#seriously how the heck did it take so long to add THAT as an aesthetic for the men's wear when 3/4 games had a brand for the women for it?
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So, I mentioned previously that Fashion Dreamer represents a significant improvement in the men's fashion over syn Sophia's past games, even if it still seems to be a lower priority compared to the women's. (It is sounding like there are fewer items for them on the whole, and I would not be at all shocked to hear there are fewer items for specific fashion niches than those equivalent niches in the women's fashion, but it is still meaningfully more diverse than what it was before.)
I promised examples.
Unfortunately, I only have one really good screenshot from my own 3DS, because I tend to take pictures of dialogue rather than inviting random characters to pose with me, and of the ones where you can clearly see what a guy is wearing, it's usually a character who's intentionally dressed as a sort of dorky scientist at best, and at worst...
Well, the best picture I have ALSO includes Johann, so you get to see him!
For those not reading the alt text, I feel it's important you know that that jacket of Johann's has TAILS. Also big gold buttons, I didn't note those because they're not really visible at all, and pants with a very gaudy floral pattern. So yeah, he's an Eccentric and Tortured Musician, so he dresses Like That. It's clearly intentional and not representative of the average character in the game (though he also has a student who dresses basically like him, with basically the same Eccentric and Tortured bit, who we see in a side quest.)
Oliver, on the other hand, is pretty much representative of how men in this series dress. He's a model, and as you can see, his default outfit (I checked the Style Boutique wiki to confirm, this is it) is... uh, kind of bland. He's not alone.
(Shout outs to the Style Boutique Wiki, where I got these screenshots.) This is Ricky, shown in his default outfit. (While there technically IS a menswear section in Fashion Forward, it's an extra you can only access from the title screen to dress up NPCs, and very limited. In the summer he'll take that jacket off, but that's it.)
I believe at least one of these outfits of Florian's is user-designed - they're both from Trendsetters, which is the game I've played the least of the four. Either way, not suits! But still not particularly interesting. But okay, maybe it's just that this STYLE is on the bland side? Let's try some others!
(In order: Vincent, Melvin, Ethan Quinn, Jim.)
I swear I didn't go looking for characters who are exclusively wearing T-shirts except Ethan, I am a bit limited in what the wiki has here. But also... yeah. I think Jim might be supposed to be a fan of bold fashion, given the belt and the hair? But you wouldn't know it from looking at the plain black t-shirt. Vincent and Melvin are a bit better - Vincent helps run the live music venue that opens midway through the game, while Melvin is in fact a nerd who doesn't take that much interest in fashion and only shows up to support one of the three central idols of the game, who also happens to be his best friend. Is it unfair to include him, then? No. Because at least his outfit is actually indicative of his character!
(Daisuke, Chad - though I believe he's renamed Brad in the North American release, and MC Mode, two photos. Tarquin, at the bottom, is one of my own screenshots.)
The same hat situation here is a bit amusing, but they were designed for different games and it makes sense to reuse fashion items like that between games - it let them add onto the wardrobe as the series went on, so there were a lot more items with different silhouettes and such by Styling Star. For the women. I think at least a few of these characters got to gain and lose jackets depending on the in-game season, and MC Mode here is a fashionable guy who gets to wear TWO outfits.
And the chic look isn't too bad - both Mode and Ethan wear it, so as you can see, there's definitely some range. I think Vincent might get to wear a leather jacket during the in-game winter, but I couldn't commit to it; I can't remember off-hand if Daisuke loses his jacket in the summer, though I hope not.
But yeah. You'll notice looking at all of these that even the rocker's outfit is a t-shirt and jeans. There ARE slightly more interesting options - those jeans might be distressed, there ARE leather jackets, and there are some pants with excess belts among the men's, I think - but not nearly as much as the women's fashion in the punk rock style. Tarquin's "lab coat" is clearly a suit jacket, and while it makes some sense not to make an entire unique item for one character, this game didn't even have men's fashion. I'm pretty sure they just used an existing suit jacket from Trendsetters. On the other hand, at least THAT ONE is reflective of his character. Daisuke's outfit is the closest the games come to athletic wear until Fashion Dreamer.
The characters in the later two games in particular were REALLY fun. There's a reason why I didn't have many screenshots just showing a male character facing forward, and none without dialogue - I actually really enjoy the writing here. Ethan wants to conquer the world with music, and multiple characters comment that this makes him sound like a supervillain. Tarquin is an endearing nerd who has a bunch of cute comments about all the items you bring in to make fashion items from. Florian likes bad puns.
But their outfits don't really tell you much about their personalities, where the female characters all do.
#I'm going to avoid maintagging this just to avoid stirring up shit#but that said this is primarily about the older games on a point we have all long acknowledged: The men's fashion is an afterthought#If I digged I could probably come up with some better examples of bold/rock but I didn't feel like playing tonight wanted to rest arms#but while those are two VERY different fashions for women with different brands and relatively little overlap#for the men's fashion they share a brand I'm pretty sure and it's functionally the same aesthetic with like. A few items on either side.#I think. Honestly if you told me Styling Star's men's rock clothes were a subset of bold entirely I'd believe you.#and I've played A LOT of Styling Star and the men's store has unlimited stock and still pays you so I frequently use it to grind money.#so yeah I'm still annoyed at FD's gender lock (WHY SOCKS?!) and I believe the consensus that it's still not the PRIORITY for syn Sophia#but this time at least it's clear that some actual genuine effort took place with the men's fashion#as evidenced by the fact that it has both fashions from niches and subcultures and also sweatpants and athletic wear.#seriously how the heck did it take so long to add THAT as an aesthetic for the men's wear when 3/4 games had a brand for the women for it?#(The fourth was Styling Star; they put those items in as either basic or more frequently pop since they were often used together.)
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Hello!! I hope you're doing well💕 Idk if this been requested before, headcanons about them having a stylish, fashionable s.o? You can choose the characters, tysm!!💖 For BNHA, if possible, please <3
fashionable s/o
character(s) : shinsou hitoshi, bakugou katsuki, todoroki shouto, midoriya izuku (bnha)
legend : [Y/N = your name] they/them pronouns used, quirk not mentioned
headcanon type : fluff (x reader)
note(s) : this isn’t that long, compared to most of my headcanons, but i did add four characters! will post more later
»»————- ♡ ————-««
shinsou hitoshi
feels like a trashcan next to you.
in reality, his fashion sense is either top tier stuff, or something you can find at dollar tree
and when i mean that, i mean black sweatpants (that haven’t been washed in 2 days) and a black sweater, with a coffee stain on it to match
his fashion sense is quite lazy and comfortable, but that one outfit he wears on special occasions make up for it.
he smiles when he notices how you never-ever wear the same outfit twice in a row. at some point— assumed that you were also loaded.
and how you always find a way to make an ‘ugly’ outfit suddenly not ugly— he doesn’t know how you exactly do it.
hitoshi could look at an outfit in your closet and think “WHY did they buy this again?” but then in the following second, he could go
“oh, that’s why. they always know how to make it work.” since then, he has learned how to trust your sense in fashion
you could probably help him with his fashion sense, and he wouldn’t mind at all— just help him be consistent with it.
sometimes, he didn’t even know that a certain article of clothing would actually look good on him. the more you know
doesn’t mind it when people gawk at you, because of your very boujee✨sense of style. because, who wouldn’t look at you? they’d be missing out.
in short— he adores how you put so much effort with your clothes, and how you’re also effortlessly stylish
“but i’m dressed like a trashcan next to you,,” he’ll say with a hand resting on his nape, and you’ll reply with
“hitoshi, stop saying that.”
bakugou katsuki
appalled when he shows up to your dorm— and sees you wearing the fanciest pair of pajamas he has ever seen in his entire life.
“what the heck??”
“why, katsuki??”
“WHAT’S WITH THOSE FANCY PAJAMAS??”
his fashion sense is fine,, i mean— his parents are canonically fashion designers. so, you’d expect him to carry their sense of style
yes AND no. have y’all seen the official art of him carrying that large suit case? the fit was lowkey horrendous
rolls his eyes when he sees you wear something stylish to the grocery store— when he’s wearing a black tanktop and some sweatpants.
“seriously— is the outfit really necessary? you stand out too much.”
“is that a good thing?”
“not for me.”
okay but,, it’s not that bad as he says it is. he secretly loves seeing you pull up to dates in those nice clothes. he hasn’t seen you reuse the same outfit two times in a row.
but omg he hates having people gawk at you in public because of your clothes. that’s the part he despises the most
“this is what i didn’t like about your stupid style”
“oh? jealous, are we?”
“shut your trap.”
yes, you’re in fact— attractive. BUT THEY GOTTA KEEP THEIR EYES TO THEMSELVES
katsuki actually loves this part on you— but he grows irritated when his parents suddenly asked him if you were interested in modeling 💀
‘screw you and your fancy pants’ he’ll think to himself, when his parents are fawning over your sense of style.
todoroki shouto
shouto is also a fashion icon himself— so you two get a lot of attention for just,, looking fancy as heck, even in the mundane.
he didn’t really care about what you wore. you had the fashion sense of a white crusty family dog? well,, so what? he doesn’t care as long as you’re comfortable.
shouto noticed how you managed to make a plain piece of fabric a fashion statement— and wanted you to show him your closet
so when you do, he’s fascinated. your brain must be LARGE just thinking about what outfit combination you want to wear every single free day.
but he also thought you were like,, the emma chamberlain of fashion— he thought you created every single fashion trend out there today
when in reality, you just happened to know how to put your own touch on an outfit 💀
“what do you mean you didn’t bring back the brown pants trend?”
“shouto, for the last time— i didn’t do that,,”
he’s not convinced yet.
loves it when he walks into your room, and sees you mumbling to yourself on what you want to wear for a specific day— especially when you’re just wearing a sweater of his, instead of your own
even though you probably have 50 sweaters in there 💀
you need to fix your outfit in public? well, that’s not an issue! he’ll literally do it for you, with no hesitation.
fixes your collar when it gets caught in your bag’s strap, and also makes sure he doesn’t pull anything too tightly.
eventually buys you clothes, when he manages to map out your aesthetic, and what you like— even though anything looks good on you in his opinion
the class can only gawk at the two of you, when the class takes another shopping trip at the mall. i mean,, you both stick out!
“jeez. we look like goodwill mannequins next to them”
midoriya izuku
“that nerd’s fashion sense is lackluster at best.” — bakugou katsuki
i mean,, his fashion sense is simple. he never considered dressing in anything flashy— at least until he started dating you
he dressed in simple, and sometimes corny shirts— when you’re dressed in something he’d see in a luxurious clothing store.
he feels so,, out of place standing next to you. which you reassure that he doesn’t! but he can’t help but think that sometimes,,
because of that, he would be very willing if you decided to give him a clothing makeover!
he gets confused sometimes when he sees your closet like,, “i wonder what would this be paired with,,” but he knows to trust you with that
he’s just,, curious. that’s all.
has this fact written in his notebook— it has nothing to do with your quirk or anything related to that, but he does find it interesting
“Y/N wears a new outfit every weekend. i’ve never seen them wear the same outfit twice in a row! i wonder how that’s possible. i’ve seen their closet! and there’s a lot of things in there, and i just..” blah blah blah— when you came across that page, you were so flattered.
at first, he gets really sheepish when he’s standing next to you in public— because of the stares. but he learns to get used to it
“look, sweetheart! your style is nothing short of anything stylish.” he basically feeds you compliments on the daily— but who wouldn’t??
gets so happy when he sees you wear the clothes he bought you— even if he wasn’t so sure if someone as fashionable as you would wear it,,
to him, it’s overwhelming at first— but he does love how you look! he could talk about you all day and night. even if it annoys some people
»»————- ♡ ————-««
likes and reblogs are appreciated, thanks for reading!
i do not own bnha/mha and it’s characters. boku no hero academia/my hero academia belongs to horikoshi kohei, i only own the writing and i do not profit off of my hobby
do not plagiarize, reupload, translate, or use my works for audio readings without permission
#bnha imagines#bnha x reader#mha x reader#mha imagines#bnha x y/n#bnha fluff#todoroki shouto x reader#todoroki x y/n#todoroki x reader#todoroki imagines#bakugou katsuki x reader#bakugou imagines#bakugou x reader#bakugou x y/n#shinsou hitoshi x reader#shinsou x reader#shinsou imagines#shinsou x y/n#midoriya imagines#midoriya x reader#midoriya x y/n#midoriya izuku x reader#bnha headcanons#mha headcanons#shouto x reader#deku x reader
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Happy Halloween Scooby Doo! Review
Muahahhhahahhahahaha! Thanks to the Walmart tradition of stocking movies for sale weeks before the intended release date, I have myself a copy of what claims to be Scooby Doo’s FIRST Halloween adventure!
…in spite of movies like Witch’s Ghost and Goblin King, holiday specials like WNSD’s A Scooby Doo Halloween (which had a haunted Scarecrow too…), BCSD’s EL Bandito (for Dia de los Muertos - obvs not the same, but most companies act like it) and Halloween, The NSDM’s Halloween Hassle at Dracula’s Castle, and the DTV short film Scooby Doo and the Spooky Scarecrow (which, ironically enough, did NOT take the opportunity to feature Dr. Jonathan Crane).
So let us take a look now at Happy Halloween Scooby Doo! and see whether this film will be a graveyard smash of a treat, or a black licorice bomb of disappointment.
Full review (and SPOILERS TO GO WITH IT) are below the cut in my new review format; if all goes smoothly, I’ll go with this for future Scooby films.
WARNING: This review is very long.
One minor note before we begin: the Special Features actually include BCSD’s Halloween, WNSD’s A Scooby Doo Halloween, and PNSD’s Ghost Who’s Coming to Dinner
...so they were AWARE this was not the first Halloween adventure of the Scooby gang, and yet still use that tag line. Hm.
Still, kudos for including them - this’ll help boost the reasons to keep this movie, if it turns out to be a real Milk Dud of a movie *ba-dum tish* :D
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The movie starts off rather abruptly, actually - no slow pan over the setting, just WB Animation credit and BOOM, we’ve cut to a Halloween parade and Elvira is talking.
I’m of a mixed opinion including Elvira on top of having Bill Nye and a Batman Rogue - while she most certainly fits the Scooby aesthetic, it doesn’t feel as grand an impact after her weird little cameo in Return to Zombie Island (ugh) and I’m not sure how well the movie will balance her in wait a minute
wait just a
WAIT A MINUTE
Did - did that parade float skeleton just sing Crystal Cove as the town’s name?
oh no.
Oh No.
....also their song is terrible and they should feel terrible.
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Fred: We got him! Banh Mi Shop, second floor!
me: the heck is a Banh Mi Shop? *mild googling noises*
So I guess Jonathan Crane really had a craving for a Vietnamese sandwich before he enacted his Halloween scheme.
...you think he’s a lemongrass chicken type of guy or a BBQ pork guy? It’s always hard to guess at these things, esp when coffee and pumpkin spice aren’t on the table (as per fanon, of course)
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Velma: We have a flawless track record!
So I guess WB is just gonna ignore the past few DTV retcons established in 13 Ghosts and Return to Zombie Island?
I mean that rather defeats the purpose of them existing at all, but fcuk YEAH I can get behind throwing that retcon garbage out of canon!
And STAY OUT!!
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Shaggy, talking about ghosts being real: I’m like the boy who cried wolf - I keep warning you but like, you won’t believe me until I finally get eaten!
Yet again, Warner Bros makes a wolf reference to Shaggy. Yet again, I am torn asunder between wanting werewolf!Shaggy in a new Scooby property, and fearing for the appearance of werewolf!Shaggy in a new Scooby property.
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Velma: Point is, being afraid is a waste of time!
Scarecrow, LITERALLY EXPLODING THROUGH A BRICK WALL three buildings away:
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He’s floating through the air and t-posing to assert his dominance 🤣🤣🤣
Gods bless animation 😁
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Daphne @ Shag and Scoob locking themselves in the van: Are you serial?
Me: wait, SERIAL? *re-reads captions* yup, that says “serial���.
Is this an editing mistake? I don’t think that works here…unless that’s supposed to be a joke on how they always do this. But then why would that be an irritating surprise, they literally do this EVERY episode 🙄
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Oh hey, Red Herring’s Party Screams truck has Red Herring running out of it
Could this be a hint to how the story goes? The villain appearing on a literal Red Herring?
Naaaaaah, WB’s not THAT smart
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So if we take @captainbaddecisions crack theory on Jonathan Crane being Shaggy’s uncle seriously, does this mean that Jonathan is using magic to fly, float fear toxin orbs around himself, and making things explode, a la the family trait of Crack Theory A?
Logically he’s probs using wires or magnets or some shit, but it’s a fun thought to entertain 😁
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Welp, we finally get the opening credits! … with Jonathan Crane smashing through the Mystery Machine’s windshield, set to a slow poppy song straight from the 60s, and spewing the title of the film out in glittery pink mist.
All the while Scooby and Shaggy throw candy at each other, deliberately obtuse to the cloud of fear toxin enveloping their friends and the townsfolk, the steady destruction of the Mystery Machine they’re laying in as multiple cars crash into it and send it spiraling, and the general mayhem and destruction that Scarecrow is causing
Never change, guys, never change
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I just choked on my lemonade
There’s an article plastered to the roof of the Mystery Machine titled “Talking Dog Confounds, Ignites Ethics Debate Over Dog Labor”
ahahahahaha
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Annnnnnnnd there goes the Mystery Machine, tumbling in the air and over the roads with Shaggy and Scooby still inside without seat belts. Will they perish in this horrible road accident? Will Death finally come to claim them at last?
Of course not. This is Shaggy and Scooby we’re talking about - I’m almost positive they can survive anything up to and including a nuclear bomb. This is child’s play to them.
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So they “capture” Scarecrow… by pinning his cape to a tree with crossbow bolts.
And they do not try to at least tie up his arms or his hands in ANY capacity.
JUST the cape.
...you know, Velma, for a team with a “flawless” track record, you guys are making a hecking TON of mistakes in facing against one of Batman’s ROGUES GALLERY, ESPECIALLY with no Batman in sight, good freakin’ grief. 😩
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Yaaaaaaaaas, this Scarecrow design is LUSH
He’s got the lank, the height, the BTAS costume colors, the elongated face with beaky nose and pointed chin and angular cheekbones, the eyebags like Gucci, the furrowed brow… honestly the only thing missing is the more reddish color hair, and even that isn’t mandatory. I love 😍
Not to mention the HOT DAYUM voice he has - low and velvet rough and so godsdamned particular in a way that could either tie in to obscuring a southern accent as in fanon or just as a stringent academic, oh my yes. He’s voiced by someone called Dwight Schultz, who’s most well known for playing Captain ‘Howling Mad’ Murdock in the OG A-Team show, and someone called Reginald Barclay in Star Trek TNG and Voyager, if any of y’all know that character in particular.
And of course, the first line he says is a delightfully wry “Oh, but I AM getting away with it,” with the sort of smirk that absolutely lends credence to why he’s a threat to Batman, and not some simpering wimp that can be defeated with some crossbow bolts in a tree.
I think I’m going to enjoy this movie at least somewhat, so long as we get to see him 🥰🥰🥰
(tho on a side note: Daphne why on EARTH are you trying to film Crane saying the meddling kids line? Do you have a video compilation of past villains who’ve done that, and you hope to add his to it? Was your phone damaged when you went up against the Riddler a few DTVs ago and you want a second shot at recording a Gotham Rogue saying it? Bc I don’t think a Gotham Rogue would be too pleased with seeing himself as a Mystery Meme on the Youtubes, you get what I’m saying?)
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Okay, so the floating orb things are explained away as fear toxin bomb drones somehow… despite looking nothing like the other drones and being much smaller with no visible propulsion, while also flying unassisted through and around objects to explode against places once flung…
(tho interesting note, none of them are aimed directly at the crowds, just behind them - odd, that)
But how did he heckin’ FLY at the beginning?
Yeah, they show him wearing wrist-mounted grappling hooks at the end of the intro song sequence, but they are NOWHERE IN SIGHT at the beginning - and I do mean in sight, since he emerges against a backdrop of flames. There was nothing there (see the T-pose above for further evidence), and nothing there when he FLEW THROUGH THE MYSTERY MACHINE’S WINDSHIELD AND FLEW BACK OUT AGAIN. And these things are pale silver, which stands out like crazy against the darker backgrounds, so no hand-wavy ‘they were always being used’ bullcrap we’ve seen in other movies.
Hmmm *scribbles in notepad* note to self, add notation concerning Crack Theory A on magic!Shaggy to “Uncle Crane” theory files - evidence denotes that Crane is able to fly (or at least hover in mid-air unassisted) for terrorization purposes. May boost strength of CTA by family association, lending credence to magic inheritance along the bloodline...
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“Avocado Toast Generation”? Crane, I honestly don’t know if you really mean that, or if you understand just how much that phrase gets under any Millennial/Gen Z kid’s skin. Having seen multiple variations of your character, it really could swing either way (tho kudos on the dead switch idea - very nice 👍🏻)
Although this does lead to an interesting stand-off: Fred, upon seeing the town threatened with 3 days worth of fear toxin, immediately moves to let Crane go, while Velma stops him and refuses to consider compromising if it means Crane escapes. They both look legitimately frustrated at the other for taking the stance they do.
