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silvertsundere · 11 months

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Silver Talks AniManga (28/05/23)

no imas or jigokuraku anime this week cause they were both on break nothing else of note I don't think, p chill week

Anime

Megumin Ep8

honestly there's not much I have to say about the episode itself BUT last episode, I thought the cook guy sounded super familiar but I didn't look it up but at the start of this ep he was talking and I was like "man no way they got majima for this random guy" but they actually did and also, there was an animation error, right before this screen there's a far shot of the scene and she has her hood on in it, despite not having it on before AND after it so that was funny to spot

Mashle Ep7

we're finally really in the first battle arc, tho the animation continues to be nothing impressive as expected. hoping that at least the big fight with the boss looks good but we'll see. I also forgot that razor showed up here too so that was nice, hope that his fight gets some love too cause he deserves it. tho I did like how the text at the bottom there sunk in sync with mash that was a cute touch, it was also all wobbly while he was talking underwater

Pokemon Horizons Ep8

what the hell bocchi the tuber has a face good ep tho, the livestream with her reading the baddies' goon's comment was funny and riko's reaction to having her comment read was great too, average chatter moment lmao also in 2 more weeks we're getting anime nemona so very excited for that, hopefully she has a good voice

Manga

Blooming Love Ch5

she just keeps getting better and better really cute chap, it's a shame that this series is gonna switch to be every other week instead of weekly but with how fast it's moving (for a romance) it prob won't be that bad

Dandadan Ch107

we finally out of the vamola backstory and back into the action very cool chap, especially seeing the pay off of momo seeing all that and regretting how she treated vamola my favourite part were these 2 panels, in opposites pages, after the exact same amount and layout of panels above it. the parallel of how soft momo's eyes are when she's reassuring vamola and then how sharp and serious they are when glaring at the aliens is extremely good

Kindergarten WARS Ch7 - 9

it's p funny how much of a lover boy dough is anyway good chaps, mostly action but it was good

Saihate Quarter Ch13

you know, for a series that has the risk of getting axed it sure doesn't feel like it's building towards a conclusion so maybe it won't happen that soon

Kaiju 8 Ch86

you know, since #9 took over the old man, this makes a lot of sense but since they didn't mention it in the shinomiya fight I hope it isn't just a thing for this one kaijiu cause of narumi's relationship with isao. it's still cool anyway, but it would be kinda lame for the baddies to have access to something like this, giving the number kaijus isao's knowledge and not doing it but we'll see

Pension Life Vampire Ch7

what the hell?? a serious chap? I know it had some goofs but it was still surprising to see something serious happen. tho it most likely won't be as bad as it sounds next time

Shuumatsu no Valkyrie Ch78

nothing much going in this chapter other than setting up the fighters for the next round leonidas and apollo, totally expecting apollo to win but we'll see how it goes

ST☆R: Strike it Rich Ch3

it was good timing to check yesterday when the new chap was gonna come out cause I didn't realize it'd be today. anyway, this was the end of the lil introductory arc so should be getting a lot more fights from now on

The Ichinose Family's Deadly Sins Ch26

SEE I CALLED IT however many weeks ago I did, I said that him waking up from the dream wasn't real and he was still in the coma and looks like I was right. god this shit just keeps running around in circles while I'm begging it to end.

Fabricant 100 Ch23

very convinient for her to suddenly get a new hidden power she had all along and was never hinted at when they're fighting the final boss

Nue's Exorcist Ch3

introducing some more eye candy to the series isn't a bad idea, tho that one panel of fanservice was pretty unnecessary. still nothing great so far, but he's finally met one of the exorcists nue mentioned before and they're setting up a club to deal with spirits and stuff, which will help give some structure to the series in the coming chaps. we'll see how it goes from here but I'm still not very hopeful about it's chances with how bad ch1 and 2 were.

Kill Blue Ch6

interesting choice to have the first 5 pages of the chapter have no dialogue but it worked well enough I think. this was basically all about the cliffhanger from the previous chap but I didn't expect things to progress this fast

Do Retry Ch4

this guy jacking it WAY too much but anyway, they're using the money each fight is worth as a sort of power level so that's neat, tho it doesn't mean much at the moment that this guy's worth 10k when there's nothing else as a point of reference

Witch Watch Ch110

you know fran only got introduced semi recently but her chaps are some of the most fun ones, tho this one felt like it repeated the same joke a bit too much for me

Cipher Academy Ch25

nice chap finishing setting up the next arc which will be 1v1 tournament style battles between the different classes, tho we'll most likely only see the class A ones for obvious reasons. I also liked to see iroha using others' mannerisms like they talk about here and later in the chap too, it's cute and it also reminds me of medaka

Blue Box Ch102

good chap, especially that big scenery shot very pretty. the ending is very exciting too the confession may be happening sooner than expected

Spy x Family Ch81

very weird to have a whole chapter with not yor or anya and with no jokes either, tho it's a good change of pace I think

Tenmaku Cinema Ch7

nice chap, like I said last time it's good that's already doing filming and not wasting much time

Undead Unluck Ch160

phil's arc is over, it wasn't as good as the other ones of fuuko putting back the team together but I liked that for once fuuko's plans didn't go like expected from her previous knowledge

Mashle Ch157

cool chap, it was nice seeing the baddies mash has beaten helping out. also not related to the chap but me and mega were talking about it yesterday and we're p sure mashle won't end while the anime is airing which would explain all the stalling not that long ago

The Elusive Samurai Ch111

weird to see a chapter without the main cast, but not a bad chap, just setting up the current situation of the country and the various faction after tokiyuki's failed war, just some more chaps and we'll go back to them. tho I'm curious to see if matsui is gonna follow historical fact or do something original when that happens, but I'm leaning more towards the latter

Sakamoto Days Ch120

extremely good chapter to end the flashback sequence, more than half the chap had no text boxes and was all great action. just makes me hope and pray even harder than when it does get an anime adaptation it gets the treatment it deserves unlike what mashle has been getting

Akane-banashi Ch63

nice chap, I knew the salesman wouldn't lose to this guy that didn't get any screentime before this competition, tho I didn't expect to see his backstory, hopefully it'll only be a bit of next chapter instead of dragging on for too long

Ayakashi Triangle Ch131

suzu............. not much to say tho, it was mostly set up for this next lil arc tho that ending was p funny. yabuki reading doujins for these ideas

#silver talks animanga

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gavinastrawolf · 10 months

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My Quick Thoughts on Kamen Riders (the ones I've watched so far.)

Gaim: A really neat coming of age story with a bunch of punks that fight with dancing and then later POKEMON. I remember it dragging a bit but its been forever since I've watched it. I hate there's just a point that all of the villains use the same weapon and that was boring as fuck. Outside of that I just remember enjoying it. I need to rewatch it.

Ghost: I do like the idea of this one but man Takeru coming back to life once (not including when he gets turned into a ghost in episode 1) is impactful but every time afterwards feels like an ass pull. This one felt like there was form bloat imo. I get it but it feels like they introduce a few forms that are only used once. I get it when rider does this but it felt too often and fillery to me. Outside of that the plot is a bit messy but enjoyably. I like the main character and the cast is pretty neat. I love the fun facts about the historical figures that are in the eyecons. Its very ok. The third rider in that is cool though. I love it when villains turn into good guys ok.

Zero-One: I HATED this concept as soon as I watched it. It feels like Kamen Rider Detroit: Become Human. There are some moments that made me laugh in this that weren't intentionally funny. I feel like the themes in this feel really fucking jarring with them being like "Robots are people too!" ESPECIALLY nowadays with AI causing more problems. I dropped this one cause I couldn't get new episodes and I'm glad I did. I think the more it went on the more I would of hated it. I do love that one of the villains has his company's trademark in his transformation jingle though.

Build: Easily has to have some of the best cliffhangers in any Rider I've watched. Every episode felt REALLY important and it always felt like it was moving the plot forward no matter what. A lot of riders start out with some monster of the day format to give you an idea of the characters but they don't really move the plot forward, Build is not like that at all. Every episode of Build just BUILDS of each other in a really fun way. I loved the main 2 riders and the later 2 are also good. I love there's a lot of foreshadowing in this that's played off as a joke and later OH WAIT IT WASN'T A JOKE. The forms are good, the fight scenes are good, I loved the plot a lot too. The only thing I think I hate is there's a few moments when Build could of finished off the big bad but doesn't for no reason. Unless I missed something it feels like he could of ended him early and focused on how to get the world back to normal. I also did not care for the Grey Bottle arc. I feel like they really wanted to make something that wasn't important now important. Plus that's when I think the show really slows down plot wise too. Outside of that it's still my 2nd favorite in the whole series and I really love it a lot.

Geats: Easily my favorite Rider ever that I've watched so far. Form the concept that this is fucking a Rider based on fucking FORTNITE made me really excited cause I felt like Rider would work REALLY well with this idea. Not only did it work well but I think it was way better than I expected it to be. The main 4 riders are amazing and I love every single one of them. I think these are the most fleshed out characters in any Rider I've seen so far. The story is really fun to watch, the power-ups are cool and GOD Geats has the BEST fight scenes in any Rider imo. They feel really fun to watch and the cinematography is just amazing. The CGs also don't feel that distracting in this too. I can't stress this enough, Geats has got to be one of the best Kamen Riders I've ever watched. I know some people are not a fan of how these latest episodes have been treating a certain character but I don't think its bad. Easily my favorite Rider.

Faiz/555: I swear to god if people talked to each other half of the conflict on this show would not exist, but that is the point. Faiz having its main themes about communication is neat. While frustrating to watch at times, I really love the dynamic the main cast has with each other. I love that there is 2 different groups of the main cast too. It creates this neat contrast on what group vs the other. There's a few plot lines I think should of been resolved sooner but there's a lot of neat moments of character misunderstanding another's motives cause they don't have the context. Faiz is really amazing EXPECT for the last 10 episodes. That is the most rushed arc in any Rider and the ending feels anti-climatic. Episode 50 has a really good fight scene but that's not the final fight. So the real final fight that they were hyping up for MOST of the show is just like 1 short scene and its over. It feels like nothing was resolved in a meaningful way. Don't get me started with that kid plot line that goes nowhere and is just there to be there. Faiz could of been a classic but then they just forced it to end at episode 50. It needed at least 10 more episodes and it could of been great. I still recommend it but man that ending is fucking rough.

Revice: I think its mid as fuck. I am about 15 episodes and I think its just OK. The main character bores me, the rest of the cast is very passable. I think the only interesting one is Daiji Igarashi and even then I'm so conflicted on him. On one hand cool that we get to explore this conflicts through his demon, on the other hand it feels like they wanted to go through it too fast. I do like that he gets over his demon in a cool way and he's himself forever... UNLESS HE'S KNOCKED OUT OOPS NOW HES HIS EVIL DEMON SELF AGAIN. I fucking hated that in one of the fights. It comes out of nowhere and it feels like it ruins his arc of over coming his own personal demons. The fact that they can swap who takes over the body could of been neat but they make it clear that Daji "defeated" Kagero and reclaimed his body. So the swap feels so jarring and out of nowhere. I hate it so much and it bugs me even more that he is still evil. The more I think about this plot point the more it bugs me. Outside of that I think the music is nice. George and Vice make the show for me and that's really about it. I think the pacing is REALLY bad in Revice. The pacing gets better as it goes on but those first 7 episodes have some real bad pacing. It feels like they wanna rush to the fight scenes which I know you gotta do one in every episode (at least it feels like it) in Rider but man can you set them up instead of rushing to them. The first episode feels like a whiplash with how quickly they want to get to the transformation. The fight scenes are a mixed bag here too. I know Rider has a lot of CG in their fight scenes but Revice relies on it TOO much. In episode 4 there's a fight scene that's a chase and that's cool on paper, but then you see it and it looks like a really bad PS2 game. Most of the Buddy forms are like this too and it looks so bad. I love the idea of the Buddy system though but man they do it so badly. I'll give Revice this, it has A TON of cool ideas but it never really feels like it capitalizes on them vs a lot of other riders. Its too overambitious for its own good which I can appreciate but man it makes the quality of the show pretty bad at times.

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gaycey-sketchit · 2 years

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(Gary anon) I continue to dread the day Goh encounters Mew again; would not be shocked if him capturing [with help again], it actually drowns out *Ash's results of the PWC. (*Assuming Ash wins or ties, we know the storm that will happen if we don't get either situation. At least Goh won't be lonely in the stands; if Chloe shows, it'll probably be the finals. Not sure why they're trying so hard to keep her from watching Ash battle.) Speaking of the Regis episode, some

(Part 2) leaks possibly spilled out, same source: Gary may have another new capture, not referring to the Regis, is one that's finally not from Kanto, Johto, or Sinnoh; but this capture probably means any Bede appearance or importance is dead. So, full Gary team confirmed? (Paul apparently got something new too; had a feeling it wasn't going to anything post-Gen 4. Garchomp still not confirmed) The best outcome is a tie, but with the writers of Ash becoming more

(Part 3) unbeatable, let him be the wall this time. (I will accept that if the ball halves actually get it brought up again outside of flashbacks. Or even better, the two connects them together again before going separate ways again. Or travels together, I'd take either) If any rival should serve as the final cap off, it should be him. No matter what future rival did what better, Gary's influence and guidance transcends series, even when he's not physically there.

(Part 4) Again, I'll hold off until we get more towards the end. But, the pattern IS there. Don't break it, Anipoke. (I know a duo song with the VAs is out of the question since we typically don't get that for this dub. But something that feels more like a "finale" would've been more thematically fitting. Or even another remix of "The Journey Starts Today". Oh well)

Yeah, hopefully that goes okay but the fandom... there will be Discourse no matter what happens.

Yeah. I really feel like all this is leading up to Ash defeating Leon. Yeah, it's nice that Goh will have some company in the stands!

How Chloe's been handled throughout Journeys is... a little frustrating. It feels like she and Ash really haven't gotten that close, and that she tends to not show for his battles and he didn't show for her first contest is... unfortunately indicative of that.

But I digress. Oh, I heard about Gary's (possible, if the leaks are legit) new team member! It's sure an interesting choice, not a Pokemon I think most expected for him, but I don't dislike it. RIP Bede's chances at plot significance though.

I don't think I heard about Paul's though! That's interesting too.

I guess we'll see if the alleged leaks are true soon!

Yeah, that's fair. Ash not entirely losing but still facing an obstacle to learn from before the biggest tournament he's faced would be good.

Oh, yes! Would love a moment like that.

For sure! Gary was the anime's OG rival, the blueprint, and he motivated and inspired Ash like nobody else. What they have is special and it'd be such a good way to cap off Journeys. (Also hopefully having Ash reunite with his first traveling companion at some point too, really come full circle.)

Here's hoping!

Yeah. Alas. But I'll admit it's starting to grow on me.

#Andrew answers #Gary anon

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bi-bard · 3 years

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Picture Perfect - Winchester Brothers Imagine (Supernatural)

Title: Picture Perfect

Pairing: Winchester Brothers X Child!Reader

Requested: by @isatkj

Word Count: 1,356 words

Warning(s): mentions of death, potential violence.

Summary: (Around Season 8 or 9-ish) The perfect town... that wasn't supposed to exist. Now, Sam and Dean have to figure out what caused this city to suddenly pop up on the map.

Author's Note: I took so much inspiration from season 14, episode 15 because of the general vibe of the whole episode.

Hey! I did a rewrite of the ending of Supernatural. It took a really long time to complete, so it would mean a lot to me if you check it out. Here’s a link! (it’s on my personal account)

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--Third P.O.V--

Dean pulled the impala up to an open gas pump. While his brother got the gas, Sam opened the passenger door so he could go over the facts.

"So, there have been strange occurrences around a small town about three hours outside of Seattle, Washington," Sam relayed. "Insiders rarely come out and the outsiders that go in don't usually get back out."

"No one's making a huge deal about this," Dean asked.

"Well, it's supposed to be an old ghost town," Sam explained. "But it's not. Functioning stores and living families."

"So, something has got this town up and running but the people in it are... what performing sacrifices," Dean asked.

"I don't know," Sam shrugged.

"How far out are we," Dean asked.

