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blue-cheeseinmyoffwhites · 1 year

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EDDIE DOES REMEMBER BUCK

Aka Eddie’s “oh” momemt

Cuz we all know there was so much more in between, right? The staring, the reaching, the desperation, the physical contact. That was probably their most intimate moment to date. He remembers a searing pain as he looks at Buck. He remembers falling while holding his gaze on Buck. And he thought this was the last moment of his life which he spends reaching out for him. But what about the whole ass scene in the firetruck on the way to the hospital that Eddie claims to not remember???

Some have indicated that Buck was wearing the same shirt in his coma dream from the shooting. There actually was an earlier cue of it’s significance. In 5x01, the only indication of Eddie’s panic attacks that didn't directly involve Ana (cued by the music) was seeing a man knocked out, with a similar shirt (& facial structure) as Buck. The same Buck from the shooting specifically, where he was in so much pain that he couldn't think clearly and thought Buck was the one who was shot. This is an important detail I'll get back to momentarily.

Eddie looks away whenever he lies/doesn’t want to confront his feelings, avoiding eye contact when the conversation gets too real. Buck looked him dead in his face in 5x11 and said he doesn’t have to pretend with him, and Eddie walked away. Where Eddie spent 4x14 looking at nothing BUT Buck, in 6x11 he can’t even glance at him. This is important. Eddie is the only one who doesn’t visit Buck on his own time. He doesn’t want to deal with his feelings over the situation. It’s just all too familiar. This is the exact same setup as Shannon. Only now it’s Buck, and he’s actually dead too.

In 6x10 his fears eventually become a reality. Eddie suddenly has to picture a world without Buck, & he didn’t like it. We finally got Eddie screaming for Buck in the same way the ladder does, & it was brutal. Way different from a regular friend being worried. The calm compitent Eddie Diaz was frantically pulling Buck towards him knowing the effort was useless, shoving his captain out the way to reach him, yelling at doctors to do more????

The writers portrayed a hypothetical that if Buck never met Eddie, he would have lost everything. He would have been deemed unfit to be a firefighter and a single father, eventually losing both. Eddie is aware of the impact Buck has on him & all the things he's done for him. Eddie is aware of his feelings for Buck but doesn’t want to take the time to realize what that means for him. Which is why he omits. Cuz you see, Eddie's panic attacks weren't really about Ana. I mean yeah they were triggered by her, but it wasn't really the thought of being married to Ana, it was the thought of losing Buck. Committing to a relationship with Ana means that the fantasy he envisions with Buck can never come to light. He then decides to cut ties with her with encouragement from Buck. That then leaves the question, why now?? It seemed like Eddie & Ana were doing fine? Why is he suddenly having doubts?

The Shooting. As May said in Eddie's presence in 5x15, it took a near-death experience to appreciate what (he) actually had & is encouraged to not hide WHO HE IS. Because of heteronormativity, Eddie spends Season 4 chasing a relationship he never really wanted just so Chris could have a mother figure, failing to realize he can satisfy both their needs with Buck. Eddie didn't start getting panic attacks until after he got shot, where the main vision he had in those moments was of the one he wanted most, Buck. Dying now meant that he could never have Buck, so he spends the last moments of his life reaching for him. That's why one of Eddie's first triggers is of the white-shirt man along with Ana. He remembers.

#911 fox #eddie diaz #evan buckley #buddie #buddie 911 #buck x eddie #buckley diaz family #buddie meta #eddie diaz i know what you are #buddie 101

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mylordshesacactus · 4 years

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Unasked-For Writing Tip Of The Day: Action Sequences

Fight scenes, chase sequences, etc. A bunch of people recently have said how much they enjoy me and @alexkablob‘s action writing, and frankly, when we first started writing together we both DREADED action scenes because we weren’t good at them and didn’t have any experience in making them good.

So, here’s the breakthrough we had, because I think it’ll help a lot of people.

If you think you suck at action scenes, what’s actually happening is probably that you’re not writing action scenes that interest you.

I’m serious. If you struggle to write an action sequence, it’s probably not that you’re just “not good at action”. What’s happening is probably that you got to the point in your script/outline/etc where you know there needs to be a fight scene and the only thing you have going for it is “right, I need....a fight scene”.

So here’s the solution: Make it more interesting.

This isn’t me being like....tough love or anything, either. This isn’t “make it more interesting to the reader”. Make it more interesting to YOU. Change something about the scene. If it feels like a slog to get through, if you’re confused or you keep losing track of where people are or you’re bored...change it. Make it not boring. Put a twist in.

Some of the most memorable examples of things we’ve personally done, to help illustrate this.

A generic chase scene through back alleys was going to get repetitive and we were inevitably going to lose track of where everyone was. Well...this was set in the Coruscant underworld. There was no reason to treat it like a modern city layout. We worked in 3D instead, and made it a chase sequence through falling-apart, rusty catwalks and fire escapes. It opened up infinitely more possibilities.

A generic dogfight in space becomes much more interesting when you made the decision earlier in the story to put the protagonists in a ship that doesn’t have any weapons.

At one point, we were going to have no choice but to just have a bog-standard 1v2 lightsaber duel in the middle of an open, featureless plain. So we had the protagonists’ crash-landing throw up a massive white dust cloud! Suddenly, an attack could come from any direction at any time; the featureless plain meant there was nothing for the protagonists to get their back to. Suddenly the miles of featureless grey dust that had promised a really boring writing experience became a) a palpable source of tension, and b) a fascinating playground for us as writers.

I talked about this at length in another post but, at one point we were just...not really at all excited about the next chapter in a project. It was a 5+1 layout, so we had to get through #4 in order to get to the nemesis battle in 5 that was the climax of the piece; but chapter 4 was just not shaping up to be fun to write. We liked the symbolism of it, but it was going to be a long sequence of the protagnists slowly getting overwhelmed by swarming demons and it was so. repetitive. We knew we needed something to fill the climax of that chapter, and wanted a boss fight...but all the “boss fight” options from canon had been DONE in canon. Finally, we had the lightning-bolt idea of a giant demon walrus (this...makes sense in context). This also gave us the opportunity to figure out how a giant walrus would get into an ice cave, the answer naturally ending up “from under the ice, of course”. And then THAT gave us a pitch-dark ice cavern with a massive hole in the floor, covered in thin ice under which was the freezing black Arctic ocean...

What we’d dreaded as a boring filler chapter ended up being our favorite fight sequence we’ve ever written.

Once we needed to have a ship boarded by Klingons who would then be repelled. Writing a straight firefight wasn’t our idea of fun, and it also didn’t feel like a good payoff; we wanted the Klingons to feel like a genuine threat, and if the solution was “shoot them until they go away” then that victory isn’t satisfying. So we made the B-plot of that episode “the artificial gravity is glitching” and then, in the climax, had the Chief Engineer kill all the lights on the ship. We got a zero-G battle in pitch blackness and it was very, very cool.

You get the idea.

The point is, don’t write action sequences you don’t care about! If YOU’RE not interested in what’s happening...trust me, it always shows. If you’re writing a fight or any other kind of action sequence and you can’t keep track of what’s happening, people keep “teleporting” all over the scene (this is a HUGE PROBLEM in action sequences--you NEED to always be aware of where everyone is in relation to each other and the environment) or it just feels repetitive...change it!

Change things until you find that one little tweak that makes the scene sing for you.

(Fun fact: Literally every piece of “how to write an action sequence” advice also works for sex scenes. And, even better, vice versa.)

Because here’s the thing. When you find that one detail that makes you go “oh, fuck yes I want to see this scene” all the things you’re struggling with...just kind of go away.

Having trouble with blocking (keeping track of where people are in the scene in relation to the rest of it)? Not anymore. Once you get that lightning-bolt detail, the trick here is that the scene becomes cinematic to you. You can SEE what you’re trying to describe, this has suddenly become REAL and visceral. You don’t forget about major players and their locations because you’re equally invested in every part of the sequence--or else, change things until you are.

That repetitive slog and the difficulty conveying the action...well, the purpose of changing things around is so that it no longer feels repetitive. And actions you’re EXCITED about describing flow so much easier.

Basically...if you’re not invested in the action, don’t write it until you are. Find something that makes you suddenly interested. Change the setting, change the setup, change the resources the protagonist has access to. Have them break an arm in the preceding scene and suddenly have to compensate for that during the action. Use the environment to both help and hinder your protagonists--either is great, but BOTH is even better.

You’re not bad at writing action--you just need to write action sequences you like.

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beewolfwrites · 3 years

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And When I am Formulated, Sprawling on a Pin - Chapter Nineteen: I May Think of You Softly

The angst is starting to hot up now, because we can’t have a Chishiya fic without it :)

As always, you can also read this on AO3 here.

Just adding this because I’ve gotten a few messages about it, but once this fic comes to an end, I’ll start reading the manga properly so I can eventually write a part 2/sequel!

While I’m reading it though, I want to make a collection of one-shots based on this fic from Chishiya’s pov. I have a few scenes in mind to focus on, but if there are some you’d like to see, just drop me a message, comment, carrier pigeon etc... and let me know!

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‘It’s time.’

They were simple words, but they carried an awful lot of weight. The plan had to go perfectly, otherwise we were finished.

Arisu’s voice sounded from the other line. ‘Is everyone getting into position?’

I picked up the walkie talkie and headed to the door, only for Kuina to grab my arm and stop me. Perplexed, I opened my mouth to ask her why, but her pleading expression silenced me as she took the walkie talkie from my hand.

At the same moment, a new voice – Usagi’s – came through. ‘I’m in the hall, keeping lookout.’

Never taking her eyes from mine, Kuina’s hand tightened around my arm. She pressed the button to activate the walkie talkie. ‘We’re watching over the elevator to the top floor.’

Except we weren’t. We were here, in my room.

Kuina??

Once again, I began to ask her what was happening, but she shook her head, shushing me. The guilt in her eyes was unmistakable. ‘The coast is clear,’ she said into the walkie talkie.

Then it became awfully, awfully apparent what was going on.

‘The new leader is making a speech in the lobby,’ Chishiya said, ‘and all the executives and militants are at the annex. I’ll let you all know if there are any changes.’ There was a pause. ‘This is our only chance. I’m counting on you, Arisu.’

Shrugging out of Kuina’s hold, I sat down on the bed, trying to process the situation. This had been his plan from the start. Not the official plan, but a fake one: to use Arisu and Usagi to locate the safe, and to let them take the fall. Chishiya may know the passcode, but the location of the safe is something that can only be discovered once you actually go into the room.

He’s using them as his guinea pigs.

‘I’m in the Royal Suite now,’ Arisu said. ‘Though I can’t see anything that looks like a safe. Just give me a minute.’ My knee began to bounce nervously as the line went quiet. Then his voice crackled through, triumphant, ‘I’ve found it!’

A puff of air sounded from the other line, and I could practically hear Chishiya’s smirk. ‘The code, it’s 8022.’

There was a pause. ‘How do you know?’ Arisu asked. ‘Did you see inside the black envelope?’

I leaned forward, curious about how Chishiya had managed to figure it out simply by sitting in the same room. There were two possibilities here. Either Chishiya knew perfectly well what the passcode was, and he would concoct a lie to give to Arisu, or he only had an inkling about the passcode, and he was using Arisu to test it out.

‘No,’ Chishiya said, ‘but I didn’t need to. Aguni’s expression told me everything. He was surprised at first, then he was confused. I believe the paper inside was blank.’

‘Blank? But what about the passcode you just told me?’ Arisu asked.

There was an amused hum. ‘The wax seal. You remember Hatter’s ring… it was stamped with the word ‘BOSS’. When the wax seal was stamped, the embossing left numbers. That was the true code.’

You really are incredible, and not necessarily in a good way.

It certainly sounded convincing enough, though until Arisu tested it, there was no way of knowing whether this was the genuine truth, or an impressive sounding lie. And judging by the way things were going, he would find out very quickly.

My heart broke for Arisu as he spoke with pure, blind amazement. ‘Chishiya, I’d hate to be your enemy.’

I held my breath, waiting for the worst as silence ensued. This was a setup, after all. I glanced at Kuina, but she only looked at me apologetically.

Why does he have to be so cruel?

‘Chishiya??’ Arisu’s voice shook. ‘Chishiya, the code’s wrong?’

The static shut off into silence.

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Even the stale air of my room tasted bitter as I gripped my walkie talkie, turning it over in my palm. It was tempting to just toss into the dustbin and wash my hands of the whole thing, yet I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Chishiya had backed me into a corner. It would be too dangerous to stay at the Beach now that the militants had taken over, but I also resented Chishiya for stringing me along in such a dreadful scheme.

Kuina was waiting for me in the hall outside. Now that the militants were busy with Arisu and Usagi, the royal suite was unguarded. This was the final test. The real plan. But as for whether or not I joined them…. I didn’t have a choice, or at least, it seemed that way. I remembered the words that I’d told Hatter when I first arrived at the Beach.

‘I still have a choice. It’s just that one of the options doesn’t look too great.’

There was always the option to stay and pretend that I had nothing to do with it. Except there was an obvious downside; Niragi wouldn’t settle for that. He’d be out for blood. My blood. It was either possible death or certain death… freedom or confinement. I knew which one I preferred.

‘Though wise men at the end know dark is right, because their words forked no lightning they do not go gentle into that good night.’

It was funny how fittingly Dylan Thomas’ poem sprung to mind now. I was going to die. That was inevitable. But I still wanted my voice to be heard. I still wanted to chase the meaning of it all.

Pocketing the walkie talkie, I walked towards the door. It almost felt sad. All the textbooks I had been given, the books that had kept me sane this entire time… I would have to leave them behind. They were gifts from Chishiya, but after what he’d done to Arisu, they were tainted. I shut the door behind me, quite possibly for the last time.

Kuina was leaning against the opposite wall, and when she saw me, her expression was one of relief.

‘For a minute, I thought you weren’t coming.’

I tried to smile. ‘For a minute, so did I.’

The hotel was quiet as we made our way to the top floor, it became apparent how quiet it was. The militants and executives were likely dealing Arisu and Usagi by now, and I hated to think of what was currently happening to them. Perhaps this was another reason Chishiya wanted to use them; as a distraction.

‘I don’t like it either,’ Kuina said. Her jaw was rigid. ‘I really don’t like it. But I have to get home to my mother.’

Some of the bitterness I felt softened. I couldn’t fault her for that. Not really. She had told me once, while we were on the rooftop, about her mother being the only one to accept her after her gender reassignment, and now her mother was ill, yet she was stuck here, unable to help. She had tried asking about my own life, although I’d brushed it away at the time.

‘My brother,’ I said after a moment. ‘I want to get back to him. He’s older than me, a psychologist. He went into psychology to research treatment options for certain mental health conditions. My mother isn’t happy… to put it mildly. She’s a mess. Probably it’s something to do with being married to my dad, or maybe it’s genetic.’

Kuina went quiet at first, then took the quit-smoking aide from her mouth. ‘Are you two close?’

I shrugged. ‘I suppose we are. We both grew up in the same place, and we both have that understanding. He was always the one who went first, and I’d follow him. He wasn’t scared of anything, not even my dad.’

Kuina and I didn’t say anything more after that. We were nearing the top floor now, and even though I couldn’t see him, I knew that Chishiya was lurking somewhere, waiting for us to give him the all-clear.

As planned, Kuina handed me a second walkie talkie, and I took my place at the end of the hall, looking out for any executives. Meanwhile, Kuina took watch outside the royal suite, where she could see Aguni’s room. So far, Aguni had remained in his old room, despite being the new number-one, and since Arisu and Usagi’s capture, he had yet to emerge.

Chishiya’s voice sounded through the walkie talkie. ‘You two, how are things on your side?’

Just the sound of his voice brought with it a mixture of anger… despair… betrayal… relief… and love. Even that. How was it that now, when I had never been more hurt by him, I still craved the safety I found in his voice.

I don’t know who I hate more, him or myself.

I didn’t particularly want to speak with him. But ignoring him wasn’t an option either. ‘You’re all good to go from where I’m standing.’

‘Aguni’s still in his room,’ Kuina’s voice crackled through. ‘We’re getting bored now.’

‘Then should we get going with the plan?’ he suggested.

I clicked my tongue, eyes scanning either side of the empty hall. ‘We’ve already gotten going. It’s you who needs to hurry up.’

‘Patience,’ was the curt reply.

I didn’t hear anything, but I knew that somewhere down the hall, Chishiya was entering the royal suite. ‘I don’t know if Arisu is stupid or intelligent,’ he said. ‘Hatter was paranoid. He wouldn’t have hidden the cards in a normal safe.’