Fascinating~
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Hmmm
Crane honey, I don’t know if your drones are made of flash paper and hope, or if Scooby and Shaggy are using the reeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaally old candy (the stuff made about ~3 years ago most neighborhoods give out to the teenagers that knock around midnight on Halloween) to shoot them down, but either way you may wish to speak with the manufacturer about this
Then again, this IS Shaggy and Scooby - they probably could’ve spat marshmallows at the drones and brought them down with equal success and explosions
(and good on them for shooting those down! Atta boy 👍🏻)
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Aw dang it
1. They still have Crane captured and now in handcuffs (despite having… you know… NOT been bound by anything except cross bolts in his curtain cape thing)
2. Dwight Schultz has decided to pitch his voice higher and more nasally than what he has. Hopefully this is more of an incredulous sort of pitch than something that sticks for the rest of the movie, ugh.
Also, I think they’re framing the movie to be more Velma-centric this time around - she’s the one explaining to Crane how they tracked him down, apparently through a piece of fan mail he sent Elvira (is that the only reason she’s there? Also why was Velma examining random pieces of fan mail for toxins, Elvira probs gets hundreds a week irl) and it looks like they’re framing something up on how fear isn’t something you can pretend isn’t there. neat!
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whajit
53rd?
53rd?!?!
ONLY 53rd?!?!?!?!
Boooo, Scarecrow’s WAY more popular than that! I call foul
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Okay why is Daphne’s schtick so far to spit laaaaaaame slang after every sentence Velma says
I would rather this not be her schtick
Actually could she go back to filming mystery stuff, bc at least I can pretend it’ll build into the OG Zombie Island Daphne
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Phew, his voice has returned to its low, raspy goodness
also, Crane needs to learn about personal space, good grief
(interesting clue brought up tho - Crane only steals tech that CAN’T leak his toxin, ergo it can’t be tracked until he releases it. Sensible use, given that Batman probs tracks it if it does.)
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Velma: I’m not afraid of you, Crane. Fear is an illogical reaction to an imagined threat.
Crane:
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Crane: Fearless, then. Intelligent. Proud and stubborn. You remind me very much of the one person in this world I care about.
uhhhhhh
Yourself? Harley? Edward Nygma? Ichabod the raven? Idk, I’m honestly curious as to where this thread will go 🤔🤔🤔
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Fred, leaning against the Mystery Machine: Guys, it’s gonna be okay. She told me!
O_o
Fred? Honey? Are you sure you weren’t supposed to join Crane in the transport vehicle back to Arkham?
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OH SWEET JESUS SHAGGY GREW YAOI HANDS
WHAT THE HECK
THAT’S WAY MORE UNNERVING THEN YOU GUYS NOT BEING AFRAID ANYMORE
(although the fact that they’re both unsettled by NOT constantly shaking or having their heart racing is honestly kind of heartbreaking. Y’all need therapy, good grief)
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Shaggy and Scooby just chewed up candy (wrapper and all) to make themselves a Halloween costume of… what looks like barfed-up candy (ew)
Before then proceeding to dance so well that everyone around them also starts dancing in a 60s-70s era rainbow light show and giving them candy
I worry for these two sometimes - that kind of power seems to be getting to their head 😬😬😬
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Oh hey, acid green toxic waste is spilling from an 18-wheeler onto the Fear Toxin drones and emitting a purple pink haze that envelops a pumpkin patch! That won’t do anything suspicious at all I bet!
(wait is Poison Ivy going to come into this at some point)
(also major kudos to the music here - very 80s horror synth, I like)
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So the Pumpkins have grown faces, limbs, consciousness, the ability to fly and a lust for human flesh
And they appear to be led by the Pumpkin King of the Pumpkin Patch mentioned in the Charlie Brown Halloween special
He’s not as friendly as I pictured him being, sadly 😕
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Why is this random ass cop coming up to FD&V to say that they’re in over their heads… AFTER the mystery’s been solved?
Like dude, you’re only making yourself suspicious at this point, go home
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Huh, interesting - the gang are being interviewed for a tv news network while they’re considered the town heroes
Why am I getting bad vibes from this…
Eh, it’s probably nothing
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Velma: {Shaggy and Scooby} are, um… REALLY into the Halloween spirit.
Shaggy: THIS ISN’T COSPLAY, VELMA!
I’m dying 😂
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Holy Shit
Velma just snapped and went off on Shaggy and Scooby for acting scared and doing nothing to help wrap up the mystery
(even though these guys are the ONLY reason that the gang didn’t have to choose between setting Scarecrow free and poisoning the entire town for 3 days straight, but hey, what do I know - I’m just writing an in-depth reaction post to this movie and taking note of details like this, clearly I know nothing *eye roll*)
Last time I saw Velma critique the guys’ usual mystery solving shenanigans, it was much more low-key and without knowing they were nearby
But I’m sure that’s just a coincidence
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What the
Bills?
Bills?!?!
Fred just mentioned that fixing the Mystery Machine was going to leave a hefty bill and that they may need to get dishwashing jobs to earn money
Which is more of a job you might expect a high schooler to get on the go and yet
They actually have to pay bills
How old are they here??!
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wait a tic
THIS is how they introduce Bill Nye?
He just calls up Velma with no explanation other than Velma saying “Oh hey, it’s Bill Nye!”
I just - what?!?!
How do you know him so well that he can just pull up your number and call you, and then geT YOU A NEW FREAKING CAR LIKE
WHAT?!?!?!?
Was there a Scooby episode with him in the past two years where the fcuk did this come from
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Also the car is dressed like Bill Nye
And he can talk to the gang directly as the car
So that he can solve mysteries with them whenever he wants
This… this was not what I was expecting to come about from the Bill Nye cameo
(alas, poor predictions of being Crane’s roommate, you will not come to pass this day) 😔
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Ooooo, purple haze throbbing on the horizon! That’s always a good sign of things to come! 😀
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And now Daphne’s… asking Elvira to mentor her fashion wise. And Elvira’s taking her on as her unpaid intern/personal assistant.
Yooo, movie, can you pick a direction and stick with it for Daphne? You’ve gone from her spewing outdated slang to wanting a costume for trick-or-treating, and now this.
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Welp, now I can say I saw a giant pumpkin dog vore an old woman
I didn’t WANT to see that mind, but I guess I can say it now 😐
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OH SHIT NO
IT TURNED HER INTO A FLYING PUMPKIN SHAPED LIKE HER FACE
ABSOLUTELY UNSETTLING, 0/10 WOULD NOT RECOMMEND
-------
At least we get a nice scene of Daphne kicking the pumpkins’ collective butt
Something normal
------
Elvira: WOW! You’re a regular Mary Sue!
*falls over cackling*
------
And now there’s a giant purple fissure opening up in the concrete to swallow the town of Crystal Cove whole
(good, i whisper softly into the darkness of my living room. Let it fall)
--------
Man, I feel so bad for this single father right now
He’s gotten wrapped up in all of this nonsense with his daughter, and he is just Distraught at being chased by Jackal Lanterns, having the town collapsing under his feet, and having to gorge jump in his sedan to get away from the worst of it
It’s okay, Mike Dad - we would feel the same way in your shoes
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Hologram Bill Nye is wearing Cat ears and cat whiskers/nose, and is cleaning his hands like a cat cleans its paws
Why was this the movie we found out Bill Nye was a furry
Why Warner Bros
Why would you inflict this upon us in a Scooby Doo-Scarecrow mystery
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Hey, can Jonathan Crane return now? The movie needs its dignity back.
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A clue on the whys here - the town was built on top of a MASSIVE lithium deposit, with the talks to mine it being scrapped due to environmental concerns. That’s actually a decent lead in for why some
-------
Welp
The Jackal Lanterns just went full Mad Max with the Halloween Parade floats and cars
No, I don’t have any idea why either, just roll with it
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Nice, they confirmed that Fred’s full name is still Frederick Herman Jones XD
Also a great little action sequence with Daphne - while there’s not much movement, they frame the scene dynamically, with some good quick wordplay. Very nice.
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Velma has a mind palace
Aight
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Velma: Shaggy, I could kiss you!
Oh, to hear this as a child, when I still hardcore shipped Shelma *sigh*
------
Oh thank gods we’re going back to Scarecrow again
------
Shaggy ate some Scooby Snacks, leapt out of a moving vehicle, and onto the backs of two flying pumpkins that he promptly reined in to fly to Crane’s prison transport
...yet again, I am amazed at the sentences I am led to type for Scooby Doo DTVs
------
Ah, how very Hannibal Lector of you, Jon
Man, he actually looks very meek in normal clothes - red long-sleeved shirt and grey slacks
-----
Hmmm
So Crane ISN’T behind the Jackal Lanterns - in fact he’s outright befuddled by them. This means his whole spiel to Velma earlier about both of them being caught in the same trap was… metaphorical? The breakdown doesn’t actually go into WHY he thinks they’re in the same trap - Crane’s whole schtick is tied to accepting fear, not denying it, so why would they be the same?
Either way, someone is using both him and Mystery Inc to do something to Crystal Cove (please be Red Herring, please be Red Herring, please be Red Herring)
Actually, that reference at the beginning really WAS a red herring - they framed it as being Jon the whole time when it wasn’t. Kudos!
Additional kudos to having Jon be seen more out of mask than in - he is a looker, and I aim to look as much as I can ;)
-------
Annnnd Daphne’s now trying to convince Elvira to switch clothes with her
I don’t get it - how on earth did we get from Daphne trying to find a good costume for trick-or-treating to asking Elvira to switch oh there it is nevermind.
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There is literally a scene where a giant buzzsaw is slicing towards Crane
and he just
stares at it
going “huh, that’s different”
And I LOVE IT
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And here we have another fascinating scene: Velma going to free Crane from his cell, as Daphne tells her to just leave him to die by pumpkin
I’m wondering if they meant to draw a parallel between the two here - Velma starts by reciting a nursery rhyme, then overcoming her fears in order to release madness to take control. It’s not done very cleanly - mainly bc we barely have any time with Crane in this movie - but I wonder if they meant to insinuate that Crane was like Velma once, where he refused to acknowledge he was afraid, which caused him to lose focus on his initial goals
Idk, ignore my ramblings
---
Crane, smirking: I’ll need my personal effects - extenuating circumstances.
Me, fanning myself: I’ll need you to remove yours first
(i am not even kidding, Crane is an absolute DILF in this movie and it flusters me. Stupid sexy animation)
---
YAAAAAAAAAAASSSSS
SCARECROW TO THE MOTHERFCUKING RESCUE BABY, SCYTHE AND FCUKING ALL!!!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
----
FCUK YEAH THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING
HE HAS A DANCE LIKE QUALITY WITH SOME OF HIS FIGHTING MOVES
VIOLENT DANCING BRINGS THE GIANT JACKAL LANTERN DOWN BABY
THEN HE BACKFLIPS AND GYMNASTIC SWINGS INTO THE VAN
ROCK IT SCARECROW FCUKING ROCK IT
(minor note here, but the subtitles show Dr. Crane instead of Scarecrow - unsure if that’s more that the movie calls him Dr Crane or if it indicates he’s acting more heroic than villainous)
---
GODDAMNIT
THE GIANT PUMPKIN SNUCK VINES INTO THE VAN AND STOLE HIM BACK
WHEN CRANE WAS... wearing a seatbelt before, but isn’t now.
...
BOOOOO
---
Yet again, we find a Scooby movie that attempts character development, but with Velma
Unlike Shaggy’s Showdown however, I’m mixed on how successful it is.
For starters, Velma hasn’t been this cocksure in other DTVs we’ve seen, so it’s a bit odd to see it now. While not 100% out of place - after all, the gang DID capture one of Batman’s Rogues Gallery on their own - it still feels a touch forced. Compare that to Shaggy’s Showdown, where Shaggy has ALWAYS been a coward (one that, in more recent years, writers have had willing to abandon his friends for safety), so the character development there feels more natural.
The progression of events with Velma actually work somewhat okay - but again, here’s where past DTVs come to bite them in the ass. The past handful have had the gang be wrong, have had them fail, or catch the wrong guy. This makes Velma’s attitude here at odds with the other films, something that sticks more due to a character that’s appeared in the past few films as a minor inconvenience - a Sheriff who keeps telling the gang not to interfere, they’re doing things wrong, etc. If this had been a character who was completely wrong in the past AND SHOWN TO BE WRONG FOR HIS OPINIONS, while the gang never guessed wrong, this would work much better. Unfortunately, it doesn’t, and here we are.
I think it would have flowed better if Velma’s cockiness came solely from catching Crane on their own. Have a random cop character or reporter or whatever (just not the recurring cop), insinuate that the gang is in too deep with Scarecrow, that he should be handled by the adults or professionals or whatever. Velma could bristle, overcompensate, and THEN fall from her pedestal like we see, reach out to the gang and commiserate over feeling scared, and grow. Again, it’s not too far to reach for, but they handle it poorly; as a result, the outcome feels a little more shoehorned in.
It’s an honest shame, bc we haven’t had a Velma centered story since Frankencreepy, and we all remember what a hideous fcuking mess THAT was *shudders*. Still, it somewhat gets its point across, I guess.
---
Fred why did you rip your shirt off
Actually better question why do you not have nipples
---
Awwwwwww
Velma just apologized to Shag and Scoob for snapping at them earlier, and admits how she doesn’t appreciate how much they make Mystery Inc what it is
Also she eats a Scooby Snack with them and admits they taste pretty good
----
Huh
Velma’s mind palace is the Mystery Machine driving through space
Also Shaggy and Scooby are able to telepathically follow her in and communicate with her
Literally, they actually followed her into her head telepathically, and show her their memories of things she hasn’t gotten to see tonight (while also possibly enhancing her ability to remember things, given how much DETAIL she captures perfectly of things that she would maybe have glimpsed in a millisecond AT MOST)
...another tally for Crack Theory A of magic! Shaggy and Scooby *scribbles*
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Fred, be very very thankful that there are no people operating those pumpkins in person cause uhhhh
Those traps would be spraying red instead of orange
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Another weird music choice - the gang goes up to fight the Jackal Lanterns, but the music is the same 60s bubble we heard earlier
Not terribly atmospheric, really
(wouldn’t a Smashing Pumpkins cover of Scooby Doo be more appropriate, or did you guys spend all your money on hiring Elvira and Bill Nye?)
------
Dang
Velma just admitted her fears and jumped into the mouth of the Mega Pumpkin, before getting Fred to use the app from earlier to shut it down, revealing it to be a giant drone surrounded by smaller pumpkin drones
This feels… counterintuitive, but I’ll try to explain at the end
---
Okay
I’ll admit it
The Whodunnit is actually pretty decent in concept
There was a sprinkling of tidbits that could be assembled for the final conclusion and still make a decent amount of sense, all to find the sheriff doing it
Only he isn’t a sheriff
He’s a former Tech CEO who was also busted by the gang years ago in a case the Sheriff kept bringing up throughout the movie - due to his prison sentence, he lost more than half his wealth and the opportunity to expand it further with the Crystal Cove Lithium deposits
He was also someone who sold tech to Crane for his fear toxin distribution, where he got the idea to frame him for it
(tho on a side note, Crane is an absolute dork and a terrible liar - just look at the email he sent XD and that profile pic, my gods)
He deliberately picked at the gang for the past few DTVs (specifically 2: Return to Zombie Island and Curse of the 13th Ghost) to fracture their confidence, undermine them, etc - all so that in one fell swoop, he could retake his fortune, frighten everyone in town away from the mines so they couldn’t interfere, frighten away the gang (while also ruining their reputation as mystery solvers), and take Crane off the docket so he couldn’t identify the CEO when he pretended to be the sheriff
This… is actually a pretty damn good plan, for a Scooby villain. He was patient, manipulative, and clever, learning how best to tie up loose ends and win back what he lost. A clever revenge story that came so close to coming to fruition, and could have honestly been sold convincingly…
...if it hadn’t been done so much better in Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.
Yeeeaaaah, this movie basically lifts the rough framework up from that one - past mystery villain comes back to attack the gang and ruin their reputation (tho this one decides to also make his fortune back and tie up loose ends with former criminal contacts, a la Crane). Gang is embarrassed in front of the news folk, another villain is framed for it (like Old Man Wickles of the Black Knight fame), and the gang must reconcile to foil the villain for good.
Although it also??? Merges elements of Frankencreepy in it?? The movie is focused on Velma, who is struggling to admit when she’s wrong (which ties into her fear, somehow… I’ll think on that point a little) and things purportedly go haywire when she won’t bend. This… isn’t illustrated as well here, since there’s very little direct cause-and-effect from Velma’s actions that would prove this point - that insisting her way is the right, best, and therefore only way to go ends up making things worse.
As much as I despised Frankencreepy (and I DESPISED IT), it did do that part well - showing that refusing to budge on something can lead to you hurting your friends (literally, in that one), and that admitting you were wrong and need help isn’t the end of the world.
(that movie also had former villains returning to gain vengeance upon the gang using psychological warfare, hm - may need to go over that one again, unfortunately).
It’s a shame, too - the basic elements for this plot are all here, they just need to be polished and reworked a bit to make a really fascinating movie.
------
Anyways, back to the asshat CEO who just… faked being a sheriff. Because white people can get away with that so long as they have the outfit and the car *throws up hands* (the sad part is this is probably something that actually happens)
As he drives away we see a familiar silhouette looming in the cornfields, watching him approach
Velma had Bill Nye on speaker, so he could record the entire confession for the federal officers nearby (who were taking Scarecrow back to Arkham), and track the phone signal to his exact location
And right as his holographic call cuts out, we see the shadow of a Scarecrow looming over him, causing him to scream.
When the feds arrive at his final location, both his body and the money have vanished. The car still sits, engine running, before the crows leering over him from the field vanish into the sky.
-------
Now that he’s dead, the gang walks and finds themselves at a Halloween party, with friendly faces and good food. The mystery is solved, though the culprit may never be found again.
Then Daphne admits to NOT trying to steal Elvira’s costume for Halloween, but instead trying to steal Elvira’s identity and replace her.
Something that she’s apparently nearly gotten away with on past mysteries working with Phillis Diller
*sighs* movie, why couldn’t you just stick to the costume schtick? This is just… so much worse.
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From there, Elvira walks off to wrap things up, reveal the monster face on the back of her head sans wig (which was also a monkey), and start the credits, where we see the gang working to bring the Mystery Machine back to its former glory a la Frankenstein pastiche.
This movie… this movie is a hot mess, but at least it’s an OKAY hot mess.
It really does feel like someone started writing a decent Velma-focused movie concerning the Scarecrow and a past Mystery Inc villain interfering, but was bogged down by notes from higher-ups: Wait! Write in Elvira! Also write in Bill Nye! Hey, let’s have a Mad Max car chase with the Jackal Lanterns! And have Daphne obsessed with literally becoming Elvira! Also make reference to things that we’ll insist be explained this way instead of a way that makes sense! Great!
(seriously tho, we never find out who Crane cares about most that reminds him of Velma, what the heck?)
It’s like two or three different scripts were smooshed together without being cleaned up - stuff is said that doesn’t get resolved, the celebrity guests don’t get to breathe much and feel squished together, and the build-up for the villain feels… less impactful, even knowing that he’s been in the past two films.
It might have worked if he’d been in… let’s say like 5 or 6 DTVs in a row, speaking roles for dissing the gang growing in each (ex start with “Good job kids! But maybe next time, leave it to the professionals, okay?” and growing more bitter from there), but only 2 feels kind of meh. Still, I do appreciate the clues we got to collect together, and they all work in the final breakdown of the scheme - some DTVs can feel like they pull stuff completely out of nowhere, so kudos there.
I appreciate what they wanted to do with Velma - give her a character development arc similar to Shaggy’s in Shaggy’s Showdown. Unfortunately, it wasn’t set up quite so neatly: they blended her ‘refusal to admit fear’ with her overconfidence that she was always right, and it led to a weird conclusion. To face her fears, she leapt into the Giant Pumpkin, which… proved that she was right all along about it being fake, and that solves things somehow. It doesn’t address how she can get something wrong sometimes, it doesn’t really address what she’s afraid of (which is honestly quite good: she’s afraid of failing in a way that allows bad guys to escape justice and in a way that hurts her friends), it’s just a bit of a mess. Points for aiming the focus the right way (and in a way that DOESN’T sexualize the underage teenage girl, unlike some DTVs cough cough Frankencreepy cough cough), but it’s very very messy how it goes about it.
The movie actually balanced pretty well for the whole gang - no excessive focus on one leaving the rest in the dust (too much at least - Fred was a touch underdeveloped, but nowhere near as annoying as past iterations have been. Shaggy and Scooby were kind of meh in some places but great in others, while Daphne was just odd. I think they were trying to recapture the BCSD Daphne characterization, but they failed. Still, she did spend some good time kicking ass with the pumpkins, so that was fun.
Now for the Rogue, Jonathan Crane. If you like Crane, this movie gives you: maniacal Scarecrow, calm and creepy Crane, a brief glimpse at fanboy!Crane (he admits in his own awkward way that he’s a fan of Elvira, and later tells her he loves her work - it’s fun), and (best of all for me) a heroic Crane - one who helps the protagonists and ends up kicking ass pretty damn well, brief as it was. And while DILF Crane is always a treat, he feels underutilized in this. In comparison, Scooby Doo/Batman Brave and the Bold really utilized a lot of different aspects of Riddler, to the point he actually does feel pretty menacing by the third act. It’s a shame we don’t quite get that with Crane, but I do love seeing him 1. More out of mask, and 2. Acting as a good guy (in his own way), so he’s enjoyable on the whole.
I kind of wish that the whole movie was spent more with Crane, but again, the script is a bit of a mess on this part - the fact that he’s not completely screwed over is a goddamn miracle.
Elvira was… okay. She didn’t have much of a purpose beyond getting the plot started and giving Daphne some hooks to play off of. Bill Nye (abrupt as his introduction was) did provide some necessary elements to the mystery, as well as the tech; he wasn’t too bad by the end. (still a touch bitter we didn’t get ex roommate Nye, but hey, what can you do)
Humor was… mixed. Some good, some meh, but very few long enough to feel painful. Some bits felt extraneous at times, but they did help to build to the conclusion, so points for effort.
