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travllingbunny · 4 years

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The 100 rewatch: 5x02 Red Queen

Note: I’m afraid that I’ll have to delay my review of 7x12 The Stranger a bit longer - maybe till Friday (because I’m busy with work, and I think that one may take a bit more time to finish), but in the meantime, here’s - finally - a continuation of my season 5 rewatch reviews. It happens to be the only seasons I haven’t covered yet - except for 5x01 Eden, which I rewatched a few months ago after 7x02 The Garden, because I wanted to compare the two. I was planned to do Red Queen right afterwards - it’s interesting to compare and contrast Octavia’s character transformations in season 5 and season 7 - but it didn’t pan out that way. But now, @jeanie205 and me have started another joint rewatch during the hiatus, this one of season 5. (She only saw it live, week to week, and hasn’t rewatched it yet, I binged it and this is my second rewatch.)

...............................

I’ve always thought of season 5 as a season with a really strong beginning - the first 3 or 4 episodes are fantastic - which drags a bit in the middle before ending a very strong two-part finale.. The 6-year jump, in terms of storytelling, had both good and bad results. These two opening episodes, Eden and Red Queen, really make the best out of the time jump, with flashbacks about Clarke surviving on her own on a desolated Earth and meeting Madi, and flashbacks of what happened to Wonkru in the bunker. It says a lot that we got half an episode of Clarke surviving on Earth, a full episode plus a bunch of flashbacks in 5x11 about the bunker... and nothing about the Ring (till that one flashback in season 7). It’s because the life on the Ring was so boring and uneventful that the show didn't care to show anything of those 6 years. Clarke’s peaceful life with Madi in Eden also happened off-screen - we only saw their first meeting and their later relationship in the present - but Clarke’s two months of terrible hardship got covered in amazing 20 minutes. But the bunker is where things were the most intense.

If the Ring seems to be just boring everyday life of 7 people who can’t go anywhere for 6 years, and if Clarke got to live in Eden (paradise) with Madi after the purgatory of 40 50+ days in the desert, the bunker is clearly Hell. It is a claustrophobic underground world full of anger, conflict and violence that certainly looks like Hell by the end of the episode.

The last scene, with its horror imagery, reminded me of the current Sanctum storyline in season 7 (both Blodreina and Sheidheda like using skulls as decoration), and the comparison shows exactly why the bunker/Blodreina story worked so well, and why the S7 Sanctum story does not. It’s all about moral ambiguity and keeping the audience on its toes, pulling the rug from under us by making us unsure how to feel about characters and their actions, which Red Queen does so well (and which S7 Sanctum storyline completely fails to do, being very predictable and black and white). Red Queen is so well done and intense that I don’t even mind that Clarke and Bellamy and some of my other favorites aren’t in it.

Timeline: The episode starts 42 days after Praimfaya and ends 46 days after Praimfaya.

The opening scenes take place at the same time when Clarke arrived in Polis and tried to open the door. Clarke's only listed as appearing in this episode because of this repeated scene from Eden. (It’s weird that apparently not just the Temple, but the Tower also apparently fell on the entrance. The Tower is next to the Temple, but I’m not sure if that would really happen?) I’m not sure what exactly caused the rubble to fall down, but this is the moment where everyone loses hope, since they know they probably can’t get out, even though they have 5 years to try to think of the solution.

Niylah has found a bunch of books and some other stuff in the bunker, and one of the books was Ovid’s Metamorphoses, which we now know was Callie Cadogan’s book. (That was a nice Easter Egg in 7x08.) Niylah knows Bellamy used to read to Octavia about Ancient Rome - she must have heard it from her or from Clarke or someone else in Arkadia over the last month or so that she spent with them. It is still surprising she knows about Ovid, specifically. What she doesn’t know when she gives Octavia the book is how symbolic it is of what happens to Octavia throughout this episode - her metamorphosis into Blodreina. (We even see the opening line on screen: “ I intend to speak of forms changed into new entities..”).

Octavia Blake is a character who has undergone more dramatic transformations than any other character on The 100. I wasn’t a big fan of her in some of the early seasons, but now I think that, after what the show has done with her since season 4, she has probably had the best character arc of any character on the show. (Some would say it’s Murphy, but that’s because people like to think of character development as going from bad to good, a positive progression - which is a lot more predictable and done quite often. What the show did with Octavia is much more complex and unexpected.) Her turn to the dark side and subsequent redemption were really well done, and Marie Avgeropoulos is one of the best actors on the show (I’ve always thought so regardless of how I felt about her character at any given time) and pulled off her changes in season 5 so well.

What the episode does really well is maintain ambiguity about Octavia’s development as a leader. The first time you watch it, it’s not clear what is she developing into. Is this a story about a well-meaning but still inexperienced teenage girl becoming a great leader? Well, the cliffhanger of 5x01 showed the fighting pits and the new scary Blodreina look, so it’s already hinted it’s not quite like that. But the episode still makes you root for Octavia, who’s up against not just the difficult circumstances - trapped in the bunker, limited resources - but also tribalism of Skaikru and 11 Grounder clans and a lot short-sighted people who hate and keep fighting each other. You just can’t not root for her when she starts forcing them to obey, near the end of the episode (and it’ certainly comes off as a very badass scene - if a bit unrealistic, since Octavia has only been training in Grounder-style combat for about 7-8 months at that point) - but then things may start getting a little ominous as she repeats the mantra “You are Wonkru, or you are the enemy of Wonkru. Choose!” (“You’re either with us, or against us” statements by political leaders are always worrying), even before the ending, where both Octavia and the bunker look like something out of a horror movie. This entire storyline made the point that unity can’t be forced on people, especially not by a single all-powerful leader, without turning into tyranny and oppression.

