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#And the episode was not new anymore either lol
chocopinda · 2 years
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Fuokka offers you stolen flowers wdyd
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lilyginnyblackv2 · 1 year
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Buddy Daddies - Episode 12 -SPOILERS! Family? - Let’s Talk About That Photo Scene!
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A lot of people found this moment a bit odd. Kazuki and Rei look at each other (faces seeming a bit frowny) and Rei asks, “Family?” This question does seem a bit odd doesn’t. After all, they’ve been a family for 10 years, Rei even told his father that he wanted to become a true family with Kazuki and Miri, so why this response to a photo?
Well, let’s rewind a bit! Right before this moment we have this:
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Miri standing in the middle of Kazuki and Rei and a little in front of them. This is their usual picture setup:
In Episode 9 for her Field Day Gold Medal Win:
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In Episode 12 for her Daycare Christmas Party:
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In Episode 12 (Bulletin Board) for her Junior High School Graduation:
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This is their family photo setup and dynamic for pictures. And as Miri has gotten older, they’ve also placed a bit more distance between themselves and her. This makes sense. They are Miri’s papas, yes, but they are still papas and she is still an awkward pre-teen girl in junior high school. So, there may have been times when she felt she wanted a bit more space between them all. Also, as children age in Japan, skinship - physical affection - tends to lessen as well. So, as she got bigger and they didn’t need to hold her as close anymore, the distance in their photos got bigger.
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So, in more recent years it seems like they may have gotten used to standing a bit farther apart from themselves and Miri in family photos. So, Miri’s insistence that they need to scoot together more, and Kazuki just being like, “It’s fine like this.” And then her insistence that it isn’t, then kind of makes the two of them look at each other. They are a bit confused now, because it has gone against what they’ve gotten used to.
Rei also tends to express his thoughts, especially if he is confused or uncertain about something, in more limited ways (single words, parroting, etc.). So, him questioning Miri, himself, and Kazuki here when it comes to what they consistute as “family” in regards to taking photos together just comes out as:
“Family?”
Then Kazuki acts like his usual self and goes all in:
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And this is the result of their new family photo set up:
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At least, for Miri’s high school years and as long as she is using a selfie stick, lol. But, much like everything else in the show, there is a focus here on change. As Miri enters different stages of her life, their family, it’s dynamic, and even how they do things like take photos and pose - all of that will continue changing, with Kazuki and Rei smiling right there beside her.
Before, Kazuki and Rei were on either sides of her - protecting her. But she is teenager now. She has more independence and won’t need that same level of protection and looking after. So we see her off on her own a bit, while Kazuki and Rei finally connect on a physical touch level that they’ve never done before.
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Like, that’s practically a hug (and Miri looks quite pleased about that, lol). It’s almost like another development for Kazuki and Rei too, another level for them to move on to and get used to (obviously, Rei isn’t quite used to it yet, he tends to take a bit more time to adjust). It’s fun to think about how their family photos will grow and change as Miri ages, if she gets any significant others herself, has any kids, etc. There structure and dynamic will just keeping evolving and changing. 
The full version of SHOCK plays during this whole 10 years later sequence, and the lyrics really do match up with this. 
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“Let’s live our lives, loving and being loved.”
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lurkingshan · 3 months
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Cherry Magic Episode 11
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WE ARE BEGINNING TODAY WITH A PRIMAL SCREAM BESTIES!!!
Okay now that that's out of our system, let's talk about the anti-episode 11 of doom that this glorious show just delivered to us. If you, like me, are both an OG Cherry Magic fan and a Dark Blue Kiss TayNew girlie from way back, you will understand the depth of my satisfaction at seeing these two particular actors playing these two particular characters and delivering a love scene of that caliber. I never thought in my wildest dreams I would be so blessed by this drama. I am verklempt.
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And it is extra sweet because the lead up to this consummation was so excellent. Achi and Karan managed to turn this temporary separation into a way to strengthen their relationship by working on their communication, and every moment of it was so sweet. They have grown leaps and bounds with their comfort and trust in each other. Karan was an ideal partner to Achi as he took on this new work challenge, and Achi has gotten so much better at reciprocating affection, stating his feelings out loud, and making Karan feel secure. I loved the way Karan gave him smart advice for bonding with his new coworkers, that Achi did so well with the assignment, and that Achi even found the courage to come out to his colleagues. And he did it all without leaning on his mind reading powers at all! He has grown so much and he doesn't need them anymore.
After weathering all of that, it made perfect sense that this was the moment for them to deepen their relationship and say goodbye to Achi's powers forever. I loved Karan's confidence that they were ready for this; his thirst for Achi has been present the whole time, but he has not been in a rush to get to physical intimacy even with the powers between them. He wanted it to be right, and he found his moment. Achi clearly felt the same, because "I would regret not loving you" has got to be the most romantic thing that has ever come out of his mouth. They're in love, your honor! The joy radiating from both of them after they slept together is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, and I am just floating on a cloud thinking about how happy they are and how much they deserve it.
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Some other stuff happened in this ep, too, I guess? I liked it all but Karan and Achi really booted it out of my mind... Oh right, Jinta and Min were also here demonstrating A+ supportive partner behavior, and we love to see it. Achi's new office gang was delightful. And Pai and Rock! I think I like where they are landing with this story for them. I liked that they gave Pai a properly nuanced reaction to Rock's confession. She was clearly touched by the gesture but she was not swooning in that scene, she did not jump into his arms, she continued to hesitate (which he saw), she asked if she could take the bear and not him lol. She likes Rock but she doesn't really reciprocate his feelings. I expect that next week they will end this on a somewhat open note, with her agreeing to try dating but putting up some boundaries, or even saying she't not sure and needs more time. I don't expect her to reject him, but I don't think there will be a full HEA either, because it's not where she is emotionally. I hope they'll leave room for interpretation re: how it all works out for them.
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anonymityisfunwriter · 3 months
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New to tumblr, please bear with me😭🙏 I love Bucky x sunshine fics and read them religiously on ao3! Wondering if u could do one where Peter/sunshine are hanging out a lot bc he feels safe with her/looks up to her. Bucky is craving sunshine’s attention so he flirts with sunshine but she just doesn’t really pick up on the ques, and the team is teasing them bc they’re all assuming she understands. Bucky progressively flirts more obviously to try to get her to notice but it’s not working.
AN - I wasn't sure if I answered this ask already (I think it might be a duplicate, but I didn't remember and I had another idea lol). Anyway, I always get comments comparing Sunshine to ATLA and, as always, you're so right. Thank you for the ask and I hope you enjoy! 💛
Training
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"Hey!" Sam whines. "Aren't you two supposed to be training right now?"
You and Peter glance at each other, then at Sam, "We are training."
"You're quite literally not." Sam frowns, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're sitting there watching TV."
"We're watching an informative TV show."
"You're watching a cartoon."
"No, no, the main character has powers just like me, so we're taking notes," you explain.
Sam gestures to the table covered in snacks in front of you, "There's not a single note in front of either of you."
"We're taking mental notes," you sheepishly chuckle. "Just watch and you'll see!"
Sam doesn't really need anymore convincing than that. He plops himself down on the couch beside you and Peter. "Maybe just one episode, but if anyone asks, this was all your idea."
"Deal."
Several Hours Later...
"We've been waiting in the training room for hours! What are you guys doing?" Steve demands.
"Training."
AnonymityIsFun Masterlist Grumpy Sunshine Series Anon's 1K Celebration
As always, let me know what you think! Reblogs and comments are always appreciated! 💛
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destiel-wings · 3 months
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I hope you don't mind me asking, but what are your thoughts on angel x buffy? :)
Hii i don't mind, thank you for asking 😊
So, I used to love bangel sooooo much when i first watched the show. I was 100% into it, (with a crush for Boreanaz too) and i cried so much for them in s2 and when Angel left the show in s3. And I truly, sincerely, unironically hated Spike too (I thought he was a great character but i just loved hating him, you know? Lol). When we saw Spike's dream of kissing Buffy I swear i felt nauseous.
... and then they aired Fool for love.
By the end of that episode I was left in utter existential crisis in front of my tv because i felt my whole world shift. There was a part of me that still liked Angel and Buffy, but there was also this new part that wanted her to be with Spike now.
So anyway, that's when i decided to switch teams and i became team spuffy, and for as much as i had been obsessed with bangel before, it was nothing compared to how deep i was caught into the Buffy and Spike relationship. I never looked back. They were just much more complex and real and compelling. And it made me reevaluate Angel and her relationship with him too. Angel never really knew Buffy, always treated her like a child, and let's be honest--and that's something that hit me only years later when I got older--she was a child when they were together. He was spying on her and falling in love with her when she was just fifteen years old and he was a 240-year-old vampire who had been sired at like 26 years old, and they got together when she was 16/17 and he broke up with her when she turned 18... I don't think that's something the writers did intentionally of course, because (as everything else in buffy) it's just meant to be taken as a metaphor for the ideals and struggles and the intensity of drama of a girl's first love, but it still comes off as icky.
And before anyone comes at me, I know spuffy isn't healthy either, but that's kinda the point and the appeal. First of all, it's fiction and a metaphor, and secondly, it's about two broken people that are supposed to be mortal enemies but are actually two sides of the same coin, so different and yet so much the same, who can understand each other as a whole, light and darkness, in a way that no one else ever could, who yes, hurt each other along the way, but whose love saved them from the deepest darkness, ultimately bringing them into the light.
This is what spuffy is to me, and this is why i think it's not only the superior ship, but one of the best ships of all time (thee best, until i saw destiel, now they're sharing the podium).
So anyway, to get back to your question, the moment i became obsessed with Buffy and Spike (and i have been ever since 2005, lmao, they've been my first real obsession, alongside btvs, until spn and destiel) Angel sort of became the enemy 😅. And I hated him so so so so so much when he appeared in 7x21 and kissed Buffy (pure fanservice, but okay) and brought the medallion that ultimately killed Spike. So i spent years very maturely holding my vendetta against Angel (like, rooting for every demon that fought against him when I watched Angel, lmaoo). In most recent years, I've (sort of) made my peace with the character, after rewatching Angel. I mean he's still the enemy (of course, duh!! Who am i if not eternally petty??) but i appreciate him in his own show.
So i don't ship Angel and Buffy anymore, but I can understand why someone would (as i myself used to), and more importantly, i respect other people's right to ship them.
If we're joking, I'm going to insult Angel and keep saying he's the enemy. But on a mature serious note, I think Buffy and Angel were a great first love (for Buffy), but they were supposed to be just that, the impossible teenage girl's dream of a first love, eternal but doomed to end and break your heart.
I think Angel was much more well paired with Cordelia (which is something I'd never think I'd say), and i found myself shipping them so much when I rewatched the show. It felt so much more mature and profound than what we saw with Buffy and Angel (and that's probably due to the fact that we got slow burn for them - as we did for Buffy and Spike- and could actually see the feelings growing, while Buffy crushed on Angel in the pilot and she was madly in love (as teenagers do) in 0.5 seconds for no apparent reason than the fact that he was hot and mysterious.
So when I say the kiss in btvs 7x21 makes zero sense, I'm not just talking about spuffy, but also about cangel. I feel like both characters parted ways and lived on in their own shows to grow and become their own persons, developing other relationships that were more adult and meaningful, and that kiss was just disrespectful for both (but anyways, it doesn't change anything).
I have so many thoughts about all this honestly, and I hope I haven't gone too much off the tangent with my reply, but i couldn't just give you a simple reply because that would've had to be something like "angel is the enemy and i don't like bangel" but as you can see my thoughts are a little more complex than that 😅
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m00nsbaby · 9 months
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Violent things.
Steven Grant + Marc Spector + Jake Lockley x F! reader. Part I. (Out of 3.)
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Tags & warnings. Lots of talks about death, violence, abuse. Inspired by Moon Knight's 5 episode x Corpse Bride. (+ this one is for my delulu girls since the reader is a bit delulu lol.)
Word count. 6.2k
Summary.
"Oh man!" What an interesting accent. "Wow, these meds are really amazing," he whispered as he tried to catch his breath. Hah, he did that too. "I thought I was dead." He hadn't even looked at you properly; he was just suddenly relieved to be in the presence of someone else. "Oh, no," you cleared your throat. "You are dead."
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Each person had a different 'other side.'
Except you. Or well, technically, you had it, but it had been a long time since you'd been in it. In fact, apart from the bright colors, you couldn't remember much of it.
You'd been in excessively bright representations of what people imagine as 'heaven,' parties with mead, and you'd even tried candies that would have turned your tongue green if you'd eaten them in life.
Although, of course, that's how the most common ones looked; there were stranger ones too. People seeing themselves in their tiny cat-filled apartment or wandering the halls of their old school. Either way, it was fine because it was only temporary while they reached their destination.
Everyone except you.
And a few others who had the misfortune of lacking emotional intelligence even in death.
Literally.
It's okay, though. Over the years, you got used to this 'life' and the idea that you would never see him again, although getting used to it didn't mean you stopped missing him.
Stopped thinking about him.
Stopped wanting him back.
Anyway, work kept you busy because, yes, even in death, you couldn't escape the damn bureaucracy. You didn't have a real name for your boss because she also looked different to each person; to you, her face was very similar to that of an old friend, even though you couldn't specify which one.
She took pity on you somehow. She explained your situation, although it took you a lot of energy and time to understand it. She did everything possible to keep you from becoming one of those lost souls who simply roamed around here. She also pulled you back onto the path when you began to stray.
"There are 3."
You frowned.
"What do you mean, there are 3?"
"There are 3." she shrugged as you walked through the corridors of the psychiatric void. This was a new scenario, and your clothes were different too. Something more modern, you didn't recognize it as something from your time.
Yes, a few years weren't that long, but fashion moved disgustingly fast in the world of the living.
"Do you think you can handle them?" Should you mention to the boss that she looks like a chatty hippo, or is that the kind of thing you keep quiet to maintain good working relations?
You bit your lip and then nodded.
"Good luck." Her mocking smile was never a good sign.
Before you could object, she had disappeared. You took a deep breath; those were funny expressions that had stuck with you even now that you didn't have to breathe for real.
Your shoes echoed in the empty halls as you headed for what you assumed was the main entrance.
The door opened by itself.
Or rather, it opened before you even extended your hand.
"Whoa." You muttered, your eyes widening at the guy in front of you.
A rebellious curl fell over his forehead, and his huge brown eyes were even wider in surprise. He was dressed appropriately for the situation; it looked like a uniform for a psychiatric ward patient, and although it was loose-fitting, you would swear you could see his muscles from miles away.
And he, on the other hand, practically screamed in your face.
