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slytherinsnekxvii · 3 years

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let's talk about lily evans. she's an interesting character—or rather, the case surrounding her character is quite interesting.

i honestly don't know if i can say i dislike her. by all means, she should be a fan favourite, and she is... but for some rather intriguing reasons.

for one thing, due to the fact she's hardly expanded on in the series, certain parts of the fandom have been forced to either take the few qualities that she displays canonically and amplify them to the extreme (eg. immediate righteous anger at the slightest hint of injustice in fic) or create an entirely new personality (eg. no, i didn't actually disapprove of your pranks, it was just sexual tension). of course, the option of creating a new personality is much more tempting when you can just add amplified canon traits on the side.

for another, her relationship with james sometimes seems likes it's being weaponized against snape and his fans. i've seen arguments that go like "haha, snape just wanted to fuck lily, but james got her in the end anyway, sucks to be you", and not only does it entirely reduce her to an object, it feels like they don't even care about the relationship, the dynamics or the characters. she's basically a plot device.

and thirdly, half of her characterisation in fic is to be a peter stand-in. we don't like the rat man, so let's take the pretty girl and put her in place of the guy who was canonically a member of the marauders, even up until he was named secret keeper. suddenly, she's a prankster and an enabler.

but, snek, you may say, all of that is fanon lily, tho. you just explained that people seem to like her because they just put any personality they want into her as long as she's at least vaguely a good person. you would be right.

let's look at canon lily. she's described as the brightest witch of her age, most everyone speaks favourably of her. in fact, the only people we see actively disliking/being upset with her are petunia, out of jealousy and the invasion of privacy concerning her letter, severus, who lashed out and used a slur that also applied to him in a moment of serious distress and apologised after, and well, pureblood supremacists by virtue of her being muggleborn. interestingly enough, even this dislike manages to develop everyone's character more than it does her own.

as a teenage girl myself, let's look at her actions as a teenage girl. not necessarily in chronological order because I'm writing this at 2am and my memory is already mediocre at best.

1. she's done well enough in school to be considered trustworthy and responsible enough to be a prefect.

okay, i can respect that. a good few of the prefects at my school were really just appointed based on how much the teachers liked you, but at hogwarts, there's so few of them that they must put at least a little effort into it, so i'll move on.

2. she does not press for details when informed that her best friend's life needed to be saved by someone who has been publicly tormenting him for years

now, see, there's no reason why she needs to play therapist. it's not her job, she's just a girl, and we know that snape wasn't supposed to talk about the incident, so he would've been stuck if she had asked for an explanation. however, i also feel like she doesn't seem particularly concerned about his wellbeing, and when he brings up his concerns about lupin, rather than ask for proof, she dismisses it. which, fair enough, i would hate to listen to someone talk about the same thing over and over and over, but, i also feel like the fixation on a theory like that would be cause for concern.

3. she dismisses the actions of a group known to play tricks that harm people and have specifically been tormenting her best friend on the basis that they don't use dark magic

first, i'm going to establish what i usually assume dark magic refers to. aside from jinxes, hexes and curses, i also include anything that produces an effect similar to any of the unforgivables (takes away your life, your free will or your ability to feel safe in your own body, such as when you're in excruciating pain), and magic that would require a sacrifice of some sort.

when snape tries to point out the danger in what the marauders do, she insists that they don't use dark magic. and they don't... but they do use illegal magic. she then argues against the company that snape keeps, which, again, to be fair, is justified considering mulciber's done something to mary macdonald... it's also not a particularly realistic ask. snape probably shares a dorm with these guys, and he's a poor half-blood so he's already on the outs. as far as he knows, any dissent will be met with him getting hexed in his sleep. but, i digress.

given that the marauders have been shown to be doing extremely dangerous with little regards to anyone's safety, and actively tormenting her best friend, i disagree with her choice here. on the other hand, she's made her own friends in gryffindor and perhaps she sees a nicer side of them that we don't get to. she's justified in her actions, but i still disagree.

4. she intervenes when her best friend is hung upside down by a spell of his own invention at the wands of the people who have tormenting him for years

she does object to the marauders' treatment of him, and she does try to get them to let him down. if i were in her position, i would absolutely do the same. i respect the decision to stand up for her friend.

5. she does not seriously attempt to help him or punish the marauders

i do not respect how she handled it. at any point, she could have drawn her wand. but, snek, you say, perhaps she didn't want to get involved physically. she wanted to follow the rules. in that case, at any point, she could taken points, assigned detention, or sent someone to get a member of staff. she does none of those things and i viscerally disagree. if we were ever friends and someone tried to hurt you, i can assure you that i would try to at least see to it that they'd be punished, even if it wasn't immediate or by my own hand. lily, however, chooses to argue rather than take action.

6. she smiles when severus gets hung upside down

chances are, it was more than likely an involuntary reaction, like laughing when your friend has fallen over. however, the fact that it was intentionally written in seems like it's mean to be an indicator that the friendship was already falling apart.

7. she comments on her best friend's poverty and uses a name that's been used to make fun of him after he calls her a slur that also applies to him

she was 100% within her rights to be upset by being called a slur. it is never okay to use slurs. the only situation in which a slur could possibly ever be appropriate would be if you were an oppressed group attempting to reclaim said slur which is not at all what snape was doing here. he was experiencing cruelty, being humiliated, publicly, for no reason beyond existing and he was in distress, choking on soap and upside down. it was damaging to his pride, especially when james suggests that he needs lily to fight his battles for him (paraphrasing) which is an emasculating statement to make, especially to a teenage boy. so, snape lashes out with the most hurtful word he could think of, which happened to be a slur that also applies to him. lily was 100% justified in being upset about this, and she retaliated in kind. she was very much allowed to say what she said. i understand that she was hurt and angry and i respect that, especially as i can't guarantee that i would not have been just as upset in that situation.

8. even when the threat of sexual harassment is made, she still does nothing

i get it, at this point, she's hurt, she's mad, she wants him to suffer since she's a teenage girl and teenage girls hold grudges like it's nobody's business, but... i definitely couldn't just stand by and watch it happen. she basically just let them go through with it.

9. she does not accept her best friend's apology for calling her a slur that also applies to him, effectively burying the friendship

she is, by no means, obligated to continue being friends with him. however, if i were in that position, and the apology was sincere, i would take the friend back.

10. she goes on to date and eventually marry the guy who bullied her former best friend for his entire school life

no. i disagree. but, snek, you say, james changed. no. he didn't. we know, that at this point, james was still going after snape behind lily's back. you can say that she didn't know, but that means that she would have allowed james to lie to her and that doesn't sit right with me bc a relationship built on lies is a relationship that is going to fall apart, especially when your partner has been disappointed by your actions before. you can say that she did know, and that proves that she simply didn't take her responsibilities as head girl seriously enough to stop the head boy from harassing people when she explicitly told him not to. the point is, no. there is no way that this would have worked out as a long term relationship. james is too comfortable lying to her. i can't even say she was justified. there is no circumstance where i personally see this as okay for anybody involved.

alright, so, essentially teenage lily was justified in (most of) her actions, even if i find them questionable.

adult lily dies at 21, while saving her son, but her death also helps save the wizarding world. good job. she, as expected, did what any good mother would.

and that's canon lily.

my thoughts: she's a perfect example of why writing tips are so adamant on making sure people try to show and not tell. we were told that lily is meant to be good and pure and lovely, but the author never bothered to actually prove that, so what we're left with a dissonance between what we see and what we know.

as a result, i still don't know if i truly dislike her. her actions are justified, but they don't match with what we've been told, and we don't have any other information to go off of. at best, i can say for certain that i disagree with many of her choices, despite understanding why she would have made them (except for marrying james potter, uggghh, the only good thing to come out of that was harry and the saving of the wizarding world by extension, ig).

thanks for reading all that, btw! hope it made sense :)

#meta #lily evans #lily evans potter #anti lily evans?#just to be sure #james potter #severus snape #harry potter #thoughts #my opinion #not sure what i should tag this as #im tired and have to get up for work in like #five hours lol #anti jily #im sorry but i really can't do jily

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writesowhatnext · 4 years

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working up the courage // lee jordan

Summary: Lee Jordan is a flirt; who would’ve thought that he had a softer side?

Request: Lee Jordan flirting with one of the ravenclaw quidditch players during commentary? Maybe she’s chill and even replies back to his pick up lines?

A/N: I found it so hard to write Lee just because he’s not mentioned nearly enough but I’m excited but am unsure about my writing tbh after a bit of a break also CHARACTERISATION HELP who is lee Jordan that is my QOTD

Reader: unspecified, Ravenclaw

Warnings: nope, I don’t think

It was next to impossible to walk down the halls of Hogwarts without the knowledge of who Lee Jordan was. Even if you didn’t know him, you’d heard him or, at the very least, heard of him. He had the largest gob that the school had to offer and boy, was he proud of it. It seemed only natural when he was given the role of Quidditch commentator and Professor McGonagall liked to think of it as redirecting his talkative talents from the classroom to the Quidditch pitch.

To his credit, he did try to keep it professional.

There was the odd slip up here and there, of course. Especially when the Slytherin team were being ruthless cheats or Gryffindor caught the snitch; he was at heart, after all, just a boy with a favourite quidditch team. The worst it ever got was when he called Flint, the Slytherin captain, a ruthless toe-bag. He’d had more PG-13 insults in mind but McGonagall had swiped the microphone from him before he could deliver them to his adoring fans.

Just as it had been then, it was even harder to be professional whenever he noticed you in the crowds, bundled up in your blue scarf and chatting animatedly to your friends. The first time he did it, he’d seen you around a few times, even smiled a couple too if he was feeling particularly brave. You were definitely nowhere near friends, but something about the adrenaline rush of the Quidditch pitch had him buzzing and his inhibitions were dropping like flies.

“Hufflepuff scores again!” he roared, his words met with the cheers and boos of the stands around him. Unable to help himself given the look on the Slytherins’ faces, he chuckled.

“Now, where was the Slytherin keeper?” he goads, enjoying the glare he received from one of the Slytherin chasers as she flew past.

His grin faded as he spotted you a few rows below him, laughing at his provocation with your head thrown back. The warmth that flooded through him at the sight of your smiling features was unfamiliar and, for the first time in his life, he felt actually nervous about something.

“Doesn’t matter, though,” he shrugged, biting his lip. “Because I think I’ve found a keeper in the fourth row.”

Professor McGonagall tutted next to him, but he could hardly be expected to pay attention when you turned around with wide eyes and an even wider smile. Was he talking to you? He smirked, waving with his free hand. Oh, you realised, pleasantly surprised, he was talking to you.

“Fifth row, actually,” you yelled back, raising your eyebrows. Butterflies swam in your stomach at his interest and you felt warm under his stare. You sat around your giggling friends, not too abashed at the attention.

“Ladies and Gentleman,” he said cheerfully, not quite ready to tear his eyes away from you. Your witty response had greatly lifted his mood, but not quite erased the uneasy pit in his gut. “It seems I have a correction: I definitely meant the fifth row.”

You beamed at his words and all he could think was how much he hoped to see that expression on your face many more times.

“Mr Jordan,” McGonagall said, her tone stern, but a familiar twinkle in her eye.

“Sorry, Professor,” Lee replied, not sorry in the slightest. You laughed at his scolding, turning back towards the match. When you looked back at him again, he glanced at you, and your insides turned to mush.

Between that match and the next, you were rather disappointed that Lee hadn’t come to speak to you. You only caught flashes of him in the corridor between lessons. Often, you offered each other coy smiles and awkward waves, but never anything more. You were almost convinced that he’d forgotten all about your little interaction: that was, until the Ravenclaw game.

“The score is 90-30 to Hufflepuff!” Lee yelled. His almost cheerful tone was dramatically different from the foul mood you were now in and he could tell by your face that you were less than pleased. You were scowling rather deeply and whilst he hadn’t spoken even a syllable to you since the last time he piped up during a quidditch match, he found the words tumbling from his lips before he could stop them.

“Maybe the Ravenclaw seeker will catch the snitch and put a smile on my favourite Ravenclaw’s face.”

Your mouth dropped open as you swung your head around, probably fast enough to get whiplash. He grinned at you; definitely you, you decided. You couldn’t help the smile growing on your lips: he hadn’t forgotten.

“And there it is,” he said, his voice amplified tenfold by the enchanted microphone. You bit your lip, attempting to stifle the squirming of your stomach. He didn’t speak again for the rest of the match, but he did wink when he announced Ravenclaw scoring, a fact that had heat rushing to your cheeks. You were almost certain that time that he’d find you after the game. Again, though, you were mistaken.

Lee didn’t know what was wrong with him. He was Lee Jordan. Everyone knew him and he was never nervous around people – that was just who he was. He was a bloody Gryffindor; he’d never been anxious about anybody until he thought about spending time with you. The idea alone had his mouth drying up and the echo of his heartbeat in his ears when you smiled at him made him feel like a child. It felt so stupid: why could he flirt with you when the whole of Hogwarts was listening but not just speak to you in the corridors? He told himself, though, that he was just too busy to come and find you, what with quidditch and schoolwork; as if his palms weren’t sweaty every time he saw you across a room.

“So, what’s with you and that Ravenclaw?” Fred asked, shadowing him as he walked down the corridor.

“The one you keep flirting with during quidditch,” George added, eclipsing his other shoulder.

“What Ravenclaw?” Lee said quickly, stopping in front of the portrait of the fat lady behind a couple third years. “Don’t know what you’re on about, mate.”

Fred and George paused, sharing a look at his blatant lie.

“Right,” they said, following Lee through the portrait hole.

“So, there’s absolutely no reason why you keep looking at a certain Y/N in the corridors?”

Lee frowned under Fred’s gaze. He didn’t even know that he didn’t know your name.

“Nuh-uh,” he insisted, cursing himself mentally for his poor response. “I don’t even know who that is.”

George hummed, rolling his eyes and pinching his chin between his fingers in mock thought.

“Do you believe that, Georgie?”

“I don’t believe I do, Freddie.”

“Do you know what I think?”

“No, I don’t, actually.” Oh, but he did. “What do you think?”

Lee threw his bag on the floor, letting his head droop backwards onto the sofa with an impatient sigh.

“I think that Lee here might have a bit of a crush.”

“A crush?” George asked, both twins plonking themselves down either side of him. “Never!”

“Yes, George, a crush. On that funny little Ravenclaw, no doubt.”

“Oh, piss off, you two.”

What Lee was reluctant to admit to himself, and decidedly never going to admit to them, was that, like a broken clock twice a day, they were, in fact, right. It wasn’t something he liked to realise, but he liked your effect on him even less. As he sat there, though, commentating the Slytherin vs Gryffindor game, he spotted you in your usual seat and found himself filled with the confidence only a microphone could give him.

“The sun is bright and it seems like a wonderful day for Slytherin to cheat again!” he said, laughing at the response from the crowd, more than pleased as you beamed at your friends.

“It seems that Hufflepuff will start this game; apparently Marcus Flint has not yet found a way to rig Madam Hooch’s coin toss-“

“Mr Jordan,” Professor McGonagall warned, her voice strict despite the slight curve of her lips.

“Alright, alright,” he said, allowing his eyes to drag across the crowd and settle on you. “Professor McGonagall is not a fan of my jokes… Maybe the lovely Ravenclaw in the fifth row is?”

He almost regretted it as his voice trailed off and he was scared, for a moment, that the twins, and the rest of the school, would tease him mercilessly. But then you turned around. He matched your expression as you grinned at him, shooting him a thumbs up and pulling your lip between your teeth. His chest tightened a bit and he found himself wanting to tell you everything he thought about you: how attractive you were, how much he loved to make you laugh, how much he wished he could ask you out. He couldn’t, though, and as McGonagall encouraged him to do his job, he resigned himself to another week of pining.

When the game ended, you’d decided you’d had enough and, despite your friends’ protests, you rushed towards the Gryffindor Quidditch changing room with one thing on your mind and one thing only. Your resolve, though, crumbled slightly when you shoved open the door and ended up face to face with a very confused Oliver Wood.

“Can I help you?” he asked, frowning as he adjusted his bag on his shoulder.

“I’m looking for-“

“Oh, shut up, both of you,” Lee shouted from the corner of the room, his exclamation followed by a round of cackles. Oliver turned to face the noise before returning to you, recognition plastered on his features.

“Ah,” he said, stepping to the side to let you in.

You thanked him quickly and immediately went inside to find Lee. In your haste, you forgot it was a changing room and your expression blanched at the sight of the Weasley twins shirtless and talking to the only person you actually wanted to speak to. Their eyes lit up when they saw you even though you’d never actually had a conversation with either of them and given their reputation, you figured that your nerves were preservative.

“Hello there,” one of them said, crossing his arms over his chest and grinning.

“How can we help you today?”

You frowned, watching Lee turn around. Surprise riddled his features as he pushed between the ever-so-slightly taller boys.

“You can’t,” you said rather blankly, lifting your hand to gesture to Lee. “I’m here to talk to him.”

“Um,” Lee said, regrettable mesmerised by the sight of you up close. “Yeah, yes, sure, yes, of course.”

“I think he’d like that,” one of the twins teased, earning a chuckle from the other.

“Don’t know what gives you that impression, George.”

“Oh, shove off,” Lee snapped, grabbing your wrist and pulling you over to a deserted corner of the room. You barely registered the twins cooing, too focused on the feel of his warm skin.

“Sorry about them,” he said, turning to face you. His brows drew downwards as he followed your eyes to his hand, immediately letting go of your wrist. “And that.”

“It’s fine,” you replied, far too quickly. It struck you as odd that you both, it seemed, were a lot more nervous without the crowds around you.

“You never came to say hi,” you said, frowning at your accidental accusatory tone. “I mean-“

“Would you believe me if I said I was nervous?”

You opened your mouth to retort sarcastically. Everyone knew that Lee Jordan was never nervous. Of you, as well? Highly unlikely. But then you noticed his almost ashamed expression and the sincerity in his dark eyes and you closed your mouth again.

“Of me?”

“Well,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “You’re very hot.”

You barked a laugh in surprise, even happier still when his features seemed to lift.

“Am I really your favourite Ravenclaw?”

He smirked a little, his tongue poking out between his lips for a second.

“Oh, without a doubt.”

“Then it seems only right I ask my favourite Gryffindor out then,” you said, feeling less and less anxious. “Doesn’t it?”

“Well,” he said, tilting his head to the side in jest. “That seems like the courteous thing to do.”

You hummed a laugh.

“Well?” you prompted, raising your eyebrow. “What do you say? Hogsmeade this weekend?”

“I’d love to,” he said, happier than he could remember being for a while. You frowned when his expression turned worried and he leant in conspiratorially. “Can we maybe say I asked you out? I wouldn’t hear the end of it from-“

“Too late!” one of the twins called from the doorway as they made to leave.

“We already know that Y/N here has bigger balls than you.”

Lee rolled his eyes as they left and you found yourself giggling, unable to keep the smile off your face. He realised, as he listened to your laughter, that maybe he didn’t mind them teasing him if you were there.

harry potter tag list:

@creator-appreciator @decadentwastelandtrash @loveisblindness @xinyourdreamsx @brainlesspasta @hariosborn @staringmoony @rexorangecouny @alittletoomanyobsessions @peachesandpinks @yuptha-tsme @obsessedwithrandomthings @dreamer821 @iprobablyshipit91 @in-slytherin-we-trust @haphazardhufflepuff @princesof-theuniverse @whovianayesha @msmimimerton @extra-trash77 @potterverseimagine @my-own-mindpalace @sxrensxngwrites @damonwhitlock

#lee jordan #Harry Potter imagine #harry potter #lee Jordan imagine #Lee Jordan x reader #writing #imagine

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spencers-renaissance · 4 years

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Vivaldi on Full Volume

Summary: Spencer's done enough pining, so he decides to write a letter for Aaron telling him exactly how he feels and gives it to him on the jet. He cannot be held responsible for what happens when they land.