At the end of the day though, I’m probably keeping this more for Jonathan Crane than anyone else. It does have a lot of fanfic potential tho 🤔🤔🤔
That’s all from me tonight, folks! Hope you enjoyed my own little breakdown of the movie.
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Really long ask - Part 1: Hi, sorry for this long rant, but I just wanted to vent since I saw this latest story posted on AO3 and I am restraining myself on commenting on their story so I'm just letting my anger out here about it and other issues regarding fan-depiction of Hawks. It's vaguely related to your post on how DabiHawks or Dabi+Hawks stories make it all about Dabi and always made Hawks out to be the one who starts the problems in their relationship or is the one trying to get Dabi's
Content warning: passing mention of r*pe in a fanfiction.
LOOOONG post under the cut.
(Cont.)
Dabi's attentions when it's canon that it's the complete opposite. This latest story that came up in my feed was about Hawks "harassing" Dabi (who apparently has a backstory of r*pe) and Twice helps Dabi works out his feelings. Among the hoards of tags condemning Hawks, they decided to use "Hawks is very uncool in this fic heads up" so that's another one to add to my filters. I think I also have to block the "Dabi Needs a Hug" tags too bc he's always woobified like heck.
I really want to read stories where Hawks interacts with Twice since they have a bond/drama with each other, but people have been adding Dabi and either making it seem like Hawks has been gaslighting Dabi in their "relationship" or with Twice. I can acknowledge stories where Hawks feels guilty for what he had to do or Twice being anger/betrayed over Hawks' actions since that is actually what happened; but I will not stand for Dabi claiming Hawks took advantage of Twice or Twice and Dabi having feelings for each other with Hawks in the way bc Dabi is a) the one who let Hawks in b) knew Twice is gullible and c) used Twice as bait. Even in the stories that are cute/causal+funny, Hawks is always the one who gets threatened with fire, harsh insults, or guilted into compliance but the seriousness of the first 2 are always brushed off and the third kinda makes me want it that Hawks doesn't have friends bc most people write him as a bad friend who only cares about his own problems (especially the ones that write Hawks like a celebrity/night club person).
On writing Dabi, his issues always take priority over everything else, his family loves him, and the lov is always chill with him. He's usually written as the fun asshole/caretaker (bc of his big brother status or ablity to cook). Those factors aren't bad by itself, but it's extremely irritating when the writers/artists can give that level of care to Dabi, but just reduce Hawks to a meme who is a workaholic for the government/scared of punishment & not bc he really cares about the people he saves/helps. It's not like I hate the DabiHawks pairing, but the majority of the content (esp the recent ones), are frustrating to read & Hawks' character is usually written in bad out of character extremes. I am really mystified that I'm praying for canon content rather than fanmade most of the time.
Phew! After the back and forth it looks like we got to the end of that! (Or did we?! *Dun dun DUUUUN*) If not, though, feel free to keep the asks rolling. Lol Foxy and I are usually pretty happy to receive as many asks as people want to send even if it takes us a while, individually, to get to it. Now to finally address what you sent.
I find myself in a weird place when it comes to OOC fanfic because on the one hand people can write whatever they want, and I don’t really have a place to criticize them; but also when they blatantly and willingly misinterpret a character so they have grounds to bash on them it also leaves me acutely uncomfortable. I don’t think I’d call it “problematic” as much as a squick? Like, if they’re willing to blow past all the obvious proof to the contrary about their claims of a fictional character just because they hate them, then are they willing to do the same thing to a real person? Usually, those kinds of thoughts are pointlessly extreme, but we know those who unironically and/or unapologeticly call fans of the heroes “bootlickers” so... It’s like, ooc vent fics are also fine; and if you want to rewrite a character to fit the narrative scheme you’ve set up that’s cool as long as its tagged (“ooc [character]” or something) and/or just mention in the a/n that they knowingly and willingly mischaracterized them for the sake of the fic. Just. Don’t. Claim. It’s. Canon.
And speaking of canon, as much as I’m sure Horikoshi knew Hawks and Dabi were going to end up shipped I think it’s obvious that he never was going to canonically write them ending up together, yet here comes the “canon must validate my headcanon” crowd calling him a bad writer because the author had some bigger narrative goal in mind than having two pretty anime boys kissing.
And the worst part to me is, I feel there’s a distinct slice of the DabiHawks crowd missing out on some of the possibilities of this ship by intentionally mischaracterizing them. Like, the aesthetic equal/opposite draw of the ship is phenomenal as it is and I don’t even ship them, but I can see a wide range of possible fics based solely on the principle that they are canonically incompatible!
At the end of the day, Dabi is a dime-a-dozen edgelord - that pain in the butt OC that so many newbie D&D players make that they think is so deep and dark and mature, but is about as cookie-cutter as they come. It’s not that this kind of character is unsalvageable or a hopeless Gary Stu character, just that they don’t often come across as compelling in and of themselves or that they need more than just selfish hatred to carry them through a series. Two kinds of edgelords that can be done well are the “Out of the Ashes” edgelord and “I’ll Pull You Into Hell With Me” edgelord. The first kind recognizes there’s more to life than their sad backstory and getting even and thus choose to aspire to more noble causes - think Joel from The Last of Us. The second recognizes they’re actively doing wrong and come to embrace it - being more concerned with getting what they want than taking the moral high ground - think Frank Castle, aka the Punisher - and even these darker, “unsaveable” kinds of edgelord antiheroes can have redeeming qualities such as meeting and helping a young hopeful and telling them, “I know I’m on the road to hell, so if you want to save yourself you’d better not follow me.”
Dabi actually has what he needs to become the second type right now (assuming he’s Touya) and could even evolve into the first not unlike Kratos from God of War, but that potential can’t be fully recognized until you admit that he’s fundamentally self-centered and a bad person as-is. He may have the tragic backstory complete with justifiable hate at his genuinely abusive father, but rather than using that as fuel to see that never happen to anyone else like it did him - he just wants to get even. He burns people alive, knowing well he’s participating in the same destruction that his father committed to make him what he is now. He doesn’t recognize any of the merits of hero society and is only concerned with burning it to ash. He could use what happened to his family to incite compassion in his heart and take others under his wing, but instead he uses people as a mean to his own ends. He isn’t even proper grimdark - he’s just your run of the mill egotistical megalomaniac with a punk aesthetic.
And that’s still a good character in the grand scheme of things, maybe just not alone! Moreso, it’s a good villain and EVEN BETTER when you put him next to Hawks who is at his core:
Fundamentally Hopepunk!
Hopepunk is about being good and kind as an act of rebellion against a cruel and unfair world no matter how bleak it gets or how badly you’re beaten down. Despite his own cruel past, Hawks still has a heart to help others for no other reason than to help them, he constantly changes the odds to save as many people as he can when he’d be given a pass for letting the cards fall where they will, and not only is his aim to “help others” but to make sure that there’ll never be need for heroes again. He’s an active rebel against the system fighting with kindness and goodness, fervently looking and listening for the next opportunity to do good.
In agreement with you, Hawks and Twice are interesting to explore because while Twice is an optimist looking to make the world a better place, he’s still a step or two removed from Hawks’ worldview because Twice refuses to let go of the “family” he found for himself while Hawks is willing to sacrifice himself for others. That dynamic is so interesting, and it’s what made them so initially compatible and subsequently heartbreaking in canon.
And it’s such a disappointment to see this unwaveringly earnest character reduced to “shitty fratboy” so often. For a lot of people newer to his character I can understand the confusion, but there really isn’t an excuse if you’ve been reading the series, and the possibilities for fics with this canon personality are just so much more interesting to explore, especially with Dabi as his sort-of opposite.
For DabiHawks to work well, you have to recognize that something has to give in either of them. Some of the juiciest, most angsty content is when you have two characters grow close together over commonalities only to be reminded that despite everything else they share, that One Thing will always keep them from truly being able to see eye-to-eye. Either Dabi has to grow past his hatred and relearn compassion and empathy, or Hawks has to lose grip of that hopeful vision he has and fall into despair. Both options are good to explore, but both require the acknowledgement that Dabi’s view of the world is fundamentally bleak and selfish, especially compared to Hawks’. For a supposed revolutionary out to change the world for the better whose a diamond in the rough with a heart of gold, that’s not exactly on-brand; and at the end of the day the issue is that some are unwilling to admit that what they wanted Dabi to be is likely not going to happen and they love that fake version Dabi more than they love what Hawks actually stands for which is why Hawks always gets the shaft in the end.
I still personally hold a bit of a grudge against the DaiHawks ship as a whole purely because, as you said, Dabi always seems to take priority over Hawks instead of letting the two build a dynamic together. Hawks is always the one who has to give, and the torture porn some have made him go through to “make the ship work” is downright disturbing to me. Even at its height DabiHawks content completely flooded the Hawks character tags on Tumblr with some of the same problems that have persisted to this day such as emphasizing their aesthetic as opposed to their dynamic and rampant mischaracterization.
Anyway, that’s my long-winded response. What do you think, @autumn-foxfire?
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My Seven Idols
this is the picture mentioned in the story
Summary:
Got7 as highschoolers as they deal with graduation and college at the same time starting up their own Youtube channel as idols.
A/N:
So this is chapter 1. Really, I wasnt supposed to write this thing but it has been bugging me for months and I just cant shake it off okay? I tried resisting thinking, dude you're on your way to the juicy parts of Seven Princes. But whelp I lost a battle within myself and wrote this anyway. I hope you guys like it!
masterlist
//prev
1
The click-clacking of the keyboard echoed in the room as Y/N furiously typed the remaining subtitle of the video she had been editing the last few nights. Hitting the export button, the brunette could finally exhale and relax. The beach aesthetic video she had been working on was now in the process of being complete. She just has to wait till it loads to a hundred and her hard work will pay off. Smiling to herself, she minimized the editing software and opened up her InstaBook. She scrolled leisurely, seeing the pictures of her peers and some from her photographer idols. Y/N was examining an aesthetic cityscape picture from one of her favorite photo blogs, Def, when her notification alerted her of a great news. Ding! And the words that popped up from the right corner of her screen made her screech. As it was almost midnight, she had to restrain herself and not wake her parents. But she can’t help the giggle that escaped her mouth. She quickly clicked the pop up. It said: pjy_01 updated his profile picture. When the picture loaded, Y/N's jaw almost unhinged. Park Jinyoung a.k.a. Mr. Student Council President rarely posts a picture of himself. His feed was usually just books, food and random sceneries. He did have few self-taken pictures and Y/N was happy with it (some of them are really just bad quality but she’ll take it) but this one? This one’s just beautiful, amazing, gift from the heavens. He was sitting on a comfy white couch, staring directly at the camera with puppy eyes. His white button up was slightly unbuttoned(!!) as he wore an innocent face and a cute peace sign as a cherry on top. Y/N was just about to scream and jump around. But before that, she made sure to save the picture in her Jinyoung Stash folder. “Woah. What is this Jinyoung? You should always post things like this. I’ll be a happy woman.” She sighed dreamily, staring at her screen but missed the notification of her software that finished exporting her video.
Y/N was rudely interrupted when her phone suddenly rang. Not even looking at the caller id, she answered the call with an annoyed tone. “What?” No one would be phoning her at this time other than her best friend. “Yo chill out Y/N.” Youngjae laughed at the other end, knowing he most likely disturbed her from her hobby. Which isn’t entirely false, he just didn’t know that the hobby at the moment was staring at their president and not videography. ”It’s midnight Youngjae, what do you need?” She elicited another hearty laugh from the guy. Any other circumstance, she’ll laugh along since his laugh is contagious but this time was not it. “Well?”
“Geez, aren’t you such a joy tonight. I’m just gonna ask if you already finished the essay homework due tomorrow.”
Blank silence. It was then that Y/N laughed at the ridiculing situation. Homework? Was there ever one? And she voiced it out, still half cheerful and half threatening. Youngjae might be pranking her once again. “The essay homework Mr. Kwon asked us to do. The one about Romeo and Juliet. Don’t tell me you don’t remember?” Youngjae chuckled a little too, thinking that his friend was making fun of him. When the only sound he heard was the bark of his cute dog Coco beside him, Youngjae started to sweat. “You haven’t done a single thing didn’t you?!”
“I think I’m gonna puke. Youngjae-ahh~ What do I do?!”
Y/N's eyes bugged out, realizing that yes, there is indeed an essay due tomorrow. And it is for Mr. Kwon’s subject, her most feared teacher. Oh how that teacher terrifies her whole being. How could she be so stupid?! “Youngjae!!! What do I do? What do I do?!” Panic was starting to rise from her gut, her heart beating too fast that even midnight coffee can’t do. Add the obvious panic in her bestfriend’s voice on the other end, it made things worse for her. “I don’t know! Uh… I can lend you mine? Just modify some parts. Paraphrase things…”
“Oh my God Youngjae I love you. You’re the best!!”
“You owe me one Y/N.”
“I do, I do. Thanks so much.”
They bid goodnight to each other, Youngjae promising to pick her up from her house so she won’t be late; she once again praised his goodness before hanging up. And as promised, he sent her his homework, Jinyoung’s picture on her screen forgotten. Y/N once again typed relentlessly through the night.
“I bet Jinyoung never had a problem like this. Y/N you must do better!”
That motivation fueled her to write the essay about Romeo and Juliet even if she didn’t understand what it was about aside from it being a romance story. Little did the sophomore videographer know, her high pedestaled president sat on his chair under the dim light of his study desk at the same time as her. He was hunched in concentration on the essay he stalled on doing days before it was to be submitted.
No words flowed, his pen stuck mid-air. “Argh. What the heck is this shit about anyway?” Jinyoung huffed as he crumpled his nth paper and tossed it in the bin beside him. His brain was not cooperating with him that night and it’s just frustrating. Why does he have to explain why the economy of their country is not thriving as it used to? It’s just plain bullshit to be honest. He had mountains of council work the past few days and he wasn’t able to attend few classes including the class he was supposed to write this essay for. This is why he hates skipping, when things like this essay arrive, he doesn’t know what to do. He didn’t have time to read up everything that’s why he just went straight to bluffing his way out of the conclusion of the paper. The distracting noise of the instrument app on Jaebeom’s phone didn’t help him much either. “You have your own room, your own bed. Why are you always here?” His housemate just shrugged and continued his melody making. It was sounding good to be honest, not that his friend ever made a bad song but the other’s process was just making the writing too difficult for him. “How can I even finish when you distract me like this?”
“One, Jinyoung, it was your fault for not doing it earlier. Two, you are not distracted by my music. You just don’t want to do that stupid paper.”
And it hit him too well. He’s right. Most times, Jaebeom’s music calms him but this time his brain just straight up refuses to do a thing. His long haired companion exited the app after saving his work. Jaebeom laid down on Jinyoung’s bed. He patted the space beside him, encouraging the other to lie down with him and sleep. “Don’t push yourself too hard. Get some sleep first, you’ve had a harsh week.”
“Get out of my bed.”
“Hmm…”
And with that, Jaebeom closed his eyes to sleep. He’s not a fast sleeper per se, he’s just waiting for Jinyoung to join him but he didn’t. He opened his eyes just a slit saw the student body president scribbling again with a determined face.
Few hours after, it was almost three in the morning. Jinyoung has to get up at six to prepare for their eight o’clock class. He doesn’t like not sleeping properly but for the sake of that damned paper, he had to sacrifice. He sighed once again and turned off the lamp. Looking to his right, he saw his friend sleeping peacefully, facing him from the farther half of the bed. Jinyoung shook his head in exasperation. He sat on the unoccupied side and stared at his friend of ten years. His face lax and serene. The nose ring glints under the soft glow of the stars from the window. Jinyoung’s hand inched towards the other’s face, stopping midway. He clenched his fist and brought it back to himself. ‘Ah, I really wanna remove that nose ring so badly.’
Morning came and the sunlight was harsh on Y/N’s face. She finished her essay in time, luckily. She trudged along the hallways of their small house, the only thing that woke her up completely was the smell of fresh bacon being cooked. She quickly ate her breakfast, showered and said goodbye to her parents with a tired smile. The sound of the bell announced the arrival of Youngjae by their door. She opened it and her friend almost screamed bloody murder. “I thought a zombie came out to eat me.”
“Shut up.”
Youngjae laughed and slung an arm on her shoulders. He ruffled her already messy hair further. “Did you finish the write up?” She gave a gloomy thumb’s up while yawning, earning a giggle from the boy. “Ah seriously, you should take care of your studies more Y/N.”
“Says you. You were up all night long playing. I can see it on the bags under your eyes.”
“At least I finished my work before doing so, unlike someone I know…”
Y/N clicked her tongue in disapproval but she knows he’s right though. “I got carried away with the good shots I had when me and Yeji went to the beach last week. Aah, I made such a good video last night.” Youngjae smiled at her friend as he watched her walk half asleep.
Y/N and Youngjae were friends since they were toddlers. With their mothers practically sisters because of their closeness, and their houses are just one backyard away from each other, the two developed a close friendship. Oftentimes they’d be hanging out in their places, playing video games or reading comics. Although when they started to grow up more, they drifted away slightly, having different circles of friends. That didn’t bother the two of them though. They thought that it’s better to have their friendship outside school so that they won’t get sick seeing each other’s faces all the time. With this, they rarely go to school together anymore. Their classmates are in the dark about their closeness as well.
Youngjae pulled out his phone and scrolled his pictures. He suddenly got excited about showing his bestfriend about his dog’s new outfit he bought recently. “Y/N, Y/N, look at Coco. I bought a new shirt. It’s so cute.” He practically shoved the phone on her eyes but it didn’t matter much to her as she was as excited as him. They practically raised that cute dog together. “Omo! Coco’s so adorable!” They were both bouncing on their steps as they look at the dog’s pictures posing differently with each new clothing. The two of them were cooing. “Ah, Coco is such a joy.”
"Y/N!”
They both stopped on their tracks when they heard a familiar voice. It was Yeji, Y/Ns other bestfriend outside Youngjae (he’s still the bestest but Yeji doesn’t know that). She happily waved at her two classmates, a teasing smile forming on her face already. ‘Youngjae and Y/N walking together eh? How interesting!’
Yeji’s appearance was their cue to head apart so Y/N smiled at Youngjae and said goodbye. “See ya later in class!” He just hummed in agreement, seeing as his peers are also in sight. He waved at Yeji and parted with Y/N He walked towards his other friends and greeted them.
"So Youngjae huh?”
“What about him?”
“Nothing…” Which wasn’t true because now she is sporting a silly smile on her face. Probably imagining things outside of this world and conjuring up different ways how her friend and Youngjae fall in love. Yeji is a fangirl at heart and she just ships everybody. She never imposes it to everyone though, she’s just happy to think about it and keep it to herself. Amazingly enough though, the people she secretly shipped usually ends up together at some point. But Y/N knows her too well and she knows the outlandish things going in her mind right now. “We just happened to meet along the way Yeji.”
“I didn’t say anything!”
The school entrance as it always is, was full of commotion. More so today than usual. Y/N saw a hoard of students lining up the gate with annoyed expressions. ‘Ah, it’s probably President Jinyoung.’ She giggled to herself, happy to see him early in the morning. She’s still a little bit over the moon with his latest picture. “Do I look okay?”, that question snapped Y/N out of her daydream (the picture still lingering at the back of her mind). Yeji took out a small mirror and checked herself out. She combed her hair with her fingers, checked her uniform, straightened everything that doesn’t look ironed out. “You know he just nags at those who violate badly. We’ll never get reprimanded.” Yeji breathed deeply as she puts her mirror back to her bag. “I’m just making sure you know. I don’t want those cold eyes stare at me. It’s scary.” Y/N wanted to protest, ‘Jinyoung’s not scary! It’s a part of his charm!’ but a whine stopped her from doing so. While they were talking, they have pushed inside the crowd to get in and not be late for class. They reached the front where Jinyoung was standing sternly, his mouth thinned in disapproval. “Bhuwakul. How many times do I have to confiscate that earrings of yours?!”
“Why are you so keen on getting these anyway? Would I do better in my tests if I don’t wear them?” The boy, with his id lace yellow (which means he’s a *freshie), was so close to stomping his feet. But Jinyoung was not fazed and just stared at the boy with a piercing stare. “If you wear them, would you do better? No right? So hand them to me. You violated the school dress code. Come get it at my office after school.”
The people around them were murmuring, Y/N even caught what the others are saying. They think that Jinyoung was being unreasonable and harsh for no reason. ‘Which isn’t true! He just cares about what the students of this school looks like.' The sophomore turned to glare at the onlookers that defamed their president. ‘Ungrateful fools.’ But she was startled when the tall boy (oh my he’s tall) beside the one named Bhuwakul spoke innocently. “Let him be, he probably just wants to wear your earrings.” Even Yuna, the student council secretary, was shocked at the carefree manner of his dialogue. The president just raised his right eyebrow, “Kim Yugyeom, button up your uniform and tie your necktie properly.” and reprimanded the other freshie without hesitation. Yugyeom grimaced a bit but did what he was told. ‘You should be the one buttoning your clothes last night President huhu’
Despite the commotion at the front gate (which happens almost everyday as Jinyoung loves to greet the student body with “Rule # 5 under the clause of the dress code law….), Y/N and the students of their campus managed to get to their class safely. When they entered their homeroom, Y/N and Yeji was greeted by Ga Young, another friend of theirs. It seemed that she had only arrived a few minutes before them. “Yo! Entrance was pretty hectic today.”
