#point break was just a perfect action movie i had a blast watching it and i think it's been a while since i watched a movie that was like

[ultragift]

FROM: @v1U TOO: @ssstrawberryflowers

Watching A Movie Together By V1U (Happy Holidays!)

“Is this truly necessary to enjoy the holidays, Machine?”

the golden angel had asked, observing with intense curiosity the way this object, no, this being arranged the dilapidated insides of the abandoned house the two of them had wandered into something a little more palpable.

The living room, in particular, had been organized with random decorations the machine had found strewn about in the house’s attic, tinsel tossed carefully across the furniture and fake snow puffs thrown about. Once finished, V1 sat down in front of a couch that faced a large television, patting the space next to them.

“Alright, you got me.”

Gabriel sat down close, with the machine almost immediately making themself comfortable on the angel’s lap, grabbing a hold of the remote and turning the television on. Before changing the output it was on, the TV blasted static and dead air, a brief interruption that reminded the angel that the both of them were in a now abandoned world.

It didn’t bother V1 much as they changed the output quickly and switched to the main menu screen of a movie named “Home Alone”.

The movie consisted of a mischievous blond boy who was stuck at home during the holidays, having to defend himself from burglars with various well thought out traps that caused the thieves to retreat, before his family returns and reunites with the boy as they enjoy the rest of their Christmas together.

Gabriel didn’t know why they were doing this.

Almost a few months ago, he recalled the brutal bloodied fighting and the machine’s cold hands strangling his neck, and now, their fingers were intertwined as the machine rested their head on his shoulder, watching the particularly grainy film.

Part of him still resented how he had fallen from Heaven for this creature, how easy he caved to sin and how he felt warm and complex feelings in the arm of this machine. When the movie played out fully, Gabriel slowly realized the entire point.

The machine wanted to grant Gabriel the gift of celebrating a normal holiday, for once. Instead of being plagued with war, tasks by God, and smiting, he deserved a break full of gentleness and care.

He hadn’t realized the machine was capable of such actions until they would start laughing (shaking their shoulders in silence, more like) at the beats of the burglars getting hurt by the traps.

“V1,” Gabriel whispered.

V1 paused the movie, and whirred their head to look at him, tilting their head in confusion. Was he not enjoying the movie?

Gabriel shook his head. “No, it’s not that. I just...”

The angel found it hard not to tear up, as he slowed his breaths and pulled V1 into an embrace, rubbing his helmet against V1’s head.

“...Thank you for doing this for me. I had no idea why in the beginning, I thought it was a waste of time, to enjoy human activities for the sake of simply enjoying them. But, being in this decorated environment with you so close to me, as we watch this movie...I realized you wanted to give me my first Christmas.”

V1 took their hand away from Gabriel’s grasp for a moment to clap for a few seconds. Yes! He figured it out! With a happy beep, the machine wrapped their arms around his shoulders and hugged him a second time.

“Well, it has been a perfect one...Despite not having any frame of reference except this movie, and I can say with the utmost confidence that I am having a much better time than this ‘Kevin’ child was.” Gabriel chuckled.

The machine shook their shoulders in laughter at that, nodding and resuming the movie.

Gabriel couldn’t contain his tears at seeing the mother overjoyed with relief at her son being safe and the endeavor ending with a lovely display of the rest of Kevin’s family following and abandoning their fancy vacation in favor of being with Kevin and his mother.

V1 patted his back in comfort as Gabriel had to fetch a tissue and wipe the stray tears that left his helmet. He felt a little embarrassed at how badly this movie got to him since most things didn’t.

They couldn’t really explain why they were doing this for Gabriel, other than the angel had also changed the machine to think of life as more than just surviving off of blood.

Ever since Gabriel agreed to basically be their personal blood bag, their life got easier and they had to learn to indulge in other pleasures other than combat and fueling up, which lead to an interest in enjoying human activities, such as watching movies and relaxing.

So, when December rolled around in the calendar, V1 got the idea to celebrate it with Gabriel! It wasn’t particularly easy, having to scour around various cities for a still-working television with a CD player and a copy of the movie that was still intact, but they had to learn how to use the TV in the first place!

They believed it was all worth it, though, when Gabriel had tears streaming down his helmet as he slowly learned the meaning of Christmas was to spend it with those you loved. It was something that took V1 a long time to learn, and even understand, but once they did...They knew it was something they had to share with him.

Did he like the movie? Gabriel nodded as he sat back against the couch, a deep sigh escaping his lips. “Yes. I did. I really, really did. Thank you, V1.” You’re very welcome.

The machine rested their head yet again on Gabriel’s shoulder as they draped a nearby blanket over them both and closed their optic. Maybe the two should end the night with a well-deserved rest?

“Yes, that sounds like a wonderful idea...” And so they did.

#ultragift 2023 #ultragifts

[trulyinspiringmovies]

Black Adam

“Black Adam” starts out promising with stunning action and interesting ideologies, but spends the rest of its two-hour runtime solely sticking to the action.

Teth-Adam is awakened when Adrianna Tomaz reads an incantation in stone. He’s called upon when Adrianna finds the Crown Of Sabbac and is surrounded by armed guards who want to take it from her. Teth-Adam starts wreaking havoc in Kahndaq, which alerts the attention of the Justice Society. Now it’s up to Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Cyclone, and Atom Smasher to subdue and capture Teth-Adam. Meanwhile, the people of Kahndaq champion the return of their hero.

I’m not going to lie. All I really wanted was a mind-numbing action flick to break the monotony of slow-burn horror movies I’ve been watching. After watching “Black Adam”, I’m reminded why you have to be careful of what you wish for. Did I get what I wanted? Yes. Then why am I not happy? Well, it’s because it’s too much of what I wanted. This movie is a little over two hours long and with the structure of the movie being just alternating scenes of Dwayne Johnson demolishing everything in his path and Dwayne Johnson being too much of an edge lord to listen to reason, the pacing really starts to weigh on you before the third act. At first, I was really enjoying the action. It’s practically the whole reason why I watched the movie in Dolby Cinema. Say what you will about the DC movies, but you have to admit that their action is on point. Then it starts to hit you by the eighth fight scene that Black Adam won’t lose. I mean, we all know that Dwayne Johnson had it in his contract that he can’t lose a fight in the Fast & Furious franchise. I’m starting to feel like he had that clause in this movie as well. The numerous fight scenes in this movie really start to highlight the limitations of the depths he can go to with his characters. Because he’s not just winning every fight, but completely and utterly demolishing his opponents, every action scene starts blending into this mush that’s force-fed to the audience for two whole hours. Well, at least we had the other Justice Society members to look forward to, right? Not really. I was most excited to see Doctor Fate finally be shown in live-action. I was especially excited since I found out Pierce Brosnan was going to be portraying him and I thought he’d be the perfect actor for the job. And yes, at first I was enjoying Doctor Fate at first. He’s probably one of the best parts of the movie. The problems started arising the more I saw of him. This was not the Doctor Fate I knew. This Doctor Fate wasn’t nearly as powerful as the one I’ve come to know and love. For whatever reason, he can see into the future, but not really, he just shoots magic blasts that look like the mirror dimension from the MCU, and he can make copies of himself. The Helmet Of Fate doesn’t have Nabu’s consciousness in it. The movie version of Doctor Fate just feels like a cheap copy of the MCU’s Doctor Strange. I loved Aldis Hodge in “The Invisible Man” and I thought he was an amazing pick for Hawkman. The problem is that Hawkman isn’t the Hawkman I grew up with. It’s fine to change a character to better suit the story being told, but the Hawkman of “Black Adam” just whines about Black Adam being a villain and how he himself is a hero. Then he proceeds to get his ass beat. He’s like this the whole movie and it’s grating to watch for two hours. The rest of the Justice Society doesn’t even matter all that much. Cyclone and Atom Smasher hint at a potential romance, which would’ve been cool to see. Young DC heroes always have romances within their respective teams. It’s one of the appeals to their stories. Too bad it’s never explored and both characters barely do anything in the movie. Atom Smasher is supposed to be the comedic relief, but isn’t given any attention by the filmmakers, which begs the question, why would you even try to make him the comic relief then? It doesn’t help that he looks like a recolored Deadpool either. I think a lot of people are just excited for the end credit tease, but to be completely honest, it’s not all that exciting. The universe is still a mess and I was never really scared of the actor being replaced anyways. Unlike the MCU, DC live-action characters have been played by so many different people that I don’t really care who plays them anymore as long as they do a good job. It’s a shame too since I love the DC comics more than Marvel. They keep making the wrong decisions to fast-track a cinematic universe and it just fosters bad will in everyone. They want Black Adam to fight the more popular superheroes so badly that it feels like Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam is too good for Zachary Levi’s Shazam.

★★★

Watched on November 1st, 2022

#Black Adam #October #2022 #Action #Superhero #Science Fiction #Adventure #Fantasy #Thriller #Drama #PG-13 #Jaume Collet-Serra #November 2022 #3 stars

[moorheadthanyoucanhandle]

A LITTLE LESS CONVERSATION, A LITTLE MORE REACTION

Check out Your Humble Narrator's short article, online at Phoenix Magazine, about the upcoming TCM/Fathom Events revival of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan at select AMC Theatres on Sunday, September 4, Monday September 5 and Thursday September 8...

...and also of the showing of Nosferatu at the Orpheum Theatre here in Phoenix next Tuesday.

It's bad enough that Nosferatu is marking its centennial this year, but it's really irksome that Wrath of Khan is being shown in observance of its fortieth anniversary. Wrath of Khan is forty freakin' years old.

I have a bit of personal history with this film. My review of Wrath of Khan was the first movie review of mine ever to appear in a daily newspaper, the Erie Times-News. I was twenty years old, and had been submitting my work to the editors there for a while without success. My break came because the regular reviewer disliked sci-fi, and horror, and action pictures, and pretty much any kind of movie in which, as he liked to put it, "the dialogue appears in word balloons over the characters' heads."

Needless to say, I was more than happy to relieve him of this beat, and Wrath of Khan was my first opportunity to do so. I dragged my then-girlfriend to it at the Strand on 10th Street in Erie. I think she was a little taken aback at how much I responded to it. She knew I was a nerd; she didn't know I was that much of a nerd.

Forty years later, it's still a favorite of mine. All these years, however, I've had a complaint about the movie, and I doubt there will be a better occasion than now to air it. But it involves a moment at the very climatic moment of the film, so if you've never seen it, and want to discover it for yourself, consider this a MAJOR SPOILER warning.

Okay, for those still reading: Near the end of Wrath of Khan, Kirk's titular nemesis, grandly played by Ricardo Montalban, is dying aboard the starship Reliant, scarred by radiation burns, but still lashing out at Kirk by trying to detonate the Genesis Device, spewing Ahab's invective toward Moby-Dick all the while. Meanwhile Kirk, aboard the Enterprise, and his crew are frantically trying to regain warp speed so that they can escape the blast zone. The director, Nicholas Meyer, cuts between the two vessels, with Khan's crazed, disfigured face gleefully watching the Enterprise on his viewscreen.

At the last second, of course, warp speed is attained, and the Enterprise zips away to safety as the Reliant explodes behind her. Yay, the good guys win; all is well, except...Meyer doesn't cut to a reaction shot so that we can see Khan register, in that final second, that Kirk has defeated him once and for all.

I've never understood this omission. Everything about the way the scene is shot and edited up to that point seems to set up such a reaction shot, maybe even a final "NOOOOO!" from Montalban. It would have been the perfect payoff to Kirk's much-parodied roar of "KHAAAAAN!" earlier in the film.

I'm well aware that the reason for the dissatisfaction I feel at the lack of this shot has to do with my persistent, spiteful feelings about revenge in melodramas. Khan himself, in this movie, quotes a "Klingon proverb" that "revenge is a dish best served cold," but the innumerable action pictures that end with the bad guy simply being killed leave me cold; they're entirely unsatisfying. Far better that they should live long to wallow in their defeat; at a minimum, they should die knowing that they've lost. There are a few movies that have grasped this: the original Cape Fear, also The Princess Bride among them. But few movies have ever left me hanging in this regard as badly as Wrath of Khan, wonderful as it is.

Was such a shot planned, but never shot? Was it shot, but cut for some deliberate reason, or just for time? Did Montalban have to leave early that day? Or was it truly never considered? If I ever get the chance to interview Meyer (no matter what the subject of the interview is supposed to be), these are likely to be the first questions I ask him. Or, by some chance, does the shot exist after all, and is it at last included in the "Director's Cut" being shown at the TCM/Fathom Events revival?

In the meantime, I'll ask you: Am I the only one that ever noticed this or felt this way?

#ricardo montalban #william shatner #star trek #nosferatu #star trek ii: the wrath of khan #phoenix magazine #nicholas meyer

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

May I have a scenario/imagine, whichever makes more sense, of Trey, Rook, and Crewel trying to tame some sort of wild, magical invasive species of Poison Ivy that has taken over the greenhouse?

Crewel gives me perpetually disappointed wine aunt father vibes. This piece also lowkey turned out to be Trey x Rook, but you didn’t read that from me.

This imagine’s longer than my usual 1k word self-imposed limit, since it goes out to a friend of mine that’s been supporting me through final projects and exams. I’m not sure if they’d want me tagging them so publicly, but they know who they are.

Imagine this...

To Professor Crewel’s chagrin, members of the Science Club had never had strong academic intent. In actuality, the club was a thinly veiled excuse to bake cakes (just to find the perfect ratio of leaveners and sweeteners!) and to stalk watch students in their natural habitats (nothing wrong with an impromptu observational study, right?). Instead of test tubes and beakers, the lab benches were littered with cake pans and photographs of unsuspecting Savanaclaw students.

“I do wish you two would take this club more seriously,” Crewel would often gripe, fingers massaging his temples. “Science is not a play thing, it is a powerful tool with which we can use to redefine and reshape the world around us.”

Such were the woes of an instructor--but today, he had no time to lament.

Crewel’s jaw tightened as he gazed upon a sprawling mess--the shattered glass panes of the Botanical Garden, with massive stalks of ivy reaching for the skies. Casualties lined the ground--plants and flowers drained dry of their life, all withered and decayed. The ivy writhed in glee.

(He shouldn’t have been surprised that the headmaster summoned him and the Science Club to resolve the issue instead of hiring a real exterminator.)

“How unseemly,” Crewel noted, clicking his tongue. “Running amok and ruining so many of the specimens we’ve carefully cultivated... This shall not go unpunished.”

He glanced over his shoulder.

“Clover.”

“Yes.” Trey stepped forward, his magical pen ready.

“Hunt.”

“Oui.” Rook followed suit, smoothly drawing forth his own pen.

“The time has come to prove your mettle,” Crewel announced, rapping his pointer against his palm. His onyx eyes seethed with a quiet, controlled rage. “Show this overgrown weed what the Science Club is truly capable of.”

At his command, the boys nodded and tore off toward the Botanical Garden.

Crewel held his ground. The corners of his mouth curled into a condescending smirk as he addressed the poison ivy. “Come here.”

An arm of ivy flew at him, so fast that it was but a blur.

An alive, but livid, blur.

“Heel!”

A column of fire erupted from Crewel’s pointer. His attack slammed against the plant, settings its leaves awash in embers. The rogue plant let out a sky-splitting roar.

The battle had just begun.

Trey ducked under an arc of burning ivy and threw open the door to the Botanical Garden. Tucking his limbs in, he barreled through right as more ivy snaked in to seal off the entrance once more.

He could feel the heat upon his back, the earth quaking under his feet, and Rook close behind him--yet he willed himself to keep his eyes glued ahead, even as he launched across the threshold and into a terrifying new realm.

The inside of the greenhouse now glistened with ivy--covering the glass panes, slowly strangling what few plants remained. The Botanical Garden had always been warm before, but it was unusually so today. Sweltering, and almost so humid that the floors and walls seem to eerily pulsate with life.

“Keep your wits about you, and don’t look back, boys,” Crewel had instructed them. “Just get in there, and cut it off at its source--at the heart.”

Trey’s eyes darted this way and that. Green, green, green. It all looked the same to him. Where in the world was the point of origin?

“Got any ideas?!” He glanced over his shoulder at his partner--and his protective goggles nearly went askew.

Rook had dropped to one knee, pressing a gloved hand against the floor--now a carpet of vines. “Hoooh! What a fascinating specimen!” he marveled. “Such destructive power, and yet it also sports this emerald sheen... Très manifique!”

“H-Hey... No offense, but I don’t think now’s the time to stop and sniff the roses. Or, well. I guess it would be ivy in this case.”

“Non, non! There is always time for beauty--even in dire situations!” Rook insisted, his hands continuing to grope around. His eyes suddenly creased, and his smile turned sly. “Ah, te voilà.”

“Even if you say that, that’s not going to help us fix this...!!”

“Calm yourself, Chevalier des Roses,” Rook advised with an airy laugh. He cupped a hand to his ear and beamed. “Listen closely! Surely even your own heart beckons you to still your worries.”

“Heart?” Trey straightened, adamant as he folded his arms. “Sorry, but I just don’t believe in stuff like that. Come on, Rook. We need to focus--Crewel-sensei’s trusting us with this task.”

He cast a concerned glance at the doorway, ensnared in vines. They’d have to blast their way through later--but if they stayed in this space for too long, they, too, would soon be drained of all their life force. “We can’t just mess around!”

“Ah--but you must put your faith in me as well, Chevalier des Roses!” Rook insisted, pointing to the patch of floor that he had been not-too-subtly groping earlier. “I implore you to lend me your strength!”

“You want me to attack the gr--?!” Trey froze mid-sentence. He had become vaguely aware of a gentle sensation creeping around his ankles.

In an instant, he was yanked into the air, dangling upside down like a useless rag doll. Blood rushed to his head, and his surroundings spun.

“Chevalier des Roses!!”

“I’m fine!! I-I’m fine!” Trey called--though he clearly wasn’t. “I can just--” He waved his magical pen, the air growing tense as a small ball of fire collected at his command.

“Non!” Rook warned, startling his classmate. “There is nothing to cushion your descent, mon amie! You will surely break a leg--and certainly not in the theatrical sense!”

He’s right. Trey’s fire extinguished itself, replaced by a chill crawling down his spine.

“A little help then?!”

Rook’s eyes widened. “You would give me your trust?”

“Not exactly like I have any other choice.” Trey would shrug, but it was a rather difficult motion to pull off while suspended midair--and far more troublesome, his veins ran cold. It was a sure sign of the ivy sapping his energy.

“Have no fear! Today, it shall be my turn to be the chevalier.” The hunter grinned from ear to ear, magical pen in hand.

“Please, Rook! Any day now--before I become plant food!” Trey’s voice was hoarse--from exasperation, or from the magical ivy, he wasn’t quite sure. Perhaps both.

“Just for today, I shall be your Chevalier D’amour.”

And with a confident wink, Rook plunged the ivy-covered floor into a sea of flames.

The accursed plant wailed as it shriveled to ash upon a backdrop of billowing smoke. Embers flickered and danced in the afternoon, the Botanical Garden set ablaze. Crewel took a step back, grimacing at the growing fire.

A figure emerged from the greenhouse, carrying another. The professor squinted into the smoke, pinpointing the familiar outline of his Science Club members--Rook, cradling a pale-looking Trey in his strong arms.

“Puppies.” Crewel pinched his temples.

“C’est chose faite--it is now done.” The brim of Rook’s hat eclipsed his eyes, making the typically cheery hunter appear dark to match his tone. Then he lifted his head, basking in the sunshine, and that somber moment was over. “All is well and good again, as it should be!”

“I... I thought I was going to die,” Trey groaned. “... And Rook, I appreciate you catching my fall, but you didn’t need to carry me out like you’re an action hero in a movie or something.”

“Are you able to still stand after an attack from that heinous plant?”

“Yeah. Just put me down.”

“Oui.”

Trey stood on shaky legs--and instinctively leaned on Rook’s shoulder.

“Well, boys. You’ve exterminated the ivy--as well as just about every other plant in the Botanical Garden. How exactly do you intend to atone for this?!” Crewel snapped, whipping his pointer at his students. “I believe my instructions were quite clear--destroy only the heart of the ivy.”

“The fault lies with me, Monsieur,” Rook declared, dipping into a bow. “We dallied for longer than was necessary, and in a moment of panic, I unleashed my magic.”

