Tumgik
#there had better be an s2 I’m so serious
Text
Tumblr media
You’re safe in her arms, and just for a moment, nothing else exists.
5K notes · View notes
saerins · 11 months
Text
Tumblr media
─── 𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐙𝐘
+ gojo satoru x f!readsr | wc 1.8k | content: fluff, slight angst, manga spoilers, friends to lovers, geto is mentioned a lot here, i’m too lazy to proofread !!
notes: i caved , couldn’t help it , i love him and i miss him and i can’t wait for s2 !!! first time writing gojo plus this is word vomit i don’t actually know where i was going with this help :’)
summary: gojo has loved you forever, since back then—and now neither of you can hold back anymore.
Tumblr media
“gojo satoru, you’re insane!”
for any normal guy, that’d probably be an insult. but not for this guy, no, because gojo satoru is not normal. he’s anything but. he’s the pinnacle of power in the jujutsu world. has been ever since he was little.
at least, that’s what you came to understand. thanks to suguru.
it’s as if gojo can sense what you’re thinking of, as though he can teleport himself inside that teeny tiny little crevice in your mind and pick out the information he wants. you’re never safe from him, because he always knows what you’re thinking.
it isn’t exactly a bad thing, but sometimes it scares you. being easy to read has never felt so disappointing. not for yourself, no. but because what upsets you, what you try not to think about all the time, is what upsets gojo too.
suguru’s death. his absence.
Tumblr media
you wonder if gojo ever took suguru here too, teleported him to the top of the highest skyscraper in tokyo. you wonder if suguru liked the view. then you start to wonder if you could’ve been more for him, whether there was something you could’ve done to be enough.
it’s been a couple years now, and you’d think you would get a little better. but you’re starting to think you never will be. and it’s not like you and suguru were together, no. but you used to dream of it.
you see, you and suguru connected on many of the same levels. but then suguru strayed, and it seemed like the boy you once had eyes for became someone else entirely.
“why the long face?” gojo asks, settling next to you, sitting on the edge of the building where he teleported you to just seconds ago, legs dangling over impending death if any were to fall. well, as long as they didn’t have gojo satoru with them.
old you would’ve seen this as an intrusion. but as it is, gojo has always been there for you. maybe not for selfless reasons, maybe because suguru’s departure didn’t just leave you with a deep scar. you imagine it must be much worse for gojo. because as invincible as he is, even the strongest sorcerer has his weaknesses.
suguru happened to be one of them.
maybe, as much as you need him, maybe gojo satoru needs you too.
he’s been unbearably close most of the time, especially when he’s in the country. and when he’s not, he annoys you consistently over the phone whenever he’s free. and even when he’s not, and then you’re talking to gojo while the monsters are wailing in the background.
gojo’s not very serious most of the time. that’s just the way he is. (he gets very scary when he is serious, but you don’t want to get into that.) mostly he makes jokes about anything and everything, but right now—you turn to look at him, beautiful oceanic eyes hidden by that blindfold—you don’t know which version you’re going to get.
over the years, you’d gotten close to gojo too. enough to know his sweet tooth, enough to know his deep guilt towards suguru. and somehow, after the longest time of only looking at suguru that way, you find yourself questioning what this invisible something between you and gojo is.
not his infinity.
“you ever wonder what life would be like if you weren’t born for this?” you ask, because lately you’ve been feeling this way, feeling like you want to run away from here, run away from this… world.
for a moment, you wish you could be a normal citizen, ignorant to the woes of having to deal with curses, with the woes of having to watch people you know leave this plane far too soon.
you feel gojo’s finger brushing against yours, something that always catches you off guard because he rarely lets his infinity down. your pinkies are intertwined now, and you feel the butterflies forming in your stomach.
“you mean if i didn’t have the six eyes?” gojo grins, and you find yourself wanting to see beyond his blindfold. he rarely takes it down, and you can’t remember the last time you’d seen his eyes.
but you control yourself.
a nod, and gojo hums, contemplating. “if i was a normal guy,” he begins, looking heavenward, and you wonder what he’s really thinking. you don’t have his talent. “i’d hope i was rich.”
you laugh, mirroring his position. “and why would you wanna be rich?”
then, gojo turns back to you, his grin turning into a gentle smile, “so that i could escape with you, take you all around the world with me.”
you find yourself wishing it was true. that he’s a normal guy, and you’re a normal girl. hell, maybe suguru would still be around if it was that way. then you wouldn’t have to spend your time worrying about whether curses would take over the city, wouldn’t go to bed wondering if gojo made it safely back home.
gojo satoru is the strongest sorcerer, yes. but you can’t stop the worries from festering. you can’t stop from thinking that maybe there’s an evil in this world you haven’t seen that’s strong enough to take him away from you too.
after all, when they managed to seal gojo in that box, you thought you’d never see him again. you’ve never felt so powerless, being as weak of a sorcerer as you are, barely being able to help anyone, what more gojo satoru.
“going on an eternal holiday with you all over the world, huh? sounds perfect.”
because it is. because maybe after all this time, after all gojo has done for you—be there for you, become your distraction, become your best friend—maybe you’re ready to let go of what you almost had with suguru after all.
you have someone here, right next to you, who’s perfectly capable of making your heart skip beats and taking care of you even during the times you most feel like shit. sure, he can’t be around all the time, it just comes with the job—but he’s always there when it matters. and you think that’s enough.
gojo thinks you’re beautiful in this light, he doesn’t regret bringing you here. can’t say the same for you though, because he’s been teleporting you all around japan today—you’ve been especially mopey lately. and because it’s been ages since he’s spent time like this with you.
he missed you. a lot.
after all, he’s been in love with you ever since he was eighteen. he’s been attracted to you ever since he met you. but back then you had eyes for his best friend, so he bottled all his feelings up.
but then everything with suguru happened way too fast, leaving you heartbroken, apart from gojo himself. and maybe it was selfish of him but you were the only other person he could throw himself on that would be of any use for the heartache he didn’t want.
he wanted you to lean on him, and he wanted to lean on you too.
is he wrong for wondering if, after all this time, you’re ready to let go of whatever it was with suguru?
“satoru,” you call, and gojo flinches slightly at the contact between your fingers and his cheek. you have two fingers on his blindfold. “can i?”
honestly, he’d let you do anything if you asked. he keeps his happy-go-lucky facade up, grinning and baring his teeth, “go ahead.”
the way you take off his blindfold is painfully slow, like you’re careful about treading on this line, afraid that you’d cross some sort of boundary. but he’s always wanted you to, eagerly, patiently waiting for you.
it’s been over ten years now, and his feelings for you are still the way they’ve always been. you’ve always been special, you are.
you tie his blindfold around your wrist; you can keep it for all he cares. he wants to give you his shirts too, wants to see you covered in everything that’s his. is that too much?
his white lashes flutter slowly as you lean in, his breathing getting shallower the closer you are—you can feel his breath against your lips and you’re sure he’s using his infinity to surround you, to make sure you don’t fall. physically. but you think he wants you to fall, for him.
and you’re too weak to deny it any longer.
you want to let yourself fall into it, into gojo satoru, no matter how dangerous it may be and no matter how much weaker you are in comparison. that’s why your lips press against his, and you’re right, because he kisses you back, with urgency, with his tongue prying your lips apart and his heads on the back of your neck pulling you closer.
satoru pulls you in, lets you straddle him on the edge, asks for more when you pull away. his “no, no, no, don’t go,” so needy, whiny—it’s almost like you can feel his yearning from ever since a decade ago.
when satoru finally lets you pull back, his lips shiny from your touch, the blue in his eyes sparkle against the sunlight and you chuckle, pulling the bangs of his hair backwards, admiring how childlike he looks right now.
“you’re so pretty, satoru.”
he cocks a brow, smirking. “you’re one to talk,” because he thinks you’re the prettiest thing he ever laid eyes on. to gojo, you’re everything that’s good; he wants to have you, keep you, love you, he’ll fucking spoil you silly, he doesn’t care.
now that he knows you reciprocate? he’ll make sure he protects you even more now, makes sure that he’ll make time for you whenever possible. this means he gets to be with you, rest with you, be around you—if he’s being too much you’ll tell him off anyway, that’s how you are.
he likes you the way you are. he always has.
now he gets to love you.
fuck, he’s excited.
“i’m never gonna let you go, you know that?” satoru tells you, grinning, boyish and innocent, because he’s only ever been able to fully let his guard down around you. only you.
it’s infectious; you’re falling. and you like it. it feels like you’re on cloud nine, like you’re floating, like he’s—like he’s fucking carrying you while you’re falling from the top of the skyscraper because he’s still the same gojo satoru who’s cheeky as hell and loves to get under your skin.
you scream and punch him on his chest continuously, not that it hurts him. he’s laughing, that devil. then he teleports you both to the ground instead, still laughing. tears form at the corners of your eyes—you’re pouting, and god you’re so beautiful.
“don’t be scared, baby, i told you i’m never gonna let you go,” he winks and you punch him, hard. he winces this time.
“gojo satoru, you’re fucking insane. i hate you.”
“you’re a horrible liar, baby.”
you are. because you love him. dearly. no matter how infuriating he is sometimes.
you roll your eyes. “you’re lucky i like you, satoru.”
he grins, because yes, he knows. he knows he’s lucky. and he’ll make sure he keeps this luck, forever.
983 notes · View notes
ist4rgirlo · 9 months
Text
─ 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 - 𝐜.𝐟 : 𝐈𝐈𝐈
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Summary: Now that your life has turned upside down, are you still willing to put your siblings' feelings first? Or would you rather fight for your feelings and do what makes you happy regardless of the consequences that might result in the future?
Prev ; Next || Conrad Fisher x fem!reader || My blog
Warnings: S2 SPOILERS! swearing, fluff (lmk if i missed anything!)
SEQUEL TO BEFORE EVERYTHING HAPPENED.
───────────────────────────
Steven’s Pov
“Conrad? man?” I called out for him — walking towards him, he was there standing near the shore with his phone in his hands.
“I’m okay, Steven” Conrad replied — his back still turned to me, shaking his head. “What’s happening man?” I asked, walking closer to him — genuinely concerned after seeing him stand up so abruptly earlier.
“Panic attack. I-I’m okay, i’m okay now” Conrad replied shaking his hand — like it was normal for him to have this kind of incident, like it happened to him before. “Okay, do-do you want to tell me what got you worked up or should we just pretend this didn’t happen?” I asked him — walking closer.
“I-I got into stanford” he turned around — his face filled with worry. My face started to lighten up “What? Are you serious?” I smiled.
“Yeah man, my mom has this fantasy about me finding myself in the west coast” He said, his voice filled with panic. My brows furrowed “Okay but Connie, this is a good thing. You’ve been dreaming about it, about getting into stanford”
“Well but it doesn’t make sense anymore you know. I-It… It’s just things are starting to get better with Jere and he’s going to Finch in the fall which is close to Brown so.” Conrad looked at me. I went and grabbed his shoulder gently “But.. but you don’t need to choose right this second okay? Just talk to him.”