"Shit!" He jumped in place, bringing a hand to his chest as he laughed in disbelief.
Oh yeah, there was a bloodstain right on his chest. Nothing to worry about, not anymore at least; once you died, you technically couldn't die twice.
Although finding a functional washing machine in any of the many 'beyonds' was trickier than it seemed. If this Marc Spector guy was in the same situation as you, it was quite likely that he would spend the rest of eternity with that stain on his clothes.
Unless the boss offered him a job.
It would be wonderful to have him here forever.
Were you overthinking? Probably.
"Oh man!" What an interesting accent. "Wow, these meds are really amazing," he whispered as he tried to catch his breath.
Hah, he did that too.
"I thought I was dead." He hadn't even looked at you properly; he was just suddenly relieved to be in the presence of someone else.
"Oh, no," you cleared your throat. "You are dead."
Your voice sent shivers down his spine, and when he finally bothered to look at you more closely, you could see a touch of fear in his expression.
You were used to it by now, so why did it hurt this time?
"You're joking."
"Maybe if there was someone else to see me lying to you, it would be more fun, don't you think?" You tried to joke, but the poor guy seemed on the verge of an emotional breakdown.
That was a good sign; maybe you could keep him after all.
Marc pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes as he tried to regain his composure.
"Do you expect me to believe this is the afterlife?"
"No, not the afterlife, an afterlife. This one is yours, well, for now, this is the path."
He fell silent, his chest rising and falling with heavy breaths as if his body still needed oxygen.
You waited.
And waited.
And waited.
But he never said anything, so you caught his attention by clearing your throat.
"Welcome, dear… traveler," you murmured as you clumsily searched for your notes in your pockets.
Ah, there they are.
"I will be in charge of…" You continued reading. "Guiding you on your way to…" How could you call this? Heaven? Valhalla? Mictlan? "What comes next."
Marc looked at you as if you were crazy, and you had no choice but to continue.
"It's a place that's difficult for the human mind to comprehend, so for you, it's something more…" You looked around with a furrowed brow. "Familiar."
He scoffed, his tone full of irony.
"I really am crazy," he muttered in a whisper.
"Together, we will traverse the 10 steps that will lead you to eternal rest." Your arm moved awkwardly up and down. What a stupid choreography your boss had given you. "Although," you stepped out of character. "Sometimes they are doors, and it seems that will be the case this time."
"Who are you?" He asked out of nowhere, and you swallowed hard.
"Your guide."
"Are you some kind of… Goddess? Are you God?"
You laughed, partly embarrassed, partly genuinely amused.
"I'm just your guide."
Marc had to settle for your answer.
"Are you ready?"
"Can one be ready for something like this?"
You shook your head but gave him a resigned smile. You felt sorry for him, as well as for all those who passed through your hands, but at least you did your part by taking them to what you would never know.
You offered him your hand, and hesitantly, he took it.
The contact with his skin made you swear that your heart was beating again.
You took a slow step through the corridors of the psychiatric ward with him behind you, his fingers gradually clinging to you. This was the first time in a long time that Marc allowed himself to be afraid, even when his thoughts were divided between his desire to cling to life and, on the other hand, that 'finally' feeling that had been intoxicating him for the past 10 years, ever since Roro left.
A few minutes of walking, and you knew by pure intuition which was the first door.
Unfinished business.
The first scene was… Something.
No one likes to witness the way they died, but much less what happens afterward. Have you ever heard that the last sense you lose is your hearing? Marc could clearly hear Layla scream his name just after the gunshot.
Or at least, his body managed to register the sound because he didn't remember it, but you could clearly see the scene at this moment.
"You left something unfinished." Your voice was as gentle as you could make it as you surrounded his body on the ground.
A strange feeling overcame you as you watched the curly-haired girl kneel beside him.
Holding him, begging him to come back.
Not sadness or pity, as it usually happened; you felt… uncomfortable? Annoyed?
Marc released your hand to get closer, appreciating the scene up close, and you knew how much he wished to touch Layla when his hand moved in her direction, trying to get her attention.
"Layla?" He whispered, his voice broken, his attention focused solely on her. He didn't even look at his body, which was slowly giving in. He didn't realize how she cradled him between her cheeks and kissed his lips one last time just now.
Your stomach churned; fortunately, you had already forgotten when was the last time you had ingested something.
"Baby?" He asked louder, and you knew it was time to intervene.
"She can't hear you," you whispered from behind, only able to observe Marc's back. The way his body contracted and suffered from small spasms due to crying.
Isn't it curious how all those things become muscle memory? Your breathing shouldn't be a problem when you weren't in your physical body, yet these things still happened.
"What were you doing here?" Your gaze wandered through the darkness inside the pyramid, your steps careful as you approached the open tomb of God knows who. A disgusted expression appeared on your lips at the sight of the mummified corpse.
Everything was better when you pretended that maybe you didn't really look like this.
Marc gave an ironic laugh, still crying, but you decided to give him space.
"I was trying to save the world."
You scoffed. 'Well, to each their own,' you thought as your fingers traced the edge of the tomb.
Hopefully, they buried you in something nice and expensive too.
"This might hold you here; we still don't know what will happen next because it's very recent."
"No." He interrupted, still kneeling in front of himself.
It turns out that the last thing his body registered was the way Layla grabbed his chest, taking something that rested on it afterward. The girl stood up, still with a broken heart but doing her best not to collapse.
You recognized that expression quite well.
"She'll take care of it."
Everything around him became blurry, apparently, that was the point at which he stopped fighting.
Marc slowly got to his feet, his eyes red, and he sniffed repeatedly. If you had the chance, maybe you'd tell him that he didn't need to do that, nothing would come out of his nose.
He looked good, though, even after getting shot, he still seemed attractive.
The good thing is that you still had 9 different opportunities to make him stay with you, but there was still one question. What did the boss mean when she said there were 3? An administrative error or something like that?
"She'll figure it out," he sounded sure as he pressed his nose bridge and took deep breaths. "She'll fix it."
"Then this is closed." You shrugged. Over time, you learned which dead ones to trust and which not to. Maybe Marc wasn't so wrong.
Nine opportunities.
"Congratulations." You offered him your hand, and he took it again.
That had to mean something, right?
You didn't pay much attention to the way he looked back, as if that would give him one last look at Layla. She had been gone for a while now. In fact, in the world of the living, this had probably happened hours ago.
The good thing (for him) is that apparently, she hadn't died yet.
Well, for you too, so you wouldn't find her wandering around. Romances that not even death could separate were the worst.
No more was said as you guided him through the passageways of the old pyramids as if you were an expert archaeologist, or perhaps an amateur with a lot of free time. One step forward from both of you, and everything around him looked different.
Vengeance.
"I have to tell you now." The cold streets of New York made you feel alive, especially in the short skirt you were wearing. The breeze cooled your legs and tousled your hair.
This seemed more common, even in the seedy side of the city. Apparently, Marc had been a normal person occasionally in his life, not someone who went on pyramid expeditions for fun.
"You won't be able to get revenge on anyone by being here." You walked ahead, trying to find the next door. It wasn't worth wasting time on this. "Sometimes divine justice serves in your favor and takes care of them, but it's not worth staying for a trivial matter."
And you knew it well.
When Marc's silence seemed suspicious, you looked back.
His clothes had also changed; he was wearing a leather jacket and a rather peculiar cap. It was gray, and it fit him ridiculously well.
He looked at you with wide eyes, his hand still holding yours.
"Cariño?" That accent was new. Did Marc like to play someone else occasionally at night? It wouldn't surprise you from someone like him.
Weird, like you.
Different, perhaps.
"What am I doing here?"
"Oh no, are you one of those?" You confronted him, one hand still holding his, and the other going straight to his face. You opened one of his eyes wider with your fingers, and he stayed still.
Had he drunk too much the night before or something? Jake didn't experience these things, never.
He didn't lose track of time; he didn't dissociate or lose control of his body; he didn't forget, and he didn't sleep.
This didn't make sense, at least not for him.
"You are dead, Marc," your words made his stomach churn. "I'm guiding you, we're only on the second level." Vapor came out of your mouth as if it were freezing, and your body still had that natural warmth that one emits when they are alive.
He furrowed his brow, looking at you as if he were seeing a ghost.
Well, that's what he was doing, but when you're dead, you don't have the right to see other dead people like this.
"I'm not… I'm not Marc."
Oh.
The boss's words made a bit more sense now. So, were they really brothers? Twins perhaps? Or whatever they were called when they were three.
The poor guy seemed about to have a crisis, very similar to Marc when you first found him.
"Jake Lockley." Your mind clicked, as it always did when you had these encounters with the souls you guided. A hazard of the job, there were things you knew and things you didn't.
He nodded slowly.
"Listen, sweetheart." He slowly released your hand, and the gesture didn't please you. I mean, if you couldn't keep Marc, maybe it could be one of the other two.
"I don't know what kind of joke you're playing," he walked past you while searching in his pocket for what seemed to be keys. "You're beautiful, and maybe we had a pretty fun night, but it's likely that what we have won't work, especially when you're calling me by another name and trying to play those little mind games with me, which, by the way, don't affect me in the least…"
Jake bumped into someone as he moved away from you clumsily.
"Sorry," he muttered, still confused. The other person ignored him, but when he looked back, his eyes widened in surprise. "¿Qué mierda?" You heard him mumble as he stumbled, sitting on the pavement.
Turns out Jake had bumped into himself.
And you suppressed the 'I told you so' smile.
"See?" You watched him pass you as well, and after a few seconds, you decided to approach him, extending your hand.
He looked at it in silence before taking it and getting to his feet.
"You're not playing, right?"
"Nope," you let go of his hand as you inspected his face. He looked so similar to Marc, yet so different at the same time.
"Are we dead?"
"I'm a little deader than you, but yes."
He bit his lower lip, and you saw him take off his cap and run a hand through his disheveled curls, more out of desperation than aesthetics.
He took a deep breath several times, more than you could count, and looked back. You saw the other Jake moving away in the crowd, and without saying anything, you turned to follow him without losing track.
Jake had to snap out of his crisis to follow you.
And him.
"Is that it? Are you not going to give me an explanation?" He hurriedly walked, doing his best not to bump into anyone until he realized that no one seemed to be affected by his shoves, not even moving them.
"We can't lose sight of you."
"This has to be a bad dream."
Maybe you liked Marc more than him.
"It's not a dream, Jake." You let out a deep sigh as you continued walking behind him. "You died, Marc did too, and…"
"Steven?"
"Right."
You finally turned to look at him when Jake from his memory stopped in front of a car.
It was a nice car.
"I still don't know what happened to you and Steven, but Marc got shot right…" You touched the center of his chest, and he didn't show how your touch made him shiver. "Here."
He wasn't sure if it was worth explaining to you right now that if Marc died, he would drag them both down with him.
"And who are you?"
"Your guide." You gave up; you would have to go through this again.
"Are you a product of my imagination?"
"Unfortunately not."
"Why do you look like one of my one-night stands?"
"I look like this all the time, actually," you looked down; this outfit was terribly uncomfortable. "Except for the criminally short skirt."
The sound of the door made you look forward. Apparently, the other Jake got into the car when you were distracted.
You opened the rear door of the car and looked at the confused guy in front of you.
"Get in."
And he obeyed; you got in afterward.
They were silent for most of the way, neither of you knew exactly where you were going because Jake had vague memories of this particular memory, if that made sense.
He had traveled this same road so many times for the same purpose that this could be any day of his life.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Your voice broke the silence, pulling him out of his thoughts.
"I was interrogating some guys in Cairo."
Ah, well, it seemed that he was just as strange as Marc.
"I see."
Jake somehow saw himself as the most stable of the three; he had learned to deal with the blows of life that he was forced to take to protect Marc and Steven from them.
But nothing had prepared him for the idea of failing them.
For failing them so horribly.
If he kept thinking, he'd go crazy. Even more.
You didn't know how long you had been here; everything seemed more tedious when Jake decided he didn't want to chat with you, or anyone, for that matter.
You assumed it was shock or something similar, and as for what this scenario meant, you understood why revenge wouldn't retain him.
Because Jake got rid of everyone who got in his way. To him or to Marc.
Both of you watched him drive, dispose of bodies, clean his clothes, and repeat as many times as necessary.
Well, he observed with a disgusted expression, and he took the liberty of covering your eyes with his hand. Well, it wasn't anything you hadn't seen before; apparently, the innocent face always gave the wrong impression.
The night ended with him crawling heavily to his apartment, tired, regretful, and often injured.
You looked at him beside you. Why did he seem so distraught by his own actions?
"So, can we cross revenge off your list?" You tried to joke when the expression on his face weighed on your chest. He didn't hear you; he kept looking at the path he had taken to the apartment.
If this was a divine way to make him regret his actions in life, it was quite functional, to be honest.
"And now?" His eyes fixed on you.
And you looked back at him.
"Do you still have the keys?" You pointed to the car.
He searched his pockets, and the keys jingled. Without saying anything, he opened the front passenger door for you to get in.
The gesture made you bite your lower lip to avoid smiling.
He got in afterward.
"Where are we going?" He started the car, and the roar of the engine added an extra note to the pain he was carrying at the moment.
He wasn't going to drive his car ever again?
Driving was the only thing that brought him peace, and the car was the only thing that belonged to him and only him. In fact, the vehicle was in his name, as was his driver's license. They were the only legal documents with Jake's name on them, even if it had cost him a fortune to bribe those in charge to get them without having to present any other proof that there was nothing suspicious behind them.
They were the only proof that Jake was real.
"I don't know, you'll feel it when we get there," you murmured without bothering to roll up the window; you just let the breeze hit you as the car started moving.
He didn't believe you, but apparently you weren't lying, his instinct was guiding him through the empty and dark streets of New York.
His home.
After a few minutes, Jake took a moment to look at you while you seemed completely absorbed in the detailed memories of Jake, who seemed to have even memorized the signs that adorned the streets he was driving through.
"What are you?" The question sounded a bit more offensive than he would have liked.
"Your guide."
"Are you sure you're not some kind of fantasy of mine?"
Was he flirting with you or insulting you? Either way, you smiled.
"None of that," you cleared your throat and finally looked at him. "I'm at the point where you are right now, and I'm staying here."
Should he inquire further, or were manners no longer as necessary when you were dead?
"For how long?"
"Huh?"
"You seem to know a lot about this; how long have you been like this?"
The way you shrugged was enough of an answer for him.
You had to close your eyes for a few seconds when you realized the effect the question had on you. You usually didn't talk about yourself, especially not with the people you guided. They were always more concerned about themselves, and with good reason; the boss knew well what had happened to you, but having someone directly ask about the situation left a disgusting taste in your mouth.
