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serpenteve · 3 years

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I'm having the horrible realization that Aleksander never actually did any serious wooing of Alina in the books. It's all just Alina her self being horny attracted to him. But this is supposedly???? His grand scheme???? Of manipulation???? Implications! It seems like the girls in these books wasn't the only one slut shamed. I'm- ☠

Leigh wrote a man sexy and captivating and said "it's his fault, actually, that Alina got a crush on him. He shouldn't of.... uh.." Flips through papers. "Ah, had such pretty eyes."

Okay! 👀Yes, we are finally doing this!

I'm flipping through my copy of Shadow & Bone and noting down all the interactions between the Darkling and Alina which I've put in chronological order beneath the cut.

First of all, the Darkling and Alina are only alone together in about a handful of scenes. Most of the time, the are surrounded by other Grisha or Baghra or are in a public place. A lot of the Darkling's actions and words are clouded by Alina's own insecurities. She constantly voices how she feels like she's not good enough, not pretty enough, not strong enough and he takes it in stride and gently encourages and placates her. There are a few lies he does tell her (that the Black Heretic was his ancestor, that he wants to destroy the Fold, and he doesn't know what Baghra's power is, etc) but if we extrapolate the trajectory of her ill-fated romance arc, I think even book!Darkling would have told Alina about his real plans if she seemed like she'd accept them.

A lot of speculation has been made about the Darkling's seduction of Alina and honestly???? Aleksander literally just exists and Alina is thirsting for him because she's desperately looking for validation and re-assurance. I initially head-canoned his first kiss by the lake as being pure calculation and the kiss at the Winter Fete being 100% accidental (because Dark Lord Sasha played himself lmao) but on this re-read, I don't even know anymore. He already came close to almost kissing her after they have a tender moment, catches himself and then immediately leaves before he can catch feelings. Then when they share another tender moment at the lake, he kisses her and then is surprised by it and before he can really process it, Ivan comes by to cockblock.

Like, even Leigh (as much as she has shit on this ship) said at one point that the Darkling has strong feelings for Alina, even if he may not necessarily quantify them as love. So looking back, I don't read anything the Darkling did as manipulative seduction. He obviously lied about some stuff and wasn't transparent about his real plans for the Fold, but as a military commander who sees Alina as an opportunity for a coup, it makes sense that he'd play that a little close to the chest---especially when Alina has proved to be wary of his powers and has a very black-and-white sense of morality. If anything, this is less "the Darkling seduced Alina to manipulate her into being used!!11" and more "local dark lord tried to encourage his protege and accidentally caught feelings and it was a mASSIVE FUCKING INCONVENIENCE TO HIS EVIL PLANS"

But you know who does slut-shame Alina a lot? Baghra. Seriously, Baghra makes Alina feel like shit for her crush on the Darkling numerous times. She has all these lines:

"You want to be [his pet]...Don’t bother lying to me. You’re like all the rest. I saw the way you looked at him."

"Dreaming of dancing with your dark prince?"

"Foolish girl." (After Alina shamefully admits the Darkling might come to her that night)

At one point Baghra creeps on Alina and the Darkling's interactions and even though literally nothing happens between them and when the Darkling leaves, Alina catches Baghra giving her a snooty look. ("For no reason at all, I blushed")

She is determined to shame Alina for her feelings and make her feel like a lovesick idiot for daring to crush on him and this is in addition to all the slut-shaming Mal does. The narrative revealing the Darkling is the bad guy all along while leaving Alina no compelling arc to discover this on her own feels very much like Leigh hitting us all with Baghra's stick, like "Foolish girls! You thought he cared about Alina just because he has a sexy jawline??? HAHA HE LIED YOU SLUTS"

Scenes with Alina and the Darkling in Book 1

Their first scene together is in the Grisha tent. Based on Alina's description of him, she already thinks he's hot as barely any other character in this godforsaken series gets so many descriptions of their grey/smoke/slate/quartz eyes as Aleksander does 😏

The next time they're together he saves her life. Alina is traumatized from seeing a man sliced in half and the Darkling instructs her to keep her eyes on him instead. She is disturbed that he killed the person about to murder her and this aversion seems incredibly contrived and arbitrary on behalf of the author. It's almost like she wants Alina to be vindicated and shamed for not trusting her initial bigotry against him or something 🤔The Darkling admits even he can make mistakes and then he touches the back of Alina's neck (with some secret Heartrender/Healer abilities?) and she falls asleep riding on his horse.

They spend the next few days traveling. Alina notes that the Darkling hasn't spoken to her (probably because he's focused on getting her to the Little Palace without any more assassination attempts) but Alina is a paranoid she's offended him somehow. Again, this is just Alina's insecurity painting a narrative that simply doesn't exist based on what actually happened so far.

They exchange a few words by the stream and Alina fishes for pity points by saying she's ugly and can't possibly be Grisha. Aleksander appears 100% done with her stupidity and says she doesn't understand but he's not in the mood to explain at the moment and walks off ☠️

Alina joins the Darkling and his men for a meal. She notes that the grouse they've killed is meager shared meal but that the Darkling doesn't want to put his men in danger by sending them out to hunt in the forest at night 😌He also sits on the floor to eat like they do and he doesn't take more than the regular portion than they do 😌. Sorry, how is this man the most ~evil~ wizard on the planet? He is obviously a good and fair commander and beloved by the Grisha.

Alina has been checking Aleksander out the entire time so when he catches her, he walks over to talk. He fishes around for information on what Alina has heard about him. He seems sad when Alina mentions she has heard that Darklings are born without souls, though not surprised. He then spins the story about the Black Heretic being his ancestor and how the Fold was a mistake and how every Darkling since then has tried to undo it and how Alina is "the first glimmer of hope" he's had in a long time.

Because Alina is still on that "Grisha are unnatural monsters" agenda, she asks him about the Cut and he explains it but she's still distrubed. He asks her if it would have been better if he used a sword and she replies: "I don't know". The Darkling gets offended and leaves. Alina tries to convince herself she can't have possibly hurt his feelings (because Darklings don't have souls or feelings?) and then feels paranoid that she's failed some secret test. Yeah, the test you failed is called "empathy", Alina 🙄

Two days later, they arrive at Os Alta. Aleksander roasts the Grand Palace as the ugliest effing building he's ever seen. He leaves immediately after dumping Alina at the Little Palace and Alina actually seethes that he isn't paying more attention to her? I understand that it's overwhelming to go to a brand new place, but Alina expecting him to constantly hold her hand and explain everything to her after she basically insulted him is a bit strange.

The next time Alina sees the Darkling, they are scheduled to appear before the King and Queen. The demonstration is a surprise for Alina and Aleksander's lack of transparency of what's expected of her means she's forced to rely on him and trust his instincts. This might be his underhanded way of getting Alina to see that she can trust him; that he will not make her look like a failure or humiliate her; that they are in this together and it will only work if she trusts him.

After the demonstration, Genya and the Darkling trash the monarchy for a bit (Alina is horrified) and then the Darkling orders Genya to get a black kefta for Alina, to which Alina infamously wants a blue one. The Darkling doesn't really put up much of a fight, merely wanting to know why. Alina decides he doesn't approve of her choosing blue and wonders to Genya if he's angry.

After Alina's first day, the Darkling calls her to his quarters to ask her how her day was. Alina is surprised that this is all he wanted to know because she was paranoid he was going to torture her??? She says: "Why shouldn't I be afraid of you?...You can cut people in half. I think it's fair to be a little intimidated." If the Darkling is offended or angry about this, he doesn't show it and merely indulges her. He notes that she has a habit of running her hand across a scar on her palm and asks her about it, tracing the scar himself. Alina gets distracted by his touch but manages to answer his questions: she got the scar at Keramzin, Mal is also an orphan, he is good at tracking. He shows her a secret passage back to her rooms to avoid the main hall.

Alina starts her training and at one point laments that the Darkling is rarely at the Little Palace and when he is, he never speaks to her or barely looks her way and she is convinced it's because she's a failure and can't summon light on her own. It could also be because, you know, he's the commander of the Second Army and is usually seen in talks with other military advisors and the fact that Alina kinda lowkey insulted him with her wariness about his powers???

The next time they are together, Alina interrupts him and Baghra arguing. He politely asks her how she is. Baghra antagonizes her. The Darkling defends her. They talk about amplifiers and because Baghra is being a snarky little shit about it, they take their conversation outside.

Aleksander complains about how annoying his mom is and then asks Alina what stories she's heard about Morozova's herd. At one point he laughs for the first time and Alina practically creams her pants at the sound. Alina expresses her concerns that she can't summon any light and the Darkling says he's not worried and it will happen when it happens and worse case scenario, it will happen once she has the stag. They have a quiet intimate moment, gazing softly into each other's eyes and then suddenly Aleksander realizes he's catching feelings and steps back suddenly like "GoodLuckWithYourLessonsOKayBYE". Baghra watches this interaction from her hut and gives Alina a slut-shaming look.

Alina eventually does learn to summon light on her own. Baghra gives her grief about how it's not enough. The Darkling shows up during one of these lessons and says as much. Alina says she's useless. The Darkling corrects her (“I don't think you're useless, Alina....No Grisha is powerful enough to face the Fold. Not even me”) and then he apologizes for letting her down ("I've asked you to trust me and I haven't delivered"). He wonders if his mother is right and he's crazy to hunt the stag. They have a nice bonding moment, Aleksander lies about Baghra's power, and then he asks if Alina would think him crazy for still wanting to find the stag. She asks why he cares what she thinks, he seems genuinely surprised himself that he cares. Then he kisses her. He seems not to have meant to kiss her because then Ivan shows up for his 5 o'clock shift of cockblocking and the Darkling immediately pretends like nothing happened and walks away with him. Like dude is acting like a fucking dork who's allergic to feelings at this point. I should note here that Alina practically has an orgasm from how giddy she is about this moment. She can barely think of anything else.

The next time they're together, it's at the Winter Fete. They do their demonstration and Alina accidentally reveals her insecurities about how he had kissed her and then disappeared. He responds, "Did you really think I was done with you?" and then they enjoy some steamy kisses and thigh grabbing in an empty room before a random round of Grisha show up for their 6 o'clock shift of cockblocking. Aleksander is annoyed at his own attraction to Alina. He asks if he can come to her that night but Alina doesn't get a chance to respond.

and then the Darklina romance arc falls off a giant cliff and dies a terrible death 😭😭😭

#viv answers #god this ended up being so long WOW #i had a lot of feelings i guess #cw: purity culture #sab meta #grisha discourse #darklina #viv metas

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 4 years

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Psycho Analysis: Yzma

I feel like there’s no sense in introducing this one. You know her. I’ve seen all the gif sets, the quotes, the images, the memes… it’s safe to say most every person on the internet is intimately acquainted with The Emperor’s New Groove’s geriatric villainess, Yzma. So, let’s just cut to the chase and talk about why Yzma is a fantastic villain, shall we?

Motivation/Goals: Yzma’s goal is pretty simple and yet also infinitely understandable. She wants to take over the kingdom from Kuzco because, after years of being treated like garbage by the snotty little emperor she likely helped raise, he’s just firing her because she’s old and ugly. Like, it is TRUE, but it’s still incredibly tacky and rude. It’s not hard to empathize with her at least a little bit as she goes to poison the snotty, miserable emperor, though it really does become harder to side with her as the movie goes on and she continues to berate her poor manservant Kronk.

Performance: The legendary Eartha Kitt of Adam West’s Batman and My Life as a Teenage Robot fame gave Yzma exactly the voice she needed to instantly ingrain herself in your memory forever. Kitt was absolutely not afraid to ham it up, and combined with the character design and animation, it makes Yzma a delightfully over-the-top figure that is easy to love to hate. Even better, she has insanely good chemistry with Patrick Warburton as Kronk, and the two play off each other extremely well, leading to Yzma being part of a good 95% of the movie’s funniest scenes. It helps that, while she is definitely very funny, she is more often the straight man reacting to the insanity her compatriot brings to the table, a dark mirror to Kuzco and Pacha’s relationship… well, comparatively dark. These two are a couple of goobers after all. What I think really helps is that, despite being the straight man in a general sense, Yzma is still probably one of the most insane villains in Disney’s filmography, as in literally unhinged, so she is as able to generate laughs as anyone else.

Final Fate: Yzma’s attempts to kill Kuzco backfire spectacularly, and instead of succeeding in any way, shape, or form, she ends up turning herself into a cute little kitty. It’s a marked improvement, honestly. How she changed back to normal for the TV series, who can say? By all accounts it doesn’t make sense. Just don’t think too hard about it, it’s a comedy after all.

Best Scene: Considering how the entire climax of the film is an absolute cavalcade of comedy, we could go with that. Or we could go with her attempts to poison Kuzco at dinner. Or we could go with her interactions with Pacha’s family. The “problem” with Yzma that every scene with her is so great that it’s hard to single out any single one moment as outstanding, because all of them are pretty much on the same level. She’s remarkably consistent with how great she is.

Best Quote: It’s really hard for me to pick just one line (which is something I tend to say a lot, but I mostly talk about good villains on here, so cut me some slack), but I think the combination of the delivery and just how great Kitt’s voice was really helps make her brainstorming ways to kill Kuzco a legendary moment:

“Ah, how should I do it? Oh, I know. I'll turn him into a flea. A harmless little flea. And then I'll put that flea in a box, and then I'll put that box inside of another box, and then I'll mail that box to myself! And when it arrives, AH HA HA HA! I'LL SMASH IT WITH A HAMMER!!! It's brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT, I tell you! Genius, I say!”

The laugh is really what sells it, honestly.

Final Thoughts & Score: Yzma is probably the single greatest Disney villain who doesn’t totally follow the Renaissance villain format post-Renaissance, with only Turbo really being a contender for the crown. What I mean is this: the Renaissance set a serious precedent for animated movie villains going forward. They had to be hammy, have huge personalities, and get their own song. Ratigan was something of a prototype, and then Ursula went and set the standard. Sure, there were exceptions in the Renaissance – Hades is great but got no song, and Ratcliffe is… Ratcliffe, and he has a song – but for the most part the best Disney villains had a clear style. Ursula, Gaston, Frollo, Scar, all of them are some of Disney’s best and all of them stick to these rules.

Yzma came early in the post-Renaissance era so it would make sense for her to fit the bill entirely while they were still experimenting with new styles, but because of the tumultuous production of The Emperor’s New Groove, she ended up keeping the ham while having her villain song cut. And yes, this is a damn shame, since Eartha Kitt was a fantastic singer and the song’s not half bad, but I think the movie as a whole and Yzma herself work better without music. She’s just so funny with how she reacts to and interacts with things throughout the movie, I just don’t think she really NEEDS music to really push her over the top in terms of quality. Like, let me put it this way: I think, without “Be Prepared,” Scar would probably not be quite as impressive. I think with a villain song, Jafar would have been even cooler. Yzma? She’s pretty much perfect the way she is.

I debated a long time on what score to give her, but I frankly think she does deserve a 10/10. I almost gave her a 9 on the basis that she didn’t have a song, but her overall performance combined with my realization she didn’t need her song to be great made me decide to reward her with the highest marks. However, there is one criticism I have that I think stands: she would not nearly be s funny if not for the presence of her faithful lackey. So let’s talk about him, shall we?

Psycho Analysis: Kronk

I put this one to a vote, and it turns out that a lot of people consider Kronk a villain. I guess if we’re being technical he is an antagonist, but a villain? Kronk is pretty much the least evil villain out there. Still, it’s pretty impossible to deny that he’s not exactly a good guy when he’s complicit in an assassination attempt. Kronk’s a bit of a morally gray figure for much of the film.

He’s also, without a doubt, the funniest character in the film.

Motivation/Goals: See Yzma above. He’s just her lackey, so he doesn’t have much in terms of goals of his own. He does, however, have a conscience, as well as numerous skills including some serious culinary skills, including knowledge of fry cook lingo.

Performance: This is one of the roles that really put Patrick Warburton on the map, alongside Joe Swanson in Family Guy. And if I’m being honest, this is the definitive Patrick Warburton role in animation. Kronk is just an absolute delight to watch, since he’s basically the lovable idiot character perfected. He’s a ditz, but he does have a lot of skill in some interesting niche areas, he’s not truly good or evil and has a moral code, he’s very quotable and funny in a pretty natural way… Kronk has got it all! And it’s all thanks to Warburton injecting that Patrick Warbuton-ness we’ve all come to love from his performances.

Final Fate: Of course Kronk gets redeemed in the end. The dude is the biggest softie on the planet. Maybe Yzma should have thought twice before insulting his spinach puffs.

Best Scene: Kronk has a similar problem to Yzma, where every single scene he’s in is incredibly perfect, but unlike Yzma, there is one scene that really narrows things down and gives you the perfect summation of Kronk as a character: the scene where he is attempting to dispose of Kuzco’s body, does his own theme music, argues with his shoulder angel and shoulder devil, and then ends up saving Kuzco, thus allowing the rest of the plot to happen.

Best Quote: Unlike Yzma, there is no way I could possibly narrow down Kronk’s best quote. Whichever one is your favorite, you’re right. That’s the best one. Everything out of his mouth is gold.

Final Thoughts & Score: Kronk is a very interesting lesson when it comes to Psycho Analysis because, while he is certainly antagonistic, and certainly is a great character, he’s not a great villain, which is what these reviews are for. Like, he is easily the best part of the movie, he is hilarious, his chemistry with Yzma is undeniable, and this is Warburton’s definitive vocal performance in animation… but it doesn’t make Kronk a good villain so much as it makes him a good character. Like there’s no way I can give him below an 8/10, because again, still an antagonistic role, but he can’t score much higher because his personality is just so legitimately NICE that calling him a villain seems really weird (which is why I put it to a vote in the first place).

I really can’t stress enough how much I love Kronk; he’s like in my top 10 favorite Disney characters. But when it comes to villains, I really don’t think he’d make the cut, because even when he is doing something bad it comes off more as misguided loyalty to Yzma than an actual desire to do bad. It’s really telling that it’s the most petty of things that makes him drop Yzma like a hot potato: Kronk was never really a villain, he was a good guy who made poor life choices and had a toxic friend influence. He didn’t really have a character arc where he became a better person like Kuzco did, although Kronk’s ultimate turn to the side of good does somewhat mirror Kuzco’s; he simply realized that the friend in his life he devoted his time to was an awful person and decided to leave her behind, and when all is said and done, that just leaves a big, buff nice guy who likes to cook. And that makes Kronk a truly great, funny, and lovable character.

It just doesn’t make him a great villain.

#Psycho Analysis #Yzma #Kronk #Eartha Kitt #Patrick Warburton #The Emperor's New Groove #Disney

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calumcest · 4 years

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i took a walk with my fame down memory lane (i never did find my way back) - chapter five

[ao3]

cannot believe the malum is going somewhere now this is truly scenes...only 50k into the fic and all...would you believe that i don’t read fics over 8k long because i’m too impatient i’m literally the worlds biggest hypocrite i HATE slow burn look at me. i literally write everything i hate

@tirednotflirting my lovely basically-co-writer i love you thank you for dealing with this shit i changed like half of it i cannot believe you had to read it in the state it was in...truly vile...also this chapter actually owes its life to @kaleidoscopeminds i wasn’t going to post today bc the laptop i have to use rn is doing my nut and bc i thought nobody cares but meg cares and so this is for her <3

Noel gets back the next afternoon.

He’s dishevelled, he’s sleep-deprived, he’s stone-cold sober and in a right fucking mood, but he’s there. Calum sees him at breakfast, sat at a table chatting to Alan - he’s just got off his flight, still hasn’t taken his suitcase back up to his room, looks like he hasn’t got changed in the four days he’s been gone - and when Noel spots him, he just stares for a minute, wavering, like he’s not sure how Calum’s going to react. It makes Calum falter too, because Noel’s always so certain about these things, always scoffs and says c’mon, then, don’t be a dick, all business-like, so it’s an unexpected reaction. It feels almost like a shift, feels like maybe something’s irrevocably changed, now, and he’s not really sure what to make of it, not sure whether the way his stomach flips is because of that or Noel or the comedown he’s currently pushing through.

He heads to the table, though, because what the fuck else is he supposed to do - skip a free meal? No fucking chance - and Noel’s eyes follow him the whole way, a slight edge of trepidation leaking into the edges as Calum gets closer and closer until he’s hovering at the table. He’s not going to speak first, Calum realises. He’s going to let Calum take the lead, and that’s unusual too, nothing like the Noel that had left all of four days ago. Jesus, what the fuck do they do to the water in San Diego? Whatever it is, he hopes Noel’s brought some back for Liam to drink.

Alan’s watching the two of them, that managerial instinct telling him that something’s not quite right here, like he can see the way Calum’s skin is crawling with this strange, unknown hesitancy around Noel, and Calum doesn’t want to make a scene in front of him, so he just cocks his head and looks down at Noel.

“You’re a prick,” he says. Noel blinks, and for a brief moment Calum’s stomach drops, like maybe even that has changed, now, like maybe that’s not the right way to say I love you, you massive cunt anymore, and then Noel grins tiredly.

“Aye,” he says simply, and Calum grins back, relief flooding his veins, and sits down opposite Noel.

It goes pretty much the same with Tony and Bonehead, although Bonehead does cuff Noel upside the head a little harder than strictly necessary. Liam doesn’t come down for food, even though he’s always the first up, and when he realises that the waiters are clearing away the chafing dishes without an indignant Mancunian telling them oi, I’ve only had six hash browns, Calum exchanges a look with Bonehead. Liam’s going to make Noel go to him, isn’t going to let them have a chance meeting. He’s going to make Noel go to him, which for Noel is the same as crawling through broken glass on his hands and knees.

Noel does it, though, swallows his pride and heads up to Liam’s room when everybody else is chatting animatedly, relief powering the conversation. Calum doesn’t even notice he’s gone until he turns to ask Noel to back him up on Help! being better than Rubber Soul, which is probably what Noel wanted. He’d hate to make a big show of it, for everyone to know that the roles are reversed, that Noel’s going to Liam rather than Liam going to Noel. Still, though, Calum thinks, turning back to the rest of the group and launching into his impassioned defence of Help!, it’s not like Noel. Something’s changed, and Calum’s not entirely sure what, and he doesn’t fucking like it.

