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#but like the first time i watched non i am too emotional to say anything
leeknowlover99 · 3 months
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Hihihii can you do stray kids reaction to reader wearing something very short for the first time can be nsfw 🫦 Thanks
sure! sorry it took so long :(
that was so much fun to write! hope you like it ;)
warnings: fluff, suggestive and explicit content, nicknames, tiny bit of angst, slight mention of insecurities
masterlist
chan
you and chan were going for a fancy date tonight to celebrate your promotion at work. you were meeting in the restaurant so you were getting ready on your own. yesterday you went shopping with your best friend and she persuaded you to buy a short red dress. the type you would never buy on your own. but when she make you try it on you thought it looked good on you. however now you felt a bit unsure, you thought that maybe it was a bit too much. but since you were running out of the time the only thing you could do was leave in that dress. you hoped Chan will like it. when you entered the restaurant he was already there waiting. you saw his gaze slowly slide down your body as you were approaching your table. this already made you blush. maybe it was a good choice after all. Chan stood up to greet you and kissed you, hands resting a bit lower on your waist than usually. “you look gorgeous.” he whispered in your ear before pulling out the chair for you. you noticed that he was a bit distracted through the whole dinner. you only realized why when waiter asked if you wanted a dessert and chan answered “no we’re good thank you”. and after you looked at him confused he whispered “we’ll have dessert at home baby” and winked at you.
minho
minho was sure you wore this skirt for the sole reason of pissing him of. after the argument you had last week you did not speak a word to him. and now you were both at Chan’s party, all evening you didn’t give him one look. but everyone’s eyes, including Minho were on you. tight black skirt hugged your butt perfectly. oh you knew how much Minho loved your ass. you also knew how possessive he was.he watched you have fun and flirt with others all evening but when some dude started to get too touchy with you he finally snapped. “execuse me, we need to talk” he barged into you and grabbed your arm. you did not even manage to react before he dragged you to an empty bathroom and pressed against the door. “what the fuck?” you frowned. “don’t ask stupid questions y/n. i know the game you’re playing” you gulped at intensity of his gaze. “i’m sorry, i really am. and i’m ready to commit. but right now you’re really pissing me off” so many emotions were mixed in his voice. you couldn’t find the right words to respond so instead you laced your arms behind his neck and pulled him for a passionate kiss. his tongue immediately found yours and hands started exploring your body. he quickly focused on your ass, grabbing, squeezing and spanking. “you call this funny piece of poliester a skirt, your ass was begging to be touched all night baby girl.”
changbin
you and Changbin started seeing each other in the winter time when it was absolutely freezing most of the time. it did not give you chance to wear skirts or dresses. but now when spring was around the corner you could finally dress better for your dates. today you were going to watch cherry blossoms, so you opted for a short white tennis skirt and blue sweater. you wanted to take some cute pictures. you saw Changbin eyeing you up when he picked you up but he didn’t say anything. you enjoyed the date and talked non stop. “Binnie look a photo booth! let’s take a pic!” you jumped excited. you couldn’t miss a chance to get some new shots with your handsome boyfriend. he agreed and you entered the small space. the booth was really tiny so you sat on a Changbins lap and started posing. however you noticed Binnie being tense. “hey relax, let’s do a hug” you prompted him and moved more towards him on his lap. “oh” that’s when you realized as you bare thigh rubbed around a very prominent hardness in his pants. “why are you hard?” you laughed. Changbin looked at your lap where your skirt was bunched up around your hips almost exposing your panties, he slowly rubbed circles on your thighs. “i just love your outfit princess, that’s all.”
hyunjin
it was your boyfriends birthday and you decided to surprise him. he loved your body, even when you couldn’t say the same. but with his help you were slowly becoming more comfortable and accepting with yourself. you still were far away from letting him paint or photograph you naked but you decided to take a next step. you’ve never worn anything short around him but now you bought a new mini skirt and wore it to your date. he definitely noticed greeting you his eyes wondered around your hips a little bit longer than usual. “ you look beautiful love” he whispered in your ear now. you came back to his place and you were making out on the couch. your mini skirt now hiked up as you straddled him. his large hands gently massaging your ass. “your body is so sexy, i was so hard when i saw you in that dress.” he hissed and you rocked your hips against his erection. “just like i am now. god what did i do to deserve such a pretty girl like you” he mumbled against your neck, licking and sucking on it. “i’m glad you enjoyed your birthday gift Hyun”.
jisung
you and Jisung had been dating secretly for about six months. since you were both idols you didn’t want any dating scandals and people getting into your business. sometimes you had to interact in music shows or award ceremonies. today was one of this days when both your groups attended same award show. it wasn’t a first time but you were super nervous. stylist decide to give you a sexy outfit today, short black dress hugging your body perfectly. you weren’t used to wearing clothes like that, your group’s concept was more boyish. you’ve never worn sexier clothes with Jisung either, when you were hanging out you usually tried to blend in and cover yourself best in the crowd so no one would recognize you. so now you were nervous for his reaction. you knew that he wore revealing clothes himself on the stage. maybe he won’t even notice you thought. however he definitely noticed. he kept staring at you, eyes wide and dark. he was being so shameless that you started to get worried that someone will notice. you excused yourself to go the bathroom and rest from his burning gaze a bit. as you were reaching for the door you heard his voice calling your name. “Y/N!” you turned around and saw Jisung running towards you. “Ji what are you doing? we’re not supposed to be seen together” you whispered. “i just can’t contain myself, you look so good, i’ve never seen you in a dress like that before” he mumbled pressing you against the door lightly. his eyes shined with both adoration and lust. you blushed. “someone will notice” you tried to protest. “i don’t care” he said and pulled you in for a deep kiss, his hands already playing with the hem of your dress.
felix
you and your boyfriend were invited to his parents house for dinner tonight. they wanted to celebrate their wedding anniversary. you decided to dress a bit more fancy than usual. Felix put on a nice shirt and a tie. you recently found your old black dress. it was short but very elegant so you decided it is still quite appropriate for the occasion. Felix entered your bedroom and started looking around. “are you searching for something?” you asked. “yeah i can’t find my watch.” he said finally looking at you. “oh” he blushed. “what?” you asked checking yourself out in the mirror. you looked fine. your boyfriend approached you slowly eyes gazing at your exposed thighs. “i’ve never seen you wear such a short dress.” “is it too short?” you asked worried now. maybe you should change in something longer. “nah it’s fine. just a little bit distracting” Felix responded hugging you from behind. you chuckled and he leaned down to kiss you. at first his lips were sweet and gentle but after a while he became more desperate. his hands started roaming your body and pressing you against his hard on. “Lixie stop” you said a bit breathless from all the kisses. “we’ll crease our clothes and we need to leave soon” you tried to think rationally despite your boyfriend tempting you. “are you going to leave me like that?” he pouted pointed to his erection. “yes, we’ll have fun when we’ll be back, come on!” you protested.
seungmin
you met Seungmin in the dog shelter this summer, you were both students volunteering. you slowly started to get to know each other working long hours together. attraction was there from the beginning, in shy smiles and long conversations, although both of you were rather timid. after two months Seungmin finally gathered enough courage to ask you out. you agreed with pure joy in your eyes which made him a bit more confident. however you have never imagined that on your first date you’ll end up pressed against the cafes restroom door panties to the side, his bare dick deep inside of you hitting your sweet spot. “fuck Seungmin i’m gonna cum” you moaned clenching around him. “cum pretty, cream my cock” he grunted in between of messy wet kisses. and all of that happened because of that damn dress as he said. he could not resist you. after months of seeing you in dirty sweats and overalls you wore the flimsiest little sundress to your first date. and suddenly he did not have any willpower left, dragging you to the restroom in the middle of the date cause he just needed to have you.
jeongin
“look at that dress, it’s stunning” you boyfriend showed you a short sparkly piece of material. “it’s way to short for me and you know that” you dismissed it immediately. “come on, at least try it on. it will look great on you.” he insisted following you around the store. “fine” you agreed finally taking few other pieces with you to the fitting room as well. Jeongin followed you like an excited kid. it was so cute it made you smile. he patiently waited for you to change and gave his opinions on each piece. you left the dress for the end. surprisingly it actually fit you like a glove. yes it was dangerously short but you definitely liked how it looked on you. you must’ve been staring at yourself for a bit too long because jeongin peeked from behind the door and joined you. “wow y/n” he gasped eyes traveling down your body. “i told you it will look good.” his hands found their way around your waist as he was watching your figure in the mirror. “yeah i actually like it, should i get it?” you asked feeling brave now. “hmm” your boyfriend pretended to think about it while his hands rubbed your hips. “i’m not sure if i’ll be able to control myself if you will wear that in public” he whispered in your ear and nipped at your neck. you arched towards him and replied “is this such a bad thing?” slowly guiding his hand down your body between your legs. “no it’s not” he responded grinning and giving you exactly what you needed.
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brifrischu · 1 month
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The red thread of fate: Phee’s relationships in Dead Friend Forever
This post will be about visuals in the show as much as audience relationships – because I find both of them fascinating. As @lurkingshan writes in her glorious commentary here, the show works on different levels: it is entertaining enough to be mind off/emotions on watch (which is mostly my approach), but it is also riddled with little hints and details that are fodder for everyone theorizing and writing meta. This post will sit at the intersection of that.
The show also sits at a novel intersection of genre: horror slasher on the one hand and BL on the other hand. Whether or not it counts as a BL itself (considering that the romance is not the focus of the story), it does absolutely borrow from this genre as a range of actors have been playing in BLs before. And while the marketing did not scream BL to me, I feel that this connection might have been used to draw in an audience. As @shannankle mentions in their fascinating review of technology here, things can be said about sexuality within that tension. I hope to touch on that in a future post of how slasher traditionally punishes openly sexual behaviour, which might not sit too well with a BL audience.
Sex and romance cannot be separated in Dead Friend Forever and I am personally here for it. Considering these are adolescent boys we are talking about, I like how opportunistic their relationships are. Phee and Non hook up through an app. There is no overly romantic (read as romanticising) backstory, e.g. of their childhood connection and no romantic courtship before they hook up in a hotel room (or at least that is implied). Emotions ensue though – at least on Phee’s side, which culminate in the gift of couple armbands: red threads of fate.