Did Arisu try breaking into one of the hotel’s guest safes?

‘Where’s the real one then?’ Kuina asked. She sounded tired and weary.

‘When Arisu was caught,’ Chishiya replied, ‘Aguni wasn’t paying attention. He was looking towards a certain picture on the wall. It turns out the paper wasn’t empty after all. It contained a drawing instead.’

It was impressive how Chishiya was able to figure these things out through body language alone. For someone who seemed to have no concept of how people behaved, he sure paid attention to our behavioral patterns.

‘So, you had no idea where it was until then?’ I asked.

‘Exactly,’ Chishiya said. ‘What happened to Arisu was necessary if we were going to find the real safe. Speaking of which, I’ve found it.’

The way he talked about it was chilling. Not so much the words themselves, but the ease in which he spoke them, the lack of hesitation.

Kuina seemed to be thinking the same thing, as she sighed into the walkie talkie. ‘You used him just for that?’

The response was immediate. ‘In order to gain something, you have to lose something. He’s just a sacrifice. Things like this happen a lot, don’t they?’

The level of self-assurance behind those words… it was brutal. I always knew he was like this, but what did that mean for me and Kuina? Were we just pawns like Arisu and Usagi? Would our deaths be necessary too?

‘No, they don’t.’ Kuina said. ‘Not at all. I really don’t want to be your enemy.’

At this, I almost laughed. When I first met Chishiya, I had thought the same thing, and earlier today, Arisu had said something similar himself.

‘I get that a lot,’ Chishiya replied.

Perhaps everyone is his enemy. Perhaps the only person he sees surviving the Borderlands is himself.

The idea was a harsh philosophy, but it made sense. Chishiya had always made me feel like insignificant just through his calculating gaze alone. In that sense, he was just like my own father, and chances are that was why I was drawn to him. In this crazy parallel world, feeling small was the only thing familiar to me.

Maybe, in order to gain my own freedom, I have to lose Chishiya.

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Now that the sun had set over the skyline, the evening had turned still and cold. Aside from the hum of cicadas and the chatter of crickets, it was quiet. Leaning against the outside wall of the hotel, I wrapped my arms around me, although it did nothing to stave off the shivers that tickled my skin. Nor did it melt the wedge of icy determination that had buried itself within me.

I’ll follow him for the sake of leaving the Beach… but I refuse to let myself love him.

I had never been a good liar.

To my right, Kuina was leaning against a lamppost, staring guiltily at the ground. Meanwhile, Chishiya removed his numbered wristband as he strolled towards a decorative brick archway that led out of the hotel grounds. ‘I guess we won’t be needing these anymore.’

‘Don’t you feel sorry?’ Kuina asked quietly.

He stopped. ‘Sorry?’

I looked at him curiously, wondering how he could seem so calm. ‘About what happened to Arisu… I feel really sorry for him. We both do.’

Kuina nodded, folding her arms tighter. ‘Don’t you?’

Chishiya’s eyes flitted to mine, and for the first time, I saw genuine surprise there.

Show me a sign… please give me a reason why I should trust you.

‘Is there anything we wouldn’t do in order to survive?’

A shudder ran through me, and this time, it had nothing to do with the breeze. His words confirmed my every suspicion, but I couldn’t let myself feel so disappointed. I needed to block it all out… block everything out.

Then he smiled. It would’ve been easy to mistake it for his usual smile, if not for the hint of bitterness there. ‘If you both feel so worried, then maybe you should go and help him.’

Kuina looked at him, eyes wide with regret. However, she didn’t move. Neither of us could. We both had our own reasons why we needed to survive and return home. Knowing this well, Chishiya took a step towards the arch, only to stop once more. His brow furrowed as he whispered something under his breath.

Growing impatient, I pushed away from the wall and walked towards the exit… towards freedom.

‘Stop.’

Chishiya’s hand clasped around my wrist, dragging me back. I yanked my arm away immediately, both hating and loving the feeling of his fingers on my skin. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’

Kuina appeared at my side, and the three of us watched tentatively as Chishiya tossed his wristband through the arch. A red laser burst through the plastic, leaving behind a singed hole.

I stepped back, horrified. This couldn’t be… could it?

The Beach is a game arena??

#alice in borderland #aib #imawa no kuni no arisu #chishiya #chishiya shuntaro #chishiya x oc #chishiya x reader #chishiya alice in borderland

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citadelspires · 3 years

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since I’m more or less back in business I feel it’s past time I ramble about another au I will (probably) never write. I’ll start off simple with an amphibia owl house au I was thinking up last night at work. (slight disclaimer that I have not seen any of season 2 yet so this is with exclusively information through the end of season 1). Concept below the cut cause it’s a pretty extensive one.

The concept starts at the same point the owl house does, more or less. Camila is concerned, Luz is getting sent to summer camp etc. etc. This time she gets distracted by an unusually pink frog hopping into the woods, and decides she probably has time to go chase after it. So she follows it into the woods until she suddenly trips over something and falls to the ground, turning around she sees it to be a music box sticking out of the forest floor. Curious, she digs it up and starts examining it. She thinks it’s really pretty and she’s about to open it when she hears voices coming from nearby and goes to check it out.

She finds Willow and Amity in a small clearing, think essentially the scene in the actual owl house where she sees them for the first time, except here they’re both human, though Luz doesn’t know them because they both go to some pretentious private school, Amity because she’s a Blight so she had to, and Willow because she got a scholarship for it and didn’t have the heart to tell her dads she didn’t really want to go. The scene plays out in a similar fashion to how it does in the actual show, with the exception that this time without the magic element Luz doesn’t feel the need to keep hiding and instead marches up from her hiding place to chew out Amity for being a jerk. Unfortunately she stumbles on a tree root as she approaches and, still holding the music box, accidentally pops the lid open.

So that’s how the three of them get transported to Amphibia. I like the idea of taking the setup and world of Amphibia, which we’ve seen through the lens of the characters that got transported all being close “friends”, and coming at it from a different perspective, i.e. one of them is a complete stranger to the other two and the two that do know eachother are already not on very good terms going in. (Amity and Willow have essentially the same history in the au that they do in toh).

Luz is dropped right in the middle of Newtopia, and while she’s very excited about the prospect of a fantasy adventure, she’s also pretty worried that she has no idea how to get back home, and she doesn’t take to the city as well as Marcy did. Part of this is due to her having her doubts about the ruler of Amphibia, who in this case is not Andrias, but Lilith(I understand Belos is probably a more fitting character for the role but I just don’t know enough of his character or really care about him enough to implement him, so Lilith it is! She’s more interesting for the setup anyway, depending on what Andrias’ weird master thing ends up being, maybe that would be a belos type deal but honestly I’d probably just not implement that part into this. If you can’t tell this is much less a “amphibia but with the owl house cast” and more of a actual approach to writing something new with the old setting and characters).

This is mostly due to the fact that, while wondering around the city attracting suspicious stares from newts that have never seen someone like her before, she ends up bumping into a newt who appears to be running from the majority of the city guards. They both fall down and Luz helps her stand up, a showing that is enough to convince the guards that, whatever the weird creature is, it’s in league with the felon, so they begin chasing her too. The criminal newt, who is of course Eda, takes pity on her and brings her along to her hideout, where she meets a weird little robot that insists she refer to him as King. He begins to declare that his full title is “King of...” and then kinda falters off as he seems to realize he actually isn’t quite sure what he is. Luz gives Eda a concerned Look but she just kinda shrugs it off and says he always does that.

Luz finds out that Eda deals in the trade of questionable artifacts and considers herself pretty lucky to find someone like that as soon as she did, and she asks if Eda knows anything about a music box, describing it as best as she can, because she didn’t really think to take any pictures. For her part, Eda is pretty sure what it is, and that’s the moment where she resolves to watch over Luz, at first just because she’s Concerned the box is back in Amphibia, though it eventually ends up that she gets a soft spot for the kid.

Though Luz doesn’t find out a good deal of this until later, and it’s gradually, Eda is still Lilith’s sister here, meaning that yes, she had equal claim to the newtopian crown, but the history of the crown never sat well with her (i.e. she finds out newtopia was built on the foundation of bloody conquest, along with the fact that it’s encouraged they want to get back to that point and nopes out of there). While she’s on her way out she starts off her new life of stealing shiny things by grabbing a weird little statue that had always seemed kinda off to her. She figures she could sell it at least, but while looking over it after escaping she realizes that it isn’t a statue at all, but what she decides must have been a defective robot from newtopia’s past, being much smaller and more... expressive? Than it should have been. For some reason she decided to try fixing it, and though it took a good deal of time she eventually got it to work again, which is how she came to be friends with King.

Luz’ story is largely slice of life relationship building with her, Luz, and King, until the point where the path to the valley opens, and the three of them go on what Luz finds out is an annual trip Eda takes around the valley to see if she can find anything interesting to add to her stand, as well as find new customers in the valley. Luz figures if she has a shot at finding either of the two girls she came with, and hopefully the box too, it would be on that trip.

Willow gets thrown into Toad Tower before she even realizes what’s happening to her. She has no idea where she is, didn’t even get a good look at Luz before the teleportation happened back on earth, and is overall not having a great time. She’s not convinced she’s not dreaming until she’s literally tossed into her cell and the impact hurts enough that she’s sure she’s really there. At first she believes she’s alone in her cell until she hears an awe-filled voice ask what she is and why she’s there. She isn’t able to figure out where the voice is coming from until a tiny blue frog jumps up on her hand. She introduces herself as a human, which gets him very excited, and he introduces himself as Gus, explaining that he was thrown in prison for “almost kind of knowing things he shouldn’t” as he put it.

It turns out Gus is something of a scholar, though he admits that most frogs are more inclined to call him a crazed conspiracy theorist. All of his studies have to do with mysterious other worlds and their inhabitants, which he has always been stubbornly insistent do exist. He’s overjoyed that he finally has “a real life specimen!!” and Willow is excited enough at the idea that there might be someone who actually knows what happened to her that she lets that comment slide. She quickly finds out what the meaning behind his weird prison sentence is, as she brings up getting sent to this world from another, and he attempts for a wise nod as he goes “ah yes, you must have experience an encounter with the calamity bucket.” Still he’s kind of helpful and he and Willow get along pretty well, so they end up hanging out together for the rest of the story, he basically tags along everywhere with her Jiminy Cricket style.

Amity has arguably the hardest time adjusting to the world she suddenly finds herself in, as she ends up in the forest on the outskirts of Wartwood, and promptly determines that this is the worst thing that’s ever happened to her. Despite having the box that “weird girl” used to send them here, opening it and closing it over again provided no help at all, and trying to go into Wartwood provided even less. Still being in Full Blight mindset she is really haughty and superior and the townspeople do not take it well. Even deducing Toadstool as the only persons superficial enough to potentially care about her status, she can’t get anything out of him cause he views her as a massive publicity risk, which he’s already not doing super well at.

The only frogs in the village that seem to not turn away from her immediately are a mischievous pair of frog twins that joke around and mess with her, and though it’s all lighthearted she’s stubborn enough at first that when they do offer to help her out she flat out refuses them. Eventually between living in a cave and their hanging around her whenever she’s in town anyway she’s worn down enough that she begrudgingly accepts their offer of help.

Not being Blights in this au has done a good deal in the way of making Edric and Emira happier. While they’re just as much of tricksters as they always are, and they occasionally overstep a little in their jests, they’re quick to apologize, and lack any of the actual malice behind their knack for causing trouble. The two of them run one of the stands in the marketplace, something they get Amity to help out with eventually as the town warms up to her. The two of them find it easier to grow closer to Amity than the rest of the town does, maybe it’s cause they’re the only ones who have really tried, or maybe it’s cause they’ve got a reputation for being trouble in the town already anyway. Whatever it is Amity gets begrudgingly closer to them until she eventually refers to them as her siblings once, and though they refuse to let her hear the end of it for a few days, they’d been calling her their little sister since the beginning, and while Amity had been certain for a long time they were just doing it to mess with her she starts to like it eventually.

Like in Amphibia, the three girls all represent one aspect of the Heart, Strength, Mind trio. Figuring out what those all are takes a lot more for these girls than it does for the amphibia trio though. The focus of this story is less on the relationships the characters have, though that is definitely a part of it, and more on the attributes their assigned to and the personal growth they have. Each of them holds the attribute that is both their strongest and most repressed. The three all hold themselves at very little value in the areas they’re actually the strongest in, and through their journey in Amphibia they start to learn.

Willow had always believed that strength was an inherently negative thing. Strength equated to power, and people who had power used it to hurt others, without fail. People like, well, Amity. She prefers gentleness and peace, and to her that and strength is mutually exclusive. She reacts to the concept that she could be charging the box with the attribute of strength very negatively.

Through her time in Amphibia she gets to learn that her strength can come in different forms, and while she is undeniably strong physically, her physical strength is nothing compared to her emotional resolve and capacity to extend that emotional resolve in the strength of heart to pick up the people around her when they need it. She does, though, get to learn that power isn’t something that is inherently evil, and even that if she uses the strength she has to protect the things that are important to her, that doesn’t mean she’s forsaken any of the things believes.

aka she gets to punch a heron in the face. Boscha (captain of toad tower) is very impressed, though she pretends she isn’t. Speaking of Boscha, she gets to experience a similar development to Willow, but more on the reverse side of the coin. Having always been powerful, and that having always been enough to make her more important than everyone else, Willow strikes her as weak at first, given her lack of aggression. The longer she stays stuck with Willow though, the more she comes to realize some important things, foremost among them being that Willow could totally kick her ass, and just chooses not to, which isn’t something Boscha understands at all, and Willow ends up teaching her how to be more of a person than a weapon, even just leading by example.

Much to Willow’s complete disbelief, (she swears to Luz the box is broken and they’re doomed), Amity is the heart. Amity doesn’t really believe it either. Strength would’ve been Okay, but personally she would’ve picked the attribute of intelligence for her. It was like the box went through all the effort of looking into their souls and didn’t even bother to check her report card. Ludicrous. It doesn’t help her that her time in wartwood is miserable for a good deal of the start. For the first time in her life Amity isn’t perfect, and it’s all because there’s nothing to be perfect at in this stupid little town. She should have all the frogs praising her superiority, but literally None Of Them are impressed by her in the slightest. They didn’t even have a school!

The only thing Amity took to quickly in Wartwood was the town motto, resolving that she would be even slower to respect the citizens of Wartwood than they would her. This started off a bit of a rivalry between her and the town, but the longer she had the horrible influence of her parents replaced by the well meaning nagging from her frog siblings, and the more time she spent not being perfect because for once in her life she literally couldn’t be, she started to think it wasn’t so bad after all, and the little rivalry between her and the town became much less of a real one, and a lot more of the friendly banter type, though she couldn’t recall ever making a concious choice to do so it just sorta... happened.

Eventually she starts to think about the school she was initially so annoyed didn’t exist, and begins to wonder if really no one is gonna do anything about it being in ruins. Eventually, she starts going over to the ruined building and reading to whatever kids in wartwood were in the mood to listen. before she knew it she had built up the closest thing to a school Wartwood had in a while, and where she once would have felt a smug pride, she only felt a casual happiness that was new to her, but not entirely unpleasant.

Luz never would have considered herself good at any of the three options. She knows she’s not strong so that’s out. All the kids at school think she’s weird and she has no friends so she really doesn’t think the whole “heart” thing works in any capacity. But the only thing left besides that would be intelligence, and she’s had enough students and teachers alike call her out for being an idiot that she’s absolutely confident that isn’t it. It doesn’t help that since she’s with Eda, who actually knows what the box is, she ends up worrying over what she’s supposed to be from the very start. She spends a lot of the time before the valley opens up thinking the box made a mistake, and since she didn’t have any of the attributes it wanted it wouldn’t work again at all.

In the end she only finds out what she’s supposed to be through process of elimination. Knowing Willow is strength and Amity is heart she finally comes to the realization that she’s supposed to be intelligence, and her confidence crumbles. Of all the options that’s the one she’d been hoping it wouldn’t be the most. How could so many people be wrong after all? It was pretty unanimous back home that she didn’t really have much going on upstairs, and after hearing it enough time she had gotten around to believing it. Her path in the story largely focuses on coming to terms with her own worth, despite her insecurities and the weight of everything she’s ever heard to the contrary constantly on her mind.