"My dear."
"Huh?" You looked at him immediately, furrowing your brow.
"What?"
"Did you say something?"
"I didn't say anything." The most similar you came to a normal conversation began when Jake released the wheel for a few seconds, raising both hands to declare himself innocent of whatever you were accusing him of.
"I heard you."
"I didn't say anything, I swear on my… death, I guess." He ran a hand through his chest, furrowing his brow.
Even with a bad feeling, you smiled.
And he did too.
Things were more fun when you collected as many jokes as you could about being dead.
"Alright." Your head returned to its position against the seat, and your gaze returned to the outside.
Jake looked at you for a few extra seconds; he knew that smile well.
"I think I can get us out of here," he thought, hoping that Marc and Steven could hear him.
Strong emotions or feelings.
The movement of the car eventually stopped, and you could no longer feel the leather under your fingers; you recognized the grass immediately.
Your eyes were forced open when a couple of children ran past you, laughing and pushing each other. You were beginning to feel tired, even though you were less than halfway there.
You sighed, your body feeling heavy as you stood up.
A couple was enjoying a homemade BBQ, even though the clouds seemed threatening to ruin it.
"Jake? Marc?" You looked around.
Ah, there he was.
Near the children's mother, looking closely at her with a radiant smile. It wasn't difficult to guess that he was Steven; his messy hair and tired eyes didn't resemble the features of Marc or Jake. Well, they did, but not really. Does that make sense?
Finally, one of the three didn't look at you in fear or confusion.
"Oh Gods, hiya!" His accent made you smile, and you waved back in greeting, approaching him as he was only a few steps away.
"You must be Steven."
"And you must be my guide." As if it were a friendly arrangement, he extended his hand, and you shook it gently, enjoying the contact. "Jake explained to me."
Was there a gap between door and door that you didn't witness for them to have a chance to talk? Well, you'd ask later.
"You seem calm."
"I'm totally freaking out on the inside."
You laughed again and nodded. You liked Steven, you liked him more than the other two.
"What level is this?"
"Third." Your attention shifted to the couple next to you, the woman's huge brown eyes told you in seconds that she was the mother of the three.
That was something they had in common, those lost-puppy eyes.
"Strong emotions or feelings." You took a step closer to her, your eyes scanning her face for more familiarities among the triplets and her.
The little wrinkles at the edges of their eyes when they smiled also seemed to come from her. And the curls definitely came from their father.
"Well, I love my mom." He seemed just as distracted by the scene as you were.
You didn't mention that love, at this point, wasn't one of the emotions that could retain you.
The situation wasn't new to you; there was almost always a familiar memory here. You didn't count friends separately because time had shown you that friends were the family you chose; the lines blended easily in those cases.
Maybe this was the reason why you would stay with one of them, and with just 5 minutes exchanged, Steven seemed like a good choice.
The children ran by your side again, and Steven's attention was completely stolen by them. You tilted your head to the side with tenderness and a slight curiosity.
"They're not ready yet; you can go play for a while, understood?" The taller boy nodded, stopping right in front of his brother, who ended up crashing into him.
Both laughed.
"Is it you?" You pointed to the younger one.
Steven seemed as distant from the situation as you. He shook his head slowly before looking at you as if he wanted an explanation. It took him a few seconds to be able to murmur.
"I don't… I don't remember."
"Marc?" The woman called, causing an amusing scene between the two children, Steven, and you since everyone turned to look at her expectantly. "Take care of Roro, please."
Roro?
"Do you have another brother?" Your voice came out so low that not even poor Steven could hear it.
It was a silent agreement in the way you followed him while he continued to follow the children with his mind in a tangle of thoughts. Was this what Marc had been hiding so eagerly?
You could swear a shiver ran through you from head to toe when your eyes settled on the cave the two children were heading towards, and the thunderclap sealed the deal on the bad omens.
You had witnessed these scenes before. When someone was about to die, it always felt like this. Being sensitive to death was one of the quirks that came with the job.
"Steven?"
He didn't even look at you.
"Lads?"
No answer, obviously.
"It's… It's dangerous, they shouldn't…" He seemed to have lost his breath. "They are going to..."
And you nodded slowly.
"I know."
The small steps were only a few meters away from you as the rain intensified. Both you and Steven were getting wet.
"Let me…" He was never able to form a complete sentence. "I know I can…"
You knew he couldn't, but you still followed him into the cave.
You walked in darkness for a very short time, with "I want my mommy" echoing in your ears over and over again.
The cave seemed to end in the living room of what you guessed was their house. Both of you arrived dripping wet, Steven with red eyes after what he had just witnessed.
You were still wondering what role he played in all of this.
Had Marc's emotional burden somehow reached him? After all, he was also their brother, or at least it seemed like it.
You stopped abruptly when both encountered Steven's mother, hands on her hips, her cheeks red with anger. Steven jerked when she yelled the words, "This is all your fault."
Everything was happening too fast, even for you, who had learned the art of controlling the emotions of the moment. It was usually the boss who handled these kinds of situations.
You were never strong enough.
You moved past the scene, your hand learned to Steven's wrist as you directed him upstairs. He couldn't stop looking as he moved awkwardly, stumbling over his own feet.
"It's this way," you whispered, leading him into the room.
You sighed calmly when finally the silence enveloped you. Inside, one of the children was playing alone. The scene tugged at your heartstrings a little more, but hey, at least there was no one screaming.
"I must be remembering wrong," he whispered as a last hope while he sat on the floor, defeated. He took a seat in front of the child. "It must be Marc's doing."
You pursed your lips, deciding not to say anything as you watched his hands tremble. This kind of thing wasn't in the manual.
"Maybe so," you gave him false hope before knocks on the door diverted both of your attention.
"Open the damn door, Marc!"
Another shiver, as horrible as the first one.
"It's not my mom, it's not my mom," the child whispered, covering his hands. Steven and you could do nothing but watch.
"Open this door!" More loud pounding.
More knocks, more panic, more fear.
Until the voice of the kid made you look again.
"Bloody hell! Look at the state of this place." His little eyes focused on a bunch of Legos in front of him. They weren't even scattered. "Better sort it out before mum sees it." His accent was the same as… Steven's.
"Marc! Open this door right now!"
Witnessing that was enough to clear your doubts; you weren't foolish. After your death, no one could really receit you. Your brain easily connected the dots, and apparently, Steven's did too; he had more clues than you did up to that point.
They weren't brothers.
Marc, Steven, and Jake shared the same body.
"When danger is near," Steven narrowed his eyes as he read from the poster on the wall above the child, "Steven Grant has no fear."
He took a deep breath through his mouth with heaviness.
"He made me up." That was the next thing he said, and you couldn't help but watch the child as he organized his Legos.
The door burst open with a shove, and that was your next cue; it was time to get out of there.
"Steven?"
Wendy, whom you had been referring to as 'the mother,' entered the room, her eyes red, and an aroma of alcohol that even you could sense.
"You are going to learn…" She took Marc's belt, the one that hung next to his toys. It was a horrible parallel, and you could swear your chest hurt. "to listen."
Her steps were slow as she coiled the belt in her hand.
"Steven?" You whispered, pushing him in the chest. He stood on tiptoe to get a better view of the scene.
"I wanna see what she did." He mumbled with difficulty.
You gave him another push with all your might.
"Steven, we have to go."
"Let me see what she did." That was the last thing he said before you slammed the door shut, muffling the poor child's cries of pain inside the room.
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"I don't hate her." It was the only thing he could say after what seemed like hours. The sun seemed to have set.
You nodded slowly, your head resting against the door just like his.
"I know."
"She was sad."
You had to swallow the urge to tell him that it didn't justify what she did, but you chose to nod and offer him some peace.
"She was."
There were a few more seconds of silence before you murmured, "We have to go."
He nodded and was the first to stand up, intending to offer you his hand, just as you had done with Jake a while ago. You took his hand and stood up, but you didn't let go of his hand.
You descended the stairs slowly; the house suddenly seemed filled with people. Apparently, this wasn't over yet, and you started to seriously think that Steven wouldn't get out of here. How much more could his heart take?
Everything seemed blurry, although of course, you didn't know that the reason behind it was that Marc had never entered the house that day; the memory was clouded by a window in between.
"What happened here?" He whispered behind you.
"Your mom, Steven."
Her photo was on one of the tables, behind two long candles.
"Don't talk nonsense." He took a few steps forward to see what you were seeing. "My mom and I already sorted this out; it must have been something that ha- happened." They were all wearing black clothes around him. "in the past." He completed in a whisper.
You looked at him again, his eyes filled with tears as he shook his head.
"No, no, this can't…" He swallowed hard, making your own throat ache in response. "Marc would have told me."
You doubted it, but it wasn't the time to remind him that Marc seemed to be hiding many things from him.
"No, this can't be happening." He mumbled, again losing his ability to string sentences together.
Breaking your heart once again. The front door of the house opened in front of both of you, and you understood that it was time to move on.
Without saying anything, you tapped his shoulder, getting his attention. You pointed to Marc outside the house, just a few meters away, drinking from his flask with teary eyes.
"Marc?" He whispered to himself as he moved awkwardly and quickly towards him, leaving the house with you behind.
You decided to give him space; his memory allowed you to stroll through a couple of nearby gardens, and you waited on the grass while Steven processed the moment when Marc finally broke down.
Kneeling on the pavement, his body tense until the English accent of the other became noticeable in the way he spoke to himself.
The place was getting darker, and after a few hours, you sat on the sidewalk, watching the scene from afar. Steven had the opportunity to digest the situation as much as he could, and although for any normal person this would have been the end, you knew this wasn't the point for Steven.
He was understanding, strong within his sensitivity, and he knew how to deal with things that Marc couldn't.
You finally understood the feeling he was facing and what he was releasing.
Grief.
The grief of losing his mother as a child, and the grief of losing her again as an adult. His brother, his father.
The grief of losing himself while trying to understand that he wasn't 'the original' but Marc.
Meanwhile, as the crying finally subsided, Steven was talking to himself. Or so it seemed, because no one else (meaning you) could hear the voices of Jake and Marc arguing with him. "I know how to get us out of here." "Jake, we're not going to harm her." They didn't have to say more for Steven to understand that they were referring to you. "I'm just saying it might be an easy job." "Are you suggesting we kill someone who's already dead? You've truly outdone yourself." "At least I'm looking for a solution, unlike you, Mr. 'resigned.'" "We can't leave Layla alone," Steven whispered, his gaze fixed on you in the distance. "See? Steven's on my side." Marc rolled his eyes. "And what do you want to do?" "I'm just saying… if there's a way out of here, she's the one who knows it."
Meanwhile, when the imaginary crickets began to resonate through Marc's blurry memory, Steven returned to you.
"Hey?" You looked at him, who knows how long you had had your eyes closed. "Can we continue?"
You nodded and gave him a small smile.
"Let's move on."
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Mk's tag list :)@ninebluehearts @icreatedthisat317am @onefinnedwonder-fm @shousha133
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nerd4music · 2 months
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I think overall there’s one of two „big“ problems happening for people who have a problem with TOWL (racists and the likes aside… 🙄).
1- The misunderstanding that this was truly much more a Rick and Michonne story than a TWD one. This was not TWD S12. It was about telling the story of these 2 characters and being able to put a dot at the end (or a dot dot dot). And you’ve laid all of that out perfectly. Like yes, in TWD, Beale (& the CRM) would have been draaaaagged out. But this was much more of a Terminus approach than a Saviors one if we will…
2- TWD was never the most ..subtle show. They tended to hit the audience over the head with stuff. And I’m not sure I would go as far as calling TOWL subtle outright either (idk, didn’t think about this until right this moment lol -obviously elements of it are, sure -just as elements on TWD could be on the subtler side) but compared to TWD, it certainly is lol. And there has been a very big „media literacy“ and „basic comprehension skills“ problem happening for a minute now. And I really don’t say this to be mean or make fun of people or anything but these are just facts. Some people really struggle with getting the information when they are not being hit over the head with it, over and over and over again. After the finale I saw several posts on my tl of people wondering why this, that or the other was not addressed or how/why this, that or the other did happen… and I was utterly confused because those things they claimed were missing were very much shown? I was like, there was literally a scene dealing with all of this? And it didn’t require any reading between the lines to be honest, no subtext, it was very much the text of the scene?! So it seems like some people just didn’t get a lot of things that were happening 🫤
(BTW I don’t mean that even if someone didn’t have these specific problems with the show, they MUST love it then. Likes and dislikes etc etc. As much as I really loved the show as a whole, if I decided to put down the Richonne-colored glasses I wanted to and did watch to the show with.. I’d definitely have a few complaints lol, though still very much enjoyed the show even then)
That's definitely what happened. And to some extent, I get why, considering Rick and Michonne are 2/3 of the main show's Big Three. But when the press and promos started, and people were still talking about some Marvel-style meet-up, I was like...oh they're definitely not listening to what's being said, because it's six damn episodes, and also The Richonne story, not the Team Family jamboree. And then acting as if it's somehow 'insulting' to the rest of the characters if Rick and Michonne didn't talk about them. The man had PTSD so bad, he couldn't remember his own son's face. Why would you think it would be good time for him to pause in the middle of his wife telling him about a traumatic moment during her pregnancy to ask about anyone else? Please be fr.
I feel you on the comprehension thing, which is nothing new for this fandom. The fact that so many people legit thought Rick didn't know how to drive stick and questioned the 'realism' of it but never stopped to think that it was because he only has one damn hand. Y'all were fine with every silly ass moment that happened in the main show, that was either sheer dumb luck or handwaved away, but now we need a complete breakdown from experts on how Rick managed to fight off walkers one-handed. Now y'all want the realism, when you've been so giddy for weeks because you need one of them to die for the show to be 'interesting'.
I'm really not listening to people who need the narrative to hold their hand through everything, or need to see every piece of the plot onscreen for it to be considered 'legitimate'. (I'm officially banning the phrase 'plot armor' for the foreseeable future).
People didn't get things, because they don't take a minute to sit with the damn material anymore. From live reactions videos to live tweeting/blogging, people are just watching TV to make content and have an online moment, not for what's actually being shown. And yeah, TOWL isn't perfect, but the minor criticisms I have for it doesn't take away from the fact that it is very enjoyable and easily the best material from the TWD landscape in a long time.
(sidenote: I will say one of my favorite things from these past six weeks is everyone struggling to figure out the overall TWD timeline, lmao.)
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no because, supernatural is absolutely a train wreck. it's a colossal accident that is happening in front of you that you can't look away from. it is homophobic and non-sensical and downright laughable at times but you know what? I love it. I absolute love it.
season 1 was absolutely beautiful. you don't understand, really, you don't. they had a piss poor budget, you can see that in every frame. but does that stop it from being fucking beautiful? no. it is stylised and ambitious and a fucking visual treat.
