#Yeah they could have easily stretched out all of that into one epilogue episode for sure | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

anothers-trash-my-treasure · 5 years

Text

Bittersweet ~ Chapter Eight

If I was naming chapters, this one would be titled “Near or Far” and that’s all I’m gonna say.

Last official chapter, an epilogue will be on its way and honestly, I might write a few side chapters sometime too because I just love this story so much. Enjoy!

Pairing: Merriell Shelton/Reader (femme)

Warning: swearing, some angst and long-distance troubles but mostly just fluff

Word count: 4000

Tag List: @ahkmenrami1205 @itsme690 @xoa-lex @ramibaby @r-ahh-mi @xmxisxforxmaybe @sherlollydramoine @txml @moon-stars-soul @ramimedley @sassystrawberryk

*he’s so pretty i wanna cry*

Long-distance is hard.

God, it’s the fucking worst.

In some ways, it was very much the same from normal. I wake up, eat breakfast, go to my classes. I spend all day on campus, reading and studying only to leave for my job. I’d waitress all night, grab something to eat at the end of a shift, go home, watch a few episodes of Friends (even though I’ve seen it a thousand times) and head off to bed before repeating it all over again.

But then, on the other hand, it was so different.

Because I’d wake up to the standard Mornin’ Beautiful, have a good day. I’d spend all day looking at my phone and laughing at the constant stream of goofy snapchats, annoying everyone around me in the otherwise silent part of the library. I’d get a phone call at 10 o’clock sharp every night as I made way back to my apartment that would switch over to a facetime as soon as I was settled on the couch, Netflix on the TV and the love of my life’s face stretched across my computer screen, pixelated and laggy due to crappy wifi.

And every minute spent communicating in any way possible was simultaneously wonderful and heartbreaking. The technology of the present day made it so easy to hear his voice and to see him. But it was the worst thing in the world when I couldn’t come home from a long day and cuddle up with him on the couch or wake up with his arms around me. Technology couldn’t replicate touch. And it fucking sucked.

Someday’s we were both too busy to even get more than a few texts out to each other throughout the week. He was so busy at work and University kept me on my toes at all times. I was constantly writing essays, studying content or writing notes for 40-page readings that half the time the professor didn’t even attempt to cover.

We tried to be patient with each other. I knew he was working double shifts, they were short-staffed at the lumber yard and he was always talking about taking a week off to come visit me once he had enough saved up. He knew I was just as busy. But sometimes we just got agitated, so fed up with how hard it was to be away from each other that we had to lash if we wanted to keep our rule of total and utter honesty.

But we always worked things out in the end. Even if presently things were a little tense.

“Hey baby,” his voice rang through my headphones as I made my way to my next class.

“Hi Mer,” I replied, no doubt looking like an idiot as I smiled to no one.

“Whatcha doin?” He asked, his voice resembling that of a bored child. I knew he had the day off today, they were few and far between. Usually, they landed on a weekend, when we could spend the whole day on facetime, syncing up movies to watch together and enjoying what company we could get out of a computer screen.

“I am currently rushing to my Marketing class,” I say smiling politely at someone who holds the door for me, “which I am currently late for because I lost track of time in the library trying to finish an essay for my next class.”

He whistles lowly, “Busy girl.” he comments and I can hear a familiar tone in his voice. It’s lower than usual, huskier and warm around the edges. Any other time it’d send a rush of heat through me and I’d be finding the nearest private bathroom to indulge in a bit of phone sex but today I was simply too busy.

“Merriell-” I start to warn but he barrels through, completely ignoring me.

“So what'dya say? Wanna be a few more minutes late an’ be a little bad with me?” his tone is teasing, breathy and light.

“You know I can’t.” I huff at him, “The midterm for this class is next week, I really don’t have time to get you off right now.” I wince a little at the tone of my voice, but as I near my class I can’t find it in myself to feel guilty about being short with him.

“Babe,” he whines, “C’mon we haven’t done anything in like a week, I’m dyin’.”

“You’re not.” I deadpan, “Mer, I’m really sorry. I’ll try to make some time this weekend but midterms are coming up and-”

“I know, I know.” he sighs, “You gotta study.”

It’s silent as I stand outside my classroom, not wanting to leave things with this kind of tension but knowing if I don’t head into lecture I will surely pay the consequences.

“I’m sorry,” I say softly, “I gotta go, I love you.”

“Near or far baby.” he replies and despite the tension I know he’s got a smile on his face

The rest of the week carries out more or less the same way. He calls and I’m busy, we hang up and I’m left feeling guilty. But University is demanding and it won’t let me stray away long enough to talk to him for more than ten minutes at a time. I try to compromise, face timing him while I study at home, thinking that just having his presence, even if he sits there silently while I do my thing, will be enough to tie him over until midterms are over. But that doesn’t prove to work well either.

“-Gene and I went out the other day and I swear to god, the poor kid got rejected by every girl in the bar. Not that I’m surprised, y’know Gene, he neva’ did have much game an-”

“Mer,” I sigh exasperated, putting my pen down on the table with an audible thump, “Y’know I love to hear these stories but it’s really distracting and I need to run through this chapter again.” My eyes linger on the pixelated version of his face on my screen, it doesn’t do him any justice. The shitty camera quality of our laptops do nothing to catch the true colour of his eyes or the texture of his hair and Jesus christ I miss him.

“So ya jus’ want me to sit here silently?” he asks, a twinge of annoyance to his voice.

“I mean it’s what you’d be doing if you were here,” I point out, “Look, I just thought that doing this could at least try to mimic us being together since I don’t really have time to do the usual talkative shit.” I rub my temples, feeling a strain just behind my eyes that comes with studying for ongoing seven hours.

“Baby, I know you’re busy. I get it, but Jesus Christ I feel like-” he breaks off with a sigh, looking away from the screen for a second, “This is the most I’ve talked to you in the past two weeks.”

I shake my head lightly, looking around at the mess of papers, textbooks and cue cards that litter my kitchen table, “I don’t know what you want from me right now, Merriell, I’m trying my best.” I insist, running my hands through my greasy, tangled hair.

“I know ya are,” he says, voice rising slightly as his frustrations surface, “I know you’re trying, it’s just I fucking hate this.”

“Hate what Mer?” I question, feeling irritation bubble up inside of me, “Hate that I can’t devote all my time and energy to talking to you?” I’m about to go on, having a list of things to say but he’s having none of my shit tonight.

“Don’t start with that shit,” he glares at me through the screen, “You know I don’t expect that.”

“Well then stop fucking acting like it,” I exclaim, laughing a bit but there’s no humour in it.

“Y/n,” he sighs, running a hand over his face tiredly, “Fuck, why’s this gotta be so fucking hard.” he groans, eyes running over his screen, no doubt taking in my appearance.

My finger lifts from the table, running over the projection of his face on my screen. My heart longs to feel the warmth of his skin under my fingertips, I can hardly remember the feeling of his strong jaw, of the light stubble that builds there after a few days of not shaving. My hands itch to run through his hair, to feel the texture of the curls that are somehow soft and coarse all at once. The worst part of long-distance, I conclude, is not being able to touch.

“I just miss ya so much,” He says softly, and even through the pixels, I can see his eyes soften with sadness.

“I know Mer,” I say compassionately, “I miss you too.”

We sit silently for another few moments, I push away the nagging at the back of my head that screams at me to study, not wanting to risk upsetting him more.

“Maybe I can come visit soon,” he wonders out loud, clicking and typing loudly at his laptop and I know he’s checking his bank statements, “It’s a little tight right now but I wouldn’t starve by any means an’ ‘Gene owes me money anyway I could use for rent-”

“Merriell, no.” I say sadly because as much as I want him to come up, I don’t want him going broke because of it, “We talked about this, you only come up if you can afford to do it without putting yourself in debt.” He opens his mouth to argue so I speak to cut him off, “You’d tell me the same thing.”

He sighs, burying his head in hands. I can see his shoulders are tense, frustration running through every muscle of his body. He takes another minute or two before he looks back up at the screen.

“Yeah, okay.” he says quietly, “I’ll let ya study.”

“You don’t have to go,” I point out weakly, “I know it’s hard for you to be quiet but I’m sure if you made an effort...” it’s a poor attempt at a joke but it gets his lips twitching into a weak smile nonetheless.

“Nah, can’t have my smart girl failing her classes,” He pauses, “Then I couldn’t tease ‘Gene about how fuckin’ stupid he is.”

I huff out a laugh, “Go easy on the poor guy.”

“Never” he replies easily with a cheeky smirk.

