#because it’s not plot important I don’t have to worry about spoilers so I can talk all I want | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

saccharinescorpion · 8 months

Text

oh christ i typed up way too many thoughts about the Teal Mask story

spoilers of course

TO BEGIN WITH literally everything here has a big ol’ asterisk with “subject to change” attached to it, i was surprised at how much of a “to be continued” ending the main story had and i’m trying not to get my hopes too high for Indigo Disk, but wowzers

Carmine’s line about tourism… i have a lot of feelings, but the one looming over my head like a fucking sword of Damocles is “did the writers not intend this to have as much weight as i am ascribing to it lmao” because it’s only the one line and GOD i don’t want to be the “reading too much into stories for babies” person all the time but!! But!!!!

(recalls the scene where Nemona talks to you about feeling isolated because of her talent and recalls my feeling of “why was this only in one scene where she flatout looks at the camera and says this”)

well even if it’s not supposed to be “that” important-

1) sure makes the TCG Tournament in Hawaii feel even more bitterly ironic lmao (obligatory yes i know the game writers are not responsible for most stuff that happens in the wider franchise i’m just SAYING it’s ironic)

2) GOSH it sure does make those ugly jokes people kept making about Carmine even grosser than they already were (if you don’t know what i’m talking about, Don’t Worry About It)

As someone on twitter said it feels weird to have this sort of plot point after not exploring it at all in the game with the Hawaii analogue. at the same time i do have to wonder if it was a response to working on those games and doing some thinking. Who can say

God ALL of that was for one line

KIERAN!! Okay, i know i’ve been giving Kieran a lot of shit but his plot progression is genuinely very compelling. recent games have been exploring the “rival who feels inadequate” type of character but this is the first time one has gone off the deep end like this, and i really hope they push it into interesting places

Cutesy shy “oh gosh oh wowzers” pre-development Kieran… in the end i did feel a bit charmed by how sincere he is for the record!

but also i’m genuinely so glad he ended up having Inner Darkness lol

Sorry Kieran i just don’t like it when it feels like the writer is trying way too hard to make me say “i want to protect you”

By extension sorry Wally lmao because he really was the ancestor of this type in the Pokemon franchise

I tried not to take the fact that i really didn’t want the damn Ogerpon too personally lol, this is one of those moments where i really had to force myself to step back and remember that these games are not for me, they are for tiny children who often really do buy into the Gotta Catch Em All thing and probably felt some genuine inner turmoil at this

But god like, please. I have my giant puppy lizard who makes vroom vroom noises. Ogerpon you are so cute but we can never have the bond i have with my bike

Kieran falling to his knees after the last battle genuinely got me, so did him punching the shrine even with the dumb “owie ><” gag afterwards

OKAY talking about the battles damn Kieran and Carmine were tough opponents i had to try Kieran’s last fight like three times (admittedly because i was using my weaker Kitakami team but STILL)

Kieran feeling bad for the ogre was projecting “THIS CHARACTER FEELS LIKE AN OUTCAST” and i picked that up loud and clear, and that was good, but i wish they actually… made him seem like an outcast?

Don’t get me wrong, Kieran definitely has self-confidence issues, issues with talking to others, anxiety issues (possibly), and that can easily make someone feel like an outcast

But i feel like there’s a big difference between that and someone (Ogerpon and her trainer) who is actively shunned and mistreated by the people around them, and i was really hoping for that from Kieran

It’s just the Pokemon thing of finding it hard to depict people really being actively malicious (see Penny and Team Star’s bullies and their enablers all doing their thing off-screen and then leaving off-screen)

But it’s doubly weird because they didn’t have much issue with showing characters in this story being terrible (Carmine)

Carmine!!! Her terribleness was genuinely so entertaining, a lot of the time i was simultaneously laughing and thinking “oh people are going to be SO mad”

But real talk for all my love of Girls Who Suck i do actually kind of get where some people are coming from, she is genuinely very abrasive and unpleasant at times, and though i don’t agree at least i can tell where the character hate is stemming from (unlike some of the absolute batshit stuff i saw about Geeta and Nemona, don’t get me staaaarted)

And speaking of… okay i feel like i’m pushing it even talking about this but i feel it would be dishonest to pretend that i’m not thinking about it

SOOOO the “it’s not like i hit him” line… another case of “did the writers intend this to be as big as it is in my mind,” combined with uhhh writers from a different generation than me, let’s say

For now i will interpret that at face value, but like… damn, i don’t think that reads as you want it to especially in a Pokemon game

Carmine pleaseeeeeee say you’re sorry to Kieran in Indigo Disk please please please i know she apologized for leaving him in the dark but my dearest dream is for her to apologize for being so mean to him all the time. she needs to just treat him better in general. please i will forgive Kieran having to apologize for taking the mask if we can do this please

I know i know cultural differences but we already had Clavell apologize for the failures of the school system, this isn’t THAT big of a stretch

I am genuinely curious if Indigo Disk will pull a reverse plot twist and reveal Ogerpon’s trainer to be a bad person or reveal that he was the one to attack the Loyal Three first because if not DAMN we’re just going to have some flat out evil Pokemon? that we can potentially put on a team with Ogerpon?????

Ogerpon is a silly lil girl :)

I still haven’t done Perrin’s plot lol

#pokemon scarlet and violet #teal mask #carmine pokemon #kieran pokemon #pokemon scarlet and violet spoilers #teal mask spoilers #pokemon dlc #ogerpon #kieran #carmine

108 notes · View notes

key201303 · 3 months

Text

Pairing: Jaehyeong x reader Word count: 1171 words Warnings: Just a bunch of love and fluff Plot: Jaehyeong asks you to be his wife A/N: I'm so in love with this man and writing this just feeds my delulu ass 🥹 Hope you enjoy this little scenario 💕 Happy valentine's day 💕 Taglist -> Let me know if you want to be added! VALENTINE'S DAY X THE ROSE

He would have prepared everything to propose to you during the concert in your hometown which happened to be the last stop of the tour as well. He was feeling nervous about everything. Not only does he have the pressure of the concert going well but also ask you the most important question of his life. And also he had to make sure the rest of the boys wouldn’t give you any spoiler.

“Just relax, everything will go as planned and she’ll obviously say yes.” Dojoon said, giving him a few reassuring taps on his shoulder. Jaehyeong looked up at him with a nervous smile, fidgeting the ring he bought for you. He didn’t want to show off but he had to say he had really good taste when it came to choosing the ring. It was a minimalist ring yet it held so much beauty in the combination of various small gems. You’ve always been so minimalist with everything that as soon as he saw the ring, he immediately knew it was meant to be yours. And even though Woosung and Hajoon suggested he keep looking around to find other options he refused until he bought the ring he liked.

The time has finally come and the boys were waiting backstage to go out and leave all the energy they had in that stadium. You could notice Jaehyeong was more nervous and tense than usual. “Hey are you okay?” You asked him, taking his shaking hands in yours. As soon as you noticed his hands were shaking you started to worry. You’ve never seen him so nervous before a performance never before. “Yeah I’m okay, don’t worry.” He said, tightening his hands. He could barely make eye contact with you because he knew the moment you looked at his eyes you would perfectly know he was hiding something. He’s been wanting to ask you to spend the rest of your life with him for some time now and he couldn’t wait any longer. Their names started to echo through the entire stadium, meaning it was time for them to go out. “You’ll do as great as always.” You said, grabbing the boy by his black shirt as you stood on your tiptoes to pull him into a soft and quick kiss.

The concert went by pretty fast. Fans were enjoying it and so they were. And before they could even notice, time has come. Jaehyeong didn’t have to wait anymore to ask you to be his wife. He could finally say all the things he had strictly memorized so he wouldn’t miss anything. He could finally show everyone how much he loved you and how happy he was with you by his side.

You were quite surprised when Woosung and Dojoon called you on stage, completely clueless of what was going on. You were well known between the fans so as soon as your confused figure appeared on stage everyone cheered. You looked at the boys with a confused expression as they walked you in front of the man you loved.

Jaehyeong’s eyes were already teary and his hands were shaking again as he took your hands in his and grabbed the microphone with the other so everyone could hear what he had to say.

“(Y/N), I’m sorry you must be wondering what the hell it’s going on, why am I so shaky and why are my eyes so teary… I’ve been trying to practice for this moment for so long and I promise I’ve been trying to remember my lines throughout the entire concert but it all ended up being useless because I’m completely speechless now that I have you here.” He said, letting out a nervous laugh without breaking his tight hold on your hand. Seeing Jaehyeong was not able to start, the fans started to cheer, already knowing he had something prepared for you. “Okay okay silence, we need him to calm down so he can start.” Woosung said, gaining a deathly silence. Only Jaehyeong’s nervous laugh mixed with his heavy breath and the member’s quiet laughs could be heard now.

“(Y/N), I’m sorry for always being so shabby and not so good at romantic stuff like this but I promise I tried so hard. I even memorized the lines I wanted to say but as soon as I saw you it all left my brain so I’ll just say whatever comes to my mind.” He said finally meeting your gaze. “Make sure to not say something that might get you in trouble!” Dojoon teased his youngest friend, making everyone laugh. As soon as you locked eyes with him you knew what was going on. It was like magic how easily you could always read him. “I love you and I have ever since I saw you for the first time in that cafe. You’re the reason why I smile every day and the reason why I can feel home everywhere I go. You’re the reason why I am who I am.” He said, his eyes full of love. “You’re also the reason for many of my problems but we’ll leave it there because probably I’m more of a reason for your problems.” He added, making everyone laugh again. At this point you couldn’t hold back your tears anymore. “And after 4 years you’ve taught me what love really means. You’ve shown me how being loved feels like. And most importantly, you’ve kept me company on this journey called love.” He continued, finally letting go of your hand and placing his in his back pocket to take out a small velvet box. “And I want that to keep being that way. Forever.” He let Hajoon take the microphone so he could kneel down and discover the beautiful ring. “Would you make me the happiest man on earth and marry me?” He finally asked you. The crowd started to scream in happiness, only to be quieted once again by Woosung who was impatiently waiting for your answer. Actually everyone was.

You took a few seconds to admire Jaehyeong. His eyes were shining with a special gleam, trying to hold all the love and admiration he had for you in his dark orbs but it was impossible, so tears were running down his cheeks as a reflex of the overflowing emotions he was suffering.

“Yes, of course yes.” You finally said as he placed the ring in your finger. As soon as he stood on his feet again, his hands went directly to cup your cheeks and pull you into a deep loving kiss. Confetti was shot, the members were cheering and the crowd was screaming so loud. But still it felt like it was just Jaehyeong and you. “I love you.” You said, hoping he would hear you despite the loud noise the members and fans were making. “I love you too.” He replied, kissing you once again.

And just like that you were off to start a new chapter of this beautiful story called life.

#valentines day #valentines day special 🌸#kpop #kpop imagine #kpop fluff #the rose #the rose x reader #the rose imagine #the rose fluff #the rose jaehyeong #the rose jaehyeong x reader #the rose jaehyeong fluff #lee jaehyeong #lee jaehyeong x reader #lee jaehyeong fluff #jaehyeong #jaehyeong x reader #jaehyong fluff

28 notes · View notes

hikaritakaishi · 9 days

Text

Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning [My Movie Review]

♡ ! SPOILER ALERT! ♡

This review will contain spoilers of the movie, continue reading if you already saw the movie, or just don’t mind the spoiler! Enjoy & comment something if you want to share an opinion! ♡

After what seemed ages of waiting, Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning finally aired in Portugal, on May 16, 2024, several months after it’s national premiere in Japan, on October 27, 2023. I was worried that it wouldn't come to my country, but perhaps due to the huge acceptance of Digimon Adventure: LAST EVOLUTION KIZUNA, the distributor made the hearts of the DigiDestined from the most hidden corner of Europe warm again and brought us the sequel. Thank you remembering us once again! ♡

I really tried to keep my expectations as neutral as possible until the day I went to see the movie, which was pretty difficult, due to the fact that I was constantly being bombarded with online information about it, whether on Tumblr or Twitter, or through video recommendations on Youtube. I was so excited for the movie, that I had to control myself immensely not to go see the spoilers.

Initial considerations? I like it. In general. But let's go in parts!

This will be an analysis of what I consider to be the most important points of the movie and what caught my attention the most. A personal analysis, so don't take it too seriously if I don't talk about a certain point or a certain specific topic, I probably just missed that.

Firstly, I would like to comment on the initial dynamics of the movie.

Everything seems to happen much faster here than it did in Kizuna. Despite being two movies with practically the same time span, this one seemed to go by much faster. But it might just be me. [LAST EVOLUTION KIZUNA have 94 minutes, and The Beginning have 87 minutes total].

We're introduced to the key plot problem pretty quickly too.

People's digital devices are glitching, and the same message is repeating itself on all of them, not just on the phones and televisions, but on computers and large digital screens in cities all around the world. And this all around the world is very important, because it not only brings us closer to what will be the future of humanity and it’s increasing contact with the Digimon and the Digital World, but it opens the path we take since 2012 [time of the movie] until to the epilogue of 02 (which the production team and Toei animation seem to insist on wanting to keep canon, despite all the script inconsistencies it can cause, or how different from the initial profile of each character it may be).