The rest of them don’t see Liam and Noel all day, but when Calum passes by Liam’s room he hears two low voices talking calmly, quietly, rationally, and catches what sounds like look, you love me, I love you, so let’s make this work, and ...for mam’s sake, if nowt else. They emerge again at dinner, and don’t speak about it, and nobody dares to ask, not even Calum. It’s not like anyone else would understand, anyway; the two of them live on another fucking planet where the normal rules of brotherhood and family and basic fucking decency don’t apply.

Once Noel and Liam have made up, though - or, at least, started calling each other cunts a little less venomously - the rest of the American leg of the tour goes off without a hitch.

They’re there until late October, and despite an edge of tension in the band, a little uncertainty as they all try to find their feet in their new, post-Whiskey-a-Go-Go-disaster relationships, the tour goes well. Noel and Liam don’t escalate past their usual arguments, only ignore each other for a few hours at a time, and all their dates are sold out. On top of all that, the album’s hitting heights none of them had even dreamed of.

(Well, maybe Liam had dreamed of them. In fact, Liam had laid it out plainly for them on the first day of recording, pointing accusingly first at Noel, then Bonehead, then Calum, then back to Noel, skipping Tony completely: it’s going to be number fucking one, you hear me, and it’s going to go fucking platinum, and whatever the fuck comes after platinum. It’s going to be fucking mega. )

Noel had written some songs while he was in San Diego, one candid acoustic ballad that makes Calum and Bonehead share a slightly alarmed glance when they hear it, and Alan insists that they’re masterpieces, so they head to a studio in Texas to record them. Calum stands with Liam behind the thick glass that separates the live room from the control room, watches as Noel blinks down at his acoustic guitar and sings I wanna talk tonight ‘bout how you saved my life and then looks up at either Calum or Liam, Calum can’t tell, and sings you and me see how we are. It sends a shiver down his spine, the sheer fucking openness of it, and for the first time makes him think shit, what was going through Noel’s head when he was gone? He’s been so preoccupied with their side of it, with Bonehead’s drinking and Tony and Maggie’s conversations and Liam shutting himself in his room that he hadn’t stopped to think about what Noel might have been feeling, about just how literally Noel means you saved my life.

When the rest of them get back into the studio to record the other songs, though, it feels like something slotting back into place. It reminds them all who they are, what they are, and smooths over the discordance, evens out the dissonance. The five of them come out of it grinning, laughing, shaking their heads at some ridiculous tale Liam’s spinning, and it feels good. For the first time in weeks, giddy with nothing but adrenaline and love, Calum feels good. The music’s what makes them, and the music’s what fixes them. It’s an important lesson, that they can go through something like that and stitch up the wounds with a few guitar strings, and it makes them all feel a little more grounded, a little more confident that they’re back on their feet.

The day of their flight back to the UK, when they’re all still nursing their incredible hangovers from the celebrations of finishing the North American leg of the tour the night before, Calum goes down for breakfast to find Noel and Liam already sat at the table, deep in what looks like a heated conversation. He hesitates for a moment - any conversation with the brothers whispering fiercely like that is likely a conversation he wants no part in - but it’s too late, because Noel’s seen him, and he’s beckoning him over, brows knitted together.

“What?” Calum says warily, about three feet from the table, far enough away that he can still make a break for it if it devolves into a shouting match.

“D’you know where we were this morning?” Noel says. Calum shrugs. He doesn’t even know where they are now, let alone where Noel and Liam might have disappeared to before he was awake.

“We had a radio interview,” Liam says. Calum’s not sure why he’s supposed to care about that.

“With Blur,” Noel adds, and Calum’s stomach drops.

What the fuck?

“What the fuck?” Calum says, trying his best to school his features into something neutral, feeling the two identical sets of blue eyes scrutinising him, watching for a reaction. “Why- what? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“We didn’t know,” Liam says, a little coolly, and takes a sip of his tea, eyes still on Calum to see how he reacts.

“What happened?”

“What the fuck was s’posed to happen?” Noel says, raising an eyebrow. “We did the fucking interview.”

“Without calling them cunts?”

“‘Course,” Liam says, pulling a cigarette out of the packet lying between himself and Noel on the table. “We’re fucking professionals, we are.” Calum snorts. The most professional thing either of them have done is turn up to a bus call only twenty minutes late.

“You did call Damon a prick,” Noel says mildly to Liam, who waves the hand that isn’t flicking his lighter dismissively.

“Cal asked about cunt, though, didn’t he?” he mumbles around his cigarette, and Calum and Noel both roll their eyes, Calum huffing out a laugh and Noel tutting, both edged with fondness.

“The Sun’s going to have a fucking field day,” Calum says, deciding it’s safe enough to sit down. The two of them don’t seem in too bad of a mood; in fact, they seem a little too calm, both of them looking at Calum with almost blank expressions, heads tilted one way. “What?” Calum adds, a little defensively, and Liam leans forwards, taking the cigarette out of his mouth just so he can speak properly.

“Mike was there,” he says, like he’s revealing a big secret that he’s been bursting to tell. Calum’s heart skips a beat, but he keeps his face straight, and just blinks at Liam. So that’s what this is about. He should’ve known, really; it would have been too much to ask for the Gallagher brothers to forget about that part of Calum’s sexual history for, like, two fucking minutes.

“Well, he’s part of Blur, isn’t he?” Calum says.

“He asked after you,” Noel says, far too nonchalantly, stirring his tea. Calum swallows, feeling the all-too-familiar guilt surge up in his lungs. He shouldn’t be talking to Michael. He shouldn’t have taken Michael’s number, shouldn’t have learnt it off by heart, shouldn’t have sat in Noel’s empty hotel room and turned to Michael on one of the worst days of his life. And he definitely shouldn’t have done all of that without telling Liam or Noel.

“Oh,” Calum says. “Well.” He’s not sure what else to say, what else the guilt will even let him say. “What did you say?” Liam throws him a slightly indignant look.

“Told him to fuck off, obviously,” he says, like he’s a little offended Calum’s even asked. “Not telling him fuck all about you, am I?” God. If it were anyone else they were talking about, Calum would feel a pure rush of love for Liam, at the fact he’s so unquestioningly and unnecessarily protective of Calum, but because it’s Michael, a huge surge of guilt washes over the love that rises in him, lapping at his veins before the love can get there.

“Oh,” Calum says again, and Liam just turns back to his tea, clearly thinking the conversation’s over, that what needed to be said has been said and satisfied with Calum’s response. Noel, though, is still looking at Calum, something too perceptive in his cool blue eyes.

“Why would he ask?” he says, and there’s an edge to his voice, something cold and challenging.

“What d’you mean?” Calum says, holding his gaze, trying to push all the panic rising in his chest back before it reaches his eyes. Shit, what the fuck had Michael said? Did he mention anything about the phone call? Does Noel know?

“Seems a bit friendly.” Noel’s eyes are carefully blank, expression guarded, not giving anything away, cards held close to his chest.

“He’s a friendly guy,” Calum says, relieved at how even his voice comes out. “Just because you two are cunts.” At that, Liam looks up again, frowning.

“Who’s a cunt?” he says, incensed. Calum almost lets out a sigh of relief - if Liam’s back in the conversation, Noel won’t say anything else. At least, not now, he won’t. Calum’s just buying himself time, really; Noel’s going to stew on it, mull it over on late-night bus calls and midday hangovers, and come back to Calum when he thinks he’s got something infallible to slash at Calum’s defences with.

“You are,” Noel tells Liam.

“You are too,” Calum reminds him, and Noel shrugs.

“Could be worse,” he says. “Could be Damon Albarn.” Liam snorts, and even Calum has to roll his eyes and shake his head, reaching over for Noel’s tea and pulling it towards him, wanting something to do with his jittery fingers. Noel lets him, even pushes a packet of sugar in his direction because he knows Calum can’t stand drinking tea unless it’s immediately going to give him diabetes, and Calum smiles, watching as something a little disarmed crosses Noel’s face for a split second before he schools his features back into that half-irritated, half-challenging expression that’s so Noel he might as well patent it.

Strange, Calum thinks, as he empties the entire packet of sugar into what’s now his tea. Noel doesn’t have chinks in his armour, not really. At least, not when it comes to anyone whose name doesn’t start with an ‘L’ and end with an ‘iam’, and last time Calum checked, he wasn’t a loud-mouthed twat from Manchester that Noel’s been exasperatedly hauling out of trouble for the past two decades. He doesn’t really have time to wonder what it’s about, though, because then Liam’s sighing loudly, raising his hand to catch the nearest waiter’s attention, and saying: “Alright, mate, don’t happen to know where the best place to score coke around here is, do you?”

“Liam,” Noel says warningly, the well-worn older-brother irritation already lacing his tone, and Liam just shoots him a what? sort of look, as the waiter stares back at them.

“Coke?” he asks, a little hesitantly, like he’s sure he’s misunderstanding what Liam’s asking.

“Yeah, mate, y’know, the old Colombian marching powder,” Liam says, nodding his head, like this is a perfectly normal conversation to have with a waiter at ten in the morning.

“I- uh, sir, I’m not sure-” the waiter starts, a little nervously, and Liam leans forwards.

“Cocaine, mate,” he says slowly, clearly thinking the waiter’s not caught on, like that’s the only possible explanation for why he’s not immediately gone oh, yeah, ‘course, hang on, let me my local dealer on the line.

“Piss off, Liam,” Noel says, a definite note of annoyance in his voice now, and Liam’s like a shark to blood, turns away from the waiter, all thoughts of getting whatever white powder he can procure up his nose forgotten as he spots a new drug of choice; arguing with Noel. It’s something Calum’s seen a hundred times, the way Liam will find a gap in Noel’s defences and worm his way in, make a home under Noel’s skin just for a few minutes of his attention, and it’s not something he fancies sticking around to watch, knowing it’ll end with fists flying with no regard for who might be caught in the crossfire.

“I’m going back up,” he says, even though he hasn’t eaten yet, but neither Noel or Liam are listening anymore, already caught in a half-hissed, half-yelled conversation about whether it’s inappropriate or street-smart to ask a random local guy for coke plugs at his job, Liam, at his fucking job, and do you know how many fucking hotels we’ve been kicked out of because of you so far this year? Liam’s raising his voice as Calum walks out of the room, shouting something about me? It’s not just me, you prick, you were in fucking Sweden as well, right, and you’re the one who took off to fucking San Diego, what the fuck else was I going to do while we all waited for you to stop being such a pathetic little cunt? , and Calum knows he’s left just in time when he hears the sound of crockery shattering in the distance as he jogs back up the stairs to his room. He doesn’t really mind, though, doesn’t care if they get kicked out of this hotel too, because all he can think, heart pounding, is why the fuck did Michael ask after me, when the last thing he might have heard is me calling him ‘no one’?

He doesn’t even get time to think about that, though, because Bonehead’s on his way down as Calum’s on his way up, and he blocks Calum’s path and insists Calum join him on a walk to the supermarket because the amount of beer he’s going to have to drink to deal with the brothers on an eight hour flight back home needs two people to carry it. Calum thinks shit, he’s right, so they fetch Tony to carry all the alcohol Calum’s going to need to drink too, and then spend the walk to the shop and the entire time traipsing around it arguing about whether or not Tony should get any of the alcohol they’re loading into their arms. Calum weighs in for the first ten minutes, but it becomes clear Bonehead and Tony are just looking to fight about something, so Calum draws back and lets them have at each other, walks next to them and lets the sound of their rowing wash over him as his thoughts turn back to Michael.

Did Michael really want to know? Or was it a power play, him saying something to Liam and Noel knowing it would get back to Calum? No, surely not, Calum thinks, as Tony and Bonehead bicker about whether or not Tony deserves at least one of the six-packs Bonehead’s picked up. Michael wouldn’t do that. He’s not that kind of person.

Maybe Michael isn’t, a little voice in his head says, but maybe Mike is. You don’t know Mike, do you?

(Calum thrusts one of his six-packs at Tony, suddenly feeling a little too sick to drink.)

-------

They head back to Europe in November, first to the UK to record Whatever, and then straight off to France. Noel even manages to make a joke about the Amsterdam ferry incident as they’re waiting to board in Dover, which is as close to saying I forgive you to Liam for the episode as he’s going to get.

Calum doesn’t speak to Michael for almost two months. He doesn’t want to call first, after the way the last call ended and still uncertain about the whole Michael-Liam-Noel situation, and Michael doesn’t call him. Calum tries not to dwell on it, to think too hard about the sound of the dial tone and the way he’d called Michael no one, but Blur are fucking everywhere. It seems like they’re playing all the same places as Oasis but a few weeks earlier, because every time Calum walks down a French street he’s accosted by blown up images of Michael’s face, moody and pretty, staring down at him from billboards and bus stops and fucking lampposts.

It’s one of those posters stuck haphazardly onto a lamppost in Berlin that Calum sees, a few hours before they’re due to play a show, that reminds him, with a jolt, what the date is.

The twentieth of November.

Michael’s birthday.

Calum’s almost taken aback that he remembers. He’d forgotten for the past three or four years - the date had passed him by without so much as a second glance - and the thought makes him feel a little guilty, a little sick, like he’s broken a promise to himself that he never even knew he made.

There’s a little phone booth next to the lamppost that looks like it might not even be working, and Calum finds himself striding in that direction, fumbling in his pocket for the few German coins he’d been given. It’s nothing, he tells himself, as he starts dialling Michael’s number. It’s just polite to wish someone a happy birthday. It doesn’t mean anything.

It only takes two rings for someone to pick up, a soft click and a moment of silence at the other end of the line.

“Hello?” It’s not Michael; it’s a woman. Maybe Michael has a house-sitter? Calum’s pretty sure Michael must be loaded now, right, if he’s in Blur? He’s probably not pissing all his royalties away on drink and drugs. They probably have a group accountant to manage everything for them, rather than Noel cuffing them all upside the head and going eeyar, yous need to start buying cheaper coke.

“Oh,” Calum says. “Uh. I’m looking for Michael?”

“He’s in Japan at the moment,” the woman says. Her voice is sweet and warm, almost comforting, and oddly familiar. It’s probably just the Australian accent, Calum thinks. Anyone with an Australian accent has sounded familiar to him since he left.

“Oh,” Calum says again. He should’ve guessed, really. Of course Michael’s not at home. He’s in a fucking band. In Blur, no less. Of course he’s on tour.

“May I ask who’s calling?” the woman says. Calum hesitates.

“Just a friend,” he says, a little evasively. “Just- uh. Wanted to wish him a happy birthday, is all.”

“Oh, that’s lovely,” the woman says, and she sounds like she’s smiling. “I can give you the number of his hotel room in Japan, if you’d like.”

“I-” Calum’s not sure what to say to that. He might be sending a message he’s not entirely sure he wants to send if Michael finds out Calum had called his house first, and then got the number for his hotel in Japan.

“Or I can pass along a message?” the woman offers. “What’s the name?” Calum bites his lip. It can’t hurt, he thinks. It’s not like Michael will have spoken about Calum to anyone who’s known him in the past few years, if he hadn’t told his own bandmates.

“Yeah,” Calum says. “Yeah, that’d be good, thanks. It’s Calum.” The woman lets out a little gasp.

“Calum Hood?” she says, and Calum’s stomach drops. "I should have recognised your voice! You've lost your accent, haven't you?"

“Uh,” he says intelligently, but she’s already started talking again.

“It’s Karen,” she says.

Oh, fucking hell.

“Oh,” Calum says. Fuck. Jesus Christ. Of course it’s Michael’s mum. Of course Michael wouldn’t get a fucking house-sitter, rich and in Blur or not. It’s oddly steadying, though, that in this instance at least Michael’s Michael and not Mike, makes something electric shoot through Calum as he thinks maybe I still know enough of him. “Uh. Hi?”

“I didn’t know you and Michael were still in contact,” she says, and he can hear the grin in her voice, how happy she sounds about it. It makes his stomach twist in guilt, heavy and leaden.

“Yeah,” Calum says weakly. “Well. Not really. But- y’know. It’s his birthday.” He cringes at his own words, stilted and uncomfortable, but Karen doesn’t seem to notice.

“I’m sure he’ll want to hear from you himself,” she says jovially. “I’ll give you his number, hang on a minute.”

“Actually, I-”

“Yes, here it is. Have you got a pen and paper?”

“I don’t-” Calum breaks off, looking wildly around him, and picks up the pen on the top of the telephone keypad, scratching it against the sign that tells him how much of his money he’s pissing away on this phone call. He’s roped into this, now, isn’t he? Karen will tell Michael Calum called, and if Calum doesn’t call Michael after telling Karen he would, it’ll look suspicious. Or it’ll look like he doesn’t care enough, which, with their fragile balance and Calum not knowing where Michael’s head’s at, is the last thing he wants.

“Okay. It’s oh-one-two,” Karen begins, and Calum nods along as she reels off the number for him, phone wedged between his ear and his shoulder as he forces the last of the ink from the pen onto his hand. “Oh, and the country code is zero-zero-eight-one.” Great. Now he can’t even use that as an excuse.

“Thanks,” Calum says, hoping it comes out genuine and not sarcastic. “I’ll, uh. I’ll call him, then.”

“Do,” Karen says, and Calum can tell she’s positively beaming. God, he’s a terrible person. “I’m so happy you called, Calum. I should have known you two would have stayed in contact and not let any of this Blur versus Oasis nonsense get in the way of your friendship.”

“Yeah,” Calum says feebly, feeling guilt tap insistently at his lungs, waiting to be let in. “Well. It was nice talking to you?” He’s not sure how to end a phone call that isn’t either a polite speak to you soon or an exasperated Liam, you cunt, don’t you fucking hang up on m-

“Of course!” Karen says brightly. “I’m very proud of you, Calum. Y’know, I remember you getting your first ever guitar, and look at you now. I’m glad you kept your head screwed on straight.” Calum thinks of the three thin white lines Liam had cut for him earlier that are probably still in his bloodstream, and winces.

“Yeah,” he says, trying for grateful. “I, uh, I try. Thank you.”

“I’m sure I’ll speak to you soon,” Karen says. “I hope you manage to catch Michael!”

“Thanks,” Calum says again, and hopes he doesn’t sound like he wants to gouge his own eyes out. Karen doesn’t seem to notice, though, just chirps a happy goodbye! and leaves Calum to stare at the telephone keypad, holding the receiver loosely in his hand, like he can’t really believe what’s just happened.

Well, fuck. Now he’s got to call fucking Japan.

Calum sighs and starts dialling the number, sending out prayers that Noel’s got some really big fucking tunes up his sleeve for the next album to pay for this call. It rings three times, and then there’s a click as someone picks up.

“Hello?” It’s not Michael. Jesus Christ. Why the fuck is wishing someone a happy birthday this much of an ordeal?

“Is Michael there?” he asks. There’s a short pause.

“Who’s calling?”

“A friend,” Calum says. “Who’s this?”

“Graham.” Which one was that? The one with glasses, right? The other guitarist?

“Right. Is Michael around?”

“Depends on who’s calling.” Calum sighs, and pinches the bridge of his nose. Wishing someone a happy birthday really shouldn’t be this fucking hard.

“It’s Calum,” he mumbles. “From Oasis,” he adds, in case Michael happens to have met a few more Calums in the past couple of years.

“What the hell are you calling for?”

“Why the hell d’you think?” Calum knows he sounds hostile, but he doesn’t care, not when the nervousness that had been contained in his stomach is starting to seep out into his bloodstream.

There’s another pause.

“Alright,” Graham says, but he still sounds suspicious. There’s a rustling sound, and then Calum hears him yell Mike! Calum’s on the phone for you. Yes, Oasis Calum, d’you know any other Calums? Well, okay, yeah, but you haven’t spoken to him since last Chri-

Every second feels like an eternity - although that’s probably at least slightly to do with the fact that he’s spending his entire month’s pay on this call - but eventually there’s more rustling, some fierce muttering that Calum can’t understand beyond - in the bathroom, you dick, and then the sound of a phone being lifted to someone’s ear.

“Calum?” Michael says, and there are footsteps, like he’s walking as far away from the handset as possible.

“Happy birthday,” Calum says lamely. All of this for those two words. It feels incredibly anticlimactic.

“Oh,” Michael says, and he sounds surprised. “I mean. Thanks. I didn’t think you’d remember.” Neither did Calum.

“Well,” Calum says, because he doesn’t want to say that. “Just wanted to call and- uh, say happy birthday, I guess.”

“How’d you get this number?” Michael asks, sounding curious. Calum bites his lip.

“Your mum gave it to me,” he says.

“You rang my house?”

“Well, it’s the only number I have for you, isn’t it?”

“Did you tell her it was you?”

“Yeah.” Michael exhales heavily.

“I haven’t told her,” he admits. “That we’re talking again. Or- y’know. I just haven’t mentioned.”

“I know,” Calum says. “She was surprised that I called.”

“What did she say?” Michael asks. Calum swallows.

“Just, y’know, nice to hear from me, she’s glad I called, all that,” he says vaguely. Michael hums, like he’s mulling it over, and Calum’s stomach flips. Maybe he shouldn’t have called at all. Maybe Michael wants Calum to be his dirty little secret just as much as Calum wants Michael to be his. After all, Calum’s own mum doesn't know either, does she? It’d be hypocritical of Calum to hold it against Michael if he wanted to keep it under wraps too.

(It still kind of stings, though.)

“I’m going to get a fucking Spanish Inquisition when I get home,” Michael says eventually, and Calum huffs out a laugh, stomach untangling itself a little from the tight knot it’s been in for the past five minutes.

“Yeah, probably,” he says, the ghost of a smile flitting across his face as he thinks back to being grilled and reprimanded by Karen any time she got so much as a whiff of a secret from either of them. “D’you remember that time she thought we-”

“Remember when she thought we’d been out smoking weed?” Michael blurts at the same time, and Calum can’t help but smile properly this time, heart somersaulting at the fact that Michael remembers too.

“She was so angry,” Calum says, through a grin. “Kept saying she could smell it on you.”

“Fucking crazy woman,” Michael says, but Calum can hear that he’s grinning too. “We couldn’t afford weed, what was she on about? We hadn’t even been drinking, just been-” he cuts himself off abruptly, and the smile drops off Calum’s face.