I shake my head in amusement, the humour replacing the tension that crossed over us if only for a few moments, it’s welcomed.

“I love you, Mer,” I say softly, “You know that right?”

It feels important that he knows it, that he believes it. Lately, every conversation we’ve had has ended in apologies and I hate that. I hate that we fight so often, I hate that I have to be so far away from him all the time and I fucking hate, even the possibility, that he could think that I don’t love him.

He smiles softly, sadly, “I know baby,” he assures me, “I love you too.”

I sigh, returning my attention back to the textbooks spread across my table. They seem so unimportant right now. The sight of them only reminds me of how terrible of a girlfriend I’ve been lately and the thought of choosing studying over him again makes me sick to my stomach.

“I’ll let ya go.” he says, snapping me out of my trance.

I don’t want him to go. I want to keep talking to him, I want to listen to his stupid stories about Eugene striking out with the ladies and his day at work and I want him to hit on me like he doesn’t already have me wrapped around his finger. I’m so unbelievably exhausted, school draining every last ounce of energy from me and yet still demanding more. I can feel tears pricking behind my eyes at the thought of being alone in my quiet apartment.

“Okay.” I croak, taking a shaky breath and looking away from his image before I really lose it.

“Hey,” he says softly, “You got this baby girl. Just a few more days an’ you’re in the clear.” I nod, chewing a hole in my lip, “we’re gonna get through this, I promise. Near or far, right?”

I nod again, taking a steadying breath before saying our final goodbyes for the night. I know I’m being stupid, he’ll text me within the hour but that doesn’t the aching in my chest when his face disappears from my screen, replaced with the home screen.

Midterms could not end fast enough.

“Cheers,” Chloe says loudly over the noise of the bar surrounding us, holding a shot high above her head, “to what seems like the longest two weeks of our lives. We did it. Through our blood, sweat, and for some of us,” she sends me a pointed look, “a whole lot of tears. But midterms,” she pauses for dramatic effect, keeping us all in a form of amused suspense, “are over!”

The group hoots and hollers and we drown our shots, barely wincing at the harshness of the alcohol against our throats. It’s early, but a lot of us are already well on our way to being drunk. Spring break has officially begun and that means a whole week of binge drinking and ignoring all our upcoming academic responsibilities.

“I didn’t cry that much.” I insist for seemingly the thousandth time.

Chloe laughs loudly, “Oh come on, Y/N.” she pushes my shoulder playfully, “There was hardly a day you didn’t call me in tears because you were behind on studying.”

I pout dramatically, “I was only behind because my idiot boyfriend kept distracting me.”

“He is an idiot,” she agrees, earning herself a slightly too hard punch to the shoulder on my behalf, “Speaking of,” she continues, “How are things with you guys?”

I shrug, rubbing at the condensation on my glass, “We’re fine.” I answer, “He keeps insisting we’re fine anyways. Even though all we’ve done lately is fight about how hard this whole long-distance thing is.” I meet her concerned gaze and shrug again, “It’ll be better now that midterms are over I just...miss him. It’s hard.”

She nods, understanding, “You think you’ll be able to see him soon?”

“I don’t think so.” I say sadly, “All the money I save goes right back into paying for school. He’s trying to save but I think it’ll be a little while yet.”

Midterms kept me busy enough, that it hadn’t really occurred to me how much longer it could be before I could see my boy again. I was so focused on vocabulary, theories and information that will soon be next to useless, I always had something else to contemplate. But now that it’s all over I’m hit with the unfortunate reality that it could be months before I see him again. And the mere thought of that makes my heartache.

“God Chloe, I don’t know what I’m gonna do,” I whine, pouting dramatically.

A small, kind of sly smile creeps over her lips and her eyes glimmer with mischief, “Is that so?”

Her voice sounds teasing and I’m left feeling like I’m the last one in on a joke. I take in the table around me and notice that all my friends are staring at me, giddy with excitement. My brow crumples in confusion and I look back at Chloe, who is practically bursting at the seams, phone pointed and aimed towards me.

“What are you doing?” I question, narrowing my eyes at her.

“Turn around,” she says simply.

I do what she says, turning around in my seat to address the scene behind me and I can’t believe my eyes. Standing in the middle of the bar is an all too familiar figure with unruly curls and sea-green eyes.

The next thing I know, I’ve thrown myself out of the chair and across the bar floor, all but tackling him. His arms wrap tightly around me, we spin and my senses are enveloped in everything that is so undeniably Merriell. I can hear him laughing in my ear, deep and throaty, can feel his arm around my waist, his hand in my hair and his lips on my forehead, mumbling soft words that I can’t hear over the cheering of my friends and drunk bystanders. My fingers clench in his loose-fitting t-shirt desperately, as if I were to let him go he’d disappear. I’m not aware of the tears running down my cheeks until he tilts my head up to gently wipe them away.

“Baby, why you cryin’?” he teases, kissing the tip of my nose softly.

I let out a wet laugh and shake my head, unable to do anything other than stare up at him admiringly for a moment. I take in a shaky breath, “You’re such an asshole.” it’s said without heat and he beams down at me, placing soft kisses on my lips.

He maneuvers us back to our table, where he greets Chloe and introduces himself to my friends. I’m faintly aware of everything around me that isn’t him, not quite grasping the fact that this is real, he’s here and not hundreds of miles away in a whole other state.

“What are you doing here?” I finally ask, my thoughts having settled in my head much in the same way I have settled sideways on his lap, arms wrapped around his neck.

He looks at me with a smile, eyes soft, “Honestly, I jus’ couldn’t wait any longer.”

The group ‘aw’s and I am helpless to do anything but lean in to kiss him.

The rest of the night we drink, dance and for the first time months, I feel light and happy. Hardly a moment goes by where we’re not touching each other in some way. It had been too long since we’ve felt the warmth of each other’s bodies against one another, his hands on my hips, mine on his chest. It felt so surreal to have him near again. He was just as obnoxious and loud as I remembered him being and I wouldn’t have it any other way. We had pissed off the rest of the bar while dancing. A familiar jazz tune came on and Merriell had tugged me to the dance floor, attempting to teach me a form of swing dancing that I was 99% certain wasn’t even a thing. Chloe had finally managed to get us to leave, but not after he had managed to nearly get us thrown out for public indecency. Totally his fault, he can’t expect to kiss me like that and not expect me to want to jump his bones.

The memories of last night come filtering back to me, much like the sunlight that finds its way into the room through my curtains. My eyes flutter open and my senses slowly come back to me. The feeling of soft blankets around my body, the warm skin of his chest beneath my cheek, a hand resting limply on my waist and our legs tangled with each other. His chest rises and falls slowly, mouth parted ever so slightly as he sleeps deeply. I shift on my stomach to watch him, taking in every detail I had forgotten over time. The way his fingers twitch restlessly in his sleep, how his muscles clench ever so slightly as I run my fingers across his abdomen. I missed waking up to him like this. He looks at peace and I can’t help but wonder if he sleeps this good when we’re apart.

He breathes in deeply suddenly, face scrunching against the offending sunlight. His arm tightens around my waist, pulling me impossibly closer as his other hand rubs the sleep away from his face. He hums softly, a sleepy smile spreading across his features as his eyes flutter open and meet mine.

“Mornin’” he murmurs.

I feel a grin split across my face as I admire his handsome features in the morning light, “Good morning.”

“I missed this.” He sighs, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

I hum in agreement, leaning into his touch, “me too.”

We stay like that for a while. His arms around me, my fingers dancing across his skin, the room just slightly too warm to be pressed so close but neither of us willing to move away from the other just yet. I don’t know how long he’s staying, how long it’ll be before we see each other again after this and yet I find myself reluctant to bring up the conversation, afraid to shatter the perfect moment we’ve created.

“Could stay like this forever,” I say instead, softly, a tinge of sadness and longing to my voice.

He hums softly, a hand coming up to run through my hair, gently brushing away any knots with his fingers, “About that...”

I pull away, pushing myself up and away from his body to look at him. I feel anxiety begin to bubble in the pit of my stomach at the uncharacteristic bashfulness on his face.

“What?” I ask softly, searching his face for any clues.

His eyes run over my features silently, lip drawn between his teeth as he debates how to bring up the mysterious subject.

“I may have done somethin..” he hesitates, “kind of stupid.”

My mind runs to a million and ten different possibilities, every one worse than the last. My entire body runs tight. But it seems to focus on one possibility in particular and just the thought of it makes me sick to my stomach. I’ve heard too many long-distance relationships gone wrong because of drunken loneliness and one night stands and ‘she’ll never have to know’s and I can practically hear him say it in my haze of overthinking.