“Always one with a flair for the dramatic. Unfortunately, that will not serve you well in detention, Hunt.”

“Wait. Crewel-sensei, that’s not the whole story,” Trey interrupted. “Rook got me out of a pinch--and he deserves credit for that. He’s also the one that found out where the ivy’s heart was--buried in the floor itself. I didn’t realize until it was too late.”

The professor’s lips pursed into a straight line. “Clover, are you confessing to your own negligence?”

“I am.” He nodded firmly. “I’m the one that deserves the detention.”

“Trey-kun is not responsible!” Rook protested. “He is the one that attempted to set us on the right path. I refused to heed his advice, which led to events escalating.”

“I didn’t listen to Rook when he tried to tell me about what I needed to do.”

“I should have phrased it more concisely.”

“You--”

“Trey-kun--”

“Enough. It is clear to me that both of you contributed to this chaos.” Crewel sighed. “... Hunt, take Clover to the infirmary. I will put out the fire myself.

“... Are you letting us go?”

“Of course not. Once you’ve recovered, Clover... you boys will be restoring plants in the Botanical Garden for the remainder of the semester as punishment.”

“Ahhh, I should’ve known. Riddle’s not gonna like this at all.”

“Chin up, Chevalier des Roses! At the very least, we shall have each other’s company!” Rook laughs, smacking Trey on the back and sending his peer nearly doubling over.

Crewel sighed once more--he was disappointed, but not surprised.

His Science Club puppies still had a long way to go.

#twst #Divus Crewel #Trey Clover #Rook Hunt #twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland imagines #twisted wonderland headcanons #twisted wonderland requests #twisted wonderland scenarios #imagine this

[caxsthetic]

In the Rain

Miya Osamu x F!Reader

For those who said that the only thing that could bring happiness was sunshine, then they have never danced in the rain before.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *. GRAND MASTERLIST .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You stood in front of the grocery store with a pout gradually slipped to your facade. The azure light was so bright an hour ago, the breeze was warm as it touched your skin. Thus the reason why you went to this place by foot instead of using the car.

But now, the sky decided to cry at whatever breaking their heart at this very moment. The sun was hiding under all of the clouds that filled the horizon, raindrops hitting the road mercilessly. Generating the swarm of people to run around with their bags on top of their head, trying to shield themselves from the water that struck their skin.

You jolted when you felt someone's palm rested on your arm, caressing it gently as they knew how tense you were from the predicament. The touch was so familiar, and you calmed down immediately from his gesture. It was your husband, Miya Osamu,

"It's raining."

He stated the obvious scenario that was now unfolding in front of you, making you roll your eyes from his statement. If you were not stressed, you would chuckle and smacked his muscular torso. But no, you just bought something that could be destroyed if it made contact with water.

And you were pretty sure by the time you came back to the shop, it would be damaged already—noting how heavy the rain was.

"Samu, what should we do?" Your forehead scrunched up as you spun your brain, thinking about how to save all of the belongings on the bag, "Right now I really miss having a plastic bag."

"Hey now, you don't mean that." He wrapped one of his arms around your neck, ruffling your hair gently, "What did you buy? Aren't we just shopping for some ingredients?"

You opened up the plastic bag for him to look by himself, and he raised one of his eyebrows when he saw the device, "Hairdryer?"

"Yes. Tragic isn't it?" You huffed, blowing your hair away from your face that was tickling your nose, "Our hairdryer was in memoriam since our son decided to think that sucking the air from a plastic bag using the back of the hairdryer was a good thing."

"Oh, that time! But that was because he needed it. Something about making some rock properties for their drama play or something?" Osamu wanted to grab the groceries bag from your hand, a habit of him since he didn't like to make you tired. But you pulled your hands away before he could do that.

"Believe me, I am not going to get angry if it turns out good."

"It's that bad?"

"It's awful!" You let out your frustration, telling him the exact scenario that happened a few days ago. From other people's point of view, you would look like a feral woman ready to throw a child in a trashcan. But through his eyes, he just saw a tired wife that needed a break, and maybe some pampering that could make you feel at ease.

"And I swear to God, Samu. If he's not my child I will—"

Before you could say anything, he immediately clamped your mouth with his palm, knowing that it was just your emotion who ran your mouth at this very moment,

"Take a deep breath, okay? I will take my hand away but you need to promise me to take a deep breath with me." You closed your eyes and nodded at his statement, "Good."

He pulled his hand away from your mouth, guiding you to calm yourself down by running his thumb ups and down your arms. After seconds, you were back to yourself, but now letting out a long sigh as your mind clouded with the hairdryer that could be damaged once again.

You darted your eyes to the sky, sad by the fact that not even a glimpse of rays slid between the clouds. Even the sky became so much darker than before, and the rain never once gave you any mercy.

He eyed you carefully with concern engraved all over his complexion. Usually, you were not someone who got upset so easily. But these past few days your mood had become a rollercoaster, and he felt helpless sometimes as he couldn't do anything about it.

"Hey, it's going to be okay." Your husband's voice sounded so gentle as he tilted your head softly with his finger, pushing you to look at him, "The hairdryer was in a box, right?" You nodded, answering his question with the simple gesture, "Then come on."

Without waiting for your approval—something that he knew he wouldn't get—, he interlaced his hand on yours, pulling you towards the rain as he walked towards the whirlwind weather. He could feel how you tugged on his hand, yelping once your entire figure drenched by the rain.

"Samu!" But he didn't stop, knowing if he looked back at you he would take you to shelter. And right now, he wanted to do something to make you let loose a bit.

You eyed his back as you walked behind him, raising your eyebrows from the bizarre action that he decided to do. He walked like he didn't just soak himself under the heavy rain. Like it was sunny outside as he enjoyed the weather with a smile on his face.

Your whole body trembled from how the frigid conditions impaled your skin. And he could feel it. The two of you were halfway through by now, but he stopped all of a sudden as he saw how quiet the street around you. There were no other people on sight, the only thing that you could see was the rice fields and the quiet neighbourhood.

He immediately let go of your hand and grabbed the groceries bag from you, arranging it under the tree that loomed near the meadows. You crossed your arms in front of your chest, wondering what exactly his plan was. When you exhale, you could see how a puff of air seems to evaporate, warning you about the cold temperature.

You really wanted to just run towards the shop. But at the same time, you wanted to know why your husband decided to stop midway. He walked back towards you with a giddy smile on his face, extending one of his hands for you to take.

That's when your mind clicked,

"Oh kind, sir. What a good thing to do, eh? Asking for a dance in the downpour that could make you sick?" You sounded so disapproved of his plan, making his heart drop in an instant. That until you rested your hand on him, "Please do guide me, sir."

His smile became so much wider than before, the same old smile that always made your stomach churned with butterflies. He pulled your body closer to him, making you gasped as a soft chuckle slip from your lips.

You put one hand on his back while the other still interlaced with him, locking together like there was a padlock keeping it there. His smile was so contagious that you didn't even realise you carried the exact same smile on your face.

"Now, that is the smile that I have been waiting for," He whispered softly, but with how close the two of you were, you could hear his voice loud and clear, "You pouted so much since the rain started I am afraid there would be a wrinkle on your face tomorrow."

"Oh, come on!" You snorted at this, displaying your annoyed face. Despite all that, you still followed his movement anyway. Both of you stayed in the middle of the quiet road. Just two happy random people in the world, waltzing as the rain observing their every movement.

"You should have listened to me before and used the car." He spun you around before pulling you back once again to his embrace, "My gut feelings were good, you know?" You rolled your eyes when you could hear how smug he heard right now.

"Please, you were just too lazy and—" Your fingers pinched his stomach gently, giggling at his chubby tum, "—want to keep this~"

Red hues started to creep into his face, didn't expect you to call him out like that. After hours working behind the counter, he hadn't spent some time at the gym or done any workout. Hence the reason why there was now a bulge of dango—that was how you called it—on his stomach.

"Sorry, I will work out mo-"

"Hey, I don't care." You decided to circle both arms around his neck, resting your forehead on his as you try to replace the coldness that you felt with his warmth, "Either you had a dorito body or this dango-like tummy. I don't care." Your breath tickled his lips, "Because you are perfect already."

He chuckled at this, his heart swelled with the sudden confession that poured from your lips. You were not someone that constantly indulged him by saying sweet things. So when you gave him some compliment or acknowledgement, he knew that it was all genuine, from the bottom of your heart.

The two of you stood there and swayed your hips softly, matching each other's beat like there was music blasting through your ears,

"I'm singing in the rain," You whispered, trying to sing out the song that you remember from your childhood, "Just singing in the rain." It was one of the old songs from a movie that your mother showed you, "What a glorious feeling, I am happy again!"

"I am laughing at clouds~" He suddenly continued the song, making you giggle as he twirled you around, "So dark up above~" His finger pointing at the dark sky, and you subconsciously looking up there, "The sun's in my heart, and I am ready for love." Then he suddenly pulled your body closer to him, didn't leave any gap as his eyes bore to your face.

With just a simple act, he could erase all of the worried from your eyes. Forehead that was scrunched up earlier, was now relaxed as he had you here in his embrace. The smile that didn't even appear before now tugged permanently on your expression, replacing the once gloomy facade.

Both of you standing there, looking at each other's eyes like you and him were the only people on earth. Some people were running around looking for shelters, shaking their head when they saw the odd couple dancing in the rain. You were aware of their prying eyes, but you didn't give a damn about it.

He leaned in, wanting to capture your lips on his. And once you follow his movement, the two of you finally have no gap in between. Your eyes fluttered closed once his cold lips touched yours. The raindrops watched how the couple found happiness in the melancholy atmosphere.

Maybe it was because you were distracted, didn't remember about the stuff on the groceries bag that now would be damaged already. No, it was not about distraction. But it was all about the existence of the man that currently poured his love for you.

He was just a normal human being, not a prince not even a conglomerate. Yet he could make you the happiest woman alive by just having his presence in your life. It was all about the company, him, your partner in life, that made every single breath that you take worth everything.

Achoo! He sneezed all of a sudden, making you gasped as you looked at him with bewilderment in your eyes,

"Did you just sneeze on me?!" You took a few steps backwards over this. He only gave you a sheepish smile, but that smile was enough to make you laugh anyway. You couldn't stay mad at him, one second and that was all it took, "Come on, let's get back to the shop."

You were now the one who led him through the heavy downpour that somehow didn't die down even after minutes you put on a show with your husband. With groceries in hand that were now fully soaked, the two of you walked slowly to the second home that he built together with you.

Unlike before when you despised the rain so much from ruining your groceries, you circled your arm around his. In the middle of it, sometimes you decided to dance playfully as you walked side by side with him, resulting in him to follow suit.

You couldn't feel the freezing temperature anymore as your skin occasionally made contact with your husband. He was enough to make you warm, even better than any pile of blankets or some hot cocoa that you made for your son before sleep.

Your eyes lit up when you could finally see the shop, and it didn't go unnoticed by him. Both of you sped up the pace subconsciously, somehow even when the two of you enjoyed the rain so much, you couldn't help but want to feel the real warmth.

"We are here!" You announced your arrival to everyone, and all of the employees and patrons were all freaking out when they saw the state the two of you were in right now, "Please, please, don't mind us! Oh, hello, Yumie-san! Shinsuke is still busy?" You put the groceries in the kitchen after greeting all the patrons.

You and your husband excused yourself to the upper floor, needing to change all of the clothes that were now sticking all over the skin. Both of you decided to take a shower together so no one would be cold for too long. There was no lust in the room, just pure adoration and fondness as the two of you bathed in each other's warm.

He was currently lost in thought after shower, wearing the spare black t-shirt that he always had laying around on the little en suite, a getaway that he made for the two of you.

"Sit down," You stood behind him all of a sudden, he didn't ask why or anything and just comply with your words. The bed creaked a little when he sat, and it creaked even harder when you jumped up behind him with a towel in your hand.

His whole body relaxed the second he felt the soft fabric plopped on top of his head, followed by your hands as you massaged his scalp gently—drying his hair at the process. His eyes fluttered close, enjoying the affectionate gesture that you gave.

"How is the hairdryer?" He asked you with his low, calm voice, "I presume it couldn't be safe?"

"You bet it is." You chuckled a little, didn't feel any kind of sadness even when you just lost something that could benefit you in the future—cue when you woke up late or in a rush.

"I am glad," He leaned his body backwards, love to feel your warm torso. His statement made you raise one of your eyebrows in confusion, "I love to feel your hand on my hair like this, it soothes me."

A smile grazed your lips as you stopped your ministrations. With your hands, you tilted his head upwards a little. Your eyes met with his warm dark orbs, filled with love as it stared back at you. You leaned down your head closer to him, giving a small peck on his forehead.

"I love you, Samu." You gently set his hair aside from his face, wanting to see him more clearly now. A giddy smile tugged on his lips as the words rolled down from your tongue oh so smoothly.

"I love you too, dear. So much." His hand wandered gently on your arms, caressing it softly as he tells you how thankful he was to have you—just through the simple gesticulation, "Think we could do it again?"

"Hm? Do what?" You eyed him before you tilted his head back, continuing to dry his hair.

"Dancing in the rain? It was fun." He sounded like a small child at the moment, and you couldn't help but let out a small laugh, "Please? Look me in the eyes and say you didn't enjoy it, I bet you can't."

"Yeah, yeah, I enjoy it. A lot, actually." And it made you wonder why it took twenty-seven years for you to feel that, "But, you have to wear a raincoat the next time we do that."

"No…" He whined at this, and you pinched his cheek playfully, making him weep even further, "But it's no fun! We couldn't feel the water trickling down our skin!"

"Oh shush, or we could use an umbrella. To give some effects as we dance." He turned his body towards you before pulling you to his arms. His eyes bore at you with a mysterious look behind his pupils, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

He didn't answer as he still made eye contact with you. His gaze looked so serious while yours looked confused. Then he chuckled all of a sudden,

"You looked so stupid!"

"I beg your pardon!"

It always ended up like this, the two of you bicker over the smallest things. You rested both hands on his shoulders, smacking him playfully as he somehow could turn a romantic atmosphere into chaos in a matter of seconds.

"Oh, by the way…" You trailed off, squeezing your hands on his arms. It made him fall silent as he could hear a serious tone in your voice.

"What is it?" He waited for you to say something, anything. To say that he was patient was the biggest lie of the century. Compared to his brother? Maybe, but both of the twins never once considered a patient one anyway. So it torture him when you just looked at him with an unreadable gaze, "(Y/n), what-"

"I am pregnant."

He blinked, once, twice, thrice. His mouth was now agape since he still tried to process your words, making sure it seeped into his brain, "Are you still breathing?"

"Hey!" He was too shocked over this. Then he remembered how you always ran first towards the bathroom first thing in the morning, or how you became picky over things that you eat. Or the most prominent one, was how you could be such an angel then possessed by satan in a blink of an eye.

"Yeah, right. Now, I don't want you to-" But before you could warn him about things that you don't want him to do, he shut you up with his lips—pressing it deep on yours. Your teeth clicked with his, making you gasped because of the slight pain that you got.

"Alright. First, I wouldn't allow you to lift some heavy groceries,"

"But, Samu-"

"And then, I will throw away all of the liquor in the house."

"Don't throw it away! Some were from our wedding!"

"Okay, I will just lock it," This was exactly what happened when you announced your first pregnancy with him. He wanted you to be as comfortable as ever, treated you like a queen, and overall just wanted the best things for you, "But something that crucial was… I forbid Atsumu to come to our house until our child acknowledges me as their dad."

"Hey, why? I thought he was a decent person to take care of our child when we were busy."

"Did you forget that it needed two years for our son to finally agree that I am his father instead of Atsumu?" Your husband was annoyed by it, and you couldn't help but cup his cheek with your hands, hoping that it calmed him down, "What? No matter what you say, I don't want to be called an imposter by my future child ever again. So I need to take the safest route."

"Alright, alright, you big baby." You caressed his cheeks with your thumb, tilting his head a little to face you. It was quite now as his hand went down towards your hips, stroking it gently.

"I know I have said it a million times already, but-" He whispered softly, grazing his lips on yours as a smile tugged on your lips, "I love you, and thank you for being here with me from the start."

It was quiet now as you rested your forehead on his. Funny how one man could impact your moods in many ways. You chose him all those years ago, and same as him as he decided to love and wanted to spend the rest of his life with you.

"I love you too, Miya Osamu," You shared another affectionate kiss with him, "And I swear I will be there too at the end of everything."

The rain never stops pouring down the roads and attacks the wooden roof on top of you. Yet, you and him acted like the frosty atmosphere didn't affect the tenderness and warmth that you two shared.

Because it didn't, not even in the slightest bit.

Because when you were with him, any kind of sorrow and dreadful atmosphere couldn't be felt. When you were with him, there was only warmth, and even when the raindrops impaled your skin, it would be nothing compared to the love that was radiated from the two of you.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*     ༶• ┈┈ ⛧ ┈ ♛ ♛ ┈ ⛧ ┈┈ •༶     *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Tagged Fanfiction:

@muffins-puffins @nanashinanashi @vlovers-world @kashika @blacckdiamondposts @muffngw @baby-boy-taichi @for-ests @giyuwu-san @mochi-poof @miyatsunami @iwaixiumi @hihiq @the-fandom-ness ​ @quirksandbreaths @rintarhoe @verbluehte @simp4tsukkii @ladyalicevii @evermorehaikyuu @clowninfortodoroki @koutaroulovebot @daiseukis @fitriiaw @mistypoison @aquariarose @shiningstar-byulxx

This is totally not self-indulgence fic👉👈 Tell me if you want to get tagged on any of my fanfic that I am going to write!

#osamu miya x reader #miya osamu x reader #osamu miya imagine #miya osamu imagine #miya osamu #osamu miya #haikyuu!! #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu imagine #haikyuu fluff #osamu miya fluff #miya osamu fluff #haikyuu scenarios #osamu x reader

[clockwork-fayz]

The Most Perfect Proposal

Alternate Title: A Very Disney Telenovela Proposal

Or the fanfiction that came to me in an actual dream I had and I had to write it. 

Matteo, Simon, and Gastón all get the idea in their heads that they need to propose to their significant others. A chance encounter at a jewelry store leads our three boys helping each other out to orchestrate the perfect proposal. Can they pull of three proposals? Not without totally unrealistic issues arising of course!

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Matteo stared at the rings in the case, his eyebrows furrowed. Before this moment he had thought that it would be easy to pick out a ring for Luna. He knew everything about her down to her favorite font to use on posters. He figured that he would be able to walk into a ring shop and one would just scream Luna to him. But this was the fifth shop he had been in, and nothing seemed to fit.

Matteo had been thinking about proposing for quite a long time before he decided to make it a reality.

In fact he could remember the day that he realized he was going to marry her.  It had been a year after they had started dating (the second time around).  Luna was sitting with Matteo in first class on their way to Spain to start off Matteo’s first international tour.

Months before, in the planning stage of his tour, Matteo had gotten the brilliant idea of having skating be a part of the concert and having Luna be one of the dancers. It was perfect for Luna; not only did she get to go on tour with her boyfriend but she was getting paid to do it. She had been in charge of the choreography and Matteo had to admit it was her best work yet.

Luna had never been to Europe before and to say she was excited was an understatement. She had spent an entire night researching every place that they were stopping and created a list of everything she wanted to do. Some more realistic than others.

“Mi amor, I don’t think that we will be able to do all of this.  Stalking the royal family will take a couple of days at least and we are only in London for a night.”

“But what’s the point of going to England if I don’t get to see one royal Matteo.  Honestly, why are we going on this tour then.”

Matteo shook his head at her amused. “You are right. Forget performing in front of sold out crowds, let’s get arrested for breaking into the palace.”

“That’s the spirit!”

It was the middle of the night on the plane, and Luna was fast asleep snuggled against him. The movie they were watching was still playing on the TV, the fast paced action sequences unable to awake her from her dead sleep.  Matteo wasn’t tired, but he was perfectly content watching her breathe.

She looked so peaceful, the blanket pulled up to her chin, her hair falling into her face. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was midnight in Buenos Aires. It was officially their one year anniversary.  Not that Luna would remember that it was their anniversary, she was terrible at dates.  But Matteo was never one to forget things like that.  He could still tell you the date and time it was when he first ran into her in Cancun all those years ago.