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and this is like the first fucking episode. the shots have so much character! and that's nothing to say of the characters themselves. from the first fucking scene you can clearly distinguish sam and dean's character clear as day. their motivations, their dreams, their hopes, all of it. it's established so well. their dynamic is unmatched. does it also have a lot of garbage? yes for sure. because what in the name of hell was that episode with bugs? what glue were they sniffing when they green lit that one? no seriously... I wanna try some.
but then they recovered, cause they did faith. my god, what an episode. WHAT AN EPISODE. that motherfucking reaper haunts my every waking hour
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like yeah, I love me some baby dean and baby sam going on their small scale ghost hunts while learning deep lessons about who they are as people and what they want from life.
also that 'laugh I nearly died' needle drop? where sam sees jess? god tier editing, GOD TIER.
then they came back with season 2. and here is my most controversial opinion that should not be controversial at all, season 2 is the best season of supernatural to ever supernatural.
what is and what should never be, hollywood babylon, heart, nightshifter, and the whole fucking season actually. not a single miss in my humble opinion. and that finale? THAT FINALE. beautiful, magnificent. ground breaking character writing, everything comes full circle while simultaneously opening up new plot lines to explore.
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and my god, yellow eyes is an epic villain. he is a very viciously written villain like, he's... my god. it ain't a walk in the park writing villains, believe you me patient readers, villains are harder to write than the protagonists, always. well, at least the compelling ones are.
now season 3 suffered because of the writer's strike, but didn't miss much either. like yeah some of the hits don't hit as hard as the season 2, but hey, mystery spot, time is on my side, ghostfacers, bedtime stories are nothing to laugh about. those episodes are fucking solid, like most of the season. and there is so much raw emotion is sam's need to save dean, it just makes my weak winchester brothers loving heart throb a little too hard. also...
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need I say more?
does the show did look little more washed out and boring? yes. but it's cool, cause we're moving on to season 4.
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listen, I kinda just wanna leave all my season's critique at this. i mean, yeah this. this is it. this is the long and short of it; castiel. i don't think i need to get anymore into it
so season 5 is just—
i'm kidding. obviously i'm gonna talk about season 4, at length.
listen, being able to introduce angels this late in the game and then have them be a such perfectly hidden players is a masterstroke of genius. it just is. i am a writer guys... apart from the relentless fanfic as well lol. and when i tell you, introducing a new big player which is also (not so) secretly the next big bad and playing it off as smoothly as they did in season 4, is beyond hard. but the biggest home run these fuckers hit is castiel and the best part is they weren't aiming for a one lol. and oh oh, the way they use their very VERY limited budget to show wings with just flashing the fucking light? CINEMA! that's fucking cinema right there man. i work on film sets, i am telling you, this is the smartest filmmaking choice they make on the entire show. it adds so much visual intrigue while being so awfully easy to execute. BRILLIANt.
now i cannot talk about supernatural without talking about the deancas romance of it all, which i understand not everyone can see or wants to, which is fine. to each their own. you consume art the way you want to, i don't care much as long as you can acknowledge that castiel and dean's friendship was just some of the best written television that mankind has ever seen. is that too grand a statement? yes. does that make it any less true? no.
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they even brought back the moody lighting.
and then there's the episodes this season, most of which are home runs in their own regard. just like beautiful writing, the character development for cas, for dean, for sam, even the late john winchester is wild. anna is a wonderful addition, so is uriel, and alastair? they don't make villains like him anymore, they just fucking don't. AND THAT GODDAMN PLOT TWIST AT THE END? man! the finale was just... too good. Chuck's introduction is absolutely wonderful, even if they ruin him by the end but that happens a decade later so wtv, who cares? But,,,, Jimmy. Fucking. Novak. That's all. that's the tweet. yeah. i'm gonna end the season 4 fan fair with jimmy.
moving to season 5.
subjectively speaking, this is my fucking favorite. this season is a writer's dream while also being their goddamn nightmare. so many WONDERFUL characters to play with and such a grand plot but you get to see it all on a very small, consumable scale which is just... it's too smart for me to not mention. i won't start naming the plot points and neither will i name my favourite episodes because what even is the point? all of it was fucking perfect. you don't understand how hard it is to develop characters to such an extent that they become so familiar to the audience that they know their next move before you even put it on the screen. and supernatural had that. they tied everything together with so much care and consideration, just... AAAH so good.
a special shoutout goes to endverse!cas, crowley and death this season. you all know it in your bones that those three were just the absolute scene stealers. especially death's introduction... immaculate.
they did lose a few points for not being as aesthetically pleasing as the past few seasons but hey, gabriel was enough to make a smooth recovery.
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but this... this is the end of the road for me people. season 5 is where it should have ended. in no way shape or form am i saying that there aren't a few good episodes here and there after this, because there are. i think season 5 was so fucking solid, tied up so many goddamn lose ends and then just put a cute little hell shaped bow on top and i just... yeah. this was and should have been the end of the road. do not get me wrong, i love me some jack kline, charlie bradbury, kevin tran, rowena macleod and eileen lahey but were they worth the bullshit ending i had to sit through? not really.
i absolutely think if there weren't more episodes of supernatural I would never have become a destiel fan, because i started shipping them when dean made cas a mixtape in season TWELVE! but my god, the good times were so scattered amongst the horseshit that even when i found those hidden gems, they were so fucking drenched in the stink that they lost their value.
the worst of it all is that, i cannot explain to you what supernatural means to me in a million words, because it is a part of me, heart and soul. i fucking AM castiel. i am a gay little angel you hear me? i love this show. i do. i'm glad it went on for however long it did but i feel like once in a while i need to write shit like this or read shit like this to remind myself of the show that it used to be. of it's beautiful cinematography, of it's clever little storytelling techniques. of it's wonderful cast. of how epic their song choices used to be.
FUcking RENEGADE? iconic. wanted, dead or alive? cannot hear the song without hearing sam's off tune goat bleating that he called singing along.
i need to remind myself of how afraid i used to be of lucifer. of how much i cried while watching dark side of the moon; when dean and sam burst the crackers, and how i learnt the lyrics to knocking on heaven's door just because of that scene.
sometimes i just have to walk through memory lane and look back at gabriel's death, the good one, the only one. it was so fucking meaningful. i have to think of "we are making it up as we go" to be able to breathe properly because those moments were so fucking beautiful.
fuck the big ones, i even remind myself of the small ones, of dean's handwriting being in all caps, just like him. of sam's fucking huge laptop with that weird blue black sticker in the middle. of castiel's tie, that just was the right shade of blue, and hung all wrong but just naturally enough to add so much more to his character than any fucking dialogue could. every small little detail of supernatural that made it so damn supernatural. i miss it all.
idk. i'm rambling. whatever.
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kdinjenzen · 25 days
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Kdin's My Little Blog Along (PART 1)
MLPFiM Eps 1 - 5
So going into things this season, I believe, is the one I thought I remembered the most and had the most memories of.
That ended up being true so far but also not true.
Celestia starts off the series gaslighting everyone by cleverly rewriting history through the acts of a children's storybook.
I really don't understand how anyone can trust her at her word since she's basically PONY GOD and can just live long enough for people to just forget about stuff and then change history herself... but maybe I'm being too meta about this.
Celestia reading the story of Nightmare Moon and then transitioning to it being Twilight Sparkle is a great way to introduce her as Celestia's student.
Then immediately Twilight begins treating everyone, especially Spike, like garbage. I legit remember Twilight being a complete jerk in the first bits of things but she's pretty trash as a person/pony. It's established that she's been ignoring everyone around her for a long time and that people keep trying but they don't know why they bother anymore.
Celestia tells Twilight to touch grass and kicks her out to Ponyville where Twilight continues to be absolutely WAY more rude than I remember to everyone she interacts with... especially Spike.
The show moves way faster than I remember and by the time we meet everyone Nightmare Moon has already shown up and the first episode ends. Celestia was supposed to be there and just kinda no-showed, we have no idea why she never showed up to the party but likely because she knew her sister was gonna be there and Celestia is very much "lol not my problem" and is making Twilight do it.
Part 2 is basically "Part 1 again, but more focused and at night" - heavily reinforcing that Twilight has problems with people and that everyone who is following her have ELEMENTS about them that make them SUPER GREAT PEOPLE/PONIES.
Pinkie's "Laughter Song" is our first proper in show song and I remember it word for word which says the song is a great earworm and easy for folks to remember. PERFECT for a kids show and Pinkie is already racing to the front as "best pony" of the bunch with her mannerisms.
We get through the trials of "Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy could have easily got everyone through these with no problems" quickly and it's time for Nightmare Moon showdown 2.
SURPRISE the ponies are the elements of harmony because of the things they literally said on the way here but also TWILIGHT is the element of "MAGIC" ... which I swore was not magic when I first watched it, but I suppose that's a "it's magic...al friendship" that happens later.
One giant mega death rainbow later, Nightmare Moon has her evil blasted away and Celestia shows up fashionably late and is like "oh good it's over, anyway apologize to me Luna" and shock - Nightmare Moon is her sister whom she banished to the fucking moon and Luna apologizes.
A THOUSAND YEARS, CELESTIA! THATS A LONG TIME TO IMPRISON YOUR SISTER ON THE MOON!
Anyway, episode ends with Celestia banishing moving Twilight to Ponyville so she can stay away from her and give Celestia some fucking piece and quiet for three seconds learn more about friendship through her new friends.
Which immediately leads into Episode 3, "The Ticket Master" in which Celestia - WHO KNOWS TWILIGHT HAS 6 FRIENDS (I'm including Spike) - sends Twilight two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala and says to bring a friends.
I like to believe that Celestia is either doing this just to fuck with Twilight or that she assumes Twilight is so annoying to deal with that she lost most of the other pony's friendship after that whole Nightmare Moon thing.
Everyone has their "VERY GOOD REASONS" for wanting the tickets and... the reasons kinda suck, but Twilight assures the audience that they are VERY GOOD REASONS and spends the rest of the episode yelling at everyone to stop doing her favors to butter her up which becomes the main pain point the episode.
Pinkie just outright says she's doing things to get the ticket, everyone else lies about it (Fluttershy does say the truth but only after Angel, her bunny, kicks her for lying). We also get two quick not-really-full songs from Pinkie again in this one and she's maintaining her lead as "Best Pony" so far.
Everything is solved when Twilight sends the tickets back and tells Celesia "I CAN'T PICK BETWEEN MY FRIENDS" and Celestia sends back a "Lol just say you need more tickets, stop being so extra" and sends everyone a ticket. Episode 3 ends.
Episode 4 sees the intro of Big Macintosh who takes the "Best Side Pony" slot immediately by being both reasonable in explanation, reasoning, and level of directness in dealing with issues. This will change later when he gets his own episodes, but for now he's the level headed thinker and basically says Applyjack can't handle the entire Applebucking season herself after he had an injury.
Applejack burns out faster than a pre-transition "gifted child" in high school and spends the rest of the episode in a daze between asleep/awake and starts doing incredibly dangerous or downright mean things.
Eventually, after days of pressure and constant asking, Twilight convinces her to ask for help and Applejack breaks and agrees.
During the ending "Dear Princess Celestia" letter we see everyone helping and then TWILIGHT BASICALLY DOING ALL THE WORK IN ONE MAGICAL MOVE AND WHAT THE FUCK? She literally just... could do all the work herself. We'll see this "heavily relying on magic" thing bite her on the ass later but there's literally no reason that she shouldn't have just talked to Big Mac and explained things. YES that defeats the purpose of Applejack learning the lesson but also holy fuck she almost died so many times this episode. Episode 4 ends.
Episode 5 is "Griffon the Brush-off" which I thought was WAY WAY WAAAAAAY longer into the season but no, I'm wrong.
The lesson in this episode is "if your friend is hanging with someone who is an asshole there's not a lot you can do about it, but you can control your own actions and how you treat people" which is a fine lesson except Gilda the Griffon starts outright antagonistic and kinda just... awful. So Pinkie is fully right to call out this shit to Rainbow and I think the lesson here is a little off.
Pinkie is helpful and kind the entire episode, constantly giving the benefit of the doubt, and ends up treated like garbage and SHE apparently is the one to learn the lesson this episode... not Rainbow Dash.
Episode ends with Twilight learning how to prank people because of the "pranks" happening all episode between Gilda and Rainbow (who's pranks are wrongly attributed to Pinkie) - she sends Celestia invisible ink and Celestia gets pranked ... I feel like Celestia takes this personally and will be making the remaining 200+ episodes a living hell for Twilight.
ALL IN ALL... first five episodes are still great, Twilight is way more of a rude bitch than I remember and I think she gets better later on but I also don't remember her being THAT BAD over all and I was wrong.
Voice performances ACROSS THE BOARD are great, lots of wonderful visual gags, and lots of charm throughout the entire thing. The animation just looks great and aged very well.
Twilight, both in story and voice performances, is the weakest link. The performances and characters of the other Main 6 are carrying this show so far. END OF PART 1
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hugmekenobi · 1 year
Text
The Bad Batch (3)
Chapter Three: Replacements
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GIF by @kamino-coruscant
Hunter x femaleJedi!reader
Series Summary: You joined the Batch 8 months ago and everything was going well. But then, Order 66 happened and the galaxy around you changed. Now, not only do you need to be careful given your new 'social status', but you also need to navigate your feelings towards a certain Sergeant.
Chapter Summary: You and Hunter finally talk things over but amidst all that, the ship crashes and you need to find your way off a desolate moon.
<Previous Chapter
Genre: Friends (idiots) to Lovers
Chapter Warnings: Use of (Y/N) (but I've limited it as much as I could), swearing, the Force works how I say it does, mild innuendo, brief injury mention, light angst, Hunter defence (a theme that will run throughout now).
Word Count (Ch 3): 7.6K
Rating: 18+
Author's notes: Okay so things are finally being talked out lol but despite the honesty mention, both of them continue to lie about their feelings but I allow that because they're both doing it and they're dumb haha. Also I'm sorry for not including Crosshair's section of the episode. It was a tough decision not to but I think with what my focus for this chapter was, it had to be done. Also a big thank you for the support this story as received to far! It means a lot!
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You sat down on the bunk you had once shared with Hunter; you weren’t really sure if that would still stand anymore, you didn’t really expect it to and finished tying off the bandage around your arm. You also quickly applied a light touch of bacta on your cheek and your eyes followed Hunter as he walked over to where Omega was sitting restlessly on the floor, examining a datapad as she leaned against Gonky who was also on his side.
