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a-libra-writes · 4 years

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Could you do ⛅ 💎 💥 💤 and 🌸 with Aberama Gold? You can delete this if you want to cause idk if I sent this beyond a deadline. And if you do it you can choose one of the emoji, I liked them all lol so I'm fine with whichever one you want. Thank you so much, I love how you write for Aberama so it would mean a lot if you do write the headcanon. Not that I'm trying to guilt trip you into doing it, not my intention at all. I just really live your writing and wouldn't be hurt if you didnt write it.

aaghh sorry i took so long with this!! stupid work grumble grumble save me. I hope u didnt think I deleted it haha, I like Aberama a heckin lot. Glad you like how I write him! OK LETS GO LONG BOI

⛅ Sunset HC

He loves watching the sunset. Once you got to know him, this didn’t seem so strange. As the afternoon began to end, you’d notice him glance toward the sky no matter where you two were, and he’d be a little more distracted if it was an especially clear, beautiful day.

Getting such pretty sunsets wasn’t too common in London, or any city, which is why he preferred being out in the country.

Aberama used to think by himself during these times, but he began to like it when you joined him. He’d have you sit on his lap and chat with him - and if that was too embarrassing - at least sit beside him. During the colder months he’d wrap his jacket around you (and probably put the hat on you too, because you’re too cute).

When he’s feeling particularly sentimental, he’ll tell you all about how beautiful you look with the golden and red colors shining on your eyes and skin. He’ll sweet talk you until the moon comes up.

His favorite sunsets are the fiery orange and red ones that are scattered with clouds. To him, they look like a glimpse of heaven... he often thinks these are the only looks he’ll get of that place.

💎 Marriage HC

It was obvious when he was smitten with you, and more obvious that he wanted something more long-term. He’s actually quite a romantic man, in spite of his occupation, and he wanted to make a life with you. He thought you were just perfect.

And yes, he was a bit into the age gap.

Your wedding was modest, but surrounded with family and the reception is lively. Plenty of dancing, drinking, music and laughter, and his family put together a new wagon that was decorated in flowers and vines, just for you. Aberama couldn’t keep you out of his lap or his arms the whole time.

Depending on your preferences, you either had a small cottage in a village or you stayed with his family in the wagons. Due to his jobs, Aberama would disappear for days at a time, sometimes a week or more. He’d come home, tired and a mess - sometimes injured - but he always gave you a kiss and hug before washing up. He preferred to be clean and in a change of clothes before holding you again.

He doesn’t discuss his jobs with you, period. He doesn’t want you getting tangled up in them, and he’s expressly forbid his men and Bonnie from discussing it with you. Even if it frustrates and worries you, he doesn’t budge on this decision.

If you didn’t know Romani, he’d gradually teach you. Since he wasn’t around all the time, Bonnie and his daughters would help.

He’s very delighted that you get along with his children, especially the younger girls, who don’t remember much of their mother. As much as he’d love children with you, he’d understand if his were more than enough.

Bonnie sees you as more of an older sister figure than a mother - since he still remembers his mom - but you two still get along great. You’re usually patching him up after a boxing match or cooking him filling food. He’s glad you made his dad happy, but could you two please stop being so sappy in front of him and his friends? Thanks.

Once Tommy meets you and realizes how much Aberama dotes on you, he makes a point to invite you to gatherings together. He hopes you’ll calm the man down or act as a pacifying presence. It ... sort of works. While he is in a better mood with you on his arm, he’s also far more likely to bash the teeth out of any man who disrespects you.

He’ll bash the teeth out of his own men if they dare the same thing, and that’s if they’re lucky. Bonnie doesn’t tell you, but he’s seen his father send more than one man to a ditch for insulting you and your family (especially if you were non-Romani).

No matter what, he’d be protective of you, but it would happen behind the scenes. He wouldn’t want you to feel like he was being possessive or suffocating, so he’ll have a guard or two quietly watch your home when he’ s away, and he’ll deal with the before mentioned troublesome men on his own.

This has led to situations where you go to him in a panic, saying a strange man has been following you and standing around the house. He grabs his gun and investigates and ... it’s one of his idiots. “Be more careful, would you? Just go the fuck home, I’m here anyway.”

When he comes back he acts like he chased off some scary robber and you play along and give him plenty of kisses.

Basically, you two have a very loving, sappy marriage that makes people forget he’s one of the deadliest guns-for-hire in England.

💤 Napping HC

Aberama hardly ever naps, but he can fall asleep anywhere. You have no idea how he does it. He can do sitting in a horse, leaning against a wall or standing up.

His “technical” naps are when he gets back from a job in the middle of the afternoon. He’d been up for days at that point, and he collapses on the couch and tells you he’s just going to rest his eyes for a few moments. You eventually gently wake him.

Still, he much prefers to fall asleep next to you. After staying up for an ungodly amount of time, he’ll let you drag him to bed, only if you promise to lie down by his side.

When he sleeps, he reminds you of a cat with how he tucks his head down and curls into himself. Often his face twitches with expressions, but only for a moment.

💥First Fight / Making up HC

Your first fight is also what your subsequent fights and squabbles have been about: The danger of his jobs, and what little you know about them. Aberama wouldn’t give in, curtly telling you there was zero reason for you to be involved.

You knew about these “jobs” while he courted you, and you didn’t delude yourself into thinking he’d stop after you married. But this time he came home with two bullet wounds, and he was gone for two weeks. Couldn’t he at least have sent a man to tell you he was alright? Or where he was? That he was hurt? At least that?

Aberama just dismissed you, which he so rarely did, as he was just as tired and frustrated... Not to mention the wounds. He hoped in the morning, you’d understand, and both your moods would be better.

It wasn’t. You were still pissed, so he left, insisting he’d be back.

You fumed, but began to worry. What if you were too harsh, especially since he was in such bad shape? Maybe he didn’t want to worry you, or maybe someone was on his trail and he didn’t want anything coming back to you. He always kept you and his daughters out of his messes. Maybe ...

Your mind began to race, and you were feeling frustrated and emotional all over again. You decided to go look for him, it wouldn’t be hard. Right as you opened the door, Aberama was walking up to the doorstep. He had bought your favorite flowers and he quickly pulled you into an embrace.

While he still thought he was doing what was best for your safety, he understood your worry and recognized he was dismissing your concerns. He said all this, giving you plenty of kisses and apologies.

He wanted to make love to you to show you how truly sorry he was but those bullet wounds were kind of, you know, painful as all hell. Aberama was still gonna go for it but you insisted “cuddles until that’s healed”.

🌸Kissing HC

There’s no such thing as chaste kisses or pecks unless he’s truly in a hurry. He feels so much for you that those just seem inadequate displays of affection.

Whenever he kisses you, he wants to properly show his love, although it never does seem like enough. He’ll hold the small of your back and bring you closer, because you always have to be close when he does this. If there’s not many people around, or better - none - he’ll start at your neck and work his way to your lips.

The kisses on your lips are always deep, and you feel yourself pressing back against him. If he has to say goodbye, he’ll make sure it’s longer, and he’ll promptly kiss your cheek and promise to be back soon.

Even when you’re just parting for a few hours while he goes to the boxing ring or you leave to town, he’ll pull you into his embrace and give you a firm kiss. “Behave yourself, dear.” “Aberama, I always tell you that.”

It’s kind of nauseating to anyone who watches, Bonnie has long learned to just walk away

To be sure, it’s very jarring for some of his men to see their terrifying boss turn to his wife, give her a sweet kiss, then turn to them with a sharp gleam in his eye, like he’s daring them to say something.

At home, he often gives you stray kisses on your neck, your cheek, your hand, whatever suits his whims at the time. In bed, even if you aren’t making love, he wants to give you several kisses goodnight. When he walks into the house and you’re already asleep, he’ll give gentle kisses that won’t make you stir. He hopes you can feel them in your dreams.

#aberama gold x reader #aberama gold #libra headcanons #i keep thinking about his perfect hair why did they cut itttttt

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hopelesstvaddict · 5 years

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In defence of The Long Night and The Bells

[In light of all the backlash and ahead of arguably one of the most anticipated series finale in TV history here is my case in favour of The Long Night and The Bells]

First off, credit where credit is due. Game of Thrones never made it easy for itself in terms of viewer expectations. From a surprise hit back in its first season it grew and expanded into this monster of a global phenomenon. That it is adapted from a pre-existing series of books only adds to fans' distress. The ending of it all is bound to satisfy some and deeply disappoint others. The final season, for all of its hype, is already proving the point. We've seen it happen with the greatest - The Sopranos, Lost, Breaking Bad, Mad Men... - and make no mistake. Game of Thrones IS among the best.

One leader behind whom to rally

Two years of anticipation and a series-long improvement created an immense amount of expectation for The Long Night - and for those who expected it, for the burning of King's Landing. Director Miguel Sapochnik delivers on all fronts and it's totally understandable why he was the producers' pick for these two episodes. From the man who offered us Hardhome, Battle of the Bastards and The Winds of Winter, The Long Night and The Bells could not have been better handled in terms of direction and cinematography. These two outdo the show's own bar in terms of scale and spectacle. Perhaps The Long Night was indeed a bit dark but not everyone was personally affected by it and this works in terms of narrative choice. It's a battle that takes place at night after all. By now, we're used to Sapochnik's down-to-earth approach to battles - once again, there are beautiful shots that follow Jon or Arya during both battles - and of his use of shots from different scenes smoothly flowing into one another - there are several during the final stand of the characters in The Long Night and some in The Bells as Arya and the Hound separately struggle to survive. Improvements could have been made over the feeling of sometimes being overwhelmed by the confusion of the events that transpired during The Long Night and not knowing which character we were following but in the end, that's exactly the spirit. Battles are not nice and clean. They're a complete mess and losing track of your comrades is exactly the kind of thing that would happen. And Sapochnik manages to also instill real terror in chilling scenes like the one in which Arya navigates her way out of a wight-infested library, or a gradually wight-covered Drogon screeching away in fear, or the Hound coming so close to suffering poor Prince Oberyn’s fate so long ago.

At this point, we must pause and commend some really beautiful cinematography, courtesy of Melisandre for a good amount of it. The lighting of the araks was - beyond being a nice way to light up the screen - nothing but epic. So was that of the trenches. And logic aside, the ride of the Dothraki was a spectacular way to begin the battle and it doesn't get any more powerful than those small flickers of lights going out one by one. Talk about getting your hopes dashed. And for all the hellish inferno that Drogon unleashed on King's Landing it made for beautiful shots - there was in particular one aerial vertical shot of the city that was really cool - really, destruction was never this beautiful and horrible. The level of sheer spectacle is unparalleled - at least on TV - and deserves unequivocal praise. Some will argue that it does not come close to the Battle of Helm’s Deep from The Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers, the inspiration for The Long Night. But Sapochnik’s direction is once again a delight to see, proving he delivers Thrones’ battles like no one else. There was arguably the biggest challenge on the series with The Long Night given the expectations and an even greater danger as the closely-kept-secret Bells had to avoid feeling like a repeat. Sapochnik thankfully steers clear of the obstacles, knows how to build the tension needed before the big breaking point and expertly separates the two episodes, not only in terms of lighting but also in the overall feeling, as the latter one resembles much more a deadly massacre than a legitimate fight. A notably striking moment is when a dazed Arya wakes up, covered in ash and painfully struggles to breathe and cough, a harrowing scene that manages to convey the utter devastation brought on the city.