"A few more hours," Sam replied.

"Hold on boys," the brothers looked over to see Death standing in front of the car. "I have some information you need about this little town."

"And that is...," Sam asked after Death had trailed off.

"You shouldn't go in," the being replied. "The person running that town is incredibly dangerous. You'll be dead in moments. The residents won't let you get close enough to harm the child."

"The child," Dean noted.

"The child is raising the dead," Death continued. "This upsets the natural balance of things. The source must be removed."

"'The source' is a child," Sam argued. "You can't just kill a child."

"I can, and I will," Death just seemed to shrug.

"Do you know why this kid wants to bring people back," Dean asked. "Before you become an asshole and murder someone who hasn't even gotten to middle school?"

"Almost a year ago, the child lost both of their parents," Death explained. "That's when their powers first spiraled. It started with only their parents. It then spread, like a virus. Soon, a whole town was standing in a spot where there should be rubble."

"You're going to kill a kid that lost their family," Sam asked.

The brothers stared at Death in shock. Death seemed annoyingly unaffected. To him, this was the only way to put things back in order. To the boys, this was a clearly scared kid that went through the same pain that they did.

"You can't do this," Dean shook his head. "We won't let you."

"You don't have a choice-"

"Give us a chance," Sam snapped. "It's a kid. A scared kid. Give us a chance to talk to them. Just a chance."

"No."

"Come on!"

"I'll give you one chance," Death replied. "If you fail, I will finish the job."

As the word "job" was spoken, Death vanished from the boys' sight.

Sam and Dean jumped back into the impala and took off. What was supposed to be another three-hour drive was done in a little over two. Neither brother knew how they didn't get pulled over but they didn't care.

Dean pulled the car over to the curb.

"Woah," Dean mumbled as they got out.

It was the picture-perfect town. There was a small dinner, a library that was actually being used, cookie-cutter houses. Sam and Dean looked at each other.

Locals were looking at them as the brothers walked by.

"So, where do we find this kid," Dean asked.

"Well, look at the signs," Sam pointed at the businesses. Most of them had (Y/l/n) on their signs. "It's the most common name. If we can find that house, we can find the kid."

Everyone's house had little signs. It was very clear this town was designed by a child.

"Well, hello," a man walked up to the brothers.

"Hi," Dean said awkwardly.

"Can I ask why you boys have decided to visit our little town," the man asked.

The boys looked at each other for a moment.

"We were admiring the lovely houses," Sam lied. "We have been considering moving for a while and this town seems lovely."

"Well, there aren't any vacancies," the man replied.

"Oh, that's a shame," Sam shrugged. "Is there someone else we can talk to? A mayor or something? I don't want to insult you but maybe you missed something."

The man's smile dropped, "You can't go near them."

"Why," Dean asked.

"You'll hurt them," the man glared.

It was like that was a signal. All of the people on the street stopped, turning to stare at the brothers. The brothers looked all around them.

"We're not going to hurt them," Sam tried to explain. "We're trying to help."

"No," the man snapped. "You're trying to take us away."

When the man stepped forward, the brothers knew it was time to run. They sprinted down the street as almost a whole town chased them.

"Sam," Dean yelled, pointing at a house. "There, look at the sign!"

"(Y/l/n)'s house!" was written on the sign.

The brothers ran through the front door, locking it. No one banged on the door.

"They don't want to hurt (Y/n)," Sam said. "We should be safe here."

"Hello there," a man and woman walked out to see the brothers.

"The parents," Sam mumbled.

They looked up to the stairs when the floor creaked. There was a young kid standing up there.

"Hi, (Y/n)," Sam said softly, trying to keep from scaring the kid. "I'm Sam, this is my brother, Dean. We're here to help."

"Why," the kid asked. "I'm happy here. Everything was fixed."

"Do you know why," Sam asked. The child seemed confused at the idea that something caused this. "You brought them back, remember?"

"Don't," the dad said in anger. "You don't get to hurt (Y/n)."

"Sam," Dean mumbled.

One more shared look and the two took off. They ran up the stairs, the undead parents on their tails.

"I'm sorry," Sam mumbled, leading (Y/n) back into their room. Dean slammed the door, locking it and being ready to hold it shut.

"What are you doing," (Y/n) went to fight Sam, but obviously didn't get far.

"(Y/n)," Sam knelt down and grabbed (Y/n)'s shoulders. "You created this town. Your parents died and your powers went out of control. No one here is supposed to be alive."

"You're... You're lying," the child yelled, shaking her head. Dean leaned into the door when (Y/n)'s parents started banging on it.

"I know it's hard," Sam continued. "It's terrifying but you aren't going to be completely alone. Right now, you're putting yourself in danger. That's not good, is it?"

(Y/n) shook their head.

"I lost both my parents too," Sam said. "It's scary but you have to let these people go. They have to move on. I promise, they'll be much happier."

"I don't wanna be alone," the kid mumbled, tears falling down their face.

"You won't be," Sam promised. "Dean and I will make sure of that."

The banging stopped. Dean stood up straight again.

The cookie-cutter house faded. Instead of falling from the second floor like they should have, they were just on the ground by an old building, already crumbled and destroyed.

Sam pulled (Y/n) into a tight hug as the kid sobbed. Dean walked over to them. He and Sam shared a sad look. Sam slowly stood up, letting the kid hold his hand as they walked to the impala.

Death was waiting for them.

The brothers froze, Sam pushing (Y/n) behind him.

"Good job boys," Death complimented. "However, there's still a problem. The child doesn't have control over their powers."

"We can teach them," Dean argued. "We have enough experience with powers that we can help."

Death took a step forward.

Both the boys moved to be more in his way.

"Fine," Death stared at (Y/n), who was still hiding behind Sam. "I'll have my eye on you."

With that, Death disappeared again. (Y/n) stepped out from behind Sam.

"He's not very nice," the kid mumbled. The brothers couldn't help but chuckle. Understatement of the century.

"Come on, kid," Dean nodded toward the car. "Let's make sure we have a comfortable place for you to sleep for the night."

The boys didn't expect to leave the town with a kid but it definitely wasn't the weirdest hunt they had been on.

-----------------------------------

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#winchester brothers imagine #winchester brothers fanfiction #winchester brothers x reader #sam winchester imagine #sam winchester fanfiction #sam winchester x reader #dean winchester imagine #dean winchester fanfiction #dean winchester x reader #imagine #fanfiction #x reader #supernatural imagine #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural x reader

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cat-scarr · 3 years

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A Deconstruction of The Flame Keeper’s Circle & The Audience’s Common Complaints | Catgirl

As the title states, I’ve been reminded of a couple complaints made about this episode that stem from a large portion of the audience’s general disliking of the way both Ben and Julie were handled during the run of Ultimate Alien. In fact, I recently read a "review" of “The Flame Keeper's Circle,” or, more of a parody, actually, since a review would actually have some kind of substance to it and not just...a slew of insults thrown at a show you claim to like. It's almost like you're looking for something to be mad at, but anyway.

One of those was the OP actually asking someone to (probably joking, but anyway) explain "how Ben's mind works" to them.

And I was like, gladly!

According to the comments under the review, it seems like the general audience didn't really like this episode all that much when it first aired. Which, I bring up because, I on the other hand, actually did. And for a reason: because it proves my previous defence points right.

There's a lot of talk about Ben coming off as a “jerk” or a “douchebag”...but, in a situation such as the one presented within “The Flame Keeper’s Circle,” I would argue he did exactly what he should have done. So that's where I beg to differ.

This episode puts Ben in a position where he, once again, needs to deal with the overlap of a romantic relationship and his priorities as a superhero. The only reason there is conflict here is because they are both important to him.

A bad boyfriend would only care about himself, but Ben clearly cares about not only the safety of his (clearly, quite naive) girlfriend, but also the safety of the rest of the earth. Which, as I’m going to be stating several times, should be something expected of him considering everything else within the series that establishes who he is as a character.

So, on the topic of things that are important, ask yourselves, why would Ben prioritize going along with Julie's idea of joining a cult more than keeping her, and the rest of the world, safe when he realizes the trouble she could potentially be getting herself into?

Throughout the episode, and the fandom’s discussions from what I’ve seen, there is so much focus on "oh, he laughed at her idea so he's a douchebag and therefore a bad boyfriend" and not enough focus on the fact that he's not blindly following an alleged “good cause” because he isn't naive and that's in character based on everything we know about him as a character.

Context matters. And this kind of thing only further makes me question the people who want to cry "inconsistent" writing or characterization because he's acting the way he's been conditioned to.

Arguably from the age of ten, Ben's been dealing with situations where he needed to fight to survive and decide who to trust. Sometimes he trusted the wrong person, which wasn't done out of any other reason besides wanting to help and do the "right thing."

For example, Michael Morningstar in the episode “All That Glitters,” who fooled Ben and his team into thinking he was innocent all while abusing school girls for their life energy and almost killing Ben's cousin.

Or, Simian in “Birds of a Feather," who fooled Ben into thinking he was royalty and into helping him steal something that would aid the Highbreed in their mass murder plot.

In that way, Ben and Julie could have related in this situation because they were both trusting people in the interest of doing something “good.” Both Michael and Simian made Ben believe that they had something in common, or a common goal they could work together to reach. But, he trusted them blinded by his ambition and drive to save the world. Much like Julie is blinded by the promise of being a part of a group trying to make the world a better place.

As such, Ben has made the mistake before, so he's extra weary of how things could go very wrong. He's not against his girlfriend just to be a “jerk” - he's been through things like this before, and we’ve seen him go through those things.

Furthermore, the situation in which Julie is trusting The Flame Keeper’s Circle involves her indirectly agreeing to work with Vilgax. Who, as anyone familiar with Ben should know, is one of if not Ben’s biggest, and more importantly, most dangerous enemy.

Again, she, at the beginning didn’t know that he was involved, or what Ben had gone through already to make him act the way he does in this situation, but she does know what his job entails at this point in the series. She should probably infer that he’s suspicious for a good reason, as should the audience.

Not trusting people blindly is something he learned from being the leader of his team, while trying to protect the earth, namely from the Highbreed invasion back in Alien Force when he was putting together a stronger team. It would only make sense for him to then apply that to a situation in which his significant other gets roped into that which he fights against.

Speaking of fighting against, that brings me to another odd criticism of the writing of this episode. It’s no surprise that the flawed belief of Ben coming off as an alleged “sociopath” is brought up again, considering this episode takes place after The Ultimate Kevin arc. And yes, I realize the problematic connotations of using that term as a borderline insult as part of the issue here. But that aside, in this episode, the fact that he begins to fight Vilgax in his apparent “weakened” state is what is being attributed to that description.

Besides the fact that defending Vilgax is questionable in itself, he’s never needed water to survive for the many times he actually tried to kill Ben. I can’t find a solid answer from a writer that knows for certain if his need for water is genuine except for one who is only assuming that is the case when he’s in this state.

But regardless, (since he clearly survived long enough to morph with Dagon and become a bigger threat to the earth later on) we are still defending Vilgax the LITERAL INTERGALACTIC WARLORD.

Y’know, the guy who’s only in this position because of his own immoral actions? Who absolutely would not hesitate to take advantage of his opponent's weakened state in order to further get away with his immoral actions? Such as he is in this very episode, taking advantage of the people wrongfully worshiping him?

If we are trying to imply that Ben is “just as bad as Vilgax,” then I would assume you’d easily find the flaw in that being Ben’s motivation for incapacitating a dangerous offender who is, at the moment, manipulating naive humans to work for him and help him continue get away with his immoral actions. Which is, needless to say, not the same as Vilgax, at all.

Again, you’d think that’d be obvious.

The Flame Keeper’s Circle’s mission is to end human suffering and find a solution to certain issues happening across the globe with the help of alien technology that is much more advanced than what everyday people are used to. And, while the end goal seems like a good cause, even something Ben as a superhero would be all for, the means through which they attempt to get there aren’t a good idea, at all.

A lot of people find it hard to navigate the use of technology considered advanced by human standards in the real world, so you can only imagine the various things that could go wrong if those kinds of people were suddenly exposed to something much more powerful. In short, a lot could go wrong.

Again, Ben has been in that exact position as soon as he was armed with the Omnitrix. Which is exactly why he’d see the flaw in what these people are trying to do, and therefore not be convinced that it’s such a good idea to allow them to continue, much less endorse it.

This is why I love when the writers actually allow Ben to speak for himself instead of cutting him off for drama or plot. Once he actually gets a word in, or more accurately, has his moment of heroic monologue, he makes himself very clear and, I think, only further proves what I’m trying to say about him.

Here he is, explaining exactly what I’ve been trying to highlight throughout this body of work:

Ben: “Even if Dagon was real, using alien technology to accelerate a planet’s natural development won’t bring utopia, it’ll bring disaster. It’s happened before. Why do you think the Plumbers have those laws? But even that’s not the point, because that isn’t Dagon! His name is Vilgax. He’s not a hero, he’s a selfish, evil warlord who’s using you. And if you let him get in his ship, he’s going to fly off and start an interstellar civil war.”

It’s not that only he can use alien technology to save the world, it’s that his status as a hero proves that he knows what he’s doing, unlike these businessmen in fancy robes leading a cult for profit.

That is not what I would have assumed reasonable people would consider “douchebag behaviour.” That’s actually smart, and going back to my first point, exactly what he should be doing in a situation like this.

The actual episode does end off on a positive note for both Ben and Julie, which is omitted from the review and most of the comments I have read from others on the topic. And, I bring it up because it’s actually vital to wrap up everything brought up within this episode that I have just expanded on. Not only because they make up and seem to understand each other’s perspective after all is said and done, but because they both agree to be open to further discussion on the topic, as Ben offers to go out for dinner.

Which, needless to point out I hope, but once again, is not “douchebag behaviour.”

#new essay to make up for all the drama lately #enjoy ben 10 protection squad <3 #ben 10 #ben tennyson #ben 10 ultimate alien #the flame keeper's circle #benlie #julie yamamoto #ben 10 uaf #essay files #and yes new essay title format cuz reasons :P

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k-s-morgan · 3 years

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Hi! This isn’t an ask, but more of a rambling that I deemed too long for the comments, that stems from your post claiming Book of Circus as your favourite Black Butler episodes. and to that I say - YES. Book of Murder is a masterpiece. It houses one of my favourite scenes - the one where Sebastian says: "This wasn't a scenario decided by God or fate, but one decided on by my master, with timing decided by my master. I was killed by the criminal expected by my master, by the Hione who came to torment my master", which really captures the essence of whole 'Ciel vs God' dynamic that's woven into the duration of the show.

Throughout the plot, there are three major instances in which an offering is made to Ciel - offerings of redemption. The first is from Angela - a chance to purify himself and have an afterlife - which he so vehemently rejects in the knowledge that he quite literally *is* his darkness, and therefore refuses to rid himself of it.

The second is comes from Abberline in his death, where in his final words he tells Ciel he has a chance to take back his future. And Ciel has to watch him die with the knowledge that he has already made up his mind about his fate. I don't think he's so affected because he regrets selling his soul. I don't think he suddenly wants to live, or no longer wishes for revenge. But I believe the reason he is so affected by Abberline's death is because he holds a sentimentality for him that is not dissimilar to the one he feels for Elizabeth. Ciel is cruel, I don't think he regrets the steps he has taken to get to this point, nor the ones he knows he must take in the future. But though he is cruel, I believe he has a sort of fond curiosity for the untainted goodness that characterises those like Abberline and Elizabeth. Like you said before, he feels condescension towards the man perhaps due to the naivety his blind heroism implies, but I think his attachments to him come from an underlying curiosity to see if such goodness can exist in such a corrupted world - a silent hope to be proven wrong in his cynicism. When Abberline dies, that very hope he didn't even know he had gets shattered. It brings about a sort of forced perspective that makes Ciel question himself in ways we haven't seen before.

Abberline's death had been avoidable and it was certainly in vain. Abberline had died for someone who had already made up his mind - someone who had rejected God once before and would do it time and time again as proven in the anime. Ciel is such an interesting character because, although he is dark, he still values the light and makes some sort of effort to preserve it in spite of the contempt he feels for them. It is the thought of dying in vain that seems to bother him so greatly, not death itself. No, Abberline dying isn't enough for him to want to live again, or to even think about throwing away his revenge - that was never in question. But it is enough to extinguish the lingering flicker of hope he had for humanity (despite being so distanced from term himself).

