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caesium-55 · 27 days

Text

—everything is orange. [ i ]

pairing: lando norris x kpop idol! reader

summary: a racecar driver who needed a fake girlfriend to dispel rumors and a kpop idol who needed publicity for her song. somewhere in between orange cars and orange sunsets, stands something they're afraid of naming.

author's note: i wont take tags for this im sorry 😭 also, i changed the faceclaim

masterlist.

The room is dimly lit. You didn't like dim lighting. It reminds you of your childhood bedroom. A barely functioning lightbulb hanging on the ceiling, your mother never bothering to change it. You were too short to change it yourself. You asked your neighbor once to do it for you but he had asked for a night with you in exchange so you kicked him out of the house before he could change the light bulb. You chose to study under the sucky light which became the reason behind your poor eyesight today.

You sit on a chair across Atty. Kim Jin Hwang, HAN entertainment's legal representative and one of the best lawyers Seoul has to offer, with a table dividing the two of you. He’s a man in his fifties, quite close to the age of retirement. He’s a veteran and despite his age, his mind is still sharp.

You refrain yourself from tapping your foot against the floor anxiously. Anxiety does not look good on you and you refuse to show people that you're anxious. Anxiety is weakness so you keep your posture straight and make sure to keep eye contact with Atty. Kim. If you look away first, you're a coward.

“Tell me honestly. Is this you in the pictures?” Atty. Kim Jin Hwang points at the pictures sprawled across the table. They’re blurry and grainy and incredibly zoomed in. You can't even tell it was you from some angles. You look quite different from the person that you were when you were sixteen. HAN Entertainment is particularly fond of investing in their idol’s plastic surgeries and while they only fixed your crooked teeth, removed the hump on your nose bridge, altered your uneven ears, bleached your skin, and plucked your brows—which are quite minor changes—you still hold very little resemblance to the teenage you.

You grew up well. Thankfully, you inherited only the best parts of your parents. Or at least, the best parts of your Mom. You have no idea what your father looked like, only knowing that he was from Brazil or some country in South America.

“Yes,” you answer immediately, not bothering to lie. What is the point of lying anyway? People have been calling you all sorts of malicious names across different social media platforms and you’re sure Atty. Kim has seen some of them. There’s no point lying to his face and saving your image anymore. Might as well admit that you are exactly the kind of person they’ve been yapping about. An illegal driver. A criminal.

“Why did you do it?” Atty. Kim asks and truthfully, you did not expect the question. You expected the what and how and where and when but never the why question. You fall into a thoughtful pause.

“I was sixteen,” you shrug your shoulders, almost uncaringly so. “I wanted to leave home as early as I could and to do that, I needed money. Nobody wanted to accept student part-timers and I tried doing stuff like tutoring and doing other people’s assignments but it wasn't enough. I have a friend who joins street races. He’s not a good driver but he’s got a good car. He really wants to win so he cheated and let me drive his car on the condition that if I win, he’ll split me the winner’s money. I did it. I won races in that car, acting as if he was the one driving it.”

Atty. Kim gives you a long look. You don’t know what it means.

“Alright,” Atty. Kimlifts his chin and rises from his chair. “That concludes our meeting. In the meantime, you lay low. We’ll handle everything.”

You nod, “Okay.”

True to Atty. Kim’s words, HAN entertainment handled everything. They released a statement that you watched one race because you were sixteen and clueless and didn't know you were getting yourself involved in an illegal activity. It helped that you drove under a different name so people were easily convinced of this lie. You knew your friend—the owner of the car— wouldn't even reveal that it was you who’d driven the car. His ego would be bruised once the people discovered that he cheated on the street races and a sixteen-year-old girl with no license and no personal car outperformed him.

Additionally, HAN announced that you were to depart your group—ORACLE—which absolutely destroyed you because ORACLE had been the place where you felt like you belonged. ORACLE had been your goal. You worked yourself to the bone to the point of collapse because you wanted to be in ORACLE and wanted to remain in ORACLE.

Nevertheless, you accepted your fate easily. There was no point destroying the other members because of your fault alone.

Your members cried for a whole week after the announcement was made public through HAN Entertainment’s official social media platforms and you spent every single day you could still spend inside the dorm reassuring them, telling them that you’d still be there for them, that you’d be standing behind them in each step to their success. You loved your girls so much. You wouldn't even choose to leave them. If only fate was a bit kinder to you. If only life was less brutal.

Furthermore, HAN made you publish a handwritten apology letter. You couldn't remember what you wrote anymore but you did remember how heavy the pen felt, how your hands trembled as you wrote each sentence, how writing the damn letter took three hours because you kept breaking down midway. They announced your hiatus promptly after. They used the term indefinite hiatus but it might as well be retirement.

You can't believe that you suffered through sixteen years under the same roof as your incredibly abusive mother, left home with only a backpack and a paper bag of cash just as you hit eighteen years old, worked your way in the harsh world by juggling three part-time jobs and a scholarship-shouldered university education until a scout noticed you, undergone the rigorous and borderline suicidal training of a KPop idol to-be, and sacrificed everything you had—mental stability, blood, sweat, and tears—just so you could pass every monthly evaluation and become your company’s darling, only to have everything disappear because someone found pictures of you predebut in an illegal street racing event. Fuck.

You were fucking sixteen at that time! You didn't know any better. You only wanted money. You didn't have a license. Getting one is too expensive. You borrowed a car from a friend. It's an unregistered car. You drove the car. You won races. You stopped when you turned eighteen. That was it.

Knetz decided to crucify you for a sin born out of your desperation when you were sixteen. When a dog was hungry, it ate whatever was thrown its way, uncaring if the food thrown at it was good or not because its primary instinct was only to cure its hunger. It was not as if you sexually assaulted someone. It was not as if you bullied someone and involved yourself in school violence. It was not as if you drank alcohol and drove or even involved yourself in gambling. Sure, street racing was illegal but you never even hurt someone! You never even crashed into someone mid-race.

You’re sure you’re going to leave the company and you won't fight their decision if they want you to do so. People spit out their gum when they lose their flavor. That's also what the industry did. You saw it happen too many times to too many idols. They collect pretty faces, push them to their limits until they could be loved by the public and once the public decides they’re not worth loving anymore, they’d spit them out. You are a gum in this story.

You feel like you’re eighteen again. You want to run away from home all over again. You ran away from the house you were born in once and now, you’re going to run away from the house you worked hard to live in. You want to pack your bags and board the next plane to another country even before the light of the rising sun touches the ground. That gnawing feeling of not belonging to a place that’s supposed to be home kept tormenting the cracks of your heart and the only way to seemingly get rid of it albeit only temporarily is to pick up on your feet and run away, never to leave anything behind you. Not ghosts, not traces, not memories—nothing.

But HAN entertainment won't let you. Yoon PD-nim knocked on your door, a contract in hand. He offered you an apartment to live in, a salary, a place in the company, and told you to keep creating songs. HAN Entertainment knew your talent in song making and producing was partly behind the success of ORACLE, their rising girl group. You were too useful to get rid of easily.

And like that, you spent the last two years making music for every kpop group under HAN Entertainment. You mostly made B-sides for the junior girl groups, AURORA and PRIZMA, and the title tracks for boy groups, HIRA and 1THEBOY. You worked for soloist, Ciel, once for his last comeback before his mandatory military service and worked on half a mini-album’s worth of songs for ORACLE every comeback. Thankfully, the songs gained positive feedback from the general public. That was your ticket to keep staying in HAN entertainment as a ghost producer and ghost song-writer.

Two years. You rotted in your apartment and the studio. This felt no different than the time you lived under your parents’ roof. You felt like a ghost, present but also not quite there. It's quite fitting, you think. You're a ghost producer and a ghost song-writer.

This was not a life worth living but you’d rather a life not worth living than have nothing at all.

You empty your fifth cup of coffee for the day—an unhealthy brew of Americano with five shots of espresso—before standing up from the ergonomic chair where you’ve glued your ass on in the last two to three business hours. The demo for Sunset Paradise is almost finished. There are still a few parts that need major adjustments and refinement but you’re confident that you’ll be done by midnight.

Manager-nim enters the studio just as you reach the door. You jump, almost kicking the indoor potted plant inconveniently positioned near the door. The caffeine made you extra jumpy today. Once you get over your tiny shock, you bow your head in greeting. Manager-nim mirrors your actions.

“You're still working?” he asks.

“You're still bald?”

Manager-nim rolls his eyes at you, smiling. You chuckle.

Manager-nim, or rather, Song Dan, is ORACLE’s manager. He is a middle-aged man who only came up to your shoulders. He’s shaped like a square with round glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose. He treated you and the other members of ORACLE as if you were his daughters.

“I’m going to go get coffee. You can sit here for a while,” you invite, gesturing to the tiny cream couch. You use your feet to nudge the potted plant and clear Manager-nim’s path.

“No coffee,” Manager-nim stops you, taking a seat. “That's enough coffee for you today. Sit down here. We need to talk.”

“You can't kick me out. I won't give you Ciel’s first post-military mini album and ORACLE’s summer title track if you do.”

Manager-nim’s eyebrows draw together, a vertical wrinkle appearing between them, “What? No. We're not kicking you out.”

Your shoulders sag, relieved.

“Yoon PD-nim wants you to release a single.”

At that, your entire body stiffens, eyes going wide as saucers. You let out a noise in disbelief.

“You're joking.”

Manager-nim’s face doesn't shift in the slightest.

“You're actually serious,” you rub your chin with your hand.

What is Yoon PD-nim trying to pull now? Two years have passed since you’ve disappeared from the limelight. You're certain that you're not returning to the world of flashing lights and stage performance anymore and you’ve already accepted that your career has ended.

“Why?” your voice slightly wavers as you ask. Manager-nim sighs heavily, patting the vacant space beside him.

“Take a seat. We’re going to be talking for a while.”

The girl in the mirror stares back at you. She looks exhausted. She has deep bags underneath her eyes. Her shoulders are bony. They look like they're about to pierce through her pale skin. Her lips, which should be a nice shade of pink, are pale. Her eyes hold emptiness.

You pull your gaze away from your reflection and direct it to the bathroom sink, where a hair brush sits on the white tiles quietly. Fallen hair gathers up in its numerous sharp teeth. At this rate, you’re going to end up like Manager-nim—bald.

You can't go bald. You have a weirdly shaped head.

“Yoon PD-nim wants you to release a single but before the release, he needs you to be in a PR relationship with someone.”

You hiss loudly, slapping a hand on your temple. God, you want to act like Manager-nim never said that. You don't want to remember it.

You? A PR relationship? With someone you don't know? How atrocious. You didn't even need to hear Manager-nim out until the end. You are out. You do not vibe with romantic relationships. They make your skin crawl.

“Listen, [Name]. This might be your only chance to come back again.”

“What if I don't want to come back again?”

“Then why are you still here? Why are you still making music? You're good at leaving so why didn't you?”

The public still terrifies you but you will never tell that to anyone. You can’t even go out and buy groceries without trembling. So many eyes. So many judging eyes. They're all waiting to destroy you again with their stupid eyes and stupid mouths with sharp teeth. A stupid PR relationship won't save you.

But what if it will?

You hold the edges of the sink and lean the majority of your weight against it. Your knuckles slowly turn white. Your knees feel weak. You close your eyes and let out a shaky sigh.

Why are you still here? A voice in your head asks.

I just want to be home. You reply.

Do it. This is your ticket to go home. It says.

You open your eyes and gaze into the mirror.

Do you want to be home?

More than anything.

With a nod, you push yourself away from the sink and exit the bathroom.

Yoon Sang Hyuk, CEO of HAN Entertainment—the black marble desk name plate indicates; the text an intimidating shade of gold. The owner of the name sits behind the table, his legs crossed over the other. His face is sealed with a neutral expression. Suddenly, a satisfied smile works its way across his face and you swear the wrinkles that permeated his entire face doubled in amount.

“I knew you still had it in you,” he says calmly. “That's good.”

“Thank you,” you say, your tone coming out bland.

“I’ll give you a manager and you are to leave for Singapore tomorrow.”

You nod, “Yes, Yoon PD-nim.”

“Oh and [Name]?”

“Yes, Yoon PD-nim?”

“I know you're smart and you're hardworking and you're strong,” he begins. “I am confident you’ll do well so when you fly out there, don't be intimidated by any of them. You're as powerful as them. Remember the reason why you're there in the first place and do what you think is best.”

“You're putting a lot of trust in me,” you observe.