“May everyone have friends, may everyone have a partner Digimon”

It's the message. Meanwhile, we are told that a suspicious and unknown Digitama appeared in the sky of Tokyo, right above the Tokyo Tower, and it’s been there for a while. Taichi and Koushiro are showned to be trying to help resolve this issue as professionals in the field of diplomacy and technology respectively, but without major progress.

I think it's important to highlight that they are the only two characters from the first season of Adventure who appear in this movie, and even so, without any direct speech or great relevance, beyond contextualization, and later Taichi as well again for the context of “space- time”, in that frame we see in the trailer of the movie with Hikari, which we later discover is located in Hikarigaoka, where Rui also lived when he had his first contact with Ukkomon.

The focus is on the characters from 02, or at least, it should have been. But as in Digimon Adventure Tri, this focus is overshadowed by the introduction of another new character in the story: Rui Owhada [or Lui, in Japanese pronunciation].

Rui [or Lui] is a much more charismatic character than Meiko was in Digimon Adventure Tri. There is no doubt about that.

Meiko was a somewhat empty character. A static character without great charisma. The only pleasant scenes she had were driven by the other characters around her (namely Mimi).

Rui doesn't. Rui is a character on his own. With a much more aggressive personality and a much more interesting past. The only issue here is the length of the movie: This movie is too short; too short for us to get attached to this character and actually be able feel empathy for everything we are shown about him. So short, that it's difficult to develop both this new character and the others around him, which, by the way, is a shame.

I mostly went to see the movie in hopes to see more from the 02 cast, and not because, again, of a random character they created for this new script. Just like what happened in Tri.

And this is important because notice that one of the most complex and best-built characters in the Adventure universe is literally the character with the most screen time: Takeru.

Analyzing Takeru's character as a whole is extremely time-consuming, because he was in every season, and practically involved in all the main events of the plot, either by himself or through the relationships he establishes throughout the plot, which feed the character's emotional charge. Which makes him a very complex character.

There's no time for that here. There is no time to establish a relationship between Rui and the other characters, nor to establish a relationship between Rui… and the audience.

Rui's childhood is very shocking and once again, Digimon brings a very strong narrative based on a complex and deep family plot.

We had already had examples in Adventure of family issues with Takeru and Yamato, Koushiro, and in 02 with Iori and also Ken. To a certain extent, even with Miyako. But here we reach a higher level of complexity... and violence (remember that the age to see the movie is over 12 years old. I can totally understand why).

Rui is physically abused and neglected by his mother, who leaves him out in the cold, starving when he makes a childish mistake or does something she doesn't like... when he is only four years old. His father has a very serious illness and depends on his wife to survive. Rui is then shown as a sorrowful child, lonely and without any support network. We've never had anything in the Digimon Adventure series so… raw. The aura of the movie is deeply heavy and dark.

The evolutions and battles in this movie are far from being the focus, which probably frustrated many people who went to see the movie for this more dynamic side of the anime.

It is a film with a moral content and even touches on the philosophical, about the bonds we create with others and their nature, about how we should relate to others and learn about them every day we have them in our lives.

It's about healthy communication, and how it's okay to correct the people around us, as long as it's made based with pure intentions. Because love is not omissive. Love corrects, love draws the other's attention for what really matters, in the form of love. In the form of companionship. Nothing physical or superficial is worth the price of a real bond.

The movie really grew with it’s audience. It is not, at all, a movie targeted for new fans of the franchise, or for those who know little about the Adventure series universe. It's for those who know the characters, for those who grew up with them. If you don't know the characters, you will miss details and conversations that are important to really understand the plot as a whole.

Daisuke and Ken look on Rui’s past with him. They see the arrival of Ukkomon in his life, who should’ve bring peace and comfort, but it is only the beginning of all his problems.

Let's take a break from the movie's plot to talk about the characters of 02.

I'm going to divide them into groups, because it seems like they individually… don't have much progress or very memorable scenes, honestly. It doesn't even make sense to separate them, in my opinion, and you'll understand why.

♡ Daisuke & Iori

There is not much to talk about them here. Daisuke and Iori are the flattest characters in the movie. Iori much more than Daisuke, let's be honest. Iori barely speaks, and has very few relevant scenes.

Daisuke works at a ramen restaurant, as he always wanted, where he gathers his friends to talk about the problems they are facing right at the beginning of the movie.

His personality is practically the same, Daisuke from 02 is the same Daisuke from The Beginning, and even the same character as in Kizuna, he is just taller here and wears different clothes. He still aspires to have his own ramen business and is extremely focused on his career goals. Which was predictable, given the way he talks about his dream in 02.

Daisuke's only two relevant scenes are seconds long: the first when he convinces Rui that the bond of friendship he and his Digimon partner share is much more than something superficial; it's something that comes from the heart, and that no object makes a difference between them, namely the Digivice, (something we also expected to hear from Daisuke in 02, which justifies my opinion that in the meantime... he remains the same).

The other is a scene that had enormous potential, but is cut short by a comical moment in which Miyako pops up.

Daisuke is talking to Ken seriously about Rui, and how he and his Digimon could understand each other better if they just communicate more effectively and directly, and Ken comments that Daisuke's more serious side is very pleasant and rarely appears. However, Miyako speaks up and dismisses the subject. Sadly.

We could have had a conversation here that could tell us more about Daisuke’s presente self and way he sees life now.

*sigh* Anyway.

Iori, again, doesn't speak much. Seems to only have intermediary interventions, and serves as a “pair” for Daisuke and Rui in the snowball fight that we see at the end of the movie. A very beautiful scene, don't get me wrong, but only if we see it from the perspective of Ken and Miyako, and Hikari and Takeru. I'll talk about that now.

♡ Ken & Miyako

Ken and Miyako are two characters who seem to grow more together than apart within the movie's plot. Which is natural, given that we know at the end of 02 that they become in fact a couple, and that they build a family together in the future. Here we see the first steps towards their future as a couple.

As expected, nothing explicit or direct is given to us about the nature of their relationship, but we can understand that there is progress, especially by the end of the movie, before the snowball fight, when Miyako tells Ken something that seems extremely vague, but actually means something.

“Let's do it together! " What? I don't think they are aware yet. Ken also seemed very confused about it.

“ Keep thinking Ken, we have to find another solution. “ We also see Miyako trying to support Ken at that moment when they have to make a decision about the future of Ukkomon and the world.

Here comes what I said above: Love cannot be omissive. We cannot expect the least from those we love. If we know the potential of the person we have by our side, we have to support them. If we see that they are trying to go further, we must support their journey and be a source of advice and rest. Alone we can go faster, but with the right company we can certainly go further.

And I think this is where the movie touches on something really important.

It is in these small moments that we see that they really want to tell the audience something beyond, but we need to have a fine power of perception.

No conversation or comment is random, everything contributes to the story. Digimon Adventure has always been made up of metaphors and subjectivities, it is necessary to know how to interpret and be attentive.

In the midst of that dilemma of whether or not to defeat Ukkomon that we talked about a moment ago in relation to Ken and Miyako, we have another moment that I consider important between Takeru and Hikari, which for those who don't know the characters, can take it as a normal conversation of two people who know each other well. Too well, even.

♡ Takeru & Hikari

Keeping in mind their journey, and everything they went through together, is the key to understand the nature of the relationship they share now. But before that:

Much like Ken and Miyako, Takeru and Hikari do not exist separately in the plot. It's ridiculously difficult to separate them. If you talk about one, you have to talk about the other.

At the beginning we see them together in the city when the electronic devices break down, and this dynamic continues throughout the entire movie.

They practically always walk side by side, Hikari takes the front seat in Takeru's car, and even when they are talking to Rui and trying to understand what happened to him in his past, they were a nucleus apart from the others. Nothing new, really. More of the same. But it's in that conversation I spoke about earlier that we understand something that is even part of the main moral of the movie: the way they now communicate with each other now, is different.

Anyone who has followed Takeru and Hikari throughout the series knows that the main “problem” in their relationship has always been direct communication.

Exposing things to others as they are is scary. And none of them were good at doing that.

Deliberating about feelings, exposing what disturbs us, what distresses us, what we think of a certain attitude of the other person. That was always Takeru and Hikari's problem and what hindered the possible evolution of their friendship, into a real love relationship.

In Tri we discover that Hikari starts to look at Takeru differently. And we know that Takeru has concrete feelings for Hikari (Said by the actor who plays Takeru's voice) And then? It's done? Things… are much more complicated than that.

They first need to accept the situation in question (And I tell you this as someone who also developed a romantic relationship with a childhood friend. It's not easy. Trust me. It's far from easy!)

And far from being quick.

It requires a lot of deliberation mostly. Just accepting the fact that we see that person we grew up with differently, someone who has always been part of our life, and we can lose them. Just because we developed feelings. Is scary. There's a lot to lose. It's all or nothing. Especially when one side has trauma associated with romantic relationships. (remembering that Takeru's parents are divorced) it's even worse.

What seems to exist between them in The Beginning was the result of a long process. But effective, it seems to me. Whatever decision they made, it went… pretty well.

Takeru is completely against defeating Ukkomon, from the moment he realizes that this could also imply the disappearance of his Digimon partner.

He probably saw the suffering Taichi and Yamato went through when Agumon and Gabumon disappeared and the suffering he would go through if he lose Patamon... again. And he is extremely vocal and firm in what he says and what he thinks about all of that. Impulsive really.

Until Hikari intervenes. Which cuts through his catastrophic reasoning. She asks him to think, opening up a new perspective on the situation.

Here we have a conversation between them that is quite lengthy (compared to the fast action standard of the rest of the movie) in which Hikari tries her best to make Takeru use reason and not emotion in his deliberation on the situation.

Takeru who, remember, whenever “darkness” or “sacrifice” is mentioned, leaves his rationality aside, becomes blind with pain because of his past traumas.

Hikari's role here is almost the same as Miyako’s in Ken's case: calling to earth and calming Takeru, always in an understanding way, because you can see that she knows where that feeling comes from and that position initially adopted by him (and it is something which she can almost predict would happen, by the speed with which she responds) but she knows that he is better than those triggers that make him impulsively speak based on emotion and neglect reason.

It's about getting to know each other. Knowing how to talk to our person about the most difficult topics. Because it is necessary to strengthen your union. Predict reactions, and be there to calm them down, because you may even know that the person is not to blame for the feelings and traumas they carry, but believe that they are bigger than them. And expect the same from the other side.

The way Miyako knew that Ken could find a solution, he just needed to think a little more. Hikari understood perfectly where Takeru's impulsive reaction came from, but she knew that if she appeal to his racional side he would be able to think of a better alternative to the problem, which he thought would be the end of the world.

That's why I separated this analysis into groups (although the first one isn't... substantial) and decided to analyze the characters together, because that's what this movie is about.

It's about who you are with your people, and the bond you share with them. In a world so individualized, so selfish and so distant (largely because of technology, which distances us from each other), I found it a very necessary message.

And the role of adults? With children and more painful lives?

It is to understand that children are also humans. Who also think, and feel, and understand things. Just like them. Adults tend to forget that they were once children themselves.

We already saw this topic being developed in Adventure 02, but seeing Rui as an adult, reaching to his mother in the past, and drawing her attention to the fact that she neglects her son, is something very touching. Sometimes, we just need a wake-up call, and we can change the future. Ours, and our future with others.

The DigiDestined of 02 encouraged Rui not to give up on someone he loved, Ukkomon, because after all, he only acted the way he acted because he thought it would make Rui happier, even though he failed. Several times.

Ukkomon basically gave Rui everything he thought he needed, everything he wanted. But this is not always ideal.

He acted with his partner's happiness in mind, and this blinded him to the risks he was putting him into. He idealized their entire relationship, and everyone's relationship with him. Instead of being, real. And real things are never perfect.

Rui wanted friends? He gave him friends. He even reprogrammed his parents. They became manufactured humans. And the movie is about reality and accepting it as imperfect as it is.

Do you know what that reminded me of? That whole fantasy created by Ukkomon of “perfect world where Rui is never sad and everything is wonderful?” The fantasies in which the characters from 02 cast were trapped in at the end of the series. That world created with the characters’ deepest desires.

Takeru wanted his family united. Iori wanted his father back and to be able to show him the Digital Word. Miyako wanted attention. Ken… wanted to redeem himself. Hikari wanted peace. It's exactly the same thing.

Think about it with me: For example, Takeru's parents could’ve stay together, they could never have divorced, but they would still have problems. They would argue, and there would be conflicts. Which doesn't mean that this wouldn't traumatize their children even more. Maybe the divorce was in fact the best option for all four of them.

Ken felt he deserved the same suffering he inflicted on others. Would that really be the answer to appease his soul?

But none of it was real.

Not even Hikari's utopia of a world constantly at peace is real. Not even the absence of siblings in Miyako's life would solve anything. Things are not black and white and really, what we want is not always what we need.

Rui just needed to talk to Ukkomon and be sincere.

Where is Mimi tho?!

I will end with a few quick notes that I think are worth highlighting: First, the music and animation in general. As expected, they are excellent.