This, combined with the disappointment he feels at Sebastian's actions, causes the existential haze of uncertainty that leads to the third and final offering. And the most surprising thing is that this offering comes from Sebastian himself. He senses the doubt in Ciel and, like every thought the boy experiences, fails to understand it. He mistakes it for him second-guessing his revenge and decides to discontinue their contract. But he isn't angry - that much is clear. Instead, he wishes him to "forget everything and have pleasant dreams", with a rather wistful expression on his face. What this line ends up reading as is a bittersweet goodbye from the demon - an offering for Ciel to let go of his revenge and find happiness in the afterlife with his now soon approaching death. There is almost a strong disappointment in him, but is not resentful of it - Ciel is human and he can't keep expecting him not to be. His offering almost acts as a thank you for the moments of excitement their contract had given his monotone life and I believe that is why he makes it.

He sticks around to see if Ciel accepts his offer, though already expecting him to, and is there to witness the very moment the boy rejects it. Gone is the uncertainty of Abberline's death and the Paris crisis, and Ciel, the Earl of Phantomhive, returns to him - sharper, colder, more ruthless than ever. Sebastian realises his misjudgement and returns to his side, ready for the final battle. Killing an angel. It's laughably symbolic.

The rejections of God, the evasion of the Hope Diamond's curse (where he even wore two rings as if to taunt the fates), the references in Book of Murder - they all depict this metaphorical sort of battle between Ciel and God. And the ending of Kuroshitsuji II is the depicts how he triumphs over fate, claiming his rightful place as an immortalised creature of Hell.

I know I've gone on a bit of a tangent here in your inbox, but that one quote from Book of Murder is so symbolic to me in the way it sets up the comparison between Ciel and God (in which 'God' represents power over fate).

Before I sign off, though, I just want to make light of the existence of the show's final offering, occurring in the last few minutes of the series. This last offering has nothing too do with God, nothing to do with any complex battle between the Phantomhive and fate, but is much simpler than that. In fact, the final offering of the show comes from Ciel, and he gives it to Sebastian - it's almost poetic, is it not?

"Are you sure you don't want to pull it any tighter?"

In this single, unassuming line, Ciel is asking Sebastian if he wants to kill him, and release himself from the eternal contract they've found themselves in. Such a noble and dignified soul as Ciel would always be sure to make through on his word and, despite the loophole that now extends their contract, he would still be willing to let Sebastian kill him should he wish to do so. The man may no longer be able to take his soul, but the boy can still give the order to kill him and free himself. Ciel's respect for Sebastian is complex and contradictory at times, but what never changes is his willingness to die by his hands and see through to his side of the contract.

“Is it over? The one who plunged me into bottomless darkness… I don’t even know why she did it.”

In the episode where Angela is crushed by the Church, Ciel offers his soul to Sebastian. Even when unsatisfied with the result, his unwavering nobility led him to make good on their deal and fulfil his end of the contract. The earl faced the demon, his expression calm, and with a steady voice said “A promise is a promise. Take it.”

This unwavering dignity and nobility he holds in himself I believe is the reason for this offering and Sebastian's turn to reject it is almost a 'love confession' (as you have brought me to see it) in itself.

As a final sort of note - I just wanted to let you know that, since reading your reply to my comment on TGSTLTH (from a while ago), I brought myself to rewatch Kuroshitsuji II with your interpretation in mind and ended up really enjoying it. You've singlehandedly made me do a complete 180 on a season I previously hated - looks like I had just watched it from the wrong perspective. So, for that, I thank you

Hey! Sorry for getting to your ask just now. I absolutely loved it :D And yes, Book of Murder is a masterpiece - I still remember watching it for the first time. It was late at night, I had to go to bed, everyone was sleeping, but I kept watching because stopping just wasn't an option, I had to know what happened next.

Ciel vs God is such an interesting topic. In some ways, Ciel and Sebastian exist in their own universe where there is no place for anyone else. There is a God aka Ciel and a demon aka Sebastian. And they are both allies and adversaries at the same time - they are tormenting each other and uniting to torment others.

I agree absolutely that Ciel holds a fondness for certain people, with Lizzy and Abberline being a good example. He has a degree of contempt and irritation for them, but they do mean something to him. Ciel's curiosity is a big and detached thing, and this places him on Sebastian's level in such an interesting way because sometimes it's almost like Ciel isn't human himself - humanity intrigues him as if he doesn't belong to it. His fascination with the light just underlines his affinity with the darkness.

I have many thoughts about Ciel's behavior during the days following Abberline's death, and you certainly introduced many excellent points! My general opinion on Ciel's motives is... complicated. I agree that he never felt like really giving up his revenge and trying to live a 'happy' life - he knew it's not for him at that stage already. However, I feel like Abberline's parting words affected him a lot, even if briefly. When Abberline tells him that he can start everything from the beginning, Ciel sounds absolutely heartbroken when he confesses, "I don't have a future." The way he acts later, telling Sebastian to stop and not kill the angel, hesitating, reinforces this idea to me. I think you described it best - Ciel is having an existential crisis. It's not like he suddenly regrets his decisions, but he's temporary unanchored and unsure what he wants and what he should do. Having a dream where Abberline urges him to give up his hatred also seems to affect Ciel, but it's so telling that he wakes up and immediately says, "Sebastian." It's a fascinating arc and I can't wait to explore it.

I love your words about three offerings - so true. And I'm so happy you liked S2 when watching it from a new perspective! I used to be so confused as to why people hated it: it's not perfect, but I thought it was amazing in many ways, especially its bittersweet ending.

#black butler #sebaciel #ciel phantomhive #sebastian michaelis #my fics

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organic-guacamole · 3 years

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second chances song (leak) analysis

we already knew the finale was gonna be really sad but this 1 minute long clip really had me bawling ✋

ok let's do this

I see this song as the full circle ending to the core four's storylines. Which is pretty obvious from the clip.

The way it shows where they were at the start of the series to make you realize just how far they've all come from then. We can't really make out much of the lyrics but what we can pull out from it just shows exactly what each character's plot was and maybe still is/will be in (the potential) season 3.

Nini:

"I'm finding who I want to be"

Ever since season 1, Nini's been trying to find her place in the world. Starting with "putting herself out there" after the initial breakup with Ricky, and being inspired to audition for the lead of the musical. She's always wanted to stand out and be someone rather than just someone to someone. After each of her breakups she's eventually gotten stronger in some way, but still she feels lost and sometimes forgotten. Her going to YAC at the beginning of this season and immediately trying to make a name for herself in a place where no one knew her shows us how badly she wants to feel known and loved.

Whatever happens in this episode, whether it be the music producing opportunity from Jamie or not, is giving her a second chance to find herself.

EJ:

"I thought I knew what I wanted"

This one is easy. Since season 1 we saw EJ being extremely sure of himself and confident on his future, everything went his way all the time and he felt he was set for life. Then he learned something, he's not always going to be number 1. Sometimes stepping back and making a re-evaluation of your life and choices is necessary to move forward, he discovers this during the musical, "I'm not the Troy you want" and "Some wonderstudies we are". In season 2 he finally realised that it's ok to not have extreme certainty for his future. For years it's been embedded in his mind that, no matter what, he's going to Duke and he is going to be just as successful as his dad. There was no question about it and he didn't know he could. With some help he found that things can change because people change. Maybe his dad accepted that he's not going to Duke, but is pressuring him to make a new decision immediately.

His second chance could be him finally accepting that it's okay to not know at any given point, and finally break free from his family's expectations and do what he wants to do.

Gina:

"I'm sick of when I'm on the run"

As we know, Gina is accustomed to her mom's job uprooting whatever life they've settled into, to start a new one elsewhere. This line could mean that she's moving again but this time doesn't have a choice to stay. She said at the beginning of the season that her mom is letting her stay with Ashlyn until the end of the semester. I'm not 100% sure how American schools work but I'm pretty sure the semester is ending very soon. East High was the first place Gina was fully accepted. The East High kids saw the best in her, even when she just came in planning on taking over and making her mark before the inevitable move. She's sick of having to move all the time but this one really matters because this is where she's found her home. She doesn't know what's coming in the future but she doubts that she may ever find another place like this.

Her second chance may be deeper than the others, maybe she wishes she had a second chance in another life where her mom doesn't have to move her around. That she can have a new start to her life where she is right now.

Ricky:

I don't think he had any unique lyrics in that clip so I'll just go over what I think the song in general means for him.

We all know that Ricky's been going through a lot. At the start of season 1 he made a big step in auditioning for the musical, except it wasn't for himself, but to show the girl he loved that he's willing to do anything for her. We've consistently seen where Ricky puts others' opinions, feelings, wants and desires ahead of his own because he doesn't think he deserves to to great things on his own. He wants the people around him to be their best, but stay with him. He's always been content to let the people have their thing and just watch from the sidelines. He doesn't see himself worthy of whatever his dreams were, maybe because everytime he's put himself out there, it's backfired on him. He hates change and just when he gets settled into a new rhythm, accepting new people close to him. Someone leaves. When he was finally getting into the musical in season 1, his parents announce their divorce. When he gets into the musical in season 2, he and Nini break up. When he makes a choice to put himself out there, it blows up in his face and pushes him further into himself.

He needs a second chance to get it all right this time. Start over. Learn to understand his self worth but understand that the people he loves can have their own issues, problems and moments that don't concern him. Understand that sometimes, things happen when you aren't expecting it and they may seem bad but at some point, you'll learn from it.

#i might add what the song might mean for the relationships but idk #i literally just got these lyrics that might not even be legit amd rolled with it #watch this entire thing be very off amd i just spent 45 minutes writing this for nothing #i will commit a crime if this doesn't get renewed for season 3 #likely arson #idk haven't decided yet💅🏽#really wish ricky had a line for me to analyse too #they all look so sad in this #its giving me many ideas about what could happen but idkkk #hsmtmts #hsmtmts s2 #hsmtmts season 2 #hsmtmts theory #ej caswell #ricky bowen #gina porter #nini salazar roberts

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wheelofshenanigans · 2 years

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So I watched the first three Wheel of Time episodes the other day! The book series was a favourite of mine when I was a teenager and I've been very excited to see it finally on screen (without constant yells of 'Ilyena!'). I don't usually talk much on this blog but I feel like this is something I want to write about.

Firstly: Changes. They're squeezing 14 books worth of content into 8 planned seasons, it makes sense. Some I'm fine with, some I'm not. I can live with changes as long as they don't go too off the rails (like a certain other series I could name). Not everything works on screen, especially with the sheer volume of background detail put into everything; they've gotta summarise or compromise - show less detail or show different content that results in the right effect. That said, some of that detail is going into little animated origin stories as bonus content, which I think is neat! I enjoy how much extra content they're adding outside the show for those who want to get really into it but don't want to look up potentially spoilery information on wikis. I know I've been that person with other media a lot so it makes me happy they're putting the effort in.

Now, the review! Since I did read the books first (and am currently mid reread) I'm a little biased, but I'll try to put it aside for now.

Episode 1 - Leavetaking

This was a great introduction to the show, marred only by a little jankiness here and there. With the amount of content to get through, I actually didn't really notice any pacing issues which a lot of other reviews seemed to. I think there were some disjointed scenes about mid-episode that may have come across that way, given how they bridge the set-up with its climax, but I don't feel it was too bad. Some great action, the vfx worked for me with trollocs and weaving looking amazing, and they managed a few solid character moments without overwhelming the audience. There's only one major flaw I'm disappointed in and a bit of so-so camerawork/ production imo, so I'm giving it

8.5/10.

The bonus animation for this episode showed a Brown sister teaching novices about the Breaking, going a little into the history of how it happened. I absolutely loved the style, it felt super atmospheric, and I feel it really carried the weight of the topic it covered.

Also, seeing as they're keeping the identity of the Dragon Reborn secret for the first season of the show, I'm trying to figure out which character a given episode seems to be pushing as the main candidate. With the most screentime and character moments, this episode definitely puts Egwene in the spotlight, with the boys staying roughly equal below her.

Longer, spoilered review below:

I'll try not to go too in-depth but I'm going to talk about some of what stood out to me. Firstly, the pan up from Moiraine and Lan watching the man being gentled by Liandrin and the reds to reveal ancient, ruined and overgrown skyscrapers? Plus what looked like a stadium? Hell yes! Absolutely wasn't expecting a nod like that to the Age of Legends being futuristic so soon, let alone such a vision of lost grandeur. Then we get to Egwene's braiding ceremony - it looks like they cut the scene with her in the cave pool from the trailers out, which I would have been interested to see, but given the amount of content they had to get through I understand why. More importantly about this part is that she's tossed into a river, and you can immediately tell they'll use this 'trust the river' metaphor later on when it comes time for her to weave saidar, surrendering to its current. Had a bit of a shock when the lads were talking and Mat said Perrin was married!? Laila is the biggest change that I dislike, and any reader of the books can immediately see exactly where this is going, which I'll talk about further down. The Cauthon family going from horse traders to the town's poorest residents seemed a little odd and definitely left me confused, but in the end I think it gives him a solid starting point as a character. He's been at the bottom his whole life, no one expecting anything good from him, even his own mother believing he'll turn out no good just like his father - yet we can see he has a core of responsibility, and takes care of his sisters. Being at the bottom makes for a big rise. I actually really like this Mat, though whether I'll like him the same as I do the Mat from the books - my favourite character - is yet to be seen. I enjoy the little bit of romance between Rand and Egwene this episode, and it was also nice to see Moiraine and Lan - apparently platonically - sharing a bath. After reading the books, Lan certainly deserves to relax a bit. One thing I noted on a rewatch is that she says here she has a lot to do the next day, but we don't really see her doing much. She talks to Nynaeve, implies she's been asking about town records of births, watches the boys from afar, then makes eye contact with Egwene after watching the Bel Tine lanterns. Meanwhile Lan takes a stroll in the woods to find that the Eyeless have taken up a similar art style to GoT's White Walkers, making shapes out of animal parts on the ground (this masterpiece taking the shape of the dragon's fang). I love Padain Fain in this, and the acting is excellent. A veneer of cheerful friendliness over an oily interior. Can't wait to see more of him later on. We see him briefly at the Bel Tine festivities, watching first the dancing and then briefly the fighting before he slips away, unconcerned. During the battle - or I should say, slaughter, as none of the Emond Fielders or even Moiraine and Lan have taken up the fight yet - we get to see Mat realising his sisters are still out of safety, and he leaves his own refuge to charge back in for them. Again, showing that despite his own and others' opinion of him, he has that inner core of bravery. Moiraine puts in an impressive display of channelling, shredding, burning, electrifying, stoning, and finally crushing the band of trollocs beneath bits of the inn, taking a dagger almost in the heart for her troubles. I think the effects for weaving look great, and I can't wait to see it develop throughout the series. Hopefully as we (/Egwene and Nynaeve) learn more about it, we'll even get to see the separate flows of the five elements, but even as-is I think it's perfectly fine. Perrin and Laila take up an axe and hammer respectively (and probably quite importantly) to defend the people hiding at the forge, and Perrin goes into quite the rage as he kills his trolloc - before swinging out at a glimpse of motion and burying his axe right in his wife. This was what I found most disappointing about the show so far: Laila.

I can see why they might have done this, but to make a whole new character as the wife of one of the main characters just so they can kill her 30 minutes later was just... disappointing, to put it lightly. Worse, she barely even gets a handful of words in for the whole episode. As for the Why; seeing as we won't be getting inner monologues for the show like we do in the books, it's likely they did this so there's an easy way to depict his struggle with the axe vs hammer through the series. Personally I feel like if they'd included Master Luhhan instead, Perrin could have been given just as strong an inner battle and caution of his own strength without fridging the poor woman. Even so, it's going to take quite some work on their part for me to bury the hatchet on this one (sorry).