It's questionable; the amount of trust he’s giving you. You already expected that Yoon PD-nim would send out an entire escort team just to make sure that you're not going to mess up again and get yourself involved in a PR nightmare incident. Who knows? Maybe someone will dig up pics of you copying homework from your seatmate in middle school and crucify you for being an academic cheater while you're out there holding hands with your fake boyfriend.

“I know you won't make the same mistake twice.”

You finally catch the underlying message behind his seemingly harmless words.

Focus on coming back and don't make another mistake.

You nod, “Yes, Yoon PD-nim.”

“Lando Kinder Norris,” you read the name on the folder, brows furrowing. That's a rather unique middle name. “British-Belgian. Born November 13, 1999—”

It's good that your fake boyfriend and you were born in the same year. You're not very fond of age gaps.

“—in Bristol, England. Currently racing for McLaren. Car number 4. First entry is the Australian Grand Prix.”

Below is a series of long paragraphs detailing his racing history that you’re definitely not reading. Shoving the folder aside, you lean back into the seat and cross your arms over your chest. Your eyes flutter close. Jinnie, a HAN entertainment manager who looks like she’s half white and half Asian, gives you a judging look from her seat.

“You should read it,” she advises.

“No,” you say.

“I spent hours compiling that information,” Jinnie frowns.

“You compiled the wrong info,” you tell her, not even bothering to glance towards her. “Nobody will believe we’re real if I only know the things written in Wikipedia. You should have asked his PR team how he likes his coffee, if he prefers brunch dates or dinner dates, if he likes staying in or going out, if he likes the sunny weather or the rain, if he’d rather get food delivery or cook, if he’d like to hold hands and walk side by side or walk ahead of you so he can act like your guard dog. Those things.”

To be loved is to be known.

“You speak as if you have romantic experience.”

“Do poets have to experience the things they write poetry about?” you retort. “Immanuel Kant believed that everything depended on how individuals interpret and respond to his environment based on their personal opinions and feelings. I don't need to experience it to know.”

Recurring observations are your common source of knowledge. Reading is another.

And besides, this isn't your first PR relationship. You like to think that you know exactly what you're doing.

“Tell me something that's not written in the folder, Jinnie-ssi,” you open your eyes and tilt your head so you can lock eyes with her. “For example, why does a distinguished racer need a fake relationship? I can’t be the only one benefiting from this agreement.”

Jinnie purses her lips, “I don't know much.”

“But you know something,” you rest your chin on the palm of your hand. “Tell me.”

“There have been rumors that Lando Norris got a girl pregnant. The woman marched into Woking and demanded to see him. Apparently, he got her pregnant when they slept together in a bar,” Jinnie shakes her head. “It's a messy ordeal but McLaren recently proved that Lando wasn't the father. Too bad though, the public isn't believing them.”

“And they think giving him a girlfriend would somehow make the public love him?”

“They need to show the world that their boy isn't an asshole,” Jinnie says. “That he’s a loving, loyal partner. That he isn't capable of committing fuckboy crimes because he has a girlfriend waiting for him at home.”

You snort. McLaren really decided that you’ll be the best girlfriend? How did they even know your existence? The KPop community and the F1 community are worlds far away from each other. It's easier for them to choose a supermodel, an American actress, or even a pop star. But no, they really decided that a washed-up KPop idol is a good girlfriend for their star boy. You can think of a few reasons why they chose you.

“Are you sure he really isn't the father?” you ask. Companies can ignore morality for the sake of protecting their golden images. HAN Entertainment is no different. For all you know, you’re going to be fake dating an asshole who made a woman pregnant and refused to take responsibility. He’d be no different from your father who left your pregnant mother.

“Beats me.”

An hour later, the plane lands in the most expensive city in the world, Singapore.

You have three choices: a VAQUERA blue devil sweatshirt, Motel Rock chute trousers, and a Adidas forum low shoes combo, or a varsity baseball jacket, Bonbom rhee cargo pants, and a Curetty C round toe mary janes combo. You went with the varsity jacket-cargo pants-mary janes combo. You put on a bonnet to finish the look. When Jinnie enters the hotel room and sees what you're wearing, she immediately says:

“No. You're definitely not wearing that.”

“What's wrong with this?” you ask, looking down at your fit. This is what you usually wear. They're comfortable and acubi fashion is a trend nowadays.

“You're a WAG now. Dress like it.”

Your eyebrow arches.

“WAG?”

“Wife and girlfriend,” Jinnie replies. Your confusion isn't absolved, not even the slightest. Your mouth pulls to the side.

“And how does this correlate to my fashion sense? Do race car drivers control their girlfriend’s fashion style?” you genuinely question.

“No,” Jinnie says. “But they’d prefer it if you dress in something befitting for a WAG, you know? Elegance? Classic timely looks?”

You put a finger up, “No.”

Jinnie huffs, “I’m not taking a no for an answer. Wear a satin dress. Wear cotton trousers and silk blouses. Look like you're from an old money family, not some hip hop dancer from the streets. You're no longer your own person, you are an extension of Lando Norris. You have to look a certain way, act a certain way, talk a certain way. Your goal is to make Lando Norris look good.”

You push your tongue to the inside of your cheek, annoyed. Your jaw is tense.

“And when Lando Norris looks good, you’ll look good. Good enough that the public will love you again to support your new song. Do you understand?”

She's right.

You hate that she's right.

No matter how bitter the truth tastes, you are irrelevant and Lando Norris is your ticket to going back. In any other world, you will never ever allow yourself to become a jewelry for a man to wear. So you grit your teeth, keep the ugly prideful monster within you at bay, and clench your fists. You have nothing and when you have nothing, you need to be resourceful and make use of the people who have the things to push you to the top again.

You let out a sigh, “Jinnie, choose my outfit for me.”

Jinnie nods and leaves the room immediately.

It's three days before the Singapore FP1 2023. Jinnie drives you to meet Lando in his hotel. They organized a lunch gathering with you, Jinnie, Lando, and the other McLaren PR representatives who are responsible for this entire PR scam.

You're wearing a Versace tweed cardigan and a boucle tweed skirt paired with high heel leather boots and Greca goddess large shoulder bag. All black in color. Jinnie is the one who styled your hair. She insisted on it actually, claiming that your beach waves hair isn't doing it. She flat ironed the hell out of your hair so now, it's straight as a pole. She also sprayed your bangs with strong hold hairspray to keep them in place.

The outside world is nothing but a blur of high-rise buildings and cement pavements as the car runs. You're picking on your nails. They're clean but bare of manicures. Your two pinky nails are a bit too short. You tried to stop yourself from biting them in the airport but you can’t resist.

Two years is a long time. A bit too long in your opinion. You don't remember the things you learned in your etiquette classes anymore—how to stand in the public, how to walk, how to pose in front of the cameras, how to smile, how to greet people, how to look completely in your element despite being anxious of having a thousand eyes staring at you, how to act as if you're not crumbling at the pressure of looking good for everyone. That's the only way they’ll love you. If you look good in their eyes.

“We’re here.”

You blink.

“Come again?”

Jinnie points outside the car window. The car stopped and you didn't notice.

“Sorry,” you mutter, flipping your hair over your shoulder. You let out a breath, roll your shoulders back, and push the door open. Your entire face relaxes and you smile politely at the valet when Jinnie hands him the keys of the car. You ignore the starstruck expression on his face as you gesture to Jinnie to lead the way, following after her but not before saying your thanks to the valet. You're polite. You're trained to be.

You keep your shoulders square and your walk confident as you enter the hotel lobby. There aren’t a lot of people inside. There's a family of four in a corner, a group of elderly people sitting in the waiting area, and a group of posh friends chatting near the front desk. You can see a few heads turning in your peripheral vision. You can't blame them. You can be stunning if you try to be.

Your heart begins to ram violently against your rib cage. A million butterflies infest your intestines. Your ankles feel like it’ll snap in half a few minutes later. Your mind chants: DID THEY NOTICE HOW SCARED I AM? DID THEY NOTICE HOW TERRIFIED I AM? DID THEY NOTICE? DID THEY?

You want your ball cap and your sunglasses and your face mask. You want to hide your face.

You have to control your breathing as subtly as you can but you continue walking as if you're the prettiest yet the most down-to-earth creature to ever grace the planet. You fix your hair again once Jinnie and you stop in front of the elevator. Jinnie presses a button and you wait. While waiting, you twist the sole of your boot against the floor. It's better than tapping it against the floor. The elevator dings and the two of you enter the empty box.

When the doors close, your knees give out. You slam your hands against the stainless steel walls to stop yourself from dropping to your knees on the floor. Jinnie’s hands wrap around your waist, supporting as you pull yourself up. Her face contorts in worry.

“Are you alright?” she asks. You nod quickly.

“Yeah, yeah,” you lay your palm against your chest, right above your drumming heart. “Thanks.”

You straighten up, tugging the hem of your Versace tweed outfit to smoothen the creases and fixing your hair again. You clear your throat. The elevator dings and the doors open. You step out and your mask slides in place.

Jinnie leads you to a private dining hall. In the middle of a hall is a table occupied by five people wearing tacky orange-black polo shirts. You recognize one of them to be your fake boyfriend, Lando Norris.

Jinnie had already shown you what he looked like in her tablet and a few printed pictures but the pictures didn't do him justice. He looks extra charming personally.

He's still not your type.

The entire group rises to a stand just as you and Jinnie reach the table. You give a ninety degree bow, hands flat on the collar of your top so you won't accidentally give the McLaren people a view of your chest. (It's not like they have something to see anyway. Your chest is flatter than a rice field.) The edges of your lips curl upwards in a polite smile. You see Lando, your supposed fake boyfriend, try to imitate the bow, although he doesn't go as deep as you did. Your head tilts slightly at his action.

Jinnie is the first one who speaks, stretching a hand in front of her to shake hands with the McLaren team. She introduces herself in fluent English, “I’m Jinnie Jo of HAN Entertainment. It's a pleasure to meet you. This is [Name].”

They each introduce themselves one by one. Nicole, Greg, Kyla, and Louis. You try to memorize their faces and their names, drilling it into your brain so you won't forget. You're going to be working closely with them after all.

“Hi,” you greet them. You also shake hands with each of them. It feels weird, shaking hands as greetings. You are more accustomed to bowing.

“Wow, Jinnie, your accent is good,” Kyla compliments your manager.

“Thank you,” Jinnie smiles pleasantly. “I was born in Chicago. English is my first language.”

“How about her? Does she speak English?” Louis inquires. He's giving you a funny look. You ignore it.

“She does,” you smile at him pleasantly. “I’m very fluent. You don't have to worry.”

Risha, the Canadian member of ORACLE, was the one who helped you master English. You even have a Canadian accent when you speak English because of her. Additionally, you also took language classes when you were a trainee—Japanese, Chinese, English, and you even requested Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Korean sign language. You dabbled a bit on Tagalog, too, because you know how large the ORACLE fanbase is in the Philippines. You continued taking the classes up even after debut, even after all the members of the group had stopped, because you wanted to master the languages for the fans, to be able to hold conversations with them, to connect with them. You only stopped going to the classes after leaving the group two years ago. It's nice to see that your English skills are still in perfect shape.

“Please take a seat,” Nicole invites. You and Jinnie sit down. You place your bag on the empty chair beside you and when you pull your gaze up, you coincidentally meet Lando’s eyes. They're blue and green with flecks of hazel dusted in the middle. It's the first time you've seen someone with eyes wielding three different colors. They're stunning.

You smile at him. He smiles back and then averts his gaze. You turn to Nicole, who’s sitting beside you.

“Now,” she says, putting two folders on the table. She slides them towards you and Jinnie. Jinnie picks them up. You don't. Instead, you stare at them.

“What are these?” you question, slowly bringing your eyes up and meeting Nicole’s gaze.

“Contracts,” she answers.

“Contracts?” you echo, picking the folder up and opening it. You take your sweet time reading from top to bottom, tilting your head a bit to the side.

“You don't have to read it all. It's all just formalities. Just sign it,” Louis inputs. “Reading can be hard for you since it's not your first language—”

“I read just fine,” you interrupt, not glancing up as your eyes thoughtfully scan through the words printed on the paper. “Thank you for the concern but this is a contract that involves me and my future. I wish to know what I’m agreeing to.”

Louis wisely keeps his mouth shut. You put your hand on your mouth so you can discreetly smirk.

When you finish reading, you slowly set the folder back on the table. You press your tongue against the inside of your cheek as you tap your finger on the wooden surface of the table.

“This is unfairly written, don't you agree?” you ask. “You're putting rather lots of demands on me but so little on him.”

