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tbhimnoteasyonmyself · 2 months

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Who is White?

If it is not I, your friendly neighbourhood non-binary deranged literature major, once again to tell you about stuff that the voices™︎ have prompted me.

This time, let's talk about the elephant in the room, the odd one out: Mr. White, a.k.a the fandom's babyboy.

(me as Fluke in this GIF, walking in ready to dissect this bitch)

So, what do we factually know about this man?

From what we're directly told in the show:

He's Tee's boyfriend, at least, since 12th grade, meaning they have been together for about 3 years, maybe 4 (depending on when exactly we are in terms of time in the present and when exactly during 12th grade they started dating).

He's younger than the rest of them, according to Por and Top in episode 1.

He studied at a different school from the main gang AND from Phee (yes, despite the embroidery having a similar colour, the writings where the institution's name should be are nothing alike, thus, not from the same place)

He cares a lot about his appearance (he does skincare when Por is literally dying downstairs and he sees a rash on his body while under the effect of New's absynthe - idk if it's absynthe or not but my friends and I have been calling it that since we saw them drink the green drinks so it's absynthe for me and there's that).

He's generally a very respectful person (he always speaks formally and nicely to everyone, even when people are hostile to him, like Tee or Fluke).

His fear doesn't seem to paralyze him in high-pressure situations (he strikes people with a tripod twice to save himself and others when he thinks they're in danger).

Another source could be the Yearbook, which, now, we have to be a bit more skeptical about because, as seen in New's case, it's not 100% accurate. One can argue that it is accurate because the yearbook would have Tan's info, since that's who he's living as and no one knows any better than that, including the institutions and, sure, yeah, fair. But while we don't know that White is hiding anything from us as well, we can't be sure of it. So, take the following with a grain of salt:

(translated with Google Translate)

His legal name is Watcharin Siriphan

He was born on the 25th of February 2005 (which confirms what Por and Top say)

His blood type is A (which according to the Blood Type Personality Theory means he is shy, stubborn, a perfectionist, polite and hard-working, apparently. tbh this thing is super shifty, no source seems to agree on the meaning of each type and, of course, it's a pseudoscience and all, so... yeah. take it as you will)

He's studying Software Engineering

He likes cakes

He dislikes cockroaches

He plays games and programs in his free time

So... We don't know much. He's the most generic person ever. Like... I too, and half the world's population, like cake, dislike cockroaches and like to play games. It's not exactly very special. Which is exactly why he is so intriguing. After all, we had 5 whole episodes so far, which were just the backstory of the people we see together in the mansion in the present. We've seen their personalities, their qualities and flaws, what they did and what they didn't do. We've been given a reason as to why they're here. Not just in the more direct sense of "they agreed to come here for Jin's goodbye party" but of why exactly they needed to be put all together in these conditions for this story. All except White. White is just... Barely an afterthought. We're shown when he comes into this story for the group (when he becomes Tee's boyfriend), but we're not given a reason so far as to why the narrative wants him there.

Because, sure, IRL people sometimes end up in random places and things can be pretty meaningless but this is a work of fiction. One that, evidently, has been greatly focused on details (Non's framed apple picture and Phee eating an apple alone, for example, or the correlation between the group and the colour blue). So why would it just throw us a character that is, seemingly, irrelevant to the story?

And to this, there are 2 possibilities my friends: either White is a narrative tool to get to the audience or White is not who we think he is. So let's explore it, shall we?

White = Narrative Tool

Let's start by assuming, possibly the most likely outcome, that White is exactly just a guy who ended up there due to his connection to Tee. Why would this narrative need that character?

Glad you asked. Because he's the only person who's 100% innocent. If he's just some guy who, as we've seen, keeps being respectful and nice and trying to always do the right thing, then he's got nothing to do with the others who, in different degrees are all guilty of something. He's the odd one out.

Because, yes, this is not a show of villains (at least, not in which concerns the main characters). They're all morally grey. But they have some drop of black that makes them grey.

Por is arrogant and a liar and selfish.

Tee is aggressive and manipulative and a control freak.

Top is an overall asshole and a coward.

These 3 actively bully Non. Por steals his work. Tee and Top blame him for shit he didn't do which puts in the situation where he owns Por and they spy on him. Tee manipulates him into mafia money laundry and threatens him.

Fluke is selfish and refuses to take action even when he knows it's the right thing to do.

Jin's doesn't have the capability to realize that the peaceful passive way with which he normally carries himself with won't solve the issue. Plus he's overly emotional. And a bit selfish too.

They didn't help Non when it was their moral obligation to do so. And Jin records him being abused by their teacher and possibly posts it online (though that's still up for debate).

Phee is too stubborn and also overly emotional and even overly empathic.

New is obsessive and vengeful.

Phee never really helps Non because all the ways he offers Non help are the wrong ones. He almost tries to control him. And he fails. And then he tells him awful things and breaks up with him in a terribly vulnerable moment for Non. And even when he regrets it and tries to bring justice to him, he fucks Jin because he wanted to and tries to cover it up as if it was part of the plan. Sure, they were broken up, technically, but Phee himself seems to have had "take-backies" over that breaking up. So, in his mind, at least, it's fair to say he cheats on him, which is very hypocritical after how he reacts to Non being abused. And New... He tries to help sincerely because he feels guilty but he only makes things worse. Nothing is solved and their father curses them both before committing public suicide at their mom's funeral.

Non (which may be even more relevant if he's still alive) is overly independent and uncommunicative.

He doesn't tell Jin he has a boyfriend when it's clear Jin's trying to make a move on him, event though Non's not interested. He hides very important things from Phee. He commits fraud (understandably, but yeah). And yeah, he's justified in his rage and attack but... Does he ever think of how his actions affect other such as Jin, for example, who, in his eyes, is innocent? Not really.

"Oh but White won't die!", I hear you say. "The innocent people never die in slashers!! Only the people who did the killer wrong do!" And that's exactly where I have to disagree.

So, amidst a sea of grey characters, White is, funnily enough: white. He's just good. He's done nothing wrong. And the narrative needs him because, when the others die, we'll feel (to different degrees, sure, but still, we will) that there's a reason. Even if we like the characters, those deaths will make sense. But what happens when an innocent man dies? What happens when you kill the man who wasn't even supposed to be there (he joined the trip at the last minute)?

As @syrena-del-mar says in this post: "DFF is more than just a 90s slasher film imitation". It "sits at a novel intersection of genre: horror slasher on the one hand and BL on the other hand" as @brifrischu puts it here and, for that, it bends expectations and rules and subverts what are natural tropes and events of the slasher archetype. White dying is the sort of thing this narrative, and our inventive genius Sammon, would do. Because... Do you really think they're giving us grey characters instead of black ones because we're supposed not to question this revenge? Because we're supposed to be happy about this? No. Of course not. That would be dumb. If we're meant to 100% side with the killer, then why give us likeable characters as the targets? Because, and this is as much speculation as it is reading the room, we're not.

This story, I don't know how it will end, but regardless I'm pretty confident it's supposed to tell us something important about cycles of violence: that they're neverending until someone chooses peace instead. That aggression and bloodshed and revenge... They won't bring time back, they won't undo the mistakes we make, they won't restore that which is lost, they won't make the grief go away... That they won't make us feel better. More even: that they will only hurt more people, create more injustice and prompt more revenge. And, thus, perpetuate the cycle.

So what's White's role? Being the final drop into our collective cup of realization (and perhaps the characters' as well) that this revenge mission is pointless and won't solve anything. White's role is to die.

"Oh, but uncle Dang was also innocent! Is his death not enough??", I hear you ask. And well... Maybe, maybe not. I think, honestly, his death is too impersonal for us to feel too deeply about it. Like, sure, yes, it is the death of an innocent, but it's a distant innocent. It doesn't make our blood boil because we don't know shit about that man. But, for all we don't know of White's past, we've seen him cry, we've seen him scared, we've seen him fight for his life, we've seen him be a good boyfriend and a good friend. He might just be some dude but we like him. He's the fandom's babyboy, as I said. It is more impactful and it tells the story better.

But this is just a hypothesis. And it might not convince you. And that's fair. So, because I'm a persistent obnoxious fucker with a little too much free time, I'm bringing you a second theory. For this one, though... You might need a little tinfoil hat... Be prepared.

White ≠ Who He Says He Is

So, if you think just having a character be hollow and pure good in a show of very fleshed-out and grey characters is weird, even if he might be narratively relevant, then we can only assume there's something important to White's character we don't know about yet. (I'm adding this in retrospective because I forgot but this idea came to me partially from @yellingaboutkp and their great analysis of horns in the show that you can find here)

But what could that be? We've seemingly seen all the flashbacks we needed from everyone, White doesn't seem very relevant to anyone's storyline but Tee's but... We'd assume if there was something directly connected to Tee's actions and White that we needed to see, we would've. Admittedly, the next episode seems to be on its way to tell us what Tee knows about what happened to Non and Keng while they were captured by the mafia and he could be there but I think, honestly, that it goes deeper than that. And here's why: because there's a person who's even more of an odd one out then White: whoever Perth's character is.

Now, he would've been completely unsuspicious if it wasn't for one thing: Perth's presence in the promotion of this series. He's just... Always there, somehow? Like, his character has only really appeared last episode massaging Tee's uncle but he's constantly talking about this series. Plus, his name is very well credited. AND, the absolute cherry on top, his character appears in THIS poster:

Now, yeah, I understand Marketing and Publicity (it's part of my Master's, you don't have to explain it to me). So, I know this could very well just be a strategy to sell the series. After all, Perth did get a lot of attention after The Hidden Character, I know, I know. It's also a way to put his name out there for other future roles, kinda like a soft launch. Plus, this is the show that killed Us's character first when he was one of the most popular actors in the cast. HOWEVER, I'd argue that, considering the previously mentioned attention to detail, they would not have given one of their rising stars a role in this series if it wasn't important. Like... No other background character without lines (so far) was given an important actor to play it. So pardon me, but I don't buy it. Perth's character's gotta matter somehow. And, back to what I was saying, I think the next episode will be exactly where.

See, I made a poll here on the hellsite asking what y'all think happened to Non. It's this one. And it shows that, overwhelmingly, we all think Non is alive BECAUSE he was helped by the man himself:

"Okay, Dante, but, even if that's true, where does White fit in all this?" Glad. You. Asked.

Now, if we're assuming Perth's character's the one that's gonna help Non (and possibly Keng or maybe not, idk and it really doesn't matter for now), we've gotta assume he's a possible suspect for the murderer. And even more so under this optic that Non is alive. Who more than a person whose whole reality seemed to be the mafia and who might've escaped it would be okay with murdering people? Right? Or, on the contrary, that he took a liking to Non and is trying to prevent him from further digging himself a hole in life and is trying to save him from himself.