Yeji made a face and flipped her brow wavy hair away from her face as if she was hassled on their way over. “Ugh, don’t tell us. We had to push our way out earlier.” They both giggled and chattered mindlessly about the events that morning.
“Don’t you think the foreigner freshie earlier was kind of cute?” Ga Young said dreamily, looking at the ceiling as if he could see his face there. “Oh, that one with the earrings?”
“Yep. We’re blessed with another foreigner beauty.” That’s true, the videographer thought. He’d look good on camera.
“Yeon Seo isn’t a foreigner.” Y/N countered, debating that her friend’s crush wasn’t exactly from another country. He grew up in their city just like everyone else is.
“He’s a half-half though.”
“The tall freshie had a face too.”
Yeji and Ga Young started to talk about the new eye candy they found. Those two are fans of idols, especially the amateur ones they have in their school. Y/N absentmindedly listened to the two’s gossip. Sometimes she thinks she’s in a webtoon or something. These kinds of things exist on books and comics even dramas that she consumes. Y/N still can’t believe such things are in her reality. Aren’t groups of popular boys with a cheesy group name only in fiction? She wondered if it’s possible that this is not a real world.
“But you know, I heard rumors that Bhuwakul's gay.”
That piqued Y/N's interest. Not that there’s any problem with being gay, the rumor just caught her interest. Not many people are brave enough to admit their sexuality in their community so it was pretty interesting.
“Eh? Who told you?”
“My freshie cousin told me. He said that he’s close with girls and gives fashion advice. He’s on the softer side as well.”
Huh… Y/N thought it was a baseless rumor after all. “That doesn’t mean he’s gay though.”
“That’s true.”
When the talk about the foreign freshie Bhuwakul ended, the other two started to talk about their favorite topic once again. The Five Roses. Y/N was just done with that subject and had heard enough to last her a lifetime. She couldn’t even understand why the girls in their school seemed to be under their spell. In Y/N’s opinion, they aren’t that good looking. Heck, even Mr. Cold Eyes Jinyoung was much more handsome. ‘Especially if they saw last night’s picture. How come they don’t talk about it?!’
“Ji Woo looked handsome today too!”
‘Oh come on, even Youngjae looks better than that guy.’ At the thought of her bestfriend, she turned to glance at him. He seemed to have caught her and gave him those warm sunny smiles that made her heart beat a bit faster. Even if she doesn’t consider her childhood friend as a man, she’s sure that he’s a good looking guy.
//next
#got7#got7 fanfic#got7 scenarios#got7 imagines#jackson wang#park jinyoung#kim yugyeom#mark tuan#bambam#choi youngjae#im jaeboem#got7 fic#my seven idols
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To everyone: what would your Pokemon teams be and why?
Oh good god.
Well… this is going to get complicated. At least from me.
Let’s start with assuming no legendary Pokemon. Makes life a bit easier. Of course only a bit.
So… first off a lot of this depends on generation and limit. If you’re asking for a full team that I would have with rotations and stuff, we’re looking at… probably close to 10 full teams of 6, maybe even more.
In my defense, I’m a major Pokemon fan and I really really like a lot of them.
Of course, if we’re going to cut down the team to a more manageable six which can be from any region/gen, but only one from each region/gen to keep things interesting and varied… well, it would depend on a lot of things, including mood and such, so if one were to ask me this question again it would likely change. But, here would be, as I feel right now, the team I would use if I was limited to only six, one per region/gen.
1: Lucario. I’ve been a fan of this guy for so so long, ever since it was first introduced. I loved Lucario and the mystery of Mew as a kid (still kinda do). The whole concept behind aura is amazing. One’s spiritual energy/life force/ soul being utilized in combat? Being able to sense others and see without seeing? So awesome. Lucario is just SO. FREAKING. COOL. It’s design is wonderful as well. Jackel/Anubis? Yes please. Plus, I’ve been maining Lucario in Smash Bros. ever since Brawl. You better believe it’s making my team.
2: Tyranitar. Is it probably the weakest pseudo legendary when it comes to typing? Yes. Do I care? No. Tyranitar is BA. First, it’s one of the only two pseudo’s to not be a dragon. Yes, 8 regions, 9 pseudo’s, and only 2 are not dragons. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some dragons. But… variety would be nice, you know? But yeah, not a dragon, still awesome. It’s Godzilla for crying out loud! Plus, its design is just so good. It’s simple but perfect. It’s a giant Lizard creature that could fell mountains. It doesn’t need to be complicated, and is perfectly awe-inspiring and terrifying without being complicated. I also used a Tyranitar in my Ultra Sun playthrough, a male one named Typhon, Man was he fun to use.
3: Golisopod. Listen, if a Pokemon is good enough for YOUR BOI GUZMA to use it on his team, you know it’s a good pokemon. It’s the Alola take on Gyarados and Milotic (weak pathetic first stage with few moves and while those two do have a slightly higher BST, that ain’t enough to keep my boy Golisopod down. Golisopod’s design is just so good. An Isopod mixed with a Samurai? Sign me right up thank you. It mixes the creepy crawly aesthetic of the bug type with the strong proud samurai perfectly and I love it. And yeah, sure Emergency Exit can be kind of annoying, but it allows you a second usage of First Impression. That is worth it. Also, it’s shiny is dope.
4: Toxtricity. Part of building a team means keeping in mind type composition. I love Grimmsnarl dearly and equally, if not more so, but I already have one Dark-type on the team, so Toxtricity manages to bag this spot. At least, for now considering my current mood. Ask me again tomorrow, or even in an hour, my answer may very well change. Anyway, Toxtricity itself. When I fist saw the design, I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt. It was… interesting to say the least, but I couldn’t figure out what I was looking at, or what it was supposed to be. But after some more time with it, learning more about it and using one I can say that Toxtricity is easily one of my new favorites. Quite possibly my absolute fave from Gen 8. A punk lizard that plays music? Rock/Metal? HECK. YES. The form change is also pretty nice. The stats don’t change between the two, but I honestly like it that way. Just the idea that more energetic natures would have an ‘Amped Up’ form based on an electric guitar while the more mellow natures would have a ‘Lowkey’ one based on a bass is ingenious. Same with the movepool changes. It makes sense that the different forms with their different music preference would have different moves. (My personal fave is the Amped Up, especially with its shiny colors.) Plus, an electric posion type? SO. COOL. Who cares about 4x weak to earthquake, this thing is boss! And Punk Rock is an amazing ability.
5: Flygon. Man oh man was Flygon treated poorly. Added in Gen 3 as a solid pokemon, but with a better attack stat than a special attack one. True, not bad in it of itself but before the Special/Physical split, ALL Dragon-type moves were special. Meaning Dragon Claw, a solid dragon type move back in Gen 3, wasn’t yet a physical move. And Outrage wasn’t even something Flygon could learn yet (it wouldn’t be until Gen 7 that it became a TM). Then came gen 4. Now, I love gen 4. I truly do. It is by far my favorite Gen. And it did do something very good for Flygon. It gave the special/physical split, allowing some Dragon type moves to now be physical as well. But you know what else came along? Garchomp. Honestly, I like Garchomp, I do. But suddenly here we are with a new Dragon/Ground type that is a pseudo-legendary? My poor poor Flygon. And it didn’t get any better. I mean seriously, give Mewtwo and Charizard two megas but none to Flygon? WHILE GIVING ONE TO GARCHOMP WHO DIDN’T NEED IT AND WAS ITS BIGGEST COMPETITION?! Why Game Freak? Why?Anyway, mini-rant aside, I love Flygon. The design is incredible. The line is based on an antlion and is so cool. That sweet green design and the little lenses over the eyes? Perfect, just perfect. Plus, it has some sweet lore. Appearing in sandstorms with haunting music coming from its wings? Yes please. Beautiful pokemon that was done such disservices. It’s a shame really. With Megas gone, Flygon will likely never get that final boost it needs. Though considering it is in Galar while Garchomp isn’t… maybe Flygon will have a chance to shine again. (A shame though that it will never get to have a type change to Bug Dragon. Would be sick.) Regardless of the future though, Flygon will always have a place in my heart, and in my team.
6: Zoroark. Yeah, I know what I said about team composition above with Toxtricity and Grimmsnarl. But I also pointed out mood has a lot to do with it. Anyway, for Zoroark itself. Like Lucario, I’veb een a fan for so long, ever since it was first introduced. It’s kinda funny in a way. Zoroark acts as the perfect yin to Lucario’s yang. Lucario uses aura to sense things and to see, Zoroark is the maser of illusions. In it of itself, this illusion business is awesome, but add in how it counters Lucario and it works just so well. Typing as well, Lucario is a fighting steel, the type you’d think of for a chivalrous paladin of justice and truth, while Zoroark is dark (evil type in Japan), perfect for a sly illusion master. Of course, it’s not just dualism with Lucario. The line is just so amazing itself. Clearly drawing from Kitsune, Zoroark is a sly fox that is able to not just use illusions, but masters them to the point of being able to create solid constructs out of them (see the anime). It is just so cool, how can I not love it? Also, like Tyranitar before it, I used a female one named Vixen in my Ultra Sun playthrough and it was a delight.
Anyway, that would be my team. You know, assuming all the limitations I put on myself and my mood at this moment. But if you guys enjoyed this and want to know more about my favorite pokemon, please let me know. I’m always happy and excited to talk about Pokemon.
Anyway, going to hand this over to the other mods. I’ve been monopolizing this ask for too long.
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Ooo!! This’ll be fun to answer! Cause, well, I love Pokémon!!!
But, forgive me for this; I haven’t played any of the games.
So im just saying my favorite characters!!!
1: Glacieon, I really, really like glacieons and have always loved ice type Pokémon. Mainly because I really like the cold. Like; really, really, like the cold. I also really like her attacks, their cool!!! (Pun intended)
2: Furret. Absolutely furret, I never knew why I liked furret, but. I’m just gonna blame it on me really liking Ferrets and cause I honestly have really liked normal types for some reason.
3: Vulpix (either one), I really like any fire type Pokémon mainly because I’ve always just had a very weird interest in fire and because vulpix can be either a fire or ice Pokémon I love that about them. And they remind me of a bunch of irl animals that I love!!
4: Smom , I LOVE THOSE LIL ICE BABEYS SO MUCH!?!? They are so cute-!? I JUST LOVE THEM SO MUCH???! They are all my children and I want to adopt them all, and I will. No one can stop me………except maybe the other mods-
5: Sylveon, absolutely. I always have such an attachment even with digital animals, so I absolutely would give my eevee enough attention and love for them to evolve into sylveon. Honestly, it’d end up be accidental, but, I still really love Sylveon, and wouldn’t care if I got more than one of them-
6: Flareon, listen- I just love eevees okay-? I love them all so so much, and would lay down my life for each and every one of them. Just 💞💞💕💖💓💖💝💞💖💕💝💓💕💞💖💞💖💝💘💖💕💕💞
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Ah, I bet you missed hearing from me! No worries, I’ll tell you my pokemon team, even if it’s not particularly exciting.
First off, a Pachirisu is a must for my team. I’ve always loved how hyper it can be and the mishaps it would cause. Plus, c’mon- who doesn’t like its color scheme?
I’d also incorporate Chimchar to my team. I’ve always had a soft spot for Chimchar, since it was my first ever starter and I leveled mine all the way up to 100 in my Pokemon Platinum playthrough.
Yamper definitely had my heart the moment I saw it! I have a really strong love for dogs, and its addition to the game got me so excited!! Kirigiri can vouch for me on that one.
Growlithe is also integral to me. When my dog was a puppy, I used to jokingly call her a growlithe. I don’t think I still have pictures, but I even got her a floof for halloween once so she could be in a costume with me. Also... Arcanine is seriously badass.
Wooloo is super cute too! I love that it rolls away from its problems, and I, too, wish to do that. Plus the braids immediately reminded me of Peko, so I was super soft for it the moment it was revealed.
Finally, I’ll add my favorite Eeveelution to the team: Glaceon! Something about its sleek design always made me happy, and the way its fur sharpens as defense is super interesting!
(If legendaries were allowed on the team, I would’ve added either Giratina or Shaymin. They’re my favorites.
#Mod Makoto#Mod Ibuki#Mod Kokichi#Mod ask#Pokemon#Pokemon Preferences#Pokemon team#UwU#Thanks for the ask!#Ask
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Reviewing time for MAG129 /o/
- Overall, I’m… so, so proud of Jon since the season has begun? He’s trying! Trying so much and so hard! And it’s still the same Jon who is prone to outbursts, who can say mean things… but now, he’s also learned that his actions and his words can be destructive, that they can hurt people, that he can hurt people he cares about simply because he voiced what he felt! It’s not so much that his snappiness disappeared; it’s more that he’s now able to quickly understand that it can have consequences and wound even when he didn’t mean to?
(MAG129) ARCHIVIST: No, it’s fine, I know you’ve got… whatever this is, I’m not going to question you.
MARTIN: Thank you.
ARCHIVIST: [SPITTING] Even if it looks like you’re doing something really stupid. [SILENCE] … Sorry.
MARTIN: It’s okay. I get it.
ARCHIVIST: I just– I worry. […] [SIGHS] I suppo– … I miss you.
I mean!! Look at him!! He could compulse, has decided not to, and reassures that he won’t; he still snaps, but understand when he went too far and was actually demeaning; he explains his reasoning instead of clamming up! He caught himself when spurting one of his “I suppose”s and openly admitted something meaningful instead! Yes, alright, that should be basic, but that’s still a lot of progress and very impressive for someone who regularly fails to understand people around him, has trust issues, and used to go on the offensive when feeling cornered or criticised. (Would season1!Jon have behaved this way, uh?)
I’m also so fond of the way that Jon is once again… trying to make Martin talk? Restarting the conversation when the silences stretch out, talking about Martin? It’s horribly sad, but… the aesthetic of Jon trying to reach Martin feels so satisfying at the same time…
- I’m, however, a bit tad worried about how Jon sometimes flirts with becoming a The Eye apologist.
1°) He has been casually dropping a bit of an “us vs. them” mentality, lately, and it isn’t clear if it’s pure pragmatism (because they’re chained to the Institute) or Something Deeper:
(MAG123) BASIRA: [SIGHS] Alright. Best I can understand it, Beholding, or The Eye or… whatever you want to call it, we’re one of the only powers that hasn’t actually taken a shot at our ritual. Yet. And everything out there knows it.
ARCHIVIST: … No, I mean, we… we can’t be the only ones, surely?
BASIRA: I don’t know. Probably not. But we made a big noise with The Unknowing and… other stuff, and… now they’ve taken notice.
(MAG129) ARCHIVIST: You’re working for someone… really bad!
MARTIN: Yes, I’m not an idiot, Jon, but it’s no… worse than working for something really bad, so…
ARCHIVIST: At least The Eye hasn’t gone after our own. Lukas has vanished two people!
“we”, “our own” can be neutral and coming from an objective fact (the Institute is still their workplace, it’s about their colleagues!), or from a strategic point of view, or… a deeper feeling of belonging. I’m not sure. I hope that Jon is aware of what he’s saying and that it’s not the latter option ;;
2°) Jonathan “The Eye Did Nothing Wrong” Sims, DO WE TALK ABOUT IT.
Elias killed Gertrude and Leitner! He allowed Sasha to die! He manipulated and chained them to the Archives! He traumatized Melanie! Jon should know that even without knowing that he also traumatized Martin (which… yeah, is only one of the things Elias has done in a long list, but in this particular case, especially horrible: Jon telling MARTIN, of all people, that The Eye ISN’T HURTING THEIR OWN…). That’s a lot of harm against its own people, even without taking into consideration the few Beholding statements that have popped up, including Albrecht’s death two episodes ago? What the heck, Jon? (Melanie would stab you again for this.)
It actually sounds like, overall, Jon is equating Peter’s actions with the Lonely, while at the same time… totally separating Elias’s from Beholding? I don’t know if it’s Jon being casually hypocritical, personally biased, or if there is something behind that (Elias not being Beholding’s Best Avatar, after all?).
- I don’t know if Martin realizes how much what he says makes it sound like he’s being coerced into avoiding everyone in exchange for Peter not harming the staff any further, and like there is no bigger plan beyond that – like Martin is just a victim with everyone else being used as hostages?
(MAG129) MARTIN: Oh… … Okay? W–well, sorry, but I’ve… I, hum…
ARCHIVIST: You have to leave. Suddenly. […] Lukas has vanished two people!
MARTIN: Yeah, and if it wasn’t for me, it would’ve been a lot more. [SILENCE] This isn’t helping anything.
[…] ARCHIVIST: If–if you do need to talk, I–
MARTIN: I can’t.
ARCHIVIST: No. No, o–of course. [INHALE] Listen, Martin, you should know–
MARTIN: Jon–
ARCHIVIST: –Daisy might be alive, Basira is–
MARTIN: Stop. Stop, please, I–I shouldn’t know any of this, I… [PACKING UP] I–I–I really need to go, I–I’m…
It’s never “I’m not interested” or “I don’t want to” – it’s always how about Martin can’t by obligation. However, the way Peter presented it in MAG126, Martin’s “isolation” is not the main goal: it’s a means to an end, since Martin agreed to all of this in order to stop the New Threat that Adelard was investigating. We know this. But from an external point of view, with just the glimpses of conversations Jon has had with Martin… Jon would have many reasons to think that there is no plan, no further motive for Martin, and that Peter is simply forcing Martin to do things while threatening everyone else? That… could actually make Jon worry even deeper, if Jon ends up thinking that Martin is not even working on something, but only coerced into not having any contact with the others because Peter is messing with him?
(It’s possible, and even likely, that Peter’s agenda actually involves a lot more than what he’s told Martin: that this is also a way to separate the team that had managed to defeat Elias, and/or to give Jon a taste of the Lonely, and/or to deprive Jon of potential anchors, and/or to keep using Elias’s “learn to fly by falling” approach to force him to develop his powers in a semi-hostile territory, and/or to prevent Martin and the assistants from meddling with The Lonely’s or Beholding’s plans… But I’m still a bit hopeful that Peter didn’t completely bullshit Martin about the New Threat as a cover for other reasons – that it’s still, indeed, an actual thing that will need taking care of? Martin is wary of him, that’s good; I don’t think that he sees Peter as trustworthy, and he’s probably expecting backstabbing or a twist before the end. But there would be something… really pathetic if there was actually no New Threat and that Martin had been roped into a series of lies, without managing to achieve anything. So many things have already been pathetic in Martin’s life (his one-sided crush, the fact that he doesn’t seem to be close to a lot of people even outside of the Institute since nobody had checked on him during the Prentiss siege, the fact that he sacrificed his whole life for a mother who hates him because he physically looks like his father), it would be… very heartbreaking to add more to the list with this;;
- I’m so relieved that Martin is aware of and acknowledging Peter’s sketchiness very naturally ;;
1°) And on the subject of Beholding being no better than a Lukas: Martin is not wrong, technically? Beholding is one of the Fears – it’s not a ~good~ option either, it has never been? The fact that they used to accumulate, read/record and archive statements can’t be good on the long run if it’s serving It? Maybe even preparing The Watcher’s Crown? Martin himself used to be a bit complacent about the work in the Archives (even post-reveal in MAG092), while Tim was the one to constantly remind the others that the Institute was bad, too:
(MAG098) MARTIN: [Elias] did suggest I try to get you involved and–
TIM: And I suggest that he not be a scary, magic psychopath. … Whoops! Too late.
MARTIN: … Yeah.
TIM: [SIGHS] Sorry.
MARTIN: No, I– I get it. Heh. They’re not exactly much fun.
TIM: Look, it’s not that. I… [SIGHS] This place is evil, Martin. And I think doing what It wants? Probably makes us evil. And It wants those things to be read. I mean, I’m not going to stop you, but, at the same time…
MARTIN: I– I get it.
Martin never really fought or tried to escape the archival work, but he’s aware enough to point out that it’s not a Good Option vs. A New Bad Option (which would be Peter); they’re all… bad.
2°) First there was Martin’s stern “Peter.” in MAG126 that just made Peter stop trash-talking Jon, now the mention that Martin is ensuring that no more staff members get wooshed into the Lonely… Martin has an iron grip on Peter, uh.
3°) Martin feared that he could be perceived and described as “Martin Blackwood: he was always scared, then he died. The end.” BUT SERIOUSLY. If he dies (and if there is a body), put “I’m not an idiot, Jon.” on his gravestone.
(- I’m ;; still hoping that those two researchers are aliiiive and that they’ll be able to get out from the Lonely. I mean. They resisted against the shady new management and against orders from a boss who 1°) is apparently incompetent at the job since he delegates all his tasks to an assistant, 2°) was probably chosen for reasons having to do with his privileged background, 3°) didn’t allow them to see him even once since he arrived, and yet had Ideas about how to rule the place. You’re brave, researchers! Fight against the system!! You don’t deserve to die for this!!)