From beside you, Jinnie thins her lips. You know she's also thinking the same thing. Fucking HAN Entertainment. They didn't even make sure that the contents of the contracts are not disadvantageous towards you. You are disappointed but not surprised. They really just sent you to be devoured by wolves and demanded you to not make a mistake.

McLaren also thinks they can just choose a washed-up KPop idol to cosplay as their golden boy’s trophy girlfriend and make her do all their demands with little benefits and zero complaint. They deliberately chose someone who still holds popularity but little power. Someone who needs them as badly as they need her. They chose you.

Assholes. The two of them.

“What do you want him to do anyway?” Louis sneers. His face is beginning to look a little too annoying. “He's busy building his career. All you have to do is support him and make sure everyone knows it because you have none. That's all. Or is that a little hard for you?”

Louis is getting this all wrong. Jinnie told you that you're going to fix his reputation for him so his career wouldn't be ruined. In exchange, he gives you publicity so you could bring your career back from ruination. This is not a parasitic relationship where only their side gets the benefits. How could you even work on that comeback of yours if you're going to be glued by his side?

Your jaw ticks with restraint yet you choose to smile, “He’s not the only one building his career.”

You pick up the folder and toss it to Jinnie, who catches it skillfully.

“Throw that away. We're flying home. I don't need a PR relationship to promote my single that much.”

Satisfaction fills you when their faces grow alarmed.

Ha.

“Wait,” Kyla stands and she shoots a dirty glance towards Louis. Your eyebrows scrunch a little. “The contracts are open to revisions.”

You clap your hands together, smiling widely.

“Perfect. Jinnie, hand me a pen.”

The team leaves you and Lando alone in the hall to eat, to give you both a chance to get to know each other.

You allow your eyes to scan the hall. It has a bright spacious ambiance. The windows are stretched from the floor to the ceiling, allowing as much natural light inside. Singapore looks absolutely breathtaking down below. The flooring is made out of natural pine and a crystal chandelier hangs atop the table where you and Lando ate. You keep thinking: what if it'll fall? You shake the thought out of your head and put a fork full of pasta into your mouth.

“Is the pasta good?” Lando asks. You nod, humming and smiling. You don't like it one bit. You're also mildly allergic to shellfish. You're definitely going to get a bad case of rash later. You hope Jinnie is prepared with a medicine kit. You forgot to bring yours.

You wipe your mouth with your table napkin, announcing, “I’m full.”

You have only eaten half the plate.

“Oh you have a…” Lando points at the corner of his lips. You wipe the same area in your face. “No, the other side.”

You wipe the other side, “Is it gone?”

“Allow me,” he says, standing up from his chair and leaning across the table to thumb the stain.

“Is it gone?” you ask again. Lando nods.

“Yeah, it is.”

He goes back to his seat.

“Thank you,” you smile. “You're already doing great with the whole fake boyfriend act.”

A flustered smile splits Lando’s face, shaking his head.

“I try.”

“By the way,” you begin, leaning a little forward. “Did they also give you a folder with my information?”

Lando nods, “Yeah.”

“Did they also suck?”

He purses his lips.

“Well….” he drawls.

“You can tell me if it sucks. The one my manager gave me looks like it's copy-pasted from Wikipedia.”

Lando chuckles.

“I mean, your biography is very…detailed? Too detailed, I think. I didn't remember most of them, sorry. I only remember a few of them. Like your birthday. January 1, 2000.”

“1999.”

“Pardon?”

You wave your hand in a theatrical flourish, “I was born in 1999. The company manipulated my public information.”

Lando’s brows raise in surprise.

“They do that?”

“You’ll be surprised,” you lean back into your chair.

“But why?”

“So every member in ORACLE can be born in 2000. I don't know,” you shrug your shoulders.

“That seems like an unnecessary change.”

“It is,” you agree. “But HAN wants everything to be perfect. They see a flaw. They fix it to their liking immediately.”

“What are the other things that are a scam in your biography?”

“Scam is a big word,” you tell him, amused. “But I’ll tell you. In exchange, tell me about yourself. Not the info I can read in Wikipedia. In order to make this work, I have to know you.”

To be loved is to be known.

“Alright,” Lando says. “We can take turns asking each other questions.”

“Cool,” you bring a glass of water towards your lips, taking a sip. “I’ll start. How do you like your coffee?”

#lando norris #lando norris x reader #ln4 #ln4 x reader #ln4 fic #f1 x reader #f1 fic #kpop idol! reader #formula one #formula 1 #f1 imagines #fanfic

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thegeminisage · 16 days

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ok, i'm getting behind on ym star trek updates. last sunday we watched ds9's "sanctuary" and tng's "parallels," monday we watched ds9's "rivals" and tng's "the pegasus" (out of order!!! 💔) and last night we watched ds9's "the alternate" and tng's "homeward." we were supposed to do "rivals" and "the alternate" monday, and then the "pegasus" and "homeward" last night and i really wish we had bc i was not in the correct headspace to really enjoy the alternate but that's what i get for forgetting to check my spreadsheet!! ANYWAY.

sanctuary (ds9):

i love sisko in this episode. he has the same vibe w his subordinates as he does with jake, that he will back them up even if they're breaking rules but also when kira didn't do her homework he does have to lay down the law a little bit. lovingly, but he does. and since he never does it w/o a reason and w/o compassion nobody really minds

i'm sorry but the reverse sexism was really funny. thank you 90s tv for being brave. especially with her having multiple husbands. get it girl

kira and haneek should have explored each others bodies also

quark picking up the nephew like yeah hes gonna do it again. poor odo

literally it was such a good little conundrum bc all the logical reasons they gave for bajor not being able to support more people were like correct or whatever BUT THEY WERE FARMERS. you get the idea they really could have helped and that kid didn't have to die but inherent, knee-jerk suspicion of new/foreign people just got in the way in both cases. like you had the solution right there!! unfortunately, as we know, people

why is it ALWAYS kira's episodes that go this hard also. it's always like "here's a thing about the complex and ugly truth of the human(oid) nature and how we just have to live with ourselves" and every time it pops off

parallels (tng):

we were just saying "there's no ways tng would have the pussy to do something like this" when tng came on and also was really good

first of all, my worf e deanna DREAMS are coming true. sorry to the actors ik they hated it but i know in my heart worf e riker e deanna is real..............

i read the episode summary for this one but it said AMNESIA not WORF SWITCHING REALITIES. so i had fun going wait the cake WAS chocolate earlier and being gaslit along with worf

his little surprise party hat. please.

i didnt notice data's eyes being blue at the time but going back and looking at the pics is WILD

my baby boy wesley crusher was there also........i missed him sm

the universe worf left was crazy. picard dead, geordi dead, deanna forever without her husband...jesus christ

but my FAVORITE part (aside from the romance) was the bit there the zillion enterprises showed up and the crazy borg-hunted riker was like NO NO WE'LL NEVER GO BACK girl i was like oh but i wanna see inside those other enterprises! actually no i didn't

worf finding out deanna began having the potential to develop feelings for him after the ritual suicide thing and then IMMEDIATELY turning around to seduce her when he got back to his universe...so true. i would have done the same thing. i know he's gonna get w dax later and deanna will eventually marry riker so he's GONNA fumble it but don't fumble it!!!

rivals (ds9):

have only seen princess bridge 1 time when i was a teenager so i was not able to enjoy the biggest appeal of this episode rip

actually i thought the a plot of this episode kind of sucked ass. i didn't find the conman particularly funny or charming but i also didn't hate him enough to get invested in his downfall. also, it was so stupid that he took that machine when the guy explained that it had literally killed him............like, girl, are you stupid? obviously ds9 can save it with endearing characters and like, Acting, but i wasn't having much fun with it

i DID love the obrien bashir racketball matches though. first of all the fact that luck decided who won and not actual skill and no we'll never know...but secondly, bashir like Oh No I'm Going To Kill Him With Tennis. like, my guy, you could have just showed off less out of the gate. it went against his twink instincts though

keiko's go-get-em-tiger was really good. he would have won anyway i just know it

quark trying to DRUG A DOCTOR. his audacity truly knows no bounds. i hope those orphans got their blankets

i do like also that when they figured out the matches had been rigged they weren't even mad about it, they were both just curious and trying to experiment. i love when obrien and bashir hang out it's really great

the pegasus (tng):

TNG HAD PUSSY TWO EPISODES IN A ROW EVEN

picard day really good. yes. be miserable. i love riker getting to dunk on him

i really really REALLY enjoyed riker's energy when his old captain came aboard. jonathan frakes isn't the most technically accomplished actor on that cast, but he does such a fantastic job with that shift - riker is normally such an easygoing, funny, down to clown guy that whenever he gets :| you notice RIGHT away. episodes where he gets to be serious and angry wouldn't work if he got them all the time (though my lament for tng is that we don't get character stuff more often...), but BECAUSE they're rare, even a little too rare, you take notice all the more

i wish we had gotten to see riker sparring with worf <3

argument between riker and picard was FUNNNN i don't like picard but i DO like it when sir patrick stewart acts and i think him being on his game and jonathan frakes also being on his game was wonderful. first of all, i love it when they say the m-word, and secondly, riker grinding his teeth because he WANTS to tell and all his instincts are screaming at him to tell and he CAN'T because his loyalties are divided or whatever...delicious.

beaming aboard the ship frozen in rock with the perfectly preserved bodies. mwah. dead bodies won't even age. i know it was a budget thing and space probably wouldn't really keep them from decomposing THAT well but it quite literally took riker back to the scene of the crime and he was like yeah no i'm not having it. GOOD for him.

bonus when riker gets locked into the brig <3

the alternate (ds9):

ODO...................................

i recognized the scientist by his hair!!! he mentioned before he copied it from him

dr mora die challenge. it's not exactly that he "abused" odo in the traditional sense but he did put him in a cage, and he dehumanized him with his experiments, and every single word out of his mouth was either dehumanizing or patronizing. i love how quick they both were to correct the assumption about this guy being odo's dad - like yeah maybe an adoptive dad in a way but odo wasn't a "child" he was just so different from humanoids he had to figure out communication from scratch

like, this mf commenting on odo not having gotten the ears, or like wow you can tell what emotions people are displaying just by looking! say that again to my face i'll kill you.

dax was so weird in this episode. i kept wondering if she was possessed or something because she showed up out of nowhere and offered to buy drinks with bashir and said something about the pillar being moved. a red herring which was perhaps unintentional but unsettling nonetheless. her personality is still fluctuating a lot - at times she's prissy and at other times she's just one of the guys! but at least now she has one, from time to time. not in this episode though

i felt. SO BAD for that little life form they kidnapped. you suffocated it to death :(

i also felt terrible for odo. firstly, he deserves to kill that guy. secondly, how humiliating for him to be seen in goop form by half the station...he doesn't like being seen like that :(

i still blame dr mora though for basically triggering that last transformation...i was so mad at the end when odo was like yeah we can reconcile :) like i get loving the people who "raised" you even when they "abused" you but this wasn't quite that. i wish we had got more of a sense of them having, at any point, actually ever liked working together to solve the mysteries of shape shifters. i looked him up on imdb though and he DOES come back so maybe better luck next time

homeward (tng):

i fucking hated this episode.

firstly, who brought worf to his parents? i thought it was their adult son who was in starfleet, but was it worf's dad who brought him home? cuz this guy is worf's age and was not officially in starfleet...

secondly, there should be a clause in the prime directive about "if everybody is about to die save them with the least interference possible." i get that that runs the risk of like, being written down in their bible as jesus and altering their culture, but the idea that the culture is better off totally annihilated than altered is a little bit missing the forest for the trees. like, putting those machines on the planet in the first place would have been WAY less inference than having worf and his brother lead them to safety.

ALSO, I CANNOT BELIEVE WORF'S BROTHER KNOCKED THAT WOMAN UP. like, this kid is not gonna pop out of the womb with his surgical alterations!!

also, that guy who killed himself didn't get his special document delivered back to his people...worf KEPT IT as a souvenir? one of the only surviving documents from their old culture??

furthermore, his brother did not "won up to responsibility" by staying with those people. he's further contaminating their culture with his outside influence including the HALF HUMAN BABY and since he's marooned there he will never see his parents or brother ever again. because he got the awooga eyes. like, yes, he saved them when starfleet (picard in particular) were being horrible, but also, he didn't save their culture even a little bit, and he's lying to himself if he thinks he did. and WE COULD HAVE SAVED THEIR CULTURE WITH THE MACHINES. that was so much lower risk...................

redeeming factor of this episode was that worf is HANDSOME under all that klingon makeup. like i knew he was attractive because i've seen like headshots online but i like never saw him moving his face and acting without it. he's actually really expressive..........why do you hire a man this beautiful and then put him under all of that. like he's absolutely stunning i was so shocked

TONIGHT: ds9's "armageddon game" and tng's "sub rosa," which i have seen celebrated online for some reason? something about sexy ghosts??