The ending, with Moiraine suddenly telling the four of Rand, Egwene, Perrin and Mat that it's them the trollocs are after, and they need to leave, was a little jarring. It came unexpectedly, with Moiraine having shown barely any interest in them until now. The only reason they might have believed her is that they're vaguely aware of the Oaths, as is talked about next episode. This felt a little like a weak point in the episode, but it is semi-addressed in the next episode as characters doubt their decision. And that's the end! Moiraine bookends her opening narration with the classic passage of 'The Wheel of Time turns / A wind rose,' which felt good to hear. As I said earlier, it was a strong start to the series, and I really hope it hooks new fans. I feel like a couple of things could have been done better here and there, but honestly I'd much rather focus on either glaring issues, or what I find of particular interest.

Hope you enjoyed the read! (though I'm not sure what portion of my followers are actually all that into this kind of thing from me)

#wheel of time #wot #wot show #wot review #wot spoilers #wot on prime #personal #thunder #long

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crispie-art · 3 years

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Miraculous Ladybug Season 4 Episode 2 "The Luka Episode" - An Analysis of Luka Couffaine

My first impression of Luka was a guy who was about as interesting as sandbag who liked Marinette, interacted with no one else, and the only reason he was liked was because of his e-boy/sensitive/soft-boy appearance. I preferred Kagami way more than him, since it felt like her and Adrien had really good chemistry, and also she had a lot of character development for her episodes. I'm assuming in order to give more depth to Luka, the writers decided that Luka was going to get a few episodes as well, and...I think I'm starting to like him a lot as a character.

One thing that Luka was missing in my opinion was identity. In many episodes it felt like he was just kinda there to fulfil the new Marinette love interest since Adrien got one. All I saw was a guy who was obsessed with music, and that was it. He was more of an archetype than anything to me. Even the episode 'Silencer' didn't do much to convince me that he was interesting because it was just music and Marinette again. He was barely given the time he needed in the season he was introduced, and the few tidbits we see of him gave off a feeling of a chill guy with not much going on in his life.

My criticism of Luka was 100% too harsh, but I will say that he was not given the attention that should have been given to a new character. Take Toph for example, she had a lot of time to assimilate herself with the 'new group of friends' and had a fascinating introduction. They used what was interesting about Toph, her earth-bending skills and the quiet-girl persona that she had in front of her parents, to help us be excited for her character arc.

How I would've structured Luka's introduction is if Marinette saw the first thing that he did was play music in front of a crowd. The passion he showed for music is one of his defining traits. If he were a bit more lazy and too-lax off-stage, and was introduced to Marinette by Juleka, that would create an interesting juxtaposition for his character and make him more likeable. The way I see it is, a character can only become interesting and relatable to the viewer when they show flaws or are in conflict somehow. Miraculous Ladybug rarely uses the first anymore and always uses the latter. Conflict is way easier to deal with than character flaws when every episode needs to have an akuma. Since character flaws need to be resolved and change the character.

Now onto the episode:

One thing I will say about this episode is that Luka has become vulnerable. And I love it. Vulnerability is kinda what we needed from Luka since he always seems like a stable, well put-together kind of guy. If his nonchalance was better-expressed and given more screen-time in earlier episodes, this vulnerability could have had a really, really great effect. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, and I'm not letting the writers get off scot-free for giving us Stormy Weather 2 instead of focusing on the new characters they had.

This episode makes it really easy for you to feel sorry for Luka, since he seems like the type to bear the weight of emotions and hardly express himself to others. He knows for a fact that Marinette is still in love with Adrien despite dating him, since literally everyone in town knows and he still has to pretend as if he doesn't care.

(Side note: I'm really curious on what Adrien would have said Marinette's secret was if Truth asked him.)

She comes late to every date they've had, skipped it, and hardly gives him any time. And finally, when he tries to open up to her in the most authentic way and probably most emotional way, talking about his abandoned father, she is still unable to tell him the truth, whatever it is. I love what they used with the melody under the bridge - it's a smart idea and fits his character really well.

It's really obvious that Luka has a lot of patience with Marinette, and even that is wearing thin. A part of me wanted him to just break up with her already, but then again he's a love-struck 17yr old who loves Marinette, so his simpiness makes sense here. The problem I have with this is that it makes Marinette look like a real jerk, which is not a good look for the show. Breaking-up was probably the right thing to do at the end, but it feels like taking responsibility and leaving her friends behind for her superhero stuff is a problem that Marinette could have had and dealt with in earlier seasons.

This abandoned father plot-line like I mentioned before is really, really out of nowhere, I don't like it. Now, the idea of an unknown father is nothing new, like South Park did it more than two decades ago, but the issue is that it's resolved way too quickly. I literally laughed when Luka's mother straight up said it's Jagged Stone between the five minutes he told Marinette he was searching for his father and his mother telling him as a villain. It honestly felt like parody or an abridged episode.

There's no explanation as to why his mother kept this as a secret from him, and the explanation the Jagged gave was half-assed, and wasn't worth being forgiven for that quickly. I really expected this to be some interesting drawn out Pretty Little Liars type mystery where fan theories would be stewing for a while, but they nipped it in the bud pretty quickly. Which is really, really annoying. Luka hasn't had a motivation like this before, he was a chill side character, but when they finally gave him one, they ripped it away from him in a matter of minutes. And since Marinette is hardly involved with Luka anymore, I'm going to find it difficult to believe that we'll see Luka and Jagged hang out that much anymore. What I'm assuming is going to happen is it's either gonna be Jagged akumatised because of some dumb conflict between their relationship or we'll see bits of their father-son relationship in the background now and then. Also what about Juleka? Is she Jagged's child too or is she Luka's step-sister?

Everything here is resolved way too quickly, to an unreasonable degree, and it follows back to a general problem I've had with the series - the plot is way too dense to allow for an akuma every episode or be this formulaic.

Fighting scenes need to be cut down more, or the akuma should just not be there because if the episode is too formulaic, we don't get the character moments that we needed. This release schedule is also, I can tell, a really big problem for the writers, and would have me ripping my hair out if I was writing this show. Because let's take this Luka thing as an example. If it was intended that Luka have a secret abandoned father that no one knew about and was revealed as being Jagged Stone in later episodes, what if that reveal episode was released before the episode where Luka confides in Marinette that he wants to search for his father?

While I do kinda wish Luka could get more development, I find it hard to believe it will happen unless he becomes Viper again. Same with Kagami. Since the show is entirely centred around Marinette, unless Marinette interacts with side-characters, they won't get development, albeit from some rare scenes. And that's not always such a great idea. Sometimes you need the side-characters to feel alive, to feel like they do what they want as well. We need scenes or even episodes sometimes without Marinette.

It's not always about her, and Marinette needs to learn that as soon as possible, because they kinda butchered her character this episode.

#spoilers #miraculous ladybug #miraculous #ladybug #mlb #ml spoilers #ml s4 #luka #luka couffaine #critique #review

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serenityseventeen · 3 years

Text

Love & Letter: To The Thirteen Boys I've Loved Before

The Thirteenth Letter

----------------

To: Lee Chan

From: Y/N

How are you, Chan?

I feel like I've seen this kind of storyline before. A summer romance that ends with you ghosting me.

I've been looking for work as I've told you before summer ended. I wonder what you are doing now. Now that the summer dance club where we met is closing, I can't see you anymore. You don't answer my calls either which leaves me to assume that you and I weren't dating seriously.

Gosh, I should have seen the red flags when you and I seemed to progress too fast into our relationship; but I just ignored them because you had me flipped out, falling for you head over heels. The way you spoke to me, smiled at me, gazed at me, the way you acted around me, I was convinced that you were just confidently liking me.

To begin this strange love story, should I start from the beginning, Chan?

Well, I graduated from grad school with my degree. I noticed that I was gaining a bit of weight so to try and burn it off, I joined this summer dance club. You were one of the members and immediately, when I spotted you practicing in front of the people, with confidence, your moves swift, I was amazed. I didn't expect that someone like you would fall for me.

Chan, you look like a genuine, passionate dancer. You told me that you've been dancing all your life and from that first impression, I was able to tell that.

When I joined the dancing club, I had not danced in a while. Yet, you taught me with so much care. I didn't ask for your help but you approached me first whenever I was struggling to learn a choreography. You taught me head-on and took the lead.

Your leadership skills are also amazing, Chan.

Before we both knew it, we were learning and practicing for long hours in the summer, sweat trickling down the sides of our heads to the point where our hair was wet. Your hair was wet from sweat a lot of the time but to me, you looked extremely masculine and handsome that way. We practiced so much that it was nighttime by the time both of us decided to call it a day. We were usually the only ones left.

Before we started dating, you would always give me water and wipe my sweat for me. It hadn't even been two weeks of getting to know each other when we had our first kiss in the practice room.

You and I were exhausted and leaning against the wall, sipping water.

“This is fun,” I commented.

I know you probably don't know, but I noticed you staring at my lips. I just didn't want to say it out loud in fear of ruining the nice atmosphere. The air conditioner was blasting cool air and since I was feeling so sticky, I just closed my eyes and let the floating cool air brush over my skin.

I don't know what you were doing but I'll guess that you were staring at my lips; because that's when I felt a pair of soft lips press onto mine. I was flustered at first, having your arm block all my possible exits, leaving me in your enclosed space. Our lips locked for a few seconds before I pulled you in closer, deepening the kiss. I placed my hands on your jaw, caressing you gently as your kisses became more passionate. It just felt like the right thing to do as my heart burned with fluttering butterflies.

Since it was summer, we both had quite a lot of time on our hands, but from time to time, I had to study too. I'm planning to start training in my line of work soon.

Well, we were able to hang out around each other a lot. I, believing you liked me, treated you like my boyfriend. You treated me like your significant other. We were dating. You behaved so sweetly around me, showering me with soft kisses on my cheek, surprise dates. Spending time with you was fun and wild.

When people left the practice room, we would linger with the practice being our excuse, but then I would be sitting down on your thighs, facing you, my arms wrapped around your shoulders and your hands holding my hips. We would be kissing, making out, cuddling.

I enjoyed every second of it. I was falling for you fast, I was falling for you hard.

What about you?

How did you feel about me?

Sometimes, I would find it strange how easily you told me that you liked me, and every time, it sounded genuine. Whenever you're walking me home on a hot summer night, you always tell me that you like or love me before you leave. I would say the same back to you.

I don't think you're a fuckboy or something like that. You seem way too innocent for that. To me, you seemed like a mischievous boy that was also a masculine man.

At the same time though, what we had seemed to be mainly physical.

No, sorry. I shouldn't be thinking of it that way.

You and I spent a lot of time together and with you, I was very happy. I was able to forget about anything hard and just have fun, in the moment, with you. Whether it was me straddling you on the couch, us sleeping together, waking up together, cooking together, I was happy through it all. We had fun and refreshing summer dates at the beach playing in the water, splashing waves at each other before you pull me in and give me a passionate kiss with the golden summer sunset in the back.

But now, I start to realize everything; from the incredibly fast pace of our relationship and the way we found joy in our physical desires. Now, I realize it.

In the end, I barely know who you are, Chan. You never really talked about yourself. You told me a few things, like how you had a younger brother, how you wanted to become an idol, how you dreamed of performing on stage, but during those summer months we spent together and dated, we were still learning about each other. You were learning about me and I was learning about you.

Yet, the way you treated me and made me feel special makes me sure that I do love you. I probably love you more than you love me but, of course, I can never know that.

I can't reach you now and it seems as if your number was fake all along. I don't see you in the places we used to hang out. When I asked the dance club members, it seemed like they knew more than I did about my boyfriend, but every answer was different.

Some told me that you auditioned for a company and got accepted.

Some told me that you were already a trainee.

Some told me that your family was planning to move.

Some told me that you were continuing your life as usual but didn't specify any details.

I don't know what to believe. If you are an idol trainee then, well, good for you. I guess I was just something to fulfill your desires that had been kept inside for a long time. If you got accepted, well, good for you again. I hope you debut since it's always been your dream.

If you're purposely ignoring me, I don't know why you would, but as you can see, I have a few theories. If you didn't love me back, you could have just told me that you wanted a summer fling instead of a summer romance and relationship because then, I would have rejected you firmly.

Were our memories nothing to you?

We never properly broke up either, why is it that you're suddenly ignoring me? Where did you go off to? Are you ghosting me? Why did you suddenly disappear like that? Did you never love me? Was our relationship nothing?

I have so many questions, why won't you answer them?

I'm afraid that the person I loved wasn't the person I loved at all. I hope that you didn't lie to me.

If we ever meet again, what would you say? What would you say to my sincerity? What would you do?

I hope that you can remember these memories just as much as I will. I hate thinking that I was just an escape for you, a goat that you used to fulfill your desires. If you really are who I know, then I won't have any doubts that you would remember everything.

Chan, you seem like a pure guy. You never really lied to me. You would always play around with me, making me feel like a youngster in love. Just looking at your face, I could see the purity and curiosity you have within yourself.

Up until now, I will believe that you gave me all of you. I will continue to believe that you encountered something unfortunate or fortunate and now, we can't meet nor contact each other. I will continue to believe everything positive because I loved you.

I won't wait for you though, Chan.

I remember this one thing you told me, do you remember it too?

Now that I think about it, it seems like you asked that on purpose, perhaps foreshadowing your future disappearance.

We were leaning against a fence, watching the orange and purple ombre sunset and its reflection on the rippling waves of the ocean.

You had your arms warmly wrapped around my waist, your head buried in the crook of my neck, when you asked with a muffled voice, “If you had to wait for someone who was indefinitely coming back, what would you do?”

You kissed my neck softly with your gentle lips, tightening your hands. I felt my heart thump out of my chest.

“Hmm... I don't think I would wait.”

You seemed to be a bit surprised by my answer. I didn't think of this question as anything special then, just pure curiosity.

“Why not?” You asked, planting another kiss on my neck afterward.

“They are leaving and it's indefinite when they would come back. I wouldn't wait for them, when they come back, they just do. I shouldn't worry myself with waiting.”

You nodded gently and then brought your hand to my chin, kissing me again.

I'll do exactly as I said.

I won't wait for you. I loved you and since your comeback is indefinite, I'll also write this. I can't tell you it in person, so I can't get your answer, but I will consider it this way, even if you do appear in my life again.

My last words to you, who I can't reach.

I hope you're doing fine.

I'm breaking up with you.

Yours truly,

Y/N.

-----------------

7/14/21 - 10:19 am

a/n: GoSe today!!! I'm excited, I'll watch the episode when I eat! + I've finished this series, hooray! I'm sure one day, when I'm a better writer, I'll come back and possibly revise this. Thank you to everyone who read this series!

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punkrock-writer · 3 years

Text

Space Cowboy- part 4

Roasting the Shit Out of Toro Because He Deserves It

Pairing- Din Djarin x F!OC

Warnings- Mentions blood, fighting, swearing, Canon Typical Violence. Spoilers for The Mandalorian

A/N- WOAH It is here. 5.3k words. The longest chapter so far. Let me know what you guys think, is it still too short or too long, lemme know. And yeah, the end IS cheesy. I am the Mayor of Cheeseville it should be expected.

And a reminder Din is de-aged a bit, he's around mid to late 20′s here, just for a little more ~spice~

Let me know what you think! I love hearing from ya’ll it helps me a lot :D

Masterlist AO3

She honestly didn't know how he was so quiet. That collection of Ironman armor should make much more noise than it does. Or he could have at least woken her up before screaming.

"HEY" Sedona jumped violently. Her eyes springing open in panic, he wasn't in the ship, but his voice echoed throughout it. She heard the panicked voice of Peli yelling outside. She scooted further into the middle of the hull to peer out of the open door. Din looked as intimidating as he could, shoulders raised and feet wide. Peli marched from her office up to him, cradling a wailing Grogu.

"Give him to me" she wanted to laugh. The paternal instincts kicked in so fast, albeit a bit misplaced and underdeveloped. But he tried his best.

"Not so fast! You can't just leave a child all alone like that." Peli cried out, though not entirely alone, she was right. "You know, you have an awful lot to learn about raisin' a young one."

And then much to Sedona's discomfort, Peli's eyes met hers.