Who would have thought he would be here now with her? When he met her for the first time, there had been an immediate spark between the two of them, but he never considered that one day Luna would be asleep on him while they flew off on an adventure and with hundreds of memories behind them.  He thought of the first time he kissed her; how he had been secretly dying to do it for weeks and how right it felt when he finally did. He thought of every kiss afterwards, how even now kissing her made him feel like he was flying. Of how her walking in the room still made his heart beat faster.  Of how she knew him better than anybody.  Of all the walks in the parks, the scary movies watched, the jokes they shared.

It was an overwhelming feeling. It felt like he had hit a tidal wave of thoughts.  Once the thought was there, he couldn’t think of anything else.

He had to spend the rest of his life with Luna.  He was going to marry her.

The thought enveloped him as he watched her sleeping. It was an excitable feeling.

He knew he wouldn’t propose until far in the future. She would kill him if he proposed when they were so young. There was no rush. But from that moment on, the fact was in the back of his mind that she was his forever.  Even when they argued, even when the fights got so bad she was screaming at him and he would walk out slamming the door, even then he knew that Luna was the only girl for him.

Luna shifted, jarring him from his thoughts and making him jump just a little.  She woke slightly, murmuring “Everything ok Teo?”

“Si, mi amor,” he said, rubbing her arm, “Everything is perfect.”

Now it was five years later. She was 24 and he was 25. They had spent six years together, full of adventures, fights, makeups, and him adoring every moment with her. It was time to make forever official.  

As he stood at the case pondering what Luna would prefer, he heard a voice behind him.

“Matteo?”

“ Gastón ?”

……

You could say that Simón always thought he was going to marry Ámbar .  Even before they were together, and she still guarded herself with sharp words and poor decisions, he could only imagine a future where they were together.

There was one moment that really cemented it in his mind though.  He remembered it fondly. He was walking up to the apartment that they shared and could hear music blasting from the doorway. They had only been living with each other for a month or so.  It was a big step for Ámbar , who had always lived in mansions, to move into a one bedroom apartment in the city. She had been adjusting to things like having to buy your own groceries and cook for yourself.

Simón opened the door and Ámbar didn’t even notice.  She was standing at the mixer, spatula in hand and a mess surrounding her. She was swaying to the music and singing softly along as she read from the cookbook.

Simón closed the door loudly as not to scare her and she turned down the music when she noticed him.

“What are you doing mi amor?” he asked, taking in the scene in front of him.

Her eyebrows furrowed. “I thought you weren’t supposed to be home until later, it was going to be a surprise!”

“Pedro had to leave for an appointment so I came home early. Are you baking?”

She gestured towards the counter. “Clearly. Though it is much harder than it looks. I’ve called Monica three times already.”

Simón chuckled, approaching her. “You have some flour on your cheek,” he said, brushing it off gently with his finger. “And your forehead. And all over your shirt.”

He leaned over to give her a peck on the lips. She smiled, before pushing him away.

“Well now that the surprise is ruined, you will have to help me. I can’t figure out how to add flour without it flying out of the mixer and all over!”

“For starters,” he said, assessing the situation, “You should start it off on a lower setting.”

Her eyes grew wide. “There are settings?”

Simón laughed.  “Here, let me show you.”

Ámbar watched closely as Simón taught her how to run the mixer properly. It was a lot easier now that Simón was showing her.

“It looks like we just need chocolate chips,” she said, grabbing the bag.

“But we have to hand mix those in, or a mixer will break.”

Ámbar looked back at him. “What would I do without you?”

Simón showed her how to fold the chocolate chips into the cookie dough with the cookie spatula.  

Ámbar tried a bit of the cookie dough and moaned in delight.

“Babe, you have to try this. I did so good.”

Simon let her feed him a bit off the spatula. “Mmm very good. Best cookie dough I’ve ever eaten.”

Ámbar stared at the spatula and then looked up to him with large doe eyes.

“I should bake more.” Then she turned to get the cookie sheet. He went to sit on the bar stool as she scooped the dough into balls on the pan. She was humming to the music again, focusing on making sure the balls were spaced evenly. And then it hit him.

He could suddenly see years from now what their life could be. Simón would still be making music, Ámbar would have risen in the ranks at Vidia. They would live in a house together with their kids. And although they would live busy lives, they would always make time for their family.  They would spend weekends making cookies, roller skating in the park, going to the beach. It would be a chaotic but perfect life.

Ámbar looked back at him staring at her.

“Don’t tell me that I have flour all over the back of me too?”

Simón smiled and went over to her, pulling her in for a kiss.

“No mi amor, I was just thinking of how much I love you.”

Ámbar looked at him confused but not complaining.

“I love you too.  What brought this on?”

“Nothing.  Let me help you get these cookies in the oven.”

It was thinking back to that moment that made Simón realize that it was time for him to propose to her.  He went to the jewelry store that day, not expecting to see two familiar faces inside.

…

…

…

Gastón knew he was going to marry Nina not long after they had gotten back together.

Breaking up with her was the biggest mistake he had ever made. He thought that he was helping her. He was on an entire different continent. They never got to see each other and the time difference was killer. He had convinced himself that it was for the best. It hadn’t taken him too long to realize that he was wrong.

He had tried to go out with other girls, but they were no Nina.  There was this one girl that lived down the street from him. She was gorgeous and she was obviously into Gastón . He had asked her out to a movie with him.

He should have known things weren’t going to work out when she wanted to see the latest crude humor movie. He agreed to go, to give it a chance. It was just as awful as he thought it would be.  

“Wasn’t that so funny?” the girl asked as they sat at a diner afterwards.

Gastón hesitated. “It wasn’t really my taste. I prefer sci-fi movies actually or movies that make you think. My gir- uhm my friend from back home and I used to watch old mystery movie marathons. It was lots of fun.”

“Hmm, I don’t think that I’ve watched one of those.”

“They are really good.”

An awkward silence fell over them.

“So what books do you like to read?” Gastón finally asked, trying to break the tension.

“Oh I don’t really read.”

Gastón nodded. “That’s alright. What about music?”

“Anything that’s on the radio.”

Why is this so awkward, thought Gastón . It was never this awkward on dates with Nina. With Delphi maybe, but Nina could have conversations about anything with him.  He remembered that one time they talked for an hour ranking every mainstream Shakespearean play.

No matter how many times he tried to focus on what the girl was saying, he could not stop thinking about Nina. And the girl noticed.

“ Gastón , I really like you but I don’t think we feel the same way.”

Gastón was snapped out of a memory of Nina learning to skate to surprise him.

“Que?”

The girl smiled sweetly and put a hand on his shoulder.

“What’s her name?”

Gastón looked ashamed but told her “Nina.”

“How long have you been broken up for?”

“I broke up with her a couple months ago. She lives in Buenos Aires and I am here.”

The girl sighed. “That is tough. But I can tell that you must really love this girl.  And if you love this girl that much,  you should try to make it work.”

Gastón took those words to heart and almost ran home that night so he could call Nina.

She told him that she had met someone. Gastón broke inside.

For the next few years, Gastón went on many dates but everytime that he got close to someone, he realized that he did not love them.  He started to wonder if he would ever find someone he loved as much as he did with Nina.

It had been five long years since he had last seen her when she came walking into the restaurant in Buenos Aires. It was like he had been sleeping for the past few years and seeing her had finally awakened him. The sky was brighter, the air fresher. She filled up his thoughts that night and into the next day. He had to tell her that he still loved her. He had to.

And he did. And she loved him back.

It was a few days later when Gastón had the thought that he had to marry Nina. Luna had called in the morning saying that Simón and Gastón were at the Jam and Roller and that they were going to meet them at ten and Gastón had no choice but to come with them.

Gastón was over at Luna and Matteo’s apartment in ten minutes to meet them. Nina answered the door wearing a sundress and her glasses and Gastón had thought it had been a long time since a girl had taken his breath away like this.

The four walked to the Jam and Roller, Luna rambling on about the changes Ámbar had made since she had become the head of Vidia.

“Honestly I was afraid when she said she was going to redecorate,” Luna said, “But Simón kept saying that I needed to trust her vision. I’m like oh yeah Simón , I really trust her vision. Did you ever see her bedroom in the mansion? Anyways it turned alright of course.”

The familiar exterior of their old home away from home came into view. It gave Gastón a warm feeling as he saw the sign.  

Luna was literally bouncing, Matteo holding her hand and giving her a look. It was obvious a surprise was waiting inside.

Gastón reached out and interlaced his finger’s with Nina’s.  The two walked inside.

A cheer arose as they did, and in front of them was not just Gastón and Simón , but all of their old friends. Jim, Yam, Ramiro, Pedro, Nico, and Delphi were there. Delphi was holding up a laptop with Jazmín on it. Immediately their friends noticed Gaston and Nina holding hands.

“GASTINA’S BACK?” Jim and Yam shouted at the same time.

Nina nodded, and the girls shrieked in happiness going to tackle Nina in a hug. Delphi dropped Jazmín on a table going to join, Jazmín shouting in protest.

After hugs and greetings, the gang settled in the cafeteria for juice.

“Are you back for good?” Yam asked, “Both of you?”

Gastón turned to Nina and smiled. “At least for a little while.”

Yam clapped. “You can be models in my fashion show next month! I’ve already recruited the rest of our friends too! It will be perfect!”

Nina paled a little, but Gastón squeezed her hand reassuringly.

“Ramiro, shouldn’t you be touring?” Gastón asked, “I thought you’d be in Europe.”

“I thought you would be in Europe,” Ramiro laughed, “I’m taking a break to train a team for the internationals. I get to skate and be here with the love of my life.” Yam smiled at him, grabbing his hand.  

“It is so perfect that we are all here!” Simón said, “The Roller Band recording their next album. Delphi managing the Jam and Roller. Jim being a dancer in music videos. Nina is writing her book and Gastón is taking a job here! It’s perfect!”

“Ahem,” Jazmín coughed from the laptop, “I think you are somebody.”

“Perdón Jazmín , I could never forget you,” Simón laughed. “Maybe you should come back too!”

Jazmín scoffed. “And give up this job in LA working for E! I can’t.”

Pedro raised his glass of juice.  I’d like to give a toast to the last pieces of our puzzle back together! To Gastón and Nina!”

“ Gastón and Nina!”

Gastón looked over to Nina. She was turning a little pink in the cheeks from all the attention, but Gastón could tell she was so happy.  He instinctively leaned over and kissed her hair, eliciting awws from their friends.

“I always knew that you would find your way back to each other,” Jazmín sighed. “Gastina was like the third most popular ship on Fab and Chic.”

Ámbar raised an eyebrow. “Who was first and second?”

“I’m glad you asked, I still have all of the statistics-” Jazmín started, but Simón cut her off.

“Why don’t we talk about this some other time Jazmín .”

“Agreed,” Luna said, grabbing Nina’s hand. “Nina, you need to look at Yam’s designs for the fashion show. They are muy muy chic!” Nina let go of Gastón’s hand, giving him an apologetic smile as she went to gather around Yam’s tablet.

Gastón watched her for the rest of the night, trying hard to pay attention to Ramiro’s tales of tour and updates on Roller Band, but he could not stop his eyes from drifting to wherever she was.

“Hermano, I don’t think I’ve seen you this bad since, well since you were with Nina last,” Matteo said while putting a hand on Gastón’s shoulder.

Gastón grinned. “There hasn’t been anyone else besides Nina.”

“Well make sure to not let her go this time,” Matteo said as he walked away.

Those words hit Gastón hard. He couldn’t let Nina go, ever again. She was the shining light in his world.  He wouldn’t be able to survive if she was gone again. This is why less than a year later, Gastón found himself walking into a jewelry shop one day in November, unexpectedly running into his best friend standing at the counter.  

#soy luna #lutteo #simbar #gastina #soy luna fanfiction #lutteo fics

[ordinaryschmuck]

Why I (Want To) Love Amphibia

Salutations random people on the internet who probably won't read this. I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons. If you've been paying attention to my posts, you would have known that I made a top twenty list of the best-animated series of the 2010s. And if you read my Honorable Mentions list, you would have known that I consider Amphibia one of those shows that, while I like it, I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's one of the best. Don't get me wrong. It's good. But there are issues that I have with Amphibia, and I can't recommend it without being hesitant. I still like it fine, but I doubt some people will be as forgiving as me. So I'm going to explain the quality and faults that the show has, while still being considerate to those who do love it. Because unlike some people who would make a two-hour-long video essay about how much they hate something, I can at least acknowledge that while something doesn't entirely work for me, that doesn't mean it won't work for everyone else. Because there is a reason why this show has such a following...I don't think it's earned, but I won't knock people down when they love something I find passable. And I hope that respect goes both ways as I explain why I (want to) love Amphibia.

Also, this review is going to contain spoilers for the entire series. So if you haven't checked it out yet, I recommend you do it to form your own opinion. Season one is on Disney+, and you're on your own for season two. And I suggest you find a legal way to watch it if you can, because I'm not going to leave a link to a pirating website filled with every animated series and movie you can find. And I'm definitely not going to insert that link into a random letter in this review with the thought that if you have to pirate something, then you might as well work for it. Because that would be crazy.

...

Stop being crazy.

....

Anywho, let's start with:

WHAT I LIKE

The Comedy: Let it be known that this show is funny. Like, really funny. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's funnier than Gravity Falls, which got me chuckling with every episode, but Amphibia definitely hits more than it misses. There are occasions when the jokes aren't really character-oriented and could be said by anybody in the Plantar Family, but if they're still funny, then who am I to complain. Although there is one issue that I have with the comedy. But I'll save that for when I talk about what I don't like. For now, I can assure you that if you're hoping for some laughs, Amphibia has plenty to offer.

Warnings Against Toxic Relationships: But even the best comedies know when to offer some substance. Because I won't lie, when Anne described what is clearly a toxic friendship in the second episode, I was hooked. I love it when kids shows breach topics that can be important for children down the line. And for the most part, I think Amphibia does it well. There are so many instances that the writers' point out the several red flags that a person should avoid when it comes to a friendship and when it's time to either cut that person from your life and stand up for yourself. One of my favorite episodes is "Prison Break," where Sasha explains how she manipulates people and shows zero remorse for it. Then there's the episode "The Sleepover to End All Sleepovers" that shows how a person's influence can affect others and how much it changes perception as Anne and Marcy still believe they need someone like Sasha in their lives...At least I hope that's what the intention is. Because if the writers are trying to say that Anne and Marcy really need someone like Sasha...Well, I'll save that for my dislikes. Because even though it could use a little polishing, warning kids about toxic relationships is what keeps me hooked into seeing what happens next in this series.

It’s Not Afraid to go Dark: On top of breaking borders with morals intended for kids, I just gotta respect a show for playing around with what's considered "too dark." Especially if that show is on the Disney Channel!

The writers are not afraid to imply that death happens in the world of Amphibia, primarily because it is like a swamp ecosystem filled with predators and food chains. And I feel like because the characters are mostly amphibians, the writers can get away with an entire cave filled with the bones of victims as long as they're not humans. But frogs? No one gives a crap about them. There's a reason they're the ones who get dissected in schools.

Plus, a good majority of the monsters that Anne and the Plantars face are pretty horrifying at times. The crew who work on the show do a great job balancing the line of making these creatures look scary, but never go too far that they'll scar kids for life. Except in the Halloween special...How the f**k did they get away with the monsters in the Halloween special? And while they don't ever show what these monsters do, the implications honestly make things much worse, which again, I kind of respect. It's good to have shows like Amphibia that can scare kids a little bit. Getting through something fictitiously dark helps make kids feel braver and prepare them for the real horrors in the world. Especially since most of these creatures are just exaggerated versions of real-life predators...google them.

The Season One Finale: It was "Reunion" that made me realize that Amphibia has the potential to be amazing...it's also the last episode of season one, so let that sink in.

Joking aside, I honestly do love this episode. It's funny, it brings in elements from other episodes, nearly everybody does something useful, and it all ends with a satisfying and equally gut-wrenching climax. A climax, by the way, that is so perfect that I'm going to do a scene breakdown for why it's so good...so, you know, add that to the to-do list (I have so much s**t to make -_-). "Reunion" has so many elements about what makes a season finale so good that I feel like future writers should take notes for their own series that they plan to make. While I wish every episode of Amphibia had this level of quality, the writers know that the last impression is one of the most important. Because I will defend this show if this is the episode people use to trash it.

Marcy: I will also defend this show if someone trashes Marcy. Trust me, the best way to tell that someone is just hating on Amphibia for little to no reason is if they utter the word, "Marcy is a bad character." That is not true. Marcy is a great character, and I'd go so far as to say she's the best character in the series. She's sweet, adorable, and has a story ten times more interesting than Anne's. Anne learns what a sincere relationship is like through the Plantars, where Marcy falls victim to another manipulative relationship through King Andreas. It's her co-dependency that has the chance to get fleshed out more, and I can't wait to see if she has a moment to break out and form her own path.

Also, in the mass expanse of the multiverse, there exists a world where Amphibia is about the adventures that Marcy had in Newtopia as she uses Dungeons and Dragons logic to get by. And I want to see that universe! Because this clumsy nerd is already a blast to watch with the briefest of cameos. Imagine how much fun she would be if she had her own series!

Sprig: I don't know how much love Sprig gets within the fandom, but I got a feeling that it's not enough. He's funny without being annoying (most of the time), there's a whole lot of heart and sincerity to his actions, and above all else, he's the best friend that Anne needed. When Anne explained her very flawed views about friendship in "Best Fronds," it is clear how essential someone like Sprig is as he teaches Anne what friendship really means. It means caring for each other, supporting each other, making equal sacrifices for one another, and just being on the same page as each other. It is genuinely sweet seeing their friendship bloom, and I honestly hope the Amphibia fandom gives Sprig the amount of appreciation he deserves. Sure, he can be annoying sometimes, but for the most part, he's easily up there as one of my favorite characters.

Wally: Same with Wally! Who would have guessed that a character who appears as an dumb source of comic relief has a level of depth and lovability to him? "Wally and Anne" shows that while he is a nonsensical goofball, he doesn't really care what the frogs of Wartwood think of him. What matters is what he thinks of him. And that is just an incredible lesson to teach kids that just makes me love Wally more. 

(It also helps that he's probably the funniest character in the show. I know I said that he's dumb, but when he works, he works.)

Kermit the Frog Cameo: ...It's Kermit the Frog, y'all. I physically can't hate him. Especially since this is the perfect show for him to make a cameo in!

WHAT I DON’T LIKE

Anne’s Character: I don't have a problem with Anne. I think she's a serviceable protagonist, and I love the fact that she's Thai, offering a form of Asian representation other than Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. But here's the problem with Anne: After a season and a half, I still don't know what her character is. If you were to ask me to describe a Disney show protagonist within one sentence, I could do it effortlessly. Watch:

Star Butterfly: An adrenaline junky of a warrior princess who slowly learns to be responsible with each passing season.

Luz Noceda: A generous nerd that obsesses about fantasy and fiction, who still understands when to take a step in reality when the moment calls for it.

Scrooge McDuck: An old Scottish miser who has the heart of adventure and is a duck that almost loves his family as he loves his money.

For Anne, I don't know where to start because her personality is so inconsistent. Sometimes she makes friends with others without even trying, and other times, she gets on others' nerves easily. Sometimes she's a thrillseeker with the heart of adventure, and other times, she's a person who prefers to hang back and avoid doing work. And sometimes she's the only sane character with logical advice, and other times she's the most insane character who needs advice. Now, you could argue that these are all character traits that make Anne multidimensional. But if you ask me, it seems like her personality is dependent on what the writers want her to be for the episode. Someone like Luz going back and forth between two traits only works if there is a dominant personality trait that takes over the other. If Luz spends an entire episode being angry and serious, it proves that there's more to her than just a character that's nerdy and optimistic. But it's clear she is still that lovable nerd by having her say a corny line like, "Talk to the glyphs, Witch!" But because Anne has so many personality traits, it's hard to tell which is the norm and what is out of character. Case in point: Having Anne obsess over hang-gliding in one episode and doing a puzzle in the next is off as neither correlates with each other. Nor do they tell me who Anne is, other than the fact that she's clearly a character lacking a singular identity. And seeing how she's the main character, the one audiences are supposed to root for and identify with, it's probably not a good thing.

The Story: For the record, I have no problems with the story itself...the way it's written, however...

