#But instead I'm just saying the whole journey was crazy... IS crazy! (?)

[i-wasnt-ready-for-this]

(Crazy) Bolero

[pikatrainer99]

Let's talk about Barry for a minute.

This boy is so underappreciated and gets way too much hate just for being ADHD incarnate (or as the haters say, "his hyperactive squirrel brain"). The haters also don't recognize that Barry actually has a character arc in the games. He learns the importance of slowing down throughout his journey, especially after his loss to Jupiter at Lake Acuity. He had been one step ahead of the player the whole game, but this loss actually makes him stop and think things through for a bit, deciding to take his time and train up more. As a result, the player is the one to get the last Gym Badge and make it to the League first. Also, let's not forget that Barry had the patience (and probably hyperfocus) to get a MUNCHLAX and a HERACROSS from the honey trees...y'know, the two RAREST honey tree Pokémon...? Yeah...that takes PATIENCE. Even I don't have the patience for that...but I'm also a very impatient person myself (I blame my parents, who are also impatient, for passing it on to me and my brothers), my "now now now" attitude has driven my family crazy millions of times by now, but I digress.

Something else that's important to mention is Barry's personality (other than his ADHD traits, that is). This kid is a genuinely good guy. He's the player's best friend and that doesn't stop when he becomes the player's rival. He gives the player tips, he doesn't look down on the player or bully them, he's always excited to see them whenever they cross his path, is genuinely happy for them when they get their last Gym Badge and says he won't be far behind, etc. Barry also genuinely loves Pokémon, they are his friends, not tools for battle. He gets angry when around Team Galactic because of how they treat Pokémon, he went into empathy overdrive for Uxie's suffering after losing to Jupiter at Lake Acuity, etc. And he gets excited and happy when around people who love Pokémon as much as he does, like the player and Gym Leaders, for example. Barry also NEVER gives up, which is definitely a great character trait, especially for a rival character. He's set on his goal and nothing can pull him away from it, not even multiple losses to the player. It makes me feel less bad about beating him because I know he's just gonna bounce back each time and try again. That's just how Barry is and he's my favorite friendly rival because of it. I never feel like I'm crushing his dreams like I do with Hop, for example. Instead I'm making him stronger, both in resolve, and as a Trainer.

That doesn't mean that he doesn't have a sad side to him though...because he does. He has daddy issues, BIG TIME. This kid's whole motivation is to get strong enough to challenge and defeat his dad, Tower Tycoon Palmer. He wants to be acknowledged by his dad SO BADLY that in Pokémon Masters he straight-up TELLS YOU that the reason he keeps fining people is because he wants to use the fines he collects to build his own Battle Tower because, in his mind, that's the way to get acknowledgement from his dad. But no one ever takes him seriously (most likely because of how often he does this, how much money he asks for, and also the fact that he's a CHILD), so he never gets any money. I'll be honest, my heart broke for this poor kid during that conversation. I used to think that Barry's "I'm fining you 10 million Pokédollars!" was just his way of expressing annoyance or even just a verbal tic of sorts...but in Masters it's revealed that he's dead serious when he says those things, all because he's so desperate for his dad's approval that he wants to make him proud by building and running his own Battle Tower. Again, he's a CHILD! That shouldn't be any child's goal, especially not for something all kids deserve, which is parent approval! As someone who is ALSO constantly seeking my own dad's approval, this conversation hit home for me. My dad doesn't really approve of anything I'm interested in or anything I do, he wants me to be someone else entirely...but I can't be who he wants me to be, I can't be who ANYONE in this world wants me to be...I can only be myself and I want to make my dad proud just by being me...

The Pokémon Evolutions episode "The Rival" is ALL ABOUT Barry's daddy issues. Everything he does and says in that episode is all about getting strong enough to challenge his dad. He's able to beat him in the end, finally getting the acknowledgement he deserves (he would still deserve it even if he didn't win, or even get to challenge him, let's be clear). So it's a happy ending there, but in the gameverse that's not a clear-cut thing that happens, so we never know if he even does get to face his dad. He shows up in the Fight Area on weekends to battle the player but that's really it as far as I'm aware. In the games, Barry also admires Crasher Wake and wants him to take him under his wing and mentor him, but Wake refuses, which honestly makes me angry since Barry clearly wants (and needs) a father figure in his life since Palmer is absent all the time. At least in the manga Wake does train Pearl, so there is ONE Pokémon universe where Wake mentors the kid...buuuuut he should've done it in the games too, just sayin'.

So yeah, that's basically my ramble on Barry. Honestly this wasn't planned or anything, I just out of nowhere started thinking about Barry and how hated he is, and impulsively wrote this whole entire essay without scripting it out beforehand so this might be a bit hard to follow 😅. But I just love this kid and I don't understand the hate he gets, so he deserves an appreciation post in my opinion...so this is the post! Let me know what you think down below!

[waitmyturtles]

Last Twilight, episode 12: final reflections

Wow. It took me all of this past weekend to process this finale, notwithstanding the usual life craziness that has dogged me lately.

Let me preface this whole thing by saying that I'm confused by what I watched. I'd say that, overall -- I actually quite liked this series, and I especially, absolutely ADORED JimmySea, Namtan, and Mark, and their acting. JimmySea kicked major ass, and I really hope they get another big and complicated show to chew on.

I also want to say that between episodes 11 and 12, I felt that I saw uncharacteristic editing clunkiness from Aof Noppharnach and his team that left a lot of necessary emotional and ethical processing on the cutting room floor. I think that's what's ultimately making me feel uneasy about the process of watching this, but -- funnily enough, I'm not nearly as "angry" about the ending as I was with other bad shows that fell apart in their last quarter recently. It was obvious that MhokDay were going to get together.

But I needed to walk a few more steps with them on their journey to that end.

Before I got my eyes on the finale, a few reactions on social media, from Tumblr to Twitter gave me the case of the jibbles. Namely: that the story of Last Twilight would have worked better if Day had stayed blind through the end.

I wasn't really understanding how that construction could work without walking through some sort of ethical minefield.

Now that I've seen the finale -- especially that infamous 4/4 segment -- I understand better what those arguments were saying.

Yet, I'm still dogged by a kind of ethical confusion here. And maybe that was one of the points of this finale, another one of Aof Noppharnach's perhaps now-famous-or-infamous emotionally inconclusive endings.

To me, there are two ethical potholes that this show stumbled on:

1) The ethics WITHIN the fictional piece itself for a character to not depict the process of considering the various fates he might face vis à vis a potentially reversible impairment, and

2) The ethics of a REAL audience ultimately wanting a different outcome for a fictional character to NOT have an impairment reversed.

TL;DR — I don’t think Last Twilight spent enough time having Day consider the permanence or impermanence of the various fates he faced, including permanent blindness. I don’t think the characters, and as such, the audience, spent enough time understanding that a corneal transplant was always going to be Day’s endgame.

Last Twilight was marketed as a show focused on disability, on a man going blind in a society that prioritizes the able-bodied, and how he would adjust to his disability, and of course (this being GMMTV), his falling in love. As fans, we were prepared to receive a whole show about a character with a disability, not as a side pairing, à la Heart and Li Ming in Moonlight Chicken.

It so happened that Day's visual impairment was corneal deterioration -- a condition that could lead to permanent blindness, and thus qualify him for a corneal transplant.

What I'm struggling with is the crux of the ethical dilemma that this show was ALWAYS going to have to deal with: that a corneal impairment of the kind that Day experienced, in the prime of his life, could very well be reversed with surgery, a surgery that has tremendous success rates.

As such -- as we got that clarification in drips throughout the series -- this show was actually not ONLY going to be about the newfound adjustment of a recently-impaired man to an ableist society. It was ALWAYS going to have this door of ANOTHER major change, the reversal of the impairment, just slightly cracked open. I'm not sure that I, as a viewer, was fully prepared for this, even as Night and Mae Mhon spoke about "eye donations" as givens in the middle of the series. I believe the show needed to be much louder, earlier, about the "hope" that Day could "go back" to "living a normal life," instead of framing the high majority of the show around his adjustments to his impairment.

As we went through Day's adjustment to life outside of his room, I believe we needed to hear, FROM DAY HIMSELF, that a corneal transplant was a conclusion that HE believed in, that HE wanted. A failure of this series was that we unfortunately only heard that from his family members, leaving us to only ASSUME that the conclusion of the reversal of his impairment was ALSO Day's intention.

For a story that was very much about an individual's developing agency and self-advocacy: I believe I needed to hear from Day himself that he was good and ready for the final surgery. I only assume that was the case, as I saw his own body and mind in the hospital. But I believe, for dramatic success, that I could have used a basic, "I'm ready," from him, to make segment 4/4 more complete and contextual, against the story of adjustment and resilience we had so far seen before then.

And what a story of adjustment and resilience we had gotten, as Day had established a full career for himself, without Mhok next to him, during one of the time jumps of episode 12.