"AND leaving an injured lady! No water or bandages, that isn't very kind. Prisoner or not." She scowled up at the towering Mandalorian, whose head slowly turned to meet hers. She quickly scooted herself back against the crate. She wasn't ready for that kind of attention, she needed to get her thoughts in order.

"Anyway-" she racked her brain as she heard Peli continue to talk about the ship. She had gotten this far in the episode, and Din had obviously made the deal with... that motherfucker whom she cannot remember the name of. She was so focused on trying to remember she didn't even notice Din had walked back onto the ship.

"I thought I told you not to talk to anyone." His voice made her jump once again, it was rough, a warning. Her wide eyes met his visor, and suddenly the right words met her tongue.

"Don't leave him alone with the bounty" they were rushed, she probably looked crazier than Peli's wild curls. "Y-you can't trust him, something bad is going to happen."

She watched as he turned with a bag in his hand. He looked like he was going to speak, or step closer to her, his body seizing up. Instead, his gloved hand curled into a fist at his side, and he spun quickly on his heel and exited her line of sight. She heard the pair talk a bit more, mostly Peli talking at Din's retreating back. Then she was alone again. And her ass hurts.

Standing up was much easier now that the magic space goo had somehow healed her knees. Though she had extreme doubts, she sincerely hoped Din might heed her warning. She really did not wan't to be caught in the crossfire of their shoot out that was soon to come. Maybe that was the worst part about being plunked into this universe. The constant dread of knowing what's going to happen, and having no power to change it, was going to destroy her. She could already feel the way her body sagged with exhaustion. The ever-present headache was taking a toll on her mind, and her fight or flight response was kicked into high gear. She hadn't felt like this in years.

Trying to keep her mind from straying too far into the darkness. She decided to do some light exploration of the Razor Crest. She wouldn't touch anything, as Din so kindly instructed. But she was definitely going to touch all over with her eyes. First, she was going to figure out if that man had a shower. She turned opposite the open door and headed in the direction of what looked like an airplane toilet. She was pleased to find a small door stationed adjacent to the weird space toilet. Obviously hidden from view on the show, it was a rickety metal sheet. Actually, everything on the ship was a metal sheet, but she wasn't going to roast it too harshly. Opening it, the oval-shaped door created an edge that she had to step over to enter the small room. The floor and walls were tiled, and there was a small drain in the middle. A large ledge jutted out from the wall at about knee height, above it was what looked like a sink, and a small foggy mirror. Avoiding its reflection, she ventured back further. There was a curtain, pulling it back revealed a showerhead and a series of ledges cut into the wall. She tried to keep her heart from fluttering at the sight of soap bars, and a razor. Then heat began to creep up her spine, embarrassment making its way to her cheeks.

How fucking old are you 13? Get a hold of yourself.

She spun quickly not wanting to be caught snooping. She felt like a high school girl who had just seen her crush's room for the first time. She was 26 for fucks sake, and it was a bathroom.

On a space ship.

On an unknown planet.

In a universe that had once only existed in media form.

She wasn't able to wallow in her embarrassment much longer, through the open door she saw Peli return from wherever she had followed Din. She walked with determination, coming up to some kind of machine that was attached to the ship. Sedona didn't really know what to do, she stood awkwardly in the hull of the ship. Listening to Peli mutter to herself, she hated feeling like this. She liked to be moving or at least distracting her brain in some way. Now there was only the unfamiliar ship, her bags were already organized neatly- and then it hit her.

She still had her phone in her purse.

Springing into action she darted for her bag, rummaging through it until she finally found it. It was an iPhone and she still had her headphones attached to it. Her heart soared in her body, unable to contain her smile at the sight, relieved to find at least this thing hadn't magically transformed into a space object. But clicking it on she was met with slight disappointment. Only 32% charged, and the fact that her phone was wicked old and functioned at about 60% of its normal battery life, it would be dying soon. There are no outlets in space. She thought angrily. So she sighed and set it back into her purse, deciding to save it for when she truly needed a mental escape. For now, she could maybe go and see what Peli was up to.

And that's how she spent her first evening in space. She sat at the table, watching Peli fix the Crest. Or making sure the child didn't eat sand or some shit. Peli didn't talk much while she worked, which she was secretly grateful for. Only asking occasional questions, or pausing to complain about the old ship. Sedona didn't offer much, vague answers, allowing the older woman to speak more than herself. She really didn't feel like having to convince someone else she's from an alternate universe. Especially someone who was very much capable of throwing her into the endless Tatooine desert.

In time it grew darker in the hangar. Peli wiped her hands off on her jumpsuit, leaving grease marks in her wake. Sedona held a sleeping Grogu in her arms, he had been quite a hassle for her to wrangle with her hands still cuffed together. He was quick, and incredibly sneaky when he wanted to be. He currently held some kind of bolt in his little clawed hands, one of the braver droids had given it to him when he was fussing in her lap.

"How about another round of some bone broth, and then we get some rest." She snapped her fingers at a droid, who scurried off to the back of the hangar quickly. "It looks like that little stinker has the right idea." Peli sat, the smell of oil and metal rolling off her. She grabbed the cup of water she had sipping out of periodically and drank. Then she turned to Sedona, who up until this moment had been zoned out, staring at the shadows cast on the ground.

"You look like you've seen some shit." Sedona's heart nearly stopped at that, but when she met Peli's eyes they glittered with amusement in the dim light of the hangar.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," she said with a laugh and a shrug. Then a droid appeared next to her, carrying more bowls of broth. She accepted it, thanking the droid once again. The liquid warmed her, she didn't consider how cold a desert got a night, and her shorts and men's t-shirt didn't exactly hold much warmth. But the broth helped, and she tried not to let Peli notice her shivers.

"Listen, I wanted to ask you something" Sedona almost choked on her broth. "I heard what you said to the Mandalorian, why do you think he can't trust that other bounty hunter?" Peli's gaze was quizzical, genuine curiosity, not suspicion. It gave Sedona confidence, but not enough to tell her the full truth.

"I guess I just have a really bad feeling, I think there's something off about the deal." She said after swallowing, and Peli was silent for a moment. Searching her gaze before suddenly leaning forward.

"You know I was thinking the exact same thing." She said it like it was the juiciest secret in school. "There was just something off in his eyes." She finished with a nod. Sedona couldn't stop her smile. She felt the beginnings of a friendship blossoming there in the cool evening. She hoped it wouldn't be ripped away from her too soon.

They finished their broth in comfortable silence. Then Peli rose, a mischievous smile on her face.

"Well, I'm going to take this little womprat to the back with me, if you need anything just holler," she said, reaching down to scoop the sleeping bundle from her lap. "You sure you'll be all right in that ship by yourself?"

"I'll be okay," she said with a smile, trying to look convincing "but Peli, if you see anything happening, take the child and run."

Her face turned serious, and she gave a curt nod.

"I'll make sure the droids stay awake, they'll give us a good warning" and with another nod, and a pointed look at the group of droids, she turned to the back of the hangar.

Sedona was alone again, and fear was beginning to crawl up her spine. She had to prepare herself. Somehow, she wasn't going to let that fucker touch baby Grogu.

~o~o~o~

Night came and went, Sedona spent it pacing. Somehow, that sneaky tin can had taken her taser, and her Swiss army knife. Leaving her with only pepper spray from her keychain to defend herself. She held it tightly in 2 hands, having finally sat down when she saw the hangar becoming light again. She heard Peli out in the open area, talking to the droids and the child.

"Here's a ration bar, I'm going to try to finish these repairs before the Mandalorian gets back." Peli had walked into the ship quietly, giving her the foil-wrapped bar, the child gurgling on her hip. The tension was thick between them, both women could sense something wrong. But if Peli wanted to say anything more she didn't, instead turning her attention to the ship, the child held tightly to her. Sedona honestly didn't feel like eating, her head was pounding again. The effort of trying to figure out the plot was scrambling her brain.

She didn't know how exactly to define it, but it felt like the memories of the show were drifting away from her. Scenes she had remembered and re-watched multiple times now were faint memories. It felt like she was losing her mind, literally the only information she needed right now was dissolving like snow in her fingers. So she settled for clutching her pepper spray and hoping the droids gave her a good warning like Peli said.

The droids held up their end well.

It was maybe 3 or 4 hours later, Peli had miraculously just taken Grogu to the back for some food and a nap. When suddenly the droids went absolutely batshit crazy.

Sedona sprung from her spot on the floor, her headache was instantly forgotten as she squeezed herself against an indent in the wall of the ship. Hoping to spring on the hunter. She heard his blaster fire, then it was eerily quiet.

God, I hope they can get out of here.

Sedona tried to keep her mind from straying from the task at hand. She tried to keep her breathing quiet, straining her ears for any sounds.

Those shitty self-defense classes are going to have to work today.

There were footsteps on the ramp. Slow, but heavy, he really was a pretty shitty bounty hunter. She switched the safety off on her pepper spray, trying to judge where he was on the ship by the sound of his footsteps. Then the barrel of a gun crept into her line of sight, and she didn't hesitate.

Springing from her hiding spot she sprayed upwards, toward what she hoped were his eyes. Based on the shouting she was successful. She did her best to ignore the burn in her own eyes as the fumes carried toward her. Taking his surprise as an advantage she attempted to kick him in the balls.

Keyword- attempted.

Sedona did not consider the fact, that he might be wearing goggles. And that he might catch her leg. With a shove, she was sent sprawling onto the floor, with no way to catch herself. Her butt hit the ground hard, knocking the breath out of her. She looked up to meet a gut-churning smile.

What a fucking dick.

"That tasted awful, but I don't think it did what you wanted it to." He said with a smug smirk, he was so incredibly proud of himself. "Look at this! A third bounty, I'm going to be the king of the Guild!"

Well, if Sedona couldn't beat him physically. She was going to try to demolish his ego.

"Fuck you, Toro, this is why your mom doesn't FUCKING love you" the words were filled with rage as they flew out of her mouth, she lunged toward him. Her mind suddenly supplying the correct name when she needed it most. His face immediately fell, twisting into shock and confusion.

"What do you know about my mother?" he sneered, taking a few steps forward to tower over her on the ground. But his intimidating stance did nothing to stop the pure hatred Sedona felt in her heart.

"You look like you watch Big Bang Theory on purpose." It was one of her more creative insults, her new goal was distraction. Try and confuse him as much as she could, so that hopefully Peli could escape with the child. It seemed to work so far.

"I don't know what that means, but I would shut the hell up if I were you" he leaned down and sneered at her. She grit her teeth, the insults flowing fast.

"Your earring looks like shit"

"I said shut up!" He raised his blaster to her head, a position she had just recently became familiar with. She met his eyes, and with as much bitterness as she could muster, she put the nail in her coffin.

"I know how you die, and you die like a bitch."

That was the last thing she could say. Toro reacted very poorly, to say the least.

And for the first time in her life, Sedona was pistol-whipped across the head. Toro stalked away from her body that laid slumped on the ship floor. Continuing on his original journey, much more confused and irritated.

~o~o~o~

The Mandalorian could not shake the sick feeling in his gut as he tied the dewback to the hitch outside of Hangar 3-5. One look at the speeder outside had the mysterious woman's words repeating in his head.

You can't trust him, something bad is going to happen.

It really didn't help that she was right. In fact, he hated that she was right. It was making his decision on what to do with her much harder. He unclipped his blaster, drawing it ahead of him as he made his way down the stairs. The hangar was quiet, aside from the annoying droid that startled him. He slowly made his way through the sand toward his ship.

"Took you long enough Mando" there he was. He stalked forward raising his blaster up into the dark ship. Calican emerged; somehow he got angrier at the sight of the child in his arm, and the scared woman who had been kind to him caught in this mess. "Looks like I'm calling the shots now. Huh, partner?"

Din wanted to roll his eyes and shoot him right then.

"Drop your blaster and raise 'em." This time he couldn't stop the eye roll, instead having to suppress an annoyed sigh as he carelessly flung his blaster to the ground. Twisting his body in a way that let him quickly grab a flash charge. He truly was a pretty shitty bounty hunter, this would be his final mistake. Din was irritated, just waiting for the right moment to strike. Calican handed it to him on a silver platter.

"Cuff him." After that, Din really didn't give a shit about what this guy said. Instead watching as the woman approached him with the bindings. He rolled the flash charge in-between his fingers. Waiting.

"You're smarter than you look" the woman whispered in his ear. Obviously not, if only he had listened to the woman she left in his ship. He wouldn't be in this mess.

The right moment came as Calican raised his blaster higher. The flash brightening the entire hangar for just long enough, Din slipped behind some of the junk lying around. Coming around the side before Calican even knew he had disappeared. It was over quickly, his body tumbled off the ramp, taking the child with it.

"Stay back." He tried to tell the woman, who scrambled quickly over to him as he went to inspect the body. He didn't like the way she fumbled around him, grabbing his cape as he tried to make sure the man was actually dead. Then he heard the babbles of the child. He didn't really register what she was saying to him, just thankful she was calming him down. Inspecting the body he found what he was looking for, the bag of credits was heavy in his hand.

Turning to the woman holding the child, he prepared to pay and leave.

"Be careful with him." She said, the child simply snorting as he was placed back in his arms. She then tried to break some of the tension, bringing up the question that Din knew she would ask. "So I take it you didn't get paid."

Din didn't really feel the need to say anything. Instead pouring the contents of the pouch into her outstretched hands. But he decided to make sure.

"That cover me?" The woman sputtered in response, giving a shocked form of Yes. Din then turned, making his way back to his ship, babbling baby in tow. Until he was stopped.

"Listen, I don't know what you plan on doing with that girl, but she fought to distract him. She tried to make sure I could get away with the baby." Din turned back to the woman, his curiosity peaking. "She told him she knew how he died, and something tells me she did. Sh-she was very nice and helpful. I think you should give her a chance."

Din thought about it for a moment. It seems she was truthful about yet another thing she said to him.

"I would protect the child with my life."

Internally he was glad it hadn't come to that, or so the woman who stared up at him made it seem. He nodded at her, hoping he conveyed his understanding and turned back to enter his darkened ship. He heard her yelling at her droids, but he was more concerned with finding out what state his ship was in. As the ramp closed, he flipped back on the lights. With a heavy sigh, he observed the way her body was crumpled on the floor once again.

There was a large, bloodied scrape on her temple, the area already beginning to bruise. The child was struggling in his arms again, letting out indignant cries as he reached for the girl on the floor. He set him down next to her and reached to grab her under the shoulders and knees. Deciding to move her much gentler than he had the first time. He didn't really know where to put her though; he spun in his ship, her body limp in his arms, the child followed him in circles crying out in frustration.

His eyes landed on his sleeping compartment, figuring that was better than nothing. He quickly set her into it. Taking a moment to remove the cuffs still on her wrists, he internally cringed at the redness. Another thing he should apologize for. He didn't feel comfortable sitting in the hangar for much longer. He scooped up the child, who was trying in vain to climb into the compartment with her.

"Come on we have to get outta here" he grumbled to the child, who was squirming in his arm. He paused to look up at him, angrily babbling at him before resorting to pouting as he was hauled into the cockpit. Din started the ship quickly, not entirely certain where he was going. He only knew he needed to sit down with the woman in the hull, and really figure out what the hell she was talking about.

~o~o~o~

Sedona really didn't want to wake up. In her dream, she was warm and comfortable, and definitely not about to get crazy-murdered by a space villain. Whatever she was laying on was slightly squishier than the floor, but only slightly. It felt like if you were to lay a thin yoga mat onto a wood floor and then tried to take a nap on it. But she kept her eyes closed, trying to stay in her comfortable bubble just a few moments longer. Whoever was shaking her leg did not get the message.

"Please, just let me pretend this isn't happening for a little while longer" she grumbled, not yet opening her eyes. She tried to imagine her bed again, her soft blankets, and a cup of her favorite tea. She could pretend her head didn't hurt, and her body didn't hurt, and her brain didn't hurt. She could pretend she didn't have to open her eyes and face more confusion and struggle.