You see, I didn't watch The Hidden Character (and those who did apparently recommend it stays that way). I didn't know any of these people before except those who were in Kinnporsche. And you know what that led me to? Curiously enough, dear reader: confusing Fuaiz with Perth. So, yeah, you know where this is going... White and Perth's character might be related. Brothers, probably.

"All because you think they look alike?" Well, if you ignore the way I just explained how it would tie some very loose ends... Yeah, kinda. BUT, in my defence, it makes a lot of genetic sense.

See, no other characters in the show really look this much alike. Believe me, I tested it.

For this purpose, I tried many different sites but the one that seemed to give me the most reliable results was FaceShape. Most characters got no more than 10%, some even got 0% (e.g. New and Perth's Character). And you wanna know how much White and Perth's character got? Nearly 50%.

For comparison reasons, New and Non who are CANONICALLY brothers, got about 30%.

BUT, if this is not convincing enough, my sister and I (who share EXACTLY the same 2 parents) got lower than them.

(pls ignore the picture, I was trynna make it as accurate as possible so I took a front pic with a neutral expression. also, my sister is censored for privacy reasons)

Now... Will I claim this is irrefutable proof? No. Not at all, but think about it: if White and Perth are related that might maybe explain how Tee and White met. It might also explain that really weird scene in the pre-release trailer (albeit all scenes in that are rather odd) where White-

Yes, thank you, Obi-Wan. And Anakin Tee is looking up at him, as if White has more power than Tee does. Because then, it could probably mean that White knows something and is probably there to do something. What exactly? Idk, man. He could be there to ensure the group remains clueless/confused or that they remain where they need to be for things to work... Or he could be there to try and prevent stuff from happening much to the likeness of what I stated for Perth's character's case.

"Oh, but if he knows something, wouldn't he know what happened to Non? Why would he be curious to watch the recording??"

Well, not necessarily. We know Non is not communicative and that he doesn't typically share his problems with anyone (the exception being Keng, obviously, but then again, the exception confirms the rule). And sure, Keng might be more talkative but idk if he would say something if Non asked him not to. I have a feeling he probably wouldn't (since he has that weird thing JJ mentioned about how he "loves Non" and, therefore, even if he's an abuser, he doesn't perceive himself that way and wouldn't do something he actively thinks would hurt Non). So, while Perth's character would know what happened to Non while he was being held by Tee's uncle and even some things about why he is there, he probably wouldn't know the rest.

But then why would he date Tee? Well, this is a narrative so... Foils are something that can happen. Having White and his relationship with Tee be a parallel to that of Phee and Jin is not weird and, in fact, has happened in the very first episode when both couples arrive at the room where the singles are, in pairs. Therefore, it wouldn't be weird to think of White as someone who maybe also fell in love with the guy that was supposed to be a means to an end or, alternatively, and perhaps more interestingly, have White NOT be in love with him and actually succeed, unlike Phee. Thus, drawing the comparison that, while Tee and White are in a relationship, White didn't fall in love and, inversely, while Phee and Jin aren't in a relationship, Phee did fall in love.

And this would mean that all we've seen of White's fear might, in fact, be an act to throw suspicion off of him. Or even more justified because he knows exactly what's lurking in the woods... After all, why would he suddenly join Jin's goodbye party if he's not a friend of Jin's? What reason better than to tag along your boyfriend's getaway with his friends if not to protect him from the terrible consequences of his actions?

But I get it. It's an extremely convoluted theory and, in all honesty, maybe makes the show more dull and boring if it's true because... Why would they repeat this "secret brother" twist? Or the dating with second intentions trope? It could be a narrative parallel, yes, but I can also definitely see how people could point that out as uncreative or lazy writing.

Either way: these thoughts were circling around my head and, before the next episode confirms or destroys them, I wanted to get them out into the world for y'all to, maybe, hopefully, join in on the hype for it, as it's less than 24h 'till it airs. Hope in that I was successful, at the very least.

Anyway... As usual feel free to (politely) argue with me, tell me I'm wrong, tell me I missed this and that, add to it, etc... Because if there's one thing I currently love more than DFF itself, it's definitely the fandom and I want us to make the most of it!!

I'll see y'all tomorrow when we're freaking out about episode 10!!!

All the love! 💜💜💜

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muxshwriting · 5 days

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arsonist's lullabye

Kaz Brekker x reader

summary: when Kaz Brekker is poisoned by a hallucinogen, it’s not Jordie he sees, it’s you || warnings: poisoning, death, revenge, pekka rollins || word count: 698 || masterlist

Kaz could feel himself falling backwards but can’t stop it. He closes his eyes and lets the darkness consume him.

The warmth around him takes him by surprise and he opens his eyes to find himself on the floor of a merchants shop. You’re standing behind the counter. You, who used to be friends with Kaz before everything and grew up with him and Jordie. Even after everything happened, you kept in touch, always offering a helping hand when you could.

"What brings Kaz Brekker into my shop at this time of day?"

One last thing, you were also dead. You had died at sixteen when the Dime Lions had raided your store and taken everything you’d worked so hard to get. Kaz had been the one to find you that morning. He had sat opposite your body, unable to touch you but unable to look away. He had done everything he could to make sure you were buried nicely and left in peace for the rest of time.

You hadn’t deserved the hand you’d been dealt and to see you standing in front of him now was jarring, to say the least. The woman in front of him now wasn’t the sixteen year old that had died, you were the same age as Kaz, all grown up like you should’ve been.

"Kaz?"

Kaz took a breath. "You’re dead."

"Everyone dies at some point Kaz. I know I’m dead because I’m not actually here. This is all in your mind Kaz, so enjoy yourself."

"What?"

You lift yourself onto the counter. "Your mind showed you me for a reason, what are you searching for?"

Kaz stayed silent, pulling himself to his feet. It was then that he realised, he wasn’t wearing his gloves, his hands were bare.

"What do you want Brekker?"

"I want revenge." Kaz’s expression hardened. "I want Pekka Rollins dead, for me, for Jordie and for you."

"Kaz, he doesn’t even know who you are."

Kaz sneered, "He knows Kaz Brekker."

"And I’ve known you since before Kaz Brekker was even born." You say to him. "Don’t lecture me about the past."

"If you have all the answers, what are you here for?" Kaz angrily asked, getting more annoyed at your mirage.

"There are never many options in this world Kaz, especially in Ketterdam, you need to learn to use what you have."

"Stop speaking in riddles."

"We all have demons Kaz Brekker. You don't forget about them and they don't go away."

"What the fuck does that even mean?"

You laugh at his misery and confusion. "You need to wake the fuck up. You're living in the past, letting your ghosts dictate your future and letting yourself be led by them instead of by yourself."

"Says the ghost."

"I'm telling you to move on Kaz. Wake up and do something for you, not me or Jordie." Your voice was getting louder and louder, trying to get Kaz to listen to you.

"Do something for me!? I've only been doing things for me my whole life. If I didn't, I'd me dead. My hands are covered in blood I've spilt, for me!"

"Look at your hands Kaz Brekker."

He does look down at his ungloved hands. They're absolutely impeccable and spotless, if a little pale.

"If you are the infamous ‘Dirtyhands’, get your hands dirty Kaz Brekker. Get your hands fucking dirty!" You yell. "Stop being a coward and stand up."

Kaz snapped his eyes opened, pushing someone's hand away from him as he took his first real breath in minutes. The harsh reality of your words was starting to sink in, except they weren't really your words.

How was he supposed to move on the way you wanted him to? He had to make your death worth something, make your life worth something even more. How was he supposed to forget everything that had happened?

But you had also said that demons are always there. So he should use his demons however he wants because they're his demons. They do what he wants and the whole world is at his fingertips...

All you have is your fire and the place you need to reach.

taglist: @aoi-targaryen

#kaz brekker x reader #kaz brekker #grishaverse #shadow and bone #six of crows #muxshwriting #muxsh #arsonist's lullabye

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ccuniculusmolestus · 7 months

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Bunny Corcoran ;The Death Of Innocence

(I wouldve added images beside the first one from the book with highlights to provide evidence for a statement but like damn, tumblr wont let me for some reason. i'll try from a different device later)

I think Bunny was also supposed to be the picture of innocence.

I know what you're thinking: how can a loudmouth bigoted ass character 😒 be innocent? I'm with you. Surprisingly, Donna wrote extremely 3 dimensional characters. Sometimes, to really understand a certain character, you have to look at all their aspects, zoom out of the negatives (which Richard would have preferred to remain zoomed in on to justify his compliance in the murder of someone who considered him a friend) and look at them as a WHOLE.

Let's define the word innocence in this context with the help of my sturdy old friend, Google.

1. The obvious, Bunny committed no crime. He was innocent in the legal sense.

2. Without experience

We can say he was less experienced in the basics of life (was 24, didn't have a bank account, couldn't even drive i think? We never see Bunny drive. Didn't even have finances or know how to manage them-clearly. He might not even have understood the gravity of his over-spending nature)

3. Lacking

Clearly, when compared to his peers, he was lacking;

Financial help from his family (except when it came to comparing him to Richard). You could argue the twins were as poor as him- its mentioned in the book. But the case here is different. Bunny's parents were rich, yet he was not. The twins came from a middle class family, and they had their grandmother sending them money. Someone was taking care of them. Bunny had been thrown into boarding schools his whole life and learned to "fend" for himself by becoming a thief and a mooch. Two very different lifestyles.

He could also be considered to lack in academics. He struggled with dyslexia (and I think also ADHD), which is implied to have affected his studies/studious motivation

Bunny was also lacking in pretentiousness; and I'd wager that, though he probably was insecure, he wasn't insecure in a way that made him chase an aesthetic to such a fatal degree. Yes he was a man of illusions, yes he kept these illusions up to maintain a certain image of himself (in that regard, he was very similar to Richard, whose narration of Bunny is usually judgmental). But Bunny was not pretentious like Henry, Julian etc were. He wasn't walling himself in to be an elitist in a scholarly way, I think this fact is reflected in the fact that he had friends and connections outside of the class.

4. Not responsible for a crime but suffering it's consequences

Bunny isn't involved in the bacchanal, yet he suffers its consequence. He finds out about it, has multiple breakdowns to the point of getting drunk and writing an absolutely insane letter to a teacher with his feelings and suspicions bared, and he also opens up to Richard in his drunken carelessness. A mistake which cost him his life. He wasn't just killed because he was annoying, or that he knew too much-- Bunny had to die because he couldn't deal with the weight of knowing what had been done. Or perhaps, he couldn't deal with what the reality of his closest friend was.

5. Not corrupted

Easily, Bunny isn't corrupted with what I call " visions of grandeur" like everyone else in the class is. They all thought they were something. Henry and Julian especially. They were obsessed with ideals that, in a practical sense, ran the risk of polarizing their own selves. We could also speak on the fact he technically wasn't free from moral wrong. He was homophobic, rude, kind of hateful. But in a more fundamental way, he wasn't corrupted in the sense that he did anything that was major AND physically wrong.