Now, I am not Thai and I am not 100 percent sure if there is a different or additional meaning behind these armbands (please do add if you know anything that adds to or contradicts this reading), but my immediate association was red threads of fate. Tied around fingers, wrists or ankles, a thread symbolizes a romantic or even fated connection, often with an inherent promise – or magical property – to find each other again if separated. Red here is a colour of happiness and closely linked with Chinese customs of dressing couples in red for a wedding ceremony.
If we go with this reading, Phee promises to find Non through time and place – a promise he has to unfortunately make good of in situations he most likely did not expect when that promise was made. The audience is clearly on his side here. After episode 7, the audience was strongly on Phee’s side after the confrontation. No, Non did not cheat on him in the classical sense as the sex he had was a) coerced and b) transactional on his side, but he did lie and as a result Phee suffered. He took off the armband, severing the link. Phee is the romantic hero, hurt by his partner.
After Non disappears, the armband is back though and so is Phee’s commitment to him. Words spoken in anger did not discourage him. The hero is on track. During the whole of episode 8, we learn about his side and his plan to find out what happened to Non.
But with episode 9, this shifts again. Now, as I said, this show loves to leave visual crumbs and you cannot tell me that the red cord of the camera, around Jin’s neck, is an accident. In the beginning, when Phee makes his first move, we can see both camera strap and armband in the same shot What is this then? This is where the parallels start paralleling neatly.
After the lake side date – at which I assume Non is there as a ghost for both of them – Phee again says yes to opportunistic sex. Because it is Jin who gives the go signal. Quiet, calm Jin, who sent admiring looks to Non, but never did anything about these emotions. And I would argue that his first encounter is transactional for Phee. Much less coerced than Non’s encounter was with his teacher, but transactional nonetheless. Phee confirms that when he talks to Non’s brother: No, that was not cheating. Now, we still have to see if the narrative (of the slasher genre) punishes Phee for his promiscuity, but part of the audience already does. Comparable to Non, the fact that sex happened outside of an established (? I don’t think we ever got Non’s answer) relationship gets judged. Phee turned from hero to villain.
This is absolutely linked to the fact that another hero appears in Non’s brother. The one who seems to behind Phee’s quest. Which makes Phee’s motivation less about his soulmate connection, but more strongly driven by guilt. Which makes the emotional connection less deep – and maybe there is a spark with Jin? Again, the show clearly links them together *cough coffin scene cough*
I personally find Non’s brother as a motivator more compelling. Non and Phee might have been first loves, but honestly, that is more bound to fail than to last. They clearly had troubles voicing what was important to them, hidden by suggestions and claims that nobody committed to. Phee is a teenager and three years are a long time. While guilt can tie him through a lot of it, I would expect his enthusiasm to falter after time. He has my blessing to move on.
Now, what I am excited about is how the series is going to play out their unfortunate triad. Slasher style would be that Non is dead and Phee and Jin have to die because they were both promiscuous – along everyone else. If Non would turn out to be alive, the hook-ups with Jin might give Non permission to kill them both off as neither of the relationships were ‘pure’ (I am talking solely from a genre perspective here, no moral judgement from my side).
But if we think of it with BL sensitivities, the case gets much more complicated. If Non is dead, Jin and Phee might stand a chance – they do have a red thread connection after all. If Non is alive and behind all/some of it, this cannot be resolved because of that.
Anyway, I am looking forward to see how this unravels in the remaining three episodes. What could possibly go wrong? *shrugs: They are all gonna die, aren’t they?* But through the visual hints and the playing with genre, the show does draw out very interesting audience reactions that I am fascinated to observe – as much as the show itself. Is it Saturday yet?
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jwonsoon · 7 months
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enhypen as taylor swift songs ˚ ༘ ೀ⋆。˚
☾ a/n: i've been listening to a lot of taylor swift recently and maybe i'm crazy but every song somehow reminds me of enhypen. i've been thinking about them non stop so i made a part two of the post ☼ made since you guys liked that one. this might be kinda all over the place but i hope you enjoy !
JUNGWON
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cardigan "When I felt like I was an old cardigan, under someone's bed, you put me on and said I was your favorite"
comfort. he's my perpetual comfort. on days when i feel like i'm doing nothing right, on days when i feel hopeless, he's always there to spark that 1% within me that wants to keep trying. his continuous effort to communicate with engenes despite his busy schedule shows me that the care he holds for us is something so genuine. he reassures me and gives me reasons to love myself. he will see you crying, sit down next to you and patiently wait and listen. comforting you by holding your hand and wiping your tears. he's always there to make your life feel worth living again. jungwon will never leave you hanging or feeling like you aren't enough; you're always enough for him. a/n my jungwonie i love you
JAKE
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safe & sound "You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now"
jake to me embodies emotional protection. he's the type to hold you gently while you cry into his arms, rubbing your back telling you it's going to be okay. no matter what happens he's right there by your side the whole time. the reason i picked this song is because i can imagine jake staying up all night with you when you're overwhelmingly anxious. even if his head keeps jerking back and forth because of how tired he is, he'll make sure you fall asleep first so that he can sleep knowing you're alright.
JAY
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right where you left me "You left me no choice but to stay here forever"
angsty, i know. there's two reasons why i think this song perfectly captures him. one being, his loyalty. no matter what happens he'll stay by your side. there are time when it's hard to keep going and there's a back and forth struggle but jay will be consistent and check in on you. he will sit by you and wait for you to feel better, his patience has no end when it comes to those he cares about and it's his most charming quality among many others. i also just think he's so "first love" coded. you are never getting over jay! no matter how hard you try! - but don't worry because he's waiting for you to come back too...
NIKI
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paper rings "I like shiny things, but I'd marry you with paper rings"
thats bestie!!! riki symbolizes happy young love for me. best friends to lovers type. his teasing flirty manner would always make you giggle. knowing how artsy he is he would definitely make you some goofy paper ring and "propose" to you, leaving you a flustered mess. i just think this song is so upbeat and pretty and incapsulates niki's playfulness perfectly. a/n i love him so much i'm going to rip my walls out.
HEESEUNG
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gorgeous "You're so gorgeous, I can't say anything to your face"
i mean... do i even have to explain? heeseung's charm is irresistible. no matter how much his constant teasing would annoy you, when you look up and see his face all of it melts away. he's so hallway crush coded, he would make you feel all giddy inside simply because of a passing head nod or just a slight smile. don't even get me started on his perfect laugh and smile! i can write a 4000 word essay on it. anywho, it's self explanatory. heeseung = gorgeous!
SUNOO
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invisible string And isn't it just so pretty to think, all along there was some, Invisible string, Tying you to me?
sunoo is destiny. i remember watching iland and from the very beginning my eyes were hooked onto him. and now, here i am, three years later writing this. his comforting smile and how he gives so much love to those around him helps me recognize how genuinely kind of a person he is. he's someone you want to keep close. no matter what happens sunoo will always find a way to provide you with solace and light on the darker days. he's pretty, the concept of soulmates is pretty, he is such a person destined to be loved and cared for deeply. no one ever hurt him please.
SUNGHOON
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the way i loved you "So in love that you act insane and that's the way I loved you"
now, let me preface this by saying, i don't think sunghoon is toxic... this is just to feed my angst loving delusions. sunghoon is the one the got away. he's the one who you cared for so deeply but it was right person wrong time. despite how much he pushed to keep your relationship intact it was hard for him. he didn't want to fight you, he wanted to fight for you. sunghoon is the type to not let you leave until you figure it out with him. he'll sit with you even if you yell at him and just listen to you. he's cares about you so deeply that you can't help but constantly think about him even when he isn't there. - because he is also constantly thinking about you.
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GOOD OMENS S2 SPOILERS!!!
This season of good omens is so good. List to follow:
"He's not allowed to stop the execution of 3 children bc the system that agreed to kill them has a permit" like that is the best satire I've heard since Shakespeare
Non stop foreshadowing of Beezlebub X Gabriel. Like it's so obvious so early on. Flies near him, him not wanting to kill them, it hurts to remember, you're perfect.
Aziraphel crying when he thinks he's a demon after lying is such a great first stake in the heart of solidifying that he thinks Crowley is still an angel and won't accept him as he is. More to that, it is so good at showing how that all stems from his own internalized fear. A very queer experience mirrored here...purity something something. Mr. Fell is afraid of falling.
Crowly is very cunty this season. The posts are right
AZ drives like crowley
AZ writing in his diary about his and crowleys dates like a teen girl. Bonus that it's a date to a graveyard to look at a picture of his old boss and they end up in a diseased alley and help a wee lesbian steal a corps. And still writing about it like it was a super cute date solely bc his crush got drunk and acted a fool. Same place for the Beezlebub Gabe date extra bonus
They let Tennant be scottish!
Crowley having a night rider moment
Aziraphel being genuinely in love with humanity and holding the jar close to himself in grief at the doctor's has me emotional. He really does have too much love for one tiny little angel.
Crowley having the time of his life making those two humans fall in love. He loves mischief but he hates harm. He loves to see humans happy and he only shows it when he's alone
Aziraphels debut as a Magician!
Aterik is gender envy. Don't argue with me
Mark Gatiss zombie. No I am not lying not even a little.
Crowley fell for AZ when he gave away the sword but he falls farther every time AZ does a little more good. The way he said " thank you for getting me off the hook back there" was so flirtatious and the smile when AZ knocks over shit in the Magic shop. Hats off the both actors
Old man crowley
Lmao crowley seeing the miracles don't work and deciding to speed read how not to kill his boyfriend XD
The shaky breathing as crowley aims the rifle. There is more tension in that scene than most horror I've seen.
AZIRAPALALALA
Lmao the car is a puppy
Shax being a bad bitch and not underestimating Aziraphels love for his bookshop. 10k demons is called for when sieging that place.
AZ getting things done while crowley fucks around in the back or vise versus is a common scene dynamic
AZ quoting DW trivia like tennant does.
This whole season is about how they realize how much they love each other and having a crisis about it while hell and heaven interrupt with issues regarding 1 John ham
The long running joke in the show is that all the angel's pretend they know a lot about humans as a show of power
Much more miracles and it's awesome.