Tags: Love Confessions, Fluff, Getting Together, Insecurity, My Typical CM Characterisation: Protective Aaron, Shy Spencer oops

Pairing: Hotch/Reid

Word Count: 5.2k

Read on Ao3

The Love Letter, Uninterrupted

Spencer’s hands are shaking as he gets up from his seat in the corner of the jet. They’re 40 minutes away from landing, deliberately planned well in advance: everyone’s well and truly settled, there isn’t long to wait for a private conversation and people haven’t woken up to prepare for landing yet. This is well thought out, he tells himself, trying to be convincing. There isn’t much that can go wrong.

Except there absolutely is. He’s run all the possible outcomes over and over in his head, at night, on the jet, spare moments in cases; he knows pretty much every possibility in and out. The worst case scenario, of course, is Aaron flips and hurts him or never talks to him again, but he knows logically that this is unlikely. No, the most likely situation is a polite rejection and a rift in their relationship, but it’s a risk he has to take. This limbo is too painful to exist in forever: he has to give himself a chance at happiness, and if that doesn’t happen he needs a chance to get over him.

Aaron is, predictably, sitting on his own at the other end of the jet, getting a head start on his paperwork. He’d shot Spencer a questioning look when he’d opted to sit on his own instead of opposite or next to him, but everyone knows that Spencer sometimes needs a moment to himself and after he’d responded with a reassuring smile, Aaron had smiled back and looked down.

“Reid,” he greets him as he looks up from the plethora of forms and files and reports littering the table in front of him, that questioning look returning and bleeding into his voice. “Is there anything I can do for you?” he asks after Spencer stands there frozen for a moment, shaking him out of his head and reminding him of his mission.

“Yeah, sorry,” he says softly, chuckling a little. “Here. Can you do me a favour and… read this for me? All the way to the end? Leave your questions for the end, and we can talk once we land.” He hands him the pretty stationery wrapped in a tissue paper envelope. The seal is a deep navy that had reminded Spencer of Aaron the moment he saw it in the shop, and he used it even though he knew it would tear the tissue and was utterly pointless. His hands still shake a little as he passes it over, but he doesn’t blame himself. Anyone would be nervous. This isn’t just a Spencer thing.

Once Aaron has the letter in his hands he turns it, looking it over, before meeting Spencer’s anxious gaze with his own steady one, now filled with growing curiosity. “Of course,” he says, indulgently. It’s one of Spencer’s favourite things about him, his stoicism in the face of a surprise. He doesn’t react in a way that might further upset somebody when they share something with him, and it makes him an excellent leader.

Spencer shoots him another nervous but meaningful smile, the kind he uses with his friends, with Henry, with people he cares about. People he’s been in love with for five years. Whatever.

He turns away and doesn’t look back.

★

Aaron struggles to contain his curiosity long enough to wait until Spencer is settled back in his seat on the other side of the plane. This must be why he’d chosen to sit somewhere other than next to him on this flight which had admittedly confused him a little, Spencer usually liked the familiarity and comfort of sitting next to him. He’d suspected he needed space but now it seems as though he was psyching himself up to hand this letter to him.

It’s not a resignation letter, Aaron is fairly certain of that, Spencer would never use such beautiful stationery and a seal in his favourite colour for something so straightforward and professional. He’d also given him one of those heart-warmingly open and trusting smiles before turning back, even if it was a little anxious. This is something personal.

Finally giving into his curiosity, he carefully opens the handmade envelope and pulls out the letter written on high-quality paper in Spencer’s delicate script.

Aaron,

I have debated sitting down and putting pen to paper to write this letter for a long time, much less handing it to you to read. This is perhaps the most forward thing I have ever done, and you will understand that it is also the bravest. I know I am crossing a line in writing this. I have never been one to break the rules, it's something we have in common, isn't it? We're both straight arrows. Perhaps I am hoping for too much. I am not the object of many's desire and maybe it is foolish to hope that someone as amazing as you could possibly be the exception, but if I don't get it out of my system I'm afraid this secret may bubble up and swallow me whole, its acidic aftertaste never quite leaving my mouth.

Immediately, Aaron’s heart starts beating out of his chest. Spencer rarely calls him Aaron -- the whole team operates on a largely last-name only basis -- but he’d be lying if those infrequent times when his first name leaves Spencer’s lips don’t make his heart flutter and insides warm. His face betrays him, he knows, but this might just be everything he’s been hoping to hear for the last four years and the team is asleep or preoccupied right now, thanks to Spencer’s clearly well-planned timing. He can afford to let his guard down a little.

His stomach clenches, though, when he sees Spencer’s insecurity bleeding into his writing, the ink revealing his painful self-doubt where his lips keep them tightly sealed away. He’s absolutely everything Aaron is craving, and if others can’t see that then it’s their own loss. He knows, though, that Spencer is too oblivious for his own good: the rest of the team don’t miss the looks he gets when they go out for drinks, but Spencer does. Spencer could get anyone he wants, even if he doesn’t realise it, and the honour of being the chosen person isn’t lost on him.

The truth of the matter is we live dangerous lives. This plane could crash, one of us could get shot, stabbed, blown up and not survive it next time. I need to take advantage of the fact that right now we are alive, and if there is any chance that I could live my life alongside yours then I must take it.

That makes Aaron let out a small, breathy laugh. He’d thought the same exact thing so many times, but Spencer was a lot braver than he was. Even if it didn’t have the potential for a sexual harrassment suit and the loss of his job, he’s not sure he’d have the bravery to tell Spencer just how in love with him he is. Not in a letter written with a fountain pen on pretty stationery, not to his face, not in front of others, not alone. Spencer has guts he’d lost a long time ago. A risky job had led to a tightly controlled personal life. He plays it safe. Spencer doesn’t.

Here is what I want:

I want to throw caution to the wind and live vicariously with you. Let's eat pancakes for dinner, drive down the interstate with the windows down and listen to Vivaldi on full volume, let's hold hands in the street in Virginia and say fuck it to anybody who has a problem with it. I want to get stuck in your head the way you're stuck in mine: when you're doing paperwork, I want to be in the back of your head. I want to excite you when you think of me naked, when you think of me spread out beneath you. Not a moment goes by where I don't think of you, Aaron. I wish I was on your mind in the same way.

Aaron’s face breaks out into a much wider smile. Oh, God, Spencer, he thinks, sending his eyes to the ceiling of the jet. You have no idea. Spencer doesn’t have to wish for this, to crave such a thing, it’s already happening. It feels like paperwork takes twice as long as it used to do before he fell in love with Spencer. It’s not even limited to his job: doing laundry, washing the dishes, cooking dinner, driving Jack to a soccer match, watching TV -- everything he does is consumed by thoughts of Spencer.

And Jesus Christ have mercy, the thought of Spencer spread out naked beneath him, what he looks like under those conservative button ups and cardigans, plays out behind his eyelids far too often. It’s made him feel like a pervert for years, fantasising about his much younger coworker and wondering what he likes in bed, how he could make him feel good. The idea that the same thoughts about him fill Spencer’s brain has him weak at the knees and hot under the collar. Of course he chose the jet to do this, he thinks amusedly.

Let's find new TV shows and movies together! There's nothing I'd like more than to cuddle up against your chest after a hard case and watch something that we both enjoy, that gives us a sense of comfort and familiarity. On the weekends, let's get dressed up and visit fancy restaurants only to have a cheap crepe at the end of the night before rushing back home to get undressed again. I want to be yours, and I want you to prove that to the world.

Aaron’s heart is melting slowly, dripping down the inside of his chest, he’s sure of it. He’s walked into his apartment after a hard case feeling empty and defeated, wishing Spencer was there to give him a hug and take away the pain far too many times. It only ever made him feel worse, the belief that that would never happen, it never could happen, only now he’s being proved wrong.

He already knows the first place he’ll take Spencer. Rossi had treated him to dinner there once after Haley passed away, and the ambience and seafood paella had wedged itself firmly into his mind. He’d fantasised many times about how Spencer’s eyes would look in the soft lighting, how he’d laugh in the relaxed setting, how he’d feel spoiled and loved when Aaron footed the bill, ignoring his protests. His heart feels full and bursting at the thought that soon these ideas might not be as far-fetched as he’d convinced himself for so long. He wishes he could see Spencer right now, but he knows he’s probably panicking quietly in the corner, and he was told to save his questions for the end. He’ll play on his terms, especially since it was Spencer who’d had the bravery to do this in the first place.

My biggest fear in writing this letter, though, may not be that you simply won't return my affections, but that you're still in love with Haley. I could never seek to replace her, but I know how deeply you loved her and how painful the wounds of your grief still are. I hope you know, Aaron, that if you do love me back, I'm not jealous of Haley. Not at all. I respect her and I respect your grief.

He can’t help the stab of pain in his gut at the mention of Haley. He’d loved her so deeply and he knew the team was acutely aware of that, Spencer probably more than anybody else if this letter was anything to go by. It strikes him then, just how kind Spencer is. He’s always known it on some level, of course, but the selfless compassion and love for the people around him is so overwhelming when he takes a moment to properly comprehend it. He could have glossed over his late wife in such a letter, but instead he chose to promise Aaron that he could share his heart with Haley. He knows Spencer will keep such a promise.

I've tried for years to hide the way I feel, Aaron. I went on dates to try and get over you, I dodged you in the break room and bullpen to avoid conversing with you which only made my infatuation worse each time, I feigned plans to get out of family nights because seeing you in a casual setting is so cuttingly painful. I can't hide it anymore, though. I'd rather transfer out of the BAU than continue in this limbo of awkward pining. If you hate me, that's okay, I can deal with that. But there isn't much I don't know, and not knowing this? It's agonising.

Aaron’s stomach clenches again. He wishes they hadn’t been pining all these years so Spencer didn’t have to exist in the parallel of his own realm of wistful agony. The thought of him avoiding him in the break room with the empty ache of unrequited love filling his insides, believing he could never have him when Aaron had been doing the same thing is almost laughable: they were both so oblivious.

Seeing Spencer dressed in jeans and a t-shirt last year when Morgan had invited them all to one of his renovation projects had tortured him for weeks afterwards, and now he was being told that he’d done the same to him; Spencer had gone home after those gatherings and thought about him casual and relaxed, unbuttoned polo shirts and all. It’s almost unbearable.

It’s reassuring, though, to know Spencer is as committed to this hypothetical as he is. Aaron would leave the BAU, too, if it came to it. If it meant he got to come home to Spencer and cuddle him on the sofa with history documentaries playing on the TV that Spencer was subconsciously memorising and would repeat the next time it was even slightly relevant in conversation. If it meant he could smile knowingly, and wrap an arm around his oblivious boyfriend’s waist, proving to the world that Spencer was his, just like he asked.

The only way to end this letter is with hope. Any answer you give me I will respect, but I am holding out hope that you will say all this back to me, that you will write your own love letter or profess your own love. That you have similar fantasies and daydreams about me, that you've thought of all these things, too. Thank you for reading this all the way through, Aaron. All that's left to say are five simple words:

I'm in love with you.

Spencer.

Aaron reads the letter over once more before folding it carefully and placing it back in the envelope. He’s completely floored, to be honest. The last thing he expected after a fairly straight-forward case in Seattle was a love confession from the man he’d been in love with since before Haley even passed away, but he’s going to take it and run with it, consequences be damned.

The plane starts to descend and the rest of the team begin rousing from their naps or putting their books down as chatter starts to rise. “Right,” Aaron says, grabbing everyone’s attention, though Spencer keeps himself carefully tucked away in the corner. “We should have the next few days off though we are on standby, okay? Everyone get some rest, make sure you come back refreshed and ready to tackle the next case. Don’t forget your reports though, have them emailed to me or on my desk by Monday.” He gives everyone a tight smile before turning away as conversations resumed.

He knows Spencer is tormenting himself by analysing every cadence in his voice, trying to gauge his reaction and he longs to walk over to him and kiss his anxieties away, but he can’t. Spencer specifically asked him to wait until they landed, and he can’t reveal anything to the team so early, certainly not without discussing it first. Instead, he sits back in his seat, abandoning the paperwork in front of him in favour of fighting the fond, excited smile off his face and imagining his first kiss with Spencer, the anticipation making it so much more intense now that it’s actually real.

Time, as it always does, passes, however slowly. They eventually land and Aaron schools his face as the rest of the team pour out onto the tarmac. “Right everyone, I’ll see you in a few days but keep your phones on in case we get called up,” he calls once they’re all off the plane. As everyone starts to peel off to the garage or the office, he turns to Spencer, still keeping his face straight for the sake of others around them. “How about we go to my place and talk.”

“That sounds good,” Spencer says, small smile taking the edge off the anxiety on his face.

★

The car ride back to Aaron’s apartment is quiet. “I don’t need to pick Jack up until the morning, so it’s just us tonight,” he explains, and Spencer is relieved to see his face soften significantly now they’re alone. He allows a dash of hope to flare in his chest before forcing himself to temper his expectations. You don’t know anything yet. He could be letting you down easy, this could be a pity thing. His fingers drum anxiously against his thigh as Aaron drives, eyes focused straight on the road, his face still unreadable. God, does he have to be so sexy when he drives?

Just like the time on the plane, though, the time in the car eventually passes, the tension thick between them by the time Aaron pulls into his apartment complex. He smiles gently at Spencer as he takes the key out of the ignition. “Shall we head up?” he asks, and Spencer’s floored at what he sees in his face: he’s wearing the expression he only pulls when he looks at Jack or the team as a whole on a relaxed evening out. To see it directed at him exclusively is a kind of intensity he isn’t prepared for and it bowls him over for a second.

“Yeah,” Spencer laughs breathily. “Sorry, yeah. Let’s go up.”

The apartment door closing behind them sounds way too loud to Spencer and, sick of the tension, he decides to try and clear the air. “Look, Aaron, Hotch, can you just tell me--”

He’s cut off by Aaron’s lips pressing firmly against his own, a hand coming to rest on his waist while another grips his face gently. It takes him a second to catch up before he’s kissing back, overwhelmed by the feeling of Aaron’s hands on his body, the very hands he’s admired for years, the hands he’s fantasised about, the hands that make him feel things. He reaches up to place his own on Aaron’s chest, feeling the broadness there, the strength in the body against his making him weak at the knees.

Aaron pulls away eventually. “God, you have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” he says, voice as breathless as Spencer feels.

“Me too,” he replies, chest heaving as he catches his breath. “Maybe… maybe we should do it again.” He smiles shyly at Aaron before leaning in again, this time gasping a little as Aaron pushes him back against the door for leverage, tracing his hand up and down Spencer’s sides, making him tremble in his grip.

“God, Spencer, you’re so damn breathtaking,” Aaron says in between fervent kisses. “Literally.” They both giggle into each others’ mouths at that, relief filling both of them up to the brim as the knowledge that finally, finally, their pining is over sets in. This could be it, they could build something real.

“Aaron,” Spencer moans, trembling more as Aaron presses himself closer, right hand moving to grip the back of his neck gently, holding him firmly against his body. It overwhelms Spencer a bit, feeling completely surrounded by a man who was so unattainable for so long, by the person he’s been in love with for years.

It was completely involuntary, but it makes Aaron pull away, resting his forehead against Spencer’s as they both breathe deeply. “We should talk,” he says softly, pressing a final chaste kiss to Spencer’s lips before pulling back completely and taking his hand, leading him to the sofa.

“Could I have a blanket or something?” Spencer asks shyly, looking sheepish. “I’m a bit chilly.”

He sees realisation dawn on Aaron’s face along with a little bit of guilt. “Of course, Spencer,” he says. “Sorry this is so backwards. Do you want anything else? Something to eat or drink?”

“No, I’m fine,” Spencer says lightly. “Let’s talk and then we could order some dinner?”

“Sounds perfect,” he smiles, reaching over into a cupboard and bringing out a thick, fluffy blanket. He drapes it over Spencer and makes sure he’s completely comfortable before sitting down opposite him on the sofa himself. “So. Your letter.”

Spencer ducks his head, a light flush tinting his cheeks. “Yeah, I guess I didn’t know how else to say it?” he says, a question colouring his voice.

“No, I’m not criticising you,” Aaron rushes to clarify. “It’s possibly the most romantic, beautiful thing anyone’s ever done for me, and the truth is, Spencer, I’m in love with you, too.”

Spencer’s head darts up, wide, earnest eyes meeting Aaron’s serious gaze. “You are?” he asks, voice filled with the surprised sort of wonderment that always betrays him whenever any sort of love or affection is revealed to him.

“I am,” Hotch chuckles fondly. “Very much so. I’ve loved you since before Haley passed, to be honest. I’ve done all the things you wrote in your letter, too; I want all the same things you do.”

Spencer’s blush darkens a bit at that, remembering… certain parts… of his letter that he hopes Aaron includes in that statement. “All of it?” His voice is a little squeaky, almost cracking as he clears his throat at the awkwardness.

“Yeah,” Aaron grins cheekily, loving that he can appreciate the blush on Spencer’s cheeks openly now. There’s no more room for hiding. “All of it.”

Spencer clears his throat again. “So, is this what you want? Me? A relationship?” he asks, still a little uncertain, not quite secure in the fact that Aaron won’t back off and say this was an experiment, he’s not really committed in the same way Spencer is.

“Wild horses couldn’t keep me away,” Aaron says earnestly. “I want you. I want everything that comes with you, I want the highs and lows of a relationship, I want commitment, I want fun, I want seriousness. Spencer, will you be my boyfriend?”

Spencer’s brain short circuits for a second before he looks up with the widest smile, one usually reserved for Henry, the kind that reveals unadulterated, unconditional love. “Yes,” he whispers as he launches himself across the sofa and into Aaron’s arms, resting his head on his chest as he revels in the comfort of that exact moment. Finally, though, the extreme emotions of the evening catch up with him and he can’t quite fight them off anymore, maybe his brain is finally convinced that he doesn’t have to, that he’s safe here. Whatever the reason, he can’t help the tears that start to leak from his eyes, or the sobs that softly wrack his shoulders.

“Spencer,” Aaron whispers back, voice dripping in concern. “Spencer, what’s wrong?”

“It’s just… it happened,” he tries to explain through his snivelling. “What I hoped for… at the end of my letter. I wrote ‘I am holding out hope that you will say all this back to me, that you will write your own love letter or profess your own love. That you have similar fantasies and daydreams about me, that you've thought of all these things, too.’ And you did. You do.”

“Yeah,” Aaron says, struck with awe, too. “It’s pretty overwhelming for me, too.”

They lie like that for a while longer, finding comfort in one another’s arms, the weight of Spencer weighing Aaron down in a way that feels like security and Aaron’s arms wrapping around him in a way that gives him all the comfort and protection he craves.

Eventually, Spencer picks his head up and meets Aaron’s tired eyes. It had been a long case and an emotionally exhausting evening, and it was nearing midnight. “Shall I order some pizza?” he asks, playing with the tie Aaron was still wearing, slightly loosened but still sexy enough for Spencer to very much appreciate.

“Please,” he says, leaning forward to press a kiss to Spencer’s lips. “I can’t believe I just get to do that now.”

Spencer hums in content. “Well, by all means, Mr Hotchner, do it again,” he says in a sultry tone.

Aaron groans. “You’d better not talk like that, Spencer, or we’ll never get our pizza.”

“Sorry, sorry,” he chuckles. “You get us some drinks and get the telly set up. I’ll be right back.”

Aaron closes the curtains, turns off the overhead light and turns on some lamps and lights some candles. Spencer raises an eyebrow at that and he puts his hands up defensively. “What? They’re cosy!” Spencer giggles at that, kissing him again.

“Can we put the history channel on?” Spencer asks while Aaron turns the TV on and fiddles with the volume.