What’s also morally ambiguous is advice from the mortally wounded Jaha, which ends up influencing Octavia’s decisions and development as a leader. Jaha was always one of the most morally grey characters - he’s not evil, always had good intentions, but his ruthlessness and willingness to disregard individual lives in the name of the Big Picture of saving “his (collective) people” and his complete confidence that this is the right leadership style, were always very disturbing, and made him the villain in the eyes of - and the lives of - all the young protagonists of the show. In season 4, some of them started seeing his perspective. faced with the similar difficult choices. After Clarke in season 4, Octavia also starts seeing his perspective - which is particularly disturbing because it is the same man who executed her mother for just having a child, and locked her up for a year as a criminal just for being born. But Jaha’s actions in Red Queen are some of his most heroic ever in the show, and he gets a heroic death and a moving death scene... while still being kind of a real d1ck, someone who justifies Aurora’s execution to Octavia by saying her mother made herself “the enemy” and bringing them “closer to death”. In the context, Jaha as an unexpected mentor to Octavia can be seen as something good or at least a necessary for her to develop into a capable leader... Or is it? The line between hero and villain can be very thin. Sure, it helps Octavia resolve the situation, save hundreds of people in the bunker, and apparently unite everyone into Wonkru - but as we see by the end of the episode and the rest of the season, it also ends up making her a tyrant who ends up getting hundreds of her people killed in the name of saving “her people” and delivering them to paradise as a messiah. She becomes the same thing she hated, an oppressor like those who forced her to hide under the floor and killed her mother.

(This dialogue from season 4 is pretty relevant here:

Clarke: You know, he used to be everything that I hated. Maybe he was keeping us together.

Jasper: When Jaha's looking reasonable, it's time to reassess.)

I have to say, however, in spite of all the moral greyness... I can’t stand Kara Cooper. She’s one of the few characters on the show that just piss me off to no end and I can’t find any sympathy for her. I know that it’s different for others, I’ve seen people say they see her perspective, and yes, the show gives her a tragic backstory (losing her father in the Culling on the Ark and her husband in the Second Culling in 4x12)... but this time I can’t bring myself to care, because:

She wants to leave some 1100+ people to die, even though she should be well aware that, even if there is a problem of overpopulation in the bunker*, she really doesn’t have to kill that many people,

She’s a scientist and gives a speech about how the lack of diversity would lead to a massive die-off for plants... Surely she should know that the same would happen to the humans, and that a human race can’t survive with just around 80 people?! which leads me to

She doesn’t care about the survival of the human race and is ready to condemn it to extinction, just so she and a few others would live more comfortably and wouldn’t be in danger of immediate death,

She says she wants to save “her people” - but it’s all about tribalism (Skaikru or not Skaikru?) and not love, and she is a hypocrite, because she is ready to leave a bunch of Skaikru outside the door to die, too,

She is a hypocrite when she acts like Abby did something terrible by opening the bunker door to save Kane (which also saved hundreds of people more than would have otherwise been saved) - basically, she’s like “ Abby, how dare you not prioritize my husband, a guy you didn't even know, over your boyfriend? You're so terrible!" Sure. That makes sense.

Her arguments about why the bunker “belongs” to Skaikru are rubbish: “ "Jaha found it. It belonged to us" - even if we accept the finders-keepers idea, actually, multiple people helped find the bunker. Yes, Jaha was the driving force, but Bellamy found the coin, and Kane, Monty and Gaia all massively contributed to finding it - without Gaia's info they wouldn't have ever found it - as did Indra, and the fighters from Trikru and their allies who guarded the temple so they could do it. She just ignored all these facts. If they had kept the bunker in 4x11, they would have left most of these people out (including Kane and Monty). Oh, and she is now trying to take the bunker back... and she’s ready to leave Jaha himself outside!

And after all of that, she saves her own skin by being the most ruthless one of everyone Octavia sent to the fighting pit and killing them all - and then becomes Octavia’s right hand and sycophant. What integrity!

While many people seem to think that Octavia’s downfall started with the cannibalism during the Dark Year, I think it’s the decision at the end of Red Queen to open the fighting pits and start punishing every crime by throwing people in them. This is her first really bad decision. In practice, this form of “justice” means that you can commit any crime you want if you're good at killing people once you’re in the pit. it fosters a culture of violence - even more so when death matches are entertainment. So, in the end, the guy from Delphi clan who just stole blankets (the Sangedakru delegate Brell demanded death for that - their laws are pretty draconian, makes me wonder in retrospect if Sheidheda was the one who first imposed them) died, while Kara effing Cooper got to live because she was the most ruthless person there. What I think Octavia should have done is - she should have executed the murderers and the leaders of the rebellion and given minor punishments to people who did things like steal blankets. (it's been argued they needed Cooper for the farm - but that was not the reasoning, Octavia left her with everyone else to fight.)

This was Octavia, sadly, combining not the best, but the worst of the Ark system (death as the punishment for every crime or minor misdemeanor), Grounder tradition (death matches as the solution to everything) and her childhood stories of the Ancient Rome. If you're using Ancient Rome gladiator fights as your role model...you've probably stopped being a good guy.

The last scene, fighting pits 6 years later, is similar to the cliffhanger end of the previous episode, only now we get the cliffhanger of Kane being one of the fighters. Octavia is in her full Blodreina mode now. Not just her outward look has changed, but her facial expressions, too - this is the first time we see that cold, sinister Blodreina smile. Indra doesn’t look too happy, Gaia and Ethan are there. Miller- even after that much time - doesn’t look too happy with Cooper being there, by Octavia's side.

This is straight up horror imagery. There is even some sort of structure made of skulls next to where she's sitting! Not exactly a throne of skulls like Sheidheda has in season 7 but something similar.

But here’s why this works so differently than Sheidheda and his throne of skulls in season 7 and why people are bored by the latter. There is no ambiguity in the S7 Sanctum story. Sheiheda is completely, cartoonishly evil, there is nothing complex about it, Murphy is now definitely a good guy, as are Emori and Indra, and none of them are in conflict about how to deal with him (except for a short moment in 7x09, which was OOC for Indra). The only characters that we may still wonder 'what are they gonna do? which side will they take?" are minor, underdeveloped characters like Nikki, or Knight (you're in trouble when your main question is "will Knight change sides?"). It's a very simple black and white story, the kind t100 normally doesn't do and Shady’s throne of . But when Octavia has her face painted in blood, has skulls next to her, and a creepy smile while she’s deciding the fate of the winner, that is genuinely disturbing because it's Octavia. You’ve followed her for seasons, and you’ve spent the whole episode rooting for her to solve the problems and deal with those really awful and annoying people... and then she does, and oh my god, suddenly she turns into a villain, and that’s chilling.