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polymetis-23 · 3 years

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Diary Entry Oct. 3rd, 2021

Day 1 - Superhero preparation

I finally had a bit of a break today from classes and I'm all caught up on work (impossible, I know) so I was able to take a step back and plan my next moves. As previously mentioned my skirt was a bit of an issue, one I haven't figured out yet, (but I will) so for now I removed the skirt attachment on the leggings and added some padding to the sides of said leggings (no I haven't been falling). Next I moved on to the tools I would need when tracking down the Eye. Right now all I had was the semi-functioning wristbow, my goggles with the default camera analysis program, and my radio. All of these items were great, minus the currently uncodable goggles, but I also needed some sort of weapon to use in close quarters and I think I know just what it is … a bo staff!

Listen, some of my classes have mentioned mechanical advantage and I'm a little small so I figured the more advantage the better, let's get a long retractable staff that I can carry around with me. Luckily for me there are plenty of retractable options on the internet. I know, building one myself would be much cooler but come on I don't have the time. I have to start chasing down the Eye ASAP. Well not chasing down per say, it took so long last time to even get a glimpse of her while sitting on top of the roofs that I think I might need to set up a proper surveillance/alert system so I can still get my homework done until she shows her face again. The only question is how does one create such a system?

Day 2 - System Start

Gah, why can't coding be straightforward? Like I should be able to type "go hack the cameras" and the computer should know what to do. Isn't that what they say? Computers do exactly what you tell them to? Anyway I have a pretty rudimentary system set up, but it looks like I might have to take some more programming classes to actually create something efficient. Let me walk you through the set up:

I have my police radio scanning all frequencies and a computer audio to text program (from the internet) setup and auto transcribing what is said. I then collected those words and import them into my program (again from the internet) where I scan through looking for 'red lights' and 'eye' and if one of those phrases is said, a light in my goggles will flash (once again, thank you internet, you truly are a wonderful place to steal deal with stupid code. I will have to test run it tomorrow as it is already 11:59pm.

Day 3 - Homophones suck

So I piloted my scanning system and for some reason the auto transcript program can't understand context so it keeps sending me alerts when someone says 'I' rather than 'eye'. Unfortunately this has caused me to have to remove that key phrase from the scanning list and I am therefore down to one phrase, ugh. I was listening to the context though as I was testing this and it seems that the police might have finally noticed that something is going on. They don't know who it is but I quote: "it is quite peculiar that there are so many of these red eyes popping up everywhere." Honestly, I can't believe they've let her get away with this for so long, they seem so incompetent.

Sitting around listening to all this chatter has just been stressing me out. I need to get out and move, but I don't have a good way to bring the radio around cause it just bumps on my hip all the time. I think the best way to get one of those ear pieces that you always see superheroes have in the films. Just hold my hand to my ear all secretive and hear something no one around me knows. That would be so cool! Especially if I get my man in the chair, then I'll really be a superhero!!

Day 4 - Wireless earpiece

Thankfully Wednesdays are a pretty chill day for me in terms of classes so I was able to wander around most of the city to find some components to add a wireless headset to the radio. I'm not quite sure how it works/what everything is but I'm just following an online tutorial (the internet really is amazing). Regardless it works great so I'm excited to try it out tomorrow! Unfortunately walking around town took most of my time today and I can't mess up my sleep schedule again so soon (I'm trying here, but it's really hard).

Day 5 - Visual Surveillance

I have my tools and my radio monitoring, now I just need to have a visual system set up. Well more of a visual system. I have the camera in my goggles, but I would like it to record what I see so I can turn the evidence of her wrong doing over to the police when I catch her. Once again I spent the whole day running around for electronic parts but I now have a little box attached to the side of my goggles to record my nightly activities. The Eye has no chance now!

Day 6 - System Boot (isn't that what it is called when you run a program or something?)

Finally classes were over for the week so I could go out and test my new setup. I started everything up, the radio turned on, my recording light flashed in the corner of the goggle screen, and my bo staff extended and retracted with ease. The hunt was on!

The radios were surprisingly silent for a Friday night, just police saying a bunch of numbers in relation to locations. Like seriously what is with the numbers? Can't they just use English, the number system for classes is confusing enough. I was running along the rooftops in the area where the radio people speculated was the base of operations for the Eye. Sure enough I saw plenty of red eyes painted everywhere with some rooms disturbed, some scenes with items broken and some where I had no idea what had happened. Unfortunately there was no sign of the Eye herself. I did however find a guy trying to break into a jewelry store.

I brought out my bo staff, spun it impressively a few times and whacked him on the head. And can you believe it? The bow staff just flew apart, like everywhere! Thankfully I had enough force to knock him out in the first hit but my staff was totally destroyed, the sections were just scattered all over the road. Guess I'm glad that I tested this before encountering the Eye but come on, I expected more of a 4.5 star rated item. Maybe this one was just a defect. Unfortunately it means I have to turn in for the night.

Day 7 - System pause

Homework time. I hate it. Classes are so annoying when you're trying to save the city from an evil dark force.

#fiction #oc #writeblr #writing #vigilante series

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stray-tori · 3 years

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Emma’s character arc in the anime (or what I think it is, anyway) (anime-only)

Her "nothing has happened in a year and it's my fault" vent is -- a) kind of meta (they literally have only been passengers in their s2-story so far*. rescued by mujika/sonju, directed by Minerva, chased out by the farm force & now on the run. right now, they have so small agency in the story and not only is the narrative acknowledging it, Emma's development herself seems to be a result of it)

* in part that's also true for s1, they have always been carried a little. By Krone, for giving them the pen, and by Norman for generally being the connecting piece until he was gone and even then he outlined most elements of the plan for Emma.

-- b) interesting because right now it makes her the opposite of Norman who despite not being in the season for almost half of its run time, arguably made more goal-related progression (i.e. stealing children from farms - assuming it was them -, while Emma couldn't even go back for the Phil and others; probably having a base to bring the children they steal (i doubt the group that was with him are ALL of them), while Emma's base, the bunker, had to be abandoned). He’s the plot-driving character even when he's not there and now that he is, I'm assuming there will be more of a lead / idea of where to go from there.

It feels like a foil setup but I'm not entirely sure for what.

so, clearly this season's theme is not burdening everything by yourself - proof:

Ray spelled it out in ep1, Gilda reaffirmed it in ep2 and the opening’s visuals with her in the vidaflower field also seem to carry the whole “we’re finding hope together” angle

Emma did agree to it but then still said “I’m fine” after the vidaflower scene and is now blaming herself for everything that has been going subpar

also, the tidbit about the older kids always leaving more food for the younger ones also fits this theme, though it's not just Emma in that regard. and Lani and Thoma were the “don’t burden everything on yourself” argument in that scene.

I actually think Emma has slowly become more self-burdening, because I feel like back in s1, while she always seemed strong, it never felt like she actively hid from anyone. She did some things by herself like figuring out the room measurements, but she still felt free to bring up anything to the others and involve the children (place trust in them) later with the execution of the escape plan. Even when Norman's life was on the line, she never really intended to fully sacrifice herself like Ray had with the distraction plan or Norman did with his shipment - she never said anything like taking his place, she was still very much in the "we" mindset (at least if I remember correctly). We haven’t seen her work together like towards the end of s1 where she coordinated everyone - even when the kids were a huge part of the solution, like Chris knowing the bunker’s layout, it wasn’t because she told them to do that.

In a way, I feel like Emma's development actually made her more like Norman (who usually used to keep stuff to himself, and tried to juggle all the conflicts himself, and in the end, took the burden of making the plan work even at the expense of his """"death""""). Heck, her words after the vidaflower scene ("I'm / it's okay" (daijoubu)) is something Norman says/said a lot, it's basically his trademark pff-

So I can't help but assume these are connected, and Emma is - whether intentionally or not - trying to mirror Norman because in her mind, everything's been going wrong since he wasn't there to aid them anymore (which she's actually right about, which leads me to my next point).

The fine line between character angst and the savior trope. I hope the anime will use this whole setup with Emma’s arc instead of just being like “ah, Norman Christ has arrived, our lord and savior, how good that we don’t have to worry about anything anymore”. Because they actually, in-universe, acknowledge that "nothing has happened" and that's imo a fine line they have going on right now, which could lead to some interesting character moments.... or they completely ignore it and thank god, our lord and savior.

Because it's not a problem that they are being carried, in fact, as mentioned before they have been carried outside of s2 as well, by Norman specifically as well too. He's always been a sort of savior figure, even after his death he motivated them to go on (see ghost Normans, see Emma talking about how she promised him, see Ray on the ground wanting to continue because he promised (to Emma too but you get the point, and Norman was the one who initially saw through his plan)) - he IS in a lot of ways, a savior. So I'm not saying it's bad narratively if now he's back and the plot moves more towards the goal again. I'm saying it's questionable, if now Emma's and the narrative's acknowledgement of that lack of progression go away too. Because THEN it's actually just "everything is solved now and we're useless without you", and I think it NEEDS to develop Emma further in order for that angle to still be there (and to still be kind of questionable), but to be narrative-ly significant because it's part of Emma's arc and therefore her later actions.

In short, Emma’s low-point revolves around the stagnation and to resolve it (the lowpoint) with Norman’s return would be questionable.

SO I have hope for juicy angst but also see how this could horribly backfire.

Now, I've been trying to figure out were her arc is going, considering all of that.

"Burdening everything by yourself is bad" theme

Emma hates herself for not being able to do anything

Norman is her opposite / foil in that regard

So possible ways to go here are

a) further make Emma feel inferior to Norman, since she never got to do all those things she took upon herself and make her mental state even worse

b) it will probably lead to Emma contributing whatever she can to her family’s rescue, no matter what it takes out of her.

likely both.

The interesting thing is that while narratively this sets up a sort of opposite-dynamic between Emma and Norman, they do both share the self-burdening-thing now (I doubt that changed about Norman, but maybe it did); so I feel like this can only end in a "who's more self-sacrificial and bottling up" contest.

Taking the theme into account, I feel like it’s going for one of the following things, maybe multiple:

a) they all work together in the end to reach their future (probably Ray has to bonk them both and be like "shut up, we're doing this together" because I feel like he's the only one who actually got out of his self-damning hole somewhat)

b) the kids come barging in with the/a solution while Norman and Emma are busy trying to be self-sacrificial (Lani and Thoma HAVE been observing and trying to balance the self-sacrificial out throughout the season, mostly by humor, so I feel like that could work even if I don't know how it could be DONE so hmmm)

c) if someone has to do a sacrifice like Norman in s1, it won’t be done through trickery of the others, or won't work / will be stopped / backfire

Because I don’t think what will happen is that someone actually gets to sacrifice themselves without massive consequences from the other characters because that’d contradict both the overall season's theme and if it was forced upon the others, it would just mirror s1 and show no narrative growth.

It's a fickle situation because I feel like the natural evolution of this arc would be to have Emma be, the "hero" or a leader-position or something of the sort. But the self-sacrificial theme forbids her from doing it on her own or by massively hurting herself in the process so.... ahhh idk how they'll handle that!

because I like the "together" message it seems to be aiming for but at the same time, having a character struggle with not being able to do anything by herself in the same like 6 episodes as “yay, we need to do it together!” is a little risky since while it could work, doing teamwork in a way where everyone is important, while also not validating Emma's belief is.... hard.

It could work if Norman’s arc is the opposite, to let others do more for him and let Emma take over (who needs to built confidence as a leading figure); but even then Emma has to be driving force. If Norman initiates that, he’s actually saving her in every sense.

#tpn #tpn s2 #tpn anime #the promised neverland s2 #tpn anime-only #tpn emma #tpn theory #tori has opinions #tori talks #long post

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natsspammityspamspamham · 4 years

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Dino Watches Anime (Nov 15)

BOI, I HAVE A MIDTERM ON TUESDAY AND TEST ON WEDNESDAY. SCREW THAT. I’M GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE ANIME I’VE BEEN WATCHING IN BETWEEN STUDY SESSIONS! Yeah, the studying is like 2% while the anime and games are like 98%... I’m working on that, okay? Anyway, I’m going to cover mostly seasonal stuff with some other stuff.

Let’s go over the seasonal stuff first. Summer had so few anime coming out whereas Autumn/Fall came in like, “OPEN THE FLOODGATES! LET’S GO!!!” I haven’t even gotten around to all the anime airing this season that I want to like Yuukoku no Moriarty, Majo no Tabitabi, and Adachi to Shimamura. I missed some last season too like Deca-Dance which I just didn’t want to commit to if it was only for the good animation.

Taisou Samurai (DROPPED)

I dropped it after two episodes. MAPPA has two major series this season, but they clearly gave more time and attention to the one that was actually going to make money here (which I’ll talk about later). This one seems like a passion project without the passion in it anymore. It’s like opening a bag of chips and finding out they went stale long before you even reached into the bag.

Taisou Samurai, at its core, has a premise that I found really promising. I happen to like watching gymnastics sometimes, and the idea of an athlete who doesn’t want to retire is interesting. They went wrong with the execution. I don’t know what they were trying to pull here, but with unlikeable characters and a terrible run at it, it’s like they weren’t playing with a full deck of cards here.

Also, if you don’t know what a gyaru is, one of the supporting characters will look like a racist caricature. Also, this bird has no other point than to try to make up for this show’s lack of usable humour by using Kappei Yamaguchi’s range and going, “Please, save this show. I beg you.”

I didn’t even bother giving this show three episodes to drag me in because I just couldn’t see myself wasting another 20 minutes here. Maybe I’ll have a change of heart, but for now, I should be having better things to do.

Munou na Nana (WOULDN’T RECOMMEND)

I know everyone has made this joke already, but this is really just My Hero Academia x Among Us. I feel like if there was some more... budget put into this anime, they could’ve made it a lot better. The manga had a lot more detail, so a lot of the gruesome scenes with zombies or killings, etc. were muted and toned down beyond belief. Not to mention, I guess watching it after I read the manga just made me feel stupid. This is such a junkie show that pulls tricks that everyone knows is coming. Nonetheless, I can’t find some big reason to say “do not watch this” because it’s still a very mediocre show. It has its good points, but its presentation devalues it, the voice acting is meh (especially since Yuuichi Nakamura is playing THREE overpowered main cast characters this season), and the jig is up after the first episode, so the twists are just to make you sympathize more with the imposter. I haven’t seen a show like this for a while though, so I guess you can watch it if you want something refreshing like that. I don’t think you’re supposed to like this cast of characters, so I won’t say anything against not liking this cast.

Kamisama ni Natta Hi (CONDITIONALLY RECOMMEND)

Jun Maeda... the man who manages to incorporate baseball into every anime he does... seriously, every anime I’ve watched by him has it from Angel Beats to Charlotte to that unfinished Little Busters I just left on hold. Anyway, Kamisama is no exception. Jun Maeda has a reputation for building touching stories that start off strong then really lose their footing once he realizes that he’s not going to get 24 episodes and needs to squeeze all of those 16 episodes of story left into 4 episodes or so. It also doesn’t help that sometimes he goes off on useless storylines that pay no use to the story.

Hina is really funny sometimes (but can be annoying). Narukami is funny. Really, everyone has some valid point about them that makes the show better compared to the previous entries.

Seriously, some little kid comes up to you and goes, “The world is ending, I am God, and I’m going to stick by you.” Meanwhile, you’re just a simp that’s trying to get your childhood friend to fall for you.

Honestly, I’m still having a blast watching this. As much as Maeda’s writing can really suffer from tonal shifts (mostly in the end), I still wanted to watch this anime simply because I always like his storytelling in the beginning, and the laughs it brings can sometimes still muddle out the bitter taste that’s left in your mouth when the series finishes. I can already feel this train going down a slide and off a cliff. I already paid for my ticket though, so I’m obligated to stay on this shootshow until the end.

Seriously, I do not like where some of these relationships are heading.

Maoujou de Oyasumi (CONDITIONALLY RECOMMEND)

This anime is relatable. It can get stale fast for a lot of people, but every time I think I’m going to get sick of it, it pulls one of the same gags that makes me go, “This. This is why I’m sticking with this.” I’m not sure how much more there is to say. It’s just an abducted princess who couldn’t care less that she’s a hostage and instead, takes this newfound time to take some good ZZZs. What a life.

Oh yeah, this princess is also willing to commit murder, mutilation, theft, and assault to get the sleep she wants.

Tonikaku Kawaii (CONDITIONALLY RECOMMEND)

I’m not dropping this show... even if it makes no sense. The premise is astoundingly stupid, but it pulled a Zombieland Saga on me. It sounded so stupid, but once I gave it one episode, I found myself being entertained and almost rooting for the characters and their relationships.