"Please, I'd like to talk." A soft modulated voice was not what she expected. She slowly opened her eyes, taking in the metal ceiling above her. With a deep breath, she slowly sat up, taking in the sight before her. At some point, after she had been knocked out, she had been placed in Din's sleeping compartment. At the end of the 'bed' (she didn't really want to call it a bed this was awful) stood the Mandalorian himself, and Grogu was vigorously shaking her leg with 2 hands. He babbled excitedly when she sat up, looking up at her and giving a wide smile. "How is your head?"

The new gentle tone was mind-boggling. She could only stare at him, mouth open like a fish. Her head was bad actually, feeling very bad. She just got smacked across the head with a gun, she couldn't imagine how she looked. But the sudden shift in mood was what confused her most; there was a stumbling, awkward, sort of kindness in the way he stood and spoke to her. She searched the visor a bit more, not really sure what she was looking for. A particularly loud coo broke her from her distraction.

"It... could be better I suppose." She licked her lips, mind suddenly wandering in fear. "Where are we? Are we stopped?" The Mandalorian couldn't afford to just stop, so they had to be in hyperspace or he wouldn't be down here. Why was he down here exactly? When did the cuffs come off?

"Yes, we're still on Tatooine, I— I wanted to talk to you," he cleared his throat. "I had some things to say, and to ask." He turned and walked further into the ship, she just now noticed the door was open. Showing the dark Tatooine desert.

Oh!

She was going to be dropped off here. Left to wander the space desert. It was a short run of things, but at least it was horrible while it lasted. She slowly got up, moving around the child to set her feet on the cold ground. The child babbled up at her, raising his arms, and for a brief moment, she considered picking him up. Her mind flirted with the idea of carrying him over to the metal man who leaned against the hatch door. Looking out to the rolling sands together, in peace. But instead, she grabbed her purse and prepared for the worst.

"So I guess this is it?" She paused next to Din, nervously looking up at him as she twirled her purse strap in her hands. His helmet snapped to her, quickly his body followed, straightening out to face her completely. He looked down at her for a long time, his body tense. Her body heated up under his gaze, feeling even more nervous under the scrutiny.

"Do you think I'm leaving you out here?" He tilted his head at her, it was almost condescending. If she was able to re-wind it and analyze the tone of his voice, she would've caught the amusement.

"Well I mean you did leave me handcuffed on the ship for like 3 days, and then brought the Crest out to the desert. Which you would never do if you weren't going to...leave me here" she rambled. Her eyes searched the area around them, not meeting his visor. He was silent once again, just watching her squirm under his gaze. She didn't know how to read him in real life, he was so much taller, and without the fan analysis she could skim through, a lot of his body language was lost.

"I was going to apologize..." he paused, his voice soft but gravely. Her mouth dropped open, slowly looking up to his helmet. "I'm sorry for leaving you cuffed in the ship, but you have to admit, you sounded pretty crazy."

The humor was detectable now, and after a long moment Sedona smiled, and as the words penetrated her brain a little deeper. A chuckle bubbled into her throat, and before she knew it she was laughing. It wasn't that funny honestly, but this was the first display of emotional release her body had experienced in a while, so it kind of went overboard. When she finally calmed down she was breathless, tears gathered in her eyes. Mando just looked at her, head tilted in confusion, and when he folded his arms over his chest, she knew he was irritated.

"I'm sorry... that wasn't that funny, but I think I need to cry and that's as close as I'm going to get." She wiped a tear from her eye, looking back at the still Mandalorian. She quickly dropped her face when she saw the way he was standing, straightened her shoulders. "W-what else did you want from me?" She should know better to think she was off the hook, he could still freeze her in carbonite. He would probably be able to get some sort of profit from her. The thought had her shrinking, she suddenly felt small again.

With a hefty sigh, he readjusted, facing back toward the endless desert. His trend of silence was much for daunting when it wasn't happening on a tv screen. Suddenly something grabbed her ankle. Of course, how could she forget the 3rd passenger? With an incredibly grumpy face and some mighty grump squeals, he reached his arms up to her as hard as he could. She smiled in pity at him, it didn't feel right to pick him up in front of Din. It wasn't her place, and she really didn't want to upset him when he was deciding his fate.

"You can pick him up." His voice was soft again, though he hadn't turned to look at them. "He seems to like you a lot" Her eyes glowed, and with free hands, she bent down and picked up the little one. Finally being able to hold him properly was wonderful, he was a comfortable weight in the crook of her arm. His little dish towel onesie soft on her skin, she smiled at him, and he cooed happily. Looking up she found Din had turned around, looking on with a tilted gaze.

"I want to know... do things work out well for him." It was almost a whisper, true concern laced in his modulated voice. She had to think about it for longer than she wanted. Yes, as far as she knew things went relatively well for the child, as for the man protecting him that was different.

"You have lots of adventures, but he makes it out okay." She gave him a small closed-mouth smile. Thinking further filled her with hope. "D-does... this mean you trust me?" She searched his visor, hoping she met his eyes.

"I..." He cut off, his head shaking. "I don't know for sure what to think, I know you're not a threat, but I can't...comprehend the things you've told me." He inhaled deeply, letting out a long sigh. A gloved hand reached out to stroke the ear of the child. "But I can't shake the feeling that I need you with me, so I suppose you should stick around for a while."

As if he understood Grogu chirped happily up at you. His head turning back and forth between the two of you. Sedona's heart soared. She couldn't stop the smile that crept its way onto her cheeks. She felt like jumping, but she resorted to squeezing the little guy tighter to her chest.

"Thank you." It came out in a whisper, she hoped he could register her gratefulness through his helmet. Grogu gave a little cheer, reaching up one clawed hand to tap her cheek.

"Well...don't get too comfortable, I'll need your help." There was the familiar grumble. She dropped her smile quickly.

"You got it. I used to be a babysitter, I'll earn my keep." She gave a sharp nod, determination overtaking her face. But another tap to her cheek had her cracking a smile once again.

"Can you fight?" That question was a bit trickier to answer. While she had a knife and a taser, there was no formal training to back them.

"I... had to take a few self-defense classes, but I didn't have many options in my city." She answered with a shrug. "But I'm willing to learn." She said, determined. No, she wasn't a gifted fighter yet, but if that's how she would be able to survive here, then she was going to become the best damn fighter this galaxy had seen.

"Good." He said, seemingly satisfied, and gave her a nod before abruptly turning back to the ship. "Then I'll train you when we're able to stop, but for now, we keep going." With that he brushed past her, the hatch closing behind him. She watched as he made his way up the ladder, she heard the hiss of the cockpit doors opening. She looked down at the gremlin in her arms, and his big eyes looked back at her. A smile showing off his nubby teeth on his little face. With a shrug, she walked back over to the sleeping compartment.

Now as she looked over her belongings, 2 bags, and a fucking hotel towel. It didn't seem so bad.

She should really put on a bra now.

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dylanxmin · 4 years

Text

A Little Serendipity

part 21 - Final

before /

•masterlist•

pairing; min yoongi x reader

genre; fluff, smut, slight angst, strangers to lovers au

rating; M

warnings; fingering, slight dom!yoongi, slight sub!reader, cum play(f), pet names, light dirty talk, aftercare, mention of having sex once again, soft yoongi,

word count; 5k+

a/n; okay,, i’m little emotional ‘cuz this is the first time im ending a series, and i don’t know what to say,,, thank you for reading and waiting for me to drop another episode all this time. i’m thankful to who read and enjoy this fic. i really like to write this fic, even tho it’s not be my best one, but it’s my first fic so, i really like this fic,,, thank you for being here with me on this journey!!! ♡ ♡ ♡

btw; feedbacks are always appreciated

After all these times, waiting for him to notice me -which it was really hard not to feel pity for myself-, finally, we were a 'thing'. An actual thing. Despite me calling it a 'thing' and not giving this situation a proper name was all on me, and my anxiety to be honest. Well, if I have to defend myself, he didn't say anything, neither did I. It was just casual meetings, eating and going out, just the two of us. And, obviously, I couldn't call it as a 'relationship' as he didn't do it, either. Aish...

I couldn't be lamer than this, and still, can put it in my logic that how he got feelings for me. First of all, I was anxious about everything, shy around everyone, and not that beautiful. If he wants, he can be with someone way better than me, but still, he was here, giving the best kiss I ever had, poting before pull me into a hug because he misses me a lot, and being a big fanboy over me. It was a big surprise for me that he was reading my works from the first time I saw his bookshelf, having all of my books. Even, he had a private spot for placing them in order. Both because I never thought of him as a fan of science fiction, and because they were my book, my works.

Later that night, when he came to my door while wasted and heavily smelling alcohol, we both confessed our feelings, curled in each other on my bed, and talked about every little detail. Mostly it was about how we were so stupid for not confessing these feelings before. Not to be dramatic, but he literally kissed every inch of my face and told me how he was dreaming to do this, over the past weeks. And then, out of blue, his drunkness occurred once again, and he started to blabber about how he was into my works, and make me swear that signing them all.

He said that he was still upset about that day when I only signed one of them and he couldn't ask me to sign the other ones, due to his nervousness. He was nervous around me all the time and irritated how I was close with Taehyung and Hoseok, but not with him. He spilled all of these things that night, and mostly because his filter on the mouth was all blocked by the drunkness. But I couldn't be happier to hear all of these things from him, remembering how my eyes were wide open in astonishment.

And I did, signed them all by the way, and write little fun facts for every one of them. Which he responded to these things by whimpering and giving me lots of kisses and hugs, after reading all of them.

Instead of what I think about him, and how he was so distant and cold. They were all become false news. Because he was the softest person that I ever met, and he couldn't take his hands from me for even one second. Yes, I did have no idea about what was this thing between us, but for the past three weeks, he always finds an excuse to come over or making me going over his place.

Sending glowering looks over the boys if they try to hug me or, pull me from him. And I can't lie that I enjoy these things. He even let me bleach his hair, and for god sake, I didn't burn them all and make him bald. And for the records, he would look amazing even after becoming a bald man.

He even showed his new mixtape and played for me. Oh god, his voice was angelic, and after a couple of times, me insisting to hear his voice live, he even sang. I was stunned to hear his music, how he could open up his feelings, and show his true himself in music, just amazed me. And, of course, I cried after he told me his past memories.

This man, I have right beside me, who I waited for almost five months, was the strongest and the softest person that I ever met, without any exaggeration. All the struggle, and all the pain he had in his past, just made me fall in love with him harder, deeper.

And the best part about being with this man was hearing his laughs, seeing the cutest gummy smile and his hand clapping but in tiny. I did surprise and confused at first, as he was acting like a stranger, rather than himself. Because I never see him like this before, not this lively, and giggly.

''Okay, where is your mind again?''

''Oh god!'' I had no choice but to scream after him getting near me sneakily and scaring the hell out of me. ''Yoongi-ah... you scared me,'' his mischievously shining eyes gazed on mines, his cocky smirk standing on his lips. Even though, I know that he was doing this all purposely. Scaring, and teasing me while having lots of fun with that.

''Well, I have to jump here and yell at you because your attention was nowhere to be found. So, what were you thinking?'' he pulls me after wrapping his arms around me, putting a soft, but long kiss on my cheek. Heaven. This must what heaven feels like, as I feel the butterflies in my stomach, divine peace right beside him, and of course security, as well. Whenever he was around me, the anxiety that eating me, and old habits of thinking too much would just go away, when he is around.

''It was nothing. I just... just lost in... thoughts, you know?'' after responding with a very low voice, just trying my best to give him a reassuring smile, but it was weak, and probably worried him more than before. ''Hmm... what kind of thoughts?'' he inquired, smile starts to fade.

''Well, just thoughts. Nothing serious or important and-''

''If these thoughts taking my girlfriend's attention from me, then I would like to know about them.'' he was looking serious, while all I could do is, gulp. I tried to hold back the urgent needs to look behind me and seeing the 'girlfriend', but even I shouldn't be this dumb. So, I hold back and stare at him with wide eyes.

''Your g-girlfriend?'' palms start to get wet with the anxiety sweating, and mouth dried while watching his face, eyes examines mine with furrowed brows. He gives a 'hmph' as an answer before leaning and taking me in a kiss. Overwhelming feelings start to grow in me, as my heart was overjoyed at the moment, beating at speed of light.

''What did you take you by surprise this much? Am I not your boyfriend?''

Boyfriend. My boyfriend. Starting to nodding my head in slow motion, as this was all too much at the same time. More, his hands cupped my face, thumbs rubbing by the cheek. It is obvious that he was trying to kill me. In a need of a moment, I closed my eyes, taking three deep breaths before opening them again. The heat spreading from his hands, turning my cheeks pink between them.

''Yes. Yes, you are... my- my boyfriend.'' his face covered with a blissful smile. The gummy smile that I adore so much, and dreamed so many times. While my cheeks start to burn under his touch with the sudden confession, his eyes now stated on me once again, questioning something. I could understand that as his eyes now narrowed, knitting one brow.

''You were thinking about us, right? If we were in a relationship, or not?

''No! I mean, yes. Uhh, I don't know... You didn't say anything, and I couldn't ask anything. And I was... you know?'' now I was talking nonsense, babbling as the tension start to confuse my mind, and I was expecting him to make fun of me, saying how stupid I was, but he just stood inches away from my face, softly smiling.

''Do you have any idea how much I love you, Y/N?'' his words have left me with wide-opened eyes, heartbeats flinching as his voice echoed in my mind, euphoric feelings sending tears to my eyes. He said the word. He did not only admit that we were a 'thing' but also he said the word. The 'L' word where I could only hear it in my dreams, sliding from his lips. This wasn't a dream.

He was standing an inch away from my face, and saying the word.

''I know. I know that its too soon, but I do, Y/N. I do love you, and I waited for this moment for months. So yes, I love you.'' once again he proclaimed, searching my face with his radiantly sparkling eyes to see any kind of response from me. Besides wanting to tell him the exact same thing, my throat goes dry, words gathering on there only to cut my breath.

Do I love him?

If getting all hyped up whenever seeing him, -breathing gets hard to achieve, only with a glimpse to his face heart goes crazy, beating in an incredible speed, and butterflies twinkling on the stomach-, means love, then yes, I love him. I never felt this relaxed and free around someone, and never had been cared from someone like him. His affections, cares were real, and I was more than thankful to him.

''Although, you don't have to say it back. I promise it's okay.'' his soft, caring smile appeared on his face, still rubbing my cheeks with his thumbs. But I did want to say it back. I don't care if its too soon, even if he is wrong, misunderstands his feelings and thought that he is in love with me, but not. The only thing that matters for me at this moment, his blissful gaze on me, telling me that he is in love with me. I need to push aside all these depressed, anxious thoughts and say back that I love him, too.

''It is really too soon, and probably others would think that we are all stupid for telling this, but I love you, too, Yoongi. In a way of more than you can imagine.'' His grip tightened around my face, letting a sigh in relief. Despite his words, I knew that he hopes for me to say it back, hearing me while I confess my love, as he is such a soft soul. ''Oh, just come here,''

His lips pushed to mines, hands of him start to trails to my waist, gripping there tightly to pulls me to him. I opened my legs to give him better access, to become more and more closer because it never feels enough.

''You are... so beautiful,'' he whispers between in the kiss, not stopping it completely. Both because of his words, and his rim touching my core, grinding between in my legs, I start to heat on my cheeks and all over me. Sudden thirst starts to build in my stomach, melting to lower parts.

''Yoon-gi,'' a whimper slips by my lips, as the kiss gets deeper and deeper, his tongue conquering over my mouth, and feeling his hands everywhere, the mind starts to get numb with this overwhelming situation. As the intensity stirring up in both of us, his thrust starts to get harder. ''Fuck,'' he growled while covering his arms around my waist, and changing the position.

With the new angle, now I could feel his member clearly. ''Much better,'' although hearing his words, the passion now I felt both in my core and my mind, blurred my sight. Only thing I want to do now, grinding on him, and giving him more joy and satisfaction. His grip, loosen up from my waist to landing on my legs, very close to my nook, dangerously close. ''Give me a kiss, angel.''

Without hesitation, I let my body to lean on him, giving him a wet, yearning kiss. Shame is now long forgotten, as the pleasure takes all over my body. ''Y/N,'' a grumble left his lips, after moving my body on him, pressuring enough to make him moan.