Hunter walked up to Omega with the ration box. “Well, that doesn’t look comfortable, for either of you.”
“We’re fine.” Omega said lightly.
“Here. Chow time.” Hunter said, handing Omega a ration bar as she stood up.
“Ah! Finally!”
Hunter looked up to see Wrecker jumping down the stairs that led to the gun turret. He handed his eager brother a bar only to see him consume it at record pace.
“Hit me again.” Wrecker demanded keenly.
“Well, that’s all for now.” Hunter said, closing the box. “Rations are low.”
Wrecker groaned.
Omega looked down at her portion then back to Wrecker. “You can have mine.” She offered.
Before he reached out to grab it, Hunter pushed Wrecker back a few steps. “Hey, Omega doesn’t even have a place to sleep. You wanna take her food too?”
Wrecker glanced past Hunter. Now he felt bad. “Oh. Uh… no, no thanks. You keep it.”
“Okay.” Omega said casually before sitting back down against the droid.
Wrecker let out another groan. “I guess I’m not used to having a kid around here.”
“Well, none of us are, but she’s not complaining.” Hunter pointed out.
--
You let out a soft sigh as you witnessed the scene just past you before turning away to start packing up the medical kit. You made sure to put everything back where it was, or you knew you’d never hear the end of it from Tech. You’d made the mistake once of just chucking things in in any old order which had not gone down well with the clone, and you’d spent the next 20 minutes getting lectured on the importance of the organisation of the medical supplies.
“The bandages go in the top right compartment.”
You looked up quickly to see Hunter standing opposite you. “Oh, um thanks.” You replied, knowing you were not successful in hiding your surprised tone.
“You didn’t get your portion.” Hunter said, holding the box out to you.
“Thank you.” You replied, taking the ration bar out and nibbling the top of it before putting your attention back on the med kit. You figured that’s all he’d come up to you for and you didn’t want to make him stay any longer than he wanted to.
He knew you well enough to tell that your demeanour right now was for his own benefit and was based off his own action towards you. Come on Hunter, time to settle this, he thought to himself. “That, uh, happen leaving the lot?” Hunter asked, hoping he didn’t sound as awkward as he felt.
You looked back at him. “Yeah, but it barely touched me, and I heal fairly quickly. You know, Jedi and all that.” You cursed yourself internally for bringing up the one topic that held a high degree of sensitivity right now.
“Hmm that’s pretty handy.” Hunter said, giving you a small smile.
You let out a quiet laugh. “Yeah, it is.” After a few moments of silence, you spoke again. “Well, I uh, better put this back in its proper place or who knows what Tech’ll do to me.” You kidded half-heartedly before you sealed the med kit box and stood up, putting your top layer back on as you did so.
“Hey.” Hunter said softly, grabbing your free hand as you moved to pass him.
You glanced down at his hand then looked back at him. “Everything okay?”
“Can we talk?”
You wanted cry out with relief as he said those words but restrained yourself to a simple nod of your head.
Hunter led you towards the cockpit. “Tech, can you give us the space?”
“I’m working on this scanner.” Tech protested.
“You can work on it back there.” Echo said, standing up and dragging Tech out of his seat, giving you a small smile as he did so.
“Hey, Tech, put this back for me, would you please?” You asked, holding the med kit out to him.
Tech nodded and reached out to grab it. “Is everything-”
“Yes, everything is back in place.” You said, exasperated, but shooting him a smile, nonetheless.
“Okay, I only say that because last time-”
“Out!” Echo said, directing Tech away from you and back down the body of the ship.
--
Hunter let go of your hand- he hadn’t even realised he’d kept a hold of it- and went to sit in the pilot’s chair.
You squeezed your hand into a tight fist before relaxing it again as you did your best to ignore the usual feeling of emptiness that filled your hand whenever he let it go. You sat down in the co-pilot’s seat, turning it to face him. “This isn’t about Tech getting the ship impounded right cause-”
“No, it’s not.”
“Okay, good.” That was not the issue you were too worried about fixing. You waited patiently for him to talk first.
“I just… I need you to explain again. I shouldn’t have acted the way I did but-”
“No, you were perfectly entitled to do that. I know I messed up.” You said quietly.
Hunter took a breath before speaking again. “So, why did you hide this?”
You heaved a sigh and ran a hand through your hair. “In the beginning, I was being nothing but selfish. I wish I had a real reason, but I don’t. I’d spent years supressing that part of myself after I left. I didn’t get involved with anything that might threaten that until you all showed up. I lost myself for a while and forgot what I’d been taught. I don’t know what was different about you guys, but something told me I had to help you. I thought it would be a one-time thing but then you offered me a place here and I found myself saying yes and it’s like I said, as time went on, I grew to care for yo- all of you, you know you guys were the closest thing to friends I’d had for a while.” You caught yourself quickly.
Hunter pushed away the upset he felt as he heard that word.
“And I thought by telling you what I really was, things would change, or you’d send me back but, as with any secret, the longer it went the more uncomfortable I felt and the harder it got to keep, and I knew it wasn’t fair to keep lying. Especially to you.” You added quietly, looking down at your hands in your lap. “If you can, and I understand if you can’t, believe it when I say that I really did plan to tell you after Kaller but with Order 66 and Crosshair and Tarkin, I couldn’t. I don’t want to ask this of you but please trust me on this. All the odd behaviour, the deflections and the whole not telling you was purely because I wanted to protect you but I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have lied at all. I’m just- I’m just really sorry.” You finished and looked back at him.
“It just felt like you didn’t trust me or the rest of us. We don’t hide things from each other, not when they’re that important.”
“I know.” You said sorrowfully. “I regret it and I’ll keep regretting it for the rest of my life.”
“Do you regret it because you got caught out?”
“No!” You replied, horrified that that was something he was thinking but then again you could see how it may look that way. “I regret it because I hurt you and the others. I hurt my team and I hurt my friends. Hell, I hurt my family. I’ll never forgive myself for that.”
Hunter sighed. He knew you felt awful about this and that you wouldn’t do something like this again. He didn’t like this anymore than you did and if the others could forgive you, then he could too. “You’ve not lied about anything else?”
You shook your head. “No. If you have any other questions, I’d be happy to answer them too. I’m done hiding from my past.”
“Then we’re good.”
“Really?”
“Really.” Hunter replied.
You couldn’t stop yourself; you lunged forward and hugged him. “Thank you.” You whispered.
Hunter was glad your head was over his shoulder because that meant you wouldn’t be able to see the combination of happiness and shock on his face at your actions. He returned your embrace, breaking it very reluctantly after a few moments. “I do have some questions though.”
You removed yourself from him, you couldn’t believe you’d just done that, and went back to your seat. “Go ahead.”
“Is it because you were a Jedi that you’ve always refused to use a blaster?” He wanted to give you a more light-hearted question since the one he really wanted to ask might be a bit much to launch into straight away.
You snorted. “Yeah. They’re just not very elegant. I did try them out for a while but at the end of the day, I prefer the feeling of a sword in my hand. Anything else?”
Alright, moment of truth. “Yeah, but this one you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
“No, I meant what I said. I’ll answer whatever you want to ask.”
“Okay.” Hunter waited a moment before speaking again, he knew this would be a hard question for you to answer. “Why did you leave?”
You huffed out a sigh. Oh boy. “That’s a longer story.”
--
Meanwhile, further down the ship, Echo, Wrecker and Omega watched the interaction with relief.
“Do we think that’s them told each other now?” Wrecker asked.
“No, we’re not that lucky.” Echo replied. “I reckon they’ve just fixed the whole Jedi issue.”
“Told each other what?” Omega asked, looking away from the two of you to focus on Echo.
“They share a mutual attraction that neither party want to acknowledge or divulge to the other.” Tech answered, his attention never leaving his scanner.
“Huh?” Omega asked.
“Basically, they both have feelings of the romantic type for one another and despite our best efforts, they still deny it to us, and they won’t tell each other.” Echo explained.
“No matter how hard we try to get them to admit it.” Wrecker grumbled.
“Oohh.” Omega replied, turning back to look at you both. “We should do something.”
“Believe me kid, we’ve thought of everything. It’s gotta come from them at this point.” Echo said with a sigh. He just hoped it would be sooner rather than later.
--
“So yeah, that’s why I left. I couldn’t forget the way they’d treated her which led to a crisis of faith, so I left my lightsaber in my room and left the temple in the dead of night. I had thought about seeking her out, but she had her new path to follow and now I had mine, so I took the first shuttle off world. That began my life of planet hopping. I didn’t really fit in there to begin with to be honest. Too emotional with a tendency to talk back and sway from standard rules if you can believe it.” You said, shooting him a playful smile.
“Oh, I can.” Hunter agreed with a quiet chuckle. “That also explains why you disliked Tarkin so much.”
“Yeah.” You agreed with a laugh of your own. “I was really surprised that he didn’t recognise me.” You looked out into the blue hyperspace swirls.
“Well, I’m very grateful he didn’t.” Hunter said quietly.
You turned to face Hunter with a smile. “Me too.”
Hunter cleared his throat. “So… uh on Kaller. There was something else I wanted to mention. You and the padawan looked like-”
“We were having a conversation?” You completed for him.
“Yeah.”
“Well, that’s cause I kinda was.”
“But I didn’t hear anything?”
“It’s hard to explain but I basically reached into his Force Signature which allowed me to communicate with him without talking out loud and he was able to do the same to me. With Jedi, it’s pretty simple since everyone’s signature is pretty strong but emotional connection can make it even easier. It can be done with normal civilians too, like with Gerrera, though obviously it’s one-sided and it’s harder, emotional connection really helps out there.”
Hunter paused before he spoke again. “So, you and Saw Gerrera… emotionally connected at some point in your past?” He asked, hoping you couldn’t pick up on the hint of jealously he was feeling at that prospect.
“What? Gosh no!” You replied quickly, you would not let yourself analyse the slight change in his tone and what that could possibly mean. You wouldn’t ruin this rather important conversation with all that nonsense. “That was basically just luck. I wasn’t even sure it would work, let alone work that quickly. I helped him out when I was still with the Order, but no emotional connecting was done. Under normal circumstances, it would’ve taken me a lot longer to do that.” You hesitated for a moment before speaking again. “Can I show you how emotional connection actually helps?” You asked, moving to sit on your knees in front of him.
“What do you mean?” Hunter asked, refusing to let his mind wander to what else your current position meant to him.
You took his hands in yours. “Just quiet your mind as much as you can for me, please?” You also made sure to take that advice for yourself, the suggestions of your present position were not lost on you but thinking about that would be very counter-productive right now.
After a brief moment to steady your thoughts, you closed your eyes and reached out.
What met you didn’t really surprise you. Hunter’s Force Signature was a lot like him, a little rough along the edges but warm at the same time.
When you sensed that you had achieved a successful connection, you opened your eyes and looked at him as you spoke to him without uttering a single word. Hi there, Sergeant. You giggled as his eyes widened. I know, it’s a bit weird, especially since you can’t do the same thing back so this’ll be the only time, I’ll do it but yeah, apart from Gererra being the exception, if I wanted to do this with anyone else, it would take a long time.
“What about the others?” Hunter asked, his gaze focused intensely on you.
I could probably do it, but I know it’s a faster process with you.
“How?”
You did not want to properly get into that, you still didn’t think your feelings were reciprocated so you did the next best thing. You instead played back the first conversation you had with him back on Devaron. You’re the one I connected to first, it’s just natural it would be this way. You provided as an explanation rather than admit anything else.
Hunter couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by it all, it wasn’t a bad feeling necessarily, but it only served to strengthen the feelings he had for you. All this proved was that you really were incredible, and he couldn’t imagine a time when you weren’t a part of his life but then he remembered what you said. You were his friend, nothing more, no matter how much he wished for that.
You felt his distress and assumed his enhanced senses weren’t too fond of what you were doing so you withdrew. “Sorry. I should’ve thought about your particular gift before doing that.” You said aloud.
“No, it’s not that.” Hunter said. “You can do that whenever; it doesn’t bother me.”
“What is it then?” You said softly, looking at him.
“It’s just… nothing, forget about it.” Hunter said, looking away from you. He couldn’t do this now, not like this.
“Hunter.” You murmured, placing a hand on his cheek so he had to face you. You lightly traced the outline of his tattoo with your fingertips.
Hunter closed his eyes and his breath shuddered slightly at the feeling of your hand on his face. To anyone else, this action would register as nothing more than a feather-light touch but to him it felt like so much more. He opened his eyes again to look at you. “You’re just pretty amazing.” Hunter breathed out, finding himself leaning down towards you.
You met his gaze, and you felt yourself moving up to meet him halfway.
Just as your lips were about to meet, the lights flickered and cut out, providing the most annoying but probably necessary interruption the two of you needed. You coughed and shuffled back on your knees awkwardly. You put that particular moment down to the whole speaking into his head thing. Anyone wouldn’t really think straight after that.
Hunter stifled his frustrated sigh and stood up out of the pilot’s seat, noticing the way everyone in the back of the ship had quickly turned their heads away and were now staring at random parts of the ship. Well, I should’ve known that would be the case, he thought to himself before addressing Echo. “Echo, the lights cut out again. I thought you fixed it.” He offered his hand to you to get you up and was pleased to see that despite what just happened you still took it.
“Yeah, add it to the list.” Echo replied grumpily, moving back to the cockpit with Tech, munching on his ration bar.
You and Hunter both moved out the way of Echo and Tech so they could sit back down.
“The ship got hit hard when we fled Saleucami. Several systems have been glitching ever since.” Echo explained. “Repairs would go faster if I had some help.” He said pointedly, shooting Tech a look.
“As soon as I finish building this scanner.” Tech said, soldering some parts of the device. “Testing the functionality of out inhibitor chips takes precedence.”
“But I thought you said they were defective?” You asked.
“A theory this test will be able to prove.” Tech said confidently.
“Huh, okay.” You said simply with a shrug of your shoulders, and you turned around to follow Hunter back down the ship.
“Besides, the ship-wide diagnostic report indicated no critical systems were compromised.” Tech informed.
Just as he said that the ship jolted violently and came crashing out of hyperspace.
The alarm started ringing and the red lights began to flash.
You lost your balance, and you suddenly felt the tight press of a body against yours.
In the slight commotion, it would seem that you had fallen into the wall, your back pressed against it while Hunter had ended up with his body pushed up against yours, his hands on either side of your head, his eyes looking directly into yours.
You blinked a few times to fully process what just happened and bring yourself back to the present moment of the ship hurtling towards a moon.