“Wouldn’t expect anything less, sweetheart.” Spencer ducks his head and blushes, insides warming and tingling at the affection. He’s still not entirely sure this isn’t a dream. Aaron, unfortunately, doesn’t miss it. “Aw, are you blushing? Do you like that, you like it when I call you sweetheart?” he teases, smiling warmly at Spencer, clearly relishing in the deep red colour of his face. “Or is it just any pet name? You like it when I call you pretty names, baby?”

Spencer nearly outright moans at that but manages to stifle it, not that it makes much of a difference in Aaron’s delighted expression. “Stop, Aaron,” he whines in a manner that conveys he would very much not like Aaron to stop.

“God, baby, you are too much to handle,” he groans, leaning across the sofa to pull Spencer away from his perch against the corner and into his chest. They lay quietly like that for a few minutes while the history channel plays a documentary about the Battle of Trafalger, breathing deep and slow as they appreciate this little slice of serenity while they wait for their dinner to arrive.

Once their pizza boxes are empty and they’ve finally had something to eat, Aaron turns to Spencer who’s meticulously wiping the pizza grease on his fingers away with a napkin, making him smile fondly. “Hey, Spence?” he asks, grabbing the attention of the younger man. “I wanted to talk to you about something you wrote in your letter.”

Spencer looks a little bit like a rabbit caught in the headlights, hesitant as to what Aaron is about to say. What if he was mortally offended by something, or he didn’t like something I wrote? Was I too forward?

“First of all, I’ll always love Haley, but in a distant, wistful kind of way that I can’t quite explain. She’s been gone for a while now and I’ve moved on,” he explains, and Spencer’s flush returns. It’s one thing to write the letter, hell, it’s one thing to hand it to Aaron, but it’s another thing entirely to discuss the ins and outs of his heart in such graphic detail. “I fell in love with you very slowly, but I’d realised it around four months before Haley died. I’ll grant you that in the following year I didn’t really have much time or emotional capacity to dwell on it but it was always there in the back of my mind, and it’s only intensified over the last two years.”

“Really?” The flush is still firmly rooted to Spencer’s face, but his eyes are wide now, staring into Aaron’s with an earnest sort of intensity. “I had no idea.”

“Well I had no idea that you wanted everything I did, either,” Aaron chuckles. “Instead we’ve just been existing in a state of perpetual mutual pining and if you hadn’t had the bravery to do what you did, maybe we never would have known.”

“It was rather brave,” Spencer smiles, joking a bit, but they both know it’s the truth. “I’ve been in love with you since the Tobias Hankel situation. After you understood me and knew how to find me, how you saved my life. It spiralled from there and no effort to try and get over you has succeeded.”

“Mmm you mentioned,” Aaron hums. “I must say, I’m a bit jealous of these other dates you speak of.”

“Well you shouldn’t be,” Spencer says. “They didn’t hold a candle to you, and the few that made it past the first couple of dates knew that all too well.”

Aaron chuckles lightly at that before they settle into a comfortable silence, the TV still playing the background. “Do you want to stay here tonight?” he asks, voice low and a bit unsure. “No funny business, I just… don’t want to let you go yet.”

“Me neither,” Spencer says honestly. “Of course I’ll stay.” He can hear his voice still sounds a little squeaky, still vulnerable in this new situation.

Aaron smiles back and turns the lights and TV off, blowing out the candles before offering a hand to Spencer as they make their way to his room.

“Oh,” Spencer says, stopping in his tracks as soon as they step into Aaron’s bedroom. “I left my go bag in the car.”

“I’m sure we can find a solution to that,” Aaron smirks, pushing the bedroom door closed with his left hand and crowding him up against it with his right, diving for his neck. Spencer moans high in his throat, pressing forward further into Aaron’s hold. “You can wear one of my shirts. God, I’ve fantasised about you in my clothes for years, baby.”

“So… so possessive,” Spencer teases through Aaron’s kisses.

“Yeah, you love it.”

“I do. I love you.”

That gets Aaron to pull away, looking deep into Spencer’s eyes, awe filling his gaze. “I love you, too. Fuck it feels so good to hear that, to finally say that.”

“I know.” Spencer’s blushing slightly, the forwardness of his remark embarrassing him slightly.

“Come on,” Aaron says, pressing one final kiss to Spencer’s lips. “Let’s get ready for bed. I’ll find you a top and I know I have a spare toothbrush around here somewhere…”

Spencer smiles, sitting on the bed as he watches Aaron bustle around the room, finding the stuff he needs for the night. This could be it, he thinks. This could be my life now. Domesticity had never much appealed to Spencer, but sitting there now as Aaron chatters away about the visit to the shopping centre that has resulted in buying the top he tosses Spencer’s way, he knows he was right to change his mind. He was right to crave this, to crave pancakes for dinner and new TV shows and lazy mornings.

And when they’re finally cuddled up in bed, warm under the covers and safe in one another’s arms, he knows he was right to share that craving with Aaron.

#criminal minds #criminal minds fic #criminal minds writing #spencer reid #aaron hotchner #hotchreid #hotch x reid

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angelofthequeers · 4 years

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If canon!Luka is too much of a blank slate, and fanon!Luka is basically Adrien-lite, what would you fo if you had to fix his character? Not a stan or anything like that, I agree with you on Luka, it's just I saw many posts like like yours about him but not a single one that said: "This is what I would do if I had to give him depth:", please correct me if I'm wrong and just didn't look hard enough. (I'm on mobile and English isn't my native language, please be gentle (._.))

Just have him not revolve around Marinette. That’s literally it. More detail and an analysis of a few scenes below the cut, because that’s the simple answer to your question but I have to go in-depth to really explain where I’m coming from. And your English is just fine! I’ll kick the kneecaps of anyone who makes fun of you for it, because heck if I can speak anything other than English. All the quotes I use are from the transcripts on this site here.

Luka’s got a few basic traits and some hints of flaws but because his screen time revolves solely around his love interest - with the exception of that one scene in ‘Reflekdoll’ with Juleka - they haven’t been developed nearly as much as they could have been, and so we haven’t seen him developing independently of Marinette because any character development is tied directly to her. For example, it could be a double-edged flaw slash core personality trait that he doesn’t get too angry on behalf of himself but he gets furious when someone he loves is threatened. It would be a nice parallel to Adrien and serve to further show how they’re foils. But since we’ve only seen him getting angry on behalf of Marinette, it’s not nearly as fleshed-out a trait as it could have been. If we’d even had just one scene of him reacting to Juleka’s akumatisation, it would’ve expanded him so much further than as just a love interest.

Whether Kagami is objectively more developed is an argument I don’t want to get into, even if I’m going to analyse her below, but she definitely comes across as a lot more fleshed out because she doesn’t exist to revolve around Adrien. Her debut episode involves Adrien but isn’t focused on him and her (first) akumatisation isn’t due to her role as Adrien’s love interest, whereas Luka’s akumatisation episode focused very pointedly on his role as Marinette’s love interest. He only got mad enough to attract an akuma once Bob Roth threatened Marinette, not when the music of his entire band was threatened - because it’s not just him in Kitty Section, and one of the other members is his sister. I can quote the scene and put bold emphasis on how his anger only really flares when it’s Marinette he’s talking about.

Luka: That’s not true! You copied Marinette’s costumes!

Marinette: And it’s the exact same song. You stole Luka’s music!

XY: Oh, come on. Let’s not exaggerate now. We may have just been a little bit… inspired, that’s all.

Luka: Inspired? You flat out stole! You didn’t design this mask! (rips mask from XY’s head) Marinette did!

Marinette: Listen, it’s not too late to do the right thing. Just tell the truth and let Kitty Section appear on the show. That’s all we’re asking.

Bob: Yeah. First they’ll wanna be in the show. Then they’ll be asking for a cut of the profits. No way! Never saw or heard of Kitten Division.

Luka: Forget it, Marinette. It’s no big deal. Let’s just go.

Marinette: No! It’s not fair! I won’t stand by and let my friends’ work get stolen. (to Bob) If you won’t tell the truth, then I will! Right now, on the air, live! (walks up to the camera)

Bob: (grabs Marinette’s arm) If you do that, I’ll tell them you’re the copycats, not me. I’ve got all the music biz eating out of my hand. So who do you think they’re gonna believe? Me, or a group of nobodies?

Luka: Grrr…

Bob: You’ll never have a future in this business. You’ll never make another costume. And there’ll be no more music for your buddies because as far as everyone’s concerned, you’ll be the rip-off artists.

Luka: Grrr…

(The akuma enters the mask Luka is holding)

(’Silencer’)

Luka’s primary concern in this scene is that Marinette was cheated. Marinette is the one bringing up Kitty Section and how their music was stolen, but Luka is laser-focused on how Marinette’s designs were stolen. Even when they first see the stolen music video as a group, he’s focused on Marinette.

Ivan: But that’s our original style!

Luka: (to Marinette) Your unicorn, and your mask!

Marinette: (to Luka) That’s your melody. (to Rose) It’s your music. That’s not fair! That should be you guys up there on TV. There better be a good explanation. We have to have it out with Bob Roth and XY.

Again, Marinette is the one to bring up how Kitty Section was cheated. Marinette and Ivan. And again, Luka was focused on how Marinette was cheated. This episode could have been a great way to flesh out Luka, to show his dedication to his band and his furious desire to protect his loved ones, but it ends up being just a whole 22 minutes of him revolving around Marinette. This is literally the episode of him being The Perfect Boyfriend, for people to project their ideals onto and squee about how he’s so perfect and romantic for Marinette. Leaving out that Adrien and, arguably, Chat haven’t needed flowery speeches and a laser focus on only Marinette/Ladybug to win her heart, and she constantly goes back to him whereas, like I mentioned in my last post about Luka, she seems to kind of just…blush and then move on from Luka’s confession.

Now let’s compare the scene before Kagami’s akumatisation and bold her focus:

Kagami: (She sighs in defeat, then walks up to Adrien, offering her hand for a shake, which Adrien takes. Kagami calmly walks out of the room.)

Adrien: I’m going to offer him a decisive match. (He goes running after Kagami, grabbing her saber from the ground as he goes. Kagami is about to get into her car when Adrien catches up to her) Hey! Wait! Your saber!

(Kagami throws her glove into the car and removes her helmet, turning to look at Adrien expectantly. As she does so, Marinette runs up to the school entrance.)

Adrien: (Momentarily stunned by her appearance.) Let’s do a… decisive match? (As he speaks, he notices Kagami’s ring.)

Kagami: What’s the point? You won. There’s no such thing as a second chance in my family. Goodbye. (She gets into her car, which drives off.)

Kagami’s mother’s: (Voicemail) I’m not available at the moment. Leave a message. (Beep!)

Kagami: Mother, you thought I was good enough, but… I lost. I won’t be joining the D'Argencourt Academy. (she hangs up and sits back in her seat. The akuma flies into her ring.)

Hawk Moth: Riposte! I am Hawk Moth. I’m giving you a second chance to prove that you are the best fencer of all, but in return, you must bring me Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous.

Kagami: On my honor, Hawk Moth, I shall be victorious! (She transforms into Riposte, slicing open a new sun roof into her car and leaving.)

(’Riposte’)

Even the locations of the akumas give that little extra boost of characterisation. Kagami’s is in her ring, showing the audience that her drive is to be the best and make the Tsurugi family proud and she and her mother don’t tolerate failure, because they stake their honour on success. Luka’s is in the mask that Marinette made, which just shows that…he’s angry because Marinette was wronged. And yes, Hawkmoth’s speech includes the line of “The anger of a creator whose work has been stolen” but considering that every bit of Luka’s anger up to this point has been focused on Marinette, it just…rings hollow. The Lukanette stans noticed this too, but they took it as a positive and used it to shout about how much Luka loved Marinette and how sweet it was that she was the reason he was akumatised - and believe me, I used to be there, I’ve seen it.

And yes, I know that ‘Oni-Chan’ exists. I know that Kagami’s reason for akumatisation revolved around Adrien and that her akumatised object was the rose that he gave her. But I’m focusing on debut akumas and even then, it shows that there’s a jealous, possessive side to her. It works with her previous appearances to round her out, to show that she’s driven and ambitious but also jealous and possessive. ‘Ikari Gozen’ takes this even further and shows that she’s awkward and wants to make friends but doesn’t know how to interact with other people, and it furthers her focus on honour and worthiness and shows that she ties her self-worth with her success:

Hawk Moth: How tragic it is to feel unloved. Alone, deprived of friendship. (turns a butterfly into an akuma) Fly away, my little akuma, and evilise her!

Kagami: I guess I’m not worthy of our friendship; our bloodtypes must be too incompatible.

(’Ikari Gozen’)

Although each episode that she’s in does feel like a totally different portrayal of her, and a lot of criticism/dislike for her came from how she felt all over the place, they’ve also come back together to tie her together as a multifaceted character: someone who’s ambitious and must be the best (’Riposte’), who sees romance as a competition like she does fencing (the whole “change your target” to Adrien and “I never hesitate” to Marinette in ‘Frozer’ and her admission that she has to win Adrien’s heart in ‘Heart Hunter’) - which further adds to her lack of ability to navigate social situations that’s expanded upon in ‘Ikari Gozen’, an episode that also emphasises her fatal flaw of never hesitating. Yes, she’s right to say that hesitation can cost you, but this episode shows that some hesitation is necessary, and jumping into things without thinking and expecting everyone else to do so will definitely lead to some stumbles.

Every time Luka’s on the screen, I don’t really learn anything new about him. All I know is that he’s romantic and likes Marinette and only gets angry on behalf of his loved ones. His first meeting with Marinette focused on how he found her cute and how she was flustered, whereas Kagami’s first meeting with Adrien wasn’t focused on the Adrigami ship outside of Adrien’s Pink Bubble Love Stupor. And first meetings tend to set the tone of how characters are going to interact. Marinette/Adrien and Marinette/Kagami’s first meetings focused on misjudgement and how someone’s impression of another person isn’t necessarily correct, and we see this with how Marinette goes gaga over Adrien and has her moments of seeing him as a perfect Greek god (which isn’t to say that she worships him like a fangirl, but rather that her crush is acting as major rose-tinted glasses) and how she blows Kagami up as an evil villain in her mind until she pops her own bubble and makes herself see Kagami as another person instead of an evil rival. And Ladybug/Chat Noir’s first meeting focused on having to build a partnership on the spot and showed how Chat didn’t fall for her until after she’d stood up to Hawkmoth and declared that they would protect Paris. But Marinette/Luka’s first meeting shows that Marinette gets flustered around pretty boys and Luka just…up and decided that he liked her. It shows that Luka’s focus is going to be Marinette and that’s it.

I’ll cut Luka a little slack and admit that yes, ‘Desperada’ did have him become Viperion because “Desperada attacked my friends and my family”, just as Kagami became Ryuuko to save her mother, and this scene wasn’t specifically focused on how Marinette and only Marinette might have been affected. But the starting scene of the episode once more shows us something else about Kagami - that she’s got a mischievous side and is starting to be rebellious and sneak around behind Tomoe’s back - while showing us nothing about Luka except that he’s…got a crush on Marinette, which appears to be reciprocated, and that he’s good at guitar. Which we already knew.

Marinette: You’re so talented, Luka. How long have you been playing for?

Luka: Since I was in diapers. (strums guitar)(Marinette giggles.)

Alix: I get the feeling Marinette likes Luka a lot.

Alix: Your father let you out?!

Adrien: We’re officially at fencing practice right now, but - oh, no, Kagami. Isn’t this the wrong address?

Kagami: Oh, dear, I think you’re right.(Adrien and Kagami chuckle.)

(’Desperada’)

Even the ending scenes of Luka and Kagami’s debut episodes set the tone for them. In Luka’s debut of ‘Captain Hardrock’, the ending is focused on his role as Marinette’s new love interest and as a rival of Adrien’s, even if they don’t actually see each other as rivals.

Adrien: Thanks, uh…

Luka: Luka.

Adrien: Thanks, Luka.

Alya: (To Marinette): Is the compass going crazy?

(’Captain Hardrock’)

On the other hand, Kagami’s debut episode ending focuses on how she craves friends and would love to get to know a friend of Adrien’s, along with her competitiveness and desire to win in a now-friendly rivalry that grows into a friendship and then romance, rather than love at first sight. Just like the meetings between Marinette/Adrien and Ladybug/Chat Noir, it sets the scene and promises more to come, rather than laying all the cards on the table and basically just stating “yeah, this character’s just gonna be a love interest and just be chill and co-exist with their love rival” like the Marinette/Luka and Adrien/Luka ones do.

Adrien: Please, take it. (He again holds out Kagami’s saber to her.)

Kagami: (She glances between Adrien and her saber for a moment before taking it back) I’ll be happy to get to know your friend Marinette! (She and Adrien bow to each other. She and Adrien look at each other for a moment before Adrien holds out his hand.)

Adrien: My name’s Adrien. What’s yours?

Kagami: Kagami. (She takes Adrien’s proffered hand and shakes it, then walks to her car. She looks back at Adrien.) Get ready for that decisive match!

Adrien: I can’t wait, Kagami.

So basically, to give him depth, I wouldn’t focus so much on his guitar. I’d maybe show someone getting annoyed that he defaults to his guitar, because we got one line in ‘Captain Hardrock’ that he finds it easier to speak through music but it doesn’t really flesh him out since no one else comments on it or gets annoyed by it. It’s a trait that’s got nothing else to work off, whereas Kagami’s awkward attempts to socialise with Marinette and her abrasive manner clash with Marinette’s misconceptions of her and create that scene in ‘Ikari Gozen’ where Marinette realises that she’s treated Kagami awfully and Kagami said that she wasn’t worthy of Marinette’s friendship. Like Luka’s guitar, Kagami’s awkwardness and bluntness aren’t inherently a flaw, but they act as one in certain circumstances and end up fleshing her out just that little bit more.

I’d focus a little more on his relationships with everyone else. At least with Kagami, we know that she’s awkward and has no friends outside of Adrien (and later Marinette), so it makes sense that she wouldn’t have very many other relationships. We’ve even seen her relationship with her mother and how her few friendships - Adrien and Marinette - are influencing her to change and become more rebellious, such as the escape scene in ‘Heart Hunter’. I’m not counting Instagram posts, otherwise I’d point out Kagami spending time with Marinette’s friends as well and bonding with them as more evidence. But Luka’s part of a band and canonically hangs out with Marinette and her friends, so to break him free of just being a satellite love interest to orbit around Marinette, just show him interacting with others independent of Marinette. Show more of him being a big brother to Juleka; show how he interacts with Rose, as Juleka’s best friend; show the relationship between him and his mother, because they seem to be more like house(boat)mates at this point, and Anarka and Tomoe have had roughly the same amount of screen time, especially with their kids.

I’d also make him a little more of a rival to Adrien. He doesn’t have to be mean and antagonistic like how the Marinette/Kagami rivalry started - a rivalry doesn’t necessarily have to be negative - but he does have to show some reaction to losing Marinette to Adrien. All he ever does is push her into Adrien’s arms, which is all well and good to show how selfless he is, but he’s never visibly upset. His smile never wavers. He never shows any sign of being upset at losing the girl he supposedly loves to someone else; he’s basically just The Perfect Boyfriend who’s willing to let Marinette go if it means her happiness with no hurt feelings on his part, and the only force of rivalry that he exerts on Adrien is just making Adrien think that Marinette’s into him and therefore isn’t available, which isn’t even anything that Luka himself does, so I can’t even give that credit to him. He just…exists. While Marinette pushes Adrien and Kagami together for Adrien’s happiness, she shows outward signs of distress. She still gets jealous even though this is a decision she made. She’s sad over it. She’s human. But Luka? You could probably replace him with a pot plant and nothing would change.