Imagine this: You are about to get into the high school of your dreams when you see the girl of your dreams cross your path. You want to ask her out so you jump over the barricade and get hit by a truck. You’re on the brink of death when you realize you can’t die there without confessing your love. You chase her down with blood coming out of your head and confess. She says that she’ll only go out with you if you marry her. You then... somehow survive, drop out of school, then get a job to search for her. I kid you not. This is the setup. It’s as stupid as it sounds, and the anime knows this. It doesn’t try to fool you into thinking that this series is supposed to be anything but some highway fast-track way to convince you into watching a married couple. I think what irked me the most is that the character designs didn’t change from when they were in middle school to when they were adults. It wasn’t the being hit by a truck and not being sent to another world, it wasn’t this girl who stopped the truck without ruining her hair, it wasn’t anything else but their character designs staying the same.

Anyway, this anime is cute as long as you can jump some hurdles. It’s basically puppy-love marriage with anime stupidity through and through. I don’t know what about this series people, including myself, find charming.

Jujutsu Kaisen (RECOMMENDED - BUT DON’T COMPARE TO DEMON SLAYER TOO MUCH!)

It’s Shonen Jump. “Will it be the next Kimetsu no Yaiba? The next big Shonen Jump series? One of the next big three? Five?” No, I don’t think so. I’m not enjoying this nearly as much as I did binging KNY. The cast isn’t nearly as likeable, but I’m still having a good time. It’s not all that fair to make that comparison anyway. The cast for Jujutsu Kaisen is passable. I like some of the main cast, but I feel like they lack the same kind of depth with its main heroine. I know she gets more stuff done in the future chapters, but her backstory so far is, “I had a friend once... No, she’s not dead. She just left our small town.”

The fight scenes are actually so much fun to watch. MAPPA gave this series a lot more time and budget than say that first anime I mentioned. It’s fluid, the camerawork is amazing, the choreography is on-point.

The voice acting for this anime is spectacular among the main cast... when character dialogue allows it.

I feel a bit of imbalance, but Yuuji does offer a good protagonist template. Junya Enoki makes his lines so funny and gives this nonchalant approach that is the polar opposite of his performance in Tonikawa. This is definitely his season.

Junichi Suwabe voicing the main demon thing is amazing too. It fits so well, and he sounds so cool and evil. It’s great.

Gojou is also one badass mentor played by Yuuichi Nakamura. Overpowered, part of the main cast, etc. Insert your reverse Kakashi joke here. Just give him more Sharingan genjutsu, I dare you.

Yuuma Uchida is back playing another tragic character that’s serious and uptight. I can’t say much more about him.

The opening and ending are both worth listening to even if you don’t want to watch the anime. Lost in Paradise by ALI has been on repeat for me.

Besides that, I’m going to go over some other anime that I’ve been watching.

Hunter x Hunter (AS IF THIS HASN’T BEEN RECOMMENDED ENOUGH)

Slowly. Slowly but surely. 11/148.

I know this is going to be amazing... I just want to be in the right mood to full savour it. I don’t want to be consumed by stress and not pay attention. The reason why I like a lot of those seasonal anime is because I don’t pay the same kind of attention.

If you told me these characters’ ages, I probably would’ve believed everyone... except Leorio. The guy looks like a middle-aged money-hungry gangster.

What I would give to have the energy and serotonin of a Shonen Jump protagonist.

Haikyuu (YEAH, IT’S GOOD)

I’m watching this one with my mom and sister as they go “OMG OMG OMG” as we watch while I’m sitting there like -_-

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good show, but sports anime are made like shounen battle anime (because they are in a way) with different stakes. I’ve felt more “nervous” about some of the Haikyuu matches than I did with some of the Hunter Exam. Worst case scenario in Haikyuu, you lose the match. Worst case scenario in Hunter x Hunter? You die.

I knew what I was going to get into when I was watching Haikyuu, and it’s given me what I remembered (since I did watch 10 episodes of it a few years ago) and expected.

SKET Dance (HIGHLY RECOMMEND)

Unfollow me. Unfollow me right now. This is what I’m going to be talking about for the next month. I can feel it. I’ve had this show for like 3 days and watched around 33 episodes along with some of these other titles. I have a problem. I know that, but I don’t feel like fixing it. This show is just too good.

I get why people call this a poor man’s Gintama, but it’s not quite that. I can get the similarities, but it’s like eating an empanada and saying that it’s just like that dumpling you tasted last week. It looks alike on the surface... if you’re not that great at... telling the difference between things... but once you get to the meat of it (PUN HAHA), you realize that they are completely different, and you were a fool for thinking otherwise.

That’s our main heroine! Go go go!

Dude, episode 25 hit me out of nowhere, AND I READ THE SPOILERS! I won’t say any more than that.

The cast is one of the best that I’ve seen in a while. Their chemistry is basically the entire show. Without one of the main three, you wouldn’t have the show anymore. It handles its female characters better than some of its fellow competitors at the time, and it may have what some may call a “token fat character”, but the character never makes fun of her for being fat. They make fun of her for saying “Yabasu” every single sentence. It hurts that the manga ended with some loose ends, and this anime isn’t getting a season 2.

But at its weird and mushy core, this show is about three people with heavy and complex pasts who simply want to help people work out their issues in their own... unique ways.

I don’t want to say much else, but I wish more people would watch/read it and create/post most content for it even if it’s a bit old because it deserves it. I’m almost a decade late, and this anime still holds up.

I gave Mairimashita Iruma-kun its own post.

#dino watches anime #seasonal anime #sket dance #haikyuu #hxh #hunter x hunter #tonikaku kawaii #tonikawa #kamisama ni natta hi #Jujutsu Kaisen

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tirorah · 3 years

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Road to Berlin’s Episode 12 Is a Spectacular Finish to a Spectacular Show

It was damn good!

After the slightly tame setup Episode 11 provided, it fell to Episode 12 to deliver the payoff not just to the finale that Episode 10 started, but also to wrap up the overarching story of the entire season. And oh boy, did it do just that!

First, let’s talk about our favorite looming antagonists with barely any world-building, the Neuroi! Well, they once again upped the creepy factor by replicating World Capital Germania. How they managed to do this is still unclear, as the city never left the planning stage; it truly does seem like the Neuroi don’t just consume for sustenance or whatever, but also that they can replicate whatever they find in the territory they conquer. Of course, none of this matters much to the story at hand, but it does give us a tiny bit of world-building on them, and it would also explain some of the more bizarre Neuroi designs. Do you remember the Cube Neuroi? I do.

I was also intrigued by this former emperor of Karlsland who designed the plans for Germania. Whoever they were, they were forced to step down, but this raises all kinds of questions. When did this happen? How long has Emperor Frederick IV been in power? What does the mere existence of these plans imply about Karlsland’s history?

By the by, the building that was never in the plans seems to resemble the Great Hall, which was, in fact, shelved due to the start of WW2. Strike Witches occasionally gets some stuff hilariously wrong, but much of the research definitely seems on the money.

See, as far as I know, Nazism doesn’t exist in Karlsland. (Actually, that’d be pretty awkward for Karlsland, with the 501st’s logo being the way it is...) Judea was wiped out by Neuroi in the year 29; this, and several other differences in the world’s history, produced a different world than the one we know. (See the Strike Witches Historical Timeline for more information.) Culturally, Karlsland is far more akin to Imperial Germany, but transplanted into the 1940s and borrowing some iconography and designs.

There WAS tension in Europe before the Neuroi showed up and forced everyone to unite against a common enemy; would that have been enough incentive to create these plans, as well as structures like the Flak Tower? I hope we’ll find out someday. Either way, the fact the Neuroi created such an intricate city-shaped structure based on nothing but plans on paper is pretty terrifying. What else did the overrun countries have lying around when they were invaded?

Right, well, enough about the ancillary stuff. Let’s talk characters!

And cutting right to the chase: Shizuka definitively earned her spot on the team this episode. Yes, I know she technically earned it in the Movie at the earliest, and I guess Episode 10 at the latest. But Episode 10 still left me a bit wanting, as it was part of the process of building up to Shizuka’s turning point as a character. But now we reached that moment at long last, and it was everything I’d hoped to see.

First, RtB shows us how far she’s come. Her determination is nothing short of epic; she’s grown so much since her first engagement in the Movie, and nowhere is that more obvious than here. She lands a difficult shot on the bomb while flying a Striker her magic can’t handle, to the point where it’s physically hurting her to breathe. And then, she sees Yoshika trapped down below, and she finally passes the point of no return.

For the entire season, Shizuka’s been utterly obedient when it came to orders. As soon as someone dropped that o-word, she’d stop whatever action she was entertaining and went along with what she was told, even if it didn’t sit entirely well with her at times. She still does that at first, actually. But then, she finally sees something she can’t walk away from, and she decides to risk her own life to protect the girl who always throws herself into danger for others.

She saves Yoshika’s life, and even though she’s definitely not sounding well, she then takes up the fight in her friend’s defense without a single ounce of hesitation. Her switch from defense to offense is almost explosive; no talking, no checking on Yoshika, just straight-up switching on a dime. And her valiant stand is successful!

Until this happens, and once again I have to commend everyone involved in RtB on the gravity of this scene. Shizuka’s injury is devastating. The cinematography is chilling and incredibly well done: the way the beam punches through the profile shot of her body; how the beam takes all the colors with it as it leaves the screen, monochrome swiftly washing over the scene in its wake, Shizuka already pale; the trails of blood; the dilated eyes. They don’t show her crash, but it sounds awful. And then there’s the blood, positively pouring out of the hole in her body, spilling out until it even reaches Yoshika’s knees, a symbol for Yoshika failing to save her.

As the scene dragged on and Yoshika became increasingly frantic, fear slowly trickled into me again. Strike Witches doesn’t kill characters, but Shizuka was dying for sure. I was still holding on to the hope that everything would turn out okay, but there didn’t seem to be any way out, and that was a gut-punch and a half. It was seriously upsetting, and in a good way: that moment when you realize you do, in fact, care about a character whose presence you’ve questioned for the entire season.

I’d never been so happy to see a Deus Ex Yoshika hit the screen.

Now, I'm not the biggest fan of Yoshika. I do like her as a concept: the pacifist medic thrown into war. But I still feel like Yoshika’s character leans too much on her desire to protect people. It worked well at first, especially when her new companions needed someone to give them hope, but while quite a few characters showed growth as time went on, Yoshika’s always remained relatively static. And RtB’s excellent character writing has only emphasized this for me.

That’s not to say she hasn’t grown into a badass though, because she has! This episode had her at her craziest yet, leveraging the power of her grief to jump-start her magic back to normal levels. And with the fine magic control she’s been forced to work on all season, she can finally let loose and do some incredible things!

A giant shield? Try more than one! Who needs a gun when you can use your magic as a battering ram? (Trude would be so proud!) And sure, just pump so much power into your Striker that you overtake the escaping Bell-type Neuroi holding Wolf! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Yoshika attained her final form of hax, and it was glorious.

Still, it was clear that battle, short as it was, took a toll on her. This means she’s not exactly all-powerful; it just so happens that she has some very powerful genes, and the right motivation to use them.

Anyway, it was to be expected that Yoshika and Shizuka would hog the spotlight for a bit in this final episode, and that’s all good. The others mostly filled their usual roles, but we did get some great character moments from them!

Let’s start with something adorable: Minna using Sanya as a portable telephone, and Sanya being entirely stoic about it. I was laughing so much, and even more so when Eila saw it happen!

“GYAAH!”

I also liked it when Eila and Sanya were so surprised at seeing so many Neuroi swarms that Sanya said this absolutely needless thing:

You know the shit’s hit the fan when Sanya, of all people, does this.

Oh, and let’s not forget: it was Eila and Sanya who finished off the dome! I’m not sure why everyone else decided to just fly off, but these two have their backs.

Shirley and Lucchini were a solid team. I liked how each of their personalities shone through in their mannerisms and dialogue, with Shirley being calm, perceptive and responsible, as well as looking out for Lucchini. She also made a good guess at Wolf’s hiding place.

Lucchini, meanwhile, was her adorable hyper self, chafing at the narrow tunnels which prevented her from bouncing around, and later, gleefully taking out one Neuroi tower, only to realize she was shooting at the wrong thing, and being utterly unconcerned as she switched targets. Nyroom! She’s such a playful kid.

I also really liked it when Wolf was running away, and Lucchini immediately looked to Shirley to chase it, but Shirley realized she couldn’t catch it from that distance. She’s come to understand her limits over the course of the series, which pairs well with her increased sense of responsibility in RtB.

Lynne and Perrine were once again the support squad, looking out for Shizuka and later on being quite attuned to anything regarding Yoshika. Unfortunately, they didn’t do much else of note, but that’s been a bit of a pattern for them since Episode 8. Either way, I’ll save my thoughts on that for the full season review. (Yes, I’m going to rant about the season in its entirety next. No one is surprised.)

Erica mostly fell into the same support role as Lynne and Perrine this episode, but she did make the highly useful observation of the anomaly in Germania: the big central building that hadn’t been in the plans. And of course, she was one of the determined Karlslander Witches who chased Wolf at the end, limits be damned.

Hey, while we’re on this pic: I’m pretty sure Mio has spent more time with Ursula than with Minna this season. How crazy is that?!

Mio was also here. I’m sad that we didn’t get a Mio Laugh, not even one at the end. I did enjoy how concerned she was about Shizuka’s well-being though; Mio is like Trude in that she’s quite married to her job (she’s even worse about that than Trude), and so her personal feelings can sometimes end up left behind. But she was still doing everything she could to help her friends, and she was genuinely terrified when she realized Shizuka was about to do something dangerous.

Before I forget, I even have to give a slight nod to Patton. He was good in this episode! Even though he loaded up his revolver, he never actually ended up using it; instead, he was a good supporting character. Even his “GODDAMU” was endearing!

Last but certainly not least, Minna and Trude were, again, excellent. I really loved how they worked together this episode: forming a united front when they told Shizuka she had to stay behind (like two parents telling their new kid to do what’s best for her, ha), and Minna using her reasoning and magic to navigate them through the tunnels while Trude smashed stuff.

Ah yes, Trude. Lovely, lovely Trude. When I wrote about Episode 11, I expressed bewilderment at her sudden suggestion of using the underground tunnels. How did she come by this information? Why did Minna not know? But Episode 12 had my back; Erica asked her about it almost immediately, and as it turned out, Trude had the most adorable reason of all time OMG:

All is forgiven, show. All is forgiven. The fact Trude learned everything about a subway system in a city Chris never even lived in, just to engage with her sister’s interests, is so downright cute and awesome that my love for her has once again increased to previously unimaginable levels. And she memorized it all so damn well that she planned out an entire route into the dome for them! This is the best thing ever!

I was also so, so happy for Minna at the end! In previous seasons, it was always Yoshika who dealt the final blow to their antagonist, but here, Yoshika only prevented Wolf from running away. It was Trude and Erica who pierced its defenses, and it was Minna who went in for the kill. Not only is this amazingly cathartic for her, it’s also something Minna 100% earned in this season. Episode 9 did so well in showing us how badly Minna wanted this, to secure victory for her girls and for herself, to the point where she disregarded her own views on self-sacrifice. And now here she was, maybe in the last sortie of her career, and she received the sweetest reward of all.

...Except the promised coffee in Berlin, which we never got! But that’s okay; this episode already did so much in its runtime, I can’t fault it for not showing us something that would take some time to happen.

Instead, we got something equally satisfying, and something I loved about the ending: it showed us everyone working hard to rebuild Berlin after the battle. RtB has been so good at details, at continuity and consequences, and here, we see that life moves on. Berlin is in ruins, and it’s going to take a lot of elbow grease to get it and the rest of northern Karlsland back into shape. But with people returning and the 501st doing everything they can to help, reconstruction will surely succeed.

And Perrine will one day conquer the world with her army of adopted children!

Life also moved on in a different way. As it turned out (or maybe I just forgot about this?), Wolf was one of two hives in Karlsland. The other one is located somewhere in the south, and thus, the 501st continues their battle for peace. I wonder if this means we’ll get more 501st content down the line? It hasn’t been ruled out, and it’d be amazing to see where these girls go next. (I demand more coffee scenes!)

#strike witches #road to berlin #funnily enough: there's one continuity error in this episode #RtB's usually so good at preventing this (except when that Neuroi tried to ram Lucchini in Episode 4)#anyway: when Trude punches through the wall into the dome's underbelly she's only carrying one gun #but no one else is carrying it for her #and pretty soon afterward she has two guns again #maybe her butt really is a pocket dimension!

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kanralovesu · 4 years

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The Narrative Devices of “Minecraft Speedrunner VS 4 Hunters” (One of the greatest Shonen anime OVAs of all time?)