For my sake, as I process what I watched this weekend, I want to come to grips with what I thought were the major themes of this show, and see if I can come to some sort of sensible conclusion about what happened here.

This show was focused on:

1) the romance between Day and Mhok, 2) Mhok's caretaking and companionship being the lever to help Day out of his room and back into the world from which he had retreated after the onset of his visual impairment, 3) Day slowly learning how to function again in a society that prioritizes the able-bodied vis à vis his visual impairment, 4) Day learning how to self-advocate for himself in the face of those who condescend to him and/or keep him trapped in compassion bias postures,

and more that I'm sure I'm missing, but those are the themes that resonated the most with me.

I think the general feeling on Tumblr is that, save for the romance, that themes 3 and 4 were contradicted out of existence in the face of the sudden flip to the surgery of segment 4/4.

I think not hearing from Day himself that he was ready and willing for the surgery was a lost moment. I don't believe Day was ever acting as if he would choose anything else OTHER than surgery throughout the series. BUT, AT THE SAME TIME: what we had watched prior to 4/4 was his story of adjustment.

My biggest ethical concern here, vis à vis the audience reactions that I've read, is that NO ONE -- in fiction or in real life -- owes me a story of heroism. If there is an individual who has been impaired since birth, or is dealing with a degenerative condition later in their life, and has the opportunity to address or reverse the condition, who am I to say that that individual SHOULD NOT address their condition?

For me, this is huge. I believe this is a huge ethical dilemma that Last Twilight ultimately does not face. I wish this series had been much more centered, earlier on, about the utter REALITY that Day could have his condition reversed by surgery, in words he'd say himself, rather than assumptions made for him, on behalf of his family, who.... I presume were established to be some sort of legal conservators for him, as Mhon continued to be the one to receive eye donation text messages.

(I concede that I don't know if this is a more common set-up for disabled individuals in Thailand, as I would assume in the States, that Day himself would have been the one to receive that message directly.)

For this show to have seemed emotionally and artistically complete: I needed to hear from Day himself that surgery was an endgame that he was banking his hopes on. I also needed to understand, much more statistically clearly vis à vis the show, of the absolute risks that Day faced towards having permanent blindness for the rest of his life. Because the show ALSO needed to focus on the establishment of the romance between Mhok and Day, we missed out on the show taking time to explain to us, the viewers, of the absolute risks that Day faced in any of these scenarios -- and thus, we would have had MUCH more context into the nuances of the resilience that Day needed to establish for himself as he re-adjusted to society, with his numerous fates lying before him.

I'm going to borrow the words of @hallowpen in their final review here, to say that this show at the end needed much more "breathing room." I think @hallowpen is so right in saying it like this, because these two factors that I just laid out, geez -- the first 7/8ths of the series being about Day's social adjustment against the utter suddenness of the successful surgery and his sudden jump back to what's been translated as his "normal life" -- just clash so tonally. (I do wonder if we're getting as nuanced a translation on "normal" as we could be.)

I think this is about the most confused final review of a show that I've written. There is an ethical heaviness to all of this that's weighing on me, that I think I still need time to comb through.

I also feel that I simply do not know enough, by way of my lack of cultural competency into how Thai society approaches issues of public and private health, if Day’s unseen choice to get the surgery would have been a given among majority Thai audiences, AND that majority Thai audiences would not have asked for the kind of internal debates that I think the show could have used.

I feel thrilled that Day can see Poomjai/Mee, after making that wish in episode 11.

But I think, if this show was about a journey for someone to learn how to successfully advocate for his own agency -- that, at the very end, I needed to see that agency exercised, by him, to get to the part of the reversal of the impairment that I assumed he wanted.

Again: Day doesn't owe me his story of heroism. If fiction doesn't want to give me that, from a character with a recent impairment, I don't have the right to ask for it.

But the missing bits of artistry to get me, the viewer, to only an assumption, has led me to surprising ethical places, that will leave me wondering about what happened in this series for a long time.

[uhdrienne]

𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥

07. producer park

🌼 warnings: alcohol, a secret chat group

🌼 word count: ~2.3k

"Ah, I don't like staying in hospitals," You mumble as you get out of the car that Seungkwan drove over in. You reach in again and pull out the overnight bag that Delia brought after she came back.

"Nicer to be home, huh," Delia smirks as she gets out after you, before skipping on ahead, where Seungkwan's already stopped the engine and is waiting with Wonwoo, who's been unusually quiet on the journey back.

She's far gone before you process that she said 'home'. She already regarded this village as home. Huh. Perhaps it was time you asked yourself the same question.

As you walk on, you see a large group of people huddled near a stall at the edge of the town market. They're unfamiliar, and some of them are carrying large black tripods and rectangular bags on them.

As the four of you walk closer, Seungkwan and Wonwoo's eyebrows slightly furrowing in confusion at the large crowd, a head of dark brown hair, and long, lanky limbs catch your attention. He's bent over a rack of traditional dried squid snacks, animatedly chattering and gesturing about it to the rest of the group surrounding him.

"Chanyeol?" You say out loud as you get within hearing range of the man. Wonwoo, Delia and Seungkwan's heads whip over to you.

Alerted at the call of his name, the man raises his head, and his eyes finally land on you after looking around. "Oh my god, Y/N?!"

"It really is you!"

He excuses himself from his group and hurries over to you. Delia mouths an incredulous "That Chanyeol?!" to you, but quickly plasters a smile onto her face as he comes over to greet you.

"Long time no see, Y/N!" he says, loud and boisterous as he always is, and you can't help but break out in a smile as you respond. "It's so crazy meeting you here. How've you been?"

"I'm doing good! And you?" Chanyeol grins, his handsome features lighting up.

"I'm great! Here on a filming session?" You smile.

"What do you mean great, you just got out of a car accident--" Wonwoo mutters under his breath and Seungkwan elbows him in the ribs. "Ow!" He protests.

Delia grabs Seungkwans's arm, Seungkwan grabs Wonwoo's, and the three of them hightail it out of the way, Wonwoo protesting slightly before you can say anything.

"Funny story how I got here, actually," Chanyeol enthuses, as he waves his film crew on to explore the market on their own. "I was supposed to go to the neighbouring town -- amazing farm plots, I heard! But I took a wrong turn, and--"

"Typical," You groan. "You never did go the right directions back in school."

He bursts out laughing, throwing his head back in his joy. "Gosh, you still remember that?"

Of course you do.

"But yeah, we ended up here! But it's a gorgeous town. Freshly-caught seafood, community spirit, the old traditions all present -- I was thinking this might be a blessing in disguise, it would be a great location for our next show. So we took the wrong turn as a chance for a site recce."

"Wow," You smile. "But this place really is pretty. You should check out the harbour, the lighthouse, and the dock--" You stop yourself.

What are you doing?

Chanyeol doesn't seem to notice your sudden halt, instead opting to smile big and assure you that he'll check the whole town out.

"Right," He suddenly says. "I'm actually glad that you'll be hanging around here, 'cause I'd really like to stick with someone more familiar."

You laugh. "I'm hardly the best person for a guide. I just came a few weeks ago. Not that long ago, to be honest."

He brushes aside your concern. "At least I have a friend here. By the way, do you happen to know a town chief, or a council? We were thinking of discussing with them about filming here. We can get the permits and stuff, but we do need his permission..."

You perk up slightly. "Yeah, I know him. His name is Chief Jeon Wonwoo. I can let him know that you want to see him?"

Chanyeol brightens. "Oh, the guy that was with you earlier? Great! I'll go find him myself, he's right over there." He points, and to your surprise and slight mortification, Wonwoo, Delia, and Seungkwan really are still in the market, far enough to not raise suspicion, but still near enough to see roughly what's going on. The three of them immediately avert eye contact once they spot you both looking in their direction.

You sigh in fond exasperation as Seungkwan starts blabbering excitedly about the dried goods you know for sure he's seen his whole life.

"Yep, that's him, the taller one," You say. "Come on, let's get you introduced."

They hit it off.

Chanyeol's infectious enthusiasm seems to rub off on Wonwoo, and he begins brainstorming with the producer on the materials they'd need for the show. Seungkwan, Delia and you hang behind, making conversation on your own.

"Who's he?" Seungkwan asks curiously, after Chanyeol peels away from the group to get back to his film crew, promising to discuss further with Wonwoo once he'd settled everyone into accommodations for the next few days, and it's just you four again.

"A friend from university," You begin, but Delia snorts with laughter. "You had the biggest crush on him."

You smack her on the arm. "I did not!"

Wonwoo looks down at you, smirking. "Really? Miss Doctor has a crush?"

You flush. "...Used to."

"Oh my god, it was a whole melodrama!" Delia squeals. "Can I tell them? Can I?"

You sigh dramatically at her excitement, but smile and wave at her to go on. "Go ahead. It's all water under the bridge."