I cheated on you.

“I sold my apartment.”

I blink. My mouth opens and shuts and I’m at a loss for words because I don’t know what this conversation is going to be. I silently chastise myself for jumping to a conclusion so drastic. Confusion swarms me as I take in how absolutely nervous he is.

“Okay,” I say slowly, trying desperately to grasp what the underlying meaning is, “Why?” I ask eventually.

His lips twitch into a bashful smile, looking out the window briefly before crossing his legs and sitting closer to me, taking my hand in his.

“Well,” he starts, looking back up at me with soft eyes, “Because lately New Orleans’ hasn’t really felt like home.” Something clicks in my brain and I have to force myself to contain my excitement, just in case I’m wrong, “So the stupid thing was selling my place before comin’ here and askin’ you this but..” he trails off and he looks so nervous and absolutely adorable that I have to restrain myself from kissing him silly.

“What would ya think about us movin’ in togetha’? Here?”

A small laugh escapes my lips and I can’t hold myself back anymore, practically tackling him back onto the mattress, kissing him passionately. A grin on my part breaks our kiss.

“I would fucking love that.”

A slow smile spreads across his lips like he truly can’t believe that I agreed and I’m helpless to do anything other than kiss him again.

“Thank God,” he sighs into my mouth, “‘Cause I got ‘Gene on standby ready to ship all my shit over here,” he says in between kisses.

My heart sores. Never again will we have to resort to weekly facetime calls just to see each other’s face. Never again will I forget the warmth of his body against mine and never again will I have to face heartbreaking longing that I feel when he’s not with me.

My hand cups his jaw and rubs my thumb over his cheekbone, “I love you so damn much, Merriell Shelton.” I say hopelessly.

He beams at me, rubbing our noses together softly and muttering the phrase that, to us, means unconditional love.

“Near or far.”

A/N: AND THAT IT!!! Feedback is welcome or seriously if y’all ever wanna just spam my inbox with Snafu love I am totally here for it.

#Merriell Shelton #Merriell Snafu Shelton #merriell shelton x reader #merriell shelton/reader #snafu #Snafu Shelton #snafu x reader #snafu shelton x reader #the pacific #fluff

70 notes · View notes

lightsandlostbells · 5 years

Note

so, overall, what did you think of season 3 of stranger things?

It took me a while to answer this question because I had to sort out how I felt about this season! I guess if I had to narrow it down to an overall opinion: enjoyable, but very messy. Had some of the series’ best moments but also, while I was watching, I had far more grumbles and gripes than the previous two seasons.

I’ve never really been hung up on whether this show is derivative or plays too into nostalgia or w/e. Plenty of media does that. And despite all the time I’ve spent dissecting micro-expressions and weighty silences in European teen dramas that are filmed for the cost of a candy bar … I am way into genre films and TV shows. I love monsters and superheroes and spectacle! I watched Stranger Things the weekend it premiered because I love ‘80s movies about kids on bikes having adventures, I eat that shit up. So I don’t expect this show to be a hardcore deconstruction and re-imagining of those tropes (though that sounds like a pretty great show), I’m fine with it being what it is: a solid, spooky sci-fi/horror throwback series. What matters most is whether the story and characters work. Personally, I would say whatever criticisms you can make of S1 and S2, they had heart, and unfortunately I think some of that heart was missing from S3. Much of that, IMO, comes from sidelining some of the familial relationships that were at the center of the narrative in S1 and S2, like the Byers family and Hopper & Eleven, and to some degree the important friendships like the party, although there were other friendships introduced in this season so that wasn’t as glaring. It’s not a surprise that one of the best-received parts about this season, Steve and Robin’s friendship, is also responsible for one of the most heartfelt scenes Stranger Things has ever done.

There was also a way larger emphasis on comedy in S3. Comedy is probably my favorite genre, and I did laugh at a lot of humorous moments in this season. But I also felt like there was more comedy for comedy’s sake, like long sequences created intentionally to make the audience laugh. Whereas in S1 and S2, I can’t remember any scenes like that? The comedy was more understated and came from character personalities and relationship moments rather than joke set pieces. That’s perhaps another reason why S3 felt like it had less heart.

My hope for season 4 - and I am assuming there is a season 4, because apparently this show did mega ratings for S3 - is that they don’t add more major new characters (except love interests for the gay characters, go ahead with those, lol) and instead focus on the existing cast, which is already a very strong ensemble, yet many of the characters have gotten pushed to the sides. I would love if they added to the episode count: a lot of Netflix series drag out their seasons, like they have enough story for 10 episodes but have to stretch it out to 13, but Stranger Things has the opposite problem. I feel like if they had 10 (or 11, ha) episodes they could have more time for breather moments and more space for character arcs. This season was really fast-paced in my opinion, and although that’s a positive in many respects, I missed a lot of the down time.

Also, I think every season has taken place over like a week maximum, not including the epilogues, and like … you can make the story last longer than a week! Not everything has to go to hell in like a day or two.

Some more specific opinions underneath, obviously lots of spoilers.

First of all, I gotta say, I feel like a weirdo, because so many of the reviews for this season are like A RETURN TO FORM AFTER A DISAPPOINTING SECOND SEASON and UP THERE WITH SEASON 1 NOT THAT CRAPPY SEASON 2 THAT NO ONE LIKED and uhhhh … I liked season 2 just fine? It’s probably my favorite. There are things I don’t like about it, but the stuff I love is stuff I really, really love. Hopper and Eleven’s relationship, for instance. Steve and Dustin teaming up and Steve Harrington becoming a guardian to four children. Those are not just great elements to the series, but directions that I think only a second season could have taken - Hopper and Eleven’s bond wouldn’t have had half the weight if they weren’t established as traumatized, broken people in S1. Steve Harrington becoming a babysitter would not be nearly so delightful if we had not known him as the popular douchebag stereotype from S1 - if he were just a cool dude hanging out with kids from the get-go, the impact wouldn’t be as great. After S1 used Will Byers as a MacGuffin in S1, S2 gave Will a much larger role and that little actor acted his ass off. His performance generated a lot of genuine suspense and chills. There was Sean Astin being lovable! Paul Reiser’s character being a surprisingly good guy! Yeah, there are big flaws in the season, and you can argue it’s too much of a repeat of S1, but to me it was a version of S1 that made the characters more specific and interesting. I’m just … genuinely baffled by how it’s supposed to be demonstrably worse than the others. Because of the Kali episode? I didn’t think that one was terrible, either. I think it broke up the momentum of the chaos at Hawkins Lab, and Kali’s friends were obnoxious, it’s certainly not the greatest writing of the series, but as a whole the episode is like. Fine. It’s fine. It’s mediocre, not atrocious. It’s not the worst thing ever. It doesn’t ruin anything about the story or direction or the series. Most importantly it’s easy to ignore or skip on a rewatch if you don’t like it. The backlash was way overblown.

My biggest disappointment with season 3 was Hopper. Whaaaaaaat. Whaaaat did they dooooo.

Hopper in previous seasons is a flawed, messed-up human being, but I always knew where he was coming from. When he yelled at Eleven in S2, I still got why he did it. In this season he felt cartoonish. The overprotective paternalistic dad trope is annoying BUT I might have been less bothered had they connected it more to Eleven’s lack of experience with the world, less RAWRRRR KEEP BOYS AWAY FROM MY GIRL. Or if Hopper had not demonstrated like, actual rage toward Mike and we just saw him fuming about it to himself or venting to Joyce, if he was trying to keep that shit under control. (I did laugh at him singing “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim” in the car, I gotta admit.)

But his attitude toward Joyce was what really bummed me out. I’m not into this show for shipping reasons, but I low-key enjoyed the possibility of Joyce and Hopper hooking up based on previous seasons. This season felt like they were writing a completely different dynamic for them, one that was much more aggressively obnoxious. I think their intentions were clear - they were going for a Sam-and-Diane relationship, something that was referenced early on in the Bob flashback - but the problem is that their relationship was not like that at all in S1 and S2. When I think of Joyce and Hopper from those seasons, I think about him supporting her after Bob died, or listening to her concerns about her son, or working together to find Will. They didn’t have this combative dynamic! Frankly watching giant-ass Hopper yell at tiny Joyce was viscerally unpleasant. (Side note but in the first trailer there was a shot of Hopper running at the Fun Fair with someone else who I assumed was Eleven, but no, turned out to be Joyce, Winona Ryder is just that tiny next to David Harbour.)