Hunter rather awkwardly pushed himself off the wall and away from you, trying and failing to forget the feeling of your body against his in that manner. He’d only ever felt it like that when the two of you had been asleep together but in the more recent times, those occasions had grown rarer, and they seemed a lot more innocent than whatever just happened there, even if it was purely accidental.
He quickly walked into the cockpit, and he heard you close behind him. “Getting thrown out of hyperspace. I’d say that’s pretty critical, Tech.”
“It’s not affecting life support.” Tech replied calmly, fiddling with some controls. “We’re fine.”
“Are you kidding me?” Hunter replied, exasperated.
“I don’t think life support will matter too much if we crash and burn.” You added, adjusting your footing slightly as another rumble ran through the ship.
“The power capacitor’s blown. We need to land immediately.” Echo said.
Omega was still back in the main body of the ship with Wrecker, trying to maintain her balance.
“Get ready for your first crash landing.” Wrecker said, lifting one of the over-the-shoulder restraints.
“Crash?” Omega said anxiously.
“Omega, strap in.” Hunter said, darting back down towards the young girl. “You too.” He directed, looking back towards you.
“Are you?” You asked, crossing your arms, and looking at him questioningly.
“No but that’s not the point. You-”
“No, I’m fine thanks. I’ll sit right here.” You sat in one the normal passenger seats, bracing your back against it to keep steady.
Hunter sighed and sat in the chair across from yours.
Omega quickly sat in on of the seats with the over- the- shoulder restraints and Wrecker lowered one down for her before going into one himself although the restraint proved to be a bit small for his larger frame.
“I can’t see anything.” Echo groaned, straining his eyes to try and see through the fog that filled the moon’s atmosphere.
“Hold on!” Hunter called back towards Omega and Wrecker.
Omega grunted with the impact on her shoulders as the ship continued to be unsteady. She lifted her feet when Gonky slid down the hallway.
Wrecker wasn’t having the best time of it either. A particularly strong heave of the ship had the side of his head being smacked off the one of the metal hand bars of the restraints.
The alarm blaring grew louder and more insistent, but you saw the fog had cleared which allowed Tech to level out the ship as best he could before it crashed to the ground. You held on to the sides of your seat to stop yourself from falling out of it as your body lurched with the impact.
Once the ship had come to a complete stop, you stood up and helped the Gonk droid to his feet. You looked over at Hunter when he stood up. “You good?”
Hunter nodded before addressing the back of the ship. “Everybody alright?”
You glanced down to where Omega and Wrecker were. She seemed a little bit dazed but otherwise okay. Wrecker was the one who looked the most affected out of all of you. He was taking breaths in short, sharp pants. You only hoped you had the parts needed to fix the ship and get off this place.
--
“The storm’s getting worse. It’s knocking out our comms.” You said irritably as you stared at the controls.
“I suspect one of our capacitors sustained damage during our firefight with the regs. We won’t be able to take off without replacing it. Inventory analysis indicates we have one spare onboard.” Tech explained to the group, looking up from his datapad.
“Is it in here?” Omega asked, grunting as she dragged a box out and placed it on the ground.
A hush descended in the ship as you turned your seat to see what Omega was talking about and why everyone had gone so quiet. Oh, that was why, you thought gloomily.
“What?” Omega asked, wondering why everyone was suddenly staring at her.
“That’s Crosshair’s weapon kit.” Hunter said, the guilt and painful reminder of all that went down on Kamino coming back to haunt him.
Wrecker groaned. “Fine. I’ll say it. I kinda miss him.”
“He shot you, remember?” Echo reminded him.
“Ha! I sure do. That hurt!” Wrecker said with a laugh.
“It’s worth noting that the possibility that Crosshair’s actions were influenced by the inhibitor chip.” Tech said to Hunter.
“It can do that?” You asked, getting out of your seat, directing your question towards Omega.
“That’s what it was designed to do.” Omega confirmed.
“So, it wasn’t Crosshair’s fault?” Wrecker asked.
“Well-” Tech began.
“Look, debating this won’t fix the ship.” Hunter interrupted. He almost didn’t want to know the answer. The slightest chance that Crosshair had done what he did willingly was the only thing keeping his inner turmoil at bay and now there was a chance he wasn’t in complete control of himself? And they’d left him behind? That was something he wouldn’t be able to get past easily. “Right now, we need to find that capacitor and get off this rock.” He said before walking away.
You followed him to the cockpit. “It’s not your fault you know.”
“I’d love to hear how it isn’t.” He replied dejectedly, hanging his head as he held on to the back of the pilot’s chair.
You sighed deeply. “You made a judgement call. Even if he wasn’t of sound mind, we were still under fire.”
“Exactly, there’s now a chance he didn’t really know what he was doing, and I left him behind. I can’t-”
“Even if he wasn’t himself, we were taking fire, Hunter. And it wasn’t just from Crosshair. We would’ve died if we didn’t get out when we did. If Crosshair isn’t in control of his own mind, then we’ll get him back. I know you; when the moment is right, you won’t leave him behind.” You said, laying a hand on his shoulder, turning him to face you but he still refused to look at you. “Hey, look at me.” You put your hand on his cheek, angling his face towards you. “You’re a good sergeant. Those guys back there would follow you through anything, as would I.”
Hunter gave a half-hearted smile. He only hoped your image was him proved to be accurate because despite your words, that element of doubt still resided within him. “Thanks. Go help Echo and Tech with the repairs, would you?”
“Yeah, no problem.” You complied. You caressed your thumb across his cheekbone. “I mean it you, know. Until you want rid of me, I’m not going anywhere.” You said, removing your hand and you walked away from him, grabbing an oxygen mask as you went to join Tech and Echo outside.
May that day never come. Hunter thought as he watched you go, the feeling of your hand remaining on his cheek.
--
Tech lifted the panel and took out the damaged capacitor.
“Careful. Those capacitors hold a massive charge.” Echo warned as he stood on Tech’s right, holding his flashlight up to help Tech see what he was doing.
You joined on Tech’s left-hand side, shining your light too.
“I am well aware.” Tech responded, placing the new one in. “I just need to secure it.”
You turned your head slightly as you heard the sound of faint snarling and you felt goosebumps on your skin. “What was that?”
“I’m a little busy as the moment.” Tech replied.
You walked a few paces away from the others, shining your light ahead of you.
“Get back here.” Echo called after you.
You waved your hand behind you. “Shush. Keep your light with Tech.” You hissed back.
As you walked, you shone your torch to your left as you heard some rustling, but you couldn’t see anything. You kept walking forward, taking slow, quiet steps, fanning your flashlight right and left but you were coming up empty.
Pausing, you closed your eyes and reach out into the Force, trying to feel for any unusual or threatening signatures but you couldn’t sense anything. You let out a frustrated sigh and turned your light towards the ship and then something caught your eye. “Echo, Tech, look at this.” You called back to them.
Tech just finished securing the capacitor and he joined Echo to make their way towards you.
You shone your light back on the fresh, long, and jagged claw marks that now decorated the ship.
“Ah. Well, those weren’t there when we landed.” Tech observed.
No wonder you hadn’t sensed anything strongly. You’d never quite managed the whole force connecting to animals thing, it had been one of the things you’d still been practicing before you’d left but after you had gone, you’d ceased all training of that manner. You berated yourself for that now. You were so preoccupied with your own thoughts; you hadn’t noticed that Tech and Echo had made their way back to the ship entrance.
“You coming back in?” Echo asked, looking back at you.
“Give me a minute.”
Echo looked at Tech, who simply shrugged, and they both made their way back onto the ship.
You took a deep breath. “Come on, you can do this.” You whispered you yourself as you closed your eyes, and reached out again, really focusing in on the nature around you.
--
“The capacitor’s in place, but other systems are now failing.” Tech said, taking off his mask as he walked towards Hunter.
Echo removed his own mask before speaking to Hunter. “Something’s causing damage to the exterior hull.”
“You wanna narrow that down?” Hunter asked. “And where’s (Y/N)?”
“The capacitor is gone!” You shouted, quickly removing your own mask as you ran on board. You hadn’t seen it happen, but you had gotten a read on a signature that had gone very close to the panel where the capacitor was.
“I just placed it myself. It can’t be-” Tech stopped as the entire ship just powered down.
Each of your heads followed the faint sound of banging that moved across the top of the ship. “I told you.” You whispered. “Something’s taken it.”
Omega looked out the ship window to suddenly see an animal with luminous green charges flowing through its body, dart across it. “Look!”
“What is it?” You asked as you all ran towards the cockpit.
“Some kind of creature, about this big.” Omega said quickly, holding her arms wide apart. “With a long tail. It ran off with the part.”
Echo stepped forward and reactivated the control to get a view of the ship. “They’re right. The capacitor’s gone. And that was our last one.”
“Did you see this creature take it?” Wrecker asked, turning to look at you.
“No but I had a feeling.” You replied.
“A feeling?” Wrecker repeated, staring at you.
“A Jedi feeling, Wrecker. I didn’t know what though. I didn’t get very far with connecting to animals and it really doesn’t help when I have no idea what I should be connecting to.”
“The creature is most likely an Ordo Moon Dragon.” Tech informed. “A species that feeds off raw energy. It was probably drawn to the capacitor’s electric charge.”
“Well, that would’ve been good to know beforehand, Tech.” You said with a sigh before you noticed that Wrecker had walked away from you all, groaning slightly as he held the side of his head. You guessed it was an injury from the rather rough landing.
“You two get those other systems online.” Hunter ordered Tech and Echo. “Wrecker, stay here. We will go after the dragon and get our part back.” Hunter said nodding to you.
“I’m fine. I-” Wrecker protested before breaking off with a moan.
“You’re staying.” Hunter reiterated.
“I’ll go with you both.” Omega said eagerly, jumping off her seat.
“No, that thing could be dangerous.” Hunter said, double checking his vibroblade before putting it back in its cover.
“I’m a part of this squad now too, right?” Omega asked.
Hunter glanced up at you.
You finished putting your weapons on and nodded at him. We can watch her. It’ll be fine. Plus, she’s right and she’ll need to learn how to handle herself at some point. I know I’d rather it be at a time where we can comfortably watch her.
Hunter turned back to face the young girl. “Alright, kid. Just stay close.”
Omega put her oxygen mask on and dashed for the door.
You hummed out a laugh as you watched her enthusiastically run to the door then you saw how the others were looking at each other- their faces filled with a combination of scepticism and bewilderment. You smirked at Hunter and nudged his shoulder. “Come on, it’ll be fun. Of all the missions we’ve had, this one is one of the easier ones.” You both put on your masks and followed her out.
--
The three of you moved speedily along the moon’s rocky terrain. The wind howled softly, and you felt the breeze through your hair. You were taking up the rear, with Omega in the middle and Hunter in front.
Hunter paused and knelt down to the ground.
You and Omega came on either side of him and watched as he ran his fingers through some of the dirt and studied it as it trickled through his fingers.
“What are you doing?” Omega asked in a hushed tone.
“Tracking.” Hunter replied, standing upright.
“Can’t you track the creature? You know, with your Jedi powers?” Omega asked, angling her head past Hunter’s legs to look at you.
“I could if I knew how to properly. Fact is, I don’t and even if I did, it would probably take a lot longer than this. A strong bond is required to connect with an animal, and I have no ground to even begin to establish one with this thing.” You answered, standing up and brushing some of the dust off your trouser legs.
You left out the fact that you quite enjoyed watching Hunter track, it sent a warm tingle down your spine every time, the only exception to that had been Kaller due to the rather serious extenuating circumstances.
“Let’s keep going.” Hunter said.
The three of you moved on, your movements more cautious now as you reached a section with more rocks, providing more cover for anything that might want to jump out at you.
“Could I learn to track like you?” Omega whispered.
“Well, it’s an enhanced skill.” Hunter replied. “Wrecker and Tech, we each have one.”
“And Crosshair.” Omega added.
You looked over her head to gauge Hunter’s reaction but the most he gave was a quick glance back at the young girl. You couldn’t get a read, the only way you could would be to dip into his signature but this task was more important right now.
“You shouldn’t be angry at him. He can’t help it.” Omega continued.
Hunter stopped and sighed. “I’m angry at myself. We don’t leave our own behind.”
Your heart went out to him. You knew that no matter how this situation turned out, that regret would always stick with him.
“Then we’ll find a way to get him back…somehow.” Omega said, coming up on Hunter’s right.
“That’s what I said.” You stated, coming to squeeze his left hand reassuringly. “See, it’s not just me that knows it.”
Hunter nodded at you before moving ahead once more.
You lightly nudged Omega in front of you again and fell in line behind her.
--
The three of you slowly began an uphill climb and crouched behind a rock. A few metres in front of you with its lights blinking, lay the power capacitor.
“See it?” Hunter asked, shining his torch light on it.
“Yeah.” You replied quietly.
“Wait here.” Hunter ordered, sensing that Omega had stood up. “Both of you.”
“You gotta be kidding me.” You objected.
Hunter just tilted his head towards Omega. He needed you to stay for her.
You got the message and let out a frustrated sigh. “Just be careful.”
Hunter gave you a nod and moved out from behind the rock to head towards the capacitor.
You moved closer to Omega and you both watched him closely as he went. You closed your eyes and reached out into the Force around you, looking to see if that familiar signature you’d felt by the panel on the ship was anywhere near you both or Hunter.
Then you felt it, it was right by the rock that was behind the capacitor. You snapped your eyes open and went to warn Hunter, but you were a second too late. The creature had jumped out and attacked him.
You and Omega dashed out and ran towards it, but it had grabbed the part and ran off.
“It’s getting away!” Omega shouted.
That wasn’t your concern right now. You turned away from the direction the creature had headed off in to see Hunter gasping, clutching at his throat.
Panic swept through you. “Hunter, your mask!” You grabbed him as he collapsed to the ground.
You scanned the area around you quickly to find his mask. You spotted it and called on the Force to send it to you. As soon as it landed in your hand, you reattached it. “Hunter, wake up! Wake up!” You said desperately but to no avail.
You checked for a pulse and hung your head in relief when you found one, but he would be out for a while and medical help would not go amiss plus you still needed to get the capacitor back. You spoke into your comm. “Echo, Wrecker, Tech, come in! We need help!” You got no response back.
You heard a snarl and looked up to see the dragon disappear with the capacitor down into a tunnel. You were torn, you couldn’t leave Hunter and Omega couldn’t be left on her own, but you needed that back.
“I’ll go.” Omega said bravely.
“No, Omega. Not by yourself. You could get hurt.” You said, taking your eyes off Hunter to look at her.
“We can’t leave Hunter alone here either. You can stay with him. I’ll be careful. If I’m going to be on this squad, I need to learn how to handle myself.” Omega replied.