I know verbal offences are valid too, and I'm not excusing his hatred/hate speech, I'm just saying.

Even him stealing that goddamn cake from the fridge or something, which Richard tried to conveniently paint as "he doesnt care for people (forget that he can't read)". YES, stealing other people's food is bad, but is it (done for survival?) as bad as:

incest (also pre-unhinged Charles, I dont know if what the twins did was consensual or if Charles used to force himself on Camilla or use an abusive dynamic to make her submit. I think that only came on after Bunny died, but idk)

poisoning someone's dogs

killing a baby chick or whatever weird shit richard did as a kid. and then as an adult the many questionable things he did

francis lowkey seemed like a sexual predator and i understand this might make people upset but i feel like he preyed on Charles' weakened mental / alcoholic state to sleep with him when charles (despite being bi) was not comfortable with the fact that he was attracted to men and wouldnt sleep with francis when he was sober.

Julian is just all wrong

6. Simple ; naive

So, without repeating anything- I genuinely feel like Bunny was so simple sometimes he was genuinely a dumbass. His death itself....how did he see the man he KNEW wanted to kill him (and I know this because in the letter to Julian, Bunny explicitly mentions "He" (Henry, not "THEY" the class) is going to kill him)

He sees them all there and still lets his guard down. He was so naive, that despite his very real paranoia of being stalked/killed, he still engaged with them like they were just a bunch of friends.

Another thing, child-like attributes are often related to naivety. (Him bouncing on everyone's beds that one morning, he was hyper, couldn't regulate his emotions, even his anger and aggression was very childish/immature in nature)

7. Not intended to cause harm

This is the only one I disagree with, because this was the only sense in which Bunny was NOT innocent. He very much had antagonistic qualities and intended to cause emotional harm to those he didn't like.

CONCLUSION

But yeah, overall, he practically fits the innocent role, which is why i think, after his death, things take such dark turns-- the reader loses their innocence too, in a sense, with the things that are revealed about the twins, about Charles, about Francis/Charles, about that one awful moment where Richard thinks the vilest shit about Camilla. The group starts falling apart and becomes disillusioned with each other- Richard starts seeing everyone for who they are, as well. His irritation towards Henry and the rest becomes palpable, and he also realizes his true friends could have been Judy etc (the normal students).

To lose one's innocence, we first have to encounter a scenario or go through something that gives us a greater awareness of the pain or the evil we are surrounded by. Here, losing Bunny was the catalyst in making Richard (and by extension, us) realize the characters and situations for what they really were.

#the secret history #tsh #bunny corcoran #henry winter #francis abernathy #charles macaulay #richard papen #camilla macaulay

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froggywritesstuff · 6 days

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abed's rom-com | abed nadir

pairing: Abed Nadir x g/n!reader

fandom: Community

request: @lilfartbox1 (i am so sorry for the wait 😭) : please any abed nadir comfort / fluff pieces like theres a little angst of them miscommunicating their feelings for eachother and then find out theyve both been doing the same thing of trying to make the other jealous etc

content warnings: not proofread, fluff, angst if you squint extremely hard

word count: 910

A/N: yikes this is rushed but i recently started watching community again and this had been in my drafts for too long so i wanted to finish it

Abed knew he wasn't the best at dealing with his emotions, often turning to his favourite sitcoms and movies for help. Especially when it came to romance. He hadn't had as much experience with it as he would've liked, so when he realised he started liking you in a romantic way, he quickly became panicked. You were part of the study group, meaning if he started liking you it could potentially ruin the dynamic of the friendship. But when Annie told him you felt the same way about him, he knew exactly what to do. Except he didn't. It wasn't working the way he had planned. He'd been reenacting an age old trope; person a makes person b so jealous that they eventually confess their feelings for person a. He started off small, making sure you'd see him catching glances at some random student in the cafeteria, and zoning out as if he'd been thinking about someone else. That was half true. To make it realistic, he'd always think about you when he pretended to zone out. When someone - normally Annie, who Abed told all about his plan - would catch him staring at someone and begin to tease him about it, he noticed how quiet you would get, how you wouldn't engage in any other conversations and would even leave because you were 'late for something else'. He didn't like it. The last thing he wanted was to know he made you upset. But no one in the movies ever stopped their plan halfway. As much as he wanted to, he didn't stop his plan.

He suspected that his plan was working when you started doing the same thing he did and made him jealous. It was either that, or his plan had backfired and you thought he didn't like you so you moved on. Either way, he still felt insanely jealous of whoever you began to like- whether they were real or not. He needed you to confess to him soon. Very soon. Being so jealous as well as not being sure if he had any reason to be jealous was driving him insane, he couldn't even focus on studying. Not that much studying was happening though.

"Abed, is everything ok?" he barely even registered the question, and was not able to recognize who's voice that was.

"What?" he mumbled back, his mind still elsewhere as he spoke with the group.

"We asked if you were ok." Annie began speaking, "You seem kind of out of it today."

Troy nodded, "Yeah, you and Y/N." Abed's head perked up at the sound of your name, suddenly giving Troy his full attention, "Neither of you have laughed at anything I've said today." he said, looking quite sad.

Abed looked over to where you were sitting, the two of you meeting eyes. You looked at each other for a moment, before announcing to the group you had to leave, not knowing that Abed was following behind you. You stood in one of the more secluded halls, startled when you saw Abed next to you.

"Shit, you scared me."

"Sorry," he said, making less eye contact than usual, "I wanted to tell you something."

You nodded, signalling for him to go on.

"I like you, Y/N." he was quick with his confession, after hiding his feelings for long he wanted to get straight to the point, "I know you like someone else, but I need you to know how I felt." as he spoke, the situation became more and more real to him. No matter how cliche the plot between the two of you was, it wasn't a cheesy rom-com movie. It was real life. And in real life, there wasn't a guaranteed requited love story. There was a chance you could reject Abed's feelings, and his friendship with you would be ruined. "I'm sorry if this makes things awkward between us," he said, a frown taking place on his lips, "You're one of my closest friends, but I couldn't keep this from you, that wouldn't be fair to you."

You watched and listened to his confession intently, seeing how genuine his expression and words were. He wasn't playing a character, or just reenacting a scene - no matter how much his confession sounded like it was taken straight out of a rom-com - it was real.

"Abed," you began, "There's no other person. I made that up." you explained, though a part of you figured that he guessed that already, "I only acted like I liked someone else because I thought you liked someone else."

He couldn't help the smile forming on his lips, "I made that up too,"

His smile was contagious, as you quickly felt your lips turning upwards into a smile as you laughed softly, "You should start making romance movies."

"I have no interest in doing that. I could but I don't think I'd find it very enjoyable." he paused, "But I appreciate the sentiment."

"Speaking of movies, would you wanna see a movie with me sometime?"

"I would like that. We can look at session times together when we're finished studying. We should also get back to the library."

You nodded, unable to stop the smile growing on your lips as you asked, "Do you wanna hold hands when we walk back or...?"

He smiled softly and held out his hand for you to hold, "I would like that."

"Cool." you took his hand.

"Cool cool cool."

#fanfiction #abed nadir #abed nadir x reader #abed nadir x gender neutral reader #community #danny pudi #x reader #gender neutral reader #abed nadir x y/n #abed nadir x you #fluff #froggywritesstuff

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muddyorbsblr · 2 years

Text

a heart like yours part 1: the mission

Summary: You're on a mission with Steve, Wanda, Natasha, and Loki to apprehend a healer who's been performing extreme acts of vigilante justice. Your altercation with her makes your life take a turn for the worst.

Pairing: Steve x Reader; Loki x Reader (eventually)

Word Count: 3.2k

Warnings: cringe bf Steve and his god-awful nickname for you, childish petty jealous bf Steve, angst [let me know if i missed anything!]

"Hold on, so why are you going on this mission with the rest of them? And Romanoff, too?" Tony asked Steve, who was currently briefing the entire team on the mission that would start in the morning. "I mean okay I understand Rock of Ages and Maximoff because they have magic that can fight against this…what does she call herself again? The Sin Healer? Can I just say? Terrible name."

"Craptastic," you butted in, leading Tony to bump fists with you.

"And you," Tony pointed your way. "I understand you going. You speak the language like a local. But your boyfriend here?" He pointed at Rogers. "And Romanoff?" He pointed Nat's way. "I don't get it. You're better off replacing yourself with Thor on this one, Capsicle."

"I can assure you that I can keep Lady Y/N safe, Steven," Thor spoke from his chair, munching on a pop tart and effectively getting crumbs everywhere. It was a godsend that the staff were so efficient in the tower or else he would've caused an ant problem years ago. "You have my word that between my brother and I, we'll bring her back in one piece for you. Isn't that right, Loki?"

"That is correct, Brother. What ever magic this Sin Healer wields, I should be able to deflect it with no issue. I will stay close to Y/N and ensure that she will not be in any grave danger." He gave you a soft smile that you couldn't help but return, causing Steve to let out a barely audible groan. Despite all your reassurances throughout the eight months that you'd been together, Steve still maintained quite the sour attitude when it came to Loki's very obvious soft spot for you.

You were the only one that he didn't speak to with an air of superiority, as if he was looking down on you, as if he saw you as someone with an inferior mind. And you were also the only one who didn't treat him like he was a time bomb set to go off if you so much as breathed wrong around him.

That, and he called you by your first name. With the exception of his brother, Loki only ever called everyone by their last names.

The thought of him protecting you grated on Steve's nerves something bad, and he'd never tell you, but that was the only reason he assigned himself on this mission. It was no secret to him that you liked the god, perhaps even held a tiny crush on him when he moved into the Tower two years ago, something that you'd never admit to so he never bothered asking you.

But what was also no secret to him that was for some reason completely oblivious to you, was that the god had feelings for you. Maybe even loved you.

Despite what the rest of the team might think, he wasn't some naive old-fashioned "howdy how do you do ma'am" rootin' tootin' naive boy from the 40s anymore. He put in the effort to adjust and understand the world around him. And that included the cues that anyone displayed, human and god alike, when they were hiding their feelings.

"I will go and I will stay close to Y/N," he insisted, reaching over and weaving his fingers through yours. "We're gonna be fine, babe." He really said it more to himself than to you, but it got you to send that smile his way, and that was enough. "Natasha and I are joining this mission because the Sin Healer can turn people into her own personal puppets and with the power she's been displaying, she might have a troop at her disposal. Those who aren't going will stay in the Tower on comms to assist remotely. As for the rest of us? We leave at 0500 hours."

You barely slept that night, thinking about various strategies that you could employ to weave your way through the crowd and smoke out the Sin Healer.