#personal #star trek blogging #ds9 lb #tng lb

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piracytheorist · 1 month

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For no particular reason (really) I woke up today remembering a peculiar situation I brought myself into in this hellsite some years ago.

So, to give some context, I have a long-time friend who has been a die-hard of anything related to Tolkien for longer than some of y'all have been alive. But because she is a hopeful person, she got excited when she heard about the Rings of Power show. Particularly because of how it was hinted at on Twitter while it was in production.

So because I wanted her to have a good experience, I also wanted the show to be good. I mean, who knew, maybe this time would be an exception, right?

Anyway, first trailers drop and discussions arise, and someone on tumblr makes the mistake of fake-newsing everyone by posting a promotional video (which in all fairness was bad) and claiming it was the show's opening credits. A mutual reblogs the post - which already had some additions mocking the "credits" - I go into the comments, I see that it's not the real credits, and I make a comment of the nature of "Maybe we should watch the real credits before we make a critique of it" and a comment later I say "also pirate the stuff, amazon won't starve without your money".

Of course, tumblr being tumblr...

I got an anon calling me a bootlicker. Me, tumblr user piracytheorist, who in the second breath of talking about it suggested we should pirate stuff, am a bootlicker. I mean, they tried. A random person in the comments of the post tried to talk back, I said we should critique the show but OP was misinforming people and we should at least make sure what we're critiquing it for, and they were like "What was the misinformation?" so yeah, they also tried.

But then, the worst offender was what I think that same mutual vagueblogging about my comment. Which is why, if you have a beef with a mutual - especially one you've connected with before outside of fandom stuff - take it to them and don't vagueblog. I was in the guilty position of vagueblogging once, and yeah it did cause a friendship to break apart (though we figured things out recently).

I mean, they could have been vagueblogging about literally anything else. But that's the problem with the vague part of it. I'll never know. Because seeing the mutual passionate in dragging the show through the dirt, and then vagueblogging about "not being affiliated" with something via a The Incredibles meme after I questioned the legitimacy of that specific critique... it could have been that, it could have not. I will never know.

Anyway, we watched the show, my friend didn't like it but is still a little hopeful for at least seeing cool backgrounds, I didn't like it and I still haven't watched the last two episodes, lol. But I can assure you the fake credits video had absolutely nothing to do with the things I disliked about it. I was only invested in it because my friend was invested and I wanted it to be good so that my friend would enjoy it. But alas, money spoke above all and it wasn't good. And also alas, tumblr is tumblr and how dare you not hate something the way I hate it - misinformed.

So yeah. Don't vagueblog, kids, especially if it's about mutuals 🫠

#nette speaks #tbd #maybe

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slurp-imagines · 2 years

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im so feral for your admiral content 😭 may I please ask for borsalino and sakazuki the moment they realize they've fallen in love with their s/o?

sorry for the wait, anon. this was a bit tough for Borsalino (hence the difference in length lol), and it took me ages to get this out, but I hope someone can still find some enjoyment in it!

The moment they realize they've fallen in love: Borsalino & Sakazuki

Borsalino (Kizaru)

↳ To be honest, he was probably pretty caught off guard by it at first. If he had to pinpoint a reason why his past relationships didn't work out, he's self-aware enough to know that perhaps his lackadaisical nature might have contributed.

↳ He could apparently never become serious enough, fast enough. His partners were more invested, more committed than he was, already rushing a few steps ahead of him while he was still feeling like there wasn't a reason to kick into gear yet. We've still got time, he thought. Until it was over, and they didn't anymore.

↳ Borsalino probably half-expects it to happen again. But it just doesn't. Not really, anyway. He doesn't feel like he's falling out of step with you. He waits for it to happen, for you to say those three words and he would have to swallow his tongue because he couldn't say them back. It doesn't happen that way, though.

↳ He falls slowly. So, so slowly. He feels it as it happens. He knows when it's inevitable that he'll fall all the way. The images in his head of a wedding and a nice home and daily kisses at the front door become clearer, sharper by the day. He learns about your hobbies. He shows you a couple of his. He thinks of you with every inane thing he does. Each time he puts two sugars in his coffee he remembers that Y/N drinks theirs with one. He sees you in views you would've found pretty, he thinks of you during boring meetings. He isn't used to missing people. But sometimes, when he's away for work, he'll pick up the denden mushi and call you, even though you already phoned him that morning.

↳ He just goes through his life like that, watching the world slowly tilt itself off its axis while he falls. It starts to feel to him like everything about you– the two of you, a unit– makes sense now. Like it all fits together properly. He gets it now.

↳ And somehow, it isn't scary. It feels right, and it feels gentle. Honestly, the realization that comes next– that he trusts you with himself this much– is the most earth-shattering part of this whole thing. He sort of subconsciously thought he'd always have his guard up with people. And yet you slipped your way in this easily?

↳ I can really love them, he thinks. I have to do it right this time, he thinks. He has trouble saying it out loud. But for the first time in a long time, he feels like it could be worth taking the first step.

Sakazuki (Akainu)

↳ Surprisingly, I think Sakazuki would be more emotionally prepared for this moment than Borsalino– or maybe just prepared in a different way.

↳ Because Sakazuki hates wasting time or effort, and he’s very picky. Since early in the relationship (maybe even before he started courting you), he would've asked himself multiple times, “Does this seem like someone I can fall in love with, and stay in love with?” Probably not in those exact words, but he’s definitely spent a lot of time considering whether you’re someone he would sacrifice things for, that he feels at peace with, that he would feel relieved coming home to.

↳ So when he realizes he’s in love with you, it’s not earth-shattering at all. I see it happening when he’s coming back at his house after a regular day of work. Nothing particularly exciting, nothing particularly stressful. But normal. Routine.

↳ But he's suddenly perturbed when he has the key in the lock of his front door, and it's remaining un-turned for just a breath longer than normal, because he doesn’t want to go inside when he knows you aren't there. He wants to see you instead, and share a meal with you and lie down with you under a comforter that smells like your fabric softener.

↳ He wants his daily routine to include you at the start and end of it. Because he loves you.

↳ Sakazuki isn't the type for surprise visits, but he's pretty tempted at this moment, however late at night it may be. He restrains himself though, and enters his suddenly very empty-feeling home. He's always privately agreed with you when you would say that he lived like a Spartan, it just never really saw how it might be a negative until now.

↳ But he'll sit on it for a loooong time before he says anything to you. He tells himself he just wants to be sure, and he continues with his day-to-day, thinking of you all the while. He waits for his feelings to change, for his mind to snap out of it. And then he ponders some more about the short-lived spike of fear in his chest every time he imagines that scenario actually coming to pass.

↳ It's actually a bit infuriating to him, the realization that he truly fears the day he'd have to let go of you for good. He almost doesn't want to admit he's this attached, even though he knew from early on that it'd be an inevitability.

#borsalino #kizaru #sakazuki #akainu #one piece #one piece imagines #when I write for borsalino #it always winds up doing a complete 180º turn #like. I started off writing the full opposite characterization of this

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noveratus · 9 months

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I just finished watching the Witcher season 3. Here are my thoughts on this season:

First, I should make it known that I have not read any of the books and I played the witcher wild hunt very briefly since I wasn't a huge fan of the combat system, so there is a chance that I'm not the target demographic for this show. Perhaps they were trying to appeal to the fans of the series. If that is the case, I apologize for my thoughts. These are the thoughts of a casual watcher of the series who is very passionate about writing and stories and general.

The best word that I would use to describe this series and just the whole show, in a whole, is confusing. Things just seem to happen, and I am left wondering what even is the story here. The show feels both too slow and too fast for the story it is trying to tell.

Season one is by far the best. Despite the non-linear timeline, you can understand what is happening, you understand what the arcs are, what the characters want, and you have a notion of what is going on. There are still confusing moments, particularly those with the elves and Cintra. Her journey feels so slow compared to both Yen and Gerald since, once you remove all the magic and all the dressing, their stories are about family, with Gerald's being about the fear of letting people in and Yennifer's being about being accepted enough to be loved.

Then we have season two, which is just political nonsense for the most part. We barely get any time with the main trio, and it is mostly just a lot of nothing. People speak and tell your their plans and whatever, but it summarizes to a bunch of nothing. There is a 6. Everyone wants Cintra, but that's it. There is essentially just one character arc in this season that goes through a character arc with that being Yennifer, and while I do have conflicting emotions about it, it is definitely a character arc. Besides that, the closest thing you get to character development is Cintra's fight montage scenes, and while those can be fun, not everything has to be deep and sad and depressing, that is not what they are. They try to be exactly that. Bleak. Like the show is turning to you and asking, "Aren't you enjoying seeing how much these characters for basically no reason? This is what will make them stronger! They aren't really learning anything, just getting beaten until they seem like they can be excusable to be strong enough to survive what will throw on them next! Isn't this deep? Isn't this exciting? Bleak and depressing equals deep guys! C'mon!" When it comes to the plot, it is essentially people saying "shit is going to happen, shit is really going to happen. We will kill this baby. You know we will kill this baby! Wanna see us do it? We will do it! Just watch it! And hah! We did it!" And that's pretty much it. Pretty much the only thing that carries over from season 2 to three is Yen's arc, and the first thing they try to do is try to retcon it. So yes, season 2 is a boring, confusing slog where things just happen and feels very pointless.

Then we move on to season 3. Season three starts well. I honestly enjoyed the first episodes, with Yennifer trying to regain the confidence of both Gerald and Cintra, and I think it works. I enjoy seeing Cintra and Yennifer butting heads, it makes sense, they are different people who can teach each other a lot after everything they went through, and you see glimpses of this, and while Gerald's hunt doesn't make a lot of sense since he just let the guy go, I think that the subsequent plot with the fake Cintra and the missing mages is fine, I'm invested, I want to know what is going on, and then the ball happens and that is a good episode, it has mystery and this sense of magic and actual illusion and I was hyped. Truly, I couldn't wait to see where this was going, and then we had a betrayal, and then another and suddenly the elves are here, and they are the bad guys and the racist is in the right and gets treated like a hero and Ciri is there and then she isn't and why did you leave in the first place, Yennifer, if you were going to come back to help your people?! What did you think was going to happen? Sunshines and rainbows?! There is this huge battle where a lot of people die, but I'm left just confused because, oh my god, there is even more political nonsense here and it carries on through the last three episodes where, again, nothing really happens besides the nonsense politics while Gerald is recovering and I'm so done. Ok, that is not completely true. There are two segments that I would like to mention, the sorcerers and Cintra. I think that, while not that important development wise, since Cintra goes from point A to point B back to point A, the desert part is good. It is visually interesting. It shows her skills, and while bleak, it is entertaining. They are showing you something that isn't characters talking about something no one understands or trying to make something deep out of something that isn't. This is a girl trying to survive in a desert in a harsh environment. I can understand that I want her to succeed in that. Now, for the sorcerers, they are mourning, they are dealing with loss in the middle of war. I can understand and sympathize with that, but then you have Tissaia's death that is framed as this noble sacrifice when it isn't. It is sad, yes, but the audience isn't really given a moment to process that, it is framed so that her death is about Yennifer, like losing her will make her stronger and I have serious problems with any media that shows suicide as anything noble or brave or good, like one's death is preferable to them being alive.

Now, I have avoided speaking about Jaskier so far because, and I want to make it clear that Jaskier is my favorite character in this show, he is sadly pointless. Don't get me wrong, Jaskier is essentially the heart of the Witcher, but when it comes to the narrative, the story itself, he is only there for fan service. They tried to fix this with Radovid, but it still didn't work, it didn't truly affect the narrative since the most important part of Radovid's character is that he becomes the king and, so far, that has nothing to do with Jaskier. Dandelion is just there to look pretty and occasionally get saved by Gerald, which I find particularly funny during the action scenes where he just disappears or runs around with nothing to do. The sad part is, Jaskier is a bard. A man known for the art of speech and song and playing with people's emotions. He would be perfect for a political piece, which seems to be what the show is going for, but instead, they put him in situations where he is completely pointless.

