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theerurishipper · 28 days

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I feel like people really underestimate the importance of Dick being the first Robin. Like, reverse Robin AUs are interesting and such, but I just hope people realize that in the context of canon, they would never work. The reason Batman and Robin ever works is because the first Robin was Dick Grayson specifically. Because Bruce would never have taken in any child if Dick's tragedy hadn't specifically happened to mirror his own experience. Dick Grayson was the only one Bruce truly saw himself in first, because the fundamental event that defines them is the same. And he sees the opportunity to help someone the way he was never helped, to make sure that Dick didn't go down the dark path he did. So, my point here is that the only one Bruce actually made the choice to take in, the only one who could kickstart it all, is Dick Grayson, because he is the only one with whom Bruce could immediately empathize and connect with.

This never happened with any other Robin. He took in Jason because he missed Dick, he took in Tim because Tim forced himself into the role, he took in Steph because he was trying to make Tim come back to being Robin, and Dick made Damian Robin. Of course, he loved all of them, and they all have their unique relationships with Bruce that are very important and inform their characters, and he does need them too. But he specifically formed this connection with Dick that made Dick the only person he ever considered taking in. It took a very specific set of circumstances in Dick's backstory that made Bruce commit an impulse adoption that just isn't really present in any other Robin's story. And the reason Jason or Tim or Steph or Damian or anyone else whom Bruce has taken under his wing even got that chance is because of the work Dick Grayson put into Bruce Wayne.

Before Dick, Bruce was reckless and didn't care at all about himself, to the point of almost being borderline suicidal. He was more brutal, more violent, etc. The reason all this changed, is because of Dick Grayson specifically. He was the one with whom Bruce opened up, with whom Bruce was forced to grow up, to take responsibility and learn to take care of both Dick and himself. Dick, to Bruce was the one who brought "color to their [his and Alfred's] monochrome lives." Dick Grayson's specific brand of happiness and joy changed Bruce for the better. Dick gave Bruce hope. This is true for other Robins too, but only because they followed the precedent that Dick Grayson set, only because they slid into his role (they have their own interesting relationships with Bruce, but this specifically is from Dick that other Robins carried on. A legacy, if you will). Dick Grayson turned Bruce into the kind of man who would become a serial adopter.

Without his influence, without his precedent, there would be no Batfamily, because Bruce would never have gotten to the point where he would be able or willing to take in someone else and care for them properly (It took living through his trauma again to get him to take Dick in lmao). Hell, there would be no Batman because Bruce would have gotten himself killed a long time ago if Dick hadn't helped him learn self-care. Dick knows Bruce best, because he understands him on a fundamentally deeper level than anyone else in the world. And he's the only one who can make Bruce open up at his rawest, most downtrodden state. He is the only one who can give Bruce at his lowest that kind of hope. There is no Robin without Dick Grayson. It's literally a tribute to his parents, using their colors and the name his mother called him. He created that identity as a symbol of hope. He helped Bruce become the kind of man who could and would let other people that he had to care for into his life. Without Dick Grayson, you can simply forget about any other Robin or the Batfamily as a concept even existing.

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symptoms-syndrome · 2 years

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What is your opinion on the movie Split, if you have seen it, with regards to how it depicts DID? Because like I feel like someone with DID would be offended but at the same time don’t KNOW whether they actually would be? Like when I see anti-asexual or anti-Irish sentiment and think “Hmm. Well that is certainly offensive from an objective viewpoint, but am I personally offended?” I do feel like if the twist behind the ‘Beast’ alter being superhuman was that he had been bitten by a werewolf, because there were so many hints towards him being a werewolf and the whole backstory they gave the protagonist about being a hunter, I feel like it would have suited the story better and avoided the ‘all people with DID are evil’ trope. Am I saying this right?

I honestly don't give a shit about it's depiction of DID if I'm being 100% honest. It didn't bring anything new to the table or introduce anything that hasn't been said or in the public consciousnesses. While I definitely don't think depictions like that do anything good for DID, I don't think they have the same level of impact that people act like they do.

I can't imagine any scenario in which someone would watch a movie like Split and think "yeah that's probably how DID works," like if I disclosed my diagnosis to someone and they thought I could climb up walls or whatever that would give me more concerns than "wow that's an offensive idea of DID."

Counter to that, I personally find some depictions of DID made by people with DID (or supposedly with DID) more offensive than Split. Things like TikTok or YouTube videos where alters are all super defined, switches are clear, all the parts are fun and cute and it's just presented as "LOL fun people in my head! Watch different alters react to flaming hot Cheetos!" Or "informational" posts about "how to react to someone with DID" that say things like "ask who's fronting! Don't act entitled to niceness from all alters! Give stuffies to littles!" are for me, far more offensive mostly due to them being more, IDK, realistic? Or grounded or believable. Like someone is more likely to believe I want to be greeted by part name all the time than they are to believe I have an alter that can bend steel bars. Maybe that's that person's experience, but they're often framed more as a "universal" experience with DID, which is worse than smth like Split, or even smth like that documentary about that murderer with DID, because both of those are sort of like. About one specific person more than they are about DID on a whole I guess? Or present themself as such.

I did think it was a shitty movie just from a movie standpoint LMAO. It was just kinda boring.

But also when it comes to media in general I think people do put a lot of undue weight on it, sorta putting the cart before the horse and focusing on the wrong things. Like I honestly rly enjoy United States of Tara even tho it's like, in my experience not really accurate at all to my experience with DID or a lot of people I know. It's entertaining, and IMO that's the main like, priority with media. And like, re:cart before the horse, it's almost like acting like Sixteen Candles' depiction of an Asian man is why those stereotypes exist, as opposed to that depiction being a reflection of already-existing racist ideas.

I also really love Fight Club, even though it (if you look at it through the Tumblr-typical very narrow lens and strip all nuance from it) could be said to fit some offensive stereotypes I guess. It's to date one of the best depictions of dissociation and confusion about time loss stuff I've found describing my experience. I related to it really hard NGL.

I guess the TLDR here is that I think there's a diff between "offensive" and "inaccurate" as well as a difference between smth being offensive in a hypothetical way as opposed to offensive in a way that like. Actually matters. I think people get really caught up in media stuff bc they have Tumblr fandom discourse disease and it's an easy thing to be like "that bad" as opposed to things more nuanced.

#tempted fo put this in ghe tags LMAO #i am also a little tipsy disclaimer #and also I know this would make 15 year olds argue w me and i hate that and dontt wanna deal w that today #asks #TLDR tiktok DID has effected me more and worse than Split DID #i do love talking sbt this shit tho bc im Salty™#in a way specifically working in IRL SJ spaces makes u i think

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texas-hates-taxes-too · 3 years

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List of things I like in the shisno arc (seasons 15-17, this list could get long)

Edit: it is long

All the grimmons scenes in s15 were *chefs kiss*

There was the temple thing, the focus on simmons while Grif walked off, simmons constantly thinking about grif when he wasn't there, grif repeatedly asking specifically how simmons was when locus and lopez arrived, them immediately yelling each others names when they reunited, and of course the "why are we here?!" Scene

Speaking of said scene, Simmons' knife was obviously also a highlight

Also hyper grif. Was so good

The entire episode Previously On, I rewatch it so much, i love it

Previously On also gave us Carolina/Grif interactions and that deserves its own mention

Locus was also so good in s15 and s17, I loved how he was trying so hard to stay chill but was so obviously losing his mind trying to work with the reds and blues

Caboose hugging Locus was also a highlight

LOOPY WASH. He's just so funny okay, all the scenes with him in s15 and then in s16 when he sees the others in the corridor and stops to talk to them, it always kills me

The conversation between tucker and wash in s15 when they finish it with "smartass" "buzzkill"

Loco. I just really love him. I'm still so sad he died :')

I also hate-love Temple so he gets a mention too, that evil bastard <3

The beach scene where Wash and Lina talk about Illinois and then about York and then hold hands is rlly sweet

I always love wash's line "you don't have to destroy the past to have a future", it reminded me of Carolina's line to Epsilon about how the past doesn't define who you are

I loved the scenes in s15 with simmons and caboose, especially because Simmons actually treated Caboose like a person, he didn't immediately dismiss everything caboose said as stupid, he said it was an "interesting theory" but he wasn't sure it was right

The scene where Caboose talks to church through the portal. It makes me so emotional :') I love caboose so much

Tucker being protective of caboose was also really nice to see

The Spencer porkensonsen story line was ridiculous and I loved it.

I actually really liked Jax in s15, he was so dumb but loveable (unfortunately I really didn't like him in s16 :/)

The griflings hug was so so good

Doctor grey.

Now onto s16 xD

Grif's. Sword. Puns. Best thing ever

Huggins owns my entire heart and her friendship with Grif was so sweet

Sister actually getting proper development and character interactions and not just being a throwaway character

Tucker killing Flowers again lmao

Caboose's Travel presentation was brilliant and I loved his interactions with Lopez

Special shout out to caboose asking the guy at bjorndal for two cups of coffee

The scene where tucker asks for a 200ft dong and Atlus responds with "oOh a man after my own heart"

Sarge wanting to marry Kalirama was a mood

GENKINS

I fucking love genkins okay, he's a bastard and I find everything he says hilarious, I'm sad we didn't get more interactions between him and O'malley

Speaking of, the O'malley vs Donut fight?!?!? Was so good?!?!

I was so proud of Donut

Season 16 had another scene where Grif goes off alone somewhere and it focuses on simmons' face (/helmet)

Also just before this scene, after grif suggests that he goes off alone, simmons says "i don't like this plan", he was worried! And I live for it

Doc's super sad backstory with Deke :( it was sad but I loved hearing more about Doc

Season 17!

Donut finally got to shine and he deserved it so much

The scenes where Donut gets shot by Wash like 7 times kills me dbjds

The Wash and Donut interactions were just amazing

Wash shooting Donut deliberately and then saying "i admire your commitment to time travel"

When they travel to just before he shoots donut and wash says sorry and Donut says "what's a donut without a hole in it" HFJFKD DONUT

Donut tells Carolina to shut up in this season. The bravery.

The whole episode 'the not-so-good ol' days' tbh

When Wash says York and Carolina are close and York is like "Woah thats ridiculous, carolina is our boss, we're not close at all, the audacity, I've never even looked at her face or talked to her in any way not professional"

Wash's "oh right it kinda was" about pfl being like high-school

The entire montage where he's trying to find out where carolina was, its all good

Also wash screaming in his helmet and then saying "I'm great!" when Carolina asked if he was okay

Caboose being a genius

The scene where church is confused and caboose just tells him to go back to bed

Huggins coming back!!

Sister tricking Tucker into telling people the bad things he did lmao

Doc being about to set Tucker straight but then getting annoyed and telling him he should tell everyone else his "unfinished business" too

Doc telling off O'malley and then fighting in the labyrinth, I'm so so proud of him 💜💜

Grif and Sisters interactions in the labyrinth

Almost forgot about this but genkins possessing Santa! And telling Locus that Felix was afraid of knives fndhsjl

Also Genkins possessing Tex and saying that church is basically the clone of a guy who made the robot equivalent of a body pillow kills me

Grif: my balls send their regards, Tex

The scene where Tucker compliments Donut and then calls him an angsty bitch

Okay so I've definitely forgot stuff but this list is already really long so I'll cut it off here, feel free to add things!

#rvb #ive definitely forgot stuff #red vs blue #the shisno paradox #singularity #rvb15 #rvb16 #rvb17

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jcpostsobsessions · 4 years

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As my current obsession The King: Eternal Monarch comes to a close, I want to do a review of the drama with some things I’ve been thinking about. This is all random and coming out as I reflect.

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OST that makes me think of the drama: Gravity by Kim Jong Wan. One of my favorite songs from the drama and when it comes on it suddenly brings me back to some pretty epic moments.

Favorite OST: Orbit by Hwasa. This song was and is on repeat throughout the drama for me. Although it wasn’t played alot towards the middle and last half of the drama, it’s still superior.

OST I Didn’t Really Listen To: I Fall In Love, A Quiet Night and My Day Is Full Of You. Nothing against these songs, they’re all nice and I am listening to one or two of them since the dreams ended, but it didn’t grab my attention as the other songs.

Favorite Lee Eul scenes: Gon feeding Tae Eul and her joking about sneaking out touched the domestic side of me and I am living for it. Honorable moment is the neck kiss. I’ve never seen a neck kiss or a kiss this intimate in a drama before. I know he did something similar in another drama, but for me this is the first. I just love how perfectly placed it was. Tae Eul literally gave him her neck to do this. And I researched that neck kissed are pretty intimate and initiates a pretty intimate follow up. Now if Gon was trying to say something, I’m sure we understood and so did Tae Eul.

Favorite Kiss: The final kiss. The reason I like it a lot is because of how natural it is. Gon leaning down, smiles, Tae Eul leaning in and Gon swoops in. His lips pucker up to meet Tae Eul’s and the height difference is super cute even though she’s sitting on the table. They follow up with more kisses and the happiness on their face is what nails it for me. Honorable mention is the bedroom kiss.