Honestly the biggest atrocity at the moment was that sad excuse for a villain name. If she wanted to sound menacing she shouldn’t have tried to sound like she was Christ Incarnate—

"Y/N, Couchie, go to sleep, I'm begging you. I can hear the wheels in your head turning," Steve grumbled, throwing his arm around you and spooning you. "We have 12 hours to battle plan on the jet, and I don't want you falling asleep mid-flight again. Last time you nearly split your brow on Laufeyson's armor."

You groaned at the memory. No one wanted to take the seat next to him, still acting like he was two steps away from throwing them out the emergency exit doors mid-air, so you parked yourself in the vacant seat, much to your boyfriend's panic and dismay. Next thing you knew, you were waking up with the raven-haired god holding you in a gentle and cautious embrace, one hand supporting your head, and your faces inches from one another.

Naturally, you righted yourselves within seconds and pretended nothing happened. Really, nothing did. But it did paint quite the suspicious picture to anybody looking at it from an outsider's perspective. It definitely caused quite the argument between you and Steve the minute you entered your apartment in the tower, with him asking you point blank if anything was going on between you and the Asgardian.

You two nearly broke up that night. Had it not been for Steve apologizing hours after he stormed out of your place, telling you that Loki himself had approached him and explained that he only held you like that because when the jet hit some turbulence, your head had swayed so dangerously close to the metal adorning his armor and he didn't want you slicing your face open on it.

"I'll just make sure I don't fall asleep next to Loki then," you retorted.

"Just try to sleep, baby," he murmured, pressing a kiss to your shoulder.

You tried. You failed. Something in you had a niggling feeling that this mission would end badly for at least one of the members of the team.

And a large part of you felt so conflicted because instead of worrying about the well-being of yourself or your lover, or even your friends Nat and Wanda. No. Instead you found yourself foolishly worrying about undoubtedly the most powerful person on this mission. The thousand-something year old god who could probably perform this mission in his sleep, the one who didn't need worrying over.

That silent unnecessary worrying was what led to where you were now, head leaned back against the wall of the Quinjet, strapped in as secure as can be (maybe a touch too tight for comfort) thanks to your overly cautious boyfriend, trying desperately to catch some winks while you and Steve waited for the rest of the team to board.

"I told you to sleep earlier," he gloated in a tone similar to that borderline annoying 'more superior than thou' tone that he used in that star-spangled PSA.

You felt someone occupy the seat next to you. "Hey, Couchie." You groaned at Nat's teasing. Everyone who knew the nickname Steve had taken to calling you had their opinion on it. It was atrocious. And you had to agree.

Unfortunately he insisted that the name would stick, continually using it with his soft voice and puppy dog eyes. He said that he came up with the name because as a kid he always preferred to sleep on the couch because it was the more comfortable than his own bed, so couches were a haven for him, a place that reminded him of safety. Security. Home. "That's how I feel with you. So I guess you're stuck with it," he explained back then with a sweet smile on his face.

And stuck with it you were. As cute as the backstory was for it, the only thing you held on to was he liked to fall asleep on couches. So did that mean that I bring him to sleep? you thought to yourself once. You didn't know whether to be flattered or offended.

"You wanna use my shoulder as a pillow or should I empty my seat so that Laufeyson can stay here instead?" Your eyes shot open to glare daggers at the master assassin, who had a smirk on her face as she stared at you right back. "He even stashed the metal on his suit to wear later when we actually land. Pretty sure he did that for you."

You groaned again. A few months after Loki moved into the tower, you had a few too many drinks with her and Wanda, letting slip that you found the god "devastating infuriating panty-dropping levels of attractive". They relentlessly teased you now every opportunity they had, and that incident with you falling asleep on him was just the cherry on top.

But what really fueled their jokes was something unknown to you. Shortly after you started dating Steve, the two women had stumbled upon the god asleep in the library and Wanda had the devious idea to try reading his mind. He was dreaming of you, dancing with you and whispering confessions of undying love in your ear. She immediately exited his mind after, and told Natasha everything she saw.

Natasha stood up and vacated the seat next to you right as Loki stepped into the Quinjet, signaling to the empty seat with her eyes which caused the god to look at her with a confused suspicion. She hid her smile as he took her cue and strapped himself in beside your sleeping form, taking her seat beside Steve, who was now visibly seething at the sight of his girlfriend once again dozing next to the god of mischief.

"You could've stayed there, instead," he grumbled at his friend. "You and Wanda could've flanked her."

"Flanked who?" Wanda asked as she took the seat beside Natasha. One look in your direction, at the god who was currently eyeing you the way people looked at puppies, and she knew exactly what Steve was talking about. It was as if you were something so precious and deserving of love and he just wanted to hold you. "Oh. I see," she said with a sly grin as she strapped herself in.

As the Quinjet took off, the sudden jostling of the aircraft forced you to sharply throw your body forward, pulling you away from your leaning position against the metal wall. Had it not been for the seatbelts keeping you strapped in, you would've gone flying through straight into Natasha. But then they all watched as your body recoiled against the straps and your head throw back towards the wall again.

The three Avengers sitting on the other side of the aircraft watched as Loki leaned over and put his hand up to catch you before your head hit the wall and you awoke with a sharp gasp as he did so, your eyes widening as you saw that, once again, your faces were inches away from one another.

"You nearly knocked your head on the wall," he explained, keeping his voice even as he pulled away from you. "You need to be more careful where you fall asleep, Y/N. There may not always be someone to catch you."

"I'll keep that in mind," you answered softly as you kept your eyes front, noticing that your boyfriend was currently looking at you with simmering jealousy. 'What?' you mouthed. He merely pouted and turned to look away from you. "Child," you murmured to yourself.

"He is," Loki spoke in a low, hushed voice. Had you not been seated so close together you wouldn't even be able to hear. "You're far too good for him, darling. You deserve a partner who would at the very least check on you instead of sulk as if he were a toddler in a soldier's body."

You pursed your lips to keep the chuckle from escaping. But you nearly choked on your own spit at his next words.

"And you most definitely deserve better than someone who would call you such an atrocious moniker. A woman like you deserves to be likened to sirens. Muses. Goddesses. Not furniture."

You were grateful you weren't drinking anything because otherwise it would have most likely sprayed the three people sitting across from you. You let out a few wheezy chuckles before composing yourself and sitting back upright.

"I overstepped," he murmured. "Apolo--"

"Don't apologize," you whispered back. "It was funny. And you're more than welcome to poke fun at the name. I do."

You struggled to keep your tone light, your mind lingering on his words. Sirens, muses, goddesses. Did he really see me like that? You hoped he did, you always hoped he did. But you'd also always known better than to hold on hope for the impossible.

And Loki Laufeyson loving you back? Yeah. That was impossible.

That was precisely why you chose to say "Yes" to Steve asking you out in the first place.

It was another ten hours before you landed in Sorsogon. There was a clearing that was just large enough for the Quinjet to land in, about two miles away from the nearest cluster of houses. You all walked towards the little cottages cautiously, trying to stay hyper aware of your surroundings just in case the Sin Healer had puppeteered some unsuspecting villagers to be her foot soldiers.

Once you reached the cluster of cottages, Steve spoke up. "There are six cottages. Let's all take one each and take the last one together?"

His instructions infuriated Loki. What ever happened to "I will go and I will stay close to Y/N"? Now he sent you into an old cottage in the middle of practically nowhere all on your lonesome? He decided to enter the cottage closest to the one you chose so that if you needed backup he would come sprinting, keeping true to his word last night of keeping close to you and ensuring that you weren't in any grave danger.

When he was satisfied that there were no signs of life in the small house, he exited the cramped structure and made his way over to yours. He already knew that the other houses were empty thanks to the benefit of his heightened senses, but a selfish part of him chose not to help your three teammates and instead look out for you in silence.

And then he heard you speak and it was as if he felt his heart stop beating. He listened closely to the conversation, translating what he heard in ease thanks to his Allspeak.

"Hindi po kita sasaktan," he heard you speak. I mean you no harm.

"Kilala kita," an elderly sounding woman answered. I know you. "Nakikita kita sa balita kasama mo ang mga Avengers." I see you on the news with the Avengers. "Masmaganda ka sa personal." You're more beautiful in person. "Parang dyosa." Like a goddess.

He smiled to himself. That she was.

"Salamat po. Kung hindi po masyadong abala para sayo, pwede mo po ba kaming tulungan?" Thank you. If it's not too much of a bother, I was wondering if you could help us?

"Syempre naman. Ano kailangan niyo?" Of course. What do you need?

"May hinahanap po kami. Tawag niya sa sarili niya ay…Sin Healer. Marami na po siyang nasaktang tao." We're looking for someone. They call themselves Sin Healer. They've hurt a lot of people.

"Dumaan siya dito kaninang umaga. Kaya lumayas na ang mga kapitbahay ko. Nanatili lang ako dahil…matanda na ako, tumanda akong mag-isa. Wala na akong mapupuntahan."They were here this morning. That's why my neighbors ran away. I merely stayed here because I'm old, and I lived my whole life alone. I have nowhere to go.

There was a pregnant pause before the old woman spoke again. "May kalungkutan akong nakikita sa mata mo. Ang kasama mo sa buhay…hindi ikaw ang mahal? At ikaw naman…nasa iba ang puso mo?"There's a sadness in your eyes. The person you're with…they do not love you? And you…someone else has your heart?

"Ang kinakasama ko po…alam ko naman po na nagpapalipas lang siya ng oras sa akin. May iba na syang minahal at…wala na siya sa mundong ito, at inaantay na lang nya na dumating ang oras nya para magkasama na sila muli. At yung minamahal ko…alam ko naman na wala akong pag-asa doon. Walang parte sa akin na may karapatang makatanggap ng pagmamahal nya." The man I am with…I know that he is only passing time with me. He loves another and…she's gone, and he's only waiting for his time to come so they can be together again. As for the one I love…I know that there's no hope there. There is no part of me that deserves his love.

You sounded like you were on the verge of tears with your last words, and the dull ache in Loki's heart grew sharp and devastating. He burned with rage at Rogers for how dare he simply see you as someone to pass the time with? He loathed the man who thought you undeserving of his attention, his affection. If you were his--

But that is the tragedy of the situation, isn't it? he thought bitterly. She's not mine. Much as I long for her to be.

"Saan ka natuto ng lengwahe namin?" the elderly woman asked. Where did you learn our language?

"Ipinanganak ako dito. Ipinalaki ako dito. May mga kamaganak ako na tiga-Sorsogon." I was born here. I was raised here. I have relatives in Sorsogon.

"Ibig sabihin pamilyar ka sa sumpa ng puso?" Does that mean that you are familiar with the heart's curse?

A moment of silence passed before you answered in a solemn voice. "Hanggang sa maihayag ang katotohanan, ay mananatili kang parang patay. At pag lumipas ang pitong araw na hindi ka pa nagigising, ay mananatili kang tulog habangbuhay."