Also, considering this season ended with his death (and we all know he’s not really dead but OK) it’s such a waste that there were few Hopper&Eleven moments! Only the finale brought some quality content on that front. But otherwise their relationship was out of sight, out of mind for almost the whole season, which wasn’t a great choice, both to maximize the emotional impact of the ending, and to expand upon their situation post-S2. I mean, it’s been months since then, how has their relationship changed now? Hopper’s letter talked about the stuff he enjoyed doing with his daughter - why didn’t we see any of that on screen this season? It could’ve helped with the Mike angle, too, like show Hopper and Eleven watching TV together and laughing and having a good time, and then the phone rings and it’s Mike and suddenly Hopper’s watching TV alone as Eleven’s now focused on her boyfriend, we see his disappointment, etc.

Scoops Troop - Now they were a delight. They had such a ludicrous story but for the most part it worked due to the characters playing off each other and because the writing/acting/directing embraced the silliness.

Steve Harrington is easily one of the best characters on this show. I fucking love that guy. He’s consistently entertaining, he’s had possibly the best character growth out of anyone in the series, he’s evolved from a stock ‘80s asshole stereotype into someone who’s funny and sympathetic and likable. He’s this amazing blend of the ridiculous with the heroic. Steve and Dustin were great together, as they were last season, and I’m cackling that Steve acquired YET ANOTHER CHILD under his supervision without even trying. But the MVP of the season was the Steve & Robin friendship. Holy shit do I love that relationship. Holy SHIT.

Robin herself is a terrific new character, smart and funny and once you know she’s half-Uma, you can’t unsee it. I was loving her already and then the bathroom scene happened and I YELLED. I was so utterly overjoyed. If they had made Steve and Robin hook up, honestly … I would’ve been fine with it, like this show doesn’t need more heterosexual romance but at least they had a fun dynamic, but man, the friendship angle was so so superior. It’s a type of relationship that media is lacking, and the specific circumstances of this friendship made it genuinely moving to me. I keep wanting to write like a meta post devoted to just this relationship because I just have so many emotions about it! But they play well off each other as a comedic duo and as an odd couple friendship, and they’re really what each other needs, IMO. Steve needed this close friendship more than he needed a girlfriend; in this season he’s clearly adrift and we’ve seen the kind of shitty friends he had in like season one, is Dustin the best pal he had at this point? And I love Steve & Dustin but Steve needed a good friend his own age. Robin is a lesbian in small-town Indiana in the ‘80s, and she was clearly full of fear that Steve would hate her if he knew, and for him to accept her so easily, not even making a big deal about it? That’s kind of life-saving, really. I can’t wait to see more of them, if Netflix wants to make the half-hour Clerks-esque spinoff about them working in a video store and shooting the shit, I would be 100% down for that.

I have some mixed feelings about Erica because I think she could have benefited from getting the same humanization as the other kids (and I’m going to leave the discussion of racial tropes gently by the side at the moment but … yeah). The other child characters are played more like actual people with vulnerabilities, which has been part of the show’s appeal since the first season, and Erica was more like the sitcom kid who always has a snarky quip ready; however, she did make me laugh and I like that they tapped into her being a nerd, I wish they’d explore that in future seasons with the character. “I’m ten, you bald bastard” was one of my favorite lines of the season, I lost my goddamn mind.

Billy - Lmao, so Billy in S2 was the woooorst. This dude had ZERO redeeming qualities. His abusive dad creates a smidgen of sympathy, I guess, but Billy goes so far beyond normal teenage assholery that it didn’t make a dent in my opinion of him. You can redeem someone like Steve Harrington, first of all because Steve actually feels regret and works to correct his mistakes, but Steve also didn’t go to a point of no return in the first place. Billy did, for me. Physically and verbally abusing his younger sister? Attacking a black middle-schooler for the crime of being in the same room as his white sister? What a piece of shit.

With that in mind - I have no problem focusing on him as a villain this season, I really don’t. It justifies his inclusion in S2 other than as a human antagonist who’s ultimately not really connected to the main plot, as it retrospectively establishes him as an even greater threat in this season. I also think the actor did a good job with the material he was given. However, ultimately this dude’s arc was underwhelming. The thing is … I can tell they were trying to show Billy struggling with the Mind Flayer, but Billy is so lacking in any positive qualities that it’s kind of like, where does that struggle even come from? Yeah, even the worst people aren’t going to be wild about having a monster from another dimension hijack your body and use it to collect people for spare parts, but this is the same dude who was about to run over Mike, Lucas, and Dustin on their bikes last season for absolutely no reason. He beat Steve to point of unconsciousness and could’ve put him in the hospital. He assaulted Lucas. So I really need some evidence of Billy’s moral compass because it is not inherent and there’s in fact plenty of evidence that it doesn’t exist. I’m not very enthusiastic about redeeming a racist, abusive creep, but I also think if you’re going to go for him helping Eleven at the end … you have to show some current potential for goodness, not just “used to be a nice kid.”

A really glaring omission: the lack of any family/home scenes with him, Max, and their parents this season. We left off last season with Max telling him to leave her and her friends alone. How is their relationship since then? Is there still a lot of friction? Is there a tense peace? Has their relationship improved in any way? We really needed to see that follow-up. I get that Max crying over Billy this season makes sense in that he’s still her family and we can still have love for those who hurt us … but I also feel that we needed something between them to justify her pain, like even just the potential of their relationship being a fraction better, or the suggestion that Billy used to be OK to Max before he went full asshole. And I think we really needed to see Billy’s dad being currently abusive in this season - tbh, missed opportunity that the dad didn’t get flayed like, out of revenge (which would have been both satisfying and horrifying), missed opportunities for suspense when we think Billy might serve up Max and her mom to the Mind Flayer, etc.

Another missed opportunity: drawing parallels between Billy and Will. Both are possessed by the Mind Flayer. Both had shitty dads calling them homophobic slurs. Both could be read as gay (I’m not hungry to claim Billy as LGBT representation or invested in this interpretation but his scenes with Steve in S2 admittedly have that sweaty homoerotic dick-measuring vibe, if you want to take it there). Their names are both William, FFS. The difference is that Will is a sweet and gentle kid surrounded by loving family and friends who fought to save him, and Billy is a violent, cruel dude who probably doesn’t have any real friends, just shallow connections. You could show how the Mind Flayer could more easily possess and manipulate someone like Billy, but that wasn’t really explored.

Also, is anyone going to dwell on the fact that like … Max is living with an abusive man as her stepfather? He’s shown hurting Billy’s mom. Does that not concern anyone that he is very likely to attack either Max or her mom?

Oh, and thank God they didn’t take the Billy/Karen thing all the way. In retrospect, even weirder considering Billy’s mommy issues.

Joyce - I get that it’s a big leap downward in emotional investment to go from “must save my son” to “fucking magnets, how do they work” but I liked that she had her own investigation that wasn’t full of emotional turmoil. Winona forever.

Mike - Everyone is ragging on him but I think he was less terrible than people are making him out to be. He was bratty in a teenage way, but he wasn’t the worst kid ever. I didn’t take his now notorious line to Will (“It’s not my fault you don’t like girls”) as something intentionally cruel or homophobic, just something that came out wrong and that he instantly regretted, and he and Lucas did seem genuinely apologetic over the D&D game and went over to Will’s in the rain out of concern. And the reason he lied to Eleven was because SCARY ASS HOPPER threatened him??? Also, his concern over Eleven overexerting herself was not misplaced, lmao! It really took that long for anyone to go, “Hey, should we be worried about the amount of blood coming out of her nose? Should we be concerned about the effects on her brain?” Sure, Eleven has the final say in whether or not she uses her powers, but tbh… she didn’t have a normal upbringing and her view of her powers is probably skewed. Like, would Eleven have enough basic medical knowledge to be worried about brain damage or nosebleeds, or would that just be the norm to her? Is she making these decisions with a full grasp of the potential consequences? Anyway, I don’t have a more negative opinion of Mike after this season.

Eleven - I loved Eleven a lot in this season. I don’t know if it did a ton for her character arc, but it’s nice to see her slowly develop into more of a normal girl. And the season was rough for her in terms of getting her ass kicked, she goes through so much mental and physical pain! In the end she loses her dad and her powers!