Very well done visually, appealing scenes, and the last snowball fight scene is so simple… but so delightful.

Life is made up of beautiful moments as well as tragic moments, light and darkness.

Did you notice that part of the movie takes place in a much dark environment, and when the main action is resolved, the movie gains light? I believe that is not just because!

Visually it can be very strong because there is blood, there is violence, there are physical wounds, it conveys the affliction in a very literal way.

Another thing that was expected to happen, but that probably wasn't even thought of properly when the Epilogue of 02 was made, was the problematic of whether or not everyone deserves, has enough morals and ethics, to have a Digimon partner.

How do you maintain peace between humans when you give them free access to machines of war and mass destruction? How do we build the world we see bz the end of 02 where everyone lives in peace even under these circumstances? Which is the the role of the government?

We'll probably need one more movie to find out.

Honestly, I hope you enjoyed this short (not... that short in fact) and sincere review. If I were to give stars, I would give the film 4/5 stars.

It could’ve been better, sure, if there was at least another half hour of animation.

But I don't complain. Despite that, I liked it. I cried, I laughed, just like I cried and laughed when I saw Digimon in my childhood, and that's everything for me. I was surprised by the message of the movie and the way they chose to visually convey it to us. Either way, I hope there's one more movie. To finally conclude the arc of all these characters, and finally, reach the epilogue of 02 (but in a dignified way please).

♡ Thank you once again Digimon ♡

16 notes · View notes

discotenny · 7 months

Note

I woke up this morning thinking about how,we don't truly know ramuda's lifespan... his metabolism is clearly differdnt than ours because, at this point, eating mostly vandy would get to him in some way. I know health is not always observed in hypmic (i.e. hifumi never realistically having time to sleep, required drinking habits as a host, or how often dostuhon goes out drinking) but with ramuda, it's important, it's aknowledged to some degree

If his body was only meant to sustain itself until he had fulfilled his mission, what would come next? they really wouldn't need him, if the party of words had their way, entirely, if the divisions had torn each other apart and ramuda never diverged from the path they set for him...

So what now? Has loving you really become his purpose?

If he falls in love with somebody, anybody, truly falls in love and let's himself be vulnerable with them... protecting them at all costs would certainly be on his mind. So is this is new mission?

What happens when you die, safely in his arms, maybe of old age. You walked through life hand in hand and he saw to it that you were always safe, always happy. and now you're gone, and now his mission is complete, Maybe he passes away as well.

IS THIS TOO SAD I DON'T KNOW. IS IT EVEN SAD AT ALL IDK. I AM ALSO REALLY NOT VERY ELOQUENT SO SORRY LMAO

NOOOOO THIS IS SO GOOD ANON THIS IS SOOOO GOOOD!!! kicking my feet at the “has loving you really become his purpose” that was so hard ommgmgmgmgmgmggggg. Anon ur brain is so big ur brain is so eloquent I love this.

———

Ramuda, a being born to deceive turning into a man living to love. His whole purpose, his reason for existence turning into making you happy for the rest of your days.

Ramuda wakes up with a smile every morning because it’s a sign he’s doing his job right. He sees you by his side and nothing more than love and relief shapes his smile. Every day he sees the sun is another day he’s going to love you right.

Following the end of Chuoku’s reign, Ramuda takes on a more domestic role. He wakes up first, and after convincing himself to stop staring and get up, he makes breakfast for you to share in bed ;_; Being a fashion designer he spends most of the day at home and in his studio, so he has a lot of time to do whatever errands or chores you ask of him!!

If you’re a homebody too, he’ll make most of the money for your household, don’t worry about it!! If you’re working, Ramuda will send you off with a kiss and greet you back with a hug.

Your routine is perfect, he thinks. Every day he makes it a point to make you smile at least once and he always succeeds. Even if you fight, even if you have a bad day, he’ll always be sure to put a smile on your face at least once.

He thanks you every night before you go to sleep. “Why do you thank me all the time?” you asked him once.

“It’s cause you truly saved me,” he says, kissing your nose before snuggling closer to you.

When it comes time to spend your last day with you, Ramuda asks for more time. After days, months, years of loving you right, Ramuda can’t help but ask for more. He’s greedy and desperate, not wanting to be alone again for the first time since he was made.

But you do pass and he can’t do anything to stop it. But be doesn’t have any regrets, he doesn’t regret anything leading up to this, from his creation to your meeting to the years and years of loving you- he’d do it all over again if it meant another day in your arms.

He may pass, just as you say anon, but maybe he’ll wake up to another sunrise. Maybe he’ll get another lifetime to love you right.

———

;_;

Hypmic plot spoilers under cut so I can talk abt Ramu more KANDKDBDKJS

I was always under the impression that the candies were the actual thing keeping him alive, which is where that whole plot beat of him almost dying (?) and confessing to GenDice and Dice going to his mom to beg for more came from. She says no and I’m unsure of where they got more (maybe from Rei???) but he’s still kicking!!

HUT UGH !!! It’s portrayed that the battle with his clones was LITERALLY life or death for Ramu cause he was so weakened trying to portion out his candies. Like it’s implied he wouldn’t have made it if Dice and Gen didn’t pop in and just ekenkfnkmlmkmk I love him I love Ramu sm my baby

Also I never realized Hifu probably never sleeps LMAO. Maybe Doppo absorbed all the tired energy so Hifu can survive the day.

#hypmic #hypnosis mic #hypnosis microphone #hypmic x reader #hypnosis mic x reader #hypnosis microphone x reader #ramuda #ramuda amemura #hypmic ramuda x reader #ramuda x reader #ramuda amemura x reader #asks are fun uwu #anon u should consider starting a blog if u haven’t already this writing was so good kdbdkdbdkdndk

32 notes · View notes

briebysabs · 1 year

Text

PH ~Complaints~

This is the first of several pieces I will be making about this series. Reading Pandora hearts was an experience to say the least and I wanted to organize my thoughts into separate categories, because it’s too much to post out normally. Also I’m insane and I think it’ll be fun for me at least. These posts will contain spoilers but maybe it’ll spark people’s love for the series. Maybe it’ll get people to buy the manga volumes. Maybe the stars will align and it manifests an anime reboot (delusional).

With that out of the way, we will start with my complaints and nitpicks of the series. Which isn't a lot but there will be explaining to do here. As a disclaimer, these are things that I found worth mentioning and may not be any issues you had reading. I am going off my initial reading of ph too so if I miss anything, don’t come at me lol.

-> The most notable complaint I need to talk about first is early ph. But I bring it up because this is the main thing that can turn people away from the series. “The early chapters are slow” is a complaint I heard before starting ph. Upon looking back, it wasn’t necessarily slow for me and I enjoyed those parts. But when reading, it was chaotic and felt like nothing was moving. It felt like we were rushing to nowhere. I took several breaks because it was so overwhelming. And I wasn’t reading them physically but off of sites, I know a lot of you remember Bezarius, Liam, Shalon lol. The wonky translations in the early chapters aren’t mochijun’s fault of course, but it didn’t help matters for me.

So much information was jam-packed with an already intricate story. And granted, later on in the 50s-60s chaps, the world makes more sense. But when you haven’t gotten to that point, it’s a lot to take in. You can compare early parts of ph and vnc to see exactly what I mean. VnC’s introductory chapters are much more polished. And some stories work better that way but in ph’s case for me, the direction wasn’t clear. I mean you know the objective, finding Alice’s memories but after that it was just a bunch of “huh???” It wasn't until we met Elliot and Leo, eventually Rufus that everything became more coherent. And you can argue, “yeah you’re supposed to be confused” which is valid but it was a bit messy for me, and I know it's inspired by Alice in Wonderland.

But not only was it confusing and can be perceived as slow (though again not for me), these chapters are long. Certainly not a complaint, I loved having long chapters. But if you’re confused af, you feel as though the plot isn’t moving, and you have these long chapters to add. I see why people may drop the series because “it’s too convoluted and the author doesn’t know what they’re trying to say.” I don’t agree with that but I understand if they weren’t able to go past chapter 35 or something. But we all must remember this was mochijun's first real series. So I understand as well why its beginnings aren't that grounded and can forgive that.

->The second complaint is that there wasn't enough characterization of the Baskervilles squad (as in Lottie and her gang I'm excluding Zwei here) as individuals. What do I mean by this? You can say “well they weren’t that important” which I kinda disagree with because they were the antagonists we were worrying about for half of the story as they searched for their leader Glen.

We got depth given to them as a group, we see that there is a genuine, familial bond. I wanted to know their past or backstories and the most we got from was Lily. You can say we got Lottie too but I don't know I was left wanting more. We know Doug and Fang got Lily’s tattoo in solidarity which is my favorite moment from the squad. But who are they y’know? Fang had such a cool design, how did he join the Baskervilles? Doug is a nothing character. I haven’t read the light novels so these questions could be answered there but having read the manga, we should’ve gotten more.

-> Going from that, the whole Glen thing. Again, might be explained more in the light novels but from manga content, I wish we got more explanations and lore. Who was the first Glen? Who is Levi? He’s someone who we deserved more insight into and what made him so detached.

-> I wish we had more chain on chain fights. I read somewhere that mochijun had struggles mapping out action scenes so they were kept to a minimum. But I think due to that, we don't get to see the true extent of these chains' powers. And yes, Break's condition prevented him from using his chain much. But Break and Vincent's dynamic was great, a final showdown between them with their chains would've been so cool. Mad Hatter vs. Demios we were robbed...

-> Isla Yura in general. Not gonna lie, I forgot he existed. I can respect the role he played, especially knowing now mochijun based Dr. Moreau off him. He was a worthy threat and his obsession with Jack makes sense. But his personality just wasn’t it and rubbed me the wrong way. Stereotypical queer antagonist from the 2000s, we did not need this.

->This might be a biased one but Cheshire should've been a prominent character. We see he’s important to Alice but we got a whole mini-arc with him in the beginning, him appearing in the Break backstory and then he's gone until the final 8 chapters. I also wish he behaved like the cat he’s inspired by. Sassy, mischievous with a dash of dark humor. (though now I say that, Oz does have some of that). There was just so much potential that we simply didn’t explore with him.

-> Speaking of such, Sharon and Ada were so underused. I was expected more from Sharon’s arc and her Eques chain is so cool but that didn’t happen. Every moment with Ada was fantastic but she’s mostly put to the side which sucks. Her relationship with Oz was lacking for me, he comes back from the Abyss and we do not see him think of Ada until 15 chapters later? Her overall reactions to Oz dying essentially after the finale, learning her father’s death, none of this is there. These two had potential, Sharon even being part of the main five, that wasn’t delved into.

-> Vincent and Ada. Okay, lemme break it down. I kinda love them, they didn’t get together which was sad but was the best choice to make. But I do question why this relationship exists. To be honest, until the last 14 chapters I thought she dropped them completely. I was wondering what was the point of making them a whole thing and having read to the end, I still kind of think that. We got two or three main interactions with them and then we just never got back to Vince/Ada until the finale. It was as though the plot simply couldn’t make time for them, it was tightly knit at this point and everything was heading for utter insanity. But then, we get the emotional climax of Vincent’s character. We get Ada telling Vincent “I forgive you”. It hits hard because Vince is a top 5 character for me. But in terms of their relationship, it didn’t feel earned. I don’t think it was developed enough to get such a heavy moment like this.

Their last encounter from what I remember was in the headhunter arc, Ada telling Vince she’ll always be by his side. And while we see he cares about her safety then, I don’t think that means what they have is strong enough to break the self-hatred Vincent has built up for years. Why did it have to be Ada? I know Gil wasn’t getting through to him but if he told Gil what’d he had done. That he indirectly caused the tragedy of Sablier, and Gil really said fuck it, held him down and screamed “I forgive you! The outcome might’ve been the same. Vincent respected Elliot. Vincent looked up to Jack. Vincent grew to care about Ada. But to me, the only person he loved in this world was Gil. And in his last moments, that is all he had. So this whole Vince/Ada thing, while I enjoy them and definitely needed more, at the end I doubt how necessary it was for either of their characters.

->At last, the ending. I love the ending, let’s get that out of the way. Two things I need to say though. One, it did conclude faster than it should’ve. It’s not to a degree where it significantly brings it down but we could have used 5, 6 more chapters. Chapter 104 should’ve been cut in half, 104 ends with “see you later Gilbert” and 105 is total epilogue. That way, the events of 104 get to sink in with the reader. Second, and I know you saw this coming, Reim marrying Sharon. This is the one thing I see most fans have an issue with for the ending and I completely agree, this did not make any sense. It felt like the biggest last minute decision. I think mochijun and the magazine had reached the end of their rope because no one got together in the end. Oz and Alice didn’t become canon really, Gil is too gay, Elliot’s dead so we couldn’t even get elleo implied canon.

(Though you can make a whole other thread arguing how their entire relationship already was from how intimate they were) We all knew Rufus wasn’t gonna marry Sheryl, Vince and Ada went their separate ways. So it was just “alright, um….someone’s gotta get with someone.” And from what I know, there’s no artwork or moment in the series that hints in the slightest that this would happen. We never get a teasing moment from Break about them, Reim and Sharon are friends but the main connection between them is Break. I don't buy the whole "Break's death affecting Sharon deeply and she found comfort in Reim who shared her pain" because you don't have to marry someone who understands your grief. They can just be there for you as a friend. And there was no signs of romantic attraction AT ALL.