You went to disagree with her but hesitated. You couldn’t bring yourself to leave him and if Omega felt like she could, then maybe it could work. “You sure about this?”
Omega nodded firmly.
You sighed. “Okay, take his blaster, torch, and his comm. If at any point, you’re unsure of what to do or there’s a sign of trouble, you tell me. Understand?” You said seriously.
“I understand.” Omega answered, picking up Hunter’s flashlight, blaster, and comm. “Okay, Omega. You can do this.” She said to herself, taking a calming breath.
“Be careful and any trouble, you use that comm and don’t use that blaster unless you absolutely have to.” You told her. She was young, she didn’t need her first instinct to be to kill. “You better go.”
Omega nodded and set off towards the tunnel.
You watched her enter it and then readjusted yourself, so you were supporting Hunter’s body, his head positioned in your lap. Come on Hunter, wake up, you thought nervously.
--
You gently straightened your back, keeping Hunter’s head cradled in your hands as you did so. Right after you did this, you saw his eyes flicker open. “Hunter?”
Hunter groaned and then his eyes focused on you, your head positioned just above his. His appeared to be in your lap. He sat up and held his head then let out a few panicked breaths as he remembered what happened. He tapped his mask, just to confirm that it was really there.
You moved around and kneeled in front of his. “Easy. It’s okay. I reattached it after it fell. You’ve been unconscious though.” You explained. “You scared the shit out of me. Next time you tell me to wait, I’m just going to ignore you because clearly that doesn’t work out well for you.” You said, adding a touch of humour to your tone.
“I’m okay.” Hunter reassured you, laying a hand on your shoulder.
“Just… don’t do scare me like that again. I don’t know what I’d do if-” You stopped yourself from continuing.
Before Hunter could ask about what you were going to say, he suddenly remembered about Omega, she wasn’t here. “Where’s Omega?” He asked urgently.
“Umm… she’s gone after the part.” You replied awkwardly.
“What?” Hunter said, standing up abruptly and which led him to notice his blaster, comm and torch were all now missing. “You let her go on her own?”
“Not enthusiastically but it was either I leave you unconscious and her with you, not knowing if there was anything else out here that could hurt you guys, or I stay with you and let her go after it. It wasn’t like I was left with the best choices. I told her to contact me if she was in trouble.” You explained, standing up too.
“Did you even try to contact the others for help?”
You glared at him. “Yes Hunter, believe it or not I’m not a complete idiot, my first thought was not to send her after an Ordo Moon Dragon by herself. The others didn’t reply.” You replied coolly.
Hunter sighed. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t fair. It’s just…she’s a kid. She could get herself hurt.”
“She’s not helpless, Hunter and she volunteered. She’s not much younger than what I was when I was being sent on missions. Plus, you and your brothers were put in training when you were young.” You said defensively.
“But she’s not exactly trained either or blessed with your particular skill set.”
You opened your mouth to protest but stopped when you realised that you’d lost sight of that. You may have understood the emotional assignment of taking in a child better than the others, but you’d let your own experience cloud your judgement here. You’d looked at Omega and seen a determined young girl, wanting to do all she could to help which is what you’d been like at her age and that was all you saw. You forgot that she’d been on Kamino her whole life and hadn’t been trained in any way. “You’re right. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have let her go. I just didn’t want to leave you and I forgot her experience has been completely different from mine and yours.”
“It’s okay. We can go find her now.” Hunter said.
“She’s in there.” You pointed up to the tunnel she’d gone into.
“Lead the way.” Hunter directed and followed you as you both ran up to the tunnel entrance.
--
“Omega!” You both yelled down the tunnel.
“I’m coming!” Omega called back.
You exhaled deeply in relief as you saw her crawl her way to the top.
Hunter picked her up out of the tunnel and set her gently down on her feet. “Are you okay?” He asked, scanning her body for injuries.
“Omega, I’m sorry, I never should’ve let you go on your own.” You said, bending down in front of her to give her a quick hug.
“It’s alright. I’m fine. I completed the mission.” Omega said to you over your shoulder. She pulled away and handed Hunter back his blaster at Hunter. “Don’t worry, didn’t have to use it.” She added, looking back at you.
You nodded back at her before you got to your feet to stand next to Hunter.
“I got the part.” Omega said, holding the capacitor up to Hunter.  
Hunter took it from her.
“Good work Omega.” You said. “Now we can finally get off this rock.”
--
Hunter walked into the cockpit. “Tech, get us outta here.”
“Gladly.” Tech replied, powering up the engines. “Systems are up and running.” He said as the ship left the moon’s atmosphere.
“Yeah, took you long enough.” Wrecker grumbled, coming into the cockpit.
“And where have you been?” Echo asked, turning in his seat.
Wrecker ignored him and kneeled in front of the passenger seat where Omega was sitting. “Hey, kid. Come with me.” He said, holding his hand out to her. “Cover your eyes.” He instructed with a light chuckle.
Omega did as he said and took his hand despite it being about twice the size of hers.
“I’m not missing this.” You said happily, following Wrecker out of the cockpit and back to the gun tower. You were very curious as to what Wrecker had planned.
Hunter also left the cockpit to see what Wrecker had been doing.
“Okay. Open ‘em.” Wrecker said, stepping away from Omega. “Check it out!” He said with a chuckle, showing Omega the now new and improved gun turret.
Omega walked up the ladder, pulled back the curtain and smiled at what greeted her. Wrecker had transformed the space with new, warm glowing lights and had padded it out for extra comfort. He’d also included his Lula. She couldn’t believe it.
“It’s your own room.” Wrecker explained. “Well, what do you think? I thought this place could feel more like a home.”
“It’s perfect!” Omega said joyfully. “Thank you, Wrecker!”
You chuckled as Wrecker took the praise rather bashfully.
“Oh, uh, it was nothing.” Wrecker replied.
“I never had my own room before.” Omega said, sitting down and holding Lula to her chest.
“Well, you’re a part of this squad now too.” Hunter said, stepping past you.
You noticed that Tech and Echo had now come to see what was going on too.
Omega looked at him then back around her room. She was really starting to feel that now.
The rest of you left her to it and walked back to the cockpit. “That was really sweet of you, Wrecker. And she’s right. That’s a pretty perfect set up.” You said smiling at him. “Hey, how come I never got anything like that?” You asked, nudging Hunter playfully.
“Are you unhappy with your current arrangement?” Hunter lightly teased back whilst also hoping the answer would be no.
You pretended to ponder before answering. “Hmm I guess I can manage.” You replied light-heartedly, giving him a warm smile.
Wrecker, Tech, and Echo just looked at one other, the look saying the same thing- when will they just wake up and admit what they feel for one another? If it’s so clear to us, why is it not to them?
Next Chapter>
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saltydkdan · 9 months
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Yo, Salt man. Decided to finally bite the bullet and dive into One Piece. Currently on Volume 4/Chapter 27 of the manga (also episode 2 of the Netflix live-action, really good ngl). I'm excited to read it, but the sheer length of the manga is extremely daunting to me, and I'm starting to wonder if it's even worth reading at this point. Dunno if you got any sort of tips or such to help someone like me through this, or at least boost morale?
Don’t worry! I felt the exact same way. The length of One Piece can feel really daunting when you start. However here is what I tell people to keep in mind:
Get to Arlong Park
This is what EVERYONE SAYS. But it really is true. Get to Arlong Park, and if you enjoy it, then you will 100% love this series. Arlong Park is the arc where One Piece starts to really become what it is known for (and in some senses Baratie too). And what’s cool is that as someone who has caught up, Arlong Park isn’t even my favorite anymore, far from it. Arlong Park made me a fan, but later stuff like Alabasta, Skypeia, and Water 7 especially made me HYPER FOCUS on the series.
Basically if you think Arlong Park and stuff like Baratie is good, it really only goes up from there, as it’s more or less a taste of what you’ll be getting as Oda develops the story. If you don’t like it tho? No harm no foul! You’re allowed to feel however you want! You can move on to something else if you feel like and that’s super okay. Though based on your current reactions I feel like you are def gonna like it LMAO.
You don’t have to binge ALL of it
You are totally allowed to pick it up and read a saga and then put it down to switch to something else for a bit. In fact, if you do find yourself getting too tired at points, def switch it up with another series, TV show, or video game! Nobody expects you to finish reading it in a month or something. It took me a full year to catch up after jumping on and off of it and I had a blast because I didn’t force it!
There’s a reason that the series is broken up into arcs and sagas! The end of a Saga specifically is meant to be a very good break point for you to do something else if you like!
And trust me, if you’re anything like me, you won’t want it to end. After I passed chapter 1,000 I had a sudden violent awakening that I was going to catch up and become a week to week reader and I got really sad LOL.
Being a One Piece reader feels rewarding!
This is something I would have loved to know going in, but reading/watching One Piece (especially nowadays) feels like an insanely rewarding experience.
I have no idea how Oda pulls it off, but there is information that is as immediate as Chapter 1 that is still relevant all these years later in Chapter 1,000+, it really feels rewarding to be into the series for so long.
I’ve never read or watched anything THIS LONG that rewards the reader like this, it’s so fun. And it’s also something that makes One Piece great to re-read or re-watch.
There are so many fun twists, turns, and reveals that are either foreshadowed, or established in a very small way early on. I can’t emphasize harder how fun and connected it makes everything feel.
I call it the opposite of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. Because while Jojo will constantly reset itself with a new cast and characters every arc, instead One Piece doubles down, and is still revealing massive bombshells that we’re hinted at ages ago.
The series does show it’s age at times
I don’t like ending stuff on a bad note, but I like to let people know to keep in mind that One Piece has been running for a LONG time, and this can be both good and bad.
It’s good in the sense that I think it gets better and better over time, but bad in the sense that it does feature a couple of outdated depictions, as well as “Pervy” anime-esque humor that I honestly cannot enjoy personally. Just make sure you’re aware going in because some of it has aged… horribly.
That being said though, when One Piece gets depictions right it gets them SOOOO right.
There’s a reason that there’s an ongoing joke in the community that “Luffy would have died multiple times over if not for the Queer Community” lol it’s extremely correct
Reward yourself with the side content
One of my favorite things to do, is after I caught up to a certain point in the manga, is that I rewarded myself by watching one of the One Piece Films from around that time.
It’s a great thing to use as a rewarding little checkpoint and be like “Omg now that I’m this far, I can enjoy this fun animated film without fear of spoilers”.
And while a good chunk of films are very obviously not canon and don’t clearly fit into the overall story (I.e. there is not a good space for them to canonically exist) some of them actually do fit super well, and in my opinion, even add greatly to the overall story.
A big favorite of mine, One Piece: Baron Omatsuri, fits this description like a glove. Not only does it easily fit between the sagas of Skypeia and Water 7, but it even adds to the later themes of the story, and even foreshadows certain elements later on in a super fun way! Plus it’s one of the only One Piece films to have a very experimental direction, created by the guy who made Summer Wars. It feels very different, but in a super fun way, and works as a great little treat for getting as far as you have in the manga!
Anyway, I hope that this helps you out? Remember it isn’t a race, and you can pick up and put down the series whenever you want! There’s absolutely no pressure at all.
A part of me wants to kind of make a “read/watch list” for people who get into the series based off my own recommendation/experience. Obviously everyone is going to read and watch the anime in order, but it would probably be cool to know when you can check out certain side content like Anime-only specials and animated films during your read-through.
If anybody wants that let me know! (I’ll probably end up making it on my own time anyway I have zero self control).
Anyway yeah, enjoy One Piece!
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georgies-ftts · 2 months
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my thoughts and opinions on this weeks episode as someone who didn’t have time to watch last weeks episode, has never watched live american telly before and has discovered a new found hatred for your adverts. Also i swear a lot.
let’s begin
(spoilers obviously don’t be a knob)
1. he cannae be captain he’s only got two stripes on his epilette why are we focusing so much on this man
2. Bobby eyeing up that gun I like that (the acting)
3. this guy is giving me uncanny valley and i don’t like it
4. hehe dongle
5. i mean fair enough… in and out just like he said
6. Hen love of my life where the hell have you been loca
7. “and you won’t be anymore either” that’s actually dead funny to me
8. husbands that saw together survive trauma together <3
9. “everyone survived” i know foreshadowing when i see it
10. there’s a lot of drunk driver hatred (as deserved) somethings gonna occurr
11. oh he’s dead… lol karma fuckhead
12. Hen, i love you but why can noone on telly give me actual realistic CPR… break them ribs girl
13. christ these american adverts are weird
14. let me tell you advertising prescription medicine isn’t actually a normal thing to do
15. I don’t know boss man am no a dr but that’s an awful lot of blood are you sure you should still be breathing????
16. “Are you happy” “Yeah, Yeah I am” i have a feeling that’s all about to change buddy
17. just me or can anyone else not see a fucking thing that’s going on this episode why’s everyone in the dark for?
18. moving on from that i love the lighting in the office scene… chefs kiss
19. EXCUSE ME SHE WAS DOING HER JOB, NEXT YOU’LL SUSPEND HER FOR CODLING THE DRUNK DRIVER AND GIVING HIM TEA AND CHEEK KISSES PISS OFFFFF
20. Why do American comm’s systems always fail whenever you actually need them
21. They were axed to pieces. I will let you off -_- this time…
22. “I didn’t shoot him” honestly… same i hope you get yer pay out boss
23. Athena please for the love of god pop a paracetamol or a codeine and chill the fuck out
24. cause it has never been hard enough for them you just had to add a bastard bomb
25. ITS BEEN 5 MINUTES WHY MORE ADVERTS
26. WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU ADVERTISING TO YOUR CITIZENS
27. The Rookie ad i love it carry on
28. If he wasn’t under the influence then he was just being a cunt and hen had every right to react as such thankyou very much
29. Oh my fuck what is happening - don’t tear them apart i’ll start crying
30. Bitch you’re taking on water stop being a pussy and help
31. “Don’t test me.” Queen, you rag his arse
32. “port stabilisers are gone” surely you should be tilting like a bitch right now or did i miss a frame
33. MORE FUCKING ADVERTS????
34. why’s that lizard from london?
35. WHY ARE YOU ADVERTISING DEMENTIA MEDICATION THAT IS LITERALLY ADVERTISED ALSO AS A DEATH PILL WHAT DO YOU MEAN COMA AND DEATH THATS NOT HELPING
36. “i didn’t save him either” he quite literally refused your help despite being detained
37. didn’t get that SS Menow reference… try the Mayflower next time
38. “Saving the ship” “course she is” GIVE THEM ONE MOMENT OF PEACE PLEASE I AM BEGGING YOU
39. okay good they are tilting like a bitch i will shut my mouth
40. NO STOP TILTING LIKE A BITCH I DONT CARE ABOUT REALISM I TAKE IT BACK NO
41. HOW MANY MORE ADVERTS DO YOU NEED
42. i don’t know but all your meds just seem to be doing the opposite of.. you know… keeping you alive.