Funniest Moment: When Gon prepared leaves in case they get stuck in “that time period”. Tae Eul’s face 😂

Favorite Side Ship: Eun Sup and Yeong. They are both so hilarious and off the bat had so much chemistry. They were definitely a side ship that I was invested and interested in. Their final scene together was their parting and it got me emotional because Yeong broke down his wall and gave Eun Sup a hug which says a lot about his stoic demeanor.

Favorite Ending Scene: Oh man. I remember watching this episode and it did not have the main couple together because they were parted for obvious reasons. I remember Tae Eul having a hell of a night and then everything happened so fast. Gon rode in on his horse, blood shed, tears fell, hearts broken, glasses shattered, epic soundtrack, announcement of future Queen and of course epic hug. And then it was out, next episode. I remember grabbing my phone and shouting noooo. I was on the edge of my seat and the final reunion of the two finally happened and the ending credits rolled in. This was an epic ending scene.

Favorite Lee Gon Outfit: It’s the simple black look and overcoat, but the material and the way he fit the form, I just really like it. Also he did some pretty bada$$ things in this outfit. So I find myself always thinking about this look. Some honorable mention is the iconic diamond fit, simple white and black vest (when he takes the overcoat off; it looks extra handsome) and then the light colored fit during his dates with Tae Eul.

Favorite Jung Tae Eul Outfit: Tae Eul’s fashion sense is simple and comfy. She is often wearing baggy and loose jeans, one color tone sweater and a long jacket. My favorite would be this look because she adds a bit of sophisticated with her dress white and black turtleneck.

Most WTF moment: When Lee Lim killed his doppelgänger self after going back to try and warn him. I was so surprised how fast he beheaded himself.

Underrated Character: Shin Jae. He is the other only character where I was in invested in his story. Kim Kyung Nam did a great job acting the pain and angst of his conflict with his mom. It really brought his character out.

Characters I did not care for: Lee Lim and Prime Minsiter Seo Ryeong. They both did were the anatagonist, but honestly did not impress me. I was never quite sure what Lee Lim was actually plotting and he just kept bringing people over and killing people. Sure he had the upper hand in some cases, but honestly his greed and lack of planning is what killed him. Idk what he was doing for the last 70 years or so. As for Prime Minister Seo Ryeong, nothing impressive about her. Although the only time she was tolerable was in the new timeline in the final episode where she was in jail and Luna came to visit her because it looks like they’re sisters now. They interaction was sweet and familial bickering.

Character I didn’t expect: Luna. I was looking forward to her character and how she’ll play into the storyline especially with how the cast members spoke about her during interviews. And honestly at one point I felt like she was one of the only one who shook Lee Lim’s core which was super entertaining to watch while it lasted. I liked how peeved he was by her and she just went about her way, unbothered. I also realized how the writer was creating Luna’s character to be good and bad. She poisoned Gon, stabbed Tae Eul, but didn’t kill her father, didn’t stab Tae Eul enough to kill her even though it looked like she did. Tae Eul trusted her enough to let her go and be with her own dad. Luna’s story is still a mystery.

Biggest Twist: when Gon realized that Shin Jae was actually from his world and said he was Shin Jae’s King. 🤯

Favorite Lee Eul Hug: This one. No need to explain. 💯

Relationship that surprised me: Luna and Seo Ryeong in the new reality. I really enjoyed their “sister” dynamic in episode 16 where Luna had a name change and became a cop and Seo Ryeong was unfortunately in jail, but their interaction even tho they both pretended not to be close, they were. It was funny and the best performance from Jung Eun Chae. Quite honestly I feel bad about where her character eventually ended. Her greed got the worse out of her.

Favorite Side Character: Yeong. I really like his character with his side glances/ glares at Tae Eul and his love and dedication to Gon. I’m glad he kept his promise to himself to protecting Gon. Also Woo Do Hwan did a great job playing two characters.

Plot I am still confused about: the little boy with the yo-yo. I wasn’t quite sure how he fitted into the entire drama. He definitely peaked my interest and he was obviously traveling back and forth, but I feel like his story never connected to the main plot. Honorable mention was Park Jiyoung, the pregnant woman. Like what was the point of crossing her over?

Character Death: Prince Lee Jong In, I had a feeling he’d died but also didn’t expect it. Honorable mention is Seo Ryeong’s mom. She was collateral damage. When Seo Ryeong called to ask her mom what she had for dinner a code for her doppelgänger, and she answered jajangmyeon, the chills.

BONUS!

Favorite Product Placement: CHICKEN! Man I can’t tell you how bad I wanted korean fried chicken because of the drama. LMH ate this at every chance he got and he made me crave it. They did a great job selling it to me. 😅 Honorable mention is the coffee drink that everyone dranked and man when they shot that scene where Yeong had to throw the drink to Shin Jae and still had to show the product name, lmao the commitment. 🤣

Worse Product Placement aka the one that was painfully noticeable: Okay; almost all were in our faces, but the painful was the one where Tae Eul was using the Kahi lipstick/cheek/moisturizer all in one stick. 🤣 when she explained the product to Jang Mi during a stake out I nearly passed out from secondhand embarrassment. And honorable mention is the CELLRETURN LED mask although when Eun Sup used it to be iron man that was cute.

—

Overall rating: 8.5/10. There were some choppy moments here and there and some loose ends and characters that I didn’t quite understand or had to really think about it. But it was never enough to say this was a bad drama. In fact it’s been a while I was this invested in a drama where I had to come up with theories and such. Not a lot of drama makes me do that. As a fan of BTS, theories comes as second nature 😅.

There were some moments that happened off screen and later on we’ll realized something had happen prior which at the beginning was hard to decipher, but once I realized the drama was doing that, I enjoyed it because sometimes it’ll be a pleasant surprise. I love how the drama hardly opened up each episode with how it last ended, they always gave us a backstory/content prior.

I think Gon and Tae Eul’s character had growth and progression, especially Tae Eul who had to unpack a lot of herself. The more the drama went on the more we got to see different sides of her which peeled some layers she built up as a detective and some described her as cold. I think with all that she went through definitely shaped her quite a bit. And Gon I felt started off the show strong. He had strong morals, grasped things quite fast, but was also caring, strong headed, dependable and responded rather than reacted. Of course he has his moments of being childish and playful, but it never strayed him from being off or uncharacter like. I think Tae Eul describes it perfectly in one of the episode that he knows when to joke despite a traumatic childhood. She is simply saying he’s grown into a decent man who doesn’t let a past define him, he lives it fully and that comes off in all his actions throughout the entire drama.

As for the other characters, I am glad we got to see Shin Jae’s character development as well. I’ve said it before, but he was one where I felt the writer went deeper into his story. Yeong would be the second, although he remains a mystery even until the end. I never quite understood where he stood except that fact that he deeply cares and loves his King, and in what context, only he would know. The writer has written strong second leads before and sometimes even third leads, but I would say wasn’t her best, but again it’s not so bad where you would say the drama was a complete failure or unbearable to watch.

And finally I can’t wrap up without saying something about the cinematography. Because man there were some beautiful shots, some CG works and some transitions or angles that really came into play to make the drama what it was. I don’t have it, but one of my favorite is when Gon is poisoned and falls down and it transitions to his younger self, that was breathtaking. An example of the angles and transitions is below and it was dramatic and the camera got to play with all its angles. All this for a dramatic handshake and of course my favorite soundtrack adds to the flare.

#the king eternal monarch #lee min ho #kim go eun #lee gon #jung tae eul #kim kyung nam #woo do hwan #jung eun chae #lee jungjin #korean drama #drama review #recap #finally writing all this up

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mx-ishikawa · 3 years

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Like a fire in My Blood

(so uhhh obligatory Lupin self-insert fic!! this is a li’l backstory of how my S/I got involved with the squad that I’ve been working on for the past couple weeks, lmao. warnings for guns, canon-typical violence, and lots of swearing- y’all know me by now XD” enjoy!)

Tied up to a chair in an abandoned warehouse surrounded by gun-toting mobsters was not planned for my Saturday night. Then again, normalcy wasn’t very present in my life anymore.

“Now you’re gonna tell me one more time, sweetheart, where is that treasure?” the squatty man who I assumed was the leader growled, pointing the gun at my face. What the fuck.

“First of all, I am not as sweet as you think I am,” I spat- how the hell was I so snarky staring straight into the barrel of death itself??- “and second of all, I really have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about so quit insisting I do and let me go!” Surprisingly, he lowered the gun.

“You’re a terrible liar, my dear,” he snarled, going over to where my jacket that had been forcibly removed from my person for some reason was hung.

“Buddy, I was raised by an overprotective controlling helicopter mother, I may as well be a professional liar,” I retorted.

“Well then how the hell do you explain this?!”

I gasped as he pulled out the bright, shimmering green stone from my jacket pocket. FUCK.

“Oh THAT! Jesus Christ, I completely forgot I had that, goddamn!”

“Yeah, sure you did.”

“No, I’m dead serious, I actually forgot about that! Literally, if I had remembered that I would’a told you straight-up because that shit is not worth my life!”

“Well then, care to explain now?”

“Yeah okay so it’s like- I went down State Street, past the Cultural Center, then I kinda went through Millenium Park until I got to the Art Institute, then I took a left and once I got past Lakeshore Drive I hopped over to the left again and- that cluster of trees at the park entrance? It’s literally right there in the middle of them, hidden practically in plain sight! I was just trying to find some worms for composting and I find a shit-ton of emeralds instead, how crazy is that?” I laughed breathlessly.

It wasn’t a joke, no, every word I spoke was true. I was so shocked upon finding the stash of emeralds right there in the middle of Chicago that I immediately covered it back up and ran off-- but not before nicking one, if only as proof that the whole thing hadn’t been a weird fever dream. And possibly for future bragging rights, but other than that, material things like rare precious jewels meant nothing to me. The fact that these happened to be in my favorite color was just a cool bonus.

“Thank you for your cooperation,” the fat man sneered, huffing away at his fat cigar. “I’ll be taking this and the rest of the emeralds now.”

“Go ahead, I don’t need it or any of the others.” I would have waved my hand dismissively had it not been tied behind my back.

“I don’t understand though… what kind of woman would give up such riches so easily?”

I tried not to gag. I don’t mind being called a woman, but not with that kind of sexist implication. “Not the kind of woman you’re thinking of, that’s for goddamn sure.”

“Ah well. None of that matters in the end.” He paused to snap his fingers, and two of his biggest men approached with their guns. “Finish her off.”

“Whoa wait WHAT?! Why do you wanna kill me, I fuckin’ TOLD you where the emeralds are-?!”

“And I appreciate that, it’s just that I can’t have any witnesses, you know? It’s only business.” he gave a wicked sneer. The men cocked their guns.

“Fuck you and your business, I won’t tell anyone, I swear! You saw how honest I was, come on, please, I-!”

I screamed and screwed my eyes shut as a shot rang out. I braced myself for the worst. But it never came.

I finally opened my eyes when I heard a “what the hell?!” from among the mobsters. I gasped as I saw another, new person standing protectively in front of me. Someone who appeared to be wearing traditional Japanese attire, with long black hair and an even longer sword. Who was this person and what the hell happened?!

“FIRE!!” the leader yelled. In an instant, the stranger leaped up into the air and lifted their sword, twirling it around effortlessly as shots were fired at them. What were they do-

My thoughts were brought to a screeching halt as a bullet landed next to me. No, it was only half of a bullet. My eyes widened, looking back up at the stranger with the sword. No fucking way.

From that second, my eyes were transfixed on them. I watched them in shock as they sliced literal bullets clean in half with ease. When some of the men ran off, the stranger leapt forward with a low grunt and slashed their sword through the men’s guns. They gasped in shock and fright as their weapons broke clean in half seconds later. There seemed to be thousands of mobsters in this warehouse, but the sword-wielding stranger took everyone down with ease. Even when their sword was suddenly shot out of their hands, they nimbly avoided impact and took the mobsters down with what appeared to be heavily-practiced martial arts moves.

Now I’d seen my fair share of bloody fights since mingling with the underground scene in Chicago. Hell, even back in my tiny hometown I’d seen some shit. But never had I seen someone fight so gracefully. Every move they made was so smooth and poised that if I didn’t know any better I’d have thought they were dancing. They caught sight of their sword from across the room and leapt out of the fight to snatch it back. Every move they made with that thing was quick and clean-cut, deliberate and precise, effortlessly slashing anything that came their way. When seemingly every gun was destroyed or emptied of bullets, only a few brave unarmed mobsters remained, but with a few fluid flicks of the swordfighter’s wrist, all of their clothes were slashed off save for their boxers and tighty whities. Not exactly a sight for sore eyes, but it was enough to make even the leader of the mob run away screaming for their lives.

“Haha, take that ya old geezer!” someone yelled. I gasped and finally diverted my attention from the swordsman to find two more people were in the warehouse, someone with a red jacket and another with a black one. When the hell did they get here??

In that brief moment when I looked away, the graceful warrior had come behind where I was sitting, and before I could plead for them not to kill me, I was freed from the ropes that bound me. I pulled my arms forward and breathed heavily, trying to process what the FUCK just happened when a voice behind me spoke.

“Are you alright?”