First off, there's too much filler. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as filler episodes have the potential to be fun when written well. The problem is that relying on filler instead of telling your story can leave some people (me) uninterested and angry. And the thing is, there is a perfect way to avoid filler that doesn't involve telling the overarching narrative: Introduce personal plotlines. Look at The Owl House, for example. There are several character-oriented narrative threads that get introduced within the first few episodes. Such as Luz learning magic, Eda's curse, her relationship with Lilith, and Amity's redemption. Therefore, The Owl House avoids any filler episodes just as long as it focuses on any of these plotlines and even introduces new ones. Amphibia has the plotlines, but it rarely focuses on them. Especially since the story takes way too long to develop. 

Every time I think the show is finally going to start moving forward and we can continue the story, there are like ten more filler episodes where everything comes to a screeching halt. Now, to be fair, there is an explanation why we're forced to wait for the story to move forward, and it's because the characters are forced to wait as well. But, even then, there could have been better ways to pad out that waiting than just adding filler. For example, I may not have been forced into an alternate universe where nearly everything wants to kill me, but if I was, I WOULD SPEND EVERY WAKING MINUTE I HAVE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT A WAY BACK! In the first season, how many episodes does Anne spend trying to figure out the mystery of how she got there and how to go home? Two. There are two whole episodes, out of thirty-nine, where Anne tries to figure things out...That is insane to me. But to be fair, season two is doing a much better job at moving things along...but it doesn't change the fact that the writers are kind of bad at telling their own story.

There are two episodes, "Anne Vs. Wild" and "Lost in Newtopia," where the story continues, but it's only in the last few minutes. The problem is that if you take those endings out, the episodes themselves do not change a bit. BUT because those are significant and essential moments for the plot, you can't take them out. Resulting in scenes that, while intriguing, come across as awkward in the long run. So now, my question is why. Why is the story handled so poorly? And I have one theory.

It Feels Like the Writers Can’t Decide What they Want the Show to be: Sometimes it seems like Amphibia is written as a pure slice of life series like Big City Greens. However, there are times when the show seems like it's intended to mix slice of life with fantasy like Gravity Falls. Now here's the problem: Big City Greens and Gravity Falls are two very different shows in terms of storytelling, tone, and character work. Big City Greens is an episodic comedy series where character development is unimportant, and the adventures rarely go beyond just being wacky. As for Gravity Falls, it is a show that is semi-serialized where the character development is constant, and the fantasy-adventures are always prevalent in every episode. And there are several episodes of Amphibia that could be a part of either show. Episodes like "Stakeout," "Lily Pad Thai," and "Little Frog Town" have plots that I can see being in Big City Greens. Then there are episodes like "The Domino Effect," "Toad Tax," and "Marcy at the Gates" that I could see being in Gravity Falls. These two groups of episodes are vastly different from one another that it causes Amphibia to feel disjointed in the process. Usually, I'm a fan when a series mixes different genres together, but do you want to know why something like Gravity Falls does such a great job at mixing slice of life with fantasy-adventure? Because, as I said, fantasy-adventures are always present in every episode. "Dipper vs. Manliness," "Boss Mabel," and "Roadside Attraction" each have the most basic slice of life plots of the show, but there is always a fantasy element or a monster to fight. There are entire episodes of Amphibia where there is no monster, and even when there is, it doesn't have the same amount of tension and weight that the creatures in Gravity Falls have weekly. A show like Big City Greens doesn't have to worry about monsters or evil villains every week because it doesn't need to. It's a show about the wacky adventures of a family of farmers adjusting to city life. Why would they have to worry about a monster every week when they just have to worry about each other. If Amphibia was the same way then there would be no issue. But because if it wants to be a mix of slice of life with fantasy, then it does need to worry about a monster every week. I usually try to defend shows that try to play both sides, but this show has to be the one occasion where I have to say pick one or the other. Because the writers tried hard to be both, and personally, I don't think they did a good job.

Characters Don’t. Stop. SCREAMING!: It's here we move on from what's objectively wrong with Amphibia to the things that just bother me personally...and this is one of those things. I get it. An over-the-top reaction to something minimal can be funny on occasion...but it's never "on occasion" with this show. Nearly every episode has characters screaming to get a laugh, and most of the time, it's more annoying than it is funny. It's Hop Pop who does this the most, and I just feel so bad for Bill Farmer. That voice already seems like it's hard to do, so being forced to scream and yell with it for the sake of comedy can't do him any favors. Other shows, especially ones on the Disney Channel, have characters overreact for the sake of humor, but it's Amphibia that I feel like it relies on this the most. I'm sure some people aren't bothered by this, but I am, and this is my review, so I'm mentioning it.

Poly: Speaking of things that probably don't bother other people...I feel like I'm making some enemies with this one. Because, boy, do I not like Polly. Her voice is annoying, she mostly causes problems for the family, and to me, her entire character seems pointless. No, really. Think about it. Anne is the main character, Sprigs acts as her emotional support, and Hop Pop acts as the voice of reason. What's Polly's purpose? Because all she adds are unnecessary jokes, character traits that could have gone to anybody, and acting more as a plot device than an actual character. The only justification for her that I can think of is that she adds gender balance to the main cast. Which would be more than acceptable if there was a point to her existence. But I think it's pretty evident with her exclusion from the original pilot pitch for the program that Polly's personality is practically pointless...that is most likely the only alliteration I'll ever do for a review, so you have better appreciated it.

If you like Polly, then more power to you. For me, I just don't enjoy her.

Sasha: Oh, nelly. I can already see the hateful messages I'm gonna get from this.

Now, as a character, I actually do like Sasha. I think her personality is interesting enough to dissect, and I think she acts as a perfect antagonist to Anne, the Plantars, and even Marcy if you want to get into it. My problem relies on how much the fanbase is already jumping on the "Forgive Sasha" train. Because, "Aw, she's just like Catra and Amity! So sweet, tortured, shippable with the main character, and--" STOP IT! Stop it right now...and think. With Catra and Amity, you see the environment they grew up in, you feel the abuse they deal with, you understand the reasoning of their actions, and you come to forgive them for who they are...At least for Amity, you can. For Catra, it requires more of an argument. But Sasha? Did we see the same cruel mistreatment to her friends? Did we hear the same coldness in her voice as she describes how to manipulate people? Did we witness the same damage she's done to Anne and Marcy in how they perceive healthy relationships? Apparently not! Because while everyone else is already on the same page that Sasha deserves redemption, I'm sitting here thinking that maybe it's for the best to be a little more hesitant. So far, we have yet to see any way to understand her reasoning and have yet to see how she deserves forgiveness. Sure, Sasha was willing to sacrifice herself for Anne, but did Sasha really earn that? It works as a sudden realization that Anne deserves better, but Sasha has yet to do anything that proves she can be better. Especially since the next time we see her, she's trying to help a fascist ruler get back up on his feet...THINK ABOUT THAT!

But, sure, she's meant to be forgiven. That can work. Because while Sasha shows kids the type of people they should avoid, she can also work as a warning for what kids should avoid becoming. That is a great thing to teach...but it can also be potentially dangerous. Because if incorrectly interpreted, Sasha can show kids that every person who seems toxic just needs a chance to change. And that is the last thing you want to teach, given how very few toxic people actually change. You want to know why The Owl House gets away with an equally dangerous lesson about how not every bully is awful? It's because it shows two sides of the spectrum by proving why someone like Amity did the things she's done while also saying that characters like Boscha and Mattholomule are just a-holes for the sake of being a-holes. Sasha has no one to compare to. Sure, there's King Andreas, but he's a government figure. They're built to be manipulative. Sasha needs someone that's on her level of cruelty to prove that while some people can change and have reason to do so, others don't. And seeing how I don't think she deserves to change, at least not yet, that is an issue. It's the biggest issue out of all the issues I have with this show.

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So, yeah, I think it's pretty evident how I feel about Amphibia when I can write paragraphs about the stuff I don't like while barely being able to talk about the things I do like. Because I do enjoy this show. It's funny, most of the characters are enjoyable, and its discussion on toxic relationships still has me hooked to see what happens next. My issue lies with inconsistency. The main protagonist, storytelling, genre, and thematic purposes are all inconsistent. I'm interested enough to watch more, and who knows, maybe I'll make a final verdict review once the series comes to an end. For now, if you had to ask me what I’m excited to make a return, I don't know if I'll be willing to hop to it by saying Amphibia.

(Also, if you're still looking for that link for that pirating website I mentioned, now would probably be a good time to tell you that I really never did put one in. I told you, that would be crazy...That should teach you to try to break the law.)

#amphibia #what i thought about #why i want to love #anne boonchuy #sasha waybright #marcy wu #sprig plantar #polly plantar

[hunni-pen]

FOR THE BEST

He may seem a little ooc, but in a lot of my Bakugou one shots, I really strive for soft!Bakugou. It’s my life’s purpose. Also I’m currently writing a Aizawa x Hizashi x Reader smut and I need someone to hep proofread if for me. If you’re interested my DMs are very much open. LMK.

BAKUGOU

He said, in his note, that it was for the best that we don’t see each other again. He said it just wasn’t fair to you. Why would he say that the night after you both told each other that you loved each other. In his note, he said if you didn’t associate with each other, then you would be safe.

You threw a fit, a full lost control of your quirk, bawled your eyes out in frustration fit. You were angry, did he not think you could protect yourself? You knew there were people trying to take him down, from the corrupt Hero Commission, and villains after him for locking their buddies up. But he really believed they would target you?

You called in sick for work for a whole week, cause you found yourself unable to get out of bed. Your boss text you concerned stating that it must be one hell of a flu. You agreed, lying that You didn’t think you’d feel better anytime soon.

He said in his letter that it was for the best. That he thought he should leave you for himself too. So he’s not always worrying if you’re okay. Then he tried to play it off as if you’re always getting into trouble. It was supposed to be a joke, and you kind of laughed.

You laughed till your sides hurt. You laughed till your giggles turned to pitiful whines and you couldn’t breath the sadness weighing on your back was so heavy. You laughed till you couldn’t feel anymore.

When you finally went back to work the next week, you tried everything in your power to pretend you were okay. To pretend that you felt normal. But you didn’t feel normal, you felt like you were never gonna feel again. Everything you saw was a constant reminder of him.

To the shops you’d passed on your way to work, and the big billboards with his stupid perfect fucking face on them. You couldn’t help but scowl and try to blink back the tears.

“Hey (Y/N), look they’re playing the Hero Billboard,” your coworker called. You finished serving the person their drink before turning to look at the TV. A nicely dressed lady was holding a microphone and stood in front of the camera.

“We’re back with the Hero top 5. These are some difficult contenders and ranks don’t change much in this category. You’ll see familiar faces today, these are our top heroes. In 5th place we have a friendly face Chargebolt!”

Surrounded by loud cheers and exciting music, a blonde hero with a strip of black hair in a lighting bolt walked up to the stage. He was all smiles and was handed the microphone to give a few words.

“Yo! Any villains listening don’t get any smart ideas, I’ll take you out in an instant,” he smiled and gave a thumbs up like it wasn’t a threat to people. But you guessed it was okay since he was a hero.

“In 4th place we have our lovely lady, rescue hero Uraravity!” A picture of the pink hero showed on the screen. “Sadly she couldn’t make it today, she’s currently helping up in the mountains! Here’s a short message from her.”

A video started to play, it was kind of staticy. “I hope everyone can hear me okay! Just know I’ll keep rescuing everyone who needs my help, no matter the cost or distance between us!”

Applause rang out and the video ended, “what a wonderful message!” The host exclaimed, “we’re now moving into top three, which contains one new face entirely. But first in third the rock hero Red Riot!”

Kirishima, who you’d met completely by accident jumped up from his seat and onto the stage. Bro hugging Chargebolt, then turning to face the camera. Cheers ripped through the building as his abs showed clearly on the camera.

He had to wait till they calmed down to speak. “I’m not good with words, but just know, I’d never be able to consider myself a man if I didn’t always do everything in my power to keep everyone safe! I’ll continue to do everything I can to keep up all my efforts to save everyone!”

Those deafening cheers rang out again as he smiled and showed off his sharp teeth. The hosting lady laughed nervously as she waited for them to calm down. Kirishima was clearly a fan favorite. It was hard to dislike him, even you found yourself smiling. Finding that he was so heartwarming.

“Okay, the awaited new face is with us. He went out of commission for a bit, disappearing off the charts but not from our minds. Explosion Hero: Ground Zero!”

You watched him stand from his seat, he wasn’t bouncing off the walls like Chargebolt or Red Riot. His face was serious. Going to the stage, the hosting lady nervously handed him the mic.

“I’m only here because my PR team forced me to be. But just know, I’m gonna work hard to do everything I can to keep you safe. If you don’t believe me now, just watch me. I’ll be number one.” He looked directly to the camera and you felt like he was staring at you.

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” you forced out as you felt your stomach convulse. You threw the towel down that you’d been using to clean the counter with and rushed to the bathroom.

Dropping to your knees and heaving over the toilet, nothing came out. You gasped out a breath and gagged again before you were able to calm yourself. You didn’t wanna be the crazy girlfriend, or ex girlfriend, but you needed answers. You felt like you couldn’t handle just leaving him and moving on without knowing why.

You knew he got off work sometime around 10. So you headed to his place. The closer you got to his apartment the more you felt like you couldn’t do it. You’d just text him. Yeah, you nodded to yourself, that would do.

With eyes full of tears, you turned shamefully away from the door. Right as you went to walk away, the door swung open. “I knew you weren’t gonna knock.”

“How did you-“

“Because I know you (Y/N). I know you’d come for answers eventually. I don’t have any for you.” He said looking down at me, he was dressed so casually, in a plain muscle tee and sweats.

You felt your eyes tear up. You weren’t normally such a crybaby. “I read your note and everything. I disagree with everything you said. Every word you wrote was a lie.” You were collapsing! Your words turning to whimpers and your breath heaving.

“Don’t start crying. It’s making me feel bad,” he said looking at his feet.

“Then talk to me. I don’t want excuses. I want to know what you were thinking, when you wrote-” You shakily pulled out the note and forced it into his hands, “-this shit!”

He grabbed your wrist and yanked me towards him. “Stop causing a scene, come inside.” You were pulled into his apartment. You looked down and saw there were more guests' shoes.

“You didn’t tell me you had guests,” You murmured, sliding your shoes off. You wiped your face with your hand so tear streaks wouldn’t show on your face.

“He doesn’t, we were just leaving,” a voice said. Chargebolt was rushing out of the living room.

“Yeah,” Kirishima said, quickly sliding his shoes on, the red haired hero was first out the door. His crocs going on nice and easy.

“Also,” Chargebolt stopped before closing the door. “I told you that the whole note thing wouldn’t work. Just from what you told me before she’s stubborn.” He smiled down at me, “good job (Y/N), keep him.”

“Dunce face, I’ll blast you into the sky,” small pops came from Katsukis hand and with a small squeal, Chargebolt closed the door.

“Do you want something to drink?” He asked nervously, leading you further inside. He picked up a file that sat open on the coffee table and closed it.

“I’m not here to drink tea. I want clear answers,” you said standing in the entrance to the living room.

“Okay, What wasn’t clear in the note?” He asked, dropping the note on the table.

“First of all, don’t use that stupid passive tone with me. I thought you were something! You told me you wouldn’t just leave me! But you did!”

“I had too! I know you don’t realize but I’m with some very dangerous shit. I don’t want you to be a target!” He argued back to you, not fully raising his voice.

“I can’t even believe that, because you kept me so out of the loop that this is my first time even meeting your friends! Not even meeting!”

“Well I’m sorry I can’t flaunt you around like some prize! Go date an idol if you want publicity!” Why was this leading to an argument?

“I don’t want publicity!” You shouted out, “I just wanted you!”

After these words the room that had suddenly grown so loud, got quiet. Katsuki looked at you surprised, your fists were clenched at your side and you were crying heavily. “(Y/N)...”

“No!” You sobbed out, “I just wanted you. I didn’t care if I couldn’t be shown off online or something like that. I just wanted you. I thought after you said that you loved me, that I was finally getting to that point, then you fucking left.”

“Baby, I’m sorry. I’m just- there’s so much going on right now that you don’t even know about. That no one knows about outside of the team assigned. I didn’t want you to end up being a target.”

“I’m always a target. I’m in love with a stupid hero I don’t even have a chance with. I just wanted you to at least break up with me to my face. I can’t accept something so cowardly like a note.”

You hit the nail right on the head. He walked over to you and took your hands into his. They were surprisingly soft, you always liked that about his hands, they were comforting.

“I can’t stand seeing you cry. Whether it be from watching a movie, or something I did.” He sighed, looking down blinking rapidly. “I thought if I left you a note then I could excuse how cowardly the action was because I wouldn’t see you cry.”

His voice was thick with sadness, he took a shaky breath in, and you realized he was crying. Tears falling from his eyes so openly. How could he be so open around you?

“I really love you, and if something happened to you I’d never be able to forgive myself. I-“ he sucked a breath in and looked at you. You almost started crying again just seeing his pained expression. “I tried really hard to stay away from you, and even stop these feelings from coming, but you’re just so perfect to me and I need you. I’m so sorry.”

You brought your hands to his cheeks, “Katsuki I love you. I wanna be with you. I wanna help you when you feel down and celebrate your victories with you. I want everything that comes with you.”

He brought you closer to him and pressed his lips to yours. It lasted a second before he broke away in a frenzy of apologies. “I’m so sorry for everything I put you through. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

You stood there in each other's embrace. Your arms wrapped around his neck, and his arms around your waist. His head was rested on your shoulder, nose caressing your neck occasionally planting a kiss on the sensitive skin.

“Stay with me for tonight,” he whispered. “I need you desperately.”

“Okay, I will,” You agreed and he pulled away to look at you. A small smile graced his lips and you brought him forward for another small kiss.

He gave you a sweater to change into, and then you both collapsed on his bed. Your foreheads pressed together and arms still holding each other like if you let go we’d die. In a blurry bout of exhaustion you remember small kisses on your lips. They’d only last a second, and with each one came a whisper of, “I love you.”

“Katsuki?” He hummed to show he was listening. “You’ll be here when I wake up right?

“Yes, I never wanna leave you again. I’ll be here from the moment you open your eyes, to the next time you close them. You’re everything I fight for. I love you.”

#my hero academia #writing #bakugou katsuki #reader insert #bakugou x reader #angst #bnha fluff #boku no hero fanfic #ground zero #oneshot #kirshima eijirou #kaminari denki

[cloud9in]

Hazel

Summary: Ava decides that in order to win Hazel’s heart, she’d serenade her outside of her window...in the middle of a snowstorm

Pairing: Ava x Mc (Hazel) (based on the song Hazel by Lloyd) (I recommend listening to it)

Warnings: NONE, just a lot of fluff...and some angst?

Word Count: 2.4k

Permanent Taglist: @samanthadalton @satrinadia I’m also gonna tag some Ava stans: @kamilahsayeet2063 @dopeyouth 

The soles of Ava’s boots softly sink into the powder like snow that had begun plating the ground a few hours ago. It was now midnight. The moon sparkled brightly even through the flurry of snow that poured from the sky. Ava brushes off the thin layer of snowflakes that coated her face, and puffs out a breath of air. She knew that she probably resembled an apple, but that wasn’t the most important thing to think about in the moment.

 The cheerleader stood below Hazel’s window with a black and silver Sony boombox that she borrowed from Mack. Ava had made a mental note to thank her best friend's sister properly, after (hopefully) succeeding with her plan. To be fair, Mackenzie didn’t take it too well when Ava first came to her with the idea.

  ~

 “Why do you want my boombox? There's plenty of ones available for whatever you have planned, which is what by the way?” 

Ava visibly stiffens, her fingers curling into the hem of her plaid skirt as she spoke, “Well...there’s this movie that Hazel and I used to watch...”. Mackenzie rolls her eyes dramatically as she flops onto her bed, “Oh that movie...hm what was it again.” The blue-haired girl strokes her chin thoughtfully before speaking, “oh right ‘Say Anything’.”