They’d been fucking, is what they’d been doing.

“Good thing she didn’t smell that on us,” Calum tries, and Michael huffs out a small laugh, but it’s tight and uncomfortable. Neither of them speak again for a moment, the silence awkward and palpable, until Michael sighs.

“What are we doing?” he mumbles, sounding a little pained.

“I’m wishing you a happy birthday,” Calum says, because he doesn’t want to follow the road that Michael’s words are beckoning him down.

“You know what I mean,” Michael says. “We need to talk.” Calum’s stomach twists. Those words are never followed by any good conversations.

“Do we?” he says, hoping it doesn’t sound as apprehensive to Michael as it does to him. He doesn’t want to talk. He doesn’t want to have that conversation, to hear Michael say you fucked up, and this is it, doesn’t want to have to go all the way to see him just to hear him say I don’t want you anymore.

“When are you back in the UK?”

“December,” Calum says. “Late December. Near Christmas, I think. I’ll have to ask Maggie.”

“Maggie?”

“Our tour manager.”

“Oh.” There’s a moment of silence. “Well. Call me when you’re back?”

“Look,” Calum says, a little desperately, clutching the receiver to his ear. “I- if you want to, like, end whatever this is, not talk to me anymore, I’d rather you just do it now. I don’t want to travel all the way to London for you to tell me you never want to speak to me again.” Michael inhales, and doesn’t exhale.

“I didn’t say that,” he says carefully, after a minute. “But we need to talk.” Calum blinks at the telephone keypad. He’s not sure what to make of that.

“Okay,” he says. “I- uh, yeah. Okay. I’ll call you when I’m back home?”

“Yeah,” Michael says. He pauses, and then adds: “I should go. I locked Graham in the bathroom to take this call.” Calum can’t help the snort that escapes him.

“I should try that on Liam,” he says.

“I think it’d take more than a bathroom door to contain Liam Gallagher,” Michael says. He’s got a point.

“You’ve got a point,” Calum concedes, and he hears Michael huff out a small laugh at the other end of the line, crackled and tinny but genuine and soft. “I should probably go too. I’ve got a show in a few hours.”

“Where?”

“Berlin.” Michael hums.

“We played there a few weeks ago,” he says.

“I know,” Calum says, without thinking. “Uh. I mean. The posters are all still up.”

“Surprised Liam and Noel haven’t gone around tearing them all down,” Michael says, and Calum can hear the smile in his voice.

“I think they’re planning on pasting posters of us over you.”

“Hope they have a lot of them.” Calum grins, eyeing the three Blur posters he can see in his line of vision.

“That’ll be my entire share of the royalties gone,” he says, and Michael snorts.

“I really should go,” he says, sounding a little regretful. “I’ve got to spend at least half an hour convincing Graham not to tell Damon I locked him in a bathroom to talk to you.”

“Why?” Calum’s not sure why he asks, because he’s fairly certain he doesn’t want to hear the answer. Because I don’t want anyone to know we’re talking. Because I want to keep you a secret. Because I’m ashamed of you. It’s even worse because he can’t blame Michael for it.

“If I do anything to Graham, Damon takes it as a personal attack.” Oh. Well. That probably shouldn’t make something warm blossom in Calum’s stomach, the fact that it’s not because of him, but it does.

“Damon doesn’t seem particularly intimidating,” Calum says.

“You fucking wait,” Michael says, and there’s a fondness to his tone that makes Calum’s heart ache, because Michael used to talk about him like that. “Call me when you’re back in the UK, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Calum says. “Bye, Michael.” He’s expecting a click, the thin sound of the dial tone, but it doesn’t come.

“I’m glad you called,” Michael says after a moment, all in a rush, like he’s had to build up the nerve to say it.

“I’m glad I did, too,” Calum says, and he can’t help the small smile playing at his lips. Michael’s glad he called.

“I’ll see you soon,” Michael says.

“Yeah,” Calum says, smile slipping off his face as his stomach flips unpleasantly thinking of the inevitable conversation. “Soon.”

The dial tone rings loud and harsh, and Calum listens to it for a good few moments before putting the phone down and stepping out of the booth. Three Michaels stare at him from different angles as he heads back for the hotel, declaring something in German that he can’t read, eyes seeming to follow Calum as he turns the corner. They seem almost disapproving, like they know Calum doesn’t want to talk. Or maybe that’s Calum’s guilt-ridden imagination.

Well, Calum thinks, stomach flipping as his eyes find another picture of Michael plastered to a lamppost. At least they aren’t posters of Noel and Liam, in that case.

-------

December comes far too soon.

The album goes platinum while they’re in Southampton, or maybe Sheffield, and Calum joins the rest of the band at some grimy nightclub, drunk and high and full of adrenaline because shit, that’s their fucking album. Number one and platinum, fucking hell. It doesn’t feel fucking real.

They film a video for Whatever somewhere in London, and Noel turns up late to the filming, still dressed in his clothes from the night before, so drunk that he can barely play his guitar. Liam’s fucking furious, probably because this is the first time Noel’s ever been drunker than him, and Calum has to spend the rest of the day making sure Liam doesn’t go into the same room as Noel, because they still have a few weeks worth of dates in the UK and they could do with having both the lead guitarist and singer alive for them.

The UK dates pass so fast in blurs of games of Frustration on the tour bus as green and grey whip past the window that Calum barely notices that it’s their week off until he sees a river that looks suspiciously like the Mersey and asks Noel where they are.

(“Liverpool,” Noel says, throwing him a strange look.

“We’re going home tomorrow,” Liam adds.

“Too right you’re fucking going home,” Noel says. “Not fucking kipping at mine again.” Liam scowls, opens his mouth with an indignant expression, and Calum decides now’s a great time to find Alan and ask him about the re-stringing of Calum’s bass he’d said he’d sort out before the gig.)

He’s so exhausted after their last show, having his first proper comedown in weeks, that he can’t do anything but crash through the front door and stumble to his bed at six in the morning. He sleeps like the fucking dead, and by the time he gets up and showers, feeling a bit more alive than he has done the past few days, it’s nearly dark outside.

“Good morning,” his mum says pointedly, when he wanders into the kitchen, yawning, and pulls open the fridge.

“Morning,” Calum says, pulling out a beer and some leftover pasta. “Where’s Dad?”

“Gone fishing,” his mum says. Calum grunts to let her know he’s acknowledged it, and heads to the microwave.

“Liam called earlier,” his mum says, as he presses some random buttons - he really should figure out how this microwave works - and then sets it off.

“Oh?” Calum says.

“He was asking if you wanted to come round tonight,” his mum says. Calum hums, frowning a little. Liam’s not very good at being on his own, no one to take his endless energy out on now that both Paul and Noel have moved out, but he can usually take at least a day or two.

“Might do,” he says, because there might be something more to it if Liam’s already itching to see him again after less than twenty-four hours, and then sees the disappointed look on his mum’s face. “After dinner?” Her face clears, and she nods.

“We’ll be eating around seven,” she says. “Oh, and another bit of wall’s fallen in. Could you take a look?” Calum groans, and tips his head back against the wall, closing his eyes.

“Fucking hell,” he mutters under his breath, drawing out the first syllable. His mum tuts, and the microwave dings. “Yeah, alright.” He opens his eyes and reaches for the microwave.

“Michael called, too,” his mum says, and Calum swears again as the plate drops out of his hand and crashes to the floor, smashing to pieces and dropping hot, steaming pasta everywhere. His mum jumps out of the way, swears loudly, and says: “Bloody hell, Calum.”

“Sorry,” Calum says, scrambling to his knees to try and pick up as many pieces of plate as he can. “It was hot.” His cheeks are burning, partially from embarrassment and partially from whatever’s making his heart race like it is, and he stares steadfastly at the floor as he shuffles around.

“What did he want?” Calum asks, as casually as he can, speaking to the floor.

“He didn’t say,” his mum says. She hesitates, and then adds: “What’s going on with you two?” Fuck if Calum knows.

“I don’t know,” Calum says, still not looking at her. He doesn’t want to see the inevitable disapproving look on her face, the motherly instinct to stop him doing something that’s probably just going to get him hurt etched on her features.

“When did you start speaking again?” Calum hesitates, hand hovering over a shard of ceramic. He’s not really sure himself. Would it be the awards show? Or Glastonbury? Or that first phone call a few weeks later? It’d be Glastonbury, he supposes, because Michael hadn’t even acknowledged his existence at the awards show, couldn’t even look Calum in the eye. Glastonbury had been the first time Michael had admitted to the both of them that he still remembered Calum.

“Glastonbury,” he says, and his mum inhales sharply.

“Why didn’t you say?” she asks. Calum sits back on his heels, looking up at her, and shrugs.

“I didn’t know how,” he says, which is sort of the truth. He leaves out the fact that he hadn’t really wanted to tell her, had wanted to squirrel it away, the last little piece of Michael that he could have to himself.

Her expression softens, and she purses her lips, a little sadly.

“Be careful with him,” she says, and Calum’s not sure whether she means Calum should protect himself or protect Michael. After all, she’d seen all the unopened letters Michael had sent.

“Yeah,” he says, looking back down at the pasta still spread across the floor. It feels sort of fitting, somehow. “I’ll try.” His mum sighs, and pushes herself off the kitchen counter she’s been leaning against.

“Go,” she says. “I’ll clean this up.”

“No, it’s alright, I-”

“Go,” she says, a little more sternly, and Calum gets to his knees, wiping his hands and dusting his knees off.

“Alright,” he says. “I’ll just-”

“Call him,” she says. He hates that she knows him so well.

Calum heads out for the phone in the hallway, not wanting to take the call in the living room or kitchen where his mum might eavesdrop, and dials Michael’s number. He twirls the cord around his finger while it rings three times, until there’s a click and someone picks up.

“Hello?”

“Hi.”

“Oh,” Michael says. “Hi. Your mum said you were asleep.”

“Yeah,” Calum says, a little apologetically. “I didn’t get up until, like, half an hour ago. We played our last show for a while yesterday.”

“Oh,” Michael says again, a note of recognition in his voice. Of course, Calum thinks; Michael’ll know what last shows - particularly home shows - are like. “Well. I just wanted to see if you were home, really.” He doesn’t say why, but they both know.

“I am ‘til the twenty-seventh,” Calum says. Michael hums.

“When can you come down?” Calum exhales heavily. He could go down any day, really. Tomorrow, if Michael wanted. He’s not sure whether he should just get it over with, or whether he should make the most of the last few days that he might have with the secret feeling of maybe there’s still hope. It’s been six months; he can probably stand a few more days of anticipation. But then again, it’ll be better to get it out of the way now, to have as long before Christmas as he can to gather himself after whatever Michael will throw his way so that it’s not overshadowing the few days his parents will get with him before he’s off again.

“Tomorrow?” he offers, a little tentatively. He’s not sure whether it seems a bit too keen.

“Yeah, tomorrow’s good,” Michael says.

“I can be in London for twelve?” He winces, thinking about how early he’s going to have to get up for that.

“Twelve works. Where d’you come in?”

“Euston.”

“Can you get to Camden?” Michael asks. “Or d’you want me to pick you up?”

“No, I can get there,” Calum says, even though he’s not entirely sure he can.

“Alright. I’ll give you my address, hang on-” there’s scrambling at the other end of the line.

“D’you not know your own address?”

“I- well, sort of, but-” Calum can’t help but laugh. “Fuck you,” Michael says, but Calum can hear he’s smiling too. “You got a pen and paper?”

“Yeah,” Calum says. Michael reels off an address, postcode and all, and Calum dutifully jots it down, only stopping him once to ask whether he’d said D or E.

“Alright,” Calum says, re-capping the pen and tearing the sheet of paper off the pad next to the phone. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

“See you tomorrow,” Michael echoes, and Calum only hesitates for a moment before hanging up. It feels strange, he thinks, not to hear the dial tone ringing in his ear, one last reminder of Michael even after he’s gone.

(He wonders whether Michael lingered like he always does.)

-------

Liam ends up coming round for dinner, sounding relieved and grateful when Calum calls him and offers, making Calum frown and file the information away to quiz him on later. Calum’s mum rolls her eyes and makes exasperated noises when Calum tells her he’s coming, because now I have to make dinner for four people, Calum, couldn’t you have told me a bit earlier? but Calum knows she doesn’t really mind. Brash and corrosive though Liam can be, he’s got a childlike charm to him that captivates anybody who meets him, Calum’s parents included. They spend dinner laughing at stories Liam tells about tour, exaggerated and carefully skipping over all the drug use, and Calum’s mum even waves them away when they go to help wash up, tells them with a smile to head to the pub, go on, enjoy yourselves, you deserve it.

“I fucking love your mam,” Liam says, practically skipping as they walk down the dark street to the pub. He’s not even wearing a coat, the fucking madman. Calum huddles further into his own, nosing into the collar of it as the cold wind whips at him.

“You’re just saying that because she made your favourite pasta,” Calum says, and Liam turns back to him and grins.

“Didn’t hurt,” he says. “C’mon, it’s cold.”

“Why the fuck didn’t you bring a coat?” Liam shrugs, hopping from foot to foot. Calum’s not sure whether it’s because he’s cold, or because he’s Liam.

“Nearly there, anyway,” Liam says, as they round the corner to the street the pub’s on. “Mam gave me a tenner for drinks.” Calum snorts.

“Why’s your mum giving you money for drinks?” he says. “You’ve got a fucking number one album.” Liam grins.

“Still the youngest kid, though, aren’t I?” he says, eyes twinkling. He’s got a point. Peggy would never give Noel a tenner for the pub.

“Y’know, I can see why Noel hates you,” Calum comments, and Liam’s grin widens as he pushes open the door of the pub.

It’s warm inside, and Calum says he’ll get them a table if Liam gets the drinks, which Liam doesn’t want to do until he sees a pretty girl tending the bar, and then he’s off like a shot. Calum squeezes between a bunch of tipsy men laughing far too loudly into a table in the back corner, wrinkling his nose as he steadies himself on the table and comes into contact with something sticky. Gross.

Liam, inevitably, takes a good twenty minutes to come back with the drinks and a phone number tucked into his shirt pocket, grinning and eyes twinkling as he sets Calum’s pint down opposite him.

“Took your fucking time,” Calum says, raising an eyebrow, and lifts the pint to his lips.

“Did you fucking see her?” Liam says. “‘Course I took my bloody time.” He takes a sip from his own pint, and then nods at Calum’s. “You owe me for that.”

“No I don’t,” Calum says. Liam scowls at him.

“That’s your fucking Christmas present then,” he says, and Calum rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling into his beer.

They drink in comfortable silence for a moment, both lost in their own thoughts. Calum’s enjoying the warmth of the pub, the familiarity, the way it feels a little like home. He wonders whether Sydney would feel foreign to him now, whether he’d still love the feeling of the warm sand under his feet at Christmas.

“We used to go to the beach at Christmas,” he says, without thinking. Liam shoots him a strange look, before his face clears.

“Oh, ‘s all the wrong way round down there, innit?” he says, like he’s just remembered. “Must be weird for you, Christmas being cold.” Calum shrugs.

“It was at first,” he says. “I’m used to it now.”

“Oh aye?” Liam sounds genuinely interested, so Calum carries on.

“Yeah,” he says, with another shrug. “I never saw snow until I moved here.”

“Did it freak you out?” Liam asks. “Seeing things all white, and that.” Calum blinks at him.

“What?”

“Well, if you’d never seen snow, what’d you think all the white stuff was?”

“I knew what snow was, you fucking idiot,” Calum says incredulously. “Fucking hell.”

“Well, how the fuck am I meant to know that?” Liam says defensively.

“You ever seen a camel? You think camels don’t exist?”

“ Yeah, but-”

“You thought I didn’t know what snow was?”

“How the fuck am I meant to know what they do and don’t teach you in Australia?” Liam demands, and Calum snorts and shakes his head.

“You’re fucking unbelievable,” Calum says, even though Liam thinking Calum didn’t know what snow was until he moved to the UK is entirely believable. Liam scowls, but it’s good-natured.

“Fuck you,” he says. “You wait, I’m going to fucking leave you in Australia when we tour there.”

“You wouldn’t last a minute without me,” Calum says confidently. “Who’ll save you from the bities?”

“The fucking what? Bikeys?”

“Or the freshies and salties?”

“What? Those aren’t words. You’re fucking making this up, you are.” Calum laughs, and Liam folds his arms, resting his elbows on the table.

“Watch it,” Calum says, nodding at his elbows. “Table’s sticky.” Liam looks down, and grimaces, unsticking himself from the table.

“Couldn’t’ve told me that before, could you, you prick?” he grumbles, dusting off his elbows, like it’s going to get rid of the stale beer.

“Didn’t know you were going to put your fucking elbows down, did I?” Calum says, and Liam just sticks two fingers up at him as he reaches for his drink again, making Calum grin in response and wink at him over the rim of his own glass.

They drink in silence for a while, listening to the chatter in the pub as they let the cosy atmosphere and the drinks warm them from the inside out. It’s nice, Calum thinks, downing the last of his pint. He hasn’t been alone with Liam in God knows how long, been stuck on tour buses and in planes with him and at least five other people for far too long, and he realises just how much he’s really missed his one-on-one time with Liam, the easy comfort of a friendship that both of them fall into without even thinking about it, the security of knowing their lives are irrevocably intertwined now. It’s nice that they don’t have to speak, that they can just sit here and drink each other in, just exist alongside each other in quiet peace.

Liam’s not usually this quiet for long, though, usually can’t contain his incessant energy for more than three minute bursts at a time, but Calum knows better than to push. There’s something there, but Liam will say it when he’s ready to say it, and not a moment sooner. Calum’s been burnt one too many times by his own good intentions in that area, so he just sits back, pushes his glass away from himself and waits. It only takes another few minutes of Liam staring down at the bottom of his glass, brows furrowed and deep in thought, until he suddenly says:

“Noel’s moving to London.” The penny drops.

Ah.

“Is he?” Calum says, although really, he’s not that surprised. They’re getting somewhere, and Manchester’s not exactly the place for an up-and-coming musician to be based. It’s been at the back of his own mind, but he’s been pushing it aside, preoccupied with too many other more pressing issues to worry about the logistics of moving that far out.

“Yeah,” Liam says, still staring at the bottom of his glass.

“You knew he would,” Calum says, trying to make it as gentle as possible.

“I know,” Liam says. He doesn’t sound as upset about it as Calum had expected, actually. “He’s going to look at houses tomorrow.” Shit. London’s big, though, isn’t it? What are the odds that he’ll bump into Noel?

“Did he say where?” Calum asks, hoping it comes out casual. He wishes he had another pint in front of him, wanting something to do with his hands and feeling just how sober he is all of a sudden, so used to either being on a high or a comedown.

“Yeah, but fuck if I remember,” Liam says, with a shrug. “I’m going with him. Cunt’s making me get up at eight to catch the train.” Oh, fucking brilliant. Two Gallaghers to avoid in London, not just one. Is it too late to call Michael and reschedule? Probably; his mum’ll be listening if he makes a phone call when he gets back from the pub, and he doesn’t want to deal with all those questions. It does explain, though, why Liam doesn’t seem all too torn up about Noel moving so far away; Noel allowing Liam to come and look around with him is a silent acknowledgement that he knows Liam’ll be spending more time there than he will at home, most likely, so it’s got to be a place he likes too.

“You’re a fucking scrounger,” Calum tells him, knowing Liam will know what he’s talking aout, and the ghost of a smile crosses Liam’s lips, but doesn’t quite reach his eyes as he plays with the rim of his glass. Calum frowns. He’s missing something.

“What?” he asks, and Liam shrugs, a little uncomfortably. He’s feeling something he’s not sure how to articulate, then, something he can’t channel into punches or barbed words. It’s something to do with Noel, because that’s the only topic he never knows how to approach while knowing exactly how to navigate it with his eyes shut and his hands tied behind his back, but it’s not something that Noel’s done, or Calum would be fucking hearing about it, and it’s not something that Liam’s done, or Calum would also be fucking hearing about it, but from Noel. It’s got to be something else, something that Noel doesn’t know about yet, something internal for Liam. Something about him moving to London, maybe, since he’s managed to bring that part up. Something that Liam feels about Noel moving to London, something that’s making him hesitant about accepting that he’s going to be spending a lot of time at Noel’s new place-

Oh.

“He’s not doing it to get away from you, Liam,” Calum says, and Liam swallows, finger stilling on the rim of his glass for a split second, and Calum watches a little apprehensively as two conflicting emotions flash across Liam’s face; anger, irritated and embarrassed at the fact that Calum’s just called him out on it, and vulnerability, afraid and wanting Calum’s reassurance. Calum knows Liam better than almost anyone, and even he can’t ever tell which way it’s going to go. Luckily for him, though, Liam seems to struggle with himself for a moment before he exhales heavily, and slumps back in his chair.

“You don’t know that,” he says.

“I do,” Calum says. “He’s your brother, Liam.” Liam looks pained at that.

“Yeah, I know,” he says. “But- y’know. After LA.” He doesn’t say anything else - probably doesn’t know how or what to say - but Calum gets it. Everything had changed after Whiskey-a-Go-Go, shifted a few centimetres to the left, and even though everything’s okay again, it’s a different kind of okay to before.

“That wasn’t your fault,” Calum says, because it wasn’t.

“Wasn’t it? I was a right cunt.”

“You’re always a right cunt,” Calum says, but he doesn’t mean it unkindly, or even teasingly. He means that’s just how you are, and we’re all still here, aren’t we? “And anyway, so was Noel.” Liam has to concede there, tilts his head to indicate yeah, I s’pose.

“I dunno,” he says, still staring steadfastly at his empty glass. “Maybe he just needs a break from me.”

“He always needs a break from you,” Calum says. “But he never takes one.”

“Took one in LA.”

“Yeah, and then he came back,” Calum says. Liam seems to mull the words over, let them roll around in his mind, see how they feel, but Calum can see from the look on his face that they aren’t quite enough.

“Maybe you should get your own place in London,” Calum suggests. Liam looks up for the first time, brow furrowed. “Then you could be close, but not too close.” Liam’s brow stays furrowed, but he hums thoughtfully.