#miraculous ladybug #ml analysis #luka couffaine #luka salt #anti lukanette #anti-lukanette #ask #aotq babbles #if only this essay was for university #I got it done in like an hour flat lmao

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perpetualmood · 5 years

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not an anti your anti-anti post got popular so i wanted to know why u ship bkdk? i'm genuinely curious bc i;ve only seen ppl say it's abusive and i'm new to mha

first of all anon thank you for approaching me respectfully about this. there are a lot of people i know who aren’t as lucky but really, thank you for possessing the basic human decency that so many others on this fucking hellsite can’t muster.

now, first of all let me say that i’m not a “““hardcore shipper””” or anything of the sort. i just think that bakudeku/katsudeku has a pretty good dynamic with lots of potential, along with a lot of other plausible ships in the series. i don’t get into a series for its ships, and even when i ship something i won’t let it take over my experience of fandom, which is why i’m def posting less bnha and ship discourse. this’ll probably be my last post about it, ever.

now, about bakudeku.

on bkdk being abusive:

it is not.

i first want to clarify that while bakugou bullied midoriya in the past, that doesn’t fucking make it abuse. i know abusers, and i know bullies. bakugou was shitty, and i’m not excusing his actions or saying they were okay because they were fucking not. most antis get all their fuel with the line “take a swan dive from the roof” that bakugou says to midoriya in the first chapter.

did he actually mean it? did bakugou, a boy who was told all his life he would be a hero, who wanted to be a hero, say it with the intent of midoriya actually killing himself? no, he didn’t. it would go against everything a hero stood for, and being a hero was bakugou’s only aspiration in his life. unless anyone is iterating that he’s stupid (which canon proves otherwise almost constantly) he knew that when he said it, midoriya wouldn’t do it.

(and while it is important to note that horikoshi has explicitly said that he went too far with that line, as it is not how bakugou should be seen and/or characterised, i’m still treating it as canon because it is, antis don’t @ me.)

and, as midoriya makes very clear later, he has absolutely no intention of taking bakugou’s words seriously. instead, he brushes it off as ‘kacchan being a proud idiot who doesn’t think before he speaks’. however, while he did not take those words seriously, that doesn’t mean they didn’t hurt even a little. his expression when bakugou says it is hurt, but more than that, shocked. obviously, anyone with a brain can infer that it is not something midoriya is accustomed to hearing things like that from bakugou. if it had been a regular occurrence, his reaction would have been a lot more subdued as he would have heard it before and therefore expected it.

even if you look at the scene later on, bakugou does not go out of his way to target or even interact with midoriya up until their teacher brings up the fact that midoriya wants to go to ua. bakugou does not see midoriya as “his old friend” or “the kid who he grew up with”. what he sees is “a quirkless kid who can’t do anything is trying to get in his alley, the one that everyone told him was handcrafted for him”. is he right? absolutely fucking not. does he realise this? again, no. this all leads to bakugou having a major gifted kid + inferiority complex, but i digress.

(i feel like it’s necessary to say once again that i am not condoning bakugou’s behaviour just because he didn’t really intend for midoriya to commit suicide or midoriya didn’t take it seriously, or saying that it’s okay if nothing happened.)

anyway, back on topic. later during the final exams arc, midoriya also states explicitly that he and bakugou have not talked properly to one another since they were kids. this makes it clear that bakugou did not, in fact, ceaselessly torment midoriya throughout their elementary school/junior high years. they just didn’t interact, plain and simple. the experience shown on the playground when they were four and the one after school on this day were likely two of very few, perhaps ten at most, incidents in which bakugou and midoriya’s difference in power and therefore status was made clear to show what it means to be quirkless in this society.

(i’d like to talk about how fucking messed up this society is, but that’s a whole other can of worms.)

bakugou has been a bully to midoriya. has he been abusive? absolutely fucking not. do i think their relationship is repairable? yes. i’ve been bullied before. i know what it’s like when you can reconcile with your bully and when you can’t. this is very clearly something that can be salvaged.

on their canon relationship:

do i think of bakudeku as a “he pulled your pigtails because he likes you” situation? am i infatuated with the ever-popular childhood friend trope? not a chance, and dismissing any shipper’s evaluation of their relationship to that is fucking low.

let’s start with their relationship at the beginning. bakugou harbours obvious animosity towards midoriya, and the only reason appears to be that it was because he was quirkless. (again, fuck quirk society) bakugou had always been told he was superior, and midoriya had always been told that he was nothing without a quirk. when you’re a young and impressionable child, having these things said to you a lot will make you believe it. in a sense, it’s akin to brainwashing. bakugou was made to believe that midoriya was worthless in comparison to him, a natural-born hero, and midoriya was made to believe that bakugou was amazing and undefeatable.

there were a lot of ways it could have turned out, honestly. midoriya could have become someone bakugou saw as someone needing protecting, and as cliched as their relationship would have been were that the case, it would have been the only ““functional”” one they could have had. hence the dysfunction, because midoriya is not someone who can sit back and take hits. he wants to be a hero, which is half the reason he admired bakugou in the first place.

so in the beginning of canon when midoriya’s desire to go to ua to be a hero is made known, bakugou, as i said before, feels as though his space has been invaded. he’s marked his territory, and all of a sudden this quirkless nobody i used to know wants to take it from me. of course, his way of thinking is wrong, but he’s never been corrected properly (sorry mitsuki, i love you but you’re not good at parenting, and masaru, please do something about your emotionally constipated son).

bakugou’s reaction to midoriya saying he “just wants to try” makes it look like it was just a trivial matter for midoriya, as opposed to bakugou, who has been working towards wanting to become a hero since he was small (as opposed to midoriya who wanted to as well, yes, but never did anything being analysing the heroes for fun). he feels as though midoriya is going through it with a ‘meh’ attitude, which deeply offended by the sentiment and takes it personally.

so bakugou obviously hates it. he hates feeling like someone that was, in his words, “a pebble in [his] path” could possibly even fathom overtaking him, when they were compared all the time.

additionally, midoriya has been a part of bakugou’s ego fodder. he followed him around, praised him like the rest, yes, but it’s very important to note that even though midoriya showered bakugou with praise he still talked to him as though he would someday be on that same level, even as a kid.

they were kids. they were dumb. but you know what? they grew.

bakugou especially has gone through so much development, even comparing him to the piece of shit he was in chapter 1 is a huge insult to bakugou, to horikoshi, and to midoriya, who has played an enormous part in it, especially after the sludge villain when it is very explicitly stated that bakugou didn’t even interact with midoriya until

in the beginning of their first year at ua, bakugou learned for the first time what it meant to have people who were equal to him, that he wasn’t as exceptional as he thought. midoriya, too learned what it meant to stand as equals, but instead of falling from a platform above, he was thrown up from the ground. and during the battle trial, bakugou tasted bitter defeat for the first time, and it shook him to the point where he had a panic attack in class (which i’m disappointed all might didn’t notice, but i digress) upon seeing midoriya get k.o.-ed but still win while he was left unscathed physically, and lost to deku of all people.

do i think their dynamic from the beginning of the year would have worked as a ship? no, abso-fucking-lutely not. bakugou feels nothing but betrayal (as in, he would obviously believe midoriya was hiding his quirk from him and lying to him their whole lives) and hatred for midoriya up until the battle trial, after which he doesn’t respect or even accept midoriya, but he acknowledges him because he beat him and then admitted half the secret to his quirk.

their relationship is an absolute shitshow for a long time and it shows, but the battle trial was a huge part in the beginning of their relationship developing. and of course, it has to – midoriya is the protagonist and bakugou is the deuteragonist, after all.

but the real turning point where bakugou comes to grudgingly accept midoriya is during their final exams before the training camp, where they went up against all might. being forced to work together and for bakugou to have to listen to midoriya really showed us depth in him we hadn’t seen before. sadly, all might was absolutely no help in their teamwork (despite that being the entire reason aizawa had paired bakugou and midoriya together) and instead made them try to focus on defeating him rather than working together, but somehow, that got the two of them to cooperate in battle.

(personally, i believe that they would have been better matched against a more strategic teacher like aizawa or nedzu as they would be forced to come up with a strategy together, and all might provided an unrealistic situation for them overall and the entire fight makes absolutely little to no use of their intelligence, something that is canonically a prevalent strength for both of them.)

but honestly, after kacchan vs deku 2, where they finally become ““proper rivals”” according to all might, where they both finally, finally talk out their issues and try to patch their shit up. @dekatsu explains it really well here and i’ve rambled for long enough about it.

now, after that fight, they’re both at a point where instead of being at each other’s throats, they’re pushing each other forward, and that’s why i like them together so much, whether platonic or romantic. which brings me to...

what i like about bkdk

aka, the thing you asked me in the first place.

do i approve of their relationship before kacchan vs deku 2? no. but after the fight, it blossoms into something absolutely brilliant. while they’re on their house arrest in the days after their fight, midoriya asks bakugou about his shoot style, and bakugou tells him exactly what he thinks and how it can be improved. and he admits, however backwardly, that he approved of it.

from literally that moment on, their communication and relationship develops so so much (not getting into the later arcs because manga spoilers) and bakugou becomes a huge part of the “one for all” secret, and every. single. time he sees midoriya use it, he encourages him in his competitive way and he does want to make sure he sees deku become a great hero, dammit.

relationships where both parties push each other to do better always seem to be the ones that work best. bakugou is constantly striving now not just to better himself, but he’s making sure that midoriya is getting better too. the more the story progresses, the closer they grow.

we’re at a point where bakugou sits in on midoriya’s meetings with all might about one for all and its technicalities and history, and is willing to train separately with midoriya because of it. they don’t have any problems with each other now -- even all might has properly acknowledged bakugou and midoriya as great friends.

it’s indisputable.

and whether you ship it or not, now if you deny that they have a bond that’s strong as fuck, you’re only making yourself look silly.

platonic or romantic, these two have chemistry and they complement each other so well that it almost hurts. i can’t wait to see them grow into a hero duo.

. . .

anyway, that’s the end of my 2k+ word long meta (which i honestly wouldn’t have been able to complete without the help of a tumblr friend who would like to stay anonymous) and i hope it answers your question and hopefully, it showed you a side of things that not only the antis are seeing. thanx, this is been my last ship discourse post.

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warpedpuppeteer · 6 years

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Guardian (Zhen Hun)

So I just binge watched the web-drama Guardian (based on a BL novel).The two main actors; Johnny Bai Yu and Zhu Yi Long ARE LITERALLY THE FUCKING BEST. These two carry the entire show on their backs.

Even though they’re not supposed to portray their characters as lovers (censorship issues made them have an intense bromance instead) it’s ALL THEY DO FOR THE ENTIRE SHOW. And its absolutely freaking beautiful. They do such a fantastic job of bringing the characters to life and portray the love between them without it explicitly being stated. They were ordered to make it as no homo as possible but everyone on the show just went ‘catch these hands homophobes’ and made it MO HOMO instead. Like, the homo-est. Look at this cute shit guys, like HOW DARE

The story is about the Special Investigation Department, a department that deals with special cases that threatens the peace between the Haixings (humans), the Yashous and the Dixings (the supernaturals). Zhao Yun Lan (Bai Yu), the unruly head of the SID is in the midst of investigating a murder on campus when he crosses paths with the reserved Shen Wei (Zhu Yi Long), a Professor of Bioengineering at the Uni. Zhao Yun Lan constantly has a feeling of deja-vu around Shen Wei. Unbeknownst to him, they have known each other from10 000 years ago, a past that only Shen Wei remembers.

They have AMAZING and PERFECT chemistry. I’m not kidding. Their scenes, touches, gazes, dialogues and all their micro-expressions (Zhu Yi Long especially) are done in a way that leaves no room for anyone to have any doubt about their relationship. I mean look:

(The worried boyfriend)

(The compulsory ‘can I trust you’ angst)

(The actually we’re a married couple fluff)

(The flirting, oh my god the flirting. Most of it by Zhao Yun Lan I assure you, because he’s basically a shameless hussy. I love it.)

The crew also did their best in putting in as many easter eggs and details as they can to reflect their real relationship as lovers. For example, Yun Lan’s hairstyle changes halfway through the show to reflect the traditional Chinese culture of having a woman change her hairstyle after getting married implying that Yun Lan has found his husband. ( In the novel, it’s established that Shen Wei is the top and Yun Lan is the bottom. I absolutely love this because first of all hello? role reversal of where the quiet, soft and pretty one tops the hot roguish bad boy? Hell yeah!)

Back to the plot. So the main plot is for them to find the person who’s looking to break the peace between the 3 tribes by using the Four Holy Artefacts that created the peace between them in the first place a long time ago while trying not to jump each other’s bones on the nearest flat surface.

Seriously guys, the thirst is real. You can see the 10000 YEARS OF SEXUAL AND ROMANTIC FRUSTRATION between them. There are several scenes where you’d think they’re just going slam the other onto the nearest flat surface and just go at it!

(Zhao Yun Lan, pls control yourself you self proclaimed horndog)

The mild mannered Professor is also secretly the Black Cloaked Envoy (the show never settles on a proper translation for his name), one of the most powerful and revered people from Dixing. He helps out Zhao Yun Lan as Shen Wei with his knowledge about the supernatural (a flimsy excuse from the pervy Yun Lan who’s mesmerised by his gorgeousness and sweet and kind personality) as well as the completely badass Black Cloaked Envoy (in a black robe and mask obviously) who keeps bailing Yun Lan’s dumb ass out of trouble (while also thirsting for the completely flirty and shameless idiot like nobody’s business).

The immediate supporting casts are pretty good even though their characterisation has been shot to hell (some are completely different from their novel counterparts) and have too many inconsistencies. They’re doing their best in working with the material that they were given. Bonus point is that they’re all so freaking gorgeous, so be prepared to have a sexual awakening (I’m just saying, there’s something for everyone). The music’s good as well.

Also, get ready for the ANGST. Like so much angst. Even the straight and minor relationships didn’t escape. Fair warning that it doesn’t have a happy ending, Though I personally think it was a bittersweet ending, a LOT of people hate the ending with a fiery passion. So much so that the author actually wrote a short chapter for the novel after the show to ‘fix’ the shitty ending. Hit me up if you want the spoiler for the ending of the show so that you can decide to watch it or not.

I’ll just like to let you know that it’s not a good show as a whole at all.The CGI is absolute fucking crap and the plot unveils like someone decided to write down several ideas, stuck them on board, mounted the board on a wall and decided to write next scenes based on which storyline they hit with their darts. The pacing is all over the place. There are some parts where the characters are talking and there are added dialogues that they don’t even TRY to match the tone of the original recording.

This could have legitimately been a fantastic show but because of financial issues and censorship problems they had to scrape by with what they had (which clearly wasn’t a lot). The entire plot from the novel had to go through a major overhaul because it deals with Gods, ghosts/spirits and gay characters which all fall under censored topics. Basically, all the core premises of the novel had to be changed in order to make this show happen.

It’s such a shame because I read the translated version of the novel and its not only hilarious but the supernatural aspect of it is way scarier and more intense than anything on the show. They found the absolutely perfect actors to play the leads as well.

Seriously, the wasted potential of this show makes me wail in despair. Remember Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (also known as Goblin) the Korean show? They basically have the same premise of meeting your long lost soulmate and I can only imagine on how this show would have been if it had been done in just the same way as Goblin.

IN CONCLUSION, even though its labelled as ‘bromance’, this show proves that you don’t have to kiss or declare I love you’s to show your love for someone.

Also everything is garbage except for the main leads and their chemistry. So watch it, get a new OTP, marvel at how good the acting is and find yourself having 2 more brilliant actors for you to obsess over and appreciate. After the show, read the novel (it’s still being translated). It’s absolutely hilarious. Also, listen to the damn love song they recorder together.Come flail with me about them.

#guardian #zhen hun #guardian chinese drama #weilan #shen wei #zhao yun lan #gay fiction #show recommendations

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saiyanhajime · 5 years

Text

DBS: Broly - Review

I was excited to see “Dragon Ball Super: Broly”, obviously… It’s Dragon Ball! But I wasn’t expecting to be as blown away by it as I have been, to fall in love with it. For me, Dragon Ball has always been more about the fandom than the official media. When I first formed a love for the franchise, it was elusive and unattainable, so I had to get my kicks elsewhere.

I think DBS Broly might be my favourite piece of DB media, ever. It’s everything I ever wanted and everything I didn’t realise I needed from this franchise. I haven’t loved a piece of media like this in a long, loooong time.

Worth noting that, at the time of writing, I have only seen the English dub. I’ll wait for home release to see the subtitled Japanese audio version as I struggle to keep up with text and visuals at the same time!

The Cinema Experience

My first viewing was a small, packed screen on opening night here in the UK. The audience seemed to be mostly around 25-30 year olds, almost entirely fellow guys (my friend was one of maybe 5 women - seriously, where are you all??). But the ethnic diversity of Dragon Ball’s audience is something most movies could only dream of attracting. It was a great time, with people audibly laughing out loud and clapping at the end. The movie is genuinely so brilliantly funny, a surprise in itself.

My second viewing, the following night, alone, was a larger screening. Roughly the same audience demographics, but this time, the audience erupted into cheering with each transformation… It was so fucking incredible to be a part of. I was grinning the entire time. It’s hard to overstate just how important the social aspect of enjoying this movie in the cinema was.

It’s incredible to finally be living Dragon Ball “up to date” like this and the excitement shows.

Spoilers incoming...

Story Isn’t King

That's coming from someone who has always wished for more depth to DB, but what I've realised recently is that the level of storytelling the community plugs into this franchise is not something that belongs in the official media. We do it better, because we do it free of constraints the official releases require to be Dragon Ball, that it requires to be so widely popular. The official text is a framework, not a rulebook. I think one of the things that contributes to Dragon Ball’s insane popularity and ability to speak to so many people in so many cultures is how vague it can be. The snippets of depth are there for us to draw our own conclusions. DB doesn’t need canon absolutes in backstory.

Overall, I prefer the old “Bardock - The Father of Goku” telling of the prequel events that set up the Broly movie, though man it's been an age since I saw that. I wonder how much of my preference is just nostalgia? How much is knowing that Bardock: Father of Goku wasn’t “canon”, and so didn’t really matter? That is liberating. Now Dragon Ball Minus and DBS: Broly seem to demand that this is the way it actually happened with no room for headcanon and I feel a little turned off. There is plenty to like with this retelling. Gine is a delight, more of the saiyan homeworld is welcomed and just look at small details like Bardock actually moving his tail in this scene rather than it constantly being wrapped around their waists ready for combat. Ideally, I would like a perfect blend of the best elements from both tellings. And ya know what? That's the beauty of fandom... I can have that.

It is so obvious that huge chunks of story are missing here, yet it already drags for me a little... I’m not sure what the solution is, really. I’ve seen people suggesting it should have been two movies, but I’m not sure I agree.

Once the movie skips forward to present day, the storytelling revolving around the discovery of Broly, Paragus and their recruiting into the Freeza force is entertaining and I’m way more invested. So maybe it is just apathy for a prequel story retold a slightly different way…

But when the insane 30-40 minute non-stop action starts in the latter half, that’s when the movie comes into its own for me. This is Dragon Ball.

Overall, the narrative does something new for the series. It sets up, foreshadows and references back in a more conventional pattern than ever before. It feels, I dunno. It feels… Westernised? It feels, both narratively and in overall quality, more like a movie and not just a tacked on side-story. There’s no unnecessary inclusion of side characters irrelevant to the plot making cameos. Everyone is here for a reason.

Character Personalities

The characters behave like themselves again, and not just through exposition dumping monologues the series is famous for, but through visual storytelling! There is so much not said, so much told through the fight, through their expressions and movements.

From the moment Vegeta’s playful spar with Goku ends at Bulma’s vacation house, you get a very different Vegeta to the one we’ve seen through Super. His turn to listen to Goku and Whis's conversation is full of character. He's so on edge about something. And proceeds to tell us why with a humorous but genuinely livid jab at Goku for wishing Freeza back to life. Vegeta is worried. In the scene where Bulma is reviewing the CCTV footage of the Dragon Ball theft, Vegeta double takes and glares at Goku when it becomes obvious the thieves are Freeza’s men. They say nothing. It’s all character acting. It tells us so much.