He fixed his posture, holding me with one hand on my waist, another finds my breast and cupping it, softly. When his finger starts to rub against the nipple, with a sob, I push my head to the back, and immediately his lips meet with my neck as if he planned this. Sucking, twitching with his teeth, sending shivers to my core viciously.

''Ahh.. shit,'' a sob gets out by my lips, as his fingers find their place on my entrance, rolling them on there one time.

''Imm, you like this?'' he chuckles, repeating the movement once again. While struggling not to lose myself and fall from his lap, I opened my eyes lightly, which couldn't realize that they were close until now.

The scene under my sight was very delightful to look at. His completely ruined hair, lips all red because of the harsh kisses, and eyes full of lust. Looking so mesmerizing, all hungry for me which filled my heart with love, and desire. My attend to lean on him to give another kiss, cut by his fingers, taking my short and panties aside to earn better access. When his fingers played with my slit, intentionally moving far from the clit, I gasped.

''You want this angel, yeah?'' I hissed when his fingers teased my entrance, pushing them only inches, and it was enough to give me a shiver, stimulating my greed.

''Yoongi... j-just.. please,'' begging, the only thing I could manage to do now, as his thick fingers teasing, and driving me to my edge.

With the sudden moves of his finger, I clenched his shirt's collar, head falls on his shoulder. One of his hands, holding my waist, keeping me at the place, which I couldn't appreciate it less, as my legs were unable to hold me.

''Does it feel good, angel? Do you want me to stop?'' he leered, keep thrusting his fingers inside, stretching my walls.

''N-no don't... don't stop,'' I cry out. There is no way that I want him to stop right now. His instant pokes start to burn, but it felt pleasingly good. ''All wet, all greedy for me, yeah?''

His words only provoked me more, building the climax on my lower stomach. But I wanted more, wanted to feel more of him. ''M-more,'' my grip, tightened around his collar, as he adds another finger inside of me, and his thumb finds my clit.

''Good?'' I only gave him a quick 'hmph' and a weak nod. It was unbearable.

''Close... I'm close,'' his three fingers inside of me, dipping and moving deeper, while his thumb pitilessly assaulting my clit, everything felt so much for a moment. His severe fingers, the pressure he applied on my clit, brings me on the edge of my euphoria.

''Mmm, cum on my fingers baby. You'd like that, yeah?'' His filthy whisper, hot breaths was enough for me to sob in delight, clenching for one time before leaking around his fingers, legs shaking viciously. His names fall from my lips, constantly in a whisper, eyelids filling with tears with the sudden relief.

''Imm, all creamy,'' he chuckles once again, but his fingers won't leave at once. He takes his time on there, playing with my ruined pussy. Moving his fingers for a couple of times, while I struggle, and pant under his lap, only able to say his name.

''Yoongi-aah!'' a cry leaves my lips, when he touches bruised clit, causing me to shiver with my whole body. Hasty sting appears where he touches to the stomach. ''Too sensitive, huh?'' he mocked, but his fingers stayed there.

''It stings, Yoongi,'' his fingers immediately leaves there, and relief takes over me after that. The other hand cups my chin to pull me up, face me with him. Thirst starts to awaken in me once again, as his fingers find their way to his mouth, while my drip still leaking on them. His tongue licks his fingers, cleaning all of the remainings of my cum from them.

Oh, boy. It was so aphrodisiac, and suddenly I start to feel hungry all for him.

''You like what you see, huh?'' his brows moving, teasing me with the grin on his lips. Under his shady gaze, cheeks feel hot again, and desire starts to build once again, even though I did cum for a second ago.

''Then we should take this to bed right, angel?'' after I nod, his arms wrap around my waist once again, and I was grateful that he embraced me, rather than making me walk because my legs were all sloppy. While taking us to his room, he puts soft kisses on my shoulders, whispers how he loves me so much, and patting my hair softly.

Urgent tears start to fill in my eyelids, both because of his aftercare and the intimate scene we just played. ''I love you,'' sniffled, while my head resting on his shoulder. It was true. I never loved someone this much. He was the only man who didn't find me weird or far too anxious.

He did really love me with all of these things, bad and good. And made me sure of this with every word, move and look. I wrapped my arms around his neck, squishing him until he starts to laugh. ''H-hey, what is now?'' he protests, but won't stop laughing.

''Nothing,'' I simply shrugged one of my shoulders, ''I just love you so much.'' he giggles once again, putting a kiss on my forehead, hand still patting my hair.

''I love you, too, angel,''

''Wake up, sleepyhead,''

I normally hate when someone tries to wake me up, turn into a grumpy person. But, hearing his whispers, feeling his kisses all over my cheeks is just a blessing. How could I hate this, or be grumpy about it? His hand brushing against my hair, caring and putting little kisses, just felt like waking up a Christmas day. Where you know that you’re going to have a present and lots of cookies with milk. Peace. It was definitely felt like peace, but of course, no one would feel that Christmas feeling at my home, just like me. Because there was none.

It was always horrible to be around, where my own family always criticized and told me how lazy I was. How I need to study more to be a good doctor and represent our family name. I couldn't think about that possibility of me, never running away from here and going far from my home. What if I become a doctor, choose to stay here? Would I meet these people earlier than this, or would Soobin never meet them if I hadn't left?

Would I meet with Yoongi earlier than this? But what if we wouldn't last together, like right now? Would he still love me? Who am I kidding? Of course, he wouldn't love me because I was the weirdest person ever, even weirder from today. Oh god, why he is with me now?

''Okay, I can see how your forehead all wrinkled. Stop acting like you are sleeping and depressing yourself, baby. C'mon, open your eyes and kiss your boyfriend, huh?''

I opened one of my eyes, wasn't waiting for his face inches away from mines, all staring. Heat starts to reach all over my cheeks with embarrassment. His bleached wild hair fell on his forehead, thick lips slightly curled up. And of course, his warm dark browns focused on me. ''Morning, angel.''

''Hmm, morning,'' instead of opening my eyes, I only decided to keep them shut once again to lean over his arms, getting lost on his hug.

''We need to wake up, baby. I have a surprise for you. You want to see it right?'' he offered, obviously knows that I would be all over the surprise.

''What is it?'' I grunted over his chest. Intense vibrant of marine reaches through my nostrils, only to last on oakmoss. He did smell so good, so fresh and intense at the same time.

''If you want to learn what it is, then you have to stop smelling and start to get ready.'' he mocked, under his chuckles. Heat starts to rise once again on my cheeks, tried to cover my face in embarrassment but he was fast to hold my wrists.

''Hey, look at you. All blushed and looking cute,'' he told before leaning to kiss on my forehead, then continuing to kiss my face through taking a track. He always finds a way to distract me from being embarrassed over his jokes and my attitudes. All worries would slide away, leaving only good feelings and serenity on my chest. Never had to overthink about our relationship or, his feelings because he would easily understand what I am thinking at the moment and would be there to brush them away just like before.

''Okay, okay. I'll get ready but I want something in return,'' I said with a fond smile.

''Surprise isn't enough, I guess.'' he chuckles, eyes narrowing before continuing.

''What if I get down on here, and make your day a little bit brighter, huh?'' His fingertips start to play with the sleeve of my shirt, reaching the skin on the stomach. The idea of wanting something in return wasn't exactly this on my mind, but his touches awakened the desire, sending shiver to my spine. His sheepish smile and keen on his gaze, only push me to the edge already. And how could I say no to this, even if it's not what I meant at the beginning. The damage has already been done.

''How stupid I look that you think I would say no to that?'' his loud laughter filled in the room, head dropped to back, serving his neck and collarbones to my sight. Fair skin lightening under the sunlight, looking so fascinating and unreal. His beauty causes me to quiver every time I stare at him. And, the biggest twist about this, he doesn't know how handsome he is. He has no idea about how he could make someone flinch by only his look and it is so frustrating sometimes.

And, as a side note, he looked very attractive between on my legs, lips all wet by the touch of his tongue. He is one charming man, and he has no idea.

I may, or may not bother him with all of my questions during the car ride. But in my defense, I wasn't good with surprises. Both preparing and receiving.

Patience just isn't my best quality.

''Remind me to not prepare any surprises for you, baby,'' he said with gentle remonstrance while trying to find a good parking space.

Even though I know that he had his reasons to say this, little pout takes its place on my lips. Yes, I did ask a lot of questions about where we were going, or what was the surprise, but still, I had zero patience. That's why I always had those moments before we got together. I hate for waiting for something, or someone.

''Maybe you should say before preparing me a surprise,'' I uttered innocently while playing with my nails.

''You just can't hold your curiosity, don't you?'' he lets out a chuckle, before stopping the car, and taking the handbrake off.

His brows raised in sympathy, eying me with a smile on his lips. I would love to stare at him, watching his soft hair, plumpy cheeks, and sheepish smile all day. But he cuts the exchange look, leaning for a kiss instead.

Familiar soft-lipped kissing, feeling his press, brushing my lips like an artist, smooth, intense, and head-spinning kiss. His thumb throbbing at the hollow of my neck, pulse beating under it. It always felt so mesmerizing, and too good to be real. But in the end, it was real. He was there kissing me and weakening me on the knees.

''Does the view looks familiar to you?'' he announced, after breaking the kiss, breaths of him still close enough for me to feel against my skin.

With a knitted brow, I take my eyes from him. Still feeling little lightened because of the kiss but I gasped after what I saw.

It was beautiful, looking eternal, and the best way of mixing the colors of blue, white, and grey. Heavy blue sea sparkling under the dim sunlight, hitting to the wide grey coast of mountains. Nude sands laying on the ground, an uncrowded place filled with the voice of seagulls. Wonderful beauty, rolling on and on to the end of my sight.

''Oh my... god,'' I hardly take my gaze from the sight to Yoongi, which he was looking at me with wide-spread eyes, waiting for me to understand. ''It's almost the same beach from my-''

''Your book, yes!'' he rejoiced, end my sentence for me. I blinked for a couple of times, couldn't believe his thoughtfulness. He did not only read my books but also remembered the beach that I described.

''You have no idea how I wanted to take you here when I first met you, Y/N. That was all I could think,'' he continued, while I could only stare back at him. ''After I found this place, all I could think was your description. They fit each other so good. Look at this sight, you must have seen here before.'' his eyes were shining while talking, lips opened wide with a pout, excitement can be read by his gestures. He looked like a child, who was talking about his favorite game or a toy. So cute, and irresistible.

''Do you want to go down?'' he asked, and I nod immediately. Of course, I wanted to go down there and feel the hot sand on my feet, kissed by the sun.

''You go. I'll follow you.'' he notified after we both get off from the car. He disappeared from my sight, heading to the car trunk. And I obeyed him. It was hard for me to jump from the little bump, but luckily I did it without breaking a bone. Fortunately to my judgment, I wear my purple floral sandals. As I wanted to feel the sand, sandals left my feet swiftly.

Uhh, felt so soft!

It did really felt so good to feel sand on my bare feet, dipping them under it.

''Little help over here!'' after hearing Yoongi's call, I turn my back to him.

''What are... these?'' I hesitated while taking the basket from his hands. It was heavy, but not much. Covered with red and white tartan, having little daisies on the handhold, separately placed.

''Well, it's a picnic?'' he sends a look that saying 'what were you thinking', and I decided to bury my surprise. He planned a picnic, for two of us? Yes, I got a good one over here.

It was such a surprise for me to see him like this, preparing a surprise picnic for us, driving all the way here to show me this place, only because he knew that I would love here, as I exactly described here in my book. He was the sweetest, caring boyfriend ever. Not the cold-hearted, rude person I thought who he was, and he never stops surprising me with his gentle heart.

''Another one?'' his voice distracted me from my thoughts, shaking the wine bottle in front of my face. ''Yes, please.''

''What were you thinking again?'' he exposed, smiling while filling my glass.

''How lucky I am.'' but this time, I didn't try to hide my thoughts. ''I am the luckiest girl in this world as I have you by my side. And I'm so happy about it.'' Normally, I would go shy, blush all over after saying these words, but today, after realizing how he was trying to make me happy, I couldn't hold myself.

''I think we are both so lucky to have each other,'' he said in a soothing tone, thumbs caring against my palm. ''I have to admit that I dreamed about meeting with you after finding this place. I literally stalked you for thousands of times but never had to courage to reach you. And then, bam! You came here, all looking so beautiful and innocent. I waited for you for so long, angel.''

Pet name softened my heart, melting through my stomach. His sudden confession fired up the butterflies, sending wriggles to my chest. I wasn't the only one who suffers through these times. Actually, he did wait for more than me, but it was all so unreal.

Numbing the mind, causing a shake on the body, kind of a way unreal.

Nonetheless, I couldn't open my mouth to say a thing. Anything that would match his words. So, I decided to go with a kiss. Pulling him by the sleeve of his shirt, feeling his warm, soft lips on mines, kissing him passionately, open-mouthed. Delight blossomed like a flower on my chest, hand of him heating my cheek, from where he cupped.

''I... love you, Yoongi,'' breathlessly, I manage to talk, cutting the kiss. I did love him so much and wanted him more than anything. I loved how his hot breaths brushed over my face, fingertips cared my hair, my cheeks. How he pouted when he was talking excitedly or simply, how he looked at me in the eye and told me that he loved me. Every memory, both sweet and bad ones, every word and every gesture of him, made my knees weak. The heart starts to beat fast and strong, every time his gummy smiles appeared on his face.

''I love you so much, angel.''

His hands cupped my cheeks, pulling me into another kiss. This time rougher, tongues conquering each other, soft moans leave both mouths as the kiss deepened. He cuts the kiss one more time, for saying something that would leave me totally shocked and amazed. Heart flinches with his words, but won't let me give any response, and pulls me into another kiss. Only his words beat in my mind, over and over again.

''We will marry in here, Y/N,'' he said with determination, and I believed him.

tags; [ @mochiloverbts ]

#bts imagines #bts scenarios #min yoongi #min yoongi fanfic #min yoongi x reader #yoongi x y/n #min yoongi smut #min yoongi fluff #min yoongi angst #dylanxmin

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theangrypokemaniac · 4 years

Text

Since no one cares about Alola I can therefore say what I want.

Team Rocket's Pokémon are all worthless toss. That's such a surprise from this oafish writing team.

Remember when Jessie and James had two each, to offer variety? Permitting them even that is too much focus nowadays.

We don't what anything interesting going on, thank you. Repetition is what we and they deserve.

Arbok, Weezing, Lickitung and Victreebel are spinning in their graves.

Stufful was missing for three years and she displayed not the slightest pang of concern until its belated invention. Given her temper she ought to have torn the island apart searching for her baby, but no.

Not bothered about Bewear. It shouldn't really be in this list as it didn't belong to them, although catching has no value anymore.

A bit thick are we? Or conforming to the usual parental standards?

Well, she's sufficiently neglectful that she let it out of her sight long enough for it to be crushed under a tree, then was too idle to come to the rescue. In consequence he was obliged to wait days until one of Lusamine's lackeys arrived.

She's 'Mama Bear' though, isn't she?

It's based on a red panda, is partly the colour of a black bear and as strong as a grizzly, but all that is a mere cover for its true nature as a Bear-Face Ham.

The modern pretence is that everyone's a vegetarian (are they balls), and Ursa Major lives on fruit, not, you know, flesh.

Just because it there's no hibernating in the tropics doesn't mean it can get by without a salmon now and again.

The name is stupid, since a red panda is not a bear. A play on words isn't clever if based on what it isn't.

They should've called her 'Pandamonia', or 'Pandour', which is a brutal soldier.

It is at least redeemed by battering the klepto cockroach into the next dimension. Good on 'er.

Mind you, this is Alola, a cesspit of incest, so it's probably some sick arrangement, like Bewear being slipped the length by that previously unmentioned Oakie-Dokie clone.

He's the spit of Jimmy Savile, thus every depravity is on the table.

Where's Stufful's dad? He buggered off too?

What kind of name is 'Stufful'? What's it made from, 'stifle' and 'suffocation'? 'Stuffed'?

Thanks for that. Whenever I see its ovine face I'm reminded of taxidermy.

Were Ursa Minor and Bewear described as mother and son, or were they 'friends'?