Of course one of the bright spots was her and Max becoming friends! Not gonna lie, there was something a little … simplistic about some of that depiction of friendship for me - just that so much of it was SHOPPING and GIGGLING and BOY TALK, girls being GIRLS, when Max has been portrayed as a tomboy and Eleven is a telekinetic kid raised in a lab, that maybe their interactions shouldn’t have fit the mold quite so much - but it doesn’t truly bother me because they were so sweet and fun. I loved them tracking down Billy together and I appreciate that their friendship carried throughout the season, that Max was the person shown carrying an injured Eleven along with Mike, Eleven comforted Max after Billy died, etc. That was a definite sore spot of S2, the girl-on-girl jealousy and Eleven flat-out rejecting Max’s friendly introduction, and I do think they took that feedback into account for the better here. I also like that Eleven was clearly taking cues from Max, the more “worldly” of the two about boys and clothes and teenage attitudes in general - it gave their friendship a more specific shape.

I cannot WAIT to see her living with the Byers family next season. Like if they don’t spend significant time on that dynamic, it will be the biggest disappointment. There could be 8 episodes of just boring mundane Byers domestic scenes and I would love it, please inject it into my eyeballs, Duffer bros. I want to see her bonding with all of them, trying to fit in at school, attempting the most normal life she’s ever had. Also lmao, she and Will can finally have a goddamn conversation??? I hope they’ve been withholding that relationship because they were planning to go all out with those new sibling vibes in S4. They are the two characters who have been most traumatized by the Upside Down, we deserve to see them connect.

On that note, I have a lot of thoughts about Will in this season! Mainly - underused as FUCK. After all that trauma of being possessed by the Mind Flayer last season, they barely utilize this connection in the second half of S3. Even his Spidey sense hardly came in handy??? Now that was really weird, IMO, because the least they could do was have that feeling alert the others or be useful, but lmao it was practically pointless.

It’s weird because I’m not sure if they just don’t know what to do with Will if he’s not being a victim (which is stupid because there’s plenty you could do with him), but at the same time, he has one of the most poignant subplots of the season. From the reactions I’ve seen, Will feeling rejected and left out as his friends move on really resonated with a lot of viewers. But then this thread is abandoned after episode 3, for the most part. Will cries and destroys the place that represents his childhood, a place that was created specifically in response to trauma (mentioned in S2 that he and Jonathan built it after their dad left), this is very rich emotional territory … and then the show’s just like ehhhhhh moving on. He’s just hanging out in the background and touching his neck for the rest of the season.

And now I gotta talk about that other thing with Will.

I am so confused by what the Duffer brothers are trying to accomplish with Will’s sexuality, because on the one hand it seems like they have a really clear idea about it and on the other hand they’re just like¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The thing is … it seems very obvious they have always thought of Will as gay. This is blatant from the original pitch from the show as well as one of the S2 scripts (the only one that’s available publicly, so who knows what else they’ve written). I accept that people have different interpretations, but The Line this season is far from the only textual support for Will being gay, and I think it makes for a much, much stronger narrative if you read Will as gay in addition to not wanting to grow up as fast as his friends and being stunted from trauma - that is an entire meta post in itself, though.

What gets me about the ~ambiguity is that the Duffer brothers planted the gay hints in the first place! They are absolutely not there by accident! Like I’m not speaking for the teenage actors but lmao, the adults involved in the writing and directing of this series absolutely fucking knew how that “not my fault you don’t like girls” scene would be interpreted, especially considering fans were debating Will’s sexuality from the beginning, based off the many homophobic comments leveled at him in S1. There have been TV shows where fans latched onto gay “subtext” that was likely unintentional, but this isn’t one of them.

IDK, man, it’d just be nice to have some confidence in where this is going. I loved Robin and the bathroom scene made me think that yeah, they might do a decent job with Will’s sexuality, something I might have doubted before. Under no circumstances do I expect a Skam S3-style coming out arc for Will, but I’m also uncertain if I should expect anything from the show on this front at all or if they’ll play it coy to the bitter end. Though I guess I’d still take the ambiguity over giving him a female love interest after everything. Lol, that would be a giant oh-fuck-no.

Real talk, though, let’s discuss what an utter waste it would be to not write a scene where Joyce tenderly accepts her son when he comes out to her. You really aren’t going to bring that instantly iconic moment to life, assholes? You’re not going to provide that for Winona Ryder’s and Noah Schnapp’s Emmy reels? MAKE IT HAPPEN, BASTARDS.

Nancy and Jonathan have a reputation for the most boring plots but they’re fine, w/e. I’m not deeply invested in their romance but I don’t want to fast forward their scenes or anything. Nancy is an underrated character; she’s extremely proactive and always has been, and I enjoy watching her shoot things. I think the best thing they could do for both characters, though, is to separate them next season, not just physically but storyline-wise. Jonathan would be best in a subplot involving his family, because he’s at his most likable as a son and brother, and Nancy should either go off with Mike (a sibling relationship that is VASTLY undeveloped), or she should team up with Robin. I mean it, Nancy and Robin would be a power pairing, let me show you my manifesto. Both are smart young women who are good at solving mysteries. Would Robin think Nancy is a priss after Nancy unloads several rounds into the latest demogorgon chasing them? Would Nancy find Robin a refreshing alternative to the crushing suburban conformity that she claims to want to avoid? Oh, the possibilities. Meanwhile, Steve tags along in the background, all like OH SHIT, my lesbian BFF and my ex-girlfriend are in cahoots!

Lucas and Max were playing relationship counselors to Mike and Eleven through much of the season. Max still had a fair amount to do, but Lucas needs a meatier subplot next time. I feel like they’re not sure what to do with him? I would like to see him and Erica interact more since their dynamic so far is one-note.

There is one hell of a conversation to be had about the Evil Russians of this season, but I’m really not the person to do it.

Also about the depiction of capitalism this season. That’s more thinkpiece-y than I am equipped to do right now.

The product placement is something that should bother me more but I’m just like … shrug. Except that New Coke bit because that was an actual mood-breaker.

Could have done without Russian Terminator guy. That was a blatant ‘80s homage so I get why he was there, he just wasn’t all that interesting. And was that guy supposed to be superpowered or something? Was he getting jacked on Upside Down steroids??? What was his deal???

Alexei/Murray was the true OTP of the season, let’s be real.

The trend of lovable, doomed minor characters continued with Alexei. Props to that actor for making you root for the guy. He even made me kind of love Murray? I was very WTF over that guy encouraging two teenagers to fuck in S2, and I’m still not into his habit of telling people to bang even when they’re adults, but I guess he just needed a sympathetic Russian buddy to win me over.

There were a ton of moments where I felt like the characters made stupid choices as opposed to earlier seasons. Will getting dragged into the Upside Down in the first 10 minutes of the series is an impressive example of a horror movie character doing everything right and making good decisions - a 12-year-old, no less. And he was still overpowered by the demogorgon so it’s not like making good decisions will always save you! Whereas this season I was like LORD some of these characters are drinking dumbass juice.

There was also so much silly stuff happening, like things that are even more far-fetched than previous seasons, but I just kind of went with it. Yeah, of course there’s a secret Russian base under a shopping mall. Sure.

This season is objectively disgusting in terms of gore and yet I was fine with it? And I’m someone who was repulsed by Barb’s corpse in S1. The Mind Flayer being made of people was some nasty shit but effective horror. I felt bad for the poor little rats :( Oh, and the flayed humans, too. Some of them. Was sad to see Mrs. Driscoll bite it but FUCK those cartoon misogynists from the newspaper.

Visually beautiful! Starcourt Mall is an amazing set and I’m rather sad that the mall was destroyed, although that was basically a foregone conclusion. Some great cinematography, too. On a purely aesthetic level I had a great time just blasting this season into my retinas.

I have had the motherfucking NeverEnding Story theme song in my head for almost two weeks and I’m suffering.

#lillypedalsxx #replies #stranger things #also they referenced my university this season so i dug that thx 4 the shoutout

27 notes · View notes

venus-says · 4 years

Text

Kamen Rider W Episodes 37-49

Why are endings always so hard to go through?

And we finally reach the final stretch of W. This was way faster than I imagined, I can't believe I managed to pull this off, I'm so happy.

This final third of the show was, as expected, the final arc. But different from other series I'm used to watch this one had a "finale" vibe to it through-out all thirteen episodes. Right from episode 37, we were already hit by a rock saying "the end is near" and things were slowly progressing and escalating until the end.

Before I talk about the positives of this arc let me discuss a few of my problems with it.

The first one is pretty minor, I was just disappointed that they introduced a villain who had an awesome design but she lost right away and we didn't get to spend time with her. My second complaint is again pretty minor, it's not a problem of the arc itself and more with the show and how in order to make Ryu seem smart they immediately transform Shotaro on a dumb person which isn't fully truthful to his character.