-When listening to MAG129’s statement, I was a bit lost and went back and forth between many guesses as to which power was at work. I was expecting a Buried one from the title, but then, discovering to the statement itself, I kept wondering if it wasn’t something else: Corruption, since there was the sense of decay and the disgust when Kulbir went to the firm’s building? Dark, with the lights slowly fading out? Lonely, since everyone seemed to have disappeared? Vast, with the sky joining in that mess? Still Buried, since the firm used awful puns that sounded very Buried? I think I was just a bit surprised to see the Buried associated with water, of all things, despite the fact that it was nothing new in (what-we-assume-to-be-)Buried statements: MAG015 (cave diving), MAG088 (with the “DIG” book found on the beach)… Which makes sense considering what drowning is about? But because of MAG051 (“High Pressure”; hi Simon), I had come to naturally associate water=ocean=Vast, which I feel a bit stupid about since it’s obviously not how The Fears work; it’s not about elements or symbols but what they do to you. Still: I had that moment of “Oh? … Oh, right!!” during MAG129. It’s… a bit more obvious when relistening, given Kulbir’s main concerns and how the world shifted around him:
(MAG129, Kulbir Shakya) “but by that point, I was already too deep in debt and there was just… no way I was going to be able to stay. […] I felt… disgust rise in my throat, the awful, humid air of the waterlogged place sitting heavy in my lungs. […] The water was warm, and after the heat of the summer’s day, I breathed in, expecting the smell of petrichor. But the scent of the rain was something else – something earthy and cloying I couldn’t quite place. […] I tried to relax, to let the rhythmic tapping of the rain lull me off to sleep, like it always had when I was a boy. But I could find no comfort in it. It sounded too much like it wanted to get in. […] I was tired, I was hungry and, without the motion of the rain, the air had become intolerably humid. Every breath I took filled my lungs with that thick, wet scent, and it felt like I could barely get enough oxygen to think. The walls of my house were slick with moisture now, and there was nowhere I could go to be dry, no way out of this oppressive, cloying damp. […] Inch by inch, foot by foot, everything was descending into the water’s embrace. It would wrap itself around me, reach down my throat and fill me with its choking darkness. There was nothing I could do.
Aaaand obviously, given the many double-entendre opportunities revolving around “crushing debts”, of course The Buried would be targeting poor people feeling ~pressured~, anxious about their situation.
(MAG129, Kulbir Shakya) “The first words did nothing to dissuade me from my assumption it was junk mail: “Drowning in debts? We can help!” in big friendly text that seemed at odds with the pseudo-respectable image the rest of it seemed to be striving for. […] At the bottom, in that same friendly typeface, it assured me: “We can help with the pressure.” I don’t know what I expected. I really don’t.”
(It feels, more and more, like Puns are a way to get More Powerful when you’re serving an evil power. Only One True Fear: Puns.)
Interestingly: it was also the case for Jackson Ellis in MAG097… but his dire situation got alleviated a bit after he had moved in in Bucoda:
(MAG097, Jackson Ellis) “My parents were dirt poor themselves, and couldn’t help.
[…] The forest pressed in on all sides, like it did everywhere in the Pacific Northwest, I suppose, but it was an effect I was struggling to get used to.
[…] As it turned out my situation wasn’t quite as dreadful as I thought. I discovered the next day that my work had actually paid me a small amount. It wasn’t clear whether it was meant to be salary or severance, and I couldn’t get through to anyone who might have been able to explain it, but it was enough to ease the relentless pressure, if only a little bit.”
Was it thanks to the fact that his situation got better than Jackson wasn’t entranced by The Pit like all the other residents?
- This wasn’t the first time that people escape through a near-death (or death?) experience: Antonia Hayley (MAG051, Vast), Carter Chilcott (MAG057, Lonely) were prime examples:
(MAG051, Antonia Hayley) “I should be dead, really. It’s a weird feeling. You ever had a near-death experience? I’ve had a few – they’re not uncommon in my line of work, but this… it feels different. It’s not like I put myself in danger and managed not to die; I should be dead. Decompression sickness that severe is almost never survivable, and I should have had an embolism. The fact that I didn’t… blind luck. It’s hard to reconcile yourself with avoiding of a death you feel… should have been yours.”
(MAG057, Carter Chilcott) “[…] I began to very seriously consider the idea… that I had died, and this was hell. Given that worry, the way I finally escaped could be considered ironic: I starved myself to death. Well, not to death, I suppose, given I’m alive enough to talk to you, but close enough. […] After everything else, I had no guarantee it was even possible for me to die, but I had to try. When I finally faded from consciousness, for what I hoped was the last time, it was the greatest relief I have ever felt. … I don’t… know exactly when I realized I wasn’t dead. There were various moments I… faded back into consciousness, and I know that I felt the re-entry, very hard, but it’s difficult to pin down clear thoughts before the hospital.”
(MAG129, Kulbir Shakya) “I don’t know if you’ve ever drowned, but it’s the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced. I tried to remain calm, to think of my grandfather and his firm, stony face […] My lungs spasmed painfully, desperately trying to wring air out of the warm, rancid water that filled them. And as I felt the water embrace me, fully pressing in on all sides… I gripped the last connection I had to the world I knew. The last thing I was conscious of… was the water getting colder.
I don’t… remember them fishing me out of Regent’s Canal. Or most of my treatment, to be honest. At a certain point it all blurs together. I’m alive. And that’s what matters.”
I remember that Jonny more or less said that it’s impossible to truly understand how the Fears operate, given how they’ll always escape our rationalizations – but anyway: I get the impression that when they’re going all out, they kind of trap people in a reflected reality, and when people manage to escape them, they get spat out and back into our world? We had multiple witnesses whose testimonies didn’t match the official findings of later investigations, and it’s hard to tell who is lying and who is telling the truth: is the Police twisting some information in their official records since they’re alluding to Section’d events? Are the witnesses mixing up some details because their memory is at fault? When spook happens, there often seems to be two realities: and sometimes, there is no difference between the two; sometimes… something happened in one and had other consequences in the other (I mostly remember how the guy in MAG072 got his fingers cut yet they were still on his hand when everything stopped, though he saw his fingers cut with his ring on one of them, ring that he didn’t have on “his” finger anymore).
Here, Kulbir both got to “die” (or almost? or died for real?) and to hold on to an anchor (an item symbolizing someone that he loved):
(MAG129, Kulbir Shakya) “I could feel that warm, grasping water cover my feet, my ankles, slowly working its way up my calves, but at that moment, all I could think about… was my grandfather. And how he had looked when they had given him his diagnosis, calm and solid. […] He had always endured his problems, never tried to squirm out of things he felt he had to face. I gripped the sheath in both my hands and waded to the window. Corpses floated by, slowly waving at me gently, their lifeless hands grey and bloated. I ignored them. And stepped out into the water. […] I gripped the last connection I had to the world I knew.”
Which is something we’ve mostly seen in statements dealing with the Lonely, I felt? Naomi Herne heard her dead fiancé’s voice leading her out in MAG013, and Gerry had advised Andrea Nunis to think about her mother in MAG048 (which indeed allowed her to escape the anonymous crowd).
- Regarding Kulbir’s grandfather: I wonder if he had a tie with something that was mentioned in MAG076, amongst the reports of William W. Hay about World War 2 dug up by Melanie?
(MAG076) “what I saw in the infirmary at Amritsar. Two dozen Ghurkhas tearing each other to pieces, consumed by the terrible butchery they had inflicted. Such things are not to be dwelt on, but serve to illustrate my proposition that violence, inflicted, received or even just witnessed, can not only deal injury to the body or the mind, but to the soul itself.”
The grandfather was specifically said to be a Ghurkha and brought back his weapon from it…
(MAG129, Kulbir Shakya) “We actually got into a… blazing row over his old kukri. He had been a Gorkhali, serving in the Fifth Gurkha Rifles during the Second World War. I have… complicated feelings on his military history, of course, but… he had always been fiercely proud of it. And that old knife had been one of his most treasured possessions. I didn’t keep it polished like he had, even at… ninety years old, but it reminded me of him. I could see his calloused hands on its hilt, as he meticulously, almost mechanically, cleaned it. Humming a tune the name of which I never learned.”
(Could have been Slaughter-infused, but I’m really not sure that it was even relevant here? What mattered was apparently the emotional connection.)
- ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; So that’s what happened to Jan Kilbride in the end (take that, myself, for sometimes daring to hope that he could have still been alive). We had heard Gertrude mentioning that she had Plans revolving around him back in MAG099 (recording from September 2nd, 2007):
(MAG099) GERTRUDE: […] For the Buried, however, I do have what I believe might be quite an effective plan forming – assuming, of course, that my suspicions about Jan Kilbride are correct, and that’s something that should be easy enough to determine once he’s back on Earth. Considering what’s probably happened to him up there already, I feel almost… bad, but there’s ten years yet before I can afford a conscience.
And Melanie had read Jan’s statement in MAG106 (left on February 10th, 2008) observing that the statement ended quite abruptly, and that Jan himself had disappeared from public views or records since coming back to Earth:
(MAG106) MELANIE: […] Also I, hum… I can’t find Jan Kilbride. He definitely returned. I’ve got more than one photograph of the trio’s arrival back on Earth, Carter Chilcott being attended by medical personnel, and the other two looking tired… but alive. There are also a couple of short newspapers stories mentioning their safe return. But it seems as though Kilbride made his way over to the Institute, a few weeks after touchdown, made his statement, and then… nothing. I can’t find any sign of him. And neither can Basira or Martin. Not on Earth, at least. I really don’t want to say he vanished into thin air but… he’s vanished into something.
Did Jan live in the tunnels for a while or something? He apparently managed to totally vanish from official records, and we know from MAG097 that the Buried’s “Sunken Sky” took place (or at least attempted to) on June 17th, 2008 – in Bucoda, America:
(MAG097, Jackson Ellis) “[…] [The pit] was bigger. And the road had swelled, to encompass it. There was someone else looking at it, though. An elderly woman, face pinched and thoughtful, stood at the edge looking down. I didn’t recognise her, or the car she stood next to. She definitely wasn’t from Bucoda. Sat in the car next to her, I could see a young man who had clearly been crying. I couldn’t get over how blue his eyes were… The old woman caught my eye, and looked from me, to the pit, and back again. I thought about saying something when she gestured for me to leave. And I did. I decided that I was no part of whatever was happening. So I drove away and didn’t look back. That night, the earthquake struck that destroyed Bucoda entirely, so I guess I’ll never know what was going on.”
Given that Jon mentioned that:
(MAG129) ARCHIVIST: […] But I don’t want it. I don’t want to know. … I don’t want to see. … No more than I wanted to see how Gertrude stopped The Buried and their ritual, but that came to me as well. [HUFFS] They called it “Sunken Sky”! And she calculated, correctly, that casting a void-touched body down The Pit at the right time would be enough to disrupt it. Something she found in… Jan Kilbride. … But Gertrude also realized that the body need not be alive. Or in one piece. She thought it was a mercy. It wasn’t.
(Tim’s voice from MAG086: “Regarding a… blanket. Dead friend. Monster. Regarding his unavoidable and gruesome end. How he tried to hide. He couldn’t.”)
… it was apparently a gruesome end, and the tears might indicate that Jan knew what was coming. Gosh, the way Jon mentioned that it wasn’t a mercy… He got too much information about it, uh é_è
- *cough*
(MAG129) ARCHIVIST: One thing that always strikes me when I read statements like this is… the bias of survivorship. With one or two notable exceptions, the only statements the Institute receives are those where the witness has… successfully escaped whatever terrible place or being has marked them for a victim. … I wonder how many don’t make it out. How many of those shapes in the water were once just like Mr Shakya. Hm.
1°) Yeah, without even counting the survivors describing how they witnessed someone dying or disappearing, we got a few statement-givers who flirted a bit too heavily with death (Nathaniel Thorp in MAG029), or were on the verge of turning into something else (Jane Prentiss in MAG033), or should be dead (Trevor), indeed. It happens. Also, Jon could add himself on the list, maybe, since he hasn’t managed to escape the Institute.
2°) I’m still so relieved every time Jon uses keywords indicating that he’s not perceiving the events these people go through neutrally – “terrible place or being” and “victim”. We saw a few monsters/avatars torturing people like it’s a game, but it is definitely not Jon’s case, and that’s a relief…
3°) ;; And it’s indeed a sad reminder that the only stories we get are from people who managed to get out (even if some of them met a gruesome end shortly after giving their statements, as we learn through the follow-ups), and that we can’t hear about the ones who were consumed/eaten alive/killed with no surviving witnesses… (Do you sometimes think about the fact that Jon gave that role to the tape recorder, in season 1 already? That he wanted to use it to chronicle what was happening in the Archives, to not become “another goddamn mystery”, because he didn’t want to end up like Gertrude or statement-givers? I wonder if Jon still thinks of a life after him and after the assistants, by now – if he still thinks it’s possible that maybe someone, one day, could find the tapes they left behind and reconstruct what they experienced. It doesn’t seem like the tape recorders are cooperating lately, though; they come and… go, and don’t allow people to hear what was said elsewhere.)
- I’m… intrigued by the fact that, so far, all of the things that Jon has suddenly Known (the leaks through the door) were information that had not been recorded on tapes – or, more precisely, that he hasn’t got any random outburst of Knowledge about things that have been recorded. Jon hasn’t mentioned anything about knowing that Basira had visited Elias (MAG127), nor about Martin’s conversation with Peter (MAG126), and we still haven’t heard any hint about whether or not he has listened to MAG118 and MAG120’s tapes; given how he gave his condolences to Martin about his mother, it’s more likely that he indeed still hasn’t been able to access MAG118’s. Are the tape recorders and the Spooky Magical Knowledge complementary things, or… actually competing against each other? (=> Does conversations getting recorded make them unavailable for Jon’s Spooky Powers?)
- Anyway: The Tape Recorder either liked Martin again, either knew that Jon was coming, since it clicked on in the room Martin was in before Jon entered.
- Where is MAG118’s taaaaape ;___; I’m pretty sure that Jon hasn’t consulted it since:
(MAG129) ARCHIVIST: I, er… I heard about your mother.
MARTIN: … Yeah.
ARCHIVIST: I am… so sorry.
[SILENCE]
MARTIN: Thank you. [INHALE] It’s… [SHAKY EXHALE] It’s better, this way.
ARCHIVIST: If–if you do need to talk, I–
MARTIN: I can’t.
ARCHIVIST: No. No, o–of course.
I feel like Jon would have said something… more, here, if he had heard that one? Giving his condolences neutrally like this feels like he still only knows Martin’s mother from what he learned in season 2: that Martin sends letters to her, that Martin dropped out of school when he was seventeen because he had to care for her and to sustain them since she got terribly sick. (And Martin’s “It’s better, this way” makes me hate Elias even more, since… it can mean that Martin thinks that it’s better if she’s not suffering anymore? Or… that he thinks that it’s pulling him out of an unhealthy situation, since she hated him anyway and he had built so much of his life around being able to support her – sacrificing his education, having to lie to get hired somewhere, getting hired in Spooky Dangerous Institute to get a salary. If Elias hadn’t said anything, Martin might have been able to keep deluding himself into thinking that she wasn’t good with him because of the sickness, because it can make people meaner to close ones witnessing their decay…? But no, Martin Knew The Truth when she died. Did Elias know, in MAG118, that she wouldn’t be living for much longer…?)
And am I a puddle on the floor at the fact that JON TOLD MARTIN THAT HE WAS THERE IF MARTIN NEEDED TO TALK ABOUT IT? Yes, I am a puddle of whimpering feelings on the floor. It’s… something that I would have never expected Jon to say. He usually offers his presences for spooky stories, not for… emotional support.
Jon
told martin
he would be there
for emotional support
I still have trouble letting that sink in.
- And!!!
(MAG129) ARCHIVIST: … What happened, Martin?
[SILENCE]
MARTIN: You died.
ARCHIVIST: I came back.
MARTIN: Yeah. [OPENS DOOR] I’m not gonna let it happen again.
ARCHIVIST: … wait… Wait! W– [DOOR CLOSES] [SIGHS]
1°) Is this the first time that Jon has acknowledged (implicitly, since he rolled with the mention) that his “coma” wasn’t exactly a coma? Unless he took that “You died” as an exaggeration. So far, it had been euphemisms (“dreaming” in MAG122, “coma” in MAG123, “when I was… away” in MAG126), so! Does he know that it wasn’t a normal coma by now? Or is he still unaware of it?
2°) Martin’s answer… ;__; Not “my mother died”, not “Tim died”, uh. We did hear Martin begging for Jon in the season teaser, and it didn’t sound like it was only because of his crush – they objectively needed help and the fact that Jon wasn’t there forced them to find alternative ways to deal with what they were facing (Melanie&Basira holed themselves up in the tunnels, Melanie defended the Archives against the Flesh attack, Martin reached an agreement with Peter to help him against a new issue). The fact that Jon “died” changed things, logistically. But it also sounds so personal, in Martin’s mouth (a bit bitter?), and once again, I’m remembering how he had lost all his deepest connections at that point: Sasha, Tim, Jon, his mother… and yet, he took the decision to work for Peter, and we know from the trailer that he checked if “they” (Basira and Melanie, and probably the Institute’s staff) would be safe. Martin ;__;
(Okay, I freaked out at first with Martin’s answer, because… “I’m not gonna let it happen again.”: was he referencing Jon COMING BACK FROM THE DEAD? But it was probably about Jon ~dying~ in the first place. Or about Jon finding him a third time. I hope so?!)
- I wonder if… if the situation had been different, if it had been Tim inside of the coffin, if there had been a chance to save him, and not Daisy… Would Martin have reacted differently?
(MAG129) ARCHIVIST: No. No, o–of course. [INHALE] Listen, Martin, you should know–
MARTIN: Jon–
ARCHIVIST: –Daisy might be alive, Basira is–
MARTIN: Stop. Stop, please, I–I shouldn’t know any of this, I… [PACKING UP] I–I–I really need to go, I–I’m…
ARCHIVIST: Right. … right.
Martin didn’t like her much, but Tim… Tim was another story. Maybe that would have been enough to shatter the fragile equilibrium and to make him try to help with it, even while still working with Peter.
Even outside of “what if”… It’s ironic, because Jon tried to reach out by talking about people around them – barely mentioning himself (except when it came to his feelings over Martin’s work and busy state, and the quick mention of his powers at the beginning of the exchange): “Basira is off doing… God-knows-what, and I can’t talk to Melanie.”, “I, er… I heard about your mother.”, “If–if you do need to talk, I–”, “–Daisy might be alive, Basira is–” “What happened, Martin?”. And right now… it might actually have been more effective if Jon had behaved a bit more self-centred? Breekon sneaked into the Institute and could have harmed them: meaning that Peter won’t raise a finger if they’re attacked and that they’re probably more vulnerable than Martin thought. Jon’s powers are growing, now with an additional invasive dimension, and there is the risk of his inner door opening (and of him drowning). Even Melanie’s surgery: Jon was hurt! Mentioning that would have been enough for Martin to freak out, usually!
Conveying that Jon is at risk, that Jon could become a risk, could have made Martin reevaluate his priorities? Martin’s deal with Peter is based on the assumption that Jon and the others would be safe at the end; if they’re harmed and snatched by something else beforehand… it changes the configuration a bit.
(- BUT JON CHOSE TO PRIORITISE WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO THE OTHERS!!! HE TRIED TO INFODUMP TO MARTIN WHEN HE HIMSELF IS DEPRIVED OF ANY INFORMATION, BECAUSE MELANIE DOESN’T WANT TO TALK TO HIM, BASIRA IS FORBIDDING HIM TO “KNOW” ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT SHE’S DOING, AND MARTIN REFUSES TO SHARE ABOUT HIS OWN AGENDA WITH PETER!!!
I don’t know why, but this is… one of the aspects that punch my feelings the deepest? That Jon is desperately trying to share what is happening around him, to rebuild bridges, to avoid miscommunication or leaving others in ignorance? Because he has known first-hand, since the beginning of season 4, what it is like when nobody wants to share their plans with you? Because obviously, obviously we’re heading towards a Disaster if they don’t manage to unite what they’re doing and what they’re thinking, when there is so much at stake and when they have multiple potential ends of the world to thwart?)
- MAG126 confirmed that Martin is Concealing and very much feeling; that he’s forcing himself to pretend indifference. And yet, he still slipped from that self-inflicted behaviour at the beginning? (Highlighting that Peter is not his first evil boss?) And sounded like he panicked when Jon began infodumping?
;; I would like to be able to feel GLAD that Martin is showing some determination in the path he chose; he’s clearly not fine but also firmer and… hanging on to what he planned. And it surely feels, already, that he’s barreling head first towards complete disaster. Jon and Martin feel more and more that they will compete for the role of Most Self-Sacrificing Idiot in order to protect everyone, instead of working together…
- Given Peter’s reaction after Martin had barely talked with Jon:
(MAG126) PETER: You talked to him.
MARTIN: I… I, I tried not to, I–I, I didn’t mean to…
PETER: You talked to him. And that’s understandable, Martin, of course it is! Please don’t think I’m upset, it’s just… not ideal. Shows how much work we still have ahead of us. […] I had hoped that all this time apart would have given you the space you needed, but…
MARTIN: … You said he’d probably never wake up.
PETER: And he beat the odds. Which is good. But it does make things more complicated. It doesn’t… actually change… anything.
MARTIN: A–a simple “hello” isn’t going to make any difference to–
PETER: We’ve been over this. The sort of power you’re going to need relies on your–
MARTIN: [SULKY] Obedience.
PETER: Isolation. It needs to be you, Martin. You’re the only one who could possibly balance between the two.
… yeah, I’m not eager to hear what Peter thought about Martin and Jon talking again this time. I hope that Peter won’t ~generously offer~ a way for Martin to be completely out of Jon’ reach ;;
At the same time: really not sure that Peter’s (official) plan is working and that Martin is doing much progress? Yeah, he had it audibly rough, sounded bitterer and drier. But he doesn’t sound hollow or indifferent? He doesn’t sound like he’s in his natural state when forcing himself to be isolated? And after this conversation, I’m not sure that Martin will be able to do any progress Lonely-wise: I mean, if he had a crush on Jon back in season 1 already, when Jon was… like that, HOW could his heart remain still with current!Jon? When Jon is trying hard to share things and moments with him, when it’s Jon who seeks him out and wants to know what is happening in Martin’s life, when Jon apologizes spontaneously, when Jon is showing that Martin not being around him is hurting him? When Jon is showing so hard that he cares about him? I hope that Martin gets to stock up on these feelings to fight off the Lonely’s influence :|
- *crawls on the floor* everything hurts and I hate it and I’m loving it at the same time hhhhh…
(MAG053) MARTIN: [SIGHS] I just worry. You needed five stitches after you “accidentally” stabbed yourself with a breadknife. If you’re still claiming that’s what happened.