He shook his head no “He doesn’t even know about it, he doesn’t know that I applied. Just please don’t tell him.” I just nodded then walked beside him patting his back — respecting his decision.
The things he would do for his brother, it was always him who puts his family above anything. It was his dream — to get into Stanford, it was also his mom’s dream, he wanted to go, it was a great opportunity but he can’t, he chose not to so fuck it I guess.
“Let’s go?” I asked — walking beside him. He looked at me and nodded before stopping, pulling his phone out “Oh and Steve” I turned around and stopped walking too.
“She’s coming” Conrad said — smiling gently, his eyes lighting up, handing me his phone. My brows furrowed — confused with who he was talking about. Who “she”? is, i looked at his phone then it all clicked, the only one who was missing.
“My sister?” I whispered — looking at my sister’s text that says ‘I’m coming tomorrow’. I looked at Conrad — he had a big smile on his face. He looks so happy, this means its true.
We’re finally complete. She’s finally here, my sister is finally here. God I could cry because of how happy I am. It’s been so long, i’m finally seeing her — we’re finally seeing her.
“Holy shit” I whispered under my breathe before going up to Conrad to hug him. Conrad chuckled “I’m glad she’s coming, we’re finally complete, Steve.” he pulled away and smiled.
“Omg let’s go, we need to fix her room!” I said giddily — jumping up and down before pulling Conrad with me towards the house.
───────────────────────────
THE NEXT DAY
Conrad’s Pov
Today was the day — Y/N was coming. She finally answered. It was just me and Steven who knows, we didn’t tell the rest because we thought that it would be a good surprise. It wasn't just me and Jeremiah who didn't see her for so long, it was also her siblings.
There was her car, she's finally here - with us. I saw her hop out of her car, with a bag in her hand. I walked towards here - smiling gently. The moment she saw me, she smiled so big and walked towards me "Hi" she said, her voice so gentle.
God how I missed her. She was still so beautiful, so stunning. The one I have been waiting for. I reached out for her hand, she held mine back.
I smiled — looking at her in the eyes. "Hey there" she looked down, giggling softly. I missed that sound. God I missed everything about her, I missed my bestfriend.
I went and grabbed the bag from her hand and guided her inside the house to surprise everyone else. As we went inside the house, we saw Belly going down the stairs — as soon as she saw Y/N, she ran to her and hugged her. Steven came in to the view yelling Y/N’s name before joining his sisters.
"Oh you guys, I missed you so much. I am so so sorry for shutting you guys out, I just needed time for myself." Y/N said to her siblings. I can see that she loves them truly, she just didn't want to hurt them, that's all.
Jeremiah walked inside the living room, Taylor behind him — smiling as they saw Belly and Y/N hugging.
Belly pulled away — tears in her eyes, she shook her head no "No, I am so so sorry for getting mad at you. You were struggling too and I was too insensitive about it. I just.. it just looked like you were so strong so I guess I kind of got jealous about that but I understand, we understand so don't say sorry" she said before pulling Y/N again for a hug.
"Oh my cinderbelly. Stop crying! it's open house, we need to stop Aunt Julia." Y/N said giggling pulling away from both of them. She walked toward Jeremiah and hugged him before going to Taylor — hugging her too.
I went and walked beside her and guided her upstairs to her room. That was much better, her being here. Her going here, us being complete. This just made me want to fight for this house more, this just made me not want to give up.
─────────────────────────
Y/n's Pov
It was definitely good to be back. As soon as I saw Conrad's text, I just had to go here and fight with them. I had to be there beside them.
There will always be a special place in my heart for this house, since it was also special to Susannah. We considered it our home and we will always consider it our home. It is our safe place, forever and always.
As I got done unpacking my stuff, I went down to the kitchen to get some food to eat — until I saw Aunt Julia with Skye. As I was about to go back upstairs, I heard Skye say "Oh, hey, Y/N. I see you're here too" they smiled at me.
I turned around and smiled back at them "Yeah, I just got here earlier" I nodded before walking towards the island “Also are those muffins?” I asked. Skye nodded offering me one but Aunt Julia cut me off.
“Oh those are for the open house” she paused “Morning” smiling gently. I nodded, I looked at the door seeing Jeremiah and Conrad walk in it. They just got done swimming.
“Hey, Jeremiah… Conrad” Skye said, both Conrad and Jeremiah just smiled. “Uhm how are you guys doing now, you know.. since your mom?” Skye asked the boys — their voice filled with worry.
Conrad looked at Jeremiah before answering “Rough” Jeremiah said then Conrad replied “Rougher now that our aunt is stealing our house” he looked — his eyes filled with no emotions.
Aunt Julia turned around — leaning on the table “I am not stealing anything, Conrad. Like it or not, I get to choose what happens and I chose to put it in the market” Aunt Julia said smiling at us sarcastically “You know, you guys should hit the road now, to avoid traffic” I looked at Conrad, waiting for his answer.
Conrad shook his head no “Sorry but we’re not leaving. We’re staying for the open house” he said before walking beside me. Aunt Julia shook her head no “Oh no no, I cant have teenagers laying around here during open house. You guys need to go somewhere else.”
“Just let us stay” I said — trying to convince Aunt Julia, she shook her head “I’m sorry, I don’t have time for this.” she said before walking away.
I just looked at Conrad — he smiled at me gently before guiding me towards the living room.
TIME SKIP
As I went down the stairs, I heard the doorbell ring. I went and walked towards the door to open it. There was a lady with folders in her hand “Hi, what can I do for you?” I asked. “Hello, I’m the realtor. I’m looking for Julia” she said — smiling.
“Oh for the open house?” she nodded — I paused trying to come up with an explanation. "So uhm, the open house has been cancelled. Our apologies, it is totally last minute." I smiled gently. She furrowed her brows, “Sorry but who are you?” she asked, genuinely confused with who I was.
Conrad went beside me — I felt him put an arm around my shoulder “She’s my girlfriend, and she’s right. The house is not for sale” In my confusion, I looked at him, unable to understand why he had called me his "girlfriend", completely forgetting that he was probably doing this just to give us some time “Conrad right? I’m so sorry about your mom” the lady said. Conrad was about to answer when we heard Aunt Julia yell
“Ignore them! the open house will still happen. There’s just a problem with the ac, but it’s not too big of a deal,” she said, walking between us.
The lady's brows furrowed “That is not a small problem Julia, it’s supposed to hit 95 today!” the lady said — Aunt Julia smiled before walking towards her and guiding her outside of the door. When Conrad closed the door, I heard him say, "Hey, I'm so sorry I called you that, I-" I went and patted him on the shoulder.
"It's fine, Connie. It's totally cool, don't worry about it." I said walking towards him — putting an arm around his waist while his arm is around my shoulder. He nodded smiling at me —smiling because it didn’t bother me, smiling because he heard that word again, the word ‘Connie’.
It felt good to call Conrad 'Connie' again. Being back like this felt so good, so unreal - normal and happy, but the word 'girlfriend' sounded much greater especially coming from him. I would say, it did give me butterflies.
─────────────────────────
taglist : @maybankslover @urmomisafinewoman @user3729107491 @melllinaa @anthgoldenhrry @arunabrak @amj2277 @whoisalexa @remuslupinwifee @gulphulp @layanderson @astrvalee @goldenmoonbeam @podiumprincess @johannelis2302nely @silcintilla @smw-96 @apollo3475 @drikawinchester @fangirl-kimora @sanjanapm @milyswrld @scysuxx @starkeylover @fallingforel @mysticalstarlightflower @ifilwtmfc @allnrsnz @yeosxxx @elvishoe69 @be4tric3s
hi everyone!! sorry if it took me so long to update — i was just to tired and i kinda didnt know what to write next but here it is !! i’m sorry if theres mistakes here and there but i hope everyone likes it !!
lmk if you guys want to get tagged :)) lots of love !!
408 notes · View notes
electric-friend · 3 months
Text
listen i know the whole “ed did nothing wrong”/“killing and maiming his his coping mechanism uwu” thing is a super silly joke lol and even i found it funny but it’s kinda just pissing me off.
i just hate that they never really properly resolved ed resorting to violence when he’s upset and that he never really takes accountability for his actions onscreen. and when the side of the fandom that takes no issue at all with the way seeason two was presented makes jokes that show they’re like aware of the vibes they just don’t care bc they hold characters they don’t like and characters they do like to entirely different standards. it’s just annoying lol.
like listen. yeah. ed’s my special little babygirl princess haha i love him. but like. i feel like it’s also ignoring the fact that the violence is actually bad for ed’s mental health and we know this and it’s canonically established.
the same people who make “ed did nothing wrong” jokes literally call people who do the same to izzy bad people. not all of them but like the people aligned with that Side of the fandom.
like first of all we know that canonically though ed’s capable of violence it’s not good for him. that’s a huge part of his character, that he doesn’t want to be Blackbeard. so the jokes ur making leave your favourite character unhappy anyway? and if you’re going to talk like that about ed then why is it a CRIME to do the same about izzy?
i think i’m just kinda annoyed bc people act like if you’re critical of the way the writing failed to give ed a great redemption arc it’s because you’re a racist idiot blind with love for izzy, but in fact, you can remove izzy from the equation entirely and it still sucks because it sucks for ed’s character that his arc was so confusing and we left him in such an uncertain place as a character.
listen, i don’t exactly advertise this bc i feel like people won’t understand, but i’ve been through a lot of trauma, and at times in my life when that’s been a lot fresher for me, i’ve had really serious issues with anger and aggression and lashing out. i think that’s why i connected with izzy and i think it’s why i connected with ed so strongly but also found it so hard to watch the first couple episodes of the second season.
and coming from that place, with that perspective, when i talk about ed being abusive towards izzy and the narrative not being resolved, i am NOT hating on ed and cancelling ed and saying ed is an evil person. what i’m saying is that ofmd s2 took on a really, really complex and serious and intense subject matter, and then the writing failed to carry the weight of that. i love ed, and i feel like his character was let down by us not seeing him clearly express that he’s holding himself accountable for his actions on-screen, or even seeing him healing in relation to his violent impulses that come from his trauma. his killing spree in the finale was really odd in terms of his overall arc and is honestly what threw it all off the most for me. like it’s obvious that scenes regarding ed’s apologies and forgiveness from the crew are supposed to have happened and we maybe just didn’t see all of it, because the season was rushed due to the screen time. but a lot of it is also just poor decisions in the writing and the way ed’s storyline is laid out in the final cut.
to me, saying that ed’s arc was beautiful and perfect and it’s wrong to criticise it or to acknowledge the severity of his mistakes and actions isn’t a form of loving ed. it’s a way of saying you’d rather ed actually not take steps towards healing, just because you want to pretend he didn’t do anything wrong in the first place so you can feel like the better person in the conversation. to me, the people who say ed did no wrong are expressing that they actually don’t love ed.
i mean it’s not that deep, it’s all fictional, but i wish people would look beyond their predisposition to condemning criticism of something they like, and see that there’s a lot of heart, and a lot of really personal experience and real-world context behind the arguments people are making, and that other opinions about the writing in s2 are worth listening to even if they make you uncomfortable at first.