 Ava glances at her with a look of surprise, her fingers slowly loosening the hold on her skirt. Mackenzie takes it as a sign to elaborate, “it’s practically all Hazel talks about, she’s drilled it into my brain at this point and now here you are bringing it up again. Can I ever catch a break?” She visibly huffs with a hand over her heart before shooting Ava a wink. An awkward silence sits in the room for a moment until Mackenzie sits up in thought, her eyebrows knitting together before speaking, “I thought you two weren’t on speaking terms?” 

 Ava frowns at her words and turns her head to look down the hall at Hazel’s closed door. “Well...yes we aren’t. But I want to apologize to her in a way that is meaningful for the both of us. I think that...this is the perfect way.” The brunette displays a hopeful grin on her face as she looks in Mackenzie’s direction.

 “...You do know that the whole ‘puppy eyes and please look at my charming smile’ thing does not work on me right? I am not my sister”, Mackenzie deadpans.

 “Huh, so it does work on Hazel”, Ava smiles to herself silently as she makes a plan to tease her best friend about it.

  “As a matter of fact...Hazel seems to drop everything and run to you whenever you use that damn look..”. Mackenzie tilts her head to the side and gives Ava a weird look. 

The brunette tries not to fidget in front of the girl. Mack didn’t know of Ava’s attraction to her big sister, and she wanted to keep it that way for now. Ava didn’t want to picture what Mackenzie’s shovel talk would consist of...the girl could be unpredictable.

 “What happened between you guys anyway?”

 Ava moves her gaze down to the floor, contemplating her answer. She couldn’t tell Mackenzie what really happened after the ski trip...

  But the truth is that Hazel and Ava had gotten closer, sharing their first kiss in her car. The cheerleader had dropped her off that night after practice and before she could stop herself, Hazel was pulled back into the car by her arm, and their lips locked. It felt so perfect...Ava never felt that way when kissing Bayla. Her heart sped up every time she caught a glimpse of the girl's pink hair in the halls. There were moments where Ava had to walk away so she wouldn’t make the mistake of tangling her fingers in Hazel’s hair, burying her perfect lips with her own. The only thing stopping her was Bayla. 

Even after the kiss, Ava couldn’t make the decision to fully leave her girlfriend, not until Hazel was sure she knew what she wanted as well. The brunette refused to ruin her own relationship in fear of her best friend picking someone else in the end. 

The two shared glances occasionally but neither one has spoken to each other after a huge argument one day in the locker room. All of those bottled up emotions had spilled in that moment, but it only left a rift too big to seal up with a simple “I’m sorry”. It seems like the best option would be to sit down and talk it all out, but what teenager is capable of such civility? 

Ava breathes out quietly as her mind starts to cloud with thoughts. Why am I still with her? Hazel is the one I want.... No, need. She couldn’t get neither Hazel nor Bayla out of her head. Is this the way her best friend feels about Mason and Noah? 

 She blinks back to reality after a moment and looks up to see Mackenzie staring at her expectantly. “Um...well it's just some school and girlfriend drama”, Ava says nonchalantly, hoping to convince the blue-haired girl otherwise. It's clear that Mack doesn’t fully believe her, but she drops the topic and walks towards her closet, pulling out the shiny new boombox. She hands it over to Ava but not before staring directly into her eyes, “You break my baby and we’re going to have a problem Lawrence.” The brunette gapes at her for a split second and then nods her head carefully. 

Yeah she definitely didn’t want to hear that shovel talk now.

 ~

 Ava smiles at the little memory as she dusts more snowflakes from her face. She looks up at the grey sky and shields her eyes from the falling snow. The light flurry was beginning to accelerate into a storm and the many layers Ava had on wouldn’t be able to protect her for much longer. She had to get a move on, it was now or never. 

Funny that out of any time of the day, Ava had picked during a snowstorm to confess her love to Hazel. Was it love? Ava knew deep down that she was crazy in love with the girl but didn’t want to scare her away. So instead of saying “I love you, be my girlfriend”, the cheerleader decided that bringing a boombox and blasting an old school love song while serenading Hazel from below her window, in a soon to be blizzard... would be the best idea ever. 

She positioned the boombox onto her shoulders before reaching up to hit the play button, a deep yet melodious beat encompassing the air as the singer hummed sweet words 

I'm beginnin' to see

The more we hang together

Baby girl, I like you

'Cause you're better

Ava’s arms shook intensely but it wasn’t because of the weight of the box. A surge of nervousness had fluttered in her stomach and seeped its way into her bones. Is this stupid? Is she even awake? Will she be angry that I woke her up? The brunette had started to doubt her actions as she stood there.  There was no hint of a silhouette behind the transparent curtains in Hazel’s room, and Ava had almost switched the song off until the lights turned on.

 ~

 Hazel had settled under her thick blankets for the night, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep. The fight she had with Ava constantly replayed in her head, but not nearly as much as the kiss did. Hazel still felt the brunette’s lips on hers, the tingling sensation seemed to never go away. She lightly touched her lips and closed her eyes, reliving every touch and feeling Ava had caused that night. Her heart started to beat rapidly, and it was the only thing she could hear before a sudden commotion invaded her thoughts...

 Hey Hazel

I like you

Can't see myself without you

My sweet Hazel

'Cause I think I'm in love (I'm in love)

Hazel’s eyes shot open as she sat up abruptly. Was that my name? She thought to herself as she peered towards the window. Down below she could see a figure standing but the blowing snow made it hard to make out who it was. Hazel steadily slipped out of her covers, immediately wrapping her arms around her abdomen for warmth. She cautiously slipped below the window and squinted her eyes to see the intruder, but to no avail. She couldn’t see who it was, which meant that turning on her bedroom lights was the only option. Hazel sighed to herself before flipping the switch up and creeping back to her spot. What the hell am I doing? She thought again, deciding to stand up and face the man who sang her name shamelessly.

 Except it was no man.

 ...It was Ava

 Hazel does a double take as her jaw drops open at the sight below her. Ava holds a boombox above her head as Lloyd sings his heart out. When the brunette notices Hazel, a gorgeous smile appears on her face, eyes twinkling with delight. They looked like snowflakes themselves and Hazel felt as if she was in trance.

 Ava began to sing along, her voice belting out in the most incredible way possible, as the snow shined heavily behind her. It was the most stunning thing Hazel had ever witnessed.

Can't see myself without you

My sweet Hazel

Girl, I think I'm in love (I'm in love)

She hums the background vocals while never breaking eye contact with the girl above her. It was sensual and Hazel felt her face flood with heat as she covered her mouth. Ava puts the boombox down and points her fingers up at Hazel as she continues the song, whispering her name 

...Hazel

 Hazel...

Lloyd’s vocals croon in the background as the two girls just stare at each other. Ava didn’t fight the urge and allowed herself to sink into the deep pools of honey that were home to Hazel’s face. The light in her room added an extra sparkle to her eyes as she laughed with joy. Hazel was relieved that her dark complexion couldn’t reveal a deep redness that only Ava could cause. Her whole body felt like it was on fire, the cold didn’t bite at her skin anymore. Excitement runs through her veins as she dashes out of her bedroom, down the stairs, out through the front door, and right into Ava’s arms. The cheerleader yelps in surprise as she steadies her hold on Hazel, holding her up midair. She giggles into Hazel’s neck as they hug each other tightly. 

 “Couldn’t resist me eh?”

 Hazel laughs, swatting playfully at Ava’s padded shoulder. She leans in for another hug, enveloping herself in all of the warmth that the brunette provided, despite the chilly air. After a minute of just holding each other, Ava reluctantly pulls away and cups Hazel’s cheek, turning her head to look down at her. “Hazel...I’m really sorry. For everything.”

 The giggles and laughter are put on pause as Ava sets her down. Hazel doesn’t let go of the brunette no matter how much her brain protests to step back. She couldn’t. This is what she desperately craved for ever since she lost her best friend. Now that Ava was back in her arms, Hazel held on tightly, like she feared that history would repeat itself if she let go. This time would be different, this time they were going to talk it out. 

 “Listen Hazel I-”

 She doesn’t let Ava continue, putting a finger against her mouth to shush her.

 “We can talk about it tomorrow..”. Hazel gestures to the white snow blanketing around them, “When we’re not in the middle of a snow storm”, she claims. 

 Ava looks around with her and nods her head in agreement, a small smile playing at her lips. Tomorrow they’d solve this problem, but for now,  Hazel is going to enjoy every last bit of this experience. So many ideas flooded her mind, maybe she’d throw a bunch of snowballs at Ava, or push her into the snow. Maybe she’d just hold her hand and let the snow plummet and build around them.

My sweet Hazel

Girl, I think I'm in love (I'm in love)

She gazes into Ava’s eyes lovingly, pulling her flush against her smaller frame. Hazel watches as small snowflakes trickle down onto the brunette’s rosy cheeks, and leans in to kiss every individual freckle that painted her face. Ava pulls back after a good five kisses and chuckles down at the girl, “you know if you keep that up, we’ll be standing here all night.” 

 Hazel sways gently in her arms, a cheeky smile invading her dark features, “and who says that wasn’t my plan all along…?”

 Ava giggles and swiftly picks up Hazel once more, this time spinning her around in the snowfall. They’re bodies were drenched with the white coating, but they didn’t mind it. Hazel looked up into the sky as she screamed with happiness.

Girl I think I’m in love

I’m in love

I’m in love

Ava peered up at her best friend, the smile on her face looked like a million dollars. She pulls her down into a searing kiss that completely shuts out the blizzard around them. As soon as their lips connected, Ava felt like all was right in the world. She could taste the sweet cherry chapstick that Hazel always wore. God it was even better than last time. 

She gently sucks on Hazel’s lower lip, watching her every gasp and the way her nose scrunches up when she squeezes her eyes shut. God she is so perfect.

 They both eventually pulled back for air, the heat between them seemingly growing hotter and hotter. If they never stopped, the whole neighborhood would be melted of snow. 

 “You know you are my whole world Hazel…” 

 “Just shut up and spin me around again”

The two girls howl with laughter as they collide together in the storm.

...From out of her window, Mackenzie shouts down “KNEW IT!!!”, her fist pumping in the air.

 ...Noah sits on his motorcycle in the storm and watches them kiss, an ache growing in his heart. 

 ...Mason turns back in the direction he came from, refusing to witness the scene before him. The flowers he once held in his hand, now laid peacefully under the blanket of snow.

 ...and Ava’s phone that's lodged into the snow lights up for the third time: 3 missed calls from Bayla.

It rings one more time before going silent.

I’m in love

I’m in love

I’m in love

#playchoices #my two first loves #ava lawrence #ava x mc #If you want to be added on to my perm taglist just let me know #or any specific w|w ship #just a whole lotta fluff #well..maybe not in the beginning heh

[dragonrebelrose]

TROS Reaction 12-20-19. AKA my 6 page long dissertation about why I really disliked TROS.

I didn’t think it would be this bad. I truly thought there would be some gleaming moments of redeemability, but no. It’s one...giant...shit-show. What a horrible blow to the end of not only the sequel trilogy and these characters but to everything that came before. It really takes skill to mess up this badly.

A little something nice though, was the guy I sat next to. Really nice (and cute too ^-^ ) and he offered me some of his candy (Buncha Crunch! My favorite!) before the film started and then throughout the film because he said, “Well this is consolation for having to sit next to me.” Aw I couldn’t have asked for a better seat partner, I didn’t even know him! And then when the film ended he knew I didn’t take it well and I cried and shook through many moments and he offered the rest of his candy and I said, “Thanks, I think I need it.” I asked him what he thought overall and he said, “C-3P0 was pretty funny.” I said, “Yeah I agree. I actually knew everything that happened before I saw it, and I thought it was a mess.” He chuckled and said, “Me too, but I didn’t want to say anything in case you liked it.” I said, “Oh, no, I didn’t really like it. But I gotta be honest, Ben Solo didn’t deserve to die. That’s just my opinion.” I think he was surprised by that but didn’t disagree. He just kinda nodded or something and then we said goodbye and he left with his buddies, who also seemed pretty unenthused by the whole movie. Hopefully I gave him something to think about with my comment, but he was really nice and I’m glad he sat next to me.

Pessimism aside for now, I’ll start by listing the things I liked. I gotta be honest, there’s not much here.

Reylo is canon! But, in my opinion, it was handled pretty badly. Ben’s death is only the start of the problems for it, but more on that later.

C-3P0 is funny I guess. Yes he is annoying sometimes like usual, but not more so than other times.

D-O is freaking adorable. Out of everything good I’ve listed I have no qualms with this one. His manner is cute, his speaking is very funny, and his actions are just precious.

Babu Frik is very cute too, just perfect! Lovely little puppet! Don’t know why he was shoehorned in at the end battle but whatever. We never saw him again.

Maz is a puppet now? Okay, cool. Wish that would’ve been the case since the beginning. You had the technology JJ.

The music is good, when it’s given its own time to shine and be noticed. I feel like I barely noticed it was there because sound effects just drowned it out. Really wasted, but still good nonetheless.

Leia’s death and how it affected Ben. Wow. This was the first moment I truly cried. This was handled very well by Adam Driver, and then Maz saying “Goodbye, Princess.” Ouch, that got me.

Ben talking to the memory of his father! This is something I did not know was in the movie and boy am I glad I wasn’t spoiled for it! THIS is where the really hard tears and sobbing came. I was literally shaking and shivering trying to keep it in so as not to disturb everyone else. This. Part. Was. Perfect. Ben looks at him like he wants to say “I love you,” and Han says out loud “I know.” *crazy screaming and crying* Out of all the things they got wrong for Ben in this film, THIS they got right!

Ben Solo is the Solo boy we always wanted. Running in with a t-shirt, gun slinging, blasting opponents without even looking. THIS is a true son of Solo! But of course they give him no lines except “Ow.” THAT was a bad idea.

And that’s it. Yes those are the only things I even remotely liked, but I have to be honest, each one of these has some kind of problem attached to it which sours the real enjoyment.

On to what I disliked. Strap in lads, this is going to be a long ride.

1. The pacing. OH. MY. GOSH. SLOW. THE. FUCK. DOWN. For fucks sake I couldn’t even process what the hell was happening before we were on to the next thing! This was the biggest problem with the movie, BY FAR. Yes I know the story is terrible, we’ll get to that, but the pacing just completely took me out of the movie. I couldn’t feel invested in anything because it was all in one ear and out the other like ten-fold!

And this is part of the issue I have with how Reylo was handled. It. Felt. So. Rushed. And. Unfinished. There weren’t enough scenes with them and the scenes we did get were so fast and then over with that it felt like no progress was being made at all! It felt, for lack of a better word, unearned. And I know, that’s not really the case since they’ve had plenty of build-up in the last 2 films, but there wasn’t enough time with them spent NOT fighting and hating each other and opposing each other. Yes, I know, Kylo kept trying to get Rey to take his hand, but it doesn’t feel genuine because even Kylo feels out of character, and Rey too, big time. Now this isn’t the actor’s faults, they did what they could with the shitty story they were given, so I put all this blame at JJ’s desk.

In any case the overall film pacing was too fast, too much, too soon, too many things onscreen, too many things happening at once, not enough character, not enough motivation, not enough letting scenes breathe and just play out naturally. Everything felt forced for the sake of the “plot.” Oh we gotta get this thing, and then that thing, to get this thing, so we can defeat these guys! LET. US. BREATHE.

2. The story. My gosh, they couldn’t have picked a worse storyline to follow. Everything truly felt like it was written by a fanboy who wanted to retcon everything in TLJ, even down to the dialogue. Everyone keeps saying to Rey “You’re a Palpatine.” But it sounds SO strange, like nobody says things like this. I get it, it’s a space fantasy, they talk weird mumbo jumbo but it just sounds like a fanboy ghost wrote this. Like we gotta have everyone know now she’s a Palpatine! You’re a Palpatine! You’re a Palpatine! Palpatine heir! All bow down to the Palpatine! Give me a break.

3. Yeah, let’s talk about Palps. The old raisin himself. You know, I never really liked ROTS, but Palps was always a great thing about it. He was sinister, diabolical, he had a plan and knew what to do with it. But this Palps. *le heavy sigh* What a waste this was. For one thing, the lightning effects that lights up his face is really annoying, even for someone who doesn’t get seizures, I can’t even imagine what it’s like for those who do, I’m so sorry. And like, he has this whole legion of Sith followers? The fuck? Where the hell were these guys before? I’m sure they existed BEFORE the last Sith Lord died, right?

I digress. I have a question though: why does he want Rey so much? Why didn’t he try to get his son to take over? Wouldn’t that have been easier? Also, WHO DID HE FUCK TO GET A SON?? HOW DID HIS SON GET AWAY FROM HIM?? WHY DID HIS SON APPARENTLY TURN TO THE LIGHT?? THERE’S TOO MANY QUESTIONS HERE AND NO GOOD EXPLANATIONS. AND NO DISNEY, I DON’T WANT A 10-PART COMIC ON THIS. GO FUCK YOURSELVES.

The only interesting thing about Palps in this film is that his face gets melted off like a Raiders of the Lost Ark knock-off. He better not be coming back. Ever again.

4. And hey, while we’re on the subject, let’s talk about Rey’s parents. So apparently they’re both good people. *le sigh* But what kind of good people leave their daughter alone on a harsh and unforgiving planet with a blubber guy? And don’t tell me they didn’t know he was an abusive asshole, they LIVED on Jakku, they HAD to have known him, ESPECIALLY if they truly were junk traders, they would have DEALT with him. Oh, and apparently the “I’ll come back for you sweetheart, I promise” line is changed up a bit and given to her father after all. No. Screw that. That line was meant for Ben, I don’t care how petty this sounds, this is terrible. So yeah, fuck Rey’s parents, I don’t care how “good” you try to make their intentions, they’re badly shoehorned in and they screw up anyway. Next.

5. Ben’s story and his fate. So yeah, obviously I hate that Ben died, but more than that I hate how his story was handled here. It was so rushed, it didn’t feel as natural as it should have. It needed time to BREATHE. A lot of time! And I feel like they really shafted Kylo/Ben’s story off to the side to give more time to the hereby named GoldenTrio. (You know who I mean...we’ll get to them.) It really seemed like JJ didn’t even care about Ben’s fate anymore, and just kind of put it in as an afterthought. His death scene? Not even given a fucking minute to process because WE GOT TO PARTAY. All in all, his whole story is so terribly sad that I don’t even know if I can watch TFA or TLJ anymore, knowing how it ends.

6. The GoldenTrio. Oh for fucks sake, JJ, you should have killed Poe off when you had the chance, because now the story is all about THEM. Boom! They’re literally front and center in the movie. I don’t even think Reylo gets as much screen time as them. I mean really, Ben’s death scene and Rey’s grieving gets 1.5 minutes, tops. GoldenTrio reunion and threesome hugging? 5 fucking minutes of nothing but them hugging. I’m not even exaggerating. (Okay maybe I am, but it’s given more focus and time to “breathe” than Ben Solo’s fucking death. I’m getting a headache remembering it.)

Hey, remember in ESB and ROTJ where the trio got split up and had their own story lines and own purposes to fulfill without each other hanging around (apart from Han and Leia because their story lines are interconnected)? Yeah, I miss that too.

Also, Rey keeps wandering off being “pulled” to something, and every...single...time, Finn is like “Rey, wait! Poe we gotta get her! rEy CoMe BaCk!!” This happens at least 5 times, pretty consecutively too. It gets old real fast. Boy do I miss the days of TLJ where people got to be away from each other to discover new things without interference.

Which leads me to another point: They tried to shove FinnRey in here while shitting on FinnRose quite literally. What. A. Slap. To. The. Face. This is horrible treatment, and I hope Kelly will never do another interview for Lucasfilm again. She doesn’t deserve this.

7. The Ending™. Wow. What a way to show that your characters haven’t progressed at all by showing them in the same environment that they started in. Let’s do an overview: Rey starts out alone on a desert planet and meets a droid that isn’t hers. Rey ends up alone on a desert planet with a droid that still isn’t hers. PROGRESSION 101!! *slaps forehead* I mean, don’t even get me started on the fact that Ben isn’t there with her and that literally one half of her soul is gone (how is she not in agony right now??), but then to add more salt to the wound she’s just like “oh yeah I must be the rightful successor to the Skywalker name, even tho I’m a Palps...makes sense to me!” Fuck off. You don’t deserve that title after hating Luke for not doing what you wanted him to do and for hating Ben for most of this movie too.