Not even the seamstress is straight
Azs shop changing into a ball was so distracting to crowley that he momentarily forgot about the army of demons coming for them
John hamm fluffy coat
Crowley reading terms and agreements comes in handy several times
"Happy anniversary, love" I'm screaming and crying I am so full. This season said OK please make this queer friendly. "You're a good lad" "not either" my trans ass is so happy
Also this season is still so ace even though they kiss it still feels very ace energy to me. Maybe it's just the lack of sexualized anything, or maybe it's the variety of body's that so rarely get shown on TV.
Crowleys heaven sneak
"Stay back"
One demon popped like a bubble. There was a sound effect and everything
The bad guys always say things that fucking hurt. They always have the right thing that cut to the core of the characters soft spots
Halo removal should be in more of the fanfics actually that scene was baller
If you watch as all the heaven and hell fight AZ cannot stop staring at crowley
Crowley fixing the bookshop so it stays the same, while AZ changes it. Symbolism something parallels something
Sheen's delivery of the news to crowley was so well done. It's joyful, yet the second he has to tell crowley you can see the hesitation. He doesn't even believe what he's saying. It starts to hurt and he doesn't know why. But hes already agreed. He needed to hear the girls talk more than crowley did and it shows.no notes
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ENDING THE SEASON W THE RADIO SINGING THE ENDING FROM S1 WAS PERFECT
Can't wait for S 3 !!!!!
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theysangastheyslew · 1 year
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Hey!!!
I want to share more suffering with you, homie haha *crying*
What do you think of the episode? Especially 132 part ofc!
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Hi friend! :'))))))))) Ooooooh honey that gif is such a mood XD I’ve been trying to collect my thoughts and this is the best I can do atm. Sorry it’s kind of wordy but here we go 🥲
Ok! So ever-present pacing issues aside, the overarching story made for a solid episode and the animation was incredible. Hell, even the things I disliked objectively looked well-done out of context. Overall, that was no small feat to pull off, especially in such harsh working conditions. I truly do want to acknowledge that.
But in regards to 132, you guys already put into words how I feel better than I could. I may not have anything new to add, but I’ll say what I liked first and then put my issues under a cut.
As someone who actually really likes Yams’ art style, I loved that they consistently kept Hange’s face accurate to the manga. It was really inconsistent throughout the final season and they struggled to not make it too short a lot of times. Hange was always still stunning of course but the difference always stuck out to me. Here everyone was drawn well, but you can tell she got some extra attention.
The way they inched Levi closer to where Hange was sitting while talking with Yelena. Insignificant yeah but consistent with their past behavior. Also I’m glad they tweaked the position of his bandages so it looked less like they were painfully tugging upwards on his nose.
The pained expressions of the kids and Hange watching Levi struggle to even hold his gear
The “unrequited love” exchange. It had most of the softness and emotion from the manga even though the weight of that line will never be realized in non-written form. The camera lingered on each frame in a way that conveyed the sentiment. This is what got my hopes up that they would stay truer to the source material with DYH.
I'm so glad they left in Hange's lines to Flochroach about not giving up. Helps show—once again—that they wanted to live
The choked way Levi said “Devote your heart” + Hange’s widened eye and soft gasp at his words. Though not tearing up like in the manga, the shot still looked lovely for the half second it lasted. He doesn't pause halfway through saying it though so this one I'm still wrestling with.
Of course, the last stand. Onscreen, Hange took out at least 16 colossals (including the ones we see trip and get trampled) and definitely more offscreen (when they cut away to show other characters) and for the last few, did it while in the most pain a human body can feel. 7/10 for combat, my ass. Idk about y’all but I can’t stop hearing Romi Park’s screams in my head. I knew it would be nauseating and brutal but dear God. At the same time I cannot put into words how proud I am of them. That's my commander 💜
Ok “like” is definitely not the right word for this but I had wondered when I first read 132 how Hange’s gas tank was so well-insulated that it didn’t ignite, and.. well I got my answer.
I’m thankful that they didn’t show a glimpse of Hange’s bloody, crushed remains the way you see in the og panel. That at least felt respectful to me. This is wishful thinking I know but the defined charred outline makes me choose hope they fell more off to the side from where the titans were walking so at least there was maybe still a body left to recover someday.
The afterlife scene, the kids all sobbing their hearts out, Levi holding his own hand in the aftermath trying to process what just happened, and Onyankopon confirming the plane’s significance all really were appropriately gut-wrenching.
I really recommend taking a little break between The Rumbling and Sinners. It definitely makes the shift in emotion less jarring and less
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When I did that with my rewatch it helped with the flow of things.
Ok, now twist me up and call me a pretzel bc here there be some salt :|
I’ll try to leave out my og issues with the manga chapter itself (like how painfully obvious it was all just to make Armin commander and how unnecessary Hange dying was IN THE FIRST PLACE and IF it had to happen at all how it could have been done at the final boss skelepalooza showdown, etc.) and just focus on the episode.
Goes without saying but it bears repeating: pacing. 75% of my issues with the execution of DYH would be gone if they just slowed down a bit. Just let the weight of it sink in a little. That this moment —all shreds of shipping aside— is the end of the line for these two heroes who have been supporting each other for ten years while bearing the weight of the world on their shoulders. But Mappa completely reversed the timing of the sequence of events. In the manga we had a longer, more intimate farewell followed by a last stand that was so short even when you knew it was coming it left you reeling from how fast it was from start to finish. Whereas here they hurried it along to get to the “main event”. Hell, it flows better in gif sets than it does in the actual show.
To me, it felt like Hange’s demeanor didn’t really change from talking with the kids to speaking with Levi, making their false bravado seem like less of a front. I know their tone was meant to sound like they were keeping up appearances, but with how often Hange just gets reduced solely to being a titan freak the way they had Romi say the lines made it sound like actual excitement, especially with the way they drew Hange's facial expressions (more on that next)
Hange’s little smirk after the salute. I kinda get what they were trying to do here but to me it came off as very flippant and dismissive of Levi’s choice of words, especially since they all but got rid of their lips trembling and eye beginning to well up with tears. I wish we’d gotten the big fake smile and laugh because that would have shown better that Hange was overcompensating by trying to put their brave face back on after starting to lose their composure. Their fear is obvious in the manga but it just simply didn’t come through as well throughout this entire exchange.
Sooo Hange almost tears up when Pieck said their words inspired her yet minutes later when their Best Friend tries to say goodbye there’s nowhere near that kind of reaction? Sure, Jan
Levi’s face. Ok look. It’s not a lack of emotion on his part that bothers me. It’s that it’s an entirely different one to begin with. He looks bummed at first yes, but then that changes to what I’m guessing is supposed to be determination which comes off as anger or annoyance (kinda like what changed with his scene with Armin on the stairs). They removed what made this parting different from previous ones, which was the sense of open vulnerability and the dawning realization that now he’s going to have to let Hans go too. See it's not like they were in the middle of the battle just yet. This situation came on suddenly and unexpectedly; it wasn't "supposed" to happen. One second they were on track and the next Hange is being torn away by fate. And yes, the highlights play a part in that transition. Anyone who draws eyes knows the importance of placement and intensity and the major impact they have over the final expression. And when drawing a comic you certainly don’t take up valuable page space with three panels focusing on the hope draining out of someone’s eyes if it wasn’t supposed to be the focus. I mean for fuck's sake, even the Final Season!Nendoroid Levi got it right. Plus, if they could make a point of getting Eren's eyes right during the raid on Liberio they could have gotten it here.
When the camera cuts to the kids watching the titans fall the angle doesn’t let you see that Levi can’t bring himself to watch for more than just a second
NOT MAPPA’s FAULT but since I’m being whiny right now I’m going to add that while ACWNR is a mixed bag to begin with, WIT’s adaptation not including Levihan’s introduction saddens me bc Levi asking Hange to keep watching loses a bit of extra oomph.
Really it just comes down to the fact that there was nothing wrong with the original page. It wasn’t overdone or dragged out by any means but considering many other scenes got shot-for-shot depictions I don’t think we were asking for anything outrageous by wanting a faithful adaptation. The couple frames we got that were almost perfect were so freakin fast you barely had time to process them before it cut away.
I wanted to like it, I really did. Especially since MAPPA did so many things so incredibly well as a whole. My expectations weren’t high, and I did want to give it the benefit of the doubt. But when it came to DYH, it felt both watered down and disjointed, like a completely different scene.
But so it goes. At the end of the day, Hange still dies a horrifying death for plot convenience, and Levi is left behind to suffer once again. It was always going to hurt and I was never going to be ready for it, no matter how it was done.
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roanniom · 2 years
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Concept: new person to Hawkins just casually and unknowingly sits at the Hellfire table before the rest of the gang gets there, and just doesn't talk for the entirety of lunch because they're too anxious to say or do anything that might draw attention to them. They're pretty much Gomez in this image
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Hellfire x non-binary!reader
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I love the idea that nobody acknowledges you. Like Dustin maybe smiles at you quickly and then sends a questioning glance to Gareth who just shrugs. And Mike whispers something in Lucas’s ear but Lucas slaps him on the shoulder and tells him to shut up.
And Eddie’s late to lunch because he was out by the woods doing a deal. So it’s just been you and the guys in a charged semi-silence. Them bickering lightly from time to time, but not really engaging in their regular obnoxious discourse. Not with a new person at the table. Not without their leader present.
So when Eddie finally shows up, he slams his black lunch box down on the table and looks from the guys to you and then back to the guys.
“What’s with the little stray?” He asks, plopping down in his seat.
“They just sat down and didn’t say anything,” Mike says dismissively. Dustin slaps him - on the opposite shoulder from where Lucas had slapped him - and shakes his head.
“You’re welcome to sit wherever you want, ignore him.”
“Henderson is right. Our humble table is a safe haven for any lost souls looking for refuge,” Eddie says with a massive grin. You look up from your lunch and try your best to ascertain whether or not he is making fun of you but you’re surprised to find sincerity in his eyes.
“Th-thanks,” you manage to reply. Eddie leans back in his chair and puts his hands together, surveying you over the steepled tips of his fingers.
“You like games, little stray?”