A chill ran down his spine as the words sunk in. Until the truth is revealed, you will remain like the dead. And if seven days passes with the curse unbroken, you will never awaken.

He heard your muffled cries and it was as if his entire world stopped when you whispered, "Ikaw." You.

"Ang siyang makakagising lang sayo ang siyang minamahal ka ng buong puso. Siya na nagmamahal ng puro at totoo." The only one who can wake you is the one who loves you with their whole heart. The one whose love for you is pure and true.

"Parang sinigurado mo na mamamatay ako." It's like you made sure that I would die.

And then he heard you through comms. "If anyone copies, I've been compromised. She got me."

"Y/N?!" Romanoff and Maximoff yelled from their ends.

Loki heard a thud from inside the cottage, feeling like his own heart had stopped beating as he went off sprinting inside. He had no care for the elderly woman who was now casually walking out the back door plainly within his view.

His only focus was your nearly lifeless form on the ground.

A/N: Ahhh it's begun! I can't wait to finish writing and share the rest of this story with you all. It was so much fun to write a good bit of this chapter in my mother tongue and weave it in as a plot element. Currently writing an outtake for 'relinquish the crown' but after that I'm diving right into Part 2!

Also a big thanks to @lokisgoodgirl for that nickname. I asked for cringe and you, my friend, DELIVERED. It's so cringe it needs its own warning and I wouldn't have it any other way 🤣

Taglist: @lokisgoodgirl @lokischambermaid @imalovernotahater @redbluekjw @lucylaufeyson3 @thomase1 @springdandelixn @fictive-sl0th @mochie85 @laliceee @xorpsbane @gigglingtigger @silverfire475 @cabingrlandrandomcrap @vickie5446 @salempoe @lokixryss @sinsandguilt @lokidbadguy @alexakeyloveloki @glitterylokislut @arch-venus25 @freefrommars @littlemortals @cakesandtom @girl-of-multi-fandoms @mischief2sarawr @thedistractedagglomeration @five-miles-over @goblingirlsarah @peaches1958

#loki x reader #loki fanfiction #loki fanfic #steve rogers x reader #marvel fanfiction #mcu fanfiction #loki x female reader #loki laufeyson

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anwn · 2 months

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tell me about the gun commander! I need to hear your opinions I am deeply curious

hi! i really apologize for taking this long to respond. truth is, i didn't know where to start. given how bare bones the writing is when it comes to the commander, it's difficult to talk about his character without immediately dipping into speculation territory... and i'd end up asking myself things like "is this an actually widely accepted hc or just something i've thought about?"

so, i'm gonna lay my cards on the table here and say that this will mostly me sharing my thoughts (some more speculative than others) about unexplored aspects of his character, or things i think would have deserved to be expanded upon.

but first off, i'd like to advertise this post (the one that got me thinking about this in the first place!) so you can see where it is i'm coming from, and so i don't have to reiterate the points touched upon there

the first thing i noticed about the commander is how... he feels like a near perfect mirror to shadow, in a way that i don't think many people have noticed.

they're two people who lost the one most dear to them and thus blames the other for this tragedy, determined to take their revenge on those who wronged them. shadow blames gun, humanity -that of which the commander is a part of, meanwhile the commander casts gerald and the black arms, and therefore shadow, as guilty. while the commander has sat with his anger and sorrow for decades, shadow still holds the memory of the massacre fresh in his mind.

do you ever think about the fact that they might be the only people still alive who knew maria? the commander literally says he saw maria as an older sister figure. not friend, a sister. when you take into account that shth is the same game where shadow and maria are first referred to as siblings, it's hard not to see this detail as... deliberate.

it's almost like sonic team looked at shadow's grief and revenge arc from sa2, and thought "what if we did that again, but from the other side of the equation this time?". i'm not crazy it's right there dude. it's compelling as fuck and probably why i'll never think of the commander as the flopburger character others see him as.

something people might bring up as a plothole is the fact we never see the young commander on the ark before shth. if he and maria were this close as kids, how come we never see them together in sa2?

the commander is an obvious retcon (and not the only one in this game tbf), but that elephant aside, the shadow and maria scenes from sa2 are short and few enough that i don't think it's asking too much from our suspension of disbelief to imagine that young commander just. happened to be away during the duration of these scenes. in fact, i can think of at least a few good reasons for why it makes sense for him to not be around them at this time.

given his status as a top secret project, it's reasonable to think shadow would have had limited contact with anyone on the ark who wasn't a scientist. maria being an exception speaks for itself as she is gerald's granddaughter, and to some extent the person shadow was "made for".

but above all, i think when taking into account young commander's apparent terror from seeing shadow... i could easily see him try to avoid the hedgehog as much as he could. not yet out of hatred (the way i see it, his grudge against shadow and gerald would only grow after the ark raid happens) but more out of suspicion, distrust, and especially fear. he's so offput by the fact maria keeps hanging out with this guy, that he declines any of her suggestions to spend time with them.

sidenote: although it seems silly to us, i like to think most children would be scared of shadow, and the commander was no exception (especially considering black doom was like, right there which probably made the scene feel a lot more sinister). maria would then be a rare exception, as her bouts of compassion/sympathy towards the experiments on the ark seem to suggest. i could see her as the type of person to catch a bug and show it off to you for a bit, going on about how cute it looks... if she's a creature enthusiast, it would make sense why she clicked with shadow so well, in contrast to the commander.

i could imagine that in the event where shadow and young commander would have to pass eachother down the halls, yc would immediately try his best to put distance between him and the (dreadful) creature. switching lanes, changing directions, walking very close to the wall, you name it. (in my mind, shadow doesn't pay much mind to yc, but the fact that this kid seems to be that terrified of him is somewhat amusing)

anyways, it's that tendency to keep shadow at arm's length that leaves me thinking that his confrontation with shadow 50 years later could very well have been his first time... actually talking to the guy. because he never actually got to know shadow personally, his entire perception of him was built on unchecked biases given space to fester for decades on end. in these conditions, is it surprising that the commander ended up holding that grudge against shadow for all these years? how easy it is to project all the evil in the world onto someone you know next to nothing about?

the semi-hero story is the only path where the commander actually gets to talk to shadow face to face and... the shadow he meets feels lightyears away from the monster he had made him out to be, from his quiet and measured demeanor, to the graceful acceptance of his sins. and worse, shadow doesn't even remember the massacre the commander had been so eager to blame him for.

it's a brutal clash between reality and the fragile narrative he's constructed, one that literally leaves the commander to collapse on his knees. in that moment, it doesn't matter if shadow truly is responsible or not when the commander's biases and resolve have been shaken regardless. how could the hedgehog who spoke with so much truth and integrity be the evil demon he's been chasing after for so long? it just doesn't make sense.

i think for the most part, the commander's change of heart about shadow as it is depicted throughout the game does the job, and that string of dialogue where he invites shadow over to make amends is really sweet (although you can only hear it when playing the expert mode).

the commander hasn't been utilized again as a character after shth aside from a few scenes in chronicles, which is kind of a shame... because if there's one thing that i think should have been explored further, it's the commander's involvement with GUN. while we get a somewhat substantial exploration of his perception of shadow and its evolution, the same can't be said for the other side of the coin.

think about it, do we ever actually see him reflect on the fact that GUN was the one responsible for the ark raid all along? how does he feel about working for the organization who literally killed his family? does he even know about it for that matter??

personally, i often feel like a lot of the complaints about this plot point are done somewhat in bad faith? i've always held the opinion that young commander likely didn't know better or was misled on GUN's involvement on the ark, deliberately or not. i don't know about you, but to me, an 8yo child trusting a human-led organization who we know to lie to the general public in order to cover their tracks, over a scientist whom he personally saw create an all powerful creature with the help of an even more terrific alien demon kind of... speaks for itself. listen, my point is, it's not that hard to think of a reason why the commander would have this perspective on the events that transpired, especially given he was a small child when they happened.

but.

even putting sonic fans' obtuseness aside, the fact that none of this is touched upon in the actual game is such an oversight... like, it's a setup that never sees a pay-off or is ever called into question, and i understand shth is about shadow's character first and foremost, but jeez if you're gonna create a brand new character from scratch with their own backstory and motivations maybe don't leave a huge blank space right in the middle of it? it's sad because by diving into the circumstances of his enrolment at GUN, they could have covered some interesting themes like that of military indoctrination. and it would have added another layer of parallels between him and shadow, who is also deceived throughout the game and struggling to find the truth...

i think i've exhausted all the points i've wanted to make, so here are some dumb hcs i came up with that i didn't know where to mention

- since the commander was a child on the ark like maria, he might not have seen a lot of the earth so it's totally possible that shadow is the first mobian he ever saw, which would add to the spook factor

- the commander's parents were scientists who brought him along on the ark when he was little more than a toddler (i'm thinking around 4yo?). they were killed by GUN as part of the initiative to stop project shadow (afterwards the young commander would be told it was because of a freak accident involving gerald's roaming experiments, something he would believe for most of his life)

- after the ark raid, the young commander would be sent to live with distant relatives back on earth, all while being closely monitored by the organization (as they must have done with the other rescapees)

- the grandchild he mentions in expert mode is a little girl named alice, aka alicia. she was born on 30th october 2005, a few weeks before the game takes place (her parents were trying for an halloween baby and missed the mark by a day) (i may have kind of designed a whole family for the commander? if anyone's interested, maybe i'll post them eventually)

- the commander was granted access to a secret safe after rising through GUN's ranks. it has a ton of memorabilia that was locked in there after the ark shut down, away from prying eyes. as part of his effort to make peace with shadow, he invites him to go through it so he could recover some of his memories. among the countless toys and photos of maria he thought he'd never see again, there is no mention or pictures of project shadow at all, which was likely destroyed forever.

#sth #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #gun commander #abraham tower #blingee asks #blingee.txt #sorry that this took a week to write bah #but i hope you're happy with the rambling anon

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pastelwitchling · 4 months

Text

I just want to get right into it. Here are my thoughts (mostly rants) on Percy Jackson and the Olympians, episode 5.

Why is this turning into the Annabeth show?

They literally have Ares complimenting her after almost every single line. And don't even get me started on their interactions. Annabeth was the one who was constantly scolding Percy for talking to Ares with disrespect, now she's the one doing it? The titular character doesn't seem to get as many lines or screen time as Annabeth, that doesn't strike anyone as odd?

(Also, no hate to Annabeth here, this is all the fault of the writing.)

AND titular character aside, it makes no logical sense! She's the daughter of the Goddess of Wisdom, wisdom is her whole thing in the books -- how is it wise for her to speak the way she does to Ares? Book Annabeth always knew the rules, always tried to follow them as best as she could, that was why, when she was openly hostile to Hera, it showed a TRUE hatred and connection there. Annabeth doesn't talk back to the gods, so we know that her hatred for Hera has to really MEAN something. Well, that's out the window now. Why? So the show can have their little girl power message. Does it make any sense for her character or the story? No, but hey, if we don't have other characters constantly praising every word she says, then I guess that makes her weak.