Which makes me doubt mochijun planned or even wanted to do this. Her hands might’ve been tied by higher-ups and she had no choice but to include this to deliver the finale she had in mind. This is pure speculation so I could be wrong but with that, this essay I guess, wraps up. There’s other stuff I may not have mentioned, like the jury thing is so absurd but I want to reserve that for my mochiverse theory. When it's all said and done, Pandora hearts is still an amazing series, mochijun has definitely improved as an author. My vnc-ph comparison post which may be after this one will elaborate on that in more detail. Thank you for listening to my rant. What are some complaints or nitpicks you had with ph?

45 notes · View notes

cryptid-crawly · 1 year

Text

Advice for Writing Fanfic

Assume your readers know what’s up. People read fanfic because they are, well, fans. Write with the assumption that your readers know the basics of the source material.

Don’t rewrite canon scenes unless you’ve significantly changed them. Whether it’s and AU or canon divergence, reading a play-by-play of the exact same scene as in canon (or one nearly identical with few or cosmetic changes) gets really old really fast. If there’s an important minor change, reference it in an original scene. If nothing changed and it’s canon divergence, your readers will assume it’s the same as canon. Want to rewrite an iconic canon scene in some vastly different AU? Change it up. Identify what elements of the scene are the most important and make something new that keeps the essence of those things.

Do not change your tags after the fact. To elaborate: this *specifically* means that you shouldn’t tag your fic with something only to go “ah-ha! It was a red herring!” and delete the tag later. Don’t do that. (A very dramatic example is tagging the fic as Everyone Lives/No One Dies and then deleting that later so you can have a surprise character death). Yeah, you might change your mind. In that case, let your readers know in the Author’s notes. But don’t do this on purpose.

Don’t worry about spoiling your plot. Have the greatest plot ever? Awesome! But people aren’t reading fanfic for new and original ideas (it’s transformative work for a reason). It’s great to write a complex and compelling story, but remember that first and foremost, people read fanfic to have a comfortable and familiar experience. It really really sucks to read 50k of something only to have a new tag/element thrown in as a surprise twist, when you intentionally try to filter that stuff out.

Write your summary to reflect what tropes/ships/setting your fic will have. This is part of not worrying about spoilers. Again, you may have a fantastic idea, but if you’re too afraid of spoiling it you may leave out too many details in the summary and people won’t be interested. Let your readers know what this story is about! Don’t be afraid to spoil some of the plot—I guarantee you it will make some people excited to “get to that point” in the fic. (For example, if character A secretly being a werewolf is an early plot twist, maybe don’t worry so much about revealing that in the summary?)

Don’t say you suck at summaries in the summary. Just trust me on this one. Write a summary like you’re convincing yourself to read the fic. Slap it on and go.

Stop using greenette, [color]-ette etc. That’s not done in published fiction.

Read published fiction. I don’t care what you read but read some of it occasionally. Otherwise you get used to the way that other fanfic writers write and ily all and am blown away by the creativity people put out into the world but many writers are new and learning and you’ll pick up bad habits. I personally recommend reading literary classics because 8 times out of 10 the writing is legit good. Not always, but it’s easier to guarantee good quality then just picking a random book.

Write for yourself. Yeah, whatever, this is lame advice. But it’s also true. Write what you want to read, otherwise you probably won’t have any fun. Eventually you’ll get to a point where you’re confident in your writing and you can go back and read your stuff and go “I am the funniest motherfucker in the room” and you’ll be right. (Replace “funniest” with whatever genre term applies to you. Like “angstiest”. Ignore that that isn’t a word.)

Comment on other people’s fics with questions. So technically this goes with the read published works one but it applies to both. The point is to develop literary analysis skills. When you read anything, think about it. Vague and unhelpful advice? Hell yeah that is. So if you want some concrete starting places: when you’re reading fic, ask yourself if you agree with how the author characterized your fav. Why did they act that way? Would you have written it that way? And engage with the author! This doesn’t mean point-blank saying “well I would’ve written it like this…” but if you notice a character decision you agree/disagree on or is interesting, simply ask “hey [xyz] scene/moment was interesting, why did you decide [blorbo] would do that?” Understand why authors made the choices they did in their writing. Learn. Grow. Flourish. Take over the world.

Occasionally revisit the source material. Reread or watch it or whatever applies. Dump fanon out of your head and think about the source. Please. I love you all, but please. Thank you.

To anyone who writes fanfic: I love you and thank you for sharing with the world. Hope this helps.

#thanks for coming to my Ted talk #writing advice #fanfic writing advice #fanfic writing #fanfic advice #idk wtf to tag this #read it and internalize it thank you #i have fallen into some of these pitfalls before #we are all susceptible #not the red herring tag thing tho but I have seen that #don’t do that #as someone who consumes a lot of fic the rewriting of canon scenes is my hill to die on #like it’s not a fanfic writing sin but by god #i suffer #AND AGAIN #i too have fallen astray #and done that

73 notes · View notes

laxmiree · 1 year

Text

[CN] MLQC Lucien’s Crazy date translation

⚠️ SPOILER ALERT!! ⚠️

This post contains a detailed spoiler for a date that has not been released in EN yet! Feel free to notify me if there are any mistakes in the translation~

Translation under the cut!

(T/N: Very recommended to follow along the date because hnghh, I have never heard him this happy and alive before 😭. Sadly, I don't have this card, so I can't subtitle it myself. But you can check the date recording here in this link.)

The sea breeze passed through the moonlight, bringing the warmth of winter to the south.

I was leaning in Lucien's arms, watching the gripping movie plot on the projector with great interest.

Keeping the same position will inevitably make my back ache, but I don't want to leave his arms.

Just as I adjusted my posture for the third time without making any noise, a soft pillow was placed under my waist.

MC: ...?

Raising my head in a daze, I met Lucien's smiling eyes.

MC: How can you still catch my little move?

Lucien: If it hadn't been for the fact that you made me feel a little tickled, maybe it won't be so quickly discovered.

I laughed and rubbed against the crook of his arm before looking back at the screen.

A few days ago, Lucien was invited to a New Year's Eve party hosted by his research colleagues. The party isn't formal. It's mainly for relaxation and communication.

So at his suggestion, I was happy to accompany him. We arrived early and rented a small manor to start our vacation time.

During the day, we walked around with the camera, and at night we nestled on the sofa, drinking wine and watching movies.

No work and no worries, just a happy and relaxed us.

??: Mary, I've figured out that even if my life were to stop tomorrow, I would still be on the end of the road

Mary: Then I'll go crazy with you and accompany you until the end.

The main character, who has been sentenced with the "death penalty" is dressed in a hospital gown. But his pale face is radiant as he and Mary dragged the IV and ran toward the hospital gates.

The sunset dragged their long shadows, and they took a long way away with each step. It was only when the gorgeous images jumped out of the black end credits that I realized the film was over.

After exhaling a deep breath, I noticed elderly people with gray hair appearing on the left side of the credits one by one.

??: Love is the most important thing in the world.

??: Life is always crazy. You want it? Just get it!

I was deeply touched by their sincere advice to young people, and I felt as if there was a hot fire burning in my heart.

Perhaps in the long road, I also need to have this impulse to run for the heart's desire more often.

MC: Lucien...

While thinking, I sat up and looked earnestly into those long, narrow eyes.

Lucien: What to do? I seem to have guessed MC is about to stir up troubles.

(T/N: 蠢蠢欲动 is an idiom meaning to begin to stir (idiom) / to get restless / to become threatening)

He raised his chin and narrowed his eyes. His magnetic voice fell on my ears.

Lucien: (whisper) You seem to want to do something you've never done before.

Lucien: Just like the protagonist of this movie, he leaves some out-of-the-ordinary, crazy traces in this world.

MC: ...

He said it almost perfectly and even poetically summed it up for me. I pouted and lightly jabbed him on the arm.

MC: No fun. I just ignited three minutes of enthusiasm, and then 80% of it was doused by a clever man!

He intentionally frowned in distress, took me into his arms, and nuzzled against the tip of my nose.

Lucien: (in that grieving tone) So what should I do? I don't know if I have a chance to atone for it...

Lucien: Let's get your three-minute enthusiasm going again.

His eyes rested between my lips almost imperceptibly. Without waiting for me to react, a soft sensation gently sealed my breath.

He slowly teased and nibbled on my lips as if trying to increase the heat little by little.

Lucien: (whisper very, VERY hoarsely) MC, tell me... what were you trying to do just now?

I subconsciously intended to speak but caught an inch of his smile in my dazed vision.

....He was leading me by nose again.

I drew back to my senses and pulled my neck away, escaping from the air that was getting thinner.

Lucien: Looks like my atonement wasn't enough.

Lucien smiled, and another kiss fell on the corner of my eye. His fingertips restlessly touched and lingered on my waist, making me tremble lightly.

And he had no intention of letting me go. His other hand was covering my eyes as if to block all possibility of me ever coming to my senses.

The string called reason shook and swayed as the kiss slowly moved downward, and I buried my face in his coat.

MC: Lucien, be serious.

MC: If this continues even further, I really won't be able to think anymore!

His chest trembled gently under my cheeks as if it was enduring something unbearable.

Lucien: [chuckle] In fact, you don't need to spend time thinking about it.

I pulled my head out of his embrace. I watched in a daze as he took a sip from a glass of wine on the table and casually swayed my fingers with his other hand.

Lucien: Crazy thoughts are inherently irrational.

Lucien: So when these thoughts come up, it's better to follow your heart than to think about it more deeply.

(thinking of his sp date-)

Looking at his serious look, I raised my cheeks and looked up and down.

MC: It always feels strange to hear such words from Professor Lucien's mouth, who usually speaks sensibly.

Lucien: Is that so?

Lucien: Reason and madness may sound like opposites, but sometimes they can exist at the same time.

MC: But isn't it usually when you lose your mind that you get called "crazy"?

Seeing that I objected, Lucien smiled and raised his hand to rub my nose.

Lucien: MC, we tend to think that reason is about what we shouldn't or should do.

Lucien: But in many cases, "unreasonable" is not the same as "wrong".

Lucien: It's just not predictable.

I couldn't help but think of the movie I just saw, where the main character's life changed in amazing ways when he did things he would never have done before.

My heart felt moved, so I sat up and kissed the person in front of me.

MC: Hey, is it like this?

Lucien was stunned by my sudden movement and slightly bent his eyes.

Lucien: This seems to be only a start.

Lucien: After all, this happens to me every day, doesn't it?

MC: It seems this kind of "crazy" to do whatever I want is not enough to satisfy our Professor Lucien.

I said as I intentionally rested my eyes between his lips. My hands slid down to his chest little by little and slowly pressed close to his body.

Lucien seems to have guessed my mind and letting me go close, but the palm of his hand is covering my waist like declaring the initiative.

Seeing that he would pull me close to his arms, I quickly used my hands to resist against his chest.

MC: I admit defeat. I really can't "fight" you and win!

He raised the corners of his lips in triumph, leaned over, and picked up the glass to hand it to me.

Lucien: Anything else you want to do tonight?

Lucien: For example, finishing the landscape you painted yesterday or taking the scones out of the fridge for a midnight snack?

I pondered and took a sip of wine. The choking warmth slid into my stomach.

MC: ...I haven't thought about it. Why don't we do what you said, think of something, and then do it?

MC: Anyway, it's a holiday, so relax your tense nerves and don't worry about anything.

Lucien: Okay. Then I won't worry about it. The painting can be done at another time.

Lucien: If you don't feel like eating a late-night snack, you can also wait until tomorrow to eat the scones that have missed their optimal taste.

MC: Pfft...

What he said made me burst into laughter. I got up, took my wine, and slowly looked around the room.

When I glanced over the spiral staircase, my eyes lit up, and I happily pointed to the slanted moonlight on the steps.

MC: Lucien, look. I can't believe that just by watching a movie, the clouds have dispersed and the stars have come out.

I looked up at the transparent dome and gazed at the stunning view of the galaxy.

MC: Is it just me, or is the air quality really good these few days. Why does it seem like the stars are getting brighter each day?

As I joked around, Lucien also sat down beside me, holding a wine glass.

Lucien: Then I guess we'll be seeing even more dazzling stars over the next few days.

I laughed and pretended to look at him in a serious way.

MC: Lucien, you can't use the fact that you are a professor to speak nonsense.

Lucien: Can't I make a joke?

I reached out and poked his cheek.

MC: You can, but your face is so deceiving that I can easily take anything you say seriously.

Seeing that Lucien was amused by me and laughed, I nuzzled against his shoulder in a good mood.

MC: Say, if we just sit here and watch the stars all night until sunrise…

MC: Would that be a crazy thing to do?

Lucien: Hmmm... I don't think it's necessary to measure the scale of craziness.

Lucien: As long as that is something you want to do, whether you sit here all night or sit for five minutes and then return to bed….

Lucien: It's all good.

Everything is tranquil and time seems to slow down, making my senses increasingly clear.