“Yeah. I was in a D&D club in my last school.” Everyone around the table starts laughing and you frown, worried you said something wrong. “But I guess that’s really nerdy? I don’t know, I’m sorry…”
“Did you not tell them what we do?” Eddie asks, turning to the other members of the group sitting around the table.
“No we didn’t say anything,” Lucas says, shaking his head.
“We were waiting for you,” Dustin pipes up.
“What am I, the damn welcoming committee?“ Eddie bites back, tossing a stack of loose napkins at Dustin without malice. He sits up straighter in his chair. “What these mannerless dickheads should have told you is that this here little group of ruffians is Hawkin’s own club of both dungeons and dragons.”
Your eyes light up immediately and you turn to take in the whole table as if for the first time. Noting their matching shirts with a devil on the front. Their faces now seem a lot more open than they’d seemed when you first sat down, though maybe you just hadn’t known what to look for in the first place. Eddie watches you warmly and he snaps his fingers to get your attention.
“So what’s your deal? New kid in town, was it?“
“Yeah, my parents are looking for a ‘new start’ or whatever,” you say with air quotes.
“Aren’t we all, new kid. Aren’t we all.” Eddie considers you for a moment, recognizing in your face and the way you hold yourself the hallmarks of a kid who’s been through some shit and just needs a place to call home. Hallmarks he had once seen in every face currently sitting around the table. Hallmarks he sees in his own face when he looks in the mirror.
“So what do you say? Wanna join?” Eddie asks suddenly. You sit up straight, a massive smile on your face.
“Can I?” You sound so hopeful it almost breaks Eddie’s heart. To combat the swell of emotion in his chest he assumes a faux stern look.
“That depends. Can you afford the entrance fee?”
“Fee?” You ask, suddenly worried. All of the other club members frown around you, seemingly equally confused. “I don’t know if I can…”
“You gonna eat that?” Eddie asks, pointing at your apple. You pick it up and shake your head, offering it to him. He takes it with a massive grin, polishing it against the front of his shirt. “That’s it. That’s the fee. I didn’t have time to grab lunch and I’m fucking starving.”
Eddie takes a theatrically large bite out of the apple as you and the guys laugh. You feel something tugging at your chest as you look at the way everyone begins dissolving into enthusiastic conversation. Lucas and Mike are pulling out campaign notes while Dustin is showing Gareth his new set of dice.
You finally look back at Eddie, who is watching you over his apple. He winks.
“Welcome to Hellfire, new kid.”
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blubushie · 2 months
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do u just name the guns/knives or do u name other stuff too (i'm asking respectfully)
Ok, since you come respectful I'll answer respectful.
Getting this out of the way: I'm autistic. Object personification is a symptom of autism. It is something I have. This paper will be very sad if you don't read it. I will also be referring to people as "humans" throughout this to separate from my own concept of "people."
I'm an extremely low empathy autistic, plus some other things. While I'll see non-human things as people, I also don't really see humans as people. It's more like watching animals go about their natural behaviours. I'm an outsider looking in, taking notes on behaviour and interactions within the community. I don't think of humans as any different from the animals I observe and hunt. We're all just organisms. Humans are people with our own place in the food chain, try as we might to rise above it. There is me, a person. There is Misty, a person. Once I get to know another human well, they become a person to me instead of just another animal.
Only ones this doesn't apply to is kids. I'm horribly empathetic to kids. Teenagers are on thinner ice but still get empathy. But kids fuck me up hard. If something happens to a child I'll be fucked up for days.
This doesn't mean I go around being an arsehole, because I'm polite and learnt a long time ago and that no one will ever really understand my perspective on how I see other people. They'll call you a monster, a freak, a psychopath, etc. They'll think you want to harm humans, or that you're a bad person because you don't see other humans with the same personhood as you see yourself, or say you dehumanise humans. And I don't reckon I dehumanise humans, because all of humanity is like this to me. Additionally, while I'm low-empathy, I'm not a fucking sadist. I don't want anything to suffer. Shots I take on animals are clean and accurate--ethical and humane. I try to have the same approach with people. If someone is in distress, I am going to help them because that's the right thing to do. I might not personally care about the person, but I will help them because it's good to be kind. Sometimes that means I put up with a lot more shit than I should.
When I get close enough to someone, I start seeing them as people. Those in my server, my mates, my family. If I become emotionally attached to something, my empathy starts working and they become a person to me. But this also means that anything with sentimental value to me is now granted personhood. Misty is a person. My rifle, Winnie, is a person. My knife, Kaz, is a person. My stockwhip Stozza, my ute Matilda (though really, Matilda is the camper and not the rig itself). These are all people to me. They have emotions and feelings and this paper will be very sad if you don't read it.
And when something is granted personhood, I grant it a name. There's a reason everyone in my server--my friend group--is given a nickname by me, even if most of them don't know what I've given them. There's a reason my rifle and knife and car have names. There's a reason my dog has a name. People have names.
When I first got Winnie at twelve, she was just my gun. "Can I bring my gun?" No, Jet, we don't bring guns to Macca's. "I'll leave it in the car. I just wanna bring it." I didn't wanna let her out of my sight. She was my pride and joy, even then. And later that year, after I was assaulted, there was days I'd spend shooting tins out behind our caravan, and she was the only thing that made me feel like I had any power over my life. Because she felt powerful. She made me feel safe--like if ever I needed to, I could protect myself. She couldn't change what had happened to me, but so long as she was by my side I was sure it'd never happen to me again.
When I was fifteen and went bush, I brought her with me. .30-06 is fucking overkill for rabbits, but I shot a roo with her and the meat lasted me the whole near-three weeks I was out there until the coppers found me 60km from Ghan. She kept me alive, because I didn't bring enough food for three weeks. To be fair, leaving was an impulse decision and I was also 15 at the time, but still. Her dedication to me then was rewarded with her going from a gun to my most beloved companion, and being granted the name Winnie.
They took her when I was taken into custody, and I wouldn't talk to the detective until he assured me I'd get her back once I left the copshop. I went directly from the copshop into a mental facility, but she was there at the detective's house when he pulled me out of it.
By the time I was 17 and going to high school in rural California, I was in the school carpark when I noticed one of the boys at my school had a semi-auto shotty on the rack in his ute. So on the drive home I stopped by our local gunshop and immediately bought a gunrack for my back window, which is where Winnie rests now when she's not locked in her safe in Matilda or by the door.
Eventually Kaz went from "dad's knife" to "the KA-BAR", then back to "my knife" cuz KA-BAR is a mouthful, then finally to Kaz. By the time I'd bought my camper for my ute, I'd come to terms with sometimes people just Name Things when they get attached. And as I was 17, going on 18, and homeless at the time, I immediately named her Matilda.
When I became a stockman I wasn't given a station knife because I had Kaz and told them I didn't need one, but I was given my stockwhip and after it was used on me I finally gave it the name Stozza. And sometimes I take it out and crack it a couple times just so it's not sitting there coiled in a box at the bottom of my wardrobe.
The pronouns comes with the name territory. I just get a certain vibe off things, if that makes sense? Winnie is, without a doubt, feminine to me. Kaz is feminine to me. Stozza is masculine, but I usually find myself calling him an "it" instead of masculine pronouns because while I'm attached to it for sentimental reasons, it's not quite reached a level of personhood with me yet.
Anyway, hope that covers things. Cheers.
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melikedraw · 1 month
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I would KILL for a series about Jim's personal life 😭😭 (but considering the current state of screenwriting and storytelling as a whole imma have to beg Disney to please leave my boy alone)
There's so much to unpack about Jim as a whole but yes to every single thing you just said. I think my feelings for Jim are more platonic than romantic now, but I still get EXACTLY where you're coming from cuz please he's literally one of the most attractive animated characters to ever come into non existence
For me it's just the way he moves?? Like despite the fact that he's clearly lost and seeking some kind of anchor to hold onto, his movements never carry any kind of hesitancy
Whether he's up in the air on a solar glider or walking around on a flying ship floating over open space my man just seems so comfortable in his own body and I ADORE that confidence and the way it's so well written that it doesn't clash with the aforementioned lost/seeking state of mind he's in, it weaves right into who his character is as a whole and I am OBSESSED
As for space academy Jim I think I'll put that in another ask cuz this one's already hella long and I gotta deal with some irl stuff first XD but for sure we should trade headcannons!! Any thoughts on how the space academy would be run and where it would be (i.e on montressor, on another planet etc etc)
(Also so sorry if I get the names of anything in the TP world wrong, I've seen this movie so many times but my memory sucks and I keep forgetting 😭)
REAL. SO REAL. AND ADDING ON TO WHAT YOU SAID
How he's move right? Oh my gOD the way he touches his face or how he glances the way his hand and his eyes move feels so real y'know what I'm saying? It feels like he is an actual person like he has so many movements so much personality in the way he presents himself feels so human. And the animators didn't even have to add it but they DID like even if he didn't have those small little things he does the story could still play out the same and the movie would still be amazing but they went the extra mile to make Jim feel like such a real character like such a human character and I love that. It's so rare to have all these little details for a character since animation is so damn difficult but they pulled it off so well???? Which is also why I like him so much. It's so different from other characters bc he feels like a person. Like an actual teenager. And it shows a lot about him too and I love just watching him move around he doesn't even need to say anything just be there and like exist and I'm happy
Also Disney better stay tf away from my babygirl bc if they mess him up I will turn up on the news headlines and it will not be pretty.
OH ALSO his eyes are you emotionful ok so turn out that's not a word by YK WHAT I MEAN I CAN FEEL WHAT HE FEEL THROUGH THE WAY HE LOOKS his eyes show so much about him and I love that
I love him
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egipci · 5 months
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A J/D horror rec
Plano: Some Town Halfway In Between (~7.5k) by elsi (prince-of-elsinore)
The Tar Man first appeared to me in Plano, Texas. That was the summer before I entered sixth grade. In the summer of 1994, the Winchesters put a pause on hunting to hide from the law. But something found them, haunting Sam's dreams and waking hours. (CW: Psychological horror; Underage Dean)
(Bonus too-long/not-long-enough hopefully-non-spoilery thoughts under the cut)
I first read this story soon after it was posted under very (funnily) scary circumstances which I will not get into now, but I remember pretty early on, less than a quarter of the way through, feeling this false confidence, built on vivid and measured prose, that I can solve the case: What is this thing, and how will they get rid of it? Not only that, I was motivated to solve it, because I was genuinely scared, but also because I was hooked into the world right away, forced to engage with it in the way only a very good thriller demands. (Tar Man, I'm coming for you, and so on. I'm doing the work in my mind! I know you lose, I've watched this show!) This alone, that the world and its particularities are so richly conveyed from the onset, the slow-building dread that doesn't compromise momentum, is testament to how well-paced this story is and how much it accomplishes in such relatively little space.