95 notes · View notes
saltpepperbeard · 8 months
Text
OBLIGATORY THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS™ TOWARDS THE NEW OFMD S2 PICTURES
hi y’all. hi besties. every time i think i’m solid and stable on my feet, new footage absolutely pULLS THE RUG OUT FROM UNDER ME ANDNW. EVERY TIME I THINK I’VE SUSSED OUT THEORIES, NEW FOOTAGE IS LIKE LOL NOPE.
So let’s Ramble let’s Discuss because djwndnsnd MANY THOUGHTS HEAD SCRAMBLED-
Tumblr media
So this one is the ✨easiest✨ (IN THEORY), and also so very delightful. BECAUSE LOOK AT THEM. LOOK AT THESE SMILEY SWEETHEARTS. LOOK AT THEIR OUTFITS AND TEA AND FOUND FAMILY VIBES!!!
I would assume this is on a different ship, or maybe on the “floating market” that was teases in one of the articles. I’m of course leaning towards the Red Flag Fleet based on previous material, but I can’t really figure why or WHERE in the season.
Employing help to catch up with the Revenge? Attempting to stay hidden because Stede ran from the Naval Academy and is subsequently a VERY wanted man? A bit of both?
Either way, CUTIES. (Also that SKY 😩😩😩)
Tumblr media
And this one,,, THIS ONE,,,,, 👀? 👀👀🧐🧐???
The first knee-jerk reaction I had to it is an immediate post-reunion shot. He looks very confused—very SHOOK, if you will lol. And he’s still wearing the same shirt he’s been traveling around in for some time. It’s also relatively dingy, which tells me a bit of time has passed.
And that flooring behind him,,, Is that the DECK OF THE REVENGE???
SOOOOOO reunion taking a bad turn? Him tripping back over himself because Ed reacts ENTIRELY differently than he expects? Him just RECOILING in shock???
But then also, I’m like 👁👁, because I feel like it COULD be a misdirect. It COULD be something entirely different. Because I feel like they love doing that with previews lol. Something ENTIRELY innocuous and unrelated to what it APPEARS to look like.
Because, I will say,,, the gloves,,,,,, who is She.
Tumblr media
AND THEN THIS ONE,,, 🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️
does edward teach know i want him carnally
He’s just so so beautiful, but of course we all knew that. WE ALL FIGURED AS MUCH.
I will say though, something that caught my attention in this shot are the marks/cuts on his face. Particularly, the mark/cut on his lip, because it matches up with-
Tumblr media
THIS shot. And this in particular is really scrambling my brain l m a o because,,,
My running theory for this was that it was Ed going through some sort of “battling his past phantoms” type journey, and was working towards healing on his own. LITERALLY on his own, because I also thought this came after him falling off the ship/getting thrown from the ship.
And I ALSO thought that him meeting up with the bunch again would come with happiness/healing as a result.
SO SEEING HIM STILL LOOK SAD AND STOIC WITH A BLUNT??? HONEY????? HONEY DARLING??????? I THOUGHT WE WERE GOOD LMAO WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’RE STILL SAD 😭😭😭
Unless it’s just something more serious, and he IS indeed feeling better. I mean, he doesn’t have his makeup or anything, so he COULD just be in a more grim situation of some sort.
But I digress. #EdDeservesToSmile2kForever
Tumblr media
ANNNNNNND THEN THIS LMAO. THIS. THE MOST CONFUSING OF THE BUNCH RIGHT HERE,,,
The position they’re in,,,,,,, 📸🤨
But what REALLY snagged me was Ed’s facial expression qkdjwjdjw like babe WHAT ARE YOU DOING. WHAT ARRRRR YOU DOING WJDNWN
My brain just immediately shouted “FERAL BEHAVIOR” because that looks like me whenever I’m like 🤪. JUST BUG-EYED AND CHEWING ON FLOOR TILES IDK.
…BUT THAT’S ME GOING BONKERS OVER FOOTAGE SO LIKE QJDJWNS,,, IN WHAT CIRCUMSTANCE WOULD ED LOOK LIKE: THAT.
like is frenchie carrying marmalade and ed saw it and pounced and is like ⚫️👄⚫️
because honestly that’s Valid.
But it’s also VERY interesting, because Ed’s makeup is off, and his HAIR is in that one lovely updo. So again, AGAIN, it makes it very difficult to tell what the motivations are/what the characters are feeling, because it’s like,,, ED BABE ARE YOU GOOD??? DO YOU FEEL BETTER??? OR WHAT AKDJWJDS
Regardless, REGARDLESS, I don’t know how they manage when I’m already through the ceiling, but I’m somehow vibrating at an even GREATER level than before. I cannot, and I mean, CANNOT wait to know the context behind all of these.
And cannot BELIEVE we’ll know in ✨less than a month✨
108 notes · View notes
thatone-brightstar · 10 months
Note
Heyyyy, been loving your stuff recently! After binging season 2 of ‘the bear’ I’ve noticed I absolutely NEED some platonic fluff with the Reader/OC(fox) and Richie where they just comfort him and tell him he’s worth being alive and he amounts to something because episode one was absolutely heartbreaking😭 and I need something to make me feel better for him, especially after all his great character development this seasonnn!!
Hi! I'm glad you like it!
I also only watched ep1 especially to write this because you are so right- not even five minutes in and they had me in tears with the analogy.
So here you go, for you, for me and anyone else that wanted to hug sad Richie through the screen.
PS. I haven't finished S2 yet so don't fret if it's a bit inaccurate.
**********
Purpose (Richie Jerimovich X Platonic Fem!Reader)
Words: 1.4k
(Part of -but not exclusive to- TB&TF universe)
‘Richie emergency. Need help’
Carmy’s text was pretty ambiguous yet sort of straight forward nonetheless. You expected a second one with a bit more context, but you knew with the whole renovation conundrum it was a miracle he even had the head to write the simple sentences in the first place. Plus, knowing the two for almost close to a year didn’t grant you any solace, because a Richie emergency could be either something small like a disagreement or more serious like having to bail someone out of jail. 
The memory doesn’t settle too well in your stomach and your strides grow quicker over the snow covered gravel that invades the space beside the restaurant.
The warmth engulfs you fully once you cross the back, scarf and beanie now unnecessary in the comfortable building. As you make your way to the office, you greet Manny and Angel with a soft pat on the back- so as to not distract them from their tasks- and unwrap the wool fabric from your neck, dropping it over the small bench by the lockers on your way in.
You can hear a soft conversation emanating from the small room, voices matching those of Carmy and Natalie once you’re close enough to the entrance to see them, and they you.
“Hey-” You greet with short breath, stepping into the room and planting a quick kiss on your boyfriend’s cheek, then leaning down to hug Natalie, who’s sitting on the squeaky old chair that just doesn’t seem to break yet. “I brought my mom’s first aid, what’s the emergency?”
“Why?” Carmy asks, confused.
“Well, you just said ‘emergency’ and I thought someone got stabbed again.” You respond confidently, raising the plastic case into view and shaking it lightly.
Carmy huffs out a small laugh while Nat’s expression is one of concern, mumbling a confused ‘again?’ under her breath.
“What? No- everyone’s limbs are good- I think-” He takes the kit from your hands and places it on the desk behind him. “Listen- Richie’s kinda not his usual self right now.”
“And that’s… bad.” You squint your eyes and tilt your head as you try to process his line of thought.
“I’m still debating it-” Nat kicks his foot softly at his answer, shooting him a look that you’d very much use with your younger brother too. “Okay- no but kinda. D’you think you can, like talk to him, maybe-please?”
A heavy sigh escapes as you cross your arms and lean back against the door frame, eyes flicking between the Berzattos. “What d’you even want me to say to him, it's Richie- he’s not the most open book here…”
“No, but you are pretty convincing-” Nat adds. “Something about the face…”
You scoff and shake your head.
“C’mon, babe please? He likes you… and you’re better at this sort of thing than us.”
You bite the inside of your lip in scrutiny for a few seconds, then uncross your arms and push yourself off. “Where is he?” In sync, their arms raise with a pointed finger in direction to the front of house and the slight smile playing over Nat’s face has you rolling your eyes. “There’s a hole on your wall- by the way.” You tell them, pointing loosely to your left, before disappearing again down the corridor.
Richie’s exactly where they said, behind the now empty counter, with small pieces of tape hanging from the tips of his fingers and eyes deeply concentrated on something on the bar. He looks up for a second when your shadow obscures his view and gives you a single nod. You place your forearms over the slightly dusty counter and rest your chin above your hands, trying to be as quiet as possible while he struggles to tape down the hole in the center of an old poster.
“It’s easier if you tape it from the back-” 
“I know how to fix a fuckin’ poster, alright?”
“-Okay” You say defensively.
“I know how to do things- I’m not some fuckin’ useless moron…” He says under his breath and the wounded expression that slips from the veil furrows your brows.
“No one said you were, Rich.”
“Good, cause I’m not.” His eyes flicker up again, expecting a taunting look on your face that didn’t correlate to your words, but found nothing more than your undivided attention. “What’re you doing here anyway? Kindergarten let you out early?” 
You’re shoulders shake with a short laugh and a thin smile pulls at his lip at your reaction.
“Just wanted to say hi, see how everyone’s doing…” You shrug, looking around the half packed room and to the newspaper covered windows that give the place a somber feel. “The place looks shitty...er.”
“Yeah- but your boyfriend’s got it all under control-” His tone is slightly irritated as he angrily pulls at the tape that’s beginning to stick to his skin. “Syd and Nat got it all under control- I don’t even know why I’m still here.”
“Cause we all need you here.” Richie’s eyes turn to you with a sheer hope that he tries to hide with a humorless scoff.
“For what? To be the butt of the joke?” He clears his throat and shakes his head, looking back down and picking mindlessly at the tape. “Nah, they don’t need me here. This is Carmy’s thing- like painting’s yours and all the gay- sorry, fruity- desserts are Marcus’ thing… I ain’t got a thing.” 
“Course you do.” You answer like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “You know more about this place than any of us- Carmy included. Plus, who else is gonna keep him in check when he goes off on a tangent?”
“You.” He shrugs.
“But I’m not always gonna be here-”
“You’re breakin’ up again?”
“What? No-” You sigh and reach a hand to your hair, before remembering all the dust over your palm and putting it back down instead. “I meant… that these guys need someone to look out for them. Yeah, this-” You move your hand around the space. “is Carmy’s and Syd’s and Nat’s thing but, it’s also yours too.”
He keeps his gaze focused on his hands, but you can slightly see the tint starting to cover the edge of his baggy eyes. He’s quiet for a while, soaking up your words and letting them settle in his head beside the dark thoughts that you know a bit too well.
“Then what? What're they gonna do with me when they don’t need me anymore?” He speaks again with a hoarse voice, harshly sniffing back and raising his head to the ceiling. “They're the only family I got. Mickey’s gone- you took Carmy.” He points loosely to you and an amused blow leaves your nose. “This place… shithole n’ all, it’s all I got. And now it’s gonna be gone too. Where am I gonna fit in the new place?”
