILL SAYS NO! What is the world coming to?

Health Inspection:

Mr. Smiley has decided to make extra cash by doing health inspections, and this throws Sadie into a panic because she's worried the Big Donut won't meet regulations. To make matters worse, the Crystal Gems are literally fighting a monster in and around the store during the inspection. But considering the monster has wrecked all the stores he's had to inspect that day, Mr. Smiley's not going to deduct points for that! Points off for untucked shirts though, Lars. Notable for fans: 1. This one is rare since it's not from Steven's perspective at all! And he's not even there fighting with the Gems when they confront and poof the monster! That's surprising. 2. Yikes, the Big Donut regularly sells expired food that Sadie has to hide for the inspection. Well, I guess that's not surprising, considering in "Lion 3: Straight to Video" Sadie was putting months-old bag lunches in the coolers. How to Donuts:

Sadie comes over to the Temple and teaches the Gems to make donuts! Steven and Sadie enlist the help of Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl to mix dough, knead it, let it rise, roll it out, cut donut shapes, create glaze, fry the donuts, drain them, and add glaze and sprinkles. A real recipe for glaze and donut dough is included!

Notable for fans: 1. Amethyst's role, predictably, is eating everything or whining when she has to wait to eat everything. Pearl and Garnet are helpful, though. Pearl makes the glaze while Garnet does the mixing and frying. Steven does the rolling and shape-cutting. I like this because you really should have an adult do the cooking-related stuff. 2. An ending scene of Amethyst stuffing multiple donuts in her mouth was expected, but I was pleasantly surprised and amused by Pearl adding sprinkles with tweezers and Garnet, for reasons unknown, holding frosted donuts up to two of her eyes and looking through them. What nerds they are.

Food Fight:

Sadie needs to do a business errand and Lars is furious that he is therefore stuck at work and unable to show off his coolest pants to his cool friends. He's so bitter and distracted that he doesn't want to sell donuts to Steven and Amethyst, and is forced into interaction with them when Amethyst just starts taking donuts and eating them.

A food fight ensues when Amethyst antagonizes Lars, and Onion gets involved as a passerby. Soon Jenny is drawn in when she walks by delivering pizzas, and Ronaldo sees what's happening and charges in with a huge bag of fries to participate. Even the other Cool Kids, Mr. Smiley, and Greg get caught in the crossfire! But Lars is still concerned about whether his very cool pants will be appreciated, which is much more important to him than who will clean up the mess. Notable for fans: 1. Jenny, delivering pizzas? Did she get a work ethic for Christmas? 2. Greg reprimanding Amethyst and assuming she started the food fight was pretty funny. I like how often they demonstrate that the characters know each other really well. Also, Amethyst calls Lars "guy." It's pretty common for the Gems to avoid learning or using humans' names, so this is really on-target dialogue. 3. The drawings are really cute--Amethyst's attitude is so well encapsulated by the expressions they've chosen for her. I love her body language, and they did great with everyone's action--you can really feel the movement. 4. Onion's murder face is unforgettable and I'm glad they included it.

Donut Derby:

Steven and Connie enter a toy car race, but Steven's car "Mr. Sprinkles" breaks during the test run. They have to find something to use for wheels very quickly or Steven's out of the race. Notable for fans: 1. Ponytail Amethyst. That is all. (It's weird, though; in the earlier frames it looks like she tied her hair with her own hair, like she did in "Steven vs. Amethyst," but in some of the later ones, it's colored in like it's a black hair tie.)

2. Connie is cute (and, again, on-point with the characterization)--she's very scientific about the aerodynamics of her car.

[SU Book and Comic Reviews]

#steven universe #steven universe comics #myblog

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