ARCHIVIST: I am.
MARTIN: Then you’ll forgive me for worrying when you use sharp knives.
(MAG129) ARCHIVIST: Even if it looks like you’re doing something really stupid. [SILENCE] … Sorry.
MARTIN: It’s okay. I get it.
ARCHIVIST: I just– I worry. You’re working for someone… really bad!
OOOOOOH
(MAG126) MARTIN: … It’s because he’s back, isn’t it. [SIGHS] He’s back, so now you’re going to be… around, again. Listening in. Mff. You missed him, didn’t you. … Yeah. … [VERY SHARP SQUEAL OF DISTORTION] Yeah, me too.
(MAG129) ARCHIVIST: [SIGHS] I suppo– … I miss you.
MARTIN: [SNORT]
ARCHIVIST: I’m just…
MARTIN: Lonely.
ARCHIVIST: [SIGHS] Yeah.
DID THE DYNAMIC
(MAG102) MARTIN: […] Look I’m, I’m so sorry, Jon, I– Elias didn’t even tell any of us that you’d been kidnapped–
ARCHIVIST: Oh.
MARTIN: –I didn’t know–
ARCHIVIST: Hey–
MARTIN: No-one else was telling me–
ARCHIVIST: Hey, hey, hey…
MARTIN: And there wasn’t any—
ARCHIVIST: It’s alright, it’s alright. Elias didn’t tell anyone, there was, there was no way you could have known. I-I mean, I wasn’t exactly here before.
MARTIN: No, you weren’t. … But I am sure that if you could have been, you would have.
(MAG129) ARCHIVIST: I, er… I heard about your mother.
MARTIN: … Yeah.
ARCHIVIST: I am… so sorry.
[SILENCE]
MARTIN: Thank you.
FLIP AROUND…
Martin used to be the one worrying for Jon!! To think about Jon when he wasn’t there!!! To feel like he had let Jon down!!!! (When he apologized in MAG040 for leaving Jon and Tim behind, too… ;;)
There are many reasons for Martin to be one of Jon’s concerns, indeed: concern, because he hasn’t been there for the past months. Guilt, because Martin is the last of the original assistants left alive. Worry, because the Lukases are not known to be harmless people. Defamiliarization, because Martin used to seek his presence rather than avoid him.
But Jon also sounds so sad, trying to connect with Martin again… His voice was still dragging and a bit brooding when he introduced the statement right after – Martin’s behaviour is leaving him miserable, uh…
- Jon agreed to not try to see Melanie, and sticks to it. He also accepted to try to not Know about Basira’s errands, and… unless he’s dissimulating it from the tape recorders, it looks like it has worked so far? (He hasn’t even opened the coffin!) (Yet.)
(MAG127) ARCHIVIST: I, er, I should probably… talk to h–
BASIRA: You should probably stay as far away as possible. She doesn’t want to see you.
ARCHIVIST: No. No, o–o–of course.
(MAG128) BASIRA: Right. [SILENCE] [INHALES] Right. Keep it safe, I’ll be gone a few days. I have some leads I need to follow up.
ARCHIVIST: Sorry…?!
BASIRA: You heard me. Don’t ask about them, and don’t know about them either.
ARCHIVIST: I can’t exactly control that!
BASIRA: Learn. […] I’ll try and be back in a week or two. Don’t think about me.
ARCHIVIST: Right.
BASIRA: And don’t open the coffin.
(MAG129) ARCHIVIST: […] I haven’t heard from Basira, since she left on whatever secret errand, and I feel like I’m no closer to understanding any of this.
… I wonder if Jon will try to do what Martin asked of him:
(MAG129) MARTIN: Stop. Stop, please, I–I shouldn’t know any of this, I… [PACKING UP] I–I–I really need to go, I–I’m…
ARCHIVIST: Right. … right.
MARTIN: Please, stop finding me.
… or if, precisely, he’ll keep trying to see him. (Or if he will Know and… pretend he doesn’t.)
- Meanwhile, Jon’s powers are getting a bit out of control, uh… It’s, I think, the first time that Jon has expressed disgust at the idea of seeing/knowing things?
(MAG129) ARCHIVIST: […] Or perhaps I shouldn’t wonder. [HUFFS] Even as I say it, I can feel the knowledge, pushing in my mind. Eager to find a way in. But I don’t want it. I don’t want to know. … I don’t want to see. … No more than I wanted to see how Gertrude stopped The Buried and their ritual, but that came to me as well. […] I don’t like this. I don’t like… not being sure what’s going to be in my mind. What thoughts are mine and what are from… elsewhere. Why I just know some statements are what I should be reading.
Jon’s complaint is the complete opposite of how Elias had described the Beholding folks! (MAG092: “We thrive on ceaseless watching, on knowing too much. What we face is the hidden, the uncanny, and the unknown.”) It looks like the knowledge of what happened to Jan Kilbride shook him pretty badly (it sounded… especially gruesome), and… indeed, Jon would fear losing himself with what is happening.
… So I’m really Not Impressed at him for suddenly forgetting his recriminations when he got the Knowledge of what he was supposed to understand from this statement. Is Beholding trying to appeal to Jon? Jon’s anxiousness and irritation totally disappeared right after he got the Additional Knowledge, so if it was the case… it worked. Jon, don’t be so easy!! It’s not because you’re getting the information you’d like to that it’s a good thing… ;;
- Okay, I’m probably granting too much consciousness and purpose to something that is supposedly (re)acting on instinct (“like a muscle spasming on reflex”, Jon had offered in MAG080) but.
(MAG129) ARCHIVIST: […] I don’t like this. I don’t like… not being sure what’s going to be in my mind. What thoughts are mine and what are from… elsewhere. Why I just know some statements are what I should be reading. I assume this one is related to the coffin. To Daisy. … I haven’t heard from Basira, since she left on whatever secret errand, and I feel like I’m no closer to understanding any of this. … [SIGHS] I suppose if this one managed to free himself from The Buried or, to find a way out of… whatever part of Choke embraces drowning, I… [STATIC] I need an anchor.
It really sounded like
Jon: i don’t know what to doooo, i have no direction, no idea…
Beholding: *sends Jon towards a Relevant Statement* (●♡∀♡))ヾ☆*。
Jon: k thanks that’s a buried one, what’s the point of it then ¯\_ಠ_ಠ_/¯
Beholding: (ilu but you’re so slow, do I have to SPELL IT OUT) Σ(￣ロ￣lll) *sends static-y additional knowledge*
Jon: oh– OOOOOOH.
To be fair with Jon, there were multiple things that I thought about when assuming that Jon had been directed towards this one (which was then implied to indeed be the case during his post-statement)?
* First: it’s a bit surprising that Jon is learning so much about the rituals that Gertrude managed to counter, considering Beholding’s is coming close? It’s like Jon is being given tips about how to possibly… ensure that Beholding’s won’t happen. We saw in MAG126 how Gertrude learned the location and some elements involved in the Spiral’s Great Twisting; and Jon apparently saw/felt/got first-hand knowledge about Gertrude’s reasoning, and what she did with (/to) Jan Kilbride in order to stop The Buried’s Sunken Sky ritual. I don’t know if there is a sort of intention in Jon’s outbursts of knowledge: if Beholding is simply answering Jon’s curiosity calls, or if it’s able to select what to give and hide from Jon. Giving information about Gertrude’s counter-rituals feels a bit dangerous considering how Jon’s loyalty to his patron isn’t… well, we’re still not 100% sure that Jon would be down for the Watcher’s Crown since he hasn’t specified anything in that regard (I mean, it seems obvious that Jon doesn’t want it to happen! And he’s probably remaining silent about it because it’s not safe to be a bit too openly antagonistic to your own patron in its place of power? But at the same time, Jon Made His Choice to be able to wake up, and we still don’t know what happened exactly.) On the other hand, there is… something to be said about how the two last Archivists weren’t exactly super into their own patron: Gertrude was actively working against it, Jon is maybe a bit more ambiguous (or at least passive) at the moment… is ot a Beholding thing to shoot yourself in the foot just to see what happens?!
* When I wondered about how this statement could tie in with the coffin, I thought about the rain, actually!
(MAG002, Joshua Gillespie) “It was a hard, heavy rain, the sort that falls straight down with no wind to disturb it, until everything is dark and wet. It was barely past midday, but I remember the sky was so overcast and gloomy that I had to get up to turn on the light. And that was when I heard it. […] It was almost… melodious. It sounded almost like singing, if it was muffled by twenty feet of hard-packed soil.
(MAG129, Kulbir Shakya) It started raining on the walk home. … When would you start to worry about the rain? I don’t mean about it ruining your day or wrecking an event you’re planning, but at what point does it stop being normal, and start to alarm you?
I thought it might be because reaching The Buried (or allowing The Buried to reach you) might be easier when it’s raining, or something of the sort?
* Orrr if the point might have been to tell Jon to ~dig~ into the “[Eberhart?] and Strauss” firm. (Not sure about the name, it was never mentioned before? One “Harry Eisenhard” had disappeared in MAG099’s statement, which was a Buried one, but it’s clearly not pronounced the same.)
* Or if it wasn’t something about needing to Face The Fears in order to find a way out.
* Or maybe it was Beholding telling Jon (to open the door and) to allow himself to get drowned, because it’s Inevitable anyway. (The whole anchor thing would be even more relevant given Jon’s situation! Give him reasons to care, give him safeguards able to tell him off if he slips!)
* tl;dr Can’t blame Jon for being too oblivious about what was supposed to be “the clue” in that statement, since I… didn’t bat an eye about “anchors” either – I mostly perceived them as a way to escape the Lonely specifically until now >>
- I’m!!! so happy that
(MAG099) ARCHIVIST: Is it… Why are you so insistent on keeping me around?
GEORGIE: Because you’re trying to cut yourself off, and that’s… that’s really bad! Look, when’s the last time you spoke to someone who wasn’t me?
ARCHIVIST: That’s… I… I–I talked to Martin a, a… a… a few weeks ago…?
GEORGIE: Did you talk to him? Or did he talk to you, while you tried to find a way to escape?
ARCHIVIST: I… uh…
GEORGIE: Look, you’re worried. I get it. But if you really think you’re turning into something… inhuman, you need people around you. You need anchors.
ARCHIVIST: All my “anchors” are just as deep in this as me.
GEORGIE: Well, you still need them.
ARCHIVIST: [SIGHS] Maybe you’re right. I… I’ll talk to the others. […]
Even if she’s not there, Georgie was right! “Anchor” was the word she used! ;w; (She was also the one to coin “avatar” before we learned that Gertrude also used it! Georgie is good at finding the right word when people are describing concepts!)
… Though it’s not a matter of stopping Jon from turning “inhuman” now ;; Elias had told Jon it was an irrelevant distinction back in MAG092 (“Jon, what does human even mean? I mean, really? You still bleed, you can still die. And your will is still your own, mostly. That’s more than can be said for a lot of the ‘real’ humans out there.”), Jon mentioned that he didn’t feel as heartless as he expected to with that development (MAG126: “I thought… moving away from my humanity would have made that seem more acceptable. That sort of sacrifice… but it just makes me sad…”), and it indeed feel like it’s not at the top of Jon’s fears anymore? (But he would still need anchors for this precise reason, probably ;;)
- Jonathan “I need an anchor!” Sims, why are you so relieved about that fact as if it were a helpful indication; must I remind you that
(MAG122) ARCHIVIST: Georgie, I–
GEORGIE: Jon. If this really is a second chance… please, try to take it. But I don’t think that it is.
ARCHIVIST: Georgie, I don’t und–
GEORGIE: Take care of yourself.
nobody
(MAG127) ARCHIVIST: How’s Melanie?
BASIRA: How do you think?
ARCHIVIST: I, er, I should probably… talk to h–
BASIRA: You should probably stay as far away as possible. She doesn’t want to see you.
ARCHIVIST: No. No, o–o–of course.
currently
(MAG128) BASIRA: I’ll try and be back in a week or two. Don’t think about me.
ARCHIVIST: Right.
wants
(MAG129) MARTIN: Stop. Stop, please, I–I shouldn’t know any of this, I… [PACKING UP] I–I–I really need to go, I–I’m…
ARCHIVIST: Right. … right.
MARTIN: Please, stop finding me.
to see or talk to you. I mean. Even friggin’ Elias, of all people, doesn’t want Jon to see him (for nebulous reasons):
(MAG127) BASIRA: [SIGHS] Fine. So you won’t see him, but you’re happy for him to hear our conversations.
ELIAS: He can listen all he wants, but he’s at a very delicate stage right now, and I… fear my presence would be a… a distraction. I’ve made it clear my cooperation’s contingent on his not seeing me, and my terms have been accepted thus far.
Well. To be fair, Jon didn’t present it as the Solution – it’s a lead:
(MAG129) ARCHIVIST: […] I need an anchor. I… I could go in… myself, I, I could find her. And… then, I just need to get out. I need something out here. Something I can know the way back to. I, I don’t know what. But… [HUFFS] It’s a start.
I don’t know what or whom he would be choose, though? Georgie elected to leave him to his own devices at the beginning of this season; Basira has repeatedly mentioned that she doesn’t trust him; Melanie is currently healing and not fine (and she didn’t like Jon even before getting tied down to the Institute). Even worse, for Basira: Elias made it pretty clear in MAG092 that if anyone is Daisy’s anchor, it’s Basira. And Basira presented Daisy in a similar way, too:
(MAG092) ELIAS: […] Should I, or the Institute, be destroyed, you will all, unfortunately, follow suit. […] And it would not be a pleasant death.
DAISY: Bullshit!
ELIAS: Then shoot me. Just squeeze the trigger, and watch the only person you care about die screaming. Your last connection to humanity. Do it.
BASIRA: Daisy…
(MAG117) BASIRA: […] But at least Daisy’s coming along. I mean… I know she’s… difficult. Everything they say about her, it’s true, it’s fair. But… she’s solid. She’s a fixed point. And if she’s there, I know exactly where I stand, exactly what I’m doing relative to her. She has no doubts. […] Despite everything she’s done, she’s… she’s still the best partner I ever had.
(MMMMM, Elias’s line to Daisy is very close to Kulbir’s “I gripped the last connection I had to the world I knew”, isn’t it?)
Given Daisy and Basira’s relationship, and given how Jon presented the “anchor” as something that would help you to get out, it kind of excludes right away that Basira could potentially go inside to rescue Daisy; she would need her to remain outside of it in order to find her way back to her? Though, with how Basira managed to escape The Unknowing by herself in MAG119, and how she mentioned the events in MAG128, maybe she would be able to find her own way out of this one by herself, too (is she her own anchor, after all?) – but Daisy would probably not be able to leave the coffin if they’re both inside of it.
* Regarding Jon: I wish that Martin could turn out to be his anchor, because this season is breaking my heart, but I feel like their exchange at the beginning of the episode was kind of… making it clear that it couldn’t be him, that he wouldn’t agree to it (or then, Jon would have to push for it, and maybe push too far). On the one hand, Jon has been able to find him twice (MAG124, MAG129) thanks to Spooky Powers, when Martin wasn’t expecting Jon to be able to; on the other hand… they have never been especially close – mostly because Jon isn’t especially close to anyone. They used to look a bit closer from the outside, but I felt it was mostly because Martin hadn’t given up on Jon in season 2 (unlike Tim)? Jon trusted him in season 3, Jon tried to talk to him in MAG102, Jon is currently missing him and worried for him and trying to talk and reach for him (AND I LOVE IT, OKAY), but Jon barely knows Martin and I wouldn’t say there is a deep, stable emotional connection between them at the moment? If it had to be someone, I would be leaning towards Georgie.
* (Or The Admiral, but I doubt that Jon would be willing to involve him. Though: I have trouble picturing him making Georgie come to the Institute, too… He didn’t want to involve her much, making her enter The Eye’s temple would sound very risky in that regard, especially with Peter Lukas currently running it?)
* (I keep thinking about Helen because of the doors and because LISTEN… listen…
(MAG127) BASIRA: And don’t open the coffin.
ARCHIVIST: [HUMOROUS EXHALES] It is addressed to me! [SILENCE] … Yes, alright. … Alright. [CLICK.]
=> if you get inside the coffin through another door, you don’t need to open the coffin! No breaking (implicit) promises! >:D)
* There is still the possibility of Jon’s grandmother, but I didn’t get the feeling that they were especially close when Jon recalled his childhood with her in MAG081…?
* If the “anchor” is an item: there are the tape recorders, though it’s mostly them who seem to find their ways to Jon, these days. There is also the Web lighter, the status of which is currently unknown: did Jon still have it on him during the Unknowing, or had Martin borrowed it to burn statements in MAG118? What happened to it during Jon’s coma? Same as the tape recorders, though: is it the lighter that follows Jon, or Jon who is drawn to it?
(MAG111) GERRY: […] Nice lighter. You a spider freak, then?
ARCHIVIST: What? Oh! Er, n–no. I–I, I never really, uh… I never really thought of it.
* Other contender: the Archives themselves, or the Institute overall?
(I regret even deeper that Basira hasn’t apparently shared with Jon her discussion with Elias, because it implied that Elias still has plans regarding Jon… so if Jon really can’t make it out alone, I wonder whether someone would bulge to save him this time, if things were to derail horrendously. If past experiences are any indication: no, nobody would help him, especially not Elias since Jon was kidnapped for a whole month outside of The Eye’s reach and he only got saved because “Michael” went to finish him, even when The Unknowing was coming up. But. Still.)
Anyway! The lighter made me think again about how it’s not exactly that, but I feel like there is a bit of “Ariadne’s thread helping you through the maze” imagery in the idea of descending into the coffin? Not exactly since it doesn’t seem to be about marking the way back but having something to go back to, but! As I said, a bit. (Fun fact apparently, web strings used by spiders when they go from one place to another can be called “Ariadne’s threads” in French. The more you know.)
- I Can’t Expect Things To Go Greatly In This Series, so: I wonder if even Jon manages to get in and to find Daisy… either she will be either far too gone already and they’ll have to confine her somewhere instead, either Jon will make a mistake resulting in her death – while Basira was working on her way to get her out of it alive. In the latter case, it would definitely cement the fracture between Basira and Jon in such a way that they would both be at fault: Jon would have tried to help but would have broken the interdiction of not opening the coffin; Basira would have wanted to save Daisy but, by refusing to share what she was doing, only nurtured Jon’s eagerness to try to fix things. So yeah. There are many ways it could go very bad, and I have had too many moments of “actually, things are only getting worse, I miss the time when they were less Worse” to hope for how the situation could improve :|
(But maybe it could not be a disaster. Maybe Jon could wait for Basira to come back before trying anything; maybe they would manage to save Daisy; maybe Basira would come back with Simon Fairchild on Elias’s recommendation because he still has a terrible sense of humour, and Jon could take example on how Gertrude stopped the Sunken Sky by throwing Simon into the coffin, neutralizing two threats at the same time. Would make him (rightfully) lose humanity points in Basira’s eyes, though.)
(- Melanie’s bullet was removed, tho!! Which is definitely an improvement, even if she’s currently a wreck.
First was Melanie, now is Daisy… even if the Mission To Rescue Daisy ends in a disaster, maybe trying to get Martin back will come after. Even though we know that Martin has an agenda.)
- If Jon does end up going down into the coffin: I wonder if we will hear him live? Or if he’ll describe what happened afterwards? …………….. or if the scene would switch to Elias describing the events for us. :|||||
- CHEERS!! The Pit (MAG097) had teeth inside and a tongue, so we know that Buried things can bite. That leaves plenty of opportunities for Jon, who *gasps* is still missing a Buried scar, to get it from there.
The Dark also had the creature that can wreck you. The Flesh has plenty of ways to twist you a bit. As for the Lonely:
(MAG125) ARCHIVIST: […] It’s… frustrating, to be honest. I finally feel myself, I feel… focused, and ready – and I find myself basically alone.
(MAG129) ARCHIVIST: [SIGHS] I suppo– … I miss you.
MARTIN: [SNERK]
ARCHIVIST: I’m just…
MARTIN: Lonely.
ARCHIVIST: [SIGHS] Yeah.
Whether it’s part of Elias&Peter’s plan or a nice bonus snack for Peter: the Lonely is already affecting Jon. Slowly completing the “collection”, uh.
MAG130’s title is already out, and MMMMMMM. Biggest plot-twist would be if The Flesh wasn’t involved, uh. (Can we have Melanie back a bit? ;w; Maybe giving a statement about how The Flesh attacked two months ago? ;w;)
#the magnus archives#mag129#tma liveblog#long post/#tma spoilers/#tma season 4#*mag097!jon's voice*#'Is he trying to warn me not to ignore my own metaphorical pit; because if so: what *is* my metaphorical pit?'
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Pokémon Black 2 Randomized Nuzlocke Run [Part 5]
Half the badges means halfway finished, right?
No. No, it never means that.
The squad:
Caspet (Haunter)
Puff (Dratini)
Nessy (Milotic)
Boruto (Ninjask)
Omchomp (Eelektrik)
I’m rooting for you, team.
Hello Pirate Plasma.
One of them has a Watchdog.
Caspet, kill.
Good Caspet.
And so the day is saved! Thanks to... Me and Russell!