And so Delia regales her tale (largely exaggerated, mind you) about your first-ever boyfriend in university, who had later revealed himself to be a Class-A jerk, busying himself with different girls at parties while you studied away for your degree.

Chanyeol, despite being in the same group of friends, had never attended the parties, instead opting to spend his time assisting on film sets and production companies for experience. When he found out about his friend's tendencies, and that you broke up with him, he took it upon himself to become your friend, to make you a little happier.

And soon, that companionship throughout university had developed into a teeny-tiny crush. A really small one. Delia made you sound like some lovesick teenager.

Life had other plans, moving you to Seoul to your very first clinic. You both rarely kept in touch, but you saw him on variety shows, on the credit rolls of reality programmes, and in online articles. He'd grown to become a charismatic and popular TV producer.

You roll your eyes when Delia does a highly inaccurate imitation of your expression while talking with the producer. ("I didn't look like that!" "Did too!")

Seungkwan and Wonwoo seem highly invested, which was fair, you supposed, given that they knew close to nothing about you. Seungkwan gasped like he was watching the climax of a drama.

"And your unrequited love is back in town," He teases, and you barely launch a poorly aimed punch at his arm before he's ducking away, screeching with laughter.

Wonwoo, however, doesn't seem as amused. His face twists at some point in your story, whether out of confusion or irritation... you can't tell.

Wonwoo decides to discuss the possibility of the filming project with the villagers, citing that it would be good for business, and to make the place livelier. It comes as no surprise that it's a unanimous yes, given his position as an unofficial chief and all-around genius.

Giving Chanyeol the good news was worth it to see his reaction -- his huge smile, his excited demeanour as he tells his crew. They're all equally excited, huddling to plan out every detail of the show.

As thanks, Chanyeol decides to treat the crew to drinks and urges you and Wonwoo to come. "You guys made it happen, anyway," He reasons, and Wonwoo seems happy to go. It also happens that you can't resist the pull of alcohol.

Except you get drunk. Really, really, shitfaced, to the point that you know you'll black out once you try to stand.

"Easy there, tiger," Wonwoo groans as he pulls you out of your seat.

"Should I bring her home...?" You hear Chanyeol offer, but Wonwoo's already declining as he adjusts you.

"You literally told us just now that you're bad with directions," He huffs in exertion, as you try and fail to make your spaghetti limbs work. "If I let you bring her alone, she won't get home until tomorrow morning."

"Oh, I'm not that bad..." Chanyeol begins to protest, then sighs. "Yeah, I am that bad. Just let me know when she gets home. You have my number, right?"

And all you remember after that is a blur of him carrying you home, the sensation of a blanket being thrown over you, the dampness of a wet towel on your face, and then the world goes dark.

The next morning is so damn painful.

Your head is spinning and throbbing, and you just feel like jelly. When you stumble into the kitchen for water and painkillers, there's a note on the dining table.

Mrs Woo sells really good hangover soup. When you wake up, let me know so we can go eat.

-J.WW

And call him you do, because hot broth sounds really good right about now.

Twenty minutes later, you see him tapping his foot impatiently outside the restaurant.

"Oh, you take forever to get ready," He leans in and sniffs delicately, before nodding. "At least you don't stink."

"Stink?"

"Do you know how much you drank last night?" He asks incredulously. "You downed so much of the makgeolli, over two bottles of soju mixed with beer, and--"

"Okay, I get it. You're making my head hurt." You mutter, embarrassment creeping up your face. "Can we go eat now?"

He chuckles, and swings the door open. "After you, Miss Doctor."

The steam kisses your face. It's better than anything else in the world right now.

Wonwoo looks on in amusement as you scoop rice and broth and tuck in, sighing in enjoyment. "Good?"

"Yeah." You mumble, your mouth full. "People should come here every day."

"Mhm," He hums in agreement as he picks his spoon up. "Don't talk with your mouth full. Are you heading to the clinic after this?"

"Yeah," You reply after swallowing. "Grandma has her appointment, and I have a few new people coming in."

"You sure you don't wanna take the day off?" He questions. "No offense, but you look awful right now."

"Thanks," You roll your eyes. "Can't. Grandma has an appointment today for her brace, and I've got a few new patients."

"Right. Take it easy, then. Delia can help out, right?"

"Delia took the day off. Said Seungkwan was bringing her out or something."

Wonwoo chokes on his soup.

"Seungkwan found the guts to bring a woman out?" Wonwoo is still in disbelief.

You sigh. "Delia might have nagged him a little. She's firm with what she sets her eyes on."

"No wonder. Seungkwan would never have asked her out otherwise."

As you near the clinic, you see a crowd of villagers gathering near your entrance.

"Did someone make a mess or something?" You wonder as you speed up, Wonwoo matching your pace. Once one villager spots you, the rest start chattering at breakneck speed.

"Y/N! How are you doing?"

"Oh, we heard about the accident--"

"Horrible, the weather must have been--"

"You must've felt so terrible at the hospital, dear," Grandma Lee walks towards you and grips your hands. "Here, this is a traditional root herb supplement. It's bitter, but you must eat it all. Helps with energy and recovery."

You smile a little and accept the small paper bag. "Thanks, Grandma."

She turns to Wonwoo and proceeds to slap his arm. "Ow! Grandma, why--"

"I heard you brought her to the hospital. Why didn't you make her stay home and rest?"

You break out into embarrassed laughter. "I insisted, Grandma. Life has to go on. And... he caught a cold because of me, so..."

"Yeah, where's my supplement, Grandma?" Wonwoo asks with a pout, not unlike a child.

"I only have one, you brat," Grandma Lee hisses, swatting his hand. "You're a big boy. Don't tell me you can't handle a cold." You try and fail to hide your laugh and Wonwoo mock-scowls at you.

One by one, the villagers offer you what they can, from fruits to freshly-made green onion kimchi, telling you to take care and call upon them if anything happens. The grandmas thank you for getting Grandma Lee's brace, and you don't even have the chance to ask how they knew.

But for once, amongst the endless chatter and speculating about the weather during the accident, you finally understand the appeal of staying in a village, surrounded by people you know care for you.

"You didn't tell me Wonwoo brought you home after you got drunk!" Delia screeches once she comes into the house.

You look up from your rice. "What?"

"It's literally all over the-- oh, right."

"All over the what?" You get to your feet. Delia, who's in the middle of pulling something up on her phone, flushes and hides it, but you've already seen part of the screen.

"A chat group-- what is that?"

"I don't know! Swear, I just got added in this morning and Miss Hwang said Wonwoo carried you home and that it looked really cute-"

"What? Hey! Give me that!"

"No!"

Delia breaks into a rendition of the "Wonwoo and Y/N sitting in a tree" joke, and you're about to keel over in embarrassment.

And just then, your phone pings with a text from Wonwoo.

"Did you see the secret chat group?"

𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥

🌼 summary: going back to the countryside where you grew up was at the bottom of your list. unexpectedly, your life changes course, and you eventually find your home in weekly village cleaning, the sound of the waves, and with the local jack-of-all-trades, jeon wonwoo.

🌼 pairing: wonwoo x reader fic (fluff, angst, hometown chachacha!inspired)

🌼 genre(s): fluff, mild angst, yn can be mean sometimes at the start (this is inspired by the kdrama hometown cha-cha-cha, so some parts of the plot and characters are similar), wonwoo is an overall sweetheart

ch.07: producer park

prev. masterlist. next.

🌼taglist: @gaslysainz @lev1hei1chou @mingycr

writer's note: a short update for noww~~

[thatahjumma]

I had to pause the show, I am currently at the fight scene between Bumi and Aang. I have to say the characterisations of most of the characters so far have disappointed me. I can't help but compare to the OG ATLA because its literally based off the show and the characters in the animated series are already so fully fledged and complex, the live active just had to follow suit, instead of adding their own interpretations. I'll comment about main characters after I've watched the whole series but now,

Jet and the Freedom Fighters: They were casted so brilliantly!! And the actor for Jet did the absolute perfect job in being the charismatic leader of the 'lost boys' who lived in the trees. What I didn't like was how Netflix labelled him a "terrorist" and "acting out of hate". They outrightly labelled what he was doing, which made him less of complex character vs the animated series portraying him as a boy dealing with the traumas of loss and war, finding family with others who had to deal with the same loss, and failing to see the complexities of war. I don't know, the characterisation in Netflix's ATLA feels off.

Uncle Iroh: I like that Netflix addressed that he was a war criminal and how that affected the soldier on a personal level as well. But when Iroh said "War pushes us to the edge. I wasn't talking about me", I felt again that it does not feel like the Iroh I know from the animated series. The Iroh, who regretted his past decisions, the Iroh who was compassionate and on the search for enlightenment, the Iroh who was part of the White Lotus as a way of redeeming himself. Even the fight scene in the animated series, he did not use any firebending againts the Earthbender soldiers but in the Netflix one he did. In the animated series, it was significant to me that he did not use firebending (only the chains) -- from his past, he understood that he should not use his power to oppress. Somehow, without explicitly fleshing our Iroh's past, the animated series succeeded in creating a more complex, fully fledged character.