Can we also acknowledge that this is THE ABSOLUTE WORST POSSIBLE WAY TO END A 40 YEAR SAGA AND FAMILY LEGACY? So, Palps had a kid who had a kid. This kid is then deemed a-okay by the family that was affected most by Palps and they welcome her like the sunshine child she is, yet shun their own offspring for being damaged goods because he was being manipulated by said Palps. Okay, it’s official now, everyone’s an asshole...except Ben. He seemed to be the only one to understand his faults and right his wrongs and not be an idiot. Then the kid who was abused and manipulated is killed because “reasons” or “problematic” or whatever and the offspring of Palps lives while the family that Palps manipulated is ultimately gone forever because it’s last descendant wanted to save the offspring of Palps out of the goodness of his heart. Now the offspring of Palps doesn’t even give a flipping thank you and steals their name. wHaT a SaTiSfYiNg EnDiNg!!! Someone gag me.

8. Luke’s X-Wing being raised out of the water and it’s in perfect working condition. What. The. Fuck. I don’t know if you guys realize this, but this completely undermines Luke’s arc in TLJ. That X-Wing was sunk and dead to show that he had no desire to return to the outside world. He was staying on the island. For good. And he buried that thing in water to make sure he couldn’t use it ever again, but it was still visible to him to remind him of his conviction if ever he questioned it. But no. That thing is a-okay and ready to fly. No need for parts, there’s no rust or any sea salt corrosion, ready to go skipper! This was just added for easy call-backs to ESB but boy this had absolutely 0 weight to it. I literally yawned or looked at my watch around this part thinking “oh my gosh isn’t it over yet?” Pretty much sums up my entire experience.

9. Rose got shafted to appease the fanboys. This one needs no further explanation or analysis, it just sucks and has no real reason to exist.

10. Luke was barely in it and offered not that great advice. Poor Mark. His performance really peaked with TLJ and never went back up.

11. Rey is suddenly the Avatar now? You can now talk to all previous Jedi’s who existed? What buffoonery is this? Oh, but Ben doesn’t get a single. fucking. word. from Anakin, the man he looked up to. I’m so tired right now. What’s left?

12. The message changed from “it doesn’t matter if you’re a nobody, you’re a somebody to me” to “you’re a somebody with a bad bloodline, but that doesn’t define you (except when it totally does)”. That sort of message would be fine if it had been the message since TFA, but it wasn’t. The message since TFA was “I’m a nobody, but I can become a somebody regardless of my lineage or my childhood.” Why change the message in the 11th hour? To appease fanboys. Literally anything that makes no sense in this movie can be attributed to fanboys. There’s so much contradiction and hypocrisy in this film from both the narrative and the characters that it’s insulting.

13. Hux was utterly shafted too. What a waste of a well built up and conniving little bastard who in the end gets shot for shock value and laughs. It’s like what TLJ did but way worse because he’s actually killed. Hux as the spy? Just no.

14. Jannah was kind of wasted too, not enough screen time. I get her and Finn kind of bonding over being ex-stormtroopers, but it’s not really delved into. Also the whole “nature vs. machinery” thing kinda briefly shows up at the big battle and feels unearned too, because there was nothing before in this movie or others to suggest there was a war between the two.

15. Poe is treated more as the heir to Leia than Ben is. Poe gets to fly the falcon and gets to wreck it up (dishonoring who it belonged to before), gets to be by Leia’s deathbed, etc. Not earned at all.

16. The pointlessness of random cameos or thrown in references. Not a single person in my theater noticed John Williams as the bartender, nobody pointed out or said anything about any reference from previous movies, it was silent.

17. What the hell was even the point of the whole “Dark Rey” vision? Oh, she shows her scary pointy teeth ala Bilbo style. No thank you.

18. Why the hell does it feel like these characters aren’t the characters from TFA and TLJ? They feel so different and it’s noticeable.

19. Finn is Force sensitive. Literally tacked on like nobody wouldn’t notice. We noticed JJ. We notice everything.

20. Rey and Kylo/Ben fighting for way too much of the film and their interactions. Not enough caring or understanding, not enough longing looks, it feels like their romance was almost cut from the film entirely.

21. Oh yeah, Rey floating at the beginning? Looked stupid as hell. And the “Be with me” line? I thought maybe, just maybe, she meant Ben, but no. She’s trying to reach “her past selves” like the fucking Avatar and she’s even floating rocks around like Aang did. Ugh.

22. Anything else? Oh yeah, this movie sucks completely and wholly...FOR NOT GIVING ONE FUCKING LINE OF DIALOGUE TO BEN SOLO AFTER HE HAD BEEN REDEEMED. HOW HEARTLESS CAN YOU BE THAT YOU LET HIM DIE WITHOUT SAYING ONE FINAL THING?!?! DAMN J.J. YOU’RE STUPID.

And that’s it. Kudos if you read the whole thing. I ramble a lot.

#tros #the rise of skywalker #tros review #reylo #tros rant

[salthaven]

not too much salt: Alya and Nino get Lila to babysit again. However an Akuma arrives at Alya's residence for her- your idea and motive. Since Alya wasn't there the villain took the children and Chat Noir and Ladybug fight them. THe parents become aware and Alya and Nino are doubt going to punished because taking care of the children was there responsibility

    Thank you for the request, and my apologies for taking so long to get to it! With that said, here you go:

    Alya thought it’d be fine. After all, Lila has saved celebrities (and their pets!), she can watch three kids, can’t she? It’s happened before, and Lila is always happy to help! 

    “That’s what friends are for!” Lila had said with a smile, and so Alya asked her to watch the siblings. Everything would be fine, and Nino and Alya got to go on their date.

    It was great. Nino and Alya had plans to see a new movie, then go grab some food before returning home. They timed everything perfectly, so Nino could take Chris home before her older sister or parents found out they’d left someone else in charge. It was great, having someone so kind as Lila to offer her assistance, especially when Marinette was always busy, forgetting her promises, or just plain out flaking out of work. 

    Tonight wasn’t about that, though. It was about Nino and Alya. And they had a blast. The movie was interesting, and the night was perfect.

    But then Gardienne attacked. Wild and rampant, and angry that she’d been unpaid for her work, the young girl had been an easy Akumatization. And then she went off, breaking into homes and taking their kids.

    “If you won’t pay me to watch them,” she hissed out, “you’ll pay to get them back!” 

    Alya hadn’t even known about the villain du jour, not until she glanced out through the window of the café they were in, only to do a double take. Dozens of kids with blank faces roamed the streets, following a teenage girl who was dressed like a princess. With a flick of her wand, the kids chased down one that stood at the end of the street, tackling them and dragging the screaming boy back to Gardienne, who tapped him with her wand.

    His screaming cut off quickly, his fear falling away as he stood numbly. A moment later, Gardienne resumed her stroll.

    A moment later, Alya was pulling Nino after her, phone at the ready.

    She didn’t even notice how her siblings were in the group, or that Nino’s little brother strolled right beside them.

    It wasn’t Nino who pointed out Ella, Etta, or Chris’s presence, and Alya didn’t spot it for herself either.

    No.

    It was Ladybug herself. And the heroine looked pissed. 

    And it all happened as Alya live streamed. 

    Ladybug and Chat Noir leaped into action, fighting against Gardienne and avoiding the swarm of kids that the Akuma commanded. It was chaotic, and Alya was practically vibrating as she watched the duo defeat Gardienne. They were so quick, and so in sync with one another, Alya was going to get so many views.

    ‘Thank God for Lila,’ Alya thought.

    She’d regret that thought later. 

    Ladybug cast her Miraculous cure, and the rush of ladybugs took the kids with them...except three.

    Four people remained from the fight: the babysitter, Ella, Etta, and Chris. All four stared up at the spotted heroine with wide eyes.

    Alya felt herself tense as Ladybug crouched down.

    “Hey,” she said, voice soft. “Do you know where your parents are? Or siblings?”

    And Ella turned and saw Alya. “She’s right there!” Ella cheered, and Ladybug snapped her attention to Alya.

    Her eyes quickly lost any warmth, and Alya gulped. She’d never seen Ladybug look so… threatening.

    “Is that so?” Ladybug asked, voice hardening. “These two are your siblings?”

    “Yeah!” Chris said, nodding. “They’re out on a date! Hi, Nino!”

    “Uh, hi, bro,” Nino responded, tugging on his hat. 

    “Who was watching you?” Ladybug asked, bringing their attention back to her.

    “Lila!” Etta shouted, then she pouted. “But I wish it was Marinette. She was always more fun.”

    “Yeah!” Ella agreed. “Marinette at least protected us during Akuma attacks!”

    Chat Noir looked away from the Akuma victim, eyes narrowing as he sent a quick glance to Alya and Nino. “What did Lila do?”

    “She ran,” Ella huffed, and Alya froze. 

    Ladybug froze, too, and then stood up. “Kids, give me and Chat Noir just a minute, and we’ll be right back.” The heroine grabbed Chat Noir by his tail, and then they were off.

    “Guys, let’s go home!” Alya said, shutting off her livestream (she’d worry about the contents later). Right then, she had to worry about getting her siblings home, before her parents did. Later, much later, she’d question why Lila left.

    But Ladybug and Chat Noir returned before the group was even half a block away.

    “Ella, Etta, right?” Ladybug checked, and the girls nodded. “It’s rather cold out, I’ll swing you home.” She glared at Alya. “I’m sure you can make it on your own, considering you were already out and about?”

    “I, uh,” Alya nodded. “Sure.”

    “Little guy, I’ll get you home before you can count to thirty!” Chat Noir said, picking up Chris. “I’m sure your bro can get there before I reach fifty.”

    “I can only count to seventeen!” Chris whined, but he smiled and cheered as Chat extended his staff and vaulted away, leaving Nino to chase after them.

    Alya couldn’t help but worry as she raced home. The way Ladybug looked at her, the fact that Lila left her siblings to fend for themselves against an Akuma…

    She felt sick.

    The feeling only got worse when she opened the door, and her parents were waiting there, drinking hot cocoa with Ladybug and all three of her sisters.

    Alya shut the door, and tried to smile at her parents. “Hey, mom-”

    “Why weren’t you watching your sisters?” Her mom cut her off immediately, and Alya winced. “I go to work, and I come home to Ladybug telling me that you left Ella and Etta, and someone else’s kid, under the care of some girl we don’t even know?” She shook her head, disappointment clear. “I thought I raised you better.”

    “Mom, I-”

    “You what?” Her father interrupted. “You left them with someone incompetent! You left them with someone we don’t trust, and that’s not the only problem! You were supposed to watch them yourself, not pawn them off to a classmate so you could go on a date!”

    “How was I supposed to know she’d leave them?” Alya retorted. “She’s Ladybug’s best friend, I thought she was better than that!”

    “She isn’t my best friend,” Ladybug responded calmly, and Alya felt her jaw drop. “She and I have only interacted when she’s been Akumatized. Which, by the way, has been multiple times. She is a delusional liar, and I’d advise that you never trust her with your siblings.”

    “We liked Marinette better, anyways,” Etta said again, then drank more of her hot cocoa.

    “Wait, Marinette? Was she watching them, too?” Her mother asked, looking even angrier.

    “Not anymore! She hasn’t watched them in over a month!”

    “And when did she watch them?”

    “Only a few times!”

    “Ella? Etta?” Her mother asked, turning to the girls. 

    “Over a year!” Ella said sweetly, and her mother slammed her hands on the table.

    “A year?! Alya, I’ve paid you for watching your siblings! I know your friend Marinette is busy, isn’t she the class president? A designer? A student, just like you? You took up so much of her time, and you never even gave her the money she deserved for her time?!”

    “It’s- it’s what a friend would do!” Alya protested, face burning as she avoided Ladybug’s disappointed gaze. 

    “A friend should expect someone to do work for them, work they’re being paid to do?” Ladybug was the one to ask this, tone full of disapproval. “That’s called using them. I’d be surprised if Marinette is still your friend, it sounds very one-sided.”

    “It does,” her father agreed. “But we’ll fix that. Alya, tomorrow you’re going to go to Marinette and give her all of the money you owe her.”

    “What?” Alya shouted. “But that- that’s hundreds of euros! That’s nearly all of my money! I saved that up, I shouldn’t have to give it to her!”

    “It’s saved up because you unfairly kept it from her,” her mother pointed out. “And I expect you to apologize to her.”

    Alya huffed. As if they’ll know whether she actually gives Marinette the money… “Fine.”

    “And to make sure you do, I’ll drop you off tomorrow and come in with you!” Her father decided. “I’m due a day off, anyways.”

    “What?! No, you can’t do that!” Alya scrambled for excuses, then perked up. “Marinette is always late to school anyways, she won’t get there before you’ll have to go!”

    “I’ll stay the whole day if I have to,” her father states, and Alya growled.

    “Ugh! This is so unfair!”

    “What’s unfair is what you did to Marinette and your siblings. Now, go to your room, I’m done with this conversation,” Her mother said at last, and Alya stormed off, slamming her door shut behind her.

    Leaning against the door, she could hear her parents thanking Ladybug, and Ladybug’s cheerful response.