43. woah therapy flash back get me one of those
44. you forgot to mention imminent death in your therapy session Mr Sir
45. “We did what we had to do” YOU’RE ALLOWED TO LIVE TOO.
46. “I couldn’t save my first family and I can’t save you either” and what if that was my last straw Robert Nash
47. ABC you can tone down the writing now i’m fucking sobbing
48. FUCK YOU AUSTRALIAN MAN I WAS CRYING MY EYES OUT
49. glad the us also have those Haribo ads
50. first time in my almost 20 years of life where i’ve seen an ADVERT for ANTIDEPRESSANTS that also actively make you MORE DEPRESSED
51. Hen i knew you were slaying you’ve never not slayed <3
52. no need for it was there mr boss man? no didn’t think so
53. You have no jurisdiction past the Gulf of Mexico??? ummmm??? distressed cruise ship full of your citizens???? idk??? do something????
54. oh. welp. no surviving that one, have fun with poseidon my loves
55. i don’t know about you but once i’ve been capsized like that in anything bigger than a kayak im giving up…
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TBB S3 Ep 5 Thoughts!!
Love Omega’s new outfit
Batcher hanging out with Cross then, I see
Cross is like the dad who continuesly goes “NO PET” and then when you do get a pet they’re suddenly besties
“ITS ECHO” “perfect”
Ah, the duality of man
Love how there’s no end to this dynamic
“What? No hug for me?” “That depends how good your intel is.”
LOVE Echo matching Cross’s causal sass
These two are gonna push against each other a lot huh?
Yanno, given all the promo material, I was kinda expecting Rex to be with Echo when he arrived (hoping phi, the word is hoping.) (she’s delulu.)
“Especially without Tech” 😭😭😭😭
No surprise reactions from Cross through. Means he already knows.
But also, Cross coming in with the solve <3
Is Hunter,,,, JEALOUS??? of the fact that Omega is spending so much time with Cross? Like that SIDEYE when they walked past each other on the platform
Like, God forbid Omega spent time with the member of the squad who everybody is always suspicious of and spends the most time alone
BUT ALSO!!!
“Don’t hold it against him. His only worried about you.” CROSS YOU BIG ‘OL SOFTY!!!
“I’m older than you are, little brother.”
THE CHUCKLE
AND WRECKER GIVING BACK CROSS’S ARMOUR AAAAAAAHHHH
oooohhh the girls are fighting
“Hey, kill each other later.” SIR THE WAY I CACKLED BYE ✋🏻
“He started it.” Sir, are you 5?
MAYDAY’S HELMET
Echo not wanting Omega to see the straight up Bitch fight between Hunter and Cross
TELL HIM CROSSHAIR!!!!!
Jesus Christ, fucking finally
I wrote a post at some point about Cross becoming the mirror held up to Hunter in which he can view his own shortcomings because of his adamant refusal to change AND ITS HAPPENING
“I risked everything to send you that message and you ignored it.” THIS
Hunter’s mistrust in Cross played a big part in Omega getting captured, but also ofc Cross thinks the message was fully ignored, because no one came to save him either
Also Cross just not hiding anymore that he’s always cared for Omega too I LOVE
Love how quick they put that plan together
Batch is Batching :) (almost) (Tech, my love, come back)
“We’ll try to dig through.” “You’ll try?” “Glad you heard me properly.” I AM WHEEZING
Cross patting Batcher
BIG ‘OL SOFTY
Say did Hunter abandon the bandana for a god damn leather strap
wtf
Cross and Hunter walking back to base side by side, when the last time Cross was walking back to this base was with Mayday dying in his arms🥺
Wrecker hugging them both
AAAAAHHH
“See? They always work it out. And I don’t even see any blood this time.”
EXCUSE ME??
i am worried.
Blood??
Was typical??
Jesus Christ
Don’t know how much I appreciate Hunter getting on a high horse and giving Cross advice
Bird flying away from Cross After always being with him on that base, like the shadows of his past leaving his life, now that this period of his life is over (also sun setting, signifying the day is over)
Good symbolism yes
Okokok good episode! Tbh I thought “The Return” would be Echo’s permanent return to the Batch, but narratively that wouldn’t’ve made sense for him anyway. And I am LOVING the fact that it is actually Crosshair’s return to the turning point in his life, followed by his full return to the batch. Like yeah, last ep they re-met, but he hadn’t fully arrived until the end of this episode and GAAAAHHH I love it!
Also the dialogue is just totally A1 chefs kiss mwah this season (or maybe I just appreciate sarcasm)
Loved this one!! Would love to tag Saturn and Steph because I wanna see their thoughts of Echo being back but idk if they’ve seen the ep already and I don’t wanna spoil them so,,, idk guys if you see this hmu lol
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starbuckaroo · 8 days
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I think I would be happier w bucktommy all these episodes down the line if Tommy still interacted with or asked after Eddie. I know there’s a lot the show doesn’t put onscreen so there’s no reason why it couldn’t have plausibly happened or couldn’t still happen (and I hope it does), but Tommy was Eddie’s friend first! They hung out a lot!
And yet, since he got together with Buck, we haven’t gotten to see them interact.
Granted, there hasn’t been a lot of screen time for Tommy and that’s fine, it’s a short season w very little room to breathe. This isn’t some sort of angry anti bucktommy tirade. But it does make me just a tad uncomfortable the way things are at this moment. Bc it’s not a stretch to theorize that maybe Tommy was hoping things Eddie might go somewhere and when they didn’t, he tried with Buck. I don’t think that’s supported by the text, but it’s also not negated, either. Idk. It’s not a huge deal at the moment, just a little snag?
Listen I am a buck fan but I am an eddie fan!!!!!!! And I am so so sad for eddie this season it’s been rly fucking rough on him! Not like buck needs to change anything (except not be a jealous freak and lash out physically if he can’t use his words), like I said I’m here for bucktommy I think they’re great. But like. Where’s the awkward “hey how do we hang out now that you two make out sometimes” or whatever?? We deserve to see that tbh! It’s a more common issue in queer circles, that ppl have to slip in and out of romantic/platonic interactions when people partner up or break up. It’s also the first time either of them have dated anyone within the LAFD and so it’s the first time this could ever have even come up!
Idk man. Just I keep thinking about how happy eddie seemed when he was hanging out w Tommy and maybe it’s just bc that ep was meant to be from Buck’s pov but i don’t know what’s worse, thinking it WAS real and now he doesn’t get to have that friendship anymore or that it WASNT real and he was never actually having that good of a time.
MY REAL POINT is that anyone who WAS or IS a buddie shipper or anyone who likes Eddie at all has to acknowledge how important buck and eddie are to each other, right? Which means that in any relationship that either of them ever have, if they want it to be serious and have long term potential, they actually need to integrate their partner with their best friend.
Maybe this is too weird for some ppl? It’s always seemed like a given, like if there’s someone new and important in my life, I def want my best friend to meet them and like them bc I want us all to be able to spend time together! I don’t want to feel split between them all the time! And esp with Tommy already having connections with most of the 118/main cast, and particularly Eddie, it would make sense for us to see them interacting!
Idk. I’m probably wanting too much from my network tv show lol I just. I will literally never take bucktommy seriously as a pairing if they don’t manage to address the Eddie of it all. And not in a “address the fact that buck loves him” contrived jealousy nonsense. I mean address the fact that their lives are bound together! And it predates anyone that either of them will ever date! Plus imagine the character growth it would take for Buck to send Tommy to Thursday basketball with like a plate of cookies and orange slices or something but not show up himself. Be like “have fun with the boys, slap Eddie’s ass for me” or whatever 😂 I would believe Buck was finally on his way to being ready for a long term adult relationship if they managed that, is all I’m saying
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stars-n-spice · 3 months
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THOUGHTS ON S3 EP 05:
as always, spoilers under the cut and my thoughts are in no way coherent or in the order of how things happen in the episode
it's just me going to be screaming about whatever comes to mind as i type this
holy shit y'all new comfort episode just dropped!
kid you not, after seeing the episode i deadass went, "Wow, I'm so glad that episode didn't absolutely devastate me!" while I was like,, sobbing
whole episode i was either crying, screaming, or punching a pillow
can't even cry anymore, don't got no tears left
ANYWAYS
I AM AN ABSOLUTE FUCKING CLOWN FOR THINKING WE WERE GOING TO GET A PROPER REACTION/CONTINUATION FROM THE LAST EPISODE
OF FUCKING COURSE THEY WERE GOING TO SKIP OVER IT AND JUST,, FUCKING DIVE RIGHT IN. FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!
what is it with this show and having what would be emotional reactions to heavy things off screen???
fanfic writers you know what to do
anyways,,
Omega being back with Lula :( and her new outfit is so cute I love it so much :((
THEM BEING BACK ON PABU!!!! <3333 and still sleeping in their ship lol
AZI!!!!! HE'S OKAY!!! HE'S ALIVE AND HE'S THERE AND I LOVE HIM AND I MISSED HIM :((
Crosshair practicing :( and his aim just,,, getting worse :(((
CROSSHAIR AND BATCHER ARE SUCH A DUO!! I FUCKING LOVED EVERY MOMENT WITH THE TWO OF THEM,, THE LITTLE PETS AND SMILES CROSS GAVE BATCH UGGHH
will never ever ever ever get over cross and omega's dynamic,, I love them so much and I'm so glad he's back
I don't know how many times i went, "They're all back together!!" in this episode only to remember Tech isn't there and then sob violently
BUT ECHO FINALLY RETURNS - i'm kinda bitter about how he reacted to seeing Omega again because it seemed like,, like he was completely unfazed by the fact she was captured and sent to a hidden facility conducting god know what experiments BUT at the same time,, I could see it being that Echo always knew she was more than capable of escaping on her own so he wasn't too worried but STILL
"What no hug for me?" <- AAGUUHH,, and then the little smirk Crosshair gave after Echo's response,, they have no bad blood, love that
when Crosshair started talking about the facility I fucking KNEW he was talking about Barton IV and i was in so much pain,, agony even
Was NOT expecting them to return but I'm so glad they did because it played such a vital role in Crosshair's growth and returning to it and growing even more,, just,, aguughhh
WHEN HE FOUND MAYDAY'S HELMET,, FUCK FUCK FUCK minutes before that scene i was like "i swear to god if he finds something from Mayday-"
MAYDAY COME BACK YOU DIDN'T DESERVE THAT,, YOU DID SO MUCH :((
Hunter and Cross' dynamic in this was so fun to watch but also had me gnawing on my hands
could NOT get over the fact that they brought the dog with them on the mission, idk why but that's fucking hilarious to me
OMEGA CALLING CROSSHAIR "LITTLE BROTHER" AND CROSS CHUCKLING AT IT SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THEM!!!!!!!!
WHEN WRECKER GAVE CROSSHAIR BACK HIS ARMOR I FUCKING KNEW HE WAS THE ONE WHO KEPT IT AGUUGHHH
god I love Wrecker so much
"Omega trusts him and that's enough for me" FUCK
he wasn't super prominent in this episode but everything he did made me love him more
WHEN HE WAS DIGGING IN THE SNOW?? fucking lost it
THE HUG AT THE END???? FUCKING FINALLY???? THE WAY HE IMMEDIATELY KNEW AND HE JUST,,, FUCK,, RAN UP TO THEM????
like you can tell the whole episode Wrecker was just waiting for the two of them to work things out
i missed all of them so much
it was so good to see them all work together
GOD FUCKING AUGUUHH
THE FIGHT CROSS AND HUNTER HAD??? CROSSHAIR READING HUNTER LIKE A FUCKING BOOK??
when he started to blame Hunter for his failures?? oh fuck as an oldest child that hurt SO much and I was so scared Crosshair was going to pull a "You're the reason why Tech is dead" card
But your honor they are brothers, I love them so much
"i said talk to him, not argue with him!" - "he started it" <- crosshair you cannot beat the youngest brother allegations
hey Crosshair probably didn't tell his brothers about his shaky hands,, ahahahahahaha,aha,,ahh,,,ha..
lmao love that being in a life or death situation and saving each other from it was what made Hunter and Cross start to trust each other
this episode was so great you don't understand
and i'm so happy nothing like,, terrible happened in it
yes I cried a fuckton throughout it but,, at least Omega is still with them and at least Echo is back (for now) and at least they're slowly starting to make up and be a team again
anyways,, nice episode,, can't wait for things to just get worse from here
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vengeful-velvette · 4 months
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OK but can we talk for a second how in Episode 8, during Alastor's bit in the song, he actually says "Great Alastor Altruist died for his friends." That he specifically called the people at the hotel his friends??
I know that Alastor was just quoting what other people would say of his death. In the subtitles it literally shows his text in quotation marks, so I do think we have to take his words with a grain of salt.
But, this does point towards the idea that Alastor is slowly starting to see the people at the hotel as his friends. I know that he was hamming it up during the "Hell's Greatest Dad" to get a rise out of Lucifer, but I don't think he was 100% lying. Plus there's also the fact that he's actually on Charlie's side, as seen in episode 7 when it's revealed that he thinks that sticking by Charlie will earn him some power. That she's on the "winning side".
This all ties back into his hubris, of course, but I still think it's interesting that he had so much trust in Charlie.
I definitely think Alastor is going through a decaying arc, where he's slowly getting less and less powerful until he hits rock bottom.
You saw how panicked he was when he limped back to his destroyed radio tower.
I honestly think that next season is going to expand on this, with the Vees getting more powerful, and Vox getting onto equal footing (or even surpassing Alastor).
I think that Alastor is going to have an episode where he tries to take back his power and reputation, only to find that he's unable to. People don't respect him anymore, not after news of him running away from the fight with Adam (because you know that Vox spread that shit like wild fire).
With possibly one of the other sinners connecting (or at least trying to) with Alastor during this point.
(I can see Angel Dust trying to say that Alastor is a "loser just like me" and Alastor being SO offended lol)
Idk, maybe Alastor and Husk can even have a moment where Husk is like "hey, anyone can fall from power. Just don't let them get to ya."
I don't think either of their talks really work with Alastor, but I think it's the first step of Alastor actually becoming a bit fond of the two of them.
And I can absolutely see Alastor reaching a breaking point some time. He nearly did in episode 8! Just a scene where he completely drops the smile.
Of course, I can see him also rebuilding himself. Maybe by becoming even more corrupt, or maybe with actual friends, idk.
Anyway, this theory has absolutely no basis but I wanted to toss it out there anyway.
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