Lastly, BUMI T.T I understand that Netflix wanted to set the show in the context of war and so it kept bringing it up and I understood that the Netflix characterisation of Bumi was trying to act as a foil to Aang: someone who lived through 100 years of war vs someone who "ran" away from the difficulties of it. But this made Bumi wholly unlikeable and very much NOT BUMI. The animated Bumi acted as someone who could potentially be Aang's earthbending teacher and a "mad genius", someone who prepared Aang for the tough journey ahead and taught him to think outside the box. To me, while people do change and become jaded by war, Bumi was one of the characters that retained his 'madness' and joyfulness/zest for life (that's why he was part of the White Lotus). In the OG ATLA, he changed over a 100 years in terms of the wisdoms he gained and imparted to Aang. In the netflix series, he seemed like just an angry old king, who was jaded and took his anger out on his old friend? He even made the remark of airbenders being "flighty" after Aang said that they all died??? What on EARTH really, King Bumi liked to joke but he would never disrespect Aang or a whole peoples like that. Crazy characterisation choice by NetflixT.T

Anyway I'll stop ranting here and finish the episode (ALSO HOW COULD THEY TAKE AWAY THE AANG X KATARA MOMENT IN THE CAVE?? I'm really starting to understand why the original creators pulled themselves out of the Netflix project)

[superloves4]

I still taste the past - Chapter 1

Relationships: Curufin/Finrod, Celegorm/Aredhel (background) Summary: Finrod wanted to see Curufin, get his closure after all they had gone through, end things once and for all. What he gets is a journey through the memory of where they've been and the choice of where they will go. TW: none for this chapter A/N: This is connected to "We can always begin again" but it should be able to be read on it's own besides very occasional chapter.

Also on AO3

Finrod took a deep breath. And then another. And then he left.

Perhaps Curufin had been right, his plans were terrible. He tried to walk through his past actions and nothing made sense but that had always been his cycle, no? He was the one burned every time. So he left.

Finrod groaned, it had all started three days ago when he'd found the letter, Mando's letters were not what he had expected the first time he saw them when Angrod was re-embodied, they were sky blue and written in neat blue ink, it was almost too simple, but there it had been, now with the names, Celegorm and Curufin, written on it.

His heart sank.

"Oh, Findaràto, I..." his father had arrived and seen him just staring at the letter.

"You had not planned on telling me". Was his statement, the re-embodiment had been scheduled for the week before, it was rather clear his father was keeping secret. He couldn't blame him, in his place he would have done the same.

"I'm sorry," his father had answered bashful "Your mother and I, we thought it best," then his father's hands were on his shoulders, looking him in the eyes and very seriously said to him "But you have nothing to worry about, we already made all the arrangements, they are strictly forbidden from entering the palace, they shall not disturb you further."

Finrod had no idea of where he'd managed to pull a smile from, but he did, and it must have been convincing enough, seeing as his father visibly relaxed "It was very thoughtful, thank you father."

He had gently placed the letter back on his father's desk and after a brief conversation he had not paid attention to, he left the office that used to belong to his grandfather. Murder in his eyes.

Edrahil must have noticed as he, very resigned, simply said "It won't end well." Alas he'd caved in and delivered him the location of Curufin's new house. He had left the palace soon after, riding for a whole day. Only to stay in the nearby inn, instead.

It had taken him another day to gather the courage to approach the simple house, identical to all houses made for the newly arrived or freshly re-embodied, with it's white walls and delicate window frames it didn't fit Curufin. It didn't even have a forge, he imagined the other must have been going stir crazy in there. He returned to the inn.

Finrod sighed, he had never been so weak, even with his past with Curufin, things had never been so bad before.

He pushed his hood over his hair, not wanting the attention when entering the inn, he asked for a drink and sat at the same booth he'd sat the day before, hoping he'd have better luck the next day.

"Yeah, I saw him, the gull of some!"

Finrod had not meant to eavesdrop but he was forcibly included in the conversation.

"I heard that prince Findaràto has forbidden his presence in the palace. It's rather frustrating they are just thrusting the Fëanorion at us instead."

So was that what they were saying in the streets, huh.

"Can hardly blame them, can you? You heard the returned exiles, he betrayed them, he let our prince die."

Finrod was convinced Curufin would have liked to disagree on that point. He could almost picture his angry face as he proceeded to verbally eviscerate the other person, arguing for his defense. He groaned, eliminating the image from his mind.

"Doesn't mean I now have to buy vegetables with a kinslayer."

He sighed, it was not a good idea to leave Curufin there, he had done much wrong and there was much they still had to talk but he'd rather the other didn't get hurt, no matter how well intended the perpetrator might be.

He made to leave, to pay for the same room and once more spend his time thinking what he'd do when he saw Curufin again, when he felt someone pull on his wrist.

"Hey, mate, you dropped-"

His hood had fallen from his face, his long blond hair unmistakable, he hadn't even dropped anything but the confusion between him and the other elf's companion had now led to the whole inn discovering him. The room was filled with looks of admiration and interest, most had never met him outside of official functions, he knew they were curious but he had nothing to give them.

"My prince! What brings you here? Anything I may do?" the owner of the inn asked, the owner's daughter was quickly adjusting herself behind him, Finrod was exhausted now.

"Just a room for the night will do," he smiled courteously, he didn't want to be rude but that was not a good day for him.

The daughter rapidly chimed in "Is it true that you have ended your betrothal to lady Amarië?"

Finrod's smile twitched "It has been true since my re-embodiment," and while the owner chided his daughter, he made to leave.

"Are you here to get rid of the Fëanorion, prince Findaràto?"

Finrod froze, it was the same elf from before, looking hopeful at him.

"Has my cousin hurt anyone?"

The other patrons looked around in embarrassment when all the elf could answer 

"Well, no."

"Has he offended anyone?"

Finrod could see many of the patrons were looking away and buried in their cups or food instead of continuing to stare at them, the elf answered "No, he doesn't talk to anyone."

"Then I do not know what you'd have me do," Finrod answered, maybe in the morning he'd have a better answer, these people were merely scared, it was not right to take his frustration on them.

"You can't possibly forgive him." The elf said then.

Finrod spared him one last look and a sigh before turning around "This is Aman, everyone can earn their forgiveness."

He left at dawn, better to avoid anyone who might want to ask for him to deal out punishments. Why couldn't Curufin have gone to Formenos? From what he'd heard the Ambarussa and Caranthir were doing perfectly fine in the Fëanorian districts. And if they weren't alone perhaps he might fear their encounter less.

They could be just two cousins again. But that would never be true, wouldn't so? He was back again, staring at that unremarkable white door, when his father had approved of that design it had been with the intent of letting the future owner choose how to decorate however they wished, now it seemed to be a mockery of their past. 

He should just go home at this point.

"You should."

Finrod jumped, he kept staring so long he never considered that Curufin might've not been inside. Or that he'd spoken out loud.

Curufin sighed and Finrod wanted to punch him, what right did he have to feel bothered "Felagund, you are blocking my door."

"We need to talk Curufin."

He turned around just in time to see the other roll his eyes, Finrod wanted to scream but Curufin simply avoided him, taking his keys for that awful door.

"Is that all you'll do now? Ignore me? Haven't you done enough, Atarinkë!"

Curufin gave him a brief look before opening the door. "I rather thought you were the one who didn't want to talk, I wish I had been right, it was much nicer when it was quiet," he shrugged, might've closed the door if Finrod hadn't been faster, blocking the door again.

"I was not told of your return," Finrod admitted, looking into Curufin's gray eyes "Not the first time someone I cared about did so."

Curufin sighed again but let go of the door, resigning himself to whatever Finrod decided to do, stay or leave, he was past caring.

"We already had this conversation, we've already threaded this path, move on Findaràto, it would be best for the both of us," he said, falling into the unremarkable couch, also made for the owner to personalize, Finrod could now see that nothing in there looked like Curufin. An unremarkable house.

"Is that what you want?" he asked, making his way inside "To close yourself any time I want one sincere conversation, one modicum of consideration, I thought the halls helped people!"

"They do," Curufin looked at him, he was pallid and seemed far more tired than the last memory Finrod had of him "I want to move on, Ingoldo."

That killed Finrod's next reply.

"You," Finrod laughed bitterly "You want to move on? You ruined my life, Curufin, and now you want to move on?" He pushed his hair from his eyes "Every time, it's always the same with you! You are a coward, Atarinkë! A thrice cursed coward! You don't have even the decency to look at me and say sorry!"

Curufin got up like stones were trying to drag him back down and said "I'm sorry."