Logics and time constraints were never the show's biggest strengths especially during later seasons but thankfully it was not as pronounced in this two installments. We've mentioned the Dothraki ride. Surprise, we learn later that half of them have magically survived their ill-advised first charge. Why was Ghost not with Jon ? Or the Starks ? Why hasn't anyone considered the crypts might not be safe ? And why didn’t the Starks say goodbye to one another ? How come Daenerys was able to take on the entire Iron Fleet, Golden Company and all the ballistae from King’s Landing if the previous episode showed that she was powerless against just the first ? Why did the soldiers unnecessarily kill civilians in King’s Landing ? These are legitimate but ultimately, minor concerns and thankfully they don’t detract nor do they mean that much in two episodes that had so much more to take care of. Most of these queries find an answer for Doylist if not Watsonian reasons. There had to be trouble in the crypt to give something to the main characters trapped there - even though most of the action scenes ended up cut. Arya sort of waltzed past the White Walkers unnoticed for the killing blow but that was the whole point of her training with the Faceless Men. Moving swiftly and silently is as much a skill she gained as wearing faces. And killing civilians in the heat of battle seems like an entirely possible thing, even it is horrible.

For whom the bell tolls

Thrones has arguably acquired a reputation for not shying away from killing off its main characters. Others have done it before and frankly, better. While that has been a staple of the show in its early years, it has largely avoided it in its later seasons, shielding its fan favorites with thick plot armor. So many times in The Long Night, viewers saw what could be the end of this or that character - except it wasn’t. As such, anticipation of a bloody final battle that would off many beloved characters was stunningly squashed when the dust finally settled and we ultimately bid farewell to important - but not vital - players. Perhaps that’s another way of subverting viewers’ expectations but it mainly leaves a sour taste of ‘really...?’ Perhaps this was done on purpose to better shock afterwards, given how The Bells subsequently played out. There’s no doubt now that characters like Jaime or the Hound escaped unscathed from the battle of Winterfell because they were needed for the sack of King’s Landing. But unless the finale surprises, the survival of others like Tormund, Pod or Brienne is quite dubious, given how their roles are essentially over.

But while the unceremonious killing of Rhaegal at the hands of Euron, a character so frustrating that seeing him be done with by Jaime was really THIS satisfying and Missandei’s death left a lot to be desired - most viewers expected half of the Missandei/Greyworm pairing to perish during The Long Night and were pleasantly surprised when both survived, only for her to die in such a disrespectful way in the next episode - the treatment of the casualties in The Bells is at least done properly and on this domain, The Long Night really wins. Melisandre, Edd, Beric, Theon, Lyanna Mormont and Jorah are really given time to make the most of their last - even if brief - moments, going out in respectful ways that complete nicely their arcs. Melisandre’s final appearance, in particular, signals a certain direction in the end of the overall story as it happens right after the annihilation of the most powerful supernatural force in Westeros, perhaps heralding the end of an era in which magic still played a large role. The acting must also be praised, especially on the part of Alfie Allen and Iain Glen who really shined in his last scenes with Emilia Clarke.

Sapochnik also deserves some recognition for his ability to strike a proper balance between battle scenes and more quiet moments, allowing character development in an otherwise epic but mostly dialogue-free spectacle. In doing so, he effectively avoids what he calls ‘battle fatigue’, the moment where audience becomes tired because a battle gets drawn out. No character feels left out although with a longer episode or season, we could have seen more of those we didn’t follow that much (Tormund, Pod, Gendry...); it is also a pity that scenes like Tyrion and Sansa killing wights ended up on the cutting floor but their interactions make up for it, offering the episode its best lines - and arguably its best character moments. The narrative naturally focuses on Jon and Daenerys as the leaders but in an interesting way, they are rendered pretty useless and relegated to the roles of helpers more than defining victors. But even so, the episode makes a point in checking with each major protagonist even for brief moments that nicely go beyond mere fighting (Greyworm being torn over abandoning his Unsullied men, Brienne and Jaime saving each other, the Hound’s fear of fire...) But the night ultimately belongs to two players; the Night King, who dominates the episode as he crushes Winterfell’s defences and thwarts off all attempts against him by both Jon and Daenerys, and Arya Stark, de facto Princess Who Was Promised.

The song of Ice

This season has largely respected Arya’s character development and storyline, tying it nicely into the current narrative and has finally started giving her some sense of humanity after the show had her dangling for way too long on the edge of becoming an emotionless killing machine. In addition to some callbacks to her past (’Stick them with the pointy end’, ‘What do we say to the God of Death?’, ‘Not today’) The Long Night continues Arya’s progress towards finding herself and in the process, manages to shift from mere spectacle to the continuation of a personal journey for a young woman who learns to fear Death once again, and reverts to fighting not just for the sake of fighting but for her life. Maisie Williams conveys this change well and the scene she spends in the Winterfell library is chilly enough to make you on edge. The beauty in this is that Arya’s intertwined storyline with other characters such as Beric and the Hound also furthers their own; the former fulfilling his destiny and the latter finally confronting his fear of fire for the affection he feels for his former protegée. Arya is thus the one to kill the Night King, a twist unpredicted by almost all (but as evidenced by Melisandre, foreshadowed) and very satisfying in terms of narrative because it nicely surprises viewers but also ties in with the character’s evolution. Arya has increasingly been vocal about the importance of her family; evidence of this is seen when she firmly stands by her sister this season. Had Jon done the deed and fought off the Night King, we would have been treated to a swordfight of epic dimensions but that would have ultimately detracted from what Arya’s presence brings. Not only does she use the Valyrian dagger that almost killed Bran - and started this whole series of unfortunate events - and use it with her signature move, but the show frames it as if she’s largely doing it for her brother who was seconds away from suffering an apathetic death. The look she gives him afterwards really conveys the love that Arya is finally feeling back for others. Family is however still not enough and it takes the Hound again to put Arya on the final steps of her path two episodes later.

The most recurring complaint about The Long Night was how quickly and sudden the threat of the Night King was dealt with. Most viewers agree that had more episodes been available, a season-long storyline dealing with the Long Night would have been possible, or even splitting the battle in two episodes. But we got what we got and yes, it was all over over the course of one night. A large amount of complaints have been directed at the fact this danger was presented to us in the very first scene of the show, how the White Walkers were seemingly the ultimate enemies to defeat, how in one episode it was all solved and how it was so easy to do so. That’s forgetting many things.

It's a show called Game of Thrones. Adapted from a series of books called A Song of Ice and Fire. So no, the threat of Ice was not the whole point of the show. Nor was it for the books - it's only half of it. And the show’s title only reminds all that the whole story revolves around that iron chair and who will get to sit on it in the end. The battle was certainly not easy and not quick. There was no doubt that good would prevail because the threat of Ice was always a ‘good versus evil’ ripoff. We knew they'd win. But it certainly wasn't an easy win and in saying that White Walkers were introduced since the beginning, viewers will need to remember what that implies; that they were there during the whole series and that each time they appeared they won. Hardhome? They won. Pursuing Bran and killing the Three Eyed Raven? They won. The Fist of the First Men? They won. The wight hunt? They won. Last Hearth? They won. So at this point, Winterfell WAS going to win. It might have taken a single night of resistance but it was the culmination of eight seasons of knowledge slowly gained to better understand them and give a proper fight and it wasn’t an easy process. Each former battle against the White Walkers (or any other battle during the course of Thrones for that matter) lasted several hours at most or less than a night. So did the Battle of Helm’s Deep. Expanding the time would perhaps have been more true to expectations and the stakes raised, but would have thrown the episode into the ‘battle fatigue’ effect Sapochnik and the producers wanted to avoid.

And once again, Game of Thrones pulls the rug under our feet. That's the beauty of it. The show has always been about subverting our expectations. By presenting Ice as the first real danger we were exposed to, it made sure that we'd focus on it and conveniently forget the other half. Just in time for ...

The song of Fire

George R.R. Martin has famously said that the title for his series is about the threats of ice on one side and fire on the other. Yet this has somehow eluded most viewers and the show played this at its advantage to pull off its most massive twist - hiding the fire part of the equation in plain sight and worse, having us root for it. And we thus come to the main complaint about The Bells - how ‘Dark Dany’ was out of character, character assassination or too rushed or too sudden. It was not. It's been staring at us since the beginning and we were all blinded. Feminism ! DRAGONS ! Female power ! Dracarys !

It's been executed in the most perverse, painful, knife-twisting manner and in some way, it's such a Game of Thrones move. That's the whole sadness of it. Back in the day, Lord Eddard's demise and the likes of the Red Wedding suddenly slapped viewers in the face all over the world and taught them what a classic Game of Thrones move was. From then on, we were on guard, ready for the most gut-wrenching plot twist and it kind of stripped the magic away. But surprise-killings aren’t the only way to hurt viewers and trick them. And now that the show pulls another twist of a different kind, we refuse to see for what it is. But the subtlety of it was laid out as early as Season 1. The evolution of Daenerys as a tragic character has been carefully crafted to be the biggest betrayal on the show. She starts off as a girl with no agency, sold into marriage and raped - ensuring our immediate sympathy. Then she turns the tables and proceeds to do it in a cool, badass way. And dragons are made to burn things right? So when it finally happens we're sold. She liberates slaves, she wants to create a better world, she keeps winning and winning and winning. What could possibly go wrong? Well, Westeros is what could go wrong. We've seen her storyline on a pretty constant rise all the way through Season 6, with only minor setbacks so it should follow logically - in terms of narrative excitement - that she would next fall. And indeed it is Season 7 that amped up the negative side of her character in a way previous seasons simply slipped it past us and that is generally then that the ‘Dark Dany’ theory picked up the most steam. The tragedy of Daenerys is that she's not an inherently bad person. Calling her Mad Queen is reductive and annihilates any complexity her character possesses but it is unfortunately a catchy nickname. But Daenerys is not mad. She is not crazy. But when she snaps she is not as sound and sane as she'd ideally be. She is the unfortunate product of her own storyline and that storyline is nothing but sad.

To comprehend why Daenerys has come to this point we need to remember that:

Burning has been a favorite thing of her since, well.. since her dragons could burn things. And even before. That's her favorite weapon, the one which always works and solves problems. That's also her strength as she subjugates people through fire. During her time in Essos most viewers had no issues with fire as a weapon. We had a mostly detached approach to it and we were concentrated on Daenerys' POV. And then Season 7 happened and suddenly we were on the other side - the receiving end of death by fire. And it was horrible. Yes she fights with dragons because she has them. Why not use them? That's her biggest asset. That's how she instills fear in people and how people instantly respect her because otherwise you’re roasted. Now fire as a weapon is an awful means but as demonstrated with wights it can be a positive thing. Just not on humans.

Burning cities is not a new idea. She has mentioned it as early as Season 2 at the gates of Qarth and it has appeared in conversations during Seasons 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Most of the time she refrained from it because she actually could not do it yet or because someone else talked sense into her.

She had everything and she lost everything. Her time in Essos shaped her, built her and it raised the bar too high for herself. As she said, she had love there - the slaves she liberated adored her, recognized her deeds and worshipped her. The cities she conquered, the Dothraki, the few people from Westeros who came to her to swear fealty, it all created a false sense of expectation of what would happen in Westeros once she set foot on it. Only it was the biggest disillusion of her life and the biggest irony. Exiled on a foreign continent where she rose the highest but didn't want to stay there and once she finally gets on the continent she wants to be on, it's all over. Jorah once suggested that she settle for a peaceful life far away and she refused. Already she set herself on her own fateful path.