Their voice was deep and strong, yet held no tone of aggression or danger. I turned to look at my savior and gasped. It was a handsome- no, beautiful- man. He was tall and slender, standing strong and proud. His pale skin glistened with a thin coating of sweat from all that movement, and I couldn’t help but notice that he wore his shirt in a way that exposed most of his chest. His hands were large and strong, but with long, nimble fingers. He had a narrow face and elegant features. High cheekbones, a defined jawline, a light rosy dusting on his cheeks, and intense, dark eyes. He looked to be stoic and serious, and if he hadn’t just saved my life I might have been intimidated by him.

“I… wow~... I mean! I’m… safe, thanks to you.”

“And us, too!” a voice from earlier retorted. I whipped my head around, it was the man in the red jacket. “It was a team effort, wasn’t just him ya know.”

“Jeez Lupin, give her a break,” the man in black said, “you weren’t the first one to make sure she wasn’t dead!”

“Well I think I deserve some credit too, Jigen!” the man in red- Lupin- whined.

“I uhh… well thank you everyone but… I didn’t actually see what you two did.

“What?!” Lupin gasped.

“Sorryyy! I just...” I turned back to the handsome swordsman, “you were the first one I saw show up so I guess I just kinda… focused on ya.”

The man called Jigen chuckled. “Hey Goemon, looks like you got an admirer!”

“Hey!” I felt my face heat up. “I just-!” I bashfully looked again to the swordsman- Goemon.

“Goemon… thank you, and your friends, for sa-” I cut myself off as realization clicked in my brain. “Wait a second…” Lupin. Jigen. Goemon. I’ve heard those names together before. “Wait just a minute, I know who you guys are!” Lupin let out a monkey-ish giggle.

“Took ya long enough to recognize me! No surprise though, I am pretty infamous~”

“So it’s safe to assume you’re after the same treasure those mobsters were, right?”

“Bingo,” Jigen said, tipping his hat ever so slightly.

“So, if you guys wanted to get there first… why did you save me?”

“Because unlike them, we do not want harm to come to innocent people,” Goemon nobly spoke. God, something about his voice… clear as a bell, soothing, and undeniably sexy. But his words put me at ease.

“Oh thank god… so, since you saved my life and all that, how ‘bout I make your lives easier by leading you to the emeralds?”

“Sounds good to me,” Jigen said, and the others agreed. They casually strolled out of the warehouse as if they hadn’t just fought off mobsters in that very space, off to their car parked in front. Lupin took the driver’s seat while Jigen got in the passenger side, leaving Goemon and me to sit in the back together.

“So,” Goemon spoke once we got moving. Was it just me or did his cheeks get pinker? “What is your name?”

I froze. Shit.

“Uhh… I… I kinda have a beef with my real name, but uh, you can just call me Light.”

“Light, huh?” Lupin piped up from the front. “Where’d ya get that alias from?”

“It’s a long story,” I chuckled.

Goemon shifted in his seat. “I like it.” Cue me blushing again.

“Y-you do?? I mean, thanks…” I scratched the back of my neck. His only response was a nod as he crossed his arms in front of his broad chest.

He was quiet for the rest of the ride, Lupin and Jigen making most of the conversation as I pointed out where to go. But I couldn’t stop looking over at Goemon. He looked so calm, so picturesque. I admired the way the wind wafted through his long locks and how his thick lashes rested against his rosy cheeks. And sometimes, when I glanced over at him, I found him looking right back at me. Like he wanted to say something to me, but didn’t. Something in his eyes made him look so soft. When I first looked at him, those eyes stared right through my soul and meant business, but now there was something much more tender behind them. Almost like… puppy eyes. I felt myself swallow thickly.

My thoughts were brought to a halt when Lupin parked the car on the side of the street. All we had to do was cross Lakeshore Drive and we were on our way to the treasure. Thankfully it was dark out and we’d be less noticed.

“Thank god there’s a bridge here,” Jigen said, puffing at his cigarette. “Because I am not crossing that son of a bitch.”

“Yeah my mom and I made that mistake the first time I was here, we were standing there waiting to get across for ages.”

“Wait, I thought you lived here?” Lupin inquired as we made our way across.

“I do now,” I clarified. “Didn’t always though. For most of my life I lived in this shitty small town about an hour and a half away from here. I’d visited here about six times, so naturally this was my first choice when I finally got the chance to get the fuck outta there. Haven’t been here for very long though, only like what, a couple months maybe?”

“So you were a small-town gal, eh?” Jigen exhaled another breath of smoke. I grimaced.

“Yeah, and I hated it.”

Once we got across the drive and to the site of the emeralds, Lupin started asking more questions.

“So Light, if you were the first person to find this treasure, how come you only took one and not the whole stash? Was it a strategic thing or-”

“Well actually, I found this shit completely by accident, so leaving all but one here was mostly out of shock. That, and I never really cared much for material shit.” Jigen sighed from next to me as he dug.

“Finally, a woman who doesn’t.”

My brows furrowed together. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Hey, if you’re talking about Fujiko again, you’d better can it!”

“Wait, who’s Fujiko??”

“A female affiliate of Lupin’s,” Goemon answered.

“A very unfaithful one at that,” Jigen scowled, “she’s not above stabbing us in the backs to get the loot we earned for herself.”

“Oh come on guys, she doesn’t always betray us!” Lupin whined.

“Makin’ excuses for your girlfriend again,” Jigen grumbled. I dared not make any further comment on this Fujiko thing; seemed like a personal problem. Once we finally uncovered the jewels, I helped load them into a large sack.

“Even if you do not care for material items such as these, it is only fair that you are given a share of them,” Goemon spoke.

“Yeah, we’ll split ‘em up evenly between the four of us!” Lupin smiled.

“Awww~. You know…” I began, “for a group of rag-tag thieves, you guys are pretty nice. Nicer than half the law-abiding citizens I’ve met in my lifetime.”

“Well, you know, it’s all in a day’s work!” Lupin chirped, before his voice suddenly dipped a bit lower. “And you know, you and I could work well together in other areas~”

Goemon bopped Lupin’s head with the hilt of his sword before I could think of a response. Did Lupin just flirt with me??

“Jesus Christ, Lupin, get ahold’a yourself,” Jigen scolded.

I wasn’t sure how to respond so I kept quiet until we were finished with our work, and almost immediately someone caught us.

“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE LUPIN, YER UNDER ARREST!!” a loud, booming voice yelled. I looked over and saw a tall, stocky man who appeared to be dressed like a detective from the 1940s with a slew of police behind him.

“Oh shit, the feds!” I gasped as we took off.

“Sorry Pops, I got places to go!” Lupin snickered. We sprinted through the park- god I always hated running- until we got to a dock. The man known as “Pops” was hot on our trail, but the guys hopped into a boat and managed to start it up. I was the last to hop into the boat- but I tripped and dropped my bag of emeralds, which thankfully landed inside the boat with a clattering. I braced myself for an awkward landing but a pair of strong arms caught me. And just like that, the boat sped off so quickly that I had to brace myself against whoever was holding me. I heard “Pops” yelling in the distance, but my brain turned it into white noise when I looked up and saw that once again Goemon was my rescuer- and my hand was directly on his chest. My face flamed up like gasoline.

“Gwaaah!! Uhh-” I gasped as I embarrassedly scurried out of his grasp. “Thank you, sorry-!” I brushed my bangs out of my face, a nervous habit.

“Why are you apologizing?” Goemon asked. “There is nothing to be sorry for.”

“Yeah, you helped us get to the treasure!” Lupin said from the steering wheel.

“If anything, we should be the sorry ones because now you’re stuck with us and your home is back there,” Jigen chuckled.

“Eh, home is where the heart is,” I said. “And my heart always wants to travel but never gets to.”

“Ah, a free spirit, I see how it is,” Lupin giggled.

“Lord I was born a ramblin’ man~” Jigen softly sang, lighting a cigarette.

“Yeah… I hate staying in one place for too long. Unfortunately for me, I’ve only ever lived in two places my entire life, and we’re rowin’ this boat away from one of them. But hey, this was my first time being personally caught doing something illegal so I’ve been perfectly prepared to just abandon ship and take off at any time.”

“Wait, does this imply you were planning on this? I thought you said you found these gems by accident!” Lupin gasped. I had to laugh.

“Nono, I did! But that doesn’t mean I’m innocent~.”

“So what the hell is it you do?” Jigen asked.

“I’ve been involved in undercover transport of goods, it’s what I do for a living. And before you ask because I know you will, yes, some of those goods are drugs, but not all of it. Sometimes we assist in the trading of riches like these emeralds, and sometimes we get food and water or money for bills to those in need when their so-called government aid won’t. Yeah sure it’s illegal, but it ain’t a bad gig.”

“My ancestors would greatly honor the work you do,” Goemon calmly spoke. The compliment caught me off guard, but when I looked at him I could tell he was sincere.

“Aww shucks, it’s nothing,” I chuffed, scratching the mack of my neck.

“Please tell me your organization is named “The Robin Hood Project” or something like that,” Lupin laughed.

“Actually, we have no name to our services,” I clarified. “Gotta stay discreet.”

“A wise decision,” Goemon said.

“Sorry if we just got you out of a job,” Lupin apologized.

“Naw, this ain’t like no 9-5 gig, it pretty much runs on a ‘come whenever you’re available’ basis, they’ll understand if I’m away… might be surprised once they find out I got wrapped up with Lupin the Third, haha.”

“That’s my name, please wear it out!” the aforementioned thief giggled.

There was a brief moment of quiet before Goemon spoke once again, turning to me. “If you wish to go wherever the wind takes you, then it seems the wind is blowing in your favor tonight,” he nobly said.

“Sorry about him, he likes to get all prophetical and speak in metaphors and shit,” Jigen said.

“No I understand what he’s saying,” I said to Jigen, but I was looking more at Goemon. Was it just me or did he have a small smile on his face? I returned him a smile just in case. “Thanks again for, y’know saving me and everything. Thanks to everyone but… especially you.”

“Yep, she’s your admirer alright,” Lupin laughed.

“Shush up!!” Goemon and I somehow said in unison, before we exchanged shocked glances with each other.

“Jinx! You owe me a Coke!” I yelled excitedly.

“Uhhh…” Goemon averted his gaze and his eyes darted all over, looking confused. It was strange, seeing the man that took down an entire armed mob with nothing but a katana and his own fleetness look so innocent, but that only added to his charms. Oh no, he was way too cute.

“You don’t actually owe her a Coke man, it’s just a thing people say,” Jigen chuckled. Goemon sat forward and crossed his arms, looking slightly embarrassed.

“American expressions of speech remain a mystery to me,” he grumbled, cheeks flushing a deeper rosy pink. Yup, he’s way too adorable. My heart fluttered just looking at him. I was doomed. I was so doo-

“LUPIN YOU LITTLE WEASEL!! STOP THAT BOAT RIGHT NOW, YER UNDER ARREST!!!”

“That same guy again?!” I gasped as a blinding spotlight was cast on us from what I assumed was a police boat.

“Pops, you’re relentless!” Lupin yelled from the front of the boat.

“Sorry, we got places to go and shit to steal!” Jigen chuckled before promptly shooting out the spotlight. This time Goemon deliberately held me flush against him as we sped away from “Pops” for the second time and into the night.

#my writing #self ship #lupin iii #self insert #goemon ishikawa xiii #self shipping #self insert fic #self shipping community #arsene lupin iii #daisuke jigen #Pops appears but only briefly lmao #self ship fic #s/i fic #f/o: Goemon #pf/o: Lupin #pf/o: Jigen #just when I needed to be lucky

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locktobre · 3 years

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In your Barbie-verse, what was it like for Rip growing up, and when he was an adult, post-getting out of fairy prison? Also, what happened to his mom? In the movies, we don't see her, and iirc, she was never mentioned, so I just assumed she died at some point, or Break was just a single dad.- That PCS Anon

Rip backstory is my favorite and I sure have a lot of it lmao

Rip’s mother was Barbra “Barb” Bloom, and she died when he was 9 (his brother Chuck was 11). But up to that point, Rip actually had a pretty good childhood. Barb also has a power, she was pretty sure, but it was so nebulous she could neither prove nor quite define it--either the ability to always find what she was looking for, or simply being in the right place at the right time, one of the two. Break didn’t believe it, and she didn’t bring it up a lot, since again, she couldn’t really explain the feelings she got, she just knew that some moments were special.

When Rip first started seeing things, she thought he was just being an imaginative kid, but then she realized it could actually be magic when she noticed that like... Rip doesn’t really have that great of an imagination. He’s more analytical, he doesn’t really color outside the lines or tell lies or get in trouble. Idk how to explain it, but sometimes ppl just seem like the type to say anything, you know? And then there’s ppl you can’t imagine ever lying or doing anything crazy or anything like that.

Anyway, so they were in it together while she was alive, and he had her there to talk about what he was seeing. But then she died, and Rip took it very hard. Everyone did, but Rip lost the one person he could really talk about magic with. And on top of that, he didn’t even know if he believed in magic anymore, bc if Barb was in the right place at the right time, she wouldn’t have been hit by that car, would she? So he doesn’t know what to believe, bc if she was wrong about her magic, then was she wrong about his? How does he know that he’s not just crazy? And he can’t talk to Break about it, bc Break does not believe. Chuck doesn’t really, either, but he’s nicer about it.