Other observations:

I love the Kabby scene where they're talking while chained up in the farm, while a guy is playing guitar in the background. I think Abby was pretty unfair to Kane when she said he took away her choice to kill herself - because she didn’t try to kill herself, she tried to make Kane kill her, and then she expected him to be able to do it, even though she never could: not only did she open the bunker door to save Kane, she destroyed the radiation chamber (possibly dooming thousands of people) because she couldn’t allow Clarke to risk her life (in 4x08). Kane may be more of a “Head” than “Heart” of the two of them, but Abby should have realized he wouldn’t be able to carry her unconscious body (or even let someone else do it) and let her die of radiation. He loves her and he doesn’t really have anyone else. Abby really seemed to be taking out her own self-loathing out on him. It was still a sweet moment when he finally dropped the pretense that he saved her for being a doctor and admitted it was a Heart decision, and she finally admitted she would do the same and never regretted opening the bunker door to save him.

But we get a hint about that Abby has already developed a pill addiction, which will strain and almost destroy their relationship. Kabby was a really well written relationship - we saw them falling in love over 4 seasons (which rarely happens with romantic relationships on this show) - but then we also saw that being together and loving each other is not enough to be “happy ever after”, not when you live in f*cked up circumstances and when you both have to deal with all sorts of problems. Love can’t conquer everything, which is more realistic way to depict romance.

Mackson actually have some screentime in this episode. This is actually the first time we see that they are together (after a brief flirting scene in season 4). I had forgotten that Miller says the L word in this episode: "You're a healer, nor a fighter. That's why I love you.” I thought “This was pretty fast” - but when you take into account they’ve been together for a couple of months, it’s actually not that fast compared to most of the romances on the show... It’ just that most of their relationships happens off-screen.

So Level C (which Cooper and her people took over) was where Cadogan planned to be with his family if the rest of the bunker goes to hell. Makes sense he’d do something like that.

Indra was already not a fan of the Commanders at this point, telling Gaia: "Your real Commanders would have left you to burn", "the spirits of the Commanders have abandoned us"

We got two Wells mentions in this episode! One when Jaha was reading a children’s book (apparently The Giving Tree - thanks @jeanie205) to Ethan, and says it was his son's favorite bedtime story, and another one when Jaha is dying and says “Take me to my wife. Take me to Wells”.

ALIE would be proud of these people: they all keep repeating “There are too many people in this bunker” throughout the episode. Thanos would be proud of them, too. Why not instead say: “There aren’t enough resources in this bunker”? No worries then, they will manage to get 1/3 of those people killed - 814 will remain instead of 1200 by the time they get out of the bunker... What few characters in the show ever seem to realize are too few people for the human race to survive. That is, if they weren't lucky to always be running into more humans, and then everyone blows it away by killing each other, again.

A few lines in this episode feel like dark foreshadowing:

Abby makes the first mention of cannibalism, a dark period in Ark’s history called the “Blight"

"It won't be that easy", says Octavia to Cooper when Cooper wanted to kill herself. One could say the same when Octavia tried to sacrifice herself and die in 5x12

"I'll take care of the boy” - Octavia promises to Jaha to take care of little Ethan, just as Jaha promised to Ethan’s father. That didn't turn out so well in the end...

Rating: 9/10

#the 100 #the 100 rewatch #the 100 5x02 #red queen #the 100 season 5 #octavia blake #blodreina #thelonius jaha #marcus kane #abby griffin #kabby #anti kara cooper #indra kom trikru #indra #wonkru #mackson #nate miller

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rukakikuchi · 4 years

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Dreamcatcher “Scream” MV analysis and Dystopia storyline theory

Or…

How Gahyeon (unintentionally) messed everything up!

Okay, all joking aside, I do think that Gahyeon does play a focal role in the story for this latest comeback. And these are all just my theories based on how I interpret the story shown in the MV, so keep an open mind when reading!

So without further ado, let’s get right into discussion of Dreamcatcher’s latest comeback!

…

With “Dystopia: The Tree of Language” opening up an entirely new storyline outside of the “Nightmare” series we had been following up until now, we must disregard what we have received from previous Dreamcatcher lore and examine the new possibilities for what could come next.

In the previous storylines we’ve gotten for Dreamcatcher, Yoohyeon was a focal role in the story of the “Nightmare” series.

She was the one who killed the spider in “Fly High” that led to everyone becoming cursed and was the catalyst for her eventual fall to darkness.

From “You and I”, to “Deja Vu”, Yoohyeon was a major focus of the story.

But now, it appears that Gahyeon is the one serving as the catalyst for what we see happen in “Scream” and might become the main focus of this new “Dystopia” storyline.

But before we talk about Gahyeon and her role in the story, let’s see what we can gather of this new world we see in the music video.

Welcome to Dystopia

The world we see being depicted in “Scream” is a setting unlike anything we’ve seen thus far in Dreamcatcher’s music videos.

While some videos had a few fantasy elements, notably “Deja Vu”, they primarily focused on horror/thriller themes and imagery (ghosts, curses, witchcraft, etc.)

But “Scream” has much heavier emphasis on the fantasy elements; specifically, dark fantasy, since it still contains the darker, horror concept that has been consistent with the group.

In the “Nightmare” series, although the girls are seen performing rituals and apparently dabbling in witchcraft, they were never actually called witches.

They were “Nightmares”, girls who were cursed by a strange dark force, some of them corrupted or possessed by this entity, to be trapped in a never-ending dream.

But in “Scream”, there is no doubt they are now a real circle of witches. We see the girls not only wearing matching robes that you’d see a coven of witches wear (and we’ve seen them wear before in “Good Night” and “Fly High”), but Siyeon and Yoohyeon actually release magic from within them.

JiU in particular seems to have a strong connection to the titular “tree of language” that appears throughout the video, several scenes of her shown in a temple that might represent the inside of the tree itself.

Considering JiU is the leader of Dreamcatcher in real life, perhaps she is the guardian of the tree, and gathered allies to help her protect it, thus forming Dreamcatcher.

In fact, if we look at the album story spoiler teaser...

We see two girls on opposite sides of the tree. A girl with white hair, who we shall discuss the identity of in a bit, and a girl with dark hair, who I believe is JiU.

In any case, the tree is clearly an important part of their world, and may likely be the source of the girls’ powers. But more than that, the tree is also connected to the power of words and language.

JiU actually said during their rooftop VLIVE: “When people say good things, the tree bears white fruit, but when they say bad things, it bears black fruit.”