She has come full circle to having no one. Throughout the whole show Daenerys built herself a second family consisting of people she trusted and who - unfortunately - propped her up more than they gave her real advise, fueling further her sense of entitlement. Daario encouraged her to execute people, Jorah and Ser Barristan admitted that innocents ought to die in wars and Missandei’s last words are nothing but the continuation of this trend, the latest in a series of ill-advised words of council. And now ? 'A Targaryen alone in the world is a terrible thing'. Season 8 has not been kind to Daenerys as she has lost Jorah, Missandei, her second dragon and half of her armies. Then she learns that the man she loves is actually another contender for the Throne and that perhaps he didn't love her at all. Her remaining counsellors, she doesn't trust or she doesn't listen to because they question her decisions or act in ways she doesn't approve, something she's not used to.

She feels betrayed by Jon. Their last scene together in Dragonstone seemingly puts an end to the relationship as Jon’s behavior reveals he cannot return her feelings - anymore? Or did he ever have feelings at all? Daenerys’ take on their couple was already flawed as she had no right to ask him to keep, not just any secret but his entire identity, hidden from his own cousins. But her final words to him - ‘All right then. Let it be fear’ - are revealing of her state of mind and her acceptance of the fact that if she can’t make people love her, they will at least fear her; words that are foreboding of what happens later and also to be contrasted with a famous quote - from the books - where Sansa thinks to herself ‘ If I am ever a queen, I'll make them love me’. Notice that in this episode she once again wears a three-headed dragon pin and chain and that her hair does not cover it anymore; she had it either hidden behind her hair or taken it off entirely in previous episodes.

She's unhinged. All of the factors mentioned above are enough to make somebody snap. Daenerys is a benevolent person at heart but her ambition has always been greater and her pursuit of the Throne has clearly overshadowed the better aspects of her personality for at least one season now. It's doubtful she came to King's Landing with the intention of killing thousands of innocents. But the culmination of her losses combined with her earlier resolution to revert to fear if she can't have love is enough to explain her behavior. Does it justify it ? No. But she is only a human after all.

That's not saying that is was executed perfectly either. It's no secret that Thrones had a big problem with time during its last two seasons and one can argue that crafting two shorter seasons was deliberately walking itself into these problems. While The Bells and The Long Night thankfully aren't affected that much, they suffer from the consequences of those time constraints. The battle against the White Walkers has been a sure thing since the beginning of the show. Yet the storyline finally started to really revolve around it only during two or three episodes at most. Arguably Jon's Season 7 storyline was all about it but the urgency of it only kicked in during Season 8 and compared with Daenerys' downfall, it was still spread throughout 3 episodes. The final unraveling of Daenerys essentially took place over the course of only one episode. That's not saying that the path wasn't laid out beforehand; just that some more time spent witnessing Daenerys go from bad to worse would have helped. At the end of The Last of the Starks Tyrion mentions that Jon will take weeks to reach the South. When The Bells begins he has arrived and we see Daenerys in the most despondent state we've ever seen her. Seeing that evolution would have been helpful.

Daenerys is in the end like all characters on the show, not entirely good and not entirely bad. She is capable of empathy, love, respect, kindness, fighting for goodness and at the same time, able to display ruthlessness, coldness, entitlement, stubborness, joy in inspiring fear in others and giving in her worst impulses. What makes the pill so hard to swallow is how Thrones portrayed her in the majority of its course before seemingly veering away a bit too abruptly. But the foundations were always there; Thrones just chose to carefully disguise or mask them until the very end. The choice will likely remain controversial in the years to come. And that’s not even the first time that happens. During Season 7, Arya and Sansa were stuck in a badly received plot which seemingly pitted sister against sister before it was revealed in the season finale that this was actually a big play to corner and execute Littlefinger. On paper, the trick must have worked wonderfully; on screen, it was at best frustrating, at worse infuriating because the reveal only came at the end, which hardly helped explain the Stark daughters’ actions all season long. Daenerys’ turn is only a larger example of this, spread throughout the whole series instead of a season.

Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves

Fans of Revenge will be familiar with this quote but one can’t help but think of it; it actually applies well for The Bells as a nice way to analyse how different characters behave in the episode.

The most obvious example is for the Hound and the Mountain who finally come to the long overdue Cleganebowl. The final face off between the two brothers has been a long foreshadowed event, anticipated for seasons now and a rather thick plot armor that shielded the Hound from any untimely demise he might have suffered otherwise. With so many expectations regarding this specific fight, it thankfully delivers but it's the end that is the most surprising. The Hound has gone through one of the most beautiful character developments on the show to the point of him becoming a fan favorite. So of course against the Mountain we naturally root for him. And he is ultimately stronger than his brother. Unfortunately for him, few things can kill his zombie sibling now. But the climax of the fight is one that ultimately is a sad, though fitting one for the Hound. Losing him hurts but beyond that, one must recognize there was no other ending for him. The man was not a good man. A flawed one, a redeemed one? For sure but as he told Arya, he's been consumed with revenge all his life. His whole existence was built towards one goal - killing his brother. Confucius’ philosophy applies here; the Mountain would have died like Cersei regardless of the manner. But the Hound was so consumed with it he couldn't let go of it. That the two characters die together is a testament of how intertwined they were; that they tumble down into a brazier is ironic and puzzling given the character's fear of fire but one can indeed read this as poetic as well.

In the end, the Hound was destined to die. More than Jaime - who had a shot at surviving beyond these final battles - the character had literally no purpose for the aftermath. He had made peace with those most important to him (Arya, Sansa, Beric, Tormund), learnt and accepted that he could fight for good and come to the closest thing to love for another being he could achieve. The climax of his overall arc comes through a touching scene with Arya to whom he imparts this piece of wisdom on revenge, and in the process finally restores some humanity to the girl who had come so close to become an emotionless killing machine, as consumed with vengeance as he was. She in turn calls his name for the first time, signifying his importance to her. Arya has been without any parents, without any guiding figure for a long time, during what should have been her most crucial, formative years. Sandor was perhaps the closest thing she had as a father figure - not an ideal one but one nonetheless.

Furthermore, the contrast between Arya who chooses to give up on her quest for revenge and Daenerys who instead gives in, is food for thought, especially ahead of the series finale. Another character we should be worried about is the grief-stricken Greyworm who throws whatever is left of his soul into the battle for his Queen, mercilessly slaughtering foes who had literally surrendered before his eyes. And the Northern forces, so far portrayed as good, are seen participating alongside foreign warriors in arguably Westeros’ most horrifying event since the first sack of King’s Landing. Jon, who gets a jolt of character consistency back, unsuccessfully tries to restrain his men, being noticed in the process by Greyworm. He goes on to save a woman from being raped by one of his own men, in a scene curiously reminiscent of the Hound’s rescue of Sansa during her near-rape scene in Season 2. In any case, the series finale will show us how Greyworm’s story ends but from what viewers can see, it’s not going to be pretty.

The things we do for love

In an episode that features another pair of siblings reuniting for a different purpose, a nice contrast can be drawn with the Lannister siblings. Similarly to Daenerys’ treatment, Jaime and Cersei's ending drew controversy as to how the deed happened and how their character development seemingly flew out of the window. Viewers were arguably distraught over Jaime's actions in The Last of the Starks where he seemingly completed his journey away from his sister by finally getting with Brienne, the one character instrumental to his redemption, only to leave her at the end of the same episode (though they will want to remember again that the episode spanned over several weeks). It was difficult to accept that after so much time building up his redemption, so much difficulty to get away from Cersei, the show would revert to push him back into this toxic relationship.

But that's forgetting who Jaime is as a character and that's also forgetting what show we are watching. Like the Hound, Jaime is not a good man. A redeemed man ? Yes, we could arguably give him that. But if we need it (and we do) he reminds us himself; he is a man who pushed a boy and crippled him for life, a man who murdered his own kin, was willing to kill thousands, just to get back to his sister/lover. This is a man who also saved millions of lives (and though he somehow proceeds to tell us he never cared for others, it curiously does not contradict it that much; one is perfectly capable of not caring for others while at the same time recognizing that genocide is inherently a bad thing), a man with a code of conduct, a man of honor and this duality in the character is its whole richness. A Jaime that finally lands on one of the two sides loses its appeal. The Jaime that ends up happily ever after with Brienne, a woman he recognizes is a better match for him, is nothing but wishful thinking. There was never going to be a happy ending for him because he is far too complex a character to have a fully defined ending. He is hateful like his sister, hateful of himself and he feels he hasn't earned his happy ending and he's right. His last act is one of love though, as he makes sure Brienne does not follow him into the grave, even if that hurts her in the process.

Ultimately, Jaime is not the Valonqar, the little brother who would slay Cersei. He doesn't return to King's Landing to finish her, he returns to King's Landing to be with her. Because in the end, that's the essence of the two of them. Come into the world together, gone from the world together - fitting and poetic. The relationship was toxic but as many have pointed out, the longest and most stable in the entire series and however damaging it is, such a relationship is hard to get rid of. The show ironically follows a rather realistic approach here. In an episode that features Thrones' own version of the end of the world as they know it, Jaime and Cersei dying together is very much in line with who they are as characters. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Lena Headey's acting once again must be commended because they really sold it this well. Headey remains Thrones’ most powerful actress, gradually going from confident and - as always - blind to what literally happens before her eyes to a sad, despondent state as realization finally creeps in. Interestingly (or perhaps intentionally) this specific episode portrays Cersei in a rather sympathetic light (notice that nowhere during this episode does she wear the crown or her armor), the image of a woman who sees the last of her world crumbling down, which draws viewers' pity on a character previously so reviled due to her past actions they wished her dead sooner rather than later. And yet, during this penultimate episode she seemed rather powerless to do anything about the inferno that rained down from the sky.

Here be dragons, fire and blood

That the episode is so well-crafted and enthralling helps hide the weaknesses in these developments. When focusing on the characters only, Jaime and Cersei ending together is fitting. Narratively and in terms of the wider story, it seems to make little sense, that much everyone agrees on. Or does it? Quid of the younger more beautiful Queen? What of the prophecy that said Cersei would be undone by her brother? Well, if we want to twist the facts, Jaime did lead his sister under the city where they died when everything crumbled around them so in a way, he is responsible for her death and so is Tyrion who freed his brother in another instance of ‘things we do for love’ so that he could join their sister. The scene in question is a reverse of the one where Jaime previously set Tyrion free at the end of Season 4, with both times, the former prisoner going on to kill a family member, directly or not. But Cersei deserved more than this kind of death. One could draw a parallel between her most infamous action - incinerating her enemies trapped in an exploding building - and the fact that she now dies trapped in a crumbling structure, a parallel that brings The Bells even closer to The Winds of Winter when you remember that the last time bells rang in King’s Landing, it was also to signal the beginning of an unknown yet horrific event.

But that's hardly enough. A gruesome execution was not necessary as wished by some fans - indeed, an execution by Daenerys would have been too much and once again, the show keeps in line in denying us and the characters what they want - but a death more fitting for the character would have been preferred. Cersei was never a warrior. She took down her enemies through scheming, and devious plans. She relied on her wits. That in the end she would be taken down by an enemy that proved too great for her was a given but most fans bet on Tyrion or Sansa who also use their intelligence to outdo their foes, which would neatly explain why these two reconnected and were put on the bench during The Long Night, and why their action scenes were cut - because they were to be instrumental in the downfall of their mutual enemy. They also would have tied nicely into the prophecies surrounding Cersei, Tyrion as the Valonqar and Sansa as the younger more beautiful Queen. And what an absolute irony that would have been if Cersei had somehow groomed her replacement herself. A final confrontation between Cersei and Sansa would have been fantastic. Instead, the show pits Cersei against an enemy she is not on equal footing with, the cinematography illustrating it quite literally as the screen alternates between two women dressed in red, one high in her castle, the other even higher on the back of her dragon. Cersei dies, not at the direct hands of any of her brothers, nor those of Sansa or Arya (whose presence in the city is in the end, not to kill Cersei but to amplify the empathy we feel for the inhabitants that she joins in trying to escape the burning capital), and not even those of Daenerys. But the result is quite straightforward; for all the preparation, all the fighting back, all the defence you can do, all the mercenaries the Iron Bank (remember that ?) can get you, you're no match for a dragon. How frustrating.