Even with the mystery uncovered, the horror holds up remarkably well: the Tar Man is as viscerally terrifying as it was the first time. But more than the very effective spookiness it's the layered distance between the reader and the events recalled that truly stands out and makes rereading so rewarding. Sam narrates an episode from his childhood, in first person [gasp], many many years removed, and so in a way it is also a story about both little Sam and his isolation, and the older Sam engaged in retelling and the strange barriers our minds put up to handle the unbearable. We're constrained both by his memory, but also by how little access he had to the Dad-Dean unit (a fact unfortunately often underplayed in many pre-canon fic, and which makes Sam-POV-J/D particularly jarring for me to read).
And so it's only through watching Dean that we learn anything. It's not a voyeuristic watching; Sam is only ten or so, and more importantly there is no need for voyeurism. As Sam articulates early on, Dean and John are "all tangled up and stuck together like conjoined twins." Dean's being is so tangibly oriented towards his father that you don't really need to see them together. We watch how he tries to turn an unfinished house into a home, a habitable place for his dad, through a little side-plot involving some thrifted plates that is so moving and canon-feeling it has become my favorite series of scenes about Dean and John, ever. It's so rare that a story can deliver so much insight into Dean's emotional life and his vision of himself and his relationships and his obligation without explosive dialogue or tediously explicit interiority, let alone through the barrier of another character's perspective.
Of course that Sam isn't consciously voyeuristic doesn't mean I am not (because perhaps, like him, I am invested in quarantining the horror away from the tenderness I want to believe is there). In my latest read-through before writing this I was so taken by a brief, almost throw-away, moment of negative space towards the end of the story, in which Sam fucks up, unintentionally but very seriously, and really hurts Dean. John walks in and Sam is sent to wait alone in his room, where he "was alone up in that dark one-window room for a long time," and I found myself thinking I want to write that story, about John and Dean alone, and whatever secret comfort we don't get to see.
This is all to say: go read it, then read it again, and leave elsi a very nice comment!
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mahou-furbies · 3 months
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Closing thoughts on Mahou Tsukai Precure!
Since I ended up progressing at unexpectedly rapid speed with the first half of this season I wondered if I would manage to fit everything in this year's summary, and it turns out I did, with a couple days to spare too!
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I had seen that the general opinion on this season skews negative, expect for the shippers, which I am not, so I didn't have too high expectations. But I'd say that for me it managed to crawl its way to mid tier.
Like I said in the first impressions post I somehow thought Mirai would be a more toned down lead, but unfortunately that was not the case. Especially in the beginning she really got on my nerves, with how she forced herself into Riko's company and how in many episodes her energetic and carefree way clashed with Riko. But things improved on this front when they properly became friends, and overall I think characters like this work better in a duo where attention can be divided more equally over a group where it can lead to the whole cast singing the praises for her virtues. In the end Mirai isn't the worst of her ilk but I didn't like her either. Cute clothes though.
Then there's Riko who in theory should be my fave, with her more serious mannerisms, but she's tied so strongly to Mirai who drags her down that I didn't end up getting a lot out of her. Still she was likable enough and I would have liked to see more of her working through her insecurities.
Mofurun also exists and… she's just too much, she's such an unbelievably cutesy, saccharine, twee, cloying mascot (especially the voice) that it's a definite no for me. However I must admit that she didn't really ~do~ anything wrong, like she doesn't instigate mascot-causes-trouble escapades and in general manages to be surprisingly chill and level-headed. So begrudgingly I have to concur that she makes for an alright mascot even though I certainly won't miss her.
So completely unexpectedly my favourite character turned out to be the magical baby, who knew? Though to be fair she had very little presence in her infant and baby forms and the next one skipped toddler and went right to small child. Her excited and a little out of breath "Haa!" simply works for me every single time she says it, and she also sounds super elegant in her Cure form; overall very good voice acting work on her. And green cure discourse aside I like her design a lot as well, especially the powerup form. She also has a unique role in both the story (her origin and final fate) and character dynamics (the child to Mirai and Riko's mothers), which is definitely a rarity in Precure. She was responsible for quite a lot of trouble though so logically I shouldn't like her as much as I do, but I've decided to open up my heart for her.
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The plot was pretty weak, nobody watches Precure for the plot but here the pacing somehow felt particularly plodding and big revelations weren't set up well enough. Like the headmaster's Very Special Friend, that stuff came out of nowhere, and the show also switches its end boss in the middle but takes its sweet time introducing the new one so we're left with flat randos we know nothing about for way too long. Overall incredibly weak villains, might be an all-time low for Precure. I read that the overdesigned smug bishie one is more popular but to me he was just as boring as the rest.
The supporting cast was decent though and I really liked the three magical school classmates. Though there are two wolves inside me, and one of them wants more non-Cure friends for more varied character dynamics, but the other wants magical girl designs for everyone. I'm glad I knew not to expect them to become Cures though (even one-off side Cures) because otherwise I would have been disappointed.
Even if the story and villains were pretty weak, the finale was still great both in terms of epic mahou spectacle and emotional sendoff for the characters. And they spent a lot of time for a proper timeskip ending, I kept checking the runtime and wondering if they're actually going to focus on quiet character moments for over half of the episode and it turns out they did. So I'd say the ending was one of Precure's best. Or the actual final episode was terrible capitalistic drivel as far as I'm concerned but I'm just going to pretend it doesn't exist.
Final verdict is mixed feelings, with Ha-chan being the only real highlight, but the low points were still manageable. And now I'm ready for the sequel well in advance!
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theeangeltimes · 4 months
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Some Brief Thoughts on Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir S5 // SPOILERS!!! 🐞
This past week I finally got caught up with the entirety of Miraculous Ladybug after hearing about how the show FINALLY gave us some interesting stuff after the mediocrity that was season 3. Two years late, yes, but it’s because season 3 really had me believing that perhaps I was too old to enjoy the show now. However, season 4 + 5’s highlights showed me that there is still a lot to enjoy from this series.
Not that this context is necessarily needed, (I just kinda wanna gloat hehehe) but I’ve been a fan since the show’s first season was still airing. Like, back when you could only watch the latest episodes in English if you watched it subbed and when all the non-French fans still called Cat Noir Chat Noir and when the idea of Gabriel Agreste being Hawk Moth was still just a mere fan theory. So I have quite a bit of emotional investment in this story and have been anticipating its reveals and everything else it has to offer for the good part of a decade.
And so I’ll say this:
• the show should have ended here at the end of the Hawk Moth arc rather than dragging out the butterfly miraculous being missing and seemingly appointing Lila as the next main baddie
• Adrien should have found out that Gabriel was Hawk Moth and Gabriel should have found out Adrien was Cat Noir before his death
No other villain’s reveal and existence will be able to have the same shock value or emotional payoff that Hawk Moth had, especially not Lila’s of all people. How is anything she’s going to do or any secret of hers going to live up to a missing wife being kept in some creepy capsule in a secret basement, unknowingly being the father of your enemy, and your child being a sentimonster of your creation??? (Which don’t even get me started on how much I HATE the fact that they made Adrien, Felix, and Kagami sentimonsters…) Plus, five seasons containing 26 episodes each on top of multiple movies/specials is a good run, I’d say. They should have just let the show end with only 5 seasons. It has run its course!
And speaking of how long this show is, it being confirmed that everything that we have seen happen has taken course over roughly 9-10 months is INSANITY.
Perhaps I just need to sit tight and see if the showrunners will have me eating my words in the next season(s), I really hope they do. (Although, I am not looking forward to the whole Avengers-esque superhero squad bs. I don’t like drastic change and I definitely don’t like those kids {except for Luka, Kagami, and Felix 🫶}.) I mean, there’s still so many big questions we still need answers to in regards to the Agrestes and Tsurugis plus there is technically still time for Adrien to find out about his dad, even if Marinette promised to not let him know. AND—most importantly—we still have time for Ladynoir revealing their identities to each other!
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djarinmuse · 11 months
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Torment: Part 7- Healing
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Din Djarin x FEM!OC (vaguely described)
Word Count: 3,132
Summary: Din and Ellis are moving on from the event on Glavis.
Warnings: non explicit but 18+
A/N- never hesitate to comment or Reblog or find me on anon if you're shy to share your thoughts but be gentle, I am but a humble fic writer.
Series Masterlist
<- Part 6- Trauma
I'm in a cold dark room and there is a man in the corner screaming. My legs are covered in blood. I can't feel my body or move. The images change and my parents appear, my old coworkers, I'm flying the yacht. Din is kissing me and I pull away and cough up blood, I can't breathe. For a moment I think I see my mother through a haze, like looking through a foggy window.
Din has nothing but this moment, this standoff. He swears to Boba Fett that he'll stay till the end. The end doesn't come and he is glad because the child chose to come back to him.
Din holds Grogu as he watches the twin suns set over the Dune sea. He thinks about a beautiful woman and her desperate arms around his neck and the fearful look in her eyes as he hovered over her. He thinks of her tender smile even when she was hurting.
I'm still damp from washing the bacta off. The med center blankets are flimsy and I'm cold, shivering as my mother tells me what my father said to Din.
"He screamed at him?"
"Yes. It was embarrassing, here honey let me get you another blanket–" my mother barks at a med droid passing by, "she is freezing. Can we get her another blanket? I swear…I hate the East district."
"They told us you were in such a bad state because The Mandalorian gave you dangerous, illegal bacta. They didn't tell us why, or how bad your injuries were before. I finally coaxed the information from the emergency doctor that admitted you. They said if they were in Din's shoes at the time of your attack, they would have risked it too. So, it's fine. Din knows that, I'm sure."
"He didn't say anything? He was just gone?" I pull the covers tight around me.