The next complaint is the first major one. I don't like how they've built the Sonozaki family through the entire season, just to shove them aside in the last two episodes and changed them for a less charismatic villain we know nothing about. I've mentioned this before and I'll say it again, the Sonozakis are very good villains and I do care for them (excluding Shroud) they're very charismatic characters, and better than that they're very charismatic villains! I really liked Ryubee, he could easily be the final boss of the season (like they were building him to be), he was very powerful, he had a strong presence as a dopant and an even stronger magnetism in his civilian form, and they even had something that could've been very interesting to see being played on a final battle. But no, let's change them for this Foundation X, a group of people we know nothing about and have no attachment towards to so that we can weaken this finale.

My final major complaint, and the biggest one of all, is how this show had a perfect ending in episode 48, but they had to ruin it with this epilogue where they revert the boldest decision they've made for the ending in exchange of... I don't even know what. Yes, is sad that Shotaro now is on his own, and it would be awkward for this show to end without one of its main protagonists. HOWEVER, this weakens all actions from the episode prior. If they wanted to make an epilogue it would've been better if they showcased how Shotaro has been coping with Phillip's death, we should have seen Wakana "reformed" and trying to do good in name of the brother that gave his life for her. You wanna make Phillip appear? Put him on a dream, put him as a hallucination of Shotaro while he's sad looking at the sunset wondering what to do, have Wakana somehow connect with him in the library. There are so many options, they didn't need to go by the easy route and revive Phillip.

Thankfully this show isn't just bad moments, and while these points I gave are for sure a problem on my eyes, I can't deny that this arc did a lot of great things that more than compensate for these flaws.

To begin the pace is pretty good, I think this part was the one that did the best regarding the "MOTW Cases" because, as isolated as some of these were, in every episode we could see things moving forward as we would slowly see new revelations happening that would eventually converge in the end. I especially like how the thing that would serve as a match to give start to the final battle would come to the boys' knowledge from a client dropping a case, it seems very simple but I still love this touch.

I also like how in this third act we could see a little bit of development happening for most people on both sides of this coin. Yeah, sadly the protagonists took the shorter end of this stick this time, but the villains had a compelling arc and the side characters also got something. Like, heck they even managed to give Jinno, someone who has been more or less just a comic relief character at this point, some love, this deserves to be praised. And as much as I have problems with the final three episodes I can't deny that the ending was very good and emotional, and they also found a way to redeem all members of the Sonozaki family and to me that was a huge plus because, if it hasn't been clear, I really like them.

The designs for this part were also great. The dopants were more hit or miss visually, Grasshopper, Old, and Utopia are probably the better ones, but they all had very interesting powers that elevated them to higher levels. Wakana (or I should say Clay Doll?) got an Xtreme form and I really loved the design because it reminded of Taboo which I think is my favorite girl of this season. Saeko also got a new form by using the Nasca memory and she looked amazing in it! I also L O V E the "dragon" Terror can summon to attack, it looks dope and it's super powerful, amazing. We didn't get any new power-up forms during this part but it was really exciting to see Kamen Rider Joker becoming a thing.

I feel like I haven't talked as much this time, but this comes from a place of joy. I was enjoying this final arc so much that I didn't take as many notes as I usually do, so I don't have many strong opinions on the huge positives. Still, I wanna take a moment to highlight the few episodes that got me wanting to sleep because I didn't like them.

Episodes 39 and 40 are very important because this cycle is where Wakana gets her power-up. Sadly this plot comes with an attachment that is very awkward, being the stupid movie the Gene dopant wanted to do. This was without a doubt the lowest point of this batch of episodes, Akiko was annoying, the dopant was lifeless, and the movie they were shooting was just awful. I couldn't care about ANYTHING this plot was going for, I think this was supposed to be Akiko's closing episode but, as I mentioned in the previews post, she doesn't have an arc, she never did, so her "ending" felt shallow.

Episodes 43 and 44 are the Ryu's arc closing episodes. This was more successful than Akiko's one, but as I said, the fact they make Shotaro look bad in order to have Ryu looking good is a big downside to me. Also somehow now Ryu is super special, he has a power we never have seen or knew about before. And to top that off they once again wanna throw the Ryu x Phillip rider idea, and just like the last time Phillip was willing to do it which yall know, I HATE. Yes, this time Shotaro had been transformed into an elderly and transforming with him wasn't the best option, but we really didn't need to see this stupid plot again.

And that was basically it. I thought I would come out of this with a big lesson learned as what you usually expect from shows like this and that I would be able to dissert on that lesson as a way to conclude this post. But W was more emotional and character-driven than what I'm used to and I'm kinda thrown off, but not in a bad way. This show made me feel things, intense things, just by seeing those characters that I grew to love interacting, rather than having a clear "good message" they were trying to convey and that was easy to grasp, and I don't really know how to translate these emotions I'm feeling. But I'm actually really glad, this is something new for me and it's very exciting, I can't wait to see what the next seasons are going to throw at me and if I'm gonna be this mess by the end of each one of them. XD

When I started this, I wasn't planning on watching the movies since there's a whole bunch of them and they seem pretty messy to get into. But I've done a little bit of research and apparently W has 3 solo movies that don't really connect with other season and just expand this world so I'll be giving Kamen Rider W Forever and the two Return movies a chance before I start the next season and depending on how much I have to say about them I may or may not make a post about this week, but this ain't a promise so don't keep your expectations high.

Now, this is really the end. Thanks to everyone who stayed with me on his journey and I hope I can count on you to keep me company for the rest of this project. I'll see you all next week with the first few episodes of OOO, bye bye~.

#Kamen Rider W #kamen rider

5 notes · View notes

emoboijk · 5 years

Text

MYG | Lo-Fi Beats (01)

Lo-Fi: an aesthetic of recorded music in which the sound quality is lower than the usual contemporary standards so that imperfections of the recording and production are audible.—fluff, angst, idol!au

prologue :: 01 :: 02 :: 03 :: 04 :: 05 :: 06 :: epilogue

1,571 words

p.cred

Yoongi winced, holding the steaming cup of hot chocolate away from him as if it could bite. “It’s hot,” he whined.

“Yeah,” you giggled, sipping at your own cup tentatively. He glared at you playfully before looking out at the river. The peace lasted nearly a minute before he wiggled against the cool seat of the bench.

“It’s cold,” he grumbled, “Why are we out here? Is Namjoon rubbing off on you?”

You rolled your eyes, “If he’s rubbing off on me it can only be a good thing. Besides, hot chocolate is better in the cold.”

“Fuck no, it isn’t,” Yoongi grumbled, taking a sip of his cocoa anyway.

“Also because you needed a break from the studio.”

He didn’t argue, he didn’t shoot back at you with a witty comment, he just sighed and took another drink of his cocoa, enjoying the sun and even the cold and especially your company. It felt good to stretch his legs and breathe fresh air, or any air really that didn’t smell like old coffee and stale laundry.

Your phone buzzed against your side and you pulled it out to check. Yoongi, feeling more comfortable now, adjusting to the outside world, pressed himself into your side to read over your shoulder.

“Who’s Beomseok?” he squinted down at the small Hangul lettering like an interrogator at a criminal.

You smiled slightly, coughing almost awkwardly so that a puff of air appeared in front of your face, your cheeks going pink. A pang of jealousy hit Yoongi’s chest like an arrow.

“He’s just this new security guy at BigHit that Minji has a crush on,” you shook your head, “She falls so easily,” you mused, a laugh developing in your throat at the foolish antics of your best friend.

Yoongi smiled, relaxing back into the bench and drinking his cocoa smugly.

“So,” you grinned, turning to face him, “Have you written me a song today?”

Yoongi shrugged, smirking because this was his favorite game, “I don’t know, I’d have to be in my studio to tell you.”

“Not fair,” you whined, hitting his chest lightly, but smiling nonetheless, “Min Yoongi you promised me when we were six you’d write a song for me every day.”

“Being with you is writing a song for you,” he said. A pause. A desperate scramble in his pockets, the scratching of ink against his paper cup. A muttered, “I’m going to use that.”

You shook your head, smiling as you pushed your hair out of your eyes and sipped your cocoa, pride beaming in your chest like a radiator.

When you got back to BigHit, the place was as you normally found it: bustling. Lots of activity, people moving decisively on their way to meetings and appointments. You nodded your head to those you recognized—staff members milling about, the receptionist and security guards, all those who had seen you come and go at Yoongi’s side for years, and who now recognized you as a fellow employee—as you crossed the room to the security check.