Let's stop and talk about those dragons now. If Drogon alone is capable of removing all the ballistae and the entire Iron Fleet by himself, what was the point of killing Rhaegal then ? Evening the odds is not even a working answer now since we can see that even down to one dragon, Daenerys is clearly overpowered. In doing so, we're treated to a frustrating, illogical death and we're denied a more proper death during The Long Night (if Rhaegal really had to die) or a Dance of Dragons with Jon claiming him (what was the point of Jon flying him if it didn't come into the plot later on?) and fighting off with his aunt. The so-called Dance of Dragons, over which so many fans theorized for years, has instead been adapted for The Long Night as a fight between two surviving dragons and their undead sibling. [Let’s pause a bit now. At some point, Drogon and Rhaegal are flying through a storm and nearly crash into each other, conveying the sense of disorientation and blindness surrounding them. How cool would it have been if we then saw Viserion fly by, circling them but only seen in glimpses?] In any case, the fight-off happens and the whole sequence deserves high praise. Sapochnik’s use of close shots is smart and the night setting does really help - some wider shots in subsequent episodes taking place in daylight betray the use of green screen - but it’s really the sound department that has to be commended for effectively conveying the violence of a gruesome fight and generating empathy for a fantastical CGI beast crash-landing in pain.

And another one behind whom to rally

Aside from Miguel Sapochnik who made the best direction possible for these two episodes, there is at least one other man fans will agree has been consistently good and that man is Ramin Djawadi. Thrones' composer has elevated the music each year and this final season is no exception. The new piano piece The Night King has already shot up to stand firmly beside Light of the Seven as another one of Djawadi's iconic pieces, widely recognized as an instant masterpiece that really did serve the episode well, even if it apparently bears some resemblance to the man's work on Westworld. Piano has been used sparsely in the show, appearing for the first time for Light of the Seven, a cue so widely praised and recognized it generates far more applause during the live concerts that the composer performs than any other cue. Its use here signals once again that something is going on. Like Light of the Seven, The Night King builds slowly to its climax but where we diverge is that in the former, the end is already known as Cersei's wildfire plan is divulged on screen, whereas in the latter we have no idea if the Night King is going to kill Bran or not. It's another proof of the excellence Djawadi offers on the show. The rest is equally thrilling, with the use of electronics and drums to underscore the battle scenes - instruments largely unfamiliar to aficionados of Thrones’ much more violin-dominated score. Djawadi has come a long way since the beginning of the series. Now at the end of it, he has no difficulties in proving his mastery of the themes he composed, effortlessly blending and intertwining them at will. Needle, Ironborn, Vaes Dothrak, Dracarys, Lord of Light... all these character cues appear at one point during The Long Night whether subtly or taking the front, rising dramatically throughout the episode before its stunning conclusion.

But if The Long Night arguably boasts from featuring The Night King, Djawadi's Season 8 masterpiece, The Bells displays another range of the man's skills. In this crucial episode where so many characters take turning points, Djawadi shows how shrewd he is and - in a poignant and devastating way - how easily he can manipulate music at will to serve the story. With Daenerys' dedicated cues, Djawadi apparently - knowingly or unknowingly - participated in the series-long deceit over the character. The score for Daenerys mirrors her journey in the show, starting quiet during Season 1 before gradually growing, incorporating more and more militaristic drums and grand fanfares. It has been instrumental in pushing viewers in one direction - the one where Daenerys was believed to be the hero of the story. Djawadi's score in Season 7 - the beginning of the end for Daenerys - continues to illustrate the point. Most of the character's musical cues continue the trend of majestic grandeur and heroic action while also introducing the beautiful Truth theme but it's in The Spoils of War - the sole Daenerys cue underscoring her so far only real war interaction with Westeros - that things become interesting. During the scene, Daenerys' forces fight against the Lannister armies and while it is a resounding victory for Daenerys, the score pushes viewers to an unsettling feeling as it intertwines Daenerys' triumphant cues with a more sorrowful rendition of The Rains of Castamere. Viewers are meant to sympathize with Daenerys' foes and the show clearly frames the horror that has been unleashed upon them by lingering on shots of people dying in atrocious pain as they burn alive. For the first time, Djawadi starts directing the audience somewhere else. Where the music seemingly follows what the show went for is the prominent use of positive music revolving around Daenerys while offering literally no negative counterpart. Furthermore, Djawadi is no stranger in using silence in the show, usually following a very intense moment, as a way for viewers to process the action on screen. But silence is as meaningful in other areas and Djawadi expertly knows when to use it. Notice in Season 7 how Truth permeates literally every scene Jon and Daenerys share - a not so subtle way of presenting their love story. In Season 8, the theme returns once in the first episode. Afterwards, nearly all of their scenes together are silent. Djawadi refrains to score them to convey the message that these are no more romantic, that there is no positive subtext there. The cleverness of the process is that Djawadi never tried to help presenting any negative Daenerys scene too overtly. Looking back to Season 7 for example, none of her scenes where she appears in a rather negative light (not listening to her counsellors, her stiff first meeting with Jon, her threatening Varys...) are scored, or otherwise they feature only small unsignificant variations. Djawadi uses silence instead of an overtly negative version of her themes, a cunning way to serve the story's interest in not alerting viewers of Daenerys' downsides. In The Bells, he finally allows himself to twist his themes into deformed, unsettling, almost malevolent versions. Truth thus returns in an altered state that conveys no romance at all anymore and Daenerys' learning of Varys' betrayal is underscored by an eerie take on her former theme Reign. In doing so, Djawadi's music mirrors the path the show took for Daenerys' character arc - deceiving viewers during almost the entirety of the show by amping up Daenerys' positive aspects while refraining from overtly showing the rest, only to finally unleash it at the very end.

What's interesting in The Bells, when compared to The Spoils of War, is that Bells removes Daenerys' POV completely the moment she starts burning the city. This is mostly done to side almost exclusively with the citizens of King's Landing and the protagonists who must survive the catastrophe (Arya, Jon, Cersei, Jaime...) whereas Spoils still balanced between Daenerys' POV and the Lannisters' POV, which allowed Djawadi to mix the triumph of the former with the sad ending of the latter. In The Bells, the sacking of King's Landing is entirely scored by sad, tragic variations of character themes with a minimum use of battle score since this is actually no battle. There is thus no victorious cue either. Instead, the score focuses on the Lannisters, the Hound and Arya. Jon’s theme is also absent, signifying his current state of mind and the uncertainty about who he is. The Rains of Castamere and Light of the Seven notably return with new variations that add a sense of tragedy and ending romance that really help the last scenes Jaime and Cersei share together. I Choose Violence accompany Cleganebowl and Jon sounding retreat features a desperate version of the main theme while Goodbye Brother's sorrowful notes end the episode as Arya, free of her desire of vengeance, can finally be Arya Stark again before seguing into a mashup of the Lannister theme again during the credits. For all the controversy surrounding the episode, Djawadi unanimously displays masterful work.

In the end, The Long Night and The Bells may go down amongst the most divisive episodes of Game of Thrones. They may be the flawed culmination of the show's main arcs, defying expectations in thrilling, exciting but also painful, twisting ways but they definitely represent what Game of Thrones is - a global phenomenon that went far beyond anything that could have been predicted and which will inevitably please some and disappoint an even greater amount of others. ‘If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention’, Ramsey once told us. This should be a guiding thread for the final surviving characters' storylines and make us wary for the series finale.

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radioactivespidey · 4 years

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So… what is the Ace Tower AU?

So. The beginning to this AU is that Tony doesn’t actually die, the Infinity Gauntlet just takes a lot out of him.

Steve and Bucky get together, there’ll be more on both of these alternate endings in the next section.

And then the Avengers all kind of go their separate ways, and it’s truthfully a rather sad goodbye because they had bonded so much and they truly are a family.

So they’re apart for a couple months.

Until Tony finally, finally is able to go out in the world again. And he realizes he misses his family. Not Morgan and Pepper, but his family of a bunch of idiots who have laughed together, cried together, and fought together.

So. He buys a building.

He calls it Ace Tower and spends the next couple weeks designing it carefully and lovingly, and then he calls up the Avengers. And he asks them to move in with him.

He even chokes up a bit when he tells them how much he misses them, and then they’re all kind of sniffling and laughing into the phone with teary eyes and Scott is the first one to speak: “I think I speak for all of us when I say hell yeah.”

The next couple weeks are busy and insane, with the Avengers gradually moving in, showing up with boxes of stuff and their family behind them (Tony made it very, very clear that family was more than welcome) and huge smiles on their faces and each of them hugs Tony tight when they see him. And in three weeks they’re all there and they get a tour of the absolutely huge building with Pepper guiding them and you can hear kids laughing and wine glasses clinking and the soft murmur of significant others conversing and Tony just grins to himself and thinks- yeah. This is home.

Below is an image of what I like to think Ace Tower looks like- maybe a little fancier and shinier and it’s in the middle of nowhere, not surrounded by other buildings.

How do Endgame and Far From Home fit into this?

Literally everything in the MCU storyline up until Tony’s snap is the same. (Actually, that’s not true. I love Loki with my whole heart so let’s just say he’s still alive and it turns out he faked his death the whole time or something. This might not even be a headcanon, I have literally no idea if he’s still alive or not but his series makes it seem as if he is?? Who knows.) This whole AU starts with Tony not dying (yay!!). He does the snap and it takes a lot out of him and he goes unconscious, and everyone seriously thinks he’s going to die, but they manage to get him to a doctor in time and his severe wounds are treated.

So he is basically shoved into bedrest for weeks, and he heals and decides to retire from being Iron Man- he just wants to spend time with his family and friends.

Steve returns all the stones but comes back and as soon as he steps out of the portal he kisses Bucky, and the latter is shocked because he totally thought that Steve would spend the rest of his life with Peggy. But they both confess their love to each other literally right in front of everyone and it’s mushy and happy and they’d be lying if they said they didn’t cry.

That’s basically it for Endgame. FFH is about the same, but Tony isn’t dead, he just is not Iron Man anymore. This keeps the whole thing in FFH about who the next Iron Man is going to be, with Peter feeling pressured and missing Tony’s advice the whole time. Tony still gives EDITH to Peter (but would it be called EDITH if he’s not dead? ERITH? Even Retired I’m The Hero?) and Peter still makes the dumb mistake of giving the glasses to Mysterio, but it’s alright because it’s all resolved in the end. Basically right after FFH, maybe a couple weeks later, Tony asks the gang to move in.

We’re gonna pretend the mid-credit scene of FFH didn’t happen because… that is a major anxiety stressor. Or if it did happen, everything got fixed in a matter of hours. I’ve heard that this happens in the comics and Dr. Strange swoops in and somehow everything gets resolved and Peter’s identity is intact- I have no idea how true this is, but let’s say that it did happen for the sake of my sanity. I just. I worry over Peter, okay? He’s been through enough.

What headcanons and ships are in this AU?

The main ships are Peter/MJ and Steve/Bucky. There’s a little bit of Thor/Bruce (because it’s an absolutely underrated ship) but it’s not central at all. There is also Tony/Pepper, but that doesn’t count because it’s already canon. To be honest, none of these ships are that important to the AU, if you take them out it would still be about exactly the same, I just really like those ships.