So that all leads to sort of a downward spiral as Rip grows up, bc he doesn’t always trust his perceptions. And that leads to the desperation to just jump thru a flyway when he’s 17, he was really not in a good place at the time. I touched on it in my other post, but he was gone for a couple weeks, and Break legitimately thought he was dead. And then when he tried to explain about the flyways and getting lost, of course that just pissed off Break even more bc it’s just more of Rip’s bullshit, right? So Rip eventually just says he ran away and then came back when he ran out of money (which is kinda-sorta the truth, if you strip the magic out). So Break’s furious with him (and so is Chuck), he’s grounded forever... But that’s actually a good turning point for him, bc he met Lilliana. And after the flyways, and Lilliana giving him some (begrudging) answers, he knows he’s not crazy. His friendship with Lilliana only lasts a few months, but by the time she cuts him off he’s friends with Finn, who may not believe him but also doesn’t fight him at every turn when he brings up magic, he’s more like lmao ok buddy whatever you say, which is honestly better than what Rip gets at home. And Finn does come around awhile to like wait no shit, really? For real? Which Rip can’t really believe but he’s so grateful.

Anyway so that’s up to 1989. Fast forward a couple years to 1991. Finn and Anne have been together for awhile, but Finn’s kind of like... He doesn’t want to break up with Anne, he still loves her a lot, but since their relationship has to be a secret, and it can’t really be any other way, it’s starting to wear on him. And he’s started to develop some romantic feelings for Rip that he wants to pursue, in part bc it would be much easier, honestly. But when he brings this up to Anne, she really doesn’t want to break up with him, either, so she says that he should just date Rip, too. And Finn’s like and... you’d be fine with that? And Anne’s like I will learn to be, anyway. And Finn’s not really sure if this will work or if Rip will even go for it. Rip is hesitant but he’s open to basically whatever so he’s like we can try it for awhile, I guess. Anne really makes an effort to be chill but it is hard on her and Rip’s like maybe we shouldn’t do this and Anne’s like I think the problem is that we don’t really know each other. Like Rip and Anne aren’t really friends, they’ve obviously met before but never really hung out one on one so Rip really knows her as Finn’s girlfriend, and she knows him as Finn’s weird friend. So they decide to start trying to get to know each other and be friends.

Rip doesn’t talk about any magic stuff with Anne for a couple reasons, one of which is that he doesn’t want to come off any weirder than he does when he’s trying to befriend the woman, and also bc she’s a royal and Rip does not care for royals. Not bc of anything politically, he just doesn’t think they are careful enough with magic and he doesn’t trust them with it. (He doesn’t trust anyone with magic, actually. Not humans, not fairies, not anyone.) So he has to give her the edited version of events when she’s like have you dated anyone before? And Rip’s like it wasn’t really dating but I did have a brief relationship with Lilliana Roxelle and Anne’s like. You mean the French supermodel? And Rip’s like yeah and Anne’s like how did you even meet her and he’s like I crashed her NYE party. And Anne doesn’t know what to make of him, bc it’s such a wild, specific thing to say that it could be a lie but it just feels like it’s true, bc why not say something more believable if you were going to lie? Anyway Rip’s more chill about not being believed at this point bc he has one person on his side again (Finn), so he just shrugs it off. And they just kinda move on and talk about their families and not getting along with their fathers, which are very different situations but it’s enough to commiserate over, and they just keep going like that.

And at the beginning of this, remember, Anne thinks of Rip as just Finn’s weird friend. She has no idea what he sees in Rip, romantically. (Or platonically, for that matter. Like he’s fun to hang out with but why not literally anyone else?) And Rip’s not super good looking, either. Like, he’s handsome enough, but you probably wouldn’t look at him twice. (He’s Break’s son, so that kinda limits how hot he can be lmao.) But he just has something about him. Like, when you talk to him, you get his full attention, he’s really supportive and sympathetic and he always feels like he gets what you’re going thru. So Anne starts to get it, and then she’s like wait am I catching feelings for this guy? THIS guy? And yeah, she is. So the three of them actually end up dating for awhile, which is a lot more complicated but they like each other enough to make it work.

However, meanwhile, Rip has met Calissa. And she’s a mermaid, and a queen, and she’s married, and she has a kid, but... Well. The heart wants what it wants. So Rip has to break it off with Finn and Anne. He can explain to Finn about Calissa, so they could maybe still date, but he can’t really tell Anne about a mermaid, and if he doesn’t tell her she’s a mermaid he doesn’t really have a good excuse for why they can’t ever meet this other girl and it just feels weird. And it’s already complicated, he can’t be in so many complicated relationships at once. And Anne’s really confused about why Rip would break it off, until he says that the girl he wants to see is already married, and Anne’s pissed that Rip would pursue something with a married woman. And he says he knows it’s wrong but... he’s gonna do it anyway. (He can’t exactly say that she’s not in love with her husband but can’t get a divorce bc she’s a queen and it would be a political nightmare... Which might not help, anyway, but at least it’s better than interfering in a loving marriage, right? Right?) Anyway, Anne thinks he’s not the man she thought he was and she doesn’t even want to be friends with him anymore. Finn still is, but they don’t hang out the three of them pretty much ever again.

Rip has his secret relationship with Calissa, she gets pregnant, and then they don’t really know what to do bc they don’t know if it’s Caligo’s baby and it’s fine or if it’s Rip’s baby and they need to panic. But as her pregnancy progresses, she’s pretty sure it’s Rip’s bc the baby’s movement feels different, she’s pretty sure the baby has legs and not a tail. So they really start to panic. Rip obviously wants to take the baby, but he can’t just show up at home with a random kid and say that hey btw my mermaid girlfriend gave birth. Break would think he was insane. Anyway so that’s when Rip gets the idea to fake his death, which he does. And he moves down the coast a ways and raises baby Merliah for about a year, until the Gloss Angeles guard track him down.

Cue botched execution and 17 year exile in Fairytopia, and then he returns to Earth in December 2012.

And life is actually... pretty damn good. He’s reunited with Calissa and Merliah, and his dad now knows he wasn’t lying about seeing fairies and meeting a mermaid and all of that. He has a lot to contend with, re-adjustment-wise, with how much the world has changed in the intervening time, and he also has 2 other daughters he had no idea about, and then Calissa gets pregnant with twins pretty fast so there’s a lot going on, but he’s used to chaos and having to learn about new environments so he takes it in stride, pretty much. He also reconnects with Finn (at Merliah and Kylie’s urging), so he even gets his old friend back.

And then, in 2016, a year post-RNR, Finn tells Anne that Rip’s alive. Which is in response to her telling him about keeping Sloane from him, and so he takes the opportunity to say I’ve actually been keeping something from you, too. (Idk if those two secrets are roughly equal, but for the characters I’m going to say they are.) And so Anne reconnects with Rip, too, and finally gets brought into the loop and learns about Rip’s powers and what really went down with him and Calissa and all of that. Which is a big shock but also he has some helpful advice about how to approach the situation with Sloane, having done it twice himself lmao. So honestly, everything comes up roses for Rip. He gets to live the rest of his life in quiet domesticity, which is all he ever really wanted.

The ONLY thing that kinda sucks is that due to how mermaids (and fairies) age, Calissa basically looks the same for their whole marriage. So as he gets older, she looks more and more like some young trophy wife, and he hates that anyone looking at him would think he’s some weird old man lmao. (He’s only 3 years older than her in actuality.) But that’s basically the only thing that sucks. Everything else in his life is very good, bc he deserves that goddammit.

#mel irl #barbie babbles #summers clan blogging #anonymous #thanks for asking #finn x anne #finn x rip x anne #rip x calissa

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mego42 · 4 years

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1x07 Discussion Questions

My b! My b! I usually try to do these when the episode is fresh but instead I went to sleep, I am at peace with my priorities, tbh. As always, many thanks to @pynkhues for her time and energy putting these together and shout out to @foxmagpie for the assist.

1. What was your favourite scene of the episode? Tell us why!

Lot of contenders, tbh. I really love the scene with Mary Pat when she puts together the (extremely transparent) bullshit that is the whole secret shopper scheme (I mean come on y’all, did you even try????), I love Ruby and Stan’s date (high five to Stan for coming through with my parks & rec reference, it’s nice to know there is one (1) man I can count on). The Annie and Greg bit is REALLY SWEET LEAVE ME ALONE. The god tier brio content, specifically The Grab Heard Round The World My Living Room and the Give Me A Name bit. Some classic Rio nonsense (do you think if we asked him to point to an egg he’d point to an apple?) Tyler and his “reeeeeeally fill out the surveys?” was, obvs, the best moment on the entire show. Anyway, one of those for sure.

2. Was there any scene that missed the mark for you? And if so, how?

The Boomer setting up Annie stuff always falls flat to me and idk exactly why? Like, individual pieces of it are great, Mae does EXCELLENT work post police station and when getting arrested in the first place but ultimately I find it fairly forgettable in the grand scheme of things.

3. Let’s talk about the secret shopper scheme! What do you think were the strengths of it? The flaws? Do you think it had longterm potential? Or was it always going to crash and burn?

I said this during the rewatch but I straight up blocked out the fact that all of the shoppers are hitting the same store on the same day (waving around upwards of $5k in cash???? no less???????) because my brain cannot comprehend how three women we’re supposed to believe are reasonably intelligent didn’t realize this was the stupidest, most transparently obvious, most short-sighted scheme in the entire world.

I struggled with the sustainability of it a bit when I thought they were spreading their efforts around (they roped in A Lot of people, there are only so many Costcos in the Detroit metro area and waving around that much cash and then returning it all, again for cash, is uh, already p memorable) but I could deal with it when I thought they were spreading it around. Short-sighted, immediate solutions are a cornerstone of Beth’s brand, after all, but all of them at the same store at the same day???? Too much. I cannot.

4. The girls spent their money in very different ways! Ruby on romancing Stan, Annie on clothes for her son, and Beth on jewellery for herself. What do you think this tells us about them and their arcs? Particularly coming off the back of Ruby’s conflict with Stan, Ben’s issues at school with clothes, and Beth leaving Rio her pearls?

Love these connects. The show’s got a pretty clearly defined and consistent visual/character motifs (this may or may not be the word I’m looking for, shut up) when it comes to depicting the girls priorities and motivations. You also see it reflected and reinforced with their repeated coping mechanisms throughout the show. Whenever bad stuff happens, Ruby goes home to Stan, Annie crawls into bed with Ben and we usually close with Beth either alone (ouch david) or connecting with Rio in some way (exhibit a: the aforementioned pearls).

In all of the instances it comes back to the heart of their priorities:

Stan is Ruby’s number one, (which isn’t to say her kids aren’t a part of that, I think Stan is both himself in this sense while also representing her whole Hill family unit—TV is all about visual shorthand kids—but also it serves to illustrate that Ruby has something Beth and Annie do not: a true partner).

Ben is at the root of everything Annie does, she makes choices based on not only his. well-being, but how he sees her and he has the most influence over how she sees herself and what actions she takes as a result of that.

Beth, on the other hand, is at a contrasting point. She’s done the devoted partner and mother thing (lowkey implied by the little bits and pieces we get of her and Annie’s childhoods to some degree more or less for her entire life) and is now putting herself first, her needs, her wants. Which isn’t to say she doesn’t give a fuck about her family, she waits until she’s got a fat stack of cash and they’re taken care of before splurging on a thing, but as a symbol I think the necklace pretty clearly illuminates that for whatever Beth tells herself, she’s building an empire for herself, bc she wants it, needing it is secondary.

5. Eddie’s arrest is arguably what sets us on a collision course with the finale! Do you think Eddie was loyal to Rio until the end? How much do you think he told Turner? And what sort of loyalty do you think Rio inspires in his boys? And why doesn’t it translate with the girls?

OF COURSE EDDIE WAS LOYAL TO THE END HE HAS CLEARLY DEMONSTRATED HE HAS SOME KIND OF CODE OF HONOR HOW DARE YOU SLANDER MY BOY LIKE THAT.

Tbh idk how to answer the loyalty question without more information from canon because the gang and how they operate, how they all came together, etc is pretty well shrouded in not-central-narrative-focus, though I think it’s been implied somewhat heavily that what’s going on with the girls is not standard operating procedure.

My personal headcanon for Eddie is tied up in my personal backstory for Rio and Mick that I started for my (lmao first) Mick POV fic. I gave Rio and Mick a friends since we were kids backstory and decided Eddie was a kid in their neighborhood, slightly younger then them, and always looked up to them/followed them around/thought they were cool. He ultimately got involved in crime because they did and they looked out for him and brought him up with them (which, you know, makes how it all turns out that much more tragic). Obvs, this is all just me and my tendency to imprint on random side characters and give them backstories. Let me live.

6. This episode introduces us to Mary Pat, who’s probably one of this show’s most complicated antagonists! What do you think of her generally? And could you have predicted her arc with Boomer and Turner?

I love her and I’m done lying to myself about it.