Vegeta's anxiety continues on, affecting his fight with Broly… He barely has a chance to enjoy the fight at all. We get so little cocky Vegeta enjoying a battle and instead a very serious Vegeta who feels the need to to end this threat right now. What I take from all this is an example of quality character development - instead of Vegeta simply becoming more friendly, his personality that we all love is still there, but his morals have changed. His entertainment isn’t as important as protecting his family. And having witnessed Goku’ recklessly endanger their friends and families in throughout DB Super, Vegeta is not prepared to take any chances here, attempting to deliver a finishing blow very early on.

And Goku, who’s characterisation in Super felt so utterly insulting at times, is back on form here. His idiotic moments don’t feel so absurdly stupid that they’re unbelievable, but instead come across as cute and heartwarming. Moments like his talk with Broly mid fight, with Piccolo when he’s lying on the ground battered and bruised and when he’s simply watching Broly transform into a super saiyan for the first time convey Goku’s ability to be serious and regretful. It was so refreshing to see Goku back on form. The first half of his fight with Broly is incredible - going from excitement, to confidence that he could talk Broly round, to being put firmly in his place, on the ground. People who criticise the series for having no stakes fail to understand that the stakes are truly nestled in the characters personalities and their pride. The stakes are whether they will be able to overcome their flaws, both metaphorically through transformations, and literally.

Voice Acting (Dub)

Whilst on the subject of the characters, the voice acting is unbelievably good… Chris Ayres as Freeza steals the show, but the others are brilliant also.The line delivery is one thing, the ability to so brilliantly match that to the mouth flaps another, but the writing for a Western, English speaking audience is just superb. I cannot wait to see what differs in the original Japanese - I’ve heard that Freeza’s “Hello Monkeys!” line was a dub change from “Greetings!” for example, which in my opinion is so appropriate and elicits an uncomfortable, awkward laugh from the aforementioned ethnically diverse audience in the west in a such good way. Freeza as a tyrannical, racist, piece of shit, is an important character trait to a Western audience. The jokes that ride on line delivery alone are so numerous - one personal highlight for me is Whis’ ever-so-gay coded “Oh my…” when Gogeta bursts in. Took the words right out of my mouth, Whis. The voice acting is on a whole different level to anything before now from the American team. The scene I’ve already mentioned where Goku is contacted by Piccolo, Schemmel really sells the pain Goku’s in. And lets not forget Broly himself, played by Vic Mignogna, whose line delivery really conveys him as this Tarzan-like character in his sane scenes… But really shines in moments of mania when he’s flailing, yelling, crying as a cornered, manic, rabid ape who cannot control his emotions or immense strength. The scene where he’s just making noises at Goku, copying his fighting stance before he launches at him - wow. Even new side characters like Lemo have an outstanding quality to their voice acting that blows any previous English speaking Dragon Ball performance so far out of the water it’s insane.

Broly

Having a Dragon Ball story focus on so many characters who aren’t Goku is refreshing for a franchise that’s been so heavily criticised for being The Goku Show… For years we’ve wanted to see other characters step into the limelight. I still haven’t forgiven the last movie, Resurrection F, for stealing the win out from under Vegeta.

Vegeta still doesn’t get the long awaited limelight here… But this “new” saiyan, Broly, is something rather special. I wasn’t a fan of the original Broly. Loved the idea, but never liked the execution. His visual design I found personally off-putting, but more importantly it failed to convey his character very well. He looked so prestigious? And the idea of being so affected by Goku crying as a baby next to him, that it sent him into uncontrollable rage whenever he heard the same “Kakarot” is so laughably stupid. I’m glad that’s not here.

The cool concept of the legendary super saiyan, though... I think most people dig that. Here that’s kind of gone too - but the idea of a freakishly strong saiyan from birth who is the embodiment of their animalistic heritage and rage-induced potential is beautifully executed. The great ape form, or rather Broly having found a way of accessing that power without transforming, is referenced more than once throughout the story. There’s this sense that the way Goku and Vegeta have learnt to control themselves has perhaps potentially hindered them. That maybe the ultra-instinct forms Whis has foreshadowed for so long is related, or could be used to tap into the natural potential of saiyans. Huh.

With a visually pleasing design to boot, Broly is absolutely awesome as the star in his own movie as a tragic menace. So much is done to sell this as Broly’s movie, from his sheer amount of screen time and characterisation in both his placid and manic states, to that awesome first person perspective part of his fight - incredible.

Animation and Aesthetics

You don’t need me to tell you this film looks gorgeous and I’ve already mentioned some scenes where the characters convey so much through movement alone. This looks like Dragon Ball never has. It feels nostalgic, but refreshing. It’s stylistically so unique and fluid and choreographed and magical. Impacts hit with such full-force conviction, the characters gracefully zooming around each other in dueling harmony, the electrifying ki beams piercing through the bleak environments with their vibrant colour and form. For once you really believe just how powerful and fast these superhumans are… Perhaps one of the reasons why the first half of the film is so much weaker for me is simply because there's less of this beautiful action. But the entire film is steeped in impressively bold and emotive colour pallets that sell the mood of each location so well.

But there’s a great big elephant in the room… The cgi.

It would seem I have a different opinion to most on this subject. I don’t mind the environmental cgi, but the character animation is jarring and I hate it. It is a blemish on an otherwise gorgeous piece of art. Now, I’m really funny about “bad” cgi. I also don’t know dick about animation. I just know when something looks really, really wrong. It’s as if the cgi characters have no squash and stretch applied that keeps them fluid. They’re stiff. There’s no elasticity, no umph. They move like someone just put strobe lights on. Their joints like that of action figures. I’ve seen so many people say it’s not bad or they even like these parts and I’m really glad it didn’t ruin it for most people, but my god does it ruin those scenes for me. Just look at the awkward mouth flaps and dead eyes, especially on Goky, in the Kamehameha/Galick Gun combo scene. Yuck.

Soundtrack

I love the score.

Before I saw the movie, I heard a lot of people talking about the chanting and how weird it was - but the second it started my first thought was how much it reminded me of Akira. And yeah, it’s kinda weird. And I love it. It hypes up this epic match and I don’t find it cheesy at all. I love it both in context and even when listened to in isolation.

The entire score is all over the place yet manages to feel whole as it attempts, and succeeds, to convey the atmosphere and emotion of each location, narrative beat and every swing of a fist or blast of ki. The only track I’m not keen on is the rendition of Chala Head Chala. I think it’s a pretty pants rendition of the song and is immensely distracting in an otherwise moving soundtrack. The movie totally needs a rendition of Head Chala right there, but not this rendition. I just don’t like it. The weird boingy sound is awful.

Final Thoughts

The success of Dragon Ball Super: Broly, especially in the west, is a joyful reminder what this 30 year old franchise means to so many people. Very few non-fans are going to have set foot in a cinema to see this movie, and yet the current total earnings at the time of writing on January 29th 2019 is $98,584,176 according to Box Office Mojo.

That is truly insane.

It feels like this movie was made especially for me and for that I am eternally grateful. Speaking to fellow fans and reading their reviews, it’s so clear that everyone has different things to love about this movie. There’s so much content here for every fan to find something they love. I cannot wait to get hold of a home release and I cannot wait to see what’s to come, ho-ly shit! What a time to be a Dragon Ball fan.

#dragon ball super broly #dbz broly #broly #dragon ball super #dragon ball #dragon ball z #dbz #dbs #dragon ball movie review #saiyanhajime

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littlehollyleaf · 5 years

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GOTHAM S05E04 “Ruin”

okay listen I know other stuff happened in this episode and it was even stuff I enjoyed and was interested in (like - WTF jeremiah??!) but I don’t have time to talk about any of that when there is SO.MUCH.FOXMA.AWESOMENESS to squee over (and you can’t say I didn’t warn you)

fyi - I’ve incorporated MULTIPLE VISUAL AIDS to assist in my flail!

let’s start by going through my FOXMA WISHLIST because there is WAY MORE to check off it that I thought possible in one hit!

Touching - bonus points if it’s beyond practical, like Foxy resting a hand on Eddie’s arm to offer comfort or Eddie gripping Foxy to emotionally steady himself

they flunked on the bonus points but still, FUCKING CHECK!

and you know what? I’m awarding A WHOLE SET OF DIFFERENT BONUS POINTS for Luscious Lucius Fucking ‘down boy I’m in charge’ Fox fucking MANHANDLING ED LIKE IT’S NOTHING because it’s EVERYTHING I NEVER KNEW I NEEDED IN MY LIFE and didn’t even think to put on the list omgomg!

like... I’ve seen a TON of fic and fanart with Foxy being physically dominant with Ed and I do think it makes all the sense characterisation-wise, but for some reason I’d never properly envisioned/embraced it as part of their ship/dynamic (perhaps because in my one and only fic I had Eddie being more dominating when it came to physical stuff due to various contextual reasons... or maybe because we’ve never actually seen Foxy get physical with anyone in canon before, aside from wacking Alvarez with that chair that time, after which he looked frazzled as opposed to the glorious calm and in control he is here so it didn’t really convey his ability to be so.... UNF. while physically taking charge... idk)

(god I could watch this gif all day honestly....)

(it’s the way Foxy doesn’t hesitate, he’s just - BAM! I’m in control now)

(and juxtapositioned with Eddie’s epic flailing so they are just so perfectly, beautifully opposed)

(then the way Eddie, on seeing it’s Foxy, JUST.FUCKING.TAKES.IT, his fear and flailing dropping all at once as he submits and just holds himself all still and expectant under the hold, clearly THRILLED it’s Foxy who’s found him)

(and Foxy is only using his GODDAMN FINGERTIPS FOR FUCKS SAKE, so firm and commanding with so little effort I just - *fans self*)

(shit we’re only on point one and I’ve spent forever - strap in everyone!)

Speaking in tandem - ie. figuring out the same thing simultaneously and excitedly shouting out the answer together

Actually the talking in tandem one is really important to me so I’m adding it again

Okay the talking in tandem doesn’t have to be them figuring out the same thing, it could just be them reacting the same way to something and discovering they are like-minded

FUCKING CHECK!! The one thing I WANTED THE MOST, SO MUCH I PUT IT ON MY LIST THREE WHOLE TIMES. FUCKING CHECK??! ALREADY??!

Lucius: Unless whatever ignited those heated oil tanks - Together: - smashed through that window

(guys pls though look at the above travesty, I only have MSPaint, for the love of god someone gif this??)

I really can’t... there aren’t words for how ecstatic I am about this!

I was watching with my good friend @enchantersnight, who will attest that I squealed and grabbed her in excitement (which she took with good grace considering she didn’t even know about The List, so must have thought I was just being a mad woman for no reason :p)

And the way they both wave their hand at the window together. And Foxy’s little satisfied nod because he’s not thinking of Ed as a criminal in that moment, all he’s thinking is ‘fuck yeah we just cracked it.’ And they both turn their heads all synchronised because they are so perfectly on the same wavelength, so completely lost in solving the mystery, the parts of themselves that match are so beautifully ALIGNED!

Showing how they are similar people in many ways - check and check!

Foxy telling Ed he is a genius and pleading with him to use his intellect for the greater good

K, we’re not all the way there, but HALF A CHECK, because -

Plus he explicitly said he needed Ed’s ‘expertise.’ All of which amounts to acknowledging (and appreciating!) Ed’s genius, so -! *hearts eyes*

(this set covers it perfectly XD)

...and there is still time for Foxy to plead with Ed to use his genius for good *crosses fingers*

Eddie calling Foxy ‘Lucius’ just the once as part of a serious, emotionally charged moment

Not really what I was going for (I was thinking more Ed yelling his name out of fear for Foxy, or as a desperate plea for Foxy to help him), but A+ for effort for Eddie’s wild yell for ‘Lucius’ here -

Because I love the fact that Eddie was so caught up in working the case at this point that he wanted to keep helping even without personal incentive :)

(aside: Eddie you bad bad bad man killing that innocent old lady though, that was really NOT NECESSARY, pls! ...but it was also somewhat hilarious, in a black comedy kind of way :p

see - THAT’S the level of villainy/immorality I’m happy for Eddie to exist in, killing/torturing/maiming individuals, even innocent ones, yes, cool, because Eddie IS NOT A GOOD PERSON... but... not killing hundreds of innocents, including CHILDREN, in one hit, that’s... that’s a different kind of villainy, you know?)

One/either thinking the other is dead and being relieved to learn they are alive

Again, not quite. But Foxy does comment in the filing room that he thought Ed was dead. No, he doesn’t show any kind of relief that Eddie ISN’T, but since it’s now canon that Foxy somehow learnt of Ed’s supposed demise this opens up avenues for plenty of headcanons :)

Because - WHEN did Foxy hear that Ed was dead? and HOW? and even WHY? Was he ACTIVELY LOOKING for news on Ed because he personally WANTED TO KNOW? Did it MATTER to Foxy if Ed was alive or dead? Did he feel a pang of sorrow/regret on hearing the news at the fate of a man he saw potential in to be better and wished that somehow Ed’s life could have been different?

(look, Occam’s Razor suggests Jim was probably looking for news on Lee and heard back that both she and Eddie died in the Narrows and THAT’S how Foxy heard about Ed’s death, but SSSSHHHH - I’m gonna imagine Foxy was making quiet enquiries for himself and no-one can stop me!)

PHEW!

We made it to the end of the points on my Wishlist that got fulfilled.

KUDOS SHOW

Now - let’s talk about THE OTHER STUFF that was amazing!

Like -

Lucius RELEASING ED and HOLDING HIM IN PLACE JUST BY POINTING A FINGER AT HIM LIKE FUUUUCK!

And again there’s no fucking hesitation. The SHEER CONFIDENCE Foxy has that he CAN AND WILL exert this much power over Ed just. Wow. Just wow.

...there’s something interesting to make of this maybe actually...because Foxy...wasn’t this...commanding, with Ed before. No he was never intimidated, but during the whole riddle crime spree and the confrontation with Harvey on the stairwell Foxy was... nervous around Ed? Like Ed was a live wire or dangerous animal, someone Foxy found a little UNPREDICTABLE and thus was less firm and more pleading with? But NOW...

okay, the stakes are different here ofc - before there were lives on the line and Foxy’s interaction with Ed was the one thing that could save them, so that pressure would have made him hesitant to try and take control...

yeah, that’s it isn’t it - Ed needs a viable threat in order to exert power/control over Foxy (and anyone really)

but without that threat the balance of power absolutely lies with Foxy (so obviously here, with Eddie unarmed and in such a state of disarray! but was also true in that scene with them at the GCPD lab when Eddie was investigating the Red Hood Gang)

Then also EDDIE’S.FUCKING.SMILE!!

Anyone else displaying this much power over him, exposing his vulnerability, his ‘inadequacies’ (so Eddie might see it), would surely make Eddie furious, scared even perhaps - he might rail against them, scowl, try to fight or run.

But here with Foxy he just FUCKING SMILES. He is so GODDAMN HAPPY to have been caught by FOXY. He doesn’t try to fight or escape because HE WANTS TO HAVE A MOMENT WITH FOXY, he WANTS TO BANTER. Because, dare I say, he LIKES BEING IN FOXY’S POWER??

Likewise when Foxy busts out the blackmail THIS is Eddie’s reaction

THIS -

Just look at him he’s FUCKING DELIGHTED that Foxy has been smart enough to immediately suss out Ed’s desire for the file is something he can exploit.

And then the way he kinda gleefully tries to figure out what Foxy could possibly want from him - I ADORE IT.

Because it’s become a GAME to Eddie now ofc - he and Foxy playing off each other.

And it’s a delicious blend of Foxy being all controlling and also flippant in the way he talks to Ed, thus him gently leading Ed into taking it this way, and also Eddie’s clear respect and personal interest in Foxy making him inclined to put a positive spin on the situation, to find it enjoyable. And like... it doesn’t feel esp planned or manipulative on Foxy’s part? Their reactions to each other just feel... genuine? Obviously Foxy IS trying to convince Ed to help him but... the way he speaks to him and looks at him... it just feels like Foxy being NATURAL with Ed to me? Like, he’s not spending all the time carefully choosing his words and behaviour, calculating what he needs to do to win Ed over, he’s just... going with the flow? Reacting to Ed... in the way he WANTS to, and Ed is doing the same?

Sure they’ve both got end goals they want to achieve, but during their banter those almost seem secondary, just for moment, to the mutual enjoyment they are getting from their interaction?

And yes, mutual - look at this and tell me Foxy isn’t having fun as well!

Other great things about this scene -

Eddie calling Foxy ‘the second smartest man in Gotham’ <3 <3 Absolute proof he respects Foxy’s intellect :D

Eddie trying to surprise grab the file from Foxy’s hands. Because LOL. Foxy’s dry ‘...why?’ and shake of his head at Eddie’s childish antics totally makes it! Plus the way Eddie makes one last half-hearted grab before his eventual ‘fine.’

@vampirebillionaire pointed out it’s kinda crazy Eddie was able to physically capture a Street Demon thug, but can’t muster enough strength to yank a file from a scientist :p

I like your suggestion, Daisy, that this adds to the ‘mind controlled Eddie’ theory - ie. when Eddie is under the influence he becomes more physically capable perhaps.

May I also suggest another possibility - that the file grab was just for show? Because Eddie desperately WANTS to team up with Foxy for a bit. But he has to convince himself it is absolutely his ONLY OPTION in order to do so? Because Eddie is a confused and repressed and psychologically mixed up prawn and can’t accept just wanting to work with Foxy just because. Plus a blackmail scenario/game has already been established. So to Eddie’s mind the only way that makes sense for him to work with Foxy in this moment is for Foxy’s blackmail to hold up. Meaning before Eddie can agree he has to establish that he CANNOT get the file by other means? Hence all the huffing and puffing and extra lunge at the end - it’s all him adding to the pretence?

...idk it’s prob too involved for what the show was actually going for, but it crossed my mind :p Felt like ‘Riddler logic’ you know? And involves a bit of theatrics, and Eddie lying to himself...

Anyway, the other PHENOMENAL THING about this scene -

I am given and I am taken,

I was there from your first breath

and I will follow you until your death

You know, that riddle for ‘name’ that clever fandom people cleverly extracted from the voice over line in that dramatic pre-S05 promo? (’I will follow you until your death’) The one that lots of us were taken by because of the vague, possible nygmobblepot associations? (and some of us, ahem, one of us, even used to title a fic), but that was also suspected to be a possible exchange between Ed and a hallucinatory version of himself - maybe being about how the name and/or persona of ‘Riddler’ has been with Ed all along and will be part of him until he dies.

WELL TURNS OUT EDDIE SAYS THAT RIDDLE TO FOXY CAN YOU BELIEVE??

I mean, look, I know it’s just a riddle for plot purposes. But that doesn’t change the fact that Eddie, CANONICALLY, stands there, INCHES from Foxy -

STARING DEEPLY INTO HIS EYES, voice slightly whispery and husky

and he tells him

I WILL FOLLOW YOU UNTIL YOUR DEATH

I Just -

And they fucking end liKE THIS GUYS -

Literally POINTING AT FOXY LIKE HE’S MAKING A PROMISE?? (and oh shit I just thought is he pointing at Foxy’s HEART?? ...also does this technically fit my bonus point for touching? hotdamn)

And look at Foxy’s smile! Yeah it’s mocking but... maybe in a FOND way??

All - ‘name, the answer’s ‘name’ Ed, but you had to make a song and dance out of it didn’t you, you dork?’