“It’s not gonna be gone if… you keep the memory with you.” You smile warmly up at the man and slowly reach out to press the tiny pieces of sticky plastic already popping off the poster. “And the guys are gonna be the talent, but the new place is still gonna need a soul.”
Richie nods slowly, brows creased as if not fully convinced. He opens his mouth but nothing comes out, doubting whether to ask.
“...I’m the soul, right?”
“You’re the soul.” You respond between laughs, with a shake of your head and Richie joins in timidly.
Your brows rise as your eyes land on the messy scribbling over an empty pizza box discarded beside you. You pull it closer in hopes that the writing will make more sense, but all you can make out is a few words and sums that are definitely not being added correctly.
“30k plus 50k equals 70k…who made these?” You ask Richie.
He leans down, eyes squinted and trying to read through. “I think those are Carmy’s chicken scratchings…”
You copy his stance and squint your own eyes in hopes to make out the words, then bite your lip to stop the small giggle when you read through the operations. Two or three sums are crossed out with another sitting beside it, underlined twice to confirm that it’s the correct one, though it’s just as wrong as the other two.
“Oh, my poor man…” You sigh in amusement and turn to his cousin. “See? Tangent.”
**********
91 notes · View notes
turniplemonade · 12 days
Text
i feel like people just don’t get heart break high in the way they’re supposed to? idk like i see people reducing a lot of characters down to single things. i came into s2 expecting certain characters to be evil or horribly annoying because that’s what everyone was saying. for example rowan, sasha or zoe but honestly they didn’t meet any of those expectations for me personally.
yes sasha has some problems and is extremely overcompensating in her attempt to be inclusive and progressive but i feel like this is just something she will learn how to be better at with age? i mean she is a caricature of a chronically online twitter user but i really don’t think anything she did was bad enough for her actress to get that much hate. she definitely needs to learn from her mistakes and get out of her current mindset. especially in how she treated quinni in s1
zoe was not that annoying really. she had opposing opinions to the main cast and was a little rude but i couldn’t care less honestly and also because she’s the ONLY plus size character it really makes me wonder why she is getting so much backlash🙄. i don’t think anything she did is that much worse than some of the fuck ups the main group do.
i see a lot of takes that rowan is “psycho” and that he was just using malakai to get back at amerie and yea we don’t know his motives for sure but it is a really negative view point for a character that’s been canonically proven to suffer from heavy grief and mental illness. he was seeing the world skewed and eventually did realise amerie isn’t to blame for the death of his brother. i don’t think he ever intended to let her and harper die. you could see that he was caught up in his emotions and needed talking down and serious help. i’m not excusing him leaving the birds for amerie but i think his character needs to be treated with empathy and understanding.
i think what amerie said at the end when she was talking to rowan sums it up. they’re just teenagers and a lot of bad things have happened to them. sorry this silly/sometimes serious aussie show has consumed my thoughts
18 notes · View notes
a-literal-toaster-wtf · 11 months
Text
Arnold J. Rimmer is autistic: a (in)complete list of evidence
let me preface this by saying i am autistic so what i say goes <3
but on a serious note, there is SO much evidence that rimmer is autistic and i’m here to display it all, i guess! everything i list here i also experience, so trust me on this one.
1. special interests and attachment to certain items
i think the most obvious example of this would be in s3 e2 “marooned”. he has such a strong attachment to his soldier figures (forgive me i cannot remember what they are called) and his camphorwood chest he’s literally willing to burn *his 20k+ dollarpounds* instead. in this episode he also mentions that as a child, when his favourite shoes were ruined he cried for weeks. he even mentions that he himself was thrown into the septic tank, not specifically his shoes - but he focuses on the shoes. he obviously had a very strong attachment to those shoes - stronger than an allistic kid probably would.
now, special interests - you cannot tell me his obsession with the military isn’t a special interest. as a person with special interests, his strong fixation on military history reminds me of how i interact with my special interests. i also believe that aliens and space were definitely a special interest for him in s1 - s2, but he doesn’t seem to bring it up much after that - but losing special interests or having them come on and off is definitely a thing that happens to me, so it can happen for him too.
2. missing the point/not looking at the bigger picture and focusing on small details instead
once again, citing marooned for this one. when lister tells rimmer he lost his virginity at 12 years old on a golf course, rimmer instead realises that at that age lister would not be able to be a full member of the golf club, meaning he would be trespassing - instead of the obvious point that 12 is VERY young to be having sex. another example of something going over rimmer’s head is in s2 e5 “queeg”, when lister tells rimmer the “shoes have soles” joke, it completely goes over his head - and when you think he’s going to figure out that it’s a joke, he instead says “how did the shoes open the car door?”
3. stimming
over the course of the show i have picked up on a LOT of different ways i’ve seen rimmer stim. here are the ones i’ve compiled:
bouncing leg
chewing/biting nails
biting fist
doing that little subtle bounce on his heels
swinging arm
pacing
honestly at this point i’m convinced his classic salute is a stim, as he’s seen doing it out of excitement in s2 s2 “better than life” when receiving news he’d past his exam (he also does it twice in a row for no reason at the end of tongue tied)
there’s probably more that i’m missing lol.
4. missing social cues
in s4 e6 “meltdown”, lister and cat are very obviously not interested in the story rimmer is telling - but he continues telling it nonetheless, not realising they don’t want to keep listening. while this could’ve been just him ignoring that they don’t want to listen, i’m choosing to think it’s the former option. he also wasn’t aware that gazpacho soup was served cold, which should be general knowledge for someone of his age. there’s probably other examples of this happening but i’m getting tired and can’t be bothered searching.
and now: a list of things that i’ve noticed but either don’t know how or can’t be bothered to expand on!
misophonia
hearing electricity
trouble keeping relationships
heavily bullied in childhood (and in adulthood too)
trouble with initiative (“i never think for myself!”)
low empathy
need for routine and organisation
similarly, organises things for fun
this is all the evidence i can think of at the moment, but if anyone has anything to add feel free!! i’ll probably end up adding more to this in time.
81 notes · View notes
scoopertrouper · 10 months
Note
Was thinking about Barb’s funeral, the Hollands greeting Nancy and assuming she’s still with Steve + her surprise when Steve shows up.
no idea what it is about your prompts (if that was, indeed, what this even was lol), but damn.
every time i think - that's it! i'm going to write Steve and Nancy together now - i get a query like this, that digs deep inside my brain and won't let go until it's out. and then i saw this screenshot (because truthfully i had to do some googling to refresh my memory, it's been a minute since i did a full s2 rewatch) and it was game over.
this is maybe a little messy and not EXACTLY what you asked for, but I do hope, even so, that it seems true - true to the characters, and true to who they are at this particular moment in time (which, yes, is a warning for some fairly mild J&N content, if you can't hang with that at all).
it's all about the liminal spaces, man.
*~*~*
Nancy’s coat is too warm.
That’s the first thought that comes to her, staring at a coffin that will, within the hour, sit buried beneath the ground. 
Barb’s face smiles distantly at her through an altogether too-cheerful wreath of roses, next to the empty coffin as hollow as the hole it’s soon to be lowered into, and all Nancy thinks is – “I should’ve worn a different coat.” 
It’s true that it’s unseasonably warm for an early December day. But even so, the smart black blazer she’s chosen should, in theory, be perfectly appropriate for the weather. 
And yet Nancy is stifling – barricaded in by a gravesite to her front, and Jonathan to her left, and Barb’s perpetually smiling, two-dimensional face to her right. Warmth is creeping up her neck, and under her armpits, and between the shallow valley of her breasts, and she longs to rip off all her layers, to take off running until the breeze cools the sweat she can’t stop from trickling down her back.
This should be comforting, right? This is what she’s longed for – a resolution for Barb, for her parents. Acknowledgment that she’s not just missing, with all the implications that can come with that. She’s dead, and someone (something) has been held responsible for it, and now they finally get to say their last goodbyes. 
But what has this whole year been for Nancy, if not one long, drawn-out goodbye? A goodbye to Barb, to her innocence, to the ability to even walk down the driveway at night without jumping at the smallest sounds. 
A goodbye to…no. Nancy shakes herself. She’s not going there. Not today, at least.
“Nancy?” Jonathan nudges her, concern plain on his face (plain to her, anyway, and she’s grateful she’s gotten to know him well enough to read that). “I know the Rotary Club’s wreath is pretty ugly, but setting it on fire with your eyes isn’t gonna make it better.” 
It’s exactly the kind of dumb-serious joke she needs to jolt her from the death stare she’s been leveling at the casket for the past five minutes, and it’s doubly effective because it’s Jonathan, whose quips usually masquerade as wry commentary on the disarray of his life. (Nancy’s new place in it notwithstanding, of course. She thinks.)
But it’s also jarring, knocking her even more off-axis because, well, telling stupid jokes to snap Nancy out of it when she’d get too far inside her own head was usually how – 
No. 
Not. Thinking. About. It.
Because Nancy’s not thinking about…it, she slips her hand into his. It’s chapped, but warm, and it fits better against hers with every passing day. Even if sometimes she’s startled to find the fingers are too long and the palm too narrow. 
She gives him her best attempt at a smile.
“Sorry. This is…a lot harder than I thought it would be,” she admits. Then, because it feels right, she squeezes his hand. “Thanks for coming with me today.”
Jonathan opens his mouth to speak, but before she can find out what he plans to say, a familiar voice cuts in.
“Nancy?” It’s Barb’s mom. “Oh, honey, I’m so glad you made it.”
Just the sight of her – red-rimmed eyes, clearly in between bouts of crying – makes Nancy’s throat ache.
“I wouldn’t miss it,” she replies, returning the surprisingly fierce hug Mrs. Holland offers. She resists the overwhelming impulse to squeeze her own eyes shut. 
Nancy had been prepared to give up far more than she’d ultimately had to to ensure this day would come – but everything she’d been ready to sacrifice would still have paled in comparison to the totality of this woman’s loss.
“It’s not the way I’d hoped our search would end,” Mrs. Holland sniffs, dabbing at her eye with a well-used tissue, “but at least this way, we get to say goodbye.”
She doesn’t look particularly grateful – in fact, she looks gutted, like she’s been turned inside out and scraped down to the last ragged, exposed nerve. 
For one wild moment, Nancy wonders if it would have been better for them to spend the rest of their lives wondering. Living with the hope that Barb was still out there somewhere, and might find her way home to them. 
Wonders if the closure she’d been trying to secure for them had actually been a selfish disservice. Not everyone, after all, is as desperate for the truth – as willing to compromise everything to get it – as Nancy. She’s realizing that, now.
But it’s too late to wonder. What’s done is done, and at least now they have something to visit when they miss her.
Mrs. Holland seems to have drawn herself back together, and Nancy’s prepared for her to move on, to steel her spine and greet the next group of sympathizers, but instead she’s casting her eyes around.
“Where’s Steve, honey? I’d love to say hi to him before the ceremony starts, he was always so sweet to come with you to see us.”
Jonathan stiffens beside her, and for a full five seconds Nancy freezes – no thoughts, no breathing, heart displaced into her throat. 