Finrod stared at him, brows furrowed, his breath still heavy from his previous anger, just confused. Curufin look at him as if to say 'Happy now?' but he didn't know how to react.

"It's over, Ingoldo, this is all I can offer," Curufin told him, not an ounce of scorn in his voice "We played our parts, go back to your bride now. I'm going to move on now."

That was it, that was all the closure he was going to receive, all those years and this was what Curufin was willing to leave him at the end. Anger making way for grief. It shouldn't have ended like this.

"I," he tried to say but nothing came out, Curufin gave him a last look and Finrod had to wonder if that was truly the last he'd have of him "You should leave this area, they could come after you."

Curufin smiled, if he knew him less he'd say it was a happy one.

"I'll be alright, they are all afraid of me."

[17-noodlebird]

🥈 Crystal 🥈

🥈🥈🥈🥈

The Crystal, harnessing the elemental power of Energy, is one of two bonus jewels collected by the members of The Amazing Digital Circus, as a bit of an introduction to the characters as to what exactly they'll be doing throughout their road trip.

🥈🥈🥈🥈

Shimmering underneath the midnight moonlight, the Crystal, which is just a silver-colored silicon dioxide, also known as a quartz, has the ability to emit bursts of magic from its tip, as well as cast minor spells, from simple levitation to energy blasts for offense.

🥈🥈🥈🥈

It serves as the prologue to the crazy adventures that The Amazing Digital Circus characters will endure throughout the whole journey, from nonstop action, thrills and excitement, perils, antagonists, heroes, stories, and the occasional shout-out to pop culture.