She flips her hand as she talks, "It was all happening so fast. But honey, he did what he could, he's fine. I'm sure a Mandalorian can handle one old man screaming at him."
"I haven't told you what they put him through mom. What they put us through–" I breathe in to fight back the emotion, "I can promise you…he is not okay. They…"
"They are dead," my dad says as he enters. He walks over and kisses the top of my head. "The East district is easy, I bribed a guy and read the report." He wipes his face with his hand. "He saved my daughter's life, gave us treasure, and I called him a son of a bitch."
"Geez you two. It's not that big of a deal," My mom shifts uncomfortably.
"Gia. Just, look it over," My father hands my mother the datapad he's holding.
"No dad…how detailed is that report?"
"What's this?" My mom holds the datapad out and starts mumble reading aloud, "after being held for hours…bore witness to execution of first captive…" her hand comes over her mouth as her brow draws together, "endured physical torture for half a rotation, while Ms. Drexom remained captive…Oh..." She continues to read and her small frame continues to curl in on itself. Tears silently spill down her cheeks. She sets it down. She crawls in bed next me and pulls me in for a hug that only a mother can give.
"Do you have any idea of where he is?" My father asks.
"Not really. He could be anywhere. He had been on Tatooine building his N1."
My dad's eyebrows raise, "Is THAT what that was–" he whistles, "hell of a ship."
"You slept together? How does that work with the," Fennec mimes putting a helmet on, as she lounges on the former Hutt throne. Din sits down on a short stool in front of her.
"I didn't wear it…" Din responds flatly.
"Why?"
"I've seen your face before, kinda. Take it off now." Fennec takes a swig of her favorite blue liquor.
"She'd already seen everything."
Din sighs.
"What? I'm not worthy?"
"It's not about you at all…do you have any sort of belief system?"
"Sure I do," She shrugs and raises an eyebrow.
"Vanth has left back home, I should leave too, I need to seek out The Living Waters…" Din stands.
"But?"
"What if…"
Fennec interrupts, "Was she tiny, with a pretty face and when she's scared her eyes look adorably innocent."
Din pops his knee out, amused by Fenn, "Oddly specific. Yes."
Fennec stares past Din.
Din turns around and sees one of Fetts new guards manhandling a woman. As it doesn't register who it is, his helmet whips back again quickly. Din jumps off the thrones pedestal and marches with long fast strides to the newly hired goon, "Hey! Let go of her!"
"She thought she could just park her ship and walk in!" His fingers dig into her arm. Din pulls his fist back and knocks the guard in the teeth, he falls back.
"What the hell man!" The guard shouts, wiping his lip.
Boba Fett watches the exchange from an arched doorway.
With the help from my father and his mechanic friends, we got the Razorcrest Spunky put back together in a matter of days. My parents weren't crazy about me going to Tatooine alone, but after everything, I wanted to go, alone. If none of this works out how I hope, I don't want any "I told you so's".
My dad being the most supportive, reached out to every hangar and shop on Tatooine until he finally found the one. "What if I did?" Is all the woman said when asked if she sold a Starfighter recently…
Mos Espa, is where I was going.
"You know for a second I thought you were gonna be this guy I knew! Where did you find this!? And how much you want for 'er, I got a guy lookin' for one." Her curly hair bounces while her pit droids rabidly race around behind her.
"Actually I think that's the guy I'm looking for. A Mandalorian. Do you know where he is?"
"That depends." She reaches her hand out.
I pull a couple of credits from my pocket, my dad prepared me for this…information costs in the outer rim. "He's a friend and I just…need to know he's okay."
"Yeah. He's alive is all I can tell ya." She starts to shout orders to her droids.
"Please. It would save me time because I will just go into town and start asking."
"What!? Are you crazy! You can't just march into town and start askin' about the Daimyos right hand man!"
"The Daimyo?"
"Kriff! See you guys! You made me slip up!" Her droids cower. "The palace. It's not close, might as well fly out of here. He's at the palace but he better be expectin' ya or you're in for a shakedown and I can't lose any more teeth, so you better be as innocent as you look!" She pokes her finger at me.
"Thank you! Thank you. No, I'm no trouble. I promise." When I get back on my ship I look at the local layout. It's Jabba's palace, a brutal Hutt, who I had heard had died some time ago and someone else was ruling. What is Din doing hanging around with crime lords? My stomach flips and the resolve I built up in recovery is starting to fracture a bit.
I knew I'd made a mistake when my ramp opened and I'm greeted by a huge burly man with as much welcome as a womp rat in a kitchen. He snatches me by the arm and begins to pat me down. My voice shakes,"I'm not armed. I'm only…looking for a friend, I think he's here. He's a Mandalorian."
"We'll see about that."
I struggle to keep my footing as he pulls me along into the palace. The hot midday suns beam down and it's immensely cooler once we're inside. I see him. I'd be amused by him sitting on the little stool, almost childlike if I wasn't also terrified.
Din practically sprints to me and my fear is replaced with a nervous excitement. I'm shaking.
I'm rubbing at my arm as the man falls back.
Din turns to me, looking me up and down, "Are you okay!?"
I nod, a lot, no words come, just nods. I watch a Mandalorian in green armor saunter over to the goon, his voice, like Din's through the modulator is deep and memorable, "This is not how we handle visitors, especially ones who clearly pose no threat. My apologies. I am Boba Fett, this is my home and I see we have a mutual friend?"
"Boba this…is Ellis. Ellis, this is Lord Fett, Daimyo of Mos Espa."
"Hello." I don't know what to do so I just nod…again.
Boba nods and then turns to the terrified man behind him, "Apologize for being rude to our guest."
"I apologize Miss, I was rude-" he takes a step towards me and I flinch.
Din notices and takes a step closer to me, "That is good enough. Let's go for a walk." He puts his hand carefully at my elbow and guides me towards a long empty hall. I'm still shivering. Din stops walking and turns to me. We stand in a long arched hallway, it's dimly lit by sconces on the wall. "You're alive."
I nod yes, "Yes. I'm alive. You're alive!" My eyebrows raise and my hands hover in desire to reach out to him.
"Why are you here?" His head tilts.
"Because, we didn't get to finish our conversation and you left without saying goodbye."
"I couldn't say goodbye, you fell into a coma."
"Well, only a lil' coma and you could have talked to my folks," I cross my arms and rub where the man grabbed me…it's the same spot Din grabbed me on Glavis. His hand finds mine and calms the turbulent memory we both share.
He sighs deeply. "I feel responsible."
"If you had stuck around you would have heard the doctor say they would have done the same thing. You did your best and you saved us both! Now can I hug you, please?"
Din stands stoic with his helmet tilted down as he lets me wrap my arms around his middle and squeeze, I linger and lay my cheek against the beskar of his chest. It's obvious he's built a wall since our last encounter. I let him take his time to return the hug. His body relaxes and his weight comforts. "I'm sorry I ran away. You're father…"
"Stop right there. My dad is sorry he yelled at you. He helped me finish my ship so I could come find you."
"Spunky?"
"Yeah, She's purple and silver now and I need help learning the guns. Figured I knew a guy who could teach me." I pause on his visor trying my hardest to peer through, he reads my thoughts.
"I'm going to take the creed again in the Living Waters on Mandalore, I must be redeemed. I'm sorry Ellis, if you are expecting a kiss that's…"
"Okay. That's okay. I actually had no idea what to expect and as soon as that guy grabbed me...I lost focus. I just wanted to see you. Helmet or not. I needed to know you're okay."
"Come with me."
"To Mandalore?"
He lets out a little chuckle, "Just to my quarters for now, we can talk about Mandalore. I want you to meet my foundling."
We round the corner, in the modest chamber on the nice sized bed is a little sleeping green child. So small and innocent. I watch Din carefully hover over him. He whispers through the modulator, "This is Grogu. I thought he might be awake but…" He picks him up and moves him to a floating pram.
Watching him and watching the child, my eyes well. Din is fine, he is with trusted friends, his foundling has returned. It seems he has decided on where he stands with the creed. The tears pour from my eyes. Din closes the pram and comes over.
"Are you okay?" His thumb brushes away a tear.
"I think so. I'm actually crying for you. Din, I'm just relieved."
"You were really worried about me?"
"Yes. But I'm not anymore. This is good."
"What about you? Are you healed, you were in so much pain. Your injuries, are they better?" His hand hovers near my waist but he doesn't touch.
"Yes. They…fixed me." I wave my hand around over my chest, "physically I'm all better, mentally, that's a work in progress."
Din's gloved hands find either side of my face, and I start crying again. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I keep crying. I'm just tired I think. I don't sleep well in hyperspace."
His helmet meets my forehead, "My eyes are a little damp if I'm going to be honest."
I let out a soft chuckle, "Now what?"
Din pulls away. He begins to pace. He stops and he stares at me. The visor is unreadable, unyielding, intimidating but also comforting.
"I had a plan. But seeing you again-" he starts to reach for his helmet.
I reach out, "No…Din. No…dank farrik. I made a mistake. Please don't…" His helmet lifts off and my hands fly to my face but it's too late I see him. "I've messed up your thingy….your creed. I'm sorry."
"My thingy is already messed up and Ellis, I can not keep myself from you right now. You're the only one I trust to see me. I can't explain it, but not looking at you with my own eyes…it hurts me more than breaking my creed anymore than I have. Maybe it's how we met, I was exposed and you trusted me, without the armor you trusted me."
"I didn't ask you to take off your helmet," I mumble.
"I know. I know and that's why I can't look away–" he moves with speed to take my waist and pull me in, his lips find mine and our kiss quickly deepens and relaxes into a gentleness that we both didn't realize how badly we needed. "I will find the waters as I said I would and I will honor the vow I took but maybe there is another way and if you're not busy, would you like to help me explore that?"
"I gotta thing next month…but I can move it," I kiss him again.
"What thing?"
"I have contacted someone to buy that bar of beskar you made me keep."
Din squints, "Who?"
"A magistrate on Navarro."
He raises an eyebrow, "Small galaxy, Navarro is my first stop."
I get taken on a tour by the Daimyo and he kisses my hand before parting and I giggle, and embarrass myself. I've met all sorts of people through my hospitality work but I'd never met Boba Fett.