Even through the haze of her own grief, it doesn’t take Mrs. Holland long to clock Jonathan, standing closer to Nancy than most good friends would, or to recognize the tension apparent in both their postures. Nancy doesn’t let go of his hand, but it’s a very near thing.
She doesn’t know what excuse she’s going to stammer out to break the stilted silence – doesn’t even know what, exactly, she’s trying to excuse – when she’s saved by the best, worst interruption.
“Hey, Mrs. Holland. Sorry I’m a little late, I got held up at the doctor’s office.”
He appears over Mrs. Holland’s shoulder like a shadow – a shadow with at least half-a-head’s height on her. He cuts a darker figure than Nancy is used to, dressed for the occasion as he is in somber charcoals and blacks. 
(With an uncomfortable start, she realizes she recognizes the sweater he’s wearing. She’s the one who’d picked it for him, an impulse buy on a lazy Saturday afternoon at the Bloomington Gap. It looks as good on him in person now as she’d imagined it would then.)
The plain delight on Mrs. Holland’s face goes a long way toward easing the worst of the awkwardness. Steve accepts her hug and congenial pat on the cheek with a surprised smile, and it’s clear that he’s touched by how touched Barb’s mom is.
“Thank you for coming, Steve. It means the world to see people showing up for our Barb.”
“Wouldn’t miss it, Mrs. Holland,” he says, echoing Nancy’s sentiments with full sincerity. 
Nancy is overwhelmed by a shame that rakes claw marks up the inside of her throat, because hadn’t she just been prepared to explain away his absence based on the assumption that he would?
This, for whatever reason, wasn’t an eventuality she’d prepared herself for, even considering he’d diligently showed up to every dinner with (somewhat) minimal complaint, had made polite conversation through the most painful pauses, and had somehow managed to win over Barb’s parents to the extent that her mother was asking after him at their daughter’s funeral.
(If Barb could only see them now.)
Through all of this, he doesn’t look at Nancy once, and that absence lands about as gently as a haymaker to her solar plexus. 
“Well.” Mrs. Holland clears her throat, appearing seconds away from dissolving again. “Don’t be strangers. We’d love to have you both –” she catches herself, eyes darting between them, and then Jonathan, and then back, “– we’d love to have you over sometime for dinner again soon.”
With a brief parting squeeze of Nancy’s shoulder, she moves on to Karen and Ted, and Nancy lets out a tight breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. 
Finally, with no other distractions at hand, Steve acknowledges them, proffering a brief nod he doesn’t wait to see returned before he’s crossing to Jonathan’s left, settling a careful handful of paces away from them. 
It stings, and Nancy considers saying something – what does she have a right to say, really? – but there’s no time, because the service is already starting.
It’s excruciating.
It’s barely 30 minutes long, and Nancy feels every single second of them. Almost immediately, Mrs. Holland loses the composure she’d managed to cling to through talking to Nancy, Steve, and Nancy’s parents, and now she’s sobbing into her husband’s shoulder, heaving sounds that echo painfully across the cemetery.
Steve is standing several feet away, still as a stone, but she feels his presence so acutely that he might as well be as close to her as Jonathan currently is. 
She wishes he hadn’t come at all. Wishes he could make it easy for her to turn the page away from the Steve-and-Nancy chapter of her life – wishes she could write him off as an obvious mistake that dragged on way too long before crashing to its inevitable conclusion.
Instead, he keeps stubbornly defying her expectations. Letting her go with Jonathan with unbearable grace. Keeping her brother and his friends safe (even after he’d already been beaten to shit). Showing up for Barb’s funeral when he’d known she’d be here and had every reason not to come.
It’s maddening, because – look, she doesn’t regret her choice, okay? Jonathan is just – he’s a better fit. He’s been there for her, been with her, and he gets her. He gets that sometimes you can’t create understanding by explaining.
Gets that – that anger entwined with despair that she can’t control, this huge, black feeling inside that festers and grows until it demands an outlet, requires a purpose or a target so that it doesn’t turn inward and hit self-destruct. 
She doesn’t have to describe that to Jonathan – not in words – and it’s a relief, because she wouldn’t even know where to begin. 
So no, what she’s experiencing isn’t regret – at least, it doesn’t usually feel like it. But sometimes it might get close, on the odd occasion she sees him around school, tossing his perfect hair and flashing his surprisingly kind smile. All good looks and casual charm, with that little bit of Steve Harrington je ne sais quoi that Nancy has always admired and resented in equal measure (especially when it has girls twirling their hair at him in study hall, from the seat that used to be Nancy’s).
Or on the evenings when she can see his Beemer through the living room picture window, passenger side doors flinging open so that Dustin – usually only Dustin, but sometimes Dustin plus Lucas, or Max, or even Mike – can spill out into the street, chattering a mile a minute, shouting back at the driver’s side even as they make their way to the front door.
Especially during times like those, she can’t help but wonder – if he’d been like this while they were still dating, would that have changed things? Or was he always like this, and she was too wrapped up in herself and her guilt to notice?
She doesn’t like the way it makes her feel, to think about that, so she usually pushes it out of her mind. 
Nancy has spent far too long feeling far too terrible about things that are far outside of her control, and she’s just – she’s tired. Exhausted. Because she did what she set out to do: she got Barb’s parents the answers they needed to move on. 
Even if it doesn’t feel as good, as victorious, as final as she thought it would – it’s done. And now, it’s time for her to move on. From everything. Including Steve Harrington.
(Hopefully.)
She spends much of the remainder of the service in a fuzzy, numb fugue, barely aware of more than the anchor of Jonathan’s hand and the sound of Mrs. Holland crying, which has quieted to small snuffles that are somehow worse than the sobbing. 
It’s terrible – she’s been waiting for this moment, this closure, for more than a year – but now, she can’t wait for it to end. Needs it to end so that she can shove the dull hurt into the overstuffed closet in her mind, right next to her anger and whatever it is she still feels when she looks at Steve. So that she can lock it up and walk away from it for good.
She’s been waiting for this for more than a year, but the next ten minutes feel even harder to get through than that. 
But finally, the end comes. The reverend says a final prayer, the casket is lowered into the open grave, and Barb Holland is put to rest, in spirit if not in body. 
Nancy doesn’t think she’s been crying, but when she lifts her face and feels the breeze against the damp-tight skin of her cheeks, she realizes she must’ve been. She was warm before, but now she’s cold, and she wipes the tear tracks from her face with her sleeve. 
The Hollands are still standing in a tight clutch over the gravesite, showing no signs of moving anytime soon, but Nancy doesn’t know if she can stay another minute. 
(She doesn’t think she’s needed for this part, anyway.)
“Nancy?” Jonathan murmurs at her, asking without asking if she’s ready to leave, taking her small nod as tacit assent. 
As they’re turning to go, she accidentally locks eyes with Steve, who’s turning in the same direction, and she barely stops herself from flinching back.
There’s a barely-there line of bruising still visible on the right side of his forehead, and all at once, she remembers that he’d said he was late because he’d been held up at the doctor’s. 
Her first impulse is to ask – are you okay? Nothing about the way Billy Hargrove had brutalized his face was within the bounds of a normal high school fight, and it makes her sick that that shithead is still swaggering around school like he owns it, hitting up parties and leaving a trail of swooning rejects in his wake.
But are you okay? is the kind of privileged information she doesn’t have a right to anymore – and the question is too broad for her to be brave enough to want to know how he’d answer. So she bites her tongue against asking, swallows it down and instead says – 
“Thanks for coming today.” It’s barely a whisper, and he and Jonathan are both visibly surprised. “You didn’t have to.”
Steve’s mouth flattens.
“Of course I did,” he responds immediately. “Jesus, Nancy, I’m not that big of a –” He fumbles his words and looks covertly around, clearly rethinking whatever he was about to say based on the surroundings and circumstances. “I was just – I was never not gonna come, okay?”
He mumbles it, staring at the ground with his hands stuffed in his pockets, and Nancy feels that sense of shame clawing up her throat again. Sometimes, she forgets. Sometimes, she gets so caught up in the fact that Barb died because Nancy left her that she forgets – it was his pool.
She doesn’t know what to say; somehow, she doesn’t think I’m sorry is gonna cut it for this or anything else that’s happened over the last couple of months, and she’s not even completely sure what she’d be apologizing for in the first place. But she tries. 
“No, Steve, I didn’t mean it like –” He cuts in before she can even form half of a coherent sentence, rocking back on his feet.
“It’s fine, no big,” he exhales in a rush. “Anyway, I gotta go get Dustin before he blows, like, a year’s allowance trying to beat Max’s Centipede score. So. Uh, see you both around school, I guess.”
She thinks both she and Jonathan make some vague noises of agreement, but he’s already escaping down the hill to his car in fast, long steps. 
Out of the blue, she realizes that he must’ve shortened his stride for her when they were together. There’s no way she’d have been able to keep up, otherwise. 
(Funny, considering it always felt like he was the one who needed to catch up to her.)
If this had happened just two months ago, Nancy thinks, she would’ve been standing next to him during the service. Holding on to him, and matching (trying to match) his steps. Sliding into the front passenger seat of his car like she belonged there. Maybe he would’ve driven away with just one hand, keeping hers in the other – or maybe he would’ve given her a soft, lingering kiss to try to chase the day’s troubles away. 
It wouldn’t have worked, but she would’ve liked the feeling anyway. 
That was then, though. Now, she’s following Jonathan to his little clunker that starts as often as it doesn’t. And he can’t hold her hand, because he needs both to manage the wonky steering. 
But he’ll distract her by asking which tape she wants to listen to on the way back to his place, and when they get there he’ll hold her in silence until she feels like talking. And that – that works, too.
It’s not perfect. It won’t make the itching under her skin go away, and it won’t quell the constant urge she has to do and solve and act. But in its own way, it’ll feel as nice as soft kisses over the dashboard, and isn’t that enough? 
Nothing is perfect, which is a truth that sometimes it feels like Nancy is taking the most painful path possible toward learning. Life is, as it turns out, a series of compromises. Maybe the Hollands won’t ever learn how their daughter truly died, but then again, maybe the almost-truth is good enough. It serves the same purpose, regardless.
Nancy has made her choices. They’re not perfect, not even close, but they’re her own, and she’s happy with them. 
Happy enough.
62 notes · View notes
house-afire · 1 month
Text
Scientific Reasoning (Frenchie/Izzy, post-S2)
Prompt: 100 words of unusual logic
No matter how often Izzy insisted his gut-wound had healed up soundly, Frenchie—irritating twat—only had to see him wince once, and he’d order Izzy off-duty.
The fucking crew didn’t even have the decency to object to this.
“You are looking kind of tired, Izzy,” Fang said.
“Plus you’re even more of a dick when you’re hurting,” Lucius added. “And you just threatened to drown me in a water barrel, so ….”
Everyone nodded at that.
“We’ll know you’re back to normal when you just stick to yelling about maiming,” Jim said.
Izzy glared at them all and stomped off.
“Feel better!” Oluwande called after him.