So, in the end, I didn't like season 3. I liked the first half of season 3, despite its issues like the Wild Hunt bit, but the ending was disappointing. It didn't diminish my enjoyment of the first part, so that is something I guess, but still. And I want to make it clear that I don't think this is the writer's fault. I would like to put my theory hat here for a moment and take a shot saying Netflix desperately wanted the Witcher to be game of thrones. They wanted all the politics and gritty realism and bleakness from that show, but the Witcher just isn't that, is it? I haven't played the games a lot, but from what I understand, the Witcher shines most with its side missions, the ones where you don't have the end of the world, but a person trying to survive, and love, and find happiness in a world where humans seem to be at the bottom of the food chain. The Witcher's tv show seems to completely forget about monsters until it is convenient for them to remember when, in the game, even if you are powerful, there is a chance you will struggle with what you are fighting if you don't know how to fight them. And this, this sense of survival is pretty much gone in the show. It is just politics that say nothing really with a moody superman thrown in the middle of it.

#the witcher #the witcher spoilers #the witcher critical #review #the witcher criticism

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filmmakerdreamst · 2 years

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Ahhhh! I can't believe someone actually read any of my HSMTMTS posts let along liked some of them! Thank you so much, I felt so validated lol. I totally want friends in this fandom so yeah let's talk about it! It's a good time too, time to catch up int he hiatus :-D

eeep! Ok I'll tell you my HSMTMTS story!

I hated the High School Musical movies when I was little. Everyone was nuts about them and I just didn't get it. (Mind you, I had only seen bits of it at the time) Being an Artsy kid, there was no escaping them. I had to learn the songs in the School Choir, For Plays and in my singing lessons. It was hell. Could be that I wasn't a big fan of Disney. I grew up with gritty British kids TV like Tracy Beaker - so everything I watched on Disney was extremely sugary in comparison.

I did however watch the movies fully when I was alot older, and they weren't as bad as I initially thought, but they still didn't really do it for me personally. Maybe because I'm not the biggest fan of musicals I don’t know.

I was aware of HSMTMTS when it first came out. I had already been told that they were possibly going to do another High School Musical - which turned into a tv show instead. I did initially cringe at the idea but what intrigued me to it was Sofia Wylie (I was a big fan of Buffy in 'Andi Mack') But the clips I saw didn't particularly.

I saw the Season One Finale moment where Ricky confesses his love to Nini and..they just seemed to be like every average Disney Couple to me. (especially since they were a carbon copy of Troy and Gabriella) Under developed, Cliche, Main Guy + Girl ending up together, Singing while gazing into each others eyes etc.

I found the scene to be awkwardly co-ordinated as well. The way Nini immediately flipped round, to walking towards him smiling didn't strike me as very natural.

Generally speaking the main couple of a show shouldn't put a viewer off from watching it if they don't like them, but it does to me a lot of the time. Possibly one of the reasons why I never got into High School Musical when I was little - so the clips I saw of the show didn't really interest me. Josh and Sofia's acting (especially Josh) was the only thing that stood out.

Its only until Season 2 came out that I saw the videos of Ricky and Gina -- I went.."oh hello. "

At first, I was like, this the typical 'plot device' loosing side of the love triangle ship where the girl unrequitedly pines after the guy that chose his inevitable endgame over her - so might as well forget it.

The only thing that indicated to me in the few music videos and scenes (out of context mind) that I saw that Ricky might have feelings for her too was his eyes.

Must give props to Josh in the eye acting department, because I feel like he expressed Rickys POV very well.

I did see their chemistry and all that, but never thought they were ever going to go there because Disney Shows never do with those types of pairings e.g. where its less obvious and cliche.

The Main Guy does not end up with a girl who was originally supposed to be a side character on a Disney Show. (And lets face it, someone who isn't white passing) That rarely happens. Typically, on those types of shows, especially today, the main characters end up with their 'endgame' from day one and thats it.

I also saw videos of her and EJ and I was like 'no'. Even before watching the show, I didn't find them to have that much chemistry - they just seemed pretty bland to me.

I heard somewhere by the end of Season 2, they were supposedly doing a 'Next Generation' in Season 3, and the original cast weren't coming back and I was like 'noo that means Ricky and gina won't happen' I don't know why i thought that.

Then I heard on twitter that the writers were going to explore Ricky and Gina in Season 3, and i was like 'SHUT UP! NO WAY' and my interest in the show peaked from mildly interested to INVESTED SO FAST.

The show quickly went from (to me) a cheesy reboot to the Deepest Show on Disney.

I then watched the show in context, and honestly it proved me wrong (the show itself was better than I expected) Ricky did have feelings for Gina, but he was scared of them because she was new and also he felt guilty because he was actively pursuing his old gf before he made a connection with her. So as soon as she left, it's felt like to me that he saw it as an easy out and went back to the safety of his old relationship. But when Ricky and Nini got back together, it wasn't about being 'in love' anymore, it was about having a constant or dare I say, "familiar" relationship that he could cling on to because his family was splitting apart and he felt alone.

And you can see in the Valentines Day episode, that he's clearly freaking out when she comes to his house and if Nini hadn't called, I'm pretty sure he would of got lost in the moment and cheated. Because sure, he loved Nini but what he really wanted was Gina. His attitude towards her in that Season doesn't make sense if you assume he doesn't like her that way. All these comments saying 'Oh Ricky misunderstood Gina's confession' are BS. If he misunderstood her, their relationship wouldn't have been as awkward as it was in that part of the season.

Gina was the one who cut him out of her life, not him, because she recognised that he was going down hill. Ricky respected that decision and gave her space until she said it was ok for him to start talking to her again.

Basically, I find them to have the deepest, most realistic bond on that show. It's not a "straight up romance". It's not flowery or Disney-esque. It doesn't have a typical A- Z plotline e.g. 'enemies to lovers' or whatever. It's beautifully complicated and 100% genuine. Plus Josh and Sofia's chemistry is Electric man!

Tell me about your story! Love to chat about it!

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muninnhuginn · 7 months

Note

Ask game— i saw u rb odd taxi so let’s go with odakawa! I didn’t take a good look at the questions so I’m just gonna put some random ones here…2, 4, 5, 6, and 8!

Thanks for asking!

Full disclaimer that I still need to give this a full rewatch at some point, because I watched when it first came out, so my memories are somewhat faded.

2. When I think I truly started to like them (or dislike them, if you've sent me a character I don't like)

I liked him from fairly early on tbh. His personality type of lowkey but snarky is always fun, and the show is good at letting him bounce off others in amusing ways. That said, the moment that really recontextualised his whole deal for me and gave me a much greater appreciation of his character was definitely the whole diary reveal.

[Huge spoilers below btw if anyone reading this hasn't seen the series]

I'd been keeping up with the various reddit threads after each episode etc so the fact his furryvision wasn't actually reality wasn't the bit that threw me nor the car accident stuff (given it had been hinted earlier with the cop brothers). It was the revelation that yeah, even though he had the physical brain injury, it wasn't really the "root" of his problems but more a mechanism through which he ended up expressing his psychological issues. At this point, he was using the whole viewing people as animals shtick as a way to allow him to interact with them? That it was his escapism given form. The psychological element of his denial had somehow entirely gone over my head until that point, but in retrospect it made so much sense. A lot of his "quietness" I'd taken as him just kinda chilling/deliberately ignoring annoying people was actually anxiety-driven? Like, don't get me wrong, he very much *does* get fed up with people and his natural state is very low energy. But he was only able to get to where he was because he had a coping mechanism to allow him to interact in the first place. And him seeing people as humans again at the end showed he was growing in the right direction.

It was just this whole new layer I'd somehow entirely overlooked, but was there all along.

4. How many people I ship them with

5. My favorite ship of them

Ended up merging these two together for reasons.

Okay, I won't lie. I'm pretty vanilla when it comes to ships and tend to err on the side of whatever makes most sense to me within canon. So, in this case, I probably just ship him with the one person, Shirakawa. They have a neat dynamic. One which honestly doesn't get explored particularly much (nor does Shirakawa herself, staying largely as a noir-like insert), but which would be fun to see developing further. I'm not super invested honestly, but Odokawa does clearly have a crush on her, and she is very willing to be the one to make the moves in turn (at least once they've straightened things out with each other)

It's a weirdly mature relationship for an anime, where they're both willing to see where it goes rather than leaping head first.

(If forced to pick another character, maybe Dr Goriki? They both share interests with each other and Goriki definitely cares for Odokawa more than a regular doctor would.)

6. My least favorite ship of them

See, it's not necessarily that I dislike this one, but it's probably the option that would mess him up the most so, Dobu. They would be such a fascinating trainwreck of emotional manipulation.

8. Your favorite outfit of them

I'm here wracking my brain trying to remember if he has any style whatsoever and drawing a blank. Uhhh, I appreciate his commitment to wearing caps. But otherwise, he's pretty bland, clothing-wise. Which makes sense from a character perspective, but kills me a little inside even so.

#elibean #thanks again for asking! not been able to talk about this series in ages so was nice to do so #odd taxi #ask meme #asks

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sextonsharpwinhalstead · 1 year

Note

👏🏾👏🏾 Thank you for your words regarding the “WW comes first” trope. I know you’re sick of dealing with it like the rest of us but unfortunately, if it’s not called out, people will continue to be ignorant of this and it will continue to happen. As a black woman, I get exhausted seeing the same tired ass complaints from fans when the white male lead shows interest in a woc and you might as well forget it if they actually do become canon. You can literally copy and paste the things they say as to why they are against the ship across the different fandoms cause they all say the same thing when a woc particularly black woman is involved. All of a sudden we see the complaints where they start finding fault with the white male lead, things are written poorly especially the woc, they have empathy for the ww but hardly any for woc, the ship is forced even when they’ve been laying down the groundwork for that interracial ship to happen, the lack of chemistry argument or claiming there’s better chemistry with the ww even though we can see that’s not the case. The list goes on and on. Same shit, different fandom. The ww first trope is a thing and it’s frustrating cause it just adds to the toxicity that exists in fandoms. So these things need to be said cause obviously people aren’t getting the memo

Oh yes, the old usual's.

"I see them as more of a sibling, dynamic."

"I don't know what it is, but there's just something about her that I don't like."

"Wow, that came outta nowhere. I just don't see it."

"Why can't people just be single? Why does EVERYONE have to be together romantically?"

And when it's clear the white male love interest is into the black woman then comes the dissent from the other side, "Is he even really good enough for her?" or "She can do better than him."

The way people were tearing down Max on New Amsterdam because THE WRITERS were giving Helen less and less to do was wild to watch in real time. The fandom turned downright hostile last year when Sharpwin went canon which coincided when Leyren was starting to implode too. In hindsight they were sounding a very angry alarm about Helen's treatment but for some reason it was Max's fault.

Another bit on saw on the Youtube comments for the most recent ship of Billie and Conrad now has everyone beginning to shit on Conrad. When I tell you that that situation was handled in the best possible outcome considering they forced the WW first trope in there, but they are still angry they lost and to a certain extent I understand why. It's not just the entitlement it's the fact that his fascination, his need to want save and be with Cade was written and performed very overtly. His chemistry and most importantly his desire and need for Billie was performed covertly, because it was rooted in denial, internal conflict, and confusion and of course guilt. Which was why I say I won't forgive the writers anytime soon for the way they wrote that because they hand WW ammo and then pretend to be shocked when they start shooting. The wildest thing of all is they are trying to drag Conrad when his growth came while he was with Nic and even moreso after she died. Conrad in the beginning was not my favorite but they didn't care cause he wanted Nic.

There was also an incredibly unhinged black woman who turned on Grant Gustin in the first season of The Flash on Twitter because she felt like he wasn't protecting Candace enough and started calling Ezra Miller 'Her Flash" I've been out of that fandom for years but I wonder if she's gone quiet considering recent events around Ezra.

The fact that there are multiple blogs and hashtags with insert-character-name-defense squad or advocate is not some wild or unforeseen coincidence.

There was no reason to make Conrad and Cade a thing at all. They already did the WW First Trope with another woman who fans wouldn't have been as invested in. The same could be said of Max and Helen. The WW First trope was literally written in from the beginning because he was married but that didn't stop them from writing Widow-mom in there.

But none to me were as unnecessary as Jessie and Rick. I remember watching and being apart of the fandom and thinking, "Huh, there's all these whispers and rumors and excitement of Richonne going canon, why is he making out with this woman he just met in the garage?" Then she died and less than what an episode later he was with Michonne. WHY?! He also had a wife before Michonne was even a factor.

In the cases of Conrad, Max, and Rick there was a vested interest in who they would move on with after they were widowed.

I'm just so tired of it. And what's kind of wild is this isn't a hard trope to understand. WW also discuss The Fridging treatment and it's almost always about WW or at least that's the one's they advocate for and talk about. They largely CALL for the death of WOC on shows.