*dreamy sigh*

Other stuff -

Eddie investigating the crime scene and working it all out was some GENUINE PI RIDDLER SHIT right there *swoon*

I love the way Foxy just steps back and lets Ed get on with it. I flail over Eddie showing his respect for Foxy, but there was real respect in Foxy for Ed here, which was beautiful <3

On the rooftop - *hearts* over Eddie genuinely praising Foxy for figuring out it was the exact spot of the shooting from angles etc, showing he CLEARLY rates Foxy’s intelligence very high :) Only for Foxy to admit that he worked it out because he noticed the weapon’s casing had been left behind :p (which - SLOPPY of blacked out Ed now I think about it?). That was both a fun gag, lightly highlighting how Eddie sometimes misses the obvious and reaches for the most complex option when a much simpler one is on hand (making his advice to Oswald way back when about how sometimes the simpler solution is best really just... lolz... take your own advice Eddie, pls), as well as, I think, maybe hinting that Eddie really may be SMARTER than Foxy on a purely intellectual level - because it was potentially suggesting that Foxy could ONLY tell it was the right place because of the weapon case and might not have been able, at least as fast, to have worked out the angles etc like Eddie did. Maybe...

Eddie telling Foxy in complete seriousness that he hopes Foxy finds the criminal and makes them pay - playing out just like I hoped in the tags over here after seeing the Eddie preview clip of the episode, yes win!

(#holly you're an idiot going to the gcpd is how ed is gonna team up with foxy it's an excellent plan!!! #...I bet that 'make them pay' line in the trailer fits here #ed is talking about helping foxy found the haven bomber and how they should make them pay #but ~plot twist Eddie - it was you!! #yus I like that #pls be true!)

aside: Foxy now has that weapon case and is going to see if it has clues as to the perpetrator - Eddie thinks it won’t but I wonder... while blacked out Eddie left himself a message... I wonder if it’s possible he may have left the weapon case on purpose in the HOPE that he will be found out? that someone will catch him and put a stop to him being mind controlled??

...in any case, this opens up the possibility of Foxy finding out the shooter was Ed and OMG I HAVE ~HOPES AND DREAMS ABOUT THAT

In my hopes and dreams Foxy simply DOES.NOT.BELIEVE that Eddie would/could have committed such a crime, at least not willingly. And especially since Ed literally helped him solve the crime and he saw and heard Ed be GENUINELY affected by the crime enough to want the criminal to pay - and yes, sure, Ed could have been playing him and faking that, getting a kick out of giving Foxy clues to his own crime, but Foxy just feels sure Ed was being honest on that rooftop, that he really didn’t seem to know he was responsible, and it convinces Foxy there is something much more sinister going on here...

*CROSSES FINGERS TIGHT*

(omg - we know Babs gets Eddie at some point... WHAT IF Foxy ends up trying to save Eddie from her??! UGH IT’S TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE IT’LL NEVER HAPPEN BUT WHAT A DREAM! Foxy could even go to Oswald maybe to get help saving Ed, maybe providing evidence that Ed is in fact innocent... and in doing so he frees Ozzie from any personal anguish he might be suffering due to believing that Eddie really did commit the crime perhaps? even less likely, but I’m gonna roll with it for now :p)

Right one last thing. I did also have on my wishlist a proviso of the ‘talking in tandem’ thing -

When they talk in tandem they have to finish smiling at each other

Obviously this didn’t happen (POINTS DEDUCTED!!).

But then, we did get THIS as their final moment so ALL IS FORGIVEN -

In conclusion

I am dead

Gotham?

(here’s hoping for the remainder of the Wishlist in their next episode together! :p)

#gotham spoilers #gotham: ruin #foxma #lucius fox #edward nygma #the riddler #guys it's 5am I've ~LITERALLY spent ~ALL NIGHT SQUEEING OVER THESE TWO #I am dead #I am a ghost #I am an idiot #I'm a dead idiot ghost #if it's not foxma related don't even speak to me right now :p

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all-the-love-harold · 6 years

Text

The Daily Anna - Chapter 8

I struggled a little to get this one on paper but it’s here and I’m actually quite proud of it. Once again, it wouldn’t have happened without @lovesmelikebrandnewstarlight to talk me through things and work out where things are going. Without giving anything away, things are going to start getting emotional from this point on wards, so prepare yourselves.

Let me know what you’re thinking so far

Master Post

23 shows, 38 days, countless kisses and memories that Anna could hold onto for the rest of her life. The tour was over and Anna was about to fly back to London, back to her normal life, as if the last few weeks hadn’t changed everything. Nothing could be the same now, not for her or her blog. It was strange to think that it was only a few months ago that she was sitting at her desk, with her head in her hands trying her best to get her essay written, only to decide to drop out a few hours later. That seemed like a lifetime ago, Ronnie was speaking to her back then, her blog was simply a hobby and Harry was Harry Styles the popstar, not Harry Styles her boyfriend.

“How do you do it H?” Anna asked Harry in the back of the car on the way to LAX.

“Do what?” he said

“Go back to your normal life after all this?”

He turned his head and looked out the window at the passing trees that lined the streets.

“This is my normal” he sighed “For the better part of the last 8 years I’ve been on the road, all of this is normal to me, my life is here in LA just as much as it is in London, I almost hate that I’m leaving so soon.”

“That’s kinda what I mean, how do you go back to London and just live after all this?”

“It’s weird at first, but I’ll have you to keep me busy, plus I have an album to write so instead of playing these songs to thousands everyday, I’ll be in the studio writing new ones”

“Obviously all about me” she giggled

“How could they not be” he smiled, wrapping his arm around her and bringing her into his chest “you’re incredible An, changed my life”

Anna’s heart fluttered, she wanted nothing more than to say those three little words, but she wasn’t sure that he was ready to hear it.

“I think I’m the one whose life has been changed” she opted out, this wasn’t the time, she wasn’t sure there would ever be a perfect time to say it, but this was an ending, and those words were meant for a beginning.

He kissed her on the forehead “Both of us”

In the background of their conversation the car pulled up and the driver switched it off.

“LAX” he said bringing them back to reality.

Anna looked out the window at the hundreds of people going about their day, going on holiday, or on business trips, going home or going away and she gulped at how many of them would know who Harry is. She was still hesitant about being seen with him, especially in public places like airports, it wasn’t that she was embarrassed or anything, it was just that she hated people staring at her and she hated even more the articles that would no doubt be out by the time they arrive in London. “Anna Elliot uses Harry Styles to get more followers”

“You know what this reminds me of?” Harry said, pulling Anna back into the conversation

“What’s that?”

“Our first date” he smiled “but this time we’re both getting out of the car”

And so they did. Harry jumped out first and loaded their bags onto a trolley and took Anna’s hand in his.

Airports made Anna nervous, this was only the second time she’d ever been on an international flight, the first on the way over here, but there were some perks to being Harry Styles and one of them was skipping the queues. They went straight through security, and onto the first class lounge, where they were brought two glasses of champagne and some fresh fruit to munch on while they waited to board.

“Thank you Harry” Anna said when there was a lul in the conversation.

“What for love?” he asked curiously

“Inviting me on tour with you, I know I’ve told you that I’m glad I came, but I don’t know if I’ve thanked you for everything”

“You don’t need to thank me An, I should be thanking you, for dropping everything for a month and a half to spend some more time with me”

“It’s going to be weird not waking up next to you everyday”

“We can have sleepovers” he smiled.

“Flight 237 to London is now boarding” a voice came over the loudspeaker alerting them to their impending flight.

“That’s us” Harry said, standing up and picking up their bags. “You going to finish that?” he pointed to Anna’s almost full glass of champagne

“No” she shook her head “still feeling a bit funny” Those stomach aches had only gotten worse over the last few weeks of the tour, to the point where they no longer went away, they weren’t always crippling, but they were there, lingering, reminding Anna something wasn’t right. She’d promised Harry that as soon as they got home she’d make an appointment with her G.P, just to make sure everything was ok.

He gave her a concerned look, but still reached down and grabbed the glass, downing the whole thing in one go and shrugging when he put it down.

“I’m still a nervous flyer” he admitted “and if you don’t make that appointment the minute we get home, I’ll be doing it for you”

“I promised I’d do it Styles” she smiled and started walking towards their gate.

The flight wasn’t packed by any stretch of the imagination, in fact, Anna and Harry were the only one’s in first class and Anna was glad to have their privacy. Home was so close and it wasn’t until now that Anna realised how much she’d missed it.

The seatbelt light flashed red and the flight attendant gave the safety demonstration to which both Anna and Harry paid very close attention and once it was over and the plane was happily soaring through the sky, Anna took out her laptop and started typing. Her holiday was over now but that wasn’t official until there was a blog post about it.

The End of an Era

Ok, I admit the title of this post sounds a little dramatic but hear me out. On April 7th 2017, Harry released his first solo single which now holds a lot of meaning for a lot of people, myself included and yesterday, on July 14th 2018, he performed the final show of the world tour for that album.

Now, for those of you that have been around so nice before H and I started dating you’ll know that I was fan, and I, like many of you, remember listening to “Sign of the Times” for the first time and thinking that this song was going to make a difference to my life in some small way.

Flash forward to a year later and I was at Harry’s London show and that song that should have only made a small difference to my life had suddenly made a huge difference.

These last few months have been a whirlwind but I wouldn’t change any of it for the world. I’m writing this post as I sit on the plane on my way back to London and I’m filled with all sorts of feelings about it all being over. On the one hand, I’m happy to be going home and seeing my friends and family again but on the other, I’ve had the time of my life on tour and I’ll be missing everyone that I’ve met along the way. No matter what happens with Harry and I, I will forever be grateful for all of the fun that I’ve had on this tour for all of the memories I’ve made and all of the chances I’ve had to meet you guys. Every night at every show I watched thousands of people sing along to Harry’s lyrics and some nights, some people would see me singing along and come and join me and those are some of the happiest memories that I have.

Harry and I would arrive at each venue around 5pm every night, and when we got there, all 83 members of the crew would have everything all set up and ready for soundcheck. I know Harry thanked them every night, but their work was truly tireless and I’m pretty sure most of them only slept a few hours a night, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to thank them as well, because without them the tour wouldn’t have happened and I wouldn’t have had all the fun that I did.

Before I go, I have a story to tell, for Clare Uchima, who told me to write about Ping Pong, back before you all knew about me and Harry and I decided not to incase you put it all together, which I’m sure many of you did anyway. I have never been one known for her sporting abilities, but backstage on this tour, there was a ping pong tournament. Now, Harry ended up winning and you can decide for yourselves whether it was rigged or not, but that’s not the point of this story. The tournament was organised by yours truly and it gave me the chance to get to know everyone on the crew. It all came to an end at Madison Square Garden, and everyone gathered around to watch the final match and that’s how I’d characterise the tour, supportive, friendly and above all kind. Treat People with Kindness was more than a slogan on a t-shirt, it was everything that mattered on the Harry Styles world tour and it’s a big part of why Harry and I are an item.

As for an update on my plans for this blog now that I’ll be home, I’ll go back to posting daily again, and there’s lots of new content to come your way too.

I’m off to have a nanna nap now, thanks for sticking by me through this wonderful journey, I can’t wait for our next adventures.

Anna. x

Anna’s Mum had promised to meet them at the airport and she was excited, but Harry was nervous. This would be their first meeting, and it would be at heathrow airport. He knew they wouldn’t be there long and that most of their conversation would happen in the car and back at Anna’s flat but that initial introduction would in front of onlookers, something he should be comfortable with by now and if this didn’t mean so much to him, it would be different, but he needed to make a good impression.

“You alright H?” Anna asked, watching Harry fidget in his seat just before they were about to land.

“I just realised that I’m meeting your mum as soon as we get off this plane”

“She’s a lovely woman” Anna yawned

“I don’t doubt that” he smiled “she raised you”

“That she did” Anna rested her head on his shoulder “so her name is Debbie, but let her introduce herself first, she hates when people know her name without her telling them first”

“That seems fair” he said, running his fingers through her hair

“And don’t be too intense with the eye contact, she hates that”

“Like mother, like daughter” he sighed “anything else?”

“Not really, we’re essentially the same person, so if you won me over you’ll be able to win her over pretty easily”

“I can’t kiss her though” he giggled. The plane was landing and they were trying to keep themselves distracted but as the wheels hit the runway, less than smoothly, they both flinched.

“I hate planes” Harry sighed

“You really should consider a less international career then” she laughed.

Now that the plane was safely on the ground, Harry was feeling more nervous than ever. He may be able to get on stage in front of thousands of people every night with ease, but meeting Anna’s mother was absolutely terrifying. Especially when he was tired and dry from the flight.

Being in first class they were the first to leave the plane and once again, because he was Harry Styles and he spent a lot of time at heathrow airport, they were fast tracked straight to customs and onto baggage claim. Their bags rolled in and both picked them up.

“No no no” Harry said, taking Anna’s bag from her “Can’t have your mum thinking I’m not a gentleman”

“You’ll make her think you’re a mad man if you’re trying to wheel two suitcases behind you, it’s on wheels, I’ll manage”

“Fine” he sighed “You feeling alright?”

“I’m feeling like I want to go home” she snapped playfully “and please don’t say anything to mum about me not being well this whole time, it’ll will just worry her”

“It worries me” he admitted, putting his arm over her shoulder “come on Elliot, let’s get you home”

“Mum’s at the arrivals gate” she rested her head against his shoulder as they walked and ignored everyone that stared at them along the way. It was reasonably quiet for an airport this big and they didn’t have to weave their way through hundreds of people to get to Anna’s mum.

As soon as Debbie was in sight, Anna pulled away from Harry and left her bag with him so that she could hug her mum.

“It’s been so long my love, I’ve missed you” Debbie said into Anna’s shoulder without breaking the hug “How was it? What’s he like?”

“He’s amazing, but you already know that, I told you over the phone just about everyday”

“Well I have to see it to believe it” she laughed wiping a tear from her eyes with an old handkerchief that Anna had gotten her for mother's day when she was about 5. Harry waltzed over to them with all the bags and held his hand out to introduce himself.

“It’s lovely to meet you Mrs. Elliot, I’m Harry”

Anna cringed at the formal introduction, knowing that her mum would hate it, but what else was he supposed to call her if Anna had already told him not to call her Debbie.

She covered his hand with both of hers and smiled up at him “The pleasure is all mine Harry but please, call me Debbie”

He smiled and flashed his dimples at her but he didn’t know what to say next, like all of his charisma had been left on that plane.

“Well Debbie, your daughter has changed my life, so I should thank you”

“You two didn’t elope did you?” she laughed nervously, half convinced that they had

“No Mum” Anna shook her head

“We weren’t even in vegas” Harry said proudly.

“Good because if my daughter is going to marry a pop star I want to be at that wedding”

“Ok mum, let’s not to get too ahead of ourselves here” Anna tried to steer the conversation away from marriage, she didn’t want to freak Harry out, it had only been three weeks of officially dating after all and there were three little words that were yet to be said. “

“Alright then kids” Debbie broke the silence “you’ve been on the go for months, let’s get you home”

***

Since being home Anna had been busier than ever, between setting up brand deals and revamping her blog so that it was easier to navigate and maintaining her daily posting schedule, she barely had time to breathe. But today she’d promised that she would put it all down and spend the day with Ronnie. Things with them had gone back to normal since she landed back on british soil which Anna was thankful for, she had her best friend back, but they hadn’t spoken about it. About why when she said she was going away with Harry, he started ignoring her, why he didn’t say goodbye at the airport, or why, for the last 6 weeks he hadn’t even bothered to send her a text to check in.

It was such a nice day out that instead of spending the day locked up in Anna’s flat they decided to go to peggy’s, get a coffee sit outside and catch up on everything they’d missed. So Anna threw on a sundress, put her hair up in a messy bun, slipped on her favourite sandals and made sure she had a cardigan in her bag incase it got cold later. She would usually ride her bike to Peggy’s but she wasn’t feeling up to it today and she certainly wasn't dressed for it, so instead she opted to take it slow and walk there at her own pace. The building was beautiful in summer, covered in lovely pink flowers, with tiny garden tables sitting out the front, where Anna saw Ronnie sitting, talking to the waitress who she was sure he had a crush on.

“Hiya stranger” she said as she approached the table and the waitress smiled at her and walked away. Ronnie stood and opened his arms, bringing her in for a hug.

“It’s good to have you home” he sighed, breaking the hug and sitting back down again.

“Have you ordered?” she asked, sitting down and draping her handbag over the chair

“Yeah, Bella knows our order” he said

“Bella?!” Anna said, raising her eyebrows

“No” he said bluntly, “You know I don’t date”

She rolled her eyes “You should”

“Oh yeah” he laughed “now you’re happy and in love you think everyone else should be too”

“I just think you should put yourself out there more, you’re 24, live a little”

“Says the girl who flew halfway across the world with a stranger just so she could get to know him better, that’s living a little too much don’t you think?”

“It worked out though didn’t it?” she wasn’t going to give him the chance to tread on her relationship with Harry when in reality he didn’t know anything about it.

Bella, the waitress, walked out the door towards their table, carrying a tray with their drinks on it wide smile plastered on her face as soon she made made eye contact with Ronnie. She put the drinks down in front of them, without saying anything and brushed her hand over Ronnie’s shoulder as she walked away. Anna looked at him curiously and he just shrugged his shoulders, blowing her off before she could ask about it again.

“So when do I get to meet him then?”

“When you decide that you don’t hate me for making it work” Anna said bitterly, refusing to make eye contact with him. She looked down at the steaming coffee that was sitting in front of her, and the ill feeling that was now a constant suddenly got worse at the thought of drinking it.

“I don’t hate you Anna, I could never hate you”

“Then why are you so bitter?” she said, still looking down

“You never tried to make it work with me” he said softly

It always came back to this. To that night that they promised each other they wouldn’t speak about again. It was years ago, they’d only just moved to London, they didn’t know anyone else in the city and they were drunk. It never meant anything to Anna, but it did to Ronnie and it came up everytime Anna started dating someone new, and even more so when it ended.

“We’ve been through this Ron, we’re friends, I couldn’t live without you, but friendship is where it ends”

“I know” he shook his head “I’m sorry, I know I’m not supposed to bring it up”

“It was four years ago Ron, this is why you need to get out there”

“Let’s just pretend I never said anything yeah?” he sighed and took a sip from his drink. “How was the tour?”

“I had the time of my life” she smiled “You remember the london shows and how happy everyone in that room was?”

Ronnie nodded

“Well it was like that every night, and Harry is incredible, everything about it was amazing” Anna could talk about for hours if she wanted to, but she knew that Ronnie didn’t want to hear it

“Was New York as good as you’d hoped?”

“That was when we got found out, so no, but it had nothing to do with the city”

“I don’t know why you went out in Central Park if you wanted to keep it quiet”

“It was Harry’s idea” she said “Hang on, how do you know about that, I never told you”

“It was all over the news” he said casually, “I kept up, even if we weren’t talking”

“Thanks”

Anna’s phone that was sitting on the table in front of her buzzed and drew her away from the conversation.

“Styles 🕺 Did you make that appointment yet?”

“Is that the knight in shining armor?” Ronnie chuckled

“Yeah” she grinned “He’s just checking in.”

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getinthefunvee · 6 years

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//how does a new writer to the roleplay community on tumblr get started? Ive sent out starters, I've replied to starters, I've answered memes, I've reblogged memes, I've made my own posts, I hardly OOC. Everyone seems so exclusive. It's not encouraging, and it seems rather cold. What advice can you give?

// Hi there, nonny! Let’s see if I can offer a little RP Ancient™ advice.

The first thing to know about the RPC is: when you start out (or reboot, or come back from a long hiatus–and boy, do I know about those) it takes a lot of time & effort before you get into a steady RP flow. It’s always been like that, so that part? Is purely about relationships, because that’s what RP is: a sort of mutual pact between two (or more) people to put in a similar amount of effort to entertain one another. Quite often, longer-term RP partners turn into IRL friends, because you spend so much time investing in one another. You help each other grow as both writers/RPers and your muses influence each others’ growth. It requires a fair amount of putting yourself out there and extroversion and, yes, rejection–just like IRL relationships.