“You think?” he says, sounding a little uncertain. Liam moving out of Manchester is quite a big step, the city etched into his veins like none of the rest of them, but it makes sense. And, Calum thinks, they’ll probably all have to move to London, eventually. It might be better to get it done at the same time as Noel, to have someone who knows how to navigate Liam’s inevitable misplaced temper tantrums at the fucking movers or traffic or furniture shops when he’s really just stressed about the change.

“Yeah,” Calum says. “It’d do you good, anyway, being on your own. Probably do you and Noel a world of good too, not living on top of each other all the time.” Liam scrunches his face up, looking ten years younger than he is, like the annoying little kid that Noel must see him as, and then sighs heavily and nods.

“Yeah,” he says. “Yeah, you’re right. Yeah. Might have a look myself tomorrow, then.” Calum swallows. Not in Camden, he thinks as loudly as possible, in case Liam’s psychic.

“Yeah, do that,” he says out loud. Liam nods again, a little more decisively this time, clearly not listening to Calum’s thoughts, and then grins at Calum, bright and easy, like the past five minutes hadn’t happened at all.

“You’re getting the next round,” he says, and Calum sighs, all long-suffering, but heaves himself out of his seat, forgetting that the table’s sticky and squawking when he puts his hands down on it to support himself. Liam laughs delightedly, like there’s nothing in the fucking world that brings him more joy than Calum’s misfortune, and Calum scowls good-naturedly and flips him off as he heads in the direction of the bar.

Well, he thinks, as he jogs down the steps leading up to their seating area and weaves through tables of increasingly tipsy old men laughing far too loudly. At least Liam’s sorted. And London really is big, right? Must be twice the size of Manchester, at least. And he’ll be in Michael’s house, anyway, won’t he? There’s no way he’ll see Noel and Liam there.

Yeah, he thinks, flagging down the bartender. It’ll be fucking fine.

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chapter six

#malum #5sos fic #5sos fanfic #5sos slash #5sos fanfiction #ill be responding ot messages tomorrow i need some time to gather brain cells #this heat is SERIOUSLY doing me in #nadya...i have Some Thoughts but i need to collect the fics #god im literally sat in front of my fan on full blast and its just blwoing hot air at me SUFFERING #imagine not having yorkshire blood must be so nice

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transcendencism · 4 years

Video

youtube

I played through Ziost with Hyroh & now I’m going to talk about it because I love the Ziost storyline and even though a lot of this gets changed in my canon (which I will talk about & there will probably be a fic for it in the far future), I just like talking about Ziost and there’s just so much in here that I didn’t want to post individual clips and figured recording the whole damn thing would be easier. Will also provide timestamps for specific scenes that I talk about so you don’t have to watch the whole thing through. Also I don’t play with music on so some of the scenes are a little awkward when no one’s talking...

Opening Cutscene:

So, in my canon, this isn’t actually how it happens, for a number of reasons: one, I can’t imagine they just let Hyroh onto Ziost. I know Theron gave him the right clearance codes and everything, but Hyroh is a shit actor and can’t do an Imperial accent to save his life. That’s just a logistical thing, and not actually why it happens differently.

The SIS works closely with the Sixth Line, and apparently Saresh and Satele were both unaware of them until now (oops...), so I imagine Hyroh’s involvement with them wasn’t on any official paperwork & was kept a secret from the Council. But Theron is aware about Hyroh’s work with the Sixth Line, and figures he’d have more luck trying to recruit them through Hyroh. So, Theron calls up Hyroh when he thinks he’s found the Emperor on Ziost, Hyroh jumps at the chance and because he’s sort of the Republic’s leading expert on all things Vitiate, Master Surro and the Sixth Line trust him enough that they go with him.

I’m not going into a lot of detail because I do want to save it for the eventual Ziost fic, but essentially Hyroh is on-planet before Theron is, and so this cutscene doesn’t happen. Also, Yiress went to Ziost along with Theron in his ship, so xe’s here too.

Still... the exchange is cute.

Meeting Lana (2:35):

Hyroh isn’t here for this either! This and the cutscene before this one most likely happen with Zaidras and/or Aseq. Haven’t quite figured out if Aseq would be involved with the stuff on Ziost, but I imagine he wouldn’t be keen to send his lover there alone. This also means Hyroh doesn’t learn that Kovach is working for Theron, as by the time Hyroh and Theron show up, Zaidras is already there. And Zaidras really doesn’t like double agents.

Theron’s Here! (7:26):

Not too much to say about this other than there’s a flirt option in here and it’s cute. Also Theron saying “someone we can trust” makes my heart hurt because of what Kovach ends up doing. Like, god I know it’s his job, but that doesn’t mean I approve of him going behind Theron’s back. Of course, then again, Theron sending what is basically a black ops taskforce composed of “anything for the mission” zealots to an Imperial planet is, uhm, not fantastic?

Also the “electrical shocks momentarily block Vitiate’s possession” gives me an excuse to bring up the fact that Hyroh still knows how to summon Force Lightning.

Theron and Hyroh talk shit about Lana (9:40):

“My bruises still have bruises thanks to her little deception on Rishi. Still, who am I talk?”

OOF. I think I’ve said before that Hyroh doesn’t really like hypocrites, but that in of itself is hypocritical because... Hyroh doesn’t have that same kind of standard for himself or people he really likes, Theron in this case. I’m not sure if this conversation happens, actually, but I don’t think Hyroh would’ve even realized the hypocrisy of Theron sending Kovach to infiltrate Sith Intelligence (mainly because the purpose wasn’t exactly to spy directly on Lana) until he pointed it out.

But god, I love that Theron recognizes it and calls himself out here. Like, yeah, sending the Sixth Line to Ziost was definitely not a good move, and he fully admits it. He’s also genuinely shocked when Saresh calls him and you can just hear the “oh god I’m so fucking fired” going on inside his head.

Also, wow, Saresh is a fucking idiot. She’s always been more direct but the shit on Ziost just really takes the cake. I can just imagine Theron and Hyroh both saying at the same time “PLEASE DON’T SEND TROOPS HERE” and she’s like “Too late they’re already coming out of hyperspace :)) you’re so fired.”

Kovach is a sneaky sneaky snake (11:11):

Why do people keep betraying Theron? Seriously, why? At first you think he’s just hung up on trauma from his childhood but no it’s still actively happening to him. No, I don’t expect Kovach to know about Theron’s childhood trauma and feel extra bad about betraying him, and I know he’s only doing his job, but like... COME ON MAN. Give him a break!

And hey, remember what I said about Hyroh not liking hypocrites, liars, or people who go behind other people’s backs? Yeah, he’s really not happy about it. The only reason Hyroh agrees to keep working with him instead of just telling him to get lost is so that he can make sure Kovach doesn’t get away with going behind Theron’s back without repercussion. Even though, Hyroh... honestly doesn’t want to break it to him, because he knows it’s going to hurt really bad.

HOWEVER, I will say that I don’t hate Kovach. Honestly, I admire his reasons for going behind Theron’s back much more than I did Lana’s (”we had to make it look convincing!” Lana, you’re talking to a trained agent who has probably had to be fake-kidnapped before or at the VERY LEAST knows how to act his way through it). Also he’s really just trying to stop Vitiate and correct his own mistake of notifying Saresh. He doesn’t really try to defend his actions, he’s more of “you can judge me all you want, I honestly don’t care, but can you please wait until after the crisis has been averted?” and I can respect that.

PLEASE STOP HURTING THERON I’M BEGGING YOU (13:38):

Theron’s tone when he says “What are you talking about?” just really gets to me. It’s not confusion, it’s not quite disbelief. It almost feels like he already knows what’s coming.

“And why would you do that?” I started crying during this scene and I’m crying watching it a second time it HURTS. He’s not quite full-blown angry yet. But he’s frustrated, and now I think he’s a little bewildered. Like, why on earth would Kovach do that? Doesn’t he know that Saresh would jump on something like that.

“I’m not your asset.”

And then Theron doesn’t say anything. Kovach doesn’t have to elaborate because Theron’s already put it together. Now, Theron isn’t a gung ho patriot like his father, but he cares deeply about his work and about the Republic. And Theron knows how badly he’s screwed up (I honestly can’t imagine how the kind of violence and massacre he’s inflicted is going to eat away at him, and of course how this might’ve impacted him isn’t at all explored because KOTFE happened). But realizing that Kovach was planted on him because Saresh didn’t trust him? That fucking STINGS.

Kovach tries to explain himself and Theron honestly couldn’t be bothered to hear it, and I don’t blame him. I don’t think Theron would’ve actually been able to fire Kovach, but you think he gives a shit in that moment? I don’t think so. And he just... he hangs up.

Hyroh’s Speech (17:02):

translated: “I’m gonna grind your incorporeal face into the fucking dirt.”

Hyroh vs. the Sixth Line Jedi (17:45):

Ah, this scene hurts more knowing that Hyroh actually knows these two and has fought alongside them before. Hyroh isn’t particularly strong with the Force, not like a lot of my other OCs, and he has barely been able to shield himself, let alone the others. So, he feels incredibly guilty about not being able to save them from this, and that now they’re going through the same trauma he did.

Also Hyroh shocks them to sleep with Force Lightning. You’re welcome for the pain.

The Big Showdown (19:15):

Okay, there’s A LOT in this scene but GOD it’s so good.

The flirt line at 20:03 got me FUCKED UP! Fucked up! Wanna know why? Because Theron repeats Hyroh’s “The feeling is mutual” line from Rishi. I don’t know if that was on purpose or not but if it was... FUCK. Tempted to change their OTP tag to that line because... HRGH.

And then the “puppet brigade” aka the plot comes breaking through the door. And... this is where shit gets painful. Vitiate takes full control of Surro, starts monologuing, and Hyroh goes rigid. Theron’s too distracted, distraught to see Surro being used as Vitiate’s mouthpiece (god, what a painful but neat touch how Vitiate’s voice takes over after Surro had fought against him last time), that he doesn’t notice something’s wrong with Hyroh.

BECAUSE GUESS WHO JUST GOT POSSESSED???

anyway the Master Surro fight is replaced by both Surro and Hyroh vs. Zaidras and Aseq, (or maybe Lana if i decide Aseq isn’t present).

(though, okay, in the cutscene where Theron literally rushes at Vitiate head-on and puts the shield up around you so you can’t follow him? mY HEARTTTTTTTTT AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA)

[Nobody liked that] Meme (22:16):

Can we just talk about how gentle Theron sounds when he’s talking to Surro? Like, Theron doesn’t get openly gentle and concerned like that, not until now. I just... UGH, the DEPTHS of his character, I LOVE HIM SO MUCH

... and then Lana says “how about we experiment on her?”

Zaidras “Honor is the most important thing to me” Terel says “fuck you, I’m the Wrath, and I say they go to Tython with Theron.” I don’t think Zaidras was apart of the stuff on Rishi, but he was definitely there for the Yavin half of SOR, and he and Hyroh infiltrated the Temple of Sacrifice AND fought Revan together, so they have an odd sort of brothers-in-battle bond.

Theron and Hyroh Catch Up (26:54):

So this scene doesn’t actually happen, at least not here, because Hyroh’s on Tython recovering, but... god it’s so cute.

Not to mention that this scene, like THIS SCENE shows the remarkable growth Theron’s gone through since you met him. He’s so emotionally vulnerable when he brings up Ziost, and he’s so concerned about Surro (THIS is why I really don’t understand when people try to say that shipping Theron with a Jedi is bad, like? HELLO?)

And it also shows that, while Hyroh has changed, he’s... still not quite getting it yet. When he asks Theron to come away with him. He’d never expect Theron to be a Jedi or give up on his career, but he just doesn’t realize how important the SIS really is to Theron, and he learns that in this scene.

“Growing up, I had an idea of who and what I would be. In a lot of ways, that didn’t happen, but in the ways that matter...”

“What I’m saying is, I belong with the SIS. I’m not throwing in the towel.”

THERON IS LITERALLY ONE OF THE BEST WRITTEN CHARACTERS IN THIS GAME, MAYBE EVEN THE ENTIRE FRANCHISE AND I’M SO EMO ABOUT HIM ALL THE TIME

LOOK AT HIS FACE WHEN HE APPROACHES HYROH FOR THAT KISS. LOOK AT THAT SMILEEEEEEEEEEEEE

and then... okay, this one pissed me off.

“I should’ve reached out to you sooner [...] I won’t make that same mistake again.” Again, this is just slightly defeated considering Hyroh was there on-planet BEFORE Theron, but Theron didn’t tell Hyroh that he was heading to Ziost, and Hyroh really only happened to stumble upon his shuttle. And I think the sentiment stays: “I’ll trust you to have my back, and I’ll have yours. We’re a team.”

And yet Lana’s the one who comes to get Hyroh out of carbonite, and Theron doesn’t show up until the Alliance is already a thing. Yeah, I’m a little mad about it.

also Theron saying “May the Force be with you” is such a loaded statement and another indicator of his growth and I just... I literally love him so much.

#hRGH THIS POST IS DONE #IM TIRED #please feel free to analyze ziost w/ me #ch: theron shan #ch: lana beniko #ch: jedi knight #oc: hyroh kaah

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bullshittierlists · 4 years

Photo

I see no god up here other than me

Ty Lee- Ty Lee is best girl and I find it hard to argue with that statement. She’s just so bouncy and cute and honestly really powerful for not being a bender. I mean, the ability to paralyze someone on contact, much less being able to pinpoint specific parts of the body to paralyze, it’s just incredible. She was so cute in that beach episode because all the guys hit on her, which of course they do, have you seen how cute she is? I’m not super on board with her backstory, but it wasn’t a huge part of her character, so it’s fine.

Sokka- The man, the myth, the legend. It’s been said before, but the only reason Sokka couldn’t bend is because the creators knew he’d be too powerful. That’s the same reason he has to put his hair up. Also, he’s totally bi, change my mind.

Jet- I have several friends that watch this show and that watched the show before me. They all knew that I’d like Jet because he’s a “backstabbing traitor” despite their hatred of him and I guess I have a trend of liking those characters. I jokingly agreed with them and was excited to meet him. Little did I know just how much I would fall in love with him. A lot of my friends say that it’s just because he’s cute or he’s a sad boy, but there are honestly so many reasons to love him. I absolutely adore psychology and deep-diving into the minds of characters and his mentality is so intriguing. You would think this would lean me more towards Zuko, then. But Zuko gets so much focus that his psychology is always precedent, right front and center. But Jet doesn’t get that spotlight. I originally liked him more because he was under-appreciated, but now I realize just how amazing he is. At a very surface level, his actions are bad. He’s trying to murder innocent people for the sake of getting rid of a few fire nation soldiers. But as soon as you look deeper into his intentions, you can clearly see how badly he wanted to do good. These types of characters are always the saddest, the characters who think they are helping the world by destroying it. They legitimately think that the actions they are taking are the right ones even when everyone around them thinks otherwise. Other examples of this type of character are JD from Heathers and even Hector from Castlevania to some extent. Yes, he acknowledges that he will be sacrificing innocent lives. But he also knows that he will be saving lives in the future by going through with the dam plan. There’s so much more I could say about him, but I’ve been rambling for long enough.

Zuko- There’s nothing I could say about Zuko that hasn’t been said before. I already gushed about Jet for entirely too long, so have this instead: Sokka and Zuko have a wonderful relationship and I think that both parties could have benefitted greatly from being together romantically. Thank you.

You’re the best

Iroh- What can I say? He’s a good old man with lots of wisdom that we should all take to heart.

Momo- Some of my favorite parts of the entire show were scenes with Sokka and Momo just vibing. There should’ve been more emphasis on Sokka’s relationship with the animals in general.

Appa- I was really excited when Sokka started flying on Appa without Aang the first time, because I thought that meant that Sokka had created a really unique bond with Appa and was the only other one that could fly him. I was mistaken and incredibly upset.

Teo- He’s just a cute boy. I like his goggles.

Hey, I think you’re pretty cool, I like you a lot

Azula- Oh boy. There’s so much here to say, but she’s been analyzed to death, so I won’t go on for too long. As much as I would’ve loved to see Azula on the “good guy” team, I’m really glad she didn’t get a redemption. Not her, specifically, but more the villains in general. Zuko’s redemption was marvelous and there’s nothing that will ever top it, but if Azula had also gotten that redemption, his would’ve been downcast. It would’ve showed that anyone’s capable of a redemption and that he wasn’t special, he was just lucky to have that change of heart. Which maybe that’s still true, but at least with the ending we got, we give Zuko that spotlight. But back to Azula, she’s pretty cool, as the category would suggest. The Girl Gang (Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee) were a treat to watch and I instantly fell in love with all three of them as soon as they were introduced. Then they had to change to the Gayng once Zuko joined and I still loved all of them.

Longshot- It was super powerful when he spoke for the first time in Jet’s “death” scene. That was the first time he had said anything and he made it count. He helped show how even thought Jet is a “bad guy” at the surface level, he was still good enough of a leader and a friend for his group to stay with him in his ultimate time of need.

Suki- She’s badass. That’s about it. All parts of The Boiling Rock were my favorite episodes and they featured her pretty heavily in the back half. And I was not complaining.

Toph- Again, badass.

Aang- He’s the main character. I don’t have any super negative things to say or any super positive things to say. So he’s just here.

Kuei- I know he doesn’t do anything, like at all, but I can’t get over him and his bear.

Yue- When I started watching this show, I knew about some of the ships and I wasn’t super into it. Which was weird, because I’m always super into shipping. I wouldn’t have watched some of my favorite shows if it weren’t for the shipping aspect. But I just couldn’t get on board with it in this show. Aang and Katara felt kinda forced and weird, Sokka and Suki was alright, but I couldn’t quite get into it. But when I first saw Sokka and Yue interacting, I was enthralled. I was in love with their relationship and I thought it was so cute. I was genuinely excited to see where their relationship would go. But you know what happened next.

Mai- When I first met Mai, I loved her. She was an emo girl that just didn’t want anything to do with anything. Obviously, I still love her, but just slightly less. Something happened to her in the third season, and though I can’t pinpoint quite what, I have a feeling it was Zuko. I’m not a huge fan of Mai and Zuko’s relationship and I’ll possibly elaborate on that in a future post, but it really felt like the worst possible scenario for both of their characters. I do like Mai and Ty Lee together, but the shipping doesn’t really have anything major to do with it. She just dropped in quality a little in the third season and became a love interest instead of a character.

Kyoshi- Peace was never an option.

I remember you

Cabbage guy- This is normally the type of character I’d put at the top of the list and use as a joke to pretend like I especially enjoy the joke characters. Sometimes I do, but this list’s tone was a little different than usual, so I figured I’d put him where I really thought he should go. He was funny, sure, but I don’t religiously follow him like I do Ty Lee and everyone else in the top tier.

The other characters in this tier are in no particular order. Most of them are here just because I remember seeing them a little bit, but I don’t really remember much about them or I remember just not caring.

You are literally the worst. Actual scum. Leave this planet and never return.

Haru- This is more directed towards his newly-grown facial hair. He was so cute in his first appearance and then he had to do that. Even Sokka’s “I flirt with everyone” bisexual ass thought it was grody.

Hama- Nothing against her, personally, bloodbending’s just gross.

Zhao- He’s a typical villain. I can appreciate that, I just don’t like him.

Katara- This will take some explaining. It’s unpopular, but so is everything I say. I think of Katara in about the same way I do Allura. She was bearable in the first season, annoying in the second, and flat-out awful in the third. I understand that characters should have flaws, and I appreciate when they do, but her flaws aren’t necessarily treated as such. The worst offender I can think of with her is when she accused Sokka of not missing their mom as much as she did. This broke my heart. Seeing Sokka’s depressed face as he realized what his sister thought of him. He had been seeing her as sort of a replacement for their mom, but she accuses him of moving on without a second thought despite how much effort he puts into remembering her. This obviously isn’t the only bad thing she’s done. Another huge offender is when she assumed losing her mom was worse than Aang losing his entire nation. And then the show just keeps moving like she’s justified in thinking that. She’s done so many other things that caused other characters to halt in their development or causing the plot to just stop completely. Most of her actions are nonsensical at best and harmful at worst, but the show portrays her as always being a caring motherly figure. She does act like that at times, but we still need to acknowledge when she doesn’t.

Ozai- Literally the same as Zhao except he hurt Zuko physically AND emotionally.

#bullshittierlists #atla #avatar the last airbender #was a little confused why I wasn’t getting any notes and then I realized I didn’t leave any tags #sorry to everyone who likes Katara #but it needed to be said #tier lists #ty lee

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f4liveblogarchives · 4 years

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Fantastic Four Vol 1 #205

Sat Sep 7 2019 [02:15 PM] Wack'd: Previously on Fantastic Four: Reed, Sue and Ben went into space with an alien lady named Adora to save her world from Skrulls. Meanwhile Johnny checked out a college for the rich and famous, where he is unknowingly targeted by an assassin who shoots lasers out of his camera and has atrocious facial hair [02:16 PM] Bocaj: Did they meet catra [02:16 PM] Wack'd: No [02:16 PM] Wack'd: It'd be better if they did [02:16 PM] Bocaj: They did meet Tigra though [02:16 PM] Bocaj: It’s a similar concept without all of the same trauma [02:17 PM] maxwellelvis: And to also recap, this is like the first time the Four have gone up against the Skrulls since the Lee/Kirby run, and their old enemies have gone up in the galactic food chain since then. [02:17 PM] maxwellelvis: They also no longer look like goblins. [02:17 PM] Wack'd: They're just in time for the end of the world!