    She thought everything would be fine… she thought wrong.

~~~~~

    I hope you enjoyed this! And, as a little bonus, the aftermath:

    Alya goes to school, a stuffed envelope in hand. Nino is the same, carrying an envelope and ducking his head in shame. It looks like he had a similar talk with his parents.

    Marinette arrives twenty-five minutes before the bell, looking… oddly happy, compared to usual. (Although Alya hasn’t paid her much attention in the past month, being too interested in Lila’s tales...which she’s still realising are fake.)

    The apology is awkward, and so is Nino’s, but they get through it as the whole class watches on. With shame, the couple gives Marinette the money she’s owed. Marinette accepts their apology with grace, albeit somewhat cold as she points out how they deceived her. She then excuses herself from the class, racing the money home before it can be stolen.

    Later, Marinette buys some new fabric. She’ll have fun designing, something she’s been able to do much more since Alya stopped asking for babysitting help. 

    And life goes on.

[kbox-in-the-box]

Captain Zap and her Hyperspace Rangers

1988 was the year that the planet Aetheria was liberated at last from the mad Emperor Xerxes, but it was neither the great space hero, Samuel Gerald “Astro” Armstrong, nor his daughter, Samantha Gillespie “Astra” Armstrong, who struck the final, decisive blow.

From 1933 to 1938, Astro Armstrong, Hedy Fine and Dr. Leon Volkov fought for the freedom of the people of Aetheria against the tyranny of Xerxes and his daughter, the wicked Empress Eris.

But in 1959, Astro Armstrong went missing, and in 1966, Astra Armstrong and her mother, Prof. Hedy Feynman, returned to Aetheria after Dr. Leon Volkov’s son, Dr. Leonid Volkov, told them that Astro was still alive, on Aetheria, but captive in the clutches of Xerxes.

As Astro’s family and allies sought to find him again, all while resuming their war with the forces of Xerxes and Eris, they found themselves facing a new foe, the first human ever to join the dark side of the Aetherian Armada, a mysterious masked man known only as Kommissar Blitzkrieg, who somehow seemed capable of anticipating Astra and Hedy at every turn.

By the 1980s, Hedy had begun to suspect the terrible secret of Kommissar Blitzkrieg’s true identity, one that could never be revealed to Astra, which the ruthlessly clinical Prof. Feynman recognized would necessitate the enlistment (or more accurately, the compulsory impressment) of new allies into their struggle, young outsiders with new ways of thinking, whose strengths would draw from their lack of preexisting emotional connections to this star-spanning conflict.

In 1984, the “Hyperspace Pilot” video game had cabinets distributed to the Bits & Blasts Arcade near the edge of the Ned Pines Neighborhood, the Pink Flamingos Mobile Home & RV Park on the outskirts of Eliot’s Expanse, and the Cabaret Cinema in the core of Edwin A. Abbott Square.

Opening in 1922, the Cabaret Cinema remains the oldest continuously operating movie theater in the state of Calizona, its infrequent stints as a Union Gospel Mission location notwithstanding.

The Cabaret Cinema was where a young Valerie Gail Zappa watched nostalgic rescreenings of Saturday matinee serials such as “The Adventures of ‘Astro’ Armstrong," and by the summer of 1984, Val was not only 18 years old and freshly graduated from Stanford S. Strickland Junior High & High School (go Teen Wolves!), but she was also a veteran usher at the Cabaret, where she took in countless classic films for free, and racked up high scores on “Hyperspace Pilot.”

Val and her two-years-younger sister, Tara Moonchild Zappa, lived at their parents’ double-wide at the Pink Flamingos, but like their fellow Pink Flamingos resident Crystal Swan, who was still attending Strickland Junior High in 1984, all three girls were pretty much raising themselves.

Tara had aspirations of enrolling in Beauty’s Beholder Cosmetics & Cosmetology, so she could eventually work at Nagel’s Picture-Perfect Cuts & Colors in the Gold Key Commercial Core.

And while Val’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, Buckminster “Bucky” Martínez, was still sorting through prospective career paths, he’d already earned an athletic scholarship, as a soccer and volleyball player, through Coral Shores Community College (go Atoms!), part of the Calizona Community College Athletic Conference and the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Even Morten Emory Thistlethwaite, the spoiled antisocial prodigy whom Val grudgingly agreed to babysit when she was in junior high, because he was three years her junior, was already on track to attend the University of Calizona, Santa Teresa (go Manticores!), with the Quatermass University of Abstract and Applied Sciences (go Tachyons!) as his designated fallback school.

And yet, Val herself simply drifted, never pursuing a post-secondary education or a long-term occupation beyond what was required to pay for the rent and fun nights out on the town during her weekends off, much to the dismay of her peers and former teachers, all of whom sensed far more potential in her than punching ticket stubs at the Cabaret Cinema, subbing in to lead group workouts at Aphrodite & Adonis Aerobics, or feeding quarters into “Hyperspace Pilot” cabinets.

By 1987, the band of Valerie and Tara Zappa, Bucky Martínez and Morten Thistlethwaite knew they had little enough left in common to wonder aloud why they were still hanging out, but they knew the answer to that as well, since not only had they all remained avid players of “Hyperspace Pilot,” but they’d taken up the next iteration in the franchise, i.e. the “Hyperspace Pistoleer” light-tagging toy guns released in 1986, for which Bits & Blasts had economized its existing space, and even leased adjacent property, to set up a hide-and-seek arena for — among other players — Captain Zap, Brigadier Buckyball, Lieutenant Luna and Master Sergeant Mars, as they preferred to be called on the game clock.

And by the summer of 1987, the band had reasons to celebrate, with Morten’s acceptance for UC Santa Teresa’s fall semester confirmed, Tara feeling confident she would finally be promoted from apprentice to junior stylist at Nagel’s Picture-Perfect Cuts & Colors, and even Bucky finally having settled on a major, after three years, at Coral Shores Community College.

Everyone was heading places, except for Val, who’d always dreamed of travel, but never had the free time or finances to spare, just as her ongoing consumption of classic cinema ensured her lock on the pink-for-entertainment slice of the pie any time she played Trivial Pursuit, and yet, for all her fascination with the film industry, she still couldn’t summon the patience to audition, or even sit still for test shots, for more than sporadic roles as an extra.

“Why does this feel like the end of that made-for-TV movie where roleplaying games drove Tom Hanks crazy?” Tara asked despondently, as the band sat at their regular table in Bits & Blasts, nursing their slices of Pizzazz Pizza.

“You know why,” Val smirked ruefully. “Everyone else is about to embark on grand adventures in bold new campaign settings, while some of us are just destined to ... hang back from the action, and become non-player characters.”

“It doesn’t have to be like this,” Bucky clasped Val’s hand in his own to console her.

“I heard Lis Berger is shutting down the Hyperspace Pistoleer arena after this summer,” Morten blurted out, acutely uncomfortable with the unpleasant emotions his peers were displaying so openly. “Even though it’s still popular, she’s losing a ton of money on it. I say we play one last round now, before it gets torn down.”

Val stood up and laid down a few dollars for the tip. “Might as well go out shooting,” she grinned.

The entry of every officially licensed “Hyperspace Pistoleer” arena was equipped with speakers to play the same opening narration before the players went inside, complete with a flash of light to simulate an interplanetary tesseract:

“As the people of the planet Aetheria cry out for aid, in their fight for freedom against the evil forces of the mad Emperor Xerxes and his Aetherian Armada, a highly trained special mission force has been recruited from the ranks of ordinary humans, right here on Earth, to respond to this call. They are the Hyperspace Rangers, and their brave battles began when they stepped into the Star Point Portal ... and vanished.”

After the obligatory flash of light, Lis Berger’s assistant games supervisor, Rachelle “Ratchet” Chennault, checked the activated “Hyperspace Pistoleer” arena, only to find it empty.

The “Strickland Slackers,” as they came to be branded in subsequent press reports, were gone.

Hedy Feynman knew she had a limited window of time within which to work, because time itself passes on Aetheria at roughly one-seventh the rate that it does on Earth, and because she knew the start of the Harmonic Convergence would commence on Aug. 16, 1987, but even she had failed to grasp how quickly most toy and video game franchises fall out of fashion.

Hedy had commissioned the younger Dr. Leonid Volkov to produce the “Hyperspace Pilot” and “Hyperspace Pistoleer” game lines, as covert training and recruitment tools for what she had envisioned as crack commando units to be branded the “Hyperspace Rangers,” since they would be able to operate not only behind enemy lines, but also between the boundaries that defined both the war and space travel itself.

Because Hedy wished to avoid drawing too much notice, and because she’d retained enough of her conscience not to want to press-gang too many child soldiers into risking life and limb for a cause for which none of them had knowingly consented to sacrifice themselves, the Star Point Portals affixed to the “Hyperspace Pistoleer” arenas absconded with only scattered handfuls of players from her former home planet.

The sustained toll of their secret missions was brutal, culling all but a few of the promising crop Hedy had authorized to transport from Earth during the summer of 1987, but one unlikely band of Hyperspace Rangers somehow not only kept on surviving, but also succeeding in completing their missions, thanks in no small part to the guidance and motivation they drew from the canny strategies and inspiring speeches of their Valkyrie-like leader.

Eventually, the rest of the units were reduced in number enough that their remainders were seconded to Captain Zap and her Hyperspace Rangers.

During the final push to overthrow the misrule of Xerxes, when Astra Armstrong was devastated by the discovery that the merciless Kommissar Blitzkrieg was actually her long-lost father, Astro Armstrong — whose innate heroism had been artificially suppressed by technology the elder Dr. Leon Volkov had been conscripted to create for Xerxes — it was Captain Zap’s Hyperspace Rangers who kept up the pressure on the Aetherian Armada, giving Astra the chance to break through those psychic barriers to reach her real father’s heart, and ultimately redeem his soul.

... And so it was that 1988 was the year that the planet Aetheria was liberated at last from the mad Emperor Xerxes, not by two generations of the same heroic family, but by a third generation of complete strangers to their cause, and yet, even as the rest of the surviving Hyperspace Rangers were returned to Earth per their request, one band asked to stay behind.

Captain Zap, Brigadier Buckyball, Lieutenant Luna and Master Sergeant Mars each had their own reasons for wanting to venture further into the largely uncharted frontier within which they’d found themselves, but Hedy Feynman, as newly elected head of the likewise recently installed government of Aetheria, harbored equally ulterior motives for agreeing to retain their services.

Hedy knew that a tentatively democratic Aetheria, one which was now seeking to atone for the misdeeds of its empire by forging alliances among adversaries, needed free agents to act on its behalf, to make contact with the broader cosmos that Xerxes’ simultaneously expansive and provincial priorities had impacted, and yet also ignored.

Hedy also knew that Astra’s appetite for such crusades had been ground down hard over the course of the war, even before she’d inadvertently unmasked one of her fiercest foes as the vanished father whose legacy she’d sought to live up to her entire life, and for the first time since 1966, Astra found herself missing the old home planet she’d abandoned so casually.

Which was how Astra Armstrong woke up late one morning to the fanfare surrounding the hastily rescheduled launch of the Moebius Loop-powered Cavalry Cruiser-class Unification Searcher Spacecraft (USS) Starlin, the ship she’d simply assumed she would be tasked with commanding, because it had already taken off with its new crew, Captain Zap and her Hyperspace Rangers, without Hedy telling her.

Astra had resigned herself to the likelihood that she would be assigned to provide Captain Zap’s Hyperspace Rangers with essential insights on the various alien species, civilizations and cultures they might encounter, but Hedy had instead sentenced the former Empress Eris to serve as a Hyperspace Ranger, under the command of Captain Zap, as Ensign Eleutherios (”Eleutherios” being the birth name that Eris had always hated), as repayment for her sins.

And with a capable crew protecting the peace in her stead, Astra couldn’t help but smile when Hedy presented her with the Reckless Endeavor, the spaceship with which Astra’s parents and the elder Dr. Volkov had originally traveled to Aetheria, now freshly restored and ready to fly wherever Astra wished.

“First, I’m gonna take a long nap, and then, I’m gonna spend some time doing nothing at all, because I’ve been meaning to do both of those for years,” Astra laughed, even as tears spilled down her cheeks. “After that ... when we left Earth, I was so ready for something so much bigger. The only other gals I knew who wore pants were you, Katherine Hepburn and Laura Petrie on Dick Van Dyke. So much happened, just right after I left.” She chuckled. “It’s like Earth waited until I was gone to get cool.”

“And now?” Hedy brushed the blonde spit-curl from her daughter’s face. “You want to catch up?”

“I want ...” Astra paused, then unclipped the Walkman from her belt loop, that she’d carried to honor all the fallen Hyperspace Rangers, more than one of whom had worn such portable music players into the fray of combat.

Astra cranked the volume on the headphones up to the max, then pressed play, and the voice of Stevie Nicks began to croon:

♫ No one knows how I feel ♪ ♪ What I say, unless you read between my lines ♫ ♫ One man walked away from me ♪ ♪ First he took my hand ♫ ♫ Take me home ... ♪

“I want to go where the music sounds like THAT,” Astra’s voice choked up, as her eyes welled up with fresh unshed tears.

Hedy struggled to keep the quaver out of her own voice, as she squeezed her daughter tight to wish her safe travels. “Then you go there, baby. You go follow the music that’s in your heart.”

#Captain Zap and her Hyperspace Rangers #Captain Zap #Hyperspace Rangers #The Adventures of Astro Armstrong #Astro Armstrong #Astra Armstrong

[mst3kproject]

Light Blast

What’s this?  A death ray movie in which we actually see stuff get death rayed?  Aw, man, that might disqualify it for MST3K right there!  Fortunately for us, however, Light Blast was directed by Enzo Castellari, who brought us Escape 2000, and it stars Erik Estrada. Estrada was never on MST3K but he was on pretty much all the 70’s cop shows they kept referencing, including Mannix and Police Woman, and Mike and the bots would never have let him forget it.

So what do we want out of a death ray movie?  I dunno, some faces melting like the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark would be cool, and Light Blast apparently read my mind on that count because we get the first melting face action before the ten minute mark! A couple of young people go to have sex in a boxcar (this scene includes a real classy upskirt shot, just three minutes in) while the bad guy tests his death ray, and in the fine tradition of kids just trying to bone at the beginning of movies, they get zapped.  Meanwhile, somewhere else, Erik Estrada in a speedo takes down a couple of bank robbers by hiding a gun inside a roast turkey.

This is gonna be a weird movie, isn’t it?

Sadly, Light Blast never again rises to that height of absurdity.  Evil Professor Yuri Svoboda has a death ray, and has decided to hold the city of San Francisco hostage for the princely sum of:

Was that even a lot of money in 1985?  According to dollartimes the conversion rate is about 2.5, so that would be $12.5 million today... still seems a little low for a major city.  Anyway.

To show he means business, Svoboda death rays the announcer’s box at a demolition derby.  Thence ensues a series of extremely uninspired car chases and a scene in which Estrada is repeatedly kicked in the avocados by a woman dressed as a nurse (I liked that bit).  Eventually he puts the pieces of the puzzle together, and never even bothers to tell us what the finished picture looks like before running off to what looks like it’ll be the final Power Plant Confrontation.  No such luck.  Svoboda escapes again, and Estrada has to chase him down to the final final confrontation.

There are two things here Castellari seems to really like. One is digital clocks, which are frequently the focus of the death ray for some reason.  The other is men staggering around on fire, filmed in the type of loving slow motion that turns this agonizing death into a moment of over-dramatic hilarity.  Remember in the Making Of Documentary for Return of the King, when Peter Jackson acknowledges that Denethor falling off the top of Minas Tirith while on fire is ridiculous?  Enzo Castellari is definitely not that self-aware.

He is also fond of car chases.  There are three or four of them in Light Blast and they’re competent, I guess.  They’re definitely better than the budget version you sometimes see in really cheap movies, in which the camera turns to watch one vehicle pass by, then repeats the shot with another.  There was probably a storyboard and so forth.  But they’re still pretty monotonous and mostly just look like people driving around with no sense of a destination or a narrative.  Instead, the movie tries to add interest by giving them ‘gimmicks’.

In one of the chases, Estrada doesn’t want the villain to know he’s being followed, so rather than using his own vehicle, he just hops into random people’s cars and makes them do the following.  In one he shows his badge and tells the driver he’s a cop. In another he tells the woman driving that he’s playing a practical joke on a friend from college.  Astonishingly, he never gets slapped or shot.

In another, he steals a race car in order to chase down Svoboda, who is fleeing to a boat from which he plans to death ray the entire city or something.  This chase includes two separate shots in which Estrada jumps the race car over some obstacle in his way, again filmed in slow motion.  In neither was there any sort of ramp to get the car off the ground. It’s like that scene in Speed where the fucking bus somehow jumps over a gap in the highway except they did it twice and slowly to give the audience time to think about how stupid it is. Then Estrada jumps the car again onto Svoboda’s boat, which has already left the dock, and somehow manages to stop on a dime rather than falling into the water.

I recognize that movies are not bound by the laws of physics, but those that get away with breaking them do so by walking a fine line. Things have to look possible. People running away from explosions looks like it should work, and very few of us have ever been in a position to find out what it’s actually like first-hand (partly because those of us who have probably didn’t live to tell about it).  The car jumps?  Nah.

Wikipedia includes a couple of reviews of this film that have been translated, not very well, from Italian.  They’re kind of hard to understand but they do seem to fixate on the preponderance of car chases.  They also reference another staple of 80’s action movies, which is excessive police brutality.  Estrada shoots a whole bunch of people, breaks into a power plant and a funeral home, steals cars, causes a dozen accidents and untold property damage, and bullies his girlfriend into risking her job in order to get him the information he needs.  Our hero, ladies and gentlemen.

Other clichés drift by.  The villain gives a pretty classic monologue all about how he Showed Those Fools At The Academy and how his death ray will make him supreme ruler of the world and he’ll bring about a new age of peace.  There’s a bit where Estrada and his partner, the Tall Guy (these characters do have names, I just don’t care) sit down at the kitchen table and put together what they’ve learned… but instead of some exposition to tell us, the audience, what that is, we get a Ryan And Shane Look For Forrest Fenn’s Treasure montage but without the irony.  We can just barely hear fragments of voices through this, as the characters talk about it… enough to tease us with what they know and we don’t.

I dunno, it’s possible the audience is supposed to have already figured this stuff out and I just wasn’t paying attention.  I was pretty bored during most of this movie.

During the montage, the bad guys sneak up outside Estrada’s house (which is on a boat?  I think?) and open fire, basically shooting everybody but Estrada himself, who escapes completely unharmed.  His personality-deficient girlfriend isn’t so lucky… but she was only in this movie so it would have a part for Estrada’s real-life girlfriend Peggy Rowe. This bit is right up there with The Phantom Creeps as a perfect example of why Women In Fridges is screenwriting for hacks.  Estrada is already determined to get these guys.  He already cares about the people they’ve killed in the past and the ones they plan to kill in the future!  He is already frustrated by his failures to catch them!  ‘Making it personal’ is completely unnecessary!  Did the writers really think her death would add anything, or were they just trying to fill up their Action Movie Cliché Bingo card?

In the villain’s evil monologue, Svoboda reveals that apparently Estrada killed his wife?  I guess she was the mortician?  This doesn’t help, because I don’t think Svoboda actually knows that Estrada’s girlfriend is dead and even if he does, she wasn’t his target. His henchmen were after Estrada and Tall Guy.

Then there’s the ending, which is in no way a ‘climax’ and barely even counts as an ‘end’.  Remember I said Estrada jumps his racecar onto Svoboda’s boat?  This knocks the death ray over and it melts Svoboda himself.  Estrada watches this, then basically just shrugs and walks the fuck away.  So… that was it?  No confrontation?  No fight? Just a failure to properly secure the superweapon?

Isn’t the rest of the boat gonna melt now, too?  In previous uses the death ray seemed to melt things over a fairly wide area.  Isn’t anyone worried about that?  No, we’re just rolling the credits?  Okay, fine. At least the movie’s over.

Is there anything nice I can say about Light Blast? Well… I guess it passes the Bechdel Test.  There’s a bit, completely irrelevant to the plot, where two women who work at the police station discuss perfume.  It’s as if one of the writers had read about the Bechdel Test and shoved that in there just to pass it, without bothering to think about what the point of the ‘test’ is.

For all I’ve bitched about it, Light Blast isn’t a full on disaster.  It’s merely a mediocre 80’s action movie.  What makes it so damn disappointing is the wackiness of that early scene with Estrada in his underwear and the gun in the turkey.  That bit has the same effect as naming your movie Hercules Against the Moon Men – it gives the audience the impression that you have a sense of humour, and then the rest of the film can be nothing but the slow downward spiral of realizing that you were, in fact, serious.  Even then, it still could have been fun if the writers and director had kept up that kind of cheese throughout but no… Light Blast couldn’t even be bad enough to be good.

If any of you MSTies reading this are aspiring film-makers, let this be the lesson for you: the introduction of your main character sets the tone.  Do that wrong, or in a way that doesn’t match the rest of your movie, and you’re sunk. And if you only have one interesting or funny idea, for love of Apearlo put that at the end of the movie, not the beginning!

#mst3k #reviews #episodes that never were #light blast #women in fridges #80s

[mymoodwriting]

Perfect Love

Bang Chan/Jisung, Bang Chan/Felix, Felix/Jisung

Genre: Yandere AU

Warning: Collar, Electrocution, Medication, Pills, Needles, Sedatives

Words: 2.2K

Chapters:

One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen | Fourteen | Fifteen | Epilogue

Prompt: When Jisung started dating Chan it was a lot of fun, but that’s all it was and he wanted more. It was a mutual break up, or at least he thought it was. He had no idea what Chan was capable of, that is until he finally went to his house, carried into it actually. A second chance at love is entirely out of his control, and he might not have been the first of Chan’s lovers to be in this position.

       Jisung sat at the kitchen table, trying to make himself as small as possible. He was still shaking a bit from what had happened but he was focused enough to understand his surroundings. His hand reached up and he tugged at the collar around his neck, biting his lip when his actions caused the collar to shock him. He heard laughter, someone vaguely amused by his attempt to free himself.

       After he had calmed down from his nightmare Chan had placed that collar on him. It had been decided that the only way he’d be allowed upstairs for the time being was with that collar. It would only shock him if he tried to remove it or if he stepped outside the house perimeter, which included the backyard but not the front. The collar would give him a small warning shock, but if he pushed it the voltage would increase gradually until he passed out.

       He looked up at the person setting the table, Felix, who seemed much better. He felt bad for having scared him earlier, although the fact that he had been frightened was unsettling. Jisung then looked over at Chan who was finishing up preparations for their rather late breakfast. He felt pathetic crying in his arms earlier. His whole situation was really starting to stress him out and crying to him probably boosted his ego.

     Despite his questions he didn’t say what had scared him, he didn’t wanna divulge that kinda information, he didn’t need his captor knowing what made him vulnerable. Once breakfast was set, Felix took his seat but Chan went over to a cabinet, rummaging around and walking over to them with a pill bottle in hand.

 “Time to take your medicine.”

       Chan first approached Felix playing with his hair then gently tilting his head back, the boy eagerly opening his mouth and took the pill. His good behavior was rewarded with a kiss on the cheek. His eyes then locked with Jisung.

 “Are we going to be a good boy like Felix here or are we gonna have a problem?”

       Jisung didn’t answer, instead doing his best to keep his mouth shut. Chan was clearly disappointed, coming over to him and forcing his lips to part. The boy tried to struggle but he was easily overpowered. He was given the medicine, forced to swallow before he was let go. Despite his misbehavior he was also given a kiss.

 “Good boy.”

       Whatever he had taken didn’t kick in for a while, but it wasn’t noticed. He pretended that everything was fine. Felix was very happy, so he acted that way too, figuring that’s what the medicine was for. He really hated that Chan was a pretty good cook, that is until he realized there was a chance the food was laced with something. He quickly lost his appetite after that, saying he was full, he was believed.