Here are some things to consider if you’ve been at it for a couple months and still feel like you’re floundering:

1) Is your character pleasant to RP with? Okay, this isn’t an attack, but a chance to step back and consider: what would the other character(s) get out of interacting with mine? A character needs to have depth, an interesting personality, a unique voice, a fully actualised emotional range. If you write a villain, grouchy, or a superpowered person, it’s off-putting if they’re essentially a walking God-mode, all-knowing, superior, unrelentingly do nothing but maim/kill off others, or shut down every interaction with glares/bitchy comebacks. That’s no fun for anyone to interact with, so if you’ve fallen into any of those tropes, you may wish to think abound expanding on your repertoire.

2) Are you putting in as much effort as your partners or prospective partners? We’re all different. Effort is relative, and everyone looks for something a little different, but essentially when you get a reply, you want to feel as though the other person is as invested as you are. That means matching length (it never has to be line-for-line, but if someone’s written 6 paragraphs and you only have 2 lines of reply, please talk to them: they’ll want to know why their reply only stimulated 2 lines of response from your muse, or to know that you’re only comfortable writing shorter things; otherwise, you’re not likely to get another reply), driving plot forward (I can’t tell you how many RPs I’ve had fizzle because someone’s several-paragraphs-long replies only at core yield ‘and they nodded’, forcing me to consistently develop all action/development–we’re not always ‘on’ and not every post is a ‘masterpiece’, nor should it have to be, but if one person is doing 100% of the leg work on this every single time, it’s not going to end well), and developing character relationships (be they platonic or otherwise) in an engaging, satisfying way. Also, each RPC has its own conventions, so you may wish to check that you’re ‘conforming’ to those, at least broadly–ie, if the Marvel RPC convention for short replies is 100x100 or smaller static icons and you’re using 300x150 GIFs and large font, people may find it off-putting.

3) How many muns have you spoken to? This is part of putting yourself out there. Sometimes the person is a mutual, sometimes they’re not. Do always read people’s rules (I presume everyone would already do this) just to make sure they’re comfortable being contacted by ask vs IM. Don’t leap in with ‘hi wanna plot’; do introduce yourself, say hello, tell them what you enjoy about their characterisation, and suggest that if they were open to the idea of RPing, here are a few suggestions for possible plots you’ve considered with their character in mind. Not all of that has to be in one message, but when someone approaches me like this I’m almost uniformly thrilled to play with them.

4) Are you being too limited in your focus? You’re starting out, and maybe you like to write novella plots and/or huge world-building AUs. Awesome! However, you need to develop relationships for those to take off. Many people just getting the hang of RPing do short-form threads. This does three things: 1) helps you establish your character’s voice, 2) offers content/’samples’ for people browsing your blog to view, and 3) gets your URL out there on other people’s dashes. (I meet the vast majority of my RP partners because I loved how they wrote with someone I already RP with, or they saw me on their dash and liked what I did. I cannot overstate the importance of this!)

5) How accessible is your content? This may be just me, but is your blog at least somewhat legible? I’ll be the first to say, hey, my blog font: not super comfy to read! I use ‘read on dash’ for my own posts! I am a fucking sham!! (ie your theme means I can’t scroll to the end of your rules because the ~smoky shadows~ fully obscure the last paragraph; your text scrolls out of the box, onto your background art, rendering it unreadable; broken links!); 3) difficult/obscure navigation (if I have to wave my cursor around your page for 5min before I can find a link, I’m mad); 4) okay this is probably just me, because it’s super popular, but: autoplay, some of us get easily overwhelmed by sensory input and if I have my noise-isolating earphones on and I tab over to your blog and suddenly it’s SUPER LOUD ASSAULT, it’s really jarring.

6) Are you exploring other RPCs? Some communities are much more welcoming to new/inexperienced RPers than others. That’s definitely sad, but it’s a good thing to know. I love the Marvel RPC because of the friends I’ve met through it, but it’s one of the more clique-y and exclusive-focused RPCs I’ve ever been in. By contrast, DARP (Dragon Age, ayy) is very welcoming–and, for me, often a little *too* chipper and extroverted. I’m not saying this to call one better than another, but just to illustrate that RPCs can be very different from one another. If you’re having a hard time in one, consider expanding out to another–it doesn’t mean you have to ditch your character or your desire to be in another RPC, but it may give you the experience and confidence to tackle some of the harder-to-access RPCs on Tumblr.

I don’t want to overwhelm you, and I can only speak from my own experience, but hopefully that gives you something to start with, nonnie! If anyone wants to pitch in, please do feel free to comment.

#❮ ▽ ❯ psa #❮ ⎊ ❯ out of coolant #|| feel free to reblog i guess if you find this helpful? idek

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dillongaggiaa2media-blog · 7 years

Text

Evaluation Question: Comparison

“In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?”

Although the definitions of codes and conventions may be common knowledge at this point in my media career at A2, it is important to keep in mind exactly what they are, so I know what I should use as reference when creating my own content.

Codes are simply devices used in media products, (also called micro elements) that make up the whole, finished product (also called the macro representation). These include symbolic, technical, enigma, institutional and referential codes and they are everything that the audience sees, hears, thinks and feels. For example, institutional codes make the studio that created the film known to the audience in the form of titles appearing at the beginning and end of a film. Enigma codes, however, are within the film itself and make the audience ask questions, keeping them captivated. Conventions could be described as ‘generally accepted’ ways of showing things - they define what is ‘okay’ to do and what is not and work together with codes to create the entire film.

Main Task - Short Film

In order to ensure that I cover every aspect of my short film in terms of the way it uses, develops and challenges forms and conventions of real media products, I will break it down systematically into its core elements; location, costume/props, cinematography, editing and narrative. I will show how I have taken inspiration from, developed further or challenged the conventions of each respective element within the genre.

Location

My short film is set in the modern day. The genre of the film is leaning towards comedy, although the focus of the film is a fantasy-type world that the character lives in. Nevertheless, the general setting is everyday locations such as a suburban house and a school. As most media texts of this genre share this setting, my short film is conventional.

^ This image shows the location of the protagonist’s house. It is a quiet area, showing that the he and the other characters in the short film are all ‘normal people’. This was the intended setting for the film, as it allows for the plot to occur (it allows the protagonist, Will, to enter and exit his dream world and return to the normal one, thus creating the comedic effect). Many comedy films are set in the modern day, as they allow for the creation of everyday scenarios that the audience can relate to. For instance, a comedy set in either the future or the past would have to make reference to elements of the modern day in order for humour to be understood or even created.

An example of a modern comedy film that is set in the modern day is Office Christmas Party:

^ Released late 2016, Office Christmas Party follows all the conventions of a comedy film, the setting included. It is set in modern day, in an office building, where the majority of the film takes place. This is an environment that is common to and is visited by many people everyday - the audience will understand e.g. office etiquette and the hierarchical system of employee and employer, allowing a film in the comedy genre to take advantage of this and break these conventions to create humorous situations that would otherwise need more context or exposition to be understood.

The same is seen in my short film, except I have not limited myself to just one location; my short film takes place across a wide range of locations, from an ordinary suburban house, to a school, to a library. In this way, the setting appeals to every kind of person. Although the intended audience for my media product is young adults, especially as the protagonist of the film is themselves a young adult, the scenes in the film are set in areas recognisable by everyone, where comedy can easily be created by subverting conventions of everyday social situations without explanation as to why what the audience is seeing or hearing is funny - it is easily understood.

Costume / Props

Costume

The mise en scène costume codes are both conventional and unconventional for the kind of short film that I am creating. For example:

^ The protagonist, Will, is wearing clothing that is appropriate to the time setting of the short film. He is wearing a hoodie with jeans and trainers, so his costume not only matches the current time period, but also the conventional/stereotypical clothes of people his age. However, the colour of his clothes is what truly characterises the protagonist - the colour grey is commonly associated with darkness or depression, along with black, but instead of creating a sombre atmosphere like one might suspect, it serves to represent the difference between Will and the rest of the characters in the film world. Whereas everyone else is wearing ‘normal’ clothes, i.e. modern clothing, Will seeks to be different.

Additionally, Will’s apparel changes all throughout the film, depending on which dream he is in. In each of the dreams, he is dressed as stereotypically as possible to represent the character he is supposed to be. For instance, when Will is dreaming of being a spy, the audience would be able to connote from his outfit that he is in fact a spy due to the mise en scène costume code of a black trench coat and fedora.

Another example of appropriate mise en scène costume codes in my short film is when Will is dreaming about being a professional footballer;

The audience can easily tell from his outfit what he is supposed to be - he is wearing a standard ‘football kit’.

Props

The props used in my short film this year are a lot more involved than last year, making them a lot more conventional as well. For example, I wanted the protagonist to be the kind of person that is interested in fantasy. The way I decided to show this was physically, in the form of a prop.

^ As one of the ‘dream sequences’ that the protagonist was to go through involved him being dressed as a spy, I thought it fitting to merge the genres of fantasy and a spy-thriller in a comic book prop. However, as I was not able to find any material that I could deem usable for the short film, I had to create the comic book covers myself. As it was not necessary for the audience to see the inside of the comic book, only the creation of the exterior was required. As the prop was only to be seen by the audience for a short amount of time, simplicity in the design was crucial, so the audience could tell immediately what type of comic book it is - therefore, I named the comic book “SPY”, in large letters on the front. The small details add a lot to his character and helps conform to the convention that the main character of a film is usually a little bit different than everyone else. I have made another blog post on the creation of the covers.

Another example of a prop that was required for one of the dream sequences was an electric guitar. This is as Will dreams in the short film that he is playing the riff of a song (”Layla” by Eric Clapton) on the guitar.

^ This is from the shortest dream in the short film, and occurs when Will is walking to school, listening to the same song. The guitar was required for the verisimilitude of this scene.

This scene does not necessarily challenge the conventions of other short films, but the audience does not expect it; a character listening to music is something you might see quite often, but having them play the song they are listening to is unique to my short film and feels more natural due to the fantasy-comedy genre.

Cinematography

The cinematography of my short film is quite conventional of comedies. There is a mixture of all different types of shot. This is as there is not a specific theme required that the shots have to follow, but rather that the shots I used had to be the most appropriate for the situation. For example, an audience might expect to see many close-ups or extreme close-ups in a drama film, as that is the best kind of shot to evoke emotion from an audience, as the they can clearly see the character’s facial expressions, whereas in my short film, many different shot types were required to match the situation and to give every scene a different feeling/emotion/atmosphere.

^ One of the few close-ups in the short film, used here in a conversation between Will and another character.

^ A still from Titanic (1997), where a close-up is used of the protagonist Jack, incorporated through an over-the-shoulder shot. In this way, the cinematography of my short film uses conventions that are seen across various media products, adapting them for my use.

Editing

Continuity

I made use of continuity techniques all throughout my short film in order to ensure that it was smooth and enjoyable to view.

Here, match on action is used to continue the shot of Will walking up to the sign on the bookcase to the next shot where he points to the “sport” section. Match on action is a very conventional editing method and is seen across all kinds of media products. Another editing technique that I made use of was shot-reverse-shot.

Shot-reverse-shot is used during a conversation between Will and Ben in the library. This technique allows me to show which character is speaking and also allows me to show the facial expressions / reactions of a character to what the other person said. Above, Will and Ben talk about a football game that they saw, with the first shot also incorporating an over-the-shoulder shot of Ben. This is a very conventional method of editing and can be seen in many media products (like the example above from Titanic).

Additionally, I used continuity to show the protagonist’s interest in sport, or specifically, football. In Scene 1 in the bedroom, various football trophies are visible during the establishing shot on the character’s window sill;

[insert picture]

Moreover, the character’s duvet is a West Ham United one. Then, later in the short film, when he is dreaming of being a footballer, he is wearing a WHU football kit. Every film and short film uses continuity like this in order for it to be more believable - it adds to the verisimilitude of the film. Therefore, I made sure that I paid attention to these smaller details to make the character and the film world more alive and real.

Narrative

The narrative of my short film could be viewed as conventional, as it follows the life of a teenager in the modern world. It is conventional, as my short film is a comedy, and many films in the comedy genre are also set in modern times, so that the humour and jokes contained within the film can be more relatable to the audience. Contextual factors play a large role in the creation of comedy and one could argue that they are the foundations of comedy. For example, many of Shakespeare’s plays contained jokes or situational humour that a modern audience would not understand and therefore not enjoy as was intended; they would not decode the preferred reading that Shakespeare had in mind when writing the plays as humour and language have evolved over time.

Overall, my short film is quite conventional in most aspects. This is as I had limited opportunity to challenge what would normally be considered conventional, because of the fact that I chose to create a comedy. Although the setting (modern day, past, future) is more flexible in terms of changeability, almost everything else has to conform to preset conventions in order for the genre to work.

#media #coursework #evaluation

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thezolblade · 7 years

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Fanfic ask game~ C, F, G, and V. If that's not too much :')

Okay let’s try these for some of the fandoms we have in common, though not all apply to each letter.

C: What member do you identify with most?

- FF7

I was going to say that I don’t particularly identify with any of the cast, beyond feeling for them as the story plays out. But then I remembered, omg Shera. It was obvious from the start that she did her job and saved Cid’s life, but he gaslighted her for not telling him what he wanted to hear, and only realised that she was right after bullying her for years? Wtf Cid, go die in a fire if that’s what you really want. It left me thinking “…And…? Will Shera be okay? Will she finally leave and get on with her life?”

I don’t care what Cid named after her in AC, I want to know if she recovered her self-esteem & career & personal life. If you have a techy skill, and people who don’t know better try to undermine you, that can be such a tough situation to handle… Years of it would be horrifying.

- Revolutionary Girl Utena

Anthy most of all, I think. Not the drama and trauma at the end, but the solitude she maintains when it’s not yet clear why. The show did a good job of showing that school can be hell for a lot of people, for all kinds of reasons. And damn, it was painful seeing Anthy spending so much time alone, offering everyone a false smile, avoiding the crowds because they really weren’t going to do her any favours. It got frustrating in the early episodes, seeing Utena push her into things when she’d said she didn’t want to about as clearly as she was ever going to. And it was pretty gratifying to see Utena apologising for that at the end.

I mean it was also relatableto see Utena trying to do the right thing, and getting frustrated at the world when it was never easy. I’m still impressed that they managed to demonstrate so much emotional realism in the conclusion, at least as far as you can extrapolate reality for magical near-immortals or whatever they are. With the show being heavily metaphorical, and ending with everyone trying to take the same journey in the movie, it seems like Anthy’s struggles were meant to have universal elements - showing how you can self-sabotage by hurting others, and hurt yourself by telling others what they want to hear. How you need to be able to imagine better options before you can walk away.

- Golden Sun

Uh, Alex, somehow. He’s an embarrassing mess, he makes so many bad decisions which are all ‘wft are you doing?’, and Dark Dawn got into near-wallbanger territory where I was disgusted with both him and the game, bc the gratuitous damage seemed pointless and inconsistent from a gameplay perspective, and so far across the line from a characterisation perspective that it’s really hard to see why Kraden was programmed to say that Alex may have been 'helping in his own way’ or something like that. But in the first two games, at least, there was some complexity to his attitude. (And bits like that of the 3rd one indicated that the canon may still have been trying for nuance, only pretty poorly executed. #.# )

Still, gotta admit by now that judging from the amount of meta and fic I keep writing from his pov, something about his thought process is relatableenough that you can see why he’d think what he thinks, even if he’s wrong. When he actually provides factual information, it tends to be correct. He uses relatively inarguable facts to try to influence people, and the trolling is kinda unrelated. The manipulation isn’t emotional “Leave or I’ll be disappointed in you for picking this fight” - it’s attempted-impartial “Don’t pick this fight because your opponent(s) are too strong / your parents won’t be released unless you keep your side of the deal with those people.” Plus a side of “Lol you think I’m trash don’t you?”, demonstrating that he’s not trying to use a personal connection as leverage bc he’s burning those bridges, and still somehow expecting people to listen. ’I’m not on your side! But you should take my advice!’ Embarrassing mess…

And yet the others sometimes come across as relatively young and distracted by comparison, making assumptions about the world that he wouldn’t, and arguing over petty details. What is the point of panicking over things you can’t change?

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

Oh I like so much dialogue, tough choice. Uh well this probably isn’t the best scene, the oldest oldfic is still a messy WIP and I can tell it’d need a lot of work to match the newer stuff, and even to get it finished as what I originally envisioned I need to schedule a whole lot of time to work on it. But I want to, because I still love it, and since I haven’t managed to communicate the whole story yet to its readers, it feels like a self-indulgent choice. I’m pretty attached to the parts where Alex and Isaac get incredibly annoyed at each other, making the situation worse even while trying to work together, though they can’t each recognize genuine effort in the other - for a variety of reasons by this point.

“I… am sick of receiving derogatory communications from the aether, the last one wasn’t nearly as offensive, it wasn’t even real, - ”

“Wait, it’s… What?” Isaac was having trouble making sense of this. “Have you been getting obscene messages from the gods?”

“Can’t you go five minutes without bringing the gods into this?” Alex snapped, looking down again, seizing the chance to change the subject. “We are the ones with infinite potential!”

“Yes… but…”

“And you are the one capable of taking the rest…” It was only after Alex added this that Isaac realised he’d meant the two of them, not humanity in general. For a moment, he’d thought they were of the same opinion there.

“But is it… really…?” Isaac gestured at the paper, wondering how its message could be so irrelevant to Sheba’s fate. If it wasn’t about Sheba, what use was it?

“If you do not intend to believe anything you hear from me, why tell me to speak?”

“No, it’s… uh, don’t worry. I’ll take your word for it, for now.” Isaac smiled, realizing that 'don’t worry’ was slightly inadequate even as he said it. “We have to make sure it comes into existence the way it’s supposed to. First things first. We’d better head upstairs and tell the others the plan.”

“Bring them to me.” Alex could see that Isaac didn’t understand why he would request this. Shouldn’t it be obvious? Why would he want to go back to them, to approach them entirely on their terms? “Whoever would be involved, bring them here.”

“If it happened upstairs, you should probably try it there.”

“Do you think I still need higher ground?” Alex asked quietly, his voice barely audible over the noise of the water behind him - boiling water flowing from the cold tap.

G: Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?

Often from start to finish in as few sessions as possible, though if it’s long enough to take more than a few days, I end up jotting down dialogue notes, and then trying to put the notes in order, which gets more fiddly the more there are. The multichapter longfic get big chunks written out of sequence, which sometimes makes it easier to fill in the gaps by joining the dots, and sometimes leaves me blocked on how to tackle the parts in between.

V: If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

Not sure I could choose anything; other people’s stories are their ideas, and I generally want to hear more from the authors because they’re not the kind of stories I’d have intuitively come up with. Reading fic does tend to spark plotbunnies, but more those that place a headcanon in its own verse showing how else it could play out - different characterisation even if I’m adopting a headcanon I like. Back when I read more fic, I used to get the urge to play with the more macguffiny plot elements of things too, but never got to the point where I had a divergent fan-fan-fic that I could have asked the author about as far as I remember.

#ffvii #revolutionary girl utena #golden sun

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letsprayitwritesitself · 7 years

Text

call me right now, and i’ll cave, i’ll answer you (part 1)

and blame it on the booze

(a college au friends with benefits that goes the way every single fuckin fwb story goes but this time it’s about Jack and Davey so) (tw: mentions of sex and alcohol)

He barely knew the guy. Jack Kelly. He knew that he was a junior, like Davey, and from New York, like Davey. He was fairly sure he liked The Kinks, because of the poster up on his wall, but then, he also knew he was bi, so he might have just liked looking at The Kinks.

Okay, so he also knew that he was partial to a post-sex cuddle, despite appearances. And that in the few minutes after he came he was a jelloid wreck incapable of any words over a murmur.