He was tempted to go back to his old room, but turning himself out of Frenchie’s bed felt too much like a childish sulk even to him. He wouldn’t seem beleaguered; he’d just look like a cunt. He headed to the captain’s quarters instead.
He hadn’t realized Frenchie was already there. Two months of this—whatever it was—and he still felt a catch in his chest when Frenchie gave him that easy smile.
Felt more than that when Frenchie kissed the scowl off him and untied his cravat, his fingers a hot brush against Izzy’s throat.
Izzy wanted to just sway into his hands—maybe get down on his knees and do the kind of job he would fucking hope Frenchie would still let him handle on his own—but he couldn’t keep on being coddled like this. He had to say so, so he did. So he said it against Frenchie’s neck and had his teeth scraping Frenchie’s jawline for half of it, fine, that didn’t mean it hadn’t been fucking said.
Besides, Frenchie understood him anyway. “If it makes you feel better,” he said, letting Izzy steer him over to the bed, “I thought about it, and this—” He grazed his hand over Izzy’s latest scar, like it wasn’t an ugly red mess, like it was a gorgeous knee-knocker of a thing just for being there, when it could have just been an open wound in a cold corpse. “This is the last serious hit you’re ever going to take. So once you’re all healed up—”
“I fucking am!���
“Once Roach says you’re all healed up,” Frenchie said, being too clearheaded for a man getting his trousers undone, “then the way I see it is, you’ll be more or less bulletproof, won’t you?”
Izzy boggled at him. “How the fuck do you figure that?”
“Glad you asked,” Frenchie said, lying back and putting his hands behind his head. “Since we met, you’ve been shot twice, yeah?”
“Nice of you to keep track.”
“Well, the first time, Ed made me the new first mate. And the second time, one thing leads to another, power vacuum, B&B openings, all that—I get elected captain. So I feel bad about it, but I think you only get shot so I can get promoted. And I’m at the top of the career ladder now, so you’re—”
“Bulletproof,” Izzy said.
“Just logic, really,” Frenchie said. “Scientific reasoning.”
It was fucking nonsense. And Frenchie looked so satisfied with it that there was no way he didn’t know it: Izzy knew the way he looked when he’d come up with a line of pure bullshit that’d outfoxed some deserving asshole of a mark, and it was this exact pose: all cheerful accomplishment and like butter wouldn’t melt in that pretty mouth of his. Only this time, Izzy supposed it was fate Frenchie was looking to outfox.
He was too old to believe that sort of thing was possible. But he was also old enough that his edges had started to fucking crumble, and he wasn’t hard and sharp enough anymore to see the worth in putting out the light in someone’s eyes. In making them admit that the world was harsh and unkind.
He wasn’t even that interested in making himself admit it, these days. When he was with Frenchie and the rest of them, he wasn’t even all that sure it was true.
Izzy couldn’t say any of that, though. It’d be a snake eating its own tail, and its tail would taste like fucking treacle besides.
Instead, he said, “I’ll be shit-out-of-luck if we ever get a fleet, then. Best keep a pistol loaded if you want to make admiral.”
Frenchie curled one hand over the back of Izzy’s neck and pulled him down.
“I’m good without it,” he said. “Who needs a fleet, when you come down to it? I don’t want a number two ship. Just a number one Iz.”
Izzy closed his eyes, something inside him stuttering and stilling.
“Then we’ll both do fine,” he said. “‘Captain’ sounds better than ‘Admiral’ anyway.”
“It’s just got more verve to it,” Frenchie agreed. He traced Izzy’s scar again, that same achingly stunned look on his face. “Don’t think I could ever go for anything else.”
19 notes · View notes
jewomens · 9 months
Text
Neil Gaiman mentioned earlier this summer that he wrote Crowley as Jewish, and lately I’ve been curious how that plays into his S2 arc of questioning and disillusionment.
Obviously Crowley isn’t ethnically or religiously Jewish, but it’s a pretty major part of Judaism and Jewish identity to question God and reinterpret the Torah as times change, and he specified that this was what he was referring to when discussing Crowley’s Jewishness.
His parallels to Christians who lose their faith are far more immediately apparent, so I could just be grasping at straws here, but there’s something about the way Crowley doesn’t fit easily inside Christian mythos, how he’s the first to really embrace life on Earth, and how he routinely dismisses Heaven and Hell that has a distinctly Jewish feel to it.
It’s also implied he had a closer relationship to God and Metatron than many of the other supernatural characters. When he tries to talk to God in S1E4, his tone is casual, and his language implies that God spoke to him at some point about His/Her plans for humanity. It’s almost as if he’s talking to a friend, which is a huge contrast to Aziraphale’s attempt to contact Him/Her (i.e. the ritual circle). Crowley’s also the first to recognize Metatron when he comes to Earth in S2, even after several instances of forgetting angels and demons he worked with previously.
This isn’t to say that Jews are somehow closer to God than Christians, just that - from what I’ve seen - Jews tend to have a more casual, interpersonal approach to their relationship with God than many more serious Christians. For example, the ideal of being “godfearing” seems to be more prominent and highly praised in Christian communities than Jewish ones, and the disparity between God and humans in Christianity (that God is infallible and perfect, and the humans are born tainted with sin) is really not a major part of Judaism at all. Rather, Jews see humans (and the Jewish people specifically) as having a role in making the world a better place, and that Satan is a tool of God’s to help challenge people to be better than their baser instincts. While I can’t speak to Crowley’s beliefs on that, his lack of total deference without any outright hostility seems more similar to the Jewish relationship to God than the Christian one.
That implied closeness could also be a hint at Crowley’s angelic alter-ego, and it might have nothing to do with Judaism. Unfortunately there’s no real way of confirming one way or the other until the third season comes out.
Either way, it’s fun to think about. Explorations of Jewish thought and relationship to God (particularly those written by someone with Jewish heritage) are few and far between, so it was an interesting idea to play with. Any thoughts/questions totally welcome! Most of this was fun speculation on my part, so I’m curious to see what other people might have to say.
52 notes · View notes
queer-whatchamacallit · 7 months
Text
I just rewatched 1x02 of The Bear, and took notes to get deeper into these fucked up silly guy’s heads, so here we go!!
Tw: workplace abuse, intentional emeto
The staff at EMP wear white tops, black pants, and a blue apron which Carm continued after his switch to The Beef
With both the “why?” bit and “Do you like working with fucking idiots?” “I’ll do better,” the only accepted response is that a mistake was made and it was their fault
“Do you like working with fucking idiots?” “I’ll do better.” “Say ‘yes Chef’” both serve to paint Carm as a fucking idiot and to show Chef as always deserving his respect
There’s a constant flip flop between absolutely tearing Carm to shreds and making him feel like dirt beneath Chef’s shoe for the problem that occurred and making sure he’s keeping work flowing at a rate and quality that’s acceptable to Chef (which it never will be)
I’m sure you’ve seen the “Chef saying ‘you should be dead’ was off screen so you can’t tell if it was actually Chef or if that was in Carmy’s head,” and I lean more toward the latter. I know it’s plausible (which is really fucked up), but I just like the narrative possibilities for Carm starting to hear Chef’s voice. It sounds different too. It’s whispered, but Chef had to be careful about who heard that one more than everything else, so idk
His eyes are kinda hazy through the whole thing, and when it’s over, he stalls for a second before blinking hard and brushing it off. He still sounds kind of off-kilter after though.
There’s a time skip I never noticed before where one moment, he’s desperately calling hands, and the next, they’re cleaning up after service. Maybe unintentional but maybe slipping in a little of that s1 unreality and showing that Carmy misses time sometimes
Marcus just loves messing with Richie, first his cologne and second “DeVry, we’re serious about success!!” and he’s so real for that
SYDNEY: [mocking laughter] <333
Carm doesn’t actually clean the floors with a toothbrush, he had a rag which feels… weird. His floor-cleaning toothbrush is such a staple in fics
He walks to and from work
On his coffee table, he has an ash tray, a mason jar of water, and some clutter I couldn’t make out
“YOU KILLED MICHAEL” on the order tickets is an interesting one. I’d probably tie this most easily to the train of thought that he wasn’t there, but he could have helped, and if he never left, Michael would still be alive. Maybe he thinks the pressure of having to deal with him as a kid contributed or that his success as a high end chef made Mike feel like shit by comparison, but idk, there’s a lot of ways you could go here
“That’s um… a lot of words.” We have a work day here and reading about managing his business is not fast and exciting and Carmy is a little blood-sniffing shark, if he stops moving, he’ll die. Fr kinda love him for this but am pissed at him for just shoving it back to Syd
“Is my hair on fire?” I had to look up a definition, but Carmy’s starting to wonder if he’s just totally fucked and if The Beef can make it out of this. It’s interesting to see him so unsure of whether he’s going to make it. “Not yet, no, but you need help,” just feels nice. It’s both sugar-coated and completely accurate
I love Ebra for just listening to T rant about how much she hates Syd, and later, he just fuckin rocks it when Syd calls orders out. Ebra’s one of my favs <33
Syd with her journal shows the first signs of her impatience and Richie interrupting her with the inspector I think finally flipped the switch of her just absolutely despising him
Them getting a C and seeing everyone go through the 5 stages of grief is so funny omg
Syd breaking up fights and stubborn idiot-proofing by getting the right caulk was so hot girl of her
“Fak, fix that fuckin sound.” I want to know what made the difference between this and the “I don’t mind it” alarm during the s2 Cicero meeting
“He’s a baby. Don’t get Carmen into trouble, y’know? I was a baby too once, Sydney. Nobody gave a fuck.” This is pretty self explanatory, but… yeah ouch
Carm’s willing to vent to Jimmy about work with the slightest encouragement. Might point to them having a closer relationship, or maybe Carm would vent about work to whoever will listen
“I asked you where you’ve been.” So he hasn’t seen Cicero or his mom since moving back, and I feel like him and Nat had at least texted or called before 1x01 but probably not seen each other, could be wrong on that though. So he just dove headfirst into the restaurant the second he got back to Chicago, and hasn’t even talked to the family he’s been self-isolating from for the past 5 years
I love Carm’s phone password being 11111
Edit: I’m watching this ep yet again, and the flowers on the table in the scene with Pete are the same from his cooking show dream in 1x08!!! Maybe tying in that he feels like his slow breakdown is being seen by everyone he knows, not just those connected just by cooking. Or maybe it’s connecting his conversation with Sugar to how he was also struggling especially hard at the time of the dream, but then, I feel like it would be in Sugar’s kitchen when they’re talking about it. Idk but I love this detail a lot
Sugar doesn’t seem to treat Pete super great :’(. She kinda pushes him away after he hands her the phone, and he instantly assumes that she’s telling him to shut the fuck up. She is the sibling trying hardest to change and be healthier, but she did indeed inherit that Berzatto temper and fast pace to the point of rudeness
Carm’s “Did you hear I apologized? :D” is so funny to me
Carm will vent to Sugar when something happens that’s more in the mental side of things. He wants to be casual about it, doesn’t want to think too hard into how deeply fucked he is, but he needed to talk to someone about almost setting his apartment on fire
Apparently he sleep cooks “sometimes,” and that wasn’t the only time
We know that the breathing difficulties started “sometime in New York maybe?” and I feel like crying out of nowhere is a little more recent, but the nightmares could’ve started at any time, or maybe he was saying New York for all 3, who knows
“I don’t want to bother you.” When considering who to tell what, he does consider his perceived burden on the other person
“I was throwing up every day before work… kinda dug it.” This quote has naturally festered in my brain for the past couple months because it says so much about him. He experiences stress nausea and maybe it became an intentional way of gaining control and consistency in an environment that fought so hard to make him feel faceless and powerless. It shows how far he is willing to go for this. He’ll do whatever it takes, including making himself vomit from anxiety. In his mind, it helps him become a better chef. Could also illustrate his likely connection between perfection and suffering. He kinda dug it. He felt like that self-destruction was necessary for him to excel. I could go on all day
He stayed there because “People loved the food. It felt good.” Here’s his stated motivation. His actual motivation is some messed up combination of that and lot of stuff he talks about in his Al-Anon speech: the excitement of being that good at something for once, just keeping going, hoping that one day, Mikey would acknowledge how good he was at it. People loving the food was confirmation that he was really fucking good at this. More than anything though, he wanted Mike to love the food
When the health inspector reveals that a pack of cigarettes was left by the stove, it doesn’t cross his mind that it was him. He was the CDC at EMP, he wouldn’t make a mistake like that, but he did, and now, this is just reinforcing how fucked everything’s gotten, especially himself. He’s just the type of person who leaves cigarettes by stovetops now
And yeah, that’s 1x02 - Hands all good and done!! Again, I don’t know how far I’ll get with these, but they’re very fun
27 notes · View notes
rollforjackass · 8 months
Text
okay so i reread the good omens script book trying to look up a quote i remembered and i kept writing down the things that i absolutely loved about it, so here's just a list of all the quotes and moments that rewired my brain chemistry
aziraphale sasses the hell out of crowley about his antichrist birth organization skills
aziraphale saying “oh sugar” instead of oh shit...