[02:17 PM] Bocaj: If they don’t look like goblins the. What’s the point? [02:17 PM] Wack'd: Agreed [02:17 PM] maxwellelvis: See what I mean? [02:18 PM] maxwellelvis: This is the Skrulls at their peak. [02:18 PM] Wack'd: Skrulls are a superstitious and cowardly lot

[02:19 PM] maxwellelvis: This must be before the Skrull Emperor and/or Empress [02:19 PM] Bocaj: A lot of things have a Supreme in marvel [02:19 PM] Umbramatic: SUPREME [02:19 PM] Bocaj: The Kree, the skrulls, the sorcerers, the AIM [02:19 PM] Wack'd: The SuprAIM [02:19 PM] Bocaj: Nice [02:20 PM] maxwellelvis: No wait, that cannot be. [02:20 PM] Wack'd: Anyway the Skrulls are using hit and run tactics. Show up, fuck shit up, retreat from weapons range before the enemy has a chance to retaliate, launch another attack, repeat [02:20 PM] Wack'd: The upshot is that this buys Reed, Sue, and Ben a little bit of time before things get too bad [02:20 PM] Bocaj: I mean, good tactics if you can get it [02:21 PM] Wack'd: Yeah this is actually a clever way to establish stakes while still giving the team a chance to get their bearings [02:22 PM] Wack'd: SCANMAN! WITH THE POWER TO...SCAN!

[02:23 PM] Wack'd: I give Keith Pollard a 6/10 for wacky hat effort

[02:23 PM] maxwellelvis: In that big spread, I just noticed, you can see that the artist took pains to show that Adora's people aren't getting entirely curbstomped; you can see that they've managed to down about three Skrull ships, if you can figure out the color coding on the lasers. It's just, that's three ships out of... a lot more than that. So it shows that they're fighting courageously, but are still outgunned, outmanned, and almost out of time. [02:23 PM] maxwellelvis: S'a Kirby original, Dorrek's hat. [02:23 PM] Wack'd: Pollard's kinda toned it down but I guess it's the same general idea as this 60s one [02:24 PM] Bocaj: Skrulls have dogs [02:24 PM] maxwellelvis: I can't find a picture of him from then, but have this screenshot of Dorrek from the 1967 cartoon [02:24 PM] Bocaj: I want to believe in green shapeshifting doggos [02:24 PM] Bocaj: That’s not green [02:25 PM] maxwellelvis: Nobody was the right colors in that cartoon. [02:25 PM] maxwellelvis: It's got coloring errors worse than Star Trek: The Animated Series up the wazoo, and I'm pretty sure this show doesn't have the excuse of a colorblind guy doing the colors. [02:26 PM] maxwellelvis: Also love that Dorrek says it's not fair that the Fantastic Four are here when the way he's been waging war here hasn't given the illusion of any sort of fair fight. [02:26 PM] Bocaj: Love those giant ears [02:27 PM] Umbramatic: ye [02:28 PM] Bocaj: Apparently one of the skrulls reed turned into a cow (which was later turned into hamburger and eaten) was a relative of Dorrek’s [02:28 PM] Bocaj: To put it lightly he hates the fantastic four with all his hate [02:28 PM] Wack'd: So the Watcher creates the illusion of an incoming Earth starship, freaking the Skrulls out and causing Dorrek to point all his troops at it. And then the Watcher mopes a little about breaking his oath again [02:28 PM] Bocaj: All he does is break his oath [02:29 PM] maxwellelvis: I'll reiterate, Uatu is like the Doctor but lacking the backbone to actually chew his people out for their total non-interference policy. [02:29 PM] Wack'd: Meanwhile back on Earth...Johnny's already moving into a dorm! Things move fast at Security College [02:29 PM] Bocaj: Like the doctor I think he got put on trial once [02:30 PM] Wack'd: well that's not creepy

[02:30 PM] Bocaj: Wow that’s very illegal [02:30 PM] Wack'd: So it turns out this was all a Batman Gambit [02:30 PM] maxwellelvis: Wait, that’s illegal [02:30 PM] Bocaj: I can’t believe Johnny rebellious youth supports the police state [02:31 PM] Umbramatic: oh no [02:31 PM] Wack'd: That random lady who insulted Johnny for being intellectually uncurious and immature a few issues ago was hypnotized into doing so by The Monocle because by weakening his ego and making him doubt himself he'd be easier to convince to go to this school [02:31 PM] Bocaj: .... [02:32 PM] Umbramatic: oh [02:32 PM] Bocaj: Villains sure have incredibly specific plans sometimes [02:32 PM] Wack'd: He didn't have hypnosis last time we saw him but "murders people with camera lasers" is kind of a weak gimmick so I don't mind [02:32 PM] Wack'd: Also: Lanie had a point! Johnny should be more interested in the fact that he got go literally go to space numerous times [02:33 PM] Bocaj: Hypnotism is one of those powers villains tend to get for free [02:33 PM] Bocaj: I think super Skrull has it [02:33 PM] Wack'd: Oh hey another shadowy mastermind. Not sitting in a chair facing away from the camera though

[02:34 PM] Wack'd: What's the point of video calling if you're not going to show your face? Just call him on the fucking phone [02:34 PM] maxwellelvis: This doesn't surprise me. The Monocle just doesn't have the presence to command an entire story by himself. [02:34 PM] maxwellelvis: @Wack'd Ask the Sovereign [02:34 PM] Wack'd: Eh he was a hired goon in his original story too [02:34 PM] Wack'd: He's an assassin for hire [02:35 PM] Wack'd: So Johnny goes to bed. And then he and every other student on campus hear a compelling voice that leads them to the administration building. HYPNOSIS [02:36 PM] Wack'd: Also the compelling voice is calling Johnny "John" and. Nope. Wrong. never gonna get over that [02:36 PM] Wack'd: MEANWHILE BACK IN SPACE [02:37 PM] Wack'd: Oh hey this weird bubble city of survivors are from Xandar! [02:37 PM] Wack'd: Their planet it looks a lot less destroyed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe [02:37 PM] Bocaj: Yeah I don't think Xandar gets destroyed until 200something with the Annihilation story [02:38 PM] Wack'd: ...but it's [02:38 PM] Wack'd: it's already destroyed [02:38 PM] maxwellelvis: COMPLETELY destroyed [02:38 PM] Wack'd: this bubble city is all that's left [02:38 PM] Bocaj: I just realized that Xandar might be a riff on Kandar [02:39 PM] Wack'd: Aliens love brain uploading

[02:40 PM] Bocaj: What a perspective [02:40 PM] Wack'd: hahahaha ben points out they stole this shot from *forbidden planet* [02:40 PM] maxwellelvis: That's a heck of a way to preserve your culture, but I sure hope the brains are happy in there. [02:40 PM] maxwellelvis: Metahumor, or Marv Wolfman ribbing the artist? You decide. [02:41 PM] Wack'd: Anyway the Skrulls want this computer, or more specifically the fucking metric ton of power it takes to operate it, to give themselves an upper hand against the Kree [02:41 PM] maxwellelvis: Or, with the changeover in how comics are made, would that be more like directing the artist? [02:41 PM] maxwellelvis: And there we are. [02:41 PM] Wack'd: Probably conscious homage [02:41 PM] maxwellelvis: Gotcha [02:43 PM] Wack'd: Anyway the Skrulls come back! Fight scene! [02:44 PM] maxwellelvis: Anyways, I should have figured that this was motivated by either expansion or asset acquisition. [02:44 PM] Wack'd: Kinda weird that the Skrulls have ground troops (or, uh, anti-grav troops) rather than just using spaceships for everything [02:44 PM] Wack'd: But it gets us a fight scene, so [02:45 PM] maxwellelvis: It's a fool who commits all his resources to one branch of his military. Don't know if that's an actual saying about war and warfare, but I feel it's true, at least from my limited strategy gaming experience. [02:46 PM] Wack'd: I mean this is a little like if Germany sent troops into Britain during the Blitz. Really you're just risking blowing up your own dudes

[02:46 PM] Umbramatic: SPLAM [02:46 PM] Bocaj: Spinel [02:47 PM] Wack'd: Yes [02:47 PM] Wack'd: So! Reed, Sue, and Ben are knocked out and taken to the Skrull ship [02:47 PM] Wack'd: And so we cliffhanger into...*sigh* [02:47 PM] Wack'd: Nova #25 [02:47 PM] Wack'd: Dammit

#1979 #Marv Wolfman #Keith Pollard #The Main Book

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daturanerium · 4 years

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finished season two of the magnus archives! here is my s2 livetweet thread and here are my reflections/predictions from season one.

jon:

you are so fucking stupid. so incomprehensibly dumb. it is absolutely incredible how you lack any brain cells at all.

if jon was a dnd character he’d have a plus three to intelligence and a negative two to wisdom. i’m right.

[jon voice] people care about me? Must Be A Manipulation Tactic!

[jon voice, continued] literally everyone except for me is a) a murderer, b) using me, or c) hiding something. i, however, am totally fine and also sane and if you imply otherwise you are definitely Hiding Something and i need to stalk you.

seriously it’s a goddamn miracle he wasn’t fired or didn’t just like....explode on the spot

that awkward moment when you befriend a cop and get tapes that may lead to your successor’s cold murder case being solved but in the process you learn that you and your place of employment are actually owned by The Great, All-Powerful [REDACTED]

it’s so interesting listening to a man’s mental health and sanity decline in real time!

martin: do u want some tea? jon: you’re going to kill me huh?

[jon voice] it is a good idea for me to enter these dangerous tunnels alone on multiple occasions. i am fine.

his fatal flaw is still pursuit of knowledge. love that for him.

baby please you work for an entity that probably literally thrives off knowledge.......please grow some brain cells in season three before you literally die doing something stupid

i literally can’t say anything more about s2 jon that isn’t me just repeating “stupid dumb paranoid baby” over and over again

martin:

martin [shaking hands emoji] me playing the mediator as our family loses their minds around us

martin blackwell recieves everything he has ever wanted and needed challenge!!!

baby i love you

HE CARES SO MUCH AND NOBODY CARES ABOUT HIM.......

martin’s job this season is literally the concerned husband but we’re not ready to talk about that yet

my dude really stepped up at the end! he was gonna fight michael in hand to hand combat for jon and sasha and i’m so proud of him!

martin went from baby to hold my flower

martin saw some shit in season one and now he’s a badass

his poetry.....i cried i literally love him so much

when he was talking to tim in the tunnels and he just breaks. and yells. and says he wants to get out of here and save jon and help sasha and be happy and you know what if everything DID turn out in the end that would be kind of nice actually!!!!

we didn’t see much of him this season but from what we did, especially at the end......the character development.......he’s so much braver now, so much more ready to confront the horrors of the world around him. martin is one of those special people that runs on love and uses love as a driving force to fight for the things he needs.

i hope someday martin gets to sit down in a nice little cottage in the middle of nowhere with someone who loves him and just. relax. it’s what he deserves.

tim

you are the only bitch in this house i ever respected

literally just trying his best

so incredibly valid

GIVE HIM A BREAK

as someone who is the least confrontational person on the planet i really respect and admire tim calling jon out on his bullshit

that scene was so cathartic.....god.....

@ THE ELDRICH BEING RUNNING THE ARCHIVES CAN YOU PLEASE LET HIM GO HE JUST WANTS TO LEAVE

tim at the beginning of s2: hey jon you okay? you’re acting weird and it’s kind of freaking us out tim at the end of s2: fuck archivist lives and jon in particular,

and you know what? he’s right

i hope tim gets to go home. it won’t happen but i can dream.

are we just gonna brush over that part in the finale where michael just???? bamfed them to another dimension or something????? because neither tim nor martin seemed the least bit phased

honestly tim/jon has rights. i enjoy it.

he’s just so angry and hurt and done. he’s reached his limit. goodbye

get tim out of the archives s3!!! do it!!!

gertrude

wow i love you

every time i hear gertrude’s voice i just go [one thousand teary-eyes emojis]

there’s a lot we don’t know and there’s a lot that she knows. i wish we could like. raise her from the dead or something. altho honestly with a horror podcast who the hell knows

jon listening to/hyperfixating on gertrude is just a fancy way of him claiming her as his new mother figure

GOD I LOVE HER I WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT HER CAN WE GET A SPINOFF PLEASE

basira and daisy

the only cops with rights

that part where tim thought basira was jon’s girlfriend and they both dissolved into gay panic.....priceless

daisy step on me challenge. i’ve met her twice and i love her.

honestly basira is such a badass. stealing from the cops while being a cop? that takes guts and i really respect her lack of respect toward cops while being one

not to mention that entire business with that sentient cult darkness shit. she killed it in there (no pun intended). give her like a purple heart or something idk how cops work

daisy.....please tell me your secrets. what have you seen. what do you know.

melanie

please work for the archives i am BEGGING you

my ghost hunter girlfriend

i love her and jon’s relationship. just pure loathing. tension between the hunter and the archivist. i live for that shit.

but under that it’s like Oh Shit I Actually Care A Lot???? like their loathing comes from their businesses being judgemental enemies, but personally they actually have a lot in common and care for each others’ wellbeing.

i really hope melanie sticks around so we can learn more about her and see her friendship with jon grow into....an actual friendship

shes also a total badass and both her research and deducing skills are so good. she’s just a great archive candidate overall.

michael

[REDACTED]

what the fuck are you

what the fuck do you want

why do i like you so much.

okay there’s a lot more going on here but i’m putting my predictions under the cut!

okay lets check out my predictions from last time.

okay this one was partially right! “entities” rule the world apparently, and the archive is run by one of them. sort of got that!

.....yeah that didn’t happen.

hell yeah! i’m proud of myself for this one, even though the time loop part wasn’t true. i thought “time loop” because her voice started echoing when she hit the table, but turns out that was just her crazy long copy taking over. oh well!

nope. gertrude was killed by elias, apparently. fucker.

WELL.........

okay. this one is complicated because i was sort of correct but there’s still a lot of information i don’t know. gonna give myself half credit for this one i think.

REMEMBER IN THE FINALE WHEN MARTIN THOUGHT HE SAW SASHA AND TIM HAD TO STOP HIM FROM RUNNING IN TO SAVE HER? YEAH.

okay, season three predictions. let's go.

(disclaimer: while i haven’t been actively looking up spoilers or engaging in the tma tag, i also haven’t muted the tag or anything associated with it. i have ideas of what’s to come but they’re vague and mostly come from fanart on my dash/timeline).

jon just gives up. he’s having to much of a crisis to do anything other than his job.

jonmartin endgame still

michael becomes a sort of??? constant presence??? at the archive. everyone just kind of accepts it.

the books and the entities make a lot more things make sense. that’s really vague i know but like.

predictions for the entities:

fire/destruction

knowledge (jon stans rise up)

empty/alone (these stories always get to me the most. the ones where you’re endlessly falling or trapped in a cave or can’t sleep or stuck in space. shit scares me more than anything else)

chaos (i think michael is with this one. the doors also fit into this category, and maybe that shipping company)

death/id (brings out the bareness of human instinct. the meat, the bloodlust, and the death. maybe even the bugs go here, but they’re confusing. i don’t know where they fit.)

each entity represents a deep-set human fear. they were created to either teach us lessons or keep us in line.

sometimes they have devoted followers. sometimes they have disciples or avatars. you can lose yourself to them if you aren’t careful. jane was probably an avatar, that girl with the heat powers on hilltop road was an avatar, that guy with the lightning powers was an avatar, etc.

the books can teach you how to connect with the entities, but you have to be actually insane to try it. (if you aren’t already, you certainly will by the time you finish the reading/ritual. if you even survive)

anyway back to actual plot.

jon learns more from gertrude’s tapes about elias and the archives. maybe even the entities. he doesn’t want to know, but as we’ve learned, he Just Can’t Not Know.

jon finally grows a brain cell and lets people (martin) take care of him. a little.

tim is just there. he hates it but he can’t leave. (someone please get him out this is so sad)

melanie and basira join up with the archive, but for different reasons. melanie because jon asks her to, basira because despite her best interest she couldn’t stay away.

at the end of the season we’ll either meet a powerful avatar person of one of the entities themselves. that will be.....interesting.

elias gets hit by a bus. won’t happen but i can dream.

what ever happened to that one man from season one who had the dreams about death? i loved his statement. is there anyone out there like him? will jon receive a message like gertrude did?

WHAT IS THE LIGHTER FOR. i completely forgot about it until i looked at my last predictions and saw it mentioned.

martin is more active in tapes (again unlikely but i can dream. i love him)

that’s about all i got! i’m going to post this and immediately start season three. wish me luck :)

#tma #the magnus archives #tma season 2 #jonathan sims #i love any cryptic laughter but please no actual spoilers!

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captaincharpen · 4 years

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Movie Optimus and Megatron are actually really deep guys, seriously

You know what, screw it, I’m dropping all of my thoughts on why I think Bayverse Optimus and Megatron are tragically underrated here. So buckle up kids, here we go

So everyone seems to think that the Optimus Prime and Megatron of Michael Bay’s movie series are either terribly shallow husks of their classic characterizations at best, or atrocious bastardizations of sacred childhood icons at worst.

However I, an intellectual, have unwisely spent several hours of my life poring over every detail of them to come to the conclusion that there’s actually a lot going on with them. So I’m going to drag you, kicking and screaming, into my head and break down exactly what makes these two tick. Starting with Megatron.

Now most people see this guy and think “generic movie bad guy. Makes evil plan, screws up evil plan, slinks away to return in sequel with a more messed up face”. But this Megatron actually has so much going on for him that I think he could almost be seen as a would-be hero in his own way.

While starting a war that effectively killed his planet does dock him quite a few sympathy points, one thing that can’t be denied is that he truly cared about Cybertron when all’s said and done.

While his plots to destroy Earth to restore Cybertron can easily come off as bog-standard bad guy scheming, looking at it from his perspective, he’s fought for centuries to reform his home for, what he thinks, is the greater good. And now that he’s done so much damage to it for that goal, he’s determined to fix it, no matter what it takes.

That’s why he risked stranding himself on an alien planet to find the Allspark when, arguably, it would’ve been easier to simply press on with the war he was winning and find another planet to colonize when the dust settled. It’s also why, no matter how many times he’s left for dead or forced to work with people who’s ideals he’d normally hate, he still chases every chance to restore life to Cybertron anyway. Because that genuinely is the most important thing to him, and he’s perfectly willing to give his life as many times as necessary to save it

And even though his negligence of human life seems terrible from our perspective, in his eyes it’s a necessary evil to sacrifice a bunch of tiny aliens to finally bring his home back from the brink of a death that he’s effectively responsible for. Of course that doesn’t make it okay, but it’s not like he’s a cackling villain who wants to screw over humanity for fun. From his perspective, Optimus abandoned the planet they’d waged thousands of years of war over for the sake of some random alien planet he decided he liked better. And the thing is, he’s kind of right

The Optimus Prime of the movies is usually seen as either a noble, if bland, hero or a psychotic maniac who’s prone to chronic bloodlust. But honestly, he can be, and very much is, a little bit of both

So it’s obvious that this Optimus is a little cracked in the head, and it’s hard to see how he could NOT be after having his figurative and/or literal brother turn on him and failing to stop him from nearly destroying their homeworld and killing millions of people, all of whom Optimus was responsible for protecting. Not to mention being forced to willingly seal his planet’s fate by throwing the Allspark, the one thing that could save it, into the far reaches of who-knows-where.

And through all of this, he HAS to maintain a stoic, optimistic appearance. He can’t show any doubt, hesitation, grief, or even the effects of the general stress of the job, because he’s the one pillar holding up what’s left of the Autobots. They’ve lost literally everything else, and if their perfect leader who’ll get them through any crisis were to ever show that he’s vulnerable, the last thing they could really believe in would effectively be shattered.

So instead he dedicates himself to an, admittedly very unhealthy, black-and-white view of “Autobots and humans good, Decepticons bad”. He’s tried pleading, negotiating and showing mercy to the Decepticons and it got his planet nearly destroyed and him and his loyal friends stranded light-years away. So he’s essentially lost faith in himself and allowed himself to go further than he ever would otherwise just to see an end to the Decepticons for good

I think the best character to compare him to would be, believe it or not, Batman. No matter how far he goes, he’ll always hold onto his one rule. And for Optimus, that “one rule” is humanity. He clearly sees humanity as a reflection of what the Cybertronians used to be and as a result, projects his guilt over his failures and desire to see Cybertron start over, and do things right this time, onto them.

When he makes the decision to sacrifice himself and the Allspark to save Earth from Megatron, it’s arguable that he was effectively running away from what he sees as his failed legacy and giving a new chance to humanity in its place. Now obviously that’s an incredibly short-sighted idea, which even Sam could see, but by that point Optimus had effectively given up on Cybertron and adopted Earth as his “new Cybertron”. In his final speech at the end of the first movie, he seems incredibly dismissive of the loss of Cybertron and seems totally fine to just chill on Earth forever.

And no matter how many times the Decepticons uncover new ways to fix Cybertron, at the expense of the humans, he immediately shoots them down, while never trying to find a more mutually beneficial solution of his own. Even when the cracks start to show in the Autobots’ alliance with the humans and his own mentor and father figure seemingly comes back from the dead to tell him he’s given up on Cybertron, he still gives an optimistic speech at the end of DOTM and says that he’ll never turn his back on humanity. Even after seeing his old world right in from of him, he seems to feel no affinity for it anymore.

That is, until he has his mid-life crisis after the soft reboot of the last two movies. Humanity outright betrays him, almost all of the last of his loyal followers and friends are dead because of it, he could’ve seen the obvious signs of this coming, but he didn’t.

He decides to break his one rule and kill whoever’s responsible for all of it, but still clings onto his black-and-white defense mechanism of convincing himself that this one human is the SOLE instigator of their betrayal, as he’s still unwilling to admit that his new favorite aliens could be just as terrible as his own people can. And when he does finally kill him it’s only when his new human friend would die if he didn’t act immediately.

But once that line was finally crossed, he hits rock bottom. Sure, he goes back on his threat to abandon Earth and commands his Autobots to protect yet another special human friend, essentially falling back on his old ways of having maybe a little too much faith in humans. But once he leaves to find his creators, to “find himself” essentially. He’s forced to confront his failures yet again, this time in front of someone claiming to be his creator and, by extension, the supposed authority on what he should and shouldn’t be. And, in his vulnerable state, he allows himself to become corrupted into “Nemesis Prime”.

Now one could argue this was just simple brainwashing, but I could argue, have you SEEN this Prime? This is essentially what he’s like all the time, only now he’s stripped of the tenuous limits he’s placed on himself. In keeping with the Batman comparison, he’s “lived long enough to see himself become the villain”.