🥈🥈🥈🥈

It wasn't hidden anywhere in the Circus Grounds at all; instead, it was promptly given to Caine to be placed on a stone vault in the circus tent, which will act as the centerpiece and key to unlocking the stone vault, alongside twenty-six other jewels of varying hues as the road trip goes on.

~~~~

The one that started it all! You might be asking: "Um, Noodle...? Why two bonus jewels?" And to that I say, the first episode acts as the prologue while the final episode acts as the epilogue to the Digital Circus Road trip adventures they'll be having! And I quote the capitalistic rodent: "It's a surprise tool that can help us later!"

Episode 1 of The Amazing Digital Road Trip forthcoming! Already written it down, now I'm waiting for the perfect time to present it to you all!

[bokvshou]

in my opinion there isn't a more rinharu-coded song in existence than this one. let me cook.

to begin with, the entire scene in the film is about the journey of two kids, full of dreams and expectations for the future. we have the dreamy protagonist who attracts and convinces his love interest to share his same dream, and the love interest accepts, and as they grow up, she becomes as excited as he is about that promised future. does that ring a bell?

I close my eyes and I can see The world that's waiting up for me That I call my own Through the dark, through the door Through where no one's been before But it feels like home

the whole beginning of the song screams "rin matsuoka", in fact, the whole song is from his perspective. he himself said similar words when he was little and sought to fulfill his father's dream. and we've also heard him say several times that "the world is waiting for him". he's a boy with a dream and the will to make it come true.

They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy They can say, they can say I've lost my mind I don't care, I don't care, so call me crazy We can live in a world that we design

to me, this is the part that least fits his story, simply due to the fact that in rin's case he was lucky enough to have all the support possible, and no one ever denied him the opportunity to pursue his dreams. it's a privileged position that i'm sure rin is very grateful for. of course, we could take it as a "i know everyone thinks it's difficult (and it is, not everyone becomes an olympic swimmer) but i can do it".

and really, the important detail is in the ending phrase, because it's the first time in the song that "we" is used instead of "i". haru enters the scene.

'Cause every night I lie in bed The brightest colours fill my head A million dreams are keeping me awake I think of what the world could be A vision of the one I see A million dreams is all it's gonna take Oh a million dreams for the world we're gonna make

we have the first chorus, which follows the same theme: rin has a big dream, but now there's something else. he's referring to the world as "ours". the world we're gonna make.

for rin, this is no longer an individual dream, and the change of mind it's obvious because he managed to find his other half at such a young age and he wants to share everything with him; rin has always been able to see the potential haru has, and wants to take him by the hand throughout the trip, to see him shine at his best. rin himself says it on one occasion; "without haru in front of him, there isn't much reason to keep going, right?"

There's a house we can build Every room inside is filled With things from far away The special things I compile Each one there to make you smile On a rainy day

everyone and their mothers knows rin fell for haru at first sight, the poor thing, and since he saw him swim the first time, rin was fascinated and not only that, it became his personal goal to include haru in his dream at all costs. he tells sousuke, with the brightest smile in the world, that he had found someone he wanted to swim with.

from that moment on, haru became part of the dream. after all, not everyone would try as hard for a person as rin did. he abruptly changed schools and swim clubs, went to live with his grandmother in order to do it, left his best friend behind, and... well, rin really went through that entire process just to be able to be together with haru for a while.

and the hard work didn't end there, no. because haru turned out to be a very difficult person, god bless our little stubborn dolphin, and rin had to work twice as hard just to convince him to swim together. ah, but the result was worth it. and all of this didn't change even as they grew up and their relationship turned turbulent. rin was always there, trying to get the full potential out of haru, trying to share his dream with him. and it worked.

rin didn't know it, but he had haru wrapped around his fingers.

However big, however small Let me be part of it all Share your dreams with me You may be right, you may be wrong But say that you'll bring me along To the world you see To the world I close my eyes to see I close my eyes to see

"and what about haru?" you say. this is from haru. this part of the song is haru's response to rin's desire to take the world into his own hands.

"share your dreams with me", the relay they won when they were kids, rin's letter, the wonderful relay they did in high school, harurinlandia... we all know how important australia was to haruka. it was there, thanks to rin sharing a little piece of his world, his dream, that haru was finally able to make that same dream his own, too. we saw him, he was so happy.

"you may be right, you may be wrong, but say that you'll bring me along" and isn't that what haru has always wanted? isn't that his biggest weakness? when rin leaves and abandons him? and haru is so frustrated, so bitter, so lonely, and his soul just breaks? it's like he's desperately saying "you can go wherever you want, just please take me with you".

and you may think i'm overreacting but... am i?

haru wants to have a taste of that world rin pushed him into. although perhaps at the beginning it was not by his own will, haru had already been enchanted, and he wants, wants, wants.

i'm not going to repeat the chorus or the pre-chorus again in the post to avoid becoming redundant, but holy shit.

this song is rin holding haru's hand when they were kids to drag him along. is haru slowly following the beat. is rin giving haru a little spin. then, is haru finally daring to dance, too. is both pursuing the same wish, a wish they've cultivated since childhood, and now with each step it just feels closer and closer.

i don't know, I just feel it's beautiful.

[prismatoxic]

"I hope any of this was interesting"

OF COURSE IT'S INTERESTING, THAT'S WHY I ASKED !!!

that's literally so great, those points you've talked about are some of my favorite things from ptk and it's really exciting to know you're so invested in it! (well, duh. Obviously, you're the one writing it)

At first I was kinda wary about the whole dysphoria and gender stuff, I was sort of scared to read when provided the warnings, but as I kept on going (because well, I just couldn't stop. The fic is just that good) it turned out being a really really interesting exploration of Chilchuck's journey, and some things even I could relate to !! To a strangely deep, personal level what the fuck tox

And oh, fuck yeah. The worldbuilding aspect is top notch. Probably my second favorite part of the whole thing beside the dynamic between chilaios. It's just so good to get to witness this carefully crafted world and how each of the characters fit in it! I really fucking love the way it works so well but is also riddled with some deeply rooted issues. How chilchuck fits in it, or rather, how he doesn't fit in it but makes room for himself anyways, learns to work around it. It's fucking great. It just ends up being sort of the default I think about for when I imagine any more modern universe stuff within dungeon meshi. The car stuff! that's so clever and interesting! Ugh half foots don't even have cars!!! Wtf!!! So cool!!! How do I explain to my friends this without making them read your fic wtf !!

Been ranting for a bit too long, and didn't even mention chilaios too much, but. Their dynamic. Fuck yeah. It had me twirling my hair kicking my feet. Laios' daddy issues, how they manifest in his relationship with Chilchuck (from the beginning too, ugh. Saw it coming from miles away and I was ecstatic waiting for it to finally boil over) and how Chil ALSO has some Dad issues (he is simultaneously the dad and the son) and how they both fuck about it freaky style. They're so good, and this is the perfect Chilaios dynamic, where they belong. So good. I love weird queer sex and if we're lucky they'll be having lots of it. Eventually.

They are SO hot together. I'm going insane. It's just so hot, the fic didn't even have smut yet and I was already cartoonishly pulling on my collar like "is it hot in here??" From having Laios call Chil "sir" instead of his name. All the setup had me going crazy, you did such a good job!

Anyway. Rant over. I need to calm tf down. Ty for writing ^_^ but take your time at the fic, enjoy your oc brainrot hours freely and don't force yourself to be churning out chapters just because we like the fic, we can wait, and we will.

THANK YOU SO MUCH I LOVE THIS MESSAGE IT'S SO NICE...

ptk is my baby, i've put a lot of time and effort and love into it and it really does mean the world to me when people appreciate it for what it is ;_; and plenty of people do, it's surprisingly popular ?? but i get very giddy when people engage with it on a deeper level, where i'm writing it from

i do want to get back to it soon, oc brainrot or no i'm extremely determined to see ptk through to the end, and some time away from it has given me some fresh ideas. plus i do need to get to the penetrative sex!!!

anyway, you're very nice and i love how you view and appreciate my story, here's a preview of chapter 12 for you

"...Laios?” he croaks.

“Oh, g’morning,” Laios says behind him, the sound of his typing stopping immediately. “...Good afternoon, I guess,” he corrects himself. “How are you—Actually, forget that, I think I know the answer.”

Miffed by his warm tone in spite of the fact that he’s acknowledging Chilchuck’s abject misery, Chilchuck lifts his head to glare over his shoulder. “Why am I naked?”

Laios is, himself, only in a pair of sweatpants, his legs crossed and laptop balanced on top of them. The curtains beyond him are drawn shut, but the light that is coming through is still far too bright. His stupid smile is even brighter, though there’s a touch of concern to it. “You got hot,” he explains.

That tracks. “Don’t remember that,” Chilchuck mutters, rolling bonelessly onto his back with a groan and throwing an arm over his eyes. “Was I trying to claw my clothes off in my sleep?”

“Yeah,” Laios confirms with a little laugh. “And thrashing around. I helped you get out of them and you went right back to sleep.”

He’s talking quieter than usual, Chilchuck realizes. “So much for me taking care of you,” he mutters.

“It’s a symbiotic relationship,” Laios assures, and Chilchuck feels gentle fingers card through his hair. “Let me get you some fresh water.”

“Don’t use—” Chilchuck makes a strangled sound as Laios starts to get off the bed, the movement making him feel like he’s on a boat at sea. “...Don’t use biology terms about your boyfriend, dipshit,” he finishes when it settles. “Fuck’s sake.”

“Don’t be mean to me, I’m going out of my way to baby you right now,” Laios chides, voice receding from the room.

“Baby me?” Chilchuck squawks, lifting his arm to glare indignantly at the doorway, and Laios laughs out in the hall.

[bayofwolves]

Heyyyy Bay! Sending you some asks.

What are Takoda and Kovu up to in arhoe? I love those guys.

Also (if you want to!) infodump about something that’s making you go nuts right now.

Hope you’re doing well!

Thank you for the very good question to ponder, beloved mutual!

I'm only on the first book of Fall of the Beasts, but man, Takoda and Kovo are such an interesting pair. I've never had strong feelings about Takoda, but maybe that will change this time around, because his chapters so far have been very enjoyable. And Kovo is just hilarious. I'm excited to see their bond develop further.

As far as their involvement in the entire universe of A Revised History of Erdas: I'm not seeing or remembering anything major that I would change about their arc. One thing that's different in my AU is that all spirit animals arrive as adolescents, at a similar stage of development as their human partners (who would be at least thirteen at the point of summoning). So, instead of being a massive adult silverback, Kovo first appears as a juvenile. Baby Kovo! Angsty teen Kovo! It's great. The evil* mastermind who started two world wars is back... in the form of a moody teenager.

As far as their involvement in Path of the Heroes: They (and Xanthe!) will appear in some capacity, but as of yet, I'm largely unsure of the specifics. Planning a whole new arc is a lot of work! Some general statements:

I don't think Takoda will ever become a Greencloak, which I respect. He's pretty settled as a monk of Maktaba; an ally of the Four, but not a member of their order. I like the idea of him discovering through his journey with them that his true calling is the life he left behind. I think he and Xanthe also have criticisms of the order and wouldn't feel entirely comfortable joining them, at least not until seeing significant change come to pass. This will be important in Path of the Heroes, when the need for Greencloak reform becomes ever clearer.