LISTEN, first off, Allison Tolman is great. Her line delivery is fantastic, she has a knack for subtly adding SO MUCH to every scene she’s in and uses her face and inflection and pauses exquisitely. Top notch comedic timing. Truly a gem.

Second, on a character level, the lady is in a bad spot and the girls basically gift-wrapped the circumstances and handed them to her like here is a present!!!!!!!!!!!! What was a struggling girl to do besides accept what was offered to her??????!!!!!!???

7. This episode features a very pivotal scene in terms of the Beth, Ruby and Annie dynamic. What starts as tension between Annie and Beth quickly pivots when Ruby criticises Beth and Annie leaps to her sister’s defence. What do you think this tells us about the dynamic between the girls as pairs and as a trio?

I am so!!!! curious!!!!!!! about the backstory that exists in the writers’ heads for Ruby and Annie (all three of them, really, but the bff and little sister having an independent friendship is of particular interest to me bc it isn’t something you, or I guess I, run into a lot) and how much of it was defined at this point vs how much it’s evolved/fluctuated as the show goes on. This fight pretty clearly illuminated that when it really comes down to it, it’s Beth and Annie vs Ruby which a) breaks my heart and b) isn’t totally a dynamic I think the show ultimately stuck with? Or maybe intentionally fluctuates? Idk this is a half-baked thought. Ask again later.

8. Greg is the one who kisses Annie! Who do you think left who in that relationship, and/or what were the biggest issues in that relationship?

I feel like there’s pretty much no way Annie wasn’t the one that called things off with Greg. Not just because of how it plays out this time but because he’s got a kind of persistent yet also go with the flow attitude that makes me think he would absorb a lot in the name of making it work whereas Annie seems to have a pretty established history of cutting her losses and bailing when she hits her limit. Based on how fond they are of each other and how much affection they clearly still hold, I tend to assume they just grew apart as they grew up which makes it almost more complicated and tragic because it leaves all of the good stuff and just mixes it with the knowledge that it wasn’t enough.

9. What did you think of Ruby’s sauce story? And what do you think it meant as a turning point for her arc?

I HATE THIS STORY SO MUCH USED BAND AIDS ARE GROSS ENOUGH ON THEIR OWN WITHOUT MIXING IN FOOD SERVICE AND MONTHS, MONTHS, OF MARINATION. I REFUSE TO TALK ABOUT IT. GET OUT OF MY HOUSE.

10. Knowing that Beth, Ruby and Annie’s system of paying Mary Pat off doesn’t work, do you think there was a way they could’ve handled her on their own that would’ve worked? Or do you think Rio’s intimidation (and potential murder) tactic was the only way out?

Idk maybe I’m just cynical, but I take trust no bitch to heart, they pretty well screwed themselves into a corner by being idiots.

#rewatching this ep taught me a lot about my feelings on the secret shopper scheme #gg rewatch #gg 1x07 #gg related #shut up meg

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miserelysia · 4 years

Text

“I Watched the Artemis Fowl Movie and It Made Me Very Upset” Liveblog!

So I decided I had to subject myself to this movie despite being Extremely Aware that it’s a massive pile of firey garbage. It was about as painful as expected, so I liveblogged to keep my sanity. Here’s basically what happened in my head while I was watching:

Josh Diggums: I feel so bad for Josh Gad's voice because it's painfully obvious they just didn't want Olaf showing up so they forced him into some terrible Bale-Batman voice that keeps cracking

why is this movie taking itself so seriously

Book Artemis: eternally unathletic dweeb

Movie Artemis: SURFING MASTER

the fuck, Branagh

THIS VOICE IS SO DAMN BAD, JOSH PLEASE STOP TALKING

okay Artemis is appropriately a little shit for EXACTLY ONE SCENE

FUCK OFF WITH FRIDGING THE MOM, BRANAGH

"ur mom's dead and ur dad's gone so ur a little shit" WHAT A GREAT COUNSELOR

fuck's sake

Book Artemis: immediately falls off whatever this hover thing is

COLIN FARRELL. SEXY MAN.

I ALMOST FORGIVE THEM FOR BRINGING HIM BACK EARLY

AND..... KNOWING ABOUT MAGIC

SDJFKSDF

WHATEVER

I WAS PREPARED FOR THIS

this voice is still terrible, Josh. I'm sorry

this kid is a pretty good actor

"all i really want is to believe in you" that was actually well-delivered

"Arty"

OKAY IT'S NOT ACCORDING TO THE BOOK BUT FUCK ME THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS WELL DONE

i desperately need Butler to show up soon tho

I SPOKE TOO SOON

"DOMOVOI" ??!!?? YOU FUCKS

why

are his eyes

fucking ELECTRIC BLUE

HIS LITERAL FUKDFSUCING NAME IN THE BOOKS IS 'BUTLER' IT'S PART OF BEING AN INSANELY GOOD SECRET AGENT GUARDIAN HE'S NOT AN ACTUFL FUCKING BUTLER AND LITERALLY NO ONE EVER CALLS HIM "THE BUTLER" BUT HIS NAME IS BUTLER BECAUSE HIS REAL NAME IS SECRET HE'S FUCKING SECURITY FUCKING DID YOU READ THIS FUCKING BOOK SERIES AT ALL BRANAGH OR DID YOU JUSTDSJFKLDSHFSD:LFSEFAGH

i'm sorry

Butler is my absolute favorite character of the entire damn series and they fucking

can't even get OOOONNNNNEEEEEEEEE CHARACTER CORRECT

SCREAMS

did they think calling him "Butler" would be weird because they cast a black guy?????

AGAIN WHY WITH THE FUCKING ELECTRIC BLUE CONTACTS THEY'RE SO OBVIOUSLY FAKE IT LOOKS SO BAD. IF YOU MAKE THE DECISION TO CAST AN AFRICAN AMERICAN MAN JUST FUCKING OWN THAT HE HAS DARK EYES DON'T DO THIS

THE "OWL STAR"???? REALLY???? WHY NOT FOWL STAR

WHY

NOT

IT'S JUST SUCH AN ARBITRARY DUMBASS CHANGE IT MAKES NO SENSE

PLEASE DID I JUST MISUNDERSTAND THE REPORTER MAN

DID THE CAPTIONS JUST MISUNDERSTAND HIM?????

NOPE IT'S LITERALLY THE O W L S T A R

fuck off

i'm sorry

stuff like that just bothers me a lot

it makes ABSOLUTELY no sense to change it

Fowl Star made sense bECAUSE IT'S OWNED BY ARTEMIS FOWL

artemis has a lot more emotions than i remember him having

i will not forgive them for destroying the Butler/Artemis relationship in favor of a Dad they fucking fridge in the first half hour of the movie

oh boy nursery rhymes as codes

GROUNDBREAKING

i think the fairies would have something to say about you hiding their own shit from them, MISTER SENIOR

it's still a bad voice, Josh, I'm so sorry

okay Haven is pretty nice

"Haven" not "Haven City"

pretty sure

holly being a 13 year old girl is disconcerting

that was mentioned in a review

they're supposed to be Child-Sized not ACTUAL CHILDREN

also "small person = higher pitched voice" is such a stupid trope please stop

i like the Being diversity around the city

like lots of different types of humanoids

josh desperately wants to do the Olaf voice

i'm so sorry Josh

okay aside from the shit voice Diggums is pretty good

lol Cudgeon's already in jail

okay then

i know this is Opal Koboi

meh

i hate her in the books so they can fuck her up all they want

judi dench is batman too i guess

how many cigs you smoke judi root

OH BOY HOLLY HAS MISSING DADDY ISSUES TOO

fucking shit

"you're 84" and you look like a fUCKING THIRTEEN YEAR OLD

such bad choices

every time they say "Domovoi" i--

HISDFHSDHFH

JULIET

SHE'S

HIS

FUCKING

NIECE?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????

SDFJLS:DKF FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK YYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

FUCK YOU

FUCK

FUCK YOU KENNETH BRANAGH

SHE'S

HIS

FUCKING

SISTER

HIS BABY SISTER HE LOVES AND CARES FOR EVEN MORE THAN ARTEMIS AND THAT'S A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT RELATIONSHIP THAN UNCLE AND NIECE

HOW COULD YOU LITERALLY DESTROY EVERYTHING ABOUT BUTLER AND STILL SLEEP AT NIGHT

eoin colfer i hope you made so much money off of this SHITSTACK

(genuinely tho that's literally the only consolation; now he can write more Good Books)

Juliet is cute but i know about all she does is make sandwiches

so fuck this

judi dench is Good

foaly is Okay

why's he wearing clothes tho

the chutes are a lot more... open than expected

BEECHWOOD SHORT THE TRAITOR

FUCK OFF

WHY IS HOLLY’S CHARACTER DEFINED BY HER FUCKING FATHER

THIS IS SO MUCH WORSE AN OUTCOME THAN I EVEN EXPECTED GIVEN THEY EVISCERATED HER CHARACTER'S DRIVE BY MAKING THE L.E.P. ALREADY HAVE FEMALE OFFICERS AND COMMANDERS

"get out cudgeon before i throw you out" okay they got Root completely right at least

aside from making him a her

but that's okay

because it's Judi Dench

awwwww happy flying scene bUT HOLLY YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE SHIELDED GOt DAMN

“any update?” "yes. i'm freezing" amazing, Butler

i mean dOmOvOi

HOLLY YOU'RE STILL NOT SHIELDED

CGI isn't too bad in this but honestly that's not impressive anymore

awwwww cute wedding scene

troll is about as ugly as possible

LOL JUST FUCKING THROW TIME FREEZE UP LIKE IT'S NOTHING

OKAY

LOL HOLLY GO DEAL WITH THE TROLL DON'T FOCUS ON ONE SMALL CHILD

THAT'S NOT HOW A TIME FREEZE WORKS

i mean it's COOL

i love the little Men in Green zipping around

but it doesn't make ANY sense

LOL SO WHY DO THE PEOPLE THINK THE PLACE IS TRASHED

lol gently floating troll

Hollyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Judi Root continues to be amazing

ok tbf Opal Koboi would be after the Aculos if it existed

OP MacGuffin plots are so tired tho like really Branagh

i love the wings on her suit

ARTEMIS WHEN DID YOU GET TO THE TREE

holly ur a bad 84-year-old officer

LOL CUDGEON IS RIGHT ON

AND JUDI ROOT CONTINUES TO BE

"Not Happy!" lol wat

who wrote that bit of dialogue and said "yes this a perfectly good thing to have her say when she wakes up in a cage"

"mesmerism"

boy i love these exposition dump convos between Mr. Sr. and Arty

LOL "most human beings are afraid of gluten, how do you think they'd handle goblins" is a great line

out of touch, but still funny

...why does the time freeze take forever to generate now when you did it in TWO SECONDS BEFORE

calm down holly damn

foaly's very pretty

sO DID THEY FREEZE THE *ENTIRE WORLD*????????

I THOUGHT THE POINT WAS TO FREEZE THINGS INSIDE SO YOU HAVE MOONLIGHT LONGER

AND

whatever

i love this fucking ARMY coming out of literally everywhere

"TOP OF THE MORNIN'" OH MY FUCKING GOODNESS

whole movie is worth it

for that line

i love that they're entirely in green

and no one ever Shields

ever

they mentioned Shields once but NO ONE IS SHIELDED

BUTLER WOULD NEVER LET ARTEMIS INTO A FIGHT

SCREAMS

"TAKE THE SHOT"

WHY IS THE TIME FREEZE SO EASILY DESTABILIZED

FOALY

ARE YOU TELLING ME NO ONE HAS EVER SHOT YOUR FUCKING ENORMOUS DEVICE

omg no U GAVE OPAL KOBOI LEGITIMATE REASONS FOR DOING WHAT SHE'S DOING

YOU GAVE HER A SAD FRUSTRATING BACKSTORY

SHE'S SUPPOSED TO BE AN ARROGANT SELF-SERVING BITCH AND NOTHING ELSE

TWENTY SEVEN MINUTES??????

hOW DID ARTEMIS KNOW ABOUT MULCH DIGGUMS SPECIFICALLY

lol that is 100% a completely inhumane prison what the fuck, fairies

why does Holly have human music

well i'm glad we didn't have to watch mulch almost eat a dude's head

"My father was kidnapped."

"My father is dead."

"Can I trust you?"

"You'll have to."

BUT WHY

WHAT IS THIS DIALOGUE

WHAT IS THIS CHARACTER PROGRESSION

THERE's NO REASON TO TRUST HER

OR TO NEED TO TRUST HER

THIS IS COMPLETELY UNEARNED AND STUPID

glad holly's entire character REVOLVES AROUND A MAN NOW, BRANAGH

LOL THEY JUST DIDN'T GIVE ROOT A FIRST NAME???

JUDI ROOT CONFIRMED

"listen to us, grunting at each other like a pair of hippos with a throat infection" LMAO

i hope that was Josh Gad improv

LOL HE JUST FUCKING DESTROYS EVERYTHING IN HIS WAY WHILE TUNNELING

YOU DIDN'T EVEN REALLY TUNNEL IN, MULCH

HOW DID YOU COME OUT OF A PAINTING

DO THEY HAVE PAINTINGS IN A BASEMENT???