I can hear the wind blowing through the curtain at the window and the sound of Lucien's hair rustling in my ears.

I couldn't resist closing my eyes to listen to more subtleties that I hadn't noticed before.

Whoosh-

Suddenly there was a soft crashing sound from afar. It was like the sound of an hourglass ticking away in the night.

MC: Lucien, did you hear that?

I opened my eyes, and my hand pointed out the window to the sound. Lucien slightly held his breath as if he was carefully distinguishing.

Lucien: The place we live is not far from the beach. I think it should be the waves.

MC: …The waves?

The rustling sounds kept coming to my ears, and perhaps because of the influence of alcohol or because of the "grand words" just now –

A thought struck my mind, and I stood up.

MC: Lucien.

Lucien: MC, would you like to see the sea right now?

Looking at each other tacitly, a small warmth flowed through my heart, but when I couldn't refrain from nodding my head-

I saw the clock behind Lucien, pointing to one in the morning.

MC: ...

MC: I'm tempted, but it's almost one o'clock now.

MC: We still have to attend the party tomorrow. It won't be good if it affects your condition…

Lucien: It doesn't matter if I sleep less, but it might make MC a little sleepy.

Lucien: So…You can totally reject me.

Lucien smiled lightly, the moonlight cast a hazy color on him, and his collarbone was also faintly visible under the open skirt.

His usual soft and smooth hair was also a little messy because he was lying on the couch with me all night, giving him a little "unkempt" sense of laziness.*

(T/N: 不修边幅 is an idiom meaning not care about one's appearance/ slovenly in dress and manner)

Even though he said that, there was a dark tidal current that swept me deeply into those dark eyes.

It made me sink into them.

I winked and beamed with a big smile.

MC: No, let's go to see the sea.

MC: I don't care if I will be a bit sleepy tomorrow. I want to see the sea with you now.

The interest in Lucien's eyes grew even stronger, his hand absent-mindedly resting on the back of his neck while the other hand holding the wine glass clinked lightly with mine.

It sounded clear and beautiful.

Lucien: Then, we seem to hit it off.

(T/N: 一拍即合 is an idiom lit. to be together from the first beat (idiom) /to hit it off/to click together / to chime in easily)

At night, it turns out that nothing can be seen on the sea except the ivory moonlight falling on the tide.

At the far end of the horizon, a long, thin line of lights from thousands of homes spreads horizontally, so far away that it seems like another untouchable world.

MC: Lucien, there are only two of us here.

MC: It seems that the idea of going to the beach at one o'clock in the morning is really unreasonable~

Lucien: But by occasionally doing the opposite, the sea belongs to us for a brief time.

Lucien: Even though the sea is not blue at all, there are no seagulls to be seen, and you might even step on a small crab moving in the night.

Seeing Lucien joking around, I'm happily took off my shoes and quickly run to the waves to feel the tide soaking through my ankles.

MC: I can't see the sea, but I'm in the sea right now.

MC: I can still feel the sand slipping past my ankles along with the tide and then quietly slipping away from the soles of my feet.

Lucien: The Great Producer seems to be extraordinarily attentive today.

Lucien: I don't know if it's because of the wine or the movie...

MC: Of course, it's because of you.

I was quick to take over his words, winking playfully. Seeing me like this, Lucien burst out laughing.

Lucien: (laughs) What to do? I feel a bit helpless with this slightly drunk lady.

Hearing his little teasing, I purposely flicked my foot and brought the seawater onto the edge of his shoe.

MC: Then Professor Lucien, don't let me stay alone in the sea~ why don't you take off your shoes too? It's comfortable here,

He didn't answer, and just when I thought he would smile and politely decline, Lucien bent down to take off his shoes and walked beside me.

Lucien: Indeed, It's very comfortable, just a little cooler than I thought.

Although taking off the shoes is not a big deal, I feel that his natural response is a bit unexpected

MC: Lucien, how many drinks did you have tonight?

Lucien: Do you think I'm drunk?

His long, narrow eyes were clear under the moonlight, and they clearly captured me in them. I smiled, shook my head, and continued using my foot to send the cold water over his ankles.

MC: It doesn't matter if you are drunk or not. There is no one else here anyway.

MC: So, it's okay for you to be a little more "let loose".

Lucien: Can teacher MC teach me some examples?

My eyes seemed to linger on him. Then I leaned down to cup a small amount of water and splashed it on him.

MC: Just like this?

He nodded thoughtfully, took two steps forward, and when I thought he was going to counterattack, I was about to turn and run-

Before Lucien tenderly shackled me in his arms.

Lucien: (whisper) Teacher, can I draw another example from what you just taught me?

MC: O-of course.

He gazed deeply at me. His fingertips brushed my eyebrows, my eyes… And finally, he held my face and kissed it.

The waves hit the rocks again, but this time, we were in the middle of the waves, surrounded by dense foam and entwined by the sweet taste of wine between our lips and teeth.

I was immersed in this sweet taste. Lucien only pulled away from me a while later. The cold sea breeze lingered at the tip of my nose and tickled me a little….

MC: Ah-choo-!

I quickly covered my mouth, and a chill ran through my body.

MC: … Although it is in the south, the sea is still a bit cold at night.

Lucien: This seems to be an oversight on my part.

He turned and bent down, grabbed my thighs with both hands, and put me directly on his back.

A moment of weightlessness made me cling tightly to his neck.

MC: Eh? Are we going back? But I'm just a little cold and not tired.

Lucien: This lady seems to have misunderstood me.

He said as he walked forward, moving away from the direction of the manor.

Lucien: Since we came to the beach late at night, we should have some fun before returning.

Lucien: It's just that if you stay in the sea all the time, it's easy to catch a cold.

Lucien: So, by carrying you on my back in the sea, we should be able to achieve almost the same effect.

Our shadows are close and seamless under the moonlight.

I contentedly put my face on Lucien's back and talked to him about one thing after another.

The faint sound of laughter rolled away with the waves until I saw the smoke coming from the distance, and I couldn't help but exclaim in a small voice.

MC: Lucien, it's a roadside stall! It looks like a stall for some kind of warm and hot soup.

Lucien: Want to go over and take a look?

MC: Um!

As we got closer, I faintly saw the stall owner turn off the small lights and put the ingredients into the box one by one…

MC: Shoot, looks like it's about to close!

Before I finished speaking, Lucien tightened his arms, and I felt a gentle jolt. I was stunned when I realized he was running with me on his back!

MC: Lucien...?

Lucien: (panting while shouting happily) MC, I'm curious, so without any hesitation...

Lucien: (still continuing shouting happily) I ain't gonna let you miss it.

(T/N: I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS POSSIBLE FOR HIM TO SOUND THIS HAPPY AND ALIVE-)

A relaxed laugh passed through my ears. Although I can't see his expression at this moment, I can imagine that calm but warm face.

I couldn't help but laugh and approached his ear-

MC: Professor Lucien, we seem to be a bit "crazy" now.

When I woke up the next day, Lucien was already fully dressed, sitting on the sofa and quietly reading a book.

His white shirt was clean, and his smooth hair was well-groomed.

I can't see that this is the same man from last night, who was so energetic that he chased the stall owner with me on his back so I could successfully drink hot soup, and only went to sleep at dawn…

I secretly laughed, then sat up and stretched.

MC: Lucien, what time is it? Why didn't you wake me when you got up?

Lucien: You were so tired from last night, so I wanted to let you rest a little longer.

Lucien: Plus, there's still plenty of time, so you can take it slow.

MC: So… Since it's early, can I ask for a good morning hug?

I grinned at him and opened my arms. Lucien put down his book, sat on the edge of the bed, and softly pecked me on the lips.

MC: Even Professor Lucien can misinterpret a question. I clearly ask for a hug.

Lucien: Then, just think of it as an additional question that I answered.

I stayed in his arms for a while before going to the closet. I took out a purple dress and a set of a white casual suit with trousers.

MC: Which one do you think I should wear today?

His eyes wandered between the two sets of clothes for quite a while.

Lucien: The party is relatively long, so it is reasonable that wearing a comfortable dress would be better.

Lucien: However, a certain lady was so excited about the party that she went back and forth to pick out her clothes several times while packing.

After a moment of pause, his eyes finally fell on the purple dress.

Lucien: So just wear it, and if you get tired by then, we'll come back early.

MC: Hehe, Professor Lucien understands my mind the most~

Lucien smiled and walked to the mirror. His fingertips lightly crossed the table's edge and took out a pair of butterfly earrings from the jewelry box.

Lucien: I also have a suggestion about the jewelry.

Lucien: You used to say it didn't have the right opportunity to shine, but I think today is that opportunity.

I took the earrings with a smile and hugged him around the neck.

MC: Then I would like to ask Professor Lucien to continue to help me with advice. Is that okay?

MC: I'll need you to help me choose the perfume I'm going to use when I go out. I'll go change first!

Without giving him a chance to react, I kissed him on the cheek and walked into the bathroom with my clothes and jewelry.

After changing clothes, I saw Lucien sitting lazily by the window, shaking the balm in his hand.

MC: Have you picked it out so quickly?

Lucien: To be precise, as soon as I smelled this scent, I knew it was the only way to go today.

MC: Oh? It looks like you're pretty confident in your choice~ Let me see which one you've chosen.

I picked up the balm to smell it, and my eyes widened

It has the scent of waves. The elegant fragrance carries a little bit of salty moisture, letting the memories of last night sweep into my mind.

The dark sea, the rolling waves, the moonlight sways in front of my eyes as he runs…

When I thought about it, I couldn't resist leaning into him, pressing closer to the scent in front of me.

(Cue 5th birthday bgm 🥺)

MC: You just said that you picked it right away. Can I take it that you enjoyed our experience at the beach last night?

Lucien: Mmm, I don't deny it.

Lucien: Although the scenery was pitch black last night, I can seem to remember it for a long time.

Looking at the balm in my hand, I suddenly thought of something and smiled.

MC: I've heard that scent can strengthen people's memories…

MC: So just remember with me a little longer.

As I said that, I leaned back a little. I slowly unbuttoned his shirt, one by one, with one hand.

I stopped when the sunlight cast a white light in front of his collarbone and rubbed my fingers on the balm.

As we looked at each other, my index finger slowly climbed up and down and slid down his chest with a little more force.

Lucien's palm covered my lower back as if in response to me. His fingertips were caressing. The lace tulle skirt made a rustling sound, just like the waves last night.

I couldn't help but press myself against his neck and breathe the scent of the ocean.

MC: Lucien...

Lucien: Hmm?

MC: In fact, looking back now, what we did last night didn't seem crazy.

MC: It's just strolling along the dark beach and then running after the stall that is about to close.

MC: But for some reason, I just enjoyed last night.

Lucien: Is this kind of "crazy" enough for you?

I stared deeply into his eyes without hesitation.

MC: Of course it's enough. Because you are the one who went to the beach with me, you are the one who held me, and you are the one who ran forward with me on your back.

I paused and pressed my forehead against his.

MC: For me, "crazy" is not about doing something out of the ordinary.

MC: My heart will still beat faster when I do ordinary things with you.

MC: Even when our hair is all gray, it'll still do the same.

MC: Isn't that just the craziest thing ever?

Lucien tightened his arms and pressed himself against me, without leaving any gaps.

Lucien: It really doesn't get any crazier than that.

Lucien: Your very existence has caused me to lose control from time to time.

I reached out to nudge the tip of his nose and smiled playfully.

MC: Then you must continue to be unreserved with me so that I can "occupy" you a little more.

He was stunned, and pretended to let out a sigh of chagrin.

Lucien: [sigh] Am I not unreserved enough in front of you? I can't believe that you have this "illusion".

MC: Because like you, I'm also very greedy.

MC: Although I also like the usual you, I want to see more of Professor Lucien from last night.

MC: And you will satisfy me, won't you?

Lucien answered softly. His quiet eyes seemed to set off layers of sea waves.

Suddenly, I thought of something else, curiously lying on top of him, twirling my fingertips around his hair.

MC: Speaking of which, what would you say is the craziest thing you've ever done before our hair turned gray?

Lucien bent his smiling eyes, lightly pursed his lips, and said nothing.

He just moved even closer to me while carrying the scent of the waves and lowered his head to kiss me.

-And once again, my heart bloomed like a flowering sea wave.

[T/N: 'Loving you is the craziest thing I've ever done in our lifetime' :”]

#SOBBING #awww those cute kisses #mlqc lucien #mr love queen's choice #mlqc spoiler #mlqc cn #mlqc translation #will add more t/n later

98 notes · View notes

britishassistant · 1 year

Note

A twst and NeverAfter crossover! A Twisted Neverland! There are so many possibilities!