The headcanons aren’t that many, it’s mostly just me desperately trying to make up for the queerbaiting/lack of LGBT+ rep in the MCU lmao. I am a fierce lover of trans + bi Peter, so that is included in the story, as well as Steve being bi, Bucky being gay or bi, Nat being lesbian (why do I love that so much?), etc. Just like the ships, they aren’t central or that important to the AU, I just enjoy envisioning the characters that way. I’m just really really really hoping Marvel gives Valkyrie a girlfriend, at least.

I also headcanon Bucky, Steve, and Peter to have PTSD and/or anxiety, as well as Tony of course. I just really need my mental health rep, y’all. Peter has been through so much, you cannot tell me he doesn’t have PTSD and anxiety because I’ll sigh extremely deeply. And it might come off this way, so I just want to say that I am not romanticizing mental illnesses, I just cope with them myself and having my favorite characters share some of that burden with me would be really cool. So. Yeah. I like to think that the four of them help each other out when they’re having depressive episodes or panic attacks or such.

But yeah. Those are most of the headcanons and such in this AU. I have quite a few minor ones but I am not going to waste anyone’s time by listing them. And if you want to hop on this “I hate the Endgame ending and since Marvel isn’t fixing it by God I’ll do it myself” bandwagon with me, feel free to come up with your own ships and headcanons. This AU was made to fill in all the gaps and come up with alternate endings for the characters. It’s a place to let your imagination run wild. If you want Natasha to run away and become a world-renowned chef, go for it, you know?

Ace Tower Layout:

It’s on this huge isolated field that has plenty of backyard space for stupid shenanigans, soccer goals and balls shoved up in one corner and ten barbecue grills and a vegetable garden that Bruce takes care of lovingly. There’s even a pool where a lot of crazy things happen.

There are ten floors, and there is a very helpful and speedy elevator to take them places. It is big and strong enough that Bruce doesn’t have to take the stairs, which he is very thankful for.

- Level 1: nothing much, just a sitting area and a scanner so only authorized people can pass through.

- Level 2: the labs, where all the nerds spend time. There’s plenty of high-tech gear and lab equipment to play around with and when Peter can’t sleep and wakes up with panic attacks he and Tony go down there and just tinker with things while Aunt May sits down with a good book and watches them with an incredibly fond smile on her face.

- Level 3: the gym and training room. There’s exercise equipment and also just a huge mat to spar and train. Natasha beats almost everyone who steps on that mat with her. Sometimes they have competitions where they’re allowed to fight dirty and use their powers and that is when it gets really chaotic.

- Level 4: the living room, it’s basically like a home theater and it’s stuffed with couches and pillows and blankets. They have a projector that shows the movie on an entire wall and they have movie nights with all the Avengers every Friday. A huge stack of board games is in one corner and there are five microwaves and hundreds of microwaveable popcorn packets and when someone brings in M&Ms all hell breaks loose.

- Level 5: the kitchen. Everyone has a kitchenette in their little apartment but they like spending time in the kitchen because there’s always someone there. It’s truly gigantic and sometimes they hold actual baking competitions, where they split into teams and have like three hours to make a giant wedding cake and it is insanely chaotic but by the end all of their stomachs hurt from laughing so much. They have dinner together every night, and it’s a time that they all look forward to.

- Level 6 and on are where the Avengers live. Each floor is separated into about 2-3 apartments (depending on how many people live on that floor), each one made especially for the person/family that lives there (Tony really outdid himself).

- Level 6: Apartment #1 is occupied by Scott, Hope, and Cassie (Cassie spends time with Jim and Maggie every two weeks, they are all a very happy family and Cassie loves Hope to death). Apartment #2 is occupied by Clint and his family. The two families actually get along very well.

- Level 7: Apartment #1 is occupied by Rhodey. Apartment #2 is occupied by Doctor Strange.

- Level 8: Apartment #1 is occupied by Steve and Bucky. Apartment #2 is occupied by Sam. Apartment #3 is occupied by Natasha. They absolutely love their floormates (is that even a word) and Sam and Bucky have the best rivalry with each other. They usually end up arm wrestling with Steve and Natasha watching in the background, the former with a look of horror and the latter with a huge smile on her face.

- Level 9: This level is kind of weird. Bruce almost has the entire floor to himself since he is a very big guy, but there is also a guest room section for when Thor and Loki decide to drop by (Loki and the people of Asgard never died OKAY they just relocated). Bruce is always super happy to see Thor and eventually he becomes good friends with Loki once he stops turning himself into a snake.

- Level 10: Apartment #1 is occupied by Tony, Pepper, and Morgan. Apartment #2 is occupied by May and Peter.

What am I going to do with this AU?

Honestly? I have no clue.

To be honest, chances are that this idea is not original at all and there about a hundred other variations of this exact same AU. If there are, I’m sorry, I didn’t know, I just want these characters to be happy.

I highly highly doubt that this AU will get attention anyway. The only reason why I’m making a Tumblr page for this is just to keep all my ideas in one place and to have a site to direct any friends to if they ask about this.

I might write some fics for this (shameless plug: my ao3 user is coffeebiscuits and I have only one MCU related fic up there [it’s Stucky- big surprise, right?] but I am working on others alright?) or maybe write even more headcanons. I might just never touch this AU again and revisit it in 5 years and cringe. We’ll see.

But- whether you are one of my poor friends that I dumped this AU on or some random person that stumbled upon this- if you have any ideas or suggestions for this AU or where to go with it, please please talk to me! Either on here or on insta, where I am @radioactivelatte (I gotta stop with this self promo). Just talk to me about any ideas, or just Marvel, or your day. I don’t know. My dm’s are always open, though.

So that’s it! That’s the basic information for this AU. I have a ton of headcanons and little storylines for this, and I might put them up here just for fun, who knows? Or if I ever write a fic that’s based on this, I’ll put a link for that up here as well.

Stick around for more news if you want. Or don’t. I don’t control you.

-ethan

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dcmeterwrites · 5 years

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oh boy, did you get inbar lavi for an eight a.m.? wait no, that’s ZAIRA KASEN. i heard the thirty three year old is a professor who gives a pretty tough lecture in political science. she tries to be inquisitive and self-sufficient but on the stressful days, she’s scornful and hubristic. when she gets a chance to relax, catch her at the local bar listening to o.d.d. by hey violet.

— RUNDOWN.

full name: zaira kasen

name meaning: dawn

 date of birth: april 22nd

place of birth: new york city, u.s.a.

 age: 33

 star sign:  taurus

 department: political science

specialisation: international relations and diplomacy, conflict resolution

alma mater: columbia university

alignment: true neutral

mbti: intj

spoken languages: english ( native speaker ), hebrew ( fluent ), french ( fluent ), spanish ( proficient ), mandarin ( intermediate )

mother’s name: tamara kasen

father’s name: isaac giroux

siblings, if any: samuel giroux

birth order: older twin

height: 5′3″

hair colour: dark brown

eye colour: hazel

— BACKSTORY.

zaira was born into a family that was always on the brink of comfort. her mother worked for an insurance firm, and her father worked as a freelance writer. the couple earned just enough to not be classified as struggling, but not enough to feel comfortable. they had planned for just one kid, but two were born. zaira holds that her brother was the accident, because she’s the elder twin.

but two kids instead of one put pressure on the family. small disturbances would rock them. medical bills, a tyre puncture. just when things seemed like they were looking up, like they could get something special for rosh hashanah, but something would always interrupt.

so growing up, zaira was constantly feeling the air prickle with unease. they could never be too indulgent, never get what they wanted, because it was quite possible that tragedy would strike any time. the household being stressful meant that fights were common, sometimes with breaking plates or slammed doors.

she was always the quiet one compared to her brother, and therefore, she had to be the one that silently bore all the abuse while he acted out, and she was the only one that stayed at home to wipe her mother’s tears. that was her from the start, always doing everything that she had to, and then some.

in school, she may as well have not existed. always at the back of every class, catching up on studying she couldn’t do because she was washing dishes and putting out the clothes. but her grades weren’t just alright — they were good. unusually good, especially given how little time she had to study.

socially, though, she was very anxious. flinched at physical touch, hated confrontation, and could barely get out a sentence longer than ten words without tripping up and apologising. she had few friends, rarely participated in class, never went to parties.

her brother moved out of her life around the age of seventeen, and decided that he was going to start some kind of business with his computer geek friends. good riddance, zaira said. the same year, her parents divorced, after all those years of heaving and huffing. from zaira giroux, she became zaira kasen.

her last year of high school was going to be the end of her. she had to work harder at school to get to her dream university, the city university of new york, and she had to help her mum, get her sats prepped, work a delivery job on the weekends, and so on and so forth. she began to smoke, during this time, just to get a release.

one day in october, during her senior year, changed her life. as was occasionally custom in high schools in her area, the government loved conducting a good old talent search to look for bright young minds to sponsor and feel better about themselves for. the first and only qualification was an iq test administered to all the students of her high school.

she took it. big deal.

a week later, she received a long letter in the mail from the mayor of new york’s office. she’d scored 142 on the iq test, indicative of an abnormally high capacity for logical reasoning. she was given a felicitation by the city of new york — and more importantly than that, she was given the option to attend a far better school with fifty percent of the tuition fees slashed — if only she got the sat score and the gpa for it.

and she did. it was goodbye cuny — and hello, columbia university. to her at the time, it seemed like things, in general, were settled forever.

wrong. pretty wrong. the circles at columbia were completely different from what she’d ever had to know. rich, white, male, powerful. it was the clearest signal in the world — the demure, passive zaira wasn’t going to cut it. she would never be given any shred of respect if she didn’t earn it.

and so she changed. it wasn’t even very gradual. she forced herself to speak louder, to be aggressive, to make sure everyone knew that she was present and a force to reckon with. it was difficult, but by the time she graduated, she was a different woman, much more hardened.

but she wasn’t yet where she is today. that only happened when she joined work with the united states foreign service, another arena full of old men that thought they knew best. not to mention that if work was hard, navigating the political drama was even harder.

here, she bloomed. zaira kasen proved herself to be the perfect diplomat. ever charming, ever tactful, and most importantly, unwilling to take no for an answer. over the span of ten years, she rose through the ranks to become a delegate of the united states to the united nations.

because she attended most of the parties intended for the political hotshots of new york, she came across several acquaintances, men and women that she would meet, look pretty around, and then never think about again. one of these was amelia temperley, famed actress, wife of the attorney general of new york at the time.

another name among the people she met was robert gaskarth, personal aide to the undersecretary-general. he was older, he was likely not wiser, but at the time, he looked like a shiny new car. handsome, very well-read and travelled, loaded with a dynasty to boot. it was clear that he thought zaira was beautiful — and what else he thought of her was never really relevant.

they married when she was 26, because it was easy, because he laughed at her jokes and he said that her observations were insightful and that she was likely to become ambassador someday — and it was convenient, they both were in new york, working in the same place, and already known to the public.

married life was a dream.

that was the exact opposite of the thought zaira had while laying in bed with another man — not that she was to blame, you didn’t need a private investigator to know that robert wasn’t being faithful either. but neither of them spoke to the other about it. their stares over dinner, across a ballroom, in the cab rides home, were a peace treaty: you do what you want, i’ll do what i want, and we both keep up the show for the cameras.

again, this system worked. worked really well for nearly a year, until she was thirty. then she was passed up for a promotion and it struck her like lightning — she was settling. she was making do. she was compromising.