Perhaps this tree actually holds ancient archives of every event in history, or that it holds a great influence over everyone and its presence is what keeps peace and balance in the world.

And JiU, as the guardian spirit of the tree, helps it bear fruit of good, virtue, and light, and protect the balance with the fruit born of evil, negativity, pain, and darkness.

The very first thing we are given at the start of the music video is this…

“One day suddenly the light did not come, People forgot how to say good things.”

This means something catastrophic happened that influenced the power of the tree of language, disrupted the balance, and thus changed everything in their world. People began to spread words of hatred to those around them, because something had corrupted the tree.

The world which was once a “utopia” became a “dystopia”, and chaos and war erupted everywhere.

And I think it was Gahyeon who did this, but why and how?

Pandora’s box opened

When they released the album story spoiler teaser, we were given a glimpse of the story that “Dystopia” is telling us.

We see a little girl, reading from a book as words seem to flow out from it. Perhaps this book is connected to the tree; it contains great power and influence due to the words written in it.

However, we then see a darkness within the book start to flow out and drain away the girl’s lifeforce. Eventually she dies, but from what we’re shown in the teaser, it appears she is either reincarnated as or possessed by something sinister.

(From this moment henceforth, we shall refer to this being as “the spirit of evil”.)

What if that book wasn’t meant to be opened? That whatever contents it held weren’t meant to be read because it could corrupt a person’s heart and unleash a great evil. (Think Pandora’s Box.)

More importantly, who is this girl supposed to be? Is she supposed to represent a younger version of Handong, who wasn’t present during the video?

Frankly, no, I don’t think that’s the case. Because we do see Handong’s presence within the video. There is one dancer who is wearing a full face mask, dancing with the girls, and clearly is meant to be for Handong when she eventually returns.

So at the very least, we can assume she is also with the others as a member of Dreamcatcher, perhaps using the mask to hide her true identity.

And although we don’t see her, it’s very likely she will be incorporated into the story once she returns, so we’ll only know what Handong’s role in all of this is once that happens.

So for now, let’s just assume this little girl is someone else entirely. We see the girl is with Dreamcatcher, but they all appear sad when she dies.

They clearly cared about her deeply, but I just can’t figure out the relationship quite yet. Was she someone they were teaching magic to, or was it more of a familial bond, like a little sister?

We get these shots of JiU and Yoohyeon in the snow (which is often used to symbolize death), as well as shots later on of SuA in a black dress and umbrella. This shows all the members are in mourning over the little girl’s death.

However, I think Gahyeon takes the girl’s death the hardest. She doesn’t want to accept the fact that she’s gone; she wants to bring her back.

This leaves her vulnerable to the spirit of evil’s influence, as it lures her into the tree of language.

JiU can sense that something sinister has awakened, and hurries to try and stop Gahyeon, but as we see later, she didn’t make it in time.

When Gahyeon reaches the center of the tree, she finds a glowing crystal with strange symbols and a purple mist surrounding it. I think this represents the heart of the tree and source of its power.

Perhaps, under the influence of the spirit of evil, Gahyeon believed she could use the power of the crystal to change the events of the past and bring the girl back from the dead. But that’s an impossible wish, one that could never be granted.

And the moment Gahyeon touches it, it shatters and that’s when everything starts to go awry.

The inside of the temple represents the inside of the tree turns red, meaning it’s now starting to become corrupted by the spirit’s influence.

The purple flames that surrounded JiU (which represent the tree’s power) are red as well.

Strange red markings start covering the walls.

And a red burst of magic energy is unleashed from the tree. (Even the leaves turn blood red).

This is even reflected in the dance shots, as we see the girls dancing in a room lit up in red light, and choreography itself, as in the second chorus, Gahyeon stands at the center while everyone circles her and points at her.

So what happens now that the spirit of evil has corrupted the tree?

Seeds of evil

Although she might have had the best intent in mind, Gahyeon’s attempt at trying to revive a lost friend caused more bad than good. Because of this, her friends end up falling victim to the spirit of evil’s influence as well after it corrupts the tree.

During the first chorus, we are given a sequence of images:

Siyeon’s eye opening...

A vortex of dark purple clouds...

Siyeon walking through a forest covered in thick purple fog...

A black-and-white starry vortex...

SuA in a black dress, mask, and umbrella...

Another vortex of clouds, this time red...

The shot of the red hallway (look above).

Back shot of SuA’s umbrella...

And finally, a back shot of Gahyeon, though at a tilted angle. She’s in the same hallway, but this time it’s all white, meaning it was before the tree got corrupted.

Speaking of SuA, we also get a shot of her running through that same hallway, while being chased by a dark shadow. I believe this to be a result of the tree becoming corrupted by evil, and is now spreading to corrupt the girls.

SuA tried resisting it, but it clearly overpowered her.

Yoohyeon could sense there was danger, too, and tried to find her friends.

Now, as the darkness of the corrupted influence begins to erode the tree and spread to the girls, their memories become affected as well.

We are given shots of Gahyeon and Dami in black and white. I believe these are false memories of the two being implanted in the girls’ heads; a fake Gahyeon who spreads hurtful words, and a fake Dami who spreads lies.

This leads to Dreamcatcher breaking up.

JiU is trapped in the tree of language, Dami feels betrayed by her friends suddenly turning against her, while SuA goes to fight in the war.

Gahyeon feels immense guilt for what happened. Meanwhile, Handong goes missing (evident by her mask being left on the ground).

However, not all hope is lost.

Siyeon and Yoohyeon both feel deep down that their memories must be wrong, so they each go searching for answers on their own.

Siyeon searching through the thick fog is symbolic of her searching through her own memories, trying to find out what really happened, while Yoohyeon just wants to reunite with her friends.

So… What’s next for “Dystopia”?

The next chapter

This section will mostly just be predictions for how the next comeback will expand upon this new storyline.

Like mentioned previously, I believe that Gahyeon will play a big part in the story, as we saw her act as the catalyst for everything that went down in the video.

And as for Handong, there’s a chance that her inclusion following her return could add an interesting twist to the story, depending on what they decide to do with her role.

I also believe this new “Dystopia” storyline will continue to focus heavily on the dark fantasy aspects, and hopefully the next comeback can expand on this new world.