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SHEETROCK OR WHATEVER

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO EASY TO JUST

UGH

FOLLOW THE BOOK

COME ON

MULCH YOU ARE THE WORST BURGLAR

"what would your parents be" THEY'D BE CENTAURS MULCH

is... is Mulch on the second floor

HE TUNNELED THROUGH THE WALL ONTO THE SECOND FLOOR

artemis... just.. lets holly out

ok cool

LOL HIS NOSE HAIRS GROW AND MOVE LIKE TENTACLES

stupid and... funny? i guess

at least Cudgeon is the piece of shit he is in the book lol

oh boy troll time

BUTER WOULD NEVER LET MULCH DIGGUMS PICKPOCKET HIM

"jam all magic" OMFG THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE

BUTLER WOULD NEVER LET ARTEMIS FACE DOWN A FUCKING TROLL

LOL THEY JUST FIRE THE TROLL LIKE A BULLET

A TROLL-ET

DOMOVOI YOU ARE COMPLETELY USELESS WHAT THE FUCK

i wonder if kids even like this movie

omg butler couldn't even jump

i don't understand

he literally DOESN'T HELP AT ALL

IT'S HIS WHOLE THING

IS BEING ABLE TO KICK ASS

FUCKING COME ON BRANAGH

yeah fuck you branagh

are... are the fairies just DYING TO THE TIME FREEZE COLLAPSE???

"goodbye my friend. i'm sorry i was FUCKING USELESS"

branagh you're trying to activate my feelings with this Sad Death Scene(TM) but i am IMPERVIOUS because artemis has had NO RELATIONSHIP WHATSOEVER WITH THIS """DOMOVOI"""

COOL HE'S BACK NOW I’M SO GLAD ACTUAL FULL ON DEATH HAS ZERO CONSEQUENCES NOW THANKS TO OP FAIRY MAGIC

WHAT GREAT WRITING THIS IS

"i didn't cry did i" FUCK OFF

WHY IS IT SO DANGEROUS WHEN THE TIME FREEZE ENDS

WHY IS YOUR TECH SO SHITTY, FOALY

TIME FREEZES AREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE DANGEROUS TO THE OCCUPANTS

THAT GOES AGAINST ALL OF FAIRY RULES

...okay and then it just ends..........?

Domovoi: "you have to try!"

Artemis: "i can't, tho"

Domovoi: "it's too dangerous!"

WHAT IS THIS DIALOGUE

WHO WROTE THIS ABSOLUTE DRIVEL

"the aculos for my father"

THE L.E.P. DOESN'T EVEN HAVE YOUR FATHER YOU ABSOLUTE DOOF

holly how do u know how to do this

the... the aculos is just the fucking Book?

i feel slapped in the face

she just recites the words and. and.

whatever

i'm done

GO FIND YOUR DAD WHO'S MAGICALLY BACK

WHY WOULD HE BE IN THE BED ARTEMIS

YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE A GENIUS

this girl who plays Holly cannot act

i'm sorry girl

MAGICALLY BACK DAD

HOORAY HOLLY'S CHARACTER CONTINUES TO BE DEFINED BY HER FATHER

FUCK

YOU

WRITERS

AND BRANAGH

BUTLER WOULD NEVER CRY, DOMOVOI

i like the cool earpiece they gave Judi Root to maybe? disguise her hearing aid?

Haven does look pretty cool

too much water above tho it’s not Atlantis guys come on

"i'm a criminal mastermind" LITERALLY WHEN DID YOU SHOW ANY SORT OF MASTERMIND BEHAVIOR OR CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR

BESIDES BRIEFLY KIDNAPPING HOLLY AND THEN IMMEDIATELY LETTING HER OUT

LMAO THAT LAST SHOT OF JULIET JUST LOOKING EXCITEDLY OUT OF THE WINDOW AT THE HELICOPTER WHILE EVERYONE LEAVES HER BEHIND

WHAT'S THE POINT OF THAT EVEN

THIS POOR GIRL YOU’RE JUST LEAVING HER ALONE

WOW THIS PRISON/INTERROGATION PLACE HAS LIKE

NO SECURITY

HI HOLLY WHY ARE YOU HERE??????

THIS WHOLE ENDING IS JUST THE STUPID CAP ON TOP OF A STUPID SUNDAE

i need to go listen to the books again now

#artemis fowl #artemis fowl movie #liveblog #spoilers #flaming hot garbage #disney seriously who the FUCK did you make this movie for #cause it sure wasn't the fans

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thirdmagic · 5 years

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giant rambly walls of text post of headcanons and theories and general thoughts on david, roman and solomon ft lots of extrapolation

first of all, i basically think of archer david as like... if 'lazy cheerful mcdonlads loving manchild in a yukata dad' kerry got summoned into the body of his child self and went 'oh wow this is before Everything in my life went horribly wrong it almost feels like all that never happened!!' and got into it enough to try to recreate what he was like as a child. which i realize is a hilariously weird mental image but a close enough comparison. it's just in this case the difference isn't '30 year old and 10 year old (at most)' but '60-70 something very old man and late teens/early twenties'. on the surface level this david is much more David The Humble Nobody Shepherd Boy Who Beat A Giant then David The Anointed Powerful King, because most of the stuff this version draws on in his NP and skills are from this aspect of him. but it's also clearly very much not the same case as other younger/child servants. most younger versions are aware of their older selves and what happens to them in the future but aren't those people and haven't personally experienced these futures. but nearly everything david does talk about, experiences he calls back to, people he talks about, is stuff from his time on the throne. he talks about this time as something that happened to him personally. so this isn't really baby shepherd david even though his servant container draws on these aspects of him, it's David The King in the body of baby shepherd david.

but what i find most interesting, is that he seems to really play into this image/role... like it's a deliberate choice/preference on his part or something consciously cultivated. there's what he says is tamacat's interlude, but also his my room line that outright has him saying 'sure i used to be a king, but don't worry about it, it's whatever, i'm just a shepherd now and i want to take this chance as a servant to be just that'. the impression is that he's very much trying to distance himself from his king-self and that entire part of his life which is... in its own way a lost cause and he probably does this knowing it's a lost cause, given that's what he spent the majority of his life doing and how everything he calls back to is from that life. that shepherd boy is just not the person he is anymore and hasn't been for a long time, but i think that's why he prefers to be summoned in this specific physical form and in this specific class that draws on this part of his life- the servant container/class makes it easier to act the part, to put that undesirable aspect of himself aside. so long as he's not summoned as a king he doesn't need to act like one nor feel like he has the responsibilities of one. and being a king clearly kind of sucked as far as he’s concerned.

now i mentioned before that biblical david is super kerrycore so while i don't know how much fate would even want to incorporate this side of the original version... idk, i'm really into the idea and think it's just potentially super interesting to take this parallel full circle and for david the king to be the figurative equivalent to cold blooded assassin magus killer kerry. it gives extra weight to why he'd want to just put aside this part of his life and lean in fully into a whole other role/identity that has nothing to do with kingship and why he acts Extra carefree and frivolous: because he spent most of his life as everything but that. because he couldn't be this way so long as he acted as king, because the responsibility and the role demanded that he had to suppress this aspect of himself and also that he act in ways he might not have really wanted to even as he understood that it was needed. he was good at doing the dirty and unpleasant stuff and he understood the necessity of it; he had a talent for it, in a sense, even if it wasn't a talent for something he liked or enjoyed. it goes well with him talking about how he dislikes battle in conjunction to how he was a very military focused leader-- something he never wanted to engage in or do, but that the role of the king demanded of him.

because his biblical depiction is from the very start, from the first goliath story, more of a cunning politician and warrior than anything else. he's subtle, sly and calculating, not afraid to get his hands dirty and do undignified things to get where he needs to, and very conscious and aware of all that goes around him, including how he's seen by other people and how he needs to act as if he were in front of an audience. he finds creative and subtle ways to get around most problems, but he also knows when a problem is best solved violently and doesn't hesitate to commit to that solution. (most unlike fate david though, he's also super hot-tempered and fairly quick to Stabbity Stab if someone pissed him off lmao and has to be talked down at least once from Doing A Murder)

this is compounded by how, in general, the narrative very very often leaves us in the dark about what he's really feeling or thinking in a lot of pivotal moments and leaves us often to wonder about his sincerity and true motivations. his story in the bible is essentially the unraveling of this kind of hyper competent and skilled person as he gets more and more exposed to the reader emotionally and personally, as we see more and more of his weakness and vulnerability and his real flawed and imperfect core is revealed. the narrative is at once both critical of him while still remaining firmly on his side and sympathetic towards him, and the main thing that keeps him sympathetic as a character in this way, through his darkest moments and most questionable behavior, is that he's 1) unquestionably devoted to God and nearly flawlessly pious, which is for obvious reasons a significant virtue for both the original writer and the original audience the narrative was meant for, and 2) very good at handling criticism, accepting that he made mistakes, and making amends/fixing things when he needs to. which he does a lot of.

so basically, yeah: ruthless stabby killer who's a clever and sly pragmatist, but also a Sad and vulnerable dad. that's what i meant lmao that's the exact same aesthetic as kerry.

and something you'll find pointed out very, very often by any literary analysis or any analysis at all, is his humanity; it's something that can be ascribed to many, many biblical characters but is applied to him as a defining trait in particular. and that's.... even better and gets even more interesting for fate david specifically when pitted against solomon, the perfect, flawless inhuman king. there's a consistent thematic thread in fate of being an ideal vs being a human being, especially for kings and other types of leaders, and in this context i think you can do a lot with david as someone who, instead of giving in/fully committing to one at the expense of the other, went for a balance between the two-- and struggled with that balance. he succeeded in many ways as a king and was good at it, but in some ways he lost that struggle because he failed to find that balance and gave in to humanity at the worst of times, and it's those moments which led to both his biggest mistakes and his biggest tragedies. it's interesting to me because it's different from the patterns that characters like kerry and saber establish, and it offers a perspective on this dilemma that also explains why people like them commit to this all-or-nothing approach to it.

and it's also interesting to me to compare to solomon, but especially the fact that when put in context-- that god sees david and decides to make solomon the way he is seemingly in response-- the implication is one of a background 'story' that's very consistent to an interesting pattern about god in genesis: that he's always trying out new ways to interact with this world he created through humanity and having to retry after each one attempt doesn’t quite go well. he started with adam and eve and they disobeyed him, when he tried to with all of humanity and when they turned away from him and degenerated morally he had to destroy them all with the flood. then he tried to create this connection/interaction through just one person and then just one nation from this person, and that's how he came to form the covenant with us. humans are constantly ruining his plans and he's constantly having to adjust and try or test new things. and i like the idea that he's also trying to do something similar with the kings and leaders he appointed to this chosen nation; he tried with the judges who were all scattered leaders that couldn't unite the tribes, then tried with saul who was just kind of a weak leader and king in general and couldn't handle it, tried with david, and then looked at him and went, okay, i did pretty well with this one, he's served me well but it's still not what i need. so, god reasons, if his problem is that his humanity was what got in the way then clearly the problem is that i look to humans as my representatives in the world. so clearly i need someone who can interact with humans and the human world as one of them but won't have their flaws. and so that gives us some background to and explains solomon's circumstances.

now in fgo itself the exact circumstances of solomon's birth and why he was born as he was are kind of vague, and i haven't seen anything in materials or other canon sources to elaborate (Dark Nasu, Show Me The Forbidden Solomon Backstory) but the one, somewhat cryptic line we're given to explain is that he was offered by david to god to make him into a greater king than he was. that's not exactly what happened in the original story but not really wrong either. it's a fairly legit and logical take on what happened there imo. what we're told is that god looked at baby solomon and went 'oh yeah, this kid seems pretty legit, i like this one' (when he was already born, not before that), and through a prophet, gives him a second name that literally means 'friend to god'. then, many, many chapters later, when david is old as balls and senile and slowly dying and there's a succession crisis blooming, nathan (who was the one that gave solomon his second name, as this part of the story’s acting prophet) has bathsheba resolve it by, ahem, 'reminding' him that he promised her that solomon will succeed him. and it's kind of Highly Conspicuous that we have never seen nor been told that this promise happened in the one part of the narration where it would have been most relevant to include so it's not out of the question that nathan had her persuade him of something that never happened because he was kind of very malleable at that point and with shit going down in court they needed a fast solution.

with that in mind i think fate goes under the assumption that this promise was actually real, and that the only major difference here outside of the magic/nasuverse specific elements is that solomon being chosen this way was something that happened before he was actually born, so it connected the two and combined them with how he's characterized in the chapters afterwards as the Good Flawless King and then with all sort of external sources that i can't really speak of since they’re not my area. the other main difference is the implication that david actually played a part in solomon's divine kingly destiny and planned on him being king from the start and specifically offered for god to raise him as such. and there's precedent for something like that with samuel who basically got offered by his mother to be raised as a divine prophet/judge, and the circumstances are more or less similar. samuel was offered by his mother to be in service to god and was raised by priests, which is close enough to being raised by god i guess? but he was totally separated from his parents, and he was definitely absolutely not inhumanly flawless lmao. so i think what david offered is roughly to the extent of 'i will give you my son to raise as his father instead of me, so you could raise him into the kind of king i couldn't be, while i'll stay out of his life so you can do your thing with him as you need'. and with samuel as an example for a similair offer/deal, i think he was expecting a normal human child, just one who'd grow up into a very skilled, competent king and without david's own flaws. and i imagine he was not planning on how it actually turned out for everyone involved.