Also, it makes no storytelling sense for Percy to then get all up and angry in Ares's face. He wasn't the one talking back to Ares in the diner (you know, like in the books), so this sudden anger really comes out of nowhere. It just drives me a little bit crazy because this was the biggest difference between Percy and Annabeth in the first place. Percy is all heart, he's guided by his feelings. Annabeth is all logic, she's guided by reason. They balance each other out and then end up learning more from each other. Now Annabeth is just Flawless Badass? Even Hermione acknowledged that there were more important things than books and cleverness, her particular set of skills -- it's not wrong or demeaning to have a female character acknowledge her own flaws.

It's Percy who sees the Fates, yet we have Annabeth this time? It seems like a minor detail, but Percy seeing the Fates and not knowing why he felt like something was wrong showed his connection to the Olympian world. Yes, he'd grown up like other humans, but there was a part of him that recognized parts of the Greek myth life that others didn't. That's what leads to my biggest problem:

Percy is not treated like a son of the big three, he's barely half the time treated like a demigod, he's treated instead like a random kid that happened to stumble into all of this. Except he's not. That's kind of the whole POINT. And I fully blame the script for this, but you can't give most of the screen time and dialogue to Annabeth, and then act like, "No no, this is Percy's story!" It sure as Tartarus doesn't feel that way.

Why is everything so dark? And I'm not just talking about the terrible lighting either (I can barely make out a thing half the time)! I'm talking about the fact that rarely anyone cracks a joke, and when they do, they do it in such a serious way. The colors are so muted, why? Hate the movies all you want, but they were colorful, they were vibrant, they were fun. The pacing was faster, the music was brighter.

Why is everything so serious? The brilliance of Percy Jackson was that it was able to introduce these dark themes in a bright environment, and it made the deaths and darkness even more frightening because we had fun, vibrant characters who were now suffering, so it means that much more to see them hurt or die.

And I thought they were trying to give the show a timeless feel? I didn't ask for that or anything because the books make a ton of dated references, but they volunteered the information that the show was going to feel timeless. Then within the first two episodes alone, we get a Minecraft dance or whatever that is, and an Olivia Rodrigo song?

I feel the need to mention all of this because no one else is. It's all, "SLAAAY ANNABETH" and "OH MY GODS PERCABETH" AND I DON'T CARE. This feels like the Harry Potter movies giving all of Ron's most vital lines to Hermione -- she doesn't need anyone else's lines, what she contributed was more than enough! Except, in this case, it's not the best friend she's taking lines from, IT'S THE MAIN CHARACTER.

I absolutely loved Ares, he was hilarious and a breath of fresh air, I loved every scene with him. I also absolutely loved that chair scene, I loved the shield sacrifice, I loved Annabeth's speech, but all that does is just remind you how great Annabeth is and what she can grow to be without the need to take from Percy. Because all that does in the end is ruin her character because it stops making any sense, and ruin Percy, which is a crime when you have this brilliant cast to carry the show, but you've got to let them be great. Leave your little moral high-horse messages behind, and focus on the freaking story.

I'm tired. I don't know if they're going to confess to Luke being the thief yet, the way it ended? Luke's reveal was kind of a big deal in the books, a pretty big moment. I don't see them spoiling it too soon, and I hope they don't. I liked the lake scene, and I liked that it was such a big betrayal. If they try to rush through it with more exposition at the beginning of the episode, I just don't see it being as meaningful. That said, I really don't think they know who it is yet, but I guess we'll find out next week.

#percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo #i promise this is not anti annabeth #it's anti pjo writing

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wisconsin2002 · 1 year

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In my opinion miraculous has been doing pretty decent with season 5. Chat Noirs Been a freaking badass this season so far. Marinette seems more mature in a way

( I like that for her I really like that for her. Marinette was once one of my favs and to see her get constantly dunked on by the writing as the seasons went on just hurt)

and the material (up to this moment) is handled okay.

(except Luka. Literally don't know what they were thinking making Luka figure out both Ladybug and Chat Noirs Identities in a pretty decent episode in season 4, and the next we see of that they barely elaborate on it and have the fucker LEAVING PARIS?!!! QUE MAMADA?? And Juleka wasn't added to the conversation becaaause? )

*sigh* anyways I digress.

But oh my goodness😂 bro I-

Were the writers that wrote fucking derision just doing this?💀:

Cause that's what it felt like. Chloé's the reason for Marinettes trauma and past stalkery behaviour now? 😂 Bitch please.

Wasn't Astrucs excuse when people were talking about Marinettes creepy behavior and stalker tendencies was because she's a teen girl and teens do stuff like that or some shit?

What changed?

And you can make the excuse that he didn't wanna spoil that part of her past, but in that case why respond at all? Why not just stay quiet and let people figure it out? Literally makes no sense.

(Bro responds to every tweet I swear to god. 😩 You can say "miraculous is cacapoopoofart" and Thomas would still take it seriously. Like damn brother sorry my little niece grabbed the phone for five seconds. )

Like dude this is a pretty big reveal for Marinettes character that you'd think they would handle more carefully! But... I digress again.

The flashbacks were pretty cool too but also dissapointing cause that's where things really fell flat with the writing and at times just felt straight up random and made up.

This entire episode is such a rewritten contradiction to what the writing had set out to do in the beginning. Especially with Chloe and Kim.

Like Kim's just a shitty guy now after you show him being a pretty neat dude for most of the seasons and even give him a lover? 💀 TF? Why wasn't this brought up In season one or two? I mean his crush on Chloe was brought up but not the fact that he was a freaking douchebag. And why the hell did they revert him back to a pick me boy for Chloe in this episode? 💀 They even have him speak nice about Chloe for no reason(IN FRONT OF HIS GF BTW!) and have no remorse for what he did to Marinette at all despite his dislike for Chloé after he moved on from his crush on her. And he feels no remorse at all? Really? And if it wasn't bad enough, bro gets off easy with a slap on the wrist and a half-assed apology. Like bro wha-💀

And Chloé's the source of Marinettes trauma? Again I can't get over that. 💀

Okay okay okay

Look

That's not too hard to believe if the way they were going at it was believable.

It ain't.

Being anxious about rejection is one thing right. And yeah it can cause trauma to kids no doubt, I've been through it myself.

But bro

Look me dead in the eyes. And tell me with a straight face that fucking Chloe and Kim's prank was what caused Marinette To be doin all THIS!

LOOK ME DEAD IN THE EYE AND TELL ME CHLOE AND KIM CAUSED THIS TO HAPPEN!

I think tf not.

You know what I think? I think the writer's Chloe spite is so strong that they decided to use one of Marinettes character writing flaws and give it a fucking alternate universe level size rewriting to fit the "Chloé's a shitty person for no reason and always will be" Narrative that they created and just can't let go off.😩

And at this point I already know the writer's don't care for Chloe. Right off the bat. Hero or villain, good or bad. They don't care for her character at all. I mean they're making her live with her neglectful ass mom cause now they decided that the bitch should be the one to turn over a new leaf and become an actual responsible mother. Right when her daughter hit rock bottom because of taking after her BS priveledged lead example of maternity and morality.

(hell her writing was perfect for an anti villain in the making story but I guess we'll skip over that too. What else is new 😮‍💨)

She's nothing but a punching bag used to show the audience that no matter what, Chloe will always be Astrucs punching bag to try and prove to other peoples potential development, thoughts and ideas for her wrong. And now thanks to that. That's turned her into a literal contradiction of her own character.

*sigh* well atleast Astruc doesn't really write anymore in season 6. Chloé's character cannot go back to what was and I don't expect her to but they can at the very least write her an actual goal as a villain Instead of just making Marinette the vain of her existence for no reason.

Didn't Chloe literally say in season 3 that she didn't care all that much about Marinette?

I find myself asking again.. What changed? 💀

Also am I supposed to believe that Marinette is so traumatized by Chloé's pranks and antics?.... but yet she gave her a miraculous??

Also didn't Marinette go to the pool place before In past episodes and have absolutely no panic attacks or issues at all?

Am I actually supposed to believe all of this? Because I don't. It doesn't sound believable and the writing sure as hell doesn't do it justice either.

Madre mía. I'd say more but I'm rambling at this point.

This episode was just basura. Some good interesting things and attempts, but mostly basura. For every step forward it took, it also took like five steps backwards.

Would I say it's the worst episode? Nah. It had redeeming qualities.

Unlike this time wasting pile of dog shit that I'm convinced whoever wrote it was fucking doing this :

#mlb salt #ml salt

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polaroidcats · 3 months

Note

I assume that you have emotional attachments to objects (because of the print you love) and so have a favourite book which you know you will never read again but can’t throw out (and what is it if I’m right?) ❤️❤️

Hi Rory!!! 💖

oh wow everyone is nailing it with these, you are so, so correct!!!!

My inability to get rid of things I have emotional attachments to definitely applies to books, here is an incomplete list of books I will likely never even read or reread but also will never be able to give away:

My Gregor the Overlander books!! I knew Suzanne Collins mostly from these books and when Hunger Games came out/became popular I tried to tell all my friends about this series because I loved it so much when I was 10-12 years old!! And my first internet name was "Boots" because of the younger sister in that book, I loved her so much. And I don't see myself rereading them anytime soon but I have so many fond memories of absolutely devouring and rererererereading them as a preteen so they will stay forever!

"Die Geschwister Apraksin" by Karla Schneider, this was also one of my fave books when I was around 12-13, I don't remember much, except that it was about 5 orphaned siblings during or after the Russian revolution, and it absolutely broke my heart and I cried more than I had ever cried before when reading a book. I don't even think it was a particularly sad book, I think it just made me very emotional for some reason, to imagine these kids' lives and their struggles. And I read it as part of my local bookstore's initiative where they let kids borrow and read the advanced reader copies of books, and then we wrote little reviews that would get posted on a pinboard at the store. So when I had to give the book back (in order to borrow a new book, it was like a little library system within the bookstore), I immediately asked the bookseller if they had the book in stock because I wanted to buy it with my pocket money, but they only had the paperback and (again) I had gotten so attached to the hardback one and the bookseller could tell how much the book meant to me so she just gifted me the copy I had just returned, the one I read, and that meant so much to me, to get to keep the physical copy that I actually read and not have to buy a new version.

Herzen, Hände und Stimmen by Ian McDonald - I have never read this book, idek what it's about but from the book cover I assume it's scifi. I did an exchange semester in France as a teenager, and my host family didn't speak any german but somehow they got this random (thrifted) german book and they gave it to me bc I speak german. And I've never been that much into scifi but the gesture was so sweet and I have so many nice memories of my time with them, so even though I will probably never read that book I will also never give it away.