With over 17 million views and counting, this video of one man attempting to beat Minecraft while 4 other players chase him has become a huge success and its not hard to see why. The video is exciting and tense to a completely new viewer while still carrying with it the 32 million fans of the previous video in the series and the 29 million fans of the video before that. While those videos are also amazing, as a newcomer when I watched the vs4 addition I couldn’t help but dive deeper than I had any right to into WHY this video was not just exciting and tense but also a master of storytelling. So today lets run down a couple of extremely common narrative devices and structures that this video uses and possibly how Minecraft as a game contributes to this.

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The High Concept

What if a bunch of teenagers were forced to fight each other by a tyrannical government? What if humans revived the dinosaurs but were unable to contain their power? What if 1 player is pitted against 4 others in a race to beat Minecraft?

High Concepts are quick, catchy premises that the story is centered around. They’re designed to get butts in seats by targeting people before the piece of media has actually begun. Once you’re watching, the High Concept needs to be played with an drawn to its natural conclusion in order to satisfy readers who were likely drawn in specifically because of that premise.

The Minecraft Hunters video does this multiple times when the person being hunted suddenly becomes the Hunter. While not inherit to the premise, this is a logical leap the audience can make that in order to be safe the hunted must get rid of the hunters.

The Hook

Its become part of the James Bond formula now to start every movie with a big, bombastic fight scene and that’s for good reason. Once someone has decided to view your media they’re still not necessarily invested yet. In an age of Netflix where you can flip to a new movie at the click of a button, a proper hook keeps the audience watching, provides a promise of things to come and leads into the first lull in action where more exposition can be given.

In the Minecraft Hunters video we get a brief bit of exposition explaining the high concept and then its off to the races. One extremely fun thing the video does is bait you into thinking they’re going to stand around and explain things more when out of no where Dream punches and runs. The following chase is a classic James Bond opening scene. It also sets up mechanics that are used multiple times in the run such as towering. Like any good action scene it ends on a twist and then immediately the pace slows and we see Dream doing his first real resource gathering. The stage is set!

The Underdog Hero

A main character is an action movie or shonen anime narrative is often a paradox: they are an unkillable, hero, one man army and yet constantly the underdog. This is because the character cannot die (or the franchise is over), but at the same time a constant tension must be maintained that losing is possible. People also naturally want to root for underdogs its important to include this aspect of your character to make them relatable. The most common ways you can pull this off is to take a heroic person and either give them an impossible task or to pit them against multiple opponents or both (think a heist movie where there are several guards defending the vault). Naturally, the High Concept of this video leads itself to doing both of these things, turning Dream into the ultimate Underdog Hero.

As a side note, the antagonists of the series, the Hunters, are character more similar to a shonen anime rival as opposed to a more western style of villain. Its all in good fun and you’re less rooting against them as you are rooting for Dream.

Chekhov's Gun

Named after the principle that if a gun is shown in a room someone is bound to grab it and use it, this refers to the general idea of setup and payoff. There are 2 major uses of Chekhov’s Gun in the video and they each have different delays between the setup and payoff.

The first is the Strider Saddle play and its perfect to illustrate the concept. First we see Dreams find his first Nether Fortress, killing a Wither Skeleton and opening a chest. We see him pick up the Saddle but we cut away and don’t belabor the point. This is because only 2 minutes later we see him use the Saddle to escape on a Strider.

The second is the Frost Walker boots. Dreams find a Nether Portal structure in the overworld and finds these in a chest at the 9 minute mark, well before the Strider play. At about the 10:30 mark we get this extremely exaggerated scene where Dream uses the Frost Walker boots in front of us and highlights the item. Then its not until 16 minutes later than he uses the boots to kill the hunters via fall damage.

So whats essentially going on here is different levels of setup based on how soon the payoff is coming. For a quick payoff we don’t need to draw attention to the setup because the audience will naturally have a short term memory of the recent events. However for the long term payoff we need to be primed to pay attention to a certain thing. When we see Dreams showing off the Frost Walker boots we internalize “this will be important later”. You’ll also notice that Minecraft’s game design helps prime you to remember these Chekhov’s Guns: both items being found in very noticeable and memorable structures not just dug up from a generic piece of dirt. (This also applies to the 3rd Chekhov’s Gun I didn’t touch on for time concerns, the TNT from the Pyramid)

You’ll also notice that the video uses a Chekhov’s Gun in arguably the most effective way, as a twist. We need only think back to early Naruto to know how effective a twist Chekhov’s Gun can be in a shonen fight. You never forget the first time you saw Shikamaru win Chuuin exam fight by using the hole Naruto created during his duel.

The Three Act Structure

I’m sure we all have heard of the 3 act structure before. While they go by many names lets go with Setup, Confrontation, Resolution for now. The key is having a cycle of tension and release while still slowly escalating tension over the course of the show. The video neatly divides into Overworld, Nether and End sections which translate very well into the 3 act structure.

Tension is slowly escalating because each new dimensions has more and more hazards. This is of course Minecraft’s game design doing the heavy lifting, however the End in the hunter’s realm is a lot more dangerous considering its a closed off arena where Dreams can’t just escape, he has to fight.

There are also cycles of tension and release. Naturally tension builds up while a chase is happening and then we get some time to relax after Dreams escapes. However, what I want to focus on is how each increasing dimension gives an opportunity for the players to find each other again. Each step in the Nether counts for 8 in the Otherworld, so even if Dreams built a far away Nether portal on the surface he would still be closer to the hunters than ever before. This stage also requires finding a Nether Fortress so the players are forced to reconvene. In the End the forced grouping is more obvious as there is only one End platform so the action is forced upon the players.

This is mainly why I say the 3 act structure lines up with the Overworld, Nether and End dimensions so neatly. Its not just me observing that there are 3 dimensions in Minecraft but that each new dimension forces a new confrontation to happen even after Dreams has successful escaped and the tension is lessened.

However, this observation does only go so far. I think the biggest flaw of the video is that End lasted too long. This makes sense when you lay the 3 act structure over top of it: you rarely want your conclusion to be drawn out. Usually the final confrontation is more elaborate than the previous ones, but not 2 times as long.

Ambiguous Ending

So you’ve dragged your audience to hell and back and they loved every second of it, how do you ensure you piece of media becomes a discussion point after that’s all done? Well one way is to have an Ambiguous Ending. We see this a lot in fiction, but most famously at the end of Inception where we are unsure whether we are still in the dream world or not. This Minecraft Hunters video sparks similar online debate by posing the question “does it count if I killed the dragon posthumously?” Personally, these types of ending are my favorites! I think it takes a lot of balls for a piece of media to ask a question of the audience at the end instead of wrapping everything up neatly but of course not every story should have one.

Conclusion

All pieces of media are telling stories regardless of whether they’re Hollywood blockbusters, indie novels or Minecraft Lets Play videos. Sometimes even in unscripted content, a story can emerge especially if a content creator is looking to tell a good story. And lets not forget the role video editing has in putting together a story. Entire narrative devices such as Chekhov's Gun owe their entire existence to the editor. The decisions of what to linger on and for how long drove the pacing of the story from beginning to end. Finally, if you want to hear more on how editing can create a story from unscripted content, I highly recommend checking out the video below. Remember, stories are everywhere!

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toooldforfandom-liveblogs · 4 years

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She-Ra and the Princesses of Power S02E05 - White Out

White Out makes me think of snow and blizzards but Google is telling me that it's also the name for the liquid used to fix mistakes when people wrote with pen on paper. Y'know, prehistory. So. It could be something related to Frosta or it could be someone trying to tape over a mistake? Or maybe both. Or none of those at all. I don't know, so let's do this!

This explains why neither of these two appeared in the previous episode. Apparently they are in... a mountain? Or one of the planet's poles?

When the... "beast" attacked the Best Friends Squad back in the first episode of the first season, I really thought they'd be more prevalent that they'd been. I think the horse has done more damage through the show than the local wildlife.

It makes sense that they'd mostly ignore that threat considering the focus of the show has been firmly in the confrontation between The Horde and The Rebellion, but now that Catra and Entrapta seem to be alone in the snow... what a perfect opportunity for a winter horror episode plot.

Hey, I think I already watched this episode! They are going to find an iceberg with a glowing kid inside.

Well, that's a coat.

They burned down and sank to the bottom of the ocean, Bow. Haven't you learned anything about Seahawk?

Yeah, have to agree, Fire would have been a better fate.

The only man in the entire alliance with a boat.

It's always surprising when a cartoon character shows up with different clothes because it's so uncommon.

oh no my continuity theories

I'll forgive the wonky eyes this time because they are very appropriate.

SCORPIA IS ASKING CATRA OUT IN A DATE.

To think all that effort and cute bumbling is being wasted on Catra.

oooh, evil virus shard is back

I'm not sure why that's a surprise.

I was hoping she wouldn't mention that tiny tidbit of info but nope. And I doubt Catra is going to have any doubts about using it

But She-Ra didn't lose her powers, she lost them because they had to take out the sword from her hands before she continued her rampage. Is the monster of this winter horror movie actually going to be She-Ra? Because I want to watch that. Good characters turned evil are always fun.

Also Scorpia being the protagonist of her own romcom is also very good.

Every time Sea Hawks appears I fear it'll be the episode where he starts getting annoying but nope, still great.

Now I'm thinking that Catra is going to disable She-Ra with the murder-virus and immediately after they'll all get attacked by a snow monster. Because, y'know, Catra can't win.

...I can't take them seriously when most of them look like marshmallows.

Adora's biggest character development moment in this show will be when she realizes that chasing Catra is always a bad idea.

There goes my theory from last episode that Scorpia didn't want to kill Glimmer. Dead, like Glimmer.

She's already falling to her death, there's no reason to stress over some creepy monster eyes.

sending thoughts and prayers

First meeting in person! I expected more from everyone else but I guess they are busy.

You know the writers have done a good job with a character when you hear something like that and you go "yup, that's entrapta"

Welp, now she'll have the guts to murder Catra. Unless she drops the sword.

As awesome as I hoped.

Catra right now.

I was thinking that this episode seemed to be moving a bit fast since they were already fighting a third into the episode but the teams separating could be interesting. I wish one of the "bad guys" was falling with them though, that dynamic is always fun.

She says, seconds before Mad She-Ra turns and notices them there.

And Entrapta is loving it, of course.

This could have some interesting consequences, if it shows Catra that she can only win against She-Ra because Adora can't avoid going easy on her. Catra knows this deep down, she even takes advantage of it but that doesn't mean that it wouldn't hurt her pride to actually lose.

"puny cat"

On one hand I'm loving this. On the other, I'm worried because the biggest reason why Adora feels so overwhelmed is because according to Light Hope, Mara went crazy and did a bunch of bad stuff. What if Adora starts feeling guilty about what's happening here? But, the virus could also provide an alternate explanation for Mara's rampage (if she indeed went crazy instead of just acting against Light Hope's orders because of attachment~)

what... what did you think she was?

Catra, excelling at shoving down traumatic experiences and hiding them with a devil-may-care attitude since... I dunno, how old is she again?

that's not good

Noo, don't destroy the murder-virus.

I'm glad they are actually talking about this possibility because it was the first thing that came to my mind after the episode the virus appeared. It's such a Catra plan.

Of course, the fact that they are talking about it probably means it won't happen, unless they are setting up the season finale early?

Is Scorpia going to get jealous and set Adora free?

I was starting to get a bit eye-rolly at Sea Hawk's weird issues but the shanty brought him back to awesome. Really walking the knife's edge with him.

I love angry hulking out She-Ra but Drunk Adora is the best side effect of that virus.

oh my god

You can see Scorpia's soul leaving her body.

Adora, the dignified and elegant owner of the sword of protection.

She did need a break

I don't know, Scorpia doesn't seem to be in the closet about anything.

Oh no, she's turning into the worst type of drunk: the weepy drunk

The monsters have been in the background of every fight scene, that's the opposite of a twist!

An example of how well this show nails the characters's expressions.

And one more. I complain sometimes about the animation and the wonky eyes but these jokes show how the animators can do a lot with very little.

Sadly, childhood friends always win, the one trope to beat them all.

I didn't sign up for Scorpia feels.

I didn't see this coming at all. Of course the two joke characters would empathize with each other.

WHY WOULD YOU TELL THAT TO ENTRAPTA? You're just giving her more ideas.

Light Hope did mention how everything in Etheria was part of their system. Does that include the fauna?

This is weirdly heartwarming.

getting real

That was way cuter than I expected. Nothing like getting some validation from a drunk lady to reboot their self-esteem.

They are getting slightly better about this but they still like some drastic mood swings between scenes.

Adora should always be drunk.

Can't wait for the fourth season episode where Adora struggles with her addiction to the virus, the one thing that lets her forget about her worries in a world consumed by war.

And now it's back to heavy. Does she save Catra, risking her anger? Or keep the disk? I think she's is going to destroy the disk, it's the right thing to do for Catra even if she can't see it right now, and that's the type of character Scorpia seems to be.

Wow, I didn't expect this. Catra is seeing Scorpia for the first time.

Right there with you, Sea Hawk.

Look at Scorpia's face! Look at her! She's so happy!

I'm not sure if it's because I haven't watched She-Ra in so long but this is the first episode I remember feeling long. Not in a bad way, it's not like I couldn't wait for it to end, but it's the first time that made me think "huh, only X minutes in." Part of it is probably because the first third/half felt like it could have been an early season 1 episode, with a setup, some chatting and a fight. Then the turn happened and it switched to something more complex.

The conversation between Sea Hawk and Scorpia was cute and wholesome, and I'm glad they both found someone who could understand them, but I'm not 100% happy with Scorpia's resolution to she won't leave Catra. It was very... I'm not sure how to explain it without making it sound way more problematic than I actually think it is. It shifts the responsibility about Catra treating her like crap to Scorpia.

It did work out by the end when she actually stood up to Catra and did what she thought was best, so maybe I'm worrying about nothing.

I'm somewhat sad by the death of the virus as a plot device, I liked the idea of the plan Catra had for a Mad She-Ra rampaging through the rebellion but at least we got a brief glimpse of what could happen. Curiously enough we didn't get to see the fallout for Adora so I hope it doesn't get glossed over the next episode. Losing control like that was a big deal last season and it should still be considering all the new baggage Adora is dealing now.

It was a great episode, it went places I didn't expect it to go and the show keeps building up the characters in interesting ways. Only two episodes left! Until next time!

#shera liveblog #shera #shera s02e05 #spop

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itsclydebitches · 4 years

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I know you say that the Adam stuff in v3 was a good example of visual storytelling in rwby, do you think there is anything else, in your opinion

Yes! Let’s praise poor RWBY for once lol

I’m sure there’s a lot that I could choose from but that would require me combing back through old content to jog those memories. So let’s stick to Volume 7. Overall, I quite enjoyed the JNOR vs. Neo fight. There are plot convenience issues (the stupidity of having the group carry the relic around instead of putting it in the vault) and choreography issues (I’ve heard a number of complaints about the slow-mo and how Jaune and Oscar don’t integrate well with Ren and Nora), but the fight does a good job of conveying a lot of information visually. It’s one of the few moments in the volume where I felt like RT was successfully a) using the medium to its advantage and b) achieving more than one thing in a single scene.

Warning: Here be lots of screenshots.

First, I want to acknowledge that lately RT has been demonstrating a talent for horror-esque writing. RWBY obviously isn’t in the horror genre, but via the Apathy we saw that RT can crank up the creep factor when they choose to. This scene does something similar (though admittedly much more subtly) and it starts with the opening shot of the destroyed guards.

It’s a simple thing, but note how dark the room is, especially compared to the hallway outside. This is supposed to be a terrifying moment. The team has just arrived looking for Oscar and have instead found a disaster zone. There are scorch marks on the walls. The guards aren’t just lying powered down, they’ve been hacked to pieces. Though AIs without aura or souls, they’re designed to look like people and at first glance it definitely seems like we’ve got three bodies decorating the bedroom. Nora’s panicked cries tell us how bad the situation is, but we get that loud and clear from these visuals first. Also note how, despite being lighter, the hallway is dominated by a very deep red. I’d actually say to a certain extent this is a mistake - the pink/reds of the environment make it easy for Neo and Nora, with their predominantly pink costumes, to blend in too well during the fight - but in regards to color associations we get some nice shots throughout that convey danger and high emotions.

When “Oscar” comes on the scene we know, instantaneously, that it’s not Oscar. Not just because we as the audience know that Neo is off doing something nefarious, but because via the language of film/television that’s not how you re-introduce an established character. You don’t hide their face like that unless you’re about to reveal something - like the fact that that’s not really them. This is also the first of a number of medium closeups on the relic, putting emphasis on it first because someone currently holds it who should not have it, and then as a means of reminding the viewer what this fight is about.