first appearance of everyday by buddy holly, we all know how that turned out
aziraphale doesn’t know how an ansaphone works. this was in the book too, but it’s still funny, especially considering how in radio omens he at least knows about caller id
aziraphale brought shortbread for the drive to the convent. did he think it was a date? please say yes
crowley asked aziraphale if heaven wouldn’t give him (crowley) asylum and aziraphale was going to ask him the same about hell
aziraphale says “what the hell” after pointedly not swearing earlier. hypocrite ass
aziraphale is fine with killing the antichrist himself but gets upset about the humans killing each other at tadfield manor....more tasty hypocrisy. he thinks he can only ever do the Right Thing but he knows it's Wrong when anyone else does it
“aziraphale is rather enjoying having the upper hand in the ideas department for once”
crowley says “dude. chill.”
“for a moment his noble better nature rejects the idea out of hand. THEN HE FALLS...”
“aziraphale is softening. they haven’t spoken in a hundred years: he’s realizing they are still friends.” gets me every time i look at it
why was shadwell in prison?? america explain
“i work in soho, i hear things” patron saint of soho confirmed
i still think that the neon halo blinking on and off above aziraphale’s head is the HARDEST that neil gaiman has ever gone and that we deserved to see it in the final cut
"michael: when your cause is just you do not hesitate to smite the foe, aziraphale." i'm thinking thoughts about the s2 finale under this lens; when your cause is just (saving the love of your life) you do not hesitate to suffer for pursuing it
“crowley looks back. he looks at aziraphale. above them, a beautiful starry sky. and crowley softens.”   jesus janthony christ.
“aziraphale is looking for someone. he spies a human statue dressed as an angel, with wings. it’s not him.”   GOD
gabriel about aziraphale: “i’m disappointed in him. not thinking like an angel.”
crowley “looks up, and talks to god, in the classical fashion.” see i really want a script book for s2 because i want to see aziraphale's expressions of faith plucked out a little bit more
crowley in the cinema: “he’s waiting for the end of the world. out of time. out of hope.”
the fact that crowley saw aziraphale walking down the street and left dagon on read is priceless
aziraphale looks hurt after crowley says he won’t even think about him
the music for the gavotte scene was recommended to be “i am a courtier grave and serious” from gilbert and sullivan’s the gondoliers which is PERFECT
“aziraphale is heading down the street, looking harried and as if he is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. which he is.”
sandalphon says “you know how we treat traitors in wartime?” to aziraphale and there was meant to be blood on aziraphale’s lips after sandalphon punches him. death to sandalphon
“why would you do this? we’re the good guys.”
aziraphale (resolutely not swearing): you. you B…AD angels.
“seducing women to do your evil will!” “i think perhaps you’ve got the wrong shop.” still the campiest line delivery i've ever seen
we don't need to speculate about crowley being in tears in the burning bookshop because according to the script he is canonically right on the verge of it
“right. i’m done. i’ve had it. i don’t care about any bloody angels or humans or anyone. i hate you all. somebody killed my best friend, and i don’t even care who did it. bastards, all of you.”   😭
when aziraphale is discorporated, his heavenly appearance is all his normal clothes but gleaming white
aziraphale: i have no intention of fighting in any war. “all angels on the floor turn and look at the angel who has said the unsayable.”
aziraphale can’t actually see crowley in the bar scene…he has no idea how wrecked his best friend is
aziraphale doesn’t take sugar with his tea. bastard
aziraphale crosses his fingers under the table when answering shadwell’s nipple question
aziraphale is wearing madame tracy’s pink motorbike helmet in the mirror of her scooter
they describe crowley’s suit in the burning bentley as “interestingly ripped”...........we were robbed of a crowley boob window moment and i'll never forget
aziraphale introduces crowley to madame tracy as “he’s…well, we’re sort of business associates.” you know, like a liar
aziraphale was fully about to murder adam. i don’t think i can stress this enough
aziraphale pokes himself to make sure he’s solid once he’s separated from madame tracy
aziraphale isn’t threatening crowley with the sword, “just making his point that he can do dangerous out-of-character things if he needs to.”
crowley: what if the almighty planned it this way all along? from the very beginning aziraphale: takes a drink from the bottle of wine
aziraphale looks like he’s going to cry when crowley reminds him that the bookshop burnt down 😭
aziraphale-as-crowley looks depressed 😭 he still thinks his bookshop is gone
the angels kidnapping crowley-as-aziraphale zip-tied his hands those dickheads
aziraphale-as-crowley: my friend! they’re kidnapping my friend!
the hit hastur gives aziraphale-as-crowley would have killed a human 0/10 wahoos
“the van with [crowley-as-]aziraphale in it drives away, and [aziraphale-as-]crowley tries to crawl after it.”   HEY NEIL I JUST WANT TO TALK
crowley-as-aziraphale says “what fun. i love a barbecue.”
i am literally ENRAGED that sandalphon was like “hell yeah you can hit aziraphale” to the minor demon who brought the hellfire i WILL throw hands
uriel calls it a barbecue too those fuckers
in the script uriel and sandalphon have their flaming swords drawn, so it wasn't going to be as insidious as expecting aziraphale to walk into the flame of his own volition. but they didn’t end up including it in the show, so it is that insidious after all
aziraphale-as-crowley keeping his socks on for the bath was such a choice
“he doesn’t actually have a newspaper and a cigar, but damn, he’s enjoying himself in his bath” 
i've seen so little talk about how absolutely ice cold aziraphale is in the bath scene with the whole “so you’re probably thinking, ‘if he can do this, i wonder what else he can do’? and very, very soon, you’re all going to get the chance to find out.” BECAUSE THAT SHIT IS TERRIFYING
aziraphale-as-crowley: michael. duude.
crowley and aziraphale both get out of their own elevators and meet up to walk out together which is poetic cinema
PIGBOG AND THE OTHER MOTORCYCLE IDIOTS THAT HUNG OUT WITH DEATH WERE GOING TO BE INCLUDED i miss them
30 notes · View notes
oscconfessions · 3 months
Note
ii was never that great.
do I enjoy it? yes! I frankly love all of the characters, plus it has been a great thing to watch and appreciate over time. It’s brought joy to many a viewer.
but, like, overall? the cracks start to show. There’s the obvious ableism issues, with paper, tissues, and cabby - and that’s just the main three - plus bot’s whole wibbly representation of transness (I will admit Paintbrush’s was pretty good). And Lightbulb + Balloon (transfem & arospec respectively) both being canonically queer, but you can’t know that by just watching the show itself. I shouldn’t have to look outside of the show for confirmation! At least give them pride pins or something. But, like, that’s the actually big stuff. What about the writing itself?
…alright, I guess. S2 was the best in regards to a serious plot, as it actually handled it’s pretty well, but you have to slog through awful writing in the first half. S3 by all means should’ve been better, with more experience, but it seems like they spent all the budget on good animation and left the writing a little by the wayside. It’s not bad, but as the season drags on more strings just pop up from nowhere. These should’ve been planted earlier. But they weren’t. That’s what makes it confusing. (S2 didn’t have this problem, but that just made it so I couldn’t skip all the awfulness of the early season.) Credit where credit is due, s1 didn’t have that many problems, but that’s mostly because it just had nothing to have problems with. I could be nit picky and say Nickle was weird or something, but honestly, the little plot it had MADE SENSE! it just had to be really weird about it. (To be fair, the group was young when making it, so I can’t fault them that bad.)
I dunno. S3 just feels like a downgrade writing-wise from late S2 - everything feels much more scattered and much less planned out. But I can’t really rewatch S2 because, even though it was planned out much better, the parts where those seeds are planted have the issues of ableism i mentioned earlier. It’s not fun!
I want to love II, I really do. Some of my favorite osc characters are in there! But I just…I can’t. Then again, if I’m gonna engage in any media this critically, hell knows I’ll find the cracks. (Poor hfjONE, subjected to this treatment from me long ago.) I just think it stings a little more with II, y’know?
.
13 notes · View notes
pluckysidekick · 11 months
Text
OK, bringing it home with Part 3 of my in depth analysis of Episode 2 of Nancy Drew Season 4, “The Maiden’s Rage” - Part 1 and Part 2 in case you missed them.
TW: I covered Bro-Nancy’s abusive behavior and the fight in Part 2, but I may touch on DV and emotional abuse in this post too.
Seeing Nancy in handcuffs (presumably Ace’s) is a dark twist from the Ace carries handcuffs scene in S3’s The Demon of Piper Beach, and his untying of the scarf with Amanda in S2’s Moonstone Island. There’s nothing sexual about this scene - Ace starts out as far back as he can be from Nancy, his arms crossed, only coming closer after Nancy’s had the ‘Clari-tea’ and is able to explain what was going on with her.
Tumblr media
We get a little lesson on toxic masculinity, but I was a bit surprised they didn’t mention DV, which is what the show recreates so accurately as an outcome of the poison’s effect on Nancy.
Nancy explains how her feelings about Ace were locked away by the poison, leaving her with only anger. I like how they tied her real feelings to the poison. Nick then ties that anger to her wanting to dominate Ace, and Bess explains how it made Nancy aggressive. I’m not completely satisfied with that explanation as I feel there was more at work here, but I am glad they address it in some way.