Yoongi breezed through the checkpoint with a flick of his pass-card across the gate and slid through the revolving bars with ease. You paused at the check-point, smiling warmly at the middle-aged ahjussi in the guard’s uniform a little ways down. You dug into your purse to pull out the heavily stickered pass-card Yoongi had given you nearly three years ago—before you’d officially been hired—when BigHit had changed buildings. It had seen better days, but the screen lit green and the bars revolved as you pushed through them.

“What’s your next schedule?” you asked Yoongi, joining him by the elevator bay. Yoongi clenched his eyes shut, a little wrinkle above his nose as he thought about it.

“Rehearsal?” he wondered, “Or maybe a meeting with Bang-sajangnim? I have some writing I need to do today, and I have to record that guide for tomorrow...” he trailed off, pulling his phone from his pocket and swiping through it like second nature. You peered over his shoulder nosily.

“Ooh, free time until one-thirty,” you grinned.

“Yeah, but ‘free time’ doesn’t mean ‘free time.’ It means—” he paused, the doors opening to Taehyung and a group of staff members.

“Noona!” Tae cheered, diving out of the elevator boldly, leaving a group of bemused staff in his wake. He wrapped his arm around your shoulders heavily and squeezed you to his side.

“Tae-Tae,” you smiled, “Headed out?”

He nodded, his smile wide and boxy, making his whole face glow. “Stylist-noona is taking me to get a new hair color,” he shrugged. You smiled at Jiwoo from over his shoulder; she was rolling her eyes. The boys had started calling her “stylist-noona” since their debut days and had not once let it go.

You tousled the back of his hair, pouting, “Your poor head,” and at the same time he said, “Hanging out with Min-Grumpy today?”

You smiled and joked, “Trying to.”

Yoongi grumbled to himself. He stepped past the staff members hovering nervously around Taehyung (he was known to be a bit of a flight risk—not intentionally, of course, he just got...distracted), and said, “I’m leaving now.”

“Bye, ahjussi!” you joked again, waving to him as the elevator doors closed.

“Oh,” Taehyung said, frowning, “I’m already late.”

“Which means you’re right on time,” you said, squeezing his shoulder playfully and ducking out from his crowd, “I have to head downstairs anyway.”

“Bye noona!” he said, waving at you absently as something else already caught his eye. You chuckled and walked a few paces to the elevator that went as far as the basement. The basement, you had quickly learned, was where all of the important stuff was—the member’s individual studios, the producer’s offices, the recording booths, and, of course, the video editing office (where you worked).

You piled into the small space with a few other people, pressing close to the wall to take up less room. You raised your hand to hit the button for the basement and found that it was already lit. You raised your eyebrows and scanned the compartment—no one you recognized. Weird.

Just as you were about to pull out your cell phone you locked eyes with a stranger. He was tall, over six foot, with a sweep of dark hair across his forehead and a small smirk on his lips. His eyes were dark, and he’d taken his sunglasses off and put them on top of his head to look at you. You felt slightly possessed by the look in his eyes—a predatory danger that made you shiver, an uncomfortable feeling running down your spine as you sought refuge in your cell phone.

You had four messages:

Jiwoo: Taehyung escaped.

Jiwoo: Already.

Yoongi: I bought you a coffee. You’re welcome.

With a picture of a coffee cup from the cart in the basement, perched on your desk (recognizable by the photo of you with BTS pre-debut and the small Shooky plush leaning against it) with a message scribbled in his tight handwriting: Thanks for the cocoa. Coffee is better. —Min Grumpy

You smiled broadly at the image, your lips turning downward as you saw the last message:

Jihoon: Bang-sajangnim wants to meet with us this afternoon. Fill you in when you get back.

You frowned. Usually, when Bang wanted to meet with your team it was to shorten a deadline or introduce a new project. And all without considering the limited amount of staff.

“Bad news?” a voice said.

You looked up, noticing that the dispersal of people had now shifted in the elevator. The stranger was leaning over you, his arm against the wall, watching you with the same smirk as before.

You opened your mouth to say something, you weren’t sure what, when the doors dinged open. You ducked out from underneath him and followed the mass of people from the elevator.

Both Jihoon and Minji were waiting for you a few feet from the doors, and you walked to them like seeking shelter. You twisted to look back and found the stranger staring at you, a group of people ushering him in the opposite direction.

“Girl, how many cups of coffee is Min Yoongi going to buy you before he finally asks you out?” Minji giggled.

You rolled your eyes and pushed her playfully, turning your gaze back to the stranger again, “Who is that?”

They both followed your eyes and watched as he disappeared behind an office door with his entourage.

Jihoon shrugged, “I don’t know, but he looks kind of familiar.”

“He’s hot,” Minji said, causing you both to giggle light-heartedly.

“Come on,” Jihoon said pulling you towards your office, “We have a lot to do before the meeting with Bang-sajangnim. I want to get further on the new BTS documentary segments from 2018, and I’d like to finish the Bangtan Bombs we’ve been working on, and if you could finish translating the last two Run BTS episodes…”

“Woah, calm down,” Minji said, “We only have a couple of hours.”

“Yeah, there’s no use freaking out about it. We’ll do our best,” you said, squeezing his shoulder, “Besides, I finished translating those episodes yesterday, I just have to get everything entered in.”

“Oh,” Jihoon said, clasping his heart as you all walked through the doorway of the office, “You’re an angel.”

“Well,” you said, forming a mock halo with your fingers above your head and shrugging.

author’s note—grumpy but soft yoongi is just...perfect

02: meetings ↝

for more of my works check out my m.list ;; comments and messages are appreciated :)

#rosynamjoon #hyunglinenetwork #bangtanbuds #bts #bts x reader #bts series #bts yoongi #suga #suga x reader #yoongi x reader #min yoongi

56 notes · View notes

benjaycaptain · 2 years

Note

i'm so excited for you to get your gift. i think you'll really like it, but i don't want to say too much to spoil the surprise lmao

d2 did feel a bit like they erased d1 lonnie, instead of building on her character and showing she had layers. i love lonnie too and have been wanting to include her in more of my fics. she shows up very rarely in descendants fanfics in general.

as long as you're enjoying it, that's what matters! i definitely have some fics that are entirely self-indulgent. if someone else enjoys them, great, but it's mostly just me writing what i felt like writing lmao

four days off is still really good! oh, that does sound like a nice break away from home! hopefully you'll get to do some fun things.

yeah, the silence had stretched on too long. i was thinking it would be cancelled too, but i would've been thrilled if they proved me wrong. at least it won't be one of those shows that goes way off track in later seasons. we'll know we got that perfect first season, even if it was only 9 episodes. maybe they will release more books for it too. i would definitely love to read about a continuation of the story!

ooh christmas cards sound fun. i haven't made any of those in years. i have seen neither of those episodes, but i am curious about the justice league one. would it make sense out of context or better to watch the whole show to understand it?

also alsooooo did you see that booboo stewart and mitchell hope are at the back to the musical convention in france? there's a lot of cute pics of them together on social media! there's one where mitchell jumps into booboo's arms and it has such good benjay vibes!! i wish i could send it to you, but it won't let me send a pic on an anon ask.

have you ever been to any descendants fan events or had any viewing parties with your friends?

- gifter anon

LET ME FOCUS ON THE MOST IMPORTANT FIRST: DCAU JUSTICE LEAGUE!!! my eyes zeroed in on that and nothing else lmaoooo but you definitely don't have to watch the whole show for that one episode, but also! i will definitely push for watching the whole show because it is amazing!! the live action movies ain't got nothing on that show

[tho i will say it builds on the other dcau shows like batman tas and superman tas and batman beyond, even static shock, but you don't have to watch those either. you'd get a lot of lore jokes/callbacks and easter eggs more easily, but it isn't actually necessary. however, justice league unlimited episode "epilogue" draws heavily on the batman mythos of both batman tas and batman beyond, as it was intended as the finale to the whole dang dcau before unlimited was renewed for one more season]

phew okay i need to. get out of dcau mentality lmao sorry, but if given allowance i will Not shut up about that show okay i love it so much it literally saved my life and so much more it's the best and every time there's a fucking terrible live action batman movie coughNOLANcough i just wish people could cleanse themselves with the dcau

okay i said i would stop but i didn't lmao let me reread the ask to focus better

d'aww how sweet! while i don't mind spoilers at all, i also like surprises so this'll be fun xD

and don't worry, literally everything i write is self-indulgent. the gift fics less so, but there is definite self-indulgence when writing them lmao i've been writing off and on since i've last updated that monster [2017 hot got damn] and every bit of that was tailored specifically for me xD

i have not seen that about them, nor did i even know that that convention was a thing lmao i don't really keep up with celebs tho i might follow some on insta [whenever i remember to check it whoops]. i'm sure it's adorkable, but i'm kinda not one of those people who take what actors do when not on set as what their characters do, you know?

sometimes i wish i was, cause people who be reaching seem to be having fun lmaooo

and no, i actually try to stay away from fandoms if i can help it. especially this fandom. i don't want anyone perceiving me and it was just the worst luck that had my trash fic gaining the traction it did orz but! i did marathon the movies with my roomie/housemate, but that was more of "i will be watching this thing" while she was in the same room and didn't bother leaving. it was fun to see her reactions because it's always fun to see someone's reactions to dcoms xD we both agree zombies is better tho zombies is perfection

#shippy speaks #gifter anon #i was all over the place with this answer my bad lmao

0 notes

aion-rsa · 3 years

Text

What If…? Episode 3 Ending Explored

https://ift.tt/3mAM15C

This article contains spoilers for What If…? episode 3.