They complain all day about it but have they ever asked if there was any other WW on the show? Anyone else that gets to serve as representation or full view of white womanhood? Cause the answer is usually yes. But never for us.

So tired.

#ask sextonsharpwinhalstead #fandom problems #fandom racism #sharpwin #westallen #richonne #cobillie

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onetimetwotimesthreetimess · 1 year

Note

I binged all 3 season of lone star in a week. here are some of my thoughts.

I liked season 2 the best. the quality, storylines and character developments were so much better. season 3 was good too but it wasn't as exciting. I liked that we got more of tarlos tho.

tk and carlos are so good looking. i love s3 carlos with slightly longer har and glasses! i'm still processing him in those reading glasses! and tk is so pretty how can someone be so pretty?

the characters are genuinely likable. it happens a lot that while the actors are hot their characters are really annoying. i loved almost every character in the show. owen's character and storylines were pretty unexpected but also fun. his relationship w tk was beautiful and i'm glad that towards the end of s3 that they haven't spent much time together. I really did not expect to like judd and grace let alone root for them. but i did! they're definitely my favorite couple on the show.

i liked the catan gang. their friendship seemed genuine and i like that they hung out and played board games and had fun in general (i hate it when staying in is considered boring). i loved how invested they were in each other's lives and supported each other.

i liked most of the storylines. it became a little repetitive in s3 but it was still fun. the one storyline that i didn't like was the Julius one. i didn't like his vibe and i didn't like them together.

i loved gwen. she was so beautiful and her flashback episode after she passed away BROKE me. Carlos' dad also grew on me. i definitely did not expect his alliance w owen so it was well executed.

once again i liked tarlos. at first i didn't feel much beyond them looking cute but as we got to actually see them i loved that they were so expressive of their love even though they were not loud about it. i usually find the jealous storyline kinda cringey but in their case i liked how the cooper episode ended.

sorry for ranting. i just really liked it and can't think of anything else.

Hello cutie. Hi. 🌻

You were watching S2 like 2 nights ago and now you’ve finished S3. Respect to you>>>

1. S2 was a banger. For S4, I hope they have more thrilling calls too.

2. Whoever let Rafael Silva let out his curls lose needs to be paid in fucking billions. Not all heroes wear capes, and Rafael’s hairdresser deserves one asap.

3. 1000%. All the lonestar characters are very very likeable. I find Owen annoying at times tbh though. I’m not particularly a fan of alpha male characters sjksshsk. Tommy, Judd and Grace are faves.

4. Catan gang is the best found family ever.

5. OMFG I HATED JULIUS. I AM SORRY BUT BIG FUCKING NO. THAT IS YOUR DEAD BROTHER’S WIFE SIR.

6. Gwen’s death’s episode is my favorite. I think it was Ronen’s best work ever. And Lisa was amazing. I loved how raw and ugly that episode was and how it portrayed addiction.

7. Tarlos my beloved. TK proposing to Alex VS Carlos was a beautiful circle and I loved that. And the Cooper episode was great imo. I think it was much needed for Carlos to understand and let go off a little bit of that control.

P.S. never apologise for ranting about my favourite shows. They are the reason for my existence jsjsks so rant away babygirl.

#911 lonestar

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scrapyardboyfriends · 2 years

Note

So agree with you about this week on Ed. For me the underlining problem is that there are hardly any either likeable or interesting characters on the show left that i care about. The current producters have sucked all the joy and fun out of the show. They continue to ruin everything they touch.

Oh yeah no I hate basically everybody at this point, particularly those involved in this week. I mean Gabby/Dawn/Billy are fine but I just don't understand the point of this Jamie story if he's not coming back so whatever.

But yeah...Cain, Chas, Al, Noah, Chloe, Faith in the context of Chas and Cain, Dan, Kerry...literally all terrible. And behind the scenes things have really ruined Vic and David for me. Even if I wasn't bothered about the alleged controversy side, with them being off screen for like six months, their relationship doesn't even make sense to me anymore so this whole Vic living there and being all step mom to Jacob just feels super weird.

And everything just feels so contrived and to what end? I mean I haven't watched in two weeks but it feels clear they only did this Faith/Dan thing (dear god I can't believe I even have to type that) in order to stir up stuff with Cain and Chas...again. It's just so empty. Everything about this entire Cain/Al story in general is so empty.

They want Cain to be all RAWR Head of the Dingle Mafia whatever and like...that really doesn't work when it's all based on contrived nonsense, especially when it's contrived nonsense stacked on top of more contrived nonsense. So like you can trace back why they don't like each other but it's all ridiculous. If we look back at a story I felt actually worked like the Gordon story, Cain going all protector and going after Gordon felt actually justified and meaningful and complicated in a good way. It felt like the natural response for his character to what was happening and then they even had him step back and examine that. With this it's like they decided they wanted Dingle Mafia Cain vs Schemey Al and then backtracked to get there and then like...didn't do a good job.

Cause they don't know what to do with Al either, at all. He's too pathetic to be a true villain. Like he's awful but he's also not good at anything either other than winding Cain up for no reason. But if you go back to some of the root causes of all of this, Al having his almost thing with Chas and then actually cheating on Debbie, even that stuff was empty. I mean the Chas/Al thing was like almost interesting just because I wanted Chaddy to split up so badly but then they didn't commit to that and just let it go and now Chas hates him for it despite the fact that she initiated it. And the Debbie/Priya thing was so random because half of it happened off screen in Scotland without the audience even knowing about it. And it all just felt really gimmicky just so they could have Debs stroll in and be all rawr you cheated on me I must get REVENGE! It didn't feel based on anything. And there was no character development for Al as a result of it in terms of his motivations.

And then you go to the whole pub fiasco. They never explained why he wanted to buy into the pub in the first place. Even if it was for his "investors" we never learned why he was involved with them anyway or who they were or what they wanted or why they had an angry middle man doing all their dirty work. Was he in debt? Did they have something on him? When did he even get involved with them? We know nothing. But they were the driving force of that circular mess of a story that left us with the status quo anyway with Chas back behind the damn bar. But it pit Al against the Dingles so now Cain hates him more but it's all so empty I don't have any investment in it.

And then all the Ellis and Belle stuff was super contrived because they had to write Ellis out and so they abandoned the Priya stuff. But like there's just no reason why that dumb camping thing even happened. Since when has Belle ever taken an interest in Kyle like that? All just so Al could kill the call and leave Kyle to freeze just so Cain could leave Ellis out in the cold over night blah blah blah...who cares?!?

And now they've decided to have Belle work with Al on this wellness thing?! I mean they absolutely do not know what to do with Belle either. Girl needs to leave the village and go do something else with her life because they have no clue and they always give her a new thing only for it to get ruined somehow and then abandoned and then she's just in limbo again. It's not worth it.

So yeah...contrived nonsense on top of contrived nonsense so while you can track it, none of it has any weight or meaning for the audience. And neither character's motivations feel complex or interesting. They're just like literally two wind up toys being set on each other cause the producers think it'll be fun to watch them crash into one another.

They need a new creative team sooooo bad. I have zero faith in them to pull off the 50th anniversary month. If anything at all works, it'll be sheer dumb luck because they have no idea what the fuck they're doing and they truly have ruined a vast number of characters on this show.

Honestly, just set the whole village on fire.

#emmerdale complaints corner #sorry that was a whole rant

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tuiyla · 2 years

Note

“You really think I’m gonna come back and help you and your stupid glee club after you treated all of us. How you treated me after you went to college?”

Ngl S6 Kitty hit right on the nose with that one

Exactly!

I'm glad there was an acknowledgment of the season 4 newbies' treatment in season 6 because they were just... cast aside. Not only from a TV show perspective but in-universe, too. And when Kitty reveals that Sue bullied all the others into transferring it really makes the whole "Glee Club is a found family where you're accepted no matter what" message hollow and bleak. Yikes, they were the ones left behind. And I don't think it was any of the other characters' responsibility, as such, but it's a sad story nonetheless.

And particularly when it comes to Kitty, even as the one who stayed and eventually rejoined Glee Club and won Nationals, thinking about her junior year still makes me sad. The alumni and graduates all left without ever looking back and Artie presumably dumped her right as he moved to New York. Based on what she says, it wasn't exactly amicable. And then Marley, Jake, Unique and Ryder, all of whom she had a rocky relationship with at first had become her genuine friends which we get the sense doesn't come easy to her due to trust issues. But then they leave, too, and Sue only keeps Kitty remain a Cheerio, an aspect of her social life that Kitty didn't particularly enjoy by the end.

To your quote I'd also like to add this one to hammer the point home:

I invested everything into Glee Club. And what did it get me? They all deserted me. The only reason I'm still here is because Sue needed me for Cheerios. I miss singing and dancing and the feeling of being in the choir room. But I know Sue... and I know you. And I don't wanna jump back in just to get my heart broken again in a couple weeks when it all goes away.

Heartbreaking honesty from someone who was so reluctant, hostile even to the concept of being part of the team and letting them close. Didn't think I'd be saying this when I first started watching season 4 but I'm team Kitty, all the way.

#glee asks #kitty wilde #kitty asks #season 4 newbies #princenasim #she really did nail it huh #season 6 continues to fascinate #every day i wake up and say kitty rights

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obeymebabes · 4 years

Text

I bet they'd all really love Disney. I know I really love Disney movies.

> The Undateables (Part 2) <

Lucifer

He never really had time to watch movies. He was always so busy with work.

Though he heard you talking to his brothers about having a movie marathon.

He immediately involved himself. He needed the break anyway.

Despite not being a huge fan of happy and cheerful animated movies, he really actually enjoyed himself.

Lucifer's favorite movie of the whole super long marathon? Beauty and The Beast. Closely followed by Brother Bear.

He may or may not have shed a tear at the end of some of them.

Mammon

Always being in your room while you played your favorite Disney movies, he was almost forced to watch them.

Not that he minded, he was with his favorite human after all.

Animated movies weren't his favorite but he tolerated them.

His favorite being Cinderella, connecting with the feeling of seemingly not being good enough compared to your siblings.

He was most interested in Star Wars and Marvel.

After watching Avengers, he kept parading around calling Satan the Hulk and yelling "Hulk smash!" when Satan wasn't particularly happy.

He took a liking to Tony Stark's sarcastic behavior that almost mirrored his own. Plus he's got money, which Mammon in fact doesn't have.

His favorite character in Star Wars you might ask? Easy. Han Solo. A theif just like himself.

Levi

Do you really believe he doesn't know about Disney?

Of course he knows about it!

He loves watching any movies with you. He was really open to anything.

He would sing along to the songs with you, and overall have a really good time.

His favorite movies to watch with you are Rapunzel and Moana.

Levi always jokes about how he has locked himself in his cave like Rapunzel, only he is free to leave any time he likes.

Moana is an obvious favorite because he really likes the songs and the ocean appeal.

He even mentioned that Henry 2.0 liked the movie as well.

Satan

Considering he had Mammon running around calling him "The Hulk", he was reluctant to watch movies with you.

After pleading with him over and over he finally gave in.

He wouldn't openly admit it, but you could see that he teared up while watching Frozen, feeling like an outcast himself.

He also cried during The Aristocats, though he denied it and claimed something was stuck in his eye.

After finally watching The Avengers, he understood the reasoning behind Mammon's shenanigans and actually had a laugh or two.

Overall, he really enjoyed watching the movies with you, and even offered to possibly come back to watch more.

Asmo

Considering Asmo is a huge romance and beauty geek, he absolutely loves the princess movies.

His favorite actually being The Little Mermaid. Admiring Ariel's determination for love. Plus he thinks mermaids are truly beautiful creatures.

Another favorite of his is Emperor's New Groove, absolutely adoring how sassy Kuzco is.

He knew just about every word of every song that played throughout the various princess movies you watched together.

There were many nights of you both cuddling up and watching Disney movies together. It was a way to de-stress after a long day with his obnoxious brothers.

Sometimes he would try to dress you up as one of the princesses/princes just to shower you in compliments and tell you how amazing you looked.

Beel

During a late night trip to the fridge, he overheard you singing along to one of the songs in your room.

When he noticed you were up watching movies, he made a thing of popcorn and carefully made his way into your room, almost scaring you out of your skin since you didn't quite notice him at first.

Knowing exactly what movie to put on for the hungry beast of a demon, he was invested within seconds.

You may be asking what movie? Ratatouille. Why? Because food.

Beel couldn't have been happier though. He loved the way you smiled and laughed at the silly jokes. Having you close by while practically inhaling a ton of popcorn was like a dream.

Throughout the night you binged a ton of movies. Including Finding Nemo, to which he actually bawled over.