I finally meet Grogu and he wants to show me how high he jumps and gets himself into trouble by going to the balcony. His ears droop when Din uses the "dad tone" with him.
I show Din my ship. He tries, but his excitement shows through when he holds my hand over the trigger of the dual cannons. They're smaller than his were he tells me. He says mine is more comfortable than his was, and wishes he had the room mine has without the Carbonite unit and storage.
It's late now and I stand beside the bed. He's putting his armor on a stand in the corner.
"Make yourself comfortable." He says while checking the small adjoining room where Grogu will sleep the night.
I pull my shoes off and sit on the edge of the bed. I think about our time together in that bedroom on Glavis and how good it felt and how badly we needed each other. But this is different, the chemistry is here, I know that. I'm attracted to him, physically, emotionally. But my clothes are still on and I haven't moved.
"Ellis?"
I turn, his flight suit is open at the top and his boots are off. "Hi." I give a little wave.
He tilts his head, like he does when the helmet is on but it's worse this way because I can see him thinking, or it's better, because I can see, he's not judging me or expecting anything.
"There are other rooms. I can have one made up for you."
I shake my head no. He stands in front of me and takes my hands, he guides them to undo the fastening of his flight suit. My fingers fumble but it's open and I reach my hand in, touching the warm skin of his abdomen, my finger finds a scar.
He lets out a small gasp "Your hands are cold."
"Sorry." I pull away.
"Don't be." He takes my hands in his and rubs them to warm them. I reach into his suit again as I stand, my arms wrap around him in an embrace. He kisses the top of my head. My lips are soft on his bare chest, he leans down and our lips envelop. I forget my reservations and quickly our clothes have been discarded. I fall back into the bed and Din hovers over me. He finds the new scars, thinner, less pronounced than the original.
"They're from the surgery." I watch his expression change. "It's okay, they're fading." I reach for his arm and kiss the faded mark from his torture. "See, it doesn't even hurt anymore does it?"
He kisses a path down my stomach, and when his breath is in-between my legs my fingers tangle into his hair. My gasps grow higher and faster until I release. He gently kisses my thigh as I flutter from his passion. His fingers start to find my folds but I can't do that yet. I gasp and move his hand, "Not that. Sorry. Not yet."
He kisses my mound, "Tell me what you need Ellis and I'll do it." He's on his knees in-between my legs. I lay back, my legs bent over the side of the bed, warm and flushed. Moonlight filters into the cool airy room.
"I just…will you hold me?"
He reaches his arm under my waist and lifts my frame with ease, scooping me into his arms. I'm safe here, shielded. He lays me down where the covers are turned down. I watch him, tall, long limbed, strong, scarred, warm. He is real and we're alive, blood flowing to our centers, fueling our desire but tonight is different. The dark cloud has moved on. He crawls in next to me, pulling me into him. He wraps his limbs around me and kisses my neck.
"Like this?" Din asks softly in my ear, pulling me in tighter to him.
This is what I want, to just be held, our skin touching, no fresh wounds to mind, only healing hands caressing and holding me close.
"Just like this."
.
.
Tagging @idungoofed @tanzthompson
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sneezemonster15 · 1 year
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i can totally understand why young girls would ship SS in the early-mid 2000’s. it was so easy to self-insert. take me for example, i was a young child with an unrequited crush on a popular boy and a total loser. i projected hard. she started getting on my nerves really quick tho. by the time i figured out how to watch shippuden (it was only available online in my country) i could no longer stand her. i know many people grew out of that ship as they matured themselves and realized just how bad it was, but i seriously don’t understand how so many of the og fans are still around, reveling in scraps given to them only in the form of non-canon material. it’s so embarrassing. and knowing that so many grown ass women cling to that nasty ship as if their lives depend on it makes me squirm in discomfort.
Wait I am confused. This person was a boy or a girl?
I think I understand. I know for a fact that there are many SNS fans who once were SS shippers. But they grew up and took responsibility for how they consumed media, which happens when a certain amount of self awareness sinks in..with time and experience..internally processing data received from the external world, which as a result, sharpens your intuition. Which then directly affects how you view and then process further external data. Data gathered from real life and media.
I suspect that many SS/NH shippers who are insanely delusional about their ship are simply operating on emotions. Think about the kind of arguments they give others. They know what constitutes canon, what doesn't. They know SNS is legit, it's all fucking there. They know SS is bullshit, they know Kishi mocks Sakura and SS like no one's business (like honestly, who's asking him to do it? Really what obligation is he under? This otherwise humble, quietly intelligent, kinda goofy, a bit childlike and deeply introspective at the same time, and frankly kinda mousy man, says such blatantly snarky and downright insulting shit about his own characters as if he ain't the author who is freaking writing them that way in the first place. Lol, no really, Kishi is a bundle of contradictions himself.) Lol.
But coming back, I really do struggle sometimes to find the right tone to talk about SS stans or address them. I suspect internet and anonymity gives them a free rein to exercise fulfilment of desires indiscriminately. They can behave however they want, believe whatever makes them happy and no one gets to destroy that as long as they are fulfilled. Numbers help. Stans give and receive validation from their peers. Whatever external validation they need to keep believing in SS ship, despite everything that negates it in canon, they get from others in their ship and they give validation to them in return. A sense of community builds. There's strength in numbers. And so dogmas and headcanons acquire a semblance of truth for them, through this very effective echo chamber, it fortifies their wacky theories and headcanons and they sheath themselves deliberately from reason, or anything that threatens to question their beliefs/belief systems that serve the object of their self comfort, desire, fulfilment. Their beliefs are really emotional in nature, you can't fight emotions, and internet gives them a platform to experience those emotions. Age doesn't matter if one isn't self aware. Lots of old people are shitty. Of course, I don't support enabling it but I guess I understand it a bit. Because I also get emotional here. I feel much more free to experience my raw emotions without trying to camouflage it too much. I reasoned with myself soon after joining this fandom, my first fandom, that here, I was a fan first, so I shouldn't judge myself too harshly for my opinions and understanding. A lot of which is way more emphatic compared to how much I would let it show it IRL. Media, stories and art have that effect on people.
And I feel conflicted sometimes. But well, the same reason exculpates me as well. I can be emotional and talk about them freely because this is a fandom and we are all here because of the same story that affected all of us. The only difference is we are insecure about different things. Lol.
Which is why I make it a point to not interact with them, because I know I would lose my patience with them much sooner than I with other people I don't generally agree with.
I understand why women do it. Even if I cannot relate with Sakura. So I vent on this platform while not actively engaging them.
But at the end of day, I feel everyone should expect so much more from themselves because more than anything else, Sakura's and Hinata's characters by design are so limited. Like I know it's all tied up with their self esteem, or its lack thereof, but at least don't glorify something that makes you this limited and miserable. Don't tell me it's better than everything else and is the best thing in the world because it is not. It is so small, So cheap. Such a piddling thing, so reductive and limiting and humiliating. Why project on those two? You should expect so much better from yourself. Like why can't you dream bigger at least in your imagination? Where you can have everything or anything you want, and nothing gives you a better opportunity to do that than media, but you choose the most limiting of all things and characters? Isn't it suffocating and painful? Well, in any case, just don't glorify it, turning a blind eye to facts and then gaslight me for my stuff. That's not acceptable. Even if I know where you are coming from, don't justify it. It gives the wrong impression to others, especially other women, who have enough odds stacked against them already for you to jump in on the bandwagon too, and being women yourselves no less, it's humiliating for both of us.
They use their emotions as a free ticket to say and do things indiscriminately, without thought and honesty. Cultivating emotions (and sharing them) should enrich you and help you grow, not make you regress even more.
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noveratus · 8 months
Text
I just finished watching the Witcher season 3. Here are my thoughts on this season:
First, I should make it known that I have not read any of the books and I played the witcher wild hunt very briefly since I wasn't a huge fan of the combat system, so there is a chance that I'm not the target demographic for this show. Perhaps they were trying to appeal to the fans of the series. If that is the case, I apologize for my thoughts. These are the thoughts of a casual watcher of the series who is very passionate about writing and stories and general.
The best word that I would use to describe this series and just the whole show, in a whole, is confusing. Things just seem to happen, and I am left wondering what even is the story here. The show feels both too slow and too fast for the story it is trying to tell.
Season one is by far the best. Despite the non-linear timeline, you can understand what is happening, you understand what the arcs are, what the characters want, and you have a notion of what is going on. There are still confusing moments, particularly those with the elves and Cintra. Her journey feels so slow compared to both Yen and Gerald since, once you remove all the magic and all the dressing, their stories are about family, with Gerald's being about the fear of letting people in and Yennifer's being about being accepted enough to be loved.
Then we have season two, which is just political nonsense for the most part. We barely get any time with the main trio, and it is mostly just a lot of nothing. People speak and tell your their plans and whatever, but it summarizes to a bunch of nothing. There is a 6. Everyone wants Cintra, but that's it. There is essentially just one character arc in this season that goes through a character arc with that being Yennifer, and while I do have conflicting emotions about it, it is definitely a character arc. Besides that, the closest thing you get to character development is Cintra's fight montage scenes, and while those can be fun, not everything has to be deep and sad and depressing, that is not what they are. They try to be exactly that. Bleak. Like the show is turning to you and asking, "Aren't you enjoying seeing how much these characters for basically no reason? This is what will make them stronger! They aren't really learning anything, just getting beaten until they seem like they can be excusable to be strong enough to survive what will throw on them next! Isn't this deep? Isn't this exciting? Bleak and depressing equals deep guys! C'mon!" When it comes to the plot, it is essentially people saying "shit is going to happen, shit is really going to happen. We will kill this baby. You know we will kill this baby! Wanna see us do it? We will do it! Just watch it! And hah! We did it!" And that's pretty much it. Pretty much the only thing that carries over from season 2 to three is Yen's arc, and the first thing they try to do is try to retcon it. So yes, season 2 is a boring, confusing slog where things just happen and feels very pointless.