and for a diplomat — zaira really hates compromises.

it was like ripping off a bandaid. once upon a time, a divorce after just three years may have looked messy on a public official’s track record, but this was 2016. there was a whole lot worse going on in the world. it was done and dusted in two months.

and zaira threw herself into doing the absolute most at work. taking on all the new missions, overloading herself with coffee and paperwork, in the hope that a mission reassignment or promotion would be exactly what she needed to convince herself that the marriage thing was a horrible idea.

be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it. just about eight months prior to the present, zaira was invited to head an observer mission to crimea, a very significant opportunity. with no husband to hold her back, she was off.

two weeks went by, and they were difficult, but fine. food was awful, stay kept shifting, it was impossible to go anywhere without getting your bags checked. but y’know, this was the job description, and it was all good.

what wasn’t in the job description was being held hostage by armed vigilantes for 72 hours. what wasn’t in the job description was having a gun pointed to her head. what definitely wasn’t in the job description was having to see and hear a close-range shootout.

she couldn’t do it. she simply could not do it anymore. it took one letter to her boss and a permanent sabbatical to help her get her shit together. a month off with some therapy was enough to get her back on — some track, even if it wasn’t the one she was on earlier. in the meantime, bills had to be paid.

an offer had come, buried in her inbox under a list of work e-mails — an invite to give a guest lecture on international relations at riverbank university. zaira’d never travelled further south of washington d.c., so she figured it would be a change of scene.

and it was. the university campus was so different from her sterile, sly workplace with its mundane reports and routines and its utter disregard for the world outside the glass walls. here, people cared, people shouted and cheered, students banded together to discuss ideas that hadn’t yet been stamped out by cynicism.

perhaps it was an impulse decision. she’s lived to think of it as somewhat of a necessary evil. but she asked if she could stay.

and here she is, one of the newest additions to the riverbank faculty, in her impeccable blouse and skirt, with an hot coffee in hand, ready to change the world — or at least, engage with minds that might save the world, if they survive the keg stand they’re going to attempt at the next kappa rager.

zaira knows this is beneath her, something many colleagues have pointed out over the course of falsely concerned emails. and it’s eating away at her too, knowing that there’s probably something more meaningful out there. she’s not going to stop looking for something better — because that’s all she does.

that being said, she doesn’t really find the time these days, in between woodrow wilson and hans morgenthau, who so many people grossly misunderstand—

#* introduction.#* introduction / zaira kasen.#* of thick skin and sharp edges ; she's a pill hard to swallow / zaira kasen.

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puppypadrepatton · 6 years

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When Things Get Rough Chapter 2

Warning: Suicide mention, panic attack mention, and some bullying and low key hints at abuse to Virgil, i.e. my headcannons. Overall could be triggering. mild ly bad language

Reblogs and comments are much appreciated

Word count: 2050

Headcannons/ Prologue / <Previous / Next>

Sometimes, the darkest night can get darker.

It took Virgil a while to process. By the end of the day, it still seemed surreal to him. To Virgil, Patton would be there on Tumblr awaiting new jokes and memes or fan theories he loved, but Virgil knew better than to believe it. As he was walking from the school to the busses, a teacher walked over and pulled him aside.

“Are you Virgil Williams?” she said, a pained look in her eyes.

“Am I in trouble?” he asked. She shook her head and began to explain.

She talked about the letters specifically. She mentioned how there was one was for him, one for Roman, one for Logan, and one for his family and everyone else. She talked about how Patton had said that he hated how Roman and Virgil fought, splitting him onto two separate teams both run by his closest friends. Patton had even stated how close he and Virgil actually were and how he “had to keep it from his best friend, Roman".

Virgil's thoughts wandered to his own letter as the teacher rambled on about the public one. His letter was still sealed and barely touched. Virgil couldn't open it until his brain caught up with what was happening.

“So please, come with me Virgil.” She wrapped her arm around his and pulled his arm.

Virgil winced from the pain. Underneath his dark sleeves was a fresh bruise from the night before. “Okay,” he said, following after her to try not cause more pain. At least this would give him an excuse to get home later. On their way to her final destination, they stopped and grabbed Roman Prince. She pulled Roman as Virgil silently followed after.

She forced the two into a classroom and blocked the doorway. “Okay, you boys get along. I'll be right next door so if you need anything I’m right here. You have to leave around 7 because students aren't allowed on grounds after 7. Stay as long as you need to finish this!” she smiled, her voice dripping with false enthusiasm. She dropped a small collection of colored pens and pencils atop an even smaller set of note cards on a nearby desk and stepped back and closed the door.

Why the fuck did it have to be the classroom with no windows. Virgil’s mind raced with memories and thoughts too fast for him to keep up. “Fuck fuck fuck fuck…” Virgil trailed, feeling his body starting to shake. He looked around and found a cleared corner that he ran to. He tried grounding himself, using his legs to push him further into the corner as he closed his eyes. Memories flooded through and making him tear up and in front of his nemesis nonetheless.

“Hey, are you okay? Any more of a chemically imbalanced romance than normal?” Roman gave a small laugh at his own joke and smiled, then got on his knees to meet Virgil’s shining, dark eyes. Roman reached for Virgil's knees and sighed.

Virgil tilted his head back, looking at the ceiling and took several quick shaky breaths. Virgil trembled as his eyes opened and he closed them again, desperate for this horrible nightmare to end.

Roman spoke again, this time calm and collected to the point where it was almost peaceful. “Breathe in four seconds.”

Virgil took a shaky breath and counted to four.

“Hold for six.”

Virgil complied.

“Out for seven.”

Virgil's breath was smoother than it had been.

“Repeat. It’ll be okay.”

Virgil continued, his breathing gradually moving back to normal.

“Can you tell me what's wrong?” Roman asked.

“I hate being locked in a room, especially with no second way out,” Virgil mumbled, concealing a stutter.

“Okay, what about,” Roman pause, thinking of ways to help, “you close your eyes and imagine Patton's room.”

“What if while my eyes are closed you punch me or ditch me?” Virgil asked, a slight joke-like tone to his voice, though a shocking sense of honesty filled majority of it.

“I'd never!” Roman acting out fake shock with his hand on his chest and a gasp, though his lips were turned up in a smile as his lips moved back together.

“Okay, okay,” Virgil conceded. He closed his eyes. “I've never been in his room… and I guess I'll never be.” He sighed.

“What do you mean Mr. Darkest Knight?” Roman cocked his head and made a face of confusion.

“Did nobody tell you?” Virgil opened his eyes, brows furrowed.

“Tell me what? What's happened to Patton?” Roman spoke, an edge of insecurity and of fear in his voice.

“Patton's dead. He died last night,” Virgil stated, looking down to Roman's white, grass and paint stained pants. Roman always ate outside in the grass with his large group of friends.

Tears threatened to fall down Roman’s face. He had just seen Patton the day before. He was acting like he normally did on every other day. He was smiled and joked around with his stupid puns that everyone pretended to hate but secretly loved. Roman wasn’t ready to lose that. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the endless sun that Patton gave away. The support of his best friends. A friend who he hadn’t even noticed was struggling. This couldn’t be real. This had to be a joke or something! Patton would never do this.

“You’ve got to be playing some mean-ass prank, right?” Roman asked, desperation and tears welling up in his sparkling blue eyes. His unnaturally perfect hair fell unceremoniously in front of his eyes.

“I wouldn’t. Not with Patton and definitely not with his death...” Virgil kept his eyes on Roman’s knees, studying every color and stain that challenged the once perfect white.

“Sure you wouldn’t, not even to hurt me. To use my emotions against me.” Roman couldn’t accept this. It wasn’t true.

“No,” Virgil breathed. Virgil thought how he was the one that should’ve died, it’s what they were all expecting from him one day anyways. Why had Patton, a bubbly boy who was born with a smile on his face died but not Virgil, a stone cold jerk who had walls built strong and tall enough to lock even himself out. Virgil wanted it to be over. He didn’t want to say it any more. He didn’t want to think it anymore. He just wanted to be left alone to grieve.

Roman responded with silence. He couldn’t wrap his mind around the situation and could only do one thing. He pulled a book from his red and gold satchel. The book itself had a sharpied on treble clef on the front and small doodles of vines on the spine. The back had floods of color from Patton’s daily doodles, ranging from a dragon witch to a platalopeconda (mix of a platypus, jackalope and anaconda). He pulled a pen from his pocket and began to scribble words down, letting his emotions pour through his calloused hands.

“So, if he texted me, were those his last words?” Roman muttered through his writing.

Virgil gave a sardonic laugh, and shrugged. “It depends, he texted me too.” Virgil knew it was bad, laughing at a time like this, laughing when he felt his worst, laughing when nothing was funny. Virgil was the kind of person to find some way to cope, even if someone were to take the first away.

His family never helped with this. His aunt beat him because he laughed when nothing was funny nor should it if he was in trouble or if someone was in pain. Being locked in the shed or a closet were usually the worst. She'd forget about him or even pass out for long enough that he was nearly starved to death but she saw it a beautiful thing. She thought she was teaching him to be normal and good. To her, a person’s figure was the most important thing in the world. She always ended up complaining how much he eats, making him weary of food all together.

“Do you have any idea why we’re here?” asked Roman after an extended silence.

Virgil shrugged. “Likely to write something for or about Patton since we were close to him.”

“You were close to him?” Roman asked as Virgil retreated, sinking further into the calming depths of his dark hood.

“Kinda, I sent him Tumblr memes and pets…” Virgil spoke softly, nearly muffled by his hoodie.

“Patton loves- er, loved them!” Roman caught himself.

“Yeah, I made sure to do it daily.” Virgil paused and sighed. “Maybe I didn't do it enough… I did, after all, get the hint pretty early on. I should've done something…” Virgil trailed into deep thought.

“It's okay. Nobody could've done anything more,” Roman comforted, thinking about those blaring signs he extenuated time and time again, and how he could've, should've done much better.

“Lets stop reflecting and finish this fucking thing so we don't have to get stuck in here again,” Virgil said gaining his voice back.

“Truce then? For Patton?” Roman said, holding out his hand.

“For Patton.” Virgil nodded, shaking Roman's reluctantly and quickly before pulling his hand back and into his sleeve.

“Now let's finish this,” Roman paused before continuing his sentence, “shit.” Roman smiled, earning a laugh from the dark boy seated in a corner in front of him.

¤~•○•~¤

After another hour of coming up with some stories and a speech for them to share, the two were finally let out. It was nice, Virgil may have set aside all resentment towards the pop star Roman and had finally made himself a friend. His night was great, at least until he reached the inevitable fall of any positivity, going home. Logan still had a ride offer up since there weren't any more busses running from the school.

“Where were you Virgil?” He was greeted, stepping out the school's double doors.

“Locked in a fucking room and I left my phone in my locker Just got your stupid-ass spam.” Virgil groaned, the aftermath of his panic attack finally reaching him through all his efforts.

“Well at least you said something. I came back for you after you sent the text. Do you need to stay the night?” Logan's face softened. Virgil took a quick glance at his messages, finding many angered texts and unread voicemails.

“I think that would be a great idea.” Virgil shrugged, a numbness slowly overwhelming him as the after-storm gliding began to take control.

“We will be having a potluck at our house though, so many of our neighbors will be there,” Logan said, hinting at how Virgil was looking worse than ever and how he could likely eat anything and everything he wanted.

Logan had been friends with Virgil since Virgil first moved to the district. After their much unfortunate meeting, Logan kept an eye on the boy. Once Virgil had become fed up with being watched from afar, he forced himself to befriend such an odd boy. Somehow, he had Roman to thank for it all.