Via some great attention to detail, we see again the clear wrongness about this “Oscar.” That’s not how Oscar stands. That’s not how Oscar smiles. More than just animating him differently, this shot pulls from those subtle horror tropes. He has the dead-eyed look of a doll or a supernatural being that immediately makes the viewer (if not Nora) go, “Wait...” It helps that Oscar is a short boy with dark hair. Put him in different clothes and he could play any number of possessed kids.

With Neo’s deception revealed, we get what the fandom knows is not good visual storytelling. AKA, Oscar charging down the whole length of the hallway while Neo just stands there and lets herself get hit. I don’t need to re-hash how stupid that was. What I like a lot more is the subtleties in how she communicates given that, obviously, Neo can’t rely on any dialogue. Coming out of the hit she immediately has her umbrella leveled at the group and pulls out the blade to communicate, “Yes. I’m taking you on.” The neat choice though is that she brings the umbrella down to do it. She takes her weapon off the group, if only for a moment. Jaune has just gotten done insisting that she should give up because it’s four to one. The blade says, “I’m taking you on” but lowering her umbrella likewise says, “I’m so confident about taking you on I’ll even make myself vulnerable for a second.”

Which retroactively makes her getting hit like that even stupider but it’s fine we’re moving on.

During this time we also get a lot of insight into Oscar. Check out how utterly bedraggled he is, showing us how tough the initial fight with Neo was and how lucky he is to have escaped. He clutches the relic close to his chest and stares, scared, at the rest of the team. Oscar hasn’t reached a point yet where he instinctively draws his weapon and prepares to defend himself (indeed, he didn’t even have his weapon out during that initial encounter. That’s one hell of a rookie mistake). He’s still a terrified kid who hopes he won’t have to fight at all, literally hiding behind more powerful friends. This is all great characterization, the only problem is consistency. Nothing about Oscar has been consistent. One moment he’s holding his own against Lionheart and insisting he fight Hazel. The next he’s getting his ass kicked by Neo and cowering at the prospect of more. One moment he’s positively done in by these fights, horrified, scared, unsure of himself. The next he’s confronting the general of a kingdom with all the wisdom of Ozpin. This guy:

and this guy:

Exist about fifteen minutes apart. Because though RWBY is great at visual storytelling within each scene, they don’t keep it consistent from one scene to the next. Which is why Oscar is (accurately, imo) animated as an inexperienced kid in Scene #1 and then inexplicably becomes a wise old mentor in Scene #2. Not because anything occurred between Scene #1 and Scene #2 to create that change (let alone such an extreme change), but only because the show suddenly wanted Ironwood to look like an unhinged character. How do you achieve that? Not by having the guy he’s talking to act as winded, wild, and emotional as him, but by having Oscar speak calmly, rationally, softly, sounding oh-so-persuasive so you don’t listen to the actual words he says and how nonsensical they are (you’re as bad as Salem). Instead, you pay attention only to the visuals (Ironwood looks crazier than Oscar so he must be wrong). Ironwood is a great example of how RT sometimes tries to get visual storytelling to outweigh basic logic/what’s been said on screen.

Anyway, I’m getting off track. The fight begins and I do still love how Oscar is depicted here, even if it doesn’t align with what we get later. The moment that umbrella and cane cross was great because who doesn’t love visual symmetry? Oscar grabbing Neo is wonderfully in character because he’s barely trained! He’s a kid! He’s flying by the seat of his pants and going with whatever vaguely successful act pops into his head. The absurdity of, “I’m just going to grab her” is tempered by Oscar’s furiously determined expression as well as Neo’s brief look of shock. It works up until they realize what Oscar grabbed was just a copy.

I mentioned early that JNOR often doesn’t work well as a team, unless it’s specifically in the context of Jaune giving orders and the others executing them. Oscar and his lack of integration is obviously exempt from this, being the newbie both to fighting and this particular team’s dynamics, but Ren, Nora, and Jaune have no excuse. The first half of this fight is a good example of what I mean. We see Nora attack. She’s tossed aside. Then Ren attacks. He’s slammed into the wall. Oscar attacks (umbrella vs. cane) and it’s only at the last second that Jaune arrives with his shield to stave off a blow that would fell him too. Why is everyone taking turns here? They know none of them can beat Neo one-on-one and Jaune just said that their victory lies in it being four-to-one. So why separate out all the attacks? Arguably we can read this as a major flaw of JNOR’s and visual setup for something they’ll have to overcome later. In reality though I highly doubt this was deliberate on RT’s part, leaving this as bad visual storytelling (in that it makes the characters look stupid) as opposed to good visual storytelling (JNOR will realize this flaw and work to correct it).

After Neo disappears we get a chase through the hallway that does a great job of showing us precisely how weaker Oscar is compared to his teammates. He doesn’t have their stamina, breathing heavily and falling further and further behind. At one point (screenshot #2) he arrives just in time to find the team turning back in the direction he’s just come, showing not only how he can’t physically keep up, but also his place in this team/the group. He’s literally not with them. Anyone who has followed my blog knows my thoughts on how the group has treated Oscar and if (again) I were inclined to think that RT was aware of that treatment and working to integrate it into the show with the intent to resolve it, this would be another great detail. As it is, I think Oscar as a character is just continually going to get the short end of the stick. In particular, the crane shot shows us exactly how far behind Oscar is. The others charge ahead without him, not caring where he is or if he can keep up. Which leads to this.

Oscar rounds another corner and they’re gone. Nowhere to be seen. If anyone had the thought, “He’s not that far behind. It’s not as bad as you’re making it out to be,” Ren, Nora, and Jaune were clearly moving fast enough to round another corner and leave Oscar stranded. Here those subtle horror elements come back into play, particularly the maze-like design of the corridors. The only unique marker we get is the info board, otherwise it’s all identical hallways, housing a killer, with Oscar now left alone in it. The long shot makes him look small and emphasizes his isolation.

Then he’s attacked and it’s suitably scary. The hand over his mouth. The dark room again. We only get the briefest glimpse of Neo-as-Nora before she attacks, but that one second is another excellent moment of animation. Nora has never sauntered away like that. Even the quickest look in an action-driven scene is enough for the viewer to go, “Nope. Not Nora.”

The attack itself is the one moment where I think the slow-mo serves a good purpose. We might know (via that quick shot, how characters act (Nora is unlikely to pull Oscar aside like that) and expectations for how a story functions) that that’s not Nora, but Oscar doesn’t know that. The slow-mo gives us - and him - the chance to focus on Neo’s eyes changing, that stomach-dropping moment of realization, and we see Oscar’s horrified shock in the close up on his own eyes. Though RWBY doesn’t always grapple with the emotional implications of every encounter, I think it’s worth noting that this can really mess someone up. Oscar thought he was safe with an ally and had the rug pulled out from under him. He will now forever have the image of Nora attacking him, regardless of the fact that it was really “Nora.” Jaune likewise exclaims in horrified surprise when “Nora” charges him down the hallway. The ability to turn into someone else is an advantage that Neo knows how to use to its fullest. Not just in regards to spying, but how to unsettle your opponent too.

Waiting for the day she turns into Pyrrha ngl.

We see that same work when she encounters Ren. Admittedly, I’m torn on this one. If only because I agree with others when they ask, “Doesn’t Ren spar with Nora all the time? He should be able to hit her.” The context of “Barely trained kid thought he was with a friend and then watches said ‘friend’ attack him” is not the same thing as, “Much more experienced fighter realizes the moment ‘Nora’ rounds the corner with an umbrella that that’s not her, has no doubt hit her numerous times in the past during training, yet for some reason can’t bring himself to hit her now.” It... doesn’t quite work. Here, I think RT does a good job of showing us Ren’s distress, it’s just that this is paired with a very bad job of establishing what that distress is and why it exists. This is what we needed to hear about during the party conversation. If Ren and Nora had actually talked rather than just kissing, we might have understood why Ren is suddenly incapacitated here when “Nora” looks at him sadly.

As said though, the emotion of the scene is great even if we don’t quite know where it came from. Neo’s pitiful look, Ren freezing in shock (check out the red there too), his dumbfounded expression as he just sits in the middle of a battle, and when we come back to him we see the tear tracks. Overall, this scene does a great job of incorporating lots of information beyond “Team JNOR is fighting Neo for the relic.” We just need to connect that information better to what came before this scene (Ren) and what comes after (Oscar).

Finally, Neo slams into the other guards and transforms again. I love this final shot of her, both for how she moves and the implications of the transformation itself. Meaning, Neo is a professional. She had a job and she did it. Once the relic was in her possession and she had an escape route, she took it. Neo doesn’t get distracted by taking revenge - these are some of the people we fought against when Roman died - or trying to take them out to please Cinder, or even just going after them because she’s Evil. Neo is focused, no unnecessary actions taken, and that, just as much as her semblance and skill, is what makes her dangerous.

#Anonymous #rwby #mymetas

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calliecat93 · 3 years

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Well... this is late. Several weeks late at that. Stupid life getting in the way. Anyways, yeah due to sickness, dog sickness, the holidays, and everything in between I am three chapters behind on reviews. I am going to do what I can to catch back up before Saturday, starting now. Also since I am behind, this and the next review won’t include a Predictions section since... well, that’s pretty pointless now. On the upside, the wait has given me plenty to think over regarding the past few episodes and get my thoughts sorted out.

So last week we had the team splitting up, Ironwood shooting a man in cold-blood, and Salem sending her Grimm... thing to capture Oscar. A tense, but very well done setup for the volume. So with the tension and stakes already this high, what’s going to happen next? Well... we already know, but let’s talk about it anyways.

We begin in the Atlas prison, where Qrow, Robyn, Watts, and Jacques are being held. Robyn is understandably pissed off at everything that happened, Jacques tries to shift his blame (even using the famous “I’m a victim!” quote) but is otherwise confident about Whitley bailing him out, and Watts clearly just doesn’t give a damn about anything and is chilling. Qrow however is quiet, merely sitting in the hard light cell and staring at Clover’s badge. Some guards come in and enter Watts’ cell, smacking him with their guns and dragging him out. Qrow also finally talks, having a suggestion on what they can do: kill the man who put them behind bars to begin with. Yeah...

In Mantle, Atlas is reporting on the going-ons before Joanna takes the mic to inform the people of the plan to head for The Crater. Team JYRO make it to Pietro’s pharmacy and discover what he left for them: three hoverbikes. Yang is especially overjoyed while Oscar I think has developed a fear of flying things. The four work to get a section of people to The Crater, also facing some Grimm in the process. There is one elderly woman however who is uncooperative, wanting to go up to Atlas and not to the slums with a bunch of Faunus. But Yang properly shuts her up by pointing out how Atlas bailed, clearly deciding that they weren’t with while the Faunus are willing to help regardless of if the people deserve it. Yang Xiao Long, Destroyer of Racism.

Even though the citizens agree to go, it’s still rough. Ren uses his semblance to mask everyone with Jaune amping him up. The old woman is still complaining about the conditions. Oscar, driving behind everyone, is frustrated at how people just can’t cooperate. Boy is THAT the most relatable scene in the current times. Ozpin takes this moment to try talking to him, even apologizing for abandoning him. But Oscar isn’t mad about that, he’s mad that Oz came back, especially since after so long he finally felt like his own person. But Oz reminds him that the merger is still on track, to the dismay of both. Ren is also struggling to keep his Semblance powered up and when Jaune tries to give him a pep talk, he snaps that he just needs to focus, clearly upsetting Jaune.

Meanwhile,, RWBNP have been joined by May in their efforts to break into Atlas. Weiss had an idea on how to do so: via the SDC’s shipping department that sends Dust up to Atlas via tubes. This includes the military facility. As they look for the correct one, Ruby goes to Penny who is understandably upset by what’s happening. Ruby tries to console her regarding the argument with Yang, but Penny is actually hurt by Winter, Ironwood, and the others fighting against them as they were their friends. She also feels guilty as she is now even more than just the Protector of Mantle and is still clearly hurt by ironwood’s words last chapter. Ruby assures her that Ironwood was only trying to hurt her and that they are doing good. It helps some, but not to the extent that we’d normally see. The good news is that they found the tube... and Nora promptly shoots Weiss up it. Whoops.

Back in Mantle, Fiona has taken over coordinating the evacuations with May gone. JYRO returns with their group, with Fiona and Joanna impressed. Fiona comments that she was concerned due to half their team being gone, which clearly upsets the four. SO much so that Ren walks off in a huff and Yang gets defensive about how they clearly were able to handle it. The Faunus welcome the refugees and the Happy Huntresses and others are doing their best to get everyone settled. We earn see Fiona’s uncle, who was the man who gave Oscar soup last chapter. A call comes in about a Grimm attack, so Team JYRO go to deal with it. It goes well at first, but more Grimm begin to come in... at least, that is, until they suddenly retreat. Much to the confusion of the others.

Before anyone can contemplate on it, the Grimm from last time that we now know is called The Hound attacks Oscar. It very quickly grabs him, beats him up to the point of breaking his Aura, and knocks him out. Yang tries to help, but to her shock The Hound uses Oscar as a human shield. It easily faces Jaune and Ren as well, with all of them confused as the Grimm are usually not this smart. Ren demands The Hound release Oscar... but to the group’s utter horror the Hound says “N”. yeah, you read that right. The Hound talked. It gets worse as it sprouts wings, the black ooze landing on Oscar as the Hound’s whole body contorts in a gruesome matter. It grabs Oscar and flies off. JYR are all understandably shocked, but give chase as the episode ends.

Review

Two chapters in, and already things have gone to Hell. At least Volume 6 gave them one triumphant moment in Chapter 1 before piling on the ‘Oh Crap’. This volume is holding back zero punches people... and I love it!

This is a natural follow-up to the premiere and was paced very well. It covers both the things we didn’t see last time, and shows us the progress of the events set in motion. We see what has happened to Robyn and Qrow. We see how the evacuations are being handled. We have both sets of heroes well underway of their objectives. And of course we have The Hound succeeding in capturing Oscar. It’s a lot of things, but nothing felt rushed or crammed in just for the sake of getting it over with. It all felt natural and exactly what we needed to see. Like I said, holding back zero punches.

One thing I really enjoyed about this is seeing more of the Happy Huntresses. Probably one criticism I have about Volume 7 is how only Robyn, and to a lesser degree Fiona, got any real characterization of the group. We saw they were effective, but otherwise Robyn’s companions just kind of... existed. But now with her in jail, it allows the three to really shine. Joanna is a no-nonsense woman more or less now taking charge, but also friendly to her companions as we saw with her complimenting Fiona. May is sassy and confident as well as quite useful with her Invisibility Semblance, and it’s real cool to see her teaming up with RWBNP. We already know that Fiona is a cutie, but we see how she’s organizing the masses and more or less coordinating settling people in, which as we learn she’s from the slums makes sense. I’ve really enjoyed seeing more of these three, and it really helps make them feel like actual characters and not just there to fill out Robyn’s team.

Speaking of Robyn, we have the prison scene, and it’s as glorious as I was hoping. Her telling off Jacques for his part in all of this was perfection. Of course Jacques tries to shift blame, but still. Watts not giving a single damn about anything was also freakin’ great. But then there’s Qrow... oh golly Qrow. As expected, e\he’s not doing okay due to Clover dying but... him wanting t kill Ironwood makes me... worried. Oh don’t get me wrong, with the path he’s heading Ironwood dying is probably going to be necessary. IDK if I necessarily want it, but I can’t say he hasn’t brought it upon himself. I just don’t think that would do Qrow any good at all, especially because it would be out of revenge and not for the good of Mantle or Remnant. It’s him slipping into that Branwen bandit mentality, and that is NOT a path that will lead him anywhere good. I’m worried, but hopefully whatever happens will do good for Qrow and his mental state.

Then we have Team JYRO and Team RWBNP. First, it was really nice to have some humor in this one. While everything is super tense, we really need some levity so it doesn’t become overly depressing, RWBY loves feels, but it’s never been one to go grimdark and serious every waking moment either. I mean gosh, Weiss getting sucked up the tube in and of itself is one of the funniest scenes they’ve had in a while, especially with Kara Eberle’s perfect high-pitched scream and Nora’s reaction. Moments like Blake teasing Weiss about her family owning everything, Yang’s reaction to he bikes, Oscar likely never wanting to fly again after riding with Yang al made me giggle and was a nice break from the tension, especially when the end brought it roaring back.