But the thing that brings him back from the brink isn’t one of his precious humans, it’s the voice of the one Autobot who stuck by his side all this time and is still there believing in him even at his worst. When he’s finally reminded of what he’s really fighting for, the Autobots who pledged their loyalty to him, knowing that he could lead them to victory, his faith in himself is restored. Maybe not completely yet, but he’s remembered that the awe inspiring leader that his Autobots see isn’t just a facade. Which is why his “did you forget who I am” scene is one of the most underrated badass moments in the entire movie series. Even without my painstaking overanalysis in your head to back it up.

And with that, I think I’ve rambled long enough that your brain has been reduced to a fine paste, so if you’ve really soldiered on this far, total props to you on that and I appreciate you caring this much about my mad rambling. Obviously, I’ve romanticized both characters here quite a bit, but I kind of had to for the sake of the argument. In practice, both of them are unstable, single-minded and admittedly kind of selfish. But I just wanted to point out that both of them have their own reasons for being the way they are, that could have easily gone deeper and made them into truly iconic takes on these characters if the movies had only run with the concepts they set up.

And so my only solution was to amend that with a hastily slapped together essay on my Tumblr blog that nobody reads. Anyway thank you for coming to my TED talk

#transformers #bayverse #movie #optimus prime #megatron #rant/essay

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blue-mint-winter · 5 years

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BSG 4x19 Daybreak rewatch

I cried. This is the end of this epic journey, this is a goodbye to those amazing characters.

It’s really hard to talk about it in a calm and analyzing fashion, but I believe that the resolutions we got were fitting and satisfying.

What really struck me is that in the finale finally we reach a real unity between Cylons and humans. They now fight side by side as comrades and it’s not just the skinjobs, but Centurions too. Even Adama crosses the line he thought he’d never cross - he allows for Sam to be hooked up to systems in CIC, becoming a Hybrid for Galactica.

This episode does this really neat trick of showing us the life of certain characters before the fall. We see how certain events and decisions they made, seemingly random and insignificant, led their fate to Galactica and now.

The whole mission to save Hera - I like how it’s shown as this crazy, for volunteers only, last stand of Galactica, the last battle. But this irrational mission is the key, the visions and prophecies came to fruition there and Kara finally fulfilled her purpose and found the way to Earth.

I love the moment in which Kara puts in the coordinates she got from her father’s song and they jump. Incredible scene.

Hoshi becomes Admiral of the remaining Fleet. So he followed in his boyfriend’s footsteps in a way.

Hera is rescued thanks to Boomer. Boomer’s fate is just really bittersweet. We get a flashback of her when Adama gave her the second chance instead of throwing her out for doing a bad job as a pilot and how she said she owed him one. Returning Hera is Boomer paying that debt. She can become that person she once was, before all the betrayals - one of Adama’s kids. Boomer’s final choice is to side with humanity, with Galactica. But she still pays for all her sins with death by Athena’s hand.

I don’t really know how to feel about Athena killing Boomer. On one hand who else would be more suitable to do it, on the other hand maybe suicide would have been a better option? As a callback to S1 when Boomer was unable to kill herself because of her programming, if she overcame that now... However, Athena killing Boomer is the closest it can get to a suicide. They share those memories from before the attack on the Colonies. Athena is who Boomer could have been.

Gaius deciding to stay on Galactica in the last minute makes sense. I wonder why Head Six told him to go, to use his new political power and influence thanks to his followers in the Fleet. Maybe reverse psychology? Maybe she was testing him. Because he had to stay for everything to unfold in the right way.

I love Gaius and Caprica reconciling. It’s not hard to see that he chose to stay because she was staying. And for once Gaius didn’t listen to his self-preservation instincts, because something was much stronger - his love for Caprica Six.

Gaius’ flashbacks to how he met Caprica Six were wonderful. She became a witness to an argument between Gaius and his father who stabbed a nurse and I love just how it must have affected her. She thinks of Cylons as humanity’s children and then she saw this example of a father and son being so completely at odds, unable to understand each other, fighting.

Caprica Six finding a nice retirement house for Gaius’ father where he could be happy may have been part of her scheme to get access to defense mainframe, but I believe it was more than that. I think she would’ve been able to seduce it out of Gaius without that. Caprica through this good deed won Gaius’ heart, she saw and reached the man under the arrogant scientist. And how funny it was him who first used the “L” word. Gaius Baltar talking about love, than quickly backpedaling to cover up that he was actually open about his feelings for once.

Gaius’ role in the finale is what he does best - talking. This time his words reach CAVIL, so that he gives them Hera.

Turns out that Roslin’s opera house vision had one purpose only - so she’d hide Hera from Centurions in that one critical moment on Galactica. If she never had that vision, she’d never go out of sickbay to look for Hera and the child would’ve never gotten to Gaius and Six and CIC and there would be no ceasefire between Cavil faction and human-Cylon alliance.

Final Five scene. Oh wow. So Tigh offers Cavil resurrection tech for Hera and all Five have to combine their knowledge, but it also lets them know everything else about each other. And that’s when the hour of reckoning comes to Tory.

I have to say that on one hand I love that Tyrol had that Cally flashback, how she was on his side from the start. He loved her, maybe not like Boomer, but they built a life together, a marriage, she stayed by his side through some very tough times. Their relationship meant a lot to him, otherwise he’d never have grieved like he did. And Tyrol attacking Tory when he saw her memories of Cally’s murder is significant of that. All in all, after this season did Cally so dirty, I like that the last thing we see of her is a positive memory Tyrol had of her. And her death is avenged.

Ironic that Tory’s downfall was exactly as foreshadowed. She kept this big terrible secret and when it came out, it destroyed her. Gaius did warn her about it once. The secret of her affair with him destroyed Tory’s friendship with Roslin and her last real tie to humanity. But she didn’t learn anything from it, she never came clean about murdering Cally and so she paid the price.

This situation is also interesting when we look at Tyrol’s perspective. After Boomer’s last betrayal he lost all trust in Eights. “They’re just machines,” he says to Helo. Tyrol was once able to forgive Cally for shooting Boomer, he even married her, the killer of his first love. But what Cally did was out of love for him. She was fiercely devoted to him. Tyrol couldn’t forgive Tory for killing Cally, but what Tory did was pure calculated murder. She did it for her own selfish reasons. And even with Cally out of the way, Tyrol was not interested in a relationship with Tory which is something she must have hoped for. In the end he kills Tory in rage and then he swears off all women and lives alone in highlands on some northern island, away from people.

What all of this says about Tyrol is that in my theory he never had a real, deep love with Tory and he compensated by creating Number Eight. Boomer was his perfect woman. Pygmalion and Galatea, anyone?

I can’t help but feel that Tory was so alone. As a human all she had was her job and Roslin. She and Gaius just used each other, it wasn’t meaningful. She easily let him go. It seems in the end she fled from her humanity into giving her all to be a Cylon, but even then she continued being alone. She didn’t really become close with her fellow Final Five and she had no other friends, human or Cylon. I liked that in finale Ellen had a few moments with Tory, giving her some friendship, but it was too little, too late. Tory lived and died alone.

Because of Tory’s death the secret of resurrection is lost. Chaos erupts on the bridge but Cavil’s side is going to lose, so he kills himself.

We finally learn what happened to the mutineers like Racetrack and Skulls - they were imprisoned, but now they got drafted for this suicide mission to attack the Colony and rescue Hera. These two get shot down early in the mission, but when they drift dead in space, in just the right moment Racetrack’s hand falls down and hits the missile button and the Colony is blown up. This is the true end to Cavil’s faction.

I love how the show isn’t afraid of showing this higher power influencing people and events according to its plan. The moment when Caprica Six and Gaius see Head Six and Head Gaius is still one of my favourites. The whole vision coming true and Kara putting in the coordinates she took from the song and Racetrack’s missiles shooting at just the right time all aren’t an accident.

So they found Earth, our Earth, and they decide to settle all over the planet and start over with a clean slate.

Kara’s goodbye with Sam was just so touching. The dogtags, I love you, “See you on the other side.” Sam took the Fleet into the sun. And when Kara disappeared we know she joined him.

I love how Sam’s flashback about his search for perfection ties with his ending. By becoming a Hybrid he gained access to that higher plane of mathematics and launching the Fleet into the sun was him achieving that “perfect throw” he was looking for. Through the flashback we saw the deeper side of Sam than the jock. It makes so much sense why he’s one of the Final Five.

Everyone’s settling on Earth, Agathons are back to being a happy family. Ellen finally gets to be with Tigh full-time. Adama and Roslin go off to find a place for their cabin by the lake.

I got so emotional when Gaius said “You know, I know about farming.” This is a beautiful ending to his arc. Not only the skeptic became a true believer, also the man who once despised his upbringing, who wanted to be something more and better than a farmer, now goes back to his roots and it’s important and useful skill to have. He’s no longer ashamed of coming from Aerilon.

Adama and Roslin slayed me. I cried when she died and he put the wedding ring on her finger like in her visions from The Hub. I cried again when he sat by her grave and said that the sunrise reminds him of her. Wow. That love.

Roslin’s flashbacks give us one important insight into her - she literally had no life before Galactica. She lost all her family and her life became empty. She tried to fill it - a date with Sean didn’t work, so she threw herself into politics and Adar’s campaign. Galactica and Adama became her real home. As bittersweet is that they couldn’t have a fairytale perfect ending, I appreciate that Roslin died loving him and being loved in return. She brought them all to Earth as the Dying Leader. It was her time to rest.

Speaking of Earth, it looks like D’Anna really stayed on the nuked old Earth because she never showed up after that episode :(((

Lee and Kara. Their love is really tragic because they could never really be together. The flashback of their first meeting when she was Zak’s girlfriend and they almost cheated puts into focus that they were doomed from the start. All they had were those stolen moments, but something always got in the way, sometimes because of their own doing. In my eyes, Lee and Kara had a complicated love, because they were so many different things to each other all at once. I guess in a way Zak’s ghost always stood between them.

So in the end Kara’s like that pigeon, she annoyed Lee to no end so he smashed a few things chasing her and then she flew away when she wanted to and left him alone.

Okay, so maybe to some people tying up BSG to current times, Hera as the mitochondrial Eve, is controversial, but I think it’s pretty brilliant. Showing how people make robots again in real life now is not really as much about robots as about every other issue BSG told us about. Because we have it all here, right now, happening - torture, terrorism, war, slave labour, corruption, everything. By tying the story to our reality the viewers can’t just close it like a book, “it’s just a scifi, it’s fictional, none of it is real, let’s forget every lesson this show imparted because it has nothing to do with reality.” Wrong! Yes, it’s not real, but it talks about things that happen in real life. It shows us that when we only see the same-faced enemy, we forget that they are only human just like us. To avoid the mutual annihilation, we should strive to better understand each other, to find common ground.

So that’s it. This is the end of line. Farewell, BSG, one of the best frakking shows ever made.

#bsg #bsg rewatch #4x19 daybreak

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mittensmorgul · 5 years

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I’m officially out into the early days of Dabb Era (masquerading as the end of Carver Era, but it’s clear that Dabb has already taken over at this point) on the tnt loop. And this scene from the end of 11.16 was just so reminiscent of 14.13:

[BOBBY leaves the house and heads to his car. He waves at the nosy neighbor, and gets in the driver's seat. He notices a bottle, with a note attached to it that says, "Fine, you Ass, you win, for now. Enjoy. R." BOBBY laughs. He gets out his journal to write about the case, when his cell phone rings.] BOBBY: Dean. You boys okay? DEAN: Yeah we're fine, Bobby, where the hell have you been? I've left three messages. BOBBY: Well, I was - DEAN: Look I got a possible lead on Lilith in Maine. But we're on a case in Reno, I texted you the address, so if you're done sitting on your ass…

To John waking up in his car, returned to the past and thinking his trip to the future was a dream:

[The Impala is parked near a lake. JOHN sleeps in the front seat. He’s back in 2003. His cell phone rings on the dashboard. He wakes up and answers the call.] JOHN: Dean. No, I’m okay. I just… I just had one hell of a dream. Yeah. No, it was a good one. I’m on my way back. I’ll see you soon.

And at first I thought, oh hey look at these two incredibly similar scenes between Dean on the phone in the past and his two father figures who’ve just unwittingly actually seen a far-future version of Dean.

11.16 was about the “Soul Eater,” whose nest where he brings victims to feast on their souls exists “outside of space and time.” A place where Dean and Bobby could see one another before being returned to their respective places in time. And 14.13 also exists as a weird not-quite-real pocket in space and time.

But then I realized... In 11.16, Dean was calling Bobby to check out a lead on Lilith because he and Sam were much farther away... in RENO of all places.

Which will become significant again in 12.01, the first “official” Dabb era episode, as the place where John and Mary were married. And also the place where Chuck apparently ditched Amara in 14.20.

The mention of Reno one episode before 11.17 just struck me as significant now, and should for anyone who still believes that Red Meat is somehow glorifying the toxic codependency between Sam and Dean. Y’all need to watch that again and actually pay attention to what the episode does as a whole... Bobo has long been Dabb’s partner in crime when it comes to the big thematic stuff, and they literally co-wrote 11.17, kind of unofficially-officially establishing their start point for the eventual endgame. Billie, Sam’s mysterious resurrection, Dean’s self-sacrifice to barter his life for Sam’s and Billie refuses basically telling him this is not a story that can work like this anymore. And this was BEFORE she became Death. She reminded him that his next destination was The Empty, but then... Dean didn’t die. This episode literally established the defining elements of the eventual subversion of the entire narrative, which we’re seeing finally come to fruition after s14.

Can you see why so many of us were THRILLED by 11.17, and the implications of it, even back then? Because it was NEVER about glorifying the “old story” of Sam and Dean trading their lives for each other. It was about the pointlessness of it on a cosmic scale. And Dabb establishing his own in-story Avatar as showrunner in Billie, the symbolic death of the old spiral narrative. He just needed to bide his time until all the planets aligned and could make the direct run at the ultimate subversion of the original author (i.e. Chuck as Kripke’s avatar).

It made me interested to know the history of Reno getting mentioned in the narrative...

2.19: Folsom Prison Blues. Reno isn’t mentioned in the episode, but the title is from the Johnny Cash song:

When I was just a baby, My Mama told me, "Son, Always be a good boy, Don't ever play with guns, " But I shot a man in Reno, Just to watch him die, When I hear that whistle blowin', I hang my head and cry.

Which is kind of interesting in the context of the episode taken with the context of all the later references. This was an episode where they deliberately committed a crime, deliberately got themselves “locked up,” not only to solve a case, but to help a friend who’d once saved their father’s life in wartime. At the end of the episode, yes, they stage their escape from prison, but their entire compulsion to help people they feel they owe even at the risk of their own lives or liberty, is sort of encapsulated in this episode. I can imagine Chuck’s fascination with these two, “my guys,” stars of his favorite show, choosing the selfless act this way when Chuck tried to keep forcing them to relive his opposite narrative-- one sibling over the other, one being locked up for all eternity while the other goes on happily creating the universe. The eternal conflict-sacrifice narrative... was always Chuck’s imposition on the Winchesters. Even Cain was confused by Dean’s choice in 9.11, not understanding why Dean chose to SAVE his brother rather than kill him, because Cain was living out just another version of Chuck’s story. This is why Sam and Dean are the exceptions, the version that Chuck just can’t understand, the ones who refuse over and over to accept that Chuck’s story must be *their* story. No matter how hard he’s tried, Chuck just can’t break their will. He can’t stop them from continuing to fight. Even now that Dean has broken and said yes to Michael. Even that couldn’t break his will in the end.

3.01: The Magnificent Seven. When Sam learns about Dean’s demon deal for his life, he begins trying to find ways to get Dean out of the deal and save his life. Tamara suggested to him that there’s a hoodoo priestess in Louisiana who may be able to help:

DEAN: Sam, no hoodoo spell's gonna break this deal, all right? It's a goose chase. SAM: Yeah, but we don't know that, Dean— DEAN (cutting him off): Yes, we do. Forget it. She can't help. SAM (trying to cut in): Look, it's worth— DEAN (speaking over SAM): We're not going, and that's that. What about Reno, huh?

And Dean tells him no, because if they try to get out of the deal, Sam dies. So said the demon he made his deal with, and Dean refuses to let that happen. He even refuses to tell Sam that fact yet, and diverts the conversation with the suggestion they go to Reno instead.

And this is the opposite of Chuck’s original choice, to sacrifice and lock up his sister so his creation could expand unfettered. Dean chose instead to sacrifice himself so Sam could go live that normal life he’d always dreamed of. This was just the beginning of the very long game Chuck would play with them...

Vaguely near the end of s4, and also 11.16:

Between April 17th - ~May 3rd, 2009: Bobby and Rufus investigate what they think is a ghost haunting a house in Grand Rapids, MI. Sam and Dean are in Reno

We never do learn more about the case they were working there, but it did give them a lead on Lilith. Remember that 4.20, the Rapture, takes place on May 3 that year, immediately after this point in the timeline. Castiel was about to try to reveal Heaven’s deception, and their role in breaking the seals to free Lucifer and was dragged back to be reprogrammed into an obedient soldier again. And he would break free of that two episodes later in 4.22, siding with the Winchesters over Heaven and sealing his own fate in a powerful display of free will.

8.21: The Great Escapist: One of the Biggersons locations where we see Cas pass through in his manipulation of quantum superposition to evade the angels is Reno, Nevada.

11.16: the other side of the “outside of time and space” meeting between s4 Bobby and s11 Dean.

12.01: Dean, in trying to convince a freshly resurrected Mary of his identity, and the fact that 33 years have elapsed since she died:

Dean: Dad told me. March 23, 1972 you walked out of a movie theater, Slaughterhouse-Five, you loved it. And you bumped into a big marine and knocked him on his ass. You were embarrassed and he laughed it off, said you could make it up to him with a cup of coffee. So you went to, uh, Maroni's, and you talked and he was cute, and he knew the words to every Zeppelin song, so when he asked you for your number you gave it to him even though you knew your dad would be pissed. That was the night that you met- Mary: John Winchester. Dean: August 19, 1975 you were married, in Reno, your idea. Few years later I came along, then Sammy.

14.20: Amara is, according to the Lying Liar Chuck, in Reno... while meanwhile Billie, Jack, and the Shadow are having a double-secret conference in the Empty while Chuck unleashes Hell on Earth.

I’m wondering if we’ll ever hear mention of Reno again...

#spn s14 spoilers #spn 14.20 #spn 11.16 #spn 11.17 #spn 14.13 #spiders georg of the tnt loop #s14 hellatus rewatch #spn 12.01 #spn 8.21 #spn 4.20 #spn 3.01 #spn 2.19 #reno is a quantum superposition #dabb vs cars #it's spirals all the way down #if you say 'mysterious ways' so help me i will kick your ass #that's what free will is

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fen-ha-fuck-you · 6 years

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As much as i don't like echo.If you see it from her view( and Spacekru cuz they didn't seem happy about it either) Clarke did betray them. Yeah they don't know what happened and stuff but still. I don't think Echo is going to try to kill Clarke but i think we the bellare fam are reaching when we say bellamy would turn on echo this season.As much as we don't like he does love her. but we'll what the confrontation between clarke and echo is about

I know this ask really wasn’t this deep, and I know it wasn’t centered around what Echo would or wouldn’t do, but let’s dive into that for a moment, shall we? Because I went deep with this response, and Echo’s moral compass has a lot to do with my ultimate argument of what Bellamy would or wouldn’t do. That is, of course, Bellamy would absolutely turn on Echo if she tries to hurt Clarke.

I’m also gonna apologize in advance, because I know this ask wasn’t sent with any kind of bad energy or intention, but the longer I kept writing this response the less cool with it I got, and I get very passive aggressive towards the end, so... you’ve got that to look forward to.

I mean... Echo is the only one of Spacekru who was immediately like, “Yep, Clarke betrayed us, makes sense. I’ll deal with her at the first opportunity.” The last they heard, Clarke and Bellamy were negotiating for peace. Murphy, Emori, and Raven seemed more confused than anything, which is the actual correct reaction to have, given how relatively unbothered the others seemed about it. Bellamy—and Harper and Monty, to a lesser extent—know the context of why Clarke is already in the valley, and they know she also doesn’t want a war in the last survivable land on the planet. For all they know, Clarke has been doing what she always does and working with an ulterior motive from the inside, which considering the, “If [Clarke’s] on their side...” makes this point of view likely. These are also people who know Clarke far better than Echo ever will. If she was a good spy, she would realize the importance of that.

And... Echo is also the only one who has jumped on every opportunity to betray allies without a second thought. Even when we just look at season five. She’s been wanting to kill Shaw since she first met him, despite having proven himself as trustworthy and valuable. She pushed Raven into betraying him in the first place.

Despite appearances, I want to like Echo. I do. But even when you’re trying, it is very difficult to like a character when they are constantly making decisions that go against the best interests of literally every actual likable character on the show. That being said, let’s look at what has happened in the text.

So far this season, Echo has done the following: been a terrible spy (canonically, this has been stated explicitly by Diyoza once and Raven twice, possibly more that I’m forgetting), shoved a flash drive into the bullet wound of a woman she told she’d keep safe less than a half hour previous (the merits of which are up for debate, but not on this post, please for the love of god), chosen to go behind Raven’s back to sell Shaw out to Diyoza (which Raven asked her not to do because she had another plan already), threatened to kill Shaw on numerous occasions (despite that being incredibly strategically illogical considering he’s the only pilot, as Raven points out), and immediately rejects the idea that Bellamy and Clarke had a valid, separate plan because of how she thinks Octavia would’ve reacted, despite Bellamy and Clarke very obviously knowing Octavia far better (in which case the actual outcome of Bellamy and Clarke’s plan doesn’t matter, because Echo had no context, she just decided her plan was superior).

That’s not even everything, but the paragraph is long enough.

My point here being that Echo’s characterization this season can be pretty much summed up as, “I don’t care if it doesn’t make complete sense or hurts people I care about, this is what I’ve decided is right, and I’m not going to listen to anyone else’s opinions about it.” If that kind of sounds like Octavia’s characterization this season, too... yeah.

I don’t know if Echo is going to try to kill Clarke. What I do know, based on what I’ve seen from her this season, is that even if given evidence to the contrary or opposed by Murphy, Raven, or Emori, if Echo comes to the conclusion that Clarke (or Madi!) is a threat, she’s going to try to take her out of the equation.