 “Felix, can you water the plants, and take Jisung with you.”

 “Oh yay! I can show you the garden.”

       Felix eagerly took his hand and took him out to the backyard. He had been nervous about going out because of the collar, but when nothing happened he remembered he was safe in the backyard, it was the front yard he wasn’t allowed in. Felix kept a hold of his hand as he pointed out all the different plants around the garden.

       Chan had stayed inside, opting to clean up the kitchen. He had his plants that he used for work, and he also grew some vegetables and flowers. Felix grabbed the hose, watering the plants and splashing Jisung with some water after a while to cool him down. By then the medicine had kicked in, Jisung a giggling mess like before. He laid down in the grass, eyes closed, enjoying the sunlight. He used to be so busy during the day he could never really enjoy the sun.

 “So pretty.”

       Jisung opened his eyes to see Chan standing above him, taking pictures. The boy removed his collar to take a few more pictures. He didn’t even register the fact that Chan was holding his phone. The other laid down next to him, pulling him close for a picture, then telling Felix to join in so they could have a group photo he could frame for later.

 “Maybe we should post your picture Sungie, let your friends see how pretty you look.”

 “What about the other pictures?”

 “Those are just for us.”

 “Okay. Oh, what about Felix?”

 “I don’t have any social media.” Felix said, snuggling against Chan’s other side. “Got rid of it a long time ago, don’t need it. I just use Chan’s phone and accounts if I ever wanna browse.”

 “Oh… should I still keep mine?”

 “For now, yes.” Chan said. “What should the caption be?”

 “Um… how does ‘soaking up the morning sun’ sound?”

 “Lovely.” He added hashtags and posted it. “Now, got some news for you boys.”

 “What is it?” Felix asked.

 “I’m gonna be out tonight.”

 “Another party.”

 “Yup, which means early bedtimes for both of you.”

 “Awe, can Jisung sleep with me?”

 “I don’t think so, he’s still in trouble for earlier.”

 “Right… next time.”

 “Yeah, maybe next time. I gotta get ready for tonight, so keep yourselves busy for a while okay.”

 “Jisung and I can watch a movie.”

 “Alright but nothing scary, I don’t want either of you having nightmares cause of it.”

 “We won’t, come on Jisung.”

       He waited until Chan put the collar back on, then took the others hand and took him upstairs. Felix always preferred to watch movies in the bedroom, he let Jisung pick, running back down to get some popcorn and drinks. He loved watching movies in the bedroom, so much more space to cuddle.

 ♥♥♥♥♥

       Chan stayed in the basement for most of the day, preparing his product. Felix came down to check on him and brought him something to eat, he was still watching movies with Jisung upstairs. He was glad the two were having fun. When it was around time for him to head out he went up to get them ready for bed.

       Since he had left them alone practically all day, he wasn’t surprised to walk in and see that neither of them was actually watching the movie that was playing. Instead Felix had Jisung pinned under him, the two kissing, hair and clothes a mess.

 “And what might this be?”

       Felix jumped up and rolled off Jisung very quickly. The two boys looked away from Chan, blushing. He laughed.

 “I’m not mad, you two are quite cute together. Did you do anything else?”

 “No…” Jisung shyly admitted. “We just… started.”

 “You wanna join?”

 “Oh, I’d love to but I have to cut this short, it’s time for bed.”

 “Awe, bedtime already?” Felix whined.

 “Yes, yes it is. We can all play some other time. Go shower, I’ll take Jisung.”

 “Okay, good night Jisung.”

       Felix kissed Jisung’s cheek, the boy blushing a new shade of red, and went to shower. Chan took Jisung down to his room, having him take a shower too and drying him off. He dressed the boy for bed, grabbing the syringe he had on the table, Jisung holding his arm out.

 “Oh no, you’re bedtime medicine goes elsewhere.”

 “Oh…”

       Jisung tilted his head to the side. He still wasn’t comfortable with needles, especially when he was mellowed out and he was very open with his emotions. He grabbed Chan’s arm for comfort, getting a kiss for his good behavior.

 “Sweet dreams.”

       He tucked the boy in and headed out, making sure the door was locked. After he put his things away and grabbed what he needed from the lab he lingered outside of Jisung’s room. He texted Changbin, saying he would be over in a bit, just needed to get his boys to sleep. A while after he heard Jisung screaming. He checked the time then went upstairs, locking the basement door too. Felix was already sitting in bed when he got to the room.

 “How’s Jisung?”

 “Good. I want you sleeping with your headphones tonight okay.”

 “Okay.”

       Felix presented his neck, giggling when he felt the needle, then grabbing his headphones from the nightstand drawer. Chan laid him down and tucked him in, giving him a goodnight kiss. He heard Jisung scream again, detouring to the kitchen and putting out some medicine for a sore throat before heading out.

 ♥♥♥♥♥

 “And there’s the man of the hour, what’s new?”

 “I told you it’s not ready yet.”

 “Couldn’t even bring a sample.”

 “Maybe if you had asked nicely.”

       Chan was greeted with a beer by Changbin, the host of tonight’s festivities. The place was already pretty lively with the music blasting through the speakers.

 “You’re late you know.”

 “I had to get the boys in bed first.”

 “Boys? When did you get another?”

 “Jisung and I got back together.”

 “For real, that’s awesome. How’s Felix dealing with it.”

 “Caught the two making out before I left.”

 “Very happy then.”

 “Yup.” Chan took a sip of his beer. “You should come over, Felix’s been wanting to see you.”

 “Why don’t you throw a party then? Make it fun for everyone.”

 “Not yet, if I did I’d have to keep Jisung in his room.”

 “Oh, you’re doing that with him too then, is he okay?”

 “He will be.”

 “Then I’ll stop by sometime this week, I’ll tell the others too, we need to talk about business.”

 “Good point, I do need to ask Jeongin for a favor. Didn’t he recently move in with a friend?”

 “Yeah, some guy named Seungmin.”

 “That guy better not get Jeongin in any trouble.”

 “Don’t you mean Jeongin should keep him out of trouble?”

 “I said what I said, the little rascal is trouble.”

 “And he’s our responsibility.”

       The rest of the night went on without any issue. He was cleaned out pretty quick, money staying with Changbin for the time being. He enjoyed himself, missing the fun he used to have with Jisung at parties, but he was quick to remember he had the boy at home, safe and sound and happy, which brought a smile to his face. When morning hit he started paying more attention to the time.

 “I gotta get going, Chang.”

 “Already? Come on, stick around for a bit more.”

 “I need to get going man, text Jeongin for me. My house this week.”

 “Got it, tell Felix and your other boy toy hello for me.”

 “His name is Jisung!”

 “I know, now get out of here.”

       When Chan got home the house was pretty quiet. He went upstairs to check on Felix first, the boy still fast asleep, then went down to see Jisung. He walked into the room to see Jisung curled in bed, shaking. He kneeld down and caressed the boys cheek for a bit, he had worked up a sweat, then gently shook him to wake him.

 “Sungie…”

       Jisung’s eyes shot open, taking a deep breathe. His eyes were hazy, still shaking. Chan helped him sit up but the boy leaned against him, hugging him like before, his shaking getting a little worse. He smiled and cradled the little one’s head, rocking him again and patting his back softly.

 “It’s okay, I’m here for you, I got you.”

 ♥♥♥♥♥

 “Cute.”

       Minho commented on Jisung’s latest post as he stepped out of the elevator. He had some takeout in hand, walking over to his friend’s apartment, knocking on the door.

 “Jisung, open up!” He knocked again. “Come on, I didn’t see you at work, guessing it’s your day off.”

       There was no response even after the fifth attempt. If he got any louder he’d disturb the neighbors.

 “You’re really gonna make me do this.”

       He put down the takeout and reached for his keys. Jisung had given him a spare key to the apartment in case he ever lost his or Minho needed a place to crash and didn’t wanna go home.  Minho threw the door open once it was unlocked.

 “Jisung, I got your favorite.” Minho stopped when he noticed how empty the place was. “Jisung?”

       He put the food down on the table and started looking around the apartment. The bedroom was empty, not even a bed frame. There was little furniture around, the fridge was empty, all personal decorations gone. He grabbed his phone, calling Jisung, but the call didn’t go through, the number apparently unavailable.

 ♥♥♥♥♥

 “So… you think something is wrong?”

       Minho was at a cafe with his friend Hyunjin, staring at Jisung’s most recent photo. The sound of the other slurping down his drink frustrating him.

 “This is serious!”

 “Dude calm down, so he moved out of his apartment and forgot to tell you, no big deal. Just call him.”

 “You think I haven’t already tried? His phone is disconnected or something. Don’t you think that’s weird?”

 “Unless he got a new phone and forgot to tell you too. You guys aren’t attached at the hip you know.”

 “He would have messaged me.”

 “Moving takes time, maybe he was gonna tell you when he was settled in and not dead tired.”

 “Maybe…”

 “He’s fine, don’t worry too much or you’ll start getting ideas.”

 “Oh yeah? Like what?”

 “Like he doesn’t want to be your friend anymore, or he’s been kidnapped.” Hyunjin laughed. “Just don’t do anything stupid that’s gonna end up embarrassing him.”

 “Yeah…” Minho stared down at the picture again. “Yeah he’s probably fine.”

#stray kids #bang chan #felix #han #lee know #hyunjin #changbin #i.n #seungmin #christopher bang #lee felix #han jisung #lee minho #hwang hyunjin #seo changbin #yang jeongin #kim seungmin #stray kid au #stray kids yandere #stray kids scenarios

[highqueenofelfhame]

Like We Used To

There were spots starting to encroach on the perimeters of his vision from how long he’d been staring at the photo that had somehow wormed its way onto his Instagram feed: A golden blonde girl with a floppy hat and sunglasses, staring up at a brown-haired boy that had an arm slung around her shoulders. Both of them wore swimsuits, the backdrop a gorgeous expanse of turquoise sea. Turquoise that would match her eyes perfectly had they not been covered.

The last time he had seen those eyes they had been bloodshot with tears spilling over the rims, leaving nothing but black, watercolor mascara marks down her cheeks. The time before that he had been gazing at her from the doorway of his bedroom, her eyes closed while she sighed in a content sleep. It had been quick, the way she had gone from his to not his. Of his list of things to do that day, losing Aelin Galathynius hadn’t been one of them.

On that morning - one year, two months, and five days ago - Rowan Whitethorn had woken up with her cold toes wiggling under his legs. He had groaned, which only made her laugh and send the warmth of her breath over his neck that set goosebumps erupting over his skin.

“Gods above, woman,” he had said, reaching down to wrap his hot hands around her feet to warm them. Another quiet laugh from the woman he loved had him grinning as he rolled onto his side and pressed a soft kiss to her mouth. It was still dark out, neither of them needing to be up for hours, and she had nuzzled her face back into his chest and swiftly fallen asleep to the beating of his heart.

Now, though, she was with someone else. Someone who was quite the opposite that Rowan himself was, and he hated that he was now scrolling through her Instagram feed stewing over the heart captions that Aelin had left below picture of her and this man. Chaol. A man who absolutely wasn’t worth a single second of Aelin’s time — Rowan could tell just by looking at him. His jaw clenched at a photo of the two curled up on the couch together, Aelin’s face pressed into his neck with a smile on her lips. Four months with this one, she had captioned it, complete with heart emojis. That photo had been posted two months ago. Aelin had now been cuddled up in the arms of another for six months, the last photo of the two posted two weeks ago.

Rowan was unable to stop himself from wondering if this new man did everything that he had - if he had let her quote the movies she no doubt begged him to watch with her. If he sang along with her to music he didn’t care for just because it brought her an inexplicable joy while she danced around the living room, using all that ballet training she’d ditched after eighteen years.

More importantly, did he comfort her through the nightmares, did he hold her while she cried about lost love and her parents untimely and violent deaths? Had she felt comfortable enough to even confide in him? Was he making sure she saw her therapist once a week? Did he go out of his way to make her laugh, even when they were fighting, if she looked too close to breaking? Did he do any of that? Did he make her happy?

“Rowan, man, you’ve got five minutes to curtain,” Fenrys said, poking his head through the door to the greenroom. Rowan locked his phone and ran his hand down his face, willing away the tears that pricked at the edges of his vision.

“Yeah,” with a head nod was all he was able to muster and his head of security frowned as he stepped into the room.

“You okay?”

“Yeah just…” Rowan shrugged, scrubbing at his face with his palms.

“Did she…?”

“I knew she was probably seeing someone else by now but seeing it on her page suckerpunched me about eighteen ways I hadn’t expected. Not that I blame her. It’s my fault. All of it is my fault. I couldn’t do the one thing she asked me to do.” Sighing, Rowan got to his feet and grabbed a bottle of water out of the ice chest by the door before they started walking down the hall toward the stage. “It just gets worse every time I’m back in Orynth and I have to go back to my stupid fucking apartment alone.”

“We could go out after,” Fenrys suggested with the shrug of a shoulder. Rowan contemplated, offering his friend a nod just as he hopped up onto the completely black stage. The part of the night he always hated was when the opening visuals started firing off with a version of one of his songs he’d mixed just for Aelin. It started slow until it built to an epic peak with his stage name - Hawk - flashing on the screens behind his head. He’d never been able to get himself to change the opening song, though. Couldn’t be bothered to drop the stage name that she had helped him pick out. His friends claimed that he was pining.

He was.

The longer his set went on, the harder it was to keep his eyes from scanning the crowd. Just in case she had shown up with her friends like she had so loved to do. Aelin had been his biggest fan his entire career; she had been there from the very beginning and if she was able to make a show, she was there. She had gently forced all of his music down her friend’s throats, had blasted it in her car, had requested it on radio stations not just because she was dating him and wanted him to succeed. But because she genuinely loved the music he put out into the world, because she was so proud of him that she wanted everyone to know how talented she thought him to be.

A flash of golden hair in the crowd had his fingers slipping on one of the buttons he was moving to press but he didn’t care. Another head of blonde hair with lips pressed to her beau’s had his heart faltering all together. It wasn’t Aelin, but that didn’t keep his mind from wandering while his hands stayed autopilot, carrying him through the set.

One year, two months, seven days ago. Rowan, down on one knee with a glittering emerald custom created just for her, Aelin with sparkling tears in her eyes while she pressed a thousand kisses to his mouth while murmuring the three letter word he had been hoping for against his lips - yes. It hadn’t taken him long to have her pressed against the window of the balcony, to be buried inside her with whispers of his love and affection for her dancing across her skin. Even the next morning, despite their lovemaking having moved to the bed, the fingerprints and smudges left perfect evidence of what he’d done to her against the glass. They had laughed about it.

Now she was likely tangling in his sheets. It shouldn’t be someone else’s hands on her skin. It should be Rowan’s, like it was supposed to be. Rowan’s hands on her skin, Aelin’s hands on his heart.

Still, despite his feelings, he found himself hoping that she was happy, that he made her feel as loved and cherished as Rowan had always tried to. That this other man would tell her multiple times a day that he loved her. That he told her with words and with flowers, with silent actions and huge gestures. He found himself hoping that if this was the man she was supposed to be with, that nothing would lead her to throw it away. Because despite himself, Aelin deserved everything. She deserved the world handed to her on a diamond platter, to be happy, to be loved. And regardless of the way his heart ached when he thought about her, he so desperately wanted her to just be happy.

By the time his show was over, his mind was wandering aimlessly over memories and moments he’d shared with the woman he would never stop loving. To be honest, he wasn’t entirely sure how he’d ended up back in his greenroom with his phone in hand, staring at old photos they had taken together. The photos they had taken days before she broke up with him of her crying happy tears over the ring on her finger.

“Another tour? Are you fucking - we talked about this last week, Rowan.” She was livid, the golden core of her iris dancing like lit flame as she shouted at him. “The one thing I asked. I asked you to take a break. To spend some time at home with me, to take off the long distance strain. That’s all i asked you to do.” By then, she was already working the emerald ring off her finger, so quickly he hardly had it processed before it was knocking him in the forehead.

“What are you doing? Fireheart, I -”

“I’m going to go find someone that actually wants to spend his fucking time with me Rowan since you clearly don’t. What do you even see when you look at me? A joke? Because it clearly isn’t your future,” she hissed. By that point, mascara was tracking down her cheeks and she was sobbing - horrible ripping sobs that cracked Rowan’s heart in two. Everything had been fine this morning, everything had been -

“Rowan?” His eyes shifted from his phone to Fenrys’s face, who had a slight smile to his lips. “You’ve got a VIP, man.” Rowan nodded once and stood, shaking out his arms and running his fingers through his hair. He didn’t particularly care that his face was red and feverish, or that his hair was sweat-soaked. Not until he opened the door anyway.

Before him stood the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid his eyes on, her eyes a bright turquoise ringed with gold. Eyes he had spent five years looking into, five years memorizing. Her hair tumbled down her back in golden waves, one side pinned back by numerous pins. The outfit she wore was simple, but a favorite of his: black jeans, white tee, black leather jacket. A necklace he’d bought her dangled between her breasts. The longer he stared at her, slack-jawed and in awe that she stood before him, the more her eyes began to fill with tears of their own.

“Rowan,” she said softly, her voice breaking in two. “Hey.”

@musicmaam @starseternalnighttriumphant @myfeyrelady @kandasboi @tinywolfofeyllwe @empire-of-wildfire @nalgenewhore @shyvioletcat @the-regal-warrior @city-of-fae

#rowaelin #drabbles #like we used to #a rocket to the moon #songfic #rowan whitethorn #aelin galathynius #throne of glass #tog #aelin ashryver galathynius #lwut

[zachsgamejournal]

PLAYING: Resident Evil 7

I know I'm about 3 years late to the party, but I was hesitant to trust that Capcom could get back in touch with their Survival Horror roots.

My very regrettable mistake...

So: Resident Evil for PS1/Saturn was great!

Cinematic Storytelling: The game could be completed in under 2 hours (if you knew what you were doing). So that means you're not spending days to get through a feature-film level story (unlike SOME games). It makes the plot and characters a more crucial part of the experience.

Puzzles: Sure, the puzzles are little wacky: like clicking buttons under pictures in chronological order or you get attacked by well-trained zombie birds. But it made the game more than moving from point-a-to-b. It's about exploring and understanding your environment. Speaking of which...

The Environment: The Mansion (and it's other areas) was a character unto itself. It had secrets and a past. And since the game wasn't designed as a series of sequential levels, you really get to know the environment.

Zombies: Zombies were not the mainstream success they are now. Hell, Vampires were just barely getting attention through Interview the Vampire. I became obsessed with zombies and bought all 3 major films in existence.

Such a different time...

Anyway, the point, RE1 was great, RE2 was better, RE: Code Veronica was pretty good, and RE4 is stupid.

Well...not stupid, but it completely changed Resident Evil, and not for the better. While folks loved RE4, it really was the start of a new franchise, which RE5 and RE6 followed. And that's fine--except they sacrificed what Resident Evil was to make way for this new product.

Succinct, mystery-driven storytelling was replaced with nonsensical twist and turns that did little to grow the overall world or its characters. They just stretched contrived cliffhangers across overlong campaigns of mass murder.

Puzzles, as best i can remember, were sacrificed for challenge rooms filled with enemies while the player looked for the exit switch.

The environment, as great as the graphics were, simply became battle zones meant to offer shallow context to the bloodbath gameplay. RE4 did have a strong aesthetic, but you don't get to know each room and hall like you do in the classics. Nothing but well-dressed strangers to high-five as you pass by.

And what happened to the Zombies. I mean, they still had zombies--but they weren't zombies. Whatever. Resident Evil has always had a diverse set of monsters. They didn't have to sacrifice zombies...

All this to say, Resident Evil 7 is awesome!

The opening was a little cheesy with poorly synced dialog and a helicopter shot of Louisiana swampland I'm sure they stole from True Detective stock footage.

But once I took over the character, I was hooked. The game looks great on my phone and TV via Stadia. I enjoyed walking through the woods and house, looking at every little detail the artists meticulously placed.

I've seen most of a playthrough on Youtube (though I was distracted). So I kind of knew what to expect. It's way more intense when you play. Having dialog and cutscenes playout without leaving the first person camera is great at making you feel "there". So all that goes down and I end up in the house for dinner.

Watching this bit on YouTube, I was a little turned off by the obvious Chainsaw Massacre connections: but original RE was heavily influenced by horror films, why not this? (I also have a better understanding of this family cause I know some things.)

Once I gained control, roaming around the kitchen/dining/living room area was great. I was seeing hints to future puzzles, scavenging for supplies, and finding notes giving clues to events that were happening. Very Resident Evil.

I struggled a bit trying to get away from Jack. Since they gave me a hiding spot, I assumed stealth was gonna be a major component. Nope. Not really. Eventually I get to the save room (A SAVE ROOM!!) and then on to the garage fight.

I wasted all my ammo when I probably just needed to grab the car keys. Lesson learned. Jack trying to run me over was kind of crazy, and maybe a little laughable since I was just swiping at him with a pocket knife for five minutes.

After that, more of the house opens up. It's insanely huge and illogically designed. While it creates some great hallways, and helps the designers break the home up into controllable sections: there's no house build like this: wtf...

Going into the basement reminded me of RE2. The molded, I think, are people the family has kidnapped and infected with something. Some change and some don't. Know they've turned into very lethal zombie-esque creatures. Since they're infected people stumbling about, I'm gonna say they've rekindled the zombie. Kinda.

To fight these guys, I've resorted to my pocket knife. Saves ammo. I basically dance around them like I did guards in Thief, wacking where I can. Eventually I chop off their hands, often without taking damage. But the crab guy in the incinerator required a shotgun blast.

One of the fights, he cut off my leg and I was crawling around. I thought it was a scripted scene (I mean, I lost my arm already). Nope. You're supposed to pick it up and reattach it. Ah-well.

Jack wandering around the new area was frustrating. It seemed I could never lose him, so wasted a lot of health and ammo stunning him. His boss fight was pretty rough. I nearly gave up. It took some time getting used to the chainsaw. Right as I was about to switch to easy, I had a near perfect run and defeated him. My wife laughed at the way I was squirming on the couch trying to get a hit in without being cut in half!

Made it to the old house with the bugs. This went way faster. It reminded me of the guard house from RE1, which also had giant wasps. Without Jack or molded zombies, it was actually really easy to explore the house and solve its secrets. Once the old lady showed up, I thought I could lure her away from the exit room. She didn't buy it, so I just ran past her.

When it came to her boss fight, it reminded me a lot of Laughing Octopus in Metal Gear Solid. Which that boss was practically a horror movie in of itself. I thought the flame thrower was gonna be the way to go, but a guide suggested focusing on her belly. And I kept running out of fuel, then being harassed by flies. So I opted for the shotgun and had a successful run.

About a year and a half ago, I played through the original RE as Chris. I remember there was a point about a third of the way through that I had about seven rounds of pistol ammo, and a single green herb--yet several zombies stood in my way. I wasn't sure I was going to make it. But then, I unlocked the shotgun and the game became a breeze. Suddenly I had too much ammo, and too many healing items!

That has kind of happened here. I'm doing well on healing items (though I've used up my shotgun). Still, I feel confident sprinting around and doing quick searches of spaces. I don't even fight the molded much anymore.

Getting into Zoe's trailer was interesting, but you can interact with her bra. I thought that was kind of pervy. I'm guessing Zoe is a part of the family? I imagine she's some how the source.

I think it's great they keep putting the grandma in different places without explanation. The way she looks at you sometimes is creepy...

I'm not a huge fan of the VHS flashbacks. Often, they have you play areas you've either already played or will play. While it's inspired some game ideas of my own, it just feels like a cheap gimmick to get more playtime.

Anyway, this really does feel like a reboot of Resident Evil. It's capturing the strong environmental storytelling of the originals, and making it more about the horror, less about the action. I'm actually getting into the plot and mystery. I look forward to getting my answers.

#Zach's Game Journal #PLAYING #Resident Evil 7 #Stadia