Then we move on to season 3. Season three starts well. I honestly enjoyed the first episodes, with Yennifer trying to regain the confidence of both Gerald and Cintra, and I think it works. I enjoy seeing Cintra and Yennifer butting heads, it makes sense, they are different people who can teach each other a lot after everything they went through, and you see glimpses of this, and while Gerald's hunt doesn't make a lot of sense since he just let the guy go, I think that the subsequent plot with the fake Cintra and the missing mages is fine, I'm invested, I want to know what is going on, and then the ball happens and that is a good episode, it has mystery and this sense of magic and actual illusion and I was hyped. Truly, I couldn't wait to see where this was going, and then we had a betrayal, and then another and suddenly the elves are here, and they are the bad guys and the racist is in the right and gets treated like a hero and Ciri is there and then she isn't and why did you leave in the first place, Yennifer, if you were going to come back to help your people?! What did you think was going to happen? Sunshines and rainbows?! There is this huge battle where a lot of people die, but I'm left just confused because, oh my god, there is even more political nonsense here and it carries on through the last three episodes where, again, nothing really happens besides the nonsense politics while Gerald is recovering and I'm so done. Ok, that is not completely true. There are two segments that I would like to mention, the sorcerers and Cintra. I think that, while not that important development wise, since Cintra goes from point A to point B back to point A, the desert part is good. It is visually interesting. It shows her skills, and while bleak, it is entertaining. They are showing you something that isn't characters talking about something no one understands or trying to make something deep out of something that isn't. This is a girl trying to survive in a desert in a harsh environment. I can understand that I want her to succeed in that. Now, for the sorcerers, they are mourning, they are dealing with loss in the middle of war. I can understand and sympathize with that, but then you have Tissaia's death that is framed as this noble sacrifice when it isn't. It is sad, yes, but the audience isn't really given a moment to process that, it is framed so that her death is about Yennifer, like losing her will make her stronger and I have serious problems with any media that shows suicide as anything noble or brave or good, like one's death is preferable to them being alive.
Now, I have avoided speaking about Jaskier so far because, and I want to make it clear that Jaskier is my favorite character in this show, he is sadly pointless. Don't get me wrong, Jaskier is essentially the heart of the Witcher, but when it comes to the narrative, the story itself, he is only there for fan service. They tried to fix this with Radovid, but it still didn't work, it didn't truly affect the narrative since the most important part of Radovid's character is that he becomes the king and, so far, that has nothing to do with Jaskier. Dandelion is just there to look pretty and occasionally get saved by Gerald, which I find particularly funny during the action scenes where he just disappears or runs around with nothing to do. The sad part is, Jaskier is a bard. A man known for the art of speech and song and playing with people's emotions. He would be perfect for a political piece, which seems to be what the show is going for, but instead, they put him in situations where he is completely pointless.
So, in the end, I didn't like season 3. I liked the first half of season 3, despite its issues like the Wild Hunt bit, but the ending was disappointing. It didn't diminish my enjoyment of the first part, so that is something I guess, but still. And I want to make it clear that I don't think this is the writer's fault. I would like to put my theory hat here for a moment and take a shot saying Netflix desperately wanted the Witcher to be game of thrones. They wanted all the politics and gritty realism and bleakness from that show, but the Witcher just isn't that, is it? I haven't played the games a lot, but from what I understand, the Witcher shines most with its side missions, the ones where you don't have the end of the world, but a person trying to survive, and love, and find happiness in a world where humans seem to be at the bottom of the food chain. The Witcher's tv show seems to completely forget about monsters until it is convenient for them to remember when, in the game, even if you are powerful, there is a chance you will struggle with what you are fighting if you don't know how to fight them. And this, this sense of survival is pretty much gone in the show. It is just politics that say nothing really with a moody superman thrown in the middle of it.
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gillianthecat · 1 year
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I'm having the horrible feeling that I'm losing interest in BL 😭 Or at the very least I need to add some non-BL variety to my watch list so that the BL shows I am watching will hold my attention. I'm enjoying Between Us and The New Employee but not with the same intensity as before and I feel like I have nothing to say about them.
I've glancingly seen your posts for Reborn Rich. If you have the spoons, can you share what liked about it, or if you've talked about it elsewhere, link to the post? ❤️
Me too 😕 I am also worried I'm losing interest in BL. The only shows I'm managing to keep up with are two I'm not feeling that invested in: Candy Color Paradox (which I don't think is very good but first I was pulled to figure out why, and now I'm just watching for Izuka Kenta) and The New Employee (which I like a lot but mostly it feels more like an intellectual appreciation rather than an emotional connection). Probably this pulling back is overall a good thing for my life, as I'm going back to school and need to focus on the real world. But it makes me sad—I don't want my love for BL to be a brief thing that comes and goes in 6 months, I want to keep it a part of my life. In part because I like it, but also because of the community I've found here, with people like you.
Hopefully for both of us this is just a temporary thing and we will regain our interest in BL shows. I know for me part of what's going on is it's hard for me to watch a show now without wanting to write about it, and that's simply unsustainable with the number of shows I want to watch (or at least want to want to watch), and I need to figure out a new approach. It only worked before because that was literally all I was doing with my time most days. And that's not actually how I want to spend my life, once I emerge from that bubble of avoiding the real world.
So I need to find a way to just watch shows without it feeling like an obligation, just for fun. That's part of the reason I've been watching more non-BL, I don't feel the need to talk about them in the same way. Although honestly I've also been struggling to focus there too, so a lot of it's not about BL, just my attention span at the moment. The only two shows I've recently watched straight through, completely absorbed, were the Korean revenge drama The Glory, and the 2018 Japanese BL The Novelist.
So to answer your original question, I'm liking Reborn Rich, but not captivated by it. I'm on the fourth episode, and I'm largely continuing at this point because I want to figure out what the show is trying to say, if anything about money/wealth/chaebols/recent S. Korean history. And because I like watching Song Joong-ki onscreen (the other show that I've been intermittently watching is Vincenzo). But it's very well done, and expensive looking, and the story is intriguing. This is another one that I went into without seeing the trailer or anything; I watched the first episode the week it came out, last fall, then for some reason (probably saw a post on here) decided to pick it up again. So I'm not quite sure where the story is going, which makes it interesting for me.
I was going to write more detailed thoughts, but in support of me being a responsible student and having a life outside of drama series, I should really go to bed. Whatever I have written should be under my reborn rich tag, but I think it may just be the one post.
It's always wonderful to hear from you 😘 Let's keep talking on here regardless of the role BL has in our lives.
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chickycherrycola · 6 months
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Okay, I have the same questions for you! How long have you been writing and what are some of your favorite tropes/storylines to write? Also, do you have a movie/show/book you’d consider a hidden gem or under-hyped fave??
Hello there Tower! 🎶 thanks for providing me with a wonderful distraction while I work from home today ehehehe *rubs my tiny fly hands together*
How long have I been writing:
Truly, kind of all my life? I've loved books, reading, and words since childhood - I was that quirky little kid who preferred going to the library over going to the park 😅 I wrote a LOT in high school and college, but I doubted myself too much to ever do anything with any of it. I never submitted short stories to publishing houses, never posted any of my fanfics online as a result. I took a long break from writing after graduating college and only recently got back into it, about... late 2021, I want to say? I re-read some fave old Soul Eater fanfics and got inspired to take up the metaphorical pen again, and I'm so glad I did. Now it feels like all I do with my life is write and I wouldn't have it any other way tbh!
Favorite Tropes/Storylines To Write:
Boy oh boy, where to even begin? I love romance, comedy, and the wonderful intersection of the two in the form of the ROMANTIC COMEDY, which im sure is pretty obvious given the kinds of fics I tend to post. I write as a form of escape from reality and use humor to cope and process big feelings, so writing rom-coms with a lot of heart and mature themes at their core is my jam.
In terms of tropes - my faves are the following, in no particular order: Friends to Lovers, Idiots In Love, Boy Falls First, Found Family (im actually a HUGE SLUT for this one and want to write it so badly!), Second Chance Romance, Animal Companions (i utilize this one a TON in my original fiction), Cozy Fantasy and/or stories that seamlessly weave magic or supernatural elements into the "real" world... and lastly, not really a trope, but Character Driven Stories are the GOAT.
Also... I just really love writing smut. PWP one-shots are my guilty pleasure. >:3
Hidden Gems/Underhyped Faves:
I AM SO GLAD YOU ASKED!
Books (though two of these are comics technically):
-SAGA by Brian K Vaughan & Fiona Staples: adult graphic novel space epic series full of memorable characters and absolutely gorgeous art that tackles a lot of tough stuff and has made me feel the full spectrum of human emotion
-The Tea Dragon Society by K. O'Neill: a wholesome, heartwarming all ages comic chocked full of pocket-sized dragons and the COZIEST fantasy vibes EVER
-The Locked Tomb series: idk if it counts as an underrated fave/hidden gem cause the book series has a pretty sizable and active fan base, but im recommending it anyway cause Harrowhark Nonagesimus is one of my favorite characters in all of fiction, and if you like stories that explore both romantic and platonic partnership dynamics, you should give it a read if you haven't already!!
Shows/Anime:
-D. Gray-Man: shounen anime set in Victorian England about exorcists and featuring the most Cinnamon Roll Main Character in the Universe who I will always love with my whole heart, Allen Walker
-Re:Creators: a reverse isekai in which fictional characters are suddenly pulled from their universes into the real world and tackles the question of what fiction/art mean to us humans, one of my favorite shows of ALL TIME with excellent music composed by Hiroyuki Sawano
-Baccano!: a sort of steampunk/fantasy caper involving alchemists, immortals, outlaws, gangsters, an immortality elixir, and a murder mystery on a train, told in a non-linear format that really puzzles the brain on the first couple of watches
-Witch Hat Atelier: is technically a manga but is getting an anime soon! A series about a young girl who goes to magic school to become a witch, featuring an excellent magic system and gorgeous art
Movies:
-this answer is already soooooo long so ill just recommend my favorite movie of all time, PACIFIC RIM, which if you haven't seen you should WATCH RIGHT AWAY because it has the partners trope you love! Its a 2013 sci-fi flick directed by Guillermo del Toro about kaijus invading Earth from outer space, and the giant, dual-piloted robots that humanity devises to fight back with, and was so revolutionary in its portrayal of its main female character that it created a whole new benchmark for assessing portrayal of women characters in fiction (The Mako Mori Test).
In conclusion - thanks for giving me an excuse to ramble on and on, and I do truly hope you enjoyed all this drivel! 🙏😁
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