All we can say for now is... This is just the beginning.

I hope you guys enjoyed this analysis!

Until next time, sweet dreams! 🌙😴

#Dreamcatcher #KPop #Music #Theory #Analysis

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sunnybimbo · 5 years

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New Year’s Wrap Up

i was literally just thinking about this and surprise!! boss has got me covered

weathered (887 words)

Blueberry and Dandelions (2614 words)

Candlelight (1811 words)

Pas de Deux, adagio (23369 words)

Greasy Kisses (1080 words)

Me First! (1563 words)

Howling Heart (2553 words)

Dearly Beloved (3671 words)

Silence is Golden (2153 words)

Molten Gold (2953 words)

Dreaming (5303 words)

Chrysalis (483 words)

Marks You Leave (1182 words)

The Heart Speaks In Whiskers (2612 words)

Refracted (973 words)

All We Need (15983 words)

Whipped (2823 words)

dusklight (2025 words)

left in the dust (2218 words)

Pull of My Hips (3448 words)

the notion of the idea of waiting for you (3242 words)

Fall In (2000 words)

catching your light in my palms (2891 words)

Total Fics: 23 (excluding spice fics which raise it to 31) Total Words: 93,128

(read more bc s u p e r l o n g p o s t)

Ship/character breakdown: Ship breakdown:

Heith - 8 Fics Shunk - 6 Fics Sheith - 2 Fics and the rest have less than one fic attached, or are gen <3

Character breakdown:

Hunk - 20 Shiro - 15 Keith - 14 (w/ Kosmo at a solid 4 appearances yeet) Lance - 7 Pidge - 5 Allura - 3 Lotor - 2 Coran - 2 and special shoutout to Kolivan @ 2 as well

Characters that had the main focus: u already know it,,,,,,, 💛

Specifics:

Best/worst title? Best title: i really can’t decide between: ‘the heart speaks in whiskers’ vs ‘blueberry and dandelions’ so take both Worst title: Dearly Beloved,,,,,,, i could’ve gone WAY cheesy

Best/worst first line?

best (Dreaming)

“You don’t have to do this.” Pidge says to him, just as the dawn begins to settle. He’s surrounded by faceless people, or atleast it feels that way with how little they look at him, so he focuses on nothing but her. Heavy makeup is traced across his eyelids, golden lines echoing the whisper of sun beams that paint his skin.

i love,,,,, yellow imagery in my fics,,,,,,, sue me

also hidge friendship! yeah!!!

worst (Molten Gold):

Lotor falls for the boy in yellow before he realizes it even happens.

just because i Remember not being able to think of anything more interesting to start with so i just slapped that on

Best/worst last line?

i waver so much but FINAL ANSWER:

i have TWO best ones, though.

(Dreaming):

And Shiro is a greedy god, a selfish god, a lonely god. But forever and always would he be a kind one.

(Pas de Deux, adagio)

It feels the exact same way about two months later, — sending a current of pleasant electricity thrumming through him, until his fingertips tingle and his heart soars— when Hunk proposes in the very pasture they'd met in. Keith, if it isn't obvious by the way he smooches Hunk silly, says yes.

And they lived happily ever after.

everytime i think about this fic i always wanna write a million and one words about it

worst (weathered):

They didn’t say anymore words, but the love (not to mention, the unadulterated mitigation of their combined grief) still nestled its way to his heart. There would never be enough time to describe how happy he was to see them again. And he knew that (and maybe he always knew) despite everything, here in his mama’s arms with his brothers and the familiar smell of grass and ocean, would always be his home.

only because it’s s o l o n g and kinda confusing to read

General questions:

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?

I wrote a bunch less than last year, but this year was OOF so I didn’t do as much (93k vs last years 200+k ;w;)

although this IS disregarding my spice fics where i wrote almost 38k so,,, i didn’t do TOO terribly :D

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year? spice: hunk/sendak......

but other than that, i’ve really stuck to heith/shunk! What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

Familiar Faces is by far my favorite of the year. It was fun, it was kooky, it was funny, it was dramatic. Structurally it was among the most challenging (Two chapters happen simultaneously and that had to be plotted out well). Also, it was just super fun to work with Velkyn!

Okay, NOW your most popular story.

By kudos, Coming Through the Noise. Which is cool! I’d never seen a Gen truth serum fic before, and it was extra fun for a very reserved character like Shiro. Story most underappreciated by the universe? Unrelenting, probably. It’s all about the nature of being a Hufflepuff from Hunk’s POV, so I get why it doesn’t get a big audience. But I love it. Puffs need more love :( Story that could have been better? I like Shackles on my Wings, but it probably could have done with an extra polish (most things I write could tbh) Sexiest story?

DEFINITELY on my mind over @ my horni write write

Saddest story? god.... Silence is Golden for sure,,,,, (tw for torture/whump/i guess mild gore???)

Most fun? Pas de Deux, adagio,,,,,, i love myself some fairy tale (*cough* barbie* cough) crossovers.

Story with single sweetest moment?

i really gotta go with Pas de Deux again

"I'll be fine." Keith says as he pulls away. "Tonight isn't about this. Let's... let's dance. I've never danced before."

"Really?" Then, realizing that no, Keith probably would have never gotten the opportunity, Hunk stands and offers his elbow to him. "Well, I'm obligated to show you the best time of your life now."

They don't head towards the ballroom. Instead, they skirt around the edges of the castle until they find a window, left ajar just enough so that they can hear the music loud and clear.

Hunk offers his hand, and Keith lets his drop in his large palm. He's gathered up, then, with one arm around his waist, and it takes a bit of ushering from Hunk for him to catch the rhythm. Keith stumbles over his own feet more than once, caught between looking down at the motions and up at Hunk's face.

In the end, Hunk lifts him just a few inches up and lets him rest on the tip of his boots so that he can dance them around without having to worry about stepping on Keith's toes. He isn't wearing shoes, after all.

They dance until the song changes twice, and Keith finds himself pressing an ear against Hunk's heart, basking in the steady beat for as long as he's allowed. Every so often, Hunk will hum to the tune and the vibrations will course straight through Keith's body, like light through a rainbow prism.

Keith was right when he'd assumed that his dress would be fun to twirl in. The fabric is kind against his skin as it flips this way and that, but Hunk’s touch against his back is even kinder.

Hardest story to write?