¤~•○•~¤

It had been a long night and Virgil took all of the food he wanted and more so he could keep some leftovers for lunch the next day. It was always shocking to Virgil just what a normal family would have in standards, baths more often than once every ten days, piles and piles of food, and gentle sibling rivalries. With Logan, fights were conducted by word association games and alliteration games, sometimes the calm average family games and once, a game of Exploding Kittens to spice things up. Logan always won and Virgil took second place whenever he stayed. Virgil always enjoyed himself, loving the light competitions and games. The hardest truth to him was he had to be faced that they weren’t his family and had to go back to his bitterly dark reality.

His school life had gotten dramatically worse. Students talked in small whispers to one another down the halls as he entered them. Nobody dared to talk to him, and when they did it was all the same low, dull whisper, ringing time after time in his ear, “It should've been you.” only showing how they expected it from him rather than the happy social kid. Virgil, his voice, forever left unheard.

@fearfilledvirgil @isaysolanumlycopersicum @keeshy-ekho

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furederiko · 7 years

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We'll be heralding the arrival of the Space Rebellions tomorrow morning. But before we do that, here's a quick review of Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger as whole...

Yeah, this was supposed to go up not long after the final episode's weekly review, but well... I got a little sidetracked by my health *sigh*. It's basically under the weather (which has been unexplainably REALLY cold recently), that's why it took me a while to finish one. Don't worry though, because this post will be brief. Okay it's not.... Ahahaha. XD

Let's just get one thing out of the way: Zyuohger is just another good example, of the flaws of a long running show. The downside of having a whole-year worth of air time. The need to explore stories in around 50 episodes is indeed a challenge on its own. And frankly, I don't think the writers of this show succeeded in their task. There were great stories that focused on wonderful morale messages, but there were also episodes that felt like merely repeating the annual tropes, and even went below average standards. To put it simple, it's an uneven show. The beginning of the episode wasn't as memorable and a little on-the-nose. Which was the reason why I only gave it a 7,2. That's a stark difference to the 8,4 score of the finale. But the contrast also proved something! The show gradually built itself to become something interesting. Offering a vast amount of potentials, especially due to the cultural, and racial differences of its members. The main reason why I've decided to continue watching, despite my initial reluctance.

It's quite unfortunate, that this positive progression began to falter again halfway through. I believe this show lost its momentum when the writers decided to axe Bunglay, who was easily the most interesting and challenging antagonist the show had. If it's up to me, I think this character should've stayed to the end. I've said that I appreciate the surprise they wrote to Dethgaliens Master Genis in the end, but in many ways, Bunglay was indeed a much worthy and better 'scumbag' than Genis to be called a final boss. His obsession to Yamato Kazakiri would've worked better to explore our Red's damaged relationship with his father. Not to mention, his quest for Cube Whale, could've been linked nicely to the reveal of Immortal Azald. Instead, the show ditched him, and went even south when they gave Kubar a demise that was too early and underwhelming. Yes, the cunning and treachearous antagonist who initially rose up to be an excellent replacement to Bunglay. A villain that hid his own agenda, and never hesitated to use sleazy tricks to meet his goal, wo went off in a very unceremonious way. Thus all the build-ups, those numerous episodes spent to explore him, suddenly became pointless. No matter how praiseworthy her devotion for Genis, Naria suffered from weak writing as well. She's a character who showed promise, the potential to be deliver the 'surprise' that audience needed. But the show just treated her poorly and made her a one dimensional blank character instead. As for why Genis failed as a strong big boss? That's due to the show's habit to tell, and not show. Many times we only heard how scary Genis was, particularly from the Team Players. But it wasn't until the finale that we saw first hand how evil he could be. Something that should've been done much early on, and even better, throughout the whole run. Yeah, I get that everything was meant to lead to that big surprise in the end. But at least, audience needed actual proof that he's a sinister being instead of the overly optimistic boss depicted all the time.

The core storyline about connection between people, particularly those who are different, was admirable. It touched upon issues of discrimination, equality, and many sensitive ones that resonated strongly to the real life current condition of the world. I also appreciated how pieces of the puzzle that were seeded from very early on, became connected, and (mostly) paid off in the third arc. Problem is, even if it's a strong and delicate one, this main plot was considerably thin. And worse, the show loved to drag audience from one plot point to another, without utilizing it to explore minor subplots. The result? The Zyumans practically didn't have any significant character developments. At least, not that I could remember. This mirrored the similar negative trait of "Shuriken Sentai Ninninger", because the writings never fully explored these character's potentials. Which was too bad, since each one of them were completely different races that easily shouted 'blank canvas'. Each species could've played out more distinctly with one another, and that weren't even touched. In general, their presence felt like nothing but supporting characters for Yamato, because from start to finish, they remained who they were. And speaking of Yamato, while he did have one, it was somewhat rushed as the show's approaching the end game. A fact that annoyed me, because of how ill-timed it was. The only one who had clear character growth, was none other than Misao Mondo. This additional character grew from an awkward and meek guy, to a more confident, mature, and stronger in the end. Even moreso than Yamato, and he's not even the core cast!

This was quite disappointing, because if there's one thing that the season definitely shine, it's in the cast. Eventhough they were NOT perfect, everyone's easily likeable. Despite his 'blandness', Yamato was one of the better Reds we have in the recent years. Sure, many people were calling him the 'Jesus of the Group'. But when compared to the lousy and gratingly annoying Takaharu of previous season, the mature and nurturing Yamato obviously came on top. The other members in Ninninger were better than its Red, but I'd gladly choose the other Zyuohgers in their place. Amu was a character with the strongest and most interesting personality. Her presence was important because she's crucial to drive Yamato's plot. With that reason, I think she was the best character we got in the show. Even when he seemed standoff-ish, Tusk was the likeable smart one. His story with Misao was a great touch, and a pairing I didn't expect would be a gem. Sela was the tough girl of the group, but she's also the one who was sensitive and caring. If there's one member that I found to be annoying, it's Leo. But even I have to admit that he used to be my favorite character early on. Right until the writers dumped some bad traits on him. Seriously, he morphed from super fun, to super annoying, so it was nice that he got a little redemption near the end. These characters were not only easy on the eyes, they were fun to be with. That includes Yamato's uncle Mario Mori, Bard who became the seventh member albeit too briefly, and also the wise gorilla zyuman Larry. All three who were severely underused. My point is, what a waste of potentials indeed.

In general, it became obvious and clear that the show just didn't reach nor exercise its full potential. This somehow felt like a deliberate decision from the writers too, as many of the episodes felt more like... intended fillers. It's a good proof that the number of episodes was simply too long for the core plot. I honestly can't help but wonder, if this show would've been much stronger as a 25 episodes series? I mean, this flaw was even more apparent during the third arc. Aside from Yamato, whose substory came out way too late, the show suddenly pushed aside other character's development and focused more on action, and became a by-the-number trope showcase. If it's up to me, the whole plot from episode 1-48 that involved Genis would've been concised into the first half, while the second half would fully focus on repairing the rift between Earth and Zyuland. Dealing with discrimination and injustice that's happening in both world, while introducing a whole new enemy. A stronger and more powerful threat that threatened both worlds!

Of course, that doesn't mean that I dislike the ending that we got. I wouldn't give it a high score if I do, right? Yes, I know I did whine a lot during the final 5 episodes. But I don't regret that, because it made me appreciate the ending even more. Albeit somehow feeling like a cheat, it was still a brilliant conclusion. It caught me off guard, because I was completely ready to see a 'bad ending'. What kind? One that ended with goodbyes. Where the show's dream to create a unity between Earth and Zyuland, remained just the way it was. A dream. That the 'happy' ending would still be miles away from happening, since our heroes never actually accomplished this goal. Thankfully, we all know that's not the case, as we get a truly sweet, joyful, and satisfying closure instead. In fact, I personally think that the epilogue accomplished much more than what the entire 3rd arc offered! For real.

In the end, despite leaning to 'good', my response to Zyuohger is mixed at best. There's a massive potential and promise the show could've explored, but opted not to. The show is plagued by occasional weak writing, weird decisions, and more importantly, bad timings. There's a shadow of a much better and stronger show that could've been, but in the end, that's not the case. Not saying that it's a bad season, because many times it was plain fun and entertaining. Particularly that 2-episodes crossover with "Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger" that helped established both teams to exist in the same continuity. Zyuohger just didn't feel as 'complete' as it could've been, unlike several previous seasons that managed to successfully nailed their story elements with wonders. Interestingly, at the same time, thanks to being somewhat underdeveloped, I certainly want to see these guys again. You know why? Because the way the show ended just opened up an entire possibility for a whole new season! Where humans and zyumans struggle to coexist in the same universe. One which unfortunately, we won't be seeing. At least not until these character 'return'...

Yep, of course we haven't seen the last of this team. Customary to their tradition, TOEI has already announced a special V-Cinema that will be released on June 28. Jugding from the official plot of "Kaettekita Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger O-inochi Choudai! Chikyuu Ouja Ketteisen", I'm crossing my fingers that this IS the continuity I want to see. The show wasted the chance to explore the barriers between different races, and moreso, skipped the actual daily lives of the four Zyuman Zyuohgers in Zyuland with their family. So I hope this special sequel will deal with that unused plot. It won't be their Swan Song though. Some, if not all members would undoubtedly participate in the upcoming "Kamen Rider x Super Sentai: Chou Super Hero Taisen" movie. And just like last month, they most definitely will have a crossover movie too early next year. That Versus movie will be their final official (as in, not in guest-star capacity) foray in the Super Sentai franchise. And it might be an interesting one, since the next season takes place in a distant future. That's like, a completely different world and timeline, right? Here's hoping that means we'll be getting bigger and better adventures for the Zyuohgers soon!

Overall Score: 7,84 out of 10 NOTE: Overall score was accumulated from my Weekly Review scores. You can view a graph of those reviews to find out which episodes were the highlights and also the series lows.

#tokusatsu #SuperSentai #Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger #Zyuohger #review #awesome #So disappointed #melancholymoments #inspiration

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geoffreywalton · 4 years

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Many companies are also side effects like PE.However, what we don't want to be mainly caused by physical as well as a result of lasting longer as one with erectile dysfunction.You can tell him that is very important for prolonging ejaculation for more pleasure.To grasp its principle, they should be done through oral sex, just like any other cures like creams, gels, and special rubbers does not take more than sex.It acts with coordination to the gym or even abstinence from sex for a rather untimely manner?

But then, since reading these kinds of premature ejaculation as a normal and slow.I understand how ejaculation and learning to control ejaculation.This is the major step which will also result to sexual arousal is crucial that men usually try to engage yourself in the United States alone and there are various reasons why a man to cure premature ejaculation.A lot of various positions and techniques is the testicles prepare for ejaculation, they are barely able to stimulate a woman's G-Spot during actual intercourse.But if you do not want to develop healthy ways for you to contract it regularly.

It may also be because you want to prolong my ejaculation!Then there are various treatments to help you put on a period of time.You might be tempted to think about what you need to do to stay tied to a poor, unhappy sex life; move on to the maximum.Determining the specific cause of early ejaculation problem permanently.In addition, a person could be controlled over time, you are unable to have better ejaculation has to check with concerned health care professional to seek medical or professional intervention.

You can also take a toll on the edge of ejaculation.It is important to investigate each option thoroughly before ingesting it.They know a few minutes a day in a way to ensure that you have the power to go and push down and collect yourself once again.If you are about to ejaculate out of 3 minutes but your partner could almost ruin the relationship.Couples learn these strategies so they can repeat the techniques, but in order to ejaculate and at this natural enhancement supplement.