A series of games involving breeding and the 'anime' is too squeamish to even imply animals live in families.

I don't care either way for Stufful, but I'd like it better if its mouth wasn't a camel toe.

I understand it's a sea creature, and the contents of the oceans are their own brand of peculiarity, but looks like a limbless, undead spaniel plagued with extra teats. Its 'ears' resemble distended mammeries.

Hey, remember that interesting, original Pokémon James had called Victreebel? Let's do it again! And again! AND AGAIN!

Victreebel is a venus fly trap: an anomaly in nature as a carnivorous plant. It makes sense that the Pokémon version would be a bit more full-on in catching a meal.

New law: Team Rocket are required to collect monsters as ugly as themselves.

Hurting James was its personality quirk, particularly to it, fitting its nature, its 'thing'. It was never meant as a template for most of what he caught in the future.

Something is funny if it happens once, and can be now and again if done with a least a little flair.

Nothing repeated as a constant leaden thud is remotely amusing, but this is an unknown fact to Nintendo bone heads. They think certain events are utterly hilarious in themselves and require no finesse in application.

They have a checklist of moments obligatory to each episode, which explains the plodding lifelessness. Tick 'em off to keep the fans from being ticked off. All we supposedly care about is each gong struck, not how we got there.

At least Victreebel used to vary its behaviour:

Occasionally it even did as told without any chomping preamble.

It didn't do the exact same action every single time it was involved!

Mostly it swallowed James.

How long was it once Victreebel was chucked out on its leafy arse before Cacnea arrived?

Oh look, it's a Grass Pokémon and attacks James!

Sometimes it ate Jessie.

Carnivine got in on the action before Cacnea's run was even up: kick 'em when they're down why don't yer?

Oh look, it's a Grass Pokémon and attacks James!

Now we have Mareanie. Wasn't there a few in between? No, shush, they don't exist anymore.

Every bloody time it came out, it turned round and punctured him.

Every bloody time.

Ah, it's not a Grass Pokémon. That makes it totally new!

Oh yes, it's the complete opposite of Victreebel. It's Poison instead. Not like it at all.

Every bloody time it came out, it'd gnaw his head off.

Every bloody time.

That's endearing.

Oh but it is! It's just showing him love!

As that makes it alright!

If a muscular man squeezed his girlfriend so tightly he cracked her ribs, is that 'sweet' because he 'meant well' but his feelings overwhelmed him? Or is it A.B.H.?

Every bloody time it comes out, it injects James's head with toxin until it swells up into purple pustule of disease.

Every bloody time.

I never took Victreebel's assault as affection. To me they were real attempts to devour James, especially with the accompanying frenzied screech. Interpreting that as a positive emotion is bizarre to me.

At soon as James found it wedged in a Breeding Centre cage and opened the door it grabbed him, which appeared to be Victreebel lashing out in anger for what'd happened in the intervening period.

What Mareanie does is worse than the other three put together. At least they delivered mere bite marks or pinpricks, but it infects James!

Whole episodes of this programme have involved a Pokémon falling foul of Poison Powder and being on the verge of death, with all done to preserve it until Ash hunted down the cure, but now it's a big laugh, apparently.

Not one character ever has the wits about them to carry an Antidote, otherwise the writers wouldn't be able to fall back on the tired old race-against-time scenario, which is no such thing as we know they won't die.

Is it likely that James is always going to end up picking a violent Pokémon, of all the individuals of a race, of all the lifeforms in the universe?

Aren't his allowed to come with their own personality, or is there a set pattern they must follow, and when caught they absorb it, for fear they might be memorable?

Mind you, it's interesting the reactions these abuses provoke:

Victreebel eats James: Aw, it's so kyewt!

Cacnea impales James: Aw, it's so kyewt!

Carnivine chews James: Aw, it's so kyewt!

Mareanie poisons James: Aw, it's so kyewt!

Meowth claws James: Aw, it's so kyewt!

Jessie beats James: Aw, it's so kyewt!

Jessibelle whips James: EEVUL BITCH!!!

Mimikyu should be opposed for breaking it's own world.

To us, Pikachu is the most famous Pokémon, belonging to Ash, the protagonist, and the franchise's mascot.

To them, Pikachu is just another middling Pokémon hundreds of young Trainers catch, and holds no greater value.

It's blatantly a reference to Pikachu's real-life status, acknowledging itself as fiction. No Pokémon would hold the same significance for this design to work but him.

Otherwise why would Mimikyu, when it has the choice of every Pokémon that exists, and, if meant to be a believable world, every Pokémon we don't know exists, choose Pikachu to ape? Why wouldn't it pick a Legendary?

Alola Pikachu is looking off colour.

It's not even this specific Mimikyu, it's the entire species!

What, they work to a hive mind, incapable of individual tastes and opinions?

Do they all hate Pikachu too, even though the entire mouse population of Alola has been rounded up by that loon and trapped in a valley, or were we lumbered with the lone demented obsessive with a severe complex?

Is it well jel that Pikachu's a real one, whereas it can only manage to knock up a bog-standard costume with a face daubed by a chimp paralytic from scrumpy?

Well stop imitating it then! Invent your own design!

Oh come on. The animators can't even do that, hence its creation. You can hardly expect it to display inspiration if born from its absence.

I wonder if it hates Raichu. And Pichu. And Plusle and Minun. And the rest of the Pikachu derivatives, although it is one.

(As an aside, I don't know why Raichu, Marowak and Exeggutor were redrawn for this era, but not Pikachu, Cubone and Exeggcute. Why does the sweaty climate affect only evolutions?)

Here's an idea: make Shiny Mimikyu have a different get up, not colour.

You can have that free, Game Freak. I'm too lenient with yer.

Presumably, Mimikyu hatches (already dead?) in all its eye-bleeding nastiness, and instinctively reaches for the discarded yellow bedsheet and pack of crayons that just so happens to be nearby, and the scissors to make the peep holes.

Them inbreds know how to litter.

Flippers?

Nah, it's probably hooks.

How is it born aware of a Pikachu's face, and why is it compelled to copy them?

Knowledge of his own ugliness is innate, thus he must cover his nakedness before it lays waste to the forest inhabitants.

Yet if you breed 'em, it emerges wearing it, like the cloth formed from left-over albumen and stained with yolk!

What's it reaching with? Paws?

Mittens?

Oh, and there was a deceased specimen in the series, so it's either a ghost, and nothing but bedsheet, or a zombie, and it's repulsive carcass has upped the ante by putrifying.

Even its name doesn't fit. Apart from the unsightly spelling, what's 'Mimikyu' about? It's not mimicking me.

Mimikyu? It should be Mimikchu!

And you know what? Even Nintendo agree their own inventions aren't good enough, because they made return almost impossible.

They hate these more than they do even the pre-Unova Pokémon, most of whom were condemned to a dark existence within the iron corridors of H.Q. and haven't been seen since.

• Growlie is such a beloved figure in James's life he's been involved all of twice.

• Dustox got pensioned off.

• James was practically bullied into gifting Cacnea to that cloying bitch Gardenia.

• Whilst he still tecnically owns Chimecho, it's as lost to him as any of them.

Remember Seviper, Yanmega, Carnivine and Mime Junior?

Hell, remember Woobat, Yamask, Frillish and Amoonguss?

Or Gourgeist and Inkay?

Of course, since the makers appear to have the Reverse-Midas Touch, Team Rocket still took that useless, wincing lump Wobbuffet to Galar instead of dumping it over the sea. Apparently we're stuck with it forever.

Arbok, Lickitung, Weezing and Victreebel got shafted, but THAT survives?

Yes? That's more the writers do. In current canon these Pokémon never lived at all. Dead memories in the haze.

#Team Rocket #Bewear #Stufful #Mareanie #Mimikyu #Wobbuffet #Alola

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scifinal · 4 years

Text

DW s12e03 "Orphan 55" or The Importance of Not Conveying a Message

I swear this is not a Doctor Who fan blog - there's simply no denying that what DW has become as of now is a major and highly influential sci-fi franchise, and there's also no denying that last week I, regrettably, dedicated two days of my life to binging its, as of now, most recent season (and to think I could've been re-watching series D of Blake's 7 instead!), which, in turn, led me to doing what I've had in mind for quite some time now – creating this blog (and returning to tumblr, which I wasn't planning on doing). I wrote my review on the season's finale just yesterday, but there are plenty more things in this season that, I feel, need to be touched upon.

So, here I am, doing just that.

Part One: The Idea

Now, I ask you to imagine a story. Imagine a story in which a neglectful mother leaves her child and, as years go by, gets so overwhelmed with guilt she decides to give said child a gift hoping that maybe, just maybe, this gift will make up for that horrible thing she did years ago. The mother wants to give her child a literal world as a gift. So she picks a planet that nobody will ever claim, an orphan planet, and tries to raise money to afford terraforming it. She becomes a mother to an orphan planet in an attempt to become a mother to her orphan child.

This sounds like a beautiful story. It is a beautiful story.

Part Two: The Science

Doctor Who, which started out as an educational show for schoolkids, is, as of now, at heart, a space opera. There is nothing inherently bad in space operas: these are merely a subgenre of science fiction that focuses on relationships between its characters and social issues, with little to no regard or often at the expense of the "sci" in "sci-fi". Space operas can be beautiful. "Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed", one of my favourite stories by Ray Bradbury, and one of my favourite short stories period is a space opera. "The Stainless Steel Rat" series by Harry Harrison is a space opera. "Ensign Flandry" by Poul Anderson is a space opera. I love them all.

The surprisingly hard thing with writing space operas is that you have to be careful with science. What I mean by that is that a writer behind a space opera project has to be careful with inventing his technobabble in case he faces a necessity of explaining something. The writer has to be careful and make his technobabble so illegible yet science-y that his audience has no choice but to roll with it, regardless of whether they have the faintest idea what the words the writer has used mean or not. The space opera technobabble has to sound science-y but otherwise has no business using scientific terms that might happen to make some sense to an audience member that happens to be slightly more educated than average and thus more perceptive of your nonsense (bonus points if what the writer has created is not as good as they themselves think it is and that slightly more educated audience member has already gotten so tired of The Work that they unintentionally begin to catch more factual mistakes than they would had the author not oversuspended their disbelief), because at that point...

...Science Says "Hello, I'm Still Here!" (Part Three)

The third episode of the twelfth season of Doctor Who gave its seemingly made-up term "orphan planet" a very clear definition: a previously habitable world that, through processes which may vary in nature, has become unable of supporting sentient, if any at all, life. Here's an excerpt from the Doctor Who fan wiki:

Again, a fairly clear definition.

Except...

"Orphan planet" is an actual scientific term. There are many synonymous terms used to describe it, but, basically, an orphan planet is a planet that doesn't belong to a star system and travels on its own. Here's an excerpt from Wikipedia (I do realise that it isn't a reliable source, but in this case this actually is a correct definition):

And this isn't a rare term, either. In fact, the concept of a rogue, or orphan, planet is fairly common in science fiction – a strange cold, inhospitable world, incapable of supporting life, travelling through the vast cosmos all on its own, fearsome and unpredictable.

Now, why the difference between two definitions of an otherwise well-known occurrence?

Because the story I asked you to imagine in the beginning of this post wasn't enough.

Part Four: The Need for Relevance

There's no arguing that, in some way or another, every piece of media captures the time its creator lives in through the lense of their worldview. It might be obvious in things like clothing, technology, or societal constructs they, the author, perceive as normal or abnormal. There is no arguing that every piece of media ages, and no arguing that most media produced for mass audiences has to be relevant. And science fiction set in the future, surprisingly enough for some, is not an exception; more than that, it may even age worse than other genres as technology develops beyond what creators of science fiction of the past could possibly imagine.

One way of compensating that aging is creating an ever-relevant story. The reason the original trilogy of Star Wars still stands despite its dated effects and tech is not only that it's set in an alien world, but also that it tells a fairly simple story that is bound to be relatable for years to come: it's a journey a hero sets on to right the wrongs. The reason the original Star Trek is good after all these years despite its dated, er, everything technical is that its themes are relatable, its morals are clear, its characters – well-defined. Blake's 7 is wonderful (I mean, this is the third or fourth time I'm mentioning this fairly little-known show in two posts, it should be clear that I love it) not only because of its cheesy British-TV-sci-fi-show-shoestring-budget effects, late-70s-future-fashion outfits charm and well-done models, but because of its clear idea that's bound to last for ages: there will always be an oppressor, there will always be the oppressed, there will always be those who resist the existing regime.

But creating a story with a long-lasting theme is not the only way to being appreciated. We live in an era of information, and we live in an era of that information being at our fingertips, and we also live in an era in which, as always, people want to make profit. Fast profit.

And a much easier way of making profit is not making a story that will last forever, but a relevant story, a story with which its intended audience will resonate right now and not over a prolonged period of time.

This is the time for us to again return to the story I asked you to imagine in the beginning. That story is timeless. Its themes will last as long as there are orphans in the world, and as long as there are neglectful parents, and as long as guilt exists. It's a good story.

But people want more profit than a story that is merely good can make. People want a good story that is also currently relevant.

And so they add a currently relevant theme to it.

Part 4: Additions Have Got to Be Made

There's nothing inherently wrong with adding a new theme to your already existing storyline: it may lead to exploring new depths you didn't expect would open up. The problem arises when said theme is nothing but pandering and is there only to admit the existence of something so the audience can say "I know about this thing that they've mentioned", as if that gives them a figurative gold star, and get back to their business, satisfied that some story they connected with acknowledged a problem that they feel something about. This is pandering.

Now, what does this have to do with the two different definitions of one term and that story?

Part Five: Here's What I Think Is the Problem

I don't think that at the early stages of writing the screenplay for "Orphan 55" DW's definition of the term "orphan planet" was all that different from what an orphan planet actually is. On the contrary, I think the person who first pitched the story did have in mind actual interstellar objects – otherwise they would've devised a new term for uninhabitable planets; besides, almost everything in the episode makes sense without an orphan planet being a once inhabitable world. I also believe that this change was thrown in towards the end of writing the actual script, because then it would probably be written in a way that allows the idea of their version of an orphan planet to be more developed. So why did they, in my opinion, even add that?

You guessed it. Pandering. My best guess is that the higher-ups wanted to throw something "hip" into the story, to add something "relevant", because they wanted a bigger resonance and thus a more profitable episode. And what could be more relevant that the fact that we, the humanity, have kind of screwed our planet up and now everybody's talking about this?

This is the reason they've changed the definition of a pre-existing term. It's not that they wanted to make a statement: they wanted to make money. It's not that they wanted to raise awareness: they wanted to raise their profits. The message wasn't intended as a warning directed towards people who may not know or do not care about the subject: it was a corporation pandering towards those who already agree with it.

It hurts me to write this; I genuinely want to believe this isn't the case. I genuinely want to believe that the addition was made by some well-meaning script editor – but I can't. We live in a world in which corporations can and do use important messages as a means to profit off of people's beliefs. The optimistic option just isn't that probable.

And in the End...

Imagine a flower. Imagine a tender flower on a small flowerbed; a beautiful flower, carefully tended to, lovingly grown, a flower that will bloom for a long time. And next to it, a bigger, more colourful one, a flower that grabs your attention, but only for a short moment – and for no other reason that its life is so short. The big flower will wither, and it will wither soon, and the small one will go unnoticed simply because it's not as bright, and not as big... but it is beautiful when you notice it, and it will bring a smile to your face when you notice it again.

That story about a mother, her child, and a planet was a good story, but its theme about being an orphan wasn't what grabbed the viewer's attention: it was the blunt message about saving our habitat, and it distracted from the actual plot and its own underlying theme.

Your story is your flowerbed. A bright and resonating theme will live on for only as long as it stays popular, for as long as the public is interested in it, and the second that interest is lost, your flowerbed of a story dies with it. If that was your intent – you did well. But if you tend to your garden for the future generations to see, don't make it about here and now, make it about everywhere. Make it about always. Make it so the bright and eye-catching, and short-lived isn't what people know your garden for.

#doctor who #doctor who review #thirteenth doctor #critique #review #spilled thoughts #long reads #long post #sci fi #sci fi review

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