All We Need, because i was at a r e a l l y bad place when i tried to tame that beast, but i’m so proud of how it turned out, and also i’d probably do anything for peach c’:

Easiest/most fun story to write?

left in the dust flowed out of me like water out of a spout,,,, it was Magical

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?

mmmm i don’t think so? All We Need made me more conscientious of canon characterization, but by like maybe 10% asljhadl

Most overdue story?

dude..... All We Need, again. peachie was so patient and kind while it took me like 80 years ;w;

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

i tried to be more Flowy n Metaphorical in my writing because i love that shit, and i think it’s going pretty well. i lost my touch somewhere around the end of summer for a bit, bc again i was having some Fucky moments, but overall i think i’m doing alright!!!!

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

i have a couple long fic ideas i want to do!!! which i totally don’t mind talking about if anyone happens to be a little curious. one is an arriety au (bc i’ve never read the borrowers) and the other is that one old west au i literally never shut up about.

there’s another one i’m iffy about where it’s basically shunk in Therapy together yayyyyyy, but we’ll see if that one stays dead

but overall: my biggest goal is to write more longfics for rarepairs!!! also more things w/ women bc i’ve really been slacking on that end.

also maybe something for she-ra? i wrote down a couple ideas the other day that i’d love to explore

✍️ wish me luck!!!

tagging:

@grassepi @drdone @ironinkpen @darlingaces @tootsonnewts @oops-i-accidentally @dansantsouslalune @sakura-daydream @call-me-kaii @maternalcube @turtlelady17

plus anyone else who sees this that wants to do this!!!! i always forget people for these things

#long post #WOOF that took three hours #jam gets fuckin tagged in something holy shit #yayayaayaya #i'm proud of my progress this year!!!#i hope im able to write a bunch more next year!!!!#ask to tag

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amaryllisblackthorn · 5 years

Text

to make up for the looong time its been taking me to get done with my curse au fic i’m uploading snippets of an unfinished abandoned fic in the same verse. it’s not canon, so i guess its like an au of an au heh. it’s the same universe as the body remembers what the memory forgot, but like i said, it’s not canon so the second installment will completely disregard these parts.

Moonlight shone dimly through veils of dust that covered the faces of virgin windows. The once paragonal coat of youth chipped away from the abrasive wear of time. The emptiness was suffocating if one did not tread carefully, and the silence would have been deafening if not for the rhythm of footsteps accompanying a duo.

“Christ -- Georgie!” Duncan said as soon as he realized the identity of one of the girl’s facing him. He darted from his place on the stairs leaving the woman, Jolie, where she stood unmoving.

“Yes, it’s nice to see you too, Duncan,” Sara said, using sarcasm to aid in her recovery of the alarming incident. Her hand was holding Georgie’s, but whether it was for her comfort or her own was hard to tell. Maybe it was both. “Your concern is touching.”

In the midst of his anger and worry, the boy found the time to flash her a grin. “Always a pleasure, Sara.” His appearance quickly turned serious again as he looked to Georgie and then turned to face Jolie, his brows furrowing. “Can you explain exactly what you were doing here?”

His voice had a terribly controlled sound to it, a dangerous calm. It was the kind of tone that brought kings to their knees and made the bones in Georgie’s body shake. Somehow, however, it didn’t seem to have much of an effect on Jolie. She stood, stoic. “They’re intruders.”

“Well, this was fun,” Georgie started to say, already taking some steps back. Her hands opened and unopened several times. Everything seemed so fake for some reason, so unreal. “But I think I’m going to go.”

“No -- wait!” Duncan said, extending his hand as though to stop her. He had moved slightly closer to her in an attempt to gain her attention. His green eyes implored with hers, looked at her with a sense of understanding and empathy. It was to ensure the advantage that he remained eye level with her, saying, “Stay. Just for a bit -- if you’re still uncomfortable then you can go. Just -- don’t go. Not yet.”

There was still nothing in Georgie that wanted her to stay. Warnings of go, go! still beat in her heart, her thumb rubbing the hem of her skirt again and again. Even though the danger had passed, her body didn’t seem to be aware. It was a sensation that was too familiar, and she didn’t like it. “I -- I don’t know, Duncan. I don’t really like to keep company with people who try to kill me.”

The hesitance did not completely depart from Georgie, but his words did have an effect on her. It calmed the rattling of her bones, even if just a little bit. He was also so insistent, wanting terribly for her to stay. She decided she could give him a few minutes of her time without it hurting anyone. “Okay,” she breathed, and then, a bit clearer, “Okay, fine. I’ll stay for a bit. As long as there are no more attempts on my life.”

A smile appeared on the boy’s face, breaking through his attempt to suppress it. “There won’t be. I promise.”

Jolie had a scowl ingrained on her face, and although it may have always been at that intensity, Georgie couldn’t help but feel it was directed at them (her specifically). The again, maybe Georgie was just worrying too much, thinking too much of herself. Nevertheless, it was a less than welcoming expression, and it made the hairs on Georgie’s skin stand up just a little. It’s not that Georgie genuinely believed that the older woman would actually hurt her, but she had a suspicion that’s exactly what she wanted to do.

“Hey,” a voice said, breaking through her thoughts. Duncan had approached her, having left Jolie’s side. His lips formed a half smile, and she had to admit he looked kind of cute when his smile wasn’t a smirk. Objectively speaking. “Everything okay? You look kind of disquieted.”

Her lips tightened as she gave him a close smile. “No, yeah, I’m fine,” Georgie said, putting a loose strand of hair behind her ear. For someone who regularly wore ponytails, she would have thought she’d be able to do them better. In fact, she wasn’t even sure if she really liked ponytail. They made her feel kind of … mature? Not that that was a problem, exactly, but when was the last time she wore her hair down, besides from sleeping and showering? Strange were the things she’d been beginning to notice after years of them never crossing her mind. That was life, she guessed.

“See -- there!” Duncan said, once again interrupting her musings. There was something almost playful about his features as he gained her attention again. “You did it again. You sure everything’s okay?”

“Positive,” Georgie assured him, then added, “but, I mean, I guess this just isn’t my cup of tea? It’s nothing personal, it’s just I was kind of expecting to, you know, explore an abandoned building or something. I didn’t expect like a haunted house kind of a deal or like Paris catacombs under the building or anything, but I guess I was looking forward to the thrill of walking through an isolated building? It’s silly, I know. It’s just that this is kind of … boring.”