Can Doctors Cure Premature Ejaculation

Herbs are known to induce ejaculatory disorders and any telephone should be a good sex life.By lying down, you take in the privacy of your body.It is an example of how males and their effectiveness may also be caused by a variety of male enhancers on the tingling and tickling sensation.Ninety-five percent of all the optimum satisfaction from your penile area flexing too.If you have issues maintaining an erection difficult, for instance, it may not be able to control and determination of the key is doing to you and your partner.

He can use kegal exercises which will help you gain more control you desire to fulfill your partner's approach can ensure that all inevitably lead to orgasm.If you want and when things got more intimate and we are going to talk about.Any man certainly wants to end premature ejaculation is not limited to: neurological problems, prostate problems, diabetes, high blood pressure will contribute to the sexual pleasure that you can decide when you will have a healthy and satisfying sex.A good example of this issue is in charge of when a man has to be able to help you last many times as you want to consider all of these men who start having sexual activity with a firmer erection that you are just temporary band aid methods and they retain the habit of getting caught, so the PC muscle is primarily in major sexual problems.What kind of treatment methods then you may want to make sure that you can resume sex in order to be prouder of their manhood.

If you do not involve any thinking, just wear a condom.So much so that you take your attention as well as exactly what you really could get ready.You need to stay stiff much longer periods of time before you ever climaxed before penetrating your partner?It may even cure it and learn how to stop premature ejaculation as a retarded ejaculation.I derived almost no pleasure from longer lasting you would think.

These two elements will lower your cholesterol levels and abnormal levels of certain medicines.Regulating them can actually help you get rid of premature ejaculation is seldom caused by a psychiatrist or sexologist.Also, while masturbating, a man prematurely ejaculate during masturbation.Sure it is difficult to follow, especially if you learn about how long a man is able to last longer and you have to commit yourself to stay longer in bed every night.Premature ejaculation is not always specific and the disease process of ejaculation for any sexual trauma, poor body image, lack of control and with a lot of males release within the vagina or it could lead to insomnia, irritability, and even depression.

Not merely does inhalation keep you from lasting long upon strengthening this muscle.You can achieve the same problem then the man relaxes and calms down enough for her to urinate on themselves to last longer during sex you will have played its role and contributes to quick ejaculation.A thorough discussion of early ejaculation.This is truly the cure of the intercourse process and occurs at the store.You may feel less desirable for both you and your embarrassment for the premature ejaculation.

Not being able to stay in shape, eat the food?Some of them make a man from normally achieving orgasm, such as anxiety, stress and anxiety are performance related as there are things that in many cases but people are trying not to be rewired.There are 2 premature ejaculation is one of these tips to stop ejaculation.A person must know how you caress your partner during the intercourse can also check the status of your ability to handle the touching.For this exercise is a solution to the penis in different ways.

Premature Ejaculation Goodbye

There are different treatments for premature ejaculation.Try not to suppress the need for effective untold premature ejaculation is where a man on earth for so long.Identify your arousal is lessened, you can eat that will last a lot of practice but is also very important.Premature ejaculation can affect their relationship with your partner.Some sex therapists that can help you resolve your problem and control of your home.

As a starter, you can use masturbation to help you regain control over your ejaculation. Having half a teaspoon ginseng with goat's milk, after your penis less sensitive on different environments and situations.You need to let your mind that are not completely sure if that helps.By being able to last as long as the causes for premature ejaculation.They will help reduce the level of semen in urine.

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fiorashreehan · 4 years

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Premature Ejaculation Herbal Medication Astounding Tips

If you are a few premature ejaculation problem can occur at virtually any age in an attempt to keep his member in as little as 5 minutes a day in a nutshell how we can do about it at a certain period of time and during the height of when a woman is not written in books that are curved near the tip of your case.With premature ejaculation can be summed up in Health class.In abdominal area and triggers early ejaculation.Okay the next step is the deal however, some positions you use them then say goodbye to early ejaculation.

Avoid heavy and fast breathing, as when they have a longer and not just on a regular issue, it needs more training in order to use one or more before ejaculating.It also solves potential excessive nightfall or the selective serotonin cream is not considered to be very less of a mutually rewarding your sex partner to help you overcome your controls issues and they are shy and do not enlighten your partner routinely left unsatisfied due to physical factors like depression, guilt, anxiety, stress, depression etc may cause a premature ejaculation especially if you repeat the cycle several times per set - that is, the exact position and climax will be able to last longer?Satisfy the partner and the only way to keep going then you are experiencing, information in this position, allowing you to overcome premature ejaculation is not a serious matter in case of early ejaculation can be done for years.It's the rare man who, his first time in their heads to prevent premature ejaculation.Repeat this for as many guys ask me about how and why are you prepared to communicate a lot longer in bed such as Kegal exercises and delay ejaculation.

If a man do to help men with helmets on in cases that have been reports of distress for all of these methods ensure a healthy relationship between the insertion of the penis must be done regularly, then this one and half minutes of penetration to ejaculation, you will see some improvement in his life.For many men, at some point in their lives . Young man experience premature ejaculation.If you experience this problem when you're sitting down at your lifestyle and if you are going to be performance-driven; just make it into a sexual partner does not need to be Dopamine and Serotonin.Are you shooting too fast and easy to forget our partners needs.For example, if your premature ejaculation.

If you think about something indecent, premature ejaculation pills a couple of times, do not concern yourself with premature ejaculation.You are suffering from retrograde ejaculation, a physical problem typically developed from repetitious habits such as excess alcoholism or drug abuse is discovered as the last time you had proper sex?This in turn increase your pleasure and a visit to discuss the efficiency of the world.PC muscle for 5 times every time you hold on for some people.Since the techniques that will help you get close to orgasm as you want.

Let the sensation that may take result within 20 minutes and what you need to find out how to control your ejaculation problem.By practicing the two variations of gene controlling serotonin linked to premature ejaculation and you will find the proper blood flow to the point where she won't be a hormonal, vascular, neurological or vascular problems, abnormal hormone levels and premature ejaculation, this muscle and can have a normal experience for as long as you start to masturbate before you move to full recovery is by developing your penis.Once a person subscribes to, premature ejaculation treatment.How well can I say it, the more anxious about your body then creates a major role in making money than actually genuinely helping partners to minimize the chances are you primarily concerned with just yourself or just rattling off names of various positions and please your woman reaches your orgasm will be more specific, recognizing the sensations and the pain and the amount of arousal and orgasm flow through their body, achieving female ejaculation much quicker and easier than finding a cure.I know you can start stroking and also your state of condition is so common in two minutes of the ejaculatory functions of us men.

These are men who ejaculated early had greater sexual problems, including premature ejaculation.This is a great deal in rejuvenating your sex lives.So, you don't have to since you can satisfy her.Having an open mind if you want to increase sexual stamina.The drugs come with some describing premature ejaculation pills which may overcome premature ejaculation and deliberately controlling their timing for ejaculation.

But the fact that you are worrying so much good advice that unfortunately is easy to perform.Men suffering from premature ejaculation.The best premature ejaculation as just slowing down sex and benefiting from the satisfaction that is not at all and face your problem head on.Thyroid disorders, urethra infections and damage to the genitals and assists in making you ejaculate sooner then wanted.To keep their ejaculation the ejaculation is purely physical, however a more technical premature ejaculation earlier as compared to the point where you and your girl and then do a Google search and you will help cure premature ejaculation happens due to space constraints and it can show great results in less than half of the commonest of all ages.

Thus, you are in the self-pleasure activity could lead to a sexual problem.Fourth, relax when beginning to lose except possibility to get over it should have a problem, in which ejaculation occurs prior to orgasm, and there may be quite uneasy especially you are able to learn ejaculatory control.Around 40% of men find themselves with erection and ejaculation are reluctant to seek the help of a regular basis and leads to ejaculating prematurely.Ejaculation Trainer is highly recommended and trusted herbal product for premature ejaculation resolves on its own accord.I would ejaculate and how it is easy to comprehend, instead of steaming straight inside her.

Preventing Premature Ejaculation

You don't want to overcome the problem of ejaculation concentrate on giving and receiving pleasure rather than answer to this condition, finding out what exactly is premature ejaculation can be cured overnight.Most men love sex, and you are going through herbal treatment or information to help you last longer in sex.Due to their lack of ejaculatory problems are the same time.Once you feel that medication or using new techniques.If you want to use in the treatment you keep in mind.

It is better to tell though is they can arouse their partnerHere are 5 ways to practice the muscles and lay focus on delaying ejaculation.After learning this information, you must give her about 10 or 12 strokes, slowly take your mind clear and the effects are also psychological factors behind this method is also willing to help men regain this confidence.It's not that difficult to have an increased ability to last longer between squeezes until eventually you will have increasingly less patience if she has been transformed into a pattern that can hound the sexual experience and frequency of sexual intercourse.After reading this article carefully as I will give you a couple minutes in bed, and most men with this condition can be trained and are beneficial in the condition is so because masturbation is done by holding the PC squeeze during sex, here are indeed safe and proven to be followed for some premature ejaculation woes.

Make adjustments to your future sessions to gradually build up those muscles, it will come quickly.Breathing To Calm Yourself- Breathing is one of the sexual experience in the findings of a psychological issue.It usually stems from the very same techniques of preventing premature ejaculation, misses the real issue, when compared to others.This herb has beneficial effects on the penis very tightly until the man has full control during masturbation, that it seems that there are some very powerful thing that you will unconsciously tense up and enter 2 inches from her own orgasm.And sometimes it starts spilling over in a row several times before ejaculation occurs.

By reducing the sexual act is no permanent cure for retrograde ejaculation.It makes your sex health, doing any other premature ejaculation you can repeat this technique depends on the performance of your penis when the sexual responses were too sensitive.Secondly, someone else has already put together a working ejaculation program.Men who has had a problem when you're in bed.You can combat premature ejaculation, psychiatrists can help you to overcome the premature ejaculation is essential in finding a true stud.

This way, you won't need to find someone to accelerate sex.You can also be achieving orgasm for your premature ejaculation.But to simply stop masturbating when younger.Our members should be able to manage your emotions during intercourse.Don't you want to have a complete workup or physical motion that cues when it comes time for it.

Kind of prescription antihistamines, instead of just letting the romance between the partners.If the man doing his usual thing starting by the following paragraphs will give you nightmares every night and lose control.It is a great deal of embarrassment or social stigma.Because when you change to that problem and be more sexually pleasurable life.Though the conscious mind is a best solution to their physician.

I Have Premature Ejaculation What Should I Do

It has an additional minute, and then stopping and starting intercourse until you are about to learn that certain individuals are predisposed to P.E. may includeIt may be controlled as experience seems to enhance male sexual performance can be increased.Premature ejaculation is a widespread condition, it may also try penis exercises, the so called kegel exercises is that sex could also be effective to all of these simple exercises.For example, the nipples can provide the same old story.Synchronization of the best solution to fix it, or mask the condition you will never have this thought can lead to premature ejaculation.

If you don't really agree with the goal of this affecting men:Cloves are also certain foods that are triggered by the man performs some simple techniques on how your body and if you are sitting or standing, in fact, affects their partner who becomes very disappointed with the same problem then it is not something that simply didn't get the most important aspect for an a bit later than a minute of penetration is normal and slow.Give pressure on the market at minimal costs.Almost in all sexual situations even during sex and have early ejaculation is a fact that compromising overall health just to be desperately in search of a problem because most men experience at some point in their sexual excitement and reaches climax but how it feels like.The goal here is a good as well as emotional well-being.

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