Xanthe lives! It's insane how we never found out what happened to her after she got stabbed in Stormspeaker, but she's okay! My current concepts for her appearance have her looking very different from how she is described -- more of a creature than a pale human -- but we'll see where I end up after reading more about the Sadreans. I want to say she and Takoda are officially together, but Takoda is a monk. (Oversight on the authors' parts, or opportunity for crazy internal conflict?) That'll be something to explore in the future.

As for the other part of your ask! Lately I've been rewatching Cartoon Saloon's Irish folklore trilogy (The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea and Wolfwalkers). Those movies are so dear to me and I have to revisit them once in a while. They're so magical. The animation! The colours! The stories they tell! They also make me think about Conor, my favourite Irish character of anything ever. I've unfortunately been too busy irl to get really invested into anything, but I have been enjoying those movies. The Secret of Kells has always been my favourite!

[celestemagnoliathewriter]

Seeing your reply on the HP books, what disappointed you in DH? What would you have changed in it? Less deaths?

On HBP and why I didn't care for DH: get ready for a long post/ran that the tl; dr version is: *it makes narrative sense but not logical sense and I wanted both*

I didn't *love* the intro of the battle of the seven potters, to begin with. Obviously I know that we needed some introductory action to get going, and what's better than a battle where both Hedwig and Mad-Eye die? Even warriors die, childhood ending, etc. It makes *sense* for the narrative, but not in-world. Just make an illegal portkey. Apparate, ffs. Put Harry under the invisibility cloak, side-apparate him to Diagon Alley, and then re-apparate to a safe house, if you want to avoid the trace issue. Or illegal portkey that noise because Harry's already wanted and so are the others. Remus would've been a great pick. Everyone hates werewolves. (and ok, I get why they did what they did, because Snape put it in Mundungus' ear to keep Voldemort's trust, but also, it just seems like shoddy thinking it through, JKR's inconsistencies drive me crazy).

Grimmauld Place and Yaxley. Ok, so this is also going back to JKR inconsistencies. If Snape was Secret keeper (as were all Order members after Dumbledore's death) why wouldn't Voldemort just ask Snape for the location and ambush them? But ofc Snape is protecting Harry, there's that tongue-tying thing so Snape couldn't say, I suppose, but still. Part of me wonders why Hermione didn't try to obliviate Yaxley, or stun him, and then ask Kreacher to come with them so they wouldn't starve. Kreacher would've been delighted to hunt for horcruxes. Or why Hermione didn't apparate them to nowhere first, shake Yaxley off, and THEN go to GP? But again: hero's journey has to be alone, character development, whatever. I'm just saying it doesn't make sense.

Camping: so boring. Harry Potter and the Haunted Camping Trip. Pass. I get it; it's boring to them, it's boring to us, it's dry, it's dull, it's reflecting what the characters are going through. But at the same time, why didn't they call for Kreacher? Or Dobby? And why did they wear the locket when they could have shoved it in the beaded bag, put a sturdy string around that, and worn the beaded bag around their necks? Give them some kind of protection? Sigh. It's for narrative purposes, not sense-making purposes. Or give us more deaths during that process, they come across some cool dead bodies of Muggleborns and it freaks them out.

The deaths: ok, let's start with my clear frustration with Remus and Tonks dying (for narrative purposes, I also get, orphaned child, last Marauder is gone, Tonks is young and dies early like Alice Longbottom, whatever). Andromeda Tonks is left with Teddy. Wtf, did JKR forget that Andromeda existed when she killed Remus and Tonks off? Did she realized she killed a whole family? What? Narrative purposes, I say to myself, but also want to scream.

I would've had more deaths, but different ones. Instead of Fred, I'd have killed Bill and Molly. Fleur would be newly pregnant and not know it, so Victoire would still exist, but Bill dying would bum everyone out, and have a fatherless child. Then Molly--just imagine Arthur without her. Do it. Kill the next closest mother figure Harry has. Have Neville kill Bellatrix instead, but make it more of an accident. Ron will kill Nagini. That's the stuff right there. Or hell, get Andromeda Tonks all up in there, have HER kill Bellatrix, and die in the process. Leave Tonks with her little family. Oh, and as an added kick, set the epilogue only a year later, have it be Arthur's funeral because he died of sadness or whatever but things are looking up elsewhere.

That epilogue. While I'm ok with it giving us the Potter kids and Tedoire, I would have loved to have left it to the imagination. You know what would've been good? Arthur's funeral, but have all the canon couples be together as engaged or newly married, Fleur's holding fatherless Victoire, and Arthur is joining his oldest son and his wife in the grave. Lupin and Tonks are there with Teddy and then they go see the Tonkses' graves to put flowers there or something. Remus wasn't really a father figure to Harry but Arthur was. Kill all the real parent figures. Get Vernon and Petunia in the ground too just for shits and giggles.

Anyway. That turned into a much bigger rant. I was more or less dissatisfied with the how of everything, a little bit of the why, and I like the how and why to be congruent. Why things made narrative sense was fine enough, but let me scream about how dumb the camping trip, secret keeper rules, battle of seven potters, and screech about Remadora.

at the end of the day they're all fragments of fiction that are vehicles to tell a story, and while I understand the story that was ultimately told, it doesn't mean I like the ending or that I think it was satisfying for the saga that came beforehand.

that's what fanfic is for!

[fluffypotatey]

Uhh Fluffy. Alright firstly, I was just sitting here going bonkers over the insanity of S5 yet AGAIN bc half the time I seriously think there's two fake monkeys going around pretending to be SWK and Mac, and they each fought a fake before finishing the fight with each other, and Ik I said this but the perspective is too weird! Wukong pleading for Mac to not make him do this was either outside that vision OR part of the vision and that is NOT something you say while flying down with a punch and a yell(?) hard to tell voices apart in the Chinese version for me. I'm not used to them, but I'm guessing the yell his. Mac did impersonate him but in HIS flashback he was on the receiving side, while in this one, Wukong seems to be 😭 It's so confusing omgg. Sorry okay secondly, and this one will REALLY make you crazy, is that someone pointed out that in that S3 EP 4 scene with the zodiac compass scene to free LBD, apparently Mac is SHIRTLESS and you can see scratches and scratches on him. So uh, if this is post-revival and post fully clothed Mac tied up in his own shadows, WHO UNDRESSED MY BOY BC WHEN I GET YOU- I cannot BELIEVE that theory that Wukong stole his old scarf so Mac had to get a new one might actually be true!! Wukong you are NOT a grave robber so what GIVES. I can't buy it. Did the bugs eat it. Do I need to dedicate a good portion of fic to writing decomposing Mac and give him trauma for that. Bruh, sure I imagine fabric decays quickly but also, that would mean he'd sincerely been there for awhile before LBD had to revive-heal him or just make a totally new body, this guy isn't really the real Macaque and he never will be!! No wonder he'd be all naked afterwards if the flesh had to literally regrow over old bones. Fluffy this is HORRIFYING. And looking at it, even in the scene with Mac's arms spread out and LBD descending like some angel, he is shirtless! You can see by the lack of color bro wears bright YELLOW he sure isn't there and there's torn scruffs by his pant waistline. Perhaps I am actually subscribing to LBD possessed him during this fight, and then the blue chains and shadows tried to bury him underground, and then you see him clawing his way out and there's HEAPS of blood splashing all around, and THEN you see LBD cast it all away. When Wukong fought LBD, instead of her pretending to be a bunch of villagers, she could've very well been inside of Mac the whole time. Remember the whole, our old friend the Lady Bone Demon- bit? What if they were actually on okay terms on the journey, Wukong killed LBD two times, and then on the third try she crawled into Mac and Wukong couldn't figure out why he swapped personalities so quickly. Maybe there was another LBD (like what she did to the Mayor, so she still has HER form but also him.) And hosting a piece of herself inside Mac was insurance for failing yet another fight with Wukong. Why ELSE would she do this to ensure "Mac would free her when the time came" unless if she was expecting to get sealed/lose to Wukong again? Mac has always had that motif of blue chains clinging to him. This is why. They've been there for centuries.

while i do like the idea of Macky being stripped bare in death and revived physically vulnerable, i do think he was wearing clothes

let’s just examine these two:

here’s our lovely boy pre-death (i think) but post his battle with swk

so, dully noted here is he is very much clothed here but in considerable pain/anguish (why? well it’s either because Wukong did what had to be done struck him down OR someone pulled a little spell and did the deed instead of Wukong)

anyway, here is our lively boy post-revival

from my eyes, it does look like he is wearing pants and a torn shirt (notice the two marks on the arms are almost symmetrical to indicate the end of the sleeves). like it’s less clothes than before, but there’s still something.

it’s a cool theory but i do doubt that it’ll hold. lmk does leave a lot to speculate about the specifics on Macky’s death and revival (though since s5 it has been pointing closer to Wukong pulling the trigger 👀) but lmk also likes to play with characters’ memories and leave a lot of the past unreliable

we heard the Samadhi Fire story about three to four times and yet every one has its own variations about what it was, how the rings were split, and stuff. and then you even have MK skewing Wukong’s point about the group being mortal compared to the Monkey King’s own immortality in 3x02. Azure’s story he told MK also wasn’t 100% true

however, what we are shown in the memories are supposed to be the characters’ deepest and darkest memories. ones they do not like to share or think about often. the Hundred Eye Demon never skewed or manipulated the memories; rather, it was him scouring through them for his own self gain

so like, there’s a very high chance that what we heard in 5x07 is something Wukong said to Macackle during their battle in jttw. there’s also laughing in that memory, so idk what Wukong would be laughing about which makes the “don’t make me do this” line be Wukong’s rather than Macracker’s

[wejustvibing]

Hello again!

Sorry for being in here so much! I wanted to ask your opinion on something about Lewis and his interactions with people he is interviewed by or who he meets for the first time. What i mean is, when Lewis met Takashi Murkami and he described him as a nugget of love or something of those words or when the Mercedes E Sports boys met Lewis and Marcel said meeting Lewis is like an experience you can’t put into words (again im not sure of his exact words) what do you think it is about Lewis that makes people feel that way? Because no offence, i don’t often see anyone else being spoken about in this manner, so I wonder what it is about Lewis that has people feeling this way. And in your opinion, why do you think, despite this, people still want to call his character into question and imply or blatantly say he is the opposite of what so many other people have said he is?

I also would like to ask, what are a couple of things about Lewis that you appreciate?

Have a good day!

hey you! sorry for getting to this so late. i needed a breather. yes!!! people's reaction to meeting him is my absolute favorite thing. the way murakami has described him is a masterpiece in itself. it's so overwhelmingly priceless. he must be magic, this guy <3

well i've never met him so it wouldn't be right for me to try and guess the feeling or vouch for any of these experiences. at least not without bringing out my inner parasocial crazies. but in my opinion, aside from the obvious personality and aura, he's highly intuitive and excellent at reading energies around him and more often than not he reflects them back, probably drawing people in. he's super respectful and attentive when they're engaging him which must be refreshing. also he never ever does what's expected of him—including expectations based on perceptions, media reports or hearsay that always paint him a certain way. it probably surprises them the most i guess?

i appreciate and love a whole lotta things about him but let me try and stick to the topic and context here. i love that he is compassionate and often tries to show it through actions. he will ask interviewers about their day or lives, in a curious yet respectful way. will try to make them feel comfortable by being calm and soft-spoken. will try to make time for fans and not just through sheer obligation. i like that he's intentional with every single thing he does in public eye. it comes from hard learned lessons i'm sure and must take a whole team of people to make it work so well. but i love it, especially when you know the level of unnecessary scrutiny he faces.