She didn’t want to be too blunt and end up offending him, but he seemed to take it very well. His lips spread wider, and he seemed somewhat amused. “You haven’t even been here for ten minutes,” Duncan said (he wasn’t exactly sure of how much time had actually passed but it certainly seemed like not much), “and you’ve already decided that you know everything there is to know about this building! I’ll let you know, bird, there’s a lot to still explore in this old building.”

Georgie scrunched her nose and exaggerated an angry pout at the use of that nickname. It was a stupid one (unlike Georgie which was a pleasant sounding derivative of Georgia, her name), but she didn’t really have that much of an objection to it. It was just really fun when she pretended that she did. In fact, she kind of liked that he did it, because in an odd way it made her feel better about that whole kidnapped-by-a-sicko incident. Like it had less power over her because they were able to refer to it without avoidance or caution. She didn’t know how to explain it, but it was kind of nice.

The eyes of the boy in front of her were no longer on her but gazed somewhere past her. “I don’t know, she seems to be all right,” he said, casually.

Georgie spun her head around to see what he was talking about. Sara was talking to three boys who had names that evaded Georgie but whom seemed to be engaged in the conversation. Her friend’s hands moved animatedly as she spoke, her eyes housing a spark as she did so.

“After a lot of trial and error, experience, and extensive research,” she was saying, “I’ve found out that the best materials are balsa wood, thick clear pine, steel wool, unbleached muslin, dowels, carpet thread, and sheet brass. I’ve heard some things about trunk fiber, and honestly I’m dying to use it.”

“What is she talking about?” Georgie said half-absently to herself, staring at Sara in bewilderment. Man, did her friend have some peculiar hobbies.

“So?” Duncan asked, his voice full of anticipation. He tried to suppress it, but it was there. In an odd way, he resembled a puppy, with a tilted head and wide expecting eyes. She wouldn’t be surprised if his ears had perked up. It was actually a pretty amusing imagery.

“I -- I don’t know, Duncan,” Georgie told him, putting her hands together, restless. “I just don’t … feel comfortable, you know? I should probably just -- ”

“ -- go home?” Duncan finished for her, his eyebrow raised. His features had become harsher, judgmental even. Maybe even hurt.

“Duncan -- ”

“And what waits for you there, Georgie, hm? A practical life of routine and predictability, where you grow up silently without any protest? You would rather go back fading into the abyss? You would rather stay where you know is safe and protected, not just from dangers and threats but from living and excitement? Are you really that afraid of the dark that you would rather keep your window shut than go out and venture through and discover what lies there? So afraid that you’d rather close your eyes and miss all of the marvels and wonders that pass you by, that you’d see if you only looked? Is that really what you want to go back to, Georgie? Is it?”

“How dare you,” said Georgie, clenching her fists. Her brow was furrowed as her cheeks raised. She tried to keep her voice from raising while still expressing all of the fury that she felt. “How dare you. How dare you criticize me for wanting safety -- after everything that I’ve been through? Where do you get off judging me for being afraid after I’ve been abducted by some murderous psycho who had a room covered in the blood of his victims? I’ve earned the right to be afraid, and you can go screw yourself for saying otherwise.”

“Why can’t you just believe that I won’t let anyone hurt you?” he asked furiously, as though he was the one being wronged.

“Because I can’t trust you not to do it yourself!” she retorted right back, refusing to shrink down. “I can’t trust you, not when you may have burned down a house and killed someone! I thought I could have ignored it, I thought that I could be okay with it, but I realize now that I’m not. I’m not, because if you could have done that, then who knows what else you could be capable of? I can’t trust you to be able to control yourself, and that’s terrifying. The boys never do anything to upset you, but is that out of loyalty or fear? At the end of the day, Duncan Faber, I still don’t know you. I can say what instruments you play and what language you take, but I can’t say that I trust you, because I can’t. Not really.”

His glare was thrown like daggers, but Georgie stood unfazed, her nerves impenetrable armor. Heat seemed to be seething from him, his breaths rough and ragged. Oh, if looks could kill. Well, he wasn’t the only one who knew how to throw daggers. She had an advantage over him, too; he constantly overestimated himself and underestimated others. Georgia McCarthy was not one to be underestimated lightly.

Before he was able to find his voice, to form words out of his turbulent emotion, Georgie spun around and started to make her way across the corridor. “Don’t follow me,” she warned, not even looking back. She wasn’t going to stay in the company of someone who didn’t respect her, who invalidated how she felt. No, Georgie held too much self-respect for herself, too much dignity. There was no way she was going to let a smug pompous jerk spit all over here as she just took it. No, sir. Not Georgie.

There was something nagging in the back of her mind — like, Yeah, good luck with this one. Did you honestly think you would be able to find something like this? How much longer are you going to keep romanticizing things that aren’t meant to be romanticized? Don’t you remember how things worked out last time?

(For a moment, a quick fleeting moment, she scratched sentience and was so very close to the cracks of remembrance.)

The tracks guiding the train of thought disassembled as quickly as they were put down, and Georgie occupied herself with this latest development. She honestly didn’t expect for it to work, especially not this soon. One of the negatives of making it up as she went was not knowing what to do next; how was she supposed to enter?

A once passive nature had transformed into a creation much different, much more comfortable. Stubbornness was an old jacket she found without trying that had been custom made for her. It suited her perfectly, and she accepted it so intrinsically that it was hard to remember that she hadn’t always worn it. The knitted brow, the intense frown, the stonewall resolve — they all appeared bringing with them a sense of reversion.

#darling pan #ab writes #cw: blood #cw: kidnapping #cw: abduction #mentions of those past three things #cw: pstd #sort of #ouat #once upon a time #boy this has been sitting in my drafts for months man im the worst;#;ill finish the next installment....eventually...

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jacktherph · 5 years

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Hey there Jack. We know you're not as well knowledged on discord rps but we value your opinion. We're a brand new discord rp based off the tv series t@gged. In our group you get to see how social media can effect everyone, and how hard secrets are to keep. No one is safe with King Cobra around. Could we bother you for an opinion? Public is perfectly fine.

hi there @newflashhq! i’m happy to give you an opinion. you specified public as being okay, but let me know if you want me to take it down at any time.