Warning: NeverAfter/twst chapter 7 spoilers

I imagine the RSA princes’ motives might be a combination of the Fairies and the Princesses; something like, destroying twisted wonderland in order to return to the “true” version of the story. Because imagine how unfair it must feel to go from being the most important character in your story to barely even getting a name. I could see that leading to a mindset of setting right what once went wrong, only their definition of “right” is a bit myopic. Nevemind that their plan would doom all of the NRC students because “they’re villains, villains don’t deserve happy endings”

I know he’s taking the role of the Stepmother but Malleus’ goal also gives him a lot in common with the Baron of Bricks. A beginning with no ending. And a conflict with death (which is perfect since Idia, twisted from the ruler of the underworld, is gonna go up against him in canon). Perhaps that’s why he’s not too far gone to save? Because he doesn’t want to completely destroy everything, instead he wants to preserve certain parts of the story at the expense of everything else. Or is he at a point of “if I can’t have you no one can”?

What’s Lilia’s role in this? I can’t imagine he’d willingly go along with this insane plan if he understood what was going on, considering his reaction at the party. So is he being controlled? I guess that would mean Silver is in a similar position to Pinocchio.

If the students are sticking to the script doesn’t that mean that Yuu has to meet with Malleus? Not very often (thank god) but I doubt he’d take kindly to being denied their friendship, not after everything he’s sacrificed to keep it. Man, imagine meeting this eldritch creature and being expected to act all clueless and call him Hornton like you’re not painfully aware that he wants to eat you or something.

And are all the students aware of the nature of their world? Was it harder for some of them to awaken than others? Specifically the ones without an obvious analog from the other stories? Like Jack, or those twisted from plot devices instead of characters? (Epel: I’m a goddamned apple)

Sorry for the long disjointed rant, your au just combined my two current hyperfixations:D

Thank you for the ask, dear anon!

These are literally my two hyperfixations right now, I am vibrating in place—

(Also this is just one of the two possible crossovers I’ve had in mind. After all, if Disney interpretations of fairy tales exist within Neverafter, who’s to say our intrepid heroes couldn’t wash up on Sage Island one fine morning?)

And yes that is what’s happening with the RSA princes—much like the Neverafter princesses they have basically decided that the villainous world of Twisted Wonderland is only making people residing in it unhappy as things get worse and worse every run. Therefore the only way to save everyone and make them happy is by making sure this backwards, twisted world no longer exists.

Yes, Malleus’ goals are basically an amalgamation of the two—like when the stepmother started out and the Baron, all he wants is a way to keep Lilia from getting sick and to keep his human in Twisted Wonderland without needing to ever worry about parting. Except, then he discovered that his story was written to be a tragedy where he confronts loss and learns to move on despite it. And in his current mindset, the being formerly known as Malleus Draconia was not prepared to accept that this narrative would only take from him that which he held dear.

Isn’t it better that he sacrifice the very thing binding him to this tale, the name of the heir to the Valley of Thorns, if it means he can surpass the Thorn Fairy and destroy all that which is unnecessary to his happiness? Even if his current power is insufficient to do so, all he needs to do are consume the other manifestations of “Dorm Head” or “Villain” until he is the only being left with any claim to these titles, no?

He’s not quite at the point of “if I can’t have you, no one can” but he is getting there. Oh boy is he getting there.

Lilia, Crowley and by extension Sebek are trying to work against the Diasomnia Dorm Head to get things Back on Track (or what they think Back On Track is). As fae, they’re a bit more aware of the ways in which the narrative should run, and the beings whose attentions they do not wish to attract for fear of them making the story worse.

For Lilia and Sebek this is hard as they need to try and keep Diasomnia running like how it was when the Dorm Head was still mostly person shaped, while ensuring no one deviates from the script by force, if they must. They can’t do much about the Dorm Head, as he’s basically drifting around doing whatever he wants to try and gain more power, but for the more human students? Well, it’s not like these individual, self-centered mages can really fight back against Crowley or Lilia’s capabilities, right? Just stick to the plan and everything will be fine, they promise.

Of course, this is without the additional factor that every parallel version of Twisted Wonderland our heroes end up in after they die incorporates more of the darker and grittier aspects of the original tales than the ones before it.

Kalim al-Asim hasn’t had the freedom to think for himself since the start of the year, for example. Crossing the Octavinelle trio is a sure fire way to find yourself vanished without a trace, the dorm students of Ignihyde seem to be halfway to the underworld already, and some say the dorm head of Heartslaybul will paint the roses red with the blood of those who fail to live up to his exacting standards.

Yuu, Grim, Silver, Rook and Ortho are all part of Team “maybe we shouldn’t have to follow our stories to the letter to find happiness but we don’t want the world destroyed either thnx”.

Grim, quite understandably, does not want his story to end with him turning into a monster that either kills his friends or gets killed by them, and so is trying to find a way to avoid this fate.

Silver and Rook, thanks to their more light-aligned origins, are similar to the RSA students in that once they’ve “awoken” they’ll stay that way across every version of themselves. Silver is taking it much harder than Rook is, though it’s not easy for him either.

Ortho, thanks to Idia modifying his memory databanks so they can be transferred across dimensions, is able to pretty much “awaken” whenever an alternate version of him is destroyed.

Yuu’s notebook, which they originally used in their Villainous Paranoiac ‘verse to record everything that happened to them and try to figure out a way to prevent overblots, functions very much like Timothy Goose’s storybook, if more…prone to overwriting its wielder with the memories stored within.

Most of the students who “wake up” usually join this side as well. It’s actually much easier for the students who aren’t twisted from defined character within their story to “awaken”. After all, it’s much harder for a person to be twisted into a worse version of their story counterpart if that counterpart is say, an apple, a pair of cards, or a wolf that never appeared in the first place.

Thank you for ranting though! I really enjoy reading through things like this!!

#twisted wonderland #twst #neverafter #twst spoilers #neverafter spoilers #twisted wonderland yuu #twst yuu #villainous paranoiac yuu #malleus draconia #twst rsa #twst silver #twst grim #rook hunt #ortho shroud #lilia vanrouge #sebek zigvolt #dire crowley

53 notes · View notes

davyjoneslockr · 11 months

Note

anything fortunate son because im absolutely insane about this au

OKAY yeah I think it’s about time I explain what this is to the general public :]

Not gonna reveal too much because I am in the process of writing it and I don’t want to throw out spoilers but. Basically, Fortunate Son is what I’m calling my good old-fashioned Giorno in Florida during Stone Ocean AU. His Joestar Senses urge him to go there like everyone else, and, while he’s not really sure what he’s looking for there, he knows something’s up. He has a fated encounter with someone who realizes his true potential, informs him as to what’s going on, and convinces him to join a quest to save the world.

That encounter’s not with Jolyne, though. It’s with Pucci.

In this AU, Giorno doesn’t know anything about his heritage until Pucci tells him. According to him, his father was a godlike figure who sought to save humanity from itself. He was killed by a family who grew envious of his power, and who wanted to keep him down. This resonates with Giorno, who grew up imagining his father as a larger-than-life figure, one who could save him from the life he lived as a child.

And, of course, it invokes a bit of anger in him, hearing that the Joestars were the reason he never got to meet him.

Pucci suggests that fate brought them together, and that there’s still hope for Dio’s dream – after all, his son is still alive. And if Dio is God, then Giorno is the Messiah sent to realize his father’s vision.

Giorno, being a lover of pipe dreams and eager to play the role he’s been given, joins forces with Pucci, and agrees to track down and kill Jolyne Cujoh and her allies.

Of course, there’s other reasons Pucci recognizes Giorno as his Christ figure above Dio’s other sons – who they run into much sooner than in canon, thanks to Giorno’s Joestar Senses. Much to Donatello’s chagrin, of course. But the other Brando brothers have their own roles to play, as do Giorno’s companions – his husband Fugo and friends Mista and Sheila, who are joining him on this mission.

I think that’s all I can really say for now without giving away too much. I did actually have an alternate idea for this AU, which is more canon-compliant and follows Jolyne’s gang killing off Giorno’s in self-defense, one by one, until Giorno’s left alone, despairing, and powerless, eventually finished off by Jolyne herself. But rest assured, I’m not going with that ending :] (for now. I do have some ideas floating around about that, including how a few of the deaths go down, but. I’m not strong enough to write that fic yet.)

ALSO. Very important. There’s a subplot I’m calling Mista’s Hot Girl Spring Break where Mista hooks up with all the Brando Bros, a large assortment of other characters, and eventually. Sighs. Anasui. Don’t ask why. Don’t worry about it. Yes this is why my mutuals and I were Anamis posting a while back. Hi Sboopie and Tony.

So yeah!! Like I said, there’s a lot more to it, but I don’t want to give away some of the big plot points yet. This also spawned largely due to my friends and I going insane on Discord over the course of a few weeks, so big thanks to all my mutuals who helped “yes, and…” with me in the server :D

#i know this au sounds very basic right now but trust me it makes me insane i think about it constantly now #but follow up questions are very welcome i just don’t want to like. dump the entire plot on here just yet #jjba #davy discusses fics

29 notes · View notes

satanicspeaks · 5 months

Text

Been seeing reviews of The Expanse books where people comment on how slow the books are, that it’s a slog to get to the plot arcs. And while yeah definitely it takes it time, i personally enjoy it.

Each book introduces new POV and slowly puts plot pieces together. I’m used to slow burns and books like Gideon the Ninth where things slow ramp up until it all falls apart in quick succession. The POV’s are a great choice too with how the books utilise them, it’s always the most significant characters and I haven’t felt like a POV was adding nothing to the books (except for in book 1 when I didn’t understand the format so ignored all that didn’t interest me)

Book spoilers from here for the books Abaddon’s Gate & Nemesis Games

Abaddon’s Gate is one of my favourite’s for how it does this. We meet Clarissa who makes sense in the context she’s in, she links back to her sister nicely, her family is known and by slowly exploring who she is we don’t feel the POV swaps in the main arc are sudden or odd.

Same with Anna, we get to know her, how she feels, how she acts in situations before you drop the mother of all crises on her.

Holden is well known at this point and his POV gives us familiarity, we love him as a character and know the crew he’s in so we still hold that emotional connection to them as the other POV’s develop. Because it’s hard to care about a character that’s new (this is why I have some major criticisms of Fourth Wing as a book, it wants us to care about how protagonist is feeling about a character we met two paragraphs ago, it feels empty and shallow)

By having a slow set up it also allows for a shit tone of points to use in the plot climaxes. Like oh that thing that was mentioned in chapter 2? Yeah it’s important. Those important things are masked by an info dump of sci-fi and each characters own interests so we as the reader don’t see what’s important straight away. But we know by now that this is the format the books will take.

That’s also why Nemsis Games and its deviation from what we expect with POV is important. Oh? We got used to new POVs and the crew being all together? Well this time we’ll only give you the crew’s POV! They’re familiar but this time you now fundamentally know how they think, removing Holden’s bias.

I’m once again info dumping about the book series, don’t worry I’m not stopping. I’m up to Babylon’s Ashes, so three books to go. Five seasons of the TV series to go. Let’s see if I can do this in less than two months 🫡

#the expanse #Abaddon’s gate #nemesis games #tag: the expanse #satanic speaks #james s.a corey

7 notes · View notes

daisyandbilly · 1 year

Text

Let’s talk about episodes 4, 5, and 6 of Daisy Jones & the Six! This is kind of late because I have written and re-written this review 8 times.

(Spoilers galore — do not continue reading if you don’t want to be spoiled)

Let’s start with the good! Immersion. Episode 4’s house party was what I’ve been waiting for in terms of set and scenery. The smoky rooms, the people, the noise, the outfits, the wood paneling of the house. I think the house party will forever be a favorite part of this series for me. It was a happy addition. Although it didn’t exist in the book, Camila bringing Daisy into the fold and getting Billy to put aside his ego for the sake of his art and the band was great. She saw the potential of them and orchestrated a thing of beauty. Lots of mess but also beauty! Seeing the band interact outside of a strict music setting was a joy. Can we get more of that?! Daisy holding Julia: chills. Another full circle moment, they’ve always been somewhat connected.

I still don’t like that Daisy didn’t actually have a career until she met the Six but their first performance was great. Billy’s annoyance, Daisy’s false bravado, her crashing the stage after the first song, The Six’s excitement. All so good. Camila clocking Billy for his rudeness during the interview. So good!

I have zero notes for Simone thus far, she has been a delight to watch and I can’t wait to experience her New York disco days.

I loved everything about Karen and Graham’s little surfing side quest, down to the car his… girlfriend(?) was driving — i want it! When she pulled him inside of the house my eyes popped out of my head lmao. Karen jokingly using her jealousy to shame the poor girl for her love of Barry Manilow threw me off a liiiitle. It wasn’t a huge issue at all, it’s just that in my head she would’ve been too cool to say that, girls girl and #girlboss and all.

These episodes were some of my favorite so far. The tension and initial anger and the music were great. I love understanding the context of songs and this was so special. More Fun to Miss and Regret Me truly hit even deeper if that was possible. Watching Billy and Daisy go back and forth when writing the album felt very frustratingly satisfying. It’s such an important chunk of the book and I wouldn’t have minded it playing out a bit longer but I’m unsure if that’s because I still feel thrown off by the pacing of the show. We only have four episodes left.

Now let’s get to the elephant in the post. Unfortunately I have been spoiled left and right while running this blog. I knew about the kiss (and a few other changes that I won’t spoil, don’t worry.) And as much of a fangirl moment that I had during it (I still gasped and leapt from my chair), when it was over… I was left scratching my head. The excruciating what-if aspect that looms over the book has been replaced with a handful of cliches. There is no guessing or later revelation, it’s all been laid out.