But at the same time, it’s clear that the tension is very much there. We see how defensive Yang gets with Fiona’s comment, and how bitter Nora is about her disagreement with Ren. Speaking of Ren, we see how he’s more snappy and closed off he’s becoming, the seeds planted last volume now coming into bloom. Despite how evacuations are going smoothly so far, the sense of looming doom and desperation is very much present. The Grimm horde is unrelenting and the people are scared, upset, and uncooperative. Yeah, despite the situation, we see an old woman unable to but her biases aside and just complains about the slums instead of being in the more cushiony Atlas, who as Yang points out, left them for dead. And the woman STILL complains during the trek to the slums. Needless to say especially after this year, Oscar’s annoyance is VERY understandable.

But speaking of Oscar, we see a lot of parallels with him and Penny here. Both are struggling with their sense of identity and self-worth. Both are now something greater than they ever imagined, but struggling with the sense of responsibility and what it means for them. Oscar finally began to feel like his own person again. He felt like he was crating his own identity and like he was finally being seen as well... him. And I agree, especially since I had complained before how it felt like Oscar didn’t have an identify up to last volume. Penny of course is struggling with her feelings and wanting to be seen as a real girl. How the people she trusted like Ironwood and Winter have turned on them and personally hurt her. How she’s now the Winter Maiden and not just the Protector of Mantle and worried that she’s hurting more people than helping, especially since she now has the responsibility of protecting everyone.

Sadly. things aren’t going their way. Oscar is still on the track of merging with Ozpin, and has no idea who he’ll be at the end of it. Penny is a Maiden, burden with tremendous responsibility that will not only prevent her form doing what she wants. but continue to restrict her identity. It’s just... sad when you think about it. These are two kids who just want to have their lives, but they can’t and it’s all due to circumstances beyond their control. Oscar got zero say in bonding with Ozpin and had to abandon his life for the greater good. Penny had to take the Maiden powers to keep it away from Cinder. Seeing them both lament on this is just... heartbreaking. But at least Penny has Ruby to comfort her. Sure it doesn’t help too much, but Ruby is still there as support. Oscar has no one but Ozpin, and he can’t really do much to help the kid at this point. Oscar has to burden it alone, and that’s especially true when we get to the end.

That brings us to The Hound. So... I freakin’ love this monster, even though it terrifies me. It is legit creepy. The way it contorts and shifts it’s body, that gross lack goo oozing all over like blood. It hasn’t topped The Apathy for ‘Scariest Grimm’, but it’s certainly up there. But what’s even scarier is that it is intelligent. Now we know that Grimm CAN be smart, Oobleck gave us a whole lesson on it in Volume 2. But we’ve never, EVE R seen a Grimm this intelligent before. Not only did it throw JYR off by using Oscar deliberately as a shield, but if you look closely you can see it in other shots clearly watching Oscar. It was on the hunt, watching and observing until the moment to strike came. And, of course, it was able to talk. While IDT Jason Liebrecht doing the voice is as significant as others say (likely they wanted to distinguish from William Orendorff’s voice and Jason was available, it has nothing to do with Qrow), the fact that a Grimm who isn’t Salem can talk, even if briefly, is horrifying.

There have been a lot of theories going around since the episode aired. Many believe that the Grimm used to be human, which I agree with. The most popular candidate for who is Summer... which I’m more mixed about. On the one hand, it just feels unnecessarily cruel especially to Ruby and I personally am not 10% sure if I’d like that happening. On the other hand it would be a horrifying tragic twist that would greatly affect Ruby (not to mention Yang and the remains of Team STRQ) and raise a LOT of questions about what happened in between Summer’s ‘death’ and now. Still I’m not fully convinced it’s her. nut I’m not fully against it depending on how it’s played out. But I do agree that it is most likely a former human, and considering Cinder is a human well on her way on becoming a Grimm... yeah...

Chapter Stats

Favorite Character: Happy Huntresses Favorite Scene: The Hound vs. Team JYRO Least Favorite Scene: Umm... IDK, the Atlas reporter maybe? Favorite Voice Actor: Kdin Jenzen (May Marigold) Favorite Animation: The Hound’s contorting body Rating: 9.9/10

Final Thoughts

It was a tough job following up the premiere, but this chapter succeeded in keeping everything on track. It as funny, it was insightful, it was scary, it was... everything! The stakes continue to feel high, yet nothing feels forced or rushed. We have good glimpses at certain characters mindsets, the plot is continuing to push forward, the dead is strong yet still has room of some fun stuff, and the end fight is both awesome and sets up a LOT of tension as we continue forward. Like i said, the volume is not holding back. I’m still terrified about everything upcoming, but if the volume continues with this kind of quality (which having seen 3 and 4 I know they are), then we are in for one Hell of a fantastic volume~

#rwby #rwby reviews #rwby musings #callie reviews #rwby8 #rwby spoilers

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thesurpriserollup · 4 years

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Wave of the Future - Fantasy Booking WWE!

Peyton Royce

Ideal Booking Scenario: A very long road to the WWE Raw Women’s Championship

I can realistically see Peyton Royce as a top contender in the Women’s division. They broke up “The IIconics” for the sole purpose of doing so. She’s got the look, the attitude and she can get it done in the ring albeit her wrestling is still a bit clunky that could be fixed her husband is Shawn Spears after all. My dream scenario for her would be a painfully slow descent. I know, it’s not ideal and her break up with Billie Kay would seem like it was done for absolutely no pay off. But, hear me out. She could be built up as a struggling babyface who claws and fights day in and day out. She shakes off the comedic side of her and become this sympathetic Eric Young-type like his run in TNA. You could have her beat lower card wrestlers eventually climbing her way up the ladder. And ultimately the pay off would be at Summerslam 2022 where she beats somebody , supposedly, so out of her league it’s shocking and a feel good moment all in one. Maybe a heel Rhea Ripley or Alexa Bliss if by then she has cut her ties with “The Fiend”.

Toni Storm

Ideal Booking Scenario: Be the second coming of Sami Zayn in NXT.

At the time of writing, Toni has just returned to WWE NXT after a long extended break from the brand because of the Global health crisis. Io Shirai is the current NXT Women’s Champion with challengers lined up. From the likes of Ember Moon, Rhea Ripley, Shotzi Blackhart and the aforementioned Toni Storm. I can’t see her winning the title from Io or Ember and Rhea for that matter. I want Io to play the Adrian Neville role. And Rhea Ripley to be the Kevin Owens in this scenario. I want Toni to put on show after show one after the other but never ends up winning the big one no matter how hard she tries. She sees everybody passing her by Ember Moon becoming champion then her fellow Aussie Rhea Ripley recapturing it for the 2nd time. I want her eventual title win to be an emotional one. Like how Sami won his. A hard path to glory. I want her to end up beating all 4 women mentioned above in one night. And main event a big-time PPV like the Takeover in Brooklyn or Wrestlemania Weekend.

Keith Lee

Ideal Booking Scenario: Eventual “Tribal Chief” conqueror

So, I’ve been thinking hard lately who could eventually dethrone Roman Reigns from his perch. One person comes to mind and it’s “The Limitless One”. This is by far the easiest to book to be honest. I can realistically see Keith Lee by Mid-2021 getting drafted to Smackdown in the annual WWE Draft. Bonus booking: Roman Reigns holds the title for a year maybe even until TLC 2021. So the draft happens and Lee goes to Smackdown. That is around after “Clash of Champions”. Reigns has bulldozed through the entire roster and nobody can stop him. They hold a 16-man tournament across all three brands leading up to TLC 2021 which Keith wins. That sets up a showdown between him and Reigns at WWE TLC 2021 in, of course, a TLC Matchup which the Limitless one conquers Roman Reigns once and for all. That could setup a Main Event rematch for Wrestlemania in California between him and Reigns. After Roman wins a squash match inside Elimination Chamber coming in first and eventually pinning all five other men.

Big E

Ideal Booking Scenario: Wins Royal Rumble 2020 , challenges for and wins WWE Championship

Let’s face it, although it was unnecessary, they broke up “The New Day” so they could push Big E into the stratosphere of the main event scene. People are pegging him to win the Rumble. Which I agree with but I don’t want him to challenge for the Universal Title. I want him to go after gold. The projected main event for ‘Mania next year is Edge Vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship. But as much as I love Edge, I think it’s Big E’s time. The scenario is Big E wins the Rumble and chooses to compete for the WWE Title. You may ask why? Why not the Universal title instead? Because of one simple thing. THE NEW DAY SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN BROKEN UP. So we got them all on one brand. I can see “The Hurt Business” (Alexander/Benjamin) taking the tag titles from Kofi & Xavier before ‘Mania. All three members have a renewed focused because all of them are chasing after titles. We see a bit more serious side of The New Day more focused and determined but still babyfaces. Big E picks the WWE Title which Drew Mcintyre is still the champion up to that point. But as Randy Orton does, like he did with Rey and Kurt Angle, he weasels his way in to make it a Triple Threat. ‘Mania time three-way dance. Orton, Mcintyre (C), Big E. They have a stellar match as expected. Orton’s about to win by hitting Mcintyre with a foreign object but before he could pin him he gets speared by a returning Edge! So we incorporated Edge and his return and ultimately setup the continuation of their feud. Big E gets back in the ring and hits the “Big Ending” on Orton. Mcintyre stays protected. Orton eats the pin but sets up the feud between him and Edge. Big E FINALLY wins the big one. And earlier, in the night. Kofi and Xavier win back the tag titles from “The Hurt Business” in a three-way elimination style Tag team match. New Day Vs. Alexander/Benjamin Vs. MVP/Lashley. I basically booked everyone of the New Day. They all celebrate as champions as opposed to last year where Woods and Big E were bridesmaids to Kofi they bask in their triumph as “The New Day” stand tall. Each one of them champions.

Brock Lesnar

Ideal Booking Scenario: Tweener ass-kicker

I really wanna see a Brock Lesnar run with him just kicking ass and taking names. No heel or face motives. Nothing. Chris Candido’s gimmick which is basically no gimmick but amped up to like 20. I wanna see him beat Lars Sullivan senseless. Throw in Strowman in there. Lashley, Etc. The list goes on and on. I remember his promo back in the day how he wasn’t a “superstar”, he was an ass-kicker. Be the bully that bullies the bullies. I want him to go an absolute tear and I want him to have brutal encounters with “The Fiend”. Of course Lesnar wins one but Bray ultimately topples him. But he doesn’t care he’s on to the next victim. Maybe a Goldberg match is in the books again but him eventually retiring him fo good. Wouldn’t a Roman Reigns Vs. Brock Lesnar feud at let’s say Wrestlemania 38 sound so good? A “No Holds Barred” Match in which Heyman accompanies Reigns but is conflicted. Booking Lesnar is storylines that need time to develop was and is never ideal. You need him to just absolutely brutalize and obliterate everyone whether he wins or loses. That’s how you make money and that’s how you book Lesnar. Keep him away from the Title as much as humanly possible. Let him be the monster he was always meant to be since he came back in 2012.

#wwe #wrestling #sports entertainment #pro wrestling

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girls-scenarios · 5 years

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Your Name on My Heart

Idol: Lua (Weki Meki)

Prompt: Could you do a WeMe Lua soulmate(?) scenario where everyone has their soulmate’s names on their wrist but Lua was born without it

Writer: Admin Kiwi

A/N: Picky Picky is a bop y’all. But being a Lua stan means living off scraps and the behind the scenes videos. Sigh. When will she be given the lines and attention she deserves? Anyway, stan Weki Meki and I hope you all enjoy!

Warnings: I also kind of made this a college au so there’s some drinking, some getting high, and some mentions of getting laid but no actual getting laid.

♡ Tip Jar♡

When Lua was born without a name on her wrist, her parents weren’t too worried. After all, it was normal for kids to not get their name until puberty sometimes. Both of her parents had been late to get each other’s name on their wrist, so it was hardly something to make a big deal about. They took her home and didn’t notice anything was wrong. Her classmates didn’t notice, either, not at first. She just figured she was a little late.

But as she started to get older and nothing showed up, people began to notice. Her friends started to ask her where her soulmate’s name was, and she noticed her parents whispering behind their hands when they thought she wasn’t listening, voices worried. On her fifteenth birthday, her parents took her to the doctor, and she knew something had to be wrong.

They ran tests on her, rubbed at the skin and made her look at photos and spit into tubes, only for the doctor to come back and sigh as he flipped through his papers.

“Well, it could either be that she doesn’t have a soulmate,” he said, shaking his head, “or she could have a disorder we call Carpi Praesent. Basically, this would mean that the name on her wrist won’t show up until she’s shared a kiss with her soulmate.”

“A kiss?” Her mother let out a little cry and sunk into the chair, face white. Immediately, her father took her hand, trying to calm her down, while Lua stared at the papers in the doctor’s hand, her mind reeling. She didn’t have a soulmate. Tears pricked at the sides of her eyes and she found herself crying as the doctor reached over to put a hand on her shoulder and her father handed her tissues.

“This doesn’t mean you can’t be happy one day, Lua. But it does mean that your life might be a little bit harder than everyone else’s. You’re a strong girl, aren’t you? You’ll be okay.”

She wasn’t a strong girl. She knew she wasn’t, because these words hurt her, and looking at her parents hurt even worse, because she knew she might never have this. But she had to be strong, so she nodded her head and willed herself to stop crying as her mother asked the doctor if it was because of something she did while she was pregnant.

After the doctor’s visit, Lua told her friends that she had a disease where the name wouldn’t show up. What she didn’t say was that she might not have a soulmate, because she didn’t want anyone else to know. It made her mother cry at night, and it made her father’s hair go grey in places, and it made her grandmother look at her with pity in her eyes, so Lua couldn’t bear for anyone else to know. If anyone had to be hurt, it should be her, not her friends.

So she grinned and pretended that everything was okay, even if she was crying inside.

Years later, Lua had gotten a lot more used to not having a soulmate. Sure, she looked at her coworkers and her friends and saw them with their soulmates and felt a little bit jealous, but she didn’t take it so personally anymore. She worked hard to gain respect and not be known for her lack of a soulmate. Medical school was hard, but she didn’t have to worry about love or a relationship or anything outside of school, so she didn’t really mind it. When people asked her why she was going into medicine, she just shrugged and told them that it was because she was interested in it. She didn’t say that it was because she didn’t want anyone else to suffer like she did when she was younger.

Then she met you.

It was pure coincidence, really. You weren’t in medical school, but somehow, the two of you had ended up volunteering for the same school fundraiser and had been put at a table together. You were a fairly upbeat person with a nice smile and a friendly personality, and Lua found it amazing how quickly the two of you clicked. It was just easy to talk to you, almost like she’d known you her entire life. The two of you spent the entire fundraiser talking, and after it was done and the sun had long disappeared, you typed your number into her phone and told her to text with you a smile. And as she walked back to her dorm, looking down at your name in her phone, she found that she really wanted to.

Even though the two of you were in completely different areas of study, it just became habit to meet up in the mess hall for lunch between classes. Sometimes the two of you chatted, complaining about professors and homework loads, and other times the two of you studied together, just happy to be with each other as you worked. It was a weird dynamic, but it worked. Lua never felt awkward around you. The two of you could sit silently in a room together and still feel comfortable, and Lua liked that. Liked being around you. She tried not to think too much about what that could mean.

A few times, the thought of dating you popped into her head, and she realized that she’d never seen your wrist mark. But she would quickly dismiss it as coincidence every time, not wanting to get her hopes up over nothing. So the two of you danced around each other, staying friends even if her other friends thought it was weird, neither of you taking the next step.

That is, until the party.

“Hey, are you busy Friday night?” You asked her, looking up from your textbook to lock eyes with her. She was laying on her bed, reading up on terms for her next exam while you occupied her desk, a normal setup for the two of you whenever you studied in her room. She blinked, trying to think about what her schedule looked like. She was pretty sure she was free, but....

“Why?”

You looked a little bit nervous as you shrugged your shoulders, but she hardly recognized it. “Oh, one of my friends is throwing a party to celebrate the end of midterms. I thought I’d ask you to come with me. It’s cool if you’re busy though.”

“I think I’m free. Is it going to be a big party?” She closed her book, biting her lip. She’d never been to anything other than small parties with her friends where they all drank a little bit and played games and watched movies. When it came to big college parties, she was in the dark. You laughed softly and nodded your head, making her heart jump a bit.

“Yeah, she’s in a sorority, so it’s going to be pretty huge.”

“I’ve never been to a party like that,” she admitted to you, giving you a sheepish smile. “I guess I’m a bad college student.”

“Don’t say that! I’ve honestly only been to a few myself, but they were both fun so I thought I’d ask you to come along this time. But if you aren’t comfortable I’m not going to force you to come.”

She looked down at her sheets and thought about it for a moment. As intimidating as the idea of a big party was, she found herself wanting to go with you. What was the worst that could happen? “No, I’ll come. What time is it?”