A complete translation from Vergils Aeneid with the latin and german text side by side. I did Latin in school, and for our final exams we all had to pick one specialized subject we would have an oral exam on, and my specialized subject in Latin class was the 6th book of the Aeneid, so even though I barely remember any Latin and will definitely not reread that for fun, I enjoyed it back in the day and will never get rid of that book.

I have a book on erotic dream interpretation, idk if that fully counts into this category, but my friend and I saw it when my uni library (!!) had a thrift sale of their old books, and that book was so hilarious, I had to get it and then for a while whenever I had people come over to my flat to pregame I would ask them about their dreams and would then very professionally interpret them with my book. This one might not fully count bc I'm not ruling out that I will never do that again but I haven't looked at it in a long time but would never get rid of it because it's too iconic haha

Okay this got way too long so I'm stopping now, but yeah hahaha you were so correct with this one 😂

make an assumption about me!

#ask game #rory tag #thank you for for sending this haha sorry it got so long!!<3

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bigboyplaya · 10 months

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My (proper) Thoughts on Johnny Gat

Aight this is gonna be long. Might seem disjointed, but trust I have a point to make.

I don't hate Johnny Gat as a character at all. I loved him in Saints Row 1 & 2. I thought he was funny, a semi-decent foil for characters like Julius Little, and I love Daniel Dae Kim. But I do hate the way Volition treats him.

I think it's because they noticed the fans really liked him, and why wouldn't they? He was a crazy ass gangster who preferred to shoot first, don't ask questions later. On top of that, he was pretty charismatic, you know, despite not ever wanting to talk things out. He was a wild-card and someone that literally had to be babysat whenever he was sent out to do something for the gang.

Johnny himself didn't change, honestly, it's more the way the characters and world around him did. It's quite hard to change a character's personality when they didn't have one to develop in the first place. It irks me how all the characters put Johnny on a pedestal, as did the fandom and developers. Thinking him as an unkillable beast. In the writer's mind, it might make him come off as 'totally badass and cool and WOW', but from a character perspective, it dehumanised Johnny greatly.

In Saints Row, he had his leg shot. In Saints Row 2, Johnny survived being stabbed in the stomach, albeit barely. It's not immersion breaking to think of someone being able to survive an injury such as that, even though with the internal bleeding and the fact the weapon was removed from the wound probably would have meant Johnny was more likely to die than survive. But because he lived doesn't mean Johnny's so untouchable that he couldn't be killed at all.

I will preface that I am autistic, and as such, this likely clouds the way I feel towards other's grief and loss in the way where it's very difficult for me to empathise, if at all. But, I have been able to feel for fictional characters in the past, so I'm not a completely stone-cold robot.

Slightly controversial part here, but Johnny's death in SRTT didn't affect me very much at all. Like most Saints Row death's, except maybe Lin as I haven't played enough of the first game to judge, though I wouldn't be surprised if my point still applies to her, the characters aren't fleshed out enough to have much more than a brief shock moment. Or, the deaths are written quite shallow. For example, Carlos' death was horrifying and well executed, I just wish I got to know him a lot more before he was gone so the emotional effect lasted longer and immersed me in Playa's grief, if they felt any at all. I won't speak on Aisha's death either because of the aforementioned reason as to why I won't speak on Lin's, but I also wish we got to know her a little bit to help us empathise with Johnny. If we got to see more of her in Saints Row 1, feel free to disregard her death from my argument.

Johnny had been around for three games at the point of his death so we did get quite familiar with him, yet he was gone off-screen. Not even a shot of the plane cockpit and a fade to black, which, arguably, would have been less of a screw you to his fans than what we got. If Johnny had been killed off in a more tasteful way, and perhaps a few missions later, it would have had a bigger impact on me as a player and I would actually be able to put myself in the characters shoes. And perhaps make Shaundi's reaction to his death less of a poor attempt at character development an actual turning point for her.

In SRIV, it's revealed he was abducted because Zinyak was scared of him, dubbing him as the alleged most dangerous man in the world or something like that. What makes this trigger happy gangster turned celebrity such a deadly threat that an alien dictator is afraid of him? A threat to the general public Johnny may be, but definitely not to the galaxy.

It's just such a cheap way to double down on yourself and bring a beloved character back after backlash. If the devs had maybe done anything other than a blatant deus ex machina, Johnny's return would have been fine. Disregarding the fact that it cheapens Shaundi's entire side plot in SRTT.

Onto the fandom part, and a more personal gripe, it irks me how people claim Johnny Gat is Saints Row, when he barely had main character presence in any of the games, with the exception of Gat Out of Hell. I believe that if Johnny had been written off well, they wouldn't have had to bring him back the way they did, and they would have opened up many possibilities for character development.

That's all for now, I think, as I've gotten kind of lost in my writing. I'll clarify later if anything comes up.

TL;DR - Volition cannot write fleshed-out characters and plot points.

#saints row #saints row the third #saints row 2 #saints row iv #johnny gat #saw post on here calling out people who thought johnny was overrated and i am one of these people #i have good reason to call him an overrated character because he literally IS but that doesnt mean i dont LIKE him

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yushox · 2 years

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They're both young, basically immortal and best friends. Ofcourse they would do dumb shit.

Kristin is barely containing her laughter as Phil signs the certificate after Techno.

Wilbur looks upset, looking up at his adoptive mom "You're not leaving us right?"

Kristin kisses the teens chocolate hair "Never my little chick."

"But, dadza is marrying Techno... doesn't that mean you have to leave?" The young boy asks innocently.

"No baby, I will never leave you, not for anything. I do have to leave for work, but I'm sure you understand that. But for something like this, no, I love Phil too much to ever consider leaving. Plus, he's happy with Techno, and Techno is our closest friend, I have no reason not to trust him with Phil."

Hearing that whispered to him calms Wilbur considerably.

Years pass, and Wilbur takes another shot "So Dad.. how is your marriage with Techno going? Any intriguing fights or..?"

Phil blushes slightly as he smiles sadly and takes a shot "Just one "fight" that happened a little while ago, he was visiting Dream, gave me a will just in case the worst happened and we both knew the chances of the worst happening. I thought he meant to hit the stasis chamber three months after the visit, but instead he wrote three days. He proceeded to call me all kinds of words synonymous to "old" and "blind" and he even brought me glasses knowing perfectly well that the only thing I have difficulty seeing is glass and transparent objects. They didn't help jack shit and I couldn't even see the lenses in the first place."

Wilbur, drunk out of his mind, bless him, is in tears from laughter at this point.

After his laughter dies down though he asks the one question Phil dreaded this whole evening "Say, where is he? You said he was up and about, surely he would have come by to drink with us by now."

Phil silently takes a shot before speaking shakily, his heart still hurts, even after getting so used to this part of life "...Hes actually.." another shot "..he went to conquer the kingdom of Gods Will."

"Wait, what do you...?" Willbur asks confusedly.

"Wilbur, he only had one life left. And over the years, over the eons, he only told me and Kristin, that he was Ill. And that there was nothing we could do about it except give him more and more minutes," another shot "but eventually, Will, eventually even he would succumb to such illness."

Will stares at his dad "no..."

Phil looks at his son "During his last few days awake he called you, Tommy, Tubbo, and even Ran, his sons, albeit he was more like Ranboos mentor than father." Phil sobers himself up, a benefit of being an angel "He died peacefully last week. I was the one who drifted his boat into the sea. He asked for noone, but me to watch him drift and sink."

The younger man also sobers up quite quickly, tears springing out of his eyes.

After those sobering news both men decide to settle down for the night. The silence cutting the air like a knife.

Philza ends up unable to sleep because of his sons sobs downstairs.

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deafmangoes · 1 year

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An Album of Christmas Carols - 3

Okay let's address the elephant in (on?) the platform:

"Scrooge" (2022, Luke Evans)

I didn't like it.

I will explain in some detail why I didn't like it, but for fairness' sake I'll also talk about the things I did like.

The main reason I didn't like it is because this isn't Ebenezer Scrooge. It's a fundamentally very different character, and for one simple reason.

Scrooge wouldn't keep a pet dog.

Quite aside from anything else, he would see it as a pointless and frivolous expense, but the main reason he wouldn't keep a pet dog is because Scrooge has utterly buried his empathy when we first meet him. He doesn't care about anything or anyone, barely even himself - there's no way he'd open his heart even a tiny crack for the sake of a dog.

The film tries to pass her off as having previously belonged to Marley but oddly fails to properly establish that in the flashback scenes where Marley's alive (although we do see a different dog).

And speaking of Marley...

Ghosts? Ghosts!

Credit to this film, Marley's design is amazing. It's a departure from the traditional but in ways that really work, and I especially loved the coins over the eyes (which makes me think someone on the team had fond memories of Robert Zemeckis' 2009 A Christmas Carol, staring Jim Carrey...), as I thought it made perfect symbolism for being blinded by avarice.

Luke Evans is too busy singing to notice Marley appear in the door knocker and this version dispenses with all the other signs except the bells (which happen mid-appearance) - Marley even excuses this as "those in charge demand a touch of pageantry".

The change to Marley's age, relative to Scrooge, was another interesting departure. They went for a "mentor/mentee" vibe, rather than the "equal partners" they're usually shown to be. It feeds into a much larger attempt to humanise Scrooge from the beginning, which I'll get into, but I do think was a mistake and chips away at the narrative integrity.

(Pictured, my expression through a lot of this film).

Christmas Past is Olivia Coleman playing an exaggerated version of herself. Her design, made of malleable wax, allows a lot of creative freedom on the part of the animators, and avoids the usual issues with the whole 'ineffable being of light' thing.

Scrooge's childhood in this film is a complete change from normal. Taking, I think, from Dickens' own experiences, Scrooge here was a child labourer (+1 sympathy points), his father went to a debtor's prison (+1 Freudian excuse), and for once his mother didn't die in childbirth! These points also come up in the 2004 A Christmas Carol musical staring Kelsey Grammar - the writers and animators of Netflix's adaptation have clearly shopped around for ideas.

A change I didn't understand was the names - Nephew Fred becomes Harry. Sister Fan becomes Jen. Curious choice. Scrooge's love interest remains Isabel this time.

We skip Scrooge's time with Fezziwig, meeting the man later in life and having Scrooge begin his romance with Isabel only after he'd started working with Marley (which... again confuses matters, he was already on the up when the engagement began instead of being a poor apprentice).

And this is when the movie threw me for a loop. It just straight up uses the songs from Albert Finney's 1970 musical.

Not even the good ones. Although it did make "Happiness" shorter and more bearable than 1970's snoozefest.

We see young Scrooge and Marley close down a bakery and are informed that it belonged to Bob's father, which I actually liked. At least within this film's logic and treatment of Scrooge, it made it feel like he took on Bob as an employee out of buried guilt.

Christmas Present was... weird. A big nod to 1970's take on the character for sure, even reprising "I Like Life" (with Gospel, for some reason), but boy howdy did I hate the Minions Cheerlings, or whatever they're called. Those pink-purple fairy bastards.