Tumblr media
If you didn’t catch it, Ace’s tiny nod to Nancy acknowledging her explanation is telling. He’s come closer to her, his arms now uncrossed, and he understands what happened, but he’s not over her treatment of him yet.
Tumblr media
This scene is an instant classic. I could watch George and Nancy (even Bro-Nancy) investigating together all day. In handcuffs. It looks like George is a US Marshall with her surly captive. It’s the buddy movie we need! Also, George’s look is 🔥.
We get another gander at Tristan in this scene - he’s dreamy, shot in the most beautiful light. Nancy can’t help noticing and admitting how good he looks in that sleeveless shirt (he really does). We also get some more clues about him - he knows about his parents’ relic business but prefers the simple sea life, and he’s willing to get them the pump but needs collateral. Nancy giving him her necklace is a big deal. The fact that she trusts him with it - is that the whammy at work? Or does she already feel something more than idle attraction to the latest Horseshoe Bay heartthrob? Hmm…
Tumblr media
Back at the (Drew) ranch, we finally get the context for the M3gan trailer scene. George’s rough handling of Nancy as she protests that her behavior wasn’t really that bad made me chuckle, but the process itself was unnerving - it felt like a scene from a steampunk sci-fi show (in a good but disturbing way). I actually love how S4 is exploring new realms of the supernatural and amping up the effects. Also put the stomach pump in the growing list of antique supernatural gadgets, along with the soul splitter and Nick’s ghost goggles. From the S4 trailer I think we’ll get lots more of them (yay).
We also finally have confirmation that Ace is present in this scene (although that “what did you eat?” line still sounds like a voiceover). He again moves from the back of the group to the front with a concerned expression once Nancy purges the poison. Nancy’s heartfelt ‘I’m so sorry’ is a good start in making amends. Ace needs more, but it will have to wait as they jump back to the case, with Ace back in his hacker role.
Notice the grouping on the couch - unlike S2’s Trail of the Missing Witness (still my favorite pre-S4 episode), Nancy and Ace are separated by Bess. They look nothing so much as the parents discussing something serious with their teen daughter, who’s sitting between them with a mixture of boredom and confusion on her face.
Tumblr media
Nancy and Ace sleuthing again together makes me ridiculously happy. The energy isn’t 100% back yet - compared to say “We heard great things about your bathrooms” or “No sign of Tinkerbell?” But Ace’s “she brought these stickers” was a return to form, and this visit shows them in much better cooperation than their last visit to Logan’s when Bro-Nancy left him on the sidewalk.
George’s scene with Abbott in the hospital is so heartbreakingly good - seeing her hero fall is tough, but it helps her re-assert how important finding the truth is to her, and helping those who are affected. The intercutting of the story between Logan’s and the hospital was effectively done. Nancy’s scene with Maggie Lake is quick and gives Logan and Abbott’s victim some closure, but there are still many unanswered questions about how it all fits together with the poisoned water, the bodies, and how it fits in with Nancy’s history and the founders.
Tumblr media
I was happy to see Addy and Bess on the same page and working together on the final preparations for the dinner party. I wished we could see a little of the dinner, but in the end the important thing was that the couple is a team, and her picky parents can’t break them apart. Bess’s heartfelt hugs to them were so adorable - her sunny energy is so key to the group and the whole show. Bess might not find familial acceptance in Addy’s parents (although I bet she eventually breaks them down), but she is building something good with Addy.
Tumblr media
Nancy continues on the rounds of her apology/explanation tour. This scene with Tristan was…interesting. They are clearly building a bond. The huge clue that Tristan is adopted was almost expected, and softens Nancy toward him in a new way. I’ll have to talk more about my thoughts on his origins in a separate post. Note how Nancy gently lifts her braid for him - we’ll see it again in the Ace scene coming up.
This gesture of his putting the necklace around Nancy’s neck - it was surprisingly intimate. More so than the casual way Nancy puts the lanyard around Ace’s neck at DetectiveCon. The fact that this intimate scene, which includes more flirting over Tristan’s arms (grr) is followed by Nancy going straight to Ace’s - this season is trying to kill me, and it’s only Episode 2.
Tumblr media
The George and Nick bonding is much more satisfying. They are building such a strong foundation - maybe it will always be friendship, maybe more. The maturity we see in George in this episode is such beautiful growth, and Leah is killing it.
Nick is ready and willing to get to know Jade better, and they are too. I detect some chemistry starting between them by the end of the scene.
(Spoiler alert):
.
I’ve spotted them in the final scene that Riley shared on the last day of filming, so Jade will be here for the long haul. They are walking through the door in the clip, and their real name (Arianna) is called. Nick and George are standing next to each other in the Claw baby shower scene - so interested in how this turns out.
Tumblr media
The scene that we’ve all been waiting for. Ace’s hesitancy at the door, and his expression, make it clear he is still hurt. Nancy’s peace offering and her related joke, which of course harkens back to both the bagels from Temperance’s forecast, and the pickle jar she tried to open as Bro-Nancy, falls flat. The fact that she barrels in without an invitation makes me a little uncomfortable- the poison is worn off, yet she’s still taking a high handed approach with Ace. You can see he feels the same way in his eyes and his body language, and how he only begrudgingly closes the door behind her when Nancy offers to tell him everything finally.
Tumblr media
Nancy’s explanation is heartfelt. But Ace feeling like he has to apologize for his anger at her shutting him out doesn’t sit right with me. He had a right to ask for more, and even now Nancy blew past him and into his space. Her joking “let’s call it even” - she says she tried to kill him under the poison’s influence because he rejected her, but I don’t feel like she fully addressed both the way she treated him before, and how degrading her behavior was toward him after she was poisoned. Just a few extra lines here would have gone a long way IMO to make this part of the scene more satisfying.
Ace’s “Yeah” and his lightening the mood by asking for good things that he can look forward to, and his “Well, everything” - swoon. Nancy’s toying with her braid as she gazes at Ace on the bed, separated by a visual divider line, gives such a “teenage girl with a deep crush” vibe. It’s such a sweet ending, and I am confident that Nancy and Ace’s relationship will grow stronger from this experience, and help them weather what I’m sure are going to be harrowing times, and possibly times where they can’t or won’t interact, and turn to others for comfort (ouch).
Overall this was an incredibly deep episode with a lot of nuance, along with amazing acting, comedy, and overall writing and production. I would have liked to see a bit more discussion in Nancy and Ace’s final scene before we got to the incredibly romantic ending, and I wish there was a trigger warning at the beginning of the episode - but I do appreciate how well the writers responded online to the feedback.
I am out of my mind for Episode 3 tonight. The show creators are hyping it up mightily. I’m expecting amazing progress and some heartbreak before the end. Talk to you on the other side!
19 notes · View notes
invisibleicewands · 9 months
Note
Hello! You are so good at writing review, I really like it! What is your opinion about Good Omens S2? To be honest, I hadn't have any expectations, so I wasn't upset by the plot. But, to my mind, unfortunately, there was a lot of bad writing, unnecessary characters and primitive dialogues compare to the first season.
Hi, Anon!
Thank you for your trust, even if mine are more random thoughts. I have to tell you, I’m not a binge watcher (I prefer to taste the episodes one by one, slowly) but this time I chose to make an exception watching it all in three days, with the last ten final minutes seen immediatly the first day, just to avoid the spoilers online (like “away the tooth away the pain“). So, my view could be affected by this.
Over the last few months I've been making a certain idea about the 2nd series and now I can say it wasn’t completely wrong, even though the result is maybe a bit better than my first expectations.
I find GO2 being like a colorful circus, with a parade of artists doing their best numbers and where MS and DT were the best attraction, the trapeze artists.
The plot is a pretext, 100% fans service: to monetize again the success of the first season, following the dreams’ fans, using their fanfictions as inspiration for the script, then putting all together in a glossy package with a bow on top: some fireworks, a bit of special effects and the effort of two titans, MS and DT, who took the 80% of the weight of this mission on their shoulders.
As very 'serious' and professional actors, with a background of theatre, tv and cinema, they did a wonderful job, transforming with their talent every line in something precious, every scene unforgettable, with skilful expressions or little gestures, even during the boring moments. They put on the table all the tricks of their playbooks to play their characters. Sometimes I saw some of Bill Masters’ glances, sometimes there were Kenneth Williams or Aro or Castor’s vibes. And the episodes were rich of references to their previous works too (Bright Young Things, Dr.Who, etc.), like a showcase of their careers.
I particularly liked Crowley’s clever lines, his dry humour, his pragmatism, also his soft side. A bit less, I must say, Aziraphale character, who was sometimes too much unnecessarily stubborn or dull if compared with the first season, too much 'Wesley Snipes'. But the actors, as I said, were both excellent and a wonder for the eyes. A mention for Jon Hamm too: I thought the nice reviews for his performance were exaggerated, but his scenes were really funny (his hug to Aziraphale xD), maybe because of the contrast between the absurdity of the moments combined with his mono-expression-marble-face. Pity for his story, which had to be the core of the mistery but was revealed and explained in a superficial and hurried way just in the last few minutes.
And here we are, the story. I've found the first two episodes well written, with comic scenes and smart lines, good timing, but then something suddendly changed: the plot became plain, childish, predictable. IMHO a lot of time has been wasted to tell useless or not so interesting stories. The barely hinted relationship between Nina and Meggie, the mere rethoric of their speech to Crowley, all the chaos of the demons battle for nothing, the travel to the cemetary in Scotland and all the resurrectionist thing. Plus, a lot of stereotypical characters: the ridiculous zombies, the boring angels of the Paradise, all like clowns, dolls to fill the void. And Jane Austen. There was nothing really important about her, just her name to justify a ball in regency dresses. Not enough for me. Also, the la-la land love story between Gabriel and Beelzebub to give a meaning to the mistery (really?), was cold and too quick to be interesting.
The turning point at the end of the 6th episode and it was like suddendly watching Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford in The Way We Were. MS and DT were simply amazing in giving to that scene such a depth and drama (nervous breakdown Aziraphale?), but the effect I felt was a bit alienating compared to what I'd seen just before. Like a leap too big, like watching two completely different and separate shows.
The final. Moving, exciting, wonderfully acted but... of course was not a final (like MoS ending in season 3). They should have called this Good Omens vol.2, like Kill Bill, since it’s obvious that was not a real end. Everything has been written for a third part since the beginning and you can see it, even if they tried to hide it somehow. Honestly I don't know if I wish to see another chapter, 'cause I'm worried about Michael's hair at this point... (I'm evil, I know)
Jokes apart, I think it was surely an entertaining, light, funny, moving, show with some brilliant moments and others less, and two great actors who covered the flaws with their skills. But I struggle to see it like a masterpiece or something worthing of an award (the special effects and the make up too, were a bit cheap). It needed of something more in the writing, for example, to reach The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel league, just saying.
But for sure it was a gold mine for fans and gif makers. ;)
A music video, to heal the heart of a demon:
youtube
14 notes · View notes