It took her a while to decide what to wear, but she decided on a pair of skinny jeans and one of her favorite pink crop-tops, pulling her newly-dyed hair back into a ponytail. She was in the middle of deciding how to do her makeup when her roommate came back and gave her a look.

“Where are you going?” Elly asked, tossing her bag onto her bed. Lua had known Elly for a while, since high school, so she knew that Elly knew she didn’t do these things. Still, she let out an awkward laugh and picked up a lip gloss, carefully applying it to her lips. Did she look kissable? Why did she even care?

“(Y/N) invited me to a party their sorority friend is throwing,” she said, turning her attention to her earrings. “So I’m going with them.”

“Oh. That’s interesting. Have fun and don’t get too smashed. Call me if you need someone to pick you up.” Elly didn’t sound too surprised, which in turn surprised Lua. She turned around, eyebrows raised.

“You aren’t going to tell me not to go?”

“Nah. They’re fun, I’ve been to a few. Plus you’re going with (Y/N) and I trust them,” she said, sitting down on her bed, and Lua slowly put her earrings down.

“Oh. Uh, is my outfit okay for a party like this?”

“Yeah, only freshmen get really dressed up for parties. You look good, don’t worry about it and get out there. Just stay safe and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Didn’t you drunkenly make out with Suyeon before you knew she was your soulmate at a party once?”

“Hey! Shut up, who told you about that?”

“Suyeon.”

“Goddammit, I told her that I’m supposed to be the responsible one so she can’t just go airing my party animal freshman year to you guys!” Elly huffed and pulled out her phone, and Lua laughed, quickly grabbing her phone. It was always fun to tease the older girl. It made her nerves calm down a little, and she took one last look at her appearance before heading to the door.

“Bye, I’ll be home eventually!”

“Oh whatever. Go get laid!”

“Elly!”

The air was a little more chilly than she’d expected it to be, and she shivered a bit as she walked out the door. You were standing in front of her dorm building, and you smiled as you saw her. As she stepped down to stand beside you, she swallowed slightly. You looked nice, hair done and wearing tight pants much like she was. She tried to chase Elly’s words from earlier away.

“Ready?” You asked, and she nodded, giving you a grin.

“Ready.”

She hadn’t been ready. She liked to think that she had a pretty high alcohol tolerance, but whatever had been in the red cups shoved into your hands at the door had tasted like cleaning fluids and already had her feeling tipsy. The music was loud, and she didn’t even know where it was coming from, but it made the entire house shake every time the base was played, and she already had a headache, but the alcohol made it a little more bearable.

She found herself in the kitchen alone, blinking in confusion over how she’d gotten there and where you’d gone. But a girl who looked vaguely familiar named Sejeong shoved another drink into her hands and yelled “get turnt” so she felt like she had to drink again. When you reappeared at her side, your cheeks were slightly flushed, and she was much less in control of her thoughts and feelings.

“How’s the party so far?” You asked, yelling over the music, and she grinned, leaning back against the counter.

“It’s fine. Better since you’re back.”

“Are you helpless without me?”

“Yeah. I’ve never been to one of these before, you know?”

“Okay, then I’ll stay by your side. But you have to promise to dance with me.” You caught her wrist, and her skin felt like it was on fire from the feeling of your fingertips.

“Dance?”

You giggled, and she liked the sound. “That’s what you do at these things.”

“Oh. Sure.”

The living room was a sea of bodies dancing to the music, and as you tugged her towards it, she felt a little nervous. But the liquid courage must have kicked in, because as soon as the song changed to something she knew, she let you pull her in closer. She knew how to dance, professionally, but this wasn’t anything like that. This was something much more sensual, bodies touching and pressing, and the air felt so hot that she was dizzy. But you were there in front of her, so she just let her foggy mind take control, her body moving, out of her own control.

The next thing she knew, the two of you were giggling and tripping into one of the rooms upstairs, and she fell back onto a bed that wasn’t hers and wasn’t yours, staring at the ceiling and trying to steady herself. Where was she again? She felt your weight sink into the bed beside her, and your head rested on her shoulder, making her feel hot all over again.

“(Y/N)?”

“I’m right here.” You sounded sleepy, and when she glanced over, she was able to make out that your eyes were closed, even in the darkness of the room.

“You’re a sleepy drunk.”

“No I’m not. I just wanted to close my eyes.” As if refuting your own statement, you yawned, making her giggle.

“Sure.”

“Well, you’re a weird drunk.”

“You have no proof.”

“No, I have lots of proof. This is the first time I’ve seen you let go. You’re always so serious and focused on school.”

Lua fell quiet, staring back up at the ceiling. It was true, she didn’t usually let herself go, not like this. She was always nervous, always worried about what people would think. It probably came with the fact that she’d been different all her life. “I let go all the time. Just the other day I danced to Gangnam Style with you.”

“You know what I mean.” She did know what you meant, so she shut up, closing her own eyes. She felt your hand come up to rest on her stomach, and her heart spiked. It was a gentle touch, but it was still too much, because she’d never felt anything like this before. She shouldn’t let herself fall like this. But she laid there and let you, blaming it on the fog in her head.

“Why do you hang out with me if I’m so serious and boring?�� The question spilled out, and she regretted it for a moment as you stayed silent, drawing circles on her bare skin.

“I like you. We’re a lot alike.”

“Are we?”

“Yeah. You know, I was born without my soulmate mark too.” At your works, she froze, opening her eyes again. Suddenly, it made sense. Why you were always wearing long sleeves or something around your wrist.

“Really?”

“Really. I thought I was going to be alone forever. I thought I was the only one. But then I met you, and... I just had this connection to you. I wanted to be close to you forever.”

She swallowed as she felt her stomach twist, a strange yet familiar feeling welling up in her chest. It was fear. She was afraid. Just because neither of you had a name, that didn’t mean that you were the one for her. What if she got in the way? What if she hurt you? What if it didn’t work out? She felt like crying, because it was all so much. But also because she felt the same way about you, and she’d just never wanted to admit it. She’d never wanted to get her hopes up.

“There’s so many scary things,” she said aloud, voice soft and shaky, and she felt you shift your weight beside her.

“But if we don’t challenge those scary things, we might never know.” You were right, of course. You were always right. But that didn’t make it any less scary.

“I know. I want to. I’m just afraid.”

Your hand stalled on her stomach, and she closed her eyes tight again, waiting.

“Let me kiss you.” Your voice was firm, and it made her heart jump again.

“What?”

“Let me kiss you. Please. If we really have that disorder, you know the one. The one we’ve been told about our whole lives. If we really have it, kissing our soulmate is the only way to find out.” She opened her eyes to see that your face was only inches away from hers now, and your eyes were open and clear. She suddenly felt sober again as her mind ran through her options. She could be scared. She could back away, run away, run back to the not scary side of things and ruin what might be forever, but save herself from heartbreak. But she didn’t want to. She wanted to kiss you so bad it hurt.

So she turned her body to face you on that unfamiliar bed and faced her fears. “Go ahead. Kiss me.” You looked almost shocked at her words before you lunged forward, pressing your lips against hers. The feeling was foreign, because she’d never been kissed before, but she liked it. Slowly, as the need built up in her chest again, she began to kiss you back, moving her lips even though she was unsure and scared.

As soon as she began to kiss you back, you brought your hand up to the back of her neck and began to kiss her harder, pressing your body closer, and all her fear went out the window, lost in the fact that she was kissing you. You, who she’d fallen for so long ago and had been too afraid to admit it. She wrapped her arms around you, and let you climb on top of her, giving you more access to her mouth as her heart threatened to explode in her chest. Her entire body was hot, but there was something weird, a strange sensation on her hand. You must have felt it too, because you finally pulled away, both of you breathing hard. Even though you’d told her not to be afraid, she could see worry in your eyes as you paused, staring into her eyes.

“Should we check?” This time, Lua decided to be the brave one. She took a deep breath and pulled her hand from behind you to look. There, on her wrist, was your name in small letters. This time, when she felt like crying, she actually did, and you gasped. “Really? It’s really there?”

“It’s really there,” she whispered, showing you, and you slowly looked at your own wrist, only to burst into tears when you saw her name on your dominate hand.

“I’m so happy I don’t know what to do,” you said, wiping at your tears. She smiled and leaned up to press her forehead against yours, basking in this new feeling. She had a soulmate. She wasn’t broken after all. And she didn’t have to be afraid to love you anymore.

“Just stay here with me and kiss me some more.” The words made her feel giddy, and they made you smile through your tears, wrapping your arms around her again.

“I love you,” you said, closing your eyes, and she caressed your face before moving in to kiss you. She didn’t care about anything else but you: not the loud music, the sounds of people outside of the room, or how much Elly was going to gloat when she came home. She had you in her arms, and nothing else mattered as she turned to press you into the mattress, determined to show just how much she loved you, even if it took all night.

“I love you too.”

#weki meki #weme #lua #femifics #weki meki lua #kim sookyung #weki meki scenarios #lua scenarios #weki meki lua scenarios #girl group scenarios #kpop scenario #girl groups #kpop girl groups #t:soulmateau

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grinwolfe · 5 years

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Ok ok ok

I've had this fanfic in my head for a while and I'm not sure if I'll ever write it because I've never been much of a writer but I want to share my idea anyways.

It's a Lucifer/Supernatural crossover.

Let's say it starts in the supernatural universe when the boys are on a hunt, probably something like a werewolf or vampire, a cliche monster. I think it could be in any season since this would be an identical setup to the French mistake, unless we use Jack who is notoriously bad at controlling his powers.

I originally went with the idea that only Sam and Dean get sucked into Lucifer's universe, but I think Castiel getting dragged along too makes a better juxtaposition to the angels in the foreign universe. Trouble is, the monster gets sucked through too, and they land in a wide alley.

In the confusion, the monster succeeds in overpowering the boys and tearing off. They give chase, guns/machete/angel blade out until they reach the street, which is packed full of people and a few beat cops hanging around too, so they act natural and hide their weapons.

They figure out they're in Los Angeles, Sam tries to call Jack to let him know what's happened but the number is disconnected. Castiel tries to sense Jack but he can't, which naturally makes them all concerned. The brothers have contacts all over, LA is no different so one of them starts calling to find backup, since they don't have the impala with all the hunter gear and FBI disguises. Every single call is a wrong number. Up a creek without a paddle they decide to find a place where they can use a computer- internet cafe, library, wherever.

About 6 hours later, Detective Decker is called to a crime scene, Ella examining a recently savaged body and Lucifer consulting. Ella remarks on the uber weirdness, how it seems almost animalistic, the strength that would be needed to rip the poor soul apart. Lucifer cracks jokes, like he does, but not much else can be made of it until the coroner can examine further.

About 20 min previous, the boys were sitting in a cheap hotel room. While very similar to their own universe there have been enough differences for them to cotton on that they're not in Kansas anymore which they all find very distressing. Castiel is mollified to find he is still an angel and still has all his abilities. Dean bought a radio and some other supplies and has built a police scanner. As per previous supernatural episodes, they know that they will need the grace of an archangel to get back to their own universe, but they absolutely must kill the monster before they go. Sam has searched and found no mention of Hunters, Men of Letters, or monsters at all, besides the normal mythos that always exists. They pick up the call for the recently mentioned deceased, and decide to go see what's up.

They find themselves standing in the crowd of looky loos, and standing out as well since they're the tallest and wearing plaid in LA. Dean wants to pretend to be agent with the fake badge in his wallet but Sam stops him, reminding him it's a different universe and their badges might look very different from what they look like here. While they're arguing in undertones, Castiel slips under the police tape to get a closer look. He makes it about halfway there before Ella or Decker stops him, tells him off for interfering in a crime scene and to get back past the line. Cass got close enough to see that it was a monster victim and returns to the brothers, which Decker notices and makes a mental note to remember them because they were suspicious. Then the regular canvassing of the victim's friends family and coworkers starts. Ella notices a street cam aimed at the crime scene. Lucifer does... Lucifer stuff. Drama, impetuous attitudes, good ol' Luci.

The boys are feeling particularly fucked back at the hotel. No weapons, no car, no disguises, and how do you track a wandering monster in LA besides following the bodies? Castiel tries to contact Heaven on angel radio, if there is one in this universe, but he gets mixed results. There was definitely a divine influence in the world, most likely a heaven but Castiel can't be heard and what he does hear is unintelligible, possibly a difference frequency and/or code.

I'm not entirely sure on this part, but I expect Dean is drinking at a bar, alone or with any of the others. Either someone overhears that they're in trouble or they look upset enough to prompt a conversation. When they explain vaguely that what they need is nearly impossible to get and that they haven't got any friends to back them up, they are told about a nightclub owner who grants favors, occasionally the impossible one. The boys aren't sure about mingling in a foreign universe but if this man called Mr. Morningstar can get the other ingredients needed for the spell, then it can't hurt to try, can it?

Ella and Decker and Dan are reviewing the CTV footage and even though it's barely been caught in the upper left corner, its obvious this perp is acting inhuman, which they believe is a mental illness or a weird drug interaction. Once they go back to their desks Lucifer returns and Ella describes the attack as if the person was a movie monster, to which Lucifer replied that it might look that way but not to worry, his father destroyed all the monsters centuries ago.

The boys go to Lux, which is mostly empty since it's so early. A few girls are dancing, sam and cass are doubtful about getting legit help here but Dean enjoys the atmosphere. They ask the bartender for Mr. Morningstar. The bartender tells them he's not seeing anyone right now. Sam says that they need a favour. The man says they'll have better luck getting his boss's attention later tonight when all the guests come. Cass says it's urgent, a matter of life and death. The bartender reluctantly picks up the phone and calls upstairs to Lucifer's suite, who agrees to come down to deal with them.

The first thing Lucifer does when he sees them is comment on the plaid, asking if they just came from a hunting trip and asking Castiel if he is an accountant. He was going to turn them away but once seeing them in person, they were the perfect combination of weird and sexy to keep his interest. They say they hear he's the man to come to for favors and that they need supplies. Lucifer prompts them to get to the point. Sam tries to prepare him, that it sounds ridiculous but it's really important that it's all authentic. They list off the ingredients needed to send them back, sans archangel grace. Lucifer asks 'what on earth do you need all that for?' And points out that everything they've asked for is priceless if not impossible to find. He asks again what they want it for, and for that matter who are they, and the boys give up, getting up to leave because explaining that they're from another universe will just get them laughed out anyways.

Before they take a step Decker comes in and calls out 'Lucifer!' The boys freeze and Decker comes down, apologising for interrupting and Lucifer waves her apology aside. As she comes up to him to talk the boys all turn back to him, and cass pulls out his angel blade. Lucifer wonders what they are really up to, they seems to have extensive divine knowledge. They ask him if he's lucifer to which he confirms. They continue checking and confirming that he is indeed the fallen angel. Decker realizes these men were at the crime scene and sees the angel blade sticking out of the end of castiel's sleeve. Before she can say anything Dean draws his gun on Lucifer. It's all a kerfuffle, decker is trying to talk the boys down and then Maze walks in, and Castiel can see her true face so he let's everyone know, which surprises Lucifer and he asks how does cass know? Cass replies that he's an angel. Lucifer asks which one? Cass gives his name and Lucifer disagrees since knows his brother castiel and this man was not it. Maze says that cass doesnt look like an angel but he also doesn't look right as a human. Angel possession is talked about, which is in the SpN universe but not Luci's. Probably play around with the idea that Angel's in this universe can have their own bodies because they are a product of two very different beings, light and dark, while castiel is just made from light and frequency. Maze says he looks like something huge and alive got shoved up inside a human shaped jar. Sam reminds Dean that they will need Lucifer's grace to get home and they lower their weapons reluctantly.

Lucifer at some point shows off by showing his wings which astounds the boys. Castiel is urged to try it and for the first time the brothers see cass's black wings. The brothers admit that they're both working the same case, that its a monster they brought over from another universe and what its specs are- decker is getting fatigued by two revelations in one day.

Regular shenanigans continue. The boys are determined to hate Lucifer but the more time they spend with him the more they bond: dean with good food, alcohol and women, sam with insider history lore and bad jokes, castiel with Lucifer's clear affection for decker and his desire to protect humans. There will be karaoke at some point. The boys help with the case, meet Ella and hit it off. They meet Dan and really don't. There are clashes in methodology, decker sees the fake badge and the brothers explain that they dont get paid to save the world.

And I dont really know after that point. Obviously they kill the monster and get home, and that they wish they could have this Lucifer instead of theirs. Anyone is welcome to this story, if you want to do something with it. I'm great at starting but I lose interest once there's work to be done.

#fanfic #fanfiction #lucifer morningstar #lucifer #supernatural #crossover

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