and as for the reason why he even made the offer in the first place, i chose to look to the promise as the hint to the answer: at least part of it should likely be piousness and sincerely wanting to provide god with the kind of person he couldn't be, but it also means bathsheba, who became his wife under less then ideal circumstances and who lost both her husband and the first child she ever had and that should have been her husband's to his actions and his punishment, has guaranteed protection under her status as the king's mother and isn't thrown to the wolves when he dies, which is the issue she appeals to when she asks him to officially appoint solomon as his successor. being the king's mother gives her control and power in a world where she'd otherwise be in a very precarious position. theeeeeeeeennnn there's also some tradition-- i don’t remember much but i know it exists-- that claims she was his Favorite of his wives, probably for shallow reasons, though i don't think there's much internal textual evidence of that, but that's also A Thought. (i'm just saying, if they ended up developing an actually good connection and ended up loving each other for real that'd be a fascinating and very nasu twist but idk if i'm officially adopting that as my hc yet)

then there's the question of david's relationship to solomon.... there's different takes on it, from what i've seen in fancomics and stuff that does have transltions, and what i managed to understand from untranslated stuff. one interesting one is that david emotionally distanced himself as a result of the trauma of losing the baby from his initial affair with bathsheba, so he kept this distance from the second son he had with her so as to avoid something like that again-- -out of fear he'll lose him again if he allows himself to get emotionally attached. it's a trauma that would certainly be compounded after he lost tamar, amnon and then absalom and how that entire incident really broke him. i don't know if i totally subscribe to that but i think it's on to something.

in general i think of david as not a cruel or abusive father but definitely an emotionally distant one and not very actively present in his children's lives. the struggle of balancing being a king and being a human being had a wrench thrown in it when among all the roles he had to play came up the role of a father, which he just had zero understanding of how to approach or how it fits in with that balance-- the inhuman role of a king and the very human role of father are far more difficult to separate in the world of politics and the court, for him. drawing in from the source text, even in the bible you get the strong sense that he's not very attentive at the best of times, but the moment he loses any of his children, his grief is almost always overwhelming and unsubtle, even if it always manifests differently. in fgo materials their relationship is described as an indifferent one, which is to say, it's not a bad relationship because there's not much of a relationship at all to be good or bad, and i think it was sort of the case with most of his relationships with his children. of course, i also doubt there were absolutely no feelings or affection involved and that it was a totally apathetic one-- on david's part at least. solomon would have been given no room for human attachments such as family or the involved feelings, which means he'd also not feel the pain of the absence of such a thing or the need to have it. if he was given room to feel any sort of familial affection, it's likely a very shallow, vague one.

roman, i think, probably just has a lot of very complicated feelings on it that he's not sure what to do with and doesn't himself really understand. i also think this distance also means he never really understood david or was given the chance to, or, due to his own nature, been given any reason to want to. the absence of this relationship is something he feels in this new human life and understands that it was there and that it was not a good thing, but in a very vague way he's doesn't have the words for; he feels disconnected from it all because even as solomon he was very emotionally disconnected from his family and all that happened in it. and now there's the amount of time has passed and how long ago it would have been for him and how overall irrelevant it all ended up being for him... that david wasn't much of a father to him ends up not mattering much in practice because everything would have turned out the same even if he was, and it's hard to miss something he never felt he ever actually had. he knows there's an absence but doesn't feel it because solomon didn't feel it, and roman never got to experience any of it as roman.

and then he actually gets to meet david again thanks to chaldea. which is completely different as a human being with, like, Feelings, when you have all this knowledge in mind, and to look at a real breathing living human (figuratively speaking) right in front of you and for that person to register as Father in your head is a completely different experience then. it goes from a sort of vague, disconnected regret to a real, emotional understanding of what it is to have a father you never managed to connect to and who kept a distance from you for reasons you don’t understand, and then having the chance to form a connection, all while trying to figure out what the heck is going on with him because he's nothing like what you remember in life.

basically i think the first thing roman thought when he saw david was roughly something like 'whomst the fuckest is [waves hands vaguely] this guy because that is so not my dad', and it slowly segued into 'okay no now i see it, that's closer to the sort of things he'd say or do, but still, what the fuck'. he starts seeing david in an entirely new way on one hand after being exposed to this completely different side to him, but it's also confusing to re-contextualize with all his memories of him and how different he is. the last time they talked, david was on his deathbed giving him a list of people he wants him to murder the shit out of, and another list of people he absolutely does not want him to murder, and his last words were basically 'i leave it up to you how you'll do it legally but i need you to kill that motherfucker dead'. his last moments on the earth he still spent not as a father speaking to a son, but as a king to his successor. ... which suddenly he can also bring himself to feel actual strong feelings about when all of this begin to feel much more personal and much less distant, and also makes the absence of this relationship actually feel tangible, including the feelings of vague regret, maybe a desire to reconnect and to really develop this relationship now that he has the chance to actually know his dad, maybe even some kind of affection for the man-- and when it starts going there that's when he panics because he was not asking for this and does not want these feelings they're really bad and horribly inconvenient this is literally the worst time to be awakening to them!!!!!!

it's all a moot point, of course, because he can't even if he admitted to himself that he wanted to; he can't afford the risk of anyone that's not da vinci knowing, much less someone like this person who he doesn't really know or understand and wouldn't have his trust even under normal circumstances. but and in between all these considerations, he looks at david and wonders about him, wonders how to talk to him-- he knows how to talk, as solomon, to His Majesty The King or to his father the king, but he doesn't know how to talk as a human being to someone he knows to be his father, person to person. he's both familiar and a complete stranger, and talking to him is just a source of headaches not just because of his general personality but because of this particular dissonance. and it's worse because he's also completely undecipherable and he can't tell what he's thinking at least half the time. as easy it might be to dismiss him and think there's nothing beyond what's going on on the surface, he still knows his dad well enough to understand that this is just not the case. and there's a lot of hindsight reflection over his childhood memories and of everything he does remember and in some way putting these things in a new context.

in practice how this manifests is really mostly that he just sort of hovers just outside his orbit, wanting to approach but avoiding at the last second, thinking all these things but not really doing anything beyond that, at one avoiding him and still being unable to resist the urge to engage with him anyway.

.... anyway this post got way way too big and i'm not sure how to end it, but these are almost all the thoughts/hcs i’ve developed for the past year or so. maybe a few minor things i missed or forgot.

#fgo tag #what if we made the emiyas more tragic #thinky thoughts

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dyketectivecomics · 5 years

Note

{{ Night Force kids learning each others' backstories! Angsty awkwardness! Everyone Coping Together!

this actually….. isn’t all that angsty i think haha. mostly because as Emo™ as these kids are, they’re also definitely gonna be Supportive of each other. except for zach, bc he’s still got some Things to work out, but they’ll bring him along anyways lmao

…

The scene was becoming oddly familiar to Raven, as she looked around the campfire. Just like with her friends before, so many months ago on that beach, the Night Force was gathered in a secluded section of a California State Park, swapping stories and sharing snacks as the moon began her ascent into the sky. The redwoods stood like sentinels, keeping careful watch on the teen mystics.

Which was probably true in a more literal sense, considering it was Swamp Thing who brought them on this field trip away from the House of Mystery, in the first place. If Raven had learned anything from the Guardian of the Green, it was that he was never more than a whisper away.

He’d left them alone, to set up camp for the night and to start their bonding experience. Which, thus far, mostly meant venting about various frustrations and consuming more s'mores than probably was healthy.

“-That’s why it sucks that I can’t really talk with him about any of this,” Alice sighed, nearing the end of her own, rambling tirade. “Dibny’s been like- I don’t know? Kind of like a dad. And my own dad was, like, okay and everything but-”

“Sometimes dads suck?” Traci smiled knowingly while fixing another marshmallow onto a stick, “You’re preaching to the choir here, sis.” She bumped shoulders with Raven before sticking the treat directly into the flames. “But I think Raven’s got all of us beat by a landslide. Don’t ya, Rae?”

“Dads… suck,” Raven nodded decisively in affirmation, hugging her knees a little closer to her body as a breeze blew through. “But if I have learned anything from the Titans, it is that we can choose not only who we call our friends, but who we call family as well.”

“Yeah, well. Some of us are still trying to figure out how to get out of our oh-so-famous cousin’s shadows, thank you very much,” Zach pouted. Klarion silently offered him a marshmallow for his trouble, only for the teen magician to bat it away. The witch-boy gave him a glare and Teekl pounced on the treat, playing with it as it stickily picked up leaves and dirt. “Just because you’re trying not to let them define you, doesn’t mean that you’re free from it,” he said, rather conclusively as he leaned back onto his hands.

“On that, we may have some agreement, barf boy,” Traci laughed. Her marshmallow was now pitch-black, a perfect s'more in the making. “At least your family can give you, like, actual support with your magic. Having a professional skeptic for a dad? Not so great for my whole magic thing.”

“Alright, I’ve had more than enough of this,” Klarion huffed in annoyance, “Parents suck, we all have our struggles with magic, etcetera, etcetera. Let’s not forget the real reason why we’re here.”

“To bond like ‘normal teenagers’?” Alice guessed.

“To learn something new about nature?” Traci said between a mouthful of s'more.

“To test my patience?” Zach snorted.

“Kind of. Probably. And… no, absolutely not,” the witch-boy shook his head in disappointment, “We’re here to have fun. And our final missing cliche for this camping trip- drum roll please?” He tapped his hands against his lap, waiting for most of them to half-heartedly humor him by joining, before making his announcement. “What we need… are some good ol’ fashioned ghost stories! So, who’s going to start?”

“Ghost stories? What are you? Ten?” Zach snickered before each of the teen mystics began throwing marshmallows at him. “Hey! Cut it out!”

“I elect Moody Marshmallow Man to be the first,” Raven declared, “As penance, for his poor attitude and teamwork skills… Or, something like that.”

“Hear, hear!” “Abso-fucking-lutely!” “That’s perfect!”

The teens laughed as the magician pouted, arguing back that he didn’t have any ghost stories to tell. But his peers would hear nothing of it.

And Raven found herself smiling fondly as she took another glance around that campfire again. Yes, the scene was familiar, and comforting in that familiarity. And knowing how far they’d come in these past three weeks together, had her only wondering just how much further they were going to go.

#rachel roth #zachary zatara #traci thirteen #klarion the witch boy #black alice #lori zechlin #night force #asked and answered #beyondthetemples #randywritesfic #i just love these kids so much #so more HINTING at each of their backstories rather than like. going too much in depth #esp since i wanna do that in like. The Main Series as i build it up #this is absolutely meant to be a canon follow up to daughter of darkness tho #my own nf series is gonna be a soft reboot so like. Prepare for some reimagining of those shadow riders and their purpose n all #some expansion on skye and on klarions hinted reason for joining in the first place #lots of LITTLE things were introduced in that and its a SHAME that we cant have it expanded on in canon #at least not atm #ahhhhhhhhh i hope u like it zira!

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muchymozzarella · 7 years

Text

Muchy’s Top Best Overwatch fics

I said I’d do it, so I’m doing it: Recs for the best Overwatch fics I’ve ever read, in no particular order of importance.

[[In the Bones of Our Beast]]

Salazar101

Summary:

Junkrat slips into the Omnium and finds treasure, he doesn't know what it is but other people seem to know, and they want it. Bad. Bad enough to hire famed enforcer Roadhog to drag him in, kicking and screaming.

Relationship/s: Junkrat/Roadhog

What I enjoyed about the fic:

Amazingly written outback adventures with good relationship development with trash mouse and street pig, with an actual treasure that makes sense, as opposed to the mysterious but undefined treasure in canon and other fics.

[[Koraha]]

debascas

Summary:

The feeling started when they reached the edge of civilization.

Junkrat wasn't familiar with the twisting sensation in his stomach, the constriction of his chest, and the tingling of his fingers when he held onto the belt of the man driving the motor bike. He knew it wasn't fear, or anxiety, as he often did experience. It wasn't the thrill and delight he feels when he blows something or someone up.

This kind of feeling was... Nice. Warm. Nauseating. All at the same time. It grew more sure as the bike accelerated and he held on tighter, the barren landscape blurring passed them, the dust and wind blowing through his singed hair, the roar of the engine ringing in his ears. He tried to brush it off. He tried to forget about it.

Business, it's only business, he reminded himself. Nothing more. Never will be.

Oh, how he tried.

Relationship/s: Junkrat/Roadhog

What I enjoyed about the fic:

Another well-written Outback adventure story, just fantastically written, engaging, with good character development between our favorite trash folk.

[STILL INCOMPLETE]

[[Bad Sun]]

albion

Summary:

When Blackwatch agent Jesse McCree is sent to kill a mysterious assassin known only as DRAGONSTRIKE, there are a few things he expects to occur.