The third episode of Marvel’s What If…? goes in a different direction than the two that preceded it. Instead of switching roles like Captain Carter and T’Challa as Star-Lord, the third episode hides its turning point under a murder mystery. It’s an episode about the Avengers never existing, which has absolutely nothing to do with the actual comic issue What If the Avengers Had Never Been?, but instead turns out more like DC Comics’ Identity Crisis.

In this branch reality, Hope Van Dyne ended up becoming an Agent of SHIELD. Reading between the lines, she was most likely killed in action by the Winter Soldier (the location she died is the same place Bucky wounded Black Widow). This caused her father Hank Pym to go completely off the deep end. Wearing the Yellowjacket costume, he proceeded to murder Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, Hulk, and Black Widow. He was ultimately defeated by a vengeful Loki, who then went and took over Earth in a mere 24 hours.

And hey, good for Loki! When it comes to What If…? stories, Loki is up there with Magneto and Kingpin as a villain who rarely ever wins. Sylvie’s decision paid off for this world.

In the epilogue, we see that Nick Fury has not given up. Even with all those Avengers dead, he’s still going to rebel against Loki with the help of Captain America and Captain Marvel. Maybe in the second season we’ll get a continuation and see if Captain Marvel is overpowered enough to take on everything Asgard has.

In the meantime, I can’t help but think about the other players and factors in this brave new world. Who else could help the Captains and Fury?

The Thanos Threat

So, good news! Thanos probably isn’t going to be a looming terror anymore thanks to Loki’s success. The Tesseract is still on Earth and Thanos would still be interested in it, but the difference is that he would not have found Loki floating through space and would not have used him as a minion. That means we’d probably see him outsource to his other top goon, Ronan the Accuser.

In the regular timeline, Thanos gambled on the mission by giving Loki the Mind Stone, only to lose both. He’d probably try the same strategy with Ronan. Remember what happened when Ronan actually got his hand on an Infinity Stone? He IMMEDIATELY betrayed Thanos. That’s definitely the easy option for him, considering the last time he tried invading Earth he ended up escaping with urine trickling down his leg.

Ronan and his mind-controlled Thanos are more of a problem for the Nova Corps. Let them deal with that.

Iron Man’s Friends and Foes

At the very least, we can count on War Machine helping out. He may have missed the boat against Loki in regular continuity, but he’s still ready to attack with…Hammer tech. Ah, crap. Yeah, Justin Hammer’s just going to be a liability in this situation.

On the other hand, one has to wonder where this leaves Ivan Vanko. He wanted to destroy Tony Stark. Hank Pym did it for him. There is no glorious suicide or massacre destroying Stark’s legacy. What’s next for Whiplash? We could really use the know-how of someone who actually understands arc reactor technology.

Who else has Stark pissed off in main continuity…? The Vulture is a non-factor here, as the events of Avengers do little to push him away from the blue collar lifestyle. Aldrich Killian might oppose Loki via straight-up terrorism by sending exploding Extremis soldiers towards Asgardian forces. I don’t expect any collaborations coming from his corner.

Now, Quentin Beck is someone who might actually prove his worth. It’s too perfect. A man using trickery and illusion to go toe-to-toe with the godly expert on trickery and illusion. Mysterio could really become the alternate universe superhero that his mainstream counterpart pretended to be!

Hulk’s Odds and Ends

Hulk is mainly important in the grand scheme of things for being the perfect wielder of the Infinity Gauntlet and undoing Thanos’ scheme. Otherwise, he’s the big supporting character of the MCU and having him gone is no big loss in terms of ripple effects.

It does mean something that the events of Incredible Hulk are half-finished. Emil Blonsky is a super soldier, but Hulk exploded before he had a chance to kick Blonsky into mush. He might still mutate from the serum he took, but he should at least be an asset for Fury. Having Rogers with him would probably be for the better.

Meanwhile, Samuel Sterns gets to continue his gamma experiments. Who knows if such a thing will pay off?

Where Does HYDRA Fall?

The episode does a good job of using HYDRA as a red herring early on when Black Widow is being led away in handcuffs. They’re still integrated into SHIELD and, unfortunately, that’s probably good for Loki. Unless ego means too much to those in charge, Loki’s rule is everything HYDRA could ever want. Not only order through fear and control, but what’s more for a Nazi offshoot to love than being ruled by Norse gods?

The real problem is that the corrupt part of SHIELD would have access to the Tesseract. In other words, Loki would have access to the Tesseract. That’s very bad.

Darren Cross

For once, Darren Cross is interesting. He’s the x-factor in all of this because of how Hank Pym turned out. Cross was the crazy, rebellious son figure in Ant-Man, furious that Pym wouldn’t let him tamper in God’s domain. One has to wonder, does that mean that he wouldn’t be so villainous in this brave new world? Would he still be rebellious, but in relation to a madman, thereby normalizing him?

I would argue that Cross is still bad news. Pym would probably embrace Cross’s attempts to meddle with Pym Particles. Why would Pym care if the technology would go into the wrong hands when he’s already the wrong hands? It could very well be that Cross was already an accomplice to the Avengers murders. It would certainly explain Pym’s costume’s design choice.

Ragnarok

One elephant in the room is the events of Thor: Ragnarok and how they’re affected. Guys, Asgard is doomed, especially without Thor. We’ve already seen how lax Asgard becomes with Loki in charge. Think how bad it’s going to be when he’s spread thin and nobody has been keeping tabs on Surtur. This is not going to end well for that world.

Hela’s arrival is only a matter of time. Then again, I’m not sure how the destruction of Asgard would affect her powers and threat level.

The Heroes Yet to Appear

The new characters from Avengers: Age of Ultron are for the most part negated. There’s no Ultron and therefore no Vision. The Maximoff twins won’t be exposed to the Mind Stone and Stark being dead has to do something to soften their need for vengeance. On the other hand…is Wanda truly off the table?

What If…? Episode 3 Review: The Avengers Initiative Is DOA

By Kirsten Howard

Marvel’s What If…?: The Huge MCU Ramifications of Episode 2’s Ravagers Lineup

By Gavin Jasper

Wanda already has that magical spark. Does it HAVE to be the Mind Stone that sets her on her path to becoming the Scarlet Witch? The Aether is still out there. Maybe Jane Foster still finds it. Maybe not. It’s also possible that reality simply finds a way for someone who unconsciously controls probability. Wanda becoming one with a red energy that warps reality itself is just too on the nose to ignore.

Falcon only joined the superhero business because he got roped into it. Still, considering his skill with the wing tech, Fury could easily be aware of him and what he’s capable of. Sam being one of Fury’s pinch hitters isn’t too big of a stretch.

That leaves two extremely powerful parties. First, there’s Wakanda. I can’t imagine they were really conquered by Asgard. Not if the whole conflict ended within a day. Wakanda probably fell through the cracks of Loki’s interest, seen as a powerless country with no threats worth caring about. He sees the surface and it’s beneath him. Now there’s something to Earth’s advantage.

Then we have the sorcerers. It’s hard to really measure how much these events would alter things with Doctor Strange and his cast of characters. We’ve seen Strange be pretty damn effective against Loki before, but that was without Loki having an entire Asgardian army at his command. Does Doctor Strange even exist as a sorcerer here? Would Loki’s magical tyranny help nip the Kaecilius problem in the bud? This part is hard to call.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Yes, there’s a lot to play with in the sandbox of this world run by Loki. What’s important is that Mjolnir is still sitting in that crater. Loki certainly can’t move it. Even if it isn’t Steve Rogers, someone has to be worthy of putting it to good use.

The post What If…? Episode 3 Ending Explored appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2WjbF4l

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

0 notes