Oh, wait, hold off on the exclamation points. Russell is giving the sad backstory talk about how his little sister was given a Purrloin as a gift, then Team Plasma stole it. Cue Russell feeling so sad and helpless, and now he wants to be strong and not helpless, and believes in the power of friendship backing him up.
It’s like Nintendo took every single villain code it could get its hands on and threw it on a good big bro who depends on his buddies.
Aw heck I think I need to have a Rotation Battle with Hearbreaker Charles before the bridge opens up. Also known as that battle type that takes three pokemon. Hoo boy. Okay. Let’s. Let’s try this.
It could and has been worse.
Hey, success. Nice work, Caspet. Sorry Puff gets all the exp from it. He’s smol. He needs it.
Bridge opened up, so that means... new friend time!
Duuuuuuude!
Want.
Hey hey hey hey I caught him!
Now what’re we naming you... Vertex!
Say what you will, Pokemon mook villains are charming as heck with some of their dialogue. You kids would have so much fun larping. Stop bringing real theft into it and have a grand ol’ time.
The Knight Plasma promises to tell me a story about the conflict if I visit their house. I shall do that momentarily. For now, the Pokemon Center calleth.
Okay it’s been a lot of weeks since that last sentence, so I really need to read up a bit and see where I’m at.
Hm.
I’m gonna wander around training stuff. Boruto needs a move that isn’t Leech Life.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IT’S WINTER! THE GAME SAYS IT’S WINTER!
SNOW!
SNOW.
Oh, and I guess I should check that I have Poke Balls.
Yeah, okay, good.
Exploring time.
There’s this hotel on this block that I have zero memory of.
Exploration indicates that’s because there’s nothing of value in it.
We ended up fighting Charles again and now Caspet knows Shadow Ball. I might cry. Thank you, Caspet. Thank you for being alive.
Hope. It beckons.
But that means it’s time for Boruto to have the Exp. Share.
Cool, I don’t care.
Oh, in a battle.
Hoo boy. Fingers crossed.
Sure, let’s do this.
Level 27 Herdier. Not too bad, then.
...It knows Crunch.
That takes Caspet down to almost half, so Vertex can start earning his keep against the Swoobat. Good boy, Vertex, you didn’t die. Yay.
Russell appears and sad talks about former Team Plasma folks trying to do right happen. They are sad and Russell is sad and it’s all very sad.
Aw dang it. Rood offers us a Zorua. We don’t get to take it because it isn’t randomized. So much sadness all in this one building. In a weird way I’m sort of happy to see more of Knight Team Plasma. Some of them really were on N’s side, and some of them really did realize that pokemon could be their friends. It’s an oversimplification, but it’s really sweet.
I can’t go south until I have the town badge, which I can’t get because Clay’s off doing Clay things somewhere.
Gimme something that won’t die, game.
My team is going to be nothing but Electric types by the end. Also lol I forgot to heal I am suddenly much happier that this is a Pikachu.
Pikachu’s new name is Rynalds. Bye forever, Rynalds.
Cofagrigus was also an option.
Welp.
There’s also Exploud. And Alakazam.
Cool, I have a Moon Stone now.
...How the heck am I supposed to train my party. Exp. Share and letting the big kids handle it is the surest path to insanity I can come up with, but I seriously need my team to be useful beyond its top two.
Boruto still doesn’t know anything useful.
You know what he does know now?
Swords Dance.
You are a disappointment to Boruto’s Dad, Boruto. Which I guess is me, in this universe.
I’ve reached the dark grass, so let’s see if there are easier training opportunities here.
Dusknoir! Hey, I had one of you! Flaffy, Bastiodon, Tirtouga, Volcarona
Puff’s going to take the lead and Dragon Rage things to death while I’m next to a healing house. He’s going to need a ton of exp anyway, he might as well contribute to the cause of his friends.
None of you have good moves. Caspet better not die.
...Okay, five minutes into this, do I have any good TMs...?
No. I do not.
We enter the cave for hope of a change in fortune.
!
And it’s a male Ralts!
...Wait. Do I have a Dawn Stone?
I see this theoretically ending very sadly for me.
Caught, though. His new name is Diego and he will be very loved.
. . . . . . . .
-stumbles through the door several months later-
Ultra Sun possessed all my interest and my Nuzlocke ways got put on hold for flying through wormholes. So it’s been way too long, but since this is done over text that’s not too obvious, right?
Oh, and during my off-time, it wasn’t something I looked up thanks to that being against the rules, but I remembered that it’s Caspet’s Poison typing that’s a problem against Psychic. Yay for that brief mystery concluding.
Now where the heck am I.
Right. Grinding and caves and not quite ready to talk to Bianca.
And it’s Summer now, according to the game’s clock. I wish that were true in the outside world as well. It’s cold.
If I had a Dawn Stone, I think I would add Diego to the squad. Omchomp is beloved and etc., but I won’t claim to be horribly attached, and Ralts’ every evolution has a spot in my heart that Pokemon Go can’t fill because I’m not wasting 100 candy on anything less than 93% perfection.
Only as much as I love Gardevoir, Gallade is so cool and I only get to pick one, aaaand... Yeah, okay, nothing’s being swapped out yet. Back to grinding. Back to hoping that Boruto learns literally any STAB attack.
Why does this keep happening. Ah, and this is not something Puff should be anywhere near. Arguably nothing on my team should be anywhere near it. #grinding_problems.
You know, I’m beginning to remember why I wasn’t in a hurry to pick this run back up.
Boruto learns Slash.
Heck, I’ll take it.
Uh oh.
Oooooooh I am become error.
The logic behind this was that Puff’s been in front against Kyurem constantly before Nessy gets switched in, and all it ever uses is Ancient Power. If it had anti-Dragon stuff, it’d be using it, right?
Hoo boy.
Sorry, Puff.
Like. It’s been a while, so I don’t remember much of you, and I’m kind of relieved I’m not stuck with something that takes so long to gain levels anymore, but ow.
K, Vertex goes in and we are running now.
All the way back to a Pokemon Center.
Really, really sorry, Puff.
What am I going to do without Dragon Rage... the one true grind power.
Rynalds, Frill, or Diego. Those are my choices.
In you go, Diego. I would prefer a Gallade, but that doesn’t much matter at this point.
It could be much, much worse. This run started with way worse. This is fine. It’s fine. Absolutely fine. Does not make me dream of Exp. Share that affects the entire team at all.
These are my happy tears. Obviously.
...
See. I thought to myself, “It probably knows Fire Blast.” Then I thought to myself, “Sure it can learn it, but it’s a low level legendary. Speaking from experience, those things have jack for moves. Boruto will be fine.”
Then Boruto was not fine.
Lava Plume.
Oh, and a critical hit for good measure.
I have nothing to say.
But Omchomp is going in the designated survivor box, and I’m not replacing anyone in the current lineup. I’m just. I’m gonna train these four. And. Make that work somehow. It’s too early to get caught up in everything dying during grinding.
Neat, Diego’s cave has Charizard. And Seviper. Bayleef. Probopass.
Vertex could maybe handle being Diego’s training partner... let’s give that a try instead of bloating Nessy’s level even further.
And the first thing a Charizard does is Dragon Rage the 84 health thing.
This continues to be a very long trial.
Back to Autumn.
My son. You shall be the most beautiful ballerina.
Okay, things starting to feel a bit more positive? A bit more like it might all be okay? Yeah! Let’s go! Grind them feet into the field!
Did I know there was Alakazam in the normal grass outside Chargestone? Because there is. And I have a Gardevoir in need of tutelage. Well great, at least now I know where I’m grinding.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I DID THE RANDOMIZER SETTINGS RIGHT!
GENGAR GET!
No more Eviolite for Caspet, which. Well, sure, it stresses me out to only have as much Defense as Caspet really has, but maybe I’ll pick something up along the line that helps with that. You never know.
Back to the grind.
...With the stray thought that this is much less necessary with the four I have. I’d like Vertex over 30, but realistically, Caspet and Nessy are enough to deal with a lot, and Diego’s getting there.
I’ll get Vertex over 30 and hit go on the plot button.
Oh wait. Diego’s only offensive move is Magical Leaf.
Aaaaah, ghosts of Boruto’s past...
Eh, let’s just talk to Bianca.
She says nothing of interest to those who already know you can push Chargestone Cave’s rocks around.
So, I’ve just realized that I can fight Clay now, probably, and because I’m largely making myself sad doing non-plot activities, I’m going to give that a go. Nessy is overleveled and suited for it. I’ll give her a Mystic Water. Vertex can carry the Exp. Share for a bit.
And down we go.
I have no memory of this place. It is dark.
Better, but I think I like the previous games’ setup of this gym more. Aesthetically. I hated moving around it, but it was all very pretty. This has too much dark to roll with the pretty much.
Okay, first fight! Let’s see if I should actually be trying this.
First and only pokemon is a level 31 Baltoy. I think we’re good.
Geez. There are too many platforms here. Gym, I am disappoint.
Nessy.
Carry.
First out is a level 31 Krokorok. One Water Pulse downs it. Following that up is a level 31 Sandslash, and in the spirit of optimism and needing exp, Diego’s going to try to Magical Leaf it into submission. One isn’t enough, and Clay uses a Hyper Potion on his next turn. Next Magical Leaf after undoing that does the trick, and I think we’re bringing out Nessy next to contend with the Excadrill.
The level 33 Excadrill.
Nessy’s 38, if I haven’t mentioned it this post.
...Wow. One Water Pulse later, and we’re done with Clay.
Yaaaaay.
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How to Fill that Witchy Cup
I’ve been asked a lot lately how to keep the witchy vibes alive and well when you are busy with everything else in life. Whether it is kids, work, school, friends, or any other kind of time-consuming tasks that seem to take away from our time to connect with the universe, you need to keep that spiritual part of yourself alive and well.
Now, before I go into my own little tips for keeping your internal Witchy Cup full and accessible for you (which will immensely help with other stressors you encounter), I should add that these are not Earth-shattering tools and tips. They are simple things you can do every day, and they are fairly mundane. How did I figure them out? Through experience!! I am a student, business-owner, and mom to two little witchlets that take up all of my time. On top of that I have a house to take care of, and a husband that I do in fact want to spend time with (shocker, I know). These little activities are quick ways that have subtley helped me throughout the day WHILE I get things done. Seriously, efficient witch here.
Anyways, enough rambling! Here are a few things I do when I need that little release/boost of connection with my witchy self:
1. Light some candles.
I know this seems like a no-brainer, and it is!! Almost every witch (not all, as I have encountered witches that are afraid of having open flames around) feels a heck-of-a-lot better when candles are burning. This is not without reason! On the one hand, the glow given off by candlelight and the small flame is very soothing to our minds and bodies. It gives off a feeling of safety and warmth. Comfort and ease. When I light candles, it actively helps release the tension in my chest that is basically a constant.
The other reason for this, energetically speaking, is due to the FIRE. Fire is one of the basic elements that makes up this world, and it is known for its purification properties. Burning a candle in a room not only provides a source of light and comfort, it also helps purify the energy in its given space. It quite literally clears the air, so to speak. Especially when you use candles that have eco-friendly wicks, and ones that create less soot (shameless plug: soy candles in my shop have this kind of wick, and soy wax is known for creating little to no soot).
I have used candles in situations where the tension/emotion in my home was running high, and we were all crabby and mean toward one another. After a few minutes of candles burning, the house felt brand new! It will help clear your brain space a bit, as well, so this is my number one tip for filling your Witchy Cup. As a bonus, who doesn’t feel mystical with candles burning everywhere?!
2. If possible, open your windows!
This goes right along with clearing your area, and connecting with an element. Just like you could with candles! Now, this one is another one that is more of a home activity, as I imagine you can’t open windows in a cubicle or other office environment. However, the fresh air will help you feel renewed, and clear away any stagnant energy that might be clumping up in your area and making you feel a little overcrowded.
3. Take a moment for three deep breaths.
Hmm...it’s almost as if these tips are common ways to help with anxiety and other negative emotions! There’s a reason for it. A lot of these problems and feelings are caused by pent up energy and emotion that needs an outlet, or by an increase in negative thoughts that we are holding on to. A third cause is that we aren’t able to properly open the proper channels within ourselves, such as keeping our third eye free and clear, or our connection with the universe clean and stable. (That’s not to say there isn’t medical evidence to support conditions such as anxiety and depression, as someone with diagnosed severe depression, these are simply tools in the toolbox to help with the daily struggles of these very real conditions). Blocked chakras, stuffed down emotions, and pent-up energy are all common reasons for negative experiences and manifestations. Cleansing is a necessary part of life, witchy or no.
If possible, place your feet flat on the floor (you can do this sitting in a chair, standing), inhale to a count of three, hold for a moment, and release to a count of three. Hold for another moment before inhaling again, and repeat this process a few more times. If you can, close your eyes and shut out the world for a moment. Put your focus on your inner self for these three breaths, and release the outside world. You won’t be able to help the greater good for anyone else if you aren’t centered and stable within yourself. So take these few short moments to gain your footing again before trying to tackle any obstacles or problems within your day.
4. Take a minute to clean your space, and organize.
Alright, we have all been the person with the messy desk, the messy room, or other work space where the mess just builds up. For some people, this means they haven’t dusted or wiped their space down that day, for others it could be that they literally don’t have any room to work in because their space has been taken over by clutter.
Clutter acts as a physical representation of our minds, and our bodies. If you aren’t able to take the five minutes to pick up your space, in my opinion that only means you need it MORE. It’s similar to the idea that when you least want to meditate, you actually need it the most. It means that it has become an obstacle you are avoiding rather than working through. It will do wonders for you, and if you clean your work space, even just to the point where you feel even a little better and can exist in it, this gives you the chance to take a fresh look at what is troubling you. Once my desk is clean, I like to take a moment with my bullet journal (gasp! Witches have them too!), and lay out the problems in short on paper. By emptying my brain of trying to hold everything in it, I actually am given the chance to use some of that brain power and brain space to figure out solutions to my problems, and I can come back to the others later. They are written down in a safe place, and they aren’t going anywhere. Give yourself some outer as well as inner space to work things out!
5. JOURNAL.
Lovelies, I am a huge advocate of journaling. It is a ritual/work of magick in and of itself. I’ve been doing it as long as I can remember. A lot of people get turned off by it because they aren’t into sitting down and filling a whole page with words. Either they simply don’t have the patience, or they don’t feel comfortable expressing themselves that way. And to that I say:
That’s okay.
Seriously, I know most people think of diary pages filled with words upon words upon words, but journaling in essence is not about the words. It’s about the expression. Similar to how I mentioned in the previous suggestion, journaling is any possible way that you empty your brain of the clutter and put it into a safe space in front of you. I can’t tell you how many problems I have dealt with in this way. And, as soon as it is in front of you, I swear it’s like putting on glasses for the first time and seeing clearly! Things just seem to line up. Emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually, all things benefit from this kind of expression. That’s why bullet journaling has become such a craze as well! The idea behind it is giving yourself a space to hold what your brain is normally trying to juggle. (Sorry, tangent!)
I used to hate calling my notebooks I journaled in a journal or a diary. Because that’s not all they were! They weren’t just journal entries. I called them my “Thought Books” because they were the physical manifestation of whatever was in my brain that needed to be let out. Stories, songs, drawings, journal entries, poetry, doodles, scribbles, flowers and leaves from outside, and notes from friends that I cherished. These were all crucial parts of my life, my mind, and my understanding of the world that needed to be expressed in a safe space so I didn’t have to try and remember them forever without a reminder. Our brains are not perfect, even as wonderful as they are, and we will forget things. Write them down when you can, print pictures, and give yourself something to look back on so that your brain can keep working on new things. Healthy brain!
Expressing your inner thoughts and emotions, whether it be in writing, pictures, poetry, doodles, bullet points, scribbles, stickers, paint, color, or black and white, is like making a magickal mark on the world. In letting yourself breathe, and taking care of yourself, you help the greater good. Surprising and counter-intuitive, I know. But this is a deep truth about our world. Keeping yourself clear of energetic and mental clutter, as well as free of these negative emotions that clog up your spiritual pores and channels, helps the world. If everyone did this, I truly believe the world would be a happier place. So, I don’t care how you do it, witches. Journal. Fill a notebook with your innermost experiences, thoughts, and emotions. This is magick. Pure and simple. You will be amazed at the manifestation and power that comes along with doing this, as well as the spiritual experiences once you are once again open to the universe around us. Activities such as this are forms of ritual, magick, and meditation all on their own. Nothing is witchier than knowing yourself, and helping the greater good through helping yourself.
Okay, so now you might be thinking “What the heck, Lauren? These weren’t witchy tips at all!”
False. These tips are equally as witchy as putting on robes and performing a full ritual on the full moon with a coven.
Being witchy is about more than aesthetic, more than brewing potions and writing spells, divination, or wearing symbols of your faith and spirituality. It is about more than the right herbs, the right stones and gems, or the right words. It is about opening yourself to the universe, the elements, the divine around you and helping the world through your own understanding and application of these principles. Each of us has the power to attune ourselves to the energy and consciousness surrounding us, and help others to do the same by clearing our own inner space to hold others that have not seen how to do so. By keeping ourselves in balance, we hold a small part of the world in balance as well. Now, imagine if everyone did this! These tips are ways help you feel balanced and renewed. Fresh and aware of solutions that may have seemed impossible before. That, my lovelies, is witchcraft.
~Lauren
#witch#witchcraft#witchy tips#witch tips#daily witchcraft#cottage witch#from a fable#craft#potions#spells#anxiety#depression#self care#hearth witch#kitchen witch#green witch#hedge witch#expression#bullet journal#my bujo#bullet journal for witch#witchy bujo#witchy shop#cauldron#goddess#wiccan#wicca#pagan#neopagan#eclectic witch
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Discussion Time: Witchy Tools
When I first started my path as a witch, I did what I think a lot of beginner witches out there do... I spent way too much money on extremely overpriced items that appeared to be necessary witchy tools and to this day haven’t used nearly half of them. I have a few theories as to why we do this, and I’m sure these are collective beliefs.
1. We’re too excited to start in on witchy things to slow down and really research the things that might be useful to us
2. We’re looking for that Aesthetic™ that only certain materials have
3. We had yet to realize that magick is literally all around us, and we have the capability of making anything magickal with the right intent
Sounding familiar? If you’re new to witchcraft or are still stuck in this vicious cycle of spending way too much on items you probably won’t use in your craft, then hopefully these tips will be useful to you.
Tips for gathering materials
🕯️ Do your research - No seriously. Before you decide you want/need an item for your practice, look into why you want it and how you’ll be using it. How does it fit into your beliefs? What will you gain from using it? Is it readily available to you? What might be used as a substitute and are you comfortable using a substitute?
🕯️ Look past the aesthetic - This is what really got me. I bought a lot of items simply because they looked witchy, only to go home and realize I already had an item similar sans witchy vibe. If you find this to be the case, I urge you to use the items you already have and make them magickal. Charge the heck out of them with energy, crystals, moonlight, sunlight, etc. Paint or color them in some way to fit your aesthetic needs.
🕯️ Search around to see if you can get it cheaper - Don’t be afraid to be thrifty. If you’re buying an item online especially, search other sites and other shops to see if you can get an item for less money. A little research can be the difference between a $50 cauldron and a $20 one.
🕯️ Utilize the world around you - Nature has so much to offer us. Not only will you be able to find tools for witchcraft by taking a walk in nature, but it’s a good way to balance yourself and soak up the earth’s lovely vibes. Leaves, sticks, rocks, nuts, bones (careful with that one), etc... You never know what you might find to use in your craft.
🕯️ Invest in making your own items - This can get a little pricey to begin with, but in the long run, homemade items (if budgeted correctly) can save you a lot of money. I invested nearly $100 on natural items like oils and such and Castile soap to make my own body/face/hair/hand soaps a little over half a year ago. In the time since, I’ve only spent $15 on another bottle of Castile soap and I’m still using up my original bottle. Investing for the win.
Places to find items for cheap
Candles/Wax Melters
🕯️ Dollar Store - They have 6 packs of emergency candles for a dollar. They last quite a while and fit into any regular-sized stick candle holder.
🕯️ Dollar Store - You can get 112 tealight candles for $7 USD. At Target you can get 100 for $6.29 USD in white or ivory. If you want different colored candles, buy the white ones, melt them down over a flat electric stove and add a drop or two of food coloring then mix the color around with a toothpick. You could also add a drop of essential oils or herbs for a magick boost. Be careful not to burn yourself!
🕯️ Dollar Store - Wax melters are a dollar, and they are super cute and fit almost anywhere. I don’t suggest getting their scented wax cubes because they are pumped full of chemicals. The only reason I would say to get one package of their wax cubes is to throw out the wax and use the container as a mold to make your own wax cubes.
🕯️ Michaels - Paraffin wax is $27.99 for 9lbs., $19.99 for 4lbs., and $6.99 for 1lbs. Obviously 9lbs is your best deal, but these are overall what I have found to be the cheapest prices around that you can buy in store without having to buy online and pay shipping.
🕯️ Michaels - This is pretty much the only place I know of to get candle wicks for a relatively good price. It is possible to get candle wicks from Amazon for super cheap, I’m just lazy and would rather go to the store and pick up my items that day.
Herbs
🕯️ Fred Meyer - For those of you that know what this is (it’s mostly a West Coast thing, part of the Kroger company so if you look up the Kroger company equivalent nearest you I’m sure they’ll have something similar to this), Fred Meyer has been a life saver for me. They have an organic/natural section where, at most locations, you can buy herbs and other food items in bulk. They will have things like dried fruits, assorted seeds and nuts, rosemary, basil, clove, etc. You can also find aloe vera gel in the natural aisles, along with things like activated charcoal and other supplements in the natural vitamins section. There’s so much down these aisles that can be used for witchcraft that it really has to be experienced in person. No description will do this section of Fred Meyer any justice.