Falling in love isn't one of them.

Relationships: Mccree and Reyes, Jesse Mccree/Hanzo Shimada

What I enjoyed about the fic:

The comparison of Reyes to the chessboard black Queen, as opposed to King, with Jack as King and Mccree as Knight. The exciting encounters between Hanzo and Mccree are also appealing, but the chess scene stands out, as well as the relationship between Reyes and Mccree in Blackwatch days.

[STILL INCOMPLETE]

[[Watching You Run Into the High Noon Sun]]

AsheRhyder

Summary:

Gabriel Reyes taught McCree everything he knows - not to shoot and kill, but how to survive by more than luck and aim.

McCree learns something else as Overwatch falls, fades, and then rises again: in this life, everyone leaves him behind.

He won't watch it happen again. Relationships: Mccree and Reyes, Jesse Mccree/Hanzo Shimada

What I enjoyed about the fic:

You will see a ton of AsheRhyder fic in here, just a heads up. They’re my favorite Overwatch fic writer of all time, and I will trust literally anything they come out with. And it began with this fic.

What I loved most about it was ridiculously, canonically competent Mccree. So many fics fail to think past the Cowboy and fail to maximize the potential of what it meant to be a Blackwatch, former gang member prime Black Ops agent, but this fic hit the mark with a Mccree that isn’t defined by his cowboy hat and boots, but not removed from the persona either.

Also the relationship between Hanzo and Jesse here is very subdued compared to other fics, but beautifully done. For Mccree lovers who enjoy character studies, and anybody who loves good fic, this is the fic for you. Definitely in my top 5 best.

[[Blue Roses and Salted Caramel]]

AsheRhyder

Summary:

Hanzo hated Valentine's Day and everything that went with it. This got exceptionally awkward for a man whose courier service saw business triple in the lead up to February 14th.

A series of 'special deliveries' between Mr. Jack Morrison and Mr. Gabriel Reyes drew his attention. Initially, it was because he wasn’t sure if it was the world's most polite form of hate mail or the world's most awkward flirting...

But then there was something about Mr. Reyes' son, Jesse, that kept him coming back...

Relationship/s: Jack Morrison/Gabriel Reyes, Jesse Mccree/Hanzo Shimada

What I enjoyed about the fic:

Look, it’s Asherhyder again, haha. Though I should note that while I’d decided Asherhyder was my favorite writer in OW, I had no idea this was written by them until after I finished it (because I do not pay attention and didn’t notice the author name lmao)

I just could NOT STOP SMILING AND GIGGLING throughout this entire fic. It’s so fluff it’ll rot your teeth off, it made my pores clear, my crops flourish, I cried tears of healing as I read this fic.

[[Cast a Long, Dark Shadow]]

AsheRhyder

Summary:

Jack will never forgive himself for not noticing it the first time a prisoner dies while in the new Overwatch's custody. He knows the signs better than anyone alive: Gabriel taught him how to see the invisible fingerprints Blackwatch left behind.

But someone is cutting off his access to the old Blackwatch records, and to manage that, there needs to be an active commander in the field...

Relationship/s: Jack Morrison/Gabriel Reyes

What I enjoyed about the fic:

Asherhyder again? Listen... you gotta read everything this person has written. Do it. Right now.

This one may actually be my favorite of the lot, at least firmly in the Top 3. Short, but fantastic and poignant in less than 3000 words. Another amazing character study. Read it right now immediately, it won’t take you long.

[[His Master]]

Balenae

Summary:

Master Genji teaches his student Zenyatta at Shambali Temple in Nepal.

And yet…

And yet.

Relationship/s: Genji Shimada/Tekhartha Zenyatta

What I enjoyed about the fic:

Just LOOK AT THAT SUMMARY AND TELL ME YOU’RE NOT INTRIGUED. A role reversal fic--or is it? One of the more heartrending fics on this list, and absolutely beautiful. In that space between sad and happy-poignant. You won’t regret reading it.

Update: additional fic as of 5/1/2017

[[The Desert Glacier]]

Seedcity

Summary:

Hanzo Shimada is a one-year veteran of Overwatch. Having been assigned to lead and defend the reinstitution of an abandoned Watchpoint: Grand Mesa, he leads his team against Talon, deals with the pressure of leadership, and longs for the company of his precious cowboy. Also: ghosts.

Relationship/s: Hanzo Shimada/Jesse Mccree

What I enjoyed about the fic:

Don’t be fooled by the “Also: ghosts” like it’s a side note, this is one of the best supernatural mystery works I’ve read, and it’s a fanfiction. The supernatural element may not be front and center, but it’s one of the most engaging parts of an engaging and well-written storyline, and the fic reads just like those published mystery novels you love with a twist uniquely Overwatch.

[Still incomplete, but near completion]

Update: additional fic as of 5/18/2017

long is the road that leads me home

gnarled

Summary:

You can meet the strangest people on the road. Sometimes, the best.

Relationship/s: Hanzo Shimada/Jesse Mccree

What I enjoyed about the fic:

I can’t believe I forgot about his one when it was one of the ones I promised myself would be on a best fic list before I ever even made one. So here it is!

I love fics that are written with the descriptiveness of published novels, and this one does imagery right. It’s not too long -- 17,000+ words, it’s all around fantastically and professionally written, with the fun and intrigue and delicious romance you’d expect from a fanfiction.

It gives you the juicy bits slowly but in a way that keeps you satisfied. You get a taste of Mccree and Reyes’ backstory (with our favorite Papa Reyes back at it again), of Hanzo’s as well.

It’s just fantastically well-written. I can’t describe it more than that, you have to read it to get the full experience.

Update: additional fics as of 6/17/2017

[[Temper]]

Bullfinch

Summary:

Jack joins the SEP and finds trouble almost immediately. At least his commanding officer is on his side—supposedly.

Relationship/s: Jack Morrison/Gabriel Reyes

What I enjoyed about the fic:

The fic is about transman Jack Morrison, and what I loved about it is how it tackled the aspects of the Soldier Enhancement program that a lot of writers gloss over, like how it would physically and chemically affect various soldiers, etc. It also posed and answered the question of how fictional supersoldier modification could affect real life (or at least futuristic real life) FTM transition. everything’s well thought out, the characters are interesting and fun, especially Jack’s friends and roommates, and the tension--sexual or otherwise--between Jack and Gabe is intense, gets you more excited to see the conclusion overall.

[[When We Were Young]]

JudgeCoffee

Summary:

When Jack Morrison was 18, he joined the military. Fifteen weeks later, he joined the Soldier Enhancement Program, and that was when he met Gabriel Reyes. That was when everything changed.

Relationship/s: Jack Morrison/Gabriel Reyes

What I enjoyed about the fic:

So it’s rare for a fic’s OCs to really set it apart, but that’s what happened here. The story was well done, with some amazing side characters and “co-stars” in the program with Jack and Gabe that really gave this fic heart. It also shows Gabe to be a cold, terrifying black-ops style killer, which I love for the sake of canon--a guy who’s a hero, but also the kind of man who you wouldn’t be surprised headed Blackwatch.

Also it opens on a BDSM scene. So that’s fun.

Update: additional fic as of 8/12/2017

[[Life is Strange]]

firesonic152

Summary:

Time travel. It was the most harebrained idea Winston had ever come up with, but even he had to admit it was probably their only option. This is a terrible plan, he mused.

An ill-fated trip to the past leaves Gabriel pining for a man that no longer exists.

Relationship/s: Jack Morrison/Gabriel Reyes

What I enjoyed about the fic:

The feels, man. The feels. This one kind of plowed me with the deep emotion and desperation on top of time travel shenanigans between Soldier and Reaper. It gets sad but hopeful at the same time, it casts Soldier’s regret so heartrendingly. It’s not one of the most well-written fics on the list, but it’s certainly one of the most moving. I love the whole aspect of love reaching through time and space without it getting too cheesy. Definitely worth the read and subsequent feels bomb.

Update: additional fic as of 1/27/2018

[[Afterdrop]]

ClaroQueQuiza

Summary:

Overwatch can be forgiven for keeping Hanzo at arm's length despite the endorsement of his intended murder victim. Six months of provisional membership, spent in the field, is a reasonable compromise.

But not everyone is on board with giving Hanzo a chance.

McCree, least of all.

Relationship/s: Jesse McCree/Hanzo Shimada

What I enjoyed about the fic:

I’ve been seeing this fic’s name tossed around a lot, but I only just now got to read it. It’s got published-quality writing and is mostly devoid of the usual tropes we see in Overwatch fanfics, and the detail in this fic is so rich that you can clearly imagine the world it lays out before you, in ways that I’ve never seen in any other fanfic I’ve read. It’s interesting, it’s funny, and it’s a WIP, so you get to slow burn your way through 195,556 words and still be impatient for the next update. It’s a worldbuilding, Hanzo-centric masterpiece, where Hanzo is both a compelling and tragic character while also being a useless gay thirsting over every hot dude in his vicinity (except McCree, ironically :)))

WORTH. READING. EVERY. WORD.

[STILL INCOMPLETE]

Update: additional fic as of 2/28/2018

[[Food For Thought]]

chibimono

Summary:

After months and months of work fighting Talon and juggling UN bureaucracy, Jack just wants to have a nice, normal dinner with Gabriel. And maybe, just maybe, he'll be able to do something about these feelings he's got for his best friend while he's at it.

Relationship/s: Jack Morrison/Gabriel Reyes

What I enjoyed about the fic:

Definitely in my top 5, this fic has a very simple premise, but is carried on the wings of its insanely thoughtful detail and fantastic writing. Chibimono might be one of the best writers in the Overwatch fandom, which is unsurprising considering they’re friends with the other best writer, Ashe Rhyder.

A lot of what might be passed over as unimportant to other authors is written with some knowledge by the writer here. A lot of detail is put into the writing without it being over-saturated or redundant. It’s kind of my reference fic for when the pre-fall of Overwatch timeline doesn’t tie together in my head, because they have perfect characterization for Jack and Gabe, as well as for the workings of Overwatch as a whole, in the shortest amount of time.

I read this before, but it hurt me so much I forgot to put it into my list, waiting for the update that would soothe my aching heart.

It’s part of a series, which is just as worth checking out!

[[FIC COMPLETE, SERIES INCOMPLETE]]

Update: additional fic as of 11/8/2018

[[Nacreous Nectarine]]

Swagreus (shiplizard)

Summary:

The questionable mission practices and questionable hiring practices of Overwatch, as seen by one unfortunate bystander who got in the middle of a mission.

Featuring the undercover talents of one Cmdr. Gabriel Reyes, former theater nerd, current terrifying one-man assault team.

[Based on the art of Kelly Turnbull/Coelasquid]

Relationship/s: General Fic, OCs

What I enjoyed about the fic:

It’s just.... really good. I don’t like Reader fics and I don’t often read OC fics when the OC is the main character, BUT the writing is top-notch, the buildup excellent, and it’s a joy to read with an utterly lovable Muslim protagonist OC who is just Very Tired while Gabe, McCree, Mercy and Jack do their Overwatch thing in his vicinity.

A must-read! I wish this had a series.

[[Raging Stallion]]

Phylix

It started with Drunk Hanzo pressing the nuclear option and getting his brother involved in his love life. All Hanzo wanted was a man that fulfilled his every need, instead what he got was a brother who tried way too hard and a neighbor that may just fulfill every last dirty fantasy Hanzo ever dreamed of.

It shouldn't matter that Genji's the one with the blossoming career in the adult entertainment industry. It shouldn't matter that Jaxson McCoy, the world's greatest porn star's real name is Jesse McCree and he is living right next door and he is even better looking in real life than on film. And it especially shouldn't matter then that a simple case of mistaken identity could lead him to a man even more interesting and more sensual than anything he had ever seen on screen.

How could any of this be Hanzo's fault?

Relationship/s: Jesse McCree/Hanzo Shimada, Jesse McCree/Gabriel Reyes (past, minor mention)

What I enjoyed about the fic:

This fic had me dead. Seriously. It’s hilarious, well-written, full of the kind of shenaniganary you’d expect from a porn AU. It’s remarkably well-done, frustrating in the best way possible, and blows any romantic sex comedy Hollywood has ever done right out of the water. It’s smart, witty, and delightful, and for anyone over 18+, quite possibly the best explicit fic with plot you’ll have read in a while.

Some “the one that got away” mixed with “dumbasses being dumbasses”, “mistaken identity” and other such fun tropes.

[STILL INCOMPLETE]

Side note: in case y’all think their name sounds familiar, yes, that is the same Asherhyder who created the Roommates webcomic on deviantart. A quality writer/artist who does quality work all around. Blessed is the Overwatch fandom for having them.

Side note 2: there’s a fic series I forgot the name of, but I’m gonna add it to the list later. I’ll also be adding fics that I find striking as I go along. I tend to favor McHanzo, Reaper76, Genyatta and Roadrat, so if you think there’s a fic that should be on this list that isn’t, this is basically just a reflection of my fic reading preferences.

#Overwatch #fanfiction #fic rec #mchanzo #reaper76 #genyatta #roadrat #dad reyes #fic #muchymozzarella

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