And that he was maybe an art major??? Maybe???

He was in his own bed now, post-time number seven. Jack was sleeping next to him. The rising and falling of his chest was captivating. His brow was furrowed. His arm barely brushing Davey’s under the cover. Warmth. He knew he should have said no to Jack last night but sometimes he thought that even if he wanted to, he couldn’t.

Time number one. At a party. Davey had been tipsy, trying his hardest to participate and fit in, so he had been trying to match his roommate Race’s speed. He knew that this was dumb, that it would cloud his inhibitions and was all round a Bad Idea but he needed to make a good first impression. Even if this wasn’t his scene, he couldn’t afford to alienate himself from it.

Jack had approached him, a stranger. A stranger that he’d had repeated accidental (he thought) eye contact with all night. A hot stranger, who seemed more comfortable in this environment, a comfort that rubbed off on Davey. Jack started making conversation over the drinks table, catching Davey’s eye, something about how he hadn’t seen him here before - and the way he said it made it seem like he was happy Davey was there. He slid a can out of his six pack over to him and asked how he knew the host, and he was... so hot. Davey had, in all honesty, noticed him almost as soon as he’d walked in. That hot. But participating was one thing and approaching people quite another. His hotness was all Davey could compute as he accepted the drink and stammered out something about chemistry. Jack must have sensed that he had Davey straight away because he stalked round the table to talk to him, tapping their beers together and leaning close so he could hear over the buzz of the party.

Time passed and passed. They talked and talked. Friends in common, hometowns, the election. Underlying this Davey couldn’t quite figure out why Jack was paying this much attention to him but he wasn’t complaining, especially considering the fact that he hadn’t fucked it up yet. Jack was laughing in all the right places instead of just at him, and at one point he’d made physical contact, touching Davey’s arm to make a point, and it felt like something. So, yeah, maybe the line ‘Do you wanna get out of here?’ was a cliche, but it sounded like music to Davey.

His virginity didn’t last more than three hours after Jack uttered those words. They ended up in Jack’s dorm, Davey indulging in the alien sensation of just obeying his urges instead of overthinking everything. He was usually inclined to think that anyone showing interest in him was a joke, so he tended to brush everything off, from prolonged glances across the library to Race telling him to ‘Stop wasting ya college years, Dave, cuz it’s all downhill from here.’

He hadn’t expected, either, that he would wind up actually having sex as a result of going to this party. Obviously he had heard the cliches about college, watched Superbad, but he had never related himself to those characters. His sexuality had always been very hypothetical, even when he realised what his sexuality was. Being faced, then, with Jack, and decoding their body language, the way Jack would lean in, how it felt when his breath landed on Davey’s skin, just their proximity in itself, he knew that he couldn’t deny wanting Jack.

Heat, and Jack’s hands, and sudden cool air as his clothes were pulled away. Warm, hard kisses. Fleeting nerves which came from wondering if Jack could tell it was his first time but mostly a kind of stunned bewilderment at the beautiful guy touching him with this hot reverence.

Davey was propped up against the pillows, staring dazed at Jack as he kissed down Davey’s chest and stomach, smoothed his hands down Davey’s thighs, paused settled between Davey’s legs to look up at him and mutter ‘Fuck me, you’re beautiful.’ That image sustained Davey in the days following. Jack made him believe it, at least for that night.

And when Jack pulled Davey to him afterwards, nuzzling a kiss into his neck, winding an arm round his waist and murmuring ‘Are you okay?’ into his skin, it almost felt... loving? Maybe tender was the right word. Like Jack cared about him, at any rate. For a few minutes Davey fell into a shallow fantasy that what had happened with Jack was real rather than the kind of one night stand he had never envisioned himself having.

The morning after, the freedom to study and ponder Jack’s face ‘til he woke up was ruined by Jack’s alarm clock. Jack had turned it off straight away and rolled back over to sleep, but he had definitely seen through his squint that Davey was awake. He spoke into the room, trusting Davey would listen.

‘Why don’t you leave your number?’

And Davey had taken this as a sign that Jack wasn’t up for a chit chat, that he should leave, but that he hadn’t seen the last of him. He got dressed and wrote his number on a scrap of paper on Jack’s desk, before heading back to tell Race all about it.

‘Was it good? Was it great? Ah, I’m so proud of you, Davey Jacobs!’

‘It was nice! He was really hot.’ God, he was really hot. Davey hadn’t managed to give himself a mental pat on the back last night, so he did it now. ‘He asked for my number.’

‘So he can hit it again?’

‘I guess.’ Davey lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling as he talked. He would do it again, he thought. It couldn’t hurt to get some practise at this whole... boy thing. ‘We had a really good talk, before, at the party. But I guess it was probably just a preamble.’

‘Guy starts talking to you at a party, Dave, he probably only wants one thing. But if you both want the same thing then what’s the problem?’

‘I didn’t really know that this was a thing I wanted. Now I do.’

‘Sounds like you can have it anytime now, and I would if I were you.’

‘I might. I don’t have his number, but if he calls. I might.’

He didn’t call. And Davey was... Fine with it. Not like he knew Jack. He had tried hard to quell any fantasy that something more might come out of their night. It was a fun learning experience, that’s all. He had college to focus on -

Never mind. He saw Jack again a few weeks later at a tailgate. Race tended to drag Davey to these things, insisting that Davey had the academic part of college down pat but needed a little assistance in the partying department. He had bumped into a couple of kids he knew from classes and so had managed to stumble through the night on a comfortable level of mildly inebriated social interaction. It was just as the sun was setting and the air was growing chilly that he felt a light tap on his shoulder. When he turned around Jack greeted him with an almost coy smile.

‘Hey.’

‘Jack!’ Too surprised to be cool. Nice. ‘How... What’s up?’

‘Not much. Hey, I’m sorry I didn’t call you, after the other night. I had fun.’

‘Me too.’ This was weird. Standing opposite a near stranger knowing what they looked like when they... And also knowing how good at it they were. ‘I guess. College. Busy. Right?’ Smooth.

‘Right! Listen, you hip to any after parties tonight? Cause I was thinking...’ Jack raised his eyebrows. Davey blushed, obviously. Was this college? Was this how everyone did it in college? He looked at Jack’s face, considering. Jack was standing in front of him, offering him the night. Essentially it was just a logical choice - he could either sleep with Jack, or not sleep with Jack. At that moment, with Jack standing before him in all his smouldering, brooding good looks, and solid track record - Davey decided that yes, he would very much like to sleep with Jack. He bit his lip.

‘What did you have in mind?’

The weird thing about hooking up with Jack was how it always went from 0-100. Obviously they had a simmering tension between them as they talked and it was this that characterised their hook-ups through the weeks, and Davey, once he got used to it, completely loved how abundantly affectionate Jack tended to be. As soon as he gave the nod at the tailgate Jack transformed, taking him by the hand and leading him away for kisses, backing him up against a nearby tree.

Davey was beginning to understand how these things worked, how by throwing themselves in at the deep end instead of building up a relationship they minimised the risk - couldn’t ruin a friendship that didn’t exist. If he had turned Jack down the first time things wouldn’t be awkward between them because they didn’t know each other, unlike if say, Race came on to him.

That’s not to say that there wasn’t a tiny Something between them. They’d slept together, after all. There was enough of a something that Jack could say things like ‘I was thinking about you last week, Dave. I couldn’t concentrate in Chem cause I was thinking about your ass.’ But then enough of nothing that time could stretch and stretch between their encounters and neither really minded.

Heat blossomed under Davey’s skin as Jack spoke into his ear. He combed his fingers through Jack’s hair. ‘Trying to make me blush?’

‘Trying to do more than make you blush.’ Jack slipped a hand under Davey’s shirt, thumb stroking his skin. ‘Who you here with today?’

‘Just my roommate. I haven’t seen him in hours.’

‘Won’t miss ya if you leave?’

Davey shot a cursory glance over Jack’s shoulder but couldn’t see Race and probably wouldn’t care if he did. He took a brazen step forward, pressing their chests together, letting their lips barely brush. ‘Let’s go.’

And Jack did contact him after this one. For time number three. Davey was in his PJs, studying up a storm on a Friday night. The room was silent, Race was out, and it was raining. One more chapter, then bed. Until his phone buzzed on the desk, snapping him out of his reverie.

U up?

He raised his eyebrows. He was up. He could just answer the question honestly and pretend he didn’t know the implications of answering yes. So he did. And Jack was at his door not long after with a wolf-like grin and a night full of exciting ideas.

This was how it happened the next few times and it became an easy, reliable Thing. Every so often a flash of self-consciousness rendered Davey uneasy about their situations, doubts about if he was being taken advantage of, or if he was taking advantage of Jack - and where was this going, because it was either going somewhere or nowhere, and which was worse? But to be honest, Jack seemed okay with all of this, and that meant Davey was inclined to be, too. It was nice to be able to rely on these encounters as a distraction from school. Jack made him feel good.

So he noticed the eleven days between times number six and seven. The last three had been in relatively quick succession so when the days started piling up, each one that passed felt a little longer. What was Jack doing? Why wasn’t he calling him? Was he with someone else?

Did Davey care?

He dared to verbalise this one night as Race was getting ready to head out, knowing full well that he risked Race coming to the conclusion that he was falling for Jack. Which, of course, he wasn’t. He just missed the hook ups.

‘Two things, Jacobs.’ Race sat on the edge of his bed, staring at him, emphasising with several points of his finger. ‘You’re a free agent, and there’s a whole world of guys out there waiting for you. Don’t gotta just be one guy.’ Davey raised his eyebrows in assent. ‘Second? You’ve got a phone. You’ve got hands. You’re telling me you can’t text him?’

Of course he had thought of texting Jack but the idea had struck him as so ludicrous that he’d discarded it. Jack always texted him, that’s just how it... worked. But Race looked so matter of fact. Why couldn’t he text him?

‘You’re right. Shit, you’re right.’

‘I’m always right, Davey. I’m out for the night, now. Good luck, and sweet dreams.’

Hey Jack

hi Ja

Hey do you want

my place ten min

Shit. Shit. This was hard. What did Jack usually say? Davey couldn’t bring himself to just text u up? It was ten on a Saturday night. Jack was obviously up. His eyes lingered on the eggplant emoji. God, even worse.

You should come over if you’re not busy

Okay, almost. He tried to think of Jack picking up his phone, reading the text. It needed to have that little bit of assertion, flirtation, and some kind of nonchalance. This was so hard. How did Jack do it all the time?

You should come over

Smiley? No. No smiley.

Send.

Shit.

Was that right?

Too late.

Fuck.

He threw his phone down on the bed and picked his book back up. Read a few pages. Checked his phone. Read a few pages. Checked his phone.

Nothing.

Around midnight he jammed his phone under his pillow, fighting away that special kind of humiliation that comes from putting yourself out there and failing. Lights off, teeth brushed. Another Jack-less night. He could probably use the sleep anyway.

It was two hours later that he was woken up by his ringtone and a loud buzzing under his pillow. He scrunched his eyes shut against the harsh white light of the screen but he had glimpsed Jack’s name.

‘Jack?’

‘Daveyyy...’

‘Are you okay?’

‘I’m outside!’

He sat up in bed, taking a second to think. Jack had, in a way, replied to his text, which was great news. But four hours after getting it, which was shitty. But, then, he was outside, which was what Davey wanted. Well, what he had wanted when he texted him earlier. He should tell him to go home. He should tell him that he wasn’t about waiting for Jack to come by at his leisure whenever he wanted sex, or that he couldn’t just wake Davey up in the middle of the night and expect hm to -

‘I’ll come let you in.’

Time number seven.

(Part 2 soon)

#newsies #newsies fic #javid #jack kelly #davey jacobs #i understand jack is bein a fuckboy but youre going to have to bear with me on this one #part two is coming very soon but its a surprise when #even to me lmao

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braced-music · 7 years

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Metronomy –Back To Basics

First published in the print issue of Sixtynine Degrees magazine. May 2014

Joseph Mount sits wide-eyed inside a small space shuttle bound for a crimson soaked planet stalked by sphinx-like cats. Released last November, the video for ‘Aquarius’ - Metronomy’s first single since the Mercury nominated The English Riviera – conjured up images of Joe in the three years since the band’s last record lying back in a field near his Parisian home, arms behind his head, watching the night sky in search of astrological inspiration for the Metronomy’s return.

“No, not at all.” Joe laughs when we ask him about the supposed divine theme behind his band’s fourth album, Love Letters. So, why the sci-fi video for ‘Aquarius’? “That’s Edouard [Salier] who directed it” Joe explains when we enquire, like Sheldon Cooper rubbing his khaki trouser legs, as to whether he’d been boning up on Star Trek and Blake 7 for his intergalactic adventure. “I knew he wanted to have hairless cats in it and I thought, ‘fair enough, you’ve got to let them do what they want,’” he says with a chuckle.

The astrological influence didn’t stop there as the band also collaborated with the app, The Night Sky, to allow users to play the single if they lined-up their smartphone with the constellation of the same name. “To be honest, someone at the record label was like: ‘you know, we should do it on this thing.’ And I was like, ‘well, that’s a brilliant idea,’” he says again laughing. With the record being released aptly under the air sign of Aquarius, surely Joe must have at least a tiny secret interest in astrology? “I quite like how ridiculous it is,” he says finally caving, “these things that just help you if you’ve got a bad feeling about something or you’re particularly moody - you can blame it on something that’s happening in space. I quite like that, it’s quite reassuring.”

In fact Love Letters was not born from one place, either in the heavens above or the land below, as Joe took a more basic approach to creating an album as he sought to escape the confines of being bound to a sole idea as he had been on the The English Riviera: a concept album based solely on the his home county, Devon. “I wanted to do a record where I didn’t have to explain it in the same way that I did before” he says. If the album is defined by anything it is by something much more human than the events of the night skies and one that has characterised Metronomy’s career since the beginning: love. The band’s breakout album, Nights Out, was a four to the floor lament to unrequited young desire with tracks like ‘Heartbreaker’, ‘A Thing For Me’ and ‘On Dancefloors’. It’s follow-up, The English Riviera, took a more mature approach - whilst holidaying on the west coast - contemplating floundering relationships on ‘Trouble’ and sensuous liaisons on ‘Love Underlined’. Love Letters picks-up the same baton with Joe this time influenced by being away from his wife whilst on tour. “When you’re touring all your basic experiences involve travelling and being away from people, people you’re maybe in a relationship with or your family,” he explains. “That’s the only thing I could write about that was actually real”. Opener ‘The Upsetter’ urges in crack tones the record’s mission “I gotta beam my message to ya” to a lonely drum machine, ‘The Most Immaculate Haircut’ is a last ditch attempt to save a broken romance and title track and single, ‘Love Letters’, is near religious ode to Joe’s career-long dedication to l-u-v.

Joe’s straightforward approach to the album also extended to the studio as the band turned their backs for the first time on digital technology to make it. “The only thing vaguely conceptual was me wanting to record it in an analogue studio and record it in a dated way” Joe says. Recorded at Toe Rag studios in Hackney, the band performed live together as a group onto reel-to-reel tape. “Most of the tracks on the record are live essentially,” Joe reveals, “things like vocals I did afterwards, but pretty much everything was done like that - it’s a nice sociable way to record.” By going back to the method that most musicians used before digital sent analogue to mixing desk oblivion it forced Joe and the band out of their creative comfort zone. “If you give yourself these limitations and you give yourself this way of recording it hopefully makes you write differently and write different kinds of songs. I kind of try to do it to make me do something interesting creatively”. Although, recording the old-fashioned way was an experience the band relished, Joe’s certainly not throwing out his Mac anytime soon as he hastens to add, “I’m not against computers or anything like that, I love computers!’

One thing that remained the same was Joe’s place as the leader and main songwriter in the band. “I was still writing everything and I’m still in control,” he says with a sinister laugh. “Because [the band] was a thing I started it feels very personal to me - I’m too afraid to give any of it away.” With the responsibility solely on his shoulders and the pressure of following-up a Mercury nominated album was there ever the risk he’d crack Brian Wilson style and end up in a rocking in a sandpit in only fireman’s helmet for company? “I started trying to write the new stuff as soon as I finished The English Riviera and for me that’s the best way of avoiding the pressure… to start writing and planning the fourth record before the Mercury award nomination even happens.” And, as he confides there’s always a much harsher critic to appease than the fans or the critics. “I always try and outdo any pressures I feel from other people with pressure of my own. I think it should always be coming from me rather than the record label.”

Listening to the album it has a clear path: starting out with a basic handshake of pared down vocals and barren beats on the ‘The Upsetter’ only to break into a full gospel funk embrace for title track, ‘Love Letters’; it’s something that was by no means an accident as Joe explains. “If you listen to it all in the right order there’s a moment where it goes from feeling small and minimal to suddenly being luscious and open.” This way of thinking came partly from Joe hitting the vinyl crates to track back to the late 60s and early 70s when albums reigned; it was at time when the now standard 45 minute LP was considered short, studio time went into years rather than days and the musician’s creative freedom was decadently indulged. In particular, Joe took inspiration from bands like The Zombies and Sly And The Family Stone – bands that told a story over recorded opuses rather than individual tracks. “They made these records that were progressive in their own way at a time when the world was changing,” he says passionately. “There was a spirit in music when people were making these psychedelic record; it was an unusual time when people were allowed to be crazy and to almost out-crazy each other with these ambitious records.”

It’s a was time, he agrees , that is in direct contrast to the present day where the album is becoming an increasingly obsolete format: streaming and illegal downloading have starved labels of the cash needed to give bands time in the studio and fans can ignore an album’s running order and cherry-pick tracks for themselves. If Joe could push Peter Capaldi out of the way and jump in the Tardis would he go back and destroy the means to stream and download? “If you’re a teenager, 13 or 14 years old, an album costs £8 or £9 and not everyone has that kind of money, well not young people anyway,” he says “so, I think to have something where you can stream the music and then you can be like, ‘I want to buy this album’, and then you can save-up’ - I think it’s good.”

Unlike anti-Spotify proponents like Thom Yorke, streaming is something Joe sees, diplomatically, as opening up music to a wider audience and ultimately benefitting the musician in the long-term. “It’s easy for someone like Thom Yorke, it’s easy for older people to not think like young people” he says. ”Whatever I think I’m a lot older than most people who are using Spotify and I trust them to make the right decisions, and if they like something to go and buy it and I think hopefully that’s what other people can appreciate as well.” Before adding quickly at the thought of a 5ft 5 pony-tailed ball of anger turning up on his doorstep, “I’m not slagging off Thom Yorke!” Although, he thinks it’s a pity that bands don’t get the time they used to in the studio it’s something that he believes strangely might actually work-out to be to the benefit of fans. “Even if you made a terrible record people had no choice but to buy it if they wanted to listen to it. Now, it’s a bit harder - you can’t really justify it as people don’t have to buy it.”

Renowned for their live shows Metronomy hit the road this March for a full UK tour. “Festivals, touring, festivals, probably some touring, bit more touring” he laughs when we ask him about his plans for the rest of the year. The line-up is still “the same old gang” with Oscar Cash, Anna Prior and Olugbenga Adelekan. The Michael Gondry directed video for their second single, Love Letters’, sees the band taking their style-cues from The Four Tops as they sport matching Ron Burgundy erm burgundy blazers, black turtle necks and cream slacks – it’s a look they’ll be taking out on tour. Joe also reveals that the album cover – all bubblegum pink clouds – will be part of the stage set. “We’re going to get a stage set sorted out and we’re going to go for that sort of feel – nice and pink.”

With the past put to rights and the band’s immediate plans certain, what does Joe predict for Love Letters in the future? “Hopefully it sell some copies in the real world,” he says pragmatically before adding, “I just want people to enjoy it really and to not be too cynical when they’re listening to it.” Marie Wood

#metronomy #love letters #electropop #joseph mount #sixtynine degrees

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