🕯️ Your back yard - Okay, obviously you’ll have to initially buy the plant/seeds in order to grow it, but growing your own herbs is so fulfilling. Plus you’ll be able to charge those little plant babies with other forms of magick while they grow.
🕯️ Your community - Take some time getting to know your surroundings. What plants are native to your area? Which ones are safe to use in your craft? Needled trees grow in abundance in my area along with moss and other temperate plants. Consider altering your style to lean toward what is freely available to you.
🕯️ Antique stores - Some antique stores will have full lavender, stem and all, in bundles that you can buy for relatively cheap. I love going to antique stores because I can usually find other treasures like figurines or metal boxes to store items in. Recently my grandmother went to an antique store and found a whole set of witchcraft items for only $50. There was a cauldron which I knew to be priced around $25-30, a tapestry made of thick cloth that would have been at least $20, an assortment of around 20 spell candles of all different colors, a copper bowl with a triple moon engraving, a vintage tarot deck and a beautiful beaded green tarot bag that they came in. For $50. It was an amazing deal.
Crystals
🕯️ Etsy - TheCornerCrystal; I love this shop. Everything is such a great price and the shop owner is so sweet! I sent a thank you message after my purchase and within 12 hours I had heard back from them and they just had the nicest things to say. I highly recommend checking out what this shop has to offer.
🕯️ Gem shows - Here in the Seattle area there are periodic gem shows where you can find different crystals and stones at awesome prices. I’ve never personally been (yet), but I know quite a few people who only have good things to say about these events.
Miscellaneous Items
🕯️ Joann Fabrics - If you have a sewing machine at your dispense and know how to sew in a straight line, I highly suggest going to Joann Fabrics and searching through the really cheap fabrics to make your own altar cloths/tarot bags/sachets/etc. It is so fulfilling to make these items yourself and use the finished product.
🕯️ Micheals - Jewelry wire is super cheap here. You can use it to create necklace pendants out of your crystals and stones. Don’t forget to thumb up those YouTube tutorials!
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Tell Us about Your Special Interest (or whatever you are into/passionate about)
Introduction by the one &only @march-for-no-reason : In part inspired by the Discord - I’ve noticed that many of us (myself included), have a particular sort of negative experience dealing with people. That is, when they dismiss, shut down, or outright demean your interests which are special and important to you.
So I extend a hand, it’s okay. We’d like to know about your interests, it’s okay to talk about them, and hopefully provide a better picture of how wonderful this can be, and new knowledge you could learn through it.
Introcduction by me: Okay, but this is amazing. I saw the post @auroreamethyste made &I was like oh heck I wish I could do that too !!
Then I saw I was tagged either &I was like OMGOMG YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
Get ready for ,, a lot of ........ Okay I’ll just shut up & make it. Thank you so so much for the tag !! you’ve made my day 65424 times better
Alright !! there we go
1. Introduce them: Gregory Stuart most perfect ever Lake
2. When did you get into them: I remember I started really to go crazy over him in July or August last year, but I believe it was probably earlier. But I first got to know him two years earlier.
3. What drew your attention: uhm, at first it was obviously 21st Century Schizoid Man’s bass part, but when I really really really fell in love with him was when I listened to his voice on tracks like The Sage, The Only Way, Trilogy, In the Wake of Poseidon, his vocal version for Cadence &Cascade, Epitaph and many many many many more.... I mean, seriously just listen to him
4. Favourite thing about them: O___________O oh my god how to pick -- Uhm. Except or like Everything, I’ll pick his passion &love to music - he said that but also you could literally feel it in every piece he had ever performed - music was his passion, it lived in his heart and you could sense how important it is for him. I love it so much, I hope I managed to explain it properly.
5. Is there anything you dislike about them? First instinct it yelling NO and running away, but I need to think of it for a moment. I’m sure there is a thing. The fact he’s dead Uhm I actually found nothing
6. Tell us a little-known fact. Pals, I don’t think there is a thing I know about him that all the smart peeps here don’t know ,, I’ll try to dig in for a thing.
Oh oh actually I have one. Despite efforts to find resources &actual pics, it isn’t a confirmed fact, (I’m still digging for a proof) that while being in King Crimson, there’s a mention that he played the tambourine. Maybe I’ll pick up another fact that isn’t about the parsian rag or ,, anything ,
7. Tell us how much you love them: ???????????????????? HOW well just scroll through my blog &see it urselves
8. Is there anything you associate with them? hmmmmm ... There are several things. I associate him, honestly, a bit with the 19th Century. Idk, something in his personality ? Style? not sure I can point it out, but something in the sensation I get from the 19th Century aesthetic I can associate sometimes to Greg.
9. How do they make you feel? Happy, safe, inspired ,, sometimes really sad... sometimes really calm &sometimes hysterical as fuck, er, what else.... for me he’s a sort of a safe place I can go to when my mind isn’t at its best... squeaky!!! rlly squeaky &happy!! dolphin noises heck yeah ,, But more than everything, just thinking of him makes me smile &it’s the best feeling in the world <3
10. Free Space! Anything you want to add, anything goes! promote them, have they inspired you to do anything?, favourite ________ from them, little things that make you squee….anything. :D
omg?!?! what to add what to add *rip me*
First thing: you should listen to him bc he’s perfect
Random songs rec:
King Crimson:
-Epitaph
-In the Wake of Poseidon
-Cat Food
Emerson Lake &Palmer:
-Take a Pebble
-Lucky Man
-Bitches Crystal
-The Only Way
-Trilogy
-Living Sin
-Still... You Turn Me on
-Closer to Believing
-The Sage
-Change
-Affairs of the heart
-For You
Solo
-It Hurts
-Retribution Drive
-Long Goodbye
-Somone
-Paralysed
-Manoeuvers
-Haunted
I tried to make a short list but if you want more I can add on a different post.
Oh, have a thing:
From here , the actual story of the carpet ,, if you haven’t read it already. Many have no idead what’s the actual story with that carpet &too many wierd ass rumors run around.
I will add some gifs because I love Greg’s gifs and ,, okay
HIS SMILE I CANT
LOOK AT THIS BEAUTY
Damn it I can add all of the gif in the world I just can;t pick
Okay this is last one I pormise
Also,
This , this , this , this , this , this , this , this , this , this , this , this
Examples to this perfect beautiful talented man &my fangirlism
Sorry, I think links work only on computer ¬ on moblie ,, oops
Plus I wanted to post just one link but scrolling throguh my Greg Lake tag
That’s all I can think of for now.
Ah also his guitar is perfect ,, I can’t find a blog post so I will post a pic (sorry if it’s already here!!)
Isn’t it perfect I want one like this &I also want the guitar
Damn it I thought I finished rambling but - How could I forget????
The secret tattoo
Can’t remember its background story &I’m also not sure what is the shape of it, but it’s anyway an asweome tattoo &it’s placed very well for a bass\guitar player.
(Again - pics aren’t mine)
That;s it! &I hope that now for real! :D
An addition from Helen which I 100% agree with: This has caused, at least for me, a tendency to not talk, not talk a lot in fear of oversharing, or feel I should feel bad for allowing something to get so close to my heart. Unhealthy, addiction, it’s bad for you, okay! Okay! WE GET IT!!!…..are just some of the things I’ve experienced. The feelings they give….is so pure, so good, nothing can really compare. I’m supposed to just…wallow in despair, separated from my light? That can’t be right. I hope this can demonstrate some of that.
A small addition from me: I find it painful how ignortant &nasty can people be. I never understood those people - seeing others talk about what’s important for them is such a great &pure thing &I love seeing how happy does the thing make them!!
Okay.... I think I’m done rambling here. I’m sorry it took me so long to answer, I just needed it to be perfect.
Every time I found another thing to add and it lasted forever and it is absolutely not a passive agressive reference to someone who was supposed to release their autobiography years ago so it lasted for hours.
Oh my god I’m so excited this is like the best thing that happened to me at the last weeks I can’t believe how happy wiritng this post made me!!! Oh my god I can’t remember being this happy for w e e k s fuckckckckkkkkk aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Bonus: a small holler by me, thanks to @moveslikekeithrichards after this
Should I tag other peeps? Idk if you were tagged, @my-space-and-all-within but I honestly thought of you when I looked at the questions.
Also, I can’t remember if you were tagged @clearthroughtheclouds , but I thought of you as well :3
I saw many were tagged, forgive me if i tag someone twice.
Ofc you can do it only if you want to :D &also sorry if you were tagged already I probably forgot
(P.s: I’m so fucking proud of this post I’m in tears omg)
#greg lake#tag thingy#jigojojsogjibofd#its the best tag thingy i ever did#ever eve ever ever#!!!!!!!!!!!!@!$@%$@!@!$@!$$@!#i should shut up &publish it already
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Monthly Musings: May
Welcome to May, friends!
Boyfriend & I are still wading through the deep layer of chocolate we accumulated over the Easter holidays. We have chocolate bunnies coming out of our ears, chocolate eggs all over the house, bars & anything small-ish set up in front of the TV for some movie snacking. All of this is to say... will you come over to eat chocolate with us? We’re going to a wedding in less than two weeks and would be extremely grateful. We’ll even give you some to bring home. You will? K, thanks.
No, seriously though, can we talk weddings for a second? How the heck do you figure out what to wear? Do you go floor length or knee length or even that small bit higher? Then there’s the whole shoe situation. How do you find heels that are a) perfectly cute b) match your dress c) not too high and d) comfortable enough to wear for the entire day. Please, send help.
The offering for the month of May is below. I hope you find something to take away with you, be it a new recipe or an itch to get travelling or both. I’ll be over here fretting about dressing for a wedding. Enjoy!
This little space that I occupy on the internet turned 7 years old at the end of April. Seven whole years of rambling online about things I’ve baked & places I’ve been. Honestly, I use this space as a kind of therapy session, & I love every second of over-sharing. Thank you for being here! Last year I made this triple chocolate birthday cake to celebrate, but this year Boyfriend & I celebrated in a more casual way with some delicious jam doughnuts. Here’s to another wonderful year!
It’s official: we’ve finally locked in our holiday plans after the great failure that was Montreal. We love Italy, & really, can you ever get bored of it? This time round we’ll be hitting up Tuscany, focusing on some smaller villages I’ve never ventured out to before. The plan is Pisa - Florence - San Gimignano - Siena - Castellina in Chianti - Bologna. The stuff of dreams!
Related: Part II of our Italian Adventures hit the blog last week & it is all about the beautiful city of Bologna! If you’re wondering how we can keep going back to the same spot & falling ever more in love with it, you’ve obviously never visited. Bologna is everything we love about a city: quaint, romantic, quiet, relatively untouched by tourism, and filled with amazing restaurants, markets, & bars. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the guide!
A new month means a new Food in Jars Mastery Challenge! May is all about berries & I’m excited to see what news skills I learn this month round. Boyfriend is a berry addict, so I’m sure he’ll be thrilled with whatever I whip up.
Keeping in line with our recent efforts to produce less waste, we’ve switched to bamboo toothbrushes. These are the exact ones we have & they are totally adorable. When finished, you just remove the bristles & pop the stick into the compost bin. It feels good!
How on earth am I so late to the Chef’s Table table (terrible pun intended)!? Why did I wait so long? We are loving every single episode and slowly but surely inching our way along to ‘Volume 4 - Pastry’ and I am living for it.
I’ve been compiling a master list of recipes for using up any sourdough discard you may have lying around. As in, the only list you will ever need to turn to. Am I the only one intrigued by such a collection? I’ve been testing a whole bunch of recipes from around the web & tweaking until they are juuuust perfect for our tastes. Yes, you can definitely expect a variation of Izy Hossack’s Sourdough Brownies to be in there. I can’t wait to share!
Over the past few weeks I’ve been trying to spend less time on my phone. I hated the way my thumb automatically opened Instagram whenever I picked up my mobile, because really - does Instagram make anyone feel good about themselves, ever? I’ve taken to hauling around a book with me at all times recently, & I feel a million times better. It’s good to step back every once in a while to gain some perspective - does it really matter to me what so-and-so had for breakfast on the other side of the world? No and nope. Related reading: The Instagram Aesthetic is Over.
Friends, I just recently saw Cruel Intentions for the first ever time. Where have I been living all this time - under a bloody rock? It’s so fantastically ‘90s and I truly hope Boyfriend gets it for my birthday so I can add it to my collection of cheesy movies - my favourite of which will always be Notting Hill. No need to be jealous, you can come around to watch them whenever you want.
Our long read of the month: The Haunting of 657 Boulevard. Boyfriend linked me to this and I honestly couldn’t stop reading it. The thing that freaks me out about it is that it could literally happen to anyone, anywhere, and there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of help/support from locals or the police.
We had our vegan friends over for dinner last month. We made roast veggie tacos with all the vegan trimmings - salsa, guac etc - but I just couldn’t find it inside myself to make a vegan dessert. Barring that one time years ago when I made vegan banana bread, I’ve never baked a vegan dessert. Vegan butter, egg substitutes etc just aren’t up my alley. Do you know any good vegan desserts? I’d love to pull out all the stops & surprise them the next time they come over.
Boyfriend & I had our first ever proper Easter dinner together this year. We breakfasted with family (hi Mom!), lounged around all day, and then pulled out all the stops for a romantic Easter dinner for two. Slow cooked pork shoulder, cheesy mashed potatoes, a side of roasted veg, and a Lindt bunny for dessert. Honestly, it was amazing.
An oldie but a goodie: Ham & Gruyere Breakfast Rolls. Think pillow-y soft dough, filled with an extra gooey helping of bechamel sauce, grueyere cheese, and smoked ham. The breakfast of champions.
I think that’s all for today, thanks for stopping by!
Until next month, friends.
Vicki xo
R E L A T E D P O S T S
April // March // February // January // December // November
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Atomic Blonde thoughts-that-also-kinda-turn-into-synopsis-with-critique from a bi woc
Overall: - Charlize Theron plays an excellent badass again - unnecessary Death, but arguments can be made that it wasn't for as nefarious a reason as some are portraying (still beyond fucked!) (and also still with HIGH trigger rate so pls be safe my lil noodles) - am holding out for a Twist sequel for Twist Sequel purposes but also for the directors and producers to redeem themselves - 8 0 s S Y N T H P O P What we saw in trailers: Charlize Theron, Lorraine Houghton, wayy bisexual, pulverizing a bunch of white dudes (rather creatively as well), whose line of work gets those close to her (her lady lover) hurt What i saw in the movie: Charlize Theron, Lorraine Houghton, wayy bisexual, pulverizing a bunch of white dudes rather creatively, whose line of work gets those close to her (her lady lover) hurt, 8 0 s S Y N T H P O P The action: incredible. Charlize Theron did all her stunt work and the scenes were done very excellently in my opinion just because it was very... real? I'm not sure if i'll explain this right. But like when Lorraine going against multiple guys, it isn't the whole "wait until she's done fighting that one before i attack" like she would get overwhelmed if she hadn't already pummeled one before moving on to the next. She was incredibly creative in her weapon types and uses. The weapons with silencers didn't sound like Star Wars weapons going "pew pew!" Everyone was t i r e d after beating the shit out of each other! Like there were attacks from both sides that wouldn't work because they were weak, coughing, wincing, weezing, bleeding, all that. Looks: well first it was rockin to see 80s punk rockers again, so nice. AND ALSO THE MUSIC. THE AURAL AESTHETIC WAS GREAT. My dudes it's bloody as heck. The creativity in weapons extends to her wardrobe and that was so dope because those are her tools: badassery in fighting and style going hand in hand. Lorraine looks DISGUSTING when she gets beat up; her hair is a mess, makeup no longer visible under the blood and bruises and swelling. She's not the unrealistic killer woman that men have made as pristine and pretty all the time and that was great to see hollywood show that in a woman. Diversity/Representation: Pretty damn white. There is a person of color, a woman, a lesbian woman! But still in singular which is wack and outdated and i'm tired of it. The main character, a woman, is bi which is GREAT (i am partial of course) but once again, we're left in single digits. I am tired enough to allow the benefit of doubt that a majority of the male character's sexual orientations were not addressed and therefore technically can't write them off as straight.................. but i mean... Lorraine's bisexuality and wlw relationship was not made into a big to-do with her associates and colleagues. It just Was, if you get me. Which was nice! They were gay together without commentary on it being wrong/immoral/hot/whatever. When fighting, the men never sexually harassed or taunted her (i.e comments about 'liking feisty ones' and any comments about coercion and sexual assault). There are more comments after SPOILERS on this down below! Plot: fairly standard for these intelligence-agency movies where it's more focused on the what's-happening rather than why. I mean they address that in the end, about 'not even remembering what it's about' and all that. But pretty bland. However! There were some great twists! Somewhat predictable, depending how into the story you are i guess, but good twists! Also the fact that they didn't make Lorraine the emotional raving widow after finding out her dude lover was killed. They didn't make her intensity stem from mourning a guy, or that her ferocity was because of some guy; somebody is killing operatives, there is a mole, people are after her, and she has work to do Acting: great. I really thought all the characters that were established were portrayed throughout the entire movie. Lorraine is hardened from all the shit she's seen and been through, SMART AF, dry and witty as hell, confident as hell, but also vulnerable because she still has/will go through shit (more on this later under SPOILERS !) Percival is played douchey throroughly. There are some wisecracks and moments of humor that give him some likability but he doesn't lose the doucheiness (more later!) Delphine is a young naive woman but earnest and ambitious and is played through and through. She's not written/portrayed as useless or helpless like the comments i've been seeing say. She's out of her depth but can still make attackers struggle. She also knows she wanted to do the right thing but also is aware that she went about it in a way that's out of her league (there's also a really fucking annoying thing about what was written in her Naive personality that i discuss more later) Atomic Blonde was quite flawed. Duh. The plot was so very thin, could be summed to 4 words and yet wasn't all that clear at times? It was so white. Shocker. The diversity and representation was reduced to tiny single digits: one (1) person on color; one (1) lesbian; one (1) bisexual; two (2) women (or i guess technically three are actually on screen in some sort of focus). I enjoyed the wlw for obvious reasons, but i still had to contend with the Male Gaze aspects. Like Charlize Theron was one of the producers of the movie but there were scenes that we all know were also for men to enjoy *sprains eyes from rolling* i do enjoy that Delphine's character was initially a man in the graphic novel but they made her a woman. SPOILERS Right. So. The trailer shows us Delphine getting sexually involved with Lorraine and then later to be personally/romantically involved: 'everyone that gets close to you gets hurt' and a person attacks from behind. So we are expecting another lesbian death to add to the Trope Toll. And we do. She is strangled in lacy undergarments by a male in her bedroom area (she also was listening to music through earphones while she is expecting an attack like ??? That level if stupidity and naivety was not deserved. She fucking works for French Intelligence, they wouldn't hire a moron). So all this obviously enraged me but as someone who is not a lesbian, i can't imagine how traumatic this can be for y'all and i'm sorry that hollywood did you dirty like this again. Delphine was a woman confident in her sexuality and also wearing underwear around was rather commonplace. HOWEVER the story could have still flowed and ended superbly if Delphine wasn't killed in the triggering way she was, or ended up alive (I seriously thought she would since there had been several twists in the story already and i'm still kinda holding out for her making a surprise-return). She was prepping the photo proof of Percival's backstabbery, was then attacked, fought back and injured Percival (EXCELLENT stab, fuck i was so happy for a moment) and fought to the end, I will say this though: Delphine's death wasn't for shock factor, it wasn't BY A LONG SHOT the most gruesome death, it wasn't because she was lesbian, it wasn't because Lorraine is bi, it wasn't because she was a woman, etc. A lesbian didn't die to make the story more gripping or whatever. She died because she was someone close to the main character (which, like, damn do i stay glad the character was a woman or do i wish it was another man killed off, like??) Once again though, the story could have progressed, ended, and seriously improved if Delphine didn't die. Percival that limdick roach fuck. James McAvoy played that through and through. Lorraine sees through his (easily believable) façade of mainstream douchey behavior and carelessness and whatnot. She knows she can't trust him further beyond the Don't Trust Anyone rule. While awful, his awfullness didn't really exceed beyond. Like he double crossed almost everyone the entire movie. Big whoop. There wasn't anything about his character that was extraordinarily evil ufeelme (save for how the murder scene played out). He just kept sending people after Lorraine and was fairly standard trash. Lorraine is sneaky and smart af. Charlize did a spectacular job playing the armored main character that's resourceful and strong as all-get-out. She didn't take shit from anyone, was portrayed both dignified and sexual rather than having to be one or the other. She was gritty and not interested in looking good for anyone but herself, but Charlize was able to add vulnerability very well. Small things like after a massive guns-n-fists fight, a dude pulls out a double-edged knife and you can see a flicker of panic coz she's fucking tired and hand-to-hand with knives is harder than guns. She also cuddles with Delphine after they have sex! Then big things like having a moment to grieve after finding Delphine. She had, to whatever depth or extent, developed feelings for Delphine and so yet again a person she cared for is gone. And we get to see this ultra-composed, efficient, brutal badass allow herself to feel. And then she goes after Percival with a renewed vigor and kills him brutally after all the shit he put her through and she avenges Delphine. Overall again: - hollywood refuses to surprise me - 7/10 - probs wouldn't see it again, like buy-my-own-ticket again, but would not be opposed to seeing blonde Charlize Theron kick ass in heels to Duran - still down for seeing non-shamed, not-overly-sexualized-for-men wlw
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* / and so the heavens descend upon us