Belphie

Belphie usually woke up to find you watching movies.

Typically he would groan and roll over. Though something about the movie you had playing really caught his attention.

The movie playing? Thor. It reminded him of Beel and himself. Both very different in personality and appearance.

Making the decision to stay up and watch a few movies with you, he was pleased that he did.

You showed him Sleeping Beauty, to which you then earned the nickname from him.

He also really enjoyed The Lion King, Maleficent, and Toy Story.

Cuddling and movie marathons were now his new favorite way to spend time with you.

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buddha-in-disguise · 4 years

Text

This is how it's done

Episode 5.15 at last.

While the emphasis has been on Nia's story in this episode, the synopsis made it clear Alex, Kelly and J'onn had a secondary storyline running as well. So again we were eager to watch knowing they were finally getting more than a token few minutes together.

Did it deliver?

Oh hell yes.

You just have to look on Twitter to see the praise being heaped on it by fans.

But first let's get the elephant in the room out of the way. William.

The opening sequence as Kara is fighting with Nia, and Nia has to be the one reminding Kara she has a date? Already covered by me and others, but to reiterate: that does not give a vibe of someone excited to be going on a first date. You can't even use the excuse of her mind was on the fight, because so was Nia's.

As to Kara at her apartment with Alex prior to the date?

Those words, "Cancel it for me."

Lets say (for arguments sake) it is nerves again speaking. Maybe it is, but that she is even having those thoughts? That she completely forgot about the 1st date, and needed reminding? If Kara can't get invested in the date, how are the audience expected to become invested?

As for the date itself. Kara arrives.... having been told by Alex to wear the blue top because .... well reasons .... and she is wearing the purple? So, not wanting to go with the best look then?

I didn't mind the date per se, although I did wonder if Kara was simply trying to not show pool skills, because I can't believe for a second, with Alex as a sister, and the control Kara now has on her powers (worry over lack of control would be the only other reason for her hesitation that I can think of), Kara hasn't been pulled into playing many times.

Did I get a date vibe? No. I felt more bonding yes (like why has it taken until now to even vaguely have that much), but date? Nope. Still not feeling it. If any of the above was a one off instance, you could shrug it off. But all of them? Sorry but as I say, if Kara isn't that invested in a first date, then we can't be expected to be as invested. However, that isn't to say that William annoyed me. In truth having him more on the sidelines was a relief as it finally allowed others to get some much needed screen time.

The Nia storyline.

This is obviously one extremely close to me, as my husband is transgender, and we have other family who are also transgender.

Nicole's input was definitely felt. Some of the lines she spoke were ones we have said ourselves almost word for word.

This is a topic that is one I've been extremely vocal about, and one in particular I have spoken about (in the William and Kara at CatCo scene) is the figures for transgender people killed in the last year alone in the USA, but more importantly that this number is likely not a true representation as many who die are misgendered after death.

It was so important to show just how bad for the transgender community it is. And no, it wouldn't necessarily be a fact Kara would know. Even those in the LGBTQ community aren't always aware of these figures. As for William being the one stating the figures back to Kara, again in the context I had no qualms about it. In fact having a CIS straight man write the piece and be a supportive ally is an important message in it's own right. I was worried that wouldn't come across, but I felt it did.

If ever there was a line that spoke volumes in this weeks Supergirl episode it was this:

"They want us to be invisible because of their own fears, they want to erase us so...... we need to shine even brighter." - Nia Nal

And shine Nicole Maines (and Roxy Wood, because the additional line about being a Black transgender woman - take my heart, stomp over it, then expect me to function), did. Both deserve so much praise on the way they delivered their performances.

I genuinely cried at some of this weeks episode, because the experiences have been ones we have faced as a transgender household. Being white does afford us a privilege that Black transgender people (especially the women) don't have. But as I say, it has been something I've been vocal about for a long time.

Lastly Kara and Nia on the balcony. Holy mother of god (or goddess), tears. Again. Nicole and Melissa once again were so good it felt like a punch to the gut. Kara wiping that tear off Nia's cheek. Big ugly sobbing from me. Gah! Just ....

Now Alex and Kelly. While I'm still craving a nice intimate atmosphere at home with them, having had so little of Dansen (and Kelly) it was a relief that for once Kelly wasn't given diminished screentime. Not only that, she was instrumental in helping Alex navigate through the VR world.

Alex having that PTSD flashback to being in the tank. Whoa, finally acknowledging it affected her and obviously still does. I loved how Kelly is so good at helping Alex maintain her equilibrium. You could tell it wasn't just because of her training or profession, but as a girlfriend who knows and understands how to communicate to Alex in that moment of stress, much like Alex was able to realise Malefic was manifesting as Kelly in the earlier part of the season, simply because she knew her girlfriend well enough.

Watching Alex train to get used to the Martian weapon, felt very reminiscent of S1 where Alex was training Kara early on. It was good to see her off balance for once in her training, as she has always shown a confidence in her ability until now. For those who complain she brought up wanting to be back at the DEO, as someone who has heavy military presence in our family (for at least 4 generations on my maternal side), I can safely say, going from military (and remember the DEO is recognised and spoken about in canon as being a military operation), and suddenly and unexpectedly thrown back into civilian life is one heck of an adjustment. It's an adjustment for most even when they know it's coming. To be so abrupt, so unexpected? Alex is going to want that structure back, and have that support around her. It is absolutely not unrealistic for her to feel this way or to talk about it. I would've been more surprised if she hadn't.

"And this is my gun."

Alex giving no crap. The whole rescue sequence was a joy to watch.

If I had a complaint, as I mentioned, I would've loved just a moment of real quiet intimacy between Kelly and Alex. We've barely seen anything of that sort. I hope we get something next episode (which also looks amazing from the trailer).

I could go through the episode and pick up so many times on how good it was. It was so much, I know I will have forgotten something I wanted to say. But I'm exhausted (almost no sleep will do that to you, damn being in the UK and these stupid o'clock viewing times), and it was so much to unpack.

Brainy, was barely in the episode but damn, so lovely (& heartbreaking) to see him give the information to the NCPD to help against transphobic attacks.

Onto a side plot, but finally we have more about Leviathan.

Leviathan have those bodies suspended.

What if William dies in 5.19 and becomes one of those suspended bodies for 5.20 or was supposed to, as Nicole mentioned on her Instagram story they still had scenes to film, and a couple were pretty amazing? With Staz back, would it have involved him, possibly as a sleeper agent? I've touted this idea before. While I would prefer that a MOC isn't cast into being a bad guy again, or killed off, I would more than happily see him simply go back to London and The Times. But I guess we wait to see what happens there.

But if, like Russell in 5a, he becomes an unwitting agent of Leviathan & a bad guy, cue fight scene, possibly in a VR setting? Maybe? Who knows.

Last but by no means least - they killed off Jeremiah. Since we're not entirely sure if Cadmus operated in the same way on Earth Prime as they did on Earth 38, we don't yet know the circumstances behind his death.

Will we get more explanation about it? Honestly I'm not overly bothered unless it helps serve a current storyline. Merely because episode numbers are running out, and it does at least bring us closure on his character one way or another. Something a lot of us have questioned for so long now.

As for complaints, the only ones expressing any real disappointment have been fans who have either regularly attacked other fans (especially those of in the SC or Dansen fandoms), or the outright transphobic users (I won't call them fans), who as the episode makes clear, are everywhere. The transphobes come out in force everytime with Nicole, so it isn't a surprise to see them again. As Nia says, it what transgender people face on a daily basis.

Plus with no Lena in the episode, it helps show that fans didn't need a Lena/Kara centric episode for this to garner such positive reactions, particularly from the LGBTQ fans. In some ways, as many have been saying (yes even SC fans), this Lena drama has long since gone by its sell by date and not having Lena once more stuck in her laboratory wasn't missed. And god, I say this as a huge Lena fan. I still want her on screen of course, but we need progression on what is happening with her. Both Lex and Lena have felt stale of late, and while I know it changes as we get into the last few episodes, I can truly say neither was missed this time. And before anyone jumps in, no this isn't bashing SC (I still ship both Dansen and SC, as well as Brainia), or saying SC shouldn't happen, or Lena is evil, or not needed. I don't think that at all. I merely am getting tired of a merry-go-round on Lena in her laboratory that we've had of late, & the only interaction has been with Lex. Time to break her out of that cell!

I don’t know what they were putting in the water in Vancouver when they did the Batwoman and Supergirl episodes this week, but they both had me simultaneously laughing & crying! It looked ugly for a minute there.

Both were outstanding episodes.

As much as I've had my criticism over some of this season, when Supergirl get it right like they did here, they soar! This was one of my top episodes for the entire series.

And despite all the news in the world right now, Supergirl trended on Twitter again.

Gif courtesy of @ Daily_danvers on Twitter.

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bluephoenixdruidicprincess · 5 years

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Shadowhunters 3x11, Lost Souls -- Review

It's that time of the year again where I put myself through the torture of enduring this show. Watching this show is like going on an endurance run. You drag your feet when you first start, when you get acclimated to the level of exercise, you think "hey, this isn't too bad" and then by the end, it's just pain...but also a sense of pride that you made it through. That's been my experience with the show, anyway. And it's basically how I felt about Shadowhunters 3x11, Lost Souls.

I would like to preface this review with saying that I am NOT a huge supporter of this show. I do enjoy certain elements of it but I'm not what would be classified as a devoted fan. For me, Shadowhunters is not a good show and I do get very critical of the show in my reviews. Honestly, for me, I watch the show because 1) I'm too curious not to and 2) I find that this show can be so bad its funny and that's how I reap enjoyment out of it. I am not at all invested in this show or its characters anymore. I'm just watching to see what happens. If you're a die hard fan and you lash out at everyone who has a different opinion than you, you might want to skip these...I'm just saying. My reviews may not be for you. If you do decide to be a total troll, well then pay attention to the below disclaimer.

This is going to be an honest review of my thoughts and feelings regarding this episode. If you're the kind of Shadowhunters fan where you only want to hear positive things about the show, this is not the place for you. If you decide to stick around and get offended by what is said, then that's on you. I warned you. Just know that if you send me any rude comments or messages, I will 100% ignore you. I find that's the best way to deal with bullies. I work 14 hour days. Do you really think I want to waste my incredibly valuable free time dealing with derogatory comments? Hell no. This review will consist of my honest opinions. Opinions are never right or wrong. I'm not telling YOU how to think and feel. I'm telling you what I, quirky and socially awkward me, think and feel. So please, lets discuss with dignity and respect. If I'm critical about this show, it's only because I want it to get better. There is, in fact, a difference between hating a show and being critical of it. I do not hate Shadowhunters, I am being critical and analyzing the flaws as I would with any other show. There are positives but there are also negatives. It's great if you want to promote positivity with this show (and I encourage you to do so) but that doesn't mean I'm not going to point out the things that are legitimately wrong with it. Also, keep in mind that despite the fact that I do like the books, me being critical of this show has nothing to do with my fondness for the books. I don't really care if the show deviates from the source material as long as the changes are good, it makes sense, and it doesn't create plot holes within the confines of the world the show has created. My problems with this show are problems I would have with any show or book for that matter. I think it's perfectly reasonable to take issue with a show that has plot holes, shoddy world building, and inconsistent characters. There will be spoilers for the books and movie.

We are at last embarking upon the final episodes of this show and if this episode is what's going to set the tone for the remaining episodes, then I'm glad it's the final episodes because...well, this episode wasn't great and is a perfect example of what I won't miss about Shadowhunters. Bland and cringey dialogue, more characters than it knows what to do with, and too much jumping across plot points. There are individual moments in the episode I enjoyed but overall, this isn't an episode I loved.

The Loss of the Mary Sue

I'm not entirely certain of the timeline in this episode. The episode never specifies on exactly how many days have passed since the 3A finale but I'm going to estimate about a week or so. Everyone believes Clary died in the explosion caused by Lillith attacking Simon.