I hate that I agree with the critics again, I swear I never thought that would happen, but once Billy initiates the kiss a lot of the plot has been stripped of its nuance. This is now a show about a very real love triangle. I know things must change for adaptations and they really wanted to lean into the Fleetwood Mac aspect of the band’s relationships but something about the dynamic between these characters is off especially this version of Camila and Billy as we continue with the season. We’re supposed to feel love and instead it’s translating as obligation.

Book Billy’s faithfulness to Camila after he got sober is what he held onto with a vice grip. And although he loved her and emphasized that he chose her above all else, the weight of temptation everyday constantly crushed and guided most of his decisions when he was with Daisy. They were magic onstage because it was where they could be together and burn all that pent up energy. Daisy replaced his addiction and because of that she was the temptation he never fully lost himself in because of what happened the first time. Watching them together on stage was meant to be akin to the dynamic of The Civil Wars. Profound longing mixed with unbridled inhibition and the sadness of the reality of their situation.

Here he’s already given into the temptation that he was supposed to ultimately struggle with when he made a decision at that bar in Chicago. And once Daisy vocalizes her anger/hurt at him bringing Camila to the Aurora cover shoot, the triangle has been solidified. This feels like an affair, just one that didn’t have enough gas to take off. I understand the idea of and see the tweets about conflicting point of views and unreliable accounts (due to who is interviewing them) and while I agree (I do!), that just doesn’t hold up here. Daisy’s shame that Billy rejects her after she kisses him is meant to get her on the path to running away to Thailand, marrying Niccolò and falling deeper into addiction. The idea of her leaving because of the same Rolling Stone article that she exposed Billy for is ??????? And seeing Camila here being relegated to a wife standing by her man cheating a second time as long as he doesn’t love Daisy is so… weird. Not even a little fling with Eddie could even the score but honestly good for her! (this is meant to replace that “lunch” with Greg/Gary Egan that happens in the book). I hope they don’t turn Camila into a placeholder; just another obstacle for Daisy and Billy to endure especially now that they’ve chosen to shorten the age gap between the interviews because that would be depressing.

Do I still love these characters? Absolutely. The show is doing a wonderful job of capturing a lot of emotions and I can not emphasize enough how much I love this cast. I know these are deeply flawed characters and they eventually experience the consequences of their actions and selfishness but we’re still supposed to be rooting for them. I do think they’ve forgotten to slip a few redeeming qualities for Billy in tho 👀.

Rating ⭐️ — 4 out of 5

24 hours later and Im still going back and forth with this rating lol

Also why Greece? Nothing wrong with that change, just curious

#love you sam riley camila everyone! but the writers deserve a little jail time #daisy jones and the six #djats #taylor jenkins reid #djats spoilers

31 notes · View notes

fyeahbachisagi · 2 years

Text

Why Showing Bachira’s Flashback in Episode 2 is a Good Thing + Some Manga Hints on Bachira’s Backstory

【this post contains Blue Lock manga spoilers】

Edit (Dec. 11, 2022): This post is very outdated now and needs to be updated.

Manga readers were in for a big surprise when they saw a flashback scene from chapter 70 being animated very early on. I myself was just as surprised.

But initial shock aside, I found the early addition of the flashback a good thing, and I commend the studio for doing it.

For context, I joined the fandom only recently and just caught up to the manga last week, so the manga is still very fresh in my mind. In the manga, most scenes are in Isagi’s point of view, and we won’t get to know more about a character until it’s their arc.

This is why when it was time for Bachira’s backstory, I was actually quite overwhelmed and taken aback to see just how deep Bachira’s affections run for Isagi (and you don’t even have to interpret that romantically). Up until then, I’ve always viewed him as a happy-go-lucky guy who just likes to stick to Isagi a lot. Who would’ve thought that underneath his sunshine exterior was an insecure guy who was very afraid of being left alone.

I actually went back to the earlier chapters just to see hints of this. Heavy developments must be foreshadowed, after all. And to my surprise, there were actually indications of this, but it’s very subtle that you have to know what you’re looking for to find them.

Here’s one from Chapter 43. In forming teams for the second stage of the Second Selection, he automatically includes Isagi into his team without even asking for his opinion.

If it were just this, then one could easily brush it as just the thing that friends do where you don’t even have to ask coz it’s considered a matter of course.

But then we have this:

When Nagi asked Isagi to join his team, we see Bachira’s panel in a dark lighting while everyone else’s remain bright. [Edit: This turned out to be something that's only found on the fan translation. In the official translation, all panels are lit the same. The image above has been changed to show the official one.]

And in the next panel, we actually see Bachira worried:

And although Isagi chose to be with him, Bachira’s smile doesn’t look so happy. It even looks forced... Because he knows.

He knows Isagi would want to team with a powerful player like Nagi:

Edit: Okay, the one above turned out to also be from the fan tl. In the official one, instead of Bachira saying "Figured," he just says "Totally."

There are more hints in even earlier chapters. For instance, the scene from Chapter 3 that got included in episode 2:

The manga version of the scene is very tepid, though. (Oh my god, Rin’s favorite word is now also becoming my favorite.) Unless you’re reading immersively and not just scanning through the dialogue to get the plot, then you can hardly feel its impact.

Whereas, in the anime version, it feels more meaningful: The sudden silence in the background and Bachira putting away his smile and looking serious... it tells the viewer that what he’s saying is important.

Several more hints can be found in the manga, but to keep this post short, let me just get to the point now:

Bachira is a very important character, probably only second to Isagi. But for such an important character, we hardly knew anything about him beyond being that "cute guy with a crazy side and who makes metaphors about monsters and stuff" until almost the end of the Second Selection arc. Once animated, anime-only's would be quick to dismiss him as just another stereotypical "crazy" character.

But by showing Bachira's flashback in episode 2, and even going so far as to animate the Monster itself, the anime is sending a message that there's more to Bachira than a stereotype.

The scene above speaks volumes. We have this kid not getting along with his teammates, gave the enemy team an advantage by losing the ball, and then he's even seeing things that other people can't. He surely hasn't been living well

And shortly after this scene is him telling Isagi how glad he was to have come to Blue Lock since he could meet him.

From all these, we are already given the impression that this guy is lonely. This guy is weird and crazy, and nobody wants to play with him. But then comes Isagi.

The anime is already setting up for Bachira's arc this early on, and I think they're doing a better job at it than the manga.

#blue lock spoilers #blue lock manga #chapter 3 #chapter 43 #chapter 70 #episode 2

78 notes · View notes

danshive · 1 year

Text

I’m plotting to make Maple in Skyrim. Again.

This will be non-anniversary edition in Japanese. It’s not important that it’s in Japanese, but if I want non-anniversary edition, that’s the version I have that’s non-anniversary, so… 日本語です。

Here are the rules / goals for Maple:

Breton. Smol, plus magic resistance.

Only level health.

Block is priority #1. Block is where most damage reduction will come from.

Vegetable Soup. FIND TOMATOES O_O

Heavy Armor is #2. Getting the “if wearing all heavy armor” and every rank isn’t important, as Maple will get the armor cap without them via smithing (AND ancient knowledge), and will likely not technically wear all heavy armor (Falmer helmet doesn’t actually count towards all heavy armor, and spoiler warning, that’s what she’s going to be wearing, along with a circlet).

All crafting. All three. No restoration loop except MAYBE to quickly finish leveling Alchemy. No actual exploiting the loop beyond saving time. Just Smithing and Enchanting would arguably be fine, but we’re maxing defense. We NEED that poison resist.

Join the companions. This is useful for training, but also? Werewolf. Werewolf + everything else Maple will be doing is absurdly powerful and Atrocity worthy.

Alteration. Need that +30 Magic resistance.

Blessing of Mara. Even MORE Magic Resistance.

That standing stone that offers EVEN MORE RESISTANCE. We want Maple to have 70 magic resistance EVEN WHEN A WEREWOLF (and 95 at all other times, which is above the cap, but the cap isn’t even the cap, because elemental resistance is on top of that, and can half damage again while blocking with a shield perk).

As many Daedric Artifacts as possible. Don’t worry about morality! We’re roleplaying Maple in a game, not Maple actually isekai’d. It wouldn’t be Maple if she couldn’t do horrific things without it being fine because game.

Find, AND HANG ON TO, a flawless Ruby. This is for getting Spellbreaker.

There’s more. Definitely more. Just manipulating when I take Illusion perks is a thing (fear boost AFTER fire empowering Destruction perks, stronger against humans before muffle perk), but I just looked at how much I wrote, and wow. It’s, um… Quite a lot.

Anyway, werewolf Maple should be absurd. If all your points are in health, you’re constantly healing by feeding, AND you have a race-independent passive resistance of 70% to magic? That’s an absolute tank (at least on normal. On legendary difficulty, that wolf’s in trouble, but that’s why screw Legendary).

#skyrim #bofuri #Maple in Skyrim

32 notes · View notes

phantomoftheorpheum · 4 days

Text

PLL: OS (Summer School) 2x04 thoughts

*Spoilers for 2x01-2x04 of Summer School

okay y'all, I've done my nails, washed my hair, I've got my under eye masks on, and a box of old fashioned butter fudge, let's watch 2x04.

EDIT: just a fair warning, I'm absolutely overthinking (I like overthinking) and if you aren't interested in someone overanalyzing a tv show down to the tiniest detail, this post is not for you.

We're officially halfway through the season!

In the "previously on" recap, they play that clip of Mrs. Beasley saying, "we must all do our part to save those who are worthy," (<< or something very close to that), which certainly plays into my "sinners" being punished Mrs. Beasley/Pastor Malachi "Bloody Rose" theories, but I also worry about the show specifically bringing our attention to it this early on.

One thing that I've been thinking about more and more, which makes this season a little difficult to predict, is that we don't really know what "Rose" wants. We have really 0 concrete motivation at this point. In season 1, while we didn't know how all the pieces fit together, we knew the A storyline was centered around Angela, her death, and the role the moms played in it. Since "Bloody Rose" isn't actually Rose Waters (or certainly doesn't seem to be), we don't really know why she's tormenting the Liars, or why she's killing other people. While I've been working on my "sinners" theory, and this episode definitely has some elements that play into that, the lack of a defined "goal" keeps us guessing a lot more this season.

Rose Waters - Are we convinced that the "actual" Rose Water IS Rose Waters? While I've never really thought "Bloody Rose" is Rose, it does put my guard up that the girls immediately buy in to her being the real Rose. I'm not sure rn.

I’ve taken note of the SpookySpaghetti Waters Family films, and I haven’t talked about them at all before, because they’re pretty much just going over stuff (in an incredibly dramatized way) we already know, and I could honestly go the rest of my life never hearing Mouse say “SpookySpaghetti” again, like we GET it, but considering how much screentime they’re giving the plot line, I do have to consider the fact that the films & website may be more important than just a convenient place to dump info & have "Rose" contact people. One thought that comes to mind (despite the character being largely absent so far this season), is that Wes told Tabby in 2X01 that the film festival she was rejected from had rejected him 3 times. We know he’s obsessed with horror, and he’s the one who talked Tabby into posting her film online in order to get it out there. Could the films we’re seeing be Wes’ rejected festival films? Does it matter? This is what I mean when I say I overthink things.

The fact that ROSE is using the “final girl” terminology does immediately make me think of Wes & Christian. It’s kind of hard to imagine Mrs. Beasley (who has been my top suspect since 2x01) knowing/using the “final girl” label, and Wes did quite literally call Tabby a final girl at the beginning of the season, but I don’t feel I can draw any strong conclusions on this one, just taking note.

In that vein of thought... Chip/Christian - I know I was not initially sold on the “Christian is connected to Chip” theories, because it feels like a retread of old ground, BUT I’m a little suspicious that they haven’t really brought Chip and his mom up since the first episode, other than Tabby having flashbacks of him & seeing similarities in Christian. I also noticed Christian referred to Tabby as a final girl (though he does so in relation to her potentially starring in the film), which is terminology I am keeping my eyes open for from anyone other than the main girls. I’m still not completely sold on the suspicions of Christian, but the fact they AREN’T pointing at him right now (which I expected them to do as soon as they realized the Bloody Rose situation was an actual threat since he literally has A and Rose masks in his basement) has me re-evaluating his threat level.

Dr. Sullivan - This character has been a tough one for me. I know she’s from the original show, and a lot of people think that rules her out. I’m not so sure about that (if they’re willing to take jabs at Ezra, a main character from a very popular [but also despised] ship, then I wouldn’t be surprised if they took other characters from the original show and changed the perception of them), and honestly I don’t remember her. It’s been a LONG time since I watched the original show, so I’m missing some of the context with this character. It’s also difficult to know what her motivation would be- yes, it seems Rose was one of her patients, there is a connection, but if she IS behind things, I think we’re missing some really vital information, presumably about the “loss” that is hinted at when Imogen is talking to her this episode. Surely that’s coming back around at some point (is this info we have about her from the main show and I just don’t know it? Someone help me out here). It feels like Dr. Sullivan's past has a part to play, but is she a bad guy? IDK. That being said, we have no proof that Dr. Sullivan was actually pushed down the stairs. She could have just as easily injured herself escaping the fire during Mouse’s test.