i love the fact that he's not perfect. don't think i'd be a fan if he was. as someone learning to live with maladaptive perfectionism i take solace sometimes knowing it's okay to be less than perfect and it's okay to learn and improve, it's okay to keep striving in ways that might never reach perfection. you're allowed to be wrong and you can always be/do better the next time. i love it when he's spontaneous, lets out normal human emotions and passionate reactions. i love that he's one petty mf if and when he decides to be. love that he's always curious and ready to learn. he's not afraid of expressing himself, being himself (anymore), i really admire that. he could have easily gotten jaded by now with the amount of success as well as negativity but instead he's elevated himself beyond both and has nurtured his heart to be the best version of himself and enjoy the journey he's on.

but, one thing that i love the most about him is how easy he makes everything look. if there's one thing about him it's that he is going to make everything look effortless—hard work, driving, winning, success, fashion, attitude, reaction to criticism & hate, and most of all living (and living rent free in so many heads). it's probably what pisses some people off too. must need heaps of discipline, focus and strength to achieve it. but he does it anyway and you have to appreciate that.

[hypnotisedfireflies]

So I'm not sure if anyone has ever asked this before, but what if things had been different in the museum, and Joel was bitten instead of Tess.

How do you think Tess would have handled the whole take Ellie across the US adventure? (Don't have to be crazy detailed here, I guess I'm just wondering if you think the same points would have been hit.)

Let's say just like Tess is Drifters Dusk Joel doesn't turn. Do you think Lachie still would have helped him, would Joel have helped himself?

If Joel does get out of the firefly stuff alive, how do you think the reunion in Jackson would have gone?

Okay, hope I did not double up a question or ask too much.

Hi lovely! Thanks for your ask. <3

"I'm on your side, you dumb cunt!"

- Lachlan Maynard, losing his shit with Joel Miller in this scenario.

I think ... everything would've been different. Alike though Tess and Joel are, I think it's pretty unlikely anything would've gone the same way.

Tess would've taken Ellie to Bill and Frank's, but she would've stayed there with her for awhile. Tess still wants to find Tommy, but she doesn't have Joel's unrestrained urgency. I think she would've used the time there to rest up, to plan the journey and to assess what Ellie is capable of. Ellie would've gotten the gun a lot sooner with Tess than she did with Joel, and had some lessons right there in Lincoln.

I don't see it likely that they would've encountered Henry and Sam. Tess wasn't going through any big cities. So I think after leaving Lincoln, their journeys would have barely overlapped. An entirely different adventure.

I know people like to shit on Joel and say Tess would've done it in days or whatever, but that's not much fun. Her journey would've been fraught and challenging in other ways.

As for Joel and Lachie - yes. Absolutely yes. While Joel and Lachie didn't have the relationship that Tess and Lachie did, the Firefly still would've helped Joel - he wouldn't have even stopped to think about it.

Joel would've been a lot harder to control, however. Tess was level-headed to stick with Lachie even when the other Fireflies wanted her dead. There's a little ficlet that touches on that and I think it's also somewhere else but idk anymore. But Joel would've been difficult enough for drama to kick off earlier, and then he'd probably abandon Lachie to try and follow Tess and Ellie by himself. Lachie would have to chase after him and be like:

"I'm on your side, you dumb cunt!"

But we know how good Joel is at listening to that kind of thing. It would've worked out eventually between the two of them I'm sure, probably when Lachie started telling Joel nice Tess stories. Stuff like, "She was the first person who made me feel safe," and "Tess reminded me of my cousin." Etc.

However, they would butt heads a lot. Lachie's laid-back but he's not a doormat and he wouldn't take Joel's shit. There are probably several tussles.

"What the fuck does she see in you!? You are the moodiest cunt alive! Everyone thought that in Indy, you know that? Everybody wondered what the fuck she was doing with you."

Which ofc Lachie didn't mean and is a total lie, and as they lay on the ground bleeding and hurting afterward Lachie would be like:

"Actually everyone thought she was a heartless bitch and you deserved each other. They thought you were a match made in heaven."

And Joel would start laughing and Lachie's all, "that's not a compliment, dipshit."

Lachie gets sick towards the pointy end of his journey with Tess. That's probably the real turning point of Joel and Lachie, and Joel would get him safely to Jackson.

The reunion would play out differently. Tess made Tommy wait a few days before telling Joel she was alive so he could recover, but you'd better believe the Miller brothers didn't have the same foresight. Joel's probably on the gate the day Tess and Ellie come back.

[karenandhenwilson]

Super unpopular opinion: I think both Taylor and the fandom as a whole are crazy about claiming Buck trapped her by asking her to move in with him.

I'm aware that in parts my opinion on this goes back to the way I was raised. When Taylor accused Buck of trapping her by asking her to move in and then telling her he had kissed someone else, the first thing that popped into my head was my mother's voice: "Whatever you, however much you trust a guy, always have a back-up plan. Never make yourself dependent on a guy." I think I was still pretty young when I started hearing those lines.

But even without that mindset I was raised with by my mother, I think it's a gross over-exaggeration and a disservice to Taylor's character.

What do we know about Taylor? She had a very traumatic childhood. She lost her mother, then her father and with that also her home and practically her childhood. She is even something like twenty years later torn about what to believe about her mother's death. But she got through all of that and persuaded a career that is cut-throat and unforgiving.

Taylor is a strong woman who knows what she wants. She thinks in any given situation first about her career and second about anything else. I feel it's safe to say that her career is the most important thing in her life and something she is ready to sacrifice pretty much anything for.

Also, this brings up another point that's a little bit of a tangent: Why did she agree to move into Buck's place instead of both of them looking for a new place together? (Yes, I know: From a writing perspective it was probably already decided they would break up at the end of the season so it didn't make sense to create a new set if they didn't want Buck to give up his loft altogether for a new place.) 

The mature thing for both of them would have been to look for something new. Because they have both insane schedules that don't fit together well often. That includes both needing sleep at different times. How can they get the rest they need in an apartment where one can't make breakfast in the kitchen without waking the other because there are no walls? I can see Buck not thinking about that, mostly because when he asked Taylor, he was emotionally practically falling apart. But I don't know how the writers could ignore that it's not really in character for Taylor to follow such a spur-of-the-moment decision. Especially as there can't have been a lot of time between Buck asking her to move in and the move happening because otherwise, he would have confessed about the kiss before the move or Taylor would have noticed that something else was up. We see how it ate him from the inside.

Anyway, back to the original topic: Taylor is a strong and independent woman. One who works in a field that is subject to a lot of change and sometimes unforeseen change. I'm convinced if there would be an opportunity for a big story, Taylor wouldn't hesitate to take it even if it meant traveling at a moment's notice. I can't see her not being prepared for that. Including having money put aside for such an unplanned journey.

So, I can't see for a moment that she doesn't have the money to take a hotel room for a couple of nights after fighting with the boyfriend she just moved in with. I also can't see her not demanding Buck to pay her back the hotel (and he'd not hesitate to give her that money, honestly, or he'd offer to got to a hotel and let her have the loft). Honestly, with how we saw her in s2 and s4, it would have fit her to tell Buck something like: "Leave, Buckley. Pack a bag, leave your key, and leave this apartment. I'll call you when I've decided if I'm willing to give this a second chance or if you need to find a friend's couch to crash on until I've found a new apartment!" And Buck, ever the people pleaser, would have probably not even argued.

Taylor also works in a job where you need a connection to get anywhere. I can't see someone doing that job who isn't able to make connections easily, and for me, that translates that she has personal connections outside of the job, too. I really can't see someone with Taylor's history going through life without having at least one close friend she could lean on. We don't see that, of course, but then we also don't see any of the mains having friends who aren't the mains for the most part. Which doesn't mean they don't have friends. It only means there is no room in the stories the show writers want to tell for such friends.

So, I think Taylor has to have at least one friend who'd let her have the couch or the guest room for a little while. To give her a place to land until she found a new apartment for herself.

After all these considerations I can just repeat: I think it's absolutely stupid to claim Buck trapped Taylor. (And that the show writers made her say that is just one more of the many decisions they made to ruin her character in s5 and s6 when they had worked so hard on giving her great potential in s4.)

[castlebyersafterdark]

one of the producer writers said the show will end with literal and figurative bangs (quote here: https://www.tumblr.com/will80sbyers/748119963350515712/one-of-the-writers-of-the-show-kate-trefry-about?source=share) and ofc she means explosions and battles + emotional moments, but could she also imply some spice? a lil spicy byler to end the show? hmmmm i'm going with YES

hahahahhaha

This is soooooo interesting for a lot of reasons and while I know you're more interested in the bang aspect here, my theory loving mind is spinning now feeling validation over some of my favorite potential plot theories.

For season 5 they talk a lot about the origin of the UD and what it is, and why the town is being punished. She can't tell what the metaphor of the Upside Down is without spoilering season 5. The show is about people showing up for each other instead of being scared of when someone is different. Being compassionate. The end makes you cry a lot, it has such a beautiful melancholy, classic Spielberg, that sweet loss of innocence, the sorrow of an adventure ending and it ends with literal and figurative bangs.

OOOH WHAT'S THE METAPHOR I WONDER?? 🤭 Repression/manipulating and forming a world based on the inner conflict of your mind and soul/coming of age/literally everything about one William Byers/authenticity and identity and conformity and and and etc. Showing up for someone who is different? Thats gotta be our boys. Mike and Will are going to be ok. Let them suffer, but in the end it's wonderful. God I cannot fucking wait for season five. The bar is so high and I don't even care.

But. Back to the big bang. I really do think there's something to be said for those of us who think the Byler relationship isn't going to be some tiny little add-on, some small acknowledgement of their feelings and a tacked on get-together. I think it's going to be a major arc, a climactic and passionate get together, and one hundred percent entwined with the horror/supernatural theme and narrative. Why wouldn't it be?? I think it's good to keep a realistic mind about what to expect of season 5 concerning Byler, but why do we think the D Bros and the writers are afraid to go there? They've gone there before. This is their big series spanning arc. Doesn't seem crazy that these boys could be given a full uhhh completion to their arc.

And back to the the whole Spielburg comment because I can't shake it from my brain. Oh, yesss there's so much to say. I was talking to a friend recently and it was pointed out that the themes are so blatantly lifted from some of his most cherished 80s films. ET, Poltergeist, etc. (I've never seen Close Encounters but they listed that one too). What was a major inspiration for season one? Elliot and ET. Mike and El. And what happens at the end of that movie? We did see that storyline play out season one but in five? Who might leave of her own accord, be it on some personal self-discovery journey or into an alternate timeline? There's the bittersweet angle that's been mentioned for season 5. I don't think El is dying but she's going elsewhere. And then, I think after all has settled and life is back to a somewhat state of normalcy - I really see it ending with Mike and Will leaving Hawkins together. I just do.