The episode opens with Jace, Izzy, and Alec chasing after a downworlder and Jace makes some very shoddy decisions in this fight that lets you see just how reckless he's become in the wake of Clary's "death". We then get a montage of everyone missing Clary and the more significant one is Jace, that's the one they spent the most amount of time on. He's basically walking through Clary's room remembering all the times he spent with Clary...so basically three memories. Another classic example of what I've always been talking about when it comes to the adaptation changes. Clary and Jace have barely spent any amount of time together, even less actually dating and I'm supposed to believe that they're each other's one true love...not going to happen because the show didn't develop it at all. There's a moment in the montage where Jace starts looking at Clary's drawings and getting really emotional about it and I felt nothing because Jace has never been shown to take any sort of interest in Clary's artwork before. In fact, if it weren't for that one scene in 3A, I wouldn't even have known that Clary was still drawing. By the show deviating from the books in the way they did, Clace had less development but yet the show still wants to continue the aspect of Clace being hopelessly in love from the books. You can't make a significant change from the source material and then pages down the line expect to pick up exactly where you left off. By making the change, you changed the entire context of the relationship so now the entire story has to change in order to fit that new narrative. Sadly, the Shadowhunters writers have not figured that out yet and continue to make that same mistake...or they're lazy, it could be that, too. Jace eventually gets so depressed that it's implied that he's contemplating suicide but Izzy is able to talk to him and get him to think. And then she just leaves him after making him promise he won’t go through with it. If anyone's wondering, if you catch someone who you believe may be contemplating suicide, do not UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, LEAVE THEM ALONE!!! Particularly in a dark room. Being in a dark enclosed space is not the kind of place that typically sends out positive energy. But I suppose I can cut Izzy a little bit of a break. It's entirely possible the Shadowhunter world doesn't really understand how to help someone who's experiencing suicidal thoughts. They certainly didn’t help out Jace’s mother. Alec also confronts Jace about this in probably the only believable scene in this entire episode. Seriously, I've never been a Jalec shipper but I totally understand why people ship them. Matt and Dom are probably the only actors who actually have any chemistry with each other. But Alec tells Jace he's doing the memory of Clary a disservice and that if Jace were to die, it would destroy him as well. In other words, Jace isn't the only one who's going to be affected by this decision. Jace eventually is called by Luke who for some reason appears to be living in a motel room. I don't know why but whatever. Luke doesn't believe Clary is actually dead and he tries to convince Jace through some really weird conspiracy theory that probably even flat-earthers would find difficult to believe. But hey, if it leads to them finding Clary, I'll go with it. And I understand why Luke is unable to accept even the possibility that Clary might be gone for good. He can't think that about someone who he basically views as his daughter and the last connection he has to Jocelyn. Luke gives the evidence to Jace and tells Jace to at least check it out.

Simon, understandably, is also having a difficult time with all this. And Maia returns to give him emotional support despite leaving for a very particular and totally understandable reason but Simon needs her so of course she comes back for him. It's not like Maia exists for anything else but for Simon's character arc. Both Simon and Izzy kind of passive-aggressively shame Maia about leaving. And I'm particualrly disappointed in Izzy telling Maia about what happened to Simon's family as that's a very deeply personal issue and Simon should've been the one to tell her. It wasn't Izzy's secret to tell. I get that they were trying to use that scene to exposit information to the audience but there were better ways of doing that. Hell, it could've just been Izzy making an off-handed comment about Simon. Maia could've been talking to Izzy about how badly Simon is doing with the Clary situation and Izzy could've been all, "especially with what happened with his family" and Maia could've been shocked and Izzy could've been flabbergasted because she didn't know Maia didn't know. That would've been a much better way for the situation to be handled. But I'm not too pleased with Izzy saying in response to Maia not knowing, "well how could you? you weren't around." Just the insinuation that Maia should stay around and support her man and not go off and get in the right head space to properly heal herself after dealing with the re-emergence of her abuser. But I suppose I shouldn’t expect any different from Izzy seeing as she, herself, also only exists to give support the other characters. I think these passive aggressive intonations of shaming Maia are really horrible and shame on the writer. Maia, Izzy, and Simon decide to work together to find a way to get rid of the Mark of Cain from Simon's forehead. They talk to Raphael who now works at a soup kitchen in Detroit and Raphael tells them the tale of some dude chilling in the sewers of NYC who could possibly be the oldest vampire alive and may have answers to the removal of the Mark of Cain. Maia decides not to help Simon on this as its a bad idea for a werewolf and a vampire to meet and I almost forgot that was a thing, the show so rarely does anything with the vampire vs werewolf dynamic. But of course Maia has to back off to give room for Sizzy. I’m really not a big fan of Sizzy being explored here as everything that made Sizzy fun and interesting in the books has been completely stripped from the show. I’d much prefer Saia on the show. But really, I just want Maia and Izzy to have their own character arc, though that doesn’t revolve around shipping.

The Malec B-Plot

We have a Malec B-plot that I found just completely unnecessary wherein Iris returns and kidnaps Magnus because she wants to get Madzie back. She falls for the most obvious trap in the world and hopefully we never see Iris again. What it does for Magnus's story works I guess but I just found it to be a really obtrusive subplot that didn’t fit at all with the episode. I'm not sure if it's just the fact that I've been away from the show for a year so I can see the the show a little more clearly now but the Malec chemistry is no longer working for me. Maybe it's just that I've always paid more attention to how alarmingly unequal their relationship is but I'm looking at the body language they're giving off and its not the kind of body language you would expect from lovers. They're so stiff around each other and not relaxed at all.

In fact, there's a line in this episode where Malec has just put Madzie to bed as they're baby-sitting her and Alec kisses Magnus and Magnus tells him to stop because they have a child in the apartment currently. Alec kind of scoffs because it's just a kiss and Magnus is all, "You know how we get." And I'm like, "Do we really, though?" There's plenty of scenes of them talking and I can buy them as friends with that but lovers? I’m having a difficult time actually buying that now. Like I said before, the Jalec scene was way more believable than any Malec scene in this episode.

But Magnus decides he doesn't want to feel helpess ever again so he decides he needs to learn how to fight. Honestly, I was surprised to learn that this is implying he doesn't even seem to really have any basic self-defense capabilities. The way he was swinging the sword earlier in this episode lead to me to believe otherwise. Plus, Harry Shum Jr is a pretty buff dude but I guess maybe Magnus lifts weights and that’s it. Alec decides to help him out on this venture, though.

Siblings Reunited

We find out that Clary is indeed not dead and that Jonathon's back. I'll be real, here. It's kind of hard to feel sad for Jace or Simon or Luke or anyone really regarding the "death" of Clary, considering this entire episode is interspliced with moments of Clary being very much alive. Honestly, I think this episode would've functioned better if it was just about showing everyone going through all the different stages of grief regarding Clary and at the end of the episode when they've hit the acceptance stage, that's when we see Clary wake up in the apartment with Jonathon. But whatever. The show decided not to go that route so we have to make do with what we got. Clary wakes up and looking pretty damn fantastic for someone who's been asleep for days. Not a strand of hair out of place, make-up is flawless, and not a wrinkle to be found on her clothing. In fact, I think they're in even better condition than they were when Clary initially had to put them on. Clary also isn't even the slightest bit groggy, she knows exactly where she's at and everything. Clary does comas well. Jonathon tells Clary that it is indeed him, her big brother and that before Lillith was sent to hell she sent them away to Siberia, apparently. Clary plays nice for a little bit with Jonathon but decides to chance out in the cold of Siberia. It's nice to see that in her state of unconsciousness her muscles didn't atrophy from lack of movement or deteriorate from lack of food. But Clary fails in her escape, Jonathon finds her and brings her back. Clary tries to stab him with a knife but they both find out that what happens to one person will also happen to the other. So yeah, we're full in City of Lost Souls plot here which is ironically the title of this episode. Shadowhunters has never been all that subtle. This new actor for Jonathon is going to take some getting used to. Will Tudor did a phenomenal job with him so its difficult to see this new guy as Jonathon. But it also is difficult to take Clary's anger and hatred of Jonathon seriously when you think about all that Jonathon's really done on the show is kill a shadowhunter Clary had never met before and then injured Max and Max swiftly recovered. Clary is all about painting him as the worst possible being and indeed, in the books, he is but here, while he may be a bad guy who's done really bad things, I don't know if its deserving of that level of hatred. We haven't exactly seen a lot of his horrifying dastardly deeds. Another example of making a change and then thinking you can still keep the same storyline at a later point in the story. I'm certainly not saying I wanted Max to die but story-telling wise, it would make the emotions Clary's feeling here a little more believable. But I'm actually really interested to see where this whole Jonathon and Clary plot goes. In the books, it's Jace that's put in this situation so it'll be interestig to see how the show tackles Clary being in this situation. I'm also wondering, because they seem to be trying to stay away from the incest vibes here, is Jonathon going to gain an unhealthy obsession with Jace instead of Clary? In the books, Clary was who Jonathon was creepily obsessed with. He was equating possession with love and viewed that Clary belonged to him in every way imaginable. So since the roles of Clary and Jace have been reversed here, will Jonathon's obsession now change from Clary to Jace? Probably not but it would've been interesting to see for sure. I mean, if you're going to do a role reversal, you might as well go all the way, right?

The Clave Acting Shady AF

The Clave is being super shady right now. They appear to be doing experiments on the incarcerated downworlders and all I can say is, "do we really need this?" And also, "Why is it being implied that Jia knows about this and is okay with this?" The interesting thing about Jia in the books was the fact that she was the first step in the leadership to help get rid of the more corrupt aspects of the Clave and instigating change. But I suppose it's per the norm for the show to make everyone but the main group a bad guy instead of morally grey. As I've said before, this show has no concept of subtlety. I can only imagine that this is leading into the part in City of Glass the show hasn't done yet wherein the alliance rune is going to be introduced but instead of using it to fight Valentine, they're going to use it to fight Jonathon. That's what these downworlder experiments seem to be leading into as it reminds me a lot of Valentine experimenting in the books. I'm sure there was 0 social commentary intended when writing this into the show, though...but I think its safe to say it's totally social commentary. The show isn't very subtle, once again.

But good news is it looks like Ollie is gone for good so yay! I am side-eying the show, though about that. What was the point of introducing her if you weren't going to do anything with her? I'd say they probably wasted about half of 3A with Ollie unnecessarily. But maybe if this show hadn't been cancelled, Ollie would've played a more significant role? Well anyway, at least some of the fat has been trimmed.

My biggest issue, as always, is the dialogue. The dialogue felt extremely one-note. It was almost like the writer made a flow chart of what they wanted to happen in this episode and was like, "crap! I guess my characters do need to speak, here's some lines to explain what's going on." The dialogue basically existed solely for the purpose of giving exposition but the real kicker is that it was really unnecessary. I could've had this episode on silent (and that might've even have made it an improvement) and I would've understood what was happening perfectly. The dialogue really didn't add anything to the experience, it just made the episode feel more awkward than it already was. And then there continues the trend of Shadowhunters treating their awesome plans as if they’re the most clever plans in the world when in actuality, the plan is beyond obvious and it was super cringey and awkward seeing Izzy being treated as this amazing strategist for making the obvious move. And the episode was already plenty awkward with the constant cutting. It's really difficult to enjoy any particular subplot going on in this show when we only spend maybe 30 seconds to a minute on any particular moment. I kind of wish this show structured their episodes more around themes as opposed to plot. Plot is temporary, plot is always changing but exploring themes through plot gives you more of an appreciation not only for the characters but the story, itself. While I didn't mind sequences in this episode, at the end of the day, it just kind of left me feeling empty. I also think the acting felt a little stilted as well. I wasn't a big fan of any of the performances given in this episode and whereas I've never thought anyone on this show was oscar-worthy for their performances in the past on this show, their performances have always been maybe a C+ to a B. But in this episode, it just didn't feel like any of the actors' hearts were in it. Now granted, that could be a side effect of the script because, as I've mentioned before, the script wasn't great. Or it could've been the directing. There's a lot of reasons for why acting can feel stilted and it very rarely has to do with the actor or actress being bad at acting.

I've made notes about how the dialogue and acting was stilted but those weren't the only things that were. The fight choreography and the blocking felt a little off as well. For starters, the fight choreography did not feel organic. It was strangely reminiscent of season 1 fight choreography. The constant jump cuts so you don't see too much of what's actually happening and just feeling like fight scenes move very slowly. Like the reaction times between sword swing to parry were very slow and it kept on taking me out of the moment. Then you also had moments where Alec and Izzy catch up with Jace in the sewer and everyone's staring at the seelie they're trying to capture for a good 5 seconds before the actual fight continues. And then there's just strange blocking choices where a character walks to a point in the room and then delivers their line but the walk to the new mark wasn’t organic and actually made the line feel more awkward.

I'd probably give this episode a C+. It was passable, with enjoyable moments but ultimately not something I have any desire to return to. There were cute moments (primarily Jalec and Madzie), but overall as an episode, not something to be too terribly impressed with. And yes, there were moments I did like. It’s not my fault the show just had more bad parts I felt compelled to talk about.

#shadowhunters 3b #shadowhunters 3x11 #shadowhunters lost souls #rife with unpopular opinions #read at your own risk

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