Echo is, as of now, under the impression that Clarke (and Madi, by extension) are not a part of her family. And, to be fair, they’re not. But they’re Raven’s family. And Murphy’s. And Monty and Harper’s. But most importantly, Clarke (and Madi) are very much a part of Bellamy’s family.

Therein lies the tension.

The idea that Bellamy wouldn’t turn on Echo if she were to turn against Clarke is... laughable at best. I never said Bellamy doesn’t love Echo. What I am saying is that the line where Bellamy says he loves Echo specifically was cut from 5x06 for a reason. Echo was completely removed (with the exception of a couple frames of nose) from the end of 5x03 for a reason. And the fact that it was the same editor for both of those episodes has not escaped my notice (shoutout to you, Daniel Martens).

Look. This whole season has been a giant neon sign above Bellamy’s head saying, “ASK ME WHAT I’D DO TO PROTECT CLARKE GRIFFIN.” And the response is a resounding, “Whatever it takes.”

Bellamy didn’t want to harm the Eligius prisoners in cryo. But when he found out that Clarke was alive and in danger, he was willing to trade all 283 of their lives for hers without hesitation.

Bellamy had never wanted to hurt Octavia. Ever. In fact, there was a whole episode this season about how he wasn’t willing to hurt her, even while she was directly threatening Echo’s life. I’m sure a lot of people don’t, but I definitely remember 5x06. Bellamy’s response to that was to run away.

What did it take for Bellamy to turn against Octavia, his sister, his responsibility, the person he’s been trying to keep safe at his own expense, for four and a half seasons? What did it take?

Octavia looked him in the eye and told him she was going to execute Clarke. That was the real beginning of the ever-expanding Blake sibling rift finally tearing open.

Without even mentioning Octavia calling out Bellamy’s feelings for Clarke: Octavia knew he’d come to her, but she thought he was going to beg. Even Octavia, who knows how Bellamy feels, didn’t think that he’d poison her.

Bellamy Blake poisoned Octavia because he couldn’t let her kill Clarke Griffin.

So, let me just make sure I have this right. You think that Bellamy Blake, who, upon seeing who his sister had become, poisoned her for threatening Clarke’s life and later denounced her as his family... wouldn’t also do that to Echo?

In case anyone has gotten this far and is still somehow unconvinced that that opinion is... wrong... I’ll go a step further.

Bellamy and Echo’s conversation in 5x01 is incredibly important, in that it outlines their relationship’s downfall... perfectly. It also plays into my theory that Echo hasn’t actually changed, but that’s not the point of this. So, jumping around a little:

Bellamy: “Wouldn’t it be easier to just step outside?”

The conversation quite literally opens with a callback to who the two of them were six years ago, the last time we saw them.

Bellamy: “Nothing is gonna change on the ground.”

Considering that literally the first thing that changes on the ground is that Bellamy finds out Clarke is alive? Self-explanatory, next.

Echo: “I’m still banished. What if Octavia tries to—”Bellamy: “No, she won’t.”

She did. Almost immediately.

Echo: “You do remember I almost killed your sister.”Bellamy: “My sister will understand... she’ll forgive you, too.”Echo: “Bellamy, it took you three years.”

Hold on... let me just queue up 5x08 real quick...

Clarke: “I’m sorry that I tried to...”Bellamy: “Kill my sister?”Clarke: “Suddenly I’m the one letting my heart rule my head.”Bellamy: “Mama bears don’t think. They just protect their young.”

Six years later and the Bellarke Near-Instantaneous Forgiveness is still kicking, got it. Next?

Bellamy: “Whatever we run into down there, Octavia will be the least of our worries.”

If this one needs explaining, then I can’t help you.

At the end of that scene, Echo goes to follow Bellamy out, then turns back and grabs her sword. She’s choosing the person she was on the ground.

There is one important aspect of that 5x01 conversation that I saved for the end here, specifically because we haven’t seen it be proven false like all the rest. Yet. But after 5x11, there’s a foundation.

Bellamy: “We’re family, and nothing can change that.”

5x11 showed us a pivotal moment in Bellamy’s character arc. He is no longer willing to hold on to relationships that hurt himself or the people he loves, even if the relationship he’s cutting off is with someone he loves.

Octavia was his family. Octavia’s choice to try and execute Clarke started Bellamy’s active opposition of her behavior and her actions (as opposed to his passive opposition throughout the show until this moment). In 5x11, Bellamy explicitly told Octavia, the audience, and himself, that Octavia is no longer his family.

It took Bellamy three years to forgive Echo for her actions on the ground. When he sees her again, there’s the distinct possibility of Bellamy either being told or realizing for himself that... she is making the same decisions she would’ve made six years ago. And if she tries to kill Clarke? They’re right back where they were in 4x01.

If you still think for one moment that Bellamy Blake wouldn’t be willing to stop calling Echo family for the same reasons he denounced his sister, who had been family for almost his whole life? I don’t know what else to say to you.

#the 100 #bellarke #echo #the 100 spoilers #spoilers #meta #long post #i put it under a cut but just in case #anonymous #ask

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angelkurenai · 6 years

Text

Imagine being Castiel’s soulmate and a hunter, with every version of you ending up together. So you move to another universe to have a peaceful life with him, The French Mistake one.

“More than one of us?” you watched with your breath caught in your throat as the alternative version of your soulmatelooked at him in disbelief “Fascinating.”

Castiel nodded his head, shrugging softly “I've gotten used to it.” he said before stabbing his Apocalyptic version and killing him. You closed your eyes for a second, feeling your heart twist painfully inside your chest.

This bizarre version of Castiel had made unpleasant goosebumps form all over your skin from the moment you met him had seen the scene unfold before you in the Apocalyptic world when you tried to save Jack and Mary. You'd never forget the look he'd given yo before he died, which as much as it scared you, had also brought unexpected sadness and grief to you. You got over it of course when you reminded yourself who he really was. It wasn't logic talking that moment, more like your heart being unable to tell much of a difference between him and your Castiel, no matter how different they were.

He was the total opposite of your sweet, loving and usually-clueless angel boyfriend, making you wonder how bizarre your version of that Apocalyptic world was to be in a relationship with a man like him. And that was something you didn't even have to question because it seemed like no matter where you went or what version of you and Castiel you met, you always were in a relationship.

But then again, that was how the universe worked no matter what reality you were in. He had told you that that was the way soulmates worked, they were destined to find each other and be together even if they belonged in, say, completely different planets. Like it happened between you, a mere human, and Castiel, a true angel of the Lord. Other versions of you were angels, hunters and the most recent you found out about human along with a human Castiel. It didn't matter, all that mattered was you finding your way to each other, despite the difficulties.

However, the difficulties sometimes were too big to just overcome that easily. Like now.

“Does he have a twin brother?” a rough voice was heard behind you, making you gasp and jump in your place and turn to face your angel boyfriend with a hand over your heart.

“Cas!” you scolded and an apologetic look instantly washed over his features.

“I apologize.” he approached you, placing his hand on your shoulders “Did I startle you? I did not mean for it.”

“Baby, we've talked about that. A small warning would be nice first.” you breathed out with a small chuckle, shaking your head before you wrapped your arms around him, resting your head on his shoulder, and he copied the action of hugging back and kissing your temple “I guess I should just put a little bell on you so that I'll know next time.”

“That would be...” he squinted in thought “Problematic. How will I be able to go on a hunt and surprise a demon? He would know I was coming before I even-” but your laughter cut him off and he pulled away to give you a perplexed look.

“Oh my gosh, why are you so perfect?” you managed in between giggles, cupping his face and leaning in to kiss him fully on the lips.

“I don't believe I really am.” he admitted shyly, giving you a soft smile that just made your smile widen.

“To me you are.” you whispered “If we exclude your timing. If you waited five more minutes then the situation would have in a much better way for both of us faster.” you winked, noticing the hint of red that tinted his cheeks but still the smile that spread on his lips at the thought.

“We always have time for that.” he said as subtly as he could, earning a soft laugh from you “It is the whole reason why we got a home here.”

“I can't say you're wrong.” you let a soft sigh.

“How are you, by the way? Is everything as calm and quiet as we hoped?” he asked in a caring voice, his one hand trailing down your arm until it found your hand and he took hold of it.

“More than I ever thought I'd be able to find.” you confessed, playing with his fingers “Even though I miss you guys an awful lot sometimes.”

“Believe me Sam, Dean, Jack, Mary and more than anyone else I miss you, (Y/n).” he said in a hoarse voice “But we both know we have no choice. It's either this or-”

“Don't.” you choked out, your stomach tying in knots at the fear “Don't say it please. I- I can't imagine a life without you, Castiel. I can't imagine having to wake up one morning without you by my side. You're-” a small laugh slipped past your lips “You're my soulmate. And I know right now very well that you are for a reason. You complete me, in a way no man has ever had the been able to do. I'm willing to do everything for you and it's just why I came here.”

Being a hunter didn't leave any room for romance much less real love, and you had long ago game to terms with that. As much as your heart longed for it and as much as all you wished for was peace and a beautiful home to live your life in, you simply couldn't. You belonged in a family of hunters and you grew up knowing that normal was out of the question for you. Until you met Castiel and not only found the truth about your connection – how you were soulmates, but also realized what true love meant and just how bad you wanted that happily ever after, that peace, with him. But monsters wouldn't just late you take a break or find peace when they were literally around the corner waiting to get back at you for

So although it was hard having to let go of a life you had grown up in and the people you loved like your family, you had decided to live in another reality. With this alternative reality being the most safe of for you, with no monsters around, you had both made the decision to find a home here and live together. Castiel would sometimes help the Winchesters when they needed him and of course you made the boys and now Mary take a break every holiday to come and spend it with you in your new home.

“I am incredibly happy to see you so calm and pleased with what we've got.” he whispered “I thought it would be hard for you to adjust to all this.”

“It was but then again, coming across a show of our lives on TV does manage to make me feel more at home than I thought I could.” you chuckled and he smiled softly “This actor version of you is definitely your exact opposite, I am 100% sure of that! He's all kinds of crazy but he's so much fun!”

“I'm sure we at least have something in common.” your soulmate said with a soft smile “Our love for you.”

“Hmh” you hummed, playing with his tie “Besides the fun of people thinking I'm her sometimes, I gotta say I really like her as far as I've seen on the net. Oh and of course, let's not forget they're married, so good choice there honey.” you giggled, leaning in to kiss his lips and earning a soft chuckle from him “Speaking of which-” you motioned to the TV before taking hold of the remote control again “What was it that you were saying?”

“That's the show you talked to me about, isn't it? Supernatural right?” he asked and you nodded your head “I was merely wondering how this alternate actor version of me could film this scene.”

“Well, TV has much more to show than porn anymore, Cas.” you turned it off before turning to him “Although I can't complain, it has certainly taught you a good few useful things.”

“That-” a soft grin formed on his lips “Is most certainly the truth. And if you would like, I certainly have a lot more to show you, as far as my knowledge is concerned.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” you grinned, taking hold of his tie “Come here you wonderful angel.” and pressed your lips to his.

#supernatural #supernatural imagine #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural one shot #supernatural x reader #castiel #castiel x reader #castiel imagine #castiel fanfiction #castiel one shot #misha collins #misha collins x reader #misha collins imagine #misha collins fanfiction #misha collins one shot

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originaljediinjeans · 5 years

Text

MCU Rewatch: The Avengers (2012)

I cut out a lot from the individual character metas but it’s still pretty long and IDK how to summarize, maybe just read the bolded text for some of the juicier points

LOKI: Unpopular opinion, I do not believe that Loki was directly mind-controlled by Thanos. I don’t care if it’s “canon.” However, there is no denying that Thanos hurt and tortured Loki. Whatever he went through, it was bad enough that Loki agreed to cooperate. But Loki thinks he 100% deserves a planet to rule of his own after being kicked out of Asgard when he was the “rightful ruler”. (Who thinks that when they’re being mind controlled, really?) He must have done some real persuasion to convince Thanos that he could bring him the Tesseract and that he would not fail. But even then the Other is really hard on him. Loki is doing someone else’s bidding and he knows it. And he tugs at the leash. But he’s “come too far”--been tortured too much--to fail.

Loki as the villain of this film is perfection. And the scene with Natasha blows me away every time. The montage during his speech just syncs with it perfectly. Poetic cinema, as they say, but in the most literal and professional sense of the phrase.

My headcanon ever since the first time I saw this movie is that Loki can read the minds of Midgardians. Even if Barton told him everything (which I might not sure is even possible), Loki being slightly psychic is still cooler. Loki in this movie is freaking SCARY. (but that’s why he’s great, give Tom Hiddleston an Oscar already, Hollywood what is wrong with you?)

Who is the Other? He kind of reminds me of the Mouth of Sauron in LOTR. Is he another sick, twisted sycophant who believes in Thanos’ cause? Of course. He is proud to represent Thanos, and what’s more, acting creepy and giving people poetic threats is his way of doing his job: intimidating people into cooperation. Well, not like it matters much. I laugh every time I watch GOTG and Ronan kills him.

Coulson’s murder made Loki a murderer

I love Loki but I still want to punch him for what he did to Barton and Selvig and not to mention Coulson and just doing lots of bad things for bad reasons and I hope when I do punch him that it hurts, I don’t care if he’s a fictional character I’m going to punch him

THOR: Asgard must have some kind of dope intelligence system. They knew about the Chitauri–they didn’t know where they were from or who they were working for, but they knew enough and Thor knew enough to figure that he’d better get Loki before it got out of control. Also, the rest of the universe knows that one paramilitary organization on a small planet was experimenting with an Infinity Stone a really powerful energy source to use as a weapon. So Thor going to Midgard isn’t just about getting Loki: it’s making sure that a world under Asgard’s “protection” isn’t overrun by an invading army. And don’t forget, Thor has officially designated himself the Earth’s protector–he’s willing to share that responsibility with the Avengers, after these events. Willing enough to go search the universe for answers about the Infinity Stones. Maybe after Infinity War he regrets that.

Thor admits to Coulson for being embarrassed for himself and his people because of all the destruction and chaos Loki has caused

The moment when they’re in New York and Thor and Steve are taking a break–that’s when they bond. Other people see Steve Rogers as a mere wooden soldier but Thor recognizes a kindred warrior spirit. Thor and Steve’s friendship is criminally underrated and has a heinous lack of screentime.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: I have to admit, on this viewing Steve’s characterization seemed a little wooden to me. But it makes sense if you keep in mind that Steve is under stress about being in a new place and time.

I’ve always liked Steve’s uniform in this one, even though it’s not very popular or not as “cool” or practical as some of the others. What I dislike, though, is the helmet. The more it’s off, the better.

Steve actually doesn’t deal with stress that gracefully

I hate to say this, but Steve walks away from this movie with a deep-seated mistrust of Tony Stark and it’s only going to get bigger and get worse

I can’t help thinking of this famous saying: “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, rather than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”

All of the above considered, Steve Rogers went through a lot of crap during the War. And it wasn’t all just fighting Hydra. He must have led the Commandoes on other not closely related missions, too. But he’s been in a lot of different situations. He knows how much bad there is in the world. He knows what kind of people want to take over the world. That’s why he isn’t taking crap from anyone.

And even if Steve isn’t psychic he sees right through Loki. Steve and Loki don’t get much screen time together but Loki knows how Cap feels about him and it bugs him. And that’s why Steve is so pushy about wanting Tony and Bruce to stay on task because he knows Loki and Loki’s accomplices are up to no good and they need to stop it

Cap actually has been on some pretty bumpy plane rides.

I agree with the fandom that it is unfair that someone as young as Steve (only like 25 years not counting the ice) is pushed into a lot of leadership positions. But he gets called on to lead because he has that wartime experience. He knows how to lead a team, he knows how to fight battles of all sizes. And being a leader, Steve knows when and when not to trust the people in charge. I think Tony takes a cue from him when he deals with Loki.

IRON MAN: Between Iron Man 2 and when Avengers opens, Tony is actually Living his Best Life(TM) with Pepper and the fact that the events of this film ends it forever kills me.

When he sees the portal open and the Chitauri coming out, the response “Right–army” sounds cute but he’s genuinely terrified. He’s already bruised from his brief encounter with Loki when he literally flies into the Mark 7.The longer the battle goes, the worse it gets.

The Nuke: Tony made his fortune building/designing weapons and then he stopped when he saw that they were being used to kill innocent people. The government ordering a nuclear strike on Manhattan is horrifying to him. He figures out a good way to get rid of it and stop the Chitauri. He doesn’t let go until he’s absolutely sure that it’s over, regardless of the cost to himself.

Summary: Tony goes from being in a good place to a bad one. There are some things even shawarma cannot cure.

Tony already knows Bruce Banner’s history and has studied his scientific work. Tony already knows about all the crap that Banner has been through. Tony relates to what Bruce has been through. He validates both the Hulk and Banner. The science bros are actually a really big deal and they mean a lot to me.

I am so glad Pepper was in this movie and I am so glad that Pepperony exists so help me if the Russos kill off Tony in Endgame–

Steve and Tony really almost got into an actual fight in that lab scene. They really did.

I never got the line “We are not soldiers” until this time around. He’s referring to those airmen in Afghanistan who died in vain to protect him from the terrorists that kidnapped him. He doesn’t want to think that of himself, or anyone else of the Avengers, or even Coulson. I wonder if maybe to an extent he can’t deal with the guilt or the mentality of going to war. Golly, figuring that out is a gut punch.

THE HULK: I don’t really feel like there’s much to say about Bruce this time around. Except that I’m so proud of him for actually going to Calcutta and helping people who needed help. I’m glad that SHIELD wanted him for his expertise and not just the Hulk. He is happy to be used for his knowledge. And meeting Tony Stark was probably the best thing to ever happen to him.

Even the Hulk cares about Tony–the Hulk likes Tony Stark/Iron Man better than he likes Bruce Banner.

BLACK WIDOW: Natasha has a legitimate fear of the Hulk and it’s actually kind of incredible that she did get past that. If there was something in this film about Natasha’s fear versus the Hulk that was supposed to be continued in Age of Ultron, bad writing killed it. Either that or there wasn’t enough exposition.

There’s an implication, with how Natasha is the first of the big 6 shown, how she’s asked to go find Banner, that Fury and Coulson kind of looked to her as a leader or co-leader for the Avengers. Would her responsibilities include bringing and keeping them together? Yes.

Natasha still thinks about the big picture during the battle. She knows that her teammates have limits. She knows what they’re up against.

I think she does get kind of scared when she’s riding the Chitauri chariot thing and she’s trying to control it. It’s not an easy task and there’s also speed and the risk of falling.

Clint and Natasha’s relationship is amazing. It’s one of the best things about this movie and it’s a travesty we don’t really see this again in the MCU (holding out hope for Endgame). They talk and fight and work together like they’ve known each other for years. She looks up to him because he helped her change her life. And now he looks to her because she saved his.

HAWKEYE: I just…need more Clint Barton in my life. Seriously he is so cool. Like he really needed a stand-alone movie in Phase 2. He just deserved better period and by that I mean more screen time. Maybe it wouldn’t have worked for him to have been in Cap 2 but he needed something.

COULSON: Agent Phil Coulson is the heart and soul of this movie.

The Stark Tower visit: Pepper calls him “Phil,” she notices that he looks shaken (even though it’s hard for even me to tell). She asks Phil about the Cellist and Tony offers to even fly him out to Portland to see his SO–do you know how much plane tickets cost that is huge. It is more than safe to assume that Phil has kept in touch with Tony and Pepper and even come over to hang out. Like enough that Pepper can read his moods. Good grief Pepper must have been destroyed when she found out.

Despite the initial bureaucratic unfairness, what if Coulson has kept in touch with Jane and Darcy? Maybe been a liaison to SHIELD for them. Did he suggest to SHIELD that they recruit Selvig?

Coulson is naturally a friendly person, and Thor is comfortable enough with him to talk about his concerns about Loki. Like they are friends. Like THOR WATCHES HIS BROTHER STAB AND KILL THE SON OF COUL, CHAMPION OF MIDGARD, AND HE WILL LIVE WITH THAT FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE.

If Steve Rogers thought he’d escaped the Captain America fans boy was he wrong

But more importantly, Captain America is Coulson’s hero and Steve knows it. When Coulson dies, Steve knows that it was because he was trying to stop Loki and that Coulson was a good man.

Do you see why I want to/am/should be writing fanfiction about Coulson?

Coulson also knows Nick Fury very well. I would go so far as to say that on a certain level they are like brothers, even. Gosh they better get quality screentime in Captain Marvel!

Of course Coulson has known Clint and Natasha for years, maybe even as long as they’ve been at SHIELD. You hear the concern in Coulson’s voice when he tells Nat that Barton’s been compromised. It’s redundant to say this but it’s audible. He knows what Clint means to Natasha. He’s probably one of the 5 people who know about Clint’s family, maybe Phil is friends with Laura. And it’s implied that he has a personal relationship with Clint.

TL;DR Phil Coulson genuinely cares about the Avengers individually and as a group. He probably knows about Steve, Tony, and Banner more than they know each other by the end of the film. He knows that they’re the only real line of defense. He knows that the guys and Nat are capable of doing great good. He believes in heroes .Nick Fury tells them as much in his pep talk and for dramatic effect he uses the cards. Subtext: Coulson cared about you guys. He believed in you. And he wanted you to go kick Loki’s butt. Phil Coulson just really cares about people no matter how well he knows them. And I love him for it.

NICK FURY: Knowing what we know now--because Coulson and Fury will be in Captain Marvel which takes place 15-ish years earlier--Coulson and Fury in this movie already know that there are bad ETs and they play rough. Even after the Chitauri are finished, Fury knows that this is just the beginning. He may have even suspected that Loki didn’t get that army on his own. That explains why Nick Fury asked the World Security Council to approve Insight. And the Dark Elves in Thor TDW may have made it more urgent.

You have to keep in mind, though, that Nick is under pressure from the Pinheads on the World Security Council and Hydra sleepers working under him

Nick is no stranger to pressure, however. He knows what he’s doing.