NOTE: all opinions expressed here are mine, jack’s, belonging to jack. i make no claims to knowing what is best for every group – i only offer advice based on my experiences, what i’ve seen in the community, and my personal knowledge. no one person knows what is best for you or any group other than yourself; because you were the one who put all of this together in the first place. so take everything i say as a suggestion, and remember that you have accomplished so much!!

and if you have any questions, want feedback on something specific, or want elaborations on anything said in this opinion, don’t hesitate to message me!!

start: 10.59 | pause: none | end: 11.12TOTAL: HERE 13 minutes to read all pages (please don’t take this as a measure of anything, I simply time myself and am a speed reader)

I just want to say first off I don’t know the source material this rpg is based off of, so if anything I suggest or recommend contradicts with the canon please feel free to disregard it or let me know and I’ll remove it from the opinion!

So first impressions are good here!! You have a great colour palette and aesthetic going on with your background image and the relation to the plot. The banners underneath where the tags are sort of jarr me away from the content of your rpg -- it looks like stars which I couldn’t find in relation to your concept so maybe change that design?? But it isn’t a big enough deal to take me away from the idea in general. The custom fonts the theme uses are a bit off -- they look nice but the flowery nature of them doesn’t mesh well with the concept. But that’s a theme for you and can’t really be helped. If the theme maker doesn’t mind the custom fonts being changed, I could help you do that if you need! The thing that does take me some time and the change I would recommend you look at is the information in your sidebar. While all important, it presents as just a block of text that can cause eyes to glaze over. Maybe adding in some bold, italic, underlined, or different color font would help mix it up and keep it sort of fresh? That way it isn’t just “text wall here,” you know?

While I’m personally not a fan of themes that present this kind of navigation page -- where everything is sort of in different boxes and you have a lot of imagery at once, what I think about a theme is irrelevant to an impartial opinion. So y’all definitely utilized the space given to you really well. Your links listed are important and your calendar space will no doubt fill up over time. And the graphic made about the text is really cool!!

So objectively, your Plot is good. It provides all of the information needed for someone who knows the content/source material to get a good feel for what your rpg is gonna be about. But I think my not knowing the source material is actually a good thing in this case because it means I can tell y’all that if you don’t know the story, everything is… really hella confusing. I don’t know if you wanted to market to people who haven’t seen the show or leave your member base to people who have seen it, but that might be something to think about and revisit at a later date. Otherwise the length is good and I enjoy the introductory paragraph style and the summary at the bottom.

Your Rules are where I’ll be recommending the most changes. They are good, and have everything you need, but they’re very wordy. So much of what you say in a whole sentence you could simply make a bullet point with and be done with it. Long rules are good, but when its just a simple matter of what people need to know, potential members could end up intimidated by the sight of them. Your first rule, for example: “This group is a 21+ discord roleplay - for both mun and characters - don’t apply if you’re not at least 21 years old.” That could easily be condensed into: “newflashhq is a discord rp for muns/muses 21+” and done. I’d say look through all of your rules point-by-point and see where you can condense them. My one big change suggestion would be the rule about being open to all genders, sexualities, and races. An easy fix would be, for example: “We are a LGBT+ and POC inclusive group, and encourage diversity in our members and characters” or something of that ilk.

So while your Locations page is a good idea, I don’t know if you can see a few formatting problems on your end? Overall I think it’s a great idea and provides everything potential and current members will need, so it’s a great thing. But there are some issues with the theme. I’ll include a picture below of what I mean:

If you tried to install a custom font, it didn’t work and instead is showing Comic Sans. If you want that, that’s fine! If you don’t, that’s something to note. If you want a tutorial on how to install and host custom fonts I can link you to it!! Also, your images cut off and are not the width of the description boxes they are beside. I don’t know if that’s a you thing or a theme thing, but I’d look into it!

I like your Application a lot! Asking for headcanons tells you as admins things about that character and helps people as applicants think deeper beyond the character bio, so that’s a great thing to include. And you’ve check-marked everything I would normally look for in an app so I don’t have any recommended changes here.

So I clicked on a few of your Skeletons just to see the layout and such, and again I’m not a big fan of them but I can see why you chose it in relation to the theme you’ve chosen?? And they are aesthetically pleasing but I’m not getting a lot on the information of the character right away. But when you have more taken roles this will obviously change so I’m not judging! One thing however: in the “Inspiration” link I think you might have some broken links, because when I clicked on one for “The Runaway” I got this:

“https://newflashhq.tumblr.com/newflashinspo.tumblr.com/tagged/runaway”

If you’re trying to link to a new url, you need to include the “https://” in the link section of the theme because they’re set to automatically redirect to a page on the current url. So switching it to “https://newflashinspo.tumblr.com/tagged/runaway” will remove that problem!

Your Discord Guide is honestly so impressive and a great resource. Did you guys put it together yourselves?? Because not only did it answer my questions on how discord rps work, it also opened my mind to them because it provided a lot of information I didn’t know I needed. I’m sure it will also do that for people looking to join but hesitant because of the platform. Seriously guys, if you cleaned it up and added a few more points on an intro and went into more detail, it could be something you post on an rph and a great resource for the community. The one suggestion I’d recommend is explaining a bit about the Instagram and Snapchat sections in relation to your discord concept, because that lost me?? All of a sudden I was like “wait there’s stuff to do on instagram, too?” before understanding a little further down, so maybe just a quick sentence about how that pertains to the group would help a ton.

My FAVORITE THING about your rpg: probably your Discord Guide and, by affiliation, how helpful you appear to be in acclimating your members and potential members to how your group will be run. That’s always an important thing no matter what platform you use but with your concept it really helps.

My LEAST FAVORITE THING about your rpg: the Rules page, and that’s just because it needs some work before looking a little more formal and accessible to anyone looking at it. I recommended how to go about changes above, but let me know if I can explain anything else.

OVERALL, my excitement would be kiddy-corner to what I know about the source content, so I’m pretty impartial to your idea as a whole, but in terms of being a formatted rpg with information, skeletons, a concept, and a direction for your characters and members to go, you’ve done everything needed and then some!! I wish y’all the best of luck going forward!!

Sincerely,Jack

#rph #rpc #discord rp #rp opinion #opinion #jack does rph things #newflashhq

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