Mothers and daughters, mothers and daughters, mothers and daughters, this is haunting me. Everything is about mothers and daughters- basically all of season 1, Rose’s lore, Imogen’s plot, Kelly’s plot, etc. Mothers betraying daughters (Rose’s abuse of Angela, Noa’s mom letting her take the fall for her drugs, Faran’s mom causing her permanent injury/pain with unnecessary surgery, infantilizing/stunting Mouse, failing Karen & isolating/abusing Kelly, etc. etc.), Mothers protecting daughters (Davie’s support of Imogen, Imogen’s fears for Estelle, Tabby’s mom threatening Wes, etc.). This feels so central and so important to the identity of this show, but I feel like I’m missing an important puzzle piece here.

Not important, but like, y’all where can I get one of these jobs where you can just leave because things are “slow” or take a nap in the office because you’re tired and still get paid?

Henry - The Henry/Faran relationship still feels very tenuous/on the rocks. We know so little about Henry, and sometimes he does feel just flat out obsessed with Faran (which, like, I get it, but you’re in a slasher/murder mystery, so…) like, “I just wanna be close to you,” sounds nice, but feels weird. IDK. I have the same problem with being suspicious of Henry that I do with Ash, which is that we’ve never been given any indication of what their connection could be to the larger events at play and we’ve also never been given a particularly good motive for why they might do terrible things to terrorize their girlfriends (Ash more than Henry because I GUESS Henry could be super mad at Faran for the dance stuff, but that feels like it’s pushing it quite a bit) and most, if not all of their scenes, revolve around their girlfriends. Speaking of-

Ash - I don’t have a lot to say here because we get very little new info to work with here. He’s done nothing particularly suspicious (other than being by himself during the Rose search scene, meaning he could have called Faran as "Rose") and I have no idea what his motive could be, so I don’t have a valid reason to put him on my suspect list. He currently has no known connection to Rose, Archie, Angela, and the Millwood past. He currently has no known connection to the church (and considering some of the other topics we see the church condemn, it seems unlikely they are accepting of trans identities). Also, I like him, so until he says or does something that triggers suspicion, I’m gonna allow myself to think the best of him. BUT-

Um. Are we gonna talk about Red Right Hand playing over Mouse & Ash’s search scene or…? Like I said, I have no solid reason to suspect Ash, but you cannot play that song without invoking Scream and NEVER TRUST THE LOVE INTEREST. Are they fucking with us? Is that what this is? Also, from a production standpoint, why was Jordan Gonzalez upgraded to a main cast member this season when this is all the screen time he’s had so far? It doesn’t feel like more than season 1 yet, so does that mean he’ll have a heftier role in the back half of the season? I am spiraling, y’all.

Idk that calling the somewhat obsessed mom (not that I blame Imogen for her overprotective feelings) of your infant daughter to come babysit when you’ve been trying to get her to leave you alone makes ANY sense, particularly since Imogen implied earlier that they don’t even know about the Millwood stuff that could make Estelle a target, but okay?

Johnny - We really don't learn anything about him this episode. Imogen has been through so much, and last season Shawn, Henry, and Ash all turned out good (within the context of that season, who knows this season), so I'm just going to hope this is a good thing for Imogen. That's really all I have to say about this right now. My judgement of him is pending.

Okaaayyy, let's talk about Shawn/Noa/Jen - I've said my piece before about my dislike of infidelity plots and love triangles, there's no need to go further into that here. If there's one saving grace of this plot, it's that I think it could have very important ties to the overall plot of the season ("could" being the operative word here). As I've mentioned before, if Shawn actually learned about Noa & Jen's relationship at some point in the past, he absolutely could be plotting longterm revenge. It almost seems like he almost has to be bad to somewhat soften the blow of Noa's actions, but... maybe they just are working up towards him dumping her. If he's done nothing wrong, then holy hell this is awful for him. I mean, not only did your girlfriend cheat on you (presumably more than once, since Shawn & Noa were a couple when she was in juvie, too), but she also convinced you to give her $2,000 dollars to bail out her "friend" (which, by the way, she also lied to you about why that friend was arrested) who she immediately cheats on you with. Regardless of Shawn's role in the story, that is seriously messed up of Noa. If Shawn is bad, she doesn't know it, so wtf. I'm also really curious about Jen as an individual. She brings up her mom a lot (and uses that connection she has with Noa with her mom being an addict) and the need for money for her mom's rehab (is that even why she needs money?) and with the themes of this show, that doesn't feel like a throwaway thing. We never see her father (also she never mentions a stepmother or a relationship for her father, but there's loads of women's clothes in that house, so are those Jen's clothes? Her mom's old clothes? A partner her father has that just wasn't mentioned?) so we can only take her word for who he is and what he's like, and that's kind of hard to do, considering everything. And was that even her Dad's house? I can't help but wonder if Jen has deeper ties to the main plot than we realize. If not, I think it's certainly a good bet that Noa's "test" will involve her love triangle. She's definitely the most "mysterious" of the new love interests so far this season. While I don't love infidelity plot lines, I'm interested to see where all this goes.

“Rose” - I’m going to make an assumption here (maybe I shouldn’t), that much like Ghostface, Rose’s strength/agility is not necessarily realistic to the character under the mask. And because I think this, I’m not going to waste time comparing her size/strength/agility to Faran.

Quick Note: Of course I was screaming at Faran not to go and play along with "Rose," but regardless I love her and she's strong as hell.

Alright. It's time for the Kelly/Mrs. Beasley/Pastor Malachi/Church plot discussion.

First of all, obviously everything about Kelly's plot/scenes in this episode are massive red flags, and I'm not sure whether to feel validated or like that's massive distraction technique. We are halfway through the season, maybe it's not too early for this. Or maybe the church being involved in the Rose plot (if they are) isn't meant to be a twist, but some of the characters involved are? It does bother me that the show is leaning so hard into the cult-like aspects of the church, because obviously that makes them incredibly suspicious. And what the hell is happening to Kelly?? Like what did we not see?

Kairos - Okay, this was something I had to look up, because wtf. They just dropped this so casually in with Kelly mentioning group therapy and trauma bonding, but this is a really specific bit of terminology. So, it’s safe to say that I waded through some religious stuff I was not familiar with in order to try to get a better understanding of this. Kairos (Caerus) is, in Greek mythology, the personification of opportunity. He is associated with the “fleeting moment” where the scales may tip in one direction or another. “Kairos moments” refers to the right moment for decision/action. In Christianity, Kairos is “the appointed time in the purpose of God.” So anyway, I ended up reading a bunch of Bible verses picked out by various “Kairos” groups, and basically it seems like the Christian interpretation and usage of “Kairos” is often related to the concept of conversion. Kairos is a dangerous time, a moment where you have an opportunity that you will not have again, but one that can lead to positive transformation and, if you miss it, immeasurable loss. There was also a section about submitting to the judgement of authority and how rebelling against this authority is an affront to God (and if that doesn’t feel related to Kelly’s storyline idk what does) and how you can bring ruin and judgement on yourself through things like “adultery” “murdering” “stealing” “coveting”. All of this fits in very much into the concept I’ve had of “Rose” punishing “sinners” and viewing herself as God’s Judgement. BUT is it too early for us to have all this stuff just pointing straight at the church?? It seems too early. Oh, and don’t think I didn’t notice how many of these “sins” Noa has committed in this episode alone.

The constant bombardment of religious iconography, the church plot line being so present, Rose's backstory being directly linked to religious abuse, "sins" and "tests" being central to the plot of the story, the entire concept of the redemption house, the mention of kairos... At this point if the church stuff is a side plot and not directly related to Rose, I'm going to be disappointed, because I'd rather have coherent, well supported motive than a shocking "gotcha" moment. But we'll see.

OKAY, I think that's it from me tonight, y'all. Also I'm sorry for how many times I've written "y'all" in this post (I grew up in the south, I come by it naturally, I promise). Send me an ask or something if you want to spiral & overthink with me. 💜

3 notes · View notes

magnumdays · 1 year

Text

Magnum PI 5.04 - ‘NSFW’ review

I think this might be my new favourite episode! Seriously, this had all the bits I love and nothing I didn’t so doesn’t that make it the perfect Magnum PI episode? I’m inclined to think so...

Everyone be Worrying (this be da theme of the week?)

So maybe a strange thing to start off with but this episode has a lot of worrying about each other. Higgy worries about Thomas (hand touching again!), Thomas worries about the guys, Gordy worries enough to risk his career, TC’s girl notices and is worried, Rick worries that he wasn’t there for Ruthie and even the case is, at the core about worrying something has happened.

I did really enjoy Higgy being worried, though I can’t decide why the line“I don’t want anything to happen to you, especially now.” is bugging me. Just a little.

Like sure, I get that things are different, but would she really have been that much less devastated six months ago if he got hurt? It just felt a little strange for some reason to me. I did love that we finally got another Miggy kiss, and they’re being so super adorable with the kissing and banter and worrying! Just making my day.

Also is Thomas/Jay saying “now I don’t want to go” not the sexiest thing anyone has ever said? Like what did he do to make his voice all raspy and grrr? Very much enjoyed. Big time enjoyed. Can’t wait for more because damn NBC you’re killing it with the Miggy content. Like it’s just perfectly woven into the rest of the episode.

The Case

So I think I cared the most about this case out of the four we’ve had so far this season. We can see that the client Jordan really is concerned about Sandra both on a personal level and because if she’s not there for the big meeting the company might go under. A company doing good thing, possibly being at the forefront of clean energy.

So yeah, half meeting in, I care about Sandra and this company and I want everything to work out.

Spoilers - things do not work out - neither for Sandra, Jordan or (I’m assuming) the company.

I enjoyed both Magnum and Higgins investigating, Magnum pretending to be ‘Tom’ and Higgy hacking and checking garbage and just them putting things together.

Leaving it a little ambiguous with if the prosecutor ended up going after Jordan or Zoe was an interesting deviation from the normal ‘justice is always served’ theme of Magnum PI. Will, the janitor guy was saved from being falsely incarcerated though which is very on brand.

Little sad about the energy company presumably going belly up. It would have been interesting if the Mom had confessed and then maybe part of her motivation could have been ‘this way the company lives on’ even as she took the fall. Because it did sound like she was into creating it too and cared about Sandra too.

Wonder if we get to see Zoe again. There was something a little sweet-creepy about her... and she did kill Sandra and is going to get away scot free. Wonder what that does to a person... (she could be a odd sort of return bad guy for season 6. Maybe.) Also how would it be like to live with your kid knowing she’d killed your husband’s mistress? Weird I’m guessing.

Ruthie & Rick

I thought this was a really interesting dynamic, like Rick expects screw-up Ruth but she’s grown up and even has the audacity of having kept a secret from him for decades(?)! Rick goes from worrying what’s wrong and how he might help her to worrying about not having been clued in, to worrying about not having been good enough/been what she needed. In the end she shows she very much thinks of him as someone very important to her by asking her to give her away at her wedding.

It showed up a bit of a different side to Rick, which was nice, we got a feels plot + positive representation and a kind of interesting take on how someone might feel about a person coming out. Rick isn’t upset about her being gay but about the secret and not having known. I really liked that, because it showcases that you can be okay with someone’s sexuality but still struggle when you learn something surprising about someone you’re close to and maybe feel sad and upset they didn’t trust you sooner. I think.

Also I want to meet Tammy now. She seems like a blast.

TC & Mahina (Cade)

So we finally got word Cade is coming back! I’m looking forward to that and I’m loving how sweet TC and Mahina are and it’s nice to see TC having someone look out for him. I hope we get to see more of Mahina, maybe something with her job as a fire fighter (I do remember that right and she was a fire fighter right?)

Greene case

So Gordon getting Magnum the case file *chef’s kiss* that just shows how different things are now and how important the Ohana has become to our favourite (ex) cop.

I like that it’s in every episode so far, but in the background enough to not be super distracting. Still it’s very present and great to have as an extra incentive for people to come back and follow along each week to see how it develops. So far doing that great, much better than earlier seasons where the bad guy of the season tended to just be forgotten for a few episodes and then randomly pop up again.

Already mentioned the worrying, which I loved, and I like that Thomas is letting people in and admitting to being worried and scared and yeah, being set on facing things together. I think that’s important and I hope we get something similar, like a moment, with Higgy where she’s also ‘we’ll do it together’ because she’s always been so determined to go at everything alone too. She’s very much a protector, as we saw in this, when she tried to make Magnum stay back at the office and be ‘safe’. I’m excited to see where this Greene case goes and how it all ties back to what they did on that mission in Afghanistan.

Next Week!

We finally getting our lift-kiss scene and we got TC and Rick starting to really get suspicious (at least if the trailer is for next weeks episodes is to be believed). Also Magnum still has Roberto II! The mouse is making a comeback as well as Zeus and Apollo!

#magnum PI #My Reviews #magnum pi review #magnum p.i.#Miggy #Thomas Magnum #juliet higgins #this show just makes me so happy

23 notes · View notes