“I was playing something even riskier.” Riskier than weapons because people with superpowers can’t always be controlled or at least do what you want or even ask. Riskier because he suspects (rightly) that they won’t always get along. And that if they do disagree they may turn on each other. Riskier because people with superpowers cause destruction, sometimes more than they can fix. But always less than they prevent if they can do their job.

The events of Civil War may not have been that surprising to him as he watched from a distance wherever. He may have been quietly rooting for Cap. Or even worked with the Secret Avengers...where was I?

(Not that he doesn’t love Tony)

I actually appreciated Nick more on this viewing

Nick Fury is, in fact, the Main Character of The Avengers. We just didn’t realize it until now.

SHIELD AND MISCELLANY: I may need to watch this movie again soon because the peanut gallery that is My Family made it kind of hard to watch

But one of my brothers suggested why not have Cap hook up with Maria Hill? I admit it’s intriguing but they don’t actually have that much interaction in this film or in CATWS. Ships have sailed on more shallow waters but I don’t think this one floats for me.

The soundtrack is perfect, a great blend of dramatic epic themes with spy movie beats, with some chilling backdrop music to set a sinister tone for Loki. Alan Silvestri’s best work.

THE AVENGERS THEME MUSIC IS MAGNIFICENT, IT DESERVVES AS MUCH ATTENTION AS THE STAR WARS THEME

Infinity Stones do what they want.

Infinity Stones are also connected and that might be important in Endgame.

This is still one of the greatest superhero movies ever made. Still one of the best movies ever made period. Granted, you have to have seen the other movies for it to make any emotional sense but The Avengers is a masterpiece. Every character interaction has weight. Every detail is connected. The storytelling here is matchless. That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it as fact.

Age of Ultron was just so “bad” that the rest of y’all forgot how good The Avengers is.

I would love to see this movie on a big screen again one day. Maybe a summer drive-through. It might be the only MCU movie besides GOTG that would be appropriate for that.

Jane Foster isn’t stupid y’all. She would have figured out something was up when SHIELD shipped her to consult at a remote observatory. The moment she saw Thor on the news her suspicions would be confirmed, when she heard about Coulson and Loki she would be even more hurt and confused about why Thor didn’t even at least look her up to say hello

The Original 6 Avengers are bonded in a way but they’re not really a family.

Actually they are but they aren’t at the same time, it’s hard to describe. Even when they spend more time later and build a working relationship they aren’t quite the family some of them think they are. Some of them are part of each other’s families but they’re not really a solid unit. Age of Ultron and Civil War split them along the subgroup lines that are already there.

Eric Selvig looks like a mess when he comes out from the mind spell. Is he ever okay again?

The guy who found Banner in the abandoned hangar may have seen aliens before.

While Thor opened up the MCU to “other worlds” it was really The Avengers that established that there was an entire UNIVERSE beyond where the Avengers were from--beyond even Asgard and its conquests--full of worlds that had lots of alien races--and plenty of them could pick a fight with a puny blue planet of people with relatively primitive technology if they wanted to. I think GOTG establishes that most don’t. But some still do.

I really don’t think there’s anything to compare with being on a movie set where Robert Downey Jr has been turned loose.

I still think Loki should have had that drink and I hope he did

Coulson might one day forgive Nick Fury for doing what he had to do--but those trading cards were in near-mint condition. Sheesh.

Well, that’s down to ten pages from around what could have been sixteen.

#SUPER LONG POST #meta #the avengers #aka the dysfunctionals that avenge stuff #avengers assemble #long post #mcu rewatch

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horrorgay · 6 years

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Reylo is/has ruined the Sequels

Hot take: TLJ both story level and writer level used reylo to make every single character removed from their initial storyline and undercut any potentially meaningful representation, by pushing them to the far sides of the narrative to make room for a “Rey saves Ben Solo redemption” story.

It also, in order to make Ben Solo a more #relatable soft boy, played the game of “but maybe Luke thought about killing him”.

A. To begin, here is a list of canonical TFA!Kylo actions:

Ruined Luke’s attempts at teaching children how to use the force

Contributed greatly to the creation of the New Genocidal Order, the First Order.

An Order which, by the way, takes literal babies and brainwashes them into soldiers that will commit their genocide without question.

Ordered and contributed to the slaughter of an entire village of innocent people.

Tortured two of the three main characters on SCREEN, which caused them to scream in agony and sob because it was a painful torture.

(Throughout the movie is clearly hostile towards Rey, even when talking about her to his fellow first order members)

Sent the orders to obliterate four (?) ENTIRE planets and oversaw it without even flinching

Tried to blow up Maz’s castle

Purposefully intimidated and stalked Rey through the forest, after which he held her VERY CLEARLY against her will with the force and brought his lightsaber inches away from her face before forcing her to pass out, carrying her away from her new loved ones to torture her on Starkiller Base.

From there he is shown to be continuously destructive, exhibiting no anger control as he damages the things around him.

He kills Han, who reached out to him. Though he does seem to show regret, he shoves it aside because he wants to continue to grow as a powerful murderer.

In the forest fight, he shows no mercy or kindness to Rey and Finn. He is brutal as he fights them, and intends to kill Finn, seriously harming him in the process. He throws Rey against a tree with potentially lethal force. I wouldn’t say this scene is inherently EVIL as it is just 1v2 combat, but it does further display that they are clearly on OPPOSITE SIDES.

He then offers to teach Rey to use the dark side of the force (not explicitly stated but obviously in the same GENOCIDAL manner he’s been using it with the entire movie).

She slashes his face and leaves him to die, and then SOBS by Finn’s side, ready to die on Starkiller Base.

Rey, throughout the whole movie shows CLEAR disgust, fear, anger and bitterness was towards Kylo as he has been nothing but a monster. (You can SEE them in the gifset linked below.)

B. Here is the thing about The Last Jedi:

If they wanted to make Kylo a “redeemable character”* they should have done at least one of the following things, EVEN THOUGH it absolutley would not undo his actions in TFA

*Its not Rey’s fucking job to turn back time and make a genocidal monster turn back into 10 year old innocent Ben Solo

Build Snoke up as an even worse bad guy, and show how he reached out to Kylo while he stayed with Luke.

What they did in tlj: implied snoke had some reason in his turn to the dark side and then killed him halfway through the movie (after Kylo watched him torture Rey, mind you). This provided NO in movie backstory for Snoke or Kylo‘s turn and does not give the audience even an once of sympathy for Kylo.

No one likes it but reylos, but at least SHOW if Han and Leia had been incredibly neglectful of Kylo. It would be very OOC of Han and Leia though, so they didn’t. It also would not NEARLY be enough reason to excuse his murder lust and genocide. I remind you of the classic “Rey is raised by sand and Unkar Plutt, does not become murderer.”

What they did in tlj: Basically ignored this entire subject. Sending Kylo to Luke, HIS UNCLE WHO LOVES HIM, is not nearly enough evidence or reason for redemption. Hell, they didn’t even directly address the fact that Kylo murdered Han A WEEK BEFORE THE MOVIE TAKES PLACE.

BARE MINIMUM: Show that he is actively remorseful of his previous actions.

What they did in tlj: He hesitates shooting the bridge he knows Leia is on. He doesn’t call off the attack though, and it still is destroyed. That’s it. The rest of the movie is Kylo playing kicked puppy in front of Rey (bc of the Luke Incident). After the fight scene on the bridge, where Rey is hopeful (addressed later on) he will reject the first order, he says she could rule as the new first order by his side. When she rejects this, he spends the rest of the movie trying to obliterate the entire resistance (INCLUDING: Leia, Luke and Rey). Like he’s straight up even more wrathful and murderous than he was when the story began.

Conclusion: It doesn’t make sense at all that both inside the story, and out (with Lucas Film) Kylo can/should be redeemed. They didn’t write it into the story NEARLY WELL ENOUGH. And it is also tone deaf, considering the political climate. Imagine if everyone started cheering for Trump the under dog, “will he get his redemption story?”.

C. AND NOW WE GET TO THE ACTUAL REYLO ASPECT.

In the beginning of the movie roughly a week after the events on Starkiller base, Rey shows clear anger and disgust towards Kylo. This part of the movie makes sense. She hates him for what he’s done. In her words: he’s a monster, and he has to pay for what he’s done.

Kylo has been nothing but violent, malicious and invasive to both her and the people she loves (Finn, Han, Leia etc.).

But then, inexplicably she starts calling him Ben Solo. Maybe this would make sense if she felt like he could be redeemed, but five minutes ago and the entire previous movie she thinks the exact opposite.

Rey calling Kylo “Ben Solo” seems more than anything to be the writers of TLJ pandering the side of the audience that does want to see him redeemed still. Sure, whatever. It’s the beginning of the movie. Anything could happen.

But as stated before in section B, any potential attempts to portray Kylo being redeemed in the plot are then neglected completely. Leaving us with Rey, who previously hated Kylo with every fiber of her being suddenly treating him like he’s soft and kind-hearted. It becomes OOC drivel, and detrimentally ruins the heart of Rey’s character. (It also fumbles Luke’s character in what apparently is his last movie, but that’s a whole other rant.)

After the throne room, they go back to their original status of Hero vs Villain. Still, it doesn’t change the fact that the 45 minutes (more?) of the movie made No God Damn Sense, and was a series of severe fumbles in the narrative.

D. WHY THIS HURTS THE REST OF THE NARRATIVE.

Recall that in the year before 2015 and the years following up until the Last Jedi, that Lucas Film and Disney presented what was supposed to be the main good guys trio: Finn, Poe and Rey.

Finn, played by John Boyega, is the Main Male Protagonist and Rey and Finn were mutually portrayed as love interests in TFA. It would seem fitting that he’d continue to be treated in such a manner. Except he CLEARLY wasn’t. For goodness sakes, the main trio STILL is not consciously in the same room as each other until the VERY end of the movie in a few-minute long scene.

His storyline also has pretty racist issues. Rose was introduced to give a vague purpose to his storyline in TLJ, and even then SHE was OOC from star to finish. Rian Johnson did not take his time to write a meaningful story for the MALE LEAD.

I love Poe to death, but he and Holdo’s story did not really work. From a purely common sense POV the story should not have gone down the way it did. From a less common sense view, and a more character based one, their storyline caused Poe to be OOC. The heavy handed white feminism looks bad. It made Poe look bad, even if what he did was reasonable. (More in depth explanations here and here.)

The narrative was given to Kylo, and to (OOC) Rey. Which WOULD HAVE BEEN NOT IDEAL BUT TOLERABLE if they’d actually given depth to Kylo’s story. But again the didn’t.

E. WHY LUCAS FILM SUCKS FOR LETTING THIS HAPPEN.

Rian Johnson has been explicitly clear in his tweets and interviews that he wanted to focus on Kylo. He wanted to make him more human and relatable (regardless of whether or not he failed).

He has been clear that he did not care or take into account what the cast thought of the story he was writing.

(Ignoring Mark Hamill’s advice on the portrayal of Luke, pushing aside Daisy Ridley’s tears [which let’s be real, it’s fairly evident that she was upset because Finn and Rey had no story nor interactions, and Rey was turned into an OOC plot device].)

He had joked that he would have left Finn out of the story and in a coma. He also unabashedly romanticized Rey and Kylo’s actions, despite that being VERY VERY VERY VERY QUESTIONABLE.

He teased FinnPoe in promos and events leading up to TLJ, and decided that if Finn and Poe were going to get a long and like each other, he might as well separate them too.

The Last Jedi leaves any representation deeply flawed, sidelined or non-existent. It is not a movie for the everyone. It is a poorly written movie made for an audience I can’t even pinpoint, but certainty not for anyone who wanted to see themselves in a narrative in a positive way.

Star Wars has always belonged to everyone. In 2015, the took a step forward to make it belong to everyone. But in 2017, Lucas Film moved backwards and made a movie that belonged to a specific group of people who idolize and romanticize white male violence. Once you pull down the paper thin smoke screen of supposed diversity, you’re left with a bad movie, and poorly assembled narrative about Kylo, at the expense of everyone: the audience, the cast, and the characters.

NOTES:

Feel free to reblog, and repost elsewhere, but please credit me.

Please, feel free to expand upon what I said here.

I am going to make a gifset that highlights Kylo’s actions and Rey’s response through TLJ and TFA, as well as an additional set with Rey and Finn. I will link them here when I’m done.

DISCLAIMER: IDGAF IF YOU LIKE KYLO. It’s not a crime to like characters. It is a fucking crime to write an official star wars trilogy and center it around the garbage man stink boy at the expense of everyone else.

#tlj #tlj critical #anti reylo #antireylo #thelastjedicritical #long post

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aelinskingdom-insta · 6 years

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KoA NYC event, part 2

- Am I going to die reading kingdom of ash? Yes. I mean, maybe yeaaaah. She died a million times writing her books.

- If you were stuck in a deserted island which one of your characters would you like to be stuck with? We’re ruling out any magical powers. Rowan is so intense that I would just be so scared of him, I would bring no skills to the table. He’d be fine with that but I know that he’d be just ugh you’re pathetic and you’re definitely an indoor cat. Aelin would yell at me and then I’d cry and she’d feel bad and then we’d probably be like Jack Sparrow burning all of the rum. Chaol would just spend the whole time obsessively building a raft because he’d be like “I just need to get off this island with this crazy woman”. He’d just like swim out to sea, like sea take me, Jesus take the wheel! I can’t be on this island with her. Being on an island with Manon would be like getting into one of those shark cages. Cause you know when the coconuts run out she’s going to start looking at you... like she’s not a cannibal, but like there are few lines she wouldn’t cross. She would start looking at me like a steak, like a walking steak. So I think if we’re like stuck on an island, I’d be cool with being on the island with Dorian. He’s so nice, and he’s good to look at. And like he tans nicely, he’s not like me I turn into a lobster in the sun, Dorian gets that like bronzed skin, and I’d be like “oh I’m getting sunburned give me your shirt” and we’ll make sure that you get all oiled up with coconut oil so your tan gets even better and those abs... and with Dorian we can talk about everything so we’d talk about the movies and books - I mean Dorian has obviously seen zero movies but in my fantasy he’s seen all of the movies that I love, and I think he’d be so like pleasant and he would find a way off the island or he would sacrifice himself for me to get off the island but like I’d never let go.”

- You once said that you had a last line planned for kingdom of ash, is that what ended up being the last line of the book? (That was my question kfksojdkaoajsoa) It is. So I had a bunch of different endings in mind over the years and when I was in Costa Rica in 2013 on vacation and we took this little tour up to this place called the Monteverde cloud forest and it’s one of the most unique incredible places in the world. It was on top of a mountain range and this cloud forest exists in the clouds. And we were doing the drive up into the mountains and we got to this lookout point, and these beautiful mountains were spread around us and I was listening to music in the back of this van trying not to puke on all those tiny roads and we got to this point where the clouds just like opened up and all of this sunshine just came flooding down all around these mountains and the music was just swelling at this one point and I just heard the voice in my head, I heard the last line for the series, and I, surprise, burst into tears. I was with my husband’s family and they were like what’s happening with her? And I was like the view is so gorgeous I’m so moved by the mountains - and I was, but I was like holy shit I just heard the last line of my series! It was like an out of body experience and I loved this last line so so much that I was like Aelin please please don’t fuck this up for me, we gotta get to that last line girl we gotta make it to that and we did. She and I got there somehow, if she survives... *nervous laughing* yeah the last line is “aelin was rotting in her grave with the valg bunnies for ever. And then the bunnies hopped along and fed off of her corpse.“

- How does safe sex work between fae? *laughs and snorts* I was want you guys to know that my family is here today. Like my parents and my grandma. I’ll tell you a little story, my grandma is amazing she’s almost 88 years old, she just came back from 2 weeks in Argentina, she travels all over the world. She’s the most incredible lady. I think about 2 years ago, my grandma is in this book club with a bunch of ladies her age, and they picked acotar as their monthly read. And they wanted to know about the sex. So right before acomaf came out and I said “you know grandma you might not want to read acomaf because there’s a lot of graphic sex.” And grandma was like “well that sounds right up my alley“! So I feel like my grandma is probably cool with me talking about safe sex for the fae. But I like to imagine that they’ve got like tonics and potions that they take, like instead of popping birth control pills, where it’s all on the woman to have to be on birth control, like the man can *Sarah picks up her glass of water* drink their daily “not get a woman knocked up juice”. [...] Maybe we’ll have like a little novella where it’s like “the ladies talk about birth control, a nice Holliday special”.

- Which name came first, Celaena or Aelin? Celaena was the first name that popped into my head. When I began writing the books, I knew I wanted a cool name that meant something neat and I was a big fan of the Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, and there’s a harpie named Celaeno. Celaeno is a real character in Greek mythology and her name means Dark One and I was like oooh Dark One that’s a badass name for an assassin but Celaeno sounds like a burly Italian man *with an Italian accent* “it’s me Celaeno!”. No, so me being 16 years old I swaped the o for an a and that’s how Celaena was born. But what was really weird is that when I named Fleetfoot, like immediately I was like this dog is really fast what do I call her, fleetfoot, but then a couple of years later I was looking into Celaeno the harpie’s mythological origins to see if there was anything I could pull, any little nods that I could have in throne of glass, little references and Easter eggs for Celaena’s name source and I saw that one of Celaeno‘ other names was Fleetfoot, like one of her nicknames, and I was like what the hell... this is why I feel like all of this is happening on another planet and I’m just channeling it somehow. And I don’t even remember where Aelin came from as a name, sometimes I just hear the names in my head and like thank god for those moments cause I hate naming characters. Sometimes I just hear names in my head like I heard Aelin’s name, I heard Feyre’s name, I heard Bryce Quinlan’s name and that’s just how I know, when I hear a name, that’s the name and it’s a weird thing and it sticks and it makes a character come alive in a way. And actually when I first first first wrote throne of glass, Celaena was just an assassin and by chapter three I was like oh and you’re also a magical princess named Aelin, surprise! Cause obviously there has to be a princess involved because of Sailer Moon, the Moon princess. I think Aelin would have enjoyed Sailer Moon, by the way. Aelin would love living in this world, she would never get off her couch cause she would constantly be binge-watching tv shows. iTunes, Aelin would go crazy just like Spotify, all the music. I wish I could open a Wyrdgate and bring her into the world for the day (YEAH WE WISH WE COULD DO THAT TOO). I‘m going to write fan fiction about that. That wouldn’t be weird at all. “Aelin and I hanging out around New York.” Dorkiest fan fiction of all times.

- What is your favorite scene of the series? One of the first that jumped to my mind is in HoF, when Aelin and the Valg are facing off and Aelin goes through all of her memories, and it’s like ripping her apart but then she learns to face them and she comes out of the darkness and puts her hand over the prince’s mouth and blasts them into ash. When I wrote that scene I just sobbed and sobbed, and I was so pumped up I didn’t know what to do with myself. I loved that. In ToD, the whole Nestaq scenes… like basically everything of them together, but when they go off into the mountains together like that I could have made that book a thousand pages long just because I loved them so much and Borte, and the whole thing with them and the spiders. Tower of Dawn was such a fun book for me to write, I loved that book. And in EoS when Aelin and Rolfe, oh my god when Aelin is like talking to Rowan and she’s like I haven’t met you, and he’s like oh I’m taken and she’s like your girlfriend must be so hot and then when Aelin puts one of Rolfe’s emeralds in her mouth and throws it out across the room. When I was writing it, I had my feet on my desk, channeling Aelin so hard. I mean the entire ending of empire of storms was just so horrible and brutal, and all of those ships show up and they realise that Aelin arranged for everything, I just like... lost it. And all of QoS. I mean when Lysandra shows up and saves Aedion and Rowan and destroys all of those soldiers as a leopard, Aelin and Dorian when Dorian shatters the Glass Castle, I loved that. I mean literally like any moment in the series I’ve loved. In the Assassin’s Blade, I loved writing about that riverfront party when they’re all dancing and having fun and Aelin going to the theatre... I mean every moment was my favorite. Aelin versus Manon. When Manon first encounters Abraxos and gets thrown into the pit, when she and Abraxos team up. Oh my god, I’m going to cry thinking about all of these moments. Like a whole montage went through my head, with a nice music playing. Here’s the time Manon ripped out that guy’s throat. Here’s when Aelin gutted a man. Nice family memories.

- What power would you want in throne of glass? I think I’d want to be a shapeshifter. I mean who doesn’t want to ability to turn into a sea wyvern and take on horrible sea creature. *whispering and pointing to herself* Not this person. I would love to be able to turn into a bird and fly, a worm... there’s like so much of the world to see, so many ways to experience it that I would want to try out so many different shapes and then the cool party trick like hey do you want to see me turn into a worm? I would like freeze in that moment and they would be like turn into something cool, turn into a wolf or a badger, and I’d be like I can do a worm... and then we would get home later and I’d be like damnit why didn’t I turn into a wolf I can do it! You know when you have that comeback that you remember two hours later that haunts you for years, like that would be me as a shapeshifter I would forget my cool forms and I would do all of the really sad ones. All the time. The worm and a pigeon... pizza rat, that’s what I’d turn into. Pizza rat is my patronus. *laughing* It’s true.

- If there is one message that you would want the readers to take away from the throne of glass series, what would it be? I think looking back at this crazy, amazing journey, at the end of the day I think I would want you guys to take away the message that, and this is going to sound really corny but you can literally do anything that you put your mind to. You can survive anything, and that you’re stronger than you realise. And that no matter how many times you get knocked down, you can get back up. And never stop getting back up. And even when the world tells you that you aren’t good enough, that your dream is stupid or that it’ll never happen, you keep your eyes on the prize and you never listen to those people. You can make it. You’ve got a dream. You can achieve it. I somehow did it, and if I did it you guys can do it. And I hope that Aelin and Manon and Rowan and Chaol and all of them inspired you to never give up, even when it feels hopeless, never give up. It gets better. Even when things seem really dark and really hard... *starts crying* you asked this question! Whoever wrote that I hate you. Even when things seem really dark and really hard, that doesn’t last forever, and you can get through it. And you’ve got strength that you don’t even realise. You can find that strength, and you’ll make it. And I love you guys. At the end of the day, I want you guys to walk away from these books feeling like you can take on the world. And you can do anything. And if that’s what I’ve accomplished with these books, then I can die happy, I guess. If anybody ever puts down what you love, screw them. I love you guys, to whatever end.

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