Fred Harry's party is shown, and again a credit to the adaptation - they showcase a lot of diversity that genuinely did exist in Victorian London, in this case Harry is in an interracial marriage (which does imply Scrooge might also be a bit racist). The Cratchit's Christmas runs beat-for-beat as it usually does, including a (again, mercifully shorter) version of "On A Christmas Morning" from 1970's version. Scrooge is given reinforcing visions that Bob's poverty is both directly and indirectly his fault - poor wages in the present and eviction in the past.

Christmas Present makes a, as far as I know, unique transformation into Christmas Yet To Come - sadly accompanied by the bloody Cheerlings who now become 'Fearlings'.

We're treated to a (shorter, again) version of "Thank You Very Much" delivered by Tom Jenkins the Toymaker rather than Tom Jenkins the Soup Vendor before heading straight to the graveyard.

To his credit, and the film's, Scrooge's overall more human characterisation comes out in force here - he admits his own guilt and even confronts that he might be past saving, but begs to at least exchange his life for Tim's and correct the injustice he's done to the Cratchit family as a whole. That was a good change.

Despite leaning on 1970's version for many things, Scrooge does not go to Hell. Shame.

Highlights & Humbugs

Like I said at the outset, I didn't enjoy this version. It doesn't quite know what it wants to be - a creative reimagining of the story, particularly Scrooge's character, or a nod to a famous musical adaptation of the past. The songs are schizophrenic, partly because some come from the 70s and some from the new 20s. The opening number is saccharine and lifeless, and misses out on contrasting the general happiness with something like 1970's "I Hate People". We do get "Tell Me", but it doesn't have the same impact.

Prudence the dog doesn't add to the story and messes up Scrooge's characterisation. Marley's good, though the age difference makes him less of a reflection of Scrooge's life choices and more an example not to follow. The added humanising of Scrooge works in some ways but detracts in others - rather than a "cruel, wrenching, covetous old sinner", as Dickens puts it, we get the impression of a guilt-ridden middle-aged man who doesn't know how to redeem himself but secretly wants to.

And, uh, Cheerlings. See picture above for my thoughts on that.

Overall... 3 out of 10 Humbugs. It's just not good. Sorry Tumblr fans of "DILF Scrooge".

#a christmas carol #deafmangoes #scrooge #scrooge (2022)#netflix's scrooge #christmas carol #ebenezer scrooge #jacob marley #dickens december #netflix scrooge

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apersonwholikeslotus · 11 months

Text

This is going to be SO disorganized, ignore me and my rambles no order just everything in whatever order I think of it in.

TEXAS his name is Lázaro Carlos Jones-Gómez, he regularly goes by Charlie, you can call him Carlos but do not call him Lazaro, he only has that name bc he was baptized with it. If you call him that though you will get his attention immediately bc his brain will think you're his mother (Mex if that's not clear) cause she is the only one who calls him that.

He's a little shit and I love him bc he's my little shit.

I accept no interpretation of him that's white bc why would you do that to him.

I've said this before but he's twins with Coahuila (Mariana Talía) who I can't actually talk about that much bc she's not my oc BUT she is older by 7 minutes, and they share a braincell and a half and usually don’t know where it is :\

speaking of other states he and Nuevo León (Jacobo) get in no less then 3 fist fights a year for absolutely no reason besides they’re idiots and like to beat each other up.

Speaking of fights, Charlie is missing a tooth, has 101 stories of how it got knocked out, most ppl don’t actually know which one is the truth (none of them he fell out of a tree).

Someone take his guitar away I beg, he gets 10 time more annoying when he has it. Which Tennessee (Annabelle) taught him how to play said guitar, everyone hates her for it. He's a decent player, and has a pretty okay singing voice, they're all just sick of listening to him.

Bc I have to have at least 1 very stereotypical thing, he has the largest cowboy hat collection this side of the Mississippi. Give him the most specific event, he has a hat for it.

He didn't talk till he was like 3-4 but oh boy is my man making up for it now, he doesn't stop. Talks with food in his mouth and in his sleep.

Refuses to speak Spanish to most other personifications bc spite but will absolutely be interpreter for any stranger on the street who needs help.

Bc I think it's funny gets to have the 'am I catholic or protestant?' debate.

His first about year of living in DC he barely spoke English and bc of that attached himself to the--at the time--only other native Spanish speaker in the house, Florida complained to Al everyday bc "I'm a babysitter now!" but wouldn't say shit to her Carlito over it ever.

His favorite shows of all time--despite their inaccuracies--are Gunsmoke (1955-75), and Zorro (1957-59)

Speaking of nicknames; Carlito was his main nickname for a long time, used to distinguish him from Cuba. Most of Latin America + Florida still call him that. Carlos = Cuba//Carlito = Texas. He started going by Charlie bc he didn't want to be called Carlito anymore, but being called Carlos felt weird bc no one ever called him that. So Charlie.

He has vitiligo bc I once saw a drawing of someones oc and it legit looked just like how I imagine Charlie and their oc had vitiligo so it just got pressed into my mind.

Also he was one of those kids who was super blond but by the time he was like 12 he wasn't anymore.

So y'all know my hc is personifications have a mom and dad, most of the states (US and Mexican) had 2 human parents and were eventually 'adopted' by Alfred or Rosa.

There are exceptions to that and Coahuila and Texas are one of them, way back when like 1820s Rosa (Mex) and Alfred were dumb and did a thing proceeded to have an extremely panicked nine months and an even more panicked "holy shit there's TWO"

So Charlie gets such a super fun family dynamic we love it for him.

I can't listen to Mama's Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys without crying now bc of him. I love Charlie, he is my son, I've put so much work into him bc I love him.

#aph texas #hws texas #statetalia #hetalia #my oc #Spotify #my son #also gunsmoke and Zorro are such nostalgia shows bc I;ve been watching both with my grandpa since I was like 3 #we still watch gunsmoke when I visit

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unicyclehippo · 1 year

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This is anon from earlier. I didn't mention Laudna's role because you already had, and I interpreted Imogen as the only one inviting my unhinged input. I simply believed your big beautiful brain had tomes already covering the subject so I stepped back. In fact, Laudna is my #1 favorite CR charcter of all time to the point that talking about her makes me shy?? so even focusing on Imogen that much was probably a good exercise for me. I'm looking at a Dark Crystal art book on my shelf as we speak. The puppeteer concept owns my ass.

yeah that makes sense 👍 talk abt her more! shyness is not being sure if what u say is good or beautiful or funny enough or attention seeking whatever i tell u fuck it up!!!!! yell scream holler!!! this is not just abt laudna it’s midnight for me n im fucking pissed talk loud talk shit make weird art make crude jokes im sick of POLITE im sick of SOFT im sick of every weird thing being apologised for or hidden away loud n proud baby make weird art make weird characters try smth new be messy be in the moment try your best do it loud

anyway i hope i didn’t sound too rude before i was being a little bitch abt ppl not giving laudna enough attention but it wasn’t abt u specifically. here’s a snippet i wrote when i should have been working:

The show is going to be a fucking disaster.

Imogen hasn’t said those exact words out loud yet because if the actors hear her they’ll go into hysterics; she’s considering it still, despite that, because at the moment it feels like she either tells them they’re fucking stupid or she personally strangles someone. No one has learned their fucking lines, or their blocking—despite Orym diligently taping it out for them; FCG keeps trying to find a way to get the flamethrower into the show; the leading man and his understudy got into a fistfight—and Imogen still can’t figure out what the fight was about (except that Fearne was involved, of course), if Fearne encouraged it, and whether she needs to fire these guys or just give them a stern talking to—and as if all that weren’t enough, the set is falling to pieces. That wasn’t the troupe’s fault. Or Imogen’s. The moving company fucked it up on the move from storage when the theatre was getting repaired and after a very, very, very long back and forth, the theatre is going to get some kind reimbursement from the insurance but she doubts very much that the cash will make it to them in time for everything to be fixed by opening night. Basically, they’re fucked.

‘Why don’t we take five?’ Orym suggests, very quietly over his walkie. ‘I can hear you grinding your teeth from here,’ he jokes.

Imogen hopes it’s a joke. She tries to look for him but gives it up as impossible—most likely, he’s backstage or at Props and she can’t see him from her place in the third row. She relaxes her jaw. Rubs her temples for a second before fumbling for her walkie talkie.

‘Might as well. We could take twenty and it wouldn’t fix shit.’ Movement on the stage. Imogen looks over—and locks eyes with big, bright, hopeful eyes. She jams her finger onto the talk button of her walkie. ‘If FCG comes a step closer to me, I’ll kill ‘em.’

‘Roger that. I’ll send Ash to distract.’

Imogen drops heavily into the back of her seat. Scowls as she takes in the stage. She doesn’t notice actors throwing themselves bodily out of her line of sight.

Truth is, it’s going to be fine. There’s two weeks until dress rehearsal, and three until opening night, and—as it has with every show Imogen’s directed—it will come together. The actors will figure it out, maybe fumble a line or two. FCG can be handled, flamethrower drastically underpowered (or denied entirely, as is Imogen’s preference). Fearne…is Fearne. Still more talent than trouble, barely—which was really saying something, since she was maybe the most talented actor Imogen had ever met.

It’s the set that’s the real problem, the real reason Imogen hasn’t been able to sleep at night. Whenever she looks at it, her heart feels like it’s going to crack open. And every bright idea and directing cue she adds to make up for it is just a band-aid barely holding it together. It’s ridiculous to be so upset about it but…

Every year. Every year, the Bertrand Bell’s House of Entertainment, Leisure, and Luxury (most just call it the Bell Theatre) puts on Matilda & Delilah. It’s an old play and a crowd favourite for a reason—performers come and go, costumes change, sometimes a bold director changes the setting to something more modern, but it’s the set that keeps people coming back to see it, year after year. The tree. It’s the heart of the entire play. For Imogen, it’s the heart of the entire theatre. There wouldn’t be a Bell Theatre without it; there wouldn’t be an Imogen without it.

The tree is old and gnarled. One big piece that looms in the back of the stage—when the lights fall on it, just right, it is impossibly huge in the tiny little theatre. The shadow it casts stretches across the back curtain, branches twisting and grasping like crooked fingers, and every year Imogen lives for that moment when the lights shut off—all but the one behind the tree, and those same branches crawl out over the crowd. Menacing them. Trapping them. It’s dark and, when it’s done right, genuinely frightening.

But it’s broken. Half the branches snapped off, and the mechanism to wheel it up and down the stage busted. The cage doors won’t open either, and the colour has bleached in odd places. Imogen half-suspects the moving company hadn’t stored it at all. This wasn’t her tree at all, just some shoddy replica.

#imodna #tagging my stories #you can ignore this #sorry for the rant lol im v tired

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